All Things 2024 Minnesota Twins In-Season Thread

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Looks like Cleveland will win. Neck and neck all night, Cleveland puts up 6 runs in the top of 12.
 









Alcala, Jax, and Duran did not pitch last night. Why is Duran not there to go after 9-1-2 in the 8th and Jax to go after 3-4-5? The Padres instantly go to righty to replace the 9 hitter. Did Rocco not have a lineup card?
 



The only guy you could not throw in the bullpen was Richard’s and Rocco landed on Steven Fucking Okert against the hottest team in baseball and the top of the order. I support Rocco most of the time cause the players need to pay better, but man Okert seems like about the 5th guy out of the bullpen in that spot.
 



From the Parkinglot said:
Alcala, Jax, and Duran did not pitch last night. Why is Duran not there to go after 9-1-2 in the 8th and Jax to go after 3-4-5? The Padres instantly go to righty to replace the 9 hitter. Did Rocco not have a lineup card?
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I’m not sure Duran was available as he did just go 3 days in a row. But I don’t understand going with the lefty there. Solano is a much better hitter than Wade.
 



Ober had thrown 86 pitches through 6 and was only in trouble once. Taking him out started the reliever roulette and it wound up on Okert. Bad one for the manager tonight. Also those decisions in Texas might have hurt too. Going to Alcala up 4 vs someone else and then throwing Duran in the 10th after not scoring. That felt like a stretch in the 10th and now today it seemed like a punt with the bullpen.
 

GophersInIowa said:
I’m not sure Duran was available as he did just go 3 days in a row. But I don’t understand going with the lefty there. Solano is a much better hitter than Wade.
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He did not throw yesterday. If throwing 9 pitches on Sunday means he can’t pitch for 2 days then that’s just dumb. He should never have pitched the 10th anyway after the twins failed to score. The Rocco decisions Sunday have come back to hurt the twins today. Plus the front office decisions or ownership decision on this reliever roulette that is anyone past Duran, Jax, and Alcala.
 


This includes his disaster tonight, but this is the guy chosen to face the hottest team in baseballs 9-1-2 all because the 9 hitter was a lefty who was pitch hit for. Did Rocco really not see a PH coming in for Wade? There is no way he didn’t see that coming.

This so felt like a playoff game against the Yankees. Base running errors, not great decision making, and putting guys on the mound who have no business being in that position.
 

That loss last night is on Rocco. No if or what about it. he cause us that game last night with his managing of the bullpen.
 

From the Parkinglot said:
He did not throw yesterday. If throwing 9 pitches on Sunday means he can’t pitch for 2 days then that’s just dumb. He should never have pitched the 10th anyway after the twins failed to score. The Rocco decisions Sunday have come back to hurt the twins today. Plus the front office decisions or ownership decision on this reliever roulette that is anyone past Duran, Jax, and Alcala.
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Apparently he was available along with Alcala. I just wondered if they would want to give Duran a few days off after going 3 days in a row. Agree on Sunday. And if Alcala and Duran were available last night as he said, there's no reason one of them didn't throw the 8th.

It came down to Okert vs. Solano, Arraez and Profar or Alcala/Duran vs. Wade, Arraez and Profar. Solano is a much better hitter than Wade. I'd take Alcala or Duran there anytime.
 

look, it was a bad loss. no doubt about it. But if you compare the two teams, spot for spot, San Diego is just a better team than the Twins right now. much stronger lineup top to bottom.

The Twins have been patching things together since Buxton, Correa and Ryan went down. but the patches are starting to leak.

at this point, they might be able to hold it together to make the playoffs. But that depends on getting Buxton, Correa and Lee back - and on the rookie pitchers continuing to produce.

on the bullpen -- Rocco, for better or worse, believes in platoon matchups. and the Twins just don't have a strong lefty reliever right now. Thielbar is showing his age, Funderburk is on the IL, and that leaves Okert. in my book, the #1 need for next season is a better lefty reliever - or two.

I just went through the rosters for St. Paul and Wichita. there is not one quality lefty reliever on either squad. you have to go down to High-A Cedar Rapids to find a lefty reliever with decent numbers.
 

From the Parkinglot said:
Alcala, Jax, and Duran did not pitch last night. Why is Duran not there to go after 9-1-2 in the 8th and Jax to go after 3-4-5? The Padres instantly go to righty to replace the 9 hitter. Did Rocco not have a lineup card?
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Jax had already been used in the 7th once Ober gave up the bomb to Machado, so Rocco's line-up card would not have had him available in the 9th.
 

Well, if there's no lefties in the minors that can help, that's too bad. If only there was some other way to try and improve the team.
Oh well.
 

Need another excellent SWR outing today; looking for 6+.

Gratefully, I didn’t watch the draconian meltdown last night. Rocco, isn’t infallible and manager’s can have bad nights too or their decisions don’t work out that night.

I hope Funkyburg gets back sooner rather than later and Okert’s role can be diminished - he’s not a high leverage guy.

@short ornery norwegian is 💯 correct; we need Buck, Lee and Correra to lengthen our lineup - we have good bench players, but they’re bench guys for a reason.

Sound like Buck and Lee could be back before the end of the month.
 

Sunday feels like a turning point game. The failure of the front office to provide any pitching help is inexcusable. The bullpen is already a mess and I don't see the rotation holding up well enough to make it 6 more weeks.
 

howeda7 said:
Sunday feels like a turning point game. The failure of the front office to provide any pitching help is inexcusable. The bullpen is already a mess and I don't see the rotation holding up well enough to make it 6 more weeks.
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it's a 162-game schedule. the team with the best record in MLB right now - the Dodgers, have a .591 winning % - which equates to a record of 96-66. the best team in baseball is going to lose over 40% of the time. no, you don't want to give away games, but in the big picture, any one loss is not the end of the world.

the fact that the Twins are in playoff contention - to me, at least - is a positive. the games matter. which is a heck of a lot better than sitting through the last two months of the season when nothing matters.

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FWIW - the Twins have been in MN for 64 years. they currently have a .556 winning %. in the 64 years of Twins baseball, there have been 13 seasons where they finished with a winning % higher than .556 and two seasons where they finished at .556 on the nose. (a 90-72 record)

in 49 of the last 64 years, the Twins have finished with a winning % that is lower than their current mark.
 


From the Parkinglot said:
Ober had retired 13 in a row before a bloop and a blast to Machado. Ober competes and I would take him over Okert.
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Yeah it was probably too quick of a hook. Ober hung one there but he was still only at 83 pitches. If our bullpen was in better shape I think it would have been the right move but I would have let him go until he allows another runner in that inning.
 


on Ober -
innings pitched by season
2021 - 108-1/3 combined majors and minors
2022 - 72-2/3 combined majors and minors
2023 - 167 combined majors and minors
2024 - 140 to date. Twins have 36 games left. so Ober is in line to make at least 6 or 7 starts. if he averages 6 IP per start, that is another 36 to 42 innings, putting him at 176 to 182. if the Twins make the playoffs, he will definitely start at least one more game.

so it's not surprising that the Twins are monitoring his workload.
 

Good news is the rest of the wild card competition is starting to fadeaway

Now a three game spread to Boston
TB & Seattle next closest at 6.5 games behind.
 


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