bighat

Great to see Bux have a nice game today, he needed that (and so did we all). Here's hoping for slow, steady progress from him as the year goes on. Hey, 2 sac flies from Adrianza, love seeing the little things done right. Good game and a happy 4th for all!

Santiago needs a phantom trip to the DL - get him off this team, pronto. I'd rather watch guys who might have a future, like Jorge. Santiago is a washed-up has-been, a Mike Pelfrey type guy who gives the team absolute zero chance to win. It's clear the Angels jobbed the Twins on that trade but at this point Santiago's a sunk cost and if the Twins want to maintain respectability he's got to go. Sano lost his lead for the All Star Game and won't be starting. Not that Ramirez isn't having a good year, don't get me wrong. But gee whiz, gimme a break with this online voting system and the #Vote5TimesPerDay hastags and whatnot. The average fan doesn't want to see Ramirez starting at 3B. But he will because of the combined power of a hyper-local social media campaign. 'Member the Royals getting all the starters a couple years ago? Cripes. I work in technology and love it, but it's pretty embarrassing to watch MLB try and appear tech-savvy when it's clear they don't see how flawed this type of system is. The MLB doesn't seem to care about the integrity of the process. It's all about clicks and social media metrics - none of which truly measure...anything. On the bright side, we've all got Tuesday off work and many of us aren't working Monday, either. I'm going to be planting some bamboo in my jardin down here and digging in the dirt. Big Minneapolis trip coming up in 10 days, looking forward to spending some time "back home" as well!

Jorge finished strong after a dreadful first inning. I was watching the KC feed and one thing they remarked on often was that Jorge had "no deception" when he was pitching. He doesn't have much movement, as has been discussed. I think this could be something the Twins can work on with him. That said, congrats to the kid. Impressed! Santana, Mejia, Berrios, Jorge, and Gibson are the best 5 starters the Twins have right now. Hector Santiago has been absolutely awful and I'm worried the Royals will be taking batting practice off him in a few hours. I'm guessing the over/under on this afternoon's game is gonna be 9.5 or something quite high! Nice to see Sano connect on a couple big swings. Dude's crushing KC so far!

At some point, we've got to stop blaming the Twins (front office, hitting coach, manager, teammates) and start putting this on Buxton. He's the guy who has to go out there and DO THE THING. Aside from a meaningless, pressure-free September in 2016 he simply hasn't hit. He's the same age or older than lots of guys who are All-Stars: Francisco Lindor, Carlos Correa, Addison Russel, Corey Seager just to name a few. But even if you put Buxton next to an average 23 year-old MLB player his numbers look awful. Not just below average. Plain stinkin' bad. You can be the most talented actor in the world, but if you can't perform on stage it doesn't really matter. Buxton needs to figure this out on his own because it doesn't look like anyone else can do it for him.

Great to see Santiago back. We can expect more 100-pitch, 4+ inning outings watching his ERA continue to balloon. This guy is awful. As I've said before, I'd run Gibson out there in a heartbeat before giving the ball to Hector. He had a few nice early outings but those are long gone. Even his DL stint was simply just to let the guy sit on the bench for a couple weeks. I think he's firmly solidified his place as the Worst Starter on the Twins. If anyone sees something good in Santiago, I'm all ears. I'd also wonder what you were smoking, but I'd still listen!

Jumping on the Whine Line: So, Buxton is just a .200 hitter with speed and great defense, eh? A poor man's Jerrod Dyson if the Twins are lucky. Too bad. As for Berrios, he's turned out to be a gem. Thankful the Twins have finally hit the jackpot on one of those prospects! Sano's striking out like nobody's business lately. Remember that game a month ago when he had 5 singles? I'd love to see him stop trying to crush the ball and get back to basics.

Watching the Boston broadcast right now. According to Boston broadcasters, every player on the Red Sox is "probably the best in the league" at a particular skill (baserunning, hitting with 2 outs, pitching, etc)

Berrios looking less-than-composed. Frowny face.

Sale has trouble with the Twins for whatever reason, his career numbers against Minnesota are far below his averages. Would be nice to sneak in a 'W' here. Gonna be a tough series for our boys, though.

Not sure what Duffey did to get pulled. Pitched too well? Bringing in Rogers to pitch to Encarnacion seemed like a bad idea.

How about Hawkins as the play-by-play man and Hunter as the color guy? That would be a fun broadcast team! Frankly I'd rather have Hunter managing the team than in the booth. Hopefully next year...

I like LaTroy in the booth too, he's good. I think he talks over the game a bit too much sometimes...he's not yet comfortable with those silent moments. But he's getting there!

Saw that today. Urias out 12-14 months, minimum. Wow.

I was wrong! Yahoo!

True, but after watching Albert Pujols run during that LA series, Vargas looks like Carl Lewis out there.

I worry about sending Mejia out for the 5th here. I think it was time to call on Duffey. Let's hope I'm wrong.

Dillon Gee and Trevor Hildenberger are on the way up to join the Twins today. Adrianza to the DL, and Turley optioned to AAA. Good to see both of the new Twins arrive, frankly. This team should be playing with all they've got this weekend.... Huge series.

Rosario / Granite platoon situation, maybe? The problem is, where does that leave Grossman...? Rosario has a cannon for an arm, you gotta admit that.

I'd much rather see Gee in there making spot starts than Wilk, Wheeler, Heston & Co.. Not perfect, but at least the Twins are improving depth.

Very informative! Nothing to add, except thanks for the post!

My point was: most of the "core guys" that we have now, will be gone by the time the new guys are ready.

Totally get it - and I do understand. I hope I'm not coming off like I'm barking too hard at you guys. That said, let me get to the point: Your theory assumes that many of the Twins prospects are going to pan out. I think we've learned the hard way that even "sure things" aren't guaranteed to even bat .200. Are you waiting for 2020? Because by then, Dozier will be gone, Mauer will be retired, and Sano will be wearing a Yankees uniform. Guys like Vargas and Rosario won't be around either. What are we left with? Can you give me your starting 9 players in 2020 and tell me the Twins will be better than they are now? It's a rhetorical question, because nobody can predict the future. The reality of life is NOW. I can say for certainty that the Twins are 2 games out of first place NOW, with decent players and appear to be a few pitchers away from a playoff run. I'll take that against your 2019-2020 team any day.

Could not agree more with you & Chief, Chitown! Fergodsakes, so many folks are just obsessed with "building a team" and almost seem to want the Twins to be perpetually tinkering with the future. I don't get it. It's bizarre to think that anyone would enjoy watching the professional team of their choice lose, and continuously hope that team sells off it's best players. The Twins aren't a juggernaut. But they're at a point where they're a .500 or above team in a league where they could sneak into the playoffs. It seems like pitching is the main issue - add a few 'pen arms and go get an established starter. That's not easy, but it's not impossible. TRY!!!

I'm pretty down on the Twins too. I'm not sure they'll be SIX games back - remember, the Indians have had their fair share of problems as well. What bothers me is the pitching the Twins rolled out for this HUGE series. We're in the thick of the race, the heart of the season, and we have a 4 game series against our biggest rival. AT HOME. It's Father's Day weekend, the big Prince Night, the whole she-bang. And we lead off the series with Turley and Wilk? It's almost like the Twins forfeited and rolled over. And it's not just the pitching. Aside from Carrasco, the Twins haven't faced a tough pitcher and they've been kept in check easily. As a fan, when you get the feeling that your team isn't trying, it can be irksome. The cupboard looks bare right now. Is it time to just wait for the trading deadline and see who we get?

What in the Flying Spaghetti Monster's name is going on here?