Tom Froemming

Baseball is a team game, but when one player gets on a roll it’s incredible the influence he can have. Byron Buxton has been hot ever since returning from the DL, but Sunday he really busted out. As in out of the park. We’ve seen inside-the-park homers, bunt hits and incredible feats in the field, but on Sunday we saw something new from Byron: three homers.Snapshot (win expectancy chart via Fangraphs) Download attachment: Snap827.png Buxton had a pair of bunt hits in the first game of this series at Toronto that left a lot of people wondering why the heck he didn’t bunt more often. With how easy he made those hits look, it was a valid question. Well, here’s why. Byron showed it all this weekend in Toronto. We already saw the speed. We already saw the defense. Sunday he flexed his muscles. This is the kinda stuff that made him the top prospect in all of baseball. There is nothing he can’t do on a baseball diamond. Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Download attachment: Bullpen827.png Looking Ahead MON: OFF Tue: Twins (Ervin Santana) vs. White Sox (James Shields), 7:10 pm CT WED: Twins (TBD) vs. White Sox (Derek Holland), 7:10 pm CT Looking Back TOR 10, MIN 9: Sloppy 8th Inning Costs Twins in Comeback Effort MIN 6, TOR 1: Buxton, Bartolo Get Twins Back to Winning Ways CWS 5, MIN 1: Twins Drop Ugly Game, Series to White Sox Click here to view the article

The Twins lineup was incredibly pesky, continually cutting large deficits built by the Blue Jays, but every time they inched back Toronto answered. Max Kepler hit a grand slam and Joe Mauer had another three-hit game, but some sloppy play in the eighth inning led to two Toronto insurance runs that proved to be vital.Win Expectancy (via Fangraphs) Download attachment: WinEx826.png Top 3 Twins per WPA: Escobar .331 | Kepler .080 | Dozier .046 The Twins fell behind 2-0, but managed to tie it up in the top of the fifth thanks to an Eduardo Escobar two-run homer. Unfortunately, the Blue Jays busted out in the bottom of that inning for six runs. The Twins rallied back again, scoring five unanswered runs, with the big blow coming in the form of a Max Kepler grand slam in the top of the eighth inning. Twins W-L Record Overall: 66-63 Last 10: 6-4 Last 20: 13-7 AL Central Standings Cleveland 71-56 Minnesota 66-63 (-6.0) Kansas City 64-63 (-7.0) AL Wild Card Standings WC1: Yankees 69-59 (+3.5) WC2: Minnesota 66-63 Seattle 66-64 (-0.5) Kansas City 64-63 (-1.0) Angels 65-64 (-1.0) Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Download attachment: Bullpen826.png Looking Ahead SUN: Twins (Kyle Gibson at Toronto (Joe Biagini), 12:07 pm CT MON: OFF Tue: Twins (TBD) vs. White Sox (TBD), 7:10 pm CT Looking Back FRI: MIN 6, TOR 1: Buxton, Bartolo Gets Twins Back to Winning Ways THU: CWS 5, MIN 1: Twins Drop Ugly Game, Series to White Sox WED: CWS 4, MIN 3: Twins Bullpen Blows Lead Question of the Day Which team do you think will be the Twins stiffest competition for the second wild card spot? Click here to view the article

I don't really care how many singles a guy gives up compared to how many runs are scored against him. I saw the one where Seth compared Johan to Koufax, but must've missed the one where anybody here said Stephen was the next Sandy. We all know he's the next Clayton Keisha, tho If anything on TD makes you sick, you need to take a couple deep breaths, gets some fresh air and pet a dog or something. Who would you have given pitcher of the day to? Stashak was dynamite and Moya got a big save. Jay pitched well, along with others, but it's tough for me to give it to a reliever or any starter that fails to go five innings. Gomez was great, but that game was so out of hand before he entered it didn't really matter much.

You OK, man? Need a hug or something? I said Gonsalves was impressive and great, but sure, I'll say outstanding too. Look deep into the numbers? How about this: he faced 24 men, struck out six of them (25%) and walked just one (4%). He gave up two extra-base hits, one of them to Michael Saunders, an MLB All-Star just last season. If you're going to take issue with that performance from a 23-year-old in Triple A, you're setting yourself up for a lot of disappointment.

You won’t find many games as one-sided as the ones played by Fort Myers and Elizabethton Friday. Those two clubs socked a combined seven homers, and both won by double-digit margins. The Lookouts and Kernels were also victorious Friday night, but the Red Wings fell in extras despite an impressive performance from Stephen Gonsalves. Find out everything that happened in the Twins minor league system on Friday.RED WINGS REPORT Buffalo 2, Rochester 1 (11 innings) Box Score Stephen Gonsalves pitched a great game and Levi Michael hit his first Triple-A home run, but the Red Wings just couldn’t get much of anything going on offense. The Wings had a great opportunity to walk this one off in the bottom of the ninth inning. Matt Hague was thrown out at the plate for the third out as he attempted to score on an Anthony Recker double. Gonsalves, making his fourth start for Rochester, gave up one run on seven hits and a walk over 6.0 innings. He struck out six. Nik Turley and Michael Tonkin each pitched two scoreless innings out of the bullpen before Yohan Pino gave up the game-winning sac fly in the top of the 11th. The Wings went down in order in the bottom of the inning. Rochester fell to 75-57, but still holds a two-game lead of the wild card spot. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 3, Mississippi 1 Box Score All this team does is win. This one was tied until the bottom of the eighth inning when T.J. White drove in LaMonte Wade to give the Lookouts the lead. Max Murphy added an RBI double to provide an insurance run. Ryan Eades got his first start since July 2 and held Mississippi to one run over 4.0 innings. Cody Stashak, who was making his Double-A debut, was the first man out of the bullpen and was outstanding. He struck out five of the seven batters he faced over his 2.0 scoreless innings. Alex Muren followed with two more innings of shutout ball before Gabriel Moya came in for his 23rd save of the season. White, Murphy and Jonathan Rodriguez each had two hits. Along with sparking the game-winning rally, Wade also drove in Chattanooga’s first run with a sac fly in the fifth inning. MIRACLE MATTERS Fort Myers 14, Charlotte 2 Box Score Brent Rooker homered, because that’s what he does. Make that 17 home runs in 58 career games for the Mississippi State product, 10 of which he’s hit for the Miracle. I guess somebody forgot to tell him the FSL is a pitcher’s league. Rooker also had two singles, raising his batting average to .289. But there were plenty of other impressive performances by Fort Myers, which scored six runs in both the first and fourth innings. Jaylin Davis hit two homers and Tanner English blasted a grand slam. Zander Wiel had three hits, drove in three runs and scored twice. Brady Anderson was off to a great start, but exited the game after three shutout innings due to an apparent injury. Tyler Jay came on in relief and completed two full innings for the first time this season. He struck out three batters and allowed just one hit. Jay is up to 5.2 innings on his rehab assignment and has 10 strikeouts and just one walk. Tom Hackimer also threw two scoreless innings and added four strikeouts. In all, the Miracle racked up 13 K's and issued just one walk. This was a big win for Fort Myers, as they extended their lead over Charlotte to 4.0 games in the FSL South division’s second-half standings. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 6. Quad Cities 2 Box Score Jimmy Kerrigan sparked the Kernels two-run second inning with a leadoff single and added some insurance runs with a two-RBI base hit in the ninth. In between, both Lewin Diaz and Travis Blankenhorn homered. Charlie Barnes held the River Bandits to one run on two hits over 4.0 innings. He struck out three. Logan Lombana followed with two scoreless innings. Patrick McGuff surrendered a run over his two innings, but also struck out three. Hector Lujan pitched a scoreless ninth inning, lowering his ERA to 1.41. The Kernels were extremely patient in this game. They drew 10 walks, two each for Caleb Hamilton, Shane Carrier and Jordan Gore. Royce Lewis was 1-for-3 with a walk, a run scored and he stole a base. E-TWINS E-NOTES Elizabethton 12, Bristol 1 Box Score What a dominating performance by the E-Twins. Second baseman Carson Crites led the way by going 4-for-5 with a three-run homer, Jose Miranda also clubbed a three-run homer, his 10th of the season, and Ariel Montesino had a home run, three hits and four RBI. Akil Baddoo was on base in four of his five plate appearances, tallying two singles while picking up a couple of walks. He entered this game with a .421 OBP. Wander Javier also had a couple of hits. Ryley Widel struggled with his control, walking six batters, but he still only gave up one run over his four innings thanks in large part to six strikeouts. Moises Gomez pitched the final five frames, holding Bristol scoreless on two hits while adding another seven strikeouts. The victory improved E-Town’s record to 37-25, and they were able to extend their lead in the Appy League West division to 3.5 games over Johnson City. GCL TWINS TAKES GCL Red Sox at GCL Twins (Postponed due to rain) TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day: Stephen Gonsalves, Rochester (6 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K) Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day: Jaylin Davis, Fort Myers (3-for-5, 2 HR) SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester vs. Buffalo, 5:05 pm CT, David Hurlbut (3.56 ERA, 1.41 WHIP) Chattanooga at Jackson, 6:05 pm CT, Zack Littell (3.03 ERA, 1.28 WHIP) Fort Myers vs. Charlotte, 5:05 pm CT, Lewis Thorpe (2.87 ERA, 1.26 WHIP) Cedar Rapids at Quad Cities, 6:35 pm CT, Tyler Wells (2.27 ERA, 1.00 WHIP) Elizabethton at Greenville, 5:00 pm CT, TBD GCL Twins vs GCL Red Sox, 9:00 am CT (doubleheader), TBD Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Friday's games. Click here to view the article

Thank you, updated. Kinda have too many balls up in the air while the game was finishing up. I hate bunting, so yeah, I wold have been especially upset if that first one with Dozier on third didn't work out. But I guess maybe I need to re-calibrate my bunting frustrations when it comes to the fastest man in baseball.

Byron Buxton, wow. Buck had three hits -- two of them on bunts -- drove in a pair of runs, stole a base and made what may have been his finest catch. He also made another great grab that brought a smile to Bartolo Colon’s face, as Big Sexy held the Blue Jays to one run over 6.2 innings.Win Expectancy (via Fangraphs) Download attachment: WinEx825.png Top 3 Twins per WPA: Colon .219 | Polanco .209 | Buxton .092 Buxton helped the Twins bust out of their slump by playing a little small ball. He dropped down a bunt single that scored Brian Dozier from third base to get the Twins on the board in the top of the third. They were looking like piranhas again, as the Twins got three bunt hits on the night and stole three bases. Words can’t really do justice to Buxton’s run-saving catch to end the eighth inning. You’ve got to see it to believe it: Twins W-L Record Overall: 66-62 Last 10: 7-3 Last 20: 14-6 AL Central Standings Cleveland 71-56 Minnesota 66-62 (-5.5) Kansas City 64-63 (-7.0) AL Wild Card Standings WC1: Yankees 68-59 (+2.5) WC2: Minnesota 66-62 Seattle 66-63 (-0.5) Angels 65-64 (-1.5) Kansas City 64-63 (-1.5) Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Download attachment: Bullpen825.png Looking Ahead SAT: Twins (Dillon Gee) at Toronto (Marco Estrada), 12:07 pm CT SUN: Twins (Kyle Gibson at Toronto (TBD), 12:07 pm CT MON: OFF Question of the Day What do you think of this whole Player’s Weekend thing? Last Three Recaps CWS 5, MIN 1: Twins Drop Ugly Game, Series to White Sox CWS 4, MIN 3: Twins Bullpen Blows Lead MIN 4, CWS 1: Gibson Great, Twins Hit 3 More Homers Click here to view the article

The question isn't whether or not Joe wants days off. Mauer wants to play everyday. He said so this spring. Here's the link to an old thread Seth posted about it (which includes a link to an article by Derek Wetmore). Then why is he not playing? 1) Paul Molitor wants to keep him healthy. Mauer hit .111/.245/.222 and played just 12 games last Sept./Oct. He's also 34 now, so it makes a lot of sense to try to rest him and keep him strong through the entire season. 2) Joe has had a tough time against lefties for awhile now. Over the past three seasons, he's hit .252/.320/.350 off same-sided pitchers (429 PAs). So the question is would you risk wearing him down and accept the decreased production in order to keep his glove on the field?

Romero pitched poorly again last night. He gave up six runs (five earned) and nine hits over 5.0 innings. So he's now given up 17 earned runs over his last 14.1 IP.

It’s a good thing we know this Twins team has the ability to pick itself up off the mat. They mustered very little offense and made some costly defensive mistakes Thursday night as they lost a five-game series 3-2 against the worst team in the American League.Win Expectancy (via Fangraphs) Download attachment: WinEx824.png Top 3 Twins per WPA: Escobar .055 | Rosario .037 | Mauer .032 It’s almost hard to believe the White Sox managed to score five runs off Berrios, given how nasty he was. Jose only gave up four hits and struck out nine batters over 5.1 innings, but he also walked three and the Twins made a pair of costly errors (one of which was committed by Berrios). The fourth inning was particularly painful. Berrios walked the leadoff hitter, rookie Yoan Moncada, on four pitches. After retiring Jose Abreu, first baseman Mitch Garver committed a fielding error on a groundball in the hole. Moncada, who had stolen second base, hustled around to score, putting the Sox up 2-0. Berrios then gave up back-to-back singles to load the bases with one out. Next, Tim Anderson hit an RBI ground out to put the White Sox up 3-0. With the two outs and runners at the corners, Berrios' pickoff throw went passed third baseman Ehire Adrianza, allowing the White Sox to score their fourth run. It was a high-risk, low-reward move. I get that these guys are professionals and practice and prepare for everything, but how many pickoff throws has Adrianza fielded at third base in his life? And how many times has Berrios even ever attempted a pickoff at third? Either way, that mistake was far from the reason the Twins lost this one. For the second-straight night the bats went ice cold. After making 2017 James Shields look like vintage James Shields Wednesday evening, the Twins gave the same treatment to Derek Holland. The longtime former Ranger entered the night with a 6.28 ERA, but he was able to hold the Twins to one run over 6.0 innings. The Twins managed just five hits, with their only run coming on Byron Buxton’s 10th homer of the year. Buxton has now hit 19 home runs for the Twins over the last 365 days. He actually homered exactly a year ago today … for the Rochester Red Wings. Twins W-L Record Overall: 65-62 Last 10: 6-4 Last 20: 13-7 Last 40: 20-20 Last 80: 39-41 AL Central Standings Cleveland 70-56 Minnesota 65-62 (-5.5) Kansas City 64-62 (-6.0) AL Wild Card Standings WC1: Yankees 68-58 (+3.5) WC2: Minnesota 65-62 Angles 65-63 (-0.5) Kansas City 64-62 (-0.5) Seattle 65-63 (-0.5) Texas 64-63 (-1.0) Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Download attachment: Bullpen824.png Looking Ahead FRI: Twins (Bartolo Colon) at Toronto (J.A. Happ), 6:07 pm CT SAT: Twins (Dillon Gee) at Toronto (Marco Estrada), 12:07 pm CT SUN: Twins (Kyle Gibson) at Toronto (TBD), 12:07 pm CT Question of the Day Are we to the point where Joe Mauer (.256/.344/.293 vs. LHP) needs to be in the lineup against lefties just for his defense? Click here to view the article

The Twins held a 3-2 lead heading into the bottom of the eighth inning Wednesday, but Taylor Rogers and Trevor Hildenberger each gave up a run as the White Sox walked off the Twins. Jason Castro was forced to leave this game and underwent concussion tests.Win Expectancy (via Fangraphs) Download attachment: WinEx823.png Top 3 Twins per WPA: Santana .220 | Polanco .202 | Mauer .089 Despite the Twins hectic schedule with all the double headers, Rogers actually entered the night rested. Er, maybe make that rusty. Rogers had only pitched twice in the previous 11 days and did not look his best Wednesday. The White Sox hit two pitches that got way too much of the plate for back-to-back doubles, tying the game at 3-3. Rogers managed to complete the inning thanks to a double play. Hildenberger came out for the ninth in hopes of extending the game into extra innings. He gave up a leadoff single, was given an out via a sacrifice bunt and intentionally walked the next batter to set up a double play. Instead, Tim Anderson delivered a walk-off single. Eddie Rosario appeared to have a good chance to throw out the runner at home, but he misfired. That seems like a moment Rosie lives for, so I’m sure he’s kicking himself for not being able to put that throw on target. Twins W-L Record Overall: 65-61 Last 10: 6-4 Last 20: 14-6 Last 40: 20-20 Last 80: 39-41 AL Central Standings Cleveland 69-56 Minnesota 65-61 (-4.5) Kansas City 63-61 (-5.5)* AL Wild Card Standings WC1: Yankees 68-57 (+3.5) WC2: Minnesota 65-61, Angels 65-61 Kansas City 63-61 (-1.0)* Seattle 65-63 (-1.0) *Wednesday game still in progress. Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Download attachment: Bullpen823.png Looking Ahead THU: Twins (Jose Berrios) at White Sox (Derek Holland), 7:10 pm CT FRI: Twins (Bartolo Colon) at Toronto (J.A. Happ), 6:10 pm CT SAT: Twins (Gee) at Toronto (TBD), 12:07 pm CT Question of the Day Which member of the Twins bullpen to you trust the most at the moment? Click here to view the article

Nope, Gee has graduated to the rotation. I just went back and re-watched it. I still think that was a sacrifice called by the manager, but who knows. Regardless of whose idea it was, I don't think a guy who is hitting .382/.417/.647 over his last 75 PAs and who homered off the guy on the mound earlier in the game should be laying down a bunt in that situation. It was beautifully executed though.

I just put in whatever's officially listed on MLB.com. At the time it was TBD, but it has since been updated to Colon. Given the timing of the transactions, I get the vibe Gibson may have been demoted if this start had gone poorly. Why else did they wait until after last night's game to DFA Melville? If that had been the case, it's possible they may have called somebody up to start Friday and given Colon extra rest, but that's probably looking way too far into it.

Kyle Gibson got off to a rocky start Tuesday, but managed to pitch out of trouble before finding a groove in the middle innings. That gave the bats enough time to heat up, as Jorge Polanco, Kennys Vargas and Eddie Rosario all homered and the bullpen locked down the victory.Win Expectancy (via Fangraphs) Download attachment: WinEx822.png Top 3 Twins per WPA: Gibson .282 | Vargas .119 | Polanco .075 Let’s talk about bunting, shall we? The White Sox opened up this game by getting hits in three of their first six at-bats. They held a 1-0 lead in the second inning. They had runners on first and second with nobody out. They were facing Kyle Gibson. And they decided it was a good time to attempt a sacrifice bunt. They paid for that decision. Jason Castro managed to nail the lead runner at third base, gifting Gibby an out. Chicago managed to load the bases with one out, but could not score. They also loaded the bases with nobody out in the third and could not score. Jorge Polanco homered in his third-straight game to tie it up at 1-1 in the fourth inning before a Kennys Vargas solo blast put the Twins ahead in the fifth. Joe Mauer led off the sixth with a misplayed double and I’m sure the Twins lineup was smelling blood. The Twins were already up a run. Mauer was in scoring position with no outs. Polanco was up. He bunted. Yes, Jorge Polanco, the guy who has been on fire this month. The guy who homered in three-straight games. The guy who you have to watch hit through those goofy eclipse glasses otherwise his hotness will burn out the back of your eyeballs. That guy bunted. Luckily, Eddie Rosario was able to make a laughing matter out of all this madness by crushing a two-run homer on literally the very next pitch. Thank goodness Mauer only had to trot in from third base. Hopefully Paul Molitor learned a lesson, but I doubt it. Twins W-L Record Overall: 65-60 Last 10: 7-3 Last 20: 14-6 Last 40: 21-19 Last 80: 39-41 AL Central Standings Cleveland 69-55 Minnesota 65-60 (-4.5) Kansas City 63-61 (-6.0) AL Wild Card Standings WC1: Yankees 67-57 (+2.5) WC2: Minnesota 65-60 Angels 64-61 (-1.0) Kansas City 63-61 (-1.5) Seattle 64-63 (-2.0) Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Download attachment: Bullpen822.png ***UPDATE: Tim Melville has been DFA’d and Dillon Gee will start Saturday. John Curtiss will be called up from Rochester to join the bullpen. Looking Ahead WED: Twins (Ervin Santana) at White Sox (James Shields), 7:10 pm CT THU: Twins (Jose Berrios) at White Sox (Derek Holland), 7:10 pm CT FRI: Twins (TBD) at Toronto (TBD), 6:07 pm CT Question of the Day Bunting: Why? Click here to view the article

One of the biggest responsibilities an organization has to its players is to do everything in its power to keep them healthy. This is especially true of young pitchers, but there's a fine line between babying a player and breaking him. Fernando Romero is scheduled to pitch for Double-A Chattanooga Thursday night, but should he? The 22-year-old has already set a career high for innings pitched and appears to be fading of late. Is it just a slump, or is this a red flag that he could be wearing down?Romero, Twins Daily's No. 1 prospect heading into this season, is having a great year for the Lookouts despite facing older hitters 83 percent of the time. There's really no way to paint this season for him as anything but a success, but is it time for it to end? Romero hasn't pitched into the sixth inning for nine straight starts. In one of those outings he was removed despite having thrown just 63 pitches. It's clear the decision makers are already putting limitations on his workload, but would it be more wise to just shut him down before you break him down? Romero has shown signs of fatigue over his last two outings. Over 9.1 innings he's given up 12 earned runs, 17 hits, four walks and has just two strikeouts. Maybe that ends up as just a blip on the radar when all is said and done, but it's pretty out of character for a guy who had a 2.60 ERA, 1.26 WHIP and 9.4 K/9 prior to those two poor outings. Romero missed all of 2015 and only logged 90.1 official innings last season (though he did put in some more work at extended spring training). He's already up to 120.0 innings pitched this year, a new career high. He's also still just 22-years-old. On the other hand, he's already on the 40-man roster, thus burning an option year. That puts some additional urgency into Romero's development. There's also the fact that Chattanooga will be in the Southern League playoffs, and it'd be a huge blow to their championship dreams if Romero were to be shut down. A lot of Twins fans will turn up their noses at that notion, but try telling the guys in that Lookouts clubhouse that winning doesn't matter in the minor leagues. Trying to figure out what's best for Romero's future is incredibly difficult. Maybe the teams have a lot more data than us looking from the outside in, but there doesn't seem to be a right or wrong answer. No two players are the same and injuries can seem to be completely random. What would I do? Well, I've already joked around here a few times that I'd freeze Romero in carbonite a la Han Solo and have him remain in that state until the spring. What do you think the Twins should do with him? Click here to view the article

You guys clearly aren't reading the minor league reports. Melville has a 2.70 ERA, 1.06 WHIP and 8.6 K/9 for Rochester. He went seven innings and gave up one run or less in four of his 10 starts there. Just for context, Aaron Slegers has a 3.18 ERA, 1.24 WHIP and 6.7 K/9 at the same level this year, and everybody's dying to see more of him.

If Gibson only goes four and Derek Falvey pitches the final five innings, I'll give Falvey credit for the win.