LA VIkes Fan

Trading Rogers for Paddack and Pagan isn't the problem. The rotation isn't the problem. Pagan has been fine. We have two problems. The bullpen is 1-2 arms short. The FO should have been more proactive and gotten us at least 1 more bullpen arm. It wasn't the most unreasonable strategy not getting a free agent arm for the bullpen but it hasn't worked and really failed when Alcala went down, and then Duffy and Theilbar became ineffective. The real problem is the offense. We have 4, maybe 5 MLB starting caliber hitters in Arraez, Buxton, Correa, Polanco and I'm counting Urshela. When 1 or 2 of them aren't hitting - Correa and Polanco - we really have less than half of a starting caliber MLB lineup. I'd frankly be in favor of trading from our supposed surplus - young pitching - to get a young outfielder. I don't have a lot of confidence that Larnach or Kirilloff will be that guy this year or even next. We have nothing on the farm unless Contreras or Miranda is ready and it doesn't look like it so far. IF we get lucky and one or more of those 4 are ready now, we have plenty of spots to fit them in the lineup between RF (Kepler is a 4th OF on a good team), 1B (Sano isn't worth his contract and may be gone next year), and DH (we got nobody). We probably can't do anything trade wise until closer to the deadline although there may be opportunities when everyone has to re-set their rosters on May 1. Bottom line is that the season is getting away from us because we can't hit or score runs, not because of the bullpen. I think the big issue here in July will be how good a return we can get when we trade Correa not who can we get for a stretch run. Depressing.

Good news! We need something. Now if only Polanco and/or Correa could get hot we can have 3-4 real bats in the lineup.

I agree. It would be great to try a couple of other relievers now while the rosters are still 28 players. I know that creates 40 man issues but I would be fine with another DFA of Garlick and possibly Stashak if necessary to create 40 man room. I would like to see them try Smeltzer, Minaya and/or Cano now while we can give them a roughly 2 week run and see if they can help us now. We can also send Winder down to AAA to start every 5th day to create roster room, although that doesn't solve any 40 man roster issues

I agree that Duffy needs to move to lower leverage spots, but i don't think its fair to say that the Rogers trade is the reason we are having bullpen issues. We got Pagan back as part of the Rogers trade and he has been good. We wouldn't have pitched Rogers in the 6th last night either. We need to cycle more guys through the bullpen and give the effective relievers the higher leverage innings. Right now, that means Pagan, Coulombe, Duran, and Smith in the higher leverage situations. That isn't enough. We're hamstrung carrying at least 4 relievers who aren't any help right now - Stashak, Thielbar. Jax and Duffy. Time to make a change or two, get Smeltzer and maybe Cano up and try them. I would lose Jax and Stashak now and try those two, and also move Theilbar and Duffy to mop up duty until they either "find themselves" or go on May 1.

i wish I could be as optimistic as you are. I don't think they 6-9 spots are "in flux", I think they're a black hole. I agree that bats like Polanco and Correa will come around. I just think that those 2, Arraez, Buxton when playing, and Urshlea are about all we have. If Sano sort of turns it around they way he usually does, maybe we go 6 deep in the lineup. And that's only on those rare days that all 6 play together on the same day. Really we're about 5 deep most days. I just don't think that's going to change with the current roster.

I think you have to let Bundy go out for the 6th. We need to see if he can pitch deeper into games. This would be a good test.

The strikeout pitch was outside but still the same old approach for Kepler. They were throwing him stuff on the outer half of the plate and the one ball he hit was a rollover ground ball to the first base coach. He got at least 2 pitches he could have hit the other way; didn't seem to make any effort to do so. He is what he is, a below average hitter that should be our 4th OF, not a starter.

I hope you’re right but I don't see anyone likely to improve much other than Correa and Polanco. We went into this year relying on Improvements from Kirilofff, Sano, Kepler, and Jeffers. Looking back on it, that wasn’t very realistic outside of Kirilloff. Kepler hasn't ever really hit other than in 2019, Sano the same, and Jeffers is still developing. I hope you’re right but I don't think this team has a cavalry to ride in.

Agreed. Trading Donaldson and getting 2 guys you might actually want on your team should be seen as a positive. Typical baseball contract, you endure the bad years on the back end ot get the good years on the front end. the good years didn't pan out and we dumped the bad years on the Yankees.

Guys, this offense is only going to go as far as Buxton, Polanco and Correa take it. Arraez can help some as a secondary piece, and Urshela and Sanchez can be tertiary pieces. There is no one else. Sano and Kepler are who they are - a streaky, unreliable hitter who can't field (Sano), and a below average hitter at an offensive position who has an above average glove (Kepler). They are not going to be the pieces we need to improve the offense. And if Rocco hits Kepler 4th again? Fireable offense. Our only real hope is that 2 ne players emerge to lengthen the lineup. Maybe Larnach can be one of those guys. Frankly, maybe Lewis, Contreras or Miranda can come up and be one of those guys. Does the bullpen need help around the edges? Absolutely, but it's not the biggest problem. The lineup is the biggest problem and we do not have the players on the roster to fix that problem. We need new guys. Right now it looks to me like we are trading Correa at the deadline (if he can get going), bringing up Lewis to play SS, and searching for starting caliber MLB OFs for the rest of the season. Disappointing but probably predictable. I think I let getting Correa go to my head. 78-84.

I agree. How is this offense going to fix itself? Let's look. Arraez, Urshela and Sanchez are doing about what one would expect. Should be hitting 1/2, 6 and 8. Correa and Polanco should get better and give us a 2 and 3 hitter, with Buxton as the 1/2 with Arraez. That's it. That's all we got. Sano is a streaky guy, hits 7th or 8th on a good team. Kepler can't hit and hasn't hit since 2019, should be hitting 8th or 9th and is probably the 4th OF on a good team. Same for Jeffers, back up catcher. The other guys? Kiriloff is out, probably for a good while and wasn't hitting before. Larnach and/or Gordon? Who knows? I'd be thrilled if Laranch hit .250 with 15 HRs and if Gordon hit .260. Fine for the back end of an order, but not the middle. This offense won't fix itself because it doesn't have the talent to fix itself. We have no #4 or #5 hitter, only one high OBP player and he doesn't run well, and put out 3-4 SO machines every game. It's not like we have good quality hitters who are slumping other than Correa and Polanco. We have a middle of the pack offense at best WITH Buxton, Correa and Polanco playing every day and producing the way they can produce. Without that, we have what you saw the last 2 days. Bottom third offense that can't handle good pitching.

The one ray of hope is that neither Correa or Polanco is hitting at all so there may be some offense that going to come around. Other than that, this is your team at the plate team folks. The starting pitching has actually been better than expected, and the bullpen has either been quite effective or a complete meltdown with nothing in between. The big disappointment is the offense and the only real hope for it to improve is Correa and Polanco hitting like the All-Stars they are. The only other hope is that 2 or 3 of Sano, Larnach, Kepler, Jeffers, or Gordon becomes a quality hitter. I'm not liking the odds on any of them breaking out and really not liking the odds on 2 or 3 of them breaking out. This could get ugly,

You may be right but the problem is that he's had the surgery so I'm not sure what else there would be to do. If the opinion he's received so far is correct that the surgery has accomplished what it could and there's nothing more to do medically, this really does become a condition to be managed rather than fixed. In that case, the real challenge becomes a mental one not a physical one. I think we just need to get this time because it can't be easy for a 24 year-old athlete to adjust to playing with what might be a chronic condition when the alternative is to kind of give up on his career. The mental part of this is going to be critical.

Oh my God, I remember once spending what seemed like eternity in a theater watching a second rate performance of Waiting for Godot. Excruciating, and I'm not sure better acting we have improved things. Perhaps a car chase or a dance number might've made for a more interesting evening, but even that might not have helped. Still, much more entertaining than watching "My Dinner With Andre". Perhaps "My Dinner With Rocco" would be better. It's a tough call. Very funny adaptation. I liked the Shakespeare as well. Very literary group.

I think you're absolutely right. And while this is a completely amateur diagnosis from afar with no real basis, I think that's what's going on here. It look like when he swung he was afraid to really "let it go" and so he was consistently late and tentative. If in fact the follow-up diagnosis is accurate, and I strongly support in getting a second and even third opinion, the issue is much more mental than physical. It may be that the correct clinician is not an orthopedist or MD, but a sports psychologist to help him get over the residual fear. I was a football player in high school and college and tore up my knee. I was not good for a while coming back after the first injury because I was scared to death that would hurt myself again. It took me a while to get over the hump and actually play freely again. That may be exactly what's going on with Kirilloff. I don't know if he's ever had a major injury before. If not, coming back from the first one is really tough and it takes a while to be mentally ready to play. Unfortunately, it may take a while before we see Kirilloff in the majors at anywhere close to his old self. I think what we're probably looking at is a rehabilitation assignment and some success at AAA before he would be ready to come back to the Twins. I think they get 20 days in the minors after completing the 10 day IL stint, but you guys know the rules a lot better than I do so correct me if I'm wrong. I think maybe the best case scenario is that he gets sent back to St. Paul, spends 20 days there and gradually gets over his fear of reinjuring his wrist. More likely, it takes longer than that for rest, rehabilitation and getting over the mental challenge and we don't see him until around her after the All-Star break. I hope I'm wrong.

i agree on the walks. It was good to see the Twins take much more high quality at bats. They are going to have to do that to be successful offensively. This team just doesn't have the talent in the lineup to mash opponents, and they now have even less with Buxton and Kirilloff out. They are going to have to work counts, get walks, and hit situationally to score runs. That hasn't been a trademark of this team the last few years. I hope they can do that.

I hate to sound old school, something I'm not, but this may be as simple as Kirilloff learning to play with a certain level of discomfort or pain. He should definitely get another opinion other than from the doctor who did the surgery and may have some bias toward defending his work. If that second or third opinion is the same it may be that he has to understand that he has a condition that he will have to live with as he plays. I said before that he looked overmatched this season. It may be that he was just being tentative because his swing caused some discomfort. It sounds like that may be something he's going to have to learn to play with over time. A setback to be sure, but one he has to overcome if he wants to be successful. We may learn a lot abut his mental toughness over the next few months.

Wow, is that ugly....

Let's assume Buxton is out for at least 10 days, probably longer. Time for Upton? Maybe put him in right field, Kepler in center field, and the great unwashed cast of thousands in left. Wow, does that sound ugly. Never mind.

Hopefully Garlick won't spend much time in the field or the lineup, he is not good out there. The harder call is Arraez. We need his bat now even more than before with Buxton out but he is an adventure at 3rd. Bad inning against the Dodgers and ole'd another ball he should have played. Solution? Hmmm, where to play a hitter who isn't good with the glove..... what's open... Wait, isn't left field open? PLAY ARRAEZ IN LF! Play Urshela every day at 3B, DFA Garlick or option Celestino or Larnach and bring up Miranda to play some at 3B and some at 2B. Improves the batting order and gets Arraez away from 3B. Sano is better there than he is. Wait, Arraez to 1B and Sano to 3B? Hmmmmm.....

Wow, Larnach looks pretty clueless up at the plate...

Similar experience to when I tore mine. You can walk in a straight line i without pain but any other kind of movement that requires a twist or a lift causes a lot of pain. I didn't see it but that might be a way to assess severity. A meniscus tear (I've also done that, 3 times) allows for much more freedom of movement.

I've torn my ACL. If Buxton walked off without a limp, he didn't tear his ACL. I could walk in a straight line but not turn at all without severe pain.

Cutting Rodriguez was probably the right call. There's a good chance that he will pass through unsigned and wind up back in St. Paul. I never thought I would say this, but I'm glad to see that Garlick is back on the roster. We are going to have to cycle through some guys in LF and at least he provides a quality RH bat against LH pitching. My guess is it's going to be a platoon with him and Larnach in LF with Garlick also getting some ABs against left-handers with Kepler on the bench. Certainly not ideal but better than running Celestino, Rooker or Larnach out there full-time. Almost makes one wish we picked up Justin Upton, but not really. I would expect Celestino to go back to AAA when they need a spot and probably after May 1.

I agree that it's way too early to judge the pitching. I'm actually optimistic about that group. I don't think its too early to judge the lineup though based on their track record. We were all planning on Kirilloff to be the number 4 or 5 hitter and with him gone and unlikely now to be that guy this year we kind of know what we have. Three good to elite hitters - Correa, Polanco and Buxton (maybe, jury is still out), one pretty good complimentary hitter with no power in Arraez, one maybe at that same level with a little more power in Urshela, a catching tandem that's decent for catchers with some power and lots of SOs, and a major black hole in RF, 1B, and LF - spots where you should have 3 good hitters not a streaky high SO guy, a lousy hitter and young, unproven guys with spotty track records. Add to that we seem to have very few position players in the minors screaming to be brought up. Hard to optimistic about the future of that lineup. Looks like the only way to get a better lineup is to do the one thing we probably shouldn't do - trade young pitching. I think we're stuck with this group and I don't see them as anything more than a middle of the pack offense and probably a little less than that. The pitching is better but not good enough to overcome that.