Matthew Lenz

Haha, I appreciate the honesty! I'm not scout here...just my opinion based off where he falls in our list of prospects. But I think a middle reliever is probably a realistic role for him depending on the state of the big league club. Next year, when we likely don't contend, he might get some more time as a starter but as our next window opens...assuming he sticks...a bullpen role is probably more likely.

What are your expectations for him? Coming into this season he was a non top-30 prospect in the organization who shouldn't have sniffed Target Field had things gone as planned. Any production he can give to the Twins over the next couple years is probably more than would have been expected of him, especially if it comes as a starter.

The Twins fell to the St. Louis Cardinals 5-1 in the series opener. Griffin Jax has another solid outing but wasn't given the run support to have an opportunity to earn the win. That and more in tonight's recap. Box Score Griffin Jax: 5 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 2 K (62.7% strikes) Home Runs: none Bottom 3 WPA: Duffey (-.332), Gordon (-.134), Rooker (-.132), Win Probability Chart (via Fangraphs) Jax Impresses Again In First Interleague Start Jax had a solid start against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday, allowing just four baserunners over five innings and one earned run despite generating just two strikeouts and four whiffs on the night. Still, the Cardinals are one of the better teams in baseball in fighting off pitches despite being a mediocre offensive team. Even the one run scored was indeed “earned” by the Cardinals when Tyler O’Neil led off the fourth inning with a sharp single on a hanging curveball, followed by a steal and then back-to-back sacrifice flies to score him. Outside of that, Jax didn’t allow a baserunner to reach third base all night. Even after a 1-2-3 fifth inning, Jax was pulled after just 83 pitches, likely due to the Cardinals bringing the 2-3-4 hitters to the plate in the 6th inning. Twins Continue to Struggle to Push Runs Across The Twins combined for 11 baserunners with nine hits and two walks, but that only led to one run on an Andrelton Simmons singled in the top of the second inning. That hit was one of three Simmons had on the night, and Simmons was one of three Twins hitters who had three hits. The other two were Jorge Polanco, who went 3-for-5, upping his average to .270, and Willians Astudillo, who went 3-for-4, upping his average to .271 on the season. The rest of the Twins lineup combined to go 0-for-22, and, as you would assume, Miguel Sanó was responsible for both of the Twins walks.As I pointed out with Jax, I like to find little tidbits for you to track moving forward so you feel like there are reasons to watch the Twins for the next two months. One storyline is the continued rebound and health of Jorge Polanco, who is still under contract for the next four seasons. Other storylines would be the development of prospects like Trevor Larnach, whose slump is going on almost a month now, Brent Rooker, and Ryan Jeffers. All these guys will likely be around in 2023 or 2024 when the next competitive window opens for the Twins. Bullpen Usage Chart Tyler Duffey came on into the 6th and was hit hard by the Cardinals giving up three hits, including a bases-clearing, two-out double that gave the Cardinals a 4-1 lead. Despite the rough outing, he finished the inning needing 32 pitches, likely making him unavailable for the rest of the series. Danny Coulombe came on in the 7th and 8th inning, getting knocked around a little bit himself, but ultimately was able to finish off the game for the Twins. One thing to note on the table below is that Hansel Robles has been removed and John Gant added. The pitch counts reflect Gant’s last five days he pitched for the Cardinals. SUN MON TUE WED THU FRI TOT Coulombe 18 0 10 0 0 23 28 Thielbar 0 13 16 0 0 0 29 Alcala 24 0 11 0 0 0 35 Gant 0 0 0 24 0 0 24 Colomé 10 16 0 0 0 0 26 Minaya 0 0 0 45 0 0 45 Duffey 0 11 7 0 0 32 18 Burrows 0 0 0 63 0 0 63 View full article

Caleb Thielbar first became a Twins pitcher nearly a decade ago and is one of the most under-appreciated Twins of recent memory. In short, he’s more than a great story, and in length, let’s take a look at the value he could provide on the trade market. The Minnesota-native, drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers, was released in December of 2010 and signed with the Twins on August 19th, 2011, after playing for the St. Paul Saints Much has been made about his return to the big leagues, (after a two-year stint with the Saints) but that’s overshadowed how effective he’s been in a Twins uniform. In the history of the Twins franchise, dating back to the inaugural season in 1961, Thielbar has the tenth best ERA of any pitcher who has thrown at least 150 innings in relief. Moreover, his FIP bumps him up to ninth on the list, yet he doesn’t get nearly the same fanfare of other recent Twins. He’s not the coveted new-age high-velocity pitcher, but he gets the job done and will undoubtedly have value on the trade market. As previously suggested, Thielbar’s fastball sits low 90’s, and he throws the pitch about 50-percent of the time while he flashes a sweeping slider and looping curveball for his second and third pitches, respectively. Thielbar is not an elite arm by any means, and teams won’t be clamoring over him to be their closer or even set up guy. But he brings value as a low to mid leverage reliever that can bridge the gap between the starter and the back end of the bullpen. Due to his age (34) and limited ceiling, teams won’t be giving up a lot for the lefty reliever, but one interesting thing to note is that Thielbar still has three years of team control after 2021. That’s to say that Thielbar isn’t just a rental but could be a solid piece for teams that look to be contenders for the foreseeable future, like the Padres and Dodgers, for years to come. In fact, I think a trade just completed on Thursday is nearly a perfect comp for what the Twins could look to net in a trade involving Caleb Thielbar. The Chicago Cubs sent 33-year-old right-hander Ryan Tepera to the Chicago White Sox for 23-year-old right-handed pitcher Bailey Horn. Horn was a fifth round pick in 2020 with limited success over 38 1/3 minor league innings. I think this is a pretty good idea of what the Twins would be looking at for Thielbar. A low-level, albeit top-30, prospect. Tepera doesn’t have the team control that Thielbar has, but I don’t know how much pull that has with a 34-year-old reliever. All that said, I know some of you are thinking the Twins could use him for years to come. So what do you say...should he stay or should he go? View full article

How does this add up on baseball trade values? My initial thought is that a pitcher like May, who has shown he can be effective in the bigs, is more valuable than Gray. If we can get May, I think the rest of the package would be less than if Gray was the headliner. Unless us eating Price salary is what makes it more enticing for Dodgers, in your mind?

The defending World Series Champions have made the playoffs in each of the last eight years, including three World Series appearances, and will be looking to improve their roster in the next few weeks. Can the Twins and Dodgers agree on a third trade in four seasons? Let's see! What's Their Situation? Coming into the season, everyone expected the Dodgers and Padres to be battling it out for the NL Central crown, which has belonged to the Dodgers for eight consecutive seasons. To almost everyone's surprise, neither team is in first place, as the San Francisco Giants have been baseball's best team over the first 94 games of the season. Nonetheless, the Dodgers are only one game back from the division lead, four-and-a-half games ahead of the Padres, and their odds to make the playoffs are at 99.8-percent, according to Fangraphs. Moreover, they are currently the odds-on favorite to win the 2021 World Series, per Fangraphs and nearly every Sports Book. What Do They Need? The Dodgers are one of the best teams in baseball across the board but could benefit from adding some combination of multiple relievers and starters at the deadline. They've been without young phenom Dustin May, who was putting up Cy Young numbers through the first month of the season before needing Tommy John Surgery at the beginning of May, and it's likely they are down Trevor Bauer for the rest of the season as well. Adding to their list of unknowns, they placed future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw on the IL before the All-Star Break with elbow soreness. They have top-end bullpen arms in Kenley Jansen, Blake Treinen, Jimmy Nelson, not to mention getting solid production from Phil Bickford but could use another reliever to bridge the gap between their starters and the backend of their bullpen. I can't imagine adding offense will be much of a priority for the Dodgers, but adding a right-handed bat isn't out of the question as they have struggled against left-handed pitching. Which Twins Are The Best Fit? Theoretically, the Twins have arms that could fit the Dodgers need, but, unfortunately, those same guys are a big part of why the Twins are sellers at the 2021 deadline and likely wouldn't garner a lot of interest or return on investment. Alex Colomé, Hansel Robles, J.A. Happ, and Matt Shoemaker are the players referenced above, who are undoubtedly available. Still, their collective performance makes you wonder if they'll be DFA'd on August 1st rather than traded on July 31st. That brings us to the most valuable MLB-ready arms the Twins have: Michael Pineda, José Berríos, Taylor Rogers, and Tyler Duffey. Except for Michael Pineda, a free agent at the end of this season, the other three are all slated to enter free agency following the 2022 season. I'd even add the most under-appreciated Twins pitcher, 34-year-old Caleb Thielbar, to the list of trade candidates, especially considering he's cheap with three years of team control remaining. What Could the Twins Get Back? Despite their successes over the last eight years, they still have one of the better farm systems in all of baseball boasting three to four top-100 prospects depending on the source. I believe that the Twins need to retool in 2022 and be ready to compete again in 2023, so I'd like to see them add pieces that might be ready to contribute at that point. As previously pointed out, the Twins have a wide range of parts that could create a blockbuster deal all the way down to a deal that makes the bottom of the back page in the sports section. Josiah Gray, RHP, 23yo - up until 2018 Gray was a shortstop but has since transitioned to pitching and sports a 2.41 ERA and a 10.4 K/9 over 200 minor league innings. Despite the 2020 season mainly being a loss for Minor Leaguers, Gray did well enough at the alternate site to be added to the Dodgers playoff bubble roster, although he never pitched an inning. He's a top-100 guy across the board and would likely require Berríos plus one of Rogers or Duffey to make his way to the Twins organization. Michael Busch, Util, 23yo - although he's played primarily at second with the Dodgers, he has experience at first and in the outfield from his time at the University of North Carolina. He was drafted 31st overall in 2019 but almost immediately broke his hand on a hit-by-pitch making 2021 his first real season as a pro. From Keith Law in February of 2021: "...his hit tool gives him the chance to become an All-Star," and he goes on to say "...could be an impact regular even just as a walks/power guy, but I think he's going to hit for average as well." Busch is another top-100 guy across the board and would likely require a significant package to grab him from the Dodgers. Oh, and he is from Inver Grove Heights and was a three-sport star at Simley High School. Bobby Miller, RHP, 22yo Andre Jackson, RHP, 25yo Mitch White, RHP, 26yo I group these guys because they are at least a tier lower than the Gray and Busch, have their own flaws, but also have reasons they can contribute to the Twins soon. Miller is the Twins prototype mid-high 90's fastball with a slider that needs work along with his command of the zone. Jackson was a two-way player in college who needs more seasoning as a pitcher and is already 25-years-old and thus would be cheaper while offering a decent ceiling. White is another Twins prototype and, when he's healthy, which is an issue, he's been good and has been a decent arm for the Dodgers this year. View full article

The San Diego Padres are nearly a lock to make the playoffs, but they need to add some pieces to compete for their first World Series title in their 53 season history, where they've otherwise been primarily bottom dwellers. Can they strike a deal with the Twins to take the next step? What's Their Situation? Coming into the season, everyone expected the Padres and Dodgers to be battling it out for the NL Central crown, which the Padres haven't won since they went back-to-back in 2006 and 2007. To almost everyone's surprise, neither team is in first place, as the San Francisco Giants have been baseball's best team over the first 94 games of the season. And even though they find themselves 5.5 games behind the division leader and in third place, FanGraphs has their odds to make the postseason at 92.3-percent, making them the second Wild Card team and likely facing the Dodgers or Giants in the Wild Card round. Currently, the Padres are tied with the Mets with an 8.0-percent chance to win the World Series, which is 5th best in the league. What Do They Need? Like the Dodgers, but even more so, the Padres need starting and relief pitching. The Padres are 23rd in all of baseball in getting innings from their starters, leading them to use their relievers the most in baseball. Aside from Yu Darvish, who is currently on the IL and has struggled since the MLB cracked down on "sticky stuff," they don't have any top-end arms in their rotation or bullpen. That said, they have gotten good production from Joe Musgrove (SP), Emilio Pagan (RP), Pierce Johnson (RP), and Austin Adams (RP). They could also use a right-handed bat as they are a mediocre team against left-handed pitching. Which Twins Are The Best Fit? It remains to be seen if anyone will be willing to add any of the Twins expiring contracts who are at least partially responsible for the Twins being sellers in 2021. That said, I think the Twins could DFA Alex Colomé, Hansel Robles, J.A. Happ, or Matt Shoemaker on August 1st if they aren't moved the day before. In short, they would likely take anything (PTBNL or cash) as their return on investment rather than just giving up the players for free. Of course, the headliners for the Twins are José Berríos, Taylor Rogers, and Tyler Duffey, but I think Michael Pineda and Caleb Thielbar could be intriguing trade candidates as well. Thielbar is one of the most under-appreciated Twins, and despite being 34-years-old, he still has three years of team control remaining. What Could the Twins Get Back? The Padres have been very active on the trade market in recent years yet boast one of the best farm systems in baseball. They feature four to five top-100 guys depending on the source and two guys in the top-10. Moreover, many of their top prospects are close to getting their crack at contributing in the Major Leagues. You'll notice that shortstop CJ Abrams, a headliner prospect, isn't on this list because he recently fractured his leg, and I don't see the Padres willing to "sell low" on a player with such a high ceiling. MacKenzie Gore, LHP, 22yo - Gore is one the best prospects in all of baseball and would require a haul to acquire from the Padres if he's even available at all. That said, aside from 101 innings in 2019, he's struggled in the Minors, where he has a 5.85 ERA and is issuing 5.4 walks per nine innings. He fits the current Twins mold, high 90's fastball with a slider, and maybe his struggles have the Padres ready to move on. Robert Hassel, OF, 19yo - I'd be remiss if I didn't have Hassel on this list as he's a high-level prospect that would be hard to pass up if he's available, but he is another left-handed hitter of which the Twins are loaded (Luis Arraez, Jorge Polanco, Alex Kirilloff, Trevor Larnach, and Matt Walner). That said, with his upside, it could provide a future replacement if they were unable to extend Byron Buxton, although his defense obviously would be a significant downgrade. Ryan Weathers, LHP, 21yo - despite having less than 130 innings in the minors, Weathers has been forced to the Majors, where he has fared pretty well thru 58.2 innings. His xERA (5.29) and FIP (4.54) aren't favorable, but to this point, he has posted a 2.91 ERA and a K/BB of 2.33, which is decent. Like Gore, Weathers has a high-velocity fastball and a slider, although his best secondary pitch is his change-up. He's a step down from the first three prospects mentioned and thus more available and cheaper. Reggie Lawson, RHP, 23yo Justin Lange, RHP, 19yo Anderson Espinoza, RHP, 23yo I grouped these guys because they are intriguing, a tier or two below weathers, and have flaws that would make them cheaper. All would be a risk to take on, especially Lawson and Espinoza, who have battled injuries in their time in the Minors. Lawson, who just recently returned to the mound, has a mid-90's fastball with plus offspeed. Espinoza, who hadn't pitched since 2016, has struggled this year to be expected after such a long layoff and was pumping high 90's in spring training. The risk in adding Lange is that he's only 19-years-old who can hit triple digits, making his health and development a bit of a wild card. View full article

I hope you comeback and read the recap now that I have it done. I give you some tidbits to watch for moving forward and address why you should have hope for Jax!

It took “extras” but the Twins were able to open the four-game series against the White Sox with a 3-2 win. They improved to 40-53 on the season and 6-9 in “extra innings” all thanks to a rookie and a seasoned vet. That and more in today’s first recap! Box Score Griffin Jax: 4.0 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K (63.2% strikes) Homeruns: Cruz (19) Top 3 WPA: Cruz (.310), Duffey (.310), Robles (.201) Win Probability Chart (via Fangraphs) Griffin Jax Lights Out If things had gone as planned in 2021, Jax would likely be enjoying an off day in St. Paul recovering after celebrating a walk off victory against the Columbus Clippers on Sunday night. Instead, the Twins plans were more-or-less thwarted by mid-April and Jax has been thrusted into a semi-regular role as a spot starter for the Big League Club. All things considered, he’s fared well in most of his starts and had a banner day in game one against the White Sox. Albeit a short career to this point, he set a career high striking out six batters over four frames with the lone hit and earned run coming on a pitch that you can barely call a mistake. If we really want to nitpick you could say he left the ball up just a bit too much, especially considering Tim Anderson has a career .490 slugging on low and away fastballs in his career. That said, I think I’ll give the rookie a break here considering the day he had. So was today just a guy having a day or is there more to it? I’ll let Jeremy Maschino of State Street Podcast and our own Parker Hageman answer that. Thanks to the increased movement, Jax was able to generate 16 whiffs on just 68 pitches which equates to an ungodly rate of 23.5-percent. It’s hard to know what the near future plans are for Jax, but undoubtedly we will be seeing more of him this season and he’s set a new standard of what to watch for. It’ll be little tidbits like that that should keep you watching the Twins in a lost season. Offense 2nd Half Struggles Continue To be fair, Lance Lynn has been really good this year for the White Sox...like sub-2.00 ERA good. Had he not given up a 375 foot bomb to Nelson Cruz in the top of the sixth, he would have been credited with his second complete game shutout of the season. It was Cruz’s 436th career home run, the 46th most all-time, and his 76th homerun as a member of the Minnesota Twins. The only guy to defeat “father time”, at least for now, wasn’t done as he gave the Twins the lead in the top of the eighth with a broken bat sacrifice fly that scored pinch-runner Gilbert Celestino. Jorge Polanco added his second hit and first RBI on the day in the very next at-bat with a single to right that scored Luis Arraez, who just snuck in thanks to a crafty slide at the plate. Also of note was Arraez adding two more hits and surpassing the .300 plateau on the season and Ryan Jeffers notching two hits of his own. Speaking of Arraez, he is very close to having enough at-bats to qualify for 11th in all of baseball and one spot ahead of Cruz. Again, little tidbits to keep an eye that will make the Twins a little more enjoyable. Bullpen Usage Jorge Alcala and Taylor Rogers came on in the fifth and sixth, respectively, combining for two hits and three strikeouts. Things got verrrrrry interesting in the bottom of the 7th when Tyler Duffey was one pitch away from walking the bases loaded with two outs, but was bailed out by an Anderson pop up on a 3-0 count that would have been ball four. Aside from giving up a ground rule double to Jose Abreu, Hansel Robles earned the save striking out two batters in the bottom of the eighth. THU FRI SAT SUN MON TOT Burrows 0 0 32 0 0 32 Rogers 0 0 21 0 19 40 Robles 0 0 18 0 19 37 Minaya 0 0 0 13 0 13 Thielbar 0 0 0 0 0 0 Duffey 0 0 0 0 16 16 Colomé 0 0 0 0 0 0 Alcala 0 0 0 0 23 23 View full article

The Twins couldn’t make another late inning comeback and fell to the Tigers 7-0 in Sunday matinee. They fall to 39-53 on the season after getting swept in Detroit. That and more in today’s recap. Box Score J.A. Happ: 7.0 IP, 11 H, 7 ER, 1 BB, 4 K (65% strikes) Homeruns: none Bottom 3 WPA: Happ (-.195), Cruz (-.134), Larnach (-.111) Win Probability Chart (via Fangraphs) Happ Eats Innings...And That’s About It. I don’t mean to sound ungrateful about Happ giving the Twins seven innings in a single game surrounded by double headers, but it’s hard to be appreciative when his heat map looked like this through five innings. The red zone in the middle only got bigger throughout his last two innings, which is how you end up with 1 walk and 65% strikes (good) but allowing 11 hits and seven earned runs (baaad). He was efficient to a fault on Sunday and even generated a 15.4-percent swinging strike rate, but ultimately threw too many hittable pitches as the Tigers had an xBA of .299 against Happ. On the year, Happ’s ERA now sits at 6.15 and, using FanGraphs Game Score metric, has pitched as many below average games as above average. Furthermore, his “above average” games are barely that, whereas a few of his below average games have been really, really bad. At this point, it’s hard to see Happ having any value to anyone and it will be interesting to see how long he’s on the roster, if he makes it to the trade deadline. Offense Lifeless Against Detroit..Again The Twins were only able to muster up six hits against the Tigers, and three of those hits were quickly erased with double plays from Nelson Cruz, Max Kepler, and Trevor Larnach. It's worth noting that the Twins may have had a bit of bad luck today as they're xBA was .308 and their actual team batting average was a measly .206. As if scoring zero runs wasn't enough to show the lack of highlights for the day, I usually like to embed tweets from the Twins or Bally's Sports North for replays but even they didn't have anything to tweet during the game. Ouch. It was encouraging to see Larnach get two hits today as he was in a considerable slump in the week leading up to the All-Star break and had gone a combined 0-for-6 during the Saturday doubleheader. The other lone bright spot on the day was Luis Arraez who had a couple great at-bats and ended the day with two hits of his own, including the Twins only extra-base hit of the day. Getting shutout by a team that is eight games below .500 isn't good and the Twins did it twice in two days. Along with the offense, the only thing that is going to make this team enjoyable to watch is the emergence of the young talent over the next couple months. We may not have a lot of highlights but hopefully we'll have a lot of hopeful signs for 2022 and beyond. Bullpen Usage Juan Minaya, who was just recalled from St. Paul, came on to pitch the eighth inning where he faced the minimum and struck out a batter. He's only thrown 7.1 innings in 2021 but with the state of the Twins season and bullpen, I'd hope to see him stick with the club and improve on his 3.68 ERA. WED THU FRI SAT SUN TOT Burrows 0 0 0 32 0 32 Rogers 0 0 0 21 0 21 Robles 0 0 0 18 0 18 Minaya 0 0 0 0 13 13 Thielbar 0 0 0 0 0 0 Duffey 0 0 0 0 0 0 Colomé 0 0 0 0 0 0 Alcala 0 0 0 0 0 0 The Twins travel to Chicago for another double header against the White Sox on Monday followed by night caps on Tuesday and Wednesday before coming back home on Thursday. View full article

According to his 2020 scouting report from MLB.com, he has a strong arm. Despite all the strikeouts, he still has an OPS of .755 (.718 is the league OPS) and is batting 3rd in the order. He’s a rookie who, like ALL players at times, is in a slump. Let’s not overreact.

It was a rollercoaster game for the Twins and Tigers who combined for 21 runs after scoring zero runs in the first four innings. Read on to find out how the Twins ended their first half in today's game recap! Box Score Jose Berríos 7.0 IP, 3 H, 4 ER, 4 BB, 8 K (61% strikes) Homeruns: Kepler (10), Rortvedt (2), Polanco (12) Top 3 WPA: Polanco (.534), Duffey (.486), Rortvedt (.355), Win Probability Chart (via Fangraphs) Jose Berríos Falters in Fifth Berríos, coming off a great outing against the White Sox, cruised through the first three innings needing just 37 pitches to set down the Tigers the first time through the lineup. He had some help from Trevor Larnach to end the second inning on a ball that looked like it was going to be an extra base-hit. Although he didn’t allow a hit until there were two outs in the fifth inning, he really started showing signs of inefficiency in the fourth inning where he threw just 50-percent strikes and benefited from Robbie Grossman coming off 2nd base on a steal for a strike ‘em out, throw ‘em out double play to end the inning. Ten, after getting the first two batters out in the fifth, Berríos wouldn’t get the third out until the Tigers plated four runs thanks to back-to-back walks to the eight and nine hitters and a couple hanging curveballs. He would go on to regain his form needing just six pitches in the sixth and ending his day with back-to-back strikeouts looking in the seventh. Aside from the one inning, it was a very good day for Berríos but once again he was bit by his inconsistency. Not to overreact from one bad inning, but this is why I tend to believe his ceiling is limited to mid-rotation arm on a contending team. When he’s efficient with his pitches, he is very effective and can look like a number on option but in his five plus seasons with the Twins there has been enough inconsistency to question whether he can really take the “next step”. Twins Exercise Patience and it Pays Off Through three innings, things weren’t looking great for the Twins offense. And with the exception of Max Kepler’s 10th homerun of the season, they never were able to figure out Tigers starter Wily Peralta. Fortunately, due to his inefficiency, he was pulled needing 97 pitches to get through five innings despite allowing just five Twins batters to reach base. A change on the mound was exactly what the Twins needed as they made the Tigers relievers pay for not throwing strikes. Over the next two innings, the Twins would get four hits from Jorge Polanco twice, Max Kepler, and Alex Kirilloff as well as six walks and five earned runs to take a 6-4 lead entering the eighth. In all, every Twin would reach base at least once with Polanco reaching base four times and Kirilloff, Cruz, and Kepler reaching base in three different at-bats. Moreover, the Twins continued to get production from their rookies as Kirilloff had two RBI's, a run scored, and saw 30 pitches over his six at-bats while Ben Rortvedt tied the game in the bottom of the ninth with a 410 foot blast. It was a tough series for fellow rookie, Trevor Larnach, who went 2-for-18 with 12 strikeouts including back-to-back games with four strikeouts. In addition to his day at the plate, Kirilloff saved the game in the top of the 10th with this fantastic diving play. Then of course came the walk-off... Bullpen Usage Jorge Alcala would relieve Berríos and immediately give up a solo homerun to Akil Baddoo and a single to Jonathan Schoop but was able to get the next two outs before Hansel Robles relieved him to finish the eighth. Taylor Rogers came in on the ninth and allowed the first three batters to reach followed by a Grand Slam that gave the Tigers temporarily gave the Tigers the lead. Tyler Duffey earned the win by shutting down the Tigers in the 10th. TUE WED THU FRI SAT SUN TOT Law 0 50 0 0 27 0 77 Thielbar 0 20 0 20 0 0 40 Duffey 0 0 15 0 21 15 51 Rogers 0 0 6 0 0 22 28 Robles 0 0 0 24 0 3 27 Colomé 14 0 0 0 17 0 31 Coulombe 12 0 0 0 13 0 25 Alcala 0 0 0 23 0 10 33 View full article

The Twins snap their five game skid and take the Sunday matinee with a 6-2 victory over the Kansas City Royals. They improved to 34-48 this year on the back of a dominant start from Kenta Maeda. That and more in today’s recap. Box Score Kenta Maeda: 6 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 10 K (69% strikes) Homeruns: Kepler (7), Polanco (10), Kirilloff (7) Top 3 WPA: Maeda (.387), Polanco (.093), Kepler (.087) Win Probability Chart (via Fangraphs) Maeda Dominates Royals Offense Maeda only allowed one runner to get to third base and it was on a Sebastian Rivero 69 mile-per-hour bloop single to right field in the bottom of the second inning. In by far the best outing of his season, Maeda started 15 of 21 batters faced with first pitch strikes and generated 18 swings and misses over his six innings pitched. As Jim Kaat pointed out during the broadcast on Bally Sports North, this was the first time since Maeda’s second start on April 7th that he was able to make it through six innings. Throughout the day Maeda was fooling Royals batters, who sported a .222 expected batting average, with his slider generating 11 called strikes and whiffs on the pitch. Below, Rob “Pitching Ninja” Friedman, shows a great overlay on just why that pitch was so effective today. After his last start, where the spin rates of his slider, fastball, and sinker dipped, there was some concern among an opposing fan base that maybe Maeda’s 2020 Cy Young caliber season was in part due to some “sticky stuff”. It’s too early to know the exact science on just how much “sticky stuff” can impact spin rates but, for what it’s worth, Maeda’s slider was nasty today and had an average spin rate of 2493 which is close to the average spin rate of the same pitch during the 2020 season (2505). The two runs the Royals scored came in the bottom of the ninth inning when Hansel Robles gave up a Dyson single with the bases loaded. Twins Chase Brad Keller but Make Bullpen Pay Today provided a good example of why advanced stats have meaning alongside more traditional stats. Keller was able to pitch through six-and-a-third innings walking just two and striking out seven despite a strike percentage of just 61%. Patience is a virtue, as they say, but for the Twins it’s their kryptonite as they are third in all of baseball at swinging at pitches outside of the strike zone. Like Maeda, Keller never really faced in real threats from the seven baserunners he allowed, aside from the one he created after back-to-back headsy baserunning plays in the third and a Trevor Larnach two-strike, two-out single. Keller's only other mistake on the day ended up 395 feet from home plate, which was one of three long balls on the day. Richard Lovelady came in and allowed homeruns to Jorge Polanco and Alex Kirilloff in the top of the seventh. In all, four of the six runs came from the long ball with Larnach and Arraez pairing up for another RBI and run scored, respectively, in the top of the ninth giving the Twins their sixth run of the day. Bullpen Usage Chart WED THU FRI SAT SUN TOT Coulombe 0 0 16 7 0 23 Duffey 0 0 13 0 0 13 Thielbar 16 0 0 0 0 16 Robles 0 34 0 0 19 53 Law 0 32 0 34 0 66 Colomé 14 0 17 0 0 31 Rogers 0 0 22 0 20 42 Alcala 0 19 0 0 18 37 Jax 0 0 0 88 0 88 View full article

At Twins Daily, we decided we needed to start finding some positives from this season by naming the Pitcher and Hitter of the month. Taylor Rogers and Mitch Garver took home the inaugural awards for the month of May. Now it’s time to see who takes the cake in June As has been the case all year, aside from hitting home runs, the Twins were a middling offense in the month of June and struggled with runners in scoring position. Of course, even in the worst offenses we can find some bright spots and here is our Twins Hitter of the Month. Honorable Mention #3: Ryan Jeffers As has been the case this season, the Twins lost Mitch Garver to a very unfortunate injury right as he had found his groove in the month of May. Fortunately, Ryan Jeffers was recalled from AAA and bounced back nicely after posting a .392 OPS in 37 plate appearances back in April. As Ted points out, he was plenty effective in June. He ended being stuck on those five home runs at the end of the month and finished with an OPS of .802 but that was plenty good enough to earn an honorable mention. Throw in passable defense at the most important position on the field and he’s carved out a semi-regular role even when Garver returns Honorable Mention #2: Jorge Polanco Polanco was runner-up in May and continued tearing the cover off the ball in June, which is great news for a guy who is under contract for the next four years. Specifically in the month of June, Polanco had 10 extra-base hits, including four homeruns, and had an impressive strikeout rate of just 9.7%. More encouraging from a health perspective is that he added three stolen bases on five attempts, which would indicate that his ankle is healthy enough to be active on the basepaths. At one point, it had looked like Planco may lose his role due to his performance as well as the emergence of Luis Arraez and prospects like Royce Lewis making their way through the system, but he’s indisputably established himself as an everyday player. Honorable Mention #1: Josh Donaldson He hasn’t been in the news much this month, so I thought it would be worthwhile mentioning him here. After opening a league-wide can of worms and then another, smaller can of worms in Chicago, Chris Schad of Bring Me The News has a point... In all, he posted a .992 OPS in the month of June and a wRC+ of 161. To this point, his tenure as a Twins has been more frustrating than anything else but he really was his old self in the month of June. It will be interesting to see how Rocco handles Josh as the season goes on, assuming he isn’t traded with two years left on his deal. Obviously, he needs to be in the lineup as often as possible but at 35 on a floundering team you also want to keep him healthy for 2022 and 2023. Perhaps, if the Twins deal Nelson Cruz and Jose Miranda keeps crushing, he will find himself DH-ing more and more. Hitter of the Month: Nelson Cruz Honestly, I don’t have much else to add here...Nick pretty much covered it. His final line in June was eight bombs while slashing .380/.457/.759. Although he did leave out one little tidbit… That’s right, at the beginning of the month Cruz stole his first base since 2018 but it was his 77th swipe of his career...who would have guessed that?!? Nelson has been invaluable as a member of the Twins, but in reality we’re probably only a few weeks away from him being a member of a different American League club. He inarguably was the Twins best hitter of the month in June and I think that’s fitting for what might be his last full month in a Twins uniform. Cheers, Nelly. MORE FROM TWINS DAILY — Latest Twins coverage from our writers — Recent Twins discussion in our forums — Follow Twins Daily via Twitter, Facebook or email View full article

At Twins Daily, we decided we needed to start finding some positives from this season by naming the Pitcher and Hitter of the month. Taylor Rogers and Mitch Garver took home the inaugural awards for the month of May. Now it’s time to see who takes the cake in June As a team, the Twins pitching staff had one of the worst months in all of Major League Baseball. In fact, according to their fWAR (2.4), they ranked 29th only finishing a half win ahead of the Diamondbacks who had made some history themselves. With that said, not everyone pitched poorly in the month of June and without further ado, here is our pitcher of the month. Honorable Mention #3: Tyler Duffey If you just look at Duffey’s ERA for the month (1.59), you might wonder how he’s the fourth pitcher on this list, and if you look at his game log where he only gave up two earned runs and four clean outings, you might really think I’m throwing him some shade. Yet, as solid as Duffey was for the Twins in June, his strikeout and walk rates leave more to be desired and he out-pitched his FIP (3.25) by more than a run. Prior to giving up runs in back-to-back appearances on June 10th and 11th, Duffey looked like he may have returned to his 2019 form… ….but ultimately he regressed back to his 2020 and 2021 self with a K/BB of 6/3 from June 12th on. Nonetheless, he made it work and got results in June, but I just don’t know how sustainable that is moving forward. Honorable Mention #2: Caleb Thielbar So much is made of Thielbar’s comeback story that it’s almost overshadowing the very good career he’s had in a Twins uniform.. ...and after struggling a bit for the first two months of the season he posted a 11/2 K/BB and a 1.80 ERA in June which, insanely enough, is 0.24 worse than his FIP. Furthemore, five of his eight appearances were clean and in three of them he was able to provide the Twins with more than one inning. Now, on the off chance you’re thinking of everyone’s favorite topic right now...sticky stuff...I’ll just point out that his spin rates actually increased from his June 20th appearance (before they weren’t checking) to his June 27th appearance. Admittedly, I’m not sure how “normal” it is for spin rates to vary from one outing to another and I’m sure it’s different for relievers versus starters but regardless I felt obligated to at least mention the increase despite the focus on the issue. His awesome story aside, I think it’s time we really start appreciating the reliable arm that Thielbar has been for the Twins over the last two seasons. Honorable Mention #1: José Berríos I’m not one to use the “co” prefix when it comes to handing out an award, and although a very good argument could be used for José to be the pitcher of the month, he wasn’t as dominant as the winner was from start to finish. After giving up four runs to the Royals to start his month, Berríos posted a 2.79 ERA and a 23/4 K/BB which are...dare I say it….ace like numbers. Specifically, against Cleveland on the 24th, he had one of his best starts of the season striking out nine over six-and-one-third innings. There’s been a lot of back-and-forth on whether we should trade and extend José. If he continues to pitch like he did in his last three starts of the month (which he didn’t do on July 1st), then he’ll make it a very hard decision as the trade deadline nears. Pitcher of the Month: Taylor Rogers For the second consecutive month, Rogers outduels Berríos for this coveted award. Like Thielbar, Rogers miniscule 1.86 ERA was actually worse than his FIP of 1.19 and he dominated with a 11/1 K/BB over nine-and-two-thirds innings. His lone bump in the road was the two runs he gave up to the Yankees, otherwise didn’t allow a run to score and had six appearances. Speaking of that Yankees outing, Doug Kern gives us a little fun fact. Not including rookie performances from Alex Kirilloff and Trevor Larnach, the bounce back season from Taylor Rogers might be the most positive result of 2021 and with one year of team control remaining he will likely be involved in trade discussions for the next month. Ultimately, the decision to trade him and/or Berríos might come down to whether the front office believes this team can contend in 2022 as both are free agents following next seasons. Congratulations to Mr. Rogers on winning back-to-back Twins Daily Minnesota Twins Pitcher of the Month Awards! Would you have given the award to Berrios or Rogers? Would you trade, extend, or hold on Berrios and Rogers? Discuss in the comments! MORE FROM TWINS DAILY — Latest Twins coverage from our writers — Recent Twins discussion in our forums — Follow Twins Daily via Twitter, Facebook or email View full article