Diamondbacks 9, Twins 5: Blunders and Mishaps in the Desert

[Matt Braun]

Image courtesy of Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images

Box Score
Connor Prielipp: 6 IP, 9 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 4 K
Home Runs: Victor Caratini (5), Josh Bell (9), Royce Lewis (7)
Bottom 3 WPA: Connor Prielipp (-.420), Travis Adams (-.110), Brooks Lee (-.080)
Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)

What to make of these Twins? The ramshackle and dilapidated group, at one time—moons ago—the class of the AL, but for a moment; in more recent games, fallen into derelict as the flaws and pitfalls of their roster reared their ugly head, and causes losses to pile up. But have things changed? They swept the Rangers. They took a series from the Cardinals. Minor successes, yes—common for any team, in any year to claim such victories; as the ebbs and flows of a season, occasionally turgid, sometimes lean promise hope both false and real to any fan willing to watch. Would this stretch prove a mirage? We shall see. 

Early results portended… something. What exactly “it” was wasn’t clear, but it was obvious this force was nefarious. In the second at-bat of the game, Byron Buxton launched a liner off the left field wall, only to be thrown out at second thanks to an excellent relay by Lourdes Gurriel Jr., and a rare mild pace by Buxton before he rounded first. Then he sped things up. It was too late. Kody Clemens extended the inning with an infield single. Strange things abounded. 

The inning also ended up claiming Arizona starter Michael Soroka; he suffered an injury while warming up for the second inning, and left the game, and left manager Torey Lovullo suddenly relying on an impromptu bullpen game. 

The new hurler Taylor Clark coaxed two quick outs before allowing a mammoth solo homer to Victor Caratini. 

 

 

Chaos neither subsided or lessened; rather, it started to manifest in a ball suddenly unruly and impossible to glove. With Luke Keaschall on second, Clemens bounded a grounder the other way only for Nolan Arenado—the six-time Platinum Glove winner—to flub the play and allow Keaschall to score.

The Diamondbacks responded with a run with no funny business attached, just for the Twins to strike back with a score in the fourth aided by a bouncing ball that just had to ricochet off the second base bag, and over the adroit Geraldo Perdomo who otherwise certainly would have made the play. 

Prielipp entered the fifth a workmanlike presence. Not dominant, he nonetheless had effectively contained the Diamondbacks offense, flipping his signature breaking stuff in and around the zone with the kind of ease that made him such a tantalizing prospect. That soft providence quickly turned. It started with a walk. Always dreadful. Then a flurry of hits, and an infield defense that could only stumble and fall over themselves turned a 3-1 advantage to a 5-3 deficit. Then a 6-3 one when Ketel Marte led off the sixth with a solo homer.

Minnesota struck back once again; this time, homering twice in the eighth to draw them within one run.

 

 

That was as close as they would get. Travis Adams labored in his second inning of work. Two hits and a walk loaded the bases. Suddenly Corbin Carroll was up with the bases loaded. No lefty? It was Adams' trouble to escape. On a 1-2 count, he tried to fool the superstar with a low and outside changeup, and Carroll softly lofted the pitch into right field, expertly guiding the liner as the bases emptied and Carroll, who always runs like the world is about to end, slid harmlessly into third base. The Twins went down quietly in the ninth. 

Notes:

Josh Bell is slashing .400/.444/.720 is his last seven games.

Royce Lewis is slashing .283/.333/.587 since re-joining the Twins on June 6th.

Connor Prielipp has a 7.04 ERA in his last six starts, after posting a 2.88 mark in his first five outings.

Byron Buxton's two hits give him 841 in his Twins career, the 22nd-most in team history. He's three away from tying Greg Gagne. 

Post-Game Interview:

Social media accounts eschew a post-game interview on Apple TV games.

What’s Next?
The Twins and Diamondbacks will return to their ordinary TV broadcasts on Saturday yet will continue to start at unordinary times: first pitch is at 9:10 PM. Taj Bradley will start opposite Zac Gallen.

Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet

	SUN	MON	TUE	THU	FRI	TOT
Adams	0	0	13	0	42	55
Laweryson	0	0	20	17	5	42
Morris	17	9	0	8	0	34
Orze	0	15	0	12	0	27
Gómez	10	15	0	0	0	25
Rogers	0	6	0	15	0	21
Lawrence	0	0	0	18	0	18
Banda	11	0	0	0	0	11
Paredes	0	0	0	0	0	0

 

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[howeda7]

Get Tristan Gray off this roster. He's the worst regular SS I've ever seen and he can't hit when he's not hitting a grand slam. I can't believe they kept him over Arcia. 

[jaimedude]

7 minutes ago, howeda7 said:

Get Tristan Gray off this roster. He's the worst regular SS I've ever seen and he can't hit when he's not hitting a grand slam. I can't believe they kept him over Arcia. 

100% agree that Gray needs to go, but a demotion for Luke Keaschall should happen first as an order of business. He needs to focus on fielding and throwing, then come back in 2 to 3 weeks after refining his defense. 

[howeda7]

8 minutes ago, jaimedude said:

100% agree that Gray needs to go, but a demotion for Luke Keaschall should happen first as an order of business. He needs to focus on fielding and throwing, then come back in 2 to 3 weeks after refining his defense. 

He's not a good defender. Two weeks in St Paul won't make him one. I do think they should try Royce at 3B, Lee at 2B and Keashall at 1B.

Long-term Keahshall may end up a bench player in a Willi Castro role. 

[RpR]

Kreidler is the FAR, FAR better short stop; I think they have been infected by the Lewis grand slam curse. Hit a few of those and no matter how bad you stink with a glove or bat later on, you keep on playing;  of course then again, that is what bat first boys here live for.  

[h2oface]

It all starts with your star…… LOAFING. Buxton has to be smarter than that. Then two errors (I score two, amazed that the charity workers even gave one to Lee) a balk caught stealing and not being grateful you got one inning out of Adams, The newest way to throw another game away. I think I am the most disappointed in Buxton. He can’t lead like that. He absolutely knows better. 

[Patzky]

4 hours ago, howeda7 said:

He's not a good defender. Two weeks in St Paul won't make him one. I do think they should try Royce at 3B, Lee at 2B and Keashall at 1B.

Long-term Keahshall may end up a bench player in a Willi Castro role. 

Lee was a butcher at second.

[Peter]

Bad loss!!! 💩🤮🤬😡😤👎To many errors!!! Need to bounce back and win these next 2 games!!!

[Mortimerkenny21]

13 minutes ago, Peter said:

Bad loss!!! 💩🤮🤬😡😤👎To many errors!!! Need to bounce back and win these next 2 games!!!

Indeed, sloppy baseball. No fun.

[rv78]

2 hours ago, h2oface said:

It all starts with your star…… LOAFING. Buxton has to be smarter than that. Then two errors (I score two, amazed that the charity workers even gave one to Lee) a balk caught stealing and not being grateful you got one inning out of Adams, The newest way to throw another game away. I think I am the most disappointed in Buxton. He can’t lead like that. He absolutely knows better. 

Hit the nail on the head. Buck wants to be a Twin for life. But is that good for the Twins? Puckett never loafed. Tom Kelly wouldn't have put up with it and all of the players knew it. Today's players and Managers don't know what's important. They think if they just go through the motions that they are "good enough". All they are proving is the opposite.

[big dog]

This bullpen becomes better the moment they replace Adams. I'm tempted to say with almost anyone, but I'll settle for anyone better than Lawrence or Garcia or Topa.

[hitterscount]

Wasn’t able to watch last night, sounds like another frustrating performance…. especially coming after the sweep and getting closer to .500…… you can’t win every game, however there is zero excuse for not hustling and putrid defense, there will be batting slumps but not fielding the ball at a MLB level shouldn’t be happening this late in the season.

[AceWrigley]

What are the chances our bullpen implodes at some point each game?

 

[tony&rodney]

For those who could not watch the game on TV, there were some sad things to report. Buck thought the ball was a HR and even after he saw it was in play he assumed he had an easy double until he was more than halfway to second base. Not a good start. The big inning for Arizona included two errors and two ungodly slow turns and weak throws on routine double plays, which meant Prielipp needed to record seven outs that inning. 

A moratorium has been declared on any further comments regarding the work of Julien at second base after Keaschall has been unable to reach that dubious previous low standard despite Luke looking good and hustling which some people love as opposed to just making the plays. 

All in all it was a dreadful performance and one can only hope the players are reflective and return tonight with a much better level of effort and play.

[karcherd]

7 hours ago, RpR said:

Kreidler is the FAR, FAR better short stop; I think they have been infected by the Lewis grand slam curse. Hit a few of those and no matter how bad you stink with a glove or bat later on, you keep on playing;  of course then again, that is what bat first boys here live for.  

For some reason, the Twins have favored Gray all season.  He is the one they brought north out of spring training.  I still don't know what they saw then much less now to justify a roster spot.

[Linus]

1 minute ago, karcherd said:

For some reason, the Twins have favored Gray all season.  He is the one they brought north out of spring training.  I still don't know what they saw then much less now to justify a roster spot.

Yep. I honestly think it’s just the left handed bat but the more he plays SS the more exposed he becomes. 

[jorgenswest]

They might consider playing Clemens at 2B and putting Fedko in the line up against some right handed pitching. Keaschall doesn’t need to play everyday. A stint in AAA might be helpful. Where would they focus that work? Is there something new they can do at 2B that will help? Is outfield a better fit?

[karcherd]

2 minutes ago, jorgenswest said:

They might consider playing Clemens at 2B and putting Fedko in the line up against some right handed pitching. Keaschall doesn’t need to play everyday. A stint in AAA might be helpful. Where would they focus that work? Is there something new they can do at 2B that will help? Is outfield a better fit?

They have to use their whole roster, why is Fedko up here, to be a pinch runner and late inning defense replacement.  This team does not need the role.  You can play everybody, forget about the platoons and get creative.  Sitting Fedko except for late innings is just stupid.

[Linus]

8 minutes ago, jorgenswest said:

They might consider playing Clemens at 2B and putting Fedko in the line up against some right handed pitching. Keaschall doesn’t need to play everyday. A stint in AAA might be helpful. Where would they focus that work? Is there something new they can do at 2B that will help? Is outfield a better fit?

I think this is now the $64,000 question. It’s almost to the point of where can you hide him the best?  My guess is they may try him in left after the season is lost but teams will run on that arm at will. I kind of think he has to sink or swim at second. I know they do different specialty camps in the off season maybe there is one that can clean up his throwing mechanics. Ultimately it will boil down to the bat. At this level of offensive production someone that can play on both sides of the ball will take his job. I’m guessing he has this season and next to make his mark. 

[Elliot]

We should not be surprised that the Twins defense is bad.

I give them a pass on the outfield due to injury curse that they cannot seem to shake. Their current OF mix should include Jenkins, Roden, and Rodríguez; all prospects whose timelines would have them at Target field already if not for health issues.  Each is rated as capable of playing all 3 outfield spots, but certainly able to be above average defensive corner outfielders. That would leave former first round picks Larnach and Wallner to battle for DH AB’s. Martin came out of college as a SS destined for the outfield.  There was never much of a chance that he would stay on the dirt. Surprising how getting him into the correct role seems to have freed him up offensively.

The infield is another situation altogether.  As is the case with most MLB teams, a significant number of the everyday players the Twins draft each year are labeled as SS’s. The reality is that few should remain there as pros. It is interesting that two of the consensus top three prospects for this year’s draft are SS. In their cases, their profiles seem to indicate they can stick there. Time will tell. Deficiencies in hands, arm, footwork, or range often dictate a move elsewhere; the sooner the better.  Footwork and hands problems probably point them to the outfield (Martin and IMO Keaschall). Range and arm problems may move them to second or third base. If all else fails, there is always 1B. My thought had always been Lewis at 3B and Lee at first, but that seems to be reversed now, which is fine.

This doesn’t make them bad people or bad baseball players, just not SS’s. Jordan Lawlar, last night’s starting CF for Arizona was a high 1^st round pick as a SS 5 years ago. Moved off a position wherehe was not going to succeed long term, he is now seen as a high end defensive CF with good offensive potential. Unfortunately, he seems to be on the same path as the afore-mentioned Twins OF’s in terms of injuries.

Due to the “keep them at SS as long as possible” philosophy, we are now in the unenviable situation of playing a 3B who was converted to that position a month ago and a 1B who made the move 2 weeks ago. Mix that in with an OFer playing 2B and a career utility player at one of the most important defensive positions on the field, and the result is what we saw last night. It is not just the errors, but more so the plays not made that kill a defense.

As fans we are left longing for the arrival of Calen Culpepper as the savior at SS. An unfortunate injury has delayed the inevitable, but it will likely take place this month. My concern is that this is Lewis and Lee all over again. A young SS who is hitting well but carries with him the baggage of a draft profile including “Questions remain about whether he can stick at SS”.  Each stop along his progression, he has been damned with the faint praise of “he might be able to stick there”.  My concern is that at this time next year we will be saying “isn’t it unfortunate that we have a 2B (Culpepper) who is learning the position on the fly, and a LF (Keaschall) doing the same”.

As a 30 Rock fan I am reminded of the Jack Donaghy quote about “climbing deeper into the crevasse”.  Sometimes you have to go very deep before you can re-emerge. I am afraid that last night was not the bottom of the crevasse.  Let’s hope that we hit the bottom in 2026 and are able to emerge in 2027.

[DJL44]

30 minutes ago, karcherd said:

They have to use their whole roster, why is Fedko up here, to be a pinch runner and late inning defense replacement.  This team does not need the role.  You can play everybody, forget about the platoons and get creative.  Sitting Fedko except for late innings is just stupid.

What playing time has Fedko earned?

[LastOnePicked]

Any team can have a bad night, so I don't mean to take this too far, but ... this is not a team that should be talking about "buying" at the trade deadline.

[DJL44]

8 hours ago, howeda7 said:

Get Tristan Gray off this roster. He's the worst regular SS I've ever seen and he can't hit when he's not hitting a grand slam. I can't believe they kept him over Arcia. 

Orlando Arcia was the worst SS in baseball last season and was just passed over by the entire league on waivers. He is back in St Paul.

That doesn’t mean Gray is a good SS, but he has more value than Arcia.

[Wedman13]

3 hours ago, rv78 said:

Hit the nail on the head. Buck wants to be a Twin for life. But is that good for the Twins? Puckett never loafed. Tom Kelly wouldn't have put up with it and all of the players knew it. Today's players and Managers don't know what's important. They think if they just go through the motions that they are "good enough". All they are proving is the opposite.

I think there are a lot of complaints folks can have with this team, but I don't believe effort has been one of them.  Buck is known for playing with his hair on fire -to a fault- and he/they do it without having greenies all over the clubhouse these days.  

talent and execution may be an issue but I don't believe the old  'they need to play like they did back in the day' is.

[DJL44]

1 hour ago, hitterscount said:

Wasn’t able to watch last night, sounds like another frustrating performance…. especially coming after the sweep and getting closer to .500…… you can’t win every game, however there is zero excuse for not hustling and putrid defense, there will be batting slumps but not fielding the ball at a MLB level shouldn’t be happening this late in the season.

If you fill the roster with bad defenders, you should expect bad defense. They punted SS to begin the season. This is the predictable result.

[DJL44]

Roden in RF and Clemens at 2B improves the defense at two spots. 

[jaimedude]

1 hour ago, jorgenswest said:

They might consider playing Clemens at 2B and putting Fedko in the line up against some right handed pitching. Keaschall doesn’t need to play everyday. A stint in AAA might be helpful. Where would they focus that work? Is there something new they can do at 2B that will help? Is outfield a better fit?

Keaschall had a shoulder injury at one point. I think somewhat like Ben Revere. I think that limits him to infield work at 2nd and 1st base. 

[jaimedude]

Apple TV guys highlighted Twins bullpen ERA and being 30th ranked bullpen in MLB and doing almost nothing to address in offseason. Not sure if this is true or not, but they also said of the Twins losses this season including last night the Twins have 23 losses this season where in the 8th inning they either lead by 1 run or were down 1 run or tied. That is a direct correlation of the bullpen decisions made by front office and field staff. Being dead last in baseball in bullpen ERA shows the Twins are not putting their best foot forward on bullpen pitching or defense. Last trade deadline was a big FU to the fans by Pohlad ownership for attendance, especially the Varland trade. 

[JD-TWINS]

9 hours ago, howeda7 said:

Get Tristan Gray off this roster. He's the worst regular SS I've ever seen and he can't hit when he's not hitting a grand slam. I can't believe they kept him over Arcia. 

Arcia has been re-signed and is in St. Paul …..just a talk with Gray & a call to Arcia, problem solved. After the break, you choose between Arcia & Kreidler and bring up Culpepper.

I do expect to be wowed by Arcia’s defense but he has to be more smooth than Gray! Gray gets to a lot of balls but cannot then make the play……gotta make a move. IF he was hitting I’d hesitate but he’s flailing at whatever is thrown to him, wherever it is, on the first pitch. Ugly! Constantly in pitcher’s counts.

[JD-TWINS]

1 hour ago, Elliot said:

We should not be surprised that the Twins defense is bad.

I give them a pass on the outfield due to injury curse that they cannot seem to shake. Their current OF mix should include Jenkins, Roden, and Rodríguez; all prospects whose timelines would have them at Target field already if not for health issues.  Each is rated as capable of playing all 3 outfield spots, but certainly able to be above average defensive corner outfielders. That would leave former first round picks Larnach and Wallner to battle for DH AB’s. Martin came out of college as a SS destined for the outfield.  There was never much of a chance that he would stay on the dirt. Surprising how getting him into the correct role seems to have freed him up offensively.

The infield is another situation altogether.  As is the case with most MLB teams, a significant number of the everyday players the Twins draft each year are labeled as SS’s. The reality is that few should remain there as pros. It is interesting that two of the consensus top three prospects for this year’s draft are SS. In their cases, their profiles seem to indicate they can stick there. Time will tell. Deficiencies in hands, arm, footwork, or range often dictate a move elsewhere; the sooner the better.  Footwork and hands problems probably point them to the outfield (Martin and IMO Keaschall). Range and arm problems may move them to second or third base. If all else fails, there is always 1B. My thought had always been Lewis at 3B and Lee at first, but that seems to be reversed now, which is fine.

This doesn’t make them bad people or bad baseball players, just not SS’s. Jordan Lawlar, last night’s starting CF for Arizona was a high 1^st round pick as a SS 5 years ago. Moved off a position wherehe was not going to succeed long term, he is now seen as a high end defensive CF with good offensive potential. Unfortunately, he seems to be on the same path as the afore-mentioned Twins OF’s in terms of injuries.

Due to the “keep them at SS as long as possible” philosophy, we are now in the unenviable situation of playing a 3B who was converted to that position a month ago and a 1B who made the move 2 weeks ago. Mix that in with an OFer playing 2B and a career utility player at one of the most important defensive positions on the field, and the result is what we saw last night. It is not just the errors, but more so the plays not made that kill a defense.

As fans we are left longing for the arrival of Calen Culpepper as the savior at SS. An unfortunate injury has delayed the inevitable, but it will likely take place this month. My concern is that this is Lewis and Lee all over again. A young SS who is hitting well but carries with him the baggage of a draft profile including “Questions remain about whether he can stick at SS”.  Each stop along his progression, he has been damned with the faint praise of “he might be able to stick there”.  My concern is that at this time next year we will be saying “isn’t it unfortunate that we have a 2B (Culpepper) who is learning the position on the fly, and a LF (Keaschall) doing the same”.

As a 30 Rock fan I am reminded of the Jack Donaghy quote about “climbing deeper into the crevasse”.  Sometimes you have to go very deep before you can re-emerge. I am afraid that last night was not the bottom of the crevasse.  Let’s hope that we hit the bottom in 2026 and are able to emerge in 2027.

These two seem like comments from a month ago.

1) Larnach & Wallner battling for the DH spot seems to have been settled for the foreseeable future……Bell at DH & Larnach in LF v. RH pitching & Wallner in AAA.

2) Martin was hitting .388 4-5 weeks ago - now he’s around .240 …,…. not exactly flourishing with more opportunities.