Twins

[Gunner55]

  It wasn't Moran & Pagan. Pagan pitched 2 scoreless innings & gave up only 1 hit. It was Moran & Lopez that gave up the 3 run homers. https://www.espn.com/mlb/boxscore/_/gameId/401472047 I like it too that Gray wanted to go back out there, but that doesn't mean I agree with it. Rocco & Gray had the same conversation a few times last season as well. Ryan struggled yday too, giving up 3 HRs. Looks like De Leon will begin the game today.

[Gunner55]

It's all about the #'s in TB where they gave him his 1st job, so that's what he knows.  

Straight from his Wikipedia bio........................ After ending his playing career in 2011, Baldelli remained with the Rays organization as a Special Assistant for Baseball Operations and roving minor league hitting and outfield defense instructor. In December 2014, Baldelli was named the Rays' first base coach under new manager Kevin Cash, who had been Baldelli's teammate on the club in 2005.[52] Before the 2017 season, the Rays organization promoted Baldelli to the newly created role of major-league field coordinator, which involved analyzing the tendencies of opposing hitters, coaching defensive skills to players, and helping the team implement defensive strategies during games.[2]   

[dutchboy]

Ryan struggled and continued.
Gray struggled and got pulled.
Ryan was losing 6-1 and still pitching.
Gray was leading 4-2 and got pulled.

So do you trust the player to correct the ship after a rocky inning or do you show no faith in them by pulling them?

Do you show the rest of the team you have faith in your veteran pitcher or do you pull him with the lead in favor of a bullpen that has been less than stellar?

BTW, this isn't a one time occurrence, Rocco and company has done this many times before.

Time to start examining the moves management is making more closely, it isn't always the player thats messing up.

[KEN W]

They are a 500 team. If things continue the way they have been going, they will remain a 500 team. Lucky they are in one of the 2 worst divisions in MLB. The other being the National League Central.

Twins will play the easiest schedule the remainder of the season....

"Over the remaining 93 games, the Twins will play 56 games against teams currently under .500, including the next 10 in a row against the Tigers and Red Sox."

[dutchboy]

The other teams also are viewing the Twins as a soft spot in their schedule.    

[Gunner55]

Ryan stayed in because of the bullpen game today IMO. Even the 2 teams that lead the league in saves have only 26 & 25 saves. That's in 72 & 69 games respectively, that's a save % of ~36 %. Only SF, #2, has a complete game.

[KEN W]

Bullpen has been shaky so far. Then today they use 6 pitchers on a Bullpen Day giving up just 3 hits and they throw a shutout.   

Still crappy offense. Buxton is 0-20 since coming back from the IR. Taking a long time to get back.

[Gunner55]

They kept it clean on the bases & with the gloves yday.  They haven't been doin that in the 1st 2 with the Tigers. Real nice play by Castro & Correa to get the guy at the plate too. Seemed to give 'em a little momentum as they scored in their 1/2 of that inning.

[Gunner55]

  forgot , 1:10 & Varland today.

[dutchboy]

Very depressing.   

[KEN W]

3 strikeouts with the bases loaded. Buxton continues to go in the tank.....0-21 in his last 21 at bats. Crappy hitting again. 

[Gunner55]

  I thought the bats were starting to show some life against the Blue Jays & Brewers. But that came to a screeching halt in the Detroit series, right about the same time Buxton gets back in the starting line-up. He's missing pitches by a foot & looks like he's trying to hit a 9-run HR every time he swings.

[LPS]

Sun-Mon-Tue games all at 6:40 against Red Sox.

[KEN W]

So much for playing teams under 500. Losing 3 out of 4 to the Tigers tells us this is a 500 team.

[dutchboy]

36-36 says .500 in a terrible division. There is plenty of time to win the division or collapse like a cheap tent......soon we will know.

[LPS]

    May have to use that line with my brothers Dutch. 

[KEN W]

So who's at fault here....I would say the Twins management. POOR trades over the past few years. I like Reusse's column today about this. Pretty much all he is saying is correct. Can you list a good trade they have made lately??

Giving away the AL Batting Champion???
This guy could be the next Ty Cobb.

Good trades.....probably Sonny Grey. But will he be willing to come back here next year???

The Nelson Cruz for Joe Ryan was awesome.

I like this statement from Reusse...

"It was a minor transaction in the big picture, but the feeling here is that the first sign that aliens from Pluto were running the Twins came on March 28, 2021, when the Twins signed Randy Dobnak to a multi-year contract worth $9.25 million that runs through 2025 — with three option years afterward."

He is still getting pounded in St. Paul.

[dutchboy]

The fault is managements for not constructing a proper batting order. This has baffled me since day one. How can guys like Gallo bat lead-off? I dunno, I never was a Rocco fan and I'm becoming less so daily.

[glenn57]

so i just read an article on bring me the news that Buxton physically cant play in the outfield. article said even going into spring training his knee is so bad the cant play in the field!!!!!!!!!

                 

[Steve-o]

Not good.  You wonder A) if the knee is so bad that it is also affecting his hitting (probably) and B) if he will ever recover to the level he was last year before injury.  You have to wish him the best.

[Steve-o]

I don't know what Arraez did last night, but the night before I heard he went 5-5 and brought his average back to .400!   

They say confidence is contagious, and you have to wonder if the Twins hitters are missing Luis from a clubhouse chemistry perspective.  Was Luis the kind of guy who made everyone better just being around him?   

P.S.  I looks like he went 1-4 and his average plummeted to .398.   

[KEN W]

The hitting machine for the Twins has just been outscored in the past 6 games 40-18. That's against two 500 or below teams. Now not only is the hitting in the tank, but the pitching is heading that way too.

[LPS]

Our defense used to be stellar and sure isn't now.

[dutchboy]

Barry they no longer are playing their best defensive players in my opinion. They are trying to get all the bats into the lineup they can. That and Taylor is hurt which is why he hasn't played.

Also......Boston isn't chopped liver, dem boys can hit the ball although their pitching and defense can be suspect at times. But you can't confuse them with Detroit or Kansas City.

[Steve-o]

I'm with the broadcast team last night...  I don't know how the replay officials could NOT have overturned the call at first base in the bottom of the 10th.

Men on 1st and 2nd.  No outs.  Bunt up the first base line.
First baseman fields, flips to the pitcher covering the bag, but there is a near collision with the runner.
Replay showed the pitcher did not touch the bag and never tagged the runner with his glove.
Taylor stepped over the pitchers foot to touch the base with his toe, but was called out.

I'd like to hear the official MLB rationale for that call.  But all's well that ends well.

[KEN W]

Someone wanted the Red Sox to win.

[LPS]

I have to admit, after we all saw the many angles of replays he looked safe and I do think it was the refs trying to give the edge to the Sox.

[Steve-o]

Just because we're paranoid here in small market, fly-over Twins Territory, doesn't mean they're not out to get us.   

[LPS]

Up 4-0 now. And everyone knows the umps are out to get the Vikings too. 

[Steve-o]

I just checked in and saw that too.  Still, its just the 2nd inning.