Seth Stohs

I remember there was an afternoon game (can't remember which game it was). Our 7th grade football season was done, we had played our last game, but for some reason we had another practice. I was so mad that we would have a practice on that day. Fortunately, the practice wasn't too long. I like the Joe Brinkman crow-hop call out of Evans at 3B. I think tipping him off to a play coming may have been a huge factor in getting a close out.

Here are the ballots: Seth: 1.) Dozier, 2.) Plouffe, 3.) Sano, 4.) Escobar, 5.) Hunter Nick: 1.) Dozier, 2.) Sano, 3.) Escobar, 4.) Gibson, 5.) Plouffe Parker: 1.) Sano, 2.) Dozier, 3.) Gibson, 4.) Mauer, 5.) Perkins John: 1.) Sano, 2.) Dozier, 3.) Hunter, 4.) Gibson, 5.) Mauer Jeremy: 1.) Dozier, 2.) Hunter, 3.) Sano, 4.) Plouffe, 5.) Escobar Cody: 1.) Dozier, 2.) Plouffe, 3.) Sano, 4.) Escobar, 5.) Gibson Steve: 1.) Dozier, 2.) Plouffe, 3.) Sano, 4.) Escobar, 5.) Hicks Eric: 1.) Dozier, 2.) Sano, 3.) Hicks, 4.) Escobar, 5.) Rosario

After handing out the 2015 Twins Daily Award for Most Improved (Aaron Hicks), Best Rookie (Miguel Sano) and Best Pitcher (Kyle Gibson), today we focus on the 2015 Minnesota Twins Most Valuable Player. Each year, it seems, there is some controversy on what the definition of “Valuable” is in baseball terms. Is it simply the best player? Is there a Leadership function to it? How about a clutch factor? How do you compare a guy who played nearly every game to a guy who was tremendous but missed half of the season? That was the decision our eight Twins Daily voters had to consider. The first half (and full season) of Brian Dozier had to be compared to the second half of Miguel Sano. There were other solid candidates as well which is why this ballot had the most variety in its vote.Each voter ranked their Twins MVP choices one through five. A first-place vote was worth five points. A second-place vote was worth four points. And so on. THE RESULTS (ballots will be shown in the comments below) Brian Dozier – 38 (6 first-place votes) Miguel Sano – 30 (2 first-place votes) Trevor Plouffe - 15 Eduardo Escobar – 12 Torii Hunter/Kyle Gibson – 8 Aaron Hicks – 4 Joe Mauer – 3 Glen Perkins/Eddie Rosario – 1 Our voters clearly found value in the players who spent the full season with the Minnesota Twins over Sano’s dominant second half. Brian Dozier led the Twins in several categories including Home Runs (28), runs scored (101) and Wins Above Replacement (3.5). Overall, a second half slump put his season-ending numbers at .236/.307/.444 (.751) with 39 doubles, four triples and 28 home runs. When the Twins were at their best (ten games over .500 at the All Star break), it was Brian Dozier who was leading the way. Through July 19th (his first 91 games), Dozier was hitting .260/.331/.520 (.850). He was also going back and forth with Blue Jays 3B Josh Donaldson for the MLB lead in extra base hits. Despite the incredible numbers, Brian Dozier was not initially named to the American League All Star roster. He was part of the final vote, but finished second in that voting. However, soon after that was announced, Dozier was named an injury replacement and was on the All Star team. He got one at bat in the Midsummer Classic and homered to dead center off of Pirates closer Mark Melancon. The #VoteDozier campaign and the fan support is something that he won’t forget. Dozier said, “How everything transpired leading up to the All Star game was amazing to see and kind of surreal experience for me to see all of the support from fans. I do not play for any personal achievements, but it was a great honor to be selected to represent the Twins in Cincy. I had a lot of fun.” Though he struggled in the second half, the Twins continued to stay in contention and finished above .500 for the first time since 2010. It was the first time that Dozier has been on a contending, winning Twins team. “For the first time in my career, I felt the feeling of what it’s like to contend for the playoffs, and that feeling is night and day compared to previous years. It hasn’t always been fun coming to the yard years prior, but I am being honest when I say I couldn’t wait to get to the field and win a big league baseball game. The game, the concentration level, the energy, the excitement all changes when you’re in contention and that was fun to see.” Some of that fun involved teaming with Torii Hunter. While Hunter was unquestionably the team leader in 2015, Dozier’s name is always brought up when it comes to who will lead the team when Hunter is gone. It is a role that Dozier embraces. “I have always embraced leadership roles from when I was younger until now, in every sport I played. First, in order to lead, you must learn how to follow, and this year was a good indicator of that alongside Torii. You have to trust your teammates and coaching staff in order to lead, and by doing that requires a lot, like doing the little things right, respecting the game, playing the game with hear and passion.” Regarding Hunter, Dozier added, “Torii taught me a lot on the field, and a lot off the field as well. A lot I can’t share – secrets – but overall, I picked his brain about numerous things on and off the field in order to embrace more leadership skills for the future.” Dozier’s second-half struggles were well documented. In his last 66 games, he posted a .619 OPS. Late in the season, he broke Bobby Darwin’s 43-year-old Minnesota Twins strikeout record. He took it in stride though, not caring at all about his own numbers, only about the Twins results. “I hate when people evaluate one’s season into halves or months or whatever. Just doesn’t make sense to me. Some days you feel better than others, which is typical for most of us.” However, between his presence at the top of the lineup and his solid defense (1.3 UZR, .990 fielding percentage), Paul Molitor just continued to put him at the top of the order. “To have the confidence from Mollie to run myself out there on a daily basis means a lot. There are a lot of times when I may not feel good physically, mentally or whatever, but I guarantee that I’m going to give you everything I’ve got for nine innings whether the results are good or bad. I also believe others on our team can say the same about themselves, and I believe that is why a lot of us this year meshed together well. We know how hard the game is and results are sometimes bad for long stretches, but if we gave each other everything every night, then that’s the respect from teammates you receive by playing every day.” Dozier was great in the first half, carrying the Twins to the second-base record in the league. He had the extra base hits. He had the defense. He even had the clutch hits. The most memorable came on July 10th. The Twins came into the bottom of the ninth down by five runs to Detroit. The scratched across a couple of runs. Dozier came to the plate with the team down 6-5 with two outs and Joakim Soria on the mound. He launched a ball well into the bleachers in left field to give the Twins an 8-6 win. It was his second walkoff home run of that week. That was the high point of the season for the Twins which says a lot in a season full of great moments and a lot of wins. Dozier said, “2015 was a unique season. We made major strides in our organization to get things going back in the winning direction.” However, he and his teammates are not satisfied. “I will never say it was a successful season though. We came up short of our goal, and it never feels good when you set to reach something and come up short. However, we did make strides and believe we are on the brink of something really special for many years to come in this organization. Always stay hungry for more in this game and never be satisfied. We can always get better in many different ways, and we will.” Dozier said he’ll start working out in December and then slowly get back into baseball activities. For now, he’s got a couple of other things on his mind. “My only focus now is limiting out on ducks every weekend and putting meat in the freezer, and to try and fix the slice in my golf game.” Congratulations to Brian Dozier, Twins Daily’s selection for 2015 Twins Most Valuable Player. Click here to view the article

Here is a breakdown of the votes: Seth: 1.) Gibson, 2.) May, 3.) Perkins Nick: 1.) Gibson, 2.) May, 3.) Perkins Parker: 1.) Gibson, 2.) May, 3.) Perkins John: 1.) Gibson, 2.) Perkins, 3.) Jepsen Jeremy: 1.) Gibson, 2.) Perkins, 3.) May Cody: 1.) Gibson, 2.) May, 3.) Pelfrey Steve: 1.) Gibson, 2.) May, 3.) Santana Eric: 1.) Gibson, 2.) Perkins, 3.) May

Duffey should be talked about more. His 7-8 weeks in the big leagues were remarkable. But 50 innings compared to 194 innings is hard to overcome. He came in 3rd or 4th in minor league starting pitcher balloting. Either way, he deserves a lot of attention and discussion.

We began our look Twins Daily Award 2015 on Tuesday by naming Aaron Hicks the Twins Most Improved Player. Yesterday, Nick surprised no one when he wrote that Miguel Sano was named the Best Rookie. Today, we continue handing out some hypothetical hardware by naming the Best Twins Pitcher in 2015. In 2014, the Twins posted a team ERA of 4.57 which was 29th of 30 in baseball, ahead of only the Colorado Rockies. Fast-forward to 2015. The Twins reduced their team ERA by a half run, to 4.07. That was good for 19th in MLB and 10th (of 15) in the American League. Still not great, but a significant improvement from just one year ago. The pitching improvement was even more noteworthy when focusing on Twins starting pitchers. In 2014, starters posted an ERA of 5.06. That number included the remarkable performance of Phil Hughes. In 2015, Twins starting pitchers worked to an ERA of 4.14. That improvement is nearly one full run per game. That huge improvement came despite the fact that no starter put up numbers near what Hughes did in 2014. It is unlikely any Twins pitcher will receive a single vote for American League Cy Young.Despite those facts, our Twins Daily panel of eight voters were unanimous in our choice for Minnesota Twins Pitcher of the Year in 2015. (Note that voters each voted for their top three pitchers. First place was 3 points. Second place was 2 points. Third place was 1 point.) Twins Daily Minnesota Twins Pitcher of the Year Results Kyle Gibson – 24 Trevor May – 12 Glen Perkins – 9 Mike Pelfrey, Ervin Santana, Kevin Jepsen – 1 point each Kyle Gibson was the Twins first-round pick in the 2009 draft out of the University of Missouri. He made his professional debut in 2010 and pitched for Ft. Myers, New Britain and ended that season with three starts in Rochester. He got off to a quick start in the 2011 season, but as the season went along, he began to feel pain in his elbow. He was shut down and had Tommy John surgery in September of 2011. Remarkably, he returned to the mound in early July of 2012, spending a month rehabbing with the GCL Twins. He made two appearances for the Miracle and ended the season with two starts in Rochester. It was a very quick recovery. In fact, he made six starts in the Arizona Fall League. He made his big league debut with ten starts for the Twins in the second half of 2013. In 2014, he made the Opening Day starting rotation and made 31 starts. He went 13-12 with a 4.47 ERA in 179.1 innings. In 2015, Gibson made 32 starts for the Twins. After missing time with injury in 2012, being able to make 31+ starts the last two seasons is important. Gibson said, “It means a lot to be able to make the 31 starts a year. If I want to become the best pitcher I can be, then being able to be relied upon every five days is important. There are always going to be injuries that pop up, but there is nothing you can do about those. Pitching better consistently will help the numbers take care of themselves.” He went 11-11 with a 3.84 ERA in 194.2 innings. He led the Twins in Innings Pitched, finishing with 30 innings more than Mike Pelfrey. Opponents posted an OPS of just .698 which was best of the six Twins pitchers with more than 100 innings on the mound. His Fielding Independent Pitching (FIP) and xFIP were second-best, behind just Trevor May. Despite the record, Gibson made strides in most every statistical category. His ERA dropped by 0.63. His WHIP dropped. He worked 15 more innings. He gave up less hits, and he struck out more batters. Last year, Gibson struck out just 5.4 batters per nine innings. In 2015, he struck out 6.7 per nine. Though he’ll never be considered a strikeout pitcher, the improvement is noteworthy and encouraging. Gibson said it was really “something that just happened. I talked a lot with Perk, May, and the other guys who get Ks just to see if they saw anything that could be changed. Worked some on high fastballs. If I go back and see the games I struck out the most, I bet I got ahead of the hitters more often. 2-2 and 3-2 aren’t really K counts. You have to be 0-2 and 1-2 if you want to see the K-count go up.” But the strikeouts still are not a big deal to Gibson. “Personally, I couldn’t care less about Ks. I think I had some of my best starts and got maybe just a couple of Ks in those. Sometimes they just swing and miss more often, and sometimes those same pitches get fouled off, at least with my sinker especially.” Through his pro career, the word “consistency” has been used in descriptions of Gibson. Terry Ryan would talk about how Gibson needed to be more consistent when he was in Rochester. His first full season (2014) was full of ups and downs. Even in his improved 2015 season, it was inconsistent throughout the year. In 18 starts before the All Star game this year, Gibson was 8-6 with a 2.85 ERA. “In the first half, my fastball command was pretty decent, but it was my off speed that helped me the most. My change up was as consistent as it has ever been. When I fell behind, my off speed command is what I used to get back into counts. Overall though, defense was also a big part of why I had a good first half. Not being a K guy means that defense is important to me, and they did an awesome job all year for me!” However, in 14 starts following the break, he was just 3-5 with a 5.22 ERA. Coming out of the break, he gave up at least five earned runs in four of his first six starts. However, he learned a lot from that, continued to work and aside from one start in September, he was very good again. “In August, my fastball command was pretty terrible. I was walking a lot of guys, and along with that, my off speed was not as good. That is a bad combination. At the end of August, I had decided to move to the third base side of the rubber. As I was working through that in my side sessions with Neil (Allen), we also worked on a few other things that helped with my consistency. It allowed for some different movement on my pitches since I was on the third base side of the rubber and also a bit more consistent release point. All of those things combined, allowed for a few adjustments, and in turn allowed for a bit better results.” On September 24th at Target Field against Cleveland, Gibson had his shortest outing of the season (2.2 innings). Six days later, at Cleveland, he tossed six shutout innings and struck out nine in a huge win for the Twins. A season for a pitcher (or any ball player) is all about making those adjustments. As important as any of his numbers, he gained the confidence of his teammates and the coaching staff. Had their 162nd game been meaningful, it would have been Kyle Gibson making the start on short rest. Gibson told Twins Daily, “It meant a lot to me that they had that confidence. We knew we were going to be in a bind once the double header was scheduled in Cleveland. I was lined up to pitch that last day versus Kansas City had we not been postponed, and for me, it was an exciting conversation to have with Mollie and Neil. I hadn’t pitched on short rest in my professional career, but I was very excited about the opportunity. Physically, I felt great and was ready for that challenge.” 2015 was a good year for Gibson and yet he’s already talked about things that he knows he can improve. He talked about needing to be better with the fastball up in the zone. He wants to be more consistent. He also really wants to improve his control. He walked 3.0 per nine innings. “More so than not this year, I did a TERRIBLE job of getting 0-2 and 1-2. That is something that HAS to change for next year. That will automatically cut out walks, which is something I have to do to take the next step and get better! Can’t walk guys…” Gibson is a smart guy, on and off the mound. He’ll start looking to 2016 in a little while, but for now, “It’s time to sit back and relax with my family.” That’s not to say he won’t think about baseball at all. “I’ll probably look back on 2015 more than looking ahead for right now, but that will change soon. I do think looking back is a great way to learn. So I will do a little when I start preparing for 2016. Not saying I will dwell on 2016 all throughout the offseason, but I do need to learn from a few things from this year. I am a visual learner, so the only way to do that is revisit those starts, and learn from watching video.” Congratulations to Kyle Gibson on being named the Twins Daily Twins Best Pitcher for 2015! Click here to view the article

Two things: 1.) Vargas is no Sano. He's just not. 2.) Ortiz sure bashed the Twins style, but he became the player he became because he crushed a lot of baseballs to left and left-center, off of or over, that Green Monster.

Buxton ended with 129 At Bats, so he is rookie-eligible next year. But yes, I should have had Berrios on that list, as well as Polanco and Meyer.

My favorite thing is that I think that the winner is pretty obvious and that there are four guys who probably could make a strong case. That's a good thing. Next year, we're looking at Buxton, Kepler, Chargois, Burdi and more could be coming up!

This is correct. I never even considered Escobar for Most Improved. First, he won it last year, and second, he put up very similar numbers last year.

At Twins Daily this week, we will hand out some more 2015 Minnesota Twins awards. As you know, we believe in recognizing achievement and that’s what we’re doing here. The Twins Daily writers, including the minor league writers, had votes in each category. Today we begin with a look at the 2015 Most Improved Minnesota Twin, Aaron Hicks. Winning an award like “Most Improved” is one of those things that a player may never really want to win. By definition, it generally means that you weren’t really good the year before. However, it does mean that you were much better this year, and that’s obviously good.Show of hands, Twins Daily readers… How many of you had completely given up on Aaron Hicks after his first two big league seasons? I’m sure we could do a quick review of the Twins Daily forums from 2013 through spring training of 2015 and find a few threads on the subject. Aaron Hicks was considered a top prospect since the Twins made him the 14th overall pick in the 2008 draft out of high school in Long Beach, California. He was a Top 50 prospect in baseball according to Baseball America before the 2009, 2010 and 2011 seasons. After falling out of the Top 100 for a year, he came in at number 72 before the 2013 season. That was following a 2012 season in which he was the Twins minor league hitter of the year. In AA New Britain, he filled up the stat line very well. He hit .286/.384/.460 (.844) with 21 doubles, 11 triples, 13 home runs and 32 stolen bases. He scored 100 runs and drove in 61. That offseason, the Twins traded two starting centerfielders, Denard Span and Ben Revere, opening the door for Hicks. He had a huge spring training in 2013 and won the Opening Day centerfield job. In a meeting with the media before Saturday’s game, General Manager Terry Ryan was asked what a biggest misconception is about prospects. “Not all of them succeed. There’s no doubt about that. This is tough up here. No matter what you do in the minor leagues, you still have to prove it every step of the way whether you’re going from A-ball to AA, which is a pretty big jump. Then the biggest jump is from AAA to the Major Leagues.” Hicks made the jump from AA to the big leagues and really struggled. That final jump to big leaguer is the most difficult. In 150 big league games between 2013 and 2014, he hit a combined .201/.293/.323 (.606). The Twins reversed strategy in spring training in 2015. Though he had a solid spring, the organization decided it was best for Hicks to begin the season at AAA. In 38 games, he hit .342/.405/.544 (.948) with 13 doubles, four triples and three home runs. On May 12, he made his return to the big leagues. He went on the Disabled List twice this season, but in 97 total games with the Twins, he hit .256/.323/.398 (.721) with 11 doubles, three triples and 11 home runs. He also stole 13 bases. Just as important, he has greatly improved his defense. Consider his Defensive WAR (per FanGraphs) has gone from -5.7 in 2013 to -3.6 in 2014 to +2.1 in 2015. From year to year, that’s a significant improvement. His Offensive WAR (per FanGraphs) has gone from -10.2 in 2013 to -2.8 in 2014 to -0.8 in 2015. Often considered passive, Hicks incorporated a leg kick and a more aggressive approach. His walk rate dropped from 16% to about 9%. However, his strikeout percentage also dropped from 26% to about 17% Not only did he swing at more pitches, but he swung harder, looking to attack the ball rather than just put it in play. Hicks told me over the weekend that he began to worry less about striking out, realizing it was just another out. As soon as he stopped worrying about it so much and having fun, his strikeouts dropped. Hicks also gave a lot of credit to Torii Hunter for his and his team’s success. There are a lot of factors that can help explain Hicks’ improvement. Terry Ryan was asked about what he noticed in Hicks in 2015. “His confidence level has taken a positive note. There’s no doubt that he looks like he belongs. I think he feels like he belongs. I think Torii (Hunter), Paul (Molitor) and Butch Davis and the people directly responsible for him should get some credit, but most of all, he ought to get some credit. There’s a chance that he felt (Byron) Buxton. Some of that stuff is always a piece, and he doesn’t want to see anybody go by him, I wouldn’t think.” Ryan continued, “For the most part, we got some of that switch-hitting stuff out of the equation. I think he feels comfortable from both sides. It’s about his turn. What is he now, 26? That’s about the time you’re either going to make or break it. You get into that age area, do you want to be a guy or don’t you. It’s pretty much up to him. He’s had ample opportunity, I think everyone would agree with that. He’s done something with it. He’s had a nice little go here.” Aaron Hicks took big strides forward in 2015, offensively and defensively. It was an important season for him. What is very exciting for Twins fans is that Hicks has the ability to continue to improve. There’s no question that with his athleticism and talent, he can be even better. The biggest thing he will need to do is improve his consistency over the course of the season. Twins Daily would like to congratulate Aaron Hicks on his forward strides during the 2015 season. Tell us what you think. Was Aaron Hicks the Twins Most Improved Player in 2015 or would another candidate get your vote. Below are the votes of each of our eight voters and the final results. The Results 1.) Aaron Hicks 23 2.) Mike Pelfrey 8 3.) Eduardo Escobar/Kyle Gibson 6 4.) Trevor May/Tommy Milone 2 5.) Eduardo Nunez 1 The Votes Seth Stohs: 1.) Aaron Hicks, 2.) Mike Pelfrey, 3.) Tommy Milone Nick Nelson: 1.) Aaron Hicks, 2.) Mike Pelfrey, 3.) Kyle Gibson John Bonnes: 1.) Eduardo Escobar, 2.) Aaron Hicks, 3.) Mike Pelfrey Parker Hageman: 1.) Aaron Hicks, 2.) Mike Pelfrey, 3.) Tommy Milone Jeremy Nygaard: 1.) Aaron Hicks, 2.) Eduardo Escobar, 3.) Kyle Gibson Cody Christie: 1.) Aaron Hicks, 2.) Kyle Gibson, 3.) Mike Pelfrey Eric Pleiss: 1.) Aaron Hicks, 2.) Kyle Gibson, 3.) Eduardo Nunez Steve Lien: 1.) Aaron Hicks, 2.) Trevor May, 3.) Eduardo Escobar Click here to view the article

We asked for this! We wanted this! Meaningful games in September, and now Meaningful games in October. This is fun, but I know I have no fingernails or hair remaining, and I'm OK with that. Nick wrote earlier this week about the Twins' resiliency, and it was again on display in this game. The Twins took an early lead. They got a terrific start from rookie Tyler Duffey which ended in unfortunate fashion. The Twins showed again their ability to come back and take advantage of opportunities to pull out an important 4-2 win in Cleveland. Below, you can follow the ups and downs of the game. It was a topsy-turvy game with many ups and downs. The win expectancy went back and forth several times throughout the late innings.Relive the wild ride which was Game 159 for the Minnesota Twins this season through win expectancy. TWINS TAKE FIRST LEAD The game was scoreless through the first three innings of the game. With one out in the top of the fourth: Joe Mauer doubled to left (5.2%). Miguel Sano grounded out to third base (-4.2%). Trevor Plouffe hit a ground-rule double to center to score Mauer (14.1%). The Twins had the 1-0 lead which has proven to be important many times. Obviously one run is rarely enough, and that would be the case on this night. PITCHER’S BEST FRIEND In the bottom half of the fourth, Cleveland mounted a threat and as has been the case a couple of times this series, it began with Jason Kipnis. Jason Kipnis doubled to center (-8.6%). Carlos Santana grounded out to second, advancing Kipnis to third base (+1.7%). Lonnie Chisenhall walked (-2.8%) Abraham Almonte grounded into a double play to end the threat and the inning (+16.0%). Ground ball double plays are obviously a big thing for a pitcher and his team. Any time you can get two outs on one pitch or one batter, this can have a huge effect on the game. In a low-scoring game, every out is important, but that was one of the bigger plays of the game. TWO-RUN HOMERS ARE BIG Tyler Duffey was going really well. He had thrown six shutout innings and the team had a 1-0 lead. The bottom of the seventh inning began with a Lonnie Chisenhall strikeout. The Twins win expectancy was 71%. And then, well… Abraham Almonte singled. (-5.4%) Robert Perez drills two-run homer to center field. (-44.2%) The Twins win expectancy suddenly was down to just 21.4% I think it’s fair to say that was a “game-changing” turn of events. This view and win expectancy don't necessarily illustrate just how good Tyler Duffey was in this game. In fact, he ended the game with a negative win expectancy despite making one big mistake in 6.1 innings of work. He came through for the Twins when they needed him, again! THE TWINS RESPONSE With Brian Shaw taking over for Trevor Bauer, Paul Molitor went with his gut a couple of times. Following an Aaron Hicks ground out, Molitor decided to use Danny Santana as a pinch-hitter for Kurt Suzuki. Santana had been 0-10 as a pinch hitter this season. However, he worked a rare walk. He also had Danny Santana take off toward second and Eduardo Escobar swung and did what he does best. Danny Santana walked (6.1%) Eduardo Escobar doubles to left field line to score Santana from first (30.5%) The Twins had tied the game at two and hoped to add a little more insurance. PITCHER’S BEST FRIEND (PART 2) After the Escobar RBI double, things got a little better… for a little while. Brian Dozier tapped an infield single to the first baseman to advance Escobar to third (+10.4%) Cleveland brings in Cody Allen. Joe Mauer grounded into a 4-6-3 double play to end the threat (-25.1%). As we said above, double plays tend to be pretty important in close games, especially late. Things tend to shift in terms of win expectancy in this type of game. Let me replay that top of the 8th in terms of overall win expectancy. Aaron Hicks grounds out (Twins likelihood of winning - 18.2%) Danny Santana walked (24.3%) Eduardo Escobar doubles to left field line to score Santana from first (54.8%) Brian Dozier tapped an infield single to the first baseman to advance Escobar to third (+65.2%) Cleveland brings in Cody Allen. Joe Mauer grounded into a 4-6-3 double play to end the threat (40.1%). Every play is magnified in a close game, and with the Twins playing a Meaningful Game in October, it becomes even more important and magnified. THE NINTH INNING (GULP!) Oh man, this game is intense. We wanted this, Meaningful Games, but I had almost forgotten how gut-wrenching each pitch can be! Here is the Twins half of the ninth: Miguel Sano flew out to center. (-5.5%, 44.5%) Trevor Plouffe reached on an error by Jose Ramirez (+5.7%, 50.3%) Eduardo Nunez pinch ran for Plouffe (no statistical change, but the speed does help) Eddie Rosario singled to right field and Nunez advanced to third, Rosario advanced to second on the throw. (+21.9%, 72.2%) With Torii Hunter batting, Cody Allen throws a (very) wild pitch to score Nunez, Rosario to third (+17.2%, 89.4%). Hunter hits a deep fly ball to right field to score Eddie Rosario. Twins lead 4-2 (+3.1%, 82.5%). Aaron Hicks flew out to center (-0.3%, 92.6%). On to the bottom of the ninth!! Twins lead 4-2. Ironic, maybe, that it was an error by Jose Ramirez that led to the Twins big ninth inning. Think they’re even now?! The Twins took advantage of an error and a wild pitch, and Torii Hunter had a tough plate appearance that ended with a perfect scenario. Great inning for the Twins! THE BOTTOM OF THE NINTH Kevin Jepsen came in to replace Glen Perkins who had a 1-2-3 eighth frame. Carlos Santana struck out (+4.0%, 96.6%) Lonnie Chisenhall popped out to shortstop (+2.5%, 99.1%) Abraham Almonte bunted for a single (-2.7%, 96.1%) Robert Perez struck out looking to end the game (+3.9%, 100%). Robert Perez wasn’t able to come up with a second game-altering hit, and Kevin Jepsen was terrific. Jepsen recorded his 10th save in 11 chances for the Twins this year. The Twins won for the 83rd time this season! Now, we watch scoreboards!! Click here to view the article

Definitely best to wait until 2016 to do anything about it. Tomorrow's game is too important to do anything like this.

Thirty minutes following the Minnesota Twins 7-1 win in Cleveland, the two teams played the second game of the doubleheader. It was a tale of two very different baseball games. The team fell 10-2 to Cleveland after another frustrating, and very short, start for Mike Pelfrey. Scoreboard watching, and hope that the Angels and Astros lose, becomes much more important.Things started out a bit shaky for Pelfrey in the first inning. He was able to wiggle his way out of a bases-loaded, two out situation. However, in the second inning, he was not. 2nd Inning Abraham Almonte doubled to center. (6.7%) Adam Moore struck out (-4.5%) Michael Martinez singled to center, scoring Almonte. Martinez advanced to second on a wild throw by Aaron Hicks. (11.3%) Jason Kipnis lined out to shortstop. (-3.0%) Jose Ramirez doubled to left field, Martinez scored. (10.1%) Francisco Lindor singled to first base. (1.0%) Lindor advanced to second on a wild pitch. Jose Ramirez scored. (6.9%) Carlos Santana singled to center. Lindor scored. (5.4%) Mike Pelfrey’s night was complete. JR Graham came on. Santana was thrown thrown out trying to steal second base by Chris Herrmann. But the damage was done. The Twins had their big inning in Game 1. Going into the second inning, Cleveland had a 54.8% win expectancy. Following Santana’s run-scoring single, that number was up to 88.7% After that, there weren’t really any hits that contributed to Cleveland’s win expectancy. They just continued to add runs. Graham gave up one run in the third inning. Brian Duensing gave up a run in his 1.1 innings. Phil Hughes gave up a hit, but no runs, in his inning. Ryan O’Rourke threw a perfect sixth inning. Ricky Nolasco returned to the mound for the first time since May 31. He got a ground out and then struck out the next two batters with an impressive curve ball. He could very easily have thrown in the towel on his season, but he worked his way back and you have to feel good for him. We won’t mention the three runs in gave up in his second inning of work that gave Cleveland a 10-1 lead. However, the Twins were unable to figure out Cody Anderson for the second straight time. In this one, they had just two hits over seven shutout innings. Anderson did walk four, but the Twins really didn’t mount much of a scoring threat against him. Zach McAllister came on for the eighth inning. He gave up a solo homer to Miguel Sano. The 430 foot blast from the rookie was his 18th of the year. In the ninth inning, Austin Adams gave up a solo homer to Eddie Rosario to give the 10-2 final score. The Performance of Pelfrey As noted above, it was another bad start for Pelfrey. Though the safe call on the Francisco Lindor infield single cost him an out and two runs in the second, he was just being hit so hard, and he was hurting himself by being all over the place with his control. However, that can change with one call and getting that third out. Things could have been different. He will (most likely) end his 2015 season (and maybe his Twins career) by going 6-11 with a 4.26 ERA. Coming into the game on Wednesday night, here is where the Twins starters ranked in FIP (fielding independent pitching), a stat which many suggest shows how well a pitcher has been able to control the things that he can control Mike Pelfrey – 3.99 (this got worse on Wednesday) Kyle Gibson – 4.05 (this improved on Wednesday) Ervin Santana – 4.22 Tommy Milone – 4.40 Phil Hughes – 4.72 Tyler Duffey – 3.18 (but his 51 innings is about one half to one fourth of the innings of each of the top five starters above) That’s just one number, one statistic, of course. Here’s how his ERA ranked coming into the games on Wednesday: Kyle Gibson – 3.96 Tommy Milone – 4.04 Mike Pelfrey – 4.09 Ervin Santana – 4.10 Phil Hughes – 4.43 Pelfrey’s ERA jumped to 4.26, but he’s still in line with the other Twins starters. He’s been a decent fifth starter and was very important to the team’s success in the first half. However, he was remarkably inconsistent. In 16 of his 30 starts, he went at least five innings and gave up less than two earned runs. However, in ten of his 30 starts, he wasn’t able to complete five innings. Five of his final ten starts were less than five innings. So this performance was certainly predictable. WILD CARD UPDATE The Twins went 1-1. The Angels lost to the A’s. The Astros beat the Mariners. The Astros have now jumped back in to the second Wild Card position, 1/2 game ahead of the Angels. The Twins are 1 1/2 games behind Houston with four games to play. It’s not over yet! Click here to view the article

The Twins have a tough schedule down the stretch and it started on Wednesday with a doubleheader. The Twins were able to get a lead early and had a big inning off of Carlos Carrasco to take an early lead and held on for a 7-1 win. Also, after arguably his worst start of the season, Kyle Gibson came through in a big way on this day. Here is a look at the big plays of Game 1 as we look forward to Game 2.Using Win Probabilty Added from Fan Graphs, the story of Game 1 is told below. As has been mentioned before, to determine these percentages, years upon years of actual game situations are used to determine how likely a team is to win from play to play. There were some big, game-changing plays in this one. A BIG START Joe Mauer batted second and hit his 10th home run of the season. (10.9%) It's been a tough season for Mauer, but he led the way early for the Twins in this game. It's always great to get an early lead, and with Gibson's most recent start, a one-run lead is very important early. Statistically, it was the one play of the game that gave the Twins the best chance to win. A BIG INNING Joe Mauer double. (6.3%) Miguel Sano singled Mauer to third base. (6.6%) Trevor Plouffe RBI single scored Mauer, with Sano going to second. (5.0%) Eddie Rosario walked to load the bases. (5.1%) Torii Hunter clears the bases with a double. (8.4%) With the score still 1-0 Twins going into the fourth inning, it was Mauer again who got things going with the leadoff double. And that was followed by big plate appearance after big plate appearance. Torii Hunter ended Carlos Carrasco's afternoon with a bases-clearing double down the left field line. That hit may not have been as big by WPA as Mauer's. However, it was the play that really put the game away for the Twins. While Hunter's double increased the Twins odds of winning by 8.4%, the bigger picture is what matters. The Twins began that fourth inning with a 63.7% chance of winning the game. Following Hunter's double, the Twins odds of winning jumped to 95.1% BUXTON CONTRIBUTES AGAIN Twins fans have seen a different Byron Buxton in his last two starts. He had two hits including his first MLB home run over the weekend. He had two important hits in this game as well: 7th inning, Eduardo Nunez was on third base and Buxton had a broken-bat single to right to give the Twins a 6-1 lead. WPA says that it increased the Twins odds of winning by just 0.6%, but insurance runs are always good. In the top of the 9th, Buxton led off with a huge home run just right of dead center field. Again, it was an insurance run late in the game to give the Twins a 7-1 lead, so WPA said it only increase the Twins odds of winning by 0.3% More important, the success has to be giving Buxton the confidence that he can contribute to this winning Minnesota Twins team beyond just his great defense. That's important in the next few days, and it's really important looking to the future. KYLE GIBSON DOMINATES Last week at Target Field, Kyle Gibson gave up six earned runs on seven hits in just 2.2 innings against this Cleveland team. He felt he let his team down, and he used that as motivation in this game to be better. The lanky right-hander threw six shutout innings on Wednesday afternoon. He gave up just four hits, walked two and struck out nine, a number he had reached just one time earlier in the season. Gibson gave the Twins exactly what they needed. WHAT'S NEXT? Mike Pelfrey takes the mound for the Twins in Game 2 against Cleveland. In his most recent start, last Friday night at Detroit, he gave up just one run on six hits in five innings. He struck out seven without issuing a walk. Generally speaking, we can tell pretty early what Pelfrey will do. If he can pitch like he did on Friday, the Twins have a chance. WILD CARD RACE As Game 2 is about to start, the Twins are now just one game behind the Los Angeles Angels and 1/2 game behind the Houston Astros. They are both playing tonight as well. Click here to view the article

When they broke it into super-slow motion, I thought it was pretty clear that he was out. I also believe that if you have to go to super-slow motion to review a call, the umpire shouldn't be penalized (if they even are) in any way for missing it.

Thank you! It's been a fun season! Hopefully it continues a bit longer!

Another point... if the Twins get to a Game 163, I don't care who is scheduled to start. And then if they get to a playoff series, I don't care who is lined up for Game 1. If it's Pelfrey or Milone, I don't care. I'll be so happy. I'm happy already with this season. Anything more at this point will be bonus! There are 6 games to go and they are not eliminated. This is fun!

I love this stuff... I think for individual games, WPA is fascinating. I'm not as convinced of its value for longer lengths of time because there are so many big moments throughout the course of a season and players are going to have good ones and bad ones. But, finding those key moments in any individual game are great. To mickeymental's point, if Mauer doesn't get on base, particularly double, nothing happens after that. Maybe he should get some of the WPA for Sano and Plouffe because they don't get their points if Mauer doesn't get his.