stringer bell

Really curious who will be recalled on Friday. With two extra spots available and only one can be a pitcher, I don't know who will be brought up. With Buxton, Kirilloff and Castro all expected back shortly, anyone else might only be up for a few days. Kirilloff had three hits today for the Saints, so he probably won't be down for much longer. On the pitching side, Stewart is due to return in a week or two, Alcalá could be back and Chris Paddack also could be pitching for the Twins in a couple of weeks, but who is coming up tomorrow?

Here’s my Immaculate Grid for today. I figure it’s easy to go with obvious answers so I’m trying get the most obscure players who played for the teams in question and always use ex-Twins.

I'll be interested to see who the Twins add tomorrow. Castro probably isn't available (paternity leave) and there isn't a pitcher who stands out to be added unless they want Louie Varland. Anyone added would figure to be short term because of the guys who should be on the roster in a week.

Well, it's Tito's Last Stand. The Guards are certainly better today than they were for the three-game series against the Twins. They have to make up five games in 28, a pretty tall order. I wonder if they would have made the same moves if they were seven out instead of five. Cleveland claimed Giolito, Lopez and Moore and figure to get Josh Naylor back pretty soon. If the Twins' injured guys all make it back, they'll add Buxton, Kirilloff, Castro and Stewart and perhaps Alcalá or Paddack. While Cleveland got a lot better, the Twins figure to have an improved active roster as well. I actually think this is good for the Twins. They'll be challenged in the next week facing good pitchers and pretty good teams. It is time to stop looking into the future and start playing their best baseball. They will need it to hold off the Guardians.

I wonder if there are a lot of Twins front office types watching the Saints game tonight. So far, both Buxton and AK have hits as well as Martin and Lee.

It is not Pablo day.

Gaddis in for Williams. I bet he hurt himself when he fell on his delivery to Polanco.

Too many pitches Pablo.

Referring to the Twins on this post.

Honestly, I doubt they’ll claim anyone. If they are holding on to Luplow and Gallo waiting for the return of Buxton, Kirilloff and Castro they probably will be thinking why take on any of these guys when we’ll be getting Stewart, Buxton, Kirilloff and Castro back. Particularly adding a big bat against lefties should happen, but I will doubt it until it happens.

It looks like these moves were made to save money for the Angels. The claiming period will run through the 31st, so anyone who claims the player will have to take on his contract (all of it). No one can wait until the claiming period is over because then the player wouldn't be eligible for post-season.

The Angels put a bunch of pending free agents on waivers including RH hitters Grichuk and Renfroe and pitchers Giolito, Moore and Reynaldo López. All of these guys could help the Twins, especially the hitters.

Saints play through the 23rd IIRC. The lower minors seasons end a bit sooner.

I noticed Altuve hit for the cycle and wondered if perhaps he got all four hits off Barraclough (he didn’t). It got me to thinking, who is the last pitcher to surrender a cycle in a single game? Has to be rarer than hitting for the cycle.

Regarding Ober, they aren’t really playing service time games with him. He’s solidly over two years service time, but not enough for Super 2. If he claims he healthy, he can’t be put on the IL and his option for this year was already used.

The Twins 10-6 win in the series opener against Cleveland gives them a seven game lead in the AL Central with 30 games left on the regular season schedule. They have eight games remaining in a stretch where they play Texas and Cleveland for thirteen consecutive games. If the Twins emerge from this gauntlet with the current lead they will have all but iced the division championship. Assuming they leave Cleveland with a safe lead, what should the Twins do after that? Here are my suggestions: 1) Rest guys who need it. Not many players have been iron men, but most by now are battling nagging injuries. Correa has noted his foot is still painful, Kepler and Taylor are not 100% and the list goes on. Donovan Solano is 35 and will easily have played more this year than he ever has in the major league career. 2) Protect the rotation. Pablo López is approaching his career high in innings and pitches, Sonny Gray is on track to work his most innings since 2015. There is no need for those guys to go deep and throw a lot of pitches in games if the Twins have a safe lead. 3) Sort out the post-season bullpen. Thielbar, Duran, Pagán and Jax are set. No one else is certain. The Twins would love to have Brock Stewart come back and blow hitters away as he did in the first half of the season. Starters Kenta Maeda, Bailey Ober, Dallas Keuchel and even Joe Ryan could end up as bullpen pieces in the post-season. Maybe a guy like Kody Funderburk is lightning in a bottle. 4) Welcome back returning injured players. Castro, Buxton and Kirilloff are all thought to be ready to return in the next two weeks. All should have large roles for the Twins in the post-season. They will need at-bats to get sharp and it is thought Buxton will get some time in center field (which will also give Michael A Taylor some time off). 5) Keep winning. Except for Tampa Bay (and maybe Cincinnati) future opponents will be looking to 2024 and beyond. Even resting guys like Correa and Kepler and limiting innings for the rotation, the Twins should win a lot of games in September this year. Winning helps a lot of issues.

Three inning saves are quite rare. Headrick got one earlier this year and Jax got one last year. Randy Dobnak got one early in 2021 when he gave up something like five runs in the ninth inning, but the Twins were up by double digits. IIRC, Baddoo hit a grand slam.

One-third of the way to keeping his job for another week. /s/

Great job by the two relievers. Winder gets credit for a save and Funderburk gets the win. I respect the decisions that managers make but I continue to be puzzled by the usage of "long relievers" Sands, Winder and Headrick. One and sometimes two of these guys have been on the active roster and they are never asked to pitch in high leverage situations. Too many times, a short outing or an injury leaves the team pretty short, but no matter what the long guy isn't used. Winder is coming off two outstanding outings, but I doubt they'll ask him to pitch in a higher leverage situation.

You called it!

Hey Royce, major league outfielders get to those short fly balls and they can make the throw back. Lewis is a great talent, but he's got things to work on. He just might be the type to keep getting better and better.

Another possible GDP for Correa. I hate to admit it, but every time this situation comes up, I'm dreading it.

My favorites. These are the City Connect uniforms, correct? Not as gaudy as other teams, but I really like them.

Do they ask Kody to go one more?

Twins have had two clean innings and three tough ones where they yielded six runs. Kody needs another clean inning.