JW24

If Kirilloff comes up and rakes, I think most would consider it an aggressive move that paid off. If he comes up and looks completely lost, desperate might be underselling it a bit. I'm not saying it is a solid move. I was addressing the idea Tom put forth in his video and voiced support for it, mostly from a fan perspective. Believe me, there is no one in the Twins organization that values my opinion when it comes to roster construct and management.

I think that depends on how well Kirilloff plays if he were to get called up.

I agree with everything you have said here, and the fact Kirilloff is not hitting well enough to merit a promotion is very valid. For all the reasons you have listed, I do not think the Twins call him up. I would just rather see Kirilloff in the outfield the rest of this season than Cave as I think Kirilloff gives the Twins a better chance immediately to win the division. Personal preference/opinion.

I look at it as him taking Cave's 40-man spot after the season. I am willing to take the risk of burning an option for the potential reward Kirilloff could provide. If he isn't going to be ready to contribute to the Twins prior to next September, they why didn't the Twins shop him more aggressively during the trade deadline? Maybe this is why I don't have a job in the Twins front office, but I would be fairly aggressive moving Kirilloff up and taking the risks involved.

Yeah, I get that. But Jorge has worked out pretty darn well. I don't think the Twins regret calling him up early at this point. Also, Kirilloff isn't hitting the juiced baseballs AAA and MLB play with. Not saying that is going to turn him into Yordan Alvarez, but it might help his numbers a little. I would rather see Kirilloff in the lineup than Cave. Considering Buxton is going to be out until September-ish, and Cruz for some amount of time, I think Kirilloff could be rostered without burning the option. Cave would continue his pingpong between MN and Rochester.

Really enjoyed the video. A 13th pitcher makes the most practical sense, but I love the idea of a Kirilloff call-up. I think the Twins could reasonably add him to the 25 man roster to avoid burning an option, and make Cave the odd man out. I also think the way Rocco juggles his lineup and provides frequent rest would mean if Kirilloff was on the opening day roster next season he would get frequent at bats. The other reason I would love a Kirilloff call-up would be the energy/excitement he would bring to the club house, especially if he has an immediate impact on the field. The Twins have looked a little lifeless as of late. Call up a big time prospect and inject a little life into everyone! For all the criticism the FO got during the trade deadline, this is an aggressive roster move they could make that could have significant positive impact, with virtually no downside.

Kyle Lohse beat Josh Johnson. That is a beautiful sentence. Kyle Lohse debuted with the Twins when I was in 7th grade or so and I remember telling a couple of my friends I thought he could win a Cy Young at some point in his career. Josh Johnson was a staple on a bunch of my Fantasy Baseball teams as well. I loved watching him pitch. The Marlins do still have cheerleaders, though they are used primarily as mid-game entertainment and for product promotions. They did not add anything to the overall experience and did not take away from the experience either, in my opinion. Thanks for reading and for your comment! I went back to find the boxscore from the game you were at. That Cardinals lineup was full of big names. Also, that Marlins season was featured on Showtime's show "The Franchise" and was really entertaining.

Miami at the end of July! Let's make it happen! This was the reaction my friends and I had last September when the 2019 MLB schedule was released. July might not be considered the peak time to visit Miami, but there really is not a bad time to go. Plus, the flights were darn cheap. We originally looked for a weekend trip that would work, but a quick look through the schedule yielded no great choices. We generally do not take this trip prior to Memorial Day weekend, so despite interest in going to Philadelphia, that option was not going to happen. Coupled with prior trips to Seattle, Texas, Kansas City and last year's trip to Chicago, we pivoted to what the most fun location would be. Considering our preference is to attend games at an NL park due to how infrequently the Twins play each NL team, Miami jumped off the schedule. Trip logistics: Like I mentioned previously, it did not cost much to get to Miami from Minnesota in July. I flew in and out of the Rochester, Minnesota airport due to proximity, but both Rochester and Minneapolis offered very affordable flights. Once in Miami, we used Lyft and Uber to get around, which I would recommend highly for this city. I consider myself to be a pretty good driver, but I would have struggled in Miami. The naming convention of the streets is weird, there was a lot of construction which led to many detours, and every single local driver's vehicles turn signals were broken (or so it seemed) so merging and changing lanes was always an adventure. We stayed at the YVE Hotel Miami which was perfect for us. We basically used it to sleep and shower. We were across the street from Bayfront Park and Bayside Mall, which are both pretty touristy spots. Lots of good food/drink and shopping opportunities. A couple of the food spots we went to in this area that I would recommend were Station 28 and The Egg Spot. We spent one morning/afternoon in Miami beach. It was about a $10 Lyft ride to get there from the hotel we stayed at. We had brunch at one of the dozens of places that line Ocean Drive, and later had a couple drinks at a different place. There are so many options for food and drink on Miami beach that I will not name specific places we stopped. The beach itself is beautiful, and was not terribly crowded the day we were there. After one of the Twins/Marlins games we attended, we went up to the Wynwood Walls area to see the art. There were a lot of people out and about in this part of town, considering it was 11 pm on a Wednesday night. One of our Lyft drivers mentioned it was one of the best places to experience the culture of Miami, and I would say he was right. The graffiti was stunning. Finally, we spent a little time in the Brickell area, just south of the hotel we stayed at, the final night of our trip. Having spent a little time in Brickell, the only thing about the trip I would change is that I would have looked for a hotel in that area. Granted, it was less than a mile from where we actually stayed, but the nightlife and energy was just a little different. Marlins Stadium and the games: My goal here is not to provide game recaps since the writers for Twins Daily already do that and do it much better than I ever could. Instead, this will be my thoughts on the stadium and surrounding areas, and a couple of notes regarding the games themselves. Prior to game 1, my buddies and I went to Nightlife Brewing Company since it is right next to the stadium ($8 Lyft ride from our hotel). There were less than 10 other people in there. As we were looking for some sort of pregame atmosphere, that was a let down. The beer was fine. The plaza area around the stadium is really nice! The landscaping looked great, and there were a lot of open areas that, should the Marlins ever draw a decent crowd again, could be a great spot to hang out before and after games. Marlins Park is a nice stadium as well. It is, perhaps, unconventional in regards to stadium design, but it has a lot to like. There are big glass windows out in left field that provide a great view of the Miami skyline. The Bobblehead Museum was a lot of fun to look through, and the Budweiser Bar in left field offered a really nice vantage point of the games for those who like standing. With wide concourses and small crowds, walking around the stadium was easy. There are a couple of concession stands in right field that offer "deals" on select items. Hot dogs, for instance, were $3 at this location and $6 elsewhere, so there is some affordability of eating at the ballpark if you go to these areas. Unfortunately, the Marlins removed the home run sculpture after last season, so we did not have a chance to see it in person. I would have loved to see that thing! Additionally, the roof of the stadium was never opened, so we did not get the experience of outdoor baseball, which would have been nice as well. We did not purchase tickets ahead of game 1, choosing instead to scalp tickets to avoid fees. We got lower level seats for $12, which felt like $11 too much given the attendance, but the cheapest available seats either online or at the box office were $10, so we did alright. Our seats were for a section down the right field line, which we sat in for a couple innings. Those seats were actually quite good. I do not think there is a bad seat to be had in the stadium. We did decide to give ourselves an upgrade and relocated behind home plate about 20 rows up. Game 2 was easily the best ballpark experience we have ever had on one of our trips. We decided to purchase tickets to the Dex Club, which is the Marlins equivalent to the Champions Club section at Target Field. As we normally spend a good chunk of money for tickets for 1 game per Twins road trip, and then buy cheap seats around the park for the remaining games, this was our big ticket purchase. The seats were $225 each, and worth every penny. The Club itself was beautifully set up with a bit of a beachy vibe; plenty of tables to sit at, a lounge area, and some standing tables all blended together. The food was all excellent, the beer and wine was unlimited, and there is even a view of the Marlins batting cages from inside the club. We sat in seats in the section right next to the Twins dugout, which gave us a great view of the masterpiece Jose Berrios threw that night. Game 3 was a bit of a repeat of game 1. We scalped our tickets for the same price, but instead of sitting in seats, we hung out in left field at the Budweiser Bar and watched from there until the 8th inning or so. One item of note from this spot is that we had a great view of Buxton crashing into the wall in right-center. He slammed into that wall at full speed, and almost made an incredible catch in the process. I could not believe he stayed in the game after that play, or that his next at bat resulted in a huge 2-run double (we had a good view of the chalk kicked up from the ball landing on the line) given how hard he hit the wall. Game 3 was also a noon game, and there were about 25 groups of kids from various summer camps at the game. Whenever the stadium scoreboard would call for fans to get loud, these kids went crazy. That was the only time considerable noise was made inside the stadium. One of the really fun things about these trips are getting to see players making their Twins (or MLB) debuts. I was in Kansas CIty in 2015 for Miguel Sano's debut. I was at Wrigley Field last summer for Willians Astudillo's debut. In Miami, I was able to see Sam Dyson's debut. I will never forget his first game as a member of the Twins, that is a fact. Overall: Miami was a blast! There is a lot of energy and culture in the city (although there is almost none at the ballpark). The ballpark itself was very nice, though not particularly memorable in any way.

Chapman is able to pair his fastball with a pretty good slider to keep hitters honest and prevent them from trying to time his fastball. Chapman also has a fairly high career walk rate, so it isn't like he is a guy that spots his pitches. Elite velocity plays well just about anywhere in the zone. If Graterol can mix in his secondary stuff for strikes, he will be great. Should he get called up (fingers crossed!) I would rather see him get hit a little because he is throwing strikes than put guys on for free.

If you throw 100, it doesn't much matter where the ball comes across the strike zone. Location is overrated for a 1-inning guy; just don't walk guys and any trouble you get in will be minimal.

It is great, after years of Vking pre-season football dominating the August headlines, to have meaningful Twins baseball this time of year. I cannot wait to tune in this weekend. Nothing beats playoff baseball, and this is the closest thing we will get until October.

I don't know if he has done anything to highlight ineffective pitchers. I imagine that would mostly just be a gif of someone hitting a homer. One of the really cool gifs Pitching Ninja created was of Adam Ottavino's slider and 2-seem FB ending up in the exact same spot (low and away to a righty) despite taking drastically different paths to get there.

Can you elaborate on the percentages further? I don't understand what you are saying regarding BB% using his fastball or strikeout% using his fastball. Is this the percentage of the walks/strikeouts he issues when throwing that pitch as the final pitch in an at bat? Love Pitching Ninja. The overlays he creates really help to show how difficult hitting MLB pitching (especially of Berrios' caliber) really is.

Hey everyone, I have been kicking around the idea of starting this blog for a while and decided to just go for it. If there is another blog like this on Twins Daily, I apologize for duplicating any content or stepping on any toes. Each summer, a group of friends and I take a trip to watch the Twins play in a visiting ballpark, with the goal of seeing the Twins in all 30 MLB stadiums. I am hoping this blog can provide a space for others to share their experiences, either at the ballpark or in the cities of various teams as a reference for others, as well as a way for me to remember the trips taken with my friends. I have made it to 14 ballparks outside of Minnesota to see the Twins play so far, so I have some catching up to do entry-wise. I just got back from this summer's trip to Miami, so I will try to write about that experience as my first real post while the memories are still fresh. Some trips were done on tight budgets (started doing this back in college). Some trips were spread out over long weekends, and others were single-game experiences. Some summers were more memorable than others (2015 was my summer of Tommy Milone -- I went to 9 games in 4 different ballparks and Milone started 5 of the games), and some Twins teams were better than others. Through it all, my love for baseball has grown. I hope you all enjoy the future posts and comment with your experiences/recommendations as well.

I'm not trying to say Smeltzer is the next Verlander, simply that Verlander has one of the best fastballs in baseball, and that Smeltzer's compares in terms of RPM/MPH, which will result in similar pitch behavior. Verlander is extremely effective with elevating his fastball in the zone and above the zone, and that is where Smeltzer was getting a lot of whiffs yesterday as well, perhaps in part because of the similarity in Bauer units. Looking at your list of pitchers, Bauer units don't tell the whole story, certainly. However, there is an emphasis on finding pitchers with high spin rates (Houston targeting Ryan Pressly, for instance) and figuring out how to help them pitch more effectively. Smeltzer was a great trade target by the FO last season.

Parker Hageman made this point on Twitter yesterday after the game -- Based on Bauer units (RPM of a fastball compared to velocity of a fastball), Smeltzer's fastball acts similarly to Justin Verlander's. While Smeltzer's raw velocity might not blow you away, the way his ball behaves is part of the reason for the awkward swings he generates. Average fastball in MLB is approximately 24 Bauer units. Smeltzer's is 27.4.

I like outside the box thinking, and I don't think this is a bad take necessarily. I do know, however, that I do not envy the job of whoever would be tasked with telling Royce he is going to be a super-utility guy. I suspect he views himself (rightly so) as a guy who will be put in the lineup at the same spot for 150+ games per season.

Tough week for the Twins coming up, time to see what they are really made of. Need to split with Cleveland at worst. 2-1 against ATL and at least 2 W's against Cleveland would be a pretty successful week in my opinion.

Great recap, and a huge week ahead for the Twins. Cleveland sees both Minor and Lynn during their 3 game series against Texas prior to the 4 games in MN. Hopefully the Rangers are able to take one or more from Cleveland. The Twins needs to take care of business this weekend. Hopefully the Twins lead in the central is bigger next Monday than it is today.

I am all in on Robbie Ray. His strikeout rate is something the Twins haven't had in a starting pitcher since Liriano/Santana. Lowering his walk rate a bit so he can pitch deeper into games will be the area he needs to improve the most, and I think Wes can help him with that. Ray, to me, feels like the Twins would be getting a Patrick Corbin caliber guy prior to the break out year Corbin had last year. Trade for him, extend him, and try to turn him into a front of the rotation guy behind Berrios. I would also be interested in Archie Bradley as another relief arm for the Twins. I think he could help the pen out a bit.

I was surprised to see this as well, but I suspect WPA takes situational hitting into account. Buxton's two doubles came after the game was essentially out of reach, so there was minimal Win Probability to add to the game. Just a guess though.

I am hoping Gibson can deliver a good start for the Twins tonight. I cannot find data to support this, but from watching him, it feels like he is reluctant to show his slider the first time through the order. I think for him to be effective tonight, he will have to have a strong blend of off-speed pitches early. His walk rate would look much better if not for his 4 BB game against Oakland and 5 BB game against Boston that have both occurred in his last 5 real starts. Not that there are any teams you can afford to give free baserunners to, but the Yankees seem to be a team that takes advantage when given those gifts. If Gibby can show command early, he should be successful tonight. Give me a 7-3 Twins win!

The argument could be made that the Cubs were a Chapman away from winning the World Series, so therefore any and all prospects were on the table. If you could guarantee me that sending the Twins top 5 prospects for 4 months of any one player hangs a banner at Target Field, I would make that trade every time. As it pertains to the Twins, they are multiple pieces away from World Series contention. I completely agree every prospect needs to be on the table at all times, and not to over-worry about sending a guy with potential away to get an immediate impact in return. From reading other comments on this site, it feels like many think there is one move needed that will somehow result in a World Series victory this year, and that just is not the case.

I don't know who you would have liked to see the Twins add in June that would add more stability to this roster at a reasonable price. The price of decent relievers in June is higher than at the deadline because the market is less established. Prying a good reliever away from a team that isn't more clearly defined as a seller in June will cost more than it does closer to the deadline. I am sure the front office has been looking to make bullpen improvements from Opening Day, but they are smart to not pay a premium for relief pitching as relievers tend to have more significant fluctuations of talent than other positions.

None of the games this weekend were decided by a single component. The offense went 6-21 with RISP in the Twins two wins, and 0-9 in their two losses against Oakland. I think it is very fair to pin some of the blame on the offense for not coming through with big hits in big situations. To me, the most glaring issue this past week was how sloppy the defense played. I think the Twins committed 3 errors in the series against Oakland, and had somewhere around 5 WP/PBs. All of that leads to more, unnecessary, pitches being thrown, which has a trickle down effect on the bullpen. The Twins played bad baseball all week. 2-4 is probably as good a week as could be hoped for. Pitching, hitting, defense and base running all can accept responsibility.