Tom Froemming

He absolutely deserves it. Ervin Santana should be grateful he has an opportunity to keep pitching in the major leagues right now. This isn't the media using Santana to obtain inside information, I don't think Mike set him up to take a cheap shot at the front office, this is Ervin using the media to be a cry baby. It's good that he's frustrated about how the season went, he should be, but that's not the way to go about voicing frustrations. He also should also be able to acknowledge a part of what's unfolded lies upon his own shoulders. If this is what comes out when he ventures outside of the "PR handbook," then he should probably stick to the script.

Here's the projected 2019 rotation right now: Berrios Gibson Odorizzi Pineda Mejia It's likely somebody in that mix will be hurt, but it's also likely there will be another addition over the offseason, whether it be via free agency or from a trade. So as it stands, all of the prospects are already on the outside looking in even next season. Ervin would have to return to his 2017 form in short order and sustain that through the rest of the season for me to seriously consider bringing him back.

Was he paying attention to the game? Logan Forsythe, Brian Dozier's replacement, had two hits. Ehire Adrianza, playing Eduardo Escobar's old position tonight, had three hits. But it's too bad the deflated bullpen blew it. Oh wait, no, Oliver Drake threw two no-hit innings. Hell of a thing for him to say on a night where the replacement guys were great.

It’s easy to forget just how good Ervin Santana was for the 2017 Minnesota Twins. He was an All-Star, finished fifth in the American League in both ERA and WHIP. He was seventh in Cy Young Award voting. Ervin made his fourth start of this season, and saw his ERA jump to 6.53.Snapshot (chart via FanGraphs) Ervin Santana: 44 Game Score, 6.0 IP, 3 H, 5 ER, 5 K, 2 BB, 58.5% strikes (55 of 94 pitches) Multi-Hit Games: Ehire Adrianza (3-for-4, 2B) Jorge Polanco (2-for-4, 2B), Logan Forsythe (2-for-4), Jake Cave (2-for-4, 2B) WPA of 0.1 or higher: Forsythe .153 WPA of -0.1 or lower: Kepler -.101, Morrison -.129, Mauer -.165 Santana -.223 Download attachment: WinChart810.png Santana topped out a 90.6 mph and averaged 88.8 mph with his fastball tonight. To his credit, he was able to stay one step ahead of most batters. Ervin only allowed three hits over his six innings of work, but two of them came in the form of two-run homers. It’s actually been impressive to see Ervin execute with diminished stuff, in sort of a depressing way. He should be getting clobbered. Like bounced outta the game in the second inning clobbered. The lineup certainly could have executed better. The Twins outhit the Tigers 10-3, but were only 1-for-5 with runners in scoring position. Detroit even committed two errors, but the Twins couldn’t capitalize. It’s pretty fun to see what Niko Goodrum is doing with Detroit. He hit his 11th home run of the season tonight and has a .720 OPS. After the game, Santana did what you'd expect a professional veteran ballplayer to do. He took responsibility for his shortcomings and ... oh wait, no, he didn't. Jump head to about the 1:20 mark on this postgame interview: My take: It's not like Ervin is going on a rampage here, but that's not his style. Still, I say just let him go. Honestly. I'm already wondering if this finger injury has derailed his career, he's certainly not getting his $14 million option picked up and now he's taking shots at the front office. Even worse, by saying "it’s difficult to play without our good pieces" Santana is being disrespectful to his new teammates who've joined the club in the wake of those players leaving. Just end it now, there are plenty of other starting pitchers dying to get an opportunity. Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Download attachment: Bullpen810.png AL Central Standings CLE 64-50 MIN 53-62 (-11.5) DET 48-68 (-17) CHW 41-73 (-23) KC 35-79 (-29) Next Three Game Sat at DET, 5:10 pm CT: Kyle Gibson vs. Francisco Liriano Sun at DET, 12:10 pm CT: Kohl Stewart vs. Matt Boyd Mon: Off Tue vs. PIT, 7:10 pm CT: TBD vs. Jameson Taillon Last Three Games LE 5, MIN 4: Walks and a Walk-Off CLE 5, MIN 2: Cleveland Prevails on Lindor Walk-Off Homer MIN 3, CLE 2: Mitch Garver Makes it Rain Click here to view the article

Mike Berardino of the Pioneer Press reported Friday evening that Kohl Stewart has been scratched from his expected start at Triple-A Rochester becuase he's getting the call up to the big leagues. The assumption is that Stewart will be starting Sunday in Detroit in place of Adalberto Mejia, who was recently placed on the DL.Stewart, the No. 4 overall pick of the 2013 MLB Draft, has posted a 4.47 ERA, 1.49 WHIP and 3.06 K:BB ratio between 68 innings for Chattanooga and another 40 2/3 for Rochester. He is not currently on the 40-man roster, but the Fernando Rodney trade opened up a spot. Stewart had really hit his stride in his last five appearances for the Red Wings. In 30 1/3 innings, Stewart had only allowed eight earned runs (2.37 ERA), though that's come with a less impressive 19 strikeouts. The Texas native came in at No. 23 on the Twins Daily Midseason Top Prospect List. It's been a weird year for Stewart. He went unprotected and then unselected in the Rule 5 Draft this winter. Then there were rumors that he was mulling a return to the gridiron. Those rumors turned out to be false. Now here he is, on the cusp of becoming a major leaguer. Stewart's promotion comes as a surprise because the Twins had quite a few other options that were worthy of consideration. Fernando Romero, Zack Littell, Stephen Gonsalves and Lewis Thorpe were all already on the 40 man. Here is Berardino's full article on the move, which also includes some notes on Adalberto Mejia and Fernando Rodney Click here to view the article

This seems like a smart move, but I'm honestly going to miss Fernando. He was fun and he got the job done more often than not. Definitely lived up to his nickname, but I enjoyed watching him work.

OK, this has been updated with some of the usual bells and whistles.

Jose Berrios vs. Corey Kluber had all the makings of an epic pitcher’s duel, but our guy had a ton of trouble finding the strike zone today. Berrios issued a career-high six bases on balls and lasted just four innings. Still, the Twins stormed back from a 4-0 deficit to tie the game in the sixth inning. The Bullpen locked things down until the Twins suffered yet another walk-off loss, their 12th of the season.Snapshot (chart via FanGraphs) Jose Berrios: 31 Game Score, 4.0 IP, 4 H, 4 ER, 5 K, 6 BB, 55.7% strikes (54 of 97 pitches) Home Runs: Jorge Polanco (1) WPA of 0.1 or higher: Moya .172, Polanco .180, Rogers .106 WPA of -0.1 or lower: Adrianza -.130 Berios -.190, Reed -.325 Download attachment: chart.png Jorge Polanco sure picked a good time to hit his first home run of the season. With the Twins trailing 4-1 in the sixth inning, Polanco pulled a 1-0 cutter out of the park for a game-tying tater. So we all know Kluber is already unreal on his own, right? Well it really makes things difficult when he’s fooling even the umpire. I try really hard to avoid mentioning balls and strikes in these recaps because I feel like things typically even out over the course of a game, but there’s no avoiding the impact home plate umpire Adrian Johnson had on today’s contest. Immediately after Polanco’s game-tying homer, it was as if a switch went off in Johnson’s head that he was going to start giving an extra couple inches to Cleveland’s ace. Right after Ehire Adrianza was called out on strikes to open the seventh inning, Twins hitting coach James Rowson had enough and was ejected from the game. You don’t see coaches getting tossed like that often, but it’s nice to see Rowson standing up for his guys. Here's Kluber's called strikes via Baseball Savant: Download attachment: KluberCalls.png That one way above the top of the zone was the call on Adrianza. One guy who didn't have to worry about getting bad calls was Eddie Rosario. That's because he's swinging at everything right now. Check out the location of some of these pitches Rosie swung at today: Download attachment: RosieSwings.png This game remained tied thanks to some strong performances from the Twins bullpen. Gabriel Moya threw 2 2/3 no-hit innings and was followed by a perfect inning of work from Taylor Rogers. Addison Reed came in and got the final out of the eighth inning and stayed in for the ninth. It didn’t go so well. Greg Allen hit a leadoff single, stole second base, advanced to third on a ground out and scored the winning run on a Michael Brantley single. Postgame With Molitor Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Download attachment: Bullpen89.png AL Central Standings CLE 64-50 MIN 53-61 (-11) DET 47-68 (-17.5) CHW 41-73 (-23) KC 35-79 (-29) Next Three Game Fri at DET, 6:10 pm CT: Ervin Santana vs. Jordan Zimmermann Sat at DET, 5:10 pm CT: Kyle Gibson vs. Francisco Liriano Sun at DET, 12:10 pm CT: TBD vs. Matt Boyd Last Three Games CLE 5, MIN 2: Cleveland Prevails on Lindor Walk-Off Homer MIN 3, CLE 2: Mitch Garver Makes it Rain CLE 10, MIN 0: Who Needs Chris Gimenez? Click here to view the article

The most I'd probably give Gibson is 3-years, $35 million. Assuming the qualifying offer isn't going anywhere (which may not be a safe assumption to make), the Twins can control Gibby for the next two seasons at something like $27 million. After that, he'll be heading into his age 33 season. I'd much rather see any extra money potentially headed Gibson's way be directed toward adding a year or two of control to the younger guys, much like what Cleveland did with Kluber, Carrasco and Jose Ramirez.

It’s pretty difficult to win when your defense commits three errors, but the Twins nearly did just that this evening. Miguel Sano hit a game-tying home run in the top of the ninth, Max Kepler made a great catch as he crashed into the wall in the bottom of the ninth, but Francisco Lindor decided he’d just go ahead and hit one over the wall to walk it off.Snapshot (chart via FanGraphs) Jake Odorizzi: 50 Game Score, 4.2 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 0 K, 2 BB, 58.4% strikes Home Runs: Miguel Sano (8) Multi-Hit Games: Miguel Sano (2-for-4, 2B, HR), Logan Forsythe (2-for-4, 2B) WPA of 0.1 or higher: Sano .342, Forsythe .173 WPA of -0.1 or lower: Adrianza -.119, Kepler -.158, Polanco -.167, Morrison -.176 Hildenberger -.353 Download attachment: WinChart88.png Jake Cave committed a fielding error that led to the game’s first run and both Mitch Garver and Trevor May committed throwing errors. Garver was also picked off at second base, likely costing the Twins a run, and the team combined to go 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position. Given those circumstances, it’s actually pretty incredible this game was tied heading into the bottom of the ninth. Miguel Sano had an outstanding game. He made a couple of nice plays in the field, hit a double and that huge homer off Cody Allen to tie it up. It was the first time Sano has hit a home run since his return from the minors. Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Download attachment: Bullpen88.png AL Central Standings CLE 63-50 MIN 53-60 (-10) DET 47-68 (-17) CHW 41-72 (-22) KC 35-79 (-28.5) Next Three Game Thu at CLE, 12:10 pm CT: Jose Berrios vs. Corey Kluber Fri at DET, 6:10 pm CT: Ervin Santana vs. Jordan Zimmermann Sat at DET, 5:10 pm CT: Kyle Gibson vs. Francisco Liriano Last Three Games MIN 3, CLE 2: Mitch Garver Makes it Rain CLE 10, MIN 0: Who Needs Chris Gimenez? MIN 6, KC 5: Cave Slugs Grand Slam as Twins Sweep Royals Click here to view the article

Since the All-Star break, Garver has 10 starts behind the plate to Wilson's eight, and has also started two other games at DH. Baby steps. Something to keep in mind is the most games Garver has ever caught in one season is 67 (last year) and he's already been back there for 62 games this year.

Monday night, Mitch Garver got the opportunity to pitch in a blowout. Tonight, he hit a three-run homer. Is 2018 baseball weird, or what? Garver’s three-run blast in the second set the tone for this game.Snapshot (chart via FanGraphs) Adalberto Mejia: 69 Game Score, 5.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 3 K, 1 BB, 61.8% strikes (68 pitches, 42 strikes) Home Runs: Mitch Garver (6) Multi-Hit Games: Eddie Rosario (4-for-5, 2 2B), Jorge Polanco (2-for-5), Logan Forsythe (2-for-2, BB) WPA of 0.1 or higher: Mejia .263, Garver .137 WPA of -0.1 or lower: Morrison -.109 Download attachment: WinChart87.png This game was delayed more than two hours due to rain. It started coming down again in the second inning, but Garver didn’t seem to mind. Adalberto Mejia gave up just one hit over five shutout innings, but was removed from this game due to a left wrist strain after just 68 pitches. Though Garver’s blast provided all the runs, the Twins’ best bat tonight was Eddie Rosario. He was 4-for-5 with two doubles and was thrown out at second trying to stretch another single into a two-bagger. This was Rosie’s third four-hit game of the season. Gabriel Moya and Taylor Rogers turned in scoreless innings before Trevor Hildenberger gave up a pair of runs in the eighth. Fernando Rodney earned his 25th save of the season, giving the Twins a rare victory in a one-run game. Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Download attachment: Bullpen87.png Next Three Games Wed at CLE, 6:10 pm CT: Jake Odorizzi vs. Mike Clevinger Thu at CLE, 12:10 pm CT: Jose Berrios vs. Corey Kluber Fri at DET, 6:10 pm CT: TBD Last Three Games CLE 10, MIN 0: Who Needs Chris Gimenez? MIN 6, KC 5: Cave Slugs Grand Slam as Twins Sweep Royals MIN 8, KC 2: New Twins Ace Wins in Front of Old Twins Ace Click here to view the article

Welp, everybody’s been saying Mitch Garver isn’t playing enough, be careful what you wish for. Garver made his first appearance on the mound tonight in the ninth inning of a 10-0 game. And you know what? He was the only Twins pitcher who didn’t surrender a run. Chris Gimenez, eat your heart out.Snapshot (chart via FanGraphs) Kyle Gibson: 23 Game Score, 5.0 IP, 7 H, 6 R, 4 ER, 3 K, 3 BB, 52.6% strikes WPA of 0.1 or higher: None WPA of -0.1 or lower: Gibson -.238 Download attachment: WinChart86.png There were other, non-Mitch Garver pitching things that happened in tonight’s game, but I fear that if I go into much detail it may be deemed cruel and unusual. Here are the Twins’ hits: Jake Cave single, Logan Forsythe single, Jorge Polanco double and … nope, that’s it. Kyle Gibson had a rare rough night and Matt Belisle had his usual rough night. Gibson surrendered seven hits and Cleveland scored six runs, four earned over his five innings. Belisle gave up four more runs over his two innings. That puts Belisle up to 20 earned runs in 19 ⅔ innings with the Twins this season. Just for reference, that’s the same number of earned runs Taylor Rogers has allowed in 44 ⅔ innings this season. Belisle also needed a season-high 48 pitches to get through those two innings. The Twins will need to make a move tomorrow when they activate Matt Magill from paternity leave ... Postgame With Garver Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Download attachment: Bullpen86.png AL Central Standings CLE 62-49 MIN 52-59 (-10) DET 47-65 (-15.5) CHW 41-70 (-21) KC 34-77 (-28) Next Three Game Tue at CLE, 6:10 pm CT: Adalberto Mejia vs. Carlos Carrasco Wed at CLE, 6:10 pm CT: Jake Odorizzi vs. Mike Clevinger Thu at CLE, 12:10 pm CT: Jose Berrios vs. Corey Kluber Last Three Games MIN 6, KC 5: Cave Slugs Grand Slam as Twins Sweep Royals MIN 8, KC 2: New Twins Ace Wins in Front of Old Twins Ace MIN 6, KC 4: Long Day at the Office Click here to view the article

I was just having a laugh earlier with the whole disable comments thing Yes, the biggest downfall of WPA is everything that happens in the field is credited toward the pitcher. WPA cannot account for defense in any way. Sometimes that's good for the pitcher, sometimes it's bad. WPA is not perfect, but I think it's a fun stat to reference in regards to individual games like this, and it's especially nice because you can use it for both hitters and pitchers.

Jake Cave hit a grand slam in the second inning and the Twins’ bullpen managed to hold off a pesky Royals team to complete a three-game sweep. Things got very interesting late, but a big strikeout from Trevor May and some nice glove work from Mitch Garver and Miguel Sano helped secure the victory.Snapshot (chart via FanGraphs) Ervin Santana: 38 Game Score, 4.1 IP, 3 ER, 3 K, 1 BB, 66.3% strikes Home Runs: Jake Cave (4) Multi-Hit Games: Robbie Grossman (2-for-4, 2B), Miguel Sano (2-for-4), Logan Forsythe (2-for-4), Max Kepler (2-for-3, 2B, BB) WPA of 0.1 or higher: Cave .298, Rodney .173, Moya .145 WPA of -0.1 or lower: Hildenberger -.103, Garver -.189 Download attachment: WinChart85.png Obviously, the best possible outcome a hitter can produce is to hit a grand slam. It just doesn’t get any better than that. But the way Cave worked his plate appearance up to the point where he hit the salami was very impressive as well. Cave fell behind 1-2 in the count and Duffy threw a 78 mph curveball, the first of the plate appearance. He bounced off the mound, expecting to get a called strike, but it was accurately called a ball. Still, it was an outstanding two-strike pitch. Cave fouled off the next pitch, a 96 mph fastball, and was visibly frustrated, a sign he was probably sitting on that pitch. Duffy went back to the fastball, but missed just barely below the zone. Another really outstanding two-strike offering from Duffy. With the count full, and the bases too, Cave was finally in the driver’s seat. Duffy wasn’t going to want to walk in a run, especially while facing a hitter who had done so poorly against same-sided pitching. He went back to the fastball. On the way in, it was 94.8 mph and traveled 60 feet, six inches. Cave absolutely unloaded on it, sending it out at 109 mph as it traveled 402 feet into the stands. When you consider the fact that Cave entered this game with a .158/.238/.368 line against lefties (though in just 21 PAs) and that Duffy had only give up one home run to a southpaw in 96 opportunities heading into today, this has to be considered both one of the best plate appearances and least likely outcomes from a Twins hitter we’ve seen all season. Ervin Santana went just 4 1/3 innings, which by the way is probably about what we can expect going forward. Ervin has given up 10 earned runs in 14 2/3 innings since his return, a 6.14 ERA, and is living on his slider and changeup. Santana left with runners on first and second base and one out, but Gabriel Moya came in and slammed the door. Moya retired all five batters he faced Sunday afternoon, recording two strikeouts while throwing 11 of his 16 pitches for strikes. Trevor Hildenberger gave up a two-run homer in the seventh to cut the Twins’ lead to one run. The Royals threatened again in the eighth thanks to a error by Miguel Sano and a “single” on a ball Logan Morrison should have caught at first base. Luckily Trevor May ended the threat by striking out Alcides Escobar to strand the runners at second and third. The Royals were feisty today. They also got their leadoff man on in the ninth, but Mitch Garver gunned down Whit Merrifield trying to steal second. Merrifield has stolen 67 bases in his career at an 80.7 percent success rate coming into today. Kansas City got the game-tying run all the way to third, but Miguel Sano made a very nice play to end this one, giving Fernando Rodney his 24th save. Robbie Grossman exited this game with a hamstring strain after hitting a single in the seventh inning. Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Download attachment: Bullpen85.png AL Central Standings CLE 61-49 MIN 52-58 (-9) DET 47-64 (14.5) CHW 41-70 (-20.) KC 34-77 (-27.5) Next Three Game Mon at CLE, 6:10 pm CT: Kyle Gibson vs. Trevor Bauer Tue at CLE, 6:10 pm CT: Adalberto Mejia vs. Carlos Carrasco Wed at CLE, 6:10 pm CT: Jake Odorizzi vs. Mike Clevinger Last Three Games MIN 8, KC 2: New Twins Ace Wins in Front of Old Twins Ace MIN 6, KC 4: Long Day at the Office CLE 2, MIN 0: Carrasco Stars in Dominant Performance Click here to view the article