KP34Forever

ACL is the knee UCL is Tommy John Lewis has never had Tommy John surgery. He didn't have any surgery in May 2023. That's when he came back from one of his ACL surgeries. Not sure where you're getting your info, but it's bad info.

"Although Manuel Margot hasn’t put up the season they hoped, he’s a solid center fielder, and he was brought in for the express purpose of acting as, essentially, a second starting center fielder." I know it's not actually the case, but my selective memory can't recall a single time that Margot started in CF or was even a defensive substitution there. To me, it seemed like Rocco actively tried to avoid playing him in center, even though that's the reason we went out and got him to begin with. When Buxton wasn't out there it was either Castro or Martin. I looked it up. Here's how it plays out up to this point for games that included an appearance in CF (starts in parentheses) Buxton 88 (81) Martin 39 (32) Castro 29 (24) Margot 21 (14) Keirsey 4 (3) Helman 3 (0) Kepler 0 (0) ...............sorry, couldn't resist the opportunity to throw Max under the bus (or Buck Truck?) For someone who was brought in to be our primary backup for Buxton, he was used in that capacity in less than 20% of the opportunities to do so (don't get me wrong, if you ask me, that was probably 14 too many starts....or maybe it was not enough starts by roughly 30? Yet Rocco, for reasons beyond any logical comprehension, still sends him out there to pinch hit in extra innings when he's setting records going 0-for 2024 pinch hitting and we're desperately clinging to the hope of a wild card berth) Next year we need an actual, legitimate backup for Buxton. Martin isn't it unless he finds a way to hit .270+ with 10+ home runs in a utility role - oh wait that sounds an awful lot like what Castro does. Trade Martin with one or two other players (Maybe Larnach or Kiriloff and Julien who we don't have room for?) for a legitimate number 3 starter, not the usual junk pile find we've grown accustomed to (DeSclafani etc.) Castro should get a few starts in CF but his value is his flexibility, so he can't be the primary backup in CF and lose that flexibility the next time Buxton gets hurt. Margot - more like Mar-no... Emmanuel Rodriguez - Trade Larnach or Kiriloff with Martin and Julien for that #3 starter and you open up a corner outfield spot for Rodriguez opposite of Wallner. When Buxton inevitably goes in the IL, slide Emma into CF, move Wallner to RF if he wasn't already there, and have your 4th outfielder (whoever you didn't trade between Larnach and Kiriloff, or Helman perhaps) take LF and have Castro as your 5th outfielder if needed. Or if we're not ready to trust Rodriguez with a full time spot yet (keep him in the minors until there a permanent opening for him) then they need to find a better solution than Margot and how they used him this year. He really felt like a wasted roster spot to me... But the Pohlad's obviously aren't going to spend the amount of money or would take to find that solution, so here's hoping we see a lot of Emmanuel Rodriguez next year tearing the cover off the ball! Just please, no more Margot pinch hitting this year 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼

Yes. Yes they have... Good Lord I'm glad I don't see the world through whatever lenses you're seeing it through, because that take is not based on reality and rather depressing...

Legendary is right! All the Butera hate is blasphemous! Y'all were too busy focusing on his sub .200 average and couldn't see what he could do well! You show me another player to come in for garbage time innings and throw (mostly) accurate 95 mph gas past the guys expecting to either see a Astudillo eephus pitch or take a 65 mph throw the ribs. Would you stretch your boundaries for Buxton's 2023 season? He hit for basically the same batting average as Butera with no defensive value for an entire season. Buxton has more power, sure, but Butera wasn't exactly a slap hitter. With the exception of one anomalous season, he was basically Joey Gallo hitting at 50% power. Terrible average, but when he does connect there's some power. Defensively we haven't had a catcher come anywhere close to Butera's defensive talent since he left. Mauer won Gold Gloves at catcher and Butera was still the superior defender and it's not even really that close. But that arm was no joke. I always loved seeing him come in to pitch in a blowout game. I think they missed a golden opportunity with him. They should have done with him what they did with Jason Motte with the Cardinals (and if I'm not mistaken Kenley Jansen with the Dodgers too) and convert him into a high leverage reliever since he couldn't hit above .200 I think he would've done well. Butera for President 2024? I can think of one or two worse candidates 🤣😶🫣😰

If they wouldn't go 25m per year over 3 years for Gray, an older but clearly superior option to Stroman, why on earth would you think they'd pay only 5m a year less for a guy who struggled before going on the IL and showed no signs of getting back to above average performance after returning from the IL? If the difference between Gray and Stroman is only $5m per year abd a compensatory draft pick and they let Gray walk for the draft pick, there's no way they'll commit to Stroman for that much.. I get that Gray is a regression candidate and letting him go came with a draft pick, but even if Gray regresses back to his 2022 numbers, that's still better than we'd see out of Stroman. Save that $20m to extend someone that we didn't get fleeced for in a trade. The front office has shown us they can be crafty with a trade. I don't think they've lost the ability to think outside the box. We can get a controllable arm that might not have great numbers with their current team, but the metrics show upside that our pitching coaches seem to be able to unlock, i.e. Pagan (although it took a brutal year for him to figure it out, that won't always be the case.) If you're expecting the Twins to acquire someone, whether it's via trade or free agency, with numbers even close to duplicating Gray's production, you're in for a rude awakening. They're going to settle for less this year. It's going to look disappointing. Hopefully that find the hidden gem that surprises everyone. That's the reality we have to deal with and hope for.

"Who are recent knuckleball pitches in the big leagues. You'd be hard-pressed to name some from the past decade or so" Have we already forgotten about further a Twin R.A. Dickey? The knuckler was Dickey's primary pitch if I'm not mistaken, so not exactly a true comp for Lewis, but Dickey threw his knuckleball consistently in the high 70s to low 80s and he did pretty well for a stretch there with the Mets. Fun follow up question - who's on the Mount Rushmore of knuckleball pitchers? Off the top of my head I can only think of 3 that threw it as their primary pitch in my lifetime (born in the 80s), though I'm sure there's some I'm just not thinking of. Wakefield, Niekro, and Dickey are the three heads carved in so far for me. Did both Phil and Joe throw knuckleballs or just Phil? If they both did then I guess it's a Tim, Phil, R.A., Joe monument until someone has better options (I'm leaving Eddy Cicotte off because of the Black Sox scandal)

No, I didn't forget about Erickson. I know he had a great year in 91, but his personality kept him off the roster and Tapani on it. I couldn't stand Erickson. He was an ******* and, although I liked Junior Ortiz, that's an extra roster spot attached to Scott the Snot that I didn't have room for. Regarding your staff - wasn't one of the Niekro brothers on the '87 team? I'd take either one of them over Erickson. That's how fond I am of Erickson...

If you could mix and match 1991 and 2023 rosters into one 26 man playoff roster what would it look like? Here's mine: SP - Morris, Lopez, Gray, Tapani (Ober and Ryan just didn't show me enough this time around to be in the rotation) RP - Aguilera, Duran, Pagan, Jax, Bedrosian, Paddack, Varland, Stewart, Thielbar Starting lineup 1. Gladden LF 2. Knoblauch 2B 3. Puckett CF 4. Lewis 3B 5. Correa SS 6. Kepler/Mack Platoon RF 7. Julien DH 8. Hrbek 1B 9. Harper C Bench - Castro, Jeffers, Mack, Polanco Picking the bench was a brutal exercise... I hate to leave Gagne off, but his bat doesn't play as well as Polanco, and although I'm guessing he couldn't handle 2nd or 3rd with ease, I don't see a spot where you take out any infielder for defensive purposes and only Hrbek for a pinch runner. Someone needs a crash course at first base too, probably Jeffers. Castro just proved to be serviceable enough at any position you put him at and his speed absolutely plays in the postseason. Farmer, Wallner, Davis and Gagne were all tough to leave off the roster. You could argue for Solano over Polanco for coverage at first base, but I don't think that's fair to Jorge. Really the only easy decisions were Vasquez, Sorrento, Ortiz, Brown, Newman, and Stevenson. Put a healthy Buxton in that mix, then it's bye bye Gladden, move the Kepler/Mack Platoon to LF, and put Buxton in RF unless Kirby volunteers to take right (and you know 1991 Kirby ain't gonna do that!) Then I'd probably make the painful decision to keep Polanco off the roster and put Wallner in so we're not so heavily right handed in the outfield. Anyone wanna do a thought experiment for 26 man roster made out of the '65, '87, '91, and '23 teams? The one I just did was tough enough lol you have at it though!

Just curious on how I've overrated Gladden? And for that matter "by quite a bit"? I didn't make any comments on him other than choosing him over Wallner. OPS+ isn't that only factor. Gladden had speed and was a threat to steal bases, where Wallner doesn't have that reputation. Even if Wallner has comparable speed, he hasn't stolen nearly enough bases to be someone that opposing pitchers are going to consider him a threat on the basepaths. Plus Gladden had postseason experience. Gladden played better defense, though Wallner's arm is considerably better. And Gladden had the attitude that could also spark the team into action. I'm yet to really see that much yet from Wallner. In the regular season, I'll definitely take 2023 Wallner over 1991 Gladden 9 times out of 10, but in a playoff run, give me 1991 Gladden over 2023 Wallner. Every time Same question with regards to Mack? I didn't dive into that comparison either, I just chose Kepler over him. I agree 1991 Mack was phenomenal. But so was Kepler. I don't think I'd consider the entire second half of the season to be a brief period of time. Sure, it's essentially the same amount of games as Royce Lewis has played in the majors in his entire career. But I wouldn't write it off like it was a cup of coffee. Kepler is the better overall defender, and he was a huge part of this team. If anything I'd concede that perhaps I'm overrating Kep a bit, which could be true as it was very exciting to see him finally realize some of that potential. (I really think we're seeing the real Kepler's floor, with his ceiling being a year or two of prime Christian Yelich like seasons where he gets 5th or 6th place in the MVP voting.) Let me ask you this - if you could mix and match 1991 and 2023 into a 26 man roster what would it look like? Here's mine: SP - Morris, Lopez, Gray, Tapani (Ober and Ryan just didn't show me enough this time around to be in the rotation) RP - Aguilera, Duran, Pagan, Jax, Bedrosian, Paddack, Varland, Stewart, Thielbar Starting lineup 1. Gladden LF 2. Knoblauch 2B 3. Puckett CF 4. Lewis 3B 5. Correa SS 6. Kepler/Mack Platoon RF 7. Julien DH 8. Hrbek 1B 9. Harper C Bench - Castro, Jeffers, Mack, Polanco Picking the bench was a brutal exercise... I hate to leave Gagne off, but his bat doesn't play as well as Polanco, and although I'm guessing he couldn't handle 2nd or 3rd with ease, I don't see a spot where you take out any infielder for defensive purposes and only Hrbek for a pinch runner. Someone needs a crash course at first base too, probably Jeffers. Castro just proved to be serviceable enough at any position you put him at and his speed absolutely plays in the postseason. Farmer, Wallner, Davis and Gagne were all tough to leave off the roster. You could argue for Solano over Polanco for coverage at first base, but I don't think that's fair to Jorge. Really the only easy decisions were Vasquez, Sorrento, Ortiz, Brown, Newman, and Stevenson. Put a healthy Buxton in that mix, then it's bye bye Gladden, move the Kepler/Mack Platoon to LF, and put Buxton in RF unless Kirby volunteers to take right (and you know 1991 Kirby ain't gonna do that!) Then I'd probably make the painful decision to keep Polanco off the roster and put Wallner in so we're not so heavily right handed in the outfield. Anyone wanna do a thought experiment for 26 man roster made out of the '65, '87, '91, and '23 teams? There one I just did was tough enough lol you have at it though!

The face of Royce Lewis in this clip as channeling perfectly the exact feelings of every die hard twins fan this postseason is so great to see. If only we all could get as excited about our job as he does! That hamstring didn't seem to be bothering him much tonight. Unless he wakes up Tuesday with a setback, I'm gonna go out on a limb and bet he starts at third base for game 3. Correa looks like he's on his way to an ALDS MVP award. And you know he's still not 100% yet. That should scare any potential opponent. We've got 3 chances to win 2 games - With 2 of those 3 games being at Target Field. And Sonny pitching at home for game 3. And Pablo pitching game 5 if necessary. I like our chances. I'm gonna say it. This feels different. This feels special. Take a journey with me as I look at the 1991 team and then look at the 2023 team .I see a lot of similarities between them. 1991 was one the best world series of all time, and the twins had a great team, but I think 2023 might be even better. They might be a more versatile, complete team. Let's begin, shall we? Immensely talented rookie sensation? Just one? Why not 3 or 4? Lewis might not win ROY like Knoblauch did, or 4 WS rings, but Royce is just flat out better than Chuck. Plus Julien and Wallner both have had pretty impressive rookie campaigns. Kiriloff might not qualify as a rookie anymore, but he's just barely played more than an entire seasons with of big league games in his career and he looks like he's gonna rake for a while. Advantage 2023 A leader, a star, a legend? Kirby Puckett. That's all that needs to be said for 91. My favorite player of all time. And yet in 2023, we somehow have 2 players in this category. Lewis, the reincarnation of Kirby, and Correa, the reincarnation of Jeter (I hate the Yankees, but Jeter was a class act.) Correa's legend status in October is only growing bigger before our eyes. And, sure it's a small sample size, but Lewis shows no signs of being anything different then he's shown us thus far. It's hard for me to say it, because Kirby is such a legend here, but even if only slightly, Advantage 2023. Solid Starting Rotation? Morris, Tapani, and Erickson compared to Lopez, Gray, and Ober/Ryan seems like a rather unfair comp. Unfair in that nobody, anywhere, EVER, is going to do what Jack Morris did in 91 ever again. Never. But if you remove that from the equation, I feel like Gray and Morris is a more realistic comp. They've both got that fire within them. They've both got playoff creds. And I think, right now, Sonny has better stuff than Jack did. Pablo I think comps better with Erickson than Tapani. Erickson had great stuff. Pablo has better stuff. And Pablo is a better teammate and nicer guy than Erickson, who was an arrogant *******. Tapani was great in 91, but that was his ceiling and I think Ober and Ryan both have the potential to be the guy that can seal the deal for the twins with just 2 or 3 quality starts between now and the end of the world series if we get that far. Ober will be much more comfortable in his next start now that he's gotten a little playoff experience. Ryan has a chip on his shoulder and will be out to prove he should've started game 1 in Houston. I call it a draw. But if you Minus the Morris Magic, then Advantage 2023 Versatile Bench? Castro > Newman Solano > Sorrento Farmer > Larkin/Bush Vasquez ≥ Junior Ortiz Stevenson ≈ Jarvis Brown Advantage 2023 Position comparison? Harper vs Jeffers - Draw Hrbek vs Kiriloff - Hrbek but only slightly Knoblauch vs Julien - Knobby but only slightly Pags/Leius vs Polanco/Farmer - Draw (Pags/Leius vs Lewis - Lewis by a lot) Gagne vs Correa - Correa, by a lot, and that's saying something because Gagne was a stellar defender, but his bat falls well short of Correa and his leadership. Gladden vs Wallner - Gladden Puckett vs Taylor - Taylor is no slouch, but he's not even holding Kirby's jock strap. Mack vs. Kepler - Kepler Lewis vs Davis - Chili was good. But not Lewis good. I think that's a draw. Rolaids Relievers Reputation? Aguilera vs Duran - Aggy due to experience, but only slightly because 103 mph is 103 mph Bedrosian vs Pagan/Jax - Draw Guthrie vs Theilbar - Draw Leach/West/Willis vs Maeda/Stewart/Varland/Paddack - 2023 by quite a bit A lot of big arms in the 2023, most of them hitting high 90s-100s. If they can keep their nerves under control and avoid injuries they are clearly better. If the pressure gets to them, that's what ends our playoff run. I'm calling it a draw for now. Analytics vs "Aw hell it's just a game!" Rocco vs TK. Yikes. TK might have known the most basic analytics back then. I imagine his head would explode in today's world of analytics and everything that it represents. TK had a feel for the game. There's some things analytics can't measure. TK was locked in on those. Rocco on the other hand made some incredibly bold calls this year. Some worried. Some didn't. But I don't think he's following an analytics script right now like we're used to. I think he's going with a combo of analytics, common sense, and gut feelings. And if he can use the right tool at the right time 100% of the time this postseason, he might take the advantage from TK at some point. But TK earns the advantage here, because where else are you going to hear about ugly makers and diamond cutters anymore? Advantage 1991 I tried to be as objective as I could with this. I'm sure there's some unintended bias in there somewhere. But I think I give the overall advantage, even if only by the slightest margin, to this years team. Because it just feels special this year... RDT_20231009_015241.mp4