Trekgeekscott -> RE: Twins 2023 Season and Game Day Thread (3/27/2023 12:21:42 PM)
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ORIGINAL: TJSweens Log in TWINS Sonny Gray disapproved of Twins' 2022 rotation plan Newly acquired Twins pitcher Sonny Gray spoke with pitching coach Wes Johnson, left, during Tuesday’s workout.Newly acquired Twins pitcher Sonny Gray spoke with pitching coach Wes Johnson, left, during Tuesday’s workout. — Jeff Wheeler, Star Tribune 28 Listen By PHIL MILLER , STAR TRIBUNE March 26, 2023 - 5:50 PM FORT MYERS, FLA. – Sonny Gray pitched three hitless innings to help beat Boston on Sunday, then all but vowed it would be the last time this year that he does that. Not the hitless part. The knock-off-early part. "I don't think we're interested in going four innings and being happy. I feel like we had a group last year that was pretty content with going four innings, [where] four innings and five innings is considered a good start," Gray said of the Twins' 2022 rotation, which had 110 starts that lasted five innings or fewer, more than any other MLB team. "I disagreed with that then. I disagree with that now, but I feel like just the guys we have aren't content with it either, which is what you want as a rotation." Gray himself threw a pitch in the sixth inning or later in only nine of his 24 starts last season, after the shortened spring training gave him too little time to prepare for the season. That's completely different this year, Gray said, and he's ready to shoulder a more normal burden. "My stuff is good. Filling up the zone with all pitches is important, just filling up the zone and attacking guys," Gray said after striking out four Boston hitters and finishing spring training with a 1.86 ERA in four starts. "I feel like my put-away pitches, my two-strike pitches, are in a much better spot than they have been in a couple years." Souhan: Minnesota sports power trio now, but back then just three guys with big ideas He's eager to see what the rest of the rotation can do, too. "The potential is — obviously, you can see it. We'll see how it all shakes out. I do know that everybody wants it, especially after last year," Gray said. "You want to build off each other. You don't want to go out there and throw four innings and walk away happy about it." Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said he liked Gray's spirit, his eagerness to pitch well, though "it's my job to decide when they pitch, how long they pitch and how we win the games." Still, the manager said, "Sonny is a tremendous competitor and I want our guys to always want to be out there and get the next out." I think it's great that the 4-inning wonders, Archer and Bundy, have been shown the door. We're gonna see guys pitch into the 7th much more often this year. If we don't, Gray, Mahle, will not come back. Free agents will not want to come here as long as Rocco is here and Lopez will probably want to be traded.
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