LA Vikes Fan

I agree on what has to happen. I wonder if switching lineup positions might help change their perspective or relieve some pressure, thus leading to better ABs. I think it's unlikely that Gordon can be a long term leadoff hitter but I do think what he showed the second half of last year might be repeatable in the short term. It's worth a shot and would help quite a bit if he can get on base. I think we can see that hitting Kepler 1, Correa 2, and Gallo any where near the middle of the lineup isn't working right now. Let's shake things up and see if an alternate arrangement can work better. It would be difficult to have it work any worse. .

The current lineup isn't working and hasn't worked for awhile. It's great that Farmer is back but Farmer isn't likely to provide the lineup spark we need. He was 0 for his last 11 with 8 strikeouts before he got hurt. If you look at the lineup/26 man roster realistically, who can be that spark? The only possible answer I see is Gordon - 6 for his last 20 with 2 HRs. Solano can't play defense anywhere on the field so he doesn't have much value if Buxton is the DH. I guess we now know why Solano was available. I would actually consider DFAing him for Julien or Hellman. We need to shake up the lineup - Correa can't hit #2 and we need a better leadoff hitter. Kepler has actually performed . . . well, like Kepler usually performs - a streaky .213/.308.427 (.735). We can argue if he should play regularly, but it's hard to argue he should lead off. How about this for a lineup shakeup? Gordon LF Buxton DH Kirilloff 1B Polanco 2B Correa SS Kepler/Gallo RF Jeffers/Vasquez C Gallo/Farmer 3B Taylor CF The other thought I have is to DFA Solano or demote Castro and force feed Julien or Hellman up here. If it's Julien, lead him off at 3B, move Gordon to the 6 hole, bench Gallo and move Kepler to #8. I don't like that as much as I like the lineup above. To be honest, I don't really like either but I think they are the best we can do and I think both lineups are better than what we are trotting out every day. A shakeup also tells guys like Correa and Gallo that they have to earn their lineup spots; nothing is just handed to you. Thoughts? I can't come up with anything better. . .

Agreed. Farmer isn't likely to be the spark we need. He was 0 for his latt 11 with 8 strikeouts before he got hurt. If you look at the lineup/26 man roster realistically, who can be that spark? The only possible answer I see is Gordon - 6 for his last 20 with 2 HRs. Solano can't play defense anywhere on the field so he doesn't have much value if Buxton is the DH. I guess we now know why Solano was available. I would actually consider DFAing him for Julien or Hellman. We also need to shake up the lineup - Correa can't hit 2 and we need a better leadoff hitter. Kepler has actually performed . . . well, like Kepler this year - .213/.308.427 (.735). We can argue if he should play regularly, but it's hard to argue he should lead off. How about this for a lineup shakeup? Gordon LF Buxton DH Kirilloff 1B Polanco 2B Correa SS Jeffers/Vasquez C Gallo/Farmer 3B Taylor CF Thoughts? I can't come up with anything better. . .

This is unfortunate but probably the correct call both for the short term needs of the Twins, and for Miranda's long term development. It's not unusual for a player to really struggle in his first two or three years. Hopefully this will just be another step in the journey as the kids say today. It's also good to see the team at least trying to shake things up a little since we can't score runs. It will be interesting to see what they do at 3B. I'm intrigued by the idea of Gallo there short term, opening up LF for Gordon to play. The problem is that Farmer was slumping badly right before he got hurt (0-11 in his last 4 games before the injury with 8 SOs) and Gallo isn't hitting at all (0-23 before his hit last night) so I'm not sure we need to find either of them a place to play. Gordon is actually starting to hit a little better (6 for his last 20 with 3 HRs), so I'd like to find Gordon a spot in the lineup before i worry too much about finding ABs for Farmer or Gallo. I don't see Gordon at 3B so I don't see another way to fit him in unless we either play Gallo and Farmer at 3B, or sit Taylor, Gallo, or Kepler. We need to find a spark somewhere so I'd like to see Gordon get a shot at regular playing time. No that he's great, but he's the best shot we have to find someone who can get hot on the 26 man roster.

Well, we know what Farmer is he has played in the bags for a while. He is a decent, but not great fielding SS who will probably be a good fielding third baseman, who doesn’t hit much. Hits left-handed pitching pretty well, doesn’t it right handed pitching much at all. Is that better than Miranda? Short term, maybe, long-term, hopefully not even close to be in the same. The only reason to put it in Farmer over Miranda is if Miranda’s hurt, which is my theory, or if he needs to go to AAA for a reset. We just don’t want to be a position of depending on Farmer.He can be a couple week fill in, but no more. Having said all that, I can see making a change if the shoulder really is hurt. I would put him on the IL and then send him to AAA for a week or two. In the interim, let’s alternate Gallo and Farmer at 3B.

This. Bring him up when you can and either put Taylor on the Il (back) or DFA Solerno. I like Solerno but he can't play in the field anywhere even close to competently and he has no power. He is unlikely to be claimed, so take the risk and if he gets through and is willing to stay in the org send him to AAA as insurance. If not, he's 35 and isn't going to be on the team next year anyway. Having 6 guys for the 1B, LF, CF, RF, and DH spots is not ideal but is workable. It's especially workable when you have slump prone players like Gallo (.095/.296/.238 last 7 games) and Larnach (.174/.259/.217 for same 7), injury prone players like Buxton, and a couple of guys who just aren't very good hitters like Taylor and Kepler. I wish one more of these 6 were Rh hitters but some times you just have to live with the pain.

How about Kirilloff for Solano? I know that leaves us a little short of RH hitters. To me though, Solano really has a limited role as a RH DH/occasional 1B. He really is pretty awful in the field so he offers little or no defensive value, is just a singles hitter with no power, and is 35 years old so he isn't part of the future. Solano is really the most limited player we have. That leaves us with 6 guys for 1B, LF, CF, RF, and DH and that's not counting Gordon so it isn't ideal. It would basically mean that Gordon becomes a true utility player who spends at least some time in the infield at 2B. It does give us our best bats at the major-league level unless you think that Solano is better than Larnach. I can see the argument that Larnach should go back to AAA and try to re-find his stroke. Still, I would rather have him at the MLB level even if he's only playing 3 days a week. Bring up Kirilloff before the 20 days run so you preserve his option, DFA Solano who will probably pass through waivers given his limitations and age, and then replace Castro with Farmer when he is ready to come back. I suspect that the end of Kirilloff's 20 day free period and Farmer's return will be pretty close together so I say have those 2 replace Solano and Castro and go from there. Of course, injuries will probably rear their ugly head before then and solve the problem for us.

Agreed. That's a big advantage to having two decent catchers - you can start the one who's hitting more often and go back and forth. Vasquez needs a break.

I'm not sure the Twins will put Lewis back in CF given that he got hurt last time he played there on what didn't look like that unusual of an athletic move for an OF. I think he is more likely to play LF or even 2B with Polanco moving to 1B. We'll know more when we esee what he plays during a rehab stint.

I agree. Putting Kepler in CF seems like a better path to the same goal. It’s a tough one though since Taylor has actually played very well. Still, I think Kirilloff is at least a week or two of playing 5 games a week away from being called up.

My thinking is that Kirilloff won't be called up unless there is path to playing time roughly every day. There isn't now with Buxton at DH unless we're going to sit Larnach, Gallo, or Kepler regularly while Buxton is the DH. The only way to get all 5 in the lineup regularly - which should be the goal - is to have one of them in CF regularly with Taylor on the bench. Normally I would say bench Kepler but he has been our best hitter the last 7-10 games. I'm not ready to say that Kirilloff represents an upgrade over any of the 5 RF/LF/1B/DH options unless you take Buxton out of that mix but putting him in CF 4-5 times a week. Is he an upgrade over Gordon or Castro? Sure at the plate, but Kirilloff can't play in the IF outside of 1B os you sacrifice some depth and maneuverability if you drop one of those guys. Besides, Castro goes when Farmer comes back. Solano? Tough one since hits better than Kirilloff has shown and he's RH and we need RH bats. Even if Kirilloff comes up for Solano or Gordon, there's no place to play him regularly unless we bench Taylor. That's why Buxton playing CF is the key to me.

This tells you that AK coming up is probably dependent on Buxton playing CF 3-4 times a week. Taylor plays CF when Buxton DHs or sits and one of the other 3 or Kepler sits when Taylor is in CF and Buxton is the DH. I think that's been the plan all along.

Isn't that just special. Sounds like the Ober v. Varland discussion may be moot. It looks like we re going to need them both. Right posterior elbow soreness sounds like at least a 15 day IL stint.

Just tuned in. Why did Mahle go out after only 4 innings?

I don't think you're wrong but I would looks at it slightly differently. I think Ober can handle 6-7 inning stints, but I don't think he can handle 150-175 innings this year. I thought going into this year that it would be great to find a way to take the 30-35 starts and 200-225 innings from #5 starter spot and give 15 starts/100 innings to Maeda coming of TJ and 15 starts/100 innings to Ober after he only pitched 56 MLB innings last year and 92 the year before. Il stints may be the best way to do that. Both Ober and Maeda only have so many bullets to fire this year - let's manage them so they aren't wasted in AAA. Throw in varland and you have that spot covered with a little room for the inevitable IL stints for Gray and Mahle.

I think the concern is not just yesterday's results, but the fact his fastball was at 87-88 MPH. Everyone can have a bad day. Very few pitchers can survive at the MLB level with an 87-88 MPH fastball. Suggest he isn't ready to pitch after the surgery yet.

I like the idea of Gallo 6 and Kepler 8. Not thrilled with Buxton leading off but in the absence of a tradional lead off guy, which we don't have, I'm good with him getting the most ABs. Like this lineup.

I agree. I think that while Ober would need to stay in AAA 15 days since he was optioned, he can come back immediately to replace a pitcher put on the IL. We shouldn't need a starter in Maeda's spot until next Tuesday 5/2 in Chicago so there is time to think.

Maeda either hasn't recovered, isn't ready or just hasn't yet come back all the way. All of those lead to Ober taking his spot. In a way, him leaving with the trainer again may give the Twins the "cover" they need to make a switch. I hope (and predict) that he goes on the 15 day IL in the next day or two. Ober comes up to take his spot in the short term. I would like to see Maeda go on a rehab assignment to AAA after recovering from whatever is bothering him. On the positive side though, Headrick has pitched pretty well. He may be the long reliever we need.

I didn't either but it makes sense based on his performance. He has ben rocked in AAA.

I don't think any of us want to give up on Moran. The question is whether he's ready for a steady big league relief role on a (hopefully) contending team. It frankly doesn't look like he is. I would like to see him back at AAA working out his inconsistencies. We just don't have the bullpen depth at the MLB level as long as we insist on keeping Pagan. I just saw that Brock Stewart is up. Let's see how he does since really the AAA relievers worth calling up appear to be Stewart, De Leon, or maybe Shulfer. If he does well, Moran can go back.

Nice win. Polanco’s return is key to the lineup. Do we have anyone available in AAA to replace Moran? He just can’t throw enough strikes right now. I know we have 49 man issues. Maybe Winder tomorrow or Wednesday?

SWR is probably in only as an emergency long man or for mop up innings since today was his day to start in St. Paul. My guess is that he goes down for Sunday's starter, probably Ober. Having Julien up was fun but he seemed a bit overmatched. It's probably good for him to get a taste of MLB life, and then go and work on some things at AAA. He'll be back before the season is over absent perfect health on the MLB side.

I agree. I recognize I may be more optimistic than most but would add Larnach to that group who carry the fate of the team. He is slowly learning to hit breaking pitches better. He could be a #5 or #6 hitter on a contending team. I would love to see the "A" July lineup being Polanco, Correa, Buxton, Kirilloff, Miranda, Larnach, Lewis, Gallo, Vasquez.

We need three things for this offense to be competent (1) the 2019-2022 Polanco in the lineup most every day, (2) Correa and Buxton to heat up to their average levels, and (3) 2-3 bats to emerge from the group of Larnach, Miranda, Gordon, Kirilloff, and Gallo. Kepler and Michael Taylor won't save us, Julien, Vasquez, Jeffers, are all crap shoots. Lewis can help but that's a ways off. Solano is a nice bench player, but that's it. I think there's a good likelihood of numbers 1 and 2 happening. The key for this season is consistent competent hitting from 2-3 of the aforementioned 5 - .750 plus OPS stuff, not All Star stuff. I give that a better than 50% probability but it is no certainty. And if that doesn't happen, we're in for a long year.