Tom Froemming

Box Score Odorizzi: 5.1 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, 60.7% strikes (54 of 89 pitches) Bullpen: 3.2 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K Home Runs: Kepler 2 (23), Cave (2) Multi-Hit Games: Polanco (3-for-5), Kepler (2-for-5, 2 HR), Cave (2-for-3, 2B, HR, BB), Arraez (2-for-5) Top 3 WPA: Cave .210, Odorizzi .153, Harper .141 Jake Odorizzi made his first start since a blister sent him to the injured list. He had an excellent first half, earning him All-Star honors, but he had actually been struggling prior to the injury. In his final four starts, Odorizzi gave up 16 earned runs in 18 1/3 innings pitched (7.85 ERA). That being the case, I was pretty anxious to see how he looked tonight. It wasn’t among his best performances of the season, but he made pitches when he had to and ended up limiting Cleveland to just one run on three hits over 5 1/3 innings. Odorizzi ran into some trouble in the sixth, hitting the leadoff batter then issuing a two-out walk. Luckily Ryne Harper came in and retired Carlos Santana and Jason Kipnis to end the threat. It was helpful the lineup gave Odorizzi some breathing room. Max Kepler homered in his first two at-bats, meaning he went deep off Trevor Bauer in five consecutive plate appearances. He hit three home runs against Bauer in Cleveland on June 6. https://twitter.com/MLBStats/status/1150201663011119110 Kepler has actually faced Bauer more than any other pitcher over his career. He entered tonight with a .324/.378/.647 line against him (1.025 OPS). Pretty amazing to see that kind of ownage of such a good pitcher. Jake Cave also homered off Bauer and provided a big two-run double in the eighth inning to give the Twins, who were only holding a one-run advantage at that point, some wiggle room. The Twins played some nice defense, as they turned a couple double plays and Byron Buxton made an outstanding catch to take a hit away in the eighth inning. https://twitter.com/fsnorth/status/1150227525055873026 Buxton finished out the rest of the eighth inning, but did not come out to play defense in the ninth. Similar to last night’s game, the Twins faced some adversity. Bauer struck out 11 batters in his six innings, and the Cleveland staff combined for 15 Ks. Jonathan Schoop had a particularly rough night, striking out three times and leaving five men on base. And, again, this was a 3-2 game heading into the eighth inning. The Twins have had to fight for these two victories. With this win, the Twins have extended their lead back up to 7.5 games in the division. Jose Berrios will take the mound tomorrow afternoon and hope to put an exclamation point on what's already been a statement series for the Twins. Postgame With Baldelli Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet Click here for a review of the number of pitches thrown by each member of the bullpen over the past five days.

TRANSACTIONS Rochester activated Fernando Romero from the IL and released Chase De Jong. Williams Ramirez started a rehab assignment with the GCL Twins. Fort Myers sent Derek Molina to the 7-day IL due to shoulder bicipital tendinitis and activated Bailey Ober from the IL. Elizabethton placed Tanner Brubaker, Casey Legumina, Luis Varland and Brent Headrick on the 7-day IL. RED WINGS REPORT Lehigh Valley 7, Rochester 6 Box Score Lewis Thorpe: 4.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, 68.5% strikes (50 of 73 pitches) HR: Wilin Rosario (10), Nick Gordon (3) Multi-hit games: Wilin Rosario (2-for-3, 2B, HR, BB), Nick Gordon (2-for-4, HR, BB) Fernando Romero pitched for the first time since June 19, serving as the opener. He retired the first two batters on ground balls before a Nick Gordon fielding error extended the inning. From there, Romero surrendered a single and a three-run homer. Lewis Thorpe took over in the second inning and was solid in his four innings. The Red Wings chipped away at the lead, with Wilin Rosario hitting a two-run homer and Gordon providing a solo blast. Cody Allen made his Rochester debut. He struck out the first batter he faced, then gave up a home run. He walked the next batter (old friend Shane Robinson) before ending the inning on a double play. Next out of the pen was Cody Stashak. He struck out two batters over a pair of no-hit innings. The right-hander now has a 1.40 ERA, 0.88 WHIP and has 29 strikeouts in 19 1/3 innings for Rochester. Rosario hit a two-run double in the bottom of the eighth to tie this game, but Gabriel Moya gave those runs right back in the top of the ninth. The Red Wings got a run across thanks to a bases-loaded walk from Gordon, but could not plate the tying run. Drew Maggi was hit in the leg by a pitch, which would have driven in the game-tying run, but the home plate umpire declared that Maggi turned into the pitch and did not award him first base. Wings manager Joel Skinner came out to argue and was eventually ejected. Brent Rooker was also ejected earlier in the game after a very tame episode in which he argued a called third strike. https://twitter.com/TFTwins/status/1149898789773303808 BLUE WAHOO BITES Montgomery 4, Pensacola 2 Box Score Randy Dobnak: 6.1 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, 69.1% strikes (65 of 94 pitches) HR: None Multi-hit games: None It was a tough night for the Blue Wahoos lineup, as they didn’t record a hit until the eighth inning. Randy Dobnak had a quality start, lowering his ERA with Pensacola to 2.76 on the year. Just checking in on this game between a few others, it appeared the weather was less than ideal. It was a windy night in the bayside Blue Wahoo Stadium and it also sounded like there may have been some rain. MIRACLE MATTERS Fort Myers 8, Bradenton 4 Box Score Blayne Enlow: 3.0 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, 60.9% strikes (42 of 69 pitches) Jordan Balazovic: 4.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 6 K, 70.9% strikes (39 of 55 pitches) HR: Trevor Larnach (6), Ryan Costello (7) Multi-hit games: Michael Helman (3-for-3, 2B, BB), Trevor Larnach (2-for-4, HR, BB), Gabriel Maciel (2-for-5) Bradenton jumped all over Blayne Enlow in the first inning, scoring four runs. The Miracle bounced back and scored the next eight runs unanswered to win. Melvi Acosta struck out three over two shutout innings before Jordan Balazovic took over to close out the final four innings. His schedule was thrown off a bit by participating in the Futures Game. Balazovic allowed just one baserunner and struck out six. https://twitter.com/TFTwins/status/1149915508990521344 Trevor Larnach hit a two-run homer, his sixth of the season, an RBI single and drew a walk. He’s now hitting .310 with an .835 OPS for Fort Myers. Michael Helman was 3-for-3 with a walk and a stolen base. Remember that whole thing where Royce Lewis ? That was against Bradenton a ways back. Here’s the first pitch Royce saw in the ninth inning of an 8-4 game tonight:https://twitter.com/TFTwins/status/1149848832693473282 KERNELS NUGGETS Great Lakes 7, Cedar Rapids 0 Box Score Josh Winder: 5.0 IP, 6 H, 7 ER, 2 BB, 8 K, 67.8% strikes (61 of 90 pitches) HR: None Multi-hit games: None The Kernels lineup mustered just four hits, the only extra-base hit being a double for Gabe Snyder. Several of Cedar Rapids’ top prospects continue to struggle at the plate, including Wander Javier, who went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts tonight. Jeff Johnson of the Cedar Rapids Gazette wrote about some of Javier’s struggles and spoke at length about him with Kernels manager Brian Dinkelman. Here’s a link to that piece. Josh Winder had an uncharacteristically poor start, as he surrendered three home runs, and Nate Hadley, 2019 25th-round pick, made his Kernels debut, striking out two batters over a pair of perfect innings. E-TWINS E-NOTES Elizabethton 16, Burlington 6 Box Score Andriu Marin: 4.0 IP, 1 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, 54.4% strikes (43 of 79 pitches) Osiris German: 3.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 6 K, 76.9% strikes (30 of 39 pitches) HR: Albee Weiss 2 (8), Seth Gray (3), Janigson Villalobos 2 (2) Multi-hit games: Spencer Steer (5-for-5, 2 2B, BB), Albee Weiss (4-for-5, 2B, 2 HR), Janigson Villalobos (3-for-5, 2 HR), Seth Gray (3-for-4, HR, BB), Max Smith (2-for-6) Sweet 16! The E-Town offense was en fuego Friday night. Albee Weiss racked up 10 total bases and drove in six runs. He and Janigson Villalobos each hit two home runs. Spencer Steer reached base safely in all six of his plate appearances. Osiris German starred on the mound for Elizabethton. After striking out six in three shutout inning tonight, he now has a 0.60 ERA and 25 strikeouts over 15 innings this season. GCL TWINS TAKES GCL Twins 8, GCL Red Sox 3 Box Score HR: Wander Valdez (1), Jeferson Morales (2) Multi-hit games: Erick Rivera (3-for-5, 2B), Wander Valdez (2-for-5, 2B, HR), Francisco Martinez (2-for-5) Wander Valdez got things rolling with a home run in the first inning, and by the end of the third the Twins had already built up a 6-0 lead. Matthew Swain, the Twins’ 23rd-round pick from this year’s draft, held the Red Sox scoreless over the first two innings. He’s now opened his professional career with 7 1/3 scoreless frames. STARS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day: Jordan Balazovic, Fort Myers Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day: Albee Weiss, Elizabethton TOP PROSPECT SUMMARY Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Prospects performed: 1. Royce Lewis (FM): 1-for-5, 2 K 2. Alex Kirilloff (PNS): 0-for-4, 2 K 4. Trevor Larnach (FM): 2-for-4, HR (6), BB, 3 RBI, R, K 5. Wander Javier (CR): 0-for-4, 3 K 6. Jordan Balazovic (FM): 4.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 6 K, 70.9% strikes (39 of 55 pitches) 7: Keoni Cavaco (GCL): 0-for-4, 3 K 8. Brent Rooker (ROC): 0-for-3, 2 K (ejected in the sixth inning) 10. Blayne Enlow (FM): 3.0 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, 60.9% strikes (42 of 69 pitches) 11. Lewis Thorpe (ROC): 4.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, 68.5% strikes (50 of 73 pitches) 12. Nick Gordon (ROC): 2-for-4, HR (3), BB, 2 RBI, 2 R, K, 2 E 13. Ryan Jeffers (FM): 0-for-4, BB, K 15. Matt Wallner (ELZ): 1-for-6, RBI, 2 K 16. Ben Rortvedt (PNS): 0-for-4 K 19. Misael Urbina (DSL): 0-for-2, 2 BB, R, 2 SB (15) 20. Travis Blankenhorn (PNS): 1-for-4, 2B, RBI, 2 K SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester vs. Lehigh Valley, 5:05 pm CT (Kohl Stewart) Pensacola vs. Montgomery, 6:05 pm CT (Charlie Barnes) Fort Myers at Bradenton, 5:30 pm CT (Lachlan Wells) Cedar Rapids vs. Lansing, 6:35 pm CT (Andrew Cabezas) Elizabethton vs. Johnson City, 5:30 pm CT (Ryan Shreve) GCL Twins vs. GCL Red Sox, 9:00 am CT (TBD) Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the games.

It was the final day of the 2003 All-Star break. The defending American League Central champion Twins had limped out to a 44-49 record and were 7.5 games back in the division, sitting in third place. The front office/ownership hadn’t made any big moves the previous two seasons despite the team being competitive, so there seemed to be little reason to expect any motivation to build up the roster. There was still just as much discussion about the potential for contraction as there was contention during this time. But prior to the start of the second half, Terry Ryan struck a deal. The Twins acquired Shannon Stewart from the Toronto Blue Jays to serve as the team’s leadoff hitter. July 16, 2003 ended up being a momentous turning point for not only that season, but in some ways you could argue for the entire organization/future of the Twins. Stewart hit .322/.384/470 (.854 OPS) for the Twins as the team went 46-23 in the second half. That season-ending surge also saw the team post an insane 24-9 record over its final 33 games. There was an 11-game winning streak included in that stretch. The Twins ended up charging back to win the division by four games. For his efforts, Stewart finished fourth in AL MVP voting. Things turned out about as good as could have been imagined, but that was actually somewhat of a controversial trade at the time that it happened. The player Ryan sent to Toronto had actually been performing basically as well as Stewart, was younger and had many more years of team control. At the time of the move, Bobby Kielty was hitting .252/.370/.420 (.790 OPS) for the Twins while Stewart was posting a .294/.347/.449 (.796 OPS) batting line for the Blue Jays. It was essentially a challenge trade, a very gutsy move. After accounting for a 125 wRC+ over his time with the Twins, Kielty never came even close to that production elsewhere. He posted a 92 wRC+ over 367 career games from that moment forward. Stewart ended up signing a three-year deal to remain with the Twins the following offseason. Stewart was excellent when healthy once again in 2004, helping the Twins to yet another AL Central crown. His first Opening Day in Minnesota was a memorable one, as he delivered a walk-off homer in the bottom of the 11th inning, sending the Metrodome into a frenzy. Stewart’s my personal all-time favorite among Twins midseason additions. I’d love to hear your memories from that time, but I’m also interested in your own personal favorites from over the years. A certain hitter on one of the World Series champion teams certainly sticks out, if anyone else cares to share some memories from 1987. If you haven’t signed up for an account at the site yet, click here to get registered and join in on the conversation.

Because Major League Baseball can’t seem to get out of its own way, a big storyline of this season that also became a focus during the All-Star break is the current state of the actual baseball. Justin Verlander went so far as to say “Major League Baseball’s turning this game into a joke.” There’s been some really amazing reporting and scientific studies done on the ball itself that have shown its current composition is different, and the end result is a ball that travels farther than ever before. The ball creates less drag, has thicker laces and is actually more round (I’ll include links to the excellent work others have done on these subjects at the bottom of this article). The end result is home runs and in particular home run-to-fly ball ratio is up. I’m not going to deny either of those things. If we just take a look at run scoring and offense in general, however, things don’t actually look all that out of whack when compared to the past 25 years of baseball. Below is a graph that shows the average number of runs per game over the past 25 years. Things have definitely been on an upward trend the past few seasons, but as you can see, pitchers enjoyed quite a comfortable stretch from about 2007-14. A similar look into slugging percentage shows the same type of trend. Taking a look at things from this perspective, I don’t feel it’s fair to say something like the game is turning into a joke. Verlander himself is managing to pitch to a 2.98 ERA, 0.81 WHIP and has limited opponents to a .168/.221/.386 batting line (.607 OPS). This is despite giving up a league-high 26 home runs. It’s also fair to point out that his home ballpark is an excellent home run hitter’s environment. If you want to say the past 25 years is a poor choice in sample, I guess then you’re going to have a bit of a different perspective. A lot of this conversation comes down to what you think is supposed to be “normal” for Major League Baseball. If you want to really be a traditionalist, the amount of scoring back in the late-1800s was actually much higher than it is right now. Even shifting the focus a little bit closer, the 1920s and 1930s had many seasons in which more runs were scored than they are today. On the other hand, in the 10-year span from 1963-1972 runs were greatly suppressed. Things are constantly changing. Along with the baseball, we’re seeing bigger, faster and stronger players than ever. Advances in technology even over the past five years have dramatically changed the way players train and design their pitches or swings for maximum effectiveness. Many hitters have put an emphasis on getting the ball in the air, pitchers have searched for ways to combat that approach. The cat and mouse game continues. Below is a video in which I provide some more information on this topic and share some more of my opinions. Let me know what you think. Should there be a giant asterisk next to this season's stats? Additional Links Jeff Passan’s original reporting on Justin Verlander’s thoughts. ESPN’s report on Rob Manfred’s response. Astrophysicist Dr. Meredith Wills’ examination of the ball. Jayson Stark’s investigation into possible factors that could have resulted in the homer surge. Rob Arther’s piece on the drag/aerodynamics of the 2019 ball. Bob Nightangale’s reporting on what pitchers are saying about the 2019 ball. Juiced ball and home run discussions from the Twins Daily forums.