stringer bell

Agreed.....on the position player side of the ledger. Maeda and Thielbar are days away from returning to the pitching staff. Assuming that Maeda would not supplant a starting pitcher, two hurlers will have to go. De León and Sands have both handled their roles well, but haven't pitched in much high-leverage, Stewart has been the find of the season. Pagán has pitched well except for two meltdowns and Moran has righted the ship after a mediocre at best April. Pitching culprits in May were Jax and López although Jax has put together three consecutive scoreless outings. Sands can be optioned, De León would have to be DFA'd and could be lost to the organization if the Twins tried to send him down. Barring injury, I would expect that the Twins will option Sands, but making a place for Maeda might be a very tough call.

All three are comeback stories and three of the guys I root for with extra gusto for some reason. Willi Castro has earned more playing time with good performance at the plate, on the bases and in the field. He played a particularly strong game at third base yesterday. Ryan Jeffers has also earned more playing time in his job share behind the plate. All in all, he's done very well defensively and his offensive production recently is also noteworthy. Kirilloff has come back from injury to show an outstanding plate approach. He hasn't driven the ball as often as I had hoped, but he's reaching base and getting key hits.

Yeah, it was against minor league pitching, but a double, triple and homer behind Kirilloff, who was on base three out of four times yesterday could have changed the game significantly.

Kirilloff is looking really confident at the plate. He's already walked as many times as he did in 2021 in more than twice the number of at-bats. It looks like the wrist is good and I think he's going to be a fixture in the Twins' lineup for quite a while.

I love to speculate on lineups. My guess is that Lewis gets tomorrow off and Farmer takes third base. Castro for MAT probably makes sense as well, although I missed his last start in center and understand it was less than stellar in the field. I'd like to see Kepler ride the pine for a while, as well. Weak contact and a couple of strikeouts again tonight.

Gilberto Celestino has started his rehab in Fort Myers. Barring a setback, twenty days from now, the Twins will have to activate Celestino and add him to the 40-man roster and decide whether to option him. Of course, they could also DFA him, but I doubt they would do that because of his age and experience.

This is the current version of Byron Buxton. He's going to have these slumps and he's going to hit a lot of homers in a short time. I think he could be more and better, but this is what we're getting for what he got in his contract. I don't think he'll play in the outfield until he insists and I don't know if he'll insist. I don't think any of us fans know exactly how bad his knee is.

I really don't want to rip on Sonny Gray, but Sonny is not one of the top innings pitched guys in baseball. His last five outings were 5, 5.1, 4 and 5 innings plus the 6 Sonny worked yesterday. If you want to stay in the game you don't walk a guy to put the tying run at the plate with no one out no matter how many pitches you've thrown. He had pitched well, but Gray doesn't overpower people and needs razor-sharp command to succeed. I think he would be more vulnerable than many facing an order for the third or fourth time. Sonny's a good pitcher and wants to get paid in 2024. He's not likely to agree to an extension before checking out free agency. He isn't Cy Young and he isn't 1991 vintage Jack Morris.

Aaron Hicks wasn't unemployed very long. He signed with the Orioles after they lost Cedric Mullins.

Here's the reality (to me). Kepler is most likely a proven mediocrity, but with excellent defense. Because of a combination of injuries, so-so production at the major league level and inconsistent playing time, none of Kirilloff, Wallner or Larnach is truly proven. Maybe i'm holding the bar too high, but after a supposedly sure-thing hitter (Miranda) has fizzled this year, can the Twins count on any of these young(ish) players to be a mainstay? Wallner played mostly when the season had slipped away last year and had a nice cameo last week. Kirlloff has been hounded by injuries and I think some fans and front office people want him to prove they hype before fully committing to him and Larnach has had good moments, bad moments and lot of injuries. The likelihood that one of these guys will be better than Kepler is pretty high. The chances that two will exceed what Max offers are more of an even money thing and having all three thrive is more of a wish than a future reality. Having Larnach, Kirilloff, and Wallner mashing from the left side added to Lewis (again a projection, not reality), Buxton, Correa and Polanco (or Julien) makes for quite a potent offense. It just hasn't been put together and probably never will. Speaking of "never will" or at least I'll believe it when I see it, Max Kepler hasn't played center field in over a year and Byron Buxton hasn't been out there yet this year. Until someone announces that either of these things are on the table, I guess we'll see MAT and Castro as the center field options.

A lot of focus has been on the position players with fairly short term injuries to Polanco, Kepler and Larnach opening the door along with the activation of Lewis. Now the flip side is presenting itself. It is possible that Polanco and Larnach will be available soon(ish) and the guys called up--Wallner (already sent down), Julien and ???? may end up in St. Paul. Donny Barrels gets occasional hits, scares the bejabbers out of me in the field and is a slow 35-year old on a one-year contract. I don't see how he is on the team if all the position players (save Gordon) are healthy. Thielbar and Maeda are both starting their rehabs in St. Paul. They can be there as long as a month, but I'm guessing that barring a setback Thielbar will be with the Twins by June 10th. Maeda is a square peg with only round holes available right now. Transition to BP, supplant Varland? Who knows and who knows if he'll be effective. I think it's anybody's guess about who is demoted/DFA'd when Thielbar and Maeda are ready and probably it will be decided by injuries. The two worst bullpen arms in May have been Jax and López and they were counted on as high leverage setup guys when the season started. Jose De León has looked good and can't be optioned. Sands has done his job, but has only worked in the lowest of leverage situations and Pagán has two memorable meltdowns mixed in with better than decent showing around them. Much like what happened to Bailey Ober and Matt Wallner, Louie Varland might be the guy to go despite being far from a problem.

The nature of his game (and Buxton's too) is peaks and valleys. He went quite a while between home runs, then connected for a few and now again hasn't hit one for some time. Joey has kept his BA above .200 and his OBP in the acceptable range, but without the long balls he is a net liability. Gallo has been fine at first base, but I still think AK is a better first baseman mostly because of the inherent advantages that left handers have there. Also, while it was fun to see a 6'5" 260 lb. lead off hitter, it makes more sense to bat him down in the order. I'd pick Julien (while he's playing), Kirilloff or Lewis before Gallo.

Nick Gordon is on the 60-day IL so I believe Castro has at least six weeks to make a place on the active roster his own. As a six-position switch hitter with base stealing speed, he checks a lot of boxes. I think the hitting will always be a test for him and he's a better corner defender than up the middle. I think Castro is a stopgap center fielder and with Buxton at DH, it would be nice if he were better out there. If he was, he probably wouldn't have had to sign a minor league contract this winter. Edit to add: Today, according to BBRef, Castro is the #1 position player on the Twins in WAR (1.1).

Thanks, that what I meant!

I won’t quote the whole comment on the BP, but I will say that one or two bad outings can change numbers quickly. Both Jax and López have struggled, Jax for longer, López deeper and we’ve seen Stewart and Moran put in spots that López and Jax had assumed earlier. Everybody will have to get crucial outs, but leaving the job to guys who are struggling is a poor usage of talent.

Pretty certainly Julien would be optioned to make room for Polanco. I think we’ll know more about Maeda during and after his rehab. It isn’t apples to apples, but Varland’s numbers are better than Maeda’s.

Garlick was optioned to St. Paul.

Kepler has an okay OPS so far this year, fueled by both an uptick in power and a fair amount of walks. He still makes a lot of outs and his upside must now be mid-.200s batting average and an above average OPS+. There has to come a point where a change of role occurs. I know some others have said that Max shouldn't be guaranteed a spot in the lineup. OTOH, Larnach and Wallner (or Kirilloff for that matter) haven't proven they will be better and Kepler is regarded as a plus defender.I suppose the manager makes the call to change a role and has the most information about when to make that move. Wallner did very well in a very small sample. His numbers at St. Paul were good, but not really enough to force himself to the big club. They'll also have Larnach, probably in a week or two. Kirilloff, Gallo, Kepler, Larnach, Kepler and Larnach for three spots is too many. I also believe their best first baseman is playing left field, which is another case of deferring to veterans.

Royce and Ryan may have given them the spark they desperately need. Huge victory today. Lewis with the oppo homer and clutch game-tying single and Jeffers with an absolute missile for the ultimate game-winning homer.

Gary Sánchez claimed by the Padres.

He does, but he’s not on the 40-man roster.

Does anyone know if they brought an extra pitcher with them to Houston? With Pagán unavailable and an IL possibility, it makes sense to have sn extra BP arm on site.

Related query: how long can they keep Celestino on the 60-day IL? The original recovery time for the injury was 6-8 weeks and it has been close to three months.

Kepler (I think) is now only a right fielder, much like Buxton is only a DH. Kepler and his mediocre offense and good defense, is a roster problem. He’s a major league veteran with a lot of time on this team, but it sure looks like his time is almost up. It’s easy enough to say “send him to center field” or use him as a fourth outfielder, but I doubt it’s that easy in practice. Wallner and Julien (and Castro) have all shown ability and also made misplays that cost the team. The experienced players that could/will supplant them most likely make fewer mistakes, but maybe don’t add production that these guys might provide. It’s far better to have the likes of Julien, Lewis, Wallner and maybe Miranda ready to step in than a bunch of AAAA players.

No announcement on the move to make room on the 40-man roster for Lewis?