Article: PHI 10, MIN 4: Polanco Cycles in the Rain, Rest Is All Pain

[Tom Froemming]

Jorge Polanco became the 11th Twin to hit for the cycle, the first in 10 years, and it only took him four plate appearances to do it. He’s also the first Twins switch-hitter to ever hit for the cycle.

 

That was great to see. The rest of this game … well, the Polanco cycle was great to see.Snapshot (chart via FanGraphs)

Full Box Score

Odorizzi: 0.2 IP, 2 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 1 K, 50.0% strikes

Home Runs: Kepler (1), Polanco (1)

Multi-Hit Games: Polanco (5-for-5, 2B, 3B, HR), Schoop (2-for-4)

WPA of +0.1: Polanco .220

WPA of -0.1: Harper -.134, Odorizzi -.209

 

Download attachment: Win45.png

 

And Polanco wasn’t done there, he added another single in the ninth inning. Here’s a look at the cycle:

 

 

With persistent rain and temperatures in the low-40s, the Twins got off to a terribly sloppy start at Philadelphia and just kept sinking. You know how you can tell it was really bad? This rabid Phillies fanbase, energized by a new star in town, left Citizens Bank Park largely unoccupied.

 

There were enough Phillies fans at Nationals Park earlier this week to get a “we got Harper” chant going in enemy territory, but the weather in Philadelphia led most fans to stay home despite the enthusiasm to shower love down upon their new star.

 

Jake Odorizzi struck out Bryce Harper in the first inning. That’s about the only thing that went well in the early going. Odorizzi recorded just two outs and it took him 36 pitches just to even do that.

 

It all got started with Andrew McCutchen drawing a walk after a borderline check swing was called a ball. Things just snowballed from there. Conditions were terrible, but as the old saying goes, they were the same for both teams.

 

One thing that didn’t help the Twins were a few poor ball calls. As you can see, quite a few of these pitches were in the zone.

 

Download attachment: Balls45.png

 

I suppose when you throw as many pitches as the Twins did tonight a few are bound to not go your way. It was 192 pitches, to be exact. Wow.

 

It was appearing this one may get called before becoming an official game, but they pressed on and things cleared up around the bottom of the fifth inning. Too bad. The Twins would rather forget pretty much all of what transpired.

 

At least the Polanco cycle was fun.

 

Bullpen Usage

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

 

Download attachment: Bullpen45.png

 

Next Three Games

Sat at PHI, 1:05 pm CT (Michael Pineda-Jake Arrieta)

Sun at PHI, 12:05 pm CT (Jose Berrios-Zach Eflin)

Tue at NYM, 6:10 pm CT (TBD)

 

Last Game

MIN 7, KC 6: Twins Come Back From 3-Run Deficit

 

More From Twins Daily

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Twins Winning in the Margins

Byron Buxton: Reckless or Aggressive?

 

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[MMMordabito]

Perfect title for the f article ... Congrats, Polanco ... He was dialed in ... Hope it continues for him ... This was a winnable game, but no execution.

[Richie the Rally Goat]

With Adrianza playing third and Astudillo playing first is Austin ever going to play? What is the point of rostering him?

[Danchat]

 

With Adrianza playing third and Astudillo playing first is Austin ever going to play? What is the point of rostering him?

It seems to me the point is to keep him in the organization, because it appears that the FO believes they'll lose him when they DFA him. 

[PseudoSABR]

I like that Ororizzi takes to heart his own wildness and its capacity to harm others, shows integrity, especially after such a poor performance. 

[MMMordabito]

https://twitter.com/dohyoungpark/status/1114369184589320192

I like that Ororizzi takes to heart his own wildness and its capacity to harm others, shows integrity, especially after such a poor performance.

Does last place really need a trophy?

[PseudoSABR]

 

Does last place really need a trophy?

Absolutely not.  But the ability to lose well I think is an attribute towards winning in the long run. And if not, I admire it anyways. 

[Platoon]

I have always believed baseball is not a good game when played in bad weather. The Twins confirmed that belief last night. While it's not easy for the fielders to throw a wet cold ball accurately, that has nothing to do with throwing to the wrong base, or not knowing when you pick up the ball what you want to do with it. Whether or not the weather is a factor, this team is not playing clean baseball at all.

[old nurse]

With MLB playing games in the rain the pitchers are going to have to learn the spitball.

[akmanak]

This might be only one game but it shows how far this team is from being able to compete against high payroll teams.

[Riverbrian]

 

I have always believed baseball is not a good game when played in bad weather. The Twins confirmed that belief last night. While it's not easy for the fielders to throw a wet cold ball accurately, that has nothing to do with throwing to the wrong base, or not knowing when you pick up the ball what you want to do with it. Whether or not the weather is a factor, this team is not playing clean baseball at all.

 

I'll add to your excellent point. 

 

Cruz and Astudillo were both on the bench. The players who were in the lineup represented our best defensive options (Minus Buxton of course). Besides having our best defensive options in the game, our defensive play last night was terrible. 

 

If Rosario is going to half ass the ball into the infield... If Cave is going to miss the cut. You might as well put Cruz in the Outfield for his bat. 

 

If I'm Baldelli... Rosario sits this afternoon for a one game... Not a permanent benching but he sits with the message that you are sitting today because you half assed the ball into the infield and because you failed to advance Polanco in scoring position twice. Put Cruz in LF. The season is just starting... send the message to Rosario and the entire locker room right now. 

 

As for Jorge Polanco... The rain didn't seem to bother him at all. Congrats to Jorge... I'm proud of him. 

 

As for the Rain... to my knowledge... the Phillies also had to play in it. 

[Old Twins Cap]

Marwin has made some good picks at 3B but otherwise, looks unremarkable if not sloppy, disinterested and ineffectual.

 

Pull it together Marwin.

[Mr. Brooks]

Too bad we don't get to play awful KC and the Cleveland MASH unit every day.

Was excited to see how we matched up against a good team. Not so good, I guess.

[Richie the Rally Goat]

It seems to me the point is to keep him in the organization, because it appears that the FO believes they'll lose him when they DFA him.

Austin is the “rule 5 pickup” of 2019?

[mikelink45]

How soon do we get back to the Central?  This game proves that we need to get 3 weeks into the season before we start to make real judgments.  

 

I do not expect great things from Odorizzi, but I do expect our team to field their positions.  

[Dantes929]

 

This might be only one game but it shows how far this team is from being able to compete against high payroll teams.

    This game shows you can't go on the road in Philly in the rain on April 5th, walk 9 batters, hit another one, make three errors, be on the wrong side of a bunch of lousy calls ( see chart above plus Gonzalez was rung up when he barely even checked his swing when the Twins were still in it) in addition to just playing sloppy ball.    I imagine it is not a good recipe playing against high or low payroll teams.  

[rdehring]

Yes, both teams played on the same field in the same weather.  But that game should not have been played.

[bighat]

The Twins played poorly, also did get some poor calls against them. Nothing great to say about any of it except the Polanco cycle. Oh, and Kepler finally got a hold of one which was nice. I thought Rocco did a decent job of mixing and matching with those double-switches. Remember when Molitor screwed the pooch in Dodger Stadium because he couldn't figure out NL rules? Nice to see our guy can strategize.

 

Razzie awards: Rosario looked just terrible everywhere. It's rare for him to slack in the OF and to look so lost at the plate. Gonzalez has also seemed pretty bad lately at the plate, swinging at stuff in the dirt. Schoop seems to go 1-4 with a single every game. Haven't seen much power from him at all so far, here's hoping it arrives soon. Buxton already missing 1/3 of the season due to injury isn't what I wanted to see. He'll be back in there today...has he fallen into a K-hole or will he make contact today and get back on track?

[Dantes929]

Turtle went 0-1 as a sub.   I will be mad if he goes on a 50 game hitting streak and falls short of Dimaggio just cuz of this game.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

The one-inning performance from the starter had quite a domino effect.

 

If Philly had a scheduled off day Monday, I’m sure this game would have been postponed.

 

But today looks good and I assume we’ll see Astudillo catching and Cruz and Buxton in the OF

[Mr. Brooks]

This game shows you can't go on the road in Philly in the rain on April 5th, walk 9 batters, hit another one, make three errors, be on the wrong side of a bunch of lousy calls ( see chart above plus Gonzalez was rung up when he barely even checked his swing when the Twins were still in it) in addition to just playing sloppy ball. I imagine it is not a good recipe playing against high or low payroll teams.

They played pretty sloppy against KC as well. The wins absolutely count, but against a good team that series, they might be 2-4 right now.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

Agree, three mostly poor games in a row. Time to play a good one.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

Cave in LF, not Cruz today.

 

Interesting call if Cruz is going to sit on the bench until next Friday.

[Mr. Brooks]

Cave in LF, not Cruz today.

 

Interesting call if Cruz is going to sit on the bench until next Friday.

I'm glad this regime values defense.

I love Cruz's bat, but he'd be a disaster in the outfield, at this point in his career.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

I'm glad this regime values defense.

I love Cruz's bat, but he'd be a disaster in the outfield, at this point in his career.

Cruz is absolutely mashing right now. Why give him just one AB as a pinch hitter when you can give him four?

 

Also to your point, Cruz got good reviews in the outfield in spring training. We have a strikeout pitcher going today.

[Mr. Brooks]

Cruz is absolutely mashing right now. Why give him just one AB as a pinch hitter when you can give him four?

 

Also to your point, Cruz got good reviews in the outfield in spring training. We have a strikeout pitcher going today.

Because he could give it all back and more in the field.

I know many don't agree that defense is just as important as offense, that's fine. I'm glad the FO and manager does though.

 

ST performance means very little to me.

If Cruz could play passable outfield, why hasn't he the last few years? His bat would have had even more value there than DH.

If his bat+defense is better than our other outfielders bat+defense, then he should be an everyday outfielder, not just in NL parks.

[jorgenswest]

The 11 man staff didn’t last long. The short start drove the need for an addition Chase DeJong and DFA of Tyler Austin.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

Because he could give it all back and more in the field.

I know many don't agree that defense is just as important as offense, that's fine. I'm glad the FO and manager does though.

ST performance means very little to me.

If Cruz could play passable outfield, why hasn't he the last few years? His bat would have had even more value there than DH.

If his bat+defense is better than our other outfielders bat+defense, then he should be an everyday outfielder, not just in NL parks.

I’m not questioning why he isn’t a full time outfielder anymore.

 

I’m comfortable saying Cruz’s bat+defense is better than Cave’s in a short span of games. They apparently prefer Cave’s platoon advantage instead. We will soon find out. To take it one step further, I might also use Kepler in center and Buxton on the bench as a late inning replacement for Cruz in these NL parks.

[Mike Sixel]

The 11 man staff didn’t last long. The short start drove the need for an addition Chase DeJong and DFA of Tyler Austin.

Do we know it is Austin? The writing was on the wall the day they acquired Cron.

[jorgenswest]

Do we know it is Austin? The writing was on the wall the day they acquired Cron.

Dan Hayes reported it was Austin. Cron and Cruz appear to be the better options for this year at DH and 1B. I hoping that Kirilloff, Rooker, Larnach and Sano are the better options longer term.

 

Austin’s window is now. I think someone will give him the opportunity.