stringer bell

Taylor may have kept the Phillies from a double-digit lead.

Winder and Headrick may get “rewarded” for their outings by being optioned. Ortega can come back. I don’t know who the other guy might be.

Perkins is absolutely right. Winder hasn’t thrown a good breaking ball in the zone all inning.

I’m guessing they give him another start. If the brain trust thinks the outing against Arizona was more indicative of his stuff, it makes sense. I just don’t see it. I can’t see how the leash would be much longer than three starts.

I checked the twitter accounts of the writers who cover the Twins and the Twins official website and no updates on anybody with injuries. Is there any news on the injured players, including Solano, Ryan and Kirilloff?

Yup, it’s going to mess up the bullpen, but he can’t keep throwing that stuff and expect to get outs.

I am not smarter than anyone else, but my thought was the praise for Dallas Keuchel was a little much or at least premature. I think this outing has already negated his one run in five innings last time out.

To spice things up, I have started using ex-Twins for as many categories as I can when filling in the immaculate grid. For example on today's grid, I used Kyle Gibson, Nelson Cruz, Chris Gimenez, Pedro Florimon, Pat Neshek and Alex Colomé as answers.

Whaddaya know, Gallo hits a two-run bomb for the lead.

Wasn't he nominated in the utility player category? That's what he won the Silver Slugger for.

When I posted this, my thought was about whether the Twins could have gotten a different Miami starting pitcher who would work out better. Barring injury, I think they got the right guy.

Nominated, did not win.

These are the last two guys in the bullpen who could be easily replaced and probably won't be on a postseason roster. I worry a lot more about Floro, Pagán, and Balazovic. For what it's worth, Ortega and Sands would get my vote as better options in the bullpen right now. I do think Headrick has a chance to stick as a starter.

Austin Martin 3-3, with a walk and stolen base. Keep it up!!

The Twins continue to have the lowest batting average against left handed pitching, but they have a better OPS relative to the rest of the league. They have a higher OPS than five teams vs. lefties.

On a first place club that’s won five in a row.

The Twins four biggest contracts for position players (this year): Correa--$33M, .689 OPS, .9 WAR. Buxton--$15+ M, .731 OPS, .8 WAR. Gallo--$11M, .726 OPS, .4 WAR. Vázquez--$10 M, .592 OPS, -.2 WAR. If they were getting value from their highest paid players, we wouldn't be in a race for a division crown. Does it mean the Twins will sour on big contracts for position players? I dunno.

Okay, Wallner gets a start vs. a quality lefty. I would have preferred to see if Jeffers could carry his hot streak another day, but it's good to give Wallner a chance.

Through almost three quarters of a season, 2 WAR is a lot to make up. That said, I think WAR for pitchers is arbitrary (more so than position players) and López' overall value is understated by the WAR number.

I think that''s AK's best position, but if they have to put a guy with a suspect glove at first (Julien, Miranda, Severino, Prato), Kirilloff would be acceptable in an outfield corner.

I've speculated that there's a pretty good chance that the Twins would pick up the option for Polanco and then trade him. He's a better-than-average second baseman, but his recent injuries have to have decreased his value. I don't think the Twins get more than a prospect or relief pitcher for him.

I think Kirilloff is at least written in the plans in pencil. His performance this season has been shortened by injury, but he has shown he is a good hitter. His current injury is completely unrelated to the career-threatening wrist miseries that ended his 2021 and 2022 seasons.

The Marlins had several options from among their starters when the Twins came looking for a trade partner in the Luis Arraez deal. Or maybe it's the other way around--the Marlins were willing to give up one of their starters in pursuit of Arraez. Regardless, there were rumors that the Marlins trade a starting pitcher for Arraez. The deal happened and the Twins got Pablo López. We all know Arraez has thrived with the Marlins. He's winning the batting championship in a walk, currently hitting .375 and he's stayed on the field and performed acceptably as a second baseman. That said, the Twins could be satisfied if they got a starting pitcher to front their rotation for the rest of the decade. Did they do that? We won't know until Pablo López completes his time with the Twins, but the results have been promising. López is on course to set career highs in innings, strikeouts and WHIP with no indications of tiring or injuries. The ERA is quite a bit higher than his FIP indicating he might have been a bit unlucky in run prevention. He has signed an extension through 2027, which will be his age 31 season. He seems to have fit in with the Twins very well. Miami had uber-prospect Eury Pérez, who was probably not available and reigning Cy Young Sandy Alcantara, who again probably wasn't available or would require much more than Luis Arraez. Jesus Luzado has similar numbers to López this season and is younger, but would he have agreed to an extension? Now, more than ever, I think this is a classic win-win trade for both teams. It will depend on the health of the principals, but the addition of Pablo López has helped the Twins as much or more than the loss of Luis Arraez. The Marlins got a great singles hitter, the Twins got a top rotation starter.

Stealing third is non-typical and circumstances came together in the game Sunday. Keuchel is tough to run on (first to second) and perhaps Keuchel’s attention waned with the low percentage move of stealing third with two outs. If he gets run on again, he’ll probably have to make some adjustments.

It hasn’t been a problem for the Twins up to now. The eight stolen bases included three double steals (two of them against Keuchel) and also included a steal of second with a runner on third. Up until that game, the Twins had stolen more bases than their opponents and had done so with a higher percentage of success. All of Arizona’s steals netted zero, while the Twins stole one base (Julien) and he scored from second on a two-out single. Vázquez will have to wear 0-8 on CS for that game, but the problem in reality was Keuchel (and Floro?) on the double steals.