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It’s April 16, 2018. The Twins own a 7-4 record. The front office has added free agents at several key positions to complement an 85-win team from the previous year that earned its first post-season berth in seven years. It's April 16, and despite a string of postponements due to an early spring snowstorm, the team is playing well, and flying to Puerto Rico for an unusual two-game series against their division rivals. Minnesota Twins and Puerto Rico, April 2018 (copyright Brace Hemmelgarn,
Coming off a week in which the Minnesota Twins faced a schedule akin to death itself, we can’t describe a 4-3 record as anything short of exceptional. The Houston Astros look the part of a World Series champion, and while the New York Yankees aren’t close to full strength, they’re holding serve in the AL East. For Rocco Baldelli’s club, there’s plenty of positive momentum, and rather than focus on one specific area, now seemed like a good time to highlight some standouts. Byron Buxton is curre
The Minnesota Twins were able to win their first game in Yankee Stadium for the first time since 2017 this weekend but dropped the series two games to one. Even though the Twins were only able to win one game this series, I am still happy about how it turned out. The starting pitching was still pretty good this series, though a few errors allowed some unearned runs that could've been the reason for the loss. The Twins also faced some very good pitching this weekend and struggled to get hits
Most of us gnashed our teeth this past offseason when we heard the new team's philosophy that there is no reason to go all in until "the window is open". I say gnashed out teeth because many of us asked the question: how do you open the window wider without adding significant outside talent? But Falvine stubbornly held the course by passing on virtually every available free agent reliever, despite a woefully undermanned existing bullpen. Surprising to many the Twins got off to a great start,
It’s certainly no secret that a strong bullpen is a common trait among championship teams. The Kansas City Royals made back-to-back World Series appearances, in 2014 & 2015, winning it all in 2015 on the backs of a very strong bullpen. The likes of Wade Davis, Kelvin Herrera and Greg Holland were a major part of their success. The team that beat them in 2014, the San Francisco Giants, also posted a stellar bullpen. Led by their “Core Four” (Jeremy Affeldt, Javier Lopez, Sergio Romo, and S
I don't think it is still possible for Minnesota Twins fans to still doubt the skill of this years team. The Twins just recently won three out of four games against the Houston Astors to improve to 19-10 on the season. The big take away from this series: pitching. The starting pitchers were feeling themselves this past series, minus Pineda, and the bullpen made work with their little time in the game. Besides the 11-0 loss in game two, this was some of the best pitching I've seen all year, and
This is an excerpt from a story which originates at Zone Coverage here. Click through to read in its entirety. 3.34 ERA 3.18 FIP 9.1 K/9 These are the numbers of a pitcher who came to Target Field on Monday night and completely shut down one of the most powerful lineups in the American League. And believe it or not, they aren't those of Houston Astros fireballer Justin Verlander -- they're from his mound counterpart that evening, Jake Odorizzi. After a year that didn't go the way he had
It’s long been a thing in baseball that struggling or failed starting pitchers could simply head out to the bullpen and find another path to success. From the short burst outings, to avoiding multiple lineup turns, and even decreasing the total pitch mitch, it’s a whole different recipe beyond the outfield wall. Adalberto Mejia was thrust into this role for 2019, but it doesn’t appear to be going as smoothly as Minnesota may have hoped. Let me start out by saying that we’re still dealing with
Over the course of the past decade the Minnesota Twins have shown some scouting prowess in their findings down under. From the early stories of Peter Moylan and Liam Hendriks, to a recent hat tip pointed at James Beresford, Australia has produced big leagues in a Twins uniform. Although Todd Van Steensel displayed some nice minor league numbers, he got to Minnesota by way of the St. Paul Saints. The system still has more talent from down under, and one could be on his way north soon. Lewis Tho
After a series loss to the Houston Astros, the Minnesota Twins were able to sweep the Baltimore Orioles in another 3-game series with hot bats and solid pitching all around. The Twins were finally able to get an off day after playing 12 straight games before they faced the Orioles for the second, and final time of the season. The Twins just a week prior, and were able to sweep them in a 3-game series after dropping the series against the Toronto Blue Jays. They were able to walk right through
This is an excerpt from an article which originates at Zone Coverage. Click here to read it in full. It’s not hard to find people with the opinion that the Minnesota Twins need to make a move to address their bullpen. Those people aren’t exactly wrong, either. As of this writing, the Twins are ninth in the AL with a bullpen ERA of 4.73. They’re also ninth in WHIP (1.39) and 11th in strikeouts per nine innings (8.3). Each of those numbers, on their surface, are not terribly exciting. But
The Minnesota Twins were able to respond well after a series loss to the Blue Jays with a 3-game sweep against the Orioles, but were only able to grab one game against one of the league's top teams, the Houston Astros. Going into this series, all I wanted from the Twins was to win one out of the three games this series, and I knew it wasn't going to be the third game when I saw the pitching matchups: TBD vs Justin Verlander. That meant they needed to take one of the first two, and they did exa
It’s April 24 and the Minnesota Twins have played 21 games during the 2019 Major League Baseball season. In that time, left fielder Eddie Rosario has taken the American League by storm being a co-owner of the home run lead, and he’s spearheading an offensive outburst not generally seen around these parts. It wasn’t long ago that Rosario looked the part of an All Star, but where is all of this coming from? Through 21 games, Rosario has already tallied ten dingers on the season. That puts him on
We’re only 20 games into the 2019 Major League Baseball season, but Jorge Polanco is currently the fifth most valuable hitter in baseball by fWAR standards. The Twins shortstop has a cycle to his credit, nearly paired that with another, and has been on an absolute tear out of the gate. For a guy who was always expected to be carried by his bat, the production isn’t that surprising, but the level in which he’s producing is a bit shocking to say the least. Coming up through the Twins system, the
This is an except of a post originating from Zone Coverage. Read it in full at this link. You could be forgiven if the Minnesota Twins recalling Tyler Duffey on the last homestand didn’t register on your radar. A lot of things are going on with this team right now — most notably, winning and hitting homers — and the return of a reliever who posted a 7.20 ERA when fans saw him last probably doesn’t many of them too excited. But if you think it’s the same Duffey you’ve seen before, you’re so
Fairly, the Minnesota Twins bullpen has been a lightning rod of discussion in 2019. From talks about what more could be done, to the breakdowns that have cost the club a couple of games, this group will remain under the microscope. With the bright lights on them, internally developed arms have been the anchors at the back of the group. Arguably the most impressive reliever has been Trevor Hildenberger, and that’s a development Twins fans can get behind. Hildenberger was a 26-year-old pitching
I have seen complaints about many Twins players so far across our comment sections and Twitter. Even Nelson Cruz, who’s been almost unanimously admired by the fanbase and may be the team’s most threatening bat. It happens. No one is to tell you how you should think, no matter how statistically unusual your opinion might be. But there’s one particular take that has spread quickly all over Twins Territory and it puzzles me. I don’t think there is any Twin who has been more complained about this
After a disappointing series loss to the Toronto Blue Jays, the Minnesota Twins swept the Baltimore Orioles three games to zero in two days. The Twins had played six games in a row coming into this series, and were supposed to play three straight, but due to the weather in Baltimore on Friday, the game got postponed, giving the Twins a much needed rest. The rest proved to be exactly what the Twins needed as they came out for the doubleheader and hit 11 home runs. Jose Berrios and Martin Perez
Over the past decade, pitch framing has become a hot topic, not only in how we've begun to identify its value, but also in finding methods to quantify it, and coming to grips with its influence on the game. However, I contend that our focus has been far too narrow, and we must look beyond the catcher- in fact, past the backstop, into the stands, up to the media boxes, and directly at the role of play-by-play broadcaster. How the game's on-camera talent describe the action shapes our measurement
Dave St. Peter Interview It has been nine years since the Minnesota Twins have won the American League Central division, only making one playoff appearance in that time. The team has changed from top to bottom over the last few years. Familiar faces like Brian Dozier and Joe Mauer are long gone. Mauer was always a draw for people to go to games, what do the Twins do now to put fans butts in the seats of Target Field? Make the fan experience the best that it can be. When Target Field opened
Another starting pitcher fails to have a quality start, combined with not much offense leads to the Minnesota Twins dropping the series finale to the Toronto Blue Jays. This time it was Michael Pineda getting the start for the Twins on the mound. He was coming into the game with a 2-0 record with 15 innings pitched in three outings. He pitched well in his first three outings giving up 13 hits and five runs while striking out 15 batters. Today was a different story for Pineda. He started off
I have always been upset that even when we have a good team nobody else in the country ever gives us props...maybe that's changing.... from mlb.com..3. Twins (8-6) You can look at the Twins a certain way and make an easy case that they’re now the AL Central favorite. And it’s not just because the Indians appear to be more vulnerable than they’ve been at any time in this string of three straight division titles. The Twins are off to a good start despite an offense that is in the bottom half i
As the Twins get ready to finish up the four game series against the Blue Jays, Michael Pineda will take the mound for what will be his 4th start of the season. The early returns of his two-year contract have looked good so far as he was another cheap, low-risk signing by the Twins new management during the 2018 offseason. As we’ve seen how shaky our bullpen can be, much of the Twins success this year will rely on their starters and specifically could depend on what version of Pineda they get.
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
