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JD-TWINS

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  1. JD-TWINS
    Not worried about the players security shown here - tens of $millions earned - they seem like an odd group to want to support or worry about. Minor leaguers - guys that don’t meet MLB service time minimums, yes! The topic was how are guys doing that were former Twins - Luis Arraez is killing it!! Contested others here about his inability to play defense - his lack of power - his probable inability to stay healthy………long way to go, I understand. Right now though, he’s the best hitter in the game. I was down on the trade for López from 2 months prior to a couple weeks after. Realized trade was for Twins best interest & now that we’ve extended Pablo I’ll never look back.
  2. JD-TWINS
    Buxton can be an electric presence in the line-up. He’s capable of hot streaks that are sweet to watch and some real ugly slumps. He is often the same electric presence in the OF & it upsets fans he’s not giving it (us) his all as a daily DH. IMO, using him as DH & having him playing 90% plus of the time - thus giving him a chance to carry us for a game or 3 once in a while is worthwhile. Buxton through 21 games v. career. 2023……………….Career OBP .316 ……………….. .301 BA. .243 ……………… .244 OPS. .759 ………………. .773 SLG. .443. ……………… .472 OPS+ 114. …………………. 108 Guy isn’t going to change in his 9th year. Just hoping for plenty of the 2-3 game streaks that help us win games! Hopefully, being healthy and playing 80-90% of the time v. his track record of 47% of games in 7 of 8 years gets us wins in ‘23.
  3. JD-TWINS
    It’s over - no bearing on what’s happening day to day in ‘23. I do hope Martin’s arm is OK & he can progress to give us some help next year or turn into a trade chip for some help. SWR is OK…..not great. If he were he’d be in our rotation. He got up above 90 pitches within 36 hours of getting called up so the fact that he tired is reasonable. Yesterday’s issue was the lethargy most guys seemed to be captured by. I get it was ridiculous weather - same for both teams & you’d hope guys living there could be better with the mental adjustment! Vázquez can’t let the slider go off his glove as López was working his way out of a jam by striking out the side - free run. Taylor cannot drop a ball that hits the pocket of his glove & then give up another base by throwing behind the runner - at least one if not two free runs. All of a sudden we’re down 4 runs after two National’s at bats & it’s 34F…….bad day!! Correa 3 hits - Buxton drew a walk & hit a home run……..looking for bright spots. IMO……would be fantastic to salvage 6 of 10 in this home stand…….down two early. 6 wins gets us to a 17-12 April which sounds nice to me.
  4. JD-TWINS
    Moran is what he is…….gonna walk guys to start potential rallys & strike guys out to get out of them. Hopefully, his change-up is sharp enough to get 3 outs at a time w/o much damage. Same kind of description for the bottom 4 guys in most MLB bullpens. Just hope he sharpens his nerve & focus to not let walks bury him. I like what I see below in a post - a thought I expressed as a possible idea after he got punched at beginning of spring training - Balazovic as another Griffin Jax type of guy out of the Pen. Looks like we are grooming him now for potential mid-summer help. He’s basically taking Megill’s spot as another hard throwing right hander - good luck Jordan!
  5. JD-TWINS
    He’s averaged 46% of the games (74) in 7 of 8 years. Gotta do something different or we pay him to sit half the year. Open to suggestions……..something other than “just play him til he gets hurt & who knows, maybe he won’t”. Are you concerned with $ he’s being paid? We have a gold glove CF playing every day - so our defense isn’t suffering.
  6. JD-TWINS
    Agreed on Moran. He’s starting to look like he may be unfixable at MLB level and needs to develop some command of the zone in more Minor League work. He can’t throw strikes in good outings nor bad outings…….needs to get that better! Bringing a guy up w/o using him doesn’t make sense. Gray hasn’t looked ready to go deep into games to date so maybe SWR gets 2-3 innings on Sunday & we try to rest the Pen?
  7. JD-TWINS
    I get it - many of us were thinking the same thing! If Polanco gives up an out, they walk Miranda & we’re a double play away from ending the game…….also, a sac fly from being tied. Decisions made in today’s game are just different - sometimes very difficult to justify!
  8. JD-TWINS
    He needs a good series to get some positivity going forward - no doubt. I just keep thinking about 2022 when he hit .289 with 28 doubles & 8 HR after May 1st. Something close to that would be awesome………long way to go before we’re looking at DFAing Nick but we need some offensive contributions.
  9. JD-TWINS
    Correct! Maybe he got hypnotized before last night’s game v. Nationals………had Dr. tell him he was not DHing but actually playing CF so he could stay engaged……..2-4 in game one of the series. Baseball is a series of (0 - # off at bats) and a few (2-4’s) sprinkled in once in a while……hence the hopeful Average of .250 or better across the season. I don’t think enough emphasis has been put on Buxton’s games played to date. 18 of 20 games (90%) & that means the DH move is working. He’s batting .242…..if he had 2 more walks & 1 more home run his slash line would be exactly what we would hope for from Byron. 3 different AB results & all would be good - it’s that early. Sample size is way too small. Nobody likes to lose, especially after getting used to winning early, but gotta give him a break. Correa & Miranda, regardless of $ they make, those 2 both need to get going!!
  10. JD-TWINS
    Reviewing your 7X at 2 runs or less comment: The Royals don’t have good pitchers - we had back to back 2-0 wins in the first series of the season. “Pitchers are ahead in April….” ?? or whatever - maybe we suck? The other 5x we got two runs or less are against the 5 pitching stars we’ve faced that I mentioned originally…..Alcantara - Luzardo - Cease - Cole - Sale. It’s like facing Pablo López with better stuff 5 times out of 19 games. No reason to think we should do anything but struggle against these guys! There is no refuting this - all 5 of them are excellent. Let’s wait til May 15 before we condemn our offense. Houston’s starters - 3 game series with them -aren’t bad. Garcia - Brown - ??……Brown was very sharp as well!
  11. JD-TWINS
    Not sure why you are pointing out “up the middle strength” & then referring to guy’s offensive stats w/o ever mentioning Polanco. He’s a career .270BA - switch hitting guy with 20 plus homer power! No need to worry about when Buxton gets back to CF. Taylor & Gordon have the D covered. Don't get lost in the early offensive stats! A big part of our offensive issues as a team fall into 5 games we’ve played & lost. We mustered 6 runs against these 5 starters………… Yankees - Cole, Marlins - Alcantara/Luzardo, White Sox - Cease, Boston - Sale. ALL 5 of these guys are like running into the proverbial buzz saw. The only two w/o a former Cy Young are Cease - voted 2nd in ‘22 & Luzardo - too young to have been noticed……left hander that throws 98 Mph with 2 other pitches! We’ve lost 3 starts out of 19 starts to normal pitching - not bad! Buxton - Gordon - Kepler - CC - Miranda all need to get rolling,
  12. JD-TWINS
    We have lost 8 games: Dylan Cease - Alcantara/Luzardo - Chris Sale - D. Cole………5 of our losses are to pitchers that, when pitching well, have top 10-15 talent in all of baseball. These 5 guys gave up 6 total runs to Twins over those 5 losses. Sometimes good pitching beats anybody’s hitting! In 19 games we have scored 9 runs, 10 runs, & 11 runs twice. We have capability. Need our starting 1B & starting 2B in the line-up. Period. We’ve had some nice contributions from some of the guys brought in to be platoon players. Also, our everyday guys like Miranda - Correa - Buxton - Gordon - Kepler all need to be better - agreed. Agreed. Taylor has been very helpful to date but it won’t last v. RH pitching. Playing defense isn’t going to help Buxton’s hitting - he’s gotta figure that out with coaching help. Need Kiriloff & Polanco back to bring some level of consistency to the line-up. These 2 guys give us the ability to not regularly start guys hitting sub .200!
  13. JD-TWINS
    IMO - we can’t expect Buxton to lead this team or any team offensively. He’s a streaky - flashy guy with some power. He can win games but he can also not contribute for a couple weeks at a time. He’s not disciplined enough to let him play CF all the time so we’re trying to get the best offensive production we can from him. Corrrea - Miranda - Vazquez - Polanco - Kiriloff are the every day guys that bring some level of consistency and ability. Farmer - Taylor - Solano - Jeffers are the platoon guys v. LH pitching that can shine when used properly. Gordon hit .289 after May 1 last year along with 28 doubles……he’s part of the 1st/2nd groups once he gets rolling. Gallo - Buxton - Kepler - Larnach…….these guys all bring power & defense & not much else.
  14. JD-TWINS
    Am assuming with Polanco back & then Farmer healed up, we will start seeing Gordon in CF regularly v. RH pitching. Taylor is exactly what you described, He’s a platoon CF that would play v. RH pitching and in a health emergency v. RH pitching (what he has been doing). He’s played above his norm at the plate………same description for Solano at 1B. These 2 & Farmer have been pushed into regular duty after signing to play 35-50% of the time. Hopefully, Taylor will maintain his effectiveness as his playing time regresses over the next few weeks. He’s been a big help!
  15. JD-TWINS
    Agreed. Don’t understand the value of Buxton hitting behind Correa v. the reverse. Buxton struggles to get good pitches to hit - protect him, so to speak, with Carlos. Maybe getting Polanco & Kiriloff back will help get enough balance in the line-up to protect both of them?
  16. JD-TWINS
    He hit .385 the first week of the season - basically won 2 games v. KC by himself. Now we’re 3 weeks in……..Pitchers/Teams make adjustments & pitch to weaknesses. Buxton needs to do the same. He’s two good games away from being just fine. He’s gotta make it happen! Playing centerfield isn’t some panacea for getting his hitting squared away. I don’t think there’s any intention of him not playing CF at all……we have 143 games left to play. Taylor - 60 games…..Gordon 40 games……..Buxton 40 games is a scenario where we get him ready for any situations we may need him in CF. Remember, he’s only played an average of 46% of the games over 7 of 8 years. He may need a few mental health/rest days even at the DH role. Nothing surprising about that. Many years, really good players have two bad months to start a season. Some guys do it year after year. Some guys collapse in September. It’s a long season & individual’s success is often streaky in 8-10 day cycles of good. As long as the whole line-up doesn’t slump at once we’ll be OK. Gotta lighten up on the ultimatums for immediate performance or else……that’s not baseball. Need our two starters back on right side of IF to help stabilize things!!
  17. JD-TWINS
    I’m watching afternoon game w/Red Sox 5 days after this original post. Pagan has given up 7 hits in the 3rd inning - 5 hits after 2 outs. (one hit was a slow roller to SS and Correa was positioned up the middle) Gave up 6 runs in an inning. Middle/middle slider - middle/middle fastballs - behind 3-0 a couple times. UGLY. Unfortunately, Maeda got hit with batted ball in 2nd & am assuming he’ll be out in IL for short stint. Tomorrow, Pagan finally DFA’d & Ober up as 5th starter. After 19 games the staff will be what it should have been Opening Day! Gotta happen.
  18. JD-TWINS
    He hit .289 last year after May 1……28 doubles ……8 HR. Larnach has options & Kiriloff does not. I think he’s the only move if all other 26 guys are healthy. They may tell Max or even Gordon to “pull a hamstring” to manipulate the IL……it’s big time pro sports, I’m sure this stuff happens. Hell, Madison Bumgarner got DFA’d today at $37M per year. Maybe Max is next?
  19. JD-TWINS
    No options left - not striking out too much - just need to give him time. Again, last year he hit .289 - 27 doubles - 8 HR after May 1.
  20. JD-TWINS
    Can’t help myself, Pitching Wins Games! Gordon has no options and had too much success after May 1 last year for him to go anywhere. Castro is a short-timer for sure - seems obvious. Polanco will displace him. Farmer will take Julien’s place when he’s ready. If/when Kiriloff comes back we may need to manipulate guys through the IL to make room. Only guy I see going down after original 26 Man is ready to go is Larnach. Seems too valuable to move down…………with health, we have 2 extra guys. 3 home series in a row coming up……hopefully, we’ll get things going at the plate! Looking for a start from Ober while at home - maybe?
  21. JD-TWINS
    The offense hasn’t been stellar! Been missing 2 guys (right side of infield) that will hit between 2-6 in their line-up nearly every day. Guys meant to be platoon players (Farmer - Taylor - Solano) & a guy meant to play 70% of the time, Gordon, is ice cold at the plate, and they are all playing essentially all the time. Kepler has been blah. Buxton is streaky, to say the least. Miranda hasn’t gotten going yet. Correa hasn’t gotten going yet. That said, we’ve scored 10 plus runs in 3 of 17 games. We don’t have anyone carrying us consistently day in day out but our timely hitting is getting it done quite often. Throw in Gallo & the 2 catchers and every guy mentioned has been a big piece of 2-4 wins……every one of them. I saw in a previous comment that we were 11th in an important offensive category & 15th in another……….in the 15 team AL. If that’s the case, and we get our regulars together for a month, we’ll be dangerous! 11-7 with all these problems - that’s what good teams do, they figure out how to pick each other up & get wins.
  22. JD-TWINS
    I think we may see Ober at some point during the upcoming home stand to keep Rotation fresh. This would mean optioning somebody. If not Headrick, maybe Moran? Would be good to see him get another inning plus before going anywhere. He should be good to go by Saturday/Sunday!
  23. JD-TWINS
    Forgot my line-up v. RH pitching: 1. Gordon - CF 2. Polanco - 2B 3. Correa - SS 4. Larnach - DH 5. Kiriloff - 1B 6. Miranda -3B 7. Gallo - LF 8. Vazquez - C 9. Kepler - RF Not sure, w/o injuries to somebody, Larnach & Kiriloff can be rostered at same time?
  24. JD-TWINS
    Not a bad line-up! Just don’t see it as being realistic with our probable 26 Man Roster. 13 pitchers, a given. If Polanco & Kiriloff come back, somebody (2 guys) needs to go down. Solano, somewhat surprisingly, has cemented a spot at 1B v. LH pitching, plus a little DH/Pinch hitter. Farmer - Gordon - Jeffers - Solano - Kepler - Taylor Your OF - Larnach, Buxton, & Gallo Your DH - Julien Your IF - Vazquez, Miranda, CC, Polanco, & AK Our roster needs to have 2 less guys! Unless we decide to outright release Kepler, the OF is crowded. Julien is sent down for sure - then a tough decision needs to take place if everyone is healthy.
  25. JD-TWINS
    Gordon is Ice Cold - a little snake bit with finding holes. Julien’s lack of experience has been exposed. Farmer is out for probably a couple more weeks minimum & bats RH. We need Polanco’s presence in the line-up. The potential/probability for a more consistent offensive approach is needed. Kiriloff, assuming good health, would be a nice potential presence for consistency in the line-up as well. Can platoon Solano v. LH pitching as was intended & Gallo can give Buxton a break once in a while at DH & he can get back to corner OF as well.
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