Tom Froemming

Can't say it's his best start as a Twin because of how it ended, but there was a stretch last night where Jake Odorizzi looked as good as he ever has in a Twins uniform.

Here's the Twins Pitch, which includes all 10 of Pineda's Ks in a 24-second burst.

They’re alive! Both Pensacola and Cedar Rapids were facing elimination tonight, but both Twins affiliates managed to survive. A couple of new faces shined in their Double-A debuts for the Blue Wahoos to force a game 4 in the Southern League semifinals. Meanwhile, a few familiar faces pushed the Kernels ahead to clinch a series victory in the Midwest League Quarterfinals.BLUE WAHOO BITES Pensacola 3, Biloxi 2 (Biloxi leads best of five series 2-1) Box Score Jordan Balazovic: 4.2 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 7 K, 73.2% strikes (52 of 71 pitches) HR: Alex Kirilloff, Ryan Costello Multi-hit games: Kirilloff (2-for-4, HR) Facing elimination tonight, Pensacola turned to a pair of pitchers making their Double-A debuts. The element of surprise paid off. Jordan Balazovic struck out seven batters in his 4 2/3 innings of work, allowing two runs on three hits. Ryan Costello added a solo homer of his own in the fourth inning. Biloxi tied the game in the top of the fifth inning, but Travis Blankenhorn delivered a key two-out, go-ahead single that plated Royce Lewis and would prove to be the difference in this game. Anthony Vizcaya struck out the side in the ninth inning to earn the save and keep the Blue Wahoo’s 2019 season alive. They still trail in the series 2-1, so they’ll have to win the next two games in order to advance. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 4, Quad Cities 2 (Cedar Rapids wins series 2-1) Box Score Josh Winder: 6.0 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 7 K, 71.4% strikes (55 of 77 pitches) HR: Gabe Snyder Multi-hit games: Snyder (2-for-4, HR, 2B), Wander Javier (2-for-4, 3B), DaShawn Keirsey (2-for-4, 2B) Behind big efforts from familiar faces, the Kernels won Friday night to advance in the Midwest League playoffs. Starting pitcher Josh Winder and first baseman Gabe Snyder set the tone in this game. Winder provided Cedar Rapids with six shutout innings. He struck out seven and did not walk a batter. This is the fourth time in 2019 Winder has gone at least six innings and surrendered zero runs. Winder was pitching with a lead the entire night thanks to Snyder’s home run in the top of the first inning. He added a double in the fourth inning and came around to score on a Chris Williams hit. Winder led the Kernels in virtually every pitching stat while Snyder was the top dog on the team in nearly every hitting stat, so it seemed fitting those two were the catalysts who pushed Cedar Rapids' season into the next round. Wander Javier had a two-hit night that included a triple and an RBI single. DaShawn Kerisey led off the top of the ninth inning with a double and scored a huge insurance run on a Tyler Webb RBI single. Austin Schulfer pitched the final 2 1/3 innings to earn the save. STARS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day: Josh Winder, Cedar Rapids Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day: Gabe Snyder, Cedar Rapids TOP PROSPECT SUMMARY Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Prospects performed: 1. Royce Lewis (PNS): 1-for-4, R, K, E (fielding) 2. Alex Kirilloff (PNS): 2-for-4, HR, R, RBI 4. Trevor Larnach (PNS): 1-for-3, 3B, BB, K 5. Wander Javier (CR): 2-for-4, 3B, R, RBI, K, E (fielding) 6. Jordan Balazovic (PNS): 4.2 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 7 K, 73.2% strikes (52 of 71 pitches) 13. Ryan Jeffers (PNS): 0-for-4 15. Matt Wallner (CR): 0-for-4, 3 K 20. Travis Blankenhorn (PNS): 1-for-3, BB, RBI SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Pensacola at Biloxi, 6:35 pm CT (TBD) Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the games. Click here to view the article

What a game! Here's the Twins Pitch:

Jose Berrios had his velocity back. His command? Well ...

Just a fun fact I came across: The Twins bullpen is tied for the seventh-best in HR/9 on the season. Only teams better: STL, BOS, OAK, SFG, ARI, CLE. The Yankees are 13th and the Astros are 18th.

Here's the Twins Pitch from this game. Taylor Rogers' performance on zero days rest was one of many topics of conversation.

This is from July, but here's some video of Wiel if you're interested:

Here's some talk about today's pitching performance, a look ahead at the Boston series and some additional context into just how good Randy Dobnak was in the high minors this season.

ICYMI here's every single pitch of Graterol's outing today plus the usual analysis.

The Twins have announced a round of roster moves in conjunction with rosters expanding. Here’s a quick snapshot: Coming up: Willians Astudillo, Brusdar Graterol, Zack Littell, Ian Miller, Devin Smeltzer, Kohl Stewart, Lewis Thorpe and LaMonte Wade. Going to the IL: Kyle Gibson.The most exciting move among these announced roster additions is certainly Brusdar Graterol. He just turned 21-years-old earlier this week, and the Twins gave him quite the belated birthday present. Graterol missed more than two months earlier this season, but returned to action just before the end of July and started working out of the bullpen. In nine outings, Graterol pitched to a 2.03 ERA, 0.75 WHIP and held opposing hitters to a .143/.234/.238 batting line (.472 OPS). He struck out 15 batters in 13 1/3 innings and topped out at 103.8 mph. Ian Miller is the only other callup who has yet to make his major league debut. Acquired from the Mariners in early August, Miller's speed is his calling card. He's stolen 243 bases in his minor league career and been caught stealing just 51 times. That's a success rate of 82.7%. An outfielder, Miller hit .264/.346/.431 (.777 OPS) in 514 Triple-A plate appearances this season. Kyle Gibson hitting the Injured List is an unexpected development. Gibson has been suffering from ulcerative colitis. Here's a link to more information on that disease via the Mayo Clinic. It sounds like a potentially serious ailment, but at the very least something really terrible to endure. Here's wishing Kyle a quick recovery. In order to clear space on the 40-man roster, Sean Poppen was transferred to the 60-day IL due to a right elbow contusion. The additions of Willians Astudillo, Zack Littell, Devin Smeltzer, Kohl Stewart, Lewis Thorpe and LaMonte Wade were all expected. The biggest takeaway is that Astudillo and Wade, who were both on rehab assignments, were deemed healthy enough to be activated from the IL. Perhaps more notable is the players on the 40-man roster who were not added to the active roster. That includes Ryne Harper, Trevor Hildenberger and Fernando Romero. That trio was expected to be a big part of the Twins bullpen at the onset of the season. It's always possible they'll join the team at a later date. Also among the players not activated were Marcos Diplan and Stephen Gonsalves, who has looked good on the road to recovery. Jorge Alcala, a triple-digit-throwing pitching prospect who was promoted last week from AA to AAA with Graterol, also did not get a promotion, though he would've required being added to the 40-man roster. The last player on the 40-man roster to mention is Nick Gordon, but unlike Gonsalves, he has yet to return to action since suffering a left lower leg contusion. Who are you most excited about? Comment below, but you need to signup first; we're not animals here. Click here to view the article

Some more on the pitching, including me stupidly getting mad about Tim Laudner because it feels better than stupidly getting mad about Martin Perez, for some reason.

Not nitpicking at all, that's copy editing and it's very much appreciated. I started typing that out prior to the last Garver blast and forgot to update it. Good lookin' out.

What was that? The Detroit Tigers have averaged an MLB-low 3.59 runs per game. They scored a total of three runs in their most recent series against Cleveland. A lineup that had zero hitters carrying an OPS above league average managed to beat the Twins, the greatest home run hitting team of all time, 10-7 Saturday.Box Score Perez: 2.2 IP, 9 H, 8 R, 7 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, 67.1% strikes (55 of 82 pitches) Bullpen: 5.1 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 7 K Home Runs: Garver 2 (26), Kepler (36), Polanco (20), Cron (24), Cruz (34) Multi-Hit Games: Garver (2-for-3, 2 HR, 2 BB), Polanco (2-for-4, HR, BB), Cruz (2-for-5, HR), Kepler (2-for-3, HR, BB) Bottom 3 WPA: Perez -.519, Sano -.079, Rosario -.056 Martin Perez came into this start with some positive momentum. He’d pitched to a 2.12 ERA in his previous three outings, though he had also walked nine batters in 17 innings. Still, a matchup against Detroit seemed to be the perfect opportunity to keep that positive momentum rolling. It did not end up going that direction. In fact, Perez had his worst start as a Twin. He gave up eight runs (seven earned) on nine hits while recording just eight outs. Again, this is by far the worst hitting team in baseball the Twins were facing tonight. Detroit scored seven runs in the third inning, the most the Twins have surrendered in any single frame all season. Ehire Adrianza played some disgusting defense out in right field that contributed to that inning. Still … worst hitting team in baseball. Ah, but there were bombas. Those sweet, sweet bombas that allowed the Twins media staff to completely ignore the results of the game and gush about all the records that fell. The Twins hit six home runs tonight; two from Mitch Garver one each from Max Kepler, Jorge Polanco, C.J. Cron and Nelson Cruz. They set the MLB single-season home run record with 268 bombas. Polanco’s tater gave the Twins eight players with 20 or more homers, a new record. Garver’s blasts gave the Twins 39 homers from their catchers this year, also a new record. It would have been a lot more fun if all those milestones were reached in a victory. It’s been a fun journey leading up to all those accomplishments, of course, but losing to the worst team in baseball leaves a terrible aftertaste on what should have been a delicious evening. At least Cleveland lost. In celebration of the Twins breaking the home run record, Cooper shared the 10 biggest Twins home runs this season as ranked by WPA. Make sure to go check that out for some fun reminiscing on what’s been a fantastic season. Postgame With Baldelli Click here to view the article

Here's the Pitch for last night's game. I talk about why I don't want to see this battery anymore, the bullpen usage and more.

That is correct. Enlow has a better swinging strike rate than Jordan Balazovic (13.3% to 12.4%).

Yeah, I found it really strange that it was completely empty -- didn't go there against righties or lefties. It seems like this would have been the perfect opportunity for him to experiment with working at the top of the zone more, but that's just not his thing, I guess. I'm sure he's just trying to tunnel his fastball and curveball, which is a good thing, but it's too predictable. Hitters can basically eliminate the entire top half of the zone. You'd have to imagine he'd benefit from mixing things up, but a lot of pitchers are like this and like to live at the bottom of the zone. Not too many Jake Odorizzi's out there.

With Hurricane Dorian looming, the Florida State League made the decision to cancel the rest of the regular season, and even the playoffs. Trevor Larnach was named the Florida State League Player of the Year this afternoon, then hit another home run for Pensacola this evening. Come see what else happened across the system Thursday night.TRANSACTIONS Cedar Rapids activated LHP J.T. Perez from the seven-day IL. IF Jake Hirabayashi assigned to the GCL roster from Cedar Rapids. RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 7, Buffalo 6 Box Score Lewis Thorpe: 3.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 6 K, 70.5% strikes (31 of 44 pitches) HR: Willians Astudillo (5), Zander Wiel (23) Multi-hit games: Alejandro De Aza (3-for-4, 3B, BB), Tomas Telis (3-for-5), Astudillo (2-for-4, HR, HBP), Ian Miller (2-for-5), Ronald Torreyes (2-for-5) The Red Wings pulled out a victory to even their season record to 68-68 in a game in which many hopeful September callups shined. Lewis Thorpe was excellent in a brief start, striking out six batters while giving up one run over three innings. Willians Astudillo hit his fourth home run in just the 13th game of his rehab assignment. Fernando Romero was perfect over the final two innings, protecting a one-run lead to earn the save. Rochester entered the top of the eighth trailing, but Zander Wiel blasted his 23rd home run of the season, a two-run shot, to put the Wings up for good. Alejandro De Aza was 3-for-4 with a triple and a walk, boosting his OPS to 1.059 since signing with the Twins. BLUE WAHOO BITES Montgomery 5, Pensacola 2 Box Score Jhoan Duran: 5.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 6 K, 70.8% strikes (51 of 72 pitches) HR: Trevor Larnach (7) Multi-hit games: Larnach (3-for-5, HR), Alex Kirilloff (2-for-4, 2B, BB), Ryan Costello (2-for-3, 2B, BB), Travis Blankenhorn (2-for-5, 2B) How’s that for a day at the office? Trevor Larnach was named the Florida State League Player of the Year, then went 3-for-5 with his seventh home run since being promoted up to Pensacola. In just 39 games, Larnach has already posted more homers in the Southern League than he had in 84 games in the FSL. That homer put the Blue Wahoos up 2-1, but it was all Biscuits from there. Jhoan Duran turned in another encouraging start for Pensacola, striking out six batters over five innings of one-run ball. He’s managed to lower his Southern League ERA from 7.13 to 4.86 over his last two outings. Marcos Diplan surrendered the game-tying run in the sixth inning before Andrew Vasquez gave up the lead in the eighth. MIRACLE MATTERS Dunedin 3, Fort Myers 0 Box Score Blayne Enlow: 4.2 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 BB, 3 K, 60.5% strikes (46 of 76 pitches) HR: None Multi-hit games: None Blayne Enlow was cruising along, pitching a shutout through the first four innings, but was unable to pitch around a leadoff triple in the fifth inning. That runner eventually came around to score, Enlow was lifted in that inning and two of his runners who were inherited also scored. That was it for the scoring in this one. The Miracle were only able to muster three hits in this game, a triple from Jacob Pearson and singles from Trey Cabbage and Yeltsin Encarnacion. KERNELS NUGGETS Quad Cities 3, Cedar Rapids 2 Box Score Tyler Palm: 5.0 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 4 BB, 0 K, 55.3% strikes (47 of 85 pitches) HR: Gabe Snyder 2 (18) Multi-hit games: Snyder (2-for-3, 2 HR, BB) Gabe Snyder was a one-man wrecking crew, but unfortunately the rest of the Kernels struggled to provide any additional support. Snyder hit his 17th and 18th home runs of the season and also drew a walk. Tyler Palm gave up three runs over the first five innings, but the Cedar Rapids bullpen was lights out from there. Austin Schulfer struck out three batters over two shutout innings before Rickey Ramirez finished things out with a pair of clean innings of his own. The Kernels got a leadoff walk from Albee Weiss to open the eight inning, ended up loading the bases with two outs, but Wander Javier struck out swinging to end the threat. Matt Wallner then led off the ninth inning with a walk of his own, but was immediately erased by a double play. STARS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day: Jhoan Duran, Pensacola Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day: Gabe Snyder, Cedar Rapids TOP PROSPECT SUMMARY Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Prospects performed: 1. Royce Lewis (PNS): 0-for-5, K, E (fielding) 2. Alex Kirilloff (PNS): 2-for-4, 2B, BB, E (throw) 4. Trevor Larnach (PNS): 3-for-5, HR, OF assist 5. Wander Javier (CR): 0-for-4, K 9. Jhoan Duran (PNS): 5.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 6 K, 70.8% strikes (51 of 72 pitches) 10. Blayne Enlow (FM): 4.2 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 BB, 3 K, 60.5% strikes (46 of 76 pitches) 11. Lewis Thorpe (ROC): 3.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 6 K, 70.5% strikes (31 of 44 pitches) 13. Ryan Jeffers (PNS): 0-for-5, 2 K 15. Matt Wallner (CR): 0-for-3, BB, 2 K 20. Travis Blankenhorn (PNS): 2-for-5, 2B FRIDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester vs. Syracuse, 6:05 pm CT (Devin Smeltzer) Pensacola at Montgomery, 6:35 pm CT (Bryan Sammons) Cedar Rapids vs. Quad Cities, 6:35 pm CT (Andrew Cabezas) Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the games. Click here to view the article

Jose Berrios is certainly pointed back in the right direction, but there are still some red flags from today's outing. More on that here:

Some more info on the pitching performance, which includes an encouraging graph on Trevor May.

Here's the Twins Pitch from last night's game: