Hosken Bombo Disco

I agree. But keeping in mind that one start is one start, Miami is not super powerful, and the Twins have him slotted in the #5 position of the rotation. Too often Maeda will walk off the mound wiping his brow like he’s been awake 36 hours rescuing by stranded motorists off of snowy Minnesota roads. (That is to say, he looks old and tired at the end of too many innings.) But for a fifth starter? Probably the best the Twins have given us in a long time.

Even more exciting, was that in Aztec cosmology that 1987 marked the end of twenty-two cycles of 52 years each, or 1,144 years in all! The World Series was kind of nice too not gonna lie https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harmonic_Convergence

(me: goes off to search google/Wikipedia)

Larnach beating out an infield hit… maybe this year is different

Arraez was not expecting that juicy juiceball pitch on 3-1

You mean Gor-dumb? More like Gor-DONE! (Just kidding: no name calling is aloud here) edit: “allowed”

It also looked like some kid was handing him a new nail file, reminiscent of Joe Neikro circa 1987

Gotta be a delay of game, no? 🤣

LOL wut I look up, and Maeda is on the mound signing an autograph?

Pastry ninja’d by the ninja pastry

Bismarcks!

WOW - the score is what to nuthin’? 😀 good early season plan: get as far away from .500 as possible

They did this with the lineups in 2019 too. (and we all know how many games we won in 2019..)

The C could also stand for Character, which is not quite the same thing as charisma. Brian Dozier had Character in spades, in terms of being a guy who kept morale up, supported his teammates, genuinely liked them in good times and bad, and everyone had a favorable opinion of him. It also helps that he was really good for a window of time. What Eddie Rosario brought was talent and fearlessness. Some people would say his internal risk/reward meter was broken and they were tired of it; but lots of others loved that twinkle he had and were happy to let him throw the dice. The front office missed on their evaluation of Rosario. Maybe because they did not know Rosario from the beginning like the rest of us did, and did not believe what they were told about him. My opinion is the front office missed with Correa too. Correa is charismatic and well liked, but that doesn't necessarily translate into leadership. A leader simply would not aim put-down jokes at their current organization when off the field. Not in my opinion they wouldn't. The Giants and the Mets were bidding on Correa for his bat, not his leadership. Correa is a very good ballplayer, no denying that. For Correa to demonstrate leadership for the Twins, I think he will have to do supernatural things with his bat and glove on the field. Otherwise I think Correa's overpowering personality just looks suffocating to me, and it takes oxygen away from some of the younger potential leaders on their way up. That's the way it looks to me from the outside, anyway. Maybe fatherhood will mellow him out!

Sure, we see the occasional split screen, but that only works in small doses, and mostly there will not be time for those beautiful scene-setting shots that help sell the moment and tell the story. If MLB leaves the pitch clock rule in place for the postseason, sure fans will adjust, but something will be lost in the process. I would even like to see something like removing the clock for the All Star Game, then tweaking the rule after the All Star Break some way. Fun fact : In the 2017 AL Wild Card game, the first inning alone took 45 minutes (and the first 40 of those minutes were fairly enjoyable)

I have to disagree. For the postseason, Fox Sports does this best, by far. But here goes: I disagree because when Jhoan Duran is pitching with two outs in the top of the 9th inning of ALCS Game 6 later this October, with a trip to the World Series riding on the next pitch, there won't be time for camera cutaways to Byron Buxton's hard stare in center, patting his glove and spitting a sunflower seed, or to Alex Kirilloff at first base, the batting hero of the night yet his expression perfectly blank, or to Carlos Correa motioning something quick to the second baseman, or into the din of the crowd, where an older couple is huddled together in a Twins blanket somewhere, to a couple of younger fans in Twins caps with their hands clasped together in a prayer position under their chins, or into the dugout, where Rocco, calm as always, leans one leg forward against the step, and then the camera switches back to Duran for a moment, then a brief shot of the hitter, helplessly rocking his bat, and then back to the center field camera view (maybe a better baseball innovation than even the pitch clock!) as the camera starts with a wide pan on the entire scene at home plate, the pitcher, catcher and batter, the fans in the front rows standing and clapping, the camera narrowing a bit now as Duran comes set, the batter waiting for the inevitable, and Duran gives one more look and then steps back off the rubber to call time and wipe his brow...

Couldn't follow the game but did follow the game thread. Great job Twins and great discussion Twins fans! Like some others, a little nervous about Kepler and Jax in those spots but also happy to see Buxton, Lopez and Larnach in good form off the bat.

'Bitter' suits me very well, thankyouverymuch 🙂

Correa also said Altuve was too humble to use the trash cans to cheat, the trash cans. Now cue the video of Altuve shaking his jersey collar and reminding teammates not to touch his jersey as he jogged into home plate after his home run off Chapman. But, no trash cans, see? That reads to me like some high level Cris Carter clubhouse lawyering right there. Good for Altuve, sure. Of course Correa will defend his teammates, and no teammates are going to speak ill of another teammate, Twins or Astros. Some Astros apologized and stayed quiet and minded their own business when this came out. Correa, to me, seems incapable of being quiet. So, regarding how Correa handled the scandal, we are going to have to agree to disagree. Amicably I hope! Let's hope Correa is a new person and brought a new ethic to the Twins, absolutely.

I love leadership stories -- bring on part two! I always thought Brian Dozier and Eddie Rosario were leaders in their own way and able to coexist based on their wildly different playing styles and personalities. Not the biggest Correa fan, and I have always wanted to see Royce Lewis assume the role of leader for the next several years. I don't. think that can happen anymore now that Correa is here. I will save the rest of my teeth gnashing about this for the next installment. 🙂 Anyway, thank you! @Greggory Masterson

No not really. 🙂 Three of them are well within the realm of probability, and one of them is pretty unrealistic.

It’s an upgrade over 2022 but I think the Twins are still middle of the pack. This list should give you a general idea of what else is out there. https://syndication.bleacherreport.com/amp/10055213-ranking-the-top-25-catchers-of-the-2022-mlb-season.amp.html

Good question. His numbers are about the same. Showed more power when playing in the field but drew more walks when he DH-ed. Last yr 2022 was really the only season he was DH so it's the only season I looked at, and maybe too small a sample to draw a conclusion. By the way you can go to a stat site and search by 'splits' and Baseball Reference has other good ones you can look at . https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/split.fcgi?id=buxtoby01&year=2022&t=b

I think Gladden is excellent. He has an instinct for the game that most players and player-broadcasters do not. Play by play is not his strength and I think that people get stuck on that. But listen to him and Cory late in close games, when Cory is back on the mike and the two are talking game strategy and discussing which pitches might be thrown. It is an entertaining, engaging baseball education. Unfortunately theres not a lot of time between pitches anymore, so a lot of that is going to be lost.

Sounds like KC will be starting Zack Greinke (rightie) so I have it exactly as you have it -- EXCEPT I'm going with Buxton in Center - sleeper pick! 🙂 then Larnach DHing