Tom Froemming

Thursday was just a bad day for the Twins, no way around it. It started with a record-breaking rain delay, and when they finally got underway things went south in a hurry. To top it all off, the day ended with a hurried flight out to Cleveland.White Sox 9, Twins 0 Box Score Win Expectancy (via Fangraphs) Download attachment: WE622.png Nik Turley was one of the feel-good stories of this season, but after Thursday’s thrashing you can’t help but feel bad for the guy. In his third career start, the 27-year-old former Indy leaguer recorded just two outs and gave up five runs off six hits, two of them homers. The nearly five-hour rain delay couldn’t have helped Turley’s preparation for this start, but it’s pretty tough to give a free pass to a guy who now has a 16.39 ERA. The bullpen had to mop up 7.1 innings, but thank goodness Chris Gimenez came to the rescue once again to save another arm from being used. It was Gimenez’s sixth pitching appearance of the year. When the Twins lose, they really go all out. The team was also shut out for the first time all season, so this one was just terrible all around. Not the way you want to head out to play Cleveland. The offense combined for 11 strikeouts and left 14 men on base. The team combined for seven hits, all of them singles. As you'd expect, the team is shuffling players around to try and get some reinforcements in for the Cleveland series. Click here to view the article

Well said, the hard part now is being patient just a little bit longer. That next stage you referenced, along with maybe a free agent addition or two, will be what pushes this team over the top. Sano is the longest-tenured player in that group you mentioned, and even he isn't going to be a free agent until 2022. Good things ... very good things are coming for this franchise and us fans.

Jose Berrios was brilliant, Miguel Sano hammered another mammoth home run and the Twins earned a come-from-behind victory Wednesday night. After getting hit like a pitching machine last season, this year Berrios appears to be earning his nickname, La MaKina.Twins 4, White Sox 2 Box Score Win Expectancy (via Fangraphs) Download attachment: WE621.png Machine is typically spelled maquina in Spanish, but it’s pretty easy to see where Berrios gets the K from. Jose was tremendous, striking out eight batters while giving up two runs on just four hits. He was aggressive all night, as he fell behind 1-0 on only eight batters and 2-0 once. He issued just one free pass. In eight starts this season, Berrios has given up more than two runs only twice. The few times he pitched well last season, he still struggled to go deep into games, as he threw six innings just once over 14 starts. This season, he’s averaging 6.75 innings per start. Here was how he attacked hitters on the first pitch tonight: Download attachment: Berrios1stPitch.png And how he finished them off for strike three (all of which came on swings): Download attachment: BerriosStrike3.png Sano hit an epic opposite field homer in the third inning. After that, the White Sox had seen about enough, and intentionally walked him in his next two at bats. Here’s more on the Sano shot: Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Download attachment: Pen621.png Thursday Twins (Nik Turley, 12.46 ERA) vs. White Sox (Jose Quintana, 5.07 ERA), 12:10 pm CT, Quintana is having the worst year of his career. The lefty is averaging 3.5 BB/9, over a walk above his career average. His HR/9 is also at a career-worst 1.3. Turley gets another shot to show he belongs in the rotation. Over his first two starts, he’s given up 12 runs on 17 hits and four walks over 8.2 innings. AL Central Standings Cleveland 38-32 Twins 36-33 (-1.5) Kansas City 35-36 (-3.5) Detroit 32-38 (-6) Chicago 31-39 (-7) Make sure to also check out today’s Minor League Report, which has updates on the rehabbing Hector Santiago and Phil Hughes. Click here to view the article

It was your typical Buxton four-star catch in that it didn't look like a highlight reel grab but all the data suggests the average major leaguer doesn't make the catch more often than not. It was a line drive he had to charge in on, made the grab on his feet. That was the first out of the second, which was big because the Sox led off the inning with a double. Baseball Savant lists the hit probability on that one at 74 percent.

Even more than overthrowing the cutoff man, it drives me crazy when he needlessly runs into outs. In the Cleveland series, he tried to tag up to second base with the Twins down 4-0 in the third. That showed he has no concept of taking game situation into account or feel for when to be aggressive. Of course, that's nothing new with Rosie. I like him, there isn't much he can't do. He has some game-changing tools: speed, arm strength, power ... but when do the mistakes end? Buxton and Kepler aren't going anywhere and even Grossman won't be a free agent until 2021. Not all these guys are going to be able to coexist in the same org much longer with Granite and Palka (once healthy) ready for a look in the majors.

Yes, the issues with the bullpen are much more about construction than management. Also, Twins starters not named Ervin are barely averaging five innings per start. They've had to ask a lot of an already shallow pen.

Yep, may need to give them a mulligan for April. Here are the standings since May 1: KC 27-20 CLE 23-22 MIN 23-22 DET 20-26 CWS 18-28

Ervin Santana had another bad start, but the Twins scored more runs Tuesday evening than they did in their entire four-game series against Cleveland thanks in large part to Kennys Vargas and Miguel Sano.Twins 9, White Sox 7 Box Score Win Expectancy (via Fangraphs) Download attachment: WE620.png The big highlight from this one was an absolute moonshot from Kennys Vargas. He hit a ball into territory at Target Field seen only by Jim Thome. The Twins are calling it the third-longest homer in stadium history. Statcast is calling it the third-longest home run of 2017 (behind only Aaron Judge 495 and Keon Broxton 489). I’m simply calling it a thing of beauty. Check this out: Byron Buxton was 2-for-3 with a walk and another four-star catch. Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Download attachment: Pen620.png Wednesday Twins (Jose Berrios, 2.74 ERA) vs. White Sox (David Holmberg, 2.63 ERA), 7:10 pm CT Holmberg, a lefty, has made just four starts to go with another eight appearances out of the bullpen this season. As you’d expect, he’s been much better out of the pen (0.87 ERA) than as a starter (3.71 ERA). Lefties are just 2-for-20 off Holmberg this season. Since Berrios was called up May 13, only 11 starting pitchers have a lower WHIP than his mark of 0.96. He’s been especially tough at home, as opponents have just a .174/.266/.203 line off Berrios at Target Field. AL Central Standings Cleveland 37-32 Twins 35-33 (-1.5) Kansas City 34-36 (-3.5) Detroit 32-37 (-5) Chicago 31-38 (-6) Make sure to also check out today’s Minor League Report. Click here to view the article

Oh, and Tyler Wells, Edgar Corcino, Andrew Vazquez, Luke Bard and a dozen other guys should be mentioned in that tie for 16th

Here goes nothin' ... 1. Gordon 2. Lewis 3. Romero 4. Gonsalves 5. Javier 6. Kiriloff 7. Jay 8. Rortvedt 9. Thorpe 10. Stewart 11. Diaz 12. Enlow 13. Garver 14. Blankenhorn 15. Rooker 16. Is a 15-way tie between the following (in no particular order): Granite, Jorge, Chargois, Wade, Melotakis, Vielma, Palka, Burdi, Palacios, Hildenberger, Leach, Graterol, L. Wells, Ynoa, Arraez

Weird time to be a Twins fan. Lots of conflicting feels. I'd like to see them win, but I wouldn't buy if that means losing something, anything, of value down the road. Aren't we kicking ourselves right now for trading away Aaron Hicks and (at least for the moment) Alex Meyer? Keep all the kids, they're more valuable to an org like this. Reload in the offseason via free agency. If you're not gonna be buyers, but don't really wanna be sellers either ... what do we have here? A team that finishes in the middle, which is basically the last thing you wanna be. Last season was brutal, but at least the result put the team in the best position to improve its talent in the draft and international signing period.

Kyle Gibson delivered a quality start, but it was the bats that let the Twins down this time. Cleveland completed the four-game weekend sweep in convincing fashion, outscoring the Twins 28-8. Through the entire series, the Twins held a lead for just one half inning.Cleveland 5, Twins 2 Box Score Win Expectancy (via Fangraphs) Download attachment: WE618.png You can’t help but wonder if this game may have ended differently if the Twins just pitched around Edwin Encarnacion. They mostly avoided challenging him this series, but apparently Gibson getting him swinging on strikes in the first inning eased their concerns. Here’s what Edwin did in his second at bat: Download attachment: EdwinHR1.png And here’s what he did in his third: Download attachment: EdwinHR2.png Images via Yahoo Sports Encarnacion kept inflicting damage from there, adding an RBI single in his fourth PA then an insurance run on a sacrifice fly in the ninth. Outside of the two homers he gave up to Encarnacion, Gibson actually pitched pretty well. He even got himself out of trouble on a couple of occasions, surrendering just the three runs over six innings. The offense was held in check until they broke through for a pair of runs in the seventh inning. Cleveland tallied double-digit hits in each game of the series, while the Twins failed to hit that mark in any of the four games. In all, Cleveland outhit the Twins 46-21 on the weekend. By the end of this one it seemed the umpiring crew was ready to just call it a weekend. Eduardo Escobar was called out on a very questionable strike three for the second out of the ninth inning (see below). The final out of the game was challenged by the Twins, and it appeared Eddie Rosario beat Andrew Miller to first base, but the call was not overturned. Download attachment: Escobar.png The called third strike is that orange dot you see over there way, way outside the strike zone. Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Download attachment: Pen618.png Monday The Twins have an off day Monday, which couldn’t have come at a better time for the bullpen. Tuesday night they’ll open a three-game series with the White Sox at Target Field. AL Central Standings Cleveland 36-31 Twins 34-33 (-2) Kansas City 32-35 (-4) Detroit 32-36 (-4.5) Chicago 31-37 (-5.5) Make sure to check out Jeremy’s 2017 Draft Notes and Rumors article, which has been updated to include information on all the confirmed signings. Click here to view the article

I'd have made one extra move. For Game 1, I'd have called up Melotakis. I'd have optioned him back to Rochester to add Wilk for Game 2. Then I'd have DFA'd Wilk to add Busenitz for today. This allows you to start Mejia the first game and gets you an extra fresh arm for today at the expense of ... nothing. Melotakis is burning an option year just by being on the 40-man roster, so it's not like that's an issue.

The Twins held onto first place longer than anyone could have expected, but after getting swept by Cleveland in a doubleheader Saturday, they’re looking up in the division for the first time since May 9.Game 1: Cleveland 9, Twins 3 Box Score Win Expectancy (via Fangraphs) Download attachment: WE617G1.png Game 2: Cleveland 6, Twins 2 Box Score Win Expectancy (via Fangraphs) Download attachment: WE617G2.png Adam Wilk was terrible in the first game, to the surprise of basically no one. What has been surprising is how well the Twins have bounced back from adversity this year. They started the season off by winning their first four games, but quickly fell to 8-10. At the time, it seemed likely we’d never see the Twins above .500 again in 2017, but they turned things around to win 17 of their next 25 games. There have been several times since when it appeared the Twins might have faded. They haven’t. They got absolutely destroyed at home by the Astros right before a big West Coast road swing. Stick a fork in ’em? Not so fast. The Twins responded by taking three of four in Anaheim. In Seattle, they got crushed in Game 1 and lost a heartbreaker in Game 2. Write ‘em off? Nope, the Twins followed that up with a three game-winning streak. They lost their next two games in fairly embarrassing fashion, giving up 27 total runs in the process. Well clearly that led to a tailspin, right? Nope, the Twins scored 20 runs the next night. Game 1 of Saturday’s doubleheader was another one of those moments that made you feel like you were watching the beginning of the end. Wilk gave up six runs and lasted just 3.1 innings. It appeared clear as day that Cleveland was a team in a class above the Twins. They cruised to a 9-3 victory despite not having one of their main horses on the mound, either. Ryan Merritt made his 2017 debut, and lasted just four innings. Game 2 got off to a much better start for the Twins, but they lost Adalberto Mejia after 4.2 innings due to a rain delay that lasted over an hour. Maybe he should’ve started the first game. The contest resumed with Cleveland up 2-1. Tyler Duffey got the final out of the top of the fifth, Jorge Polanco led off the bottom of the inning with a nine-pitch walk and it appeared the scrappy Twins might just pull off another momentum switch. But the next batter, Jason Castro, grounded into a double play. Then Duffey gave up a three-run homer in the top of the inning. Cleveland sweeps. This is it, isn’t it? This doubleheader sweep is the knockout blow. Here’s where the Twins finally fade away, right? Well, they’ve gotten up off the mat every time they’ve been knocked down so far this season. We’ll see what happens tomorrow. Alan Busenitz made his major league debut and struck out the first batter he faced, the red-hot Jose Ramirez. Busenitz gave up a run on a Francisco Lindor solo homer over two innings pitched. He topped out at 97 mph. Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days. This has been updated so that instead of having the most recent games on the left side, they're now on the right. Download attachment: Pen617.png Alex Wimmers was the 26th man, so he’ll be headed back to Rochester. The bullpen combined to throw 177 pitches Saturday. The Twins have a much-needed off day coming Monday. Sunday Twins (Kyle Gibson 6.79 ERA) vs. Cleveland (Trevor Bauer, 5.85 ERA), 1:10 pm CT Gibson has a 4.58 ERA and 1.59 WHIP in June, much more palatable numbers than his 2017 season totals. Current Cleveland hitters have teed off on Gibson to the tune of a 1.028 OPS. Bauer’s strikeout rate is at a career high 10.8 K/9, but that’s come with a 5.85 ERA and 1.49 WHIP. He has given Miguel Sano fits, striking him out 10 times over 23 plate appearances. AL Central Standings Cleveland 35-31 Twins 34-32 (-1) Detroit 32-35 (-3.5) Kansas City 32-35 (-3.5) Chicago 31-36 (-4.5) Be sure to check out today’s Minor League Report, which includes some great video of Travis Blankenhorn’s game-winning steal of home. Click here to view the article

The Twins got beat up in what was the first of a huge four-game series with Cleveland, who are hot on their heels in the AL Central. After the game a couple of bullpen moves were announced, though full details have yet to be released.Cleveland 8, Twins 1 Box Score Win Expectancy (via Fangraphs) Download attachment: WE616.png Nik Turley got rocked, giving up eight runs over 4.2 innings. Cleveland tallied nine hits and drew four walks off the lefty. The big blow was a mammoth three-run homer off the bat of Edwin Encarnacion. By taking a quick look at the charts, I wonder if maybe home plate umpire Mike Estabrook had each of these pitchers’ reputations in mind while calling balls and strikes. He certainly seemed to give Carlos Carrasco a more favorable strike zone. Here’s a breakdown of Turley’s pitches, notice all the blue inside the zone: Download attachment: TurleyZone.png And here's Carrasco’s below. Hmmm, no blue inside the zone for him. Download attachment: CarrascoZone.png I’m not trying to suggest the umpire made a seven-run difference in this game, but the information above speaks for itself. By my count, there are five clear strikes from Turley that were called balls, and it’s not like you can find any makeup calls on Carrasco’s chart. Even if Turley had pitched a gem it may not have mattered much, as the offense wasn’t able to muster much against Carrasco. Joe Mauer entered this game with some incredible numbers against Carrasco, but he had his worst day at the plate of the season, going 0-for-4 with three strikeouts. Alan Busenitz, who will be making his major league debut, was acquired in last year’s Hector Santiago trade. The 26-year-old right-hander had a 2.15 ERA, 0.85 WHIP and 9.8 K/9 over 29.1 innings for the Red Wings. Wimmers, who had just been sent down Tuesday, is already on the 40-man roster, but Busenitz and Adam Wilk, who is starting tomorrow afternoon, will need to be added. Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Download attachment: Pen616New.png UPDATE: Ryan Pressly has been optioned to Rochester. Saturday Twins (Adam Wilk, 6.75 ERA), vs. Cleveland (Ryan Merritt), 1:10 pm CT Twins (Adlaberto Mejia, 5.75 ERA) vs. Cleveland (Mike Clevinger, 4.09 ERA), 7:10 pm CT AL Central Standings Twins 34-30 Cleveland 33-31 (-1) Detroit 32-34 (-3) Kansas City 31-34 (-3.5) Chicago 30-36 (-5) Be sure to also check out today’s Minor League Report, which recaps how the Chattanooga Lookouts locked up a playoff spot. Click here to view the article

The Chattanooga Lookouts put together a comeback victory that clinched a first half division title, thus solidifying their spot in the Southern League playoffs. Find out what else happened around the Twins' minor leagues on Friday. TRANSACTIONS Several moves were made in the system and we'll update them as we hear them. Twins Daily has learned that along with Adam Wilk, the Twins will promote RHPs Alex Wimmers and Alan Busenitz. As Wimmers was only optioned four days ago, he can be the 26th man, or the Twins would have to place a pitcher on the DL.Hearing at least one pitcher is moving up from Chattanooga to Rochester as well. Again, more as we can confirm.RED WINGS REPORTRochester at Pawtucket POSTPONED This was the 10th postponement of Rochester’s season. They’ll be playing a doubleheader tomorrow. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 5, Tennessee 3 Box Score The Lookouts are the first half champions of the Southern League North Divison, clinching a playoff berth, after a crazy comeback in the top of the ninth. Trailing 3-2 entering the final inning, T.J. White led off with a broken-bat single. Levi Michael followed with a walk. Dan Rohlfing dropped down a sacrifice bunt, but the Smokies first baseman decided to try to get the out at third, airmailing the ball into left field instead. White and Michael came around to score, giving the Lookouts the lead. Rohlfing would later come around to score on a passed ball. A broken bat, a walk, an error and a passed ball. The Baseball Gods were certainly on Chattanooga’s side tonight. Luke Bard pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning to seal the victory for the Lookouts. Starter Randy LeBlanc gave up two runs on five hits over 5.1 innings. He had four strikeouts and walked one batter. White was 3-for-4 with a double and scored twice. Edgar Corcino tallied a pair of hits. Nick Anderson pitched a scoreless eighth inning to keep the game within a run for the Looks, who are now 40-28 on the season. MIRACLE MATTERS OFF It’s the all-star break for the Florida State League. All-Stars from Fort Myers are Sam Clay, Dereck Rodriguez, Brian Navarreto and Chris Paul. The game is tomorrow. KERNELS NUGGETS Clinton 5, Cedar Rapids 4 Box Score The Kernels jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the first inning thanks to a Christian Cavaness bases-clearing triple, but Clinton just kept chipping away, scoring single runs in the second, fourth, sixth and eighth innings to complete the comeback. Over six innings, Eduardo Del Rosario gave up four runs, walked three batters and surrendered seven hits. Ryan Mason was credited with the loss after giving up the game-winning run in the eighth inning. Colton Davis pitched a perfect ninth, lowering his ERA to 1.45. Cedar Rapids recorded just seven hits on the night, three of which came from Cavaness. Ben Rortvedt, who has been heating up of late, was 1-for-2 with a pair of walks. Tomorrow night there figures to be an excellent crowd in Cedar Rapids, as the Kernels are giving away Mike Trout bobbleheads. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Randy LeBlanc, Chattanooga (5.1 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 4 K) Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – T.J. White, Chattanooga (3-for-4, double, 2 runs) SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERSS Rochester at Pawtucket, 3:35 pm CT, Yohan Pino (7.82 ERA, 1.50 WHIP) Rochester at Pawtucket, Game 2, Chris Heston (4.62 ERA, 1.35 WHIP) Chattanooga at Tennessee, 6 pm CT, TBA Cedar Rapids vs. Clinton, 6:35 CT, Tyler Wells (2.02 ERA, 0.98 WHIP) Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Friday's games. Click here to view the article

Well, I was wrong. Escobar is on the bench tonight. Over the past seven days he's hitting .684/.700/.1.158! I guess most of his damage has been done against lefties and he's 0-for-3 lifetime against Carrasco, a RHP. And Polanco has been better against RHP (.684) than LHP (.586). Still surprised, though.

Regarding the Wilk decision, my guess is he's the guy they feel is mostly likely going to give them five innings. This doubleheader is creating a logistical nightmare for a team that can ill afford to wear down it's bullpen. Turley is such a wild card, and as much as I like Mejia he's averaging less than five innings a start. I'd love to see one of the young guys too, but this maybe isn't the best time to throw somebody out there and see if they float. How crazy is it that the first three starters the Twins roll out there (Turley, Mejia, Wilk) have a combined 13 career starts? And none of them started a single game last season.