Darius

This has to be LaMarre’s relative, friend or something. You’re the only person on planet earth still holding a grudge about a career AAA outfielder’s playing time during a 90 loss season in midst of a 100 win season. You know why Molitor didn’t use LaMarre? Because it’s Ryan freaking Lamarre. Nobody cares. He didn’t “cool off” because Molitor didn’t play him. He’s not good. Lecturing everyone repeatedly about Ryan LeMarre is ridiculous.

That loss irks me. The Indians are down and out. Instead of doing everything you can to out them away, you decide the 10th inning with 2 outs and runners on is the time to experiment with the 2nd major inning for a rookie 20 year old. I get that you have to see what you have in Graterol, but in that game? You should have 4-5 guys sitting down there that could come in and get a bum like Perez without issue. Another on the long-line of questionable decision making by Baldelli. All he’s doing is giving the Indians life.

What a play by Eddie. That guy always seems to get it done in huge late-inning situations. I really liked the move by Baldelli with Tortuga and Schoop. Great move. I’m not sure a lot of managers make that move in the 7th with the top of the order coming up in the 8th. Sano deserves some credit as well. He’s become a force.

This is not an “absolute overreaction.” This is the third year in a row this guy has absolutely imploded down the stretch. He didn’t exactly shine in his only playoff appearance against the Yankees either. I’d think the concern was a little misguided if he had looked amazing when the bright lights were on in October. It’s absolutely not an overreaction to wonder if Berrios can even help you in the playoffs at this point. I get your sentiment, though. I agree that you have to use him in the playoffs despite the legitimate concern. He has the kind of upside that can take over a game and win it for you. He can go 7-8 shutout innings and K 10 guys. If I’m Baldelli, I just can’t sit that down for guys who, with all due respect, stink. We already know Dobnak, Smeltzer, etc have zero shot at locking down the Yankees or Astros for 7 inning on the road and stealing one for you. Whether it’s likely to happen or not, you still have to give him the opportunity. He could totally swing a series with two shut down performances in game 1 and 4. The difference between Berrios at the top of his game and Smeltzer is massive. I hate to sound so negative towards them, but if Smeltzer or Dobnak start a game in any other role than an opener, the guys can start making tee times for the following week.

I’d be fine with them just shutting down Berrios for for a turn or two during the rotation. Let him get some real rest. Then, give him one start before the playoffs in a way that lines up with game 1. If he looks like he’s back , give him game 1. If he’s still struggling, give Pineda game 1. I’m not sure what else you can really do at this point. I think it’s kind of foolish to keep running him out there when he’s clearly not right (whether due to some minor injury or exhaustion). During the game, a buddy and I were discussing whether we would have Berrios or Eduardo Rodriguez long term. Two months ago, it was clearly Berrios. But, after unraveling down the stretch again, I may take Rodriguez. He’s 26, he’s a lefty, good K guy, playoff/World Series experience, and he’s really turning it on down the stretch (44 IP and a 2.86 ERA over his last 7 starts). Really impressive young pitcher. Sure would be nice to have that going into the playoffs instead of the nuclear meltdown we’re seeing with Berrios for the third consecutive year.

I want Houston first round, and that’s what I think we’ll get. I want the short series to be against Houston, as mentioned. I want to have to win as few games against that pitching staff as possible. I’m not interested in the easiest route to the second round. The Twins’ best chance at winning the World Series, IMO, is taking the Astros out early. Talk about setting a tone. The clubhouse confidence level would be through the roof. How would the Yankees (or Wild Card) feel about facing a team that just homered their way past Verlander, Cole, and Grienke? The Twins are built even better for that slow pitch softball yard in New York than the Yankees....and they’re running out the rotting zombie corpses of Tanaka and Happ after German? I’d feel pretty darn good at that point.

Everyone praises Sano? As we speak people are still complaining about his plate discipline and strikeouts while OPSing over 1.000 for 2+ months and hitting monster clutch home runs 2-3 times per week.

I think this topic is somewhat similar to the demands for the FO to somehow force Buxton to quit playing at 100%. It’s nice in theory. I’d also like to teach my dog to get me a beer out of the fridge. I’m sure it can be done, but is it realistic? Will it really make my life that much better? (Bad example, because yes it would). Rosario is what he is. He ebbs and flows in terms of his chase rate, but his ability to hit any ball from his shoelaces to helmet visor 500 ft is what makes him a special player. Do I want him swinging at everything? Of course not. But, if he wants to take a hack at a fastball at his shoulders in an attempt to tie the game with a 3 run HR in the 8th - I love it. He’s proven he can do it, and it may be the best pitch he gets. The thing that doesn’t get considered is what that does to a pitchers’ psyche. When you intend to stay away from Rosario and you succeed, and he still bounces one at 120 mph off the limestone out in right, that has to affect confidence and get in your head somewhat. Similar to Sano, expectations are everything. .280 with 30+ bombas and 100+ RBI for Rosario is lacking in some way? He’s still OPSing over .800. What are we asking for, here? .330 and 50? We have to keep perspective. All players slump. Eddie Rosario just can’t be peak Eddie Rosario for 162 games. Mike Trout isn’t peak Mike Trout for 162 games. Expecting that, and complaining about the player when it doesn’t happen, is bordering on lunacy. I’m much more concerned with his defense, but still not ready to cast any stones at a 27 year old who currently has the longest track record of production as a Twin. Dollars to donuts that Rosario shows up huge in the playoffs. He’s shown over and over again that he has the “clutch gene.”

But, you’re arguing that Sano is an undisciplined hitter in terms of swinging outside of the zone. In reality, Sano is leading the team in pitches per plate appearance significantly. People rave about Polanco and Kepler’s discipline - Sano sees nearly a full pitch more per AB than Kepler, and .5 more than Polanco. Where is the endless bitching about them? If you want to debate strikeouts, knock yourself out. The guy has a 1.000+ OPS for over half the season. Aside from Cruz, he’s been our best hitter for months. Strikeouts and plate discipline are included in that number. His BB/K% is .34 - Cruz is .39. His runs created per 27 outs is right on par with Polanco and higher than Kepler. His isolated power is only about .15 behind Cruz (and I’m guessing would be higher than Garver is Garver played every day). He’s got the same number of XBH as Cron despite playing 30 fewer games. His XBH/game played is nearly identical to Kepler, is higher than Polanco and Garver, and is pretty similar to Cruz. His AB/HR is right there with Cruz. His OBP is identical to Kepler. He’s OPSing more than Kepler, Polanco, and Arraez significantly. There are endless statistics out there that will tell you Sano is a pretty damn good hitter. The numbers above also include his entire season, massive slumps and all. You look at July 1 until now, and it’s pretty incredible. He’s out OPSing Juan Soto, Paul Goldschmidt, Cody Bellinger, Ronald Ocuna, etc. Why is it people always feel like he’s loafing, and they need to get more out of him? What more do people want? Any more than what he’s done since July 1 and he’s arguably the best hitter in baseball. You’re talking about an expectation baseline of one of the greatest hitters of all time. It’s time for people to take the blinders off and appreciate Sano. He gets criticized to no end while out producing Kepler and Polanco - and those two guys are lauded by fans like Caeser after the battle of Alesia. It makes no sense to me.

Uh, no. Calling Sano an undisciplined hitter is so wrong that I’m not sure you’ve actually watched the guy a whole lot, or just read other peoples’ takes about strikeouts. Sure, he had a bit of a lapse earlier this year and last year with breaking balls (due to so much missed time due to injury, etc. IMO - pitch recognition take tons of work actually seeing live pitches - I think people forget he’s missed an entire offseason, two spring trainings, and significant portions of regular season play). But, throughout his career Sano has largely been a very patient hitter. He just doesn’t swing often at marginal pitches early in the count. His objective is to get a fastball by getting ahead in the count (or getting the pitcher behind in the count). It always has been his approach. It’s kind of unbelievable. I’ve never seen so many incorrect misconceptions developed by a general fan base about a player. Some of the things I’ve read in the comments section of this website regarding Sano are so ill informed that I can’t even be upset about them. Nitpick his defense? OK. Have an issue with Ks? I think it’s ridiculous to nitpick the method of getting out, and think routine ground balls are the worst thing you can do, but I can still recognize that as a debatable stance. But, saying he has discipline issues on par with Eddie Rosario is the direct opposite of true.

It does look funny from our perspective. From a hitters perspective, the lateral movement on that pitch is wild. I have some first-hand experience that causes me to appreciate that pitch: I caught a guy in high school who had an unbelievable slider/slurve that looked similar to Romo’s in terms of directional movement. Great, great pitcher. Romo’s breaking ball is much better, no doubt, but it reminds of me of his and it was good enough to get plenty of attention from pro scouts. He eventually got drafted in some obscure round because he was giving up baseball after high school to play college football (great receiver as well). It was very difficult to catch, let alone hit. Amazing that a ball can move like that. I saw on multiple occasions hitters totally bail, once or twice even going to the ground, only to have the pitch break over for a strike. Swings would look silly. I don’t recall anyone making solid contact. It looks like a fastball that takes a violent left turn about halfway to the plate, breaking what seemed like multiple feet. It almost seemed to change speeds suddenly mid-flight. A devastating pitch. I picture Romo’s a perfect version of that pitch, breaking even more sharply. People just can’t hit that.

Good is about right. Not great. There are a lot of solid pieces (Rogers, Dyson, Romo, Duffey, May), and everyone seems to be going relatively well right now. There isn’t a run of consistently dominant guys, like you see at the back-end of the Yankees bullpen. With Chapman, Britton, Ottavino, Kahnle, and once healthy Betnances, lined up in the playoffs, they have a huge advantage over anyone. But, I think we’re just as good or better as any other serious playoff contender right now.

Imagine the Twins total if they played in Yankee Stadium. The Twins might have 50 more right now. How many have we seen off the top of that scoreboard in right-center at Target Field? I’ve seen Cruz and Garver do it a half-dozen times each just in August. Rosario and Kepler have smashed that a number of times as well. Those are gone by a mile in Yankee Stadium. It’s also where Judge hits most of his HRs (we actually saw him come up short off that scoreboard here in MN in July).

It reminds me of the Twins in the late 90s. Nearly everyone was juiced out of their minds. Sosa and Big Mac were hitting 2 HRs a night. Meanwhile, Matt Lawton, Ron Coomer, and Terry Steinbach led the Twins with 21, 15, and 14, respectively. David Ortiz hit 9. Clearly, the Twins we’re behind the times (aka, had subpar pharmacists). It was reflected in the standings. Fans lamented the lack of power-hitters. Similarly, the Tigers seem to be one of the last to embrace some of the analytic-based things.

It feels like it’s been years since seeing Cron and Schoop mentioned positively in the same post-game. If Schoop and Cron could get hot down the stretch and into the playoffs....lookout. Think about taking the team from May and adding 1.000 OPS Miguel Sano and Arraez to that. The team could carry a tee to serve as the whole pitching staff and still have a shot at the World Series.

Sano doesn’t get near enough credit for what he’s doing this year, IMO. You almost never hear about him, and he’s been mashing. He has the second highest hard hit rate in the MLB (thus, the highest on the team - and ahead of Cruz in second by 3%). He average home run goes 14 ft farther than Aaron Judge and average overall batted ball distance is 24 ft farther than Judge. His average exit velocity is slightly lower than Judge, but if you look closer it’s because Judge has the edge in hard hit ground balls. Miguel has better velocity numbers on fly balls and line drives, which is clearly preferable. He has two full point in barrel per batter ball rate than Judge (21.5 to 19.5%). There are plenty of arguments to be made for Sano being the best pure power hitter in the game right now. When you take a step back and realize he’s only 25 years old right now (two years younger than Judge), it’s pretty darn impressive. The fact that most people had already written this guy off makes the story even better. We’re seeing one of the best hitters in Twins history play right now and many don’t even realize it (were actually seeing 2 or 3 with Cruz and Kepler).

I don’t think it’s likely that Graterol or Alcala show up and blow everyone away (assuming they actually follow through on bringing one of them up. I’m skeptical). Major league hitters are facing high-velo guys with knee bucking breaking stuff every night now. The command has to be there. Berrios is a recent example of raw stuff that was dominant in the minors, but a little off against big leaguers l. It took him 1.5 years to refine things. Being in the bullpen may be different, but I think the overarching concept stands. Major league lineups, especially when you’re talking about the Yankees, Astros, Twins, are on a completely different level. You’re facing 8-9 batters that are twice as good as the best hitter you’ve faced in your life up to that point (aside from the occasional rehabs). I actually like the Twins pen a lot going into the homestretch. Duffey and Dyson look great right now. Rogers and Romo are rock solid. I really like how May has been throwing the ball. You can really take innings away and play some matchups with that group.

Can’t argue with the list. I’m not sure he’s any more unexpected than the theee mentioned, but Sano May have a place here. A large portion of the fan base had written the guy off. But, he’s been our best hitter behind Cruz for going on two-three months now. He’s provided some monster clutch ABs (the most exciting against the Yankees for naught, but still amazing). He’s working deep into the count and punishing mistakes. Without his re-emergence, thus team likely wouldn’t be in first place right now.

Certainly, 2 of 3 or even a sweep to basically bury the Indians wasn’t too much to ask here. Although, we did get the White Sox at an awful time. Nova and Giolito have been exceptional lately. We were “buzzsawed.”

Just when you think a corner has been turned. Heaven forbid we go on any sort of long winning streak. Can’t beat the White Sox at home? That’s too much to ask?

People are hand-wringing over God Bless America while calling for Take Me Out to the Ballgame?

One of the funnier things I’ve seen/heard in a while. Gotta feel for the guy though. I just picture him laying in the fetal position in his bed the entire next day in agony. Not only thinking his career is over, but that he’s going to show up on all sorts of obscure blooper-shows as long as the TV footage exists.

Interesting note about knuckle alignment at the end. That’s kind of surprising because I was taught that as an elementary-age ball player. I just taught to my 4-year old t-baller this summer. After struggling for 2 years, that’s what fixed the swings of one of the (now) best hitters in the American League?

Finally taking care of business.

Absolutely have to plunk one of their guys tonight, IMO. One AAAA batter swinging at another AAAA pitcher’s 3-0 pitch does not warrant hitting one of the best players in the league and opening him up to injury during a pennant race in late August. Cave is trying to establish himself in the majors. It could mean millions of dollars for him and his family. Why the hell shouldn’t he take any cookie the pitcher gives him? If the Rangers had a good player, I’d say throw at that guy. They’ll just have to pick someone else.