stringer bell

Waiting for the official announcement of the Wild Card round roster.

I don’t think Polanco has been “just fine” at third base, but I think he starts Game 1 there with Julien at second and Correa at shortstop and Lewis at DH. Having Castro and Farmer to fill in later in games is nice. Hopefully, they can have their best defenders protecting a lead late in a game.

I'll add something about Willi Castro. He made two errors in the outfield in 83 games and none in around 50 games in the infield (286 innings). Castro made a number of highlight reel plays in the three positions he played most--left field, center field and third base--but was extremely reliable turning outs into outs. I'm certainly biased but Castro should be strongly considered for a Gold Glove as a utility player.

I don’t think Polanco has been “just fine” at third base, but I think he starts Game 1 there with Julien at second and Correa at shortstop and Lewis at DH. Having Castro and Farmer to fill in later in games is nice. Hopefully, they can have their best defenders protecting a lead late in a game.

Some interesting goals reached or just missed. Joe Ryan had 161.2 innings pitched, just a third of an inning short of qualifying for the ERA championship and rate stats. He also compiled 197 strikeouts, leaving him just short of 200 Ks and denying the Twins of having two pitchers with over 200 strikeouts for the first time in 56 years. Speaking of strikeouts, Pablo López finished just three Ks short of the AL lead. He will face the AL strikeout leader (Gausman) in the opener of the Wild Card round. The team finished with an MLB record of 1654 strikeouts, fifty more than the second-worst team. The rate stat of 27% Ks might be the worst ever, as well. On the flip side, the Twins set a team record and led the majors in strikeouts from their pitching staff. with all five of their principal starters averaging a strikeout per inning or more. Home runs--while Atlanta tied the 2019 Twins all-time homer record, the Twins tied Texas for the AL homer lead at 233. They did this with their top home run guy (Kepler) "only" hitting 24 bombs. They tied a club record with 12 players hitting double-figure homers and two who spent time on the IL (Larnach and Castro) just missing the ten-homer mark. They also tied the team record for grand slams, led by the rookies Lewis (4) and Wallner (2). The pitchers allowed 194 homers, giving the Twins a plus differential of 39. As a staff, the Twins did very well, As mentioned, they led MLB in strikeouts, they also led in Quality Starts. They were fourth in walks and WHIP, and sixth in ERA. The team allowed fewer runs per inning pitched than any team in the American League (tied with Seattle, but more innings pitched) and third overall in run suppression in MLB. Offensively, the Twins were tenth in runs scored and had a very respectable +119 run differential. Their Pythagorean 93-69 record indicates they lost more close game than they should have. Individually, Max Kepler ended up with a very good season. His .260 batting average was his best ever. He challenged his career season of 2019 in OPS, OPS+ and had his second best numbers in almost all of his offensive stats. Willi Castro had a breakthrough as a utility player, starting games in six positions and playing good defense in all of them. He became a force on the base paths with 33 stolen bases. Also breaking through was Ryan Jeffers. Despite playing slightly less than half the time, he put up career highs in every offensive category and improved his OPS to .858, an OPS+ of 134. Pablo López exceeded his career highs in innings pitched and strikeouts and he and Joe Ryan both threw their first career complete game shutout. Sonny Gray finished second in ERA in the AL and threw his most innings since 2015, while leading MLB with an FIP of 2.79. The team finished with 87 wins and rallied to end up 40-41 on the road. They won every series but one in September, but oddly failed to sweep anyone. The Twins finished 19-27 in one-run games, but did win 12 of 20 extra-inning contests.

Careers aren’t a straight line. Austin Martin (at 24) is showing the tools (and production) that made him a top draft choice, while Celestino has stagnated. I wish Celestino well, but I doubt that that the team will regret his DFA.

Are you sure? A Toronto loss would give them 89 wins while Texas and Houston would have 90. The only way the Twins get the Astros is if Toronto ties them in wins.

I don't like the Cubs' chance to hold them homerless for five innings.

Castro with his third bunt hit this month. Put that in your scouting report, Blue Jays.

Rays up 4-0 on Blue Jays. I think it's going to be the Blue Jays vs. the Twins in Round 1.

I believe Suter is the only lefty reliever for the Rockies. The Twins can overload with their left handers now.

Jeffers took a foul ball in the upper leg. I wish they could have a third catcher for today. The Twins will lead MLB in strikeouts, both by their hitters and by their pitchers. They are 24 ahead of Toronto for pitcher strikeouts. Quite a turnaround for a staff that had for years been "pitch to contact".

I don't care if Ober gives up double digit runs or goes six no-hit innings. He's a starter in the second round.

Toronto is not starting Gausman against Tampa. I suspect they don't see much advantage to finishing with a #5 seed and facing Tampa Bay for three more games after finishing the season against them.

I hope he keeps the ball in the park.

mlbtradesrumors.com reported that Cano will be the primary closer for the Oriole postseason. He's had a great year, but I doubt he'll be an perennial All-Star.

As I understand it, quite a number of players stayed back, including Buxton, Correa and Lewis, as well as Gallo, Gordon and Alcalá. I don’t know if any of the non-injured pitchers on the 40-man are in Minneapolis, Denver or headed home. Correa is a lock to be activated, it seems likely that Lewis will, too. Adding two back from the injured list makes it 30 players, so four would have to be subtracted—two or three pitchers and one or two position players.

I really doubt Ober is on the first round active roster.

I'm reading it differently. The Twins won't face Texas in the first round, but get either Toronto or Houston.

Rockies still need a touchdown and two-point conversion.

Who is left in the BP? The lefties are having a bit of trouble.

I hereby award Max Kepler the Twins’ hitting Triple Crown. Kepler will lead the club in homers and RBI and while just short of the required 502 plate appearances, would lead the club in batting average using the criteria that MLB uses to determine if a player qualifies for the batting championship.

We might have all 12 teams in the playoffs by tonight. Not certain who is the #5 seed and who is the #6 in each league.

Give Willi the utility man Gold Glove!!!

I believe this is Willi's first start at shortstop. He played a lot of short for Detroit, but was behind Farmer and Correa in the pecking order.