Article: Week in Review: Down in the Dumps

[Nick Nelson]

What. A. Slump.

 

While going 2-10 over the past two weeks, Minnesota has mostly abided by Murphy's law: whatever can go wrong, will go wrong.

 

There have been plenty of ugly short starts. When a starter managed to turn in a quality outing, the bullpen reliably melted down behind him. Bats have been all too silent. Throw in some questionable decision-making and a healthy dosage of voodoo-hex level bad luck, and you've got a stretch of cover-your-eyes baseball that could only be described as a...

 

(gulp)

 

... Total System Failure?

Weekly Snapshot: Mon, 4/23 through Sun, 4/29

***

Record Last Week: 1-6 (Overall: 9-14)

Run Differential Last Week: -32 (Overall: -34)

Standing: 3rd Place in AL Central (3.5 GB)

HIGHLIGHTS

 

Kyle Gibson's fantastic performance down the stretch last season earned him another shot with the Twins, but there was understandably a great deal of skepticism around him heading into 2018. We've seen flashes like this from the right-hander before, and they've never sustained.

 

But his breakout in the latter part of 2017 did feel different. Gibson made some key adjustments that allowed his stuff to play up, and the result was a stark improvement in whiff rate.

 

"I learned a lot toward the end of the year last year, how my pitches work and how using the fastball differently can help," Gibson said following a spring start in Port Charlotte. His increasedusage of a four-seam has been huge, but on that particular day his slider happened to be a dominant pitch – "probably as good as it's been all spring," by his estimation – and that weapon's been doing work for him in the regular season. This was especially true on Thursday, when he delivered perhaps the best start of his career at Yankee Stadium.

 

Gibson carried a no-hitter into the fifth on his way to six scoreless, striking out 10 and shutting down a lineup that had destroyed the Twins for three games. He impressively induced 18 swinging strikes – 11 of them with the slider, as Tom noted in his recap. Gibson has now tallied 15-plus whiffs in three of his first four turns; last year, he reached that number twice in 29 total starts.

 

 

What once seemed like a fading pipe dream is now a reality: Gibson is finally harnessing his stuff and unleashing it on opposing hitters with devastating effectiveness. He has a 13% swinging strike rate in 16 starts dating back to the beginning of last August, which is sensational. For reference, here are the qualified starters who finished 2017 with a whiff rate of 13% or higher: Kluber, Scherzer, Tanaka, Sale, Ray, Kershaw, Archer, Carrasco, deGrom, Strasburg, Severino.

 

It's obviously a stretch to label Gibson a top-of-rotation starter in that class, mainly because his control still leaves much to be desired with a 59% strike rate and 4.7 BB/9 average, but his arsenal is operating at an elite level and has been for some time. That's huge.

 

Jake Odorizzi also had a very nice start against Cincy on Saturday in Minnesota's lone victory of the week. That's about the extent of the positives.

 

LOWLIGHTS

 

Last year, the Twins found themselves so thin on pitching depth so quickly that by the time May rolled around, they were claiming journeymen off waivers out of desperation for bodies on the staff. (Remember Adam Wilk?)

 

In their second go round, Derek Falvey and Thad Levine seemed to determined to avoid such a pitfall. They built out their starting depth with the late-offseason additions of Odorizzi and Lance Lynn. They brought in three veteran relievers on major-league free agent deals, and acquired another through the Rule 5.

 

Even with Ervin Santana and Trevor May on delayed timelines, the Twins had numbers. Yet here in 2018 they find themselves once again scouring the wire for usable arms – somehow even sooner this time around, despite the perceived depth and all the early off days. This time it was David Hale, who threw three crummy innings on Friday and was then sent packing.

 

The offense's slump (averaging only 3.5 runs in 12 games over the past two weeks, despite two series against bottom-tier teams and one in Yankee Stadium) could theoretically be explained in part by unexpected long layoffs, including a four-day respite during the Snowmageddon. But these circumstances should be benefitting the pitchers.

 

Unlike starting position players, it's not unusual for MLB hurlers to go several days without getting into a game. One would think the extra rest would help keep them fresh and strong.

 

That makes these struggles all the more baffling and alarming. Despite the rotation bright spots mentioned above, this was a staggeringly bad week for the pitching staff.

 

In a miserable effort against the Yankees, Lynn coughed up six runs in 3 2/3 innings – his third time in four starts allowing 5+ ER. On Friday, Phil Hughes melted down after the offense scored him five in the first inning, opening the floodgates on one of the most hideous games from a Twins staff in memory. Jose Berrios turned in two terrible starts, derailing his early momentum while relapsing into the same old patterns of erratic inconsistency.

 

And the bullpen? Woof. Around the middle of last week I started looking at some numbers on Trevor Hildenberger and working on a story. By the time I published it on Thursday night, it almost felt irrelevant.

 

Yeah, Hildenberger is broken right now, but his misfires are getting lost in a sea of relief malfunction. Tayler Rogers allowed seven hits and three walks in three innings after looking brutal in the Tampa Bay series. Fernando Rodney blew his second consecutive save on Thursday and narrowly avoided another one on Saturday with his control completely amiss. Tyler Kinley looked bad enough in his lone appearance against New York that the Twins finally ended their ill-advised experiment, designating him for assignment on Thursday.

 

Last week in this space I wrote that swapping Kinley out for Tyler Duffey felt imminent, given the latter's tremendous early success at Triple-A, and this was essentially the outcome of some roster shuffling that took place. But I don't think anyone could have predicted how mind-bogglingly bad Duffey would be in his first two major-league appearances of the season.

 

On Tuesday, Duffey entered as a reliever in the sixth inning against New York, trying to keep a 5-1 game within reach. He proceeded to give up three runs on a pair of homers. He next appeared on Friday night against Cincinnati, and managed to give up five runs (four earned) on four hits while recording one out. He poured gasoline on the fire Hughes had started. Duffey's latest appearance on Sunday counted as an improvement but included another monster home run. He was shipped back to Triple-A following the Reds series.

 

Outside of Ryan Pressly and Addison Reed, there's really not a single Minnesota reliever inspiring any kind of confidence right now.

 

But really, the true lowlight of the week was the bad news on Byron Buxton. We learned on Saturday that the center fielder suffered a hairline fracture in his big toe when he fouled a ball off his foot during a curious rehab stint in Ft. Myers. As of now he's "out indefinitely," with the club hoping he can make it back within a week or two. We'll see.

 

The Twins were 7-4 before Buxton went down with migraines ahead of the Puerto Rico series. They are 2-10 since. It's not a simple cause-and-effect equation, but this team needs Buck. That's become more obvious now than ever before.

 

TRENDING STORYLINE

 

There are a lot of reasons to feel down about the Twins, but from my view, the outlook for the rotation is relatively favorable, and that's a big reason for optimism that this club will get things turned around and start rattling off wins.

 

Gibson's convincing transformation was noted above. Odorizzi has had ups and downs, but generally looks like a quality mid-rotation starter. Berrios has shown what he's capable of, and I've got to believe/hope he's just going through a temporary downturn. Lynn is certainly the most frustrating enigma at this point, but it's important to keep in mind that he went through an abnormal spring training routine and has a long track record of getting it done. At least he's inducing whiffs (double-digit swinging strikes in all four starts). He's bound to settle in.

 

Hughes is the elephant in the room. He hasn't made it through even four innings in either of his first two starts. The righty has a 1.58 WHIP and 1.8 HR/9 rate dating back to 2016, and there is just no evidence suggesting he's going to be able to find a way to be effective again.

 

The substantial money owed to him through next year is a complicating factor, and may compel the team to give him just slightly more time to figure something out, but one way or another it feels like Hughes' days in Minny are numbered. Santana is said to be nearing a bullpen session, which would put him on a concrete timeframe. May is already making rehab starts at extended spring training. Fernando Romero and Stephen Gonsalves are both now a step away at Triple-A.

 

Help is on the way for this unit. We'll just have to see how quick the Twins will be to call on it. For now, it appears Hughes will get at least one more start. How much longer can a spiraling club keep running out a pitcher who gives them so little chance to compete?

 

DOWN ON THE FARM

 

* Finally, Gonsalves received his overdue promotion to Triple-A, after going 19-4 with a 2.23 ERA in the equivalent of a full MLB season at Chattanooga (32 starts, 182 innings). His debut for the Red Wings should come in Pawtucket this week.

 

* Meanwhile, Nick Gordon is still awaiting his Triple-A nod but it can't be too far off with the way he's been hitting. The shortstop owns a .341 batting average at Chattanooga and already has eight extra-base hits in 21 games.

 

* Twins Daily's No. 9 prospect Brusdar Graterol made a big leap this week with the move to full-season ball. In his first start at Low-A on Friday he showed dominant stuff, flashing 96-99 MPH with his fastball while striking out seven of the 17 batters he faced.

 

* Another good week for Royce Lewis at Cedar Rapids. The organization's top prospect went 7-for-21 with five RBI in six games, and stole three bases. He's slashing .333/.382/.412 for the Kernels.

 

* John Curtiss figures to joining the big-league club any day now. He's already on the 40-man roster, and is making a clear case for a promotion with his 2.89 ERA and 0.97 WHIP at Rochester. Curtiss has struck out 17 of the 38 batters he's faced, including five over 2 1/3 in a dazzling outing on Friday. There's a good chance he gets the call on Monday to replace Duffey.

 

LOOKING AHEAD

 

There's no respite on the horizon. With their bullpen already running thin, the Twins still have nine straight days of games ahead. The first three will come against a Toronto team that has historically tormented them to a degree only the Yankees can top. With Lynn and Hughes both scheduled to throw, Minnesota's lineup will need to step up and score some runs after a thoroughly disappointing final two days against Cincinnati, one of baseball's worst staffs. Luckily, it looks like the Twins will avoid Josh Donaldson, who's expected to come off the disabled list next weekend.

 

MONDAY, 4/30: BLUE JAYS @ TWINS – RHP Aaron Sanchez v. RHP Lance Lynn

TUESDAY, 5/1: BLUE JAYS @ TWINS – RHP Marco Estrada v. RHP Kyle Gibson

WEDNESDAY, 5/2: BLUE JAYS @ TWINS – RHP Marcus Stroman v. RHP Phil Hughes

THURSDAY, 5/3: TWINS @ WHITE SOX – RHP Jake Odorizzi v RHP Reynaldo Lopez

FRIDAY, 5/4: TWINS @ WHITE SOX – RHP Jose Berrios v. RHP Carson Fulmer

SATURDAY, 5/5: TWINS @ WHITE SOX – RHP Lance Lynn v. LHP Hector Santiago

SUNDAY, 5/6: TWINS @ WHITE SOX – RHP Kyle Gibson v. RHP James Shields

 

Catch Up On Twins Daily Game Recaps

• Game 17 | NYY 14, MIN 1: What Did We Expect?
• Game 18 | NYY 8, MIN 3: Resistance is Futile
• Game 19 | NYY 7, MIN 4: Lance Lynn is a Dumpster Fire Right Now
• Game 20 | NYY 4, MIN 3: Rodney Spoils Great Gibby Start, Twins Swept
• Game 21 | CIN 15, MIN 9: It Got Even Worse
• Game 22 | MIN 3, CIN 1: Losing Streak Snapped as Odorizzi Delivers Quality Start
• Game 23 | CIN 8, MIN 2: Berrios Bombs as Twins Drop Series to Cincy

More on Twins Daily

• What is driving Pressly's success here in April? Jamie Cameron called out the righty's release point consistency and slider location as two key contributors
• Ted Schwerzler took a look at the Fernando Rodney experience, which thus far hasn't been all the pleasant for Twins fans as the veteran has blown as many saves as he's converted.
• Parker Hageman asked: What's going on with Logan Morrison? He attempted to answer the question with one of his patented mechanical breakdowns.

 

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[Blake]

Excellent article but I cannot bring myself to "like" the article.

 

I just don't think Molitor has what it takes to inspire the Twins.

 

And I don't know why the FO continues to give away games by starting Mr. Hughes.

 

Are they hoping he'll retire so they're not on the hook for his salary?

 

Ah well, so it goes.

[Mike Sixel]

Depressing week, for a twins fan.

[Old Twins Cap]

I can't breathe!

[Dman]

I was so excited for this season to start.  I really felt like the team was on the rise.  The way this team has lost games makes me wish we could start the season over.

 

So funny how last year we got off to a great start and things fell our way when I was expecting a bad year.  Then this Year I was expecting a great year and it is a disaster.  The baseball gods are cruel so cruel.

[Platoon]

Nice article. I think the defense shares some of the blame also. Not that many errors, but also nothing to speak off in the terms of sparkling defense either.

[Primetime82]

We should really be able stock up the farm system with a few trades at the deadline and with top 10 pick next season. This team brutal!

Edited April 30, 2018 by ashburyjohn
Expletive deleted

[Han Joelo]

They were left for dead last trade deadline.  I'm not jumping ship yet.  But man they've had an awful stretch.  Isn't this what Torii Hunter's on the payroll for?  To fly in and give a speech or something?

 

I went into one of those "Escape the Room" events yesterday, with Rodney on the hill and one man already walked on base.  No cell phones in the room.  When I emerged an hour later, lo and behold, they'd actually held on.  For now, that will be the way I "watch" games--locked in a room, with no cell phone.

[D.C Twins]

Agree that Buck out is a big difference.

 

But, the other big difference between this year and last is obviously Santana. 

 

His lights out pitching single handedly kept us in the race, especially in the first 3rd of last season. 

 

I feel like we'll find a groove as the weather warms, but I'm also worried that we'll have dug too deep of a hole by the time we do.....we just don't have the talent to start from a deep hole

[Yossarian]

This season has been a dumpster fire.  I expected a bit of regression towards the 2016 atrocity, but not to this degree. 

[mikelink45]

The big failure for me is the FO.  Great stats guys.  Way to construct the roster, good job signing the FO, excellent work choosing who to DFA.  In other words, this is what Molitor got from the new geniuses and I am not impressed.  Odorizzi and Lynn were better than Gonsalves and Romero?  Ya, sure.  Morrison is better than Vargas???? Grossman is a better fourth outfielder than Granite and Wade?????  Better to move Escobar to SS when he is our best 3B rather than bringing up Gordon - no.  Lets get Rodney for entertainment value, but we should have someone who gives us less dramatics and more results.  I am not impressed with our FO geniuses and all the moves they have made, or any of thee moves they have made.  

[h2oface]

Back to dumpster diving off the waiver wire for pitchers, no offense, poor defense, Grossman playing in the outfield, Castro making wild pitches out of pitches that should be blocked or caught, Hughes and Rodney marched out regardless of the case to just move on, a blowpen matching the last two years......... and this team is even worse than Detroit at present. How is it Hughes gets paid millions, has tons of free time, and still comes back soft bellied and out of shape, instead of svelte and looking like a new man ready to really be a professional athlete? And the incessant walks from the pitchers supplied by the expert FO identifiers. How is it that it seems almost every walk from our staff turns into runs, and our guys seem to not get to home plate after they walk, even with 4 errors by the opposing team. Dozier now back down to .260. How does the fastest team so often not make it first to third on a single, or score from first on a double, but we see it happen to us way too often? 

 

I have to take a week off. I have a headache.... and as long as Rodney is on this team, I don't have hope it will go away.

[Darius]

This goes beyond a slump.

 

Awful personnel decisions (Kinley, Rodney closing, Hughes starting, etc), bullpen mismanagement questionable lineup decisions (Kepler hitting 7th/8th with Rosario hitting 4th for a month), and awful fundamental baseball (defense, moving runners, making contact with RISP and less than 2 outs) are all significant contributing factors.

 

Calling it a slump gives the implication that there's luck and things beyond team/player control involved. This is a just bad team, being managed very poorly. This isn't something that is merely happening to them, they the made the bed they're sleeping in (including Falvine).

[killertwinfan]

This team looks eerily similar to the 103 loss team.  I know we have more talent but they are playing the same way.  BTW, the team that loss 103 had too much talent for that as well.  100+ losses is more about your mental state than it is talent.  This season feels cursed.  

[dogsday]

It shouldn’t be a surprise that a team missing starting position players (Buxton, Sano, and Polanco) and a front-line pitcher (Santana) is a worse team, even with the free agent additions. Right now it is surprising how much worse. Many of the players we are counting on are young. Some players take longer than others (Dozier, Brian and Hicks, Aaron, etc.). Others never become reliable performers (add a longer list here). We are just entering the period where we discover what kinds of careers Buxton, Sano, Polanco, Kepler, Berrios, etc. will have. All we can say for sure is that it won’t be instant, unblemished stardom for any of them.

[USAFChief]

Some thoughts:

 

- some of this is self inflicted. Keeping Kinley meant you guaranteed your manager was playing with a 24 man roster, for example. The Fernando Rodney Experience would have some rough patches, at minimum, for another. Settling for Grossman  as your 4th OFer and LaMarre as your 5th OFer AS YOUR PLAN COMING OUT OF SPRING TRAINING is self inflicted pain, and I have no sympathy. A team fancying itself a contender doesn't try to get away with that. Phil Hughes. Phil Hughes is completely, totally, unquestionably NOT bad luck, or unforeseeable circumstance. That is 100 percent on the front office. 

 

- It's remarkable how much worse the defense looks when you remove Buxton and Polanco (and Polanco isn't really a very good SS).

 

Escobar is really stretched as an everyday SS, Sano has some talent but is inconsistent at 3rd. Dozier's arm is even worse than last year, if that's possible. Watching Grossman run in place as a ball 10 feet to one side or the other scoots by him to the wall and a runner scores from first easily is painful. Rosario's inexplicable throws seem to still pop up once a week or so.

 

Mauer is a good defender at first, but he's already taken SIX days off from first base duty. Six! So barely a month into a season where off days have fell like snow flakes in April, the team hasn't benefited from that defense in a quarter of their games. Can someone explain to me why a first baseman needs ANY days off, much less 1 in four? Especially as the team's injury and W/L situation crumbles?  

 

Some things I'd try: 

Mauer plays 1st base every day. 

 

Adrianza is my every day SS. Escobar goes back to his utility job. I love's me some EE, but he just gives away too much at short to play there every day.

 

I move Rosario down in the order. The inability to control the strike zone is just too damaging in the middle of the few rallies they generate, particularly when you're already forced to endure a massive whiff rate from Sano. I also have my OF coach sit down with Rosario and go over, one last time, where and why we make certain throws. Next time he airmails an ill conceived throw to the backstop, he sits. "That's just Eddie" excuses stop now. This is supposed to be major league baseball. Play like it.

 

Find a fourth OFer. At this point, it might be impossible, and for sure you're going to overpay in a trade, but do it. The idea that Buxton/Kepler/Rosario were going to play every day for 6 months was never going to happen. And you don't have anyone to back them up. Admit your mistake and try to fix it.

 

Hughes' time on the roster is over, immediately. Thanks for your service, hard work trying to return, and best of luck to you in the future. The checks will be in the mail for another 16 months.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Puckett34]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnIaqAsnSxU

 

As much as I want Molitor to do something akin to the above video, the sun did rise in the east this morning, the Minnesota Twins will play baseball today (barring a surprise blizzard), and they still have 139 chances to win another 80+, with 55 more against the Royals, White Sox and Tigers.    Looks bleak right now, but I think better days are just around the corner.*

 

 

*At least that's what I'm telling myself

[Mr. Brooks]

Some thoughts:

 

- some of this is self inflicted. Keeping Kinley meant you guaranteed your manager was playing with a 24 man roster, for example. The Fernando Rodney Experience would have some rough patches, at minimum, for another. Settling for Grossman as your 4th OFer and LaMarre as your 5th OFer AS YOUR PLAN COMING OUT OF SPRING TRAINING is self inflicted pain, and I have no sympathy. A team fancying itself a contender doesn't try to get away with that. Phil Hughes. Phil Hughes is completely, totally, unquestionably NOT bad luck, or unforeseeable circumstance. That is 100 percent on the front office.

 

- It's remarkable how much worse the defense looks when you remove Buxton and Polanco (and Polanco isn't really a very good SS).

 

Escobar is really stretched as an everyday SS, Sano has some talent but is inconsistent at 3rd. Dozier's arm is even worse than last year, if that's possible. Watching Grossman run in place as a ball 10 feet to one side or the other scoots by him to the wall and a runner scores from first easily is painful. Rosario's inexplicable throws seem to still pop up once a week or so.

 

Mauer is a good defender at first, but he's already taken SIX days off from first base duty. Six! So barely a month into a season where off days have fell like snow flakes in April, the team hasn't benefited from that defense in a quarter of their games. Can someone explain to me why a first baseman needs ANY days off, much less 1 in four? Especially as the team's injury and W/L situation crumbles?

 

Some things I'd try:

Mauer plays 1st base every day. Suck it up, buttercup.

 

Adrianza is my every day SS. Escobar goes back to his utility job. I love's me some EE, but he just gives away too much at short to play there every day.

 

I move Rosario down in the order. The inability to control the strike zone is just too damaging in the middle of the few rallies they generate, particularly when you're already forced to endure a massive whiff rate from Sano. I also have my OF coach sit down with Rosario and go over, one last time, where and why we make certain throws. Next time he airmails an ill conceived throw to the backstop, he sits. "That's just Eddie" excuses stop now. This is supposed to be major league baseball. Play like it.

 

Find a fourth OFer. At this point, it might be impossible, and for sure you're going to overpay in a trade, but do it. The idea that Buxton/Kepler/Rosario were going to play every day for 6 months was never going to happen. And you don't have anyone to back them up. Admit your mistake and try to fix it.

 

Hughes' time on the roster is over, immediately. Thanks for your service, hard work trying to return, and best of luck to you in the future. The checks will be in the mail for another 16 months.

Can't love this post enough.

 

The one thing I can find to disagree with is overpaying for a 4th outfielder.

Unless they can fix other problems quickly, that seems like a waste of assets.

[Tomj14]

I am usually the pessimist, so I will try to be the optimist today.

The twins are 9 - 14 and the closer has three blown saves, if he only blows one the twins are 11-12.

Lynn can't be this bad going forward, I have to assume this is his worst 4 games ever?

At some point they Hughes will be gone.

Sano, Buxton, Castro, Grossman and Morrison can't continue to hit at or under .213.

And if they can get a little bit more out of the starters the bullpen will get straightened out. You can't continue to ask them to pitch a minimum 3 innings every night and most 4 to 5.

And if these things don't happen, we should get to see Gonzo, Romero, Gordon and Wade this summer.

 

I will add the front office loaded a team that seems unwilling or unable to take a walk. Buxton, Rosario and Sano have a combined 14, Sano should have more than that by himself.

Edited April 30, 2018 by Tomj14

[Danchat]

 

Adrianza is my every day SS. Escobar goes back to his utility job. I love's me some EE, but he just gives away too much at short to play there every day.

I know Escobar doesn't have the range to play SS, but he's hitting .308 with .920 OPS, so we need his bat in the lineup every day until he isn't hitting that well and our DH/OFs start picking up the slack. Plus while Polanco has much better range, Escobar at least has the arm to consistently make the throws unlike Jorge.

[Number3]

It is a cliche but the Twins must be hitting (pun intended) on at least 7 out of 8 cylinders to win on a consistent basis. Don't forget Polanco who was instrumental in many Ws last year. So losing him for 80 games followed by Santana and then Buxton and now Sano makes any weak link in performance disastrous and that leads to Molitor. Last year after the FO traded away Kinsler and seemed to be kissing the season good bye, somehow the remaining players kicked themselves in the behind and took themselves to the wild card for what good that did. I am convinced that Molitor had absolutely nothing to do with that and I hope he sincerely thanked his players for the manager of the year award since he had nothing to do with it.

This team now has 2016 written all over it and all Molitor can do is come up with another way to say "No one saw this coming." After they lose the Toronto series he had better be fired immediately and Billy Martin Jr. brought in where ever he may be. Fear or anger or both must be applied to this team or they are history. Multi year million dollar contracts certainly don't help so the inspiration must come from some place else and it ain't Molitor.

[wsnydes]

 

Some thoughts:

 

- some of this is self inflicted. Keeping Kinley meant you guaranteed your manager was playing with a 24 man roster, for example. The Fernando Rodney Experience would have some rough patches, at minimum, for another. Settling for Grossman  as your 4th OFer and LaMarre as your 5th OFer AS YOUR PLAN COMING OUT OF SPRING TRAINING is self inflicted pain, and I have no sympathy. A team fancying itself a contender doesn't try to get away with that. Phil Hughes. Phil Hughes is completely, totally, unquestionably NOT bad luck, or unforeseeable circumstance. That is 100 percent on the front office. 

 

- It's remarkable how much worse the defense looks when you remove Buxton and Polanco (and Polanco isn't really a very good SS).

 

 

It's amazing how a team that was talking contention going into and coming out of Spring Training handcuffed the roster like they did.  I'm no fan of Molitor, but some of the roster composition choices did nothing but handcuff him.  Why would a contending team carry two, arguably three, dead roster spots?  The lack of legit 4th outfielder is mind boggling.  I could handle Grossman or LaMarre, but not both.  

 

It's true, the injuries to Buxton and Santana have left a void.  The suspension of Polanco hurts the team more than many realize in my view.  I thought that the 2016 squad was one of the lowest baseball IQ teams of recent memory.  I don't think this years squad is quite that bad, but I leave myself scratching my head about bonehead plays and brow raising managerial decisions far more frequently than I should from a team that has it's sights set on contending. 

 

What has me more concerned at the moment is how the team seemed to lay down after getting down both Friday and Sunday.  One of the things I have enjoyed about Molitor teams is their lack of quit.  That has not been present in the last week or so.  Friday night after they fell behind, they looked like they were going through the motions.  

 

[Doctor Wu]

The depressing losing streak aside, I'm also concerned about this early season tactic of "dumpster diving" as someone so aptly phrased it; to acquire new players to supplement our fractured roster. It's one thing if we were suffering from a rash of injuries, but the vast majority of these moves, just to replace players who are performing poorly, seems like the head office is already panicking.

[nokomismod]

That Friday night game in St Pete is on my mind. Rosario hits the one handed Grand Slam to tie the game, and Kepler with the solo shot to put the Twins up one. Rodney strikes out the first two and beans Gomez. It's been downhill since.

[mikelink45]

Reading the post responses I had another thought that I have to get rid of by writing it down.  This team does not really deserve excuses.  I know Polanco is out - his own fault - but more important do you remember how lousy he was the first half of the year. Yes it looked like he turned it around, but at this time last year he was a minus.  Buxton has been and will continue to be in and out of the lineup - Sano too.  How much did those two miss last year when our record was good?  

​Supposedly we plugged the holes and actually got better by FO moves - FA, but someone better go back and recheck all those stats the team now relies on because there is an error somewhere in the calculations.  

 

[TwinsWonWithHunter]

Nick, good job calling this like it is. Your Total System Failure remark is on the spot: this team looks more and more like the '16 squad by the day.

 

I was curious coming out of Spring Training what kind of identity this team would have. There seemed to have been quite a few assumptions out of the national media that a) we would be improved over last year, we were a lock for (at least) 2nd place in the division, and c) we would absolutely be in the mix for a play-off spot. And since we won 85 games last year, it would stand to reason that a conservative win total expectation would be about 90.

 

90+ win teams, however, kind of know who they are, what their strengths are. But what did we really know about this team?

 

We knew that we added two starters who give you six innings, nothing more. We knew that we added some bullpen arms, and that those same arms should signal at least a marginal improvement over the arms we ended last season with. Finally, we knew we had a DH who we could likely count on for about 30 home runs.

 

But, were any of these additions game changers? Decent starting pitchers of the six-inning variety are, I am sad to say, nothing more than replacement-level. Bullpen arms come and go, come and go, and can be had throughout the season for a song. And 30 homers out of DH: one suspects that if we just had the patience to trot Vargas out there every day, we would have those numbers anyway.

 

Hindsight is 20/20, and many of us lauded some of our team's off-season moves. But the returns after one month are plainly evident: the additions have not improved the club.

 

I'd like to put this another way. If we go, say, 66-96 this year, what does that tell us about our whiz-bang front office? How then we will assess their first full off-season at the helm?

 

Because as the calendar turns to May tonight, we are staring down a very bad baseball team that, at this point, has to be looked at through the lens of "This is what Falvey and Levine have delivered."

 

It is time to begin that conversation.      

 

 

[Mike Sixel]

I agree with every word Chief wrote. And, none of that is hindsight. Those things were said here before the season started.

 

Cut Hughes or move him to mop up

Call up Wade, DFA Lamarre

Mauer plays every day until Sano is healthy

Call up Romero or Slegers or Gonsalves

Promote Gordon to AAA

The next time they need a RP, call up Jay.

[Platoon]

The problem with thinking 2017 is repeatable is that you would have to hope that the Twins end up with the same cupcake schedule they did in the last half of 2017. That's not a certainty. The White Sox and their young roster may improve more than we think. History does repeat itself, but remember 2016 is also history. Chief is pretty spot on with my thoughts on the roster. While Molitor is hamstrung by some FO decisions, he is the one exposing EE, sitting Mauer, and hitting Kepler in the bottom of the order. A lot falls back on him. Lastly, LaMarre ain't no prize, but you cannot have RG wandering aimlessly around in RF with that arm, or lack thereof. It takes a LOT of walks to make up for that level of defense.

[PDX Twin]

Morneau made a comment on the Sunday broadcast to the effect that other teams didn't seem to hate the Twins when he played because they recognized and respected that the Twins played the game "the right way." 

 

This team does not play "the right way." There is no hustle or enthusiasm. Some have commented on Dozier's apparent lack of hustle, and he's supposed to be one of the leaders. There just doesn't seem to be anyone exhibiting the attitude of "if I just work a little harder, maybe I can help turn this around." More like "I can't wait for this game to be over?" Or "Oh, well. I still get a nice big check in my bank account."

 

It really makes them hard to watch (along with the losing, of course).

 

 

[Taildragger8791]

I figured this offense would run hot and cold, like most do, but this is something else. Most of the hitters just don't have any consistency or complement each other's skills very well. Our most consistent power hitter can only hit lead-off. Our best on-base guy is a slow-footed first basemen. Kepler can't crack the top half of the lineup. Our most powerful hitter is an 80% chance of being an out, a 40% chance of being a strikeout, and can't stay healthy. Buxton can't get on base or stay healthy. And it only gets worse from there. This squad can jump on bad pitchers or get in sync for a day and put up crooked numbers, but it's going to be tough going up against legit pitching/defense unless they change something up. There's a reason they're 1-12 when giving up 4 or more runs.