The Twins fell to 4-10 on Friday after a 7-6 loss at home to the Detroit Tigers.
And it was a Friday night game, typically the perfect time to blow off some steam after a long work week and usher in the weekend with nine innings of fun. Unfortunately — and this is 14 games into the new season — only 12,900 fans could be bothered to attend.
I think it’s fair to say that something is not right with the Twins, something is not working and something needs to change. In my opinion, it’s time to fire manager Rocco Baldelli. Allow me to explain.
After the Twins collapsed in the second half of the 2024 season, the Twins made the necessary changes — changes any team would embrace. They replaced coaches, including the hitting coach, they said goodbye to general manager Thad Levine, they signed a number of players to minor league deals and they went out and got free agents Ty France, Harrison Bader and reliever Danny Coulombe.
Did they blow the door off the bank vault? No, they did not, but again this is a team for sale, so it’s no surprise that free-agent spending was muted.
Still, the Twins took steps to get better.
And yet they are not. From mid-August through the end of last season, the Twins were 12-27. Include their record from this season and the Twins are 16-37, a win-loss record that would warm the seat of any major league manager, if not get them fired.
So, if one surveys the Twins, including Derek Falvey, president of baseball operations for the club, I think the only conclusion he can come to — when absolutely nothing else has worked — is to fire the manager. It’s time to give bench coach Jayce Tingler, who has big league managing experience with the San Diego Padres, the interim title and let him try to change the trajectory of this team.
Do it now, Derek, before it’s too late. There will be those who disagree with me, but if the Twins fall to 4-14, nobody will.
Extra innings…
-The Twins again coughed up an early lead to lose. They were leading the Tigers 4-1 when reliever Jorge Alcala had a terrible sixth inning in which he couldn’t record an out. He allowed four runs on two hits with two walks, a wild pitch and no strikeouts. Alcala was tagged with the loss while fellow reliever Justin Topa blew the save.
-Want another reason to let Baldelli go? His penchant for the quick hook. Why did starter David Festa need to come out of the game after four-plus innings on 64 pitches? He allowed an unearned run and that was it. I don’t get it. Let him pitch six innings and the whole Alcala meltdown is avoided.
-On the positive side of things, the lineup showed a lot more life. Eddie Julien and Ty France had three hits apiece, Trevor Larnach had two hits and Byron Buxton homered, scored three runs, drove in two more and earned a free pass to first base. He really needs to step it up because he’s hitting .178. And that was after Friday’s performance.