Twins Notebook 8/9: The Sky is Falling!

[Cooper Carlson]

The Twins have lost three in a row and are on the verge of being swept by the Royals. They will need their ace, Jose Berrios, to step up big time today. Let's hope the team can pick it up quickly for a win today.YESTERDAY’S GAME RECAP

KCR 9, MIN 6: Brief 2020 Debut for Odorizzi; Royals Bust It Open Against Bullpen

 

QUESTION OF THE DAY

Are you worried about the Twins? If so, what are you most worried about. If not, why?

 

TODAY

Twins at Royals | 1:05 pm CT

 

Twins starter: Jose Berrios

1-1, 15.0 IP, 4.80 ERA, 1.33 WHIP

 

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Jose Berrios has had one bad start, one okay start, and one good start to begin the season. His last outing was in Pittsburgh where he went six innings and gave up just one run. He also had six strikeouts and three walks. The Twins are going to need him to have another game like the one in Pittsburgh with the way this offense and bullpen are struggling a bit.

 

Berrios and the Royals have faced off thirteen times in his career. In 77 ⅔ innings Berrios has a 4.29 ERA and 1.34 WHIP. Last year was right on par with those results but hopefully today he can turn the tide a bit. He is throwing his fastball 8% more than he did last year with increased velocity but it has been his worst pitch. Hopefully he can locate and get some better results.

 

Royals starter: Brady Singer

0-1, 15.0 IP, 4.80 ERA, 1.27 WHIP

 

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Brady Singer is largely a two pitch pitcher with an occasional changeup. He throws the fastball (56.5%), slider (35.7%) and changeup (7.8%). The fastball is his best pitch as hitters are batting just .185 against it but the slider has not been effective early on. Hitters are batting .348 with a 91.2 MPH exit velocity.

 

Singer is a rookie in 2020 and did not even have a cup of tea in the majors last season. He never even saw AAA. Straight to the majors from AA. The Royals are rebuilding and can afford to have pitchers like him get a shot. A rebuilding team that the Twins could get swept by.

 

Twins lineup:

• Max Kepler RF
• Jorge Polanco SS
• Nelson Cruz DH
• Eddie Rosario LF
• Marwin Gonzalez 3B
• Miguel Sano 1B
• Luis Arraez 2B
• Byron Buxton CF
• Alex Avila

This lineup gives off a lot of 2019 vibes with the top four hitters. Mitch Garver will have an off day today and Berrios will be partnered with Avila once again. Buxton will try four his fourth straight game with a home run.

 

News and notes:

• Byron Buxton has hit a bomba in three straight games! Can he make it four?
• The Twins have lost three in a row. Last year it took 94 games for that to happen.
• The TIGERS are in second place at 7-5. WHAT?!
• Sean Poppen was optioned to the practice squad and the Twins purchased the contract of RHP Cory Gearrin. Gearrin pitched 55 1/3 innings for the Yankees last season with a 4.07 ERA.

Around the AL Central

 

DET 11, PIT 5

CLE 7, CHI 1

• MIN 10-5 (+25 run differential)
• DET 7-5 (-1)
• CLE 9-7 (+21)
• CWS 8-7 (-2)
• KC 6-10 (-7)

Tomorrow’s game

Minnesota @ Milwaukee, 7:10 pm CT

Randy Dobnak vs TBD

 

See also

In appreciation of Marwin

What will a 2020 championship look like?

Twins bats have struggled early

 

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[Aggies7]

Worried about the pitching staff, especially the rotation. Way too many question marks. It would be one thing if someone like berrios could be counted on to give a solid start every time out. But if he’s going to be shaky and odorizzi/Hill/bailey are going to be iffy with injuries, I don’t know. I don’t trust dobnak’s stuff long term.

[Danchat]

Gotta get a 6-7 inning outing from Berrios and get to the back end of the pen. Bats need to get going! Can’t afford to drop another game to the Royals.

[stringer bell]

You can continue the conversation in today's Game Thread in the Minnesota Twins Talk forum:

 

http://twinsdaily.com/topic/39641-game-thread-892020-minnesota-twins-kansas-city-royals-105-cdt/

[Darius]

Losing 4 in a row to a couple of the worst teams of baseball would be discouraging in a 162 game season. Doing it in a 60 game season is a major problem.

 

I’m sorry, but until Berrios proves he pitch like an ace, he isn’t one. He just can’t seem to put it all together.

[mikelink45]

With Berrios showing up as a #3/4 pitcher we have to rely on Maeda and Dobnak (do we think he can keep this up), Smeltzer and Thorpe flaming out,  and suddenly the rotation is no longer a strength.