Minnesota Twins Talk

I'm far from an expert on modern metrics. Yesterday, I commented that I thought Gilberto Celestino had gotten a disproportionate number of hits on soft contact. According to BBRef, it sure looks like he's been extremely fortunate. Celestino's BABIP (batting average on balls in play) is an incredible .477. Last year, in an equivalent number of plate appearances, that number was .140. Exit velocity this year is 83.9, last year was 87.2. Hard hit percentage this year is 28.9%, last year was 31.1%. Line drive pecentage is the same as last year--24.4%. Celestino's ground ball percentage is 55.6% (really high), compared to 46.7% last year. I presume that Gilberto was very…

Per multiple beat writers. Will play all over at STP Just absolutely unbelievable decision making by the twins front office. Lewis is the best option at 3rd and LF right now, and maybe even DH. Miranda and Gordon stay up for now. If this is any longer than the required 10 days I will be absolutely livid. Lewis is a better option learning on the fly at 3rd than Miranda the way things currently stand, and the same is probably true with Gordon in LF.

Om May 22, 2021 the Twins dropped the game 5-3 to the Cleveland Indians in extra innings when Alex Colome served up a 10th inning homer to Cesar Hernandez. The loss dropped Minnesota to 16-29, which was good for last place in the AL Central, two games behind Detroit and a whopping 10.5 behind division leader Chicago.

Josh Winder just got put on the 15 day IL with a right shoulder impingement. Might explain why he didn't pitch that well his last couple times out. Not good news at all. They also brought up Trevor Megill.

Ted recently had an OP on Friday the 13th...definitely some irony there...that was less than complimentary regarding what we've seen from Urshela and Sanchez to this point, and all very fair. But a week later, after some wins, I felt like taking a moment to look at a few things regarding recent production of this pair, especially after various other threads regarding the lineup/roster in general, and any future impact of Royce Lewis in particular. Now, I'm NOT trying to create another Lewis debate thread by any means, and I know his future presence will come in to play here, but my general focus is on these two lost souls who have escaped the hell of being Yankees for the…

Will anyone be attending Top Gun Night and be willing to sell the hat?

Welcome TD users! Whether you're a cagey site veteran or a fresh callup who just signed up to respond to this thread, this is the place to introduce yourself and let everyone here know a little about you. We may differ in age, location, height, weight and favorite ice cream topping, but the one thing that we have in common is that we're Twins fans! Below is a list of questions. Feel free to answer any and all, or riff on your own if the notion moves you. 1) Where do you follow the Twins from? 2) What's your jobby job? 3) How 'bout hobbies? 4) How long have you followed the Twins? 5) How many games do you attend a season? 6) Who is you…

“Hey, we are sending Royce Lewis down to play everyday in St. Paul. And not just at shortstop, the position he needs to excel in. But let’s try him at other positions around the diamond. Like third base.” “Don’t we already have a third baseman we got from the Yankees, Gio? And Luis Arraez is a better fit at third base than anywhere else on the diamond. And don’t forget Jose Miranda. Shouldn’t he be back in the minors and playing third base and working on his hitting skills.” “Miranda is playing mostly at first base in the major leagues. He needs to get his feet wet at that position.” “But in the majors?” “Well, he is hittng better than Sano. Until he h…

Much has been – and will continue to be – written about the Twins’ need to acquire more arms before the trade deadline; that’s absolutely true. Less explored, however, is whether the Twins might be in the market for a lineup addition. With the usual caveat that the trade deadline is months away, it’s never too early to speculate on moves that might bolster an organization looking to end a postseason drought. Between an imminent exit for Miguel Sano, an overmatched rookie who needs further development in Jose Miranda, and an out-of-position Luis Arraez, acquiring a slugging first baseman could be a sensible move. With that in mind, here are three targets …

Best of luck to him for a speedy recovery.

Twins are in first place right now. They have played a light schedule for the most part. In about two weeks we start to play some higher class of opponents. As of right now our first base position has been worst in the league overall. Only Arraez has managed to hit, but his defense has not been good, but not terrible compared to other positions he has played some this year. First, should the Twins make a trade for a first baseman? We have had several guys play over there and Arraez is only one that has hit, and none have shown amazing defense to make up for lack of hitting. So should we look to bring one in? If we did, that would mean Arraez would move off o…

It’s a shame Mauer didn’t play in 2019. All of those hard hit outs to the warning track would have been homeruns, no?

Byroon Buxton signed a long extension with the Twins. This winter along with his skills, he also become the face of the franchise and many fans were gratified that he would either be a great player for the Twins or he would be injured. Buxton's full toolbox had become more full when he was on the field last year, demonstrating top-grade power, an elite OPS fueled by that power while continuing to be a threat on the bases and as good as it gets in the outfield. The fly in the ointment, of course, is and was injuries. Buxton only played 61 games and accrued an insane 4.5 WAR (per BBRef). This year Buck has played in 22 of the Twins first 33 games and has been use…

Big-ticket-FA-signing-from-this-past-offseason SS Carlos Correa is expected to return sometime in the next week (rotowire says 5/16). When Correa went out, the Twins called up 2017 1st Round Pick Royce Lewis to play the position. Defensively, Lewis has looked like a natural at SS but has struggled at the plate with a .538 OPS (yuck). What should the Twins do with Lewis when Correa returns?

I just saw they he's getting called up to start tonight's game. Didn't see anything about a corresponding move. Maybe there isn't one.

Our Minnesota Twins came into the series against the Houston Astros red hot, winning 14 of their last 17 games. However, they were thoroughly dominated in three games, being outscored 21-3 in those three games. Is it just that this team has a lot of injuries right now? Or do they not stack up well against good teams? What do you take away from this series?

This Twin team is great! Buxton has been great offensively with Correa, Polanco and Kepler are starting to heat up and Arraez as always pretty steady. The rotation has been doing pretty well with IMO has a lot of upside. In 2019 we had a great team but we had some weak areas. They have finally resolved some those trouble areas that we've had for years. 1st in 2021, they moved Polanco off of SS and Arraez off of 2B. GBs bled through the INF. Polanco being over stretched at SS caused bad ankles that he couldn't overcome which effected his offense as well as his defense. Polanco has blossomed at 2B once his ankles totally recovered. 2nd this year they added Correa and L…

We've all heard the Billy Beane 2 months to see what you got, 2 months to align adjustments, 2 months to make the playoffs bit...I'm ready for an early start to fixing little(?) things Maybe I'm still suffering from T-Wolves melt-down or not quite over the Wild losing their identity because the playoffs started (or did they just don the Wild playoff identity) but how about we proactive this thing and just make some Big League moves now instead of waiting for a presumed better time/deal?? Here's a couple ideas birthed from this MLBTR post on 10 Potential Trade Candidates and "consider the source" Jim Bowden TheAthletic post on Trades He'd Like to See (Pay-…

The decision to trade Berrios last year at the deadline was a big talking point for Twins fans. Some were upset he was traded at all thinking we needed to sign him, as he signed with Blue Jays. He was still under team control for one more year and many fans wanted to wait until either this off-season, as odd as it ended up being, or sign the man long term. He did sign extension with Blue Jays for 7 years and 131 million. Berrios is in his year 7th year and age 28 season. The early results are not very good for him. He has 7 games pitched, 34 innings 42 hits, 11 walks, 24 K's for an ERA+ of 63 and FIP of 5.15. I am not saying he cannot turn this around. He ha…

Last time I shared a transaction rumor from an unfamiliar Twitter account, it alleged the Twins were going to sign Johnny Cueto. So take this with a grain of salt until it is officially confirmed, but:

What was it, two weeks ago when we were commenting on how effective the rotation was? Since then, Joe Ryan has looked human in two straight starts, Chris Paddack hurt his elbow with likely TJ surgery, Dylan Bundy threw two consecutive stinkers, and Chris Archer is getting even less far into games and giving up runs to boot. Josh Winder has two outstanding starts, so we can expect regression at some point and Bailey Ober is on the Injured List. Ober has passed the minimum time to be on the list, but it appears that he will need to make at least one rehab start. Sonny Gray returned to the rotation after missing about three weeks. Gray was supposed to make another rehab…

Celestino has been playing well of late. He have the highest BA on the team .324 and 5th highest OPS at .795, and playing well defensively. Is Celestino the 4th OF that bats RH the Twins have been looking for? And by the way, he is only 23 years old.

Anyone see anything definitive regarding Paddack's injury yet? Last I saw was that he was getting different recommendations/opinions and that surgery was one of them. They still haven't put him on the IL, but I'd expect that to happen soon. It would really suck if he's back in for another TJ job.

Do the MN Twins have an "SI Jinx"? Buck was April's cover boy and injured his knee two weeks in. Now Correa's finger?? (Side note: My tongue is firmly planted in my cheek. There's a nice little feature on the new coaches) Twins Magazine

Our beloved Minnesota Twins start the 2022 MLB Season 18-11. They’re 14-3 for their last 17. If this team is looking to go the playoffs come July 31st, they’re going to want to add more. Opinions of what this team still needs to win may vary from person to person. IMO, the biggest need for the Twins at the trade deadline is back-of-the-bullpen help. The Twins traded closer Taylor Rogers before Opening Day. Unfortunately, the return thus far (Chris Paddack) has been highly mediocre thus far. While the bullpen as a whole has been solid thus far, the hole that Rogers filled is noticeable. IMO, this team should look to add a back-of-the-bullpen stud. They coul…

Twins are placing Carlos Correa and Chris Paddack on the IL and calling Mark Contreras and Jharel Cotton up from the Saints per Do-Hyung Park.

Baddoo was optioned to the minors yesterday. A year ago at this time the sky was falling in Twins Territory because they had let another future MVP get away for nothing. No real point to this thread.......just one more in a never ending string of examples of 'small sample size', rushing to judgement(good and bad), players needing different lengths of time to really adjust/counter adjust to the major leagues, etc. At least it gives us all a reminder to 'take a breath' as we evaluate the performances of all these new/young players early in the season.

I was not specifically looking ahead, but after this week the rest of the month the Twins will be playing Oakland, KC, and Detroit until June 3rd finally facing a competitive team in the Blue Jays. The rest of the month they will only have 1 currently below .500 team, of course much can change on that front over next month. After that there is no huge stretches' of good or bad teams but more of a mix. I have not looked at Cleveland or White Sox schedules but I think the Twins really need to have a lead at end of May to keep it. 19 straight games against terrible teams to end May, followed by 23 of 26 winning teams, and the 3 that are not winning teams is at Seat…

I… uh… think it may have arrived. This team may just have gotten really good in a hurry.