April 3, 20179 yr Author I don't hate it. If Dozier and Grossman can get on base, it looks good although Grossman might end up part of a platoon eventually - but he deserves a shot, I suppose. The bottom three makes a pretty tough bottom of the order. Mauer isn't the hitter he was but he should be able to get on base for Sano.
April 3, 20179 yr It sure is an interesting lineup, that's for sure. I'd prefer something out there than the crap we saw last season. It shows Molitor is willing to listen to the front office and try new things.
April 3, 20179 yr Author Is Castro going to play vs lefties, or is this a "game 1" thing?I imagine Castro will probably catch 120 games and Giminez gets 40. So he's probably more of an everyday guy rather than a platoon guy. But it's just a guess.
April 3, 20179 yr GROSSMAN at DH? Is this some sort of a sick joke!? Is Gardy managin' again? BYTO board would roll in their graves over this lineup choice! Edited April 3, 20179 yr by twinscowboysbulls
April 3, 20179 yr Mauer is the only one I find out of place personally. I'd put him at 2, slide castro and polcano up a spot and put grossman in behind them...
April 3, 20179 yr Author GROSSMAN at DH? Is this some sort of a sick joke!? Is Gardy managin' again? BYTO board would roll in their graves over this lineup choice!Grossman hit lefties really well last year - a .418 OBP (.350 OBP for his career). So if he can continue to harm lefties, the two spot is pretty good.
April 3, 20179 yr I like it, but I would switch Castro and Rosario. I could go either way. I kind of like the idea of Polanco/Kepler/Rosario hitting in front of Dozier. It's almost like having another (poor man's) top-of-the-order going into a second clean-up hitter (Dozier). There are some good baserunners in that group, if they can get on base that is. Edited April 3, 20179 yr by Taildragger8791
April 3, 20179 yr Is Castro going to play vs lefties, or is this a "game 1" thing? I think it's a Game 1 thing, and I have no problem with that. There's something special about Opening Day. I think the lineup is fine with the caveat that I assume against most lefties they won't have all four lefties in the lineup...
April 3, 20179 yr This team is willfully making poor decisions. Makes perfect sense to hit the 42 HR / 99 RBI guy in leadoff, while your cleanup guy is 11 HR / 49 RBI, right? Name one other team in this universe that would do that.
April 3, 20179 yr Lineups don't really matter after the first inning. I'm fine with it. Dozier may get another AB in the 9th, if anything.
April 3, 20179 yr https://twitter.com/ParkerHageman/status/848915270185963522 Ok, that was funny. Maybe they are made out of, um, something really dense?
April 3, 20179 yr I imagine Castro will probably catch 120 games and Giminez gets 40. So he's probably more of an everyday guy rather than a platoon guy. But it's just a guess.Well, they faced a RH starter last year 116 times, and a LH starter 46, so that could still be a platoon arrangement. But, it's probably hard to platoon catchers. Day game after a night game won't necessarily be a different handed starting pitcher. But hopefully the Twins look ahead and try to do this as much as possible -- for their careers, Castro and Gimenez both have a .200+ OPS platoon penalty.
April 3, 20179 yr Leaving behind both Park and Vargas leads to lineups like this. Ridiculous. Yeah, I'm a little underwhelmed by the power in the middle of this lineup. After Dozier the only real power is Sano and who knows when he'll ever put rubber to the road with his strikeouts. Hopefully the 40% rate in spring training was just another number that doesn't matter...
April 3, 20179 yr I think it's a Game 1 thing, and I have no problem with that. There's something special about Opening Day. I think the lineup is fine with the caveat that I assume against most lefties they won't have all four lefties in the lineup...Good thing games in april don't count as much as games in Septe....oh Castro is a much better choice then Giminez regardless though.
April 3, 20179 yr Leaving behind both Park and Vargas leads to lineups like this. Ridiculous.Yeah. Park should be batting cleanup.
April 3, 20179 yr The only question I have is with Castro hitting 6. Poor numbers vs. LHP and Duffy is tough against LH. Seems like 8 would be a better spot for him today.
April 3, 20179 yr https://twitter.com/ParkerHageman/status/848915270185963522That guy in the back should really be closer to Joe to spot him on that 2nd rep.
April 3, 20179 yr I don't understand why Castro would bat that high. Isn't he really awful against lefties?
April 3, 20179 yr https://twitter.com/ParkerHageman/status/848915270185963522 I just send this to a bunch of people. I have a feeling their replies would be in direct violation of the user agreement policy on this website.
April 3, 20179 yr I like it. This has front office influence written all over it. Having Grossman bat second against lefties provides a good OBP guy at the top of the lineup. I also like Mauer batting between Buxton and Sano, more so verse Righties, to provide another OBP guy and take professional at bats and a completely different look for the pitcher than Buxton and Sano. I would maybe switch Castro and Kepler but not a huge problem with it and I like using Polanco at 7 to break up the lefties. At least it shows innovation and some more modern thinking, progress.
April 3, 20179 yr Mauer led all of MLB in least swings at strikes in 2016 (qualifying ABs). Makes perfect sense to have him hit cleanup! Maybe there's a chance he might even hit 11 HR and 49 RBI again! God willing, right? LOL. Guy with 42 HR and 99 RBI? Better hit him leadoff.
April 3, 20179 yr The only question I have is with Castro hitting 6. Poor numbers vs. LHP and Duffy is tough against LH. Seems like 8 would be a better spot for him today.But, our best power hitter is batting leadoff, so we need better hitters in the 7-8-9 spots to get on base for him! Thus, we need to bat our worst hitter 6th.
April 3, 20179 yr This team is willfully making poor decisions. Makes perfect sense to hit the 42 HR / 99 RBI guy in leadoff, while your cleanup guy is 11 HR / 49 RBI, right? Name one other team in this universe that would do that. There is decent baseball science that says put your best players at the top cuz they hit more. Not saying it's definitive but this isn't total idiocy.
April 3, 20179 yr Also, remember Twins fans, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.
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