Nate Palmer

The Minnesota Twins needed to grab onto whatever momentum they could from Sunday; they couldn't. Pablo López and Griffin Jax both looked like heroes, until Jax gave up the knockout blow in the form of an eighth-inning homer. Image courtesy of © Ken Blaze-Imagn Images Box Score SP: Pablo López: 6.1 IP, 8 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 K (92 pitches, 61 strikes (66.3%) Home Runs: N/A Bottom 3 WPA: Griffin Jax (-0.236), Pablo López (-0.106), Christian Vázquez (-0.084) Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) The Minnesota Twins looked to build on their nine-run outburst in Sunday’s game and ride rotation leader Pablo López to start their four-game series with Cleveland on the right foot. Early on, the game looked to be in the Twin's favor, but would that reality hold for all nine innings? Third-Inning Rally The Twins got into an offensive rhythm in the third inning, and were able to move around the base paths to build themselves an early lead. It started with Carlos Correa, in his second game back, hitting his 18th double of the season. Behind him, Ryan Jeffers and Royce Lewis both walked to load the bases for Byron Buxton. In his third game since returning from the IL, Buxton hit a ball off the glove of Guardians starter Matthew Boyd that ricocheted to the outfield, scoring both Jeffers and Lewis to give the Twins a quick 3-0 lead. Kyle Farmer followed up with a single. The hit didn’t score a run, but was enough to chase Boyd in favor of reliever Padro Avila. Runs and Long Plate Appearances With several long plate appearances, the Twins could get deeper into the Guardians bullpen than a three-run lead would typically allow. One that stood out that didn’t result in a hit, but sucked up plenty of bullpen energy, was Carlos Santan’s 10-pitch at-bat in the fifth inning. Runs weren’t scored in each inning, but getting to see as much of the Guardians bullpen as the Twins did should, hopefully, pay dividends as the series continues. (Gosh, though, in hindsight, runs sure would have been nice.) Guardians Capitalize on Mistake It wasn’t the largest of mistakes, but with two outs in the fifth inning, López let a sweeper get away from him, hitting Brayan Rocchio. That opened the door for the Guardians to get back-to-back hits. Rocchio was able to score on an Andrés Giménez single that Lewis did not cleanly field. With some heads-up defense, Correa finished the play by throwing behind Angel Martinez at third for the final out of the inning, preserving two runs of cushion. Jax saves the lead in 7th López spent most of the night cruising through the Guardians lineup. He once again looked like the ace of the Twins staff he needed to be. The seventh inning was scary, though, as Cleveland loaded the bases with no outs. At that moment, the Guardians sent Daniel Schneeman as a pinch-hitter, and Christian Vázquez visited the mound to discuss it with his starter. López responded by striking out Schneeman, but then gave up a single to Martinez, cutting the lead to 3-2. Enter Griffin Jax. With the bases still loaded, Jax would pitch the biggest pitches of the evening. He began by fanning Giménez, then induced the dangerous José Ramírez (who already had two hits on the night) to ground out to Santana at first base. Once again, Jax shut the door in a vital spot while facing some of the most dangerous hitters in a lineup. Until the 8th... As well as the seventh inning went, the eighth inning erased all those good feelings. Jax remained in the game and led off the inning by giving up a double to deep right field to Josh Naylor. The Twins reliever did respond by striking out Lane Thomas for the first out. He would not be as lucky with rookie Kyle Manzardo, though. Manzardo hit a tank for his third home run of the season to put the Guardians up 4-3. What is unfortunate about this game is that the loss will be pegged on López and Jax, when, in reality, they were just unable to work within margins for error left too fine by the rest of the team. It is the road to October, and when the Twins haven't been playing well as a team, it makes these moments bigger than they should be. It will need to be another "flush it" moment for the Twins and their two leading pitchers, but too many of those are piling up. What’s Next? As the Twins send Zebby Matthews to the mound on Tuesday, he will look to continue to trend back to having more quality outings. After a few clunkers, Matthews controlled his earned runs allowed, which was limited to two, but he will look to pitch deeper than the 3 1/3 innings he notched against the Angels. The Guardians’ Gavin Williams will pitch for the home team, and the Twins will look to continue to add to a primarily rough season for the right-hander. The Twins could also change things up a bit, now that they have newcomer Cole Irvin in the rotation mix. Postgame Interviews Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet THU FRI SAT SUN MON TOT Blewett 0 0 41 0 0 41 Alcalá 0 9 0 31 0 40 Thielbar 0 0 27 0 13 40 Sands 0 0 0 36 0 36 Varland 0 0 29 0 0 29 Tonkin 0 28 0 0 0 28 Jax 0 0 0 0 21 21 Henríquez 0 0 0 17 0 17 Durán 0 0 0 0 0 0 View full article

This is absolutely something we should continue to remember and recognize!

Absolutely wanted to give credit where credit was due.

The team meeting on Sunday was not enough to change Monday. Starter David Festa faltered early and the Twins dropped their fourth straight game. Image courtesy of © Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images Box Score SP: David Festa: 4.0 IP, 4 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 4 K (66 pitches, 41 strikes (62.1%) Home Runs: Kyle Farmer (4) Bottom 3 WPA: David Festa(-0.213), Royce Lewis (-0.091), Ronny Henriquez(-0.084) Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) After a weekend of losing and a team meeting, the Minnesota Twins were set to rebound at home against the struggling Los Angeles Angels. Everything seemed to create a perfect atmosphere for the whole team to shake things off and get back to the business of winning. The one rookie starter who has continued to find success, David Festa, was on the mound to start the night. The only question was whether the Twins would put it all together and add to the win column again. Early on, Walks Haunted While Festa’s rookie counterparts have been faltering down the stretch, the right-hander seemed to be getting stronger as his MLB appearances have continued. Festa did have his struggles Monday against the Angels, as he led the game off with a walk to Taylor Ward. A ground-rule double and a single followed, allowing both Ward and Zach Neto to score and giving the Angels an early 2-0 lead. In the third inning, Festa issued another walk. This time it was to Nolan Schanuel. Schanuel did not have to work hard to go first to home, as Brandon Drury worked a nine-pitch count until he got a high and in fastball that he was able to turn on for his fourth home run. That doubled the Angels lead to 4-0. Willi Castro left the game due to illness, and in his place came Michael Helman. In Helman’s first plate appearance during the third inning, he hit a double to lead off the inning. It took some time, but with two outs in the inning, Carlos Santana was able to come through with a single that gave Helman enough room to score from second, cutting the lead down to 4-1. In the next inning, Kyle Farmer came to the plate and took a rip on a hanging curveball. The Twins brought Farmer to town, in part, because of his performance against left-handed pitchers. While it hasn’t been easy for the utility infielder in 2024, he showed off that stroke for his fourth home run in this game and successfully helped the Twins cut the initial lead in half. Big Bullpen Innings Needed Again After the Twins put some runs on the board, the pitching also settled into a groove. Festa finished out his outing with two scoreless innings before being relieved by Ronny Henriquez. Henriquez had a very good fifth inning, which included picking Ward off of first base when he connected with Santana. The sixth inning turned ugly again. With Henriquez still on the mound and Logan O’Hoppe on first, Niko Kavadas took Henriquez deep to gain their lead back making the score 6-2. Next up for the bullpen was Michael Tonkin. Tonkin tossed as perfect of two innings as the Twins had seen all night from one of their pitchers. The veteran righty did allow one hit and one walk but struck out three batters while holding the Angels scoreless. The Twins have to be hoping that Tonkin can continue to provide these sorts of innings down the stretch. Scott Blewett came in for the ninth and looked set to cruise effortlessly through the inning. A hit-and-hit batsman did make the inning a bit interesting, but Blewett still got through the inning, tossing only 13 pitches. The zeros put on the board by the bullpen when they did come were not enough, as the bats were not able to erase the total deficit—leaving the Twins with their fourth loss in a row. What’s Next? Tuesday night at Target Field will be another Pablo Lopez deal. Lopez has returned to his dominant form and has found great success with his fastball. The Twins will need a win from him to help hold their playoff spot. The Angels will counter with Griffin Canning. Canning has tossed over 150 innings but does sport an ERA north of 5.00. Postgame Interviews Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet THU FRI SAT SUN MON TOT Henríquez 0 13 0 0 29 42 Blewett 0 0 0 19 13 32 Tonkin 0 0 0 0 31 31 Sands 0 0 0 30 0 30 Durán 12 0 17 0 0 29 Jax 13 0 8 0 0 21 Thielbar 0 19 0 0 0 19 Alcalá 0 0 0 11 0 11 Varland 0 0 0 0 0 0 View full article

The Minnesota Twins are experiencing the dark side of embracing injury risk as a strategy, as they have been missing their two star players during a critical stretch of the season. Image courtesy of © Bruce Kluckhohn-Imagn Images While the Minnesota Twins have put together a season of competitive play—much more competitive than we thought second or third in the AL Central would be, in the bigger picture of baseball—one issue has continued to rear its ugly head season after season, and seems to mute the team’s successes: The Twins' star players continually seem to be injured. In the last two seasons, Byron Buxton and Carlos Correa have been unavailable to the team. To be clear, the words to follow are not meant to indict either of these players. Instead, they point out the negative side of a strategy the Twins appear to have used—a strategy that the front office has only been able to go halfway on. Buxton has a well-documented history of injuries. When Buck is right and roaming center like he has been for much of the year, he is a game-changing player. Likewise, when going right, Correa is the same type of star player who can feel like he is single-handedly propelling his team toward victory. Even after missing significant time, FanGraphs values Buxton’s contributions to the team at $26.3 million, well above his salary of $15 million for the season. Just before he went down with plantar fasciitis, Correa was on a tear where he was slashing .375/.435/.625 and a 1.060 OPS from Jun. 5 until the injury. Both still sit atop the Twins fWAR leaderboard. This season is yet another example of how both Correa and Buxton, if healthy, deserve much larger contracts than either of them is on. The injury history and Correa’s medical imaging of his ankle are the only reasons the Twins were able to jump up and sign both stars. The worries surrounding each star's availability created a situation where both became a “distressed asset” that the Twins were willing to keep on board. The Twins have yet to experience the worst-case scenario, as Buxton and Correa have at least been available for some of the season. This season’s situation isn’t good by any means, as their inability has coincided with a very important stretch run in which they could use the jolt their bats would bring and the consistency of their gloves. As fans, we are experiencing the dark side of dealing with distressed assets. When it works for teams with the quasi-need to save money and the star player is healthy and performs well, a front office has more than maximized those dollars. When the player continues to be injured, and the team cannot rely on them for at-bats and innings in the field, the dollars begin to feel wasted, even if FanGraphs tells us otherwise. To the Twins' credit, two parts of the roster-building process have gone well. The front office did avoid some other potential distressed assets along the way, who have cratered. At two years and $24 million, Kenta Maeda went to the Detroit Tigers. It was tempting to try and squeeze more out of the veteran to help fill out the rotation. Thankfully, the Twins said no to the contract, as Maeda has performed poorly enough that he has been moved strictly to a relief role. As Jordan Montgomery hung out unsigned late, many of Twins Territory pointed to the playoff standout to help bolster the Twins ranks. In 19 starts, the lefty has a 6.43 ERA and amassed a -1.5 WAR. The Diamondbacks are paying $25 million for those services. Carlos Rodon can also be mentioned here. While his contract still has some time to pay off for the Yankees, the first year was a lost one, and this season, it has settled out at least to a more respectable level. The second aspect of this process the Twins have done well is that they have either signed or developed a good crop of players to provide depth when Buxton and Correa have been out. Imagine where this team would be without Willi Castro, a Detroit Tigers payroll casualty who is now an All-Star. Trevor Larnach, Matt Wallner, José Miranda, Brooks Lee, and Austin Martin have all put together some big innings at different junctures for the Twins. Even on the pitching side, the performances of Simeon Woods Richardson, David Festa, and Zebby Matthews have helped push off some of the adverse effects of not acquiring or spending money on another starter. Of course, as of late, there have been struggles between two of the three in that group. Even with those struggles, they have, at times, thrown big innings for the Twins. There is a lot to celebrate among that list of names, but it still hasn't been enough. The Twins have fallen short in carrying this process to the finish line. Yes, a team can save money by buying these distressed asset-type players. However, the team does need to consider spending slightly more on the next level of replacement players if they want to ensure it will work. In fact, that's a vital piece of this style of team-building, as seen in other teams who do it, like the Dodgers and Yankees. Instead of trading for Manuel Margot, the team should consider spending some assets or money to bring in someone of a higher caliber. Instead of bringing in nothing in the way of starting pitchers outside of the trade for Anthony DeSclafani, find a capable starter to add length to that rotation so the club wouldn’t be currently relying on three rookies. The Twins could have looked toward players like Shota Imanaga, who signed for four years and $53 million with the Cubs. Another potential starting pitching signing could have been Erick Fedde, whom the Twins were interested in at the trade deadline and signed for two years and $15 million with the White Sox at the beginning of the season. Those sorts of signings have been needed to push the roster to another level and would have gone a long way for the 2024 season. Yes, the risk is always present that one of those players also does not perform well. It does increase the pool of MLB level talent the team has. That talent would help to buoy the team when one of those star players goes down. There is still a chance Buxton and Correa will return and lead the team into and through the playoffs. There is also the chance that fans will be left with their palms to the sky, wondering once again where their star players were at the most critical moments. A failure to participate in or advance through the playoffs will lead to each fan looking at ownership and asking why they didn’t feel the urgency to put some more money out there to push the roster over the finish line. View full article

Don't give me too much credit. I observed but didn't report it. The closest I get to talking to Rocco is yelling at the TV with the rest of you.

Labor Day was a nervy one for the Twins. Rocco Baldelli had to turn to the bullpen early. The relievers lived up the task, though, and some young bats launched home runs to bring home the win. Image courtesy of © Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports Box Score SP: Simeon Woods Richardson: 3.2 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 2 K (71 pitches, 47 strikes (66.2%) Home Runs: Trevor Larnach (15), Brooks Lee (3) Top 3 WPA: Trevor Larnach (0.352), Jhoan Duran (0.187), Jorge Alcala (0.117) Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) As the Minnesota Twins continue to battle for playoff position, most closely with Kansas City, they set their destination for Tampa Bay to take on the sub-.500 Rays. The Twins took advantage of some two-out at-bats to get on the board early. In the first inning, it was Royce Lewis coming through, with Trevor Larnach on second base after a walk and advancing to second on a Jose Miranda single. Lewis, who hadn’t been his explosive self through the end of August, pulled the ball down the third-base line for a double. Larnach crossed home plate and gave the Twins a 1-0 lead. The Rays wouldn’t let that score stand long. Also with two outs, Tampa's Dylan Carlson hit a 2-1 changeup in the heart of the plate for a single, which scored both Junior Caminero and Josh Lowe—putting the Rays up 2-1 to close out the first inning. Like in a great boxing match, however, the Twins and Larnach would fire back to start the second inning. With Edouard Julien and Christian Vázquez on base, Larnach hit a rocket, line-drive home run over the right-field fence. The lefty's home run ball was his 15th on the season and clocked in at 112.5 mph off his bat. The Twins lead stood at 4-2 in the middle of the second. Simeon Woods Richardson would give up another run in the third inning, and then leave in the fourth, with team clinging to a one-run edge. It left Rocco Baldelli in an interesting position, as he would need to manage his bullpen carefully. The first arm Baldelli called upon was Jorge Alcalá. Alcalá last pitched on Wednesday against the Atlanta Braves, where he only completed 0.2 innings and gave up a run. While the fifth inning wasn’t the cleanest, Alcalá gave the Twins 1.1 innings of scoreless relief. Twins Daily's winning "Make It Official!" game recaps are sponsored by Official Fried Chicken, which you can find in center field of Target Field. With a name like "Official," we know we have to be the best in the game every day, and from your first bite, you'll know thats a promise we make good on. Ronny Henriquez was next to toe the rubber out of the bullpen. The Twins clearly had a plan for who Henriquez would face in the Rays lineup. The right-hander had been warming up earlier in the game before sitting down when Alcalá was brought in. After Alcalá faced six batters, the Rays lineup must have been back in the spot where the Twins wanted to bring Henriquez into the game. The plan worked. Henriquez pitched a three-up, three-down sixth inning after accepting a big assist from Matt Wallner, who caught a long fly ball at the wall off of Taylor Walls's bat. The inning also included a significant induced ground out of the dangerous Yandy Diaz. As Baldelli continued to move the chess pieces, next up was Griffin Jax to face the Rays' 2-3-4 batters. Jax very clearly has become the most trusted reliever in the Twins bullpen, and deploying him in the seventh Monday evening was further evidence of that. It took four batters to get through the seventh after a weak Josh Lowe grounder up the middle allowed him to reach safely. Jax handled Lowe’s presence at first magnificently and struck out two batters on his way to a scoreless inning. While the Twins were shuffling through their bullpen, the Rays were doing the same, as their starter, Zack Littell, who completed only four innings. The Rays bullpen did the job, until Garret Cleavinger gave up a leadoff home run to Brooks Lee in the eighth, for his first right-handed home run and a third home run of his rookie season. With the Rays back up for the bottom half of the eighth inning, Baldelli next turned to Cole Sands, who tossed 13 pitches in Sunday’s game. Lee’s insurance run proved how important insurance runs are. While Sands cruised through the inning well, he made one mistake with Jonny DeLuca at the plate. DeLuca matched Lee with his own solo shot, bringing the game back to within one run, 5-4. For the ninth inning, the Twins turned to Jhoan Durán. Durán slammed the door shut. Durán’s inning started with a rare pitch clock violation, but that didn’t rattle him. After two ground outs, the game ended with an emphatic strikeout of Caminero. With that win, the Twins continue to get back on track, controlling what they can control by winning the game in front of them. If they do that, the playoffs will still be in the windshield for Minnesota. What’s Next? On Tuesday, the Twins will send fellow rookie David Festa to the mound. Festa will look to follow up on his best start of the season after going six innings and striking out seven against the Braves. The Rays will hand the ball to Jeffrey Springs for his seventh start of the season. The left-hander brings a 3.67 ERA after giving up four runs in his last outing while facing the St. Louis Cardinals. Postgame Interviews Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet THU FRI SAT SUN MON TOT Blewett 0 0 54 0 0 54 Jax 0 3 0 27 18 48 Durán 0 11 0 13 14 38 Tonkin 0 0 37 0 0 37 Alcalá 0 0 0 0 32 32 Sands 0 0 0 13 17 30 Henríquez 0 0 0 0 20 20 Thielbar 0 0 19 0 0 19 Castillo 0 8 0 0 0 8 View full article

Tornado Sirens, Rain, and Wind helped the Minnesota Twins welcome the Braves to town. The Braves enjoyed that welcome as they hit starter Bailey Ober hard for nine quick runs to put the game away early. Image courtesy of Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports Box Score SP: Bailey Ober: 2.0 IP, 7 H, 9 ER, 2 BB, 2 K (55 pitches, 32 strikes (58.2%) Home Runs: Kyle Farmer (2), Matt Wallner (10) Bottom 3 WPA: Bailey Ober (-0.494), Royce Lewis (-0.068), Austin Martin (-0.017) Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) The Minnesota Twins had their ace on the mound and a reeling Atlanta Braves offense in town. It seemed that the stars were aligned as long as the offense could find something against the Braves’ top starter, Max Fried, Monday night could go the good guys' way. In many ways, we instead learned that when it rains, it pours. Brave score early and often The top of the lineup was filled with former Kansas City Royals. Whit Merrifield led the game off with a single, and Jorge Soler walked to put two on for the Braves 2024 MVP Marcell Ozuna. Ozuna came through with a single off Bailey Ober to score Merrifield and give the Braves a quick 1-0 lead. The Braves would not stop there. Up next was one of last season’s stars for the Braves, Matt Olson, who came through with a home run off of an Ober changeup deep to right-center field. While Olson hasn’t had the same season he had in 2024, over the past 28 days he has hit seven home runs and put up a .825 OPS. The Twins did try to keep the game within reach based on a lot of work from Manuel Margot. In his typical lead-off spot against a left-handed starter, Margot led off with a double. Margot then stole third base, putting him in position to score on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Jose Miranda. That brought the Twins within 3 with a 4-1 score. That quickly wouldn’t seem to matter at all. Ober got two outs quickly in the second inning, but everything seemed to unravel with two outs on the board. Back at the top of the Braves lineup, Merrifield doubled, Soler walked, Ozuna doubled and collected an RBI. Olson hit a sharp double on the ground, and two more runs scored. Before that final out would be recorded, catcher Travis d’Arnaud also got in on the hit parade and hit a two-run home run. In case you weren’t keeping score, the Braves were up 9-1 at the end of the second inning. It was precisely at that time that the skies opened up, and the winds blew strong, sending the game into a significant weather delay. It was obvious that Ober may have been finished for the night even without a delay. The Braves looked to have something on Ober’s changeup. Four out of the five run-scoring plays came off of the right-hander changeup. At 8:40 p.m., play resumed, and so did Braves starter Fried, which removed any silver linings from the rain delay for the Twins. Fried continued to cruise through Twins batters for most of his outing. Resulting in seven strikeouts and no real scoring threats until the fifth inning. If it wasn’t for a throwing error, Fried may have even been able to get through that inning clean. Scott Blewett executes It will go with little fanfare and likely under the radar of most fans, but Scott Blewett gave the Twins exactly the three innings they needed. In a game like Monday nights, it seemed that the team’s top goals would be to avoid freak injuries and use as few bullpen arms as possible. Blewett had to avoid the freak injury side early on after taking a comebacker off his pitching hand. From there, Blewett made quick work of the Braves on many fronts. By the time the Twins righty left the game, in fewer pitches and innings he had matched Max Fried in swings and misses with nine. Those swings and misses helped Blewett to three strikeouts while only giving up two hits on 39 pitches. Twins not ready to give up As previously mentioned, the Twins began showing life in the fifth inning. While much of Twins territory likely turned to other endeavors, the Twins weren’t ready to. Willi Castro started the action by reaching on a throwing error. Castro continued to show he was still playing for this game on a Wallner single when he hustled into third, forcing a throw that allowed Wallner to advance to second base. Austin Martin was next, and even though Fried had his number earlier in the game, he could squeak out a swing bunt, forcing Gio Urshela to mishandle the ball and allowing Castro to scamper across home plate. Margot followed up with another hit, plating Wallner, bringing the score to 9-3. Kyle Farmer and Matt Wallner would hit solo shots late to bring the game to within four runs. The lead was too great to overcome fully, but the team stayed away from key bullpen arms, hoping they would be set up to flush this game and come back strong tomorrow. What’s Next? Tuesday’s game will be a matchup of rookies. The Braves will send right-hander Spencer Schwellenbach to the mound. Swellenbach has made 14 starts this season, holding a 3.94 ERA and a 10.3 K/9. The Twins counter with Simeon Woods Richardson. Woods Richardson has his impressive season going with 22 starts and a 3.69 ERA, and he continues to give the Twins a chance in the games he starts. Postgame Interviews Coming Soon Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet THU FRI SAT SUN MON TOT Richards 0 44 0 0 33 77 Blewett 13 0 0 0 39 52 Durán 0 0 16 25 0 41 Henríquez 0 0 0 0 32 32 Jax 0 0 19 12 0 31 Sands 0 0 0 26 0 26 Alcalá 0 25 0 0 0 25 Thielbar 0 18 0 0 0 18 View full article

The Minnesota Twins ran into a red-hot San Diego Padres team and couldn't match their heat. Zebby Matthews held strong in many ways, but a fielding miscue loomed large once again, as the Twins lost. Image courtesy of © Denis Poroy-USA TODAY Sports Box Score SP: Zebby Matthews: 5.0 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 1 K (92 pitches, 59 strikes (64.1%) Home Runs: None Bottom 3 WPA: Zebby Matthews (-0.354), Carlos Santana (-0.083), Willi Castro (-0.077) Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) This week, there's plenty of opportunity to be sentimental, as the Minnesota Twins visit the San Diego Padres. Old Friends Luis Arraez and Donovan Solano are both suiting up for the opponent. Monday night, Royce Lewis’s high-school baseball coach, Brett Kay, was watching him in person for the first time. Jayce Tingler was also returning to the place he once managed. The team waiting for them, though, is not especially friendly. The sunny San Diego weather did have the bats warm and ready to go from the beginning. In the first inning, after Trevor Larnach stroked a single, Matt Wallner (who had a rough Texas series) wanted to erase that from memory, and pulled a double down the right-field line. It was enough to allow Larnach to come around to score and put the Twins up early, 1-0. The Padres weren’t going to sit back and be silent. They put together a rally in the first inning, themselves. Zebby Matthews faced a flurry of challenging moments early in his second start. A hit-by-pitch for Arraez, who usually doesn’t need much help getting on base, followed by a Jurickson Profar flare single, put Matthews in a quick hole. With runners on first and third, Matthews induced an out from Jake Cronenworth on a grounder. It was also enough to score Arraez to tie up the game. Matthews was almost able to get out of his trouble, but with two outs, Xander Bogaerts hit a single to put the Padres up 2-1 at the end of the first inning. In the Twins half of the second inning, they quickly loaded the bases with one out with an Edouard Julien single, Christian Vazquez single, and Austin Martin single. What followed was one of the more savvy running plays we have seen, from rookie Martin. In the next at-bat, Willi Castro hit a ground ball to the right side of the infield, where Bogaerts had an excellent opportunity to tag Martin and throw out Castro for a double play. Instead, Martin alertly backpedaled to avoid the tag long enough to allow Castro to be safe and score Julien from third. Miscue and Walks loom large With the Padres up in the 3rd inning, Matthews faced a challenging base load and two-out situation. How he got there was not characteristic of this Twins team and Zebby himself. With one out, Carlos Santana missed a sharp grounder off his glove. Julien quickly recovered the ball to keep the ball out alive, but Matthews could not hang onto Julien’s throw as he covered first base. On the road to the bases-loaded situation, Matthews would then walk two batters. That coming from the right-hander who had walked seven batters all season throughout his minor league stops. Zebby still had a chance to get out of the inning safely, but fellow rookie Jackson Merrill, who is putting together his own impressive season, hit a bases-clearing double to put the Padres up 5-2. The score won’t tell the whole story The score when Matthews left the game was not good, with a 5-2 deficit. It doesn’t tell the whole story of how Matthews's outing went. In his second start, he faced a very good Padres lineup. He held his own in many ways and, in many moments, was one batter, pitch, or defensive play away from a clean inning. That is the growth edge from rookie to regular, reliable rotation arm. It is the type of outing that Matthews certainly will have hoped would have yielded better results, but there is a lot to continue to be excited about with the rookie pitcher. The tandem of bullpen arms that did come in for the Twins did keep the score where it was when Matthews left the game, albeit in two very different fashions. Trevor Richards, over two innings, left fans with a moth full of fingernails as he stranded runners on the basepaths. On the other hand, Caleb Thielbar used only nine pitches to get through the eighth inning and get the bats back up to the plate. The Twins did make a last minute surbe in the ninth while facing Padres closer Robert Suarez. Julien would walk and advance to second on defensive indifference. Vazquez would bring him around on a single. Resulting in a pinch-hitting opportunity for Jose Miranda as the potential game-tying run. While Miranda gave one pitch a long-ride foul, he ultimately would ground out, and the Padres ended up winners on Monday. What’s Next? The Twins will look to even the series with their best pitcher on the mound, Bailey Ober. The Padres will counter with Martin Perez, who put together a 4.62 ERA for the season. Fans can expect a right-handed heavy starting lineup as the Padres send out the left-hander. Postgame Interviews Coming Soon Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet THU FRI SAT SUN MON TOT Alcalá 20 0 9 19 0 48 Jax 15 19 0 9 0 43 Richards 0 0 0 13 27 40 Durán 18 13 0 6 0 37 Sands 0 18 9 0 0 27 Henríquez 0 0 27 0 0 27 Thielbar 0 18 0 0 9 27 Okert 0 8 0 0 0 8 View full article

Though at least partially forced by the penuriousness of ownership, front office inactivity has put unnecessary pressure on David Festa. Image courtesy of Jason Bridge, Brad Penner After an inactive trade deadline, the Minnesota Twins had one injury circumstance that could not happen without resulting in a near-doomsday scenario. All three top starting pitchers--Pablo López, Bailey Ober, and Joe Ryan--needed to remain healthy for the rest of the season. As we learned late last week, the bubble they created for themselves has popped. Ryan will likely miss the rest of the regular season with a Grade 2 teres major strain. In the best-case scenario, he might be able to join the Twins sometime mid-playoff run. One thing we have learned, watching baseball, is that injuries happen, and you might as well assume that and plan for them. It appears the Twins' plan all along was to fill from within when those situations arose, and that approach has left one rookie standing in a very hot spotlight for the stretch run. David Festa made his debut on Jun. 27 in Arizona. The righthander has had plenty of excitement behind him this season, as he appears to have developed all the tools and skills to succeed at the MLB level. His first two starts, while they displayed flashes of greatness, also reflected the vagaries of a rookie pitcher. Festa was sent back to St. Paul after two starts with an ERA of 10.80. Since being inserted back in the rotation for Chris Paddack on Jul. 24, Festa has shown more of the upside that many watching him in the minors were excited about. In those four starts since returning to the majors, Festa now holds a 2.04 ERA, while limiting batters to a .188 batting average and .678 OPS. As we saw in his latest start, the home run ball may hurt him the most; he's allowed three over that stretch. What is scary down the stretch isn’t Festa’s ability. In many ways, he seems very capable of becoming the number-three (or higher) starter in the Twins rotation. What is scary is that the Twins need him to be that now, with limited regression or growing pains without Ryan in the rotation. Simeon Woods-Richardson and Louie Varland will also have pressure put on them, but they seem to remain in their perceived roles. Frankly, of that group, Festa seems to have the stuff to best replace a high-end starter like Ryan. Let’s be clear: I am rooting for Festa. If he could lock in his spot in a way that produces the sort of excitement that a healthy Francisco Liriano produced in 2006, there may be nothing better. From May 19 until getting shut down at the end of July that summer, Liriano made 14 starts, posted a 1.65 ERA, and held batters to an incredible .482 OPS--all while striking out 105 batters, or 30.1% of the batters he faced. The amazing thing is, Festa is knocking on the door to match some of those numbers. Even with the bad starts, Festa has a 27.5% strikeout rate. He's a talent on par with Liriano, though a bit less of a phenom. Maybe these are the scars of a Twins fan coming through, but there is also a dark side to this reliance on a rookie. It can beget the volatility he's shown and the risk of regression--or, as was the case with Liriano, a pressure that resulted in injury and complete unavailability for the playoffs. The Twins certainly have more pitching talent in their organization than I can ever remember. As we have screamed since the offseason, there is no backup plan to these young pitchers, leaving a lot of pressure on young and rookie pitchers. Right now, most of that pressure seems to be landing on Festa. Biomechanically, more pressure doesn't mean a greater injury risk. Statistically, more pressure doesn't mean a greater risk of failure. Because we are all humans, though, and because Festa is, neither biomechanics nor statistics are necessarily going to carry the day. View full article

The Minnesota Twins bats, sparked by Willi Castro and Royce Lewis home runs, led the Twins to an important series-opening win against fellow wild-card contender Kansas City Royals. Image courtesy of Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports Box Score SP: Pablo Lopez: 6.0 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 5 K (96 pitches, 71 strikes (73.9%) Home Runs: Willi Castro (9), Royce Lewis (15) Top 3 WPA: Willi Castro (0.251), Royce Lewis (0.156), Austin Martin (0.088) Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) Coming off of a series split with the team the Minnesota Twins are chasing in the standings, the Twins open up a series with a team chasing them in the Kansas City Royals. Pablo Lopez needs to show up as the rotation leader and stop the two-game losing streak. The lineup will also need to show up and find a way to get some hits off of Brady Singer, enjoying a good pitching stretch. Bobby Witt Jr. – still annoying More honestly, Bobby Witt Jr. is really good at baseball. He has quickly joined the prominent list of annoyingly good players that have played for Kansas City. Witt gave Lopez first-hand experience as to why pitchers do not want to fall behind in the count to him. Behind 1-0, Lopez tried to throw a sweeper by Witt. Instead Witt deposited it in the left field bleachers for his 23rd home run and a Royals 1-0 lead. The second inning didn’t stall out the Royals offense. With two outs, the Royals had runners on first and second and Kyle Isbel at the plate. The Royals are all the league leaders in average with runners in scoring position so it was no surprise when Isbel lined a single to bring Frazier home to increase the lead to 2-0. 2nd Inning wake-up call The Twins bats seemed to have been asleep after leaving the bases loaded Sunday to end the game and striking out three times to begin Monday’s game. The second inning must have been what the lineup needed. Singer got the Twins to two outs, but with their backs against the wall, the Minnesota bats got going. Carlos Santana walked, Ryan Jeffers singled, and Austin Martin drove in Santana with his own single to shorten the lead to 2-1. Willi Castro wasn’t ready for the Twins to take the field and extended the inning by smashing his ninth home run to give the Twins a 4-2 lead. Trevor Larnach came to bat with empty bases and sent a single just to the right of the second base bag. Then the Twins own annoyingly good player, Royce Lewis, came to the plate. He missed what looked to be the pitch to hit at one point in the at-bat but then got another one that he launched off the second deck facing for his 15th home run and a 6-2 Twins lead. Pablo battles through As has been a bit more the norm than the Twins would like, Lopez didn’t have his best stuff Monday but worked with what he did have to give the Twins a chance. What may have been the most impressive stretch on the night for Pablo was the way he responded to the Twins, giving him the 6-2 lead. He responded with two innings in a row, sending down the Royals lineup 1-2-3. The performance put Lopez in line for a milestone Monday night as he reached 50 career wins. Congratulations Pablo Lopez! Fireman Griffin Jax As Pablo exited, Griffin Jax was turned to in the seventh as the Royals 9,1,2 batters were due up. That second spot in the Royals lineup is occupied by none other than Witt. Showing off how good Jax has been this season as Rocco Baldelli turns to him against a crucial stretch of the Royals lineup. Jax would surrender a single to Isbel but then record an out with the next three batters, including forcing Witt into a fielder’s choice groundout. Bats pour on The Twins bats made sure to give the Twins bullpen as comfortable of a lead as they could. In the seventh inning, the game quickly turned from a save situation to not as Larnach and Lewis reached ahead of Matt Wallner. Wallner would single to score Larnach and allow Lewis to advance to third. Manuel Margot, who entered the game for Byron Buxton who was dealing with hip discomfort, hit a sacrifice fly to bring Lewis home for a Twins 8-3 lead. Blewett makes Twins debut Against his former team, Scott Blewett made his Twins debut in the ninth inning Monday evening. Blewett struck out Isbel, who had made plenty of noise throughout the game. He also ended the game by retiring three Royals batters in a row. What’s Next? On Tuesday, the Twins will face off against Royals All-Star Seth Lugo. The Royals right-handed starter is having a career year, leading the league in innings pitched with a 2.72 ERA. Twins fans will have the opportunity to take in the much-anticipated start of another rookie pitcher, Zebby Matthews. Postgame Interviews Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet THU FRI SAT SUN MON TOT Thielbar 0 20 0 32 0 52 Dobnak 0 0 0 51 0 51 Richards 0 9 0 0 25 34 Alcalá 0 16 0 15 0 31 Winder 0 0 29 0 0 29 Sands 0 18 0 9 0 27 Jax 0 12 0 0 12 24 Blewett 0 0 0 0 15 15 Durán 0 14 0 0 0 14 View full article

Good catch. I am trying to get over a summer cold and will blame the medications being deployed for the miss.

David Festa set the Minnesota Twins on solid footing with his career-high nine strikeouts in five innings. His start put the Twins on cruise control to a win in Chicago Monday evening. Image courtesy of © Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports Box Score Starting Pitcher: David Festa: 5.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 9 K (82 pitches, 51 strikes (62.2%) Home Runs: Manuel Margot (4) Top 3 WPA: David Festa (0.291), Manuel Margot (0.089), Jhoan Duran (0.089) Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) After the Minnesota Twins made life miserable for the Chicago White Sox, handing them their 18th, 19th, and 20th straight losses, they looked to continue to frustrate Chicago baseballers, this time up close and personal. The Twins look to collect some wins on the north side of Chicago this time. Opening up a series with the Chicago Cubs, they were hunting some momentum to carry into a pair of big divisional series lurking behind it. The Twins' bats faced off with Kyle Hendricks and a heavy dose of off-speed stuff. While Hendricks has struggled in 2024, he began the game well, able to neutralize the Twins offense well enough to get through the first two innings scoreless. In the third, the Twins got movement on the basepaths. Willi Castro walked, and then Trevor Larnach singled to put runners on first and third. Royce Lewis was next to the plate and lofted a Hendricks changeup to center field with enough distance to score Castro on a sacrifice fly. Missed Opportunity The Twins almost scored at least one more run, to make it 2-0. With Larnach on first and Matt Wallner at the plate, the latter launched a ball to right-center up and into the wind blowing in from the outfield. Pete Crow-Armstrong lost the ball in the air, and instead of making the final out, the ball dropped to the grass. While the Cubs made their mistake, the Twins made their own. With two outs in the inning, instead of running the bases and hoping for a dropped or bobbled catch as it happened, Larnach paused at second base. That resulted in a delayed sprint home, where he was easily tagged out for the third out of the inning. Festa hits career mark David Festa came out of the gates firing well, and finished that way, too. On the broadcast, it was mentioned that the Twins are looking for Festa to begin taking steps in pitching well into the second time through the order. Monday evening, the rookie was able to do that. At the end of five frames, Festa had punched out a career-high nine batters, including a big one at the end of the fifth on which he generated a swing and miss from Ian Happ with two runners on base. That whiff to end Festa’s outing was one of 14 that the righthander induced. Twins Daily's winning "Make It Official!" game recaps are sponsored by Official Fried Chicken, which you can find in center field of Target Field. With a name like "Official," we know we have to be the best in the game every day, and from your first bite, you'll know that's a promise we make good on. Margot goes deep Also in the fifth inning, Manuel Margot added to the Twins' lead with a solo home run, doubling the advantage. The home run was Margot’s fourth of the season and his first off of a right-handed pitcher. Martin flashes the leather We may not know how big of an impact this play truly had on the game, because it didn't feel like a dangerous situation. Austin Martin's play was fun to watch, though, and it needs a shout-out. He and Carlos Santana both exhibited great glove work. What’s Next? In the second game of the series, Pablo Lopez will take the mound for the Twins. Lopez is in a stretch of four games where he has allowed two runs or less and will look to keep that up against the Cubs. The Cubs will counter with Shota Imanaga, who is having an excellent first season in the MLB. The All-Star brings with him a 3.09 ERA to the mound Tuesday. Postgame Interviews Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet THU FRI SAT SUN MON TOT Alcalá 0 6 0 23 9 38 Jax 0 8 14 0 13 35 Sands 0 0 0 33 0 33 Richards 0 9 0 22 0 31 Dobnak 0 0 0 25 0 25 Durán 0 0 6 0 15 21 Thielbar 0 0 0 0 15 15 Winder 0 0 11 0 0 11 View full article

The Minnesota Twins lost a game that they will want to flush and forget. Nothing went well, but we did get to see Matt Wallner showcase his mid-40s slider. Image courtesy of © Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports Box Score Starting Pitcher: Simeon Woods Richardson: 3.1 IP, 7 H, 6 ER, 3 BB, 2 K (81 pitches, 52 strikes (64.2%)) Home Runs: Ryan Jeffers (15) Bottom 3 WPA: Woods Richardson (-0.365), Royce Lewis (-0.072), Willi Castro (-0.064) Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) Monday evening, the Minnesota Twins looked to continue climbing to catch the Cleveland Guardians in the AL Central. Trade deadline rumors and deals had been flying around all day, and the Twins lineup would look to settle in against Mets left-handed starter José Quintana. Margot and Buxton combine early The Twins have been very successful against left-handed pitching this season, sporting a .778 OPS, the third-best in Major League Baseball. That success flashed early, as Manuel Margot led off the game with a double off of Quintana. Byron Buxton followed him, hitting a single to the outfield, giving Margot enough time to round third and score the game's first run. This put the Twins up 1-0 before an out was recorded. That 1-0 score held for some time, too, as Quintana and Simeon Woods Richardson battled each other half-inning after half-inning. Woods Richardson didn’t start completely clean in his first inning of work, but he did put up a scoreless frame, thanks in big part to strikeouts of Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso. Alonso brings the ice. The pitching duel quickly lost that feel in the fourth inning. With Alonso at the plate again, the right-handed hitter took a Woods Richardson fastball for an upper-deck ride to right field. The home run was the Polar Bear's 22nd of the season, and it left the field with a 105.6 mph exit velocity. That home run now looks like it was the beginning of the end for Woods Richardson. Instead of big, impressive hits like Alonso’s home run, the rest of the inning was a collection of primarily walks and singles that kept runners moving and scoring. It wouldn’t be until the eighth batter, Brandon Nimmo, came to the plate that Woods Richardson recorded the first out of the inning. It was a sacrifice fly that made the score 5-1. That would be the only out Woods Richardson would record in the fourth, before he was taken out of the game in favor of Cole Sands. By the end of the inning, it was 6-1, and the Twins' bats were looking at a large deficit to overcome. With the game largely out of hand in the fourth, it was turned over to the bullpen. Sands was the first arm out, and did a decent job trying to slow and stop the scoring. He did allow some inherited runners but was able to stop the bleeding for the moment. After Sands, Josh Staumont, Steven Okert, and Brock Stewart had a series of rough outings. Stewart is maybe the hardest to see hit for runs, as the Twins desperately need him to be his old self for the stretch run. The game got far enough out of hand (14-1 Mets lead) that fans were treated to a position player pitching in the seventh inning. Matt Wallner came on to close out the frame. It makes some sense as Wallner was nearly a pitching prospect instead of a hitting prospect. I don’t think teams were enthralled by the 42-47 mph slider Wallner threw Monday evening. To their credit, the Twins have never been a team to make irrational, knee-jerk reactions. With the trade deadline looming, the front office may use Woods-Richardson's rough start and the bullpen's rough performance as motivation to strike a deal before time runs out. Ryan Jeffers Homers It may feel strange to celebrate a ninth-inning home run that makes the score 15-2. Ryan Jeffers needed something positive to happen at the plate. After being robbed of that moment in the sixth, Jeffers connected for his 15th home run as the game was winding down. A jolt in Jeffers's bat would be similar to acquiring a thumping right-handed bat via trade. What’s Next? The Twins will send David Festa to the mound once again on Tuesday. We will have to see if the rookie can continue to build on his strong 4.1 inning and seven-strikeout outing against the Phillies this past Wednesday. The Twins bats will look to get rolling against Sean Manaea, who has pitched 106 innings for a 3.74 ERA in 2024. Postgame Interviews Coming Soon Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet THU FRI SAT SUN MON TOT Staumont 0 17 21 0 35 73 Stewart 0 0 18 0 24 42 Thielbar 0 16 0 25 0 41 Okert 0 0 21 0 13 34 Sands 0 0 0 0 23 23 Durán 0 0 0 0 0 0 Jax 0 0 0 0 0 0 Alcalá 0 0 0 0 0 0 View full article

A depleted lineup and the best team in baseball was the recipe for success for the Twins Monday night. Bailey Ober controlled a dangerous Phillies lineup while the offense strung together hits for a 7-2 win. Image courtesy of © Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports Box Score SP: Bailey Ober: 7.0 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 K (83 pitches, 58 strikes (69.8%) Home Runs: N/A Top 3 WPA: Bailey Ober (0.198), Diego A. Castillo (0.188), Carlos Santana(0.106) Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) After a tough two-game series against the Milwaukee Brewers, the Twins limped into Monday night’s matchup against the Philadelphia Phillies and the best record in baseball. While the Phillies seemingly field an All-Star at every position, the Twins, riddled with injuries, field a much different lineup than they would like to against a team of Philly's ability. Harper strikes first The rain delay didn’t affect the Phillies' quest to be tuned and ready to play baseball. After a quick out from Kyle Schwarber, Trea Turner reached on a single, and then Bryce Harper came to the plate at his first Target Field at-bat. He celebrated the moment by taking a Bailey Ober cutter deep to give the Phillies an early 2-0 lead. Ober Rebounds Strong Ober almost gave up another home run to Harper in his next at-bat, but besides that, the right-hander really found his groove. The hope after an early home run like that would be to keep your team in the game simply; Ober took that sentiment to a level higher than that. At one point, Ober put away 12 Phillies batters in a row. That outing gave even the depleted Twins lineup a great chance to get back in the game after the early deficit. After a losing weekend, it was also the sort of losing streak-ending performance that the Twins needed. Third Inning Small Ball With so much of the regular lineup missing, it would be interesting to see where the Twins would find offense against a quality pitcher like Ranger Suarez. Suarez was cruising well for the first two innings until the bottom of the Twins lineup set up the offense to score. Diego A. Castillo took a one-out walk to give the Twins their second runner of the game. Manuel Margot followed up Castillo’s walk with a single. Ryan Jeffers grounded out into a fielder’s choice, which put runners on first and second. Finally, Willi Castro punched through a single to bring home Castillo and cut the Phillies lead down to one. Twins Daily's winning "Make It Official!" game recaps are sponsored by Official Fried Chicken, which you can find in center field of Target Field. With a name like "Official," we know we have to be the best in the game every day, and from your first bite, you'll know thats a promise we make good on. Fifth Inning, Second Verse-Same as the First The turning over of the lineup from the bottom to the top produced for the Twins, starting with Max Kepler in the fifth. In the lefty-on-lefty matchup, Kepler hit for a single. Castillo followed up, this time with a short bloop to right field that bounced off the netting for a ground rule double. Margot and the top of the lineup then came around with no outs. Manny slapped his own single to right field to score both Kepler and Castillo, putting the Twins up on the Phillies 3-2. Doubles, Doubles, Doubles As the Phillies took Suarez out of the game just shy of 80 pitches as they try and continue to manage his back, the Twins bats were able to get a little louder. In the seventh inning, Jeffers hit a double, and Santana wanted to stand on second again, so he hit his own double to plate Jeffers. Then again, in the eighth inning, Trevor Larnach also hit his double after entering the game by pinch-hitting earlier for Jair Camargo. Larnach’s double would also set the table for a Twins insurance run. Larnach was lifted for Austin Martin’s speed, and a Kepler single was enough to bring Martin in to score. Giving the Twins a 5-3 lead. The eighth continued with a series of walks and singles and even a wild pitch, adding to the Twins insurance. After nine batters made it to the plate in the inning, the home team could go into the ninth with a 7-2 lead and keep the ball in Cole Sands' hand. This game is just a win in the middle of July. It feels like a statement win after struggling out of the break against the Brewers and being down Carlos Correa, Royce Lewis, and Jose Miranda. Castillo was a big part of that win, and he is a guy who is most likely to run out of a spot on the roster quickly as the names above get healthy. What’s Next? The run on high-quality Phillies starters will continue on Tuesday as Zack Wheeler takes the ball. Wheeler will bring a bit more velocity than Suarez and a 2.70 ERA for the Twins to try and figure out. The Twins will counter with rookie Simeon Woods-Richardson, who will be tested to keep the Phillies sluggers quiet. Postgame Interviews Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet THU FRI SAT SUN MON TOT Sands 0 0 10 0 30 40 Alcalá 0 0 17 16 0 33 Jax 0 0 14 15 0 29 Staumont 0 0 20 0 0 20 Thielbar 0 0 0 16 0 16 Durán 0 0 12 0 0 12 Okert 0 0 11 0 0 11 Henríquez 0 0 0 0 0 0 View full article