JD-TWINS

The change is 1.2Mph in splinker velo and 1.8Mph on fastball…….just not a big deal. If they started in mid-90’s and he dropped to low 90’s there would be concern. His stuff is still HIGH VELOCITY, elite and is effective. He hung curveballs in back to back games after not giving up a run in 6 outings.Kot cool but it happens. It’s a command issue and focus issue. Nothing to do with velocity drop.

It’s the 21st of May at 7:00 Central & they are up 6-0 after 5 innings……on the a.m. of the 13th they had just won 17 of 20, the hottest team in the game…….and everyone should get released or fired. Hope you are self employed OR the perfect employee OR you have the most forgiving boss in the world. Valium is still legal.

Same hitters and same coaches that won 17 of 20………averaged 6.5 runs per game ….,…guys need to get their act together……..players play. Collectively they have sucked over the last week - that’s it!!

Right handed batters grow up in the game batting against predominantly RH pitching - so do Left handed hitters. That’s what they are both used to seeing a huge % of the time. It’s pretty obvious the Twins play the numbers by platooning. The Athletic did an article with a specific Twins focus prior to the season…….it showed a history of OPS for approximately 15 LH hitting Twins across the Team’s history. Pretty sure only Carew & Mauer were above .800 OPS v. LH pitching for their careers. Kubel, as I recall, was around .760 OPS …..Hrbek was in low .700’s ………,Oliva was around .670. It was a testament that the present day platooning makes perfect sense based on hitters across time - mostly good LH hitters. The fact that Tony Oliva was arguably as good of hitter as could be found from ‘64-‘71 in the entire game and he was a .670 career OPS guy v. LH pitching was “eye opening” for me. They showed Wallner - Larnach - Kirilloff - Julien & even Kepler - their career numbers (couple guys just 1 season) and their individual & collective performances were really poor. It’s not “the Twins” and it’s not “Baldelli’s spreadsheets” it’s history over nearly 60 years and it’s consistent. Carew & Mauer are the outliers in this instance just as they were across the board with their offensive performances through their careers. FANS w/o data and only an opinion……Can’t keep saying “guys just need an opportunity” and they’ll improve………statistically, it doesn’t happen. I wish I knew how to access the article - it was very well done.

Completely agree……$50M to two guys is a commitment and not a bad thing considering the talent level! Switching gears and reverting to 2021 payroll total is a problem

Only comment is that when Lewis comes back the roster needs to be trimmed - seems to me that is Miranda as of today. Right? Who else? Not who do you want to be trimmed, realistically, who is the guy?

Shake the catcher off OR make a good pitch. Period. Duran has full responsibility here! …….all the other stuff is noise. He’s got the same coaching staff and catcher he had all of last year and through his first 6 (scoreless) outings of this year. Look in the mirror Jhoan.

NOBODY ELSE WAS AVAILABLE & Alcala, unfortunately, got a bad call that should have been strike 3 but wasn’t. Then he didn’t get anybody out. I don’t understand why he has no responsibility in the length of his outing (pitch total)??? He went down because he needed a break and he has options - many others do not have options. Tired of the poor Alcala comments - it’s professional sports. He’ll be back shortly…..,,wish him nothing but the best!!

He’s gotta execute his pitches - his being told what to do & failing is a WEAK excuse. He didn’t give up a run in his first 6 outings - gotta assume the coaching was from the same brain trust for those games as well………it’s only an issue when guys screw up?

He needs to be on the field, he was out for 15 games - has only played in 30 games of the 47. Another 7 games to go to get to the 1/3 of season mark. He’s a .272 career average hitter - at .267 as of today. He’s averaged 19 HR/yr over his 9 year career……,,.to be fair, those averages come with an average expectation of 115 games per season. He’ll be OK……..,my assumption is there was no expectation for Correa to become something much higher than his annual output over his career when signed for $35M per year.

Can’t argue a lack of productivity from these 2 that should be elevating the team! Buxton needs to stay in the line-up, he was out 2.5 weeks, and he’ll get to a power rhythm. Correa can still hit 18-22 HR …..he was out 3 weeks. If Buxton hits .240 & Correa hits .270 they’ll both be productive power guys as well. Comparing to Brent Rooker is fine, as I’ve seen from others here, but when Brent goes on the 2-33 slide that is nearly inevitably coming we should point that out as well………it’s May 20th. Rooker had a very solid ‘23 with a 126 OPS+ ……. a .329 OBP ……30 HR. An All-star! This year he’s improved on this numbers - I don’t see him maintaining these levels through the year, as he declined over a few weeks here and there in ‘23. Correa is hitting 21 points higher - OBP is 30 points higher - OPS+ is 2 points lower. Doesn’t have the HR’s yet ……….he also plays SS every day and isn’t a DH. Buxton hit 17 HR & 17 doubles last year in 85 games ………hopefully, he’s got 85 games or more in him through the balance of ‘24. He’s at 43 points higher BA than last year with 8 doubles & 1 HR to date. If he can duplicate what many would consider a poor 2023 over the balance of this year he’ll hit .230 with 25 doubles and 18 HR. With him in CF, that’s worth $15M!

Other guys throw 100Mph plus a few tenths and they are viewed as absolute flame throwers ………..going from 102 down to 100.5 is a silly thing to describe as a problematic area for a pitcher! (94 down to 92.5, OK) Duran didn’t locate Sunday with his fastball - it was plenty fast enough - 4 straight out of the zone was the problem. Having a prolonged at bat with a Top 5-10 hitter in the game on Friday was challenging. He hung a curve and it got ripped - 1 poorly controlled curveball. That’s it…….,,Sunday, he started a guy with a hanging curve and then after the game said he didn’t want to throw it - he’s gotta man up!! Shake the catcher off - locate the curve better (down a bit) and in either case there’s no issue. Players play - bottom line - he didn’t execute either mentally, with the shake off nor physically, with the lack of command. Velocity being down 1.5 Mph on his fastball and 1.2Mph on his splinker as an alarm or an excuse, to me, is nuts! Pitch mix and location were the issues. Last, he often comes into a game principally throwing 2 of his 3 pitches. If it’s a curveball/fastball night, teams pick up on it and sit in the slower, only hittable pitch. To me, that’s what happened Sunday.

I too agree that his pitch mix, trying to fool people with his curveball is over done! At the very least, he needs to routinely Show his fastball!!! However, he’s given up runs in only 2 of 8 outings. He was essentially flawless prior to Friday. “If Duran were on a different team, he’d be lights out” ????? …………can’t get any better than 0.00 ERA through 6 appearances. DURAN hung two curveballs in Cleveland, not the coaching staff. If he locates the curve down 6” from the release likely neither pitch is hit. AGREED, if he throws a fastball on Sunday prior to the curve, the hitter has a much different level of success. Friday, Ramirez worked the count for a bit and got on a hanging curve. A curve up in the zone, from anyone, often gets punished in the SHOW! He knows how to pitch - how to locate - how to get guys out………not on the coaching staff!

My assumption is Duran’s is by far the lesser experienced guy and the reason Vazquez is on the roster is his experience in all situations. Vazquez trumps Duran……. always pitcher’s choice but that’s the rationale, I assume. As a Team, they need to discuss approach Duran is using………can make mistakes with 100 but curveballs up are problematic. His curve is generally great, and never going to be perfect as an athlete, but they’ve (opposition) figured out that it’s their best shot to hit him.

Agreed! Umpiring can be unfortunate at times but nothing can be done about it so complaining or saying it’s the reason for multiple losses is weak. Our Closer that hadn’t given up a run in a handful or more outings gave up 2 game ending HR’s on his curveball……..,that’s something to be bothered about. Don’t expect Duran to be perfect BUT losing a second game in 3 days, to a non-power guy throwing a hanging curve is tough to stomach. The guy calling the pitches is culpable as well - surprising people with his curve is behind him if he can’t establish his fastball in the zone!

To me, the obvious lack of intuition at 2B for Julien is just something to get used to at this point. Every play looks somewhat mechanical. His bat is why he was the choice at 2B going forward. His bat sucks over most of last month and his approach seems to be a jumble of guessing on pitches. Missing in pitches up & down out of the zone and taking fastballs TOO often. Not sure if moving him down makes sense or not but his Team Value is pretty low right now.

He doesn’t use it enough - he’s in love (Team as well) with his Curveball. Both game losing pitches were curveballs………as a hitter, why not sit on the curveball since it’s the only velocity I can hit??? Obviously, Cleveland’s approach. He had the fastest TWELVE pitches in the game in ‘23. His splinker is 95-98 while dropping. His mid to upper 80’s Curve, if it isn’t down, is a hittable pitch. Gotta change or MIX the approach. OFTEN, he uses 2 pitches (principally) in an outing. If you are batter 3 in an outing and have identified this combination - you have a chance to sit in one pitch. Giving hitters chances for no reason! I know he walked a guy on 4 fastballs out of the zone…….gotta be able to throw 100 in the zone and live with those results.

Jackson may fit a team desperate for experience that has had injures. Who knows? His track record was “reasonable enough” for Twins to sign. He’s pitched for MN for 50 days……..his track record hasn’t gone away. He may turn things around and become a reasonable #7-#8 guy in somebody’s Pen. I think we have better options but it’s a big commitment to cut a guy loose - not saying it’s a bad idea - don’t think they’ll do it though. The “couple others” are not specific to Pen pieces. Miranda - Santana - Larnach - Kirilloff - Prospects ………there’s a broad range of possibilities. Depends how desperate Twins are to move guys - also, depends upon what they expect back in trade………They might just take a couple hundred thousand dollars and trade Jackson on July 25th?? Assuming the “bullpen pieces” you are referring to don’t include Jackson? I could see packaging Staumont & Jackson for a prospect if Topa is healthy and a couple other guys are more effective. Henriquez - Alcala - Jensen - Headrick - Varland - Topa - Winder (probably missed a couple) are all additional potential Pen guys for last couple months that aren’t currently on 26-Man.

Ober dug a hole yesterday - gotta consider pitching around guys occasionally as an approach from the staff………Rameriz and Judge have done some serious damage over last handful of games! No issue with Funderburk - pitchers give up runs regularly. He gave up a run scoring double to a left handed hitter on a flare that hit 4 feet inside the left field line. He had to get loose in the first inning when Ober got to pitch number 30. Then he’s brought in 50-60 minutes later in the 5th. Jackson has been pretty routine. 1-2 good outings - then a clunker. Pretty regular pattern. Thought with more even usage and time he’d work things out. He’s not a regular use guy……….not a good fit and needs to the “mysterious IL stint” or be released. Assumption is they are trying to get to July to trade him and a couple others but he can’t be in the regular Pen mix. That said, relievers are human - not really an exciting opportunity to come into a game down 7-0. Some of his issues Saturday may have started between his ears (little focus) and leaked into his physical performance?

Agree completely with statement #1 from Karbo!! The lefties coming up are always a concern ……could really use Lewis sooner than later. Could be a long 3-4 more weeks. Buxton has to contribute in batters box. Farmer has 2 RBI doubles in consecutive games and Margot went 3 for 4 yesterday. Guys need AB’s to get their performance back to the norm. Both Farmer & Margot are .255ish CAREER hitters. Last year Farmer hit .256 & Margot hit .264. Can’t get out of a hole without AB’s…………they play maybe 3-4 games per week maximum…….in range of 13 - 16 AB’s per week. Can’t quit on guys on May 1st………EVERYONE wanted Kepler to be DFA’d by mid-May last year and were almost rioting by mid-June. Often things work out over 6 months.

I get the fan’s reactions - it’s pretty frustrating (as you know) to see a guy steal 2B and have Castro TAKE ball 4 to get us to two on with one out………………only to have the ump call it strike 3. One guy on base with two outs - completely changes the feel of the inning!!! Ball was BOTH low and outside……..as you mention, there has to be a way to use something, maybe a challenge system a couple times per game? The fact that we hit into 3 double plays through 3 innings has as much or more to do with the loss than anything.

I have stood behind Baldelli for the past 3 years here. “Players play” has been my mantra for the most part - Baldelli (nobody) doesn’t have a crystal ball on how a guy is going to perform in a situation at the moment - just a track record & odds to play. However, the quality of baseball over the last 4 losses (mentally & execution physically) has been tough to stomach. Some of that blame has to go to Coaching STAFF! Guys throwing behind runners - not knowing how many outs there are - illegal alignments - dropped fly ball on the track - etc. ……..all, principally falls on the players. it there needs to be a tightening of the mental attitude. I get that being wound too tight as a Manager could lead to team pressing but real time reminders - interaction with guys on the field from the dugout may help? Jeffers hit a home run and stuck out the following 3 AB’s Tuesday. Julien & Jeffers struck out LOOKING on 3-2 counts on fastballs……..that can’t happen & it needs to be made perfectly clear, particularly with Eddie. Get somebody to watch some re-runs of his backward K’s - it’s gotta change! Duran has been flawless BUT not throwing a fastball to Rameriz and throwing 3 curve balls with a splinker mixed in just gets his timing set-up……don’t understand the approach. If concerned about his contact on a fastball, throw it high or wide but you gotta show it to get the curve to be effective. This is pitching 101 stuff - starts with the Coaching Staff!!!

IMO, with Buxton & Lewis out, Topa & Stewart out & the fact that it’s May 18th…….there are no musts. Could use a win, that’s for sure.

Sands isn’t a high leverage guy but with Thielbar hurt, and then somewhat spotty effectiveness, Topa not being in his role, Duran out - guys had to fill the void, & lately Stewart being down………high usage of Pen arms as there were many games to be won over 3 weeks……..all if this has pulled Sands into higher leverage situations. Personally, I think he just needs to re-set. His walks are way down from 5.4 in ‘23 to 1.9 per 9 in ‘24. His K’s per 9 are great at 12.1. His WHIP is down from 1.52 to 1.07 per 9.0 innings. He has more arrows in his quiver than Balazovic! Rest, for mental clarity, is often as important as it is for physical recharge. Did anyone see Jax last night after 5 days off? He looked awfully sharp/effective!! Hoping Sands time off recently is beneficial for him.

Isn’t Tonkin in another organization - back to Mets?