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

[dashcol]

Originally Posted by CollectKep26

This BP still has some warts in it, as last night proved. Feel good about it with Jax, Thielbar, Fulmer, Duran, and Lopez, but the other few, yikes. I'm not sure how Duffy has not been DFA'ed yet. Pagan just seems lost for the most part.

Originally Posted by Eckstein197

Should have been Jax or Fulmer in the 6th with the other in the 7th.

Pagan should only be used in mop up duty. Because the crazy part is, he still has his velo and pure stuff. You aren’t near the top of the mlb in SO/9 if your stuff isn’t good. Have him pitch mop up until his location vastly improves

DFA Duffey and keep Moran up. Moran has shown he can pitch in the majors

Megill I’m iffy on. Great in low leverage but as soon as there’s any kind of pressure he blows up. I would like to see Sisk but I don’t mind having Megill here

I think the majority of Twins fans would have loved to have seen Duffey DFA’d over Moran being sent down. It seems like the FO has so much invested in him that they are not willing to give up. Especially when someone like Moran has options left, so it’s free to send him down.

[CollectKep26]

Originally Posted by dashcol

I think the majority of Twins fans would have loved to have seen Duffey DFA’d over Moran being sent down. It seems like the FO has so much invested in him that they are not willing to give up. Especially when someone like Moran has options left, so it’s free to send him down.

I'd agree with this. Last night was frustrating, it felt like they gave up on a game that they were still in. Even after another Pagan meltdown...or should I say the typical Pagan meltdown...it was still a 1 run game going into T8. I would LOVE to know the thought process behind trotting Megill out there for a 2nd inning, because I'm struggling to find it.

[CollectKep26]

Originally Posted by dashcol

I think the majority of Twins fans would have loved to have seen Duffey DFA’d over Moran being sent down. It seems like the FO has so much invested in him that they are not willing to give up. Especially when someone like Moran has options left, so it’s free to send him down.

And I just saw the news that the Twins have DFA'ed Duffy...finally.

[Eckstein197]

Originally Posted by CollectKep26

And I just saw the news that the Twins have DFA'ed Duffy...finally.

Makes sense, it was time for Duffey

Cole Sands brought up, seems like Sands is going to become the mop up/long reliever out of the pen now which makes sense

[tlschwerz]

The Twins pen has been taxed largely this season because they haven’t had a long reliever. Sands should be better as a two-pitch guy and fills that role nicely.

[dashcol]

Originally Posted by CollectKep26

And I just saw the news that the Twins have DFA'ed Duffy...finally.

About time.

[TangoHotel]

Decent win tonight. Mahle faded a bit toward the end. Lopez’s control was all over the place. Fulmer came up big. Nick Gordon looking interesting. Love watching Leon behind the plate.

[Eckstein197]

This game was chaos. So stupid. Lots of failed opportunities for both teams

Really enjoyed watching Mahle pitch. Excited to see what he can do going forward.

Cave Chaos. Nicky speed.

Tim Beckham has more walkoffs this season than Correa now I’m pretty sure

[Eckstein197]

Also it’s not being talked about enough, Arraez is slumping hard. In the last 15 games he’s batting .206 and has an OPS of .533

Needs to break out of his slump soon with the amount of lineup injuries the twins are facing

[pnft17]

Big Tony O game today at Target. Wonder if use special game balls like did for Kaat. Probably not. Kaat they retired his number so he got the special treatment. Would
Love to get game used authenticated Kaat game ball. Very sharp
Looking. Even hample
Flew in for the game to ball hawk.

[Eckstein197]

Originally Posted by pnft17

Big Tony O game today at Target. Wonder if use special game balls like did for Kaat. Probably not. Kaat they retired his number so he got the special treatment. Would
Love to get game used authenticated Kaat game ball. Very sharp
Looking. Even hample
Flew in for the game to ball hawk.

Doubt the game happens supposed to be a ton of rain in MN today

[Hollywood42]

It's Rake Cave szn

[forest]

Shades of prime Gardy from Rocco there!

[mnvikingstwins]

DFA Kepler for that baserunning

[Eckstein197]

What an awful way to lose that game. Call shouldn’t be overturned. Twins have had numerous times that exact same situation and it wasn’t overturned. They basically penalized Anderson for a perfect throw.

Also Cole Sands is the exact thing this bullpen needs. A long reliever who provides legit length out of the pen

[dashcol]

And the race is on!

The Guardians have caught up and there is now a race to the finish line…whose going to come out on top. I’m not liking the Twins chances here honestly.

Twins injuries - Royce Lewis, Ryan Jeffers, Trevor Larnach, Alex Kirilloff, Miguel Sano, Kenta Meada, Austin Martin, Chris Paddack….

That’s painful right there. Losing Meada from the Rotation, losing Lewis and Kirilloff bats, not too mention Larnach and Sano has created such a struggle with the Twins, but I think they have come through them pretty well.

Good news on the injury front though, Larnach is recovering well, and could be back by September. Meada is about to start throwing to hitters again. He is expected to help the BP by the end of the season. He will not resume as a SP until next year, but having him the in BP would be awesome!

Twins have another game against LA today, so expect a loss. They are just too beat up right now to take on the Dodgers.

Then, 3 against the Angels, 3 against the Royals, 4 against the Rangers, 3 against the Astros, 2 Giants, 3 Red Sox. That closes out August.

I am going to venture and say taking all 19 games left in August, Twins will go 11 and 8. I am hoping for better, but that’s what I’m guessing.

Guardians have 2 against Tigers, 3 Blue Jays, 4 Tigers, 3 WS, 2 Padres, 4 Mariners, and 2 Orioles to close out August. Out of those 20, I expect them to 15 and 5.

That would put the Twins 3 1/2 back going into September. Not ideal at all.

The Twins Sep/Oct looks promising, with only one Series against the Yankees that will be difficult to win. Lots of room to catch up to the Guardians.

The Guardians Sep/Oct is an even easier schedule though. So, what the AL Central seems to be boiling down to is the 8 Twins/Guardians games in September. If they split those games, then I think the Guardians take the AL Central. If the Twins can take 6 of 8, then it will be a nail biter until the last game is played!

This is the baseball I love. I would rather have a tight race with a couple .500-.550 teams duking it out at the end, than the AL East, AL West, and NL West being pretty much already decided.

[Eckstein197]

Dashcol I like the analysis but I have a big question in regards to your Cleveland analysis

In those 20 games, you say 15-5. Even if they go 6-0 versus the tigers, that’s 9-5 versus all teams with an above .500 record with many of those versus current playoff teams/teams knocking on the door step.

I’d like to see your breakdown on each series because to me, in that 20 game stretch I see them more so going 10-10/11-9 ish
5-1 versus tigers
1-2 versus Blue Jays
2-1 versus WS
0-2 versus Padres
1-3 versus Mariners
1-1 versus Baltimore

Not to mention those Toronto, San Diego and Seattle games are all road games

This isn’t the Mariners and Orioles of old. You can’t just pencil Cleveland winning all those games

[Eckstein197]

Here’s how I’m expecting the rest of august to finish out

0-1 Dodgers
2-1 angels
2-1 Royals
2-2 Rangers (really wanna go 3-1 here but I’ll be safe and say 2-2)
1-2 Astros
2-1 Giants
2-1 Red Sox

Giving them a record of 11-9 but leaning 12-8 with going 3-1 versus rangers

Giants and Red Sox falling out of the WC race and playing some bad baseball

[dashcol]

This is the way I see it:

Twins

0-1 Dodgers
2-1 Angels
3-0 Royals
3-1 Rangers
0-3 Astros
2-1 Giants
2-1 Red Sox

That makes the Twins 12-8 (sorry I mis counted in the first post I made, 20 games not 19)

Guardians

2-0 Tigers
1-2 Blue Jays
4-0 Tigers
2-1 White Sox
1-1 Padres
3-1 Mariners
2-0 Orioles

That makes the Guardians 15-5. So 3 games up on the Twins.

I could also see the Guardians losing both games to the Padres, so that would change it a bit or the Tigers not getting swept. Even if the Tiger win 2 games and the Padres win both, that still leaves them 12-8, which would have the Twins and Guardians tied on October 1.

[Eckstein197]

Originally Posted by dashcol

This is the way I see it:

Twins

0-1 Dodgers
2-1 Angels
3-0 Royals
3-1 Rangers
0-3 Astros
2-1 Giants
2-1 Red Sox

That makes the Twins 12-8 (sorry I mis counted in the first post I made, 20 games not 19)

Guardians

2-0 Tigers
1-2 Blue Jays
4-0 Tigers
2-1 White Sox
1-1 Padres
3-1 Mariners
2-0 Orioles

That makes the Guardians 15-5. So 3 games up on the Twins.

I could also see the Guardians losing both games to the Padres, so that would change it a bit or the Tigers not getting swept. Even if the Tiger win 2 games and the Padres win both, that still leaves them 12-8, which would have the Twins and Guardians tied on October 1.

But why do you assume they’d go 5-1 versus the Mariners and Orioles? The Mariners and Orioles have been better than Cleveland overall this season and especially recently. Orioles have the 2nd best record in the mlb over the last 30 games. Especially with those Mariners games on the road, expecting Cleveland to take 3 out of 4 feels unrealistic

[dashcol]

Originally Posted by Eckstein197

But why do you assume they’d go 5-1 versus the Mariners and Orioles? The Mariners and Orioles have been better than Cleveland overall this season and especially recently. Orioles have the 2nd best record in the mlb over the last 30 games. Especially with those Mariners games on the road, expecting Cleveland to take 3 out of 4 feels unrealistic

In the Orioles series, only 2 of the 3 games are in August, I would have them go 2-1 in the entire series, I just counted the two wins as the first two games to play worst case. In reality, that could be changed to 1-1.

That would make it 4-2.

As far as the Mariners go that’s just my take. In the last 30 games, yes they beat the Yankees three times, which is hard to do, but they also split the series with the Angels, but on the other hand, they dominated Texas. I could see them maybe just splitting with Cleveland, but also not put of the question to get swept, which is why I chose 3-1. Again, I tend to go worst case and am happy when I am wrong.

If I have Seattle split with them, that makes it 3-3.

That is still 13-7, 1 game up on Twins.

I did think about it, didn’t just arbitrarily pick numbers, we just see it playing out differently.

At least I hope no matter who is right in these games, we can agree the ones that matter most important games off all of them (and hopefully most fun to watch) will be the 8 times they play each other.

[HOFAutoRookies]

Originally Posted by dashcol

This is the baseball I love. I would rather have a tight race with a couple .500-.550 teams duking it out at the end, than the AL East, AL West, and NL West being pretty much already decided.

As much as I love baseball standings drama as well, my heart can't take it lol. I'll take the guaranteed spot and enjoy watching others duke it out for the Wild Card spots, thanks!

[dashcol]

Originally Posted by HOFAutoRookies

As much as I love baseball standings drama as well, my heart can't take it lol. I'll take the guaranteed spot and enjoy watching others duke it out for the Wild Card spots, thanks!

Twins we’re guaranteed in 1987 or 1991.

In 1987 they only won their division by 2 games.

In 1991 they went from last place to World Champions, pretty sure this was the only time that has happened in history.

In the opposite side, in 2019 the Twins were 101-61, their first 100 win season since the 60s. They decisively won the AL Central that year by 8 games, and they were 28 games up on third place! This was the fourth best record in baseball.

What happened that year? That’s right, swept in the first round.

I will take the underdog Twins every time who fought all year for what they have and are proving to the world they are the best, over the Twins who dominated the season and get big heads and get proven they are not as good as they think.

Hard work and determination every time. It builds confidence and strength.

[Eckstein197]

Originally Posted by dashcol

In the Orioles series, only 2 of the 3 games are in August, I would have them go 2-1 in the entire series, I just counted the two wins as the first two games to play worst case. In reality, that could be changed to 1-1.

That would make it 4-2.

As far as the Mariners go that’s just my take. In the last 30 games, yes they beat the Yankees three times, which is hard to do, but they also split the series with the Angels, but on the other hand, they dominated Texas. I could see them maybe just splitting with Cleveland, but also not put of the question to get swept, which is why I chose 3-1. Again, I tend to go worst case and am happy when I am wrong.

If I have Seattle split with them, that makes it 3-3.

That is still 13-7, 1 game up on Twins.

I did think about it, didn’t just arbitrarily pick numbers, we just see it playing out differently.

At least I hope no matter who is right in these games, we can agree the ones that matter most important games off all of them (and hopefully most fun to watch) will be the 8 times they play each other.

That makes sense, I was just making sure the Mariners/Orioles wasn’t just a blanket statement because they have been bad in the last couple of years. Especially this Orioles team, I’m certainly glad the twins are done playing them right now

And yeah the division games in September are really the only thing that matters. Really none of the 3 of MN, Cle, CWS have any chance to really run away with the division in august through early September. Only way that would happen is if one of them got insanely hot and went something like 16-4/17-3 which having watched all 3 of these teams a lot this year, is basically impossible

One luxury the twins have is their schedule gets a lot easier coming up.

The way these whole schedules broke down, when the all star break ended, if the twins were still in first/held a share of first/within a game of first come Friday August 12, that would be labeled as a win. Because when the twins schedule was tough, the WS schedule was easy and the guardians schedule was middle of the road.

The WS have closed the gap but that is what they were supposed to do. They had a 19 game stretch (5 to go, 14 down) in which every team they played was below .500. And so far they’re 8-6. They certainly could finish strong but if they sputter to the end here, they would have missed an excellent opportunity to take the division lead.

And from now until the end of august, Twins have the easiest schedule, Guardians and WS have tougher roads ahead. Guardians 18 of their next 24 games are against teams with records above 500, WS have 13 of their next 24 against above 500 record teams and the twins only have 7 of their next 24 versus teams above 500

[HOFAutoRookies]

Originally Posted by dashcol

Twins we’re guaranteed in 1987 or 1991.

In 1987 they only won their division by 2 games.

In 1991 they went from last place to World Champions, pretty sure this was the only time that has happened in history.

In the opposite side, in 2019 the Twins were 101-61, their first 100 win season since the 60s. They decisively won the AL Central that year by 8 games, and they were 28 games up on third place! This was the fourth best record in baseball.

What happened that year? That’s right, swept in the first round.

I will take the underdog Twins every time who fought all year for what they have and are proving to the world they are the best, over the Twins who dominated the season and get big heads and get proven they are not as good as they think.

Hard work and determination every time. It builds confidence and strength.

That means absolutely nothing.

The underdog Twins who haven't won a playoff series in 20 years? Yeah, no. The Twins have been basically underdogs all throughout their playoff appearances the last 20 years, hasn't really done anything for us being an underdog.

Fine, I'll change my narrative to how about we get out of the 1st round for once.