mikelink45

This was my immediate reaction too. After a great start to the season by the SP and then the initial spurt after the all-star break it looked like our overused BP was the only problem, but in the last few games we have seen our SP showing that they might benefit from an extra day of rest. I would go 6 man until I determined who is set for the last month of the season. Ober had his first bad performance, but as we know he has exceeded previous years innings. Ryan is looking like he might need a little restart and Gray has suddenly become less dependable. So would it hurt to have Keuchel step in? Yes I know Moran can go down and needs a reset too, but who else do we have for the BP? None of the experiments - Sands, Ortega, Winder have shown that they are the answers and the new acquisition does not give me confidence either. But Maeda has been our best SP of late so putting him in the BP does not seem wise to me.

Fascinating. We spend the first half praising the pitching and anguishing over the hitting. Now the hitting is doing sell in this second half and the pitching has gone away - Ryan, Gray, Ober what is happening? And the over worked BP is a mess. So far the converted starters - Winder and Sands have not done the job and I am still waiting to see what Balazovic does as the season progresses. I had hopes that Moran could do the job, but he has blown up and is worthless right now. We continue to overuse the BP and with the SP in a slump it only gets worse. Buxton and Kepler are playing the way we had expected - finally. Gallo did not play and we still had 10 Ks. Of course we were against an all-star starter and his 1 - 12 record.

I am thinking that Yunior is ready to climb the prospect list. Great season he is having. Now it is also time to climb the minor league ladder too. AAA?

It is the Canadian connection - Julien and Balazovic save the season -

How many times will TD slip in some positive statement about Gallo and his 179 BA? Sure he has 17 HRs - but he has only 32 RBIs. Look at the BR fielding chart - this is not an above average fielder. I prefer Michael Taylor out there. Taylor has twice Gallos WAR, 5 LESS HRS, and only 2 less RBIs and he is a plus fielder. This is a case where OPS+ is misleading. Gallo started out fast and made critics like me look bad, but that was short lived and the rest of his season is even worse than the 179 - I think I either read or heard that sense that initial three week splurge he is batting under 160 - a mark that gave the Yankees indigestion.

There are some real questions here - Didn't he get hurt playing CF already? Does he want to play OF - I remember a RF experiment a few years ago that derailed Sano Can we trade Polanco and clear the congestion?

14 Ks the record is ours for the taking! Time to move on. The only concern is whether we are starting to get to a point where our BP is exhausted - especially in the heat and Sonny Gray is not showing that he is more than a 5 inning pitcher like he and the rest of us wished.

No - lets wait. When he came in after Moran got in a jam, he did what we have seen him do too many times - he gave up the HR. I keep see SSS in various discussions and sometimes it seems like our articles jump on that just to spin discussion.

I have to wonder what an up and down season like Larnach has suffered does to confidence and performance? Wallner seemed to handle his demotions well, but I think he is the exception. The Twins getting the AAA team next door has not been a great success for some players.

My theory is that every ball player wants to be on a record setting team and this team has been convinced that fans are in during our record hot climate year. I live 110 miles north of the Twin Cities and still feel the air movement coming up 35 or is that hot air from the FO?

If not, what are all our hitting coaches here for?

Unfortunately for all the congestion in the OF, Buxton, Kepler, Gallo are not quality starters at this time and we all know Taylor is supposed to be a reserve. That means Larnach and Wallner have the potential to be our starters and to produce. I know the team will not give up on Buxton, but should give up on the DH only idea, but the others should be taken away as obstacles. If Larnach is not going to be given the opportunity here I would like to see him go where he can play everyday.

Put him in CF, fix the DH spot, and if he cannot survive CF for the rest of the season what do we lose?

I am not concerned about losing players like Celestino, Miranda, Gallo (Pay them to take him), SWR, Sands, Winder, Larnach, Kepler, Stevenson... but we are probably overrating Lane and I fear we will do what we did with Lopez last year and buy into a strong start only to get a bad finish.

Gallo has lost speed and his fielding is no longer the asset we bragged about. Drop him.

I love the way that Julien approaches the game. He is the Twins ROY no matter what else happens.

I could not finish my post, but I think the Wallner versus Gallo comparison is done - Gallo is a waste of a roster spot yes he finally got a hit and 2 more ks. I am so pleased to have Wallner, Kiriloff and Julien giving us such a lift. If Lewis can come back we have four cornerstones for the future. I will go back to an earlier posting with a link to mlb.com. Let's put Buxton in CF. If he doesn't make it to the end of the season are we any worse off?

I asked this last game - is Ryan worn out, is this a blip, or has the league caught up with him. We need him to be the strong and successful pitcher of the first half of the season. I Date Tm Opp Result App,Dec DR IP H R ER BB SO HR HBP WP IBB PO BK BF Pit Str StL StS GB FB LD PU Unk GmSc IR IS WPA aLI cWPA acLi RE24 2023-07-21 MIN CHW W 9-4 GS-6, W 4 6.0 7 4 4 1 10 2 0 0 0 0 0 26 104 64 13 15 4 7 2 2 0 51.0 0.011 0.57 0.01% 0.60 -0.926 2023-07-16 MIN @ OAK W 5-4 GS-6 6 5.1 5 3 3 3 7 1 1 0 0 0 0 24 91 54 10 14 1 6 4 1 0 50.0 -0.123 1.01 -0.08% 1.03 -1.054 2023-07-09 MIN BAL L 2-15 GS-5, L 5 4.1 5 5 5 2 10 2 1 0 0 0 0 21 98 61 15 14 3 4 1 0 0 41.0 -0.168 0.94 -0.10% 0.93 -1.363 2023-07-03 MIN KCR W 8-4 GS-6 5 6.0 6 2 2 1 9 1 0 0 0 0 0 25 94 62 16 19 3 5 5 2 0 60.0 0.151 1.13 0.08% 1.00 1.088 2023-06-27 MIN @ ATL L 2-6 GS-3, L 4 3.0 9 6 6 0 5 5 0 0 0 0 0 18 82 57 10 9 5 5 2 1 0 22.0 -0.387 0.43 -0.21% 0.39 -4.355

Not very exciting, but then the lines on our pitching prospects are not exciting overall. What next?

I have a daughter in emergency surgery for two cancers so I know the mental strain, but I really cannot comment on this trade and what it means. Good luck to Jorge, but I do not see this moving the needle in the BP.

I have read the comments and all my thoughts are redundant. As a critic of Gallo from day one and years before I just cannot stomach the Ks - 18 for the team - Gallo 2 in 2 at bats, and this valuable bat gets PH for by Solano - even Rocco knows we cannot depend on him. Looking at his last five games he is 0 for 12 with 8 Ks. that is a K average of 750! That is a stat - does the FO limit the stats they look at? Of course 18 Ks for the team means that Gallo is not the only one flailing. Larnach just cannot grab hold of his chances like Kiriloff and Julien and Wallner. I am disappointed in him. As a team we are far ahead of the second place Mariners in the race to strikeout more. We are the only team over 1000. 1065 and Joey only has 109 and he is just above Byron Buxton 106. Yesterday on MLB.com there was this conversation about Buxton - Buxton conversation. Play him in the OF. If he gets injured it is something that we have dealt with and what he is doing as DH is not acceptable. This conversation covers my thoughts. Good look at Kiriloff in this video too. On the pitching side I am like the rest of you - why is Cole Sands on the team if we are afraid to use him? Pagan only gets 1 run charged against him, but the HR drove in more that he does not get charged with. Of all the stats RP era is worthless. This is old Pagan - key situation - HR. Let's hope it is only a one game blip because he has actually done well overall this season. Moran is a real disappointment. I thought he had real potential, but he has a -0.2 WAR on BR. And a 1.388 WHIP.

I am discouraged by Larnach - he has had three seasons to show us something and he continues to fall short - he has fallen into the strikeout vs hit category and maybe it is time to see someone like Stevenson.

As a ghost runner? That is some accomplishment

My first reflection is on the WPA ratings. Gallo third??? He is a ghost runner and not a good one. He comes home when the inept White Sox fielder falls down. Now I have to say that the White Sox should have taught the Twins a strong lesson - their defense and overall play is like watching the Keystone Kops (I know I am dating myself) or the three stooges. They basically played themselves into a loss and that includes their BP. Good for Jeffers. But I thought Rocco was overthinking in the last innings (thanks for saving him Sox). Vasquez for Wallner who was 2/2 with a walk and HBP? Gallo in as ghost runner meaning he had to stay in with his 179 BA. This meant no bench left. Lucky we won as we did. But we did win and it feels like the Twins are about to take off! I know, weak competition, but just keep beating them.

I do not see Larnach or Wallner having much trade value. I would certainly choose Larnach if one has to go, but do we expect Gallo back next year? That would be awful. (I almost wrote Offal - negative feelings coming out). I also wonder if Kepler has increased his trade value and will be gone next year.