Western SD Fan
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Everything posted by Western SD Fan
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Twins (Ryan) vs Royals (Cameron); 4/1/26, 6:40 pm CDT
Western SD Fan replied to C-Gangster's topic in Archived Game Threads
I don't mind Wallner being wrong. I care more that Wallner is not making good choices on when to challenge. Top of the 1st inning with 2 outs? Let it go unless you are 100% you are going to win it. -
Twins (Ryan) vs Royals (Cameron); 4/1/26, 6:40 pm CDT
Western SD Fan replied to C-Gangster's topic in Archived Game Threads
Wallner needs to be banned from ABS challenges. -
What you're saying is that I can start posting my favorite comment from last year again? The ghost of Jamie Moyer could still come back and carve up this lineup at least one time through the order!
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60 pitches to start the 4th inning. This may be SWR's last inning.
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This may come down to who gets to the bullpen first. As I recall, the Royals don't have a good bullpen either.
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Wow! I didn't know that! What other secrets are you hiding?
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Listening to the post-game interview with Shelton, Abel was scheduled to come in the 5th inning no matter what happened during the game. I'm in the camp with @Rosterman and had discussed it late in spring training that Abel could have started the year in St. Paul, made one start to get his work in, and then been brought up to the majors to make his next start. This method would have given us another bullpen option, possibly Altavilla, to help out with the bullpen for the first few games. If you do believe that the piggyback idea could have worked, then you had to be willing to pull Abel when he was getting in trouble after you believe he has enough work in. I could forgive the 6th inning although Abel had coughed up the lead. But you had to take him out in the 7th. He had already thrown 47 pitches in 2 innings. By the top of the 7th, Abel had clearly shown that he did not have it today and should have been pulled. I scoured the pitch-by-pitch summary on mlb.com when Abel had an 0-2 or 1-2 count, The O's hitters went 3-8 with a walk, 2 doubles and a single for an OPS of 1.069 and 4 strikeouts in 3 1/3 IP. I'm even a big Abel fan, but he didn't look like he had it today and was probably misused as a piggyback option and I hope this was just a one-off used because they felt they needed to keep Abel on a schedule.
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- bailey ober
- mick abel
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Also watched a clip last night where Jax's pitch crossed up his catcher. The catcher was temporarily an Alto singer.
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I feel every inning the bullpen pitches either needs to have the theme song "Living on a Prayer" by Bon Jovi or "Flirting with Disaster" by Molly Hatchet
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I know there was a lot of words typed over the last couple of days on Lewis's spot in the lineup and what it meant. I actually didn't mind it. They claim that he is a vibe guy and his spring wasn't all that good. I like the idea that he is hitting lower in the lineup and lowering the pressure to produce right away. This was something we saw a lot in old school lineups. A guy who's a little down, in a little slump, hits lower in the lineup to get himself right so he can produce.
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I found the secret Twins plans for the year!
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My preference would be for the Twins to just rip the band-aid off and take Funderburk over Chafin. When listening to the ST game today, Molitor described how players, like Chafin, who are non-roster invitees with more than 6 years' service time and finished with a team last season, must be informed whether they will make the team 5 days prior to the start of the season, which would be this Saturday. If Chafin is not granted FA, then we likely know the answer on whether it is Chafin or Funderburk. Sadly enough, I could see the Twins sending Funderburk to AAA with the knowledge that as soon as one of Rogers, Banda, or Chafin implode and are DFA'd that they will bring up Funderburk.
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I could make a tepid argument for Zach Littel. While I wouldn't suggest he has flourished, he has managed to carve out a meaningful career post-Twins. Even so much that some people wanted to bring him back in FA to round out the rotation for this year. 😬 If Zebby had established himself last season, there could be a better argument that his ST shouldn't matter as much and be given a little more rope. But he didn't and the reason that they traded for Abel and Bradley is what you see now: a chance for them to establish themselves into the rotation. As other posters have noted, I still see Zebby likely getting 20+ starts this season, especially if Ryan is eventually traded, or a pitcher goes down with injury. I do like @IndianaTwin idea of having both Abel and Matthews start in St. Paul and riding an extra reliever for the first week. Bonus that both the Twins and Saints will be at home during the same weekend so one of them could get called up for the game on Sunday April 5th and would just have to take the Green Line across town.
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My concern is more on Ober than Ryan similar to how many have posted on here. Ober has lived off the concept that his fastball could look like 93-95 mph even though it has only ever been 93-90 mph due to his height and long stride that allows his release point to be closer to the plate. Ober has had to adjust his mechanics twice within a year. First when he injured his hip and knee last year and played through it and second when he has come back from it during the winter and during ST. He may feel better, but getting his mechanics back will be the last part of the recovery process. Considering Zebby's ST so far, Ober is still one of top 5 pitchers in the Twins rotation. I can see a scenario where he is the number 4 or 5 starter at the beginning of the season so there may be a possibility of skipping a start if he is still not 100%.
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Tommy Pham has entered the conversation......
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Might be too early to tell but I just read a story that Yastrzemski was pulled from today's lineup. Now a LH OF trade may make sense for the Braves if this development becomes more serious.
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I came to the same conclusion yesterday when the news was released about Profar's suspension. Larnach would just not be a fit in Atlanta. Of course, I am picking up the phone if they call. I agree with the premise that Outman is the preference to see go somewhere off this roster, but that doesn't seem to happen at the moment.
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By continuing to run Outman out in CF (including today), the Twins must feel that Outman is the only viable backup for Buxton. My hope is that Outman is traded near the end of camp, even if it's just for cash considerations and Roden will take his spot. Other real concern is that this is the new normal for Ober and it doesn't look like he can live at this new velocity. Is it possible that he can stay in extended ST to build up his arm and have Abel come up with the club?
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- byron buxton
- luke keaschall
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Unless you expect Jenkins, Gonzalez, or Rodriguez to win ROY of finish in the top 3 in MVP, it makes no sense from an organizational standpoint to bring them up right away. Those conditions give an extra draft pick to the team that does this. Otherwise, you play the service manipulation time game and bring them up when you can get an extra year of control out of them. Of course, that may change with the upcoming CBA, but the organization needs to live under the rules that are currently in front of you.
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- byron buxton
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Signing Pablo to an extension likely only makes sense after a new CBA is in place, if the entire 2027 season isn't wiped out. By that time, we will likely know Pablo's progression and a potential return to the field. If an extension is discussed, a salary that is laden with accelerators, performance bonuses, and buyouts would be great. Paddack has already been mentioned. Pineda also signed a similar contract following the 2019 season. From a PR standpoint, it may be important to at least approach both Pablo and Joe Ryan with extensions as they have really spent a lot on marketing for Pablo although I don't see Ryan signing any extension with the Twins.
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Another thing to think about is that Lewis's season really didn't start until mid-August. Lewis never had a spring training due to injury. I argued at the time that he was rushed back too quickly as the season was teetering on disaster and his performance suffered prior to being injured again in mid-June. His spring training essentially started in July and improved as the season moved forward. They even let him run a little, which was probably the first time in his major league career that he was let loose to steal a base.
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There is a consensus that Larnach needs to be traded to free up the logjam in the outfield. But it appears that his current value is that of a throw-in for any trade the Twins may make. Think Dobnak or Rooker. Larnach is likely still on the roster because nobody wants to trade for him at this point in spring training. I would agree that Funderburk, Roden, and Martin should be on the team when they break camp. As for Outman, I was just listening to the Twins Daily Podcast, and they conceded when the Twins traded Stewart that Outman was likely the best player they were going to get out of that trade. Why they have held onto Outman for this long is the surprise for me. Here may be something to consider about why we have all of these outfielders blocking the likes of Jenkins, E-Rod, Fedko, etc. If you're looking past this year, it's possible that the organization wants to limit the service time of these prospects considering they do not know what changes will be made to service time or the arbitration process during the current CBA negotiations.
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- alan roden
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Twins.TV was great for my location in Western SD. I believe I was still considered in the Twins market for 2025, but I'm not sure for 2026 as they reworked the local markets and I may be considered in the Rockies local market now (Yay me!). If I remember correctly, the $100 Twins.TV package also gives you Twins minor league games as well. I upgraded for the $200 MLB package so I could watch the other teams, except the Rockies since I had to choose my team market between the Twins and the Rockies. Living in Maine, you won't have that problem. Of course, as stated before, this won't include any nationally televised games.
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Another possibility is there may have been lingering effects from the concussion may have affected his initial reaction time or pop time for the remainder of the season.
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- byron buxton
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Sorry, this link doesn't exist to us plebians. 🫠 I'm guessing this is what happened to the last article as well that was supposed to have a caretaker link.
