That’s not playing to win baseball. Pagan should be last man up if you’re playing to keep a 3 run lead into the 8th inning. He’s a liability with that mentality heading into the late innings, there’s nothing wrong with his mechanics so they won’t send him down to get fixed because what’s wrong with him you can’t fix. He just doesn’t know how to pitch to win, he’s the fish in the live well that should’ve been thrown back.
He had allowed 2 hits and 2 walks in his last 8.2 IP with 0 runs allowed.
"That's not playing to win baseball" I'm not even sure what that is supposed to mean. They used Duran for 40 pitches Friday night, extending him into the extra inning to give themselves the best chance to win Friday, so he was done the rest of the weekend. They used Lopez in the 7th inning Saturday to get through the heart of the Toronto order while the game was close (he came in with the Twins trailing 3-1) and ended up getting the W after the Twins scored 7 in the top of the 8th). Then they used up De Leon once they had a sizeable lead to try to save the rest of the arms (De Leon ended up throwing 30+ pitches so he was out for yesterday's game). Stewart ended up coming in to pitch to one batter and got a double play to end the game on Saturday. When Varland started getting knocked around in 5th they had to go to the bullpen earlier than they wanted to in order to try to win. Moran came in and gave them an inning+, Jax gave them a solid inning. Their options were a fresh Pagan who, has previously stated, had not allowed a run in his previous 8.2 IP and had barely been touched, or two guys who pitched the day before.
The problem with Pagan, as has been the case with his entire time here, is he's either very good or very bad and there's no in-between. He's given up 14 earned runs this season. 13 of those 14 runs came in 3 outings. The problem is Lopez hasn't been much better of late - allowing 9 earned runs over his last 4.1 IP after being basically untouchable the first month+ of the season (he allowed 3 earned runs in his first 20.2 IP).
The worst part is after the leadoff single to Kirk he got exactly what he wanted. A ground ball hit right where a shortstop would usually be playing in a regular defensive alignment. But they had Correa shifted over to cover the 5-6 hole more than the standard "Double Play Depth" hole (or even just standard depth) and Espinal, pinch hitting for Kiermeier, hits a ground ball right to the double play depth hole but it was out of Correa's reach so instead of 2 out and nobody on he's got runners on first and second with nobody out and Biggio tattoos a terribly located fastball to go ahead.
If they cut ties with Pagan, I'd be fine with it. It's always a "hold your breath" moment for me when he comes into the game. But Twins fans love to act like every time he takes the mound he gives up 10 runs and it's simply not true. You could make the argument that from May 22nd until yesterday morning he had been the Twins most effective reliever for a 2 and a half week stretch. But when he blows up, he blows up in spectacular fashion.
“That’s not playing to win baseball” means if you have better options use them. Use pagan in a different situation where he’s had some success. Maybe more in a less intense situation. Obviously how I feel about him and what the twins feel aren’t the same and what I think means nothing that’s for sure. I feel like they’ve guaranteed him 3.5 million this season and other guys like Duran are under 1 million so I think it’s a tie they’re embarrassed to break and keep hoping he gets consistent. Not happening.
“That’s not playing to win baseball” means if you have better options use them. Use pagan in a different situation where he’s had some success. Maybe more in a less intense situation. Obviously how I feel about him and what the twins feel aren’t the same and what I think means nothing that’s for sure. I feel like they’ve guaranteed him 3.5 million this season and other guys like Duran are under 1 million so I think it’s a tie they’re embarrassed to break and keep hoping he gets consistent. Not happening.
Again: which "better options" did they have? Lopez who has been shelled to the tune of 9 runs in 4 innings? Stewart who had pitched on back to back days (albeit only threw 1 game pitch Saturday, but 25ish Friday +whatever he throws to get loose in the bullpen)? Pagan was going to pitch either the 8th or 9th inning (or extra innings if it went to extras). They put him in the best position to succeed. He was going against the bottom of the order (7-8-9, granted they pinch hit for the 8 hitter). He just didn't get the job done.
Duran was not an option to pitch Sunday after throwing 40+ on Friday night. De Leon was not an option to pitch after throwing 30+ Saturday. They had already used Moran - they brought Moran in to finish the 5th and pitch the 6th, and used Jax in the 7th to get through the heart of the lineup. That makes 4 of their relievers that were not options to go in the 8th inning. Of the remaining 4: One had thrown back to back days (Stewart), one had thrown the previous day, and had been getting shelled recently. The other is Josh Winder who just re-joined the team on June 10th after Thielbar went back to IL. Meanwhile Pagan had gone 8.2 scoreless innings over his last 6 outings.
Can anyone in relief pitch more than one inning? Jax couldn’t go anymore? I don’t know ?♀️ keep on throwing pagan in there if that’s their best option. It’s my choice to keep watching and give a rip about them.
⬜️⬜️? ??? ?⬜️? I made one tactical error. For the Twins-Cleveland player, I took the easy one and then couldn’t think of a different Cleveland/Sox player since I used the more obvious player already…
⬜️⬜️? ??? ?⬜️? I made one tactical error. For the Twins-Cleveland player, I took the easy one and then couldn’t think of a different Cleveland/Sox player since I used the more obvious player already…
My tactical error was using up all of my guesses on the hard ones and not being able to think of the name Albert Belle.
Williams had a 0.42 ERA going into tonight's game. He had allowed 8 hits, 1 home run in 21.2 IP with 30 Ks. The Twins had 3 hits and 2 HRs (with a walk from Julien mixed in).
IIRC Correa is the first righty to homer off the airbender changeup. His changeup has been arguably the single most dominant pitch in baseball for the last 3 years.
Watching that replay back... That is a ridiculously good piece of hitting from Correa. That changeup, on average, breaks 20 inches horizontally. He kept his hands inside the ball and exploded through the zone to get his barrel to the ball.
Watching that replay back... That is a ridiculously good piece of hitting from Correa. That changeup, on average, breaks 20 inches horizontally. He kept his hands inside the ball and exploded through the zone to get his barrel to the ball.
He might have been sitting on that one. The previous pitch was a high fastball way out of the zone. Probably thought the change was coming after setting it up with the high heater.
You're right, though. Correa showed a lot of patience and then just uncoiled like a snake. No doubter.
Thought the Twins were dead in the water after they had the Brewers on the ropes in the 8th only to see Gallo stand there for a called strike three. (Good pitch but Gallo needed to be protecting the plate.)
Watching that replay back... That is a ridiculously good piece of hitting from Correa. That changeup, on average, breaks 20 inches horizontally. He kept his hands inside the ball and exploded through the zone to get his barrel to the ball.
He might have been sitting on that one. The previous pitch was a high fastball way out of the zone. Probably thought the change was coming after setting it up with the high heater.
You're right, though. Correa showed a lot of patience and then just uncoiled like a snake. No doubter.
Thought the Twins were dead in the water after they had the Brewers on the ropes in the 8th only to see Gallo stand there for a called strike three. (Good pitch but Gallo needed to be protecting the plate.)
Yeah Gallo definitely got caught sitting dead red there. He was reading fastball the whole way and the slider came back into the zone. Was a good pitch and froze Gallo hard.
As far as Correa vs. Williams, I saw something (maybe from baseballsavant) that he throws his changeup like 55% of the time, which is insane. But I guess if I had something that moved across the width of the plate every time I threw it, I'd probably throw it a lot too.
In other news, Blayne Enlow got called up to AAA. Love to see that. He was left off the 40-man roster after last season due to his TJS recovery and a lot of people had written him off because nobody in the MLB claimed him in the Rule 5 Draft, but has been pitching extremely well of late.
Enlow was a kid with first round talent that the Twins were able to draft in the 3rd round because everyone assumed he was going to honor his commitment to pitch at LSU. The Twins were able to sign Royce Lewis for under slot value and used that money to pay Enlow an over-slot bonus and lure him away from LSU. He had a great 2019 season and everyone was really hyped for him to continue to progress in 2020. Then the pandemic wiped out all of minor league baseball, and he suffered a torn UCL early in 2021 and underwent Tommy John surgery and missed the rest of 2021 and a chunk of 2022 (he had 11 starts, 25 appearances last season between A and AA).
It seems as if he is back to form so far this season, posting a 3.17 ERA with 65Ks in 54 innings and a WHIP (for Rube) of 1.13.
Watching that replay back... That is a ridiculously good piece of hitting from Correa. That changeup, on average, breaks 20 inches horizontally. He kept his hands inside the ball and exploded through the zone to get his barrel to the ball.
He might have been sitting on that one. The previous pitch was a high fastball way out of the zone. Probably thought the change was coming after setting it up with the high heater.
You're right, though. Correa showed a lot of patience and then just uncoiled like a snake. No doubter.
Thought the Twins were dead in the water after they had the Brewers on the ropes in the 8th only to see Gallo stand there for a called strike three. (Good pitch but Gallo needed to be protecting the plate.)
Yeah Gallo definitely got caught sitting dead red there. He was reading fastball the whole way and the slider came back into the zone. Was a good pitch and froze Gallo hard.
As far as Correa vs. Williams, I saw something (maybe from baseballsavant) that he throws his changeup like 55% of the time, which is insane. But I guess if I had something that moved across the width of the plate every time I threw it, I'd probably throw it a lot too.
I went back to look at that final pitch. Not his best moment. Pretty much a lifeless 86 mph floater with a short tail. It was the same pitch as the first called strike, except that he started this one belt high in the middle/outside part of the plate.
Of course, Correa is an elite hitter. He waited on it and shortened up his swing so he wouldn't pull it foul. An average hitter might pull that one outside the line or fail to adjust his swing and saw off the bat.
Joey Gallo is a left handed version of Miguel Sano! What were they thinking when they signed this guy? He can’t hit his way out of a paper bag! And Baldelli pinch hits him for Ryan Jeffers!! I would bet on Jeffers getting a hit anytime over Gallo!! C’mon Baldelli!
And they send Larnach to St. Paul to give at bats to Gallo! You’ve got to be kidding me!!
I love Larnach and have since his days at Oregon State. But he's hitting .184 with a .630 OPS in his last 43 games. Pitchers have realized they can get him out alost every time without throwing a fastball. Until he learns how to be at least somewhat productive against offspeed stuff those aforementioned numbers are probably going to continue.
That said, I have no idea why they are sending him down instead of DFA Kepler. He's been as bad, or worse, and will not be on this team next season.
The high powered tiger offense 1 win in their last 12 puts up 6 on the bullpen in game one of a four game series. Sonny grey pulled after 4 who gives up 2 runs 3 hits and 4 walks. Pagen was the only pitcher to allow nothing so one bright note there for a day. The problem with pulling grey after 4 Rocco is now you’re burning it up and over managing pitchers which you suck at!
The high powered tiger offense 1 win in their last 12 puts up 6 on the bullpen in game one of a four game series. Sonny grey pulled after 4 who gives up 2 runs 3 hits and 4 walks. Pagen was the only pitcher to allow nothing so one bright note there for a day. The problem with pulling grey after 4 Rocco is now you’re burning it up and over managing pitchers which you suck at!
It was Gray's worst outing of the year. He got pulled after 4 because he was not very good today. He walked 3 guys in the fourth inning and was lucky to escape only allowing 1 run. Pulling him was the right move, IMO. Even knowing the outcome of the game.
Moran obviously didn't have it today which sucks, but it happens. He had been mostly very good for the last month.
Buxton in the 3 spot? Ok I may be just an old little league coach, but I don’t put a guy there that’s 0 for 21 (22 now) and not just struggling but struggling to make contact. He needs some time with the saints to get it figured out because right now he’s just a liability in the order. Come on geezus h
“When your best friend is the son of God, you get tired of losing every argument.”
― Christopher Moore, Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal
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Quick question: Are we still in the "Well, it's early" stage of the season?
“When your best friend is the son of God, you get tired of losing every argument.”
― Christopher Moore, Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal
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