GAME THREAD: Dodgers @ Twins, 4/13/22, 12:10 CT

[Brock Beauchamp]

5 minutes ago, Cap'n Piranha said:

At a certain point, pitchers have to be able to get results against teams that have seen them before.  If Paddack is here for 3 years, he's going to see the Central teams 10-12 times each.  If indeed Paddack shouldn't be started against a team that's seen him only 6 times from 2019-2021, then trading for him was a massive mistake.

Sure, but it's crap weather and his first start with a new organization. He easily could have been bumped to tomorrow.

Ultimately, you want a guy to be able to pitch against anyone but that's a far cry from starting a guy from the NL West against the Dodgers in crap weather in his first start with a new team.

[Cap'n Piranha]

Freddie Freeman pulls the ball less than 40% of the time.  Why were we hard-shifting there?

[Brock Beauchamp]

1 minute ago, RpR said:

WHAT the hell is Polanco doing at SS?

Baldelli is a fool.

Tone it down. We don't call people fools and I'm not going to give a bunch of leeway to incessant complaining in today's game thread.

[RpR]

Twins should just concede this is pathetic on the managers part.

[chpettit19]

I'd love to know the thought process behind taking out your best defensive catcher, platinum glove SS, and platinum glove CFer all in the same game. I get they want to rest people and last night got to be a late night, but I'd like to have kept an elite defender somewhere up the middle for Paddack today.

[Brock Beauchamp]

1 minute ago, RpR said:

Twins should just concede this is pathetic on the managers part.

Last warning. Next time gets a thread ban from this game thread.

[Brock Beauchamp]

Just now, chpettit19 said:

I'd love to know the thought process behind taking out your best defensive catcher, platinum glove SS, and platinum glove CFer all in the same game. I get they want to rest people and last night got to be a late night, but I'd like to have kept an elite defender somewhere up the middle for Paddack today.

Yeah, I don't like that. I hated Gardy's getaway days way back when, I still don't like the idea now. 

[bighat]

6 minutes ago, Cap'n Piranha said:

At a certain point, pitchers have to be able to get results against teams that have seen them before.  If Paddack is here for 3 years, he's going to see the Central teams 10-12 times each.  If indeed Paddack shouldn't be started against a team that's seen him only 6 times from 2019-2021, then trading for him was a massive mistake.

I agree with this overall concept.

These games in April count just as much as the ones in September. We can cut guys some slack early in the year, but it is the regular season. And these are pro athletes. "It's still early" should be reserved for Spring Training discussions. The MLB regular season is in full swing.

If the Twins finish April with a 7-18 record, it won't matter if it's "early" because now it's OVER.

[Brock Beauchamp]

Thanks for being tall, Max.

[RpR]

THREE cheers for Kepler, rah, rah, rah.

Paddack is not the problem in this game.

[RickOShea]

Quick, Let arraez know there are only 3 outs per half inning.

[Brock Beauchamp]

Just now, RickOShea said:

Quick, Let arraez know there are only 3 outs per half inning.

One cannot fault him for not realizing that after the first inning of this game happened.

[Cap'n Piranha]

1 minute ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

Sure, but it's crap weather and his first start with a new organization. He easily could have been bumped to tomorrow.

Ultimately, you want a guy to be able to pitch against anyone but that's a far cry from starting a guy from the NL West against the Dodgers in crap weather in his first start with a new team.

The Twins don't have a game tomorrow; beyond that, why would a first start with a new organization be something that requires a week+ to prepare for?  If the Twins acquire a starter at the deadline on July 31, do they need to wait until at least August 7 to let him pitch?  Again, the Dodgers have seen him 6 times in the last 3 years.  They only saw him once all of last year.  If Paddack is that easy to figure out, then he's going to be out of the league very quickly.

Also, the Twins are playing Boston at 2PM on Friday--forecast is for a high of 66.  That is indeed a lot better, but it's also not like Boston has a bad lineup either.  If Paddack is going to be anything more than a 5th starter, he has to be able to pitch against good teams who have seen him before.  If he can't do that, it was a waste of resources to acquire him.

[Azviking101]

How is Buxton back to being ice cold? Entire twins team has struggled with down and in breaking balls both games. Just hacking at everything

[Melissa]

Is the weather making me crabby?

As a baseball fan it’s good to get to see Kershaw, but still, I resisted the impulse the other day to get one of those cheap seats for this afternoon’s game. 

Also glad I turned the game off when the thunderstorm got scary here in the Twin Cities (though the game continued for a couple more innings before being deluged out) and trying not to wince watching this one.

 

 

[RpR]

Let's see, Arraez stunk at 3rd base so they put him at 2nd and Polanco at Short Stop ; hmm, Polanco has always been horrid at Short Stop, so to make Arraez feel better they put Polanco at Short and Arraez at 2nd where he seems to be OK.

The team manager is as good at managing as Arraez is at Third Base.

[Brock Beauchamp]

1 minute ago, Cap'n Piranha said:

The Twins don't have a game tomorrow; beyond that, why would a first start with a new organization be something that requires a week+ to prepare for?  If the Twins acquire a starter at the deadline on July 31, do they need to wait until at least August 7 to let him pitch?  Again, the Dodgers have seen him 6 times in the last 3 years.  They only saw him once all of last year.  If Paddack is that easy to figure out, then he's going to be out of the league very quickly.

Also, the Twins are playing Boston at 2PM on Friday--forecast is for a high of 66.  That is indeed a lot better, but it's also not like Boston has a bad lineup either.  If Paddack is going to be anything more than a 5th starter, he has to be able to pitch against good teams who have seen him before.  If he can't do that, it was a waste of resources to acquire him.

I see the validity of all of this but I'm also not putting a ton of stock into any single game, particularly one played under these conditions against the Dodgers. And I probably would have eased him into the rotation a bit more gently than what we're seeing today.

If he looks like this in two weeks, then I'll show some real concern.

[Cap'n Piranha]

Just now, Azviking101 said:

How is Buxton back to being ice cold? Entire twins team has struggled with down and in breaking balls both games. Just hacking at everything

I'm guessing it might have something to do with hiring a guy from A ball to be your MLB hitting coach.  Even if he goes on to be great, there has to be just a massive learning curve going from A to MLB, and in a different organization, all while in the middle of a lockout, to boot.

[chpettit19]

3 minutes ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

Yeah, I don't like that. I hated Gardy's getaway days way back when, I still don't like the idea now. 

I'd honestly like a reporter to ask Rocco about it after the game and see what he says. They're all pro baseball players and on a competitive team you should be expected to win some games without your stars all on the field at once, but I really don't get why you'd take them all out at the same time. I was surprised they played Buxton in CF last night. I thought DHing him last night in the nasty weather would've made more sense. Then could've DHed Correa today and kept Buxton in CF today. Hope this isn't a sign of things to come and the weirdness of last night is what caused this and the plan isn't to regularly sit/DH them both in the same game.

[Cap'n Piranha]

Just now, Brock Beauchamp said:

I see the validity of all of this but I'm also not putting a ton of stock into any single game, particularly one played under these conditions against the Dodgers. And I probably would have eased him into the rotation a bit more gently than what we're seeing today.

If he looks like this in two weeks, then I'll show some real concern.

Fair, guys are allowed to have bad games.

[tarheeltwinsfan]

Looks like men against boys today. 

[Vanimal46]

The low, outside breaking ball has been our kryptonite all series. 

[RpR]

I thought maybe after the Seattle games the Twins were going to be better than last year; I was wrong.

IF, if they can stay at .500, I will take this comment back but I would split a bet , strongly, that I will not have to.

[Cap'n Piranha]

1 minute ago, chpettit19 said:

I'd honestly like a reporter to ask Rocco about it after the game and see what he says. They're all pro baseball players and on a competitive team you should be expected to win some games without your stars all on the field at once, but I really don't get why you'd take them all out at the same time. I was surprised they played Buxton in CF last night. I thought DHing him last night in the nasty weather would've made more sense. Then could've DHed Correa today and kept Buxton in CF today. Hope this isn't a sign of things to come and the weirdness of last night is what caused this and the plan isn't to regularly sit/DH them both in the same game.

It's also worrisome that 5 games in a row is apparently Rocco's limit for Correa before he needs a day off, especially given the off day tomorrow.

[chpettit19]

2 minutes ago, Cap'n Piranha said:

I'm guessing it might have something to do with hiring a guy from A ball to be your MLB hitting coach.  Even if he goes on to be great, there has to be just a massive learning curve going from A to MLB, and in a different organization, all while in the middle of a lockout, to boot.

They hired a guy from college ball to be their pitching coach and that's gone pretty well.

[RpR]

2 minutes ago, Cap'n Piranha said:

I'm guessing it might have something to do with hiring a guy from A ball to be your MLB hitting coach.  Even if he goes on to be great, there has to be just a massive learning curve going from A to MLB, and in a different organization, all while in the middle of a lockout, to boot.

LOL, that screw up is the same as last year, again.

[Cap'n Piranha]

3 minutes ago, RpR said:

Let's see, Arraez stunk at 3rd base so they put him at 2nd and Polanco at Short Stop ; hmm, Polanco has always been horrid at Short Stop, so to make Arraez feel better they put Polanco at Short and Arraez at 2nd where he seems to be OK.

The team manager is as good at managing as Arraez is at Third Base.

My biggest frustration with Rocco is he seems totally incapable of grasping long-term strategy.  I feel like he's not very good at understanding how the decisions he makes in the moment have ripple effects beyond the current game, for example, using 7 relievers to pitch 5 innings yesterday, the day after using 4 relievers to cover 4 innings while holding a 4 run lead, and with an early game today.

[Mill1634]

6 minutes ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

I see the validity of all of this but I'm also not putting a ton of stock into any single game, particularly one played under these conditions against the Dodgers. And I probably would have eased him into the rotation a bit more gently than what we're seeing today.

If he looks like this in two weeks, then I'll show some real concern.

I don't blame anyone for assuming that Paddack is bad, or at least below average, until he shows something else. Do I think he's better than this? Absolutely. It's freezing cold, and he's facing the best lineup in the league. But I don't blame anyone for being skeptical about Paddack. 

[Brock Beauchamp]

Just now, Cap'n Piranha said:

My biggest frustration with Rocco is he seems totally incapable of grasping long-term strategy.  I feel like he's not very good at understanding how the decisions he makes in the moment have ripple effects beyond the current game, for example, using 7 relievers to pitch 5 innings yesterday, the day after using 4 relievers to cover 4 innings while holding a 4 run lead, and with an early game today.

Sometimes it feels this way. I think Rocco wanted more out of Winder yesterday but that didn't happen for obvious reasons. He should have not fallen back to single-inning guys the way he did and tried to get more out of fewer relievers, in my opinion.

[Cap'n Piranha]

4 minutes ago, chpettit19 said:

They hired a guy from college ball to be their pitching coach and that's gone pretty well.

In 2019 and 2020, yes it did.  In 2021, not so much.