Doubles

Great stuff here, IT. Thanks for taking the time to post this.

Man, some ominous-sounding quotes about Miguel Sano's status last week: “I’m going to keep hoping that something turns this thing in the right direction at a faster speed,” manager Paul Molitor said. “But obviously the days are dwindling.” “I don’t want to go out there and hurt myself and miss the rest of the season and not be ready for next season,” Sano said. Sano talking about not being ready for next season makes me incredibly skeptical of him returning this season. So, if Sano indeed does not return this season- does that change your outlook for him for next season? And what position do you see him playing next season? I would love to see him back at third base in the spring, but can the Twins count on that? What types of contingency plans do the Twins have to make as it relates to Sano & their team vision for next season?

Not ready to say I'm 'comfortable' yet, but 3 game lead with 16 to play. Also, Twins haven't lost more than 4 games in a row this season. Getting near 'choke' territory if they don't hang on.

While most everyone is fired up about Rosario, he made a really bad base running play in the bottom of the 2nd. After leading off with a double, Buxton followed with a liner that sent the CF back and a bit to his left. CF reached up and caught the ball, but Rosario was forced to go back to second base as he went half-way on the play. Terrible base running. Should have stayed on the base, or retreated back as soon as the CF appeared to possibly have a play on the ball. If the ball is caught, you tag up and gain third base with one out. If the ball gets over the CF, he still scores rather easily from second base. Not good base running at all. This is the type of stuff that makes Rosario frustrating at times. Great talent, great tools, but never more than a second away from doing something, errrrr, less than intelligently.

On Rosario- His AB in the 10th inning is a perfect example of how he's coming around. Takes the 1-0 pitch just inches off the outside corner, putting himself into a hitter's count at 2-0. Pitcher Maton grooves one, and Rosario pounds it. No way he lays off that 1-0 pitch last season. Maybe not even in April or May. But this is a great example of a guy maturing as a hitter, if you can see that in one single AB.

Two key underrated elements of last night's game: Busenitz retiring Wil Myers in the top of the eighth, with runners on first & third. Belisle popping up Hedges in the top of the ninth, with runners on first & second. Humangous big outs, both of 'em.

The above statement probably illustrates the point better than I ever could. Confusing the message with disdain for the messenger.

Houston Jimenez

The Strib column mentions Sano adds value by playing third base, due to his skill & agility, presumably over first base or DH'ing. Can that even be disputed? The BP column alludes to Sano moving to DH as soon as next year. Why? Because his size would prohibit him from adequately playing an infield position? To be clear, I wasn't offended in the least by either column. But I believe people read with bias just as well as they watch and listen. I would be very surprised if people would have been so offended by the Souhan column had they not known who wrote it. Fact of the matter is, Sano is heading to full-time DH status the bigger he gets. And considering how good he can be defensively, moving to DH decreases his value as a player.

One thing that rankles me a bit are these "playoff percentage" thingies. This morning, for example, Buster Olney tweets the playoff chances of the NYY (97.3%), Twins (55.7%), Angels (21.5%), and Royals (9%). It's cool to weigh the Twins chances against the team closest to them, but it's much easier for me to conceptualize that the Twins have a 2 game lead with 18 to play than it is to ingest these percentages. And, yes. Stay offa my lawn, you **** kids.

While I can certainly appreciate the future, and it looks bright here, no question- I'm really just enjoying this season in this moment. They don't always win, but I feel like these guys bust their collective *** and bring it every night. I'mma keep trying to stay in the moment and enjoy my favorite baseball club playing relevant games, in a playoff spot, in mid-September. Never would've thought this was possible in April, or even May.

How is this any less 'weight-shaming' than the Strib column that was met with so much scorn?

Caught this over the weekend. Sano was ranked 15th out of 30 MLB starting 3rd basemen. 15. "Miguel Sano, Minnesota Twins — There’s no way this is true a year from now. I would not be surprised at all if, a year from now, Sano is a designated hitter, and we all remember with a fond chuckle how that guy who weighs roughly what J.J. Watt does actually manned the hot corner for a season or so. Until his recent lower leg injury, though, Sano was surprising me about once a week by making a play he would not have made in the past, and that a man his size had no business making. Like Mike Moustakas (ranked 21st, in Part 1), he plays fairly deep, and like Moustakas, he sometimes uses his exceptional arm to make up for imperfect footwork or the extra half-second it takes to secure a topspin one-hopper when one stands 6-foot-4. Unlike Moustakas, his athleticism is far better than one would expect, given his size, and so his range is a bit better, and he can make diving or off-balance plays more cleanly. He used to set up in a pretty awkward half-crouch, his feet staggered, really making it hard to move laterally and limiting his range to a step and a dive. He’s amended those habits, and is finding success by playing third base as if he were a smaller guy." Interesting commentary...

As good as Colon has been, 85 MPH fastballs will only get you so far in today's game. Was bound to happen, I'm glad it didn't happen before today.

Thursday's 9th inning comeback may be looming even larger now. Otherwise Twins would be at risk of losing 3 out of 4 in KC, a team they should be mostly whooping up on at this point.

Didn't catch much of the game last night, but fro what I did see... What a terrible slide by Rosario when he got nabbed by Perez just prior to Buck's dinger. Jeezus H, keep contact with the base. Really, it's not difficult. That CS may have been one of the best I've ever seen on one of the toughest pitches to handle. Man, Perez is some kinda catcher.

I have zero issue with anyone unsatisfied with the in-game managing, but the comments above read like more of a critique of bullpen composition. That ain't on the manager.

Disagree. ERA is meant to measure pitching. If a ball is thrown into right field by a pitcher who has now become a fielder- the fielding should not influence how the pitching is measured. Even if the fielder and pitcher are one and the same.

I think this stat is off-set by the fact that the Twins don't have a traditional, or even a regular, #3 hitter. I realize Polanco has thrived in the #3 spot lately, but if we're being honest he's not a #3 hitter on almost every competitive team.

I agree that this season has been an absolute blast to watch. Man, having the Twins relevant again makes summer SO much better! And this team in particular, is very entertaining to watch. I've been watching the Twins since the late '70's, and Buxton is the best defensive outfielder I've ever seen. I'mma pump the brakes on the trade deadline stuff a bit. Kintzler was effective & Garcia was a fun notion, but let's not pretend they traded Mariano Rivera and Sandy Koufax in their respective primes. And yeah, maybe playing 'sellers' at the deadline rallied the team a bit, I'd say a team that needs any additional motivation has a weak constitution to begin with. But, yes- this team has been a blast to watch, and seems like they're primed to be competitive for the long haul. Especially when they upgrade the pitching.

I've had some of these same thoughts, too. Now I'm trying not let what I've seen most recently over-influence what I know from watching Gibson's entire body of work. The major kicker being the Twins will have to decide, if they haven't already, whether to QO him this winter or let him walk. A lot of Gibson's recent success can be attributed to missing bats. Last night, he didn't strike anybody out, walked one, and gave up 8 hits in 7 innings. And I was very nervous / neurotic about Molitor leaving Gibson in after Cabrera& Hosmer started the 6th with back-to-back singles. Why on earth would Molitor leave Gibson in, at a critical juncture in the game, with Perez & LH Moustakis coming up? Because pop-up & inning-ending DP, that's why. So yeah, Gibson's outings lately have been a major upgrade from what we've traditionally seen from him, but last night may have been smoke & mirrors as he didn't miss hardly any bats (4 swinging strikes) and danced out of trouble with 3 DPs.

One thing about Mauer- he has had several periods in his career when he hits .400 and gets on base at a .500 clip. I mean extended periods- like more than a month, sometimes probably even two month stretches like that. That is really hard to do in baseball.

You might think so. I don't.

Also worth noting is the guy who infuriated many of us by bunting in the top of the 8th, is the same guy that drove in the GW-RBIs in the top of the 9th, because, baseball.

The underlined part is what I love about the above comment. I believe bunting has a place and can be useful at times. You'll never hear me say, "Don't bunt, simply because I hate bunting & it's stooopid!" Actually, you might hear me say that, but there's more to it than just that. You have to look at how the inning could play out and assess your chances from there. Chief nailed it above. Well done. And that doesn't even take into account the long-standing debate about bunting a runner to second base. Especially when batting as the visiting team.