longstrangetrip

Fair point, although I actually think we would be replacing Schoop in the lineup with Gonzalez and Adrianza (both of whom have OPS's close to Schoop's this year, and likely better last year)...Arreaz would be replacing Adrianza as our utility middle infielder. I would rather get something for Schoop and fill a glaring need than lose him for nothing when Baldelli finally moves Jorge to his natural position and Schoop no longer has a starting role. Better to be proactive now, I think, if there is a market for Schoop. I agree in principal that you don't plug a hole by opening another, but I don't view the trio of Gonzalez/Adrianza/Arreaz as a hole. Obviously the brain trust also has to consider Mordabito's point about clubhouse impact of trading a player rather than a prospect. I don't know if any of us really know if there would be a negative impact and have to trust Rocco to make that assessment. Maybe if Schoop were a long-time teammate or a countryman of some of our players I might feel differently, but I don't know if Curacao-born Schoop even speaks Spanish (much more likely his languages are Dutch and English). Ultimately players want to win and they have to understand that the bullpen is a possible impediment, and they also know that baseball is a business with trades part of the deal. If we could get a very good reliever in exchange for Schoop, Gordon, and something else, I'm confident Rocco could convince his team of the merits of such a deal. But if Rocco believed trading would have a disastrous impact on morale, I'd agree that keeping Schoop was the best move.

While I agree addtions to the bullpen are neccesary if this team is going to make a deep playoff run, I'm relatively optimistic solutions are out there through a combinatoin of promotions (or reassignment) and trades. This would be my plan: 1) Determine which starter (Perez or Pineda) is more likely to thrive in the bullpen and move him there immediately. This team doesn't need a 5th starter in postseason, and can also likely easily win the division after promoting a current minor leaguer (Stewart or Smeltzer, for instance) to 5th starter. 2) Mejia had a promising appearance his last time out. He and/or Reed are solid candidates to add to the bullpen. 3) Target one excellent reliever to pick up in a trade. The conventional wisdom is that we will offer prospects in a trade, but I might suggest a combo of prospects and Schoop. I think Schoop was a great offseason pickup and love what he has brought to this team, but he occupies a position that is destined to by Polanco's sooner rather than later (his erratic arm could be a huge liability at SS in a playoff run), and his good HR start to this season might have created a "sell high" situation. Power hitting second baseman are a rarity, and a combo of Schoop, Gordon and something else could land a very good reliever. Meanwhile we have Arreaz to replace Schoop as a middle infield option.

True, rosterman. But in all fairness to Smeltzer, it looked to me like ball 4 to the #9 hitter was clearly a strike. I generally don't complain about umpiring because it tends to even out over the course of a game, but I thought the plate ump was giving Bieber strike calls all night on balls outside the zone, and didn't reciprocate for Devin. All in all I was quite impressed with our young pitcher. Yes, he doesn't have big league velocity on his fastball, but the sharp angle of his breaking ball makes it extremely difficult to hit (and frankly, sometimes difficult for an umpire to assess whether it's a strike as it crosses the zone). I think he has a bright future.

Over their past 50 starts, Kyle Gibson has better stats than Dallas Kuechel...I really hope our front office doesn't bite on him. Kimbrel is another matter entirely and may be the piece we need to really compete in the postseason. I don't have a clue what our front office does this week, but I would not be opposed to spending some money on Kimbrel.

I hesitate to weigh in because I appreciate so much of what Mauer offered this franchise, and was fortunate to be at his emotional final game...what a terrific moment in Twins history when he came out in his catcher's gear! But I agree with the minority here who see Mauer's retirement as clear addition by subtraction, albeit for a different reason. Mauer was not a rah rah type clubhouse leader, but he was the face of the franchise and THE guy whom our young players wanted to emulate. It seemed to me that "plate patience" and working the count was the calling card of the Twins offense during the Mauer era, because that was the way Joe approached an at bat. That led to a legacy of taking first pitch strikes that too often were the best pitch the hitter saw (yes, I'm looking at you too, Robbie Grossman). While Cron over Mauer is definitely a step up in offensive production (without sacrificing too much on the defensive side), the real upgrade for this team is that Nelson Cruz is now the quiet leader that our young players look up to, and Nelson's approach to hitting is 180 degrees removed from Joe's. I don't know for sure, but I suspect Nelson is telling (or more likely, showing) the youngsters to not let a good pitch go by, even if it's the first one. Pitchers love to get ahead in the count, and often they try to do that by putting a fast ball right down Broadway. While the Mauer Era Twins invariably took that pitch, the 2019 edition is ready to hack at the first good pitch they see. This morning's Strib told us that 15 of Yelich's 21 home runs this season have come on the first or second pitch. Similarly, we've seen the Twins swing at that first fastball or hanging curve more than previous years, and the results have been astonishing. Mauer's absence is certainly not the only reason for our hitting resurgence...we have a new crop of hitters that our brain trust brought in, and a new manager too (the hitting coach is unchanged). But I have thought all year that the change in hitting philosophy due to players now not thinking that they have to "hit like Joe (or Robbie)" is the main reason for the incredible power show this year. The worst year I ever had at the plate was a season playing for a manager that insisted we take the first pitch...I spent the entire season in an 0-2 hole and swinging defensively. Now that swinging at a first pitch fastball is no longer a "sin", we see a team attacking the first hittable pitch they see. And man has it been fun!

Nelson Cruz hit more home runs than anyone in the major leagues the past five seasons. As of today there are 7 Twins who have hit as many or more homers than Cruz this season, and Sano could soon make it 8.

Yeah, I agree that pitch recognition has been far and away Byron's biggest issue in the majors. He honestly hadn't shown me in his previous ML stints that he could tell a breaking ball from a fastball, and that resulted in a bizarre number of 0-2 counts. Pitch recognition is a broad term, but often it has to do with a lack of confidence more than lack of talent. If you're not confident at the plate, you are going to be overthinking rather than being instinctive...and that split second of over-thinking can lead to a lot of bad decisions at the plate. And a lot of 0-2 counts. I'm not going to jump to any conclusions after just 6 games back, but nobody can argue that the results aren't entirely different from what we have seen before. 3 hits today has his BA over .250 on the season, and his slugging average has moved ahead of Mauer's (among many others). And his speed and defense, as always, continue to be game changing. Wouldn't it be terrific if the kid has finally figured it out.

I'm not just saying this because Park just hit a long home run, but I think it's way too early to think about moving him. I thought that he would hit about .230 with 35 HRs, and while he is currently batting lower than .230, he's still on pace for about 35 dingers. He's also 3rd on the team in slugging average, only a few percentage points behind Sano. The guy is still adjusting to a different game and culture, and should get better. I'd like to keep running him out there at DH with occasional starts at 1b.

What...too early? Yeah, you're probably right. But in the midst of a lost season after a 10-30 start, the prospect of a #1 pick looms as likely in 2017, and it's distracting to think of who might stand out in a year and how they might fit. Fortunately, the early favorite for #1 from many sources also plays a position without much talent or depth in the Twins system...catcher. Despite the horrible start to this season, there is a reasonable chance that this team could be a contender in 4-5 years if highly-touted prospects perform anywhere near their ceilings...especially if they have a solid-defending power hitting catcher ready by then. And that's why we should be keeping an eye on Gator sophomore JJ Schwarz. He's always had the reputation of being a very good defensive catcher, but he also hit .332 with 18 HRs and 73 RBI in 70 games as a freshman. He's not hitting as well as a sophomore (a lot more walks indicates opponents might have pitched around him), but his defense continues to impress. He's 20 years old, so if he continues to progress, would likely be able to contribute in 4-5 years when some of the studs now at Ft. Myers might be ready to join Berrios and Duffey in the rotation. And hopefully superprospects Sano and Buxton will be reaching their prime by them too. I'm a sensitive guy, so I need something else to think about as the Twins continue to play horrible baseball. I'm choosing to think about a #1 pick in 2017, and my sights are on Schwarz. Florida is currently ranked #1 in college baseball, so there should be ample opportunities to watch him against top competition in June.

I have always been a big fan of Molitor, supported the decision to name him manager, and thought he overachieved last year. And I generally don't find myself to be "knee-jerk" when it comes to opinions about my beloved local sports teams. All that said, I'm a little embarrassed to side with those who think Mollie should be replaced. Yes, he was given a bullpen that doesn't measure up with most in the league. But the bullpen wasn't exactly lights out last year either, and the team still played reasonably well. It's not that the Twins are losing...it's how. Missed cutoff men, bonehead baserunning, lack of communication in the field. The manager needs to be held accountable for a complete team-wide breakdown. Beyond that is an array of bizarre in-game decisions and lineup choices (last night Mollie had the 7th best slugging percentage batting third, and the 9th best OBP leading off...WHAT???). I want to support Mollie, but evidence is mounting that he is not the right guy to coach a young team. Luckily we have a guy in the system that has worked with most of these guys in their development years, and has had great success with them. Make Doug Mientkiewicz the manager now. ​

I'm far from giving up on Buxton. His speed alone is game-changing. Take last Sunday's game, for instance, where he entered the game in the 8th inning and scored 2 runs. But his struggles at the plate are painful to watch...I see no improvement in his plate approach. I started a thread earlier about his ineptness when he gets behind in the count, and it's not getting any better. He has now gotten to a 2-strike count 19 times this season, and he has struck out 15 of those times. And unfortunately he is actually hitting worse than last season...BA, slugging, OBP and strikeout rate are all worse. The problem with Buxton is pitch recognition...I really don't think he currently has much ability to pick up the spin of the ball until it's too late. This results in taking pitches he should be swinging at, and swinging at tough pitches out of the zone...and regular negative counts. In the rare instances when he gets ahead in the count, he looks like the #1 prospect we were told about (he is 4 for 9 in favorable counts this season). The problem is his lack of recognition almost usually puts him in a hole, and at least right now, he is clearly in the bottom quartile (perhaps bottom 10%) in the league in hitting while behind. I'm not smart enough to know if Byron would be better served by being sent down. Advocates would argue that hitting in AAA would elevate his confidence and allow him to hone his recognition skills in a less pressure environment. Others would argue that he has shown the ability to get ahead in the count and hit in the minors, and he needs lots of ABs against ML pitching to develop the same skill at this level. I think I come down on the side of the second argument, but Mollie and Bruno need to watch him carefully and look for any signs of getting too down on himself. I trust their judgement, and if they decide it is destructive for him to continue flailing at the ML level, I would support a demotion.

It was a great throw, dog. Very impressive how he set up for it too...he must have been 25 feet behind the ball, so he had tremendous momentum as he made the catch. And he almost got him, when most knowledgeable fans thought he had no chance. On the other hand, it was disappointing to see him mishandle the double in the 9th allowing the eventual winning run to get to third. With his lack of contribution at the plate, he needs to be stellar in the field.

I'm as frustrated as anyone about this terrible 0-8 start, but I'm not even close to blaming it on Ryan. Even though they are underperforming to an extreme degree, I still like the roster he has put together...give me a power-loaded team over an OBP hit-the-the-other-way team any day. This team is going to frustrate us from time to time with its K's, but they are also going to hit a lot of home runs. In some ways they remind me of the 1963-5 or the mid-80s Twins where you could expect a HR from anywhere in the lineup. the situational hitting is going to improve...it has to... and this team will score a lot of runs. But gawd it's tough to watch right now.

I like this take. I don't know whether it's best for BB to spend some more time in the majors, but it seems like Santana's injury gives the Twins a chance to bide their time before making their decision. If he is still hopelessly overmatched by the time Santana returns, I would send him down. While I agree with Tobi's observation that BB's at bats are improving and he is seeing more pitches, he is still perhaps the worst 2-strike hitter in all of baseball. He has now struck out 13 of the 14 times he has faced a 2-strike count this season...that's unbelievable! He clearly is not picking up the type of pitch and location quickly enough, and the Twins need to decide if he should develop this skill in the majors or in AAA. There is a real danger, though, of permanently damaging his confidence if they continue to allow him to be totally overmatched against big league pitching.

The Twins are one of only 9 teams that have not yet lost a home game. (Hey, I'm trying here...)

It's getting increasingly painful to watch. I just turned the game on and BB was in a 1-2 hole again (I don't know how he got there). And then the inevitable strikeout. I'd like to think Byron is here to stay because his speed and defense can be game changers. But if Kepler hits and Byron continues to struggle, I would advocate a stint in AAA to work on getting ahead in the count. I recognize this is a bit knee-jerk, but we also have 2015 to look at...and 2016 doesn't seem any different so far.

2009 is the most recent data I could find. While Buxton's .375 average in favorable accounts is only 20-25 percentage points higher than the league norm, his average in any 2 strike count looks to be closer to 60 points below the league average. That's a huge number, and supports the impression I had from just watching him. Just about more than any player I can think of, it's vitally important for Byron to get ahead I the count. http://www.theoleballgame.com/batting-average-analysis.html By the way, the .338 average swinging at the first pitch was surprising to me. I wonder if Joe Mauer knows that, or more importantly, I wonder if he knows he hit .438 the 73 times he swung at the first pitch the past three seasons. I suspect he doesn't. And if Bruno isn't reminding him of these stats everyday, he's not doing his job.

Time will tell, I guess. Perhaps some of my optimism stems from desperation, because I really didn't like any of the other defensive options that would allow Mollie to have Sano, Mauer, Park and Plouffe in the lineup...which was a necessity, I thought. Some of the options I heard were: 1) Trade Plouffe. I don't like trading your top RBI guy. Plus, he has become a reliable third baseman and a clubhouse leader. 2) Move Plouffe or Mauer to the OF, and let Sano play 3b or 1b. Mauer and Plouffe have both become plus defenders at their positions, and at their advanced ages and slow speed levels, didn't bring much promise in the OF. Also, I think Sano's 42 errors at third just 3 years ago still is firmly in the mind of Terry and Mollie, and 1b is the only position that Park can play. 3) Make Sano the permanent DH. The Twins have stated they don't believe that an athletic 22-year-old should be made a DH for the rest of his career...in fact, I can't think of any examples of a young athletic guy being limited to DHing. Plus this option puts either Mauer or Park on the bench. I think Sano to the OF was the best choice. I hope he doesn't prove me wrong.

Those of us who played a lot of ball know the advantage of getting ahead in the count, but I don't know that I have ever seen a young player that looks as different as Buxton does depending on whether he is ahead or behind in the count. When he is ahead in the count, he looks like the #1 prospect that we have eagerly been awaiting the past few years. But when he is 0-2, he looks like he doesn't belong in the majors. Actually, anytime he has 2 strikes on him (other than 3-2 counts), he seems to tense up and his entire batting style changes for the worse. I decided to go beyond the eye test and see what his results are depending on the count. This year is a very small sample size, but I wasn't surprised to see that his only 2 hits came when the count was 2-1 and 3-2. Conversely, he has had a 2 strike count on him 10 total times, and he has struck out 9 of those and carries a .100 batting average. That's rather astounding. 2015 is a larger sample size, and the results support his struggles when he is behind. Despite a paltry .209 batting average, he was able to hit .375 when he worked the count to favorable counts (1-0, 2-0, 2-1, and 3-1). And he was a terrible 2-strike hitter last year too...he struck out 44 of the 73 times he got to 2 strikes, and hit only .123 anytime he had two strikes on him (including full counts). While almost every hitter hits better ahead in the count, I would argue that Buxton's stats are much more extreme than the norm. I actually look at this as a positive thing. Very few players in their young 20s show the kind of plate discipline that Miguel Sano has shown, and Buxton has proven to be an extreme case...but most talented hitters learn how to work the count. It's not going to happen overnight, but Byron is going to learn to get ahead in the count too...and that is going to make him a very good hitter. And when he does, he will become an ideal leadoff hitter. In another thread there was discussion about where Dozier belongs in the lineup, and #5 or 6 was suggested. I actually see him even lower than 6, but until Buxton earns the leadoff spot, Brain needs to stay where he is leading off. But once Byron learns to work the count, the Twins will be able to roll out this potentially potent lineup: Buxton Mauer Sano Plouffe Rosario Park Dozier Santana/Murphy Escobar

I didn't expect him to look pretty in the OF right away. My hopes in the early going were that he would demonstrate an ability to track the ball, use his above average speed to get to the ball, and catch the ball. So far he's exceeding my expectations in these three areas. Hopefully as he gets more comfortable in the OF, he will do everything more gracefully than he is now. I agree that he has looked clumsy at times in the early going, but I think that is to be expected. I still maintain that you can coach any athetic ex-infielder to be at least an adequate outfielder.

I have been on board with the decision to move Sano to the OF right from the start, and the Schwarber incident doesn't change my opinion. The Twins wanted to have Sano, Mauer, Plouffe and Park all in the lineup, and there were a few permutations they looked at. Ultimately they didn't want to give up on giving an athletic 22-year-old a defensive postion he could master but making him a lifetime DH, and the memories of some disastrous 3b play in the minors made a move to third a frightening prospect. We'll have to see how it turns out. So far I have been impressed with three running catches he made in the first four games, and concerned about his judgement in diving for the blooper that got by him. Even though he runs well, I am concerned about Miguel reporting to camp at 280. Regardless of where he plays on defense, carrying that kind of weight around on the base paths has to put a lot of strain on hips, knees, etc. If he doesn't make a commitment to fitness, it's not unlikely that he will be a 300 pounder at 25, and that's not a pleasant prospect. His slow start this spring notwithstanding, we need his bat in the lineup. And the chance of injury is much higher at 280 than it would be if he got down to a more fit 250. Let's hope he is mature and driven enough to start making some better diet and exercise choices.

Or, a Twins optimist might say: Twins pitchers are on pace for 1,620 strike outs as a team. The record is 1,450 set by the Indians in 2014. (The era of "pitch to contact" is OVAH!)

I like the idea of putting Harmon at 3rd to open up another OF spot, because none of the mentioned third basemen reach legendary status in my opinioin. And I agree with Torii over Bob Allison in the OF (Hunter was a better hitter and fielder, and more of a fan favorite), and Zoilo over Smalley (I don't know how you can leave off a SS who was AL MVP in our first World Series year). And Hrbek has to be the first baseman, even if he underachieved. He was so much more productive at the plate than Dougie, and almost as good with the glove. I struggle with the lefty pitcher, but I think I have to go with Kaat over Santana (he almost beat Koufax in game 7 in 1965). In terms of a field choice, I'm surprised that anyone wouldn't choose Target Field. I get the nostalgia for the Met and the World Series memories at the Dome, but TC is so superior to those dumps that it is no contest.

Well, we've entered that wonderful time of the year to be a Twins fan...the mid-season swoon where we recognize the season is over, but still too far away from September prospect time. At any rate, it's a good time to bring up this topic. I want to see a lot of hot prospects come up for a cup of coffee. Rosario needs to pick it up a little, but it would be fun to see him. I agree that we may see Vargas. I also expect to see Nick Bundi. After a horrendous debut (walked all 4 batters he faced!), he has had two scoreless outings and gotten all of his 6 outs on strikeouts. And hitting 101 on the gun. I want to know how soon he will be our 8th inning guy. I don't expect to see Meyer. They are being very careful with him, and I don't think he will be pitching anywhere in September.

Playing off of ericchri and twinsnorth's thoughts above, I wonder if I was watching an exception that day. It was clear that both Gibson and Wilson were struggling in the bullpen...both catchers were emphatically trying to get them to bring the ball down, and neither appeared to be able to command their breaking balls. In fact, I texted my son back in Minneapolis 15 minutes before game time to tell him he was going to have to stay up really late to watch this high-scoring game...sure enough, there were 10 runs scored in the first inning and a half. Perhaps the pitching coaches extended the pregame warmup in an attempt to allow the pitchers to find their command. Maybe the next person to get to a game early can watch the bullpen session, and see how many times the pitcher lets loose pre-game.