mikelink45

You are right - that makes it even more ridiculous that he bats 3 and 4 and our prospects sit in St Paul

It's hard to complain about Twins injuries when you look at what the Rays have dealt with

Love these choices and lean towards Carew. I also like the Mauer suggestion, But I have to add the Tony Oliva year - 1964 - with 150 OPS and 374 TB - Aaron alway felt TB was the most important of all the batting stats. .323 .359 .557 .916 150 374

Loved the game, but my off the wall take from the game was the laugh I got when Gallo, of all people, got tossed for protesting strike calls. In the last 30 games in 65 ABs he has struck out 38 times! Obviously this makes him an expert on strikes! Put Taylor in CF or Austin or Celestino - not Gallo, not Luplow.

Because the FO traded for him so he has favored status, but your implication is correct - Luplow like Gallo could and should be replaced by a good young player.

I really question the wisdom of the limited use of Raya. If he is going to be a SP he needs to build arm strength. If they are convinced he is going to have to have TJ surgery then we are just putting off the inevitable. 2 2/3 innings?

Don't change the rotation. If we are lucky enough to win in the first round I do not want to see starters go on short rest.

It is time to stop complaining about Taylor - 19 HRs - good defense. He has been more than they could have hoped for. Lopez did not have it, Jax did. Lewis just looks so good. Please stay healthy.

Irony - a state of affairs or an event that seems deliberately contrary to what one expects and is often amusing as a result. How do you do irony with a team that does what we expect and does not see its own joke? I believe that LaRussa is set to inherit the team and change the name to the What No Sox?

Stubborn or asleep at the wheel? Not impressed with Floro and Luplow. If that is there big moves it makes me ask - WHY? If the answers are in house then use them. Funderburk instead of Floro, Garlick instead of Luplow. Sorry I cannot give our barely awake FO much credit. And can you tell me, truthfully, that Stevenson, Williams, Martin, or Larnach could not have given us the production that Gallows has?

I have wondered why we chose Luplow over Garlick. And why Luplow has hit both 3 and 4 in various games.

If analytics tell them to play Gallo you have completely won me over.

For Cooperstown Mauer needs to be seen as a catcher and not his post-concussion play. Mauer was our best catcher. To find others we need to go to Brian Harper, Earl Battey, A J and Butch Wynegar. Brian Harper 1988 28 MIN AL 60 182 166 15 49 11 1 3 20 0 3 10 12 .295 .344 .428 .772 114 71 12 3 2 1 1 2H/D5 1989 29 MIN AL 126 412 385 43 125 24 0 8 57 2 4 13 16 .325 .353 .449 .802 119 173 11 6 4 4 3 2D/H935 1990 30 MIN AL 134 509 479 61 141 42 3 6 54 3 2 19 27 .294 .328 .432 .760 107 207 20 7 0 4 2 *2D/5H3 1991 31 MIN AL 123 469 441 54 137 28 1 10 69 1 2 14 22 .311 .336 .447 .783 111 197 14 6 2 6 3 *2/HD37 1992 32 MIN AL 140 546 502 58 154 25 0 9 73 0 1 26 22 .307 .343 .410 .753 109 206 15 7 1 10 7 *2/HD 1993 33 MIN AL 147 573 530 52 161 26 1 12 73 1 3 29 29 .304 .347 .425 .772 107 225 15 9 0 5 9 *2H/D 1994 34 MIL AL 64 267 251 23 73 15 0 4 32 0 2 9 18 .291 .318 .398 .717 81 100 8 3 0 4 1 D2/97H Earl Battey 1961 26 MIN AL 133 522 460 70 139 24 1 17 55 3 3 53 66 .302 .377 .470 .847 121 216 18 3 5 1 3 *2/H GG 1962 27 MIN AL 148 591 522 58 146 20 3 11 57 0 0 57 48 .280 .348 .393 .741 96 205 20 0 8 4 3 *2/H AS,AS,GG 1963 28 MIN AL 147 586 508 64 145 17 1 26 84 0 0 61 75 .285 .369 .476 .845 134 242 16 8 6 3 8 *2/H AS,MVP-7 1964 29 MIN AL 131 471 405 33 110 17 1 12 52 1 1 51 49 .272 .348 .407 .756 109 165 23 1 6 8 6 *2/H 1965 30 MIN AL 131 457 394 36 117 22 2 6 60 0 0 50 23 .297 .375 .409 .783 119 161 7 2 5 5 7 *2/H AS,MVP-10 1966 31 MI Butch Wynegar 20 MIN AL 149 622 534 58 139 21 2 10 69 0 0 79 63 .260 .356 .363 .719 109 194 14 2 4 3 7 *2D/H AS,MVP-28,RoY-2 1977 21 MIN AL 144 617 532 76 139 22 3 10 79 2 3 68 61 .261 .344 .370 .715 96 197 11 2 10 5 5 *2/H5 AS 1978 22 MIN AL 135 522 454 36 104 22 1 4 45 1 0 47 42 .229 .307 .308 .616 73 140 7 6 11 4 2 *2/H5 1979 23 MIN AL 149 595 504 74 136 20 0 7 57 2 2 74 36 .270 .363 .351 .714 91 177 13 2 11 4 5 *2/HD 1980 24 MIN AL 146 564 486 61 124 18 3 5 57 3 1 63 36 .255 .339 .335 .675 81 163 9 2 7 6 6 *2/HD A J Pierzynski Year Age Tm Lg G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS OPS+ TB GDP HBP SH SF IBB Pos Awards 1998 21 MIN AL 7 13 10 1 3 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 2 .300 .385 .300 .685 82 3 0 1 0 1 0 /2H 1999 22 MIN AL 9 24 22 3 6 2 0 0 3 0 0 1 4 .273 .333 .364 .697 76 8 0 1 0 0 0 /2 2000 23 MIN AL 33 96 88 12 27 5 1 2 11 1 0 5 14 .307 .354 .455 .809 100 40 1 2 0 1 0 2/H 2001 24 MIN AL 114 407 381 51 110 33 2 7 55 1 7 16 57 .289 .322 .441 .763 98 168 7 4 1 3 4 *2H/D 2002 25 MIN AL 130 469 440 54 132 31 6 6 49 1 2 13 61 .300 .334 .439 .773 104 193 14 11 2 3 1 *2H AS 2003 26 MIN AL 137 533 Best Twins catcher stats = the Athletic

This is a question for the commentors and author too. What is our comfort level with the BP arms at this point? On a scale of 1 - 10 and 1 is put him in and we are going to lose to 10 - game over, we win. I will give my own grades here - help me out. Floro - 3 Duran - 8 Pagan - 5 Thielbar - 7 Jax - 7 Sands - 4 Ortega - 2 Winder - 3

We are close, but not good enough to take on the winning teams. They battled - but just could not do it. It was an interesting game, at least.

We have had these oddities before: https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/stu-miller/

Obviously Floro's pitch count didn't matter either. Come on Rocco. Ober had at least one more inning to go with his pitch count and Floro with his 5+ era is not our middle inning answer - nor is Ortega. Maybe it is time to see if Sands can fill the role he was supposed to have. These random RP additions are not worth putting them in key situations. This from the Brewer Fanatic captures the moment.

Dobnak is not MLB ready and will not be. His star flamed out and now he is just a fun story. Larnach seems intent on being an AAAA player which really disappoints me. And Severino needs to be more than a minor league Gallo. How will the Cedar Rapids pitchers do when they go up a level? I hope they maintain their success. Rodriguez is disappointing this year. We need him to catch fire.

In answer to your final question - No. The Twins use of multiple players at multiple positions does not set up for Gold Glove, but also other than Castro (big surprise), Taylor and Correa we do not have Gold Gloves. Polanco has never been a great defender and maybe its time to bury the Julien qualification that he is not a good fielder since he and Polanco are pretty even. Catcher defense is the hardest to measure so I am just pleased with what we have. Gallo's defensive ratings are not what was advertised but the 100% K rate last night is.

I agree with your comments - although Pagan if 50/50 after last year. Farmer is okay, but not what we expected - I am neutral on him, much higher on Solano. Non-moves are hard to judge since we have no idea how close or realistic things were. As you might note - I did not make a judgment or give a grade, I just raised the question and we should always reflect on results. Of course the counterpart is to look at Steer, Encarnacion-Strand, Wells, Cano, Petty, and others we moved out. It is a multi-dimensional configuration.

Just reflecting on the FO moves - Gallo, Buxton, Correa - their big three position moves Mahle, Lopez, Floro/Lopez, Gray, Paddock their pitching moves, What is the percent of success at this time in this season?

Or does he have to rest now that he has appeared in a game!

We celebrate one day and weep the next - that is 500 ball and it is all this team is good for. I have decided that Gallo will not be DFA'd until we secure the strikeout record. We like records, but look out Atlanta is after our HR record. And the biggest news - Sands got used for 1/3 of an inning. I think it was a familiarization trip

Time for Balazovic to drop off the list, if not for innings in MLB, for lack of performance. So disappointed. But Jenkins, Keaschall, and Winokur all are looking great - can we keep our batting coaches away from them and let them use their natural talents?

Nice writing. Yes, they raised expectations and being a fan is all about expectations. But this team has not been fun either - with the exception of Willi Castro who came out of nowhere. No Turtle, no Colon - just very well paid stars who forgot how to be stars. We are so desperate for inspiration that we get excited with Byron Buxton walks through centerfield. The young players have been the breathe of fresh air we need - especially Julien and Wallner, but the injuries to Lewis and then to Kiriloff remind us of how fragile they are. And Balazovic, Sands, Winder remind us of their greatest flaws.