Bamboo Bat

W.T.F.

Totally agree that Cave was a big ball of hustle. But that doesn't make up for a lack of talent. Delighted to see him claimed by Baltimore today. One of my biggest hopes for 2023 was to NOT see Cave in a Twins uniform again. As soon as he received the call in 2022, you knew the Twins season was over. You can't roll with dead weight like Cave every day in the outfield & expect to make the playoffs. I hope he does well in Baltimore or wherever he ultimately lands.

100% agree with this sentiment. He'll be back because he's executing what the front office wants. But the bloodless managing of the Twins during his tenure is frustrating to watch. The polar opposite of Molitor, Baldelli seems to have zero sense of the game going on in front of him. The TV broadcasters talk all the time about The Plan & how Baldelli sticks to his...well, great to have a Plan, but one must also adjust in real time to in-game circumstances. That's where I believe our manager is very, very weak. Example: even in September, he's still running Pagan out in close games. Not as often as in July or August but really, he should have been relegated to mop-up duty (at best) months ago. And don't get me started about his management of the starting staff (or the nonsense or how the Twins are about league average in starting innings per game). Baldelli's "success" in 2019 was easy. My six year old nephew could have managed that team the way they hit. To me, the true test of a manager is how the team performs under duress & Baldelli is failing that test.

This is a silly statement. After 24 major league starts you have him pigeonholed? OK. Just about any team would love a pitcher to come up & have a 3.95 ERA averaging more than 1 strikeout an inning in his first 2/3 of a major league season. Will he be Verlander? Doubtful. But at this early stage is looks like he's going to have a productive career in a major league rotation.

I am not optimistic. Our Twins played above their heads early & have rounded into form as a middling .500 ballclub. Seeing lineups with the bottom third being Cave/Leon/Beckham does not inspire confidence, especially with Miranda / Kiriloff / Sano & a cast of dozens on the IL. Buxton's injury hasn't helped. The offense is no longer the impressive strength it appeared to be in spring training. I hope I'm wrong, but their play the past couple of months is that of a mediocre baseball team. I don't see them breaking out of that mold with this set of personnel.

Duffey was really good for a couple of years & passable last year, but his peripherals have been in slow, slow free fall. Average fastball declined from 93.9 in 2019 to 92.3 in 2022. K rate fallen from 34.5% to 21.1% over the same period. His average exit velocity in 2019 when his ERA hit 1.88 was, astonishingly, in the bottom 1% of AL pitchers. Read that again. It's appalling. My takeaway from all this random information is that a velo drop along with a 40% drop in Ks simply means more hitters getting the bat on the ball & he was always giving up hard contact...pain was inevitable in retrospect. I appreciated his competitiveness, but also that he's gone from the major league roster. Every time he was summoned to the mound this year (even during his good streak) I'd start saying bad things to the TV. And given the falloff in his peripherals & velo I suspect his useful years are behind him, but no doubt he'll hang around bouncing from team to team until 2025. Other teams, i hope!

Absolutely not. Everyone has seen this hot start from Perez before, but he hasn't put together a season with an ERA under 4,50 since 2016. Read that again. At 31 years old he is what he is, a sub-mediocre starting pitcher who will give you an ERA flirting with 5.00. If the Twins are serious about trying to make the playoffs they need to aim higher than barely adequate.

Totally agree the bullpen needs help, but no article like this is complete without a discussion of Rocco's use of the pen. His name isn't even mentioned! The relievers have been better than expected but putting them in a position to fail (see: Duffey last night & Cano's five run meltdown) is driving further impressions that the corps is exploding.

Rarely can you see a manager lose a game with such clarity. Royals 8th: Rocco leaves Duffy in to get pounded even though it's clear almost right away he doesn't have it. Nobody warming up. Glimpses of Rocco in the dugout show a guy who either (a) doesn't care or (b) is unaware he's at a baseball game he's supposed to be managing. Pathetic. Twins 8th: Matheny watches Payamps give up three straight hits & races out to get his pitcher. Barlow comes in & salvages the inning & the game for the Royals. Clearly one of the managers was awake during the game.

Like I said, some of the in-season decisions have been odd...like letting the guy they signed for the post-season pitch the last game of the regular season. And if Kiriloff doesn't get any "meaningful" at-bats, why is he on the roster rather than Wade? For the most part it's just tinkering around the edges of the core lineup/staff, but it's still baffling.

I agree on Polanco. If you watch him hit, he's often spinning out hitting left-handed as if something in his left leg is bothering him. His base & swing look a lot less stable to this untrained eye that they did in 2019.

What a weird roster. While the off-season moves were mostly excellent IMHO, the in-season stuff has sometimes seemed bizarre. No Rich Hill - really? Didn't we sign him partially for his post season experience? Four catchers? Four catchers? FOUR CATCHERS? Kiriloff making his MLB debut in the playoffs? That's foolish. Anyone else remember Rivera vs. a rooke Jason Kubel many years back? I don't like it. Alcala left off? I'd rather see him on the roster than either Dobnak or Odorizzi at this point. That said, very glad to see Arraez healthy & a (presumably) recovered Buxton on the roster!

Guys like this are a dime a dozen. Nope.

Add me to the delighted list. Woohoo!

Thinking Bailey is an upgrade over Gibson is sheer fantasy. He’s pretty much the same guy without the occasional upside. He will stabilize the rotation at best. I was never a Gibson fan so I’m fine with the Bailey signing, but let’s realize it’s January and the list of new things to write about is growing thin.