Tom Froemming

Nothing to be concerned about, in my opinion. His .396 OBP ranks ninth in the MWL. He's a guy who likes to get deep into a the count, right now that means there are a lot of strike outs coming. He's facing better pitchers than he's ever seen before, as just one of his plate appearances has come against a pitcher younger than he is. Also, when I look at his numbers with two outs and runners in scoring position, I wonder if maybe he's mainly just working on stuff in his other, less pivotal at bats. He's 9-for-22 with two of his three homers w/RISP and two outs, hitting .409/.480/.864 (1.344 OPS) in those situations.

I hate giving away outs on the bases, but I'd still be all for more stolen base attempts. Looks like the league average success rate right now is 73%. I like those odds. You may kill a potential rally here or there, but if you're smart about it, I'd bet an increase in stolen base attempts would create more rallies than they'd kill. Of course, you've gotta have the personnel to pull it off. Without Buxton, the current roster doesn't have many burners, though I suppose you could always call up Zack Granite. If you wanna see running in 2018, the White Sox are your club. They lead the league with 47 steals and have an impressive 82.5% success rate.

When the pitching is good, the bats go cold. When a starter gets shelled, the offense ignites. What is going on here? Yesterday, the Twins trailed 8-0 after two innings, but stormed back to score the next seven runs. Tonight, they trailed 8-0 after four innings and managed to tie the ballgame. Unfortunately, neither comeback effort resulted in a victory, but it’s nice to see some life from the bats.Snapshot (chart via FanGraphs) Current record: 22-30 Jake Odorizzi: 11 Game Score, 3.2 IP, 7 ER, 3 K, 2 BB, 60.9% strikes Bullpen: 5.1 IP, 1 ER, 2 K, 1 BB Lineup: 4-for-6 w/RISP, 5 LOB Top three per WPA: Sano .256, Escobar .047, Duke .043 Download attachment: WinEx531.png The comeback was capped by a Miguel Sano three-run homer in the bottom of the seventh inning. Had the Twins won, it would have been the biggest comeback in team history. Unfortunately, Francisco Lindor homered off Addison Reed in the very next inning to put Cleveland back up for good. Lindor just destroyed the Twins tonight, going 4-for-5 with two doubles and two home runs. Jake Odorizzi got eaten alive by Cleveland, giving up eight runs (seven earned) on seven hits and two walks over just 3 2/3 innings. Along with Sano, Logan Morrison and Eduardo Escobar homered for the Twins. Multi-hit games came from Sano, Escobar, Eddie Rosario, Robbie Grossman and Ryan LaMarre. Tyler Duffey, making his first appearance since being called up from Rochester, pitched two perfect innings. Brian Dozier and Mitch Garver were both 0-for-4 with three men left on base. There were a couple of rare double plays turned in this one. The bottom of the first ended on a Sano strikeout in which the catcher back-picked Rosario, who was being too greedy on his secondary lead. Then in the top of the eighth, the Twins turned a pretty strange 3-2-3 double play. It was a grounder hit to Morrison, who went to step on first but missed the bag. He fired home and Garver tagged out the runner trying to score, then he lobbed it back to LoMo to record the out at first base. 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: Bullpen531.png AL Central Standings CLE 30-25 DET 26-30 (-4.5) MIN 22-30 (-6.5) KC 20-36 (-10.5) CHW 16-37 (-13.0) Next Three Games Fri vs. CLE, 7:10 pm CT Sat vs. CLE, 3:10 pm CT Sun vs. CLE, 1:10 pm CT Last Three Games KC 11, MIN 8: We Can’t Have Nice Things KC 2, MIN 1: Every Game is the Same Game MIN 8, KC 5: Bats Break Out Click here to view the article

As expected, Slegers has been sent back to Rochester with Tyler Duffey joining the Twins. Smart move in the grand scheme of things, but you can't help but feel bad for Slegers. Duffey struggled in a cameo with the Twins earlier this year, but he's been great for the Red Wings, pitching to a 1.50 ERA, 0.83 WHIP and 9.4 K/9 over 24.0 IP. He's pitched two or more innings in 10 of his 13 appearances this season.

We had a similar discussion related to Ervin's recovery in a roundtable two weeks ago. And you know what? It was fun. It's impossible to pinpoint when a player might return and what the rest of the roster may look like at that time, but that doesn't mean you can't speculate and ask questions, right?

The floor is yours ...

Thanks for the feedback everybody. The original idea was to maybe do something like this on a weekly basis, but that seems like overkill. The numbers don't change much over that short a span, and there's already info on how the top prospects do in each of the minor league reports. Instead, I'm leaning toward doing these on the 15th of every month going forward. Seth does the minor league player of the month awards at the end of each month, so I figure something this may be a good mid-month companion to those. Thanks for reading.

We haven't discussed this internally yet, but I'd imagine we'll update our prospect list sometime in late June. There aren't necessarily any guys I'd say "should" be in the majors, but there are a ton of guys in the high minors ready if they're called upon. I shared some positive thoughts about Wiel over the winter, and he caught Parker's eye back in Sept. 2016. He hasn't been highly-regarded as a "prospect" but that only matters to a certain point. I doubt that he'd hold much trade value, but I like him. Seth usually writes up a roster preview prior to the short-season league teams starting up, so be on the lookout for that within the next month. Some of the other numbers could be better, but I'm never going to be too concerned about a hitter who has a .390 OBP.

You asked for it, well here it is. Welcome to the first edition of Twins Prospect Pulse, a new feature inspired by requests in the comments section of the minor league reports. This is basically just a great big roundup of standings and statistics. This may (or may not) become a regular feature to supplement the already incredible coverage of the minor league system here at Twins Daily. Let’s get right into it.Twins Daily Minor League Reports Twins Minor League Report (5/24): Brent Rooker Jacks Two Dingers Twins Minor League Report (5/25): Vargas Powers Wings Twins Minor League Report (5/26): Lookouts Turn Triple Play in Wild Victory Twins Minor League Report (5/27): Royce Lewis For President! Twins Minor League Report (5/28): Memorial Day Memories Made? Twins Minor League Report (5/29): Miracle Blast Threshers Twins Minor League Report (5/30): Bencomo Dazzles While Miranda Launches Affiliates -Rochester Red Wings: 26-23, third place in IL North -Chattanooga Lookouts: 31-21, first place in SL North -Fort Myers Miracle: 20-28, last place in FSL South -Cedar Rapids Kernels: 25-25, fifth place in MWL Western -Elizabethton Twins (season starts June 19) -GCL Twins (season starts June 18) ***Stats below were compiled Wednesday morning and do not include today’s games*** League Leaders -Aaron Slegers is tied for the IL lead with five victories and has the second-lowest BB/9 at 1.31. -Zander Wiel is second in the SL with 15 doubles. -Prior to being promoted, Nick Gordon had a .525 slugging percentage for Chattanooga, which ranks third in the SL. -Omar Bencomo leads the SL with a 2.08 ERA and Randy LeBlanc is tied for second at 2.17. Bencomo was recently promoted to Rochester. -Lewis Thorpe’s 14.3 swinging strike percentage ranks third in the SL. -Alex Kirilloff ranks second in the MWL in homers, RBIs, slugging and OPS. Top Prospects Here’s a snapshot at how the top 20 prospects have performed. 1. Royce Lewis, SS, Cedar Rapids Last 28 days: .287/.337/.425 (.762 OPS), 20.2 K%, 7.1 BB%. Full season: .309/.354/.416 (.770 OPS), 3 HR, 24 RBI, 23 R, 17.0 K%, 6.7 BB%, 13-for-14 in SB attempts. 2. Fernando Romero, RHP, Minnesota Last 28 days: 23.0 IP, 2.35 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, 9.4 K/9, 2.4 K:BB. Full season: 49.2 IP, 2.17 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, 8.9 K/9, 2.13 K:BB (MIN & CHAT). 3. Nick Gordon, SS, Rochester Last 28 days: .315/.375/.463 (.838 OPS), 17.5 K%, 6.7 BB%. Full season: .325/.369/.492 (.861 OPS), 5 HR, 22 RBI, 24 R, 16.1 K%, 5.5 BB% (ROC & CHAT). 4. Stephen Gonsalves, LHP, Rochester Last 28 days: 19.1 IP, 5.59 ERA, 1.71 WHIP, 13.0 K/9, 1.87 K:BB. Full season: 47.1 IP, 3.04 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 11.0 K/9, 2.23 K:BB (ROC & CHAT). 5. Alex Kirilloff, RF, Cedar Rapids Last 28 days: .378/.442/.673 (1.116 OPS), 15.9 K%, 9.7 BB%. Full season: .328/.381/.562 (.963 OPS), 8 HR, 41 RBI, 26 R, 17.3 K%, 7.6 BB%. 6. Wander Javier, SS, out for the year with a shoulder injury. Last 28 days: None. Full season: None. 7. Brent Rooker, 1B/LF, Chattanooga Last 28 days: .261/.317/.511 (.828 OPS), 24.8 K%, 6.9 BB%. Full season: .250/.293/.429 (.722 OPS), 7 HR, 27 RBI, 24 R, 28.3 K%, 5.1 BB%. 8. Blayne Enlow, RHP, Cedar Rapids Last 28 days: 15.2 IP, 2.30 ERA, 1.47 WHIP, 8.6 K/9, 2.14 K:BB. Full season: 24.2 IP, 3.28 ERA, 1.62 WHIP, 7.3 K/9, 1.82 K:BB. 9. Brusdar Graterol, RHP, Cedar Rapids Last 28 days: 21.2 IP, 1.66 ERA, 0.92 WHIP, 12.0 K/9, 4.83 K:BB. Full season: 25.1 IP, 1.78 ERA, 0.91 WHIP, 12.8 K/9, 6.0 K:BB. 10. Akil Baddoo, CF, Cedar Rapids Last 28 days: .213/.392/.279 (.671 OPS), 29.1 K%, 21.5 BB%. Full season: .218/.390/.315 (.705 OPS), 2 HR, 10 RBI, 27 R, 32.3 K%, 21.1 BB%. 11. Zack Littell, RHP, Rochester Last 28 days: 28.0 IP, 2.57 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, 9.6 K/9, 3.00 K:BB. Full season: 51.0 IP, 4.06 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, 10.9 K/9, 3.65 K:BB (ROC & CHAT). 12. Lewis Thorpe, LHP, Chattanooga Last 28 days: 24.1 IP, 4.07 ERA, 1.60 WHIP, 8.9 K/9, 2.40 K:BB. Full season: 47.0 IP, 4.21 ERA, 1.62 WHIP, 10.3 K/9, 2.76 K:BB. 13. Lewin Diaz, 1B, Fort Myers Last 28 days: .234/.279/.359 (.639 OPS), 14.7 K%, 2.9 BB%. Full season: .224/.257/.388 (.645 OPS), 4 HR, 19 BRI, 8 R, 17.1 K%, 2.1 BB%. 14. LaMonte Wade, OF, Chattanooga Last 28 days: .302/.403/.528 (.932 OPS), 12.9 K%, 11.3 BB%. Full season: .296/.396/.444 (.840 OPS), 6 HR, 19 RBI, 23 R, 10.1 K%, 13.2 BB% 15. Mitch Garver, C, Minnesota Congratulations are in order! On May 28, Mitch collected his 130th MLB at bat, meaning he no longer qualifies as a prospect. 16. Ben Rortvedt, C, Cedar Rapids Last 28 days: .291/.333/.405 (.738 OPS), 25.0 K%, 5.9 BB%. Full season: .270/.324/.373 (.697 OPS), 1 HR, 12 RBI, 12 R, 22.8 K%, 6.6 BB%. 17. Travis Blankenhorn, 3B/2B, Fort Myers Last 28 days: .188/.257/.344 (.601 OPS), 26.8 K%, 7.0 BB%. Full season: .247/.297/.455 (.752 OPS), 6 HR, 21 RBI, 18 R, 25.7 K%, 6.0 BB%. 18. Yunior Severino, 2B, expected to join E-Town next month. Last 28 days: None. Full season: None. 19. Tyler Jay, LHP, Chattanooga Last 28 days: 13.1 IP, 2.70 ERA, 1.58 WHIP, 6.8 K/9, 1.67 K:BB. Full season: 18.1 IP, 1.96 ERA, 1.42 WHIP, 6.9 K/9, 2.00 K:BB. 20. Felix Jorge, RHP, out with a knee injury. Last 28 days: None. Full season: None. Another 10 to Know These aren’t necessarily the next 10 in the rankings, but here are some other names of note: Nick Anderson, RHP, Rochester Last 28 days: 12.1 IP, 1.46 ERA, 0.65 WHIP, 13.9 K/9, 3.80 K:BB. Full season: 23.1 IP, 1.16 ERA, 0.77 WHIP, 13.9 K/9, 4.00 BB:BB. Willians Astudillo, C, Rochester Last 28 days: .290/.338/.484 (.822 OPS), 1.5 K%, 4.4 BB%. Full season: .291/.325/.500 (.825 OPS), 5 HR, 18 RBI, 14 R, 2.5 K%, 3.4 BB% Edgar Corcino, RF, Chattanooga Last 28 days: .267/.371/.456 (.827 OPS), 15.2 K%, 12.4 BB%. Full season: .248/.339/.433 (.772 OPS), 4 HR, 24 RB, 23 R, 17.0 K%, 10.9 BB%. Jaylin Davis, RF, Fort Myers Last 28 days: .299/.382/.478 (.859 OPS), 20.8 K%, 11.7 BB%. Full season: .279/.376/.442 (.818 OPS), 4 HR, 11 RBI, 18 R, 24.7 K%, 12.7 BB%. Ryan Mason, RHP, Fort Myers Last 28 days: 13.1 IP, 2.70 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, 9.5 K/9, 4.67 K:BB. Full season: 30.2 IP, 2.35 ERA, 0.88 WHIP, 9.7 K/9, 8.25 K:BB Chris Paul, 3B/OF, Chattanooga Last 28 days: .297/.350/.444 (.790 OPS), 20.0 K%, 6.0 BB%. Full season: .260/.323/.373 (.695 OPS), 2 ER, 17 RBI, 24 R, 19.9 K%, 7.0 BB%. Cody Stashak, RHP, Chattanooga Last 28 days: 12.1 IP, 0.73 ERA, 0.73 WHIP, 10.2 K/9, 3.50 K:BB. Full season: 24.1 IP, 2.59 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, 11.1 K/9, 3.00 K:BB Todd Van Steensel, RHP, Chattanooga Last 28 days: 14.0 IP, 0.64 ERA, 0.36 WHIP, 9.6 K/9, 7.50 K:BB. Full season: 29.2 IP, 1.82 ERA, 0.78 WHIP, 10.3 K/9, 3.88 K:BB Andrew Vasquez, LHP, Fort Myers Last 28 days: 10.2 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0.94 WHIP, 11.0 K/9, 13.00 K:BB Full season: 26.2 IP, 0.68 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, 10.1 K/9, 4.29 K:BB. Zander Wiel, 1B/LF, Chattanooga Last 28 days: .326/.374/.427 (.801 OPS), 20.2 K%, 6.1 BB%. Full season: .324/.391/.465 (.855 OPS), 3 HR, 27 RBI, 25 R, 20.3 K%, 7.8 BB%. If there’s anything else you’d like to see added to the Prospect Pulse, please let me know and I’ll see what I can do. Click here to view the article

Fernando Romero gave up eight runs and only recorded five outs, putting the Twins in a deep hole they couldn’t climb out of, though they gave it their best shot. Byron Buxton was placed on the DL, creating a spot for Aaron Slegers to join the club, and my did he come in handy tonight.Snapshot (chart via FanGraphs) Current record: 22-29 Starting Pitcher: 1 Game Score, 1.2 IP, 8 ER, 1 K, 1 BB, 67.3% strikes Bullpen: 6.1 IP, 3 ER, 5 K, 1 BB Lineup: 4-for-11 w/RISP, 7 LOB Top three per WPA: Escobar .108, Sano .048, Rosario .039 Download attachment: WinEx530.png Romero got torn to shreds, giving up more damage in 1 2/3 innings tonight as he had in his previous five starts combined. He saw his ERA rise from 1.88 to 4.15. Down 9-0 after the first two innings, the Twins offense finally appeared to loosen up. I think that’s a pretty good sign the guys have been putting too much pressure on themselves. They fired back to score eight unanswered to pull within a run of the Royals in the sixth inning, but KC tacked on single tallies in the seventh and eighth innings. Slegers not only stabilized this game, but he also saved the bullpen. That’s huge heading into a key four-game series against Cleveland. He pitched 5 1/3 innings, giving up two runs on six hits and a walk while striking out three batters. His reward will likely be an option back to Rochester. It’s hard to imagine the Twins will carry a guy in their bullpen who they won’t be able to use the next couple games (Slegers threw 83 pitches). Hopefully the bats can carry this performance over. Not only did they score eight runs, but they were also 4-for-11 with runners in scoring position and had six two-out RBIs. Ehire Adrianza hit his first home run of the season and also doubled. Brian Dozier homered, as well. Miguel Sano had a pair of hits and three RBIs. Eduardo Escobar and Eddie Rosario also posted multi-hit games. Cleveland beat the White Sox tonight, meaning the Twins are now 5.5 games back of first place in the AL Central. They’re already 9.5 games out in the Wild Card. Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days:Download attachment: Bullpen530.png AL Central Standings CLE 29-25 DET 25-30 (-4.5) MIN 22-29 (-5.5) KC 20-36 (-10) CHW 16-37 (-12.5) Next Three Games Thu vs. CLE, 7:10 pm CT Fri vs. CLE, 7:10 pm CT Sat vs. CLE, 3:10 pm CT Last Three Games KC 2, MIN 1: Every Game is the Same Game MIN 8, KC 5: Bats Break Out SEA 3, MIN 1: Worst Birthday Ever More From Twins Daily Twins Minor League Report (5/30): Bencomo Dazzles While Miranda Launches Lewis, Kirilloff Provide High Character, Huge Potential 2018 MLB Draft Top 50 Prospects: 1-10 Click here to view the article

Rodney also warmed up last night, I believe more than once. That's obviously not as laborious as if he'd pitched, but it wasn't exactly a day off for him. The big worry is that this bullpen won't be fresh for the Cleveland series, but I agree, it seems likely there will be some shuffling to add a new arm in the bullpen. The big difference to me is the thing that's holding Cleveland back is their bullpen. Their relievers have combined to a 6.08 ERA, worst in baseball. I think it's more likely that the Cleveland bullpen stabilizes than the Twins offense does, though it's certainly realistic to expect both of those units to improve over the course of the rest of the season.

I like to always give the opponent credit when credit is due. Gordon made a beautiful throw to nail Dozier at the plate and that was a pretty epic blast by Alcides to end it. But, that Royals pitching staff "deserved" to give up more than one run. The Twins drew eight walks and had a hit by pitch, you gotta come away with more than one run, even if that was stretched across 14 innings. Back to that Gordon play, I liked Glynn sending Dozier there at the time. Obviously it didn't work out and that proved to be costly, but with this offense struggling to score I think it's wise to take a chance like that. When Buxton was on, I think the hard-throwing battery of Kelvin Herrera and Drew Butera may have scared off the Twins from trying to steal, but why not give it a shot and make them make a play? At this point, I'd much rather see the Twins lose because they were trying to be over aggressive in trying to create some offense.

The Twins got a great start from [insert starting pitcher] and the bullpen was solid, but the bats couldn’t get anything going and the Twins fell [insert score] to the [insert team] on a walk-off loss. But hey, things are bound to turn around, and at least the Twins have loads more of these games against the AL Central, right?Snapshot (chart via FanGraphs) Current record: 22-28 Kyle Gibson: 78 Game Score, 7.0 IP, 0 ER, 8 K, 1 BB, 64.4% strikes Bullpen: 6.2 IP, 2 ER, 5 K, 2 BB Lineup: 2-for-7 w/RISP, 13 LOB Top three per WPA: Gibson .509, Magill .496, Hildenberger .290 Download attachment: WinEx528.png This wasn’t just good Gibby, great Gibby showed up Tuesday night. He allowed very little traffic in his seven innings of work, limiting the Royals to five hits and one walk. This was the first time Kyle completed seven innings this season and the fourth time in 11 starts he walked fewer than two batters. Here’s a look at Gibson’s pitch usage and outcomes via Baseball Savant. The slider continues to be an elite pitch, but he really upped its usage tonight. Download attachment: GibsonGraph.png As has far too often been the case this season for the Twins, they let that excellent start go to waste. Their one run came on a bases-loaded single form Miguel Sano. Brian Dozier was thrown out at home on that play and Eddie Rosario was later caught being over aggressive on a turn at first base. Still, Gibson exited this game with a 1-0 lead. Addison Reed came on in the eighth and gave up a leadoff single to Jon Jay, a one-out single to Mike Moustakas then hit Salvador Perez to load the bases. Reed walked Jorge Soler to bring in the game-tying run. He hadn’t walked a batter in his previous eight appearances. Mitch Garver led off the top of the ninth with a single and was replaced with pinch runner Byron Buxton. Ehire Adrianza bunted him over to second, but pinch hitter Logan Morrison lined out and Dozier grounded out to strand the runner and send the game into the bottom of the ninth tied. The Twins loaded up the bases with two outs in the 10th. Buxton flew out. The best the Twins could muster in the 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th innings was one lousy walk. That Garver single to open the ninth would be their final base hit of the evening. Trevor Hildenberger pitched two scoreless innings and Matt Magill tossed 3 1/3 no-hit innings. Taylor Rogers gave up a walk-of homer to Alcides Escobar to end it in the bottom of the 14th inning. You never know what you’re going to see in a baseball game, but this is getting to be unbelievable. Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Download attachment: Bullpen528.png Next Three Games Wed at KC, 7:15 pm CT Thu vs. CLE, 7:10 pm CT Fri vs. CLE, 7:10 pm CT Last Three Games MIN 8, KC 5: Bats Break Out SEA 3, MIN 1: Worst Birthday Ever SEA 4, MIN 3: Zuni-Not Again More From Twins Daily Twins Minor League Report (5/29): Miracle Blast Threshers Twins Daily Roundtable: Minnesota's All-Star Selection Overshadowed Twins Pitching Staff is Roundly Excelling Click here to view the article

Right, but something to consider is how much the guys who are no longer on the roster pulled down those numbers. Hughes, Duffey, Moya, Busenitz, Kinley, Hale, Curtiss and LaMarre (OK, I guess he's technically still active) combined to give up 43 earned runs in 34 innings.

This is exactly what the Twins needed. Miguel Sano hit a home run, Brian Dozier had three hits and Lance Lynn delivered a quality start. The Twins didn’t exactly coast to victory in this one, but the offensive outburst was a welcome sight.Snapshot (chart via FanGraphs) Current record: 22-27 Lance Lynn: 57 Game Score, 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 5 K, 3 BB, 58.2% strikes Bullpen: 3.0 IP, 2 ER, 3 K, 0 BB Lineup: 5-for-11 w/RISP, 10 LOB Top 3 Twins WPA: Dozier .162 Rosario .156, Sano .130 Download attachment: WinEx528.png Sano was back at third base and broke a scoreless tie in the fifth inning by slugging a two-run homer, his first since April 25. Brian Dozier was 3-for-5 and drove in the go-ahead run. But, as has been the case for the bulk of the season, it was Eddie Rosario who delivered the big hit -- a bases-clearing double in the eighth inning. Lynn was constantly pitching with runners on, but the only damage he gave up was a two-run double to Mike Moustakas. Lynn closes out May with a 3.76 ERA and the Twins went 4-1 in his starts. The Twins took advantage of a few moments of hesitation from the Kansas City defense. Max Kepler hit what typically would have been a double into the right field corner. Jorge Soler didn’t look particularly concerned about getting the ball back in, so Kepler stretched it into a triple. He also had a double tonight. That massive Rosario bases-clearing double probably would have usually been a two-run single, but both Rosie and Dozier, who was on first base, just kept running. The Royals weren’t exactly quick to get that ball back into the infield, and when it finally did go into second base, they were more focused on keeping the tag on Rosario than keeping an eye on Dozier. Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days:Download attachment: Bullpen528.png Next Three Games Tue at KC, 7:15 pm CT Wed at KC, 7:15 pm CT Thu vs. CLE, 7:10 pm CT Last Three Games SEA 3, MIN 1: Worst Birthday Ever SEA 4, MIN 3: Zuni-Not Again SEA 2, MIN 1: Paxton Outduels Romero More From Twins Daily Twins Minor League Report (5/28): Memorial Day Memories Made? Week in Review: Wasted Starts Overshadowed Twins Pitching Staff is Roundly Excelling Click here to view the article

I don't remember a time where the Twins were actually getting good starting pitching and it was the bats that were holding them back.

It was Jose Berrios’ 24th birthday and all his teammates could get him was one stinkin’ run. He exited this game in the eighth inning with the scored tied at 1-1. The bullpen allowed Seattle to take the lead. They better have gotten him a really, really nice card.Snapshot (chart via FanGraphs) Current record: 21-27 Jose Berrios: 62 Game Score, 7.1 IP, 2 ER, 8 K, 1 BB, 67.9% strikes Bullpen: 0.2 IP, 1 ER, 1 K, 0 BB Lineup: 0-for-6 w/RISP, 2 LOB Top three per WPA: Berrios .306, Pressly .056, Rosario .055, Download attachment: WinEx527.png Berrios has now gone at least seven innings and given up two runs or fewer in three-straight starts. He leaned heavily on his curveball, going to it on 32 of his 106 pitches on the afternoon. He got 11 of his 17 swinging strikes on the curve and the M’s only put that pitch in play four times. The Twins got out to an early lead when Eddie Rosario scored all the way from first on an Eduardo Escobar double in the second inning. Rosie made a great read off the bat and made an outstanding slide to avoid the tag at the plate. Berrios gave up a solo homer to Kyle Seager in the fourth inning to tie it up. He opened the eighth by giving up a single and then a walk, with a caught stealing in between. Ryan Pressly came in and struck out Nelson Cruz for the second out. Zach Duke came in to face Seager, a lefty, but gave up a hit. Addison Reed entered with two outs and runners on first and second. He gave up a two-run double to the first batter he faced. Mike Leake, who entered the day with a 5.46 ERA, held the Twins to four hits over eight innings. He only needed 86 pitches to get that far. Alex Colome handled the ninth for his first save with Seattle. Rosario got two of the Twins’ four hits on the day. Miguel Sano was 1-for-4 with a double. The Twins were putting the ball in play all game, they only struck out twice, but there just weren’t many hard-hit balls. Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days:Download attachment: Bullpen527.png Next Three Games Mon at KC, 6:15 pm CT Tue at KC, 7:15 pm CT Wed at KC, 7:15 pm CT Last Three Games SEA 4, MIN 3: Zuni-Not Again SEA 2, MIN 1: Paxton Outduels Romero DET 4, MIN 1: Niko’s Revenge More From Twins Daily Twins Trade Phil Hughes, Draft Pick to San Diego 2018 MLB Draft Top 50 Prospects: 11-20 Click here to view the article

The system has really nice depth right now, but I still don't like this trade.

The Twins are 3-10 in one-run games and this was their seventh walk-off loss. Last season, they were 15-18 in one-run games and had six walk-off losses all year.