TB 10, MIN 1: Snell Stifles Twins Bats

Molitor got the reserves to play: Grossman, Garver, Ehire and LaMarre started. 

Stayed a close game. Low pitch count meant you tried to get 7 out of Gibson, but is it really necessary top push starters anymore.

The two kids were horrible.

Luke Bard cut by Angels. Should the Twins pay $50,000 to get him back?

Not inspiring.  Isn't it time to look at the minors and bring up Gonsalves and Romero?  This is not a small sample size for Gibson, no matter how many innings he pitches the last one will be a disaster.  Moya and Kinley are not MLB relievers and if we really thing we are going to compete they need to go.  

I hope I am wrong about Hughes, but other than his big contract why is he starting?

Pitching was our weak point.  The FO got lots of credit for addressing it.  I am not one of those saying good job.  Except for Reed - the one exception.  The percentage is not good.  

And Sano gets an RBI.  Great, he made contact once.  I am bored with him and I hated the lineup.  Grossman batting Number 4????  Call up the young bats.  Do something interesting.  

Falvey needs to face his big blunder and cut Kinley.

He's not a pitcher. He's a thrower which doesn't work against MLB hitters.

Falvey needs to face his big blunder and cut Kinley.

 

He's not a pitcher. He's a thrower which doesn't work against MLB hitters.

Couldn't agree more. Kinley is dead weight. Use the roster spot for somebody that might actually be able to get an out. Lots of choices in AAA.

1. I can't understand why we suck so bad against lefties. We have the talent to hit lefties better than this... We had that problem last year too, which leads me to another major curiosity...

2. If hitting lefties was such a huge weakness, then why did we decide to bring Logan Morrison into town? He crushed righties last year, but was barely above league average (105 sOPS+) against lefties. Also, only 6 of his 38 homers were against lefties. That being said, those numbers are better than any other in-house options that were available (sorry, Kennys Vargas enthusiasts) to hit lefties. Just to clarify, Vargas did hit righties at a decent clip last year (115 sOPS+) but only a 62 sOPS+ vs lefties. That is all strictly inferior to Morrison, who will still heat up.

3. Kinley could still remain in our system if we worked out a trade, but I hear that they are waiting to find out if we are going to be offered Luke Bard back, at which time Kinley could be expendable.

4. I don't think last year's postseason run was a fluke by any means, but I also think that too many teams are powerhouses and we are just a rung below them. Returning to the postseason will be difficult this year. (Current playoff odds at 24.1% according to Fan Graphs)

Are people really blaming this on Gibson? He certainly pitched well enough. Everyone needs some bullpen help in a game at some point.

He rebounded from an early homer to get the team through to a point where they could get some key bullpen pieces a break.

I've been learning the thing with Gibson is expectations. He's a back-end starter. Not an ace. He'll never. E one. Going into the 7th inning last night, his season ERA to that point was down to about 3.5 (4.29 after the inning - we've seen worse from Twins "aces" over the decades). That can be extended back to about July of last year.

The guy has been doing his his job serviceably for some time now. People just need to drop this expectations that come along with the first-round label. For comparison, guys like Rosario, Kepler, Buxton, Polanco who have also been historically inept offensively can put together a couple of good weeks at the plate and they've arrived as superstars. It's a perception thing.

Are people really blaming this on Gibson? He certainly pitched well enough. Everyone needs some bullpen help in a game at some point...

...I've been learning the thing with Gibson is expectations. He's a back-end starter.

I think that is a very good point. I feel much more comfortable with Gibson in a rotation that goes:

Berrios

Santana

Lynn

Odorizzi

Gibson