There are players on the team not pulling their weight. Jorge Lopez continues to pull up the rear in the Bullpen (although he always makes himself available in the locker room for The Media, which is something I admire). Meanwhile, Aaron Gleeman in The Athletic had a breakdown advocating for the organization to move on from Max Kepler. The Twins were open to trading him, but no franchise met their asking price, so he is staying in Right Field, where he still has a great arm but (along with Byron Buxton and Carlos Correa) is weighing down the Lineup. Meanwhile, the way to a permanent spot in the majors is blocked for the next two guys in the pipeline, Trevor Larnach and Matt Wallner, both of whom the squad feel has much better upside. The entire situation could be alleviated if Kepler agrees to play more in Center, but he has told the team he won't play that position anymore. Well, frankly, if he doesn't agree to do that, I would just fucking cut him. The bats on this club could use a shake-up.
After playing the fourth and final showdown in the series against Cleveland, they'll be on the road the rest of the screening Week, with three in St. Petersburg versus The Tampa Bay Rays (The Best Team In Major League Baseball) starting on Tuesday and then three in Toronto beginning Friday.
#-2: Lynx (Last Week: -3). Hey, they finally won! Well, they endured three Losses to begin the Week (to Las Vegas, Dallas and Connecticut) to start the season at 0-6, something the franchise has done only once before. But in Washington, DC last/Saturday night, they finally got off the schneid by beating the Mystics, 80-78. And this one was a nail-biter; Minnesota led by ten going into the Fourth Quarter, but the Mystics managed to tie it up late. But Tiffany Mitchell put back her own miss with three Seconds left in the Game to win it.
Surprisingly, they're not last in the WNBA; that goes to once-proud Seattle, who, without the retired Sue Bird and Breanna Stewart deciding to get hers and super-teaming it in New York, is 0-4. (I just noticed that the Lynx have played seven Games, more than any other team. Go figure.) Still don't think they'll make the playoffs, and I still don't think they should make the playoffs, either.
After a hectic four matchups this past screening Week, this screening Week will be much lighter: At the Liberty Wednesday, home to Aliyah Boston Friday.
#-3: United FC (Last Week: -2). Gave up a late Game-winning Goal to Austin's Sebastian Driussi to lose on the road Wednesday, 2-1, then came back to score in the 89th last/Saturday night to tie Toronto at Allianz. But the big story was the return of Emanuel Reynoso. He was named to the bench versus TFC, and in the 65th Minute, seven Minutes after Lorenzo Insigne scored on a piss-poor giveaway in the offensive half, Adrian Heath broke glass and put in Bebelo. And in his short time, even though he may probably not be at 100% fitness, he made a difference. His sending-in caused the chaos that eventually allowed substitute Kervin Arriaga to kick the ball that bumpered around some Toronto defenders and into the net. It was one of those nights where that was the only way the Loons were going to score.
I do feel better now that Reynoso, whose prolonged absence still hasn't been explained, now seems to have his head back into playing for MNUFC. But we still have a striker problem. We still have a motivation problem; the XI didn't seem to play with any urgency and character until they went down a Goal. They know they can play aggressively from the first whistle, right? And I don't know how much Reynoso can help on the defensive end; I blame both the Game-winning tally for Austin FC and the sole Goal for Toronto FC on the D.
They have won only twice this Year at home, one of which was in league play. Conversely, they have won four times on the road. And they'll be on the road (for MLS action at least) the rest of June; they're in Montreal Saturday. Hey, maybe they'll win there.
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