Even Rocco Baldelli is Sick of Watching the Twins Suck

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PHOTO: JIM MONE - ASSOCIATED PRESS

The (52-47) Minnesota Twins are officially riding the struggle bus. Most who pay close enough attention already knew that. It’s not a mystery. It only takes a quick glance at their recent schedule to see they’ve piled up 10 losses in their last 15 games. But the Twins’s struggles became official last night, after a 10-1 loss in San Diego at the hands of the Padres.

Rocco Blows Up

Twins’ manager, Rocco Baldelli, is never going to stomp around or throw things across the room. But for his standards, Rocco went completely off the rails Friday night (early Saturday morning back in Minnesota). Remember, under normal circumstances, Rocco Baldelli is THE worst interview in all of pro sports. But last night, he was open, honest and pointed in his criticism. Start at the 45-second mark. I’ve transcribed some of the better quotes below.

“We’re not playing good baseball right now. We’re not pitching real good. It’s hard to get back into some of these games and we didn’t have the at-bats to do that today.” – Rocco Baldelli

“Sometimes, it’s not too bad to just call yourself out as not being good enough. The level of play is not where it needs to be in any way right now. Acknowledging that is the first step. We are going to have to battle much better than what we’re doing right now, if we’re going to get where we need to be. And we have to do that every night. It can’t be two out of every three days, we put it all together and play a competitive game. We have to figure some things out and do it quickly. Our players know that and our staff knows that. We gotta play better if we’re going to be talking about playing later on this season.” – Rocco Baldelli

Normally, it’s impossible for reporters to pry a worthy answer out of Rocco, no matter where or when questions are being asked. He’s intentionally bland and NEVER throws his players, or even the team as a whole, under the bus.

Rocco Baldelli Unhinged

In fact, I’m not sure I’ve seen Rocco Baldelli this upset. Have you watched his previous 482 postgame interviews as Twins’ manager? They make this “rant” look like Dennis Green’s “Crown ‘Em” tyrade from back in the day. He might as well be Mike Zimmer “snapping” on Kirk Cousins after a week 5 victory.

What a great line of questioning by Audra Martin (Bally Sports North), too. She sensed his frustration and a sudden willingness to discuss it so she pounced. The other media members followed her lead nicely and it culminated in possibly the best Rocco quotes in his three years here.

“Sometimes, the shock treatment isn’t the worst thing, I think. Actually, letting everyone in here know the truth, as far as what we are at the moment. I think we’re a good ballclub. I think we’re capable of a lot. But we’re not showing very much of that at this moment in time. The thing is, we have time to make it work and to get together and to play the kind of baseball we need to. We have time, but we don’t have much time. I mean, it has to start today, is when it has to start” – Rocco Baldelli

Now, let’s see that same sense of urgency from the Minnesota Twins’ front office. Because we all know the cause of this consternation. Terrible pitching. Something Derek Falvey and Thad Levine have just over 72 hours to fix. The trade deadline is Tuesday at 5 PM CDT.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

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