All Things 2024 Minnesota Twins In-Season Thread

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ok, this is Diego Alejandro Castillo - 26-yr old - has played 2B, SS, 3B, 1B and RF in his career.

spent 5+ years in the Yankees' system, got as high as AA. then moved to Pittsburgh. Played 96 games in the majors with the Pirates in 2022. hit .206 with 11 HR & 29 RBI.

then moved to Arizona, where he played AAA with 1 game in the majors. Joined the Twins' system this year. has played 74 games at AAA with a line of .274/.382/.403 (.785 OPS)

here's the fun part - his transaction log for 2024:
Jan 5 - waived by Arizona, claimed by the Mets
Jan 19 - waived by the Mets, claimed by the Yankees
Feb 5 - waived by Yankees, claimed by Phillies
Feb 16 - waived by Phillies, claimed by Orioles
April 5 - purchased from Orioles by Twins
 

FWIW - 2024 MLB Draft begins at 6:00pm CDT on Sunday. (today as you read this) 1st round carried live on ESPN and MLB Network. rounds 1 & 2 on Sunday, rounds 3-10 on Monday and rounds 11-20 on Tuesday. after round 1, coverage on MLB.com.

The Twins, Brewers and Diamondbacks each have 4 picks on Sunday - the most of any MLB teams.

Twins Day One picks - #21 in 1st round. #33 as a compensation pick for losing Sonny Gray as a free-agent. #60 in 2nd round. #69 in Competitive Balance Round B. Competitive Balance picks go to teams that have one of the 10 smallest markets or 10 smallest revenue pools. (these picks can be traded...)

players being mocked to the Twins include:
Billy Amick, 3B, Tennessee
Seaver King, 3B/OF, Wake Forest
Vance Honeycutt, OF, North Carolina
William Schmidt, High School RH Pitcher (possibly with pick #33)
Kaelen Culpepper, SS, Kansas State (another potential pick at #33)
Caleb Lomavita, C, California (also potential for #33)
 

Here’s some injury info, curtesy of Dan Hayes/The Athletic -

The Twins, who were without Carlos Correa, Jose Miranda — who’s headed to the injured list — Byron Buxton and Royce Lewis, are now 54-41 and look to salvage another series victory Sunday. To improve their chances, the Twins will purchase the contract of infielder Diego A. Castillo and place Miranda on the 10-day IL with lower-back stiffness, manager Rocco Baldelli said.

The last 10 days haven’t been kind to the Twins’ health.

Correa is the fourth Twins infielder, along with utilityman Austin Martin, to suffer an injury since July 3. Originally batting second in Saturday’s lineup, Correa was scratched an hour before first pitch with a right heel contusion. The Twins expect Correa, who last Sunday was named an All-Star for the third time, to sit out the last game before the All-Star break and have an MRI taken soon. His status for Tuesday’s exhibition game is to be determined.

“I don’t see (Correa) playing in the game (Sunday),” Baldelli said. “It’s safe to say that. I’m not hiding anything from the other team.

The Twins replaced Farmer with catcher Jair Camargo in part because Ryan Jeffershas played with a bruised foot since hurting it on July 4. During the middle of Saturday’s game, Jeffers’ right hand swelled up after a foul ball hit it, though initial postgame X-rays revealed no broken bones.

Shortly after Farmer’s injury, Miranda was scratched from Friday’s starting lineup when his lower back locked up. Miranda made little progress Saturday and the Twins determined he’d be best suited to go on the IL. Baldelli said the injury would be backdated to Thursday and, because the Twins don’t start the post-All-Star Game portion of their schedule until Saturday, Miranda would only miss the team’s first game against Milwaukee on July 20 as long as he recovers.

Buxton missed Saturday’s game with a sore elbow after running into the wall Friday, though he showed improvement during the game, Baldelli said.
@Breakin' The Plane

All of those injuries occurred after the Twins lost Lewis and Martin during their last homestand.

Martin suffered an oblique strain last Saturday and went on the IL on Sunday. He began his IL stint four days after Lewis, who went on the IL on July 3 after dealing with a right adductor strain for the better part of a week.

And all of that led to Vázquez making the first start of his career at third base.

Baldelli said he opted to put Vázquez at third base instead of second, where he’s more experienced, because he believed there’d be fewer defensive chances. The decision appeared prescient as Lee, who made his first big-league start at second, was inundated with difficult plays and turned in a dazzling performance.

—————-

My musings FWIW -

So, there is a thought process in place regarding Vasquez, although one may not agree with it - it ain’t Helter Skelter.

AS break is coming at a perfect time for us.

Eddie isn’t doing much in St. Paul, he hasn’t earned a call up- .238, 5 HRs, ,789 OPS, W a Miggy Level 46 Ks in
126 ABS 🤯. His obstinacy with his plate approach might have him playing in Korea in a few years - wise up kiddo. It’s a frickin 🦇, it’s meant to be swung!!

I’m hopeful we see Jair behind the dish today!!
 
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Camilo Pascual was inducted as the 24th member of the Twins Hall of Fame on this date in 2012. He was already a bona fide ace when the Senators moved to Minnesota in 1961.

Pascual—who Ted Williams said had the most feared curveball in the American League—was sensational over the Twins’ first four seasons in Minnesota. He led the American League in strikeouts in 1961, ’62, and ’63, and led the majors in shutouts in 1959, ’61, and ’62.

He pitched back-to-back shutouts three separate times during the Twins’ inaugural 1961 season, and once again in 1962.

Over the six-year period from 1958 to 1963, no pitcher in MLB racked up a higher cumulative WAR (32.0 as retroactively calculated by Baseball Reference).

On April 27, 1965, he hit the only grand slam by a pitcher in Twins history. (He had also hit a grand slam on August 14, 1960—the Senators’ final season in Washington.)

Following his playing career, Pascual became a scout. Two of his more noteworthy signings were Jose Canseco for the Athletics in 1982, and Alex Cora for the Dodgers in 1996.
 


Twins DFA'd Boushley to make room for Castillo on the 40-man.
And today's lineup includes Vazquez back behind the plate, and Jeffers at DH.
 






Gopher_In_NYC said:
Can you name all seven ways to get on first base?

youtube.com

Naming all seven ways to reach first base #firstbase #baseball #mlb

Subscribe to the JM Newsletter: https://jomboymedia.com/signupFeaturing: Jack DoyleHosted by: Jake StorialeEdited by: Matt Massina#JMBaseball
youtube.com youtube.com
Click to expand...
I saw this the other day. When I worked in minor league baseball, I periodically would ask questions like this to my interns and it was always interesting to hear them talk it through together. This was always one of the questions I’d ask.

One of my other favorites was asking how many hits can a team have in an inning without scoring a run? Anyone want to guess without looking it up?
 

GophersInIowa said:
I saw this the other day. When I worked in minor league baseball, I periodically would ask questions like this to my interns and it was always interesting to hear them talk it through together. This was always one of the questions I’d ask.

One of my other favorites was asking how many hits can a team have in an inning without scoring a run? Anyone want to guess without looking it up?
Click to expand...
Five?
 

GophersInIowa said:
I saw this the other day. When I worked in minor league baseball, I periodically would ask questions like this to my interns
Click to expand...

Did you make them do menial personal tasks for you😍?
GophersInIowa said:
and it was always interesting to hear them talk it through together. This was always one of the questions I’d ask.

One of my other favorites was asking how many hits can a team have in an inning without scoring a run? Anyone want to guess without looking it up?
Click to expand...
Five and @GopherVotary answer didn’t influence my answer😊.
 

My attempt:

1) Hit
2) Walk
3) Fielder's choice
4) Error
5) Hit by pitch

... Balk?
... Catcher interference?
... Pitch clock violation?

Not sure about last three...
 


Gopher_In_NYC said:
Can you name all seven ways to get on first base?

youtube.com

Naming all seven ways to reach first base #firstbase #baseball #mlb

Subscribe to the JM Newsletter: https://jomboymedia.com/signupFeaturing: Jack DoyleHosted by: Jake StorialeEdited by: Matt Massina#JMBaseball
youtube.com youtube.com
Click to expand...
Walk.
Hit by Pitch.
Strikeout (dropped 3rd).
Base Hit.
Fielder's Choice.
Error.
Catchers Interference (which is also an Error).
Pinch Run.

That's actually 8, but there's some overlap as both dropped 3rd Ks and Catcher's interference are also Errors.
 


Can’t believe Margot caught it - mortal 🔒 for a W based on that harbinger
 

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