stringer bell

There are a lot of players in the same boat as Miranda. AJ Melendez for the Royals looks like a tremendous prospect to me, but he's slumping and fanning much like Miranda. I'm sure there are others. If the Twins can afford to send Miranda down, they probably should do it, but a couple of hits can restore the confidence and change things in a hurry as well.

Or Lewis.

It shouldn't come as a surprise that Hanser Alberto swung at a pitch that hit him. He is Astudillo-like without contact skills. It absolutely was a key play in winning the game. Stewart pitched well and bailed out Jeffers after he failed to catch/block a low pitch. Pagan got outs and Jorge Lopez had a nice comeback outing.

I'll split the difference Ash. The bullpen was effective. Despite having an ideal situation for Billy Hamilton to steal the game, they kept 'em off the board. Many of the free passes were strategic (four IBB). Pitching out of Manfred jams wasn't easy, but they did it.

Smeltzer DFAed after pitching long relief last night and another former Twin, Chi Chi Gonzalez, had his contract selected to take Smeltzer's place on the active roster.

The White Sox bullpen has been bad, until they face the Twins. What is up with that?

As of today, Twins' catchers lead the AL in Caught Stealing percentage (32%).

Devin Smeltzer was DFAed last week and is back with the Marlins today (contract selected).

Not if you’re the road team, which is what was being discussed. A road team playing for one when the home team is guaranteed a runner on second with none out is a losing proposition. It isn’t automatic that a hitter gets a 95 mph fastball down. Getting runners in from third with less than two out isn’t guaranteed. I don’t have the numbers, but I am pretty sure they’re available. The Whities had the winning run on third with one out in both the t ninth and tenth and couldn’t get either in with an out.

Mahle to 15-day IL. Varland recalled and will start tonight.

Here’s the thing heresthething—bunting didn’t get a run for the Sox in either the ninth or the tenth. Hitting with two outs produced the run in the tenth. If I’m the home team in extra innings, I’d gladly accept the out for advancing the runner to third. If I’m the home team, I’d consider bunting, just because the infield and outfield in improves the hitter’a chances.

Pretty sure you meant Duran, not Moran.

The Twins offense is too hit-and-miss and reliant on homers to win. They have decent power throughout the lineup, but home runs aren't going to come all the time. There aren't enough innings of stringing together successful at-bats to produce runs. Way too many strikeouts.

It just isn't true that bunting a runner over is the proper strategy in extra innings with the "ghost runner". This isn't the 60s or 70s when contact was expected. Batters strike out and pop out at a high rate. Giving away an out to advance a runner is debatable at best, especially given that the other side will have a runner on second and no one out in the bottom half. The bunt over didn't win the game for the Sox, either. It was a hit with two outs by a left handed hitter against a left handed pitcher.

You're right. I forgot about that crazy Red Sox game.

The White Sox have pretty good talent. I think they finish around .500 when all is said and done, unless they don't think they can contend and dump a lot of players. One area other teams have exploited against the White Sox that the Twins haven't is the bullpen. They have been a disaster except for playing the Twins.

I don't think we want to shut the door on Maeda or Mahle just yet. Both will miss at least most of the month May, but it is a long season. Having the four mentioned in this piece along with Varland and Ober is already looking like a necessity, not an excess.

He is supposed to go on rehab assignment this week. Might be activated as soon as next Monday.

Starter or bullpen? That is the question for not only Headrick, but also Josh Winder and Cole Sands. It appears the decision has been made on both Winder and Sands and they will be bullpen options for the Twins. Headrick is not as clear a decision. As was mentioned above, the Twins lack left handed starters (and relievers for that matter) so I think there should be enhanced consideration for Headrick to eventually be a starter for the major league team. It was noted also that Headrick only has nine starts above A ball, what wasn't noted is that he has been a starter, with only five minor league relief appearances since he began his career in 2019. It remains to be seen if Headrick is above former major leaguers Dobnak, Sanchez, and DeLeon (none of them on the 40-man roster) as well as Woods Richardson. With Mahle out for at least the month of May and Maeda out at least a couple weeks, it is probable that someone currently in the St. Paul rotation will be starting games for the Twins sometime this year.

One thing to remember is that Kirilloff can't be recalled unless someone goes on the IL for the next 10 days. It is probably fair to say that he might need to sustain good performance. Let's hope he can continue to produce and force his way onto the Twins roster.

The Twins concluded the first month of the 2023 regular season with a 17-12 record. They stand 3.5 games ahead of Cleveland in the mediocre AL Central Division. What was projected to be a tough April schedule ended up being very manageable. The Twins played seven games against the New York Yankees, winning four, at an ideal time, with the Yankee pitching staff and lineup hamstrung by injuries. They also played the World Champion Astros, winning two of three, while the Astros were in an early season funk. How did the Twins manage to win 17 games? Pitching is the easy answer. The Twins allowed only 108 runs in 29 games, second best runs per game in the AL. Meanwhile, they scored 134 runs, seventh best, despite early struggles and cold weather. The offensive production was inconsistent until the just-completed home stand where the Twins scored six runs or more in six of the last seven games. That production was fueled by the long ball. The Twins have homered in eleven consecutive games and have already hit nine three-run homers--last year they hit seventeen in the entire season. The pitching started out fantastic. There has been some regression to the mean, but there is still a lot to like. The top three starters have been healthy and effective. Sonny Gray, Joe Ryan and Pablo Lopez have taken the ball and most often completed six or more effective innings. Gray is 4-0 with a microscopic 0.77 ERA, Ryan is 5-0 with a fine 2.81 ERA and after two consecutive subpar starts Lopez is 2-2 with a 4.00 ERA. Lopez has the most innings pitched and strikeouts and his first four starts were outstanding. The bottom half of the rotation has predictably been less effective and now seems dogged by injury. After two decent starts, Kenta Maeda has left his last two starts due to injury and was knocked around before leaving in his last start. Tyler Mahle pitched pretty well, but left his last start and now will be shut down for most of the month of May. The oft-noted rotation depth will be utilized with Bailey Ober already joining the rotation and most likely Louie Varland the next man up. The Twins bullpen has been a top heavy affair. Closer Jhoan Duran wows with his awesome stuff although he's had a few hiccups so far. Jorge Lopez hasn't allowed an earned run, but allowed some hits and an inherited runner in his last two outings, Griffin Jax has been mostly effective although batted ball luck makes his numbers look pretty pedestrian and Caleb Thielbar continues to thrive with one poor outing in an otherwise outstanding month of April. Long relief has done their job, providing lots of innings and pitches in the few one-sided affairs the Twins have played. The problem is the other guys. Jorge Alcala and Jovani Moran were supposed to be reliable bridges to the aforementioned late-inning high-leverage guys and they haven't been effective. Alcala was sent to the minors and Moran looks like he won't be trusted, at least for the near future. Emilio Pagan also provokes anxiety, although he too only had one really bad outing. The Twins' defense is pretty sound so far this year. There isn't a lot of range outside of Taylor, but most everyone is reliable at turning outs into outs. Donovan Solano has played one game at second base and several at first, and he appears substandard. Joey Gallo has adjusted very well to first base. Miranda has been okay, but nothing special at third base. The outfield has played well defensively, with a few exceptions. Positive surprises for the month of April center on the pitching. Lopez, Ryan and Gray have been outstanding on the front end of the rotation--they were projected to be good and they have been better than that. The back end of the bullpen has been as good as advertised, including Jorge Lopez, who seems to have regained the form he had with the Orioles. The Twins have gotten good productivity and good defense from the catchers. Polanco and Buxton are hitting and figure to become the dynamic center of the lineup for a good team. For the position players, health seems to be returning, with Kyle Farmer on the mend and Alex Kirilloff ending his injury rehab. There are concerns that need to be addressed. The front end of the bullpen is unreliable at present and this is one area where the Twins lack depth. Someone needs to step up. Further, if the Twins continue to lean heavily on Jax, Thielbar, JLopez and Duran, they will risk burning out the effective back end guys. Carlos Correa, Nick Gordon and (marginally) Jose Miranda have not been effective hitters. Patience is probably needed for the hitters, with Nick Gordon probably on the bubble for demotion or DFA. The Twins are last in MLB in stolen bases, mostly due to lack of team speed, which also probably is reflected in a lack of range at several positions. In summary, the first month has gone very well. The Twins are now favorites to win the Central division according to betting lines and Fangraphs, but there are still five months of baseball left to secure a place in the playoffs. There are flaws on this team, particularly in bullpen depth. It should be exciting going forward and there are plenty of reasons to be optimistic.

Assuming Farmer for Castro on or about May 9th, here are my position player injury replacement scenarios for the month of May: Kepler, Larnach or Gallo—Kirilloff. Buxton—Kirilloff. Taylor—most likely Kirilloff, perhaps Garlick. Vazquez or Jeffers—Tony Wolters (40-man move required). Gordon—perhaps Castro most likely Kirilloff. Farmer—Castro. Solano—perhaps Kirilloff, most likely Castro. Miranda, Correa—Castro. Polanco—Julien. I assume both Lewis and Celestino will start their rehab assignments on or about 5/10, making them eligible to be recalled in the last couple days of May. Lewis might have a similar situation to Kirilloff, if there is no easy path to playing time when his rehab ends, he could be optioned. Celestino almost certainly gets optioned to St. Paul

Official: Kirilloff activated from the IL and optioned to St. Paul.

Watching Gallo leg out a triple earlier in this homestand, perhaps his sprint speed might be underrated. I won’t dispute the numbers and Gallo might not be a viable choice in center field. We shall see. I think the die is cast that Alex Kirilloff will be optioned unless a position player injury occurs.

How many trades happen in the first half of the season before the trade deadline? Secondly and equally in importance, what is the market for a 30-year corner outfielder who has provided league average offense and above average defense?