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I think it's fair to question letting Bundy give up 12 hits and 7 runs in 4 and a third in the opener of the most important series of the season. They have a 14 man staff, ferpetesakes. What is he saving for? Next year? And let's stop referring to other posters as "Rocco haters."

Where was our manager when Bundy was getting blasted? He has now left Ryan in for 10 runs and looks the other way when Bundy is getting blasted in a game we need. Does his spreadsheet say that starters can't go six, but they have to go 4 or more? Sanchez did great, Bundy did not. The bats and team really fought for this one, but the hole was too deep. On the total standings list, we are now 16 - the top of the bottom half of teams. Lucky for us the Guardians and White Sox are 14 and 15 - the bottom of the top half! What a division. The Guardians were a mess in the field, it was like playing the no-glove white sox. Miranda looks better and better as the season goes on. He has star potential and Correa has heated up at the right time. If only Arraez could get out of his second half funk. I worry that his launch angle adjustment to get power in his game is lifting his dink and dunk flies too much and allowing them to be caught. Cave - 205/267/397 is not someone we should be starting - how about giving Wallner the spot and maybe he can crank a couple out.

Like sands through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives

The Twins front office needs to make some attempts at finding players within their system that may find more success than those currently on the roster. Yes, I know this is a dire situation but I'm thinking that rolling out these same lineups are causing regular and casual fans to lose all interest. The Hamiltons, Palacios, Cave, and Kepler if he cannot walk or swing a bat are five spots to consider. Megill and Pagan and possibly Archer are three pitching spots to replace. When attendance falls below 20,000 like last night, with your team is still ostensibly in a pennant race, there are dark clouds gathering around the franchise. The malaise is real right now. Old diehard fans will still be there even when the Twins lose 100 games and are hopeless but when the team drops to low levels of viewers and attendance there are expected consequences in player acquisition that follow. While I'm not suggesting that any players called up from Wichita or St. Paul will be an improvement, there has to be some attempt to fix the massive decline in play. Doing nothing is a white flag.

Rocco tries to save his bullpen for the next two games and gets criticized. If Rocco had pulled Bundy, he would have been blasted for overusing his bullpen. He just can't please the Rocco haters.

Yasser Mercedes - plays CF, bats .355, 4 home runs, and 30 SB's in 41 games for the DSL Twins. To top it off, he is currently 17 years old.

"I'll take "TD Headlines That Cause A Double Take" for one thousand, Alex."

"G'Quan wrote, "There is a greater darkness than the one we fight. It is the darkness of the soul that has lost its way. The war we fight is not against powers and principalities, it is against chaos and despair. Greater than the death of flesh is the death of hope, the death of dreams. Against this peril we can never surrender. The future is all around us, waiting, in moments of transition, to be born in moments of revelation. No one knows the shape of that future or where it will take us. We know only that it is always born in pain." Them: 0. Triston McKenzie (R) P 1. Steven Kwan (L) DH 2. Amed Rosario (R) SS 3. Jose Ramirez (S) 3B 4. Josh Naylor (L) 1B 5. Oscar Gonzalez (R) RF 6. Andres Gimenez (L) 2B 7. Will Benson (L) LF 8. Luke Maile (R) C 9. Myles Straw (R) CF Us 0. Chris Archer (R) P 1. Luis Arraez (L) DH 2. Carlos Correa (R) SS 3. Jose Miranda (R) 1B 4. Max Kepler (L) RF 5. Gio Urshela (R) 3B 6. Nick Gordon (L) 2B 7. Kyle Garlick (R) LF 8. Gary Sanchez (R) C 9. Jake Cave (L) CF (feel free to delete)

He was pulled three months too late.

Louie Varland is pitching tomm against Toledo, Kid looked good in N.Y. What is wrong with Management ??

I don't believe he has ever given up, nor do I believe he isn't a smart baseball man overall. But there are fair critiques here; it is all in the way they are presented. Bear with me here: Rocco won a crap ton of games when we hit 307 home runs. He has lost a crap ton of games since the home runs have dried up some. Must be a reason. Again, bear with me: if a football team runs their offense consistently with the same game plan, run on first down, throw a down and out on 2nd, and throw a screen pass on 3rd, it won't take much more than a half to figure it out and defend them solidly. When the coordinator doesn't stray from the plan very much, an occasional trick play or long pass maybe, but overall doesn't stray from plan A, they won't win much. When a baseball offense bunts maybe a dozen times a year, seldom tries to steal a base, even more seldom uses a hit and run play, it becomes pretty easy for a team to defend them. And when plan A is use your starter for the first two times through the order and use the BP for the rest of the game, it means every guy in the BP has to be on that day to win, or at least most of the time. If someone has a bad day, there is little room for error, considering how the offense plays (see above). So your offense relies on the HR too much of the time and the pitching staff relies on the BP too much of the time. The end result is we score 3 runs or less 40 plus percent of the time, and blow saves too many games to be a winning club overall. And when it appears the manager will not stray from plan A, which the last 3 full seasons have appeared to show, it is justifiable to ask why an otherwise very bright baseball man won't budge from the plan when it is not winning. Fair? And I agree that we should keep any name calling to ourselves. But critiquing and criticizing are not the same; it is all in the delivery. Anyway, that's my story, and I'm stickin to it.

Agreed. When I looked ahead to this series I looked ahead to the pitching match ups as well. Their top 3 guys fall between a 2.96 and a 3.55 ERA, with 155 innings or more, and we face all three this weekend. Obviously in a 5 game series next week we are likely to see all 5 starters, so we will face these three again unless they go 6 deep. That would mean 6 of our 8 games are against these 3 starters. We are going to need our starters to step up and do as well, or this is not going to end well. And it didn't start out great, either. And Rocco needs to know when to hold em, and know when to fold em, and last night was a fold, not a hold when it comes to the starter. He did do well to leave Sanchez in there for the length he did, but 1 for 2 didn't do it last night. With Archer and TBD going this weekend (Varland?) the bullpen is going to be taxed, I fear, so let's hope everyone is on. We need it now.

When you expect them to be bad, what is there to complain about? When we are told they are good, when the team expects to make the playoffs we have the right to expect more from everyone involved. The Twins are in third place - it is not the fans fault.

That simply isn’t the case. There were a lot of posters then, many have left the site for various reasons. To everyone, please let’s get off this habit of characterizing posters and manager/players

We have people calling him names over and over. We have multiple threads saying he's stupid, doesn't care, only follows spreadsheets. What, exactly, would you like the shorthand to be? The team didn't quit, despite what we read on this site about them not having heart.

I disagree - this is not about pulling pitchers when they are going well, this is about the end of a pennant race where you cannot allow a pitcher who is failing to stay in and give up more runs.

This doesn't hold water last night when he had Sanchez able to come in and save the bullpen either way. Bundy just didn't have it.

Nelson Cruz was traded for Joe Ryan, not Berrios. Simeon Woods-Richardson was the pitcher they got for Berrios and he looks really promising.

The series comes down to who really wants it more. *No offense but this is delusional....clearly Cave wants to win and hit .300 but things like that just aren't gonna happen.

They were just embarrassed in NY, they've got maybe one SP that can start a playoff game, we've all witnessed the spectacularfailure that is this bullpen, the offense is nonexistent at times, and they're 7 games under .500 since June but yeah, definitely #builtforoctober... FWIW Seattle is a better team than NY right now; getting them in a postseason matchup isn't comforting.

The 2022 Twins Are Now Built For October ?????????????????????????????????????? This article should be pulled for trolling and flame-baiting.

Balazovic has a long ways to go, even with this step in the right direction. He's got to prove 2022 was an outlier with a hot start next year. I wouldn't mind getting Wallner up to the majors with some of our bats cooling, I'd like him over Cave and over Garlick vs RHs.

They ALL bought new golf clubs?

Well, i appreciate the positive thoughts. However, the Twins made the bed for 2022 last offseason and forgot the sheets.

…..too bad we aren’t built for April through September.

Ted, you keep trying to get us all on a positive vibe, but the team works against you. So we are going to get all these injured Twins back and they are going to have their timing back with them. Sit out 60 days and you are ready to go? This time of year there is no time for rehab. We have already seen Maeda taken off our hoped for list. Jeffers keeps moving further back like Larnach. Polanco and Buxton have already demonstrated that whatever nagging injuries they have it is limiting their production. Mahle is not coming back, Paddock is not coming back. We have already had a season of losing to teams that have a chance for the WS. How is that going to stop? Lopez is doing his Pagan imitation and the BP is overworked. Rocco has not adapted as the season progressed. I hope you are right, but from my chair it does not look good.

Kepler should hit about .423 with this

At this point I'd call this season a success if the Twins win a playoff game and break "the streak." And I actually think it'd be a really important win. Even if they lose the other 2 games in the wild card round. Taking that pressure off the 2023 team would be huge. They all tend to say the right things and act like "the streak" doesn't bother them cuz they weren't here for all of it, but they're human, and there is absolutely added pressure to not be on a team that extends the streak, even if you weren't on the team that started it. And I do think that a relatively healthy Twins team could take a game in the wild card round. If the injured team can get them there.

The arguments provided in this article amount to basically ifs, ifs, and more ifs, in my opinion.

Being built for October means starting pitching to me. While I think Gray has proven he's a good pitcher this year, there has to be a threat the best starter on the team could corner an opponent against a wall by tossing 7 or 8 great innings, leaving only the elite bullpen to close out the win. Even if Gray had an immaculate game with 18 strikeout on 48 pitches going, Baldelli would pull him at the end of 6.0 innings in favor of Emilio Pagan instead of letting Gray face the order a 3rd time.

What a poop stain of a game.

Never seen a Team with all the Mental errors , fielding- base running- GAME Awareness- players and coaches, then look at Terry Francona and how his teams always play, to the Talent on the roster, and each inning adjustments when needed, knowing when to let a pitcher go, Not this robo crap pre-planned game strategy and always erroring on the side of caution, 2019 Spoiled Rocco with all the Power, he refuses to adjust,

This site is a pain in the ass to navigate at times. I try to scroll to the bottom of the longest pages I’ve ever seen and when I get halfway it boots me back to the top. Anybody else have this issue?

It's the time of the season when the cream separates from the milk. That's why they play 162 not 140. Yet a lot of the Twins players won't even play 140 (Arraez leads the team with 123 games played to date) so they should be able to handle the last month of the season. Yet, where are they? Rocco has babied this team all season so they would be fresh down the stretch and most of them are AWOL. Great job Rocco implementing that part of the "Plan". It did you NO Good!

Correa is now hitting .344/.400/.781 in September

Whomever they pick in round one next year will be their top prospect in 2024, if Lee isn't one.

It is September and every option and strategy needs an opportunity. Last night Sandy Leon took off for 2nd base but a foul ball ensued. This was refreshing no matter who initiated his running. Injuries have Celestino in the lineup every night and he looks mentally fatigued and makes so many odd mistakes, yet he is the guy who can catch a ball in CF. Did anyone else notice Leon score on a single from second base when Celestino cannot. The Twins should play for a run whenever they get a chance. Cave was at the plate with two on, no outs in the 2nd inning. He should bunt those guys over, but the team likes home runs so he attempts to lift and launch with the expected result. Cave really works hard but it has been difficult to see him struggle. The Twins need to use every option available now because the season is slipping away. November will be the time for reflection and sorting through what is needed next year.

I'd add Celestino to the list of players who shouldn't be here. He can't hit and his mental lapses are aggravating. He is perhaps a prototype AAAA player. Shouldn't be an everyday player with the Twins, but of necessity he has been. Cave and Garlick try hard, but they too are a cut below. I give Cave high marks for defense, and energy. I just wish he could hit more. Twins pitching is in dire staits. Starters are not good and the pen is all over the place. The Lopez deal has been a bust. Guards and Sox are better and by season's end we will be seeing that....save a total turn-around by the floundering Twins. Losing a crucial home game to the team you are trying to catch is never good...no matter how many runs they tried to come back from. It was still a loss and it was costly.

They traded one of them away for Tyler Mahle. There is a reason the Twins minor league system is ranked in the bottom 3rd. Most teams do not have enough minor league depth to survive this many injuries, especially to the pitching staff.

A September push? They are 2-7 in their past 9 games. Some push. I will admit the injuries have been long but only a few of the players were expected to be producers. Buxton? He's hurt basically every year so you can't count on him anyway. I don't think the players play for Rocco. They say they like him. Who wouldn't when they aren't held accountable for poor play. Too many errors, mental errors, terrible base running, too many manager mistakes, too little clutch hitting and terrible pitching. The one thing is that when the season is done and we don't make the playoffs, they will blame it all on injuries. Then the whole process will start all over again. Bargain basement pitching. Twins have the most pitched games in baseball where the starting pitching doesn't go 5 innings. Their record during that time is 19-41.

Miller and Prielipp still have to do some proving in the minors before I would put them top five. The other three are looking really promising. I am bothered by Rodriguez having a knee injury. We have too many injury prone players - Buxton can't stay in the field, Lewis can't get onto the team, Kiriloff lasts for short stints along with Larnach. I hope this trend can end soon.

The pitch clock is about a decade overdue. Pitchers and catchers have acted like they are in a virtual huddle, like football players between plays, deciding which set of signs they are on that inning, and hitters going through their glove and helmet routine between every pitch; it puts you to sleep. Once the batter is in the batters box and the pitcher is on the rubber, game on. Stay there. Throw the ball. Hit the ball. Or not, and strike out. But knock off the silly routines. The shift ban is a result of the game not teaching the fundamentals anymore. They want the launch angle, and speed off the bat, etc. Learn to hit the ball the other way. And if you learn how to bunt the ball where they aren't, the shift ends by itself. Since you can't, or won't, the league has to step in for you. Embarrassing. And I do love the bigger bases and less pick off throws. I love the stolen base, and it is long overdue coming back. Just think what it is going to do to the catching position. With the robot ump around the corner and more frequent stolen base attempts, framing pitches won't matter anymore, and an arm that can throw out runners will be back in. Welcome back! Overall, looking forward to '23. Let's see who adapts the fastest and the best. Baseball just might be fun again.

Lots of good pitching this week, tonight it was - Balazovic, Headrick, Olsen, Raya as starters and plenty of good relief pitching as well, but not McMahon, who has struggled greatly since his promotion. Wallner with a couple hits including his third triple for the Saints. Wow, for someone who is supposed to be slow, he sure gets a lot of triples and steals his share of bases.

I'm kind of in shock, because I think the bureaucracy got this one exactly right..... This is a really strange feeling....

I don't know how anyone could watch this team the past 6-8 weeks and come to this conclusion... they're clearly not built to go on any sort of run. They are barely treading water in the worst division in baseball! Not to mention how horrifically they play when they face the likes of the Yankees/Dodgers/Astros. If they do reach the postseason, it's probably the weakest team they've reached it since... I don't even know when. Heck, I'd take the 2017 squad over this one. They're poised to add on to their playoff loss streak if they do sneak in.

A shift ban will add 70 points to Kepler's batting average. Kepler is the undisputed king of 4-3. And I loved games under 2:30. 2:15 and under was unusual with Koufax or Gibson on the mound.

I hope this helps the next generation of fans - as one of the really old fans I am delighted. Anything that creates action and reduces the time of the game is very welcome to me. For skeptics - let me say that MLB games were 2 1/2 hours during the days of Maury Wills and other base stealers. Stealing bases is not going to make the game longer. This is great, if only the robo ump was put in too! Next - limit tv commercials. Have them figure out a new way of getting advertising - fun banners at the bottom of the screen, but keep the commercial break to 1 minute.

They are built for October if that means their strength is watching football and going trick-or-treating. I do have to hand it to the team for staying in the race despite injuries, bullpen blowups, lousy base-running and situational hitting. In large part that is due to having a weak division this year. If they get these injured players back - will they immediately step in and perform or by the time they get acclimated back will the season be over? Or will they get re-injured or suffer new injuries? The one constant with the team is having a revolving crew of injured players. Make no mistake - I will be rooting for the team to get hot and take the division title but the team is going to have to step up and play much better than we have seen in a while. As for if we make October - we are not playing sound fundamental baseball and we don't have a big enough talent advantage to overcome that which would likely lead to a quick playoff exit.

There was a typo in the headline that you missed so I went ahead and fixed it for you; The 2022 Twins Are Not Built For October Oh man, I thought I was way to old to use they Millennial code words, but after reading this article I literally had a bout of ROTFL followed by a huge fit of LMFAO. And you forgot to mention one huge road block that's continually finding new inventive ways to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory - Rocco's Spreadsheet, If short starts and piggybacking with long bullpen outings was a winning stragedy in short series, why is the Twins record only two games over .500 when they play tons of games against the Royal & Tigers & White Sox? If the Twins somehow pull off a miracle and get into the playoffs here's my prediction for Game One. Gray gets through 5 innings giving up 1 run on 3 hits with 5 Ks and 3BBs, but is at 75 pitches. Meanwhile the Twins have, as standard recent output, have a 2 run lead. What do you think Rocco is going to do? Exactly, he's going to pull Gray and go to the bullpen and within the next 2 innings the lead will be gone and the Twins will be trailing. And if the same exact scenario exists in Game Two Rocco will go ahead and do the same exact thing to Mahle or Ryan. And just that quick the Twins are 2 and done.

They may stack up fairly well in the rotation, but beyond that, I'm not as certain. Sure, shortening the bullpen down with an off day between each game helps considerably, but I'm not sold. And the bats, even if Polcano is healthy, Larnach and Buxton come back, can't produce runs consistently without the benefit of a home run. I'd absolutely love to be proven wrong, in fact I'd encourage it, but I'm not seeing any sort of October force to be worried about if I'm an opponent.