Tom Froemming

The Twins are reportedly interested in J.A. Happ, which may or not really mean anything at all. We can assume the Twins are interested in a lot of guys, right? Welcome to the offseason! There are some other rumblings coming out of the GM Meetings, as well as other happenings in the baseball world that are worth turning your attention to. Let’s get to it ...What are your thoughts on J.A. Happ? Earlier this week, Nick shared his offseason blueprint that envisioned the Twins as big spenders. The site has been booming with blueprints, as both the forums and the blog section have been active. Grab a copy of the Offseason Handbook for whatever price you feel is appropriate and put together your own blueprint today. Matt Eddy of Baseball America shared a list of 520 minor league free agents. One name that really jumped out to me was Dilson Herrera. He’s a 24-year-old second baseman who has some MLB time (108 games) with the Mets and Reds. Herrera has a .290/.349/.461 (.809 OPS) batting line in 1,305 plate appearances in Triple A. The Twins will certainly aim higher in their search for a second baseman, but Herrera is an interesting fallback option. Dan Hayes of The Athletic reported that it won’t be too long before the Twins hear final word on Joe Mauer’s future. Also over at The Athletic, Jim Bowdenshared five potential landing spots for J.T. Realmuto, should the Marlins decide to deal him. Spoiler alert! Twins are not listed. Kennys Vargas signed with Japan’s Chiba Lotte Marines. Click here to view the article

Sure. For MLB I cut it off at his first 32 innings. MLB: 9.28 ERA, 1.94 WHIP, 1.78 K:BB in his first 32 IP AAA: 2.51 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, 4.10 K:BB in 229.2 IP AA: 3.22 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, 3.33 K:BB in 131.1 IP Minors (all levels): 2.77 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, 3.83 K:BB in 591.2 IP

Just for fun, here are some career numbers. Leader among the group in bold ... MLB Gonsalves 6.57 ERA, 2.03 WHIP, 0.73 K:BB in 24.2 IP Littell 6.20 ERA, 1.77 WHIP, 1.27 K:BB in 20.1 IP Stewart 3.68 ERA, 1.42 WHIP, 1.33 K:BB in 36.2 IP AAA Gonsalves 3.44 ERA, 1.26 WHIP, 1.86 K:BB in 123 IP Thorpe 3.32 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, 4.33 K:BB in 21.2 IP Littell 3.57 ERA, 1.32 WHIP, 2.45 K:BB in 106 IP Stewart 4.34 ERA, 1.42 WHIP, 2.69 K:BB in 45.2 IP AA Gonsalves 2.23 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, 3.00 K:BB in 182 IP Thorpe 3.71 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, 4.31 K:BB in 114 IP Littell 3.15 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, 3.55 K:BB in 108.2 IP Stewart 3.87 ERA, 1.51 WHIP, 1.55 K:BB in 237 IP Minors (all levels) Gonsalves 2.46 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, 2.66 K:BB in 599 IP Thorpe 3.18 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, 3.53 K:BB in 328.1 IP Littell 3.36 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, 3.41 K:BB in 667.1 IP Stewart 3.36 ERA, 1.36 WHIP, 1.89 K:BB in 570.2 IP

Hey that sounds amazing to me ... which also means it's probably unrealistic. If the Brewers decide to move Hiura, they're going to set their sights much higher. Gibby has been very good for a year and a half, but he's still got a 94 ERA+ for his career and only comes with one year of team control. Milwaukee is in a competitive stage right now, so I doubt the Gordon and a mid-teens prospect moves the needle at all for them. What do I think it would take to get Hiura? Gibson plus Polanco ... plus May or Garver? Not even sure that would do it, as Hiura was mentioned as a potential centerpiece deal to get Jacob deGrom, who's both better than Gibby and under multiple years of team control.

Free agency officially opens today, so it’s time to move forward and put this 2018 Twins Highlights series to bed. We’re going to end on a high note, covering what I believe are the most exciting plays to watch in baseball: Web gems.Just a reminder, earlier in this series I dedicated an entire post to Eddie Rosario and Willians Astudillo, so those two are not included in any of the compilations below. We’re going to go all the way around the horn, starting with pitchers and catchers. When you think about defense, you don’t often take into account the guy on the mound, but the Twins have a couple of guys who would make even Jim Kaat proud in Kyle Gibson and Jose Berrios. Well there you have it, this is the final installment of the 2018 Twins Highlights series. I’m sure there were a few memorable moments or incredible plays I missed, but this was a lot of fun to put together. Here’s a rundown of what was covered: Walk-Off Wins Super Rosario and La Tortuga Top Pitching Performances Longest Home Runs Mauer Milestones and More I hope you enjoyed this series. To celebrate its conclusion, I mashed a bunch of these segments together to form a 20-minute long ultimate mixtape on YouTube. Click here to view the article

I don't understand why everybody's making conclusions on this recent group of graduated prospects. The ink is far from dry yet. Some of the guys have proven to be building blocks already, but remember that Buxton is 24 and Sano is 25. Maybe they never amount to what we envisioned, but it's still way, way too early to throw in the towel.

Take a bow guys, great podcast.

Lots of great points in your comment, but on this topic, Derek Falvey has mentioned before that the Twins don't have the ability to outspend teams in terms of the payroll but they may be able to invest more in the margins than the average club instead. I'd imagine slashing the payroll to this extent would give Falvey carte blanche to go nuts on the team's infrastructure and staff from the top down. Hopefully the majority of the money not invested in additions would be funneled to extensions and beefing up the staff/technology/facilities.

In this scenario, you're rolling with Buxton sink or swim. Things could go very poorly, but by the end of the season you're going to have a better feel for who he is. Still very annoyed they didn't do this in September this past season. But along with Cave, forgotten man Zack Granite's still around too. Arraez would definitely be in the mix for second base. That guy can hit for contact but I'm not sold on the other tools. Do you remember the catching carousel on the 2000 Twins team? They had five different guys make at least 10 starts back there, but by the end of the auditions A.J. had emerged as the guy. That's kind of what I envision with second base in this scenario.

Agreed, this is why I'd be a little gun shy about pushing all the chips in on 2019. I actually started out this exercise by pondering what Buxton and Sano trades might look like, but unfortunately those two have buried their stocks so low that it's really difficult to come up with any ideas that make sense for the Twins and would be realistic.

All solid points in your comment, but I could especially get behind this. Along with having a great season, Gibby also evolved into one of the clubhouse leaders by the end of the year and embraced that role. He even became the team's union rep after the Dozier trade. That extension would take you through his age 33 season, which would be perfect. I just don't see why Kyle signs that deal unless you really make it worth his while. So I didn't really consider this as an option at the onset, but if it's expected to be another ice cold free agent market this year I think guys like Gibson will be much more willing to sign extensions. My main worry, which is also why I ultimately decided not to include a Patrick Corbin signing, is that Gibson backslides and you end up with a guy clogging up a spot in your rotation. I'd love to see things work their way out organically -- spots are fought for and earned in the rotation. Then again, maybe by 2021 there's no such thing as a rotation anymore. Who knows?

Take a look at the American League -- not just the Central -- and ask yourself if the Twins could realistically build a World Series contender for 2019. Is the next real competitive window now, or sometime in the future? I’m of the mind that there’s no place worse to be than in the middle of the road. I also believe the foundation of a World Series team is in this Twins organization right now, but to realize that potential the front office and developmental departments are going to have to play their cards just right.The way I see it, the Twins have two options: 1) Try and go for it again in 2019 and build around the current roster, or 2) work to set things up better for 2020 and beyond. Sure, there are some moves that would accomplish both of those things, but I don’t envision the Twins signing a Bryce Harper or Manny Machado. Instead, I believe the best way to realize that eventual World Series potential is to continue to stockpile depth for 2020 and beyond while at the same time creating more opportunities for the young players who either debuted in 2018 or were in the high minors showing signs that they were close. I can already hear the groans as I’m typing this. I understand why a lot of Twins fans won’t take kindly to this blueprint. When the rebuilding will ever stop? I’m more curious if it ever truly started in the first place. The most frustrating thing about the Twins under Derek Falvey so far has been all the half measures taken. The first offseason, the team’s biggest need was addressed in the signing of a catcher, but there were no other efforts to upgrade the club. Then there was the buy/sell move at the trade deadline later that season, one of the biggest examples of indecisiveness I can ever recall by any front office. Last winter (and even into spring), there was another honest effort to upgrade the team, but primarily in the short term. Given that was the case, it was all too easy to tear down the roster at the deadline. Even how they’ve treated the manager situation has been very half-hearted up to this point. Falvey had no choice but to accept Paul Molitor as manager, but the three-year deal he signed after the 2017 season appeared to have been a commitment to stability in that spot. We all know how that turned out. I’m not saying I disagreed with all those moves, but taking a look at the big picture, you’re certainly left with an image of a leadership group that’s done a very poor job at committing to anything. Flexibility can be a valuable attribute, but at some point this front office is going to need to pick a lane and stay in it. The next big wave of Twins talent is topped by Alex Kirilloff, Royce Lewis and Brusdar Graterol. It’s conceivable all three could be September callups this coming season, but it is more reasonable to expect all three arrive in 2020. But those are just the headliners. There will be plenty of other prospects who will blossom between now and then. There will be a ton of seeds all continuing to germinate in the high minors next season. Not all of them are going to maturate, but It seems likely the foundation of the next great Twins team will come from that crop of players. As we’ve seen with the current wave of homegrown Twins, there will be some who surprise and some who experience more growing pains than we expect. But where does that leave the current team? The great news is several of the players on the team right now will still be under team control long enough for there to be some overlap with the next wave. Eddie Rosario and Miguel Sano will be around through 2021. Jose Berrios, Jorge Polanco, Max Kepler, Byron Buxton and Taylor Rogers will be around through 2022. Before we get going, this blueprint is in some ways a companion piece to the article I wrote for the Offseason Handbook. You may understand where I’m coming from a little better if you read that piece. OK, let’s get into my moves. Brace yourself, this might hurt. Love me tender. Everybody gets tendered a contract! I'm going to be both removing some outfield depth and some veteran leadership, so Robbie Grossman still makes plenty of sense on a one-year deal projected to be around $4 million. With Ehire Adrianza, the Twins are so shallow in the infield right now that I think he’s worth hanging on to for the projected $2 million. Free agency? No thank you. I’m going thrift shopping, and not for the Lance Lynn/Logan Morrison types. We’re talking bottom of the barrel. There have been some real valuable pieces acquired over the past several offseasons among the players who were non-tendered or became minor league free agents. The Twins saw both sides on the coin in terms of minor league free agents last year. They lost Dereck Rodriguez to the Giants, but added Willians Astudillo. You’re really mining for diamonds in the rough in this universe of players, but when you hit it’s an incredible value. You get multiple years of team control on a player who’s going to be affordable. You’re probably not going to find stars among the guys in this market (though it does happen), but a multi-year role player or bullpen piece would be a really savvy pickup. We don't know who will be non-tendered yet and I haven't scoured the list of minor league free agents to be, so I don't have specific names, but this is definitely an area in which the Twins should be aggressive. Trade away Max Kepler, Kyle Gibson and Jake Odorizzi. Here’s the knockout blow. This would hurt. Gibson was a rare bright spot from the 2018 season and one of the most likable guys on the team. That level of attachment isn’t there with Odorizzi, but he had a very nice season and turning over two-thirds of the established rotation would be very tough. On the other hand, Gibson, Odorizzi and Michael Pineda (more on him in a minute) are all set to become free agents after this upcoming season. Dealing away Kepler has the kind of disaster potential that could get somebody fired. It could end up being Aaron Hicks all over again. So why deal him? Well there’s already an argument to be made that Jake Cave deserves regular playing time over Kepler in 2019, but this has as much to do with making room for Alex Kirilloff than anything. It seems highly likely Kepler will be passed up one way or another. Why Max? Eddie Rosario is already what I think we all believe Kepler could be at his peak and trading Byron Buxton has even more disaster potential, mainly because his value is so low right now. Cave showed promise, but his track record is too short to garner any real trade value at this point. Trading Kepler has the best balance of potential risk vs. potential reward among the current crop of outfielders. The Twins have invested more than 1,600 plate appearances in Kepler and have seen very little progress at the plate. Being a strong and versatile defensive outfielder who is affordable and has upside, Kepler still figures to have plenty of trade value despite his lack of progress to this point. Make sure you grab a copy of the Twins Daily Offseason Handbook, which features an excellent article on Kepler written by Aaron Gleeman. The primary reason for listing these guys as trade bait is because they’re valuable. This isn’t a knock against them, if anything it’s quite the opposite. I think they could be flipped for additional pieces that help usher in a glory run in Twins Territory. So what would I be looking to acquire in these deals? Primarily infielders and high-velocity pitchers. The closer to the majors the better. The Twins don't really have a second baseman right now and I'm not sure anybody believes that Miguel Sano is going to stay at third base long term. On the pitching need, velocity isn’t everything but it sure helps. Plenty of pitchers are effective in the low 90s, but if you watched the postseason you know the Twins are seriously lacking in high-velocity options. Throughout the entire year, only a grand total of four pitches were thrown 98.5 mph or harder by the Twins staff, three of which came from guys who are no longer in the organization (two from Pressly and one each from Fernando Rodney). In the five World Series games there was a grand total of 97 pitches thrown at least 98.5 mph. Alright, let’s get into specifics. It’s nearly impossible for me to sit here and try come up with actual trades that make sense. The trade market is a mysterious beast. I did my best. My general theory was to take what I think the Twins could get, then lower that expectation a bit. Max Kepler to the Angels for Jahmai Jones, Keynan Middleton and Jake Jewell A consensus top 100 prospect last offseason, Jones hit .239/.337/.380 (.717) between High A and Double A. He was primarily a center fielder prior to being converted to second base last season. He still has some things to iron out at the keystone, but I love the fact that he has some flexibility. Jones doesn’t have a single tool that projects to be below average. He’s currently turning heads in the Arizona Fall League. Middleton, a right-handed reliever, has the ability to sit 96 mph and topped out at 99 for the Angels last year. He has a 3.43 ERA, 9.4 K/9 and has even racked up nine saves in 76 major league innings over the past two seasons. He's a guy that could finish off games for years to come. The catch? He had Tommy John surgery in May. Another right-handed reliever, Jewell is also coming off an injury. He suffered a fractured fibula while covering home plate, but should be recovered sometime in December. He made his MLB debut for the Angels this year and topped out at 97 mph. He hasn’t posted big strikeout rates in the minors despite the velo, but Jewell gets a ton of ground balls with his hard sinker. Every year you have a Mike Trout in your organization is a year you need to be going for it, so the Angels have that incentive to improve. Shohei Ohtani had Tommy John surgery, but for now they’re expecting him to be available to DH next season. It’ll be interesting to see how that goes. The Angels do have Jo Adell, one of the top outfield prospects in baseball, but Kepler is a guy they can bank on to at the very least deliver similar production to what he’s given the Twins the past three seasons. There’s a lot of value in that to a team like the Angels who have question marks. Kyle Gibson to Milwaukee for Lucas Erceg Erceg, a left-handed hitting third baseman, is coming off a disappointing 2018 season in which he had a .688 OPS for the Brewers Double-A affiliate. He dealt with back issues in spring training, then was hit in the head by a pitch in April. Not sure if those things caused a slow start but they certainly couldn’t have had a positive impact. He played much better over his final 57 games of the season, posting a .761 OPS while slugging eight of his 13 homers on the season. In more than 500 plate appearances, Erceg had just 82 strikeouts, and there are no questions about his defense or especially his arm strength at third base. I think he’s also going to hit for power. Milwaukee had an incredible run this past season, but they need starting pitching help. Erceg is among their better prospects, but even with Mike Moustakas hitting free agency they still have Travis Shaw to play third base. Again, Gibby's only under contract for one more season. Jake Odorizzi to Oakland for Eli White White posted an .838 OPS in Double A last year while playing second base, shortstop, third base and even a little bit of center field. He has an advanced approach at the plate, but his tools aren't loud. Seems like the type of guy who, if he develops, could be a nice utility player. He's putting together a strong run in the AFL right now. Oakland’s already pretty stacked on the infield, but they could really use some more starting pitching. Billy Bean has indicated that payroll room won’t be an issue for the A’s in 2019, so they should have no trouble finding room for Odorizzi’s salary. This would be the fourth time Odorizzi would be traded. Trade Jason Castro, Michael Pineda and Addison Reed at the deadline. Unlike the names I mentioned above, this trio needs to build up value before teams are going to give up anything of significance to acquire them. All three need to prove that they’re healthy. Castro needs to show his knee is fully repaired and ready for the rigors of catching. Pineda’s arm should be recovered, but he’s now coming off knee surgery. Reed ended last season on the active roster, but his velocity dip is a huge red flag. All those question marks may dissolve with a few good months, and if that happens these guys could be hot commodities at the 2019 trade deadline. Depending on how things are progressing, at some point it would probably also make a lot of sense to trade away Trevor May, who’s only under team control through 2020. Ouch. That hurt to say too. What about all that money coming off the books? The big concern with implementing a plan like this is the message you’re sending to the guys you want to keep around. The best way to ease their minds would be to engage in extension talks with virtually every player you see fitting into the big picture, long term. You’re not going to work out a deal with all of them in one winter, but if you sign a couple extensions and at least show the other players you’re willing to invest in them further, I think the tear down becomes an easier pill to swallow. With this blueprint, it would definitely be possible to front load some extensions, providing guys with significant raises right away. I'd have to think that would be a nice motivational tool. I'm going to avoid throwing out any specifics here. If the trade market is a mysterious beast then projecting extensions is a mythical creature. With that said, let’s take a look at my projected 2019 Opening Day roster: Rotation: Jose Berrios, Michael Pineda, Adalberto Mejia, Fernando Romero and the winner of the fifth starter spring training battle royale. Bullpen: Trevor May, Taylor Rogers, Trevor Hildenberger, Addison Reed, Oliver Drake, Gabriel Moya and Jake Jewell. C: Jason Castro 1B: Tyler Austin 2B: Nick Gordon 3B: Miguel Sano SS: Jorge Polanco LF: Eddie Rosario CF: Byron Buxton RF: Jake Cave DH: Robbie Grossman Bench: Mitch Garver, Ehire Adrianza, Willians Astudillo Among the candidates for the fifth starter would be Kohl Stewart, Stephen Gonsalves, Zack Littell, Chase De Jong, Aaron Slegers, Lewis Thorpe and any of the bargain free agents. Out in the bullpen, Tyler Duffey, Alan Busenitz, John Curtiss, Matt Magill and Andrew Vasquez would all also be in the mix plus any of the thrift shop additions. This team might honestly get the Twins into hot water with the MLB because the payroll would be so ridiculously low. At the same time, I also think this team could probably still finish second in the AL Central in 2019. If Cleveland collapses and this team somehow finds itself in first place at the deadline, the front office would have both the payroll room and prospect capital to make some massive moves if they saw fit. Yes, I'm basically going to dare Nick Gordon to take over as the everyday second baseman. I know he had a terrible end to 2018, but that seems to be a bit of a trend for him. Adrianza is there and in this scenario you'd also go out and acquire another bargain bin insurance option a la Gregrio Petit. New additions Jahmai Jones and Eli White would be back in the high minors to start the year, but could pushing for promotions in the second half. If Gordon falters, one of those guys is next up. If nobody sticks come July ... Royce Lewis time?!?! Lucas Erceg would also be knocking at the door and would push Miguel Sano to a 1B/DH role upon his arrival. Out in the bullpen, Keynan Middleton would join that unit sometime in the second half once he was recovered from TJ. Even with trading away Kepler, there's still enough outfield depth that allows LaMonte Wade to start the year back in the minors. Brent Rooker would also be waiting in the wings for a shot at 1B/DH. This team would look a heck of a lot different after the trade deadline. There’s no way the Twins would do anything similar to what I’m suggesting here, right? Well, two moves made later this past season indicate to me that this front office already has 2020 vision. If they thought this team was going to be a legit contender next season, I don’t think they would have traded away Ryan Pressly and they would have prioritized getting Buxton more plate appearances in September over gaining another year of team control. Throughout the coming days there will be more blueprints offered up by others here at Twins Daily. I bargain that most of them will focus on how to build this team up to compete in 2019. I’m looking forward to seeing what everybody comes up with, and it’s possible that I’ll fall in love with someone else’s blueprint even above my own. Again, the one thing I want to see from the Twins going forward more than anything else is decisiveness. If they’re going to go for it, dive in head first. No more half measures. Please let me know what you think of this blueprint. If you’d like to take a crack at building a blueprint of your own, I think I speak for the entire Twins Daily community in saying we would love to read it. The best place to do that would be in the blog section or in the forum thread Nick started. Click here to view the article

This is a good talker. Machado is the one guy who would represent the biggest upgrade for the Twins in my opinion, but it would definitely be difficult to root for him. I think he lost himself a little bit of money with his play and personality in the postseason, but I still think he's going to make plenty enough where we won't have to worry about the Twins signing him. Who would I avoid? Among the guys I could see the Twins pursuing, Dallas Keuchel is the guy who I fear could end up being a poor investment. Where he's at right now reminds me a little bit of Jordan Zimmermann when he signed with Detroit. While the team has money to spend, the Twins still can't afford to make a bad investment like that one.

Among the best reasons to keep following the Twins over the course of the season was to see Joe Mauer, in possibly is final season, take aim at the record book. Joe’s legacy has already long been secure, but in 2018 he put his name atop several categories, surpassing some of the greatest and most beloved players in Twins history.The latest in the season the Twins held a record over .500 was April 21 when they were 8-7. Being basically a non-factor for so much of the summer put a strain on a fan base hungry for a contender. While the team never really found its footing, Mauer provided some nice alternate story lines to follow in his race to the top of several lists. A lot of the season’s brightest moments were provided courtesy of No. 7, but there was a time earlier in the season when I wasn’t convinced Mauer was ever going to play again. Joe made a few dives in the field on May 11, one of them particularly jarring, but passed concussion tests after that game. A little over a week later, he was experiencing balance issues and light sensitivity. Mauer was placed on the disabled list May 19 with what the team described as a cervical strain and concussion-like symptoms. The team made it sound like it was a precautionary move, but brain injuries are so mysterious and elusive. Even the team didn’t have a solid grasp on why the symptoms were ongoing. With his history of concussions, expiring contract and a growing family, I thought there was a chance that was the last we were going to see Joe in uniform. Looking from the outside in, it was easy to see plenty of reasons why he might just hang ‘em up right there and then. Thankfully, the issues subsided and Mauer was able to return to the Twins June 15. It took him some time to get back up to speed, but he went on to hit .298/.342/.411 (.753) over his final 78 games of the season. He capped it all off by hitting .379/.455/.488 (.903) over an emotional final home stand in which Twins Territory made sure it’s homegrown star knew he was appreciated. Here’s a quick look back at some of the milestone moments and big hits Mauer provided in 2018: More 2018 Highlights Walk-Off Wins Super Rosario and La Tortuga Top Pitching Performances Longest Home Runs Click here to view the article

Wow. This gives some new weight to everybody calling the team's higher ups "boy geniuses." Very happy for Baldelli, he's certainly a feel-good story. It makes me a little nervous that he's never managed, mainly because that mean's he's never handled a bullpen, but I'm positive he was grilled about that subject at length throughout the interview process. I look forward to seeing this club become Rocco's Modern Baseball Team.

No video, but just for fun here are the top five fastest pitches thrown from the Twins this season: 4. 98.4 mph - Fernando Romero, Alan Busenitz, Tyler Kinley 3. 98.5 mph - Ryan Pressly, John Curtiss 2. 98.6 mph - Fernando Rodney 1. 98.9 mph - Ryan Pressly

C'mon Mike, have a 'lil fun.

Eddie Rosario led the Twins with 24 home runs, followed by Max Kepler with 20 and Brian Dozier with 16, but neither of those three are represented among the players who slugged the five longest home runs for the Twins in 2018. Who made the list? Come check it out.Here are the top-five longest home runs hit by Twins batters in 2018, as measured by Statcast’s projected distance: 5. Logan Morrison, 442 feet off Glenn Sparkman on Aug. 4 It’s no surprise to see Sano and Austin top this list, but neither of them led the team in average home run distance this year. That title goes to Cave, whose 13 homers traveled an averaged distance of 419 feet. The runner-up was Mitch Garver, who averaged 408 feet on his seven home runs. Previous installments of the 2018 Highlights Series: Walk-Off Wins | I took a look back at all six of the Twins’ walk-off wins from 2018. Super Rosario and La Tortuga | Eddie Rosario and Willians Astudillo provided excitement in an otherwise down season. Here I reviewed some of their most entertaining moments. Top Pitching Performances | Here’s a look back at the top five outings of the season as rated by Game Score 2.0. Click here to view the article

One of the strange things about the 2018 season for the Twins was that the one thing that seems to be a constant organizational weakness — starting pitching — was an area they actually improved upon from the prior year. Join me as I take a look back at the best performances turned in by Twins starting pitchers this season.If you read the game recaps here at Twins Daily you should at least have some familiarity with the term Game Score. It’s a fun stat originally created by Bill James as a way to evaluate a starter’s performance. Tom Tango then built on that idea and developed Game Score 2.0. Here’s a link to some more information on how it works. On the downside, Game Score isn’t the most scientific of stats, but on the other hand it’s fairly simple and straightforward. Without further adieu, here are the top five Twins pitching performances of 2018 per Game Score 2.0: 5. Jose Berrios, 85 Game Score vs. STL on May 15 7.1 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 10 K That’s right, Berrios had all five of the best starts for the Twins as measured by Game Score 2.0. Kyle Gibson was the more consistent pitcher, but it was Berrios’ ability to go out and toss a gem that helped him earn a narrow victory in the voting for Twins Daily Pitcher of the Year. Speaking of Gibson, he just missed the cut, topping out at 84. He achieved that score on July 12 against Tampa Bay when he pitched eight innings of one-run ball with five hits, no walks and nine strikeouts. Jake Odorizzi’s best Game Score was a 78. That was the game where he carried a no-hitter late into the game, but ended up giving up a run on one hit and three walks over 7 1/3 innings, picking up five strikeouts in the process. In case you missed them, here are the previous installments of the 2018 Highlights Series: Walk-Off Wins | I took a look back at all six of the Twins’ walk-off wins from 2018. Super Rosario and La Tortuga | Eddie Rosario and Willians Astudillo provided excitement in an otherwise down season. Here I reviewed some of their most entertaining moments. Click here to view the article