Well yesterday didn't go so well.  Everything started to unravel in the 4th with the back to back HR's by Moustakas and Cain.  The comedy started in the 5th with 2 errors by Escobar which led to 2 more runs.  The 3rd act was more of the same as Casey Fien was rocked to the tune of 3 more runs. Danny Santana gets hurt. Twins go 0-5 with RISP bringing their total for the season to 3-38, yada, yada, yada.....they got shutout 7-0. Enough said.

 

Today, the 0-5 Twins, desperate for a win, send Mr. Ricky Nolasco to the mound to face Edison Volquez and the Royals.  Volquez, Kansas City's opening day starter, looked the part on Opening Day tossing 6 shutout innings against the Mets.  Meanwhile, Nolasco has one start in the last calendar year where he has gone at least 6 innings and that was last May against Boston.  The Twins will look for any signs of life from the veteran they are paying $12 million dollars this year.  He looked good enough in the Spring to "win" the 5th spot in the rotation,so there's that.

 

Silver lining to an injury? Danny Santana strained his right hamstring attempting to chase a ball in CF in last night's game and was placed on the DL.  In a surprise move, the Twins have called up one of their top prospects, Max Kepler.  In a less surprising move, he is not in the today's lineup.

 

 

 

 

Mauer is about the only Twin to have any success off of Volquez as the team has a slash line of 

.216/.255/.295 against him career wise.  With their current struggles and his past success.....it might be another long day for us Twins fans.

 

--------------------------

 

Twins:

 

 

2B Dozier
LF Rosario
DH Mauer
RF Sano
1B Park
SS Escobar
3B Nunez
C Murphy
CF Buxton

 

SP Nolasco

 

Royals:

 

SS Escobar

3B Moustakas

CF Cain

1B Hosmer

DH Morales

LF Gordon

C Perez

2B Infante

RF Fuentes

 

SP Volquez

 

 

What does Escobar need to do to hit in the top part of the lineup?  He is fire with the bat so far in 2016 and still hits 6th in the lineup, meanwhile Rosario slides into the ever changing 2 spot in the lineup.  Nunez gets his 1st start of the year while Plouffe will sit and Murphy will start for Zuke, which is no surprise with the day after night game.  

 

It would be great going into the home opener with a win.  Let's hope for the Rickey of old and for the bats to start heating up.  Honestly, they really couldn't get any colder at this point.  Hits have to start falling.  Right...?

 

Go Twins. 

DID WE WIN YET?

Rosario is hitting second?

 

DID WE WIN YET?

Not yet. Better question today might be: Did we get a hit yet?

 

Rosario is hitting second?

are you implying that a guy with a sub-.290 career OBP shouldn't be batting in arguably the most important spot in the lineup and getting the second most PAs?

I don't understand why you would bring up Kepler and not stick him in the lineup (did he get late, or is he not with the team yet, etc?). There are other guys in he system that could play center in a pinch off the bench. Wherever he is at this point, and I'm not debating where he should or should not be, he needs to play everyday.

 

DID WE WIN YET?

I'm beginning to wonder if this is a jinx!

"Well yesterday didn't go so well."

 

I blame SwainZag.

 

I don't understand why you would bring up Kepler and not stick him in the lineup (did he get late, or is he not with the team yet, etc?). There are other guys in he system that could play center in a pinch off the bench. Wherever he is at this point, and I'm not debating where he should or should not be, he needs to play everyday.

It's not uncommon to give a callup day or two with the team before putting him in. We could see him in later innings. My guess would be Tuesday to start.

Go Twins!

 

There.  I just wanted to post something positive.  Someone had to do it.  Enjoy the thread, everyone.

It's not uncommon to give a callup day or two with the team before putting him in. We could see him in later innings. My guess would be Tuesday to start.

I prefer to look at it as: we have so much talent, and things are humming along at such a fine pace, why risk jinxing a good thing?

It's not uncommon to give a callup day or two with the team before putting him in. We could see him in later innings. My guess would be Tuesday to start.

Bernardino tweeted that he was told Kepler would not see much playing time during this call-up.

Though, to be fair, he doesn't say who told him thathat.

 

Edit: In combination with other tweets it does seem to imply the information came from Terry Ryan.

Edited April 10, 201610 yr by Mr. Brooks

Rosario is hitting second?

Agree. The way Escobar has been hitting, I'd put him in there. Or, bump Mauer/Sano/Plouffe/etc up and put Rosario 7/8.

 

Rosario is absolutely awful at the plate right now, and might be for quite some time.

Calling Sano's first big fly of the year. Today, that is.

Not yet. Better question today might be: Did we get a hit yet?

0K then!

Bernardino tweeted that he was told Kepler would not see much playing time during this call-up.

Though, to be fair, he doesn't say who told him thathat.

Edit: In combination with other tweets it does seem to imply the information came from Terry Ryan.

So, 24 man roster then. And wasted development time.

 

Makes perfect sense to me.

...

 

Someone had to do it.

 

...

 

 

Actually no one has to.

 

But that makes it special.

Or something.

 

Thanks!

 

I shall reiterate.

 

Go Twins!

 

If you will it, it is no dream.

Oh, did we ever find out about Batman skipping Church? or was left as an exercise to the reader?

Just as you said, SwainZag, what else does Escobar have to do to bat in the top of the lineup? If the Twins want to score runs, just bat Mauer & Escobar next to each other so they can actually score some runs. 

 

Anyways, I think the Twins will win just because baseball is weird. Normally you'd say Volquez VS Nolasco sounds like a free win for the Royals, but any given Sunday... wait, that's a football term. Well, it still applies.

 

It's not uncommon to give a callup day or two with the team before putting him in. We could see him in later innings. My guess would be Tuesday to start.

My guess would be Wednesday.

Today should be the end of the losing streak. We've got our stopper on the mound.

Go Twins!!!!

Nolasco will throw his first of 32 perfect games this year.

I kind of expected a bumpy ride at the beginning of the season this year, however, this is closer to taking off from the Reno airport.*

 

*Taking off from Reno is quite the experience. There are always vicious crosswinds along with a mountain that has to be dodged shortly after takeoff.

 

 

Edited April 10, 201610 yr by Blake

 

Nolasco will throw his first of 32 perfect games this year.

As in "perfectly awful?"

 

I prefer to look at it as: we have so much talent, and things are humming along at such a fine pace, why risk jinxing a good thing?

Tell the truth: were you able to type that with a straight face?

 

Calling Sano's first big fly of the year. Today, that is.

Beat me to it. How far will it fly?

My guess would be Wednesday.

The Sox have lefties pitching Monday and Wednesday, so I would think Thursday would be more likely.

 

As in "perfectly awful?"

https://padresteve.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/kellysheroes2t1oddball.jpg

 

The Sox have lefties pitching Monday and Wednesday, so I would think Thursday would be more likely.

His numbers last season were pretty close to the same LHP vs RHP.