Zulgad: Twins fell apart in loss to Padres, but TV team of Cory Provus and Trevor Plouffe hit a home run
Broadcasters provide a breath of fresh air by questioning Rocco Baldelli's decisions and making no attempt to sugarcoat reliever's meltdown.
As difficult as it was for Minnesota Twins fans to watch the bullpen collapse for the second time in three games on Tuesday night, listening to Cory Provus and Trevor Plouffe describe the meltdown on Bally Sports North was one of the most refreshing moments on Twins TV in recent memory.
One of my biggest frustrations with Bally Sports North’s coverage of the Twins and Wild — the Timberwolves outstanding broadcast team of Michael Grady and Jim Petersen aren’t guilty of this — has been that poor performances are far too often given a hometown spin.
The primary reason I was excited when Provus moved from radio play-by-play to television to replace Dick Bremer this offseason was because he never seemed to have a problem calling out questionable decision-making by manager Rocco Baldelli or poor play by the team. That was in contrast to Bremer’s reluctance to ever bring the hammer down on the Twins.
Unfortunately, the opportunity to watch Provus and the rotating group of analysts the Twins use, ended on May 1 when Bally Sports North was pulled off Comcast because of a carriage dispute. The stalemate ended this month and the assumption that Provus wouldn’t provide the Twins with any free passes was confirmed on Tuesday.
Only it was better than just hearing Provus give his opinion on Baldelli and Co. He was joined in the booth by Plouffe, the former Twins third baseman and now a rising star in the podcast business at Jomboy Media.
As lefty reliever Steven Okert turned a 5-3 Twins lead into a 7-5 loss, Provus and Plouffe wondered about the whereabouts of Twins closer Jhoan Duran or even Jorge Alcala. Alcala was coming off a brutal outing himself, giving up five runs in two-thirds of an inning on Sunday in Texas, as he blew a 4-0 lead in an eventual 6-5, 10-inning loss.
The Twins’ lip service was that Alcala needed to get back out there ASAP and erase the memory of his meltdown. Instead, Duran and Alcala watched as Okert (not surprisingly) imploded. Plouffe surmised that Duran and Alcala both must have been off limits for this game.
Afterward, Baldelli said that wasn’t the case. The fact that Provus and Plouffe were willing to go there, or that Plouffe is willing to question pitch calling or selection, or any other topic to which a good analyst will draw attention, provides evidence that the broadcasts are now focused on informing the viewer and not protecting the team. Provus, to his credit, isn’t afraid to take a deep dive into the stats to show where the Twins are succeeding and failing.
Tuesday’s telecast provided the reason why Plouffe would be the ideal full-time analyst to work with Provus. The team has spent recent years using a roster of former players as analysts. Justin Morneau is the main guy. Others in the mix include Glen Perkins, Roy Smalley, LaTroy Hawkins and Denard Span. (A three-man booth of Provus, Perkins and Plouffe could be one of the best in MLB.)
Provus has good chemistry with all of them, but it’s especially strong with Plouffe. Plouffe, who also appears every Tuesday with Phil Mackey, Declan Goff and me on the SKOR North Twins show, is a broadcaster who happens to be a former player and has no interest in sugarcoating the truth.
This doesn’t mean that Provus and Plouffe don’t want the Twins to win. Quite the opposite. They are invested in the Twins’ success. But when things go wrong, or the manager makes a head-scratching decision, they are going to do what everyone at home does and ask questions. It’s refreshing to hear broadcasters who aren’t assuming fans are chugging Twins Kool-Aid.
Plouffe said this week that while he loves doing games, the most important thing for him is to be able to spend time with his family at their California home.
Provus, however, is the full-time play-by-play guy and, just like he did on radio, he is providing a breath of fresh air on television. No longer are we hearing regular excuses for the Twins’ struggles.
The kid gloves have been put away and Twins fans are better off for it.
It was painful to watch both the implosion in Texas and last night. Appreciate Declan’s take that Rocco is making a point, but is this the time to do that? Considering the team’s bats attempted to mitigate both disasters, seems like you could lose the clubhouse really quickly with these judgement calls. If Rocco is truly doing that, I question his leadership.