Theodore Tollefson

Sometimes success can be rediscovered with a change of scenery, that’s been the story of Anthony Prato’s 2023 season in the Twins minor league system. He struggled in Wichita to start the year, then got called up to St. Paul on June 10 to become a much better version of himself. Find out more about the secret to his successful turnaround. Image courtesy of Rob Thompson, St. Paul Saints St. Paul - The 2023 season did not start out as Anthony Prato hoped it would. He was with the Wichita Wind Surge and the success he had seen at the plate from last season when he had a .294 batting average, a .403 on-base percentage, a .419 slugging percentage, and .822 OPS in 87 games for the Wind Surge. But the first 16 games of his 2023 season were the complete opposite as he only managed seven hits in his first 16 games. April turned to May, May to June, and things only staggered for Prato at the plate. He had a .171/.305/.248 triple slash with a .553 OPS in 43 games on June 9, and things didn’t seem like they would change anytime soon. That was until the Twins recalled Edouard Julien on June 10 and a roster spot for an infielder opened up in St. Paul. Prato then got the call-up to join the Saints and his season has become a different story since then. “I definitely think it was tough to start,” said Prato. “Once you get going and you’re struggling it sometimes feels like it can pile on. I think it was nice to get a change of scenery and see the zeros on the batting average, instead of seeing .150, .160, .170.” That change of scenery was a great benefit to Prato’s season. Since his call up to St. Paul, he’s had a .330 batting average, a .472 on-base percentage, a .642 slugging percentage, and 1.114 OPS in 35 games. “Hitting’s a lot of, hitting with confidence, so once I got off to a good start here I was able to keep it rolling,” said Prato. A lot of the help for him has come from Saints hitting coach Nate Spears. Spears is in his first season with the Twins organization having spent the last two as the hitting coach for the Atlanta Braves High-A affiliate. “He’s had a lot of good pitch selection. Pitch selection has been huge, consistency in his routine, he’s like the same guy every day. Doesn’t get too high, doesn’t get too low comes in and does the same thing in the cages every day,” said Spears. The best way Spears has helped Prato in his time in St. Paul is with his batting practice pitches “Nate’s got the best BP I’ve ever hit so that definitely helps. Nate just puts it where he wants it, that’s great and he’s a really supportive hitting coach too. He does great with the reports and I really like hitting with him,” said Prato. Spears chuckled at that statement from Prato and responded saying, “Yeah, I’m trying to be in the zone with him. I take a lot of pride in being in the zone with the players because when I played if you had a bad BP thrower it can get frustrating. So I try to be in the zone as much as I can with the guys and cater to the types of pitches they want.” Prato can be described as a quiet, easygoing guy. A kid from Brooklyn who talks more with his bat than he does with words. That’s how Spears and Saints manager Toby Gardenhire have come to see him in the short time he’s spent with the team. “He’s not the type of guy that really shows his emotions. He goes out there and plays every day and works hard,” said Gardenhire. “He seemed really fine to me when he arrived here, he’s had some really good years in the past. This year I think he was just having a tough time and sometimes it just takes a change of scenery.” The change of scenery has not only helped with his on-field performance but how he’s opened himself up with his teammates in the clubhouse as well. “From what I saw in Spring Training, I think he’s been even more outgoing here because of that clubhouse culture that’s allowed him to open up and be himself,” said Spears. Prato grew up a Yankees fan, admiring the history and culture of the franchise. One guy who helped him open up more is now a former teammate but a two-week Yankee in Ryan LaMarre. Even with his short stint in pinstripes, Prato took advantage of the mentorship LaMarre had to offer him. “I honestly think it’s cool to see guys I’ve watched and get to play with them here. Like LaMarre on the 2021 Yankees, he was pretty good for a few games. It was cool talking with him about what he’s been through. He tells all the stories about them and the way he talks about it, it sounds like he’d been there for 10 years and not two weeks,” said Prato. While 35 games in Triple-A is still a small sample size Prato has made enough noise to garner more attention on his prospect status within the Twins organization. He may be 25 years old, but this utility man could be ready for his MLB debut in late September if the Twins roster works in his favor. “If you’re consistent in this game really good things will happen. It’s going to come down to him to ride this wave as long as he can,” said Spears. View full article

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Dallas Keuchel has returned to professional baseball on a minor league deal with the Twins. But his journey to get him to where he was now, was not an easy one nor one he could have done without help from Driveline's Pitching Director Chris Langin. Image courtesy of Rob Thompson, St. Paul Saints ST. PAUL – Dallas Keuchel made himself a household name in 2015 when he won the American League Cy Young Award and helped pitch the Houston Astros to their first postseason appearance since moving over to the American League. Now, he can be seen making starts for the St. Paul Saints as he attempts to work his way back to the big leagues. The last two seasons in the majors have been a different story for him. His pitches became much easier for hitters to see, and opponents batting average on balls in play reached new highs against Dallas Keuchel. In 2021, opposing batters hit .308 off of balls put into play against Keuchel; in 2022, that number reached a career-worst .384. Following the results of his 2022 season, Keuchel knew he needed time away from the diamond to find out what he still had in him. "I think a lot of it is it's just being confident in what you do, and I think at any point, you can gain it or lose it," said Keuchel while reflecting on his last two seasons. "That's why to me, it's the hardest sport. That's why there are so many dang levels to get up to where you want to be. Then you have to stay there is the hardest thing of all." After the 2022 season, Keuchel knew he needed to see someone to help with biomechanics on the mound. He initially planned to see someone in Salt Lake City until another MLB pitcher, Tyler Chatwood, suggested going to Driveline's new facility in Scottsdale, Arizona. "He knew that I was looking to do a little bit of bodywork to see how I was moving compared to previous years. I wanted to get some sort of biomechanics data on myself, and he just hit me up and said, 'I am going to Driveline, they have some biomechanics stuff that they do as well.' And I said, 'You know, let's go check it out.' I think it was pretty much because of him, I stayed in Scottsdale." Keuchel arrived at the facility in December and was introduced to one of Driveline's Director of Pitching, Chris Langin. Langin has worked with many professional pitchers at Driveline, but he described Keuchel as a unique case when he came in. "The biggest thing with Keuchel is he's never been anything below an average big league pitcher when he's thrown at least 88 miles per hour on average," said Langin. "The main thing I tried to remind him of is normally when guys age, the biggest issue is stuff deteriorates. But his stuff really is still at the level that it was in a lot of these years where he had a lot of success." The partnership between Keuchel and Langin was a one-in-a-million making. Keuchel found a new, trustworthy mind to make him a better athlete. He attributes much of his success to his return to professional baseball this season to Langin. "Chris has been very instrumental. I trust Chris now probably the most out of anybody, and it's not like I have a ton of trusted minds. Especially as your career progresses, there's always a benefit to having trusted eyes on you. I think he does a really great job with Driveline and being the pitching director," said Keuchel. Getting the velocity of Keuchel's fastball from where it was in 2022 at 87 mph back up to 88 was a key focus of his time at Driveline. But what became more beneficial as time passed was taking him away from those lonely moments on a Major League mound when things weren't going his way and finding fun in being an athlete again. One thing that Langin did to help Keuchel out in a controlled environment was removing a catcher to throw at the facility. While not conventional, the removal of the catcher allowed for more opportunity for the pair to focus on Keuchel's biomechanics, where he needed retooling the most. "Being able to push the catcher out of the way and just work on my body movement, I think helped me in ways that I honestly never even thought about. This off-season rejuvenated me mentally. I enjoyed pushing my body to a limit that really was teetering on the edge of too much," said Keuchel. In the last two seasons, Keuchel's back hip from his delivery wasn't feeling the same. Still, Driveline's biomechanics diagnosis and workaround was one way he pushed his body to new limits to reconfigure his motion. As Langin put it, it took reverse engineering with the biomechanics taken with motion capture to see how they could configure his stuff back to where it was before departing the Houston Astros in 2018. "We wanted to get as much information possible to diagnose that. It can sometimes be difficult to make mechanical changes in a season whereas if you change the environment, take away the catcher, throw a different type of ball that's a little squishy, and such, they can change the environment. And oddly enough, it kind of helps a guy who hasn't done it before, to kind of manipulate his body and try some new things," said Langin. The three months of the off-season working on changing his physical movement to help regain his velocity brought Keuchel to a place in March where he could begin entertaining offers to sign with teams again. The Twins had always been on his radar as a possible team to sign with, and as he continued his time at Driveline into June, they were one of four teams he had narrowed down to get a deal with. "Honestly, two weeks ago it was down to three or four offers from teams that I really had to take a step back and do some extra homework saying, 'Hey, you know, is this the right fit?' Ultimately, I felt like Minnesota was one of those teams to start off the year that I was really pushing for as well. I just kept coming back to Minnesota, and it was just hard to say no," said Keuchel. The day came to sign a minor-league deal with the Twins on June 22, and he was assigned to Triple-A. Keuchel has only two starts under his belt with the St. Paul Saints, but the 8 1/3 innings he's thrown have shown the results of his time at Driveline working for the better. "I think he just really understands where he's at currently," said Saints pitching coach Pete Larson. "What he can maximize [as a pitcher] and what is good swing and miss stuff and where the target zones need to be. I've been super impressed to see the shape that he has come in with us." Langin has been keeping track of Keuchel's first couple of starts returning to pro ball, and he's been impressed to see the results against hitters. "There's still really some proponents that this guy is hard to hit. And I think the velocity, honestly, is going to climb up a bit from that first start. He's moving around a lot and doing a lot of things. But I think overall, it's good to see him back out there," said Langin. While getting back to the Majors is the key for Keuchel, he's just glad to be back on a mound and having fun once again as a ballplayer. "I know it's not going to be given to me, but at the same time, I'm very comfortable with myself now. And I've always been that way except for the past year. It was an outlier in terms of just resetting and rebooting. Now I'm just enjoying the game again, and enjoying coming to the park," said Keuchel. View full article

It's not unheard of to leave something out to keep people fully engaged, but you want to be sure what you leave out isn't crucial information to the story. As long as you have the 5 W's and How all included, it's acceptable.

The Twins made a move Thursday morning to add pitching depth to their minor-league system with Dallas Keuchel. Image courtesy of Brian Fluharty, USA Today Sports The Twins have added more depth into their minor-league system as they have reportedly signed 2015 American League Cy Young winner, Dallas Keuchel, to a minor league deal. The deal was first reported by New York Post reporter, Jon Heyman, and later confirmed with team sources by Twins Daily. Keuchel, 35, has not been in professional baseball since being released by the Texas Rangers on September 4, 2022. He spent the 2022 season in the Rangers, White Sox, and Arizona Diamondbacks organizations, throwing a total of 60 2/3 innings between the three teams. He posted a 9.20 earned run average, 5.52 fielding independent pitching, and 2.06 WHIP. Keuchel has never been a flamethrower on the mound, but his fastball velocity saw a big decline from 2021 to 2022. In 2021, it averaged 89 mph, and by 2022, it dropped down to 87.9 mph. He has reportedly spent time at Driveline Baseball in Kent, Washington, over recent months and brought his average fastball velocity back to 89 mph. Keuchel is expected to begin his time in the Twins organization with Triple A, St. Paul Saints. View full article

Royce Lewis is eligible to return from his Minor League rehab assignment on Memorial Day. The Twins longtime top prospect reflects on what the last year has been like for him and what is next for him when he eventually returns to the Twins active roster. Image courtesy of Theo Tollefson ST. PAUL – Royce Lewis had his second call-up to the Major Leagues a year ago and started in center field against the Kansas City Royals on May 29, 2022. The first two innings of the game went smoothly for the Twins' top prospect, then in the top of the third, everything changed for Lewis. “I remember like it was yesterday,” Lewis said. “It was just a ball hit by Emmanuel Rivera very well, that I didn't think he got a ton of, and then I realized mid-running like, ‘Oh, he got this better than I thought.’ it was bad timing on my part and a freak injury where it happened at the end." He tore his ACL for the second time in a year and was out for the rest of the 2022 season. It's now been a year since that happened and his return to the big leagues is just around the corner. Lewis has raked at the plate as his rehab began on May 11 hitting .333/.375/.700 (1.075) with three home runs, and nine RBI in the eight games he’s rehabbed in between Double-A Wichita and Triple-A St. Paul. On top of that, he’s been successful in four out of five steal attempts and flashing defensively with the glove on the left side of the infield. “He seems good right now,” said St. Paul Saints manager Toby Gardenhire on Lewis. “It's always tough coming back from an injury, especially the long injuries like this one where it takes a year to come back from it. But he really hasn’t skipped too much of a beat.” The journey back from the second ACL tear wasn’t an easy one at first for Lewis. He said the first three days following the surgery were some of the toughest he has gone through. “The next three days [post surgery] were hell. It was horrible. I would never want anyone to go through something like that, like the pain that I had. It would just hurt for the whole week, week and a half. Finally as I started walking more and moving it around more, it got better,” said Lewis. While those first three weeks were painful for Lewis to get through, he would go through it all again as it’s made him stronger both physically and mentally as an athlete. “I am glad I did it. It's something that you wish you never went through it, like kind of like hell week for football, right? They go and do that, and they come out of it better and stronger and better people. That's how I feel like I came out of that surgery. So I would do it 100 times over,” he said. (Editor's Note: Let's hope two is the charm, and that he doesn't need a third, much less a 100th time!) Lewis didn’t get through the rehab off the field without help. Former Twins centerfield Torii Hunter and his son Torii Jr. were a massive help to him while he was recovering in Texas. “He's the man, and he is always there to take care of everybody. He's taken care of me like another son and I couldn't thank him enough. And Torii Jr. has been the same way with me as well. I listened to both of Torii's, and if I can get any advice or wisdom for them, I'm gonna take it,” Lewis said. While Lewis didn’t see any in-game action during spring training his time on the back fields built him back up to the player he’s always known himself to be. And it was during extended spring training when he knew Royce Lewis was back to full health as the player he can be. “I knew I was back probably a month ago in Florida when we started doing some running stuff. They had me do everything, and it was unbelievable. We're doing way more in rehab. They're crushing you. There's no game we played, and we need to make sure you can do everything once you're in the game. So they push you to 150% where when you play at 100% in games, it makes it so much easier,” Lewis said. Lewis now describes his energy as starting at 120% at the beginning of each game now. He’s feeling comfortable at the plate, in the field at third base and shortstop, and his running game is better than ever. “The biggest thing is for him to keep improving, just keep getting better with his development. He's still young, he's still got a long way to go but he's got so many tools and so much talent that he can really go a long way,” said Gardenhire. His performance during this rehab stint points to Lewis bringing a similar performance to his first call-up to the Twins a year ago when the Twins made the move to bring him back. He can be activated as early as Monday, landing his potential return date on the anniversary of his second ACL tear. While it is in the back of his mind, it’s not holding weight on Lewis and what his performance will be day in and day out while he makes his return to the game on a full-time basis. “I'm just being myself and having fun. I think honestly when I perform well, whether it's defense or offensive, that happens to go with how I'm feeling emotionally and it just tells you where I'm at emotionally and I'm so happy to be back on the diamond and just playing the game that I love and missed,” said Lewis. For much, much more on Royce Lewis, click here. View full article

The Twins loss on Sunday came down to one moment in the game, and it, of course, came at a moment when the Twins had the bases loaded. Image courtesy of Jayne Kamin-Oncea, USA-Today Sports Box Score SP: Pablo Lopez 6 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 9 K (101 pitches, 64 strikes (63.36% strikes)) Home Runs: Alex Kirilloff (3) Top 3 WPA: Pablo Lopez .168, Willi Castro .072, Edouard Julien .069 Bottom 3 WPA: Jorge Lopez -.272, Ryan Jeffers -.125, Kyle Farmer -.120 Win Probability Chart Lopez effective through trials and tribulations Pablo Lopez made his 10th start of the season for the Twins Sunday and had a strong command of the strike zone allowing only two walks to the Angels hitters. Unfortunately with that command of the strike zone came a lot of hits from the Angels. The Angels mounting hit after hit against Lopez put him to the test throughout the game. The fourth inning proved to be the biggest challenge in the game as Hunter Renfroe and Jared Walsh had back-to-back singles to lead off the inning. Renfroe would score to tie up the game at one from a Gio Urshela RBI sac fly. But Walsh made a base running mistake, second-guessing his tag from first to second allowing the Twins to get an unexpected double play. Another test came Lopez’s way in the fifth when he allowed his first walk of the game to Angels shortstop Zach Neto. He retired Mickey Moniak and Mike Trout back-to-back after Neto, but the Twins did not want to take any chances with Ohtani at the plate and intentionally walked him. The intentional walk turned out to be the right move as Lopez struck out Renfroe to get out of his second jam in the game. Despite those jams, Lopez ended his afternoon pitching into the seventh after walking the leadoff man. His nine strikeouts Sunday afternoon put him at 75 total on the season and kept him only behind Kevin Gausman of the Blue Jays (81 K’s) and Ohtani (77 K’s) for the American League lead in strikeouts. Sneaking in a run against Shohei The Twins faced their greatest challenge of the road trip on the mound with Shohei Ohtani having the start for the Angels on Sunday. Aside from walks to Joey Gallo and Edouard Julien to start the first and second innings, Ohtani dominated the Twins lineup the first time through the order. It looked as though he’d maintain that dominance until he walked Gallo again with two outs in the third. That’s when the clutch version of Carlos Correa showed up for the team, smacking an RBI double into center field to get the first run of the game. Ohtani dominated the Twins hitters following that run as he tallied up nine strikeouts and ended his afternoon on the mound striking out the side in the sixth. Twins miss another bases-loaded opportunity. Ohtani’s exit from the game after the sixth would be exactly what the Twins needed to get their offense going. Kyle Farmer led off the seventh with a single, Willi Castro followed with one of his own and Donovan Solano drew a walk to give the Twins a chance to take the lead back with the bases loaded. Unfortunately, the Twins, once again, failed to deliver with the bases loaded. Ryan Jeffers and Gallo both struck out leaving the game tied at one. Kirilloff receives a huge break While he put the Angels up in the seventh, Moniak had a bad fielding blunder that proved to be costly for the Halos. With one out, Kirilloff drilled a ball to left field and Moniak practically robbed him of a home run, until the ball slipped out of his glove when he tried to show the umps he caught the ball. The huge break for the Twins brought them within a run putting them behind 3-2. But that's as close as they would get as the Angels scored an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth on a double by Matt Thaiss that scored the final run of the game. What’s Next? The Twins return home for a three-game series against the San Francisco Giants. Bailey Ober is set to throw for the Twins against the Giants' Alex Cobb with first pitch set for 6:40 p.m. Postgame Interview Coming soon. Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet View full article

Emilio Pagan once again blew a Twins lead that became a loss. It's time for the Twins to address their future and commitment with one of the team’s most controversial reliever. Image courtesy of Gary A. Vasquez Emilio Pagan is still a Minnesota Twin. Calls for his release by fans date back to his implosion when he blew three games against the divisional foes Detroit Tigers and Cleveland Guardians. He started the month of June 2022 with an even 3.00 ERA, by the end of the month it was an alarming 5.26. From the moment Pagan had that last blown lead on June 28 against Cleveland, every Twins fan’s brow begins to sweat mercilessly as he enters a game. There have been flashes of his upside since then, but almost a year after that horrific month of June, Pagan is in a similar boat. Wednesday afternoon in the series finale against the juggernaut Los Angeles Dodgers, Pagan was brought into the game in the bottom of the seventh to replace Jose De Leon who had two runners on with two outs. The first batter Pagan faced was the resurging Jason Heyward; he walked him on six pitches. Bases were now loaded with two outs, and the rookie Miguel Vargas came to the plate. He was walked on five pitches, the game was now tied 3-3. Then the moment of terror, speaking truth from the old baseball adage ‘Walks will haunt’, and they did. Fellow Dodgers rookie James Outman didn’t need to see anything beyond Pagan’s 95.4 MPH fastball. He crushed a grand slam to center field, securing the Dodgers' 7-3 victory over the Twins. Entering the game with a 4.15 ERA, the grand slam ballooned it to a 5.60 ERA. Pagan’s efforts to improve himself after an atrocious long relief outing on April 20, in which he gave up six runs to the Red Sox, turned to ash with that grand slam. Is this the moment the Twins finally cut ties with fans' greatest source of frustration in the bullpen? It may be. Every single pitch in his arsenal has dipped in velocity, minus his curveball (up to 81.2 from 80.4 average in 2022). Hitters are also making better contact against his pitches with a wOBA of .356 against his fastball, .612 against his splitter, and .333 against a curveball. The only pitch Pagan has made harder for hitters to see is his cutter, which has a .111 wOBA against 100 hitters. There are also young arms in St. Paul posting great numbers itching for their first or second opportunity in the Majors. Jordan Balazovic has redeemed himself from his dreadful 2022 season with a 2.89 ERA in 18 2/3 innings pitched. Brent Headrick has had a 3.24 in 8 1/3 innings with the Twins and they are still lacking a lefty in the bullpen with Caleb Thielbar on the IL. Between the pitch arsenal seeing an overall drop in velocity, young arms waiting in the wings, and a continual number of outings where leads and tied games are blown. The time to cut Pagan has never been clearer, and if the Twins don’t go through with it, the fans will make them hear about it until they do. View full article

A first inning with four singles and two runs proved to be the difference in what was otherwise a master-class pitching duel between Joe Ryan and Cal Quantrill. But the Twins offense couldn't do anything after an early run scoring opportunity with the bases loaded in the second. Image courtesy of Ken Blaze, USA Today Sports Box Score SP: Joe Ryan 6 IP, 8 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 4 K (100 pitches, 77 strikes (77% strikes)) Home Runs: None Top 3 WPA: Joey Gallo .088, Alex Kirilloff .070, Emilio Pagan .022 Bottom 3 WPA: Nick Gordon -.205, Jose Miranda -.159, Max Kepler -.111 Win Probability Chart Ryan Dominates Following the First The Guardians teed off Ryan in the first inning hitting single after single and getting ahead of the Twins defense running first to third on almost every hit that followed Steven Kwan’s lead-off single to start the first. Cleveland tallied a total of four hits and two runs, but after Josh Bell’s RBI single in the first, Ryan retired 10 straight batters until Guardians rookie Gabriel Arias hit a two-out double in the bottom of the fourth. While the Guardians managed to get three more hits off Ryan before his afternoon was done, his command of the strike zone in Sunday afternoon’s ball game has been the best by a Twins starter on the season so far. Throwing only 23 pitches called for balls, Ryan avoided any walks keeping his walk total to six on the year in 42 2/3 innings pitched. Sunday’s start is now Ryan’s third on the season where has not allowed a single walk. However, this was the start with the fewest amount of strikeouts (four) and no walks on the season to start. Bases Loaded Blunders Continue The Twins offense continued to freeze up at the plate when they get bases-loaded against their opponents. In the second inning, Buxton, Kirilloff, and Gallo reached base with no outs. The Twins would only get two batters to the plate to have a chance to do something, unfortunately, Jose Miranda popped out to the infield on the first pitch he saw and Nick Gordon grounded into a double play. The at-bats by Miranda and Gordon brought the Twins to a team batting average of .114 (4 for 35) with the bases loaded on the season. The second inning would also prove to be the Twins' only time getting runners on base until the seventh inning as Quantrill dominated the Twins' hitters from the third inning on. Narrowly Avoiding a No-Hitter Following the failure to cash in with a bases-loaded opportunity, it looked like Quantrill’s no-hit bid would flourish until the end of the game. That was until Kirilloff had the Twins' first hit of the game with two out in the top of the seventh. Gallo followed Kirilloff with his second walk of the game, but Miranda failed to come through once more as he struck out to end the Twins' second threat to score runs in the game. Other notes Michael A. Taylor pinch ran for Christian Vazquez in the eighth following a lead-off walk. Taylor managed to steal his team leading, fifth stolen base on the year and bringing the Twins to nine total on the season. The stolen base was also the 100th for Taylor in his career. The steal brought the Twins out of the cellar, for only a few minutes. The Colorado Rockies, who were tied with Twins for last in the league, did have a stolen base in their game Sunday keeping the Twins tied with them for last in the league with team stolen bases at nine. What’s Next? The Twins are off Monday but return home for a six-game homestand against National League opponents. They open the homestand against the San Diego Padres Tuesday night. Louie Varland will go for the Twins against Michael Wacha for the Padres. Postgame Interview Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet View full article

The Twins' pitching staff carried them into first place to open up the 2023 season, but which Twins pitcher had the best month of April? Image courtesy of Thiéres Rabelo While there were many pitchers in the Twins rotation and bullpen who had solid starts in 2023, such as Caleb Thielbar posting a 1.93 ERA in 10 relief appearances, or Tyler Mahle having a few solid starts before going on the Injured List. There were three Twins pitchers who really set themselves apart as the top of the pack in April. Here’s how they rank. Feel free to discuss in the Comments. Honorable Mention #2: Joe Ryan Joe Ryan needs only his fastball, split finger, and sweeper to keep hitters guessing and off-base. Hitters only had a .186 average against Ryan in 32 innings across his five April starts. Ryan may not be leading the Twins rotation in strikeouts - Pablo Lopez leads the way with 46 so far - but he has shown the best command of the strike zone out of any starter, walking only four batters in his five starts so far. With 36 strikeouts and just four walks, Ryan’s K/BB sits fourth best in all of baseball at 9.0. He trails only George Kirby (12.0), Jacob deGrom (11.3), and Zac Gallen (10.2). A stellar command of the strike zone and his new pitch and pitch mix have kept Ryan progressing after a solid rookie campaign in 2022, but there is still room for growth in his sophomore campaign. Who knows? That could keep him on these monthly lists of Twins best pitchers in the coming months. Honorable Mention #1: Jorge Lopez Lopez has had a major turnaround from his short time with the Twins after being acquired from the Orioles at the 2022 trade deadline. He has opened the 2023 season with 13 scoreless appearances, making him the ninth pitcher in franchise history to do so. The last Twins reliever to accomplish it was Joe Smith, just last season, and his streak extended to 16 games. On top of that, Lopez has only walked one batter in the 12 innings so far this season. He has had a lot of quick innings with a lot of quick outs. He has 10 strikeout to counter just one walk. Lopez is a rare reliever with a five-pitch arsenal, which he developed over years as a starter, and outstanding command of the strike zone. Lopez’s feats haven’t gone unnoticed by fans. He has anchored himself as the setup man to Jhoan Duran in the Twins bullpen, but his performance in April could only be topped by one man. The one who is leading all MLB starters in ERA. Pitcher of the Month: Sonny Gray Sonny Gray finds himself on top of the baseball world right now when it comes to earned run average. No starting pitcher has allowed fewer runs than Gray in the first month of the 2023 season. Hopefully he can maintain this level of success into May and beyond. Gray’s competitiveness has been at the forefront of his success throughout his career, but especially throughout the entire month of April. His clearly audible grunts with every pitch thrown is a telltale sign that he gives everything he has to each and every pitch. He’s one of only four players with a bWAR over 2.0 to start the season with only Gerrit Cole (2.3 bWAR) ahead of him as Gray is tied at 2.1 bWAR with Shohei Ohtani. Gray has had only one month in his career where his ERA was lower than 0.77. That was in August of 2019 when he posted a 0.74 ERA in 36 2/3 innings across six starts for the Reds. The most phenomenal stat of them all from this month may just be his ERA+ as it leads all pitchers in baseball at 567. This places him 467% lower than the league-average starter. The next closest pitcher to him in ERA+ is Cole, who sits at a 395 ERA+ to start his season. There’s no telling how the rest of the year will play out for Gray but this is his best start to a season in his career. The expectations are high for where his season can go from here. What do you think? Would you rank these three pitchers the top for the month? Is this how you would rank them? Leave your thoughts in the COMMENTS below. View full article

Sonny Gray threw another masterful game on Sunday and his offensive gave him lots of run support with an explosive third inning when they tacked on seven runs and batted around. Things started to get a little anxious at the end, but the Twins won the game and the series. Image courtesy of Jeffrey Becker, USA Today Sports Box Score SP: Sonny Gray 6 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K (95 pitches, 65 strikes (68.4% strikes)) Home Runs: Byron Buxton (7) Top 3 WPA: Byron Buxton .287, Sonny Gray .163, Nick Gordon .065 Win Probability Chart Gray Holds Up League-Leading ERA Gray continued his out-of-this-world performance this season Sunday afternoon shutting down the Royals lineup. He ran into trouble in both the second and third innings with the leadoff hitter in the second and the number two man in the third reaching third base with two outs. Fortunately, with a strong defense behind him and his curveball whiffing hitters, the Royals failed to get Gray to give up his third run of the season when they had the chance early in the game. The Royals did get one more chance to score a run against Gray in the sixth. Vinnie Pasquantino and Salvador Perez led the inning off with a double and a single. Gray retired Edward Olivares with a ground out, but a good start from third by Pasquantino led to Gray’s third run given up on the season. Teeing off in the Third Flashes of the past came in the third inning when the Twins lineup brought back signs of the Bomba Squad. Starting with Byron Buxton’s seventh home run of the season that put the Twins up 4-0. The Twins then followed up with four hits and a hit by a pitch that extended their lead to 8-0 over the Royals and knocked Brady Singer out before he could complete three innings. A Curse Lifted via the Bunt Nick Gordon’s last game reaching base more than once was on April 11 and for one reason or another, he has had a terrible time at the plate since April 12. But whatever curse was put upon him that day ended Sunday afternoon. The Twins' first run of the game came from a safety squeeze off Gordon’s bat in the second, which was the third sacrifice bunt on the season for the team. Gordon then drove in the next two runs that followed Buxton’s three-run home run that put the team up 6-0. Those RBIs ended up being his first two on the season continuing to break the end of a two-week plus cold streak. What Up Byron? As you've read and probably seen, Byron Buxton smashed a three-run home run to put the Twins ahead 4-0. The home run was also the introduction of the Twins dugout celebration that will now follow every home run of the season, a fisherman’s pole and vest, reeling in the cameraman. The icing on the fisherman’s vest is the back which reads, Land of 10,000 Rakes, setting a precedent for the franchise with the most home runs in a single season as a team. The home run was also Buxton’s fifth in the Twins’ ten game homestand that ended Sunday. Winder's Season Debut When Sonny Gray was done, Emilio Pagan gave up on run in the seventh inning. Brock Stewart tossed a scoreless eighth frame. In the ninth inning, Josh Winder returned from an long stint on the IL this weekend to make his season debut. His outing was not so sharp as he allowed a walk and two hits that led to the Royals tacking on a few runs before he could get the final out of the game. Winder was removed from the game following a double by MJ Melendez, setting his ERA at 27.00. Jhoan Duran came into the game to get the final out and record the save to seal the Twins victory. Other notes The Twins recorded a winning record for their second homestand of the season. While things looked bleak after dropping two out of three to the Nationals to start the homestand, the season series victory over the Yankees helped them gain momentum to take three out of four over the Royals. What’s Next? The Twins have an off day before they start a seven-game road trip against two American League Central opponents. They will open up a three-game series against the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday night at 6:10 p.m. Joe Ryan will go against Michael Kopech. The White Sox scored seven runs in the bottom of the ninth on Sunday to beat the Rays 10-9 and end their 10-game losing streak. They are expected to get Tim Anderson back. Also, these games are always close, regardless of records. Postgame Interview View full article

A patient approach from the Twins lineup, Joey Gallo’s biggest home run on the year, and Sonny Gray dominating hitters to recapture the number one spot as Major League Baseball’s ERA leaderboard. All this and more in Monday night’s Twins' victory over the New York Yankees. Image courtesy of Jesse Johnson, USA Today Sports Box Score SP: Sonny Gray 7 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 8 K (107 pitches, 66 strikes (61.6% strikes)) Home Runs: Joey Gallo (6) Top 3 WPA: Sonny Gray .267, Jorge Polanco .165, Michael A. Taylor .078 Win Probability Chart It was the top of the eighth. Griffin Jax versus Anthony Rizzo, bases loaded with two outs. The Twins were in crisis mode. Sonny Gray had dominated through seven innings shutting the Yankees down 5-0, but it could be an entirely new ball game with one swing from Rizzo. What would happen? Pitch one; 96 mph fastball, called strike one. Pitch two; 86 mph sweeper, fouled off. Pitch three; 87 mph sweeper; swing and a miss by Rizzo. Crisis averted for the Twins, a 5-0 lead maintained as the Twins went to bat once more in the bottom of the eighth. Unfortunately, it wouldn't be the last Yankees rally of the game. The ninth inning went to Jovani Moran with a 6-0 lead. His struggles showed before an out was made. A walk, a single, then another walk. The nightmares caused Twins fans by the Yankees were awakening once more. However, the baseball gods felt a need to show grace to the Twins just as the nightmare came alive. First a force out to Jose Miranda at third. One out, but a run scored, 6-1, Twins lead. Then a fly out to Trevor Larnach in foul territory, out number two. Finally, Moran would have a moment of redemption on the mound by striking out former Twins outfielder Aaron Hicks to end the game. Gray improves his MLB-best ERA Sonny Gray looked as sharp as ever Monday night against the Yankees. With his command of the strike zone and strong defense behind him, the Yankees couldn’t get any momentum against him. Gray wasn’t striking hitters out constantly, but averaging a strikeout per inning had him keeping the Yankees hitters in check. His biggest strikeout of the game came against Aaron Judge with two out and a runner on in the bottom of the sixth. Gray retired him on a nasty 83 MPH slider Judge chased outside the zone, and kept the Yankees from chipping at the Twins' 4-0 lead at a pivotal moment. Even with a low strikeout total, Gray still had a good number of swings-and-misses which showed his sharpness. The Yankees swung and missed on his pitches 18 times missing on his curveball eight times and cutter seven times. Gray’s seven shutout innings brought his ERA on the season down to 0.62. Exiting after the seventh, he had the Major League lead for ERA, passing Shohei Ohtani who held the lead going into the night at 0.64. A Different Approach Against Brito Last time the Twins faced Yankees starter Jhony Brito he didn't make it out of the first inning. This time Brito went deeper, but the Twins' offense took a different approach against him; working his pitch count up early in the game. Brito faced the minimum in his first inning and only walked one batter in the second, but with Twins hitters working the count in each at-bat, he had thrown 42 pitches through two innings. Working a high pitch count through two innings paid off for the Twins' offense as they mustered a bases-loaded threat with no outs in the bottom of the third. With one out and the bases loaded, Jorge Polanco drove in the first two runs of the game with a single to right field. Yankees manager Aaron Boone had enough of Brito before the third inning was over. Seven of the Twins almost doubled his pitch count at 80 for the evening which resulted in two walks, three singles, a strikeout, and an RBI ground out by Byron Buxton. No Brito, no problem Brito’s early exit from the game made no difference for the Twins hitters as the Yankees bullpen would be dealt further implosion from their offense. It began with another Joey Gallo home run, perhaps his most satisfying of the season so-far, which put the Twins up 4-0 in the bottom of the fourth. The Twins knocked out the Yankees' first reliever, Greg Weissert, in the next inning with a career-high pitch count at 39 following a two-out single to Larnach. Albert Abreu was next out of the Yankees bullpen. He walked the first two hitters he faced but got out of his jam with a lineout by Christian Vazquez. The Twins still managed to get Abreu’s pitch count to 15 with just three batters. Only one Yankees pitcher managed to throw fewer than 20 pitches against Twins hitters. Wandy Peralta had a nine pitch, one, two, three, seventh inning. Otherwise, the Twins hitters were cooking Yankee arms all game on the mound. Other notes The Twins last run of the game came from an impressive RBI triple by Carlos Correa. With some luck and a bad read by Yankee right fielder Franchy Cordero, Correa got the big break he needed at the plate in the game to put the Twins up 6-0. His triple made him the last Twin to reach base in the 6-0 victory. What’s Next? The Twins play their second game of the series against the Yankees on Tuesday night with Joe Ryan facing off against All Star lefty Nestor Cortes. First pitch is scheduled for 6:40 p.m. Postgame Interview Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet View full article

The Twins played their final game of their east coast road trip in Boston on Thursday afternoon. They followed their blowout win with a blowout loss and a familiar reliever returned to his usual antics of throwing meatballs as he did in 2022. A ninth-inning comeback still wasn't enough to overcome Emilio Pagan's deficit. Image courtesy of Eric Canha, USA Today Sports Box Score SP: Kenta Maeda 2 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 0 K (28 pitches, 15 strikes (53.5% strikes)) Home Runs: Willi Castro (1) Bottom 3 WPA: Emilio Pagan -.299, Jose Miranda -.041, Nick Gordon -.032 Win Probability Chart Maeda’s Day Shortened The day did not go quite as planned for the Twins and Kenta Maeda, who made his first start in 10 days. Unfortunately, Maeda had to exit the game early with an injury concern. On the bright side the injury was on his left leg and not anything related to his throwing arm. The reality of the injury though could have him missing another start as he was hit by a line drive that came 111.6 MPH off Jarren Duran’s bat. The line drive caused a left ankle contusion which will require x-rays. Pagan Implodes Out of Bullpen All good things must come to an end eventually and today’s game saw the end of Emilio Pagan’s strong start to the 2023 season. Pagan was the first reliever out of the Twins bullpen following Maeda, and the Red Sox took full advantage, scoring six runs on seven hits. Pagan remained in the game for the fourth inning, retired the first two batters he faced, but was removed after giving up a single off the Green Monster to Justin Turner. His final line for the day showed six earned runs on eight hits. A Fan Fair Fifth The Twins finally got a run in the fifth inning, and they had Red Sox fans to thank for it. Willi Castro hit a double that bounced near the edge of the left field bleachers, which was picked up by a fan and turned into a double. Next, Max Kepler hit a double to right field. It was touched by a fan but remained in the field of play. Kepler tried for a triple but the fan interference kept him at second. Additional Bullpen Weaknesses Showing Cracks The two relievers that followed Pagan in this game were Jorge Alcala and Jovani Moran. Alcala worked in the fifth, and Yu Chang hit a two-run home run off him to put the Red Sox up 10-3. He at least finished the afternoon strong in the sixth facing the minimum batters. Moran had the final two innings of the game and his struggles to start the 2023 continued to show. He failed to face the minimum number of batters in either inning and struggled to make his pitches where Christian Vazquez wanted them. Other Notes Willi Castro hit his first home run in a Twins uniform in the top of the seventh to close the wide gap on the scoreboard. Castro was also the Twins final pitcher of the afternoon as they trailed 11-3 in the bottom of the eighth. Castro was the only Twins pitcher to face the minimum number of hitters on five pitches. The Twins made noise in the ninth to get a couple of runs back. Edouard Julien his first chance at a grand slam in the Majors. Julien got an RBI single to bring in a run, but Kepler overran third base trying to score a second run, fled back to third base and was tagged out to end the game. What’s Next? The Twins return home Friday for a long, 10-game homestand that kicks off against the Washington Nationals. Tyler Mahle (1-2, 4.11 ERA) gets the start for the Twins against the Nationals Trevor Williams (1-1, 3.52 ERA). First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. Postgame Interview Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet View full article

The Twins played their Sunday finale against the Yankees in New York looking for their first series win in Yankee Stadium since 2014. The last time the Twins went into Yankee Stadium and won a four-game series against them was from June 21-24 of 1991. Could the magic of 1991 rub off on the Twins on Sunday, or would the same old script of the last 32 years rear its ugly head in The Bronx? Image courtesy of Wendell Cruz, USA Today Sports Box Score SP: Pablo Lopez 6 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 7 K (103 pitches, 67 strikes (68% strikes)) Home Runs: none Bottom 3 WPA: Jose Miranda -.112, Edouard Julien -.103, Carlos Correa -.099 Win Probability Chart A Pitchers Duel for a Sunday Matinee Sunday’s game was all about the pitchers, Gerrit Cole and Pablo Lopez. Lopez had his most shaky start of the season so far, by his high standards, but it was still a phenomenal outing, especially for a Twins pitcher in Yankee Stadium. Lopez kept great command of the strike zone Sunday whiffing a lot of hitters with his sweeper and fastball. He totaled seven strikeouts on the afternoon and 13 swings and misses. Lopez walked one batter the entire afternoon. Lopez hit 97.4 MPH on the radar gun with his fastball to strike out the likes of Aaron Judge. The Yankees hitters were still making strong contact against the pitch getting the ball in play six times and getting three hits on that contact. His biggest "mistake" came in his final inning of work in the sixth allowing a lead-off home run to D.J. LeMahieu that gave the Yankees a 2-0 lead. The Yankees tried to rally more runs in the inning as Jose Trevino singled, but Lopez shut down the rally and got out of the inning unscathed with his final strikeout of the afternoon. Lopez was done after the sixth as he reached a season-high 103 pitches, only five more pitches thrown than his last start against the White Sox on Tuesday. Questionable Umpiring Continues Saturday’s game came with questionable umpiring by not enforcing their pitcher substance rules on Domingo German. The bias toward the Yankees continued into Sunday in the bottom of the third inning, when they let Anthony Rizzo remain on base after the Twins challenged a hit-by-pitch call. That hit-by-pitch moved Aaron Judge into scoring position and he eventually scored the first run of the game on a LeMahieu RBI single. With LeMahieu’s home run later in the game, the advancement of Judge to second may not have been as costly considering how the Twins bats were all day. Hitting Woes All Game The Twins had no hits against Cole through the first 4 2/3 innings of the game. Donovan Solano ended the no-hit bid before the fifth inning was completed. Cole got Max Kepler on a comebacker to end the inning. Aside from Solano’s hit the Twins managed only one other hit, a single from Michael A. Taylor in the top of the sixth. Edouard Julien sacrificed Taylor to second. Cole shut down Carlos Correa to prevent Taylor to have a chance to score. The Twins managed to get 13 additional balls in play against Cole but his 10 strikeouts through eight innings had the Twins hitters overmatched all afternoon. Other Notes While he had a tough game, Jose Miranda was able to put on a defensive show for his famous cousin and Hamilton creator, Lin Manuel Miranda, early in the game. Miranda helped Lopez escape an early jam in the second inning that kept Willie Calhoun from scoring after a lead-off single. What’s Next? The Twins have Monday off and will travel to Boston for a three-game series against the Red Sox. Sonny Gray is set to make the start for the Twins Tuesday night against Boston. The Red Sox have yet to announce a starter. First pitch is scheduled for 6:10 p.m. C.T. Postgame Interview Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet View full article