The Minnesota Twins come up short against the Cleveland Indians losing 4-3 after tying it up in the 7th!
The #MNTwins were going for the series sweep today in Cleveland and it looked to be a pitcher’s duel with Jose Berrios facing Shane Bieber, 2 All-Stars with one ending up the game’s MVP.
The Twins got a 2-out hit in the first from Nelson Cruz but nothing came from it. Berrios got the 1st 2 batters on a pop out and a line out but then walked the next 2 batters which brought 3B Jose Ramirez up to the plate and he hit his 16th double of the season to score Santana from 2nd but Berrios got Jake Bauers to fly out to left field to end the inning. 1-0 Indians.
It was a pitchers duel for most of the game but the Indians got to Berrios for 2 runs in the bottom of the 4th on a Jake Bauers double (12), a Greg Allen RBI-single, a groundout (Allen advanced to 2nd) and a Tyler Naquin RBI-single.
The Twins were getting almost nothing off Shane Bieber (6IP 3H 0R/ER 0BB 8K) until the 7th inning which started with a Luis Arraez walk and Mitch Garver being hit by a pitch. The Indians challenged that the ball hit Garver’s bat but the call stood. Marwin then hit an RBI-single (his 3rd hit of the day) and Miguel Sano followed with a single to left field to load the bases. Jake Cave was then hit by a pitch, although it took a Twins challenge to reverse the call. Garver scored and the bases were still loaded. Schoop struck out and the Indians went to LHP Oliver Perez to once again face Max Kepler and Max hit a soft fly ball to short center field to tie the game at 3-3. Unfortunately, Jorge Polanco and Nelson Cruz struck to end the half-inning but they turned a 3-0 deficit into a new ballgame.
Trever May was brought in to replace Zack Littell who had replaced Jose Berrios to pitch a perfect 6th. May got Lindor to ground out, Kipnis to strike out but he hung an 0-2 curveball after getting to 0-2 on Carlos Santana on a 98mph inside fastball and a 97.5mph high & inside fastball! Jack Morris had said he’d be doing the hitter a favor if he throws anything except another fastball. Well, that hanging curveball also hung in the air for a while until it landed in the seats for a 4-3 Indians lead! Ouch! That hurts.
Luis Arraez led off the top of the 8th with his 6th double of the season and he ended up advancing to 3rd on the 2nd out but Miguel Sano struck out swinging on a low 78mph slider on the outer half of the plate.
The Twins then got a baserunner to lead off the top of the 9th when Jason Kipnis committed an error to allow Ehire Adrianza to reach but then Indians Closer Brad Hand closed it by striking out the next 3 batters to end the game, all swinging strikeouts!
It was a disappointing loss but winning the series is good and the Twins tied the game late and then had their chances to tie it again but just didn’t get the hits when they needed them.
They’ll get Monday off then start a 9-game homestand beginning with a 2-game series against the Mets starting on Tuesday (RHP Michael Pineda (6-4, 4.56 ERA) vs RHP Zack Wheeler (6-6, 4.69 ERA) then they’ll play 4 against the Athletics and finish the homestand with 3 against the Yankees. It should be a fun homestand against some good teams.
Max Kepler hit 2 Home Runs off Trevor Bauer and set a record for being the 1st player ever to hit 5 consecutive HRs off of one pitcher in a single season.
It’s Game 2 today and it’s going to be a pitching duel with #MNTwins RHP Jake Odorizzi pitching against Cleveland Indians ace RHP Trevor Bauer.
First, the Minnesota Twins had to make a #Twinsaction to make room for Odo and they decided to Designate LHP Adalberto Mejia for Assignment (DFA) to free up a spot on the 25-man roster. I find this move disappointing because Mejia is a starting pitcher that they tried to move to the bullpen and never really gave him a fair shot at starting. He struggled to make it as a reliever for whatever reason. He has good stuff but had problems staying healthy and then struggled with his long relief role. Why? Who knows?
The Twins just didn’t have the time to figure out if Adalberto could be a starter mainly because of the injuries. They couldn’t count on him being in the lineup so they had to go out and get a pitcher they thought they could work with by signing LHP Martin Perez and, give them credit because it has worked so far.
Well, the Twins got on the board right away in the first inning again tonight when Max Kepler hit a leadoff HR (22) to put the Twins up 1-0 after the 1st batter. Polanco followed with a single. Cruz walked. Marwin struck out. Luis Arraez singled to load the bases for Jonathan Schoop but they left the bases full after Schoop struck out and Castro grounded out to end the threat. Will we look back at this at the end of this game as a big missed opportunity?
Francisco Lindor singled to lead off the bottom of the 1st but Jake Odorizzi got a double-play ball then a groundout to pitch around the leadoff single and get out of the inning.
Jake Cave then led off the top of the 2nd inning by hitting his 2nd HR of the season to the opposite field and doubling the Twins lead. 2-0. Buxton flew out to center field and that brought Max Kepler back up to the plate facing Trevor Bauer who he had homered in 4 consecutive at-bats, although there is a walk in there, too. He then homers for the 5th straight at-bat for his 2nd HR of the game and his 23rd HR of the season. 3-0 Twins! WOW!*
*After the game, it was revealed that Max Kepler hitting 5 HRs in 6 plate appearances is the first time ever any player has done that against one pitcher in a single season! #MaxRecords
Polanco struck out. Cruz walked and Marwin struck out for the 2nd time to end the top of the 2nd.
Indians 3B Jose Ramirez got a run back on his 8th HR of the season that went out to right field.
Jake Odorizzi was also starting to groove a bit, giving up just a hit and a walk until he got to the bottom of the 6th. He began that inning by hitting Greg Allen with a pitch then getting Lindor to line out to left before walking Oscar Mercado and Rocco decided to go to the bullpen after that, bringing in RHP Ryne Harper and he got Carlos Santana to fly out to CF and then struck out Jason Kipnis to end the 6th inning.
Trevor Bauer then started to get into a bit of a groove as, after giving up Kepler’s 2nd HR in the top of the 2nd, he allowed just a single and 2 walks while striking out 9 over the next 4.2 innings before being removed after getting through 6 innings. He ended with 117 pitches.
The Indians pulled within one run when DH Bobby Bradley hit the 1st HR of his young career off RHP Tyler Duffey in the bottom of the 7th and it was crushed. It came off the bat at 113mph and traveled 457 feet at a 25-degree launch angle. WOW! That made it 3-2. Kepler’s HRs had an exit velocity of 101mph & 98mph and traveled 413 & 396 feet. Jake Cave’s HR came out at 99mph and traveled 373 feet.
But, in the top of the 8th, like they have done a lot this season, the Twins responded. Luis Arraez & Jonathan Schoop hit back-to-back singles to lead off the inning. Jason Castro sacrifice bunted to advance them to 2nd & 3rd then Jake Cave doubled down the first baseline to score both of them and increase the lead to 5-2. They added another run in the top of the 9th on a Marwin Gonzalez sacrifice fly to left field that scored Jorge Polanco. He led off the inning with his 3rd single of the game.
Taylor Rogers still came into the game since he was warmed up but he needed just 8 pitches, all of them strikes, to get through the 9th inning, striking out Bobby Bradley to end the game.
The American League Central lead has increased to 7.5 games.
GOT HEEEM!!!
Bradley strikes out Bradley on a low 96mph fastball and that’s Game!!!
#Bux-Great Catch in B8, removed from game (precautionary?)
Same teams, different time tomorrow (12:10pm) as they’ll go for the sweep with Twins RHP Jose Berrios (8-5, 3.00 ERA) set to start against Indians RHP Shane Bieber (8-3, 3.45 ERA) for an American League All-Star pitcher’s duel.
Hey, Hey! Baseball is Back as the #MNTwins start the 2nd half with 3 big games against a hot Cleveland Indians team that has trimmed the Minnesota Twins American League Central lead to just 5.5 games! Game 1 will have Twins RHP Kyle Gibson pitching against Indians RHP Mike Clevinger. Oh, boy! This is going to be fun!
The Twins got the scoring going in the top of the first when a Nelson Cruz made some LOUD NOISES with his BoomStick when he hit his 17th HR of the season out to center field to give the Twins a 1-0 lead.
Gibby cruised through the first 3 innings, allowing just 2 hits, a stolen base and no walks while striking out 4 but he got into some trouble in the bottom of the 4th. 1B Carlos Santana tied the game at 1 with his 20th HR of the season. Jason Kipnis walked then Gibson got a ground ball to first that very well could’ve been a double play but Ehire Adrianza’s throw to 2nd hit Kipnis in the hand and deflected to allow him to advance to 3rd and Jose Ramirez to reach on the error. Gibson got a groundball for the 1st out then struck out Jake Bauers for the 2nd out and C Roberto Perez came to the plate. On a 2-1 inside fastball, he singled to right field and both Kipnis & Ramirez scored to give the Indians a 3-1 lead. Gibby then hit the next batter with a pitch and Rocco decided he’d seen enough so he went to RHP Trevor May who got the last out of the 4th inning but the Twins were trailing by 2 runs after leading by 1 when the inning began.
The Twins responded right away in the top of the 4th when Luis Arraez singled to lead off the inning and Miguel Sano followed with a double off the left field wall but they didn’t score after Adrianza grounded out and both Byron Buxton & Max Kepler struck out to end the threat!
Trevor May struck out 2 in a perfect 5th and the Twins threatened to score again in the top of the 6th when #AllStarter Jorge Polanco walked to lead off the inning. That made Indians manager Terry Francona go to his bullpen beginning with RHP Adam Cimber and he got Nelson Cruz to ground into a fielder’s choice then he hit Marwin Gonzalez with a pitch so there were runners on 1st and 2nd with Mitch Garver at the plate but he grounded into a double play to end the threat! DOH!
Twins RHP Zack Littell pitched around a leadoff single by inducing a 4-6-3 double play. He then walked Jake Bauers but struck out Roberto Perez to end the 6th inning.
The top of the 7th began with a new pitcher on the mound, Indians RHP Nick Goody, and Luis Arraez hit a line drive to 3rd that Jose Ramirez turned into the 1st out with a great catch. Miguel Sano then reached on an error by the pitcher then Adrianza walked. That brought Byron Buxton to the plate. He flew out to right center field then Francona brought in LHP Oliver Perez to pitch to Max Kepler, who was 0-6 in his career against the Cleveland lefty. Kepler hit a slow groundball towards the 2nd baseman and SS Francisco Lindor cut in front of it and threw out Kepler at 1st but Kepler waved the safe sign as he ran through the bag and he looked safe on the play. The Twins challenged the call and it was overturned which made Kepler safe and Miguel Sano scored on the play so the Twins trailed by just 1 run at 3-2.
Jorge Polanco stepped to the plate and LHP Oliver Perez was left in to face him because they turned Polanco around to hit from the right side of the plate where he’s still a decent hitter but his On-Base Percentage is a lot lower and he was 0-2 with 2 strikeouts in his career against Perez but, just like Max Kepler in front of him, he got off the schneid against Perez and doubled to the center field wall on a ball that must’ve confused Indians CF Oscar Mercado because it went over his head and allowed 2 runs to score to give the Twins a 4-3 lead!
The Twins bullpen would take care of the rest by going the next 3 innings allowing just 1 hit and no walks and striking out 4 with RHP Ryne Harper (1IP, 1 strikeout) and LHP Taylor “Mister” Rogers (2IP, 3 strikeouts, 1 save (13)), who only needed 9 pitches in the 9th, his 2nd inning of work, to earn that save!
With Rocco going to Taylor Rogers for the 6-out save, does that say he doesn’t trust any other Twins reliever to pitch the 8th and/or the 9th or was it just in this situation to begin the 2nd half. He still had RHPs Blake Parker, Tyler Duffey, Matt Magill & Mike Morin and LHP Adalberto Mejia. The only pitcher close to pitching in either the 8th or the 9th right now is still Blake Parker and he’s been very erratic recently so it’s not surprising that he’d rather stick with Rogers there but it does feel like the front office should raise the urgency of getting a late-inning reliever or two as soon as possible rather than wait for the Trade Deadline which is 2 ½ weeks away.
See other highlights here: https://www.mlb.com/video/search/tag/gamepk-565359?displayName=MIN%40CLE%207%2F12%2F2019
Same teams, same time tomorrow (6:10pm) when Twins RHP Jake Odorizzi (10-4, 3.15 ERA) will be activated off the 10-Day Injured List (IL) to start against Indians RHP Trevor Bauer (8-6, 3.81 ERA).
Working Together to Win Baseball Games. It’s a Partnership! Ahem! Are the Royals really a Home Highlight? Come on, now!
The Minnesota Twins embark on their 59th season and, maybe more importantly, their 3rd season under CBO Derek Falvey & GM Thad Levine, who have now added another “partner” in new Manager Rocco Baldelli. This is the Twins moving on from their past and into the next era of the Minnesota Twins. It’s taken
Will it work? Unfortunately, there is no way to know until we get through this season and, arguably, 2-3 seasons. We will see how this team develops throughout the 2019 season and that will tell us how it’s going and this season will definitely tell us if the the Front Offices of Falvey, Levine & Baldelli are on the right track.
The Future is Now
Ahh…the old “future is now” saying. We’ve heard that before, huh? It has different meanings, though. For the Twins, it means they need to find out what they have in their young core players. They have a pretty good read on SS Jorge Polanco, LF Eddie Rosario, starting RHP Jose Berrios and reliever LHP Taylor Rogers. The rest of that young core is still up in the air on if they can be key parts to this team becoming a perennial playoff & championship-contending team.
They aren’t completely sure what they have in CF Byron Buxton, 3B Miguel Sano, RF Max Kepler, OF Jake Cave, C Mitch Garver, RHP Jake Odorizzi and the two Trevors, May & Hildenberger. This is a big season for all of these players. They have a chance to secure their time with this team with good seasons.
Impact Players?
A good part of this offseason was about getting CF Byron Buxton & 3B Miguel Sano right after both of them had miserable 2018 seasons due to both injuries and bad play. They need to find out if either of them can be the impact players they have the potential to be and until they find that out, it pretty much keeps the front office from going all in on big-time free agents.
The good news is both Byron Buxton & Miguel Sano realized that a lot of this is on them. They need to figure out how to be major league baseball players. Not only how to play but everything around the game. How to prepare both in the offseason and during the season for each game. It’s not as easy at the major-league level as it is coming up through the minors when their talent will get it done most of the time. This is a big part of failure being a reason for success.
Ironically, weight was a big deal for both of them but Byron was trying to gain weight while Miguel was trying to lose it. Byron wanted some more weight on his body so he could take all the plays he makes in the outfield against the walls and the outfield grass. Miguel needed to lose weight so he could be more flexible and allow his body to handle the rigors of a 162-game major-league baseball season. They both looked great coming into spring training.
Sano made some noise in the offseason by helping his Winter League team win a championship and he ended up getting a pretty good gash on his heel that will end up keeping him out until May. That’s a tough setback for Miguel. It was easy to tell that he put a lot of work into getting healthy this offseason. It is also easy to tell how disappointed he is to not be able to be out there with his teammates getting ready for the season.
Rocco to the Rescue
Just a couple days after the 2018 season ended, the Twins fired manager Paul Molitor. Derek Falvey probably would’ve fired Molitor after the 2017 season but they made the playoffs and he was named American League Manager of the Year. So they gave him a 3-year extension instead because his team did the unthinkable and made the playoffs after going 5-10 after the All-Star Break and being an under .500 baseball team. Then they went 35-24 for the last two months of the regular season and clinched a Wild Card spot.
Remember, Falvey was forced to keep Molitor as his manager when he was hired in October of 2016 so it’s not that surprising that he’d want to bring in his own manager as soon as possible. So, a search began for the 14th manager of the Minnesota Twins. About 3 weeks later, they found their man in former Tampa Bay Rays outfielder and coach, Rocco Baldelli.
Rocco has never managed a team before so he didn’t go over well with some Twins fans because, of course, they don’t know him, yet. They still don’t know him but from afar he appears to be a very down to earth person who likes to get to know people, how they tick and wants to know their opinions on baseball. That includes his players, too.
Rocco is Falvey’s guy, a “partner” he can work with who enjoys all elements of the game of baseball, including the analytics side. He’s also very open to change and trying new things in the game. They’ve worked together along with the rest of the baseball operations staff to change a lot of how this team is run. They changed a lot of Spring Training to keep the players from having to be on their feet more than they need to and to keep them healthy throughout, especially the catchers. That will continue through the season as well and I’m sure we’ll hear some unorthodox ways the Twins are doing things.
For me, it’s refreshing because they are trying to find ways to beat other teams on & off the field and the players have liked it, too. They are doing things that other teams might not be doing. For example, they are changing how catchers receive low pitches with different catching positions so the ump can see the pitch better so they can get more low strikes for their pitchers.
One question a lot of fans will ask is how will Rocco do as a game manager? How will he manage his pitchers, the starters and the relievers and how will he manage his bench? I imagine this could be different than we’re used to as well. We already heard the Twins are going to begin the season with an 11-man pitching staff and a 5-man bench. A lot of that might be all the days they have off in the first 2-3 weeks of the season. They won’t need a 5th starter until April 16th.
Agents of Change
The Twins traded away some key players last season. IF Eduardo Escobar, 2B Brian Dozier, RHP Ryan Pressly, RHP Fernando Rodney, LHP Zach Duke and RHP Lance Lynn were all traded at the end of July through the end of August. Then 1B Joe Mauer announced his retirement in November so the Front Office had some work to do to fill those spots.
They decided to make a waiver claim when the Tampa Bay Rays decided they didn’t want 1B C.J. Cron even though he just came off a season where he hit 30 home runs in his first season with over 500 at-bats. Did they not want to pay him? Or was it Cron turning 30 soon? They have Ji-Man Choi listed as their 1B. He brings about the same as Cron with better on-base skills and about $4M less in salary so maybe it was the money.
A couple weeks later, the Twins filled their vacant 2B spot with Jonathan Schoop on a 1-year for $7.5M. Mr. Schoop had a rough season in 2018 after a breakout 2017 that saw him make the All-Star team and slug 32 home runs. Still only 27-years-old, he is betting on having a comeback season and cashing in on it for 2020. He still hit 21 home runs last season for a bad Orioles team and the playoff Brewers. He had a monster month of July with 7 doubles, 9 home runs & 19 RBIs which made him wanted at the trade deadline but he struggled with the Brewers.
At the beginning of January, the Twins signed a player that may have the biggest impact on the 2019 Twins on and off the field as any other player added in the offseason and maybe any player currently on the team. Jonathan Schoop helped recruit him to the Twins, too. DH Nelson Cruz signed with the Twins on January 2nd for 1-year and $14.3 million. He has a big bat. Any player with the nickname Boomstick is probably known for hitting the long ball. He brings that for sure but he also brings some leadership into the clubhouse. He will help fill the void of the Joe Mauer retirement. A clubhouse leader is a big thing in today’s game. Cruz will help mentor the younger players. I’m excited to see how this affects a player like Miguel Sano. He may be the next Boomstick.
The Twins filled their biggest needs with their early signings. All of the vacated spots in the field were now filled but they had yet to add anything to the pitching staff and everyone was hoping they’d add a couple pitchers to the bullpen.
Pitch to Contract
Free Agent relievers were coming off the board and we weren’t really even hearing the Twins were in on any specific pitchers, especially the ones that could really help their bullpen, the higher-tier free agents. The Twins do have RHPs Trevor May, Addison Reed & Trevor Hildenberger and LHP Taylor Rogers for the backend of their bullpen but why not try to improve that if you can with a free agent.
Is it because they feel the cost is too high? The players available are too old? Or do they feel they have the pieces to build a good bullpen already in house? It’s probably a bit of all 3 of these reasons but here’s a statement from a Dan Hayes article in The Athletic about the bullpen,
That says quite a bit about what they think about high-priced free agent relievers. Does it have any merit? Well, the Oakland Athletics had one of the best bullpens in the league last season, 3rd with a 3.37 ERA & 2nd with a .220 Batting Average Against (BAA.) They were 25th (4.57) & 20th (.250) in those stats in 2017. They added Ryan Buchter (offseason) & Blake Treinen (2017 midseason) in trades and signed RHP Yusmeiro Petit in free agency. They also added Shawn Kelley, Juerys Familia & Fernando Rodney around the deadline for the stretch run.
That’s a big jump to make in one season. Twins fans just want their team to have a good bullpen and they obviously don’t believe (yet?) that can happen with the pieces they have in place right now. That’s why they kept clamoring for Craig Kimbrel and likely still are.
The Twins did sign veteran right-handed reliever Blake Parker to a 1-year/$1.8 million deal with $1.4 million in bonuses based on how many days he is on the Twins roster. He was the Los Angeles Angels closer in 2017 and 2018 and they released him in the offseason making him a free agent. He will add to the Twins options at the backend of the bullpen with the ability to strike out hitters.
At the end of January, the Twins addressed the backend of their starting rotation by signing former Texas Rangers starting pitcher, LHP Martin Perez, to a 1-year, $4.0M (with a $7.5M option & a $500K buyout which could rise to $8.5M based on 2019 innings pitched; $500K in performance bonuses, too). The 27-year-old Perez is coming off a rough 2018 season where he struggled with the Rangers and ended up in the bullpen. He’s never really been a strikeout guy (5.5 career strikeouts per 9 innings (SO9) and his WHIP has risen almost every season to a career-high of 1.781 last season. His career WHIP is 1.479 so a lot of people didn’t understand this move but…
This is almost a test for the Twins new analytics staff and coaches. Can they get this pitcher with a pretty good arm back to being a serviceable pitcher or even better? Only time will tell but he’s looked pretty good in Spring Training. His velocity was up along with his strikeouts and his WHIP was 1.286.
Yes, Sire!
The Twins have one other recent addition to their major-league bullpen and he’s a pitcher who’s been with the organization for just over a year and today is his Birthday as he turns 30. Clarkson, Tennessee native, RHP Ryne Harper was lights out in Spring Training as he pitched 11.0 innings. He allowed just 7 hits, 2 unearned runs, 0 earned runs, 0 walks and he struck out 14. He was drafted out of Austin Peay State University (in Clarkson, Tennessee) in the 37th round of the 2011 MLB Draft by the Atlanta Braves. He’s been a professional baseball player for going on 9 years and that includes playing for 3 organizations and 13 teams over his 8 seasons.
He signed with the Minnesota Twins in February of 2018 and started that season with the AA Chattanooga Lookouts and it took all of 4 appearances for him to be promoted to AAA Rochester but it then took all of 4 appearances for him to be demoted back to AA Chattanooga. So he got back to work and for the next 2 ½ months he pitched in 20 games before his results of 29 hits allowed, 16 unearned runs, 9 earned runs, 0 home runs allowed, 5 walks and 44 strikeouts over 34.2 innings pitched (2.34 ERA, .228 Opponents Batting Average, .256 OBP & a WHIP just under 1.00) got him promoted back up to AAA. Then he got on a roll and finished the season in Rochester. Over his 38 games last season, he had 2 games when he didn’t strike out a batter but he also had 30 games where he didn’t walk a batter. All in all, he had a great season and the Twins noticed and gave him an invite to Spring Training and the rest is history.
He gets a lot of his strikeouts with his curveball and here’s the thing for me. I think it’s strange that over 8 minor-league seasons, a pitcher who has pitched over 450 innings can have a career ERA of 2.56, a WHIP of 1.140, walk only 135 batters (2.7 BB9), allow only 24 home runs (o.5 HR9) and strike out 553 batters (11.0 SO9) and not get much of a shot at the major leagues until now. Is it the low draft pick thing? Is his fastball not good enough? Is it the lack of analytics in the minors to know what the spin rate is on his curveball?
That being said, it’d be great to find out how last season went for him as a member of this new era of Twins baseball where analytics is now a big part of working with and developing these players.
Geez! I rambled there, didn’t I?
Swiss G
Everyone figured the Twins were done signing free agents but with some quality players still out on the market late in Spring Training and knowing what the Twins did last offseason late in Spring Training, it probably shouldn’t have come as much of a surprise that they went out and signed super-utility “multi-positional everyday player” Marwin Gonzalez to a 2-year, $21 million contract but it still was a surprise.
The Miguel Sano injury may have been a reason to go get Marwin. Knowing they’d be without Sano until at least May may have made them look for an upgrade to their bench, even though Marwin isn’t necessarily considered a bench player to them.
Swiss G? If you don’t know what that means, it comes from Marwin Gonzalez’ agent, Scott Boras, who calls him that because he plays everywhere and do a lot of things like a Swiss Army Knife. He has a good bat and was a big reason the Astros won the 2017 World Series. He even received some MVP votes. He wasn’t as good in 2018 and he’s had a rough Spring Training at the plate but he’ll be the starting 3rd baseman for the Twins so we’ll find out if was taking his time getting into the swing of things.
Use the 4th?
Since Marwin can basically play everywhere, it really makes me wonder if they will keep or need a 4th outfielder. Right now, he’s the starting 3rd baseman but once Miguel Sano gets healthy when May hits, someone will have to go from the bench. Will it be OF Jake Cave who still has options remaining or Tyler Austin who doesn’t have options remaining? This question may be answered by how these players play in the next 4 weeks. The Twins have a roster crunch coming anyway since they are starting the season with 11 pitchers and 14 positional players.
Two and a half weeks in, on April 16th, they will need a 5th pitcher for the rotation so Martin Perez will move from the bullpen to the rotation and the Twins will call up a pitcher to relief pitcher to replace him. Also, at some point RPs Addison Reed and Matt Magill will come off the injured list so, are the Twins already letting teams know Tyler Austin is available?
Where Will They Finish?
So, with all the additions to the 2019 Minnesota Twins, where will it take them? The Cleveland Indians have been the class of the American League Central Division for quite a while but they didn’t really do very much in the offseason. They did very little for their bullpen or their outfield but they still have Jose Ramirez, Francisco Lindor (hurt?) and that starting rotation.
The Twins have narrowed the gap between them and the Indians and I think Rocco will keep this team feeling good and happy throughout the season. Jose Berrios will be even better than last season, showing more consistency on the mound. Kyle Gibson will start slow but be the much of the same pitcher he’s been for the last year and a half. Miguel Sano will surprise us all when we get to see him show off in May.
The analytics staff and new pitching coach Wes Johnson will show their merit with Martin Perez and the bullpen arms and come out on top in the end. This lineup is going to hit a lot of home runs and the rotation will get a bounce back season from Jake Odorizzi and a return to form for Michael Pineda and we will see Byron Buxton running around the outfield and the bases all season long.
Wow! That’s a lot of things going right. The Twins will have some ups and downs and some injuries, too, but they’ll deal with them and move on with the next man up with great leadership from Rocco and Nelly Cruz.
It’s taken a while for the Twins to get to this point but this will be the season the Twins show promise for the future in the present as they complete a move to the modern era of Major League Baseball and it’s no longer about implementing analytics, It will just become part of what they do.
Those are our TwinsTakes on the 2019 Minnesota Twins! What are your TwinsTakes? Let us know in the comments or on social media via Twitter, Instagram or Facebook.
A great offseason gave off the perception the 2018 Minnesota Twins had the depth to propel them to bigger and better things but it quickly turned into a disappointment.
The Minnesota Twins struggled in 2018 for various reasons. They had injuries, a suspension, offseason acquisitions didn’t pan out and some prospects took steps backward instead of forwards. Not many players could be counted on this season. Injuries happen to every team in every season but this team wasn’t prepared to deal with all of that in one season. Could any team have to handle that much adversity, even the World Series Champion Boston Red Sox?
Offseason Success
The Twins went for it in the offseason. They signed pitchers Fernando Rodney, Zach Duke & Addison Reed to help out the bullpen and then acquired right-handed starting pitcher Jake Odorizzi through a trade with the Tampa Bay Rays. They also signed RHP Anibal Sanchez when they found out RHP Ervin Santana was going to need surgery on the ring finger of his right hand (throwing hand.) Then, late in free agency, they signed 1B/DH Logan Morrison and RHP Lance Lynn and once they had agreed to sign Lynn, they released Sanchez, who went on to have a great season with the Atlanta Braves, something none of the Twins other offseason acquisitions failed to do.
Except for Jake Odorizzi, all of those moves were for 1 or 2-year deals with the 2nd year being optional. Addison Reed’s deal is the only one for 2-years and he & Odorizzi are the only 2 players remaining from that great offseason, which now, of course, doesn’t look great at all. The rest of them were sent to other teams at the trade deadlines.
Depth Of Field
Making the playoffs in 2017 made it look like the Minnesota Twins weren’t that far away from becoming a perennial playoff contender and a championship-caliber team. That was the perception, anyway. The reality is they made the playoffs last season by the slimmest of odds and it may have accelerated everyone’s view of where the evolution of this team currently resides. If they didn’t make the playoffs in 2017, odds are Paul Molitor would’ve been fired instead of being awarded for American League Manager of the Year and who knows what they would’ve done in the offseason.
They did play their butts off to win a Wild Card spot and a spot in a game in New York. They proved it to themselves that they were a good enough team to be in the postseason. That team was hard to find in 2018.
They lost 7 major players of their team for all or part of the season due to injury (Ervin Santana, Brian Dozier, Jason Castro, Logan Morrison, Miguel Sano & Byron Buxton) or suspension (Jorge Polanco.) That’s arguably your team’s #1 starting pitcher and your catcher, shortstop, third baseman, second baseman, center fielder and primary designated hitter. Some players tried to play through their injuries which led to them playing worse and hurting the team’s chances of success even more.
Every season, we hear about players being injured but not telling the trainers about their pain because they want to stay in the lineup and feel they can still help the team. This is a problem when they’re performing like a replacement player. Unfortunately, there’s no way to foresee that happening and, most of the time, those players are going to be given the benefit of the doubt to get themselves out of a slump and are often going to perform better than the alternative option of a bench player, anyways.
Paul Molitor did what he could with what he had to work with and it probably was obviously not enough but he still was trying to get them to compete and win games. He didn’t have a lot to go on with some of the players at his disposal so he went with players he thought he could trust in tough spots. That meant overusing some pitchers in the bullpen like RHP Ryan Pressly, Addison Reed and Trevor Hildenberger while not getting consistent innings to Matt Magill and almost all of the young, or not so young, prospects in AAA. That likely wore down the bullpen but the Twins offense wasn’t good enough to win them games anyways.
The Twins never really looked like a very competitive team in 2018.
In hindsight, it makes you wonder if Molitor was worried about his job, knowing that if he didn’t win, he might be out. Then the front office made the decision to sell at the deadline and improve the farm system. That’s the right decision so the sale started in July:
May 27th
Traded RHP Phil Hughes to SDP for C Janigson Villalobos
They found out if Phil Hughes could help them and finding their answer to be no, they traded Phil to the Padres along with cash and the 74th pick in the 2018 Draft.
July 27th
Traded INF Eduardo Escobar to ARI for RF Ernie De La Trinidad, RF Gabriel Maciel (Twins #17 Prospect) & RHP Jhoan Duran (Twins #23 Prospect)
Traded RHP Ryan Pressley to HOU for CF Gilberto Celestino (Twins #14 Prospect) & RHP Jorge Alcala (Twins #11 Prospect)
July 30th
Traded LHP Zach Duke to SEA for RHP Chase De Jong (Made 4 starts for the Twins in September) & 1B Ryan Costello
Traded RHP Lance Lynn to NYY for 1B Tyler Austin (Twins DH/1B of the future?) & RHP Luis Rijo
July 31st
Traded 2B Brian Dozier to LAD for 2B Logan Forsythe, OF Luke Raley (Twins #19 Prospect) & LHP Devin Smeltzer (2018 AFL Fall-Star)
Aug. 3rd
Claimed RHP Oliver Drake off waivers from TBJ
Claimed OF Johnny Field off waivers from CLE
Aug. 9th
Traded RHP Fernando Rodney to OAK for RHP Dakota Chalmers
Aug. 30th
Traded C Bobby Wilson to CHC for C Chris Gimenez & a PTBNL or Cash
They strengthened their farm system by adding 4 players to their top 30 prospects (according to MLB.com), 1B/DH Tyler Austin and some depth to their rotation in RHP Chase De Jong who was called up and made 4 starts in September for the big club. Is he part of the future rotation? Maybe not the immediate future but he’s 24-years-old (turns 25 in late December) so he’s still young for a major league pitcher.
What’s the Perception Now? From an Off Season to an Offseason!
Well, the perception of this team now is they have a ways to go because of a bad season but, that can change really quickly if Byron Buxton & Miguel Sano come back quickly and the Twins spend wisely in an offseason where they have the most money coming off the books than any other team.
The big question is if Derek Falvey and Thad Levine can recruit a bigger free agent or two or three to come here. They did it last season but they were coming off a season where they made the postseason. The conversation with free agents is probably a lot easier when you’re coming off a winning season.
The bottom line is they know they have some work to do to fill spots at middle infield, first base and/or designated hitter and to upgrade the starting rotation (with maybe one pitcher) and the bullpen (with maybe 2 pitchers.)
Can they fill those spots through their own roster and/or their system? They could try. OF/DH/1B Robbie Grossman could get more time at 1st base with Tyler Austin. UTIL Ehire Adrianza could slot into the middle infield and they have some pitchers who have either shown enough in the minors to get an extended look (Alan Busenitz, Gabriel Moya, John Curtiss, etc…) or who may have to move to the bullpen to see if they’d provide more value there (Aaron Slegers, Adalberto Mejia, Fernando Romero, etc…) They could also use their prospects to go get a player/pitcher in a trade.
The problem with filling within is you won’t get another shot at the 2018 free agents and there are obviously some very good players and pitchers available so do you strengthen your team through free agency, your system or through trading from your system?
We did a TrusttheProcessSeries of posts about trusting the process of developing your players and your team. In the Team Development article, we broke down each how players were acquired from each team in the 2017 postseason to show how many players were acquired in each category. The results were:
For the core pieces, we just went through each team’s list and picked who we believed were the core pieces or the starters for each team. *If you’d like to check that out, just click here for the spreadsheet of the results.
A belief across a majority of baseball is that building through the draft (Homegrown talent) is the best way to build a team. The results did show that for the most part but we were a little surprised how many players were acquired from trades at 96 with 53 of those players being starters/core players. In a lot of ways, though, some of those players could end up being homegrown since they were acquired as prospects and grew up on their current team’s farm…uhh …system.
Does that mean trading is a better way to acquire talent than free agency?
This will be a very important offseason for the Twins. The front office has hired “their guy” to manage the team. They have set most of their coaching staff so they can now get down to finding out who & how they want to add to their roster. Those conversations would also determine who they might no longer feel is a part of this team’s future.
We will definitely keep you posted as to the happenings at Target Field with the Twins. They have to make their 40-Man Roster Decisions by tomorrow so stay tuned for those choices! We’ll post our choices by tomorrow, too.
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