Hans Birkeland

The Twins' collapse was shocking, but it shouldn't have been. Their passivity and lack of energy was contagious throughout the lineup, which brought to mind a certain former St. Paul Saint. Image courtesy of © Kim Klement-Imagn Images There once was a player drafted second overall, who produced roughly to expectations over a 14 year career that included MVP votes, an All-Star appearance, and a World Series. His career OPS was .873, and he was a serviceable defender in right field. His career on-base percentage was a robust .384, just a hair under Joe Mauer’s .388. That player was J.D. Drew. Drew was an odd case. He did have just the one All-Star appearance, but twice, he produced an OPS north of 1.000. In fact, in his best season, 2004, he hit 31 home runs in 645 plate appearances and slashed .305/.436/.569. While he finished sixth for the MVP vote that year, he did not make the All-Star team, despite better numbers in the first half. What gives? The reasons and excuses why Drew did not receive the recognition a player of his skill level deserves are abundant, and kind of sad. The first is that he was stoic. He didn’t show a lot of emotion when he played, and was liable to strikeout looking and walk back to the dugout like he was next in line at the DMV. Fans don’t like that; they want players to take every negative outcome as a personal affront. Other players can feel this way, too, and in Drew’s case, even his manager, Tony La Russa, was publicly frustrated with a perceived “lack of passion.” The second issue people had with Drew is that he always seemed to have a nagging injury and wasn’t going to fight his front office on being placed on the injured list. He wanted to play closer to 100%, because anything significantly less than that would hurt his team. He played 104 games in his rookie season, 109 in his third, 100 in his fifth, 72 in his seventh, and 109 in his 10th. He wasn’t exactly Byron Buxton, but he did consistently miss quite a bit of time, in an era where that would get you called 'soft'. Stars of the day would always sprinkle in some outlier seasons marred by an injury they didn’t admit to until the season was over. Drew didn’t, and for that he became the poster boy for the prima donna hitter who made a lot of money and couldn’t post. That leads us to the third thing that made J.D. Drew an underappreciated star: He was a draft holdout and a Scott Boras client, back before Boras was a household name. He demanded $10 million to sign with the Philadelphia Phillies as the second overall pick, and they offered about a quarter of that, leading Drew to play the 1997 season with our very own St. Paul Saints. After signing with the Cardinals the next year, Drew quickly made his way to the majors, but sat out against the Phillies, the team he spurned, with a dubious hand injury. He then got the team’s bullpen catcher to wear his jersey to ward off the battery-throwing masses in Philly, only to be found out and heckled mercilessly. In a way, the heckling never stopped. As Drew got older, his baserunning (which had made him a 30-30 guy in college) became very station-to-station, with him not wanting to risk an injury that he would get mocked and called soft for. He took fewer risks in the outfield, becoming a below-average defender in his later years. He just stood in the batter's box, made good swing decisions, looked tired, and went home when the game was over. As I contemplated the career of J.D. Drew, I started to wonder: What would happen if a baseball team had a lineup composed of nine J.D. Drews? From a sabermetric perspective, the results would be unstoppable. A team with an .873 collective OPS, with each hitter averaging 25 home runs per 162 games while getting on base at a .384 clip would be astounding. Plug those numbers into a ZIPS or PECOTA projection, and surely that team would dominate, with even an average pitching staff. Except that just ain’t the way baseball works. If you want to know the downside of a team full of J.D. Drews, witness the collapse of the 2024 Minnesota Twins. Player after player, leaning into their back leg and waiting for a mistake, going station to station on the bases, being passive not just in their approach but in their overall mentality as competitors, consistently out-executed by opponents that would appear less talented. Sure, that's a lot of conjecture, but I've watched enough Cleveland Guardians games to know the difference. Twenty years ago, even 10 years ago, I would have dismissed this as complete and utter nonsense, but you need sparkplugs to win baseball games over a long season. Just having a bunch of good hitters isn’t enough, not for 162 games. Something needs to light the fire, because odd things happen in baseball. Squibbers ruin good pitching outings and rockets find gloves. You need a hair-on-fire, manic, obnoxious nightmare of a human being who plays crazy over-the-top baseball--whose will to beat the other team exceeds his actual talent level. You might need a couple of those guys. It might help to define what I’m talking about here. I think “Energy guy” might be the best descriptor using established baseball terminology. Energy guys are usually fast (Jarren Duran), but not always (Josh Naylor). They are demonstrative and do not wait for the game to come to them. In other words, their plan at the plate is, “If this pitcher does this, then I am doing this first pitch,” rather than “I hope I get ahead in the count and he throws me a fastball belt-high.” The Twins have one energy guy, in Buxton, and he (ahem) isn't always available. Sure, some guys have tried to fit the mold, but it hasn’t worked. Matt Wallner had some heinous bat flips, stole some crucial bases, and beat out a couple of sure double plays that really got the boys goin’. But as talented as he is, he’s too big, too bland, and too dependent on a pitcher putting a pitch somewhere he can hit it. He’s also a tinkerer, a guy constantly making minor changes to his swing to get it just right. Brooks Lee is similar, constantly fine-tuning his swings from both sides of the plate, and being quite honest about which was working at any point. He does have some passion to his game that we saw in September a few times, but those instances were few and far between. Like Wallner and Lee, Carlos Correa is a technician, not a sparkplug. So is Ryan Jeffers, at a lower level of performance. Same for Trevor Larnach, who had a great year, and tried to act as an energy guy at times, but that isn’t his personality. He drives the ball and takes walks; he isn’t the type to lean out over the plate and flip a down-and-away slider over the third baseman when that kind of result would just kill the opponent. José Miranda can be a clutch bad-ball hitter, but he needs to be healthy to do so, and that just hasn’t happened for any length of time thus far in his career. In 2023, Edouard Julien, Royce Lewis and Willi Castro sparked the team out of its first-half doldrums, but Julien is the definition of passive at the plate; Lewis never got his legs under him in the second half of 2024 (and was kind of whiny about it); and Castro perpetually looked like he needed to sit down for a minute following his All-Star selection, due to back troubles. The departing Max Kepler is J.D. Drew reincarnated, but with less talent. Christian Vázquez and Kyle Farmer were the team’s primary energy guys for various stretches, but they just aren’t good enough hitters for that to matter, nor do they possess anything resembling speed. The fact is, baseball is not played in a vacuum. It’s played between the ears, and certain guys provide value from a mental standpoint that others just don’t. The Mets are in the NLCS because they were sparked by minor league free agent José Iglesias. Keith Law doesn’t think he’s the reason, but every Mets player thinks he is, and that counts (Having Francisco Lindor doesn’t hurt, either. That's an energy guy, too.) The Yankees' whole dynamic changed with the addition of Jazz Chisholm. The Padres had Jackson Merrill, Luis Arraez and Manny Machado, and it seems as though the Guardians entirely consist of energy guys. Maybe momentum isn’t really a thing, but confidence is. If I’m in the on-deck circle down a run, and I see a player who doubles as the team’s mascot bloop a single over the second baseman and go crazy at first base, my mentality is completely shifted. There is blood in the water. The crowd is into it, the dugout is screaming, the opposing manager is pacing and the pitcher is liable to make a mistake. That’s what the Twins didn’t have this year. You can’t quantify upsetting a pitcher’s rhythm or shaking their confidence, but that’s a huge part of baseball. When a pitcher gets rattled, that’s when selective, talented, stationary hitters like Drew do their best work. As the 2023 Guardians showed, you need both types. Now for the Twins, Nick Gordon, Jorge Polanco and Arraez are gone and the pipeline for energy guys is questionable at best. Emmanuel Rodriguez will make his debut next year, but his approach at the plate is ultra-patient and doubters worry he may be too passive. Top ten global prospect Walker Jenkins is a pure hitter who works counts and drives the ball, and J.D. Drew might be a good comp for him if things break right. Given payroll limitations, DaShawn Keirsey Jr. might have a larger role next year regardless of whether the team wants to double down on a lineup full of even-keeled mistake hunters who are skeptical there is such a thing as a “double steal.” Keirsey is fast, aggressive and has tons of tattoos. He’s the closest thing this team has to what they lack. My hope is that the team leaves its pitching alone, especially the top three starters. The big move needs to come from the core (or future core) of its lineup. Lewis, Julien, Jeffers, Wallner and Larnach should all be on the table, as well as Rodriguez and maybe even Jenkins. It’s not that any of those players have a bad future ahead of them, but this team needs to diversify its lineup with speed, athleticism, and most importantly, energy. Otherwise, they are going to continue with months-long hitting slumps and job-insecure hitting coaches, and we'll continue wondering why it doesn't quite work. View full article

The Twins actually took a lead in this one! A couple of bad pitches from Bailey Ober reversed that trend, and the offense went quiet, as the team ended their year on a four-game losing streak, leaving their final record at 82-80. Image courtesy of © Matt Krohn-Imagn Images Box Score: Starting Pitcher: Bailey Ober: 5 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 4 K (74 Pitches, 55 Strikes, 74.3%) Home Runs: Carlos Santana (23), DaShawn Keirsey Jr. (1) Bottom 3 WPA: Royce Lewis (-.150), Scott Blewett (-.143), Ober (-.133) Win Probability Chart (Via Fangraphs): The season wound itself to a merciful end today, with the announcement that both Rocco Baldelli and Derek Falvey would return for the 2025 season preceding the game action. Why Baldelli or Falvey would want to stick around is another question. Bailey Ober made his 31st start of the year, with the only real goal to keep his ERA below 4.00 for the year (he entered at 3.94). He cruised through an Orioles lineup with nothing to play for with his change-up looking sharp initially, and his fastball back to 91-92 MPH. The Orioles countered with Albert Suarez, who has quietly delivered over 130 innings of above-average pitching for a Baltimore staff beset by injuries. Nothing jumps off the page for Suarez, but he has kept the O's in games, and he did so again. The Twins kept traffic on the bases, but the only runs they scored were on a second-inning home run for Carlos Santana, who wraps his year in Minnesota with 23 home runs; and the first major-league home for DaShawn Keirsey Jr., who stroked a ball into the overhang in right field in the fourth. Ober's change was a little less precise in the fifth inning. Playing with a 2-0 lead, Ober let his offspeed get hit for singles by Ryan O'Hearn and Cedric Mullins, and James McCann, who let two bats slip into his own dugout on swings his first at-bat, held on this time and crushed a change-up 105 MPH to flip the game for the Orioles. The ERA? 3.98. Jorge Alcala pitched a nice sixth inning, and the Twins tried to mount a rally in their half of that inning. Brooks Lee blooped a single to right, and Royce Lewis ripped a line drive up the middle that was speared by Orioles' second baseman Jordan Westburg, who then doubled off Lee. Lewis actually expressed frustration, as he threw his bat down in disgust. Maybe some sincere emotions will do the young star some good as opposed to his typical rendition of "wow this root canal is such a great opportunity!" I could see that being pretty annoying in a clubhouse. Cole Sands was sent out for the seventh, despite everyone knowing his knee wasn't right. He aggravated it and had to leave the game in favor of the overworked Scott Blewett, who tried to gut out his appearance but eventually allowed a bases loaded hit to Westburg as the Orioles expanded their lead to 5-2. Heston Kjerstad homered off of Randy Dobnak in the eighth for the final run of the game. Trends: Healthy Hurt Performing Contributing Low Impact IL/Minors C Ryan Jeffers 📉 Christian Vazquez 📉 1B Carlos Santana 📉 Alex Kirilloff 📉 Jose Miranda 📉 2B Edouard Julien 📉 Kyle Farmer 📈' 3B Royce Lewis 📈 SS Carlos Correa 📈 Brooks Lee 📉 LF Matt Wallner 📉 Trevor Larnach 📈 Austin Martin 📈 CF Byron Buxton 📈 Manuel Margot 📉 DaShawn Keirsey Jr. 📈 RF Max Kepler 📈 UTIL Willi Castro 📈 Michael Helman 📈 SP Pablo Lopez 📉 Bailey Ober 📈 Joe Ryan 📉 Chris Paddack 📈 RSP David Festa 📈 Zebby Matthews 📈 Simeon Woods Richardson 📉 CR Jhoan Duran 📉 Griffin Jax 📉 SR Brock Stewart 📉 Louie Varland 📈 Cole Sands 📈 MR Caleb Thielbar 📉 Scott Blewett 📈 Michael Tonkin 📈 LR Josh Winder 📉 Ronny Henriquez 📈 Brent Headrick 📉 Randy Dobnak 📈 What’s Next: The Twins business side will try to provide cover for the catastrophe they caused. Chris Paddack and Christian Vazquez will be traded for minimal returns so the receiving team will agree to pay their salaries. Tied to a chair with an apple in his mouth, Falvey will acquire Cooper Criswell from Boston to replace Paddack. Marco Raya will have his innings reduced back to four innings per start. Alcala will be hired as Pete Maki's personal butler in exchange for assurances he will be offered arbitration. Lee will figure out his left-handed swing, and proceed to hit .150 from the right side. First base will be manned by Ty France after signing a $4-million deal that represents the largest free agent expenditure of the offseason, and he will make 12-15 outs on the bases for no reason while slugging under .400. The Twins will pick up Will Brennan off waivers from the Guardians and give him a ton of playing time, before DFA'ing him in May. Alex Kirilloff will be traded to the Astros and hit .280/.340/.500. Jomboy Media will give the Pohlads $100 to put Twins games picture-in-picture during their warehouse events, but blackouts will remain. LaVelle E. Neal III will champion this as a smart business decision and remain single. Or..... Postgame Interviews: Bullpen Usage Chart: TUE WED THU FRI SAT TOT Blewett 20 0 39 0 17 76 Tonkin 25 0 18 18 0 61 Alcalá 0 20 17 0 18 55 Varland 0 48 0 0 0 48 Sands 0 16 17 0 13 46 Durán 0 14 31 0 0 45 Jax 0 20 13 0 0 33 Dobnak 0 0 0 0 30 30 Thielbar 3 0 11 15 0 29 Topa 0 8 5 0 0 13 View full article

With their season in the balance, the Twins welcomed the National League's worst team, featuring a manager who knows he won't return for 2025. Of course, they lost easily, driving a stake further into the heart of a depressing season. Image courtesy of © Bruce Kluckhohn-Imagn Images Box Score: Starting Pitcher: Bailey Ober: 5 IP, 8 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 7 K (89 Pitches, 58 Strikes, 65.1%) Home Runs: None Bottom 3 WPA: Ober (-.217), Kyle Farmer (-.110), Ryan Jeffers (-.083) Win Probability Chart (Via Fangraphs): If the Twins' season was a single game, they fell behind early but bounced back and carried an eight-run lead into the fifth. They allowed two runs in that inning, two more in the sixth, two more in the seventh, and two more in the eighth. Another run scored in the ninth, and they now faced a deficit for the first time since May. Fortunately, they had Bailey Ober pitching on "Bark at the Park" night. Unfortunately, the Miami Marlins have been a trap team their entire existence. Miami started Ryan Weathers, the former San Diego top prospect and son of former Reds closer, David Weathers. He throws hard from the left side and has had some success this year. The Twins rolled out a 100% righty lineup with their season on the line and threatened in the first. Carlos Correa hit a screaming double over the center fielder and Byron Buxton was hit by a pitch. Carlos Santana then popped out and Royce Lewis was retired on a sharp line drive (107 MPH) right to right fielder Jesus Sanchez. Ober was ready to cruise against one of the worst lineups in baseball, but what Miami lacks in star power they make up for in post-hype prospects that really aren't that bad, Weathers included. The second began with a homer from Jonah Bride off a fastball at the top of the zone that Miami's DH got on top of, something you rarely see with Ober's fastball when located well. Oh well, solo home runs won't kill you. Except Ober then hit Derek Hill with a pitch with two outs, allowed a bloop hit to Otto Lopez and then left a pitch up in the zone to light-hitting catcher Nick Fortes, who smacked a single the other way to score the game's second run. Ober was clearly frustrated and threw another mistake to Xavier Edwards, who doubled to left-center to score two more runs. In the blink of an eye, the score was 4-0. Ober's velocity was down a bit, sitting at 90 MPH and dipping into the 80s at points. He also left a few cutters hanging in the middle of the zone (see above), and not all of them were hit, or even swung at. In short, it could have been worse. The Twins put traffic on in most innings, and with one out in the third, Lewis rifled a base hit through the left side to score Buxton, who had reached on an infield hit and advanced on a Santana walk. The trouble was that Kyle Farmer hit into an inning ending double play. It's funny, but Farmer is kind of who you wanted to see in that situation, with his recent hot-hitting and career-long ability to punish left-handed pitching. As the Twins and their fans have learned, when your season is circling the toilet, you can't un-flush. Correa delivered his second hit in the fifth with one out, and Buxton doubled to the corner to put runners on second and third with Santana up facing a lefty. The Twins first baseman was retired on a foul pop up and Lewis tapped to third to waste another opportunity. Ober gutted his way through five innings, but walked Derek Hill to start the sixth and was removed for the Twins new best pitcher, Scott Blewett, who quickly got a double play ball and got through the inning unscathed. Matt Wallner was called upon to pinch hit in the sixth and struck out while being frozen on a breaking ball, He then grabbed his side and was removed from the game. That is one injury this team cannot afford; Wallner has been their only effective and healthy hitter for a while now. Willi Castro led off the seventh with a 3-2 single, but Brooks Lee tapped out, Correa struck out, and Buxton flied out to end whatever threat there was. A last flicker of hope was extinguished in the eighth. Santana led of with a walk against tough righty Anthony Bender. Trevor Larnach, hitting for Wallner, laced a single to center following a lineout from Lewis. Jeffers then popped out for the twelfth time in his last eleven at-bats, and the inning was left to the forgotten Edouard Julien, who hadn't taken a plate appearance in a week. One thing I've noticed about Julien is that his opposite-field fly balls are just about ten feet shorter than last year and right on queue, he flew out short of the warning track to end the inning. Cole Irvin pitched a scoreless inning despite himself (two walks, one wild pitch). Trends: Healthy Hurt Performing Contributing Low Impact IL/Minors C Ryan Jeffers 📉 Christian Vazquez 📉 1B Carlos Santana 📉 Alex Kirilloff 📉 Jose Miranda 📉 2B Edouard Julien 📉 Kyle Farmer 📈' 3B Royce Lewis 📈 SS Carlos Correa 📈 Brooks Lee 📉 LF Matt Wallner 📉 Trevor Larnach 📈 Austin Martin 📉 CF Byron Buxton 📈 Manuel Margot 📉 DaShawn Keirsey Jr. 📈 RF Max Kepler 📈 UTIL Willi Castro 📈 Michael Helman 📈 SP Pablo Lopez 📉 Bailey Ober Joe Ryan 📉 Chris Paddack 📈 RSP David Festa 📈 Zebby Matthews 📈 Simeon Woods Richardson 📉 CR Jhoan Duran 📉 Griffin Jax 📉 SR Brock Stewart 📉 Cole Irvin 📉 Cole Sands 📈 MR Caleb Thielbar 📈 Scott Blewett 📈 Michael Tonkin 📈 Louie Varland 📈 LR Josh Winder 📉 Ronny Henriquez 📈 Brent Headrick 📉 Diego Castillo 📈 What’s Next: Simeon Woods Richardson (5-5, 4.00 ERA) opposes Edward Cabrera (4-8, 5.12 ERA) as the Twins play out the string. Cabrera has great stuff and an incredible change-up, and was the subject of Twitter-based trade speculation last off-season, In reality, he has struggled with injuries and command in his brief career, but also scouts should throw out positive results against the Twins in the past month. Postgame Interviews: (Coming soon) Bullpen Usage Chart: FRI SAT SUN MON TUE TOT Tonkin 14 0 37 0 25 76 Headrick 0 0 60 0 0 60 Irvin 0 0 25 0 19 44 Blewett 12 0 7 0 20 39 Sands 16 0 20 0 0 36 Thielbar 10 0 17 0 3 30 Durán 20 0 0 0 0 20 Varland 13 0 0 0 0 13 Jax 8 0 0 0 0 8 View full article

Coming off a win that has been described as both "gifted" and the "best win of the year," the Twins decided to take game one of today's doubleheader off. Nick Pivetta dominated them on the mound and Triston Casas outscored the Twins by six runs by himself. Image courtesy of © Eric Canha-Imagn Images Box Score: Starting Pitcher: Pablo Lopez: 4 IP, 9 H, 7 ER, 1 BB 3 K (86 Pitches, 56 Strikes, 65.1%) Home Runs: None Bottom 3 WPA: Lopez (-.315), Willi Castro (-.060), Trevor Larnach (-.056) Win Probability Chart (Via Fangraphs): Following a merciful rainout of Saturday's game, there was a lot on the line in game one of a doubleheader against the Red Sox at Fenway Park. Pablo López, who carried a 1.12 ERA over the past month (almost exactly coinciding with the team's freefall), faced a Boston lineup now lacking its $300-million superstar, Rafael Devers, who finally called it quits on the season after playing through injuries in both of his shoulders for the past few months. The Twins got right to work against Red Sox starter, Nick Pivetta, who is as likely to strike out 10 as he is to serve up five home runs in a start. Byron Buxton led off by flipping a single to right field. Trevor Larnach advanced him to second with a hard smash that was expertly gloved by Boston's first baseman, Triston Casas. Carlos Correa walked, and Buxton advanced to third on a curious interference play. Pivetta tried to pick Buxton off of second base, and in catching the ball, shortstop Trevor Story put his knee down to block Buxton's access to the base. The umpiring crew conferred and granted Buxton third base, much to Boston manager Alex Cora's chagrin. Cora made a whole production out of his displeasure and was ejected from the game pretty quickly. That may have given Pivetta the breather he needed, as he struck out Matt Wallner, walked Royce Lewis and induced a popout from Willi Castro to end the threat. That momentum swing was compounded when, after an impressive strikeout of Jarren Duran, López induced a weak dribbler from Romy Gonzalez, which hit first base and popped into Carlos Santana's chest for a gifted single. Looking for a ground-ball double play, Lopez got the grounder off the bat of the slow-footed Masataka Yoshida, but it scooted past the shifted Lewis for another single. Story struck out on a high fastball, but Casas was waiting for a fastball and got one down in the zone that he crushed for a three-run home run. After an uneventful second inning, López got Gonzalez to ground out to start the third. Yoshida and Story both singled on elevated offspeed pitches, which brought up Casas once again. This time, López started him with a changeup, naturally, but with the count 2-2, he tried to sneak a fastball by him up and away. Casas lifted it the other way, over the Green Monster for another three-run bomb. Red Sox 6, Twins 0. López's velocity had been trending up recently, with some of his fastest career pitches coming in the past month. Today, he threw quite a few 93-MPH fastballs and topped out at 95 MPH. The Twins scratched across a run in the fourth, with a Castro infield single, groundout, sacrifice fly and error. Buxton ended the inning with a line shot toward the Pesky Pole, which right fielder Wilyer Abreau made a tremendous catch on as he ran into the wall. What looked like maybe a 6-3 game with Buxton's ball in the air quickly became 7-1. Duran singled and stole second, and Gonzalez hit a five-hopper up the middle to score the speedy leadoff man. López was done after four, and newly recalled Brent Headrick got to make his season debut against... Triston Casas. Headrick's second pitch of his year was a fastball at the top of the zone that Casas pummeled 423 feet, past the triangle in center field for his third home run in five innings. Casas, who tore his rib cage cartilage in April and missed four months, is a big reason why the Red Sox feel confident about their future (in addition to three top-25 global prospects in the high minors). He posted an .856 OPS his rookie year in 2023 and added about 80 points to his 2024 OPS just today. The Twins had traffic in each of their five innings against Pivetta, but went down 1-2-3 against fungible reliever Luis Garcia in the sixth, which prompted Rocco Baldelli to throw in the towel and remove Correa and Buxton from the game. They made nary a whimper the rest of the game as the Boston bullpen, almost 100% responsible for their fall from contention as a team, cruised to victory. Trends: Healthy Hurt Performing Contributing Low Impact IL/Minors C Ryan Jeffers 📉 Christian Vazquez 📈 1B Carlos Santana 📉 Alex Kirilloff 📉 Jose Miranda 📉 2B Edouard Julien 📉 Kyle Farmer 📈' 3B Royce Lewis 📈 SS Carlos Correa 📈 Brooks Lee 📉 LF Matt Wallner 📈 Trevor Larnach 📈 Austin Martin 📉 CF Byron Buxton 📈 Manuel Margot 📉 DaShawn Keirsey Jr. 📈 RF Max Kepler 📈 UTIL Willi Castro 📈 Michael Helman 📈 SP Pablo Lopez 📉 Bailey Ober 📈 Joe Ryan 📉 Chris Paddack 📈 RSP David Festa 📉 Zebby Matthews 📈 Simeon Woods Richardson 📉 CR Jhoan Duran 📉 Griffin Jax 📉 SR Brock Stewart 📉 Cole Irvin 📈 Cole Sands 📈 MR Caleb Thielbar 📈 Scott Blewett 📈 Michael Tonkin 📈 Louie Varland LR Josh Winder 📉 Ronny Henriquez 📈 Brent Headrick 📉 Diego Castillo 📈 What’s Next: Zebby Matthews (1-3, 6.30 ERA) goes against Kutter Crawford (8-15, 4.19 ERA) as the Twins try to salvage a split of the double header. Crawford is a good pitcher despite the inflated surface numbers, as opposing hitters have hit a combined .220 over the past two seasons. He does like to give up home runs, however, allowing a league-leading 33 of them this year in 171 innings pitched. And yes, he does throw a cutter. Postgame Interviews: (Coming soon) Bullpen Usage Chart: WED THU FRI SAT SUN TOT Headrick 0 0 0 0 60 60 Varland 10 16 13 0 0 39 Sands 0 17 16 0 0 33 Durán 11 0 20 0 0 31 Irvin 0 30 0 0 0 30 Jax 0 15 8 0 0 23 Thielbar 0 12 10 0 0 22 Blewett 0 0 12 0 7 19 Tonkin 2 0 14 0 0 16 View full article

It wasn't without some scary moments, but the Twins held everything together this time, collecting a much-needed and relatively straightforward win in Cleveland. Image courtesy of © David Richard-USA TODAY Sports Box Score: Starting Pitcher: Zebby Matthews: 4 2/3 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K (76 Pitches, 47 Strikes, 61.8%) Home Runs: Willi Castro (12) Bottom 3 WPA: Matt Wallner (.250), Castro (.205), Matthews (.121) Win Probability Chart (Via Fangraphs): Full disclosure: I wouldn't have watched this game if I wasn't assigned to report on it. Watching the Guardians is excruciating, worse than any Yankee game, including the playoffs. If I have to watch the Twins carry a one- or two-run lead to the late innings and that godforsaken Will Brennan gets one more bloop hit to set off a rally, I will not be in a healthy place mentally. I would gladly prefer that José Ramírez, whom I dislike personally for the market impacts of his contract (as well as his flagrant assault of Tim Anderson), actually win one of these games for Cleveland, instead of going 0-4 and letting some weird-looking rookie drive home the go-ahead run for the 40th time in three years, after the Twins blew easy scoring chances in each of innings two through six. Just for a change of pace; I expect to lose, just mix it up a little. Sometimes when you lose all hope, that's all you need. Today's game featured two rookies, Zebby Matthews for Minnesota, and Gavin Williams for Cleveland. Williams was much-heralded as a prospect, and watching him pitch with his hammer curve, 94 MPH cutter and 98 MPH fastball, its hard to imagine how he has an ERA over 5.00, but he has given up a lot of hard contact. Matthews is still figuring out how many strikes to throw and when, and if tonight didn't go well, I wouldn't have been surprised if newly signed Cole Irvin takes his final two starts of the year. Matthews certainly looked like he was pitching for his job at the start, hitting 97 MPH with his fastball and retiring the first five hitters he faced. After a walk to Monday night's hero, Kyle Manzardo, Brennan delivered his customary bloop hit, but Matthews struck out Bo Naylor on a sharp slider to end the threat. Williams pitched well against the Twins in August, and cruised through the first few innings, getting a lot of chase from aggressive Twins hitters. Ryan Jeffers broke the seal with a swinging bunt to start the third, and after two outs, Byron Buxton worked a walk. That brought up Matt Wallner, who was in a 0-17 skid. He fell behind 0-2, but took a tough cutter for a ball and then stroked a mistake fastball into right field to score Jeffers. Matthews allowed a runner into scoring position for Ramírez with two outs in the third, but struck out Cleveland's third baseman with a darting slider way out of the zone for the third out. But hey, if these games were won in the first three or four innings, the Twins would be 8-2 in these match-ups, not 2-8. Right on cue, Lane Thomas demolished a fastball 424 feet from Matthews in the bottom of the fourth. Matthews didn't let that snowball, however, and retired the side after the homer, including a challenge strikeout of Brennan on a middle-middle fastball. The Twins responded with two outs in the fifth. Buxton, whom we were all concerned would be rusty and/or limited physically coming back from his hip injury (which is by no means healed), rocketed a ball 107 MPH into the gap and easily turned the hit into a double, despite the ball being cut off by the center fielder. Wallner then fought a ball off his hands over Andrés Giménez's outstretched glove to score Buxton. Matthews allowed a leadoff hit in the fifth, but got a key double play from Brayan Rocchio, who was initially attempting to bunt. Facing the lineup a third time, he allowed a sharp single to Angel Martinez, which prompted Rocco Baldelli to turn to his new acquisition, lefty starter Cole Irvin. Irvin got Giménez on a one-hopper to Royce Lewis, and the game marched on, a slow drumbeat toward the inevitable--or so it seemed. Twins Daily's winning "Make It Official!" game recaps are sponsored by Official Fried Chicken, which you can find in center field of Target Field. With a name like "Official," we know we have to be the best in the game every day, and from your first bite, you'll know that's a promise we make good on. With one out in the top of the seventh, Buxton drew his second walk of the game. Baldelli was then faced with a test: Wallner was due up and the Guardians were bringing in lefty Tim Herrin. Manuel Margot has more range in right field and is employed to hit lefties, but he is 0-28 pinch-hitting this year. Make that 0-29, as he chopped into an inning-ending double play. The drumbeats grew louder. Baldelli made, perhaps, an even more curious decision in the bottom of the frame, with Ronny Henriquez taking over for Sands. This was partially a result of an even stranger decision from the front office: the optioning of Jorge Alcalá. Manzardo bleeds a single up the middle. Myles Straw pinch runs (he's fast). Brennan bats. Henriquez picks to first and... Straw is OUT? Has the curse been broken? With no momentum to capitalize on, Brennan actually makes an out. That brings up Cleveland's no-hit, no-field catcher, Bo Naylor. He grounds out. What is going on here? Is Henriquez an answer? Did the offbeat choice to go to a middle reliever in a high-leverage spot throw off the cruel universe's rhythm? The Guardians then brought in their most flammable reliever, Nick Sandlin. He got Santana to pop out and fooled Lewis so badly on a slider that trainers came out to check on the oft-injured slugger's wrist. But there is a reason Sandlin is the bane of every Cleveland fan's existence: Larnach stroked a single and then the struggling and forgotten Willi Castro murdered a fastball middle-in to change the game and give the Twins a three-run lead. What am I talking about? A three-run lead late against Cleveland is more like a two-run deficit. In any case, Jhoan Durán was brought in to keep them in the game. But he didn't let the leadoff hitter on. He got the next guy, too, with a tremendous diving stop from Santana robbing Martinez of a sure hit. Then Giménez, who exists only to play defense and torment the Twins, struck out on an excellent Durán curveball. This one was really going to hurt. It felt like that scene in the Lord of the Rings when the stupidest hobbit drops the chain down the well. It looked for a bit like the Twins' most hobbit-like reliever, Louie Varland, was coming in to close it out, but this was a clever ruse by Baldelli, who opted to use Durán for another inning. To no one's surprise, Ramírez doubled. The good Naylor struck out. Lane Thomas worked the count to 3-2. Durán's pitch count got to 30. A close pitch was called ball four, and Griffin Jax was summoned with the tying run at home plate. All-Star David Fry was summoned to pinch-hit. Jax manhandled him, striking out Fry on four pitches. But Brennan was next, and despite having little power, you could tell he was trying to tie the game up with one swing. Instead, Jax got him to tap a ball to Brooks Lee, who booted the ball, giving the Guardians life. Visions of the hole in C.J. Cron's glove whirled around my head. But before the moment could sink in and sink the Twins, Bo Naylor swung at the first pitch and tapped back to Jax, who took the ball himself for the game-winning out. Trends: Healthy Hurt Performing Contributing Low Impact IL/Minors C Ryan Jeffers 📉 Christian Vazquez 📈 1B Carlos Santana 📈 Alex Kirilloff 📉 Jose Miranda 📉 2B Edouard Julien 📉 Kyle Farmer 📈' 3B Royce Lewis 📈 SS Carlos Correa 📈 Brooks Lee 📈 LF Matt Wallner 📈 Trevor Larnach 📈 Austin Martin 📉 CF Byron Buxton 📈 Manuel Margot 📉 DaShawn Keirsey Jr. 📈 RF Max Kepler 📉 UTIL Willi Castro 📈 Michael Helman 📈 SP Pablo Lopez 📈 Bailey Ober 📈 Joe Ryan 📉 Chris Paddack 📈 RSP David Festa 📉 Zebby Matthews 📈 Simeon Woods Richardson 📉 CR Jhoan Duran 📉 Griffin Jax 📉 SR Brock Stewart 📉 Cole Irvin 📈 Cole Sands 📈 MR Caleb Thielbar 📈 Scott Blewett 📈 Michael Tonkin 📈 Louie Varland 📉 LR Josh Winder 📉 Ronny Henriquez 📈 Randy Dobnak 📉 Diego Castillo 📈 Stray Notes: -This team has very little speed to work with. With Larnach, who can't run due to a hamstring issue, on first in the eighth, the Twins pinch-running options were Christian Vazquez, Jose Miranda and the footless Carlos Correa. Ouch. -How hurt is Miranda exactly? He hasn't played either of the Cleveland games and Margot was the choice to pinch-hit for Wallner. He had a back issue in July and when he returned got drilled in the head by a fastball. Perhaps it is some combination of those maladies, or perhaps a new issue has surfaced? What’s Next: Bailey Ober (12-7, 3.90 ERA) opposes Tanner Bibee (11-8, 3.60 ERA) in game three of the series. Ober has been pretty great outside of a couple of fluke outings and fluke innings, and dominated the Guardians at Target Field in August. Bibee has been no slouch himself, and is likely the de facto ace of the Guardian's staff. He has had plenty of success against the Twins, with a 2.73 ERA over six starts in his career. Postgame Interviews: Bullpen Usage Chart: FRI SAT SUN MON TUE TOT Sands 0 0 36 0 14 50 Blewett 0 41 0 0 0 41 Thielbar 0 27 0 13 0 40 Durán 0 0 0 0 30 30 Varland 0 29 0 0 0 29 Jax 0 0 0 21 8 29 Tonkin 28 0 0 0 0 28 Henríquez 0 0 17 0 10 27 Irvin 0 0 0 0 3 3 View full article

In a game the Twins had to win, they certainly set things up to mirror their recent losses, with a short start from a rookie pitcher and a sleepy lineup for the first five innings. They turned it on from there, though, with a big RBI single from the struggling Brooks Lee and a huge home run from human security blanket Carlos Santana. Image courtesy of © Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports Box Score: Starting Pitcher: David Festa: 3 2/3 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 4 K (72 Pitches, 40 Strikes, 55.5%) Home Runs: Carlos Santana (22) Top 3 WPA: Santana (.252), Brooks Lee (.224), Ryan Jeffers (.162) Win Probability Chart (Via Fangraphs): The Twins were teetering once again, following two rough losses to a mediocre Reds team. Their stars, Byron Buxton and Carlos Correa, returned over the weekend, but couldn't overcome major blowups from Jorge Alcalá and Louie Varland. Prime Barry Bonds wouldn't have helped, either. Today, both players were given the day off to get them as fresh as possible for Monday's pivotal series in Cleveland. Early on, it looked like David Festa was going to throw a gem. He was locating, and his stuff looked electric, aside from throwing the first pitch right off of a cyst on Jonathan India's elbow. India quickly pulled a Torii Hunter and stole second and advanced to third on a groundout from Elly De La Cruz. He tried to come home on the contact play, but was gunned down by Royce Lewis for the second out. Festa then struck out TJ Friedl on a nasty changeup to end the frame. He got three more easy grounders in the second, but then struck out Noelvi Marte, India and De La Cruz in convincing fashion in the third. The second time through the lineup, however, was not as crisp as far as location. He left a changeup up to Tyler Stephenson and a slider on a platter to Spencer Steer in the fourth. Stephenson lined a sharp single and Steer lined a triple hard off the scoreboard for the game's first run. Ty France then delivered a sacrifice fly to double the deficit. That looked tragically difficult to overcome, since this lineup has struggled against non-Angels pitching in recent weeks. Opposing Festa was the Reds' first-round pick from last year, Rhett Lowder. The rookie was selected two picks after the Twins took Walker Jenkins, so Reds fans are pretty jazzed about the guy, and he looked great. It is odd to see pitchability be a carrying trait for a young pitcher, but Lowder was as-advertised, pitching to all quadrants of the strike zone with a darting two-seamer, fading change and sweeping slider. The Twins made some hard contact in the first, including a Lewis 108-MPH single, and a Trevor Larnach 112-MPH lineout to end the inning. But that's how the script has been lately. They couldn't get anything going for a while following that promising first inning, and Festa didn't end up getting the final out in the fourth. Determined not to give up the big hit and big inning that has plagued the Twins lately, Festa tried to be too fine and walked his last two batters. He exited with the bases loaded, and ask Zebby Matthews or Simeon Woods Richardson how that has gone lately. Fortunately, in this case, Ronny Henriquez induced India to hit a grounder up the middle that Kyle Farmer made a nice play on, and that I would feel queasy imagining Edouard Julien attempting. The Twins quickly got things going in their half of the fourth. Lewis led off with another sharp single, and Carlos Santana got him to third with a single of his own. With no outs, the Twins could afford to be conservative with their baserunning, but Lewis had no interest in that- Larnach dribbled a ball up the first base line, and first baseman Ty France gloved it, stepped on first and then threw to home to get Lewis in a rundown, a crushing double play. Fortunately, Willi Castro flipped a single on the next pitch, scoring Santana and getting something out of the inning. Twins Daily's winning "Make It Official!" game recaps are sponsored by Official Fried Chicken, which you can find in center field of Target Field. With a name like "Official," we know we have to be the best in the game every day, and from your first bite, you'll know that's a promise we make good on. The Reds greeted Henriquez in the fifth with consecutive singles from De La Cruz and Stephenson. However, De La Cruz got greedy trying to stretch a bleeder up the middle into a double, and was thrown out by Castro, with an athletic, spinning tag from Brooks Lee securing the out. Henriquez was able to turn that good fortune into a scoreless inning, and the Twins were through five with only two runs allowed. The Twins finally chased Lowder in the sixth, as the young righty appeared to tire, allowing a sharp lineout to Lewis and a double to right from Santana, followed by a walk to Larnach. Tony Santillan came in, struck out Willi Castro and got ahead of Ryan Jeffers 0-2. Jeffers hung in against some tough pitches and eventually got hold of a hanging slider, roping it to left for a game-tying double. That brought up the struggling Lee, who looked bad on a couple of swings en route to a 2-2 count against the high-octane Santillan. He ended up getting on top of a high fastball, though, lacing it into center field for a game-breaking two-run single. Cole Sands had entered the game in the sixth and delivered a scoreless frame with two strikeouts. He returned for the seventh, and that inning started forebodingly, as De La Cruz walked and was looking for his 100th career stolen base (he has not played two full seasons yet). Sands did a decent job of varying his delivery and De La Cruz got a mediocre jump. Jeffers threw high, but Farmer tagged the speedy Reds shortstop on the backside, and the out was called after a coach's challenge. Sands then struck out Stephenson (who is a menace when healthy) on a fastball in on his hands, and Steer popped out to end the inning. Santana added some insurance in the seventh. After Lewis drew a two-out walk, the Twins first baseman lifted a Justin Wilson cutter off the facing of the second deck in left field. Larnach followed with a ringing double off the lefty, Castro was hit by a pitch, and Jeffers singled to load the bases back up for Lee, who now has only three hits in his last 28 at-bats. All three have produced multiple RBIs, as Lee cleared the bases from the left side with a line shot down the first base line that ended up a triple. Not since Brandon Inge was still hobbling around for Detroit has a less productive hitter produced so many big hits in such a short time. Jorge Alcalá threw two scoreless innings to seal the victory after bleaching his hair. He did look less tense, although the lead was established by the time he came in. Trends: Healthy Hurt Performing Contributing Low Impact IL/Minors C Ryan Jeffers 📈 Christian Vazquez 📈 1B Carlos Santana 📈 Alex Kirilloff 📉 Jose Miranda 📉 2B Edouard Julien 📉 Kyle Farmer 📈' 3B Royce Lewis 📈 SS Carlos Correa 📈 Brooks Lee 📈 LF Matt Wallner 📈 Trevor Larnach 📈 Austin Martin 📉 CF Byron Buxton 📈 Manuel Margot 📉 DaShawn Keirsey Jr. 📈 RF Max Kepler 📉 UTIL Willi Castro 📉 Michael Helman 📈 SP Pablo Lopez 📈 Bailey Ober 📈 Joe Ryan 📉 Chris Paddack 📈 RSP David Festa 📉 Zebby Matthews 📉 Simeon Woods Richardson 📉 CR Jhoan Duran 📉 Griffin Jax 📈 SR Brock Stewart 📉 Jorge Alcala 📉 Cole Sands 📈 MR Caleb Thielbar 📈 Scott Blewett 📈 Michael Tonkin 📈 Louie Varland 📉 LR Josh Winder 📉 Ronny Henriquez 📈 Randy Dobnak 📉 Diego Castillo 📈 Stray Notes: -Matt Wallner hit leadoff and had some excellent at-bats with nothing to show for it. -The Twins have suffered significant player injuries against the Reds in recent years. In 2020, Buxton was hit in the head by a Lucas Sims pitch and his presence in the postseason that year was depressing as a result. In 2021, Buxton was just returning from a hip injury and got hit on the hand by Tyler Mahle and missed two more months. In 2023, Correa sustained the rupture in his plantar fasciitis in Cincinnati, while Lewis strained his hamstring which put his postseason status in doubt. -Larnach was really laboring around the bases today, with his turf toe injury still lingering. He barely made it to second on his seventh inning double. What’s Next: Pablo Lopez (15-8, 3.88 ERA) faces off against the Guardians' Matthew Boyd (2-1, 2.18 ERA). Teams have thought they could "fix" Boyd for a decade now, and wouldn't you know it, the Guardians may have actually found something in him just in time to prop up their rotation for the stretch run. The Twins need a series win in the four game set in the worst way, not to catch Cleveland, but to maintain their tenuous hold on the sixth wild card spot. Postgame Interviews: (coming soon) Bullpen Usage Chart: WED THU FRI SAT SUN TOT Alcalá 14 0 9 0 31 54 Sands 16 0 0 0 36 52 Thielbar 18 0 0 27 0 45 Blewett 0 0 0 41 0 41 Varland 0 0 0 29 0 29 Tonkin 0 0 28 0 0 28 Durán 22 0 0 0 0 22 Jax 20 0 0 0 0 20 Henríquez 0 0 0 0 17 17 View full article

The Twins uh, haven't been great lately. Fortunately for them, the Angels haven't been a functional team for a decade. Kyle Farmer roused the rally sausage out of retirement with a big three-run home run, and Pablo Lopez survived a mid-game rally to continue his roll as the Twins finally got an easy(ish) win. Image courtesy of © Jordan Johnson-Imagn Images Box Score: Starting Pitcher: Pablo Lopez: 7 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 10 K (105 Pitches, 70 Strikes, 66.6%) Home Runs: Kyle Farmer (5), Matt Wallner (12), Carlos Santana (21) Top 3 WPA: Santana (.236), Farmer (.192), Lopez (0.42) Win Probability Chart (Via Fangraphs): Following the Twins latest loss, this time to the woeful Angels of Anaheim, it was fair to ask if this was rock bottom. A 6-14 stretch will prompt those kinds of questions, but if Monday was the bottom, that meant Tuesday had to be better by default. Two factors supported that argument: Pablo Lopez has been great in the second half, but unbeknownst to many, so has Kyle Farmer, or at least since his return from the IL in August. He has a .568 slugging percentage since that point, and following a rare series of singles to start the second inning, demolished a three run homer to give the Twins a comfortable lead for the first time since the series finale in San Diego several weeks ago. But Lopez set the tone early, showcasing the increasingly potent raw stuff he has featured lately. He pitched around a double from Zach Neto in the first, and was in control from there, leaning heavily on his fastballs, but also commanding his secondary pitches well, including quite a few curveballs. Hitters that came up with an aggressive approach never got the pitch they were looking for, particularly the Angels' young catcher, Logan O'Hoppe, who struck out twice on a steady diet of offspeed stuff. Hitters that worked the count couldn't get the barrel on the ball, either. Meanwhile the Twins had little trouble getting out of their funk facing Angels righty Griffin Canning, who had a mild amount of hype as a prospect, but hasn't really developed into anything, with a 4.71 career ERA around a multitude of injuries and demotions. Matt Wallner hit a massive home run in the third, a healthy 448 feet, and Ryan Jeffers delivered a sacrifice fly later in the frame to make the game 6-0. But this team is still fighting it, and in the fifth, with Lopez still cruising, Edouard Julien got in front of a hot smash from Angels rookie Bryce Teodosio, picked up the ball and then glitched before firing to first, allowing Teodosio to reach with two outs. The hot-hitting Taylor Ward then hit a long single off the limestone in right field, and Neto then destroyed a Lopez sinker 428 feet to dead center field, quickly making the game 6-4. The pitch Neto hit wasn't terrible, a sinker up and away, but the young shortstop got his arms extended and the outcome was never in doubt. In recent weeks, the Twins MO would be to go down quickly the following inning and hand the ball back to their starter before he can catch his breath from the inning before. It appeared that sequence would come to fruition again, with Wallner and Jose Miranda making quick outs. But Trevor Larnach laid off some tough pitches before drawing a walk, and Carlos Santana made sure that would matter, as he reached out on a Canning change-up and launched a home run over the high right-center field wall to put the Twins back in control of the game. Defensive miscues from young players has been a recurring theme during the Twins recent cold stretch, but not in the sixth, with Lopez looking for a quick inning. Former first overall pick turned fifth outfield Mickey Moniak lined a ball to center that I immediately knew Austin Martin, Manuel Margot and Willi Castro wouldn't get to, but DaShawn Keirsey Jr. was out there tonight, and made an excellent diving catch for the first out of the inning. Brooks Lee has looked listless lately, but ranged to grab a grounder from O'Hoppe deep in the hole, and looked like prime Derek Jeter with a beautiful throw on the run to nab the Angels catcher. Twins Daily's winning "Make It Official!" game recaps are sponsored by Official Fried Chicken, which you can find in center field of Target Field. With a name like "Official," we know we have to be the best in the game every day, and from your first bite, you'll know thats a promise we make good on. The Twins piled on in the sixth. Farmer drew a one out walk, and Julien singled with two outs. Wallner then lifted a double off the wall in right-center for a double to get the lead back to six. The Angels are just a rich man's White Sox, but it was nice to see the Twins add on late in a game they had to win. Trends: Healthy Hurt Performing Contributing Low Impact IL/Minors C Ryan Jeffers 📈 Christian Vazquez 📈 1B Carlos Santana 📈 Alex Kirilloff 📉 Jose Miranda 📈 2B Edouard Julien 📈 Kyle Farmer 📈' 3B Royce Lewis 📉 SS Carlos Correa 📉 Brooks Lee 📉 LF Matt Wallner 📈 Trevor Larnach 📈 Austin Martin 📉 CF Byron Buxton 📉 Manuel Margot 📉 DaShawn Keirsey Jr. 📈 RF Max Kepler 📉 UTIL Willi Castro 📉 Michael Helman 📈 SP Pablo Lopez 📈 Bailey Ober 📈 Joe Ryan 📉 Chris Paddack 📈 RSP David Festa 📈 Zebby Matthews 📉 Simeon Woods Richardson 📉 CR Jhoan Duran 📉 Griffin Jax 📈 SR Brock Stewart 📉 Jorge Alcala 📈 Cole Sands 📈 MR Caleb Thielbar 📈 Scott Blewett 📈 Michael Tonkin 📈 Louie Varland 📈 LR Josh Winder 📈 Ronny Henriquez 📈 Randy Dobnak 📉 Diego Castillo 📈 Stray Notes: -With Christian Vazquez on the paternity list, Jeffers made a rare back-to-back catching appearance and drove in two runs. -Royce Lewis, in the midst of an 0-20 slide, was not in the lineup. Lee is now 0-18 and his at-bats have been dreadful, so he might be the next player to take a breather. -Louie Varland made his 2024 relief debut (not counting bulk appearances) and touched 101 MPH with his fastball as he made mincemeat out of the Angels Quad-A lineup, striking out two and breaking the bat of the other hitter he faced. He came back out for the ninth, but his velocity was down to 95 MPH and the Angels were able to string some hits against him. -Keirsey Jr. got his first big league hit in the eighth, dribbling a ball past the pitcher's mound and beating the feed from the pitcher easily. What’s Next: Zebby Matthews (1-3, 7.36 ERA) tries to justify his spot in the rotation as he faces young Angels righty Jack Kochanowicz (2-4, 4.89 ERA). Kochanowicz was a third round pick in 2019, but hasn't really had much success in the minor leagues and has only twelve strikeouts in 38 2/3 innings thus far for Los Angeles, a ratio which would make Carlos Silva blush. Postgame Interviews: (Coming soon) Bullpen Usage Chart: FRI SAT SUN MON TUE TOT Henríquez 13 0 0 29 0 42 Varland 0 0 0 0 35 35 Blewett 0 0 19 13 0 32 Tonkin 0 0 0 31 0 31 Sands 0 0 30 0 0 30 Thielbar 19 0 0 0 0 19 Durán 0 17 0 0 0 17 Alcalá 0 0 11 0 0 11 Jax 0 8 0 0 0 8 View full article

The Twins lineup was lifeless, and barely put up a fight against a dominant Michael Wacha as the Royals cruised to a sweep. Next week's series at Fenway Park is starting to loom, despite Boston losing to *checks notes* the White Sox today. Image courtesy of © Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images Box Score: Starting Pitcher: Simeon Woods Richardson: 4 1/3 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 2 K (70 Pitches, 44 Strikes, 62.8%) Home Runs: None Bottom 3 WPA: Edouard Julien (-.223), Trevor Larnach (-.124), José Miranda (-.116) Win Probability Chart (Via Fangraphs): Visions of 2022 were swirling in my head as I absorbed last night's loss to the Royals. The team has been losing games and losing players at a rapid pace. We aren't quite at the "Nick Gordon hitting cleanup against a lefty" stage yet, but we have entered the "every reliever turns into the worst version of Emilio Pagán when it matters" portion. The "Byron Buxton has a great year before going down in August with a hip issue" might be the hardest pill to swallow, but nevertheless, the team is eight (or so) wins away from clinching a playoff spot, with 20 games remaining. Today's game featured underrated veteran Michael Wacha opposing the scuffling rookie, Simeon Woods Richardson. The recent lineup formula for the Twins has been to get traffic on early, squander an opportunity or two, and then go silent for the last seven or eight innings, and, well. Today began with a one-out single from Jose Miranda and then a ringing double from Trevor Larnach. It looked like Hunter Renfroe had a little trouble picking the ball up in right field, but Miranda is not fast and third-base coach Tommy Watkins had gotten desperate; Miranda was thrown out fairly easily. Matt Wallner then walked, so all was not lost, but Royce Lewis sure is, and he flailed away at a belt high fastball he crushes when he is right. Woods Richardson is a confident guy, and came out of the gates on a mission, commanding his fastball and throwing a lot of sliders and curveballs. His misses were close and he looked locked in. Through the first four innings the Royals only managed a harmless MJ Melendez double (off a change-up, naturally). The Twins' lineup averaged about 45 seconds per inning against Wacha, with the changeup artist eliciting early (and weak) contact that allowed him to cruise through five innings with just 69 pitches. When Twins hitters managed to survive to two strikes, Wacha threw dotted fastballs up in the zone, or his famous change-up down to strike them out. The game was tied through four and a half, but it felt like the Twins were facing a deficit the moment Miranda was thrown out at home in the first. That came to fruition in the fifth. Melendez drew a walk on a questionable 3-2 change-up right on the black. Freddy Fermin then singled the other way, and Maikel Garcia was sent up to bunt. Garcia failed at this, but when things are going well, you get a hit on the next pitch, which is exactly what happened. Garrett Hampson nearly hit a grand slam next, but it turned into a deep sacrifice fly, making the score 1-0. After walking Tommy Pham, Woods Richardson was done, with Cole Sands coming in to face Bobby Witt Jr. with the bases loaded. Somehow, Sands threw a cutter by Witt to strike him out, but he still had to face the Royals only other good hitter, the legendary Salvador Perez. He chased a cutter outside the zone, because Perez, for all his accomplishments, has no plate discipline. However, because these are the Twins, Perez hit a dribber up the third base line that somehow did not go foul as it rolled to a stop by Royce Lewis' feet. Sands got squeezed on a call to the next hitter, Michael Massey, resulting in a 3-1 count, but bounced back to retire him on a fly out to right field. Christian Vazquez got an excuse-me single to start the sixth, but Wacha pitched around it and got Miranda to hit into a double play to end the threat before he broke a sweat. After Sands pitched a quick bottom half, the Twins went even quicker with the middle of their lineup (Larnach, Wallner and Lewis) going down without any semblance of a fight. Wacha smelled blood and used his experience and surprisingly lively stuff to carve up Twins hitters desperate to make something happen. Reliever Kris Bubic pick ed up where Wacha left off, and set down Castro, Jeffers and Lee easily in the eighth. Vazquez again led off with a single in the ninth, but Julien struck out, Miranda grounded out and Larnach popped out. Trends: Healthy Hurt Performing Contributing Low Impact IL/Minors C Ryan Jeffers 📉 Christian Vazquez 📈 1B Carlos Santana 📈 Alex Kirilloff 📉 Jose Miranda 📈 2B Edouard Julien 📈 Kyle Farmer 📈' 3B Royce Lewis 📉 SS Carlos Correa 📉 Brooks Lee 📉 LF Matt Wallner 📈 Trevor Larnach 📈 Austin Martin 📉 CF Byron Buxton 📉 Manuel Margot 📉 DaShawn Keirsey Jr. 📈 RF Max Kepler 📉 UTIL Willi Castro 📉 Michael Helman 📈 SP Pablo Lopez 📈 Bailey Ober 📈 Joe Ryan 📉 Chris Paddack 📈 RSP David Festa 📈 Zebby Matthews 📉 Simeon Woods Richardson 📉 CR Jhoan Duran 📉 Griffin Jax 📈 SR Brock Stewart 📉 Jorge Alcala 📈 Cole Sands 📈 MR Caleb Thielbar 📈 Scott Blewett 📈 Michael Tonkin 📈 Louie Varland 📉 LR Josh Winder 📈 Ronny Henriquez 📈 Randy Dobnak 📉 Diego Castillo 📈 Stray Notes: -Brooks Lee made a great play with Witt on second following a leadoff ninth inning double. Perez grounded up the middle, Lee smothered it and threw to third to get WItt in a rundown, where he was retired without Perez advancing to second. -The bullpen was excellent, with Sands, Alcala, and Scott Blewett stifling the Royals through the later innings, allowing just three hits. What’s Next: David Festa (2-5, 4.75 ERA) goes against the Angels' Reid Detmers (3-6, 5.87 ERA) as the Twins look to get on track against one of the few teams that have looked more pathetic than themselves recently. Detmers is a decent lefty but with good raw stuff, but has struggled this year, even spending time in the minor leagues. Festa has been pretty good since his second call to the big leagues, with an ERA in the low 3.00's and elite strikeout numbers. Postgame Interviews: (Coming Soon) Bullpen Usage Chart: WED THU FRI SAT SUN TOT Blewett 43 0 0 0 19 62 Varland 59 0 0 0 0 59 Sands 0 0 0 0 30 30 Durán 0 12 0 17 0 29 Henríquez 12 0 13 0 0 25 Jax 0 13 0 8 0 21 Thielbar 0 0 19 0 0 19 Tonkin 17 0 0 0 0 17 Alcalá 0 0 0 0 11 11 View full article

With Cleveland playing better ball, and Kansas City in freefall, the Twins looked to keep pace in the Central standings. They took a brief lead against Tampa Bay and starter Jeffrey Springs, but their lineup couldn't muster much of anything the rest of the way, finishing with just four hits as the Rays scraped together just enough offense against David Festa to take game two of the series. Image courtesy of © Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images Box Score: Starting Pitcher: David Festa: 5 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 1 BB 7 K (90 Pitches, 57 Strikes, 63.3%) Home Runs: Carlos Santana (19) Bottom 3 WPA: Brooks Lee (-.229), Willi Castro (-.211) Ryan Jeffers (-.145) Win Probability Chart (Via Fangraphs): Following a gutty win over the Rays at the "Trop" on Labor Day, the Twins once again found themselves in second place in the AL Central, and were suddenly winners of three of their last four games (do not look up their run differential in that span). A series split with the Rays in St. Petersburg would have to be considered a minor victory, and the Twins had a chance to clinch at least that result on Tuesday. Lefty Jeffrey Springs took the mound for the Rays, in his seventh start back from Tommy John surgery. That injury was unfortunate, because before it, Springs (who had no prospect pedigree and was acquired from Boston for next to nothing in 2021) had posted a 2.26 ERA over 151 1/3 innings across 2022 and 2023. His fastball was never elite in terms of velocity, but he is averaging less than 90 MPH this year, after sitting close to 92 MPH prior to his surgery. Springs looked pretty good tonight, mixing in his slider and changeup with well-located fastballs that sat 89-93 MPH. He couldn't get a 90 MPH fastball inside enough to Carlos Santana in the second, and the Twins first baseman made him pay, demolishing that pitch 395 feet for the game's first run. David Festa opposed Springs, and looked a little wobbly with his command from the start. He did throw a scoreless first three innings, but the Rays got to him in the fourth. Junior Caminero began the inning with a single, and Josh Lowe walked. Festa got Johnny DeLuca to pop out, but Jonathan Aranda blooped a single just in front of a diving Austin Martin, who didn't appear to get a great break on the ball. Jos'e Caballero then grounded to Brooks Lee at short, and the rookie made an athletic play to cut down the speedy Lowe at home plate, who was running on contact. It was all for naught, though, as rookie catcher Logan Driscoll--making his major-league debut--rocketed a ball at Santana, and the usually sure-handed first baseman had the ball deflect off of him into right field to allow Aranda to score. Festa's best sequence may have been his last, as he struck out uber-prospect Caminero on a fastball up and in to end his evening. He began this at-bat with two sliders, two changeups, two more sliders and then the piece de resistance, a fastball with big carry that the talented Caminero had no chance on. Neither team threatened much in the middle innings, with Springs Tommy John rehab partner Drew Rasmussen taking over in the seventh and throwing fireballs at Twins hitters for two innings. Caleb Thielbar and Michael Tonkin held the Rays in check. The Twins made some noise in the ninth against Edwin Uceta. Santana led off with a single, and Edouard Julien blooped a single just over second base to put two men on for Lee. Lee looked overmatched as Uceta poured fastballs by him in different quadrants, striking him out on three pitches (with a pitch clock violation thrown in for fun). Willi Castro then struck out on a ball at his feet, and Christian Vazquez grounded out to end the game. Trends: Healthy Hurt Performing Contributing Low Impact IL/Minors C Ryan Jeffers 📈 Christian Vazquez 📈 1B Carlos Santana 📈 Alex Kirilloff 📉 Jose Miranda 📈 2B Edouard Julien 📈 Kyle Farmer 📈' 3B Royce Lewis 📈 SS Carlos Correa 📉 Brooks Lee 📈 LF Matt Wallner 📈 Trevor Larnach 📈 Austin Martin 📉 CF Byron Buxton 📈 Manuel Margot 📉 RF Max Kepler 📉 UTIL Willi Castro 📈 Michael Helman 📈 SP Pablo Lopez 📈 Bailey Ober 📈 Joe Ryan 📉 Chris Paddack 📈 Louie Varland 📈 RSP David Festa 📈 Zebby Matthews 📉 Simeon Woods Richardson 📉 CR Jhoan Duran 📉 Griffin Jax 📈 SR Brock Stewart 📉 Jorge Alcala 📉 Cole Sands 📈 MR Caleb Thielbar 📈 Scott Blewett 📈 Michale Tonkin 📈 LR Josh Winder 📈 Ronny Henriquez 📈 Randy Dobnak 📉 Diego Castillo 📈 Stray Notes: -Michael Helman collected his first major league hit, a grounder in the fifth that Caballero threw wildly to first on, but which the speedy Helman likely would have beaten out even with a good throw. -Tonkin gave the Twins some good work and allowed them to keep the game close in the middle innings, getting four outs and striking out two without allowing a hit. -The Twins and Rays have played to a one run result in every matchup thus far this year over five games. That's pretty weird. What’s Next: In game three of this key series, the Rays send Cole Sulser to the mound. It's unofficial, for the moment, but the Twins appear poised to counter with Louie Varland, who comes back from yet another stint in St. Paul still stretched out and starting. Postgame Interviews: Bullpen Usage Chart: FRI SAT SUN MON TUE TOT Tonkin 0 37 0 0 21 58 Blewett 0 54 0 0 0 54 Jax 3 0 27 18 0 48 Durán 11 0 13 14 0 38 Thielbar 0 19 0 0 19 38 Alcalá 0 0 0 32 0 32 Sands 0 0 13 17 0 30 Henríquez 0 0 0 20 0 20 Castillo 8 0 0 0 12 20 View full article

I just started doing it when I was talking to my wife, who hadn't watched any games recently at the time. She said how is so and so doing? Who's hurt? Are x and y playing better yet? So I made the chart. The injuries are speculative, but we know Castro has been dealing with a back issue, Jeffers hurt his foot, Larnach still has turf toe, Lewis was running real gingerly a few games ago, and this allows me to track those sorts of injuries even when they don't show on any injury report. I might change the wording on performance/impact level because I don't think that is saying what I want it to..

The seventh- and eighth-best teams in the American League aren't good. There is a non-zero chance that Royce Lewis, Byron Buxton, and Carlos Correa will start Game One of a playoff series. David Festa and Louie Varland can be the bullpen bridge that the team lacked in August. Buckle up. Image courtesy of © Bruce Kluckhohn-USA TODAY Sports The Twins have been really bad for the past few weeks. Well, just for three series, really, going 2-7 against the Padres, Cardinals and Braves. It was ugly, with three of those games lost via late bullpen implosions. Homerism is punishable by law in Minnesota--I get that--but when you look at the outlook for the rest of the season, a couple of things stand out. One: the team likely won’t face much resistance in clinching at least the sixth seed in the American League. And two: the top end of this roster is nothing to sneeze at, especially if guys like Louie Varland, Chris Paddack and David Festa are put in the best position to succeed. More on that later. The threats to the Twins holding the sixth seed in the playoffs are the Red Sox, Tigers and Mariners. Of those teams, only the Tigers are playing well, and they are five games back of the Twins, only recently climbing above .500. They also have no head-to-head games against Minnesota remaining, with the Twins holding the tiebreaker. The Mariners can’t hit, and the Red Sox can’t build upon any success they have, currently a half-game ahead of the Tigers. Another reason why that four-and-a-half-game lead over Boston is bigger than it appears, is what you saw against the Blue Jays, with Toronto showing the warts of a team playing out the string. There is plenty of talent left on their roster, but with George Springer, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Daulton Varsho available to pinch-hit in the eighth and ninth innings Sunday, none were called upon. Springer also got Friday off. It just doesn’t make sense for teams that are out of it to put their best team out there; those clubs are better off seeing what they have in their young guys. When the Twins play the Reds and Marlins in a few weeks, those teams won’t be pushing their best starter an extra inning, and guys like Elly De La Cruz and Xavier Edwards might get one of the three days off. That doesn’t mean the Twins will magically play better. It also doesn’t mean the lesser opponents they face in September are going to phone it in. But the Twins are playing for something, and those opposing managers have to be thinking of 2025 and beyond, not just winning a meaningless game in September by throwing your best reliever on a back-to-back. Additionally, while it might seem like terrible, no-good, very bad luck that Carlos Correa and Byron Buxton are currently on the IL with murky return timetables, the truth is that the team doesn’t need them to make the playoffs. They probably need them to catch Cleveland, but then again, the Guardians have been terrible since the All-Star break, so who knows? The silver lining is that the later those two stars return (and it seems almost a certainty that they will at some point), the less chance they have to get another injury prior to the postseason, which could be crucial to their availability in October. Again, I’m not saying the Twins deserve the good fortune of being able to play mediocre baseball down the stretch and still limp comfortably into the playoffs, but who cares whether they deserve it? At the rate things are going, their first-round matchup may very well be Cleveland or Kansas City, with Houston just a couple of games back of Cleveland right now for the second seed and finishing their season with a series at Progressive Field. So what happens if the Twins back into the playoffs? Surely, that means that they will be totally gassed and won’t be able to do anything of note. I would push back on that argument, based on the fact that the Twins have two really good starting pitchers in Bailey Ober and Pablo López, with each capable of dominance on any given night against any given opponent. They also will likely have Buxton and Correa back. I’m not counting on either of them being in an offensive rhythm when they return, but it does seem likely that they will return and stabilize two of the most important defensive positions on the diamond, and we have seen in recent weeks just how important that can be. The most important hitters for the Twins down the stretch will be Royce Lewis, José Miranda and Matt Wallner. If each of those guys is playing decently enough that pitchers have to stick to their approach against them, anything Buxton and Correa can provide will be gravy. The Twins will also have the clutch duo of Carlos Santana and Trevor Larnach (.822 and .949 OPS in high-leverage spots, respectively); hopefully a rested Willi Castro; and maybe a little of Austin Martin and Brooks Lee. One of Ryan Jeffers and Christian Vázquez are usually on a hot streak, as well. My point is, not everything has to go right for the lineup to be formidable in a short postseason series. If Buxton and Correa are clicking, think back to how fun June was, when the team could score six runs a game in their sleep. What about the back end of the rotation, and the bullpen? Honestly, I think this sorts itself out pretty cleanly. Simeon Woods Richardson is your third starter. He’s a gutty competitor, and when the lights are brightest, he can give you four or five innings of decent ball. He limits home runs pretty well, and keeps the team in the game almost every time out, and that is what a number three playoff starter has to do. Do I wish this was Joe Ryan, stuff and experience-wise? Sure, but temperament-wise, I like the rookie over the more mercurial, one-bloop-hit-can-really-rattle-his-cage Ryan. I also think that David Festa’s skillset plays best as a playoff relief ace--one of those guys who, when they don’t have to worry about pacing themselves, can go through a lineup once and be utterly dominant, especially against a team that hasn’t seen much of him. Imagine a scenario wherein Woods Richardson goes four innings and gives up one run, while Festa comes in and goes 2 ⅔ shutout frames to give the game to Cole Sands, Griffin Jax and Jhoan Durán. That works, at least in theory. I don’t trust Zebby Matthews as much in that spot, and he might be the best choice for fourth starter--who goes through the lineup once, if he’s needed at all. Do keep in mind that Varland has done nothing as a starter to argue against his relief résumé. His cutter and fastball jump up a couple of ticks in relief, which gives him the margin for error in his command that he just doesn’t have as a starter. He’s a relief weapon, until proven otherwise. Chris Paddack, for all his trials and tribulations, was good as a playoff reliever last year, going 3 ⅔ innings and allowing just one hit while striking out six. His return timeline is pretty similar to his timeline last year, as well. This team has a bad middle relief corps right now, but pooled together, they have enough arms to have that not be a weakness in the playoffs. As for Durán, this year just hasn’t been kind to him. He has struggled to pitch with reduced stuff, but at the end of the day, he has blown just two saves all year (one being the Edouard Julien fiasco against St. Louis) with his FIP being basically identical to last year’s 3.22. His strikeout rate is down, but so are his walk rate and his home-run rate. He’s still a good reliever, and good relievers who throw 102 with low walk rates can get hot in October in a hurry. If he ends up being a liability, which is certainly possible, then the Twins won’t go anywhere in October--simple as that. He’s a roll of the dice, but what about the other AL teams? Do Yankees fans feel great about Clay Holmes? Do Oriole fans like the idea of Craig Kimbrel or Seranthony Dominguez closing games in October? How about the Royals with, um, Lucas Erceg? Even Josh Hader of the Astros has a higher FIP than Durán, and has allowed a whopping 10 home runs this year. The Twins should be fighting for their playoff lives. But they aren’t, and have the luxury of being able to (more or less) coast to the finish line--where their top-end talent can shine its brightest. We might as well just enjoy the ride. View full article

The Twins have been leaking oil lately, but entered Sunday's rubber match with a chance to pick up a much-needed series win against the Blue Jays. Bailey Ober rebounded from his disaster against Atlanta on Monday, allowing only one hit. It seemed for a while that that hit, a home run in the first, would hold up, but Royce Lewis turned the game around. Image courtesy of © Bruce Kluckhohn-USA TODAY Sports Box Score: Starting Pitcher: Bailey Ober: 6 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 8 K (94 Pitches, 62 Strikes, 65.9%) Home Runs: Royce Lewis (16) Top 3 WPA: Lewis (.586), Ober (.194), Jhoan Duran (.161) Win Probability Chart (Via Fangraphs): The nice thing about team sports is that losing by 15 is the same as losing by one--most of the time, anyway. In stroke play golf, losing 15 strokes means you will not win the tournament. With the Guardians, Royals and Red Sox all losing Saturday, though, the Twins' playoff prospects slightly improved, despite their own shellacking. Not only that, but losing a blowout means your best relief arms were not used. Which is all to sugarcoat the fact that this team is not playing well, and if the Red Sox were operating with any sort of functionality, the sixth playoff spot would be in serious danger. Instead, the Tigers are threatening to overtake Boston in the standings as they won their three-game weekend series at Fenway Park. The Twins received some reinforcements with rosters expanding for September. Diego Castillo returns to the bullpen, and Brooks Lee returns to shortstop, while Michael Helman had his contract purchased in the wake of Manuel Margot's injury. Castillo and Helman are depth pieces, but Lee's return means the Twins will play a pure shortstop rather than Willi Castro or Kyle Farmer. The former lacks the instincts, the latter lacks the range and arm, but Lee has shown flashes of being a B+ level shortstop. He also pushes Castro to more of a utility role, which helps with pinch-hitting and defensive replacements later in games. Today's game pitted Bailey Ober against Blue Jays rookie Yariel Roodriguez. The game started auspiciously, given Ober's most recent start, and the Twins' most recent game, with Ernie Clement taking Ober deep on a first pitch fastball up in the zone. But Ober did settle in after that, with no real threats in the Jay's lineup (Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Daulton Varsho had the day off). Rodriguez turned some heads in the World Baseball Classic pitching for Cuba. There was a minor bidding war for his services after he became an international free agent, but what the Jays ended up getting was middling performance around a spinal injury and a brief demotion to Triple-A. He began Sunday's tilt by getting a favorable call on a 3-2 pitch to Willi Castro, then allowing a hit and two walks before retiring Royce Lewis on a warning track fly ball. Rodriguez was not long for the game, leaving after three innings in favor of career bulk pitcher, lefty Ryan Yarbrough. The last time the Jays removed a pitcher early at Target Field in favor of a lefty for unclear or dubious reasons, it did not go well for them. Today, Yarbrough started by hitting Austin Martin, who advanced to second on a grounder from Lewis. Max Kepler then popped up, and second baseman Leo Jimenez made a Derek Jeter-style diving catch, jumping into the stands with no concern for his well-being. Lee then popped out to end the threat and keep the game at 1-0. Ober coasted through much of the game, keeping the Jays off balance with a mix of his fastball and change-up. After an impressive ten pitch at-bat resulting in a walk from Nathan Lukes leading off the sixth, Lee misplayed a little soft liner from Clement to put runners at first and second with no one out. That brought back memories of a week and a half ago, where Jake Cronenworth's blooper set up Manny Machado's game-breaking homer off Ober. This time, with no borderline Hall of Famers to contend with, Ober struck out the side, two on fastballs, one on a beautiful change-up to right fielder Addison Barger. Ober did not allow a hit following the first inning home run. As it started to feel like one run would be too much to overcome for the Twins' lineup, Lewis began the seventh inning by drawing a walk. A stitched together husk of what used to be Max Kepler then struck out, bringing up Lee to face lefty Brendon Little. Lee grounded to the third baseman, Luis De Los Santos, who threw wildly trying to get the lead runner, with the ball ending up in right field. That put runners on the corners for Santana, who dribbled a ball up the third base line to score Lewis and tie the game. Castro then drew a walk, but Miranda struck out to end the frame. Twins Daily's winning "Make It Official!" game recaps are sponsored by Official Fried Chicken, which you can find in center field of Target Field. With a name like "Official," we know we have to be the best in the game every day, and from your first bite, you'll know that's a promise we make good on. The Jays put pressure on Griffin Jax immediately in the eighth. Lukes drew a walk on a questionable 3-2 call that went Toronto's way, and Clement then smacked a single the other way, bringing up Spencer Horowitz, one of the heroes of Saturday's disemboweling. Horowitz lined out to deep center on a 3-1 pitch, and Barger drew a walk. Jax then hit Jimenez with the first pitch of the at-bat, scoring Lukes and handing the lead back to Toronto. Joey Loperfido then hit a run scoring chopper to score Clement. Jax had not allowed an earned run the entire month of August. You may have heard that the Jays' excellent closer, Jordan Romano, has been injured and ineffective this year. He remains out, but former Yankee errand-boy Chad Green has stepped into the closer role and been excellent, with a 1.61 ERA entering the day. He allowed back-to-back hits to Jeffers and Martin and got into a lengthy battle with Lewis, who fouled off some tough pitches and missed hittable ones before getting a slider on the eighth pitch of the at-bat and launching it just over Lukes' outstretched glove for a three-run, game-changing home run, a 60% change in win-expectancy. Jhoan Duran was then called up on to protect the newfound lead. He locked up De Los Santos with three curveball but hit backup catcher Brian Serven with a 102 MPH fastball. He then got Lukes to dribble the ball back to the mound, where Duran non-chalantly gathered and threw to first, barely retiring Lukes and prompting a challenge from the Jays' bench. The call was confirmed and Duran retired Clement to seal the desperately-needed series win. Trends: Healthy Hurt High Impact Medium Impact Low Impact IL/Minors C Ryan Jeffers 📈 Christian Vazquez 📈 1B Carlos Santana 📈 Alex Kirilloff 📉 Jose Miranda 📈 2B Edouard Julien 📈 Kyle Farmer 📈' 3B Royce Lewis 📈 SS Carlos Correa 📉 Brooks Lee 📈 LF Matt Wallner 📈 Trevor Larnach 📈 Austin Martin 📉 CF Byron Buxton 📉 Manuel Margot 📉 RF Max Kepler 📉 UTIL Willi Castro 📈 Michael Helman 📈 SP Pablo Lopez 📈 Bailey Ober 📈 Joe Ryan 📉 Chris Paddack 📉 Louie Varland 📈 RSP David Festa 📈 Zebby Matthews 📉 Simeon Woods Richardson 📈 CR Jhoan Duran 📉 Griffin Jax 📈 SR Brock Stewart 📉 Jorge Alcala 📉 Cole Sands 📈 MR Caleb Thielbar 📈 Scott Blewett 📈 LR Josh Winder 📈 Ronny Henriquez 📈 Randy Dobnak 📉 Diego Castillo 📈 Stray Notes: -I thought they might do it, with Carlos Santana pinch-hitting for second baseman Edouard Julien in the fifth, and they did it, switching Santana to first for Miranda, putting Miranda at third and inserting Lewis at second. It went well, with Lewis making two putouts in the seventh inning behind Cole Sands. What’s Next: Simeon Woods Richardson (5-3, 3.85 ERA) goes against former Twin Zack Littell (5-8, 3.89 ERA) The Rays sold off everything that wasn't nailed down this past trade deadline, but remain the Rays and have hung around the .500 Mark, a hot streak away from jumping back into contention. SWR deserved better his last time out against the Braves, and is looking to finish strong as he makes his case to be the Twins' number three starter for a potential playoff run. Postgame Interviews: Bullpen Usage Chart: WED THU FRI SAT SUN TOT Tonkin 25 0 0 37 0 62 Blewett 0 0 0 54 0 54 Thielbar 16 0 0 19 0 35 Jax 0 0 3 0 27 30 Durán 0 0 11 0 13 24 Henríquez 19 0 0 0 0 19 Sands 0 0 0 0 13 13 Alcalá 8 0 0 0 0 8 View full article

Even with a 90% or so chance of making the playoffs, the Twins have seemed to teeter on the brink of collapse, with the weight of their injuries testing their depth to its breaking point. They fought hard to get back to level in this game, but ultimately, the Braves lineup was too much for Jhoan Duran. Atlanta pulled away in the 10th. Image courtesy of © Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports Box Score: Starting Pitcher: Simeon Woods Richardson: 4 2/3 IP, 3 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 3 K (91 Pitches, 55 Strikes, 60.4%) Home Runs: None Bottom 3 WPA: Jhoan Duran (-.472), Royce Lewis (-.223), Austin Martin (-.202) Win Probability Chart (Via Fangraphs): Things have been rickety in Twinsland lately. The past three games I have personally recapped have been the Jorge Alcala implosion in Texas, the swan song of Steven Okert's Twins career in San Diego, and the Eddy Julien 9th inning error leading to a loss at home to St. Louis. Last night, Bailey Ober went from being very likely to receive Cy Young votes to a guy with an ERA over 4.00. Nine earned runs will do that. Now the Twins were tasked with facing a hot (and battle-tested) Braves team needing to win two in a row to take the series. Chris Sale looms in Wednesday's finale, so that would seem unlikely. But don't overlook Tuesday's starter, rookie Spencer Schwellenbach, who has been hot since the All-Star break and features premium raw stuff, hitting 98 MPH with his four seam fastball, and 95 MPH with his cutter (which is absurd compared to anyone except Emmanuel Clase). Simeon Woods Richardson took the ball for the Twins, coming off a start against the Padres in which he showed a lot of moxie. Staked to a huge lead, SWR started pumping fastballs and nothing else to the Padres hitters, and taking about three seconds between pitches. He was dancing and strutting off the mound, but even the old heads couldn't say he was disrespecting the game- he threw strikes and came right at every hitter- and he gave the Twins exactly what they needed after dropping the first two of that series. SWR looked good again tonight, at least stuff-wise. He located all three of his primary pitches and looked in control of what he was doing. After a quick first inning, he allowed the red-hot Matt Olson to lace an opposite field double on a decent enough slider. He fell behind Michael Harris II but rebounded to force a full count after six straight fastballs. He then threw a dotted slider, down and in on the black, and Harris dropped the bat head on it and lined it 424 feet. I bring up the Will Harris cutter to Howie Kendrick in the 2019 World Series a lot, because it is instructive that a pitcher can throw the absolute best pitch he can possibly throw, and if a hitter guesses right, it just won't matter. In tonight's game, it meant a 2-0 deficit. The Twins worked Schwellenbach hard, resulting in him throwing nearly 30 pitches in the first (he still struck out the side). They put runners on second and third in the second via a Carlos Santana single and Ryan Jeffers double, but Austin Martin struck out on a borderline pitch to end the threat. Matt Wallner doubled off the wall in the third, but Julien tapped out to end the frame. In the fourth, Max Kepler reached on a swinging bunt, and Santana doubled to the right field corner. Kepler is a notoriously unaggressive baserunner, but he also has been nursing a knee injury- either way he didn't score, although he was animated in discussing with third base coach Tommy Watkins afterward. Jeffers then hit a liner that deflected off of Schwellenbach's glove, high in the air and landed... right in Whit Merrifield's glove. Martin then struck out to make the inning a total waste. The baseball gods just hate me in particular, I guess. SWR's mettle was tested in the fifth. After Ramon Laureano singled, the lovely Gio Urshela flew out to right. Orlando Arcia had two painted pitches called for balls, and ended up drawing a walk, prompting SWR to start chirping a bit at the home plate umpire. He locked in on the next batter, Merrifield, who had five hits the night before. That was to SWR's detriment, as Laureano and Arcia executed a double steal. Merrifield did end up striking out, but Jorge Soler laid off some tough pitches and drew a walk, ending the night for the Twins rookie. Jorge Alcala has excelled in the fireman role this year (not as much when given a clean inning), but Marcell Ozuna jumped on the first pitch he saw and roped a single to left, doubling the lead. It's okay to hate Marcell Ozuna. The Twins got Schwellenbach up to 106 pitches, with two-out walks to Wallner and Julien ending his night. The slumping Royce Lewis jumped on the first pitch he saw from Dylan Lee, but was a hair out front and lined it foul. He ended up striking out on three pitches to end yet another threat. Caleb Boushley made his return to the big leagues in the sixth and although Harris hit a ball so hard (114 MPH) off the right field wall he couldn't even reach second, Boushley gutted his way through two innings, allowing three hits. 41-year-old Jesse Chavez was called up on to pitch the sixth and seventh innings. After a Willi Castro bloop single, Trevor Larnach lined a double that skipped past the mercurial Jared Kelenic's glove and scored Castro. The ever predictable Wallner got a (cookie) cutter on 3-1 and smacked it 105 MPH off the right field wall to score Larnach. That prompted the Braves to take the game seriously and brought in former Tigers punching bag Joe Jimenez to stop the bleeding. He wasn't successful, at least not at first. Julien worked the count to 2-2 before getting a slider from Jimenez to his liking and yanked it down the line past a diving Olson, scoring Wallner. The scuffling Lewis popped out, while Kepler and Santana followed by whiffing on sliders they knew were coming. The first two batters for the Twins the next inning were retired quickly, but Willi Castro squared a ball up and doubled to right-center, bringing up Trevor Larnach to face a new pitcher, the Braves elite closer, Raisel Iglesias. Iglesias is a change-up artist, which would seem to be a bad matchup for Larnach, and perhaps got Rocco Baldelli considering pinch hitting Jose Miranda. He stuck with Larnach, and he delivered, blooping a change-up off the plate outside that landed in front of a diving Kelenic to tie the game. After going quietly in the ninth, Ozuna greeted Jhoan Duran with a double to right-center that Kelenic misread (does this guy have any baseball instincts?) and only advanced to third on. Olson broke his bat and grounded to second, which Julien threw home on, not even coming close to nabbing Kelenic at the plate. It wouldn't matter, as Travis D'Arnaud rifled a ball up the middle to score pinch-runner Luke Williams from second, and Laureano doubled to score two more. The Twins at least brought the tying run to the plate in their half of the 10th, with Miranda and Castro collecting hits to give Larnach a chance. He delivered an RBI hit for the third at-bat in a row, this time against Pierce Johnson. That brought Wallner to the plate as the potential winning run, but he swung through two hittable pitches before striking out on a nasty curveball. Trends: Healthy Hurt Performing Great Fine Poor IL/Minors C Ryan Jeffers 📈 Christian Vazquez 📈 1B Carlos Santana 📈 Alex Kirilloff 📉 Jose Miranda 📉 2B Edouard Julien 📈 Kyle Farmer 📈' 3B Royce Lewis 📉 SS Carlos Correa 📈 Brooks Lee 📈 LF Matt Wallner 📈 Trevor Larnach 📈 Austin Martin 📈 CF Byron Buxton 📉 Manuel Margot 📉 RF Max Kepler 📉 UTIL Willi Castro 📉 SP Pablo Lopez 📈 Bailey Ober 📈 Joe Ryan 📉 Chris Paddack 📉 Louie Varland 📈 RSP David Festa 📈 Zebby Matthews 📈 Simeon Woods Richardson 📈 CR Jhoan Duran 📉 Griffin Jax 📈 SR Brock Stewart 📉 Jorge Alcala 📉 Cole Sands 📈 MR Caleb Thielbar 📈 Scott Blewett 📈 LR Josh Winder 📈 Ronny Henriquez 📈 Randy Dobnak 📉 Caleb Boushley 📈 Stray Notes: -Kepler is out of sorts. He is usually pretty good at not chasing, but he chased outside the zone several times today trying to cheat on fastballs. -After a six pitch shut down eighth inning, Cole Sands has a WHIP of 0.97. Imagine the Twins bullpen without him this year, sheesh. -Larnach has been a curiosity in that he has hit well enough to keep his spot, but never seemed to get truly hot. To his credit, he never really slumped, either. He entered play with an .871 OPS in August, which plays pretty well. -Santana made two incredible defensive plays. The first is below: The second was even more impactful. With Griffin Jax on to hold the score at 4-4 in the ninth, Merrifield hit a one out looper that looked ticketed for right field, the exact kind of lucky, rally-starting hit that has bitten Jax in the past. Instead, Santana got a great break on the ball and made a somersaulting catch for the second out. Extension candidate? What’s Next: David Festa (2-3, 5.20 ERA) goes against NL Cy Young front-runner Chris Sale (14-3, 2.62 ERA and I advocated for acquiring him prior to 2023 but who's counting). The Twins will need to reach into their bag of tricks from the mid 2010's, when they were somehow able to solve Sale on a consistent basis. Postgame Interviews: (Coming Soon) Bullpen Usage Chart: FRI SAT SUN MON TUES TOT Durán 0 16 25 0 19 60 Jax 0 19 12 0 10 41 Blewett 0 0 0 39 0 39 Alcalá 25 0 0 0 8 33 Henríquez 0 0 0 32 0 32 Sands 0 0 26 0 6 32 Boushley 0 0 0 0 32 32 Thielbar 18 0 0 0 8 26 View full article