stringer bell

Well, they only have four catchers. According to the Twins website, Rortvedt is back.

Lineups: PLAYER W-L ERA WHIP IP H K BB HR A. Heaney 5-7 5.56 1.36 81.0 84 98 26 15 K. Maeda 4-3 4.71 1.36 72.2 75 79 24 11 Angels (46-48): HITTERS H-AB RBI HR SB AVG D. Fletcher2B 112-356 38 2 5 .315 S. OhtaniDH 88-321 74 34 12 .274 J. UptonLF 55-223 32 14 3 .247 J. Walsh1B 94-347 66 22 2 .271 M. StassiC 37-127 17 7 0 .291 B. MarshCF 4-11 1 0 1 .364 J. IglesiasSS 85-303 29 7 4 .281 A. EatonRF 43-204 28 5 2 .211 J. Mayfield3B 9-53 4 1 0 .170 Twins (41-55): HITTERS H-AB RBI HR SB AVG J. Polanco2B 87-334 49 14 9 .260 M. KeplerRF 48-221 37 12 8 .217 N. CruzDH 87-296 50 19 3 .294 J. Donaldson3B 63-252 41 15 0 .250 M. Sano1B 48-242 35 15 0 .198 T. LarnachLF 48-205 21 7 1 .234 R. JeffersC 25-130 16 6 0 .192 G. CelestinoCF 7-51 2 2 0 .137 A. SimmonsSS 58-252 19 3 1 .230

I think the only concern about promoting Jordy Blaze would be service time, not options. However, if he gets his feet wet this fall, he might be able to contribute sooner or perhaps at the start of the season in 2022.

I've wondered about Kirilloff and Larnach playing instead of Sanó for the past several weeks. I wonder if Rocco knew he wasn't going to have Alex for more than a few weeks and that contributed to the distribution of playing time. Sanó will get plenty of at-bats the rest of the season.

I would like to see Balazovic promoted soon and then get a few big league starts in September. It certainly looks like he doesn't belong in AA.

Thanks. I think I beat you by a minute or two, but I'll delete my short introduction and we can go from there.

Apparently the weather that we had in SE Minnesota on Wednesday has made it's way to Michigan. Both games of the doubledheader have been postponed. I do not know how they will make this up, but we can all focus on the off-the-field news (players rehabbing, Buxton negotiating extension).

Do they have to add Barnes to the 40-man? He would be the 27th man. On another transaction topic, what is happening with Rob Refsnyder? He has/had a hamstring issue that wasn’t regarded as very serious. He’s reported to be sprinting, but hasn’t gone to St. Paul for rehab. There would seem to be an easy transaction to make (Refsnyder for Celestino) and the Twins could use another RH bat. Reading the tea leaves, I’m guessing that Garlick will go on the 60-day list. With the imminent return of Cave and Garver, it would appear some room will need to be made on the roster. I doubt Cave would be shown the door.

I don’t know when it was decided, but right now the Twins believe Nick Gordon is inferior defensively to Jorge Polanco as a shortstop. And the Twins acquired a shortstop so that they could move Polanco off the shortstop position. I hope Gordon gets a chance to prove that he can hit enough and also whether he can play shortstop. If he can’t play shortstop acceptably, he’s very marginal as a major league player.

Congratulations to Taylor Rogers. It is an exhibition game, but being recognized is a reward for his hard work.

Isn't the definition of insanity something like "doing the same thing and expecting different results". The Twins tried to stretch Polanco into an everyday shortstop, why should they try to do the same with Gordon? I would like to see if Gordon can hit enough to justify a major league job. I don't think 70 plate appearances is enough to prove anything. The Twins know a lot more about Gordon's skills than I do. They seem to believe he can't play short better than Polanco. They tried him in center when six other guys were tried and were injured. I'll stick with my opinion that Gordon is a second baseman and third on the depth chart there. He offers one skill that the Twins lack, base stealing speed. I don't think that is enough to force his way into an everyday lineup or to move Polanco or Arraez (who both provide offensive skills the Twins need) out of town or out of the lineup.

Revisiting this topic at the All-Star break. In nearly the same number of plate appearances, their OPS are separated by 10 points. Larnach had a brutal series versus Detroit, but still is above average as a hitter. Including his weekend snag, he has struck out 69 times, almost a third of the time. He walks more than Kirilloff, but his on-base is lifted most by the six HBP he has had in 210 plate appearances. I think Larnach will be fine, but if a couple of outfielders are activated, I wonder if the Twins might send him down. Both Kirilloff and Larnach both made outstanding defensive plays yesterday. It is nice to see them play well in the field. The Twins don't need more players whose best position is DH

It is never easy!

Or it could be the Tigers.

I don't know if he's totally blown his chance, but he hasn't claimed a spot either. He had a nice little stretch right after being recalled and if he could recreate that, he'll get his OPS up over .700, which is okay for a catcher. He's getting walks and hits an occasional homer. His Ks are down since his recall. Not great, but not a total disappointment.

Where could/should Nick get regular time? Arraez and Polanco are proven major leaguers (and also the favorite for Twins minor league Player of the Year also plays second). Arraez is actually younger by a year and a half. Polanco has a multi year contract. So, if he doesn’t play other positions, there’s really no future with the Twins for him.

Nice catch by Larnach!

I didn’t rescind the offer.

I don’t understand. I doubled the pay for each introduction in June (sarcasm).

We will see if Berríos can back up his outstanding start with another. The Twins are putting their best lineup out there.

Nick Gordon has been on the Twins roster for most of the season. He was first recalled in early May and spent a week with the team only getting in one game. He was sent down, but then recalled later in May and has been on the team since. By my calculation, he has been on the club for about 55 days. Gordon has played in 24 games and only has 69 plate appearances. The results have been pretty good. Despite sporadic play, Gordon has managed to hit .262 and garner a .674 OPS. Gordon has struck out 27.5% of the time and walked 5.8% of his plate appearances. He is also five for five stealing bases and has played center field, second base and shortstop. This looks to be the profile of a utility player if he can sustain the offense. Given the Twins dearth of base stealing threats not named Buxton, it would figure that Nick should be a candidate to stay on the Twins roster the rest of 2021 and into 2022. He is 25 years old and with today's free agency rules would be controlled by the Twins for six additional years beyond this one. There are questions to be answered about Gordon. First and foremost, can he sustain his 90 OPS+ with more at bats? He is 2 for his last 20 with 10 strikeouts, so maybe and maybe not. Secondly, is he truly a flexible defender or is he a "break glass in case of emergency" shortstop and center fielder? Gordon has played 97 innings in center field and five innings at shortstop, much too small of a sample to make a judgement from his on-field performance. Of course, the hitting sample is too small to be certain as well. With over 70 games remaining in what appears to be a lost season, it makes sense to see what Gordon can do at the plate and in positions other than second base. Having someone with the ability to steal a base on the bench would be an asset in itself. If he could capably step in and play at three or four different positions he becomes pretty valuable. My opinion is that the indications are not favorable. Rather than use Gordon at short, Baldelli has moved Polanco there when he's needed to. Also, after the original flash, Gordon's hitting has been pretty weak. Gordon is currently #3 in the depth chart at second base. If he can't play other positions, the future isn't bright for him in Minnesota. I'm not opposed to seeing Gordon get a trial the rest of the season. It makes sense to see if he can blossom and there's not much to lose. I don't think it is a miscarriage of justice that he has seen so little playing time to date, but the Twins do need to make a decision on Gordon and some other guys and the rest of the season is the time to make those determinations.

The club has to find answers to their pitching problems, both rotation and bullpen. Two rookies they need to find out about are Gordon and Jeffers. I think the Twins are convinced Jeffers can handle catcher defensively, but he does need to hit above the Mendoza line. Regarding Gordon, his speed is an asset they are lacking, but I think he needs to prove he can hit and it also remains to be seen if he is truly versatile. To me, Gordon's future and his value revolve his ability to play shortstop.

Not to mention the inflexibility of having a "DH only" player.

In the bottom of the eighth, Sanó got a lead off walk. With both Celestino and Gordon on the bench, why didn’t Rocco pinch run one of them and then have a better defense for the ninth inning? Kirilloff could move to first, Kepler to right and the pinch runner to center.

Or Celestino run if they wanted the better defender in center.