Happy Joe Nathan Day!
Hopefully, the home team will honor its best ever reliever (seriously, his 2006 in particular was insane -- Rivera never matched Nathan's 39 FIP-) by giving up a few obligatory baserunners, then utterly destroying all remaining batters on their way to a scoreless game.
Attempting that feat will be Kyle Gibson, and you know what? Good Gibby could accomplish that. In his 10 wins, he's been holding the opposition to a .544 OPS, coupled with a 2.44 ERA.
In his losses.... it's a .982 and a 7.52. I don't know for sure, but that's got to be up there in terms of game outcome splits. I still think he's your third starter in a playoff rotation, but I'd have Odorizzi standing by from the first pitch on.
Gotta stick with Cruz for a boomstick tonight.
Go Twins!
I'm currently resisting the urge to text my brother something about how, while he has much less of it, at least his hair isn't as gray as his classmate that I'm seeing on the pregame.
Wooo! Baseball is coming up!
Do we have a first pitch ETA?
Well, I may have spoke too soon. They got the tarp off for the ceremony but it looks like they'll probably be putting it back on after.
Brad Radke is a good looking man
Aggie, too.
"world class person" torii hunter. Gag me.
I loved that Nathan/Santana commercial.
I don't understand why MLB.tv doesn't carry the pre game ceremonies.
Also why can't they provide any kind of update on time expected during weather delays?
Also, this would have been a much better hand for the free game of the day than whatever game they picked. (so I don't have to listen to DicknBert after this).
Conflicting emotions there. Great that he's a cribbage guy, less so that he's a Bud Light guy.
Also called the Pohlads great people
Encarnacion breaks wrist? Sucks to be him, but suck it, Yanks
We haz baseballs!
*tries to prod Gameday awake*
Good Gibby sighting!
Good Gibby, Bad Gibby, you get 2 for 1!
WHIP still under 1.00*
*subject to change
OK, I'll admit all in all we got Good Gibby tonight.
April-May Odorizzi maybe.
I miss that guy. I also find it hilarious* that the two guys selected to the all star game have been shitty since the all star game.
*I do not find this hilarious
You mean the original 2 because Berrios has been fine.
Not sure if Polanco has been shitty though. .794 OPS is acceptable. Hopefully, he can get a bit closer to his pre-all star form.
Are you suggesting they leave odor off the playoff roster entirely?
Definitely not. I am suggesting he has opened up competition for the #2 starter.
I'd say that if he's healthy, Pineda is that guy right now. I'd say that Gibby would be my number three.
Too bad they let him go a year too early. He was replacement level in his first year back but then vintage Nathan for two more years before time caught up.
Cruzhed!!
Man, when Cruz is on a roll...
Oh, hell, I'm just going to pick Cruz for the rest of the year and be done with it. The odds will be on my side.
Joe west sucks
Cron!
Welcome back, seej.
Welcome back CJ!
I think that Cron should probably be platooned (his splits are extensive), but he absolutely crushes lefties.
Of COURSE Aaron Sanchez throws Sox no hit innings in his first start with the Astros.
Astros can fix anything.
Hip! Hip!
Jorge!
I laughed at this, I did.
I was setting somebody up. Didn't think it would take 3 hours
I'll admit that was a large part of why I laughed.
Una Polanco Bomba
Silly Royals. Should have made the bases loaded.
oh my goodness
My goodness did Cruz mash that tater
Holy shit
On pace for 18 homers tonight, should KC tie it up late
According to the KC feed, Duffy had the 3rd best era of any pitcher at target field (minimum 8 starts). Well I betting he's not 3rd any more.
My “Cruz hits 2 bombas in a game” I made yesterday runs through the weekend right?
Still not sure all the rules, but sure, I guess so.
Dang, there went my winner
Kudos to Dazzle for not Gordo'ing that at all. He stated how he watches the outfielder, not the flight of the ball
Gladden is very good at that. Now I know why.
Yeah, of course being a former outfielder, you should go with what you know.
Juuuuuust missed it.
Good Gibby and mashed taters. That’s a satisfying meal.
Dude is on fire!!!
Goodness
I’d say Cruz is seeing the ball well lately.
Cruz goes several thousand AB without a 3-HR game, then does it a couple times in two weeks. Baseball is wonderfully weird
I just updated the bombas count too.
Six home runs tonight? Keep inching that record up.
Count again, Kemosabe
I had the bombas count right too but couldn't remember two more minutes for the LTE.
We've all had those evenings. Twins aren't done yet though
Nope, still five. One more to get the six-homer record higher.
Man. Cruz is on it.
The Tria orthopedic ads with Buxton are too on the nose.
Yeah, you walk Billy Hamilton you deserve to be immediately removed from the game.
I really wanted Billy Hamilton to be a half way decent baseball player, but man his bat is terrible.
Fortunately, the Twins have their own idealized version. Now they just gotta tell him to quit running into the fucking wall.
Twins should have traded for him to be a pinch-running specialist in the postseason. Other than Polanco and the outfielders, they will want to have somebody to run for pretty much everybody else when down a run late.
Not sure if you are serious, or being sarcastic.
I would think Adrianza will be on the bench during the playoffs, so he can be that pinch running option. He will not steal many bases but can be that extra speed on the bases in late inning situations and then goes in as a defensive replacement. Also, if everyone is healthy, a typical lineup may have Gonzalez and Arraez on the bench. Both are significant upgrades in speed over the slower infielders we may have. I don't think our organization is the type who will be attempting to steal a base in those situation. We just want a runner who can potentially take the extra base on a double or gap single.
This makes me imagine a healthy post season roster. We could potentially have a bench of Adrianza, Arraez, Gonzalez and Castro. That is a significant upgrade over past years.
Every year?
Pretty great that they induct the best closer they've ever had and then win a laugher.