Minnesota Twins 2014 - ∞: To Infinity & Beyond!

[Bonin21]

I doubt the twins would be in the running to make any single move that moves the needle. They will need to make multiple good moves to compete with the big guns when it really matters.

[ScoobyDoo]

I doubt the twins would be in the running to make any single move that moves the needle. They will need to make multiple good moves to compete with the big guns when it really matters.

Baaaah.

Even I'm not this negative. They have a good team that can compete with anyone. Buxton isn't even playing right now and they're still playing above .500 ball. Marwin is out too. Hell, you had Astudillo out in left last night.

Injury luck is what will matter the most. It's destroyed many teams in this town over the years. Maybe this time it doesn't.

[Steve MN]

Even I'm not this negative.

Well, there's a statement I never thought I'd find myself agreeing with... will wonders never cease.

[frozen4champs]

Twins outfielders dropping like flies. Eddie now hurt.

[ScoobyDoo]

Twins outfielders dropping like flies. Eddie now hurt.

Ugh.

[Cowgirl]

Twins outfielders dropping like flies. Eddie now hurt.

What happened?

[Bertogliat]

Twins outfielders dropping like flies. Eddie now hurt.

What happened?

Scooby came in from the ledge.

[Cowgirl]

So what happened to Rosario?

[davescharf]

So what happened to Rosario?

Ankle Sprain. He is day to day.

Max has an elbow contusion so it shouldn’t be too. Serious either

[Handyman]

Ho hum another win against the Rays. Meh...pretenders!

[The Rube]

Ho hum another win against the Rays. Meh...pretenders!

IALTO. We had some help tonight, but I'll take it, for sure.

[Laxref]

I still think they are pretenders with this current collection of arms.

[Don Adams Wheel of Justice]

. Not getting his hands to the launch point until the ball is already on the way to the plate means he has to decide to swing earlier.

....So basically his swing takes too long. Got it.

Call it whatever you want. Until Sano fixes this issue, he's gonna struggle mightily against guys with power arms.

[Handyman]

I still think they are pretenders with this current collection of arms.

Yeah if only we had the arms of the Tampa Bay Rays (#2 in ERA ) we would probably have the best record in the AL...I know they sure stymied our lineup.

The Twins rank 7th in team ERA right now so it isnt like they are the Baltimore Orioles or something. Teams with worse ERAs include the Yankees and Red Sox. Cleveland is 5th and they are 8 games behind the Twins.

[Bertogliat]

I still think they are pretenders with this current collection of arms.

Yeah if only we had the arms of the Tampa Bay Rays (#2 in ERA ) we would probably have the best record in the AL...I know they sure stymied our lineup.

The Twins rank 7th in team ERA right now so it isnt like they are the Baltimore Orioles or something. Teams with worse ERAs include the Yankees and Red Sox. Cleveland is 5th and they are 8 games behind the Twins.

Let’s just hope when the Twins are playing great teams like the Yankees, Astros, and Dodgers come October they aren’t playing like the team who split with the Royals and looked #mediocre against the Mariners.

They do have their warts and aren’t playing as well lately. While the Twins ERA is currently 7th, my guess is that is trending down recently. I won’t look it up. Just a guess.

[Slap Shot]

Oh my goodness they had a slump. That never happens to good teams!!

[Handyman]

I still think they are pretenders with this current collection of arms.

Yeah if only we had the arms of the Tampa Bay Rays (#2 in ERA ) we would probably have the best record in the AL...I know they sure stymied our lineup.

The Twins rank 7th in team ERA right now so it isnt like they are the Baltimore Orioles or something. Teams with worse ERAs include the Yankees and Red Sox. Cleveland is 5th and they are 8 games behind the Twins.

Let’s just hope when the Twins are playing great teams like the Yankees, Astros, and Dodgers come October they aren’t playing like the team who split with the Royals and looked #mediocre against the Mariners.

They do have their warts and aren’t playing as well lately. While the Twins ERA is currently 7th, my guess is that is trending down recently. I won’t look it up. Just a guess.

Actually it probably isnt. They have been pretty consistent with the amount of runs they give up and the scores of games

The pitching isnt great, but it isnt awful either. Otherwise there is like 1-2 good staffs and the rest of the league stinks. And guess which team has a better record than at least one of those staffs

Any suggestion the Twins are pretenders is just plain ridiculous at this point and is the height of sandbagging/"I am afraid to get behind the team because if they lose it is gonna crush my soul". They have been showing their warts all year (we have been complaining about the bullpen since May) and yet they are 25 games above .500 and still havent had a real losing streak yet.

The team is good, suck it up and enjoy it stop hedging your bets. (not you Bert)

[Bertogliat]

They’ve been 22-25 games over 0.500 for a while now though.

And lately they seem to be giving up crooked numbers in the 6-8 innings more frequently. I would feel better if we had a better arm or two come October.

[Laxref]

I guess my issue is the Yankees, Astros, and Red Sox. I don’t think there is any chance our arms have in October against these three clubs the way we are currently constructed. I believe we are 6-7 so far against these three with six remaining, the rest of the AL is mediocre to garbage. And you know those other clubs will load up, Yankees already have acquired Encarnacion, Twins need to solidify the pitching staff to compete when it matters.

[Slap Shot]

I guess my issue is the Yankees, Astros, and Red Sox. I don’t think there is any chance our arms have in October against these three clubs the way we are currently constructed. I believe we are 6-7 so far against these three with six remaining, the rest of the AL is mediocre to garbage. And you know those other clubs will load up, Yankees already have acquired Encarnacion, Twins need to solidify the pitching staff to compete when it matters.

The Twins likely won't match whatever moves the Yankees do, but they will not just sit by and do nothing.

Beyond that I just don't get all the hand-wringing about things that haven't even happened yet. What I wouldn't give to be able to spend a half dozen days/nights with gorgeous weather at that wonderful stadium watching one of the most entertaining pro clubs any local franchise has offered up for at least the past decade.

"Enjoy the season"
-M. Tice

[ScoobyDoo]

I'll put it this way. They're hella fun to watch. Been a number of seasons since that's been the case. Sure is making the summer fly by.

[Bertogliat]

I guess my issue is the Yankees, Astros, and Red Sox. I don’t think there is any chance our arms have in October against these three clubs the way we are currently constructed. I believe we are 6-7 so far against these three with six remaining, the rest of the AL is mediocre to garbage. And you know those other clubs will load up, Yankees already have acquired Encarnacion, Twins need to solidify the pitching staff to compete when it matters.

The Twins likely won't match whatever moves the Yankees do, but they will not just sit by and do nothing.

Beyond that I just don't get all the hand-wringing about things that haven't even happened yet. What I wouldn't give to be able to spend a half dozen days/nights with gorgeous weather at that wonderful stadium watching one of the most entertaining pro clubs any local franchise has offered up for at least the past decade.

"Enjoy the season"
-M. Tice

For the record I am not, and likely never will with Baseball, hand wringing. I am enjoying the season. I am just trying to converse about trying to fill one of the few weak spots on the team to help them in the playoffs.

Don’t read stress into that.

[gopher6]

2-2 middle of 2

[Slap Shot]

I guess my issue is the Yankees, Astros, and Red Sox. I don’t think there is any chance our arms have in October against these three clubs the way we are currently constructed. I believe we are 6-7 so far against these three with six remaining, the rest of the AL is mediocre to garbage. And you know those other clubs will load up, Yankees already have acquired Encarnacion, Twins need to solidify the pitching staff to compete when it matters.

The Twins likely won't match whatever moves the Yankees do, but they will not just sit by and do nothing.

Beyond that I just don't get all the hand-wringing about things that haven't even happened yet. What I wouldn't give to be able to spend a half dozen days/nights with gorgeous weather at that wonderful stadium watching one of the most entertaining pro clubs any local franchise has offered up for at least the past decade.

"Enjoy the season"
-M. Tice

For the record I am not, and likely never will with Baseball, hand wringing. I am enjoying the season. I am just trying to converse about trying to fill one of the few weak spots on the team to help them in the playoffs.

Don’t read stress into that.

All good!

[Handyman]

I'll put it this way. They're hella fun to watch. Been a number of seasons since that's been the case. Sure is making the summer fly by.

Good God people Scooby is the voice of reason! You all need to take a step back and realize how far down the rabbit hole you have gotten for that to be true

Even if you assume The Yankees and Houston are better than us (somehow the Red Sox are third in their division but still better than us) so friggin what? Good lord what is the point of watching sports at all if you just look for reasons not to enjoy it. And make no mistake that is exactly what you are doing. You dont want to get fully invested because you dont want to watch your team lose. Then dont watch man cause guess what every team but 1 loses that is how it works.

The Yankees acquire people all the time...when was the last time they won again? The best team doesnt always win.

I post it all the time but this is the average Minnesota Sports fan:

[Handyman]

I guess my issue is the Yankees, Astros, and Red Sox. I don’t think there is any chance our arms have in October against these three clubs the way we are currently constructed. I believe we are 6-7 so far against these three with six remaining, the rest of the AL is mediocre to garbage. And you know those other clubs will load up, Yankees already have acquired Encarnacion, Twins need to solidify the pitching staff to compete when it matters.

The Twins likely won't match whatever moves the Yankees do, but they will not just sit by and do nothing.

Beyond that I just don't get all the hand-wringing about things that haven't even happened yet. What I wouldn't give to be able to spend a half dozen days/nights with gorgeous weather at that wonderful stadium watching one of the most entertaining pro clubs any local franchise has offered up for at least the past decade.

"Enjoy the season"
-M. Tice

For the record I am not, and likely never will with Baseball, hand wringing. I am enjoying the season. I am just trying to converse about trying to fill one of the few weak spots on the team to help them in the playoffs.

Don’t read stress into that.

Oh I think we all want them to fix their issues. They arent pretenders at this point though. We are almost done with June and the team hasnt lost 3 in a row yet and holds a sizeable lead in the division while having the second best record in baseball and putting up ridiculous offensive stats. They are a contender. They might not be in 2 months but right now anyone saying otherwise is just being ridiculous.

[ScoobyDoo]

And they're doing it with all these injuries happening at the same time. The injuries may catch up with them eventually, but it hasn't happened yet.

[Beauner]

Two nights ago we hung 7 runs and 11 hits on Blake Snell (the 2018 Cy Young winner) and jumped his season ERA up more than half a run (his ERA now stands over 5 after being 3.06 at the beginning of June).
Last night they hung up 5 runs in 6 innings on the AL ERA leader despite not having Kepler, Buxton, or Marwin in the lineup and losing Rosario early.

Does the bullpen have some worts? Sure. Does the rotation need an upgrade? Probably.
Are both of those going to be addressed by the end of next month? I hope so.

Does it mean that this team can't win a series against the Yankmees, Red Sox, or Astrow in the playoffs if they stand pat? No.
This team is really good. And they will probably continue to be really good for the next 3+ months.

[frozen4champs]

Hope this doesn't go 17 innings. They are still recovering from that game 2 weeks ago

[Zwak]

Hope this doesn't go 17 innings. They are still recovering from that game 2 weeks ago

I thought FOR SURE Sano was going to lead off with a home run after making the sweet defensive play to end the inning. It just had that feel to it.

[davescharf]

Two nights ago we hung 7 runs and 11 hits on Blake Snell (the 2018 Cy Young winner) and jumped his season ERA up more than half a run (his ERA now stands over 5 after being 3.06 at the beginning of June).
Last night they hung up 5 runs in 6 innings on the AL ERA leader despite not having Kepler, Buxton, or Marwin in the lineup and losing Rosario early.

Does the bullpen have some worts? Sure. Does the rotation need an upgrade? Probably.
Are both of those going to be addressed by the end of next month? I hope so.

Does it mean that this team can't win a series against the Yankmees, Red Sox, or Astrow in the playoffs if they stand pat? No.
This team is really good. And they will probably continue to be really good for the next 3+ months.

The stat that amazes me is that they’ve beaten 5 Cy Young winners this year already, including both 2018 winners.

Granted David Price and Jake Arrieta arent what they once were but that’s still a pretty amazing stat

[Jane Fonda]

Gibby with a shutdown top 17.

[Bertogliat]

Here’s a pickle

[Karlsson]

Of course when I get home and can watch it is Harper and it sucks.

[Handyman]

Season's over...

[Cowgirl]

Damn those 18th inning meltdowns. We’ll never get anywhere like that.

[JWG]

Tough loss since the Twins will need a week past the All Star break to recover.

[streakygopher]

The hardest part of that loss was watching the Twins hitters...not a good night for the offense, and TB has a nice staff. Two out of 3 though so good series....Sano and Cave need a change of scenery.

[The Rube]

2 out of 3 against one of the better teams in the AL. I'll take it. Every day.

[streakygopher]

Why did TB's starter go out after two innings?

[The Rube]

Why did TB's starter go out after two innings?

Guessing they were using the "opener" strategy. They were one of the pioneers of that, IIRC.

[Beauner]

Lost in the marathon yesterday: Jorge Polanco was voted in as the starting shortstop for the AL All Star team.
Pretty cool.

[Zwak]

Lost in the marathon yesterday: Jorge Polanco was voted in as the starting shortstop for the AL All Star team.
Pretty cool.

First Twins starter since Mauer in 2013.

[Beauner]

Lost in the marathon yesterday: Jorge Polanco was voted in as the starting shortstop for the AL All Star team.
Pretty cool.

First Twins starter since Mauer in 2013.

First Twins shortstop in an ASG since Guzman and first SS to start since 1979.

[fightclub30]

What a stupid review. I really get sick of replay for plays being decided by a gnats ass hair.

[Greyeagle]

My God is Bert awful.

Complete lollypop high bounce ground ball is booted by Adrianza and Bert 1) says it was a nasty hop and 2) is baffled when it's scored an error.

[streakygopher]

On paper this was a laffer...Twins' ace against a journeyman scrub. Oops.

Once again, aside from Sano, Twins hitters not impressive. Depleted line up cost them.

[Alby22]

My God is Bert awful.

Complete lollypop high bounce ground ball is booted by Adrianza and Bert 1) says it was a nasty hop and 2) is baffled when it's scored an error.

But atleast he read you the back of his baseball card. “3rd year at the major league level”

[Vegasgopher]

Moving back into our house after hurricane Irma damages repaired. Anyone know anywhere to hear twins games radio from out of state on the inter web for free???

[Beauner]

Moving back into our house after hurricane Irma damages repaired. Anyone know anywhere to hear twins games radio from out of state on the inter web for free???

TuneIn maybe?
Or try an app called Pro Baseball and/or Pure Baseball. Got good reviews on Reddit.

[Vegasgopher]

Moving back into our house after hurricane Irma damages repaired. Anyone know anywhere to hear twins games radio from out of state on the inter web for free???

TuneIn maybe?
Or try an app called Pro Baseball and/or Pure Baseball. Got good reviews on Reddit.

Thanks! Tune in and pro baseball both require subscription for $$, guess I'll have to pay if I want to hear

[Beauner]

Moving back into our house after hurricane Irma damages repaired. Anyone know anywhere to hear twins games radio from out of state on the inter web for free???

TuneIn maybe?
Or try an app called Pro Baseball and/or Pure Baseball. Got good reviews on Reddit.

Thanks! Tune in and pro baseball both require subscription for $$, guess I'll have to pay if I want to hear

Hmmm. Both were listed under as free on Reddit. Try Pure Baseball?

If you are gonna end up having to pay, the best may be the MLB at Bat app. I think it is like $20 for the whole year.

[Beauner]

Sano hits another monster HR.
He hammered that ball.

[Beauner]

Seems like the last couple days he's had his hands starting farther back, closer to the launch position (as highlighted by the write-up by Parker that I posted earlier).

By starting with his hands closer to the launch position he can focus more on reading the pitch spin/speed/location and if it's in the zone he can just drive into it rather than try to load and read at the same time. (Much like Pujols did in his prime--he started with his hands loaded and everything was moving into the ball instead of going back and into the ball as the pitch was on its way).

The second HR he hit last night was 97mph on the black, the first HR he hit last night was on a high fastball at 90mph.
The one he just hammered was a 94mph fastball and low and in.
3 pretty good pitches in three different parts of the zone. Pitches he has been fouling off or swinging through before the adjustments Rowson made.

[Beauner]

Side note: Tyler Duffey (and Wes Johnson) deserve a lot of credit for making adjustments to his approach during spring training. He's been largely very good this season-throwing a high fastball and pairing it with his hammer curveball has really been an effective tool. Seems to be keeping a lot of hitters off balance because he's tunneling them well.

[Greyeagle]

Seems like the last couple days he's had his hands starting farther back, closer to the launch position (as highlighted by the write-up by Parker that I posted earlier).

By starting with his hands closer to the launch position he can focus more on reading the pitch spin/speed/location and if it's in the zone he can just drive into it rather than try to load and read at the same time. (Much like Pujols did in his prime--he started with his hands loaded and everything was moving into the ball instead of going back and into the ball as the pitch was on its way).

The second HR he hit last night was 97mph on the black, the first HR he hit last night was on a high fastball at 90mph.
The one he just hammered was a 94mph fastball and low and in.
3 pretty good pitches in three different parts of the zone. Pitches he has been fouling off or swinging through before the adjustments Rowson made.

Encouraging!

[Handyman]

Cruz just hit one to Mexico

[Beauner]

Nelson Cruz just ruined his chance at hitting for a cycle (he was a triple away) by hitting a ball approximately 5,280 feet to dead center.

He hit the ball over camera men in dead center field.

[sec 16 row16 seat 16 17]

Nelson Cruz just ruined his chance at hitting for a cycle (he was a triple away) by hitting a ball approximately 5,280 feet to dead center.

He hit the ball over camera men in dead center field.

a moon shot

[Greyeagle]

Oh my!

[D2D]

a moon shot

Just to put things in perspective:
469 feet = 156 yards = easy 9 iron for the average tour player. But not one of them could hit a baseball that far.

[Beauner]

Oh my!

The look on Buxton's face

[Slap Shot]

Oh my!

The look on Buxton's face

What'a amazing his how fast it got out and landed even at that launch angle. Has to be one of the hardest hit balls in a long time.

[The Rube]

In the biz, that is called a "rope."

[Beauner]

Some other fun nuggets from today's game:

Kepler set a new career high in HRs in a season today (he hit two today). It's the end of June.
Michael Pineda had a great outing today. 12 of his 16 starts have yielded 3 earned runs or fewer. His numbers overall don't look amazing (partly because when he's been bad he's been REALLY bad) but 75% of his outings with 3 earned or less is pretty solid for a #4/5 guy in the rotation.

Buxton and Marwin Gonzalez both returned from the DL today too. Jake Cave and Lamonte Wade went back to Rochester.

Sano's HR today was his 12th in 33 games. I know people bitch about his strikeouts (and they are frustrating to me as a former player who was always embarrassed when he struck out-as a former coach I'd still rather have him K with a runner on 1B than roll over a 3-hopper to short for an easy double play just so he can say "well I didn't strike out!").

But for a guy who has spent most of the season batting 6-7-8 in the lineup to be averaging better than 1 HR per 3 game series, he'd be on pace to hit 59 HRs over the course of a 162 game season. There are exactly 0 teams in the majors who would say "no thanks" to that from a 6-7-8 hitter -or probably anywhere else in the lineup. And he's doing this while also trying to change his stance/mechanics (depending on how technical you want to get - I never really considered hand position before the pitch to be mechanics, I always considered it more of a stance thing). It is still a work in progress and he'll more than likely still have some streaks where he reverts back until he gets the changes down to muscle memory, but by all reports he is working his ass off with Rudy and Rowson to get it corrected.

[Beauner]

Twins only get one other player named to the All-star game (Jake Odorizzi).

Seems really dumb. Especially given how great this offense has been. At least I'm not the only one who thinks that.

[Beauner]

I'm really excited to see this kid in the bigs

[Dances With Gophers]

I'm really excited to see this kid in the bigs

The pitcher's reaction immediately after it's launched is so d@mn funny. It's like he's thinking to himself, "What am I even doing here?"

[Cowgirl]

Was anybody else mildly creeped out by that Fanny pack giveaway commercial?

[Cowgirl]

LESS COWBELL!

[Beauner]

Don't look now but Sano has another HR already tonight.

[Beauner]

LESS COWBELL!

[Greyeagle]

Don't look now but Sano has another HR already tonight.

Great, now I have nothing to complain about.

[Slap Shot]

Turns on Twins game for first time in...

Watches them promptly load the bases with 0 outs via error, walk, weak hit....

Grand slam....

[Cowgirl]

Don't look now but Sano has another HR already tonight.

Great, now I have nothing to complain about.

Did that help?