Article: MIN 6, CHW 4: Polanco Does it All

[Tom Froemming]

Jorge Polanco stole a base, hit a home run from the left side, hit a home run from the right side and made a web gem in the field. Nice little Tuesday at the ballpark for the young man. Also, Ervin Santana delivered a quality start and Matt Belisle picked up the save.Snapshot (chart via Fangraphs)

Download attachment: Sanp829.png

What a terror Jorge has been against Chicago. Seven of Polanco’s nine home runs this season have come against the White Sox. He made another special memory against them tonight, as it was the first multi-homer game of Polanco’s career -- hitting one from each side.

Every hitter in the lineup reached base safely at least once for the Twins. Ervin Santana put together a quality start, limiting the White Sox to three runs over 6.2 innings. He hasn’t given up four or more runs in seven-straight starts.

 

Trevor Hildenberger was the first man out of the bullpen, which was a bit surprising considering the fact that Hildy had pitched in five of the team’s last six games. And since his debut on June 23, only 15 relievers have logged more innings than Hildenberger’s 28.1 heading into tonight. He allowed a runner he inherited from Ervin to score, but ended up recording four outs, all on strikeouts.

 

Matt Belisle gave up a run in the ninth, but secured his fifth save of the season. That matches his career total entering this year.

 

Standings

The Twins still trail Cleveland by 6.5 games in the division. At the conclusion of their game, the Twins were just 2.5 games back of the Yankees for the top Wild Card spot and 1.5 games up on both Baltimore and the Angels, though Anaheim’s game was in progress.

 

Postgame With Polanco

Bullpen Usage

Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days:

Download attachment: Bullpen829.png

Looking Ahead

Wed: Twins (Jose Berrios) vs. White Sox (Derek Holland), 7:10 pm CT

Thu: Twins (Bartolo Colon) vs. White Sox (Miguel Gonzalez), 12:10 pm CT

Fri: Twins (TBD) vs. Royals (TBD), 7:10 pm CT

 

Looking Back

MIN 7, TOR 2: Buxton Hits 3 Homers, Twins Win Series at Toronto

TOR 10, MIN 9: Sloppy 8th Inning Costs Twins in Comeback Effort

MIN 6, TOR 1: Buxton, Bartolo Get Twins Back to Winning Ways

 

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[jimbo92107]

What a delightfully confounding team is this 2017 Twins. Before our very eyes they appear to be blossoming into a club that can play with anybody. A new young core is maturing while veterans are showing the kids how to act like professionals. However this season ends, it hints at a bright future for the Minnesota Twins. 

[Lee-The-Twins-Fan]

Wow – Did anyone expect the Twins to still be in the hunt on Aug. 29? It looks like this team has woken up – with new heroes every night. It's fun to watch them.

 

Let's hope they can continue to win, and overtake Cleveland to win the AL Central!

[yarnivek1972]

Apparently, Polanco is the tertiary adjunct of unimatrix 01 in the White Sox side.

[USAFChief]

Still a couple days left in August to supplement, Falvine...

[ThejacKmp]

 

Still a couple days left in August to supplement, Falvine...

 

I still have hopes they'll bring in R.A. Dickey. He's on a reasonable deal for next year and I love me some R.A. Dickey. He's not amazing but they don't need amazing - they just need a guy who keeps you in games at the back of the rotation.

 

Maybe none of their catchers can handle a knuckleballer though . . . 

[ThejacKmp]

 

Let's hope they can continue to win, and overtake Cleveland to win the AL Central!

 

Maybe this makes me a bad person but I've just about entirely given up on them winning the AL Central and am pretty solely focused on the AL Wild Card. Let's overtake the stupid Yankees!

[mikelink45]

I like what I have seen, but I am still confounded by the FO not bringing up Gonsalves.  If he is our best minor league starter put him in.  He could fail, but everyone else has too so lets try.  Two years ago we whiffed on the WC because we would not bring up young pitching.   Lets not do that again. 

[Doubles]

Polanco also made a very heads-up play by keeping the tag on whichever White Sox player hit the double & over-slid the bag. Good stuff.

[Halsey Hall]

The way we are playing now I think we can beat anyone in a wild card game.

\

[drjim]

Hildenberger has been much better than I anticipated. Really nice revelation down the stretch (but maybe not 5 out of 6 games).

 

They could really use one more RH reliever, but don't think they are getting through waivers at this point.

[JaleelWhite FanClub]

It's great watching Polanco's surge. I know most of the spotlight has been taken away as Buxton's turnaround has happened at the same time.

 

He can add so much potential for this team as a switch-hitter with speed and a decent glove at 3 infield positions.

 

You had to know all the talk around Polanco's downfall early this summer was way too premature. I have to imagine the loss in his family he suffered took a toll.

 

It seems that if any young player not named Buxton has a slump, to most fans, their careers are over (i.e. Rosario, Polanco, Berrios, etc.).

 

Here's to hoping that Jorge fits in alongside Byron as a member of the Twins core for the years ahead.

[drjim]

 

I like what I have seen, but I am still confounded by the FO not bringing up Gonsalves.  If he is our best minor league starter put him in.  He could fail, but everyone else has too so lets try.  Two years ago we whiffed on the WC because we would not bring up young pitching.   Lets not do that again. 

 

Pay attention to the Rochester starters this week, good chance either Gonsalves or possibly Slegers gets the start on Friday.

[Jacks02]

Fun team to watch, they are really clicking. Of course it helps when you are playing teams below .500.

 

Still though, impressive run they are on, especially when considering their All-star 3B and starting catcher are both on the DL.

[Dantes929]

 

I still have hopes they'll bring in R.A. Dickey. He's on a reasonable deal for next year and I love me some R.A. Dickey. He's not amazing but they don't need amazing - they just need a guy who keeps you in games at the back of the rotation.

 

Maybe none of their catchers can handle a knuckleballer though . . . 

I always like having a knuckle baller on the team.   Seems to mess up other team's timing for the next guy in the rotation.   I see he is playing for the Braves which made me think in a couple deals we could give up a low prospect for him and flip him for a couple higher ranked prospects which led me to check on Garcia for the Yankees.   0-1 with a 5.95 ERA.   That led me to look at Aaron Hicks stats and I see he is batting .167 in the 2nd half which makes me think again that he would have made a good platoon guy for us with his right handed bat and our left handed heavy outfield.

[Vanimal46]

 

Hildenberger has been much better than I anticipated. Really nice revelation down the stretch (but maybe not 5 out of 6 games).

 

They could really use one more RH reliever, but don't think they are getting through waivers at this point.

 

Jake Reed is sporting a nice 1.98 ERA in 27 AAA innings.... But, like we've talked about before, for some reason they've been letting him pitch once every 3 or so days all season. 

[JaleelWhite FanClub]

 

The way we are playing now I think we can beat anyone in a wild card game.

 

 

I agree. The one caveat would be that the Twins would need to clinch a spot with a couple of games left. That way they could set up the rotation to have Santana start the WC game. I don't know if I'd trust anyone else in that spot.

 

Also, the big fear would be to face a good lefty starter in the WC game (or even a WC #2 play-in game). Kepler and Castro would then become a non-factors while Rosario and Mauer would be neutralized. Polanco and/or Escobar would have to hit from their weaker right sides. A lot would fall on Sano, Buxton, and Dozier.

[ThejacKmp]

This is kind of random but the White Sox Anderson slid into second and then went off the bag early in the game. He was only given a single. I don't understand that - to me, it's the same principle as if a guy was thrown out at 3B - he gets a double because he reached second safely. You could argue its because he was thrown out at 2B but it would still be a double if he rounded towards third, stopped halfway and got in a pickle and then came back to 2B where he was tagged out.

 

Scoring rarely makes sense.

[howieramone2]

 

I like what I have seen, but I am still confounded by the FO not bringing up Gonsalves.  If he is our best minor league starter put him in.  He could fail, but everyone else has too so lets try.  Two years ago we whiffed on the WC because we would not bring up young pitching.   Lets not do that again. 

No we didn't. We brought up Duffey in August. Did you really want to see Berrios crap the bed?

[mikelink45]

 

Pay attention to the Rochester starters this week, good chance either Gonsalves or possibly Slegers gets the start on Friday.

I hope so - I would like both.

[PDX Twin]

This is kind of random but the White Sox Anderson slid into second and then went off the bag early in the game. He was only given a single. I don't understand that - to me, it's the same principle as if a guy was thrown out at 3B - he gets a double because he reached second safely. You could argue its because he was thrown out at 2B but it would still be a double if he rounded towards third, stopped halfway and got in a pickle and then came back to 2B where he was tagged out.

 

Scoring rarely makes sense.

The broadcasters commented on this. I wonder if Stew Thornley has any insight on the question.

[mikelink45]

 

No we didn't. We brought up Duffey in August. Did you really want to see Berrios crap the bed?

Yes I did.  Duffey amazed us and has not been able to recover his early success.  To say that Berrios would have succeeded or failed is impossible, but at the time he was our best bet. 

[Cap'n Piranha]

On the scoring of a player getting thrown out at second--if you can't execute a good slide, you don't get credit for a double.

 

Falvine might need to abduct Hildenberger for a game or two in order to keep Molitor from using him.

 

If the Twins were willing to let Gibson have a start last week against the Sox, I don't know why that would be different after two pretty good starts.

 

Finally, these game recaps keep getting better and better. I'd be surprised to find out any other site was producing this level of quality. The sincerest of cap tips to you Tom.

[drjim]

 

I hope so - I would like both.

 

We'll see. I wouldn't put either of them ahead of the current top 4. And if one comes up to start that is good, but I'd not call the other up to sit until the Rochester season is over (most especially Gonsalves). Good for the playoffs, but also good to keep them on their turn as long as possible in case they need to get called on in a couple of weeks.

 

Plus Mejia and Santiago are close to returning. SO MUCH PITCHING DEPTH!

[howieramone2]

 

Yes I did.  Duffey amazed us and has not been able to recover his early success.  To say that Berrios would have succeeded or failed is impossible, but at the time he was our best bet. 

No it's not, and no he wasn't. Duffey beat him out plain and simple. You really believe Berrios, who months later would have the worst rookie starting pitching debut in the history of the franchise, would have made us better in the hunt? I've heard the same nonsense about Alex Meyer if he had been brought up on 2014. If they are not ready, they are not ready. 

Edited August 30, 2017 by howieramone2

[yarnivek1972]

Pay attention to the Rochester starters this week, good chance either Gonsalves or possibly Slegers gets the start on Friday.

I don't know what Slegers has to do to get another shot. His first start was very good. He's been great in AAA all year and his most recent start was borderline dominant. Sure, he had the one clunker a week ago. Probably had jet lag.

[ThejacKmp]

 

On the scoring of a player getting thrown out at second--if you can't execute a good slide, you don't get credit for a double.

If the Twins were willing to let Gibson have a start last week against the Sox, I don't know why that would be different after two pretty good starts.

 

A bad slide that works because the SS drops the ball is still a double. A double is not contingent on the quality of the slide or how well you hit the ball - it is defined by making it safely into 2B. That happened. Whatever happens after that should be immaterial, no matter if it happens two tenths of a seconds, two seconds or two minutes later.

 

Yeah, hard to argue that Gibson shouldn't be starting. He's not great but he's been fine of late. I imagine that Dr. Jim was talking about Saturday when Gee is lined up. Gee might have reached the end of his very short rope.

[Tom Froemming]

 

Finally, these game recaps keep getting better and better. I'd be surprised to find out any other site was producing this level of quality. The sincerest of cap tips to you Tom.

Thank you. I can't seem to stop tinkering with the recipe for these things, but I feel really good about this new format. Glad to hear you like it.

[Dantes929]

 

Yes I did.  Duffey amazed us and has not been able to recover his early success.  To say that Berrios would have succeeded or failed is impossible, but at the time he was our best bet. 

 

I like what I have seen, but I am still confounded by the FO not bringing up Gonsalves.  If he is our best minor league starter put him in.  He could fail, but everyone else has too so lets try.  Two years ago we whiffed on the WC because we would not bring up young pitching.   Lets not do that again. 

I don't recall having such angst that we were not bringing guys up.   Before that final series we had gone 8-3 and we only scored 1 run in each of the last 3 games.   Our rotation was full of guys that were slightly better than 4.00 or slightly worse and you don't bring up untested minor league guys to replace 4.00 starters.    Do you bring in Berrios as a reliever in high leverage situations?    Perkins was our all star that year and it was his implosion as much as anything that cost us that year but it would take a lot of guts to replace him with a rookie.    If I was in charge at the time I would have brought up Berrios for one game and that is the spot start that went to May.    It really thinned the relief for the next week.    This year is a bit different in that we are kind of set for 4 spots but need a 5th guy.   Gee didn't do so hot but has had a good year and could be given another shot.    I would love to see Gonsalves just to see what he's got but Slegers is on regular rest and kind of deserves another start.   When do we find out who the September call ups are?

[Respy]

 

I still have hopes they'll bring in R.A. Dickey. He's on a reasonable deal for next year and I love me some R.A. Dickey. He's not amazing but they don't need amazing - they just need a guy who keeps you in games at the back of the rotation.

 

Maybe none of their catchers can handle a knuckleballer though . . . 

 

With Castro concussion-ized, would you want Garver catching Dickey?  Personally that makes me cringe.