Tom Froemming

Here are the top 10 pitchers drafted that year: Mark Prior (16.6 bWAR) Dewon Brazelton (-3.1 bWAR) Gavin Floyd (15.6 bWAR) Josh Karp (0 MLB innings) Chris Smith (0 MLB innings) John Van Benschoten (-3.6 bWAR) Colt Griffin (0 MLB innings) Kenny Baugh (0 MLB innings) Mike Jones (0 MLB innings) Kris Honel (0 MLB innings) Ouch.

Love seeing the bullpens side-by-side here. Let's hope tonight's game goes 23 innings, then we'll have Cleveland right where we want them with that nine-man pen

It seems to me that Joe's biggest enemy is going to be the limit. He's going to need a lot of guys to get elected or drop off the ballot between now and when he appears. BBWAA members can only vote for 10 players. Here are the 10 guys who came the closest to election this year: Edgar Martinez Mike Mussina Roger Clemens Barry Bonds Curt Schilling Omar Vizquel Larry Walker Fred McGriff Manny Ramirez Jeff Kent Some of those guys are going to get in, but there will be more players added to the ballot. This is one of the many problems I have with the HoF. The question isn't going to be is Joe Mauer a Hall of Famer, it's going to be is he one of the 10 best players on the ballot?

We could put in links to their MiLB.com profiles, would that be helpful?

Thanks for the feedback. This is what I call the Saturday Speed Round edition of the minors reports. Hopefully it still has all the stuff you'd expect from the regular format, but it shaves a little bit of time off writing it. Saturday's can be tough, especially once the short season leagues start. A left groin strain. At least it's not an arm injury.

The three Twins affiliates who played Saturday all won close ballgames. LaMonte Wade and Nick Gordon delivered in the clutch for the Lookouts. Aaron Slegers, Adalberto Mejia and Phil Hughes were all in action. Ryan Mason was with a new team, but still doing big things out of the bullpen.TRANSACTIONS Ryan LaMarre was optioned to Rochester (but you'll be happy to know that he just keeps hitting). Brady Anderson was sent back to Fort Myers from Rochester. RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 4, Gwinnett 2 Box Score W: Aaron Slegers (6 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 K) SV: Matt Magill (1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K) HR: Brock Stassi (1) Multi-hit games: Ryan Lamarre (2-for-3, BB, RBI) Gregorio Petit (2-for-4, 3B, 2 R) It took the Red Wings’ offense some time to get rolling, so it was good Aaron Slegers brought his A game. He pitched six shutout innings in a game that was tied at 0-0 through five innings. Rochester built a 4-0 lead, but Adalberto Mejia ran into some trouble in his relief appearance. He pitched clean innings in the seventh and eighth frames, but things got interesting in the ninth. Mejia issued a leadoff walk, the next batter reached on an error which was followed with an RBI single. Mejia was charged with one earned run on a hit, two walks and a hit batter over his two innings, but he also struck out four batters. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 3, Pensacola 2 Box Score W: Todd Van Steensel (2 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K) SV: Omar Bencomo (2 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K) SP: Lewis Thorpe (4 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K) HR: None Multi-hit games: LaMonte Wade (2-for-4, 2 RBI) Nick Gordon (2-for-4, RBI, SB) The Lookouts entered the fifth inning trailing 2-0 but rallied to take the lead. T.J White led off the frame with a single and Brent Rooker followed suit. Brian Navarreto advanced them both on a sac bunt, then Ryan Walker lived up to his name and drew a base on balls to load ‘em up. Tanner English went down swinging, bringing LaMonte Wade up with the bases juiced and two outs. He delivered a two-run, game-tying single and Nick Gordon capped the inning by driving in the go-ahead run on a single of his own. Lewis Thorpe gave up two runs over four innings, one of them unearned due to his own throwing error. The bullpen shut out the Blue Wahoos from there, with Todd Van Steensel (two innings) Anthony McIver (one inning) and Omar Bencomo (two innings) protecting the one-run lead. MIRACLE MATTERS Fort Myers 5, Tampa 4 Box Score W: Phil Hughes (5 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K) SV: Ryan Mason (2 1/3 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K) HR: None Multi-hit games: Aaron Whitefield (2-for-4, 2B, R, SB) Jimmy Kerrigan (2-for-4, 2B, 2 R) Phil Hughes pitched five shutout innings and 44 of his 61 pitches were for strikes (72.1 percent). Mike Berardino of the Pioneer Press passed along on Twitter that this lines Hughes up to return April 24 at Yankee Stadium. Similar to the Rochester game, the Miracle also jumped out to a 4-0 lead. Colton Davis, the first man out of the bullpen ran into some trouble, but Ryan Mason righted the ship. Mason, making his first appearance since being called up from Cedar Rapids, entered the game with the Miracle clinging to a one-run lead. There were two men on base and two outs in the seventh inning. Mason struck out the next batter swinging to end the threat. It was Mason’s game from there, as he closed things out to earn his third save already in this young season (he had two with the Kernels). KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids vs. Clinton Postponed (rain) STARS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day: Ryan Mason Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day: LaMonte Wade TOP PROSPECT SUMMARY Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Prospects performed: #3 Nick Gordon: 2-for-4, RBI, SB #7 Brent Rooker: 1-for-4, R, K #12 Lewis Thorpe: 4 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K #13 Lewin Diaz: 0-for-4, K #14 LaMonte Wade: 2-for-4, 2 RBI, K #17 Travis Blankenhorn: 0-for-3, BB, RBI SUNDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester at Gwinnett (12:05 pm CT), Fernando Romero Chattanooga at Pensacola (1:05 pm CT), Kohl Stewart Fort Myers vs. Tampa (3:00 pm CT), Clark Beeker Cedar Rapids vs. Clinton (2:05 pm CT), Blayne Enlow Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the games. Click here to view the article

This is an updated version of a post that originally appeared in the blog section over the offseason. We felt like the discussion was worth revisiting this afternoon in the wake of Joe collecting his 2,000th hit. Another Twins Daily piece from the offseason that's worthy of mention is John's Report from the Fort that made it sound like Mr. Mauer intended to stick around awhile longer. Also, Andrew put together a nice overview on some things that need to happen for Mauer to return to the Twins in 2019.

You're right, and Buxton had a huge impact on the bases that inning. Singled, stole second, advanced to third on a fly out to the center fielder and then scored on a groundball hit to the shortstop while the infield was drawn in. A very small percentage of players would have been able to make all that happen. The White Sox made some poor throws that allowed him to get to third and then home, but it definitely seemed like they were feeling the pressure of Buxton on the bases. On replay, I still can't believe it took them over three and a half minutes to review that Berrios-Anderson pickoff and they still got it wrong.

Gracias, fixed. I had seven on the mind last night, so I shorted him four Ks. Either that or I ran out of fingers and toes

Sometimes milestones are anticlimactic, but this one was pretty neat. With the Twins leading 2-0 in the seventh inning, Joe Mauer ripped a single up the middle for his 2,000th career hit. That drove in two runs and came in front of his home fans. If you ask for more than that, you’re just being greedy.Snapshot (chart via FanGraphs) Download attachment: Snapshot412.png Download attachment: WinEx412.png Of course, in order to get to 2,000 Mauer had to get 1,999. He delivered an RBI single in the third inning and also walked in the first. Berrios was incredible. He tied a career high with 11 strikeouts and did not walk a batter over seven shutout innings. Of his 99 pitches, 73 were for strikes. On the season, Jose has 24 strikeouts, one walk and an ERA of 2.18. Wow. He’s on quite a roll heading into the Puerto Rico series. According to Baseball Savant, Berrios racked up 17 swinging strikes tonight, 11 of them on the 37 curveballs he threw. That pitch is developing into one of the more formidable offerings in baseball. Brian Dozier had an RBI double and scored twice. He has a hit in every game so far this season. Miguel Sano and Eddie Rosario also doubled. Byron Buxton stole a pair of bases, giving him four on the year already. He didn't swipe his fourth base until May 18 last season. Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Download attachment: Bullpen412.png Next Three Games Fri vs. CHW 7:10 pm CT Sat vs. CHW 1:10 pm CT Sun vs. CHW 1:10 pm CT Last Three Games MIN 9, HOU 8: Max to the Rescue! MIN 4, HOU 1: Odorizzi, Twins Battle Their Way to Victory HOU 2, MIN 0: Failure to Launch More From Twins Daily Minors Report A Milestone For Minnesota And Mauer Logan Morrison: Bad or Just Bad Luck? Changing Timeline: Is It Time To Start Worrying About Santana? Click here to view the article

The gmLI shows who has been asked to pitch in the highest-leverage situations, so I think that's an interesting trend to note. Of course that can all change. WPA isn't predictive at all, but it's an interesting stat to show what has happened so far But I didn't say "hey everybody, draw concrete conclusions off these numbers!!!" Nerdy stats are fun, loosen up If we can't talk about anything over a 10-game stretch, this site is going to be really boring.

If tonight's game is close things could get interesting. I wouldn't expect Duke or Rodney to be available to pitch for a third-consecutive game. It also seems to me like it'd be for the best to give Hildy a break if possible. Reed was outstanding yesterday, but he's still recovering from strep throat. I have no problem with Molitor leaning on his top guys to get through the Houston series instead of trying to save bullets for the White Sox, but here's hoping Jose Berrios has a nice start.

Here's some fun bullpen nerdery to pass along: gmLI (avg. leverage index when pitcher enters the game) 1.74 Rodney 1.64 Reed 1.50 Hildenberger 1.47 Duke 1.06 Rogers 0.84 Pressly 0.16 Moya 0.01 Kinley WPA (pitcher's impact on win expectancy) 0.61 Reed (ranks 12th among all relievers) 0.19 Rogers 0.04 Pressly 0.02 Moya 0.00 Kinley -0.12 Hildenberger -0.19 Duke -0.28 Rodney

Fixed, thank you.

You should be able to see all the usual bells & whistles now.

I've now included video of both the non-double plays referenced in the comments.

You didn't think that may have been a double play ball off the bat?

Things didn’t need to be this interesting. The Twins held an 8-1 lead at one point. They were even up 8-6 entering the ninth, but the Astros just wouldn’t go away. Good thing Max Kepler was in beast mode. He blasted a walk-off homer, his second dinger of the game, to give the Twins a series victory over Houston.Snapshot (chart via FanGraphs) Download attachment: Snapshot411.png Download attachment: WinEx411.png Here’s the walk-off homer: Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Download attachment: Bullpen411.png Next Three Games Thu vs. CHW 7:10 pm CT Fri vs. CHW 7:10 pm CT Sat vs. CHW 1:10 pm CT Last Three Games MIN 4, HOU 1: Odorizzi, Twins Battle Their Way to Victory HOU 2, MIN 0: Failure to Launch SEA 11, MIN 4: That Escalated Quickly More From Twins Daily Logan Morrison: Bad or Just Bad Luck? Changing Timeline: Is It Time To Start Worrying About Santana? The Twins Almanac for April 8–14 Click here to view the article

The defending World Series champion Astros entered tonight off to a great start, 9-2, and absolutely owned the Twins last season. New year, new look, new results. After falling 2-0 in a hard-fought game last night, the Twins came up victorious tonight thanks to a gutty performance by Jake Odorizzi.Snapshot (chart via FanGraphs) Download attachment: Snapshot410.png Download attachment: WinEx410.png Houston scored 57 runs in their six games against the Twins last season, but in their first two contests of 2018 have been held to just three runs. The Astros lineup looks very similar to last season. The Twins pitching staff? Not so much. Odorizzi had some kind of magic working tonight. The Astros had two men on with one out in the first, but Odorizzi coaxed an inning-ending double play. He walked the leadoff man in the second. Unfortunately, he didn’t have any spells to ward off a haunting. That ended up being the lone runner who scored for Houston. Odorizzi walked two men in a scoreless third, but his most impressive wizardry came in the fifth inning. Alex Bregman hit a leadoff single, but he was soon picked off. Jose Altuve followed with a single himself, but Carlos Correa hit into an inning-ending double play. Odorizzi capped off the night with a 1-2-3 sixth. He walked five men, continuing a troubling trend for the Twins, but held the defending champs to one run on five hits over six frames. Neither Odorizzi nor Lance Lynn necessarily looked great against the Astros, but they showed what established, professional pitchers can do: Go to work even without their best command or stuff. Speaking of work, Twins hitters put Dallas Keuchel to task. He threw 101 pitches over just four innings. Minnesota scratched across a couple of runs in the first inning thanks to an Eduardo Escobar sac fly and a Robbie Grossman double. Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Download attachment: Bullpen410.png Next Three Games Wed vs. HOU 12:10 pm CT Thu vs. CHW 7:10 pm CT Fri vs. CHW 7:10 pm CT Last Three Games HOU 2, MIN 0: Failure to Launch SEA 11, MIN 4: That Escalated Quickly MIN 4, SEA 2: Bombs and Bullpen More From Twins Daily Twins Minor League Report (4/10): Kernels Pop Peoria Behind Rortvedt Logan Morrison: Bad or Just Bad Luck? Changing Timeline: Is It Time To Start Worrying About Santana? Click here to view the article

Here are pitch counts from all the starters last night: Slegers 66 Stewart 75 Beeker 66 Enlow 48 No Twins minor leaguer has thrown 80 pitches in a game yet this season. I wonder if this is something new minor league pitching coordinator Pete Maki has implemented across the board, or if it's just a coincidence. Either way, I like it. It's a long season, and most of these minor league teams have enough multi-inning relievers to help pick up the slack. Might as well let the starters ease their way into the season.