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JD-TWINS

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Everything posted by JD-TWINS

  1. JD-TWINS
    Happens 162 games per year - tough/bad calls when linked to certain situations magnify their disappointment! I agree with your statement but same thing may happen again today - gotta play better.
  2. JD-TWINS
    No lefties in the Pen could be where we make hay v. the Astros……….patience with starters ……….get pitch count up and then let’s extend their Pen. If we can set a pattern in Houston we can roll once back in Minnesota. Mid fifties back in Minnesota next week for high temperatures………hopefully, some mild advantage!
  3. JD-TWINS
    To finally have pushed Emilio Pagan to the 8th spot in the bullpen is refreshing, particularly since he’s pitched really well in ‘23 as a whole! We have enough talent in our pen to demote Funderburk - not because of performance but just due to a lack of experience relative to the other guys down there. We may see him back if we get to longer series! Paddack - Maeda - Varland - Stewart as add on’s to our core 4 seems like a fairytale. We have 4 solid starters as well - regardless of how things work out with Houston, have to be happy with the Staff assembled!!!!
  4. JD-TWINS
    Duran deserves more praise - he’s so talented & because of that he makes it seem easy. Back to back days with 2 run lead in his first national game - first playoffs - CLUTCH! I do feel the same about Jax - the difference between Thielbar or Jax, if they struggle, somebody else comes in the game. Duran is on an island in the 9th.
  5. JD-TWINS
    Is Taylor on a 2year deal or a FA after the season. My assumption is that Kepler is a lock to have his option picked up. ………,Polanco, is difficult to let go but he’s physically not right. Lee will be ready mid-year…….Polanco’s salary savings pays for the 6 or 7 arbitration guys we want to keep.
  6. JD-TWINS
    Can’t imagine Farmer’s price going down from ‘23 ……should sign him for up to $7.5M range, particularly if the plan is to have Lee up by June/July and then NOT to pick up Polanco’s option. Luplow is gone. Would be surprised if Nick Gordon is around still at Spring Training. They won’t roster him ahead of Castro after how this year went for them. He doesn’t have any options left. ……really like Gordon but Castro displaces him. DeLeon probably doesn’t get an offer. If so, no raise after lack of availability in ‘23. Extending Kirilloff in mid-season is a good move if he’s having a decent year.
  7. JD-TWINS
    Julien - Polanco - Lewis are all in the line-up now. Best offense we can muster with our club. Polanco at 3B, while he’s made 2 poor plays (1 throwing error), keeps Lewis healthy enough to keep playing & helps us avoid opposition from picking on Lewis and forcing him to charge balls and stress his leg, via the bunt. Buxton is hurt.
  8. JD-TWINS
    Ryan won’t throw in relief but they may go with a bunch of guys if there’s any trouble early. Maeda does present a different style that could play well against an aggressive team.
  9. JD-TWINS
    Ober has a 2.08 ERA since his break at end of August. Always seems very levelheaded on the mound. I am sure they mentioned this start as part of the potential plan when they didn’t roster him for WC. Plenty of time to try and prepare mentally. We have to start scoring 4 runs in games or we’re going to get beat. He can keep the Astros at 2-3 runs through 5 plus innings! The BeanCounter data above shows Ober’s success against good line-ups. I’m thinking if he gets through 4 and has given up a couple, Maeda is probably the likely bridge through the 7th…….then back to hard throwers!! I feel as good with him starting as with any of our guys. Hope he shines for the national audience - he deserves some attention.
  10. JD-TWINS
    Altuve - Bregman - Alvarez - Tucker - McCormack - Peña - Abreu - etc. …………..not sure where the holes are in their line-up? 4/5 veteran relievers & Verlander - Valdez - Brown - Javier are all ready to go!! We stack up OK - won both series with Houston this year, 2 of 3. Ober’s composure early & our ability to stay patient at the plate will dictate our success on Saturday.
  11. JD-TWINS
    Gotta start López in Game 2 so if necessary he’s available on regular rest for a Game 5. There’s no game playing with holding guys back - not in a 5 game Series………step on their throat!!
  12. JD-TWINS
    Gotta throw best guys on regular rest & not be concerned with first game outcome. This sets up for López for Game 2 & then to be available on regular rest for a potential Game 5. Ryan’s spilts at home v. on the road are considerably different. Ryan will throw Game 4 in Minneapolis.
  13. JD-TWINS
    Sticking with Kepler seemed like nothing but a financial move - similar to Gallo, started down a path and weren’t going to waste money changing course. Max turned it around (not the FO) but the organization’s commitment is to be applauded. Gallo was kept around for depth & clubhouse continuity & I got that about August 15th. I even said he’d be on the IL in September just to keep him around. It all worked out. The better move, outside of the Pagan crystal ball decision, was to not go get anybody at the deadline for the Pen. I understood that move around September 1st. It became obvious that the Guardians punted at the deadline so why should we knee jerk? Because we needed help - maybe? Then it became apparent that Varland was being considered an option as Maeda had always been. Then Funderburk showed up & was all we could ask for in small bits down the stretch! Who really believed Stewart was coming back or that Paddack was for real? Add these guys to the “core four” and we’re golden in October. I saw a stat the other day that had our current 9 bullpen guys with a 2.84 ERA for this season. Couple that with Gray - Lopez - Ober - Ryan and I like where we are at for the postseason!
  14. JD-TWINS
    If we were asked, “who pitched the best, relative to expectations?” …….I would say Ober for sure. Stats shown above & they are rock solid!! 3.43 ERA & 145 K’s in 144 innings is excellent for a “5th starter”. BTW, doesn’t walk many guys either. We’ve seen Duran & didn’t think it was a fluke. Sonny Gray is in his 10th year or so & is/was expected to lead our staff. We traded for Lopez & almost immediately extended him. Mahle blew up. Ryan’s year didn’t compare to Ober after getting 13 W’s last year……I think we all expected what we got if not a little bit better - right?
  15. JD-TWINS
    No reason to argue about who was MORE valuable IMO. BIG Contributions from a handful of guys mentioned here…….not hating, but didn’t understand the mention of Polanco? He was expected to be a core guy and our starting 2nd baseman. His contributions were expected to me. This may be corny but I give the majority of praise to FO for bringing in Taylor - Solano - Castro!! For about $7.5M these 3 guys were quite a bit of the glue on this roster!
  16. JD-TWINS
    “clutch is hard to measure…….but easy to see” His brain & experience are his biggest value going forward ……within that, being clutch. Well said Jocko!
  17. JD-TWINS
    Ryan’s splits on the road v. home beg one to have him start in Minneapolis. Ober for Paddack as you suggest. Ober in Game 1 in Houston. Leave Maeda in the Pen for crucial long situation. Ober - Lopez - day off - Gray - Ryan - day off Lopez if needed.
  18. JD-TWINS
    I agree - didn’t see slippage in defense at all as some elude to here. Got a hit off Kikuchi in a tight spot the other day in game 2 - clutch! 2nd half ……July 1 on, was excellent baseball all around from Kepler…….I was on the DFA bandwagon by early June. He improved almost more than could have been hoped for…………
  19. JD-TWINS
    Context: How many games have you watched the day after “a bullpen game”?……then add……. How many with one rest day until the playoffs start? Absolutely no reason to burn up bullpen guys & not have them available Tuesday so we can win a meaningless game in Colorado to get us from 87 to 88 wins. Do we think as fans we are more competitive or want another win more, at our core, than Baldelli? Ridiculous! He’s has the job of managing the team & he did what was best for the team going forward…….difficult for him & team to punt. it it was the right move.
  20. JD-TWINS
    As of this evening it sounds like Lewis is out…..at least that’s the feel I got when I saw him answering questions later this afternoon. Bat roster - 14 guys: Julien-Polanco-Kirilloff-Kepler-CC-Wallner-Jeffers-Larnach-Castro Stevenson or Buxton-Solano-Farmer-Taylor-Vazquez 12 pitchers: 3 starters Jax-Pagan-Paddack-Funderburk-Maeda-Varland-Thielbar-Duran-Stewart
  21. JD-TWINS
    Can’t afford to use up Pen arms Sunday after a Bullpen game on Saturday. Only one off day prior to Toronto Series & don’t want guys to be off limits for Tuesday’s first game. Entirety of baseball played each other this year. We did play our Division 13 games each. Every other team played their Division foes 13 games each. Thinking whether we played Oakland & Colorado and others in 2nd half has more weight than if we played them in a different portion of their season seems silly to me. So we’re 4 better before the break & 4 worse after the break…….still 87 wins. Stay tuned is right……hoping for a Saturday game! ………………………. ROSTER I see w/o Lewis: (he sounds doubtful) Julien - 2B, Polanco 3B, Kirilloff - 1B, Kepler - RF, Wallner - LF, Correa - SS, Larnach - DH, Jeffers - C, Castro - CF Maybe DH Solano and keep Larnach as a LH bat off the bench? Vazquez - Solano - Taylor - Farmer - Buxton or Stevenson 12 pitchers (3 starters) - (9 relievers)
  22. JD-TWINS
    Neither………..So would the author with his “Option 2”.
  23. JD-TWINS
    Can’t afford to use up Pen arms Sunday after a Bullpen game on Saturday. Only one off day prior to Toronto Series & don’t want guys to be off limits for Tuesday’s first game. Entirety of baseball played each other this year. We did play our Division 13 games each. Every other team played their Division foes 13 games each. Thinking whether we played Oakland & Colorado and others in 2nd half has more weight than if we played them in a different portion of their season seems silly to me. So we’re 4 better before the break & 4 worse after the break…….still 87 wins. Stay tuned is right……hoping for a Saturday game!
  24. JD-TWINS
    ………forgot to mention (against my rants) that the FO stuck it out with not only Pagan but my favorite candidate to be DFA’d through June, Max Kepler. Gotta be one of the top 3-4 reasons the Twins got to this spot with this record……playing as well as any RF in baseball for 3 months! Also, the FO knew when the time had come to let Jorge López move on to a new opportunity.
  25. JD-TWINS
    ESPN is the only platform…….pretty accessible.
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