Three quick thoughts from LEN3 following the Twins loss to Kansas City:
Moya better: Gabriel Moya walked a batter in the first inning on Thursday, and I think manager Paul Molitor actually had a reliever in the bullpen (not Gonsalves) start warming up. But Moya got out of that inning and then pitched a 1-2-3 second inning to give the Twins the opening they have been looking for. "Moya, I think he did a nice job," Molitor said. "He used all his pitches and got ourselves in good position to turn it over." That lowered Moya's ERA to 4.70 in 27 appearances. Can the Twins get way with Moya and Taylor Rogers as the lefties next season? Moya doesn't have top stuff but has guts and he's figuring out how to get righthanders out. They entered Thursday batting .257 against him, then they went 0-for-4 against him on Thursday.
Buse could be better: Alan Busenitz has a good breaking ball and good mid 90's fastball to be a quality reliever in his league. But he's struggling to find the consistency he needs to succeed. He gave up a double and two homers on Thursday. The double to Hunter Dozier came on an 0-2 pitch that Dozier could handle. The home run to Salvador Perez was supposed to be up in the zone but, as Molitor said, was 'center cut.' Then he left a breaking up to Jorge Bonifacio. This is the fourth consecutive outing Busenitz has given up an earned run - seven earned runs over his last two appearances. And four home runs over his last five outings. "It's very frustrating because I know what I'm capable of and I'm not doing it," Busenitz said. "You gotta work on it and get better and not make the same stupid mistakes."
Is Polanco a bad shortstop?: I want to say no. He has 12 errors in a short season because of a drug suspension. Not good. But his Fielding Bible numbers aren't and his Defensive Runs Saved on fangraphs is right at 0. I guess want your shortstop to be in the plus category - Andrelton Simmons at 22 is excellent and I had no idea Nick Ahmed (20) was that slick. Carlos Correa, by the way, is -5 on fangraphs and Xander Bogaerts, my goodness, is -17. Wow. I'm willing to ride it out with Polanco. I think he's going to be a good hitter. And I wonder if some of those errors are concentration errors because these are the dog days.
