Twins Notebook 8/1: Will Maeda Pitch Into the 6th Inning? Alcala Up, Littell to the IL

[Tom Froemming]

To this point, no Twins starting pitcher has eclipsed five innings, but with an afternoon game tomorrow Rocco Baldelli may look for more out of Kenta Maeda tonight. The Twins made a roster move this afternoon, placing Zack Littell on the IL and calling up Jorge Alcala to replace him.ROSTER MOVE

Zack Littell has been placed on the 10-day Injured List and Jorge Alcala will take his place.

 

 

LAST NIGHT’S GAME RECAP

Twins 4, Cleveland 1: Dobnak Delivers 5 Shutout Innings

 

TODAY

Twins vs. Cleveland, 6:10 pm CT

Betting Lines: MIN -1.5, -125, 8.5 O/U

 

Twins: Kenta Maeda, RHP

Last outing: 5.0 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, 84 pitches

 

Download attachment: Maeda.png

Info via Baseball Savant

 

Maeda has noteworthy platoon splits — he’s given up a .592 OPS to right-handed hitters and a .765 mark to lefties over his career. Cleveland has a quartet of switch hitters in its infield and left-handed hitter Bradley Zimmer in the outfield, so Maeda will likely face a lefty-heavy lineup tonight.

 

Cesar Hernandez, who spent his entire career with the Phillies up to this point, has a .286/.444/.643 (1.087 OPS) batting line against Maeda in 18 plate appearances. He and both Franmil Reyes and Domingo Santana have hit home runs off Maeda.

 

Cleveland: Carlos Carrasco, RHP

Last outing: 6.0 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 10 K, 87 pitches

 

Download attachment: Carrasco.png

Info via Baseball Savant

 

Carrasco missed time last season after being diagnosed with leukemia. He was able to return to the team in September to pitch out of the bullpen. Wednesday, his first start since the diagnosis, Carrasco dominated. He needed just 87 pitches to complete six innings and struck out 10 batters.

 

Nelson Cruz is 10-for-27 with four bombas vs. Carrasco over his career.

 

LINEUP

 

NEWS & NOTES

— Josh Donaldson was removed from last night’s game due to a calf injury, and is listed as day-to-day.

 

— ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported that MLB commissioner Rob Manfred informed MLBPA chief Tony Clark the season could be shutdown if COVID-19 isn’t managed better. Scott Miller of Bleacher Report added that a four-pate memo was sent to all clubs, and among the items covered was that each team must identify a compliance officer to help ensure players are following protocols.

 

— Today's St. Louis-Milwaukee game has been postponed after more Cardinals players tested positive for coronavirus.

 

— The Twins are averaging 5.71 runs per game, the fifth-most in baseball, and are tied for second in home runs. Who leads the league? We’ll get to that in a second. The Twins pitching staff has a 3.34 ERA, good enough for sixth in the league.

 

— Over the past four games the Twins bullpen has combined to give up just two earned runs over 20 innings pitched, a 0.90 ERA.

 

— The Twins rank in the bottom half of baseball in terms of future salary obligations, slotting in at No. 18 per MLB Trade Rumors. This seems like a good time to remind everyone that both Derek Falvey and Thad Levine signed contract extensions to stay in Minnesota through 2024. Those extensions were reported in mid-November, and I totally forgot about them until just now.

 

— Mookie Betts made a great throw last night:

 

 

— Yankee reliever Tommy Kahnle has been placed on the IL and will likely need Tommy John surgery.

 

AROUND THE AL CENTRAL

CHW 3, KCR 2

DET 7, CIN 2

 

1. MIN 5-2 (+17)

2. CLE 5-3 (+6)

2. DET 5-3 (-6)

4. CHW 3-4 (-8)

5. KCR 3-5 (-1)

 

How ‘bout them Tigers!? Detroit leads all of baseball with 15 home runs, with Miguel Cabrera, JaCoby Jones and former Twin Jonathan Schoop leading the way with three a piece.

 

SEE ALSO

Getting to Starters Early Will Be Imperative for the Minnesota Twins

Early Report on Eddie Rosario's Plate Discipline

Trevor May and the Next Adjustment

 

Click here to view the article

[DocBauer]

They let Dobnak toss 90 pitches last night in his 2nd start. Maeda hit 84 last time out but pretty much cruised through his first 4 innings. One would speculate he's being targeted for 90 today and hopefully 6 IP.

 

Can you imagine how good this team may be when we start hitting just a little bit better?

[dbminn]

A fine summary, Tom. Another tough matchup tonight. This series has definitely raised my intensity level about Twins baseball. I'm going to enjoy these games as long as they last. 

[Tom Froemming]

 

A fine summary, Tom. Another tough matchup tonight. This series has definitely raised my intensity level about Twins baseball. I'm going to enjoy these games as long as they last. 

I especially enjoy the types of games these two teams seem to play against each other. The Twins were 9-10 against Cleveland last year with the run differential at an even 79-79. That's only 4.16 runs per game on average for each team, so it makes for something a bit different to watch. I wouldn't mind seeing the Twins trounce them 10-0 every time out, of course, but these make for good games to watch.

[Trov]

These games are always close games to watch.  Both games really came down to single at bats.  First game Lindor homer only runs scored.  Second game Eddie 2 run double the main at bat.  We had a lot of chances later in the game to add on but in terms of runs scoring that was the big one.  I expect both teams to make playoffs this year.  

 

If Detroit can keep it up they may leapfrog the sox, who are lacking pitching and defense, for a wild card spot.  Remember last year Detroit got off to strong start too and fell off, but this year a strong first 30 games is half the season.  I am just glad the Twins have not stumbled out of the gate.  

[FlauerPauer]

Twins looked pretty good last night. Big time win. Time to get another big one tonight! Go Twins!

[stringer bell]

You can continue the discussion of tonight's game versus the Cleveland team in the Game Thread. Enjoy!

 

http://twinsdaily.com/topic/39428-game-thread-twins-vs-cleveland-8120-610pm-ct/