Western SD Fan

Wheels Correa?!?! I just went to a tractor pull that had more speed out of the box.

We knew it was going to be an out. Bader lost his hat in the process of catching the ball.

I was going to lay out exactly how we were going to lose, but my scenario comes up in the 9th. We might choke it down by the 7th.

We could all hope, but I think both Bert and Dick were pushed out earlier than they wanted to go so I don't see either one coming back into the booth.

The Panthers cut into their beach time enough the way it was enroute to their Stanley Cup victory.

Before we were saved by the umps. I was going to suggest that Varland could still go tonight as he threw 19 pitches last night. If you didn't want to go there, Coulombe could finally throw more than a few pitches and complete a full inning as a bridge to Jax and Duran.

Finally get bailed out by the umps!

It was too straight for him. All we've been hearing is how Correa is crushing off-speed pitches.

Remember SWR, Rocco has a bad toe so you can outrun him to the mound!

If you include Lewis in this conversation, I almost think this is a FO strategy. Have these players play just hurt or down enough that you can't trade them, but play enough that you can blame the lack of success on injuries and bad luck, so you don't have to change and yet still get paid.

Or the organization that may have finally softly admitted that they brought him up too soon AGAIN but can't actually admit it.

The Twins do what they do best. Take themselves out of the big inning. Almost like they can't handle the pressure.

Good news for us. The Red Sox come calling to Minnesota at the end of the month. We will have an opportunity for Alcala to close us out as well.

Adams start alert for St. Paul: 2 2/3 IP, 3H, 2ER, 1BB, 2K in 49 pitches. He's already out so that doesn't bode well for a future Adams appearance.

Mystery solved: We DFA'd Henriquez to sign Danny Coulombe. Probably could have operated the rest of the bullpen better but can't complain about that transaction. Transactions | MLB.com

I agree. I fear that if the Rays sale is completed somewhere around the $1.7B price tag, the Twins won't be sold anytime soon.

I don't believe Henriquez ever pitched that poorly for the Twins. IIRC, he was part of a roster crunch move. Of course, the pitcher we had to keep was so valuable to us that I don't remember who it was that we lost Henriquez for.

I've said this on various threads this year. I just don't see anything changing unless the players themselves do something or the team is sold. I don't see any help coming from the FO. I don't see Rocco & Co. either possessing the answers nor the intestinal fortitude to demand anything from the players.

Great DP by Varland!

Twins caught a break. It looked like it should have been overturned there. Just not enough angles to confirm.

Willi! Now Correa just has to stay out of the DP.

Lee is still on that fishing boat from yesterday.

Seems depressing that it's possible that Ryan can pitch a CG and make one mistake and it'll cost him the game.

I would suggest that the Tigers still have their own warts. Javier Baez, for the good year he is having this year, is still a bust of a signing for Detroit. They are still paying Kenta Maeda $10M to not be close to the team. Throw in Alex Cobb and his $15M on the IL doing his best Tyler Mahle impression and that just about equates to a bad Correa and Vazquez. This iteration of the Tigers reminds me of the Astros ten years ago or a team that we have seen before: the early 2000's Twins. A young group breaking in together, growing up together, and playing together. Mix that in with some veterans either acquired through trade or FA signing (Shannon Stewart, Jose Offerman, Carlos Silva).

"Though he doesn’t think it’ll result in a trip to the injured list, Bailey Ober acknowledged knee and hip discomfort is playing a part in mechanical issues that have resulted in reduced fastball velocity" - Dan Hayes, the Athletic I had to go look up the exact quote that was used in the article as there seems to be a game of telephone being played to separate the two issues from each other. If this quote is to be believed, then yes, he has knee AND hip discomfort AND it's affecting his mechanics. I'm no doctor, nor pretend to be, nor did I stay at a Holiday Inn last night so take my opinion for what you paid for it. I suspect that the Twins staff already know the timetable it would actually take for Ober to come back to 100% and its likely season-ending (think Topa last year or Tonkin this year). As many of us have commented, there are no more quality arms in St. Paul to bring up and I'm also suspecting that the FO also knows this but aren't willing to waive the white flag yet and put Ober on the IL or subject the pitchers in St. Paul to a task they aren't ready for yet. With that being said, Ober should be put on the IL because continually tweaking with his mechanics to match his pain level serves no one. It doesn't serve the team now and won't serve him later and will be used against him when it comes to arbitration negotiations in the upcoming offseason. That brings us to what we should do? If my suspicion is correct and the eventual fix is some form of season-ending surgery, but Ober can pitch through it until then, I'm unsure the FO will make a change until they decide they are out of the playoff race and then he will magically have season-ending surgery. It's not uncommon for athletes to have nagging injuries that they play through that restricts their movement or their abilities. Again, using Correa's own plantar fasciitis as an example that wouldn't be fixed until after the season, but could be played through with proper treatment. I do believe this is why they signed Gillespie, to eventually take over for an IL stint from Ober or a Paddack trade as a rotation placeholder until the arms from St. Paul improves enough to be given a chance at the ML level. One final idea would be to use Adams with an opener. Difference between Adams and the pitchers they have tried the opener idea on (SWR and Festa) is that Adams is used to coming into the middle of a game as they are currently piggy backing him with Raya. Raya gets the start and Adams gets the 6-9th innings.