Danchat

Perfect, it's all going according to plan... ahem. Don't mind me. In all seriousness, it's been great to see our hitters take on the likes of Kikuchi, Gausman, Taillon, and Cortes and put up some runs. Maybe the Tigers series was a blip on the radar and not a trend.

Not sure why he wasn't running on his way to 2nd when the ball fell, he's either out or making it to 2B.

Fair enough, I think I over-embellished by saying "good chunk", I didn't put much in so I don't win a whole ton.

I did, I went a little on NYY -1.5 at 2.15 odds (decimal system) and also on NYY win at 1.64. I noticed the lines shifted to about 1.8 and 1.5 respectively before the game started, so it seemed the sharp money was going towards the Yanks. Aren't you being a too hyperbolic? I'm putting a very small amount of money on a matchup that has historically resulted in a 75% chance of victory. Is it a bad strategy? Sure, I can get why you say that, it's based upon a narrative rather than the actual factors of the game. But the worst? Dude, I know people who pay social media influencers to give them their 'special picks' and lose way too much money, sometimes falling for the Martingale trap (doubling your bet after a loss). The only downside of this strategy is that I lose a very small amount of cash - that coincides in the Twins ending their struggles against the Yankees.

Again? Are you referring to yesterday, or some other time? Look, it's up to the Twins to start beating the Yankees. They can feel free to any time, and then it will be a lesson learned and I'll stop.

Game Thread: Yankees @ Twins 6:40pm 6/8/2022 Lineups Nestor Cortes LHP (5-1, 1.50 ERA, 68 SO) Chris Archer RHP (0-2, 3.89 ERA, 32 SO) NYY 3B DJ LeMahieu R CF Aaron Judge R 1B A. Rizzo L RF G. Stanton R DH J. Donaldson R 2B G. Torres R LF Aaron Hicks S SS I. Kiner-Falefa R C K. Higashioka R MIN CF Byron Buxton R DH C. Correa R 2B J. Polanco S 3B Gio Urshela R 1B Jose Miranda R RF Max Kepler L LF G. Celestino R C Ryan Jeffers R SS Nick Gordon L For today's game thread content, let’s flash back to September of last year, to a certain recap thread of a Twins-Yankees matchup: 9/13/21. This is a post from me after the Twins lost after starting the game with a 4-0 lead: The time has come, folks. The Twins have continued to flounder against the Yanks, and now it is time for countermeasures. As a fan, this is the only thing I can do – use my bad luck against the Yankees! Starting yesterday, I (legally, mind you) bet on the Yankees and made a nice chunk of money. I will do the same the next two days, and hope that this will backfire and instead get the Twins to win. I see this as a win-win situation: I only put in money I was willing to lose, and so if the Twins win, I think it’ll be worth it! I do not recommend you follow suit unless you put down money you are okay with losing, as I don’t want to recommend gambling to anyone. And if you are ever going to bet on something, ensure it is a positive EV bet! So when the Twins somehow pull off a win today, I will take all the credit as the one who jinxed the Yankees into losing the game! You can send me your thanks in advance. Now, let’s look at the matchup for this one: Looks like only Arraez and Polanco have any experience facing Cortes, with Arraez being the only one to have a hit off him. Let’s hope our hitting against good starting pitcher continues today. On the other side, Donaldson has seen Archer a whopping 47 times and while he’s had 3 HRs, Archer usually bests him. Alright Twins, let’s beat the Yankees for once… er, well, I’d normally say that, but now my interests are conflicted. Hmmm, maybe it’s not quite of a win-win situation as I thought.

Methinks they DFA'd the wrong reliever...

Going by decade: (Yankees Wins - Twins Wins) 2020s: 7-1 (.875) 2010s: 53-21 (.716) 2000s: 57-25 (.695) Interesting that there isn't much difference between the 2000s and 2010s, despite the 5-6 year stretch of bad Twins baseball in the 2010s.

Yeah, this really wasn't a winnable one. Sands plus the bullpen was never going to hold the Yankees, even with "good" managing you maybe save 1-2 runs. Injuries are hurting, but the bullpen is also half cooked / AAAA guys and like the Chief said, that's not going to roll if you want to be a contender.

In the rare instances when Rocco hasn't been managing the past few years (the COVID stretch earlier too), I've noticed the team doesn't play any differently... Plus the same exact complaints about the bullpen continued even when Tingler was managing, even with a few folks here complaining about Rocco's decision-making ability even when he wasn't out there.

Polanco is a triple short of the cycle, but his great day is going to waste... oh, I saw Eddie Escobar hit for the cycle yesterday!

Hold on... Cano is warming up?! Minaya is at 40 pitches... ugh.

I think Rocco made the wrong call there, but the end result was probably the same even if he went to the bullpen early (giving up 1 run) - I feel like we're lucky to still be in a 2 run game.

I thought Minaya got sent down earlier today... no, I guess he's taking the 40 man spot of Ryan/Correa. I would have kept Cotton over him, but oh well...

How do you not pull Sands before Judge bats?! Not that I'm complaining, I will be making money if the Twins lose... ?

I got it at -155 right when the line came out - I had decided last year, after we got beat by the Yankees, I was going to put some money down on them - so either I profit, or the Twins win!

Are there any managers left who are a step above the rest? I had thought Girardi and Maddon were the cream of the crop (they certainly were a few years back). Can't tell if I'm just biased towards confirming my own theory that managers make a very little impact on the game, or if I'm unaware of other managers out there who are more valuable than others.

Garlick was placed on the 10 day IL, with Sands taking his place.

Could we stop blaming everything on Rocco? The plan for Buxton was crafted by a collaboration of the trainer / coaches and probably input from Falvey and Levine - it's not like Rocco is will-nilly penciling Buxton out of the lineup, he's on a defined schedule. I don't like the plan, but it's the will of the front office.

It's good they didn't trade him (there was some discussions here regarding that) - I always thought it was important to have a OBP monster early in the lineup. It helps that he's been healthy the whole year. I don't expect him to keep hitting .350 the whole year, but he's a great guy to have in the lineup.

I have more faith in Cotton and Jax than I do in Duffey at this point...

I think he'll be OK. Crisis averted!

Arraez has now hit 52 singles this year, putting him 1 behind Ty France for the MLB lead in singles...

I take exception with today - the Jays' all righty lineup vs Smeltzer, a day off tomorrow, and getting 3 relievers back from the restricted list.