Twodogs

That's weird, I thought it always had to be the pitcher who got through the 5th inning, but that's only for the starter huh. Seems weird to me. Seemed like Dustin May deserved that win for the Dodgers last night. Not that I care one way or the other, I just saw it and I couldnt figure out how the guy who pitched two outs in the 2nd was able to get the win?

Here is the pitching box Grateral 1.1 innings one run Kolarek 0.2 innings no runs Dodgers take lead May 5.1 innings 3 runs Gonzalez 1 inning one run Baez 0.2 innings no runs Kolarek gets the win even though he only made it through the second inning and only recorded 2 outs?? Doesn't make sense to me https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/gametracker/boxscore/MLB_20200916_LAD@SD/

Don't look now, but I think the Yankees are just as far out of 1st as the Twins are. They've won 7 straight.

Looks pretty bad to me. I mean not for a construction worker or auto mechanic. But for an MLB pitcher could be the season for him.

I'm glad that the Twins phased out Eddie Rosario. Oh wait a minute.

No off-days in playoffs: Here's who benefits https://www.mlb.com/news/how-postseason-with-no-days-off-affects-pitching No off days probably helps the Twins deep pitching with a lack of an Ace or two. Those guys probably won't be able to start 3 times in a series anymore with no off days.

But even hitting home runs is dependent. Petco park is not very home run friendly, Yankee stadium is a band box. So one player could be a pretty good hitter in Yankee stadium, and another player could hit every ball exactly the same as the first player but due to air pressure and park nuances they can be not such a great hitter. I mean if you are saying that a ball hit out of the park is a ball hit out of the park regardless of outside factors then someone could argue that all of the colorado rockies hitters from the 90's should be in the hall of fame, I mean they hit the ball out of the park

I agree that everyone in the game gets to steal off of Astudillo in that instant, but when you look at numbers you look at them over a course of time. Nobody narrows down how many RBI's you got on August 12th. Or how many home runs you got on June 15th. It's always over the course of a definite period of time. Usually a long period of time such as the whole season. But even then, even if you are in the same game stealing off of Astudillo when one pitchers is on the mound is different than when another pitcher takes the mound, even with the same catcher baseball stats are dependent. Even with the same swing same launch angle same everything will have a different result when you barrel up a Chapman 100mph fastball as opposed to a Greinke 50mph ephus pitch. Same swing, same hit, same ballpark, still will create a different result. Stats are dependent on outside factors no matter what.

You can make that argument about home runs also. Hitting a ball out in San Diego or Anaheim is a lot different than Yankee stadium where if you can clear the infield it has a good shot at going out. Just ask Mo Vaughn. So you can make those kinds of arguments about almost anything. Racking up stolen bases off of Astudillo is a lot different than getting that many SB's vs Molina. Everything in baseball is dependent on who you are facing. I mean we look at pitchers and their swing and miss stuff, but how would those guys swing and miss stuff percentages play out if they were facing guys like Carew, Gwynn, Boggs, Brett, and guys who played in that era? It would be a lot different. So just like with Buxton or Cruz on 3rd is dependent on whether someone gets an RBI so is every other stat in baseball.

It's amazing that the White Sox took the lead with small ball. Adam Engal didn't really hit the ball through a shifted infield, he hit a slash bunt, because Engal tried to drop down a bunt in the first pitch and then he squared around, Donaldson charged and Polanco was wheeling over to cover 3rd and then Engal slashed and put the ball right where Polanco vacated. Nice example of small ball working. The Twins didn't really have a lot of chances for small ball yesterday. I mean Kepler came up with a guy on 2nd and he hit a grounder to the right side and moved the runner anyway. About the only time I think they should have bunted was with Astudillo up to bat with Cave on 2nd. Had Astudillo successfully bunted there Cave gets to 3rd and probably scores to put the Twins up 2 - 1. Who knows what happens from there? All of the sudden Cruz might hit his 17th bomb because bases wouldn't be loaded and the pitcher might pitch differently? Who knows. Also I don't think Rogers was brought in to close. Rocco brought him in to face the bottom of the lineup in the 8th. I'm almost thinking that Rocco was planning on using Alcala to close it out had they taken the lead? JMO? It was interesting on the mlb channel yesterday. Leiter, Pedro and the other guys were discussing the best playoff rotations. The Twins were brought up and Pedro said no way, he said that the Twins are a good example of having a guy who could win the Cy Young, (Maeda) but Pedro said he would not have him in his (playoff) starting rotation. Then someone brought up Berrios. Leiter then said that Berrios is also good, but to be a top playoff pitcher you have to go longer than 5 innings. Not saying that I completely agree or disagree. But these are the opinions of a hall of famer and a guy who pitched big games in the playoffs. Interesting take.

For sure, but I'm hoping Eddie is ok. Some people may get their wish of twins baseball without Eddie, I have a bad feeling about it.

I'm just glad to see KC is still causing trouble. I see they have tripped up Cleveland a few times lately. I was worried that the Twins played them early when they had hope and now Cleveland is playing them after the trade deadline when a lot of teams kinda give up. As long as KC and Detroit in the AL and the Brewer's and the Pirates in the NL can steal a couple of games here and there that will help the Twins a lot.

Just my opinion obviously. But at this point I would have a rotation of Berrios, Pineda, Maeda with Dobnak being #4 swingman. Obviously he wouldn't be needed that often especially since the first series is only 3 games. But that gives you 4 on the staff. Then I'd try to prepare for best case scenario is that your starters give you 6 minimum; then you need 3 guys to get you to the end of the game. Now I think the Twins bullpen has been good this year, but they aren't great pitchers in my mind, I think they do a great job, but when they get seen by the same team too many times that they start to get figured out, just like that game in Detroit where May and Duffy blew up. They hadn't pitched back to back games, but the tiger hitters saw them on Friday and now seen them again. So hopefully with the bullpen depth the Twins can limit how many times these guys get seen. Maybe have like 6 main relievers for innings 7 through 9. May, Duffy, Alcala, Rogers, Romo, Clipboard. Then maybe keep Hill because he has a lot of playoff experience, he can start and he can relieve he has in the past done it all, and over the last 4 - 5 years or so has had a very nice K%. That gives you 11, now the decision centers around keeping 2 more guys for those ooops just in case games. Maybe the Twins are up by 15 or down by 15 regardless the Twins don't need to burn another pitcher. So now you have to pick between Stashak, Theilbar, Wisler, and Odorizzi. If you take Wisler and Odorizzi that gives you 13 pitchers? Berrios Pineda Maeda Dobnak Rogers Romo Alcala Duffy May Clippard Hill Odorizzi Wisler That gives you 13 pitchers.

I hope I'm wrong but I have a bad feeling that both Buxton and Berrios will be gone as soon as they can be.

Astrudillo is struggling behind the plate. I wonder if he was ever the best option behind the plate? Maybe little league?

Well it's a good thing that dudes who write on a blog don't get to make any decisions when it comes to who the twins sign and or phase out, etc.... I mean if the writers had any input whatsoever then the twins would have signed Cole, Ryu, and Wheeler this off-season. But they didn't, and I'm pretty sure that most of the dudes who write this stuff didn't really anticipate signing Hill and trading Grateral for Maeda. So the twins front office will do what they feel is best for the twins regardless of what any of us think or what any of these smart writers think also. My personal opinion is that the Twins will keep Rosario, and in 2021 if the Twins are in the thick of a playoff run they will keep him and probably let him walk because he will be a FA in 2022. If the Twins are not in a playoff run in 2021, then they will probably trade him at the deadline for a couple of prospects similar to Eduardo Escobar. It's how the Twins have operated for a long time. Plus just because the Twins have guys like Kirlloff, Rooker, etc.... doesn't mean those guys are going to produce anything over the course of a MLB season. They might not produce close to Rosario's supposedly terrible numbers, we aren't going to know unless someone gets hurt and they are thrown into duty. If that happens and one of these guys rake for 2 or 3 months straight then you have a log jam but right now for a team going for the playoffs the guys who got the twins here are going to be everyday type of players. So there is no real reason to get mad if someone suggests to quit playing this guy or that guy because they have absolutely no influence on a professional teams front office decisions. It's also good to know that guys like Rosario, and Sano, and Buxton etc.... could care less if something bad is written about them on here by people who don't make any decisions about this team. These guys are going to show up everyday and play as hard as they can at the time and I will be cheering for them to win. And I'll get mad because some guy didn't do well and I'll be excited when some other guy hit a game winning hit. I'll probably come in here and complain about this or that but I realize that I have zero influence over what is going on in those offices where the decisions are being made.

For sure, Pineda is #2 in my mind right now, with Berrios #1 and probably Maeda #3. Berrios and Pineda give us the best chance to limit the bullpen usage down to the best couple of guys when they pitch. Not that it will happen every time, but they have that chance to go deep into games.

But the way Dick reacts to any pop fly you'd think it was going into the 3rd deck, so who knows about how close it could have been with Rooker had they not thrown Eddie out at 3rd?

Yeah, Morneau might have been saying that that out at third isn't necessarily uncommon, but running over your base coach to blow through his sign probably is a little uncommon?

I know it's from the old book, but the old adage is not to make the 1st and 3rd outs at 3rd base. Because if he makes it then a fly ball scores him. So I don't think anyone on the twins staff was really upset about today. Had yesterday not happened we probably wouldn't even be talking about it. Man it was nice to see a pitcher throw 7 innings for once. I was shocked when I heard that it was only the 2nd time a twins pitcher had pitched into the 7th inning this year. Lamont Wade is making a nice name for himself. Looking like he could be Jake Cave's replacement in the future? Don't wish anything bad on Cave, but if Wade keeps doing well he has to take someone's spot.

I liked Morneau saying man if you're ever going to lay down a bunt to beat the shift I can't think of a better time to get the tying run on base.

But on the positive they haven't been hitting on all cylinders but have still been winning most of their games. Hopefully they can put it all together soon and keep it up for awhile.

And Duffy did great! But they saw him and his curve ball. That I think is what hurts in a 7 game series. That's when they really need 2 dudes that can put up 7 innings when they need them too. Limit the other team to seeing your set up and closer who should normally be your best and it shouldn't matter as much if they see your best a couple of times because they are the best. Hopefully they can develop one more guy to go with Berrios to form that 1 - 2 punch.

Velo on Duffy's Fastball is down, so he has been relying on his breaking ball more. When these bullpen guys have to face the same team over and over again I think the hitters start to get a feel for them. That's why it would be nice to have a couple of starters be able to go 7+ to limit the amount of times these actually see guys like Duffy and May.

I think if you look at Hill's career you won't see too many 200 inning seasons in it. I thought Dobnak the other day with like 60 pitches could have been given a shot to go another inning because he is young, he seemed to be on that day and could possibly build up that confidence and stamina to go 6 - 7 innings. But Maeda, (who surprisingly has done well this year going deeper into games) and Hill plus Odorizzi have pretty solid track records that they don't throw very many innings during a season. Can't change them at this point in their career. Probably an easy way to hold salaries down too? If you ever only throw 140 to 150 innings you're really not worth as much as a guy who can throw 200?