If you ignore the crazy awful 0-9 start, the Twins are a .500 team. That seems about right. It's disappointing to be staring at a 7-16 team, but I would guess that it'll even out quite a bit over the course of the season.
Also, the Twins might be getting below average production from almost every spot in their lineup, but one position hasn't been a problem...
| Rk | 1B |
|---|---|
| 1 |
MIN
0.5
|
JMIVGABB, indeed. He's gotten on base in every game so far, and has gotten on base twice in 14 of them.
Today, Tyler Duffey will try to provide some stability in what has suddenly become a topsy turvy rotation. Remember when everyone was wondering where Duffey and Berrios were going to fit, and who was going to falter first? Yeah. Good times.
Twins on Leaderboards
Batting Average - Núñez - 10th (.382) *
On Base Percentage - Mauer - 1st (.451) *
Games Played - Mauer & Sano - t-10th (23)
Plate Appearances - Dozier & Mauer - t-7th (102) *
Triples - Suzuki, Núñez, Buxton & Mauer - t-8th (1)
Bases on Balls - Mauer - 2nd (20)
Bases on Balls - Sano - 4th (16)
Strikeouts - Sano - 2nd (22)
Stolen Bases - Núñez t-5th (5)
Singles - Mauer & Núñez t-10th (18)
Runs Created - Mauer- t-9th (18)
Times on Base - Mauer - 1st (46)
Hit By Pitch - Núñez - t-2nd (3)
Sacrifice Bunts - Rosario & Murphy - t-1st (2)
Sacrifice Bunts - Dozier, Duffey, & Buxton - t-7th (1)
Intentional Walks - Mauer - 1st (5)*
Intentional Walks - Escobar & Rosario - t-9th (1)
Caught Stealing - Núñez & Santana - t-7th (2)
AB/K - Mauer - 9th (8.9)
AB/HR - Park - 8th (12.4)
Outs Made - Dozier - t-7th (74)*
- Núñez' batting average adjusted down to .323 by adding outs required to qualify in plate appearances.
- This would be Mauer's highest OBP ever. At present, he's over 40 points ahead of second place.
- Mauer has been on base 17 times more in the same number of plate appearances. Move Dozier down in the batting order until he gets things figured out.
- Five intentional walks. For the guy batting before Sano. Wow.
- In the same number of plate appearances, Mauer has made 57.
WHIP - Nolasco - 4th (0.904)
BB/9 - Nolasco - 2nd (0.976)
BB/9 - Hughes - 10th (1.780)
Games Pitched - Fien - t-3rd (12)
Games Started - Hughes - t-1st (5)Complete Games - Hughes - t-1st (1)*
Hits Allowed - Hughes - t-10th (32)
K/BB - Nolasco - 2nd (8.000)
Losses - Hughes - t-1st (4)
Losses - Gibson & Jepsen - t-7th (3)
Wild Pitches - May t-1st (4)
Wild Pitches - Perkins, Milone, Santana, & O'Rourke - t-10th (2)
Hit By Pitch - Gibson - t-9th (2)
- Hughes' "complete game" was the rain-shortened 6 inning game. He's one of 6 pitchers (only 2 in the AL) credited with a complete game so far.
The only pitcher doing much in the way of positivity right now is Ricky Nolasco.
Sure.
Makes sense.
Only Joe Mauer (0.9) has a higher bWAR than Nolasco (0.8).
You left out my favorite, BB/K
Time time throw some crap on that shiny ERA of Zimmerman's today
sigh
Well, that should make for a no-guilt nap
Miscommunication costs the Twins three runs. OK, it was a horribly located pitch, but Murphy was looking for the breaking ball and got a fastball.
I don't recall ever seeing a guy slide for first base and completely missing it by 10 inches.
TWINS BASEBALL!!!!!
I love how whenever a bunt or a steal doesn't work Dazzle says it was smart baseball and a good, aggressive play, but any time the shift doesn't work it's proof that shifts are stupid and should be abandoned.
Dazzle has made that comment about shifts a few times already this season, and it's highly irritating.
How do you leave 3 billion runners on base? By having a .599 OPS with men on base and .649 OPS leading off the inning. Twins have a .759 OPS with no one on base, and that includes the leadoff batters.
The Twins went hitless with men on base. The only time they got more than one base runner in an inning is when Escobar singled after Park's home run.
Nice job by Park just getting a glove on that throw.
Twins DHs have a 146 OPS+.
That's compared to all other DHs. 1B and 3B are the only other positions the Twins are better than league average. Twins catchers have a 39 OPS+ and that's compared to all other AL catchers.
Twins down 3-0 in the second? Hey FSN why are you replaying yesterday's game?
Wow. You cannot have a more tailor-made double play.
Twins leadoff batters are 0 for their last 12 with 1 walk (which didn't score) and the Twins have Murphy leading off the third.
Make it 0-for-13.
So essentially, the Twins are starting the inning with one out. Ever wonder how many fewer runs there'd be if you only got two outs in an inning instead of three? The Twins are finding out.
And there's really no reason for it, just bad luck. In fact, the No. 1 position in the batting order has a .362 OBP and the first batter of the game has a .391 OBP.
The last time the Twins had the first two batters of an inning reach base was the ninth inning in the game when Sano hit the walkoff single. However, Santana was caught stealing after leading off with an infield single, so the Twins still didn't get two on with no outs.
Park!!!!
On the board!
Matt Christopher should write a book called No Range in Right Field
I don't know if that ball fooled Sano, or if Sano was to slow getting to that ball.
Or a combination of the two.
Man, if this season is lost, I hope Joe gets another batting title and renews his HOF chances
Duffey did alright today.
Just a Plouffe! and a blast from being in this one
I listen a lot more than I watch, but it sounds like Park is a pretty good first baseman.
That's what my impression has been too. We'll have to wait for sean's report on his metrics to know for sure, though
UZR and DRS both give him +1 run in the short time he's played at first. Prorated to a full season, UZR has him at +20.
For a guy who won both the MVP and the Cy Young in the same year, Willie Hernandez has a pretty short wiki page
Down 3, stealing second with Dozier at the plate. Molitor seriously needs to change the team's running approach
I could be one hundred percent wrong on this, but I get the impression sometimes that Molitor has lost faith in his players and is trying to win games with managing tactics because he doesn't believe his players can win them with good play. I can understand why he might think that way, but it leads you to do things like try to steal bases when you're behind by three runs in the eighth inning. Managing tactics can make a difference, but if you don't trust the players, you're not going to win many games.
I don't think he's lost faith as much as the team is in a funk and he's playing aggressively to try and turn things around. This was probably his approach during his playing days. I think he's just trying to spark the team. Also, the Twins had finally ended their streak of leadoff batters going hitless (I believe it got up to 0-for-15) and the Twins had gotten leadoff batters on for two consecutive innings without getting them past first base, including a GIDP the previous inning. I think the attempted steal with his fastest base runner was more about trying to avoid another double play than anything. The Twins had 8 base runners (including the home run) and had 1 at-bat with RISP.
That could be. In fact, it may be another way of saying what I was trying to get at. He's playing more aggressively, if you like, because he doesn't think the Twins can score runs just by hitting the ball. But ultimately, if you can't hit, you're not going to score no matter how aggressive the manager's tactics are. And in fact, as here, the aggressive approach can do more harm than good--running yourself into the very thing you were trying to avoid.
Don't SEND HIM!!!
Nice start by Duffey: five hits, seven strikeouts, no walks, and one home run.
One very, very, very bad pitch. Down the pipe to a power hitter with terrible plate discipline and it wasn't even the pitch that Murphy wanted since it looked like Murphy was crossed up. Otherwise, great game. You just wish that Upton would have fouled that off or would have been taking the first pitch.