Darius

I’m not a fan of blowing 9th inning leads to the worst team in baseball.

That’s what complacency looks like, ladies and gentleman.

I thought about Trevor Bauer and his long-toss when I heard guys were throwing at a drone from the bullpen. He would be a serious anti-aircraft weapon. But, seriously, police(local/state/federal) and stadium security have a plan for a potentially dangerous drone(s) at the stadium. It’s interesting that it made it that far. Anyway, another good game. Kepler and Cruz are animals.

If you would’ve told me the following before the season: -Josh Donaldson and Byron Buxton will miss a number of games with injury. -Rich Hill, Jake Odorizzi, and Homer Bailey all land on the IL by the end of the first week with two five inning starts combined between the three. -Mitch Garver and Miguel Sano will hit less than .150 with OPS below .600. -Luis Arraez’s OBP (not batting average) will be less than .300. -Jose Berrios will have an ERA of 7.00. I would’ve asked you what you think we’ll be getting in return at the deadline. Instead, we have the second best winning percentage and run differential in baseball. Unbelievable.

ESPN’s power rankings have the Twins 3rd begins the Dodgers and Yankees. Not sure I agree with the Dodgers being #1, considering they’re not even in first place in their weak division, split a 4 gamer at home to the Giants, etc. But, not a bad place to be after week 1.

Duffey, Stashak, Romo, and Rogers combined thus far: 15 IP, 1 BB, 4 H, 0 R, 23 K. Not bad.

This bullpen, especially this year, is a massive weapon. I think it’s approaching the level of Kansas City’s the year the won the World Series. Rogers might be the best reliever in baseball right now. He looks phenomenal. Duffey is elite, and looks phenomenal. Stashak very, very good right now. Romo, Clippard, and May are all very good, and can be used comfortably. Baldelli can shorten these games significantly.

Remember when people wanted to get rid of him yesterday?

That’s a tough call to lose a no hitter on. Looked pretty out to me.

Awesome response to last night. Dobnak just keeps getting outs. How impressive/valuable is Adrianza? Can play anywhere, solid switch hitter, etc. Duffey and Rogers (unknown to most baseball fans outside of the AL Central) continue to dominate. It’s been really fun to watch these guys emerging from relative obscurity. The bad news is that losing Donaldson for a significant period of time is a possibility. That would be a killer. His presence and professional approach are taking this offense to another level.

Some context is needed for “swinging out of the zone,” and what that means. Is that ball bouncing in the dirt or a foot outside? Or a half inch outside of the zone. How many of those swings outside the zone produced hits relative to some other players. Maybe X player is swinging at X number fewer pitches outside of the zone, but it’s producing C fewer hits, OPS, more Ks, etc. I’m not sure looking at 42% in 5 games vs 42% over 162 given all of the possible variables is even a remotely reliable way to definitively say, “See, Eddie lied.” You have umps that call strikes outside of the zone, forcing players to chase a little (again, 5-6 games). Was the swing outside the zone with zero strikes, and in an area the hitter can handle? Or, a two strike flailing swing. For example, Eddie hit a home run against the cards on a ball just off the plate inside. That’s not a negative outcome. That’s a better outcome than letting it go and rolling over something down and away. How many of those are built into Eddie’s 42% historically vs. some other random with a 32%. At the end of the day, I don’t really care as long he’s hitting .280 with 30+ bombas. Seems like people have forgotten....that’s pretty good. Especially for a guy probably batting 6th-7th in the lineup most nights.

Well, that was a discouraging display of offensive ineptitude. Not sure I’ve even seen a major league team swing at more pitches that bounced before getting to home plate. Missed a lot of center cut fastballs also. Bieber was good. We made him look great.

I’m more concerned with Garver and Donaldson. They’re in prominent places in the order and providing nothing. We’ve seen this from Sano. He’ll eventually get going. I don’t think Buxton has looked terrible at the plate. Not ideal, but it can be tolerated longer at the bottom of the lineup.

Beiber is OK.

Sloppy play from Garver. He looks terrible.

A couple of really bad calls have given Beiber two Ks, that I’ve seen. 3rd strike inside to Garver wasn’t even really close, and the check swing on Buxton that wasn’t appealed for some reason. Bieber has looked phenomenal. But, it sure makes it damn easy when you’re given every borderline call on a platter.

At what point do we have to admit that Berrios just isn’t that good? I’ve been a massive Berrios supporter, but it’s becoming clear that he’s incapable of consistency.

Really fine music choices. Particularly Donaldson’s. Nothing like getting pumped up by objectifying women by referring to them as “hoes,” repeatedly, grouping up with your friends in an alley to commit a murder/drive by shooting (with his “toolie”, good times), ingesting so many drugs he’ll be “high until next week” (might want to look out for the fentanyl that’s killing people in droves), and don’t forget the bank robbery (a guy’s gotta eat). What a classic. Perfect for the families with young children.

Rogers is phenomenal. He just made one of the best hitters of this decade look completely overmatched. What an awesome story.

I’m excited for this one. Hill is fun to watch.

That’s the result of messing with Buxton regarding walls.

I’m a little concerned about the whole staff right now. Hitters are supposed to be “behind” according to experts, and we’ve allowed 15 runs (and 6-7 HRs) in two days. Two of the first three starters have already been scratched (Odorizzi and Hill). Not an ideal start to the season. Taking the rubber match in convincing fashion today would ease some concerns.

Hopefully this talk honestly addresses real issues and concerns, with real, practical plans to resolve any issues noted. What I’m really running out of patience for is public figures that are doing nothing more than virtue signaling and stirring up animosity by shifting bigotry (a lot of anti-white and anti-Semitic garbage being spewed that is called an illegitimate concern right now - very frightening). It’s doing the opposite of helping. Throwing stones from their literal ivory towers (gated communities, personal security, etc.). It’s further dividing and inciting violent/politically charged exchanges, not bringing people together. It’s creating standoffs, not open discussion. We’re seeing racial divides increase, not decrease. Crime is skyrocketing around the country, and insane politicians and political figures are condoning/enabling it because they’re scared to death of being called a racist and being cancelled by extreme left Twitter mobs (mostly comprised of privilege, white suburbanite twenty-somethings trying to cover their own rear end). People are calling out peoples addresses, children’s names, etc. How long have people been marching in streets (some peacefully, some violently)? Have we heard one honest, real solution or plan? Honestly, give me one. I’m sorry, but it’s nothing but political/corporate public relations opportunism. The legitimate gripes are being drown out by corporations, politicians, and disingenuous celebrities virtue signaling in an attempt to leverage a moral high ground for self-gain. Shame on these sick, sick people. Once we’re done addressing this, why don’t we also make sure we get Asian, Native, Latino, and White players proportionately represented in the NBA and NFL. I’ve never felt the need to go down that road, but you can’t have it both ways. You can’t push these initiatives to set race quotas only when they benefit you or your “group,” or it’s a fraudulent cause. You can’t only let certain “groups” have a say. It’s counter productive. It’s for your personal gain, a power grab, not a righteous cause. It’s replacing one broken system with another. People’s willingness to listen is waning. The nation’s attention was captured. It was decided that yelling, chiding, accusing, canceling, was the best approach. You aren’t keeping anyone’s attention by constantly insulting them (no matter the veracity of the claim). Do you think some broke, white guy working two jobs to feed his kids is going to “change” as a result of billionaire Pharrell Williams from his cabana telling him he’s so awful, ignorant, and racist that he can’t see how much more “privileged” he is? The time of the perversion of these serious race-based issues for PR purposes has to end now. It’s sickening. Wake up. Grow up. Make real, constructive change.

I recently heard Gleeman talking about this on his podcast. Very interesting. Very promising. It could be the beard, different camera angle, etc. but Smeltzer also looks noticeably thicker to me. That can’t hurt.

He was pretty darn good last last year, except for a 9 spot against the Yankees in July. There were nearly 60 runs scored in that 3 game series. Combine two of the most prolific home run hitting clubs in history, a juiced ball, and some thick Minnesota in July humidity.....and no pitcher on earth is safe. I feel pretty comfortable throwing that one out of the population to get a feel for how good he actually was.