All Things 2023 Minnesota Twins In-Season Thread

Donate To GopherHole
Sox 19 games under .500. No one would've guessed that last March. Tony Larussa, last season's whipping boy, has to be smiling just a bit somewhere.
 

golf said:
Sox 19 games under .500. No one would've guessed that last March. Tony Larussa, last season's whipping boy, has to be smiling just a bit somewhere.
Click to expand...
They need to do a total rebuild. I thought it was pretty obvious.
 

First game I've watched in a few weeks. A good one. Kiriloff is developing into a really good all around player. I don't want to get my hopes up with Julien.....but he's come out of nowhere.

And to top things off......Pagan gets another win. Which makes me think this may all be a fluke.
 

golf said:
Sox 19 games under .500. No one would've guessed that last March. Tony Larussa, last season's whipping boy, has to be smiling just a bit somewhere.
Click to expand...
2 years ago didn't they run away with the division and with all the young talent, I thought they'd own the division for years. Maybe it was 3 years ago.

Man how times can flip on a dime.
 



golf said:
Sox 19 games under .500. No one would've guessed that last March. Tony Larussa, last season's whipping boy, has to be smiling just a bit somewhere.
Click to expand...
Gotta be the most dysfunctional team in baseball. Classic case of the whole being less than the sum of the parts.
 






I’m assuming he’ll be away for a few days. Might see Celestino for the first time.

 

GophersInIowa said:
I’m assuming he’ll be away for a few days. Might see Celestino for the first time.

Click to expand...

Granted we face Seattle again and they have all righty starters

But we called Larnach back up..........another lefty haha.
 


Effing insane that we run a 50/50 split at catcher(and it wasnt even that pre all star break).

Jeffers also isnt even bad defensively either. PItchers pitch fine with him. Both complete games are with Jeffers. Hes like the best in baseball and blocking balls in dirt. Ironcially last road trip he was 100% on year and same game that it was discussed he missed one. But still.

Just please for this stretch run, play the best players.
 

MUgopher32 said:
Our bullpen is rounding into form a bit.

Stewart and Theilbar back and still add one more good arm.
Click to expand...
My expectations for both upon return is limited. Stewart especially. He was great lightning in a bottle, but to expect it to still be there when he returns is shaky. They need to add to the bullpen. Preferably one of each.
 




From the Parkinglot said:

Just in time as the twins were running short of left handed hitting outfielders.
Click to expand...
Cole Sands being in the bullpen and being unusable is terrible roster construction. This is especially true when Rocco is making more pitch hitting moves this year then ever before. You can’t afford to just have black holes on the roster and right now you have Cole Sands and Buxton, plus to me Castro. Now having Gallo, Kepler, Larnach, and Wallner all as left handed corner OF / DH types is not great.

I forgot about Lopez being what Lopez is right now too. The guy is clearly not right, especially when you try to use him in back to back innings. The twins are trying to teed lightly and then they force him to go two innings and it all goes to hell and then you need to bring in Cole Sands. Now instead of Lopez leaving on a high note, he leaves after hitting and walking the bases loaded. This is very strange usage for Lopez by Rocco.
 

I get pinch hitting when numbers dictate, but doing it to the extent the Twins do is a bit much. It seems, sometimes, the Twins look at if the batter is L or R handed more than WHO the actual batter is, imo. I really believe this is not a Rocco call. That said, I'm not going to argue with winning 8 of the last 10.
 

MUgopher32 said:
Now our stupid ass 3B coach gets us thrown out at home with 1 out.
MUgopher32 said:
5 base runners in 2 innings, 0 runs.
MUgopher32 said:
8 base runners no runs.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Your harping on the amount of base runners without any runs is exactly why I don't fault Watkins for sending Kepler in the 2nd.

Just as Smalley said on the telecast, bottom of the order coming up, why not make the RF make a perfect throw, catch & tag? 2nd inning down 1, with 23 outs to go with Jeffers and Taylor due up...WHY NOT?

I guarantee if Jeffers had grounded into a DP fans would have been bitching, why didn't Watkins send Kepler when they had the chance?!?

As bad as the Twins are in general and with RISP, be aggressive, unless there are no outs and/or Julien-Kirilloff are due up. It's not like Kepler was mowed down by several steps.
 

From the Parkinglot said:
I forgot about Lopez being what Lopez is right now too. The guy is clearly not right, especially when you try to use him in back to back innings. The twins are trying to teed lightly and then they force him to go two innings and it all goes to hell and then you need to bring in Cole Sands. Now instead of Lopez leaving on a high note, he leaves after hitting and walking the bases loaded. This is very strange usage for Lopez by Rocco.
Click to expand...
J Lopez is really befuddling. He was lights out early in the year. The extra inning game at Dodger Stadium (5/15) he pitched a scoreless 11th and they sent him back out for the 12th. He eventually walked in the winning run after being ahead in the count.

Been a train wreck ever since. I have zero clue of the events are connected or just a curious coincidence.
 

Ope3 said:
Your harping on the amount of base runners without any runs is exactly why I don't fault Watkins for sending Kepler in the 2nd.

Just as Smalley said on the telecast, bottom of the order coming up, why not make the RF make a perfect throw, catch & tag? 2nd inning down 1, with 23 outs to go with Jeffers and Taylor due up...WHY NOT?

I guarantee if Jeffers had grounded into a DP fans would have been bitching, why didn't Watkins send Kepler when they had the chance?!?

As bad as the Twins are in general and with RISP, be aggressive, unless there are no outs and/or Julien-Kirilloff are due up. It's not like Kepler was mowed down by several steps.
Click to expand...

No chance. I never send guys with less than 2 outs unless it takes a perfect throw. THat ball was hit hard to shallow right and got to Colas fast, know your outfielder too.

Also Jeffers was on deck a guy who has the 4th best OPS among catchers. And probably the 4th best on this trashy team as well. Know your team.

I hold him every single time. You got a pitcher like Giolito on the ropes you dont bail him out.

If it was Vazquez or Buxton?? Id entertain sending him.
 
Last edited:

From the Parkinglot said:
Cole Sands being in the bullpen and being unusable is terrible roster construction. This is especially true when Rocco is making more pitch hitting moves this year then ever before. You can’t afford to just have black holes on the roster and right now you have Cole Sands and Buxton, plus to me Castro. Now having Gallo, Kepler, Larnach, and Wallner all as left handed corner OF / DH types is not great.

I forgot about Lopez being what Lopez is right now too. The guy is clearly not right, especially when you try to use him in back to back innings. The twins are trying to teed lightly and then they force him to go two innings and it all goes to hell and then you need to bring in Cole Sands. Now instead of Lopez leaving on a high note, he leaves after hitting and walking the bases loaded. This is very strange usage for Lopez by Rocco.
Click to expand...

Cole Sands is not long for this world up here. Either gets replaced by Stewart/Thielbar soon. Or Keuchel.
 

howeda7 said:
My expectations for both upon return is limited. Stewart especially. He was great lightning in a bottle, but to expect it to still be there when he returns is shaky. They need to add to the bullpen. Preferably one of each.
Click to expand...

With Stewart obviously his numbers currently are elite but he clearly has increased velo and stuff since his early days. He has looked very good.

I will say though, he is definitely my last resort(of our good pen options) to bring in with men on base. Hes too wild to trust with 2 on or bases loaded. If god forbid he walks the first guy we are in trouble.

But I really like him as a high leverage guy. His stuff plays.

And since Duran and Jax are elite and Pagan has found himself, we are not needing Stewart to be a savoir just another piece.
 

a few things:

on Jorge Lopez: Reusse on a podcast said the reason they put J Lopez on the mental health break was because he didn't show up for a game and they had to go out and track him down. If accurate, indicates there was more going on behind the scenes than the team let on.

on Pagan: according to a story in the Strib, if the Twins ran out of position players on Sunday, the backup plan was to have Pagan play 3B. He played some infield in college and apparently takes grounders at SS sometimes just for fun.

on pinkeye: in another Strib story, Gallo admitted that the reason he tried to bunt was because he still has blurred vision and thought bunting gave him a better chance of getting on base. yikes.

injury updates: Thielbar is probably still 2-3 weeks away from returning. Stewart is closer - maybe in a week to 10 days.
 

MUgopher32 said:
No chance. I never send guys with less than 2 outs unless it takes a perfect throw. THat ball was hit hard to shallow right and got to Colas fast, know your outfielder too.

Also Jeffers was on deck a guy who has the 4th best OPS among catchers. And probably the 4th best on this trashy team as well. Know your team.

I hold him every single time. You got a pitcher like Giolito on the ropes you dont bail him out.

If it was Vazquez or Buxton?? Id entertain sending him.
Click to expand...
4th best on the Twins means not very good. Jeffers 52 Ks, 4 GIDPs (in well under 200 plate appearances).

In hindsight, Jeffers got a hit so a fail, but no guarantee it still plays out that way.

Pretty liberal definition of "on the ropes" that early. They failed in the 2nd just as they did in the 1st, 3rd, 4th and 5th against Giolito.

Never make the 1st out a home, but there was already 1 down. Totally different when a double play can end the inning and only 1 chance for a Sac Fly/Fielders Choice to eek out a run.

RF made a great play. So be it.
 
Last edited:

Of the teams with better records than the Twins, here are the remaining games:

3 vs Tampa (7 GB)
7 vs Texas (4 home, 3 away) (6.5 GB)
2 @ Milwaukee (2.5 GB)
3 @ Cincinnati (2 GB)
3 vs Arizona (1.5 GB)
3 @ Philadelphia (1 GB)

That's it.

They are done playing Baltimore, LA Dodgers, Houston, Toronto, San Francisco, Miami, NY Yankees, & Boston.
 
Last edited:

Ope3 said:
4th best on the Twins means not very good. Jeffers 52 Ks, 4 GIDPs (in well under 200 plate appearances).

In hindsight, Jeffers got a hit so a fail, but no guarantee it still plays out that way.

Pretty liberal definition of "on the ropes" that early. They failed in the 2nd just as they did in the 1st, 3rd, 4th and 5th against Giolito.

Never make the 1st out a home, but there was already 1 down. Totally different when a double play can end the inning and only 1 chance for a Sac Fly/Fielders Choice to eek out a run.

RF made a great play. So be it.
Click to expand...

The failed in the other innings because they couldnt string hits together. This inning they did.

Colas didnt even make a great play. I mean the throw was excellent(hes known for a good arm so another fail by Watkins). But the ball got to him in a hurry and was hit directly at him. Right field is also the easier throw. You do not send a guy on a ball that is directly to the OF who has a good arm in shallow RF. You just dont do it.

Jeffers has an OPS of .816 and OPS+ of 126. Relative to our team or not, those are very quality numbers. Let the guys bat.

I will say, Wallner did mess up as well tho. Very clearly should have been standing on 2nd at least.
 

Ski U Mah Gopher said:
Of the teams with better records than the Twins, here are the remaining games:

3 vs Tampa (7 GB)
7 vs Texas (4 home, 3 away) (6.5 GB)
2 @ Milwaukee (2.5 GB)
3 @ Cincinnati (2 GB)
3 vs Arizona (1.5 GB)
3 @ Philadelphia (1 GB)

That's it.

They are done playing Baltimore, LA Dodgers, Houston, Toronto, San Francisco, Miami, NY Yankees, & Boston.
Click to expand...

We need to try and win a series vs Seattles pitching this week. Then go on a rampage against KC and STL.

We start our Cardinals series literally right after the trade deadline so they should be even more depleted.
 


Ski U Mah Gopher said:
Of the teams with better records than the Twins, here are the remaining games:

3 vs Tampa (7 GB)
7 vs Texas (4 home, 3 away) (6.5 GB)
2 @ Milwaukee (2.5 GB)
3 @ Cincinnati (2 GB)
3 vs Arizona (1.5 GB)
3 @ Philadelphia (1 GB)

That's it.

They are done playing Baltimore, LA Dodgers, Houston, Toronto, San Francisco, Miami, NY Yankees, & Boston.
Click to expand...
For perspective, that's just 21 out of the Twins 61 games remaining.
 

JimmyJamesMD said:
the good news if the twins make the playoffs is they probably wont be playing the yankees
Click to expand...

Ironically theres actually a decent chance they do.

They are basically a lock to play either Houston, Toronto, New York or Boston. Right now its looking like Houston or Toronto. I really hope its anyone but Houston.

But Yanks will make a move at the deadline and be a contender for that last spot.

Fortunately we are 14-12 against those 4 teams and have competed very well in most of the games.
 

MUgopher32 said:
The failed in the other innings because they couldnt string hits together. This inning they did.

Colas didnt even make a great play. I mean the throw was excellent(hes known for a good arm so another fail by Watkins). But the ball got to him in a hurry and was hit directly at him. Right field is also the easier throw. You do not send a guy on a ball that is directly to the OF who has a good arm in shallow RF. You just dont do it.

Jeffers has an OPS of .816 and OPS+ of 126. Relative to our team or not, those are very quality numbers. Let the guys bat.

I will say, Wallner did mess up as well tho. Very clearly should have been standing on 2nd at least.
Click to expand...
I agree to disagree and regardless it certainly wasn't an egregious error that early in the game.

Spot on about Wallner's gaffe. Should have been on 2nd. Might have scored on the Jeffers hit with 2 outs. That early the Sox might have even cut the throw off to get a sure out (and sacrificed the run).
 
Last edited:

You must log in or register to reply here.



Top Bottom