IndianaTwin

I recognize that this is the Internet, so there's always an element of recency bias and "what have you done for me lately"? In 2022, TD was up in arms about Rocco pulling starters early. In 2023, Rocco let pitchers go longer, and people finally realized that the reason Rocco pulled starters early in 2022 was because they sucked. In 2023, they had better starters and, wheeee, they pitched longer. This year's approach is really not much different than last year. Last year, we picked up Vazquez, Solano, Gallo, Taylor and Farmer and platooned a lot. As a whole, I think Taylor, Farmer and Solano were seen as wins, Vazquez probably a draw and Gallo became the whipping boy (even with his 103 OPS+ and generally good defense, but that's a different discussion). And all in all, there was praising of the front office for their emphasis on depth that allowed them to withstand injuries and bring along young guys like Lewis, Julien and Wallner. This year, they've arguably allotted fewer PAs to vets (Vazquez, Farmer, Santana and Margot) and still platooned, but because the veterans have not performed to their career average (and in a couple cases, have been significantly below), the front office are suddenly idiots (or perhaps more accurately, idiots for a different reason, but that's also a different discussion). Given that there is a solid likelihood that not all will go swimmingly in 2025, I predict TD will find a new thing to focus on next year.

A 3 (or 3.5) man bench really, given that it's tough to do much with the catcher spot on a given day.

Because they don't play the White Sox enough?

Though Miranda has played only 10.2 innings at 1B for the Twins this season and last, he did play five of his six defensive games at 1B in St. Paul, which suggests that may be where the Twins see him as more viable. I would imagine he'll get at least some run at 1B when Lewis is back. Though it wouldn't be popular, I could also see them sending him down for a week or so to specifically work at 1B. Personally, I'd send down Julien for the reset, assuming that Farmer and Castro can handle 2B until an injury happens. I don't see Miranda playing 2B, however, with Lee also on the doorstep.

It's on the Splits page on baseball-reference.com. For example: https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/split.cgi?t=b&team=MIN&year=2024 In this chunk... it's saying that short stops (i.e., mostly Correa) have an OPS+ of 132 in comparison to the rest of the team. The DHs are at 82 and the 2Bs at 81, etc. That the catchers are at 96 suggest that Vazquez's drag only slightly outweigh Jeffers' benefit in the context of the team. The sOPS+ to the right of that is in comparison to the league as a whole. If you hover over the heading in each chart, it will give a fuller explanation, but if I'm understanding it correctly, it's saying that Jeffers and Vazquez combine to be a little below average in the context of the Twins lineup (the 96), they are a tiny bit above average (the 101) in the context of the league as a whole. I haven't spent gobs of time diving into this, but at least I think that's how the two relate to each other. From the descriptors, it says that sOPS+ is not park-adjusted. It doesn't have that note on tOPS+, so I assume that one is. An interesting tidbit, completely unrelated to the Vazquez discussion -- you'll see that the Twins have had one plate appearance from a pitcher this year. You may wonder where that's from, since none of the pitchers have hit. In the May 18 game, Willi Castro came in to pitch the bottom of the eighth and then hit in the top of the ninth, so that plate appearance was treated as a pitcher. (At least I thought it was interesting.)

In terms of who starts, it's very much been an alternating of games, with a couple of exceptions that give Vazquez a 29-25 edge in starts: April 23-24. Not sure if there was a logical reason, though it was in the midst of a stretch with 13 straight games. April 28-29. Later in the same stretch. That it was soon after the first time and that Jeffers DHed on the 24th, 28th and 29th makes me wonder if Jeffers was dinged up a bit, but I don't know that. May 12 and 14. So back-to-back games for Vazquez, but not back-to-back days. May 20-21. And now that I look at it closer, in all four situations, the second day was facing a lefty and Rocco was going with an entirely right-handed lineup. To do that, you have play both Vazquez and Jeffers, so he went with the stronger defender behind the plate. Jeffers has not started behind the plate against a left-handed pitcher since April 15.

Jeffers has played in all but six games and is third on the team in plate appearances. Realistically, catching Jeffers more wouldn't get him the lineup more. He would just DH less. Said another way, Vazquez isn't costing Jeffers at bats; he's costing at bats to someone else in the lineup as the DH. And frankly, the "someone else" crew hasn't hit well. The DH tOPS+ is 85, meaning that they have hit 15 percent worse than the team as a whole. For context, the only position that has been weaker is 2B (at 82). Then, consider that more than one-third of the DH at bats have gone to Jeffers, and it suggests that the remaining DHs have been significantly worse than that figure. Not Vazquez-level worse, but with not nearly as large of a discrepancy as one might think. In fact, given the toll that catching takes, one wonders if Jeffers might actually have fewer total at bats if a bigger percentage of them came at catcher. It will be interesting to see if there is some shift in the catching ratio, with Larnach seeming to be coming on a bit as a DH and if Lewis (hoped for) leads to more DH time for Miranda. If those guys hit well as DH, maybe there's more reason to have Jeffers catch a bit more, since his DH at bats are needed quite as much. Rocco plays the long game during the regular season. If part of balancing the role and giving lots of DH time to Jeffers is to keep his legs a bit fresher so he can catch a little more down the stretch, that's helpful as well.

Listening to Josh Staumont on the radio postgame. He’s very articulate.

Not if the runner doesn’t advance to third. EDIT: Double ninja’ed.

Captain Jax got us by tonight.

I asked Mrs. IT what she wanted for her birthday. She said that nothing would make her happier than a diamond necklace. Found out the hard way that she actually wanted something.

As opposed to his former radio partner, who gave us this treat a couple innings ago, after a Kansas City misplay: “We were talking about how well defense a team.”

Skip Caray: “Watching Greg Maddux leg out a triple has just passed the Kentucky Derby as the most exciting two minutes in sports.”

Two, actually.

Kepler doesn’t have 10-and-5 status. His service time was 7.152 heading into the season, so he won’t hit 10 until early 2026.

I think they pay more attention to pitches than innings. It's been a slow progression: Last year, Raya didn't top 54 pitches in a game, so they've allowed him to jump up a bit, but he's also still only 21. FWIW, Festa averaged 57.8 pitches over his first five starts, but 77.8 in his last five. That looks like the pitch count of someone they see as next in line (or next after Varland, particularly with Varland already being on the 40-man). EDIT to add: Last year Raya averaged 45 pitches over 22 starts. I'm guessing that if they get 22 starts and average around 60 pitches (assuming a slight increase as the year goes on), they'd feel pretty good.

Folks on Rays Daily prolly still screaming, "We gave up Joe Ryan for a half season of Nelson Cruz."

Poop jokes aren't my favorite jokes, but they're a solid No. 2.

The Jaws ranking doesn't like his chances:

Perhaps they are checking TD at the game.

oop ho?

Let’s toast this Marshmallow and get s’more runs.

Okay, folks. Carry on without me. Off to the high school graduation of a young man from my church. It’s the first day of the rest of his life. Hope he seizes the day and never gives up, etc.

Or at least like Edwin Diaz in a save situation.

Mrs. IT would be supportive. Being as we live in Indiana.