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bighat

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Everything posted by bighat

  1. bighat
    Yeah, nobody's going to sell a top arm in May. Not even a basement-dweller. By the way, one arm isn't going to change this. Bringing in Green or whoever isn't going to all of a sudden make Rogers, Duffey, or Colome any better. A dominant reliever may help the Twins win - max - a game every 1.5 weeks or so. The Twins need everyone to be above average, and that's not happening. The offense is waking up but it's pretty meaningless if they can't stay consistent. This could very well be a really ugly season that results in a complete tear-down.
  2. bighat
    I usually feel relieved and happy when the Twins win. This was one of those games that, despite the win, I didn't feel too great. Rangers awful defense gave this game away - a team with even middling speed in the OF would have caught or cut off many of those balls. Even with Texas giving this team every advantage, the bullpen nearly blew it. There seem to be no arms in the bullpen that can get this done. They look awful from top to bottom. Rocco needs to realize that a 5-0 lead right now is the same as a 1-0 lead: it's precarious. Here's hoping Kirilloff stays hot. Great to see Donaldson heating up. Remember, he's the highest paid guy on the team and he is supposed to be our best player. Think about that: we've been talking about Cruz and Buxton for the last couple years, meanwhile Donaldson is the guy who's supposed to be our superstar. We really need him to keep this up if the Twins are going to have a chance to stay in these ballgames. Maeda looked decent, can't complain about zero runs and 8K over 5+.
  3. bighat
    Again, I'm a huge Kirilloff fan like everyone else but just wanted to point this out: It's worth noting that Kirilloff had no other hits in his 12 at-bats this weekend beyond the home runs, and he posted a 1:6 BB:K in the series. He's now sporting a .184 average, .200 on-base percentage, 2.6 percent walk rate and 30 percent strikeout rate on the season. Yes we should be encouraged. But let's keep things realistic. He could go 2 weeks before his next home run - let's hope he's able to get some singles and doubles to fall and start walking as well. He's still a rookie.
  4. bighat
    I think it's a pretty open secret that Rogers is now back in his closer role. There weren't any close games the entire week (Twins were either blown out or vice versa) for Rogers to work.
  5. bighat
    Concur. I've always been baffled at the criticism of Berrios - I understand that people wanted him to be Pedro Martinez, but not everyone can be that guy. Berrios has always been damn good. Double-digit wins in each of his past seasons (2020 doesn't count), ERA around 3.70 or so, always has high strikeout numbers, and two All-Star nods. Gritty. Gamer. He's not on the IL with fingernail or blister problems, he can field his position and is a good teammate. Works HARD in the off-season, great work ethic. Wants to be better. Not satisfied with so-so outings. When he signs with another team in free agency, he'll be a huge pickup and if he's not going to be that team's ace, he'll be their #2 guy. No question about it. Then people here are going to start the "Pohlad's are Cheap" mantra, when all the while Berrios was here they bashed him for not being Max Scherzer.
  6. bighat
    Loving Kirilloff's emergence like everyone else. But since everyone is also talking about Baddoo, let's remember his hot start. The league made adjustments. Sano has had streaks like Kirilloff is having now in his rookie year. The league made adjustments. Before we ditch Polanco and Sano and whoever else because Kirilloff is now good enough to replace them, let's remember that pitching coaches and scouts all over MLB are looking for weaknesses in his swing. He's impressed but it won't be this easy for him moving forward.
  7. bighat
    I watched it. He was getting hit very hard. Royals were on the button every time they made contact. Colome looked as bad as he's looked all season, zero improvement whatsoever. Might have even been worse.
  8. bighat
    Polanco has batted .300 over his past 7 games, including a HR and an SB. He was hitless his first week which skews his stats but he's coming out of his slump. Kepler, conversely, has had one good game and that was the first game of the year. Sano hasn't really done anything, aside from showing he can walk (which does count for something).
  9. bighat
    Great read, love the side-by-sides. Thanks for posting!
  10. bighat
    Was following on my MLB app and watching highlights all night - every notification was like a little gift. Rortvedt first MLB hit, Kiriloff first MLB homer(s), Buxton with diving catches, scoreless innings from the bullpen....what more could you want? Was reading Do-Hyoung Park this morning and he brought up an interesting point at the end of his article...if Kiriloff continues to play like this, things are awfully crowded: "With Miguel Sanó expected to come off the IL in the coming days, the Twins face an outfield crunch involving Kirilloff, Jake Cave, Max Kepler, Kyle Garlick, Buxton and Luis Arraez. The quality of Kirilloff’s contact might already have made it tough to option him off the roster....." Who's Alex putting on notice? You'd think Cave has the most to lose here. But if Sano continues to struggle, what's next for him?
  11. bighat
  12. bighat
    In my fantasy baseball league, Buxton has the 5th most points of any outfielder in MLB, despite having at least 20 fewer at bats than the guys in front of him.
  13. bighat
    Just saw this article now - completely agree! Thanks for sharing, enjoy your writing Sherry and hope to see more. Go Twins!
  14. bighat
    Where would we be without JA Happ? Maeda and Shoemaker are the concerns right now. Berrios, Happ, and Pineda have been solid for the most part. Can't say anything that hasn't been said about Buxton already today. The guy is just unreal. This is the Byron Buxton we thought we'd see during all of those years watching him develop. He has arrived and he's as good or better right now than even the most optimistic projection. May just be the league MVP.
  15. bighat
    It's fair to say it's time to panic. I'm done trying to be reasonable and listen to everyone telling me that it's still April. Yeah, it's April (almost May 1st but OK), the games count and the Twins are the worst team in baseball thus far. They've won SEVEN games! Seven! They don't look like a good team that's snakebit. They look plum terrible. There is nobody waiting in the wings to save them on offense, Kepler and Sano were actually hurting this team on offense (can't believe that's possible at this point but it's true). The bullpen is awful from top to bottom. No help on the way.
  16. bighat
    Buxton went 1-for-3 with a HR and 2 RBI the last time he faced Plesac, so with the team having lost 8 of its last 9 it's a great time for him to rest that knee. Edit: Astudillo also went 1-for-3 with a HR the last time he faced Plesac, so of course he's also on the bench tonight.
  17. bighat
    Twins just recalled Simmons and sent Gordon back down to the taxi squad. Didn't even get an AB or an inning in the field. Pretty pathetic.
  18. bighat
    Bloggers and Tweeters keep telling us that "It all evens out" - no, it doesn't. There is a reason some teams are 100-62, and other teams are 62-100. The bullpen, fundamental defense, and offense have been godawful. If things continue the way they are going, the Twins won't even come close to making the playoffs - in fact they will field one of the worst MN teams in years. Bloggers and Tweeters can dig around and find obscure stats that the Twins are excelling in (ie: from the 3rd-5th innings their XFIP + BABIP x WAR Squared is ranked 14th in baseball). Means nothing. I mean, I can probably find something positive about the Ice Capades but it doesn't mean it's a good production. Five games is a small sample size. 20 games is not. This team is getting smoked by good teams and is barely able to compete with bad ones. They are vastly underperforming and deserve all the criticism they've been getting and then some.
  19. bighat
    Great article, shocked there weren't any comments - for me it just appeared on my feed so maybe I missed it last night. All good points. I think the problem might be that our depth/reserves have been playing so much that the book is out on them. Guys like Astudillo and Cave (who ironically were last night's stars) probably used to get a few more cookies simply because they were viewed as backups. However....are we really going to blame this on the bench guys? Jeffers, Cave, Astudillo, Rooker haven't been good. But we wouldn't be in this position if Sano and Kepler were already at 4-5 HR each and 14 RBI a piece. Garver can't hit his way out of a paper bag. If THOSE guys produce, we're not even having this conversation....
  20. bighat
    Great effort by Happ, give credit where it's due. Any time you can get a gem like that out of your 4th starter, you have to be thrilled. Looks like he may have some gas in the tank still. We'll take it. Astudillo and Cave with the offense. That's cool, but also troubling. Maybe that 12-run outburst was really just a product of those infamous Oakland Day Games where the ball really flies. On a side note, it's really unfortunate to see yet again more ugly spring weather in Minneapolis. Don't get me wrong, outdoor baseball in Minnesota cannot be beat, it's absolutely the only baseball we should be considering....but man, watching guys have to play in snow, 30, 40 degree weather for a MONTH is pretty brutal. There's nothing we can do about it, but it just feels like such a severe disadvantage for this Twins team. Play on the road, or play in 30 degree weather - those are your two choices. Maybe it's just magnified for me this year because of the bad start to this team, I dunno. I played high school ball in Minneapolis - I remember playing with piles of snow in the outfield grass and mud puddles on the infield. The Twins are pros and their field is pristine, so they should be able to push through this. Just looks like they're not comfortable and it really shows offensively.
  21. bighat
    Blankenhorn going down maybe?
  22. bighat
    (Using my best Dwight Schrute voice): FALSE! Nick Gordon was ranked 48th and 50th, respectively on the MLB Top Prospects list a few years ago. That's in all of Major League Baseball. He was the #2 ranked Twins prospect at the time. Kiriloff came into the 2021 season ranked 21st on that same list, in all of MLB. Scouts and MLB employees know a lot about baseball and they have very high opinions of both of these players.
  23. bighat
    Yeah, this is one of those amazing games where you can't really blame any specific player OR any specific skill set. Everyone was bad on defense. Starting pitching was terrible, bullpen was terrible, managing was terrible (I rarely criticize managing because hindsight is always 20/20). Clutch defense was disgusting. Can't throw a guy out? Can't field a grounder? Honestly that looked like bad middle school baseball. GAAAHH!!! Cruz 2 HRs, Donaldson goes 4-for-5 or whatever with a HR, Buxton hits a 2-run homer in extra innings and you freaking LOSE?!?!? Who's going to get the Twins out of this mess? Berrios and Maeda are spent, guess it's time to turn to Big Mike on Friday? JA Happ and Matt Shoemaker are the type of guys that you can have ONE of, but you don't want two. But that's for another thread! Still just bamboozled over yesterday's loss.
  24. bighat
    Will be interested to hear Rocco's quotes about this one. Is he going to laud his players with praise? Talk about how his bullpen did a great job and had a few unlucky bounces? Talk about how the A's are a great team and wow how fun it was to be in this dogfight? I'd be refreshing to hear him just finally lose his apples and tell it like it is for once. For what it's worth, I like Rocco overall as a manager. I'm just an extremely irritated Twins fan.
  25. bighat
    Cruz was lifted for a pinch runner after getting hit by a pitch - you can bet we won't be seeing him today. Rocco's going to say DAY OFF!
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