Twins 4, Orioles 7: Birds' Bats Buzz Against Varland

[Nate Palmer]

The Minnesota Twins faced one of the most exciting lineups in baseball Monday, and they saw just exactly why Baltimore is generating so much hype in a 7-4 loss. 

Image courtesy of © Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

Box Score
Starting Pitcher: Louie Varland: 5.0 IP, 11 H, 4 ER, 0 BB, 6 K (94 pitches, 66 strikes (70.2%)
Home Runs: José Miranda (1)
Bottom 3 WPA: Louie Garland (-0.335), Christian Vázquez (-0.129), Kyle Farmer (-0.073)

Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) 

Coming off a disappointing weekend in Detroit, the Twins hoped to turn things around as they opened a series against the Baltimore Orioles. The hope was that the pageantry of Jackie Robinson Day might have given the club a spark, but instead, all that magic seemed to go Baltimore’s way. 

Orioles Show Off Strong Lineup 

The Twins got an up-close look at last season's American League East champions and their multitude of good, and often young, hitters. Those bats wasted no time and got to the Twins in the first inning, as Jordan Westburg doubled and drove in Adley Rutschman and Ryan O’ Hearn. 

That truly was only the beginning of a good offensive showing for the Orioles. Five of the Orioles’ top six hitters had multi-hit games, with O’Hearn, Cedric Mullins, and Gunnar Henderson all hitting home runs. 

Miranda Providing Offense

If there was any Minnesota magic, it would come in the form of Jose Miranda. With so much fire out of the lineup, this is Miranda’s opportunity to save his spot not just in the Twins lineup but possibly on the roster. Monday night it included some good steps in that direction. 

Coming into the evening, Miranda had only put together a line of .154/.267/.154 with a .421 OPS. Those numbers should see a bit of a jump after his performance on Monday. Miranda got it all started with a second-inning home run that trimmed the Orioles' lead to 2-1. After a Byron Buxton double, Miranda would also provide the second Twins run with an RBI single. 

Miranda would end the game with a three-hit night, going 3-for-4 with no strikeouts, two singles, and his home run. 

Jeffers Extends Hitting Streak

While Miranda may have felt like a miracle, Ryan Jeffers remained the steady and reliable force in the Twins lineup. After the slow start, Jeffers took his game-hitting streak to six games. 

Extending the streak wasn’t just squeaked out. It was done with an exclamation and Jeffers' own three-hit game. The third hit was a two-RBI double that drove in Austin Martin and Edouard Julien. 

Bowman Debuts

Matt Bowman made his Twins debut after being called up and kept on the roster, while Jorge Alcala was sent to the minors. The welcome was not kind, as Gunnar Henderson decided the best welcome was to take the right-hander deep for his fourth home run of the season. 

Bowman would settle down after the home run. While the end of his outing in the eighth inning did get a bit scary, Bowman would ultimately provide the Twins with three scoreless innings in relief. Now, we will await his fate as he likely will not be available for a bit after tossing 46 pitches.  

While the Twins were able to force the Orioles into a save situation, the game never truly felt that close. Varland may get the most of the attention after a bad start, but the bats continue to deserve a similar amount of credit for a game like this. 

What’s Next?
Chris Paddack will look to get the Twins back in the win column while possibly earning his first win of the young season. The Twins will take on the Orioles’ young, promising starter, Grayson Rodriquez. The Twins will have their work ahead of them trying to deal with a pitch mix that includes a 96 mph fastball, an 84 mph changeup, and an 81 mph curveball. 

Postgame Interviews

 

Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet

	THU	FRI	SAT	SUN	MON	TOT
Bowman	0	0	0	0	46	46
Funderburk	0	15	17	0	0	32
Jax	0	0	11	18	0	29
Stewart	0	0	19	10	0	29
Sands	0	0	28	0	0	28
Jackson	0	13	10	0	0	23
Okert	0	0	13	0	0	13
Thielbar	0	0	0	13	0	13

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[mnfireman]

Time for Varland to take an extended vacation in St. Paul.

[USAFChief]

Has Bowman been DFA'd yet?

[jimbo92107]

Yeah, not too many 4-seamers work well right down the middle. Most major leaguers can hammer a cookie tossed right down Broadway. Varland needs to work mostly along the bottom of the zone with that cheese. Maybe torch the top on 3 and 2, and maybe sometimes bust some knuckles, but otherwise, down. Almost never, ever in the middle. 

[PDX Twin]

5 minutes ago, mnfireman said:

Time for Varland to take an extended vacation in St. Paul.

True, but one could say the same about most of the lineup. They are overmatched against major-league opposition. The present squad, performing at its present pace, will be lucky to win one of three per series, which adds up to 54-108 over the season. I suspect they'll do a bit better than that, but if winning with an unwatchable team (strikeouts, no speed, poor defense, etc.) is marginally interesting, losing with an unwatchable team is torture. I have watched much less this year, and the trend is downward.

[jorgenswest]

Good to see Miranda hitting the ball hard. They really need his bat that showed promise in 2022.

[Mike Sixel]

I see the young hitters were good, and the veterans were not.....hmmm.....

[CoastiePilot08]

Guess Varland isn’t the answer. 

[Whitey333]

Another lethargic loss.  I'm a Varland fan but he needs to at least be taken out of the rotation and probably sent to St. Paul.  Go Twins.

[Twins_Fan_in_NJ]

Need a win tomorrow but not sure how the Twins scratch runs across.

[Twins_Fan_in_NJ]

13 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

I see the young hitters were good, and the veterans were not.....hmmm.....

Martin looks more comfortable at the plate than Buxton. Almost like the more time you spend with the big club, the worse you get.

[jorgenswest]

No one uses the DH more flexibly than the Twins. 

[Dave Borton]

"I think it's a game that we can definitely build off of going forward. ... We were able to do things on offense." Ryan Jeffers gives his thoughts after the loss.

I think Jeffers has had his ear at the door during Baldelli's pressies too often.

[darwin22]

Only 15 games in so I really hate to push the panic button, but this team as presently constructed and performing is staring at a 90 losses.

For those that are supporters of Falvey and the front office---what moves did they make in the off season that are paying off?  I can't think of anything. 

Santana has been a complete bust.  Topa hurt & unavailable.  DeSclafini out for the season. Margot not producing much of anything also.

Vazquez is a complete fail as a hitter.  Stuck with him this year and next as NO TEAM will take on his contract.

Although Buxton has been healthy--so far, the loss of Lewis and Correa has resulted in zero if any pop in this lineup.

Can't argue with those pushing for a Varland demotion.  Wallner needs to join him.

 

 

[specialiststeve]

49 minutes ago, mnfireman said:

Time for Varland to take an extended vacation in St. Paul.

Actually, it is time for him to go back to the Pen... where he excelled. Was adamant about his role before the season... his stuff plays there... not in the rotation. 

[Woof Bronzer]

3 minutes ago, specialiststeve said:

Actually, it is time for him to go back to the Pen... where he excelled. Was adamant about his role before the season... his stuff plays there... not in the rotation. 

Exactly.  Asset in the bullpen, liability in the rotation.  

[Aggies7]

Can’t believe how checked out I am on April 15

[IaBeanCounter]

I think the biggest difference in the was the first inning. .Mullins makes a great catch   to rob the Twins of at least one run and Julien makes an error that gives Os 2 runs.  This is 2 games that the Twins defense has given away.

 

[Linus]

7 minutes ago, IaBeanCounter said:

I think the biggest difference in the was the first inning. .Mullins makes a great catch   to rob the Twins of at least one run and Julien makes an error that gives Os 2 runs.  This is 2 games that the Twins defense has given away.

 

Yea I was wondering about that. I couldn’t watch the game but a botched double play early in the game is huge. How is that not a significant point in the game recap?

[Danchat]

I had some hope Varland could stick as a #5 starter... but this is what happens whenever I have the slightest shred of optimism for a Twins starter prospect. Thankfully we already know Varland can deal in the bullpen. SWR deserves another crack at it... but if he falters then we're in big trouble depth-wise. Actually, we already are in that trouble.

[Mark G]

Let's see.......Bowman is going down due to not being available for 3 days, and Varland, who should go back to the pen where he is effective, can't right now because he is not available for 5 days.   We need a couple of longer starts the next few games until we can straighten out the staff and refine their roles.  The St. Paul shuttle bus might have to be tuned up, but it can't be the only answer.  And we HAVE to straighten out this infield, or the pitching is the least of our problems.  

I was always taught that the 3 most important components of the game were pitching, hitting, and defense.  Right now, I just wonder if we are putting our guys in the positions that best suit their skills.  The powers that be decided on this roster, and we are going to have to dance with the date we brought to the dance, but are we playing the right guys in the right spots at the right times?  Smarter minds than mine will ultimately decide that, but this old timer doesn't think so.  Stop the musical chairs in the field and in the batting order, and put the guys in positions they can get comfortable in and are best at.  That includes defined roles for our bullpen, not the match ups the computer tells us game by game and inning by inning.  We have a decent team; one that can win this division.  But they won't if they keep playing musical chairs in the 3 areas I mentioned above.  Utility players are a special breed; not everyone plays the role equally.  Yet we seem to think we have half a dozen regulars and an even longer list of either utility players or platoon players.  How many rosters like that win championships?  26 players, position and pitchers, given definitive roles and allowed to do their best where they play the best, stand a chance.  Has anyone seen that the first 15 games?  I just hope that we see it as the season goes along, or it will be a painful season. 

[mikelink45]

SWR is smiling, the rotation is opening up and I am disappointed in Varland.  I never heard of Bowman and I do not expect to hear from him again.  Where is Alcala - I know - do the Twins?

Kiriloff and Jeffers are the two leading bats.  We need them every day. Thank you Miranda for stepping up.  The last of the good hitters is Martin.   Martin is not great, but with this lineup average is outstanding. 

[Blyleven2011]

Tough loss tonight , bad defense to start the game and we are playing catch up ...

Varland has good stuff but the hitters like it when it is down the middle , I like varland always working quick but a few more starts like this and he is definitely a Bullpen  option  or even a AAA option to keep him stretched out , he needs to locate better , he doesn't walk many ..

It wasn't all varland fault tonight  ...

Good game for Miranda and Jeffers tonight ...

[mikelink45]

One more thought - question.  Farmer 071 bats fourth??????????????????????

[Linus]

So I started keeping track last year of all games that were played fundamentally sound in the field. I gave up after a month or so because it was so rare. Same thing this year. When they play a clean fundamental game it is noteworthy because it doesn’t happen often. People seem to dismiss it as being old school but over the course of 162 games this level of sloppiness is going to cost a team a half a dozen games. When it comes to the playoffs that is huge. Of all the stuff that people complain about regarding Rocco (bullpen usage, pinch hitting, lineups) this is the thing that people should be pissed about. 

[CRF]

Louie has been a tremendous let down, but the rest of the team isn't much better. They're all bad right now.  I'd give Varland one more start, and if he gets hammered again, it's time to get him outta the rota. 

[TwinsDr2021]

7 hours ago, mikelink45 said:

One more thought - question.  Farmer 071 bats fourth??????????????????????

I was watching the Baltimore broadcast, and their announcers said the Twins have now pinched hit for their lead off hitter and their cleanup hitter you don't see that very often and the other guy said, not sure I have every seen that without an injury. Some people just don't understand the brilliance of the Twins.

[TwinsDr2021]

The piling on Varland is kind of weird IMO. he pitched 94 pitches which is generally more than all the other pitchers go (besides Lopez) and that should be in the pen? Edit : I was totally wrong the first time , he gave up 4 earned runs and 11 base runners. He gave up two earned runs in 5 innings and only 6 base runners. Yes even after the error in the first he could have gotten out of the inning with no runs, but hits do happen (I mean for other team not the Twins /s)

IMO this game should help him stay in the rotation not hurt him Remember the Twins pitchers don't get to face the Twins hitters but when they did today they dominated (Hays and Holliday.

I have always cheered for Wallner and hoped like heck he was going to turn out (and maybe he can) but he is so lost right now it seems like the only way he isn't going to strikeout is if the pitcher hits him with a pitch. He needs to go down and regroup or come up with an injury where he can rehab in Florida and get this straighten out. I felt bad for him coming to the plate against Kimbrel knowing he probably wouldn't even be able to foul a ball off.

[Guest]

9 hours ago, Mike Sixel said:

I see the young hitters were good, and the veterans were not.....hmmm.....

Seems to me that is how last years team was too.

[TwinsDr2021]

9 hours ago, Mike Sixel said:

I see the young hitters were good, and the veterans were not.....hmmm.....

But Vazquez hit the ball hard, so doesn't count as being bad. /s

But to be fair only Jeffers and Mirnada seemed competent on the whole team (young and old) 

I think a few of the Twins hitters might want to take a peak in the other dugout to watch professional hitters that don't sell out every pitch and at bat for the long ball. Watching Westburg and Rutschman last night was a absolute joy on how hitting is supposed to be done. I will also give Jeffers credit the last few games looks like he really has cut down on the over the top swing for the fence mentality and Miranda's single on the change up he was kind of fooled by was one heck of an at bat.