Rod Carews Birthday

I’m just hoping that the wheels are working at least ok for both Lewis and Correa today. They both had moments that made me wince while watching them run yesterday. As long as they can turn it on when really needed I’m perfectly fine with not hustling out a groundout or not trying to turn an easy standup double into maybe hustle triple.

Unless it’s a 15-0 drubbing of the White Sox. . . . (Or the Yankees!).

I don’t think it is possible to judge a manager’s tendencies about pinch hitting (or anything else) in the small sample size of a game or even a series. There are lots of variables at play that can be interpreted too many ways to make a move obviously right or wrong, regardless if it works out or not. It might be different if your bench was Rod Carew, Barry Bonds, and Ronald Acuna, jr, but that’s never the case. It’s true that Baldelli uses pinch hitters for platoon advantage what seems like more than most, but with some glaring exceptions, it seems to have worked out for the positive more than the negative across the course of the season. All you need to do is look at the numbers for Solano, Farmer, and Castro in order to see that.

I remember watching his first start this season. He didn’t really have his best stuff but was able to get people out and just able to go about his business pitching in the game while giving the Twins an opportunity to win. The Twins haven’t had many pitchers like that in the recent past, and to me, that’s what gives him that ace potential. He’s definitely a top 20 pitcher in the league. Now he just needs to climb the ladder. As to the Santana connection, that’s certainly cool and I’m sure it means a lot to him. I want him to do so well that we remember Johann Santana as the guy from Venezuela that we had BEFORE Pablo Lopez.

"To further emphasize how well Jax pitched, here are Jax's standard and Statcast numbers from his first two postseason appearances: Seven Total Batters Faced (TBF), .143 BA, two strikeouts, zero walks, zero home runs given up .298 xBA, 29% K%, 80% HardHit%, 95 MPH average EV, -10 average LA, 145 ft distance (average distance of balls put in play off Jax), 108 MPH MAX EV, 394 ft MAX Distance" That is a terrific line, but it also serves to emphasize the both low bar and the extreme difficulties relief pitchers face. First of all, if Jax were a starter, and he retired the first seven batters of the game in overpowering fashion, we would praise him, but not overly so because two or three scoreless innings happen all the time at the beginning of a game. We also simply expect (and should expect) starting pitchers to give up a couple of runs here or there so we don't get excited about it when it happens. In a relief situation, fans sometimes regard an occasional run surrendered (see Duran Jhoan) as being excessive and a sure sign that the reliever has lost it. It also produces wild fluctuations in ERA because of the limited innings pitched. In Jax's case, he had two periods (May and August) when he was pretty bad, but other periods (June!) when he was seemingly untouchable. In addition, any run given up by a reliever in the playoffs gets pretty extreme reactions. Perception of relief pitchers is pretty weird. It's probably not fair, but it's reality. In Jax's case, his overall body of work looks pretty solid this season. I'm just hoping he's in one of those periods like he was in June. That will come in very handy during the playoffs.

Wow! The honorable mention list isn't bad, but the real list is pretty impressive. It's a lot for just two games. Now, if they can play so well in the ALDS that we forget all about the WC series we'll really be in business!

I think you are right in saying that the Astros aren’t quite the same team they have been. Let’s hope that the Twins can come out strong and take the series. On paper I’ll take our rotation and bullpen, but that Astros lineup is still scary. Go Twins!

Another great article. Is there anybody out there who doesn’t know at least a couple of these guys?

"For modern players I would expect Lindor and Swanson to make that play. " OK. So that's two, but I think even they would be impressed by the play. Really good players have an appreciation for that sort of thing. "Crawford would have made it a couple years ago but he's a step slower now." So. . . no. "Other guys (Adames, Pena, Seager, Witt, Turner, Bogaerts) COULD make the play but I wouldn't expect them to." That's not a great endorsement. "Heck, Kyle Farmer could make that play if you told him what was going to happen in advance but probably not in real-time." Oh that pesky real time with no advance warning comes into play. With advance warning, some rocket powered shoes and a scope, I might actually make it close. Sorry, but you're trying too hard to make this seem routine, when it definitely isn't. Give the man some credit.

So your point is that since two hall of fame players could have made that play that it must not have been so great? I’m going to go out on a limb and suggest that Correa (and the fans) would be willing to take that comparison all day long. Glad to know you think he’s in that class of player as well.

Sorry. It would be lovely if Correa could be in two places at once, but he can only choose one, in this case covering second base, which was his responsibility. To call him "a little lazy" is "a little unfair" at best. Correa deserves better than that. Yes, we are taught in little league to grab the ball, but that usually results in a guy sitting there on the ground with the ball in his hand and not having made a pretty impressive and accurate throw to nail the runner at home. Give some credit and enjoy the moment.

I think that the Twins did lots of things right, and also plenty of things wrong -- it's the nature of a baseball game. We don't really know exactly which decisions would have been viewed more poorly if they had lost. However, since they won the series 2-0 none of that matters. Soak in the victory and enjoy it!

OK, so perhaps I got a little carried away, but there are probably not LOTS of players who would make the play in a pressure situation like that. It's a pretty small club. Your last paragraph, however, says it all. We can expect that he will have the vision to see a play like that and can be reasonably expected to actually make it. There are dangerously few of those players out there and I'm really glad we have one. I grew up as a big NBA basketball fan as well as baseball, and for a long time Magic Johnson was my favorite player (still is, I guess). He had very good stats, but his real talent was making those players around him into better versions of themselves, sometimes by throwing passes that no one else would have (or could have) made successfully. Correa isn't my favorite player, but I think he has a little of that Magic Johnson in him. He can, but doesn't have to, fill up the box score to have a real impact.

I know that some (many) will quibble at the salary he is getting, but you are correct in that with Correa you are getting much more than "just" a hitter or "just" a shortstop. Even in an injury depleted year, he is a veteran leader who will find himself in a position to make a difference and the past two games have been proof of that. Carlos Correa is the ultimate in a "been there before" player, and that's why the Twins gave him the contract. The pick-off play was pretty great, but the throw home in game 1 was absolutely unbelievable. There may not be another shortstop alive that can make that throw happen. Those two flashy plays make everyone forget about the incredibly important RBI in game 2. Let's go Twins!

Great choices. ALL of them! The order isn't so important, but it's hard to argue that Sonny Gray didn't have quite a year. What I wonder is, except for Duran, would anyone from last year's list (with last year's season stats/performance) be on this year's list? I think not.

I am happily at the front of the Kepler/Crow Burger line. I honestly thought there was no hope whatsoever for him in April/May, and then that horrendous start disguised the sneaky good numbers he was having for a while. Somewhere in there I suggested a trade for a bag of baseballs (or maybe two). However, his final line is quite acceptable and definitely contributed a great deal to the end result of the Twins' season. Now picking up his option seems like a no-brainer! When I think of "Most Improved" I normally think of someone who hasn't been that good in the past, like Castro or Jeffers. I think of someone who was (very) good a few years back and then stumbled upon hard times, like Kepler, as a candidate for "Comeback Player of the Year", a title for which he definitely deserves recognition. However, I won't quibble with the categories. He is worthy of the distinction.

Well if there was any doubt, he certainly lived up to the award today! Go Royce Lewis! Those other guys aren't slouches either.

I think it’s pretty amazing that they were able to add the pitch that quickly. I’m also impressed that such small adjustments in his delivery were so effective. There are some very smart people working for the Twins. Bravo! We need him to have to make about 5 or 6 more starts now!

Awesome game. I haven’t had that much fun watching baseball on TV since 1991! Now let’s go do it again!

Perhaps if the games/series were played 1000 times, these would be the results. However, we're not playing 1000 times. In the small sample size of three, pretty much anything is possible. Interesting? Perhaps. Useful? Maybe. Let's play the games!

Totally agree. It doesn't matter that today's pitchers aren't (insert cherry-picked name of perennial all-star/hall of fame pitcher here). Hitters are seeing fresh relief pitchers with 95+ mph pitches in the sixth or seventh inning rather than a journeyman fourth starter at 120 pitches. Hitting a baseball is very hard and congrats to Luis Arraez for doing it better than anyone else for the second year in a row! Also, congrats to both the Twins and the Marlins, who were smart enough to deal from their strengths and improve both teams' futures.

The Twins made it through non-critical week of baseball very well and certainly set themselves up through rest and tryouts for the postseason. Now, if we can just get all of those players to come through when it really matters we'll be OK. Go Twins!

Fantastic article, and a welcome respite from the naysayers. We don't know that the Twins will win, but it is certainly reasonable to expect that they will, and that's a welcome change around here!

They are sixth of 15 American League teams in both runs scored and OPS+. In the second half of the season they are #2. My point is not that strikeouts don’t matter at all, merely that their current formula is working and that is what I care about. Offensive juggernaut Cleveland had the fewest strikeouts in the league this season, so obviously your second paragraph must be true. Fewer strikeouts obviously means more runs and more home runs. As to pitching, that’s another subject for another day And yes, some teams do have a pitch to contact philosophy. And, exactly like hitting, a team’s philosophy and approach are based on maximizing the particular skills of their personnel. There is no perfect approach, just one that maximizes your talent.

I agree with those four choices. It doesn't seem like Buxton is going to be an option, and that's just fine if he's not really healthy. The flexibility level of this team, however, gives them lots of options that aren't there in most years. In addition to these guys, Castro and Kiriloff, who will surely both be on the playoff roster, can play out there, adding to the flexibility for the infield as well. That flexibility can help keep hot hitters in the lineup by opening up a spot beyond just the DH spot.