Guardians 7, Twins 6: Another Bullpen Meltdown in Extra Innings Loss

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.... or more simply....

Pitching Pagan in relief

Trading Rogers at the outset of the season has turned out to be every bit as devastating as some on this site predicted at the time. 

Taylor Roger's WARP (Wins Above Replacement of Pagan) would be about 8 already! 

That pitch that Cotton threw to Naylor was a meatball, right down the middle. Should have walked him.

If you can't trust a pitcher with a 3-run leda, why is Thornbvurg on the staff? 

And, Pagan, when all you have to do is throw strikes and put the ball in play, avoid the walk.....stop being wild pitch cute.

Can the Twins start using Jax for more than 1 inning, please?

Rocco: "There have been times where Emilio Pagán is one of the best relievers in baseball, he knows what that feels like. Right now his stuff is actually good, the execution is not good."

Translation: "Pagan is pitching terribly... but my excel spreadsheet says that he should be pitching good, so I need to keep sending him out there in high leverage situations... (oh my excel spreadsheet... my precious...)" 

Capps/ Reed/ Dyson/ Colome/ Pagan

The Twins have an impressively awful track record of bringing in vet relievers, while also letting go of stud arms like Pressley/ Rodgers.

Pagan's last four outings v Cleveland. 2 and 1/3 innings, 7 hits, 3 walks and 10 runs given up. Rocco often shows loyalty to his players which in itself is abmirable, but this recent display is becoming beyond ridiculous at this point. It's flashbacks to Alex Colome in 2021. Rocco...end the 2.0 version of the great 'ball man' experiment now before you begin your career as a townball manager.

The bullpen implosion was a disaster - unfortunately, not that unexpected of this club. I mean, we are kinda getting used to it, right?  Pagan is, like, 9/15 in save situations.  The thread will focus on this I’m sure.

However, the little things from the position players once again bit this team in the rear.  Arraez’s throwing error in the first was unnecessary and led to a run.  Celestino not picking up the 3rd base coach and stopping at second likely cost the Twins another run. That’s a net two runs, proving costly. No need to even mention the passed ball. We need to clean up these little things because they are having a big impact. Our relief corp isn’t strong enough to overcome these mental mistakes in the field, at the plate, and on the base paths. 

Another bullpen meltdown? It’s been pagan every damn time. Twins more interested in making friends and being a safe place than winning actual games. 
Rocco promotes analytics but ignores them every time they don’t fit his narrative. He’s a horrible manager and holding this team back. Falvey relishes on the opportunity to do more with less even though he’s failed more often than not. He just won’t admit when it’s time to re-evaluate and re-tool. Bullpen is so cheap to upgrade and he is stubborn. 

Although the hour is late---------A few things to mention after the latest edition of "Groundhog Day" from our bullpen.

Go ahead and bring the criticism but the BLAME for these recent losses, imo, falls 95% at the hands of our front office......Falvey & Levine.

They are the ones that built this bullpen--------NOT........ Rocco Baldelli.

Baldelli continues to be hamstrung by a GM/front office that ignored and continues to ignore the glaring need for bullpen improvements.

Saying that, the only "blame" that I could hand out to Baldelli tonight would be his choice to start Pagan in the 10th inning instead of Cotton.   That is a fair argument.  Pagan has been nothing more a complete train wreck this month----ERA over 9-------with before tonight---------3 horrible outings against CLE within the past week.

Reverting back to my original point--------Falvey/Levine are RESPONSIBLE for this mess.  This bullpen has only 3 reliable/consistent pitchers:   Duran, Jax and to a lesser extent Thielbar.  That's it.

The other 5"not ready for prime team" RPs that Falvey has given us are:  

1.  Tyler Duffey:  Not much to say here.  Basically unusable in late game/high leverage situations.

2.  Jovanni Moran:  Rookie.  Pitched most of 2021 at AA.  Has been average in time at AAA.  

3.   Tyler Thornburg:  Career journeyman. Signed on June 12 as free agent.  Your #8 RP

4.   The aforementioned Pagan:  No further info needed

5.   Jharel Cotton:  Super rough ending for him tonight due to Pagan's issues, but lets not forget his short history with Twins:

Signed to minor league FA deal in offseason.  No other team wanted him.

DFA'ed by Twins on April 13th. Cleared waivers and (I think) was assigned to AAA-SP

DFA'ed a second time on May 17th.  Cleared waivers and assigned to SP on May 19th

Called up to Twins on June 3

Optioned back to AAA/SP on June 6

Called back to active roster on June 7th

* Also:  Don't want to forget Falvey's only bullpen add in off season:  38-year old Joe Smith.  Was outstanding in April, but as outings/usage increased into May and June his effectiveness waned.  Currently on IL.

and finally--------as many have noted-------Our best RP---Taylor Rogers was traded away by Falvey for Paddack (out for season/doubtful readiness by start of 2023 season) and....u know who....the Pagan Sacrifice.

So, I will end my rant with what I've called for in multiple other posts:

Falvey/Levine:  What are you doing TONIGHT to upgrade this bullpen???  NOW is the time!!  Not next week.  Not 2 weeks from now.  Not waiting till the trade deadline.  You constructed this bullpen---not your manager. 

Do you want to be playing meaningful games in September?  Do you want big crowds and excited fans in the stands at Target Field the next 3 months? Do you want to convince Correa that what you're building here is enough reason to convince him to stay for 2023?  Do you want to have the opportunity to break an 18 game losing streak in the playoffs?  Do you want to be the GM that see's the Twins win their 1st playoff series in 20 years?

Assuming your answer is "YES" to every question posed above-----------the LEAST you can do is to DO YOUR J-O-B!  Don't want to hear excuses.  Get this corrected NOW!!!!!

I have to think it’s a little hard for Rocco to look 25 guys in the face tonight.  Going into tonight, the Twins had played Cleveland 6 times in the last 8 days.  They were 3-3, with all 3 losses directly attributable to Emilio Pagan.  Rocco’s decision to put him in was utter lunacy.

Fool me once, shame on you.  Fool me twice, shame on me.  Fool me thrice, GoT level shame on me.  Fool me four times?  “Hi, my name’s Rocco Baldelli”.

11 minutes ago, Squirrel said:

Well, actually, I think it was Duffey a time or two, too

You are correct. 8 blown leads 7th inning and beyond. Duffy -2, Pagan - 6.  

These Cleveland games' brutal loses have all been after offensive heroics. Late inning rallies with clutch homers and runs, Just a great high for the team and fans...... and then Baldelli puts in Pagan, again, and again, and again. Crushing. A couple of them with multiple run leads provided with only 3 outs to get. The whole fandom is screaming Noooooooooooo. And it happens again. And the heroics are wasted and made unimportant. And they were really clutch and noteworthy. All for naught. Demoralizing.

Tired of everyone making excuses for Rocco.  Tired of Rocco.  I see no evidence he is learning.  Expect more of the same in the future.

The GM makes one of the worst trades in team history and the manager can't help himself from compounding it by making the same mistake over and over.  Pathetic. 

Pitcher A — 6.5 H/9, 1.9 HR/9, 5.1 BB/9, 7.4 SO/9

Pitcher B — 7.5 H/9, 2.1 HR/9, 5.0 BB/9, 12.1 SO/9

Pitcher C — 9.5 H/9, 1.7 HR/9, 2.9 BB/9, 8.0 SO/9

Pitcher D — 7.3 H/9, 0.0 HR/9, 4.2 BB/9, 7.3 SO/9

You’re Rocco Baldeli, who do you go to with a three run lead in the 10th?

People need to stop pretending like there was an obviously better alternative. The problem is that they are all bad. That includes Cotton, whose underlying numbers are really not discernibly better than Pagán’s, he’s just been luckier so people have fooled themselves into thinking he’s better.

Look at the options above and tell me who you would’ve chosen.

4 hours ago, USAFChief said:

I know we're not allowed to question Baldelli here, and I was willing to overlook not using Duran for a 2 inning save in game one of the doubleheader, but..

Then why was he available for 2 innings in a tie game today?

I don't get it.

Many of Rocco's decisions make 0 sense. The day he cleans out his office I will celebrate by popping open a bottle of wine... and I haven't had a drink in 17 years. 

Went to bed after the Kepler HR, but I had this crazy dream that the bullpen once again blew the game after an encouraging comeback from the offense. Thank goodness it was just a dream.

4 hours ago, Alex Schieferdecker said:

Pitcher A — 6.5 H/9, 1.9 HR/9, 5.1 BB/9, 7.4 SO/9

Pitcher B — 7.5 H/9, 2.1 HR/9, 5.0 BB/9, 12.1 SO/9

Pitcher C — 9.5 H/9, 1.7 HR/9, 2.9 BB/9, 8.0 SO/9

Pitcher D — 7.3 H/9, 0.0 HR/9, 4.2 BB/9, 7.3 SO/9

You’re Rocco Baldeli, who do you go to with a three run lead in the 10th?

People need to stop pretending like there was an obviously better alternative. The problem is that they are all bad. That includes Cotton, whose underlying numbers are really not discernibly better than Pagán’s, he’s just been luckier so people have fooled themselves into thinking he’s better.

Totally agree. What's he supposed to do? He can't run Ryan out there every day followed by Jax for 2 innings and Duran for 2 innings. MLB teams have to use all of the arms in their bullpen. Those arms have to be capable of getting MLB players out! You don't pay Pagan 2 million dollars to warm the bench out there, he's supposed to be able to get the job done, and if he can't the guy has to be cut from the team. Rocco can't cut guys from the team, nor can he switch out the tools from his tool box.

Rocco has put the ball in the FO's court. I'm not saying he's playing 5-D chess or anything like that, but he is taking a very direct approach. Let's hope last night was the last we saw of Pagan, the guy's nothing but toxic for this team.

A sad loss for the Twins! This one is on Baldelli. He has a habit (and it is a habit), of forcing his analytic will into game situations, when wisdom and insight may serve better. Pagan is his latest habit. I used to be Duffey. It ended in a loss when a win was all but assured. Jeffers played a crucial role with his passed ball. He is just not a great catcher to have on a team. He should have caught that ball. But, that is the game.....we lost. Gotta win tomorrow! Go Twins!

Twins Geezer.... out!