Make it Official! Twins 3, White Sox 2 (Game Two): Right Back At It

[Ted Schwerzler]

The Twins played a twin bill with the Chicago White Sox this afternoon and they needed to salvage a win after an ugly game one. Brooks Lee came through with a dinger against his best friend, and Ryan Jeffers pushed across the winning run.

Image courtesy of © Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports

Box Score
SP: Pablo Lopez 5.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, BB, 5 K (90 pitches, 67 strikes)
Home Runs: Brooks Lee(2), Carlos Correa(13)
Top 3 WPA: Jhoan Duran (.205), Carlos Correa (.184), Griffin Jax (.144)

Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)

Beni Beats Pablo
After a scoreless first inning, Andrew Benintendi got the Chicago White Sox on the board. His one out double to the opposite field drove home Lenyn Sosa and put the Twins in a 1-0 hole. After squandering opportunity during the first inning of game one, Minnesota didn’t need to dig a hole to start game two. Pablo Lopez has had a rough season for the Twins, and he didn’t start this tilt off in dominant fashion either.

---

Twins Daily's winning "Make It Official!" game recaps are sponsored by Official Fried Chicken, which you can find in center field of Target Field. With a name like "Official," we know we have to be the best in the game every day, and from your first bite, you'll know that's a promise we make good on.

---

Things didn’t get better for Lopez during the third inning. Throwing Martin Maldonado a middle-middle fastball, he found out that even a terrible hitter can take him deep. Chicago put up a 2-0 lead against the Twins and none of Lopez’s expected statistics were going to be there to save him.

Back to Back Jacks
Brooks Lee has been nothing short of impressive since his debut last week. He was 0-for-4 during the first game of today’s action but sent a sixth inning pitch into the seats putting Minnesota on the board. The dinger came off his friend from Cal Poly, Drew Thorpe, and that had to make it a bit more fun. Carlos Correa stepped in and blasted his 13th longball of the year to go back-to-back, and tie the game at two. With his finger, Correa extended his hitting streak to 13 games.

In the seventh inning Ryan Jeffers provided the Twins with the hit that made the difference. His single scored Buxton and put Minnesota ahead 3-2. Despite a day of offensive ineptitude, the backstop put Baldelli’s squad on top late. Jorge Alcala and Griffin Jax blanked Chicago to keep the lead heading into the ninth inning.

Jhoan Duran came on for the ninth inning an punched out Sosa before getting Benintendi to ground out. Paul DeJong struck out to end the game. Minnesota managed just five hits, but drew three walks while striking out only four times.

Notes
David Festa was selected as the 27th man for the Twins in their doubleheader. He had been penciled in as the St. Paul Saints starter for Wednesday, and needed to make the trip from Louisville to Chicago.

Minnesota threatened the White Sox bullpen during the first inning of game one. With Erick Fedde throwing 34 pitches to get through the frame, Chad Kuhl was up and warming. The Twins didn’t cash in, but it put a scare in Pedro Grifol’s team while needing to play two on Wednesday. Ultimately, Michael Kopech finished the tilt with an insane immaculate inning for the save.

Thanks to Matt Wallner’s big fly in game one, the Twins extended their home run streak to 27 games. Jose Miranda and Carlos Correa both extended their hitting streaks during the first game of the doubleheader.

Minnesota has had a few prominent veterans at Triple-A St. Paul this year, but Wynton Bernard becomes the latest addition. Signed to a minor league deal on Wednesday, he will join the Saints.

What’s Next? 
A well-deserved off day looms before Minnesota wraps up the first half of their season in San Francisco. Neither side has set their pitching matchups for the three-game tilt as of yet.

Postgame Interviews

Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet

View full article

[BH67]

Wasn't this series fun to watch? Not at all, which makes winning two of three quite pleasant. Santana is in a batting slump, but enough key hits happened elsewhere when needed. The starters weren't stellar but did enough to keep the Twins in contention. And other than the 6th inning Monday, the bullpen was lights out.

A toast to winning ugly! Hopefully the elegance returns at McCovey's Cove this weekend.

[D.C Twins]

As predicted by myself and others at promotion.... Lee is here to stay and it feels good to say.

[akmanak]

Can we please dump Farmer.

[USAFChief]

Tigers tried hard to cough up a 2 run 9th inning lead over Cleveland but couldn't quite pull it off. Detroit 5 Cleveland 4.

Back to 5 games behind. 

[Shaitan]

1 hour ago, akmanak said:

Can we please dump Farmer.

Just be happy he's where he is on the depth chart. Without depth like Lee and versatility like Castro, Farmer would be playing every day right now. So my indirect question is: if Farmer is cut, who is next to play the bench IF role?

(Do I think Farmer is playing below expectations, to be polite -- yes. But as the second backup IF, there are much worse problems to have.)

[oregontwin]

I hope they soon find Brooks a helmet that fits

[insagt1]

We knew we were due to lose one to the White Sox eventually, so game 1 loss was not unexpected (it was ugly, but not unexpected) The bats continued to be quiet in game two, but a couple of long balls and a big hit by Jeffers got the job done to get the split.

Continue to be impressed with Lee. Does seem unlikely that they can send him back down when Lewis comes back. All things considered, taking 2 of 3 didn't hurt too bad!

[mikelink45]

A split is fine - even bad teams win, so the fact we stayed engaged and won the second is outstanding.  Lee and Wallner give us two productive young players and we need them.  

Lopez is okay, but I still want more from him.

[Mike Sixel]

20 minutes ago, Shaitan said:

Just be happy he's where he is on the depth chart. Without depth like Lee and versatility like Castro, Farmer would be playing every day right now. So my indirect question is: if Farmer is cut, who is next to play the bench IF role?

(Do I think Farmer is playing below expectations, to be polite -- yes. But as the second backup IF, there are much worse problems to have.)

Martin when healthy. Julien if he ever hits his way back

[JD-TWINS]

Seems more & more likely that Lee takes over at 3B the rest of the year ……Miranda getting reps there too.

I think Lewis re-habs at another position or he’s relegated to DH the rest of the season. What’s the line-up when Lewis is back August 15?

13 guys on the 26-man hitting:

Wallner - Larnach - Buxton - Kepler - Margot

Lee - CC - Castro - Santana - Miranda 

Jeffers - Vazquez

Lewis………..Martin added in September.

It’s possible but highly unlikely…..Farmer could have a really good month and Margot could go south and Margot could be the guy to go in mid-August. Either way, w/o an injury, Margot or Farmer has to be DFA’d when Lewis returns.

[stringer bell]

The Buxton "double" is what won the game and not many if any players could have advanced to second without a mistake from the defense. When he turned first base i blinked and he was sliding into second. If i heard it right Rocco mentioned Buck's inability to decelerate. I hope he can stay healthy for the rest of the season. He's a special talent.

[Shaitan]

42 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

Martin when healthy. Julien if he ever hits his way back

I mostly agree. But Julien has to earn it and he lacks versatility. He has to be an everyday player or at least platoon, versus utility. As long as Castro/Lee can play capable SS, they don't need another at the position.

[Shaitan]

16 minutes ago, JD-TWINS said:

I think Lewis re-habs at another position or he’s relegated to DH the rest of the season. What’s the line-up when Lewis is back August 15?

DH maybe. But based on last year I don't think they change Lewis' position midseason. That didn't work so well the last time. I wonder how many reps Lee is taking at 2B between games now. That's the obvious fit. And rookies tend to get forced in the "play anything until there's an opening" role. I don't love Lee as a "super utility" but I think that's his best fit for 2024. And with Rocco's lineups, he'll be in the lineup almost everyday.

[stringer bell]

I don't know if we will get all of the hitters swinging well at once, but there's plenty of hitting talent. The radio guys were saying that since sometime in June, the White Sox have the second best starter ERA in MLB. Maybe Chicago will be be better after the All-Star break. I do hope they beat other contenders more than once in a while. 

[bean5302]

1 hour ago, Shaitan said:

Just be happy he's where he is on the depth chart. Without depth like Lee and versatility like Castro, Farmer would be playing every day right now. So my indirect question is: if Farmer is cut, who is next to play the bench IF role?

(Do I think Farmer is playing below expectations, to be polite -- yes. But as the second backup IF, there are much worse problems to have.)

I've been encouraging patience with him given how he had been coming around after an absolutely brutal start to the season, but he's fallen back into the doldrums lately. 

I guy with an OPS of .560 doesn't need the at bats. His defense is fine, but that bat just doesn't play, and it hasn't shown any steady signs of life recently. He's not going to be able to build up any trade value at this point.

Who replaces him? It doesn't matter. "Not Kyle Farmer." That's the point. He doesn't need to take plate appearances away from anybody. Have a 25 man roster and stop playing guys who make it less likely the Twins are going to win games. Yunior Severino? Payton Eeles? Michael Helman? Diego Castillo? Dashawn Keirsey, Jr.? Who cares? Kyle Farmer isn't helping the team win games.

[knothole61]

2 hours ago, oregontwin said:

I hope they soon find Brooks a helmet that fits

No...please don't change anything!

[knothole61]

2 hours ago, mikelink45 said:

A split is fine - even bad teams win, so the fact we stayed engaged and won the second is outstanding.  Lee and Wallner give us two productive young players and we need them.  

Lopez is okay, but I still want more from him.

Yes, game #2 was an important win. The psychological baggage of being swept in a double header by a .284 team, before a sparse crowd might have stayed with the Twins during the series in SF and into the long All-Star Game break: perhaps not, but I'm happy that we'll never have to find out.

Duran, by the way, was a monster!  

[bean5302]

3 hours ago, stringer bell said:

I don't know if we will get all of the hitters swinging well at once, but there's plenty of hitting talent. The radio guys were saying that since sometime in June, the White Sox have the second best starter ERA in MLB. Maybe Chicago will be be better after the All-Star break. I do hope they beat other contenders more than once in a while. 

You're hoping the White Sox beat more contenders or you hope the Twins beat more contenders?

The White Sox took their series' against the Braves, Rays, Cardinals, and Red Sox. I don't think they're probably doing to do a lot better than that.

The Twins have won or tied like 10 series' against potential playoff teams this year.

[Joe Schmitt]

The White Sox played competent defense.  That sentence doesn't get typed very often.

I assume they'll sell everything that isn't bolted down at the trade deadline.  Pham, Fedde, their entire relief corps, etc.

[wabene]

9 hours ago, stringer bell said:

The Buxton "double" is what won the game and not many if any players could have advanced to second without a mistake from the defense. When he turned first base i blinked and he was sliding into second. If i heard it right Rocco mentioned Buck's inability to decelerate. I hope he can stay healthy for the rest of the season. He's a special talent.

I think all Rocco meant that Buxton has to start decelerating earlier than other players because he is moving so fast.

[CCHOF5yearstoolate]

10 hours ago, oregontwin said:

I hope they soon find Brooks a helmet that fits

Eduardo Núñez was never able to find one

[JD-TWINS]

10 hours ago, stringer bell said:

The Buxton "double" is what won the game and not many if any players could have advanced to second without a mistake from the defense. When he turned first base i blinked and he was sliding into second. If i heard it right Rocco mentioned Buck's inability to decelerate. I hope he can stay healthy for the rest of the season. He's a special talent.

I thought he looked a little tender after scoring yesterday, on the replay. 3 more games and a bit of rest…….I doubt rest makes the problem go away but maybe hurts less for a while?

An absolute doubles machine!

31 XBH (out of 68 total) at this point in 70 games. He’s hitting .281!!! If he could somehow stay at .255 or better over the balance and play another 60 games…….would be huge.

[Jeff K]

10 hours ago, stringer bell said:

The Buxton "double" is what won the game and not many if any players could have advanced to second without a mistake from the defense. When he turned first base i blinked and he was sliding into second. If i heard it right Rocco mentioned Buck's inability to decelerate. I hope he can stay healthy for the rest of the season. He's a special talent.

Buxton's double freaked me out he was moving so fast.  He is an electrifying player.  I know, I know...when healthy.

[Riverbrian]

12 hours ago, Shaitan said:

Just be happy he's where he is on the depth chart. Without depth like Lee and versatility like Castro, Farmer would be playing every day right now. So my indirect question is: if Farmer is cut, who is next to play the bench IF role?

(Do I think Farmer is playing below expectations, to be polite -- yes. But as the second backup IF, there are much worse problems to have.)

There are indeed much worse problems to have... but the problem has tenticles and dominos that stretch beyond the last spot on the roster. 

1. The end of the 26 man is often lightly considered by fans. After all... a player who never plays isn't an issue until you need him to play. At that point he becomes an issue. Farmer has 151 AB's. He's a consistent starter against left handed pitchers. He's playing. Listing him as the second backup IF isn't really accurate. 

2. Carlos Santana has been a decent free agent pickup. However...  His OPS is .737 which is a little above average. His OPS against Right Handed pitchers is .686 which is below average. Yes Santana has been a decent free agent pickup but those are not... we should stop looking for a better player numbers. Those are not... must play every day numbers. 

3. Trevor Larnach has done a decent job taking over for Matt Wallner. His OPS is .723... Yes Larnach has done a decent job but .723 is not... we should stop looking for a better player numbers. 

4. Max Kepler has an OPS of .704... that is average. Yes... He was much worse last year at this time and he got extremely hot. However... unless he gets extremely hot... Average production is not... we should stop looking for a better player numbers. 

Kyle Farmer does not push Santana, Larnach or Kepler for playing time. Kyle Farmer on the 26 man provides no alternatives to average above him. It locks in Average above him... It prevents the team from lengthening the lineup with better hitters. It settles for average above him.  

An example of pushing someone for playing time? Brooks Lee is currently pushing players for playing time.  If he continues to hit the ball... he could move Willie Castro to different positions which challenges Larnach or Kepler or Santana for playing time.

Matt Wallner was sent down with a .513 OPS after 25 AB's (I think it was the right thing to do). Since recalled to the majors... In just 4 games and 11 AB's. He has raised that OPS to .911. Will he continue... who knows? but if he continues to hit the ball like this or at least hits the ball better than Larnach going forward... He is going to push Larnach for playing time and the lineup in September and the playoffs lengthens.    

Kyle Farmer or Manual Margot for that matter... do not push players for playing time. 

They take roster spots from players who could push players for playing time. 

I will never look at the 26th spot on a 26 man roster and minimize it's importance and there is never any reason to take a player producing average results and stop looking. 

The Twins offense has been great this year. It needs to be... the offense is going to have to cover for our pitching which isn't as strong. It's been great but there are three spots that could use improvement. 

It would be nice to enter the playoffs with a scary lineup card. Someone like Castro batting last in the order because 1 through 8 are monsters.

You won't have 8 monsters... when two on the roster are short siders and 3 are merely average. Cull from the bottom and compete from within. 

 

[LambchoP]

I think our best infield alignment for the best offense would be Miranda at 1b. Lee at 2nd. Correa at SS. Lewis at 3rd. Julien and Castro as backup. This will require Miranda learning and playing more first, and Lee learning to play second. Didn't he play 2nd in the minors though?

[USAFChief]

40 minutes ago, Riverbrian said:

There are indeed much worse problems to have... but the problem has tenticles and dominos that stretch beyond the last spot on the roster. 

1. The end of the 26 man is often lightly considered by fans. After all... a player who never plays isn't an issue until you need him to play. At that point he becomes an issue. Farmer has 151 AB's. He's a consistent starter against left handed pitchers. He's playing. Listing him as the second backup IF isn't really accurate. 

2. Carlos Santana has been a decent free agent pickup. However...  His OPS is .737 which is a little above average. His OPS against Right Handed pitchers is .686 which is below average. Yes Santana has been a decent free agent pickup but those are not... we should stop looking for a better player numbers. Those are not... must play every day numbers. 

3. Trevor Larnach has done a decent job taking over for Matt Wallner. His OPS is .723... Yes Larnach has done a decent job but .723 is not... we should stop looking for a better player numbers. 

4. Max Kepler has an OPS of .704... that is average. Yes... He was much worse last year at this time and he got extremely hot. However... unless he gets extremely hot... Average production is not... we should stop looking for a better player numbers. 

Kyle Farmer does not push Santana, Larnach or Kepler for playing time. Kyle Farmer on the 26 man provides no alternatives to average above him. It locks in Average above him... It prevents the team from lengthening the lineup with better hitters. It settles for average above him.  

An example of pushing someone for playing time? Brooks Lee is currently pushing players for playing time.  If he continues to hit the ball... he could move Willie Castro to different positions which challenges Larnach or Kepler or Santana for playing time.

Matt Wallner was sent down with a .513 OPS after 25 AB's (I think it was the right thing to do). Since recalled to the majors... In just 4 games and 11 AB's. He has raised that OPS to .911. Will he continue... who knows? but if he continues to hit the ball like this or at least hits the ball better than Larnach going forward... He is going to push Larnach for playing time and the lineup in September and the playoffs lengthens.    

Kyle Farmer or Manual Margot for that matter... do not push players for playing time. 

They take roster spots from players who could push players for playing time. 

I will never look at the 26th spot on a 26 man roster and minimize it's importance and there is never any reason to take a player producing average results and stop looking. 

The Twins offense has been great this year. It needs to be... the offense is going to have to cover for our pitching which isn't as strong. It's been great but there are three spots that could use improvement. 

It would be nice to enter the playoffs with a scary lineup card. Someone like Castro batting last in the order because 1 through 8 are monsters.

You won't have 8 monsters... when two on the roster are short siders and 3 are merely average. Cull from the bottom and compete from within. 

 

Agreed, except when you're talking lineup,  calling it a "26 man roster" underestimates the problem.

It's a 13 man roster. 13 of those 26 are pitchers.

That's why Farmer has 151 PAs and Margot-for-three has 202, which is more than Christian Vazquez. 

[bean5302]

35 minutes ago, Riverbrian said:

There are indeed much worse problems to have... but the problem has tenticles and dominos that stretch beyond the last spot on the roster. 

1. The end of the 26 man is often lightly considered by fans. After all... a player who never plays isn't an issue until you need him to play. At that point he becomes an issue. Farmer has 151 AB's. He's a consistent starter against left handed pitchers. He's playing. Listing him as the second backup IF isn't really accurate. 

2. Carlos Santana has been a decent free agent pickup. However...  His OPS is .737 which is a little above average. His OPS against Right Handed pitchers is .686 which is below average. Yes Santana has been a decent free agent pickup but those are not... we should stop looking for a better player numbers. Those are not... must play every day numbers. 

3. Trevor Larnach has done a decent job taking over for Matt Wallner. His OPS is .723... Yes Larnach has done a decent job but .723 is not... we should stop looking for a better player numbers. 

4. Max Kepler has an OPS of .704... that is average. Yes... He was much worse last year at this time and he got extremely hot. However... unless he gets extremely hot... Average production is not... we should stop looking for a better player numbers. 

Kyle Farmer does not push Santana, Larnach or Kepler for playing time. Kyle Farmer on the 26 man provides no alternatives to average above him. It locks in Average above him... It prevents the team from lengthening the lineup with better hitters. It settles for average above him.  

An example of pushing someone for playing time? Brooks Lee is currently pushing players for playing time.  If he continues to hit the ball... he could move Willie Castro to different positions which challenges Larnach or Kepler or Santana for playing time.

Matt Wallner was sent down with a .513 OPS after 25 AB's (I think it was the right thing to do). Since recalled to the majors... In just 4 games and 11 AB's. He has raised that OPS to .911. Will he continue... who knows? but if he continues to hit the ball like this or at least hits the ball better than Larnach going forward... He is going to push Larnach for playing time and the lineup in September and the playoffs lengthens.    

Kyle Farmer or Manual Margot for that matter... do not push players for playing time. 

They take roster spots from players who could push players for playing time. 

I will never look at the 26th spot on a 26 man roster and minimize it's importance and there is never any reason to take a player producing average results and stop looking. 

The Twins offense has been great this year. It needs to be... the offense is going to have to cover for our pitching which isn't as strong. It's been great but there are three spots that could use improvement. 

It would be nice to enter the playoffs with a scary lineup card. Someone like Castro batting last in the order because 1 through 8 are monsters.

You won't have 8 monsters... when two on the roster are short siders and 3 are merely average. Cull from the bottom and compete from within. 

 

I look at things this way for starting position players:
Full year viewpoint
< 0.0. You're not part of the problem, you're the WHOLE problem. Please don't be on a big contract.
0.0-0.9 WAR. This is a critical weakness to address.
1.0-1.9 WAR. The team should try hard to upgrade from you next year if they're planning to compete.
2.0-2.9 WAR. You're doing your job okay. Kind of the meat and potatoes of a competitive MLB team.
3.0-3.9 WAR. Borderline All Star
4.0-4.9 WAR. All Star. These guys get you to the playoffs.
5.0+ WAR. Best player on the team. These kind of guys put the team on their backs in the playoffs.

[Riverbrian]

9 minutes ago, USAFChief said:

Agreed, except when you're talking lineup,  calling it a "26 man roster" underestimates the problem.

It's a 13 man roster. 13 of those 26 are pitchers.

That's why Farmer has 151 PAs and Margot-for-three has 202, which is more than Christian Vazquez. 

13 players who can play. 

I've said that many times. I'll keep saying it. 

Bench? I don't believe in one. I believe bench time is earned through performance and I believe in replacing the players who earn bench time so therefore... I don't believe in a bench.  

 

[Riverbrian]

20 minutes ago, bean5302 said:

I look at things this way for starting position players:
Full year viewpoint
< 0.0. You're not part of the problem, you're the WHOLE problem. Please don't be on a big contract.
0.0-0.9 WAR. This is a critical weakness to address.
1.0-1.9 WAR. The team should try hard to upgrade from you next year if they're planning to compete.
2.0-2.9 WAR. You're doing your job okay. Kind of the meat and potatoes of a competitive MLB team.
3.0-3.9 WAR. Borderline All Star
4.0-4.9 WAR. All Star. These guys get you to the playoffs.
5.0+ WAR. Best player on the team. These kind of guys put the team on their backs in the playoffs.

I like your concept and I agree with the concept.

Here is my simplification: If you are going to play every day... you need to play like a player that should play every day. Playing Santana every day like he is Freddie Freeman is actually a deficit because Santana is not Freeman.

If you are going to play average baseball like Santana. You need to yield playing time so others can prove they are better.

If you are below average... you better not have an expiring contract.  

Sidenote: I personally don't use WAR either Fangraphs or Baseball Ref.

I just don't trust zone metrics and I believe that zone metrics are over weighted in the measurement of WAR.