All Things 2020 Minnesota Twins In-Season Thread

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tikited said:
Is it legal to beat down a drone?
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I live kind of on the edge of town, desert on two sides, and I've had a drone come over the property on a couple of occasions. One of those times, I got so far as to have the shotgun at the patio door. Thought I should at least see what I can and can't do and it turns out it is a big No-No to shoot down a drone. They are considered aircraft. Good thing I checked. I'm still not sure I wouldn't shoot one down over my backyard if I was tempted though?

One time it turned out to be my next door neighbor and his father-in-law who are good dudes. I told them I almost harvested their toy
 



As good as the Twins have been so far, the Dodgers look like a dang force of nature, and the Yankees actually have the best record in baseball if I'm not mistaken. Heck of a time in MLB, trying to compete with these super teams at the same time as trying to work around a super virus.

I'm concerned about the health of these veteran pitchers, not to mention Donaldson. It was almost predictable that the compressed training schedule would take a toll on the older bodies. Not to jump to conclusions, but it's a pattern.
 

Bad Gopher said:
As good as the Twins have been so far, the Dodgers look like a dang force of nature, and the Yankees actually have the best record in baseball if I'm not mistaken. Heck of a time in MLB, trying to compete with these super teams at the same time as trying to work around a super virus.

I'm concerned about the health of these veteran pitchers, not to mention Donaldson. It was almost predictable that the compressed training schedule would take a toll on the older bodies. Not to jump to conclusions, but it's a pattern.
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The Dodgers have a few issues. Their pitching is suspect with injuries and the top starters aren't "on" yet. Like the Twins, the offense is doing enough. Being a fan of both teams, I am happy but cautious.
 


Winning while Hill, Odo and Donaldson are all out is nice. Hopefully they all get back. Donaldson is concerning. So is Hill.
 


Twins got lucky with Kimbrel. He allowed 1 run in an inning tonight and his ERA dropped significantly to 23.63.
 




per Shooter:

The first-place Minnesota Twins, it appears, have made a shrewd acquisition in Kenta Maeda.

In win-now mode, the Twins in February traded top pitching prospect Brusdar Graterol to the Los Angeles Dodgers for veteran pitcher Maeda in a deal that also netted $10 million for Minnesota.

After three starts, Maeda, 32, is 2-0 with a 2.65 earned-run average, having allowed just eight hits in 17 innings while striking out 16. Except for a bullpen falter in Pittsburgh last Thursday, Maeda would be off to a 3-0 start.

www.twincities.com

Charley Walters: Twins picked up a gem in Kenta Maeda

The first-place Minnesota Twins, it appears, have made a shrewd acquisition in Kenta Maeda. In win-now mode, the Twins in February traded top pitching prospect Brusdar Graterol to the Los Angeles D…
www.twincities.com www.twincities.com

Win Twins!!
 

Ok, I’m getting a little frustrated now with the hitting. Twins have scored 61 runs in innings 1-4, just 25 in innings 5-9. And this:

 

Garver is absolutely lost. Can't remember if it was Morris or Morneau who pointed this out, but the short 'summer camp' was about half the length of a typical spring training. On a normal timetable, teams would just be getting ready to start the regular season, and players would have had a chance to work on their timing.

found this stat - as of Tuesday:
Major League Baseball hitters are batting a combined .233 with a .714 OPS. MLB’s batting average hasn’t been below .240 over the course of an entire season since 1968, when it was .237.

another theory (not mine - from the LA Dodgers mgr) - Starters are not going as deep, and with the bigger rosters, teams are using more relief pitchers. So instead of seeing the starter 3 or 4 times in the game, hitters maybe get 2 at-bats against the starter, then for the rest of the game, they're facing a different reliever every inning.
 

Looking good tonight. Nice to see the bats explode and another good outing from Maeda.
 



The Brewers are using a position player to mop up. With so many other goofy rules this year, why not the 10 run rule? Seriously.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
found this stat - as of Tuesday:
Major League Baseball hitters are batting a combined .233 with a .714 OPS. MLB’s batting average hasn’t been below .240 over the course of an entire season since 1968, when it was .237.

another theory (not mine - from the LA Dodgers mgr) - Starters are not going as deep, and with the bigger rosters, teams are using more relief pitchers. So instead of seeing the starter 3 or 4 times in the game, hitters maybe get 2 at-bats against the starter, then for the rest of the game, they're facing a different reliever every inning.
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All that could be true. Also perhaps electric sign stealing was propping up batting averages, at least a little. The Astros & Red Sox were the ones that were caught. I would put the over/under on the number of teams doing something similar as about...29.5.
 

I understand that the home run is better than the single plus hoping for stolen bases and another hit to knock in the run, I get that the strikeout is a better out than a double play grounder, and I get that fresh bullpen arms are more effective than a tired starter going into the seventh inning-all of that makes great sense.

But on an aesthetic level, I miss those teams of the 70s/80s that I grew up with-the Cardinals, Astros, Dodgers, A’s and the free swingers like the Twins teams of Puckett, Hrbek, Gaetti-there were still teams like the Orioles who were disciples of the 3 run homer, but there was at least contrast between teams. And games went faster. Alright, I will step off the curmudgeon soapbox now.
 

Ope3 said:
The Brewers are using a position player to mop up. With so many other goofy rules this year, why not the 10 run rule? Seriously.
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Good question. Especially with all of the double headers the Cardinals and Marlins will be playing.
 

coolhandgopher said:
But on an aesthetic level, I miss those teams of the 70s/80s that I grew up with-the Cardinals, Astros, Dodgers, A’s and the free swingers like the Twins teams of Puckett, Hrbek, Gaetti-there were still teams like the Orioles who were disciples of the 3 run homer, but there was at least contrast between teams. And games went faster. Alright, I will step off the curmudgeon soapbox now.
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One of the only things I disliked about the 70's/80s were the cookie cutter, multi-purpose, mostly artificial turf stadiums. If one were dropped blindfolded into Riverfront Stadium, The Vet or Busch, not sure you could tell were you were. Some of those aspects impacted the brand of baseball that was being played, but otherwise I agree with you.
 

Not directly Twins-related, but I find this amazing:

MLB has come out with an updated schedule for the St. Louis Covid Cardinals. Due to all the postponements, the Covid Cardinals have only played 5 games.

so, under the revised schedule, the Covid Cardinals will now play 21 games in August, with 4 doubleheaders, and 32 games in September, with 7 doubleheaders.

That is 53 games and gets them to 58 for the season.

Over/under on rotator cuff surgeries or Tommy John surgeries after the season for the pitching staff......
 

short ornery norwegian said:
Not directly Twins-related, but I find this amazing:

MLB has come out with an updated schedule for the St. Louis Covid Cardinals. Due to all the postponements, the Covid Cardinals have only played 5 games.

so, under the revised schedule, the Covid Cardinals will now play 21 games in August, with 4 doubleheaders, and 32 games in September, with 7 doubleheaders.

That is 53 games and gets them to 58 for the season.

Over/under on rotator cuff surgeries or Tommy John surgeries after the season for the pitching staff......
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Ernie Banks is smiling somewhere.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
Not directly Twins-related, but I find this amazing:

MLB has come out with an updated schedule for the St. Louis Covid Cardinals. Due to all the postponements, the Covid Cardinals have only played 5 games.

so, under the revised schedule, the Covid Cardinals will now play 21 games in August, with 4 doubleheaders, and 32 games in September, with 7 doubleheaders.

That is 53 games and gets them to 58 for the season.

Over/under on rotator cuff surgeries or Tommy John surgeries after the season for the pitching staff......
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It sounds like it was their own fault. I don't feel bad for them.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
Not directly Twins-related, but I find this amazing:

MLB has come out with an updated schedule for the St. Louis Covid Cardinals. Due to all the postponements, the Covid Cardinals have only played 5 games.

so, under the revised schedule, the Covid Cardinals will now play 21 games in August, with 4 doubleheaders, and 32 games in September, with 7 doubleheaders.

That is 53 games and gets them to 58 for the season.

Over/under on rotator cuff surgeries or Tommy John surgeries after the season for the pitching staff......
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They will be shuttling guys from their minor league camp. They won't endanger anyone's 2021 for this I'm sure. Keep in mind they're 7 inning double headers and everyone has 15-16 pitchers now.
 

Speaking of DH's - Twins rained out on Friday. Amazing how quickly they called the game when they don't have fans in the stands buying beer and concessions.

So Saturday will be a new-age DH. 1st game starts at 12:35pm. 25-30 minute break between games, then go right to the second game. But, with playing 7 innings in each game, should get both games done by 6:30 or so.

It was also announced that the Twins and the Cardinals will be playing a 7-inning DH in September to help the Cardinals with their scheduling issues. it was originally scheduled as single games on two days. Now it will be two games on one day - and the Twins will then get two days off.
 


short ornery norwegian said:
Speaking of DH's - Twins rained out on Friday. Amazing how quickly they called the game when they don't have fans in the stands buying beer and concessions.
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All of that can be true, but also not good to have everyone hang out in the clubhouse for 2-3 hrs waiting for the possibility of a game. Proved to be a good move.

Though I loathe the idea of a 7 inning MLB game, I get it this year. I wonder, how it would be recognized if a pitcher throws a No-No?
 

Ope3 said:
All of that can be true, but also not good to have everyone hang out in the clubhouse for 2-3 hrs waiting for the possibility of a game. Proved to be a good move.

Though I loathe the idea of a 7 inning MLB game, I get it this year. I wonder, how it would be recognized if a pitcher throws a No-No?
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Yep. It was more about that than the no fans. But both are logical. If you have 30K people already in the stands you're going to try to play. I don't see them keeping 7 inning DH's after this year. No one will want to give the the 2nd gate and players don't want their stats harmed by losing innings.
 

Ope3 said:
All of that can be true, but also not good to have everyone hang out in the clubhouse for 2-3 hrs waiting for the possibility of a game. Proved to be a good move.

Though I loathe the idea of a 7 inning MLB game, I get it this year. I wonder, how it would be recognized if a pitcher throws a No-No?
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baseball changed its policy in 1991. until then, any official game that ended in no hits was considered a no-hitter, regardless of length. but, after 1991, a game must go 9 innings to be considered an official no-hitter. I think baseball reference or sites like that still list the no-hit games that ended early due to weather.

Dean Chance of the Twins threw a 5-inning perfect game in (I think) 1967. game was called by rain.

then, a couple of weeks later, he threw a 9-inning no-hitter.
 

Maeda has something good going thru 6 innings including a franchise record 8 strikeouts in a row.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
baseball changed its policy in 1991. until then, any official game that ended in no hits was considered a no-hitter, regardless of length. but, after 1991, a game must go 9 innings to be considered an official no-hitter. I think baseball reference or sites like that still list the no-hit games that ended early due to weather.

Dean Chance of the Twins threw a 5-inning perfect game in (I think) 1967. game was called by rain.

then, a couple of weeks later, he threw a 9-inning no-hitter.
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Thanks for the tutorial. I think another situation which is no longer recognized is when a Visiting pitcher throws and 8 inning complete game, but loses thus did not have to pitch the 9th.

These 7 innings DH jobs seem a little different because, they would have made it to the completion of what was scheduled (not shortened due to weather). I agree though, while it would be a special accomplishment, it does not count as an "Official No Hitter" (nor should it).

Bummer on Maeda last night. Clean hit that just eluded Polanco's glove. I wonder how many pitches Baldelli was going to let him go. Real shame they could not preserve the victory for him. Still it has to rank as one of the great Twins pitching performances ever with 8 straight Ks.

Interesting how the the extra innings played out, though I still fell asleep before it was over. Curious as to why neither manager tried to play small ball to get a run across.
 

Shame that Maeda didn't even get a win last night after that performance. The downside is I'm guessing they'll now push back his next start due to the pitch count.

I'm starting to worry about Taylor Rogers. He just isn't the same this year. Duffy should really be the closer.
 

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