The Minnesota Twins may be starting a Tortured Blow-It Department soon if this losing streak doesn’t end soon. They’ve lost 4 straight after losing the finale in Detroit then getting swept by Baltimore with the last game ending in a walkoff home run. We do know they will never stop battling and we think they’ve established a good clubhouse culture & they expect to have a great season in 2024.
They have responded to some adversity already this season. They lost 4 straight from April 4th through April 9th with 2 losses against Cleveland & 2 against the Los Angeles Dodgers. They responded with a great 3-2 win to snap that 4-game losing streak and a 3-game losing streak against the Dodgers. They lost the next game 8-2 in Detroit but then swept a doubleheader before the current losing streak began.
After starting the season by winning 5 straight, the Detroit Tigers have gone 5-9 since then so… let’s see if this Twins team can get something going to begin this 7-game homestand.
Here’s how both teams lined up:
Minnesota Twins Lineup:
Detroit Tigers Lineup:
Game Recap
Hey! Happy 41st Birthday to one of the Twins greats, Joe Mauer, who will enter the Baseball Hall of Fame this summer!
Happy birthday to future @BaseballHall inductee, Joe Mauer!🎈
Detroit Tigers DH led off the game & grounded out to 3rd. RF Wenceel Pérez struck out swinging for the 2nd out but LF Kerry Carpenter doubled (4) to the right field wall. 1B Spencer Torkelson singled on a softly hit ball to 2nd to Twins 2B Edouard Julien would probably make that play 9 out of 10 times but this must’ve been the time he wouldn’t make it but he quickly got to the ball & fired home to try to get Carpenter and the ball beat the runner but Twins C Christian Vázquez didn’t catch the ball after it bounced off the ground so Detroit took an early 1-0 lead. Torkelson tried for 2nd when he saw the ball get past Vázquez but the ball took a good bounce off the back wall to come back to Vázquez so he was able to get Torkelson at 2nd base to end the top of the 1st:
Detroit Tigers 1 | 0 Minnesota Twins
In the bottom of the 1st, Twins 2B Edouard Julien led off but grounded out to 2nd then DH Ryan Jeffers flew out to right field for the 2nd out but 1B Alex Kirilloff doubled (5) to center field. Recently recalled* OF Trevor Larnach then took a low slider that was called for a strike so that likely made him swing at the next pitch since the first one was called a strike but… t
Pitch 1 was called a strike. Pitch 2 was a swinging strike because it looked very similar to pitch 1.
they then tried to sneak a fastball past Mr. Larnach was ready for it:
*April 16th after OF Matt Wallner was optioned down to AAA-St. Paul.
Detroit Tigers 1 | 2 Minnesota Twins
That blast had an exit velocity of 106.9mph with a 27º launch angle and it traveled 415 feet! LARNACH!!! CF Byron Buxton struck out to end the 1st inning.
Both teams went down 1-2-3 in the 2nd inning.
In the 3rd inning, Parker Meadows got a 1-out walk on very questionable ball 4:
That would’ve been strike 3 & the 2nd out but it was called a ball.
Here’s the pitch:
The next batter struck out swinging which would’ve ended the inning but the bad call allowed the inning to continue. Meadows stole (3) 2nd base then RF Wenceel Pérez singled to left field to score Meadows from 2nd to tie the game at 2. Pérez then stole 2nd and scored on another weakly hit ball to left field by Kerry Carpenter.
Detroit Tigers 3 | 2 Minnesota Twins
The Twins went down 1-2-3 in the 3rd. Detroit followed with the same in the 4th. The Twins had a 1-out single from Trevor Larnach but did nothing with it. Both teams went down 1-2-3 in the 5th.
Detroit led off the top of the 6th with a triple from Wenceel Pérez & LF Kerry Carpenter hit a soft grounder to left field to score Pérez from 3rd & put Detroit up 4-2. Spencer Torkelson singled then Matt Vierling tried to put down a sacrifice bunt but he popped it up and Twins pitcher Joe Ryan caught it for the 1st out. Twins Manager Rocco Baldelli pulled Joe Ryan to go to LHP Kody Funderburke against left-handed hitter Colt Keith and he needed just 2 pitches to get a grounder to 2B Edouard Julien who started a 4-6-3 double play to end the 6th inning.
Detroit Tigers 4 | 2 Minnesota Twins
The Twins led off the bottom of the 6th with an Edouard Julien walk then Ryan Jeffers reached on an error when CF Parker Meadows & RF Wenceel Pérez had a miscommunication that allowed the ball to land instead of being caught advancing Julien to 3rd & Jeffers to 2nd. Kirilloff & Larnach both struck out swinging so it was up to Byron Buxton to make something out of having 2 runners in scoring position. With the count at 2-1, Buxton laid off a low knuckle curve & a low slider. Detroit pitcher Jack Flaherty tried to raise that slider a little but he hung it a little & Byron Buxton hit it to deep left field where LF Kerry Carpenter leaped to catch the ball but he misjudged it and…
Buxton was about 5 feet from putting his team in front. He thought he got enough of it so he only ended up at 2nd base & he was angry at himself for it but 1B Carlos Santana flew out to right field to end the inning.
Detroit Tigers 4 | 4 Minnesota Twins
Minnesota RHP Brock Stewart replaced Kody Funderburke. He allowed a 1-out single but induced a flyout then struck out Mark Canha looking and Canha wasn’t too happy about the last too pitches that were called strikes. He was angrier about strike 2 than strike three:
Here’s the 2nd strike (or 5th pitch):
Detroit also went to their bullpen. They brought in RHP Will Vest to face Castro, Vázquez & Farmer. Castro singled to lead off then Vázquez sacrifice bunted Will Castro to 2nd base. Kyle Farmer struck out for the 2nd out. Detroit went to LHP Andrew Chafin to face Edouard Julien so Minnesota pinch-hit for Julien with Jose Miranda but he just flew out to center field to end 7th inning.
Miranda stayed in the game at 3rd base. Kyle Farmer moved to 2nd base and RHP Griffin Jax replaced Brock Stewart to pitch the 8th inning. Jax struck out Pérez but allowed a single to Kerry Carpenter then threw a wild pitch that advanced Carpenter to 2nd. Torkelson singled to left field which advanced Carpenter to 3rd. Detroit pinch-hit Riley Greene for Matt Vierling…
HUGE STRIKEOUT from Griffin Jax!
Jax then got 2B Colt Keith to ground out to 1st to end the top of the 8th.
Detroit SS Javier Baez replaced Riley Green, playing shortstop. Zach McKinstry moved from shortstop to 2nd base.
Twins DH Ryan Jeffers flew out to right field. Manuel Margot pinch-hit for Alex Kirilloff then flew out to 2nd. Trevor Larnach grounded out to 2nd to end the 8th inning.
Margot stayed in the game as the left fielder. Larnach moved from left field to right field & LHP Caleb Thielbar replaced Griffin Jax to pitch the 9th. Detroit 2B Zach McKinstry flew out to left field. C Carson Kelly struck out swinging for the 2nd out. Parker Meadows singled to right field. Theilbar tried a pickoff throw…
The Twins caught a break when the ball got stuck under the wall padding so Parker Meadows had to go back to 2nd base. They intentionally walked Mark Canha to face rookie Wenceel Pérez and he made them pay by hitting a line drive up the middle to center field to score Meadows from 2nd and put Detroit in the lead at 5-4. Mark Canha advanced to 2nd.
Detroit Tigers 5 | 4 Minnesota Twins
Thielbar then struck out Kerry Carpenter to end the top of the 9th.
RHP Jason Foley replaced Andrew Chafin to try to close out a win for Detroit.
Byron Buxton struck out swinging for the 1st out. Carlos Santana grounded out to 1st for the 2nd out. Willi Castro worked a walk in an 8-pitch at-bat then stole 2nd base but C Christian Vázquez flew out to left field to end the game.
The Minnesota Twins were hoping to avoid a sweep in Baltimore. They were also looking to snap a 3-game losing streak and a 6-game losing streak against the Baltimore Orioles. The Minnesota Twins did have their ace on the mound in RHP Pablo López so that should improve their chances. The Orioles sent RHP Abert Suárez to the mound for his 1st start in Major League Baseball since 2016 & 1st appearance in an MLB game since 2017. A win today would make it a 3-4 record on the road trip instead of 2-5 which doesn’t sound as good.
A 6-10 record isn’t good at all but they have responded better as the season has gone on. They had a nice 3.-2 win vs the Los Angeles Dodgers before this road trip. They also swept the doubleheader in Detroit after losing 8-2 in the first game in Detroit so let’s see how they did today.
Baltimore Orioles RHP Albert Suárez struck out 2B Edouard Julien (or “What” 🤣) swinging to begin the game. He then got C Ryan Jeffers to pop up to 2nd and DH Byron Buxton to fly out to left field and he only needed 9 pitches to do it.
With Pablo López on the mound, Twins fans expected a great pitching performance but that’s easier said than done against an aggressive hitting team. He attacked SS Gunnar Henderson immediately with an outside fastball that was fouled off. The 2nd pitch was also a fastball but it was High Heat for ball 1. Another heater for the 3rd pitch was up & in and also fouled off. Pablo switched it up with a curveball but Henderson fouled that off too so Pablo went back to the heater and…
Pablo missed his spot and that baseball is now gone! So was the perfect game, the no-hitter & the shutout! Oh boy! Hopefully, Pablo will settle down.
Minnesota Twins 0 | 1 Baltimore
He struck out C Adley Rutschman swinging then got RF Ryan O’Hearn to ground out to 1st & DH Anthony Santander to pop up to the catcher to end the 1st inning.
In the top of the 2nd, Twins 3B Jose Miranda hit a 1-out double but just-called-up LF Trevor Larnach lined out to center field and CF Austin Martin grounded out to short.
Twins RHP Pablo López had a comebacker off the bat of Cedric Mullins that will wake up anyone playing or watching it:
He allowed just 1 single & struck out 6 over the next 5 innings to keep the deficit at just 1 run for his team & he was helped by CF Austin Martin’s defense on the 3rd out in the bottom of the 6th:
Look at the speed! Maybe we should call him Aston Martin?
The Twins offense wasn’t helping him out much though because they had just a 2-out double off the bat of RF Alex Kirilloff (4) in the 4th, a 2-out single from SS Willi Castro in the 5th & C Ryan Jeffers getting hit by a pitch & advancing to 2nd on a wild pitch with 1 out in the 6th but Baltimore pitcher Albert Suárez made a great defensive play to get Jeffers out at 3rd on a swinging bunt off the bat of Byron Buxton:
Suárez was then pulled & Baltimore brought in former Twins LHP Danny Coulombe to face the left-handed bat of Alex Kirilloff and he got Kirilloff to ground out to 2nd to end the top of the 6th inning with the Twins still down by a score of 1-0.
In the top of the 7th, after Jose Miranda grounded out to the pitcher for the 1st out, Twins manager Rocco Baldelli pinch-hit OF Manuel Margot for Trevor Larnach & Manuel walked so Baltimore went to RHP Jacob Webb to face Austin Martin. Austin worked the at-bat to a full count and got a high fastball that was very similar to an earlier pitch that was called a strike so maybe he was ready for it because he drove it to left center field & Manuel was off with the pitch since the count was full:
We had a tie ball game & Aston, I mean Austin, Martin was on 2nd base!!!
Minnesota Twins 1 | 1 Baltimore
Willi Castro struck out for the 2nd out.
Rocco went to his bullpen with the heart of the Orioles order coming up. He brought in LHP Steven Okert. He got Austin Hays to fly out to center field on one pitch for the 1st out. Then… 2 pitches later:
The next batter, 1B Ryan Mountcastle, singled but Cedric Mullins struck out swinging for the 2nd out. LF Colton Cowser singled which advanced Mountcastle to 3rd so Rocco went to RHP Brock Stewart to keep the game tied. Cowser stole 2nd base. Did Brock Stewart keep his team in the game:
Yes, he did!!!
The Twins got a 2-out walk from Alex Kirilloff in the 8th but Miranda struck out to end it. Baltimore got a 1-out single but Stewart got Rutschman to pop out to 3rd & struck out Hays swinging so it was on to the 9th inning.
The Orioles brought in closer RHP Craig Kimbrel. He struck out Manuel Margot then got a flyout & a lineout to send it to the bottom of the 9th. The Twins brought in RHP Griffin Jax to pitch the 9th & he struck out Anthony Santander for the 1st out. Ryan Mountcastle singled to center field to bring Cedric Mullins to the plate…
WOW! That’s rough!!! Pack your stuff & let’s go home, guys!
BAL: Gunnar Henderson (6), Anthony Santander (4), Cedric Mullins (5) -Walk-Off 2-run Home Run
Doubles MN: Jose Miranda (1); Alex Kirilloff (4)
BAL: None
2-Out RBI MN (Inning): Kyle Farmer (7th)
BAL: None
Other (Defense, Key Plays, etc…)
MN: Austin Martin: Diving Catch to end the 6th inning
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Next Up:
A 7-game homestand with a 3-game series vs the Detroit Tigers starting on Friday at 7:10 pm on Bally Sports North & a 4-game series vs the Chicago White Sox
RHP Joe Ryan (0-1, 2.60 ERA, 0.92 WHIP*)
vs
RHP Jack Flaherty (0-1, 4.91 ERA, 1.20 WHIP) *ERA=Earned Run Average, WHIP=Walks + Hits per Inning Pitched
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The Minnesota Twins played game 2 vs the Cleveland Guardians. They were trying to avoid going under .500 for the 1st time this season after losing 4-2 in their home opener on Thursday afternoon. RHP Joe Ryan (0-0, 1.69 ERA*, .750 WHIP**) was on the mound vs Cleveland’s starting pitcher RHP Carlos Carrasco (0-0, 5.40 ERA, 1.400 WHIP). *ERA = Earned Run Average or the average number of runs allowed over 9 innings pitched. *.5 – Or 1 of 10 Taylor Swift albums featured in The ERAs Tour (& soon to be 11 in Manuel Margot or 13 days & Swifties know that’s an important number. Manuel wasn’t in the starting lineup so… the Twins must NOT know how important number 13 is! 😃 **WHIP = Walks + Hits per Inning Pitched or how many baserunners a pitcher allows every inning.
In sad baseball news, Cleveland Guardians RHP & former American League Cy Young winner (2020)) Shane Bieber needs elbow surgery. That helps the Twins but it hurts baseball because Bieber is or has pitched like an ace for most of his Major League career. He was able to start the season and make 2 starts. He was 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA & a .920 WHIP. In 12.0 innings, he struck out 20 and didn’t allow a walk but he was also experiencing elbow pain & he’ll need Tommy John surgery.Ouch!
Shane Bieber needs elbow surgery.
He had pain after his Opening Day start that continued through his outing in Seattle. Imaging revealed an injury to the same ligament that gave him trouble last year. Surgery was determined to be the best path forward this time.
In the top of the 1st inning, Minnesota starter RHP Joe Ryan struck out Cleveland LF Steven Kwan on 3 pitches. That probably doesn’t happen very often. Then 2B Andrés Giménez grounded out to 2nd & 3B José Ramírez flew out to short right field. Joe Ryan needed just 11 pitches to get through his first inning.
In the bottom of the 1st, Twins 2B Edouard Julien struck out looking at a pitch that was outside:
The 7th pitch was called a strike! Oh, boy! It might be a long day!
SS Carlos Correa walked on 10 pitches. 1B Alex Kirilloff then tripled down the 1st baseline to score Carlos Correa from 1st and it was 1-0 with just 1 out. The scorer called it an error. We’ll see if that changes.* *Kirilloff did get credit for a triple so that makes 3 straight games with a triple! He’s the 5th player in team history to do that.
The Twins put the contact play on so Kirilloff was off for the plate when Byron Buxton hit the ball and he was thrown out easily for the 2nd out. RF Max Kepler struck out swinging to end the 1st inning. Carrasco had to throw 31 pitches though.
Cleveland Guardians 0 | 1 Minnesota Twins
Joe Ryan started the 2nd inning by hitting Cleveland 1B Josh Naylor with a pitch then he got CF Tyler Freeman to ground into a fielder’s choice to get Naylor out at 2nd for the 1st out. RF Will Brennan hit a grounder to right field. Freeman advanced to 2nd. DH Bo Naylor flew out to deep right field for the 2nd out. It should’ve been a strikeout looking but the umpire missed it. Freeman tagged up & advanced to 3rd then C David Fry hit a 3-run home run to left field to put Cleveland up 3-1!
SS Bryan Rocchio grounded out to short to end the half-inning but all it took was one swing to change the game. 20 pitches, 31 total for Joe Ryan.
Cleveland Guardians 3 | 1 Minnesota Twins
Bottom of 2: Twins DH Carlos Santana popped out to shallow right field for the 1st out. LF Matt Wallner struck out swinging for the 2nd out. C Ryan Jeffers few out to deep right center field to end the 2nd inning.
3rd inning: Kwan struck out swinging again. 1 out. Giménez struck out swinging too. 2 outs. Ramírez singled on a roller up the middle but Josh Naylor struck out swinging to end the top of 3.
Twins 3B Willi Castro struck out looking on a pitch that was outside. Julien walked. Correa struck out swinging but Julien was off with the pitch to steal 2nd base. Kirilloff walked but Cleveland used a Mound Visit with Byron Buxton coming to the plate. The first pitch was away & outside but it was called a strike. The next two pitches were balls then Buxton got a pitch to hit but fouled it off then struck out swinging to end the inning. So… how different is that at-bat if the 1st pitch is called a ball correctly?
Cleveland Guardians 3 | 1 Minnesota Twins
4th inning: Joe Ryan set ‘em down 1-2-3: swinging strikeout on high heat (Freeman), groundout to 2nd (Brennan) & another swinging strikeout (Bo Naylor.)
Cleveland RHP Nick Sandlin replaced RHP Carlos Carrasco:
Carlos Carrasco 3IP 1H 1R 1ER 3BB 6K No Decision (Only 3 innings pitched) (78 pitches, 42 strikes)
Kepler flew out to left field for the 1st out then both Carlos Santana & Matt Wallner struck out. Santana struckout swinging at a strike but the count was 0-2 & it should’ve been 1-1 so he would’ve at least one more pitch in his at-bat. Wallner struck out looking at pitches that were both* below the strike zone**: *Strike 2 **Strike 3
Bottom of the 4th – 3 called strikes that were out of the strike zone got Twins Hitting Coach David Popkins ejected
Suffice it to say, the Twins players & coaches were not happy with the home plate umpire. Did you know Major League Baseball changed a rule that doesn’t allow the computers (iPads, etc..) in the dugouts to access video of balls & strikes but the coaches can access the video in their offices so David Popkins knew how bad the game was being called.
The Minnesota Twins were 1-for-12 with 3 walks & 8 strikeouts(5 swinging, 3 looking) through the 4th inning. The hit was an RBI-Triple. The rest of the way they were 1-for-17 with 4 walks & 6 strikeouts (3 swinging, 3 looking). The 1 hit was a Carlos Correa 2-out single in the bottom of the 9th. There were also at least 8 bad ball/strike calls from the home plate umpires.
The Twins were 0-for-11 for the game with runners in scoring position leaving 11 men on base.
Minnesota Twins starting pitcher was replaced by RHP Jorge Alcala to start the 7th inning:
Joe Ryan 6IP 5H 3R 3ER 0BB 7K 1HR (78 pitches, 42 strikes)
Alcala pitched two good innings. He allowed just 1 hit but no walks and he struck out 2 batters.
There were a few good defensive plays but all in all, the Minnesota Twins just couldn’t get the big hit when they needed it.
CLE: RHP Nick Sandlin: 1IP 0H 0R/0ER 0BB 2K – W (2-0) RHP Cade Smith: 1.1IP 0H 0R/0ER 1BB 1K – Hold (1) RHP Hunter Gaddis: 0.2IP 0H 0R/0ER 0BB 2K – Hold (3) RHP Scott Barlow: 0.2IP 0H 0R/0ER 2BB 0K – Hold (4) RHP Tyler Beede: 1IP 0H 0R/0ER 1BB 1K – Hold (2) RHP Emmanuel Clase: 1IP 1H 0R/0ER BB 2K – Save (4)
Hitting
Home Runs MN: None
CLE: David Fry (1)
Triples MN: Alex Kirilloff (3)
CLE: None
Doubles MN: None
CLE: Brayan Rocchio (1)
2-Out RBI MN (Inning): None
CLE: David Fry (3), 2nd
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Next Up
The Minnesota Twins welcome the Los Angeles Dodgers to Target Field once again. Will a bad start to the season for the Twins offense and one of the best teams coming into their park motivate the Minnesota Twins to play better baseball?
Will Twins starting pitcher Bailey Ober’s last start motivate him to pitch better? Is Dodgers LHP James Paxton a different pitcher after all of his injuries &/or have the Dodgers helped him get back to the potential ace pitcher he was earlier in his career?
The biggest question is will an eagle attack/land on James Paxton again at Target Field and how soon will they show that footage? In the pregame show? Or when Paxton takes the mound? Or both?
The Minnesota Twins slayed some demons last season. They won their 1st playoff game 2 days shy of exactly 19 years ago. They won their first playoff series 2 days shy of exactly 21 years ago & they won their first playoff road game 19 years &… yep 2 days ago.
“We’ve got a sense of what this is like. We’ve got a sense of what’s next. We’ve gotten over a lot of humps this season that we needed to go over. Now we have a new hunger for October baseball.” – Twins C Ryan Jeffers
So… “2days*” the day we move on to a new season of Minnesota Twins baseball with a mission of winning the World Series! *See what I did there? 2days because it was… nevermind. I’ll show myself out!
“Who’s with me?”
“The team is hungry in a way that I don’t think we probably even were before. You get a taste of something like this, you show this to people, what this looks like, what it is. We’re not that far from playing in the World Series.” – Twins manager Rocco Baldelli
“I want this to serve as fuel for the guys for next year, because we’re going to be in this spot once again for a long time. If you look at the group of players we have here, they’re young, they’re going to be here for a while and we can build something special.” – Twins SS Carlos Correa
Speaking of who’s with me, who’s still with the Twins or who’s out & who’s in? Who’s where? Who’s over there? Who is that in center field?
The Buck Starts Here!
The Minnesota Twins are getting their center fielder back for the 2024 season! Byron Buxton is Back! Well… back in the field as the best defensive center fielder in the game! He was just the Designated Hitter (DH) last season as he was dealing with It’s been 584 days since Byron Buxton last played in center field. He’s had a lot of injuries and always wanted to stay “healthy” but he’s changing his mindset to:
“My goal is to be present and available — not ‘healthy.’ If I’m present and available, that means I’m playing every day. If I’m playing every day, my numbers will be where they’re supposed to be.” – Minnesota Twins CF Byron Buxton
So many people say he’s “injury prone” which we don’t think is the right statement because he’s playing a game that is prone to injury like pretty much every sport. He’s also playing in center field knowing or thinking he can get to almost any ball hit in his area or area code. Hopefully, he can play 140+ games and us Minnesota Twins fans will get to see how much that helps the 2024 Minnesota Twins. What do you think? Is a 40/40 season possible? 40 Home Runs & 40 Stolen Bases? It’s definitely possible and it’s going to be fun to watch him try to do it.
Old Twins are Gone
Major League Baseball offseasons are different now. They seem to get longer every year. DH/OF J.D Martinez signed with the New York Mets 4 days ago & LHP Jordan Montgomery reportedly signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday & there are still free agents who have yet to sign with any team.
It was a normal beginning of the offseason with all pending free agents electing free agency to see what they could get on the open market. Those pitchers/players were:
That’s a pretty big list that includes 3 pitchers who were big parts of the starting rotation at the beginning of the 2023 season in Sonny Gray, Kenta Maeda & Tyler Mahle.
That’s 9 free agents, 8 if you don’t want to count Celestino since he didn’t play any major league games in 2023, & none of them re-signed with the Twins. Maybe that’s not so strange but it seems strange.
Righty reliever Emilio Pagán signed a 2-year/$16M deal with the Cincinnati Reds. OF Joey Gallo signed with the Washington Nationals for 1-year/$5M & CF Michael A. Taylor signed with Pittsburgh for 1-year/$4M. It sounds like the Twins were interested in bringing Taylor back but he wanted more money. He made $4.5M in each of the last two seasons so he ended up taking a pay cut on a 1-year deal. OF Gilberto Celestino signed a minor-league deal with the Pirates. IF Donovan Solano & LHP Dallas Keuchel are still free agents.
New Twins to Cheer On
“Aww! Did you say you have new twins? Well… yes but not that kind of twins. Capital T!”
It’s usually out with the old & in with the new but this year, “new” could easily be “young” too. The Minnesota Twins have a lot of players who were just scratching the surface of what they can do whether that is the great hitting from 2B Edouard Julien, the power bat & arm of LF Matt Wallner, the hard-throwing from RHP Louie Varland or the clutch performance of 3B Royce Lewis. That’s four 1st or 2nd-year players that should improve and be the young core of this team for a few years.
2B Edouard Julien made the Twins front office, teammates & fans forget about the loss of Luis Arraez in the 2022-23 offseason because he takes great at-bats, has the plate discipline to earn walks and has some power too. He hit .263/.381/.459 (AVG/OBP/SLG) with 16 doubles, 16 home runs and 60 runs scored while walking 64 times & striking out 128 times. In his second game & his first leading off, he hit a line drive to begin the game then hit again in the first inning and hit his 1st career home run to put the Twins up 9-0 in the 1st inning on the road in Yankee Stadium. That’s a great way to get Twins fans to like you!
SS Royce Lewis has had to endure a lot of injuries in his career but god bless this man because his attitude never wavers. One of the biggest reasons he was taken 1st overall back in the 2017 MLB Draft is his makeup so he makes players around him better by being a great teammate. He has confidence in his abilities & loves big moments. There might not be any better way to show that than what he did on October 3rd in Game 1 of the Minnesota Twins 2023 postseason:
Minnesota’s own LF Matt Wallner forced the Twins to call him up because he showed he was ready with how well he was doing at AAA in St. Paul. He did the same thing when he was at AA in 2022. You have to love prospects that show they’re ready for a promotion during the season and it helps them get a taste of the next level of baseball. Rumor has it the Twins & manager Rocco Baldelli will probably use a right-handed platoon when there’s a lefty pitching.* *They did this in Game 1 as UTIL Willi Castro got the start in Game 1.
All 3 of the position players are starting & RHP Louie Varland is set to be the 5th starter to begin the season. He was very impressive at the end of the last season when he went to the bullpen out of necessity &in 7 games & 12.0 innings, he had a 1.50 Earned Run Average (ERA), a WHIP (Walks + Hits per Inning Pitched) of 0.583 while walking just 1 batter & striking out 17! He wants to keep starting but it’s nice to know what he might be able to bring as a reliever.
Righty reliever Jhoan Duran is entering his 3rd season & is already one of the best closers in the league because his stuff is nasty with the combination of heat, changing speeds & movement with his arsenal of pitches. The Splinker looks unhittable:
RHP Bailey Ober was left off the 2023 opening day roster but the Minnesota Twins needed him on April 23rd and he made 22 starts then was optioned to AAA on August 28th when the Twins activated Joe Ryan from the 15-Day Injured List (IL) but he was recalled a couple of weeks later to finish the season with the big club. He ended up making 26 starts. He was 8-6 with a 3.43 ERA & a 1.067 WHIP while allowing 22 home runs, walking 29 & striking out 146 batters. Did this season make the Twins more comfortable with Sonny Gray & Kenta Maeda leaving via free agency? It likely helped quite a bit.
Did they sign any Free Agents?
The Minnesota Twins did sign some free agents but they waited until after Christmas & the day after Christmas then, on December 27th, they signed free agent RHP Josh Staumont to a 1-year/$950K deal.
From Twins beat writer Do-Hyoung Park: Staumont, 30, spent the last five seasons with the Royals and served as a hard-throwing setup man out of the Kansas City bullpen until nagging injuries limited his 2022 and ‘23 seasons, ultimately resulting in a season-ending surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome last July and a non-tender after he posted a 5.40 ERA in 20 innings, with 24 strikeouts and 13 walks.
Though the aftermath of thoracic outlet syndrome can be thorny for pitchers — Twins fans have relatively recent experience in the matter with Chris Archer in ‘22, and, before that, with Phil Hughes — Staumont is currently throwing, and indications are that the Twins feel good about his condition entering the ‘24 season.
In early February on back-to-back days, the Twins signed 37-year-old 1B/DH Carlos Santana (1yr/$5.25M) & 36-year-old reliever RHP Jay Jackson (1yr/$1.5M) for some more depth at 1st base & in the bullpen. Santana is a solid hitter with dare I say “smooth” defense. Jay Jackson is another pitcher who throws his slider pitch a lot. In fact, it’s the pitch he throws the most.
How ‘about trades? Did they make any trades?
The Minnesota Twins did make some trades, 3 of them to be exact. The first one came at the end of January when they sent 2B Jorge Polanco to the Seattle Mariners for RHP Anthony DeSclafani*, RHP Justin Topa*, OF Gabriel Gonzalez**, RHP Darren Bowen** and $8M in cash. It was sad to see Jorge Polanco leave as he was a key cog in the Twins lineup for several years but he was injured a lot & now was a good time to get something for him. We’ll see how it works out but it will take some time to evaluate from the Twins side. *RHPs Anthony DeSclafani (forearm strain) & Justin Topa (left patellar tendinitis) are already dealing with injuries. DeSclafani’s sounds like it could be significant (season-ending?) too. **Gabriel Gonzalez and Darren Bowen are ranked as the Twins’s #4 and #27 prospects, per MLB Pipeline.
13 days after trading 2B/3B Jorge Polanco, the Minnesota Twins traded UTIL Nick Gordon to the Miami Marlins for reliever LHP Steven Okert. The Minnesota Twins 1st-round pick (5th overall) in 2014, Nick Gordon didn’t make his MLB debut until 2021 due to health issues & no MiLB season in 2020 due to the pandemic. He has some skills with the bat but just needs time to develop a little more. Unfortunately, he was out of minor-league options so time wasn’t on his side in Minnesota. He was sent to Miami for a lefty for their bullpen who is also out of options but is someone they can use & he’s had some success & is another pitcher that leans on his slider more often than not. He’ll start the season as the Twins 1st lefty out of the bullpen with LHP Caleb Thielbar starting the season on the Injured List due to a left hamstring strain. The only other lefty they have on their 40-man roster is LHP Kody Funderburk and he’s beginning only his 2nd season as a full-time reliever. LHP Brett Headrick is also on the 40-man roster but he’s still starting in AAA St. Paul.
We mentioned above that Minnesota Twins 2023 CF Michael A. Taylor signed with Pittsburgh so the Twins felt they needed to have a center fielder like Taylor who was capable of playing every day & brought great defense for those days that Byron Buxton won’t be playing in center field. Everyone hopes that will be about 20-25 games. So the Twins made their 3rd trade of the offseason by acquiring CF Manuel Margot from the Los Angeles Dodgers for prospect SS Noah Miller. The Twins were able to get LA to add some cash to the deal too:
Per league source: Twins will take on just $4 million of the $10 million owed to Manuel Margot this season and won't be responsible for the $2 million buyout of his 2025 team option.
It's basically a one-year, $4 million deal, with a buyout-less $12 million team option for 2025.
Minnesota Twins RF Max Kepler’s 2023 season was a tale of two halves. The first half consisted of him dealing with injuries and batting just .207/.279/.409 (AVG/OBP/SLG) in 64 games in the first half of the 2023 season or up to the All-Star break. After the 4-day break, Max Kepler seemed like a different player.
So… obviously the big question is which Max Kepler will we see in 2024? Has he learned how to control his environment and, maybe the bigger question, can he stay healthy?
How Do You “Stay Healthy?”
The word “heal” is in the word health but the pronunciation of health is “helTH” as in Hell-th! That seems wrong but for the Minnesota Twins and more than likely, all professional athletes, it’s probably right. It says a lot about how difficult is to stay healthy & it is hell to heal because your not playing the way you know you can &/or not playing at all and have to rehabilitate and watch your teammates play without you!
All athletes want nothing more than to be able to play the game with 100% health all the time but it’s an impossible task.* It becomes very difficult to play hurt because you have to change how you play or not play as hard due to not being 100% & that means you have to re-train or adapt your body & muscles to a new way of playing. That can then result in other injuries because your body hasn’t been used that way before. *How long has a player gone without having an injury in baseball and all sports? Is that even a stat? “Hey, what’s his/her Health% for this season, for their career & their entire life?… They fell down a lot when they were learning how to walk but no injuries are listed from that time.”
Great article from Dan Hayes, Twins Beat Writer for The Athletic.
That article shows the ups & downs of professional sports because some injuries can’t be prevented due to the physical nature of each sport. They know most of it starts with prevention which includes everything the players are doing before & during the season:
“The prevention side is geared a lot toward the offseason and a lot toward how you get someone ready into the season, because at that point, our sport, unlike any other sport, is the ‘get ready every day,’ And so there’s a maintenance part of that and a daily routine that a guy has to go through in order to keep his body where it needs to be. There’s a recovery thing. There’s how they eat. How they rest. What they do in the weight room, right? All of those things play a role. And then ultimately volume, how they’re playing and responding throughout the course of a season.”
Twins President & CBO (Chief Baseball Officer) Derek Falvey
Let’s hope the Twins don’t need the Heal of Health or feel the Hell of Hell-th much in the 2024 season!
Culture Can Be the Difference
The Minnesota Twins have built a very good culture with Rocco Baldelli, Carlos Correa, Byron Buxton, Pablo López and Royce Lewis just to name a few. They look like a confident group that loves each other, learned something from the 2023 postseason and wants to win more than anything else.
The Minnesota Twins have every player & pitcher working hard towards the ultimate goal of winning a championship whether that’s adding or developing a pitch or just working on every aspect of their game. At the end of the season, will the front office look back and hope they did enough to help this team win it all? It’s very hard to say and anyone can criticize anything they do but none of us know the moves they were almost able to make or didn’t make for whatever reason. There’s nothing they can do about that now. They have a good farm system with some prospects ready or very close to it and the trade option is still available.
We think they showed in the 2023 postseason that they have everything they need to win right now. Yes, some changes were made and good to great players left and new players have come it but the culture they’ve built will allow them to bring everyone together to go win it all! Now they just have to go do it!
It’s Time to Get Going!
Our 2024 Depth Chart
Catcher: Ryan Jeffers – Christian Vázquez – they have a potential replacement in Triple-A prospectJair Camargo, a strong-armed 24-year-old with 20-homer power. Camargo hit .259/.323/.503 in 90 games for St. Paul, including .288/.344/.569 in 74 games after a brutal April.
1st Base: Carlos Santana – Alex Kirilloff – Kyle Farmer – Jose Miranda
The Minnesota Twins started a 3-game Wild Card Playoff Series against the Toronto Blue Jays yesterday. They were trying to break an 18-game Postseason losing streak even though that streak had very little to do with any of the players on the 2023 team.
Quick 2023 Season Recap
The 2023 Minnesota Twins were just 45-46 at the All-Star Break and had fallen to 2nd in the American League Central Division after leading for the majority of the season.* They were swept by the Atlanta Braves in Atlanta & scored just 3 runs in the 3-game series. They responded by winning a series in Baltimore and then swept Kansas City at home but were immediately swept at home by the same Baltimore Orioles team they had just beaten. They were also outscored 24-5 in the 3-game series heading into the All-Star break. The frustration level had to be extremely high. *If you go by the Twins schedule, it’s 5 days. If you go by the Cleveland schedule, it’s 7 days. It’s probably because of off days for Minnesota.
So… they did what great teams do. They got to work and figured out what they needed to fix to right the ship. They trusted their players would come through to being the team they are supposed to be. They stuck with OF Max Kepler even though OFs Matt Wallner & Trevor Larnach were pushing for playing time. He then went on a tear to reward them for that loyalty. They also didn’t make any significant trades at the deadline, choosing to keep the team the way it was and believing they could get it done. That turned into a 42-29 2nd half W-L record that included a 33-22* record after the Trade Deadline and a team that looks very confident going into the postseason. *Yes. That means they were just 9-7 up to the Trade Deadline but after losing 4 in a row from August 8-11th, they didn’t lose more than 2 in a row the rest of the season.
Here’s the American League Wild Card Series Playoff Rosters for both teams:
No Byron Buxton (injury), Nick Gordon (injury) or Bailey Ober (only 3 games so no need for another starting pitcher.)
Here’s how both teams lined up for Game 1:
Minnesota Twins Lineup:
DH Royce Lewis & SS Carlos Correa were activated from the Injured List today so they could be on the Playoff Roster & be in the lineup for Game 1
Toronto Blue Jays Lineup:
Game Recap
Minnesota Twins RHP Pablo Lopéz, acquired from the Miami Marlins for INF & 2022 American League Batting Champion Luis Arraez, started Game 1 which should tell you that trade worked out very well for the Twins.* That was likely a tough trade to make since Luis was a beloved member of the Twins and a very positive part of the clubhouse but moves like that needed to be made to get an ace or top-of-the-rotation starting pitcher. *It worked out well for the Miami Marlins since Arraez won his 2nd consecutive batting title & the Marlins made the playoffs as well.
Toronto Blue Jays RF George Springer swung at the first pitch, fouling it down the 1st baseline but neither Twins 1B Alex Kirilloff nor RF Max Kepler could run it down. Springer then grounded to 3rd and Twins 3B Jorge Polanco double-clutched on the throw which sent it up the 1st baseline so Kirilloff had to try to make a lunging catch so his glove was in Springer’s running path and Springer stepped on the glove. Kirilloff did catch the ball but it came loose when Springer stepped on it so it was a throwing error (E5) on Jorge Polanco. Toronto DH Brandon Belt fouled out to the catcher for the 1st out. 1B Vladimir Guerrero, Jr grounded out to 2nd and Twins 2B Edouard Julien went to 1st on the fielder’s choice even though it appeared he should’ve been able to get lead runner Springer at 2nd. Toronto SS Bo Bichette popped out to right field to end the top of the 1st.
The Twins avoided a disaster with the error, what also could’ve been a bad injury to 1B Alex Kirilloff and the decision to not get the lead runner but their pitcher saved them.
Toronto Blue Jays starter RHP Kevin Gausman seemed somewhat wild from the start. Twins 2B Edouard Julien led off the bottom of the 1st. Gausman’s first pitch was on the low outside corner then he threw a high fastball & a splitter in the dirt. The 4th pitch was outside to make it 3-1 and the 5th pitch was a mistake that Julien just missed as the catcher was outside and the pitch came inside. The 6th pitch was a few inches outside to walk the first batter. Twins 3B Jorge Polanco popped up to short. LF Daulton Varsho & SS Bo Bichette collided softly as Bichette made the catch for the first out.
That brought up Twins DH Royce Lewis, who had been on the Injured List with a left hamstring strain since September 22nd but hadn’t played since September 19th. So… two weeks without an at-bat to his 1st MLB Postseason at-bat. Royce lives for these moments though. Let’s see how it went.
1st pitch was called a strike even though it was outside by what looked like 3-4 inches, 0-1
2nd pitch was in the dirt for ball 1, 1-1
3rd pitch was outside, 2-1
4th pitch was an inside splitter for a swinging strike, 2-2
5th pitch was in the dirt to fill the count, 3-2
6th pitch… fastball inside but…
the catcher set up outside and the pitch came inside so…
Twins RF Max Kepler popped out to 3rd for the 2nd out then 1B Alex Kirilloff walked but SS Carlos Correa struck out looking to end the 1st inning but damage had been done as Royce Rolls again in a big moment.
Toronto Blue Jays 0 | 2 Minnesota Twins End of the 1st
Toronto 2B Cavan Biggio grounded out to 1st to lead off the 2nd inning then C Alexander Kirk made weak contact on an outside sweeper pitcher but Twins CF Michael A. Taylor Swiftly* ran it down for the 2nd out… *See what I did there? #ALBFF Knows & the Swifties do too, of course!
That Taylor Sure is Swift! Speed ends with D for DEFENSE!
Toronto CF Kevin Kiermaier then walked on 6 pitches but 3B Matt Chapman popped up to center field where Taylor was there again to end the top of the 2nd.
Twins C Ryan Jeffers started the bottom of the 2nd with a liner but it was caught by LF Daulton Varsho for the 1st out. LF Matt Wallner walked and Michael A. Taylor singled then Edouard Julien was struck looking at a ball because it wasn’t a strike.
MLB Umpires need to be better, a lot better. This would’ve loaded the bases.
Jorge Polanco flew out to right field to end the 2nd inning.
Twins pitcher Pablo Lopéz set the Blue Jays down 1-2-3 in the 3rd on a swinging strikeout (Varsho), a popup to 1st (Springer) & a strikeout looking (Belt.) After the half inning, Blue Jays manager John Schneider had some words for the home plate umpire about his strike zone even though Toronto hadn’t really had many bad calls at that point.
Royce Lewis led off the bottom of the 3rd and Gausman threw 3 straight low balls then Lewis took the fastball down the middle but was looking for the next pitch and he sent another ball into the seats, this time into right-center field for his 2nd home run of the day, tying a record for hitting 2 home runs in his first 2 postseason at-bats that only 2 other players have done before.
Royce Lewis: 3rd player in MLB history (and second Twins player!) to homer in each of his 1st two career postseason plate appearances.
Gary Gaetti (1987) Evan Longoria (2008) Royce Lewis (2023)
Kepler grounded out to 2nd. Kirilloff lined out to left field and Correa grounded out to 3rd to end the 3rd inning but another run from another Royce Lewis Home Run has the score…
Toronto Blue Jays 0 | 3 Minnesota Twins End of the 3rd
Blue Jays 1B Vladimir Guerrero, Jr flew out to the warning track in right-center field for the 1st out. SS Bo Bichette hit a bloop single to right field. 2B Cavan Biggio grounded out to short, advancing Bichette to 2nd. Alejandro Kirk was hit by a pitch on his right hand. He stayed in the game and Kevin Kiermaier singled to 3rd but the ball went under Polanco’s glove. Twins SS Carlos Correa raced toward the rolling baseball because he saw Bichette running hard to 3rd. Correa got to the ball, picked it up with his barehand and threw a good low throw to Ryan Jeffers to nab Bichette at the plate and keep the game at 3-0 for his team.
What does that play remind you of? “Flip” to the Game Notes section at the bottom of the article to read about it.
The Twins went down 1-2-3 all via strikeout in the bottom of the 4th, 2 swinging and 1 looking.
Toronto 3B Matt Chapman led off the top of the 5th with a liner to 2B Edouard Julien but he may have mistimed his jump to catch the ball so it went off the top of his glove to allow Chapman to reach. Twins RHP Pablo Lopéz then got a groundout, a flyout and then struck out Brandon Belt for the 2nd time.
In the bottom of the 5th, the Blue Jays replaced RHP Kevin Gausman with RHP Erik Swanson so…
Toronto RHP Kevin Gausman’s Final Line: 4IP 3H 3R/ER 3BB 5K 2HR In line for the Loss
Edouard Julien grounded out to 2nd. Polanco struck out swinging. Royce Lewis walked on 5 pitches so Toronto made a pitching change to LHP Tim Mayza and Twins RF Max Kepler greeted him with a single to right field the Twins manager Rocco Baldelli pinch-hit for Alex Kirilloff with Donovan Solano and he flew out to right field to end the 5th. Still…
Toronto Blue Jays 0 | 3 Minnesota Twins End of the 5th
Solano stayed in the game at 1st base defensively for the Twins. Guerrero, Jr. flew out to center. Bo Bichetter singled on a line drive to center field. Biggio flew out to short. Kirk walked on 5 pitches. Kevin Kiermaier singled to left field to score Bichette from 2nd to get the Blue Jays on the board. Rocco then went to his bullpen and brought in RHP Louie Varland to replace Pablo Lopéz.
Minnesota RHP Pablo Lopéz’s Final Line: 5.2IP 5H 1R/ER 2BB 3K 0HR In line for the Win
Toronto replaced LHP Tim Mayza with RHP Chad Green to pitch the 6th and he needed just 9 pitches to set down Correa (ground out to 2nd), Jeffers (flyout to right) & Wallner (groundout to 1st.)
Toronto Blue Jays 1 | 3 Minnesota Twins End of the 6th
The Twins made a defensive substitution to bring in Willi Castro to replace LF Matt Wallner. They also replaced RHP Louis Varland with LHP Caleb Thielbar. Toronto then pinch-hit for Daulton Varsho with Whit Merrifield. He popped out to 1st. Springer grounded out to short and Belt flew out to short for a quick top of the 7th.
Whit Merrifield stayed in the game as the left fielder for Toronto. Taylor struck out swinging then Toronto made a pitching change to LHP Genesis Cabrera, Jr. The Twins countered that move by pinch-hitting for Edouard Julien with Kyle Farmer. He struck out swinging and Polanco did as well.
Farmer remained in the game as the 3rd baseman and Jorge Polanco moved from 3rd base to 2nd base. The Twins also replaced LHP Caleb Thielbar with RHP Griffin Jax to pitch the 8th inning and he allowed a double to Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. on the first pitch he threw but he responded by striking out Bo Bichette swinging and Cavan Biggio looking before getting Alejandro Kirk to ground out to 1st to end the top of the 8th.
Toronto replace LHP Genesis Cabrera, Jr. with RHP Jordan Hicks and he got Royce Lewis to ground out to short then struck out Max Kepler. Donovan Solano then walked on 4 pitches. Carlos Correa singled to center and Ryan Jeffers walked on 6 pitches to load the bases but Willi Castro struck out looking to end the 8th.
It was still 3-1 Minnesota heading to the 9th inning so into the game came RHP Jhoan Duran for his postseason debut…
He needed just 7 pitches to strike out the first 2 batters then walked Whit Merrifield on 6 pitches but needed just 1 pitch, a 101-mph fastball to get George Springer to ground out to 1st..
for the…
1st Minnesota Twins Postseason Win since October 5th, 2004.
That’s just 2 days from 19 years ago.
I know many people, including my favorite person, who were not alive then!
––––– TT –––––
Final Score Toronto Blue Jays 1 | 3 Minnesota Twins
