Tom Froemming

Here are just some of the highlights from this one. It feels like each game the Twins have played since the All-Star break has been packed with about a week's worth of action. This has been nuts.

Here are some highlights from this one:

I already shared this take in the game thread, but I think Rocco leaving May out there to rot may have served basically as a not so politely-worded text to the front office. Think about it, how out of character was that for him, Mr. Rest? May threw 49 pitches, and it's not because he was effective. If that wasn't some kind of a message being sent, it's just incredibly weird.

As Patrick points out, the linchpin in this plan is that they need to make additions sometime over the next 10 days. But, to back up his overall sentiment on a day after the bullpen was a dumpster fire, here are some numbers on how the Twins have protected leads. W-L when entering with a lead 6th: 43-7 (.860) -- lg. avg. is .844 7th: 44-5 (.898) -- lg. avg. is .874 8th: 49-3 (.942) -- lg. avg. is .920 9th: 53-1 (.981) -- lg. avg. is .962 So last night was the first time the Twins have blown a lead in the ninth inning. The bullpen has done a good job overall, but I agree that this all hinges on how they make alterations at this point.

Here's some video of last night's loss. The bullpen was the obvious point of focus, but I ended it by showing every pitch Miguel Sano saw in his four plate appearances. As VivaBombo alluded to, this looks like a completely different guy. To change a swing is one thing, but he's gone from looking lost to above average in terms of pitch recognition. Weird theory, but it honestly makes me wonder if there was something going on with his vision. Whatever it is, it's been a very welcome change.

Are you talking about the go-ahead hit by Khris Davis? That was basically hit right at Ehire. They had him standing almost exactly where the ball was hit. It came off the bat 106 mph, so I'm pretty confident if that was a traditional infield alignment that ball is going between the first and second basemen and into the outfield.

Yep, I'm having a hard time trying to decide what I think the right move was. Can see it either way. Made some sense for Rocco not to risk it, and it was starting to appear Odo's command was starting to go. On the other hand, it's not like Odorizzi was really getting crushed. I can see why Rocco is comfortable with the decision and, given the end result, why Jake is frustrated about it.

Kind of a blah game, but I found the postgame comments from both Odorizzi and Baldelli interesting. Here's some video from last night.

Those are most often inaccurate in the short-season leagues, unfortunately, which is why I don't include them.

Jaylin Davis is as close to being automatic as you can get right now. He slugged his 13th home run in what was just his 31st game with Rochester tonight. Royce Lewis also had a nice night, going 3-for-5 to help to lead Fort Myers to a win. Come see what else happened across the system Friday.TRANSACTIONS LHP Sam Clay was promoted from Pensacola up to Rochester. Cedar Rapids activated LHP Kody Funderburk from the IL and placed RHP Carlos Suniaga on the IL with a forearm strain. RED WINGS REPORT Gwinnett 8, Rochester 4 Box Score Drew Hutchison: 5.1 IP, 10 H, 6 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, 66.0% strikes (64 of 97 pitches) HR: Jaylin Davis (13), Jimmy Kerrigan (3) Multi-hit games: Davis (2-for-4, HR), Nick Gordon (2-for-3, BB), Wilin Rosario (2-for-4, 2B) The Red Wings managed to tie this game up 4-4 on a Jaylin Davis two-run homer in the seventh. It was Davis’ 13th home run in just 31 games with Rochester, and 23rd of the year overall. Unfortunately, Gwinnett was able to bounce back with two runs in the bottom of that inning. Drew Hutchison had a rough start, but Sam Clay had a very nice Triple-A debut. Clay allowed an inherited runner to score, but pitched around an error and all five outs he recorded were via strikeouts. BLUE WAHOO BITES Mississippi 4, Pensacola 2 Box Score Charlie Barnes: 4.1 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 6 BB, 2 K, 49.4% strikes (41 of 83 pitches) HR: None Multi-hit games: Mark Contreras (2-for-4) Ian Anderson, the No. 26 overall prospect in baseball per MLB Pipeline, carved up the Blue Wahoos lineup in this one. He struck out 10 batters over seven innings of one-run ball. This was still a 1-1 game heading in to the bottom of the seventh. Charlie Barnes somehow managed to mostly pitch around a career-high six walks and Tom Hackimer pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings in his first game action in nearly a month. MIRACLE MATTERS Fort Myers 6, Florida 5 Box Score Blayne Enlow: 5.0 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 71.4 % strikes (60 of 84 pitches) HR: None Multi-hit games: Royce Lewis (3-for-5, 2B), Ryan Costello (2-for-5) After a rough three months of the season, things are now trending the right direction for Royce Lewis. He had three more hits today, giving him five multi-hit games so far this month. He now has a .302/.387/.472 line (.859 OPS) so far in July. Blayne Enlow got knocked around a bit, giving up five runs (four earned) in his five innings, but the Miracle bullpen was outstanding. Johan Quezada struck out three batters in two one-hit innings before Joe Record picked up a two-inning save, holding Florida hitless while striking out a pair of batters. KERNELS NUGGETS Lake County 8, Cedar Rapids 3 Box Score Andrew Cabezas: 5.0 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, 59.0% strikes (49 of 83 pitches) HR: Gilberto Celestino (5), Gabe Snyder (11), Trevor Casanova (4) Multi-hit games: None All three of the Kernels’ runs came on solo homers. They went 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position and combined for 11 strikeouts as a team. Cedar Rapids entered the bottom of the eighth inning holding a 3-2 lead but that’s when things fell apart. Lake County sent 11 men to bat that inning and ended up scoring six runs. After another solid start today, Andrew Cabezas now has a 1.37 ERA over his last seven starts (39 1/3 innings). E-TWINS E-NOTES Greenville 4, Elizabethton 2 Box Score Sawyer Gipson-Long: 3.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 6 K HR: Charles Mack (5) Multi-hit games: Charles Mack (2-for-3, HR), Max Smith (2-for-4) Sawyer Gipson-Long was electric for Elizabethton today. He gave up only one hit over three scoreless innings and struck out six batters. The 2019 sixth-round pick now has nine Ks in five scoreless innings to start his professional career. The only E-Town runs came on a Charles Mack two-run homer that scored Matt Wallner. GCL TWINS TAKES GCL Twins 4, GCL Red Sox 1 Box Score Matt Canterino: 3.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K HR: Wander Valdez 2 (3), Jesus Feliz (2) Multi-hit games: Jesus Feliz (3-for-4, 3B, HR), Wander Valdez (2-for-3, 2 HR, BB) Five of the six hits for the Twins came from Jesus Feliz and Wander Valdez. Feliz was a double short of the cycle and Valdez hit two home runs. Matt Canterino, the Twins’ second-round pick from this year’s draft, struck out four batters in three shutout innings. Miguel Rodriguez followed with three scoreless innings of his own before Matthew Swain held the Red Sox to one run over the final three frames. STARS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day: Sawyer Gipson-Long, Elizabethton Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day: Wander Valdez, GCL Twins TOP PROSPECT SUMMARY Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Prospects performed: 1. Royce Lewis (FM): 3-for-5, 2B, 2 R 2. Alex Kirilloff (PNS): 0-for-4, K 4. Trevor Larnach (PNS): 1-for-4, RBI, 3 K 5. Wander Javier (CR): 0-for-3, BB, K, E (throw) 7: Keoni Cavaco (GCL): 0-for-4, R, K 10. Blayne Enlow (FM): 5.0 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 71.4 % strikes (60 of 84 pitches) 12. Nick Gordon (ROC): 2-for-3, BB, R, SB, CS 13. Ryan Jeffers (FM): 1-for-4, BB, RBI, R, K 15. Matt Wallner (ELZ): 1-for-4, 2B, R, 2 K 16. Ben Rortvedt (PNS): 1-for-4, K, E (catcher’s interference) 19. Misael Urbina (DSL): 1-for-4, 2B, R SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester at Gwinnett, 5:05 pm CT (Devin Smeltzer) Pensacola at Mississippi, 6:05 pm CT (Jorge Alcala) Fort Myers at Florida, 5:00 pm CT (Lachlan Wells) Cedar Rapids at Fort Wayne, 5:05 pm CT (Kai-Wei Teng) Elizabethton at Bluefield, 5:30 pm CT GCL Twins at GCL Red Sox, 9:00 am CT Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the games. Click here to view the article

I don't have an answer, but I have some theories on where things are headed. With a reliever, the concern isn't just the gross number of pitchers over a stretch so much as it is how often they're worked. If, say, Ryne Harper throws 10 pitches on three-consecutive days, he's probably going to get at least the next day off. I'm sure there are some fancy athletic performance studies that back that logic up. I'm not sure what the magic formula is in concern to pitches in an outing vs. simply having worked, but very few MLB managers deviate from similar line of thinking. Texas was doing some really interesting things with Jesse Chavez in the bullpen during May and June last season that really caught my eye. There were a few periods he threw 80-100 pitches in a week stretched over 3-4 appearances. That experiment ended when he was traded to the Cubs, who used him more like a traditional reliever. Down on the farm, there's all sorts of fun stuff going on. Most relievers pitch multiple innings and 30-40 pitch outings are not all that uncommon. For example, Cody Stashak has gone 2+ innings in 16 of his 31 appearances this year and 30 or more pitches in 14 of his 31 outings. I think the big difference in ideology is that, while winning is desired in the minors, it's not really the only thing that matters. That shift in philosophy results in a little looser thought process with bullpen usage. I think sometime very soon we're going to see teams blur the lines between roles. I could see teams building their staffs like this: Five-man rotation: Everybody only goes 4-5 innings (70-80 pitches) Four-man multi-inning crew: These guys always cover 2-3 innings per outing, get two days rest. Four-man specialist crew: Single-inning, high-leverage guys and LOOGY types. The expansion from 25 to 26-man rosters next year could be what sparks the start of this line of pitching staff building. This makes sense from a strategical standpoint and a fiscal one. So many starters fade late or struggle with that third time through the order, right? Makes sense to shorten starts then. It's gross to even go here, but owners will also love this line of thinking because it will devalue starters and I'd expect it wouldn't really boost the value of relievers all that much. Could it also help prevent injuries/Tommy John? Not sure, but I'd think so. A team like the Marlins, hopeless and in a rebuilding phase, should be testing out something like this right now.

I didn't say it was ...

Twins most definitely need to find more help in the bullpen, but, Rogers just threw 25 pitches in a two-inning save July 12 and then pitched the following night. If they really need him for an inning tonight, he'll be available (but hopefully they can give him a night off).

These just keep getting more and more silly. Come check out some highlights from a great win and have a laugh with me.

Just a fun thing I felt motivated to look into this morning. Here's how Gray ranks in the sample of him, MadBum, Stroman and Matthew Boyd: K%: 2nd BB%: 4th WHIP: 1st ERA: 2nd FIP: 1st xFIP: 2nd (0.01 behind Boyd) SIERA: 2nd HR/9: 2nd GB%: 2nd Hard Hit%: 2nd Exit velocity: 1st xWOBA: 1st OPS against: 1st

I agree. Cooper and Matt are established by now. I'm glad you feel this way.

Here's some video from today's game. Went through that frustrating seventh inning in which May actually got ahead of two guys 0-2 who ended up getting hits. I did have some fun looking back at Adrianza's debut on the mound, so come have a laugh at that if you're in the mood.

Trying something new. Here are some video highlights from last night's game:

Yep, though we'll see how the next couple weeks shake out. The NL is so weird right now. The Giants are in last place in their division ... and only three back of the Wild Card. They took a series at Milwaukee and then swept a doubleheader at Colorado yesterday.

Here's some video of Teng's impressive performance:

Very happy taking two of three at Cleveland, with the one loss being a one-run game. Definitely a positive overall result and things look good heading into a nine-game home stand. The events in the final innings are always magnified, but Jose Berrios failing to finish off the first inning yesterday was frustrating to see. He retired Lindor and Kipnis, but then walked Santana on five pitches and Bradley on four pitches. Ramirez got the run-scoring double to put Cleveland up. This one still lands on the lineup in my eyes. It's always going to be difficult to win when you only score three runs. The Twins are now 5-20 (.200) when they score three or fewer runs. All teams are a combined 192-909 (.174) when scoring three or under this season.