John Bonnes

Aaron and John talk about the WBC and Edwin Diaz’s injury, and then make their annual over/under picks for every American League team. You can listen by downloading us from iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, iHeartRadio or find it at GleemanAndTheGeek.com. Or just click this link. View full article

Let’s keep this simple: Twins baseball. Meat raffle. Free beer. More snow? Let’s get the baseball season started already! Join Twins Daily’s Social Club at historic Forgotten Star Brewing Co. for the Twins season opener (on the road versus Kansas City). We’ll supply the beer. And the beef. More accurately, Forgotten Star will bring the beer, because they’ve got LOTS to choose from – just look at that picture above from a recent trip there. The first one is on us. But you’ll want to be there for far longer than one beer, because Grote Beef will be raffling off prime cuts throughout the game! Plan ahead because the game starts at 3:00 on Thursday the 30th. Find someone to pick the kids up from school. Prepare your employer for an early happy hour. Or better yet, have your coworkers join you, because there are going to be plenty of other prizes and stuff to do, too. You don’t even need to buy a ticket. Just show up, check in with us at the front desk, and we’ll make sure you get your free beer ticket, your meat raffle ticket, and everything else you’ll need to make this Twins season opener memorable. It's time to stretch out of hibernation and reconnect, and there's no better way to do that than baseball - except maybe beer! We’ll see you there! What: Twins Daily’s Social Club Season Opener When: 3 PM – 6 PM, March 30th, 2023 Where: Forgotten Star, 38 Northern Stacks Drive Fridley, MN 55421 Cost: FREE View full article

FORT MYERS - The Twins' lineup has been brutal versus left-handed pitching for the last three years. Here's how that should change. Image courtesy of Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports In 2020, as we impatiently waited for the shortened season to start, we knew one thing about the Twins: they would crush left-handed pitchers. Any southpaw that had to negotiate a lineup filled with right-handed power like Nelson Cruz, Byron Buxton, Miguel Sano, Mitch Garver, and new addition Josh Donaldson would need to pack a lunch. We had seen it the year before, when the Twins as a team had posted an 872 OPS versus left-handers, the best mark in MLB. Then this happened: YEAR OPS RANK 2019 872 1 2020 658 27 2021 725 22 2022 701 20 Not only did they slide from first to 27th in 2020, but even when we got back to playing full seasons of baseball, they continued to languish in the lower third of the league. There have been two problems, one weird and one common. The weird first problem is that Twins’ right-hander batters didn’t crush left-handers the way we expected. Here are all the right-handed hitting and switch-hitting Twins who had at least 100 plate appearances versus southpaws over the last three years. Player OPS▼ Nelson Cruz 1.142 Carlos Correa 0.945 Byron Buxton 0.927 Josh Donaldson 0.912 Kyle Garlick 0.837 Jose Miranda 0.821 Ryan Jeffers 0.794 Gio Urshela 0.775 Mitch Garver 0.754 Jorge Polanco 0.734 Andrelton Simmons 0.635 Miguel Sanó 0.630 Gary Sanchez 0.554 Gilberto Celestino 0.533 Some of those names I mentioned earlier continued to mash, but Garver was suddenly human, and Sano batted like he went up their hitting left-handed. Even Gary Sanchez had problems with what should have been his bread and butter. I’ve also highlighted the players that are still with the organization this year. The only regular that isn’t in the top half of that list is Jorge Polanco, who is a switch-hitter, but hitting left-handed is his strong side of the plate. That could make him a candidate to sit versus left-handers, though there is no indication that is coming soon. Which brings us to the second problem. Most teams face the second problem: their left-handed batters just don’t hit left-handed pitchers very well. This is easily illustrated by taking a look at the two most potent left-handed bats in the lineup from 2020 through 2022, Luis Arraez and Max Kepler. Arraez, who was the AL Batting Champion last year, has hit just .256 versus left-handers over the last three years. Read that last sentence again. That's a stark discrepancy, but Kepler has been quite a bit worse. 420 MLB players have had at least 100 plate appearances versus left-handed pitchers over the last three years. Kepler’s 552 OPS (not a typo) ranks him 385th on that list. Yet the Twins have invested 301 plate appearances in that futility. It doesn’t look like they’ll be doing so this year, or at least not as often, because one of the themes of the offseason was gathering veteran right-handed bench bats. The offseason started with them trading for Kyle Farmer, and the offensive skill on which he has built his career is hitting left-handers hard. Over the last three years he has posted a 880 OPS against southpaws. The last move they made was signing infielder Donovan Solano to one-year deal. Solano has hit .313 versus left-handers over the last three years, posting a 815 OPS. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like either of those guys will play much in a corner outfield spot, and that’s where Kepler and left-handed hitting Joey Gallo play. Gallo has posted just a 664 OPS versus left-handers the last three years. That’s better than Kepler, but still provides an opportunity for an upgrade. Enter Michael A. Taylor , who the Twins acquired from the Royals late this offseason. Taylor is known more for his defense than his offense (career OPS of 677), but he has continued to do damage versus left-handers over the last three years, posting a 722 OPS. With their revamped bench, the Twins can trot out guys who can swing from the right side of the plate in eight of their nine spots in the lineup – and still have one extra guy on the bench. Plus they will likely have right-handed outfield thumper Kyle Garlick stowed away in AAA-St Paul in case of an emergency. The Twins haven’s said publicly that fortifying their lineup versus left-handed pitching was a priority this offseason, so maybe this wasn’t purposeful; maybe it was just fortunate. Whatever. Manager Rocco Baldelli appears to have the chess pieces to respond when a southpaw is on the mound, either as a reliever or a starter. Soon we’ll see if all that preparation fixes the three-year-old problem. View full article

FORT MYERS - As predicted, the Twins made some roster moves following the split-squad today. As not predicted, it included intriguing prospect Edouard Julien. Image courtesy of © Zachary BonDurant-USA TODAY Sports Today's exclusive Caretaker-only audio content from John Bonnes at spring training includes: We answer questions submitted by our Caretakers in our last audio diary, including updates on the 6-man rotation and Jorge Alcala's camp. We go through the Twins roster moves, including optioning Edouard Julien to AAA-St. Paul. Does another one of the roster moves - along with a spring training game today - point to a dark horse long reliever .... oh my god! Is that Randy Dobnak 's walkup music?!? Why did Kenta Maeda pitch live batting practice yesterday instead of facing the Yankees in Fort Myers? Special news about an Opening Day Party we've planned. Plus, more. If you're a Caretaker, just scroll down for your exclusive content! And if you're not, maybe consider becoming a Caretaker? I mean, it's time. The season starts soon. You visit everyday. You want the little gold outline next to your comments. It just feels good to support something you love. We're in spring training because of our Caretakers. Spring training is expensive, and that's especially true this year after Hurricane Ian damaged a lot of the lodging options. So, while you can find other free content, we really want to show our Caretakers how much we appreciate their support. Plus, there are lot of other benefits, like a free Winter Meltdown ticket and early access for guest, special callouts on the site, and lots more inside or in-depth content like this. So please consider joining our little club. The money is going to a site you love, to support coverage you love, and writers you value. Thank you so much. Join Here to support Twins Daily and get your exclusive content! View full article

Nope. Sorry. MLB set a limit of 13 pitchers last year.

If the Twins are having discussions about a six-man rotation, shouldn't we? It's unanimous - Bailey Ober deserves to be on the 26-man roster on Opening Day. But how does that work exactly? The Twins are talking about it, so we are too. In this special free clip from their latest Patreon episode, Aaron and John discuss the options, rewards, and challenges involved with bringing six starting pitchers north. Baily Ober Clip.mp3 Gleeman & the Geek talk Twins every week on their free podcast, and twice more per week (during the season) for their patrons. This clip is from their Patreon, which you can sign up for here. View full article

FORT MYERS - Suddenly we have two dark horse candidates to make the Opening Day Roster. Image courtesy of © Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports Today's exclusive Caretaker-only audio content from John Bonnes at spring training includes: There have at least been discussions about beginning the season with a six-man rotation. John discusses why the change of heart. Recent injury updates could open a spot on the Opening Day roster, so we discuss the options including a dark horse candidate. An early look ahead at what the Twins will do to solidify their starting rotation in 2024. Why players opinions of the pitch clock have changed. Sigh. Emilio Pagan is not having a good spring. If you're a Caretaker, just scroll down for your exclusive content! And if you're not, maybe consider becoming a Caretaker? You likely visit regularly, and that's going to become even more likely as the season gears up. Supporting something you value feels good, especially when it's been here feeding your baseball habit for over 10 years for free, right? We're in spring training reporting because we love this stuff, and we want to share it as much as we can, so you can find lot of free content from Fort Myers other places on the site. But unfortunately, spring training is expensive, and that's especially true this year after Hurricane Ian damaged a lot of the lodging options. Plus, there are lot of other benefits, like a free Winter Meltdown ticket and early access for guest, special callouts on the site, and lots more inside or in-depth content like this. So please consider joining our little club. The money is going to a site you love, to support coverage you love, and writers you value. Thank you so much. Join Here to support Twins Daily and get your exclusive content! View full article

FORT MYERS - The Twins win in front of a sold out crowd, make some roster moves, and remain optimistic about most of their injured players. Let's cover some notes from Fort Myers. Image courtesy of Jonah Hinebaugh/Naples Daily News / USA TODAY NETWORK An Unusual In-Game Return The Minnesota Twins beat the Red Sox 4-3 in a sold-out Hammond Stadium on Saturday afternoon. The return of Boston left-hander Chris Sale from a wrist injury partially explains the attendance. He looked solid versus a predominantly right-handed Twins' lineup, striking out five in three innings. The Twins countered with Tyler Mahle on the hill, and his start didn't go as well, though defensive miscues and infield hits also hurt him. He was replaced on the mound in the second inning after only recording one out but returned in the top of the third inning to pitch a scoreless frame. That is something we are seeing almost regularly in spring training this year: pitchers being pulled in the middle of an outing only to return the next inning. The thought process is that the team doesn't want to endanger the pitcher by overextending how many pitches he throws in one inning, but they want him to return to reach his pitch count and stay on track for his Opening Day workload. Roster Moves Made, but More on the Horizon? The Twins made two roster moves on Saturday. First, they optioned pitcher Matt Canterino to AA-Wichita. Canterino is recovering from Tommy John surgery and likely won't be activated until mid-August, so it was just a paper move. Canterino is Twins Daily's #15 prospect. They also optioned Twins Daily's #6 prospect, pitcher Simeon Woods Richardson, to Triple-A St. Paul. Woods Richardson is one of the earliest healthy players to be optioned, but the move is likely not based on his performance. We're at the point of spring training where starting pitchers' pitch counts make it difficult for two starting pitchers to get enough work in the same game. Woods Richardson has been piggy-backing - pitching a couple of innings after the starter - with veterans likely to be in the Twins' starting rotation. As starters work on going four or more innings, it's difficult for Woods Richardson to get his work in. After all, he must also be ready for a starter's workload for the St. Paul Saints. You're right if you think there are usually more roster moves before this point in spring training camp. Derek Falvey talked before the game about how they're keeping guys in major-league camp as they monitor some returns from injury and deal with so many players playing in the WBC games. The Twins also have split-squad games scheduled for Tuesday. I expect we'll see some roster moves shortly after that. Mostly Good News on Injuries We received some updates on players returning from injuries, most of it good. We haven't seen Jorge Polanco or Byron Buxton in a game yet, and no return date has yet been revealed. But per Derek Falvey, both are on schedule to return, and the target return date is before Opening Day. Also, two players who developed issues during camp are making progress. Nick Gordon, who suffered a high ankle sprain last week, has been cleared for betting and fielding without limitations. Jose Miranda, who had a sore shoulder, has resumed throwing. He also has no hitting or fielding limitations, but does with throwing until his shoulder gets stronger. The news is not as good on Alex Kirilloff, though it's also not clear if it's very bad. He is "a little behind our schedule" in part because he has held back from some live batting practice sessions. It is not clear if he is still on track to be recovered by Opening Day. Presumably, the leading candidates to replace Kirilloff on the roster would be Trevor Larnach or Matt Wallner. Both have been starting regularly in road games over the last week. View full article

Aaron and John talk about Jose Miranda moving in the right direction, the Twins' increased focus on defensive flexibility, why Byron Buxton and Jorge Polanco haven't played in games yet, pitchers adding velocity and new pitches, and why change isn't always such a bad thing. You can listen by downloading us from iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, iHeartRadio or find it at GleemanAndTheGeek.com. Or just click this link. View full article

Here’s the thing about being a sports reporter: you’re looking for some drama. So spring training is a trap. Image courtesy of Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports It encourages us to give into our inherent bias and forget the things that really matter. There isn’t a lot of drama in “this guy is on the 40-man roster” and “this guy doesn’t have options.” But those are the things that matter, not giving up a grand slam on March third. (We’ll get back to that.) So your best bet for deciphering a roster battle is to start with your assumptions before spring training started, when you were soberly and objectively evaluating the probable 26-man roster. And when I did that (call it version 0.0), here’s what it looked like. (Green means pretty much locked in. Yellow means I think I know? Red means I don’t know.) C Vazquez SP Gray 1B Kirilloff SP P Lopez 2B Polanco SP Mahle 3B Miranda SP Maeda SS Correa SP Ryan LF Gallo CF Buxton CL Duran RF Kepler RP J Lopez DH Larnach RP Jax RP Thielbar Bench C Jeffers RP Pagan Bench OF Taylor RP Alcala Bench IF Farmer RP Moran Bench Gordon RP Megill Let’s walk through the changes that are and are not happening, in order of greatest impact. Donovan Solano is knocking out one of the position players. When the Twins signed Donovan Solano a major league contract two weeks ago, it likely meant one of the position players who has options was doomed. There aren’t that many: Alex Kirilloff, Trevor Larnach, and Ryan Jeffers. Jeffers is a catcher, so he’s safe. We haven’t seen Kirilloff in a game yet, but he’s supposedly on track to return early. Trevor Larnach was scratched from the lineup with a lower body injury last week but is supposed to play left field on Tuesday. But if everyone is healthy he would probably be the odd man out. So we’ll leave him off the roster, and put Kirilloff in yellow to reflect the dual challenges of getting healthy and beating out both Larnach for the last spot. Long relief appears to be a priority. It’s one thing for Twins manager Rocco Baldelli to say he wants to have a long reliever available for most games this season. It’s another to see the organization align to make that wish a reality. We’re seeing the latter. Both Baldelli and Derek Falvey have discussed a group of pitcher that could be available in long relief. This is different than designating a long reliever, like the Twins tried to do with Randy Dobnak two years ago. This means having a pool of arms available so if the long reliever throws 50-70 pitches – or maybe even 30-50 - they can be swapped out with a different option from St Paul for the next game. This gets around a couple of challenges to the strategy. It allows a long reliever to pitch in back-to-back games if necessary. And it limits the impact of last year’s new MLB rule limiting each pitcher to just five back-and-forths to the minors. With more arms you have more options. And the Twins have more arms. Cole Sands and Brent Headrick probably have the inside track because they are on the 40-man roster. Old friends Randy Dobnak and Aaron Sanchez might also be options, though that would require a further roster move. Josh Winder and Ronny Henriquez have also been mentioned by Falvey as options, though both are dealing with potential arm health issues in camp. So we’ll adjust the roster by giving one spot to a long reliever, which crowds the other three guys into two spots. I’m also going to break my rule about overreacting to game performances, and add Emilio Pagan to that group, just because the grand slam he gave up on Thursday gave me a little PTSD. Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but there might be some injuries It’s early in camp, so I’m not going to adjust the any of the statuses, but we’re all keeping an eye on when we next see Kirilloff, Jorge Polanco, Byron Buxton, and Nick Gordon in a game. There is no indication that they won’t all be ready by Opening Day, so, again, no changes to the chart. But baseball is a “show me” game, and the color on those spots could change in a couple more weeks if we’re not shown something soon. If any of them don’t happen, Larnach might be back on the roster. So here’s the new chart. C Vazquez SP Gray 1B Kirilloff SP P Lopez 2B Polanco SP Mahle 3B Miranda SP Maeda SS Correa SP Ryan LF Gallo CF Buxton CL Duran RF Kepler RP J Lopez DH Solano RP Jax RP Thielbar Bench C Jeffers RP Pagan/Moran Bench OF Taylor RP Moran/Alcala Bench IF Farmer RP Alcala/Megill Bench Gordon LR Sands/Headrick We'll have plenty more chances to overreact before I attack this again. Any new injury is that much closer to Opening Day, as is every game in which one of the regulars doesn't appear. We'll may see some big or clutch performances by Twins players playing in the World Baseball Classis, and their absence will absolutely create opportunities for other players trying to wedge their way onto the roster. So if you're disappointed that there isn't more change, stay tuned. The temptation to overreact and embrace drama only gets more heated going forward. View full article

FORT MYERS - The Twins fell 7-5 to the Braves on the road, but we got some insights into what manager Rocco Baldelli is thinking about his bullpen and leadoff spot. Image courtesy of © Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports Today's exclusive Caretaker-only audio content include John Bonnes and Nick Nelson discussing Louie Varland's rough outing, but why he was encouraged and the feedback that Baldelli gave him afterwards An update on Caleb Thielbar, who we haven't seen in a spring training game Baldelli's thoughts on Jovani Moran's possible bullpen roles, and what he's looking at for the last four spots in the Twins' bullpen. Baldelli dunking on Nick but still revealing some of his thoughts on who could fill the Twins leadoff role. The problems the Twins had with the pitch clock in the game, and an update on whether it'll be used in the WBC. If you're a Caretaker, just scroll down for your exclusive content! And if you're not, maybe consider becoming a Caretaker? You likely visit regularly, and that's going to become even more likely as the season gears up. Supporting something you value feels good, especially when it's been here feeding your baseball habit for over 10 years for free, right? We're in spring training reporting because we love this stuff, and we want to share it as much as we can, so you can find lot of free content from Fort Myers other places on the site. But unfortunately, spring training is expensive, and that's especially true this year after Hurricane Ian damaged a lot of the lodging options. Plus, there are lot of other benefits, like a free Winter Meltdown ticket and early access for guest, special callouts on the site, and lots more inside or in-depth content like this. So please consider joining our little club. The money is going to a site you love, to support coverage you love, and writers you value. Thank you so much. Join Here to support Twins Daily and get your exclusive content! View full article

I fixed the audio, and this one has captions, too. Sorry about that.

FORT MYERS - Jose Miranda's withdrawal from Team Puerto Rico underlines that he and the team are taking his sore shoulder seriously. One of the questions this year was how Jose Miranda would look playing third base everyday. We haven't seen him there. He's been playing regularly in spring training games, but always as a designated hitter. It was revealed by the team on Thursday that he's been dealing with a sore shoulder. After his 1-3 appearance in the Twins' spring training road game at Tropicana Field, he talked to reporters who asked him how serious it is. John Bonnes passes along his reply in this Report from the Fort. mirandashoulderlandscapesound.mp4 View full article