IndianaTwin

HBPs will haunt.

Pablo and Gray weren’t born yet.

Okay. See you then.

But now we’ve got Lewis. Hope the umps don’t screw us. Let’s order chicken and pluck it.

Wouldn’t that be FLG?

To summarize my response to your four paragraphs: Yes.* Yes. Yes. Yes. I think you nailed things precisely. It's a fan's tendency to over-react, but from my perspective, organizations (and individuals) (and not just sports teams) make their biggest mistakes when they overcorrect to address a perceived problem. All in all, this FO doesn't do that. Said another way, in almost any area of life, if you've got a good plan that you believe in, I think it's better to under-correct than it is to overcorrect. *And I'm going to claim an "I told y'all so" on this one. I kept the faith, and two debacle games notwithstanding, I thought they did an outstanding job of using him in the spots where he could be most effective and turned him into an effective role player.

These things are often perception, right? I agree with most of your second paragraph. Where I differ is that I think their approach was part of the plan. In general, I think part of their plan has always been to work young players in slowly, focusing on putting them in position to succeed. I think they entered the season with a mindset of having plenty of veteran parts, enough to keep them going until the young pieces sort themselves out. Gallo is actually an interesting case in point. He became the favorite target of dissenters here, even though he ended the season with an OPS+ almost exactly at the league average. Folks will point to him doing most of his damage in April, which is true, but I think they got exactly from him what they were wanting. They used him to buy time as they sorted out which of Wallner, Larnach and, to a lesser extent, Kirilloff was going to be productive. The sense among many posts about Gallo is that he was starting every day until they benched him late, but the reality is that as early as June, he was only starting half the games and coming in regularly for defense. Wallner was the guy who came through, and he was excellent. It's easy for folks (and many have) to say, "See, Wallner's OPS+ is 139. They should have brought him up much sooner." How about considering that potentially (I would say, likely) one of the reasons he played so well is that they didn't bring him up sooner? With the extra seasoning he got in AAA and the ability to use a guy like Gallo to absorb at bats while gradually working Wallner into the mix, he was able to taste success and thrive. I could post a separate post describing how I thing your last sentence is one of the key tenets of the FO's approach. They are not going to make a lot of major moves. They are also not going to box themselves in by trying a lot of moves that are attempts to massively move the needle, but become millstones when they don't. Rather, they are going to make a lot of moves that nudge the needle, and they are going to recognize the interconnectedness of those moves. Gallo was a needle-nudger, buying time for rookies, as I described. Solano was a needle-nudger, buying time and flexibility for Julien to develop and to cover injuries (in this case, Polanco). Farmer -- needle-nudger, Castro -- needle-nudger, both buying flexibility. It just so happens that several of those needle-nudgers not only bought time and flexibility, they continued to perform well. At some level, even Correa was a needle-nudger, in the sense that they didn't buy in until it came on their terms (only six years).

You can call it stubborn, but I think the word “conviction” from the last paragraph is more accurate. It’s clear that they have a long-term plan, and they stick to it, even when we think they should do something different. Another word I would use is, “SmarterThanAnyoneOnTwinsDaily.” Seriously, there are a bunch of smart people here. But none of us has the experience and pedigree of those in the Front Office. We’re even further behind those in the Front Office when it comes to having access to the information that they do. We can yell and scream all we want about what they oughta/coulda/shoulda do, but they are going to be right way more often than we are.

I’d love to have Gray back, but you heard it here first — Gray to the Reds. Past history there. From Nashville (and Vanderbilt) and known to be a homebody. Cincy with very little money committed and coming off a season that gave reason to open the pocketbook.

But… did they leave the light on?

Am I the only person who had a Darrell Evans flashback tonight?

Regular season that’s a GIDP. /s

ARod speculating on a bunt. No way they bunt with Lewis as the lead runner.

I’d rather eat a Blizzard.

Yep. Trying to get them to expand and they aren’t.

Watching solo today, since Mrs. IT is busy hawking batteries down at the park. She sells C cells by the seesaw.

Given that the defense has the ball, I’d be glad to have Toronto have the most possession.

That was a dribbler on the part of Correa that probably had a chance of being a hit at any point, but it seemed like he got down the line a little quicker than he was able to do in the regular season. Similar on yesterday’s hustle defensive play. Let’s hope that’s a sign the rest was helpful.

Yes, that was some pretty great camera/production work to grab that angle.

Just a hunch, but methinks Gausman may not get to face the third hitter in the lineup thrice.

And get just enough glove on it to make it tempting for Bichette!

And Polanco has to get his second error there. Let’s get a couple more runs and upgrade the defense.

Yeah, bench Correa because he’s not hitting…

By the way, I recently discovered that Herr Kepler has become the all-time leader in bWAR among players born in Germany.

Assuming you’re getting the same commercials as me, can we agree that the Keebler Fudge Stripe is one of the best snack foods available? Also, I think it would be pretty awesome in a Blizzard.