stringer bell

Nice inning for Thielbar.

As the 2021 season enters its final leg, end of the year leaders have emerged. Members of the Twins won't threaten for much recognition, but I believe there is an outside chance for Luis Arraez to gain the notoriety of being the American League batting champion. Arraez currently is hitting .316 and has 321 plate appearances. In order to qualify to win the batting championship, a player has to average 3.1 plate appearances per game his team has played. This would require that Arraez average just over four plate appearances per game for the rest of the season. There are a lot of factors to be considered in a season where the team is not in contention. Arraez recently has not been hitting leadoff, even against right handed pitching, costing him about a half plate appearance per game. He hasn't started much against left handed pitching and he has already spent two stints on the Injured List. This year, plate appearances in general have been limited by seven-inning doubleheader games and limited extra-innings due to the "gift runner" rule. If Arraez stays healthy for the final seven weeks, he can get the qualifying plate appearances, but that will depend on his manager continuing to put him in the lineup. The other consideration is the competition to win the batting championship. Right now, Michael Brantley leads MLB with a .332 average, 16 points ahead of Arraez. Brantley has 403 plate appearances and would need 99 in the final 44 games, so unless he is injured, he will qualify for the batting championship. Assuming Brantley qualifies for the award and continues to get a hit in one-third of his at-bats, Arraez would have to go 58 for 160 for the rest of the season. That is hitting at over a .360 clip. There are a few other American League players who are hitting better than .310 who could surge to a batting championship including Cedric Mullins, Yuri Gurriel, Vlad Jr. and Teoscar Hernandez. All of these players are bunched within five points of Arraez' batting average. The odds are against Arraez overtaking Brantley, getting enough plate appearances and staying ahead of those with similar averages. It would be fun to have something to care about in the last weeks of the season and given Arraez' recent success, I do believe he has a chance. Time will tell.

I liked the Simmons acquisition, but soured on him. He’s been dreadful at the plate and made too many miscues at the worst possible moment. He’ll probably bounce back if he gets a chance, but it shouldn’t be here. Iglesias doesn’t have the defensive rep of Simmons, but he can hit some, with some power. I would guess that he could be had for one year (no such thing as a bad one-year contract). I know zero first-hand about Palacios, but I am puzzled by him not getting a promotion to St. Paul. He appears to be ok or better defensively and has quite a bit of power and speed. Does he have a chance?

Brent “the glove” Rooker.

Center fielder and second baseman need to back up the right fielder on a ball like that. I know it was Refsnyder in center and Polanco at second. I really don't blame Larnach for that.

Well, we'll probably get to see the new guy tonight.

Cruz gets his. Everyone gets their hits tonight.

An article examining the Red Sox stretch run listed seven players they didn't want to see on the field the rest of the way. Included were Robles, Perez and Marwin Gonzalez. Hmm, they didn't include Danny Santana.

The Twins host Tampa Bay on a Friday the 13th evening. This is also the start of a reunion weekend for the '91 Twins. Who will be gray, who will have gained weight and who will have a new trophy spouse? Well, we probably won't know about the latter, but we will see many of our old favorites and remember when the team won playoff games. Personal moment: I shook Jack Morris' hand in Fort Myers several years ago. Jack shook my hand and kept walking. Pretty sure that moment was more memorable for me than him. Tampa is the first place team in the tough AL East, the third straight first place team the Twins will face. Minnesota has won five of seven versus Houston and Chicago. Tampa is also the darling of MLB, with their ability in the last several years to be competitive (or better) despite payroll limitations and a terrible home stadium.Their front office is viewed as smart, progressive and forward-thinking, relying on sabermetrics more so than on traditional baseball strategies. Interesting stats-the Rays lead all of MLB in strikeouts by their hitters, but still are third in runs scored despite only having the 13th best team OPS in baseball (lower than the Twins). Of course, Rocco was on the Tampa Bay staff before being hired to manage the Twins. The Twins will send out Michael Pineda who has been pretty solid since returning from the Injured List. The Rays starter will be Shane McClanahan, lefthander, who has pitched very well this month. Notable players for the Rays include former Twins Matt Wisler, JT Chargois and of course DH Nelson Cruz. Both Wisler and Chargois have been effective out of the TB bullpen. Cruz has had a few good games, but his overall numbers haven't been up to his standards. That will probably change by the time the Twins are done with the Rays. One more personal note, I'll pay a lot more attention to Rays first baseman Ji-Man Choi. A new acquaintance of mine is good friends with Choi. They spent the All-Star break together playing golf, among other things. I have a bit more perspective on a foreign player coming to the US to play and not speaking English fluently. Go Twins! As of 4:30, the lineups are available. Here you go...... PLAYER W-L ERA WHIP IP H K BB HR S. McClanahan 6-4 3.75 1.25 84.0 77 99 28 11 M. Pineda 4-7 3.83 1.20 82.1 82 70 17 13 Tampa (70-45) HITTERS H-AB RBI HR SB AVG B. Lowe2B 86-377 65 26 5 .228 W. FrancoSS 37-153 22 5 2 .242 N. CruzDH 99-360 60 23 3 .275 R. ArozarenaLF 105-388 52 16 11 .271 J. Wendle3B 88-318 38 7 6 .277 Y. Diaz1B 85-335 39 8 0 .254 K. KiermaierCF 59-244 24 2 8 .242 M. MargotRF 79-307 47 9 10 .257 M. ZuninoC 48-235 44 23 0 .204 Twins (50-65) HITTERS H-AB RBI HR SB AVG J. Polanco2B 112-409 62 21 9 .274 B. RookerLF 16-102 6 4 0 .157 J. Donaldson3B 69-285 45 16 0 .242 M. GarverDH 36-162 28 13 0 .222 R. RefsnyderCF 21-68 10 2 0 .309 M. Sano1B 65-311 46 19 1 .209 T. LarnachRF 58-253 27 7 1 .229 R. JeffersC 34-163 27 9 0 .209 A. SimmonsSS 68-312 24 3 1 .21

I'm mildly concerned. When he arrived with the Twins, Larnach seemed to have everything middle in covered, but a hole on the outside half of the plate. He pulled everything. Now, he is using all of the field, but, as noted, the power seems to have evaporated. Larnach has a nice swing and pretty good plate discipline. I think he'll come out of this snag eventually and will hit the ball hard more often. That Larnach and other young players can work through their bumps in the road is the silver lining of a lost season.

Nice win. Okay, if we want Minaya to return, what about Columé?

Let’s not get too wound up on Minaya. He’s having a nice run, but he’s a 30 year-old journeyman.

He actually had a pretty good at bat.

Kimbrel vs. Rooker. Not much of a chance for the rookie.

I’m guessing we’ll ride the rapids in the ninth with Columé.

Yes.

I don’t really want to rag on Rooker, but that is not a ball that should advance a runner.

Who picked Columé to lead the teams in saves about three months ago? Not me. And I believe it will happen.

Probably for all nine innings.

That’s all they will get.

Burrows optioned. Nick Vincent’s contract selected with Kirilloff moved to the 60-day IL.

Nice series. Polanco played like an All-Star and a lot of players contributed. Columé got the job done!

How about two runs?

Add Polanco’s throw to second.

Not exactly a tape measure shot…….