Whammy

I bet Coulombe is available. They didn't run him out there for a second inning so they might be able to use him in game 2

Doubleheader not a great time for our pitchers to have what feels like and off-the-charts high pitches per plate appearance. 186 pitches - 36 batters faced through 8. 5.2 pitches/PA Feels incredibly high

According to Dougie, Kody Funderburk will be the 27th man tomorrow.

If they don't call up a SP, they'd need to pitch someone on short rest on Sunday Festa last pitched on the 6th. I bet he gets called up for the day.

I read the first half of your first paragraph, then went to go look up Nelson Cruz stats, years, etc. Then I came back with receipts and would you look at that... I had wasted my time. You already had them. Obviously that's a 10 out of 10 outcome, but stuff like that DOES happen and there's maybe even a better example, more recently than Cruz.... Brent Rooker

Can we replace Joe Ryan with Paddack in the Jim Bowden trade article now?

I personally feel like his drop in velocity is overstated. 2022 - 100.8 2023 - 101.8 2024 - 100.5 2025 - 100.5 Extremely flat over the last 4 years. Maybe 2023 was the outlier. Also, that 1.3mph drop somehow always gets round up to "2 mph drop" by people trying to make a point. And they talk about 2023 like he was gassing it up to 104 every outing. I'm not totally sure how to look it up, but it wouldn't surprise me at all if there were actually just a couple months in 2023 where he WAS regularly in that 103-104 range that pulled his yearly average up 1 mile per hour over his 2022 average. I know this wasn't REALLY the point of this article and I did enjoy reading it, but I just needed to vent a little about this decreased velocity narrative. Edited to add: He threw 12 pitches 103.0 or higher in 2023

Resale apps (in MN) have to include taxes and fees from the start now. It’s awesome.

Absolute thievery if we get this win. Baltimore fans would (rightly) be beside themselves.

Jax didn't pitch on Tuesday (same with Duran)

Orioles doing their best Twins impression today

Who's this ump an why is his zone so tiny?

If I was to rank those from most concerned to least concerned.... Castro - Ignoring what the numbers are telling me, he just hasn't looked very good. The fact that the numbers back that up only adds to the concern. Concern meter at 7/10 SWR - I think most can agree that he punched a little above his weight last year. So, coming into 2025, I was completely on board with giving him a starting job, but also a bit skeptical of him being as effective as 2024. The skepticism seems to have been relatively warranted based on his first 1/4 of the season. His results have been slightly better (slightly lower ERA, slightly higher K rate), but the eye test and advanced numbers tell a different story. My concern is that he'll continue to give us average to below average results (5 IP. 2-3 runs allowed) and it'll block a higher upside option at AAA. Concern meter at 6/10 Hard Hit % - Not sure that an elevated HH% has translated to an elevated HR rate, but as the weather warms that might change a little. I think that's just kind of the type of pitching staff we have. Going to give up some hard hit balls, but if you limit the walks (Lowest in Baseball) and have a high strikeout rate (7th in baseball), then you'll mostly limit big damage. Add in the fact that the bullpen has a lot of depth and we have Festa and Matthews sitting in AAA if one of the pitchers really starts to give up big damage, I'm left largely unconcerned. Concern meter at 3/10 Varland - You're sort of double dipping here with the overall hard hit %. Varland specifically feels small sample-ey to me. Concern meter at 2/10 Bader - Love his defense. Love his attitude. His offense is a bonus. He can still be a valuable member of a playoff team batting 225. Concern meter at 1/10

Ironically... the longest post of the thread. I DO agree with you though, that at times Justin can get extremely long-winded.

Sometimes with Dazzle Dan on the call I'd rather watch and lose than listen and win, though. We are all stupider for hearing him break down the shift changes over the last couple years, on last nights broadcast. It's like he didn't even watch last year.

Are you allowed to listen?

Thanks for the article. This type of article is one of the reasons I'm a Gold Caretaker. Shining light on players that don't get a ton of light shone on them. Nobody is predicting anything for Amick even though some of the odd replies make it seem that way. They click on articles that they know they won't care about, just to comment negatively about them. Strange behavior.

I completely disagree with this assessment of what's happening. They don't care if the journeymen sit on the bench and get 2-6 plate appearances per week. They don't care about developing them. They've developed, and are what they are. They don't want Julien sitting on the bench, which is what he'd be doing if they kept him on the 26 man roster right now. They want him playing every day. That will happen at AAA.

Said another way.... See you next week Eddie!

That feels like more of a last-year problem. I don't feel like Eddie getting screwed by a large zone has really been the problem this year.

It's amazing how that 260 average managed to get him an OPS+ of 130, as a rookie, with no other discernable baseball skills.

I personally believe that his defense HAS improved greatly at 2B. He's now almost making plays that he wouldn't have been close to making in 2023. There's a curse in that though. Almost making a play usually looks worse than not even getting close. Ultimately he needs to hit though. And he's not. The "Eddie quirks" are easy to laugh at when he's hitting .300 with a .400 OBP, but the quirks just add to the pile of annoyances when he's hitting .200 with a .600 OPS

Yes. Yes. Let's carve out a brand new role, mid season, for our oft-injured, hugely-important, young potential star.

Twins will lead the league in Saves

Hilarious that the 2nd game that would ever be on Twins.TV won't be on. Hilarious in a "you can't make it up" kind of way.