Minnesota Twins Talk

Comcast has announced they will offer a free trial of MLB Network through October 11. Read here. Ok, I'm about 8 hours late...

on bringing Gibson into this game. Anything at all would be great.

Twins fans’ hearts went aflutter when rookie second baseman and .300 hitter Luis Arraez went to the ground after fielding a pop-up Saturday. Test results indicated no fracture, just a mild ankle sprain. “Just” a sprain, right? Without leaping to any judgments on Arraez’s ankle specifically, I wanted to do a search to see how long it took for some notable players to recover from a “mild ankle sprain.” Beginning, of course, with a player on the enemy Yankees who sprained his ankle the day after Arraez did. 1. Gio Urshela, New York Yankees Left game: Sept 29, 2019 (season finale) fielding a ground ball. Games missed: ?? Urshela was hobbling after fielding a ground b…

Why no magic number thread? Why can't I post pictures? BYTO was fun.

Welcome to postseason 2019. The Twins are in and will be playing the New York Yankees in a best-of-five series beginning on Friday. We will have game threads similar to the regular season and expectations for a great conversation about the game. We have enlisted five of our most frequent volunteers to do introductions. After the Twins win their series, we will do a similar process for the ALCS. We expect that posters will follow Twins Daily comment policy even in the heat of a playoff game. Even the Yankees should be treated with respect. Introductions will be handled by Blake, twinssporto, samplesizeofOne, Dave the Dastardly and Diesel, respectively. Go Twins!

With four full days to prepare, with an immense amount of data at their disposal, and a clear objective of winning 3 games (in the ALDS), will the Twins take a different approach to preparing for each game and the series as a whole? Does anyone have any insights about how teams are preparing for their opponents in the analytics age? What did we learn about last year's playoffs and how teams made roster, lineup and in-game decisions to win games? For example, with the extra time - will players be working more deeply on how to approach specific hitters/pitchers? Will each player work through at bats with each Yankee pitcher and engage in hitting drills to prepare them …

I feel out of place starting this thread...

Hurray! The Twins are in first place. We have had a game thread for each game so far, but some of them have started near game time. After a game like last night, there should be interest in this team and probably more contributions in the game thread. Last year there was a game thread procedure featuring a series introduction and then volunteers to introduce the subsequent games in the series. Authoring game thread introductions became both a production and a chore and so it was determined that this year game threads would not be bound by last year's procedures. As noted, some of the threads have been started pretty late and a couple times more than one thread was start…

This was the #1 song on the Billboard Chart: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98WtmW-lfeE

I wasn't quite sure where this thread should go, so I figured it would fit here. I grew up a Twins fan living in Virginia. My dad had 87 and 91 homer hankies framed hung up in the house. I don't totally know the rules around them though. Are they generally created for every division championship? Will there be one for this year most likely? If so, how does a Virginian get their hands on a few of them? Where are they sold?

First time in nine years!!

Welcome Everyone Please view the Mission Statement and feel free to ask questions in the questions thread.

WCCO AM, has Twins announcers doing all Twins talk as they await outcome of Cleveland outcome. Good baseball talk!

Let's start the discussion now? Do the Minnesota Twins exercise Nelson Cruz's contract option in 2020? My opinion? If they don't, bulldoze Target Field, sell the franchise and make the real estate a dog park for hi-rise pet owners....

For those not in love with his glove, you are watching a different game.... https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/mitch-garver-wasnt-catching-strikes-so-he-changed-his-catching-stance/amp/?__twitter_impression=true

The Twins are going to make the playoffs and they have a strong bullpen but that bullpen is full of recent starter prospects? We can all agree, at least I hope we can, that the dream of May returning to the starting rotation is over and I don't think any of us dream of Duffey returning to a starting role but there are 9 other pitchers on the 40 man roster that were starters until very recently. Gonsalves is not on the current active roster and has not been used out of the bullpen so lets focus on the other 8 names I have for this discussion: Romero Graterol Littell Alcala Dobnak Smeltzer Thorpe Stewart So our question is, "who do you want to see remain relievers and …

http://www.startribune.com/how-twins-tyler-duffey-became-one-of-the-best-relievers-in-baseball/561155402/ An interesting read. Count me among those glad the organization has put "pitch to contact" in the rear view mirror.

That nice 6.5 game lead is down to 4 and the Twins face good pitching in their next four scheduled games. I do believe it is very possible that their lead will have diminished significantly by the time they leave Cleveland. This Twins team has not had a substantial losing streak all year. To my recollection, they have not been swept in a three-game series and only lost one two-gamer. However, much like the weather outside, the storm clouds are gathering. I count five position players and one pitcher that aren't being used due to their health that are on the active roster. Dyson (pitcher), Kepler, Cave, Gonzalez, Sanó and Cron, Add in the suspension of Pineda and the sea…

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According to my facebook memories feed, 2 years ago today Zach Granite pinch ran for Joe Mauer in a game the Twins were trailing 3-2 in the 8th. He would score the tying run. The Twins continued to rally, and eventually he came to bat with 2 on and 2 out. And the rest, as they say, is history. Yep, high and deep to right, just barely over the wall.

I don't know if anyone else has noticed, but the signs are pointing to the Minnesota Twins heading to the World Series this year. The Twins have played in the World Series three times: 1965 against the Los Angeles Dodgers, 1987 against the St. Louis Cardinals, and 1991 against the Atlanta Braves. The Los Angeles Dodgers have clinched the NL West, the St. Louis Cardinals are leading the NL Central and have clinched a playoff birth, and the Atlanta Braves have clinched the NL East. What more do you need? Let's go!!!

Next year, I hope Rocco (and the front office) recognizes the futility of "resting" players during the regular season. Rocco has given players way too much scheduled time off, to what benefit? All you do is willingly hold your better players out of too many games. It does little to nothing in terms of keeping them healthy, or "rested." All it does is intentionally reduce the number of games played by your best lineup.

ESPN just reported that Domingo German of the Yankees is out for the playoffs. This has pretty significant ramifications for a likely Twins vs. Yankees series. Aaron Boone on MLB Network also sounded like he was counting on Luis Severino to be back in the rotation - assuming his remaining two starts this season go well. So what do the starting pitching match ups look like for a Twins vs. Yanks series? Will the Yanks use a bullpen game? Does this development impact what the Twins do?

Surprised to discover that the Twins have not had a team captain since Harmon Killebrew. Leadership counts when a club is playing for the last out of the season. Which 2019 players have stepped up to set an example for their teammates? Considering factors like baseball smarts, judgment, maturity, coolness under pressure, peer coaching and pure results, who do you think provides that daily leadership for this ball club? Nominees are listed in order of total RBI; position players only. All have at least 300 PA this season.

I'm hoping this is one of last times we see Gibson. He has had one good year and every other year has been above 4 ERA. He actually broke off talks with the twins on an extension. We might have saved ourselves from a terrible deal.

Let me say this right up front, Kyle Gibson is NOT one of my all time favorite Twins, or Twins pitchers. And in no way am I arguing he is anything resembling a top of the rotation stud pitcher. I am also not stating I expect him to be re-signed or stating he should be. But I am so frustrated with some of the opinions vs reality of his career in Twins gear I felt compelled to post this. The only thing Gibson is truly guilty of is failed expectations. He was a top college pitcher with a high floor and pretty nice ceiling who slid in the draft to a college injury. And expectations for a franchise starving for a top SP followed him from day one. He pitched well, had TJ s…

Falvine made three moves that are not discussed much that have turned out pretty good Getting Littell for Jamie Garcia is looking better by the day Getting Devin Smeltzer for two months of Dozier could end up being a huge steal The last one is the best: getting Odorizzi for a middling prospect at a position of depth I’m not as all in on Falvine compared to some but these were three shrewd moves.

I’m traveling and only have my phone. I know Polanco missed last night’s game with an injury and that Dyson had a recurrence of his injury. Do we have timetables for those guys? What about Marwin and Buxton? And Gibson?

It might be out there but I haven’t seen the pitching match up for today. Clevinger is lights out in day games so I am saving most of my bullets for the evening. Go with Smeltzer game 1 and see if he makes it a game. He has faced greater odds than this game. I guess they could open with Romero. If it goes bad let Stewart take the lumps. The Indians and will likely have the benefit of a long start and a rested pen for game 2. The Twins need to win that game. I do wonder if it is better to pitch two innings in one if the games or pitch one and possibly be available for game 2.

With tonight's rain out and a doubleheader tomorrow, Darren "Doogie" Wolfson mentions that there are rumblings of Jorge Alcala heading to Cleveland. With 40 on the roster, someone would need to be DFAd. Lead candidates may be: Kohl Stewart - uninspiring outing, likely DFAd in offseason anyway. Ryan LaMarre - added so late, but he is a RH outfield bat. Other? Ehire Adrianza could move to the 60-Day IL...