Jump to content
Twins Daily
  • Create Account
  • Twins News & Analysis

    MIN 7, TEX 4: Pineda, Rogers Lead Twins Over Rangers

    Sabir Aden

    By Sabir Aden

    The Twins raging inferno, I mean offense, kept their scalding hot pace, with some essential late-inning insurance runs to stomp any chances of a Ranger recovery. The offense wasn’t nearly as prolific as yesterday’s 13 extra-base performance, but a nearly carbon copy script of the second inning of yesterday’s game, spearheaded a series win.

    Image courtesy of FanGraphs

    Twins Video

    Box Score

    Pineda: 6.0 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 9 K, 61.5% strikes (59 of 96 pitches)

    Bullpen: 3.0 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 6 K

    Home Runs: Gonzalez (10)

    Multi-Hit Games: Castro (2-for-3, 2B), Polanco (2-for-4)

    Top 3 WPA: Pineda .220, Rogers .182, Buxton .118

    Starting Strong in the 2nd, Nailing the Coffin in the 8th

    It was in the second inning, when the Twins drew first blood against recently converted starting pitcher Jesse Chavez. It began with a stinging double by our Man on Fire Luis Arraez, followed by a stellar plate appearance by Miguel Sano producing a walk, then a short pop-up to the infield by LaMonte Wade and then a Johnathon Schoop walk that loaded the bases for Jason Castro with nobody out. A sac fly that produced an astoundingly impressive overthrow by Joey Gallo set the stage for our Moment of the Day.

    https://twitter.com/fsnorth/status/1147580729590632448

    It was that two-run single by Byron Buxton that gave the Twins the lead for good.

    Shaky Bullpen Lately

    In the top of the seventh, there was a notable comment that deeply resonated with me, and perhaps should resonate more with Tyler Duffey himself. On the FSN broadcast, newly minted booth color commentator Tim Laudner mentioned that Tyler Duffey, “took a page out of the book of Jake Odorizzi”, namely how his fastball has become a strength from a weakness.

    Well, maybe I have some criticism on how the Twins have been unleashing that animal in Tyler Duffey.

    It was in the seventh inning that provided the first nervous murmur at Target Field with an announced crowd of 36,969, when left-handed hitting Willy Calhoun torched a hanging slider, the fourth of that sequence to momentarily startle the crowd.

    Throughout the season we’ve been noticing a trend in how the starting pitchers pitch in the best way to conduce success. In other words, putting yourself in the best position to succeed.

    How often this season have we seen Jose Berrios, Martin Perez and Jake Oddorizzi vary their breaking ball distributions to gravitate to the results they desire.

    Now bear with me, this might be hard to understand. But below here is a rolling distribution of Jose Berrios and Martin Perez’s rolling breaking ball usage by K%:

    ccs-8747-0-05797300-1562457606_thumb.png

    ccs-8747-0-35964400-1562457613_thumb.png

    This might be one of the points of practice that pitching coordinator Wes Johnson and company are hammering home. Ride with what you feel is getting the best results (in this case weak contact and Ks), not what should be your best pitch.

    This is not to say that Taylor Rogers was beyond straight filth today. I mean my goodness, flawless seven outs turned, five strikeouts and topping out at 97 mph! He truly reminded me of peak Andrew Miller

    Well, Duffey faltered again, it may be interesting to note this and see if Tyler does rely on his newly improved fastball above the zone in high-leverage situations. It seemed abundantly clear that the Texas hitters were ambushing Duffey in anticipation of fastball usage in two-strike situations.

    Adding to the Injured List

    While Micheal Pineda was lights out in arguably his best performance (from a stuff standpoint) at Target Field, he did serve his only cookie of the day when Elvis Andrus belted a shot into the Twins bullpen that barely cleared the wall in right. It was then that LaMonte Wade collided with the wall in right, and dislocated his right thumb, according to this report….

    https://twitter.com/dohyoungpark/status/1147625364144963585

    Postgame With Baldelli

    https://twitter.com/fsnorth/status/1147627402375204865

    Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet

    Click here for a review of the number of pitches thrown by each member of the bullpen over the past five days.

    Attachments:
    //dtb3yzl0vm3pr.cloudfront.net/monthly_07_2019/ccs-8747-0-59091600-1562452474.png
    //dtb3yzl0vm3pr.cloudfront.net/monthly_07_2019/ccs-8747-0-05797300-1562457606.png
    //dtb3yzl0vm3pr.cloudfront.net/monthly_07_2019/ccs-8747-0-35964400-1562457613.png
    Follow Sabir Aden on Twitter: Sabir_Aden

    Follow Twins Daily For Minnesota Twins News & Analysis

     Share
     Share
    Go to articles

    Recent Twins Articles

    Recent Twins Videos


    User Feedback

    Recommended Comments



    Featured Comments

    Mike Sixel

    Mike Sixel 55,038

  • Old-Timey Member

    • Posted

    Teams don’t add players like Rooker to the 40-man roster as a depth piece. Rooker isn’t a great prospect but he’s good enough that the team can and will control how his service clock is managed.

    He's 25? There are no service clock issues. I'd guess it is about the forty man.

    Riverbrian

    Riverbrian 42,831

  • Old-Timey Member

    • Posted

     

    Twins have an open spot on the 40 man and Wade is probably going to be out for a while so it would be smart to add another outfielder on the 40 just in case something happens to Cave and/or another starting outfielder.

     

    As respectfully as I can put this:

     

    You need to understand all the future consequences of what you are suggesting. Ash and Brock are trying to point you in the right direction. 

     

    The Twins don't have to add Rooker to the 40 man roster until December of 2020. Once he is added to the 40 man roster, he can't be removed from the 40 man roster without being exposed to other teams. 

     

    This is significant information and you need to understand why it's significant. 

     

    Once a player is selected in the rule 4 draft (The Draft).  If he is signed before he is 19 the club has 5 years before he has to be added to the 40 man roster or he will be eligible for the rule 5 draft. If he is signed after he is 19 (Rooker) the club has 4 years before he has to be added to the 40 man roster or he will be eligible for the rule 5 draft. 

     

    Based on this rule in the CBA... Rooker has to be added to the 40 man roster in December of 2020 or we risk losing him to another team. 

     

    Once Rooker is added to the 40 man roster... He can't be removed from the 40 man roster without being exposed to other teams. 

     

    If the Twins add Rooker to the 40 man roster (early) at this time as you suggest.

     

    Adding him early guarantees (unless he is traded) that he will occupy one of the precious 40 man spots in December of 2019. This is significant because we have a fairly long list of players that need to be added to the 40 man roster or we risk losing them to another team next Rule 5. Rooker on the 40 man early will give us one less spot to protect a player therefore increasing the odds we lose a player to the Giants/Orioles or any team who would love to scoop up any of the top 5 or 6 or maybe 7 on the list below if left unprotected.  

     

    Rule 5 Eligible Dec. 2019

    Brusdar Graterol

    Wander Javier

    Jhoan Duran

    Gilberto Celistino

    Jorge Alcala

    Griffin Jax

    Luke Raley

    Travis Blankenhorn

    Luis Rijo

    Jovani Moran

     

    In a nutshell... Adding Rooker to the 40 man for simple insurance as you suggest will probably cost us a fairly significant player in the off season due to lack of 40 man space. It would be like trading Rooker for Jorge Alcala or Trading Rooker for a future free agent because they want to keep Alcala. 

     

    Adding Rooker before the Rule 5 draft (or at the very least the upcoming trade deadline) would require roster management negligence from Thad Lavine so it isn't going to happen unless Rooker demonstrates value beyond whatever is currently on the 40 man roster. We are talking a Tatis, Vlad Jr, Acuna or Soto type of demonstration and even that isn't going to help get him here now because that type of talent they would probably want to wait until next Mid-April for the extra year of control if he is that talented. 

     

    And once you grasp that... you have to look at the current 40 man roster and come to the conclusion that we have a lot of talent performing at a high level on the current 40 man roster and therefore Rooker can't move the needle enough in 2019. 

     

    On top of all that: The Twins need Roster Spots for the Trade Deadline additions and you can bet that the Twins will be using the names on the list above as their preferred trade bait because of the limited 40 man roster space in December and the decisions that they will have to make as a result. Adding Rooker just blocks up a spot and we don't have enough spots.

     

    For example... giving Rooker takes a 40 man spot right now. The Twins trade Alcala for Bumgarner. Bumgarner now needs a 40 man spot and you gave it to Rooker. So to accomodate Bumgarner... the Twins will have to release a player. 

     

    Now adding Rooker has cost us a current player on the 40 man roster sometime this month AND a potential Dec. 2019 rule 5 eligible player in December. 

     

    Ash and Brock are trying to help you. I'd listen to them because it will be a waste of your time and energy wishing or hoping that Rooker appears in a Twins uniform anytime soon.  :)

     

     

     

     

    Otto von Ballpark

    Otto von Ballpark 20,382

  • Old-Timey Member

    • Posted

     

    All you hear about is how amazing the Yankees’ story is with injuries. Well, the Twins have come out of nowhere to enter the conversation for the most prolific offense of all time. That has been done without a full lineup contingent healthy for nigh a single game this year (honestly, I think none).

    The Twins still have 8 hitters, all from their opening day lineup, with 250+ PA this season. (And the 9th spot would be catcher, where they have low PAs primarily due to splitting the position rather than injury, although Garver did have a stint on the DL.)

     

    By comparison, the Yankees have only 5 guys meeting that 250 PA threshold, and only 4 of them were from their opening day lineup. Plus a couple extended pitcher injuries (Severino, Betances) where the Twins have had virtually none.

     

    SpoTrac has the Yankees with 23 players missing 1310 days so far in 2019, worst in MLB. Even if you think Ellsbury and Tulowitzki shouldn't count, they are still way ahead of the Twins who have missed the 4th fewest days at 357:

     

    https://www.spotrac.com/mlb/disabled-list/cumulative-team/

    Brock Beauchamp

    Brock Beauchamp 44,058

  • Site Manager

    • Posted

    He's 25? There are no service clock issues. I'd guess it is about the forty man.

    That’s what I mean by “service clock”. Adding a player to the 40-man certainly isn’t as critical as running up service time in the majors, but it’s also important to how a player’s control is managed going forward. For example, Rooker’s trade value drops a bit if he’s on the 40-man roster.

     

    Anyway, my main point is that teams don’t make unnecessary moves that cannot be reversed. Once a guy is on the 40-man, he’s there for good and your options going forward are therefore somewhat limited.



    Create an account or sign in to comment

    You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

    Create an account

    Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

    Register a new account

    Sign in

    Already have an account? Sign in here.

    Sign In Now

×
×
  • Create New...