Matthew Lenz

Thanks to an abysmal month of May that saw them go 9-19, the New York Mets are seven games under .500 and firmly out of the NL East picture. That said, as of this writing, they find themselves just three games out of a Wild Card spot, so it's still not certain whether they will be sellers next month. Image courtesy of © Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports If the Mets do sell, there are surely pieces on whom the Minnesota Twins need to kick the tires, and nobody sticks out more than their power-hitting first basemen. I’m going to bow out of writing more on Pete Alonso, though, and direct you to a great read on this very topic by our very own, Cody Christie. The only thing worth adding, since that piece was written at the beginning of the month, is that the need is even greater after the demotion of Alex Kirilloff. So who else is there? Let's start by looking at some pitching help. Let me preface this section with my belief that you can never have enough pitching--like, ever. So, while David Festa looks to be nearly ready for his crack at the big-league rotation, I'm hoping the Twins acquire a back-end or better arm, even if that pushes his debut into 2025. Starting Pitchers While acquiring a back-end arm may not be overly helpful in the postseason, the team needs to get there first. The Mets have two starting arms on expiring deals on whom I'd expect the Minnesota front office to call. At the top of that list is the same pitcher the Twins chased from the 2017 Wild Card game against the Yankees, in righthander Luis Severino. Severino has struggled through injuries over the five seasons leading up to 2024, but he's regained his pre-2019 form this season, posting a 3.25/3.73 ERA/FIP over 12 starts wherein he's averaged 6.0 innings per start. Given his production and the relatively cheap cost, he likely will fetch a pretty solid return in a competitive market. Because of the injury history, likely demand, and the recent track record of Twins trading prospects for pitchers, I’m probably out on Severino, but I can't say he's not intriguing. Less productive, for a similar amount of money and with a player option for 2025, is Sean Manaea. While his surface stats aren't great (with a 4.30/3.79 ERA/FIP) and his expected stats suggest potential regression, he'd still be an upgrade over the current options the Twins have for the back of their rotation. I like him as an upgrade, because he really fits the Twins' mold. He has elite extension, a plus sinker, and a sweeper that has been effective in the past. This type of pitcher (see Joe Ryan and Pablo López) is a perfect fit. The Twins' coaching staff should be able to get the most out of his arsenal and bring him back to something like the pitcher he was with the Oakland Athletics. Relief Pitchers Adam Ottavino has been a solid (though usually unspectacular) reliever across 11 big-league seasons. His expected stats and projection models scream for positive regression in the ERA department, and he's posting a very solid K-BB% of 22.2. Aside from Griffin Jax, the Twins bullpen has been unreliable--especially the low-leverage end of the bullpen, which has been like a State Fair shuttle, traveling non-stop between Target Field and CHS Field. Search Ottavino's name on Twitter, and you'll find myriad tweets demanding that he be designated for assignment. While I don't think that's likely, I think he could be had fairly cheaply, compared to the starters named above. Hitters The Twins are very much in need of a left-handed bat (of which, alas, the Mets don't have much to offer) and help in the outfield. The only name on an expiring contract that really makes some sense here is Harrison Bader, as a Manuel Margot replacement and Byron Buxton insurance. While it doesn't move the needle, Bader would absolutely be an upgrade over Margot on both sides of the ball. Per wRC+, he's basically been a league-average contributor in 2024 and sports a .697 OPS, with respectable strikeout and walk rates. I wouldn't hate the move, assuming the cost is fair, but it can't be the only move the Twins make. Staying in the grass, Starling Marte is having a bit of a renaissance, but he's owed nearly $21 million next season when he’ll be in his age-36 season. Moving out of the outfield (and actually completely off the diamond), J.D. Martinez is back from injury and is performing well. That said, a DH-only player doesn't neatly fit into the roster construction and platoon-heavy approach this staff employs. At the end of the day, the only two names that I think move the needle and would cost a price I'm willing to pay are Manaea and Ottavino. In my opinion, Severino will cost too much, Bader doesn't do much to improve the club, Marte’s salary is too much for a team on a “budget”, and J.D. Martinez doesn't fit. What are your thoughts on the names mentioned above? Is there anyone else you'd be interested in the Twins adding? Join me in the comments! View full article

The Minnesota Timberwolves are set to tip off in a winner-take-all Game 7 against the defending NBA champion Denver Nuggets on Sunday. The Minnesota Twins have played in five such games, sporting a 3-2 record in 15 playoff appearances across 62 full seasons. Let’s take a look back at each winner-take-all game. Image courtesy of Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports (Sandy Koufax statue) 2017 Wild Card at New York Yankees The 85-77 Minnesota Twins traveled to Yankee Stadium to take on the 91-71 New York Yankees. Two All-Star and Cy Young vote-getters in Ervin Santana and Luis Severino were the announced starting pitchers against two of the more formidable offenses in all of baseball. Despite the pitchers headlining the match up, the offenses came out swinging. Brian Dozier led off with a solo home run on a 3-1 mistake from the right-handed Severino. Three batters later, Eddie Rosario extended the lead with a two-run shot of his own after a Joe Mauer foul pop out and Jorge Polanco walk. In an all too familiar fashion, the 3-0 lead quickly disappeared in the bottom of the first when Yankees shortstop, Didi Gregorius pulled a low-and-away fastball into the right field bleachers knotting the game at three runs apiece. The Yankees would tack on another run half of a Brett Gardner solo homer in the bottom of the second. The Twins responded right away when Byron Buxton grounded into a fielder's choice in the third. Yet, once again, the Yankees respond right away when Greg Bird singles home Gary Sánchez in the bottom of half of the inning. It was all Yankees from there as they would go onto tack on an additional three runs, and the twins offense was shut down by David Robertson and Tommy Kahnle for 5 ⅔ innings. With a final score of 8-4, the Twins were eliminated from the 2017 postseason. 2002 Division Series at Oakland Athletics The Minnesota Twins won the Central division with 94 wins and were pitted against the Oakland Athletics, whose season would be turned into a movie titled “Moneyball." Brad Radke and Mark Mulder would take the bump for their respective teams for the second time in the series. The game was largely a pitchers duel with Radke giving up one run over 6 ⅔ innings and Mulder giving up two runs over seven innings. The Twins had a 2-1 advantage heading into the final inning when A.J. Pierzynski extended the lead to 4-1 with a two-run home run. David “Big Papi” Ortiz added a fifth run with an RBI double, and the Twins were near locks to win as they sent out All-Star and MVP vote-getter “Everyday” Eddie Guardado to close out the game and series. Of course, it couldn’t be that easy. The middle of the Oakland lineup went single, groundout, and double before Mark Ellis stepped to that plate and made the game 5-4 with a three-run shot. Fortunately, it was too little too late for the A’s as they went fly ball, single, and foul pop out to end things at a score of 5-4 and the Twins advancing. 1991 World Series vs Atlanta Braves Do we really need to chronicle the best game of the greatest World Series in Major League Baseball history? I mean, it doesn’t get old, so why not. After a back-and-forth series and the famous “and we’ll see you tomorrow night” Kirby Puckett walk-off, the Twins and Braves were set for the first World Series Game 7 in four seasons (more on that in a minute). The offenses would combined to go 1-for-17 with runners in scoring positions and the starting pitchers, John Smoltz and Jack Morris, would combine to throw 16 innings of zero-run baseball. Famously, Twins starter Jack Morris threw a complete game going 10 innings before Gene Larkin hit a deep fly ball to score Dan Gladden in the home half of the inning. 1987 World Series v St. Louis Cardinals Win or lose in Game 7, the 1987 season was special for the Twins who upped their win total by 14 games from 1986. They held off the streaking Toronto Blue Jays to win the American League West division and dismantled the 98-win Detroit Tigers in the ALCS to reach the World Series. With the home team winning the first six games of the series, the Twins had the edge playing in the Dome … somewhere they hadn’t lost a game in nearly a month. The Cardinals got out to a 2-0 lead early after two RBI singles off of Twins starter, Frank Viola, in the top of the second. The Twins answered back with a run of their own in the bottom half of the inning off a Steve Lombardozzi RBI single, and would eventually tie it in the home half of the fifth with an RBI double off the bat of Kirby Puckett. While Viola would continue to roll, the Twins took a one-run lead thanks to a bases loaded hit by Greg Gagne in the sixth and extended that lead after an RBI double from Gladden in the eighth. Leading the game 4-2, the Twins turned to their closer, Jeff Reardon, in the top of the ninth. Facing the heart of the Cardinals lineup, Reardon sat down the side in order and clinched the game and series for the Minnesota Twins. 1965 World Series v Los Angeles Dodgers The 1965 Twins were the best team in baseball and, arguably, the greatest Twins team ever. After winning 102 games in the regular season, they were pitted against the National League champion, Los Angeles Dodgers. Like 1987, the home team won the first six games, and game seven would be the third time Jim Kaat and Sandy Koufax would go toe-to-toe in the series. With Kaat winning Game 2 and Koufax winning Game 5, something had to give in Game 7. Both pitchers mostly cruised through the first three innings, although the Dodgers threatened to break the 0-0 tie in the third before Kaat got Willie Davis to pop out to catcher, Earl Battey, to end the threat. Unfortunately, Lou Johnson would break the seal with a lead off home run in the fourth, and the Dodgers knocked Kaat out of the game two batters later after a double and run-scoring single made the game 2-0. The Twins would put together a threat of their own in the bottom of the fifth, but back-to-back ground outs with runners on first and second ended the threat and the inning. From that point forward, only Harmon Killebrew would reach base by way of a single in the bottom of the ninth. Killebrew got left on first after back-to-back strikeouts from Battey and Bob Allison, clinching the game and series for Dodgers. The final line for Koufax was nine innings pitched, zero runs, 10 strike outs, and just six baserunners allowed. So there you have it, a quick recap of each of the Twins winner-take-all postseason games. Do you have any personal anecdotes from any of these games? Do you think the Wolves will win on Sunday? View full article

Carlos Correa is having a great bounce-back season after his career-worst 2023 campaign. Let’s look under the hood to see what’s working. View full video

The Minnesota Twins pitching pipeline is full of promising talent. These five arms have the advanced metrics so back up their impressive starts to 2024. View full video

In part two of this series, we look at what the “under the hood” metrics tell us about Rubel Cespedes and Poncho Ruiz. View full video

In part one of this series, we look at what the “under the hood” metrics tell us about Jose Miranda, Anthony Prato, and Noah Cardenas. View full video

Our Twins are looking to clinch the series against the White Sox with Joe Ryan on the bump! He’s been LIGHTS OUT so far this year and is due some positive regression after getting dinked and dunked in his last start against the Detroit Tigers. Joe’s splitter is a large reason for his success early on in 2024. He’s added 500 rpms of spin resulting in a higher whiff rate and lower expected results (xBA, xSLG, etc.), per Baseball Savant. He’ll be throwing it to a team that ranks 21st in baseball in their productivity against the pitch. In other words, we might see another double digit strikeout performance from Joe! Lets go, Twins!

Love to see another dominating performance…we need all the momentum and positive vibes we can get!

We’re three weeks into the marathon of the 2024 MLB season, but it’s never too early to identifying the good and the bad so far. View full video

Backed to the dugout, yes.

The Twins sure do have a type, don’t they? Haha

Did you know the Minnesota Twins have a prospect who is taller than Aaron Judge? Meet Carson McCusker, the former Indy baller turned Double-A corner outfielder who towers above the competition. Image courtesy of Ed Bailey, Wichita Wind Surge Carson McCusker was drafted in the 26th round out of high school by the Milwaukee Brewers in the 2017 MLB draft. Ultimately, he decided to play baseball for the Cowboys of Oklahoma State where he played in 147 games while accruing almost 600 plate appearances. He had a solid yet unspectacular four years with the Cowboys, where he hit 23 home runs and carried a .886 OPS with a solid walk rate, but struggled with strikeouts. The once MLB draftee went undrafted in the COVID-shortened 2020 MLB Draft. This led him to the independent Frontier League and the Tri-City Valley Cats out of Troy, New York. In two-plus seasons with the Valley Cats, McCusker’s height was not the only thing that stood out. Hitting from the right side of the plate, he slugged 36 home runs over 592 plate appearances, posted a .996 OPS, and struck out at a lower clip than his days in the Big 12. His profile and stats made enough noise that the Twins signed him to a Minor League contract on June 29th, 2023. In that time, the 25-year-old, 6’ 8” prospect has spent time at three levels, including starting the 2024 season with the Double-A Wichita Wind Surge promotion. Over 207 plate appearances, McCusker has smacked 14 home runs with a 76:16 strikeout-to-walk ratio and an .860 OPS. While the accumulating strikeouts and lack of walks are a concern, the righty does some major damage when he makes contact with the ball, posting a 90th percentile exit velocity of 106.2 miles per hour (mph) and max of 111.6 mph. But, ultimately, it’s the contact rate that will be the difference maker in whether Carson McCusker can one day be a big league bat for the Minnesota Twins. Ideally, you want contact rates to be in the mid-to-low 70s but McCusker’s are in the mid 60s. Pair the below-average contact numbers with just a 7.7-percent walk rate, and you have a guy who relies a little too much on doing damage when he makes contact with the ball. While the Twins value power bats and don’t seem overly concerned with strikeouts, they also value guys like Edouard Julien and Kala’i Rosario, who have some pop AND can get on base at a high clip, even if their strikeout numbers are elevated. Unfortunately, at least for now, that’s not McCusker’s game, and it never has been. But, maybe, there is another route to the big leagues. In just four games with the Wind Surge, McCusker has made highlight reel defensive plays in each of the corner outfield spots that show off his glove and his arm. While fielding data and highlights are few and far between at the lower levels, it’s worth noting he has four more outfield assists in 2023. If the holes in his swing can be plugged by plus defense and a plus arm, then there might be something here for the relatively unknown big man. Soon, Max Kepler will likely be gone and there are big question marks about whether Trevor Larnach can handle off-speed pitching well enough to be a big league regular. While it’s too early to have long-term concerns, Matt Wallner has had a slow start to the season, and the likes of Walker Jenkins, Emmanuel Rodriguez, Gabriel Gonzalez, and Brandon Winokur are a year or more away from potentially making their big league debut. This gives McCusker an outside chance to make a name for himself in 2024 with the proper adjustments at the plate. While he doesn’t have the draft capital or prospect pedigree like the others mentioned above, he has the height and power to stand out. View full article

Here's a just-for-fun exercise: Who else would be fun to see in the broadcast booth, alongside Justin Morneau, Glen Perkins, Trevor Plouffe, LaTroy Hawkins, and Denard Span? Image courtesy of © Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports It was announced last week that Denard Span would join the Minnesota Twins broadcast booth in 2024. He joins a quartet of former players I am dubbing the “2K Twins,” that includes Perk, Plouffe, LaTroy, and Morneau. While (in one sense) this pushes me closer and closer to my inevitable mid-life crisis, it also gives me another thing to look forward to ahead of the 2024 season. I’ve enjoyed the recent shift in the broadcast plan, to one that shares the 162-game burden among many voices and personalities, rather than the same color analyst over and over and over and… you get it. Moreover, I look forward to fresh perspectives on today’s Twins and the overall game. Listening to the likes of Bert Blyleven, Jack Morris, and other players from an older and very different era trash today’s game just didn’t work for me. This shift is one thing--maybe the only thing--that Bally Sports and the Minnesota Twins have gotten right on the TV front over the last few years. Gone are the days of listening to the same two voices for 162 games a year, and here are the days of a rotating broadcast tandem. While I’m not advocating for anyone else to get kicked from the booth, I thought it’d be a fun exercise to look at a few other alumni whom I’d like to see put on the headset. Here’s my personal top three, in no particular order. Johan Santana A member of the Minnesota Twins and Venezuelan Baseball Halls of Fame and currently helping with Spring Training in Fort Myers, Santana has been around more in recent years. Don’t read this as a shot to Perk or LaTroy, but I would love to hear Santana talk pitching and provide live analysis of what he’s seeing as it happens. Imagine celebrating “Pablo Day” alongside one of his countrymen, and listening to the Cooperstown snub break down each pitch, at-bat, and the approach the righty is using. Moreover, with so many foreign-born players in today’s game, it would be great to get the game from someone with a similar perspective as many of today’s players. And, as Cody Christie suggested, staying involved in a variety of ways should help his case for Cooperstown--to right the wrong of the BBWAA. Michael Cuddyer Cuddy, another Minnesota Twins Hall of Famer currently involved with Spring Training, has stayed involved in the game through USA Baseball. In addition to that, just scrolling through his Twitter feed will show you the various podcasts and shows to which the former Twins outfielder has contributed. He's also been outspoken about mental health in sports. And at the end of the day, who would be more fitting to talk about the current era of Twins baseball than a guy who spent considerable time at six different positions in his career? Corey Koskie I’d bet that Morneau and our friends to the North would just be tickled pink to see another Canadian in the booth. A key cog to the early years of the 2K Twins, he’s stayed involved with the game at the youth level, coaching various teams--including with MASH Baseball and Benilde-St. Margaret’s. He was even suiting up for the Loretto Larks, a townball team in the West metro, as recently as 2021. Again like Morneau, Koskie’s career left you wanting more for the guy who dealt with more than his fair share of concussions and was done at just 33 years old. But the perspective he could bring as someone who is currently raising, coaching, and very involved with young athletes could be a fresh look at what makes today's athletes tick. Who else would you like to see in the broadcast booth alongside Cory Provus? Join the conversation in the comments! View full article

I think we need to do away with Sheila.

The Twins have an influx of infielders and need to replace Emilio Pagan. Could Kyle Farmer be the answer? View full video