Twins 2023 Thread

At least he didn’t whiff for a change.

I’m actually not that upset. Not like Taylor has been close to getting a hit.

To be honest, I really didn’t expect him to make contact.

Season on the line with the two, three, and four hitters coming up. It should be easy right?

Pressly is awful good. Always a chance though.

An all-Texas ALCS huh.

That was a clinic by Pressly. Absolutely filthy pitches to finish off Lewis and Kepler. Got some nice post season experience that we can hopefully use next season.

Go Rangers!!!

Fuuuucccckkk…. Kudos to the Astros, they were better….we had 2,3,4 upto bat in the 9th and they all K’d, cant ask for a better setup for the Twins, Pressly was better…

Twins are build for a long run of contention, they will be fun to watch grow up together moving forward.

I don’t like Houston, but I do like Dusty Baker.

buckybadger wrote:

I don’t like Houston, but I do like Dusty Baker.

What an icon, a living legend. I’m happy for him.

The Twins are the first team in MLB history to play at least 6 games in a single postseason and strike out 10+ times in every one.

We broke the single season record for K’s so that doesn’t shock me at all.

Going to miss Sonny Gray.
Tip of the cap Sonny.

Not sure any team is better than the Astros over the past 5-6 years. They are a pretty seasoned playoff team. Took the Yankees in a sweep last year in the ALCS. 4 world series in 6 years and on the doorstep to another.

The announcers had an interesting stat last night. American League East teams are 0 – 11 in their last 11 playoff games including the sweep mentioned above. The AL East was 0 – 7 in 2023.

I give the Twins a lot of credit. Advanced out of the first round and were mostly competitive against the Astros. But I am disappointed it’s over.

lindyrig79 wrote:

I give the Twins a lot of credit. Advanced out of the first round and were mostly competitive against the Astros. But I am disappointed it’s over.

Agreed. With a lot of unproven players as well. The bullpen may have changed my mind on it’s overall talent in the game tonight. Other than Theilbar, they were unhittable. And I REALLY want to see Paddock in the rotation next season. Wouldn’t be surprised if they found a way to give Gray an extension either.

We all knew they were not good enough to get past a Houston or Texas team but they tried their little hearts out.

sure would be fun to watch a game 5

I only caught the last 3 innings but if you watched this you know what is the likely outcome.

I’m sorry but the Buston cameo was desperation at its finest. I almost feel bad for all the poorly educated fans who actually paid to wear a jersey with his name on it.

If we have found anything positive is that this is Royce’s team and the future is actually bright.

I think you can find a lot of positives.

Feel bad for Thielbar hometown kid looked almost teary eyed when he came out.

It was a good run and definitely fun to get that first win and a series win. If they could have pulled it off last night I think they definitely had a good shot in game 5. A lot of positives as has been said, but the limelight was too bright for a few of the rookies. They shouldnt have taken out Ryan when they did nor Paddock. Thielbar shouldnt have been in there. Even the analytics said those lefties hit lefties really well so our braintrust blundered that one.

the only thing that bothered me this season and in the playoffs is the amount of strikeouts, but that’s kind of a trend in the league now (all runs last night came from HR’s)… Kepler can’t take TWO called three strikes looking in his final 2 critical at bats…You MUST protect the plate with 2 strikes, learned that in little league…

JoeMX1825 wrote:

Kepler can’t take TWO called three strikes looking in his final 2 critical at bats…You MUST protect the plate with 2 strikes, learned that in little league…

Ya I thought that too. Can’t stand there and look at it when the season is on the line. Better off swinging and missing than standing there with the bat on your shoulders.

It was a good year, we have a future with our young players, and hopefully this experience and the taste of the playoffs will drive them to better things in the next couple of years. It will be interesting to see who stays and who leaves for next year.

Already thinking of next season –

Baseball is a game of timing, mechanics, routine… Buxton not only has a significant injury – but no real game time or playoff caliber hitting experience for an extended period. Rocco had no business even putting him on the roster let alone as a pinch hitter late in a critical ballgame. So what value does he really have in the future of this team?

I think anything is on the table for Buxton going forward – including taking all of 2024 off to have a partial/total knee reconstruction. Ligaments like Lewis tore can be fixed, shredded cartilage like Buxton has can’t. He’s currently damaged beyond being a serviceable major league player and has nothing to lose but another year off to recover with the chance of returning to at least 80-90% of what he once was. If a total knee isn’t realistic for a professional athlete that relies on speed, then he’s likely done.

Is there any chance they bring Gray back? I see a lot of people just considering him gone, but I hope they take a run at signing him if at least for one more year. He was fantastic this year, but didnt get any run support. His game this series wasnt good, but otherwise he carried this team with excellent starts, but a mediocre record to show for it.

Most fun season in recent years.
Now for the criticism.

How many times do you let players struggle with an injury before you take them out? Kirilloff’s right shoulder has been bothering him for over a week.

The Twin’s brass say more strikeouts are part of the game. Well, if you strike out you don’t put the ball in play which: 1) could be a hit, 2) a fielder’s choice and move runner(s) up, 3) an error that gets you on base and/or moves runner(s) up, 4) a sacrifice fly, yada, yada, yada. Can anyone find how many of the strikeouts were looking? Kepler’s last pitch was embarrassing that he took it.

On the pregame show on the radio, Baldelli said Ryan would have a short leash because the bullpen is stacked with flame throwers ready to go. In the game he couldn’t stop himself to put Thielbar in the game for the lefty-lefty matchups. Alvarez did not do well off the flamethrowers with good curve balls.

Last night’s home plate ump was the worst I saw in any of the Twin’s games. It is time for the electronic strike zone.

Two biggest decisions this offseason are?

1) Do they re-sign Gray? or roll with Lopez, Ryan, Maeda, Paddack & Varland
2) What do they do with Buxton? They need to cut bait with him, but what does that look like contractually? I know his deal is primarily based on playtime, but he just signed it. We have guys who stay healthy who can replace him on much cheaper contracts…

I think ideally you extend Gray for another year or two, get Paddock in the rotation and keep Varland as a reliever. I don’t think it’s out of the question they can extend Gray. Only problem with Taylor is he had by far a career year offensively. That’s not going to happen again. And he was terrible from august on.

Agree that the strikeouts are what killed them this series. Many runners left on base because of strikeouts. Was there a single sac fly this series? The HR or bust strategy needs to go away, especially for guys like Lewis going forward.

Kepler’s first K was a total blown call by the ump and changed the entire game. But Kepler has to be protecting the plate with 2 strikes in the 9th – he already knows that the ump is unpredictable.

Very glad the playoff monkey is off our back, and the Twins have a promising future with their lineup and rotation. They just need to make more contact and have more clutch hitting.

Playoffs kind of ended with a dud but I would say this past week of sweeping the Blue Jays and a somewhat competitive (it felt like we could be in it) ALDS was a lot of fun.

Would be a great sign from the Pohlads to keep Gray around. They’ve got an opportunity to show the fans they want more of this atmosphere.