stringer bell

Couldn't check his swing on a pitch about cap high.

On the Kirilloff K, I heard another commentator comment that a lot of hitters have so much bigger chase zones on 3-2. Kirilloff watched three in the dirt and swung at the fourth.

Besides the spousal abuse allegations, he also didn't show up for the Yankees. No thanks.

Bradish has better numbers than Kremer. A better challenge than last night.

I looked at June stats for both the Twins hitters and pitchers, in a losing month. Probably the most damning statistic was the strikeout disparity--275 for the hitters vs. 233 for the pitching staff. In the course of an entire month, things level out a bit. Surprisingly, Willi Castro only had a .555 OPS in June, worse than any of the usual suspects--Gallo, Kepler, Buxton or Correa--for the month. Just not outstanding production from the corner outfielders or first base. Of course, the guys with the big guaranteed contracts continued to underproduce. Yes, they can part with a Gallo or Kepler and probably get similar production from Wallner, but for real improvement for the rest of the year, Buxton and Correa need to be closer to the top of their game than the bottom. The team ERA for June was just over 4 for the month, certainly not terrible. Ryan and Gray regressed to the mean and López continued his mediocre results despite better than that advanced metrics. The starters ate innings with the exception of Maeda and Varland. The bullpen was pretty good with the exception of Jorge López. If the Twins can continue to pitch with around a 4 ERA, it should be good enough to be above .500 for the next month. Speaking of the next month, the schedule looks pretty .....soft with the exception of the Orioles. Baltimore is the only team that currently has a winning record on the Twins July schedule and the Twins play nine games against Oakland and KC.

Well, today we can turn the page, to July. It is an incredibly long season. The Twins spent the majority of the first half trying to push back against the rule changes and win games with the three true outcomes approach. They've been blessed with good health with their top four starters and bullpen ace, making them competitive despite a woeful offense. I think there's enough talent to be better in the second half offensively. Let's hope that some hitters make adjustments to have a more consistent offense.

Still too many strikeouts (11 in 43 PAs), but it seemed a couple guys tried to go oppo with two strikes and there was 2 strike hitting and hits with RISP. The guys who have been singled out for poor hitting (Gallo, Correa, Kepler and Buxton) all had good games. Carry it over for a week guys and build some good habits.

I think you’re right. Mankato is close to where I grew up.

Wasn't one of his wives from Mankato? Perhaps Annie (of Annie's Song). Edited after a visit to Wikipedia--yes Annie was from Minnesota, but her hometown was St. Peter.

I think that's enough for Moran today. Maybe Winder and then Headrick.

That's been particularly true of López since his hot start in April. The numbers predict him to be much better (there's a whole thread on that), Getting a guy out with the bases loaded and two outs kind of kept the good things going.

The strikeouts are still there, but the at-bats have been better.

I think it was the right call to keep Pablo in. Maybe Rocco wanted to look López in the eyes and see if he was done.

What he did will do.

Big at-bat for Buxton. A line single to right would be excellent.

Does Kyle have incentives for himself?

Okay, maybe a change for Rocco would be to let Julien hit here……. but I doubt it.

He slightly moved one deck chair (Correa to lead off) and all of the guys being called out (Buxton, Correa, Kepler and Gallo) have all done good things.

Five run lead, but the O’s are tough to fan.

Got out of it, but spending a lot of ammo due to bases on balls.

Walk the 8-9 men?

Strike 3 looked a foot outside.

That bat died a hero.

Three batters in—maybe not.

Correa with an opening single—everything is all better.