Doomtints

Hildy. Argh.

If they can play this well for another quarter they might have a nice buffer, though it will still take more than that to deflate the Indians who are hanging tight in spite of some injuries. It's nice to see a Twins team where, at least on the hitting side, they're not just 1-2 injuries (or extended slumps) away from being mediocre. They have just two players who aren't hitting well this year and that's crazy. We can see this has been rubbing off on the pitchers, who started slow but who are now really stepping up.

This will sound backhanded but I agree that Kepler is close to the "max" he can be, .766 OPS. This is in the neighborhood of the level the Twins are paying him to perform at, so if he stays in this range and continues to play solid defense it's all good. He's not blocking anybody. He is here for his consistency and stability, not his all star potential. One problem is his batting average is down and his walks are also down, but the result is slightly better than before so I say let the guy keep swinging.

This wasn't the best lineup or batting order. Hildy also should not have pitched two games in a row and, if he was pitching, should have been pulled at the first sign of trouble. Pin this loss on the manager. Baldelli put "rest guys on Sunday" over "win the rubber game of the series." It's his choice. It's also a choice he has made 3 or 4 times now with the same result.

He wasn't a Twin during the time period of the image I posted. The point is, every pitcher has good stretches or he would not be in the majors for very long.

It won't matter much if Perez runs out of gas in September.

Perez has had hot streaks before. Last year, he was good in June and August. In 2017, he was bad in the middle of the year but OK otherwise. In 2016 he was great in May but cancelled that out with a terrible July. The difference between a #1/#2 starter and the rest is sustained success. They all have hot streaks. Let's see how Perez looks in a couple more months.

What will keep Adrianza around is his 1.3M salary, but players who play at his level either get cut or end up in the minors. If he plays out the year like this it will be his last year in the majors. Adrianza is a huge success story right now. If this is it for him, he has nothing to be ashamed of. He is clearly very easy to work with because he is still around in spite of never putting up good numbers at any level. Ball clubs like him and he did a serviceable job with the Twins. As for Sano, though he is hitting well in the minors ... wow, he does not look like he is in shape. We'll see what happens. His value is in his bat and hopefully the Twins will realize that.

Since he retired he's not getting anything anymore.

People outside of MN have no idea who Berrios is.

It looks like the Jays are going to be one of the 100 loss teams when this year is in the books. No hitting, no pitching. They are hitting rock bottom with a loud thud. ...and they are still drawing more fans at home than the Twins.

Inexplicable collapses after decent years happened twice under Molitor. Don't forget the new management. I disagree that Berrios was inconsistent. He was as consistent as any other #2 pitcher. So far this year, he is looking more like the ace most of us thought he would become. Also, don't forget to temper our enthusiasm a bit. The season is still very young. Many teams that are pushovers now will not be pushovers in the second half.

They don't test for drugs like that once one makes the majors.

True. His increased K rate has FIP thinking nice things though (3.12). He still walks people too much, but his increased K rate shows he is fooling people at least for now. We will find out soon enough if the scouting reports will catch up.

He finished 2018 with very strong numbers too. Look at the splits, it's all based on his performance in the first half. I expect similar in 2019, just not as impressive in the end as 2018. He will be hot, he will be cold, and the bottom line will be decent.

This is already Rosario's second cold patch in 2019. I think he will be streaky this year and overall down from last year. He simply was not good after the all star break last year and I expected that to carry into this year. This doesn't mean he won't have some big hits, nor does it mean he's not going to be valuable. He will still finish the year above league average in OPS and will smack some good hits at good times. He will even have some very hot streaks to go along with the cold ones -- and he will probably still be more valuable than Kepler.

I said in the offseason that Castro would probably hit well this year because if he didn't it would be his last year in the majors. He started the year ice cold and convinced me he was done ... but he has stepped it up recently. Streaks are streaks, but if he can average out his peaks and valleys into the positive we will have some interesting games. The competition at C is going to be interesting in 2019. The Twins are blessed in this regard.

Oh, I'm all for poking fun at Gladden. Did you see it when he pushed/took a swing at Puckett? Kirby just moved out of the way and looked around like, wtf was that about? Of course they kissed and made up soon after.

I don't think anyone *dislikes* him. Many of us have trouble understanding the moves this FO has been making, but the season is in full swing and it's out of Falvey's hands now. Even those of us who have questions believe the FO deserves plenty of time to get things right if not the benefit of the doubt. So far, the hitting is carrying the team ... and so far we are on the trajectory to lose to the Yankees in the first round. Hooray?

I have listened to Gladden enough times to know that's not true.

Gladden doesn't hide it when he's frustrated. I can see him saying that in a game v. the Yanks, or any game that is getting out of hand.

He started the year OK and he already appears to be out of gas. He's done as a starter, he might have a few more years as a bullpen arm, but the Twins would never make that type of decision until very late in the year.

Two things: 1) The Giants added Pierzynski and it didn't help them, for example. 2) These Twins haven't won anything yet. We should resist the temptation to be Vikings fans and believe they cracked the formula before they accomplish anything. I still question this team's ability to win in the playoffs. To me, this is all that really matters. Finishing first in the AL Central doesn't mean anything.

These are good questions. I have been wondering what Sano's return will mean as well. Cruz makes Sano superfluous this year, but Cruz is a rental and Sano will (probably) be around a bit. Sano's gotta play, though I don't think anyone disputes that. I have to think Sano will make the hitting even better, but this has been the best hitting I have seen from the Twins since the 80s. It's difficult to imagine it getting better. If this run lasts at all we will be in for some exciting baseball. Hrbek infected the hitters in the 80s ... who is infecting everybody now? If it's Astudillo, we are in for a long run of success. If it's Cruz, well, enjoy the year.