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JD-TWINS

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  1. JD-TWINS
    Maybe if they aren’t all trying to imitate Killebrew and put the ball in play, strikeouts would drop, hits would come and they may score some runs………..Wallner had two hits and Martin had a swinging bunt for a hit - that’s it for the group. Buxton had 2 good games to open the season and since he’s had 1 hit over his next 6 games …….. his OPS+ is 19…….. Lee’s OPS+ is 23. He literally looks like a guy that played in the 80’s/90’s at an “old timers game” when he’s in the box, left handed. Hits THE softest ground balls to 2B I’ve witnessed at MLB level. 7 of 13 guys hitting .194 or below. Keaschall & Martin are bright spots hitting around .230 with .235 Slug %. If things don’t change v. Detroit, some roster action has to take place! Outman DFA’d & Lee to AAA. That’s a start. I live in Cincinnati and watched Martinez pitch last two seasons - he can occasionally hold teams to a run or two through 7 innings (once or twice per year) BUT NOT one hit! Pathetic!!!
  2. JD-TWINS
    Last year, (maybe I’ve cited too often here?) the exclamation point on his season was 41 XBH (22 HR) and only 40 RBI ………… to me, that seems nearly impossible mathematically. It screams that his is the epitome of NOT Clutch………. I’ve had these opinions refuted by “there weren’t guys on base when he came up” ……, my obvious thoughts are that he doesn’t hit when it matters. Seems people here are picking up on this in ‘26. My new nickname for him is “tall Eddie Julien”. Continuously watching thigh high fastballs and then flailing at pitches above and below the zone. As we know, Matt struck out 5 times Friday - he also managed to strikeout, LOOKING, 3 times the previous game. I moved from Minnesota 35 years ago so the fact that he’s from Forrest Lake doesn’t have any weight with my view. Talented, yes …….. effective, not often…….unbelievably streaky!
  3. JD-TWINS
    Guys that “appear to be two way players” are hopefuls and Larnach, v. RH pitching, is one of Team’s top 3 hitters. He’s essentially a DH 65% of the time and in LF 10% of the time. Wallner & Outman are the OF’s currently taking up space that might be utilized by up & coming guys. Wishing a guy produces so that the Team can then trade him seems a bit illogical - since he is a very affordable $4.5M/yr …….. if guys behind him earn a spot later this year or into next year - great. As of now, there’s nobody I’d rather see face a RH pitcher after 7 games. Bell is gone after this year. Larnach, if productive in ‘26 …….. on ‘23 - ‘24 levels (as a platoon v. RH pitching) he may get signed again for $5-6M for ‘27……..as primary DH. What would be expected in trade?
  4. JD-TWINS
    Assuming STRIKEOUT rate (%) is based on PA’s & not AB’s (not positive) …….. assuming PA’s: Wallner - 45% … Jeffers - 29% … Clemens 37% … Lewis - 32% … Martin - 25% … Buxton - 31% … Bell - 33% … Lee - 36% Martin & Buxton are arguably at acceptable levels for them. This is not a good profile for a Team’s line-up ..,….. 6-8 guys out of 13 are striking out at alarming rates. Lee & Wallner both have Options and IMO neither will be on the 26 man roster by April 17th. If Clemens can’t play better defense at 1B, he may be gone (DFA’d) by mid- May. Gray or Lee can be back-up at 2B & 3B. Larnach needs to be DH v. RH pitching with (Rodriguez or Roden or like) in LF v. RH pitching. Bell at 1B or Caratini at 1B. 10 hits Friday was somewhat encouraging (3-4 flairs) but the 6 walks & poor defense lead the charge! Roden - Rodriguez - Culpepper & 1 other in next 15-40 days replacing Wallner - Lee - Outman - Clemens ……….. Clemens may hang because of versatility and attitude but certainly replaceable sooner than later. Gray had a nice Sac Fly RBI to tie the game - then a Big Fly - he doesn’t seem to be any less of a defender than Lee …. 4 starts & 8 RBI …. very good “back-up” and probably the starter at SS v. RH pitching going forward, near term.
  5. JD-TWINS
    Wallner was hurt when not at Target in ‘25 ……. played 19 games in ‘24 and went down for 10 weeks & then tore it up when back ……… in ‘23 he was up and down before finishing regular season strong (prior to playoffs). He has Options - my assumption is they give him another 8-10 starts before they make a move. His demotion (re-set) allows them to get a look at Rodriguez or Roden or Gonzalez. Larnach has been average to mostly above average against RH pitching for 3 years.
  6. JD-TWINS
    37F & damp/wet wasn’t doing him any favors - he is not “good” anywhere though apparently ……….. pretty sure that DeLaCruz lead baseball with 29 a year or two ago …….. Caminero is well on his way!
  7. JD-TWINS
  8. JD-TWINS
    Pitching has been “decent” outside of the rain game Wednesday. Buxton - Keaschall - Wallner - Lee (Culpepper) - Lewis - Jeffers need to get to average results and Team will be fine. Currently, .174 - .214 - .174 - .154 - .211 - .214 are the core’s batting averages. That’s not F.O. nor ownership - that’s professionals not getting it done.
  9. JD-TWINS
    Gray is supposed to be a back-up OR the platoon option v. RH pitching. After 3 starts, the regular SS is so bad that they started Gray v. Cole Ragans. Prior to yesterday (in 2 starts), he was hot. After yesterday he’s 3 for 9 with a 151 OPS+. His defense was always known to be average, at best. I’m certainly not ready to say he’s “not ready”.
  10. JD-TWINS
    Playing Caratini at 1B gives an easy path to moving him to defense later in a game due to Jeffers injury or him being pinch run for in a key spot………..if he DH’s it’s a potential problem if he then catches because DH is lost. I don’t see either Jeffers or Caratini DHing much at all due to the defensive complications of either gets injured. 75% of starters (pitchers) are RH - Jeffers isn’t getting platooned for due to pitcher, very often. I do think they will both play v. LH pitchers nearly 100% of the time. Was surprised by Clemens start yesterday……..not going to see either Catcher be in the game at night and come back the following afternoon.
  11. JD-TWINS
    I get that “something” needs to be written about! Can’t really say with a straight face that Caratini is a poor fit - followed up by tying it to economics. Replacing Vazquez and spending $3M less & getting a switch hitter that has capabilities at 1B is not a poor move. Jeffers is catching a bigger % (through 6 games) because Team has faced lefties in 4 of 6 games AND there have been OFF days in the schedule early. There’s no such thing as a “back-up catcher” in today’s game …….. the 2nd Catcher is going to catch a minimum of 50 games……. 31% of the contests at a minimum (w/o injuries). Team spent $155M minimum in 2023 and are spending $105M in 2026. This is NOT a Front Office problem……..there have been no poor value signings, including Larnach & Bell. Spending $22M on Lopez & $10M on Correa in ‘26 and Ownership says “Team is going to be competitive” by spending $73M on other guys. OWNERSHIP is this issue and “poor signings” are not even close to being an issue. Lee - Larnach - Lewis - Wallner are also issues, to be fair to Ownership.
  12. JD-TWINS
    Clemens got a hit v. LH pitching - cool Gray, as a lefty bat, started ahead of LEE - cool Wallner didn’t strike out looking and hit a HR that had a positive effect - cool The move with Gray seems to signal to me that the organization is fed up with Lee’s mediocrity……..IMO, if Culpepper hits for another 2 weeks in St. Paul, he and Lee will exchange spots prior to end of April.
  13. JD-TWINS
    Took 6 games for me to hear/reas from someone what a piss poor Manager Baldelli was - longer than I thought it would take. Can we move on?
  14. JD-TWINS
    Agree - mostly. The foul ball and lack of instinct for getting after the ball as a part-time OF seemed puzzling. Dropping the ball with the 1B glove was equally puzzling……..my thought a few times today was that “they resemble a high school team”. The one hop scoops, two of them, need to be caught - one would have been an out and one I saw Gray double clutch and still leave it 8 feet short of 1B - still should be picked by a reasonable guy at 1B. I don’t understand why a “veteran of 1B” - Bell, does play there 80% of the time. His best has to be at least as good as Clemens & Caratini - right?
  15. JD-TWINS
    Jax for Bradley in the big Deadline Sell-Off - “terrible trade” …….. some here were hoping Jax might convert back to a starter a year ago ……. Bradley has the PITCHES, just a matter of composure and mixing what he has to keep guys off balance. Certainly hopeful after 2 outings in ‘26! ………..not positive, but I think they gained at least 2, & maybe 3 more years of control with Bradley v. Jax.
  16. JD-TWINS
    Gotta comment that it’s a pretty “unique stat” in that it’s nearly impossible for ANY bullpen in any circumstance, to walk 8 guys! …….. Wallner was trying for the big push to 10!
  17. JD-TWINS
    Quit watching tonight at 5-0. Saw the Final score and was curious about how the runs were scored - hit the Play by Play button and skimmed through the 9 innings. Martin continues to be productive, very productive! Weather may have skewed some of the results (9 hits AND 9 walks) but it didn’t seem to change anything Matt Wallner is doing at the plate…….. 1st inning - 6th inning - 7th inning - Struck Out LOOKING all 3 times. Wow!! I may have been disrespectful earlier on Wednesday when I said Wallner reminds me of taller Eddie Julien - that may not be fair to Eddie! Gotta say, I am a bit concerned (bad weather tonight!) that a Team gets 9 walks when trailing the entire game……….seems a bit passive……… it didn’t appear anyone had more than one hit.
  18. JD-TWINS
    Lee - Bell - Caratini all switch hit. Clemens - Outman - Larnach - Wallner - Gray hit left handed. Buxton - Lewis - Martin - Jeffers - Keaschall hit right handed. Screams BALANCED!! If anything, with 75% of pitchers being RH, one could say we might have another LH bat. Can we please quit whining and embellishing some view that there are too many LH bats on the roster?
  19. JD-TWINS
    Am always hopeful. 2 hits - 30% strikeout rate - his saving grace is that “he walks a lot”……. sounds familiar. Essentially, a he’s taller Eddie Julien (hitting 10 more solo shots/yr.) ………with the mediocre defense to match. I sure hope he converts me soon!!! Don’t want to hear about how “he actually didn’t have a bad year in ‘25” ………… 41 XBH with a whopping 40 RBI…….. NOT an April Fool’s stat.
  20. JD-TWINS
    You can’t actually be putting Wallner’s 2025 mediocrity into some sort of a good light - right?
  21. JD-TWINS
    Slash line of .200/.298/.328 is clearly the problem ………. through a mere 4 games, the Staff has a 3.82 ERA ……. 2.73 ERA without Abel’s 3 1/3 on Sunday. …….. until TEAM produces runs regularly, I’m not going to fret over the defensive skill level.
  22. JD-TWINS
    Not much of a surprise that the struggles in the Win/Loss column are stemming from lack of OFFENSE. Without Abel’s 5 runs over 3 1/3 Sunday, the pitching staff’s ERA is 2.73…….3.82 including his debacle. The PEN & lack of velocity isn’t a problem, in a micro look,…….., so far. Anyway, pulling 4 runs together on 4 hits in the ONE win isn’t a recipe for success. TEAM is hitting a combined .200/.297/.328 slash with a .625 OPS. Preaching to the choir here………. Lack of trading for offense &/or spending another $15-$25M on offense (couple guys) this offseason is going to haunt the Team for 100 out of the next 150 games. Ownership - ownership is the problem! As a plausible example, what if Bader & Arraez were on the TWINS roster instead of Bell & Clemens? (just an additional $15M in salaries w/o Bell’s contract)…….I’d be more upbeat about being “competitive”.
  23. JD-TWINS
    Was Duran providing leadership? Was Louie Varland providing leadership? Was Dobnack providing leadership from St. Paul? France - Bader - Coulombe - Paddack - Castro were all free agents at the end of ‘25…….. July 31 had nothing to do with this issue in ‘26. The lack of mental strength coming from the “core” is the issue …….. Lewis - Lee - Wallner - Jeffers - Larnach - Martin ………. these guys have all been in Pro Ball for YEARS. If there is a leadership problem, these guys need to look in the mirror.
  24. JD-TWINS
    Wow………….these are nearly verbatim comments of mine describing Eddie Julien all of last year! “Sports psychologist…..” numerous posts here ………. I’m with you RE: Wallner, his mind & thus confidence are seriously scrambled………. he’s hoping to WALK……….. thus, the 40 RBI last year with 41 XBH (essentially impossible stat). Not exactly “active” in moving RISP in ‘25 nor very early ‘26.
  25. JD-TWINS
    Right - actions in game 3 are not habitual. He used 5 guys Saturday and didn’t have 5 innings of PEN bullets Sunday, with a game Monday. …… Am assuming Abel was aware of the approach AND that they actually speak between innings and he felt OK with pitching in 7th & 8th as well. …… “execution” is typically the fly in the ointment
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