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Brusdar Graterol made his much-anticipated debut this afternoon as part of the Twins' 8-3 victory over the Detroit Tigers. The 21-year old has been raising eyebrows and expectations primarily because of his velocity and the impact he could make down he stretch run and hopefully a long run into the playoffs. Comparisons have been made and dreams have been dreamt of the Twins striking gold for this year in much the same way the Angels did in 2004 with Francisco "K-Rod" Rodriguez. Graterol pitche
Third and last in my series on the conundrums of protecting players from Rule V, getting rid of deadwood, choosing what to do about free agents and lining up trades. The Outfield and Infield had a lot of names and decisions, but nothing like the pitching staff. Here we have our Ace – Berrios – who has worn down in August as an annual ritual letting others that the Ace spot until he recovers – and hopefully he can. Looking at performance is not just a calendar event – we might also look at who
When did baseball take hold in counties across Minnesota? What ballpark was located near the present day site of Target Field in 1800’s Minneapolis? If you’re a fan of baseball history, the Halsey Hall Chapter of the Society for American Baseball Research invites you to join us for the 19th Century Baseball Interdisciplinary Symposium, held this year on Saturday, November 16 from 9 am to 4:30 pm at the Minneapolis Central Library. The symposium, hosted in partnership with Hennepin County Libra
With the Minnesota Twins on the verge of setting the all-time MLB home run record, they have gotten many great individual home run efforts from their players. Max Kepler and Nelson Cruz have paved the way with 35 and 33 long-balls while Eddie Rosario and Miguel Sano are closing in on 30 homers as well. Jorge Polanco’s next dinger will allow the Twins to set the MLB record with the most players hitting at least 20 home runs at eight. Today, we will take a look at which Twins players have set care
I started with the outfield as I look at the Twins current 25 man active roster, 40 man overall roster and the crush of players who are on the field, plus those needing to be added to the 40 man and the potential free agents, and possible trade candidates. The current Major league infielders and catchers (who ocassionally move to a base): Cron Schoop Polanco Sano Arraez Gonzalez Adrianza Castro Garver Astudillo Cron and Schoop are FA - do we resign them? Schoop has been terrific thi
Reading the blogs and comments I see a lot of people looking at the outfielders and whether we should trade Rosario for starting pitching, put Jake Cave on the roster for Post Season and how to handle the surplus in the minors. September is a big audition month and a time to give some players a little rest. We have too many players who need to be added to the 40 man and not enough room. Do we trade, do we DFA, do we get rid of players already on the roster? Do we allow free agents to leave? So
This is an excerpt from an article that appears at Zone Coverage in full here. Please click through to read it in full. No matter what direction the 2019 season takes the Minnesota Twins, their offseason is going to be filled with intrigue. Three of the team’s five starting pitchers — Kyle Gibson, Jake Odorizzi and Michael Pineda — are eligible for free agency, leaving Jose Berrios and Martin Perez, who has a team option, as potentially the sole holdovers heading into 2020. And while the Twi
Through 64 games and just shy of 250 plate appearances, he owns an .836 OPS and is batting .335. He’s never going to be a power hitter, and if he ever puts 10 balls out of the park in a single season any team would be ecstatic. What he can be though, is an ideal leadoff hitter with great average skills and elite on-base production thanks to plate discipline that’s otherworldly. He handles the bat to the point that Tony Gwynn would be proud of, and his approach at the plate in unwavering. It is
2019 has been an exhilarating ride. This is easily the best Twins team since 2010(and arguably, since 2006). While success is by no means assured this year, suffice it to say that 2019 has brought us to the cusp of serious playoff contention. While recent erratic play, particularly in the rotation and in the field, has tempered our chances for advancement , most of us still feel pretty comfortable about seeing playoff games in Target Field this year. We have a whole month to go, but as of to
“Baseball is a relative sport.” By nature we often remember the really good or really bad things, and not the okay or decent things that someone does. I bet you can vividly remember the last time you won an award, but perhaps not the last time you went to the grocery store, or who your 10th grade history teacher was. It’s a core principle to how memories are formed. Those that stand out are often fueled by the emotional context the situation derives from. Say me for instance, I remember whe
With injuries to Byron Buxton and the more recent hamstring injury to Eddie Rosario, Jake Cave has had an extended opportunity with the Minnesota Twins and has made the most of it. After hitting two home runs in the opener against the Detroit Tigers he came back in Saturday's game and hit another dinger, with a double to boot. Buxton is off to a short rehab assignment in Cedar Rapids but he could rejoin the big league club as soon as Tuesday in Chicago. Rosario’s injury is listed as day-to-day b
Listen, Nelson Cruz earned the moniker “Boomstick” because he’s become one of the most prolific power hitters in baseball. While most nicknames are rooted in some level of fact, Mr. Boomstick may never have expected the output he’s seeing as a 39-year-old with the Minnesota Twins. The home runs continue to pile up, but he’s pulverizing the leather more than he has ever done before. Plenty has been made about the baseball in play during the 2019 Major League Baseball season. It’s obvious that c
Given the depth of discussion about the differences in remaining schedule between Cleveland and the Twins, thought a visual snapshot might help put things into focus. Through the games on 8/20, each team has 36 games left. This chart highlights how those games stack up by opponent while also showing how each team has performed so far. A few notes & takeaways: As this community is well aware, the teams have 6 games left head to head (the top row of the chart) Similarly, both have 7
I remember in 1987 the Twins came within 2 HRs of having 4 players hit 30 HRs on the same team in the same season. Hrbeck 34, Brunanski 32, Gaetti 31 and Puckett 28. The Dodgers 1977 team with Baker, Cey, Garvey and Reggie Smith achieved this once. fast forward to 2019 and boy do i just feel a lot older....but this Twins team currently has Cruz with 32 and Kepler with 33 HRs already. Rosario is at 27 and both Sano and Garver are at 23. The Twins could end up with 5 players with 30 Hrs.
As analytics have crept into the game of baseball and taken a foothold as the chief form of evaluation, players from all different eras rail against the game in its current state. The game has definitely changed to cater towards the exceptional athletes that play it today, and the sport has taken notice as well. Unwritten rules have forever (and will always) be part of baseball, but there’s a certain aspect still waiting to be phased out. The idea that baseball polices itself has long been one
MINNESOTA TWINS OPPONENT (# OF GAMES) - SERIES PREDICTION @ Texas (4) - Twins 3-1 vs. Chicago White Sox (3) - Twins 2-1 vs. Detroit (3) - Twins 3-0 @ Chicago White Sox (3) - Twins 2-1 @ Detroit (4) - Twins 3-1 @ Boston (3) - Red Sox 2-1 vs. Cleveland (3) - Twins 2-1 vs. Washington (3) - Twins 2-1 @ Cleveland (3) - Indians 2-1 vs. Chicago White Sox (3) - Twins 2-1 vs. Kansas City (4) - Twins 3-1 @ Detroit (3) - Twins 3-0 @ Kansas City (3) - Twins 2-1 Final Record: 101-61 CLEVELAND INDIANS
This excerpt is from an article originating at Zone Coverage. Click here to read it in full.When Devin Smeltzer was summoned to make a spot start after Michael Pineda was placed on the injured list last Sunday, he became the first pitcher outside of the team’s established rotation to make more than two starts in 2019. Kohl Stewart has made two starts and Lewis Thorpe has made one. Through 100 team games, 95 of them were started by one of Jose Berrios, Martin Perez, Kyle Gibson, Jake Odorizzi
I could not resist putting up this Home Run Derby between Harmon Killebrew and Rocky Colavito. In this contest the two who had tied for the HR championship of the AL faced off.
It is preceded by Harmon taking the crown from Mickey Mantle -
And followed by a contest Harmon lost to Ken Boyer - a third baseman who belongs in the
Ken did not last long - his next challenge was Hank Aaron who took over the program. It is so amazing to see these greats playing for $2000 - chump change
The Twins hot start this year coincided with Jorge Polanco's. Since Polanco has fallen back to earth the Twins once "insurmountable lead" has turned a division front runner into a division contender. Throughout the season we've seen players move around the lineup based on the usual reasons (opposing pitcher, hot/cold/ other players in lineup), what we haven' consistently seen is Polanco hit anywhere but the two spot. If that spot is reserved for the hottest or best hitter then we should be seein
If the playoffs started today – these are the teams and their top three-man rotations. Which would you choose? I have them listed as I would rank them. Starting three for the playoffs 1. Houston – Verlander, Cole, Greinke 2. Cleveland – Bieber, Clevinger, Kluber 3. Tampa – Morton, Chirinos, Glasnow or Snell if he returns 4. Yankees – Tanaka, Paxton, German or Happ 5. Twins – Berrios, Pineda, Odorizzi Houston has Aaron Sanchez and Wade Miley, Cleveland has the two rookie pitchers we just sa
During the run-up to the MLB Trade Deadline the Minnesota Twins were linked to several big-name starting pitchers. We heard rumors about the Twins potentially landing someone like Noah Syndergaard, Marcus Stroman, Madison Bumgarner, or even Trevor Bauer. When the dust settled, Minnesota was either unable or unwilling to meet the demands for those pitchers and decided to stand pat with the current rotation. The Twins were never going to give up a player like Byron Buxton and were rightfully prote
11 1/2 game lead is huge, losing it by August 10 is terrifying. True, we have time left and Cruz will come back and maybe Buxton too. Jack Cave might be replaced by someone who can do better in MLB from our minor leagues and maybe we will strike gold with one or two pitchers as we allow the entire minor league system to audition for us this year, but still 11.5 games! That is a lead worthy of 7 percent of the season. So come on Twins. Beat the bad teams. I think most have given up on beat the
I am not a follower of Donald Trump. I have participated in several no kings rallies and am disgusted with what he and his followers have done to our country and the world. I would like to know what most Brazilians feel about the United States now and about the folks our citizens have elected to represent us.
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hello Seth......you'll wanna correct the date in headline of today's minor league report. :-) Brad· 0 replies
I am not a follower of Donald Trump. I have participated in several no kings rallies and am disgusted with what he and his followers have done to our country and the world. I would like to know what most Brazilians feel about the United States now and about the folks our citizens have elected to represent us.· 1 reply
