Minnesota Twins

Luis Arraez has fought his way into an everyday role on one of the best offenses in baseball history. This is no small feat, especially for a 22-year old rookie. Since he wasn’t a highly-ranked prospect, Arraez has surprised many fans with his professional approach at the plate. Could he surprise the rest of baseball and walk away with the American League Rookie of the Year Award?

After a brutal weekend series against the Cleveland Indians, the Minnesota Twins needed an easy win, along with some help from the Boston Red Sox, to regain the division lead. For a while it looked like that would be the case, as the Twins held a 4-1 lead over the Brewers and the Red Sox, a 6-1 lead over the Indians in the later innings. However, easy would not even come close to describing how things went down to give the Twins back the lead in the AL Central.

As the season has worn on for the Minnesota Twins, manager Rocco Baldelli has utilized the end of his bullpen as a revolving door. Names like Zack Littell, Kohl Stewart, Cody Stashak, Randy Dobnak, and Sean Poppen have all been shuttled back and forth from Triple-A Rochester. Trading for Sam Dyson and Sergio Romo at the deadline aimed for some stability, but this practice will likely continue until something (err someone) sticks. That could very well take place from among a trio of guys currently on the mend.

Following a high tension set with the Cleveland Indians, and a much needed off day, the Minnesota Twins head to Milwaukee for a quick two-gamer with the Brewers. The Crew is in roughly the same spot we saw them back in May, fighting a tight battle in the NL Central, but now the season series concludes on their home turf. For a Twins team looking up in the standings for the first time since April, the interleague matchup is one they need to grab.

Jose Berrios is in his third full big-league season and he has been named an All-Star in each of the last two seasons. He is unquestionably the best starting pitcher on Minnesota’s staff. However, his last two starts have been far from his best work on the mound. Are there other underlying issues with Berrios? Is he showing a trend of second-half swoons?

The Minnesota Twins have struggled to find a completely effective bullpen mix in 2019. With all the moving pieces recently and an overused Taylor Rogers, here is an attempt to find a competitive bullpen for the stretch run.

Over the past week, Minnesota had an opportunity to solidify its legitimacy as contenders with matchups against quality competition in front of home crowds at Target Field. Instead, the Twins stumbled through their worst week of the year, casting serious doubt on their championship viability while watching a long-held division lead evaporate.

Let's assess the damage.

The Twins finished off this four game set with the Indians with a frustrating loss highlighted by a Marwin Gonzalez double with Ehire Adrianza being thrown out at home and Carlos Santana crushing a grand slam in extra innings. Cleveland will head home tied with the Twins atop the AL Central.

To say it has been a rough go lately for Martin Perez would be putting it lightly. After posting a 2.95 ERA in 58 innings through May 23rd, the wheels have completely fallen off the wagon. In 12 starts since then, Perez has a 6.47 ERA in 64 innings pitched. Remarkably, the Twins are still 5-7 in those games, but if it weren’t for their great offense, things would be much worse for Perez and the Twins. That is why I fear that leaving Perez in the starting rotation is only tempting fate, and it might be a good time for the Twins to find a different role for him.

The Twins and Indians faced off in the third game of their four-game series that was delayed by two hours because of the rain on Saturday night. Jake Odorizzi provided the Twins with six solid innings, while Adam Plutko rolled through three innings on 40 pitches before the Twins hit him hard for two runs in the fourth. Minnesota prevailed, winning 4-1.

The Minnesota Twins decided not to add another starter at the trade deadline and given the current rotation there are a few possibilities to consider when configuring the postseason rotation. Jose Berrios is firmly implanted at the top of the rotation, but after Jose things get a bit murkier.

Once again the Twins didn't get enough from their starter and couldn't sustain a rally and they fall to the Indians at Target Field, 6-2. Minnesota loses their fourth straight game for the first time in the year and are now tied with Cleveland for first place in the division, with a 70-46 record.