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bighat

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Everything posted by bighat

  1. bighat
    I don't see how the Twins hitters being unable to score a run off Detroit for 2 straight days is Rocco Baldelli's fault. If you don't like him, fine. But there's very little blame on his shoulders for the recent stumbles of this team. They can't hit the baseball, guys. It's as simple as that.
  2. bighat
    "Need to get healthy"? Huh? The Twins are really only missing Correa - the rest of the team they've assembled over the winter is right there on the field, gang. Who else is missing? Celestino? Lewis? Alcala? Are those core players on the team that we're supposed to be relying on here in 2022? I think this may be the beginning of the end. This team has two pitchers, Gray and Ryan, that might give them a chance every night. Bundy and Archer are doing their best "Happ & Shoe" impersonations while Ober is looking more and more like the next Aaron Sledgers. The bullpen is coming back to earth (looking at you Joe Smith) and guys like Duffey and Theilbar are looking more and more like they'll be playing indy ball by this time next year. The main problem is the offense, and really the keystone here is Buxton. He's straight up stopped hitting. 2 for his last 42 or something, with a bloop double and an infield single. I do think that we can say that playing only the Tigers and Royals for like 3 weeks straight is probably not helping. Some variety and change of scenery might spark something. But I really do think it's on Buxton. I don't see any other way this team turns it around.
  3. bighat
    Buxton and Polanco are really hurting this team. Aside from the hot April from Buxton, we really haven't seen much contribution from either player. Correa's been injured or sick for 50% of the campaign and he's getting "rest days" 2x per week. In short, the Twins' key players aren't playing much and when they are, they're not playing well. I really don't see how this team wins more than 2 games against Toronto, NYY, Tampa and Seattle on the upcoming menu. Twins should be back to .500 by June 15th. And that's OK. We just have to really adjust our expectations now, because it's going to be a very bumpy ride and it might help one to prepare for it.
  4. bighat
    Polanco batting .231 and Buxton down to .202. Archer and Bundy coming back to earth rapidly. 2nd year guys Ober, Kirilloff, Gordon and Larnach all experiencing challenges, injuries, setbacks. The fact that this team is sitting in 1st place at 28-19 is unbelievable. But when you remember all the lucky/gift wins they've received, plus the fact they've spent the entire season playing KC, DET, Baltimore and Oakland....it starts to make sense. I think it would be best to lower our expectations immediately as to not be shocked when these guys drop 8-of-9 to the Jays, Yanks, and Rays (the lone win being a 2-1 nail-biter) before heading on a long flight to get swept by the Mariners in Seattle. If something doesn't change this team is under .500 by mid-June and "What happened to the Twins?" is the trending topic of the week in MLB before the rest of the league forgets about 'em.
  5. bighat
    Well, some of us were whining about the lack of offense and we got what we asked for. Pitching looks very rough right now, time for Archer to go 5 innings at least, c'mon man. How about 6? It'll be nice to get Gray on the mound tomorrow and see if he can go 7 again. Correa and Polanco going yard, we needed to see that and let's hope there's more where that came from. Yankee fans have to be missing Sanchez by now. They might not say it, but look at the numbers coming out of New York from the catching position....yowza.
  6. bighat
    Disagree. It's not Rocco's fault this team can't hit a baseball with a man in scoring position. It's not Rocco's fault they're averaging 2 runs in 80% of their games this year. It's not Rocco's fault that Buxton went 0-for-30 (!!!!). The problem isn't the pitching (yet) or the manager. It's anemic hitting on a historic level.
  7. bighat
    Possible overreaction incoming, but...... Yeah, this team straight up can't hit. The past 2 weeks they've been the lowest scoring team in all of baseball and they've been playing the Tigers and Royals and their no-name pitching staff the whole time. And we know what happens when they face good pitching: Kershaw and Verlander both almost no-hit this team. Yes, the Twins bullpen is all smoke and mirrors but Duffey, Pagan and company would have a much harder time blowing a game if the score was 7-0 for a change. The majority of this team's wins this year are 2-1 victories against Detroit, KC, Baltimore and Oakland. There are at least 6 teams in the AL that are much better than Minnesota. I think this fast start might be a mirage and the playoffs might be a pipe dream - a .500 finish would be a miracle and I think we should probably start to adjust our expectations. Oh and Buxton's feel-good story has taken a pretty dark turn while we're at it. Yikes. I'm starting to feel sorry for the guy out there.
  8. bighat
    This was an awesome read - thanks for posting. Hilarious! I think all of us who tuned out and then tuned back in that day have a story to share. Yours was awesome.
  9. bighat
    Yep, he's one of "those guys" LOL. Great effort by Gray, this is the guy we traded for. Spectacular effort. Unlucky stat line for Arraez, should have had a HR in there, that line drive off the limestone overhang would have been gone in many parks. Way too many ducks left on the pond tonight. Kepler and Jeffers both had the bases loaded with less than 2 outs and couldn't get a run home. Very uninspiring effort from the offense yet again, averaging 3.5 runs per game against a very shaky Detroit team at home. Where's the beef? Buxton down to .211. Count me in as officially worried. The good news is that Correa is looking more and more like a guy who can carry this team all by himself.
  10. bighat
    A lot of comments about Bux on this thread and rightfully so. Some think he's playing hurt, he should rest more, etc. I wonder if the opposite is true? It's pretty hard to get into a groove if you are sitting every other day. It's also hard to make adjustments if you're not in the lineup every night. It's taken Bux a bit longer than normal to recognize the new approach from pitchers simply because he's not able to get in there and adjust. Then again, a slump is a slump and it happens to everyone. Buxton took a 93 MPH fastball last night, it was left up and right down Broadway. Three weeks ago he crushes that into the upper deck. He just doesn't seem to be seeing the ball well right now. More food for thought: this slump seems to be coming out on the heels of a really great in-depth feature on MLB Network and an article in the New York Times praising Buxton with the title 'Best Player in the World'. Buxton is notoriously low-key and isn't a fan of too much attention. Is it possible he's started feeling some anxiety and/or pressure as the hype machine has gone into overdrive? Honestly I just think the guy just needs to play 3-4 straight games for goddsakes. Let him swing his way out of the doldrums.
  11. bighat
    I disagree, as I think they'll have Maeda on a very strict pitch count when he first comes back. Like you though, I am excited for him to possibly make a comeback this year.
  12. bighat
    With so many players contributing, it's been easy to overlook Max Kepler, who's been a very steady force and worthy of recognition. This past week Max has gone 6-for-16 (.375) with 5 walks, 5 runs, and 3 RBI. His season average is up to .260 and he's looking more and more like the Max Kepler we all know and love. His re-emergence as a solid hitter in the middle of this lineup is key, and he's been virtually injury-free and is one of just a couple guys out there playing every day.
  13. bighat
    For the Twins in 2010 Carl was 17-11 with a 3.75 ERA and led all of MLB with 7 complete games. It was definitely a short-lived period of dominance but I think he certainly had an historic season for a Twins pitcher.
  14. bighat
    Radke, J. Santana, Liriano, Pavano, E. Santana, Berrios....is Joe Ryan the next great Twins ace? For all those still sore about the Taylor Rogers trade, please remember that a few months earlier the Twins got Joe Ryan for a 41 year-old Nelson Cruz. Correa is looking like every bit of the player we hoped he'd be upon signing. If the bases are loaded in the 2022 MLB playoffs, I'm taking Carlos 10 time out of 10 over Royce Lewis, and I think we all would if we are being honest with ourselves. Huge difference maker in many ways on this team. Buxton's average down to .228, ahead of only Jeffers (.211) and Polanco (.223) among Twins regulars. I know batting average doesn't matter to most people any more, but it would be good to see Buxton bust out of his mini-slump sometime soon, and same goes for Polanco. After winning the first 2 games of the series, Rocco's definitely going to have the B Team in today, despite that I think they have a good chance to sweep. Yesterday's bench was Garlick, Gordon and Jeffers - if all three of those guys play today that's not exactly chopped liver.
  15. bighat
    Pagan is constantly one pitch away from complete disaster. Twins have to be already eyeing up closers to target come the trade deadline. Bullpen help appears to be the number one need. Nice to see Miranda come through, things have been tough for him lately. One has to wonder if the Royals had left the speedy rookie in CF if he'd have got to that ball. Isbel made a nice effort though. Twins seem to be getting lots of lucky bounces this year - last year it was the opposite. Smeltzer sent to St. Paul after the game, it'll be nice to see Baily Ober back on the mound on Sunday.
  16. bighat
    Just tried it out, two thumbs up! Thanks!
  17. bighat
    Remember at the start of the year when all the experts were predicting a huge leap forward for Detroit and they were also touting KC as a "sleeper" team to watch?
  18. bighat
    As always thanks for this fantastic minor league report!
  19. bighat
    In the end it's a baseball decision. The front office certainly had to make a tough call, and anyone who follows this team probably isn't surprised. The Twins aren't known for rushing young talent, if anything they tend to leave the training wheels on for a bit too long sometimes. Right or wrong, it's very possible the Twins may be thinking about playing to Correa's ego here. Not saying Carlos is angry or worried about Royce being here, but maybe the Twins want to assure Carlos that he is their SS of the future. They still want to sign this guy long-term, remember....
  20. bighat
    What's happened to Josh Winder? He's been getting bashed around the past two appearances. Looks bad. At some point this team is going to start hitting. Once again, against the horrific A's - this time in a hitter's park - the Twins are scoring 2-3 runs per game. Aside from a few glitches in the Matrix, this squad hasn't shown any ability to score runs. We keep hearing the same excuses: "The (insert other guy's name here) pitched great", and "offense is down all over the league". As for the first excuse, it's pretty suspicious that guys with lifetime 4.50 and 5.36 ERAs just happen to be pitching the games of their lives against the Twins 4 nights a week. And as for the second excuse, bah humbug. Frankly I'd be thrilled to see the Twins lose 12-9 one of these days. Bats needed to wake up 2 weeks ago, and it's pretty clear that arms like Bundy, Winder, and Archer won't be carrying this team much longer.
  21. bighat
    Yeah, huge bummer. Another reminder that even the most highly touted prospects aren't sure things. It's May 16th and Trevor Larnach and Alex Kirilloff have combined for just 100 ABs due to injury - and even when healthy, have amassed a total of ZERO home runs. I know that fan bias makes it almost impossible to consider that neither of these guys will work out. But if you were a Pirates or Mariners fan, you probably wouldn't be too convinced that either of them have an All-Star career in their future. Okay, okay, Larnach's had a nice start aside from injury but the point is that a couple of years ago you'd have thought we had Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb waiting in the wings. Kirilloff's looking more and more like an answer to "Forgotten Twins Trivia". Doesn't take long to get on that list, either. Remember Fernando Romero and Stephen Gonzalves?
  22. bighat
    I was so excited when Dozier hit that ball that I jumped and accidentally hit the 'power' button on the remote. I had a couple family members watching with me, they'd kind of gathered as the Twins' momentum was gaining in the 9th. Everyone watching at my house just saw Dozier launch a fly ball. We had to wait about 1-2 minutes for the smart TV to power back up, and for me to scroll through all the digital channels to get the result. Also thought that Blyleven really butchered the call: "You didn't make the All-Star team, but.....you just helped beat the Detroit Tigers". Dick then rescued the moment with "The most electric moment at Target Field in years!" which was great.
  23. bighat
    We've seen this movie before: Twins don't hit, lose ballgame. Bieber just another great pitcher who this team can't touch I guess. Wonder what they're going to do in the playoffs against good teams' 1-2-3 starters in the first round? So Buxton sits 3x a week now even if he's healthy? Nice to see Smeltzer step up.
  24. bighat
    Yeah, I see a worse version of Fernando Rodney when he was in a Twins uniform. Getting into all kinds of trouble every time, escaping just enough to keep his roster spot. Maybe someone on the Twins staff can fix this guy, but if nothing changes I can't see him lasting the season on this team. At this point it looks like the Rogers trade will be judged based on how Paddack does in 2024.
  25. bighat
    I think it's complete smoke-and-mirrors to be honest. He's had a few good outings but I don't think the guy can be trusted, I'm more inclined to believe he'll regress and be a guy who's ERA hovers around 5+ or so. Hope I'm wrong, just never had a great feeling about him and I think calling him a "stud" is a perfect example of blind homerism.
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