Tom Froemming

On Mauer: As you said, it seems pretty clear that Joe's calling the shots, so we'll see. He still takes great at bats and is as good in the field as he's ever been, but at 36 next year he's just not going to play that often. It's pretty tough in the days of 13-man pitching staffs to carry multiple first basemen. It's nice that Austin and Sano (among others) can play first along with other positions, but I think Joe's presence on the roster would take the Twins out of the market for any of the 1B/DH types that are going to be available. It's just really difficult to roster two of those type guys. I'm terrified Mauer's going to suffer another head injury in some freak way that ends up being life-altering, so I'll be happy either way. If Joe's back, great. If not, at least that anxiety has been lifted. Plus, considering his playing time and positional limitations, there's definitely a chance this team may be better off without him (depending on the replacement options). On Buxton: Should the Twins deep down be rooting for a way to get that extra year? Absolutely. I'm surprised they're not lining his hotel rooms with bear traps right now. But keeping him down if he's healthy would be a terrible look. Can Byron do anything about it? No. Will other players/agents take notice of a stunt like that? Absolutely. What would be the consequences? I could see free agents viewing Minnesota as (even more) undesirable andcurrent Twins ruling out extension talks. I'm guessing this front office doesn't exactly have a sterling reputation among the guys in the clubhouse. This would make that even worse. It could even impact things all the way down to the draft. These days, teams have deals worked out with their picks in the early rounds before they're selected. If the numbers are close enough, would you want to reach an agreement with a team you suspect is holding down its young players in an effort to limit their earning potential, or somebody else? You just don't want to be tied to service time manipulation. Ugly reputation to have. Even if Byron was hitting .100 in Rochester, there's still plenty of reasons why you'd want to get him more plate appearances, or at the very least use him as a late-inning pinch runner/defensive replacement. What about the other circumstances in which service time has been manipulated? Those have primarily come at the beginning of a player's career. It's much easier to justify keeping a rookie off your 25-man roster early in the season than it is to keep a guy who got MVP votes and who was voted the best defensive player in the game off your roster that can be expanded to 40 spots when he's got nowhere else to play.

Willians Astudillo hit his first career home run, Joe Mauer notched the 1,000th run scored of his career, Robbie Grossman delivered a huge go-ahead hit with two outs and Eddie Rosario tallied three hits of his own. It was a mini breakout of the slump the Twins’ lineup had been enduring of late. Kohl Stewart was shaky but the bullpen was outstanding as the Twins earned a one-run victory at Cleveland Wednesday night.Snapshot (chart via FanGraphs) Starting Pitcher: 45 Game Score, 4.2 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 2 K, 2 BB, 59.6% strikes (56 of 94 pitches) Home Runs: Astudillo (1) Multi-Hit Games: Rosario (3-for-5, 2B), Grossman (2-for-3, 2B) WPA of 0.1 or higher: Grossman .356, Rogers .261, Hildenberger .216, Rosario .171 WPA of -0.1 or lower: Adrianza -.115, Stewart -.124, Cave -.126 Download attachment: WinChart829.png Astudillo, 26, has played 638 minor league games since debuting in 2009 as a 17-year-old in the now defunct Venezuelan Summer League. He bounced from the Phillies to the Braves to the Diamondbacks before landing with the Twins this offseason. All those years and he had never hit more than four home runs in a season. Astudillo broke out this year with 12 homers for Rochester, that combined with some good luck resulted in him getting the opportunity to finally reach the majors. Now he has his first big league home run. Stuff like this is why we continue to pay attention. Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Download attachment: Bullpen829.png Next Three Games Thu at CLE, 12:10 pm CT: Jake Odorizzi vs. Mike Clevinger Fri at TEX, 7:05 pm CT: TBD Sat at TEX, 7:05 pm CT: TBD Last Three Games CLE 8, MIN 1: Where Did the Runs Go? OAK 6, MIN 2: Austin Goes Deep Twice in Loss OAK 6, MIN 2: Gonsalves Gets Burned on Mistake Pitch Click here to view the article

The official rule is only part of the ball has to hit the strike zone, but another issue in this whole mess is that basically every umpire applies their own zone. That's not ideal, but also not a huge issue as long as the ump is consistent, which Jerry Meals was. Consistently wrong, but still ... Another monkey wrench in all this mess, and my guess as to why we haven't seen automation is this: "The official strike zone is the area over home plate from the midpoint between a batter's shoulders and the top of the uniform pants -- when the batter is in his stance and prepared to swing at a pitched ball -- and a point just below the kneecap. In order to get a strike call, part of the ball must cross over part of home plate while in the aforementioned area." So ... the actual strike zone is dependent on how a guy wears his uniform? This explanation leads to all sorts of interpretation (what the hell does "a point just below the kneecap" even mean? Can't be more specific?), but the one thing that it's clear on is the zone depends on the hitter. I don't believe things like the graphics I pulled from Baseball Savant or the pitch tracker on MLB's Gameday take that into account. Also, if this is how the umpires are really instructed to use as the zone, every bad hitter in baseball should just dramatically alter their stance to make the zone as tiny as possible.

I thought Dick & Roy had a good discussion about umpires on the broadcast. They acknowledged that umpires get the calls right something like 95% of the time, which is pretty impressive if you think about it, but that still leaves an unsatisfying amount of room for the guy behind the plate to influence the game on bad calls. I try not to get wrapped up into balls & strikes because 1) It is what it is, nothing we can do to change anything after the fact, and 2) You hope it goes both ways. And obviously the ump didn't factor in the outcome of a game that ended with a score of 8-1, but I still want to get into this a little deeper anyway. Here are all the balls called on Gibby. You're right on the money, he was not getting the low strike. And here are all the called strikes for Gibby. He was also getting a lot of calls outside the zone too. Garver absolutely has an impact on these results, and even beyond framing, maybe another catcher would have felt out the zone earlier and made the adjustment to give up on trying to get that low strike and call for more pitches in other locations instead. A lot of people would make the argument that this "human element" between the pitcher, catcher and umpire is good for the game. Personally, it drives me nuts. If we have the technology to implement an automated strike zone, it should be in place. Strikes should be strikes. Balls should be balls. That has more to do why my aversion to discussing balls and strikes than anything, I'm just so fed up with the way things are, even though I'll give the umps credit for being (for the most part) pretty darn good at what they do.

After an 8-1 loss at Cleveland, the Twins have failed to score more than two runs for the fourth-consecutive game. They’ve now tallied a total of six runs over their past four games. Cleveland had its stars shining in full light in what ended up being a convincing victory.Snapshot (chart via FanGraphs) Starting Pitcher: 39 Game Score, 5.1 IP, 8 H, 5 ER, 4 K, 3 BB, 58.3% strikes (60 of 103 pitches) Home Runs: Cave (7) Multi-Hit Games: Mauer (2-for-4, 2B) WPA of 0.1 or higher: None WPA of -0.1 or lower: Rosario -.101, Gibson -.126 Download attachment: WinChart828.png Kyle Gibson didn’t give up much loud contact, as all eight hits he surrendered were singles, but he also walked three batters and was consistently getting into trouble. But, as has been the case frequently of late, it didn’t matter much what the pitching staff does when you can’t get much offense going. Carlos Carrasco gets overshadowed by Corey Kluber, but he’s a pretty incredible pitcher in his own right. He’s been among the best handful of starters in the American League over the past five seasons, and tonight he had his A game working. Carrasco held Minnesota scoreless over 7 2/3 innings and racked up 11 strikeouts. When Cleveland’s first four hitters are rolling (Francisco Lindor, Michael Brantley, Jose Ramirez and Edwin Encarnacion), this is a very difficult team to beat. That quartet combined to go 11-for-17. Joe Mauer had a nice game, going 2-for-4 with a double, and Jake Cave delivered the Twins’ only run with a home run with one out in the ninth inning. Tyler Austin was 0-for-4 with three strikeouts. Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Download attachment: Bullpen828.png Next Three Games Wed at CLE, 6:10 pm CT: Kohl Stewart vs. Adam Plutko Thu at CLE, 12:10 pm CT: Jake Odorizzi vs. Mike Clevinger Fri at TEX, 7:05 pm CT: TBD Last Three Games OAK 6, MIN 2: Austin Goes Deep Twice in Loss OAK 6, MIN 2: Gonsalves Gets Burned on Mistake Pitch OAK 7, MIN 1: Puckett 2,304, Mauer 2,086, Carew 2,085 Click here to view the article

Seems real strange you'd want to drag that out over here then. Got any thoughts to share about last Wednesday's minor league report while you're at it?

1) You really don't think Joe Mauer reaching that milestone was the most significant thing that happened this week? 2) Pretty much every player in baseball right now has made more per hit than Rod Carew did. Get over it.

It doesn't really get any less weird as you keep going through the top 10... 6.7% Nelson Cruz 6.7% Mark Reynolds 6.5% Jesus Aguilar 6.5% Jose Ramirez 6.4% Matt Adams Some other fun observations with this stat: 6.2% Ronald Acuna 6.1% Mike Trout 5.8% Aaron Judge 5.6% Giancarlo Stanton and Daniel Palka 4.5% Miguel Sano and Aaron Hicks 4.0% Eddie Rosario 3.7% Eduardo Escobar 3.6% Max Kepler 3.4% Brian Dozier 3.3% Jake Cave 3.2% Niko Goodrum 3.0% is league average

MLB leaders in HR% (min. 175 PAs) 7.9% Tyler Austin 7.8% Max Muncy 7.4% Khris Davis 7.1% J.D. Martinez 6.9% Joey Gallo

Tyler Austin blasted two more home runs Sunday afternoon, one into the Catch area above the center field batter’s eye, giving him six homers in just 12 games with the Twins. Unfortunately, that was all the offense the Twins could muster as they lost their third straight game to the A’s.Snapshot (chart via FanGraphs) Berrios: 43 Game Score, 5.0 IP, 8 H, 3 ER, 4 K, 0 BB, 63.8% strikes (60 of 94 pitches) Home Runs: Austin 2 (14) Multi-Hit Games: Polanco (2-for-3), Austin (2-for-4, 2 HR) WPA of 0.1 or higher: Austin .164 WPA of -0.1 or lower: Garver -.119, Grossman -.142, Magill -.185 Download attachment: WinChart826.png Austin has six homers in just 46 plate appearances so far with Minnesota, and 14 total in 178 PAs on the season. That 7.9 HR% would lead the league if he had enough playing time to qualify (Oakland’s Khris Davis is the top dog at 7.5%). His first homer was a mammoth blast to center … The only other extra-base hit the Twins had was a double from Mitch Garver. After a stretch of strong offensive performances, the Twins have managed just five runs over their past three games. Jose Berrios started today’s game, and had to be checked out by the training staff in the first inning. La MaKina was sitting 90-91 mph in that first inning, but he stayed in the game and appeared to loosen up as things progressed. By the third inning he was consistently hitting 93-94 mph with his four-seam fastball. Berrios gave up three runs on eight hits over his five innings of work. He struck out four. Matt Magill,the first man out of the bullpen, gave up three solo homers in an inning. Taylor Rogers (1 2/3 innings) and Trevor Hildenberger (1 1/3 innings) kept things clean from there, but the damage had been done. Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Download attachment: Bullpen826.png Next Three Games Mon: OFF Tue at CLE, 6:10 pm CT: Kyle Gibson vs. Carlos Carrasco Wed at CLE, 6:10 pm CT: Kohl Stewart vs. Adam Plutko Thu at CLE, 12:10 pm CT: Jake Odorizzi vs. Mike Clevinger Last Three Games OAK 6, MIN 2: Gonsalves Gets Burned on Mistake Pitch OAK 7, MIN 1: Puckett 2,304, Mauer 2,086, Carew 2,085 MIN 6, OAK 4: Twins Top Red-Hot A’s Click here to view the article

Thanks Seth!

Tyler Wells continued to turn heads for the Lookouts tonight, lowering his Southern League ERA to 1.67. Also, in an E-Town win, Gilberto Celestino hit his first homer since joining the org, Akil Baddoo reached safely four times in a Cedar Rapids victory and Alex Kirilloff hit his 18th home run of the season. Come check out what else happened around the minor leagues Saturday.TRANSACTIONS To Fort Myers: RHP Edwar Colina To Cedar Rapids: LHP Zach Neff, RHP Carlos Suniaga Also, Jordan Balazovic was placed on the Kernels’ DL and it was reported that Michael Pineda’s rehab assignment has been put on hold due to concerns over some soreness in his knees. RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 3, Syracuse 1 Box Score W: Luke Bard (3.0 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 0 K) SV: John Curtiss (1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 0 K) SP: Ryan Eades (3.0 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K) HR: None Multi-hit games: None Rochester scored all three of their runs on a two-out rally in the fifth inning. It all started with catcher Juan Graterol drawing a walk. Alex Perez followed with a single, which chased Syracuse’s starter from the game. Byron Buxton was hit by a pitch to load the bases, then Nick Gordon drew an RBI walk. Gregorio Petit capped it off with a two-run single. D.J. Baxendale had an impressive night, striking out four of the six batters he faced over 1 2/3 scoreless innings. John Curtiss struggled some with his control, throwing just 17 of his 33 pitches for strikes, but still picked up his ninth save. Buxton was 1-for-3 with a single, a hit-by-pitch and two strikeouts. He also threw out a runner at home to end the sixth inning. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Jacksonville 5, Chattanooga 4 Box Score SP: Tyler Wells (6.0 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 7 K) HR: Andy Wilkins (8) Multi-hit games: Tanner English (2-for-2, 3B) This game started out as a pitchers duel, with Tyler Wells absolutely dealing for the Lookouts. The first run of the game didn’t come until the top of the eighth inning when Jacksonville took a 1-0 lead. Things got real interesting from there. Chattanooga responded with four runs in the bottom of the eighth, but their bullpen could not make that lead hold up, as they surrendered four runs right back to Jacksonville in the top of the ninth. Andy Wilkins delivered the big hit for Chattanooga, hitting a go-ahead, three-run homer with two outs in the eighth. Circling back to Wells, after six innings of shutout ball, his ERA is down to 1.67 since joining the Lookouts. He threw 63 of his 92 pitches for strikes and punched out seven batters. He’s given up just five earned runs in 27 innings for Chattanooga and has struck out 31 batters in the process. MIRACLE MATTERS St. Lucie 5, Fort Myers 2 Box Score SP: Griffin Jax (5.0 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 4 BB, 1 K) HR: Alex Kirilloff (5) Multi-hit games: Alex Kirilloff (2-for-4, HR), Robbie Rinn (2-for-4) Griffin Jax had his worst start of the season and the Miracle could not recover. Jax tied a season high with four earned runs and issued four walks in a start for the first time in 24 professional appearances. Alex Kirilloff hit a home run, his fifth with the Miracle and 18th overall this season. Adam Bray pitched the final three innings, giving up one run on two hits to go along with three strikeouts. The Minneapolis native and South Dakota State product has a 1.27 ERA in 17 games with Fort Myers. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 6, Kane County 2 Box Score W: Carlos Suniaga (5.0 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 K) HR: Michael Davis (7) Multi-hit games: Akil Baddoo (3-for-4, BB), Michael Helman (2-for-5, 2B), Trevor Larnach (2-for-4), Michael Davis 2-for-4, HR) The Kernels had two runs on the board before they even made an out in the bottom of the first inning and cruised to victory. Leadoff man Akil Baddoo filled up the stat sheet, reaching base four times. He also stole his 22nd base of the season. A quartet of 2018 draftees had big games as well. First-round pick Trevor Larnach was 2-for-4, pushing his batting average since joining the Kernels to .310, and drove in two runs. Michael Helman, an 11th-round pick, was 2-for-5 with a double and is hitting .368 in 19 games with Cedar Rapids. Michael Davis, selected in the 24th round, hit a two-run homer, his seventh with the Kernels. Finally, 31st-round pick Zach Neff logged 2 2/3 scoreless innings of one-hit ball to go with three strikeouts in his Midwest League debut. E-TWINS E-NOTES Elizabethton 7, Bristol 5 Box Score W: Josh Winder (5.0 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 7 K) SV: Erik Cha (2.2 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K) HR: Yunior Severino (7), Gilberto Celestino (1) Multi-hit games: Gilberto Celestino (3-for-4, HR), Yelstin Encarnacion (2-for-4) E-Town jumped out to an early 4-0 lead and fended off multiple comeback attempts by the Pirates to improve their record to 36-26 this season. Josh Winder put together a solid start and Yunior Severino socked a two-run homer in the second inning. Gilberto Celestino, acquired in the Ryan Pressly deal, hit his first homer since joining the Twins and finished 3-for-4 with three RBIs. Erik Cha, making his Appy League debut, inherited a one-run lead with one out and a runner on in the seventh inning. He gave up one hit and one walk over 2 2/3 scoreless innings to earn the save, striking out five of the 11 batters he faced in the process. GCL TWINS TAKES GCL Twins 7, GCL Red Sox 6 (13 innings) Box Score W: Michael Montero (3.2 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K) SP: Kai-Wei Teng (4.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K) HR: Shane Carrier (1) Multi-hit games: Estamy Urena (3-for-5), Shane Carrier (2-for-5, HR) Michael Montero entered this game with one out in the top of the 10th inning, after the Red Sox had scored the go-ahead run. He got out of a jam, recording the last two outs with runners on first and second base. Charles Mack tied it back up with a sac fly in the bottom of the 10th, and Montero just kept cruising. Despite having a runner start on second base each inning, Montero posted zeros in the 11th, 12th and 13th innings. Finally, in the bottom of the 13th Hunter Lee hit a walk-off single. Shane Carrier hit a three-run homer with two outs in the seventh inning. STARS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day: Tyler Wells, Chattanooga Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day: Gilberto Celestino, Elizabethton TOP PROSPECT SUMMARY Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed 1. Royce Lewis (FM): 1-for-5, R, K 2. Alex Kirilloff (FM): 2-for-4, HR, RBi, R 3. Brusdar Graterol (FM): Did not pitch. 4. Nick Gordon (ROC): 1-for-2, 2 BB, RBI 5. Stephen Gonsalves (MIN): Promoted to the Twins. 6. Trevor Larnach (CR): 2-for-4, 2 RBI, K 7. Brent Rooker (CHAT): 1-for-4, R, K 8. Akil Baddoo (CR): 3-for-4, BB, 2 R, K, SB 9. Wander Javier: Out of for the season 10. Zack Littell (ROC): Did not pitch. 11. Blayne Enlow (CR): Did not pitch. 12. LaMonte Wade (ROC): Did not play. 13. Travis Blankenhorn (FM): 0-for-4, K 14. Lewis Thorpe (CHAT): Did not pitch. 15. Ben Rortvedt (FM): 1-for-4 16. Yunior Severino (ET): 1-for-3, HR, 2 BB, 2 RBI, 2 R, K) 17. Lewin Diaz (FM): Out for the season. 18. Ryan Jeffers (CR): Did not play. 19. Jacob Pearson (CR): 1-for-4, R, K 20. Luis Arraez (CHAT): 0-for-1, K (as a pinch hitter) SUNDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester at Syracuse, 12:05 pm CT: Lewis Thorpe Chattanooga vs. Jacksonville, 1:15 pm CT: TBD Fort Myers at St. Lucie, 11:00 am CT: TBD Cedar Rapids vs. Kane County, 2:05 pm CT: Tyler Watson Elizabethton at Bristol, 5:00 pm CT: TBD GCL Twins: Off Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the games. Click here to view the article

Stephen Gonsalves had a much better go of things his second time around with the Twins, but I’m sure really wishes he could have one pitch back. The end result wasn’t great but as it turned out, Gonsalves would have had to have been close to perfect tonight for the Twins to have a chance. The bats could only muster a pair of runs against the A’s.Snapshot (chart via FanGraphs) Gonsalves: 32 Game Score, 5.0 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 2 K, 4 BB, 53.3% strikes (48 of 90 pitches) Home Runs: Sano (12), Austin (12) Multi-Hit Games: Mauer (2-for-5), Austin (2-for-4, HR) WPA of 0.1 or higher: None WPA of -0.1 or lower: Kepler -.106, Gonsalves -.148, Rosario -.186 Download attachment: WinChart825.png Even when things are going well for Gonsalves, he has a tendency to struggle with his control. He’s still been effective, however, because he very rarely makes true mistake pitches. It’s one thing to throw non-competitive pitches out of the zone and another to serve up meatballs over the plate. Gonsalves ran into some trouble in the fourth inning, and got further into a jam due to some of those control problems. With two outs and a runner on first, he issued a five-pitch walk to fellow rookie Ramon Laureano, who had only drawn one base on balls in 45 MLB plate appearances coming into tonight. A two-out walk, well that’s no big deal as long as you just get the next guy, right? Gonsalves left a rare cookie over the heart of the plate on his first pitch to Jonathan Lucroy, who blasted the changeup into the seats for a three-run homer. Manager Paul Molitor called it the biggest pitch of the game. "Gonsalves was a little bit better. He had some command issues at times. The changeup that Lucroy hit was obviously a missed spot, and that was probably the biggest swing of the game." Pitching coach Garvin Alston had just come out to the mound to discuss Lucroy with Gonsalves and Willians Astudillo. Gonsalves said they knew he would swing at the first pitch. Gonsalves said after the game, "Garvin came out and said ‘Hey, he’s swinging 0-0. So what do you want to throw -- a changeup or a fastball?’ I was locating my changeup pretty well the first couple innings, so I said let’s throw a changeup and hopefully we’d get him to pop out. It was the only changeup that cut on me. Unfortunately, it came back over the plate and caught his barrel." Oakland did Gonsalves some favors in that fourth inning, running into two outs on the bases, but you still can’t help but wonder how things may have turned out if he had that one pitch back. As it was, Gonsalves gave up four earned runs on seven hits and four walks in five innings pitched. Both of the Twins’ runs tonight came on solo home runs, as Miguel Sano and Tyler Austin both went deep. Sano’s blast had an exit velocity of 113.8 mph. Molitor was impressed with the Sano homer. "I didn’t lose that fact that honoring Jim the way we did and then having the mammoth blast from Miggy. It was a good atbat too. He had gotten him out on a 3-1 changeup the first time, and it looked like he had him set up for maybe the fastball after showing him a couple more off-speed pitches in that particular at bat. Yeah, he quick snatched it and it kind of went to a place where not many men can go, as they say." The lineup combined to go just 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position and struck out 10 times. Eddie Rosario was 0-for-4 with three strikeouts and left five men on base. Jake Cave, playing right field tonight, had two outfield assists. Out of the bullpen, Alan Busenitz delivered two scoreless innings before Gabriel Moya gave up three runs in his inning of work. Trevor May finished things off with a scoreless eighth that included three strikeouts. Since his return from Tommy John surgery, May has given up three runs in 11 ⅔ innings (2.31 ERA) and has 16 strikeouts against just two walks. Before the game, the Twins recognized Jim Thome, who was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame this year. While Thome only played roughly seven percent of his big league career with Minnesota, tonight’s ceremony was proof that he left quite an impression on Twins Territory. Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Download attachment: Bullpen825.png Next Three Games Sun vs. OAK, 1:10 pm CT: Jose Berrios vs. Brett Anderson Mon: OFF Tue at CLE, 6:10 pm CT: TBD Wed at CLE, 6:10 pm CT: TBD Last Three Games OAK 7, MIN 1: Puckett 2,304, Mauer 2,086, Carew 2,085 MIN 6, OAK 4: Twins Top Red-Hot A’s CHW 7, MIN 3: Sox Get to Gibby Click here to view the article

Joe Mauer passed Rod Carew on the all-time Twins hit list with a fifth-inning single Friday night at Target Field. With 2,086 hits, he now trails only Kirby Puckett on the Minnesota Twins franchise leaderboard. I’m sure he would have preferred to reach that milestone in a victory, but unfortunately the Twins fell to Oakland 7-1.Snapshot (chart via FanGraphs) Odorizzi: 68 Game Score, 7.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 4 K, 1 BB, 66.7% strikes (72 of 108 pitches) Home Runs: None Multi-Hit Games: Rosario (2-for-4), Grossman (2-for-3) WPA of 0.1 or higher: Rosario .143, Odorizzi .139 WPA of -0.1 or lower: Sano -.107, Drake -.215 Download attachment: WinChart824.png Jake Odorizzi pitched seven innings … wait, hold up, that can’t be right. Odo, as was on his Player’s Weekend jersey, managed to hold Oakland to two runs (one earned) on five hits and a walk, throwing 108 pitches in the process. This was the first time Odorizzi recorded an out in the seventh inning for the Twins. The last time he completed seven innings was July 17, 2017. The bullpen was not as good. Not at all. Oliver Drake gave up three runs in the eighth and then Addison Reed gave up a pair of runs in the ninth. Mauer’s big milestone hit was the highlight of the night for the bats, as the only run of the game for the Twins was driven in on a Miguel Sano sacrifice fly. Memorable accomplishment for Joe, forgettable night for the Twins. Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Download attachment: Bullpen824.png Next Three Games Sat vs. OAK, 6:10 pm CT: Stephen Gonsalves vs. Mike Fiers Sun vs. OAK, 1:10 pm CT: Jose Berrios vs. Brett Anderson Mon: OFF Tue at CLE, 6:10 pm CT: TBD Last Three Games MIN 6, OAK 4: Twins Top Red-Hot A’s CHW 7, MIN 3: Sox Get to Gibby MIN 5, CHW 2: Wild Final Inning Puts Twins Over Click here to view the article

Oakland has been one of the hottest teams in baseball, but the Twins managed to pull off a comeback victory. Kohl Stewart ran into some trouble in the second inning, allowing the A’s to take a 2-0 lead, but a string of timely hitting quickly pushed the Twins on top for good.Snapshot (chart via FanGraphs) Stewart: 41 Game Score, 4.2 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 6 K, 2 BB, 57.1% strikes (56 of 98 pitches) Home Runs: Kepler (18) Multi-Hit Games: None WPA of 0.1 or higher: Garver .180, Busenitz .108 WPA of -0.1 or lower: Forsythe -.120 Download attachment: WinChart823.png Stewart didn’t have a good stat line tonight, see above, but he did strike out six of the 23 batters he faced (26.1 percent) and got 11 swinging strikes on his 98 pitches (11.2 percent), both of those marks are above the league average for starting pitchers. In the fifth inning, Stewart gave up a leadoff double to Matt Chapman, who eventually scored on a wild pitch to make it 5-3 Twins. With two outs, Matt Olson hit a double and that was it for Stewart. I noticed on the game thread here on the site there were a few people scratching their heads as to why Paul Molitor didn’t let Stewart try to work out of the jam and potentially earn the victory (he only needed one more out to qualify). The Twins are pretty conservative with their young starters down on the farm. In 21 minor league starts, Stewart topped out at 100 pitches and only eclipsed 90 pitches 11 times. In 23 total starts between all levels heading into tonight’s game, Stewart had averaged 84 pitches. Anyway, Alan Busenitz came in and walked the first batter he faced, then nearly gave up a run but was bailed out by a terrific play by Eddie Rosario and Mitch Garver. The Twins had a great night with runners in scoring position, going 4-for-6. Rosie got the Twins on the board in the third inning with an RBI single, stole second base and then scored on a Jorge Polanco single. In the fourth inning, Jake Cave and Ehire Adrianza hit consecutive singles before Garver delivered a two-run double. He then scored on a Joe Mauer single. The final run came on Max Kepler’s 18th home run of the season. Bobby Wilson appeared to have suffered a leg injury in the top of the fourth inning, but remained behind the plate for the final two outs. He was replaced by a pinch hitter in the bottom half of that inning. Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Download attachment: Bullpen823.png Next Three Games Fri vs. OAK, 7:10 pm CT: Jake Odorizzi vs. Sean Manaea Sat vs. OAK, 6:10 pm CT: Stephen Gonsalves vs. Mike Fiers Sun vs. OAK, 1:10 pm CT: Jose Berrios vs. Brett Anderson Last Three Games CHW 7, MIN 3: Sox Get to Gibby MIN 5, CHW 2: Wild Final Inning Puts Twins Over CHW 8, MIN 5: At Least That’s out of the Way Click here to view the article

I think this point is something that gets overlooked a lot from a fan's perspective, but I'm sure this is a huge factor in who an organization chooses to manage. And to that point, I think Paul Molitor is very good. Also, if anything, the Twins' "brand" is elevated by being connected to a Hall of Fame player from Minnesota. I don't think you could say the same kind of thing about, say, Derek Shelton or a lot of other potential replacements.