jmlease1

There's some interesting players to watch in Saint Paul. Really want to see how Balazovic responds to a) coming off an injury-filled and ineffective season and b) dealing with the broken jaw and the team's resultant unhappiness.
Wallner is worth keeping an eye on: he'll hit HRs, but I'll be watching to see if he keeps the K rates manageable and makes enough contact.
Hope Martin doesn't need surgery and comes back soon.
Laweryson is an interesting pitcher. Sounds like the Twins may have locked him in to the bullpen and I feel like that's the right choice for him. He did some good stuff in the minors last season and I think we could see him in MLB this season if some guys in the bullpen falter. There's room for a guy with a funky delivery.

I'm very enthusiastic about the starting pitching depth right now, but we're not at the point where we can seriously consider trading any of it for help/upgrades in other areas, unless the season collapses on us and we have to go into sell mode near the deadline. (or if everyone is healthy and crushing it, I guess?) Because the reality is, Gray, Mahle, and Maeda may not be back next season. (I think the Twins would be wise to try and sign one of them, but there's complicating factors for all of them) So while the depth looks great this year, it does potentially thin out for next season. (Though again, assembling a rotation from Lopez, Ryan, Ober, Paddack, and Varland/Woods Richardson is a much better place to start than in recent years!)
Hopefully, players like Ryan & Ober, Varland & Woods Richardson become mainstays to the point where we're consistently looking at only needing one young pitcher from the pipeline to step up per season at the start and have 2-3 others ready to go  in Saint Paul. That's what a true starting pitching pipeline looks like, and we're seeing signs that we might be getting there. The rotation is good and deep this year, with real potential for next even if all the free agents go. There are talented prospects rising through the system with arrivals ranging from 2023-2025 (Balazovic, Prielipp, Festa, Raya...man, I want to put Canterino on here but I just can't).
Never enough pitching. The way the Twins are evolving we also are going to be much less reliant on signing veteran retreads hoping for a bounceback to fill a big role. (I think it's fine to sign one to fill the 5th slot now and then...but the Twins were having to go for 2-3 of those guys because the system wasn't producing talent that could compete)

There's some interesting players to watch in Saint Paul. Really want to see how Balazovic responds to a) coming off an injury-filled and ineffective season and b) dealing with the broken jaw and the team's resultant unhappiness.
Wallner is worth keeping an eye on: he'll hit HRs, but I'll be watching to see if he keeps the K rates manageable and makes enough contact.
Hope Martin doesn't need surgery and comes back soon.
Laweryson is an interesting pitcher. Sounds like the Twins may have locked him in to the bullpen and I feel like that's the right choice for him. He did some good stuff in the minors last season and I think we could see him in MLB this season if some guys in the bullpen falter. There's room for a guy with a funky delivery.

The first 4-5 games is as much about usage than anything.  Getting everybody in, getting a start, etc.  On top of that you need time for the roles to flesh out.  Nobody expects Duran to be a one inning closer this year.

We can probably really start looking for trends around game 15 or so...

Some people would rather be angry, I guess. I'm very happy with a win.
Lopez did quite well, he should be pretty fun to watch this season. 

Some people would rather be angry, I guess. I'm very happy with a win.
Lopez did quite well, he should be pretty fun to watch this season. 

What lead to pulling him was a couple of factors 1). He hasn't thrown that many pitches in a while (WBC messed with spring training starts) 2). He wasn't locating his fastball very well, He had a couple of walks and a HBP. 6 of the final 12 batters he faced got on base. 3). They didn't want him to face two lefties in a row to finish his outing and they put Thielbar in to face them.
This isn't to say he wasn't dealing, his new sweeping slider looked great and the changeup was awesome as usual. He just didn't have his fastball and was approaching what is probably a soft limit on the number of pitches. I expect when it warms up (was 60 in KC yesterday) he'll regain that command and be a great pitcher for the twins this year.

It's rather odd to me that people are talking about Lopez getting pulled after 5.1 IP and 85 pitches, I feel like I was watching a different game. Lopez started out perfect through the first two innings, then had a walk in the third, a walk and a single to lead off the fourth and then a hard hit double, hit by pitch and a walk in the fifth. Does anyone see the pattern here? As for the pitch count I was going to say that part of the reason he was pulled was because he had pitched in two high leverage innings which there is some belief can create additional stress on a pitcher, however I wasn't able to find anything conclusive on that. I also don't know how the twins do it but I think it makes sense that he got pulled after that workload especially, as mentioned by others, that Thielbar had already warmed up and the royals best projected hitter was coming up. To me it almost seems like some people would rather see a starter go 6+ innings than see a win. 

As for the hitting, well the twins were already in mid season form with 12 LOB and 2 runs scored on 10 hits and 4 walks. We got treated to three twins specials (load em up, leave em on) and it only opening day. Kepler was entirely useless out of the lead off spot, Buxton was the best hitter of the game and we got some key hits by Rocco platooning well.
Bullpen was lights out though so I've got to hand it to them there. Overall, don't think this is a winning formula against any serious team who will surely take advantage of Lopez struggles in the 4th and 5th and not roll out 5 ERA bullpen arms in key spots. But a win is a win so we take those.

Sources for the multi-factor impact on pitcher injury beyond pitch counts: https://www.forbes.com/sites/waynemcdonnell/2014/03/20/advancements-in-analytics-and-medicine-must-provide-fruitful-results-for-a-pitchers-mechanics/

It’s opening day. Not uncommon to use that many in this day and age of baseball on opening day, especially with the day off today. If you look at all the teams yesterday, no one used fewer than 4 and the most used was 8. Most starters went 5 or 6, unless they were already chased from the game. A few teams with comparable scores to the Twins used 5, like Houston. Their pitchers had given up only 1 run all game when their closer blew it giving up 2 in the 9th. It’s opening day. I get people are leery because of last year but let’s wait until mid-season when we see what the trend is for this year.

I think that's right. With no off-day and later in the season he likely leaves Lopez in, but with a planned off-day and a full bullpen why not get some guys some work and make sure you secure the win?
Hopefully the follies with the bases loaded is more of a fluke than a trend. I tend to think that if we load up the bases a lot the runs will come.

Some people would rather be angry, I guess. I'm very happy with a win.
Lopez did quite well, he should be pretty fun to watch this season. 

Some people would rather be angry, I guess. I'm very happy with a win.
Lopez did quite well, he should be pretty fun to watch this season. 

Let's not extrapolate today's game X 162. Somehow, they went 4-11 with runners in scoring position and only scored two runs. There weren't a whole bunch of bad at-bats, but some hard-hit balls went for outs and the hits didn't drive in runs. I'm not going to panic just yet.
Pablo Lopez looked great, but had too many free passes. The Royals lineup isn't really scary, and it appeared he wasn't going to give in to the two guys (Perez and Witt) that were likely to beat him. I would like to see our starters average six innings per start and 5.1 is less, but Rocco didn't stretch his starters as far as other teams have done. I would expect the first trip through the rotation won't see anyone go much more than 80 pitches, maybe they'll be closer to 100 in the next turn.
The defense turned every probable out into an out. The bases were run properly, Tommy Watkins took a chance sending Trevor Larnach in the sixth inning and an off-line throw made it certain he was safe. All in all, very encouraging. 
The Twins are better than the Royals, but the Royals will probably win at least three games against them this year. This is one they shouldn't have won and they didn't. I liked a 2:30 game and hope that continues. 

Sigh. One game in, and the complaining is on. I just don't get how that makes one happy. 
Big fan of the Lopez trade . It wasn't bitter for many of us.

The pitch clock is the best rule MLB has implemented in a very long time. This exact game would have been 3 hours 15 min+ last year. 
I’ve got a feeling we’re going to have to win a lot of low scoring ballgames this year… 

It actually made some sense to pull Pablo Lopez after 5 1/3. Thielbar had started warming up the inning before when Lopez had the bases loaded with 1 out in the 5th inning to face Pasquantino (for the lefty on lefty matchup). We know how much Rocco hates for a guy to warm up but not use him in the game, so when Lopez got out of the jam, it seemed somewhat natural to use Thielbar, especially early in the season where our bullpen is fresh. Also, Lopez was cruising for the first 3 innings but ran into some trouble in both the 4th and 5th innings, so Rocco probably didn't want to test his luck. 

twins are the better team, but it's baseball and anything can happen. Would be great to get off to a good start by whipping up on KC out the gate. Frankly, I'm just happy we're starting on the road since we might have snow flying this week in Mpls!

twins are the better team, but it's baseball and anything can happen. Would be great to get off to a good start by whipping up on KC out the gate. Frankly, I'm just happy we're starting on the road since we might have snow flying this week in Mpls!

I'm pretty sure you're overstating the number of no-hitters the Twins had going last year, but whatever. My point was there was no predetermined yank point for the staff as a whole. Each pitcher is going to have a different calculus even if the results ended up being similar.
Here's an example: Chris Archer was on a general pitch limit because of his health and effectiveness. He would get pulled from a start when he neared that limit regardless of how well he was pitching, because of that limit. Joe Ryan didn't have a limit anywhere near that. The Twins were perfectly comfortable letting him run up 90-100 pitches. He got pulled from a game after 7 innings of no-hit ball, though. Why? Because he was at 106 pitches, and was slated to start against Cleveland for his next start in a game that at the time was looked at as being critical to win the division. (We weren't totally out of it by then). If it had been the last week of the season and we were already eliminated, would they have let him go longer and try for the no-hitter? We'll never know for sure, but it seems likely. The decision on when to pull Joe Ryan wasn't predetermined before the game.
let's look at Sonny Gray, since he always gets thrown into this conversation: he threw 75 or less pitches 6 times last season. 1 of those he had an injury, 2 he was making his first start coming off injury, and the remainder were games where he wasn't particularly effective (or just bad). he got pulled when he'd only given up 1 hit twice: once when he pulled up lame early in the year, and the other late in the season when he had walked 4 guys and was at 90 pitches through 5. 

This team should be good. How good depends on a number of different players stepping up, i think, but the good thing is the Twins have depth answers if/when some of them get injured or falter. There's very few players here on scholarship and they clearly are in the mode where rookies will have to force their way on to the team rather than get their shot because there's no one else. 
Position players to watch for me: Gallo (can he find his swing again and be a useful player on offense again?), Buxton (the most exciting Twin, and if he's healthy for most of the season could contend for the MVP), Miranda (can he take another step forward as a hitter and settle in as a solid 3B?), Gordon (how much power does he bring to the table?), and Kirilloff (if his wrist is right finally, he's got a sweet swing).
Pitchers to watch: Ryan (I love the way he works and if that split works for him against lefties he could be great), P. Lopez (am looking forward to watching him pitch, never saw a Marlins game last season), J. Lopez (if he can get it back together, then he's going to be a real weapon in the bullpen), Alcala (he looks healthy and has the talent to be a very effective RH reliever), and Moran (I love guys with filthy changeups. So fun!)
There's questions that need to be answered, but also a lot of upside and opportunity. I think this team is contending for the division.

It's really more about a philosophical divide. There's a number of people who are particularly agitated about this because they don't like the ways the game of baseball has changed and evolved over the past 20-30 years. Longer starts (along with things like more hit & run plays, stolen bases, bunts, and a focus on hitting for average over hitting for power) are part of what they believe makes baseball "better". Others are less concerned about it.

There wasn't a predetermined "yank point" last year either. Each pitcher was evaluated based on their track record, their health, the game situation, their effectiveness, the pitch count, who was coming up, what the status of the bullpen was, etc. the fact that our starters got yanked after 5ish inning last season had a lot more to do with their performance than any pre-determined yank point. I'm expect similar evaluations to take place this season, but with a better starting rotation, the odds of them pitching more innings is higher.
Gray gets cited all the time about being unhappy for getting pulled "early", but dude only made 24 starts last season because of various injuries and he's also said that he never got his legs under him after the fast spring training. So his lower inning totals might have something to do with protecting the pitcher from himself too. Dude can pitch, but he's also 10 years in and only thrown 150 innings in a MLB season 4 times, and made 30+ starts 4 times. He's not exactly the poster child for durability.

I just don't understand why people are so worried about this. If healthy, which we all know if a big IF, they're going to be allowed to go 95-105 pitches most times out. How many innings will that be? Hopefully 6-7, even 8. 
Probably not in the first weeks of the season, but once they get going a bit. If they're healthy... 
Obviously Maeda may have to work up a bit. They'll be careful with him. 
They'll certainly be watching Mahle's velocities, I'm sure. 
Ryan didn't pitch in 2020, pitched quite a bit in 2021 including the weird schedule due to the Olympics, and last year he was out a month with Covid and wasn't the same for weeks after that. 
I really feel like how they handled things last year was appropriate. It will certainly be different this year.
I they are healthy. 

There wasn't a predetermined "yank point" last year either. Each pitcher was evaluated based on their track record, their health, the game situation, their effectiveness, the pitch count, who was coming up, what the status of the bullpen was, etc. the fact that our starters got yanked after 5ish inning last season had a lot more to do with their performance than any pre-determined yank point. I'm expect similar evaluations to take place this season, but with a better starting rotation, the odds of them pitching more innings is higher.
Gray gets cited all the time about being unhappy for getting pulled "early", but dude only made 24 starts last season because of various injuries and he's also said that he never got his legs under him after the fast spring training. So his lower inning totals might have something to do with protecting the pitcher from himself too. Dude can pitch, but he's also 10 years in and only thrown 150 innings in a MLB season 4 times, and made 30+ starts 4 times. He's not exactly the poster child for durability.

There wasn't a predetermined "yank point" last year either. Each pitcher was evaluated based on their track record, their health, the game situation, their effectiveness, the pitch count, who was coming up, what the status of the bullpen was, etc. the fact that our starters got yanked after 5ish inning last season had a lot more to do with their performance than any pre-determined yank point. I'm expect similar evaluations to take place this season, but with a better starting rotation, the odds of them pitching more innings is higher.
Gray gets cited all the time about being unhappy for getting pulled "early", but dude only made 24 starts last season because of various injuries and he's also said that he never got his legs under him after the fast spring training. So his lower inning totals might have something to do with protecting the pitcher from himself too. Dude can pitch, but he's also 10 years in and only thrown 150 innings in a MLB season 4 times, and made 30+ starts 4 times. He's not exactly the poster child for durability.