Royals 4, Twins 2: Rocco Baldelli's Ejection Doesn’t Inject Life Into Twins. What Can?

Box Score
Starting Pitcher: Simeon Woods Richardson 5 2/3 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 4 BB, 6 K, 1 HER, 107 pitches, 63 strikes (58.9% strikes)
Home Runs: None
Bottom 3 WPA: Woods Richardson -.155, Carlos Correa -.132, Christian Vázquez -.099
Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs):

Rocco Tossed
Rocco Baldelli often presents himself as more corporate than coach, but he’ll stand up for his guys and chew out an ump when the situation calls for it.

In the bottom of the sixth inning, home plate umpire Nic Lentz called a pitch clock violation on Simeon Woods Richardson. It was on a 3-2 count, so the call resulted in a walk. Prior to the pitch, it looked like there may have been some issues with the PitchCom device between Woods Richardson and catcher Christian Vázquez. Woods Richardson stepped off the rubber, but was not granted a disengagement by the umpire, for whatever reason. That delay cost them some time on the clock, but it seemed clear that the righty still started his delivery with two seconds to spare.

Like most situations, whether he was right or wrong, the ump stuck to his original call. I’m sure Baldelli knew he had no chance of changing the call, but he couldn’t just let that slide. It was Baldelli’s 17th career ejection but first since 2023. 

Just Put It In Play (No, Not Like That!)
Monday continued an odd trend for the Twins lineup, where they put the ball in play but have nothing to show for it. It’s an encouraging shift in organizational approach, but it’s difficult to get too excited about it when the results aren’t there. 

Twins hitters posted the highest strikeout rate in the league back in 2023 at 26.6%. They managed to slash that all the way down to 21.3% last year, which was one of the lowest 10 K rates across baseball. The Twins entered tonight at 23.2 K% so far in 2025, slightly above league average.

While contact has not been a major issue this season, production is a different story. The Twins entered tonight ranked 29th in on-base percentage and 27th in slugging. They only struck out five times tonight but that only translated to seven hits and two runs. 

There were eight balls the Twins hit in excess of a 95 mph exit velocity tonight that resulted in outs. They had five batted balls with an expected batting average over .500 that were outs. These things are bound to happen, but when you’re struggling it’s just more salt in the wound. The league, as a whole, is running a .285 BABIP so far this season, a rough number that could indicate the ball is slightly deader than in the past few campaigns. It's too early to be sure either way on that front, but not too soon to wonder about the efficacy of the Twins' approach.

Woods Richardson Eclipses 100 Pitches
The Twins needed some length from their starter tonight. In the early going, it didn’t appear that was going to happen, as Woods Richardson threw 66 pitches over the first three innings.

To his credit, the junior member of the Twins rotation grinded through 5 2/3 innings. It wasn’t a great start, but he did throw a career-high 107 pitches. Not exactly heroic stuff, but it beats most of what his rotation mates have delivered so far this season. He only eclipsed 100 pitches once in his 28 starts last season.

It’s early April, not mid-August. Bullpen fatigue shouldn’t be such a topic of focus this early, but here we are. This was only the second time in 10 games that a Twins starting pitcher recorded an out in the sixth inning.

Ode to the Mop-Up Man
Pablo López technically leads the Twins in innings pitched with 12, but that’s just because the mop-up role has been a revolving door. If we treat that spot on the pitching staff as one player instead of three, the mop-up man has accounted for 13 innings.

Randy Dobnak opened the year in the role and provided 5 1/3 innings in his one outing. His reward was being DFA’d. Darren McCaughan took over the role and provided another 5 1/3 innings over three games pitched. He was DFA’d this morning to make room for a fresh arm, Scott Blewett. 

Blewett finished off tonight’s game for Woods Richardson, covering the final 2 1/3 innings. He, much like Dobnak and McCaughan, pitched great. That trio of mop-up men have combined to throw 13 innings and have only surrendered two earned runs on eight hits and three walks.

We salute you, mop-up men. Thank you for your service … but don’t get too comfortable.

Spring Training Vibes
To my eye, the level of energy the Twins are bringing into these games feels similar to what you’d typically see in spring training. This feels like a group of guys trying to get work in, going through the motions and trying to remove a winter’s worth of rust. It’s not as if their opponents have been playing with an October intensity, but they’ve consistently flet more awake and alive than the Twins. 

While it’s true that the baseball season is a marathon, you don’t see many marathon runners walk the first mile and a half.

It’s not as if the Twins have prioritized rest, either. Sure, Carlos Correa and Byron Buxton have been taken out of a few games early, but both have also started all 10 games for the Twins so far this season. That’s typically a recipe for success, but instead it’s an example where even a piece of good news can be viewed negatively when you’re in a slump. Had Correa and/or Buxton missed time during this poor season-opening stretch, at least we’d have an excuse to point toward.

Correa and Buxton have stunk so far. They’re going to play better than this, but the question is for how much of the season are they both going to be in the lineup together? Sure, the Twins are missing some other guys, but it feels like they need to maximize the periods in which both Correa and Buxton are on the field together. That’s not happening.

Postgame Interview

Bullpen Usage Chart