Guardians 4, Twins 2: Twins Strike Out (Often!) in Home Opener

[Seth Stohs]

35,595 Twins fans entered Target Field on Thursday afternoon for the Minnesota Twins Opening Day. Game time temp was 48 degrees. There was some breeze, but the game was played under blue skies in a picturesque ballpark. Unfortunately, the Twins inability to come up with the key hit at a key time meant fans left the stadium feeling a little gloomy. 

Image courtesy of Jordan Johnson-USA TODAY Sports

 

Box Score
SP: Pablo Lopez - 5.2 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 2 K (95 pitches, 60 strikes (63.1%), 12 whiffs)
Home Runs: Edouard Julien (1) 
Bottom 3 WPA: Byron Buxton (-0.198), Max Kepler (-0.170), Carlos Santana (-0.168)

Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)

Pablo Efficient Early 
With four members of the Twins bullpen on the injured list, it becomes more important for the Twins starters to try to work a little deeper in the games. Through three innings, Lopez needed a total of just 31 pitches, a tremendous per-inning average. He threw just seven pitches in the third inning after tossing just six pitches in the second inning. 

Twins Watch Chances Pass Them By
The Twins often force pitchers to throw a lot of pitches. Tanner Bibee had thrown 58 pitches. They had Bibee on the ropes in the bottom of the second inning. Christian Vazquez reached on an error by Brayan Rocchio to load the bases with two outs. That brought Edouard Julien to the plate.After working the count from 1-2 to 3-2, Julien watched a slider down the middle of the plate go by. He immediately turned and walked back to the dugout.Target Field was frustrated. Seventh inning… he struck out looking. 

Tanner Bibee had two strikeouts in the second inning and struck out the side in the third frame. 

Guardians Get Pesky in Fourth
In the fourth inning, Cleveland did what Cleveland does. They put the ball in play, not necessarily hard, but in that situation, they hit ‘em where the Twins hitters weren’t. They scored three runs in that inning without really hitting anything hard at all. 

This is what makes a game like this one frustrating. We know the stats. In general, the Guardians offense isn’t as strong as the Twins. The power or nothing approach generally leads to more runs scored over the course of a season. But on the days when the Twins do nothing, and the other team BABIPs one inning, it’s hard to watch. 

The “Nothing” of All or Nothing 
Julien wasn’t the lone Twins hitter to have a frustrating day, though striking out looking three times, twice in big situations, just doesn’t look good. As you saw in the lead information, the Twins #3 and #4 hitters (Byron Buxton and Max Kepler) led the way at the bottom of the Win Probability Added day. The veterans combined to go 0-for-8 with five strikeouts (all swinging, and equally productive). 

The Twins team had 15 total strikeouts in the game. Julien, Buxton and Kepler had eight of them. Willi Castro and Carlos Santana each struck out twice as well. 

In his third AB, Julien swung at a 3-1 pitch from Bibee and hit it into the left field bleachers. 

Correa is on Fire
On the bright side, Carlos Correa is absolutely on fire. He lined a single to right at 98 mph in his first plate appearance. Next, he lined a 109 mph single to left. Later, he short-hopped the fence in left field on another drive well over 100 mph. 

With three hits on Thursday, he is now hitting .368 with a .994 OPS. I would guess that having no pain in his feet is quite helpful.

Alex Kirilloff hit a triple off the wall in right-center field in his first at bat of the day. He went 1-for-4 in the game, but he has been great in the season’s first week. He is now hitting .409 with an 1.122 OPS.  

 

Summary: It’s probably not good when the highlight of the game was Joe Mauer being introduced to catch the game’s ceremonial first pitch from Dick Bremer. 

 

What’s Next? 
First, the team will likely go home, flush this loss, and just rest and relax. After being in Florida for spring training since February, and then heading to Kansas City and Milwaukee, most of the team got to their living quarters on Wednesday night for the first time. With the early start on Thursday for Opening Day, the players (and the traveling media!) are looking forward to Friday’s off day. First to relax, but also to situate their lives and their living arrangements. 

On Saturday, the Minnesota Twins will turn the ball over to Joe Ryan (1.69 ERA) for his second start of the season. Cleveland will counter with Carlos Carrasco (5.40 ERA). Both will be looking for their first win of the season. 

Postgame Interviews

 

Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet

	SUN	TUE	WED	THU	FRI	TOT
Funderburk	34	0	0	39	0	73
Duarte	31	0	25	0	0	56
Sands	22	0	0	22	0	44
Alcala	0	39	0	0	0	39
Jackson	13	24	0	0	0	37
Okert	0	0	20	0	0	20
Jax	0	0	18	0	0	18
Stewart	0	0	17	0	0	17

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[Peter]

Major disappointment/unacceptable loss🤮💩👎🤬😡if this is any indication-90+losses  4th-5th place finish. This twins team is bad and it falls on ownership/FO🤮💩👎🤬😡

[Fezig]

How about Rocco keeps the same lineup two days in a row? Just once, give it a shot and see what happens. I was never more than an avg ball player growing up but there is a bit of comfort in knowing where you are going to bat. I could still recite the 87 Twins standard lineup. There were some changes with a lefty involved but you knew Gladden was hitting first and Puck was third - without exception. 

That said, Buxton and Correa should be in the top three hitters every game. I'd even put AK in there as well as he would fit perfectly in the R/L/R lineup. 

[IndyTwinsFan]

Starting to look like a repeat of the first half of last season.  Definitely not a good thing to be repeating. 

[Aggies7]

5 minutes ago, IndyTwinsFan said:

Starting to look like a repeat of the first half of last season.  Definitely not a good thing to be repeating. 

Twins were 17-12 at the end of April last season. 
 

I’ll eat my hat if they’re 5 games over .500 by the end of this april

[Hubie29]

Boy, would Gallo ever look good in this line up!

[DocBauer]

One bad inning from Lopez, otherwise he was decent. Am I being a Homer, or did the ump call more close pitches for Bibee than Lopez? No disrespect for Bibee as he threw a really good game.

The hitters just seemed disjointed as a collective. Jet lag? They need to shake it off and win the next couple and everything will be right again. 

My own personal quibble, I'm tired of the whole "all or nothing" comments. That's NOT the Twins approach. They have some decent hitters, a lot of power, and they actually walk quite a bit, though they didn't do a good enough job of any of that today. But "all or nothing" is not the plan or what's being taught.

Despite games where Cleveland's "hit to contact" actually works, generally speaking, including last year, they are amongst the lower scoring teams around, at least in the AL.

Take away 1 really awful start, and the Twins arms have done the job so far in this BRIEF season.

A steady, every single day lineup doesn't usually happen much anymore. For anyone. Guys take days off, and you play match ups at times. But I do wonder if the best "basic" lineup against RHP as of NOW, with Lewis out, shouldn't include Kirilloff maybe hitting 3rd? I'm just crazy enough to suggest Castro in the #2 spot with speed and switch hitting ability? Or maybe Correa there, where he's hit a lot in his career, and then followed by AK, Buxton, and then Kepler as the top 4? Not complaining. Just spit balling a tweak to the LH/RH idea and take advantage of a healthy and hot Kirilloff a slot lower?

3 and 3 after 6 games played with 5 of those on the road and some solid pitching across the board except for 1 start. I think we're just fine so far. 

[mikelink45]

6 minutes ago, DocBauer said:

One bad inning from Lopez, otherwise he was decent. Am I being a Homer, or did the ump call more close pitches for Bibee than Lopez? No disrespect for Bibee as he threw a really good game.

The hitters just seemed disjointed as a collective. Jet lag? They need to shake it off and win the next couple and everything will be right again. 

My own personal quibble, I'm tired of the whole "all or nothing" comments. That's NOT the Twins approach. They have some decent hitters, a lot of power, and they actually walk quite a bit, though they didn't do a good enough job of any of that today. But "all or nothing" is not the plan or what's being taught.

Despite games where Cleveland's "hit to contact" actually works, generally speaking, including last year, they are amongst the lower scoring teams around, at least in the AL.

Take away 1 really awful start, and the Twins arms have done the job so far in this BRIEF season.

A steady, every single day lineup doesn't usually happen much anymore. For anyone. Guys take days off, and you play match ups at times. But I do wonder if the best "basic" lineup against RHP as of NOW, with Lewis out, shouldn't include Kirilloff maybe hitting 3rd? I'm just crazy enough to suggest Castro in the #2 spot with speed and switch hitting ability? Or maybe Correa there, where he's hit a lot in his career, and then followed by AK, Buxton, and then Kepler as the top 4? Not complaining. Just spit balling a tweak to the LH/RH idea and take advantage of a healthy and hot Kirilloff a slot lower?

3 and 3 after 6 games played with 5 of those on the road and some solid pitching across the board except for 1 start. I think we're just fine so far. 

Yes you are being a homer

 

[mikelink45]

I look at the BP chart.  we can not keep this up. 

[Linus]

Funderburk and Sands are two guys I’m skeptical of but both pitched well. Sands seemed to have more movement on his pitches. 
I was confused by the pitch calling in the fourth. López threw nothing but breaking balls which he couldn’t locate. He got a head a couple of times but then everything got very passive. Don’t know if that is coming from the dugout or Vasquez but seemed different than the start of the game. 
Speaking of Vasquez he needs to practice his rundowns. Run the guy back to the base and force the tag at the base he is coming from. Runners advanced for no reason on both of those plays. 
Oh and Eddy with two outs and the bases full you might want to protect the plate. 

[USAFChief]

Have I mentioned how irritating it is to see opposing managers manipulate Rocco into a stupid Manny Margot PH EVERY FRIGGING GAME??!?!

 

The Ks are frustrating. The lack of anyone on this team being an RBI guy. Etc etc.

But nobody is TRYING to K.

Rocco, on the other hand, is doing this intentionally. That's just maddening. He lost me last year, and he just solidifies my opinion every day.

[1985Fan]

Final score was 4-2, not 5-2. Pablo gave up three runs, all earned (I believe). I15 SO many with runners in scoring position. Not fun to watch. Wasted at bats by not even putting the ball in play. Correa hits a leadoff double and didn’t move. Down two runs they couldn’t get him over to third. Hopefully just one game, better results next time. Hope the reinforcements are getting ready in St. Paul! 

[bean5302]

2 hours ago, Peter said:

Major disappointment/unacceptable loss🤮💩👎🤬😡if this is any indication-90+losses  4th-5th place finish. This twins team is bad and it falls on ownership/FO🤮💩👎🤬😡

You sure are riled up about this, lol. Even a bad team will win 40% of their games and an outstanding team will win 60%.

[bean5302]

Maybe the Twins should just trade Wallner if they don't want to play him? 

[Parfigliano]

1 hour ago, Aggies7 said:

Twins were 17-12 at the end of April last season. 
 

I’ll eat my hat if they’re 5 games over .500 by the end of this april

With the continuing struggle to make contact probably closer to 3 games under .500

[Parfigliano]

1 hour ago, USAFChief said:

Have I mentioned how irritating it is to see opposing managers manipulate Rocco into a stupid Manny Margot PH EVERY FRIGGING GAME??!?!

 

The Ks are frustrating. The lack of anyone on this team being an RBI guy. Etc etc.

But nobody is TRYING to K.

Rocco, on the other hand, is doing this intentionally. That's just maddening. He lost me last year, and he just solidifies my opinion every day.

He's terrible.  The constant PH decision at the sight of a LH reliever early in games is dumb.

[FlyingFinn]

We miss Lewis' clutch hitting, which also seems contagious.

A .500 record at the end of April with Duran and Lewis (and others) out would be just fine with me.

[Schmoeman5]

53 minutes ago, 1985Fan said:

Final score was 4-2, not 5-2. Pablo gave up three runs, all earned (I believe). I15 SO many with runners in scoring position. Not fun to watch. Wasted at bats by not even putting the ball in play. Correa hits a leadoff double and didn’t move. Down two runs they couldn’t get him over to third. Hopefully just one game, better results next time. Hope the reinforcements are getting ready in St. Paul! 

Not getting Kirilloff home after a 1 out triple as well. 

[RpR]

2 hours ago, Hubie29 said:

Boy, would Gallo ever look good in this line up!

If we spent another Mill. for Taylor

[Aggies7]

5 minutes ago, RpR said:

Up to .211! He would have had the 4th highest BA in our starting lineup today 😂

[h2oface]

2 hours ago, IndyTwinsFan said:

Starting to look like a repeat of the first half of last season.  Definitely not a good thing to be repeating. 

Except DPCC is actually starting a season hitting and no GIDP yet!

Lopez, verified ace, I hear........

[MMMordabito]

I got to this game an hour before first pitch and they had already run out of the giveaway hats. 

Cheap Pohlads: That's the hole truth and Nutting butt

[bean5302]

16 minutes ago, MMMordabito said:

I got to this game an hour before first pitch and they had already run out of the giveaway hats. 

Cheap Pohlads: That's the hole truth and Nutting butt

I have also been very highly frustrated with the giveaway situation last year. Arriving 30-45min early for any giveaway which is decent isn't early enough. The attendance gets announced at like 25,000, but you look around the stadium and wonder if there's actually more than 10k. You'll find all the giveaways on ebay after the game. I suspect people are getting ultra cheap tickets, grabbing up the giveaways and selling them for profit.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/186276421557?itmmeta=01HTP6RET3DJPF4VN372KHTTSX&hash=item2b5ef09fb5:g:0kMAAOSwQkRluFl6&itmprp=enc%3AAQAJAAAA8JkBOOI34bft7mwFSibJHSh1o7E9U2XgQMOBVsw1sLC%2BZTkJgosZlzUCj5J%2BCtzgqg61Y1HCqwa8caMmeCFkcOdOnYHHZQoPbtlyQHkO8NNP5Grpc1oLuZdZCE4ifZNKq1O8iCICePgjJzk5GDrOtPbDZuJokPV7xFqOnmM316xicajlalYXerNTHFe1Q0rPMwmCIup0bj%2FDeAF5ELq5lQuprgsjsCACZF3VisXfXoPcsIl1q4WLjW2pZbPaalrnMEr1MLpQNjA3cT1nHpNRlCmQKac6GE9JO088NhUVRckl%2FL7Xm%2FtnOO7XREs0NSTsgg%3D%3D|tkp%3ABFBMju3hxtVj

[Fezig]

9 hours ago, USAFChief said:

Have I mentioned how irritating it is to see opposing managers manipulate Rocco into a stupid Manny Margot PH EVERY FRIGGING GAME??!?!

 

The Ks are frustrating. The lack of anyone on this team being an RBI guy. Etc etc.

But nobody is TRYING to K.

Rocco, on the other hand, is doing this intentionally. That's just maddening. He lost me last year, and he just solidifies my opinion every day.

Rocco's managerial style has me longing for the days of Ray Miller.

[wabene]

6 hours ago, bean5302 said:

I have also been very highly frustrated with the giveaway situation last year. Arriving 30-45min early for any giveaway which is decent isn't early enough. The attendance gets announced at like 25,000, but you look around the stadium and wonder if there's actually more than 10k. You'll find all the giveaways on ebay after the game. I suspect people are getting ultra cheap tickets, grabbing up the giveaways and selling them for profit.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/186276421557?itmmeta=01HTP6RET3DJPF4VN372KHTTSX&hash=item2b5ef09fb5:g:0kMAAOSwQkRluFl6&itmprp=enc%3AAQAJAAAA8JkBOOI34bft7mwFSibJHSh1o7E9U2XgQMOBVsw1sLC%2BZTkJgosZlzUCj5J%2BCtzgqg61Y1HCqwa8caMmeCFkcOdOnYHHZQoPbtlyQHkO8NNP5Grpc1oLuZdZCE4ifZNKq1O8iCICePgjJzk5GDrOtPbDZuJokPV7xFqOnmM316xicajlalYXerNTHFe1Q0rPMwmCIup0bj%2FDeAF5ELq5lQuprgsjsCACZF3VisXfXoPcsIl1q4WLjW2pZbPaalrnMEr1MLpQNjA3cT1nHpNRlCmQKac6GE9JO088NhUVRckl%2FL7Xm%2FtnOO7XREs0NSTsgg%3D%3D|tkp%3ABFBMju3hxtVj

Seems like a whole lot of monkey business for 25 bucks.

[Whitey333]

Great article Seth.  A very mediocre team with a very mediocre manager is a terrible combination.  Way too many opportunities wasted.  Way too many strikeouts.  Way too many excuses made .  Go Twins!

[Riverbrian]

10 hours ago, USAFChief said:

Have I mentioned how irritating it is to see opposing managers manipulate Rocco into a stupid Manny Margot PH EVERY FRIGGING GAME??!?!

 

The Ks are frustrating. The lack of anyone on this team being an RBI guy. Etc etc.

But nobody is TRYING to K.

Rocco, on the other hand, is doing this intentionally. That's just maddening. He lost me last year, and he just solidifies my opinion every day.

Two outs bases empty at the time of this pinch hit. The Twins were behind 4 to 1 at the time. 

The odds of Margot starting a two out bottom the order rally would be low. 

On the other hand... in what was a welcome surprise to me. Julien and Kirilloff were allowed to face this same lefty that knocked Wallner out of the game.  

Cleveland has one left hander in the bullpen. Wallner's spot in the order along with Julien and Kirilloff came around again in the 8th and 9th innings. A right hander was guaranteed to be on the mound. 

I was also curious on why Vogt opted to turn around Santana when Tim Herrin entered the game.

Bibee threw 91 pitches. He surely had one more batter in him. 

 

[Doctor Gast]

Pablo wasn't perfect, BP did their job. CLE is better than we expected. Kiriloff is hitting the way we are expecting him to hit. The "all or nothing" approach more often than not, is nothing but SOs when we need hits. Buxton with the bases loaded, I knew when he came to the plate that he was trying to hit a HR. An HR would have been great but you take what the pitcher giving. We are missing our best clutch hitters. 

[Karbo]

Just a couple of observations. Margot 2 for 11 .432 OPS, Santana 4 for 22 .535 OPS are the 2 additions. Martin just 3 AB's. Is he in Rocco's dog house or does Rocco believe that much in Margot? Relievers are doing quite well thankfully. And, with the late afternoon shadows they need to schedule day games earlier.

[jmlease1]

The K's aren't great, but the inability to draw walks yesterday is what really sunk the team. They need more baserunners. Didn't see the first half of the game, but hated the "strike zone" for the last 3 innings, where the ump added 3 inches to the bottom of the zone, and then did the same for the outside part of the plate as well. I'm so ready for the electronic strike zone.

Happy with the bullpen performance so far, they've done well. Liked what we saw from Funderburk and Sands; Funderburk is a guy I like as a second lefty and his pitches looked good overall. Sands I was less convinced on, but he did well and looked like he might have a little more going on. Small samples, but it'll be interesting to see where they are at the end of april

Hope the bats wake up and get things going. Too soon too make any calls about anyone, but they're capable of much better than this. Some slow starts in here and only a few bright spots.