h2oface

Maybe it is the hitting coach that is the problem? Maybe? Molitor is the manager, but it would seem he would know something about hitting, too.

Sure that stat line. The answer to the rhetorical question. It doesn't include the 3 losses and 2 blown saves, nor the direct failures of the last two outings, but usage is a problem, totally agreed, and when it makes one look good, ERA is always one to pull out of the hat, and when it doesn't, it is best to go with how ERA is a horrible stat and not representative. I will just forget about the last 2 outings, the 3 losses, and get back on the bus.

Someone explain to me again how Addison Reed is so good, please?

I agree, that the pitching has come around. I have to just forget about the times that, in those one run games, (and 2 run games), that they were actually ahead or tied, and the improved staff gave up the game late, like the most recent 3-1 loss in which both Duke and Reed failed the team painfully, regardless of the offense. I don't know that Sano will ever see his potential, for a number of reasons. Tic toc. The season is quickly passing us by.

Assuming both May and Santana are going to be helpful after the surgeries is a fools gambit. Maybe they will, but I see so many looking at their return as a rescue, assuming they will pitch like before they went out, and especially May, he was never that good. Soooooooo no rush, but there is call for Gonsalves before May (the pitcher not the month), if you ask me. The sooner the better.

Zach Duke and Addison Reed have strange ideas of a birthday present. Duke given a single left handed batter to get out, with two outs, and gives up a single. In comes Reed now with runners on 1st and second.... righty on righty, and in two pitches virtually in the same place, middle up in the zone..... the two out double scores both Berrios' walk and Duke's single. The speedy outfield playing shallow and a single turns into the double. Reed really got no one out (a double and a single in 3 4 seam fastballs in the middle of the zone)...... as Buxton gets really lucky and gets an outfield assist on a horrible throw home. There goes the ballgame, because the vaunted offense makes Leake look like a Cy Young candidate after he has been blasted by other teams for the first two months of the year. I'll say it for Berrios. Thanks a lot pen. How is our new hitting coach looking for you?

In light of how well these draft picks have been doing......... and the scant chance they ever make it to the show, ...... this is a great deal, and I applaud it. The acquired catcher should be 27 or 28 by the time he could be ready for the show in this system, even if he does make it. Ho hum. Nothing to see here. At least Hughes has good weather to lose games in for his home team.

Ha. Bravo. Or.... get the guy at home and then the double play. You can have your tradition. And I will have it too, because that is what they will still do.

Great summary of the well known traditional thought. It is still what is so often bought. If you score the game's not a bore And the method is still the common lore. It was once said that a 4 man rotation was the thing. But now a 5 man is king. A run is much harder to get back than another out And if the hitters don't hit, it will make you pout. About tradition Pulaski Academy doesn't care One can be greater, if they dare. https://youtu.be/vbgqKHxzTfU Now you don't have to look for rhymes. I made it easy for you this time.

Carson Smith, Red Sox reliever, is on the fence about whether he will have to have surgery on his right (pitching) shoulder after suffering a subluxation last week, and seeking a second opinion. Missing the 2016 season, and part of the 2017 with TJ recovery, he suffered the disaster after angrily tossing his glove, showing his emotion over a poor outing. Some like to see grown men, who, whether they like it or not, are examples for our children and grandchildren, behave like kids having a temper tantrum. We witnessed, when he was pulled, the same behavior from Lance Lynn a couple days ago after 6.2 innings of shutout ball, and it is presented as a video clip in Tom Froemming's always appreciated recap article: http://twinsdaily.com/_/minnesota-twins-news/minnesota-twins/min-6-det-0-lynn-shows-will-to-win-r6788 Lynn, like Chapman, also missed the 2016 season recovering from TJ. Some see this type of behavior as emotion and passion, passion that can spark a team. Maybe that is true. Personally, I see it as ridiculous, childish, and unimpressive. A player and a leader can show emotion and passion in so many more advantageous, positive, and more beneficial ways. Over the years, so many players have injured themselves punching walls and coolers, and other needless and unimpressive behavior. In this case, it wasn't even a poor outing for Lynn, it was a great start, a great day, for him and the team! He did the same thing as Chapman. Sure, Chapman's was a freak injury, and it could never happen again, or even to Chapman, except it did and could. Thousands have done the same thing, and no problem, including Lynn during this game. In fact, it is somewhat of a common occurrence. Lynn could have just as well come in the dugout looking for high fives and being exuberant, and he would have been bathed in team spirit and congratulated by the whole team, and created a passionate happy dugout, and fired everyone up with his passion, and even though he has been slow to help his new team, shown some leadership. Instead, he had to mope alone on the bench, and get no love from the rest of the team that basically ignored him then, and let him sit alone in all that misdirected emotion and passion. I am impressed by the player who, even when they are upset, or slumping, or having a bad outing, still find a way to take a breath and then be a vocal cheerleader and express positive unselfish emotion. And it really isn't about them being an example, it is just that temper tantrums is passion misdirected, and not something that can help anything. Hitting walls, smashing coolers with baseball bats, throwing gloves........ coming out of the dugouts and fighting to have a teammates metaphorical back after he purposely threw a ball at a batter on pupose....... I am not impressed. But I was impressed with Lynn's day on the mound..... finally.... and I hope the players notice what happened to Carson Chapman, and that it makes them think hard about doing something that has no reward, and could freakishly take them off the field and away from the game and team, and not let them do what they are so lucky to be doing, and getting paid millions to do it. The leadership and passion and emotion for this team is open for the younger stars to step into, and I hope they gel and really start showing it, and have fun winning 90 plus games. The more positive future leaders becoming leaders now and expressing themselves, the better. This division is open for a leader, and it may as well be the Twins.

Hence, the wrap up.... "Too soon to tell though, but not to wonder about." Perhaps you already do agree with me. And I am now agreeing with the non-fan prognosticators........ the AL Central really sucks.

One of the things that has changed...... is the managers. Winning managers. And some coaches. It still takes players to perform, and that is always a carosel, but managers that won is one of the variables that has changed. Everyone that competes likes to win, but in the end, the minors is for development. And the faster the better. Anything else is gravy.

Goodrum is proving to be another misidentified toss off. Good for him. It is looking like he was ready, even though this team's brain trust never really thought so. Too soon to tell though, but not to wonder about.

That powerful vaunted explosive offense strikes again. Hey, Buxton has a 2 game hitting streak going! Pressly gives up 2 hits and a walk in the inning, loads the basses with no outs, and no runs. Well.... no runs he gets charged with. Rodgers says thanks. In the name of relief. Eddie influence? The right man for the pen? Rodney osmosis? I don't even know why Pressly was used in this game. Planning on a 3 run rally in the bottom of the 9th? Pressly is being overused, and this game was a good example. On that force out for the first out at home in the 9th....... If that was the first inning, they would have tried to turn a double play, and purposely let a run score. I never ever ever understand sacrificing a run for an extra out. It never makes sense to me. Never. Runs are much harder to get back than just getting another out. I don't care what time of the game it is. I know it is "tradition", but I think it is just dumb.

Good for Lance Lynn and the Twins. Both needed this today.

Or..... "his team" could actually be for his own satisfaction and self expectations, and not wanting to give up. And that deserves just as much respect. Do you think it would have mattered what team, or any team that he was under contract for? I would think it was just as much a hope that he could make it back, and to prove it to himself, or fail trying. I wonder if, just because you try your best, that the motive is to help your team, and not to prove to oneself that you tried your best, even if it wasn't helping your team, and you knew it. There comes a time that, if one has team first, that the best help for that team is to not take the mound, to walk away. That is not as romantic a thought, but it might be more truthful. It is hard to face the end. Probably the toughest thing every player has to face.

I really can't see any team starting Hughes, if he doesn't just retire, in the show. That would be somewhat foolish of them, but I guess it could happen. I suspect wherever and if ever he lands, it will be to start in AAA and give the confidence to the signing team he is able to perform. He could actually do that here, too, perhaps, if offered, which isn't really known that will happen. It might really be up to him at this point. He might really have his best shot at staying in the show right here, and getting it back together at Rochester. But I really hope that doesn't happen. Or, he could take a break, take a rest and longer to prepare, and then have a showcase toward the last half/third of the year, and see if he can be a force, or even just a replacement level option for some needy team.

I think 3 accepted the QO in 2016, and the first one was in 2015. With big names hitting the market in 2018/19 off season, and what happened this past off season, I bet names not so big will be have a harder time refusing a sure thing. But then, it might also be less likely that the 2nd tier even get extended the offer, for the risk that they will take them. It will be interesting, for sure. And Marco Estrada of the Blue Jays got extended a QO in 2016, but instead of taking or refusing it, resigned with a new deal. http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2589177-mlb-free-agents-2016-list-of-players-who-accepted-qualifying-offers

Maybe. It is not unusual for a team to extend a qualifying offer to a player they know will refuse, just for the draft pick. It was well known that Lynn would not be accepting a QO, and thought he would be cashing in.

Maybe. But the assumption that either Santana, coming back from a hand surgery on his pitching hand, or May, coming back from TJ, will be as effective as before the surgeries might be as shocking as Lynn having reached the beginning of the end of his track. The Cards had absolutely no interest. That says a lot to me. This is a quarter of the season gone, and in only 37.1 innings on the mound, and regardless of his 41 K's, he has given up 29 walks, 47 hits, 31 earned runs, which has made every team he faces a team of .313 hitters, with an OBP of .422 and an OPS of .929! Trade value? I don't think any GM is gonna ignore that, even if he rattles off a few usable starts. He is torching the pen. Letting MLB ready players age in the minors, reducing their possible prime years, never makes a lot of sense to me. That clock is ticking, too. It is also not unusual for a 31 year old pitcher, or any age pitcher for that matter, to have lost his effectiveness, regardless of his track record. Plus he missed all of 2016 with TJ surgery, so I don't feel that saying he has no injury is all that accurate. Matt Harvey comes to mind, as a recent example. His first year back was similar to Lynn's 2017. Lynn also faded big time in September of last year, so this is now about a 3 month history, with the one start a couple starts ago the outlier. So I stand by my crazy take, and would love to see this team advance with youth that is looking more than ready for having a go at it. I said on another post a couple days ago... would you rather pay Hughes millions to lose games for the Twins, or to lose games for another team? And I feel the same about Lynn. We will see if the FO has the same courage to jettison one of their own decisions, as they just have with one that wasn't theirs.

How much longer do Lewis and Kirilloff need to blast in low A? I think age is insignificant. Would the Miracle really miss trotting out Foster and Lopez? The only way one really knows if they are ready is to let them have a shot. I don't think either one of them are too fragile to have it mess with them, and would relish the opportunity.

Last year, I was all for Kepler getting more at bats against southpaws. I never believed he couldn't hit them, but just needed more opportunities. Even though his OPS against righties is only .694 this year, I hope the same people don't call for him to be benched against them. ;-) I just wish he would breakout with a higher average, now, too.

The best decision I have seen the FO make, in their short tenure. I am proud of them. I would be even prouder if they did the same with Lynn, and brought up Gonsalves. I think Phil knew this was coming before the season started. I would feel sad for him, but there are still 20 million reasons that it isn't that sad. Worth $44.7 million for one season? FanGraphs has some fuzzy math.

Bremer was calling it on the broadcast........ and also making note of it himself. It is in the replay posted, too. Maybe it is just Bremer making stuff up. I don't really know, I guess. https://www.mlb.com/twins/video/c-2057834683

But please, don't replace him by having Grossman play in the outfield. His bat is not much better, and his defense weakens two outfield positions, as one of Kepler or Rosario, or both, move around, too. Buxton might not make runs, but he usually saves one or two a game, which is almost the same as creating runs.