stringer bell

If moving the needle from 60 wins to 65 matters, yeah move guys like Quick to the bullpen. One guy won't change things much. Two or three maybe. I really like the young arms that have pitched for the Twins--Prielipp, Rojas, Bradley, Abel--and adding another would be great. However, I don't think 2026 is salvageable.

Lots of strikeouts for the hitting prospects. That can't be good. 2-33 with 17 Ks for the top nine hitting prospects. Ouch. The best bullpen arm in St. Paul is ................................Matt Bowman? I'm counting Rojas as a starter, but he may well end up in the BP for the Twins when a lefty reliever is gone.

Yes, there are positives. I'm optimistic that Abel is going to be okay and become a big-time starting pitcher. Add in Bradley, Prielipp and maybe Zebby or Rojas and the Twins have a good number of young, controllable starting pitchers. That is either a great start to a nucleus or a tremendous amount of trade value. Austin Martin looks like a player, Ryan Jeffers is a valuable trade piece, and Byron Buxton and Royce Lewis are comparatively healthy. Brooks Lee looks like he might be a major league hitter and Trevor Larnach has had his best run as a Twin. The bullpen is awful. So is the defense. None of the prospects at AAA have pushed their way to the majors and several guys (Wallner, Keaschall and Lewis especially) haven't performed up to expectations. This season is looking pretty bad on the win-loss ledger. Guys who haven't thrown a pitch or had an at-bat for the team will probably determine whether the team has improved for the future.

Fair point, but I disagree. Funderburk (after the trade deadline) was far better than any Twins reliever this year (including 2026 Funderburk). The Twins don't have a single guy who is better than a 50-50 shot to pitch a scoreless inning. I think we can count on our fingers the number of shutdown performances (no runners allowed) for even a portion of an inning.

Small nit to pick. With the infield back, the tying run scores. Even with the infield back, it’s not a certainty that Keaschall makes the play to get the batter out. It was a medium ground ball almost directly between the middle infielders. Orze stayed in to get a strikeout. Rogers K numbers have shrunk considerably. Still, I think bringing him in there might have been a good call. This is the worst Twins bullpen in my memory. There is no one who has generated trust in the ninth inning.

Martin made decent contact, but right af the SS.

Back over the Mendoza Line for Lewis.

Nice job Joe. Tough hitters and he kept them off the board.

Luis Garcia’s contract selected by the Twins. Acton placed on the IL. To make 40-man room, Zack Kent was DFAd.

I like the lineup. Largely unnoticed, but the two veteran pickups (Bell & Caratini) have scuffled lately. Both have a long track record of offensive competence, so it is overly concerning. The decision seems to have been made that Larnach is a LF only and that Martin is the better choice in right. Martin had an arm injury before his ML debut and much like Keaschall, was still building arm strength when he broke in. Savant has Martin’s arm strength as above average, so I guess moving Martin to right is acceptable. As long as Gray is swinging a hot bat, it is sound strategy to start him vs. RHP. Lee gets the day off today. Better weather today. I hope there are more butts in seats.

I think Fedko is a better fit as a fifth OF. Like Outman, he can run a bit, can play all three outfield spots and has shown power. He probably isn’t as good a baserunning threat or defender, but he would have the platoon advantage against LH pitching and thus would get used more than Outman. I believe he is 27 years old so probably no worries about sporadic playing time I also think Clemens and Gray are somewhat redundant The hitter that Gray has been thus far combined with his versatility could take almost all of Clemens playing time Gray as a part-time player at all four positions in the infield could get him full-time platoon at-bats. I doubt Gray is as good with the glove as Clemens, but he did win a job including backup shortstop and thus far he’s hit well enough to deserve more playing time.

Who are the underachievers? What can be done? 1) Wallner. Bench or option. Wallner has a -.9 WAR and OPS below .600. Yes, he made a nice play on the ball off the wall, but he's hurt the team more than any position player. It worked to send him to St. Paul two years ago. I think an option is justified. 2) Keaschall. Ride it out. Keaschall was successful last season. He is showing some signs of coming out of his early-season funk. He helps the club on the bases and according to Statcast, he's slightly above average in the field. Other defensive evaluations aren't as kind. I think he can adjust enough to be successful "on the fly" while continuing to be a regular. Giving him a couple of days off here and there to play a hotter bat should also be considered. 3) Lewis. Reduce playing time. Lewis seems healthy, but so far his contributions are pretty minimal. There is another option at third base and right now Tristan Gray is hitting better than Royce. I don't want to say Lewis is a head case, but I think he's more fragile than most big leaguers. The proper message and challenge needs to be sent to him and then it's up to him to produce. Splitting time with Gray as long as Gray is hitting seems like a good idea to me. Who are the overachievers? What can be done for them to contribute more? 1) Martin. Increased playing time. Martin has been arguably the best offensive player on the team. He is among the fastest runners and has positive defensive metrics. Until he proves otherwise, Martin should be playing every day. If that means right field instead of left field, Martin hasn't embarrassed himself in either spot. He also can be Buxton's primary backup. If anyone has earned an increased role, it is Austin Martin. 2) Tristan Gray. Play him all over the infield. Keep going to him until he stops hitting. Last year, Gray had (SSS) reverse platoon splits, but so far this year, he looks like a decent platoon bat. He's hitting better than Keaschall and Lewis (and Bell and Clemens) so until he cools off he should be starting most of the time against right handed pitching at one of the infield positions. I'm not confident his strong hitting will continue, but so far he's earned more playing time.

After yesterday's 5 RBI game, the numbers are still well below average, but not an embarrassment. He's still below the Mendoza Line (.194) with an OPS+ of 77. I would state that he's been a better overall player than Wallner because he offers a bit of speed and defense. I think Clemens and Gray are similar. They are older with limited big league time, but they are versatile and there is something intriguing about their hitting skills. Starting Clemens somewhere between occasionally and frequently against right handed pitching is about the exposure he should have.

I can’t help but be excited about the young starters who will get their chance this year—Abel, Bradley and Prielipp. The stuff is there for all three to be frontline guys. Get and stay healthy guys! Also a good offensive day for the Twins.

Sounded like Connor was describing a trip to the dentist. It would appear this is the first win by a left handed starter since 2023. Any guesses who the last left handed starter to win a game for the Twins is?

And he's a good defensive shortstop? He last played SS regularly for the White Sox and was double digits negative run saved.

Usual suspects in the lineup, except Tristan Gray for Lewis. Gray has been pretty good so far, so it is hard to be critical, but I still doubt he'll be able to sustain his good hitting.

Yup, and none of those guys play shortstop

The Twins have lost nine of their last ten games and are at a low point in the season. Before this slide, they were among the better offenses in MLB and their starting pitching was within the top ten. Who knows what will happen in the next ten game stretch? If I were a betting man, I would predict more losing than winning, but it's entirely possible that they put together another good stretch. I hate to keep repeating this, but it is still really early in the season. A hot week (or cold) week can change perceptions dramatically, just looks at Brooks Lee's offensive numbers. The constants in the Twins' season thus far have been a bad bullpen and poor defense. During their successful run they were able to paper over those two soft spots, but all of the metrics were pointing to those two factors as a problem, and so they are. Someone opined that the defensive woes were fixable. I am skeptical of that unless Shelton wants to run Ryan Kreidler out as his shortstop and replace poor defenders Bell, Wallner and Larnach. From what I can tell Kaelen Culpepper might be more athletic than Lee, but I don't know if he would be an obvious upgrade and Culpepper is hitting in the .230s at St. Paul with an OPS in the low .700s. Replacing Wallner would most likely improve the defense and playing Martin more in left field would help, but the biggest problem is defense at shortstop. Similarly, there don't appear to be any easy answers to improve the relief pitching. A bunch of underwhelming arms are attempting to be successful and St. Paul's bullpen has mostly been an arson squad. The Twins' offense benefitted from good sequencing, and hitting with runners in scoring position until both of those things normalized. They aren't truly in the top five offenses (where they were when they were 11-7 and they have come back to earth. I don't think they are as bad as they have appeared in the last ten games and I expect that if Shelton is patient a couple of the guys who aren't going well will come around, particularly the young-ish guys (Lewis, Keaschall and maybe Wallner). Breakthroughs would be appreciated and the leash has to be getting shorter for Wallner and Lewis. We've seen glimpses of high quality pitching from Ryan, Bradley and Abel. Ober has been surprisingly effective with his 90 mph fastball and SWR has a history of turning it around right about when people start giving up on him. Add in Prielipp's debut performance and finally a strong outing in St. Paul for Zebby Matthews and there is reason to be optimistic about the starting pitching.

I have been a big Martin backer all season (you can look it up), but I'll settle for him starting two out of three games against right handers and starting against all lefties. As long as he remains an on-base machine, he does need to be on the field. If Shelton has Outman on the roster, it is only fair to the player that he gets an occasional start, or he shouldn't be on the team. I know the response here will be that he shouldn't be on the team, but I think it's defensible to start every player at least once a week. The club is going similar to their first nine games. Not nearly enough guys are hitting and then the soft spots (bullpen and defense) show. I know he's always been streaky, but Buxton has been bad way more than good offensively this year and no one has stepped up, other than singles hitter Martin.

No Buxton, and Outman gets the start in center field.

No lineup this late? There must be an injury concern.

Julien has platooned, playing mostly second base with some first base and DH with an OPS+. of 99. Luis Arraez has played second base and has a ..320 batting average (108 OPS+).

Also interesting for comparison, in about twice as many plate appearances, Royce Lewis has a .253 BA and .753 OPS resulting in a 109 OPS+. Martin is two and a half months older than Lewis.

The youth aren't ready yet, if their performance at St. Paul is any indication. Rodriguez appears the most ready of the prospects.