***Official 2022 Minnesota Twins season thread***

[Eckstein197]

Originally Posted by eye4talent

Eh… Miranda looks like he’s rounding into a bopper. But otherwise, I don’t really see a compelling reason to keep Kirilloff in Triple-A at this point. Larnach is decent, but not amazing… They don’t have a full-time DH…

They were going to figure out how to get Lewis in the lineup before the unfortunate wall incident. It’s probably time to do the same for Kirilloff.


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I mean Miranda in his last 15 games has an OPS of 1.053, which is better then Kirilloff’s AAA stats and Miranda’s stats are on the majors

Larnach has been very good, OPS around .800 and has one of the highest WARs on the team. Add in the fact he’s actually profiling as an above average defensive LF with a plus arm, that’s not someone you just take out of the lineup

Yes Kirilloff looks great in AAA but benching Larnach just because of Kirilloff’s prospect status/name would be a dumb decision

Kirilloff should probably be up so he can DH versus righties plus get spot starts, but the comparison to Royce is different because Royce could play 6 positions in the field, Kirilloff can only play 3. And those 3 are arguably some of the strongest and deepest positions on the twins

I mean look at the current active roster for hitters, there’s no one you’d send down for Kirilloff right now. Celestino is needed because he’s also hitting extremely well and plays fantastic CF defense. Obviously you need a backup catcher in Jeffers. Miranda is mashing. And Gordon is fine but without Royce now, you need Gordon to have an adequate backup SS/utility player. Plus Gordon is out of options and you’d lose him on waivers. He fills a vital role with Royce gone

I expect them to call Kirilloff when their SPs get healthy, because once their starters are healthy, they can send down a bullpen arm to go with a slightly smaller bullpen. But when you have to roll out Bundy and Chi Chi every couple of days, you need a deeper bullpen

[troesports]

Perfect explanation of why Kirilloff can't be brought up right now, Eckstein197. Larnach's arm is a legitimate weapon in the outfield.

Hope they can finish off a sweep today! After today there are 32 games before the All-Star break, and they'll only play 10 of those against teams above .500 (and eight of those are Cleveland, who is one game over). With eight games against Cleveland and seven against the Sox, they've got a real chance to put this thing away early on.

[Eckstein197]

Originally Posted by troesports

Perfect explanation of why Kirilloff can't be brought up right now, Eckstein197. Larnach's arm is a legitimate weapon in the outfield.

Hope they can finish off a sweep today! After today there are 32 games before the All-Star break, and they'll only play 10 of those against teams above .500 (and eight of those are Cleveland, who is one game over). With eight games against Cleveland and seven against the Sox, they've got a real chance to put this thing away early on.

Thanks! And I do really want to see Kirilloff up right now, it seems like his wrist is better, but as the twins have said, once he’s up they don’t want him to go back down. When he’s up, he is up for good.

Also Winder’s health will also help significantly as once’s healthy, he becomes the long man in relief. Having a quality long man in relief can give you the needed bullpen depth to go a little shorter on overall man power but not sacrifice innings. Once Winder is healthy along with everyone else, they’ll go to a 13 man pitching staff and bring Kirilloff up.

Let’s not forget Garlick is also on the IL as well, but they’ll definitely bring him along slowly intentionally

They absolutely have a shot come all star break to basically lock the division down. You go like 6-2 versus Cleveland/5-2 versus Chicago, at the all star break you’ll be up like 8-9 games with only 60-70ish games left

[Eckstein197]

Also nothing announced yet but this is looking like the pitching matchups versus the Mariners

Monday - Archer vs Chris Flexen
Tuesday - Bundy or Joe Ryan versus Logan Gilbert
Wednesday - Bundy or Joe Ryan versus Marco Gonzalez

Gilbert by far the best pitcher on the Mariners this season, will be curious if they match Gilbert with Ryan to neutralize that matchup or if they go for the pitching advantage Wednesday and give up the advantage on Tuesday

Also Sonny Gray is due to come off the IL list Tuesday, I’d expect him to get a quick rehab start soon after and he will be available to pitch probably that first Cleveland game June 21st

Ober due to come off the IL on Friday, would expect him to get a rehab start with that hamstring and be likely to pitching the weekend series versus the Rockies and be ready to pitch the following weekday series versus Cleveland

Should have all hands on deck pitching wise for the second Cleveland series and almost everyone for the first Cleveland series

[eye4talent]

Originally Posted by Eckstein197

I mean Miranda in his last 15 games has an OPS of 1.053, which is better then Kirilloff’s AAA stats and Miranda’s stats are on the majors

Larnach has been very good, OPS around .800 and has one of the highest WARs on the team. Add in the fact he’s actually profiling as an above average defensive LF with a plus arm, that’s not someone you just take out of the lineup

Yes Kirilloff looks great in AAA but benching Larnach just because of Kirilloff’s prospect status/name would be a dumb decision

Kirilloff should probably be up so he can DH versus righties plus get spot starts, but the comparison to Royce is different because Royce could play 6 positions in the field, Kirilloff can only play 3. And those 3 are arguably some of the strongest and deepest positions on the twins

I mean look at the current active roster for hitters, there’s no one you’d send down for Kirilloff right now. Celestino is needed because he’s also hitting extremely well and plays fantastic CF defense. Obviously you need a backup catcher in Jeffers. Miranda is mashing. And Gordon is fine but without Royce now, you need Gordon to have an adequate backup SS/utility player. Plus Gordon is out of options and you’d lose him on waivers. He fills a vital role with Royce gone

I expect them to call Kirilloff when their SPs get healthy, because once their starters are healthy, they can send down a bullpen arm to go with a slightly smaller bullpen. But when you have to roll out Bundy and Chi Chi every couple of days, you need a deeper bullpen

The “Miranda in his last 15 games” is pretty severe cherry picking. Kirilloff’s slugging percentage in June is over 1.000, and his OPS is over 1.500. Yes, doing it in the majors matters more, of course. But Kirilloff is pretty much hitting as well as he possibly can in that same timeframe… But I think both should be in Minnesota’s lineup, so I don’t want this to be an argument against Miranda.

As for “Larnach in his last 15 games…” Larnach had a nice stretch in May. But he’s been struggling lately. I’m not saying he isn’t a good player who won’t snap out of the slump. But he also really hasn’t done a whole lot at the plate to make the Twins forget about Kirilloff. And his strong arm is not the determining factor of who should be in the lineup. That’s basically like saying a David Peralta or Gerardo Parra type should stay in the lineup over a Nick Castellanos, JD Martinez, or, dare I say, Yordan Light.

Suffice it to say, I don’t think Kirilloff is just a DH platoon. With a heathy wrist, he’s an elite hitting talent. Maybe he won’t equal the vets I mentioned above this year, but he’ll get there soon enough (healthy wrist permitting).


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[Eckstein197]

Originally Posted by eye4talent

The “Miranda in his last 15 games” is pretty severe cherry picking. Kirilloff’s slugging percentage in June is over 1.000, and his OPS is over 1.500. Yes, doing it in the majors matters more, of course. But Kirilloff is pretty much hitting as well as he possibly can in that same timeframe… But I think both should be in Minnesota’s lineup, so I don’t want this to be an argument against Miranda.

As for “Larnach in his last 15 games…” Larnach had a nice stretch in May. But he’s been struggling lately. I’m not saying he isn’t a good player who won’t snap out of the slump. But he also really hasn’t done a whole lot at the plate to make the Twins forget about Kirilloff. And his strong arm is not the determining factor of who should be in the lineup. That’s basically like saying a David Peralta or Gerardo Parra type should stay in the lineup over a Nick Castellanos, JD Martinez, or, dare I say, Yordan Light.

Suffice it to say, I don’t think Kirilloff is just a DH platoon. With a heathy wrist, he’s an elite hitting talent. Maybe he won’t equal the vets I mentioned above this year, but he’ll get there soon enough (healthy wrist permitting).


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I mean Miranda’s made massive improvements from when he first came up. Which is standard that rookies struggle at first and then find their stroke. But also Miranda and Kirilloff serve different roles on this team because Miranda is a righty and Kirilloff is a lefty. I’d rather miranda face a lefty and I’d rather Kirilloff face a righty if it was between the 2 on a certain day

Larnach has been an above average player, even considering a little bit of a slump. Near .800 OPS this season. Quality defense. Just because Kirilloff is playing fantastic in AAA doesn’t mean Kirilloff should get the starting spot right away from Larnach. Kirilloff needs to prove it first.

I’m speaking in terms of this year, just because Kirilloff is seemingly healthy, Larnach should not just be cast aside. It’s Larnach’s spot, Kirilloff needs to come take it. And even then Arraez can DH and AK can play first on some days

And also with a healthy wrist, Kirilloff is “potential” elite hitting talent. He hasn’t shown anything in the majors to say he’s an elite hitting talent yet

[Chris Lyle]

Originally Posted by Eckstein197

Series win over the Rays with a potential to sweep tomorrow, this team responded big time after the Yankees series

This offense is super fun, which is kind of crazy cuz they looked bad against Detroit but all of a sudden they’ve dominated some of the best starters in the AL over the past 5-6 games (Gausman, Cole, Cortes)

5-3 in this 9 game stretch versus Toronto, New York and Tampa with one game to go, going 6-3 would be pretty solid. Especially in a stretch where the twins 3 best starters combined for 0 starts due to covid and injuries. Heck we are 2-0 in games started by Chi Chi Gonzalez

Up 4 games in the division over Cleveland, and 6 on Chicago. By no means is Chicago dead but man they look BAD right now (and most of the season). Them losing today was a pretty bad loss

This was the 9 game stretch that was supposed to “bury the twins” and allow the central to get tighter. In actuality, the guardians gained a .5 game and the white Sox made up zero ground

Twins have an opportunity to bury the guardians by the end of this month, 8 games versus them in a 11 day stretch. By then the entire rotation should be healthy thankfully

Not to come in and make the thread go sideways or anything but I have to point out that I love your total disrespect for the Guardians. They are 3 games back as of today and played 6 less games than your Twins as of today also. Am I saying they are a great team at this point no. But it's baseball and with the pitching I give them a fighters chance. Now this could all change with playing you guys so much even though I would not go as far to say you can bury them, plus we have the Dodgers and Boston so the Guardians could fall apart but you never know but it seems like in your mind it doesn't matter they are terrible.

[Eckstein197]

Originally Posted by Chris Lyle

Not to come in and make the thread go sideways or anything but I have to point out that I love your total disrespect for the Guardians. They are 3 games back as of today and played 6 less games than your Twins as of today also. Am I saying they are a great team at this point no. But it's baseball and with the pitching I give them a fighters chance. Now this could all change with playing you guys so much even though I would not go as far to say you can bury them, plus we have the Dodgers and Boston so the Guardians could fall apart but you never know but it seems like in your mind it doesn't matter they are terrible.

? Never said they’re terrible?

I pointed out Chicago specifically because they were the pre season massive central favorites. And they remain in theory a “dangerous” team because they’re Uber talented. And I do have a slightly worry if they fire La Russa, they could go on a Phillies esque run but thankfully I don’t think they will fire him.

And I mean what I said isn’t true the twins absolutely have a chance to bury the guardians. If come July 1st, the twins go like 6-2/7-1, and they’re up roughly 8-9 games on the guardians, maybe burying them isn’t the right terminology but up 8-9 games on July 1st with over half the games already played against them, it would be a steep mountain to climb for Cleveland

I don’t think Cleveland is terrible. I think when the season ends, they’re going to end up right around the .500 mark, maybe a couple games over. Do I think they’re worse than the twins? I do, and I also trust the twins FO to make moves at the trade deadline to improve the team because the twins aren’t as cheap as the guardians. I mean the twins payroll is more than double the guardians. Also the guardians have been pretty healthy, just taking a look at their season injury transactions, they’ve been pretty healthy while the twins have been racked with injuries. If that injury luck flips in the second half, I personally don’t think the guardians have the depth if they lose some of their star power for some time

I didn’t say the twins will bury them, I said they have a chance too. How is that false? You even admit yourself, it could all go sideways.

[Chris Lyle]

Originally Posted by Eckstein197

? Never said they’re terrible?

I pointed out Chicago specifically because they were the pre season massive central favorites. And they remain in theory a “dangerous” team because they’re Uber talented. And I do have a slightly worry if they fire La Russa, they could go on a Phillies esque run but thankfully I don’t think they will fire him.

And I mean what I said isn’t true the twins absolutely have a chance to bury the guardians. If come July 1st, the twins go like 6-2/7-1, and they’re up roughly 8-9 games on the guardians, maybe burying them isn’t the right terminology but up 8-9 games on July 1st with over half the games already played against them, it would be a steep mountain to climb for Cleveland

I don’t think Cleveland is terrible. I think when the season ends, they’re going to end up right around the .500 mark, maybe a couple games over. Do I think they’re worse than the twins? I do, and I also trust the twins FO to make moves at the trade deadline to improve the team because the twins aren’t as cheap as the guardians. I mean the twins payroll is more than double the guardians. Also the guardians have been pretty healthy, just taking a look at their season injury transactions, they’ve been pretty healthy while the twins have been racked with injuries. If that injury luck flips in the second half, I personally don’t think the guardians have the depth if they lose some of their star power for some time

I didn’t say the twins will bury them, I said they have a chance too. How is that false? You even admit yourself, it could all go sideways.

I get what you are saying about the White Sox being the favorite and getting the most attention due to the lack of wins so far. I guess I was having a little fun with that being the main focus. I have a little more faith in the Guardians front office after signing JRam, but who knows if they will do anything else or not. If they get hit hard with injuries from say JRam or Beiber then yes that is going to be an issue. But that being said if Plesac keeps headed in right direction and Civale can come back and right the ship then things look a little better because remember the Guardians are where they are with Civale on the IL with I think a 6 era and Plesac has been healthy but was over 5 at one point. I did say it could go sideways I just said IMO that in early July a team isn't exactly buried not saying what you said is false. I will now get back out of the Twins thread and heres looking forward to some good baseball with you guys over the next couple weeks

[CollectKep26]

Originally Posted by Eckstein197

I mean Miranda’s made massive improvements from when he first came up. Which is standard that rookies struggle at first and then find their stroke. But also Miranda and Kirilloff serve different roles on this team because Miranda is a righty and Kirilloff is a lefty. I’d rather miranda face a lefty and I’d rather Kirilloff face a righty if it was between the 2 on a certain day

Larnach has been an above average player, even considering a little bit of a slump. Near .800 OPS this season. Quality defense. Just because Kirilloff is playing fantastic in AAA doesn’t mean Kirilloff should get the starting spot right away from Larnach. Kirilloff needs to prove it first.

I’m speaking in terms of this year, just because Kirilloff is seemingly healthy, Larnach should not just be cast aside. It’s Larnach’s spot, Kirilloff needs to come take it. And even then Arraez can DH and AK can play first on some days

And also with a healthy wrist, Kirilloff is “potential” elite hitting talent. He hasn’t shown anything in the majors to say he’s an elite hitting talent yet

Yes, Miranda is a Righty vs. Kirilloff a Lefty, but both corner outfield spots and our everyday 1B currently have lefties filling them which muddies his return even more. Believe me, I want Kirilloff back in MN (even though I'm enjoying picking up some bargains), but he really doesn't have a spot right now. Who would you send down to make room for him?

[Eckstein197]

Originally Posted by CollectKep26

Yes, Miranda is a Righty vs. Kirilloff a Lefty, but both corner outfield spots and our everyday 1B currently have lefties filling them which muddies his return even more. Believe me, I want Kirilloff back in MN (even though I'm enjoying picking up some bargains), but he really doesn't have a spot right now. Who would you send down to make room for him?

I think the only way to get Kirilloff on this roster right now is shortening the bullpen by a guy and bringing up Kirilloff. No hitter should be removed from this current roster

Or obviously an injury allows this to happen obviously

[EBCollectibles]

Originally Posted by Chris Lyle

Not to come in and make the thread go sideways or anything but I have to point out that I love your total disrespect for the Guardians. They are 3 games back as of today and played 6 less games than your Twins as of today also. Am I saying they are a great team at this point no. But it's baseball and with the pitching I give them a fighters chance. Now this could all change with playing you guys so much even though I would not go as far to say you can bury them, plus we have the Dodgers and Boston so the Guardians could fall apart but you never know but it seems like in your mind it doesn't matter they are terrible.

Eckstein is like that. he just spouts out whatever he thinks. he said one day I said I was a Twins fan. Had no idea where that came from but he said it.

[Eckstein197]

Originally Posted by EBCollectibles

Eckstein is like that. he just spouts out whatever he thinks. he said one day I said I was a Twins fan. Had no idea where that came from but he said it.

You acted so defensive and complained about the twins paying Buxton. If you aren’t a Twins fan, then why do you care how much the twins are paying Buxton?

[Eckstein197]

Originally Posted by Chris Lyle

I get what you are saying about the White Sox being the favorite and getting the most attention due to the lack of wins so far. I guess I was having a little fun with that being the main focus. I have a little more faith in the Guardians front office after signing JRam, but who knows if they will do anything else or not. If they get hit hard with injuries from say JRam or Beiber then yes that is going to be an issue. But that being said if Plesac keeps headed in right direction and Civale can come back and right the ship then things look a little better because remember the Guardians are where they are with Civale on the IL with I think a 6 era and Plesac has been healthy but was over 5 at one point. I did say it could go sideways I just said IMO that in early July a team isn't exactly buried not saying what you said is false. I will now get back out of the Twins thread and heres looking forward to some good baseball with you guys over the next couple weeks

Feel free to always join! I’m sure I’ll be seeing a lot of ya with these 8 games in 11 days coming up.

And yeah that’s certainly fair to feel more confident with the post JRam extension, I just feel it’s tough to expect them to be big time buyers because we know they aren’t going to take on any big time contracts. They aren’t gonna add some 20-25 million dollar veteran. If they do add anyone it’ll be a young dude with a lot of team control, which in return eats up a lot of prospect capital.

[Chris Lyle]

Originally Posted by Eckstein197

Feel free to always join! I’m sure I’ll be seeing a lot of ya with these 8 games in 11 days coming up.

And yeah that’s certainly fair to feel more confident with the post JRam extension, I just feel it’s tough to expect them to be big time buyers because we know they aren’t going to take on any big time contracts. They aren’t gonna add some 20-25 million dollar veteran. If they do add anyone it’ll be a young dude with a lot of team control, which in return eats up a lot of prospect capital.

They don't need to add someone like that. They didn't add anyone like that when they made it to game 7 of the world series in 16. That is not their game regardless. If they have the prospects to give them why wouldn't you get someone better in return with team control?

[Eckstein197]

Originally Posted by Chris Lyle

They don't need to add someone like that. They didn't add anyone like that when they made it to game 7 of the world series in 16. That is not their game regardless. If they have the prospects to give them why wouldn't you get someone better in return with team control?

I don’t think they will want to give up the prospects to land someone major, that’s more so what I’m saying. They won’t go after a veteran where the veterans contract lowers the return and they won’t give up the prospect return to land a big name player to help push them over the edge. In recent years even when they’ve been a good team, they ended up on the end of the trade of trading the more established player for prospects and other major leaguers. Like when they traded Clev

[Chris Lyle]

Originally Posted by Eckstein197

I don’t think they will want to give up the prospects to land someone major, that’s more so what I’m saying. They won’t go after a veteran where the veterans contract lowers the return and they won’t give up the prospect return to land a big name player to help push them over the edge. In recent years even when they’ve been a good team, they ended up on the end of the trade of trading the more established player for prospects and other major leaguers. Like when they traded Clev

Andrew Miller? Jay Bruce? Coco Crisp? They added those. They signed Napoli, Edwin. They traded for Joe Smith at one point, etc. Yes they made the Clev deal but I wouldn't sell them short that they may use some of the influx of prospects that don't really have a spot to move to land someone that is a little more established

[Eckstein197]

Originally Posted by Chris Lyle

Andrew Miller? Jay Bruce? Coco Crisp? They added those. They signed Napoli, Edwin. They traded for Joe Smith at one point, etc. Yes they made the Clev deal but I wouldn't sell them short that they may use some of the influx of prospects that don't really have a spot to move to land someone that is a little more established

I mean those were 6-7 years ago, the Clev deal and similar deals like that have been in the most recent years.

They for sure could, I guess we will see. Honestly I’m not even sure what quality bats will be available, all I’ve looked at is pitching cuz that’s what the twins will need come the deadline

[Chris Lyle]

Originally Posted by Eckstein197

I mean those were 6-7 years ago, the Clev deal and similar deals like that have been in the most recent years.

They for sure could, I guess we will see. Honestly I’m not even sure what quality bats will be available, all I’ve looked at is pitching cuz that’s what the twins will need come the deadline

I guess when I'm looking at the whole picture when the only 3 deals that were of consequence were kluber, which netted Clase, clevinger which was kind of fall out from the whole Plesac and him thing which has really been a win for them. The LindorCarrasco has been a decent deal. So I look at those plus the past track record and was pointing out that they don't just get prospects back all the time. There is a track record

[CollectKep26]

Kirilloff was 3-4 with a GS, 2B, and 5 RBI last night. Hitting .368 now, 10 HR, 32 RBI and a 1.130 OPS in St. Paul. Take out his rehab assignment stint where he was 5-22 he is at .398. Unreal.

[EBCollectibles]

Originally Posted by Eckstein197

I mean those were 6-7 years ago, the Clev deal and similar deals like that have been in the most recent years.

They for sure could, I guess we will see. Honestly I’m not even sure what quality bats will be available, all I’ve looked at is pitching cuz that’s what the twins will need come the deadline

Another offensive outburst last night.

[Eckstein197]

Originally Posted by CollectKep26

Kirilloff was 3-4 with a GS, 2B, and 5 RBI last night. Hitting .368 now, 10 HR, 32 RBI and a 1.130 OPS in St. Paul. Take out his rehab assignment stint where he was 5-22 he is at .398. Unreal.

He’s gotta be up soon, feel like it’s gonna be for a reliever

So today, Megill goes down to make room for Sonny Gray. That seems fairly easy. From there then, who goes down to make room for Kirilloff?

They should just DFA Duffey but I don’t think they’ll do that. They could send down Jharel Cotton but I honestly really like what he’s shown in a small sample size so far

They could send down Miranda for Kirilloff but you now lose that righty corner infield bat.

Another problem is Kyle Garlick is about to start his rehab assignment and he will be back with the team shortly. Perhaps Garlick takes Miranda’s spot as that righty bat. But still doesn’t leave an opening for Kirilloff

[CollectKep26]

Originally Posted by Eckstein197

He’s gotta be up soon, feel like it’s gonna be for a reliever

So today, Megill goes down to make room for Sonny Gray. That seems fairly easy. From there then, who goes down to make room for Kirilloff?

They should just DFA Duffey but I don’t think they’ll do that. They could send down Jharel Cotton but I honestly really like what he’s shown in a small sample size so far

They could send down Miranda for Kirilloff but you now lose that righty corner infield bat.

Another problem is Kyle Garlick is about to start his rehab assignment and he will be back with the team shortly. Perhaps Garlick takes Miranda’s spot as that righty bat. But still doesn’t leave an opening for Kirilloff

That's why the FO gets paid the big bucks. Make a tough decision. Hitting nearly .400 in Triple A isn't doing anything for Kirilloff.

[Eckstein197]

Originally Posted by CollectKep26

That's why the FO gets paid the big bucks. Make a tough decision. Hitting nearly .400 in Triple A isn't doing anything for Kirilloff.

I agree he needs to come up. I’m just figuring out where the situation provides itself that makes the most sense

I think now that the rotation is healthier, they’re more likely to go with a smaller bullpen and bring Kirilloff up. You really couldn’t do that when they were rolling out Chi Chi/Bundy/Sands while everyone was banged up

[Eckstein197]

Nice 5-0 win today to take the series in Seattle. Off day and then off to Arizona.

Here’s hoping for another series victory in Arizona before all the Cleveland games