MIN 2, KC 7: Royal Pain

Can we get a replacement for Jake Cave? Asking for an offense that needs to perform better.

A bunch of light hitting infielders, a rookie catcher, and an all-left handed hitting outfield vs. a southpaw = no offense at all

Can we get a replacement for Jake Cave? Asking for an offense that needs to perform better.

And in any regard, it’s probably better form if you wait to ask the question on a night Cave was NOT the only outfielder to reach base in the game.

Wade could get some starts just for the sake of having a different face...but he’s not as good as Cave offensively, and no better defensively.

O-Doh!-rizzi.... FO nailed it with the one year deal. Had to give him another year after last year but too many alarm bells with previous years and the third time through the line up.

No regrets.... and thank God we are not on the hook for a long term contract.

So we need a reliever, at least.  Who's coming up?

A bunch of light hitting infielders, a rookie catcher, and an all-left handed hitting outfield vs. a southpaw = no offense at all

We have three waiting in St Paul and it is time to move on from Jake.

Maybe we could take a little risk with Royce Lewis taking over for Adrianza - we need some batters.  

I noticed a trend very early last year and have zoned in on it ever since: inability to cluster hits together. When is the last time we've had 6 hits in an inning? Minus the occasional HR in the following scenario, with 2+ men on base this team can't hit...at all. It's like the next batter up turns into one of the worst hitters in the league. The Twins were in a rare situation having 6 highly-touted prospects enter the league at roughly the same time yet not one of them has lived up to their potential. My love of the team is more a "like" at this point. I'd pull a Rosas and trade the entire roster (stay Cruz) for gritty, hard working, always improving bunch.

Has anyone noticed that we are the only division where all the teams have won 10 or more games?  The weak central!

Guessing Thorpe is an injury replacement. Same with Poppen. (Or was he placed on the IL?)

I repeat mys3lf from a previous OP that Duran was to be used in case of emergency. Are we getting to that point? Oddo out again, Bailey not ready, Pineda still suspended...maybe instead of a traditional bullpen start we give the kid a shot.

Are on giving Wade a shot. Maybe he provides a spark and gives someone else a day off. But Cave is ahead of him for a reason despite slumping lately.

Still waiting for Kirloff. Like I said earlier, the team that stays healthy will win. We are not healthy right now. Maybe we can get Longoria from the Giants in a deal for a prospect or 2. Or maybe a right handed hitting outfielder if none are in the system. However, we need starting pitching since we have so many injuries. Alcala deserves to start and can probably go 5 innings if he isn't wild. As far as 6 hits in an inning as someone said, not many teams do that very often- maybe once a week. Leave Cave alone. He's not the only one not doing much. The White Sox are decent and the Indians had good pitching til their 2 starters screwed up.

Repeating my post from a week or so ago, but I think James Rowson's role in the success of the Bombas may be underestimated.

An earlier post mentioned Royce Lewis. Might he be our righty CF option, or are the Twins locking him in as an infielder?

Thought there was one word to describe last night's game...ouch! Then seeing what happened to Odorizzi, I guess it should be...ouch, ouch!

Continue to be more than impressed with Alcala. He pitched almost three innings last night. With all the starters on the IL, could they stretch him out another inning? Then use an opener for the first two innings with Alcala coming in for the next four. That would get them to the 7th inning when the bullpen would normally get into the game. A thought.

Like most of us, I have lost track of where the team is with their 40-man roster, who is on the IL and which players are left in St. Paul to help.

Maybe partner Smeltzer with Alcala, each throwing 3-4 innings. After Smeltzer, Alcala  will look like he's throwing 100+ to the batters.

Maybe we could take a little risk with Royce Lewis taking over for Adrianza - we need some batters.  

Not sure I'd want Lewis in the lineup after he hit .649 OPS in AA last year. He likely wouldn't do much better than Adrianza's .180 / 480 OPS or whatever it is. Lewis needs more development time.

O-Doh!-rizzi.... FO nailed it with the one year deal. Had to give him another year after last year but too many alarm bells with previous years and the third time through the line up.

 

No regrets.... and thank God we are not on the hook for a long term contract.

I'm also glad the Twins aren't on the hook for him beyond this season, but you've gotta feel for the guy. He wasn't able to sign a long term deal last offseason because of the draft pick compensation tied to him, so he took the QO from the Twins, probably thinking he could secure a nice deal next offseason after putting together another solid season this year. Now I'm wondering if he'll be able to get a multi-year deal at all.

I noticed a trend very early last year and have zoned in on it ever since: inability to cluster hits together. When is the last time we've had 6 hits in an inning? Minus the occasional HR in the following scenario, with 2+ men on base this team can't hit...at all. It's like the next batter up turns into one of the worst hitters in the league. The Twins were in a rare situation having 6 highly-touted prospects enter the league at roughly the same time yet not one of them has lived up to their potential. My love of the team is more a "like" at this point. I'd pull a Rosas and trade the entire roster (stay Cruz) for gritty, hard working, always improving bunch.

I think this may be confirmation bias in your head. They've hit better this season with runners on, and even better than that with runners in scoring position. Overall, the team is only hitting .239 for the season (18th in MLB), but they're hitting .278 with runners on base (6th in MLB) and .305 with runners in scoring position (2nd in MLB). I will say that they were historically bad last season with the bases loaded for some reason, but they were good or great in every other situation last season. This season, timely hitting has been one of the Twins' only saving graces on offense.

Not sure I'd want Lewis in the lineup after he hit .649 OPS in AA last year. He likely wouldn't do much better than Adrianza's .180 / 480 OPS or whatever it is. Lewis needs more development time.

His BA should be able to match Adrianza and this could be a way to give him development time.  Another option would be Gordon, but we really hear nothing about him.  At least Royce has been given one of the CHS awards for his work this summer. 

I think this may be confirmation bias in your head. They've hit better this season with runners on, and even better than that with runners in scoring position. Overall, the team is only hitting .239 for the season (18th in MLB), but they're hitting .278 with runners on base (6th in MLB) and .305 with runners in scoring position (2nd in MLB). I will say that they were historically bad last season with the bases loaded for some reason, but they were good or great in every other situation last season. This season, timely hitting has been one of the Twins' only saving graces on offense.

Maybe the problem is getting players into scoring position because they are not there enough to score based on your stats.  I do think we are missing Arraez bat and I am tired of the Garver/Cave etc in the top of the lineup.

I’m thinking it may be time to call Rooker up.  Kepler in CF, Rosario in RF and Rooker in LF.  Rooker could platoon with Cave.

Some guys, kepler most notably, retooled their swings last season to better reach the seats with the juiced up baseball. This year I am seeing many lofty fly ball outs.

Some guys, kepler most notably, retooled their swings last season to better reach the seats with the juiced up baseball. This year I am seeing many lofty fly ball outs.

3 K's on the second night for Jeffers (and Wade pinch hit and struck out for him, too). Gushing is fun, and I was one that was wanting him in there, and still do. Especially over Astudillo. But that must have stung and much as the first night brought the joy. Littell I saw coming and was and am hoping for Duran. I don't think Littell will ever have a run like he did at the end of last year. I think that was his shine.

3 K's on the second night for Jeffers (and Wade pinch hit and struck out for him, too). Gushing is fun, and I was one that was wanting him in there, and still do. Especially over Astudillo. But that must have stung and much as the first night brought the joy. Littell I saw coming and was and am hoping for Duran. I don't think Littell will ever have a run like he did at the end of last year. I think that was his shine.

Based on last year, I believe that Littell can, and will be a very good reliever for the Twins long term. We are now learning of an arm problem that just may have been the reason he hasn't pitched that well this short season.