Twins 10, White Sox 1: Twins End Season with a Bang, Arráez is the Batting Champ!

[Thiéres Rabelo]

In the final game of their disappointing 2022 season, the Twins crushed the White Sox in Chicago, taking the season series against the Southsiders. The main highlight from this game was Luis Arráez officially winning the American League batting title – but it wasn’t the only one!

Image courtesy of Thiéres Rabelo (graphics)

 

Box Score
Starting Pitcher: Louie Varland, 5 IP, 4H, 0R, 0ER, 0BB, 5K (78 pitches, 55 strikes, 70.5%)
Home Runs: Gary Sanchez (16), Jermaine Palacios (2)
Top 3 WPA: Gary Sánchez (.249), Jermaine Palacios (.088), Matt Wallner (.058)
Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)

Arráez is the American League batting champion!
This is not breaking news, but… Luis Arraez has done it! Despite watching New York Yankee Aaron Judge briefly surpass him for the highest batting average in the American League, the Venezuelan hitting machine kept on hitting and regained first place, never letting it go again. He walked twice today before doubling to deep center in the third inning, raising his batting average to .316, and leaving the game after that.

Even if he hadn’t doubled, his case for winning the crown was just too good. Coming into today, Arráez's batting average sat at .315, while Judge’s sat at .311. The Yankees outfielder would need to go 4-for-4 today just to match Arráez’s average while also hoping “La Regadera” would have some bad at-bats in Chicago. However, the Yankees decided not to play Judge for the day, making Arráez the batting champion right away. Even if Arráez had gone 0-for-4 for the day, his batting average would still be higher than that of Judge.

Arráez becomes the fifth Twin to ever win the AL batting title, the first one since 2009, joining Tony Oliva (1964, 1965), Rod Carew (1969, 1971-75, 1977, 1978), Kirby Puckett (1989), and Joe Mauer (2006, 2008, 2009). He also becomes the sixth Venezuelan to win the distinction, the first one since 2017, joining Andres Galarraga, Magglio Ordonez, Carlos Gonzalez, Miguel Cabrera, and Jose Altuve.

 

The offense gets the job done early
The game was basically decided after just two innings. The Twins' offense knocked around Chicago starter Davis Martin right out of the gate, building a six-run lead in the first inning. After Arráez drew a leadoff walk and was followed by a Gio Urshela single, Gary Sánchez obliterated a slider on the heart of the plate for a three-run rocket (106.2 MPH off his bat).

On the very next at-bat, Jake Cave doubled to left, and he scored on a Matt Wallner single to center a couple of at-bats later. Then, Jermaine Palacios, who had hit his first major league home run on Tuesday night, made it back-to-back days with a dinger, taking Martin deep to left for a two-run jack, making it 6-0 Twins in the first.

Three more runs scored in the second inning. Sánchez got another RBI with a double, bringing home Arráez from second after he got another leadoff walk and moved to second on a Nick Gordon single. That prompted a pitching change by Chicago, but it didn’t help. Both Sánchez and Gordon were pushed across by a Gilberto Celestino two-out single against reliever Vince Velasquez, making it 9-0 Minnesota.

Things could’ve gotten even worse for Chicago in the third, as the offense loaded the bases with only one out against Velasquez. One of those runners was Arráez and his double, shortly before being lifted for pinch runner Jose Miranda. But this time, one run was all Minnesota could get after a Gordon sacrifice fly to score Caleb Hamilton.

Varland takes advantage, secures first big league win
Making his fifth start in the majors, rookie Louie Varland was still chasing his first big league win. Before today’s game, he had lost two and gotten a couple of no-decisions. Also, in his previous four starts, Varland had failed to prevent runs from scoring. He would reach both of those personal milestones by the end of the fifth inning today.

Against an uninspired White Sox offense, Varland looked more comfortable than in any of his big league starts so far. He allowed a couple of hits early, one in each of the two first innings, including a leadoff double in the second. He pitched around that with three consecutive strikeouts. Despite not missing a lot of bats, Varland didn’t allow quality contact. Chicago hitters had an average 79.3 MPH exit velocity against him. Varland completed five on 78 pitches, throwing over 70% strikes. Also, this was the first start in his short big league career in which he didn’t allow a walk.

Cole Sands pitched the rest of the way, and Chicago’s offense didn't pose a threat against him until the final inning, when they put two men on and scored a run, but Sands secured the four-inning save. With the win today, the Twins finish the season with a frustrating 78-84 record, but they do salvage one thing: they take the series season against the Sox with 10 wins in 19 games.

Postgame interview

 

Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet

	SAT	SUN	MON	TUE	WED	TOT
Sands	0	0	0	0	59	59
Jax	0	12	21	0	0	33
Sanchez	0	0	0	33	0	33
López	0	18	0	9	0	27
Fulmer	0	26	0	0	0	26
Moran	0	0	0	21	0	21
Pagán	0	0	5	15	0	20
Thielbar	0	0	15	0	0	15
Duran	0	0	0	0	0	0

 

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[jkcarew]

Congrats to Luis! Very nice accomplishment.

[Parfigliano]

Arraez.  A bright spot to finish a lackluster season.

[Doctor Gast]

Very happy for both Luiz & Louie. The Twins went out with a bang.

[jmlease1]

Love seeing Arraez win a batting title. Rod Carew is smiling today (and I bet Tony O and Joe Mauer are equally happy to add Luis to the club).

Varland is going to be battling for a chance at the rotation next season. Ober had better come into camp healthy and ready! (For that matter Maeda needs to as well, or he might find himself in the bullpen) Glad to see Sands have a solid outing, for whatever it's worth this late in the year. I would like to see him possibly evolve into a longer relief role, where he would regularly come in and throw 2-3 innings every 3-4 days to backup the shorter starts that are still likely to happen next season. 

A disappointing season, but I saw more games in person this year than I have in a while and had a great time at the stadium. There's some players to really root for on this team, and some young players with a lot of talent that I hope are with us a long time. In baseball, hope springs eternal...so wait until next year!

[tarheeltwinsfan]

Wait til next year... This has become my annual end of season proclamation. Oh the joy of being a die-hard Twins fan.

[rwilfong86]

Well deserved! Couldn't happen to a better guy. 

[Aggies7]

Good for Luis. Most unenjoyable season that I can remember. Even the 90-100 loss seasons weren’t as grating on me. 

[solomon1930]

By my calculations Judge would have needed to have gone 5 for 5 to pass Arraez.

Congrats Luis Arraez.

[AceWrigley]

Just a note: Tony Oliva won 3 batting titles, 1964, 1965 and also in 1971 with a .337 average.

[D.C Twins]

I look forward to Lee rising to MLB and Miranda maturing into something special next year!

[GNess]

Arraez can rake, there is no doubting it. He has the batting title to prove it.

[AceWrigley]

Interesting tale of the tape for 2022: Twins vs CLE, runs scored 89, runs allowed 89, won-loss record 6-13. Ouch.

[Blyleven2011]

Major leaguer  ( arraez  ) is definitely a major league allstar player ,,, 

Great bat ( bats like gwynn  and hits like carew  ) and hits do matter as he is more than just a good hitter he is our spark plug that creates excitement  in the game ....

 

Congratulations # 2 Luis arraez  ,  now go knock on the front office door and ask for an extension  ....

I became a switch hitter because Tony O  was my favorite player , I was pretty bad when  I first started hitting left handed but overtime I had a decent swing , I loved every lefthanded hit because of Tony O , 

Major leaguer ( ARRAEZ  )  is my favorite  twins player to watch since he became a major leaguer , 

[ToddlerHarmon]

27 minutes ago, AceWrigley said:

Interesting tale of the tape for 2022: Twins vs CLE, runs scored 89, runs allowed 89, won-loss record 6-13. Ouch.

Tiebreaker: Pagan appearances

[bighat]

9 hours ago, Aggies7 said:

Good for Luis. Most unenjoyable season that I can remember. Even the 90-100 loss seasons weren’t as grating on me. 

Couldn't agree more. One of the lowest periods for me was the trade deadline. Watching a team that was clearly running on fumes mortgage their future for a washed up reliever and another injury-prone starter was just awful. At the same time, if they didn't make any moves the fan base would be equally outraged. Then Buxton goes down, Mahle breaks, and those series against Cleveland in September - just a bloodbath. Correa waiting until the team was out of contention to start playing like an All-Star was annoying, as was the general apathy on the offensive side of the ball.

But the worst part was watching the team run Emilio Pagan out there week after week in the middle of the summer.

Luis Arraez's .316 BA is the lowest league-winning batting average in 50 years. Might be an answer to a trivia question someday.

Emergence of Duran, Gordon, Miranda were the high spots, and I feel pretty good about Joe Ryan being a solid piece of the rotation moving forward. Not much else stood out on the positive side.

[bighat]

@Thiéres Rabelo - I want to thank you for the fantastic game coverage this season. You, along with several other contributors ( @Sherry Cerny@Nate Palmer@Theo Tollefson@Matt Braun@Jamie Cameron, and many more) have done us all a great service.

You guys watched a lot of baseball for us - some good, some not-so-good - so that we didn't have to.

One of the main reasons I like this site is because I can log on at 6am ET every morning and see how the Twins did last night. The reliability is a big part of why many of us continue to log in.

Have a great off-season, and thank you again for everything!

[mikelink45]

Good for Luis - even though I wanted Judge to get the triple, I am delighted that my favorite Twin succeeded.  

Thanks for batting practice Chicago.

I know this is a downer question, but how could we fall to 14 games behind in the Central when we were near first a short time ago?

Glad for Varland - does he start for us next year?  

[Jeff D.]

Congratulations to Luis Arraez for the batting crown. Skill over a long season. Class. Enjoyment.

Thank you to great efforts from Urshela, Gordon, Correa, Miranda, Ryan and Duran. 

Honorable mention to Thielbar, Jax, Cave (hustle award).

The rest of the guys thank you for representing the Twins. Rest up. Do better in 2023.

Nice way to go out with a win!

Twins Geezer........out!

[Riverbrian]

According to the bullpen usage chart.

Rocco should have lots of fresh arms ready to go today. ?

[jmlease1]

22 minutes ago, bighat said:

Couldn't agree more. One of the lowest periods for me was the trade deadline. Watching a team that was clearly running on fumes mortgage their future for a washed up reliever and another injury-prone starter was just awful. At the same time, if they didn't make any moves the fan base would be equally outraged. Then Buxton goes down, Mahle breaks, and those series against Cleveland in September - just a bloodbath. Correa waiting until the team was out of contention to start playing like an All-Star was annoying, as was the general apathy on the offensive side of the ball.

Washed up reliever? Who are you talking about? Jorge Lopez isn't washed. He was wasn't great for us (small sample size) but had an excellent season as a whole and is only 29. Michael Fulmer? He was solid for us and at 29 hardly looks washed up either.

[Squirrel]

5 minutes ago, jmlease1 said:

Washed up reliever? Who are you talking about? Jorge Lopez isn't washed. He was wasn't great for us (small sample size) but had an excellent season as a whole and is only 29. Michael Fulmer? He was solid for us and at 29 hardly looks washed up either.

Yeah and they hardly traded away our future. Not a great season, but I’ve seen worse. At this point I’m glad it’s over but there were good moments, too.

[Whitey333]

Just a curiosity question.  Why wasn't Correa in the starting lineup yesterday?  Was the last day of the season too much for him?  His scheduled day off lol?  Or was he injured?

[IndianaTwin]

16 minutes ago, Whitey333 said:

Just a curiosity question.  Why wasn't Correa in the starting lineup yesterday?  Was the last day of the season too much for him?  His scheduled day off lol?  Or was he injured?

Pretty much the same reason the Sox gave Abreu the day off. And the Tigers Miggy...

Quite common for veterans to not play on the last day of the season when the team is out of it. In this case, I don't mind saying, "Hey, Jermaine, we know you played hard this year, even though you struggled. Good chance we'll non-tender you in a couple weeks, but here's a lovely parting gift. And nice job with the homer Tuesday night -- take another whack at it." 

And kinda cool for him that he did. Two homers in two days is a warm, fuzzy way to end the season. 

[Mortimerkenny21]

2 hours ago, Jeff D. said:

Honorable mention to Thielbar, Jax, Cave (hustle award).

Jake Cave, AKA The Hustler! 

[dex8425]

13 hours ago, Aggies7 said:

Good for Luis. Most unenjoyable season that I can remember. Even the 90-100 loss seasons weren’t as grating on me. 

Last year was definitely worse. This year most (myself included) picked us to finish 2nd or 3rd in the division. Vegas odds were pretty close. Last year was a huge disappointment. 

[Platoon]

I knew if we would just show some patience our Twins would start hitting.  This offense is to good to keep down very long. Woh be it to the rest of the teams on our schedule! What? Already? Well ???

[PDX Twin]

14 hours ago, jmlease1 said:

Love seeing Arraez win a batting title. Rod Carew is smiling today (and I bet Tony O and Joe Mauer are equally happy to add Luis to the club).

It had not occurred to me until reading this that the Twins now have batting champs born in Panama, Cuba, and Venezuela, in addition to the more mundane Minnesota and Illinois. Next country would figure to be Dominican Rep.

[jimbo92107]

As much as all the hits, I remember all the players from opposing teams that clearly are big fans of Louis Arraez. He'd be trading hugs with seemed like half the guys that checked in at first base. One of the true nice guys in baseball. 

Congratulations also to Louie Varland, who sure does look like a talented young starter for the next decade. Pretty soon the Twins may not need to hire many rental pitchers anymore. Wouldn't that be great...

Disappointing season, but with harbingers of good times ahead. I'm binging on harbingers! Happy winter, Twins players. Don't tweak your backs swinging those golf clubs!

[TwinsAce]

4 hours ago, Squirrel said:

Yeah and they hardly traded away our future. Not a great season, but I’ve seen worse. At this point I’m glad it’s over but there were good moments, too.

Yes - this, plus what @jmlease1 said. And it would have been even worse if they hadn't made the trades.  Sometimes a FO does everything fans are begging for and it doesn't work out.  Still have 2 of the 3 for next year too.