Twins 1, Royals 0: Joe Cool Dazzles, Slough of Singles

[David Youngs]

Anchored by another stellar outing from Joe Ryan, the Twins scrapped past the Royals on Thursday afternoon thanks to eight singles. Here's what you need to know. 

Box Score
Starting Pitcher: Joe Ryan. 6.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K (65 pitches, 57 strikes, 67%)
Home Runs: none
Top 3 WPA: Joe Ryan (.383), Emilio Pagan (.181), Joe Smith (.137)
Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)

The Joe Ryan Experience was in mid-season form on Thursday afternoon at Kauffman Stadium. Coming off a stellar start at Fenway on April 15th, the young Twins' ace mirrored his performance in America's Heartland...only better. Ryan notched his first shutout appearance of the season against the Royals, giving up only two hits to a sneaky-good Kansas City offense. The only two hits for the Royals came on a Michael Taylor single in the third inning and a one-out Andrew Benintendi triple in the fourth. 

And while the fourth inning triple provided a threat, Nick Gordon caught a Salvador Perez pop-out in center field and gunned Benintendi out at the plate to extinguish the fire. 

Ryan may not have the 'ace aura' that is associated with a team's top arm, but the numbers shun the doubters. Through three starts and 14 innings, the San Francisco native has held hitters to a .168 batting average with 11 strikeouts and just four walks. All signs are pointing towards an incredible 2022 season for the 25-year-old. 

The Twins' offense was far from perfect but showed great poise after a pair of dry games at the plate. The one through five hitters in the Twins batting order each notched singles along with two from nine-hitter Nick Gordon. Trevor Larnach continued his impressive start to the season when he roped a line-drive single to left field in the seventh inning. Despite an overall offensive slump from the team, Larnach's start to the season has been incredibly promising. 

Buck BACK!

Just one week after a frightening injury while sliding into second base, franchise staple Byron Buxton returned to the lineup in the DH role on Thursday. Buxton laced a single in the fifth inning that sent Nick Gordon to third and reinstated his hitting ways. As noted on the broadcast from Dick Bremer, the combo of Nick Gordon and Buxton as nine-hitter and leadoff man has the potential to be incredibly exciting. 

Bullpen Rolls

While the Twins' offense continues to warm up, the pitching staff has done an incredible job pulling their weight. The bullpen was no exception in the late innings on Thursday afternoon. The legend of Jhoan Duran pitched a 1-2-3 seventh inning with a pair of strikeouts on just 15 pitches. There's no doubt that the organization has found Duran's home as a rock-solid, late-inning flame thrower. 

Submariner Joe Smith followed suit with a scoreless eighth inning while Emilio Pagan garnered his first save of the year with a scoreless ninth inning. 

What's Next?
After a week-long road trip, the Twins head back home to Target Field to take on division-foe Chicago at 7:10 pm CST. Bailey Ober (1-1, 3.27 ERA) will square off against Michael Kopech (0-0, 1.00 ERA) in a matchup between arguably the two best teams in the AL Central. It's also Grateful Dead night..buy those tickets!

 

Postgame Interview

 

Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet

 

View full article

[wabene]

It is enjoyable to watch Joe Ryan pitch.

[cHawk]

Ryan has future stud written all over him

[Doctor Gast]

It was a great game by Ryan, Duran, Smith & Pagan. My observation is we used our best 3 short relief guys! Now playing our nemesis CWS who do we have to close out a game. Why don't they go with Winder for 2 innings then we still have 2 of these guys fresh for up coming games against CWS. 

We should have a regular schedule of long relief every game giving innings to Winder, Smeltzer and whoever is hot to go 2, 3 or even 4 if need be. These guys need to be pitching not sitting on the bench or stuck in AAA and the likes of Duffy needs to sit on the bench only to mop up until he figures it out. And we should have Duran, Smith and Pagan to close out separate games.

[RpR]

Larnach is no better than last year and is not a good fielder in left field.

[Monticore]

Nice win, terrific pitching by Ryan & Co., nice throw by Gordon, Urshela has a good eye. 

[Richie the Rally Goat]

45 minutes ago, wabene said:

It is enjoyable to watch Joe Ryan pitch.

[wabene]

Now that was a good ballgame, watched on a plane coming back from Florida. Crisp, started a half hour after takeoff and finished while taxiing to the gate. More please.

[Richie the Rally Goat]

26 minutes ago, Doctor Gast said:

It was a great game by Ryan, Duran, Smith & Pagan. My observation is we used our best 3 short relief guys! Now playing our nemesis CWS who do we have to close out a game. Why don't they go with Winder for 2 innings then we still 2 of these guys fresh for up coming games against CWS. 

We should have a regular schedule of long relief every game giving innings to Winder, Smeltzer and whoever is hot to go 2, 3 or even 4 if need be. These guys need to be pitching not sitting on the bench or stuck in AAA and the likes of Duffy needs to sit on the bench only to mop up until he figures it out. And we should have Duran, Smith and Pagan to close out separate games.

In a 1 run game they NEEDED to win, I can rationalize using your best relievers, but yeah, they need to piggyback Archer and Paddack with Winder and Smeltzer on a schedule. Those two look nowhere near stretched out, and have one of Pagan, Smith, and Duran available for leverage most nights, avoiding the three of them on the same game.

[Unwinder]

37 minutes ago, alex ψ said:

Ryan has future stud written all over him

Not to mention present stud!

[h2oface]

I loved this game. Great pitching. From Greinke, too. Love watching Ryan. And Duran (who should start next year....) If you don't let the other team score, you can win a lot of games. Even 1-0.

Only 2.5 games out of first in the division.........

Only 4.5 games out of the best record in MLB!

[mikelink45]

How fun to see all the optimism rising with the sunshine and warmer temps.  Let's get this season going!

[TheLeviathan]

That Nelson Cruz trade is looking more and more like a heist.

[wabene]

Spring has sprung on H2oface and Mrlink45! Go twins!

[wabene]

Your know I watched all of Ryan's Olympic starts and all the twins starts as well. I liked him very much but wasn't sure how the fastball heavy approach would fly. Well this guy not only has moxy, but command and the ability to evolve. Very exciting. Compare this to Berrios' first year.

[Sielk]

55 minutes ago, Doctor Gast said:

It was a great game by Ryan, Duran, Smith & Pagan. My observation is we used our best 3 short relief guys! Now playing our nemesis CWS who do we have to close out a game. Why don't they go with Winder for 2 innings then we still 2 of these guys fresh for up coming games against CWS. 

We should have a regular schedule of long relief every game giving innings to Winder, Smeltzer and whoever is hot to go 2, 3 or even 4 if need be. These guys need to be pitching not sitting on the bench or stuck in AAA and the likes of Duffy needs to sit on the bench only to mop up until he figures it out. And we should have Duran, Smith and Pagan to close out separate games.

I disagree.

Always try to first win the game you're currently playing. It was an one-run game. If Rocco had "saved" those three for the White Sox series and a still very inexperienced Winder had blown the lead, it wouldn't have helped the Twins one bit.

Worry about the rest later. Who knows, the Sox games could all become blowouts (hopefully with  the Twins on top) and you wouldn't even need your late-inning arms. And if it's another one-run game you can still use Winder. 

A win is a win. Go for it whenever you can.

[Dave The Dastardly]

I just watched the video of Gordon throwing out the runner from centerfield... what was that about Gordon not having the arm to play short? Still baffled.

[wsnydes]

Great to see Ryan answer the bell.  It would have been fun to see if he would have gone out for another inning if he were stretched out more.  

[mnfireman]

10 minutes ago, Dave The Dastardly said:

I just watched the video of Gordon throwing out the runner from centerfield... what was that about Gordon not having the arm to play short? Still baffled.

Ummm, no. He caught the ball on the run, got his whole body into the throw and it still hopped a third of the way between the mound and the plate. He is in the role he should be in. He is good enough to play SS, 2B, 3B, LF & CF on a short-term role, but his weaknesses would be evident over a whole season (weak arm, holds the ball to long, weak bat.) Keep putting him out there 2-4 days a week in a position to succeed and he should be a passable utility player.

[LastOnePicked]

"in a matchup between arguably the two best teams in the AL Central."

That would be a tortured argument at this point. Nice win today, but the Twins aren't even in the same league as the White Sox unless the bats magically wake up.

[terrydactyls]

30 minutes ago, mnfireman said:

Ummm, no. He caught the ball on the run, got his whole body into the throw and it still hopped a third of the way between the mound and the plate. He is in the role he should be in. He is good enough to play SS, 2B, 3B, LF & CF on a short-term role, but his weaknesses would be evident over a whole season (weak arm, holds the ball to long, weak bat.) Keep putting him out there 2-4 days a week in a position to succeed and he should be a passable utility player.

A good throw from the outfield is supposed to hit about a third of the way way to the mound.  It provides the catcher with a ball that is easily handled, is usually about knee high, and provides for great positioning for the catcher to apply the tag.

[SE23]

Ryan is such a stud. The other pitchers are pretty good but when him, Gray and Ober are up to pitch I know we have a good chance of winning. I wish we could find a place for Gordon and Arreaz to be in the lineup every day. I would bench Kepler and Sano and play Larnach at first, Gordon in left and Arreaz in right or DH. In my mind it seems as if Kepler and Sano have both been given chance after chance to perform and have not really proven themselves. I think it is almost the time to let other guys play. I may be wrong, I would love to hear what others think on this topic. As always Duran was super fun to watch and Smith and Pagan were solid. Just like sano and Kepler however I think Duffey has kind of shown he is not a reliable Reliever. I do like winder as well and think he should get more innings in the future. I also would like to know what others think about Correa. My opinion is that if he is having a good season then at the trade deadline we trade him for relief/starting pitching. Once again I would just love to hear what people think on the subject of just our roster and moves we should make.

[Vanimal46]

2 hours ago, h2oface said:

And Duran (who should start next year....) 

I have zero interest in Duran starting any time in the future or now. He’s a stud, late inning reliever. I want him in the most important spots late in games. 

[h2oface]

55 minutes ago, Vanimal46 said:

I have zero interest in Duran starting any time in the future or now. He’s a stud, late inning reliever. I want him in the most important spots late in games. 

You're right. Who wants a deGrom..... or a Hunter Greene, anyway (who could also be late inning releivers). Duran will gain strength through to year, hopefully, and I hope they leave the door open. Who knows if he will make it through the year without injury, for once, anyway. A great set of choices/opportunities to have. He is only sent to the pen right now because of innings ramp up and he is needed. Perfect fit for this year, so far.

[jimbo92107]

2 hours ago, wsnydes said:

Great to see Ryan answer the bell.  It would have been fun to see if he would have gone out for another inning if he were stretched out more.  

I have little doubt Ryan's stuff would play all nine innings. We are watching the rise of an ace pitcher. 

[GNess]

Pagan looks solid.

[GNess]

2 hours ago, SE23 said:

Ryan is such a stud. The other pitchers are pretty good but when him, Gray and Ober are up to pitch I know we have a good chance of winning. I wish we could find a place for Gordon and Arreaz to be in the lineup every day. I would bench Kepler and Sano and play Larnach at first, Gordon in left and Arreaz in right or DH. In my mind it seems as if Kepler and Sano have both been given chance after chance to perform and have not really proven themselves. I think it is almost the time to let other guys play. I may be wrong, I would love to hear what others think on this topic. As always Duran was super fun to watch and Smith and Pagan were solid. Just like sano and Kepler however I think Duffey has kind of shown he is not a reliable Reliever. I do like winder as well and think he should get more innings in the future. I also would like to know what others think about Correa. My opinion is that if he is having a good season then at the trade deadline we trade him for relief/starting pitching. Once again I would just love to hear what people think on the subject of just our roster and moves we should make.

Yes, agreed Arraez needs to be in the line up almost every day. Stop using Jeffers as a DH and give more AB's to Arraez. Arraez can get in the line up at 1B, 2B and LF on occasion. Not sure Gordon should be a regular, being a super utility guy seems to. fit him. When Kirilloff returns I think he should get a lot reps at 1B.

[tarheeltwinsfan]

1 hour ago, Vanimal46 said:

I have zero interest in Duran starting any time in the future or now. He’s a stud, late inning reliever. I want him in the most important spots late in games. 

I'm glad the Twins did not take this position  when Johan Santana was a Twins reliever.  To me a starter is twice as valuable as a reliever due to the possibility of a starter getting twice the innings as a reliever each year.

[Vanimal46]

29 minutes ago, h2oface said:

You're right. Who wants a deGrom..... or a Hunter Greene, anyway (who could also be late inning releivers). Duran will gain strength through to year, hopefully, and I hope they leave the door open. Who knows if hr will make it through the year without injury, for once, anyway. A great set of choices/opportunities to have. He is only sent to the pen right now because of innings ramp up and he is needed. Perfect fit for this year, so far.

You’re free to jump on the Duran fireman bandwagon anytime. 

[Vanimal46]

Just now, tarheeltwinsfan said:

I'm glad the Twins did not take this position  when Johan Santana was a Twins reliever.  To me a started is twice as valuable as a reliever due to the possibility of a starter getting twice the innings as a reliever each year.

How many times do you need to see him break down injured as a starter before coming to the dark side of Duran being a kick ass reliever?