stringer bell

Miranda’s 2021 may have been a mirage.

Gio giveth and Gio taketh away.

Gio, Gio, Gio.

Well, Lewis has rough edges in the field and lacks the experience of the primary shortstops the last two seasons. Coaching and repetition can smooth out a lot of his inefficiencies. If he’s not a shortstop, I’d like to see someone with his athleticism in the outfield.

Been a while Gio!

Kep got robbed there.

He’s got the range and arm, are you thinking the hands aren’t good enough?

Really nice DP.

Hearing a lot of f-bombs on the broadcast.

Well, I’ll speculate that Canó gets sent back to St. Paul and they won’t risk losing Cotton. From what I know, Cotton could declare free agency if DFAed and unclaimed. Of course someone else might go on the IL by then. Smeltzer could get hit around and sent back to St. Paul—I don’t think the Twins want to risk losing him either. As far as 40-man moves, there are still two ineffective pitchers on the 40-man..Either Strotman or Vallimont could be DFAed.

From what I've read, Buxton wants to be out there every day. That is why this is so mystifying to me.

Byroon Buxton signed a long extension with the Twins. This winter along with his skills, he also become the face of the franchise and many fans were gratified that he would either be a great player for the Twins or he would be injured. Buxton's full toolbox had become more full when he was on the field last year, demonstrating top-grade power, an elite OPS fueled by that power while continuing to be a threat on the bases and as good as it gets in the outfield. The fly in the ointment, of course, is and was injuries. Buxton only played 61 games and accrued an insane 4.5 WAR (per BBRef). This year Buck has played in 22 of the Twins first 33 games and has been used as a DH in six of those games. So far, he has been a half-time center fielder. I am totally mystified in the handling of this great talent. Let's discuss if there is a plan, and how the plan is supposed to work going forward and whether this makes sense for the club. I am not on twitter or other social media sites, so perhaps some of this is not a surprise to others on Twins Daily. I would appreciate being up to speed what is out there in the public in the handling of Byron Buxton.

I'm going to start a separate thread entitled "Handling Byron Buxton". Game discussions can continue on the game thread.

Okay. Again no Buxton. Our most dynamic player apparently can't play two or three straight games. This is madness.

Lineups: Cleveland (15-16) HITTERS H-AB RBI HR SB AVG M. StrawCF 28-115 3 0 8 .243 S. KwanLF 25-88 13 1 1 .284 J. Ramirez3B 35-116 32 7 3 .302 O. Miller1B 27-86 13 3 0 .314 A. RosarioSS 27-109 8 0 1 .248 F. ReyesDH 23-109 10 3 0 .211 A. Gimenez2B 28-85 19 4 2 .329 O. MercadoRF 15-73 15 4 0 .205 A. HedgesC 13-74 7 3 1 .176 Twins (19-14) HITTERS H-AB RBI HR SB AVG L. ArraezDH 24-79 7 1 0 .304 J. Polanco2B 29-117 20 4 1 .248 G. SanchezC 17-82 12 2 1 .207 M. KeplerRF 26-104 14 5 1 .250 G. Urshela3B 21-94 7 1 0 .223 J. Miranda1B 5-39 3 1 0 .128 N. GordonLF 14-56 1 0 0 .250 G. CelestinoCF 15-44 1 0 0 .341 R. LewisSS 8-25 4 1 0 .320 PLAYER W-L ERA WHIP IP H K BB HR S. Bieber 1-2 4.13 1.19 32.2 30 29 9 3 D. Smeltzer -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

That gives them a L-R platoon of Arraez-Miranda at first. Some tough decisions to make if players get off the IL as expected without further injuries.

Must be Gordon.

I really doubt that. Smeltzer would appear to add value as a long man out of the bullpen now that the previous long man Winder is in the rotation. Plus, the Twins have only one left hander on their roster with Coulombe on the IL. Garlick is set to be activated on Friday, with Correa and Larnach not far behind. I would expect that Miranda, Kirilloff and Contreras all get optioned. Miranda or Kirilloff could stick around because the Twins only have Arraez as a first baseman.

They will need to make room for Smeltzer and Bundy, when he's ready to pitch. Both will require a 40-man move. The Twins can add a pitcher, but option a position player--Miranda, Kirilloff and Contreras would all be candidates to be optioned. Contreras could be DFAed to make space on the 40-man roster. Sano to the 60-day IL looks like another obvious move.

I believe the game you are referencing had a number of hits and walks allowed by last year’s version of Pagán (Columé) but was culminated by consecutive errors by Arraez and the second baseman whose name escapes me (perhaps Blankenhorn).

Here’s one involving the Twins: https://www.twincities.com/2009/07/20/twins-blow-10-run-lead-lose-14-13-to-as/amp/

One interesting Official scoring note. Runs scored can be unearned against a team, but earned against a pitcher. Referencing Cleveland’s big comeback against Chicago earlier this week—Hendriks came in after the club had committed an error in the ninth. He yielded a hit and the tying grand slam. The runs were all unearned against the White Sox staff, but the two runs charged to Hendriks were charged as earned because the error occurred before he entered the game.

It seemed after the big inning, the Twins lost their focus. A less than stellar outing for Jax (after inducing a HUGE GDP), errors by Duran and Lewis and a PB by Jeffers. They played good defense against Houston, but didn’t do anything else right. I hope the letdown is just a blip.

Gordon and Jeffers ripped those balls.

G-man.