Tom Froemming

I don't think there's any way Eddie Rosario, of all people, is ever thinking bunt. Dude oozes confidence, loves the spotlight and had just hit a walk-off homer the previous night. I think he'd have loved the opportunity to hit in that spot. Also, Toronto was prepared for a bunt in that situation (no outs, man on first, one-run game) so trying to bunt for a hit is a poor strategy there. It's not like you were going to catch them off guard.

Just throwing this out there ... Runners are 4-for-4 in stolen base attempts against Aaron Loup this season and 13-for-15 since the start of 2014. Their catcher, Luke Maile, is 16-for-51 in throwing guys out over his career (31.4%), which is above league average.

Fixed Thanks Brock, I appreciate it. Being able to contribute to Twins Daily for me is kinda like if your favorite band asked you to join them on tour or something like that. This has been a ton of fun.

Good teams find a way to prevail. Good players do, too. Byron Buxton hit a walk-off homer in the 10th inning, giving the Twins walk-off wins on consecutive nights. Matt Belisle blew the save in the ninth inning, giving up a solo homer, and Paul Molitor made some curious decisions in the eighth but luckily at the end of the day none of that matters much.Snapshot (chart via Fangraphs) Download attachment: Snapshot914.png Might as well get right to it, here’s video of 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: Bullpen914.png Looking Ahead Fri: Twins (Bartolo Colon) vs. Blue Jays (J.A. Happ), 7:10 pm CT Sat: Twins (Adalberto Mejia) vs. Blue Jays (Marco Estrada), 6:10 pm CT Sun: Twins (Kyle Gibson) vs. Blue Jays (Joe Biagini), 1:10 pm CT Looking Back MIN 3, SDP 1: Rosario Hits Walk-Off HR in 10th Inning MIN 16, SDP 0: MIN 16, SDP 0: Twins Hit 7 HRs, Set New Record KC 11, MIN 3: Big Dud from Big Sexy & Co. Click here to view the article

Both those guys were outstanding, but just didn't make quite enough starts to break into the top 5 for me. Turley only made 13 starts in the minors, pitching 64 innings in that role. I think Clark Beeker's scoreless inning steak was longer than that. LOL Ok, that's exaggerating a bit, but I did think the guys who performed over a bigger sample deserved some more consideration. Though, obviously going with Gonsalves, that wasn't the deciding factor for me either. Again, this one was really difficult for me.

Yup, used five relievers to throw a total of 16 pitches in that game.

Just like Gabriel Moya on the reliever side, Zack Littell would've been the easy choice had all his stats this season come with the Twins. But just 41.2 of his 157 innings were with the Chattanooga.

The Twins were off on Monday

I had such a tough time with this one. There are guys who didn't even crack the top 5 who have legit cases for the top spot.

Eddie Rosario blasted a walk-off homer in the 10th inning to deliver a victory and put a happy end to what could have been a frustrating loss. Ervin Santana pitched 6.0 shutout innings and Matt Belisle threw the final 1.2 frames to pick up the win.Snapshot (chart via Fangraphs) Download attachment: Snapshot913.png Standings The Yankees beat Tampa Bay, and remain 3.0 games in front of the Twins. At the time this published, the Twins held a 2.5 game advantage over the Angels, but they were beating the Astros 9-0. Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Download attachment: Bullpen913.png Looking Ahead Thu: Twins (Jose Berrios) vs. Blue Jays (Brett Anderson), 7:10 pm CT Fri: Twins (Bartolo Colon) vs. Blue Jays (J.A. Happ), 7:10 pm CT Sat: Twins (Adalberto Mejia) vs. Blue Jays (Marco Estrada), 6:10 pm CT Looking Back MIN 16, SDP 0: Twins Hit 7 HRs, Set New Record KC 11, MIN 3: Big Dud from Big Sexy & Co. KC 5, MIN 2: Molitor Pushes All the Wrong Buttons in Loss Click here to view the article

See, it's really hard to rank a top 5! You couldn't even do it! Lol xPE treats all hits as equal correct? If that's the case I have a problem with that as an end all be all stat. There's also a bunch of stuff xFIP ignores. I also don't really love anything BABIP related, either. If you give up a bunch of hard contact, guess what, your BABIP is going to be high. It's not because you were unlucky. The opposite can be true too. Get a ton of infield fly balls, well then your BABIP is going to be super low. Are you lucky? Or are you just effective at pitching high in the zone? Maybe all that stuff is great in terms of being predictive, but these are year-end awards. We're not trying to forecast who will be best in 2018 or say whose success was more sustainable (or at least I wasn't). Those are great stats, no doubt, but all I'm trying to say is I don't like the idea of picking any one number in particular. And any time you have these sort of "Most Valuable" awards there is some kind of opinion/difference in methodology that comes into play, which makes it all the more fun.

Moya only threw 14.2 innings in the Twins system. For me that just wasn't enough. If he had put up those numbers all year with this org, yes, he would have easily been my No. 1 guy. Bard was excellent, but picking only five guys was extremely tough. Who would your five have been?

There have been more than 200,000 games in the history of Major League Baseball, but a team had never hit home runs in each of the first seven innings … until tonight. The Twins made history Tuesday at Target Field, accomplishing that feat in a blowout of San Diego.Snapshot (chart via Fangraphs) Download attachment: Sanpshot912.png Brian Dozier got things started with his 30th homer of the year to lead off the first inning. Then it was Jorge Polanco in the second, Jason Castro in the third, Eddie Rosario in the fourth, Castro again in the fifth, Eduardo Escobar in the sixth and finally Kennys Vargas in the seventh inning. Seeing is believing: Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Download attachment: Bullpen912.png Looking Ahead Wed: Twins (Ervin Santana) vs. Padres (Dinelson Lamet), 7:10 pm CT Thu: Twins (Jose Berrios) vs. Blue Jays (Brett Anderson), 7:10 pm CT Fri: Twins (Bartolo Colon) vs. Blue Jays (J.A. Happ), 7:10 pm CT Looking Back KC 11, MIN 3: Big Dud from Big Sexy & Co. KC 5, MIN 2: Molitor Pushes All the Wrong Buttons in Loss MIN 8, KC 5: Rosario Drives in 4, Hildenberger Holds it Together Click here to view the article

This award will not be a three-peat, and I think everyone’s thrilled about the reasons behind that fact. Trevor Hildenberger had won each of the past two Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Year awards, and was off to another incredible start, this time for Rochester. Just when it looked like he might be among the top choices for the award again, he got The Call. With Hildy quickly establishing himself as a reliable member of the Twins bullpen, the door opened up for someone new to earn the title. There was no shortage of candidates. It was a special season across the entire Twins minor league system, and there’s no way you can win as many games as they did without a collection of stellar bullpen performers. After all the votes were tallied up, it was a Top-5 finisher in last year’s voting who took the crown.Seven Twins Daily Minor League writers were asked to vote for the various awards. For the relief pitcher of the year, we each voted for five players. The player who was voted as #1 received five points, #2 received four points and so on with the #5 vote receiving one point. Results were tabulated and can be found below. Short profiles of our top five are to follow, but first, some players worthy of honorable mention. These players also received votes. Others Receiving Votes Sam Clay – Fort Myers – 40 G, 8-0, 9 SV, 1.38 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 65.0 IP, 42 H, 32 BB, 63 K (8.7 K/9). Also pitched in three games for Chattanooga. Of the 10 earned runs he gave up with the Miracle, six of them were from his very first appearance of the seasonMichael Tonkin – Rochester Red Wings – 31 G, 4-2, 5 SV, 1.73 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, 41.2 IP, 31 H, 13 BB, 61 K (13.2 K/9).Alan Busenitz – Rochester Red Wings – 24 G, 3-0, 2 SV, 1.78 ERA, 0.82 WHIP, 35.1 IP, 19 H, 10 BB, 39 K (9.9 K/9).Todd Van Steensel – Chattanooga Lookouts – 36 G, 5-3, 0 SV, 1.38 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 58.2 IP, 42 H, 25 BB, 59 K (9.1 K/9).Drew Rucinski – Rochester Red Wings – 37 G, 2-6, 2 SV, 2.57 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, 63.0 IP, 54 H, 10 BB, 57 K (8.1 K/9).Nik Turley – Rochester Red Wings & Chattanooga Lookouts – 14 G, 2-1, 0 SV, 0.81 ERA, 0.87 WHIP, 33.1 IP, 18 H, 11 BB, 38 K (10.3 K/9). These are only his stats as a reliever. He also started 16 games.Alex Wimmers – Rochester Red Wings – 34 G, 7-3, 7 SV, 3.23 ERA, 0.93 WHIP, 47.1 IP, 33 H, 11 BB, 48 K (9.1 K/9).Ryan Mason – Cedar Rapids Kernels – 29 G, 1-2, 0 SV, 2.01 ERA, 1.32 WHIP, 49.1 IP, 54 H, 11 BB, 43 K (7.8 K/9).Minor League Relief Pitcher of the Year Here are the top five vote getters for Twins Minor League Relief Pitcher of the Year. 5. Andrew Vasquez – Fort Myers Miracle & Cedar Rapids Kernels – 37 G, 4-1, 2 SV, 1.55 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, 58.0 IP, 47 H, 21 BB, 85 K (13.2 K/9). A 32nd-round pick in 2015 out of Westmont College, Vasquez appears to be a nice find. He returned to Cedar Rapids, where he left off at the end of 2016, and dominated. At the start of June, the big 6-foot-6 lefty got the call up to Fort Myers and just kept on rolling. Lefties in particular struggled, hitting just .200/.297/.200 (.497 OPS) off him. Yes, in 75 plate appearances, no left-handed batter mustered an extra-base hit off Vasquez. And home runs? Forget about it. In 108.2 innings pitched as a professional, Vasquez hasn’t given up a single homer to anybody -- left or right. 4. Hector Lujan – Cedar Rapids Kernels – 42 G, 3-1, 17 SV, 1.33 ERA, 0.91 WHIP, 54.0 IP, 41 H, 8 BB, 54 K (9.0 K/9). The Twins scouts did a really nice job with Westmont College in 2015. Lujan, who was a college teammate of Vasquez, was selected by the Twins in the 35th round that year. After a rocky first couple of seasons in the system, Lujan broke out this year and was a consistent force at the end of games for the Kernels. In fact, he led the Midwest League with 17 saves. What really sticks out for Hector is his impressive K:BB ratio of 6.75. He was able to average a strikeout per inning while issuing just eight free passes over 54 innings. Lujan was at his best during the stretch run for Cedar Rapids, as he gave up just one earned run over his final 20 innings. 3. Tom Hackimer – Fort Myers Miracle & Cedar Rapids Kernels – 43 G, 7-1, 13 SV, 1.76 ERA, 0.85 WHIP, 61.1 IP, 30 H, 22 BB, 71 K (10.4 K/9). The side-arming right-hander is much more than a gimmicky pitcher, but we know from guys like Hildenberger and Pat Neshek that relievers who drop down can be extremely effective. Drafted in the fourth round out of St. Johns University in 2016, Hackimer had an impressive debut season, but really turned heads in this, his first full year of pro ball. Just two other minor league pitchers gave up fewer hits per nine innings pitched than Hackimer (4.4 H/9) while throwing at least 50 innings. Sidewinders are usually extremely difficult on same-sided hitters, and Hackimer is no exception. Right-handed batters hit just .113/.231/.121 (.352 OPS) off him this season. It’s pretty tough for relievers to earn Player of the Week honors, but Hackimer was honored by the Florida State League as it’s best pitcher for the week of July 3-9. 2. Nick Anderson – Chattanooga Lookouts & Fort Myers Miracle – 44 G, 4-1, 11 SV, 1.00 ERA, 0.78 WHIP, 54.0 IP, 32 H, 10 BB, 57 K (9.5 K/9). The Twins signed Anderson, who went to high school in Brainerd, out of the Independent Frontier League in 2015. He had a 3.58 ERA in his first taste of the Florida State League last season, but returned to dominate the league this year and ended up being a key contributor in Chattanooga’s championship run. While he fell just short of the award this season, there’s no doubt Anderson was one of the best relievers in all of the minor leagues this year, let alone just in the Twins system. Among minor leaguers who threw at least 50 innings, Anderson ranked sixth in ERA and seventh in WHIP. Relief Pitcher of the Year John Curtiss – Rochester Red Wings & Chattanooga Lookouts – 39 G, 2-0, 19 SV, 1.28 ERA, 0.91 WHIP, 49.1 IP, 23 H, 22 BB, 68 K (12.4 K/9). Curtiss’ year started with 22 scoreless innings for the Lookouts and in all he was charged with earned runs in just five of his 39 minor league appearances. The University of Texas product held opposing hitters to a .134 average this season, which was the second-lowest mark in all of the minors among pitchers with at least 40 innings. He also averaged 12.4 K/9 and didn’t give up a single homer while down on the farm. Minor league hitters were hopeless against him. The fact that the voting was so close is a pretty strong statement in regard to how many great performances there were in the system, as MLB Pipeline selected Curtiss as its lone relief pitcher on the 2017 Pipeline Prospect Team of the Year. Guess how many minor leaguers pitched at least 40 innings and had a lower ERA, lower WHIP and higher K/9 than Curtiss. Two. And here’s the part you’re really going to like: one of those two pitchers is also in the organization. That would be Gabriel Moya, who the Twins acquired from Arizona in a trade for John Ryan Murphy. It would have been interesting to see how the voting would’ve shaken out had Moya spent all year in the organization, as he had a 0.77 ERA, matching 0.77 WHIP, 13.4 K/9 and a Southern League-leading 24 saves this season. But just 14.2 of his 58.1 innings on the season came with Minnesota. Curtiss finished fourth in last year’s voting, one spot ahead of Anderson that year, too. He joined the Twins in late August and has gotten his major league career off to a rough start, but he appears likely to fill a role in the Twins bullpen for years to come. The Ballots In an attempt to be transparent, here are the votes from our Twins Daily minor league writers: Seth Stohs – 1) Nick Anderson, 2) John Curtiss, 3) Tom Hackimer, 4) Hector Lujan, 5) Alan BusenitzJeremy Nygaard – 1) John Curtiss, 2) Tom Hackimer, 3) Alan Busenitz, 4) Alex Wimmers, 5) Nick AndersonCody Christie – 1) John Curtiss, 2) Michael Tonkin, 3) Hector Lujan, 4) Sam Clay, 5) Drew RucinskiTom Froemming – 1) John Curtiss, 2) Andrew Vasquez, 3) Tom Hackimer, 4) Nick Anderson, 5) Alan BusenitzSteve Lein – 1) Nick Anderson, 2) John Curtiss, 3) Hector Lujan, 4) Tom Hackimer, 5) Andrew VasquezEric Pleiss – 1) Sam Clay, 2) Nick Anderson, 3) Todd Van Steensel, 4) Nik Turley, 5) Michael TonkinTed Schwerzler – 1) John Curtiss, 2) Nick Anderson, 3) Andrew Vasquez, 4) Tom Hackimer, 5) Ryan MasonFeel free to discuss. What do you think? How would you rank them? How would your ballot look? Click here to view the article

Fair point. The Twins are among the lowest teams in GIDP%, per b-ref, but there aren't huge differences. The Twins are at 9%. They've had a runner at first and less than two outs 1,047 times and have hit into 94 double plays. The Royals have the worst rate at 13.5%. League average is 11%.

We were talking about successful sac bunt attempts. If you want success rate at bunting for a hit, Fangraphs has that. The Twins have a 31.7 bunt hit percentage over the past three seasons. That's fifth-best in baseball over that stretch. Not too many .317 hitters out there, either. But, those are all singles so it's a very empty .317 batting average.

And despite all their practice, the Twins have been bad at bunting. They're 26th in sac bunt success rate this year at 49%. That's an improvement from the previous two seasons when they ranked 29th both years (49% again in 2016 and 53% in 2015).

B-Ref tracks sac bunt attempts, though I don't know what their methodology is. Sometimes it can be tough to tell whether a player is bunting on their own/trying to bunt for a hit or if he was asked to lay down a sac bunt. Either way, according to their data the Twins lead the AL in sac bunt attempts over the past three seasons with 159. Cleveland is second with 151, followed by the White Sox at 143. But the average for AL teams over the last three years is 113. A few teams almost never bunt. Oakland (65), Boston (77) and Baltimore (78) all have bunted less than half as much as the Twins have.

Oh, I see. Well, no, there aren't any quotes anyone's going to be able to dig up about that, but committing to Molitor in that way really sent a message. It's entirely possible that the new regime requested that Molitor update his strategy and he simply replied "no thanks." Either way, if Falvey/Levine have any issues with the way Molitor is managing, I'm sure they have communicated that to him. Now whether he needs to listen is another story. Molitor has ownership on his side, so he can do whatever he sees fit as long as that's the case.

All the way back in July of 2016, Jim Pohlad was already insisting that Molitor would be the manager this year. Here's a link to a Chip Scoggins piece about it. It includes this quote: "They can do that (hire a manager of their choice) in the future if they want,” Pohlad said. “But for 2017, Paul will be our manager.”

I believe my final prediction was 71 wins, but obviously I was wrong either way. Anytime you're trying to figure out how six months of baseball is going to unfold, you're basically throwing darts. I don't wanna take anything away from Brandon, who made some excellent points/observations. He was dead on about Jason Castro. But he wrote that piece in January. A couple reasons he provides optimism for the pitching were Phil Hughes and Trevor May. He also foretasted possible contributions from Stephen Gonsalves, Kohl Stewart and Fernando Romero. What I'm trying to say is that even those who predicted 80+ wins had insufficient information to work with at that point. But that's part of what makes predictions fun. Part of what I was forecasting included a mid-summer fire sale. I thought if this club got off to a slow start, the Falvine regime would take the opportunity to really put their stamp on the org by trading Dozier, Ervin and firing Molitor. I figured the aftermath of that kind of shakeup would've been a really ugly second half. Again, I've already been proven wrong, but the Twins are at 74 wins as of today. Yes, I'd assume they'll be able to win at least six of their final 19 games to get to 80 wins, but I wouldn't count any chickens before they hatch. Baseball is weird. Even the mighty Dodgers have only won four of their last 20 games.