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JD-TWINS

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  1. 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,
  2. 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!
  3. 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.
  4. 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!
  5. 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?
  6. 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!!
  7. 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.
  8. 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?
  9. 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.
  10. 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?
  11. 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.
  12. 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!
  13. 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?
  14. 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.
  15. 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.
  16. JD-TWINS
    Gallo hits 25 plus HR & bats .230, he’ll get 60-70 RBI. I think he’ll get 450 AB’s between LF -RF - 1B. If a guy can play well defensively at 3 positions and provide offense shown above, he’ll have a real shot at Comeback Player of Year…..would be fantastic!
  17. JD-TWINS
    Sometimes you bring guys up for a couple weeks just to let them experience the SHOW. When they are really needed the 2nd or 3rd time up, they aren’t awestruck. Mr Julien is case in point……….next guy to get a taste will probably be Mr Lee.
  18. JD-TWINS
    Lopez signing is a great piece of FO work over the past 4-5 months! I have typed here 3-4 times now, sign Gray ASAP for 2 years with an $8-$10/year raise. It may be steep but the 2 yr. term reduces x team risk a bunch. Let Mahle walk. Maybe, give Maeda an offer as long reliever for $6-$7M range. Let’s see if he keeps getting guys out. We’ll have money after Gallo - Kepler - Mahle - Polanco - Taylor - Solano……about $47M total……..replace the 6 guys above with youth at $4.8M total. Spend $13M on Pablo & $10M on Gray. Still leaves $19M to get creative with on other guys.
  19. JD-TWINS
    Since this comment was written we’ve extended López through ‘27. Great move & nice deal for all! Mahle is mediocre & I watched him for 3.5 years here in Cinti…….thought the same of his mental make-up when he was here. Decent stuff - no guts - tries to strike everyone out “just off the edge” & walks guys - gets behind - throws too many pitches - gives up homers. Ryan will be around to extend next year. I would offer Gray an $8-$10 per year raise. Too much money but with that amount we keep the term to only 2 years. Get it done ASAP! Good for both sides.
  20. JD-TWINS
    I hope Ober gets a nod at some point, he deserves it - injury to others is his path forward though, so I’m not really excited about that. Top 3 guys in rotation are in for the year regardless of performance (if healthy) so his spot starts would be for Mahle or Maeda. If he pitches well it makes it difficult not to displace one of them. I think Kiriloff is out of options so he comes up in May or has to go on IL again, my assumptions. Gallo at 1B has worked. I really don’t like our probable move if Kiriloff comes up……..Larnach down. Some of this depends upon Farmer’s short-term health but when the original 26 man is healthy, Larnach is odd man out. That is unless Kepler “pulls a hamstring” or something. Lewis - unless we’re really struggling, mid-July at the earliest. Can’t rush this after two injuries of same knee.. Lee - roster expansion guy in September. Polanco - can’t be soon enough in April! I do think 4 guys above are all rostered to start ‘24 & Polanco may get moved this year at dead-line. Only if Lee/Julien/Lewis are truly ready! Jorge is a good veteran to keep & have around for playoffs but don’t see him in the ‘24 line-up.
  21. JD-TWINS
    Yes. New money for him starting in ‘24 - his motivation, along with the guaranteed $.
  22. JD-TWINS
    We just played the Yanks, team tied with us for 3rd best record in baseball. We got 3 outstanding pitching outings from starters/relievers! Seems a number of people are disappointed with a series split - don’t get it? Yesterday, Cole cruises through any line-up in baseball. Great start to year - hoping for 2 of 3 in Boston & getting back to Target Field. Boston is 8-8 and we face Chris Sale tonight so nothing is a given!
  23. JD-TWINS
    Super early - correct! Pretty sure the starters not giving up runs is the reason they are pitching into the 6th & 7th innings - not some green light by the front office. Love Vázquez as well!
  24. JD-TWINS
    Mahle doesn’t have mental make-up to be a quality MLB arm. He pitches away from contact to a fault. Throws too many pitches & gives up too many HR. I watched him here in Cinti for 3 plus years - still same guy. 4.25ERA guy….Ober, even as a health risk, is a better option. I hope Mahle proves me wrong but I just don’t think he has the IT!
  25. JD-TWINS
    BTW: Granted, all through 16 games…… Solano - a plus Taylor - a plus P. Lopez - BIG plus Farmer - a plus Gallo……not a complete failure, w/risk taken Bullpen construction - looking good Let’s take a few breaths before asking for the FO to get fired or resign. Awfully lot of things falling into place!
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