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JD-TWINS

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Everything posted by JD-TWINS

  1. JD-TWINS
    Martin - Helman - Kiersey - Lee - even Castro & Santana were never penciled in to all be playing together and most not assumed to be on roster at all……… yes, average. Three rookies in the rotation is not a recipe for success………I don’t have any angst toward front office……….Ryan got hurt - Correa was hurt - Buxton got hurt again - Kepler’s hurt as well - oh, & Paddack has been out forever. 20% of the active roster and 5 of the Top 12 guys on the roster going into the year. ”We could have signed Imanaga” ……we could have done a bunch of things (so could every other club that’s not thriving)…….could have cloned Bert Blyleven too…….guys get hurt & sometimes they are very key pieces - can’t have an experienced, depth piece for every position on the Team. There’s a static roster to start the year & there’s a budget. The guys they have can get them into the playoffs - essentially this same group of guys on the dirt/grass/batter’s box are the guys that took them from 10 games over .500 to 17 games over .500. Matthews is a problem - gotta figure out a way to maximize his abilities and not expect to lean on him. Bottom line is they have to start manufacturing runs. They haven’t pitched perfectly nor played defense perfectly all year …….. they scored SOME runs though. Hope they pull together a string of AB’s and gain some momentum starting today!
  2. JD-TWINS
    Jenkins is #3 prospect in MLB at 19……..to me, after signing for $5M plus after being drafted, he’ll not be a cheap long-term signing guy. Not a bad thought for sure. (agent?) I would really like to see Festa as the #5 guy in the rotation with Paddack moving to the Pen. Theoretically, with the potential of Varland being in the Pen along with healthy Stewart & Topa………adding Paddack as well could really lift the Pen’s stature.
  3. JD-TWINS
    Jenkins is at AA in Wichita as of this weekend. My assumption is he’ll start there in the Spring and be possible MLB guy by Spring if ‘26. Keaschall just had Tommy John, so his ‘25 is a little up in the air. I’d hope he may be in St. Paul by June or July. My assumption is Lewis/Miranda/CC/Lee have the left side covered heading into ‘25. 2B still seems to be an option for Keaschall at some point next season if he continues to hit. IMO, if - if Buxton is healthy, nobody is taking his job. If he’s not, Kiersey-Castro are both probably well ahead of Emma at this point……assuming they both are still ahead well into ‘25. IMO, Julien is really going to need to hit well the remainder this year and through next Spring to make the Team in ‘25. He gets no breaks with his marginal defense and there are other options!
  4. JD-TWINS
    Walker is a stretch for ‘25…….just arrived at AA a couple days ago. Emma will be in AAA to start next year but if he finishes this September strong …….another 60-90 days in ‘25 & he may actually be an option? Larnach/Wallner/Kiersey/Castro/Helman/Buxton/Martin ……maybe even Kirilloff are all options ahead of Emma in my opinion starting out ‘25. Kepler’s 2nd half last year seemed so very encouraging! He was one of 4 guys in the game in the 2nd half of the season that hit .300 & had 30 XBH ……along with Corey Seager and a couple others……..,,obviously, he has regressed - injury hasn’t helped. I have zero issue with him not playing CF!!! T hi is issue is overblown and has nothing to do with him not getting re-signed. He’s going to be too expensive for his meager & inconsistent offensive production……..even if he’s a $3M guy he’s still not a good offensive fit for a Team with high aspirations. Kepler may make $7-$10M per year playing for somebody else for a couple years? The defense and the offensive potential is there - he’s just seldom consistent.
  5. JD-TWINS
    2 runs in 3 games…..Rocco can’t pinch hit himself.
  6. JD-TWINS
    First. I like him and his future potential, but Matthews has not been amazing in the Show. Ober - SWR - Festa have all come up as very positive in their different rolls, agreed! Buxton and Correa will play as soon as they are able - does not seem mysterious in any way other than nobody knows a firm date for either. Having regular meetings with F.O. and scripting things or trying to formulate plans for games seems to me to be just good preparation. I do know, even if these plans seem to be restrictive on some level, that there is nothing in the plans that assumes the Team is going to score 11 runs over a 6 game stretch nor 2 runs over a 3 game stretch. Offense is pathetic - execution on offense and defense is pathetic - 3rd base coach for last 3 weeks has been pathetic. Tough club to watch - tough to be excited about club on any level.
  7. JD-TWINS
    THEY DESERVE IT - BIG TIME!
  8. JD-TWINS
    If the players need their Manager to motivate them with 20 games left in a playoff race they have no individual character! Respect yourself & the game and get off your ass and start producing…….that should be the message to each other……Baldelli should not have to point that concept out to his Team.
  9. JD-TWINS
    Agreed! Player (Duran’s) mental toughness is what was tested. 2 run lead, get 3 outs whether in 8th against bottom of line-up or in 9th against whoever. Execute pitches!!! I know you didn’t elude to this, but how can Jax be part of the problem at all? He comes into a situation with flames all around him and gets a chopper to SS that gets butchered by two guys (tough play!! probably just an infield hit) and a run scores. He got 2 outs on 8 pitches.
  10. JD-TWINS
    IF they have just 3 runs, Ober goes out in the 8th. Can’t risk a loud drive nor a walk in a 2 run game with a guy that may be tiring somewhat. A reliever starting an inning with a clean slate is a much better situation than coming in with a guy on first and having the to g run in the box to start. While I understand Rocco’s reasoning to try and protect Duran after he got lit up by the Top of the K.C. order not long ago, I think it’s best to leave the back end duo in proper sequence so they feel comfortable in specific roles. The managing aside, and the meager offense set aside as well, this one is squarely on the shoulders of Duran! He continually comes in and tries to use his “pitch mix” to dazzle. He routinely pitches backwards - starting hitters with a curveball out of the zone, just to “surprise” the batter. He gets behind and is then overly excited and can’t locate his fastball. He’s pitching himself into jams routinely. He throws 100-102…..,,get your fastball over and pitch off that. Guys hunt his curve and splitter because they don’t think they can hit his fastball. Players gotta perform …..Baldelli didn’t give up hit off splitter - HBP with a curve, ahead in the count - and then a hung splitter that’s thigh high!…………can’t expect Jax to come in and wave a wand - he got 2 outs on 8 pitches. Tough to watch Royals get to 63-7 when they give up 2 runs or less……….they got it done in a desperate situation………they’re pretty good even without their best RBI guy.
  11. JD-TWINS
    Assuming health with the Top 4………Festa is the 5th starter next season and maybe 4th unless he has a bad Spring - can’t imagine them signing a FA for somewhere near $20M/yr. Neither Flaherty nor Kikuchi is signing a one year deal and seriously doubt a two year deal. Kikuchi is pitching the best he ever has since joining Houston. Paddack, in my opinion, is the long reliever with Matthews as the #6 guy to start the year. Varland too will be in the Pen to supplement Stewart’s role in ‘25, per my crystal ball.
  12. JD-TWINS
    As with nearly every sports franchise known to man!
  13. JD-TWINS
    IMO, what changed is Matt Wallner came back up and didn’t fail. He wasn’t an option earlier in the year and after 2-4 weeks through August it had become obvious that he was an everyday option that’s clearly better than Max. Then Buxton was out and the veteran presence and still very reasonable defense that Kepler provides - tough to ignore.
  14. JD-TWINS
    Team/Kepler took too long, particularly after Sept. 1, to put him on IL and not replace him with an able bodied player! Obvious for some time that Lewis is not trying to push his legs unless he’s running from a slow gate to a faster one, while on the bases. I think Miranda is physically just fine - his limitations at 3B are just based on his level of athleticism.
  15. JD-TWINS
    Pasquantino’s absence is really a hole in their line-up! Ya gotta hit and score to win though - Twins aren’t exactly tearing it up offensively lately……..even 1 of 3 wouldn’t be disastrous in K.C……..IMO.
  16. JD-TWINS
    “Under different situations, Keirsey would have made that catch.” …….. not sure what you mean by this? Reality rules. I think he’s really talented outfielder based on reviews and that catch was nearly impossible, granted. If it was an easy fly ball he definitely would have caught it routinely.
  17. JD-TWINS
    Anyone remember…. “Elizabeth, I’m coming to join you….” from Fred G. Sanford? That’s what immediately came to mind as I grabbed my chest in real time as Julien’s ball went out for a Home Run!!! April 25 - September 5 is a real drought……..so glad he was able to come up big…….hoping he can earn a spot to stay up after CC & Buxton are activated……at some point. Thanks Eddie! Griffin Jax is a stud! Ground ball to save Pablo’s inning and then after giving up a triple he K’s the next guy easily to get out of his own mess. He’s not perfect but awfully close.
  18. JD-TWINS
    May - July - September/October might work for ‘25………it’s a pretty sad situation!
  19. JD-TWINS
    Kiersey up until Kepler’s ready & Helman up until Buxton is ready……..,nice to have reasonable depth guys!!! Hope they both can contribute.
  20. JD-TWINS
    The good news is the Mariners - Red Sox - Tigers are all at the same record of 70-70. They’re all 6 games back in the loss column with 23 games left for TWINS. The malaise later in ‘22 mostly stemmed from having very few front line guys able to play due to injury. The OF was hardly AAA level. I agree, Baldelli doesn’t seem to be much of a vocal motivator but that can be OK as excitable, vocal guys leading a day in day out grind for 6 months could wear thin over time. Correa not being with the Team on the road may create a bit of a void on the leadership front………they just stunk over a 10 game stretch at home though with him in the mix every day. With the issues they’ve had with both rotation and Pen along with line-up guys being hurt routinely, they have probably just regressed back to early expectations. They started 7-13 and are now 11 games over .500 ……. after reaching 17 games over .500 couple weeks ago. If they go 12-11 over what’s remaining they win the 87 games many predicted prior to season starting.
  21. JD-TWINS
    It appeared the ump, after a clear procedural issue with the clock was the one who lacked maturity. One doesn’t toss a guy when the player is walking away and maybe 10 feet away when thrown out.
  22. JD-TWINS
    They have their 6th - 7th - 8th guys in the starting rotation (all rookies)…….that’s not counting DeSclafani. DeScla hurt - Varland didn’t pan out - still have an opportunity to win near 90 games. Correa has been out since July 13th. Lewis played in his 59th game tonight. Buxton has been out 3 different IL stints. Lee & Kepler have been hurt a couple times each as well. Topa & Stewart were to be key Pen pieces and the assumption was Thielbar & Okert & Funderburk would/could combine to add up to ONE decent lefty reliever. Kirilloff had a 116 OPS+ last year…. .348 OBP ….. .270 BA - he hit .201 in ‘24. Julien hasn’t hit an HR since April 20 something and Farmer has supplied nearly zero offense as well. Wallner was terrible until August 1st. As an organization, can’t have any more depth than what this team has/had in place. Can’t have an entire backup rotation in the wings. Can’t have proven vets for every position X 2 for each spot. 5-11 over last 16 sucks - stings! Hopefully, Lopez shows up and the bats don’t disappear on Thursday.
  23. JD-TWINS
    He retired 6 straight when he entered - that works. 96-99mph with the fastball. I have never thought he has the attention span nor patience to be a good starter. He walks around the mound like he needs a valium to calm down. Things go south a bit and his concentration/command goes out the window. He’s effectively got a 2 pitch mix and that doesn’t play after a few batters. I realize he wasn’t great in the 4th as an understatement but he got zero defensive help as well! I still think he’s good for 3-7 batters in a relief role (25-30 pitches). You’re right, ouch!
  24. JD-TWINS
    So, Larnach & Wallner pinch hit for RH hitters during the game and did nothing……….the pendulum has to swing both ways, can’t cover your eyes when they (LH bats) do nothing at the plate.
  25. JD-TWINS
    When are they going to put Kepler on the IL???? He’s obviously having a problem. Go retroactive to IL and he’s back by Wednesday the 11th. Need players available & Kiersey is available. Maybe just defense or pinch runner but at least available!!!
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