All Things 2023 Minnesota Twins In-Season Thread

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GopherRock said:
The minute I saw Rocco come out of the dugout in the bottom of the 7th, I told all who would listen that the next Mariners hitter would put the first pitch into the bullpen.

I was wrong. It was the 4th pitch, and it went into the seats above the bullpen.
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Thank goodness we had Pagan to shut down their comeback.
 

GopherVotary said:
Thank goodness we had Pagan to shut down their comeback.
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I found it curious that Pagan was credited with the Win. Jax was the pitcher of record when they took the lead in the 8th.

I know the Official Scorekeeper has some discretion if the reliever was horrible, but only one of the runs scored was his (the other was the inherited runner from Maeda). Jax then got the next 2 batters out.

I don't dispute Pagan had a better night and assisted his team more to victory so was probably more deserving, just it's not the way that it's normally done.

No biggie.
 

GophersInIowa said:
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I wonder what it's like to even catch a baseball approaching 105 much less hit it.

At my age I want no part of it currently. I remember back in my day it was tough enough to catch (or even ump) balls that were low 90s, especially in twilight with shadows.
 

Ope3 said:
I wonder what it's like to even catch a baseball approaching 105 much less hit it.

At my age I want no part of it currently. I remember back in my day it was tough enough to catch (or even ump) balls that were low 90s, especially in twilight with shadows.
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I don't understand how anyone can hit Duran. Three really good pitches at that speed. I'm assuming batters just guess which pitch it's going to be and then hope to make contact.
 




jamiche said:
I'll never trust him. He could have fifty great outings in a row, but when it really, really counts we will see the ball sail into the night....
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2 year extension incoming.
 

jamiche said:
I'll never trust him. He could have fifty great outings in a row, but when it really, really counts we will see the ball sail into the night....
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You might be right, but last night was another step in the right direction.
 





Nice start by our ace again UGH! Lucky to get out of that first inning with only 1 run but took 36 pitches to do it. I blame Buxton.
 

After the week's worth of offense last night, 2 runs by Seattle is probably enough today.
 

Nobody else has hit today, but Buxton is going to get blamed for today's offensive ineptitude.
 



That was a joke regarding Buxton, do I need to put an lol after it. Not sure what Lopez is worse but they should never pitch the same game. (Again, kinda a joke but really not, Pablo is way better than head case Jorge)
 
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Wil Buxton get a hit again this season? Will Jorge end up back on the mental break list again this season?
 

Baseball aside, I hope fans feel some compassion for Jorge Lopez. whatever he's going through, it can't be fun to try and go through it in front of a live audience while you're trying to get MLB hitters out.

I saw a tweet that the Twins want him to change his pitch mix - quit using the 4-seam fastball because he's getting hurt a lot on it.

still a 5-2 road trip. Now have to beat up on the Whiteys this weekend.
 





From the Parkinglot said:
Wil Buxton get a hit again this season? Will Jorge end up back on the mental break list again this season?
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I just feel bad for Buxton at this point. I think a stint on the IL may just help him reset a bit. He needs time off. Ouch:

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Interesting article on Buck's struggles from the Twins MLB beat writer, Park -

www.mlb.com

How Buxton is working to break out of slump

This story was excerpted from Do-Hyoung Park’s Twins Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
www.mlb.com www.mlb.com

As the Twins’ offense put forth a blowout performance on Tuesday and a resilient rally on Wednesday, one of the team's most important hitters didn’t play in either game -- and as the fourth month of Byron Buxton’s tenure as the club’s full-time designated hitter rolls on, team and player alike are still looking for a solution.

With Buxton's slump stretching to 0-for-22 with 14 strikeouts following his 0-for-5 showing on Monday, manager Rocco Baldelli elected to give his DH two straight off-days on Tuesday and Wednesday after Buxton’s season average dipped to .196 and his OPS to .694.

“It's kind of like when you get one day off and you're working from home, you don't actually relax on that day off very much,” Baldelli said. “It's just the one day, and you're back at it. I think the first day allowed him to kind of decompress a little bit and then actually get work in. We'll see. He's making some minor adjustments -- but some adjustments.”

Buxton, who typically does swing work exclusively in the batting cages, took a rare session of batting practice out on the field before Wednesday’s game against the Mariners to shake things up. And even amid the struggles, Baldelli affirmed his commitment to Buxton as the club’s continued everyday DH, with the expectation that he’ll be back in the lineup for Thursday’s series finale against the Mariners.

But Buxton admits that’s also part of the trouble right now: Though he’s working to get his lower half back into his swing and more connected with his upper body, he also still hasn’t found a routine he likes in the DH role, which could be playing into these slumps. There was the 0-for-15 with 11 strikeouts in April, the 0-for-26 in early May, the 0-for-17 in June -- and now, this.

“I don't know yet,” Buxton said. “I haven't figured that out. Just talking a little bit with Rocco, and it's not like old school, where you've got guys that go in [the clubhouse] and play a PlayStation [between plate appearances], guys that go in there and put on their headphones and listen to music, or whatever the situation may be. So it's a little bit different.”

Buxton admits he continues to overthink tough at-bats after the fact, with an emotional difficulty in not being able to rinse those by impacting the game on defense, compounded by plenty of recent bad luck from stellar defense against him when he has hit the ball hard.

But the Twins are still adamant that Buxton isn’t physically capable of playing center field, which leaves them in this situation. It remains unclear that a stint on the injured list would even resolve the knee issues at this point, and Buxton wants to help impact the team after missing so much time at key junctures throughout his career. And the best version of this Twins team will ideally involve Buxton and Carlos Correa as key run-producers.

So, that’s the challenge for Baldelli at this moment: To ride the balance between evaluating a player’s track record of production -- considering Buxton’s stretches of dominance at the plate when healthy from 2019-22 -- versus his deep slumps of ‘23. The Twins, under the leadership of Baldelli and Derek Falvey, have typically tended towards patience over quick reactions.

“It takes months of games to figure that out,” Baldelli said. “A fan might look up and say, ‘Well, that’s too long, it’s too late at that point.’ But the truth of the matter is that this game is unlike other games. It takes time, and guys go through ups and downs over the course of a season. It takes six months to even things out and figure out what sort of season a guy’s going to have.”

But, it seems like some movement could be coming in that regard.

Buxton has always had to hit his way out of slumps -- cage work can only do so much -- and Baldelli said that he’s been thinking about moving Buxton down in the lineup, which would keep giving him those opportunities, but from a lower-pressure spot in the order.

The Twins’ new 1-2-3 of Correa, Edouard Julien and Alex Kirilloff has looked like a comfortable and productive combination, which could perhaps impact that decision, too.

These extended slumps in Buxton’s past have typically led to huge resurgences -- and he just hasn’t hit one of those extended heaters this year, fueled, perhaps, by his new role. But he’s not losing faith -- and neither are the Twins.

“Just keep believing in yourself,” Buxton said. “It's [easier] said than done, but it's kind of one of those where if you don't believe in yourself, things won't change for the better.”
 

the Buxton deal is a mess, but in some ways, Buxton and the Twins have contributed to the situation by not being more transparent about the knee.

a lot of this depends on his true physical condition: what kind of shape is the knee actually in? Is there any possible surgical remedy?

If 2 weeks on the IL are not going to make a lot of difference, then the choice becomes - let Buxton limp along in his current condition, or shut him down for the season and explore any and all medical options.

because it's a lot harder to hit without using your lower body. Tony Oliva was able to do it in the final years of his career - but Tony O was a natural hitter - Buxton isn't. right now, Buxton looks like he's trying to hit from the waist up to protect his lower body - and it isn't working.
 

If he doesn't snap out of it by the end of the White Sox series, they really have to IL him, at least for awhile. It's not fair to him or the team to just keep sending him out there.
 

howeda7 said:
If he doesn't snap out of it by the end of the White Sox series, they really have to IL him, at least for awhile. It's not fair to him or the team to just keep sending him out there.
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I'm kinda hopeful they do this once Polanco is back.
 

I saw an article speculating places Ohtani could end up and one was the Braves. OMG, that lineup would be insane with him added.
 



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