stringer bell

BBRef says Davis is on the 60-day IL. The good news for him is that he gets major league service time and pay IIRC.

LaMonte Wade Jr. recalled by the Giants. He may get semi-regular work at first base with disabling injuries to Ruf and Belt.

We're turning the corner into another month, so another Google Doc has been produced for Game Thread introductions (below). Thanks to the "regulars" who have produced informative and entertaining introductions so far. If you participate in game threads, I would ask that you consider doing an introduction. It's a chance to set the tone and also speak your mind and only loosely has to be connected to the game (if that's how you want to play it). The team has played better for the last week or so and new exciting players have contributed. Let's hope that June will be more improvement and that the Twins will be relevant through the season. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1wr7frQrO5ls8aYE2PbfI02cuwOOQDcnsO3JX6LBeCDg/edit

I think the Twins have made an inordinate number of mental mistakes, especially for a veteran team. I don't know if the culture has anything to do with it. A botched rundown and two separate dropped balls at second base by plus defenders probably happen occasionally to most teams, but the timing of the Twins' gaffes has been critical. There also have been outs not recorded on slow choppers and a ball stuck in the webbing of a glove happening at the worst possible time. I would submit that they've had more than their share of bad luck. Their lack of execution has been nearly incomprehensible and it is much harder to blame that on random breaks. Some topline numbers suggest the Twins should be closer to .500. Here's the biggest surprise to me--the Twins are a Top Ten offense. That is by runs scored and OPS. They're a bottom ten pitching staff, although some stats indicate they should be better--including BA against and WHIP. Overall run differential is closer to Oakland (first place in AL West) than it is to Detroit or Baltimore although the Twins are barely ahead of the Tigers and Orioles. I think some things will even out but this is a team that isn't as good as the assembled talent The bad bullpen exacerbates many of the deficiencies. It is probably the one thing the front office can upgrade if they think they can contend.

I’ll dispute the position player depth opinion. Larnach, Kirilloff and Refsnyder weren’t on the Opening Day roster and all have contributed. Garlick has also done very well in a limited role. I agree that the bullpen depth has not been productive. As for the rotation, there have been five starts from those not in the Opening Day roster. Thorpe has been okay, but not eye-opening, Dobnak had a good start and Ober’s wasn’t a disaster (and the Twins won). I’d classify three Twins players as clearly disappointing—Columé, Jeffers and Maeda. Most everyone else that would be considered frontline players have been mildly disappointing—excepting Buxton and perhaps Pineda.

The only thing I'll disagree with you on is the 2020 season. According to mlb.com, the Twins had the third best team ERA in 2020, along with the fourth best WHIP and ninth best strikeouts. Yes, 2020 was an outlier season in a lot of respects, but Twins pitching last year was very good. There are several excellent pitching prospects on the way for the Twins. I think in the years that Falvey and Levine have been in charge, the pitchers they have promoted have mostly been low-upside guys because that is what was available in the upper minors. The two exceptions I can think of are Graterol, who was traded to fill need in the rotation and Alcala, who has struggled with the long ball, but shows potential to be a good high-leverage back end of the bullpen guy. Baldelli and his staff seem to epitomize the big-picture management style--rest players, limit innings, err on the safe side when dealing with injuries--and it certainly seemed to work......until the postseason. I think this style is fine if once in a while you break character and tell a starter to go out there and give another inning despite 100 pitches or play a guy with a nagging injury (out of necessity the Twins have been doing this for the last ten days or so). Once in awhile, the analytics won't predict the proper result.

The game will slow with Robles on the hill.

As far as the shift goes, there aren’t many guys who hit grounders to the opposite field and if they do, the ball isn’t often hit sharply. Even Mauer, for all of his opposite field hits, seldom hit grounders to the left side. Kepler hits the left-center gap often but almost never hits grounders to the left side. Roy Smalley said that hard contact on the ground is almost always to the pull side. It only figures that teams should shift.

Or a soft single.

I feel a walk coming for Astudillo.

The ump missed two pitches to Simmons in the bottom of the second, but didn't give Pineda anything in the third.

Good job Big Mike!

The Twins started the season 5-2 and are 5-2 in their last seven games. In between, they were 9-25. Ouch. They say you can't win a pennant in April, but you can lose one.... With the exception of Jake Cave, none of the Twins' injuries would seem to be long term. Buxton is said to be ready to go on a rehab assignment, Pineda will be activated today, and Maeda shouldn't be on the shelf more than two weeks. One of Kepler, Arraez or Garlick might need enough time to go on the Injured List, but the current spate of injuries seems to be closer to the end than the beginning (I'll probably regret this remark in about three days). Kirilloff is here to stay. I'm hoping for winning baseball for a month and then see if there is a chance to make the playoffs. I'm not optimistic, but not quite ready to write off the season just yet.

Yes, he'll always be streaky. What will make him a better offensive player is the ability to reach base when he's struggling. Sano needs to go no further for an example than Nelson Cruz. When Nelson is not going great (like now), he's able to sneak a few through the right side and hit a few mistakes. Sano, OTOH, misses those opportunities. Miggy has drawn his share of walks, which is commendable, but he hasn't really become a more complete hitter. Until he does, there is too little boom and too much bust.

Stashak, Thielbar and the rest will probably all get some work tonight. Berrios is not likely to go more than five innings.

Ninjaed by Seth by seconds.

Not even close, but Kepler is still battling hamstring tightness. He's not played center field for several days and was removed from the game on Sunday for Garlick because of the hamstring.

I suspect that someone with a lingering injury would go on the Injured List. Kepler and Arraez are candidates, along with Garlick. If that is not the course the Twins take, I guess Larnach would be a candidate to go back to St. Paul. He seems very vulnerable to pitches away. Currently, because there are only four starting pitchers on the active roster, the Twins have an extra position player. When Pineda is activated (tomorrow). they'll have to subtract a player and that could be Gordon depending on the health of Arraez and Polanco.

The 3-G (Garlick-Gordon-Garver) was well done for sure.

Pitching has continued to evolve in the last decade. Velocity is up everywhere. Once upon a time, a team might have one guy who threw fastballs at over 95 mph and now most teams have three or more such guys. It has become understood and expected that being assigned to the bullpen will add significantly to the fastball. On the downside, injuries seem to be increasing, most likely because of the maximum effort required to throw so hard. In addition to figuring out which pitchers have the stuff to thrive in the majors, the front office also has to figure which pitchers are most likely destined for the bullpen, whether that is because their stuff will then "play up" or because their chances of staying healthy will increase. I would like to see what the "arm farm" has to offer. The long-term success of the Twins' franchise depends on homegrown talent and right now most of their pitching staff is either major league or minor league free-agent signings.

The Orioles are not very good. That said, even when the Twins won over 100 games in 2019, they failed to close the deal and sweep teams, so I expect Baltimore to win at least one game in this series.

Orioles Lineup C. MullinsCF 52-177 12 6 5 .294 F. GalvisSS 36-137 17 6 1 .263 T. ManciniDH 49-175 41 10 0 .280 A. SantanderRF 17-69 10 3 0 .246 R. Mountcastle1B 36-161 20 4 3 .224 D. StewartLF 19-91 10 2 0 .209 M. Franco3B 33-166 23 4 0 .199 C. SiscoC 9-52 3 0 0 .173 S. Wilkerson2B 4-11 1 0 0 .364 Twins Lineup K. GarlickRF 17-68 7 2 0 .250 J. Donaldson3B 28-116 18 5 0 .241 A. Kirilloff1B 12-55 14 4 0 .218 M. GarverC 21-100 14 7 0 .210 M. SanoDH 19-104 18 8 0 .183 R. RefsnyderCF 9-24 5 1 0 .375 T. LarnachLF 8-43 2 1 0 .186 A. SimmonsSS 26-113 12 2 0 .230 N. Gordon2B 1-2 0 0 2 .500

Happy Birthday Bob Dylan aka Robert Zimmerman. 80 years old today.

Brandon Waddell recalled by the Orioles. He may get to pitch again at Target Field this week.