Tom Froemming

Some guys make it look so easy. After being shut out yesterday, the Twins were held scoreless through the first six innings today. They managed to finally scratch across a run in the seventh to tie the game at 1-1, but Milwaukee's first hitter in the bottom of the inning hit a go-ahead homer. They added another solo shot that inning, and even robbed what would have been a Brian Dozier homer on an insane catch by Keon Broxton.Snapshot (chart via FanGraphs) Jose Berrios: 44 Game Score, 7.0 IP, 3 ER, 3 K, 2 BB, 61.9% strikes Bullpen: 1.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 K, 0 BB Lineup: 1-for-8 w/RISP, 4 LOB WPA of 0.1 or higher: Polanco .195 WPA of -0.1 or lower: Kepler -.222, Garver -.113, Cave -.110 Download attachment: WinEx74.png The Twins have been an ugly combination of snake bitten and downright bad this season. It seems like even when things go well they can’t make any progress, like they’re trying to move a mountain. Jose Berrios had a quality start, holding the Brewers to three runs over seven innings, but Milwaukee got big hits and made big plays when they needed them. Exhibit A: This sick catch by Keon Broxton in the ninth inning … Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Download attachment: Bullpen74.png AL Central Standings CLE 47-37 DET 38-50 (-11) MIN 35-48 (-11.5) CHW 30-55 (17.5) KC 25-60 (22.5) Next Three Games Thu vs. BAL, 7:10 pm CT: Aaron Slegers vs. Andrew Cashner Fri vs. BAL, 7:10 pm CT: Lance Lynn vs. Dylan Bundy Sat vs. BAL, 1:10 pm CT: Kyle Gibson vs. Kevin Gausman Last Three Games MIL 2, MIN 0: Strikeouts Galore MIL 6, MIN 5: Oh, That Rodney Experience CHC 11, MIN 10: Epic Comeback Falls Short Click here to view the article

Prospect heads rejoice! It’s time to revisit the top prospects list. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be revealing the Twins Daily Midseason Top 40 Prospects List. That’s right, we’re expanding the size of the official site rankings, doubling upward from our preseason list. The journey starts today with numbers 40 through 36.40. Aaron Whitefield – CF Age: 21 ETA: 2020 2018 Stats (A+/Rk): .220/.301/.293 (.594 OPS), 3 2B, 0 3B, 1 HR, 23 K, 9 BB 2018 Ranking: NR | 2017 Ranking: NR Seth: 29 | Tom: NR | Cody: 42 Whitefield just recently returned to action with the MIracle. He suffered a broken hamate bone in late April, which forced him to miss all of May and most of June. He made a name for himself with the Kernels last year flashing both speed (33 stolen bases) and power (11 homers). He’s also a legit center fielder. Over the winter, Whitefield won his third-straight Claxton Shield (which is awarded to the Australian Baseball League champions). Here’s hoping he can get back healthy and continue to build momentum. 39. Jaylin Davis – RF Age: 24 ETA: 2019 2018 Stats (AA/A+): .265/.358/.395 (.753 OPS), 11 2B, 0 3B, 6 HR, 67 K, 27 BB 2018 Ranking: NR | 2017 Ranking: NR Seth: 41 | Tom: 43 | Cody: 35 Over his first two seasons in the system, Davis displayed impressive power but it came with a hefty number of strikeouts and not many walks to offset them. This season, he’s looked like a whole new hitter. After posting a career 30.2 K% and 6.8 BB%, Davis has improved those rates to 25.2 K% and 11.0 BB% in 2018. The power took a dip, but that was to be expected in the FSL. The higher-ups took note of the strides Davis was making, and promoted him up to Chattanooga a couple of weeks ago. 38. Ricky De La Torre – SS Age: 18 ETA: 2022 2018 Stats: .333/.417/.500 (.917 OPS), 3 2B, 1 3B, 0 HR, 7 K, 3 BB 2018 Ranking: NR | 2017 Ranking: NR Seth: 44 | Tom: 29 | Cody: 43 Drafted out of Puerto Rico, De La Torre made his pro debut last year as a 17-year-old and opted to sign with the Twins instead of heading to Auburn. He cracked three homers with the GCL Twins last year, which doesn’t sound like much, but only 15 batters went deep five or more times in that entire league last season. Shortstop is a crowded spot in the system, which is a good problem to have, but De La Torre may be the best suited of anyone to make the transition to third base due to his strong arm. 37. Lachlan Wells – LHP Age: 21 ETA: 2021 2018 Stats: None, injured. 2018 Ranking: NR | 2017 Ranking: NR Seth: 48 | Tom: 33 | Cody: 32 Another Australian! Wells had Tommy John surgery in mid May and will miss the entire 2018 season. Originally looked over due to his diminutive stature, Wells really filled out the past couple years, though he’ll still never be mistaken for Tyler Wells (who’s listed at 6-foot-8, 265 lbs). In 204 innings as a pro, Lachlan has a 2.74 ERA, 1.06 WHIP and has averaged 8.2 K/9 against just 2.0 BB/9. It’s a shame we won’t get to see him on the mound again for quite some time. 36. Aaron Slegers – RHP ETA: 2018 Age: 25 2018 Stats (AAA): 83.2 IP, 3.55 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, 5.9 K/9, 2.0 BB/9, 2.89 K:BB 2018 Ranking: NR | 2017 Ranking: NR Seth: 33 | Tom: 34 | Cody: 45 Slegers lacks the kind of overpowering stuff that puts pitchers higher up on prospect lists, but there’s no questioning his track record of getting outs in the high minors. He’s made five appearances with the Twins over the past two years, but during that time he’s also 20-9 with a 3.38 ERA over 37 starts for Rochester. Slegers pitched the fifth-most innings in the Southern League in 2016, logged the fourth-most innings in the International League last season and is easily pacing his Red Wings teammates in innings so far this year. That's it for now, check another five pack of prospects tomorrow. Click here to view the article

Before they even played in the field, the Cedar Rapids Kernels had a grand slam and seven runs on the board. Once their starting pitcher finally did get on the mound, he was every bit as dominant as their lineup had been. Keep reading for more on that and six more games from Saturday night.TRANSACTIONS The roster move of Adalberto Mejia being called up to the Twins and Alan Busenitz being sent back down to Rochester was made official this morning. Ervin Santana was transferred to Fort Myers to continue his rehab assignment. He started for the Miracle today. RED WINGS REPORT Lehigh Valley 6, Rochester 2 Box Score SP: Aaron Slegers (6.0 IP, 4 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 8 K) HR: Chris Carter (7) Multi-hit games: LaMonte Wade, Zack Granite Interesting start from Aaron Slegers tonight. Coming into this start he hadn’t struck out more than five batters in a game all season. While he picked up eight Ks, that came with three walks and four earned runs over his six innings of work. Gabriel Moya pitched two scoreless innings to lower his ERA to 1.64 on the season, but John Curtiss gave up a pair of runs in the ninth. It’s been difficult for younger guys to get looks on the big club, so Curtiss posting a 4.76 ERA over nine appearances in June isn’t going to help his cause. Chris Carter hit his seventh homer with the Wings and 20th overall on the season and Zack Granite added an RBI double. LaMonte Wade was 2-for-4 and scored a run. Byron Buxton was 0-for-3 with a walk and Jorge Polanco was 1-for-3 with a walk of his own. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Tennessee 2, Chattanooga 0 Box Score SP: Dietrich Enns (7.0 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K) HR: None Multi-hit games: None Second baseman Alex Perez had the only Lookouts hit, a single in the sixth inning. Dietrich Enns, 27, made his first Double A appearance since 2016. He was relieved by 29-year-old Ryne Harper, who pitched a scoreless eighth inning. MIRACLE MATTERS Lake land 3, Fort Myers 1 Box Score SP: Ervin Santana (3.0 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 K) HR: None Multi-hit games: Luis Arraez, Alex Kirilloff Ervin Santana returned to action, pitching the third game of his rehab assignment and first in a month. The results were solid (see above), but he’s still got a little ways to go before he’s back up to full speed. Literally. Luis Arraez was 2-for-4, picking up his 27th-straight multi-hit game. OK, that’s not true at all, but it sure seems like it could be. He’s been on fire. Alex Kirilloff was also 2-for-4 and had the Miracle’s only extra-base hit (a double). He’s now 13-for-40 (.325) in his first nine games with Fort Myers. Griffin Jax pitched the final six innings, giving up two runs (one earned) on eight hits. Miguel Sano was 0-for-1 as a pinch hitter. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 11, Burlington 3 Box Score W: Jordan Balazovic (6.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 10 K) SV: Tanner Kiest (3.0 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 3 K) HR: Trey Cabbage (6), Royce Lewis (8) Multi-hit games: Lewis, Jacob Pearson, Akil Baddoo, Cabbage Here’s how this game started: Akil Baddoo single. Jacob Pearson single. Royce Lewis single, Baddoo scores. Robby Rinn hit by a pitch. Trey Cabbage grand slam. Andrew Bechtold walk. That was it for the Burlington starting pitcher, whose identity shall not be revealed out of respect for the victim and his family. When it was all said and done, Jordan Balazovic had a 7-0 lead by the time he took to the mound. He responded exactly as you’d hope. The Canadian right-hander attacked batters, racking up 10 strikeouts while allowing just one hit in six innings. A fifth-round pick back in 2016, Balazovic now has 41 strikeouts in 26 2/3 innings pitched this season (13.8 K/9). Pearson and Lewis both had three-hit nights and each also drew a walk. Cabbage had another hit and a walk in addition to his granny and Baddoo had a pair of hits, including a double. Cabbage was a monster for the Kernels in June. He had a .279/.342/.559 (.901 OPS) line in 19 games this month. E-TWINS E-NOTES Elizabethton 3, Danville 2 Box Score W: Austin Schulfer (3.0 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 2 K) SV: Ricky Ramirez (2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K) SP: Josh Winder (3.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K) HR: Chris Williams (2) Multi-hit games: Williams E-Town only collected five hits in this game, but they made ‘em count. They picked up two runs in the fourth thanks to a Ryan Jeffers single, a Chris Williams double, an RBI single from Alex Robles and then a sacrifice fly from Ricky De La Torre. Then in the sixth, Williams hit a home run to put the Twins up for good. Josh Winder, the Twins’ seventh-round pick earlier this month, had an impressive professional debut. He gave up an unearned run on one hit and had three strikeouts while not issuing any walks over three innings. He threw 30 of his 43 pitches for strikes (69.8 percent). GCL TWINS TAKES GCL Twins 6, GCL Red Sox 5 (Game 1) Box Score W: Amilcar Cruz (2.0 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 1 K) SP: Donny Breek (4.0 IP, 1 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 6 K HR: None Multi-hit games: Tyler Webb, Janigson Villalobos, Samuel Vasquez The Twins trailed 5-4 heading into the bottom of the seventh and final inning (they played a doubleheader today). Yelsin Encarnacion reached base on an error to lead things off, and as everybody knows, errors will come back to terror. Tyler Webb was hit by a pitch and Gabe Snyder hit a single, but Encarnacion was thrown out at home trying to score the game-tying run. Webb eventually scored the tying run on a fielder’s choice and Yanigson Villalobos ended it with a walk-off single that brought home Snyder. GCL Red Sox 4, GCL Twins 2 Box Score SP: Landon Leach (1.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K) HR: None Multi-hit games: Estamy Urena, Tyler Webb Landon Leach made his 2018 debut in this one, though he wasn’t on the mound for long. He only faced five batters, but it was in an eventful inning. Leach gave up a leadoff single, which was followed by a sacrifice bunt. He gave up another single, but the Red Sox ran into an out on the play. The next batter reached on an error, bringing home a run, before Leach coaxed an inning-ending flyout. The Twins got a run in the fourth inning thanks to consecutive singles from Austin Hale, Willie Joe Garry Jr. and Estamy Urena. The added another run in the sixth when Garry Jr. walked, Urena hit another single and Yelstin Encarnasion hit an RBI ground out. STARS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day: Jordan Balazovic, Cedar Rapids Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day: Trey Cabbage, Cedar Rapids TOP PROSPECT SUMMARY Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Prospects performed: 1. Royce Lewis, CR: 3-for-4, HR, 3 RBIs, 2 Rs, BB 2. Fernando Romero, ROC: Did not pitch. 3. Nick Gordon, ROC: 0-for-3, BB 4. Stephen Gonsalves, ROC: Did not pitch. 5. Alex Kirilloff, FM: 2-for-4, 2B, R, K 6. Wander Javier: Out for the season with a shoulder injury. 7. Brent Rooker, CHAT: 0-for-3, 2 Ks 8. Blayne Enlow, CR: Did not pitch. 9. Brusdar Graterol, FM: Did not pitch. 10. Akil Baddoo, CR: 2-for-6, 2B, R 11. Zack Littell, ROC: Did not pitch. 12. Lewis Thorpe, CHAT: Did not pitch. 13. Lewin Diaz, FM: 1-for-4, RBI 14. LaMonte Wade, ROC: 2-for-4, R 15. Mitch Garver, MIN 16. Ben Rortvedt, FM: 0-for-3, BB, K 17. Travis Blankenhorn, FM: 0-for-4, 3 Ks 18. Yunior Severino, ET: 0-for-4, K 19. Tyler Jay, CHAT: Did not pitch. 20. Felix Jorge, GCL: Did not pitch. SUNDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester vs. Lehigh Valley, 12:05 pm CT: TBD Chattanooga at Tennessee, 5:40 pm CT: Lewis Thorpe Fort Myers vs. Lakeland, 3:00 pm CT: Brusdar Graterol Cedar Rapids at Burlington, 2 pm CT: Bryan Sammons Elizabethton at Princeton, 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

Huh? This game was nuts. It's never fun to watch the Twins give up 14 runs, but there was so much drama going on between all the guys having to exit and Willians Astudillo making his MLB debut. There were some good defensive plays too, I failed to mention that Jake Cave made a coupe web gems, so I enjoyed following this one a lot more than some of the other snoozefests from this season. Thanks for reading Mike. It was a crazy game in what's already been a crazy series. I can't imagine what's gonna go down tomorrow. Speaking of which, I'm going to be spending the next few days camping with my family, but these game recaps will go on. You'll hear from me again ... well, in tonight's minors report, but then after that not until the 4th.

The heat was a real issue today at Wrigley Field. Eddie Rosario, Albert Almora, Bobby Wilson and Max Kepler all had to exit this game due to heat-related issues. By the time this one was over, the Twins had an outfield of Logan Morrison in left, Willians Astudillo in center and Robbie Grossman in right. Jake Odorizzi pinch hit for Matt Belisle and recorded the final out of the game.Snapshot (chart via FanGraphs) Adalberto Mejia: 35 Game Score, 4.0 IP, 4 ER, 1 K, 3 BB, 60.8% strikes Bullpen: 4.0 IP, 10 ER, 4 K, 4 BB Lineup: 3-for-10 w/RISP, 7 LOB WPA of .1 or higher: Rosario .266, Mauer .174, Adrianza .130, Astudillo .128, Wilson .101 WPA of -.1 or lower: Hildenberger -.401, Duke -.282, Mejia -.240, Reed -.223 Download attachment: WinEx630.png The Twins held a 7-4 lead heading into the bottom of the fifth inning, but the bullpen collapsed. It wasn’t like they get bombarded by big hits, the Twins relievers just couldn’t get anybody out. Addison Reed and Trevor Hildenberger combined to give up nine earned runs over a single inning of work. The Cubs had 20 hits and scored 14 runs, but they only had three extra-base hits, all of them doubles. Before he exited the game, Rosario hit a two-out two-run homer, his 18th of the season. Joe Mauer had another nice day at the plate, going 2-for-5 with a bases-clearing double. Ehire Adrianza and Robbie Grossman also had two hits a piece. Rosario was replaced by Astudillo, who got a base hit on the first pitch he ever saw as a major leaguer. Bobby Wilson spent nearly a half hour behind the plate during the bottom of the fifth and then had to leadoff the top of the sixth inning. He had to take a couple breathers during his plate appearance, but wound up drawing a seven-pitch walk. It seemed like at any moment we were going to find out what Wilson ate for lunch, but he advanced to second on a Grossman single, went to third on a sac fly and then scored on another sac fly. He was replaced by Mitch Garver the next half inning. I’ve never seen a more gutsy performance of a guy managing to keep everything inside his guts. OK, but seriously, it was crazy hot. Heat exhaustion is no joke and I hope everybody involved in this game comes out of it feeling alright. Home plate umpire Hunter Wendelstedt called a three hour and 44 minute game. He had a cold towel around his neck. Not sure if I’ve ever seen that before. Maybe they should have allowed the players to do the same. Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Download attachment: Bullpen630.png AL Central Standings CLE 44-36 MIN 35-44 (-8.5) DET 36-48 (-10) CHW 28-53 (-16.5) KC 25-56 (-19.5) Next Three Games Sun at CHC, 1:20 pm CT: Lance Lynn vs. Jon Lester Mon at MIL, 7:10 pm CT: TBD Tue at MIL, 3:10 pm CT: TBD Last Three Games CHC 10, MIN 6: Hey, Remember Joe Mauer? MIN 2, CHW 1: Walking Away With a Win CHW 6, MIN 1: Gibby Gets Got Click here to view the article

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.