mikelink45

What is it with these guys?  Foot pain - who needs feet?  Let's teach him how to do long range hand stands.  Its time to get creative - play through pain - join Kelso at the bar until the pain is gone and you are laying on your back - Luke will be there to assist. 

I like this creativity.. Let me know when we figure out how to swing a bat with one's feet... without inciting the um, dreaded uh, planetary facilities is it? Does sound kinda like an astrological condition...

It seems surprising that the new pitch clock seems to have helped the pitchers more than the batters since it appears batting averages are down.  Making the pitcher work faster would have seemed to help the batter.

The discussion I hear is that the league is worried about pitcher dominance.  Just like Bob Gibson's assault from the mound that caused the entire league to lower the mount height, they are now talking about having pitcher throw from a hole in the middle of the diamond.  Keep the storyline going, MLB will find a way to screw it up and thanks Archibald. 

right about where he should be. wOBA: .356 xwOBA: .361 He's crushing the ball when he makes contact (exit velocity is in the top 2% of the league), his hard hit % is the top 1% of the league. and he misses a lot: bottom 1% in the league in xBA and bottom 5% in K rate. Draws his walks. Might not be the most aesthetically pleasing player in baseball, but he's adding pretty good value for the Twins. (The fact that he's a plus defender in the OF and quality at 1B makes the Ks a lot easier to swallow for me) He hasn't been particularly lucky or unlucky this season, he's just looking like Joey Gallo.

Minnesota Nice versus the Chicago Satans and we get Colome versus Pagan.  Our team was so inspired they even attempted to take third with our catcher, the slowest man in a slow lineup - the temptations are just so hard to resist.  
We load the bases and because we seldom bunt, we hit two short infield balls that turn in to force outs at home.  Then to end the misery a good old K.  Man the way that devil works is so complicated. 

Minnesota Nice versus the Chicago Satans and we get Colome versus Pagan.  Our team was so inspired they even attempted to take third with our catcher, the slowest man in a slow lineup - the temptations are just so hard to resist.  
We load the bases and because we seldom bunt, we hit two short infield balls that turn in to force outs at home.  Then to end the misery a good old K.  Man the way that devil works is so complicated. 

Larnach’s OPS is 55 points higher than Correa’s. Neither of those items bother me.
It’s early. We’re not winning or losing the division today or tomorrow. I’m here to relax and enjoy our pitching staff. The hitting will be around soon enough.

The potential is definitely there for Larnach, unfortunately for him and the Twins, I don't think we are well bit to sit around wait for potential this year. The power is off the charts, but that doesn't matter when you're not barreling up balls. I think mentioning his approach is an interesting discussion. He walk a lot, obviously nice to see, but I think he's gotta rethink his game plan. He's clearly struggling on all off-speed, I've watched most of his ABs and aside from the changeup HR, not sure he's hit another off speed pitch hard. Makes me think he's sitting red dead on the fastball, I don't think it's working anymore, he's not adjusting to the off-speed.
 
I personally don't think we can afford to have a guy struggling for long, taking up a middle of the order spot on this team. The calls for Kirilloff will get loud, another 2-hit game last night, tonight is an important game for Larnach I imagine.

Not a good day for an article discussing Larnach's status after what was it, four K's last night?  All I remember is the seventh with the bases loaded and our 2-3-4 hitters coming up.
I continue to believe that AK will be a special hitter.  Saw he had two hits again last night.  Sure looks to me that should Larnach continue hitting like of late for another week or so, AK is up and Larnach is in St. Paul.  That also solves the problem of how they create an opening for AK without losing Gordon, who has been hitting like last year the last couple games.  The Twins sure as heck need some clutch hitting, will AK be part of the answer?

"The Twins have too many left-handed corner options ..."
This has been a mantra since the end of last season .... and then the Twins added Joey Gallo.
Trading time is quite ways off, so the team will need to embrace what they have and let them play. The player who doesn't look up to the task, in my estimation, is Solano. In a week the Twins will need to take a hard look at their current roster. I am unable to predict tomorrow or further into the future, due to personal limitations, but Farmer and Kirilloff should both be on the airplane to Los Angeles. This will be the Twins version of bringing in a couple of keys.

Rooker just ran out of options with the Twins. Like sluggers before him from Restovich to Sorrento to McCarty, he just couldn't put it together to place himself into future plans. (Here's hoping Matt Wallner doesn't fall into a similar cycle).
Amazing how the bodies from that trade quickly dispersed. And Twins fans would be more than happy to see Pagan move on, although the front office, no doubt, holds onto a hope that they could at least flip him for some low-level prospect.
Hopefully Paddack will come back and shine for a couple of seasons in the rotation.
One thing is certain, Oakland will figure out a way to move him!

It's understandable to be cautiously optimistic! The team was in a good spot last year, as you mentioned, until basically September. There's a difference with this team though in my opinion. Last year's squad relied on Chris Archer and Dylan Bundy to take the mound two out of every five days. It was a terrible experience that hindered the bullpen and really wore on the team in general. That's not an issue this year as the team has six starters who they can feel comfortable sending out on any given day and give the team a chance to win. This is a huge difference between the 2022 and 2023 teams, and should allow them to stay competitive.
Another difference is the depth of the team. We already got to see a lot of that depth early in the season with the injuries that piled up early. The Twins are getting healthy now, and the lineup is looking much better, but those replacements that had to play kept the team afloat while the starters healed up. I trust the depth much more than years past!