Week in Review: Miranda Mania

Weekly Snapshot: Mon, 7/1 through Sun, 7/7
***
Record Last Week: 4-2 (Overall: 51-39)
Run Differential Last Week: +10 (Overall: +51)
Standing: 2nd Place in AL Central (6.0 GB) 

Last Week's Game Results:

Game 85 | MIN 5, DET 3: Lewis Delivers Big Hit But Gets Hurt
Game 86 | DET 9, MIN 2: Festa Struggles Again, Lee Debuts
Game 87 | MIN 12, DET 3: Blowout Ends Early Under Rainfall
Game 88 | HOU 13, MIN 12: Comeback Falls Short in Shootout
Game 89 | MIN 9, HOU 3: Miranda Makes MLB History in Big Win
Game 90 | MIN 3, HOU 2: Vázquez Walks It Off to Clinch Series

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NEWS & NOTES

In a classic "monkey's paw" moment, Twins fans got their wish to see red-hot top prospect Brooks Lee reach the big-league stage ... at the expense of Royce Lewis. A right adductor strain suffered on Tuesday will likely sideline the Lewis for at least a month, with the Twins saying they'll re-evaluate him after the All-Star break. This is his fourth trip to the injured list since returning from his second ACL recovery last May, all of them for different soft-tissue strains: oblique, hamstring, quad, groin. Huge bummer, obviously. 

But the silver lining is real: Lee is now in the majors, and has wasted no time flashing his hitting talents on the big stage. In his MLB debut on Wednesday night, Lee notched a pair of hits, both singles back up the middle. The newcomer kept it rolling into the weekend, as we'll soon cover.

Lee was not alone in joining the Twins roster after tearing up Triple-A. Matt Wallner finally got his return ticket on Sunday, recalled from St. Paul to replace Austin Martin, who landed on the injured list with an oblique strain. It's a well deserved promotion for Wallner, who had slashed .342/.417/.727 (1.144 OPS) with 12 home runs in 29 games since the start of June. The way he's been able to cut down on the strikeouts has been most convincing within this prodigious power showing. Wallner showcased his improved approach right away on Sunday, drawing a 10-pitch walk in his first AB back then rifling a 117-MPH single in his second.

As Lee and Wallner made their way from St. Paul to Minneapolis, David Festa headed the opposite direction. The right-hander was sent back down to the minors on Friday following a rough introduction to the big leagues, and replaced temporarily on the roster by Josh Winder. It's expected that the team will activate Chris Paddack from the injured list to start on Monday after missing the minimum 15 days with his arm fatigue issue.

On the bullpen depth front, Diego Castillo and Matt Bowman rejoined the organization on minor-league deals; noteworthy since both appeared for the Twins earlier this season. Zack Weiss moved to Ft. Myers on his rehab assignment.

HIGHLIGHTS

The Twins offense continues to churn out runs, with the luxury of Lee as a reinforcement almost entirely negating the massive loss of Lewis. Lee collected at least one hit in each of his first five major-league games and is batting .476 with six RBIs. He hit his first home run on Saturday night after launching seven in 20 games at Triple-A. 

Despite his dazzling debut, Lee couldn't quite steal the show from José Miranda, who set an expansion-era MLB record by notching hits in 12 straight at-bats, going 5-for-5 on Thursday and 4-for-4 on Friday. For the week, Miranda was 14-for-20 with four doubles and a homer. "Locked in" doesn't begin to describe it; the 26-year-old has struck out twice in his past 44 plate appearances. He's a bit short of qualifying for the batting title, but if he weren't, Miranda's .331 average would rank second in the majors behind Steven Kwan.

Miranda led the charge this past week for a lineup that is thriving top to bottom. I can't stop marveling at the quality and depth. Even with Lewis unavailable, the Twins can plug in Miranda's scorching bat at the heart of the order alongside Carlos Correa, who homered twice and drove in five runs last week, and not miss a beat. Correa was named as the Twins' All-Star representative on Sunday.

Byron Buxton, who typically finds himself sixth or seventh in the lineup, went 8-for-18 with a home run and three doubles last week. He's got his OPS up above .800, among the league leaders in center field. Even the catchers have been heating up at the plate – Ryan Jeffers and Christian Vázquez combined to go 10-for-23 with two doubles and three homers, with Vázquez delivering a stunning walk-off blast on Sunday.

You add in Lee and Wallner, who are currently slotting in near the bottom of the order, and there's just no relief for opposing pitchers. We're seeing that play out in the results. The Twins scored 12 runs in back-to-back games, including one that was shortened to seven innings by rain. For the week they batted .344, tallying 15 doubles and nine homers while scoring 43 runs in six contests. The Twins had a solid showing against arguably the league's top pitcher in Tarik Skubal (3 ER in 6 IP) and they absolutely torched Josh Hader and the Astros staff at Target Field. 

Twins pitching was not as overpowering as the hitting last week, but there were some commendable performances, including Bailey Ober's fourth straight gem on Thursday: 6 IP, 1 ER, 8 K. Ober is throwing as well as we've ever seen him, with a 35-to-5 K/BB ratio and 1.65 ERA over 27 ⅓ innings in his past four starts, which have featured his three highest swinging-strike totals of the season. He set a career high with 22 whiffs on Thursday.

The bullpen was largely very good, with relievers answering the call over and over again. Cole Sands appears to have rounded back into his strong early-season form, striking out five over three scoreless innings last week. He's gone seven appearances straight without allowing an earned run, and has a 9-to-1 K/BB ratio in that timeframe. Josh Staumont was reaching triple digits with his fastball on Sunday, as he logged his 18th appearance of the season while maintaining a 0.00 ERA. He's been just a huge find by this front office.

Sands and Staumont combined with Jhoan Durán, Griffin Jax, Jorge Alcalá, and Caleb Thielbar to collectively allow zero runs on six hits in 13 ⅔ innings across Minnesota's six games.

It's all clicking for the Twins right now. They have won five series in a row and seven of their past eight. Wednesday's 9-2 loss against Detroit was the only game in the last calendar month that Minnesota has lost by more than one run. Their performance this past weekend against a red-hot Astros team, which had won 12 of 14 coming in, was perhaps the most impressive showing of the season so far, and an emphatic counterargument against the knock that they can't step it up against quality competition.

LOWLIGHTS

While a majority of relievers contributed clean outings last week, the blemishes in Minnesota's bullpen performance were noticeable. Kody Funderburk was knocked around for five earned runs in three innings across two appearances, yielding a pair of homers and widening the team's deficits in losing efforts on Wednesday and Friday. His ERA is up to 5.97 on the season.

Winder also got roughed up on Friday night, surrendering four runs (three earned) on five hits in two innings of work in his 2024 major-league debut. I can't imagine the Twins will be inclined to stick with Winder much longer, given that he hasn't shown much ability to be effective or stay healthy for multiple years now. He'll presumably head back to the minors when the Twins activate Paddack on Monday, and I'd guess his 40-man roster spot is very much at risk as Weiss and Brock Stewart work their way back from the 60-day IL.

In a week where Brooks Lee made the initial transition from minors to majors look easy, Festa reminded us that in most cases, that's far from true. He was clobbered by the Tigers on Wednesday night, giving up seven earned runs on nine hits including three homers in five innings. Festa was cruising along until the third inning when everything fell apart, as Detroit broke the game open on a grand slam. 

Not the smoothest start to Festa's MLB career, of course, but from my view it wasn't the most concerning debut either. Looking past all the hard contact and the 10.50 ERA in two starts, he did show the ability to attack the zone and miss some bats. He knows what he needs to work on back in Triple-A.

Pablo López's clunker on Friday night falls into the same category for me: disappointing, but not overly concerning. He did allow six earned runs in five innings in a loss to the Astros, but all eight hits he gave up were singles, many of which happened to string together. 

I get that the results are what they are – his ERA is back up over five as we approach the All-Star break – but if López is throwing heat, keeping the ball in the park and missing bats I'm not worried. He's still a No. 1 starter I'd be fairly confident matching up against any opponent. To bolster that confidence, though, it would be nice to see Pablo get into a sustained groove while eliminating these hiccups that seem to invariably come along every few starts.

TRENDING STORYLINE

For a second time in 10 days on Sunday, Correa appeared to dodge a bullet after a scary-looking HBP knocked him out of the game. X-rays on his hand came back negative, and the shortstop declared after the game that he'll be in the lineup on Monday. Far be it from me to question this: when the same events played out the previous week, Correa did indeed return the next day, and he hit a home run. 

But I can't help wondering if it wouldn't make sense to give him a respite, even if he avoided a serious injury here. The upcoming All-Star break would essentially provide an opportunity to give Correa two weeks off while only missing six games. He has now taken two painful fastballs to the hand/wrist in a span of two weeks, and generally speaking, it couldn't hurt to get him off his feet for a little bit at the midpoint of the season. 

It goes without saying that having Correa at full strength for the stretch run and into October is critical, so I'm on board with almost any precaution designed to protect his longevity, especially with Lee and Miranda playing the way they are on the left side. 

Correa clearly wants to play, this coming week and next week at the All-Star Game. I'm guessing the Twins are inclined to oblige him, so it may be a moot point in this case. But I guess my broader point is that this has the looks of a playoff-bound team, with enough quality depth to plan smartly for what's ahead. I'd like to see them making future-conscious decisions with an eye toward the postseason, even if that means a non-essential IL stint for Correa, or giving Paddack a bit of extra time off beyond the minimum, or taking the conservative route in bringing Lewis back from his latest injury. The Twins can afford to play things somewhat safe.

LOOKING AHEAD

The Twins close out their first-half schedule with a road trip that will take them through Chicago and San Francisco ahead of the All-Star break. Minnesota is 7-0 against the White Sox so far this year and the Giants have been under .500 since May. The Twins starter for Monday and Sunday is yet to be officially be announced, but it's assumed Paddack will return to take back that spot in the rotation. 

MONDAY, JULY 8: TWINS @ WHITE SOX – TBD v. RHP Chris Flexen
TUESDAY, JULY 9: TWINS @ WHITE SOX – RHP Bailey Ober v. RHP Erick Fedde
WEDNESDAY, JULY 10: TWINS @ WHITE SOX – RHP Pablo Lopez v. RHP Drew Thorpe
FRIDAY, JULY 12: TWINS @ GIANTS – RHP Joe Ryan v. LHP Kyle Harrison
SATURDAY, JULY 13: TWINS @ GIANTS – RHP Simeon Woods Richardson v. RHP Hayden Birdsong
SUNDAY, JULY 14: TWINS @ GIANTS – TBD v. LHP Blake Snell