yarnivek1972

If I am not mistaken, there was some talk this spring about Paul Molitor wanting Nick Tepesch as a starter to begin the season. That didn't happen. The two MLB relievers that the FO did bring in have been pitching a lot with the team behind, especially in the last month. I'm guessing that wasn't the role Falvey envisioned for them. Belisle, specifically, had a two week stretch where he made exactly one appearance. And that was during the stretch where the Twins played two double headers. This is THE GUY that Falvey brought in to help the pen. It was pretty clear of what Molitor thought of Breslow after his first appearance. He came in to a tie game, gave up a hit to a LHB, got a fly out and then walked a LHB. He hasn't had a substantially meaningful appearance since. Yet Falvey keeps him around when it is CLEAR Molitor has zero confidence in him in leverage situations. Breslow certainly isn't a long man. What good is a one inning at a time mop up reliever? Falvey brought up Vargas presumably to help protect Sano, help pump up a lagging offense and give Mauer some days off. Yet Molitor kept doing things like plugging Eduardo Escobar in at DH or even more nonsensically having Escobar pinch hit for Vargas. I don't want to make this post about Vargas, but I don't imagine Falvey brought him up to be pinch hit FOR by a utility infielder. Has anything been said about some kind of rift? Of course not. These are still professionals. They wouldn't say anything publicly. But the root of any rift lies in the basic fact that Molitor isn't the guy that Falvey hired and has zero history with. It's almost unheard of in any sport in this day and age to bring in a new GM and retain the same on field coaching staff. It's entirely possible that for that reason Falvey is making moves designed to make Molitor fail so firing him is easier for the Pohlads. But do I think Falvey wants to bring in his guy - whoever that might be? Absolutely. No doubt in my mind.

Starters used to throw upwards of 300 innings every year too. Guess what? They don't anymore. Bemoan it if you will, but the fact is that current pitchers aren't accustomed to that kind of a workload.

Santiago has gone 7 IP exactly once as a Twin. Expecting him to do so is setting yourself up for disappointment.

How many were relievers in June or later? Those are the ones more reflective of in season overuse. The Twins had 3 last year alone.

Most managers figure out a way to do it without half their relievers going on the DL in the second half of the season.

That should be E6 all the way.

Apparently, there is no such thing as an error anymore.

Rosario should have had that energy bar a couple innings ago.

So, now who pitches? Unless the Twins score a run or two, it really wouldn't make sense to use Duffey, Rogers or Kintzler. I can't imagine Pressly, Belisle or Breslow being available given their workload the last two games. This is probably already Boshers longest appearance at any level in 2 years. Looks like Wheeler. Which means he and Boshers are likely sent out tomorrow in favor of others. Hildenberger maybe? Turley?

So, no fear, we are about to acquire an all star closer.

Maybe not for some guys. It obviously was for Pressly and the other guys I named. Too much work in the first half led to DL stints and/or drastically reduced effectiveness. It's the manager's job to know HIS guys.

Neither Rucinski or Boshers pitched Sunday. Both pitched Saturday. Rucinski threw 31 pitches. Boshers 16. That would be a good question to ask Falvey.

Look up the workload for Pressly, May and Tonkin the last two seasons, particularly first half. Pressly, for example, appeared in 42 games before the Break last year. And that was in a season when they were out of it before May. I realize that's not the exact midpoint. It's usually around game 90 or so. I also realize that there are relievers who work more. But they usually aren't guys who throw hard like Pressly, May and Tonkin. When looking up the numbers for this year, you also have to remember the Twins rainouts mean they have played 3-4 fewer games than almost every other team. The Rays have played 7 more than the Twins.

I call into serious question Paul Molitor's judgement as to whether a reliever has been overused. His track record speaks for itself. As for "winning the game in front of you", if that was the only consideration, teams would use their best relievers every day they had a lead. But they don't. Because they can't. Because history has shown what happens when relievers work too much. It is the manager's job to balance rest and results. Paul doesn't err on the side of rest nearly often enough. And just to be clear, unlike a lot of the posts here, mine are not a case of second guessing. You can check the game day thread. I was saying "why Pressly" before he even threw a pitch.

. Except he was already out there.

Jason Wheeler may get a shot yet tonight.

Well, I had a whole bunch of numbers I was going to post with this argument. As I was typing, I lost my connection to this site somehow. I really didn't feel like looking them all up and retyping them. The short version is that those guys racked up a ton of appearances in the first half of seasons and then broke down in the second half. DL stints, diminished results. I'm sure flip flopping May didn't help, but he was a reliever for all of 2016, when his injury appeared. So, was it the switch in general or just the workload? No real way to know.

Perkins, May, Pressly, even Tonkin. How many more pitchers are the Twins going to allow Paul Molitor to destroy by overuse? All those guys were used and abused in the first halves of recent seasons under Molitor only to spend time on the DL in the second halves and see their effectiveness disappear. This isn't coincidence. It's a trend. It's Paul Molitor "not having confidence" in certain guys. You know what? Too bad! They are the guys you have. It's your job to not overuse them because in the long run that is a 162 game season it is a losing strategy. It's too bad some of the top reliever prospects are hurt, but maybe it's a blessing in disguise. I don't want Burdi et al anywhere near Paul Molitor. One has to wonder if Paul Molitor is also a gigantic deterrent to upper tier FA relievers. If I were one, I'd sure stay away given his track record.

You never really specifically addressed why Rucinski, who has been in the bigs before, didn't pitch with a 6 run lead. The ultimate problem is that Molitor doesn't seem to understand (or possibly care) that overusing relievers has consequences. I (and others) have said this before. Winning should have been the secondary goal yesterday. Resting the pen was goal number one. If you win in the process, great. Molitor did neither. The pen is still short at least 3 guys tonight and the Twins still lost.

But if Wheeler and/or Rucinski had been the only relievers used yesterday, the Twins wouldn't still be short 3 relievers tonight.

Roller Blades

I had figured it was a product of Minute Maid Field. In actuality, he's been even worse of a gopher-baller on the road. If he gets 30 odd starts, Bert's record could be in jeopardy. Anyone got the over/under as to how many times that is mentioned during the broadcast tonight?

Band-Aid. As in the adhesive bandage. Not the Bob Geldof formed charity group.

So, basically nobody any other team might want. Got it. Two observations. 1) That is going to make it difficult to trade assets to acquire pitching. Contrary to what some believe, teams aren't going to trade their best prospects for your garbage. 2) If Falvey isn't willing to trade these assets, why aren't they seeing if they can help at the MLB level? Either they are good enough to help, or they are expendable, not?

League average for the JPL was about 7 last year. Mickolio was at 5.8. So, about 1 K per 9 lower than average. There were barely a dozen guys with K per 9 above 10 last year. There were more than 60 at the MLB level last year with at least 40 IP.