Minnesota Sports Forum

It is not even May but this team feels for real.

bleedspeed177 wrote:It is not even May but this team feels for real.

Adrianza crushes a HR for the only run in a game when Odorizzi Outduels Verlander...just like everyone would assume. Yeah it does fell like this team might be for real and Sano and a couple guys in the pen haven't even played yet.

monsterpile wrote:

bleedspeed177 wrote:It is not even May but this team feels for real.

Adrianza crushes a HR for the only run in a game when Odorizzi Outduels Verlander...just like everyone would assume. Yeah it does fell like this team might be for real and Sano and a couple guys in the pen haven't even played yet.

Yep. This is the first time in a long time I've actually had a good feeling about this team. The pitching is surprisingly strong. The hitting has been good too and will get even better with the return of Sano. Buxton seems to be getting comfortable at the plate. He's still striking out more than I'd like, but he's not chasing balls he used to chase. Eventually, I see him moving into the lead-off spot. I'd have Polanco batting second behind Buxton and Kepler batting 3rd. Then have Cruz batting cleanup with Sano in the 5th spot followed by Rosario. That would be a heck of a top 6.

lipoli390 wrote:

monsterpile wrote:

bleedspeed177 wrote:It is not even May but this team feels for real.

Adrianza crushes a HR for the only run in a game when Odorizzi Outduels Verlander...just like everyone would assume. Yeah it does fell like this team might be for real and Sano and a couple guys in the pen haven't even played yet.

Yep. This is the first time in a long time I've actually had a good feeling about this team. The pitching is surprisingly strong. The hitting has been good too and will get even better with the return of Sano. Buxton seems to be getting comfortable at the plate. He's still striking out more than I'd like, but he's not chasing balls he used to chase. Eventually, I see him moving into the lead-off spot. I'd have Polanco batting second behind Buxton and Kepler batting 3rd. Then have Cruz batting cleanup with Sano in the 5th spot followed by Rosario. That would be a heck of a top 6.

Putting Kepler in the lead off spot was an interesting move. I haven't seen any thought process or why they did it (I'd be curious if anyone has any articles etc that discuss it) but I also didn't see another obvious move. I'd guess they put him there as a Dozier type lead off guy plus probably put some added confidence for Kepler. Regardless Kepler has been hitting pretty well overall so wherever he is hitting he is hitting well that's good. Ultimately if Buxton is hitting well enough he is anywhere in the top 6 that's a big positive. He seems to be going after pitches he wants and it's been working. Hopefully he keeps it up and stays healthy. Are the Twins still first pitch swinging at the rate they were a couple weeks ago? It was like 40% which is pretty insane.

lipoli390 wrote:

monsterpile wrote:

bleedspeed177 wrote:It is not even May but this team feels for real.

Adrianza crushes a HR for the only run in a game when Odorizzi Outduels Verlander...just like everyone would assume. Yeah it does fell like this team might be for real and Sano and a couple guys in the pen haven't even played yet.

Yep. This is the first time in a long time I've actually had a good feeling about this team. The pitching is surprisingly strong. The hitting has been good too and will get even better with the return of Sano. Buxton seems to be getting comfortable at the plate. He's still striking out more than I'd like, but he's not chasing balls he used to chase. Eventually, I see him moving into the lead-off spot. I'd have Polanco batting second behind Buxton and Kepler batting 3rd. Then have Cruz batting cleanup with Sano in the 5th spot followed by Rosario. That would be a heck of a top 6.

I actually don't agree I like Buxton in 9 spot. Kepler puts the ball in play last year in 611 PA he's stuck out 96 times. So if Buxton gets on base and steals second. That makes Kepler the best guy to move him over to third at least. The only move the Twins should make to line up is put Sano at third and take Marwin out of everyday line up. Also there's no reason why this team has signed Kimbrel yet. Our bullpens would be super rock solid if we just had legitimate closer. Parker & Rogers are doing the job adequately right now but we easily could sign Kimbrel for 12-15 mil a year. I heard on the radio yesterday based on money value & attendance so far the Pohlads will pocket 80-100 million in revenue from the team this year. How about we reinvest into a winning ball club for once.

jester1534 wrote:

lipoli390 wrote:

monsterpile wrote:

bleedspeed177 wrote:It is not even May but this team feels for real.

Adrianza crushes a HR for the only run in a game when Odorizzi Outduels Verlander...just like everyone would assume. Yeah it does fell like this team might be for real and Sano and a couple guys in the pen haven't even played yet.

Yep. This is the first time in a long time I've actually had a good feeling about this team. The pitching is surprisingly strong. The hitting has been good too and will get even better with the return of Sano. Buxton seems to be getting comfortable at the plate. He's still striking out more than I'd like, but he's not chasing balls he used to chase. Eventually, I see him moving into the lead-off spot. I'd have Polanco batting second behind Buxton and Kepler batting 3rd. Then have Cruz batting cleanup with Sano in the 5th spot followed by Rosario. That would be a heck of a top 6.

I actually don't agree I like Buxton in 9 spot. Kepler puts the ball in play last year in 611 PA he's stuck out 96 times. So if Buxton gets on base and steals second. That makes Kepler the best guy to move him over to third at least. The only move the Twins should make to line up is put Sano at third and take Marwin out of everyday line up. Also there's no reason why this team has signed Kimbrel yet. Our bullpens would be super rock solid if we just had legitimate closer. Parker & Rogers are doing the job adequately right now but we easily could sign Kimbrel for 12-15 mil a year. I heard on the radio yesterday based on money value & attendance so far the Pohlads will pocket 80-100 million in revenue from the team this year. How about we reinvest into a winning ball club for once.

The hesitation I have about signing Kimbrel is how long does it take to get him in shape and pitching well? How open is he to a true spring training type stint in the minors? If he just wants to do some simulated games then walk k to the closers role...I'm not sure I would be down with that. The thing is there are probably legitimately fans of like 15 other clubs asking why haven't we signed him yet also? It's honestly getting a bit weird. How much longer is it before the draft pick doesn't matter? I'm not saying that's stopping me from signing him but if that's coming up maybe that opens up the door further for him to finally sign.

monsterpile wrote:

jester1534 wrote:

lipoli390 wrote:

monsterpile wrote:

bleedspeed177 wrote:It is not even May but this team feels for real.

Adrianza crushes a HR for the only run in a game when Odorizzi Outduels Verlander...just like everyone would assume. Yeah it does fell like this team might be for real and Sano and a couple guys in the pen haven't even played yet.

Yep. This is the first time in a long time I've actually had a good feeling about this team. The pitching is surprisingly strong. The hitting has been good too and will get even better with the return of Sano. Buxton seems to be getting comfortable at the plate. He's still striking out more than I'd like, but he's not chasing balls he used to chase. Eventually, I see him moving into the lead-off spot. I'd have Polanco batting second behind Buxton and Kepler batting 3rd. Then have Cruz batting cleanup with Sano in the 5th spot followed by Rosario. That would be a heck of a top 6.

I actually don't agree I like Buxton in 9 spot. Kepler puts the ball in play last year in 611 PA he's stuck out 96 times. So if Buxton gets on base and steals second. That makes Kepler the best guy to move him over to third at least. The only move the Twins should make to line up is put Sano at third and take Marwin out of everyday line up. Also there's no reason why this team has signed Kimbrel yet. Our bullpens would be super rock solid if we just had legitimate closer. Parker & Rogers are doing the job adequately right now but we easily could sign Kimbrel for 12-15 mil a year. I heard on the radio yesterday based on money value & attendance so far the Pohlads will pocket 80-100 million in revenue from the team this year. How about we reinvest into a winning ball club for once.

The hesitation I have about signing Kimbrel is how long does it take to get him in shape and pitching well? How open is he to a true spring training type stint in the minors? If he just wants to do some simulated games then walk k to the closers role...I'm not sure I would be down with that. The thing is there are probably legitimately fans of like 15 other clubs asking why haven't we signed him yet also? It's honestly getting a bit weird. How much longer is it before the draft pick doesn't matter? I'm not saying that's stopping me from signing him but if that's coming up maybe that opens up the door further for him to finally sign.

I think the main problem is he wants a three year deal and teams don't want to be locked into him that long. As for the game shape stuff, it's on Kimbrel to stay game ready. If he's not game ready now he's not worth a 3 year contract and I wouldn't want him.

jester1534 wrote:

monsterpile wrote:

jester1534 wrote:

lipoli390 wrote:

monsterpile wrote:

bleedspeed177 wrote:It is not even May but this team feels for real.

Adrianza crushes a HR for the only run in a game when Odorizzi Outduels Verlander...just like everyone would assume. Yeah it does fell like this team might be for real and Sano and a couple guys in the pen haven't even played yet.

Yep. This is the first time in a long time I've actually had a good feeling about this team. The pitching is surprisingly strong. The hitting has been good too and will get even better with the return of Sano. Buxton seems to be getting comfortable at the plate. He's still striking out more than I'd like, but he's not chasing balls he used to chase. Eventually, I see him moving into the lead-off spot. I'd have Polanco batting second behind Buxton and Kepler batting 3rd. Then have Cruz batting cleanup with Sano in the 5th spot followed by Rosario. That would be a heck of a top 6.

I actually don't agree I like Buxton in 9 spot. Kepler puts the ball in play last year in 611 PA he's stuck out 96 times. So if Buxton gets on base and steals second. That makes Kepler the best guy to move him over to third at least. The only move the Twins should make to line up is put Sano at third and take Marwin out of everyday line up. Also there's no reason why this team has signed Kimbrel yet. Our bullpens would be super rock solid if we just had legitimate closer. Parker & Rogers are doing the job adequately right now but we easily could sign Kimbrel for 12-15 mil a year. I heard on the radio yesterday based on money value & attendance so far the Pohlads will pocket 80-100 million in revenue from the team this year. How about we reinvest into a winning ball club for once.

The hesitation I have about signing Kimbrel is how long does it take to get him in shape and pitching well? How open is he to a true spring training type stint in the minors? If he just wants to do some simulated games then walk k to the closers role...I'm not sure I would be down with that. The thing is there are probably legitimately fans of like 15 other clubs asking why haven't we signed him yet also? It's honestly getting a bit weird. How much longer is it before the draft pick doesn't matter? I'm not saying that's stopping me from signing him but if that's coming up maybe that opens up the door further for him to finally sign.

I think the main problem is he wants a three year deal and teams don't want to be locked into him that long. As for the game shape stuff, it's on Kimbrel to stay game ready. If he's not game ready now he's not worth a 3 year contract and I wouldn't want him.

There is a difference in being in shape and pitching in real games and all that. An additional point that's been brought up by some people is what if he comes back too soon and in the process injures himself?

While we are on the topic of the pen I'm a big Mejia fan but is there any hope of him being worthwhile as a reliever? It seems like it's been a struggle so far...which is probably being kind.

The problem with Buxton hitting lead off is...he hasn't proved to be a good hitter for more than a few weeks at a time. Kepler is at worst a little below average or something like that. Buxton has a bunch of doubles which is good but his batting average and OBP the last couple weeks is...not good. This offense is Doug well and Marwin hasn't even hit yet but some other guys that have been got will likely level off a bit also.

Until this team can figure out the Yankees I'll be skeptical