All Things 2023 Minnesota Twins In-Season Thread

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short ornery norwegian said:
on leaving Gray out there:

with Stewart and Thielbar not available in the bullpen, there aren't a lot of relievers that Rocco trusts.

Bullpen right now:
Duran
Jax
Moran
Balazovic
Pagan
Ortega
Lopez
Sands

put Stewart and Thielbar in the mix and it looks better. I had hopes for Winder, but he's got a 5.04 ERA in AAA right now.
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Was odd not to see Balazovic last couple of nights, as he’s been good and Rocko talked after the break how they were going to use him in high leverage spots in an article on the MLB AP, as he’s earned the chance.
 

Buxton clearly putting way too much pressure on himself to hit the ball. Somehow, he needs to relax and enjoy baseball again.
 

MUgopher32 said:
He entered yesterday with a .362 OPS since he returned from the IL.

He goes on little 3 games benders with hits that keep awarding him playing time. And substantial sample size taken into account......no he has not been good. He should be a 4th outfielder at best.

Hell even yesterday. Bases loaded 2 outs down 2, first pitch weak ground out. The garbge time 3 run homer down 4 with 1 out left in the game makes him look "better". But the stats are there.

And as Ive mentioned like 8 times since Sunday. Him being our most frequently lefty bat to start vs lefties is statistically hilarious.
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I'm not sure how that's possible when his OPS is .835 over the last 30 days. He also has 6 HR's and 15 RBI's over the last month.

Kepler runs hot and cold, like most of the Twins hitters, but he is currently the best hitting OF on the team. Buxton, Gallo, and Taylor are all much bigger problems right now.
 

GopherWeatherGuy said:
I'm not sure how that's possible when his OPS is .835 over the last 30 days. He also has 6 HR's and 15 RBI's over the last month.

Kepler runs hot and cold, like most of the Twins hitters, but he is currently the best hitting OF on the team. Buxton, Gallo, and Taylor are all much bigger problems right now.
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How in the world is Gallo a bigger problem haha. Unless you strictly cherry pick 30 days arbitrarily.

Gallo has the far better season stats. Gallo has the better last 15 days. Gallo has been better since Kepler came back with no rehab stint and we sent down Wallner after reaching base 8 times in a row.

Or heck lets go with a real long term trend. Last 365 days Kepler has a OPS of .625. That should not be lineup priority. Even Brent Rooker had a good month.

Kepler never should have even been activated. His defense?? Hes actually no longer the massive asset there even. 0 DRS and 2 OAA. Still fine but not to offset the bat that has plateaued for 4 years. And he refuses to play CF, like he flat out wont do it. So any mention of Taylor(who has actually hit far better than expected) is simply because Taylor has to play because Max is a world class prick.

Ive already posted multiple times Gallo numbers vs lefties compared to Max for their careers. Now lets go this year

Max: .196/.245/.326 for a .571 OPS. Yes, sadly even far worse than his already horrendous career numbers

Gallo: .200/.319/.475 for a .794 OPS. Yes, that is actually better than his already very solid career numbers vs lefties.

Kepler gets the priority ABs vs left handers over Gallo or the real youth talent. Hes a massive fucking issue. And we need to go back to that two week stretch in like June when he strictly came off the bench.
 

GopherWeatherGuy said:
I'm not sure how that's possible when his OPS is .835 over the last 30 days. He also has 6 HR's and 15 RBI's over the last month.

Kepler runs hot and cold, like most of the Twins hitters, but he is currently the best hitting OF on the team. Buxton, Gallo, and Taylor are all much bigger problems right now.
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Also just looked it up. According to Twinsbaseball.com Kepler is .813 OPS the last 30 days still good but a little off

But here is the funny thing last 15 days its much worse and at .732(helped by a decent .434 slug with a sub .300 OBP gross)

Last 7 days even with yesterdays garbage time bomb and the double is a putrid .185 average and .600 OPS.

So if "currently" means 16 days ago through 30 days ago then yes maybe hes out best. If by "right now" you also mean days 16-30 then again you are right.

But by non cherry picked literal english language. He is not currently our best hitting OF and he is certainly one of our biggest problems right now.

I can find any random 15 days stretch to say basically anyone on this team aside from Vazquez doesnt totally suck.

Ironically, Keplers last 7 days is when we faced a bunch of lefties and he inexplicably played. Now mentioned for the 10th time. Its insanity the way we use Max. The data is all there.
 


MUgopher32 said:
How in the world is Gallo a bigger problem haha. Unless you strictly cherry pick 30 days arbitrarily.

Gallo has the far better season stats. Gallo has the better last 15 days. Gallo has been better since Kepler came back with no rehab stint and we sent down Wallner after reaching base 8 times in a row.

Or heck lets go with a real long term trend. Last 365 days Kepler has a OPS of .625. That should not be lineup priority. Even Brent Rooker had a good month.

Kepler never should have even been activated. His defense?? Hes actually no longer the massive asset there even. 0 DRS and 2 OAA. Still fine but not to offset the bat that has plateaued for 4 years. And he refuses to play CF, like he flat out wont do it. So any mention of Taylor(who has actually hit far better than expected) is simply because Taylor has to play because Max is a world class prick.

Ive already posted multiple times Gallo numbers vs lefties compared to Max for their careers. Now lets go this year

Max: .196/.245/.326 for a .571 OPS. Yes, sadly even far worse than his already horrendous career numbers

Gallo: .200/.319/.475 for a .794 OPS. Yes, that is actually better than his already very solid career numbers vs lefties.

Kepler gets the priority ABs vs left handers over Gallo or the real youth talent. Hes a massive fucking issue. And we need to go back to that two week stretch in like June when he strictly came off the bench.
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That's not even true for the last 15 days, unless you strictly want to look at OPS. Gallo only has 2 hits, both HR's. Kepler has 7, and 2 HR's.

Kepler came off the IL a month and a half ago. 30 days is a good, in season measure for who's performing better recently, but it still averages out some of the shorter hot and cold streaks.

If you want to argue career statistics, then you're essentially arguing to keep Buxton in the lineup, which I know you don't want either.

Out of these options over the last 30 days, you're benching Kepler first?

Screen Shot 2023-07-18 at 4.50.35 PM.png
 

GopherWeatherGuy said:
That's not even true for the last 15 days, unless you strictly want to look at OPS. Gallo only has 2 hits, both HR's. Kepler has 7, and 2 HR's.

Kepler came off the IL a month and a half ago. 30 days is a good, in season measure for who's performing better recently, but it still averages out some of the shorter hot and cold streaks.

If you want to argue career statistics, then you're essentially arguing to keep Buxton in the lineup, which I know you don't want either.

Out of these options over the last 30 days, you're benching Kepler first?

View attachment 26080
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Just go read my follow up lol

Youre literally advocating for Kepler "right now" for how he hit for 2 weeks...........2 weeks ago.

I will add the website is actually "games" not "days" for me.

Also my post literally isnt advocating for career stats haha. Gallo shits on Kepler vs lefties THIS YEAR too. Its not even close.

And Gallos OPS is high the last 7 games because while he has just 3 hits 2 are homers AND he has 3 walks. Meanwhile Kepler is playing vs lefties when he shouldnt be
 

MUgopher32 said:
Just go read my follow up lol

Youre literally advocating for Kepler "right now" for how he hit for 2 weeks...........2 weeks ago.

I will add the website is actually "games" not "days" for me.

Also my post literally isnt advocating for career stats haha. Gallo shits on Kepler vs lefties THIS YEAR too. Its not even close.

And Gallos OPS is high the last 7 games because while he has just 3 hits 2 are homers AND he has 3 walks. Meanwhile Kepler is playing vs lefties when he shouldnt be
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And again, Kepler has been similar to other other OF's over the last 15 days, and has 4 walks compared to Gallo's 3.

So Kepler has been similar to the other OF's over the last 15 days, a period of only 9 games, and significantly better than the others the previous 15 days.

Baseball is a game of averages. Hitters aren't consistent every game, or every week. Even the best hitters can go cold for two weeks or longer, and some of the worst hitters can get hot for a few weeks.

Right now, Kepler is the least deserving outfielder to be benched.
 




GopherWeatherGuy said:
And again, Kepler has been similar to other other OF's over the last 15 days, and has 4 walks compared to Gallo's 3.

So Kepler has been similar to the other OF's over the last 15 days, a period of only 9 games, and significantly better than the others the previous 15 days.

Baseball is a game of averages. Hitters aren't consistent every game, or every week. Even the best hitters can go cold for two weeks or longer, and some of the worst hitters can get hot for a few weeks.

Right now, Kepler is the least deserving outfielder to be benched.
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Dude you are really not grasping this haha.

You are using DAYS. Of course he has more walks. Hes played more. He started this past weekend against the lefties when he should not have. That is the literal point of this debate.

I just showed you the stats of Gallos last 7 games played vs Keplers last 7 games. Gallo shits on him. Keplers last 7 games he has a OPS of .600 thats awful.

Gallo has has a better last 15 games.

Kepler was really good for a cherry picked(by you) 15 games that occured 15 games ago. He was actually fucking great. OPS closing in on .1000. His last 15 games have been average(but still better than his sad sack of a full season) and his last 7 games have been PUTRID.

But also, I am not calling to bench Max tonight. We are playing a righty and AK, Julien, Wallner and Gallo are all playing. So fine by me.

But Kepler starting routinely over any of those guys? Hilarious. Kepler playing vs lefties? Fireable. Kepler being activated without an IL stint when Wallner was mashing? Malpractice.

If you are going to argue Kepler over Gallo its for that cherry picked 2 week stretch of games. Over the last 15 games its pro Gallo. Last 7 pro Gallo. This season pro Gallo. Last 365 days pro Gallo(which is scary cause Gallo sucked last year). Careers pro Gallo. Since Kepler returned from IL? Pro Gallo.

You picked a very specific time to build a really weird case for a guy who doesnt deserve it. Waited to use the exact time Max got hot while skipping the games post IL where he sucked.

This is one of the weirdest hills to die on.
 

MUgopher32 said:
Dude you are really not grasping this haha.

You are using DAYS. Of course he has more walks. Hes played more. He started this past weekend against the lefties when he should not have. That is the literal point of this debate.

I just showed you the stats of Gallos last 7 games played vs Keplers last 7 games. Gallo shits on him. Keplers last 7 games he has a OPS of .600 thats awful.

Gallo has has a better last 15 games.

Kepler was really good for a cherry picked(by you) 15 games that occured 15 games ago. He was actually fucking great. OPS closing in on .1000. His last 15 games have been average(but still better than his sad sack of a full season) and his last 7 games have been PUTRID.

But also, I am not calling to bench Max tonight. We are playing a righty and AK, Julien, Wallner and Gallo are all playing. So fine by me.

But Kepler starting routinely over any of those guys? Hilarious. Kepler playing vs lefties? Fireable. Kepler being activated without an IL stint when Wallner was mashing? Malpractice.

If you are going to argue Kepler over Gallo its for that cherry picked 2 week stretch of games. Over the last 15 games its pro Gallo. Last 7 pro Gallo. This season pro Gallo. Last 365 days pro Gallo(which is scary cause Gallo sucked last year). Careers pro Gallo. Since Kepler returned from IL? Pro Gallo.

You picked a very specific time to build a really weird case for a guy who doesnt deserve it. Waited to use the exact time Max got hot while skipping the games post IL where he sucked.

This is one of the weirdest hills to die on.
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You're arguing about 7 games over 162 game season, that's ridiculous, and that's more cherry picking than I'm doing. It's way too short of a timespan to get worked up over, which is my point. And yeah, Kepler had a rough 4 games over that time period. That happens to every MLB hitter. After a nice start, Gallo has had a rough 2 months since.

Vs lefties, the only difference is that Gallo walks more. Gallo also strikes out significantly more. Their BA is nearly identical. Gallo has 3 HRs and 3 RBIs vs Keplers 2 HRs and 4 RBIs. That's hardly a slam dunk case to start Gallo over Kepler, and certainly not a fireable offense.
 


GopherWeatherGuy said:
You're arguing about 7 games over 162 game season, that's ridiculous, and that's more cherry picking than I'm doing. It's way too short of a timespan to get worked up over, which is my point. And yeah, Kepler had a rough 4 games over that time period. That happens to every MLB hitter. After a nice start, Gallo has had a rough 2 months since.

Vs lefties, the only difference is that Gallo walks more. Gallo also strikes out significantly more. Their BA is nearly identical. Gallo has 3 HRs and 3 RBIs vs Keplers 2 HRs and 4 RBIs. That's hardly a slam dunk case to start Gallo over Kepler, and certainly not a fireable offense.
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I am not arguing 7 games haha. Are you reading anything I am saying? You are so out of your depth here. All I am saying is RIGHT NOW Kepler is not better by ANY metric except you using a stretch of games that occured 2 weeks to 1 month ago. Those 15 games.

"the only difference is Gallo walks more". Are you completely unawre how OBP and OPS work?? You reference that Gallo has 3 and 3 to keplers 2 and 4. You ignore Kepler having 6 more at bats and batting in RBI spots when Gallo bats behind Taylor(who you shredded) and Vazquez. Gallo has a way higher OPS because when he faces a lefty he inflicts far more damage. That is literally what the stat is. Hes more productive in a landslide. And their career number support the data.

Gallo had a nice start but rough 2 months? Man you really, really have got to look at their stats side by side. Its hilarious.

www.baseball-reference.com

Max Kepler 2023 Batting Splits | Baseball-Reference.com

Max Kepler 2023 Batting splits statistics including season totals, platoon splits, home and away stats, clutch situations and more on Baseball-Reference.com
www.baseball-reference.com www.baseball-reference.com

www.baseball-reference.com

Joey Gallo 2023 Batting Splits | Baseball-Reference.com

Joey Gallo 2023 Batting splits statistics including season totals, platoon splits, home and away stats, clutch situations and more on Baseball-Reference.com
www.baseball-reference.com www.baseball-reference.com

Did Gallo mash in march/April? Yes.

May: Both were horrendous, Gallo shockingly slightly better.
June: Kepler was better
July: Gallo by a lot

So you say "right now" for Max. But the month that we are in right now. Gallo shits on Kepler. Gallo has been better every month except June.

More break downs.

Gallo is better in wins than Kepler is in wins. Gallo is better in losses than Kepler is in losses.

Gallo is better when starting a game than Kepler is. Gallo is better as a sub(Kepler has 0 hits lol).

Gallo was better in the 1st half than Kepler. Gallos numbers in the second half through 4 measly games are better.

Gallo is better with RISP than Kepler. Gallo fucking destroys Max in "late and close" situations.

YOU CHERRY PICKED. You took a 30 day window which is inflated by 15 of those days and its not the most recent 15.

Gallo is better this year. Hes better this month. Hes better these last two weeks. Hes better this week. Hes better this road trip. Literally RIGHT NOW. Joey fucking Gallo is better at baseball than Max Kepler

Just for fun because you have created the most insane argument of all time Ill leave with one more career stat just because its now fun to laugh at you defending a guy who has sucked ass for a decade aside from 1 season.

Gallo has a OPS+ of 115 this year. That is better than every single season max kepler has played pro ball except 1. Gallo has a career OPS+ of 110. Which is better than every single season Max Kepler has played but 1.

This is the most lopsided debate I have ever seen.
 



MUgopher32 said:
No chance.

If we try to get a infielder it needs to be a Goldy/Arenado type.

Right now the focus should be Polancos return and who plays where. Do Polo or Julien try 3B? Does Julien go to 1B and AK OF. Does JUlien do OF?

Since Julien is bad defensively regardless but has experience at all spots do we just rotate him.

We dont need another bench player disquised as a starter. Our offense would stay woooooooof
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They're not getting Goldy or Arenado. They need a RH bat. Escobar is a switch hitter but hits lefties well. He's a tad redundant with Farmer/Castro/Gordon, but has a much better track record than any of them and I think would bring something to the clubhouse for this dead-@ss team as well.
 

howeda7 said:
They're not getting Goldy or Arenado. They need a RH bat. Escobar is a switch hitter but hits lefties well. He's a tad redundant with Farmer/Castro/Gordon, but has a much better track record than any of them and I think would bring something to the clubhouse for this dead-@ss team as well.
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But how do we even get him on the roster?

Theres no chane they let Castro go. While Esky is still a more reliable bat. Castro way more versatile and can impact a game on the bases.

You mention Gordon in this, even he has no path back.

We already have to figure out how to make room for Polanco.

Theres no room for Escobar unless you suggest getting rid of Farmer which no way we would ever do that. And Farmer is better currently anyways.
 

MUgopher32 said:
But how do we even get him on the roster?

Theres no chane they let Castro go. While Esky is still a more reliable bat. Castro way more versatile and can impact a game on the bases.

You mention Gordon in this, even he has no path back.

We already have to figure out how to make room for Polanco.

Theres no room for Escobar unless you suggest getting rid of Farmer which no way we would ever do that. And Farmer is better currently anyways.
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Kepler, Gallo, Buxton to IL etc.
 

howeda7 said:
Kepler, Gallo, Buxton to IL etc.
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We are not getting rid of Gallo for Escobar lmao.

Shit as much as Kepler annoys me we are not doing that either.

The idea is for our offense to get better. And Kepler/Gallo are both better defenders at their positions too.

We are not trying to get actively worse here.
 


GopherVotary said:
As a Denver resident, that wouldn’t be the worst thing, seeing as though we finish the season at Coors Field.
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Have been to Coors field and really enjoyed it. Spectacular view. Deion mania in your part of the world now
 


Julien hosed outta another great AB

2-2 pitch was a blatant ball and unhittable.
 

GopherVotary said:
Deion and Sean Payton. Or as some Vikings fans call them, Coach Prime and Coach Slime.
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Yeah, I seem to recall Coach Slime mocking the Vike's Skol chant right before the Minneapolis Miracle. If ever a coach deserved what he got . . .
 

Wallner got a batting stance that definitely gets him beaned a lot.
 

Always fun when you score 2 first inning runs and make the pitcher throw 30 pitches.

But whats not nearly as fun is when 2/3s of the outs were on blatant balls called strikes. But these umps will never be held accountable.
 

Thats what happens when a pitcher who has been dealing gets 11 days off between starts.

Our pitching crashing back to earth.
 

Hitters are finally having some good at-bats and now the SP is struggling. Hopefully it’s just the All-Star break just messing up their routine.
 

Really nice to see Julien (24 yrs) and Kiriloff (25 yrs) showing out now.
Lessens the sting a little from giving away Steer and ECS as well.
Need Wallner (25 yrs) and Larnach (26:yrs) to follow suit.
 
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GophersInIowa said:
Hitters are finally having some good at-bats and now the SP is struggling. Hopefully it’s just the All-Star break just messing up their routine.
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Im going with that belief.

Having Ober start game 1 vs Baltimore and then 5th game out of the break was fucking asinine.

Especially when you throw Maeda first. Dont give me an innings limit excuse. We threw Maeda who misse 2.5 months after missing 1.5 years lol.
 

Encarnocion strand with a pinch hit go ahead 3 run homer ahhahahahaha
 


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