mattk

Read this article and was not surprised to see this disclaimer (it is, after all, the Twins, right???) : "Now, obviously, there are environmental factors in play here." What are those OBVIOUS environmental factors?

So will the Twins go down 1-2-3?

If we are to follow the trend this season, the Twins will not do anything offensively the rest of the game. Kepler hit a lead off home run.

There is no way a MLB club should foul off or pop up very hittable pitches so frequently. This is the vaunted offensive lineup? It is offensive.

I find it interesting that I've heard a lot on the broadcast about the difference between "pitchers" and "throwers." I would like someone to share that with our pitching staff. I grow weary of watching these guys throwing the same pitch 3 or 4 consecutive times in the same quadrant of the strike zone, or just staying in the lower (or upper) part of the zone. My feeling is that they are not capable of making the hitter guess wrong very often, and it is only the effectiveness of the pitch itself that works. I would be curious to know how many of our pitchers actually had an in-game conversation with Colon or Rodney about how they would pitch a hitter or just get some pointers on what they need to be working on. Today it appeared that by the third inning Bundy had nothing, yet our guys looked totally out of sorts when he was pitching from the 4th to the 6th. Sure, we got a couple of hits, but it wasn't really impressive to me to watch them.

Unfortunately for baseball, many of these announcers have none of the game calling skill of earlier broadcasters. Perhaps they grow lazy because they figure "Why call the game when the viewer can see it?" During a Detroit game a couple of years ago the announcers were blathering about some off-the-wall subject which had very little to do with the game while a big play was occurring. I have noticed that many strikes for Bremer are on the "outside corner," and today was no exception. A called strike that was just above the belt and slightly INSIDE of the heart of the plate was "the outside corner." Now to be honest, I have always considered the outside corner as seen from directly above the plate, so vertical height makes no difference as to whether it's a corner or not. Hence, I might say "high outside corner" or "low inside corner." But that's just me and I don't claim to be anywhere near an expert in calling games (since no one has heard me call a game of ANY kind yet (for which you may all be thankful!)).

From Bill Ladson on MLB.com: But things started to unravel after Mets left fielder Jeff McNeil was thrown out after trying to score on a wild pitch. Odorizzi walked pitcher Noah Syndergaard to reload the bases. “It was an unfortunate time for that to happen, I guess,” Odorizzi said. “It’s not too often that you see something like that happen. I’ll be happy to get back to American League-style baseball. I can tell you that much.” I guess if Odorizzi got to pitch to the DH, he wouldn't have walked him? Odorizzi's inability to pitch past 4 or 5 innings, and therefore, his ineffectiveness as a starter is obvious to those willing to see. I'm really disappointed the Twins stuck with him for another year. Probably will be stuck with him the remainder of the season.

From "This is How We Baseball" to "Ew, How is This Baseball?"

T'ins: The wins are there, you just need to find them.

I watched for about 10 minutes and decided my time would be better spent working on a project in the garage. This team isn't even good enough to be bad. At least we know why they traded for Gimenez. He did better than Duffy and Belisle. Maybe one of these games they can randomly choose a pitcher from the stands--couldn't be any worse.

After listening to the interview with Ervin, it sounds like they called him up too early.

One guy I was really looking forward to seeing was Taylor Rogers. He needs a little more seasoning, but I think he's going to be a real asset (probably for another team). When he gets out on the mound, he's got the deer-in-the-headlights look about him, and no wonder--if he does struggle a bit he gets yanked. Don't know what the deal is between him and Molitor (or whoever), but he could get a little more leeway based on how much leeway much more experienced pitchers like Rodney and Belisle get. Now is the time to let him get more mound experience. Maybe I'm wrong.

My optimistic projection for this team is 64 wins for the season

I say they should hire Walter Matthau for coach. He'd be perfect. "Yeah, but didn't he die in 2000?" you ask. Yep, perfect.

My favorite hit of the game: Morrison's bunt single! I hate the shift.