All Things 2024 Minnesota Twins In-Season Thread

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Gopher_In_NYC said:
From MLB, Top Ten teams with outfielder prospects - we’re third.

www.mlb.com

Here are the 10 farm systems with the best outfield prospects

Last week, we looked at the top farm systems based on infield talent. This week, let’s go from the dirt to the grass. Below is a ranking of the top 10 organizations when it comes to those who patrol the outfield, using a combination of top-end Top 100 talent and
www.mlb.com www.mlb.com


3. Minnesota Twins
Another team that has landed in both top 10s, the Twins have a pair of exciting outfield prospects in 2023 first-rounder Walker Jenkins and Emmanuel Rodriguez, giving them two prospects in the top 21 of the overall Top 100. (Like with Campbell above, we didn’t include Luke Keaschall here because he was part of the infield group.) Gabriel Gonzalez’s star has faded a bit, but he’s still an intriguing outfield bat in the team’s top 10 and Minnesota has a total of six outfielders in its Top 30.
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Twins also in the Top Ten for infielders as well -

www.mlb.com

Here are the 10 farm systems with the best infield prospects

All farm systems, whether they’re at the top or the bottom of organizational rankings, have differing strengths. We’ve decided to dig deeper into a few of those talent buckets over the next few weeks. This week, we’ll take a look at the top farm systems based on infield prospects. Using
www.mlb.com www.mlb.com

8. Minnesota Twins
The Twins have just two Top 100 infielders in Brooks Lee and Luke Keaschall, and both have had injuries. Lee is on his way back from biceps tendinitis and Keaschall is done for the year after undergoing Tommy John surgery. But both have the chance to be plus hitters in the big leagues. Including this big two, there are a dozen infielders in this organization’s Top 30.
 

Gopher_In_NYC said:
Regarding today’s tilt, pitching wise (from the same above mentioned column)-

Louie Varland will officially rejoin the Twins on Wednesday and is likely to be the team’s bulk pitcher.

Baldelli said the Twins plan to use Henriquez as the opener for Wednesday’s contest.

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My note:

Thinking either Tonkin or Castillo will be DFA’d to make room for Varland
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Isn't this a sign they're sending Zebby Mathews back? If not, no reason to insert Varland here.
 

howeda7 said:
Isn't this a sign they're sending Zebby Mathews back? If not, no reason to insert Varland here.
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Not necessarily; I think he’s tired.

Just his third league of pro ball and his innings totals are -

2022- 3 - no clue what his college workload was.
2023 - 105.1
2024 - 114 (minors & pros)

Festa struggled initially also -big jump and he’s done it three times this year.

So watching can help and working on it in the bullpen as well.

Varland may well need some work also - more than one thing can be correct.

.
 
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Gopher_In_NYC said:
Not necessarily; I think he’s tired.

Just his third league of pro ball and his innings totals are -

2022- 3 - no clue what his college workload was.
2023 - 105.1
2024 - 114 (minors & pros)

Festa struggled initially also -big jump and he’s done it three times this year.

So watching can be help and working on it in the bullpen as well.

Varland may well need some work also - more than one thing can be correct.

.
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Zebby in college at Western Carolina - 205.1 IP in 3 seasons - 26.1 as a FR, 61.1 as a Soph, 95.2 as a Junior. So 98.2 combined in 2022 in college and pros. one interesting nugget - 3rd yr in college he appeared in 22 games, but only started 10 and had 4 saves. otherwise, Matthews has been a starter almost exclusively.
 

howeda7 said:
Isn't this a sign they're sending Zebby Mathews back? If not, no reason to insert Varland here.
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Castillo was sent down to St. Paul to make room for Varland; I wasn’t aware that he had options left.
 


I love this story: Ken Griffey Jr. homered on a LaTroy Hawkins changeup at the Metrodome on this date in 1997.

Junior sent for LaTroy and met him between the clubhouses DURING the game and asked why he threw that changeup. Junior said his fastball was good enough. LaTroy says that in-game mentoring session changed his career.
 

TRF Guy said:
I love this story: Ken Griffey Jr. homered on a LaTroy Hawkins changeup at the Metrodome on this date in 1997.

Junior sent for LaTroy and met him between the clubhouses DURING the game and asked why he threw that changeup. Junior said his fastball was good enough. LaTroy says that in-game mentoring session changed his career.
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Thanks for posting!

What a classy move.

He’s one of my favorites and probably the most underrated Great of All Time & Au Natural.

Great to see him in the Progressive commercials.
 
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Twins on the losing end of a snowball fight with themselves right now.
 





You can kiss the AL Central good bye. Can't wait until Cleveland sweep us right our of Cleveland Ohio this month. Twins losing 8-0.
 

Breakin' The Plane said:
Have a nice flight home, Lou.
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Hate to break it to you Louie, but your future life is in the ✒️. You ain’t got 3+ pitches for the bigs. I might be able to make contact with that “knuckle curve”.

Make your peace with it and if you’re fortunate, you can carve out a nice career like Jax - you’ll make a keck of a lot more 💰 doing that then taking over your old man’s sheet rocking business.

Imagine Winder will replace Louis on the roster.
 
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Another Tampa fan drilled in the face off a Twins line shot HR.

This one was a rebound.
 



Twins were a great sliding catch in left field from scoring 5 or 6.

If I’m that Tampa pitcher I shave that mustache right now so I blend in otherwise my ass is back in the minors.
 


It's almost like Louie Varland is better as a one inning reliever than a starter/"bulk" pitcher. If only someone could have seen that a year ago.
 


Breakin' The Plane said:
The whole "rehab assignment" is stupid anyway. We're gonna see if you're healthy enough to play baseball by having you play baseball.
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Well then why teams do it then?

What happens if they’re not healthy enough when starting back up in The Bigs vs. doing rehab in the minors? So, you would put them back on the IL, if they’re not healthy enough in The Bigs, and make another corresponding move with your roster?

That’s a more efficient process? If yes, why?
 
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Breakin' The Plane said:
The whole "rehab assignment" is stupid anyway. We're gonna see if you're healthy enough to play baseball by having you play baseball.
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I disagree, helps with timing as well as it determines if they are healthy enough to perform and recover without potentially requiring yet another DL stint and other roster maneuvers.

If a player has been out for more than a couple of weeks, seems like a no brainer.
 


This franchise. We won't see Buxton or Correa again this season. They should explore some sort of injury settlement with Buxton in the offseason.

 

OK, I admit I'm not a huge analytics guy. but I saw a tweet that sent me down a very confusing rabbit hole on Fan Graphs.

If I'm reading this right - and if I understand it - the Twins have the lowest Ultimate Zone Rating in MLB. as I understand it, UZR is a defensive metric that compares defensive performance to an "average" player at that position. (like Wins Above Replacement - only just for defense).

and on the chart I found, it lists the Twins as last in UZR. that is a team measurement - there are rankings for each position that I didn't go down.

If there is a "numbers" person reading this, please confirm what I think I'm reading.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
OK, I admit I'm not a huge analytics guy. but I saw a tweet that sent me down a very confusing rabbit hole on Fan Graphs.

If I'm reading this right - and if I understand it - the Twins have the lowest Ultimate Zone Rating in MLB. as I understand it, UZR is a defensive metric that compares defensive performance to an "average" player at that position. (like Wins Above Replacement - only just for defense).

and on the chart I found, it lists the Twins as last in UZR. that is a team measurement - there are rankings for each position that I didn't go down.

If there is a "numbers" person reading this, please confirm what I think I'm reading.
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That's correct. DRS has the Twins 23rd so towards the bottom.

They both have limitations. Correa this year has a -4.1 UZR, Lewis is -3.0. Margot, Martin and Castro are listed as having negative score at multiple positions, mainly OF.

I'm not sure how much I'd take from it. Correa being that low seems ridiculous.
 

Breakin' The Plane said:
The whole "rehab assignment" is stupid anyway. We're gonna see if you're healthy enough to play baseball by having you play baseball.
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Ope3 said:
I disagree, helps with timing as well as it determines if they are healthy enough to perform and recover without potentially requiring yet another DL stint and other roster maneuvers.

If a player has been out for more than a couple of weeks, seems like a no brainer.
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howeda7 said:
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There you have it.
 

"Discomfort". I'm trying to envision a scenario where a guy like Ronnie Lott misses large parts of nearly every season he plays in simply because he didn't feel 100% every single day.
 

i
Breakin' The Plane said:
"Discomfort". I'm trying to envision a scenario where a guy like Ronnie Lott misses large parts of nearly every season he plays in simply because he didn't feel 100% every single day.
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That ship sailed many moons ago; also as a more 🍎 to 🍎 comparison might be Cal Ripken Jr.

I shared your sentiment when I saw the post and wonder how many of these guys ❤️ baseball with all their heart.

See iron man Kepler is back to the IL as well.
 
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Twins pick up a win as they stumble toward the finish line.

Twins now 1/2 game up on the Royals for the 2nd Wild Card. and 6 games up on Boston and the Tigers, who are now tied in the standings.

3 big ones with KC this weekend. would be really nice to take two out of three.

Boston has the Blight Sox this weekend, while Cleveland is facing the Dodgers.

Whiteys now on pace to finish 37-125, which would be the worst record by percentage in the modern era.
 

Anyone watching know what the potential injury was to Santana on the final play of the game?

Listening it was a wild throw from Lee that pulled him off the bag, forcing a tag.
 


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