Royals 4, Twins 3: Duffey Implodes as Twins Waste Winnable Game

"Fans can point to the base-running send error by Watkins or another implosion by Duffey."

Me after Monday: "Not a terrible start at 4-6. It's a long season."

Me after Tonight: "The new draft lottery is going to give us a good shot at the #1 pick next year."

Tyler Colome. Baldelli is proving to be a slow learner. At least Tyler's brothers, Caleb and Cody Colome didn't get in the game. That was oxymoronic relief. I guess 2 pitches is Smith's limit in Baldelli's books, especially after the 6 he threw yesterday (and 3 last Thursday).

I thought that we would benefit from not having Diaz send the slow runners and hold the fast ones, but Watson is proving to be a similar nightmare. 

Sanchez has been a nice surprise. So that's something.

Some good plays but some not so good. Archer looked decent until he totally lost it and then pitched to two more batters after running out of gas. 

It was idiotic to use Duffey there. Anybody can see what he is throwing is going to get lit up. I was yelling at the screen as soon as I saw they were warming him up. No bite on his breaking ball anymore. Just lazy 86 mph meatballs he lobs over the plate. He shoulda been taken out after the first bp homerun he gave up to Perez. Just embarrassing. The 2020 version of him is long gone, and he should not be given high leverage innings until he makes some changes. I was also yelling at Watkins before Sanchez even rounded third. What the hell is that guy doing? This wasn't as bad as the Sano send the other day where he was out by 10 feet, but makes absolutely no sense to push your luck in that situation. I had 40 bucks on both those games Duffey lost single handedly so far! Should not bet on teams you care about. I need to stick to prop bets on random Pirate games. 

I'd like to take silver linings from the offense picking up, but there is too much deja vu from last year.

Pick a stat, this bullpen is one of the worst in the league so far. I actually buy the fact they have the parts to make a pretty good bullpen this year, but it kind of feels like Rocco might keep leaning on the same guys until it is too late, just like last year.

The front office definitely believes that relief pitchers are fickle and isn't afraid to cut bait, even with a guy like Rogers who (2020 aside) has actually been consistently good. I don't know if Rocco has the same philosophy, and it seems to manifest in the worst way, putting too little trust in new guys who look good and too much trust in the guys he knows when they don't look good.

That's a good wrap of the game Jamie ...

Now we need to find another 3rd base coach who will send the fast runners and hold the slow runners  ..

Also relegate duffy to mop up duty  , his stuff sucks 

I mentioned this in a blog about relief pitchers.  Time to DFA Duffy, Stashak, and Theilbar and bring up Cano, Moran, and Minaya.  And while I'm at it, DFA Garlic and call up Contreras.  Breathe some life into this team.

Unforgiveable loss.

Should have scored way more runs, the Twins ran themselves out of at least 2 runs early in the game, and were also unlucky hitting everything into the wind. Overall this was a team loss - the type of loss that bad teams give away. A good team wins that game 7-4, should have never even been that close.

Twins have now had both Sano and Sanchez called out at home with less than 2 outs this year. Maybe the 3rd base coach should stop sending our big men home? I don't mind being aggressive, but maybe pick your spots.

Bad move taking out Gordon for Garlick. I think I saw Gordon on the bench when that move was made and he was looking rather disgusted about that. Guy hits a triple and gets pulled the next inning? It was Amir Garret on the mound, not Randy Johnson.

Duffey's been below average for a while now. I think the guy's just cooked. I don't blame Rocco for going to him, the only way you find out guys are bad is to play them. Both Duffey and Jax are very hittable and are just bullpen fodder at this point.

Overall just a terrible loss to open the series, Twins find themselves against the wall already in KC.

I don't think I can endure this for the next 5 months. 

Another terrible loss with coaching decisions near the top of the reasons why. Hate to say it, but these decisions matter.  Regardless of how poor we have hit, we’re probably down two games on coaching alone.

Here’s hoping we turn things around, but the fears of a 2021 redux are starting to kick in again. 

Arraez a 1B is a miracle. Sano not in the lineup is a miracle. 9 hits from this lineup is a miracle. Only 5 strikeouts from this team is a miracle. The starting pitcher going 4 and a third is not a surprise. The Coaches making mistakes is not a surprise. The Manager using one of his current best relief pitchers for 2 pitches and one of his worst relief pitchers for an entire blowup inning is not a surprise. Batting Kepler who is one of the worst hitters 4th and putting Urshela who is one of the hottest hitters 6th is not a surprise. Pulling Gordon for Garlick shows the Manager has no feel for the game but strickly makes every move based on analytics. If the Bomba squad doesn't reappear and the Twins end up needing to win based on Rocco's decisions they are doomed.

I love Tommy Watkins but he has been a real liability as the third base coach.  We brought in a bench coach to help Rocco manage games, but it has not seemed to help.  HIs bullpen decisions are odd to say the least.

That was a game we should have won - certainly if expect to be a .500 team and possible playoff contender.   Their starting pitcher was not good but their bullpen had no trouble shutting us down.  Wondering if the fact that our lineup and bullpen usage is so scattered has an impact on this team of humans.    Maybe a computer model suggests all these different lineups and bullpen usage should work best but humans like some more certainty to perform better.   One more thing I will say is that we had a full offseason to improve our backup OF positions and bullpen but it looks no different than last year.  2 injured players who were also injured last year by the way and we are left without adequate replacements.   For me - no more Garlick - I would have preferred to keep Gordon in the game - at least he has speed.  I don't get our affinity with slow plodding outfielders.   

  On 4/20/2022 at 12:21 PM, rv78 said:

If the Bomba squad doesn't reappear and the Twins end up needing to win based on Rocco's decisions they are doomed.

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Yep. Men on base without a homerun to drive them in seems to be a mystery to the current day Twins. Rocco might be a good people person but I don't really like his lineup decisions, bullpen decisions or game management decisions. Its so early in the season but I'm already expecting the Titanic to be downed by an iceberg before it even leaves port.

rv78 stole my post!  He covered it all.  Good job.  My only addition is Archer.  We want 6 - 7 innings from starters but Chris just made a case for Rocco's 4.

Duffey might come back this season, but can't Wes "Guru" Johnson see his stuff in the pen before sending him out?  How many coaches do we have?  What do our bench coaches do besides read the newspaper to Rocco?

It is time to turn things around, I know it is only 7% of the season, but after last season, we need to see some more hope. How about a winning streak?
'

New season, same manager, same mistakes. At least we're consistent.

I did not watch the game last night, but how many times will Duffy keep getting higher leverage chances?  Also, why does Rocco hate Gordon so much?  He pinch hit for him early in game to get Garlick into the game against a lefty.  Garlick has shown no reason to trust him this year.  I get lefty lefty can be issues, but Gordon has yet to get a fair shot in actual game action for extended period.  He is always first to be pulled.  I am not saying Gordon is going to be amazing, but Rocco is not willing to even give him a fair shot for some reason. 

I love both Duffy and Theilbar from their time with the Twins in the past, but they both look terrible.

  On 4/20/2022 at 1:51 PM, Trov said:

I did not watch the game last night, but how many times will Duffy keep getting higher leverage chances?  Also, why does Rocco hate Gordon so much?

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Similar to last year, every button Rocco pushes seems to implode. He was a great manager when the Twins were mashing home runs at a record pace (who wouldn't be?), but he seems to lack a feel for the game when things are tight - who's hot, who's not, who needs to be tested, who needs to be rested. Again, I like what I see of him as a person, but I don't find him impressive as a big-league manager.

Every team is going to win 54 and lose 54. So far, I think the Twins are 0-3 in the remaining 54. And those losses are on the manager. And he doesn't seem to be learning from mistakes.

Duffey hasn't been good for years. Somehow he's muddled through, but he's never had the high K/9 he showed in his 2019 breakout. Should never be anywhere near a close game, the Twins would be 6-5 this year if he had been better. Even the outs he recorded last night were loud. 

As for the hitting, it felt going into the season like the Twins couldn't help but score with two MVP-caliber hitters in Buxton and Correa. But with Buxton out and Correa struggling, that strength is gone. We're relying on Polando, Arraez, and ??? to get hits in the same inning. Kepler and Sano can't be counted on. Sanchez and Urshela have been merely decent. Kirilloff is hurt and Larnach still isn't great. Just struggles all around.

Except the starting pitching! Who would've guessed?

  On 4/20/2022 at 4:06 AM, I wish the twins were good said:

I had 40 bucks on both those games Duffey lost single handedly so far! Should not bet on teams you care about. 

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The rational choice is to bet against your favorite team. It diversifies your risk. If your team wins, you're happy about it. If your team loses, you are happy about winning the bet.