CHW 6, MIN 5: Twins Blow 5-1 Lead

Rock bottom ... Any win at this point is a surprise ... At least every game has some highlights ... Morrison seems to be getting into the zone ... Pressly was sick

Well, we wasted a rare Joe Mauer  HR the other day, today we get to waste LoMo finally breaking out a bit.  What will we waste tomorrow?  

I know!  I know!  We'll somehow squander a terrific quality start!

Again.

Yup, we're officially bad, if it wasn't official before. The bad teams are counting on us to consistently win games. 

I think some of us have forgotten how truly terrible Grossman is in the outfield. He was historically bad in 2016 and he's back to that level after not playing much outfield in 2017. It's not like his bat helps the lineup as in a good year he'll hit .260 with little power and good OBP... we have enough of that with Mauer. I'd almost rather see LaMarre play out there just for the defense. Or maybe they could get Wade up until Buxton is ready.

On a different note, it seems Odorizzi gets so many strikeouts it clogs up his pitch count and he gets gassed real quick. I still think he can be a #3 starter, but we haven't quite gotten that from him. 

Reed regressing a little bit is what it is. Relievers will have cold and hot streaks sometimes. If they keep relying on him all the time, the odds are he will disappoint you sometimes.

STOP PLAYING GROSSMAN IN THE FIELD!!!!!!!!

What the hell is the matter with Molitor?!?

We all knew this two years ago.

Paul Molitor deserves an assist for this loss.

Odorizzi has shown a consistent pattern of blowing up when he faces the lineup for the 3rd time.

Mollie let Jake face the White Sox lineup for the 3rd time.

The error by Grossman is not Molitor's fault, but letting Odo face the lineup in the 6th inning despite the fact that he was showing evident signs of fatigue is 100% Molitor's fault.

Did anyone else see the interview with Odorizzi after the game? I laughed pretty hard when he said the big mistake was "that home run to Whatever in the 4th inning". Palka should put "Whatever" on the back of his jersey for players weekend.

At this point, no lead feels safe. Didn't the Twins jump out to a similar big lead against the Reds and blow it? This Twins team looks like it could lose 95 games. As someone said above: at this point, any win feels like a surprise.

I didn't watch the game, but per usual I have my MLB At Bat notifications on. Every time a team scores, a little MLB logo appears on my phone to let me know that a team has scored.  It's come to a point that when I see that notification my heart starts to sink - I just know something bad has happened. Kind of like when you get a call from the nursing home about great aunt Hazel: it might not be bad news, but it probably is.

There is nothing left to say other than the cliches, "It's a long season" or "We'll get 'em tomorrow" or "The breaks will start falling our way", etc.

Man they need Buxton back quick so we don't have to be subjected to Grossman's "defense".   Think I'd rather watch Delmon Young play right field than Grossman.

There is nothing left to say other than the cliches, "It's a long season" or "We'll get 'em tomorrow" or "The breaks will start falling our way", etc.

The breaks were falling the Twins way early last night with those 2 consecutive wild pitches/passed balls thrown by Lopez.   Then they just stopped falling the Twins way.

There is no excuse for Grossman to be in the field. This is on the front office. Wade can be there. They should have signed an actual fourth OF this off season, as many people here said.

There are multiple levels of reasons for this.  Granite being hurt is one.  But what  puzzles me is seeing Grossman out in the field when Ryan LaMarre is sitting on the bench, especially late in the game.  I don't have enough statistical information on LaMarre, except to say when the Twins do make a defensive substitution, LaMarre is normally in centerfield with Kepler moving to RF.  That at least implies that Molitor thinks LaMarre is better defensively than Kepler.  

While it is easy to crap on Grossman (and he did have an error last night) Fangraphs has the revised zone rating (RZR) for Grossman and Rosario as being the same. 

https://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=of&stats=fld&lg=all&qual=0&type=1&season=2018&month=0&season1=2018&ind=0&team=8&rost=0&age=0

I'm annoyed as much as the continued slump of Free Agent Brian Dozier.  Yes he's very streaky and carries the team at times but 0-5 and 3-42 when the team is tail spinning.  

Also agree that Robbie has to go.  He's a nice pinch hitter for an NL team.  A 4th outfielder has to play defense over hitting.  And hitting he isn't either anyway.

Paul Molitor deserves an assist for this loss.

 

Odorizzi has shown a consistent pattern of blowing up when he faces the lineup for the 3rd time.

 

Mollie let Jake face the White Sox lineup for the 3rd time.

Well there has been talk of him not letting his starters work out of some jams and getting an inning or two more out of them so can we complain when it back fires?

I will say the last few starts he has given his starters a chance to work out of some jams and it has worked, (Gibson and Romero for example)

The Twins are not serious about winning when they play Grossman in the OF. He costs them a run per game.

The Twins can't win regularly without Buxton.