Tom Froemming

TODAY Twins at White Sox | Friday, July 24 7:10 pm CT Betting Lines: MIN -1.5, -114, 8.5 O/U Twins: José Berríos, RHP Berríos is 11-2 with a 2.40 ERA, 1.01 WHIP and 9.6 K/9 in 93 2/3 career innings against the White Sox. Players currently on Chicago’s roster have combined to hit just .237/.262/.429 (.691 OPS) against Berríos, with a bulk of the damage done by James McCann, who has four home runs in 24 plate appearances against José. White Sox: Lucas Giolito, RHP Giolito’s best start last season came at Target Field against the Twins. On Aug. 21, Giolito pitched a three-hit complete game shutout while striking out 12 batters without issuing a walk. On the flip side, Nelson Cruz hit three bombas off Giolito in Chicago nearly a year ago today. Before the game, Seth asked the Twins manager about facing a talented starter like Lucas Giolito. https://twitter.com/SethTweets/status/1286792545545191434 LINEUP https://twitter.com/Twins/status/1286742175875825668 QUESTION OF THE DAY Who do you think will hit the first Twins bomba of 2020? YESTERDAY’S RESULTS NYY 4, WAS 1 LAD 8, SFG 1 NEWS & NOTES Byron Buxton did not travel down to Chicago with the team, but Dan Hayes of The Athletic reported that Buck is driving down today to meet the team. He’ll be on the Opening Day roster, so it seems likely we’ll see Buxton at some point over the weekend, if not tonight. While the opening game was being played last night, Major League Baseball officially announced that the postseason was going to be expanded to 16 teams. The top two teams in each division will automatically qualify for the playoffs, with the final spots going to the remaining teams who have the best record, and each matchup in the first round will be a best of three series. I really don’t like this. To me, a big thing keeping some validity for this season was they were still going to play the postseason as if they would have under normal circumstances. Sure, some weird teams may have slipped in with the 60-game season, but you still have to perform and beat the best of the best in a five or seven-game series once you get there. This new setup both removes the potential thrill of a shorter, pressure-packed regular season and delegitimizes the playoffs. A single elimination game for the wild card was alright because it put more emphasis on winning the division. Reducing every first round matchup to a three-game series means there’s very little advantage gained by regular season success. Higher seeds get home field advantage, whatever that means in 2020, and there’s been some talk of the division winners being able to pick their opponents, but I don’t see that being reported as official anywhere as of yet. This new playoff format will be in place this season only. For now ... SEE ALSO Minnesota Twins Opening Day Roster 20 Twins Predictions for the 2020 Season Swinging Sixty: Minnesota Twins 2020 Season Preview The 2020 Preseason All-AL Central Team Who Are the Twins Best 60 Game Sprinters? Ranking Minnesota’s Top-5 Indispensable Players

LAST NIGHT CHC 4, MIN 3 (exhibition) Most of Twins Territory appears to be ready to pull the plug on Homer Bailey after he served up three dingers over his three innings of work. He was not sharp. There’s a wide range of potential outcomes with Bailey, but keep in mind that here’s how he pitched from this date forward last season: 11 starts, 65 1/3 IP, 8.27 K/9, 1.65 BB/9, 3.31 ERA, 1.07 WHIP. Bailey was worth 2.0 fWAR over that stretch, tied with Zack Greinke for 11th-best among all pitchers. In case you missed it, John, Seth and Nick did a live stream after the game ended. TODAY Twins OFF NYY (Gerrit Cole) at WAS (Max Scherzer), 6:08 pm CT Betting Lines: NYY -1.5, -141, 7.5 O/U How about this for a pitching matchup to start the season? This is a pitching rematch of Game 1 of the 2019 World Series in which Scherzer and the Nats were victorious 5-4. This will be Cole’s debut with the Yankees after signing a nine-year, $324 million deal with New York back in December. SFG (Johnny Cueto) at LAD (Clayton Kershaw), 9:08 pm CT Betting Lines: LAD -1.5, -295, O/U 8.5 And we get another big debut in the night cap, as Brusdar Graterol suits up as a Dodger for the first time. OK, I suppose fellow new Dodger Mookie Betts has a slightly higher profile, huh? This Los Angeles team is absolutely loaded, and widely regarded as the team to beat in the National League this season. NEWS & NOTES A significant takeaway from last night’s exhibition was that Byron Buxton and Luis Arráez were not in the starting lineup. Arráez entered the game in the sixth inning as a defensive replacement. Marney Gellner reported during last night’s broadcast that Buxton is not expected to be available for Opening Day. https://twitter.com/TFTwins/status/1286106661917274114 We also learned yesterday who will follow José Berríos in the rotation during the opening series. It’ll be Rich Hill in the encore and Kenta Maeda in the finale. Jake Odorizzi will start the season out on the IL due to back soreness. UPDATE: Here's the Opening Day roster below. Discuss the roster in the Twins Opening Day roster article here. https://twitter.com/tlschwerz/status/1286333654017376258 SEE ALSO Postgame Pint: Slow Bats, Sano's Glove & Odo's IL Trip The 3 Scariest Stretches on the 2020 Twins Schedule Breaking Records in a 60-Game Season Half-A-Step Better: How The Twins Are Reinventing Infield Play

TODAY Twins at Cubs, 6:10 pm CT John, Seth and Nick will be co-hosting a live stream after this game ends. Just click on this link (or follow it from our Twitter or Facebook page) and you’ll be able to join Twins Daily’s writers as they immediately react to the game. Twins: Homer Bailey, RHP Bailey had surrendered just one earned run over five innings of work during Spring Training prior to the season being suspended. The 34-year-old had a 4.02 ERA over his final 20 starts of 2019. Cubs: Jon Lester, LHP Lester, on the other hand, posted a 5.06 ERA over his final 20 starts of last season. The veteran lefty has posted reverse platoon splits the past two seasons, surrendering an .838 OPS to southpaws in 2019 and an .878 mark in ‘18. NEWS & NOTES Unlike the Twins, the Cubs were able to take full advantage of the opportunity to play three exhibition games, playing the White Sox on Sunday and Monday. This will be the only exhibition game the Twins play against another organization, but they’ve been treating their intrasquad scrimmages like “real” games for the most part. They’ve even been shifting the infield and deploying outfield alignments based on scouting reports. https://twitter.com/TFTwins/status/1284684609091964928 I wonder if any of the hitters requested to see their own card. It’ll be interesting to see how Rocco Baldelli fills out the lineup. He’s yet to tip his hand in regard to the batting order, but it seems like a safe assumption to expect tonight’s lineup to resemble the same one Rocco will roll with on Opening Day. The Twins don’t have any major injuries or illnesses at this time, fortunately, but some question marks surround Jake Odorizzi, Byron Buxton and Miguel Sanó. We know José Berríos will be starting the opener Friday against the White Sox, but it’s not clear at this time how the rotation shakes out from there. Odo was scratched from his scheduled start Sunday due to back stiffness. He’s expected to be fine, though not fully stretched out. Buxton, who suffered a foot injury, has said he’ll be ready for the opener. While he worked out with the team Monday, Byron did not participate in the intrasquad scrimmage. Sanó is playing catchup after missing time due to a positive COVID test, but unlike Buxton, he was able to play in Monday’s scrimmage. With expanded rosters, a shortened season and really no opportunities for guys to play in actual rehab games, I’m confident all three will be active based on the most recent updates. Still, it’s worth monitoring the situation with that trio LINEUPS Good luck in the first inning, Mr. Lester. SEE ALSO Join Twins Daily's Postgame Parley Wednesday Night Who Will Provide Length in the Twins' Bullpen? Now Is Not the Time to Doubt Byron Buxton How Much Would a Key Injury or Two Hurt the Twins Postseason Chances? Predicting Minnesota’s Final 30-Man Roster

Lineups https://twitter.com/Twins/status/1283453073046884352 As mentioned in the Tweet above, the game will be streamed online by both the Twins and FSN. Unlike previous streams of Summer Camp, this scrimmage will feature play-by-play from Dick Bremer and Justin Morneau. The pitching matchup will be new Twin Kenta Maeda vs. Devin Smeltzer. Cody Christie recently wrote an article on how the Twins are pairing up pitchers. Here’s a excerpt from that piece: RHP Kenta Maeda/LHP Devin Smeltzer Kenta Maeda, Minnesota’s big off-season trade acquisition, has something to prove as a starter after being used as a starter and reliever with the Dodgers. Like Maeda, Devin Smeltzer started his professional career in the Dodgers organization. Smeltzer found success last season even though his pitching repertoire would hardly be called overpowering. He relies on a fastball that ranks in the 6th percentile for velocity and in the 86th percentile for spin. As with Odorizzi and Thorpe, this pairing gives the Twins another righty-lefty pitching combo. Parker Hageman also recently wrote about Smeltzer's new slider, and featured Maeda in an article earlier this offseason. There are some interesting items to takeaway from these lineups. The Twins received good news about Byron Buxton’s left leg injury, but there’s still no guarantee he’ll be ready for Opening Day. The center fielders for tonight’s scrimmage are Jake Cave and LaMonte Wade Jr. We’ve seen plenty of Cave at the position, he’s started 78 games in center field over the past two seasons, but it’s especially intriguing to see Wade get the nod in center over Max Kepler, who’ll play usual right field. Wade made nine starts in center for the Twins last season, but 65 of his 80 outfield appearances in the minor leagues last year were in the corners. The Twins also got good news on Miguel Sanó, who was cleared to return to the team after two negative tests for COVID-19. Handling first base duties tonight will be Alex Kirilloff and Brent Rooker. Kirilloff started to play more first base toward the end of the last minor league season while Rooker exclusively played outfield for the first time in his professional career in 2019. One last notable item is that Travis Blankenhorn is handling third base. He has plenty of previous experience there, but in 2019 made just two appearances at the hot corner. Blankenhorn played 72 games at second base and 24 in left field last season. MORE FROM TWINS DAILY — Latest Twins coverage from our writers — Recent Twins discussion in our forums — Follow Twins Daily via Twitter, Facebook or email\

"We're at our best with Buck. That's a pretty easy statement to make." Those were the words of Twins manager Rocco Baldelli during a brief press conference following Monday night's intrasquad scrimmage. Right now, the Twins aren't sure how long they might be without Buxton. In a short season, every game counts extra, but injuries are to be expected. "We also know that we're going to have to have many guys step up over the course of this short season," Baldelli noted. "We're going to be dealing with adversity." Aaron Gleeman of The Athletic shared video of Buxton being helped off the field. https://twitter.com/AaronGleeman/status/1282813811263770624 Buxton was icing his ankle, elevating and awaiting more imaging. We should know more tomorrow, but Dan Hayes of The Athletic reported that the Twins are optimistic. That's obviously encouraging, given how severe this appeared to be initially. https://twitter.com/HagemanParker/status/1282857050633048064 Potentially being without Byron is obviously not ideal, but is a familiar circumstance the Twins have found themselves in over the years. Max Kepler has made 97 starts in center field over the past two seasons, so it would be a safe assumption Kepler would be who Baldelli would turn to should Buxton miss any time. Swinging Max to center creates a spot in a corner that would likely be filled by either Marwin Gonzalez or Jake Cave. TUESDAY UPDATE: Baldelli was on MLB Network Radio and passed along the news that Buxton did not suffer any "structural damage or injury that they could find." https://twitter.com/MLBNetworkRadio/status/1283084193413632002 MORE FROM TWINS DAILY — Latest Twins coverage from our writers — Recent Twins discussion in our forums — Follow Twins Daily via Twitter, Facebook or email

Sanó was tested as part of the standard intake policy for camp and has been quarantined. He did not participate in the first workout at Target Field yesterday or on Saturday. There have not been any specific reports on how Miguel is feeling, but we wish him the very best in his recovery. Baldelli said that he will be talking to Sano and Willians Astudillo on Saturday afternoon. UPDATE: Sano is feeling well and is not experiencing any symptoms. Baldelli said that he's heard reports from players noting that, "Miguel is chomping at the bit to get out here. He's talking to different people." He continued, "As soon as we get the clearance, he's going to be out here. We know he's been working hard. So I'm looking forward to seeing him." Per MLB's safety protocols, a player who tests positive will be isolated from his team until he tests negative twice at least 24 hours apart, shows no symptoms for a 72-hour period and is granted approval to return by a doctor and a joint MLB/MLBPA committee. "I think whether we're talking about our team or anyone else, I think when you see anyone you know, people you're familiar with, friends and family, affected by this, it really does hit home. 100 percent. It becomes very real when you see it first-hand. When it's only something you see on television or people discussing around town or it's on the news, I think someone could look at that and not feel like it's as big of an issue. I personally believe that this is a huge issue that we're all dealing with and I know the importance of it. But everyone might not have the same exact perspective. I do think that when it does it home is when it affects the people around you." Baldelli held the team's meeting, "spread out in the outfield." "One thing that we talked about was making sure that the guys know that they have a voice. We want to know how they're feeling. It's very important for all of us and for all of them to feel very open and free to talk about these things. Whether they feel good about things or they feel apprehension. It helps us, but more importantly, it helps the player to be able to say these things. We aren't going to be able to help until we have that open dialogue going. We have a good group for that. Our guys are really good about feeling good about talking about whatever they want to talk about." The one other notable absence from Friday’s workout was Luis Arráez, but here he is taking batting practice at Target Field today. https://twitter.com/andluedtke/status/1279478138288902144 Additionally, Rocco Baldelli noted that Byron Buxton is expected to fly to the Twin Cities on Sunday morning. He will go through his intake testing, but Baldelli also noted that there would be another round of testing. So all players have OTHER NOTES Official practices at CHS Field will begin on Sunday. Some of the players were at Target Field earlier this week, and they were all tested. They'll start in the morning and Baldelli will address the group tomorrow as well. The last two days, they haven't been able to do anything. They set up CHS. At the end of the team meeting this morning, Cruz was honored for his Muhammad Ali Humanitarian Award. Cruz then had some words for the group. "He told our guys that we have no excuses. We're going to go out there. We're going to prepare. We're going to do our jobs. We could look at this pessimistically, but we're not going to. We're going to look at this in the most optimistic way we can. We're never going to make an excuse. We're going to go out there and get the job done, and that was his message to the group. It was great." MORE FROM TWINS DAILY — Latest Twins coverage from our writers — Recent Twins discussion in our forums — Follow Twins Daily via Twitter, Facebook or email