Nate Palmer

It wasn’t that the Twins offense was completely on vacation with most of the rest of Twins Territory for most of their Labor Day finale against the Tigers, but it certainly wasn’t finishing the job either. Finally, in the eighth inning the winning run crossed the plate Monday afternoon for the team's 85th win. A total that matches the 2017 playoff team's win total.Box Score Starter Jake Odorizzi: 5.0 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 7 K, 69.2% strikes (63 of 91 pitches) Bullpen: 4.0 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K Home Runs: Ehire Adrianza (5) Multi-Hit Games: Max Kepler (2-for-5), Jorge Polanco (3-for-5), Nelson Cruz (2-for-5), Luis Arraez (3-for-4), Ehire Adrianza (2-for-4) Top 3 WPA: Kepler (.368), Arraez (.227), Adrianza (.204) Bottom 3 WPA: Cron (-.247), Cave (-.246), Rosario (-.128) Miguel Cabrera struck first for the Tigers with a solo shot off Jake Odorizzi in the first inning. The Twins quickly answered, with Ehire Adrianza playing third for Miguel Sano and doing his best impression of the big man. Adrianza went ahead and launched a two-run shot to deep right-center field. The Tigers added two more runs to retake the lead in the fifth inning, making the score 3-2. After Jake Cave bobbled a grounder in the sixth inning it looked like the Tigers might extend their lead, but Tyler Duffey was able to strike out two batters, which stranded runners on second and third. The solid appearance comes off of a good August where Duffey put up a stat line of 10.2 IP, 0 ER, 17/5 K/BB and a 0.00 ERA. Kepler comes up clutch once again. Max Kepler gave the Twins the lead in the eighth inning with a two-out, bases-loaded single to score LaMonte Wade and Luis Arraez. Once again the lefty showed off just how important he is to this team. Garver leaves game early After getting hit in the mask, Mitch Garver was removed from the game in favor of Willians Astudillo. Thankfully according to all reports coming mid-game Garver doesn’t seem to have any concussion symptoms. Instead he was removed because of a sore jaw. Postgame With Baldelli Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet Click here for a review of the number of pitches thrown by each member of the bullpen over the past five days. Click here to view the article

Ever since the Reusse retweet I have been wondering...how concerned should we be that a whole corner of the zone is untouched by Berrios?

I was encouraged by Hildy's interview with Doogie a week or two ago. If the team and him were able to find something mechanical to fix and he can do it with success he will certainly vault to the top of options to round out the bullpen.

The Minnesota Twins have struggled to find a completely effective bullpen mix in 2019. With all the moving pieces recently and an overused Taylor Rogers, here is an attempt to find a competitive bullpen for the stretch run.Stop me if you have heard this before. The Minnesota Twins could use some better pitching performances. Early in the season all the focus was on the bullpen, and while it has more recently shifted to the starters and a stretch of dismal starts, all the changes with the relievers do cause us to wonder what should the Twins bullpen look like for the remainder of the season and into the playoffs. The good news (if there can be such thing about something you struggle with) about the Twins bullpen struggles is that they are not alone in those struggles. The Dodgers, Cubs, Braves, Padres, and even the Yankees among others have had their own hiccups along the way, whether it be performance or injury related. As a reminder to ourselves, here is what the bullpen looked like coming into Opening Day 2019. RHP Trevor May LHP Taylor Rogers RHP Blake Parker RHP Trevor Hildenberger RHP Ryne Harper LHP Martin Perez LHP Adalberto Mejia IL-RHP Matt Magill Now Perez’s inclusion was obviously the early season luxury of being able to roll with a four-man rotation. Besides Perez’s move to the rotation we have also seen Parker, Mejia, and Magill all let loose and Hildy has been sent down, hurt, and is now trying to make a comeback. The task at hand today is trying to assemble the best bullpen with what is available to the Twins for the stretch run as they try to outpace the Indians once again like they did to begin the season. Constructing the Bullpen for the Rest of 2019 For starters, Taylor Rogers, Sergio Romo, and Ryne Harper will have a place in the bullpen barring any injury. Even after allowing a grand slam to Carlos Santanna Sunday, Rogers is still the best reliever this team has and still one of the best in the league at what he does. As food for thought, there was this informative tweet from Aaron Gleeman regarding Rogers’ usage. This makes it all the more important to find reinforcements for the bullpen so that Rocco can give Rogers some rest. Romo was brought in to be part of the backend of the bullpen and has a 1.59 ERA since coming on the scene. He has only allowed the one run since joining the Twins. Harper has done nothing but get the job done this season holding a 2.96 ERA in 51 games. While he is the third reliever mentioned here, the Twins need Harper to fill a role in the sixth and seventh innings and not end up as the third-best reliever on this list in order for the team to be competitive with playoff caliber teams. The polarizing Sam Dyson will and needs to be part of this bullpen as well for the Twins to be competitive. They went out and traded three prospects for him for a reason. While Rogers is the Twins best reliever and Romo can and has saved out some games, Dyson is really the guy that can help effectively take a load off of Rogers. The good news is Dyson looks ready to come off the IL as soon as Tuesday. Now just hopefully whatever needed to happen during those 10 days happened and he is ready to be the good Sam Dyson the Twins traded for. Tyler Duffey and Trevor May are two that carry baggage of memories with them for fans. It is sometimes hard to shake the memories of bad Duffey from our minds and see that he has continued to pitch well in relief in 2019. His ERA is a respectable 3.23 even if his 4.11 FIP gives a little reason for concern. Duffey has also turned in seven straight scoreless appearances and hasn’t given up multiple runs since July 6. Giving Duffey a run of 13 appearances with one run or less. Right role, Duffey has value for a competitive team. May had us all excited when he pulled back and nearly hit 100 mph on the radar gun. Unfortunately that has been bookended by a stretch toward the end of July where he took a loss, blew a lead, and blew a save and allowed seven runs over three games and on the other end the solo shot he allowed to Tyler Naquin. May is likely the best representation of a power arm this bullpen currently has and his 3.74 ERA and K/9 north of 10 lands him a spot here. That gives us a foundation of Rogers, Romo, Dyson, Harper, Duffey, and May in the bullpen for the stretch run, but this is where I would like to do some searching to see if we can put someone else in that final spot or two for the bullpen. Cody Stashak, Zack Littell, and Randy Dobnak have all had some flashes but when I am looking at the Astros and Yankees come postseason, if I could get a different pitcher in their spot that would be great. Quest for Outside Help The Twins could always look outside of the organization to the waiver wire to see if they could pick up a veteran reliever who has been cast off by his club. I would have been all on board the Twins taking a chance on Kyle Barraclough but he wound up with the Giants on a waiver claim. That leaves at last check relievers like Tony Sipp, Greg Holland, Trevor Rosenthal, and David Hernandez to look at. Obviously none of these guys are having great seasons and come with risk and that is why they were sent through waivers. Sipp and Holland feel like the most likely to gain some attention out of this group (Holland to the Nationals is currently drawing some strong steam). Sipp purely because he is a lefty and Holland because he is a “proven closer.” Neither looks to have much upside as Sipp may just be nearing the end at 36 and Holland looks to have lost velocity and is being hit as hard as ever in his career. I think the Twins should and will pass here. Turning to the Farm That leaves in-house options to round out the bullpen. The safe in-house option is to continue rotating Triple-A arms like the Twins have been and maybe add Ryan O’ Rourke, who was recently brought back into the system. If we are willing to not keep it safe this seems like the spot where we lean on some Rob Antony steam and call on Brusdar Graterol. We are all likely familiar with Graterol as the top arm in the Twins farm system. While he has generally been working as a starter, his shoulder injury will cause him to need to rebuild some strength to regain length to his outings, making a bullpen role perfect for him down the stretch. Graterol would add plenty of velocity to the bullpen since as a starter he can regularly hit triple digits. The shorter appearances out of the pen would also allow him to maintain extra velocity on his slider making it that much more effective of a pitch. At 20-years-old it feels very anti-Twins, but this is a new regime and they seem ready to unleash Graterol if it helps the team compete. It may even be worth taking a look further down the line of Double-A Twins pitchers. Jorge Alcala, who was acquired in the Ryan Pressly trade, has the velocity that is exciting for a bullpen arm as he can also touch triple digits. The problem is, like Fernando Romero who I haven’t included on this list, he hasn’t fully harnessed his pitch arsenal and is struggling with a 5.96 ERA. Another 2018 trade deadline acquisition in Jhoan Duran (Eduardo Escobar trade) could be someone who the Twins could try. Duran joins Graterol and Alcala as someone in the Twins system who can hit triple digits on the radar gun. He has had a solid season as a starter even though he has struggled since being promoted to Double-A Pensacola with his ERA jumping to 5.29 over three games from 3.23 over 16 at High-A Fort Myers. If he can smooth things out in the next couple weeks the No. 9 prospect by both Twins Daily and MLB Pipeline could join Graterol as an aggressive promotion to the major league pen. If I am the Twins, I believe this is the bullpen I am rolling with going forward. CL Taylor Rogers CL Sam Dyson RHP Sergio Romo RHP Ryne Harper RHP Trevor May RHP Tyler Duffey RHP Brusday Graterol (if Twins stay with a three-man bench) RHP Jhoan Duran or Triple-A rotation This obviously hopes for a Dyson return to form to take some pressure off of Rogers, but Taylor is still the shutdown guy whenever that is needed. The biggest weakness in this pen is that there is still only one lefty. So I wouldn’t hate it if someone wanted to try to shift Martin Perez or Devin Smeltzer into the bullpen. I just don’t know if I am convinced about either of them being great bullpen arms. I would also tread very carefully with Duran, but I am very curious to know how the front office views both him and Graterol. I would hate to mess with either of their developments for a handful of bullpen innings. Let me know how you would construct the Twins bullpen moving forward. Nicely call me crazy if necessary, or high fives are always nice as well. Click here to view the article

Always fun when there is a HR listed next to those top 3 hitters!

The culture point is an angle of this I hadn’t thought about. Just have to hope at this point he gets healthy and will be effective when he returns and that there isn’t any toughing out that creeps into the rest of the team.

With both the Minnesota Twins and the Atlanta Braves owning first place in their respective divisions, Monday night’s opening game of a three-game series brought back plenty of memories of the 1991 World Series. So much so that Dick Bremer brought to the booth his cufflinks from that World Series-winning season. At least for tonight we saw the same result as in ‘91 as the Twins won in walk-off fashion, 5-3.Box Score Jake Odorizzi: 6.0 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 7 K, 60.6% strikes (66 of 109 pitches) Bullpen: 3.0 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K Home Runs: Max Kepler (31), Miguel Sano (19) Multi-Hit Games: Luis Arraez (2-for-4) Top 3 WPA: Sano (.433), May (.255), Odorizzi (.247) Bottom 3 WPA: Duffey (-.131), Cave (-.093), Harper (-.089) Odorizzi started the game with two straight strikeouts giving the impression early on that being pushed back a day in favor of Devin Smeltzer on Sunday might pay off in big ways for the Twins. Although quickly the walks started to pile up and so did the pitch count causing everyone to wonder how long the starter would last. While Odrizzi’s pitch count piled up, for the other side Mike Soroka was dealing to start the game, flying perfectly through the Twins lineup the first time through. Soroka came into the game with the lowest home run rate by a starter. And it took the most anti-Bomba way for the Bomba squad to get a hit and eventually score. In the fourth inning recent Bomba leader Nelson Cruz reached on an infield hit with two outs, followed by an outfield hit by Eddie Rosario, and another infield hit by Marwin Gonzalez. It was then none other than rookie Luis Arraez who slapped a hit to left field to score Cruz and Rosario to put the Twins up 2-0. Freddie Freeman and Max Kepler traded home runs bringing the game to 3-1 score. Then a defensively sloppy seventh inning resulted in Acuna reaching, advancing to second on a passed ball, and scoring on a ball that got past Jake Cave in the outfield. Then an RBI single by Josh Donaldson tied the game at 3-3 midway through the seventh. Then in the eighth and ninth innings Trevor May slammed the door shut on the Braves with straight heat as he hit 99.8 mph on the gun. All of which set the stage for Miguel Sano. With two outs and Arraez standing on first Sano hit his 19th home run to center field that was such a no doubter Acuna was running to the visitors dugout before it even landed. Postgame With Baldelli Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet Click here for a review of the number of pitches thrown by each member of the bullpen over the past five days. Click here to view the article

Both would be good lands for the Twins. Especially like that they would be around for the rotation in 2020 as well. Good write up, Cooper!

The truth is too embarrassing, so we will go with your theory on this one. Freudian slip for sure!

As a Minnesota sports fan living in Wisconsin, I get asked on a regular basis why haven’t I just started rooting for the Packers. “They win, right?” is always the reasoning. I remind those I work with and my friends to remember my Minnesota fandom describes what I market to them as my greatest quality. I am loyal to a fault. Like Minnesota sports, you can drag me through some rough situations and if I find hope in you. I will stick by your side. That brings us to our Minnesota Twins. Their has been a lot of excitement paired with a lot of concerned questions surrounding what is happening right now with the organization. The excitement is a hope for a transition to more utilization of analytics in the operation of the team. The concern that seems most common, is why are so many individuals from the Ryan era still hanging around? I have a few “from afar” theories. First, I take from my own professional experience. In my career field, when and if I enter a new opportunity I always enter the situation with a time frame in mind where I simply evaluate. I don’t make any sweeping changes unless they are agreed on by the existing culture and my initial assessments. In my world that magic number ends up being 6 months, that number could obviously be much different in the world of the MLB. With that concept in mind, and without being in the front office each day, I wonder if Falvey and Levine are simply evaluating the people they have in front of them before making sweeping changes. Maybe the guys in place really embrace analytics but were always vetoed by a more powerful voice, or maybe the guys Falvey and Levine want in those positions are simply just not available at this moment. This far in, I will continue to give them the benefit of the doubt. Today, the 25 man roster has taken shape. Each and every year, there are gut and knee jerk reactions to this decision. While today is a date to mark on the calendar, this decision is always a somewhat temporary decision. I am more concerned about how the roster takes shape as we get through April and into May. If Park continues to hit like he has this spring in Rochester, and Vargas looks like he did for Puerto Rico and they aren’t flipping places. I will then get concerned. If Mejia struggles mightily and Duffey or Berrios look ready in April/May. Then I will get out my picketing signs. For now, I trust the process and will wait for Falvey and Levine to give me a reason to doubt them. The organization has obviously seen something with either Vargas or Park they want to see play out further and are letting their process ride a bit. It is important to remember, we just finished spring training which we always struggle to evaluate what performance means in these weeks. Now the Bullpen. Ok, even this very optimistic, loyal to a fault fan cannot find a good spin on that. The Twins simply need a lot of emerging pieces for that to work. I encourage patience my fellow fans. Even though that is what we have tried to have for losing season after losing season. This is a new group having to reshape a whole organization. And that does not happen overnight. Let’s give them some time. Let’s see how the roster shapes up through the season, how they draft, and how the trade deadline goes. As we enter next offseason we will hopefully be able to see more of the stamp that the Falvey/Levine regime will leave on the Minnesota Twins. (Of course, if you disagree with me that is OK. I will still listen to you and be by your side. Because I am loyal like that.)