DocBauer

OK...I'm going to take partial credit for that! Lol

YES!!

BTW...just Kinda checking in. Both pitchers dealing, but Twins have the lead. Just have this feeling the Twins are ready and primed for another couple runs soon. Anyone else feeling the same?

May or may not have been ready to come back when be did. Obviously his timing is off. On the radio broadcast now, so taking solace in the fact they commented he is hitting the ball bard tonight vs soft contact and pop ups. So he's getting his timing down?

Yeah, I have the game on in my bedroom upstairs, but running errands and doing stuff so I have my phone on the radio broadcast.

Can't stick around tonight, but wanted to echo Stringer's intro and comments I made on the front page. This game is HUGE, and not just for the road trip. Yankees and Sox lost earlier today. Sox have to battle Cleveland and the Cubs to finish out. Yankees have a 4 game road series against the decent Jays. There is a lot to be determined yet. And there is a lot riding on the last week and a half. Twins NEED to step up and take care of business! They do that, there is still a chance for not only home 1st round, but MAYBE a flag to fly for 2020.

Agreed. But "blame" is somewhat suggestive. Are we talking blame for this poor start and what I expect to be a .500 season at best? Or blame they haven't reached the SB yet, much less having won one? Not that all of this happened under the ownership of the Wilf's, but when I reflect on the coaching since Green and see the results of Tice, Childress and Frazier, I am not entirely displeased with the job Zimmer has done. I think the Wilf's made some strange and bad choices early on their tenure to be sure. Can you remember the "triangle of authority" without a shudder? But since placed in charge I think Spielman and his staff have done a good job. NOBODY hits on all their picks and we all know that. The Vikings have blown their share of early picks...and bad a couple really unfortunate injuries that affected their roster and approach...but everyone has misses across the league. Since Spielman has been in charge, the Vikings roster has been amongst the room of the league in additions via the draft and rookie FA. Let us not forget the head coach also shares in responsibility for draft selections. And I will agree their have been some combined head scratchers. Making no excuses, but when Norv Turner suddenly stepped down a couple seasons ago, I think that really affected Zimmer. And I believe he's been scrambling since then. Kubiak is so proven, I can't help but think his being fully in charge of the offense will be huge whether it be now or next season. Or has time passed him by? I'm willing to bet not but can't say 100%. I can object to Zimmer getting his extension, or the length of it. I can question a few choices on the staff that have been since Turner left, with the blessing of Spielman, of course. I can lament the death of a well respected OL coach and a bit of a scramble before Dennison was brought on board with Kubiak's selection. And we can continue to talk about covid and the ZERO off-season program and no preseason to build the team. And Spielman always has a say in the construction of the staff. But if there is any true failure in the Vikings potential previous to now, or this season, I think the onus is on Zimmer. A bad FO is always the culprit at the end of the day. But I don't feel the Vikings have a bad FO. That leaves Zimmer and his scheme, his staff, his approach, his recommendations to the GM for what he wants. He may have an extension, but he may not reach the end of it.

Going to re-state what I posted in the off season thread; this team is in a re-build or at least re-tool mode. Personally, I've always expected a .500 season, or slightly below. Too much talent on hand not to win at least 6 and maybe 8, IMO. The OL is a mess, WR has big question marks. CB is being rebuilt on the fly. ST was questionable and bad once Pierce opted out. Part of the reason they had such a big draft class is they KNEW they needed to bring in fresh talent. With projected comp picks, I think they are already looking at something like 13 or 14 picks next draft. Not making excuses but with ZERO rookie camps or OTA's and no preseason games, the Vikings were behind the 8 ball getting ready for this season and any influx of talent. I think they have great ownership. I think they have the best cap man in the business...though I DO question some of the contracts. Despite a few misses, I think Spielman and his scouting staff have generally done a good job acquiring talent. I think Zimmer is a solid coach who recognizes his expertise and limitations and turns over what he doesn't know well, mainly offense, to those who do. NOW, I think Kubiak COULD make a big difference fully in charge. BUT, with the aforementioned limitations in place, this offense is NOWHERE where it could end up. I blame everyone involved for the OL. In fact, with all the missed opportunity to make changes due to covid...while I get playing it "safe"...even more I would thrown the door open and just run with young guys to build the future. If you want to blast the Wilf's for keeping both Zimmer and Spielman instead of going with a complete re-build I'll argue with you. If you think keeping Spielman but cutting Zimmer loose...thinking he has done all he can do, and who also has a say in the draft...I'll debate you and might end up agreeing with you. We can also debate tearing everything down from scratch but I think that would have been a mistake. Despite standard coach speak, I've never bought in to anything but a re-build or re-tool. But I think there's too much talent and potential to just blow it all up.

They do for NOW. The problem is next season when the cap will probably not rise for the first time in years and might even lower. There will be some cuts, Reiff for sure, possibly Rudolph, and savings from a small few others. Cousins could be re-worked yet again. The good part about the Cook contract is the bonus money, as I understand it, helps offset the yearly somewhat. But we are going to be up against a cap wall again, potentially, in 2021 and will probably lose Harris at S which could be huge.

I think tonight's game is HUGE despite being 1 game. The entire road trip looks much better with a win and the Dirty Sox and Yankees both lost earlier today. We can pick up a game on each with a win tonight. That could be huge in final standings. The Yankees have to play 4 on the road against a decent Blue Jays team and the Sox have the Indians for 4, on the road, before a final 3 against the Cubs. The Yankees finish against the Marlins for their final 3, and the Sox clearly have the tougher finish. Can we pass the Yankees if we take care of business? Can we catch Chicago? Good time to be Blue Jay and Indian fans to close out the season.

Fully appreciate your nod to Glavine, while fully acknowledging you aren't saying that is who he is or who may expect him to be. I found myself also about Mark Buehrle or even a more modern reference to Dallas Keuchel, albeit a RH version. And in NO WAY am I saying at this point I see him being of the quality of pitchers of their career standing. But I believe there remains room for lower velocity pitchers who can maintain control with "heavy" stuff who can be effective. Dobnak will almost certainly never be a high SO pitcher. And there will be times when his stuff is just barrelled-up for a hard hit ball or two, of course. It seems to me, after such a relatively SSS, is if he can continue to learn and adapt and find a better "out" pitch to eliminate some of those prolonged AB he has a chance to continue to be solid and consistent and thrive as a quality back of the rotation SP. Doctor Gast referenced infield defense behind him. I think that's an important consideration. IMO, the addition of Donaldson and growth of Polanco help provide that. Unfortunately, 2B hasn't been as kind to our defense with Arraez playing on a bad leg, though Marwin and Adrianza have been at least OK filling in.

Matt, I fully appreciate your sentiment and perspective. But I'm absolutely convinced you might like Berrios a little bit less in 2021 than now. Why? I believe it will be his best season thus far in his young career. Unfortunately, 2020 might have been that season were it not for the very strange nature of the year itself. I'm not going to get debate who is and what is an ACE caliber SP. And there are those like myself who believe in Berrios, and those who don't or just "like" him but don't love him. And for those that aren't the biggest fans or believers, I get it. There is the WANT for him to be a consistent, top of the order stated that is so palpable that anything less diminishes his achievements to this point. I'm not going to dig up stats online or from last TD articles that list them, but his first half performance/numbers in 2018 and 2019 made him a deserving All Star selection. It's has also been well documented as to 2nd half fades each of those seasons. Except, it's also been agreed by the Twins and Berrios himself his intense training/workout routine may be at least partially to blame. (In addition to still being a young SP gaining experience). Hence he began to reign in his in-season routine late in 2019 and rebounded to finish solid again after a poor stretch. The plan WAS to do the same in 2020 before the weird and shortened season. You are absolutely correct there remains a very human element to the ballplayers on our favorite team, and players in general. And it doesn't take a genius to look at the Twins, and players across MLB in 2020 to see all sorts of regression and weird stats to realize a pair of short trainings and an abbreviated season has thrown some guys out of whack. While the Twins have been mum on the point...to my knowledge...there was a very interesting OP a few weeks back suggesting Berrios was making some adjustments on the fly to begin thus season. (I believe by Parker but I could be wrong about that). His velocity is up, his control and "nastiness" seems to have come around after his mediocre start to 2020. Combine everything involved, I believe his best full season will be happening a year later meaning again in 2021. It will be when experience, tweaks, adjustments, work ethic and pure stoff coalesce for the best stretch of his career. And if that makes you "like" him a bit less as a result, I'm OK with that. (Wink and a nod)

If only Rosario weren't so bad at baseball. A HR and clutch RBI single is no way to be productive. Anyone can do those things. [sarcasm!] But seriously, it was a team effort in this win. Bombas, walks, singles, etc. Also nice to see Rocco not just sit back and relax. If we had done some small ball Friday, who knows, might have actually scored a run and won the game. What can you say about Wisler? I keep waiting for him to be revealed as something he's not like the Scooby Gang unmasking old man Withers, but he just keeps doing a great job. We didn't lose any ground, but didn't gain any either. Sox have a tough end to their season and the Yankees can't win out can they? All we can control is ourselves, win, keep winning, get sharp, and see how it all turns out.

Hilarious as usual. But it's funny how there are some teams that just hold our personal disdain. I mean, we can all agree we despise the Yankees, right? Lol And for obvious reasons we don't have to state. But while I love confidence and can fully appreciate a degree of cockiness, the reason I have loathed the Dirty Sox for years is not any game or player I can immediately think of. It comes from watching games on TV listening to Hawk Harrelson. That guy just rubbed me the wrong way. How weird is that? I think the Twins are absolutely the better overall team during a 162 game season. And the Sox are absolutely taking advantage of the weird, crazy 2020 60 game version. But I admit fully that their pitching staff has performed far better than I ever expected. Again, 162 games....we'll never know. I will admit though, that I am tired of the Dirty Sox hyperbole for the future. Don't get me wrong, they have talent and more on the way. And we're going to have to deal with them the next few years as real rivals. But position after position, spot after spot, it's not like the Twins are devoid of real talent. And we don't exactly have chum coming up through the system with Jeffers, Rooker, Kirilloff, Larnach, Lewis, Alcala, Colina, Duran, Balazovic and others not mentioned. The Indians won't just go away. But even with turnover, the Twins and Dirty Sox should be rivals for the next 3-4yrs easy!

I absolutely think Dobnak could be a great fit for the pen as a middle/long man. And I don't know you would possibly exclude him. With 8 games to play and some question about Odorizzi, he could still be your 5th SP, were one needed. Biggest issue I see...beyond trusting Hill and Odorizzi being healthy...is the pen in general. If Spycake is correct and we could have 14 RP, I still count 15 candidates, even while leaving Littell and Poppen off. Unless someone gets hurt, someone worth keeping and deserving is going to be left off the roster.

I almost posted this in a front page thread but decided it needed it's own. I know we are in a playoff push with mixtures of optimism and consternation, but Dobnak has been brought up more than once lately and I thought it was time for some evaluation and honest reflection in the guy. There has been so much "story" and early success surrounding him that I think perspective has been lost. I think what gets lost is he is a ROOKIE MLB SP. He pitched a total of 29.1 innings in 2019 which is about what a late fill-in/September audition might be expected to tnrow. And he has all of 49.2 IP in 2020 to the time I post this. These are his current ML numbers: W/L ERA IP H BB SO AVG WHIP 8-5 3.12 75 77 18 50 .266 1.27 Yes, the ERA is not a be-all stat and is skewed from his 1.59 in SSS from 2019. But his 2020 is still only 4.05 even with a couple recent bad games. Regression was always going to happen. There is nothing in his repetoire/arsenal that suggests he will ever be a big SO pitcher or a dominate front of the rotation SP. I counter with "so what"? He is a sinker/slider control pitcher who induces pop ups and ground balls with the occasional hard hit liner. He seems intelligent seems to have a bulldog mentality and has the frame to throw a lot of pitches and innings...as long as his stuff is working decently...though Rocco has pulled him "early" in a few games. Time will tell how good he can be. It's easy to say his last couple of games are reality and he was just a good story or an aberration. But again, we are talking about a ROOKIE SP with 75 IP under his belt. Simple math shows that to be about 1/2 of a normal season to this point, OR, he has pitched roughly 1/3 of a "normal" season if you only look at his 2020 numbers. I am NOT attempting to build him up to be anything but a back of the rotation #4 or #5 starter. But look at the numbers thus far, or even just his 2020 numbers...still solid and not going to bore everyone with tons of stats...and tell me you wouldn't be at least a little excited the Twins had found themselves a nice back end rotation piece? There is no room in baseball for a sinker/slider guy with control and SOME projectability with experience going forward? Again, I'm not projecting stardom for the Dobber. And the 2021 rotation starts with Maeda, Berrios and Pineda. And we will have the off-season to debate any additions or a re-sign of Odorizzi, but I feel pretty comfortable going forward with Dobnak as my #5 starter with some other really nice arms coming up behind him. For now, he probably fits best in the pen for the post season, with everyone healthy. But I don't think a productive rookie with a couple bad games recently should be dismissed for what be has accomplished thus far and what he could potentially develop in to.

I can't believe Kepler's poor throw to 1B! He has a great arm and just doesn't make mistakes like that. I'm not blaming him for the loss, but that was a huge mis-plays. Buxton never should have been sent home on the one play. But damned if the replay didn't look to me as if his left hand slid between the catchers legs to beat the tag! I think he was safe, unfortunately, no challenge available. And the replay probably wasn't conclusive enough, but I think he was safe. I couldn't help but laugh at Donaldson. But what he did was immature and just shouldn't have been done. My only hope is it will provide both a laugh in the clubhouse but also spark a fire with 8 games left. But it never should have happened.

I am NOT going to bang on Rocco, the offense, the rotation or the pen. But losing the series to the Dirty Sox hurt, I was hoping for more of course, but a split and moving on a single game out of 1st I was OK with. I WANT that banner in Target Field that we won the division. But on the realistic side of things finishjng 1st or 2nd has little implications in regard to the playoffs. We still get home field 1st round. The opponent is yet be determined and changes almost daily. So any sort of hope/want/prediction at this time is rather fruitless. Winning the division is within the Twins grasp if they take care of business, 3 on the road against a good Cubs team, then 5 mkre at home against the Tigers and Reds. The Sox have the next 7 games on the road, 3 with the Reds and then a 4 game set against the Indians before finishing with 3 at home against the Cubs. I'm pretty sure I have home and away correct, forgive me if mistaken. The Indians have the next 7 at home and finish with 3 on the road against the Pirates. Again, pretty sure I have H/A correct. So what does all of this mean? It means, yes, time to kick it up a notch and get Arraez back, at least. It also means the Dirty Sox have the toughest schedule to finish out and we need to be Cleveland fans during that 4 game series. If the Twins just take care of business their last 8 games, that ALC 2020 pennant can still be theirs.

Oddorizi looked really good to me. Guy can't catch a break this year. I hope he's ready to go in 5 days. He can still make a difference before this season is done. THAT was the May we've seen before and need to see more of.

Agree with Trov and basically everyone else. 2020 will stand as it will in regard to numbers and the eventual champion. But there are so many weird aberrations in regard to performance numbers for pitchers and players in 60 games and a weird ST that I will pass no judgement. Kepler's best? A normal season, which we hope to see in 2021? MAYBE a little less HR power but a better overall hitter. 2020 does NOTHING to diminish what I think of his talent, ability, and foreseeable future. Same holds true for Polanco, BTW.

Someone had to go down. Dobnak has options and Odorizzi has to be looked at. I have no problem with this, even though it stinks. You still have to play the roster game. I think Blankenhorn has a future, but it's not NOW. Oddo pitching or not, it's time for the team to get angry and determined and make a statement the next 2 games.

It's still up to him how good he could be. At 24 and coming off AA with the St Paul experience, he should be close though he may not be fully ready until sometime in 2021. I think the comp to Gonzalez is fair, even though they are different players. Blankenhorn is larger and probably has more pure power. And it's very debatable at this point how good defensively he will be ANYWHERE. But he is athletic and has a strong arm. I object to conclusions he is slow as he has twice stolen double digit bases and has been successful doing so but with limited numbers. And he has more than enough speed to handle the OF. A few reviews of his play last season should show that. What he is is a so-so defensive player at this point with an OK bat with power who could, potentially, be a 5 position reserve. There is HUGE value in that! Now, can he be that or more is still up to him.

I agree he needs to play. There is no sense bringing him up to just sit, especially with the bats of Adrianza and Marwin being so quiet. Though Marwin seems to be beating up lately. But let him play and get his feet wet at the bottom of the order. The worst thing that could happen is he gains experience for the future. Despite not yet showing the defense we'd like to seem he remains a pretty good athlete from everything I've read. He's twice stolen double digit bases with a high % of success in his career. And he's looked good in the OF, range wise, from the few times I've seen him. So I don't think speed is an issue, though he is no burner to be sure. I'd like to think he has a chance to be a really nice 5 position bench piece with an OK bat and power. Up to him to prove he can be that.

I guess this is where I stand. You just can't have so many positive underlying numbers and a high BABIP and say the guy is cooked. But at the same time, there simply has to be something mechanical taking place he needs to figure out because even with only 17IP bad luck for his BABIP can only go so far. And then it means despite his other good numbers he's grooving a few pitches he hasn't the past 2 seasons. They have 2 weeks to get him right. And they need him right, whether he remains the closer or not. May is in the same situation despite not being the focus here. His velocity, SO numbers and most all peripherals seem to be career bests and yet he seems to be allowing HR at an alarming pace. Then he finishes things off by SO the side. Both this guys are talented and important with some big stuff. And both need to figure it out over the next 2 weeks. Need Johnson and company to work some magic and get them on a roll.

I'm with Chief and others on the RBI discussion. I fully understand RBI doesn't work as a tell all in regard to hitting ability. And opportunity...such as being put in a 3-5 spot in the order for a good team...only goes so far as an excuse for debate. Actually GETTING RBI is still clutch, still a moment, still a skill to actually come through when it matters. We had nobody do that last night. That stinks and is unexpected just with the volume of opportunity. But I'm not blaming Cruz just because he had a bad game. I love Rocco, but nights like last night do make me wonder why the Twins don't play just a little small ball. If you truly have a feel for the pulse of your team, which I think Rocco does, he should have felt it was an off night. Especially with so many guys out. It's would have been a good night, here and there, to try to manufacture a run or two, IMO. Still just ONE game.