MIN 5, CLE 4: Max Power Against Bauer

Max single handedly won that game for us. Where is the rest of the offense?. Big win now let's get the bats going against Detroit and keep things rolling.

Yesterday was Thursday, June 6 and it was the 61st game of the year.  The Twins are now 38%  of the way through the season and have hit 117 home runs.  Out of 59 years, the current team ranks 39th on the all-time list of Twins' home runs in one season and are on a pace to hit 311 home runs this season.

What a relief to eke out this win. Thought for sure they were gonna get swept.

Not going to be able to put Rodgers and May out there every game. Get BP help. 

How do you rank the bullpen members? I'm just curious, really.

There are a lot of things that go into the thinking about it ERA/WHIP/SO:BB ratio and feeling (some pitchers just make you more worried than others--a kind of foreboding).

1) Rodgers

2) May

3) Harper

4) Macgill

5) Duffey

6) Morin

7) Parker

What's the buzz on the starter vs. Detroit tonight?  Sending down Smeltzer most likely...Pineda back?

Der Schlagger and some Red Sox guy named Williams are the only two to have two three-homer games in Cleveland.

I was wondering how close those three would be in WPA. I wonder what Max would have to do to be ahead by even more?

It's clear, to me, Berrios is a playoff pitcher. And Rogers. I still think Gibson is fine, now that he's recovered. I'd like one more good relief pitcher that everyone trusted.... Probably another starter

QFT

Tom, while  I don't spend a ton of time analyzing the charts, I've come to expect them, and always get a kick out of looking at them.  One of several unique "signature" items one just won't find anywhere else.

It was really telling the other day, reading one of the loss recaps on MLB.com before yours--it largely focused on the positives from Cleveland's perspective.  It was so nice to come here and get the whole story--the good, bad, and ugly.

I'm considering making some changes to these game recaps and would love some feedback if anybody's interested in helping out with some market research

 

-Do you enjoy the win expectancy charts?

I think they're cool, but for a lot of games they don't add a whole lot of flavor. I get the sense that most readers just gloss right over them the majority of the time, so I'm thinking about ditching them.

 

-Is there any important information we're missing?

I have some ideas for small, simple things to add, but I'm curious if any of you have any ideas. Is there something you're constantly having to look up elsewhere that could easily be included in these?

 

Thanks for reading everybody, and thanks to Andrew and all the new writers for joining in on the fun. 

Telling you what to do seems a lot like complaining about the food that someone else prepared.

As long as I'm not cooking, I'm good.

Keep up the great work!

How do you rank the bullpen members? I'm just curious, really.

 

There are a lot of things that go into the thinking about it ERA/WHIP/SO:BB ratio and feeling (some pitchers just make you more worried than others--a kind of foreboding).

 

1) Rodgers

2) May

3) Harper

4) Macgill

5) Duffey

6) Morin

7) Parker

I have May much lower. Parker higher. Parker had one rough game recently and May had one good game recently. Don't let a couple of outings from one night make you forget the rest of the games.And let's not forget that May has been used in low-leverage situations most of the month of May as well. Parker has 5 saves, May doesn't have any. Says something.

1. Rogers

2. Harper

3. Morin

4. Parker

5. May

6. Macgill

7. Duffey

The bullpen usage charts are sliced bread!

 

And to be clear, according to math, Kepler has room for even more power.  At least I think this is what that means.

 

 

I was told there would be no math

How do you rank the bullpen members? I'm just curious, really.

 

There are a lot of things that go into the thinking about it ERA/WHIP/SO:BB ratio and feeling (some pitchers just make you more worried than others--a kind of foreboding).

 

1) Rodgers

2) May

3) Harper

4) Macgill

5) Duffey

6) Morin

7) Parker

1) Rogers

2) Harper

3a) May

3b) Parker

5) Magill

6) Morin

7) Duffey

I appreciate that the team isn’t making line up decisions based on the box score stats of the previous few games. I think Molitor has Kepler on the bench for this one.

It's a context-oriented stat. So I suppose the main way his WPA could have been boosted is if Berrios had a worse start. If those were all three go-ahead homers, for example, his WPA would have skyrocketed. 

 

One of the fun things about WPA is that at the end of the game, the grand total for the winning team is always 0.500 and the losing team -0.500. So the only way to have a crazy high WPA is if one of your teammates has an awful game. 

 

Taking a look back to Eddie Rosario's three-homer game on June 3 last year, his WPA was .547. Wow! His first homer gave the Twins a 1-0 lead, his second homer tied the game 4-4 in the bottom of the seventh and his final homer was a walk off. What a game. Both Ryan Pressly (-.418 WPA) and Addison Reed (-.134 WPA) blew saves in that game. Pressly, what a bum! HA

I think Pressly is a classic example of the "change of scenery" scenario of baseball.

Chief- YOU WIN!

Still no 3-game losing streaks for this team! That's a pretty good stat.

May looks like he's rounding into form, which is good. Parker had a bad night in a goofy rain-delay game; the loss was a bummer, but I'm not too worried about him. Magill? Boy, I dunno. Never been a huge fan. FIP says he's been unlucky this year, but considering how much lower his HR/9 is compared to career averages, I think he's actually been lucky this year and his mediocre numbers could get a lot worse in a hurry. The K's are great, but the WHIP suggests he's a mop-up guy and that's not what we need. Would rather see more of Duffey than Magill.

Great night for Kepler. That's a slump-buster for sure. Hopefully he gets cranking on another run. The contract extension on Max is looking pretty smart right now too, hopefully he doesn't fade late, because this is starting to look like the break-out year we've been waiting for.

The look on Bauer's face after Max goes deep the third time is priceless.

Not going to be able to put Rodgers and May out there every game. Get BP help. 

Or not be afraid to let starters pitch more than a Little League game. Every game against a division team is a 2 game swing so this was huge. So far no losing streaks (2 doesn't count as a "streak"). Even HofF and possible HoF players for the Twins have had few if any games where they totally carried the team to a significant win. Do need to take 2 of 3 from Tigers before coming home. Kepler can take the night off tonight and let the other 8 do the job.

It's about time on this site for everyone to start spelling Rogers correctly.