Matt Braun

A week of rest for the All-Star break will lead a hopefully rejuvenated Twins team into a three-game series against the team that is currently chasing them; the Cleveland Indians. Cleveland has been red hot recently and have cut down on the massive lead the Twins held earlier in the season, but the Twins get a shot at proving their worth once more.Brief Overview: The Indians were the favorites to take the AL Central again and spent their off-season actively attempting to trade some of their best pieces while remaining mostly silent in free agency. A cool first two months caused many to diagnose the Indians as a dead team but they have since clawed back in to the race thanks to a great June and a flawless July so far. Their record stands at 50-38 with a pythag W/L of 47-41 that is mostly thanks to back-to-back 13-0 roastings at the hand of Baltimore that killed their run differential but only counted as two losses in the book. What They Do Well: The Indians have great pitching, something that I am sure comes as a shock to none of you, but what is interesting is that their great pitching has been mostly in the bullpen. Their elite rotation has suffered some injuries so they have “only” been the sixth-best rotation by fWAR. Their bullpen however has the best ERA in baseball at 3.48, granted this comes with peripherals that suggest some regression. This is an impressive feat considering they’ve relied on guys like Nick Wittgren and the ghost of Tyler Clippard who have so far done well. Their offense as a whole has been nothing to write home about but they do walk a lot as their team walk rate of 9.6% is the seventh-best in baseball. For reference, that rate is just a hair better than Brian Dozier’s Twins walk rate of 9.5%. Although the Indians offense as a whole has been just OK (their wRC+ on the year is just two points higher than Dan Gladden’s Twins wRC+ of 89), the Indians actually have had a slightly better offense than the Twins since the start of June as their team wRC+ since then is 113 and the Twins is 110. So expect a hot offense heading into the series. What They Do Not Do Well: Something interesting that may require more digging is that the Indians bullpen has the lowest WPA+ (win probability added) of any bullpen in baseball but they also have the lowest WPA- (win probability lost) of any bullpen in baseball, potentially meaning that their bullpen has not been put into many situations where they needed to be clutch and they have only been asked to just get the job done, which they have. An unproven bullpen could be a weakness for the Twins to exploit. As mentioned before, their offensive numbers on the year have been pretty poor but their Jekyll and Hyde-like change has made them just below average on the year (91 wRC+) but great since the start of June (113 wRC+). The question that may decide whether the Twins have real competition for the division will be whether their recent stretch is a fluke or not... or at least to what degree have they improved since their ice-cold start that included a team wRC+ of 79 heading into June (Ben Revere’s Twins wRC+ was 77). Individuals Of Note: Carlos Santana made his return to Cleveland this year and has already almost set a new career high in fWAR (3.0 currently) and his work this year earned him the starting 1B gig at the All-Star game. He has enjoyed a career high BABIP of .311 so far this year that has helped him melt faces to the tune of a 149 wRC+, cool, how fun. Quick, who is currently third on the Indians for position player fWAR? I’ll give you a few minutes ... Correct, it is Roberto Perez, you guessed him, right? The catcher has been great at the plate to go with his already fantastic defense and he is close to setting a career high in fWAR while hitting over 40 points higher than his career wRC+. His .527 slugging % is seventh among catchers with at least 100 plate appearances (but lower than both Twins catchers, so ha!). God saw that the Indians didn’t have enough starting pitching, so he blessed them with Shane Bieber who built on a strong rookie campaign last year and now has the 12th highest fWAR among starting pitchers in all of baseball. Yeah, that’s fair. Anyway, Bieber holds the seventh highest K/9 among qualified starters at 11.30 and an absolutely minuscule 1.84 BB/9 which is the 12th lowest among qualified starters. Somehow, he was the lone starter from the Indians rotation to make the All-Star game which would be an absolutely wild statement about four months ago. Brad Hand has been as elite as elite can be, but Nick Wittgren has been the second-best reliever in the Indians’ bullpen, a solid feat considering he was a waiver wire claim over the off-season. He has struck out hitters at a good 9.45 K/9 clip while absolutely refusing to walk anyone as his 1.35 BB/9 is the eighth-lowest among qualified relievers in MLB. Recent History: The season series between the Indians and the Twins is tied as the Twins took two of three in the Opening Day series at Target Field and the Indians took two of three back when the Twins came into Cleveland in the most recent series from June 4 through June 6. Recent Trajectories: No team in the AL has more wins than the Indians since the start of June as they have won 22 games while losing only nine. The Twins have been solid during that stretch as they are 18-15 over the same time frame but that is a significantly lower winning percentage than their 38-18 stretch before the start of June. Ending Thoughts: This is the biggest series of the year so far and it really isn’t even close. The Twins will be assured the division lead no matter what happens, but said lead could be as little as 2.5 games or as large as 8.5 games. The Twins will be healthier than they were heading into the break and now have a chance to knock Cleveland down a peg instead of sitting around watching them beat up on the Royals and Reds of the world. Both teams will be sending their best starters to the mound and there will be no excuses on either side. I think the Twins will take two of three and my gut hasn’t been wrong in any prediction so far, so take solace in that. Click here to view the article

Now that would have been a great addition to the article. Unfortunately my knowledge of Texas Rangers prospects from 2010 is limited but the full trade was Justin Smoak, Blake Beavan, Josh Lueke, and Matt Lawson for Cliff Lee and Mark Lowe. Smoak was a pretty good prospect at the time if I recall correctly but I can't speak about the other guys. The Andrew Miller trade on the other hand was Cleveland giving up great prospects in Clint Frazier and Justus Sheffield along with some throw ins in Ben Heller and J.P. Feyereisen. It would be like if the Twins traded Brusdar Graterol, Trevor Larnach, and more for Felipe Vazquez.

Welcome to the final day of the All-Star break! The Home Run Derby has concluded (shout out to Pete Alonso for Justin Morneau-ing the hell out of Vladdy Jr.) and the All-Star Game came and went. Now we find ourselves smack dab in the middle of my favorite time of the season: trade season. After the All-Star game, every beat writer in America with any sort of following dusted off their phones, confirmed their “sources” and now keep Twitter even closer than before in the hopes that they might be the first to drop some juicy news regarding the potential interest of a team in another team’s player.For the Twins, they find themselves solidly on the other side of the table this year as they will not be looking to shed veterans for prospects but instead they will be adding veterans in exchange for their much-coveted prospects. Essentially, this will be the first deadline under the new front office headed by Derek Falvey and Thad Levine where their play is obvious and on the spectrum that involves making a World Series contender instead of aiding another team in their efforts to win the title. I phrase it that way with the odd 2017 deadline in mind where Jaime García was acquired just to be shipped off to the Yankees a week later and Brandon Kintzler was sent to the Nationals. But that was hardly a team looking to become true World Series contenders and the fact that they made the playoffs that year at all was a minor miracle. This year is different, the fruits of Falvey and Levine’s efforts (along the many coaches and players) have blossomed and the Twins sit at the top of the AL Central with a 5.5 game lead. Since the introduction of the new front office, basically everything that was ever synonymous with Twins’ baseball has been stomped on and thrown out the window. Long gone are the days of small ball and pitching to contact and in are the days of slugging and striking out other batters. The results have been pretty decent if you ask me as Stage 1 of the plan has been a success but Stage 2 emerges and the question now is; how will the Twins attack the trade deadline? We all have our own personal beliefs for whom the Twins should acquire (I say a top-tier starter, a top-tier reliever, and a mid-tier reliever for depth but that’s a different topic), but as I mentioned before, we are heading into uncharted territory as the Twins go into the deadline as kings with a vast bounty in front of them to choose from, something that has not happened under this front office. Shoot, the last time you could really even say they were in a similar place was 2010 when they last took the division, but even that team was only at 58 wins at the deadline (the current Twins are already at 56) and the only big move at the deadline then was the addition of Matt Capps which was… Yeah let’s just leave that topic alone. Without any recent Twins history of deadline moves as World Series favorites, I looked to the history of Derek Falvey during his tenure with the Indians and Thad Levine when he was with the Rangers in order to get a good feel for how those teams acted when they were in a similar spot as the Twins are now and then use that information to predict what they will do in the coming weeks. Derek Falvey Falvey first joined the Indians in 2007 but was promoted to co-director of baseball operations after the 2011 season so that is where I will start my investigation. In the season immediately following his promotion, the Indians won just 68 games as they continued to wander aimlessly through the baseball landscape like the Israelities when they left Egypt but with fewer curses, or maybe more actually ... anyway, they were bad for a while. It was a different story in 2013 for the Indians, as they won 92 games and made it to the Wild Card game. They would eventually lose that game but they finally reversed course toward a successful future and the groundwork was set. At the deadline the Indians were at 59 wins and their lone move was acquiring reliever Mark Rzepczynski who definitely made me check my spelling no less than four times when typing his name. The Indians were really boring for the next two years so let’s skip those. The 2016 Indians is where stuff gets really fun. That team won 94 games and not only won the division but made it to Game 7 of the World Series where they lost in heartbreaking fashion, a shame. That Cleveland team had 60 wins at the deadline and shocked the baseball world by acquiring a little known reliever named Andrew Miller at the deadline. They also were on the verge of acquiring catcher Jonathan Lucroy but he exercised his no-trade clause and the trade died. What can be learned from this? Well, unfortunately there was only one year where the Indians were in a position much like the 2019 Twins. But what is really interesting is the addition of Andrew Miller as he proved to be a key cog in their bullpen and was an instance where the Indians bought high on a controllable reliever who would help the team that year and a few years down the road. What possibly is frightening is that the one weakness of that Indians squad was their bench depth that was half-heartedly addressed by adding Brandon Guyer and journeyman Michael Martinez who of course happened to be the final out of that World Series. The 2019 Twins currently hold a better bench than the 2016 Indians, but it will be pushed to the limit in every capacity during the playoffs and Derek Falvey would be wise to remember what happened in 2016. Thad Levine Thad Levine was brought on as an assistant to the general manager for the Rangers following the 2005 season. Since he was there was that many years ago, I’ll cut out some seasons that amounted to nothing, you’re very welcome. For the first few years, the Rangers really didn’t do much winning but in 2010 they won 90 games and made it all the way to the World Series. With 61 wins heading into the trade deadline, the Rangers were big buyers, as they traded for starter Cliff Lee and reliever Mark Lowe along with some depth pieces like Bengie Molina, Jeff Francoeur, Jorge Cantu, and Christian Guzmán during July and August. Cliff Lee was a hired gun as his contract was up after the year, Mark Lowe was a controllable reliever who stuck around for two years following the 2010 season and the other players mostly didn’t stick around long. What I find very interesting is that the Rangers in 2010 had no previous history of success leading into the season but saw what unfolded in front of them and were very aggressive in acquiring the pieces necessary to make a run not just that year but for years in the future. They covered all their bases (pun most certainly intended) and just happened to run into the buzzsaw that was the Giants that year in the World Series. Speaking of the future, though … The 2011 Rangers didn’t like losing the World Series in 2010 so they went and made it again! This year they won 96 games and had another aggressive trade deadline by acquiring relievers Mike Adams, Koji Uehara, and Mike Gonzalez in order to boost a bullpen that was the third worst in baseball by fWAR before the deadline (it was then the sixth best bullpen by fWAR in baseball after the deadline). The Rangers after the deadline were again a very well-rounded squad but just couldn’t seal the deal against a scrappy Cardinals club and they again lost the World Series. What I really like is that the Rangers again showed that they were willing to aggressively attack what they saw as the biggest weakness on the team in order to put themselves in the best place possible to win a championship. The next two years, the Rangers still fielded good teams but not quite good enough to make more deep playoff runs and they made a number of trades for veterans in which they gave up prospects who eventually would become quality players in a desperate attempt to continue their run (guys like Kyle Hendricks, Carl Edwards Jr., and Leury Garcia). Their contention window with that core was over after 2013. Now knowing how each team conducted their deadline when in a position to succeed, I am even more looking forward to the deadline as it could be a combination of the Indians' pragmatism in 2016 for quality players who would stick around for more than just that season (Andrew Miller and almost Jonathan Lucroy), and the Rangers' aggressiveness in 2010 and 2011 where positions of need were identified and addressed and depth was made a priority in order for their squad to best make their playoff run. I can’t know for certain what the plan is, but I am damn excited to see it unfold. 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We almost had another full slate of games played but some East Coast rain decided to be annoying and so we had to settle for just five teams covered, boo. But, in the games that were played, there was a dominating pitching performance, a huge day at the plate, and a lot of pitching strikeouts deep down in the system. All that and more in this edition of the minor league report. P.S. Don’t forget that the Futures Game starring Royce Lewis and Jordan Balazovic is tomorrow at 7 P.M. Eastern.TRANSACTIONS OF Jimmy Kerrigan transferred to AAA Rochester from AA Pensacola INF Yeltsin Encarnacion transferred to AAA Rochester from A Cedar Rapids OF LaMonte Wade Jr. recalled by Minnesota INF Jordany Valdespin placed in the IL with a left wrist sprain RHP Jordan Balazovic placed on the temporary inactive list (Futures Game) RHP Calvin Faucher reinstated from the 7-Day IL for A+ Fort Myers RED WINGS REPORT Rochester rained out vs Scranton Wilkes-Barre It had been a while since I wrote about a rain out but mother nature just wouldn’t cooperate with the Red Wings so they will play a doubleheader tomorrow starting at 9:30 A.M. BLUE WAHOO BITES Pensacola 4, Birmingham 5 Box Score Randy Dobnak: 6 ⅓ IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, 74.4% strikes (67 of 90 pitches) HR: Travis Blankenhorn (16), Brian Schales (4) Multi-hit games: Travis Blankenhorn (3-for-3, HR, 2 R, RBI, 2 BB), Alex Kirilloff (2-for-5) The Blue Wahoos were walked-off this Saturday. Unfortunately, right as I loaded up MiLB.tv to watch the game, the Barons dropped a single into right to end it so this is entirely my fault and I will take full responsibility. Randy Dobnak was a strike-throwing machine as his 74.4% mark is one of the highest I have written about this year. The strikeouts didn’t come for him but the Barons were too busy hitting ground balls for outs for Dobnak to gain a decent number of strike 3's. Travis Blankenhorn was an absolute terror at the plate on Saturday as he launched a lead-off homer to kick off the game and added two opposite field singles and two walks to his line to make him a perfect 5-for-5 in plate appearances. His sixteen homers are the third highest of any player in the Southern League, an even more impressive feat considering that he started the season with the Miracle. MIRACLE MATTERS Game one: Ft. Myers 4, Palm Beach 3 Box Score Tyler Watson: 6 ⅓ IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, 77.5% strikes (55 of 71 pitches) HR: Trey Cabbage (5) Multi-hit games: Michael Helman (2-for-3, 2 2B, 2 R, BB), Ernie De La Trinidad (2-for-4, R, RBI) The Fort Myers Miracle won a close one this Saturday against the Palm Beach Cardinals. Gabriel Maciel reached base three times thanks to a single and two walks to go along with his sacrifice fly in the fifth inning. He is now up to an .880 OPS with the Miracle. After Tyler Watson’s day was done, Johan Quezada and Derek Molina teamed up to pitch 2 2/3 scoreless to slam the door. Molina was especially impressive as he came in after Quezada started the ninth with a walk and then proceeded to strike out the side. The Miracle were down by a run headed into the bottom of the seventh but a fielding error, a single, two walks, and a hit by pitch allowed for both the tying run and go-ahead run to score. Who says small ball doesn’t work anymore? Well, in non-small ball happenings, Trey Cabbage launched his fifth homer with the Miracle this year, a pleasant sight as that was Cabbage’s third home run in a week. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 3, Quad Cities 0 Box Score Andrew Cabezas: 9 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, 66.7% strikes (62 of 93 pitches) HR: Chris Williams (10) Multi-hit games: None ANDREW FREAKING CABEZAS, the nine inning shutout for the righty was nothing short of dominant as he struck out seven and only walked one. An impressive start for the 22 year-old as the River Bandits were baffled all game long. Luckily for Cabezas, the Kernels’ bats showed up in support as the three runs they put up in the sixth were more than enough to win the game. Two of those runs came thanks to Chris Williams’ tenth blast of the year. Williams also walked twice in the game. Wander Javier had a tough game that reflects the rough season he has had so far. At the plate he struck out in three of his four plate appearances and he was tagged for two errors in the field which moves his error total to seven on the year. Javier’s OPS for the Kernels now sits at .479 through 31 games and he’ll need to turn it around soon. E-Town E-Notes Elizabethton 5, Kingsport 3 Box Score Ryan Shreve: 3 ⅔ IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K HR: None Multi-hit games: Spencer Steer (2-for-4, RBI) The youthful Twins’ pitchers struck out an impressive twelve Kingsport hitters over the course of the game with both Ryan Shreve and Cody Laweryson picking up five punch-outs each. Half of the Twins’ hits went for extra bases as they slugged three doubles and a triple over the course of the game and put up five runs despite going 1-12 w/RISP. But anywhere can be scoring position if you hit the ball hard enough. GCL Twins Takes Game one: GCL Twins 1, GCL Red Sox 7 Box Score Jesus Toledo: 2 ⅓ IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 4 K, HR: None Multi-hit games: Jesus Feliz (2-for-4, 2B, RBI) Four GCL Twins’ pitchers combined for fifteen strikeouts over eight total innings of work in the game. The GCL Twins’ bats could only put up three hits however and there were more hitters in the starting lineup who did not get on base than those who did. Game two: GCL Twins 3, GCL Red Sox 1 Box Score Miguel Rodriguez: 3 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, K HR: None Multi-hit games: Jeferson Morales (3-for-4, R), Parker Phillips (2-for-3, R, RBI) The GCL Twins’ pitching staff decided to be a bit nicer in game two by only striking out twelve this to give them twenty-seven punch outs in the doubleheader. The offense only put up singles but it was enough to give the Twins the win. The two-hit afternoon for Parker Phillips moves the 2019 draftee’s OPS to 1.062 in his short time in professional baseball. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Andrew Cabezas Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Travis Blankenhorn PROSPECT SUMMARY Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed: #1 - Royce Lewis (Ft. Myers) - Did not play (temp inactive list for the futures game) #2 - Alex Kirilloff (Pensacola) - 2-for-5, 2 K #3 - Brusdar Graterol (Pensacola) - Injured list #4 - Trevor Larnach (Ft. Myers) - 0-for-3, BB, K #5 - Wander Javier (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-4, 3 K #6 - Jordan Balazovic (Ft. Myers) - Did not pitch #7 - Keoni Cavaco (GCL Twins) - Did not play #8 - Brent Rooker (Rochester) - Postponed #9 - Jhoan Duran (Ft. Myers) - Did not pitch #10 - Blayne Enlow (Ft. Myers) - Did not pitch #11 - Lewis Thorpe (Rochester) - Postponed #12 - Nick Gordon (Rochester) - Postponed #13 - Ryan Jeffers (Ft. Myers) - 0-for-3, RBI, K #14 - Luis Arraez (Twins) - 1-for-4, 2B, R #15 - Matt Wallner (Elizabethton) - 1-for-4, 2B, BB, K #16 - Ben Rortvedt (Pensacola) - Did not play #17 - Akil Baddoo (Ft. Myers) - Out for year with Tommy John surgery #18 - Jorge Alcala (Pensacola) - Did not play #19 - Misael Urbina (DSL Twins) - 1-for-4, 2B, R, RBI #20 - Travis Blankenhorn (Pensacola) - 3-for-3, HR, 2 R, RBI, 2 BB SUNDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester @ Scranton W/B Game 1 (9:30 A.M.) - RHP Drew Hutchison Pensacola @ Birmingham (4:00 P.M.) - LHP Charlie Barnes Palm Beach @ Fort Myers (12:00 P.M.) - LHP Lachlan Wells Cedar Rapids @ Quad Cities (5:15 P.M.) - RHP Kai-Wei Teng Johnson City @ Elizabethton (4:00 P.M.) - RHP Cody Laweryson Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Saturday’s games. Click here to view the article

After a tough road trip that saw the Twins lose their first trip of the season (of either the home or road variety), the Twins look to play a three-game home series against a pleasantly surprising Texas Rangers team before the first half officially comes to a close.Brief Overview: The Rangers were seemingly stuck in a quasi-rebuild coming into 2019 as both the 2017 and 2018 team finished below .500 and there was a new captain at the helm in their new manager Chris Woodward. Their offseason was filled with interesting buy- low candidates and rebound targets in the hopes that those players could be pawned off at the deadline for prospects, as much of the roster was filled with players unlikely to carry the squad to anything substantial. Instead, those players performed too well and the Rangers now find themselves in wild card contention with a 46-40 record and a pythag W/L of 45-41 heading into Thursday’s game. What They Do Well: Starting pitching is the backbone of any good team aspiring to reach the playoffs and the Rangers have a solid starting rotation that ranks 10th in baseball in fWAR (thanks mainly due to Mike Minor and literally Lance Lynn whom I’ll talk about more later). Their starting pitching FIP of 4.53 is slightly worse than the mark Scott Diamond put up with the Twins (4.46), but in the modern high scoring era of MLB context, the number is much better than it looks compared to the rest of history. Yet again, the Twins will play a team that likes to steal as the Rangers have swiped the second most bases in all of baseball. It has also been a team effort instead of just falling on a single player or two, as 10 players have swiped multiple bases for the Rangers in 2019. For comparison, the Twins only have three such players. It will be interesting to see the different philosophies regarding base stealing at play during the series and both Jason Castro and Mitch Garver will have to stay on their toes through the series. What They Do Not Do Well: The Rangers are very good at striking out! I suppose if you get philosophical then you could question whether striking out a lot would categorize as something you do “well” or “not well”, but that’s an argument for a different day. The Rangers have the third highest offensive K% in MLB and their 25.8% mark almost perfectly matches how often Jim Thome struck out with the Twins (Thome was at 25.9%) and just 2 Twins hitters with more than 100 plate appearances have struck out at a higher rate so far this year (Miguel Sanó and Nelson Cruz). The Rangers bullpen is not good as they hold the fifth worst bullpen FIP in the majors at 4.93 (R.A. Dickey’s Twins FIP was 4.87 for comparison). It has been a revolving door for the Rangers pen as 20 different pitchers have gotten an out in relief for the Rangers in 2019 with one of those pitchers being named “Locke St. John”. No, I am not making that up. Along with Mr. St. John, they have also employed multiple relievers named “Jesse” and “Kyle” which would be less notable if I was talking about individuals who belonged to a fraternity in Montana, but I digress. Individuals Of Note: The poster boy for MLB in 2019, Joey Gallo, is having a brilliant season that has already seen him pass his career high in fWAR (it currently sits at 3.5). He’s still striking out at rates that would anger Willians Astudillo (35.8 K%), but he’s also walking more than ever and is being boosted by a .382 BABIP. Even if that BABIP comes down, he is still very capable of sending a ball deep into traffic over in right field and is one of the few hitters that make me visibly cringe in terror when he unleashes a swing. Hunter Pence was a part of the group of buy-low players I mentioned in the beginning and he has had a phenomenal bounce back year so far as he holds a 142 wRC+ (Harmon Killebrew’s career wRC+ is 144). Pence worked hard in the offseason to rework his swing that before had looked like an antsy crackhead digging into his pockets while looking for a cigarette but now looks more like that crackhead finally found some Adderall. The reward for Pence was the starting DH job in the All-Star game but he is unfortunately on the IL, so he will miss this series along with the All-Star Game. The Rangers also employ old friend Logan Forsythe and older friend Danny Santana and both have been above average players somehow, I really don’t know what’s happening over there but there is something in the water in Texas that brings players back to life. On the pitching side of things, Mike Minor has been another incredible story as the 31-year old finds himself second in the AL in ERA at 2.54 after missing both the 2015 and 2016 seasons and finally returning as a reliever for the Royals in 2017. The peripherals for Minor aren’t as pretty as his ERA (3.77 FIP and 4.42 xFIP suggest regression), but he has been a great starter nonetheless and it appears that the 2019 All-Star will pitch on Sunday. The other notable name is ...blegh ... do I have to write it? Fine, Lance Lynn. Yes, Lance “literally Lance Lynn” Lynn currently leads the AL in pitching fWAR. His 4.00 ERA isn’t the best but his pristine 2.94 FIP suggests that he is pitching better than it appears he is. I’m not sure what kind of necromancy the Rangers pulled to make this happen, but this is a sign that either there is no God or the one that exists has a sick sense of humor. If you would have told me during any of his outings last year where he was attempting to throw his 15th straight fastball out of the strike zone while runners were on the corners in the third and he already had thrown 60 pitches that this same man would lead the AL in pitching fWAR next year then I would have you taken in for being insane. Luckily, Lynn will not pitch in the series and Twins fans will get to avoid his terror. Recent History: The Rangers and Twins have not played this year but the Twins lost the season series last year by 2-4. I highly doubt any of those series can be used as a solid point of reference for how this upcoming series so I wouldn’t look too far into that. Recent Trajectories: Both teams are pretty cool right now as the Twins are 5-5 in their last 10 games coming into Thursday while the Rangers are 6-4 in the same time frame that includes 4 straight losses coming into Thursday. The Rangers did have a better June than the Twins did however as they had a .621 winning percentage and the Twins had a .556 winning mark. Ending Thoughts: The Rangers have built a respectable squad that will come in at a time where the Twins are a bit banged up and not playing their best ball. The Twins aren’t in a place yet where a series win is mandatory but it would be great to head into the break with a few more wins, especially as the Indians continue to play better baseball and look to threaten the division soon. I could see the series going either way but I’ll predict a series win for the Twins because I can feel in my gut that they’ll do it. Click here to view the article

That’s because I accidentally linked last week’s box score! Good catch.

A full seven games were played in the land of the Twins minor league system thanks to a doubleheader. Ignoring the panic this caused the writer to undergo, all was recorded and written about. Josh Winder was great again, Lewin Diaz continued to rake, and a longtime MLB relief pitcher threw in the Twins system for the first time ever, all that and more in this edition of the Minor League Report.TRANSACTIONS RHP Cody Allen transferred to A+ Fort Myers from AA Pensacola RHP Zack Littell optioned to AAA Rochester from the Twins RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 9, Pawtucket 6 Box Score Preston Guilmet: 2 ⅔ IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, 66.0% strikes (33 of 50 pitches) HR: Jaylin Davis (4), Wilin Rosario (9) Multi-hit games: Wilin Rosario (2-for-5, HR, 2B, R, 3 RBI), Zander Wiel (2-for-4, RBI), Tomas Telis (3-for-4, 2B, R), Ronald Torreyes (3-for-4, 2B, R, RBI) The Red Wings won another game and have clawed their way back to one game under .500 despite their slow start. The Red Wings ran a bullpen game and the five pitchers used combined for four earned runs while punching out eleven batters. Every Red Wings batter reached base in some way and all but one did so by getting a hit. In total, they had six extra-base hits in the game. Jaylin Davis continued to terrorize AAA pitchers as he blasted his fourth AAA home run in just his twelfth game at the level. Unfortunately for him, there are other outfielders on the 40-man roster so a callup in the near future seems unlikely, but it is still great to see him hit well. Video evidence of Wilin Rosario capping off a clutch six run 8th inning: BLUE WAHOO BITES Pensacola 5, Biloxi 1 Box Score Griffin Jax: 6 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, 68.3% (56 of 82 pitches) HR: None Multi-hit games: Lewin Diaz (2-for-4, 2 2B, R), Jimmy Kerrigan (2-for-4, 2B, 2 R) In the least surprising event of the day, Griffin Jax had another great outing. His ERA on the year now sits at an astonishingly low 1.67. Lewin Diaz continues to rake at the plate as he hit a pair of doubles in the game. His AA OPS sits at .977 now and really I am running out of ways to compliment how well he is doing at the plate. All I can do is pray for whatever poor pitcher has to face him next. Travis Blankenhorn collected an RBI single in the fifth inning and then ended the game with this great play at second base: MIRACLE MATTERS Game one: Ft. Myers 2, Bradenton 5 (8 innings) Box Score Tyler Watson: 6 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, 77.3% strikes (51 of 66 pitches) HR: Royce Lewis (6) Multi-hit games: None The Miracle lost the first game of their doubleheader in extra innings against the Bradenton Marauders. Royce Lewis cracked his sixth home run of the year as he continues to fight through the slump that he has been in for basically the entire season. He has shown signs of breaking free and the recent power surge could be him getting back to the old Royce Lewis we all know and love. Cody Allen came in to the game in the seventh inning and threw a scoreless inning with a strikeout and topped out at 91 MPH on the fastball. The Twins obviously are interested enough in potentially coaxing the old Cody Allen out of him and how he performs in the coming weeks will affect how the Twins work the trade deadline. Game Two: Ft. Myers 1, Bradenton 4 (7 innings) Box Score Jordan Balazovic: 4 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 4 BB, 4 K, 62.2% strikes (51 of 82 pitches) HR: None Multi-hit games: Royce Lewis (2-for-4) The Miracle also unfortunately dropped the second game of their doubleheader against Bradenton. The Marauders became one of the few teams that could actually slow down Jordan Balazovic. I suspect foul play or at the very least some good old-fashioned voodoo as Balazovic has been a buzzsaw for most of the season Royce Lewis built off his home run in the prior game by having a multi-hit game, yet another potential sign that good things are in store in the second half for the young shortstop. Despite slapping seven hits and drawing three walks, the Miracle were only able to put up a single run as they went just 2-for-11 with RISP. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 6, Kane County 0 Box Score Josh Winder: 8 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 8 K, 67.4% strikes (64 of 95 pitches) HR: None Multi-hit games: Jacob Pearson (2-for-4, 3B, R, RBI), Gilberto Celestino (2-for-4, 2B, 3 RBI), Estamy Urena (3-for-4, 2B, 2 R) It was all Cedar Rapids in their impressive 6-0 shutout of Kane County. Josh Winder was spectacular as he threw eight shutout innings while punching out eight. Kane County’s hitters were utterly baffled all night as Winder navigated their lineup with the ability of a grizzled mariner through a stormy sea. The Kernels set the tone early as they put up a four spot in the very first inning thanks to a Yeltsin Encarnacion single and a Gilberto Celestino bases-clearing double. Although, they really just needed the one run with the way Winder tossed the ball in the game. E-Town E-Notes Elizabethton 8, Greeneville 1 Box Score Andriu Marin: 5 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, 64.4% strikes (47 of 74 pitches) HR: Albee Weiss 2 (2), Anthony Prato (1) Multi-hit games: Albee Weiss (2-for-5, 2 HR, 2 R, 3 RBI), Matt Wallner (2-for-5, 2 R) The young Twins gave the business to Greeneville in an 8-1 rout. Andriu Marin and Ryan Shreve combined for nine innings without any earned runs and a combined fourteen strikeouts, an outstanding pitching showing from the both of them. There were many Elizabethton batters who performed well in the game, but Albee Weiss stands out as he blasted his first two home runs of the year to help lead the offensive charge. In total, all but two Elizabethton batters reached base safely via a hit and thirteen total hits rained down from the bats of the other Twins. GCL Twins Takes GCL Twins 0, GCL Red Sox 2 Box Score Miguel Rodriguez: 2 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, HR: None Multi-hit games: Victor Heredia (2-for-2, BB) Four GCL Twins pitchers threw in the game and they combined for a total of twelve strikeouts. Keoni Cavaco was absent from the lineup after being pulled early from the game yesterday. It is only speculation, but I assume they are playing it safe with the recent first-round draft pick. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Josh Winder Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Albee Weiss PROSPECT SUMMARY Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed: #1 - Royce Lewis (Ft. Myers) - 3-for-8, HR, R, RBI, K (Two games) #2 - Alex Kirilloff (Pensacola) - 0-for-3 #3 - Brusdar Graterol (Pensacola) - Injured list #4 - Trevor Larnach (Ft. Myers) - 0-for-3, BB, K #5 - Wander Javier (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-3, R, BB, K #6 - Brent Rooker (Rochester) - 0-for-2, R, 2 BB, 2 K #7 - Jhoan Duran (Ft. Myers) - Did not pitch #8 - Lewis Thorpe (Rochester) - With the Twins #9 - Blayne Enlow (Ft. Myers) - Did not pitch #10 - Akil Baddoo (Ft. Myers) - Tommy John surgery, out for year #11 - Nick Gordon (Rochester) - 1-for-4, 2 R, 2 RBI, BB, K #12 - Stephen Gonsalves (Rochester) - Injured list #13 - Ryan Jeffers (Ft. Myers) - 2-for-7, BB, 2 K (Two games) #14 - Ben Rortvedt (Pensacola) - 0-for-3, BB #15 - Yunior Severino (Cedar Rapids) - Injured list #16 - Gilberto Celestino (Cedar Rapids) - 2-for-4, 2B, 3 RBI #17 - Zack Littell (Rochester) - 2 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 2K #18 - LaMonte Wade (Rochester) - Did not play #19 - Jorge Alcala (Pensacola) - Did not pitch #20 - Jose Miranda (Ft. Myers) - 1-for-7, K (Two games) SUNDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Pawtucket @ Rochester (12:05 P.M.) - RHP Kohl Stewart Pensacola @ Mississippi (5:05 P.M.) - RHP Andro Cutura Bradenton @ Fort Myers (12:00 P.M.) - TBD Kane County @ Cedar Rapids (2:05 P.M.) - RHP Andrew Cabezas Elizabethton @ Greeneville (4:00 P.M.) - RHP Cody Laweryson Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Saturday’s games. Click here to view the article

Yeah that was a mistake in editing, what I originally typed made more sense (but was false), see my other comment on what happened.

Yeah so originally I had written that the last time the Twins played in Chicago was exactly a year ago in a series that ended on June 28th. Earlier this morning it was pointed out that that was false so I told Tom just to edit that part out and call it good. Some extra stuff stayed that was meant to be a reference to the June series last year and that’s why it looks weird. It’ll be edited soon.

After a winning series (and technically homestand) against the Rays that unfortunately ended with an absolutely brutal 18 inning loss, the tired Twins will head over to Chicago for a three-game series. Somehow this is the first time all year that they will play in Chicago and just the second time they will play the White Sox this year despite being, you know, in the same division and all.Brief Overview Out of the triforce of tanking AL Central teams, the White Sox have pulled ahead of the dreadful Royals and the atrocious Tigers as a solidly below-average team, somehow a step up over the aforementioned squads. Despite ultimately coming up short in the Machado sweepstakes and being relatively quiet over the offseason except for signing Kelvin Herrera, the White Sox have taken a small step forward thanks to a few internal players realizing their potential along with the help of a breakout from a familiar but unlikely catcher. With a record of 37-41 and a pythag W/L of 33-45, the White Sox will look to be an annoyance to a Twins franchise that is all too familiar with scrappiness. What They Do Well In digging through their team numbers, it became obvious that there really is not one thing that this team excels at but there are not many things that they do horribly, just a constant below-average squad by most major metrics that I could find. They are very good at running the bases as Fangraphs has their team baserunning as the sixth best in all of baseball, somehow above the pesky Royals that just gave the Twins some fits not too long ago. They have the 11th-most steals in baseball which isn’t ridiculously high, so most of their quality baserunning can probably be attributed to them taking extra bases on balls in play while not running themselves into outs. That’s it, honestly. I could not actually find much that was notable as far as what this team does notably well. They have the second highest offensive batting average on balls in play (BABIP) in baseball at a .320 mark (Denard Span’s Twins BABIP was .320) which is certainly interesting but I don’t know how much of a skill that is. I guess just keep in mind that they might have some better “luck” on balls being put into play than the Twins. What They Do Not Do Well Everything? Again, they aren’t truly horrendous in a lot of categories, but often they fall in the 20th-25th range when being compared to the rest of baseball. Their team wRC+ of 92 is 20th in all of baseball and just 2 points lower than Luis Castillo’s Twins wRC+. Their team FIP is 25th in baseball at 4.91 which is slightly worse than Tommy Milone’s Twins FIP of 4.85. Their pitching staff as a whole hold the second worst BB/9 in baseball at 3.85 which is just a hair better than what Kohl Stewart has done in his Twins career so far (3.93 BB/9 for Stewart). Their defense ranks as the eighth worst in baseball which when combined with their pitching staff’s walk rate could mean that the White Sox might beat themselves more often than the Twins beat them as they will most likely shoot themselves in the foot quite a few times. Individuals Of Note I mentioned before that the White Sox have had a few players from the inside who have broken out this year and that remains true even after about a page and a half of typing. Yoan Moncada has hit to the tune of a 130 wRC+ and has already put up a career high 2.5 fWAR (this does come with a sky high .387 BABIP). Tim Anderson has a career high 120 wRC+ and is knocking on the door of a new career-high in fWAR (1.8 now, 2.1 in his rookie year) but this also comes with a high BABIP of .373. Longtime Tigers catcher and All-Star starter voting finalist James McCann has almost doubled his career wRC+ as he currently sits at a 143 mark thanks to a few mechanical changes in his swing. But, and stop me if you have heard this, this comes with a frankly insane .413 BABIP (gee, I wonder why their team BABIP is so high…). Unfortunately for the White Sox, both Anderson and Moncada suffered injuries recently and their status for the series is up in the air. On the pitching side, the big story has been the breakout of Lucas Giolito who has put aside a terrible 2018 season and has dropped his ERA by over half (6.13 in 2018, 2.87 in 2019) with the peripherals to support it. So far he has been the ninth most valuable starting pitcher in baseball by fWAR with the same 2.8 mark that José Berríos currently holds on the year. There have been a number of changes that Giolito made thanks to winter spent with his high school pitching coach, but most notable has been an arm action that hides the ball better and an increased emphasis on his changeup. Right now it looks like he will pitch the Sunday game so be prepared for a much better Giolito than we all saw last year. Recent History Since this is only the second time these teams have matched up this year, there is not much recent history to go off of. The Twins and White Sox faced off at Target Field in a series that started on May 24th and the Twins were ruthlessly efficient in beating them by seven runs in each game. Ending Thoughts As I said in my last write-up, road divisional series are never anything to take for granted, the other team will also be looking to play spoiler and weird stuff tends to happen. The White Sox are a passable squad (less so if Moncada and Anderson miss time) and I can absolutely see them giving the Twins a good fight especially in the Sunday game with Giolito on the mound. I expect the Twins to take two but I also would not be shocked if the White Sox took two instead, especially depending on the roster moves after that 18-inning nightmare the Twins just played and the injuries they are currently nursing. But however it goes, I just pray for everyone’s sanity that no game goes into extras. Click here to view the article

Yet another full slate of games were actually played in full today (a rarity this year) that came with some great starting pitching performances. That, a new but familiar name, and the notable rise of a meteoric prospect in this edition of the minor league report.TRANSACTIONS -INF Jose Miranda placed on the temporary inactive list -RHP Sean Poppen optioned to AAA Rochester -RHP Andro Cutura transferred to AA Pensacola -RHP Cody Allen reportedly signed to a minor league deal, no assignment or official announcement yet Not a transaction, but Jordan Balazovic recently moved into the MLB pipeline top 100 list which gives the Twins 5 prospects on the list now (Royce Lewis, Alex Kirilloff, Brusdar Graterol, Trevor Larnach, Jordan Balazovic). RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 0, Toledo 2 Box Score Devin Smeltzer: 4 ⅔ IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 8 K, 66.3% strikes (57 of 86 pitches) HR: None Multi-hit games: None The Red Wings were involved in a low-scoring affair on Saturday which I thought was illegal to do at AAA this year but evidently it is allowed, go figure. The Red Wings were only able to scratch across three hits along with three walks and a hit-by-pitch with just one of those hits going for extra bases. Devin Smeltzer was unable to complete five innings but Cody Stashak, Gabriel Moya, and Ian Krol were able to pick it up after him by not allowing any runs over 3- 1/3 in relief while punching out five. BLUE WAHOO BITES Pensacola 2, Jacksonville 3 Box Score Charlie Barnes: 4 ⅔ IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 6 K, 67.6% strikes (50 of 74 pitches) HR: None Multi-hit games: Lewin Diaz (3-for-4, 2B, RBI) The Blue Wahoos lost a close one this Saturday by just a single run. Lewin Diaz was promoted a few days ago and naturally he has struggled early as he adjusts to the new level… Or not. Diaz went 3-for-4 and his OPS at AA so far is a blistering 1.230, it would be hard to make a case that any other hitter in the Twins system has had a better year than Diaz as he just continues to rake. Anthony Vizcaya took the hard-luck loss as he worked 2 1/3 in relief and gave up just a single run. Unfortunately, that was the go-ahead run and Vizcaya therefore had to take the loss. He still holds 0.64 ERA on the season at AA however so he should not feel too bad. The starter for the Jumbo Shrimp was top prospect Sixto Sanchez who was acquired by the Marlins over the offseason. Sanchez did not disappoint as he allowed just two runs over seven innings. But this is a report for the Blue Wahoos, so the compliments will end there. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 2, Jupiter 7 Box Score Jordan Balazovic: 5 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 5 K, 64.0% strikes (55 of 86 pitches) HR: None Multi-hit games: Gabriel Maciel (2-for-2, 2 R, BB, 2 HBP), Royce Lewis (2-for-5), Trevor Larnach (2-for-4, 2B, RBI, BB) The Miracle lost a rough game on Saturday that was not without a few great individual performances. The top of the Miracle lineup got the job done as the first four batters in the lineup reached base a combined eleven times. After that, the 5-9 batters combined for just three times where a base was reached safely and that came with nine strikeouts. No one told Gabriel Maciel that A+ is supposed to be harder than A because he reached base every single time he came to the plate on Saturday and is off to a flaming start at A+ that comes with an OPS of 1.188 in his small sample. Jordan Balazovic labored somewhat but still ended his outing with just a single earned run given up over his five innings of work. Joe Record and Calvin Faucher were not as good as they gave up a combined five earned runs in two innings after Balazovic was taken out. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 4, Peoria 5 Box Score Josh Winder: 6 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, 65.2% strikes (60 of 92 pitches) HR: Trevor Casanova (1) Multi-hit games: None Josh Winder was great yet again as he continues to rack up the quality starts with great peripherals. His season ERA now sits at an elite 2.66 which is the sixth lowest among qualified starters in the Midwest league. Trevor Casanova blasted his first home run of the year as the association of hitters in the Twins system named “Trevor” continue to impress this year. Casanova was also the only Kernel batter to reach base multiple times in the game. The game was close late but some sloppiness from the Kernels defense allowed the tying run to score in the seventh thanks to an error and the Kernels were walked-off in the ninth because of a stolen base by Peoria that happened to coincide with a wild pitch that allowed the runner to score. E-Town E-Notes Elizabethton 1, Kingsport 5 Box Score Ryan Shreve: 3 IP, 8 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, 77.1% strikes (37 of 48 pitches) HR: Charles Mack (1) Multi-hit games: None The other Twins (junior Twins? Diet Twins? I’ll think of more), fell to Kingsport this Saturday to fall to 2-3 on the season so far. The lone little Twins’ run came from Charles Mack’s first professional home run which came in the first inning. Freshly drafted Spencer Steer recorded his first professional hit in the fifth inning with a sharp infield single. The little brother Twins struck out twelve Kingsport hitters over eight total innings but they just could not quite get the BABIP to go their way. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Josh Winder Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Lewin Diaz PROSPECT SUMMARY Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed: #1 - Royce Lewis (Ft. Myers) - 2-for-5, K #2 - Alex Kirilloff (Pensacola) - 1-for-4, 2B #3 - Brusdar Graterol (Pensacola) - Injured list #4 - Trevor Larnach (Ft. Myers) - 2-for-4, 2B, RBI, BB, 2 K #5 - Wander Javier (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-4, 2 K #6 - Brent Rooker (Rochester) - 1-for-3, 2 K #7 - Jhoan Duran (Ft. Myers) - Did not pitch #8 - Lewis Thorpe (Rochester) - Did not pitch #9 - Blayne Enlow (Ft. Myers) - Did not pitch #10 - Akil Baddoo (Ft. Myers) - Tommy John surgery, out for year #11 - Nick Gordon (Rochester) - 0-for-4, K #12 - Stephen Gonsalves (Rochester) - Injured list #13 - Ryan Jeffers (Ft. Myers) - 0-for-3, RBI, BB, K #14 - Ben Rortvedt (Pensacola) - 0-for-3, BB #15 - Yunior Severino (Cedar Rapids) - Injured list #16 - Gilberto Celestino (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-4, RBI #17 - Zack Littell (Rochester) - With the Twins-did not pitch #18 - LaMonte Wade (Rochester) - 0-for-3, BB #19 - Jorge Alcala (Pensacola) - Did not pitch #20 - Jose Miranda (Ft. Myers) - Temporary inactive list SUNDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester @ Toledo (3:05 P.M.) - LHP Lewis Thorpe Pensacola @ Jacksonville (2:05 P.M.) - RHP Jorge Alcala Fort Myers @ Jupiter (12:00 P.M.) - RHP Cole Sands Cedar Rapids @ Peoria (5:05 P.M.) - RHP Andrew Cabezas Elizabethton @ Kingsport (3:00 P.M.) - LHP Brent Headrick Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Saturday’s games. Click here to view the article

After an extended home stand, the Twins head on the road to start a four-game series against a familiar foe-the Kansas City Royals. To put it simply, the Royals are not a good team and they know it. They made little changes to last years squad as they are currently in the early to mid stages of a massive rebuild following their World Series team of 2015. Most of the stars of that squad have moved on to other teams (or retired) and what is left is a shell of the team that took home the championship.The Royals current record is 25-48, albeit with a pythag W/L of 31-42 that suggests some bad luck, but they still find themselves in the basement of a poor AL Central. What They Do Well The Royals have stolen the most bases in baseball and it isn’t even really particularly close (70 swipes, second place is 61). The main culprit has been Adalberto Mondesi whose 27 swipes is more than the entirety of 10 teams so far. After that, both Billy Hamilton and Whit Merrifield clock in with more than 10 steals. None of the three catchers who the Twins have employed rank notably well in pop time or arm strength according to Statcast so the Royals will certainly look to cause some havoc on the base paths against them. Defensively, the Royals rank as the fifth-best defensive team in baseball according to Fangraphs thanks in large part to their excellent range that FanGraphs has as the fourth best in MLB. Their defense is cemented by two great defensive catchers in Cam Gallagher and Martin Maldonado, great up-the-middle defense thanks to shortstop Adalberto Mondesi and second baseman Nicky Lopez, and the speedster Billy Hamilton in center who can make Twins fans understand what other fans feel whenever Byron Buxton robs someone of a hit. A great defense can be frustrating to play against both as a fan watching and as a team playing against said defense so I assume the Royals figured they might as well be annoying if they aren’t going to be good. What They Do Not Do Well Generally, when you compliment a team and the only two things you can come up with are speed and defense, that's a sign that you aren’t talking about a good team. The Royals have the eighth-worst wRC+ at 87 (as well as Danny Valencia hit with the Twins), their team FIP is the 12th worst in baseball at 4.56 (Grant Balfour’s Twins FIP was 4.54), their offense walks at a 7.7% clip (Denny Hocking or Matthew LeCroy, take your pick), and their pitchers strike out eight guys per nine (Matt Belisle’s Twins run has them beat at 8.04). To put it simply, this team is below average to bad in most offensive and pitching categories. Individuals Of Note Not to be incredibly down, the Royals do have a few interesting players of note. Hunter Dozier has accumulated 2.3 fWAR over 216 plate appearances this year (but he is currently on the IL and his status for the weekend makes it seem like he is unlikely to play), Adalberto Mondesi has continued to do well with his interesting combo of power (.172 ISO, 11th best among qualified SS) and speed (the aforementioned 27 steals), and Whit Merrifield is still the quality player at the bat and in the field that Twins fans have come to expect. On the pitching side of things, Homer Bailey is enjoying a strange renaissance as he sits at a 4.09 FIP on the year, a good .73 points below his ERA, and Ian Kennedy has had a resurgence as a reliever and he currently holds a 2.06 FIP thanks in part to a 30.4 K%. Recent History The last time these two teams played was … last series! The Twins took two of three at home with all three games being decided by two runs or fewer. The last time the Twins played Kansas City in Kansas City was the quick two-game series all the way back on April 2 and 3. The Twins took both games thanks to late heroics in both matches but would probably like to avoid needing that this time around. Ending Thoughts The Royals are tanking, yes, but divisional games on the road are never a given no matter the talent difference and a split series (in my opinion) would not be all too surprising. But as long as the Twins play like the Twins we know and love, they should be able to win some games against a Royals team that has no desire, nor much ability, to win this year. Click here to view the article

It's no secret, the Twins will be seeking bullpen help as the trade deadline approaches. The current group of relievers has helped get the Twins where they are, but let's face it, there is plenty of evidence that suggests upgrades are required. Who may be available? Today we'll take a look Reds breakout reliever Robert Stephenson.Robert Stephenson, RHP, 26-years-old Cincinnati Reds (31-38, 5th in NL Central) Four more years of team control via arbitration. 2019: 3.67 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 12.3 K/9, 3.7 BB/9 in 27 IP 2018: 9.26 ERA, 2.49 WHIP, 8.5 K/9, 9.3 BB/9 in 11.2 IP in MLB (2.87 ERA in 20 Triple-A starts) As we here at Twins Daily continue to profile every reliever under the sun, we reach a reliever for the Reds by the name of Robert Stephenson. Now, I’ll answer what was most likely your first question; “what the hell is a Robert Stephenson”? Which is fair as he sounds more like a member of The Strokes or a young adult novel writer than a major league ballplayer but I digress. Stephenson was a top pitching prospect for the Reds for a number of years but suffered the typical struggles of a pitcher adjusting to the major league game. He would walk too many guys and not go deep into ball games which is not really a great combination for a starting pitcher. Add onto this the fact that the Reds could not develop a pitcher if their lives depended on it and Stephenson’s struggles in short major league stints from 2016-18 are not hard to understand. The Reds finally wised up and brought in Derek Johnson to be their new pitching coach for 2019 and Johnson took one look at Stephenson and decided to make him a reliever (or maybe someone else did. I’m not Johnson or Stephenson, just some random dude on the internet). The results so far have been tremendous as the move to the bullpen added a tick to Stephenson’s fastball velocity (~93 MPH before, now ~94) and he dropped his curve and mostly dropped his change in favor of throwing his slider almost 60% of the time. This development has led to 2.59 FIP in 2019 so far along with the second-highest swinging strike rate in all of baseball among qualified relievers. The downside is the Reds might not sell They find themselves last in the NL Central, but their run differential shows a better team than what their record indicates. And if they do sell, I don’t think the 26 year-old Stephenson would be at the top of the list of guys who would go. Of course, anyone could be traded for the right price, but the Reds may direct teams to David Hernandez or Jared Hughes if they are looking for relief help. Another one of the knocks on Stephenson was that he had a hard time staying healthy and as I currently write this article, Stephenson is on a rehab assignment thanks to a cervical strain in his neck, so those injury concerns may still exist. Stephenson also lacks the kind of consistent performance that may be desired from a reliever. While his 2019 numbers are nice, he has not had a long history of success and there’s a chance that the league adjusts back to the changes he has made. The upside is obvious, he has made tangible changes to his game for the better, has secretly become one of the more dominating relievers in baseball, and would obviously be a fresh breath of life to a bullpen that needs support. Not to mention that his small amount of MLB service time (free agent in 2024) means that he would not be a mercenary or a “hired gun” for a single-year playoff run but could instead be a contributor for many years down the road. The flip side is that he would cost more in the form of prospects but that’s an issue for the Twins and the Reds to hash out. Now, here are a few clips of his slide-piece and just try not to tell yourself how much you want him: See Also John Gant, RHP, Cardinals Alex Colome, RHP, White Sox Seth Lugo, RHP, Mets Greg Holland, RHP, Diamondbacks Sean Doolittle, LHP, Nationals Kirby Yates, RHP, Padres 10 Relievers Minnesota Could Target Click here to view the article

One team sent their players to participate in all-star festivities and two games were suspended due to rain, leaving just one game played in full. How that game went and how the Miracle players performed in the Florida State League All-Star Game in this edition of the minor league report.RED WINGS REPORT Rochester suspended vs Charlotte The bats came out early in this game but it mattered not as the rain decided to come out as well and the game was suspended in the bottom of the third. The game will be continued tomorrow as the first game of a doubleheader. BLUE WAHOO BITES Pensacola 1, Tennessee 2 Box Score Jorge Alcala: 5 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 5 K, 66.3% strikes (53 of 80 pitches) HR: None Multi-hit games: Jaylin Davis (2-for-3, 2B, RBI, BB) The Blue Wahoos lost a close 2-1 game Saturday in the only game that was actually played in full in the Twins’ system. Jorge Alcala had a middling start but his strike rate indicates that he may have gotten unlucky in his walk and strikeout totals. Alcala was picked up by Adam Bray and Sam Clay who combined for 3 2/3 scoreless innings in relief with four combined strikeouts, two combined hits allowed, and no walks given up. The Blue Wahoos offense was largely stagnant all game as they could only put together six hits total and just a pair of extra-base hits. Jaylin Davis was the bright spot as he reached base three times and hit one of those aforementioned extra-base hits. MIRACLE MATTERS There was no Miracle game today because it was the all-star weekend for the Florida State League. The Miracle had four hitters in the starting lineup for the FSL South all-star squad along with two pitchers that entered the game. Lewin Diaz did not get a hit but started the scoring with a sacrifice fly in the first, Trevor Larnach went 1-for-2 with a single, Ryan Jeffers went 0-for-3, and Royce Lewis went 0-for-3. Johan Quezada and Alex Phillips combined for three scoreless innings to end the game and Phillips received the save. Here’s the box score if you care to read it. But that was not all as Ryan Jeffers participated in the home run derby before the game and made it to the finals but unfortunately did not win. Here is some footage of Jeffers hitting dingers, hopefully any fans in left field had some helmets: KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids suspended vs Clinton The Kernels started their game against the Clinton Lumberkings but Mother Nature had other plans and the rain started to fall after only a full inning was played. The game will be continued tomorrow as the first part of a doubleheader. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Adam Bray, Pensacola Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Jaylin Davis, Pensacola PROSPECT SUMMARY Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed: #1 - Royce Lewis (Ft. Myers) - No game #2 - Alex Kirilloff (Pensacola) - Injured list #3 - Brusdar Graterol (Pensacola) - Injured list #4 - Trevor Larnach (Ft. Myers) - No game #5 - Wander Javier (Cedar Rapids) - Suspended game #6 - Brent Rooker (Rochester) - Suspended game #7 - Jhoan Duran (Ft. Myers) - No game #8 - Lewis Thorpe (Rochester) - Suspended game #9 - Blayne Enlow (Ft. Myers) - No game #10 - Akil Baddoo (Ft. Myers) - Tommy John surgery, out for year #11 - Nick Gordon (Rochester) - Suspended game #12 - Stephen Gonsalves (Rochester) - Injured list #13 - Ryan Jeffers (Ft. Myers) - No game #14 - Ben Rortvedt (Pensacola) - 1-for-4, K #15 - Yunior Severino (Cedar Rapids) - Injured list #16 - Gilberto Celestino (Cedar Rapids) - Suspended game #17 - Zack Littell (Rochester) - With the Twins-did not pitch #18 - LaMonte Wade (Rochester) - Suspended game #19 - Jorge Alcala (Pensacola) - 5 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 5 K #20 - Jose Miranda (Ft. Myers) - No game SUNDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Charlotte @ Rochester Game 1: (11:05 A.M.) - Continuation of suspended game. Tennessee @ Pensacola (1:05 P.M.) - RHP Andro Cutura Clinton @ Cedar Rapids Game 1: (2:05 P.M.) TBD Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Saturday’s games. Click here to view the article