Game Score: Brewers 6, Twins 2

I am not a Jax fan, even when he supposedly was going well I was not his fan.  I want another young arm in the rotation.  I am not interested in good stories, I want good pitchers.  Gibault has the stats, but hard hit balls eventually fall in.  By the way did anyone see what Berrios did today?  

Nice to see Sano on a positive streak and he is showing me some new talent, taking some pitches the other way.  Donaldson is doing great - if only we could see this a full season - maybe 2022.  

I'd like to see Jax moved to the pen where maybe his increased velocity and nice slider can play better without multiple looks. If he continues to give up the moon shots there, then he might just be a good story and not much more than AAAA. I was hopeful, but it's been a step forward and two back lately. 

1 minute ago, MMMordabito said:

I'd like to see Jax moved to the pen where maybe his increased velocity and nice slider can play better without multiple looks. If he continues to give up the moon shots there, then he might just be a good story and not much more than AAAA. I was hopeful, but it's been a step forward and two back lately. 

I'd like to see Jax join Larnach in St. Paul and start seeing if we've got some minor league guys who can rise to the challenge at the major league level. It's well past time to start a revolving door of auditions.

In other words: Next!

It would be a mistake to send Jax down, his future may be the pen but I want to watch him start the rest of the year. Get Ryan up too no one is blocking him. Duran is hurt and Jordy Blaze at best gets a look at AAA this year. And that's all folks unless maybe Winder gets back on the mound this year. Oh yeah there is Dobnak. Realistically nobody else is ready. We should also get a look at relievers Moran and Hamilton. Ober, Barnes, Jax, Ryan and Dobnak are the starters the rest of the year. I can see Ober and Ryan making the rotation out of camp and Moran, Gant and Hamilton the pen. The rest, we will see, maybe Jax in the pen too. 

Somebody in the minors has to be available and not on the IL - get any healthy arm that is out there and under 27 years old.  Start experimenting.  Do something. 

2 minutes ago, Otto von Ballpark said:

“Experimenting” and “doing something” isn’t just cycling through different guys (although we optioned Barnes out today, so we will likely see a new face this week, probably Joe Ryan).

Teams can experiment by trying different things with existing players too. And the Twins are clearly doing that with Jax right now, as evidenced by his recent velocity gains.

 

He may have velocity gains, but he is not ready to be in next years rotation.

19 minutes ago, mikelink45 said:

He may have velocity gains, but he is not ready to be in next years rotation.

I understand the frustration, but out of the pitchers that are ready right now, Jax is one of the best and only options that we have. The reality is that most of our pitchers are still a year away or injured. There is nothing to lose by starting Jax for the rest of the season.

We have to take the good with the bad with a pitcher like Jax. While he has been very bad the last 2 starts, he had a stretch of 5 games before that where he had a ERA under 3 against some very tough competition. We shouldn't be so quick to write him off when he's still so inexperienced. You can't expect everyone to start contributing immediately.

Dobnak will get the call next. And the Twins may have to make a roster move, unless they are ready to move Maeda to the 60-day.

Farrell and Law may be close behind.

I would swap out Jax for Strotman at the moment. Of course, the Twins can add two arms Wednesday if they have the roster spots open. Without sending anyone out. Who would that be? Ryan would make a roster move happen on the 40-man. Farrell would do so, too.

How do we get Miranda and Moran to the majors?

I bet Buxton is jonesin' big time for a hit, now. He doesn't look to happy about that padded batting mitten.

Watching the Brewers march out Boxberger, Williams, and Hader...... color me green with envy. This team is looking a bit like KC in that 2 year stretch that ended with the WS win. And Hunter Strickland.... what a Jeckyll/Hyde case this year. Right now he is a surprise bonus.

Just not sure what benefit there is in sending Jax down at this point. He's got to find a way to keep MLB hitters in the park, or he won't be starting in the majors. Right now he's getting lit up again and he's giving up way too many HRs. But I'm ok with tinkering with him at the MLB level to see if he can get it together. But he's starting to look like a long-man in the bullpen. Keeping the ball in the park was never Jax's problem before, but this is the difference between the majors and the minors. He's walking more guys than ever before, he's giving up more HRs than ever before and the slight uptick in K's doesn't compensate. He's got to do better if he wants to compete for a job next year and be more than organizational depth.

Sano is playing really well, and it's nice to see. His Aug has been exactly what we all hoped he'd be and he's gotten better basically all season after a horrific start. He's going to finish the year with 25-30 HRs in about 125 games and he's made excellent adjustments as the season's gone along. The question for him is: can he start like this next year? He's back to being a really dangerous hitter again.

15 minutes ago, jmlease1 said:

 

Sano is playing really well, and it's nice to see. His Aug has been exactly what we all hoped he'd be and he's gotten better basically all season after a horrific start. He's going to finish the year with 25-30 HRs in about 125 games and he's made excellent adjustments as the season's gone along. The question for him is: can he start like this next year? He's back to being a really dangerous hitter again.

Agree. I think he pretty much has to start like this next year if the Twins are going to try and stay competitive out of the gate. Regardless, for now, as you said, it's nice to see.