Tom Froemming

Thanks for checking them out. Yes, that is definitely something that could be expanded. Maybe there's some kind of a threshold to land on one way or the other. At the end of each game, the winning team's WPA totals 0.5 and the losing team -0.5, so maybe anybody who has over 0.1 or under -0.1 should be listed? I'll keep thinking about it, good suggestion.

Thanks for reading Jimbo, glad to hear you're enjoying them, especially even one where the Twins lost 10-6

Alan Busenitz is being sent down to make room for Adalberto Mejia ... Matt Belisle is bulletproof.

Joe Mauer had been struggling since coming off the DL but it was a different story Friday afternoon at Wrigley Field. Unfortunately, Jose Berrios had a similar role reversal. He went from pitching like an ace of his last several starts to pitching a dud on the North Side of Chicago.Snapshot (chart via FanGraphs) Jose Berrios: 18 Game Score, 4.1 IP, 6 ER, 2 K, 4 BB, 56.4% strikes Bullpen: 3.2 IP, 4 ER, 4 K, 2 BB Lineup: 3-fro-12 w/RISP, 9LOB Top three per WPA: Mauer .382, Garver .109, Rosario .052 Download attachment: WinEx629.png Mauer entered today with just one home run and 13 RBIs on the year, but he got the Twins going in a big way early. He smacked a three-run oppo taco in the third inning, then a two-run double in the fourth. All five of those RBIs came with two outs. Joe’s not the type of hitter who’s going to carry an offense for an extended stretch, but if he can be a consistent threat it’s going to go a long way toward helping the Eds. What about the rest of the game? Uh … Berrios wasn’t looking like himself, but he managed to get into the fifth inning with a 5-2 lead. He retired the first batter in the inning, but then gave up a single, hit a batter and followed that up with another hit to load the bases. Garvin Alston went out, and I’m guessing he specifically told Jose “don’t give up a grand slam.” I think that’s how those visits usually go. Anyway, Berrios didn’t listen, and Addison Russell hit a grand slam on the very next pitch to put the Cubs up for good. Matt Magill gave up a two-run homer to Ben Zobrist in the sixth, then a solo shot to Kyle Schwarber in the seventh. Matt Belisle gave up a run in the eighth. That’s eight earned runs for Belisle in six innings pitched for the Twins this year. Maued ended up with three hits, adding a single in the ninth. Both Mitch Garver and Eddie Rosario collected two hits and walked. In case you missed it, the Twins DFA’d Felix Jorge to add Willians Astudillo to the 40-man roster because Taylor Motter had to go on the DL. Astudillo did not play today, but he was in the on-deck circle ready to hit for Berrios right before that disastrous fifth inning, ironically enough. 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: Bullpen629.png AL Central Standings CLE 44-35 MIN 35-43 (-8.5) DET 36-46 (-9.5) CHW 28-52 (-16.5) KC 25-55 (-19.5) Next Three Games Sat at CHC, 1:20 pm CT: Adalberto Mejia vs. Tyler Chatwood Sun at CHC, 1:20 pm CT: Lance Lynn vs. Jon Lester Mon at MIL, 7:10 pm CT: TBD Last Three Games MIN 2, CHW 1: Walking Away With a Win CHW 6, MIN 1: Gibby Gets Got CHW 8, MIN 4: South Side Slip Click here to view the article

Hopefully this is a turning point for Max Kepler. Molly went with Cave and Motter in the starting lineup but Max came off the bench to go 2-for-3 with a walk that brought home the game-winning run. He fell behind 1-2 in that plate appearance but refused to expand the zone. If he gets hot like he was in April ... that would be ... a welcome sight? Sorry, just trying out this whole positivity thing for the first time in awhile, I think I fell a bit short at the end there. It'll come back to me, just gonna take a few reps.

If I remember correctly, John Curtiss is also a musician, though I don't believe he's recorded/released anything. Trevor May is a DJ and, of course, Joe Mauer had/has a rap studio in his house. I think it's good for these guys to have side endeavors outside of baseball. I don't think it's any more of a distraction than, say, Kent Hrbek's love of the outdoors throughout his playing days (and beyond). Baseball is Nick Gordon's job, but everybody has to have things they enjoy doing outside of their job, right?

Right. Of course MLB should be concerned about a dip in attendance, but they shouldn't assume they know what's causing it. I can only speak for myself. Above all else, it's simply cheaper and more convenient to watch the game at home, but having even one kid has dramatically impacted the number of games I go to. In the few years prior to having a baby I had a 20-game season ticket package. I've only gone to one game so far this year, but in no way is that a reflection on my interest/enjoyment of today's game.

Over 600 at bats, your .262 hitter only gets about 10 more hits than your .246 hitter. That's a difference, but I wouldn't call it significant.

I understand this is a pretty simplistic approach to look at it from, and doesn't really take into account the arrival of the DH. If you want a bigger sample, how about the biggest sample? Per B-Ref, MLB hitters are 3,880,930-for-14,837,452 all-time. That's a .262 average. That may seem like a big difference, .262 to .246, but in reality it's only 1.6 percent. For 2018 AL hitters to get up to that .262 mark, they would have needed to rack up 633 more hits than they have so far. That may seem like a lot, but AL teams have combined to play 1,185 games this season.

AL league average batting average per Baseball-Reference over the past 100 years in 25-year increments: 2018 .246 1993 .267 1968 .230 1943 .249 1918 .254

And yet somehow they're still second in getting picked off and 13th in total outs on the bases.

Are you sitting down? I pulled these numbers up a couple weeks ago and was shocked. Twins 2018 MLB ranks w/RISP (pulled from FanGraphs) AVG 6th (.262) OBP 11th (.340) SLG 6th (.437) OPS 7th (.777) wOBA 7th (.329) wRC+ 7th (107) Crazy, right? I would've bet they were in the bottom third in all those stats. The big problem has been simply getting the runners into scoring position in the first place. The Twins have 666 plate appearances w/RISP, that's the fourth lowest in baseball

Lance Lynn was pitching well, the Twins held a 4-2 lead and they were playing the White Sox in the sixth inning. What could go wrong? Lynn opened the bottom of the sixth by slipping while trying to field a weak grounder in the grass, and from that moment forward the Twins just kept on slipping.Snapshot (chart via FanGraphs) Lance Lynn: 45 Game Score, 5.0 IP, 4 ER, 8 K, 1 BB, 65.6% strikes Bullpen: 3.0 IP, 3 ER, 6 K, 2 BB Lineup: 1-for-1 w/RISP, 2 LOB Top three per WPA: Adrianza .230, Dozier .069, Cave .017 Download attachment: WinEx626.png Lynn ended up failing to record an out in the sixth, loading the bases on a bunch of weak contact prior to being lifted for Ryan Pressly, who promptly walked Tim Anderson on five pitches to force home a run. Later that inning, Taylor Rogers gave up a two-run single that put Chicago up 5-4. The Twins ended up using four pitchers that inning, as Alan Busenitz came in to record the third out. Unfortunately, Busenitz game up a leadoff homer in the seventh and another run came across while he was on the mound in the eighth after a single, a hit by pitch, an error and another single. Then Matt Belisle came in and walked in another run. And that was just the pitching! Ehire Adrianza had a good night, going 2-for-3 with a homer and Brian Dozier hit his 11th home run of the season, but the offense struggled. The team combined for six hits and a walk. They only had one at bat with a runner in scoring position all night. After that nightmare sixth inning that saw the White Sox take the lead, the bats combined to go 0-for-9 with four strikeouts. Postgame With Molitor AL Central Standings CLE 43-35 MIN 34-41 (-7.5) DET 36-44 (-8) CHW 27-51 (-16) KC 24-55 (-19.5) Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Download attachment: Bullpen627.png Next Three Games Wed at CHW, 7:10 pm CT: Kyle Gibson vs. James Shields Thu at CHW, 1:10 pm CT: TBD vs. Lucas Giolito Fri at CHC, 4:05 pm pm CT: TBD Last Three Games MIN 2, TEX 0: La MaKKKKKKKKKKKKina TEX 9, MIN 6: Odorizzi Lays an Egg TEX 8, MIN 1: Circling the Drain See Also Twins Minor League Report (6/26): Thorpe Dominant, Miranda Slams What Fernando Rodney Experience? The Rise and Fall of Miguel Sano Click here to view the article

*I’m primarily posting this to my blog in order to use it as part of a tutorial video I’m putting together, but I hope there are also a few things in here you find interesting. It would have been difficult to expect Logan Morrison to replicate the excellent numbers he posted last season, that was by far his best year after all, but LoMo has fallen so far behind even his career averages you have to wonder if he’s ever going to turn it around. He’s actually made solid contact, and is putting the ball in play more often than in 2017, but the drop in results is shocking. Here’s a quick glance at his career numbers via Baseball-Reference: I recently dove a little deeper into the numbers for a video I recorded for YouTube. Something I didn’t touch on was the fact that opposing pitchers seem to have figured out how to attack Morrison. Dave Newman of the New Richmond News in Wisconsin shared this on Twitter: https://twitter.com/dmnewman/status/1010644735512449024 Attached below are two heat maps via Baseball Savant, the first shows his average exit velocity. Notice the low numbers on inside pitches up in the zone … … and the second shows his slugging percentage. As you can see, even though he’s had better exit velocity on balls down and away, it’s not translating into much. So what needs to happen for Morrison to turn things around? An adjustment. He somehow needs to alter his approach without completely turning his back on what made him one of the best power hitters in baseball last season. Easier said than done.

What a crazy year for him. I can't imagine what it'd be like to be traded just before the start of the season. Glad he's here and getting a chance in the majors, it's time. Even if he "only" profiles as a potential fourth OF, it still feels like he deserves the opportunity to be in the majors.

Nope, Jose's first start (CG at BAL) as an 86. Berrios now has three starts with a game score of 80 or higher. No other Twins starter has eclipsed 77, which is Gibson's high.

Jose Berrios struck out a career-high 12 batters and pitched seven shutout innings to set the tone for the Twins. The offense managed to scratch across two runs, both coming with two outs, and the bullpen combo of Trevor Hildenberger and Fernando Rodney protected the lead.Snapshot (chart via FanGraphs) Joe Berrios: 84 Game Score, 7.0 IP, 0 ER, 12 K, 2 BB, 65.4% strikes Bullpen: 2.0 IP, 0 ER, 3 K, 0 BB Lineup: 2-for-9 w/RISP, 6 LOB Top three per WPA: Berrios .449, Grossman .161, Wilson .097 Download attachment: WinEx624.png Berrios gave up a double on his very first pitch of the game, but would only surrender two more hits, one of which could have easily been scored an error. This was a red hot Texas Rangers team, but Jose stopped them dead in their tracks. Berrios busted out his curveball over and over again, throwing 44 curves on his 107 pitches (according to Baseball Savant). The Rangers managed to put just one of those curveballs in play. Jose got nine swinging strikes, six called strikes and nine foul balls on that pitch. Over his last eight starts, Berrios has surrendered just 13 earned runs over 57 innings pitched, a 2.05 ERA. This was a scoreless game until the bottom of the fifth. Robbie Grossman hit a leadoff double, advanced to third on an Ehire Adrianza fly out to center and then scored on a Bobby Wilson two-out single. The next inning, Eddie Rosario hit a leadoff single and advanced to second base on a wild pitch. Eduardo Escobar was walked, but Texas managed to retire the next two batters, Brian Dozier and Logan Morrison. Grossman came up and hit a ground ball through the infield to score Rosario. Hildy pitched a 1-2-3 eighth before Rodney struck out the side to earn his 17th save of the season. Bartolo Colon had a great start in his return to Target Field, pitching seven innings, but today was La MaKina's day. Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Download attachment: Bullpen624.png AL Central Standings CLE 43-44 DET 36-42 (-8) MIN 34-40 (-8) CHW 25-51 (-18) KC 23-53 (-20) Next Three Games Mon OFF Tue at CHW, 7:10 pm CT: Lance Lynn vs. Reynaldo Lopez Wed at CHW, 7:10 pm CT: Kyle Gibson vs. James Shields Thu at CHW, 1:10 pm CT: TBD vs. Lucas Giolito Last Three Games TEX 9, MIN 6: Odorizzi Lays an Egg TEX 8, MIN 1: Circling the Drain BOS 9, MIN 2: There Go Those Shiny Pitching Stats Click here to view the article

Jake Odorizzi didn’t survive the second inning, as the Rangers got to him for six runs, and the Twins couldn’t recover. They did manage to make things interesting in the end, but couldn’t complete what would’ve been an epic comeback as Logan Morrison struck out with the bases loaded.Snapshot (chart via FanGraphs) Jake Odorizzi: 21 Game Score, 1.2 IP, 6 ER, 3 K, 1 BB, 65.0% strikes Bullpen: 7.1 IP, 3 ER, 9 K, 1 BB Lineup: 2-for-9 w/RISP, 8 LOB Top three per WPA: Rosario .204, Garver .057, Dozier .054 Download attachment: WinEx623.png The Twins jumped out to an early lead thanks to an Eddie Rosario two-run homer in the first, but Texas scored nine unanswered runs. Morrison blasted a two-run homer of his own in the sixth inning, and the Twins actually had the game-tying run on base in the ninth. You don’t give up six runs before you can record six outs all because of bad luck, but the way Texas got to Odorizzi does seem a little fluky. Three of their six hits came on balls that had a hit probability of less than 50 percent, per Baseball Savant. That includes their only extra-base hit, a double. It’s not like Odorizzi pitched himself into trouble, as he had a very strong strike percentage of 65, but the Rangers were racking up hits on pitches outside of the zone. Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Download attachment: Bullpen623.png AL Central Standings CLE 41-33 DET 36-40 (-6) MIN 33-40 (-7.5) CHW 25-51 (-17) KC 23-52 (-18.5) Next Three Games Sun vs. TEX, 1:10 pm CT: Jose Berrios vs Bartolo Colon Mon OFF Tue at CHW, 7:10 pm CT: TBD Wed at CHW, 7:10 pm CT: TBD Last Three Games TEX 8, MIN 1: Circling the Drain BOS 9, MIN 2: There Go Those Shiny Pitching Stats MIN 4, BOS 1: For Grossman and Kepler, The Price Was Right Click here to view the article