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Darius

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Everything posted by Darius

  1. Darius
    Huge win. Something I found funny was last night someone was railing on Rosario for going 0-fer and that being why the team lost. We'll he sure got the message
  2. Darius
    Another note: Berrios is still young (23). That's something that should be considered. Inconsistency should be expected to some degree. If he's going through stretches like this at age 25+ then I'll start to worry. The problem, IMO, is that this team is forced to rely on Berrios to be its horse throughout the season. It's a combination of poor roster management (from past regime), bad drafting (previous regime), reluctance to put up real money for free agent SPs (previous regime), injury (Santana)......there are a multitude of contributing factors. All of which, aside from injury, are missteps from management. Basically, my point is, it's easy to turn on Berrios and hold him responsible for the team's woes when he has a few bad games. But, let's not lose sight of the big picture here. He's been fighting an uphill battle in this organization for years, and some unrealistic expectations have been attached due to the dearth of pitching for years and years. In my opinion, I think he's a better pitcher in a different organization. Cole from Astros comes to mind. High-end stuff, but mysteriously underachieved in toxic Pittsburgh. He gets out of there and is surrounded by a dynamic winning culture, and it looks like he's going to run away with the Cy Young this year (sub .75 WHIP, 1.5 FIP, 1.47 ERA, .250 BABIP, etc....not really looking like a flash in the pan). Keep in mind that he moved from the NL to the AL, which isn't easy.
  3. Darius
    Berrios certainly wasn't at his best, but he still ended up giving the team a shot to win. Realistically, he's just not going to throw a 2-hit shutout with 9 Ks every night. People have gotten the idea in their head that he's a high-end Ace type guy, but he's never profiled as that type of pitcher. Scouting reports and prospect analysis has always tabbed him as likely more of a middle of the rotation guy. That is mainly because he's a fly ball pitcher, that's too short to generate much of a downward plane, making him highly susceptible to the long ball at the major league level. We're seeing that. At some point, everyone needs some help from the bullpen. Presley, as good as he's been, didn't exactly make the Angels beat him last night, he gave them the opportunity with a wild pitch, and followed that up with a two-out run scoring hit from the 9 batter. Even if Berrios was a little better last night, it likely wouldnt have mattered. This bullpen is terrible. I agree with the comments above questionin the pitching coach. Not exactly doom. A bangup job this year. Aside from Gibson, who carried things over from last year, and Romero who is a fresh call-up with astronomical talent, nobody has been pitching all that well. The extra strikeouts are nice (went fro from like 30th to 9th)....but only as far as they actually help you win ball games.
  4. Darius
    Berrios is hurt, right? Edit: little late to the party on that one, I see.
  5. Darius
    These long balls aren't a good sign for Berrios. He really needed to show up and pitch a gem tonight. A win tonight would be huge in multiple ways (gain groin in the division and wild card). Hopefully the bats can compensate.
  6. Darius
    Not a chance. His defense is absolutely vital to this team getting back into things, and they are playing the top contender for the second wildcard spot. If it takes some time to get his swing back (which wasn't really there to begin with), so be it. I wouldn't mind seeing him get creative and bunt with two strikes when it's least expected, etc. Take everything. Whatever can help get his wheels on base. Revolutionary idea, I know.
  7. Darius
    True, the Angels haven't played the toughest schedule. But, what about the Mariners? They're also looking pretty good, and are a real contender for that second wildcard. When it comes to Cleveland, they'll find their stride. A healthy Brantley (which is a huge question mark) to go along with Ramirez, Lindor, Encarnacion is a legit high-end 1-4 (not in that particular order). Kipnis, Gomes, and Alonso are nice secondary peices. They will start scoring runs. When it comes to pitching, Kluber is one of the best. Corrasco is very good, and they'll get a healthy Salazar back. They still have Allen and Miller in the bullpen. Remember last year? There was a window open, seemingly, when the Twins had an opportunity to catch the Indians. It last about 5 minutes before Cleveland went on one of the most prolific, dominating win-streaks in MLB history. They are a veteran team that knows how to win baseball games. I fully expect that they will hit the throttle at some point and leave the Twins in a cloud of dust.
  8. Darius
    Sound like a kid with his head on squarely. Easy to root for guys like this.
  9. Darius
    When you see a guy with stuff like this, it begs the question: why did take so long to give him major league innings? Especially for pitchers who are nearly all a ticking time bomb, the minor league paradigm needs to be changed, IMO. There is no reason to let a guy with major league caliber stuff use up 500 innings in the minors. I can see if you have a rotation like Astros, but a team like the Twins running out grange retreads year after year don't really have an excuse. I know Romero was injured, which held him back, but we see it with all prospects. This example just reinforces my distain for the mandatory minimum minor league sentence, no matter how much better you are than the guy earning a major paycheck. It's archaic.
  10. Darius
    Nope. Maybe they should've done it before the season went off the rails, and there may have been a chance. You know, around the time of Phil Hughes' first start this year, when even my dog was wondering why the hell they're giving him starts. Gonsalves is still wasting away down there, throwing shutouts, while Lance Lynn is walking 18 guys per game and posting a 9.00 ERA. But, hey, be patient, I'm told. Apparently, the games in April and May don't matter.....until you're a few games short in October.
  11. Darius
    This goes beyond a slump. Awful personnel decisions (Kinley, Rodney closing, Hughes starting, etc), bullpen mismanagement questionable lineup decisions (Kepler hitting 7th/8th with Rosario hitting 4th for a month), and awful fundamental baseball (defense, moving runners, making contact with RISP and less than 2 outs) are all significant contributing factors. Calling it a slump gives the implication that there's luck and things beyond team/player control involved. This is a just bad team, being managed very poorly. This isn't something that is merely happening to them, they the made the bed they're sleeping in (including Falvine).
  12. Darius
    The Playoffs are basically out of the question at this point. No way they can make up for this stretch. The more things change the more they stay the same. You can't look me in the eye and tell me you're making an honest 100% effort to win every game if you keep running out guys like Hughes and Rodney the way they have. It's always been very confusing to me that game 10 (for example) is treated differently than game 160. The expiriimentation just doesnt make sense.
  13. Darius
    Rodney being awful for stretches in the past, but eventually figuring out, isn't a great reason to keep him in the close role. In fact, it's the opposite. Why not pull him and out him in a lower leverage role UNTIL he figures it out. That seems like a pretty obvious solution, IMO. Also, I'm not sure I buy that blowing 4 saves after he "figured it out" really warrants the term "only." If you're blowing 5+ saves a year, and giving away wins for a month before you get yourself on track, you are a bad closer, and shouldn't be in that role. I don't care what your ERA is at the end of year. Consistency from a closer is key. A team like the Twins fighting tooth and nail for a wildcard spot needs every game, and can't afford the sit around and wait for an aging closer to work himself back into pitching shape for two months. This is classic paralysis due to overanalysis, and it's going to cost the Twins a playoff spot.
  14. Darius
    Rodney remaining in the closer role at this point is indefensible. In-freaking-defensible. There is absolutely no reason to keep running him out there with the game on line. He's turned 3 wins into losses and the team isn't even to 20 games yet. What is going on? The season might be over already, barring a miracle. They certainly can't compete with NYY, Bos, Cle, Hou, and probably not LA with a healthy Trout and Ohtani. You don't lose 5-10% of your game consecutively and make the playoffs. The pace you have to keep to make up for that isn't sustainable for a team with a mediocre (at best) pitching staff. Really disappointing. I'm tired of this old school mentality
  15. Darius
    I don't know about you, but my WAR is slightly higher than Morrison's right now. I have yet to strike out a single time in my life with the bases loaded in Yankee Stadium. I'm not planning on it anytime soon. I like to think it's because of my plus hit tool.
  16. Darius
    They better get something figured out quickly. This season is slipping away. It's pretty tough to recover from a losing streak approaching 10 (see 2016). I'd rather not start the Dozier/Lynn/etc trade talks before April is over.
  17. Darius
    So many opportunities wasted tonight.
  18. Darius
    You've got to be kidding me....
  19. Darius
    Sano and Rosario really need to get going, here.
  20. Darius
    Are people really blaming this on Gibson? He certainly pitched well enough. Everyone needs some bullpen help in a game at some point. He rebounded from an early homer to get the team through to a point where they could get some key bullpen pieces a break. I've been learning the thing with Gibson is expectations. He's a back-end starter. Not an ace. He'll never. E one. Going into the 7th inning last night, his season ERA to that point was down to about 3.5 (4.29 after the inning - we've seen worse from Twins "aces" over the decades). That can be extended back to about July of last year. The guy has been doing his his job serviceably for some time now. People just need to drop this expectations that come along with the first-round label. For comparison, guys like Rosario, Kepler, Buxton, Polanco who have also been historically inept offensively can put together a couple of good weeks at the plate and they've arrived as superstars. It's a perception thing.
  21. Darius
    I'm usually one to hold umps/refs accountable for bad game changing calls, when others say the team should've done more in the first place. In this case, the latter is right. When you play baseball poorly in terms of fundamentals (errors, too man walks, hitting batters), you leave yourself open to that. Compound the facts that Molitor continues to make repeated head-scratching bullpen moves and they (someone--Falvine?) insist on giving Rodney the ninth despite the warnings of every down to my three-year old and you have the makings of a problem. I'm nowhere near jumping ship right now. But it's extremely frustrating for a team likely fighting tooth-and-nail for the last wildcard spot to be dropping games like these. This game literally might be the difference between making and missing the playoffs.
  22. Darius
    Hitting Gomez is terrible. It's time to get Rodney out of the closer role. That's two games already.
  23. Darius
    I have never seen anyone say (seriously, anyway) that Mauer legitimately doesn't try. Or, that he milked the concussions. Nothing beyond sarcastic jokes in those regards. As far as being a clutch hitter, not sure homeruns have much to do with it. You can be a clutch hitter without being a power hitter. I think about this way: If I'm down by 1 with the bases loaded in the ninth, who is most likely to get that run in from third to tie the game? I'd take very few in the game over Mauer in that scenario.
  24. Darius
    Me and a friend were talking about the Twins over a barley soda shortly before the season started. My bold prediction was Berrios will be in the Cy Young conversation. At this rate, he my surpass that wildly irresponsible prediction (at the time) and actually win it. Out if all of the possible extensions being kicked around (Sano, Buxton, Rosario, Kepler, etc), I think the most important piece to keep around long-term is Berrios.
  25. Darius
    Come September, if they don't force the Twins hand before then (or, God forbid, serious injury from a current starter), getting guys like Gordon, Gonsalves, and Romero is going to be like adding talent at the trade deadline. There is a bunch of quality depth right now. I never thought I'd say that about this organization.
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