2019 Minnesota Twins In-Season Thread

[JimmyJamesMD]

Twins lost today. Fire Rocco.


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I know they have one of the best records in baseball, but still stinks to have a 3 run lead and give it up. Those are the games you need to win.

 

[GophersInIowa]

Saw a stat on line today - listing the most home runs hit by a team at this point of the season in major league history. three of the top 5 were from this season, including the Twins in (I think) 3rd place. OK - found it again:

Most homers in MLB history through 45 games:
94 — 2000 St. Louis Cardinals
91 — 1999 Seattle Mariners
87 — 2019 Minnesota Twins
84 — 2019 Houston Astros
83 — 2019 Seattle Mariners

Point being - the ball is freakin' juiced. Baseball Prospectus had a long story with lots of scientific data to show that baseballs are travelling further and faster than ever before.

Hey - the Twins are fun to watch. It's a great story. But, they are playing with a baseball that has been changed from previous years. for some people, that might not mean anything. But in a sport like baseball that is so tied to its records, its history, and statistics, I see this season as an outlier - like the steroid era - only the ball is juiced instead of the players.

The biggest difference between the two is that the ball being juiced affects everyone. With the steroid era, not everyone was cheating so it wasn't even across the board.

 

[coolhandgopher]

I'm sure that I will jinx it, but the 2019 Twins are beginning to remind me of the regular season 15-1 1999 Vikings. When I watch them I expect excellence and dominance. The weakness is obviously the bullpen, just as that Vikings' weakness was defense. However, the offensive explosions are amazing to watch. The front office has a couple of months to do something about the bullpen. I hope that they don't blow a great opportunity.

With Sano healthy and this kid Arraez slapping together hits right from the start, I can't think of a lineup that the Twins have put on the field in my days as solid (including the bench) as this current team. Not only are 1-9 solid (including Cruz, currently on injured list), but a bench of Astudillo, Garver, Arraez, Gonzalez, and Adrianza? Assuming health (which I know if a huge assumption), this squad is going to bash all summer long while staying pretty fresh as Rocco rotates the bench guys into the lineup. As you all say, let's hope that the bullpen gets bolstered for what could be a great summer into the fall.

 

[howeda7]

Arraez reminds me of Polanco 4-5 years ago. It will be tempting to keep him over Adrianza but I'm not sure if he can play SS. One starter and one reliever away from being a legit WS contender.

 

[Ogee Ogilthorpe]

With Sano healthy and this kid Arraez slapping together hits right from the start, I can't think of a lineup that the Twins have put on the field in my days as solid (including the bench) as this current team. Not only are 1-9 solid (including Cruz, currently on injured list), but a bench of Astudillo, Garver, Arraez, Gonzalez, and Adrianza? Assuming health (which I know if a huge assumption), this squad is going to bash all summer long while staying pretty fresh as Rocco rotates the bench guys into the lineup. As you all say, let's hope that the bullpen gets bolstered for what could be a great summer into the fall.

We'll see what happens with injuries but I think I heard them say during the broadcast last night (the Angels announcers, since the Twins feed is blacked out for me for anything remotely west coast) that Arraez's time with the big league team will be short lived once folks start coming back from the DL. Since he hasn't been at Rochester that long, it probably would be better for him to keep playing every day there than sit on the bench with the Twins? I guess we'll find out soon enough

 

[GophersInIowa]

We'll see what happens with injuries but I think I heard them say during the broadcast last night (the Angels announcers, since the Twins feed is blacked out for me for anything remotely west coast) that Arraez's time with the big league team will be short lived once folks start coming back from the DL. Since he hasn't been at Rochester that long, it probably would be better for him to keep playing every day there than sit on the bench with the Twins? I guess we'll find out soon enough

I agree with this especially since he just turned 22.

 

[Breakin' The Plane]

I'm thinking if nothing else, there's doing a bit of showcasing on Arraez for potential moves down the road. The Twins have a glut of middle infielders on their top prospect lists.

 

[howeda7]

I'm thinking if nothing else, there's doing a bit of showcasing on Arraez for potential moves down the road. The Twins have a glut of middle infielders on their top prospect lists.

+1. Polanco is signed long-term leaving only one spot for Lewis/Araez/Nick Gordon. Gordon's the obvious first trade chip.

 

[GophersInIowa]

+1. Polanco is signed long-term leaving only one spot for Lewis/Araez/Nick Gordon. Gordon's the obvious first trade chip.

There's a good chance Sano gets moved to 1B and/or DH. I'm not sure if Lewis' long-term position is at SS. Maybe be a candidate to move to 3B? Haven't heard anything, just speculating.

It looks like Kirilloff is starting to play some 1B. I think that's where he'll end up full time.

 

[GophersInIowa]

Was looking at the schedule and noticed the Twins play KC, Detroit and Chicago 26 of their last 38 games. Those are bad teams to begin with, they will probably be even worse in August and September after the trade deadline and then with the Sept call-ups.

Cleveland has just 16 games against those 3 teams in August and September.

 

[Ogee Ogilthorpe]

+1. Polanco is signed long-term leaving only one spot for Lewis/Araez/Nick Gordon. Gordon's the obvious first trade chip.

Just looking at Gordon's stats for this year; he's coming off a short stint on the DL, should be playing tonight but off to a good start to the season for him. Hard to believe he's just 23 still.

It looks like Kirilloff is starting to play some 1B. I think that's where he'll end up full time.

Could be. Interestingly enough, The Athletic just put out an article this morning listing Kirilloff as the #2 corner outfield prospect in all of baseball.

 

[GophersInIowa]

Could be. Interestingly enough, The Athletic just put out an article this morning listing Kirilloff as the #2 corner outfield prospect in all of baseball.

I think it comes down to if they have a full-time DH or not when he is called up. If not, a guy like Kiriloff could play a combination of OF, 1B, and DH.

 

[howeda7]

There's a good chance Sano gets moved to 1B and/or DH. I'm not sure if Lewis' long-term position is at SS. Maybe be a candidate to move to 3B? Haven't heard anything, just speculating.

It looks like Kirilloff is starting to play some 1B. I think that's where he'll end up full time.

Good point. I actually think there's a decent chance Sano is the one traded by Opening Day 2020. I was reading an article on deadline trades that make sense, and half the ones that have the Twins trading for a starter have Sano being the main trade piece. I'm actually OK with that. I'm glad he's back and playing competently, but I don't think he'll ever hit above .250 or strike out less than 35% of the time. He's become Adam Dunn with some defensive ability.

 

[howeda7]

Was looking at the schedule and noticed the Twins play KC, Detroit and Chicago 26 of their last 38 games. Those are bad teams to begin with, they will probably be even worse in August and September after the trade deadline and then with the Sept call-ups.

Cleveland has just 16 games against those 3 teams in August and September.

Bigger picture the Twins have 115 games left and 49 of them are against CWS, KC and Detroit. That's 43% of their remaining games against 3 bad teams. If they win 60% of those games and 50% of all other games, they'll end up 93-69.

 

[BleedGopher]

Charley Walters: Rocco Baldelli says his Twins deserve an ‘A’

Seventy-five percent of the baseball season remains, but at this juncture, Minnesota Twins rookie manager Rocco Baldelli would be a manager of the year candidate.

I asked Baldelli, if he had to grade himself at this juncture, what grade he would give.

“I would never grade myself, to tell you the truth,” he said. “But I would grade the people around me as an A.”

https://www.twincities.com/2019/05/18/charley-walters-rocco-baldelli-says-his-twins-deserve-an-a/

Win Twins!!

 

[bottlebass]

IF the twins continue and finish this season with a similar record I don't see how he wouldn't be manager of the year. It is quite amazing.

 

[JimmyJamesMD]

Turned the game off at 3-0 last night. I was tired and didnt really feel like watching them lose. But cant count this team out like i did last night

 

[monk10]

It is super nice that the timing of their growth is at the same time they have moved into more advance analytics. It is just a major coincidence though.

 

[Ogee Ogilthorpe]

Pineda was pretty solid, if unspectacular last night. I was thinking about this before his start last night. With how good Berrios, Perez, and Odorizzi have been, how scary is it that Pineda could/should actually get better as the season goes on? He was off all last year, have to think it would take a few months for him to get back into the groove of things, learning how to work with Castro and the other catchers, et al.

A little bullpen help and who knows...

 

[tmvander]

Pineda was pretty solid, if unspectacular last night. I was thinking about this before his start last night. With how good Berrios, Perez, and Odorizzi have been, how scary is it that Pineda could/should actually get better as the season goes on? He was off all last year, have to think it would take a few months for him to get back into the groove of things, learning how to work with Castro and the other catchers, et al.

A little bullpen help and who knows...

I expect him to start striking more people out, but he was never THAT great. I think giving up 3 ER's each start (which I think he's done over his last few) is going to be about standard.

 

[bottlebass]

I expect him to start striking more people out, but he was never THAT great. I think giving up 3 ER's each start (which I think he's done over his last few) is going to be about standard.

And with this lineup should translate to a lot of wins.

 

[tmvander]

And with this lineup should translate to a lot of wins.

Yeah its fine with me too. If he finishes the season with a 4.50 ERA he should have about done his job as our "worst" pitcher. If they can upgrade from him i'd be fine too.

 

[BleedGopher]

Twins have 4 more HRs in 3 innings today, lead 8-0!

Win Twins!!

 

[BleedGopher]

CJ Cron has 13 HRs in 44 games.

The last two years, Mauer had 13 HRs in 268 games.

Win Twins!!

 

[stocker08]

16-3.

When was the last time that the Twins were a team to be feared? Because right now.....you don't even want to throw a pitch in their direction.

As I was typing....Grand Slam by something called "La Stella". Who cares. They'd need two more of those to be back in the game.

 

[short ornery norwegian]

Twins on the verge of becoming only the 2nd team in MLB history to hit 100 home runs in the first 50 games of the season. Let's see, what does that average out to per game.....?

I keep telling myself there is no way this can last - but who knows? Maybe the Twins will hit 324 Home Runs this season.

BTW, the record is 267 by the Yankees in 2018.

 

[Breakin' The Plane]

They've done all this without playing the rest of their pathetic division much at all. Cleveland is losing ground every day, Detroit hasn't won in like two weeks and KC is no threat either. It wouldn't surprise me if the Sux finished second...25 games back of the Twins.

 

[gophersfan]

Twins on the verge of becoming only the 2nd team in MLB history to hit 100 home runs in the first 50 games of the season. Let's see, what does that average out to per game.....?

I keep telling myself there is no way this can last - but who knows? Maybe the Twins will hit 324 Home Runs this season.

BTW, the record is 267 by the Yankees in 2018.

There no chance the Twins are breaking the Yankees record. They will fall i think 20 or 10 homer short of 200.

Oh it’s absolutely not sustainable. But the good thing is they have guys who can get on other ways, so even when the home run pace inevitably falls off they can still get baserunners on and still score a few.

Now a question to everyone. Which team the Houston Astros or the New York Yankees. Which of those 2 team do you not want the Twins to open up in the playoffs. if we get to the playoffs we will most likely have to open up againist either of those teams.

 

[GophersInIowa]

The Twins are 8 games up on Cleveland. The franchise had never been more than 6 games up before June 1.

 

[howeda7]

There no chance the Twins are breaking the Yankees record. They will fall i think 20 or 10 homer short of 200.

Oh it’s absolutely not sustainable. But the good thing is they have guys who can get on other ways, so even when the home run pace inevitably falls off they can still get baserunners on and still score a few.

Now a question to everyone. Which team the Houston Astros or the New York Yankees. Which of those 2 team do you not want the Twins to open up in the playoffs. if we get to the playoffs we will most likely have to open up againist either of those teams.

Short of 200? If they hit HR's at half the pace they are now, they will get to 200. They are on pace to hit 324. That won't happen, but 240 + seems likely.