Angels 4, Twins 2: Road Trip Ends in Bitter Disappointment Against Anaheim

Tipping point reached.  The grit is evident, but not the skill.

15 minutes ago, BH67 said:

Tipping point reached.  The grit is evident, but not the skill.

yep toast, probably 75 wins

We talk about how bad the pitching has been since Wes left the team for a return to collegiate coaching.

But the hitting. What gives? 

Again, can't we get a pitcher past five innings?!?

I am not ready to say the team is done, but I need something to hold on to.  Can we have a comeback win?  Can Rocco let a pitcher that is hot pitch an extra inning?  Will we ever get a hit with a runner in scoring position?  Can we get a laugher where Emilio Pagan can pitch without pressure?  Does Cole Sands pitch again?  Do we have to see Kepler at bat again?  I am not asking a lot, just a couple of these options to help me out.  I just came back from 10 days in Canada along the great lakes and now will take 10 days going down the Ohio River - can I come back from one of these trips and find the world of TD in glee over the wonderful winning streak?????

Archer looks a lot like a nice BP piece.

Tucker Davidson's line coming into today' game:

18 minutes ago, mikelink45 said:

I am not ready to say the team is done, but I need something to hold on to.  Can we have a comeback win?  Can Rocco let a pitcher that is hot pitch an extra inning?  Will we ever get a hit with a runner in scoring position?  Can we get a laugher where Emilio Pagan can pitch without pressure?  Does Cole Sands pitch again?  Do we have to see Kepler at bat again?  I am not asking a lot, just a couple of these options to help me out.  I just came back from 10 days in Canada along the great lakes and now will take 10 days going down the Ohio River - can I come back from one of these trips and find the world of TD in glee over the wonderful winning streak?????

just hoping there isn't a total collapse, but that's where this is headed, considering everything.  Time for some college football.

Chris Archer's numbers cry out for a shift to the bullpen. Used for 2 or 3 innings, he may be an excellent reliever. More than that, he gives up too many runs to keep the team in the game. Like other relievers, he will be unshackled from the limitations of pacing himself, so he can cut loose with his best heaters and sliders, for 1 or 2 innings. 

Promote Josh Winder to Archer's spot, DFA Emilio Pagan, and move Archer to the pen. Solves two big problems. Winder has the stuff and the endurance to go 5 or more innings, and Archer should be able to snuff out most lineups for an inning or two. 

Kepler is 0-27 since returning from the IL. 

Whether injury (most likely due to his toe) or ineptitude, he needs to sit for a bit.

This alone is nowhere near the extent of our problems (Baldi... not that you care, but your overall use of the pitching staff hurts my soul), but certainly a worthy place to start 

19 minutes ago, jimbo92107 said:

Chris Archer's numbers cry out for a shift to the bullpen. Used for 2 or 3 innings, he may be an excellent reliever. More than that, he gives up too many runs to keep the team in the game. Like other relievers, he will be unshackled from the limitations of pacing himself, so he can cut loose with his best heaters and sliders, for 1 or 2 innings. 

Promote Josh Winder to Archer's spot, DFA Emilio Pagan, and move Archer to the pen. Solves two big problems. Winder has the stuff and the endurance to go 5 or more innings, and Archer should be able to snuff out most lineups for an inning or two. 

Since Winder can't seemingly throw more than about 30-40 innings before his shoulder starts locking up, I don't see that as a likely solution.

This road trip hurt. Cleveland beat Toronto and the White Sox beat Detroit today.

The Twins are now tied with Chicago and 2.5 games back from the Guardians.

The players seem really down and not very focused.

The Angels aren’t a very good team.  But they are better than the current version of the Twins.  What an ugly trip West.

Still think the roster was deep headed into the season.

But you’ve had underachieving/hurt Kepler, no Sano, no Kirilloff, no Lewis, basically no Larnach, missing Garlick, zero from Jeffers, 3/4 of Buxton, and a slightly underachieving Correa.

Meanwhile, the pitching staff is not constructed to carry the club.

They simply are not a very good team as is…and it’s been this way for a while now.

Tough road trip. This home stand with 7 vs KC and Texas may provide an opportunity to regroup. But if not now - when?

Yuck. Offense was bad all weekend. Manager just keeps doing his thing messing with pitchers and losing us close games. 
Id say they have to sweep KC or it’s going to be over. Cleveland is hot right now, maybe on fire. 
I honestly don’t know if it can happen anymore. I had lots of faith even before this series but it has now become even more obvious that this pitching staff just is really really bad and the offense is just missing too many guys. Even the new arms we got haven’t been saviors. They’ve been ok but they aren’t saviors. 
Couple that with a guy that insists using 4-6 pitcher every night and even if we stay close there is no way we can win a close race with him doing that

1 hour ago, Aggies7 said:

37th time the twins have scored 2 or fewer runs. Incomprehensible.

THAT is the Twins problem, not the pitching, we could have the best two starting and relief pitchers in the league and would be no better unless they threw a shut-out every game, although the grade school baseball defense, especially today, is an embarassment.

After this uninspired and lackluster road trip this team deserved boarding the "old propeller airplane" used in the movie "Major League"---back to Minneapolis.   

Unless a not to be expected strong homestand follows---at minimum 5-2 against KC and TX-------these players should be packing to board a couple of 1980 version Grayhound busses for their trip to Houston,-

1 hour ago, Aggies7 said:

37th time the twins have scored 2 or fewer runs. Incomprehensible.

They have scored 3 or less in 47% of their games so far this year.

Too me the last 2 games has been the most disappointing games so far this year. This is the time for the offense to show up as a whole, It makes me wonder if they ever will.