All Things 2022 Minnesota Twins In-Season Thread

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Gopher_In_NYC said:
Good pitching and excellent defense always gives you a chance.

The ancillary benefit is playing all these close games and winning them helps build confidence and grit and when the O kicks in, watch out, we'll be cooking with gas!
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My high school baseball coach preached pitching and fielding with the mantra, "If we don't give up any runs, we can't lose!". Unfortunately we put that to the test often, as our hitting was pretty feeble.

We lost a lot of 1-0 and 2-1 games.
 

I was shocked they pitched to Buxton. Maybe throw a pitch or two way out of the strike zone to see if he chases. He’s so fun to watch. The 2nd HR was the longest walk off HR in statcast history (2015).
 

Ope3 said:
My high school baseball coach preached pitching and fielding with the mantra, "If we don't give up any runs, we can't lose!". Unfortunately we put that to the test often, as our hitting was pretty feeble.

We lost a lot of 1-0 and 2-1 games.
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You were missing your BB😎
 

Obviously tons of time left, but if Buxton win the AL MVP, it's an additional 8 million bucks in his pockets.
 


Breakin' The Plane said:
Obviously tons of time left, but if Buxton win the AL MVP, it's an additional 8 million bucks in his pockets.
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He has the most beautiful right handed swing ever. He can be that player that takes the Twins from good to champions. His defense is out of this this world. If this pitching stays, look out.
 

Bad Gopher said:
I actually agreed with him. It was a pretty good swing.

Justin also thought they should just put Buxton on. We were saying the same thing at our house.
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The second point I agree with. In no way was sano going to catch up with a 95mph fastball.
 


golf said:
Those 3 strikeouts today were disappointing. Can't give away at bats like that. 🙂
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Three strikeouts, and then he fell behind 0-2. I was on my way home from the Home Depot, listening on the radio, and I remember saying to myself, oooh, bad game. Never too late to turn your day around!
 



Gopher_In_NYC said:
Noted and bookmarked under Howie’s insane and hates underdogs and reclamation projects/Derek Falvey
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I don't mind the Archer signing. Bundy, meh. The fact that it was their ONLY move prior to the lockout was pathetic though.
 

GophersInIowa said:
I was shocked they pitched to Buxton. Maybe throw a pitch or two way out of the strike zone to see if he chases. He’s so fun to watch. The 2nd HR was the longest walk off HR in statcast history (2015).
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Especially since they were ahead. I get not loading the bases if it's tied because Hendriks was having control issues.
 

howeda7 said:
I don't mind the Archer signing. Bundy, meh. The fact that it was their ONLY move prior to the lockout was pathetic though.
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Your issue appears to be not with Bundy himself, but how/when he was acquired.

It it works out that we get 1.5/2 good starters out of the Archer, Bundy and Paddock acquisitions then I'll take that. 1.5 would represent someone who gives a good half of year and then falls off - by that time Winder should be ready to fill in and so far, he looks like he's ready to compete at this level and his stuff works. Paddock deal got us Pagan, so I'll make the Rogers trade any day of the week, to swap closers and in the process save some bucks and not have to worry about Rogers' impending free agency.

The abovementioned three also provide depth and if they all pan out, provide possible trading chips at the deadline. I also didn't want three youngsters in the rotation to start the season.

Lastly, we don't have any idea what/any constraints Falvey was operating under.

This may end up being a, "All's well, that end's well."
 

GopherWeatherGuy said:
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Thanks GWG.

Additionally, he's being paid $10M this year, so you need to give him some more time, I'd say the end of May, to snap out of it - he was an All-Star in 2017 and did drop the weight (30 lbs.) in the off-season - so he deserves more time IMO.

If I'm Rocco I tell him to go out relax and he's my everyday first sacker for now and just go have fun and play - trust me when you're scuffling, no one is putting more pressure on himself than he is.
 
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pretty nice Twins are in first. They should just be thankful another team hasn't seperated themselves from the pack. But I'll take first place. Allows the hitters to make up how terrible they have been
 


Reusse said he was listening to a White Sox post-game show with Ozzie Guillen and Frank Thomas, and they were ripping the Sox something fierce.

Thomas was saying the Sox should not have pitched to Buxton, but Ozzie pointed out that the alternative was pitching to Arraez - a good contact hitter - with the bases loaded.

Still, given that choice, I think I'd take my chances with Arraez.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
Reusse said he was listening to a White Sox post-game show with Ozzie Guillen and Frank Thomas, and they were ripping the Sox something fierce.

Thomas was saying the Sox should not have pitched to Buxton, but Ozzie pointed out that the alternative was pitching to Arraez - a good contact hitter - with the bases loaded.

Still, given that choice, I think I'd take my chances with Arraez.
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I would too for a number of reasons. Bases loaded means a force out at home or possible double play. Arraez is mostly a singles hitter and the runner on 2nd was Godoy, a catcher, so the chances of two runs scoring on a single with just 1 out is not great. More than likely the worst case is a tie game if facing Arraez.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
Reusse said he was listening to a White Sox post-game show with Ozzie Guillen and Frank Thomas, and they were ripping the Sox something fierce.

Thomas was saying the Sox should not have pitched to Buxton, but Ozzie pointed out that the alternative was pitching to Arraez - a good contact hitter - with the bases loaded.

Still, given that choice, I think I'd take my chances with Arraez.
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Maybe they will revoke LaRussa's plaque in Cooperstown as the result of yesterday.

Sort of a funny aside, yesterday was a lazy Sunday afternoon after deciding to bail out on golf due to the weather conditions. I dozed off in the bottom of the 8th and woke up in the 10th maybe 1 pitch before Buxton hit the bomb, still sort of groggy.

It was a good kind of wake up call.
 

Gopher_In_NYC said:
Your issue appears to be not with Bundy himself, but how/when he was acquired.

It it works out that we get 1.5/2 good starters out of the Archer, Bundy and Paddock acquisitions then I'll take that. 1.5 would represent someone who gives a good half of year and then falls off - by that time Winder should be ready to fill in and so far, he looks like he's ready to compete at this level and his stuff works. Paddock deal got us Pagan, so I'll make the Rogers trade any day of the week, to swap closers and in the process save some bucks and not have to worry about Rogers' impending free agency.

The abovementioned three also provide depth and if they all pan out, provide possible trading chips at the deadline. I also didn't want three youngsters in the rotation to start the season.

Lastly, we don't have any idea what/any constraints Falvey was operating under.

This may end up being a, "All's well, that end's well."
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My issue is that for what they spend on 3 lottery tickets they could get a much more sure thing. $6 million for Bundy. $3 million for Archer. $5 million for Paddock. It may work out this time. It often doesn't. I'd rather have a rotation of Robby Ray/Marcus Stroman, Gray, Ryan, Ober and Winder with Taylor Rogers as my closer than 3 lottery tickets hoping two pay off and a shaky bullpen.

Bundy's obviously going to regress as any pitcher with an ERA under 1.00 is going to. But he's also throwing 89 MPH most games. If his control is off even a little he'll get hammered. I don't think it will last. Archer at least is hitting 93/94 and has a decent ceiling if he stays healthy.
 

howeda7 said:
My issue is that for what they spend on 3 lottery tickets they could get a much more sure thing. $6 million for Bundy. $3 million for Archer. $5 million for Paddock. It may work out this time. It often doesn't. I'd rather have a rotation of Robby Ray/Marcus Stroman, Gray, Ryan, Ober and Winder with Taylor Rogers as my closer than 3 lottery tickets hoping two pay off and a shaky bullpen.

Bundy's obviously going to regress as any pitcher with an ERA under 1.00 is going to. But he's also throwing 89 MPH most games. If his control is off even a little he'll get hammered. I don't think it will last. Archer at least is hitting 93/94 and has a decent ceiling if he stays healthy.
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They weren’t going to go big on a starting pitcher and get someone like Correa as well - I’d much rather have Correa playing ever day.

Bundy is throwing strikes 70% of the time in his first three starts and his Velo is starting to go up - I’ll be surprised if he doesn’t end up consistently in the low 90s by the end of the season.

Not sure why you look at this stuff so negatively instead of enjoying/experiencing what’s going on thus far.

The glass is half full if you look closely enough - know one knows how long this will last, but I plan on enjoying it as long as it lasts and enjoy my cockeyed optimism with as much giddiness as a middle aged man can muster.

Let my bro Bobby break it down for you -

 


Gopher_In_NYC said:
They weren’t going to go big on a starting pitcher and get someone like Correa as well - I’d much rather have Correa playing ever day.

Bundy is throwing strikes 70% of the time in his first three starts and his Velo is starting to go up - I’ll be surprised if he doesn’t end up consistently in the low 90s by the end of the season.

Not sure why you look at this stuff so negatively instead of enjoying/experiencing what’s going on thus far.

The glass is half full if you look closely enough - know one knows how long this will last, but I plan on enjoying it as long as it lasts and enjoy my cockeyed optimism with as much giddiness as a middle aged man can muster.

Let my bro Bobby break it down for you -

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I'm not negative on the 2022 Twins at all. Just would like a greater openness to how they procure starting pitching going forward. The White Sox are a mess and I wonder if crotchety LaRussa's style will start to wear thin. Division might be there for the taking. Do I want Dylan Bundy starting a play-of game? No. But that's a problem for discussion in late July.
 

howeda7 said:
I'm not negative on the 2022 Twins at all. Just would like a greater openness to how they procure starting pitching going forward. The White Sox are a mess and I wonder if crotchety LaRussa's style will start to wear thin. Division might be there for the taking. Do I want Dylan Bundy starting a play-of game? No. But that's a problem for discussion in late July.
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I don't envision that as Bundy's role either.

Hot dogs taste better if you don't contemplate how they're made!

Who knows maybe we go get a frontline starter at the trade deadline?
 


I tend to believe that the Twins' front office made a deliberate choice to Not go after a big-buck starting pitcher for two main reasons.

#1 - the front office believes that several of the pitching prospects in the Minors will be ready for the big leagues soon, giving the Twins affordable pitching under team control.

and

#2 - some people in baseball simply believe that the role of the starting pitcher is evolving. with more starters only going 5 innings or 6 tops, the feeling is that it isn't cost-effective to pay out big-money, long-term deals for starters if they are going to be throwing fewer innings.

now, you can argue that the Twins are just cheap b*stards who don't want to pay the big money to be competitive, but I think it goes beyond that.
 

Shama chimes in:

Rocco Baldelli, the 2019 American League Manager of the Year, is criticized for game strategy but a move paying off this spring is batting Byron Buxton lead-off where he can often have more plate appearances than hitting further down in the order. He was in position to win Sunday’s extra inning game against the White Sox and did so with a three-run home run that put the Twins in first place in the AL Central Division.


Win Twins!!
 

BleedGopher said:
Shama chimes in:

Rocco Baldelli, the 2019 American League Manager of the Year, is criticized for game strategy but a move paying off this spring is batting Byron Buxton lead-off where he can often have more plate appearances than hitting further down in the order. He was in position to win Sunday’s extra inning game against the White Sox and did so with a three-run home run that put the Twins in first place in the AL Central Division.


Win Twins!!
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The amount of extra ABs Buck will get this season batting leadoff is significant vs. farther down the order.

Time to sweep them 😺
 


Paddock looked very good tonight with only one run in 5 2/3 - assuming Duffy can get the last out in the 6th.

Yipee Duffy got Miggy to groundout to end the 6th and strand Baez at 2nd
 


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