Matthew Lenz

The Twins fell to the Brewers 6-2 on Sunday missing out on a sweep of their border battle foe. Miguel Sano was cleared for take off again while the rest of the offense went down swinging and Griffin Jax missed his spots. That and more in today's game recap! Image courtesy of Bruce Kluckhohn-USA TODAY Sports The Twins fell to the Brewers 6-2 on Sunday missing out on a sweep of their border battle foe. Miguel Sano was cleared for take off again while the rest of the offense went down swinging and Griffin Jax missed his spots. That and more in today's game recap! Box Score Griffin Jax: 5.0 IP, 6 H, 6 ER, 5 K, 3 BB, 65.0% strikes Homeruns: Sano (23) Bottom 3 WPA: Win Probability Chart (via Fangraphs) Griffin Jax Struggles with Control If you’ve followed me long enough, you know how much emphasis I put on pitchers being efficient. Well, unfortunately for Jax he was almost too efficient today throwing 65-percent strikes and 76-percent first pitch strikes, but leaving too many pitches over the middle of the plate. Those six extra-base hits could have easily been up to nine extra-base hits but each of the three starting outfielders made nice running catches to limit the Brewers' damage against Jax, including the ball off the bat of Jackie Bradley Jr which Byron Buxton snagged with ease. If you were listening to the Bally Sports North broadcast, you heard former Twins All-Star reliever Glen Perkins mention Ryan Jeffers glove “drifting” from where he set up due to Jax missing his spots, which is why he got tagged all day. With a wide-open rotation for 2022, Jax will continue to get an opportunity to prove he can stick, but this is now back-to-back starts for Jax where he got absolutely shelled after a string of five solid starts. In today’s game particularly, his pitch movement was on par with where he’s been all season so it’s just a matter of bearing down and hitting the mitt where the catcher sets up. This leaves me a little optimistic that he can rebound the next time he’s on the bump. Sano Moons One while Rest of Offense is Grounded It was a solid day from left-hander Aaron Ashby, but his one mistake was hanging a curveball to Miguel Sano who hit his fourth blast in the last eight games. This was Sano’s 23rd of the season and “only” traveled 420 feet. The rest of the offense was pretty quiet with each of Jorge Polanco, Josh Donaldson, Rob Refsnyder, and Willians Astudillo being the only other players to reach base. In the last twelve plate appearances of the game, the Twins struck out nine times including 1-2-3 in the eighth inning and three straight to end the game. In short, there wasn't ever much from the Twins throughout the entirety of the game. Bullpen Usage Ian Gibaut made his season debut, providing the Twins with three scoreless innings despite not having a clean inning and getting hit hard. Ralph Garza Jr came on in the 9th inning with two strikeouts on 11 pitches and not allowing anyone to reach base. WED THU FRI SAT SUN TOT Albers 0 0 88 0 0 88 Garza Jr. 24 4 0 0 11 39 Coulombe 19 0 20 0 0 39 Thielbar 22 0 0 23 0 45 Duffey 9 0 6 0 0 15 Colomé 20 0 13 13 0 46 Minaya 0 0 0 17 0 17 Gibaut 0 0 0 0 33 33 Alcalá 0 0 12 0 0 12 View full article

I can see your point to a certain extent but I think contending for a batting title is something any team would look for.

Woof, Jax leaving a lot over the plate today.

Counterargument: If it's that common then other teams must let their LHB's hit, no?

I'll be the first to admit I irrationally dislike Astudillo. And that at-bat where he swung at a slider that was never anywhere near the strike zone is exactly why. Also, he's not part of the big picture and I don't care about winning this particular game. Give Arraez, who is part of the big picture, as many AB's against LHP as you can.

Give me .614 OPS over another at-bat from Willians Astudillo for the rest of time. PLEASE

I'm not sure what this means, but my primary strategy since about July 1st would be to focus on how I can improve my team in the future and not worry about winning individual games. Then again, we still throw Simmons out there every day so what do I know.

Sure but when you're 15 under .500 why not give him as many opportunities as possible to face LHP?

Despite their bullpen, the Twins are three games above .500 in one-run games. How????

Frustrating. Do other teams platoon their best hitters? An OPS if .614 isn’t good but why not get him AB’s against lefties right now?

Why are you against paying minor leaguers a livable wage? I actually wrote this up last year…

Recently, ESPN MLB “experts” came up with eight things they would do if they were commissioner for a day: 1. Shorten the season 2. expand and realign divisions 3. Add a pitch clock 4. Robo Umps 5. End blackouts and loosen video restrictions 6. Allow trading of draft picks 7. Pay minor leaguers a living wage 8. Rethink the role of the commissioner. Which so you agree with, which don’t you, and what would you add?

LOL. I’m not saying he’s a good shortstop. I’m not saying he’s the solution. As you point, and as I concluded my article, I think he is someone who can fill-in there once in a while. Despite him not being in the lineup tonight, him practicing at shortstop isn’t for ****s and gigs.

284 but only 19 this year. This whole article is based on the premise that we are looking for a one year-ish filler until Royce Lewis is healthy and ready. He’s not a “solution”.

Pass on Simmons, but if the long term plan is to pay a SS then this offseason would be the one to do it.

Thanks! And I agree Polanconis probably the best fit, but I really wonder how much stress the position puts on his ankles. I just don’t see how this team is truly competitive in 2022. They have to fill 4 rotation spots and multiple holes in the bullpen. They’ve had pitching prospects with good 2021 minor league seasons but it’s not like they’re all going to jump to the majors and be successful.

This was addressed and is the premise of the entire article. Because of his injury, he will enter the 2022 season having not played minor league baseball for two years. I can’t imagine he’ll be ready to be the opening day SS.

Long-term I agree, but until Royce Lewis is ready (he hasn’t played minor league baseball for two years) they’ll need to fill the position somehow. With the season Miranda is having, I don’t think we want him to stay in St. Paul until 2024 when Donaldson is no longer under contract. He’s played plenty of innings at SS to fill-in for one season.

For the second consecutive offseason, the Minnesota Twins will be looking for a short-term fix at shortstop as they await Royce Lewis to recover from a torn ACL. Let’s go ahead and look at the free agent, 40-man roster, and non-40-man roster options the Twins will have for the 2022 season. Image courtesy of Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports For the second consecutive offseason, the Minnesota Twins will be looking for a short-term fix at shortstop as they await Royce Lewis to recover from a torn ACL. Let’s go ahead and look at the free agent, 40-man roster, and non-40-man roster options the Twins will have for the 2022 season. When the Twins signed veteran Andrelton Simmons to a one-year, $10.5MM deal last offseason, it seemed like a perfect fit for a club that needed their top prospect to get an extra year of seasoning under his belt. A torn ACL and an anti-vaxxer later and what seemed like a perfect fit has turned into a complete disaster, and that’s before pointing out that Simmons has been one of the worst hitters in the league this year. Based on the latest Twitter mentions of Simmons, it’s pretty clear that the fans are ready to turn the page, although after not being dealt at the deadline, we’re likely stuck with him as there isn’t a suitable option to take his place at the moment. With Royce Lewis missing two full minor league seasons, he will need to start the year in Wichita or St. Paul and would probably spend the entire season between one of those two spots. Here are the short-term options for the position until he proves he’s ready. 40-man Roster Jorge Polanco - we’re well aware of his recent history with the position, and it’s not pretty. Moreover, I wonder if his 2021 rebound has anything to do with moving to second base. He’s had back-to-back offseasons that required minor ankle surgery but seems to be healthy playing a position that is a little less taxing than shortstop. Based on the season he’s having, I’d hope that Twins don’t push him back to shortstop in 2022, but he also might be the best option currently in the organization. Nick Gordon - after six-plus seasons in the minors, Gordon finally made his Major League debut but didn’t do a great job of taking advantage of the opportunity. In recent years he’s started mixing time in a second, but he does have over 4,500 minor league innings at short. From what we’ve seen so far, he’s not the long-term solution at the position, but he could be an upgrade over Simmons in a season where the Twins likely won’t be competing for a playoff spot. Non-40-man Roster Jose Miranda - nobody saw this coming from Miranda, but he’s burst onto the scene and is having arguably the best season of any minor leaguer. He’s crushing so much so that you have fans clamoring for him to be with the big league club right now. In the long run, he’s the current heir apparent to Josh Donaldson, but he’s almost forcing the Twins hand to add him to the 40-man and see what he can do in 2022. A lot of greats have moved from short to third...Ripken, Rodriguez, Machado...and in 2024 or 2025, maybe Miranda can add his name to that list. Austin Martin - the Twins shiny new prospect has done well since coming over in the José Berríos trade, but Ken Rosenthal reported that the front office views him as more of an outfield prospect. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him get an opportunity in Spring Training next year, but I would be surprised if he were named the everyday shortstop for the big league club. Jermaine Palacios - he’s having a nice little season for AA-Wichita, but I don’t see him being a candidate for this job in 2022. Drew Maggi or JT Riddle - the two minor league veterans are in St. Paul, but like Palacios, I can’t imagine they’ll get much of a look with other, better options to fill in for a year. Free Agents Marcus Semien - he’s having a great season with Toronto after signing a one-year deal last offseason, and entering his age 32-season, I have to imagine he’ll be looking for a multi-year deal. Trevor Story, Corey Seager, Carlos Correa, and Javier Baez - I group these guys because they are the best young shortstops in the game, and all will be looking to cash in. Like Semien, I foresee them wanting a lot of money over multiple years. José Iglesias - if the Twins are going to hit free agency, this might be a good, cheap target. Iglesias has bounced around the league quite a bit with great defense and a passable bat. Andrelton Simmons - LOL. It comes down to the vision for the 2022 season, which I believe to be a rebuild or “retool” year. If that’s the case, it doesn’t make sense to spend in free agency when you have the opportunity to give some of your prospects time at the Major League level. No matter who they go with, they will be downgrading the defense, but that comes with an increase in offense. I think a mixture of Polanco, Gordon, Miranda, and Martin would be an okay choice while they spend money to rebuild their rotation and bullpen. View full article

The development of our rookie hitters: Larnach, Rooker, Jeffers, and anyone else who may come up in the next couple months (i.e. Gordon). Bummed Kirilloff can’t use this time to develop, but I don’t think we’ll be fully ready to compete in 2022. Really hoping that this is more of a re-tool than a rebuild and these guys will be a big part of our next core starting in 2023-2024.

The Twins beat the Astros and took the four game set to improve to 48-64 on the season. Twins starter, Kenta Maeda, battled through five innings and second basemen Jorge Polanco had himself a day at the plate. That and more in today's recap! Image courtesy of © Erik Williams-USA TODAY Sports The Twins beat the Astros and took the four game set to improve to 48-64 on the season. Twins starter, Kenta Maeda, battled through five innings and second basemen Jorge Polanco had himself a day at the plate. That and more in today's recap! Box Score Kenta Maeda: 5 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 5 K (63-percent strikes) Homeruns: Sano (18), Polanco 2 (19, 20) Top 3 WPA: Polanco (.259), Colome (.086), Kepler (.055) Win Probability Chart (via Fangraphs) Kenta Maeda Provides Five Solid Innings At one point, it looked like Maeda was locked in and cruising to provide the Twins with some much needed innings after the bullpen was taxed on Friday night. Unfortunately, back-to-back innings of 25 plus pitches ended his day after the fifth inning in what ended up being a good not great start for the right-handed starter. Right away in the bottom of the first the Astros put a threat together with some bloop base hits and shoddy Twins defense, but Maeda struckout Yordan Alvarez and Carlos Correa to end the inning and limit the damage to one run. Shutting down that threat lead to the aforementioned run of Maeda retiring the next nine (tweet was wrong) Astros hitters with the help of a nice defensive play by Luis Arraez on a ball that had an xBA of .380 off the bat of Kyle Tucker. The Astros would put together threats in the fourth and fifth innings, and although he needed a total of 56 pitches to battle through, he was able to limit the damage to just one run in each inning on some unfortunate heads up..misplays…? We would have loved to see Maeda get past the fifth inning, especially considering the state of the bullpen, but his box score doesn’t give him the credit he deserves against the best offense in baseball. Out of the 23 batters faced he started 16 of them with first-pitch strikes. Moreover, he was dotting the edges of the zone with his slider which generated 12 whiffs of the 16 whiffs he forced on the day. Polanco Leads Offensive Charge with Two Home Runs The Twins Daily Hitter of the Month for July is continuing his torrid hitting streak into August as he entered today with an OPS of 901, three homeruns, and six RBI’s in 26 at-bats over six games. After Sunday’s contest, he has now hit five homeruns while getting at least one hit in all but one of seven August games. The Twins went down quietly in the first inning, but otherwise had baserunners in nearly every inning, including the 2nd when Trevor Larnach punched a two-out single to the opposite field, scoring Jake Cave. The two-runs in the fourth inning came on this absolute moonshot from Miguel Sanó, his 18th of the season, that landed on the railroad tracks. The Twins only mustered up one-run in the fifth inning thanks to a lead off homerun from Polanco, his first of the day and 19th of the year, but chased starter Lance McCuller Jr out of the game by loading the bases after a 5-pitch walk by Larnach. To nobody's surprise, Andrelton Simmons swung at two terrible pitches before lining out to left field. Polanco came back up in the sixth, this time against righty Phil Maton, but ended the at-bat with the same result from the fifth inning. In all, the Twins had five hitters with multi-hit games: Max Kepler (3), Polanco (2), Arraez (2), Sanó (2), and Larnach (2) while all of those hitters but Kepler also added a walk to their day at the plate. Of course Polanco was the player of the game, but what was more encouraging was the two singles from Larnach on inside pitches that he punched to the opposite field. The rookie is trying to recover from the month of July where he had an OPS of .518 by posting an August OPS of .900 coming into today and having really productive at-bats. Bullpen Usage Juan Minaya, who started warming in the fifth inning, came on in the sixth where he went 1-2-3 thanks to a 6-4-3 double play. Tyler Duffey came on in the seventh but was pulled mid-inning after a walk, which was erased by another 6-4-3 double play, and back-to-back doubles that lead to an Astros run. Duffey was followed by Danny Coulombe who ended the inning with a Yordan Alvarez groundout. Jorge Alcala needed 29 pitches in the eighth but ultimately was able to hold the Astros while striking out Tucker and former Twins catcher Jason Castro. Alex Colome earned the save in the 9th shutting down the Astros 1-2-3. TUE WED THU FRI SAT SUN TOT Minaya 0 44 0 17 0 12 73 Gant 22 0 0 17 13 0 52 Thielbar 0 22 8 0 20 0 50 Colomé 20 0 7 17 0 18 62 Coulombe 13 0 17 14 0 7 51 Duffey 0 0 21 20 0 15 56 Alcala 0 0 14 14 0 29 57 Burrows 0 13 0 0 0 0 13 View full article