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I have a few observations - why is Kepler Leading off? Should Donaldson be hitting second? Put Buxton first, Polanco second, Cruz third and pressure the pitcher and defense. Kepler has been a big disappointment, even before the injury. Is Dobnak really doing poorly or do we have a defense that cannot support a ground ball pitcher? Has he lost his position for the off season rotation? The big story for the year is the BATS - where are they? Finally - can we get the electronic strike zone? I know it is not perfect, but compared to the umpires we have seen it is from heaven.

This is what I think I'm seeing: the CWS has more talented starters than we do. They have an everyday lineup that, talent-wise, is our equal or better, with the exception of perhaps a slight edge to the Twins defensively. The CWS bullpen depth is comparable. But the REAL advantage they have is that they're performing, game in and game out, at a very high level, and with a palpable energy. They're simply the better team, IMO. Exactly what I feared coming into the season.

Turned it off last night after the 7th. Only reason I lasted that long was I wanted to see Alcala. Spring training began with a lot of talk out of Fort Myers about the Twins focusing on winning the World Series. As this crazy season plays out, all I hear from the team is how concerned they are for keeping everyone healthy and fresh for the playoffs. While everyone on the team assumes they will be in, it is looking more like they could open their 3-game series in New York. We all know how that is going to end. What I am seeing since the first day of spring training is a team that talks about winning a World Series but has lost that hunger of last year. How many big comebacks have we seen this year like the many of last year? There may be one, but I don't remember it. And while they talk about keeping everyone healthy and fresh, the IL is filled to the brim and the lineup is filled with guys who aren't ready for a run to the playoffs. As for performance, who on this team is playing to the maximum of what we should expect other than Maeda, possibly Cruz and Buxton and a couple of the Rookies who we didn't expect to see? That leaves me asking two questions. Is this team hungry? And a bigger question is have they become soft and pampered? Where is the fight from this team? I sure as heck don't see it.

I dunno folks, I think the White Sox are a better team. It's hard to accept that, especially considering the comments on the White Sox preview article about how they weren't going to be better than us or Cleveland... but the Twins lineup gets too cold too quickly and our pitching has some holes.

Stashak and Duffey have accounted for 4.1 innings of work with no base runners and 4 K's. Crucial stretch by those two, and they delivered.

I share your concern - the just get healthy, we have it made, don't worry we will be in the playoffs theme is getting tiring. The listless play, the lack of urgency is part of the malaise that not playing for a title can bring. The challenge will be trying to turn on the urgency when the playoffs do come. I love the energy that the White Sox are playing with.

I think the Twins wanted to keep Rowson around, and I believe they would've promoted him to bench coach had Shelton been hired away by the Pirates before Rowson was hired away by the Marlins. I don't think there would be any way to get him back at this point short of offering him the manager position. Personally, I would be very hesitant about making any personnel decisions based solely on the results this short, bastardized season.

So good to see Byron doing big things

I'm glad that the Twins phased out Eddie Rosario. Oh wait a minute.

30 chicken dinners.

50 game threads. Definitely... 50 game threads.

Regarding rain, Donaldson begs to differ... (or so i'm lead to believe. Which i will... when i see it.)

Would seem fitting if Dobnak is now on the “taxi squad.”

"His first no-hitter?" I hope we don't give that distinction significance anytime soon. Go Twins!

Where's the evidence that "more often than not it went against the favor of the Minnesota Twins"? I'm not claiming it didn't, but wouldn't you also need to show the zone the Twins pitchers received to make that claim? EDIT: Found it! Select "All Away Pitchers" in the first drop down (or "All Home Pitchers" if that is what you want), then "Pitch Description" in the last drop-down, and then in the unlabeled box next to that, you can type/select "Called Strike". Can't get the "Save as Image" function to work, but here's the link: https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/gamefeed?game_pk=631483&game_date=2020-9-15&type=team_away&chart_view=pitch&chart_type=description&inning=&count=&batter_hand=&pitcher_hand=&filter=Called%20Strike&player=home-pitchers_605240&view=Umpire&coloring=Pitch%20Type (And before anyone jumps down my throat, no, this is not a defense of the umpire or human umpiring in general. Just a response to the author's statement that the umpiring favored the White Sox.)

Looking at the pitch chart, I only see two pitches that are clearly outside the zone (and three that may or may not be touching the edge). I don't think this qualifies as "all over the place.". I don't think the umpire was the problem.

I am not surprised by Dobnak's recent struggles, I was always hoping he would be the exception, but seems like his pitch to contact approach has started to fail him. As more hitters see him for multiple times they are being fooled less and fouling off many pitches. Also, one risk you have with the shift, as shown last night and recently, is that you leave giant holes that soft contact will get through. If you are hoping for soft contact ground balls the need for the shift is reduced. Also, if hitters are not expected to hit HR due to downward movements of the pitch they know hitting other way even weak will produce hits. If you are going to **** you need to pitch to it as well and have the pitches come inside more often. I am getting annoyed with Dick talking about how Dobnak is not getting beat around, well no, but he is hitting guys, walking guys and giving up hits to giant holes in the field. You do not need to give up hard contact to get beat. Those weak ground balls to giant holes was not bad luck, it was good hitting.

Good for Travis. Be interesting to see how he does and if he can seize the opportunity the way some other young players have. I think his positional flexibility gives him a good chance to replace Marwin on the roster next year, and while he isn't the defender Marwin is, he could be a more productive bat.

Pathetic. One run off Cease, and a grand total of two off Dunning? The only question I have left is whether or not Giolito or Keuchel are going to give up a hit, because it's almost guaranteed the Twins won't sniff the scoreboard in the next two games. Dobnak's toast, cute story but the guy appears to have just been getting lucky for about 4-5 starts there early on. He is who everyone thought he is. Twins will make the playoffs, but the division at this point is a pipe dream. Buxton is so fun to watch. Just imagine if there had been fans in the stands to gawk, yell, boo, or just stare in amazement at his inside-the-parker. A big game in late September, the division on the line, I'm sure it would have been packed to the gills with 40,000....

Rooker's 40-man spot might be the only one we have to play with, at this point. So if there's a chance we may need to add another catcher, or shortstop, or pinch runner (do we have one of those?) for the postseason, adding Kirilloff in that spot might preclude those moves. Unless you are confident that Kirilloff's bat could quickly become ready enough for the 2020 MLB postseason, it's defensible to hold off on the call-up in favor of keeping flexibility at other positions. That said, I'm not opposed to it! I'd be excited to see Kirilloff, and I'd certainly hope he could be a postseason factor. But it might be more hope than realistic assessment right now.

Catching up on the Twins news this weekend... Sucks to read about Rooker’s season ending injury, and Rosario’s elbow injury. Even before these injuries, the offense needed a spark to get going before the playoffs. I don’t see Cave or Wade Jr. as the answer in the short term, or for the rest of the season if Rosario’s injury is worse than anticipated. That’s why it’s time to call up Kirilloff. He’s rule 5 eligible this December and needs to be added anyway. The Twins are 99.9% playoff bound, and this stretch of games would serve as a good ramp up for AK. Let’s see it happen.

I looked at the current playoff standings to see who we would possibly play....that was a terrible idea. However, there are still 2 games left in this series, and the Twins can still narrow back the division lead to a single game! Let's hope that happens so we don't have to play the team that will be left unnamed. Twins Starting Pitcher: Jake Odorizzi 1. RF Max Kepler (L) 2. 3B Josh Donaldson ® 3. DH Nelson Cruz ® 4. LF Eddie Rosario (L) 5. 1B Miguel Sanó ® 6. CF Byron Buxton ® 7. 2B Marwin Gonzalez (S) 8. SS Ehire Adrianza (S) 9. C Alex Avila (L) White Sox Starting Pitcher: Lucas Giolito 1. SS Tim Anderson ® 2. 1B Yasmani Grandal (S) 3. DH José Abreu ® 4. LF Eloy Jiménez ® 5. 3B Yoán Moncada (S) 6. C James McCann ® 7. CF Luis Robert ® 8. RF Nomar Mazara (L) 9. 2B Nick Madrigal ® I'm not saying we NEED a win today and tomorrow, but it would give us a shot at the division! Weirder seasons have happened (2009 being the most glaring example). Although I think the White Sox are currently playing better, the Twins (or any team for that matter) could get hot for a few weeks to win the title. Although a 16 team playoff is fine for this year, having it for next year and beyond is a terrible idea. Anything can happen in a 3 or 5 game series. Let's play ball!

Because being perfect is very difficult

Dick has been fixated on Sano's career total of 99 doubles. I think he's said at least 3 times that it would be a good time for his 100th double. I'll take a dinger over a double any time.

Buxton and sano contributing just like we always planned

SANO SMASH!!!

Well done, Cody. I also agree, this HP ump has been great. A shame we can't have him for the rest of the season.

Ed-O! (As contrasted with Ed-D.)

Did Dobnak take an Uber to St Paul?

Seriously, Dobnak is toast. Burnt toast. The smoke and mirrors is over. I am glad they Twins took action. One game too, late, but pretty quick, all in all. Let the apologist's scream.... or flip .......... be thankful for what we got but don't be fooled that he is a starter to bank on. Middle of the game innings eater..... even perhaps close games.... but small doses for not too long if he is needed.

Gosh darn it Seth, why do you have to be so rational about these things? Can't we dream of an unheralded rookie picking up our season?

Saw earlier where the Cubbies called up the venerable Jason Adam to anchor their pen. For those of you with faulty memories, Jason is the haul we received for Josh Willingham a half dozen years ago.

The Yankees and all of their fans are looking at the standings and have to be thinking whatever it takes let's do all we can so we play the Twins.

Good post! I was confused about this at first too. Further explanation: 1. Guaranteed good weather or a roof is necessary to avoid delays (which would cause doubleheaders and/or throw off the whole schedule) -- this disqualifies pretty much every northern ballpark without a roof. 2. I think they want the stadium pairs close so the DS winners can drive relatively quickly to the CS stadium. (Insert joke about California traffic here.) Air travel compromises the "bubble" isolation more than ground transport. 3. The ALDS/ALCS is only being played in a pair of NL stadiums, with the opposite for the NLDS/NLCS, to ensure no team is playing those rounds on their actual home field. CA and TX are really the only places left that could meet this criteria. And fortunately one of the CA/TX teams (the Rangers) is already virtually eliminated from postseason contention, so they can safely be designated as the World Series host.

"Yes, but I came here for an argument." "OH! Oh! I'm sorry! This is milkmen." (under his breath) "Stupid git."

Polonco has look much better this year, his throws have not been crazy off like in the past. To me the biggest surprise is Sano. He has looked much better than I expected. Is he gold glove no, but I was very worried he was going to let way too many throws past him.

As a Twins fan conditioned to think\say that pitching has let us down this offense stinks. They cannot string anything together. I thought that maybe after the HR bats came out in Cleveland that maybe things were starting to gel but after only get 1 run off of Cease this team has problems. Still time to get it together but they need to start picking each other up. You look at the averages and OPS of this Chicago team and you have to admire that lineup. Their pitching is certainly equal to ours as well. So not too surprised at the results as these games can go either way but the White Sox are going to be this good for a looong time. I hope out guys can bounce back.

With regards to Kepler, he probably shouldn't be leading off at this point. If he can't hit lefties at all (all signs say he can't) he's a .220 hitter with minimal on base skills. Polanco shouldn't be in the top half of the lineup. He appears to have made the decision to avoid striking out at all costs this year, and that includes refusing to walk or hit for any power whatsoever. He can be 2-0 and take a half swing at a middle-middle pitch to try and sneak it up the middle and it makes no sense.Those two by themselves regressing are where the offense has gone. It's not the defense's fault that Dobnak is doing poorly either. The shift hurt him last night, but his whiffs keep dropping and his walks and hit batters keep going up. If he doesn't have the control and command he showed to start his career, he's not a pitcher that can survive in the MLB.

I assume with Sano and Rosario back in the lineup and Gonzalez apparently feeling much better on Tuesday, I suspect that Blankenhorn will be optioned to make room for Odorizzi, especially with Odo having potential to not last too long in his return to the rotation.

Yeah I don't know why Rocco is so in love with Kepler batting leadoff. He's batting .215 with an OPS barely above .700. When he was injured the Twins were 9-2 with Polanco and Wade sharing leadoff duties. I think Kepler needs to get booted out of that spot. I 100% agree with Buxton batting first. He has a better AVG than Kepler, an OPS almost .1 higher, blazing speed, and he'll average more plate appearances, which gives the Twins more chances for him to create havoc on the base paths. Also the Twins need to fire the hitting coach after this year. It's mind blowing for an offense to go from one of the best offenses of all time to barely being able to score more than 2 runs a game. Bring back James Rowson.

Really poor display the first two games. Kiss the division bye bye if we don’t salvage one of the next two

Will second Trov. This year has been screwed up from the get go. Way too many stud players are so-so. Hopefully, there will be a vaccine by the first quarter and baseball 2021 will be normal. That's when I expect Max to take that next step.

I will not take much from what has happened this year as a trend for anyone. This is not any kind of normal year. Players did not get same way to prepare and you are seeing many different players not playing like you would expect. The different in aggressiveness could be pitchers different approach, or maybe he is needing to track pitches and still off on timing, who knows. In a normal year we would be in May, and starting to talk about adjustments that need to be made. Lets hope he makes the adjustments that need to be made and he has a hot end of the year. If not, we can see what next year brings and if it continues to look like 2019 was an outlier season, then we look to move on from him.

Buck would have caught that one...

That math also checks out!

Hooray for everyone (Simpsons)

That outfielder was Daryl Boston -- the current White Sox first base coach! I wonder if he looks back on that game now, and thinks he should have tried throwing his arms in the air to signal a ground rule double...

wow, again with the White Sox bad outfield defense too!

Let me first say I like both Cave and Wade. Cave has disappointed a bit this year but is still a strong fourth outfielder and I think if the season would have been longer likely would have found his groove at some point but so far riding that ugly 599 OPS I don't think Kirilloff can do much worse than that. Wade hasn't had many chances to show what he can do but given his SSS he seems to be the same player he always ha sbeen. Taking good at bats, getting walks and getting on base. But lets be honest, without the power he will never be more than a 4th outfielder. So why not put a guy in who might someday own that spot in Kirilloff? There is a little bit of Rosario in Kirilloff as they have such good contact skills they generally don't walk much. Not sure what Kirilloff's chase rate is but have to believe it is better than Rosario's. They both have plenty of power and are not afraid to swing.The thing about Kirilloff though is I don't believe he is as pull happy as Rosie so will likely have a better Batting average because of that. So I can see where you are coming from I just don't know if he would get schooled at the MLB level or not. He does need to be added to the 40 man and the Twins have had good luck with both Rooker and Jeffers already so why not give it a try? He has all the traits you need in a left fielder from a hitting perspective (Not sure about defense) Power, Batting average, good contact skills and I agree he is a better fit for the position than Wade, and Cave has disappointed a bit this year so give the kid a chance to get a feel for the game, a feel for the pressure of a playoff run. Should help him next year and beyond. Maybe he surprises all of us and helps the Twins win the division. He can't be be much worse than his current competition.