stringer bell

I dunno. One outing Paddack is great, the next he gets solid shots hit off him all over the park. The A’s got three, but it could have been a lot more.

Wait, did I miss something? I thought the runner was on first. Did he tag and take two bases?

Stunned they gave the 2B an error on Correa’s ball.

By the way, where is Alex Kirilloff? He had plenty of time to get to Louisville for the weekend. I know players are allowed some time (if they choose) before they report, but it has been like five days.

Going this long without a position player injury is close to unprecedented for a Rocco club. Wallner looks to have earned a return trip of late.

Just glanced at the lineup. No Buxton (not a surprise), but Lewis at third and CC4 at short and Kepler in right field. I hope Max starts a hot streak. The weather isn’t too oppressive thanks to the wind.

I’m headed for Target Field right now. May be too late for the Pride Tee Shirt, but that’s not why I’m attending.

After working two innings on Friday, I think they’ll treat Durán with caution. Hopefully Jax will be available (did he warm up in Game 1). Jackson Thielbar and Okert would be the BP, with Varland kind of a wild card. I imagine he was brought up to cover for a short start, but I suppose he could go in and throw an inning or two.

Alcala looks like a different player this time up.

Great outing for Ober. Most of the year, I believe the ball stays in the park, but it's warm and the wind blows out a bit to left.

With the way Lewis, Correa, Miranda and sometimes Buxton are going, this is a tough lineup for a lefty. I suppose this is what the front office envisioned, but now they are a bit more vulnerable to right handed pitching. One or some of the demoted left handed hitters and/or Larnach need to step up to balance the club out offensively.

Credit Sears with battling through four and saving their BP a bit. I wouldn't mind the Twins picking that guy up if the cost isn't too much.

Great throw by Willi. That saved a run.

Correa is now at .306. which would be seventh in MLB.

So far, Arráez has fared much better as a Padre. I don't have the splits handy, but so far home park hasn't mattered. The lower walk rate this year is something that might indicate that he might not be able to maintain and sustain his high batting average and above-average OPS.

Miranda was the rally killer. Puny single.

Tough choices for the local team. Yesterday was one of those days where it could have been raining almost at any time, but there were times when it wasn't raining. Today isn't going to be a beautiful day by any means but there are less times when it will be raining. The A's only come to town once (that's the way it is for everyone outside the AL Central). If they don't make up the game today, it would be the hassle of finding mutual off days and would mean the A's would have to travel to MN for one day. Just no good answers.

When he's been on the field, Royce has been everything you could ask for and more. I think it is more than fair to petition the baseball gods to grant him a decade of relative good health so that Twins fans and the rest of the country can enjoy not only his play, but his charisma and love of the game.

Luis Arráez is the favorite to win his third consecutive batting championship in the 2024 season. To my knowledge, he would be the first to win three batting championships for three different teams. He is, far and away, the best contact hitter in the game at this time, posting a tiny 5.7% K rate. For these reasons alone, Arráez should be considered a unique player--a unicorn. After the Twins were rained out yesterday, I checked some baseball pages and noted that Arraez has moved close to the top in batting average after being below .300 for the Marlins early this year. I also noted a WAR of 1.1 and I looked down the list of batting qualifiers to find someone with the same (or lower) number. The answer was Josh Smith, who is hitting .294 in about 70 fewer plate appearances. I'll comment here that I'm not a huge fan of WAR, but it is a way to sort overall value among position players. Next, I checked another "overall stat" and found that Arráez currently ranks 66th in MLB with a .745 mark. The .745 posted by Arráez is significantly lower than he put up in each of his two batting championship years. Why would Arráez' OPS number be down over 100 points and why would his WAR project to about 2.4 for a full season? I thought I had a couple answers and decided to check some other stats for this one-of-a-kind player. First, Arraez isn't a slugger. He has only one home run along with thirteen doubles and a triple. His iso power number will never be that high, but so far this season, it is a career low. It stands at .061 while major league average is .166. Luis' lifetime iso power number is .096. Secondly, and probably most telling is that his walk rate is low this year--3.8%, less than half of his lifetime mark of 7.4% and far below the major league average of 8.5%. If a guy has limited power and isn't a base running threat, why nibble? Finally, Arraez leads the National League in GDPs, which projects to the high 20s over a full season. Arraez' career exit velocity numbers have always been pedestrian but this year's 85.8 MPH number is also the lowest in his career. Arráez has been moved, more or less permanently to first base and DH by the Padres. He and Jake Cronenworth switched positions a couple weeks ago. His value as an alleged 5'10" first baseman is capped by his size (IMHO). As a base runner, Luis isn't gifted with good speed, but as often as he gets on base, he should be a pretty smart base runner. There aren't many players like Luis Arráez. He's a good day away from assuming the MLB lead in average, but he has to be head and shoulders above average in hitting because of factors like power, speed, and defensive ability and he is an above average player. I think the league has figured him out to some extent--throw him strikes and live with a lot of singles. IMHO, Arráez is the finishing touch, putting him on top of a good lineup will yield a lot of runs scored, but he isn't the kind of guy that can change a so-so team into a champion. Tony Gwynn and Rod Carew won a lot of batting championships and Arráez might join them by the time he is through, but he does have to hit like that to be an asset to his team.

I'm not sure how good a fielder Royce Lewis is, but I'm sure that fielding percentage in 61 innings isn't an accurate measure of someone's capabilities.

Max Kepler had the walk-off hit last night, the tenth of his career. One more walk-off and he will tie co-leaders (and team icons) Kirby Puckett and Harmon Killebrew. He also became the all-time home run hitter at Target Field with his 81st long ball at the Twins' current home park. He's 31 years old and often described as one of the most athletic players on the team, regarded as a really good fielder. Add in that Kepler has better platoon splits against left handed pitching than right handed pitching, one would think that Max would be in the lineup every day. Yet, he hasn't started against a left handed pitcher in over a month. and only has started against a left hander twice all season. I do want to point out that Kepler never gets pinch hit for, unlike any of the other left handed hitters on the Twins' roster. I am looking for reasons why Kepler hasn't started against lefties. Could this be Baldelli's way of giving Kep sufficient rest? Does the manager think that the right handed alternatives are better choices against lefties? I truly don't know. It is true that Manny Margot has been hitting better of late, but Margot isn't the player that Kepler is and has been. If someone has an explanation, please weigh in.

Ehire Adrianza was DFA'd by the Angels. I wonder if this is the end of his big league career. He'll be 35 later this year, and hasn't hit much in some time. A prototypical utility player, who was never a regular, he has reached 10 years in major league service. If he is done, he made the most of his abilities. https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2024/06/angels-place-adam-cimber-on-15-day-il-select-jose-marte-release-ehire-adrianza.html

How many times has Kepler been pinch-hit for this year? I haven't watched every game, but I don't remember any. Kepler hasn't started against left handers much at all, but he isn't lifted for a pinch hitter much if at all.

I didn't mention veterans trending down and I'm glad I didn't mention Max Kepler. 🙃 Veteran pitcher Caleb Thielbar has had a very rough go so far. I don't know how far the leash extends. Okert has been up and down, but lately has pitched better.

We'll undo all that when we win series against Baltimore, New York and Cleveland in the playoffs!! (Clueless optimism)