2019 Minnesota Twins In-Season Thread

[Ewert86PC]

You can go a whole season and not see a catcher's interference. Garver's had two in the last two weeks.

Yes. The Yankees got sharper, more focused in their game which made them better in the playoff series. Whereas, the Twins got distracted chasing a season home run record that had no bearing on the playoff series.

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[bfast]

This is it. The window is open. Watch what they do this offseason. Either cheapskate or re-sign everyone and do everything possible to get a front line starter.

A Houston Astros type of dynasty is possible if they're ready to lay it on the line. My hunch is that they won't, unfortunately.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Houston_Astros_seasons

 

[JimmyJamesMD]

You can go a whole season and not see a catcher's interference. Garver's had two in the last two weeks.

Can he play first base? I know having a hitting catcher is great but I have doubt in his catching skills.

Castro probably should have at least started game 2 to deal with bullpen game

 

[Breakin' The Plane]

I still don't understand how they could trade for damaged goods like Dyson and think it was okay. Their response has been to throw up their hands and say "You, San Francisco Giants! You got me with that ine!"

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If Dyson never told the Giants he was injured, there was nothing they could have done about it. Remember the timing of that trade though. That was done at the absolute last minute. They were already getting savaged for not making another move at the deadline when reports rolled in about 5 minutes after 3pm that they snuck one in under the wire. Turns out they'd have been better off not getting that into the league office on time.

 

[tikited]

Feeble is the only word I can think of with this series.

 

[GophersInIowa]

If Dyson never told the Giants he was injured, there was nothing they could have done about it. Remember the timing of that trade though. That was done at the absolute last minute. They were already getting savaged for not making another move at the deadline when reports rolled in about 5 minutes after 3pm that they snuck one in under the wire. Turns out they'd have been better off not getting that into the league office on time.

Yeah I'm not sure how people can blame that on the Twins if Dyson/Giants didn't disclose the injury. They don't do physicals during deadline trades.

 

[GophersInIowa]

The Pohlads' mentality of "we're a small market team" really cripples the Twins.

It's the ownership equivalent of watching a called third strike.

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It's interesting to me seeing so many people immediately go to blaming the owners for what just happened. They're not blameless but the players choked, plain and simple.

 

[dpodoll68]

It's interesting to me seeing so many people immediately go to blaming the owners for what just happened. They're not blameless but the players choked, plain and simple.

I'm not blaming the owners for what happened this series (micro-level). I'm blaming the owners for putting the Twins in a position where they have such tremendous pressure to capitalize on opportunities like this because they get them so rarely (macro-level).

 

[Breakin' The Plane]

It's interesting to me seeing so many people immediately go to blaming the owners for what just happened. They're not blameless but the players choked, plain and simple.

I mean, they went into a series with two legitimate starting pitchers. Everybody saw Perez slipping, and slipping, and slipping. Gibson had next to nothing for weeks. Pineda screwing up isn't ownership/the front office's fault. Having absolutely nothing behind him is.

 

[JimmyJamesMD]

I mean, they went into a series with two legitimate starting pitchers. Everybody saw Perez slipping, and slipping, and slipping. Gibson had next to nothing for weeks. Pineda screwing up isn't ownership/the front office's fault. Having absolutely nothing behind him is.

Can we talk about Perez?

He has really good stuff, but makes way too many mistakes. I'm a big believer in his stuff, but something needs to be fixed

 

[GophersInIowa]

I mean, they went into a series with two legitimate starting pitchers. Everybody saw Perez slipping, and slipping, and slipping. Gibson had next to nothing for weeks. Pineda screwing up isn't ownership/the front office's fault. Having absolutely nothing behind him is.

Most teams would be hurting if one of their top starters are out unexpectedly. If German wasn't able to go, the Yankees would have had to rely on Happ or Sabathia who have both been bad this year.

The lineup only produced 7 runs in 3 games. Even with solid pitching, it would have been hard to win with so little offensive production.

 

[GophersInIowa]

I'm not blaming the owners for what happened this series (micro-level). I'm blaming the owners for putting the Twins in a position where they have such tremendous pressure to capitalize on opportunities like this because they get them so rarely (macro-level).

Yeah, I wasn't talking about you. Lots of people on social media putting the series on the owners.

 

[Bad Gopher]

I feel like just winning a game would be a feel-good step forward.

And I wouldn't call it a curse necessarily. It's just been a bunch of playing scared and playing poorly...and umpiring poorly in the case of Cuzzi.

A guy can dream, can't he?

 

[Bad Gopher]

We knew that the Twins were limping into the postseason and were a helpless wilderbeast for one of the predators. Buxton is so ridiculously influential on the team's success, once he went down, it was all over. In fact, they did well to win as many games as they did down the stretch without him; credit to the team for that. Add to that the other injuries and Pineda's suspension, and a first-round elimination was all but assured. Not making excuses, but I think people are so wrapped up in the disappointment of the moment that it's hard seeing things through realistic eyes. People should feel good--actually great--about this season. I'm going to wear my Bomba Squad tee often and proudly.

 

[GophersInIowa]

We knew that the Twins were limping into the postseason and were a helpless wilderbeast for one of the predators. Buxton is so ridiculously influential on the team's success, once he went down, it was all over. In fact, they did well to win as many games as they did down the stretch without him; credit to the team for that. Add to that the other injuries and Pineda's suspension, and a first-round elimination was all but assured. Not making excuses, but I think people are so wrapped up in the disappointment of the moment that it's hard seeing things through realistic eyes. People should feel good--actually great--about this season. I'm going to wear my Bomba Squad tee often and proudly.

Agreed. I was extremely frustrated last night but the season overall was a success. I think they exceeded just about everyone's expectations. I'm really excited about the next few years.

 

[howeda7]

We knew that the Twins were limping into the postseason and were a helpless wilderbeast for one of the predators. Buxton is so ridiculously influential on the team's success, once he went down, it was all over. In fact, they did well to win as many games as they did down the stretch without him; credit to the team for that. Add to that the other injuries and Pineda's suspension, and a first-round elimination was all but assured. Not making excuses, but I think people are so wrapped up in the disappointment of the moment that it's hard seeing things through realistic eyes. People should feel good--actually great--about this season. I'm going to wear my Bomba Squad tee often and proudly.

I think it is under appreciated how beat up we were. Not just missing Buxton. But Kepler, Garver and Cron. That said, the guys who were healthy like Sano and Cruz didn't exactly step up. 7 runs in 3 games from their most prolific offense ever is still embarrassing.

 

[tmvander]

I honestly feel like they tried to beef things up somewhat...Can't help the fact that Greinke wouldn't waive his clause to come here, the Mets wanted half our team for Thor, the Kimbral/Keuchel thing was a big who knows. I think we missed on Stroman during the trade deadline and that was about it. At this point I'm glad they didn't trade our whole farm system for pitching being that the lineup stunk it up all series.

 

[Ewert86PC]

It's interesting to me seeing so many people immediately go to blaming the owners for what just happened. They're not blameless but the players choked, plain and simple.

That's pretty much my point. Players will choke, but ownership and management have a responsibility to do due diligence on their players. San Fran should have known about Dyson. The Twins should have known about Pineda consuming beverages that contained substances banned by the Collective Bargaining Agreement.

The amount of pressure displaced on to the rest of the team could have been handled differently by management. One way would be having a replacement pitcher available who didn't just step off the Minor League merry-go-round. Another way would be to remind players that, while it is a great feat, setting the single season home run record have no advantage in playoff baseball.

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[GophersInIowa]

The Twins should have known about Pineda consuming beverages that contained substances banned by the Collective Bargaining Agreement.

How would they have known? Do you hire someone to babysit each player 24/7?

One way would be having a replacement pitcher available who didn't just step off the Minor League merry-go-round.

Most teams would be in trouble if one of their best pitchers got hurt or suspended. Gibson was an above average starting pitcher last year. He should have been that guy to step in but he completely sucked down the stretch. I get it, having a guy like Stroman would have been nice. What they do with the pitching staff the next few years will tell us if they're willing to make moves or not.

Another way would be to remind players that, while it is a great feat, setting the single season home run record have no advantage in playoff baseball.

How do you know they didn't? There were plenty of veterans with lots of playoff experience on the team. I doubt anyone thought they could just coast through the playoffs because of what happened during the regular season.

 

[GopherJake]

I agree. Cron should have caught it. But a better throw makes it a non-issue.

If you were a MLB second baseman, your turns would always end with a bullet directly at the chest of the first baseman. That way, the team could save lots of money. Instead of using a high paying major leaguer who can actually catch a very slightly errant throw, they could have a D league softball player over there. Actually I think most D leaguers would have made that catch.

 

[howeda7]

If you were a MLB second baseman, your turns would always end with a bullet directly at the chest of the first baseman. That way, the team could save lots of money. Instead of using a high paying major leaguer who can actually catch a very slightly errant throw, they could have a D league softball player over there. Actually I think most D leaguers would have made that catch.

The point is that Schoop is a better 2B than Arreaz and Arreaz was a step slow with his ankle. It's pretty likely Schoop would have caught ball in RF and been a step quicker on the turn and gotten off a better throw. Whatever you think of Cron, I can't say Astudillo or whoever else would have been a better option at 1B.

 

[GopherJake]

The point is that Schoop is a better 2B than Arreaz and Arreaz was a step slow with his ankle. It's pretty likely Schoop would have caught ball in RF and been a step quicker on the turn and gotten off a better throw. Whatever you think of Cron, I can't say Astudillo or whoever else would have been a better option at 1B.

Schoop would have also gone 0-12 in the series. The throw was just fine and Cron blew the play. That's the end. Not, oh if it would have been a chest high throw, Cron would have caught it. Cron is a major league first baseman. He played like 100 games over there and not just to stick him somewhere. I guarantee he thinks he should have made that play. Jesus, I would have caught that one and quite easily.

 

[howeda7]

Schoop would have also gone 0-12 in the series. The throw was just fine and Cron blew the play. That's the end. Not, oh if it would have been a chest high throw, Cron would have caught it. Cron is a major league first baseman. He played like 100 games over there and not just to stick him somewhere. I guarantee he thinks he should have made that play. Jesus, I would have caught that one and quite easily.

I'm not Schoop fan and like Arreaz. But Schoop's lefty/righty splits were pretty dramatic. Given a lefty started on Friday and Arreaz was clearly not 100% yet, it didn't make a ton of sense to start him. You could still have PH Arreaz when the Yankees went to the bullpen. That and taking Berrios out too soon cost us game 1 as much as anything the bullpen did.

 

[howeda7]

Tampa, with their $64 million payroll, are about to take Houston to 5 games.

 

[Bad Gopher]

Tampa, with their $64 million payroll, are about to take Houston to 5 games.

And that there is the counterpoint to the point i made above excusing the Twins for getting swept. The Rays are staring down the barrel of the same caliber of super-team that the Twins just faced, and they're not flinching, not wetting their pants. They're playing fearless and playing their best ball.

It was back in the regular season...it might have been that 14-12 game or whatever the score was. When Taylor Rogers was nibbling at the Yankees' #9 hitter instead of going after him, my thought at the time was, same old Twins. All the tough talk during this series about how nobody cares about these teams' history: it just made me laugh. I saw Rogers afraid to pitch to the bottom of the Yankee order and then have to face Hicks, who of course bit him.

The catches Judge and Gregorius made weren't bad Twins luck or caused by some curse. They were players stepping up their game when the stakes are highest. The '87 and '91 Twins did the same, which is why they got the hardware while the '69, '70, '06 and '19 teams--who were markedly better regular-season teams than either of those two--each got blown away in the first round of the postseason.

 

[tmvander]

And that there is the counterpoint to the point i made above excusing the Twins for getting swept. The Rays are staring down the barrel of the same caliber of super-team that the Twins just faced, and they're not flinching, not wetting their pants. They're playing fearless and playing their best ball.

It was back in the regular season...it might have been that 14-12 game or whatever the score was. When Taylor Rogers was nibbling at the Yankees' #9 hitter instead of going after him, my thought at the time was, same old Twins. All the tough talk during this series about how nobody cares about these teams' history: it just made me laugh. I saw Rogers afraid to pitch to the bottom of the Yankee order and then have to face Hicks, who of course bit him.

The catches Judge and Gregorius made weren't bad Twins luck or caused by some curse. They were players stepping up their game when the stakes are highest. The '87 and '91 Twins did the same, which is why they got the hardware while the '69, '70, '06 and '19 teams--who were markedly better regular-season teams than either of those two--each got blown away in the first round of the postseason.

Well said...however in sports (maybe especially in baseball) there is a small luck factor. You can smoke the ball all over the field but if it goes right at guys its the worst feeling in the world. Same with bad hops, etc. Game 3 we saw some of that luck but you're right...people who fully blame that ignore the fact that the Yankees made plays and the Twins did not. There were plenty of non hard hit balls and strikeouts with guys on base as well.

 

[Bayfieldgopher]

Season is over. One can only imagine how they could have done with their regular line up.

Time to make attempts to improve the starting pitching. One can assume Berrios, Odo and Pineda will remain but Gibson and Perez are shaky.

So who is trade bait? Schoop, Gonzalez, Gibson, Castro? Maybe Addrianza? Thoughts? Or go hard after free agents?

 

[tmvander]

Season is over. One can only imagine how they could have done with their regular line up.

Time to make attempts to improve the starting pitching. One can assume Berrios, Odo and Pineda will remain but Gibson and Perez are shaky.

So who is trade bait? Schoop, Gonzalez, Gibson, Castro? Maybe Addrianza? Thoughts? Or go hard after free agents?

Schoop, Gibson, and Castro are all free agents and will be gone. Adrianza is up for arbitration and may be gone as well.

 

[Bad Gopher]

Well said...however in sports (maybe especially in baseball) there is a small luck factor. You can smoke the ball all over the field but if it goes right at guys its the worst feeling in the world. Same with bad hops, etc. Game 3 we saw some of that luck but you're right...people who fully blame that ignore the fact that the Yankees made plays and the Twins did not. There were plenty of non hard hit balls and strikeouts with guys on base as well.

That does remind me of the '06 series against the A's. Morneau was the Twins' best hitter, but it didn't show up in the stats because he hit some rockets right at people. So that was bad luck. Regrettably, the whole rest of the team didn't do much, which ultimately was the story of the series. So both bad luck and bad performance.

 

[tikited]

This is my yearly post around this time about how much I can't stand Dave Roberts. That is all.