Danchat

Yet another bases loaded no outs situation goes up in flames... that's 2 hits in 18 PAs with the bases loaded for Sano. And 2 GDPs in 2 days for Ref with the bases juiced. Ugh.

This would be quite the stunner if we don't win here. Thankfully Maeda won't have to hit with Astudillo on the bench!

With 4, should be 5 errors committed, it's somewhat impressive that the Indians have been held to only 4 runs.

I've counted 4 errors so far... woof.

They're calling that a single?! That was clearly an error on Jax, dude just needed to throw it overhand.

I think Enlow is a lock to be protected. Too much upside there. I don’t think Severino is worth protecting, I don’t think he gets claimed as a 2B with a decent minor league track record. Palacios is doing better at a higher level and can play SS, so I’d prefer him on the 40 man.

He looks more like a 1B/DH type, but I could be wrong. I'd rather see him play in AAA and give Kerrigan (can handle CF) or Contreras (won a gold glove playing LF in the minors) a chance since they can hit and handle themselves defensively.

Holy cow, 8 of 9 outs were Ks for Canterino. Wow. And no, don't sign me up for Andrew Albers. We have enough mediocre and old pitchers in our MLB club, and he's already had two stints with the Twins that went nowhere. There's no reason to try him out a third time.

Man, I am just done with Cave. He's hitting just .208/.281 since returning and he's hit 1 HR all year. I'd really rather see Jimmy Kerrigan or Mark Contreras get a shot after having strong years in AAA.

Arraez played that dribbler well, but Arozarena had that beat out no matter what. Simmons needed to make that last play. Cruz was 5/6 in bases loaded situations for us? Dang. Thankfully Duffey saved his best pitches for last.

Oh boy, Duffey looks about ready to let this lead go...

Great AB there for Donaldson, and in a RISP spot! Where was this earlier this year?

Well, well - a strong start for Barnes so far. I'm glad he's getting a chance.

Hey all, it's been a while since I've covered a game thread. Today the Twins will face the Rays in a rubber match for another series win. While some fans may have expected the Twins to flirt with 100+ losses this season, they've inexplicably gone 7-5 since the trade deadline against some of MLB's best teams. Baseball can be weird sometimes. I've got 3 topics on the docket today: #1: Rays starter Luis Patino Acquired in the Blake Snell trade (which may go down as a highway robbery the way it's looking), Patino was pitching in AA at the ripe age of 19. The Colombian native joined the Padres' roster in 2020 and even pitched in 3 playoff games at the age of 20. He's having a middling year in Tampa Bay, but he clearly has a ton of potential, having a strong MILB career at such a young age. Meanwhile, the other MLB piece of the Snell trade, Francisco Mejia is starting to live up to the hype as a top-tier catching prospect. Meanwhile, they also got two more prospects - pitcher Cole Wilcox (dominating at level A), and another catching prospect in Blake Hunt (a former 2nd round pick who is doing OK). MLB teams - stop trading for MLB players from the Rays! It isn't going to work most the time... just stop it! #2: Twins Relievers Sporcle Quiz The Twins have had a vast array of relievers, mostly mediocre ones, pitch for us over the past decade. Just for the heck of it, I've put together a quiz on Sporcle to see how many of the relievers you can guess have pitched at least 10 innings with the Twins in a season. It is quite the daunting test! Let me know what your % is - and don't feel bad, the higher the score, the more you should reconsider your life choices and perhaps find a new hobby. Quiz Link Here #3: September Call-Ups We don't have a thread on this, but I wanted to highlight some minor leaguers who are worth considering for a September call up. Yes, I know the rules have changed to allow only 2 extra roster spots, but we have plenty of veterans we could DFA at a moment's notice. Here are some candidates: 3B Jose Miranda (.345/.409/.594 1.003 OPS) CF Jimmy Kerrigan (.259/.355/.514 .869 OPS) LF/RF Mark Contreras (.254/.330/.528 .858 OPS) C Ben Rortvedt (.286/.329/.506 .836 OPS) RP Jovani Moran (2.33 ERA / 0.67 WHIP / 4.14 K/BB) RP Ian Hamilton (3.07 ERA / 1.29 WHIP / 2.14 K/BB) And a longshot: AA OF B.J. Boyd (.311/.375/.533 .908 OPS) Lineups: Luis Patino (R) 1. Randy Arozarena (R) RF 2. Nelson Cruz (R) DH 3. Austin Meadows (L) LF 4. Wander Franco (S) SS 5. Manuel Margot (R) CF 6. Jordan Luplow (R) 1B 7. Mike Zunino (R) C 8. Mike Brosseau (R) 2B 9. Joey Wendle (L) 3B Charlie Barnes (L) 1. Max Kepler (L) RF 2. Jorge Polanco (S) SS 3. Josh Donaldson (R) DH 4. Luis Arraez (L) 2B 5. Mitch Garver (R) C 6. Trevor Larnach (L) LF 7. Miguel Sano (R) 1B 8. Jake Cave (L) CF 9. Willians Astudillo (R) 3B Thoughts?

I did miss that, but I when I saw Palacios I thought you’d include Lewis. Anyways, I wouldn’t be surprised if we sign a SS on another one year deal and leave room for Lewis to take over full time in 2023.

Royce Lewis should be on this list... I think they’re going to keep trying him at SS.

Here are the updates for prospects #19 through 10:

I'm still perplexed about why Wisler was let go without paying him something like $1.1M. I was mad about it then, and I appear to be right about it. The Rays have him pitching just like we did last year.

Why does it feel like the challenge system gets it wrong way more often than it should?

There are many criticizing him for that, but I think you can make a simple argument without involving anything vaccine-related. We were thought to be SB bound and he was supposed to be the final piece, yet we've gone 25-23-1 with him and one playoff berth in three seasons. Also, I've never seen anyone criticize Cousins for taking the extension... it was a complete no-brainer for him. It guaranteed another $66M over a 2 year stretch. He'd be foolish not to take that money. His agent deserves an award for managing to get 5 fully guaranteed years for his client in the NFL, which is notorious for not fully guaranteeing deals.

You get a HR, you get a HR, everyone gets a HR!!! *insert Oprah meme here*

Sano has been significantly better than Kirilloff? They have virtually the same OBP and Sano's OPS is about 20 points higher. That's not to mention RISP situations: Sano: .187/.272 (.722 OPS) Kirilloff: .310/.349 (.815 OPS) And that's not mentioning the fact that Sano was practically demoted to a platoon in June, which coincidentally sparked his hot streak. Kirilloff was a rookie playing every day against most lefties. It's nice that Sano is hitting better now, but the first 3 months counted, and he was actively hurting the team. Fangraphs has him as a slightly below replacement level player this season. WPA doesn't like him either - I do like using the OPS, but it exaggerates the value of a power-only hitter.

We’re not as bad as we thought... but good is a stretch. Turns out being rid of Shoemaker, Happ, and Robles in favor of others helped the team improve. Who woulda thunk?

Ober finally had a good game vs the White Sox, huzzah!

Holy cow, Beavers hasn’t been on an active roster since 2016 (he was on practice squads from 2017-2020). Wow. Though it does look like he’s only there because Kaleb McGary is hurt.