IndianaTwin

He hasn’t actually started a rehab assignment, right? They can make a rehab assignment go 20 days, so unless it starts today or tomorrow, they don’t have to make a decision on him before season’s end. Additionally, St. Paul only has two weeks left unless they make the playoffs. The likelihood of him improving the team after this much time off is pretty slim. If they deem him ready, I’m guessing they send him to St. Paul for however long they play, then send him to the complex to get additional at bats, but the only way he gets added to the Twins roster is because of multiple injuries.

Speaking of depth, Nos. 11-17 on this year’s team already have 2 more fWAR than last year’s 11-17 did. Add 15 percent across the board to this year’s numbers for the remaining 22 games, and they come out fairly close on the hitting side. Which leads to a discussion on the significant additional depth on the pitching side compared to a year ago…

Who? I’m not necessarily disagreeing — I’m just not aware of times when they’ve done so?

I think they've handled him well. I also think that having him in St. Paul gives them maximum flexibility going forward. They've now reached the point where they could bring him back up without needing an injury to do so. By putting him on the IL, they'd be committing to not using him until next Tuesday. At St Paul, they can give him another start or two to make sure he stays stretched out for continued usage as a starter in either the regular season or postseason. Or, and particularly if Ryan and Maeda continue to look the part as starters 3 and 4 for the playoffs, St. Paul is the best place to transition to the pen in a structured way, with x number of pitches on x number of days' rest, etc.

The top (bottom) three guys are two players who've been hurt all season and a catcher, followed by two guys who aren't expected to help the team in this category. What a surprise. Much more interesting to me would to be hear who has helped the team with their baserunning.

Correct. The three teams have 11 games amongst themselves, so that's 11 guaranteed wins for some team. Houston vs. Texas = 1 (today) Texas vs. Seattle = 7 Seattle vs. Houston = 3

Wasn’t able to follow along live, but can tonight’s Rocco/Gray interaction also put to bed the “Gray wants outta here” chatter?

May 2018, I was on a work trip in Iowa and made the jaunt to Clinton to see the Kernels. Box score says there were 1,125 fans, but I'm not buying it. I'd guess 700, tops, and I got a seat immediately behind the Kernels dugout. My memory from the night is that all the Kernels were considerate enough to the bat boys, including to the bat boy who appeared to be mildly affected by Down Syndrome. Except Lewis. He went out of his way to ask each bat boy his name, engaged them in genuine conversation and greeted them by name the next time he came up. Total class.

Spot Lopez 20 runs, and he’s tough to beat.

Thanks for the help, folks. That was an Aug. 24 post that keeps getting added to. I was able to get sorted out, even catching most of the Cleveland blowout.

Sometime I’ll bring donuts.

Yep. and right now I’m approaching downtown Chicago on the same. I find train riding incredibly relaxing. Using the USA Rail pass, I left Chicago last Tuesday, rode to Milwaukee for Tuesday and Wednesday night’s game. Had to cut out in the eighth on Wednesday, but rode to St. Paul to catch Thursday and Friday’s games. Then was the awesome part. Left St. Paul Friday night, arriving Whitefish around 10 p.m. Saturday. Got off, crashes on an air mattress at a friend’s house in Kalispell. Hopped back on Sunday morning and rode back to St. Paul by Monday morning. Spent the day, went to last night’s game, back on this morning for the ride to Chicago. Then off to Millennium Station to catch the Southshore to South Bend. It’s been an awesome vacation/work trip. May try it again next summer.

Thanks, all. It ended up working swimmingly. My friend’s spouse had a mid evening commitment downtown, so she dropped us off at the game, went to her shindig and then hung out at an ice cream shop. With the blowout, we left in the eighth and walked to a spot where spouse could pick us up street side. Made it to the Depot with plenty of time to spare.

After last night’s game, Rocco talked of Ober’s next outing coming after “more than just an extra day or two.” I think he also used language of “three or four innings.” To me, that sounds like… 1. A limiting of innings. Not surprising. 2. That he will keep pitching, not just an IL stint. 3. Since he last pitched on Sunday, and Rocco mentions “more than just a day,” I’m guessing he doesn’t throw again until at least Tuesday, Sept. 5. 4. When Rocco talks about three or four innings, it sounds like they are keeping him stretched out long enough to be able to start, but also that they don’t wish to have him start. 5. That also points to him not being in the playoff rotation. So, moving down to St. Paul does allow them the opportunity to start grooming him for bullpen usage. If this is indeed the plan, I like it a lot. First round will be Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. That’s after an off day on Monday. Don’t use him over the weekend and he would be fresh. Let Lopez, Gray, Maeda air it out and play with a short hook, knowing that if you need to the bullpen, you can get three or more innings from Ober.

Those sound great. Do you have dates on either? They would be fun to look up. I guess the Uecker game won’t be hard to find while looking at his home run log.

You can also get the save if you go at least three innings, regardless of the score. In tonight’s game, Maeda didn’t go five innings, so he couldn’t get the win. That means it’s the scorer’s decision on which reliever most deserved the win. Since Winder went three, it could have gone to him, but in a case like this, where both relievers were effective, the scorer is encouraged to reward each by giving both a win and a save.

The bullpen botched it last week, but they now haven’t given up an earned run since the seventh inning last Wednesday. That’s 22.2 innings.

If the lede is that he’s getting called up, what are the details?

Remember all the offseason angst about Ober being slotted at No. 6? And how a lot of us said, he'll get a chance when injuries arise? I think the Twins showed this year how they would like to approach their rotation. Start with six guys with at least some level off success, so that when you have an early season injury, you won't have to immediately dip into your AAA guys. In most years, you'll also use your No. 7, 8, 9 and more. This year they've had amazing health, only using eight starters (plus a game when DeLeon was an opener), so there hasn't been as much dipping into AAA as usual, but that makes this year the exception. At this point, Lopez, Ryan, Ober and Paddack are four of those six. I don't think the Twins see Varland as one of those. He well may be their No. 7, good enough to assume that they'll use him, but not good enough to want to have to count on him. So they'll sign or trade for two. First up is offering Gray the QO, assuming he'll decline. I'd love to sign him to several years, but he's got Cincinnati written all over him. Past history there, Nashville native, gobs of young talent and little financial commitment. At this point, and assuming he keeps rolling, I seriously consider offering Maeda the QO. If you don't, 2 years at $20M isn't going to get it done to sign him. He's going to get two or maybe three years if he wants it. So offer him the $20M QO. Or perhaps $17M with a $3M team option for 2025 at $15M. That guarantees him the $20M, but could turn into 2/$35M, which is probably richer than he can get. And then still sign or trade for someone else.

Why weaken two positions? I’m guessing that the drop-off from Gallo to Luplow was less than the combined drop-off of Gallo to Kepler and Kepler to Luplow, particularly given that right field at Target is a little non-standard.

Locals, I could use a little help on travel logistics. Friday’s game starts at 7:10. I have an Amtrak ticket, scheduled to leave St. Paul at 10:45. I’m trying to figure out my strategy. 1. Current plan is to attend with a friend and cut out early, if needed. Knowing I can’t be late, how much time should I allow from Target Field to Union Station? 2. Suggested location for parking that will allow for a quick exit during the game. I’m okay with walking some distance? 3. How does said location work if the game moves along quickly and I’m able to stay for the whole game? 4. Does the Green line operate during games? It appears to take 46 minutes. Is that going to be quicker than getting to our car and driving over? Other suggestions? I do have the Amtrak app, so I can be monitoring its schedule. A quick game and a 45-minute late train makes things easy.

I’m a big fan of “propreantepenultimate,” as in, “The Twins will travel to Chicago in mid-September for the propreantepenultimate series of the regular season.”

So 1964 had Allison (162), Killebrew (153) and Oliva (150). And yet finished 6th, with Grant, Kaat and Pascual in the rotation.

In terms of OPS+, Killebrew's 1967 (173) was nearly the equal of his 1969 (177). He had "only" a .269/.408/.558 (.965) in 1967 compared to .269/.427/.584 (1.011) in 1969, but 1967 was a tougher environment to hit in. In 1969, he had the advantage of expansion and a lower mound. But I still lean Carew.