Tom Froemming

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

OK, now that it's clear Belisle isn't going anywhere, I do have some words on that today. What kind of a message is the front office sending to its young players in the high minors? They burned through Busenitz, having him throw 25+ pitches on back-to-back games, sent him down and haven't given him another shot despite outstanding numbers in the minors. They've now done the same with Belisle, but he gets to stay? The same kind of thing happened with Duffey, Curtiss and Moya, all of whom have also been great for Rochester. Why not use that last bullpen spot as a rotation between those guys? There's also Luke Bard, Jake Reed, Nick Anderson ... I know I'm preaching to the choir here, but this is crazy. I get that Matt Belisle is a great guy, but if he's that valuable in the clubhouse can't you just Ichiro him? Make him a special assistant in the front office but allow him to continue working out with the team and be a peer mentor.

BUST

You're not ready to say they're circling the drain? Sure, the season's not down the drain yet, but they're seven back. The Twins would have to get red hot for an extended period and Cleveland would have to come back to Earth (they're 19-11 over their last 30 games) for them to get back into it. Also, the trade deadline is getting closer all the time. It seems likely the Twins are going to be sellers and Cleveland buyers. But everything's OK? Yeah, you're going to have to work harder to enlighten me I guess.

One run. Three hits. Another devastating out recorded on the basepaths. Yep, just another drop down the drain in this 2018 Twins season. On the plus side, Eddie Rosario was able to start, Eduardo Escobar was able to come off the bench and Brian Dozier made one of the best double plays you’ll ever see. And, not that this is necessarily positive, but it's obvious what Matt Belisle has become. At least that should provide clarity.Snapshot (chart via FanGraphs) Fernando Romero: 50 Game Score, 6.0 IP, 4 ER, 4 K, 2 BB, 64.0% strikes Bullpen: 3.0 IP, 4 ER, 2 K, 2 BB Lineup: 1-for-3 w/RISP, 2 LOB Bottom three per WPA: Rosario -.130, Romero -.127, Dozier -.097 Download attachment: WinEx622.png This game was lots more frustration piled on top of what has already been a frustrating year, so let’s just start out with the good stuff, huh? Check out this play Dozier made: Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Download attachment: Bullpen622.png AL Central Standings CLE 41-33 DET 36-40 (-6) MIN 33-39 (-7) CHW 25-50 (-16.5) KC 23-52 (-18.5) Next Three Games Sat vs. TEX, 1:10 pm CT: Jake Odorizzi vs. Yovani Gallardo Sun vs. TEX, 1:10 pm CT: Jose Berrios vs Bartolo Colon Mon OFF Tue at CHW, 7:10 pm CT: TBD Last Three Games BOS 9, MIN 2: There Go Those Shiny Pitching Stats MIN 4, BOS 1: For Grossman and Kepler, The Price Was Right MIN 6, BOS 2: Bats Get to Boston Bullpen Click here to view the article

I had him 27th on my preseason list and on my very rough first draft of a midseason list I've got him at 21.

There were too many great performances across the Twins’ minor league system to mention them all in this intro, but Lewis Thorpe was particularly impressive. He had 12 strikeouts and only gave up one hit and one walk over seven innings. Holy smokes. Check out what else happened in the minors on Thursday.TRANSACTIONS Alex Kirilloff was promoted to Fort Myers. To take his spot in Cedar Rapids, Ben Rodriguez was activated from the DL. Edgar Corcino was promoted to Rochester, Jaylin Davis jumped up to Chattanooga and Nick Buss was released. RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 2, Syracuse 1 (10 innings) Box Score W: Nick Anderson (1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K) SP: Zack Littell (6.2 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 K) HR: None Multi-hit games: None Zack Granite got the walk-off hit, picking up his very first RBI of the season. This game was knotted up at 0-0 until the Red Wings, or I guess they were the Plates tonight, broke through with a run in the seventh inning. Jake Cave singled, LaMonte Wade drew a one-out walk, Willians Astudillo singled to load the bases and Kennys Vargas managed to drive in a run on a ground out. Tyler Duffey was nasty in the eighth, striking out three of the four batters he faced, but allowed the game-tying run to score in the bottom of the ninth. Nick Anderson pitched a scoreless 10th inning before Granite managed to drive home the free runner (bonus runner?) in the bottom half of the inning to end it. Byron Buxton was 1-for-3 with two strikeouts and a stolen base. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 12, Biloxi 2 Box Score W: Lewis Thorpe (7.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 12 K) HR: Tanner English (1), Jimmy Kerrigan (2), Brent Rooker (10) Multi-hit games: Kerrigan, Chris Paul, Ryan Walker, English Complete domination. Lewis Thorpe was untouchable on the mound and the offense was firing on all cylinders. Here's a great Tweet from Chris Blessing of Baseball HQ; Jimmy Kerrigan was 4-for-5 and scored four runs and Chris Paul had three hits and had six RBIs. Just when you think it couldn’t get any better ... MIRACLE MATTERS Fort Myers 10, Bradenton 0 Box Score W: Charlie Barnes (7.0 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 4 K) HR: None Multi-hit games: Mark Contreras, Lewin Diaz, Luis Arraez, Ben Rortvedt, Taylor Grzelakowski, Caleb Hamilton, Brandon Lopez … the Miracle put together an even more impressive performance. Every member of the Fort Myers lineup had at least one hit, with seven batters putting together multi-hit games. Mark Contreras and Lewin Diaz led the way in terms of hitting with three hits each, but Luis Arraez reached safely four times, picking up two hits and two walks. Caleb Hamilton led the team in total bases on the night, as he hit a double and a triple. Charlie Barnes, who’s been really rolling, had one of his most impressive performances as a pro, pitching seven shutout innings. Colton Davis was perfect over the final two frames. Alex Kirilloff was 1-for-6 and scored a run in his FSL debut. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 5, Wisconsin 4 Box Score W: Randy Dobnak (6.1 IP, 9 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 3 K) SV: Jovani Moran (2.2 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB 5 K) HR: Royce Lewis (7), Ben Rodriguez (4) Multi-hit games: Akil Baddoo, Royce Lewis, Ben Rodriguez, Davis Banuelos The Kernels were down a run heading into the bottom of the sixth, but Ben Rodriguez hit a go-ahead two-run inside-the-park home run to put the Kernels on top. Jovani Moran was perfect over the final 2 2/3 innings, all while protecting a one-run lead. He’s struggled with control at times, but when Moran is on (like he was tonight) he’s special. Of the eight batters he faced, he struck out five of them. Royce Lewis, beat up knee and all, slugged his seventh homer, a three-run shot. Randy Dobnak scattered nine hits across 6 1/3 innings to earn his fifth victory. E-TWINS E-NOTES Elizabethton 9, Burlington 5 Box Score W: Blair Lakso (1.1 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4K) SV: Johan Quezada (1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 0 K) SP: Andrew Cabezas (3.0 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K) HR: None Multi-hit games: Ryan Jeffers, Jared Akins, Ariel Montesino, Chris Williams, Trevor Casanova, Ricky De La Torre, Lean Marrero Ryan Jeffers is among the more intriguing new faces to the Twins’ organization. We’re learning this early on: Dude can hit. Jeffers was 3-for-4 with a double, a walk, three RBIs and a pair of runs Thursday. Fellow 2018 draftee Trevor Casanova was 2-for-3 with a walk. On the mound, 18th-round pick Andrew Cabezas made his professional debut, striking out five batters over three innings of one-run ball. GCL TWINS TAKES OFF STARS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day: Lewis Thorpe, Chattanooga Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day: Jimmy Kerrigan, Chattanooga TOP PROSPECT SUMMARY Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Prospects performed: 1. Royce Lewis, CR: 2-for-4, HR, 3 RBIs, R, K 2. Fernando Romero, MIN 3. Nick Gordon, ROC: 0-for-4, 2 Ks 4. Stephen Gonsalves, ROC: Did not pitch. 5. Alex Kirilloff, FM: 1-for-6, R, K 6. Wander Javier: Out for the season with a shoulder injury. 7. Brent Rooker, CHAT: 1-for-4, HR, BB, RBI, 2 Rs 8. Blayne Enlow, CR: Did not pitch. 9. Brusdar Graterol, CR: Did not pitch. 10. Akil Baddoo, CR: 2-for-4, 2B, R. 11. Zack Littell, ROC: 6.2 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 K 12. Lewis Thorpe, CHAT: 7.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 12 K 13. Lewin Diaz, FM: 3-for-5, 2B, RBI, 2 Rs 14. LaMonte Wade, ROC: 1-for-3, 2B, BB, K 15. Mitch Garver, MIN 16. Ben Rortvedt, FM: 2-for-5, 2B, 2 RBIs, 2 Rs, K 17. Travis Blankenhorn, FM: 1-for-5, RBI, R, 2 Ks 18. Yunior Severino, ET: Did not play 19. Tyler Jay, CHAT: Did not pitch. 20. Felix Jorge: Out with knee injury. FRIDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester vs. Scranton, 6:05 pm CT: Stephen Gonsalves Chattanooga vs. Biloxi, 6:15 pm CT: Sean Poppen Fort Myers at Bradenton, 5:30 pm CT: Tyler Wells Cedar Rapids vs. Wisconsin, 6:35 pm CT: Bailey Ober Elizabethton at Bristol, 6:00 pm CT, TBD GCL Twins vs. GCL Red Sox, 11:00 am CT: TBD Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the games. Click here to view the article

Entering this game, the Twins hadn’t given up more than six runs all month and the pitching staff had a 3.17 ERA, good for sixth best in the league. The bullpen had been particularly strong in June, ranking fourth in all of baseball with a 2.60 ERA. Kyle Gibson did his part, delivering another quality start, but all those pretty numbers listed above look a lot more bloated after the bullpen had a bad day against Boston. Oh, and all the Eds are broken.Snapshot (chart via FanGraphs) Kyle Gibson: 49 Game Score, 6 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 5 K, 3 BB, 61.9% strikes Bullpen: 3.0 IP, 7 ER, 9 H, 4 K, 1 BB Lineup: 0-for-2 w/RISP, 3 LOB Bottom three per WPA: Pressly -.143, Mauer -.085, Grossman -.072 Download attachment: chart.png This game didn’t end well, but you can’t be too sore about the Twins taking two out of three from Boston. Speaking of sore, the bigger concern at the moment is some ailing Twins. Just think, what’s the worst thing that could happen to this offense right now? Being Ed-less, right? Well, Eddie Rosario was scratched from this game due to shoulder soreness and Eduardo Escobar was forced to leave after he was hit by a pitch. The good news is it sounds like Paul Molitor expects Rosie to be available tomorrow and Escobar only suffered a bruised elbow and is considered day-to-day. Down their two hottest hitters, there was little the Twins could muster against Rick Porcello. He pitched seven one-hit innings. Altogether, the Twins got only four hits and scored both of their runs in the bottom of the ninth inning. It was too bad, because Gibby pitched well once again. He got into some trouble, giving up seven hits while walking three batters and hitting another, but limited the damage to two runs over six innings. He’s now given up two or fewer runs in 10 of his 15 starts on the season. He also accomplished that feat 10 times in 2017, but that was in 29 starts. Entering this game, the Twins hadn’t given up more than six runs all month and the pitching staff had a 3.17 ERA, good for sixth best in the league. The bullpen had been particularly strong in June, ranking fourth in all of baseball with a 2.60 ERA. Ryan Pressly was charged with three earned runs while recording only one out and Matt Belisle also gave up three runs in his inning of work. Matt Magill even gave up a run. Molitor has already demoted Addison Reed from setup duties, at least temporarily, so Pressly’s continued struggles are especially worrisome. He hit a snag earlier this month and gave up two earned runs in three consecutive appearances. But since that bump, Pressly had strung together three scoreless innings in a row. Just when you thought he might be out of the woods, another rough outing pops up. Pressly closed out May with a 2.22 ERA on the season, but so far this month he’s surrendered nine earned runs in just 6 1/3 innings. On the other hand, Magill hadn’t surrendered a run in more than nine innings. He gave up a run on three hits in the ninth inning. It was a disappointing end to what had been a great series for the Twins. Next up, Texas comes to town. The Rangers are off to a poor start, but carry a five-game winning streak into Target Field. AL Central Standings CLE 40-33 DET 36-39 (-5) MIN 33-38 (-6) CHW (24-49 (-16) KC 22-52 (-18.5) Next Three Games Fri vs. TEX, 7:10 pm CT: Mike Minor vs. Fernando Romero Sat vs. TEX, 1:10 pm CT: Yovani Gallardo vs. Jake Odorizzi Sun vs. TEX, 2:10 pm CT: Bartolo Colon vs. Jose Berrios Last Three Games MIN 4, BOS 1: For Grossman and Kepler, The Price Was Right MIN 6, BOS 2: Bats Get to Boston Bullpen CLE 4, MIN 1: Lots of Traffic, Just One Run Click here to view the article

Is it time to platoon Max and sit him against righties? Pretty frustrating to see the Twins make another out on the bases, but boy was the one Boston made 10x more awful. Betts at the plate, two down, runners at the corners and Brock Holt comes way too far off third on a ball in the dirt. Garver, Escobar and Adrianza combine on the run down to get him out to end the inning. Thank you!

I may double down and not only avoid watching the Twins tonight, but watch Cleveland instead. Think I can jinx them, or will my jinx carryover to their opponents? I still haven't figured out how these new powers work

Chris Sale was his usual amazing self, but Jose Berrios kept the Twins in the game and Eduardo Escobar worked his Fogo magic once again. This one was scoreless through five, and Boston actually struck first. Things were tied up at 2-2 before the Twins broke out with a four-run bottom of the eighth inning.Snapshot (chart via FanGraphs) Starting Pitcher: 59 Game Score, 6.1 IP, 1 ER, 6 K, 3 BB, 58.1% strikes Bullpen: 2.2 IP, 1 ER, 4 K, 1 BB Lineup: 3-for-9 w/RISP, 3 LOB Top three per WPA: Escobar .491, Berrios .193, LaMarre .112 Download attachment: WinEx619.png The Red Sox are one of only three teams averaging more than five runs per game (along with the Yankees and Astros). Most of that feasting has been done against right-handed pitching. Not tonight. This wasn’t the best start of Berrios’ young career, but the way he continued to work out of trouble against a great offense was impressive. He walked the leadoff hitter in two separate innings. He gave up back-to-back singles in the fourth. It didn’t matter. The only run Boston got off Jose was a solo homer by Rafael Devers in the sixth inning. Escobar is simply unbelievable. Right after the Red Sox took that 1-0 lead, Escobar hit a two-run double (of course) to put the Twins on top. That was Eduardo’s 31st double. Boston managed to tie the game again in the eighth, but Esky was there to set things straight once again. Ryan LaMarre drew a leadoff walk and Joe Mauer was hit by a pitch. After Eddie Rosario flew out, Escobar hit a single* to center. An error allowed both LaMarre and Mauer to score and Eduardo hustled all the way around to third base. Robbie Grossman followed with an RBI triple to put this game away. *The official scorer’s ruling has been changed to a double. That seems a little generous to me, but hey it gives Double E 32 two-baggers on the year. That’s a pretty solid season total! While they're at it, maybe the official scorers should also credit Escobar with the victory The biggest two outs of this game may have been the two Trevor Hildenberger was able to record. Berrios was lifted after he hit a batter with one out in the seventh. Hildy came in and walked the first batter he faced, then he got Xander Bogaerts to ground out. The Twins were holding a one-run lead at that point, and with two down and runners at second and third the call was to let Hildenberger pitch to J.D. Martinez. He struck him out. Zach Duke gave up the game-tying run in the eighth, but he’ll end up being credited with the win thanks to the big comeback. Fernando Rodney pitched a scoreless ninth in a non-save situation. Postgame With Molitor The next time I turned the game on, the Twins were up 6-2. The good news is Andrew is going to be handling the game recap tomorrow, so put all your money on the Twins Click here to view the article

The overall numbers are definitely not what you'd expect. With Runners On .254 AVG (13th) .326 OBP (18th) .424 SLG (12th) With Runners In Scoring Position .263 AVG (6th) .339 OBP (12th) .433 SLG (8th) WHAT? How is that even possible? Why isn't the offense scoring more runs? High Leverage (Using FanGraphs, so leverage index of 2.0 or higher) .218 AVG (26th) .291 OBP (26th) .366 SLG (17th) Ah, this probably explains it. Taking a look at this game, the Twins' highest-leverage situations came in the sixth inning. Trailing 4-1, the Twins had runners on second and third with nobody out. Garver strikeout, Adrianza strikeout, Mauer strikeout.