Minnesota Twins Talk

With football weather and most (not just Twins) offenses in the tank, the goal for April is not to have a season threatening losing streak, Other than that, keep playing the schedule and stay somewhere around the .500 mark assuming that real baseball will begin on May 1. Having said that, Twins do need to win tonight after another no offense game last night. Biggest worry now is not the record but the fact that Sano is essentially absent, Buxton is really absent and Correa looks like $30mil down the drain. Main thing is no losing streaks because this team is not capable of winning 15 of 20 or 10 in a row. Offenses should wake up soon and the real season will begin.

Buxton will be leading off and DH'ing against the Royals this afternoon.

in mlbtraderumors they said his velocity is down and he is walked 4 in 2 innings so its not like he is not looking good as a pitcher at this point. I might have given him another outing to show he can straighten out but i get the logic in bringing in pitchers who can throw strikes. and maybe they can keep him in AAA to get straightened out and brought back up.

The seasonal tradition of bemoaning the many false-starts of Minnesota’s spring is typically accompanied by an equally frustrating tradition: questioning whether it’s too early to panic about the Twins. If recent history is our guide, we may be fast-approaching that point. Of the five American League teams that punched tickets to the playoffs last season, none started worse than 5-7. Now admittedly, that’s a small sample size, but it reinforces the conventional baseball wisdom that good, playoff teams avoid spiraling losing streaks. While only one 2021 AL playoff team (the Boston Red Sox) finished their first 12 games above .500, the remaining four closed out …

Wasn't sure if there was a thread dedicated to this yet. After the game the most recent update came from Darren Wolfson, and another from Dan Hayes:

A J Pollock is a CFer which is having a great season so far and has had a pretty good career. CWS just traded Kimbrel for Pollock, to bolster their OF. CWS has a pretty good OF but saw the need to add to their depth. CSW is a team that's serious to compete so they are not afraid to make deals, why aren't the Twins? Twins OF after Buxton & Kepler leaves a lot to be desired and lack quality MLB ready depth. Our greatest need is a RH hitting CF that can naturally sub all positions, We have had a great core for a few years now yet they've had a fragil OF that falls apart whenever Buxton isn't playing. Why haven't we made a small investment to back up Buck? which would pa…

No poll this time, because if there were I would have to put like 26 options. What’s your favorite Twins 2022 walk-up song and why?

Tyler Duffey, over the last three years from 2019-2021, has been one of the Twins’ more reliable ‘pen arms. He posted ERA’s of 2.50, 1.88, and 3.18 in those three years. However, he has had a rough start to the 2022 season. In 4 appearances, 2 losses and a 9.00 ERA. And a 2.00 WHIP. Looking at his (SSS) pitch mix in 2022, it isn’t much different than it has been over the last three years. Is it too early to panic about Duffey?

The Twins have now completed 10 games. A very small sample in the grand scheme of things, but enough to establish some surprises. The bats have largely been quite, showing the occasional outburst. While the cobbled together starting rotation has been very solid. But which is the bigger surprise to you?

Twins starting pitchers are doing great. Hitters not so much, For about 2 weeks, give player $1,000 per base hit to opposite field . Maybe to increase batting averages and getting away from homerun mentality which seems to be a problem.

After 4 games it is obvious I can't, or will not, get a real answer to why Sano is so predictable; it looks like I'm watching a replay. I would love to have someone that knows how to hit explain to me the exact pattern of each at bat he has taken this year. Not necessarily in this order, but most likely: Swing and miss at a low outside breaking pitch, Watch a hitable pitch, waist high across the plate or 4" inches outside for a strike 2, then the never varying breaking ball low and outside. It is hard to watch and I cannot understand why it happens over and over again with no change. I played high school baseball and could never hit a curve, but this is different. …

When you continue to ignore the bullpen for the 3rd year in a row, this is what you get. I figured with our lineup we would lose 80 games 9-5. But it seems 8-1 is now the norm. Trade Arraez & whatever it takes to get a couple of top notch bullpen arms, or this season and the entire franchise are in the crapper.

MLB Trade Rumors and Dick ‘n’ Roy are reporting that there is no new injury to Kirilloff, that he got a cortisone shot and that the club says he can work through the pain and play. Hmmmm, this is saying it is chronic injury. I just got a cortisone shot myself. At least for me, there are no guarantees of even modest improvement so on balance I don’t know if I’d call it positive. I guess he’ll try to come back, but obviously this might be a career threatening injury.

He’s now a free agent. How long until he is signed?

Does anyone know who is on the Twins taxi squad this year? Since we’re on our first road trip, it might be interesting to know. Thanks.

The Twins have started to 2022 season with a 2-4 record. 4/8 vs. SEA: Lost 2-1 4/9 vs. SEA: Lost 4-3 4/10 vs. SEA: Won 10-4 4/11 vs. SEA: Won 4-0 4/12 vs. LAD: Lost 7-2 4/13 vs. LAD: Lost 7-0 Highlights have included Byron Buxton’s hot start, Jhoan Duran’s first two appearances in the bigs, and Dylan Bundy’s first outing against Seattle. Lowlights have included several hitters (Kirilloff, Sano, Jeffers) not hitting and multiple blowups from the pen late in games. What are your first impressions of the 2022 Minnesota Twins?

The Dodgers just came and put us in our place. Now it feels like its time to be a real Twins Fan - that is we are frustrated and can moan and complain. Just in case you are new to this here are some complaining points that you can start to test: Rocco - why do we need to rest our star after 5 days? Rocco - did you know starting pitchers are allowed to go more than 4 innings? Sano - it you are going to strike out 9 times in 19 ABs you should consider getting a hit too. Is Kiriloff going to be our new all world injured star now - does that mean Buxton can quit getting injured? We know that Wes Johnson is a magician, but maybe we sh…

Oof, this is bad.

From the Too Early To Panic files: Alex Kirilloff is 0-12 with 5 strikeouts so far, hasn't even barrelled up a ball when making contact. Anyone worried?

I remember the 1st time I saw Johan Santana, I believed he could become an ace. He had a impressive 4-seam FB and very good slider but later w/MN he developed an elite circle change-up and the rest is history. With Chris Archer I had the same feeling, he reminded me a lot of Santana. He had the same 4-seamer, a better slider (IMO), he already had a circle change-up and he was a work horse. At TB he was very good but still had things to improve much like Santana did. Archer was hyped up and TB of coarse put Archer on the trading block. MN was very interested and itwould have been a perfect fit. Archer could have continued to develop and become that ace and win a lot…

Hi! I have a lot of Minnesota Twins baseball replays with some sports board games (Strat-O-Matic, Replay, APBA, Statis Pro...), and I'd like to post them on a TD blog! It's a great way to recreate Twins baseball...and even give Minnesota a lot of playoff wins (especially vs. the Yankees)! Do you think it is a good idea to post Twins replays on a TD blog? Also, I've added an extra relief pitcher for Minnesota...his name is Philip Fitzpatrick, and he's a 6'8", 265 lb. relief pitcher who can guide the Twins to more victories! So, is it a good idea to post Twins replays in TD blogs? Please let me know! Oh, here's Philip (he is in red):

The Dodgers are in town for a brief series—night game today, early afternoon game on Eednesday—and according to the forecast I pulled up there is a greater than 75% chance of rain from the afternoon through the night. It does look like the rain will end in time for the day game Wednesday. This will be the Dodgers only visit to Minnesota. I’m wondering if they’ll play through the rain tonight or if they might play a doubleheader on Wednesday, otherwise the Dodgers and Twins would have to play a single game on a mutual off day.

I don't know why, but I always enjoy flipping through the Twins' monthly magazine. Nice little feature on Buck Twins Magazine

A new Baseball Year Has Begin. Spring Training MAY be coming up in less than two months. But, as a lockout continues, 40-man rosters have been set for all teams. There are still free agents looking for work, and Rule 5 draftees to be added to rosters. I suggest we wait until camps break in April to see who is in the minor league systems for real, although there have been many minor league free agent signings of former Twins, some foreign departures, and the Twins will probably have many names still cut from their organization that will end up in what is now called Indy Ball leagues. ***PLEASE FEEL FREE TO ADD NAMES IN COMMENTS AS OFF-SEASON & S…

I loved the Taylor Rogers vs Tyler Rogers relief experience this week - Taylor won. It was great that the two teams had the Twin Brothers each bring out their lineups to the Umpires. Watch the MLB video. But in addition, Taylor has been in three games, has three saves, no earned runs, Three strikeouts. Ben Rortvedt is close to coming back to the Yankees - here is the note from MLB.com - "Rortvedt had imaging done recently that revealed no sign of the right oblique strain he sustained in February. He is expected to significantly increase his hitting activity starting Monday. He had already been active defensively, catching bullpen sessions and making throws of up…

So what does a full Buxton season look like? Where would it rank among the great seasons in Twins history. Well, lets speculate and calculate what that might look like.

After starting the 2022 campaign 1-2, the overreactions to the start of the Twins season have been spreading like wildfire through the fan forums and social media alike. It is important to remember that the team is just three games into the 162-game marathon of the season; and hey, they’re not 0-3! Opening day was a tough test for talented youngster Joe Ryan, losing to incumbent AL Cy Young Award winner Robbie Ray, 2-1. Ryan recovered nicely after allowing a 2-run home run to Mitch Haniger in the first inning Friday evening, being the only runs that Seattle would need while surrendering just four hits to Minnesota in an eventual 2-1 defeat for thea…

Book this: On at least 6 occasions this summer, Buck and Carlos will lead off a game with back to back homers. That should calm down whoever is starting those games.

Baseball is always a game of subtle changes. The names on the uniforms may change. Of late, things change like a designated hitter for all teams, a runner starts on second in extra innings. Catchers have a contraption on their arm so their signs can't be stolen from dugouts. But pitchers still pitch. Fielders field. Hitters swing and miss or make contact. The ballet moves on the field are a joy to watch, as well as the cheers when a runnr makes it all around the base paths. Baseball is a relaxing time with friends and food. You get to yell and shout at times, shake your head quite a lot, be able to hold conversations and not told to shut up by thos…