Tom Froemming

The Twins signed Michael Pineda to a two-year deal in December, and I’ve been constantly forgetting about him ever since. Nothing against Pineda, it’s just really hard to remember a guy who’s recovering from a surgery. But, if his 2018 debut is any indication, Pineda could serve as the baseball version of finding a loose $20 bill in a pair of jeans you’ve had lying around.TRANSACTIONS There was a trio of pitchers who all moved up a level. Ryan Eades jumped up to Rochester, Anthony Marzi to Chattanooga and Kevin Marnon was promoted to Fort Myers. RED WINGS REPORT Charlotte 8, Rochester 0 Box Score SP: Fernando Romero (4.0 IP, 10 H, 7 R, 6 ER, 2 BB, 2 K) Multi-hit games: None. It’s been a tough year for Rochester, who fell to 52-63 after today’s shutout loss. Fernando Romero was hammered and the Red Wings’ lineup was dominated by White Sox No. 2 prospect Michael Kopech. Gregorio Petit’s double was the only extra-base hit for Rochester. The bright spot was Ryne Harper, who pitched four shutout innings out of the bullpen. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Jackson 4, Chattanooga 3 Box Score SP: Sean Poppen (5.2 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 1 K) HR: Luis Arraez (1) Multi-hit games: Zander Wiel (2-for-4), Luke Raley (2-for-4, 2B), Luis Arraez (2-for-4, HR) Luis Arraez hit his first home run for Chattanooga, his second overall of the season, but Tyler Jay gave up the decisive run in the seventh inning as the Generals prevailed Saturday. The Lookouts, who did not qualify for a playoff spot in the first half, sit in last place in the Southern League North division in the second half. MIRACLE MATTERS Florida 3, Fort Myers 2 Box Score SP: Michael Pineda (3.0 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K) Multi-hit games: Ryan Costello (2-for-3), Travis Blankenhorn (2-for-3, 3B) Michael Pineda made his first official appearance in the Twins organization. Had to have been a good feeling for the big right-hander. He had Tommy John surgery in July of 2017. This was an encouraging first time out on the mound. Pineda gave up five hits in his three shutout innings, but that was more than likely due to the fact that he was living in the zone. Of his 33 pitches, 29 were strikes. It was still a night that ended in a tough loss for Fort Myers. They trailed 2-0 heading into the eighth, but tied it up thanks to an RBI triple by Travis Blankenhorn, who later scored on a sac fly from Mark Contreras. This game remained tied until the Fire Frogs walked it off on a run-scoring single. Thanks to the reinforcements who’ve come up from Cedar Rapids, the Miracle are in striking distance of securing a playoff spot here in the second half. They trail Charlotte by 2.5 games in the Florida State League South division. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 9, Quad Cities 6 Box Score W: Jordan Balazovic (5.0 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 K) SV: Calvin Faucher (3.0 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K) HR: Gabriel Maciel 2 (3), Trevor Larnach (1) Multi-hit games: Gabriel Maciel (4-for-5, 2 HR), Michael Helman (3-for-5), Trey Cabbage 3-for-5, 2B), Andrew Bechtold (3-for-3, 2 BB), Ryan Jeffers (2-for-5), Trevor Larnach (2-for-5, HR), Cedar Rapids tallied 18 hits on Saturday. Wow! Six of their batters had multi-hit games, but none was more impressive than Gabriel Maciel. He hit a home run form both sides of the plate. That’s particularly noteworthy because the speedy center fielder had only hit one homer in 79 games this season heading into tonight. Trevor Larnach hit his first homer since being called up to the Kernels and Andrew Bechtold reached base all five times he came up to bat, going 3-for-3 with a double and two walks. Jordan Balazovic improved to 6-3 after throwing five innings of two-run ball. He struck out six and walked one while throwing 71.9 percent of his pitches for strikes. Cedar Rapids currently holds a 1.5 game lead in the Midwest League Western division second half standings. E-TWINS E-NOTES Game 1: Bluefield 7, Elizabethton 5 (8 innings) Box Score SP: Austin Schulfer (5.0 IP, 5 H, 0 ER 0 BB, 4 K) HR: Lean Marrero (1) Multi-hit games: Lean Marrero (3-for-3, 2B, HR, BB), Ricky De La Torre (2-for-4, 2B) The E-Twins jumped out to a 2-0 lead, but a rough night from the bullpen ended up being costly. The bats rallied back from being down 4-2 in the bottom of the seventh (and scheduled to be final) inning. Bluefield added three more runs in the eighth and that was that. Starter Austin Schulfer had a solid game, lowering his ERA on the year to 2.17. A Wisconsin native, Schulfer was the Twins’ 19th-round pick in this year’s draft. Lean Marrero continued his hot streak. The centerfielder is now 9-for-22 (.409) so far this month. Game 2: Bluefield 7, Elizabethton 1 (7 innings) Box Score SP: Carlos Suniaga (4.0 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 K) Multi-hit games: None. Much like in the first game, the E-Twins got a strong performance out of their starting pitcher, but that was squandered by the bullpen. Also, the lineup had a rough go. Carlos Suniaga pitched four shutout innings, but the only hits for E-Town came from Jared Atkins and Gilberto Celestino, both singles. Still, the Twins led 1-0 after five innings. Despite the struggles Saturday, Elizabethton still leads the Appalachian League West by three games. GCL TWINS TAKES GCL Twins 0, GCL Red Sox 0 (Suspended in the third inning due to rain) Box Score STARS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day: Jordan Balazovic, Cedar Rapids Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day: Gabriel Maciel, Cedar Rapids TOP PROSPECT SUMMARY Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed 1. Royce Lewis (FM): 1-for-4, 2 K 2. Alex Kirilloff (FM): 1-for-4, K 3. Brusdar Graterol (FM): Did not pitch. 4. Nick Gordon (ROC): 1-for-4, 2 K 5. Stephen Gonsalves (ROC): Did not pitch. 6. Trevor Larnach (CR): 2-for-5, 2B, HR, 2 RBI, 2 R 7. Brent Rooker (CHAT): 0-for-4, K 8. Akil Baddoo (CR): 0-for-5, BB, 3 K 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): 0-for-4, 2 K 13. Travis Blankenhorn (FM): 2-for-3, 3B, RBI, R 14. Lewis Thorpe (CHAT): Did not pitch. 15. Ben Rortvedt (FM): Did not play. 16. Yunior Severino (ET): Did not play. 17. Lewin Diaz (FM): Injured. 18. Ryan Jeffers (CR): 2-for-5, RBI, R 19. Jacob Pearson (CR): Did not pitch. 20. Luis Arraez (CHAT): 2-for-4, HR, RBI, R SUNDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester vs. Charlotte, 12:05 pm CT: Zack Littell Chattanooga vs. Jackson, 1:15 pm CT: Jorge Alcala Fort Myers at Florida, 10:00 am CT: TBD Cedar Rapids at Quad Cities, 5:15 pm CT: Jhoan Duran Elizabethton at Greenville, 4:00 pm CT: TBD GCL Twins: OFF Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the games. Click here to view the article

HA! I see what you did there, lol

Tyler Austin hit a two-run homer in his Twins debut and Trevor Hildenberger earned the first post-Fernando Rodney save as the Twins squeaked by the Tigers Saturday night. It was certainly an experience, as Hildy gave up two runs, but whatever works, I guess. Maybe he was paying too close attention to Rodney?Snapshot (chart via FanGraphs) Kyle Gibson: 65 Game Score, 7.0 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 4 K, 2 BB, 67.6% strikes (75 of 111 pitches) Home Runs: Tyler Austin (9) Multi-Hit Games: Joe Mauer (2-for-4, BB), Logan Forsythe (2-for-5), Miguel Sano (2-for-4, BB) WPA of 0.1 or higher: Gibson .302, Austin .179 WPA of -0.1 or lower: Polanco -.124 Download attachment: WinChart811.png Austin’s homer was his ninth of the season in the majors, matching his season total in the minors. He now has 16 home runs in 86 MLB games. We also saw Austin’s contact issues on display, as he also struck out swinging twice, but the power is most definitely legit. Kyle Gibson did a great job of staying aggressive tonight. He didn’t have his nastiest stuff going, but he threw a ton of strikes en route to holding Detroit to one run over seven innings pitched. Trevor May pitched a perfect eighth inning, but then things got a little too interesting. The Twins led 4-1 heading into the bottom of the ninth, creating the first save opportunity of the new-look bullpen. Despite his recent struggles, Trevor Hildenberger got the call. It was an experience. The inning opened with an eight-pitch walk to Victor Martinez, then Niko Goodrum hit a two-run homer. Jim Adduci singled, prompting a mound visit. Hildenberger responded by striking out James McCann, getting Victor Reyes to fly out and then striking out JaCoby Jones to pick up his second career save. Oh, and this happened: Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Download attachment: Bullpen811.png AL Central Standings CLE 64-51 MIN 54-62 (-10.5) DET 48-69 (-17) CHW 42-73 (-22) KC 35-80 (-29) Next Three Game Sun at DET, 12:10 pm CT: Kohl Stewart vs. Matt Boyd Mon: Off Tue vs. PIT, 7:10 pm CT: Jake Odorizzi vs. Jameson Taillon Wed vs. PIT, 12:10 pm CT: Jose Berrios vs. Chris Archer Last Three Games DET 5, MIN 3: Is There Anything Left? CLE 5, MIN 4: Walks and a Walk-Off CLE 5, MIN 2: Cleveland Prevails on Lindor Walk-Off Homer Click here to view the article

Now THAT is funny

Not young vs. old, I could understand the comment coming from a player who has actually been contributing to the team. I wouldn't have been pleased if someone like Jorge Polanco or Trevor May would have said what Ervin said. You don't show up in the second half and then throw the front office under the bus.

I asked the Twins Daily community for questions earlier this week, today I'm going to take a crack at answering them. I'd also love it to see your answers down in the comments. Let's get things rolling with a question about the offseason ... “with no immediate heir apparent at 2nd base, first base, catcher, and the need to bolster the 8th inning setup man and if things went well, I’d imagine front of rotation, how do you think the FO will fill those roles? There’s maybe 50/60 mil in payroll to play with, and all those prospects to dangle. It’s a huge roster turn over, can they get it all done in one offseason/up to all star break?” -Sconnie An Eduardo Escobar reunion makes so much sense. He can fill your opening at second base as well as provide insurance at third. I’m of the mind you can stick pretty much anybody over a first base. There will be plenty of options out there in free agency, but I’m also interested in what Tyler Austin can do. Max Kepler has experience there, though he’s also a borderline Gold Glove right fielder, so it may be a waste to put him at first. I believe LaMonte Wade played there some in college. Either way, I don’t think the Twins should be falling over themselves to bring Joe Mauer back. Still, a reunion would make a lot of sense, so I would project Mauer to be the Opening Day first baseman in 2019. I personally don’t see a huge need at catcher. I think a lot of teams would love to have a duo of Jason Castro and Mitch Garver, assuming Castro comes back healthy. Yasmani Grandal and Wilson Ramos would be significant upgrades, but I feel like other teams are going to be more desperate to get them. I believe the front office made a strong effort to land Yu Darvish last year, but your big free agents just aren’t going to be jumping at the chance to come play in Minnesota. No matter how much money there is sitting around, guys aren’t coming here until this club has shown it’s a legit World Series contender. I think the front office can reload and put together a competitive roster over the offseason, but taking it to the next level would probably be delayed until the trade deadline. “Why Belisle? Rosario for real?” -USAFChief I’ve been blowing off so much steam about Matt Belisle on Twitter that Seth threatened to unfollow me over it I don’t have an answer to that question. My best guess is that the front office is trying to secure a better draft pick next year and they know Paul Molitor can’t resist using him. Now that Fernando Rodney has been traded, it wouldn’t shock me at all if Belisle becomes the closer once he’s activated off the DL. Yuck. The only thing I'm certain about when it comes to Belisile is he truly must be a really awesome guy. Eddie Rosario’s free-swinging tendencies are cause for concern, but I still have to say he’s absolutely for real. Since the start of last season, Rosie has hit .294/.333/.503 (.837 OPS) in 1,079 plate appearances. To put that into context, Justin Morneau had an .832 OPS in his time with the Twins. Eddie drives me nuts sometimes, but he’s also probably my favorite Twin now that Escobar is gone. “Do you really believe that Molitor is the manager who can take us to the WS? How big of a diffence do you think it will be between what the Twins could/should do and what they will actually do this off-season? What do you really think went on behind-the-scenes and in the clubhouse regarding the rumors about a toxic clubhouse?” -Carole Keller I think a manager’s impact on wins and losses is generally overstated, but no, I don’t have a lot of confidence that Molitor is a manager who could lead a team to a World Series title. That being said, Ned Yost did it … so anything’s possible. I'll circle back to Molly in just a sec. Taking a look at the free agents that are expected to be available, I’m not really sure what I think the Twins should do. I’m sure the expectation from the majority of the fan base will be that they go out and fill in the payroll to a level that’s similar to this year, but I don’t think they’re going to be able to attract any of the big names like Bryce Harper or Manny Machado and I don’t expect them to spend just for spending’s sake. I’d bet they have a savvy offseason, but get ripped to shreds for not bumping the payroll up higher. It’s tough to speculate on anything regarding the clubhouse from the outside in, but I think it has more to do with losing than anything. Losing sucks. The roster turnover couldn’t have helped either, and I’m not just talking about the new guys. Ervin Santana, Jason Castro, Byron Buxton, Miguel Sano and Jorge Polanco were all expected to be regulars. With those guys being out in combination with adding a crop of free agents who were mostly bitter about their lack of a market, it would be no surprise if there was some turbulence. Now that, however, is something I think a manager should be able to have an impact on. It wouldn't be surprising to hear that some of the players are frustrated by the front office turning the page, but that should be an issue that's addressed internally. I still don't think Molitor is going anywhere. It's clear ownership loves him, hard for me to see them moving on until maybe this time next season. “Will Odorizzi be back next year? Will Fernando Romero make the starting rotation out of spring training next year?” -FormerMinnasotan Yes, I would expect Jake Odorizzi to be in the 2019 rotation. He should be expected to perform at about a league-average level. You don’t just let a starting pitcher like that walk unless you’re trying to slash payroll. A lot of what happens with Romero will depend on how the next couple months play out, but I would predict that he’ll start next year in Triple A. At this point a year ago, it would have been really hard to envision a scenario in which Adalberto Mejia wasn’t going to be in the rotation for this year, but he’s only made four starts with the Twins. I could see something similar happening to Romero. I also wouldn’t be shocked if Romero was pushed into a multi-inning relief role, similar to how Johan Santana and Francisco Liriano got their feet wet in the bigs. But again, that’ll also depend on who they go out and add. “What should TD be paying you per game recap?” -TheLeviathan Well, how much would you pay me per game recap as a reader? Probably nothing. It’s really hard to make money on the Internet. I’ve contributed to a lot of other places online and this is by far the best situation I’ve been in. TD could probably make some more money if the site was bombarded with ads, like some other places, but I like things the way they are. “What's your favorite Target Field food?” -scottz I will often bring my own food into Target Field, but my go-to concession stand item is the Turkey to Go sandwich. I like how they have the seasonings and sauce at the stand so you can flavor it to your liking. A pretty simple item, but an old standby. “How many five year olds could you take in a fight before they overpower you? Be honest.” -Mr. Brooks Oh boy, probably not very many. I don’t think I’ve been in a fight since middle school and all five-year-olds do is fight. So even though I’m older, they’ve definitely got the upper hand in terms of experience. I’ve got the size and the strength, but the five-year-olds would have a considerable advantage in the stamina department. This was a real brainteaser, so I did what any responsible human would do in 2018 and looked it up on the Internet. It says I could take on 21 five-year-olds, but that sounds like a really high number to me. Since you specifically asked me to be honest, I’d say 11. That’s assuming we’re talking about 11 five-year olds who are really gung-ho about scrappin’. Alright, that's it from me. Thanks for reading, please add your two cents in the comments and let me know if you'd be interersted in similar Q&As becoming a regular feature here on the site. Click here to view the article

I get what you're saying, but to me it depends on who the message comes from. If this would have come from Eddie Rosario, Jose Berrios, Kyle Gibson, Max Kepler or any of the other guys who've been around this year and will be around in the future, I think I'd feel the same way as you do. Ervin Santana has contributed zilch this season, it's not looking very promising that he'll contribute much the rest of the year and seems highly unlikely to me that he'll be around next season. He's basically Matt Belisle. The main reason to keep Ervin around is for leadership/an example to the younger guys of how to prepare/conduct yourself as a major leaguer. If he's not even doing that well, then he's just in the way.

We who? You're assuming we want the same things. Think about that.

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