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JD-TWINS

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Everything posted by JD-TWINS

  1. JD-TWINS
    Wonderful piece of writing………hang on Minnesotans!!
  2. JD-TWINS
    Duran isn’t experienced or they would have tried to get 3 Fulmer’s at the deadline & not an All-Star closer……problem is, Lopez was falling off with Baltimore a bit before we got him and he’s inexperienced as a reliever as well! He throws 4 pitches & so does Duran - not typical for a closer …….more chances to walk guys vs. a two pitch closer!! Am worried Lopez has a confidence issue with his past 45 days of so, so performances. Gotta be confident to be Closer!! I think Duran is the best choice at this point.
  3. JD-TWINS
    Arraez was supposed to DH & play some 2nd & 3rd along with spelling Sano at First when tough righties were throwing for opposition this season. Maybe 25 games at first at most - if Kirriloff was healthy he maybe plays 5 games at First. He’s leading the league in hitting - playing First regularly - 2nd in defensive metrics. He’s not tall - neither was Rod Carew……he seemed to transition from Second to First without all the hate - skepticism. Don’t get it - the guy’s played 3 positions & DHed and there’s complaining about the metrics not being accurate - why??? Sano didn’t win any gold gloves & his average is .120 points less - he’s tall though - $10 million waste in 2022! Keppler is solid & hope he earns G. Glove the balance of the year. I’ll take Correa or any other SS that’s 5th in defensive metrics……..unlike Arraez, Correa & Keppler need to continue to pick it up with the bat!
  4. JD-TWINS
    Buxton is a talent but having a guy hit .220 in the top 3 of your order is a problem. Polanco & Kepler batting 40 & 25 points under their career averages in the 4 hole, combined with Buxton & an underperforming Correa spell stagnant offense & problems winning games!!! Hence 62-58. Miranda - Urshella - Arraez - Gordon have all exceeded expectations at differing levels. They are carrying the offense. The roll players can’t drive the bus! Committed long term to Kepler/Polanco/Buxton with $35 million on Correa - they are ALL BLAH or below……anything Buxton has done with HR’s he has leveled with a lack of singles & an abundance of K’s!! The lack of “average” on offense, as you point out, is costing us the season - not the inconsistent bullpen - although, I’m sure one could create a statistical argument that bullpen is close behind in blame.
  5. JD-TWINS
    The odds of 3 catchers when roster expands are ZERO. Leon or Jeffers vs. Winder or Maeda…….with Mahle being monitored rest of regular season, at best, along with our normal #4 & #5 starters, we need as many arms as we can carry!! Buxton is hurt & will continue to do what he does - a flash every 4 or 5 games. Correa has to perform. Arraez stays consistent…….these are all givens. Can’t blow saves, again a given. Kepler or Polanco, currently 20 points under and 40 points under their career averages with drops in power (particularly Kepler) are the guys that need to shift into another gear. Urshella - Miranda - Gordon need to stay steady. Not ALL can be hot, never happens, but Kepler & Polanco need to help & not just play defense!!!
  6. JD-TWINS
    We get 2 more players September 1. Playoff eligibility rests on who is on roster as of September 1………Am looking for confirmation on both of these - correct? Somebody has to go for Mahle in Houston - in a few days - is that Sands as an “opener”? Good way to fry another 5 guys if he goes 3.1. Sept. 1 we add Smeltzer - Winder - Maeda - Moran with Pagan & Sands displaced. We use Maeda & Moran to get out of innings…..similar to Thielbar now. Winder & Smeltzer are both potential long guys. Rest of pen is used as they have been. Wiil Winder &/or Maeda be ready in 11 more days……..don’t have to pitch immediately - just improving & roster ready..
  7. JD-TWINS
    Great connection to past decades of baseball and could really describe parallels in today’s game to those of years gone by…….also, pointed out the stark changes in the game. Great demeanor - fun perspective - storyteller - ALL CLASS!! 26 years on the field & 40 years in the booth with a couple years coaching in there…….what a great ambassador of the American Passtime.
  8. JD-TWINS
    Miranda has gotten us into and/or helped keep us in most of those 43 appearances Duran has had. A bunch of the line-up took a dive after June 1 & Miranda sparked us in a bunch of the wins we’ve put together over the past 75 days! Duran has talent and I hope he can stay healthy……..he’s a really good back end guy! Ryan would have been the guy in June - has gone somewhat flat. Hope he continues to gain on his command in the zone. May take another year or two. Good enough stuff to go .500 or better in his rookie year with signs of durability - that’s a big plus!!
  9. JD-TWINS
    He’s a lifetime .232 hitter in the middle of his 7th full season. He’s currently batting .227 & he just had an 0 for 29 streak. He stole 2nd last night so I don’t want to hear more about his toe! Last year he hit .211 but had 19 homers & a higher doubles rate. Decent base runner with speed - good right fielder - under contract - will never back-up Jake Cave. I’m hopeful that 2023 elimination of infield shift gets him to .255 plus and he starts driving the ball a bit more. CANNOT bat him fourth in line-up as we did for at least a couple months.
  10. JD-TWINS
    We’re 12 days from Roster Expansion! Maeda - Smeltzer - Winder - Ober…….not Varland, just got to Triple A……all need to be on the roster (less Pagan) if they want them for playoffs. If it’s two of them & Moran I would be tickled! Start Bundy 1-4 innings and Smeltzer throws 5-7 innings………..next day Archer throws 4 and Winder throws into the 8th. Problem solved on PAPER!! MAHLE is now our problem guy with “dead arm” heading down the stretch. Maybe we should have let him throw into the 7th both starts and he would be toughened up……,..
  11. JD-TWINS
    The other angle on a FRESH guy getting the 5-9 hitters in the 6th instead of starter is because they will be more of a mismatch to the offense vs. the guy who’s throwing pitch 84 - 100 ……..regardless if he has “something special going” that night. The most durable starter we have in rotation is Mahle, since Ryan is a rookie. Mahle left in the 3rd inning with shoulder fatigue in mid-August. Was on IL in July with the Reds. Almost guaranteed to miss his next start at a minimum. Paddock, Maeda, Ober, Winder are all guys that are supposed to be helping us in 2022 - all hurt! Complaining about robotic managers is nice conversation but Archer - Bundy - Gray have all had arm/shoulder/hip/ you name it issues in their careers. We’re piecing it together & as I’ve said before, if Pagan, Duffey, Smith, occasionally Jax & Thielbar showed up (6-7 more wins, not perfection) we wouldn’t think twice about how the staff is handled!
  12. JD-TWINS
    How’d Sonny look in the 7th the other night.?? Point made. So maybe he could have faced another 10-12 guys this year if he was let to start a sixth a few more times. Then people would complain about Rocco expecting to come in & get Sonny out of a jamb with runners on base. Easy to pump your chest & be competitive but the Stats don’t lie - his ERA the 3rd time around make Pagan a more than reasonable solution. Love his competitiveness and edge but he’s being protected for his & team’s good. Take the ball and produce when & however asked!
  13. JD-TWINS
    He threw 7 pitches…….Pagan may have given up 3 runs! ……..do we think anyone in F.O. read the article in The Athletic by Gleeman a few days ago with fact after fact outlining why Pagan is worst reliever in baseball? DFA - need Moran or Smeltzer immediately.
  14. JD-TWINS
    So Sonny Gray has been an injury riddled pitcher for years - little IL visits here and there. Bundy has had major arm problems. Archer has had major arm problems & apparently an iffey hip. Maeda, Ober, Winder, Paddock are all out or have been out with arms issues. Ryan’s in his first year in the Bigs & coming off lightly used Covid years. If guys like Duffey & Pagan (few times Thielbar & Jax) performed at reasonable levels 75% of the time we would have 6-8 more wins and nobody would have heartburn over how starters are being used/protected. Guys have to perform and complaining about front office miscalculations or Baldelli’s inability to handle a staff are old!
  15. JD-TWINS
    Kepler is batting 6 points less than Polanco & 8 points higher than Buxton. We pencil them in every day they are healthy enough to play. Max has dropped 15 points over last 4-5 weeks. Way too many collars!!! Outfield play is solid - decent speed - after shift is outlawed he hits 25-30 points higher…..huge benefit for him. He should have 15-18 homers by now instead of 9, that’s my biggest complaint. He’s not a consistent guy at the plate but he can go off for a week at a time…….3 hits last night…….can only hope. Jake Cave, great guy, about the 7th outfielder in the organization when all are healthy! Larnach, Kirriloff, Kepler, Buxton, Gordon, Celistino……..assuming Garlick gets traded for youth…….I know we need a right handed bat but he’s not the guy.
  16. JD-TWINS
    Moran to Minneapolis & DFA Pagan this afternoon!! Not his fault Saturday, terrible offense for 9 innings with 14 LOB in scoring position for the game. Start the 10th & 11th with a guy at 2nd & don’t score either inning. Pathetic! Sending Pagan out after this happened TWICE was like surrendering a loss to Angels. Not to mention our two bullpen stars gave up 1 & 2 runs respectively in the 8th & 9th. Sad to watch.
  17. JD-TWINS
    Pin Stripes are cool but the only blind eye to successful years/uniforms isn’t just the FO. “Competitive years” of ‘61-75??? We sucked early, and were solid from ‘64 - ‘70. Won 74 in ‘71 & got up to 84 in ‘74. Blyleven had around a 2.5ERA in ‘73 and went 20-17. That’s how stellar our offense was. WOULD Dig the pin stripes though!!
  18. JD-TWINS
    PLAYOFFS!! Arraez batting title Buxton at 35 Hr’s Correa batting .280 Maeda - Moran - Winder - Smeltzer to bolster the PEN! We have 30% of the season left to just play sound baseball - we’ve got an upside - let’s enjoy!!!!
  19. JD-TWINS
    Anyone know how much the Rosters can expand in September now? I’m used to endless bench in September and I know that has changed - any Roster expansion in 2022?
  20. JD-TWINS
    Changes to STAFF with Smelzer, Maeda, Winder, & Moran make Jax our last option & he was #2 or #3 out of the pen a month ago. Pagan - 5.13 ERA……..Bundy 5.01 ERA & these are 2 guys we’ve been leaning on all year. Moran - 1.93 ERA ……….Smeltzer 4.02 ERA…..seems straight forward!!
  21. JD-TWINS
    1) Maeda, Maeda, & Maeda …….experienced reliever for those tough 1 1/3 middle innings!! Playoff tough from Dodger years, former high leverage reliever, & leader on TWINS staff. Maeda or Jax to get 4 outs in a tough spot??? Point made. 2) Larnach if he can get a month in prior to playoffs. Need more pop from our bench than Celistino & Beckham. 3) WINDER. Not sure why the affinity for Ober other than just no confidence in Bundy. Understood. But if it’s just because he’s tall, Winder is more solid in 2022!!! 3.77 ERA vs. plus 4.00 for Ober but Winder has started 9 games, some in every month until August. Ober started 7 games and threw a total of 33.67 innings…..another Bundy/Archer inning eater. Winder can spot start or help from the pen. STAFF changes by Sept. 1 for playoff eligibility: Winder for Bundy Moran for Pagan (Pagan & Bundy are not the answer, period.) Smelzer for Megill (Length & experience) Maeda for Sands Maeda & Smelzer bring REAL depth and capabilities to get more than 3 outs in the middle of a game. HUGE IMPROVEMENTS if they are healthy.
  22. JD-TWINS
    Anderson being out for SOX is a real big deal in their lineup! Don’t see the Guardians nor SOX as sharks in the water….not sure where that comes from???? They’ve just gotten above .500 in the last month. Haven’t heard of any 7 or 8 game winning streaks! We’re fine! Need to pick it up on offense - the inconsistent pitching is what it is……same on 27 other staffs in MLB. Can’t win a playoff game unless we get in and 29-23 does that. We just got 3 pitchers better 10 days ago. As your buddy from Wisconsin says, RELAX!…..our additions don’t stack up against Koufax but we are better and have 32% of the season left to prove it……we need 2-3 guys (of 18) to perform at a considerably higher level and we are good! If we can’t generate more consistent run production we are sunk, 4-5 runs are needed to win in MLB. We have the pieces - guys need to perform!
  23. JD-TWINS
    Lifelong TWINS fan……tired of the, “we won’t win a playoff game anyway” comments. I live in Cincinnati and how would you like to have been 3-22 at one point? Traded Gray to us prior to season & best other 2 starters at the deadline. Red’s fans have reason to seem bitter!…….The Twins went out & got guys at the deadline and our bats have been silent. Particularly our $35 million shortstop. Management isn’t to blame - they didn’t hurt Kirriloff’s wrist or Kepler’s toe or Buxton’s knee. We have a great opportunity to win the Division. We were/are supposed to have Ober & Paddock on this staff in 2022. Nobody’s fault that didn’t play out……… 29-23 wins the Division! Kirriloff - Buxton - Celestino - Kepler - Gordon in outfield……..Larnach added to current infield guys……..new SS more than likely. Kepler’s a .275-.280 guy once the shift is illegal!! Buxton for 125 games plus next year. Arraez wherever needed. Next year, Maeda with the best 3 of the current rotation and possibly $35 million to work on pitching………??get some shades for the future!
  24. JD-TWINS
    A number of us experts think 84-85 wins gets us to Playoffs. Probably 86 wins the Division - fair? Pretty sure we can go 29-23 the last 52 games without some savior (Larnach or Maeda)! The guys on IL for weeks & months can’t be the answer - nice bonus but not the key! Buxton has and will remain athletic & fun as well as hurt 40% of the time. Correa, Miranda, Urshella, Kepler, Arraez, Polanco, Gordon…….these guys need to get it done with the help we got at the deadline on the Staff. 86-76 & a bit of momentum going into playoffs where we could surprise ourselves!
  25. JD-TWINS
    How about dropping Correa to 5th with Miranda behind him……maybe he sees some better pitches and gets going? Buxton at lead-off with Arraez protecting him, then Polanco, Gordon, Correa, Miranda, Kepler, Urshella, “Catcher”………..seems like a better blended left/right line-up and we break up Correa-Buxton-Kepler going 1-11 a whole bunch of days in the 2,3,4 spots. Need some energy infusion into line-up and Dog Days are just starting.
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