Article: CIN 15, MIN 9: It Got Even Worse

[Tom Froemming]

No Puerto Rico hangover. No Yankee Mystique. No excuses at home against the worst team in baseball. Make no bones about it, the Twins are simply playing terribly right now. They were leading 8-4, but the wheels completely fell off in what was a six-run fifth inning for the Reds. The Twins have now lost eighth-straight games.Snapshot (chart via FanGraphs)

Download attachment: Snapshot427.png Download attachment: WinEx427.png

I honestly don’t know what to say. If you watched this game, you’re either here because you’re glutton for punishment or you just came to voice your frustrations in the comments (if that’s the case, by all means do so). If you didn’t watch the game, first off congratulations. Secondly, it may be best to just pretend like there was no Twins game on April 27, 2018.

 

Ignorance is bliss.

 

Here we go, don’t say I didn’t warn you. Phil Hughes gave up a solo homer in the top of the first, but the Twins’ offense exploded for five runs in the bottom of the inning. Twins Territory was rejoicing to see the bats finally seem to break out.

 

The big hit in that first frame was a Logan Morrison two-run homer, so the positive vibes were really flowing. It was a simpler time.

 

Hughes really struggled to hit his spots and lasted just 3 2/3 innings, giving up four runs on five hits and two walks. At this point, I don’t know how management can justify giving Hughes another start.

 

The bats added a few more runs, with Robbie Grossman racking up three hits in the process, but everything came crashing down in the fifth. Everything that could go wrong did.

 

Tyler Duffey gave up a leadoff homer to Joey Votto. The next three Reds batters all got hits and the next man reached on an error committed by Duffey. Ryan Pressly came in and gave up a sac fly, the first out of the inning, and then an RBI triple to Billy Hamilton. He scored on a wild pitch.

 

As bad as that inning was, it may have been even more frustrating to watch the Twins fail to rally back when they only trailed by two runs.

 

Cincinnati scored a run in the seventh and then four more in the ninth. David Hale, making his first and what could be final appearance with the Twins, pitched three innings, giving up four runs on four hits and four walks. He threw 57 pitches and the Twins are going to need some fresh arms, so it would be no surprise to see him removed from the 25-man roster. Poor guy.

 

Positives? Well, LoMo and Grossman both had good games. Eddie Rosario homered. Max Kepler got a single off a lefty. Um … Justin Morneau was really good in his booth debut on Fox Sports North.

 

Really nothing positive to say about the pitching.

 

Bullpen Usage

Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days:

Download attachment: Bullpen427.png

Next Three Games

Sat vs. CIN, 1:10 pm CT

Sun vs. CIN, 1:10 pm CT

Mon vs. TOR, 7:10 pm CT

 

Last Three Games

NYY 4, MIN 3: Rodney Spoils Great Gibby Start, Twins Swept

NYY 7, MIN 4: Lance Lynn Is a Dumpster Fire Right Now

NYY 8, MIN 3: Resistance is Futile

 

More From Twins Daily

Twins Minor League Report (4/27): Friday Night Under The Lights

On Ryan Pressly's Release Point, Pitch Mix

Searching for Answers on Trevor Hildenberger

Rodney Living His Own Experience

 

Click here to view the article

[gunnarthor]

I really hope it doesn't get worse than this.

[Taildragger8791]

I know it’s early and baseball tends to go in streaks, but man it’s hard not be he a little disheartened by the first month all up and down the organization. At least the offense got untracked a little today. Hopefully they can carry that forward against better pitching.

[jun]

I think the Twins need quite a few fresh arms. Duffey, Rogers and Hildenberger should all be optioned. In fact half of the pitching staff should be let go.

[Blake]

 

I really hope it doesn't get worse than this.

Sorry, I think it can.

 

This is not an auspicious start to the series.

 

 

[jun]

It really looks worse than 2016. I am not sure whether or not they can win a game this season if they play like this

[kab21]

WHAT HAPPENED!

This has been an awful stretch of games. Just make it end.

[Dantes929]

I didn't watch the whole game but the part I did watch got me to agree with you.   I really liked Morneau in the booth.      Seemed relaxed.   Didn't try too hard.   It had been Bert, Smalley, Hawkins, Morris and Hunter in that order.    Morneau jumped to the top of the list.  Hope he gets more chances.

Man, finally seeing Grossman, Morrison and Eddie all get on track only to lose it really bites.    The best cure for an 8 game losing streak is a 9 game winnings streak but we gotta get that first one.   Hopefully tomorrow and hopefully we get so see Romero or Gonsalves soon.

[h2oface]

If this was a North Carolina basketball team, Roy Williams would bench the relievers and bring in a whole new 5. Alas.... baseball doesn't let you do that. Are we done with the Phil Hughes experiment yet, as well? I can't even see him helping from the pen.

[curt1965]

If Berrios doesn’t win Sunday, there should be some serious panic in all of Twins Territory.

Our pitching just made the worse team in baseball look like the ‘27 Yankees! This from a team that had already been shut out 4 times this year.

The entire organization has the look of a group that’s about to have a date with the executioner. I believe all 4 minor league teams have losing records, and except for our 3 studs pitchers we have been waiting to breathe life into the boys, the hitters have been bad, I don’t even know. 50% of the so-called offense, who by the way are pretty average or slightly below average.

When the management’s post analysis of each past season, and then predictions for the new year of success always mentions the need for pitching improvement-improvement we expect we should see from cast off veterans other clubs no longer want for both the starters and relievers, expecting middle age players released by other clubs to suddenly come here and be aces and stoppers and sure thing closers. So, feeble hitting, and atrocious pitching = losing streaks. Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result-you Know- is the definition of insanity.

 

[Rosterman]

The good news, Duffey on needed 13 pitches in this game in facing six batters. Unfortunately five of them scored runs.

 

Pressly gives up his first run.

 

Humm, maybe the Twins needed to drag Rodney out again. Wait, Hale the new guy is long relief. Well, he ate up some innings and faced more threw as many pitches as Hughes, well almost.

 

Duffey made me long for Kinley.

 

Well, the Twins showed their bats can bang Reds pitching, but.....

[Darius]

The Playoffs are basically out of the question at this point. No way they can make up for this stretch.

 

The more things change the more they stay the same. You can't look me in the eye and tell me you're making an honest 100% effort to win every game if you keep running out guys like Hughes and Rodney the way they have.

 

It's always been very confusing to me that game 10 (for example) is treated differently than game 160. The expiriimentation just doesnt make sense.

[wsnydes]

I'm still puzzled at Molitor bringing Pressly in to face three straight lefties when he also had Rogers ready at the same time.  I trust Pressly more than most in the pen, but the lefty/left matchup at that juncture in the game seemed to me to be the wiser course.  He ended up coming into the inning anyway to face Votto.

 

It was a good thing that the wind was blowing in from left though.  The score could have been even worse with all of the hard hit balls hit that way.

Edited April 28, 2018 by wsnydes

[bighat]

 

The Playoffs are basically out of the question at this point. No way they can make up for this stretch.

 

Hmmm. I am not sure the Playoffs are out of reach just yet. But I'm certainly worried about what a terrible streak, early in the season, can do to a team. In 2016 that early losing streak set the tone and the season was over before it began.

 

Polanco. Buxton. Santana. Those guys matter, the team isn't the same without them. Molitor isn't managing well but he can't go out there and pitch or hit in the clutch, which seem to be the main problems right now. Heck, even the defense is bad. Everything's a problem.

 

Did I mention Santana? Oh to have a cold-blooded stopper who comes to work every day with a smile on his face.

[Vanimal46]

There are zero baseball reasons why Hughes remains on the MLB roster. Get rid of him please.

[JustinCB]

Twins have now won exactly once in the last TWO WEEKS and both the Wild and Wolves got embarrassed out of the playoffs in that span. Good times. Guess I know how Browns fans feel now.

[rv78]

Let's face it. The Twins don't have a pitcher on their roster right now that can get anybody out on a consistant basis. I've seen enough of Hughes, Duffey, and Rodney and all 3 should go bye, bye. I don't care what they are getting paid, they are costing the team wins and that isn't worth any amount of money. When they go send Castro with them. I don't know about the rest of you but the Falvine experiment is starting to worry me when Castro was their first big addition to the team. The guy just can't hit, PERIOD. There's been a couple guys who he reminds me of..., John Ryan Murphy and Drew Butera. I'll take Kurt Suzuki back please. At least in his worst season with the Twins he hit .240.

[Platoon]

Nothing likely would have helped the pitching, but the IF defense has been bad. Not necessarily error bad, those are hard to come by. Good play bad. Sano, nice stop couldn't find the handle. EE, 2 GB not turned into outs. Dozier, what appeared to be a nice force out at home was in reality a well hit ball just to his glove side, a wasted dive, and then a 65 mph toss home. Field the ball standing up, fire it home, and take two. I am not suggesting these plays were run of the mill simple. But making them is what contending teams do. When Buxton is in the OF, the Twins have a good defensive OF alignment, and Mauer is very good. Dozier is "ok", but you can't keep giving up outs and bases by 4 of the 8 defensive positions, and contend!

[Dave The Dastardly]

I couldn't watch/listen to the game last night. Literally, got dragged away in the early innings by the Little Woman. She's strong for her size. Anyway, had I known I was going to miss a pitching duel I would've resisted.

 

How long before the Vikings first game?

[Old Twins Cap]

Can someone go over the Garvin Alston qualifications again?

 

Seemed like a genius move at the time.

 

As did a lot of Falvey and Levine's decisions.

 

2016 all over again, this time with more talent.

[yarnivek1972]

Let's face it. The Twins don't have a pitcher on their roster right now that can get anybody out on a consistant basis. I've seen enough of Hughes, Duffey, and Rodney and all 3 should go bye, bye. I don't care what they are getting paid, they are costing the team wins and that isn't worth any amount of money. When they go send Castro with them. I don't know about the rest of you but the Falvine experiment is starting to worry me when Castro was their first big addition to the team. The guy just can't hit, PERIOD. There's been a couple guys who he reminds me of..., John Ryan Murphy and Drew Butera. I'll take Kurt Suzuki back please. At least in his worst season with the Twins he hit .240.

Just because you don’t care how much Hughes (or anyone else) makes, you can be sure Jim Pohlad does. I’d say it’s pretty clear by now that the decision to not eat his salary prior to the season came from him, as I predicted in other threads.

[adorduan]

 

I didn't watch the whole game but the part I did watch got me to agree with you.   I really liked Morneau in the booth.      Seemed relaxed.   Didn't try too hard.   It had been Bert, Smalley, Hawkins, Morris and Hunter in that order.    Morneau jumped to the top of the list.  Hope he gets more chances.

Man, finally seeing Grossman, Morrison and Eddie all get on track only to lose it really bites.    The best cure for an 8 game losing streak is a 9 game winnings streak but we gotta get that first one.   Hopefully tomorrow and hopefully we get so see Romero or Gonsalves soon.

Ugh, Morneau is a human sleeping pill. Do not want.

[D. Hocking]

 

It really looks worse than 2016. I am not sure whether or not they can win a game this season if they play like this

 

There is a feeling of deja vu.  In 2015 they seemed to have turned the corner and people expected that to be built on in 2016.  Not only did they not get better in 2016 they dropped off a cliff.  It is odd because it is not like there are radical difference in make-up of the team from year to year, but the results were completely different.   

 

Hopefully they can pull out of this tail spin, because it will a shame if they are completely irrelevant by Memorial Day and 2017 like 2015 won't seem like a cruel tease in retrospect.

Edited April 28, 2018 by D. Hocking

[lukeduke1980]

 

Can someone go over the Garvin Alston qualifications again?

 

Seemed like a genius move at the time.

 

As did a lot of Falvey and Levine's decisions.

 

2016 all over again, this time with more talent.

This is where my mind was going.  I know Alston doesn't throw any pitches but there seems to be some strategic misunderstanding here - I think Alston is a 'Fastball' guy - command and control it and everything else falls into place, or something along that.  There seems to be progress with Berrios, Pressly and even Gibby.  Everyone else either 'doesn't get it' and just thinks that commanding your fastball means throw fastballs right over the dish.

[Thebigalguy]

I went off to do something else with the score 8-4. Disturbing to see this morning what happened next. Is the team planning to sandwich the Yankees sweep, which was not surprising, with sweeps by the lowly Rays and Reds?

 

On the other hand, it's too early to panic. Something in the DNA was discombobulated by the week of snow and travel to Puerto Rico. Demote Rodney. Give up on Hughes. Turn on the merry-go-round between MPLS and Rochester. Have a kindly come-to-Jesus (substitute your god or goddess of choice) moment. This is the chance for Mollie and his coaches, not to mention the kids on the field, to earn their pay (which, let me remind you, is more than $15/hour, the minimum wage in any decent country).

 

Give Morneau a chance, by the way. He had rocks in his mouth. He'll find a cadence and style with experience.

[USAFChief]

Agree with comment above...there are no baseball reasons why Phil Hughes has gotten a start for thus team.

 

Also agree that Morneau--one of my favorite Twins ever--was rather...bland and monotone in the booth.

 

And while I'm at it...would it be possible for Mauer to drive in a run on occasion? Perhaps not start every AB with runners on base by looking at two strikes?

[rv78]

 

Just because you don’t care how much Hughes (or anyone else) makes, you can be sure Jim Pohlad does. I’d say it’s pretty clear by now that the decision to not eat his salary prior to the season came from him, as I predicted in other threads.

Well if that is the case I hope Mr Pohlad is going to be happy with another losing season. When a decision is made to keep players that can't perform you are basically telling fans that you don't care. I hope Target Field is a ghost town by Memorial Day. 

[rv78]

 

Agree with comment above...there are no baseball reasons why Phil Hughes has gotten a start for thus team.

Also agree that Morneau--one of my favorite Twins ever--was rather...bland and monotone in the booth.

And while I'm at it...would it be possible for Mauer to drive in a run on occasion? Perhaps not start every AB with runners on
base by looking at two strikes?

Mauer has 1 thing on his mind when he goes up to bat. WALK! He's the opposite of Kirby Puckett. Puckett would hit balls for base hits that were a foot off the plate. Mauer won't swing at anything (unless he has 2 strikes on him) that is right down the middle.

[slash129]

Hildenberger has been figured out and is completely ineffective. Time to swap for Curtiss.

 

If cutting bait on Hughes is off the table, give him the Hale role. Put Hale back on the pile where you found him. Give Slegers a shot at #5 until Gonsalves or Romero are deemed ready.

 

Duffy has been horrible in two appearances, so one more becomes a trend. Give him a shot to break the trend?

 

Nick Anderson and Jake Reed may be worth a look. Is Bard back?

 

That's all I got.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

Mauer has 1 thing on his mind when he goes up to bat. WALK! He's the opposite of Kirby Puckett. Puckett would hit balls for base hits that were a foot off the plate. Mauer won't swing at anything (unless he has 2 strikes on him) that is right down the middle.

ironically, when he has two strikes Mauer does swing at a lot of bad pitches