BleedGopher
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Reusse: Even playoff flop reflects positively on Rocco Baldelli
The mismatch that occurred in the first two games of the Division Series in New York exposed so many Twins flaws that it left this impression of manager Rocco Baldelli and his coaching staff:
They did better work than had been imagined in getting all that was available from this ever-changing roster.
The 2019 Twins finished 101-61, the second-highest win total in 59 seasons, as Rocco’s crew was building a viable bullpen, maneuvering around what became a woeful shortage of starting pitchers; surviving with fielding that went from mediocre to a liability after the loss in early August of Byron Buxton, a difference-maker in center field; and moving forward to an AL Central title even after Michael Pineda’s suspension for a masking agent left them woefully short of starters.
All teams deal with injuries, none more so than the Yankees, as they won 103 games.
Max Kepler, Marwin Gonzalez and Luis Arraez all came back from injuries to join Baldelli’s preferred lineup for this series. Giancarlo Stanton and Edwin Encarnacion finally made Yankees manager Aaron Boone’s lineup complete for Game 1.
The result were mismatches, 8-2 and 10-4 for the Yankees.
Twins followers were taking to Twitter to question Baldelli’s pitching decisions — bullpen in Game 1, and rookie Randy Dobnak starting over Jake Odorizzi in Game 2.
My reaction in the TV den was different: “This ballclub won 101 games? Yay, Rocco and cohorts.”
Baldelli was hired last Oct. 25 at age 37. Rick Shelton remained as a bench coach and James Rowson and Rudy Hernandez as hitting coaches. Four other coaches were new, including pitching coach Wes Johnson directly from the University of Arkansas.
Outreach and ideas for improvement started immediately. Baldelli went to the Dominican Republic to visit Miguel Sano, after the big man’s wasted 2018. Mitch Garver was given a plan to improve his catching. Tyler Duffey received a visit in Houston from Johnson with a plan to get off the MSP/Rochester, N.Y., shuttle and become a quality reliever.
The hitters were encouraged to enter the launch angle era, with longtime launcher Nelson Cruz joining as the leader of this new attack.
Dustin Morse, Twins communications director, watched some Twins bashing in exhibitions and said one afternoon: “This team is going to score 800 runs.” And then they bashed some more and Morse said to Derek Falvey, the baseball CEO, “We might score 900 runs.”
Falvey said, “Relax.’’
And then the Twins scored 939 runs, with 307 home runs.
Sano might be Example A that talent is slow to be written off in RoccoBall.
http://www.startribune.com/even-playoff-flop-reflects-positively-on-rocco-baldelli/562365192/
Win Twins!!
The mismatch that occurred in the first two games of the Division Series in New York exposed so many Twins flaws that it left this impression of manager Rocco Baldelli and his coaching staff:
They did better work than had been imagined in getting all that was available from this ever-changing roster.
The 2019 Twins finished 101-61, the second-highest win total in 59 seasons, as Rocco’s crew was building a viable bullpen, maneuvering around what became a woeful shortage of starting pitchers; surviving with fielding that went from mediocre to a liability after the loss in early August of Byron Buxton, a difference-maker in center field; and moving forward to an AL Central title even after Michael Pineda’s suspension for a masking agent left them woefully short of starters.
All teams deal with injuries, none more so than the Yankees, as they won 103 games.
Max Kepler, Marwin Gonzalez and Luis Arraez all came back from injuries to join Baldelli’s preferred lineup for this series. Giancarlo Stanton and Edwin Encarnacion finally made Yankees manager Aaron Boone’s lineup complete for Game 1.
The result were mismatches, 8-2 and 10-4 for the Yankees.
Twins followers were taking to Twitter to question Baldelli’s pitching decisions — bullpen in Game 1, and rookie Randy Dobnak starting over Jake Odorizzi in Game 2.
My reaction in the TV den was different: “This ballclub won 101 games? Yay, Rocco and cohorts.”
Baldelli was hired last Oct. 25 at age 37. Rick Shelton remained as a bench coach and James Rowson and Rudy Hernandez as hitting coaches. Four other coaches were new, including pitching coach Wes Johnson directly from the University of Arkansas.
Outreach and ideas for improvement started immediately. Baldelli went to the Dominican Republic to visit Miguel Sano, after the big man’s wasted 2018. Mitch Garver was given a plan to improve his catching. Tyler Duffey received a visit in Houston from Johnson with a plan to get off the MSP/Rochester, N.Y., shuttle and become a quality reliever.
The hitters were encouraged to enter the launch angle era, with longtime launcher Nelson Cruz joining as the leader of this new attack.
Dustin Morse, Twins communications director, watched some Twins bashing in exhibitions and said one afternoon: “This team is going to score 800 runs.” And then they bashed some more and Morse said to Derek Falvey, the baseball CEO, “We might score 900 runs.”
Falvey said, “Relax.’’
And then the Twins scored 939 runs, with 307 home runs.
Sano might be Example A that talent is slow to be written off in RoccoBall.
http://www.startribune.com/even-playoff-flop-reflects-positively-on-rocco-baldelli/562365192/
Win Twins!!
verall
