stringer bell

That inning was disappointing.

OP was "all the RH hitters", Thielbar faced four, three in the eighth, and as I said, one was a switch hitter and one a pinch hitter.

Absolutely.

No control with the fastball.

One was a switch hitter, another a pinch hitter.

Key guy to get here.

Another weak single.

Do we see Duran today?

Only had to pitch to one since he got him out to end the inning.

Another reminder about how early it is. Two games ago, Kepler's offense looked woeful. Now with his 2-2 (and two XBH), he has a .250 BA and .785 OPS.

Baez didn't miss a homer by much. Just to the left of the overhang.

I don't think Paddack finishes this inning.

A bunt and a blooper. Let's hope it doesn't grow from there.

Liking the Paddack acquisition a little more each outing.

Urshela/Arraez at third base has outperformed Donaldson so far. Let's remember that we are only 1/10th of the way through the season.

Well, so far Winder has gotten sufficient work and actually got to pitch in a game that the Twins won. I would expect that he would get long relief innings, but not really be part of the bullpen, which would then include seven members.

If I recall correctly, the Twins are in the top quadrant in innings pitched by their starters so far. I don't think their "advantage" is that great. While I don't disagree with your analysis that the pitching staff is veterans coming off injuries and younger players who were innings-limited, I am not sure how things will pan out. It is good that there is pitching depth this year and I hope it is utilized well.

Thielbar's FIP is a much more reasonable 3.51. Given his success the past two years, he is safe for a while. I've thought the Twins leaned a little bit right in their pitching complement for some time.

This just in, per MLB Trade Rumors, the limit on pitchers will be 14 for the next month. 14 pitchers changes things for the 26-man limit coming this Monday. https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2022/04/mlb-mlbpa-allowing-14-pitchers-on-active-rosters-through-may-29-13-pitcher-limit-to-take-effect-thereafter.html

Counting Sonny Gray and Romero, both of whom are eligible to go off the IL before May 1, the Twins have 16 pitchers. Three must go off the active roster. Archer, Gray, Bundy, Thielbar and Coulombe can’t be optioned. Everyone else could be optioned. The team could continue Romero on IL or send him to St. Paul on a rehab assignment, but I doubt they do that with Gray. If I had to pick two, it would be Winder and Stashak with my “last man on” being Jax.

Well, the .269 slugging average is a good argument for him to ride the pine, as well as defense.

Jeffers OPS+ in '21 (83) and '22 (89) is better than Willians OPS+ in ;21 (74). I loved that the Turtle almost always made contact, I didn't love all the first pitch pop ups and GDPs.

Here's something interesting I found courtesy of BBRef. FIP vs. ERA. Here's a sample of this year's Twins pitchers: ERA < FIP (lucky)--Ryan 3.84/1.69, Archer 5.20/3.18, Smith 2.03/0.00, Winder 5.50/3.48 (Larger number is FIP) ERA > FIP (unlucky)--Thielbar 13.50/3.51, Paddack 5.00/1.86, Stashak 5.79/3.30 (Larger number is ERA) Overall the team ERA is 3.38 and the team FIP is 4.04

I agree that both for the short term and the long term, the Twins are counting heavily on Jeffers. He really swung the bat well and it would be really bad luck if he was out of the lineup for an extended period, but so far, it doesn't look like that is the case. I am certain that Jeffers will get plenty of time off going forward. When Garver had his breakout season in 2019, Rocco made sure to give him adequate time off. I don't think anyone sees Jeffers becoming such an offensive force, at least not this season, but I think he'll get a lot of days off during the long season. Sanchez has looked satisfactory behind the plate and has gotten a few big hits. I hope he can stay healthy as well and help the club. I was surprised that Godoy got promoted ahead of Cisco. It does occur to me that Godoy might be a better defensive catcher. I read somewhere on the site yesterday (probably the game thread) that Godoy was doing a fine job handling the pitchers and receiving. If so, that alone could be the rationale for his being promoted. Another thought was that Godoy might be able to be optioned. If that is the case, then the Twins wouldn't have to make a 40-man move to bring him up if they choose to send him down when the roster sizes are reduced. Finally, Godoy did catch several of the members of the pitching staff late in spring training, while Cisco has not. Cisco has three years of big-league service time and was once a Top 100 prospect. If one of the other catchers goes down for a significant amount of time, perhaps he then would be an option to step in for significant playing time.

Not against lefties and the Twins will face at least four left handed starters in the coming week.