Thiéres Rabelo

The first of four remaining series against current three-time AL Central champions Cleveland Indians began this Friday at Progressive Field and the Twins prevailed with a late rally and took the first game, 5-3. Minnesota maintains recent success playing in Cleveland and overcome Kyle Gibson’s shortest start in almost two years.Box Score Gibson: 3.2 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, 57.5% strikes (46 of 80 pitches) Bullpen: 5.1 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 7 K Home Runs: Cruz (17), Garver (14) Multi-Hit Games: none Top 3 WPA: Polanco .363, Rogers .200, Sanó .150 Bottom 3 WPA: Buxton -.176, Gibson -.166, Kepler -.055 Despite ruling the division in recent years, Cleveland hasn't quite dominated the Twins. Since the start of 2015, they have a 45-44 record overall against Minnesota. When it comes down to games played in Ohio during that period, the Twins actually have the advantage, holding a 23-21 record after this game. Gibson was removed from the game early, but the bullpen shut out the Indians in over five innings of work. For nearly a month now (since Jun. 14), Minnesota relievers are having an impressive run and now hold a 2.91 ERA in that span. They were again led by Taylor Rogers, who once again pitched a six-out save and is still having a historical season. This was also the first time since 1990 that a Twins reliever pitches back-to-back six-out or more saves. Starters off to a rough start Mike Clevinger was on his way to a 1-2-3 inning in the top of the first, but Nelson Cruz had other plans. He smashed a two-out solo home run to center field, on a low four-seamer, to put the Twins on the board. Although he allowed only the one run in the first half of the game, the Tribe starter had a hard time getting outs. The Twins lineup rode him to nearly 70 pitches to complete the first four innings. Gibson also had to work up a sweat early. He actually cruised through the Indians lineup the first time through the order, retiring eight of them, only giving up a single in the first to Oscar Mercado. The trouble came the second time through, when he gave up a game-tying home run to lead off the fourth and then pitched himself into a jam. Cleveland claimed its first lead with a two-out, two-run single by Roberto Pérez. Both those runs scored were unearned, because of a throwing error by Ehire Adrianza. After hitting number nine hitter Greg Allen, reaching 80 pitches, Gibson was done for the night one out shy of four innings pitched. Not counting his “opener” start against the Rangers last Sunday nor his relief appearance against the Rays on June 27th, this was Gibson’s shortest start since September 29th of 2017. Clevinger pitched around a leadoff single by Luis Arráez, followed by a double from Miguel Sanó. Even though the Twins didn’t score, the long fifth inning was sufficient to get the Indians starter out of the game before he could record an out in the sixth. Offense snaps its struggles with a rally With those runners stranded by Clevinger in the fifth, the Twins fell to .233 with men in scoring position since the start of July, which would rank seventh worst in the majors. The numbers didn’t get any better after Cruz and Marwin Gonzalez reached safely in the sixth with one out and then Mitch Garver grounded into a double play against reliever Adam Cimber. But Max Kepler started the Twins rally in the seventh in exciting fashion. With two men on and two outs, the greatest German in the world hit a grounder towards right field and was originally called out at first. But Rocco Baldelli challenged it and the call was overruled, allowing Sanó to score from third. Immediately after that at-bat, Jorge Polanco hit a clutch, bases-clearing double and the Twins retook the lead. It didn’t stop there. Cleveland bullpen couldn’t stop the Bomba Squad... Garver hit his 14th of the year to leadoff the eighth, adding one more insurance run and giving the game its final numbers. With the win, the Twins improve to 57-33 and are now six and a half game ahead of the Indians on top of the division. They will bring Jake Odorizzi to face Jake Bauers tomorrow. 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. Click here to view the article

A stellar pitching performance - which included using Kyle Gibson as the opener - was derailed by an unusual off game by the offense. After holding Texas offense to only one run through ten innings, Twins bats never showed up and a three-run homer off the bat of Rougned Odor in the 11th prevented the Twins from sweeping the Rangers.Box Score Smeltzer: 4.1 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, 64.6% strikes (42 of 59 pitches) Rest of Staff: 6.2 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 4 BB, 12 K Home Runs: None Multi-Hit Games: Garver (2-5), Sanó (2-3, R) Top 3 WPA: May .288, Harper .170, Smeltzer .117 Bottom 3 WPA: Mejia -.462, Kepler -.194, Gonzalez -.169 After scoring a total of 23 runs in the first two games of this series, the Twins really struggled to put runs on the board Sunday, before a crowd of 35,495. They were unable to score more than one run against a Ranger pitching staff which didn’t have a single pitcher with more than three innings of work in the game. Texas out-hit Minnesota 10-8 and the Twins went 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position. The Openers and Smeltzer Gibson pitched only one inning and didn't have the smoothest of starts. He had a long, 26-pitch inning (only 14 strikes), struggling with his command. He pitched to the top five Rangers batters, as Shin-Soo Choo and Joey Gallo reached safely, but he managed to strand both. José Leclerc, the Rangers opener, also allowed to men to reach, but he managed to close the inning with 15 pitches. He came back to pitch the second, but didn’t last long. Smeltzer took advantage of Gibson’s outing and cruised past the bottom half of the Texas lineup in the second with only twelve pitches. He went on to have an uneventful game, pitching into the sixth. He never pitched himself into any jams, as the Rangers never had more than one man on at any point of his outing. They did tie the game in the fourth, with Joey Gallo leading off the inning with a double and then being scored by former Twin Danny Santana a couple of batters later. Sanó, Buxton Definitely Back on Track Not too long ago we were all discussing what was wrong with Miguel Sanó, as he was slumping really hard. He then he decided he was through with that and decided to catch on fire. He came into this game slashing .348/.423/.739 (1.162) in the past seven games and he did not slow down. After smacking a single in the second inning he scored the first run of the game, crossing the plate on a Byron Buxtton triple Similar to Miggy, Buxton went through a rough funk since coming back from the IL. In the first five games back he went 1-for-16. But he started to regain confidence in the first game of this Texas series and came into the game hitting 3-for-9 with three runs batted in. He started this game reaching safely twice, once with the RBI-triple in the second and one on a fielder’s choice in the fourth. On that play, he nearly scored Sanó again after Miggy had walked to reach for the second time, but he (Sano) was thrown out at home. The Twins bullpen continued its impressive recent stretch, in spite of the loss. Adalberto Mejía gave up the winning home run to Odor in the 11th, but Minnesota relievers still hold a 3.08 ERA since June 14, which ranks third best in the majors. That is, of course, considering that technically all innings pitched after Gibson’s departure will count as bullpen stats. The Twins get to the All-Star break with a 56-33 record. That’s the most wins the Twins have gotten before the All-Star break since 1969. They now hold a five-and-a- half game lead over Cleveland in the AL Central, but the Indians won their sixth in a row today, as they swept the Reds, reaching the 50-win mark. 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. Click here to view the article

I think Taylor Rogers may have been the greatest Twin to be snubbed from anything since Joe Mauer didn’t get the 2017 Gold Glove. After earning the longest save from any Twins pitcher since 2000 yesterday against the Rangers (he retired all seven batters he faced) and becoming the pitcher with the most saves of three or more outs for the club this century, he made it clear once again that he’s definitely one of the best relievers in the game. If you look at the group of relievers that were invited to take part in the Midsummer Classic playing for the American League, it doesn’t seem so absurd that Rogers wasn’t there. Aroldis Chapman, Shane Greene, Brad Hand, Liam Hendriks and Ryan Pressly all have very similar stats, with most of them being better than Rogers’. The only one of them who has a worse ERA than the Twins star (now at 1.82) is Hand (with 2.17). Only Chapman (12.98) and Hand (13.26) are striking out more batters than him (11.57). So, if you think about it, it’s not absurd that he didn’t make the team. But it wouldn’t be absurd if he did either. He’s being at least as effective as the five of them. But Rogers has one difference which could give him the upperhand in a closer comparison with those pitchers. And I don’t think this angle would ever (or even should) be used to decide who an All Star will be. But it’s nice to look at it and have fun with the realization that the Twins have one of the best arms in the game. Going straight to the point: Rogers is used in more important situations than those guys and he is more responsible for his team’s wins than any reliever in the AL. Like we saw before, his overall numbers are very similar or even slightly worse than the All Star relievers. But when you look at high leverage situations, none of them are a match for Rogers. Talking about quantity, none of them was used in those situations as much as him. He pitched a total of 14 2/3 innings of high leverage, which currently ranks third in the AL. The AL All Star reliever who comes closest is Hand, who pitched 11 2/3. But the Indians pitcher posts a 6.17, whereas Rogers has a 3.07 ERA. The only AL pitcher who has pitched as many innings (15 1/3) and has a better ERA (2.35) than him is Houston’s Roberto Osuna. No other pitcher in the AL has been more responsible for his team’s wins than Rogers has. Currently, he leads all of them in Win Probability Added (WPA), with 2.56. The second AL pitcher in that rank is Chicago’s Álex Colomé, at 1.86, which is still better than the first of the 2019 All Star relievers, Hendriks, at 1.82. Superstar Yankee closer, Chapman doesn’t have even one third of Rogers’ WPA, standing at 0.62. So, it’s safe to say that it would have been absolutely fair if Rogers was chosen over any of the current AL All Star relievers. But now, I have something else to put up for discussion. Taylor is only 28 and, if he continues to pitch like that, I think nobody would have any objection to making him a Twin for the remainder of his career. So I should ask your opinion. Where in Twins history do you think Rogers could end up ranking at the end of his career? Does he have a shot at one day becoming one of the best relievers in club history? Well, to start, I did a quick research, using Fangraphs’ Splits Leaderboard tool. Currently, Taylor has a 1.82 ERA, 0.98 WHIP and is striking out 11.57 batters per nine. The season is only at its midpoint and these numbers could very well get worse. But, if the season ended today, this would be only the second time in Twins history that a reliever has up to 1.82 ERA, over 11 strikeouts per nine and a WHIP of 0.98 or lower. The only other time that happened was in 2006, when Joe Nathan posted 1.58 ERA, 0.79 WHIP and struck out 12.5 batters per nine. Let me repeat myself: that only happened one other time in club history. Nathan is the consensual choice any time someone asks who is the best reliever in Twins history. But interestingly enough, when you compare Rogers’ current career numbers and Nathan’s when he was 28, it gets scary. By the end of the 2002 season, when Nathan was still with the Giants, he had only one career save and -0.52 WPA. Rogers earned against the Rangers this Saturday his 14th career save and holds a 6.69 career WPA, which already ranks fourth in club history. Nathan has the lead with 24.55, but he didn’t throw a single pitch in a Twins uniform before he was 29. Another angle through which we can also speculate that Rogers can surpass Nathan in the competition for best reliever in Twins history are their Fangraphs’ Wins Above Replacement (fWAR). Rogers currently is currently worth 4.2 career fWAR, at age 28, in his fourth year as a Major League pitcher. At age 28, Nathan was worth -0.4 and after his fourth season in the Majors he was worth 0.8. So everytime this Colorado kid comes up to the mound this year, Twins fans should be extra grateful for the opportunity. Chances are we might be witnessing one of the greatest pitchers to ever play for Minnesota. Too bad All Star game won’t have this opportunity this year.

It's no secret, the Twins will be seeking bullpen help as the trade deadline approaches. The current group of relievers have helped get the Twins where they are, but let's face it, there is plenty of evidence upgrades are required. Today, we'll take a look at Pirates closer Felipe Vázquez.Felipe Vázquez, LHP, 27-years-old Pittsburgh Pirates (36-41, 5th in NL Central) Signed through 2021, 4 yrs/$22M (18-21) & 22-23 team option. 2019: 1.91 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, 13.9 K/9, 2.5 BB/9 in 33.0 IP 2018: 2.70 ERA, 1.24 WHIP, 11.4 K/9, 3.1 BB/9 in 70.0 IP Felipe Vázquez might be the best option for the Twins to pursue. That is, of course, if the Pirates even make him available. As ESPN’s Buster Olney reports, Pittsburgh is going to set his price through the roof to whoever wants to get him. But, as Steve Adams writes at MLB Trade Rumors, the Bucs are also in great need of new arms to their rotation, which makes the Twins a strong contender. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Joe Starkey writes that the Pirates’ only untouchable is Josh Bell, which can bring our hopes up. But, is Vázquez really worth all the effort? What’s to Like? He is young, solves some of the Twins major bullpen problems and is under team control for the next four years, for a very reasonable price. Beyond that, his resumé becomes even more interesting when you notice that he averages 98.1 mph in his four seamer, 88.3 mph in his changeup and 86.4 mph in his slider. He was an All-Star last year, having worse numbers than the ones he’s having right now. That’s a hell of a good candidate. Before the All-Star Game last year, the Venezuelan was posting a 3.05 ERA in 41 1/3 innings of work, with 23 saves in 27 opportunities (85.1%). So far this year, he’s got a 1.91 ERA, with 19 saves in 20 opportunities (95%) in 33 innings. If the Twins were to go after him, they would be getting an improved All-Star closer, who possibly hasn’t reached his prime yet. The Twins have some of the worst numbers in the league when it comes to late in the game situations. In the eighth and ninth innings, Minnesota has the 18th ERA (4.59), the 20th FIP (4.57) and is has the tenth highest hard hit rate, with 39%. When you narrow it down to right handed hitters, those numbers are even worse: 5.29 ERA (27th), 5.07 FIP (24th) and 42.3 hard hit rate (27th). Vázquez represents an improvement in basically all of those metrics. Currently, against righties, he holds a 1.65 ERA and 2.20 FIP, with 31.3% hard hit rate. While the Twins have a .824 OPS against righties late in the game, Vázquez has been posting .558 in the same situation. And the most drastic improvement he could bring to Minnesota’s bullpen lies on the high leverage situations. So far, Twins relievers have posted a 4.57 ERA with .259 AVG and .726 OPS, while Vázquez has, respectively, 1.17 ERA, .130 AVG and .416 OPS. Concerns You will always have to be concerned about the shift between the NL and AL for pitchers. Technically, most of his numbers against AL teams are better than both his numbers against the NL and his career numbers, but that’s based on a very small sample (43 1/3 innings). Perhaps he won’t be the same lights-out pitcher, who had 26 scoreless outings in 31 games so far this year, when pitching to AL lineups on a daily basis. Another reason to be a bit worried is the fact that Vázquez hasn’t had a single postseason appearance, so we can’t know for sure how well he would perform closing games in the playoffs. But, if even superstar closer Craig Kimbrel didn’t pitch well during the Red Sox World Series run last year (5.91 ERA), I think Vázquez could be given the benefit of the doubt. Here’s a look at some highlights from Vázquez’ 2018 season: See Also Will Smith, LHP, Giants Liam Hendriks, RHP, Athletics Ty Buttrey, RHP, Angels Ken Giles, RHP, Blue Jays Sam Dyson, RHP, Giants Brad Hand, LHP, Indians Oliver Perez, LHP Cleveland Robert Stephenson, RHP, Reds John Gant, RHP, Cardinals Alex Colome, RHP, White Sox Seth Lugo, RHP, Mets Greg Holland, RHP, Diamondbacks Sean Doolittle, LHP, Nationals Kirby Yates, RHP, Padres 10 Relievers Minnesota Could Target Click here to view the article

I'd love to see Gibby getting that 9th, but after reading that interview, I kind of feel happy to see how assertive this coaching staff actually is. Excellent insight, Seth! Thank you!

It was a special night for Joe Mauer and for the memory of Prince, as both Minnesota legends were honored before a sellout crowd at Target Field. But it sure was also a very special night for Kyle Gibson, as he was dealing, and hopefully regained some momentum in the season.Box Score Gibson: 8.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 6 K, 62.5% strikes (55 of 88 pitches) Bullpen: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K Home Runs: Garver (11) Multi-Hit Games: Adrianza (2-for-3) WPA of +0.1: Gibson .566, Garver .276 WPA of -0.1: Polanco -.133, Rosario -.133, Schoop -.279 Download attachment: Win614.png (chart via FanGraphs) What we witnessed tonight wasn't even new. Gibson has been one of the most solid and trustworthy starters for the Twins in roughly the past two years. However, he was coming off a very rough start in which he gave up five earned runs over five innings against the Tigers last Saturday. That was the fourth time this season he gave up at least four earned runs. Still, he's got plenty of credit. Entering the game, Gibby already led the Twins starters this year in swinging strike rate, at 13.9%, a career high for him. That ranks 14th among all pitchers in baseball. And this was the version of Kyle that led the Twins in this game, as he got 11 swinging strikes. During the sixth inning, Gibby also became the 11th pitcher in history to toss 1,000 innings in a Twins uniform. A nice addition to go with the night of memories and milestones, The offense had a rare bad game, as the Twins' lineup struggled against Royals' starter Brad Keller. He gave up only three hits. The Twins went 0-for-5 with men in scoring position and grounded into two double plays. But this is the 2019 Twins offense we're talking about. They managed to win this game with one swing of the bat late, as Mitch Garver hit a clutch home run in the bottom of the eighth against reliever Jake Diekman. Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Download attachment: Pen614.png Click here to view the article

The Tigers didn’t sell this one for cheap, especially with Matthew Boyd on the mound, but everything eventually fell into place for the Twins. Michael Pineda had a decent return from the IL, the bullpen bounced back, Marwin Gonzalez had himself a night and Bombas were hit. It was a fun one in Detroit.Box Score Pineda: 5.0 IP, 8 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, 72.1% strikes (57 of 79 pitches) Home Runs: Garver (10), Cron (14), Cruz (9) Multi-Hit Games: Gonzalez (4-for-5, 2B, RBI), Garver (3-for-5, HR, RBI), Cron (2-for-4, HR), Buxton (2-for-4), Polanco (2-for-5) WPA of +0.1: Gonzalez .200, Garver .200, Cruz .150, Cron .170 WPA of -0.1: Rosario -.110, Astudillo - .120, Pineda -.120, Schoop -.140 Download attachment: Win67.png (chart via FanGraphs) There were two opposite games at Comerica Park on Friday night. One while Boyd was out on the mound for the Tigers and a completely different one after he completed his great outing, as usual. Minnesota took advantage of Detroit’s bullpen, which came into this game with the third-worst ERA in the league since the start of May, at 5.60. It took the Twins offense only three pitches into the eighth inning to break the tie and take the lead for good. Gonzalez maintained his great moment and had the fourth four-hit game of his career, the first one since Sept. 25, 2017, while still with the Astros. Mitch Garver also found his swing after a bad start since returning from the IL, hitting the first home run of the game, to go with two other hits. Overall, Minnesota managed to get 14 hits. Michael Pineda was making his first start after 10 days in the IL due to a knee tendinitis. He didn’t pitch as well as in his previous four games, in which he got four consecutive quality starts, but he did deliver a good outing, completing five innings and allowing three earned runs with no walks. That was good enough and you probably couldn’t have hoped for much more than that. If he’s not been great so far, he’s proven to be a solid fifth starter. The bullpen held the Tiger offense scoreless through four innings, bouncing back from a rather bad trip to Cleveland. The Twins improve to 42-20, maintaining the best record in the American League and a 10.5 game lead in the Central Division. Story of the Game Pineda struggled right away, as he loaded the bases in the first inning and saw Brandon Dixon score Christin Stewart on a one-out sac fly. Fortunately, he managed to hold the Tiger offense to that one run. In his 21-pitch effort, he gave up a walk and hit Nicholas Castellanos. In the end of the second, Byron Buxton made yet another fine defensive play in center field, robbing JaCoby Jones of an extra-base hit, to end the inning. Minnesota took the lead in the top of the third. After Buxton snapped his 0-for-18 matchup against Matthew Boyd and advanced to third base on a balk (which got Ron Gardenhire ejected) Mitch Garver hit his first home run since coming back from the IL. That homer also ended his mini-slump since coming back from rehab assignment, as he had hit 2-for-15 in his previous four games. And he crushed that, too. While things appeared to be stabilizing for Big Mike in the fourth, the Tigers had other ideas. They tied the game after Miguel Cabrera led off the inning with a double and was later brought home by a one-out double to left by Ronny Rodriguez. In the fifth, Pineda's struggles continued, as Detroit retook the lead on a Castellanos two-out single to left that scored old friend Niko Goodrum. But just like that, the SotaPop offense was at it again, scoring right after being scored on. C.J. Cron destroyed a curveball from Boyd to hit his 14th homer of the year and tied the game once again. Boyd finished yet another great start against Minnesota having dealt through seven innings. Then, in the third pitch of the eighth, with Joe Jimenez pitching, the tie was broken. Nelson Cruz hit a bomb to right field, making it 4-3 Minnesota. The eighth inning party, sponsored by the Tiger bullpen, continued. Cron doubled off Jimenez, just to be followed by Gonzalez’s fourth hit of the night, bringing him home. Meanwhile, after being roughed up in Cleveland, the Twins bullpen did a superb job to hold on to the victory. Mike Morin and Ryne Harper combined for two flawless innings following Pineda’s departure. Both of them had identical performances of 13 pitches with nine strikes, giving up nothing but a hit. Harper truck out the side and earned his first MLB win. Tyler Duffey, on the other hand, didn’t pitch in the eighth as well as they had in the sixth and seventh. He allowed two runners to reach, and both advanced on a wild pitch, but he managed to deliver scoreless outing. Another Twins insurance run was added in the top of the ninth. Buxton led off the inning with a double, his MLB-leading 21st and his second hit of the game. Then, he was scored by a Garver grounder to center, his third hit of the night, making it 6-3 Twins. Blake Parker got his ninth save of the season, but he made it interesting. Detroit batters demanded 28 pitches from him and two runners reached on walks. But, in the end, Parker pushed through. Postgame With Baldelli Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Download attachment: Pen67.png Next Game Sat at DET, 3:10 pm (Gibson-TBD) Last Game MIN 5, CLE 4: Max Power Against Bauer More from Twins Daily Cali Connection Jumps Draft Boards: Q&A with Keoni Cavaco Twins Bring Local Product Home: Q&A with Matt Wallner Craig Kimbrel and Risk Tolerance Click here to view the article

With recent struggles from Twins pitchers, for example, an early season discussion has been brought up this week. Did the Twins address well enough the team’s need during the offseason? Some people sure feel like they didn’t. But one offseason move (out of several others) that we can absolutely tell was right on the money was the Marwin Gonzalez signing. Having played this season in six different positions throughout the field, while also batting DH and pinch hitting, “Margo” is officially one of the most useful pieces a team could have in the sport. Baseball Essential considered Gonzalez the best super-utility player in the game. He was an invaluable help overall during the first couple of months of the season, filling in for injured Miguel Sanó, starting 52 of the team’s 60 games. But it took a while for most Twins fans to see Gonzalez as indispensable. He had a horrible first month offensively, batting .167, with a .501 OPS and 34 wRC+ in 23 games. Even though bad starts offensively have always been a part of his career, people started doubting him, on some level. Overall, he holds a .228 AVG, with a .675 OPS in his eight years in the league. Still, even specialists believed he was bound to lose at bats and become the third option to start at third base, once Willians Astudillo was having himself a hot start of the season. The Turtle was batting .327 with an .870 OPS by the end of April, so it was the natural choice then. But then, things shifted. Since May 1st, he’s batting .304/.376/.500. In that span, only two other players drew more walks than him, who got 11. Also, Gonzalez has been left-handed pitchers’ nightmare, as he’s slashing .378/.425/.541 against them. He completely turned his season around. With 125 PA since the start of May, he’s been the fifth most used player in the offense, with more PA’s than everyday starters Jonathan Schoop and Byron Buxton, for example. He’s become a vital and dependable part of this MLB-best offense. But that’s not even his biggest contribution. Not only is he doing some damage at the plate lately, but he’s also been playing Gold Glove-caliber defense. Being a bench player, he will never win such award, but that doesn’t change the fact that he’s an above average defender. And what’s more impressive about this? He does so in more than one position. Here are some defensive stats. As a 3B (257.2 innings) 3 DRS 1.8 UZR .989 FP 4 DPS 69 Assists 21 PO 1 Error (TE) Gonzalez' three defensive runs saved would be tied for sixth best in MLB, if he qualified. He has as many as 2018 Gold Glove Award winner Nolan Arenado, who's already played over twice as many innings as him this year. He has saved more runs than players such as old friend Eduardo Escobar, Rafael Devers, Yoan Moncada, Matt Carpenter and José Ramírez, all of which have been on the field for at least 446 1/3 innings. Regarding his UZR, he would also be tied for sixth best in the game, beating names like Evan Longoria and Alex Bregman, the AL runner-up for the Gold Glove award last year. When looking at his assists amount, he doesn’t rank very high in the league, but, of course, his sample time on the field is much smaller than the average everyday third baseman. If he had had the opportunity to play, say, 400 innings on the field, he would have an equivalent of 107 assists, which would rank him 5th in the league. Had he been there for 500 innings, we would be talking about a league second best 133 assists. But, of course, this is purely hypothetical mathematics. As an OF (81 innings) 3 DRS 0.9 UZR .933 FP 2 Assists 12 PO 1 error (FE) In the outfield, Gonzalez also has a very small sample, which prevent him from competing with the everyday outfielder in the stats department. But, still, you can tell he’s not at all a bad defender there either. He has as many defensive runs saved as Mike Trout does and one more than NL MVP Christian Yelich. So, the Twins signed a player that, if starting regularly in his primary position, would compete for the league’s highest honours in defense. Not too shabby. Far beyond the numbers, by watching Twins game on a daily basis, you can tell what a great defender he is. There hasn’t been a moment in which I’ve felt insecure about Twins defense in the hot corner or wherever “Margo” is on the field. A lot of things could and should be fixed in the Twins roster. But having Gonzalez in the team guarantees that the bench isn’t one of them. It’s impossible to say for sure if Minnesota would be having the same success that they are having right now if he wasn’t a part of the team, but I imagine things would be much harder. Afterall, he might be the best and most prolific utility player in the game right now.

José Berríos scared us a little bit early in the game, but an Eddie Rosario-led offense scored in all of the first five innings to promote a powerful comeback and win the fourth in a row. The Twins hit three home runs on the night, becoming only the second team in MLB history to hit at least 100 home runs in the first 50 games of the season. They also maintain the MLB-best record, at 34-16.Box Score Berríos: 6.2 IP, 9 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, 75.5% strikes (74 of 98 pitches) Home Runs: Rosario (15), Sanó (5), Kepler (11) Multi-Hit Games: Kepler (3-for-4, 2B, HR), Rosario (4-for-5, 2B, HR) WPA of +0.1: Rosario .270, Kepler .210, Sanó .160, Buxton .100 WPA of -0.1: Berríos -.120 Download attachment: Win524.png (chart via FanGraphs) We don’t know when this Twins offense will slow down, but it’s safe to say that there are no indications that that’s going to happen anytime soon. They lead the league in runs scored, with 300 — a club record — to go with an endless list of offensive stats in which they are the best in baseball. It’s unbelievable. Rosario had a four-hit night, including a home run and an RBI single. He leads Minnesota with 15 homers, becoming the sixth Twin in history to hit that many in the first 50 games of the season, the first since Justin Morneau in 2007. Miguel Sanó is sustaining his unexpected good return to the majors. He now has five home runs in seven games. Berríos had yet another unusually shaky start. Although his final line showed only one earned run allowed and the defense out on the field made some serious mistakes, the Twins ace was not nearly as dominant as he had been earlier in the season. After posting a 2.53 ERA in the first seven starts, Berrios has pitched to a 5.29 ERA in the last three outings. The bullpen held the White Sox scoreless in 2 1/3 innings of work. Making his season debut after being promoted from Triple-A Rochester earlier on Friday, Zack Littell pitched two clean innings, striking out two. Nearly 30,000 fans came to Target Field on Friday night, the first Joe Mauer bobblehead night of the year, to watch the Twins, who not only remain the best team in baseball, but also maintain an eight-game lead over Cleveland in the AL Central. This was only the first of 19 games against the White Sox in the season. Story of the game After a quick, nine-pitch top of the first from Berríos, Kepler ledoff the bottom of the inning with a double to the corner of the right field, fair by a foot. He was later brought home by a two-out single from Rosario, making it 1-0 Twins. But then, Berríos and Minnesota fielders got into trouble. Eloy Jimenez reached to lead off the second, taking advantage of a throwing error from Polanco to first. The ball went over Cron's head. Tim Anderson doubled after another fielding mistake, this time from Gonzalez, playing in the right field. He couldn't catch the line drive coming his way...it hit the tip of his glove and fell on the ground. Yonder Alonso then singled to left field to beat the Twins shift and score the two runners on. With two outs, having trouble stopping the bleeding, Berríos hit Charlie Tilson for the second time in the game. Immediately afterward, Yoan Moncada and José Abreu hit back-to-back singles to score two more runs for Chicago, making it 4-1. But Chicago’s lead didn’t last long. The Twins put two men on early in the bottom of the second, with Sanó being walked and Schoop being hit by a pitch. Then, Buxton hit his MLB-leading 19th double and plated Sanó. Kepler followed by hitting a sac fly to center field to score Schoop and move Buxton to third, cutting the visitor's lead to one. Minnesota retook the lead in bottom of the third. Rosario and Sanó hit back-to-back solo home runs. Those two homers were the 99th and 100th from Minnesota this year, making them the second team in MLB history to reach the 100 homer mark in the first 50 games of the season, along with the 1999 Seattle Mariners (who hit 102). After Berríos allowed two men on, but was then saved by a double play in the top of the fourth, Minnesota went on to score three more runs in the bottom of the inning. Kepler hit a blast to center field for his 11th homer of the year and Gonzalez doubled to score Polanco, who had been walked before him. After a pitching change from Chicago, Rosario got his third hit of the night, to bring in Gonzalez, making it 8-4 Minnesota. All of this after two outs. The Twins never slowed down. After a uneventful top of the fifth for Berríos, Sanó (walk) and Schoop (double) got on, only to be brought home by Kepler’s third hit of the night, a two-out single to right that scored both runners, putting Minnesota in double digits. At this moment, Chicago was already using its second pitcher in relief of starter Reynaldo Lopez. Nothing seemed to work against this Twin lineup. Berríos kept shaking off his bad second inning, pitching his first 1-2-3 inning of the game in the top of the sixth, totaling only 83 pitches. The offense kept pushing, with Rosario smashing a double off the right field wall and Cron reaching on a hit-by- pitch, but for the first time on the night, they had a scoreless inning. Minnesota scored again in the bottom of the seventh. Jason Castro, who was having a quiet night, led off the inning with a double against Brazilian reliever Thyago Vieira. He was brought home when Kepler hit a line drive to right field, scoring the eleventh run of the game for Minnesota. Littell came in and pitched two scoreless innings, in the eighth and ninth, to secure the win. He didn’t give up any hits or walks, while punching out two batters. Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days:Download attachment: Pen524.png Next Game Sat vs. CHW, 1:10 pm CT (Gibson-Banuelos) Last Game MIN 16, LAA 7: Twins Slug 8 More Home Runs, Sweep Angels More from Twins Daily When the Twins Go Buying... Who Are They Selling? Twins Fan Ready to Overreact to 3-Game Losing Streak Twins Minor League Report (5/24): 2018 Top Draftees Shine in Rough Night Across the System Click here to view the article

Thank you, Mike!

Thank you, Vanimal!

Thank you for the words!!

That means a lot to me! Thank you, USAFChief!

Thank you very much, Dman!

Even though I'm not a Minnesotan, nor do I live in this beautiful state, I've been observing you guys for years. I see a lot of pessimism when it comes to sports. And who can blame you? Few fans in America love their teams as much as you do and, at the same time, have endured such traumatic playoff moments with the Vikings and Wild or such long playoff droughts with the Twins and Timberwolves. You have the right to be (in the words of Twins Daily's own Parker Hageman) dead inside when it comes to sports. Well, maybe it's time to believe again.I don't live in the US and I haven't set foot there since May 2013. I'm from a country where most people literally have no clue of what baseball is. I met the game of baseball in 2008, at age 16. So, it's nearly impossible for me to have access to any publication (or clothing items, memorabilia, sports gear ...) about the sport. But, miraculously, one of my students gave me a very special gift some weeks ago. Having taken an exchange program to the USA in 2015, he was hosted by a Kansas City family during his time there. He knows nothing about baseball himself, but his family did and they gave him a Sports Illustrated 2015 World Series commemorative issue. Almost four years later, he decided to give that as a present to his all-time favorite teacher. I was thrilled. I almost didn't even care about the fact that the Royals are a Twins division rival. After all, it was the first baseball publication I ever laid hands on. The magazine sat on my desk at home for some days. In the meantime, the Twins flourished as the team with the best record in baseball. I would be lying if I said I saw that coming, but I can't say I'm shocked by that either. But a lot of people are, indeed, shocked. I lost count of how many people on social media are doubting the Twins. “Enjoy 'em while you can, 'cause they won't last,” and that's not even from people outside of Minnesota only. Like I explained on the first paragraph, many Minnesotans don't believe their Twins are for real. That made me a little mad. And then, the magazine spoke to me. In the midst of so much pessimism and disbelief coming from every which way, I started browsing through that $12.99 SI issue from November of 2015 and I thought to myself: Why can't the Twins be this year's version of the 2015 Royals? And believe me or not, I found a lot of similarities between the two teams. I'm not saying here that Minnesota will win the World Series. All I'm saying is that it's OK to believe in it – like I do right now. Even though we've had our hearts broken by the Brett Favre interception, the Gary Anderson and Blair Walsh missed field goals, the Jimmy Butler fiasco, the Joe Nathan blown save in the '09 ALDS and, well, the whole Wild playoff history, you might not be a fool to let your guard down for this Twins team. If you don't believe me, let us go through some of the things these two great ball clubs have in common. A Couple of Underdogs When experts started predicting what would happen that season, almost none of them believed the 2015 Royals would even make the playoffs. Which, in retrospect, is kind of odd, considering they had just been to the World Series less than six months earlier. In his opening piece, Jay Jaffe wrote about how the Royals were picked by specialists to make it to the postseason in only 13 of 149 predictions. Maybe this year’s Twins are not as much discredited as the Royals were then. Per that year’s PECOTA, Kansas City was expected to have a 72-90 record. Instead, they went 95-67. This year’s PECOTA, at first, predicted an 81-81 record for the Twins, but a number of specialists considered them when predicting which team would win the AL Central. A month and a half into the season, with over 25% of games played, Minnesota has the second best record in baseball, after holding the best one overall for over a week. The Twins are on pace to win almost 105 games. I don’t actually believe they will reach triple digits in wins, but at this point it’s plausible to believe that they will surpass the 90-win mark. Curiously enough, after 43 games, the 2015 Royals and the current Twins owned an identical record of 28-15. Another aspect that those teams have in common is the small Opening Day payroll. On that same Jaffe opening piece, he wrote that the Royals were the first team since the 2003 Marlins to win a World Series, even though they were at the bottom half of all MLB payrolls (17th, at $112.9 million). Per Spotrac, the Twins had the 18th payroll in the league on Opening Day, at $122.1 million, almost $12 million below league average. Even their track record leading up to their World Series success is somewhat similar to the Twins. Between 2004 and 2012, Kansas City had nine losing records, never winning more than 75 games and with an average of 66 wins per season in that span. Then, they won 86 and 89 games in the two seasons before their championship year. In the six seasons that followed their last division title, the Twins won an average of 67 games each season, including a 59-103 record in 2016, the worst one in club history. They went on to win 85 and make the playoffs for the first time in seven years in 2017 and came close to an eighty-win season again last year, finishing with 78. I don’t believe in coincidences nor am I saying that all of these will have any effect on the outcome of this season. They won’t. But it’s fun to look at those facts, especially when basically no one believes smaller market teams can actually win a title. Let’s not buy into the notion that a team can only win a ring with a $200 million payroll. A Steamroller Offense In that same issue, Tom Verducci wrote a piece entitled Postmodern Swing in which broke down the main strengths of that Royal offense. According to him, one of the most important features of that offense was its aggressiveness. The Royals saw the fewest pitches per plate appearance that year, with 3.71. Their philosophy was to chase after hittable pitches early and not give up easy strikes. Still, they were the team that struck out the least in MLB that year, with a 15.9% strikeout rate. They also averaged 4.4 runs per game, which ranked seventh in baseball. Which team has done something similar this year? Some weeks ago, Aaron Gleeman wrote this great piece explaining how the Twins have added power and, at the same time, have been striking out much less. They have been the team that strikes out the third least in MLB, currently with a 19.5% strikeout rate. In comparison with the ‘15 Royals, Minnesota is also scoring more, with a 5.4 runs per game average, and has much more power, as they lead the MLB with .236 ISO, against .144 of those Royals.In terms of pitches per plate appearance, Minnesota also doesn’t see a lot of pitches, with an average of 3.78. Both these Twins and those Royals have something else in common. They both swing a lot and get good contact. Here is how they rank: 2015 Royals Contact% - 81.9% (1st in MLB) O-Contact% - 68.8% (2nd) Swing% - 47.6% (9th) O-Swing% - 32.5% (5th) 2019 Twins Contact% - 77.5% (6th in MLB) O-Contact% - 63.2% (7th) Swing% - 48.1% (4th) O-Swing% - 32.3% (6th) And one last nice coincidence that these two offenses have. In 2015, the Royals had Alcides Escobar as their leadoff man, even though he had a low OBP, contradicting modern tendencies. Escobar finished the season with a .293 OBP. He also saw very few pitches, with an average of 3.49 per plate appearance and swung at 51.3% of pitches and managed to make contact in 83.8% of them. Looking at Minnesota’s current leadoff man, Max Kepler, we also have an aggressive hitter (51.5 % Swing% and 82.2% Contact%), who sees few pitches (3.56 per PA) and has a not so high base occupation rate (.308). According to Verducci’s piece, Escobar ‘set the tone’ for the rest of the Royal lineup, making opposing pitchers aware of the fact that they wouldn’t get any easy strikes. Quality Pitching When we talk about the Royals pitching from that World Series campaign, the first thing that comes to our minds is their extraordinary bullpen. One might think that here would lie the biggest difference between the two teams. Yes, that Wade Davis-led group of relievers was no match for this current Minnesota ‘pen, but when comparing the two pitching staffs overall, we can find more identical features. Believe it or not, but the two pitching staffs have virtually the same numbers, with an inversion. Kansas City had a lights-out bullpen and a below average rotation, resulting in the 10th-best ERA in the MLB. The Twins on the other hand, don’t have a stellar rotation nor bullpen, but both those groups are among the 10 best in baseball. 2015 Royals Overall: 3.74 ERA (10th), 4.04 FIP (15th) Starters: 4.34 ERA (22nd), 4.32 FIP (21st) Relievers: 2.72 ERA (2nd), 3.56 FIP (10th) 2019 Twins Overall: 3.88 ERA (9th), 4.13 FIP (13th) Starters: 3.66 ERA (6th), 4.23 FIP (13th) Relievers: 4.31 ERA (19th), 3.96 FIP (9th) Davis was out of this world that season. There has never been a reliever more deserving than him of winning the first Cy Young award in the AL since 1992. I really believe he was the best candidate. Not only did he finish the regular season with a 0.94 ERA in 61 1/3 innings pitched, but he also neared perfection during the postseason, posting a 0.00 ERA in eight games. I don’t see anyone within this Twins pitching staff (so far) with the ability to be what Davis was for that Royals team, but there’s no need for it. Up until now, Minnesota’s pitchers have done a decent job. The overall bullpen numbers are a bit tainted because of bad outings from young arms tested out of Rochester and because of slumps from Trevor Hildenberger and Adalberto Mejía. But, as of this moment, six of the eight bullpen arms in the 25-man roster have an ERA of 2.76 or lower. Newcomer Austin Adams hasn’t yet pitched this season. Their rotations can’t be compared. Twins starters have done an outstanding job. Maybe we’ve set the bar too low after years of bad rotations, but things have looked extremely nice. Which, with this whole exercise of comparing these two teams, can be very exciting. The Royals were world champions even though the four starters they used in the postseason combined for a 4.96 ERA in 16 starts. Deadline Additions: A Blueprint for the Twins To help end the 30-year World Series drought, the Royals traded for two key pieces near the trade deadline. They traded Brandon Finnegan, John Lamb and Cody Reed for Reds’ superstar starter Johnny Cueto and sent Aaron Brooks and Sean Manaea to Oakland in exchange for veteran super-utility player Ben Zobrist. Those proved to be vital additions for achieving their goals. Zobrist had a solid last portion of the regular season with the Royals, slashing .284/.364/.453 (.816). During the postseason, he performed even better, hitting .303/.365/.515 (.880) and with five multi-hit games. But he also provided a much needed boost that might have made a big difference. Before his arrival, Royals second basemen slashed .231/.251/.319 (.570). In 35 games starting at that position in the remainder of the regular season, Zobrist hit .275/.348/.457 (.805). He also played 18 games as a LF, a position in which Kansas City had good production, with .273/.383/.467 (.850). But Zobrist managed to top even that, hitting .299/.392/.463 (.855). Cueto, on the other hand, wasn’t as dominant as Zobrist, but he was still essential to the Kansas City success. He had a 4.76 ERA in 13 starts for the Royals during the regular season and a 5.40 ERA in the postseason, but those numbers alone can be very misleading. In four playoff starts, he had a mediocre outing in Game 2 of the ALDS (6.0 innings, 4 ER), a terrible showing in Game 3 of the ALCS (2.0 IP, 8 ER), but two amazingly good starts to compensate. He pitched a complete game in the World Series, giving up just one run, to help the Royals to open a 2-0 lead in the series. So what’s the lesson the Twins can learn from the Royals shopping at the 2015 trade deadline? It’s hard to imagine at this time that Minnesota is going after big names to help their offense. I mean, all help is welcomed, but if they had to invest top prospects in one area, I don’t believe the offense would be their priority. When we look at the pitching staff, you see a lot of room for improvement. As good as the rotation has pitched so far, the Twins would benefit from a better arm. The bullpen also could use some help, much more so than the rotation. Shopping for one or two dominant arms could make a difference between a World Series victory and a quick visit to the postseason. Earlier this month, Ted Schwerzler identified six pitchers to keep on the radar as potential trade deadline targets here at Twins Daily. There will be much more coverage, speculation and analysis on the trade market here at the site as the trade deadline approaches. In conclusion, smaller market teams will always raise more suspicions than inspire confidence among non-fans. These teams will always be doubted. But the 2015 Royals give Twins fans reason to dream. And, as shown during this article, they have a long list of common features with this year’s Twins. So, it’s OK to believe. Click here to view the article

It was all about Venezuelans for Minnesota at T-Mobile Park on Friday night. Martín Pérez pitched yet another great game, Ehire Adrianza and Marwin Gonzalez both had multi-hit nights and, of course, Willians Astudillo chipped in too. The Twins win their fourth consecutive game, hold the second best record in baseball and now have a five and a half game lead in the AL Central.Box Score Pérez: 6.2 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 4 BB, 7 K, 62.1% strikes (64 of 104 pitches) Home Runs: Adrianza (3) Multi-Hit Games: Gonzalez (2-for-5), Kepler (2-for-4, 3 RBI), Adrianza (2-for-3, HR, 2 RBI) WPA of +0.1: Pérez .230, Adrianza .140, Kepler .111 WPA of -0.1: None Download attachment: Win517.png (chart via FanGraphs) Minnesota came into this game with the third-highest batting average (.278) and OPS (.847) against lefties. The Mariners brought in southpaw Marco Gonzales to face them. You can imagine what happened. Twins hitters feasted on the opposing starter, scoring six runs against him (five earned) on eight hits. Martín Pérez looked very sharp in his first game after taking a line drive off the foot against Detroit. He pitched his fifth quality start and keeps making his case to win the Comeback Player of the Year. His ERA now drops to 2.89 overall and 1.35 in the month of May. Fellow Venezuelan Marwin Gonzalez had a two-hit night, also maintaining great numbers in May. He’s now batting .339 this month. Ehire Adrianza had himself a night with his second multi-hit, multi-RBI game of the year. He is now batting .368 in the last eight games. Story of the Game After Gonzales retired all batters in the top of the first inning, Pérez got into trouble early. He gave up a walk to right fielder Mitch Haniger, followed by a ground-rule double to DH Edwin Encarnación, but he went on to strike out the next two opponents. Both starters pitched perfect innings in the second, with Pérez striking out other two batters, totaling four punch outs. The Twins struck first in the top of the third, with Ehire Adrianza smashing the first pitch he saw and hitting his third home run of the year. That extended the Twins homer streak to twelve games. Jorge Polanco drew a walk later on, but he was stranded. Two Mariner hitters reached base in the bottom of the third — a single by Dee Gordon and a walk by Encarnación — but neither of them was able to score. The Twins kept hitting the ball hard in the fourth, loading the bases immediately with three consecutive singles. They came from the bats of Gonzalez, C.J. Cron and Willians Astudillo. Max Kepler hit yet another single, the fourth consecutive, to bring home “Margo” and to make it 2-0 Twins. Another run came in later on with Adrianza hitting a sac fly to earn his second RBI of the night and to extend the Twins lead to three. In the bottom part, Pérez had no problems in pitching another 1-2-3 inning, including his fifth strikeout. The slug fest continued, as Polanco led off the fifth with a single and Gonzalez got his second one (continuing his incredible month of May performance). Cron followed them with a walk to load the bases again and Astudillo plated another run, hitting a sac fly. Domingo Santana's throw actually beat Polanco at the plate, but the catcher Tom Murphy couldn’t hold on to the ball. Kepler blew the game wide open with a sharp single, scoring two more runs and making it 6-0 Minnesota. Pérez had a promising start of his fifth inning, striking out the first two batters he faced. But then he allowed three runners to reach, with a single from Gordon and a walk from Haniger, followed by an RBI-single from Encarnación, scoring Seattle’s first run of the night. The Mariners activated their bullpen in the top of the sixth, bringing in their Austin Adams version and the rookie struck out the side in sixteen pitches. It was the first time since the second inning that Minnesota had no base runners. But Pérez was still red hot, getting three ground ball outs to end the inning quickly, earning him another quality start. The Mariners’ Adams had another 1-2-3 inning in the top of the seventh, including another strikeout. Pérez came back to pitch the bottom part with 94 pitches. He gave up a lead off walk to Mallex Smith and saw Gordon make good contact in the following at-bat, but that ended in a double play with Gordon slipping out of the batter’s box. Pérez was taken out of the game, replaced by Matt Magill, who walked Haniger, but struck out Encarnación to end the inning. Righty Matt Festa retired all batters in the top of the eight, including a strikeout against Miguel Sanó, which kept him hitless on the night. Magill did the same in eight pitches. In the ninth, Adrianza completed his great night by leading off the inning with a single and scoring the Twins’ seventh run of the night, after a double from Jonathan Schoop, who was having a quiet night until that moment. Mike Morin pitched a 1-2-3 ninth with only six pitches to end the game. Postgame With Baldelli Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Download attachment: Pen517.png Next Three Games Sat at SEA, 9:10 pm CT (Berrios-LeBlanc) Sun at SEA, 3:10 pm CT (Gibson-Kikuchi) Mon at LAA, 9:07 pm CT (TBD) Last Game MIN 11, SEA 6: Total System Failure (for the Other Guys) Click here to view the article