Twodogs

And Duffy did great! But they saw him and his curve ball. That I think is what hurts in a 7 game series. That's when they really need 2 dudes that can put up 7 innings when they need them too. Limit the other team to seeing your set up and closer who should normally be your best and it shouldn't matter as much if they see your best a couple of times because they are the best. Hopefully they can develop one more guy to go with Berrios to form that 1 - 2 punch.

Velo on Duffy's Fastball is down, so he has been relying on his breaking ball more. When these bullpen guys have to face the same team over and over again I think the hitters start to get a feel for them. That's why it would be nice to have a couple of starters be able to go 7+ to limit the amount of times these actually see guys like Duffy and May.

I think if you look at Hill's career you won't see too many 200 inning seasons in it. I thought Dobnak the other day with like 60 pitches could have been given a shot to go another inning because he is young, he seemed to be on that day and could possibly build up that confidence and stamina to go 6 - 7 innings. But Maeda, (who surprisingly has done well this year going deeper into games) and Hill plus Odorizzi have pretty solid track records that they don't throw very many innings during a season. Can't change them at this point in their career. Probably an easy way to hold salaries down too? If you ever only throw 140 to 150 innings you're really not worth as much as a guy who can throw 200?

It would be nice if the twins had a degrom, or a Cole or a Scherzer type who can throw 7+ innings in a start, but they just don't. No way could Hill have gone back out there, but this is what they open themselves up to when their starters are incapable of ever going deep into games. Maybe Berrios can, but he is the only one who has that ability and until they get a second or third guy that can they will always be a little shaky at times. You just don't know when that guy coming in isn't going to have it.

Yeah, the lineup worries me. I'd rather Rocco start a more normal lineup and get those other guys some PT in games we are blowing people out in, or in games the twins are getting blown out in. Or start one dude here and there but to put all those guys in on the same day seems like too much. Hopefully they can beat up on mize today

The last two wins were huge. It really stunk that the Twins lost 6 straight. I think had they gone 3 - 3 over that stretch no one worries about anything. But when you lose 6 straight you kinda feel that panic mode hitting and then they rip off 5 straight that kinda evens it out, but to rip games away like they did today is huge for the team in my opinion.

At least Sano is leading the league in strikeouts?? He's a league leader right? Ricky Vaughn, "I thought you had to do something good to be a celebrity?" Jake Taylor, "Not if you do it colorfully."

How was the bullpen doing last year 60 games in? I mean go back and look at it. I think memory serves me right they used between 25 and 30 pitchers out of the bullpen last year. They lucked out and found some decent arms to finish up the season last year. The bullpen was not what they started with for sure. So when these guys get burnt out who are the next guys who are going to step up and pitch in the playoffs for the Twins because their starters can only throw 60 - 70 pitches?

Hopefully they got something left in October. I have a bad feeling about that.

Whew!! Nice to see a game like that. Kinda has to take the monkey off their backs a little. I know there are always going to a losses here and there, however when you lose 6 games in a row you start to wonder when they'll snap out of it and stuff. Looked good today.

Why is Sano leading off? I'd think Sano would have better at bats if a guy were on base.

Ha ha

Pineda looks like he is on the Miguel Sano diet plan.

Someone's gonna hoist a world series trophy at the end of this sham season.

Yeah it seems to me that if it was just the hitters trying to get base hits instead of home runs then you'd think they'd have better batting averages, but they don't, infact it seems like their averages are down by quite a bit. So I really think the league has adjusted to them and are pitching them differently and the twins hitters have yet to adjust to the adjustments. Because the first week seemed like they came out smashing, Kepler with two bombs in the first game etc.... So I think the guys are still swinging for the fences it's just they aren't getting the pitches they want as often in order to do that. I think the only hitter who has been able to adjust is Cruz, and I remember him hitting a lot of just singles in those first couple of weeks. I think he took what they gave him. Just my opinion.

I wonder if the twins hitters are just seeing different pitches this year. Less fastballs, more pitches with spin etc....

The Twins need one of those 7 or so days off due to a Covid infection. Then when they come back everyone would be off the injured list and ready to kick butt. This is obviously a joke, so don't get all mad at me because I'm only joking around. But hey a week off would be nice for the team to gather itself. Maybe a couple of Bull Durham rain outs?

Yeah so far he has done more than he has done in the past. That is for sure. This however is the first time in his career and like you said, we can hope for a solid 6, but when teams throw Cole, or Scherzer, or guys like Bieber they aren't looking for 6. They might get 6 on a not so great night, but when those guys take the mound teams are looking for 7+. Right now most would look at Maeda as the Twins #1, he's really a #3 just based on past performance and lack of going deep into games. I was watching the Astros and the Angels on Monday and a relatively young guy Valdez was on the mound. The Astros were up 5 - 1 and in the 4th inning Valdez gave up a bomb to Upton. Then in the 5th he got knocked around again a little and gave up 2 runs to make the score 5 - 4. You know if Valdez was pitching for the Twins he wouldn't have even finished the 5th in that situation, after he gave up the 4th run he would have been outta there. But the Stros left him in and he ended up pitching 7 innings and 113 pitches and some of those pitches were under duress in the 4th and 5th innings. But now Houston knows that this dude can get out of his own jams. They know he can be effective late into games and not just games he's dominating in, he can be effective in games where he's been touched up a little. How many Twins starters do you know who can be touched up a little and still minimize the damage and came back out and pitch 2 or 3 more innings going over 100 pitches if need be. I don't know of too many. Hopefully they come through.

Which 3 of those pitchers wins a playoff series for the twins? The twins do have a real good set of about 6 - 7 quality pitchers who really supply a ton of depth for a baseball season. However, playoffs are different. Almost every year, except the year Kansas City did it with their bullpen, the team who has won has won it with starting pitching. Pitchers that regularly go 7 innings shortening the games for their bullpens. Every once in awhile they have to throw their bullpen out there for 4 innings or so, but when you have a Scherzer or a Strasburg you know that at least 2 games out of 3 or 4 you won't need the bullpen. Maeda has done great, he never made the Dodgers playoff rotations however because he never really pitched deep into games. Now we are considering him as the Ace? I still think Berrios has more Ace capabilities just due to him showing in the past that he could go 7+ innings. Don't get me wrong, all of these guys have done well, but they don't fit the bill as far as what is usually needed to win in the playoffs. I thought Pineda looked to fitting that role a little last year before the suspension, but hard to say this year what's going to happen when he comes back? Maybe the Twins luck out and get a horse at the deadline. Playoff rotation Horse (Bauer type) Berrios Maeda Pineda Bp Hill, Odorizzi, Dobnak No Horse at the deadline Berrios Pineda Maeda Odorizzi Bp Hill, Dobnak JMO

I don't think it's worth wasting resources on this. They should have enough hitting. Playoff baseball to me is centered around top of the rotation pitching. Look at the teams that have been winning there is one constant, stud starting pitching that can go 7 - 8 innings. Scherzer, Stasburg. Cole, Verlander, Greinke etc..... Twins starters are only lasting 4 - 5 innings each. They don't stand a chance, about the only guy who has proven he can pitch beyond 6 innings is Berrios and he is more of a solid #2 or #3 starter which is something, but if they want to be relevant in October they need to get someone who can drop 7 innings and 110 - 115 pitches whenever it's needed. The Twins rotation is great for the long haul of a season as they have depth and they have quality that can go out there every day and perform well enough to keep the Twins in it, but Maeda and Odorizzi and such tossing 4 - 5 innings in the playoffs isn't going to cut it. Especially when a team like Cleveland throws a Bieber out there and we can't hit those guys, hell no one can, that's why the Twins need to counter with their own Bieber, but they don't really have him. You can't expect guys like Odorizzi and Maeda to throw 7 innings in the playoffs if they never do it during the season so unless they find someone really good then the twins are stuck with 4 - 5 innings out of the bullpen in every game that typically doesn't work well for 4 straight playoff series. It can work fine for a game or two, but you need 2 - 3 horses who can go 7 - 8 innings so your not relying on your bullpen every game. Pineda was doing well last year before being suspended of going deep into games, but I doubt he will be ready to accomplish that once he is back. Hopefully?

Yes I agree, it was more of a what if.

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2020/08/mets-release-brian-dozier.html Dozier is available again? Hits lefties, won a Gold Glove, would be Arraez's backup while his knee is hurting. Once Arraez is back to full health Dozier could be cut once again? Although Vargas might actually hit better now?? But it would be neat to see him come full circle. Pull a handful of bombas against a few lefties and ride the pine like he's been doing with his last 3 teams.

Eh, it's a business. The owners and front office treat it as such and now most of the players treat it as such now also. I don't think Lynn would give a rats a... What happened in the past if he were traded to a contender at the deadline. Plus I don't think Baldelli would care either about what happened over 2 years ago. Right at this point however, I'm really glad the Twins didn't get Workman. He has stunk in Philly so far.

https://www.nytimes.com/1984/12/16/sports/this-is-ricky-henderson-speed-that-terrorizes.html https://www.espn.com/mlb/hof09/columns/story?columnist=kurkjian_tim&id=3816914 Maybe people who actually played the game can shed some light on it? Also it is amazing to me, that on a team that is sooo bad, that anyone could score 119 runs? So since the team was so bad, it would make sense that the team wasn't capable of driving in someone 119 time so it would stand to chance that Ricky must have made most of that happen by himself.

I don't know, but I think Duffy might be about ready to struggle also. I've just noticed his Fastball Velocity is down a little. That's not good because before he started throwing harder he used to get lit up a lot. I hope not, I hope his Fastball gets back up to 95. But just what I've been seeing lately.