IndianaTwin

Wait. The Twins let David Ortiz get away?

(Responding to this post as representative of others I could have chosen.) I’m not sure if this is the place to post this, since it’s actually a Game Thread, rather than a thread on the community dynamics of Twins Daily. If it’s better on a different thread or as a message to Brock and other moderators, let me know, and I’ll move it. It’s been a while since I’ve posted one of my periodic, “Thank you, moderators, for the significant work you do in making this a civil and fun place for interacting with others about my favorite baseball team.” Thus, thank you, moderators, for the significant work you do in making this a civil and fun place for talking about my favorite baseball team. It’s also been hugely affected by some heavy work issues along with some health concerns in my family, but count me with Puckett34 and others as one who has spent less time on TD recently because of what’s felt like inordinate, repetitive negativity. And like others, let me distinguish between the appropriate (and often even funny) “grrrs” of frustration that come with being a fan versus the inordinate, repetitive negativity that comes from beating the same dead horses (and players, and manager, and perceived manager style) into oblivion. But let me also put in an impassioned, “Please, please, please, don’t drop the Game Threads!” You’ve captured it well, Brock and Squirrel, in that Game Threads (at their best), can be a refuge from life (and the internet) and tons of fun. Speaking of my own experience, however, I’ll say that losing the Game Threads would push me even further away from the site. The Game Threads and the game reviews (with the bullpen usage charts and some of the common elements) are the things that bring me here most often. I enjoy the minor league rankings and the in-depth analysis of some dude’s breaking ball, but my enjoyment of baseball ultimately comes down to those 162 game days (at least 173 this year, I might add) and the pursuit of chicken. I don’t know what the answers are, but my strong preference would be to continue working at addressing the negativity. That’s a heavy job for you as moderators, and I’m sure it’s gotten heavier as the site has grown, both in content and in number of users. As noted above, thank you, thank you, thank you, for all you do. I’d also encourage those of us who’ve been frustrated to do our part as well. Let’s hang in there with Game Threads, modeling that civility isn’t a lost character trait, and keep working to turn these into the fun respites they can be.

Um, I’m going to put on a limb and say that the answer is to option Larnach…. https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2023/05/twins-select-dereck-rodriguez-recall-alex-kirilloff.html

Agreed throughout, including the comment about perhaps just needing a couple hits. I have to say that it’s great to be in a situation where they could even consider this approach.

I said this elsewhere, but I'll post it here as well, because it seems relevant. To those who don't care for Rocco's in-game management, I'd posit that Thursday's game was definitely one in which he outmanaged the opposing manager. He mixed and matched relievers beautifully, including using the intentional walks strategically to face the most strikeout-prone upcoming hitters at times when any ball to the outfield wins the game. By contrast, Sox manager outthunk himself with pinch running Hamilton to go for the win and taking Vaughn's bat out of the lineup, etc.

I don't think it's so much about being exposed or not in AAA. I think it's more about SaintsDaily being less active than TD. In other words, it just feels like he's pressing, so actually hitting some balls solidly in a more relaxed situation can build him some confidence that he doesn't have to swing at everything.

All in all, I still don't like that rule either. It's so anticlimactic to have a team shut down the opponent, but then win on a single bloop single or bleeder that gets through the infield. At the least, I'd like to see them play some "regular" innings and then start this nonsense in, say, the 12th. That said, last night may have been the first time when I felt engaged with it. It added a wrinkle to the strategy of walking Benintendi to get to Hamilton, for example, knowing that he'll start the next inning on second. And with the way the offenses were going, they could have easily gone on forever. I will say that last night was a great example for me of how the pitch clock and engagement rule changes things. They played 12 innings in 3:37. Can you imagine the amount of stepping out, stepping off and throwing over that would have happened. It would have been exciting at some level, but it would have easily gone 4:37 without those rules.

I can't claim it as original, but it works.

You may not think it’s sustainable, but right now Kepler is nowhere near the weak link. The only guys with a higher OPS are Buxton, Gallo, Polanco and the backup catcher. Personally, I think Kepler’s is very sustainable — it’s exactly at his career average.

The OP suggests that it’s easy enough to find a spot on the 26-man — option Castro. But that’s not going to happen. The Twins like his defensive versatility and AK isn’t a fit there. Besides, barring other injuries, I’d think Castro’s spot is pretty much reserved for Farmer’s activation on Tuesday or soon thereafter. So AK needs someone else’s spot on the roster. Three primary options have been named, either here or in other threads. Option Larnach, DFA Gordon or DFA Solano. (Or yeah, trade Kepler and his 108 OPS+ and great defense, blah, blah, blah.) There’s another option I haven’t seen and that’s to option Miranda and use Farmer/Solano at 3B for a time. Miranda’s OPS+ is currently at 69, and he seems to be flailing at the plate. I don’t see many games, but was able to watch the Sox games, and he had at least a couple defensive plays that didn’t result in errors, but were shaky or poor decisions. He’d likely be back at the next injury, but it sure seems he could use a reset.

In five innings, they gave up two unintentional walks and one hit. The hit happened after they were up five runs. Two of the runners reaching third were Manfred Men. Besides the ground ball single, only two balls left the infield. They limited the Sox to 1 for 13 with RISP. I acknowledge two wild pitches, but what do they need to do to be considered “lights out” in your book? Related, but not necessarily directed at you, I’d also suggest that Rocco’s managing contributed greatly to that success, since he used the intentional walks to put the relievers in the best possible situations to succeed. By contrast, in playing for the win by using Hamilton as a pinch runner in the eighth, the Sox manager took one of his best bats (Vaughn) out of the game in what turned out to be two more times through the lineup. Hamilton struck out twice to end innings in what could have been Vaughn’s spot. Edit to add, since I just caught that you referenced this, I don’t know that you were necessarily arguing against the intentional walks to get to Hamilton, but I do think it was the right strategy, even though that means he’ll be the Manfred Man. I look at it this way. Facing Hamilton increases the chances of getting another inning. If the Twins score even one run in the next inning (against a Sox pen that’s getting weaker and weaker), which they SHOULD have been able to do, Hamilton is only the tying run. If the Twins score even two runs rather than five, then Hamilton is indeed irrelevant. (In fact, if the Twins had scored just two, or even three, I’d have been tempted to just balk Hamilton around to score, so that he isn’t a distraction on the bases — I’d rather face Eloy up just a run than face him up two with a distraction on second. The only advantage to not giving Hamilton the free run is the slim chance that he runs himself into an out. But that’s a discussion for another day.) You note that having Hamilton lead off the next inning is a free out, though the counter to that is to say that the out very likely would have been on an attempted bunt, so while a “free” out to the Twins, it’s not a valueless out for the Sox. And with Hamilton’s speed, a sac bunt attempt might not even lead to an out, leaving them with first and third and no one out. And then Hamilton steals second, so there’s no double play. Or even worse, the fielder could doink the throw off Hamilton’s head, leading to a walkoff. 😀

Making a statement like this violates virtually every rule of the internet. 🤣

I think Farmer is actually shooting for next week's home series, though that probably has more of an impact on Castro than Larnach.

About five more games' worth for Castro, assuming Farmer's rehab goes well and no one else gets hurt.

Not to mention that Stewart came in to face multiple righties and Thielbar got the couple lefties.

But if somebody is going to be abysmal, it might as well be Chicago.

We get Later and Norm Cash?

Earl was also generally an eschewer of the sac bunt, using it 16 percent less than the league average.

MLB OPS with runners on base = .744 Twins OPS with runners on base = .826

Though technically, the other four teams in the division have found more.

I like the Royals lineup. Yikes.

Interesting that folks want to dump an outstanding fielder in Kepler, based on his only having one truly good season, a 123 OPS+ which happened to be in his age 26 season. Beyond that, he's had a 109 OPS+ in the Covid year and five seasons between 93 and 98. Yet there's loyalty to Gordon, who had a 112 OPS+ in his age 26 season and has had another 269 plate appearances that work out to an OPS+ just over 60. He's nowhere as good defensively as Kepler, though he can play multiple positions. I'm just not seeing it.

Wow. What a strike zone.

Rocco knew he’d get hammered on TD if he did it.

It counts as a disengagement for the pitcher.