Front Page: Twins Game Recap (8/2): Cruz Powers Twins to Another Close Win Over the Royals

[mickey]

Because Rocco made such a mistake using Dyson before he was ready, the smart move for the manager would be to step and publicly take the blame for that obvious blunder.  Then, he should allow the player to get his footing with his new team and teammates before asking politely, if he's ready to show his stuff. (it won't take long...a couple of days to learn the signs, learn the opponents and learn his way around the facility in order to get into a comfortable routine...that's all...) Instead, Rocco as much as blamed Dyson for not being ready, and then, after burning him in Miami, he threw him right back into the frying pan.  Dyson couldn't possibly have had an intelligent gameplan for Kansas City players he's never faced before.  He hasn't been getting ready for Kansas City for 10 games so far this season like the rest of the team.  He's coming off of a life-changing trade, 2 airplane flights, an embarrassing outing which was more like a practical joke than a legitimate appearance.  (all in less than 48 hours...) Who he's talking to and who's talking to him has all changed drastically.  Pitchers are creatures of habit and process. Their ability to pitch is a function of mechanical comfort. Much like golfers.  Whatever his normal procedure has been, he's not going through it now.  We need this guy, and to shock his system this way could easily have detrimental effects throughout the remainder of the season.  The Twins aren't desperate for his services.  Why not give him the same chance the Twins gave Romo, allow him to get comfortable and then, when he's ready, he'll shine.

[Dozier's Glorious Hair]

 

Accept that he hasn't gotten the job done, instead of trying to find a reason to blame someone else.

 

I hardly think it's unreasonable to believe Baldelli may have been a little too bold in using Dyson in Miami, but I agree with you that it's ultimately on him that he hasn't gotten the job done. It's certainly on him to pull himself together. I'm still confident he will.

[Mr. Brooks]

Because Rocco made such a mistake using Dyson before he was ready, the smart move for the manager would be to step and publicly take the blame for that obvious blunder. Then, he should allow the player to get his footing with his new team and teammates before asking politely, if he's ready to show his stuff. (it won't take long...a couple of days to learn the signs, learn the opponents and learn his way around the facility in order to get into a comfortable routine...that's all...) Instead, Rocco as much as blamed Dyson for not being ready, and then, after burning him in Miami, he threw him right back into the frying pan. Dyson couldn't possibly have had an intelligent gameplan for Kansas City players he's never faced before. He hasn't been getting ready for Kansas City for 10 games so far this season like the rest of the team. He's coming off of a life-changing trade, 2 airplane flights, an embarrassing outing which was more like a practical joke than a legitimate appearance. (all in less than 48 hours...) Who he's talking to and who's talking to him has all changed drastically. Pitchers are creatures of habit and process. Their ability to pitch is a function of mechanical comfort. Much like golfers. Whatever his normal procedure has been, he's not going through it now. We need this guy, and to shock his system this way could easily have detrimental effects throughout the remainder of the season. The Twins aren't desperate for his services. Why not give him the same chance the Twins gave Romo, allow him to get comfortable and then, when he's ready, he'll shine.

Has anyone else who was traded at the deadline appeared in a game yet?

 

You'd think Dyson is the most fragile person in the world, the way some speak of him.

Do you think Dyson would be appreciative of being treated like a baby in front of his brand new teammates?

 

I don't understand how sitting in a comfortable first class seat, watching a movie or listening to music for a couple hours is suddenly some devastatingly incapacitating thing that affects his ability to pitch.

You do realize that these guys take like 40 of these flights every season, right? How many off days should the team be given between series, since it's so difficult to play baseball within 48 hours of a flight?

 

The guy is a professional, grown adult. He is a good pitcher who hasn't gotten the job done in two appearances for us so far. That's all. It's not because he napped on a plane for a couple hours, or because he doesn't know his teammates.

[Mr. Brooks]

I hardly think it's unreasonable to believe Baldelli may have been a little too bold in using Dyson in Miami, but I agree with you that it's ultimately on him that he hasn't gotten the job done. It's certainly on him to pull himself together. I'm still confident he will.

Sure, the Miami game is a fair argument, even if I disagree.

 

Last night's game is 100% on him.

Since the moment he arrived at the ballpark on Thursday, he's had the exact same itinerary and routine as the rest of the team.

[Danchat]

Problem is: Twins not playing well, not firing on all or even very many cylinders, especially in extra innings.

 

And, defense has been poor for a couple of months now, along with relief pitching, and against good teams, the starters don't even grade out well.

 

So, Twins are not playing well. Cleveland is.

 

Still got time to get back in the groove, but this is go time in MLB and the Twins are waiting at the busstop.

Not playing well = winning 6 of our last 8 and scoring 11 runs yesterday? I know we have some issues to iron out, but I think it’s safe to say the offense is firing on most cylinders.

[ashbury]

This current four-game losing streak has been hard on everyone's nerves. Hopefully the Twins figure out how to get back on track tonight.

[Darius]

Cruz is absolutely hammering the ball right now. He probably should’ve had another 3 HR night last night. He almost certainly does in a lot of ballparks.

 

Find me a hitter that’s more fun to watch than Nelson Cruz at his best. There aren’t many walking the planet that can hit lasers like that (his teammates Sano and Rosario when at their best could be in that conversation, actually).

 

He’s putting together one of the best individual offensive seasons in team history right now. He’s not far off of the best single season OPS, OPS+, etc in Twins history.

Edited August 3, 2019 by Darius

[D.C Twins]

Post trade deadline Twins Slogan contest!

 

1. "Expectation Management!"

2. "No Deficit....or Lead is too large!"

3. "Our third starter is better than Les Straker in 1987!"

[mickeymental]

some of these posts are remindful of george costanza in the batting cage, schooling jeter and bernie williams on the finer points of hitting. they question his qualifications and mention that, after all, they won the last world series. to which george disdainfully responds, "yeah, in six games."

[bighat]

Buxton and Cron. Please come back soon. It seems like we haven't had a full "A" team playing since opening day. It's August, we need you!

[HawksNest]

FWIW Reusse tweeted around midnight to expect Buxton to be placed on the IL....

[mickeymental]

love the guy, but it's like the old cliche ... wanna buy an alfa romeo? step 1: buy an alpha romeo repair shop.

[KirbyDome89]

In other words, Martin Perez has been.....Martin Perez.....since the beginning of June. 

[Doomtints]

Dear Twins,

 

Nice bullpen or whatever.

 

Thanks,

 

Doomtints

 

P.S. Nice infield defense or whatever.

[Doomtints]

 

Problem is: Twins not playing well, not firing on all or even very many cylinders, especially in extra innings.

 

And, defense has been poor for a couple of months now, along with relief pitching, and against good teams, the starters don't even grade out well.

 

So, Twins are not playing well.  Cleveland is.

 

Still got time to get back in the groove, but this is go time in MLB and the Twins are waiting at the busstop.

 

I agree. The defense has really been the difference, this has been a .500ish team since the defense tanked. It's kinda sad the org isn't talking about it, which makes it seems like they are not addressing it and possibly don't even see it.

Edited August 3, 2019 by Doomtints

[Thebigalguy]

Sure, Cleveland has come from 11 1/2 to 3 back. That makes next week's four game series all the more exciting. Our pitching is worrisome. The hitters get runs and the pitchers often give them right back. But that 11 1/2 lead gave the Twins a chance to test out numerous arms in the pen. We know what we have. As for Dyson, we all expect better from him, but he blew one game and almost gave away a second. Tommy Lasorda said even the best teams lose a third of their games and even the worst win a third. It's the other third that determines division winners; we've blown too many late-inning leads. I have hopes that Rogers and Romo, the R boys, can shut down opponents the way Joe Nathan did. If not, we're toast. 

[lukeduke1980]

The Royals don't seem to know they're supposed to roll over for us like they do for Cleveland.

[USAFChief]

The Royals don't seem to know they're supposed to roll over for us like they do for Cleveland.

the Twins dont seem to know they're supposed to roll over KC like Cleveland does.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

I’ve noticed a lot of complaining about the complainers.

 

Complaining is part of being a fan for some of us. I’d say 90+ percent of us who are complaining are all in on winning this thing.

[Otto von Ballpark]

The Royals don't seem to know they're supposed to roll over for us like they do for Cleveland.

Cleveland vs the Royals this year: 10-6

 

Twins vs the Royals this year: 7-3

 

The Royals seem to be rolling over just fine for us, relative to Cleveland.

[MABB1959]

Dyson blamed himself on the first game.  He should have been able to close out a team like Miami and he didn't.  Because I have DishTV I have not been able to watch so didn't see or hear any comments from him on last nights game.  Two games not a great impression but hopefully in a couple of weeks we can calm down.  I am starting to get nervous though.  I am not sure what to do about Dish TV?  Has anyone switched yet? I don't want to switch because I like PrimeTime Anyway and we have lot's of kids movies recorded but I don't want to miss the rest of the season.  Any advice?

 

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

Dyson blamed himself on the first game.  He should have been able to close out a team like Miami and he didn't.  Because I have DishTV I have not been able to watch so didn't see or hear any comments from him.  Two games not a great impression but hopefully in a couple of weeks we can calm down.  I am starting to get nervous though.  I am not sure what to do about Dish TV?  Has anyone switched yet? I don't want to switch because I like PrimeTime Anyway and we have lot's of kids movies recorded but I don't want to miss the rest of the season.  Any advice?

If you're not quite ready to switch from Dish, but you don't want to miss any games, you can just sign up for a free trial of streaming service that carries Fox Sports North.

 

I see 3 services with FSN that offer free one week trials:

 

Hulu with Live TV

YouTube TV

Fubo TV

 

There's also Sony's Vue service which offers a 5 day trial.

 

I think all of these services also support logging in through the Fox Sports Go site/app, so you don't have to change apps every week -- you can simply log out of Fox Sports Go with one service, and log in with the next.

 

https://www.foxsportsgo.com/

 

Maybe I should start a new topic on this, it seems to be affecting quite a few people!

[MABB1959]

Hulu did not work at least with the 5.99 or 11.99 per month option. Did not want to sign up for 5 day 49.99 per month option. Using Fox Sports Go and my daughters account login. Thank goodness. I was starting to freak out for sure.

[Otto von Ballpark]

Hulu did not work at least with the 5.99 or 11.99 per month option. Did not want to sign up for 5 day 49.99 per month option. Using Fox Sports Go and my daughters account login. Thank goodness. I was starting to freak out for sure.

The $5.99/11.99 plans are just for Hulu's video on demand library, similar to Netflix.

 

The $44.99 Hulu + Live TV plan includes live TV channels like Fox Sports North too. And it should have a 7 day free trial -- maybe you have to provide a credit card, but they shouldn't bill you if you cancel within 7 days.

 

But yeah, any Fox Sports Go credentials should work. Glad you got it working!

[MABB1959]

Not paying $50 for it.  I can watch game day with all the fake baseball players and listen to the radio.  I do miss watch Berrios pitch and the sluggers slug but I survived the week.