h2oface

This ump calls them wrong even looking directly at the ball over the inside shoulder! Made Bolanos throw all of 7 pitches.

After all that, Greinke tossing a no-hitter after 1.

Buxton taking the day off? 6 pitches. No swings. Worked out this time.

Kinda odd timing on Miranda...... last 7 games stat hitting .316 with an OPS of .824 and finally hitting his stride and here comes the reward. Great to have Lewis back, though. Also odd to see Buxton with the lowest BA in today's lineup. https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2022/05/twins-call-up-royce-lewis-option-jose-miranda.html/comment-page-1#comment-2576100

If I were you, I would be crying for better pitching in St Paul!

After a last 7 games of a .316 BA and a .824 OPS, now they send Miranda down, right when he is finding his stride. Odd timing. and they gave Lewis no time at first in St Paul.

Merrifield is a beast!

He didn't mention innings limit, or pitch limit, but that they talked about it before.... not specific. Maybe it was Smeltzer who mentioned the plan from the day before. Whatever. Is it possiple that your self claimed connections to the FO in past posts have you biased to always defend them and Baldelli? Is it possible, that what you're describing here is your, very frequently stated, bias in favor of Rocco and the way he and the organization manage the bullpen, and pitchers in general. And also your bias for Duffey? When the offense and a fellow pitcher hands the ball to you with a 2 run lead to start the 8th, it makes no difference if the score is 2-0 or 10-8. You have the advantage. Merrifield is a forever Twins' killer. Always has been. Are we to assume Buxton is a mendoza line hitter now, because that is what his average says right now? I think we can all state our opinions without the projections and personal judgements of bias, don't you?

Well, 1 of the next three. Santana is a switch hitter (so against Duffey, left, but Smeltzer he probably would have chosen right). Lopez was the only lefty, and he was the third batter, Still, you don't pull Smeltzer there, until he doesn't get an out, at least. And you have 2 guys warming.......

Really? Anyone? Do you really think nobody was screaming at the screen saying get Duffey out of there? I would have pulled him in the pen and not even had him pitch. I would have left in Smeltzer, who said in the post game he didn't want to come out, and Baldelli said that "was the plan, we talked about it the day before, so it didn't matter what lobbying Smeltzer did (not exact quote but paraphrased)." I would have an ultra quick yank on Duffey, because I was watching him pitch yesterday, and paying attention. But I would have had Smith ready as well, and immediately pulled Duffey after he gave up the pinch hit single to O'Hearn. And in comes magic man Smith for the one out, the single out, with the go ahead run, Twin killer Merrifield at the plate. But I would have had someone ready with a pecarious 2 run lead and Duffey on the mound, for sure. He was already at 17 pitches! And then I would have had Duran in the ninth for the save, because we were still ahead 2-0 (and maybe more because the offense would have been loser in the 8th and maybe scored with no outs and the bases loaded). Duffey would not have pitched to Merrifield. The big mistake and flawed part of "the plan" was not having Smith up and ready if needed. If he was, and Baldelli waited, Duffey doesn't pitch to Benintendi, and he certainly doesn't pitch to Witt, now with 25 pitches and the last 4 scared balls to Benintendi after an 0-2 count. Did Baldelli even get anybody out for the whole 34 pitches he watched Duffey throw? I can't remember. I was so livid by then. Ah......... the plan. The dreaded unbending rigid plan. These games matter, and should have more respect than the plan.

... As is Bundy's at Camden Yard. But it seems that our Stat King Management seem to deem these stats as meaningless as they ignore them and run them out there anyway, just the same. But they don't miss an infield shift, regardless of how ridiculous it looks. Selective analytics.

Predictable. It doesn't matter what the score is, the important thing is a 2 run lead with 6 outs to go. Period. Situational. Could have been 10-8. Same thing. Sure, it would be great to score more runs, but it is the lead in the 8th that makes it situational. Plus, the offense did have 12 hits. Twice as many as the Royals.

Apologists will say that the offense should have scored more runs. I say, If you give the pen a 3 run lead in the 8th, it doesn't matter what the score is. Just leave him in there Baldelli. See how many runs he can give up.

Duffey at 24 pitches already in one inning,

Good call Baldelli. Smeltzer's arm would have fallen off if he threw more than 80 pitches. Who really trusts Duffey anymore?

Thankfully, only 6 extra pitches because of it, and no damage. It is the close call misses I hate the most. The obvious ones just make the umpire look foolish, but it is the close ones that the pitcher or hitter deserve the most - the great take or the perfectly located pitch.

Absolutely no way to know unless it is tried. It seems Arraez and Gordon both did OK and were helpful. And Lewis is more athletic than both of them.

Well, right for 3 months. Do you remember Scott Diamond? I do. High Hopes, though, especially for Ryan.

Count me as another that is wondering about the pitching pipeline. AAA has be pretty horrible, with a few exceptions, all year. Both STP box score links go to black pages ith the MILB headers only for me. So does the Cedar Rapids link. The Witchita and Fort Myers links both go to April 8th games....... The highly touted Berrios "haul" isn't looking so great so far...................

So..... normal to weakly pop out foul with bases loaded and two outs for the final out in the 10th on a pitch outside the zone that you could have taken and seen another that you might like better with a 2-1 count? Right after you took a great 91 mph non-sinking sinker to hit right down the middle in a lefty righty desired matchup. OK. Normal it is. You can have normal if you like. I guess it is kinda normal for the Twins to come up empty with the bases loaded and no outs. It seems to be happening a lot this year so far.

Well......... the hitters didn't give up 3 homers.

Correa, Kepler, and Sanchez. Horrible at bats. and we got a visit from the old blowpen today. I guess, the ol' "you can't win them all".

Bases loaded, no outs, AGAINST THE TIGERS! nothing

SLUMP BREAKER!

righty on righty? What? you don't pinch hit for 0-28 Buxton?