alexlegge

The Twins really could've used that grand slam tonight 😑

On the bright side, we all know where to look for real-life proof of Murphy's Law on 157 more days in 2026. 

1 minute ago, Hosken Bombo Disco said:

lol

Wallner takes a cutter at the belt for strike three, immediately challenges, and then immediately takes off his gloves like it's the end of the inning to go out into the field. 

Great job buddy!

He should be encouraged to take deep breaths for 3-5 seconds before deciding whether to challenge. If he follows that advice, it kills multiple birds with one stone. 

1 minute ago, Patzky said:

He thinks he has Edouard Julien Eyes

If this is the case, he should know that they are the eyes of a man who looks at strike three more often than not. 

The Road to the Metrodome

Juan Carlos ("J.C.") Romero was born in the Río Piedras district of San Juan, Puerto Rico. He grew up in San Juan before attending the University of Mobile in Alabama. There, he pitched for the Mobile Rams, making both starting and relieving appearances. When the Twins drafted him in the 21st round of the 1997 draft, he was seen as little more than a lottery ticket. As a young prospect in the Twins system, he was used almost exclusively out of the bullpen, and excelled in this role, quickly climbing the organizational ranks. He was a September call-up to the Twins in 1999, just his second full season of pro ball, and he made his major league debut on September 15 of that year.

Dominance as a Twins Setup Man

Romero's performance in the bullpen was strong enough that the Twins attempted to transition him to starting pitching after the 1999 season. However, he struggled as a starter during the 2000 and 2001 seasons, prompting the Twins to move him back to a full-time relief role for the 2002 season. To call this a "good" move would be an egregious understatement. Romero was dominant right out of the gate, logging 18 strikeouts in 14 consecutive scoreless innings over 13 dominant appearances to begin the 2002 season. It would be the best campaign of his career, one of the best seasons by any reliever in Twins history, and among the best seasons by any Twins southpaw regardless of role. Romero went 9-2, leading all Twins pitchers in bWAR (3.9), ERA (1.89), ERA+ (237), and games (81). He performed especially well in high leverage spots, amassing a WPA of 4.4, easily the best on the team and second only to A's closer Billy Koch in the American League. 

Stylistically, he had a four-pitch mix which included an elite sinker in the low 90s, a quality fastball in the low 90s, and two serviceable off-speed pitches (a slider and a changeup). He had an imposing presence on the mound, often wearing his his cap with a curved and low brim that made a shadow over his eyes. While many lefties of the day were used as one-out specialists, Twins skipper Ron Gardenhire quickly learned that Romero was effective enough against right-handed hitters to trust him in longer high leverage appearances. This gave the early 2000s Twins a formidable setup man from either side in Romero and RHP Latroy Hawkins. During the stretch of three consecutive division titles from 2002-2004, the two of them combined for over 12 WPA total and more than 6 WPA each. While Romero never recaptured his unprecedented dominance of 2002, he had several impactful seasons as a quality Twins setup man.

Post-Twins and Post-Career

Romero was eventually traded to the Angels for Alexi Casilla in the 2005-2006 offseason. He went on to win the World Series in 2008 as a member of the Phillies. His stint with the Phillies also included the most controversial point of his career - a 50-game PED suspension - though it should be noted that this stemmed from taking a legal over-the-counter supplement purchased at GNC, a type of purchase which MLBPA had errantly reassured players about. After returning, Romero pitched well for the Phillies for parts of multiple seasons, but was in his mid-30s and showing signs of decline by the early 2010s. He bounced around a handful of franchises at the end of his career and remained active as a pitcher for several years even after his last MLB appearance in 2012. This included multiple WBC appearances for Puerto Rico, including in 2013, when they finished second-place in the competition after knocking out the United States in the semi-final.

In his post-playing days, Romero has made appearances as a Phillies color commentator and Twins fantasy camp instructor. He was at Target Field in 2018 for Johan Santana's team hall of fame induction ceremony. In more recent years, he returned to the University of Mobile as a coach.

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7 minutes ago, USAFChief said:

You heard wrong.

Officially there is no such thing. The MLB rule book makes no mention of check swing. None.

A swinging strike is "an attempt to hit the ball"

 

I do appreciate your point about the lack of a rulebook definition.

Isn’t the “plane of the plate” standard *by far* the most commonly recognized though?

I certainly haven’t heard another one. Sure, maybe it wouldn’t have to apply to certain crazy swings, like the batter offering way up high on an eephus pitch. But there is room for ambiguity in many replay review already…
 

Feels kind of akin to the period before a new word is in the dictionary but after it becomes commonplace in speech and text…

2 minutes ago, Western SD Fan said:

That's the difference.  The MLB strike zone is clearly defined in the rule book and can then be calibrated into an ABS system.  A check swing is not defined.  Yes, there is an "understanding" to what a check swing may or may not be, but it's still up to the umpire.  Until it is clearly defined in the rule book, we have to accept the result of what is called on the field.  Jax still had it all under his own control, even with the not-called check swing and didn't execute.

The rule book *does* say what a swing is defined as, however. Sure, even that definition is purposefully vague….but there is room for ambiguity even in the formalized replay review process.
 

Though I do tend to agree that they should go ahead and formalize what a check is as part of a rule change; everyone uses the same definition already anyway, so there wouldn’t be any real mental adjustment…

7 minutes ago, USAFChief said:

Clearly defined?

"Check swing" isn't defined at all in the MLB rule book.

Whether or not they have it typed out, I’ve always heard it defined as whether the bat crosses the plane of the plate. That can be assessed fairly easily with video. Probably wouldn’t be challenged often if it were reviewable since many times it *is* truly borderline - far more frequently than is the case for calls on the bases given that sometimes only a portion of the bat crosses.
 

But in some instances it’s very clear.

1 minute ago, h2oface said:

EXCEPT, by the rules, the game was over and the following at bat and choices would not have happened, if not for the obvious umpire error. It was over with the bases clean.

I agree, though, that Jax was a massive choker

Yep.  The first base umpire screwed the Twins, then the Twins screwed the Twins. 

Mediocre teams aren’t immune from bad luck.

I find it silly that checked swing calls aren’t reviewable in that situation.
 

They have nothing to do with the strike zone, just something which is clearly defined for which we have good video available,

And it’s not like a fair/foul calls on ground balls, where subsequent elements unfold in the play and make a replay reversal more complicated.

10 minutes ago, BrokenCompass said:

Byron's dream year continues. Late bloomer? Is this what the Twins can expect for the next 4 years? 

There are certainly more reasons than not to be very optimistic about Buxton's ability to stay on the field going forward. His knee surgery successfully eliminated his most frustrating injury risk, his consummate professionalism and dedication have helped him develop a much keener sense of when an explosive/wall-crashing effort is warranted, eliminating another injury risk that often plagued him early in his career. And his conditioning has remained as elite as any Twins CF legend I've ever seen (which is saying a lot - Torii maintained exceptional conditioning throughout his career too). 

16 hours ago, roger said:

Expect both will be gone when Lewis and Keaschall return, hopefully soon.

Why not promote Julien right now and send one of them down? Julien has been putting together better at-bats with the Saints for weeks now. Even before he was demoted, his bat played more than Jonah Bride's or DaShawn Kiersey's....

If there's actually a roster crunch by the time both Lewis and Keaschall return, it means Julien is doing well and nobody else has been hurt - i.e. a good problem to have

At this point, there's no reason to keep both Keirsey and Bride on the active MLB roster. Frankly, I see little reason to keep either for much longer. Even summing their OPSs together yields a number barely above league average (.735). Pathetic.

Julien deserves another shot, and he allows Castro to be a much more flexible super-utility man. No need for an extra utility man who can't hit. 

This team functions better when there's a core group of position players sharing starting time collectively rather than a dividing line between regulars and bench-warmers. 

Falvey: We're not focused on selling.

Translation: We're not focused on trading.

Even if we're being extremely generous to Trevor, he still comes with a necessary price of having to facilitate challenging conversations about rough sex and sexual consent. The Twins haven't even facilitated a real discussion about Kirby Puckett's fall from grace in his post playing days. Fat chance they'd take the Bauer bait.

Moreover, Trevor Bauer is past his prime. He's 34 and not even the best pitcher on the Yokohama Bay Stars. He wouldn't do much to help the Twins. And his clubhouse presence would be worse than Josh Donaldson.

The fan anxiety surrounding this is totally understandable and predictable. I just don't think it's grounded in much logic.

Consider:

• Byron Buxton is 31 years old and a consummate professional. He and the Twins have learned how to mitigate injury risk better and better. They've improved at it over time, and Buck's knee surgery has paid dividends.
• Last time I checked, the Home Run Derby featured no running, sliding, diving, crashing into walls, collisions, concussions, or even hit-by-pitches.
• From a physical preparation standpoint, there's nothing about the Home Run Derby that's challenging to anticipate.

Has Byron ever injured himself merely from swinging hard (something he does with great regularity and great success)?

Sure, there are legitimate reasons to be cautious about physical exertion during the event. But for us fans to be so worried about it defeats the entire purpose of having a Home Run Derby. Byron and the Twins have earned a skosh of credibility here. If Buck gets the invitation, I hope he and the Twins figure out an optimal strategy for him to participate. If not, whatever. 

Sound analysis overall. He's been decent enough.

Frankly, I think there's a very good comp at first base in recent team history, one whose ceiling as a first baseman ended up being a little over 4 WAR. That probably is roughly what I'd estimate it is for France, as well...

2 hours ago, KirbyDome89 said:

So are we just going to ignore the fact that the Twins have one of the worst pitch framing duos in baseball? 

Apparently - that's what most of the fanbase seems to be doing right now.

There's a lot of "woe is me" in Minnesota sports fandom, and that is justified. But not every misfortune is the result of bad luck or East Coast bias.

At least the catching tandem has been insanely durable - neither catcher has been on the IL since Vazquez signed with the Twins in the '22-'23 offseason. I'm willing to tolerate the poor framing as long as their durability and combined offensive production persists.

Besides, either way you 'frame' it, the Twins will absolutely benefit if/when MLB starts using the ABS challenge system.

Twins last championship:

Precisely 34 years ago this October.....

Obviously, that number is only a little relevant because it can sandwich nicely between the 2 and 5 of 2025. I can't think of any other reason

Just now, Peter said:

Can’t tip hat to Seattle-no way  Seattle should’ve won!!! Umps won not Seattle!!! Going to be difficult to get series win tomorrow-paddock has to go at least 7. Have to sweep A’s to go 6-4. Can’t have anymore losses like this rest of season!!!! 

Seattle deserved to win. But yes, it's also true that the home plate umpire deserves a stern talking to and all the guilt that goes along with it. He made more bad calls against  us, including the biggest one by tossing one of our hottest bats and field general. With a voice like that, dude clearly wants all the attention every great umpire wants to avoid, Speaking of plural moose, that guy was absolutely both cheeks of a moose's ass.

Meh. Any loss in a game like this is going to sting, but realistically both teams executed in some big moments and erred in some big moments. No reason to feel any less confident in this team, and many reasons to feel more confident. The offense is full strength, and the guy who just came back homered and could've easily scored two runs to make the difference for us. His two baserunning miscues were forgivable mini-mistakes and the M's outfield pulled off freakish defensive plays on both of those. Tip your cap and win the series tomorrow, fellas.

Anyone else having trouble streaming this game from out-of-market?

MLB Advanced Media seems to have totally screwed it up. All links to watch the game just go to replays of the first few innings and rain delay, with no live coverage available.

Pathetic.

8 hours ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

The Guardians are in town. Is this a good or bad thing?

Better than the alternative 🤡

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZzgAjjuqZM

5 hours ago, sampleSizeOfOne said:

Meatloaf approves, if i am not mistaken.

His name was Robert Paulson

4 minutes ago, Clare said:

Yes indeed . . . fondly remembering AL MVP and Twins Hall of Famer Justin Morneau.  I still think about what might have been, but for his second base concussion injury.  

Indeed. His first half in 2010 was a step above even his MVP season. He was arguably the best player in the game.

Now he's arguably the best color commentator in the game. Thankfully that puts him at much less risk of job-related brain trauma. I suppose there are worse realities than this one.