JD-TWINS

Would love to see Culpepper but the organization has deemed he needs more time SO , AS A BRIDGE, Arcia is still better than Lewis……….today in 2026.

I referenced his slash line to date at AAA (‘26) from the article above (then I reduced his average by 80-90 points)………. if Culpepper had Arcia’s stats people would take to the streets to have him promoted. If he was “good” he wouldn’t be on our AAA roster ………. my point is he’s gotta be better than Lewis!

I agree completely on Arcia ……. the bad news is that he would be a significant step UP from Royce. Sometimes (often) the lesser of two evils makes the most sense.

OUTMAN off 40 Man …….. Lewis goes down to do some serious work on himself. I’d rather have “average defense” from Arcia and solid potential to hit .240-.250 rather than Lewis at barely average D and a .165 hitter. Gotta have a reasonable replacement for Outman’s OF spot. Kreidler probably would suffice in the OF role that Outman has been filling?

They’ve known for at least 3 years that they have no good options in the organization at 1B. Bell was assumed to play a bunch more at 1B with Larnach at DH but Bell is brutal on both sides of the ball. ……… Sabato hasn’t grabbed anybody’s eye and he’s right in front of them playing 6 days/week…… not the answer in baseball people’s eyes. I have no issue with a DFA for Bell if he’s still in this spiral 3 weeks from now……….Gotta say, much to my surprise, Clemens is becoming an “OK” option v. RH pitching. I get your frustration with Outman! However, Rodriguez has been hurt big chunks of EVERY season with every injury imaginable. Roden has been hurt the vast majority of games he’s been with the organization. Jenkins got hurt again. Those 3 were the options to replace Outman with ………… gotta be available. Criticizing Zoll for his “tendencies”, or his approach, seems a bit over the top emotion to me - he’s been in charge for 5 months and he’s 7-8 weeks into his first season. With ZERO ability to spend, btw. Everyone knew the PEN was going to have spotty success back in March. Over 7 of last 8 games, (since Cleveland series started) EXCLUDING the one game SWR started in that string of games, the STAFF (not starters) has given up 11 earned runs over 63 innings. That’s a 1.57 ERA (that includes a 9 inning Bullpen game). The offense sucks, as it has since August of ‘24………scoring and HR’s are respectable for sure but the runs are often bunched into one game, while hardly scoring for 3 other games. Bell hits 4th - Keaschall plays nearly every inning and his bat is weak - Caratini is mirroring Vazquez production - Wallner has been sent down - Lewis should be sent down - Outman is playing. SIX BIG HOLES in a 13 man roster……….Obviously, I can live with sticking with Keaschall but he’s truthfully not contributing much! Kreidler was characterized as being “the worst hitter in the majors” during spring training and he’s provided a lift to the line-up. With Lopez - Abel - Bradley all being hurt prior to May 10…………rotation pieces have really been a strength …….. SWR to PEN in next 10 days when Bradley returns.

They certainly have thrown away 3 games to date just with giving up unearned runs……. actually, Friday night and both of Prielipp’s last 2 starts unearned runs have killed them (3 of last 7) They have at least 3-4 other games (minimum) with excellent pitching and no run production. Both of these things happen in baseball with all of the Clubs…..I understand. If the TWINS had engineered 3 more wins over their first 46 games, they would be at .500 and most here would be pretty satisfied. The doom & gloom isn’t the only reality going forward: They may need to DFA Bell or figure out a way to get him on the IL for a month……. Lewis needs to follow Wallner to St. Paul …… Gotta figure out who could come up and not have a similar performance to Lewis …. it may be Arcia for a few weeks? Really think Culpepper needs a bit more time. Need a LH hitting OF to replace Outman unless he keeps playing reasonably over next couple weeks…….. PEN is spotty at best but they aren’t blowing lead after lead ……… they do not score enough runs!!! 11-13-8 in 3 games & 2-2-2-3-1-3-1 isn’t a winning formula relative to Run Production! Offense has been the problem since August of ‘24.

Wisconsin isn’t that far away, regarding the size of crowd. Typically, I would list the same names you did but honestly, I have to defend Clemens because he no longer deserves to be lumped in with these others. BELL, batting 4th (or at all), is as big if a problem the Team has over the last month.

All the hitters have the same coaches. Over the Winter Royce chose to hire a personal hitting coach to help him improve. I don’t know if abandoning that to get back to where he was last year makes much sense? (not exactly stellar results in ‘25) I do know that hitting coaches do not promote moving your feet away from the plate and toward the plate nearly simultaneously while the ball is nearing the plate. He looks like a fool on many pitches and HE’s the guy that needs to fix himself!

Understood. My central point is that if a Team has a challenge to review the play, the play should be “reviewable”. To me, the umpire should make a single call………not a call and then deciding to 2nd guess himself, confer with the other 3 and change his call.

Hi is ERA is 3.32 ……….. not sure how much more effective he can be over his first handful of starts?

Salary, yes…….it’s May 15th though ……..and on April 15th he could have been in the MVP conversation. I’m not very pleased with his last month! His bat path to the ball often looks like a golfer. His track record shows that it’s highly probable that he rights himself sometime in the next 30 days. 3 weeks ago Clemens was nearly unplayable ………things change. Lewis & Wallner got lots of leash and they have Options. Bell isn’t going anywhere until the “change of scenery trade” somewhere prior to deadline. Caratini is the new Vazquez ……. he’s here at least until July of ‘27.

How about $$ on Luis Arraez with Jackson as 2nd Catcher? Best bullpen in baseball can’t win or save games when offense scores 1, 2, & 3 runs! There are options to strengthen the PEN with SWR making a move - Prielipp or Matthews landing there - Klein - Sands coming back. Combination of these 5 guys displaces at least 3-4 of the current PEN.

The umpire on top of the play called the runner out - right call as tag was applied when runner’s foot was 10-12” from Lewis foot. THEN the umpire noticed Lewis got spiked & it then occurred to him that Lewis foot must have been in the base path. The 3rd base umpire drove the decision & plead his case for reversing his own call t……. the flaw is that it can’t be reviewed. If a Team that this call goes against can challenge, it’s a tolerable rule, IMO. Can’t review every umpire call but can Challenge for a review when needed. Out of challenges, you are then SOL.

July 1st potential PEN ……. for 2nd half of season: Assuming Abel & Bradley are OK in upcoming weeks. Orze - Festa - SWR - Rojas - Morris - Funderburk - Sands - Rogers(?) - Klein or Culpepper - Matthews or Prielipp …….. these guys are options based on their own & others health…………..Festa - Prielipp - Morris - Rojas - Matthews are all potential 2 innings guys x 2 outings per week. Banda & Topa will be gone at some point in July. SWR has to transfer to PEN as soon as Bradley is back! ………hopefully, just days away. Loose end vets like Garcia & Gomez will be DFA’d in the not too distant future. Bowman & Brebbia can’t crack the squad now, so I don’t see it happening going forward.

Simple, if he (Kreidler) shows up as a decent Big League hitter, he’s in the line-up at 3B or SS or CF, 4 of 6 games per week. Just 7-8 weeks ago I repeatedly saw here that Kreidler was maybe the worst hitter in professional baseball - right?? ………use him while he’s hot - I agree. The offense may be fleeting? He needs to face LH starting pitching 100% & an occasional starter v. RH pitching. Later game defensive replacement, as needed. I think he could take Outman’s spot, longer term, due to versatility as other LH outfielders become healthy and are performing at AAA. He looks more athletic than Lee or Gray and seems comfortable in the OF. He seems to add to this group of 13.