Article: MIN 4, TOR 0: Fernandomania!

[Tom Froemming]

Fernando Romero provided a much-needed boost to a slumping Twins team, firing 5 2/3 shutout innings in his Major League debut to set the tone. The bullpen followed suit, combining to hold Toronto to two hits over the final 3 1/3 frames, and the offense scratched across four runs to give the Twins a relatively low-stress victory on getaway day.SnapshotDownload attachment: Snapshot52.png

Win Expectancy Chart via FanGraphsDownload attachment: chart.png

Romero pitched as well as anybody could have expected. The 23-year-old came into his major league debut with just 208 1/3 innings under his belt at the three highest levels of the minor leagues.

 

To put that into some perspective, Jose Berrios threw more innings than that at Triple A alone and more than 450 innings at the top three levels combined. Fellow 23-year-old prospect Stephen Gonsalves has logged over 350 innings combined at those top three levels.

 

Simply put, it would have been reasonable to suspect that Romero wasn’t ready to be exposed to major league hitters.

 

Romero answered the bell, however, and delivered 5 2/3 shutout innings. He racked up five strikeouts, gave up four hits, walked three and had one hit batsman. He threw 59 of his 97 pitches for strikes. He topped out at 98.4 mph and he got 12 swinging strikes, which were fairly evenly distributed among his four offerings.

The lineup managed to provide Romero a little bit of wiggle room early, scoring runs in both the second and third innings thanks to an Eddie Rosario solo homer and a Max Kepler RBI groundout.

 

After Romero exited, Trevor Hildenberger recorded the last out of the sixth inning, Zach Duke pitched a scoreless seventh and Addison Reed worked around a leadoff single to hold Toronto scoreless in the eighth.

 

The Twins offense provided two huge insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth, as Robbie Grossman hit a sac fly and Gregorio Petit drew a bases-loaded walk. Joe Mauer, Eduardo Escobar and Rosario all had a pair of hits. It was a better day with the bats, but the Twins were still just 2-for-10 with runners in scoring position and left eight men on base.

 

Fernando Rodney set down the Blue Jays in order in the ninth inning to secure the shutout victory.

 

Postgame With Romero

Bullpen Usage

Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days:Download attachment: Bullpen52.png

Next Three Games

Thu at CHW, 7:10 pm CT

Fri at CHW, 7:10 pm CT

Sat at CHW, 6:10 pm CT

 

Last Three Games

TOR 7, MIN 4: WHAT IS HAPPENING!?!?!?

TOR 7, MIN 5: Twins Can’t Recover After Another Poor Start by Lynn

CIN 8, MIN 2: Berrios Bombs as Twins Drop Series to Cincy

 

ICYMI on Twitter/Periscope Seth Speaks on Romero

 

Click here to view the article

[MangLitch]

Can Fernando Spark The Twins!!!!!!

 

I think so! That was fun. Seeing him be electric even when he wasn’t his best.

 

That kid was fun!

 

But seriously, when does Phil Hughes come back to starting?

[laloesch]

Yeah this kid has SERIOUS HEAT on his fastball and movement too which is very important at that velocity. I was impressed. 

 

Being able to work out of jams at the major league level is important as well. The only thing I saw today was that his offspeed stuff needs further polish especially the slider but given he's just 23 years old and made the jump to MLB level from AA with a handful of starts at AAA Rochester speaks volumes about his talent. 

 

If he can pitch like he did today or better the rest of the season there is no reason to send him down again.  Just think what a rotation with Romero and Berrios could possibly do in the future.  

[Han Joelo]

Let it roll.  This is the same team that played the Astros and Indians tough a couple-three weeks ago.  Right now, they've won two out of their last three, which is like a hundred win season.  This team is awesome!

 

Seriously, so cool to see Romero come through.

[slash129]

 

But seriously, when does Phil Hughes come back to starting?

 

How I hope it works: To answer your question: Never.  If Lynn can't figure it out against Chicago, either Hughes or Lynn "develops an ailment" and the other gets the mop up job.  Gonsalves or Slegers gets an opportunity to join the rotation.

 

How I'm afraid it will work:  Lynn won't figure it out against Chicago, so they'll flip Hughes and Lynn.  Hughes will get another start.  Then Lynn will get another start after a Hughes failure.  Barring injury, Gonsalves or Slegers won't get an opportunity until sometime in June unless there is a double-header need.

[slash129]

 

Let it roll.  This is the same team that played the Astros and Indians tough a couple-three weeks ago.  Right now, they've won two out of their last three, which is like a hundred win season.  This team is awesome!

 

Seriously, so cool to see Romero come through.

 

Umm ... They've won two of their last thirteen

[mikelink45]

Seeing a rookie come through is so much more fun than cheering for a FA.  Now Gonsalves!

[mickeymental]

clone him!

[nicksaviking]

If he can do this for a couple of more starts hopefully it makes the powers-that-be much less reluctant to make tough calls on poorly performing vets.

 

It would be nice to get Gonsalves a start in Lynn's place prior to Santana coming back. It would be a lot easier to go with three youngsters in Berrios, Romero and Gonsalves if they've all had a look at the majors. It's going to be hard for him to get his foot in the door when Santana, Lynn, Gibson and Odorizzi are all fighting for three spots.

[FormerMinnasotan]

Romero exceeded all expectations IMO. He was the shot in the arm we needed. I love his attitude and the stuff he brings to the table. Will Romero struggle at times? Sure, but from all reports I have heard Romero is pretty unflappable and is pretty self confident in his abilities (but he isn’t cocky though). Barring injury I think Romero could be special for the Twins.

[diehardtwinsfan]

I find the statement I'm about to make rather odd, but starting pitching is not this team's problem right now. Hughes was a disaster, so yeah, he needed to go. Romero has obviously earned himself a second look and if he pitches well, Lynn will be the one looking over his shoulder as Santana and May near return. 

 

That said, the offense has been offensive, as has the pen. It will be interesting to see how that gets addressed. I'm hoping some guys start to heat up. LoMo, Rosario, Grossman, and Castro shouldn't be this bad. 

[Vanimal46]

Maybe this is the performance the higher ups need to see in order to trust young players. More of this. Less of 30+ year old nobodies.

[slash129]

 

If he can do this for a couple of more starts hopefully it makes the powers-that-be much less reluctant to make tough calls on poorly performing vets.

 

Those starts would be @ St. Louis and @ Anaheim.  If Romero can pitch 5+ innings while giving the team a chance to win in both of those games, that would hopefully be enough to earn him starts for the foreseeable future.

[D. Hocking]

 

Umm ... They've won two of their last thirteen

 

Nothing like grasping at straws, but it does seem like two of the more recent losses were not quite as epically disastrous.  It really could have been 4 and 11, so really they are practically back in contention...

 

It is nice to see someone have a strong debut and hopefully he can continue to contribute.

[Halsey Hall]

It was much more enjoyable watching this game. The kids got confidence and I expect him to continue with good pitching.  Good for him. 

[laloesch]

 

How I hope it works: To answer your question: Never.  If Lynn can't figure it out against Chicago, either Hughes or Lynn "develops an ailment" and the other gets the mop up job.  Gonsalves or Slegers gets an opportunity to join the rotation.

 

How I'm afraid it will work:  Lynn won't figure it out against Chicago, so they'll flip Hughes and Lynn.  Hughes will get another start.  Then Lynn will get another start after a Hughes failure.  Barring injury, Gonsalves or Slegers won't get an opportunity until sometime in June unless there is a double-header need.

 

I'd like to see the front office be bold and give Gonsalves a look as well considering he's pitched well so far this season.  No reason to suffer through more bad starts from Lynn or Hughes.

[Han Joelo]

 

Umm ... They've won two of their last thirteen

Okay, selective memory when selecting a sample size must have affected me. I think I blotted out the last two games.  You have to do that, when you are a mediocre, journeyman relief poster like I am.  Short memory; brush off bad takes and get back on the keyboard.

 

They have now won 1 of their last 2 games, an 81 win pace.  Or, as I prefer even more, they have won 1 out of their last 1 games. 

[DocBauer]

LOVE IT!  Now give him additional opportunities, even if he struggles some. What's he going to do, pitch worse than we've seen from Hughes and others??

 

Don't want to put the cart before the horse, but if he and Gonsalves could both make some sort of mark on this season...WOW! 

[Puckett34]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQsjAbZDx-4

[RaymondLuxuryYacht]

 

Maybe this is the performance the higher ups need to see in order to trust young players. More of this. Less of 30+ year old nobodies.

Is Lynn a 30+ year old nobody?

[Tom Froemming]

This has now been updated to include all the regular game recap features as well as a bunch of video. Make sure to check out Seth's analysis he shared on Twitter/Periscope, which I embedded at the very end of the article.

[adorduan]

Rosario is started to heat up with the bat a little too.

[Riverbrian]

With Hughes moved into the long relief role and a nothing but zeroes hung in his debut. 

 

Romero should be able to make a couple more starts before May and Santana return. 

 

The landscape could change by the time that happens. 

 

It's a chance for him to impress some people. 

[mlhouse]

Please. Romero isn't  29 years old and waived by at least two other major league organizations.  He obviously needs to go back to the minors for more seasoning.

[USAFChief]

Romero has big league stuff, to be sure. Fun to watch.

[Han Joelo]

Thanks for adding the video.  The dude has charisma.  Wasn't Bob Sacamento always saying what a fun guy Romero is?  

 

[Oxtung]

Maybe this is the performance the higher ups need to see in order to trust young players. More of this. Less of 30+ year old nobodies.

Who are the 30 year old nobodies you’re referring to this year? While we have some veterans struggling none were nobodies.

[Dantes929]

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQsjAbZDx-4

At a minimum this needs to be posted for every Fernando win.

[Puckett34]

 

At a minimum this needs to be posted for every Fernando win.

One could suggest it could be used when Rodney pitches a clean inning too.    But it would be used far less often.

[Oldgoat_MN]

I was fortunate enough to be able to watch the game yesterday. Romero was throwing 91 MPH change-ups in the second inning.

I suspect he is going to have control issues he will need to work on, but this kid looked really good out there. His FB has good movement. His slider was good. Fun to watch.