Andrew Mahlke

Three top-20 prospects made starts. Two teams played double-headers. Wichita split theirs, but a Varland got a win in each game. Tim Beckham continued his torrid streak. Yunior Severino went bonkers. Read more about it in Wednesday’s minor-league report. Let’s see what happened this Wednesday in the Twins organization. TRANSACTIONS The Twins activated RHP Sonny Gray from the 15-day IL The Twins optioned LHP Jovani Moran to AAA St. Paul The Twins sent OF Kyle Garlick on a rehab assignment to AAA St. Paul SAINTS (AAA) St. Paul 3, Columbus 4 Box Score The Saints took a tough loss to the Columbus Clippers on Wednesday by a score of 4-3. Ronny Henriquez made the start for the Saints and he kept the Saints in the game, going 4 and ⅔ innings, allowing three runs on five hits and two walks while striking out five. Henriquez’s record drops to 0-3 on the year while his ERA is an unimpressive 7.45. The Saints got a run right away in the top of the first when Tim Beckham drove in Alex Kirilloff with a single. Beckham continues to be on a tear as he carries a 1.343 OPS through 13 games with the Saints. Henriquez was tagged for three runs in the second inning when the Clippers collected two singles and two doubles against him. The game remained 3-1 for quite a while thanks to Henriquez settling in and 1 and ⅓ innings of scoreless relief from Evan Sisk. Unfortunately, the Saints couldn’t figure out starter Aaron Civale who was making a rehab start. Civale went 4 and ⅔ innings, striking out seven and not allowing a run. The Clippers picked up an insurance run in the bottom of the seventh to push their lead to three. This run would prove to be huge as the Saints scored two runs in the top of the eighth off of sticky-stuff merchant James Karinchak thanks to RBI singles from Mark Contreras and Michael Helman. The Saints loaded the bases in the eighth but couldn’t score as Jose Godoy lined out to end the threat. Kyle Garlick grounded into a double play to end the game as he finished 0-for-5 on the day in the first game of his rehab assignment. The Saints fell to 31-30 on the year with the loss. Helman led the offense, going 2-for-4 with a double. WIND SURGE (AA) GAME 1: Wichita 7, Tulsa 4 Box Score In game one of a double-header with Tulsa, the Wichita Wind Surge won by a score of 7-4. TwinsDaily’s #12 prospect Louie Varland got the start for Wichita and was very solid once again. Varland threw five innings, allowing two runs on six hits and a walk while striking out four. Varland picked up his sixth win of the year and his ERA is down to 3.27. He has consistently been one of the Twins organization’s best pitchers and he would be deserving of a promotion to give him a new challenge at AAA. Game one of this double-header was the DaShawn Keirsey show. He started the scoring for the Wind Surge in the top of the second when he hit a sacrifice fly to score Matt Wallner. After Edouard Julien tied the game at two in the fifth with his fourth homer of the year and Andrew Bechtold scored on a wild pitch, Keirsey hit a solo-shot for his third homer of the year to give the Wind Surge a two-run lead. In the top of the seventh, Keirsey drove in Wallner with an RBI groundout to give Wichita a five-run lead going into the bottom of the seventh. Osiris German picked up the two-inning save for Wichita, allowing two runs on two hits while striking out three. The save was his second of the year. Keirsey finished 1-for-2 with three RBI and a walk. Leobaldo Cabrera reached base three times via a hit and two walks, and Wallner scored two runs to lead the offense. With the win, the Wind Surge improved to 33-24 on the year. GAME 2: Wichita 3, Tulsa 4 Box Score In game two of the double-header, the Wind Surge were not so lucky as Tulsa beat them to get the double-header split. Kody Funderburk took the mound for Wichita but could not improve on his 6-1 record as he took the loss in this one. Funderburk went 3 and ⅔ innings and gave up three runs (two earned) on five hits and two walks while striking out three. Funderburk was tagged for two runs in the first inning when MLB’s #61 prospect Andy Pages took him deep for his tenth of the year. In the fourth inning, Tulsa got another run on an error to push the lead to three. The Wind Surge responded with one in the bottom of the fourth when Wallner scored on a Dennis Ortega groundout. After Tulsa scored another run in the sixth, Keirsey continued to swing a hot bat when he drove in two runs with a single. Wichita cut the deficit to one run and had runners on second and third but couldn’t capitalize. Steven Cruz and Jordan Gore each threw 1 and ⅓ innings of scoreless relief for Wichita, but it wasn’t enough as Wichita fell 4-3 to Tulsa. Wichita’s record fell to 33-25 with the loss. One interesting anecdote from this double-header was that Varland’s older brother Gus picked up the win in game two for Tulsa. Each Varland brother picked up a win in the double-header so the Varland family couldn’t have much to complain about. KERNELS (HIGH-A) Cedar Rapids 7, Dayton 2 Box Score Two of the best high-A teams faced off on Wednesday, as Cedar Rapids came into the matchup at 37-21 while Dayton came in at 37-20. Cedar Rapids came away victorious in a 7-2 victory. The Kernels sent TwinsDaily’s #20 prospect David Festa to the mound. Festa continued his excellence in his first full professional season, throwing five strong innings, allowing two runs, and not walking any batters while striking out five. Festa has not allowed more than three runs in any of his 11 outings this year, and his ERA is down to 2.19 while striking out 65 batters in 53 innings. Dayton took a 2-0 lead in the top of the second, but the Kernels answered in the bottom half when Wander Javier doubled in Dylan Neuse to cut the deficit in half. Yunior Severino came up huge for the Kernels on multiple occasions on Wednesday. In the bottom of the fourth, he smashed a solo home run to tie the game at two. Two innings later, he hit a two-run homer to give the Kernels the lead for good. A Patrick Winkel solo bomb immediately followed his blast to give the Kernels back-to-back home runs. In the bottom of the seventh, Severino singled in Kyler Fedko, who tripled, to increase the lead to five. The Kernels bullpen was fantastic Wednesday, throwing four scoreless innings and only giving up three hits. Bobby Milacki threw one and ⅔ innings, Miguel Rodriguez threw one and ⅔, and Tyler Palm got the final two outs of the game to secure the victory for the Kernels. Severino carried the offense as he went 4-for-4 with two runs, four RBI, and his first two home runs of the 2022 season. The Kernels improved their record to 38-21 with the win. MIGHTY MUSSELS (LOW-A) GAME 1: Fort Myers 5, Bradenton 4 Box Score Fort Myers and Bradenton finished a game that was started Tuesday and postponed, and the Mighty Mussels came out on top by a score of 5-4. Before the game was postponed Tuesday, Jaylen Nowlin started on the mound for Fort Myers. He threw three innings of one-run baseball, striking out seven. Nowlin has now struck out 48 batters in 27 innings this year. Nowlin let up a homer in the top of the third to start the scoring, but Fort Myers responded with two runs in the bottom of the third despite not getting a hit. Noah Cardenas and Keoni Cavaco each drew bases-loaded walks to score runs. After the bottom of the third, the game was delayed due to lightning, and it would be picked up Wednesday. John Wilson started on Wednesday for the Mighty Mussels (started the fourth inning) and threw one and ⅔ innings, allowing three runs on two hits and three walks. Bradenton took a 4-2 lead in the top of the fifth, and the Mighty Mussels had some fighting to do. The game remained 4-2 until the bottom of the seventh, thanks to three innings of scoreless relief from Matt Mullenbach who allowed one hit and struck out four. In the bottom of the seventh, the Mighty Mussels loaded the bases on walks and Cavaco grounded into a force-out, scoring Luis Baez. Fort Myers stranded two runners on, though, as the score was now 4-3 going into the final two innings. Juan Mendez followed Mullenbach, throwing one and ⅓ innings of scoreless relief into the bottom of the ninth. Baez led off the bottom of the ninth with a single, and Jake Rucker followed with a walk-off two-run homer to give the Mighty Mussels the win. With the win, the Mighty Mussels improve to 36-21 on the season as the Twins system continues to dominate both levels of A-ball. GAME 2: Fort Myers 6, Bradenton 1 Box Score In game two of the double-header, Fort Myers pulled off a victory in less dramatic fashion than game one. Left-hander Jordan Carr took the mound to start for the Mighty Mussels eight days after being assigned to Fort Myers from the FCL Twins. After being hit around in his first start, Carr pitched way better in his second go-around as a starter on Wednesday, throwing five innings of one-run ball, only allowing four baserunners and striking out five. The game was locked in a 0-0 tie until the bottom of the fourth inning when Fort Myers rallied for four runs. After back-to-back singles from Noah Miller and Cardenas to open the inning, Mikey Perez singled in a run. Cardenas came around to score on a wild pitch, and singles from Kala’i Rosario and Baez scored runs for Fort Myers to give them a four run lead with three innings to play. In the bottom of the sixth, Rosario swung at the first pitch he saw and connected for a two-run homer, his sixth homer of the year to give the Mighty Mussels a 6-1 advantage. Regi Grace and Hunter McMahon each threw an inning of scoreless relief to shut the door on Bradenton, and the Mighty Mussels finished the day with a double-header sweep. Rubel Cespedes finished the game 2-for-2 with two runs scored and a walk, and Rosario went 2-for-3 with three RBI and the homer. With the win, the Mighty Mussels improved to 37-21 and clinched a first half division title and a spot in the Florida State League Playoffs. COMPLEX CHRONICLES There was no game for the FCL Twins on Wednesday. They will be back in action Thursday against the FCL Braves. DOMINICAN DAILIES DSL Twins 13, DSL Yankees 4 Box Score Starting Pitcher: Ledwin Taveras (5 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 3 K) Multi-Hit Games: Junior Marino (3-for-5, 2B, 2 R, 2 RBI), Ricardo Pena (2-for-5, HR, 2 R, 4 RBI) 2B: Marino (1) 3B: Rafael Cruz (2), Jose Rodriguez (1) HR: Pena (1) TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – Jordan Carr (Fort Myers) - 5 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 5 K Hitter of the Day – Yunior Severino (Cedar Rapids) - 4-for-4, 2 R, 4 RBI, 2 HR (2) PROSPECT SUMMARY We will again keep tabs on the Twins' top prospects. You’ll probably read about them in the team sections, but if they aren’t there, you’ll see how they did here. Here’s a look at how the current Twins Daily Top 20 performed: #3 - Jose Miranda (Minnesota) - 0-for-3, BB #7 - Spencer Steer (St. Paul) - 1-for-5, 2 K #9 - Noah Miller (Ft. Myers) - 2-for-6, R, 2 BB #12 - Louie Varland (Wichita) - 5 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 4 K #13 - Ronny Henriquez (St. Paul) - 4.2 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 5 K #15 - Matt Wallner (Wichita) - 1-for-3, 2 R, 4 BB, 2B (11) #16 - Edouard Julien (Wichita) - 1-for-6, R, RBI, HR (4), BB, SB (8) #18 - Christian Encarnacion-Strand (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-5, 3 K #20 - David Festa (Cedar Rapids) - 5 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 5 K THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS St. Paul @ Columbus (11:05 AM CST) - RHP Josh Winder (0-0, 18.00 ERA) Wichita @ Tulsa (7:05 PM CST) - RHP Simeon Woods-Richardson (2-3, 3.40 ERA) Dayton @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 PM CST) - LHP Brent Headrick (6-1, 1.86 ERA) Bradenton @ Fort Myers (6:00 PM CST) - TBD Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Wednesday’s games! Thank you for reading, and Go Twins! View full article

Two Twins’ affiliates had huge offensive days. Christian Encarnacion-Strand continued his torrid season. Jake Cave had a big day. Spencer Steer reached base four times. Emmanuel Rodriguez suffered an injury. Let’s see what else happened this Wednesday in the Twins organization. TRANSACTIONS SS Carlos Correa activated from the Covid IL Twins designated RHP Juan Minaya for assignment Twins selected the contract of RHP Jharel Cotton from St. Paul Twins returned SS Jermaine Palacios to St. Paul Wichita placed RHP Matt Canterino on 7-day IL CF Kennie Taylor assigned to Wichita from Cedar Rapids C Kyle Schmidt assigned to Wichita from Fort Myers SAINTS (AAA) St. Paul 12, Rochester 2 Box Score In the battle of the Twins AAA affiliates, the Saints came out on top as they won 12-2 Wednesday night. Former All-Star Aaron Sanchez made his first start for the Saints after being signed to a minor-league deal on Tuesday. Sanchez threw well in the first inning, allowing a walk but striking out two en route to putting up a zero in his first inning as a Saint. The Saints' offense welcomed Sanchez with some great run support, as they had an eight-run first inning. The scoring started when Tim Beckham singled, scoring Spencer Steer. The next batter was Jake Cave, who roped a triple off the wall in left-center field, scoring Beckham and Alex Kirilloff. Mark Contreras singled in Cave, and Michael Helman doubled in Contreras to make it a five-run lead. Later in the inning, Steer singled in a run in his second plate appearance of the inning, and one more run scored on an error to make it an eight-run inning. Sanchez went three innings, allowing two runs on three hits and a walk while striking out four batters. Tyler Thornburg came on in relief of Sanchez and pitched two great innings, not allowing any runs while striking out three. Thornburg picked up his first win of the year in only his second appearance for the Saints. In the bottom of the fourth, Cave hit his sixth homer of the year and Caleb Hamilton singled in Contreras, who doubled, to give the Saints a 10-2 lead. One inning later, the Saints scored two more runs thanks to a couple of walks, an RBI groundout from Beckham, and a single from Cave. Mario Sanchez pitched the last four innings for St. Paul to earn the rare four-inning save, his first save of the year. Sanchez didn’t allow any hits and struck out six in his four innings of work. With the win, the Saints improve to 26-29 on the year. Cave and Contreras had three hits apiece to lead the offense, while Steer and Beckham had two apiece. WIND SURGE (AA) The Wichita-Arkansas game was postponed due to rain. The two teams will play a doubleheader beginning at 5:05 PM CST on Thursday. KERNELS (HIGH-A) Cedar Rapids 12, South Bend 5 Box Score The Cedar Rapids Kernels rode some hot bats en route to a 12-5 victory over the South Bend Cubs on Wednesday. They got three runs in the first inning thanks to a solo home run by Christian Encarnacion-Strand and a two-run shot by Seth Gray. Starting pitcher John Stankiewicz took the mound with a three-run lead and did his part to ensure that the lead stayed intact. Stankiewicz went four innings for the Kernels, allowing two runs on four hits and a walk while striking out five batters. In the top of the second, the Kernels continued their hot hitting as Dylan Neuse launched his first homer as a Kernel to give them a four-run lead. Two batters later, Encarnacion-Strand hit his second homer in as many innings to give them a six-run lead. After two scoreless innings for the Kernels, Wander Javier hit an RBI single in the top of the fifth and Charles Mack followed with a three-run homer to give the Kernels an eight-run lead. Cody Laweryson came on in relief of Stankiewicz and pitched two scoreless innings, skating around three hits while striking out two. Jeferson Morales hit a two-run bomb in the seventh to give the Kernels a ten-run advantage, his fourth of the year. After they took a ten-run lead, the Kernels put in Tyler Palm who threw an inning in relief, allowing two runs. After that, they called on Orlando Rodriguez to finish the game and he threw the eighth and ninth innings, allowing only one run. With the win, the Kernels improved to 35-18 on the year. Encarnacion-Strand and Gray each finished with two-hit games and combined to score five runs as they paced the offense in the victory. MIGHTY MUSSELS (LOW-A) Fort Myers 3, Daytona 2 Box Score Unlike the Saints and the Kernels, the Mighty Mussels won a low-scoring affair on Wednesday. Jaylen Nowlin got the start for the Mighty Mussels and was very good, throwing three scoreless innings while allowing one hit and striking out six. He now has 41 strikeouts in 24 and ⅔ innings this year. Jackson Hicks relieved him, throwing two scoreless innings while striking out two. The game was deadlocked at 0-0 until the top of the sixth when Rubel Cespedes reached on an error by the shortstop, scoring Noah Cardenas and Kala’i Rosario. The bigger news that inning happened when TwinsDaily’s #8 prospect Emmanuel Rodriguez sustained a lower-body injury attempting to advance to third on a dirt ball. He was taken out of the game and the trainer was seen transporting crutches to the dugout. After Hicks exited, the Mighty Mussels put in Regi Grace for the bottom of the sixth and he pitched out of a jam in the sixth but allowed two two-out runs in the bottom of the seventh. A third run was prevented from scoring when Noah Miller threw a runner out at the plate. The Mighty Mussels retook the lead for good in the top of the eighth when Rosario doubled in Mikey Perez, who doubled. Malik Barrington pitched the last two innings and dominated, striking out four while not allowing a baserunner. The Mighty Mussels improved to 35-17 on the year with the win. Rosario led the offense going 2-for-4 with two doubles, and Cardenas reached base three times in the win. TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – Mario Sanchez (St. Paul) - 4 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 BB, 6 K, Save(1) Hitter of the Day – Christian Encarnacion-Strand (Cedar Rapids) - 2-for-5, 2 HR (12), 2 R, 3 RBI PROSPECT SUMMARY We will again keep tabs on the Twins' top prospects. You’ll probably read about them in the team sections, but if they aren’t there, you’ll see how they did here. Here’s a look at how the current Twins Daily Top 20 performed: #3 - Jose Miranda (Minnesota) - 3-for-4, R, 2B (7), 3 RBI #7 - Spencer Steer (St. Paul) - 2-for-4, 2B (4), R, RBI, 2 BB #8 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (Ft. Myers) - 0-for-1, 2 BB #9 - Noah Miller (Ft. Myers) - 0-for-4 #18 - Christian Encarnacion-Strand (Cedar Rapids) - 2-for-5, 2 HR (12), 2 R, 3 RBI THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester @ St. Paul (7:07 CST) - RHP Ronny Henriquez (0-2, 8.07 ERA) Game 1: Wichita @ Arkansas (5:05 CST) - RHP Casey Legumina (0-2, 8.82 ERA) Game 2: Wichita @ Arkansas (TBD) - Pitcher TBD; will be updated Cedar Rapids @ South Bend (6:05 PM CST) - RHP David Festa (3-0, 2.63 ERA) Fort Myers @ Daytona (6:05 PM CST) - LHP Jordan Carr (0-0, 3.00 ERA) (First start with Ft. Myers) Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Wednesday’s games! Thank you for reading, and Go Twins! View full article

It is no secret that the Twins' bullpen options are not all trustworthy, as we saw Sunday and Tuesday with Tyler Duffey. Could Trevor Megill be one reliever that the Twins could use in bigger situations and become more comfortable using? The Twins’ bullpen has been better than average this year. As a collective unit, they rank seventh in MLB in bullpen WPA with 1.55 wins added. However, Jhoan Duran, Griffin Jax, and Joe Smith have combined for 3.06 wins added. The rest of the Twins’ bullpen has been worth -1.51 wins. This is primarily due to Tyler Duffey, who has a WPA of -1.32, which is fifth-worst among all major league relievers in 2022. In the major leagues, you can’t just throw the same three bullpen arms every night, so the Twins need to find another bullpen arm that they could use in high leverage situations. Enter Trevor Megill. Megill, who the Twins signed on a minor league deal right before the lockout, has been good in limited innings this year in the bullpen. In ten and ⅔ innings, Megill has only allowed three earned runs on eight hits and four walks. He has struck out 13 hitters, seven with the fastball and six with the curveball. Megill has some of the best stuff on the Twins, and there is data to back that up. Megill’s fastball averages 97.1 miles per hour, which places him in the 95th percentile of all major league pitchers. His fastball also has incredible spin, as his fastball spin rate is 2424 revolutions per minute, which places him in the 91st percentile of all pitchers. Using Pitch Profiler, a tool created by Jeremy Maschino, you can view any major league pitcher and various statistics about their pitch mix. One important metric that many people are starting to use to evaluate a pitcher’s repertoire is Stuff+. Stuff+ gives a pitcher a rating of how good a pitcher’s repertoire is compared to the rest of the league. This rating is based on a variety of things such as pitch velocity, vertical break, horizontal break, arm angle, and release extension. Megill has a Stuff+ rating of 108, putting him in the 78th percentile of all major league pitchers. The average Stuff+ rating is 100, which means Megill’s stuff is eight percent better than the league average. Using Maschino’s tool, Megill’s stuff+ rating on his fastball is 108, meaning he has an above league average fastball in terms of velocity and movement. Megill’s curveball is also an outstanding pitch. According to Baseball Savant, Megill’s curveball has seven more inches of vertical movement than the league average curveball does, good for tenth among all major league pitchers who have thrown at least 50 curveballs. According to Pitch Profiler, Megill’s curveball has a 107 stuff+ rating, which means he has two pitches above league average. A pitcher’s stuff can only take him so far. A pitcher can have good stuff and fail to get outs. Take former Twin Brusdar Graterol, who has a stuff+ rating of 116, in the 95th percentile of all pitchers. His sinker is 99.9 miles per hour, second among all pitchers. However, this doesn’t lead to success, as Graterol has a 4.81 ERA and 3.84 FIP. In Megill’s limited opportunities, he has allowed only three runs in ten and ⅔ innings for an ERA of 2.53, as I noted earlier. Sometimes a pitcher’s success in small samples can be due to luck, but not with Megill. This year, his expected ERA is 2.04, which is the fourteenth-best in the league among pitchers who have allowed at least 25 balls in play. On his fastball, Megill has allowed an expected opponent batting average of .153, which is the best on the Twins. On the curveball, he has allowed a minuscule expected batting average of .196. Between having well above league-average stuff and producing very well in the opportunities he has been given, Trevor Megill should be given more opportunities in high leverage situations here soon, especially as the Twins start to play a more challenging schedule. What other relievers should be given big innings down the stretch? How do you feel about Trevor Megill? Leave a comment or any other questions you may have below, and feel free to start a discussion. Thank you for reading, and Go Twins! View full article

The Saints lost 13-3 one day after winning by that score. The Wind Surge lost to Jack Leiter in Game 1 of their doubleheader but were able to salvage it thanks to a big offensive game from Jair Camargo. Kyler Fedko had an amazing game. Emmanuel Rodriguez continued to show why he is one of the Twins’ best prospects, and Steve Hajjar continued to dominate. Let’s see what happened this Wednesday in the Twins organization. TRANSACTIONS The Twins optioned Cole Sands to AAA following Tuesday’s doubleheader The St. Paul Saints activated Jake Petricka from the 7-day IL The Cedar Rapids Kernels activated Yunior Severino from the 7-day IL SAINTS (AAA) St. Paul 3, Iowa 13 Box Score The St. Paul Saints dropped a tough one to the Iowa Cubs on Wednesday by a score of 13-3. Daniel Gossett made his fourth start of the year for the Saints and struggled mightily. Gossett only went two innings, allowing nine runs (seven earned) on eight hits and three walks and not striking out any batters. Gossett took the loss, dropping his record to 1-2 on the year. In his last two outings, he has allowed 14 earned runs in only five innings, as his ERA has skyrocketed to an unimpressive 10.65. The Saints were down 9-0 after the second inning, so the rest of the game was simply a formality. In the top of the fourth, Jake Cave closed the deficit to eight with a solo home run, his fifth homer of the year. In the fifth inning, Elliot Soto scored on a Spencer Steer groundout to make it a 9-2 game. Wladimir Pinto came on in relief of Gossett and gave up two earned runs in three innings of work, striking out five. Pinto has been very solid for the Saints this year, only allowing three earned runs in 20 innings for an ERA of 1.35. He has also struck out 27 batters in those 20 innings. In his first game since being activated from the 7-day IL, Jake Petricka came on in relief of Pinto and threw two scoreless innings, not allowing a hit and striking out two batters. His season ERA is now down to 4.22. Tim Beckham singled in Michael Helman in the top of the eighth to make it 11-3, but the Saints stranded two runners on base to end the inning. Beckham, Cave, and Jose Godoy all had multi-hit games for the Saints. With the loss, the Saints record falls to 21-28 on the year. They will be back in action on Thursday against Iowa. WIND SURGE (AA) Game 1: Wichita 0, Frisco 3 Box Score In a game that was picked up in the second inning after being delayed Tuesday, the bats were delayed too as the Wind Surge lost 3-0 to Frisco and Rangers’ top prospect Jack Leiter. Blayne Enlow took the mound when the game re-started on Wednesday, and he pitched well, going 2 2/3 innings, allowing no runs, and striking out four. Bryan Sammons and Alex Scherff each pitched in relief of Enlow, allowing two and zero runs respectively. Sammons went three innings, allowing two runs on two hits and two walks while striking out three. Sammons took the loss as his record moved to 1-3 on the year. Scherff pitched the final two innings, allowing one run on two hits and two walks. In the bottom of the seventh, the Wind Surge had a chance to tie the game but they stranded runners on first and second after DaShawn Keirsey and Leobaldo Cabrera singled. Keirsey went 2-for-3 with a walk and stole his 14th base of the year. Cabrera was 1-for-2 with a walk, Edouard Julien was 1-for-3 with a walk, and Ernie Yake picked up the only other hit for the Wind Surge in a disappointing loss. With the loss, the Wind Surge dropped to 26-18, half a game behind Tulsa for the best record in the Texas League. Game 2: Wichita 7, Frisco 1 Box Score The Wind Surge bounced back in Game 2, salvaging a doubleheader split with Frisco by winning 7-1 to improve to 27-18 on the season. Kody Funderburk got the ball in game two, throwing four scoreless innings in his debut as a starter. Funderburk struck out four batters and only allowed two hits. Denny Bentley, Steven Cruz, and Steve Klimek all threw in relief of Funderburk, and the only run allowed was by Cruz, but was unearned. Klimek picked up his first win of the season. The Wind Surge got the offense going early in this one, as Austin Martin led off the bottom half of the first with his second triple of the year and Jair Camargo followed that with a homer to make it 2-0. This was Camargo's first hit as a member of the Wind Surge. Three batters later, Dennis Ortega drove in Alex Isola with his seventh double of the year to make it 3-0. In the bottom of the second, Isola hit his sixth homer of the season to make it a 5-0 game. Isola started off June strong after a month of May where he had a .925 OPS in 68 at-bats. In the fourth, Camargo hit another two-run bomb to make it 7-0. The Wind Surge were resilient and split the double-header. Martin, Camargo, and Isola all had multi-hit games and Camargo picked up four RBI. They will send one of the Twins’ top prospects to the mound tomorrow in Matt Canterino. KERNELS (HIGH-A) Cedar Rapids 10, Lansing 2 Box Score The Cedar Rapids Kernels won in dominating fashion on Wednesday by a score of 10-2. The win pushed their record to 30-17, the best record in the West division of the Midwest league by a one-game margin. Sawyer Gipson-Long started on the mound for the Kernels and picked up his fourth win of the year. Gipson-Long went six innings, allowing one run on three hits and two walks while striking out three batters. His season ERA improved to a very good 2.06. Orlando Rodriguez and Ryan Shreve pitched in relief of Gipson-Long. Rodriguez went two innings, allowing only one run despite walking three batters. Shreve pitched the final inning, only needing eight pitches to put the final touches on a Kernel victory. The Kernels put on a show offensively in this one, and it started right away when Anthony Prato led off the game with his eighth double of the year. Prato came around to score on a run-scoring single by Kyler Fedko. One batter later, Yunior Severino tripled in his first at-bat since being activated from the IL Fedko scored. Severino came around to score on a throwing error to give the Kernels a 3-0 lead before Gipson-Long had even thrown a pitch. In the top of the third, Alerick Soularie blasted a two-out, three-run homer to give the Kernels a 6-0 lead. The homer was Soularie’s fourth of the year. Two innings later, Fedko picked up his third hit of the game with a solo homer to right-field for his third homer of the season. Fedko finished 3-for-4 with four runs scored, two RBI, a walk, and a homer. His season OPS is now up to .913. Severino went 2-for-3 with two runs, a triple, and two walks. Soularie finished 1-for-2 with two runs, four RBI, the homer, and three walks. MIGHTY MUSSELS (LOW-A) Fort Myers 1, Tampa 2 Box Score The Fort Myers Mighty Mussels dropped a tough contest 2-1 on Wednesday, dropping their record to a still great 31-15. Steve Hajjar took the mound for Fort Myers, throwing 4.1 innings while allowing one run on two hits and two walks. Hajjar struck out seven batters, continuing his utter dominance over Low-A hitters in 2022. He has struck out 57 batters in 33 innings at Low-A and if he keeps dominating, he may not be in Fort Myers for much longer. Jorge Alcala made a rehab stint, throwing one inning and allowing one unearned run while striking out one batter. He took the loss in this one but his fastball averaged 96 miles per hour and he was up to 99, so it is safe to say he is feeling healthy. One unknown pitcher who has been dominant is Matthew Swain. Swain threw two scoreless innings in this game, making it 21 innings so far this year without allowing an earned run. He has struck out 31 batters while only allowing four hits and five walks on the year. Emmanuel Rodriguez continued to do Emmanuel Rodriguez things in this game, hitting his eighth homer of the year and drawing two walks. His season OPS is now up to .998, which leads the Florida State League by over 100 points, and he is one of the highest upside players in the Twins whole system as he is still only 19 years old. TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – Sawyer Gipson-Long (Cedar Rapids) - 6 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 3 K Hitter of the Day – Kyler Fedko (Cedar Rapids) - 3-for-4, 4 R, 2 RBI, HR (3), BB PROSPECT SUMMARY We will again keep tabs on the Twins' top prospects. You’ll probably read about them in the team sections, but if they aren’t there, you’ll see how they did here. Here’s a look at how the current Twins Daily Top 20 performed: #2 - Austin Martin (Wichita) - 2-for-8, 2 R, 3B (2), K #3 - Jose Miranda (Minnesota) - 0-for-3, 3 K #5 - Simeon Woods-Richardson (Wichita) - 1.1 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K (24 pitches, 11 strikes (45.8%)) (Tuesday) #7 - Spencer Steer (St. Paul) - 0-for-5, RBI #8 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (Ft. Myers) - 1-for-2, R, HR (8), RBI, 2 BB #9 - Noah Miller (Ft. Myers) - 0-for-3, BB, 2 K #14 - Blayne Enlow (Wichita) - 2.2 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 4 K (65 pitches, 38 strikes (58.5%) #15 - Matt Wallner (Wichita) - 1-for-7, 2 K #16 - Edouard Julien (Wichita) - 1-for-3, BB, K #18 - Christian Encarnacion-Strand (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-5, R, 2B (9), BB, K #19 - Steve Hajjar (Ft. Myers) - 4.1 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 7 K (81 pitches, 47 strikes (58%)) THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS St. Paul @ Iowa (12:08 CST) - RHP Mario Sanchez (3-1, 3.99 ERA) Frisco @ Wichita (7:05 CST) - RHP Matt Canterino (0-1, 2.05 ERA) Cedar Rapids @ Lansing (6:05 PM CST) - RHP John Stankiewicz (2-2, 6.38 ERA) Tampa @ Ft. Myers (6:00 PM CST) - RHP Marco Raya (3-1, 2.48 ERA) Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Wednesday’s games! Thank you for reading, and Go Twins! View full article

I don't know if you were referring to the article or the comments, but if you were referring to the article, I did not make a statement or state an opinion about the COVID vaccine, I just stated that unvaccinated players won't be able to travel to Toronto so they will need a few reinforcements that they may not usually have in the big leagues.

Ha! Updated.

The Twins got great starting pitching, some great defense, and a few timely hits, and they were able to tie the series up at one in game one of Tuesday’s doubleheader with an easy 8-2 victory. Box Score SP: Devin Smeltzer: 6.2 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, (101 pitches, 71 strikes (70.3 %)) Home Runs: Gary Sanchez (6) Top 3 WPA: Devin Smeltzer (.154), Trevor Larnach (.140), Max Kepler (.135) Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) Pregame Notes After a tough loss Monday, the day got even tougher as it was announced that during Monday’s game, the Twins received news that Carlos Correa had tested positive for COVID. This will be extremely difficult given that the Twins play seven games in the next six days and Correa is such a vital piece of the team. This news would be easier to handle if the Twins hadn’t recently placed Royce Lewis on the injured list due to a bone bruise in his right knee. This leaves the Twins sparse with shortstop options, as they will probably give some games at shortstop to Nick Gordon and Jorge Polanco. A minor league option that they recalled Tuesday morning is Jermaine Palacios, who has hit .262/.325/.376 (.701) with eight doubles and three home runs through 163 plate appearances in St. Paul thus far in 2022. Palacios will make his debut Tuesday, batting ninth and playing shortstop. With the debut, Palacios will become the first Twin to ever wear the number 87. This is also increasingly difficult because the Twins will travel to Toronto to play three games starting on Friday, and five unvaccinated Twins will be unable to travel with the team, leaving them with major questions about their depth and they will have to bring several inexperienced players across the northern border with them. Smeltzer Excellent Once Again Left-hander Devin Smeltzer turned in another very good outing for the Twins, going six and ⅔ innings while only allowing two earned runs, walking no batters, and striking out four. In 2022, Smeltzer has allowed only four earned runs in 24 innings, good for an ERA of 1.50. With uncertainty about Sonny Gray’s health, the Twins need someone to step up in a starter role, and they should look no further than Smeltzer, who has been excellent. Larnach Stays Hot Smeltzer was gifted a two-run lead before ever taking the mound in the top of the first when Trevor Larnach roped a double off the wall in right-center, scoring Luis Arraez and Max Kepler who both singled. Larnach is now hitting .259/.382/.667 (1.049) with five extra-base hits in nine games since returning from the injured list on May 22. Quad Not a Problem For Kepler After leaving Saturday’s game due to an issue with his right quad, Max Kepler took Sunday and Monday off. In game one Tuesday, he returned to the lineup as the designated hitter, and his impact was immediately felt, as he singled and came around to score in his first at-bat on Larnach’s double. In his second at-bat, he roped the first pitch he saw into the right-field corner for a double to score Byron Buxton from first base and later came around to score. In the seventh inning, Kepler came up with two runners in scoring position and hammered a single through a drawn-in infield to extend the Twins’ lead to seven runs. Kepler has absolutely destroyed Tiger pitching this year, going 8-for-25 (.320) with two doubles, four homers, 12 RBI, and eight runs scored. He has posted a 1.313 OPS against the Tigers in 2022, his best against any opponent. Don’t Let Gary Get Hot The last thing that opposing pitchers want to see is Gary Sanchez on fire. After homering Monday, Sanchez came up with two runners on base in the third inning on Tuesday, got a hanging curveball, and didn’t miss it. Gary unloaded on it and hit it 381 feet to left field for a three-run homer to give the Twins an early six-run lead. Sanchez now has six home runs on the year. Other Notes - Luis Arraez went 2-for-5 and extended his hitting streak to 11 games. - Devin Smeltzer got the sixth win of his career and his second career win against the Tigers. What’s Next? The Twins will have a quick turnaround, as they take on the Tigers again at 6:10 CST. Right-hander Cole Sands (0-0, 6.75 ERA) will take the mound for the Twins as they hope to complete the doubleheader sweep. The Tigers will counter with left-hander Joey Wentz (0-1, 20.25 ERA). Wentz only has two and ⅔ career MLB innings, so the Twins will look to feast on an inexperienced pitcher and go deep into the Tiger bullpen in game two. On Wednesday, the Twins play the Tigers at 6:10 CST as they send 6’9” Bailey Ober (1-1, 3.25 ERA) to the mound against the Tiger ace Tarik Skubal (3-2, 2.44 ERA) who enters Wednesday’s contest with the second-best FIP among qualified major league pitchers. He is also second among all major league pitchers in fWAR at 2.0 only two months into the season. On Thursday, the Twins will finish their series with Detroit at 12:10 CST. The Twins will send right-hander Chris Archer (0-2, 4.19 ERA) to the mound to oppose the Tigers' right-hander Alex Faedo (1-2, 3.00 ERA) And on Friday, the Twins head north of the border for a tough three-game set with the Blue Jays. The Twins will have a depleted team because of COVID restrictions, so it will be interesting to see the roster moves made for the weekend. Postgame Interview Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet FRI SAT SUN MON TUE TOT Megill 26 0 0 34 0 60 Moran 0 34 0 0 0 34 Smith 18 0 0 16 0 34 Minaya 0 31 0 0 0 31 Thielbar 1 0 22 0 0 23 Duffey 0 20 0 0 0 20 Jax 0 0 20 0 33 53 Duran 19 0 0 0 0 19 Pagán 3 0 12 0 0 15 View full article

St. Paul and Wichita each played extra-inning games. Fort Myers played a double-header. A top-seven pitcher made a start and was very solid. One player who desperately needed to show some power broke out of a slump in a significant way. A top-20 prospect delivered a walk-off homer. Read all about them and more in tonight’s Minor League Report. A couple of Twins affiliates played extra-inning games. Alex Kirilloff had his best game of the year. Louie Varland was outstanding once again. Noah Miller had a multi extra-base-hit day. And Spencer Steer has ice in his veins. In addition, we saw one Twins' top prospects continue to transition to his role as a starter masterfully. Let’s see what happened this Wednesday in the Twins organization without further ado. TRANSACTIONS The Twins activated Carlos Correa from the 10-day IL and optioned Royce Lewis to St. Paul. SS Ernie Yake was assigned to Wichita from St. Paul. Wichita placed 2B Edouard Julien on the 7-day IL SAINTS (AAA) St. Paul 7, Omaha 8 Box Score On Wednesday, the St. Paul Saints fell to the Omaha Storm Chasers 8 to 7, but Alex Kirilloff showed some very encouraging signs. After an extra-base-hit hiatus of 73 plate appearances to begin his 2022 season, Kirilloff recorded two extra-base hits on Wednesday to show some signs of power that many thought he lost due to a lingering wrist injury. Jake Faria made his seventh start of the 2022 season for the Saints and struggled again, only going three innings of work. Faria allowed four runs on four hits and three walks in those three innings while striking out two batters. His season ERA increased to 7.77 in the lackluster performance. The Saints stranded Kirilloff at second base in the first inning after his double, and Faria struggled. Faria gave up three runs on two hits and three walks in the first, but he stranded two runners thanks to a clutch 5-4-3 double play. In the third inning, the Storm Chasers scored another run thanks to a two-out homer from Brewer Hicklen. The Saints responded in the top half of the fourth with the Kirilloff homer and got another run when Jake Cave scored on a Jermaine Palacios single, but the Saints left runs on the table and stranded the bases loaded. Daniel Gossett came on to relieve Faria in the fourth and immediately gave up a homer to JaCoby Jones. Gossett settled in and worked three innings of relief while allowing two runs on two hits and two walks while striking out four batters. Cave scored again in the top of the sixth, this time on a single from David Banuelos to pull the game within two runs. The Storm Chasers responded with one in the bottom of the sixth to extend their lead back to three. In the seventh, the Cave show continued when he clubbed his first homer of the year to pull the game back within two runs. Drew Strotman came on in relief in the bottom of the seventh and threw one and ⅓ scoreless innings, allowing one hit while striking out two batters. In the top of the eighth, the Saints put together an incredible rally when Elliot Soto and Mark Contreras led off with back-to-back singles, and Curtis Terry drew a walk to give Kirilloff bases loaded with no outs. Kirilloff responded by hitting a two-run single to knot the game up at six, followed by Terry scoring on a balk to give the Saints a 7 to 6 lead. Strotman gave up a leadoff double in the bottom of the eighth and struck out Hicklen before being replaced by Jordan Gore. The first batter Gore faced hit an RBI single, and the Cardinals tied the game again. After an uneventful ninth, the Saints couldn’t get anything going offensively in the tenth inning. Jake Petricka came on in relief in the bottom half, and the first batter he faced singled, ending the game due to a runner starting on second base. The Saints fell to 15-20 with the loss. Kirilloff was 4-for-6 with a double, a homer, and three RBI. Cave went 2-for-6 with a homer and three runs scored. Roy Morales went 2-for-5, and Soto reached base four times due to two hits and two walks. WIND SURGE (AA) Wichita 7, Springfield 6 Box Score The Wichita Wind Surge were victorious over the Springfield Cardinals on Wednesday by a score of 7-6. Twins Daily #12 prospect Louie Varland made a start for the Wind Surge, and he pitched well, throwing six innings, allowing two runs on five hits and two walks while striking out eight batters. He decreased his season ERA to 3.58 and continued to be an excellent minor league pitcher. The Wind Surge took an early 2-0 lead in the first inning behind four straight singles from Austin Martin, Alex Isola, Andrew Bechtold, and Matt Wallner. Martin scored on Bechtold’s single, while Isola came in to score on a double play later in the inning. Varland gave up a homer to MLB.com’s #27 overall prospect Jordan Walker to tie the game at two in the third inning. The game remained a stalemate for a couple more innings until the bottom of the fifth when Wallner came up clutch with a two-out, two-strike, two-run single to give the Wind Surge a 4-2 lead. In the top of the seventh, reliever Osiris German wriggled out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam to keep the score at 4-2. The Wind Surge couldn’t muster anything offensively in the seventh or eighth innings, so the Wind Surge turned to Alex Scherff to close the game down. Thanks to three walks, an error, and a hit-by-pitch, the Cardinals tied the game in the ninth. Austin Schulfer came in the ninth to clean up the mess and continued working into the tenth, as he recorded a 1-2-3 frame in the tenth. Wallner was intentionally walked to set up the double play in the bottom half of the inning, and it worked, as Michael Helman bunted into a fielder's choice. DaShawn Keirsey struck out with runners on the corners and two outs to send the game into the eleventh. Ben Gross came in to work the eleventh inning, and the first batter he faced singled, setting up runners on the corners and nobody out. The next batter hit into a double play, but the go-ahead run came in to score. The Cardinals hit a homer with two outs to make it 6-4. In the bottom of the eleventh, Chris Williams worked a leadoff walk. The Wind Surge then called on their best hitter, Spencer Steer, who had the night off. Steer got the count to 2-2, then unloaded on a fastball to left field for a three-run, walk-off homer, his seventh homer. The Wind Surge improved their record to 21-12 on the season thanks to heroics from their star player. Isola went 2-for-3 with two walks and a run scored. Wallner was 2-for-3 with two RBI, two walks, and a stolen base. Williams was 2-for-3 with two walks. And the hero, Steer, was 1-for-1 with a homer and three RBI. Gross picked up his third win as his record improved to 3-0. KERNELS (HIGH-A) Cedar Rapids 2, Lake County 4 Box Score On Wednesday night, the Cedar Rapids Kernels fell to the Lake County Captains 4 to 2. Aaron Rozek toed the rubber for the Kernels as he went three and ⅓ innings, allowing three runs on five hits and two walks while striking out three batters. He took his first loss as his record went to 4 and 1. He now has a 5.1 ERA. The Captains started the game quickly, getting a home run from the game's second batter. Twins Daily #18 prospect Christian Encarnacion-Strand roped a double in the bottom half of the first but was stranded at third base. Rozek allowed two runs after a walk, single, RBI double, and sacrifice fly in the top of the third. The Kernels faced a three-run deficit going into the bottom of the third, but they responded. Willie Joe Garry Jr. led off the inning with a walk, and Will Holland tripled on the first pitch of his at-bat; driving in Garry Jr., Anthony Prato hit a sacrifice fly to score Holland, and the Kernels deficit was down to one run after the third inning. Bradley Hanner came on in relief of Rozek and threw one and ⅔ innings of scoreless relief while striking out three batters. Hanner’s ERA is down to a minuscule 0.54 on the year. In the bottom of the fifth, Holland hit a double for his second extra-base hit of the game but was stranded at second base. Ryan Shreve came in to relieve Hanner and let up a home run in the top of the sixth to increase the Kernel deficit to two runs. In the bottom of the eighth inning, the Kernels threatened after a leadoff double from Prato and a single from Aaron Sabato. Still, they failed to capitalize, leaving these runners stranded at first and third. In the ninth inning, the Kernels got the tying run to the plate, but Holland struck out to end the game, and the Kernels lost 4 to 2. With the loss, the Kernels fall to 24-11. They went 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position, which ultimately decided the game. Holland was 2-for-4 with a double and a triple, and Encarnacion-Strand was 1-for-3 with a double and a walk. Cody Laweryson threw two innings of scoreless relief with three strikeouts, and Miguel Rodriguez pitched a scoreless inning. MIGHTY MUSSELS (LOW-A) GAME 1: Fort Myers 5, Clearwater 10 Box Score The Mighty Mussels dropped game one of the double-header with Clearwater. Right-hander Pierson Ohl made his sixth start of the year for Fort Myers. Ohl went four innings, allowing five runs on eight hits and one walk while striking out three batters. Clearwater started the scoring at the bottom of the first with back-to-back hits to take a 1-0 lead. The Mighty Mussels responded with a run in the top of the second when a pitch hit Dylan Neuse, Neuse stole second base, and Luis Baez had a clutch two-out single to drive in Neuse. However, Clearwater retook the lead in the bottom half of the second when Ohl allowed a two-out solo home run. In the top of the third, the Mighty Mussels got a one-out walk from Twins Daily #10 prospect Emmanuel Rodriguez walked, stole second, and scored on a Mikey Perez double. When the Mighty Mussels needed a shutdown inning in response, Ohl could not deliver as he allowed three hits, a walk, and a hit-by-pitch which led to three runs, and the Mighty Mussels trailed 5-2 after three innings. After an uneventful fourth inning, Jake Rucker led off the top of the fifth with a single and stole second base. After Rucker moved up to third on a groundout, Rodriguez drew another walk and promptly stole second base for the second time of the game. Former first-round pick Keoni Cavaco singled with two outs to score Rucker and put the Mighty Mussels within two runs of the lead. Jackson Hicks replaced Ohl on the mound in the bottom of the fifth. After an error, two walks, a hit-by-pitch, a single, a ground-rule double, and a wild pitch, Hicks had given up five runs and was pulled from the game after only collecting two outs. The score was 10-3 when Hicks came out, and the game was all but over. John Wilson replaced Hicks and pitched one and ⅓ innings of perfect baseball to finish off the game for the Mighty Mussels. In the top of the seventh, Rucker walked, followed by a two-run home run by 2021 first-round pick Noah Miller, his second of the year. The game ended after seven innings, and the Mighty Mussels lost game one of the double-header, 10-5. Miller went 2-for-4 with a home run and 2 RBI, and Rucker went 2-for-3 with a walk. GAME 2: Fort Myers 2, Clearwater 0 Box Score Game two was a much different story for the boys in Fort Myers. The Mighty Mussels turned to right-hander Mike Paredes to try to salvage a split in the double-header. Paredes turned in an excellent outing for the Mighty Mussels, going four shutout innings while striking out three batters. The only baserunner Paredes allowed was a single in the first inning, and he only threw 45 pitches. Paredes was primarily used in a relief role to start the season, but his last two appearances have been starts, and that is a role Paredes seems to thrive in, as he has only allowed one hit through seven innings as a starter. The game was deadlocked at zero until the fourth inning. Fresh off a multi-hit performance, Miller was in an 0-2 count with one out in the fourth when he hit his second triple of the year to get the first runner in scoring position of the game. After a strikeout of Noah Cardenas, Perez came up in another RBI spot, and he delivered, cranking his fourth home run of the season to give the Mighty Mussels a 2-0 lead. After the Perez homer, the Mussels couldn’t manage any more hits and relied on their defense and pitching to win them the game. In the top of the fifth, Niklas Rimmel replaced Paredes and threw two great innings of relief, holding the opposition scoreless and striking out three. Fort Myers turned to Regi Grace in the top of the seventh to close the game out, and he pitched phenomenally, striking out all three batters he faced on only 12 pitches to earn his second save of the season. After the double-header split, the Mighty Mussels record is 22-12. Mikey Perez finished the game 2-for-3 with the game-winning homer, and Noah Miller went 1-for-3 with a triple and a run scored. These were the only three hits of the game for Fort Myers, but they proved to be enough. TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – Mike Paredes (Fort Myers) - 4 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 BB, 3 K Hitter of the Day – Alex Kirilloff (St. Paul) - 4-for-6, R, 2B, HR, 3 RBI PROSPECT SUMMARY We will again keep tabs on the Twins top prospects. You’ll probably read about them in the team sections, but if they aren’t there, you’ll see how they did here. Here’s a look at how the current Twins Daily Top 20 performed: #2 - Austin Martin (Wichita) - 1-for-4, R, HBP #4 - Jose Miranda (Minnesota) - 0-for-1, HBP #8 - Jhoan Duran (Minnesota) - 1 IP, 2 H, 2 K #10 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (Ft. Myers) - 0-for-2, 2 BB, 2 K, 2 SB (9) #11 - Noah Miller (Ft. Myers) - 3-for-7, HR (2), 3B (2), 2 R, 2 RBI #12 - Louie Varland (Wichita) - 6 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 8 K #16 - Spencer Steer (Wichita) - 1-for-1, HR (7), 3 RBI, R #18 - Christian Encarnacion-Strand (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-3, 2B (7), BB THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS St. Paul @ Omaha (6:35 CST) - RHP Jordan Balazovic (0-0, 4.76 ERA) Springfield @ Wichita (7:05 CST) - RHP Simeon Woods Richardson (2-1, 2.20 ERA) Lake County @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 PM CST) - LHP Cade Povich (2-2, 4.03 ERA) Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Wednesday’s games! Thank you for reading, and Go Twins! View full article

Fort Myers did not play on Friday due to poor weather. Saint Paul played two-thirds of a game before they were suspended due to poor weather. The two other Twins affiliates played extra-inning games. A Top 5 pitcher made a start and continued to dominate. A couple of Top 5 hitters had productive days at the plate without recording hits. Read all about them and more in tonight’s Minor League Report. The weather was a factor for two of the Twins’ affiliates today. The Fort Myers Mighty Mussels game was postponed and the St. Paul Saints game was suspended after six innings. The Mighty Mussels hope to play a doubleheader on Saturday. The two games that were completed went to extra innings, but Twins affiliates in these games only combined for just eight hits. In addition, we saw one Twins' top prospects continue to climb the stolen bases leaderboard as he proves that he can make an impact at the major league level. Without further ado, let’s see what happened on this Friday in the Twins organization. SAINTS (AAA) St. Paul 3, Nashville 7 Box Score The Saints tied the game up at three in the bottom of the sixth before the rain hit and the game was suspended. Chi Chi Gonzalez made the start for the Saints and allowed three runs in 4 2/3 innings while striking out six batters. He has now allowed five earned runs in 10 2/3 innings this season. The Saints looked like they were going to get off to a hot start in the first inning after Royce Lewis walked and Alex Kirilloff hit a single, but the next three batters were retired in order to strand the runners. Nashville hit a home run in each of the second and third innings, but the Saints finally broke through to the run column in the fourth inning when Jake Cave singled and Daniel Robertson drove him in with a double to reduce the deficit to two runs. With two outs in the fifth inning, Daniel Gossett replaced Gonzalez. Gossett faced four batters, struck out two, and induced two ground balls to Lewis to finish the sixth inning unscathed. In the bottom of the frame, Cave and Jermaine Palacios singled before Elliot Soto drove them both in with a double to tie the game up at three. After Nashville got out of the inning, the rain became too heavy and the game was halted going into the seventh inning in a 3-3 tie. When the game continued Saturday afternoon, Nashville scored a run in the top of the eighth to take the lead but a runner got thrown out at home on a relay from Mark Contreras to Robertson to David Banuelos to end the top of the eighth. After a scoreless bottom of the eighth, the Saints turned to Juan Minaya in the ninth, who walked the first three batters before allowing an RBI single and a two-run double before being pulled with runners on second and third with no outs. The Saints then turned to Ryan Mason out of the bullpen who struck out the first batter, walked Brewers #4 prospect Brice Turang, and struck out the last two batters to send the game to the bottom of the ninth inning trailing 7-3. Mason has now struck out nine batters in five and 2/3 innings in 2022. In the bottom half, Lewis and Jose Miranda singled but the Saints couldn't bring either of them across, falling 7-3 to the Nashville Sounds. Lewis went 1-1 with four walks in the game, raising his season on-base percentage to .433. Cave went 2-5 with two runs scored and Soto finished with two RBI. The Saints are now 12-9 on the season. WIND SURGE (AA) Wichita 3, Arkansas 1 Box Score In a lackluster offensive performance, the Wichita Wind Surge beat the Arkansas Travelers behind some excellent pitching. Matt Canterino made the start for Wichita, going three strong innings, striking out four, and not allowing any hits. He is now up to 12 2/3 innings this season and his ERA is down to 2.13. He has struck out 18 batters and allowed nine walks. He has been limited due to elbow issues in 2021, but his workload is slowly increasing in hopes that he could be an impact pitcher in the big leagues sometime soon. After Canterino was done, Steven Klimek threw two scoreless innings. The Wind Surge didn’t get their first base runner until the fifth inning when Matt Wallner singled. After Arkansas broke the scoreless tie in the bottom of the sixth, the Wind Surge tied it up when Cole Sturgeon came in to score on a double play after being hit by a pitch to lead off the inning. The Wind Surge got some excellent relief pitching from Brandon Lawson and Evan Sisk to force extra innings while the offense remained stagnant. Sisk got out of a huge second-and-third jam with two outs in the bottom of the ninth to force extra frames. He has not allowed a run in 10 1/3 innings this year. In the top of the tenth, the Wind Surge began with Leobaldo Cabrera on second base and got off to a good start when Kevin Merrell reached on a sacrifice bunt and Andrew Bechtold walked to load the bases. DaShawn Keirsey and Austin Martin hit back-to-back sacrifice flies to give the Wind Surge a 3-1 lead going into the bottom of the tenth, where Alex Scherff didn’t allow a run thanks to Wallner throwing out a runner at home to end the game. Sturgeon and Wallner collected the only two hits for the Wind Surge in the contest. Despite going hitless, Martin had a productive day at the plate by walking, reaching via hit by pitch, stealing a base, and driving in a run on a sac fly. Martin now has ten stolen bases, good for second in the league. The Wind Surge are now 11-8 this season as well as 3-1 in extra-inning games. KERNELS (HIGH-A) Cedar Rapids 2, Beloit 3 Box Score The Cedar Rapids Kernels dropped a heartbreaker to the Beloit Snappers in 10 innings, losing 3-2 on a walk-off single. The extra-inning runner-on-second rule hurt Cedar Rapids, as they were unable to score in the top of the tenth with their extra runner, and Beloit walked them off in the bottom half of the inning. Sean Mooney was masterful in his third start of the season, throwing five scoreless innings while striking out eight batters and only allowing two walks and one hit. For the season, he is up to 13 innings while allowing three earned runs, eight hits, and 17 strikeouts. The Kernels couldn’t get anything going offensively through the first five innings, only mustering up four singles against Beloit. In the sixth inning, the Kernels put up two runs when Christian Encarnacion-Strand singled, Aaron Sabato walked, Jair Camargo scored Encarnacion-Strand with a double, and Jeferson Morales scored Sabato with a sacrifice fly to give the Kernels a 2-0 lead. The game stayed 2-0 until the eighth inning, thanks to two scoreless innings from Bobby Milacki. In the bottom of the eighth, the Snappers used single and back-to-back doubles to tie the game up at two going into the ninth inning. After an uneventful ninth inning in which he struck out two batters, Derek Molina began the tenth inning and gave up a hit to Davis Bradshaw which proved to be the walk-off hit thanks to the extra-inning runner-on-second rule. Encarnacion-Strand and Will Holland each had two hits in the game to lead the offense for Cedar Rapids. MIGHTY MUSSELS (LOW-A) Fort Myers, Clearwater (Postponed) Friday’s game was postponed due to inclement weather. The plan is for these teams to play two, seven-inning games on Saturday, starting at 4:30. TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – Sean Mooney (Cedar Rapids) - 5 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 8 K Hitter of the Day – Royce Lewis (St. Paul) - 1-1, 4 BB PROSPECT SUMMARY We will again keep tabs on the Twins' top prospects. You’ll probably read about them in the team sections, but if they aren’t there, you’ll see how they did here. Here’s a look at how the current Twins Daily Top 20 performed: #1 - Austin Martin (Wichita) - 0-2, BB, SB (10), RBI, K (played CF) #2 - Royce Lewis (St. Paul) - 1-1, 4 BB, SB (5) #3 - Jose Miranda (St. Paul) - 1-4, K #6 - Matt Canterino (Wichita) - 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K (42 pitches, 25 strikes) #12 - Matt Wallner (Wichita) - 1-3, BB, 2 K #19 - Edouard Julien (Wichita) - 0-4, BB SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS (Saints game will continue at 1:07 PM CST) Nashville @ St. Paul (2:07 CST) - RHP Jacob Faria (0-0, 4.76 ERA) Wichita @ Arkansas (7:05 CST) - RHP Ben Gross (0-0, 5.19 ERA) Cedar Rapids @ Beloit (6:35 PM CST) - RHP Sawyer Gipson-Long (1-0, 2.08 ERA) Clearwater @ Fort Myers (DH @ 4:30 CST) - RHP Travis Adams (1-0, 1.20 ERA) Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Friday’s games! Thank you for reading, and Go Twins! View full article

With 31 hours until their first game, the Twins traded away their closer, Taylor Rogers. With the season starting very soon, the Twins now have a few big question marks in their bullpen. Who will they rely on to get big outs in the seventh, eighth, and ninth innings? What roles will each reliever play in the bullpen? How confident are we in each arm? Here are confidence rankings in the Twins bullpen. Minnesota has made a plethora of moves in the offseason in hopes of going from worst to first in the AL Central. The most recent of these moves was trading away Taylor Rogers and Brent Rooker to the San Diego Padres for right-handed pitchers Chris Paddack and Emilio Pagán. The Twins added some starting pitching depth with Paddack but downgraded their bullpen when they went from one of the better closers in the game in Rogers to a reliever looking to get back to his 2019 self, Pagán. With the Twins figuring to start the year with a six-man rotation, they will have ten bullpen arms. Here are my confidence rankings of the ten. 10. Jhon Romero Romero was claimed off waivers from the Washington Nationals on March 21, and he will serve primarily to eat innings in Minnesota. Romero throws in the mid-90s with a ton of vertical break on his fastball, so he may need to develop a plus-offspeed pitch, but he is a promising reliever for the Twins. Romero made five appearances for the Nationals in 2021, giving up two earned runs and striking out three batters in four innings of work. He will need to earn the trust of the Twins and the Twins fan base before they can gain confidence in him pitching in big spots. 9. Danny Coulombe A pleasant surprise in 2021, the left-handed Coulombe threw 34.1 innings for the Twins with a 3.67 ERA and a 3.75 FIP. The 32-year-old journeyman is an offspeed pitcher, throwing 66 percent of his pitches as either sliders or curveballs in 2021. Coulombe was also very good at controlling free passes, as he only walked five percent of opposing batters. In 2022, I see the Twins using Coulombe against left-handed batters, as he and Caleb Thielbar are now the only left-handers in their bullpen. Coulombe still needs to prove that he can sustain this level of success, but he could quickly jump up these rankings. 8. Josh Winder Along with teammate Jhoan Duran, Winder displayed some of the best stuff in big league spring training out of all pitchers in 2022. Injuries shortened Winder's 2021 season, but he still managed to go 4-0 with a 2.63 ERA between AA and AAA. He had a sub-1 WHIP, and the hard-throwing righty limits walks and strikes guys out, leading me to believe that he will have no problem transferring his game to the big league level. Winder will be a long reliever, and he will probably make some spot starts in 2022. 7. Jharel Cotton A pitcher nobody is talking about, Jharel Cotton could be the most underrated pitcher in the Twins bullpen. Cotton has the most vertical break on his fastball out of any pitcher in MLB and a highly effective changeup to pair with it. He had a 3.52 ERA and 30 strikeouts in 30 innings for the Texas Rangers in 2021. Cotton will be used in primarily lower leverage situations to start, and his workload could see an uptick with good performance. 6. Caleb Thielbar Despite not having an overwhelming fastball, Caleb Thielbar has done one thing very well over the past two seasons with the Twins. And that is preventing runs. Thielbar only averages 91 miles per hour on his fastball, but it pairs well with his loopy 72 mile per hour curveball. Since 2020, Thielbar has had a 3.00 ERA with 99 strikeouts in 84 innings. Although he was used in low leverage situations in 2020, with the subtraction of Taylor Rogers, the Twins will turn to Thielbar to get crucial outs against left-handed hitters, who batted .214 against him in 2021. 5. Joe Smith An under-the-radar signing for the Twins this offseason, the Twins signed former Astro Joe Smith to a one-year deal. Despite his unorthodox delivery, the 38-year-old has always had major league-level success. His 4.99 ERA in 2021 was misleading, as poor batted-ball luck inflated his ERA. His xERA was 3.55, and he has a 3.08 career ERA. Smith should slot nicely into a middle relief role, especially against righties, against whom he has allowed a .607 OPS in his career. 4. Jhoan Duran As pitchers are throwing harder than ever before, the Twins' only fireballer on the staff in 2021 was Jorge Alcalá. Until now. Jhoan Duran made the Twins opening day roster, and when he debuts, he will be electric. The centerpiece of the Eduardo Escobar trade in 2018, Duran sits in the upper 90s with his fastball, topping at 101 miles per hour in spring training. Duran had the highest STUFF+ ratings in spring training despite a small sample size. For years to come, Duran's nasty stuff could lead to him being a weapon at the back of the Twins bullpen. 3. Emilio Pagán One of the more intriguing pitchers on Minnesota's roster, Pagán will look to return to his Tampa Bay form. In 2019, Pagán was one of the best relievers in baseball as he struck out 96 batters in 70 innings with the Rays. He also had a 2.31 ERA and recorded 20 saves. He struck out 36 percent of batters and only walked 4.9 percent. When he got to San Diego, he took a step back. In 2021, he went 4-3 with a 4.83 ERA in 63 innings. He gave up 16 home runs in those 63 innings, and he ranked in the seventh percentile of all pitchers in xSLG. Pagán, like the next pitcher on this list, will look to get back to his former self. Pagán will most likely start the year as the Twins' closer. 2. Tyler Duffey After being one of the best relievers in baseball in 2019 and 2020, Duffey took a significant step back in 2021 and will need to rediscover his success for the Twins to have a shutdown bullpen in 2022. In 2019-20, Duffey was in the 93rd percentile of pitchers in strikeout percentage and the 92nd percentile in xERA. He also had a 2.26 ERA and 113 strikeouts in 83.2 innings. In 2021, Duffey was in the 54th percentile in strikeout percentage and the 66th percentile in xERA. He had a 3.18 ERA and 61 strikeouts in 62 innings. While Duffey was by no means terrible in 2021, he was a different pitcher than he was in 2019 and 2020. Duffey will be a significant part of the Twins bullpen in 2022, especially if he can regain his old form. 1. Jorge Alcalá Alcalá has always been a high octane arm who has shown flashes of dominance, and he offered three signs he was on the verge of breaking out in 2021. Alcalá has a 3.48 ERA in 85 career innings, and his stuff plays very well, as he is in the 96th percentile of all MLB pitchers in fastball velocity and chase rate. This combination could be due to him using his fastball less and his changeup more. He was also in the 86th percentile of pitchers in walk percentage in 2021. This combination of good stuff and low walk rates could lead to Alcalá being a force in the back of the Twins bullpen in 2022. With Taylor Rogers gone, I look for Alcalá to take over the closer role in 2022. Who are your top three relievers for the Twins in 2022? What would you change about these rankings? Are there any guys currently in the minors who you think will majorly impact the bullpen? Let me know in the comments and start a discussion. Thank you for reading, and Go Twins! View full article

My picks: MVP: Carlos Correa Top Pitcher: Sonny Gray Most Improved: Jorge Alcala Top Rookie: Joe Ryan Gold Glove Winners: Carlos Correa and Byron Buxton Silver Slugger Winners: Byron Buxton Team Record: 86-76 Place in Division: Second AL Central Standings: White Sox, Twins, Royals, Guardians, Tigers Minor League Hitter: Aaron Sabato Minor League Starting Pitcher: Blayne Enlow Minor League Reliever: Ronny Henriquez

2009, but 2010 would've been better had Morneau not got concussed.

Last week, MLB Network released their Top-100 Players Right Now, and the only Twins players to make it were Carlos Correa at number 14 and Byron Buxton at number 39. As we all know, a healthy Buxton is not the 39th best player in the league; he is more towards the top ten. This dynamic duo for the Twins is amongst the best in the league, but could it be the best duo the Twins have ever had? 2022 marks the first time since MLB Network started making their top-100 lists in 2014 that the Twins have ever had two players in the top 40. Buxton and Correa have the potential to be the best duo in Twins history in 2022. After watching Buxton hit .469 with five home runs in 32 at-bats and Correa hit .350 with three home runs in 20 at-bats, it's easy to dream about this duo. Who would they have to pass to become the best single-season duo in Twins history? Let's look at the top five. Rod Carew and Lyman Bostock, 1977 In Rod Carew's historic 1977 season, in which he won MVP and bid to hit .400 (finished at .388), he and the late Lyman Bostock combined with being the best duo in Twins history when they combined for 13.7 fWAR. Carew accounted for 8.6 WAR while Bostock accumulated the other 5.1 WAR in a career year when he had a career-best 142 wRC+. Carew, on the other hand, had the best offensive season in Twins history, leading the league in runs (128), hits (239), triples (16), batting average (.388), on-base percentage (.449), and OPS (1.019). However, this team only went 84-77 and finished fourth in the AL West. Joe Mauer and Denard Span, 2009 Joe Mauer missed the first month of the 2009 season and still managed to have the fourth-best single-season WAR total of any catcher (8.4). Mauer's MVP season was a driving force in the Twins making it to the playoffs. Mauer and centerfielder Denard Span combined for 12.5 fWAR in the Twins' last season in the Metrodome. Mauer led MLB in batting average (.365), on-base percentage (.444), and led the American League in slugging percentage (.587) and OPS (1.031). He hit a career-high 28 home runs and drove in 96 runs. He won the American League Most Valuable Player award, Silver Slugger, and Gold Glove honors. Span was no slouch himself, hitting .311/.392/.415 (.807) with an American League-leading ten triples. Mauer was the driving force in this duo, but every Batman needs a Robin. Bob Allison and Tony Oliva, 1964 In a season where Tony Oliva had a historic debut season, winning American League Rookie of the Year, his counterpart, 1959 AL Rookie of the Year Bob Allison, was equally good. Oliva posted 6.2 WAR, and Allison was right there with him, posting 6.2 WAR. Allison hit .287/.404/.553 (.957) and had a career-high 161 wRC+. Oliva led the AL in hits, doubles, batting average, and runs as a rookie. He also hit a career-high 32 home runs. Oliva had the best OPS as a rookie in Twins history (.916). Harmon Killebrew accumulated 4.8 WAR, completing a legendary trio of Twins legends, along with these two legendary Twins. However, the Twins finished 79-83-1 in 1964, so three players can only do so much for a team. Harmon Killebrew and Rod Carew, 1969 Debatably the top two players in Twins history made up for the fourth-best duo in Twins history in 1969. Killebrew posted a career-high 7.1 WAR and won the AL MVP award while hitting the most single-season home runs in Twins history (49) during Billy Martin's lone season as Twins manager. Killebrew led MLB in RBI (140) thanks to a fantastic 23-year-old table-setter named Rod Carew. In Carew's third big league season, he was worth 5.0 WAR while leading the American League in batting average (.332). After a subpar sophomore campaign in 1968 in which his wRC+ dipped to 96, he had an outstanding 138 wRC+ and never let that figure dip below 100 for the final 17 years of his major league career. This Twins team went 97-65, winning the AL West. Unfortunately, they got swept by the Baltimore Orioles in the playoffs. Zoilo Versalles and Tony Oliva, 1965 In one of the strangest seasons of all time, Zoilo Versalles led the American League in runs (126), doubles (45), triples (12), and total bases (308). In a career where he was only worth 13.1 WAR over 12 seasons, he accumulated 7.0 WAR in 1965 alone to win the AL MVP award. Tony Oliva followed up his Rookie-of-the-Year campaign with a solid 5.1 WAR season in a less fluky season. In MVP voting, Oliva finished runner-up to Versalles while leading the AL in hits (185) and batting average (.321). This Twins team was one of the best in history, going 102-60 but losing to Sandy Koufax and the Dodgers in the World Series in seven games. Where do Buxton and Correa fit? Last season, Buxton and Correa combined for 10 WAR. These aforementioned duos all had at least 12 WAR, so it will take something special for Buxton and Correa to join this list. However, if Buxton would have played in 60 more games last year at the same level he played at in the 61 games he was on the field for, he would’ve been worth 8.4 WAR while Correa posted 5.8. If these two guys combine for 14 WAR, they are the top duo in Twins history. Of course, it will take some luck, health, and very good production, but these are two of the most talented players the Twins have ever had, so if anyone can do it, it’s them. What do you think? Where do you think Buxton and Correa could fit in on this list? Leave a comment and start a discussion. Thank you for reading, and Go Twins! View full article

Thanks, Mike! I am not quite sure what Sonny's deal is but I expect him to make a start opening weekend. Archer is making his first spring training start today, so that will be telling with how he looks, how much he pitches, etc. I am unsure if they are just doing this for the first weekend, but I imagine Sonny will be our number one long term I imagine Ober is the three, with the rotation long-term being Gray, Ryan, Ober, Bundy, Archer And yes, I am a big Winder fan. He was great last year and has showed no signs of slowing down this spring

Thursday afternoon, Rocco Baldelli announced that Twins rookie right-handed pitcher Joe Ryan will take the mound in game one of the Twins 2022 regular season against the Seattle Mariners. Naming a rookie the Opening-Day starter says many things about the Twins' state. So let’s dive into what this means. Congratulations are in order for the rookie, as it is rare for a pitcher this new to the league to get an opening day start. Ryan getting the nod on opening day shows that the Twins are extremely confident in him, but they also may have a problem with their starting rotation. Thanks for the Memories, Nelson First, who would have thought the return would have been this immense when the Twins dealt Nelson Cruz to the Tampa Bay Rays in July of 2021. Obviously, the Twins received Ryan, who is now an MLB dot com Top-100 prospect, and the Twins' opening-day starter, along with right-handed pitcher Drew Strotman, who is the Twins' 19th-best prospect according to MLB dot com. The Twins traded away 59 games of a designated hitter who hit .226/.283/.442 (.725) with a 96 wRC+ for the Rays. Over that stretch for the Twins, the designated hitter spot hit .244/.353/.463 (.816) with a wRC+ of 124. As crazy as it sounds, the Twins actually upgraded their designated hitter position by trading away Cruz and spreading out designated hitter at-bats. Josh Donaldson (30 starts), Brent Rooker (10 starts), Miguel Sano (6 starts), Jorge Polanco (6 starts), Luis Arraez (4 starts), Mitch Garver (2 starts), and Max Kepler (1 start) all received at-bats in the designated hitter role. This combination of players was more productive for the Twins in the DH role than Cruz was for the Rays. Considering that the Twins upgraded at DH and received their opening-day starter for the following season, this trade looks like a massive win for Derek Falvey and company. Positives Obviously, the Twins giving a rookie a nod on opening day for the first time since Tom Hall in 1969 shows the immense amount of confidence they have in Ryan. Ryan has had a good spring training thus far, throwing five innings, allowing no runs, and striking out six. It has been a minimal sample size, but Ryan has looked very sharp and poised in both starts he has made. Ryan has been a strikeout machine in his professional baseball career despite having below-average velocity. Ryan averaged 13 strikeouts per nine throughout the minor leagues, and his success continued in his five big league starts, striking out 30 batters in 26 2/3 innings. He was 2-1 with a 4.05 ERA, but poor batted-ball luck inflated his ERA. His xERA was 2.99, suggesting that he is better than the 4.05 figure. So how does Ryan have so much success with below-average velocity? Does he throw the majority of his pitches as off-speed pitches? Nope, it's more like the opposite. Of 616 pitchers to throw at least 250 pitches in 2021, Ryan had the 25th highest fastball percentage, throwing a fastball 65.8 percent of the time. For Ryan, it all comes down to deception and movement. Of that same group of pitchers to throw at least 250 pitches in 2021, Ryan had the 33rd most vertical movement on his fastball (18.3 inches). This puts him in the top six percent of pitchers in terms of vertical movement on his fastball. Additionally, Ryan may be so effective because of his unorthodox release point. Ryan has an extremely low release point, as among 555 right-handed pitchers with a four-seam fastball in MLB, Ryan has the 24th lowest average release point (5.05 feet), and nobody with a lower release point than him throws the pitch as frequently as he does. His unorthodox deception and movement make his fastball appear to be rising, making it very tough on hitters. TwinsDaily's own Parker Hageman does a great job of highlighting this below. Between Ryan's strong track record of strikeouts and his unorthodox fastball, there is a reason to believe that he will be a solid contributor to the Twins pitching staff in 2022 and on, making it easy to see why the Twins have so much confidence in him. Negatives Although Ryan is an up-and-coming pitcher for the Twins, it is tough to justify having an inexperienced pitcher be the opening-day starter for a team that wants to contend. A team that signed Carlos Correa to the largest deal ever for an infielder. A team that, as Ted Schwerzler would say, "paid the man" when they extended Byron Buxton for seven years. A team that went out and traded their first-round pick from just last year to acquire Sonny Gray, who most people presumed would take the role of staff ace. It is a little problematic when you realize that Ryan is one of the least experienced pitchers in MLB history to get the opening-day nod for his team. As Twins beat writer Do-Hyoung Park points out, there have only been two other pitchers in MLB history to make an opening-day start within their first six career games, and Joe Ryan is the first one to do it since the disposable camera was invented (1987). I'm as big of a Joe Ryan fan as anyone, but starting him on opening day says more about the Twins' starting rotation than anything. How many other teams would Ryan be the opening day starter for if you look around the league? Five? Less? How many of these teams expect to contend? I would guess that this number is zero. Concluding Thoughts Yes, it may be problematic for the Twins rotation if they see a guy with five career starts as their best starting pitcher going into the year. Fortunately, most people still see Sonny Gray as the staff ace, but Ryan will start on opening day for whatever reason the Twins management and coaching see fit. Although it may be problematic right now, man, will it be fun. There weren't many moments in a disappointing 2021 season that were very memorable, but every start Ryan made was great entertainment. The confidence he exudes is unparalleled among rookies. Maybe a young, confident pitcher is what the Twins need to set the tone for the 2022 season. What do you think? Is Joe Ryan the right choice to start opening day for the Twins? Share your thoughts on this decision in the comments below and start a discussion. Thank you for reading, and Go Twins! View full article