Twins Game Recap (9/18): Twins’ Offense Absent Against Chicago Bullpen Game

Idorizzi's stuff wasnt the greatest tonight? I thought he had fantastic stuff.

Some nitpics on the game:

the first run is on Arraez at least as much as Odorizzi, that "double" should have been caught.

Pretty bad baserunning by Rosario getting thrown out at third.

Get em tomorrow.

Agreed Chief, I have another.  I Don't want Cruz to get hurt, but he seemed to not go hard to 2nd on Rosie's soft base hit, that took a while for the RFer to get there.  I think he has 3rd standing up if he's running hard.

Kinda feels like watching spring training games since the Cleveland series. Nothing is clinched, but the team fielded, the pitching selected, is like it doesn't matter. I think that is pretty arrogant. Nothing is a given. To treat it as such can have disasterous consequences. I just have to not think about these hitters facing Houston's starters, or both Houston or New York hitting against our pitchers after watching these last 5 games. It would be much better if they clinch before they seemingly pretend they have. The Twins are awfully lucky to have won as many as they have.

I hope Baldelli knows how to chew somebody out. You cannot make the 3rd out at 3rd. Not ever. And especially not in the bottom of the 8th and down 2 runs. No excuse. No excuses. 

its chinese water torture trying to put Cleveland away. I know even a 4 game lead with 10 to play 'should' be safe...but it sure doesn't feel safe to me. We knew Cleveland would pound Detroit. We just better do the same thing to them. Take nothing for granted. Twins haven't won anything yet. I felt like tonites game was a throwaway.

How are Kepler and Adrianza doing?

Kinda feels like watching spring training games since the Cleveland series. Nothing is clinched, but the team fielded, the pitching selected, is like it doesn't matter. I think that is pretty arrogant. Nothing is a given. To treat it as such can have disasterous consequences. I just have to not think about these hitters facing Houston's starters, or both Houston or New York hitting against our pitchers after watching these last 5 games. It would be much better if they clinch before they seemingly pretend they have. The Twins are awfully lucky to have won as many as they have.

 

I hope Baldelli knows how to chew somebody out. You cannot make the 3rd out at 3rd. Not ever. And especially not in the bottom of the 8th and down 2 runs. No excuse. No excuses. 

Did Rosario admire his double a bit too long out of the box? I get the sense that he did, watching it, but I don't want to let my assumptions get the better of me. If he runs hard right away, he gets to third just fine.

The challenge to Rocco is to keep the intensity.   Yes we probably will win the Central division, but now I want more.  Damn the Yankees.  And that means that the players have to be sharp and hungry.  A little let down now is okay, if it does not develop bad habits and if the team can get the edge that they will need in the playoffs. 

Kinda feels like watching spring training games since the Cleveland series. Nothing is clinched, but the team fielded, the pitching selected, is like it doesn't matter. I think that is pretty arrogant. Nothing is a given. To treat it as such can have disasterous consequences. I just have to not think about these hitters facing Houston's starters, or both Houston or New York hitting against our pitchers after watching these last 5 games. It would be much better if they clinch before they seemingly pretend they have. The Twins are awfully lucky to have won as many as they have.

 

I hope Baldelli knows how to chew somebody out. You cannot make the 3rd out at 3rd. Not ever. And especially not in the bottom of the 8th and down 2 runs. No excuse. No excuses. 

I don't think it was the case tonight, but we should have gone for the boot on the throat on Sunday and we didn't. Now it will probably take us until the final week-end to clinch. I see Cleveland losing 2 more games at most. 

Did Rosario admire his double a bit too long out of the box? I get the sense that he did, watching it, but I don't want to let my assumptions get the better of me. If he runs hard right away, he gets to third just fine.

Yes he did. He did the same thing last night but still made it 2nd. 

Graterol sure seems easy to hit. Doesn't seem the heat has enough movement. Plus, were is the 100mph stuff we heard about? Has he just dropped some velocity since the minor league innings?

Yesterday was Wednesday, September 18.  It was the 152nd game of the year putting the Twins 94% of the way through the season.  The Twins hit 0 home runs for a season total of 289 home runs.  The Twins are now 1 home run ahead of the Yankees for the new MLB single-season home run record.

Two out of three ain't bad. Keep taking these series and letting our guys heal up a little.

Yes he did. He stood at home plate no less than 2-3 seconds watching a fly ball that was nowhere near a no doubter. I feel pretty confident that if he runs out of the box immediately, he's into third easily despite the great throw. It's easy to say that it didn't matter because we gave up another run the next inning, but it gave the momentum away when we really only had it for a few seconds.

Their CF made a great play, both in tracking down the bounce and with the throw. But I also concur — if he’s running from the box, it’s a standup triple.

The Sox announcers have generally gushed about the Twins the last two nights, but Rosario has been the exception. Steve Stone has called him out a couple times and let him have it pretty good on this particular play.

I know even a 4 game lead with 10 to play 'should' be safe...but it sure doesn't feel safe to me. 

I'm feeling the same way. The whole 2009 Twins that were 3 games back with 3 to play is creeping in to my head.

Kinda feels like watching spring training games since the Cleveland series. Nothing is clinched, but the team fielded, the pitching selected, is like it doesn't matter. I think that is pretty arrogant. Nothing is a given. To treat it as such can have disasterous consequences. I just have to not think about these hitters facing Houston's starters, or both Houston or New York hitting against our pitchers after watching these last 5 games. It would be much better if they clinch before they seemingly pretend they have. The Twins are awfully lucky to have won as many as they have.

 

I hope Baldelli knows how to chew somebody out. You cannot make the 3rd out at 3rd. Not ever. And especially not in the bottom of the 8th and down 2 runs. No excuse. No excuses. 

1.) Even if the Clevelanders go 10-0 the rest of the way, the Twins win going 7-3 against the Royals and Tigers. If Cleveland goes 8-2 (still hard given the Nationals will care and the Phillies are a decent team), the Twins need to go 5-5. Its not arrogant, its smart to sit guys who are banged up.

2.) The pitching has been bad? No way, they've been pretty solid. Odo and Berrios looked really good. The pen looks to be solid too. They dominated in Cleveland and the guys who have been hit this series have been regression to the mean (May) or not likely to be on the playoff team but pitching because its the 12th (Harper). Perez hasn't even been that bad. Will we be confident in the playoffs with him? No. Is he capable of shutting down a team on a given day? Yeah. Buy some antacids Twins fans.

3.) That's harsh on Rosario. After the game, Rosie said he didn't see the CF coming over. That's a split second decision made by a runner coming around second on a play that he can't fully see because he already turned second. Not all CFers come over to right at such a shallow angle on that, its more typical that they would be back at the fence too. The ball came off the wall right back to a guy running the opposite way as the throw. And it still took a perfect throw. Its not ideal to get the third out at third but I think in this situation, it's not that bad of a call. Rosario is an aggressive player and that has helped and hurt the Twins. This one isn't particularly boneheaded - equal parts unlucky and overly aggressive. I don't mind the latter in a game where the Twins needed a bit of a spark after being shut down the first five innings.

It definitely should have, but he played little to no outfield in the minors and it's hard to blame the kid. I'm sure it's something they work with him on in the offseason, but I doubt we see him out there too often.

They should work on him in the offseason though. If he doesn't hit .350 going forward, he may get pushed out of the infield and into a utility role. His metrics at 2B are below average and pretty awful at SS and 3B. Being able to play a decent LF would help his career longevity. 

Of course he could make that a moot point by continuing to hit .350 or developing pop.

But agreed that he's not an OF and its because Buxton/Kepler are injured that he's even out there. Jake Cave is not a competent CFer either.

The Cleveland/Philly series starting Friday should be fun to watch.  As of now Cleveland Wild Card elimination number is 10 and Phillies is 9. Two teams desperately needing every win.

Washington has lost ground in their bid to secure the 1st wildcard spot.  Potentially setting up another important series when Cleveland travels there.

Did Rosario admire his double a bit too long out of the box? I get the sense that he did, watching it, but I don't want to let my assumptions get the better of me. If he runs hard right away, he gets to third just fine.

Yes he did. He stood at home plate no less than 2-3 seconds watching a fly ball that was nowhere near a no doubter. I feel pretty confident that if he runs out of the box immediately, he's into third easily despite the great throw. It's easy to say that it didn't matter because we gave up another run the next inning, but it gave the momentum away when we really only had it for a few seconds.

You need to watch the replay. He didn't stand at home for 2-3 seconds admiring his shot. He certainly didn't sprint out of the box (and he should) but he was moving up the line almost immediately.

It is true that if he sprints, he ends up on 3rd. But I don't think you need to rip him for it. Rosario seems like the kind of guy where being caught at 3rd is enough to reinforce that lesson anyways. 

In today's game, 100 mph doesn't make anyone unhittable. There are far too many guys that hit 98+ on a regular basis. I'm still not sure that Gratoral should be on the prospective postseason roster. 

1.) It's super weird watching him. Sometimes there seems to be a ton of movement and other times he's straight as an arrow and you're right, guys can catch up to that.

2.) More and more I think that Graterol is going to be more of an end-of-year guy if he's a starter next year. That inconsistency is not weird for a young guy. I'd like to see him get that shot, even if it hurts next year's team a bit. If he can get movement on that pitch, he can be a front end starter.

3.) Depends how many pitchers the Twins take. Injuries to Adrianza and Buxton might mean the Twins only take 12 position players. The regular nine with Gonzo replacing Buck, Schoop, Castro, and Cave. I just don't see much point in a Torreys or Miller or Wade and though Astudillo is a fun story, he hasn't hit well this year and a 3rd catcher seems pretty useless in the division series. That would leave 13 spots available for pitchers. Berrios, Odo, Perez, Gibby, Rogers, Romo, Littel, Duffey, and May seem given for nine. Thorpe and Smeltzer have earned it for 11. So you're looking at Dobnak, Stashak, and Graterol for two spots. I like all three but Graterol might be the wild card in there and has the most upside. I'd bet on Dobnak and Graterol?