stringer bell

You can continue the conversation in today's Game Thread in the Minnesota Twins Talk forum: http://twinsdaily.com/topic/39641-game-thread-892020-minnesota-twins-kansas-city-royals-105-cdt/

I like what González has to offer. With Marwin and Ehire Adrianza on the club, they can go with a short position player bench.

I see both of the recent ex-Twin Logans are in the majors. Morrison is with the Brewers and Forsythe is with the Marlins. Neither is making much noise with the bat, to this point.

Ouch!

The worm is turning, not a good thing.

I notice you really loooove these long drawn out games.

One of the few times a pitcher was taken out mid-inning.

For those of you that stepped away, thank you. Now, here's a chance for Thorpe to prove his a big leaguer with a future.

Surprised Odorizzi threw so many off-speed pitches. He had enough velocity, but not great command.

Probably three innings for Jake today.

Caught stealing second 2-5.

Let's hope the next inning is a bit better. Holding KC to one run in the first is a small victory.

Big at-bat early for this game.

Some rust showing for Odo.

Garver's K gives him 14 strikeouts in 28 official at-bats--not good.

OK. 6 PM game tonight. Let’s get this party started!

My bad. I made a fat fingers error by saying 15 position player. It should have read 14, and I have edited the original post.

These are at 12 now, so adding two position player would put them at 14. I certainly don’t see them going below 14 pitchers.

Jake Odorizzi gets activated today to face the Royals, filling out the 28-man active roster which will include 16 (!) pitchers. The way the Twins are playing it, they need all or almost all of those pitching slots because they have had a grand total of four six-inning starts at this point in the season. Further, more length won't be expected soon from Rich Hill or Odorizzi as they come off the IL, nor from Thorpe or Smeltzer as they fill in until the rotation has some semblance of stability. With the activation of Odorizzi, the Twins will have starters Hill and Bailey and reliever Zack Littell on the IL. Josh Donaldson was put on the IL yesterday and has to be on the shelf for at least a week. Also, Willians Astudillo is still on the IL, but has been in St. Paul for 12 days. I would presume he is close to being physically ready to join the team. General managing from my couch, I would expect that the Twins drop a pitcher sometime before Donaldson returns, but really I don't see them going any lower than 14 pitchers for the rest of the season. Among the pitchers, I would guess the activation progression would be Littell, then Hill and finally Bailey. As I understand it "Dick Mountain" is expected to throw a bullpen while on the road trip and could be activated when the team gets back home. Littell can come off Monday, I believe and he figures to be totally healthy by then. So, who goes when these guys return? I think Poppen is the first choice to be sent back, given that his option has been used already and that he is the last guy in the 'pen. Next would probably be one of Thorpe or Smeltzer--Thorpe perhaps getting another start in the coming days. Alcala or Thielbar would probably be options if all are healthy and the team want "only" 15 arms. As far as the position players go, I don't know when but the club has to decide on Astudillo pretty soon. I assume he has options, so if Avila and Garver stay healthy, the Turtle might get optioned to St. Paul. If not, I would presume that when Astudillo is activated, the club will cut back by one pitcher, unless someone else comes up injured. Donaldson's return would probably prompt a return to 14 position players, although by then, someone else will probably have a disabling injury. I think the Twins, by virtue of the versatility of Gonzalez and Adrianza, are well suited to play with fewer position players, even with 16 pitchers, they have major league depth at all positions. My educated guesses will probably all be wrong and almost certainly in the next couple of weeks, new injuries will be added to the mix. It is interesting to see how Derek and Thad manage the active roster and 40-man.

I'm cloudy on Astudillo's status. He was on the IL for a positive COVID test and was sent to St. Paul when he was cleared, but I haven't seen where he was optioned. I presume he is on the IL and rehabbing. Is there a limit this year to the amount of time before he must be put on the active roster or activated?

That's cold bighat! I guess I've doubted Garver more than most, but 10 games this year shouldn't be treated equally with his '19 season. He's a smart guy and he'll figure some of this out. It is possible that Mitch will never approach Silver Slugger status again and his future will include less than full-time work as a catcher. I would think if his struggles continue through this month that Avila will become more of a platoon partner, but Garver's history indicates he will hit. The entire team isn't hitting and Donaldson's injury is concerning in light of his injury history. After an incredible first ten days, even Cruz has cooled and while Polanco's BA looks good, he must be leading the league in scratch hits and bloop singles. Thank goodness for good pitching and pretty good defense.

Should be a Top 10 defensive play for the week.

CAVE!!!!

Well, the lead didn’t last long.

Not really confident in Smeltzer, but confident that someone in the lineup will bust out.