puckstopper1

And Chapman saw his ERA go from 0.39 to 1.96 in the blink of an eye. This rally was quick, and unexpected and wonderful given it was against Chapman and the Yankees!

The Hackimer fall from grace was fast and unfortunate. He had some pretty good numbers in 2017 and 2019 raising some hope that he would be able to be a legitimate BP option...

I agree with the Top 3, but if I were to add a 4th it might be the hiring of Edgar Varela as hitting coach. Maybe Rowson benefited from a livelier ball and all, but this team's approach and results at the plate has been attrocious for most of the season.

I was trying to figure out how Tampa remains so competitive, and I believe this is a big part of it.

Some have mentioned a "winning June." I feel that ship might have already sailed with 3 loses (to the Orioles and Royals) to open the month and the Yankees and Astros on the horizon. That coupled with all the injuries and they way they played the first two months this season leaves for little optimism that June will be any different. I hope I'm wrong...

SIGH!

The first hope is that he can stay healthy. Secondly he needs to clean up his fielding as I don't believe the Twins anticipated his -dWAR when they signed him. As for his bat, it seems to play better when others are better around him. Having a stronger hitter behind him would help (like it would anyone), but as long a Rocco goes with his typical right-left-right line-up, it would be huge boost to Donaldson if Kiriloff, Polanco or perhaps Kepler got *really* hot. That plus a bit more "luck" on balls in play would be nice!

Expectations for Duran will be thru the roof when he does join the Twins. It won't help him that his first name is pronounced the same as another legendary Twins starting pitcher, albeit it is spelled differently. 😉

I have also been a big critic of Sano. The story shows his hot streaks, but what about his cold ones? They are longer and horrible - including his poor playoff performances. But also as others have also stated, the Twins do not have anyone else better at this time, so I'm fine that they keep putting him in the lineup for now.

Totally agree, Mike. Along with the Twins pitchers putting up firestones inning after inning, seeing them score 9 runs without any home runs is a very welcome sight!

I have been as critical as anyone of Sano, but he has played a huge role in the past three wins. Keep it up, big guy!

Excellent report, Allen. Thank you! Kind of surprised that you didn't mention that our old pal Kohl Stewart started for Iowa against the Saints. Glad to see that Gordon took him deep!

Jeffers 0-4 with 4 K's. OUCH!

The Twins went 0-for-10 with RISP, 'nuff said...

Some thoughts/musings... 1) This team is brutal right now. 2) Congrats Trevor Larnach’ on getting your first big league hit. Hopefully many more to come! 3) Is Jorge Polanco turning the corner at the plate? Lets hope so. 4) I feel the Twins missed an opportunity to try and get Sano straightened out at the plate. A rehab assignment coming off the IL may have given him a chance to right himself with less pressure, etc. 5) This team is brutal right now