Minnesota Twins Recap at San Diego Padres – July 30th, 2022

Posted on July 31, 2022 by Robb

The Minnesota Twins were looking for some redemption from a 10-1 loss in game 1 that made it a 3-game losing streak and now 2-3 after the All-Star break. Minnesota Twins starter RHP Joe Ryan allowed 5 HRs and couldn’t get out of the 5th inning. The bullpen finished the last 3.1 innings of the game and RHP Jharel Cotton made it onto Pitcher List’s 8 Nastiest Pitches list with his nasty changeup so it wasn’t all bad but…

the players likely don’t care about that as their minds are on how to snap their 3-game losing streak as they’re set to face Padres RHP Joe Musgrove with their own RHP Sonny Gray on the mound.

Twinsactions

Unfortunately, the Minnesota Twins had to place OF Max Kepler (right 5th toe fracture), & 1B/DH Miguel Sanó (left knee inflammation) on the 10-Day Injured List (IL) today. They selected the contract of INF Tim Beckham and OF Mark Contreras was recalled from Triple-A St. Paul. They said Miguel Sanó may have aggravated his injury on a slide into 2nd base in his last rehab game with the St. Paul Saints.*
*Has Miguel Sanó played his last game in a Twins Jersey?

RHP Bailey Ober (right groin strain) was also moved to the 60-Day IL to make room for Beckham on the 40-Man roster. 

Also, Twins OF Gilberto Celestino was optioned to Triple-A St. Paul on July 25th when the Twins activated Miguel Sanó but he was recalled yesterday when the Twins put 3B Gio Urshela on the paternity list because he was expecting the arrival of a baby girl.

Here’s how both teams lined up:

Minnesota Twins Lineup:

San Diego Padres Lineup:

Game Recap

1B Luis Arraez led off the game by lining out to left field on the game’s first pitch from San Diego Padres starter Joe Musgrove. Both SS Carlos Correa & DH Byron Buxton struck out swinging on curveballs to end the top of the 1st. Twins RHP Sonny Gray allowed a 2-out walk in a scoreless bottom of the 1st and he struck out 3B Manny Machado but it took him 20 pitches (10 strikes.)

The Twins went down 1-2-3 on a couple flyouts and a groundout in the 2nd. The Padres then led off the bottom of the inning with a line drive single off the bat of RF Nomar Mazara but the Twins turned a fantastic 6-4-3 double play on a sharp hard-hit ground ball to short.

It’s a good thing, too, because CF Trent Grisham followed it with a double to center field but Sonny Gray got SS Ha-Seong Kim to ground out to 3rd to end the inning and keep the game scoreless. Luis Arraez had to make a great play to pick the throw at 1st, too. 

Still 0-0

Twins RF Gilberto Celestino got the Twins first hit with a 2-out flare to right field but Arraez grounded out to end the top of the 3rd.

Manny Machado then put the Padres in front with his 18th HR of the season in the bottom of the 3rd.

1-0 Padres

Byron Buxton then used his BuxTon of Power as he learned from his 1st at-bat and expected the 2-strike high fastball* and put it in the seats to tie the game with his 26th HR of the season. 2B Jorge Polanco followed that with a walk but RF Alex Kirilloff grounded into a 3-5-1 double play to end the inning.
*In his 1st at-bat, Padres RHP Joe Musgrove threw him a 2-strike high fastball that Buxton took but it was only to set up the curve for the strikeout. 

1-1 Tie

San Diego led off the bottom of the 4th with a single from Luke Voit but Sonny Gray struck out both Nomar Mazara & Austin Nola looking then got Trent Grisham to ground out to 1st.

The top of the 5th began with 3B Jose Miranda being hit-by-a-pitch. LF Nick Gordon then beat the shift with a weak liner to the left side of the infield. C Gary Sánchez struck out swinging and that brought up Celestino for the 2nd time and he repeated his 1st at-bat with another flared hit to right field and Jose Miranda read it beautifully to score from 2nd and put the Twins up 1. Arraez & Correa both struck out swinging to leave Nick Gordon stranded at 2nd base. Will that come back to bite the Twins in this close game? 

2-1 Twins

San Diego led off the bottom of the 5th with a line drive single to LF by Ha-Seong Kim but 2B C.J. Abrams lined out to CF. Kim stole 2nd but Gray struck out Profar looking. A Mound Visit preceded the next at-bat (Machado HR’d in his last AB) then Machado lined out to CF to end the 5th.

Still 2-1 Twins

Buxton led off the top of 6 with a walk but Polanco K’d swinging on another wicked yacker then Kirilloff GIDP’d (4-6-3) for the 2nd time to end the inning. 

Twins RHP Sonny Gray’s Final Line:
5IP 5H 1R/ER 1BB 5K 1HR – in line for the Win
79 pitches (52 strikes)

Was he pulled too soon?*
*Check out our Game Notes section at the bottom of the article for more on this topic.

Former Padre RHP Emilio Pagán came in to pitch the 6th for the Twins and he got a weak comebacker that he got to but threw low to 1st for a 2-base throwing error that allowed Hosmer to get on and advance to 2nd. Voit K’d swinging (splitter). Mazara K’d swinging (fastball). Austin Nola BB’d but Grisham flew out to CF.

And…Still 2-1 Twins

Padres RHP Joe Musgrove’s Final Line:
6IP 4H 2R/ER 2BB 8K 1HR – in line for the Loss

“Who made these god-awful jerseys, Huh? WHO WAS IT?”

RHP Nabil Crismatt replaced Joe Musgrove and set the Twins down 1-2-3 with 2 strikeouts. 

The Twins made a defensive adjustment replacing RF Alex Kirilloff with just-recalled OF Mark Contreras. RHP Trevor Megill also replaced Emilio Pagán to pitch the 7th and he got Kim to ground out to 3rd on a slow chopper that Jose Miranda had to charge to make a great play on. The very next pitch is the same play to short but San Diego 2B C.J. Abrams is one of the fastest runners in the league so Carlos Correa put everything on his throw and it sailed a little up the first baseline and off Luis Arraez’s glove to allow Abrams to advance to 2nd. 

Jurickson Profar came to the plate with the Padres yet to have a hit with a runner on base (0-for-11, 0-for-6 with Runners In Scoring Position (RISP)) and he hit an 0-2 curveball that had a 103-mph exit velocity off the bat up the middle to the right of 2nd base but it was headed right for the 2nd base umpire Jerry Layne. He tried to get out of the way but it hit him in the left leg/knee so it was a dead ball and Abrams, who would’ve easily made it to 3rd had to go back due to the rule on a dead ball. Abrams would’ve easily scored had it not hit the umpire. Profar was visibly upset with Jerry Layne after the play as he was doing the palms up gesture wondering why he didn’t get out of the way of a ball that was coming at him that fast.  

The Twins made a pitching change to RHP Griffin Jax and he struck out Manny Machado and got Eric Hosmer to pop up to short to get the Twins out of trouble and Jurickson Profar was doing a small clap as he waited on the field for his glove & hat, probably at the umpiring crew or one specific umpire. As they came back from the commercial, Profar & Jerry Layne were talking and it appeared they had smoothed things over.

To the top of the 8th…

San Diego LHP Adrian Morejon replaced Nabil Crismatt to pitch the 8th and he struck out Celestino. Luis Arraez singled to right field. Carlos Correa was at the plate and A.J. Pierzynski said he was a pitch away from the golden sombrero of 4 strikeouts in a game and, on the very next pitch, Carlos Correa launched his 13th HR of the season to center field to triple the lead to 4-1! BOOM! 4 bases is much better than 4 strikeouts!

Byron Buxton then singled to left field on a sharp line drive. After ball 1 to Jorge Polanco, Padres C Austin Nola went out to talk to his pitcher. He then threw ball 2 and as he threw ball 3, Byron Buxton stole 2nd off the young pitcher. Polanco walked. Kyle Garlick was announced as a pinch-hitter for Mark Contreras so San Diego made a pitching change to RHP Dinelson Lamet. Garlick then hit into what should’ve been an inning-ending double play but young 2B C.J. Abrams may have rushed his throw from 2nd as it went in the dirt and 1B Eric Hosmer couldn’t scoop it so it got past him allowing Byron Buxton to score and Garlick to advance to 2nd.

Twins 3B Jose Miranda came to the plate and he took the first 2 pitches that were just barely strikes. He didn’t like the first call on the low curveball. He then fouled off a slider in the zone, took a fastball way low & outside for ball 1 and a slider way inside that he had to get out of the way of for ball 2 to make the count even. He fouled off a slider way outside and another one that was high then he got a fastball middle away and he laced it to right field for an RBI-single to make it 6-1.*
*Check out the Game Notes section at the bottom of the article for more on Jose Miranda.

The ability to foul off pitches to keep an at-bat alive is so valuable. It allowed Miranda to see more pitches until he got one he liked or, as Tim Laudner would say, “a pitch he can handle.”

Nick Gordon then hit the next pitch for a ground-rule double to deep left field to make it 7-1. A strikeout ended the top of the 8th. 

Damage DONE!

Now 7-1, Twins!

Twins rookie phenom RHP Jhoan Duran entered the game to replace Griffin Jax and he had both Luke Voit and Nomar Mazara shaking their heads as they struck out looking before Austin Nola grounded out to 2nd.

The Twins went down 1-2-3 in the top of the 9th on a groundout, a flyout and a rocket of a lineout off Carlos Correa’s bat (111 mph.) 

RHP Tyler Duffey replaced Duran and he got Grisham to ground out to 1st then walked Kim and followed that by hitting Abrams with a pitch. A mound visit must not have helped since he gave up a 3-run HR to Jurickson Profar to make it 7-4. He then struck out Machado and got Hoser to ground out on a comebacker to end the game. Just a reminder that the Twins still need some bullpen help.

The 2022 MLB Trade Deadline is August 2nd at 5pm CST!

––––– TT –––––

Final Score
Minnesota Twins 7 | 4 San Diego Padres

W-Gray(6-3) L-Musgrove(8-4) H-Pagán(6), Megill(2), Jax(10)

Pitching
Starters
MN:
RHP Sonny Gray: 
5IP 5H 1R/ER 1BB 5K 1HR – 6th Win

SD:
RHP Joe Musgrove: 
6IP 4H 2R/ER 2BB 8K 1HR – 4th Loss

Bullpen
MN:
RHP Emilio Pagán: 
1IP 1BB 2K – 1 error (throwing, 2-base) 6th Hold
RHP Trevor Megill: 
0.1IP 2H – 2nd Hold
RHP Griffin Jax: 
0.2IP 1K – 10th Hold
RHP Jhoan Duran: 
1IP 2K HR
RHP Tyler Duffey: 
1IP 1H 3R/ER 1BB 1K 1HR

SD:
RHP Nabil Crismatt: 
1IP 2K
LHP Adrian Morejon: 
0.1IP 3H 4R/ER 1BB 1K 1HR
RHP Dinelson Lamet: 
0.2IP 2H 1R/ER 1K
RHP Michel Baez:
1IP

Hitting
Home Runs
MN:
Byron Buxton (26), Carlos Correa (13)

SD:
Manny Machado (18), Jurickson Profar (10)

Doubles
MN:
Nick Gordon (12)

SD:
Trent Grisham (13)

2-Out RBI
MN (Inning):
Jose Miranda(8th), Nick Gordon(8th)

SD (Inning):
Manny Machado(3rd)

Other 
(Defense, Key Plays, etc…)
MN:
Sweet 6-4-3 DP in the 2nd (Correa, Polanco, Arraez)
Arraez pick of Miranda throw to end the 2nd
Umpire Jerry Layne getting hit by the ball in the 7th 

––––– TT –––––

Game Notes

*
Pitch Counts & When to Pull a Starting Pitcher

Fox broadcaster & former Twins catcher A.J. Pierzynski criticized Twins manager Rocco Baldelli for taking out Sonny Gray after the 5th inning saying he was only at 70 pitches so why not try to sneak 3 more outs out of him since Rocco had said in their pregame interview/meeting that the bullpen was exhausted. He added, “This is how you wear out a bullpen.” 

He was actually at 79 pitches and his average pitches per start was 78 before the start of the game. A.J. had added that Gray was in “control of the game” or something to that effect but Gray had allowed the leadoff batter to reach in his last 2 innings and, of the 14 balls put in play by the Padres off Sonny Gray, 9 of them had an exit velocity over 100 mph and the 3 in the 5th inning had exit velocities of 100.6, 101.4 & 107.0. He was losing velocity on his pitches and he was also right at his average for pitches per start of 78. He had only thrown more than 90 pitches just twice in his 14 starts before this start.

So… does Rocco deserve some criticism for pulling him? Maybe but, especially in a 1-run game, we need to know more about the situation than just the pitch count to understand the decisions the manager makes when going to his bullpen. For all we know, Sonny Gray was asked what he thought about trying to pitch another inning and he took himself out. We don’t know and speculation and/or second-guessing is very easy to do after the fact. It worked out very well tonight.

Also, when Rocco said his bullpen was exhausted, was he referring to right now or referring to why they’ve struggled this season. All 5 relievers that pitched in this game had not pitched since Tuesday or Wednesday.

In a 1-run game with your starting pitcher beginning to look tired and losing velocity while giving up rockets off the bat, it’s very understandable to go to the bullpen.

Plus, he may be expecting some new arms showing up in the next few days via the Trade Deadline.

**
Sweet stories about Minnesota Twins Legends Tony Oliva, Harmon Killebrew & Tom Kelly from former Twin C A.J. Pierzynski

The Twins used to hold spring training in Orlando and A.J. had a bunch of balls signed by Oliva. He didn’t know who Tony-O was back then (1994). When he had signed & started his Twins career in the minors, his parents were moving so his mom had called and asked if he wanted these signed ⚾️s and he said the name in the middle of all of those ⚾️s was Tony Oliva.

He also said Tony Oliva was always at Spring Training and even in his mid-fifties, he would still take live batting practice and still hit home runs and he’d say to “watch the snake 🐍 pop” because there were woods behind the ballpark and when the ball would land the snakes would jump up. 

–––––

He mentioned Twins Harmon Killebrew as the nicest man you’d ever meet. He talked about the Minnesota Twins Caravans. They would take 4 Dodge Durangos and travel around Minnesota, the Dakotas, Iowa & Wisconsin to get out and meet Twins fans. It’d be some active Twins players and some Twins Legends. A.J. said they’d drive from place to place and “just listen to Harmon Killebrew tell stories.” How fun does that sound? 

–––––

Story about Tom Kelly teaching his pitchers what to do to hold runners on base. “If you can’t hold runners on, you can’t pitch for me.” A.J. said he’d teach them to say to themselves slowly before they threw a pitch:

“Hold the runner, bleep bleep!”

Insert your favorite profanities there! Haha!

–––––

He also talked about David Ortiz not working out in Minnesota since he couldn’t/wouldn’t use all fields as a hitter so he was non-tendered then signed as a free agent by Boston 38 days later and they just allowed him to do what he did best and a week ago, he was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

At least his Twins career helped him get over 500 Home Runs, right?

––––– TT –––––

Next Up

At San Diego for the Rubber Game to see who wins the series as 3:10 pm on Bally Sports North:

RHP Dylan Bundy

(6-4,  5.02 ERA, 1.32 WHIP*)

vs 

LHP Sean Manaea  

(5-5, 4.33 ERA, 1.28 WHIP)

*ERA=Earned Run Average, WHIP=Walks + Hits per Inning Pitched

––––– TT –––––

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2022 Minnesota Twins 1st-Half Review-Come Together Right Now

Posted on July 23, 2022 by Robb

The 2022 Minnesota Twins had a strange 1st half of the 2022 MLB season. They’re in 1st place in the American League Central Division but only have the 6th best record in the American League and they ended the 1st-half* by going 3-7 in their last 10 games. There were multiple reasons why their 1st half was up & down.
*Actually more than half since the Minnesota Twins have already played 94 games this season.

Delayed from the Start

There is a dual meaning (or maybe more) to the season being delayed from the start. The season was delayed due to the Collective Bargaining Agreement negotiations. That shortened Spring Training to just 20 days and pushed the start of the season back a week. It also added a week to the end of the season since they missed 2 weeks of the original start of the regular season.

Then, their home opener was postponed due to inclement weather. A day off was already built into the schedule the next day.* This very new Twins team started their journey to figuring out who they are since they were largely assembled less than a month and up to what would’ve been that first game of the season as they made a trade on April 7th when they sent LH reliever Taylor Rogers & OF/DH Brent Rooker to the San Diego Padres for RH starter Chris Paddack and RH reliever Emilio Pagán. All of those moves meant there were 13 new players on the 28-man roster** to start the season.
*Was it good to have an extra day before starting the season? Probably not because it likely ended up just being a day off with no workout. Maybe a day of relative rest was a good thing.
**It was a 28-man roster because the MLB wanted to allow clubs to be able to add 2 more pitchers due to such a short spring training.

Do you like rollercoasters?

A graph of the Twins schedule from baseball-reference.com. The height of the bar is the margin of victory. The breaks in the graphs are the changing of the months.

It was pretty up and down for the first half of the season and that has included the highest of highs and the lowest of lows.

The Minnesota Twins started the season by losing 2 in a row at home by 1 run each, 2-1 & 4-3. The first game, they couldn’t get much going against one of the best pitchers in the league in Robbie Ray. They lost the 2nd game on a blown save in the 9th inning. They came back & won the next 2 games 10-4 behind 6 home runs and 4-0 behind 5 innings of 1-hit ball from RHP Dylan Bundy. The Dodgers then came to town for 2 games and destroyed all of those good feelings from the 2-game winning streak with a 2-game series sweep. A 2-4 record in the season-opening homestand but all but 1 of those games were winnable, one about 5 feet from a win.

On to the 1st road trip with 4 in Boston then 3 in KC. It started with an 8-4 win in Boston’s home opener with a great start from RHP Joe Ryan. They lost 2 in a row (4-0 & 8-1) then won 8-3 in the final game to gain a split but they lost the first 2 games in Kansas City (4-3, 2-0) but won 1-0 behind an 2nd consecutive great start by Joe Ryan. 5-8 after the first road trip of the season. Not great but it was early and there was still a lot to find out about this team.

They headed home for 6 against 2 division opponents in the Chicago White Sox & the Detroit Tigers and they ended up sweeping both series with some help from the Chicago defense, another great start from Dylan Bundy, one of the best moments of the season…

Pump this feeling into my veins… Every Damn Day! Bux-TON OF POWER!

, Detroit tossing the ball around, a Joe Ryan 7-inning, 9K shutout and a 7-1 win for 7 in a row and going from 5-8 to 11-8. Back on the road!

On to Tampa Bay where Dylan Bundy got hit hard & only 3 hits for the offense for a 6-1 loss to start a 3-gamer but some Garlick and a brilliant start to Josh Winder’s career made it a series win. They then won the first 2 (of 4) in Baltimore but Bundy got hit hard for the 2nd consecutive start and young rookie phenom RHP Jhoan Duran gave up back-to-back HRs for a 4-game series split.

The Twins responded with a home series sweep of Oakland but were quickly humbled after getting the news that RHP Chris Paddack would need Tommy John surgery for the 2nd time in his career & SS Carlos Correa would go on the injured list (IL) with a right finger contusion so he wasn’t able to face his former team. They were swept by the Houston Astros in a 3-game series at Target Field, 5-0, 11-3 & 5-0.

The injuries were already starting to build up at that point, too:

RHPs

Sonny Gray (hamstring strain)
Bailey Ober (groin strain)
Dylan Bundy (Covid)
Jorge Alcala (right elbow inflammation)

LHP

Danny Coulombe (left hip impingement)

1B/OF

Alex Kirilloff (right wrist inflammation)

1B

Miguel Sanó (left knee sprain-surgery needed)

1B/INF

Luis Arraez (Covid)

OF

Kyle Garlick (right calf strain)

That’s 3 pitchers from your starting rotation. The Twins have improved their depth with better prospects but how many teams can sustain injuries to 3 of the pitchers from their starting rotation?

The Minnesota Twins still responded by taking 2 of the next 3 against Cleveland at home then 2 of 3 in Oakland, sweeping 3 at KC, taking 2 of 3 in Detroit and splitting a 4-game series vs KC. That was May 29th. Their record was 29-20 and they had a 5-game lead in the division when they left to play 5 games in Detroit.* They won 1 of those 5 games thanks to LHP Devin Smeltzer who had a career stretch of starts that really helped the Twins get through a tough stretch.
*5 Games? Yeah, and 5 games in 4 days so a double-header. This also happened a month later in Cleveland. Has there ever been 5-game series in the regular season before?

Unfortunately, they had to add RHPs Josh Winder (right shoulder impingement), Cody Stashak (right shoulder impingement-out for the season) & Joe Ryan (Covid) to the injure list and then they lost exciting prospect Royce Lewis to another season-ending torn knee ligament injury.

Despite all of that, the Twins still had an 18-12 record in the month of May.

Up & Down we go…in June

On to June and this rollercoaster was a little scary. Throughout the month, there were only 7 days where a game ended the same way as the previous game whether that be a loss or a win. They 2 in a row 3 times but won 2 in a row once & 3 in a row once. Highlights were road series wins over Toronto & Seattle and a home series win over Tampa Bay. The lowlights were a road series loss to Arizona and home & road series losses to Cleveland which included 5 games with blown saves and 2 walkoff wins to end the month but there were at least 7 blown saves and multiple games with multiple leads that didn’t last.

Strangely, during that 10-game stretch, the Twins were the only team Cleveland was beating and they shouldn’t have beat the Twins at all in the 7 games they played as the Twins had the lead late in every game. Maybe that’s why Cleveland went 7-10 on their way to the All-Star break.

Record Graph for July

July started off pretty well as they won 4 out of 5 before blowing a lead on the road against the Chicago White Sox then losing 2 of 3 in Texas. They split a 2-game series with Milwaukee at Target Field which included a great moment for rookie 3B Jose Miranda:

“Do you know Miranda?” You might wanna get to know him!

Unfortunately, the Minnesota Twins then lost 3 of 4 at home to division rival Chicago to give them hope/momentum/belief heading into the all-star break.

So…what does it all mean?

Well, it means nothing either way. No team or player should worry about or count on the past to decide their future. If you had to choose, you’d always choose to go into any break in the season on a roll than losing 7 of 10.

Maybe the break will do the Twins some good, though. They’ve played more games than any other American League team that’s above .500.

Get some rest. They’ve had a full 5 days of them. Well, most of them anyway:

Byron Buxton & Luis Arraez were 1st-time All-Stars but they should have at least 2 days off.

MLB Trade Deadline is in 8 Days

The 2022 MLB Trade Deadline is just 8 days away and the Twins have some needs and most of them are on the mound and in the later innings.

Could they use some starting pitching? Sure, but they have pieces there and maybe the main thing is just the rotation healthy. They probably need at least 2 relievers even though it’s been said that RHP Kenta Maeda could come back in September and if he does, it would probably be as a reliever. The “if” means it’s not something they can count on so it shouldn’t affect what they do at the deadline. LHP Jovani Moran could probably get some more use in higher-leverage situations

C Ryan Jeffers just went on the IL on July 15th with a right thumb fracture that required surgery that’s supposed to keep him out for 6-8 weeks. The Twins selected the contract of C Caleb Hamilton and it sounds like they’re going to count on him &/or the other catcher depth they have in the minors to fill in as the backup catcher but it wouldn’t be surprising to see them acquire a catcher at the deadline as they also can’t count on Jeffers being ready with the regular healing timeline because every player is different.

RHP Bailey Ober has been out since June 2nd and has only pitched 19 innings since initially being placed on the Injured List on April 30th.

Is Sonny Gray healthy again? He’s been placed on the IL twice in the past twice: April 17th (Low grade right hamstring strain) & June 2nd (Right pectoral strain). He was activated on June 15th:

6 starts since:
5.23 ERA and a 1.364 WHIP in 29.1 innings (18) and he was knocked around in his last 3 starts (9.45 ERA, 2.025 WHIP, 8K)

Before June 15th:
7 starts: 2.41 ERA and a 0.980 WHIP in 33.2 innings (39K)

RHP Josh Winder was just placed on the IL for the Saints ​​with right shoulder impingement syndrome. Trade Rumors have Mr. Winder as part of a trade for RHP Luis Castillo (The Athletic) along with SS Spencer Steer & RHP Simeon Woods Richardson. Josh Winder has looked very good so far in his young career (4-2, 2.87 ERA, 1.12 WHIP, 31.1IP, 23K). So good that you’d think the Twins would be fine with having him as part of the rotation, especially with 5 more years of control.

Luis Castillo (29-years-old) in 2022:

3-4, 2.77 ERA, 1.077 WHIP, 13 Starts: 78IP, 82K

Career:

43-53, 3.62 ERA, 1.206 WHIP, 136 Starts: 785.1IP, 852K, 1.206 WHIP

He’s an impending free agent so should the price tag be that high for 2-3 months?

The Bullpen: Who can the Twins count on in the bullpen? RHP Jhoan Duran, RHP Griffin Jax & RHP Tyler Duffey? Duffey added a changeup back into his repertoire and since he’s done that, he’s looked like his old dominant self

Is there anyone else?

RHP Emilio Pagán?

He’s had the most struggles and they’ve been in the biggest situations so everyone sees it and thinks can’t pitch in those situations anymore. He’s missing his spots &/or throwing too many mistake pitches so does it come down to mechanics? Or maybe the better question is can it be fixed with mechanics? You know that pitching staff and Emilio will work on it so we’ll see how he does in the next week but even if he doesn’t allow any hits or walks over 5 appearances, it still might not be enough for the Front Office to not go get some help for the back end of their bullpen.

What about the Sano?

1B/DH Miguel Sanó: Today marks the last day the Big Guy can be on a rehab assignment and he started for the Triple-A St. Paul Saints tonight. He had 3 hits including a 2-R HR. He also had an error in the bottom of the 9th that ended up coming around to be the game-winning run in a walkoff.

He’s also hitting .348/.423/.826 (AVG/OBP/SLG) with 2 doubles, 3 home runs with 3 walks and 10 strikeouts in 7 games with the Saints. He also played 5 games for the Twins Gulf Coast League (Rookie) team and hit .313/.421/.750 (AVG/OBP/SLG) with 1 double, 2 home runs with 3 walks and 2 strikeouts.

So… what will they do with him? Does a player currently on the roster come up with an injury so they can activate Sanó? Gilberto Celestino, maybe? They might be able to move LHP Danny Coulombe to the 60-Day Injured List (IL) since he’s been on the 15-Day IL since May 28th (56 days ago) and his Expected Return is still listed as TBD.

LHP Caleb Thielbar was placed on the 15-Day IL today and RHP Yennier Cano was recalled from Triple-A St. Paul so if he (or another reliever) was used tonight, they could option him back down to make a spot, too. That’s highly doubtful because that would put the Twins down to just 12 pitchers but they are planning on going with a 4-man starting rotation because they have 4 days off in the next 3 weeks.

Sanó struggled this season from the start. He’s currently hitting just .093/.231/.148 with 1 XBH (HR), 3 RBI, 9 walks & 21 strikeouts in 17 games (54 at-bats) so maybe the time off has been a good thing as it may have given him time to figure out his mechanics and get some confidence back.

––––– TT –––––

Other Notes

*
This Is Byron’s Team

The Twins Front Office made a huge change on the field and in the clubhouse with all of the trades & signings. Were they making this Byron Buxton’s team? They just signed Bux to a huge extension and they also moved big personalities &/or leaders from the clubhouse in C Mitch Garver, 3B Josh Donaldson and Taylor Rogers (who was the Twins player representative for league-related business). Add that to them removing Nelson Cruz and José Berríos in 2021 and that’s a lot of change to a team’s clubhouse. You can probably even add Eddie Rosario to that list, too, and what did he do last season? That’s right. He won a World Series.

Were all of those moves done for that reason alone? It’s hard to say but when you have a season like the Twins did in 2021, change is needed and maybe a leadership/core change was the result. Byron has turned into a leader on & off the field. It’s easy to see the on the field things he does to lead this team.

Off the field leadership is a lot harder to see, though. New Twins shortstop, and a player who has helped lead his team to the promised land once already, Carlos Correa said “This is Byron Buxton’s team.” when he was asked if he was the leader of this team shortly before the season began.

**
Will this team go for it? If yes, how hard?

A lot of people think they’ll trade or should trade Carlos Correa to get prospects? It’s hard to fathom someone not understanding what they are trying to do. Do they think they’re trying to be mediocre? Does any team try to do that?

They want to win. There’s no other reason to be in that industry. It’s not like going to a job you hate and you just do it because it’s paying the bills.

“Well, that’s what they’ve always done” is a usual argument but is it? Is this what they’ve always done? They’ve never signed a player the caliber of Josh Donaldson. Then they backed that up by signing the top free agent in the class with Carlos Correa.

They’ve built a very good farm system that they can use to get some needed pieces for a run at the playoffs and maybe more.

They’ve been good enough to lead the division at the half-way point and they haven’t been consistent or very good. Can they get better? We believe the answer to that question is yes but it doesn’t matter what we believe. It’s what they believe. They’ve beat very good teams and been in position to win a lot of games but have faltered. Will they learn from that and improve? We’ll have to wait and see.

They’re also not going to drastically mortgage the future to make a desperate run at a championship if they don’t see it as a possibility.

––––– TT –––––

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Minnesota Twins Recap vs Cleveland Guardians-June 21st, 2022

Posted on June 22, 2022 by Robb
Minnesota Twins Recap vs the Cleveland Guardians - June 21st, 2022

The Minnesota Twins held a 1-game lead* over the Cleveland Guardians as they began a 3-game series at Target Field and they’ll also play each other 8 times in the next 9 days as they’ll play 5 in Cleveland starting next Monday including a day-night double-header on Tuesday, June 28th.
*This is a little misleading because the Twins have played 6 more games than the Guardians.

Tonight’s starting pitchers are Minnesota Twins RHP Joe Ryan (5-3, 2.85 ERA, 1.021 WHIP) and Cleveland Guardians RHP Aaron Civale (2-3, 7.84 ERA, 1.516 WHIP). Joe Ryan is making his 2nd start after missing 15 days after being placed on the 10-Day Covid-related Injured List. He did make a rehab start on June 9th for the AAA St. Paul Saints where he threw 3 innings and allowed just 1 hit with no runs or walks and he struck out 4 but, in his first start back on a week ago, he struggled a little in the 4th & 5th innings as he allowed a 2-R HR in each in a 5-0 loss in Seattle. Hopefully, Joe Ryan will get back to being that top of the rotation-type pitcher we’ve since for the majority of his time in the majors.

*ERA=Earned Run Average, WHIP=Walks + Hits per Inning Pitched

Cleveland Guardians RHP Aaron Civale has struggled this season as evidenced by that high ERA & WHIP above & he actually went on the injured list the same day as Joe Ryan but* his injury was of the non-Covid variety as he had left glute tightness. He made 2 rehab starts in AAA (also sent on the rehab assignment at the same time as Joe Ryan) and was activated for tonight’s start.
*Or Butt? 

Here’s how both teams lined up:

Minnesota Twins Lineup:

Cleveland Guardians Lineup:

Game Recap

Here we go with 1st place in the American League Central Division on the line.

Cleveland started the game with back-to-back singles from LF Steven Kwan and SS Amed Rosario. Kwan hit a line-drive to center field while Rosario hit a soft floater off the end of the bat that just got over the leap from Twins 2B Luis Arraez. 3B José Ramírez then popped out to short right field. The infield fly rule was called but the ball wasn’t caught by Arraez and Rosario took off for 2nd thinking he had to run since the ball wasn’t caught so the Twins could’ve gotten a free out but Max Kepler didn’t see Rosario and threw to 3rd to keep the runner at 2nd. 1B Josh Naylor then grounded into a force out at 2nd which allowed Steven Kwan to advance to 3rd then RF Oscar Gonzalez got a nice 2-out RBI-double (10) to score Kwan and put the Guardians up 1-0. DH Franmil Reyes then struck out swinging to end the inning.

The Twins got a 2-out double off the bat of SS Carlos Correa but he was left on base when RF Max Kepler grounded out to 1st to end the 1st inning. 1-0 Cleveland

Twins starting RHP Joe Ryan set down the Guardians 1-2-3 (flyout, groundout, swinging strikeout) in the 2nd. The Twins got another 2-out hit with an Alex Kirilloff single on a line-drive to right field but Guardians starting RHP Aaron Civale finished the inning with a swinging strikeout of LF Gilberto Celestino as he struck out the side.

Steven Kwan led off the top of the 3rd with a single to center field again but he was picked off and caught stealing for the 1st out. Joe Ryan then struck out swinging on a foul tip but allowed a José Ramírez hustle-double (21) to center field and Josh Naylor followed that with a 2-run HR to right field to add to the Cleveland lead. 3-0 Cleveland

The Twins were set down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the 3rd.

Joe Ryan allowed a 1-out single and a 2-out walk before getting Steven Kwan to line out to left field to end the top of 4. The Twins got a 1-out single from Max Kepler followed by a 7-pitch walk from Gary Sánchez. 3B Gio Urshela struck out swinging for the 2nd out but 1B Alex Kirilloff got his 2nd hit of the game when he hit a line-drive double to right center field that scored both Kepler & Sánchez to bring the Twins within a run at 3-2.

The Guardians were set down 1-2-3 in the 5th while the Twins got a 1-out double(8) off the bat of 2B Luis Arraez that nearly left the yard* but he was left on base after CF Byron Buxton struck out and Carlos Correa flew out to right field to end the 5th inning with the score still 3-2 Cleveland
*Highlight of this at 4:12 of the condensed game highlights at the end of the recap.

Joe Ryan struck out the side in the 6th and Cleveland went to their bullpen to get RHP Enyel De Los Santos and he struck out both Max Kepler & Gary Sánchez swinging then got Gio Urshela to ground out to short. 

Cleveland RHP Aaron Civale’s Final Pitching Line:
5IP 5H 2R/ER 1BB 7K – No Decision

Joe Ryan did not come out for the 7th as Twins manager Rocco Baldelli went to his bullpen to bring in RHP Jharel Cotton. He struck the 1st 2 batters he faced then allowed a Steven Kwan single before getting Amed Rosario to flyout to left field.

Minnesota RHP Joe Ryan’s Final Pitching Line:
6IP 7H 3R/ER 1BB 7K – No Decision

Alex Kirilloff led off the bottom of the 7th for the Twins and he was called out on strikes on a pitch that definitely looked to be low*:
*Check out our Game Notes section at the bottom of the article for more on this topic.

Pitch #8 sure looks like it misses the zone by quite a bit, huh?

Twins outfielder Trevor Larnach pinch-hit for Gilberto Celestino and drew a 4-pitch walk so Cleveland brought in RHP Eli Morgan and Twins C Ryan Jeffers hit the first pitch he saw to the wall in left field and the Twins had runners on 2nd & 3rd with just one out and Luis Arraez coming to the plate.

Arraez took a high first-pitch fastball for a ball then fouled off another fastball that was at the top right of the zone. The pitcher thought he’d try to sneak a change-up past Luis Arraez but he missed his spot and this time, the ball just barely left the yard and… Just Like That… the Twins turned a 1-run deficit into a 2-run lead! 5-3 Minnesota

Larnach stayed in the game, playing left field and Rocco brought in RHP Emilio Pagán from the bullpen to pitch the 8th inning. He allowed a 1-out single to Josh Naylor then got Gonzalez to right field for the 2nd out to face DH Franmil Reyes who had struck out in his 1st 3 at-bats. Pagán threw nothing but cutters to him but the 6th one he left up and it landed over the center field wall to tie the game at 5.

The Twins went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the 8th with two groundouts sandwiched around a flyout against Cleveland RHP Bryan Shaw.

The Twins brought in fireballer RHP Jhoan Duran to pitch the 9th. He struck out the first batter he faced then allowed a 2-out single before getting Rosario to groundout to 2nd to end the inning.

Twins OF Kyle Garlick pinch-hit for Alex Kirilloff to face Minnesota native LHP Sam Hentges and he got an infield hit to lead off the bottom of the 9th and was immediately pinch-run for by UTIL Nick Gordon. Jose Miranda pinch-hit for Trevor Larnach but flew out to center field for the 1st out. Nick Gordon then was caught stealing for the 2nd out. Ryan Jeffers singled but Luis Arraez grounded out to 2nd to send this game to Extra Innings!

MLB restored the rule to start extra innings with a runner at 2nd base to try to “preserve player health and safety during the condensed schedule.”**
**Check out our Game Notes section at the bottom of the article for more on this topic.

Nick Gordon & Jose Miranda remained in the game playing left field and 1st base, respectively. Twins RHP Jhoan Duran also remained in the game to pitch the 10th and Guardians SS Amed Rosario started the inning at 2nd base. Duran got José Ramírez to ground out then walked Josh Naylor intentionally after starting the plate appearance with 2 straight curveballs in the dirt. Owen Miller pinch-ran for Naylor. Duran got out of the inning by getting Oscar Gonzalez to ground into a 6-4-3 inning-ending double play.

The Guardians Owen Miller remained in the game playing 1st base & RHP Trevor Stephan was brought in to pitch the bottom of the 10th. Arraez started the inning at 2nd base. Byron Buxton walked on 5 pitches but Carlos Correa, Max Kepler & Gary Sánchez all struck out swinging to send it to an 11th inning.

The Twins brought in RHP Griffin Jax to pitch the 11th. Oscar Gonzalez began the inning as the runner at 2nd base. Jax struck out Franmil Reyes looking but Andrés Giménez hit a line-drive to center field for an RBI-single to put the Guardians up 6-5. Jax then walked Luke Maile but struck out Myles Straw looking and got Steven Kwan to ground out to 3rd to end the top of the 11th.

Cleveland brought in RHP Emmanuel Clase for the save. Gary Sánchez began the inning as the runner at 2nd base. Gio Urshela struck out swinging. Nick Gordon grounded out to 1st. Jose Miranda swung and hit the first pitch. It sounded good off the bat and left field Steven Kwan was going back towards the wall and he caught it to end the game as it was about 3 feet short of being a walk-off home run. OHHH!!!

––––– TT –––––

Final Score
 Cleveland Guardians 6 | 5 Minnesota Twins
W-Stephan(3-2) L-Jax(4-1) S-Clase(16)

Pitching

Starters
MN:
Joe Ryan: 
6IP 7H 3R/ER 1BB 7K 1HR – No Decision

CLE:
Aaron Civale: 
5IP 5H 2R/ER 1BB 7K – No Decision

Bullpen
MN:
RHP Jharel Cotton: 
1IP 1H 2K – Hold

RHP Emilio Pagán:
1IP 2H 2R/ER 1HR – Blown Save(4)

RHP Jhoan Duran:
2IP 1H 1BB 1K

RHP Griffin Jax:
1IP 1H 1R/0ER 1BB 2K – 1st Loss of 2022

CLE:
RHP Enyel De Los Santos: 
1.1IP 0H 1R/ER 1BB 3K – Hold(2)

RHP Eli Morgan: 
0.2IP 2H 2R/ER 0BB 1K 1HR – Blown Save(2)

RHP Bryan Shaw: 
1IP

LHP Sam Hentges:
1IP 2H

RHP Trevor Stephan:
1IP 1BB 3K – 3rd Win

RHP Emmanuel Clase:
1IP 1K – 16th Save

Hitting
Home Runs
MN:
Luis Arraez(4)

CLE:
Josh Naylor(8), Franmil Reyes(4)

Doubles
MN:
Carlos Correa(12), Alex Kirilloff(3), Luis Arraez(8), Ryan Jeffers(7)

CLE:
Oscar Gonzalez(10), José Ramírez(21)

2-Out RBI
MN (Inning):
Alex Kirilloff 2(4th)

CLE:
Oscar Gonzalez(1st), Josh Naylor 2(3rd), Franmil Reyes 2(8th)

––––– TT –––––

Game Notes:
*
The Called Low Strike 

How does the home plate ump call the low strike like the one above on Twins 1B Alex Kirilloff? Can he even see it? 

It looks like his angle is terrible to try to judge where a low pitch would be.

I couldn’t find many great pictures but I did find a lot of information so we’ll have to get back to you on this one.

**
Extra Innings Rules, the Ghost Runner & the Pitcher Loss

It doesn’t take a lot of intelligence to tell that fans don’t like the Ghost Runner rule for extra innings. Yes, the rule was put in to help preserve the health of the players or, more to the point, pitchers so games wouldn’t go on & on.

If it’s a “ghost runner,” meaning they are just placed on 2nd base to begin the inning, then that runner shouldn’t result in stats for anything surrounding him for either team. It shouldn’t count as a run scored, an RBI, a run against the opposing pitcher or a win or a loss for either pitcher. It should just be a team win, run, RBI, etc…

Twins RHP Griffin Jax is given a run against and a loss even though he allowed just a single and a walk in the 1 inning he pitched. Cleveland relievers Trevor Stephan was given the win and Emmanuel Clase was given a save, too.

***
Pitching Pipeline

The Cleveland Guardians just keep developing pitching. They’ve been doing it for years, probably decades. This is where Twins Chief Baseball Officer Derek Falvey came from and a major reason why the Twins wanted him to lead their organization when they hired him in October of 2016.

And this is what the Twins seem to be building. They’ve seen 12 or more pitchers from recent drafts, trades or free agency they have helped develop that have made an appearance for the Major League club this season.

Have Minnesota Twins fans ever seen anything like this before? I can’t think of a time where they had prospects coming on the mound like they do right now. Will it get better? Yes. It should. This is just the beginning. More is coming…

––––– TT –––––

Next Up:

Game 2: 6:40pm on Bally Sports North

RHP Sonny Gray
(3-1, 2.09 ERA, 0.93 WHIP*)

vs

RHP Triston McKenzie
(4-5, 2.96 ERA, 0.93 WHIP)
*ERA=Earned Run Average, WHIP=Walks + Hits per Inning Pitched

––––– TT –––––

Thank You for reading our TwinsTakes! We’d love to hear your TwinsTakes! 

So, hit us up on Twitter, Instagram and/or Facebook!!!

That’s why it’s…

Also… check out our last recap from May 26th. Yeah. I know.

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Minnesota Twins Recap vs Kansas City Royals-May 26th, 2022

Posted on May 27, 2022 by Robb
Minnesota Twins Recap vs Kansas City Royals - May 26th, 2022

The Minnesota Twins just finished a 3-game series in Kansas City with a very exciting comeback win on Sunday* but they had their 6-game winning streak snapped in an extra-inning loss to the Detroit Tigers yesterday. That should mean they are raring to go to get back in the win column.
*Which should read about HERE!

The Twins had LHP Devin Smeltzer on the mound but they had to make a roster move to make room for Smeltzer:

Twinsactions
(Minnesota Twins Transactions)

Minnesota Twins placed RHP Joe Ryan on the COVID Injured List(IL) and recalled LHP Devin Smeltzer*

The Twins placed RHP Joe Ryan on the COVID Injured List(IL) and recalled LHP Devin Smeltzer*
*Check the Game Notes section for more on who they Twins lost on yesterday.

Here’s how both teams lined up:

Minnesota Twins Lineup:

Minnesota Twins Lineup vs Kansas City Royals - May 26th, 2022

Kansas City Royals Lineup:

Kansas City Royals Lineup at the Minnesota Twins - May 26th, 2022

Game Recap

It’s always good to see LHP Devin Smeltzer on the mound because he’s been through so much but he just keeps battling through it all and here he is trying to make the Twins pitching decisions as difficult as possible when it comes to him staying on the roster going forward.

And he started it out right when he struck out Royals leadoff hitter RF Whit Merrifield on 3 pitches. LF Andrew Benintendi then singled to continue destroying Twins pitching* but Smeltzer got SS Bobby Witt, Jr. to fly out to 2nd then struck out Hunter Dozier looking at an 82 mph changeup to end the top of the 1st.
*That base hit made Andrew Benintendi 12-for-24 in the 6+ games he’s played against the Twins this season. There are only 2 extra-base hits (a 2B & a 3B) but he also has 2 walks. GEEZ!

Kansas City Royals LF Andrew Benintendi’s 2022 Batting Game Log vs the Minnesota Twins
Royals LF Andrew Benintendi’s 2022 Batting Game Log vs the Minnesota Twins

The Twins began the bottom of the 1st with both CF Byron Buxton & SS Carlos Correa striking out looking against LHP Daniel Lynch. LF Kyle Garlick then singled to right field but C Gary Sánchez grounded out to 2nd to end the 1st.

The Royals were set down 1-2-3 via fly, line & groundouts. The lineout was a great defensive play from 3B Gio Urshela.

Urshela then led off the bottom of 2 with a walk. 2B Luis Arraez grounded into a force out at 2nd but the Twins got back-to-back singles off the bats of 1B Jose Miranda & DH Ryan Jeffers to score Arraez and put the Twins up 1-0 before RF Gilberto Celestino lined out and CF Byron Buxton flew out to end the inning. After the leadoff walk, the next 5 Twins batters went after the first pitch and either singled or made an out.

Devin Smeltzer faced just 1 over the minimum over the next 5 innings allowing just 1 walk and 1 single while striking out 4 and getting a double play to keep the game scoreless and to make the Front Office think about how to keep him in the rotation.

The Twins had 4 hits and a walk but also had 6 strikeouts and grounded into 1 double play over the same 5 innings but the 4th inning began with a leadoff hustle & somewhat lucky double from Jose Miranda as the throw from left field wasn’t caught or he would’ve likely been out. After Ryan Jeffers struck out swinging, Gilberto Celestino hit an RBI-single to right field that scored Miranda to double the Twins lead so… everyone say it with us…

Gilbertoooo Celestinooooooo!!!

Minnesota Twins manager Rocco Baldelli went to his bullpen and brought in veteran Twins reliever RHP Tyler Duffey even though Smeltzer was at just 80 pitches (52 strikes).*
*Mr. Smeltzer made just 1 start in 2021 before missing the rest of the season with left elbow inflammation and he threw more than 70 pitches just once in his 5 minor-league starts before he was recalled to the majors. So they’re easing him back into a starting pitcher’s workload. He’s also been going every 6th day.

Minnesota Twins LHP Devin Smeltzer’s Final Pitching Line:
7IP 2H 0R/ER 1BB 6K – In Line for his 2nd Win

Duffey got Carlos Santana to ground out to 1st for the 1st out then allowed a single to Emmanuel Rivera but got Nicky Lopez to line out to left field for the 2nd out but allowed a single to pinch-hitter Ryan O’Hearn to bring up Whit Merrifield and Duff hung a curve that Merrifield sent to right center field to tie the game at 2. He then walked Benintendi on 6 pitches after having him down 0-2. That brought up Bobby Witt, Jr. and another hung curveball put the Royals up 3-2. 

The Twins loaded the bases in the bottom of the 8th on 3 straight singles but held Gary Sánchez at 3rd since there were no outs in the inning. The Royals went to RHP Scott Barlow and he struck out Jose Miranda on a check-swing. The Twins pinch-hit Nick Gordon for Ryan Jeffers (left for right) but he struck out swinging on a nasty curveball. Max Kepler then grounded out softly to 1st to end the threat. WOW! 

Yennier Cano took over for the Twins in the 9th and allowed a leadoff walk but got 2 groundouts before striking out Nicky Lopez looking to send the Twins to the bottom of the 9th with Byron Buxton, Carlos Correa & Trevor Larnach coming to the plate.

Buxton singled on a ground ball to 1st. Correa & Larnach both grounded into a force out at 2nd but Gary Sánchez singled to right field, advancing Larnach to 3rd base to bring Gio Urshela to the plate. He worked the count to 3-0 as Barlow tried to get him on 3 low & away pitches. He then took an inside fastball for a strike then swung at a slider in the same location and hit it pretty well (97mph exit velocity) but Bobby Witt, Jr. was there to field it and he double-clutched and went to 2nd to end the game.

Gio must have wanted that 3-0 pitch up a little more to swing at it. Is the not swinging 3-0 in his mind? He had to have the green light, right?

Minnesota Twins 3B Gio Urshela's at-bat to end the game vs Kansas City Royals RHP Scott Barlow

Anyway, 2 straight tough losses for the Twins after allowing the Tigers to tie the game late the night before then losing in extra innings. 

––––– TT –––––

Final Score
Kansas City Royals 3 | 2 Minnesota Twins

W-Josh Staumont(2-1) L-Tyler Duffey(2-3) S-Scott Barlow(5)

Pitching

Starters
MN:
LHP Devin Smeltzer: 
7IP 2H 0R/ER 1BB 6K – No Decision
KC:
LHP Daniel Lynch: 
5.1IP 7H 2R/ER 2BB 6K – No Decision

Bullpen
MN:
RHP Tyler Duffey: 
1IP 4H 3R/ER 1BB – 3rd Blown Save; 3rd Loss
RHP Yennier Cano: 
1IP 1BB 1K
KC:
RHP Collin Snider: 
0.2IP
RHP Josh Staumont: 
1IP 2K- 2nd Win
RHP Joel Payamps: 
0.0IP 3H
RHP Scott Barlow:
1IP 2H 2K – 5th Save

Hitting
Home Runs
None

Doubles
MN:
Jose Miranda(5)
KC:
Whit Merrifield(8), Bobby Witt, Jr.(10)

2-Out RBI
MN (Inning):
Gilberto Celestino(4th)
KC (Inning):
Whit Merrifield 2(8th), Bobby Witt, Jr.(8th)

––––– TT –––––

Game Notes
*
The Stuff of Duff…

Minnesota Twins reliever RHP Tyler Duffey has not been his usual dominant self this season like he was in 2019 & 2020. He’s already blown 3 saves and has 3 losses so far this season. The culprits appear to be the speed of his fastball and the command of his curveball. Both of those pitches are getting hit harder than they have been in a long time.

Loss of velocity is usually a killer for pitchers and he’s lost basically 2 mph on his fastball since that breakout 2019 season. Has that made him try to rely more on his curveball? He was already starting to go to that pitch more often in 2020 and it’s hard to argue with that because it’s been his best pitch but it also has to play off his fastball and since that’s not as good of a weapon, it’s giving hitters a split second more time to hit the heater &/or wait for the curve.

Look at his Statcast Pitch Tracking Stats from 2019-2022. He has already allowed more doubles in 2022 through the first quarter of the season than he did the entire 2019 season. Look at the averages and slugging percentages on those pitches, too. The fastball is getting crushed.

Minnesota Twins Reliever RHP Tyler Duffey’s Statcast 2019-2022 Pitch Tracking Stats

When this happens, fans tend to say they should stop putting him in any tight game situations until he gets back some confidence. There’s a saying for closers that when they blow a save &/or lose a game, the best thing to do is to get them right back out there the next game. That’s pretty much the exact opposite of moving him down a step in the bullpen.

So… we know all of these players have pride in their game and are likely more frustrated with blowing saves & losing games than the fans are so they’ll put the work in to improve.

We’ll see if Duff can improve that velocity and command his curveball better.

**
Prospective Loss

When the Twins recalled RHP Trevor Megill on Saturday, they needed a spot on the 40-Man Roster so they pitching prospect Designated RHP Chris Vallimont for Assignment or Release (DFA’d/DFR’d). 

Yesterday, the Twins announced RHP Chris Vallimont was claimed off waivers by the Baltimore Orioles. Vallimont was acquired as part of the Sergio Romo trade. The Twins sent prospect 1B Lewin Diaz to the Miami Marlins for Romo, Vallimont and a Player to be Named Later (PTBNL). 

Vallimont looked pretty good for awhile but it maybe 2 years off due to the pandemic and no minor-league season hurt his development because he’s really struggled the last 2 seasons and especially this season:

In 2022: Chris Vallimont has a 9.95 ERA & a 2.68 WHIP in just 19.0 innings.

He wasn’t as bad in 2021, with a 6.13 ERA & a 1.638 WHIP. He walked too many batters (61) and had problems with his command but he also had 136 strikeouts in 94.0 innings or 13.0 K/9 innings and that is what made the Twins protect him by adding him to their 40-Man Roster.

It’s somewhat amazing he was never tried in a relief role but he also hadn’t struggled with his command as much before. In 2019, after the Twins acquired him, he had just 4 walks in 22.1 innings while striking out 28. 

Baltimore optioned him down to their AA squad right after the waiver claim. That’s the Bowie Baysox if you want to keep following his career.

Lewin Diaz has struggled for the most part, too, after his breakout 2019 season and Sergio Romo left a pretty lasting memory in his time in Minnesota for several reasons so, it still comes out as a good trade for the Twins.

––––– TT –––––

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Minnesota Twins Recap at Kansas City Royals – May 22nd, 2022

Posted on May 24, 2022 by Robb

The Minnesota Twins activated RHP Bailey Ober from the Injured List (IL) to make the start in Sunday’s series finale against the Kansas City Royals and they were looking for the sweep before heading home for 7 straight with the last 4 against these same Royals.So…they brought the brooms but were they able to use them?

Here’s a recap of Saturday’s game 2 victory!

Here’s how both teams lined up:

Minnesota Twins Lineup:

Kansas City Royals Lineup:

Game Recap

The Twins led off the game with back-to-back singles from 1B Luis Arraez & 2B Jorge Polanco. RF Max Kepler hit a ground ball down the 3rd baseline and Royals 3B Emmanual Rivera made a nice play to his right to get to the ball, tag 3rd base then quickly throw to 2nd to get both lead runners in a 5-6 double play. C Gary Sánchez then grounded out to 3rd to end the top of the 1st.

After missing 23 days and 21 games with 1 rehab start in AAA,* Bailey Ober needed 24 pitches (just 13 strikes) to get through the 1st inning but he only allowed a 6-pitch walk to Royals LF Andrew Benintendi. No hits and no runs despite a lot of pitches is alright and definitely something to build on, right?
*5IP 4H 5R 4ER 0BB 7K 1HR on 72 pitches (55 strikes – 15 Looking, 13 Swinging) in a 5-3 loss at the Columbus Clippers on May 15th.

Ober set down the Royals 1-2-3 in the 2nd then allowed a leadoff single to SS Nicky Lopez and back-to-back 1-out singles to 2B Whit Merrifield & LF Andrew Benintendi to get Kansas City on the board before he got RF Hunter Dozier to ground into a 6-4-3 double play to end the 3rd inning.

After the 1st inning, Royals starter RHP Brady Singer set down the next 7 batters in a row including 3 on swinging strikeouts before allowing a 1-out walk in the 4th but he got Twins C Gary Sánchez to ground into a 6-4-3 double play to end the 4th before setting the Twins down 1-2-3 in the 5th.

After allowing the run in the 3rd, Twins starter Bailey Ober set down the next 7 in a row (1 strikeout looking) before being pulled after 5 innings in what we can only assume was due to pitch count after making just 1 other start in the last 23 days.

Twins’ RHP Bailey Ober’s Final Pitching Line: 
5IP 3H 1R/ER 1BB 4K – No Decision
(78 pitches – 48 strikes (10 looking, 12 swinging))

On to the 6th inning with the Twins having just 2 hits and 1 walk. The Twins loaded the bases with 1 out on a Gilberto Celestino walk, a Luis Arraez single and a Jorge Polanco walk. Max Kepler then hit a ground ball to 3rd to get a force out of Celestino at home and Gary Sánchez lined out to left field to end the threat.

Twins RHP Yennier Cano took over in the bottom of the 6th and he allowed a leadoff walk then a single to Benintendi and an RBI-double to Hunter Dozier down the 3rd baseline past Jose Miranda to double the Royals lead to 2-0. He got Royals DH MJ Melendez to ground out to 2nd and keep the runners at 2nd and 3rd but he walked the bases loaded then gave up a bases-clearing double to Royals 1B Carlos Santana and an RBI-single to CF Kyle Isbel before Twins manager Rocco Baldelli made a pitching change to just-called-up RHP Trevor Megill. Nicky Lopez reached on a fielder’s choice but Megill struck out C Sebastian Rivero swinging then got Merrifield to fly out to right field to end the inning but it was now 6-0 Royals with just 3 innings to go.

Brady Singer got out of trouble in the 6th so maybe the Twins were finally getting to him as he tried to get through the lineup for a 3rd time. Twins SS Nick Gordon hit a 2-out triple that just barely missed going out of the park. Jose Miranda then swung at the first pitch and grounded out to short to end the 7th.

RHP Trevor Megill came out to try to get the Twins through the 7th and he allowed a first pitch single to Andrew Benintendi which made him 7-for-11 with a double and 2 RBIs in the 3-game series against the Twins. Megill then set down the next 3 batters on a flyout, a swinging strikeout and a ground out to end the 7th.

Royals’ RHP Brady Singer’s Final Pitching Line: 
7IP 4H 0R/ER 3BB 3K – No Decision
(95 pitches – 58 strikes (18 looking, 7 swinging))

The Royals went to their bullpen to begin the 8th inning as RHP Taylor Clarke took the mound with a 2.45 ERA and a 1.127 WHIP with 16 hits and no walks allowed over 14.2 innings. The Twins were likely pretty happy to see a different pitcher on the mound even though they had gotten to Brady Singer a little bit in the previous 2 innings. They hit back-to-back-to-back singles off the bats of Celestino, Arraez & Polanco to score their 1st run of the game. After a mound visit from KC’s pitching coach, Max Kepler hit a linedrive RBI-single to right to score Arraez and that was it for Clarke as the Royals made a pitching change to RHP Scott Barlow. He got Gary Sánchez to fly out to right field but Polanco tagged up to score and the Twins had cut the lead in half at 6-3. Trevor Larnach struck out swinging on 3 straight curveballs for the 2nd out. Kyle Garlick came to the plate with a runner on. The catcher moved inside and Barlow left the pitch over the plate and that ball flew out to left field with some Garlick on it as Kyle made it a 1-run ballgame with his 4th home run of the season. 

The Twins then loaded the bases on a Nick Gordon single, a pinch-hit walk from Carlos Correa and a Celestino walk to bring up Luis Arraez with 2 outs who was already 2-for-3 on the day so the Royals made a pitching change to RHP Josh Staumont who, up until that point, had a 3.45 ERA, a 1.382 WHIP and was 1-0 with 3 saves, 2 blown saves and 2 holds and then this happened… 

Pitches 3,4 & 6 were fouled off. Pitch 2 is probably a strike but… WOW! And How?

Somehow, Luis Arraez was called out to allow the Royals to escape that inning with their lead still intact. How that last pitch is called a strike is beyond belief? Oh, well. You have to keep playing. There was still another inning left.

The Twins made these defensive changes before the bottom of the 8th: 

Gio Urshela replaced SS Nick Gordon, batting 7th and playing 3rd base and Carlos Correa stayed in the game at shortstop.

The Twins also brought in RHP Tyler Duffey to pitch the 7th. Duff got Santana to line out to left and Isbel to fly out to right for the first 2 outs. Nicky Lopez reached on a fielding error by Jorge Polanco and the Royals pinch-hit Ryan O’Hearn for their catcher even though their backup catcher was playing DH. O’Hearn grounded out to 2nd to end the 8th inning so it was up to Polanco, Kepler and Sánchez to tie the game in the top of the 9th.

KC moved Melendez from DH to catcher and Staumont took the 9th spot in the batting lineup so the Royals gave up their DH.*
*It seems weird to pinch-hit with nobody on base & O’Hearn had faced Duffey one other time and stuck out against him.

Staumont came out to pitch the 9th inning for KC and he allowed a leadoff walk to Jorge Polanco then Max Kepler doubled to right field and Polanco was held at 3rd since there were no outs. Gary Sánchez then tied the game on a sacrifice fly to short right center field. A wild pitch allowed Kepler to advance to 3rd but Trevor Larnanch struck out swinging for the 1st out, his 3rd strikeout of the game. Kyle Garlick came to the plate having just hit a big 2-run HR in his last at bat so he walked to bring Gio Urshela to the plate and, on a 1-1 pitch, Staumont had just thrown a curve for a strike. They decided to throw another curveball but he left it up and…

The Royals made a pitching change to RHP Collin Snider and he got Carlos Correa to ground out to first to end the top of the 9th so now, the Royals had to face Twins fireballer closer Jhoan Duran to try to avoid the broom 🧹! Good Luck!

The Royals had Whit Merrifield, Andrew Benintendi and Hunter Dozier coming to the plate. They had all faced Duran at least once before so they had an idea of what to expect. Benintendi had faced him twice and struck out both times, one looking and one swinging. 

Merrifield struck out swinging on 3 pitches, 2 curveballs. Benintendi took a 1st-pitch fastball for a ball then swung & missed on 2 more fastballs but fouled off 4 straight (3 fastballs & 1 splitter), all of the fastballs were in the triple-digit miles per hour. The splitter was 98.5. He then took an outside curveball to make the count 2-2 but grounded out to 3rd for the 2nd out so it was up to Hunter Dozier who had flown out to left in his previous at-bat against Duran which came on Friday. He took a first pitch curveball for a strike away then swung through a curveball before taking a low & away curve and fouling off another curve. That triple-digit fastball had to be on his mind when a 5th curve was thrown low and away outside the zone but he couldn’t check his swing as the 1st base ump called it a strike to end the game for a amazing comeback win for the Twins!

Here’s the condensed game highlight package:

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Final Score
Minnesota Twins 7 | 6 Kansas City Royals
W-Duffey(2-2) L-Staumont(1-1) S-Duran(3)

Pitching

Starters
MN:
RHP Bailey Ober: 
5IP 3H 1R/ER 1BB 4K – No Decision – 

KC:
RHP Brady Singer: 
7IP 4H 0R/ER 3BB 3K – No Decision

Bullpen
MN:
RHP Yennier Cano: 
0.1IP 4H 5R/ER 2BB

RHP Trevor Megill: 
1.2IP 1H 2K

RHP Tyler Duffey: 
1IP – 2nd Win

RHP Jhoan Duran: 
1IP H2K – 3rd Save

KC:
RHP Taylor Clarke: 
0IP 4H 4R/ER

RHP Scott Barlow: 
0.2IP 2H 1R/ER 2BB 1K 1HR – 4th Hold

RHP Josh Staumont: 
1IP 2H 2R/ER 2BB 2k – 1st Loss

Hitting

Home Runs
MN:
Kyle Garlick(4)

KC:
None

Doubles
MN:
Max Kepler(6)

KC:
Hunter Dozier(8), Carlos Santana(5)

2-Out RBI
MN (Inning):
Kyle Garlick 2(8th), Gio Urshela(9th)

KC:
None

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Game Notes

*
Pitch & Lineup Counts

A lot of people/fans take a lot from pitch counts. Bailey Ober was pulled after 5 innings and just 78 pitches and 48 strikes. He threw 24 pitches in the 1st inning with just 13 of those being strikes but coming off the injured list likely meant the Twins had him on a pitch count. He threw 54 the rest of the way but 35 of those were strikes so he was throwing more strikes after the 1st inning. He had set down 7 in a row after he allowed the RBI-single in the 3rd inning. That almost guarantees he was on a pitch count, right? 

Or why would they take him out while he was on a roll? 

Twins’ RHP Bailey Ober’s Final Pitching Line: 
5IP 3H 1R/ER 1BB 4K – No Decision
(78 pitches – 48 strikes (10 looking, 12 swinging))

Another seemingly league-wide belief with starting pitching in baseball over the last few years is that teams don’t want to make most of their pitchers face a lineup for a 3rd time. The hitters have seen them twice and the analytics say that 3rd time through a lineup is tough for middle to back of the rotation starters. 

The top of the Royals lineup was 2-for-6 with 2 singles, a strikeout and a GIDP (Merrifield & Benintendi were both 1-for-2 & Dozier had the K & the GIDP) against Ober but it was still just a 1-run ballgame at that point, too.

It’s very easy to second guess what managers in respect to when they leave pitchers in and when they pull ‘em. Sometimes they’re leaving them in to see how they do and/or respond to adversity for future reference. They have to find out what they can get from all of their pitchers in these moments to help them make better decisions as the season goes along.

If you add in that Bailey Ober was coming off an injury and had only pitched once in the last 23 days, it’s easy to see why they pulled him after 5 innings. He left feeling good about his start as he gave up just 1 run on just 3 hits and 1 walk while striking out 4.

We’ll see how he does in his next start which will likely be Friday against the same Kansas City Royals.

**
Umpire Scorecards

Someone started @umpscorecards on Twitter back in August of 2020 to show how accurate or, probably more to the point, how inaccurate home plate umps can be with their strike zones.

They’re definitely interesting to look at. Here’s the Ump Scorecard for Jeremy Riggs’ for this game:

They have a website, too, so check out UmpScorecards.com!

P.S. – We get extremely upset about a lot of calls get wrong but they do get the majority of them right and it’s one of the toughest jobs in sports to call a pitch a ball or strike seconds after it’s thrown.

Are there ways for the homeplate umps to improve their calls?
Arguably, yes, for sure but the strike zone also changes with every batter and also every catcher because the ump has to try to find a way to see the ball and the plate. If you watch a low pitch, it’s hard to believe they can tell if that’s a ball or a strike.

It would be cool to see the view of pitches from their angle to give us a feel for how hard of a job it is to call balls & strikes.

Circumference of a Baseball – Dimensions.com

One of the greatest things about the strike zone is when the hundreds of fans think they can tell when a pitch is a ball or a strike from hundreds or feet away. A baseball has a circumference of 9 to 9.25 inches and a diameter of 2.86 to 2.94 inches so… what are the chances you can tell when the almost 3-inch baseball has been thrown over the plate and in the strike zone from 400’+ away?


From the MLB glossary:
“Home plate is a 17-inch square of whitened rubber with two of the corners removed so that one edge is 17 inches long, two adjacent sides are 8 1/2 inches each and the remaining two sides are 12 inches each and set at an angle to make a point. The 17-inch side faces the pitcher’s plate, and the two 12-inch edges coincide with the first- and third-base lines. The back tip of home plate must be 127 feet, 3 and 3/8 inches away from second base.”

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Next Up

The Twins begin a 7-game homestand on Monday night beginning with a 3-game series vs the Detroit Tigers:

Monday, May 23rd
6:40 pm on Bally Sports North

RHP Chris Archer           vs        RHP Elvin Rodríguez 
(0-1, 4.10 ERA, 1.42 WHIP*)                  (0-0, 13.50 ERA, 2.27 WHIP)
                            1st Major League Start

Tuesday, May 24th
6:40 pm on Bally Sports North

RHP Sonny Gray         vs        RHP Beau Brieske
    (1-1, 3.48 ERA, 1.26 WHIP*)        (0-3, 5.13 ERA, 1.33 WHIP)

Wednesday, May 25th
1:10 pm on Bally Sports North

RHP Dylan Bundy         vs        RHP Rony García
(3.2, 5.14 ERA, 1.32 WHIP*)          (0-0, 2.57 ERA, 0.71 WHIP)

*ERA=Earned Run Average, WHIP=Walks + Hits per Inning Pitched

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