Bracky

I feel like we should have went ahead and challenged that forced out at 2nd

Lee at SS strikes again

It’s early in the season but short sample size I have been generally happy with Shelton’s management so far.

Same thought I had. With how it was hit and handled I assumed Buxton would be safe at 1st!

I swear that Wallner’s swing looks slightly more out of control each game.

How can Wallner be this bad with RISP? Also how can any Twin fan still come to his defense? I get he CAN have power but he seems to never manage it when it could really make a difference.

How many more hits can Larnach miss play in outfield today? Really fits so well on this team lol

"Anyone making over the minimum will likely be scrutinized." I don't know about you but that sure sounds like a great way to build a winner to me! /sarcasm Playerwise, I hope we hang on to Pablo. I really like his presence, attitude and he is always an enjoyable interview. Sure hope Buxton doesn't end up waiving his no trade clause as that would be a heart breaker. I do really see value in Vasquez especially with a lot of young arms. I feel he calls good games. No good statistical reason for this but I also would like to see Clemens back. I just like him.

Completely agree. I get he isn't an all star but same thought, we have won multiple games because of him and he brings a positive energy to the team. I hope he sticks around at a minimum for some depth.

I don’t care what anyone says but I still enjoy the energy from Kody Clemens this year. No, he isn’t an MLB star, no he isn’t a long term solution at any position, I totally get all that. I still enjoy having him on the team. I also get sad watching Bader do things in Philadelphia.

Really never anticipated that when we traded for Clemens he would end up being one of my favorite Twins players this year.

It’s a bold move to bring Falvey on the first broadcast after this week. Spreading some BS.

I had the same thought! I just wish Vasquez could hit a bit more regularly. I still like him behind the plate more than Jeffers.

Ah, I missed the injury, I thought he just got pulled. Possible the injury saved us some runs though... lol

If Duran was an option on the table originally I think they should have just gone with him immediately instead of handing him a full count with a man on.

Well evidently the whole needing obvious evidence to overturn it doesn't necessarily apply here.

I sure don't think there is enough to overturn that...

Seriously? Misiewicz in the 8th with an easily lost lead against the Dodgers? I guess that checks out with the Twins.

Given the fact that Clemens would be relatively cheap to keep around, I hope to see him next year somewhere on the team. I think he does well at 1st also and has had a hotter bat recently than France. Bader and Clemens are two I find really fun to watch play and hope they stick around.

At this point I have more faith in Clemens to perform compared the Wallner and Castro.

I feel the best when our outfield is Bader, Buxton and Castro. Walner looks all over the place at the plate currently and hasn’t been offering much in the field recently.

Nice to see two series wins in a row against quality opponents. Overall good start for Festa. Really nice work from Stew, Varland and Duran

Sure won’t complain about winning a series against the Cubs this year!

I know that we have Wallner and Larnach as our batting lefties. I also know that Castro can play multiple positions. However, regardless, I really feel like our primary outfield line up needs to be Bader (LF), Buxton (CF) and Castro (RF). They have consistent speed in those positions and can each cover a lot of ground. I think Castro plays better out there too in my opinion. I don't feel like Larnach and Wallner are even close to providing that type of overall defense in the OF. And at this point, even with a small sample size, Bader has a hot bat and should be in the line up until it cools off.

Agree with those above on Bader. If he continues to perform overall in the 2nd half as he has in the 1st half then I think it makes a lot of sense to try and keep him in Minnesota. He and Buxton seem to work well together and that gives some really nice outfield defense. France has slumped some. It would be great if AAA (Sabato) can keep going and make some noise but ultimately aside from some flashes, there hasn't just been high yield 1B players just floating around out there. I would still rather France be at bat with RISP than many others in the lineup. However, France's play really hasn't been the biggest thing dragging the Twins down. I don't really get excited with trying to trade bullpen arms at this point as we seem to need ALL of them ALL the time! This article is one of the first in recent memory to really devote time on Correa. He still has been solid at SS but if you compare what he is getting paid to performance it is hard to make a case for a bigger disappointment this year. You can't have that much tied up in a player for this type of performance. I can cut players like France, Clemens and Bader a lot more slack when you compare their salaries. Oh and I also want Clemens (I can't believe I would have said this) to stick around with the Twins. He has been surprisingly fun and another bat I would prefer to have up when we need hits or a spark compared to others. Lastly, call me crazy but I still have moments where I think Vasquez runs a better game (and throws better to bases for outs) than Jeffers...