2018 Minnesota Twins In-Season Thread

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Twins sweep St. Louis at St. Louis.

Win Twins!!
 

Rosario over the last 12 games: .396, 15 R, 7 2B, 5 HR, 15 RBI. Need to get Dozier going a little bit. Pitching has been good lately too. Just one game back of Cleveland.
 

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Souhan: Emerging rotation might cease to be Twins' Achilles' heel

And while the Twins’ pitching is increasingly promising, their position-playing depth remains impressive. Two of their top prospects are shortstops — former No. 1 picks Nick Gordon and Royce Lewis. Jorge Polanco will return from a PED suspension at midseason. Eduardo Escobar might be the Twins’ current MVP. And Brian Dozier is the Twins’ most accomplished player.

If Lewis becomes an outfielder, the Twins’ depth there will be impressive as well, considering that Eddie Rosario might be the team MVP since last July, Buxton is the best-fielding center fielder in the game and Max Kepler continues to hint at future stardom.

Depth does not guarantee immediate success. The American League is stacked with powerhouse teams this season. Even making the playoffs will be a challenge for the Twins.

But the arrival of Romero and the Twins’ weeklong resurgence have displayed a new organizational strength. They are no longer hoping that someone such as Carl Pavano or Phil Hughes will lead their staff. They have dynamic young arms to go with their dynamic young position players. The Twins, for once, might be deep and strong at the game’s most pivotal position.

http://www.startribune.com/emerging-rotation-might-cease-to-be-twins-achilles-heel/482126251/

Win Twins!!
 

The Twins have proven that they are not as bad as that horrid stretch showed. White Sox are terrible.....so that means little. Crushing the Cards in STL gives a much better idea of where this team is at. Could potentially make the postseason.....but we're unlikely to go much further.
 

stocker08 said:
The Twins have proven that they are not as bad as that horrid stretch showed. White Sox are terrible.....so that means little. Crushing the Cards in STL gives a much better idea of where this team is at. Could potentially make the postseason.....but we're unlikely to go much further.
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It would be nice to compete with Cleveland for the division as that wild card game is not looking like it will be easy...
 

stocker08 said:
The Twins have proven that they are not as bad as that horrid stretch showed. White Sox are terrible.....so that means little. Crushing the Cards in STL gives a much better idea of where this team is at. Could potentially make the postseason.....but we're unlikely to go much further.
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The Twins have something like 52 games still against Chicago, Detroit and Kansas City.
 



It will be interesting what they do with the rotation when Santana comes back. Berrios, Odorizzi and Gibson aren't going anywhere. Either Lynn goes to the bullpen, they send Romero back or they go with 6 starters. They already have Hughes in the bullpen so it would be messy to have Lynn there as well. Unless Romero really struggles in his next two starts it's hard to imagine sending him back, but I could see it. 6 starters might make the most sense at least for a while. They have a couple of double-headers in June anyway.
 

bottlebass said:
It would be nice to compete with Cleveland for the division as that wild card game is not looking like it will be easy...
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Yep. Bos/NYY are both going to win 95-100 games so that takes care of one. It looks like LAA/Houson will do the same, though I could see the Angels coming back to earth.
 

Sid: Twins free agents needed extra time to hit their stride

For Twins Chief Baseball Officer Derek Falvey, the first 32 games of the season have been a bit of a waiting game when it comes to production from some of his biggest free-agent signings.

First baseman/designated hitter Logan Morrison is hitting only .183, the third-worst average on the team among position players.

Starter Lance Lynn has a 7.28 ERA, the second worst on the team, trailing only outfielder Ryan LaMarre.

Closer Fernando Rodney has only three more saves (five) than losses (two) while posting a 3.86 ERA.

There have been some positives. Starter Jake Odorizzi is 3-2 and has posted a 3.83 ERA. Zach Duke and Addison Reed have been as advertised out of the bullpen, with Duke averaging 13.89 strikeouts per nine innings and Reed averaging 9.68.

And yet, while it was especially difficult waiting for those players to produce when the Twins were losing 12 of 14 games from late April to early May, it appears things might be turning around.

Odorizzi won his third game of the season Tuesday when the Twins drubbed St. Louis 7-1, their fifth consecutive victory and sixth in seven games. Morrison hit leadoff, recorded an RBI single and has a hit in eight of his past 10 games, including two homers.

Lynn had his best start of the season Saturday against the White Sox, striking out seven and allowing two runs over six innings.

At 15-17, the Twins are one game out of first place in the American League Central and have one fewer loss than the first-place Cleveland Indians.

http://www.startribune.com/twins-free-agents-needed-extra-time-to-hit-their-stride/482236631/

Win Twins!!
 

per Souhan:

• If I had asked, three years ago, which Twins prospect would be the first to play in 150 games and hit at least 27 home runs in one season, would you have guessed it would be Miguel Sano, Byron Buxton, Jorge Polanco or Max Kepler?

Turns out, it was none of the above. Eddie Rosario is the only young Twin who has played in 150 games in a season, and he and Sano are the only two of that group who have hit 27 or more home runs in a season. Rosario has easily been the most productive of the team’s top prospects.

http://www.startribune.com/choices-made-by-timberwolves-gophers-could-make-or-break-teams/482344311/

Win Twins!!
 



BleedGopher said:
per Souhan:

• If I had asked, three years ago, which Twins prospect would be the first to play in 150 games and hit at least 27 home runs in one season, would you have guessed it would be Miguel Sano, Byron Buxton, Jorge Polanco or Max Kepler?

Turns out, it was none of the above. Eddie Rosario is the only young Twin who has played in 150 games in a season, and he and Sano are the only two of that group who have hit 27 or more home runs in a season. Rosario has easily been the most productive of the team’s top prospects.

http://www.startribune.com/choices-made-by-timberwolves-gophers-could-make-or-break-teams/482344311/

Win Twins!!
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Define "productive". Offensively productive? Sure. Rosario is a net negative on defense, while Buxton is possibly the best defensive player in the game regardless of position. Rosario is a net negative on defense.
 

dpodoll68 said:
Define "productive". Offensively productive? Sure. Rosario is a net negative on defense, while Buxton is possibly the best defensive player in the game regardless of position. Rosario is a net negative on defense.
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I had no idea Eddie was bad at D
 

I was really hoping they would take Berrios after 5. He just didn't have it yesterday. But he had such a low pitch count I'm sure Mollie was hoping to save the bullpen
 


dpodoll68 said:
His dWAR (defensive wins above replacement) was -1.6 last year, meaning he's far worse at D than the average replacement-level OF.
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He struggled at CF last year while filling in for Buxton for ~10 games and his assists went down a lot.
How does that compare to 2015 and 2016 for him where he seemed to be a very strong left fielder?
 

WorkingMyTailOff said:
He struggled at CF last year while filling in for Buxton for ~10 games and his assists went down a lot.
How does that compare to 2015 and 2016 for him where he seemed to be a very strong left fielder?
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0.8 in 2015, 0.1 in 2016. His numbers on defense have gotten worse every year.
 

GophersInIowa said:
0.8 in 2015, 0.1 in 2016. His numbers on defense have gotten worse every year.
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That’s what the eye test has shown as well. I think he has plenty of speed but it seems his routes to balls behind him are sometimes off a bit.
I know he was also battling throwing arm issues this Spring.
 

WorkingMyTailOff said:
That’s what the eye test has shown as well. I think he has plenty of speed but it seems his routes to balls behind him are sometimes off a bit.
I know he was also battling throwing arm issues this Spring.
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I think he gets lazy on defense too. He had a spin around throw earlier this year that wasn't even close to where it was supposed to, resulted in an error. One of the most ridiculous throws I've ever seen an outfielder make.
 

What a comeback! Yeah baby!!!
 


Didn't know where to post this.

If you're a baseball fan, or just enjoy a well-written story, the Strib has an article today about former Oriole Hall-of-Fame pitcher Jim Palmer. He was adopted as an infant, and never knew who his birth parents were, until his 3rd wife decided to see if she could find out.

The result is kind of a genealogical mystery that ultimately results in Palmer discovering who his parents were and learning that he has a lot of relatives he never knew about. well worth reading.
 

Shooter: Twins rookie Fernando Romero has the right ‘stuff’

Jake Mauer has had a close-up view of Fernando Romero.

“Since he was a young kid, 19, 20 years old,” Mauer said.

Mauer, who spent 11 seasons managing in the Minnesota Twins’ system before leaving last December to spend more time with family, managed Romero at Class A Cedar Rapids, then last year at AA Chattanooga, and worked with him in the instructional league.

“He’s always had ‘stuff,’ ” Mauer said.

Romero, 23, with a fastball that reaches 98 mph and a hard-biting slider, dazzled in his first two starts for the Twins since his promotion from AAA Rochester two weeks ago, throwing 11 2/3 scoreless innings while striking out 14 in two victories. In four spring training outings, Romero didn’t allow a run over eight innings.

On Sunday against the Los Angeles Angels in Anaheim, he’ll face Japanese two-way star Shohei Ohtani, also 23. Pitching, Ohtani is 3-1 with 32 strikeouts in 26 1/3 innings. Batting, he’s .354 with five home runs.

“When guys usually throw as hard as Fernando does, generally it’s pretty straight,” Mauer said. “Not Romero’s (fastball) — it’s lively, it sinks, it’s heavy. What’s always been the key for him is command (control).”

https://www.twincities.com/2018/05/12/walters-twins-rookie-fernando-romero-has-the-right-stuff/

Win Twins!!
 

STrib: Twins catcher Jason Castro out for the season

Jason Castro's meniscus in his right knee was more damaged than surgeons expected, and the repair was more extensive than planned. As a result, the Twins' catcher will miss the rest of the season, the Twins announced Wednesday.

Castro, undergoing surgery at the Steadman Clinic in Vail, Colo., expected to have a small part of the meniscus removed in order to relieve nagging pain that had bothered him for the past few weeks. But "things did not go as well as hoped," Twins manager Paul Molitor said. "The [magnetic resonance imaging] didn't give us a clear picture of what was going on in there. The tear was a little bit more significant. … They had to go ahead and fully repair that meniscus, to try to keep what he had left."

Castro, who underwent a full medial collateral ligament repair on the same knee in 2011, had been briefed on the possibility, and "he was on board," Molitor said. "He wanted to protect his future."

That future involves several weeks of recovery, and then several months of rehabilitation before he can return to the baseball field. The Twins are optimistic he will be ready to play at the start of 2019, the final season on the three-year contract he signed during the winter of 2016.

http://www.startribune.com/twins-catcher-jason-castro-out-for-the-season/482812931/

Win Twins!!
 

Too bad on Castro. But Garver is a better overall player and they would likely have put Castro right back in as the starter. As long as Garver stays healthy, it's not a huge blow.
 

howeda7 said:
Too bad on Castro. But Garver is a better overall player and they would likely have put Castro right back in as the starter. As long as Garver stays healthy, it's not a huge blow.
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On the telecast the other night, they were talking about how much Mollie loves Wilson. I bet their playing time is split 50/50 between Garver and Wilson. They said Garver isn't a good receiver
 

JimmyJamesMD said:
On the telecast the other night, they were talking about how much Mollie loves Wilson. I bet their playing time is split 50/50 between Garver and Wilson. They said Garver isn't a good receiver
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Teams aren't running laps around the bases on him. And there's not 5 passed balls per night. He may not be the "pitch framer" Castro is, but I'll take an extra .100 points in batting average and 10 more HR's in exchange for a few missed strike calls.
 

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