Matthew Taylor

The Minnesota Twins are in need of hitting help and could consider using the trade market to bring in some help. One player stands above the rest in regards to a target this July. Image courtesy of Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports Several interesting names figure to be available on the trade deadline, names that will be covered extensively by Twins Daily throughout the month of July. But the player who would make the biggest impact to this Twins team is first baseman Paul Goldschmidt. The Minnesota Twins have struggled at the plate all season. They rank 20th in baseball in both OPS and runs scored. With a pitching staff that has been outstanding all season, it has been their hitting that has kept the Twins from running away with the American League Central. Enter Paul Goldschmidt. Paul Goldschmidt is quietly having yet another outstanding season at first base for the St. Louis Cardinals. Through 329 plate appearances, Goldy is slashing .287/.377/.493 with 13 home runs and 38 RBI. Goldschmidt ranks in the 95th percentile in both average exit velocity and hard hit percentage. Additionally, the right-hander is great at handling the strike zone, with a K% of just 21.6 and an excellent chase rate of just 24.3%. Goldschmidt’s bat would fit perfect with the Twins for a few reasons. First of all, as a right-handed hitter the reigning NL MVP would help the Twins immensely with their struggles against left-handed pitchers. On the season, the Twins rank second-to-last in all of baseball against southpaws. While Goldschmidt has actually hit better against right handers this year, over the course of his career he has proven that he is much better against southpaws. Over his 13-year career, Goldy owns a 1.032 OPS against left-handed pitchers. Adding that right-handed bat into this lineup, especially against lefties, would be a total game changer. Another reason that Goldschmidt would be the best possible addition for the Twins at the trade deadline is that he would fit perfectly into the Twins’ lineup. With Goldschmidt playing first base, the Twins would be able to move Alex Kirilloff to left field (or right field depending on what the Twins do with Max Kepler). Left field has been the worst position for the Minnesota Twins this season, receiving a lowly .596 OPS from the position this season, worst in the majors. By adding Goldy, the Twins would upgrade their first base position as well as left field, and would be able to move on from a struggling Joey Gallo. Finally, Paul Goldschmidt would be an excellent addition to the Minnesota Twins because he is a darn good baseball player. The slugger has produced an above average OPS+ in every single season of his career and never posted an OPS lower than .821 in a full season. While Goldy is already 35-years-old, he is showing no signs of slowing down as he is coming off of an MVP season in 2022 and is continuing to hit at his career rates. With the St. Louis Cardinals mired in a season-long slump, they just might consider trading away their all-star first baseman. Currently, the Cardinals are last in the National League Central with a 31-45 record and stand more than 11 games back of a playoff spot. Goldy is owed $22M this year and next year before becoming a free agent in 2024 and the Cardinals may be looking to recoup whatever assets they can get as they begin a new rebuild. The question that the Minnesota Twins will be asking themselves over the next handful of weeks is “should we be trading away future assets for a team that may or may not be destined for greatness?” The answer to that might be no, but there’s also a decent argument that if you can make the playoffs (no matter how poor your division), you should construct the best roster possible because anything can happen in the postseason. And for the Twins to construct the best possible roster, a trade for Paul Goldschmidt would be a great first step. Do you agree that Paul Goldschmidt would be the best addition that the Twins could make at the trade deadline? Leave a comment below and start the conversation. View full article

Emilio Pagán’s time with the Minnesota Twins has featured meltdowns, blown leads and mistakes at the most inopportune times. Let’s count down the five biggest meltdowns from Emilio Pagán during his time with the Twins. Image courtesy of Matt Krohn-USA TODAY Sports Emilio Pagán meltdowns are like car accidents, they are awful to look at, but you can’t look away. That’s why we’re going to count down Pagán’s five biggest meltdowns with the Minnesota Twins. 5. April 26, 2022 versus the Detroit Tigers WPA: -0.510 The first entry on the countdown comes in what was just Emilio Pagán’s fifth appearance with the Minnesota Twins at home against the Detroit Tigers. The appearance came on the heels of back-to-back saves for the right hander as he appeared to be working his way up the bullpen pecking order. Pagán entered the game with a 3-1 lead in the eighth inning, but with some trouble on the base paths with two runners on and one out. Pagán wasted no time in letting the lead slip away as he served up a three-run home run to Javier Baez which gave the Tigers a 4-3 lead. The home run decreased the Twins’ winning percentage in that game by 53% Thankfully for Pagán, the Minnesota Twins were still able to pull out a win in the bottom of the ninth inning when they scored on a walkoff error from the Tigers’ defense. This being the only meltdown on the list that ended in a Twins win. 4. June 2, 2022 at the Detroit Tigers WPA: -0.563 The next entry on this list came last season against the same Tigers team. Pagán entered the game in the bottom of the eighth inning, nursing a 2-1 lead. After allowing a single to Eric Haase , Pagán served up a two-run home run to right-hander Daz Cameron . Cameron’s homer gave the Tigers a 3-2 lead and lowered the Twins’ winning percentage by 57%. The Tigers went on to win the game 3. June 28, 2022 at the Cleveland Guardians WPA: -0.604 Number three on the list of Pagán meltdowns came in what has been probably the most memorable series of Pagán’s tenure with the Minnesota Twins (memorable in a bad way!). In a two-day span, Pagán gave up two earned runs in back-to-back games, raised his ERA one and a half points, and contributed in a big way to the Twins dropping three out of four games to the rival Cleveland Guardians. The entry on this list, though, came in the June 28 game against the Guardians in which Pagán entered in the bottom of the eighth inning, with a 2-1 lead against Cleveland. After beginning the inning with back-to-back walks, followed by a wild pitch, Pagán surrendered a single to Amed Rosario which put the Guardians back in the lead and gave them a 3-2 lead by which they would ultimately win the game. 2. May 17, 2023 at the Los Angeles Dodgers WPA: -0.611 After three consecutive entries coming from last season, the two biggest meltdowns from Pagán’s tenure with the Minnesota Twins have come in this current season. Number two on the list comes from their series in Los Angeles against the Dodgers when Pagán came into the bottom of the seventh inning, trying to protect a 3-2 lead. After having won the previous day, the Twins were looking to be in a good spot to take the series against the Dodgers on the road, which undoubtedly would have been massive. José De Leon started off the inning for the Twins with back-to-back strikeouts. After allowing back-to-back singles, Pagán came into the game to try to get the final out of the inning. The bottom of the seventh inning went completely pear-shaped, though, when Pagán surrendered back-to-back walks (the second of which forcing in a run) followed by a grand slam from James Outman. After entering the inning up a run, the Twins exited the inning down 7-3, ending the game and their hope at a series win against the Dodgers. 1. June 11, 2023 at the Toronto Blue Jays WPA: -0.680 Number one on the list of the biggest meltdowns from Emilio Pagán with the Minnesota Twins is one that is fresh in everyone’s mind right now, his Sunday meltdown in Toronto. Pagán entered this one in the bottom of the eighth inning with a two-run lead. Immediately, Pagán showed that he did not have it at all, as he surrendered back-to-back singles, followed immediately by a 423-foot bomb by the ever-struggling Cavan Biggio . The three-run shot gave the Blue Jays a 7-6 lead that they would not surrender and gave the Twins a loss, preventing them from taking a sweep of the Jays. Which Emilio Pagán meltdown eats at you the most? Leave a comment below and start the conversation! View full article

After a miserable start to the season, the Chicago White Sox have been on a roll and are quickly closing in on the Minnesota Twins in the American League Central. Image courtesy of Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports The Chicago White Sox had about as bad of a start to the 2023 season as you can have. Through the first six weeks of the season the Sox found themselves with a 14-28 record — nine games behind the first place Minnesota Twins in the American League Central. Their poor record featured a 10-game losing streak and talks of trading their young stars had already begun. Since their 14-28 start, the White Sox are 13-7 with a +23 run differential. Chicago has won five of their last seven series, including a series win that they just capped off on Thursday evening in the Bronx against the New York Yankees. Their recent run of wins, coupled with the struggles seen by the Twins have helped the White Sox dig out of a nine game deficit in the American League Central and now find themselves just three and a half games back of the first place Twins. The Chicago White Sox recent surge has come largely due to their tremendous pitching. Since May 15, the White Sox are third in all of baseball with a 3.13 ERA. This includes a starting rotation that ranks sixth in baseball with a 3.63 ERA and a bullpen that ranks fourth in baseball with a 2.35 ERA. On the hitting side, the White Sox have struggled all year. In fact, the White Sox rank 17th in baseball in runs scored this season, just one run more than the Minnesota Twins. Typically strong hitters like Andrew Benintendi and Tim Anderson have to find their groove at the plate and their once powerful lineup ranks just 20th in baseball with 67 home runs on the season. Similar to the Twins, the Chicago White Sox have struggled with injuries for much of the season, however Chicago’s recent surge has coincided with many of their injured players getting healthy again. Hitters such as Eloy Jiménez, Tim Anderson, Yoan Moncada and Jake Burger have all found themselves on the injured list this season. Injuries have also struck the pitching side with players like Joe Kelly and Mike Clevinger being shelved for parts of the year. And then there’s their stud closer, Liam Hendriks, who made his emotional return back to the White Sox on Memorial Day, following his cancer recovery. Now healthy, the Chicago White Sox might just be the most dangerous team in the American Central. The Twins should fear the White Sox more than other rival teams like the Guardians and Tigers because of the amount of star power that Chicago can put out on the field every night. With players like Luis Robert, Andrew Vaughn, Eloy Jimenez and Lucas Giolito in addition to struggling stars like Dylan Cease and Tim Anderson who are primed for rebounds, the White Sox have the upside of a team that can hit and pitch with the best teams in the American League. After the first six weeks of the season, the American League Central looked as if it would be a two-team race between the Twins and the Guardians. After the Detroit Tigers made a brief appearance as a possible threat to the division crown, we’re now looking at a three-team race between Minnesota, Cleveland, and perhaps the most dangerous of them all…the Chicago White Sox. Do you fear the Chicago White Sox in the American League Central? Leave a comment below and start the conversation! View full article

On Tuesday afternoon, the Minnesota Twins added Byron Buxton to the 10-day injured list, five days after taking a pitch to the ribs last Thursday. This represents the latest case of a frustrating trend from the Twins. Image courtesy of © Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports After Byron Buxton was struck with a fastball in the ribs on Thursday night against the Cleveland Guardians, the Minnesota Twins were left with two options: put Buxton on the injured list right away or wait and see how he responds. The Twins opted to go with the latter and waited to see how his ribs would respond. In fact, the Twins waited the entire weekend before making a decision, leaving them with a short bench the entire weekend series against Cleveland and putting them in a spot on Friday night where they only had one bench player. In Major League Baseball when a player is injured, a team has a three day window to retroactively place someone on the injured list and still get “credit” for those days serving towards the 10 days that a player must wait before returning from injury. As such, it can be common for teams to wait and see if a player can return within three days before making the decision of whether or not to add them to the injured list. While this is likely what the Twins were trying to do by holding off on the injured list decision for Buxton, it was unequivocally the wrong decision and one that may have ultimately cost the Twins this past weekend. The first reason why the Twins misplayed this injury situation over the weekend was that Carlos Correa was also injured for the Twins with his flared up foot. As such, a “wait and see” decision with both Correa and Buxton meant that the Twins would be operating with two men down on their bench all weekend. The Twins could have waited on one of the two players and sent the other to the IL, but by waiting on both, they actively chose to play the weekend series against their division rival with one hand tied behind their back. Secondly, Byron Buxton had been in a massive slump leading into the rib injury. Over his past 10 games played, Buxton is hitting .147 with one extra base hit and 12 strikeouts compared to just three walks. The Minnesota Twins were choosing to lessen their depth over the weekend series so that they could potentially cut the number of games missed for a player who hasn’t been hitting the ball well at all lately. A big-time risk for a low payoff. Additionally, the ribs are not the only issue that had been ailing Buxton. Over the course of the season, Buxton has been having issues with his knee pain. In fact, it’s been because of his knee pain that the Twins have seemingly been limiting Buxton to a designated hitter role this season. With Buxton being experiencing so much pain in his ribs that he wasn’t even able to lie down, in addition to the knee pain that he had been experiencing all year, an injured list decision seemed like a no-brainer the whole time. The decision was made even worse by the fact that the Minnesota Twins had the reigning AAA hitter of the week available to be called up in Matt Wallner. Wallner currently has a 1.100 OPS with the Saint Paul Saints this season and has a .414 batting average since being demoted last week with two of the three starting pitchers coming up set to be right handers. The Minnesota Twins scored a total of four runs after they decided to leave Buxton and Correa up with the team and play with a short bench. It’s certainly fair to wonder if the weekend series would have wound up any different had the Twins been operating with a full roster. In summary, the Twins decided to play short handed all weekend against a division rival so that they could potentially save a few days off of an injured list stint for a struggling Byron Buxton with ailing knees rather than just calling up Matt Wallner who has been hitting the snot out of the ball. A troubling decision to say the least. This isn’t an isolated incident with the Twins this season either. Earlier this season the Minnesota Twins did something similar with Joey Gallo when he had an injured hamstring. With the amount of talent that the Minnesota Twins have in the Minor Leagues the Twins should not hesitate to move players to the injured list and give their struggling offense every bit of a chance to succeed. The Twins are struggling enough at the plate with a full roster that playing with a limited roster just leaves this team with no chance on offense. Do you agree that the Twins need to be more decisive with injured list decisions? Leave a comment below and start the conversation! View full article

The Minnesota Twins came into the 2023 season with a clear plan for keeping Byron Buxton healthy — make him the everyday designated hitter. While Buxton has indeed stayed healthy, this experiment has not been a successful one. Image courtesy of © Matt Blewett-USA TODAY Sports When he’s healthy, Byron Buxton is one of the best players in all of baseball. In an effort to keep him healthy, the Minnesota Twins traded for Michael A. Taylor this offseason and made Buxton the everyday designated hitter. While this has worked from a health standpoint (Byron is currently tied for the team lead in games played), the plan has been a net negative for the Twins. The first reason why the Byron Buxton experiment at designated hitter needs to end is because Buxton’s bat just hasn’t been successful enough to be taking up the designated hitter spot every day. On the season, Buxton has a .771 OPS (113 OPS+), which would be his lowest number at the plate since 2017. The American League average OPS at the designated hitter position this season is .742. While Buxton has been better than the average designated hitter in the American League, there are still six teams that have gotten better production at the DH position than what Buxton has provided for the Twins this year. Aside from poor overall performance, Byron Buxton has shown a propensity to fall into deep, deep slumps at plate. In April, Buxton went through a 15 game stretch where he hit .170 with 23 strikeouts and six walks, and he is currently going through a twenty game stretch in which he’s hit .162 with just four extra base hits. Slumps you simply cannot afford to have from your designated hitter. A domino effect by Buxton playing the role of full-time DH is that Michael A. Taylor has become an everyday player at center field for the Twins. In fact, MAT is tied with Byron Buxton for the team lead in games played this season. While an excellent fielder, Taylor has been a below-average to bad hitter for his entire career. This season has been his worst. On the season, Michael A. Taylor has posted a .633 OPS with a miserable 53/7 K/BB ratio. What’s worse is that includes Taylor’s better-than-usual performance at the plate in April. Since the calendar turned to May, MAT owns a .498 OPS with 21 strikeouts compared to just three walks and just three extra base hits. Michael A. Taylor as a fourth outfielder and backup center fielder is an excellent weapon. Michael A. Taylor as your everyday center fielder and leading your team in games played, while your offense sputters day after day is an absolute disaster, and it’s a direct result of Byron Buxton being locked into the designated hitter position. Finally, Byron Buxton being locked in as the everyday designated hitter costs the Minnesota Twins a tremendous amount of lineup flexibility by not allowing other players to cycle through the position. With a locked-in designated hitter, the Twins are unable to give guys regular days off without sitting on the bench, they’re unable to keep guys like Matt Wallner up with the big league club, and they’re unable to stack an additional platoon hitter into the lineup. It’s also fair to wonder if injuries to players like Carlos Correa, Jorge Polanco and Joey Gallo could have been prevented if there was a designated hitter spot to give guys a break. Taking Byron Buxton out of the full-time designated hitter spot and moving him back out to center field is undeniably a risk. If Byron Buxton were putting up Nelson Cruz-level production at the plate, the conversation would be different, but the reality is that the Twins are suffering at the plate night after night, with the designated hitter position being an easy way to generate more offense. The Twins could certainly still shuffle Buxton through the DH spot a couple of times a week, but we need to end the Byron Buxton experiment as a full-time designated hitter. Do you think it's time to take Byron Buxton out of the designated hitter spot and move him into the outfield? Leave a comment below and start the conversation! View full article

While the month of May wasn’t the prettiest for the Minnesota Twins, there were a handful of pitchers that stepped up and put themselves in the running to be named the Pitcher of the Month. Come find out who took the title. Image courtesy of Thieres Rabelo, Twins Daily The Minnesota Twins built on a strong April of pitching and put together another strong month on the mound, finishing fourth in all of baseball in pitching ERA in May. The Twins got strong performances from a handful of starting pitchers as well as a certain reliever who can apparently throw 105 MPH now. Let’s dive into the Pitcher of the Month honorable mentions and find out who ultimately was named Twins Daily’s Pitcher of the Month. Honorable Mention 3: Jhoan Duran 10 2/3 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0.75 WHIP, 15 K, 3 BB Jhoan Duran continues to be an absolute godsend for the Minnesota Twins’ bullpen. In a month when the Twins ranked 23rd in all of baseball in win probability added and faced saw meltdown after meltdown, Duran posted one of the best months of his young career with 10 2/3 shut out innings and gave the Twins someone they could consistently trust at the back end of the bullpen. Duran led all Twins pitchers in WPA in the month of May and raised his K% from where it was in the month of April. Oh yeah, and he threw a 105 MPH pitch. Honorable Mention 2: Louie Varland 35 IP, 3.34 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 31 K, 7 BB In his first full month in the starting rotation for the Minnesota Twins this season, Louie Varland showed everyone that he is here to stay. Mixing high velocity with tremendous control, Varland is making a case to be the first big-time success story from the Derek Falvey pitching pipeline. In the month of May, Varland led Twins pitchers with 35 innings pitched and a team low BB% of 4.9%. Varland started six games in the month of May, with four of them coming in wins. No start was bigger, though, than the one that came on Wednesday night, the final day of the month, when he threw seven shutout innings on the road against the Houston Astros, allowing just four hits while striking out five. Not bad from your “number five” starter. Honorable Mention 1: Bailey Ober 29 IP, 3.10 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 27 K, 6 BB The continuously underrated Bailey Ober quietly put together the second best month from any Twins pitcher in May. Ober started five games, with three of them being quality starts and only one of them allowing more than three earned runs. Ober never allowed more than six hits in any of his starts this month and started producing more strikeouts than we are used to seeing from the right-hander. Ober started out the year in the Minors, but since joining the Twins at the end of April, Ober has a 2.68 ERA with a 37/11 K/BB ratio. Safe to say that Ober will be contributing to the Twins’ starting rotation for a long time. Pitcher of the Month: Joe Ryan 33 IP, 2.73 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 40 K, 9 BB After a stellar month of April in which he posted a 2.81 ERA across 32 innings, Joe Ryan improved upon those numbers in the month of May with a 2.73 ERA in 33 innings. Joe Ryan finished second amongst Twins pitchers in innings pitched and led all pitchers in strikeouts and wins above replacement. The young right hander also continued to show elite pitch control as the team-leader with a K/BB ratio of 5.85 on the season. Ryan’s best pitching performance last month came on May 2 against the Chicago White Sox when he pitched six shutout innings, allowing just one hit and striking out seven. Unfortunately the performance came in a loss, but Ryan did all he could do to lead the Twins over their division rivals that night. In six starts in the month of May, Joe Ryan produced four quality starts and only allowed more than two earned runs in one of those starts. After another stellar month from the prized right hander, Joe Ryan is more than deserving of being Twins Daily’s Pitcher of the Month in May, and as long as Joe Ryan continues to make improvements every month, he’ll continue to find himself in the Cy Young conversation. Do you agree with our choice for Pitcher of the Month? Do you think Joe Ryan has a chance at winning the Cy Young Award? Leave a comment below and start the conversation! View full article

So far this article has aged well pretty lol. Spencer Steer hit a two-run home run tonight and CES just mashed a grand slam.

At the 2022 trade deadline the Minnesota Twins traded for starting pitcher Tyler Mahle. While Mahle’s elbow injury threw water on the blockbuster deal, the stellar play from two of the prospects the Twins traded away will be what could haunt them for years to come. Image courtesy of Ray Acevedo-USA TODAY Sports While the Minnesota Twins paid a steep price when they traded for Tyler Mahle (three top-20 prospects), most considered the deal to be a good one as the Twins avoided trading away any of their top-five prospects in the deal. After all, there’s nothing more haunting for a fan base (or a front office) than trading away a future star and watching that player do damage for years on another team. Unfortunately for the Twins, not only did the Mahle Era in Minnesota go completely sideways, but it’s looking like two of the prospects that the Twins gave up in the trade could be guys who do damage on another team for years to come. Spencer Steer was the prized prospect that was traded away to the Cincinnati Reds in the Mahle deal. At the time of the trade, Steer was the sixth ranked prospect in Twins Daily’s prospect ranking as he was performing well at Triple-A at the time and was extremely close to the Majors. Steer got his feet wet in the big leagues late last season, but didn’t knock anyone’s socks off with a meager .632 OPS in 28 games to end the 2022 season. The 2023 season has been a completely different story for the right-hander. Through 50 games, Spencer Steer is slashing .288/.353/.485 with seven home runs and 26 RBI. Steer’s 23 extra base hits and .838 OPS would be first and second, respectively, on the Twins this season. Perhaps the most impressive part of Steer’s offensive numbers is that he had a slow start to the year. Through May 2, Steer had a .699 OPS. Since then, over his last 23 games, Steer has posted a .984 OPS with 14 extra base hits. While Steer’s defense certainly leaves more to be desired, his offensive arrow is pointing upward, and he is certainly someone that the Twins could be kicking themselves for trading away for a long time. The next highest-rated prospect that the Twins traded away for Mahle last July was corner infielder/designated hitter, Christian Encarnacion-Strand. At the time of the deal, Encarnacion-Strand was Twins Daily’s 16th ranked prospect. His bat was always a strength, but his limited defensive abilities hampered his ability to climb higher up the prospect ranks. While Encarnacion-Strand is still likely headed for a career at first base or designated hitter, his numbers at the plate in Triple-A this season have lessened the concerns about his defensive future and instead heightened the excitement about his future at the plate. In 31 games with the Louisville Bats, Encarnacion-Strand is slashing .341/.387/.710 with 13 home runs and 32 RBI. His 1.097 OPS leads all active minor leaguers and his call-up to the big leagues appears to be imminent. CES certainly needs to work on his eye at the plate, as his 39/9 K/BB ratio is less than ideal, but Encarnacion-Strand is mashing at the plate right now unlike any other player in the minors and, similar to Steer, is looking like a guy that could haunt the Minnesota Twins for years to come. How do you think that Steer and Encarnacion-Strand’s careers will play out in Cincinnati? Do you think these players will haunt the Twins? Leave a comment below and start the conversation! View full article

The Minnesota Twins have had some minor-league standouts this season, but they have also had some prospects who have been off to disappointing starts in 2023. Image courtesy of Rob Thompson, St. Paul Saints Baseball prospects can be some of the most volatile players to follow in all of sports. As young players moving up through various levels of competition in a short period of time, it can be expected to see extreme peaks and valleys, even for some of the most highly-touted prospects. While the Twins have certainly seen some promising starts for some of their top prospects (article coming soon…), there have been some disappointing starts as well. These three prospects have been off to the most disappointing starts of the 2023 season: Jose Salas, Cedar Rapids Kernels (A+) .154/.229/.214, 1 HR, 11 RBI, 36 K, 8 BB Twins Daily Prospect Rank: 12 Jose Salas was a borderline top-100 prospect that the Minnesota Twins picked up this offseason in the Pablo López/Luis Arraez swap after posting a .723 OPS across Low-A and High-A last in 2022 as a 19-year-old. While many were optimistic about the infielders bat, and his potential to turn into a top-notch prospect, the start to the 2023 season has been disastrous for the switch-hitter. In 135 plate appearances to start the season, Salas has posted an OPS of just .438 with just five extra base hits and a lowly 36/8 K/BB ratio. For these reasons, Twins Daily has dropped Salas from the eighth ranked prospect coming into the season down to 12. Salas has always excelled at getting on base throughout his young career as a prospect, but this season he has done anything but get on base with just a .230 on-base percentage through his first 34 games. Salas is still just 20 years old and has plenty of time to adjust to the pitching at the High-A level, but it’s been a disappointing start to the season to say the least. Simeon Woods Richardson, St. Paul Saints (AAA) 30 1/3 IP, 7.12 ERA, 1.78 WHIP, 8.0 K/9 Twins Daily Prospect Rank: 7 Simeon Woods Richardson came into the season as one of the likeliest prospects to join the Minnesota Twins rotation with an injury and, depending on his performance, stay up with the rotation as a key piece moving forward. After posting a 2.21 ERA in seven starts with the Saints in 2022, SWR appeared ready to take the next step in 2023. Things haven’t quite gone according to plan for Woods Richardson this season, though. Other than a spot start with the Twins in April (it didn’t go well), SWR has spent his entire season in St. Paul where he has posted a 7.12 ERA in seven starts with a 1.93 K/BB ratio. One big reason for the poor performance for SWR this season has been a lack of control. After walking just three batters per nine innings across multiple levels of the minor leagues in 2022, he has been walking 4.2 batters per nine innings this season. If Woods Richardson can get his control back in order and start throwing like he did last season, he could still get another chance up with the Twins later this season. If not, the Twins might be looking at a bullpen role for the right hander down the road. Emmanuel Rodriguez, Cedar Rapids Kernels (A+) .171/.326/.408, 5 HR, 15 RBI, 40 K, 17 BB Twins Daily Prospect Rank: 3 Coming into the season, some considered Emmanuel Rodriguez to be the Minnesota Twins prospect with the highest ceiling and that he might just be the Twins’ top prospect by the end of the 2023 season. While both of those statements might still be true, it hasn’t been an awesome start to the 2023 season for the left-handed prospect. After posting a .870 and 1.044 OPS in 2021 and 2022, respectively, Rodriguez has posted just a .734 OPS through his first 21 games with the Cedar Rapids Kernels this season. While Rodriguez still has shown similar power numbers to each of the last two seasons (five home runs in 95 plate appearances after posting nine home runs in 199 plate appearances in 2022), his eye at the plate has been extremely discouraging thus far. This season, Rodriguez has 41 strikeouts compared to just 18 walks. By comparison, last year the left hander struck out 52 times compared to 57 walks. It’s possible that injury has something to do with E-Rod’s struggles in 2023. Since coming off of the injured list with an abdominal strain on May 6, Rodriguez has just a .582 OPS with 24 strikeouts and 13 walks. Do you have confidence that the players listed above will turn things around? What other prospects have been off to disappointing starts? Leave a comment below and start the conversation! View full article

The Minnesota Twins are the clear favorites in the American League Central right now. Might the Detroit Tigers be the biggest threat for the division crown? Image courtesy of © Lon Horwedel-USA TODAY Sports Coming into the 2023 season, the American League Central was a clear two-team race between the Minnesota Twins and the Cleveland Guardians. In their preseason odds, Fangraphs had the Twins as the division favorites with a 38.7% chance of winning the division with the Guardians as a close second with a 33.9% chance, and the Chicago White Sox as the third most likely. We’re more than one quarter of the way through the season and the landscape of the American League Central has changed. While the Minnesota Twins have played about how well everyone projected they would (an 84-win pace) the rest of the division has been turned on its head. First of all, the Chicago White Sox have completely taken themselves out of the playoff picture. The White Sox are 11 games below .500, and that’s after a weekend sweep of the lowly Kansas City Royals. Additionally, the presumed division-favorite Cleveland Guardians have significantly underperformed. After Monday's games, the Cleveland Guardians stand at 21-26 with a -31 run differential and being freshly swept by the New York Mets. While the Guardians have suffered mostly because of their bats (they own a league-worst wRC+ of 77), they only have a league-average starting rotation and their all-world closer Emmanuel Clase leads the league in blown saves. Enter the Detroit Tigers. Coming out of the weekend, the second place team in the American League Central is the team that was originally projected to have the worst record in the division. The Detroit Tigers currently lead the Guardians by a game in the Central, and are just two and a half games back of the Minnesota Twins for the division lead. Similar to the Guardians, the Detroit Tigers have been terrible at the plate ranking just above Cleveland with a wRC+ of 82. On the pitching side, though, the Tigers have made real strides this year, ranking 12th in baseball in wOBA after finishing 26th in the same metric in 2022. A big reason for that has been Eduardo Rodriguez, who owns a 2.06 ERA, fourth best in the American League. Additionally, the return of the rising-star pitchers, Tarik Skubal and Matt Manning, appear to be on the horizon. What the Tigers really need in order to solidify themselves as the main competitor to the Minnesota Twins in the American League Central is for their star batting prospects, Spencer Torkelson and Riley Greene, to start meeting the lofty expectations that were set out for them and make the Detroit lineup a real threat. One area that the Detroit Tigers have an advantage over the Cleveland Guardians is in their potential for making mid-season additions. The Cleveland Guardians have repeatedly shown that they are not willing to spend money, and not likely to make much noise at the trade deadline. The Detroit Tigers, however, have shown that when they have a team with the potential to compete, they will make the necessary moves to put themselves in a position to do just that. The Twins don’t have much of a threat at all when it comes to the competition in the American League Central, but it will be interesting to see whether it’s the Cleveland Guardians who hit their stride and become the threat that we all expected them to be, or if it’s the Detroit Tigers who turn out to be the main competitor to the Minnesota Twins in 2023. View full article

On Wednesday morning, MLB.com released their latest Cy Young poll which featured two Minnesota Twins starters in the top five for the American League. Image courtesy of William Parmeter The Minnesota Twins have one of the best rotations in all of baseball through the first quarter of the MLB season. Twins starters rank second in the American League in ERA and first in strikeout rate. With a rotation as successful as the Minnesota Twins rotation has been, it’s unsurprising to see that they have two starting pitchers in the latest American League Cy Young Award poll that was released on Wednesday. Sonny Gray and Joe Ryan have both been having elite starts to the 2023 season. Through nine starts, Sonny Gray owns a 1.64 ERA which is best in the American League. Gray has yet to allow more than three earned runs in a start all season and his 10.9 K/9 is the best of his career. Arguably the most impressive part about Gray’s statistics through his first nine starts is that he has put up those numbers against some of the best teams in baseball, going against the likes of the Houston Astros, New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers. Joe Ryan has been having nearly just as good of a year as his right-handed rotation counterpart. Through eight starts, Ryan owns a 2.16 ERA, with a career-high K/9 of 10.3 and a WHIP of 0.84. Similar to Gray, Ryan has dominated elite offensive competition in the Astros, Yankees (x2) and Red Sox. Over his last four starts, Ryan has allowed just three earned runs with a 28/3 K/BB ratio. As shown in the latest Cy Young poll from MLB.com, the biggest competition to the Twins’ right handers for the award are Gerrit Cole, Shane McClanahan and Shohei Ohtani. Let’s take a look at how the pitchers stack up against each other. Of the starting pitchers in top 5 from MLB’s Cy Young poll, Sonny Gray and Joe Ryan rank first and third, respectively, in fWAR. Additionally, Sonny Gray ranks first in ERA while Joe Ryan ranks first in WHIP and K/BB ratio. Looking just at the numbers above, a strong case could be made that either Sonny Gray or Joe Ryan could be considered the front-runner for the award right now, with the obvious caveat that there is a ton of baseball left to be played. If either Sonny Gray or Joe Ryan do come away with the Cy Young hardware, they would be the first Minnesota Twins pitcher to do so since Johan Santana, who won the award in 2004 and 2006. (He should have won in 2005 as well. Thanks, Bartolo Colon…) Before Santana, the last Minnesota Twins pitcher to win the Cy Young Award was Frank “Sweet Music” Viola who won the award in 1988 with a 2.64 ERA and a league-leading 24 wins. Do you think that Joe Ryan or Sonny Gray have a real shot at winning the Cy Young Award this season? Leave a comment below and start the conversation! View full article

We are one quarter of the way through the 2023 season, which presents a good time to look at the bullpen hierarchy. How do the Twins bullpen arms stack up against each other? Who is at the top of the power rankings, and who is at the bottom? Image courtesy of Matt Blewett-USA TODAY Sports The nature of the reliever position is that things can change extremely quickly. Relief pitchers are notoriously up-and-down and the heirarchy can change very quickly. Now that we are one fourth through the season, let's take a look at how the bullpen stands right now. 1. Jhoan Duran As has been the case for over a year now, Jhoan Duran tops the list of Minnesota Twins relievers when it comes to confidence level. After posting a 1.86 ERA in a magnificent rookie season in 2022, Duran has an even lower ERA through 16 appearances in 2023 at 1.62. Though Duran has a lower ERA than last year, the underlying statistics say that Duran has had luck on his side to start the year. In fact, according to FIP (Fielding Independent Pitching) his ERA should be closer to 4.00 than to 2.00, likely because of his BB/9 which is more than twice as high as it was last year. Nitpicks aside, Duran is in the middle of another unbelievable season at the back of the Minnesota Twins bullpen and has repeatedly saved them from many late game, sticky situations. The right hander figures to remain atop this list for a long time. 2. Jorge López After a shaky first impression after being traded to the Minnesota Twins, Jorge López has been off to a great start in 2023, boasting a 1.37 ERA and 0.92 WHIP across 19 2/3 innings. López has cut down his walk numbers from last season and ticked up his strikeout numbers from where they were in 2022. López has pitched in the 8th inning or later in 15 out of his 20 appearances this season and should continue to be relied upon in high leverage roles all year. 3. Caleb Thielbar One of the most underrated players on the Minnesota Twins after rejoining the team in 2020, Caleb Thielbar picked up right where he left off in 2022, with yet another great start to the 2023 season. In 10 innings this season, Thielbar has a 1.80 ERA with a miniscule 1.8 BB/9. Because of his track record for consistency, Thielbar would have a good case for being second on this list if it weren’t for the oblique strain that has him on the injured list at the moment. The Twins are missing Thielbar’s left arm, and when he returns to health he should be expected to join the back of the bullpen with Duran and López. 4. Griffin Jax Coming into the 2023 season, Jax was assumed to be number two or three on this list after his breakout season in 2022 in which he acted primarily as the Twins’ setup man and posted a 3.36 ERA with a 9.7 K/9 in 72 1/3 innings. This season, though, Jax has been unable to keep base runners at bay, as evidenced by his 5.09 ERA. The underlying stats tell a different story for Jax, though, his FIP is an impressive 2.63 and his Statcast profile is as red as can be. 5. Brock Stewart Coming in at number six is Brock Stewart, who was signed by the Minnesota Twins to a minor-league deal last season as he worked his way back from Tommy John surgery. Stewart has been great for the Twins in limited action in 2023, pitching nine scoreless innings on the year thus far. Even as a minor-league call-up, the Twins have relied on Stewart in some key spots, as he has come into a tie game or one-run game in four of his eight appearances. Stewart has good stuff with a 96 MPH fastball and a 10.0 K/9. 6. Emilio Pagán Many Twins fans were surprised when the Twins offered Emilio Pagán arbitration this Winter, but the Twins believed in the reliever's stuff and identified him as a bounce-back candidate for 2023. Prior to Wednesday's loss to the Dodgers in which he gave up a grand slam, that seemed to be working reasonably well. While Pagán has shown some brief stints of good results in 2023, that was partly because the Twins limited the right-hander from facing high-leverage situations. As of Wednesday morning, among relievers, the right hander ranked sixth on the Twins in Leverage Index. The biggest development for Pagán this season had been that he has thus far avoided the long ball; after allowing over 1.5 HR/9 last season, he had yet to allow a home run prior to Wednesday's disastrous outing. 7. Jovani Moran After dominating in the Minors and recording a breakout season in the Majors in 2022, Jovani Moran has failed to build on that in 2023. In 16 1/3 innings, Moran has posted a 5.51 ERA with a WHIP of 1.59. In addition to his command struggles, Moran has been getting crushed by right-handed batters, an area of strength for him in the past. 8. Cole Sands Once a starting pitching prospect, Cole Sands has since moved to the bullpen as a long-relief arm. Sands lacks the elite stuff to become a back-end bullpen arm, but has shown some signs of success as a long man. 9. Jorge Alcala A once-promising prospect, Jorge Alcala has quickly seen his stock crater in the Twins’ bullpen over the past couple of years. In 2022, Alcala was injured nearly all season. In 2023, Alcala was seemingly healthy coming into the season, but has struggled mightily, allowing four home runs in just 15 1/3 innings. After being optioned to Triple-A for poor performance and recalled to the Majors, on Tuesday, Alcala was sent to the injured list with a right forearm strain. Do you agree with the bullpen power rankings? Leave a comment below and start the conversation! View full article