GAME THREAD: 6/22/22, Twins vs Guardians, 6:40 PM CT

[Mill1634]

For the first time in 59 days, someone is writing the game thread intro with the Twins no longer in sole possession of first place. While this is disappointing, it is also fantastic the the Twins are giving us meaningful baseball in June, and hopefully will continue to do so into July, August, and September. It is easy to get caught up in the rollercoaster of the season, and I myself do it just as much as anyone, but I am so thankful we are in the position to care about this team -- and baseball -- again. 

 

The Pitchers

RHP Triston McKenzie (4-5, 2.96 ERA, 61K, 70IP, 1.4 bWAR) v RHP Sonny Gray (3-1, 2.09 ERA, 42K, 38.2IP, 1.3 bWAR)

 

Two of the most underrated pitchers in not only the AL Central, but the entire league will square off tonight. Triston McKenzie has been really good for the Guardians, and has gone at least 6 innings in his last 8 starts. Now all of these starts haven't been great, but he's allowed 3 or less runs in 7 of those 8 starts, with the only time allowing more with 5 against Baltimore. McKenzie relies heavily on his 4S fastball, throwing it more than 60% of the time. The fastball sits in the low to mid 90's, topping out at 95 MPH. He also mixes in a curveball and slider, with the slider used against RHH and the curve against LHH. The curve has a BAA of only .104, and has a whiff rate of nearly 40%. The fastball has a BAA of only .184, but the expected numbers suggest negative regression is incoming. McKenzie's buggaboo has been the home run ball, and the Twins will need to get the longball working to have a shot. Sonny Gray threw only 65 pitches last time out, going 5 innings allowing no runs against Seattle. I assume he has a pitch limit of around 80-85, which should allow him to get through 5 or 6 innings. 

 

The Lineups

Twins

1. Luis Arraez (L) 2B
2. Carlos Correa (R) SS
3. Max Kepler (L) RF
4. Gary Sanchez (R) DH
5. Alex Kirilloff (L) 1B
6. Gio Urshela (R) 3B
7. Trevor Larnach (L) LF
8. Ryan Jeffers (R) C
9. Nick Gordon (L) CF

 

Guardians

1. Steven Kwan (L) LF
2. Amed Rosario (R) SS
3. Jose Ramirez (S) 3B
4. Josh Naylor (L) DH
5. Oscar Gonzalez (R) RF
6. Andres Gimenez (L) 2B
7. Owen Miller (R) 1B
8. Austin Hedges (R) C
9. Myles Straw (R) CF

 

Buxton gets another day off, which is just baffling to me. I don't want to put too much emphasis on a game in June, but there is zero reason for your best player to need a day off after getting one just two day's ago against your biggest division challenger. It makes absolutely zero sense, and everyone who posts in this game thread has my permission to complain about it. I will be too. The rest of the lineup looks similar to yesterday, with Gordon sliding into CF. Cleveland is throwing out a very similar lineup to last night, with the only change at 1st base where Owen Miller, the older brother of last year's first round pick Noah Miller, getting the start at 1st base. 

 

Vegas Odds: Twins -160, Cleveland +165, O/U 7.5

 

Weather: 84 degrees, 8MPH out to CF, 0% chance of rain

 

On This Day: 1984 - In a teary home plate ceremony before the Twins-White Sox game at the Metrodome, Calvin Griffith and his sister, Thelma Haynes, sign a letter of intent to sell their 52 percent ownership of the Twins to Minneapolis banker Carl Pohlad for $32 million. Griffith and his sister had been involved with the franchise since 1922, when owner Clark Griffith of the then-Washington Senators adopted them.

 

Pick to Click: Carlos Correa gets a clutch base hit after coming up short last night

 

Prediction: Twins 5, Guardians 3

 

Go Twins!!

[Dave The Dastardly]

9 minutes ago, Mill1634 said:

For the first time in 59 days, someone is writing the game thread intro with the Twins no longer in sole possession of first place. While this is disappointing, it is also fantastic the the Twins are giving us meaningful baseball in June, and hopefully will continue to do so into July, August, and September. It is easy to get caught up in the rollercoaster of the season, and I myself do it just as much as anyone, but I am so thankful we are in the position to care about this team -- and baseball -- again. 

 

The Pitchers

RHP Triston McKenzie (4-5, 2.96 ERA, 61K, 70IP, 1.4 bWAR) v RHP Sonny Gray (3-1, 2.09 ERA, 42K, 38.2IP, 1.3 bWAR)

 

Two of the most underrated pitchers in not only the AL Central, but the entire league will square off tonight. Triston McKenzie has been really good for the Guardians, and has gone at least 6 innings in his last 8 starts. Now all of these starts haven't been great, but he's allowed 3 or less runs in 7 of those 8 starts, with the only time allowing more with 5 against Baltimore. McKenzie relies heavily on his 4S fastball, throwing it more than 60% of the time. The fastball sits in the low to mid 90's, topping out at 95 MPH. He also mixes in a curveball and slider, with the slider used against RHH and the curve against LHH. The curve has a BAA of only .104, and has a whiff rate of nearly 40%. The fastball has a BAA of only .184, but the expected numbers suggest negative regression is incoming. McKenzie's buggaboo has been the home run ball, and the Twins will need to get the longball working to have a shot. Sonny Gray threw only 65 pitches last time out, going 5 innings allowing no runs against Seattle. I assume he has a pitch limit of around 80-85, which should allow him to get through 5 or 6 innings. 

 

The Lineups

Twins

1. Luis Arraez (L) 2B
2. Carlos Correa (R) SS
3. Max Kepler (L) RF
4. Gary Sanchez (R) DH
5. Alex Kirilloff (L) 1B
6. Gio Urshela (R) 3B
7. Trevor Larnach (L) LF
8. Ryan Jeffers (R) C
9. Nick Gordon (L) CF

 

Guardians

1. Steven Kwan (L) LF
2. Amed Rosario (R) SS
3. Jose Ramirez (S) 3B
4. Josh Naylor (L) DH
5. Oscar Gonzalez (R) RF
6. Andres Gimenez (L) 2B
7. Owen Miller (R) 1B
8. Austin Hedges (R) C
9. Myles Straw (R) CF

 

Buxton gets another day off, which is just baffling to me. I don't want to put too much emphasis on a game in June, but there is zero reason for your best player to need a day off after getting one just two day's ago against your biggest division challenger. It makes absolutely zero sense, and everyone who posts in this game thread has my permission to complain about it. I will be too. The rest of the lineup looks similar to yesterday, with Gordon sliding into CF. Cleveland is throwing out a very similar lineup to last night, with the only change at 1st base where Owen Miller, the older brother of last year's first round pick Noah Miller, getting the start at 1st base. 

 

Vegas Odds: Twins -160, Cleveland +165, O/U 7.5

 

Weather: 84 degrees, 8MPH out to CF, 0% chance of rain

 

On This Day: 1984 - In a teary home plate ceremony before the Twins-White Sox game at the Metrodome, Calvin Griffith and his sister, Thelma Haynes, sign a letter of intent to sell their 52 percent ownership of the Twins to Minneapolis banker Carl Pohlad for $32 million. Griffith and his sister had been involved with the franchise since 1922, when owner Clark Griffith of the then-Washington Senators adopted them.

 

Pick to Click: Carlos Correa gets a clutch base hit after coming up short last night

 

Prediction: Twins 5, Guardians 3

 

Go Twins!!

As long as I have permission... not having Buxton in the lineup when first place in the division is on the line defies all logic. Not even a computer can be that dumb.

[BH67]

2 minutes ago, Dave The Dastardly said:

As long as I have permission... not having Buxton in the lineup when first place in the division is on the line defies all logic. Not even a computer can be that dumb.

I'm sure it's a run-of-the-mill impingement, nothing more.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

Buxton had the day off Saturday, too. Short term, he seems to be the good Buxton when he's actually playing, but long term I can't imagine any favors are being done for Buxton here. 

Hope he sees the light & comes into camp in 2023 with the goal of playing 150 games! 

Anyway, win lose or draw, lets all have fun here tonight

 

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

Win, lose, or draw?

Do they "draw" in baseball?  

Rain is NOT in the forecast here, so please do not bet on the Green

[Mander]

We don't need Buxton. We only need our MVP Luis Arraez. The team leader! We could use some pitching help though.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

15 minutes ago, BH67 said:

I'm sure it's a run-of-the-mill impingement, nothing more.

Perhaps even a run-of-the-Mill1634 impingement!

(because the game thread intro was written by @Mill1634)

[rwilfong86]

4 minutes ago, Mander said:

We don't need Buxton. We only need our MVP Luis Arraez. The team leader! We could use some pitching help though.

If Arraez doesn't get AL MVP votes the world should just come to an end. 

[Dave The Dastardly]

2 minutes ago, rwilfong86 said:

If Arraez doesn't get AL MVP votes the world should just come to an end. 

I think it is coming to an end regardless. Skynet is a spreadsheet.

[Craig Arko]

3 minutes ago, rwilfong86 said:

If Arraez doesn't get AL MVP votes the world should just come to an end. 

Well at least we’re not playing for peanuts here.

[Tlaker]

28 minutes ago, Dave The Dastardly said:

As long as I have permission... not having Buxton in the lineup when first place in the division is on the line defies all logic. Not even a computer can be that dumb.

Garbage in, garbage out 

[Dave The Dastardly]

1 minute ago, Craig Arko said:

Well at least we’re not playing for peanuts here.

My daughter's mother-in-law tried to kill me with peanuts.

[Dave The Dastardly]

2 minutes ago, Dave The Dastardly said:

My daughter's mother-in-law tried to kill me with peanuts.

Actually it was salmonella from peanut butter. Didn't kill me but it did bring me out of my shell.

[Dave The Dastardly]

2 minutes ago, Dave The Dastardly said:

Actually it was salmonella from peanut butter. Didn't kill me but it did bring me out of my shell.

Had a thing for the Almond Brothers Band ever since.

[Dave The Dastardly]

Just now, Dave The Dastardly said:

Had a thing for the Almond Brothers Band ever since.

I know, I'm driving everybody nuts.

[wabene]

Hi-oh! 

[wabene]

D the D will be here every Wednesday till the end of the month

[Dave The Dastardly]

Just now, Dave The Dastardly said:

I know, I'm driving everybody nuts.

Stop me for godsakes and pull my chestnuts out of the fire!

[CRF]

At least the Roc didn't "schedule" CC and Buxton to be off for the same game this time...come to think of it, the way Buck looked last night, we're probably not going to miss him anyway. 

[ashbury]

3 minutes ago, Dave The Dastardly said:

Stop me for godsakes and pull my chestnuts out of the fire!

Just wait until Chief finds out you've been impersonating an officer.

[sampleSizeOfOne]

29 minutes ago, Hosken Bombo Disco said:

Win, lose, or draw?

Do they "draw" in baseball?  

Rain is NOT in the forecast here, so please do not bet on the Green

There is a song about his...

(well, about roulette)

 

 

Does this count as educational content?

[Dave The Dastardly]

6 minutes ago, sampleSizeOfOne said:

There is a song about his...

(well, about roulette)

 

 

Does this count as educational content?

Had me spinning in circles.

[Azviking101]

Off day Thursday, Saturday, Monday and now Wednesday. Something is wrong again, obviously. He started 4 straight before that off day Thursday. 

[Dave The Dastardly]

Kep!

[Danchat]

Gotta wonder if Buxton's knee is flaring up. For as cautious as the Twins are with him, you've got to think he'd at least be DH'ing today following the 'plan'.

[sampleSizeOfOne]

And as far as even, Guardians may have games in hand, but don't go handing them wins they ain't won yet. Twins have more wins. We're still ahead.

[Squirrel]

34 minutes ago, Tlaker said:

Garbage in, garbage out 

What’s this mean? Who’s garbage here?

[LVTwinsfan]

Buxton takes so many days off it’s affecting his ability to hit. A good hitting pitcher could average around .200 for a full season. Batting once every five days is the reason, if they hit everyday their ba would no doubt be higher…. Buxton is no exception, his hitting will and is suffering because of all this time off. 

[RickOShea]

39 minutes ago, rwilfong86 said:

If Arraez doesn't get AL MVP votes the world should just come to an end. 

It's not even the halfway mark of the season.  You need to realize that baseball is a game of endurance .  You can be an MVP the first 3 months and a trainwreck the last 3 months.

[Parfigliano]

Really beginning to dislike "the plan".