stringer bell

None of the left handed hitters has hit lefties well and should be a "must start" against a lefty. There's a real problem getting Julien in vs. lefties with his defense and Solano and Farmer available to play second (both better options vs. a lefty). Pedigree and past performance kept Correa in the lineup (he's seemingly found his stroke) and now Buxton.

Yeah, you can rebuild like the Royals or like the Orioles. It looks like Baltimore is going to be good for a while and Kansas City might lose a hundred games a year until Bobby Witt Jr. is a free agent.

Chicago won twice in Atlanta and the Rays lost yesterday to KC. Sweeps aren't guaranteed even for the best teams, especially on the road. Yes, Oakland is bad, but so are KC and Chicago White Sox. This whole idea that the superior team will win every game against the inferior team is ridiculous. If the Braves play the A's, Royals and Rockies, they probably win seven. The Twins have played KC and Oakland and won them all, that's pretty good. That they were swept in between by Baltimore diminished what they've done, but 6-3 against the three teams is about what can be expected of a team just above .500. Assuming decent health, I expect the Twins to win between 85-90 games (easy schedule!) and win the Central. They should have a "chip and a chair" in the playoffs and that would include Sonny Gray. I really don't see trading him to add prospects when they have a great chance to make the playoffs and get a home series against the last Wild Card in the AL.

I dunno. I don't have any great expectations for Keuchel, but saving a few innings for Ryan, Ober, Gray and López might make sense. As far as having “only” seven in the bullpen, with a bit better health (Thielbar, Stewart) added back, they can juggle their remaining members and mostly have enough arms available to get through. The tone of posters here is that the Twins are on the razor's edge to make the playoffs. BBRef today has them as having a 84.1% chance to make the playoffs. The surest way for those odds to go down would be to have injuries or ineffectiveness from their starting rotation. If adding Keuchel for 4-5 starts increases the effectiveness and health of the rotation, it would enhance their chances to not only win the division, but also have some playoff success.

I’m neither disappointed or elated by the Twins sweep of the A’s. There were several disappointing performances (Buxton, the starters) but the bullpen and several players got the job done. Just enough big hits to paper over some sketchy starting pitching.

On the double in the seventh inning, that usually isn't a ball the first baseman is asked to catch. Kepler did have a long run, but was coming in, Solano may have been pulled over towards second and we know that Barrels is not the fleetest of foot. All three looked like they were feeling someone else close to them, so the ball fell with AK the closest.

Correct, and Michael A Taylor didn't catch the last out, it was (my man) Willi.

As frustrating as it is to watch Buxton when he slumps, he is going to be the DH unless he is on the IL. That eliminates the best position for Julien. The Twins converted Arraez pretty much on the fly last year. Maybe they can do the same for Edouard. I think the best, most doable move is to move Julien to first base and have Kirilloff get more outfield reps.

Kirilloff has played in more games than anyone but Correa since his recall in May. He hasn't been a starter vs. some left handed pitching, but it isn't like he's been fully platooned. Donny Barrels has gotten more at-bats of late, but that is a performance issue. Honestly, Farmer, Solano and Castro have deserved at-bats at the expense of Kepler, Kirilloff and Gallo and really all three have played sporadically against left handed pitching.

The broadcasters were quick to give Willi a lot of love for his defense. I like his game, but the offense is ...........inconsistent. He is playing way more than anyone thought he would and he has provided a spark on the bases and played well in the field.

I am as big a Kirilloff fan as anybody, but the production in June (.621 OPS) and so far in July (.649 OPS) isn't anything to write home about. Kepler and Gallo can't be optioned and finding a place for Julien needs to be done. If Alex hits like today, he'll keep playing, but if he keeps coming up with a low .600s OPS, he could be back in St. Paul. Kepler's OPS in June and July is better than AK's, and Gallo also has better numbers for the two months (coming into today).

Two big hits for AK, the oppo double bigger than the homer. They come at a key time for Kirilloff—he could lose playing time or maybe even his spot on the active roster if he continues to struggle.

I don’t like it, but that’s a possibility. Kirilloff needs to get it going to stay in the lineup.

Could be Julien, too.

While I really don't want to add to the Buxton talk, I guess I can't resist. If the Twins are going to do anything in the remainder of the season or postseason, Buxton will be a large part of it (IMHO). He has had this kind of struggle at the plate, but either the full-time DHing or injury may have deepened the slump. Certainly, I'm concerned by the strikeouts, but it seems to me that in about 90% of the at-bats where he makes contact, he is using about 20% of the field--from the third base line to the shortstop hole. He is the most pull-happy player that I can remember. When he's going good, he's driving the ball from the right-center gap to the left field corner. Right now everything is severely pulled, including a lot of hard-hit fouls. I would think he could try to adjust that.

The manager and pitching coach had better have a better feel than the fans for what the bullpen pitchers can and cannot do. There were a lot of figurative raised eyebrows when Stewart was inserted into high leverage situations, but now it is accepted that Stewart is a high leverage setup guy (hoping that will still hold when he returns from the iL). I don't think Ortega has the stuff that Stewart does, but he might have enough to be an effective middle guy. If memory serves, Jax was warming last week to go into his third straight game (didn't happen) so maybe he'll be available for a batter or two today. Duran is probably not available today, otherwise they should be all right.

Right now, the injury bug has really hit the bullpen (Stewart, Thielbar, De León) and it might be a while before Jorge López is in a high leverage situation, so others need to come through. Ortega did the job today and actually everyone has in the Oakland series. Ryan is rested and hopefully can give the Twins seven innings today and get the bullpen in a better spot. \ The team won two games when their starters were off--10 runs in 8.1 innings from Maeda and López--I don't think it is the right time to criticize bullpen management.

A solid game for Jeffers, although he didn't block a pitch in the dirt. Two walks, a hit and a safety squeeze bunt, plus he did his part on the double steal. More production in a day than the club has from Vázquez in a month.

Wallner is listed as on the Twins active roster while Miranda is listed on the 10-day IL at 1:15 this afternoon.

If the future home for Julien isn't 2B or DH, I think it would have to be first base. I've loved the idea of a healthy Alex Kirilloff spending a decade as the Twins regular first baseman, but he is a capable outfielder and he hasn't nailed down a permanent spot on the field with his hitting.

The corollary to this discussion would be “which corner outfielder gets promoted?” I think that question is equally interesting. In a very small sample size, Wallner did well with the Twins, Larnach’s numbers are poor (much larger SS). However Larnach has the higher AAA OPS and is the better and more versatile outfielder. Both hit lefty and neither will help with the Twins’ K problem.

Glad for López. Ryan pitches on Sunday, so I don''t know if he was considered.

Maybe fourth.

They (the Royals) saved Jordan Lyles for the Guards (1-11 6.68 ERA). I guess they didn't want to be accused of helping the Twins.

The Twins have completed a sweep of the KC Royals and increased their lead in the AL Central to two games. Just to show they are impartial, the Royals play Cleveland next and send out the worst starting pitcher in MLB (Jordan Lyles) to face the Guardians tonight. The Twins have an off day today and face the Baltimore Orioles for the second weekend in a row, this time at Target Field. The Orioles are a team on the rise. After being the only bad team for years in the AL East, they have become respectable and have a much better record than the Twins. They have been given many top draft choices this decade and those draft choices are bearing fruit. Adley Rutschman, Gunnar Hendrickson, Jordan Westburg and Colton Couser have all been added in the last two years with more premium prospects in the system. Their pitching staff has been built mostly by trial and error--keep churning guys through the system and some will work out--including Jorge López who was flipped to the Twins at last year's trade deadline. On the pitching staff, the '23 Orioles have four pitchers who at one time were property of the Twins, including probably the number one loss on a Rule V claim in recent history. Here's a look at four pitchers who have gone from the Twins directly or indirectly to the Orioles. #4--Kyle Gibson. Kyle Gibson was a #1 draft pick by the Twins. A college pitcher, he debuted midseason in 2013 and gave the Twins six and a half years of starts. Gibson was promoted as a sinkerballer who threw hard enough to get strikeouts and I suspect his stuff would have played better in another era. His body of work is middle of the road, but he has been better than that for stretches, including an All-Star selection in 2021. I have met Kyle and he is one of my favorite ballplayers. Since his time with the Twins, Gibson pitched for Texas and Philadelphia before signing as a free agent with the Orioles. #3--Danny Coulombe. Coulombe pitched parts of three seasons with the Twins. He is a left handed middle reliever and in his time with the Twins he was mostly effective. For the third year in a row, he signed a minor league contract with the Twins. Now 33 years of age, this year's contract had an opt-out clause in the contract. If another club wanted to offer a major league roster spot Coulombe could opt out of his contract with the Twins. The Orioles offered and the Twins had to let him go. Given his history, and the fact that Coulombe signed three straight minor league contracts with the Twins, I think it is defensible that the Twins didn't put him on the major league roster solely to keep him in the organization. On the other hand, did they really need to keep a long reliever (Cole Sands) and Emilio Pagán? Coulombe has performed very well for the Os. His ERA is under 3 and he is averaging over 11 Ks per nine innings. #2--Yennier Cano. Cano was signed by the Twins in 2019 as a 25-year old. He put up excellent strikeout numbers, but displayed command issues. Regardless, Cano advanced through the Twins upper minors and made his debut last year. He got hit hard. The pattern would be some outstanding pitches followed by non-competitive waste pitches and then a grooved fastball or breaking ball. Too many walks, too many pitches out of the strike zone and too many homers. Cano was included in the trade that landed Jorge López and few (including me) thought much about him being added as a throw-in, especially since he was already 28 years old. Baltimore kept him in the majors to close out the year and he continued to be ineffective. However, in 2023, soOmething has clicked. Cano was unscored on in April, allowed no hits and no walks in 11 innings. He pitched very well in May, as well, but has appeared a bit more vulnerable as time has gone on. He's going to the All-Star game and is a great story. #1-Tyler Wells. There's been a lot of angst that Danny Coulombe and Yennier Cano have been important bullpen pieces for the Orioles this year. Less has been said about probably the O's best starter Tyler Wells. Wells was a 2016 draftee for the Twins who had advanced through their organization. During the 2020 COVID year, he didn't compete and was left unprotected in the Rule V draft. The Orioles picked him and he stuck with the club in 2021. He pitched out of the (bad) Orioles bullpen in 2021 and posted okay numbers for a guy who had only pitched 32 innings above A ball. Pitching around injuries, Wells stayed on the major league roster in 2022 and joined the rotation. in 2022. Wells was pretty good last year (7-7 4.25 ERA) and this year has been much better than that. He leads all qualified MLB pitchers in WHIP (Joe Ryan is second) and is 6-4 with a 3.19 ERA. The only thing keeping Wells from being a Cy Yound contender is that he has yielded 21 homers this year while having a pitcher-friendly home park. IMHO, this is the current one that got away for the Twins.