Jester1534 wrote:I thought I let everyone know management did put a claim on Justin Upton but because angles have a worse record they got the clakim. This scares me about Sano that his shin might be more hurt then there letting on. Yet upton would've been a good DH here. I can't believe we are just going with what we got, I believe in the New managament but remember the guys playing right now are not there guys. Actually half of them are Bill Smith guys and the other half Terry Ryan guys.
The key obviously is to keep winning, and yesterday's come from behind win was big. Adrianza got us going in the 9th, and Dozier and Rosario came up big before Kepler took one for the team. Nice win! Now we get the Royals who have "TBD" scheduled to pitch both Saturday and Sunday...he must have a rubber arm :).
I'm going to go on little LST Thibs playing his starters too much rant on Mollie lol We won that game despite his decision making yesterday. Busenitz was crushing yesterday and there's no reason why he shouldn't have pitched that 9th inning. After Adrianza gets on he has Granite bunt on a 2-0 count. Also after Granite fails to get the bunt down, he never puts Adrianza in motion against a father that is 3-53 at throwing runners at 2nd base. Think about he has only 3 more guys than you sitting on your couch watching the game this year. Another little bit but why was Buxton not subbed into the game as a pinch runner if he was avaiable? He should've been subbed for Dozier at third base during the polonco AB I know Dozier has good speed but not Buxton speed, what if Polonco his a nubber or short fly ball. All in all it worked out but just some dumb coaching decisions.
Jester1534 wrote:I thought I let everyone know management did put a claim on Justin Upton but because angles have a worse record they got the clakim. This scares me about Sano that his shin might be more hurt then there letting on. Yet upton would've been a good DH here. I can't believe we are just going with what we got, I believe in the New managament but remember the guys playing right now are not there guys. Actually half of them are Bill Smith guys and the other half Terry Ryan guys.
The key obviously is to keep winning, and yesterday's come from behind win was big. Adrianza got us going in the 9th, and Dozier and Rosario came up big before Kepler took one for the team. Nice win! Now we get the Royals who have "TBD" scheduled to pitch both Saturday and Sunday...he must have a rubber arm :).
I'm going to go on little LST Thibs playing his starters too much rant on Mollie lol We won that game despite his decision making yesterday. Busenitz was crushing yesterday and there's no reason why he shouldn't have pitched that 9th inning. After Adrianza gets on he has Granite bunt on a 2-0 count. Also after Granite fails to get the bunt down, he never puts Adrianza in motion against a father that is 3-53 at throwing runners at 2nd base. Think about he has only 3 more guys than you sitting on your couch watching the game this year. Another little bit but why was Buxton not subbed into the game as a pinch runner if he was avaiable? He should've been subbed for Dozier at third base during the polonco AB I know Dozier has good speed but not Buxton speed, what if Polonco his a nubber or short fly ball. All in all it worked out but just some dumb coaching decisions.
Jester...nobody ever backs me up much when I rip Thibs for his refusal to play his reserves...I guess they think that being a complete outlier in bench minutes was a successful strategy last year :) .
But I'm backing you up on your Mollie criticism. Because I admired him as a player and he "looks" like a manager, I've wanted to support Mollie since Day 1. But it's become painfully clear to me that he has almost no concept of in-game strategy. There are at least three games I can point to this year where his being outmanaged directly led to a Twins' loss (and I'm not talking about pitching decisions or lineups, which are also a problem...I'm talking about basic strategy, or lack thereof). Yesterday was a great example, and they were lucky to come away with a win. I think Mollie is way over his head as a big league manager.
Almost another stirring 9th inning win last night, but Rosario struck out with the bases loaded against a rookie he was 2-4 against...perfect setup for a win, but just not in the cards last night. Fortunately the Yankees and Angels both lost, so no movement in the WC standings. Also, more proof that Mollie monitors this board in that he pinch ran Buxton for Dozier in the 9th...a move he didn't make Thursday.
Tonight Gibson faces Onelki Garcia, a one-time high prospect who is making his first ML start. Garcia had a 4.75 ERA in the minors this season, so we need to show him the exits by the third inning.
Jester1534 wrote:Well that's one way to get your run differential into the positives lol 17-0 what an ass kicking!
Ha, from a -73 to a plus 1 in just a couple weeks! Teams that get hot at just the right time can really surprise in the playoffs, and the Twins have the hottest offense in baseball right now. Doesnt hurt to have Gibson with trhree consecutive great starts either...only 3 runs in 21 innings and averaging more than a K per inning.
But to do damage in the playoffs you have to get there first, and the Yankees and Angels both won last night too. Something tells me the Yanks are going to fold (Judge hitting under .200 since the ASG hurts big), and the Twins are going to host a WC game against LA...hope so.
I didn't like that Molitor asked Duffy to pitch as long as he did in the long relief appearance. That was my beef.
One thing that isn't talked about much is Escobar's ability to get hot for a while and he may be doing just that at a good time. He is basically filling in for Sano. The crazy thing is who would have guessed Sano sorta like seems to be the better 3rd baseman defensively. Sano seems to do well on those ball he charges and throws guys out. You just assume he will make that play.
I couldn't believe that the Twins lost that one fan because of that non strikeout call. How did they not see he swung through on that pitch? Oh well the Twins are still in the drivers seat and Grossman might be the offensive reinforcement they can use. Hopefully he can come in and hit.
Oh that Mauer guy is hitting .300 and the other day it felt like he would have saved at least a couple runs compared to when Vargas was put there.
A disappointing last few days has the Twins now a half game back in the WC. Colon was sharp last night, but his effort was wasted with us only getting 1 hit off of a not very good Odorizi. Now Slegers really has to come through today.
Monster, I agree that it's terrific to see Mauer over .300, but I still blame Mollie for batting Joe 3-5 most of the season when he just isn't a power hitter anymore. Jeez...Mauer's slugging percentage of .415 is 7th on the team, just slightly ahead of Buxton and Polanco who are destined to push him to 9th in the next week. And he is tied with Escobar at 6th in RBIs, despite having 80 more ABs than Eduardo and batting in run-producing positions most of the year. I don't blame Joe...he is what he is, and is really helping us out now that Mollie has him positioned correctly in the lineup. But Mollie's stubbornness in continuing to put a singles hitter in the 3-5 spots most of the year may ultimately cost us the WC. I still think we will get it because Mollie has finally come to his senses, but man he put out some boneheaded lineups most of the season.
longstrangetrip wrote:A disappointing last few days has the Twins now a half game back in the WC. Colon was sharp last night, but his effort was wasted with us only getting 1 hit off of a not very good Odorizi. Now Slegers really has to come through today.
Monster, I agree that it's terrific to see Mauer over .300, but I still blame Mollie for batting Joe 3-5 most of the season when he just isn't a power hitter anymore. Jeez...Mauer's slugging percentage of .415 is 7th on the team, just slightly ahead of Buxton and Polanco who are destined to push him to 9th in the next week. And he is tied with Escobar at 6th in RBIs, despite having 80 more ABs than Eduardo and batting in run-producing positions most of the year. I don't blame Joe...he is what he is, and is really helping us out now that Mollie has him positioned correctly in the lineup. But Mollie's stubbornness in continuing to put a singles hitter in the 3-5 spots most of the year may ultimately cost us the WC. I still think we will get it because Mollie has finally come to his senses, but man he put out some boneheaded lineups most of the season.
Mauer is 16th in the majors in OBP. That's the sign of a pretty good hitter. Does Molitor not get some credit for this team's record? It feels like you are pretty stubborn about Mauer's role in the lineup when this team has been overachieving most of the season. Maybe its worth considering thinking outside the box?
longstrangetrip wrote:A disappointing last few days has the Twins now a half game back in the WC. Colon was sharp last night, but his effort was wasted with us only getting 1 hit off of a not very good Odorizi. Now Slegers really has to come through today.
Monster, I agree that it's terrific to see Mauer over .300, but I still blame Mollie for batting Joe 3-5 most of the season when he just isn't a power hitter anymore. Jeez...Mauer's slugging percentage of .415 is 7th on the team, just slightly ahead of Buxton and Polanco who are destined to push him to 9th in the next week. And he is tied with Escobar at 6th in RBIs, despite having 80 more ABs than Eduardo and batting in run-producing positions most of the year. I don't blame Joe...he is what he is, and is really helping us out now that Mollie has him positioned correctly in the lineup. But Mollie's stubbornness in continuing to put a singles hitter in the 3-5 spots most of the year may ultimately cost us the WC. I still think we will get it because Mollie has finally come to his senses, but man he put out some boneheaded lineups most of the season.
Mauer is 16th in the majors in OBP. That's the sign of a pretty good hitter. Does Molitor not get some credit for this team's record? It feels like you are pretty stubborn about Mauer's role in the lineup when this team has been overachieving most of the season. Maybe its worth considering thinking outside the box?
I don't disagree that Mauer is a good hitter and that his OBP is excellent. My point is that experienced managers know that guys with great OBP belong in the 1 and 2 holes to set the table for the run producers. Molitor does it backward...he's had our best OBP guy and one of our worst run producers batting in the middle of the lineup, and our top RBI guy (Dozier) leading off and following the guys with the worst BAs on the team! Just imagine how much more productive this lineup could have been had Mollie followed lineup principals that have stood the test of time. Maybe Mollie's backwards lineup philosophy is right and all the other managers are doing it wrong, but I don't think so. And I think that's proven out by how much more productive we have been since he moved Joe out of the middle of the lineup. Hopefully he will keep him in the 1 or 2 hole the rest of the season and give us a better chance of getting that WC.
