Game Recap: Twins 13, Royals 4

[SoDakTwinsFan4]

 

When you compare the two, Kepler's style looks downright dainty compared to the manly rips Kirilloff takes. 

 

 

I'm going to have to disagree with that. Kepler puts together a pretty powerful swing especially when he's sitting on something. He just missed a couple recently. He'll be back, just watch.

 

[SoDakTwinsFan4]

I wonder if Max Kepler could learn a few things about power hitting by watching Alex Kirilloff in the batting cage. When you compare the two, Kepler's style looks downright dainty compared to the manly rips Kirilloff takes. 

 

I'm going to have to disagree with that. Kepler puts together a pretty powerful swing especially when he's sitting on something. He just missed a couple recently. He'll be back, just watch.

 

[Richard Swerdlick]

It seems odd that Rogers didn't pitch at all last week. 

[bighat]

 

I don’t think Berrios struggled. Not at all.

One mistake pitch in six innings in a game in which the offense bats did their jobs.

The Rodney Dangerfied of the Twins rotation! Enjoy him while you still can. Free agency beckons.

Concur. I've always been baffled at the criticism of Berrios - I understand that people wanted him to be Pedro Martinez, but not everyone can be that guy. Berrios has always been damn good.

 

Double-digit wins in each of his past seasons (2020 doesn't count), ERA around 3.70 or so, always has high strikeout numbers, and two All-Star nods. Gritty. Gamer. He's not on the IL with fingernail or blister problems, he can field his position and is a good teammate. Works HARD in the off-season, great work ethic. Wants to be better. Not satisfied with so-so outings.

 

When he signs with another team in free agency, he'll be a huge pickup and if he's not going to be that team's ace, he'll be their #2 guy. No question about it.

 

Then people here are going to start the "Pohlad's are Cheap" mantra, when all the while Berrios was here they bashed him for not being Max Scherzer.

[bighat]

 

 

It seems odd that Rogers didn't pitch at all last week. 

I think it's a pretty open secret that Rogers is now back in his closer role. There weren't any close games the entire week (Twins were either blown out or vice versa) for Rogers to work.

[Major League Ready]

 

That is too much to dream.

 

Because in a dream scenario where the Twins have too many good players (not such thing, btw), other teams will lowball because it's perceived that the Twins have to get rid of somebody. 

 

Why would they have to get rid of somebody? Sano is not a free agent in 2024 and Polanco 2025. The Twins can sit on them until the off-season and hope their value rebounds. If its time for Kirilloff, that's no problem he is going to be in LF. If you want to keep Garlick around, trade Cave.  

[mnfireman]

 

A closer look shows that Baddoo has 4 hits in his last 39 at bats, for an average of .102. No home runs, 2 doubles, and 23 strike outs.

 

To say he's plummeted back to earth is an understatement.

 

Eliminate Badoo's first 4 games and his line is .155/.194/.397 for an OPS of .590. He may be given back to the Twins by June at this rate.

[puckstopper1]

 

You'd give Astudillo at-bats over Sano? Really??

Nine - what has Sano done recently that justifies him getting regular at-bats besides his ability to take a walk?

 

Take out a 3-4 month hot streak in 2019 and his last 4 seasons at the plate have been wretched!

 

I'd love to see him catch fire again, but how long do you wait / how many chances do you give him?

 

And who loses at-bats while you give him the opportunity to do so?

[Bickle19]

 

I completely agree Tar Heel!

 

And so does my 86 year old Dad who has been following the Twins since they first came to town!

Not even trying to be rude, but what does your dad being old have to do with anything?

[Major League Ready]

 

Nine - what has Sano done recently that justifies him getting regular at-bats besides his ability to take a walk?

 

Take out a 3-4 month hot streak in 2019 and his last 4 seasons at the plate have been wretched!

 

I'd love to see him catch fire again, but how long do you wait / how many chances do you give him?

 

And who loses at-bats while you give him the opportunity to do so?

 

I was critical of Sano when it was unpopular to criticize him.  Having said this, Sano’s career wRC+ is above average for 1B even though that position has the highest wRC+ in the league. Also, he was hurt in 2019 and only played 105 games so his season was great and portraying as a hot streak is unfair. He had a down year last season but there were a lot of guys that played far below their normal levels last year. He still had a wRC+ of 99 in a down year and his wRC+ in the past two seasons combined is 121.

 

I would have zero problem with trading Sano. As a matter of fact, I think that might be an ideal scenario. I just don’t agree with flushing him because he has struggled so far this season. That's poor asset management. He has the ability to be a beast or bring a good return if he rebounds. Let’s just wait it out a little.

[tarheeltwinsfan]

 

I like this recap much better, thank you. First, about the Sano situation. Ain't no way Sano is bumping Kirilloff from the batting order. K's bat has made that decision already. At this point I could see the Twins cutting Cave (still a good 4th OF) to keep Kirilloff or Garlick in LF when Sano gets back, with plenty of time off for the big guy to play DH or spell Donaldson at 3rd. The bats I saw today were terrifying, and would have been even more so with Garlick in LF instead of Cave. 

 

I had no idea Andrelton Simmons could hit a baseball that far. I wonder if Max Kepler could learn a few things about power hitting by watching Alex Kirilloff in the batting cage. When you compare the two, Kepler's style looks downright dainty compared to the manly rips Kirilloff takes. 

 

Relief pitching: This game provided some much-needed low leverage relief pitching. Hansel Robles took advantage to flash some good stuff, but the real winner was Jorge Alcala, who looks like he's starting to believe in himself. Alcala has the stuff to be a lights-out closer, and he showed that stuff today. Bank this experience for future, tighter games. 

 

Prediction: Ben Rortvedt is going to develop into one hell of a good catcher, including a good hitter. That kid looks like a dominant athlete. However, his hit tool will take a long time to develop. Luckily, he can now watch an entire team full of baseball mashers, and decide which ones to model his swing after. I recommend Kirilloff.

Great post. Thanks. 

[Thegrin]

It is easy to forsee a lineup with Sano at first and Kiriloff in LF but...

It is hard to be confident and aggressive when you don't feel 100% healthy.  It may take a while for Sano to be in the lineup 5-6 days a week.  In the meantime Rocco has plenty of players to juggle.

He needs to keep Arraez & Austudillo in the lineup for their ability to get on base.  Once Sano is healthy enough to play regularly there will be lots of juggling.  I predict Donaldson won't play more than 5 times most weeks. Kepler won't play against lefty's much, until he shows that he can hit them again. Cave will be on the team, but rarely in the lineup (Garlick is not a fielder).  Astidillo will catch 2 times a weej, pinch hit and occaisionally play in the field. Arraez has proved he can play 2nd base, 3rd base and Left Field without sacrificing too much defense. Polanco will probably lose the most playing time until he gets his bat back on track. Oh the possibilities.

One thing for sure. I will be looking forward to each days lineup. 

 

[twinbythebay]

I don’t think Berrios struggled. Not at all.

One mistake pitch in six innings in a game in which the offense bats did their jobs.

The Rodney Dangerfied of the Twins rotation! Enjoy him while you still can. Free agency beckons.

 

I would call this start a decidedly mixed bag for Berríos. He did pitch to an ERA of 6, would you be happy about that most games? He looked so dominant for much of the game, but when he had a bad inning, he let it get away from him and was unable to keep a crooked number off the board. This seems to be his biggest recurring issue. If he could figure out how to limit the damage when his command starts to elude him toward the end of his starts, he might be able to take that next step towards being a true #1 starter.

[cmoss84]

I wonder what a package including Sano for Syndergaard would look like. 

 

Sano + who? Any ideas? 

 

If we could get Sano to heat up for a month or two first, obviously that would help. 

[bird]

 

If you are in the hunt for the division/playoffs/world series you do not trade players for prospects at the deadline.

Yes, that's the general rule of thumb. The exception might be when a replacement is better than the player being traded, with plenty of backup support. I'm not 100% certain that this is the case, but Kirilloff could in fact be an upgrade over Sano by the deadline. Dealing Polanco carries greater risk. In any case, if I were GM and this criteria was met, I'd STILL only make a trade if there was an overpay in place.

 

[Trov]

The team has been hitting the ball very hard, even the outs have been hit hard for the most part.  I am not concerned for our bad start, I think we will iron out the rough spots and be just fine. 

[USAFChief]

 

I wonder what a package including Sano for Syndergaard would look like. 

 

Sano + who? Any ideas? 

 

If we could get Sano to heat up for a month or two first, obviously that would help. 

The Mets have Pete Alonso at first base. Syndergaard hasn't pitched since 2019, not expected back until mid June at the earliest.

 

I don't think that's realistic.

[cmoss84]

 

The Mets have Pete Alonso at first base. Syndergaard hasn't pitched since 2019, not expected back until mid June at the earliest.

 

I don't think that's realistic.

Not likely, no. But if the Mets continue to struggle to score runs, and if their 3B keeps getting hurt (which he has over and over again), they might sacrifice a little D for a little O and have Sano play 3B. A DH in the NL also seems inevitable. But correct-this trade would have to happen a bit later down the road, and would be a "change of scenery" type scenario for both players.

 

Lindor

Conforto

Polar Bear

Sano

 

This could do some damage.