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JD-TWINS

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Everything posted by JD-TWINS

  1. JD-TWINS
    Completely agree IF Lee is hitting at all and doesn’t also have a bad shoulder……..he isn’t & he does. Send him to 10 day IL and get the shoulder right, rested - he can be back in 10 days OR he gets a bunch of AB’s in St Paul after 10 days & he’s back in 3 weeks when roster expands.
  2. JD-TWINS
    Not sure who deemed Farmer unable to play SS? Not a rah, rah guy for Farmer but he seems as competent as Castro at short based on what I’ve seen. Farmer as back-up, there’s worse things. Farmer will be activated soon - just a matter of who they demote. I think they send Martin down & Farmer/Lee platoon at 2B until Correa’s back and Castro can move to 2B.
  3. JD-TWINS
    Castro IS the right handed hitting OF that the Team seems to be pushed to pursue in the market nearly weekly here and in national media…..the suggested budget from TD guys has been $6-$12M …….he’s the guy!! Lee - Lewis - Miranda - Correa - maybe Julien - maybe Keaschall can handle the dirt going forward. Castro would still be there to supplement as needed. Many here have commented on the IF youth he may displace - he doesn’t displace anyone, he plays where he’s needed. Margot is gone in 10 weeks! Martin has not shown he can play CF nor hit at a high enough level - athletic, sure - effective? Castro as Buxton’s back-up and the starter in LF v. LH pitching……….that’s 50-60% of the games right there with zero time on the dirt. Knock on wood, he could potentially start 80 games in CF if Buxton isn’t right physically for stretches. 2 years at $7.5M gives a guy who was on the fringe 16 months ago some security. A mutual option for another $7.5M allows him to shop himself for ‘27 & if the Team values him after ‘26 they can see if he wants to re-up with his side of the option. A trade option throughout the contract if others are shining.
  4. JD-TWINS
    Does the organization dare call-up Matthews to pitch in Tuesday? He’d have 4 days rest between starts. Questioning where his head is at relative to handling the Show? Not sure but I think he was in A ball 8-9 weeks ago? Even if he just threw 3 innings or 1 time through v. K.C. it could be a shot in the arm for the Staff as nobody will be rested for that game. If not him who? ……Again, please don’t suggest Dobnak.
  5. JD-TWINS
    Farmer is a depth guy that the Team likes to have around…….big time underperformed to date in ‘24. That said, Lee is certainly not right at the plate and could be valuable in September……….his shoulder is bothering him at some level. Not sure if this soreness is leaking into his offense? Seems an IL stint for 10 days and another 10 days or so working on his swing through game reps in St. Paul & he’s back when roster expands. I’d really prefer Lee stick around until CC is back but not sure when that might be? Martin going down for Farmer & then Lee for Correa works. Depending upon Lee’s shoulder and how much discomfort he’s in - this drives the decision.
  6. JD-TWINS
    The PLAN can’t be a bullpen “opener” game in the 6th game of 7 games in 6 days. I cannot imagine it isn’t Matthews at this point on Tuesday. It’s too soon for him but they really don’t have any other plausible options that I’m aware of right now. Is there another starter at AAA that may be able to perform better than Dobnak? He’s not good enough to try on Tuesday!
  7. JD-TWINS
    IMO, Varland is worth about 3 Dobnak’s! If they send Varland down after Friday, they can’t bring him back for 10 days - to me, that doesn’t work. Ryan will definitely go to IL - Hopefully, Topa for Dobnak as well for this weekend! Varland is now #5 guy in the rotation, for at least a month….,not going anywhere. I still think Matthews is a better risk than an opener approach on Tuesday.
  8. JD-TWINS
    Agreed. SEVENTEEN days ago they started playing again - the pitchers got a 5 day break PLUS their normal 5 day rest. I don’t understand fatigue talk at this point - September 8th - then maybe a real issue?
  9. JD-TWINS
    SIXTEEN questions & that’s combining a few variables into one question……big UPHILL climb. Miranda seems fine ….3-5 one game & line drive double v. Cubs. Playing solid defense as well. Can they keep winning games? ….my synopsis. They need some youthful pitchers to step up & they nearly have to assume Ober & Lopez will pitch well to have any success over the next month. Pressure cooker has been increased for those two. Topa & Henriquez are RH relievers. Health - health - health …..that answers a lot of the issues & questions raised above….we’ll all need to be patient for that to unfold.
  10. JD-TWINS
    He’s in AA, I believe. That’s like calling up a Jr. off the Legion Team to start for the Gophers - Matthews has 18K’s in 14 innings at AAA. He’s gotten knocked around but also has about 9-10 good innings out of his 14. They both need to mature and gain experience - Matthews is squarely ahead of Morris - still maybe not near ready - but ahead of Morris.
  11. JD-TWINS
    There aren’t 3 other guys around to take innings that Team doesn’t want Festa - SWR or anyone else to throw. WHO “spot starts” on Tuesday & Wednesday to push guys back? The All-star break ended 17 days ago!!! There was a 5 day break PLUS the usual 5 days of rest for each guy. At this point, there are 2 rookies in the 3-4 spots in the rotation and Varland is squarely in the mix as the 5th guy for the next month……..Matthews almost certainly has to start Tuesday since none of the other 4 guys will be rested. Fingers crossed that Paddack & Ryan can be available again in a month!
  12. JD-TWINS
    By later Wednesday I think the decision was made for Varland on Friday / with Ober. Seems they have no choice but to use Matthews on Tuesday since nobody else will be rested enough. An aside: If Topa is ready in next 7-10 days…….Okert is back from his family leave……who gets removed from the Staff/Pen after Dobnak? Winder or Richards? …….obviously, if one of Winder or Richards has a great day or a poor day between now and decision time it will have a lot of weight in decision. 5 walks in an inning is tough to put out of your mind, regardless of whether you are the pitcher - manager - 3B or CF …….everyone’s thinking about THAT in his next outing.
  13. JD-TWINS
    Assumption on Richards remaining in the game, from Baldelli’s point of view, is he thought, just like everyone else watching, he can’t keep walking guys and this will be over in another pitch or two. The pitcher was terrible - no more be said. Winder to come in for 3 innings was great and in hindsight seems like it should have been the first move. Richards is hardly new to the game - I think he’s 31. He may be more suited to the situation for an inning because he can get loose quicker. Trying to buy some time to consider how to handle the next 6 innings. Yes, there’s a day off Thursday for the Pen - Friday though, is a doubleheader v. the key opponent in the Division/A.L. ……guys need to do their jobs on the field or it puts the Team in risk of taking a loss. Richards was brutal. Yankees lost 8-2 on Wednesday - doubt Boone was managing to lose the game or considered it a throw away game.
  14. JD-TWINS
    Pretty sure that SWR is up Saturday & Festa on Sunday. Lopez to start the K.C. series as those games are just as important! Tuesday is either Josh Winder as an opener or Zebby Matthews………don’t know of any other choices. PLEASE nobody suggest Dobnak start a game.
  15. JD-TWINS
    Not really buying into the coaching staff being at fault…….separately, would have been nice to see Ryan Jeffers block one ball and keep it in front of him…..I watched 3 innings and there were 4 balls that got past him - understood that Richards didn’t help with his control (no control) but a guy has to smother one of four! Why do we think the coaching staff and not the players are responsible for stopping an opponent’s running game? These guys are professional baseball players - it’s not about coaching, to me.
  16. JD-TWINS
    RYAN HURT - not cool! Dobnak can’t pitch effectively at MLB level. Varland starts Friday along with Ober in the doubleheader. Will need another guy on Tuesday as nobody will be rested & ready. Matthews?? 22 hits in 14 innings in St. Paul - no walks - he may need to break his “all strikes” pattern to be effective at higher levels? Henriquez &/or Topa for Dobnak ASAP! Richards didn’t ingratiate himself to anyone after coming in for Ryan today.
  17. JD-TWINS
    I’m not sure if “really low strand rate” means he isn’t very good at stranding runners or he doesn’t allow many inherited runners to score? In either case, pretty sure that “strands” relate to inherited baserunners - right? Strand rate wouldn’t have anything to do with his ERA if they were on base when he entered the game. Puk’s ERA is inflated due to a few starts he made and was really bad in - not many innings and a bunch of runs. He moved back to relief and flourished.
  18. JD-TWINS
    The Kepler/Lee play was odd……it’s the OF ball if/as he calls it - Lee exuding confidence but no exchange after seemed odd. Can’t sweat those details and I assume somebody said something in the dugout.
  19. JD-TWINS
    Have paid no attention to how he’s doing in St Paul - seems, from what he’s done in brief innings for Twins, that Ronny Henriquez would be a reasonable option v. Dobnak. Not sure that after 3 appearances and not quite 5 innings, that he should be on the 26-man. Dobnak’s ERA sits around 10.00 and watching him throw, it doesn’t seem to have much of a chance to go down much. Been anticipating Topa’s joining the Team for 3 months or more ………the data on the slider for ‘24 doesn’t sound great, hope he can get back to form very soon!
  20. JD-TWINS
    Already posted twice on the Larnach base running miscue - it is what it is - to me it’s really poor, others don’t think it’s a big deal - can have differing opinions, no problem. I would like to let others know that the Noon Eastern show on MLB Network, “MLB Now”, hosted by Brian Kinney, spent 2 minutes of their show trying to emphasize how completely “unbasebally” the play was. The two former players were equating it to things you learn as a little leaguer and were completely aghast……they showed the field from the Press Box view and it looks even worse…….actually hard to believe. At one point, Wallner was 2/3 of the way to 2B and Larnach was a step or two past 2B, standing still.
  21. JD-TWINS
    FESTA sure looked good over 5 innings. Got out of a bit of trouble a couple times. He really kept the ball down well for the most part. Couple curves up in zone he got away with for strikes. 9 K’s in 5 innings….wow. Slider - change combination starting in zone and finishing below zone were really good!! Dotting his 96 MPH fastball at the knees 7-8 times really made the off-speed work. He’s maybe going to be up and down with control through September and inconsistent with his performances but he sure has a great upside looking forward!
  22. JD-TWINS
    When Correa is back, Martin seems to be the probable demotion. IMO, when September comes around, Martin is definitely ahead of Kiersey ………no chance for Kiersey to be up unless a couple of guys are injured. Live in Cincinnati and have been a supporter but how does Kyle Farmer get back on the 26-man roster? He can remain around for the Bench Guy influence and remain hurt. If Martin goes down when Correa’s back, Lee is the only other possible demotion when Farmer is activated……,that can’t happen - right? Pretty sure they are limited to, or will choose to, adding one of each….. a pitcher and a position player on September 1st. Kyle Farmer is a maybe at that point but anything sooner (unless Lee’s throwing shoulder is a real concern) cannot be seriously considered. A rehab stint pushes the Twins into acting on Farmer ……,hope they slow roll that decision.
  23. JD-TWINS
    .332 OBP & 118 OPS+ & 17 HR. ……Rutschman .307 OBP & 114 OPS+ & 23 HR ……Raleigh .312 OBP & 111 OPS+ & 16 HR ……Jeffers Defense goes to Rutschman ……. if he warms up just a bit he’s in the mix with other good offensive catchers. Would be nice if he could get his BA up 10-15 points……20 HR is fine/good if he plays 100 games!
  24. JD-TWINS
    Correct, not really sure what the pertinence is there?……whether it’s $450K or $3.8M it’s that he’s getting paid well to focus for 6 second stints over 2.5 hours per day……..maybe the emphasis from the 1B coach needs to be accentuated? My point is guy’s referring to amateur ball, Legion ball, High School or college and equating mental mistakes they made to what Larnach did are not apples to apples. I’ve watched sports for 55 years - I played handful of sports …….I understand that mental mistakes happen and they become part of the game, every game. None of the rationalizations make it any easier to watch/experience. I saw the replay again this a.m. in MLB & the voice background from Provus was complete disappointment & surprise. I don’t hate Larnach - he’ll be fine. The mistake(s) he made not getting to 2B on the wild throw to the plate that was 20 feet in the air, and then not scoring on the fly ball that landed on the track gives the impression that he really needs to be coached up when on base.
  25. JD-TWINS
    I get the sentiment and won’t hold it against him forever. ……..you weren’t getting paid $700,000 to know how many outs there are and to take off on a fly ball (contact) and hustle around second and pick up your coach………Hawkins was trying not to go off on him - this was 60 seconds, maybe a bit more, after he didn’t go to second base on the throw home - Hawkins pointed out that he made a probable base running mistake in that play…….one would think that would make him sensitive to the situation - right?
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