Anybody else nervous about today?

[Jester1534]

Pelfrey is the biggest piece of crap, he should never been in this stupid rotation. You have a top arm in triple A in Berrios. You could say hey the moment would be to big for him but it doesn't get much worse the crap Pelfrey just threw up there. I'm so livid right now.

Welcome aboard the Pelfrey-Hate Train. Plenty of seats left. I talked about how awful he's been post-All-Star break about a month ago. I can't believe the Twins playoff chances might be over tonight because of the garbage named Pelfrey. Isn't that great!?

To top it off, we have a young stud named Berrios that would have been a much better option for this stretch. Maybe I'm hyping up Berrios because he's been my guy for a a little while now, but I feel like he would have stepped up to the challenge. Not to mention he has much better stuff than Pelfrey. Not even close.

Boys were 3 outs away from the Athletics bailing us out

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

This was our opportunity to make that leap. Ugh.

[Jester1534]

This was our opportunity to make that leap. Ugh.

Count our blessings Cam the Angles actually lost a game to Barry Zito when they had Garret Richards on the mound and mariners are leading the Astros 2-0 right now.

If we win tommorow were tied with Houston (presuming Houston loses tonight) If win out we are guarantee a game 163 and could be a game 164 I believe. Because Texas leads the Angles by 3 games. So basically if one sweeps the other one is eliminated and if it's a split then we take the lead.

[khans2k5 [enjin:6608728]]

Pelfrey is the biggest piece of crap, he should never been in this stupid rotation. You have a top arm in triple A in Berrios. You could say hey the moment would be to big for him but it doesn't get much worse the crap Pelfrey just threw up there. I'm so livid right now.

Welcome aboard the Pelfrey-Hate Train. Plenty of seats left. I talked about how awful he's been post-All-Star break about a month ago. I can't believe the Twins playoff chances might be over tonight because of the garbage named Pelfrey. Isn't that great!?

To top it off, we have a young stud named Berrios that would have been a much better option for this stretch. Maybe I'm hyping up Berrios because he's been my guy for a a little while now, but I feel like he would have stepped up to the challenge. Not to mention he has much better stuff than Pelfrey. Not even close.

There's no reason to have Berrios up right now. This team overachieved this year and we really don't have the pieces to make any kind of significant playoff run yet. Save his arm and let it play out. With the one game playoff nowadays there's no guarantee for much playoff experience to be had if you make it as a wildcard so there's no reason for us to overextend guys just to get to that one game playoff. Regroup in the off season and come back next year with Berrios, Sano, Buxton, etc. and cut the dead weight like Pelfrey. This was supposed to be a bridge year for the young talent to get their feet wet anyway. Playing for the post-season is just a bonus.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

Have you learned nothing from the Royals, and every other wildcard team that's made a significant run in baseball? All you have to do is get in the tournament. That's what the Twins should have been trying to do. I'm not saying make a huge deal to go all-in this year, but you have a great arm who dominated AAA and wanted the call-up, we could have definitely used him in the rotation, and it wouldn't have effected his service time with the Twins. Instead we rolled with Pelfrey's bum ass.

[bleedspeed]

I don't really get the shutdown stuff they are talking about. Why could he miss a start or two then go. I would think that would assure not over using his arm if he felt fine to begin with.

[khans2k5 [enjin:6608728]]

Have you learned nothing from the Royals, and every other wildcard team that's made a significant run in baseball? All you have to do is get in the tournament. That's what the Twins should have been trying to do. I'm not saying make a huge deal to go all-in this year, but you have a great arm who dominated AAA and wanted the call-up, we could have definitely used him in the rotation, and it wouldn't have effected his service time with the Twins. Instead we rolled with Pelfrey's bum ass.

How in the hell is this rotation and bullpen good enough to make any kind of playoff run? The Royals made the run with a top end bullpen that shut everyone down. We have nothing to hang our hat on when it comes to our staff. Now is definitely not the time to risk anything in the future for a playoff run. Nobody lucks their way deep into the playoffs. We simply don't have the staff to compete come playoff time. We had years of getting into the tournament and were outmatched every year and it showed because it's not just about making it in. You have to have the pieces to make that run and we don't. Every wild card team that makes a run does something really well that helps them advance. For the Royals it was their bullpen. For the Giants it's been some of the best starting pitching in postseason history. What's ours because I don't see it? We have no top end starters. We have a shaky bullpen to relieve what we do have starting games and we have a shaky closer down the home stretch of the season. If by some miracle we get in and beat the Yankees we'd have to beat the Blue Jays who literally do everything better than we do with the exception of save percentage and fielding which we are .01% better than them. It's not about just getting in. You have to do something really well to advance and all those wild card teams who have advanced had that and we don't.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

I don't really get the shutdown stuff they are talking about. Why could he miss a start or two then go. I would think that would assure not over using his arm if he felt fine to begin with.

I get the shutdown angle...almost all teams are doing it to protect their young arms, and if the teams don't do it, sometimes the agents make their clients do it. But your option was a possibility, bleed...shut Berrios down for a few starts mid-summer and then bring him up for the stretch run. But I don't know who he would have replaced in the rotation. Many were angry when they brought up Duffey rather than Berrios, but I liked it...and it really worked out for them because Duffey has been terrific. Everyone except me seems to be a Pelfrey hater on this board, but at the time fans were clamoring for Berrios to be called up, Pelfrey's ERA was much better than Hughes, so I'm not sure why they would have taken Pelf out of the rotation as opposed to Hughes. Pelfrey's ERA is for the season is still lower than Hughes' (identical since the All-Star game), he's given up 18 fewer HRs, and he has one more quality start. I'm not a Hughes hater or a Pelfrey hater...both seem like really good guys and teammates...but neither one of them helped us much when we needed them late in the season. But neither one deserves to be hated because they both are what they are, back of the rotation starters...Pelfrey because he doesn't throw enough strikes, and Hughes because he can't keep the ball in the ball park. I had high hopes for Hughes because he throws strikes and I bought into the narrative that he would be more successful away from Yankee Stadium, but I was wrong...he's given up more HR's this season than any other except 2012 when he also had 5 more starts.

You can't fault the Pohlads for not spending money on pitching, but three of the four guys they opened their wallets for (Nolasco, Hughes and Pelfrey) didn't live up to their contracts this year when we needed them. What we have is plenty of #5 starters, so Mollie can choose which one he wants to follow Santana, Gibson, Duffey and Berrios...my choice would be Tommy Milone if they could sign him cheaply, but I suspect he will be gone with the expensive guys signed long-term. With Santana, Duffey and Berrios joining Gibson in the rotation for a full year though, we should have much improved starting pitching.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

Have you learned nothing from the Royals, and every other wildcard team that's made a significant run in baseball? All you have to do is get in the tournament. That's what the Twins should have been trying to do. I'm not saying make a huge deal to go all-in this year, but you have a great arm who dominated AAA and wanted the call-up, we could have definitely used him in the rotation, and it wouldn't have effected his service time with the Twins. Instead we rolled with Pelfrey's bum ass.

How in the hell is this rotation and bullpen good enough to make any kind of playoff run? The Royals made the run with a top end bullpen that shut everyone down. We have nothing to hang our hat on when it comes to our staff. Now is definitely not the time to risk anything in the future for a playoff run. Nobody lucks their way deep into the playoffs. We simply don't have the staff to compete come playoff time. We had years of getting into the tournament and were outmatched every year and it showed because it's not just about making it in. You have to have the pieces to make that run and we don't. Every wild card team that makes a run does something really well that helps them advance. For the Royals it was their bullpen. For the Giants it's been some of the best starting pitching in postseason history. What's ours because I don't see it? We have no top end starters. We have a shaky bullpen to relieve what we do have starting games and we have a shaky closer down the home stretch of the season. If by some miracle we get in and beat the Yankees we'd have to beat the Blue Jays who literally do everything better than we do with the exception of save percentage and fielding which we are .01% better than them. It's not about just getting in. You have to do something really well to advance and all those wild card teams who have advanced had that and we don't.

I never said the Twins would win, or that they would make a legitimate run in the playoffs. I said they should have been doing anything and everything that they can within reason to make the playoffs this year. That's the goal at hand. They could have brought up Berrios for a handful of starts and it would have been a big help to the rotation, or at the least they could have used him out of the bullpen. Instead they didn't utilize him at all, nor did they use all of their September call-ups.

And who knows what the Twins would or could do in the playoffs. What if we had a really hot September like we did in May where we were driving in practically every runner in scoring position? Things happen, especially in baseball. You telling me that they were right for leaving the rotation as it was is unacceptable to me.

If you feel that calling up a prospect risks their future, then wow did we make a mistake by calling up Sano, Rosario and Buxton. What were they thinking? Why did management think those prospects could help the big league team win? They must be idiots... Oh, wait, Sano and Rosario were two of our best players in the second half? Go figure. Playing and managing scared gets you no where.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

Duffey is a keeper. We needed this type of an effort tonight. Twins clinging on to a 1-0 lead and Duffey's through 6 scoreless innings (five K's).