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The MLB playoff picture is taking shape and the Minnesota Twins are in position to claim their first AL Central since 2020. Barring any late run, the Twins will be the third seed in the American League and face the sixth seed, though who that team will be remains to be seen. This year’s playoff format features six teams from each league that will be made up of the three division winners and three wild card teams. The top two division winners will get first-round byes, the third division winner will face the third wild card team, and the first and second wild card teams will face each other. The wild card round will be a best-of-three series at the higher seed’s ballpark. The winners will move on to the best-of-five ALDS. As the standings sit today, the Twins would face the Texas Rangers in the wild card round, but the Toronto Blue Jays, Seattle Mariners, and Houston Astros are all realistic possibilities. Each of these teams presents a unique challenge as the Twins seek to pick up their first postseason win in 19 years. Texas Rangers (84-68) Twins’ 2023 Head-to-Head Record: 5-2 The Twins fared well against the Rangers in the regular season and would be happy to see them again in the playoffs. The Rangers have struggled down the stretch, posting a record below .500 (9-10) in September thus far. The loss of Max Scherzer for the remainder of the season hurts their pitching depth as they look to make a run at an AL West crown. Outside of Scherzer, Nathan Eovaldi and Dane Dunning appear to be the Rangers' top two starters heading into the playoffs. Dunning has posted a 3.78 ERA with 127 Ks over 157 IP this season. Meanwhile, Eovaldi is 11-4 with a 3.05 ERA this year; however, he has struggled as of late, allowing nine earned runs in just 12 innings over his last four starts. The bullpen has been a weak spot for the Rangers all year but is led by some strong arms including Jose Leclerc, Jordan Montgomery, Chris Stratton, and mid-season acquisition Aroldis Chapman who all have an ERA+ above 130. The Ranger’s issue is that outside of those four guys, only one reliever has earned an ERA+ over 100. At the plate, the Rangers have been exceptional this season, scoring the most runs (841) of any American League squad. The bats are led by Corey Seager (176 OPS+) and Marcus Semien (121 OPS+), but the Rangers get contributions up and down their lineup. Ten players have double-digit homerun numbers, and the team has an AL best .266 batting average. Toronto Blue Jays (85-68) Twins’ 2023 Head-to-Head Record: 3-3 The Blue Jays have stayed in the playoff race all season in a tough AL East division, and a strong record in September (12-7) has them in position to claim an AL Wild Card spot. Toronto’s strong starting pitching and solid bullpen support a lineup that hits better for average than for power. Bo Bichette (.303 BA, 19 HR) and Brandon Belt (131 OPS+) have led the Blue Jays offense this season although Belt has played only three games since Sept. 1. The pairing of Bichette and Belt is supported by a lineup of primarily veterans that has combined to have a .257 batting average, good for ninth in all of baseball. From the bump, the Blue Jays have five starters with an ERA+ above 110 which will be advantageous in the postseason. Kevin Gausman (3.29 ERA, 232 Ks) appears to be the ace heading into the playoffs, but the number two spot is up for grabs between Chris Bassit, Yusei Kikuchi, and former Twin Jose Berrios. Even Hyun-Jin Ryu is in the mix after a late-season return from Tommy John surgery. If the Blue Jays were to make a deep postseason run, it would be their starting pitching depth that leads them there. Closer Jordan Romano is tied for fifth in the MLB with 35 saves and Tim Mayza is having a breakout season for the Blue Jays, pitching to a 1.40 ERA across 51.1 innings of work this year. Meanwhile, Jordan Hicks and Genesis Cabrera, who were acquired from the St. Louis Cardinals in separate trades, have allowed just 11 ER across 41 innings since joining the teams. Teams will not be comfortable trailing late against the Blue Jays this postseason. Seattle Mariners (84-68) Twins’ 2023 Head-to-Head Record: 3-4 On July 19, the Mariners were 47-48 and in fourth place in the AL West. Since then, Seattle has gone 37-20 and is now tied for the third AL Wild Card spot. The Mariners will essentially decide their own destiny as their final ten games are split between seven against the Rangers and three against the Astros. This year’s Seattle team is well-balanced and highlighted by an outstanding bullpen. The Mariners have seven relievers that have an ERA below 3.40 and those relievers have combined to strike out 320 batters in 275.1 innings. That group of relievers is led by Andres Munoz who has 13 saves this season and regularly touches 100 MPH with his fastball. The Mariners’ rotation is led by Cy Young candidate Luis Castillo (3.06 ERA, 207 Ks), but fellow starters Logan Gilbert, George Kirby, and Bryce Miller are all having good seasons as well. The trio each have an ERA below 3.90 and a combined WHIP below 1.10. Young superstar Julio Rodriguez and J.P. Crawford’s breakout season have led the Mariners' offense this season. Rodriguez is batting .285 with 31 HR and 100 RBI, while Crawford has a .264 average with 16 HR and 34 2B. Veterans Eugenio Suarez and Teoscar Hernandez have also been important contributors this year, adding 21 HR and 25 HR, respectively. Additionally, young catcher Cal Raleigh has contributed 29 HR and 22 2B on the season. Houston Astros (85-68) Twins’ 2023 Head-to-Head Record: 4-2 The Astros come in with the most postseason experience of these four teams and would likely be the most formidable opponent, too. Houston is also the most recent team to beat the Twins in the playoffs when they won both games of the first-round series in 2020. Houston has by far the most complete roster the Twins could face in the first round. Jose Altuve (.312 BA, 17 HR), Yordan Alvarez (28 HR, 93 RBI), Alex Bregman (24 HR, 96 RBI), and Kyle Tucker (28 HR, 108 RBI) are looking to bring the Astros to their fourth World Series in five years. That core is surrounded by players like Jose Abreu, who is closer to hitting like his former self after a slow start; Jeremy Pena, last season's World Series MVP; and Chas McCormick and Yainer Diaz, both of whom are hitting above .280 and each have 20+ HR. For much of the season, the Astros’ bullpen was led by closer Ryan Pressly (30 saves, 71 Ks), as well as relievers Hector Neris (1.87 ERA, 71 Ks) and Bryan Abreu (1.87 ERa, 91 Ks). Even with that much firepower, Houston added reliever Kendall Graveman at the trade deadline and he has performed well since joining the team, posting an ERA of 2.70 and striking out 22 batters over 20 innings of work. Along with the addition of Graveman at the deadline, the Astros also brought back Justin Verlander in a trade with the Mets. Since rejoining the rotation, Verlander has struck out 50 batters across 55 innings on his way to a 3.93 ERA. Verlander will be a great complement to Framber Valdez (3.20 ERA, 183 Ks) and the rest of the Astros’ rotation down the stretch.

After two games in all the ALDS series, the higher seeds are in trouble. Texas and Arizona have opened 2-0 leads going back to their home ballparks, while the Twins and Phillies are both 1-1 in their series against Houston and Atlanta respectively. It is entirely possible that all four lower seeds could lock up trips to the league championship series. I am particularly surprised by Arizona and Texas. Neither team charged into the playoffs, but both seem to have found their best selves at just the right time. If all the lower seeds win their series, the Twins would have a 10-3 record against the remaining participants, having won the season series against all three other remaining teams. Of course, no one has advanced yet, so we shouldn't be counting our chickens before they're hatched.

Twins fans, I have been a Twins fan for over 30 years and we all share a deep fandom, love and passion for the team. Over the years I've been able to meet players and collect some cool Twins items and I'd love to get the communities experiences also. In the title of this article, I asked "Whats your favorite"...Twins autographed item you have? If you don't have any autographs, what's your most sentimental or favorite Twins item? Lastly, keep this positive, I want to use this as a chance to have Twins fans of all ages share who they collect, stories of meeting players, etc. What's your favorite or most memorable experience meeting a Twins player? (POSITIVE ONES ONLY). Bonus points if you include a photo. Let's hear some of the stories and moments that made you a Twins fan.

WARNING: THIS IS GOING TO BE A VERY PERSONAL AND INTENSE BLOG POST. One thing I've always been interested in is history. It started with my dad when I was a kid growing up in the Macalester/Groveland area in St.Paul. My dad, who is the reason I'm the Twins fan I am today (thanks, dad!), loved baseball and history. As a lover of both, I wanted to share a little bit about how I became a Twins fan and I'd absolutely LOVE to have you guys all share and tell me how you became a fan. Did you grow up a fan? Are you a displaced fan in another state? Did you inherit it from a family member? Me, I got it from my dad. It started by playing catch in the yard and him pitching me wiffle balls. Then as I got older it evolved into reading books about baseball superstars, past and (then) present: Griffey Jr, Gwynn, Clemens, Maddux, Ryan and of course Puckett. There was something about that guy and his 5'9" frame and high leg kick that got me hooked. I started watched games on MSC, then on WCCO radio, then the occasional Fox 29. I grew up with John Gordon and Herb Carneal on radio and Dick and Bert on TV. It became an obsession, soon I was scoring games at home, muting the TV and calling the games by myself. I remember going to 1 or 2 games a year as my grandpa would treat me for my birthday and the Dome dogs...man, even as a kid, I ate 5 each game! I also remember collecting cards in the 90s and eagerly ripping packs open every chance I got and always being ecstatic when I saw a Twins player...right into my binder it went! I was fortunate enough to attend signings at the Twins Pro Shop in Roseville with my dad back when that was a thing for ninety minutes every Saturday. As the years grew, so did I and my dad. We never stopped loving or talking Twins. It became a constant source of love (and heartache in October!) for each of us. When my dad passed away in Jan 2018, just days before Twinsfest, I knew what I had to do. Dad always talked about Rod Carew and the summer of 1977. He would share stories about going to the Met and watching Carew on TV and how my mom had little to no interest and how it was the most exciting baseball summer he'd seen up to that point. From that point on, Carew was dads favorite player. So when I saw that Carew was going to be there, I knew I needed to try and find him. I was down at the basement level and I found out he was only appearing but not signing. I had a baseball ready nonetheless. I was walking around and saw Rod with his wife and a security guard and took my chance. I explained to Rod (after the security guy emphatically told me "Hes not signing today sir"), that I had lost my dad less than a week before and how he was my hero and how Rod was my dad's. He ended up signing a ball and giving me a hug, and I ended up burying that ball with dad. He never met Rod, but he got his autograph forever. This is just one of the many examples of stories that I have that made me a Twins fan to this day. What are some of yours? Do you have any cool stories, memories, experiences or autographs to share? I'd love to read about them! Thank you for reading this unusual post and I hope to hear about how YOU became a Twins fan, below.

Todd Walker debuted for the Twins on Aug, 30, 1996 against the Brewers in Milwaukee. He went one for five in his debut. I recently sat down (via Zoom) with the former Twins second baseman. We touched on a lot of topics from his thoughts on the recent MLB Draft being an LSU Alumni, his draft day experience, what it was like to be a major leaguer, he shares a fantastic Kirby Puckett story, and he doesn't mince words on seemingly always being in TK's dog house. That is a comment you don't wanna miss! In the below clip, I asked his thoughts on the idea that hitting coaches who played MLB are more effective and better than those who don't. Here was his reply. https://twitter.com/Devlin_clark84/status/1679333299334905856?t=Ut6Skzhkk28lFp5M6AvPlg&s=19 One of the most important postseason moments of Walker's career came after he left the Twins, as a member of the Red Sox in 2003 (Aaron Boone walk off series). He goes into amazing detail about that series in particular, as well as the conversation that was had on the mound in the infamous "Grady leaves Pedro in" moment. Hear Todd answer a fan question, as well his thoughts on marketing in MLB, what he thinks of fan Mail, and his favorite teammates. The entire 87 minute interview can be found on my YouTube Channel. Be sure to like and subscribe to my channel and spread the word. Doing a giveaway at 100 Subs. https://youtube.com/@MLBTheShowPodcast

If you're like me, you find yourself scrolling baseball reference pages or Wikipedia to see what former Twins players are up to, post playing career. Maybe you're not like me, maybe you actually have a life. Well, I don't, but I do enjoy doing Wikipedia and bREF rabbit holes. Recently, I was talking with a friend on Twitter and he asked me what I thought the worst trade in Twins history was, the ones that came to mind immediately were more recent: Sam Dyson, Mitch Garver, Taylor Rogers, etc. But I decided to stick with the trades made since 2000. The reason for that is that is when the Twins really became relevant again, when we knew that contraction wasn't going to be moving our team. With that said, I scoured long and hard looking at almost every trade we've made since 2000 and although the Jamie Garcia trade is up there, I still think the trade I'm going to outline below is worse and I'll list my criteria. As always, please let me know what you think, follow me on Twitter @Devlin_clark84 and without any further wait, let's get to it: Before I tell you what the trade is, I want to lay out the parameters of how I came about this. First of all, ALL stats shown below are courtesy of baseball reference. I wanted to also show the production over a 5 year period as I felt that this gives us a great sample size and can exclude fluke or lucky seasons, one offs, etc. So here is the breakdown: I will say that some of the post trade stats are incomplete and you'll see why as we progress. The trade happened on November 6, 2009. We will be looking at the 2008,09 seasons for each player, the 2010 season, as well as the 2011,12 seasons to see a wide scope of production and to try and fairly explain why this is the worst trade in Twins history. The Twins trade 24 year old Centerfielder Carlos Gomez to Milwaukee for SS JJ Hardy. Let's look at the 2008,09 seasons for both players so we can get a scope of who and why the trade was made. (Stats shown below are for both seasons combined) Gomez (age 22 and 23 seasons): 290 games, .248 AVG, 10HRs,87RBIs, 73 OPS+, 2.6 WAR. Hardy(age 25 and 26 seasons): 261 Games, .260 AVG, 35HRs, 121RBIs, 98 OPS+, 5.3 WAR Coming into the trade, based on nearly 300 games the last two seasons, the Twins were going to be the clear beneficiaries of the trade. Hardy not only had better numbers, but also played a premium up the middle position. The Twins were poised to win the trade. Let's look at how the 2010 season played out for both guys (avert your eyes, Twins fans): Gomez(age 24 season in 2010): 97 Games, .247 AVG, 5 HRS, 24RBIs, 18SBs, slashed .298/.357/.655 which produced a WAR of 0.6. Surely, Hardy would have a better season with the Twins than Gomez had with the Brewers? Well... Hardy (age 27 season in 2010): 101 Games, .268 AVG, 6HRs 38RBIs, slashed .320/.394/.714 which produced a WAR of 1.3 Not as bad as Gomez, but still not great. Despite this, after the 2010 season, the Twins still looked like the obvious winners on this trade, it's when you look at not just the next two seasons, but what happened next that show this to be the worst trade in Twins history. On December 9th, 2010 the Twins and Orioles pulled off a trade. The Twins sent SS JJ Hardy and UTIL Brendan Harris to the Orioles. We got $500,000 in return and two minor leaguers, Brett Jacobson and Jim Hoey. It's what happened next that show my point: Gomez (2011-12 season with Milwaukee, ages 25,26 seasons): 231 Games, .248AVG, 27HRs, 75RBIs, 53SBs, 94 OPS+ which is a 4.5 WAR combined. Hardy(2011-12 in his age 28,29 seasons): 287 Games, .252 AVG, 52 HRs, 148 RBIs, 96 OPS+, good for 7.5 WAR. Hardy in the 3 seasons following the trade(2011,12 and 13) hit 30,22 and 25 HRs respectively. Gomez became a first time all star in 2013 and again in 2014. He finished ninth in MVP voting in 2013 and sixteenth in 2014. He also won a Gold Glove in 2013. Hardy won a Gold Glove in his second season in Baltimore in 2012 (also in '13), as well as the Silver Slugger and became an All Star in 2013. So why is this the worst trade ever for the Twins? Let's examine what they got from a numbers standpoint: Brett Jacobsen never made the majors. So since I am using MLB stats, he's a non factor in this trade. Jim Hoey in 2011 for the Twins: 26 Games, 5.47 ERA, 75 ERA+, 5.58 FIP, good for a whopping -0.6 WAR. To summarize what the Twins gave up, received and then how the players did after the trade: From the trade in 2010 to the end of the 2012 season the Twins got a WAR of 0.7 (1.3 from the Hardy 2010 year, and a -0.6 from Hoey in 2011.) Hoey never played again after 2011 in the majors. The Brewers thrived and got 5.1 WAR between 2010-12 with Gomez and those weren't even his best years. (In 2013 he had a massive 7.6 WAR season and in 2014 had a 4.7 WAR season, all told, the five years after the trade through the end of 2014, Gomez produced a total of 17.4 WAR.) The Orioles also won the trade with Hardy, getting a 7.4 WAR player the next two seasons, who played a premium position, was an All Star, Silver Slugger and GG winner. From 2010-14, Hardy was worth a massive 15.4 WAR(1.3 of those was 2010 with MIN) So the Twins ended up getting $500,000, a player who never made the majors, and a pitcher who produced a -0.6 WAR, and gave up a SS who produced 14.1WAR the next four seasons and a CF who produced a 14.8 WAR and finished top-20 MVP twice. When you factor everything in, the fact the Twins were going to be the winners based on the two previous years of Hardy and Gomez' careers, the fact that Hardy produced a higher WAR then Gomez in the first full season of the trade, and then the ineptitude of the Twins to give him up and get absolutely nothing back (literally a Negative war player) makes this, for me, the worst trade in Twins history. As always, leave a comment below and let me know what your thoughts are! Can you think of a recent trade where we got less back and other players produced more in the last twenty three years?https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/h/hardyjj01.shtml https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/g/gomezca01.shtml

...here's the evidence in MS Office default blue & orange. Through 79 games, the Twins most likely number of runs scored in a game was 2, which occurred 17% of the time. The Twins scored 2 or fewer runs in a game 36% of the time while the other 29 teams in the MLB scored 2 or fewer runs in 30% of their games. On the other end of the scale, the Twins scored 5 or more runs in a game 37% of the time while the other 29 teams in the MLB scored 5 or more in 44% of their games. Because the Minnesota's pitching has been decent through 79 games, the Twins actually have higher win rates at most of the run-scored per game values compared to the rest of the MLB. Too bad the offense has been so underwhelming.

Its the debate that never ends. Whose on your all time Twins team? We all agree on the consensus top 4 of Carew, Killebrew, Oliva and Puckett. But after that who? Are you taking Guzman over Gagne? Gladden over Mack? Aguilera over Nathan? This is a lot harder than you think because you have a budget, $33 is the budget. You have to create the BEST Twins team with just $33 and *ALL* positions must be represented. What strategy are you gonna use? What positions are you gonna pay up for? Are you gonna take Killebrew at 1st over Morneau and Hrbek? Are you gonna go with the top 4 mentioned above and use $20 of your $33 there? Let's have some fun and see some unique lists. Remember, the entire objective is to create the best Twins team you can, using just $33 dollars.

"I always love Minnesota and the Twins" is what Dale Scott said when I asked him what it was like to umpire Twins games during his career spanning 3,897 MLB games. Dale has a very unique story, not just from the point of view as an umpire who was on the field for 3 World Series (including the 2001 series), but 3 All Star Games, and 3 no hitters (including Scott Ericksons for the Twins), but also as a human being. You see, Dale was hiding a secret, for his entire 30+ year career as an MLB Umpire, he was hiding his sexuality. He was gay. Dale's story is much more than just being the first gay umpire though, he umpired through death threats from Billy Martin and the NY Mob (yes, for real!), the World Series in 2001, where he talked about the hit off Rivera, to Billy Martin throwing dirt at him, to being the home plate Umpire for Scott Erickson's No Hitter. "He didn't have much control that day, '' Dale recalled. This interview was a unique one. In the timestamps below, I breakdown what we talked about. As a Twins fan, you'll wanna hear the story about Scott Erickson's No Hitter, the Kirby story, as well as the name association game we play. Also, he reveals that Gary Gaetti may have been psychic on one particularly historic night in Boston, Dale talks about being one of the 5 umpires to eject Tom Kelly in his career. So please give it a listen, Share, subscribe on YouTube, and comment down below if you like the podcasts or if I should stick to Twins only content. https://youtube.com/@MLBTheShowPodcast https://youtu.be/43jzRFLwmTc This extra length interview was recorded in January. • 6:40 - 9:08 What a typical day in Umpire School was like for him and what working a 2 man umpire system was like. • 13:20 - 16:51 What his first professional night as an umpire in 1981 was like in the Northwest League and what he learned about how to be a professional. • 25:35 - 29:25 His MLB Debut (1 game) where he got to umpire a game of the defending World Champion Detroit Tigers and how that was for him. He goes into great detail about the game. • 29:30 - 31:26 George Brett welcomes him and his hilarious first reaction to Brett "knowing his name" • 42:57 - 49:10 1988, Former Twins (and current Yankees) Manager Billy Martin throws dirt all over Dale. Dale talks about how he is the last umpire to eject Billy Martin in his career. • 53:30 - 56:34 How the Billy Martin ejection led to death threats from the NY Mob a few weeks later. https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid02FVWADVKD1NCuPo4LYL567wA6oZyPa9et6cDJ5FMJAiqmP7Pgy9bgyjdLEKLxGDvYl&id=506813119&mibextid=Nif5oz • 1:02:16 - 1:05:15 Scott Erickson's No No in 1995. Dale details that day as the home umpire. https://www.facebook.com/devlinc1984/videos/931821894630972/?mibextid=Nif5oz • 1:31:00 - 1:33:20 Gary Gaetti story that you HAVE to hear about the day the Twins turned 2 triple plays in one night. https://www.facebook.com/devlinc1984/videos/169588002656678/?mibextid=Nif5oz • 1:33:22 - 1:34:45 Kirby story you HAVE to hear! • 1:35:01 - 1:36:20 What it was like to umpire the Twins games specifically. • 1:54:50 - 1:55:55 What it was like to come out as an umpire and how two players reacted in ST 2017. • 2:10:38 - Word Association was so much fun. We talked about several HOFers or all time greats, as well as many Twins. What were his thoughts on them? Find out. Also, see which legendary Pitcher and former Cy Young winner he says was "not one of my favorites". Who did he describe as "a changed man, much more humble" Including Twins word association. What does he think of some of the biggest and best names in Twins history? What words does he use to describe them? Find out. The story about ejecting TK for one of the five career elections is outstanding. Dale Scott Clip 6.mp4 Dale Scott Clip 7.mp4

My 6-4-3 on Sundays Twins Game Sunday was the game many Twins fans were hoping for. After two consecutive close games, both by 2-0 wins, the Twins were able to put up seven runs today. four of them coming off the bat of off-season free agent signed Joey Gallo. He was 3-for-5 with two home runs and four RBI. The Twins start the season 3-0. They start a three-game series against Luis Arraez and the Marlins on Monday, but before that let's look at what happened today: Max Kepler drew a five-pitch walk to start the game. Maybe this will be what gets him going and allows him to relax at the plate. He was left stranded. He had a hard hit out to end the third inning with runners on. He's been hitting more hard line drive outs than weak ground balls and fly outs. Jose Miranda stays hot and extended his hit streak in the second with a single to center. He's really seeing the ball well. Ryan Jeffers in his 2023 debut shot a broken bat single through the infield in the second for an RBI and 1-0 lead for the Twins. He had another RBI single, this time to center, in the fourth, scoring Gallo. RISP The Twins have done a nice job of getting guys around to score, when they were on base in scoring position. compared to the Royals who were 0-18. Joey Gallo had his first three extra base hits of the season today, including a massive home run into right field of 431 feet. Hard contact in back to back at bats. Great sign for Gallo. His second one of the season and day was in the seventh and extended the Twins lead to 6-1. Joe Ryan was absolutely dealing today. Other than a solo home run, which was the first run of the season for the Royals, it was Ryan's day. He was changing speeds, but also got his velocity up to 95.7 in the first inning. His final line is 6IP, 3H (1HR), 1ER, 2BB, 6Ks. The home run came on a 3-2 pitch. Ryan had Olivares 1-2 and missed the outer corner the next two pitches. It was extremely close. 4 Things I liked to see Byron Buxton continues to get on base at the DH position. Trevor Larnach continues to reach base with a single in the seventh and an RBI single (two outs) in the eighth. Joey Gallo and the offense getting going. Three extra base hits, two home runs and four RBI. He can be the key off-season signing if he hits 40 home runs. They need him to be at his All-Star and Gold Glove level. Seven of the hits the Twins had today were with two outs. Other than one of the Gallo home runs, every other Twins run was scored with two outs. 3 stats about the series Twins were 9-for-26 (34%) and Royals were 1-for-20 (5%) with RISP. The Twins were also patient, drawing 11 walks in three games. Twins pitchers recorded 25 strikeouts (8.3/game) over the series with game totals being 11, five and nine. This wasn't the cleanest game for the Twins, but it was a stark contrast to the close pitchers duels we saw the first two games. The Twins escaped with a win and ended up 3-0 to start the season. Ryan and Gallo carried the team today as they embark on a road trip to Miami. Your first place Minnesota Twins take on the Miami Marlins tomorrow with Tyler Mahle making his 2023 debut against Johnny Cueto.

Cody Christie recently wrote a post about what the Bally’s bankruptcy means. I commented on this but it got me thinking MLB and the Twins actually have an opportunity to be sport broadcast trend setters, basically TV games would be way more interactive. Here is one of my ideas: (Let’s use Twins specifically) Work out a deal with YouTube to broadcast all Games. Their main broadcast would be your normal run of the mill broadcast, Dick Bremer and one of the analysts calling a game nothing different than before. Where this would be different is MLB would allow YouTube to share a 2nd broadcast stream of the game that any YouTube channel could access. My idea is any person could then call an MLB game live on their YouTube channel. For example, I could livestream the game using MLB broadcast and I would call the game. Where this would be really fun is smaller entities (Like TwinsDaily) could have their own Broadcast on their channel. Basically, think manningcast but anyone could be the Mannings. This may fail catastrophically, but would be a fun experiment for a team looking for new deal to try out. If this were a thing, I would watch more games if TwinDaily assigned different people to call games. It would be like the game threads but way more fun. Am I crazy or would something like this possibly work for baseball games? Let me know your thoughts.

The Carlos Correa free agency roller coaster continued on Monday night, as a series of Tweets from several different accounts suggested that they had sources who confirmed the Twins had finally called it quits on the All-Star shortstop. This was far from unexpected, as it was assumed that a reunion between Correa and the Twins was a long shot at best. However, it was only about an hour later when Ken Rosenthal and Dan Hayes dropped a report that the Twins are, in fact, not out on Correa, but instead, talks between the two sides have accelerated recently. With the growing frustration between the Mets and Correa, is a window finally open for the Twins to reunite with Correa? Should the Twins even consider it? The easy answer to the first question is yes. A window is open. Just as the Mets' window opened when the Giants balked at Correa following a flagged physical, there is a reasonable chance the Mets will do the same thing. The window is there, but should it be one the Twins jump in? The answer to that question is much muddier than just yes or no. Correa has been flagged on two separate physicals by two different team doctors for a lower leg injury sustained long ago. The injury is not calling into question how he will perform tomorrow, but rather how he will hold up throughout a 10+ year contract. With as much guaranteed money as we've seen thrown around, it's no surprise that the Mets and Giants have both paused on committing to a long-term deal. With this in mind, whatever Correa's new contract is, it will likely feature a lot less guaranteed money, which is why the stalemate is taking place. On the flip side, Correa was outstanding for the Twins in 2022. He was great at the plate, in the field, and in the clubhouse. He is well-liked by the whole organization and is the type of guy you want to build your team around. Correa would also fill a massive need for the Twins at shortstop, where they are currently slated to start Kyle Farmer, who mashes lefties but is far from an everyday shortstop, regularly. If the Twins can chop off some of the guaranteed money and shorten the contract to a length everyone feels comfortable with, the organization and fans would welcome Correa back with open arms. These Correa stories are exhausted and old, but as long as he remains unsigned, it remains relevant news. No one has any idea what will happen with Correa. Until the pen meets the paper, he will remain a wild card on the free agent market, who could sign anywhere under the sun. The Athletic article by Hayes and Rosenthal is interesting enough to keep Twins fans engaged in a dream of a reunion. Still, until he steps foot in Target Field again, it's best to view the situation as a long shot. What do you think? Where will Correa land? Should the Twins do everything in their power to convince him to stay? Let me know! As always, Go, Twins! *UPDATE* The Minnesota Twins sign Carlos Correa to a 6-year $200M contract with a four additional option years that could max out the contract at $270. The Twins are reportedly "optimistic" about the upcoming physical, which has already been scheduled. Barring another unforeseen twist, the Correa saga ends in happiness for the Twins!

There has been plenty of off-season buzz surrounding Marlins starting pitcher Pablo Lopez. The 26-year-old hurler struck out 174 batters over 180 innings in 2022 while possessing a solid 3.71 FIP. Since the Marlins have a deep and young starting pitching rotation, Lopez is both expendable for them and very valuable on the trade market. Is Lopez a realistic trade target for the Minnesota Twins? It has been no secret that the Minnesota Twins have been looking to add to their rotation that experienced various health issues in 2022. They made a hard push for left-handed free agent Carlos Rodon but ultimately fell short, leaving them looking for other reliable options. The Twins have been linked to the Marlins in trade talks for the last couple of months, and one would assume Pablo Lopez’s name has likely been thrown around. Lopez, however, will not come cheap. Due to his age, he will turn 27 in March, productivity, and the fact that he is under team control for two more full seasons, Lopez’s value is very high. But what will it cost? If the Twins want a realistic shot at landing Lopez, they will have to throw some tangible assets on the table. It is rumored that the Marlins aren’t looking for prospects in return for Lopez but rather bats they can plug into the lineup to help them out immediately. With that said, a trade to bring Lopez to Minnesota would likely cost the Twins Luis Arraez and maybe even a little more. If the Twins were willing to eat Jorge Soler’s contract, they could perhaps convince the Marlins to complete a deal without Arraez’s involvement. However, for a mid-market team, the Twins will probably be unwilling to add the $12M per-year contract to the payroll for a player that won’t offer much productivity. This leaves the Twins with only one really realistic option, which would be to move Arraez, whose value is higher than it has ever been and may be as high as it will ever get. Does it make sense to trade him while his value is high? Arraez is a clear fan favorite and among the best pure hitters on the planet, but he also carries his share of flaws. Arraez has had a litany of knee issues in the past, he’s an awful defender anywhere besides first base, and provides next to no power at the plate, which is an approach that doesn’t seem to fit what the Twins have been trying to do in recent years. Maybe it’s time to strike while the iron is hot, put the chips in the middle of the table, and pull off a trade for a durable frontline starter. What are your thoughts? Are you willing to pay this price for a frontline starter? Let me know, and as always, Go, Twins!

Earlier today the Minnesota Twins crossed a major offseason to-do off their list by signing catcher Christian Vázquez to a 3 year/$30M deal. Since 2020, Vázquez has caught the 5th most games in MLB and was worth 1.6 fWAR in 2022. Important considering Ryan Jeffers' health concerns. Prior to the signing, the Twins were projected to generate the 5th worst fWAR out of the catcher position. Now, they project to be around league average (15th) with the duo of Vázquez (2.0 projected fWAR) and Jeffers (1.4 projected fWAR). Here are five reasons the Vázquez signing could be exactly what the Twins need: 1. A great defender Since 2020, Vázquez has accumulated the 6th most DRS at the catcher position (+17) in 2,277.1 innings behind the plate. His fielding runs above average is also the 6th highest during that span (30.9). Additionally, he's been a plus pitch framer his entire career. He was worth +1 framing runs in 2022, but has the 8th most framing runs in MLB since Baseball Savant began tracking this metric (+29 framing runs). The Twins have been known to be great with their catchers to improve this metric. Ryan Jeffers was worth +2 runs in 2022. Gary Sanchez went from -6 in 2021 with the Yankees to +1 last year, so it's possible that Vázquez could benefit even more from coach Hank Conger. Image via Baseball Savant. 2. Elite Pitch Caller It's baseball so everything is trackable. The statistic rCERA is catcher ERA runs saved. So essentially, it's measuring how effective (or ineffective) a catcher is at limiting runs for a pitching staff. A plus in this statistic is a good thing. It's as close as we can come to assigning a number to a catcher's ability to call a game. If you watched a Twins game late in 2022, you saw some questionable pitch calls by Gary Sanchez. Jeffers is above average in this statistic (+1 rCERA since 2020) and Vázquez ranks 4th best in MLB since 2020 with a +5 rCERA. During that timeframe Gary Sanchez ranks dead last out of 130 catchers with a -10 rCERA. The Twins overall ranked 19th in rCERA (-1) in 2022. The combination of a healthy Jeffers and Vázquez should no doubt help the Twins pitching staff. An improvement from last year. Here's to hoping that we see less righty on righty changeups being thrown in 2023 :) 3. Throws Out Runners It's not a secret that the Twins have a stolen base problem. Late into the 2022 season it seemed like runners could take extra bases at will. The Twins allowed 94 SB in 2022, the 9th most in MLB only throwing out 20% of runners. Ryan Jeffers is not a great throwing catcher. Last year he only threw out 18% of runners. Since he came into the league he has the 3rd worst rSB (runs saved by throwing out runners) at -6 rSB, ranking 163 out of 165 catchers. Since 2018 Christian Vázquez has thrown out the second most runners in MLB (81) at a 30.45% clip. His exchange time of .67 seconds was 4th quickest in MLB last year. His 1.94 sec pop time ranked 22nd in MLB among 85 catchers. With stolen bases a problem for the Twins, and base sizes increasing in 2023, all the more reason for the Twins to add a catcher who can control the run game, and they're getting this here. Here's a nice video of Vázquez's hose piece vs the Twins (sorry Jake Cave). 4. Hits RHP Better than Jeffers Vázquez is by no means a thumper. He owns a 92 wRC+ since 2020. But, has posted a 95 WRC+ vs RHP during that span. Twins catchers were especially poor vs RHP in 2022. They ranked 24th in baseball with a 66 wRC+ and a 30.7 K% which was 3rd worst in MLB (YUCK!). Ryan Jeffers posted only a 57 wRC+ vs RHP last year (ranked 41st out of 55 catchers who had 100 PA). While the best offensive combo for the Twins would have been to pair a LHH catcher with Jeffers as a platoon, just having a catcher who can at least hold their own vs RHP will be a massive upgrade. Ryan Jeffers will assuredly get all of the AB's vs a LHP - a career 125 wRC+ vs LHP (Vázquez has only posted 84 wRC+ vs LHP since 2020). The combo of Jeffers vs LHP and Vázquez vs RHP will be plenty serviceable offensively and a lift upon a total black hole at the spot last year. 5. Veteran Presence Vázquez is 32 years old and has played in 8 seasons. Two of those eight have resulted in World Series parades (2018 with Boston and 2022 with Houston). He's played in 31 playoff games logging 99 PA's which is more than Max Kepler, Byron Buxton, and Jorge Polanco have in the playoffs combined. No doubt a player of Vázquez's caliber will be instrumental in leading a young Twins core in 2023 and beyond. The Twins average age of position players was 26.9, 4th youngest in MLB. He's the cliche "clubhouse guy" and the Twins absolutely need that. In his short time in Houston, he made an impression in that locker room and with the pitching staff. One can only hope he is on the Twins team that breaks the playoff curse during his tenure here. Please enjoy this video of Vázquez hitting a walk-off HR vs the Rays in the playoffs last season. 6. He's Buddies with Carlos Correa (BONUS!) OK, I know I said 5 reasons but I couldn't pass this up. Carlos Correa and Christian Vázquez went to the Puerto Rico Baseball Academy together. Maybe they will find each other playing for their country in the World Baseball Classic in 2023 alongside Twins 3B Jose Miranda and RP Jorge Lopez. And maybe the combo of Jose + Christian + Jorge can recruit their fellow countrymen back to Minnesota? It's a dream. But, it certainly can't hurt!

Good afternoon Twins fans and welcome back to more Game Thread fun! Well the big news that most everyone has already heard is Twins pitching coach Wes Johnson will be leaving the organization after Thursday's game against Cleveland to be the new pitching coach at LSU. I can't believe he would leave in the middle of the season but I guess he has his reasons. I suspect he wants to get there sooner in order to recruit new players to LSU. I've read he will be making more money but I doubt that was the reason. I know its all speculation at this point but I bet the MLB schedule, being away from family played a role. He might just like the amateur ranks more than the pro ranks...I guess we will find out later if it even matters. I hate to see him go but "it is what it is"....Pete Maki is being promoted and will take the place of Wes on Friday. Good luck Pete! We need this staff sharp for October! The Twins kick off a big 4 game series against division rival Cleveland tonight. With a 2 game lead over Cleveland it would be nice to see the Twins have a 6 game lead after Thursday's final contest. Cleveland has been in a mini-slump since leaving Minnesota last week and have lost 4 games in a row. Taking the mound tonight for the Twins is Sonny Gray (3-1, 2.53 ERA). Sonny will be pitching against Cleveland righty Triston McKenzie (4-5, 3.51 ERA). After the news of Wes Johnson leaving the Twins it will be interesting to see how the pitching staff responds. I read that Wes was a huge influence on Sonny getting his confidence back this year. Apologies for posting the Game Thread so early but I need to leave for a fishing trip this afternoon. "Need to leave" is maybe a little dramatic but if I don't get out of the office for a little break I may pull a Wes Johnson and leave for good....Heading to the upper Mississippi River north of Deerwood, MN to hammer some small mouth bass and walleye. I will be listening to the game on the radio in the boat though! I tried to post the lineups but at 2:30 only Cleveland had theirs posted...If someone could post the Twins lineup for me I'll send some frozen walleye fillets to your house. Let's go Twins!!! Today's Lineups: TWINS (41-33): TBD CLEVELAND (36-32): 1. Steven Kwan, LF 2. Amed Rosario, SS 3. Jose Ramirez, 3B 4. Josh Naylor, 1B 5. Oscar Gonzalez, RF 6. Andres Gimenez, 2B 7. Owen Miller, DH 8. Luke Maile, C 9. Myles Straw, CF SP - Triston McKenzie, (RHP) Weather: Game time temperature 74 degrees and sunny. 0% chance of rain. Wind 12mph blowing L-R.

Good evening Twins fans and welcome back to more Game Thread fun! Have you ever attended a MLB game and sat next to some over zealous fans? Did you sit next to fans that were knowledgable about the game and the teams that were playing? The Game Thread experience is all about that and more... As Twins fans this is our forum to debate and play arm chair quarterback. Don't be shy! Speak up and tell us your opinion about a specific play, umpire mistake or coaching move...Most of the Moderators on the site allow a little bit more leeway in what people say during the Game Thread. Please don't swear but remember, games that start this late a majority of Mods are asleep or 8 beers into the evening. Now for the game information: The Twins kick off a 3 game series against the NL West Arizona Diamondbacks. The Diamondbacks are 11 games behind the NL West leader San Diego Padres. Arizona has a 30-35 record (.462 winning average). The Twins are 37-28 (.569 winning average) with a 2 game lead over Cleveland. The Twins starter tonight is lefty Devin Smeltzer (3-0, 2.38 ERA) going up against Arizona southpaw Madison Bumgarner (2-6, 3.50 ERA). The lineup looks good for the Twins tonight. I foresee a lot of runs for the good guys. Bumgarner has not been as sharp as he has looked in the past. Tune in and find out what happens. Grab a favorite beverage and cheer for the Minnesota Twins today! Don't forget to share your opinions and participate in the Game Thread fun tonight! The Moderators will be asleep...trust me! Tonight's lineups: Minnesota Twins: 1. Byron Buxton, DH 2. Carlos Correa, SS 3. Gio Urshela, 3B 4. Gary Sanchez, C 5. Luis Arraez, 2B 6. Jose Miranda, 1B 7. Max Kepler, RF 8. Gilberto Celestino, CF 9. Trevor Larnach, LF SP - Devin Smeltzer (LHP) Arizona Diamondbacks: 1. Carson Kelly, C 2. Josh Rojas, 3B 3. Jordan Luplow, LF 4. C. Walker, 1B 5. Daulton Varsho, RF 6. Buddy Kennedy, DH 7. Alek Thomas, CF 8. Jake Hager, 2B 9. Geraldo Perdomo, SS SP - Madison Bumgarner (LHP) Weather: Hot! Like really hot.....106 degrees. Zero chance of rain.

Good afternoon Twins fans and welcome back to more Game Thread fun! Yesterday's game was fun to watch and almost got out of hand but in the end the Twins prevailed. As I posted on yesterdays game recap, Ryan and Duran are going to be exciting to watch. Unfortunately, Buxton had to leave early due to a right knee strain. According to the Athletic's Ken Rosenthal, Buxton isn't believed to have suffered any structural damage but may be off for a week or so. Phil Miller of the Star Tribune reported that the Twins do not intend to make a roster move which hopefully means the injury is minor. What excitement will be in store for today's game? Not really sure but Sonny Gray takes the mound against Boston hurler Tanner Houck (0-0) 8.10 ERA. I suspect the Twins are going to light this kid up. I predict an early exit for Tanner as Sonny gives us hopefully 6 or more "Snapper Mow em' Down" innings. Speaking of lighting up, tomorrow is Easter Sunday. I plan on firing up the Big Green Egg to grill a leg of lamb. Throw in some cheesy potatoes, asparagus and garlic bread and I'll have the makings of a small feast. The price of the lamb was crazy by the way......my grocery bill looks like I'm feeding 50 people vs. 6 people. I hope you enjoy your Easter celebrations tomorrow! Let's smoke the Red Sox today! Today's lineups: TWINS: 1. Luis Arraez, DH 2. Jorge Polanco, 2B 3. C. Correa, SS 4. Max Kepler, RF 5. T. Larch, LF 6. Gio Urshela, 3B 7. Nick Gordon, CF 8. Miguel Sano, 1B 9. Ryan Jeffers, C SP - Sonny Gray, (R) 0-0, 3.86 ERA RED SOX: 1. E Hernandez, CF 2. R. Devers, 3B 3. X. Bogaerts, SS 4. J. Martinez, DH 5. Alex Verdugo, LF 6. Trevor Story, 2B 7. Bobby Dalbec, 1B 8. J. Bradley, RF 9. C. Vazquez, C SP - Tanner Houck, (R) 0-0, 8.10ERA Weather: Cloudy and 62 degrees with a 15mph wind blowing out

When I dipped my toe into the new Twins season, I braced myself and winced. Like most people on Twins Daily, I'm excited for our hitting but unsure if we've got the pitching to be competitive. More than that, these old bones are sore from the 2021 season. Things looked swell last year at this time, and then the losses piled on and on. And on and on and on. Admitting you were a Twins fan got you a free bowl of soup and a friendly ear in Depression-era diners last year. "Times are tough," the cook would say. I made time to watch the first game at a chain restaurant that specializes in wings (even though no wings come close to achieving the greatness of Tooties on Lowry, home of the best wings on earth). I took my 5-year-old daughter and bought some quality baseball time by loaning her my cell phone so she could play her little game on it. The Twins tripped and fell right away in the game. They staggered and righted themselves a bit with an Urshela home run, then stumbled on the way to their final out. Game two and Buxton does a little talking with his bat. Twins take a lead and then blow it. I follow along on my phone, sliding back into the groove of ignoring friends and relatives to keep up on the game. The secret is lots of eye contact when you're paying attention to THEM, to make up for all the times you only have eyes for your phone. Game three is much better. Sanchez knocks in a grand slam and there are home runs everywhere, like they were participation trophies. I tried to listen to part of this on the radio, but my 5-year-old daughter caught me tuning in when I was supposed to be babysitting her dolls. I ended up having to sing David Bowie songs to them while the Twins hauled in their first victory. Game four? I'm fully immersed in the Twins season and loving it. There are good things happening for the Twins, and there's every reason to nurture a bit of hope. So why did I feel so blah? General contrariness? Always a possibility. Maybe it's because I read the news today, oh boy, and the real world has become A Bad Place. Baseball usually takes me away from all that - the longer, the better! Maybe it'll just take a little longer this year to fully escape into the game. There's no reason to worry about whether or not this team can warm your heart. This team is so loveable it could sour puppies and kitties by comparison. Buxton plays the game with gusto and he'll take you along for the ride. Polanco and Correa can turn frowns upside down with a swipe of their bats. Kirilloff is going to get there, people, and it'll be delightful. And this Duran guy? You gotta love what you see when he pitches. Also, he appears to be a very good hugger, based on my own observations. This is a team you can cheer for. This is a team that brings "fan favorites" and "baseball crushes" back to the ballpark. I, for one, am ready to let baseball dazzle me into a happy grin yet again. Bring on the summer of 2022, and bring on the next chapter of Twins history!

Good morning Twins fans and welcome back to more Game Thread fun! It was so nice seeing the Twins play again yesterday! I hate that we lost but one game in the scheme of things doesn't really matter this time of year. However, I really believe we have a strong foundation and a group of players that will compete well this year. I'm still standing by my prediction that the Twins will win the AL Central this year. By the way, I love this time of year in Minnesota. We have the Masters on TV, the weather is warming, the ice is melting off the lakes, the grass is beginning to green, MLB is starting up and hope "springs" eternal for my favorite team the Minnesota Twins. It will be interesting to see how Sonny Gray stacks up today against this Mariner's offense. Hopefully his first start as a Minnesota Twin will result in a big W! How will the rest of the bullpen do? Will our offense start seeing the ball and make more contact? Will the dynamic duo of Buxton and Correa become the most dangerous one-two punch in MLB? Well, pull up a chair, crack a beer or your favorite beverage and tune in to find out. Today's game is gonna be a good one! Speaking of ice melting...Here are some fast facts on one of Minnesota's most celebrated lakes, Lake Minnetonka. Ice-out on Lake Minnetonka is declared when officials can boat through all channels and bays without being obstructed by ice. The earliest ice-out was March 11, 1878. The latest ice-out was May 5, 1857. The average ice-out date historically has been April 17th, 18th and 19th. The median ice-out date is April 14th (half of ice-outs are before that date and half are after that date). Coincidentally, for many years the latest ice-out date was attributed to May 8th, 1856. The Minnesota Climatology Working Group raised questions about the accuracy of that date based on temperature records showing that April 1856 was very warm. My guess is we will have ice-out on Lake Minnetonka April 15th this year. I can hardly wait to start Crappie fishing in a few weeks! Just like I can hardly wait to see this Minnesota Twins franchise win another World Series. Win Twins! Today's Lineups: MINNESOTA TWINS: 1. Byron Buxton, CF 2. Luis Arraez, 3B 3. C. Correa, SS 4. J. Polanco, 2B 5. Alex Kirilloff, DH 6. Miguel Sano, 1B 7. Max Kepler, RF 8. Ryan Jeffers, C 9. Nick Gordon, LF SP - Sonny Gray (R) SEATTLE MARINERS 1. Adam Frazier, 2B 2. Ty France, 1B 3. Jesse Winker, DH 4. M. Haniger, RF 5. Abraham Toro, 3B 6. J. Kelenic, LF 7. J. Rodriguez, CF 8. J. Crawford, SS 9. Tom Murphy, C SP - Logan Gilbert (R) Weather: Sunny and warming up to a balmy 50 degrees. Wind blowing out today at about 3mph.

Good Morning Twins fans! We have an early Monday game today. This is a make-up game from earlier this year against the Detroit Tigers. After the ugly loss against Milwaukee yesterday the Twins will try to get back on track today against the lowly Tigers. For the rest of the year I'm somewhat hesitant to cheer for my beloved Twins. At this point being 18 games behind the White Sox I'm cheering for a better draft pick next year. However, I'd still like to see the new kids being pulled up from minors perform well and build that confidence for next year. I'm encouraging people to post comments to the Game Thread from work today (for those of us working). Make sure you leave out any NSFW comments today if posting from work. Keep it clean and professional. For those of you posting from home you can take a little more risk. Beware however, Twins Daily Moderators are always patrolling these Game Thread waters. If you are posting from work, it would be fun to share what you do for a living. If you are participating today from home and looking for a full-time job in manufacturing, PM me and we can discuss job opportunities. We need more people asap, especially 2nd shift! Maybe Twins Daily can start a job posting section??? Subject to Moderator approval of course. Enjoy today's early matinee ballgame! I'll be listening to it on the radio. Go Twins! Today's Lineups: TWINS: 1. Luis Arraez, 3B 2. Byron Buxton, CF 3. Jorge Polanco, 2B 4. Josh Donaldson, DH 5. Max Kepler, RF 6. Miguel Sano, 1B 7. Nick Gordon, LF 8. Ryan Jeffers, C 9. A. Simmons, SS P - Baily "it ain't" Ober (R) TIGERS: 1. Akil Baddoo, LF 2. J. Schoop, 1B 3. J. Candelario, 3B 4. M. Cabrera, DH 5. Eric Haase, C 6. H. Castro, 2B 7. Victor Reyes, RF 8. Zach Short, SS 9. Derek Hill, CF P - Casey Mize (R) Weather: Partly cloudy and 83 degrees.

Good evening Twins fans and welcome back to more Game Thread excitement! The Twins did a nice job in Houston and now kick off a 9 game home stand against the Chicago White Sox tonight. Hopefully they can keep up the momentum. Not that it really matters this year but I would like to see some of our younger players start getting into the groove and build some confidence heading into 2022. Speaking of confidence, I'd like to see the following players hit above .220 so I can have confidence we can actually score runs in 2022. I know batting average stats are no longer in vogue but let's look at some averages. The players: Kepler (.211), Rooker (.176), Garver (.220), Sano (.211), Simmons (.216), Cave (.186), Larnach (.229 on the bubble). Speaking of guys that seem to have confidence....they include the following: Polanco (.272), Arraez (.318). Unfortunately it's a short list. Enough complaining, Let's start this home stand strong and see some younger guys get more playing time just so they can build their confidence. Did you pick up on the confidence theme tonight? I have all the confidence in the world that big Miguel Sano will go yard tonight and maybe drive in 4-5 runs. Now that's confidence! I might be delusional too but who cares. Go Twins! Tonight's Lineups: TWINS: 1. Max Kepler, RF 2. B. Rooker, DH 3. Jorge Polanco, 2B 4. Luis Arraez, 3B 5. Miguel Sano, 1B 6. Jake Cave, CF 7. R. Jeffers, C 8. T. Larnach, LF 9. A. Simmons, SS P - Beau Burrows, 0-0 with a 11.00 ERA YIKES! WHITE SOX: 1. T. Anderson, SS 2. C. Hernandez, 2B 3. J. Abreu, 1B 4. E. Jimenez, DH 5. Y. Moncada, 3B 6. B. Goodwin, RF 7. L. Robert, CF 8. L. Garcia, LF 9. S. Zavala, C P - Lucas Giolito, 8-8 with a 3.98 ERA Weather: Hot and humid, 85 degrees

Good Morning Twins fans and welcome back to more Game Thread banter and fun! We have moved past July and are now entering the hot month of August. The Twins ended July on a high note with a win last night. Hopefully they can start the month with a win this afternoon. Entering August 1st our team is dead last in the Central with a .419 winning percentage...Got to admit I didn't see that coming when we started in April. Oh well, we have each other to entertain us and a bunch of new young talent from the Rays and Blue Jays to watch. Speaking of game thread fun, it was suggested in last nights game thread I do a survey on what your favorite beverage is while watching the Twins play. I'll tell you I prefer a nice bourbon poured over one large ice cube during evening games. Afternoon games might be a cold beer or a Tito's and soda with a lime. I have to say my consumption during this putrid season has increased. Funny how that happens...By the way, does anyone want to trade me a bottle of Pappy Van Winkle for a home wrecker (1.75 liter of Windsor Canadian)? PM me if interested! What's your favorite beverage while watching the Twins play? Go ahead and post your beverage of choice below. Don't be shy! "You do you and we won't judge" (stole the Tito's slogan). Go Twins!! This afternoon's lineups: TWINS: 1. Max Kepler, CF 2. Brent Rooker, LF 3. Jorge Polanco, 2B 4. Luis Arraez, 3B 5. Mitch Garver, C 6. Miguel Sano, 1B 7. Trevor Larnach, RF 8. A. Simmons, SS 9. Michael Pineda, P CARDINALS: (expected lineup, not posted as of 11:30am) 1. D. Carlson, RF 2. P. Goldschmidt, 1B 3. N. Arenado, 3B 4. T. O'Neil, LF 5. Y. Molina, C 6. H. Bader, CF 7. Tommy Edman, 2B 8. Paul Dejong, SS 9. Adam Wainwright, P Today's weather: 80 degrees and partly cloudy.

Good afternoon Twins fans and welcome back to more Game Thread fun and excitement! Can our Minnesota Twins win tonight in front of a full stadium? Local media in Minneapolis report that tonight's game is sold out and the stands will be full. Personally I'm glad I'm not going as it's hot as Hades here...game time temperatures will be almost 94 degrees with a heat index near 100. I think I prefer watching tonight's game in a dark bar with a few cold ones lined up. Happy July 5th by the way! It is the officially observed holiday at least according to my iPhone calendar. Hope most of you had the day off today. I had the day off and didn't do much. Getting ready to grill up some burgers and brats for dinner tonight and listen to the game on WCCO. I like listening to the game on the radio, it's so old school. In case you wanted to know, all my kids along with a few of their significant others are home tonight and they eat literally everything in the house. Four pounds of burger just doesn't seem to go as far as it did...It's time they all get real jobs and help their old man out with the groceries. Big game tonight! Can the Twins get past the White Sox? Not sure but that's why I'll listen to the game and find out. The lineup tonight is somewhat underwhelming...I'll let you decide. Gotta run now, college kids say we are low on beer. I'll throw them a $20 and tell them to buy a case of Hamms. I'll be drinking the good stuff. Go Twins! Tonight's lineups: TWINS: 1. Luis Arraez, 3B 2. T. Larnach, LF 3. Jorge Polanco, 2B 4. Alex Kirilloff, 1B 5. Max Kepler, RF 6. Miguel Sano, DH 7. Nick Gordon, CF 8. Ben Rortvedt, C 9. A. Simmons, SS P - Bailey Ober, R WHITE SOX: 1. Tim Anderson, SS 2. Yoan Moncado, 3B 3. Jose Abreu, 1B 4. B. Goodwin, CF 5. Y. Grandal, C 6. Gavin Sheets, DH 7. A. Vaughn, LF 8. Adam Eaton, RF 9. Leury Garcia, 2B P - Dylan Cease, R Weather: HOT! HUMID! SWEAT FACTORY!

I’d like to discuss the way I see forward for the Minnesota Twins to become a team ready for a deep playoff run or World Series victory. The focus will be on top quality pitching. I’ll use a couple of case studies of teams that had very deep and strong pitching and great success, those teams being the 1980 Baltimore Orioles and the 1972-1974 Oakland A’s. Then I’ll take a look at how the Twins can get to that level. First, how did I get to this point of believing pitching is more important than I originally thought? Although, a Twins fan since 1964, the media and options for following the Twins on a more comprehensive level only opened up to me in the 1970s. I lived in Toledo, Ohio but had discovered the Twins at Tinker Field in Orlando when my Dad took me to a game vs. the Cincinnati Reds. The Twins won and the rest was history for me! In the 1960s it was linescores in the newspaper and the occasional game of the week with Joe Garagiola and Tony Kubek. Then one glorious night in 1973, I thought to myself, "Wouldn’t it be great to be able to pick up Twins games on the radio." I had been twirling the station tuner knob that night pickng up any games I could. Seemingly miraculously, within 10-15 minutes I heard a new voice and paused to see what team(s) I had come across. Imagine my astonishment when I learned that it was the Twins broadcast from WHO in Des Moines, Iowa. I first heard the voice of Herb Carneal that night and stayed up late listening to Twins baseball as my recollection is that it was a doubleheader, possibly from the west coast. Herb became my constant companion for many years and my love for the Twins grew exponentially. I remember annually thnking the the Twins were going to win the AL West this season and the next and the next but it never happened. Why? I couldn’t figure it out as they had such fine hitters as Jim Holt, Steve Braun, Rod Carew, Bobby Darwin, Mike Cubbage, then Glenn Adams, Lyman Bostock and Larry Hisle. The 1977 team brought things into clear focus. The offense, while maybe not as deep as 2019, was at the upper echelon - arguably the greatest offense in Twins history. On June 26, 1977 I listened to and scored from my basement in Ohio, a 19-12 Twins win over the White Sox, listening to Harey Carey from 670 WMAQ in Chicago. Alas, the Twins had a mediocre to poor pitching staff in 1977. That to go along with possibly the best hitting team in Twins history and, in my opinion, the greatest manager in Twins history - the brilliant tactician and innovator, Gene Mauch. Suffice to say, from 1977 on, I realized that only a team with very strong pitching could hope to be in the playoffs (back them it was only AL East vs. West, then the World Series) or win the World Series. Let’s take a look at the 1977 Twins. (courtesy of baseball-reference.com) Pos Name Age G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS OPS+ C Butch Wynegar# 21 144 617 532 76 139 22 3 10 79 2 3 68 61 .261 .344 .370 .715 96 1B Rod Carew* 31 155 694 616 128 239 38 16 14 100 23 13 69 55 .388 .449 .570 1.019 178 2B Bob Randall 29 103 342 306 36 73 13 2 0 22 1 4 15 25 .239 .289 .294 .583 61 SS Roy Smalley# 24 150 680 584 93 135 21 5 6 56 5 5 74 89 .231 .316 .315 .631 74 3B Mike Cubbage* 26 129 464 417 60 110 16 5 9 55 1 4 37 49 .264 .321 .391 .712 94 LF Larry Hisle 30 141 620 546 95 165 36 3 28 119 21 10 56 106 .302 .369 .533 .902 144 CF Lyman Bostock* 26 153 660 593 104 199 36 12 14 90 16 7 51 59 .336 .389 .508 .897 144 RF Dan Ford 25 144 510 453 66 121 25 7 11 60 6 4 41 79 .267 .338 .426 .764 108 DH Craig Kusick 28 115 325 268 34 68 12 0 12 45 3 1 49 60 .254 .370 .433 .803 120 Pos Name Age G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS OPS+ DH Rich Chiles* 27 108 295 261 31 69 16 1 3 36 0 1 23 17 .264 .323 .368 .691 89 DH Glenn Adams* 29 95 290 269 32 91 17 0 6 49 0 2 18 30 .338 .376 .468 .844 130 3B Jerry Terrell 30 93 235 214 32 48 6 0 1 20 10 4 11 21 .224 .263 .266 .530 46 2B Rob Wilfong* 23 73 193 171 22 42 1 1 1 13 10 4 17 26 .246 .321 .281 .602 67 LF Bob Gorinski 25 54 126 118 14 23 4 1 3 22 1 0 5 29 .195 .226 .322 .548 48 CF Willie Norwood 26 39 91 83 15 19 3 0 3 9 6 1 6 17 .229 .281 .373 .654 78 IF Luis Gomez 25 32 74 65 6 16 4 2 0 11 0 2 4 9 .246 .290 .369 .659 80 C Glenn Borgmann 27 17 54 43 12 11 1 0 2 7 0 0 11 9 .256 .407 .419 .826 128 C Bud Bulling 24 15 39 32 2 5 1 0 0 5 0 0 5 5 .156 .270 .188 .458 29 3B Larry Wolfe 24 8 27 25 3 6 1 0 0 6 0 0 1 0 .240 .269 .280 .549 51 2B Sam Perlozzo 26 10 27 24 6 7 0 2 0 0 0 0 2 3 .292 .346 .458 .804 119 DH Randy Bass* 23 9 19 19 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 .105 .105 .105 .211 -42 Next the pitching staff that held the team to an 84-77 record. Pos Name Age W L ERA G GS GF CG SHO SV IP H R ER HR BB SO ERA+ FIP WHIP Team Totals 27.1 84 77 4.36 161 161 126 35 4 25 1442.0 1546 776 698 151 507 737 91 4.21 1.424 Rank in 14 AL teams 7 8 12 11 9 10 8 12 12 12 10 7 12 Pos Name Age W L ERA G GS GF CG SHO SV IP H R ER HR BB SO ERA+ FIP WHIP SP Dave Goltz 28 20 11 3.36 39 39 0 19 2 0 303.0 284 129 113 23 91 186 119 3.42 1.238 SP Paul Thormodsgard 23 11 15 4.62 37 37 0 8 1 0 218.0 236 122 112 25 65 94 86 4.30 1.381 SP Geoff Zahn* 31 12 14 4.68 34 32 0 7 1 0 198.0 234 116 103 20 66 88 85 4.24 1.515 SP Pete Redfern 22 6 9 5.18 30 28 2 1 0 0 137.1 164 89 79 13 66 73 77 4.44 1.675 Pos Name Age W L ERA G GS GF CG SHO SV IP H R ER HR BB SO ERA+ FIP WHIP CL Tom Johnson 26 16 7 3.13 71 0 54 0 0 15 146.2 152 57 51 11 47 87 128 3.59 1.357 RP Ron Schueler 29 8 7 4.41 52 7 21 0 0 3 134.2 131 74 66 16 61 77 91 4.63 1.426 RP Tom Burgmeier* 33 6 4 5.09 61 0 20 0 0 7 97.1 113 56 55 15 33 35 79 5.10 1.500 RP Dave Johnson 28 2 5 4.58 30 6 16 0 0 0 72.2 86 42 37 7 23 33 88 4.24 1.500 RP Jeff Holly* 24 2 3 6.89 18 5 6 0 0 0 48.1 57 37 37 8 12 32 58 4.37 1.428 Pos Name Age W L ERA G GS GF CG SHO SV IP H R ER HR BB SO ERA+ FIP WHIP Gary Serum 20 0 0 4.37 8 0 2 0 0 0 22.2 22 11 11 4 10 14 93 5.39 1.412 Bill Butler* 30 0 1 6.86 6 4 0 0 0 0 21.0 19 17 16 5 15 5 59 7.64 1.619 Mike Pazik* 27 1 0 2.50 3 3 0 0 0 0 18.0 18 5 5 1 6 6 163 3.79 1.333 Don Carrithers 27 0 1 6.91 7 0 3 0 0 0 14.1 16 13 11 2 6 3 59 5.60 1.535 Jim Shellenback* 33 0 0 7.94 5 0 0 0 0 0 5.2 10 7 5 1 5 3 54 6.62 2.647 Jim Hughes 25 0 0 2.08 2 0 2 0 0 0 4.1 4 1 1 0 1 1 209 2.97 1.154 Notice that the starting rotation was basically one pitcher deep, their ace, Dave Goltz, he of the knuckle-curve. The staff ERA was 4.36, which is not so much a reflection of the quality of the starting staff but of the superior work of two relievers who ate up 281.1 innings. Tom Johnson was the one most responsible for holding down the team ERA with his 3.13 ERA, 16-7 record and 146.2 innings as the closer! Amazingly, after the Twins had lost Bill Campbell and his 17-5 record in relief in 1976 to free-agency, they were able to plug in Johnson. It’s pretty plain to see that the top 9 pitchers listed, excepting Goltz and Johnson, are what held back this team with a juggernaut offense from a possible division championship or even World Series victory. Just one quality starter. Two other major factors influenced my thinking on the value of deep, quality pitching. The first was the astonishing success of the 1972-1974 Oakland A’s, who may have won 5-7 World Series in a row except for the advent of free-agency. Charley Finley waved the white flag of surrender just as much as Calvin Griffith did and the Oakland dynasty was destroyed. Take a look at the pitching staff of a World Champion three years running. The names changed slightly but the prioritization on pitching is the teachable lesson! (courtesy of baseball-reference.com) Pos Name Age W L ERA G GS GF CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA+ FIP WHIP Team Totals 26.7 94 68 3.29 162 162 116 46 12 41 1457.1 1311 532 143 494 797 109 3.83 1.239 Rank in 12 AL teams 2 11 2 9 2 2 3 2 3 9 4 8 Pos Name Age W L ERA G GS GF CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA+ FIP WHIP SP Ken Holtzman* 27 21 13 2.97 40 40 0 16 4 0 297.1 275 98 22 66 157 120 3.18 1.147 SP Vida Blue* 23 20 9 3.28 37 37 0 13 4 0 263.2 214 96 26 105 158 109 3.89 1.210 SP Catfish Hunter 27 21 5 3.34 36 36 0 11 3 0 256.1 222 95 39 69 124 107 4.40 1.135 SP Blue Moon Odom 28 5 12 4.49 30 24 4 3 0 0 150.1 153 75 14 67 83 79 4.05 1.463 SP Dave Hamilton* 25 6 4 4.39 16 11 1 1 0 0 69.2 74 34 8 24 34 81 4.16 1.407 Pos Name Age W L ERA G GS GF CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA+ FIP WHIP CL Rollie Fingers 26 7 8 1.92 62 2 49 0 0 22 126.2 107 27 5 39 110 186 2.36 1.153 RP Darold Knowles* 31 6 8 3.09 52 5 26 1 1 9 99.0 87 34 7 49 46 116 4.13 1.374 RP Horacio Pina 28 6 3 2.76 47 0 24 0 0 8 88.0 58 27 8 34 41 129 4.25 1.045 RP Paul Lindblad* 31 1 5 3.69 36 3 11 0 0 2 78.0 89 32 8 28 33 97 4.25 1.500 Pos Name Age W L ERA G GS GF CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA+ FIP WHIP Glenn Abbott 22 1 0 3.86 5 3 1 1 0 0 18.2 16 8 3 7 6 94 5.14 1.232 Rob Gardner* 28 0 0 4.91 3 0 0 0 0 0 7.1 10 4 2 4 2 77 7.20 1.909 Chuck Dobson 29 0 1 7.71 1 1 0 0 0 0 2.1 6 2 1 2 3 55 8.14 3.429 Second was playing table top baseball with a good friend who was an avid Orioles fan. We played my Twins team against his Orioles for many games, who while not having the offense of the Twins, kept running out a relentless rotation of Palmer, Flanagan, Dennis Martinez, Scott McGregor. I was defeated more often than not by this pitching staff and got used to being dominated. I was forever changed! This is the kind of staff I’d like to see the Twins aspire to! (courtesy of baseball-reference.com) Pos Name Age W L ERA G GS GF CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA+ FIP WHIP Team Totals 26.8 90 71 3.56 161 161 96 65 14 33 1429.0 1340 566 107 509 754 99 3.60 1.294 Rank in 14 AL teams 5 10 5 1 2 2 11 2 4 4 7 5 Pos Name Age W L ERA G GS GF CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA+ FIP WHIP SP Jim Palmer 32 21 12 2.46 38 38 0 19 6 0 296.0 246 81 19 97 138 143 3.48 1.159 SP Mike Flanagan* 26 19 15 4.03 40 40 0 17 2 0 281.1 271 126 22 87 167 87 3.37 1.273 SP Dennis Martinez 24 16 11 3.52 40 38 0 15 2 0 276.1 257 108 20 93 142 100 3.54 1.267 SP Scott McGregor* 24 15 13 3.32 35 32 2 13 4 1 233.0 217 86 19 47 94 106 3.46 1.133 Pos Name Age W L ERA G GS GF CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA+ FIP WHIP CL Don Stanhouse 27 6 9 2.89 56 0 47 0 0 24 74.2 60 24 0 52 42 122 3.55 1.500 RP Joe Kerrigan 24 3 1 4.77 26 2 16 0 0 3 71.2 75 38 10 36 41 74 4.85 1.549 RP Tippy Martinez* 28 3 3 4.83 42 0 16 0 0 5 69.0 77 37 4 40 57 73 3.47 1.696 RP Nelson Briles 34 4 4 4.64 16 8 4 1 0 0 54.1 58 28 6 21 30 76 4.19 1.454 RP John Flinn 23 1 1 8.04 13 0 5 0 0 0 15.2 24 14 3 13 8 45 6.54 2.362 Pos Name Age W L ERA G GS GF CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA+ FIP WHIP Tim Stoddard 25 0 1 6.00 8 0 3 0 0 0 18.0 22 12 3 8 14 60 4.86 1.667 Dave Ford 21 1 0 0.00 2 1 1 0 0 0 15.0 10 0 0 2 5 2.32 0.800 Sammy Stewart 23 1 1 3.18 2 2 0 0 0 0 11.1 10 4 0 3 11 115 1.44 1.147 Earl Stephenson* 30 0 0 2.79 2 0 2 0 0 0 9.2 10 3 0 5 4 131 3.31 1.552 Elrod Hendricks 37 0 0 0.00 1 0 0 0 0 0 2.1 1 0 0 1 0 3.87 0.857 Larry Harlow* 26 0 0 67.50 1 0 0 0 0 0 0.2 2 5 1 4 1 9 37.09 9.000 Now, let’s compare this year’s Twins staff to, first the 1977 Twins, and then secondly to the 1973 A’s and the 1978 Orioles. (courtesy of baseball-reference.com) Pos Name Age W L W-L% ERA G GS GF CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA+ FIP WHIP Team Totals 30.4 29 41 .414 4.94 70 70 70 0 0 17 610.1 619 335 104 209 574 84 4.67 1.357 Rank in 15 AL teams 12 4 14 8 9 8 11 13 13 14 5 13 Pos Name Age W L W-L% ERA G GS GF CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA+ FIP WHIP SP Jose Berrios 27 7 2 .778 3.56 14 14 0 0 0 0 83.1 70 33 10 21 87 115 3.58 1.092 SP J.A. Happ* 38 3 3 .500 6.12 12 12 0 0 0 0 60.1 69 41 11 18 44 67 5.13 1.442 SP Michael Pineda (10-day IL) 32 3 4 .429 3.70 11 11 0 0 0 0 56.0 49 23 10 15 51 111 4.48 1.143 SP Matt Shoemaker 34 2 8 .200 7.57 13 11 2 0 0 0 54.2 66 46 12 23 37 54 6.04 1.628 SP Kenta Maeda 33 2 2 .500 5.01 10 10 0 0 0 0 46.2 55 26 9 14 46 82 4.80 1.479 Pos Name Age W L W-L% ERA G GS GF CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA+ FIP WHIP CL Taylor Rogers* 30 2 3 .400 2.73 28 0 11 0 0 7 29.2 26 9 3 5 41 152 2.23 1.045 RP Hansel Robles 30 3 3 .500 2.84 32 0 9 0 0 5 31.2 21 10 2 19 33 145 3.80 1.263 RP Jorge Alcala 25 1 1 .500 3.49 29 0 11 0 0 0 28.1 16 11 7 7 24 118 5.54 0.812 RP Tyler Duffey 30 0 2 .000 4.15 28 0 2 0 0 2 26.0 23 12 2 13 24 100 3.94 1.385 RP Alex Colome 32 2 4 .333 5.40 27 0 10 0 0 2 25.0 28 15 5 12 26 77 5.49 1.600 Pos Name Age W L W-L% ERA G GS GF CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA+ FIP WHIP Randy Dobnak 26 1 6 .143 7.83 13 5 3 0 0 1 43.2 60 38 11 12 25 53 6.19 1.649 Caleb Thielbar* 34 2 0 1.000 4.13 22 0 4 0 0 0 24.0 26 11 3 7 36 101 2.80 1.375 Bailey Ober 25 0 0 3.71 4 4 0 0 0 0 17.0 18 7 3 2 21 113 3.52 1.176 Cody Stashak (10-day IL) 27 0 0 6.89 15 0 1 0 0 0 15.2 16 12 2 10 26 61 3.62 1.660 Lewis Thorpe* (7-day IL) 25 0 2 .000 3.86 4 3 1 0 0 0 14.0 13 6 1 4 5 109 4.24 1.214 Luke Farrell 30 1 0 1.000 2.08 11 0 3 0 0 0 13.0 11 3 1 5 14 202 3.17 1.231 Shaun Anderson 26 0 0 9.35 4 0 0 0 0 0 8.2 13 9 1 5 8 46 4.90 2.077 Griffin Jax (40-man) 26 0 0 8.64 3 0 2 0 0 0 8.1 11 8 4 3 9 49 8.33 1.680 Derek Law 30 0 0 8.53 5 0 3 0 0 0 6.1 11 6 2 6 9 51 7.28 2.684 Juan Minaya 30 0 0 4.26 4 0 2 0 0 0 6.1 5 3 2 3 4 102 7.91 1.263 Devin Smeltzer* (10-day IL) 25 0 0 0.00 1 0 1 0 0 0 4.2 1 0 0 1 3 3.81 0.429 Brandon Waddell* 27 0 1 .000 11.25 4 0 2 0 0 0 4.0 10 5 2 3 1 40 11.42 3.250 Willians Astudillo (40-man) 29 0 0 3.00 3 0 3 0 0 0 3.0 1 1 1 1 0 153 8.51 0.667 Statistically, this is the worst pitching staff we’ve looked at. This rotation is basically a two man rotation out of 5 where the 1977 Twins were basically one. Staffs like the 1977 and 2021 Twins will never lead to a high quality team featuring one and two viable starters type rotations. Obvious, right? My argument would be that Falvey and Levine should be trying to get that to 4 or 5 quality starters and not put resources to players like J.A. Happ, Matt Shoemaker, Alex Colome or even Josh Donaldson. Donaldson has good qualities but one thing he isn’t is a quality pitcher. What’s the way forward? I think, based on his 3.70 ERA so far and the virtual impossibility of signing 3 FA quality starters, that they need to re-sign Michael Pineda. They also need to re-sign Jose Berrios. That’s only 2 of 5 quality starters. We have to hope that Maeda rounds back into form. Further the FO is going to have to sign a quality free agent pitcher. Then we have to hope that Bailey Ober builds on what he as started so far. And hope that Barnes, Duran or Balazovic make a breakthrough. There are other good arms. I’ve pictured below the kinds of pitchers we need in at least 3 or 4 spots. It would be nice to have Christy Mathewson as a Twin but, alas, that’s not possible. He’s my favorite pitcher of all time. Let me know what you think. My motto is pitching, pitching and more pitching!!!

I know my writing is about as consistent as the Twins pitching, but that doesn’t mean that I am not watching. Watching and learning and understanding that baseball, as emotional as we get about it, is a business, and in a business you want to be the best that you can with the assets that you have. That’s why when you are hired at a job, if you are not doing the duties hired for, or continue to curtail off of them and get lazy, you will get fired, or in baseball’s instance, traded. The past few weeks we have seen a few changes, more hits, better defense, and a few more wins. Now, some of those wins are coming from other teams that are at our “level” (aka: a bad record), but as my husband says, “a win is a win”. He’s right, “A win is a win”, so let’s take a look at what has changed lately. If you don’t know, I will just tell you: injuries. Yes, you read that right, injuries are what are helping us. The Twins, in typical fashion have had a load of injuries that continue to plague us as we go throughout the season. I know that this is nothing new for any team, it’s the point of the IL, right? But let’s look at what that means for our Twins. Buxton, Donaldson, Simmons, Kepler, and now Jake Cave’s injuries are allowing for minor leaguers to come up to the show and give it a shot and take that shot they have. New guys joining our team on a consistent basis the past three weeks have been making dives on line drives and fly balls and getting homeruns like they were born to be on the Bomba Squad. Larnach has been one of those bright spots in our line up and in the left field. In the past three games, he has hit two homeruns and had four runs. One of those being his major league first HR on May 20th, and the flood gates of awesome opened up. Larnach continues to show us why he continues to stay on the active 26. Refsnyder is the diamond in the rough. The 30 year old has come out swinging, literally. Since May 15th, the former Texas Ranger has seen 33 at bats, which has led to 8 runs, 7 RBI’s and 2 homeruns. Definitely a great acquisition and has given the line up new life. I usually cringe when I see a player being traded and they are creeping into their 30’s, but there are a few, such as Refsnyder who continue to surprise teams and when they find their stride, watch out… Kiriloff, who has been with the 26 man since the middle of April, is great at first base and is a solid hitter. Kiriloff is young and has some room to grow, but he continues to improve each time he comes up, a solid hitter in dire situations, the 23 year old has four homeruns (two coming in one game against the Kansas City Royals) and only two walks in his 63 at bats this season. His RBI’s are what make him a great addition to the line up, he has ushered in fifteen RBI’s since April! If the Twins pitching could quit taking us into extra innings, imagine how 15 RBI’s could make a difference in our overall record. Baseball is a business. Baseball for us fans, means winning records, longevity into the playoffs, and hopefully a World Series win...or at least a chance. Emotionally, we love certain players, we all have our reasons, but at the end of the day, the owners, the fans and the coaches have an investment in these players and deserve a return on their investment. These three men have proven to be a huge improvement in our line up and in our defense, so maybe it’s time to make some permanent changes, ones that all of us would hate to see, but, we may need if we truly want to have a winning team.