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bighat

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Everything posted by bighat

  1. bighat
    I'm not watching the Twins live these days but thank goodness I still have my MLB.TV subscription. Re-watched the 9th last night and wow, that happened fast! Polanco smash, Donaldson bomb, Astudillo PH line drive, Cruz blast. Finally: a game where everything worked out like we drew it up in our minds. I'm happiest for the fans, especially those at the game. They deserved this one big time. Nick Gordon is emerging and the Twins are going to have to start drawing up plans for him. I know it's early but I think the kid should play every day if possible. If the Twins can't find a place for him to play every day, what do they do? Back to St. Paul? Or does he also hit the trading block for young pitching? Cruz also helping his trade value, he needed a game like this. A 9th inning game winning HR against Aroldis Chapman should remove any doubts about what he brings to a team.
  2. bighat
    Agree with all of this - I also think Pineda is the biggest trade chip, with Arraez/Polanco being dark horse options as well. Cruz is the obvious offensive piece. Would love it if the Twins could somehow find a way to offload Donaldson.
  3. bighat
    Leadoff hitter strikes out 3 times in a row, fielding miscues, bullpen blows the game....yup, pretty standard 2021 Minnesota Twins stuff. I don't see how this team wins a game against either NY or HOU. One of the worst Twins teams I can remember, an absolute clown show. You'd think something would have changed by now, the team would have improved after a couple months....they might be getting worse.
  4. bighat
    Exactly. And by the way, what do we think will make Nelson happy? Riding out his last year as a part-time DH, part-time coach on a last place team going nowhere? Or competing in the playoffs for an elusive World Series ring? I can't for the life of me see any reason for Nelson Cruz to be in a Twins uniform for much longer. It's meaningless to have a guy like this on a cellar-dwelling team. Send the guy to TB if you can swing a deal, grab a few lottery tickets and wish him luck. Here's hoping we see him playing on a contender in October.
  5. bighat
    What do the Twins have to lose by running the kid out there? I guess they're hoping Shoemaker dazzles in his next start or two (same for Happ) to dangle them as trade bait. So I can understand why they're running Shoe out there. In a perfect world the Twins are able to trade those two guys and we get a look at some young arms. Watching Cleveland reload every year with multiple pitchers from their own farm system is frustrating, would be nice to see the Twins start to produce the same. We won't know until they get a shot.
  6. bighat
    If I see the Twins have the bases loaded and nobody out, I have to turn off the TV. I'm not kidding.
  7. bighat
    The people who say that are the same people that say things like "I paid for Target Field. I built it with my tax dollars". There's a delusion of grandeur in statements like that which inflate the importance of their own individual actions. I guess it gives people a sense of power over something they know they can't control? Would be an interesting psychological/philosophical study. Anyway, I've always found those takes bizarre.
  8. bighat
    Nice to see the HRs - honestly though, that last play was pretty damn lucky. On a ball hit like that, I'm guessing the hit % is pretty high and we've got a tie game. Robles hasn't had tons of chances as the closer, but he's been extremely shaky. I think the job should belong to Rogers. Not that it matters much at this point.
  9. bighat
    Most embarrassing performance in the league so far and it's not even close.
  10. bighat
    Story of the game for me was Twins pitching immediately giving back runs to KC after the Twins have scored. Check out the box score: Twins get a run, Twins give one back right away - it went on the whole game. Worst was when the Twins scratched and clawed to score a couple runs with a really hard fought effort and then Happ gave the lead back on the first pitch of the next inning. I think Happ did that twice, actually. Incredibly deflating. Watching this team is like watching the vet put down your favorite pet. Every night. Depressing as hell, all of it.
  11. bighat
    Thanks for the research. Regarding the above: 9th in BABIP doesn't count for much if you're 23rd in K% - the Twins aren't putting the ball in play enough for that BABIP ranking to make a difference. Am I correct in assuming that?
  12. bighat
    Can't hit with runners on base. Not only that, they can't even make contact. A leadoff double should come around to score. Get 'em over, get 'em in. That's how it's done in pro ball. The Twins are a bad team that doesn't create many opportunities - but even when they do, they can't capitalize. The players have given up, the manager is out of ideas, and the front office is hiding under their desks.
  13. bighat
    Yeah, it's too late. Division's way out of reach, too many teams (almost the entire league) ahead of them in the Wild Card. This team doesn't have to be great to make the playoffs this year - they have to be borderline perfect. It's possible they right the ship and play OK the remainder of the year, but that's not even close to what they need.
  14. bighat
    Not-so-bold prediction: Twins lose the rubber match, lose 3-of-4 in KC and lose 5-of-6 to the 'Stros & Yanks. I for one am really having trouble finding an excuse to watch this team. And that says a lot because I enjoy Twins baseball. Looking forward to the rebuild and the trade chips. Let's just hope someone catches fire. Starting pitching is always a big need at the deadline. If Pineda can at least stay healthy and have a couple more palatable starts he could fetch a prospect or two. It's a shame that the rest of our team has been playing so poorly. Dead horses like Cruz and Donladson aren't worth much.
  15. bighat
    Hey! Let's leave Rob Refsnyder out of this.
  16. bighat
    Great content, Tom! Glad you're providing that for us here. Regarding Simmons, it's amazing to see that in his 2nd month as a Twin, he's posting a career high in monthly strikeouts. What's this team doing to its hitters? I often joke that the hitting coaches just tell players "close your eyes and swing as hard as you can", but maybe that's true? If so, it's not funny. The Twins struck out 14 times again yesterday. That's more than 50% of their outs. And 12 the game before. They're not facing Max Scherzer, they're going against below average starters for the Royals and Orioles. It's almost unwatchable baseball. Not only are they bad, but there's very little action.
  17. bighat
    Not everyone writing these wrap ups has worked for years at a major media outlet. Twins Daily is exactly the type of place where lots of talented young sportswriters are getting their start. Kudos to the author for getting the recap out 10 minutes after the game ended -- on a national holiday no less. It's not easy writing positive summaries for this team. I think he did a fine job.
  18. bighat
    Next week the Yankees and Astros come to town for 6 games. Yikes. Twins will probably go 4-9 over the next 13 games (2 wins in Baltimore, a win in KC and one win against either the Yanks/Stros). Season's over. It's been over for a while now, but I think even those wearing the rosiest of colored glasses need to admit that 2021 is toast. Time for the narrative to shift to the trade deadline. Who stays? Who goes? What do we get in return? On the positive side, we can look forward to watching Kirilloff and hopefully Larnach develop. Can Kirilloff get hot and maybe win Rookie of the Year? When will we see Jhoan Duran? Royce Lewis picked a helluva year to slip on the ice. The guy would have come up with Larnach and there's a place for him to play every day in this lineup right now. Twins can't even use 2021 to develop their #1 prospect who is MLB ready. Just brutal.
  19. bighat
    Pretty obvious that KC is on a different level than the Twins. Twins pitching is bad - but the offense is really, really, really bad. Minnesota had the bases loaded TWICE with less than 2 outs against Keller. The first time was with 1 out in the 1st - they scored one run (walk). They also had the bases loaded in the 4th, this time with nobody out. They scored one run (GIDP). I'll watch a bad Twins team lose 10-9 and at least enjoy a few moments. But watching a team loaded with Donaldson, Cruz, and Sano scrap together 3 runs against a struggling Royals pitcher on a beautiful spring afternoon is a waste of time. This team doesn't feel "cursed" and none of this feels like "bad luck". It's just a bad team full of aging and regressing talent. There's a toxicity attached to it as well.
  20. bighat
    It's very obvious to me that Nelson has been really out of sync ever since he was hit by a pitch a couple weeks ago. He then sat on the bench for 5-6 games and that really threw his timing off. Cruz needs to play every day - he's getting fooled on almost every pitch and frankly the guy's been terrible since returning to the lineup. Thank The Flying Spaghetti Monster for Rob Refsnyder. Frankly the Twins should have Kirilloff, Refsnyder & Larnach batting 2-3-4 right now. Unreal.
  21. bighat
    Uff-da. Even the wins are ugly in this disappointing season. I've never seen a team do so little damage with multiple runners on base & nobody-out scenarios. The Twins recent "surge" (if you wanna call it that) is mostly due to mistakes by the other team. Today, the Twins won this game thanks to a gift wild pitch - a run that crossed the plate despite the Twins' failures to take advantage of a very favorable offensive scenario (bases loaded, nobody out in the 4th). Garver also scored on an error by Santana, another gift run that turned out to be needed. Bottom line: the Twins need a ton of outside help to compete. They got it today. Aside from a couple flashes, Kepler and Donaldson have been non-existent offensively for most of the year. I think I'm more disappointed in Donaldson but both have been head-shakingly bad. But hey! Twins win. It's Saturday, Memorial Day weekend, and we can all relax and enjoy the evening. Have a great one, folks!
  22. bighat
    Good observation and yes I think everyone should temper their expectations with the Royals this weekend. KC is not Baltimore. In fact, Kansas City has looked like a much better team than the Twins this season, top to bottom. I'd be thrilled if the Twins take 2-of-3 in this series. Unfortunately it could easily break the other way. Salvador Perez, Whit Merrifield and Jorge Soler take no prisoners and I wouldn't be surprised if they mash Twins pitching. The key to winning this series will be to put up big offensive numbers, I fear with scoring only 3 yesterday against the worst pitcher on the worst team, the Twins are still struggling mightily with the bats. Spells trouble.
  23. bighat
    Do you have any examples of that? What's the comedy routine, exactly? I have heard Hawkins discuss his career experiences quite a bit - sometimes it's a bit like "back in my day blah blah blah" but it's not overly annoying in my opinion. He's no Rex Hudler, to use an extreme example, which I'm thankful for. I'd say Hawkins is just about everything you look for in a color-commentator role. Meanwhile Justin Morneau sounds like he's talking to a bunch of 90 year-olds at a nursing home: "Gee whillikers granny, let me tell you about the time Torii Hunter gave me a knuckle sandwich!" - at least LaTroy sounds like he's talking to a group of fans as opposed to Morneau, who should be hosting bingo night at the VFW.
  24. bighat
    Robby Ref certainly providing spark to this lineup. Maybe he's waking some of the other guys up. Kirilloff is good. Guy is going to be hitting cleanup for this team for years. The Orioles are awful. This is what the worst team in baseball looks like. The Twins still aren't good but it's shameful that they are so close to this team in the AL standings. The birds are just giving games away. Might as well take them and the Twins should go hard for the sweep.
  25. bighat
    Hmm, 82 MPH from the middle man on a relay throw seems pretty fast. Back to the plate, catch, spin and throw...that's totally different than an outfielder who's getting a running start under a ball.
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