Probable Starters: Matt Garza (5-5, 3.68 ERA) vs Adalberto Mejia (4-5, 4.30 ERA)

 

1. Today’s Special Event
I’ve whipped up a little game on Sporcle, a website for quizzes. If you click the link below, you can try and remember which 25 players where on the Twins roster on the same day one year ago. Can you go 25 for 25? Go ahead and try and post your score in the comments!
(Rules: You have 4 minutes to guess all 25 players and you can eliminate them by typing in their last names. Good luck!)

https://www.sporcle.com/games/Danchat0/twins-8817-roster

 

2. Twins Pitchers Summer Stats
Let’s look at how Twins pitchers have fared from June to August so far, and perhaps we will find some interesting things in their stat lines. (stats come from Baseball-Reference’s Game Logs)

(ERA, WHIP, K/9)
Ervin Santana 4.84, 1.386, 7.6
Kyle Gibson 4.97, 1.563, 5.8
Jose Berrios 4.30, 1.304, 8.0
Adalberto Mejia 4.19, 1.508, 7.5
Bartolo Colon 7.88, 1.719, 4.8

Bullpen
Matt Belisle 1.67, 1.037, 7.0
Trevor Hildenberger 2.70, 1.050, 9.9
Ryan Pressly 2.66, .836, 8.4
Buddy Boshers 3.97, 1.323, 7.5
Taylor Rogers 4.32, 1.28, 7.92
Tyler Duffey 5.55, 1.52, 8.1

 

-Thoughts-
Wow, has this bullpen improved or what? Belisle, Hildenberger, and Pressly have been lights out since June and they’ve done a great job at keeping runners off the bases. Rogers and Boshers have been alright as of late, even with Rogers’ slump the past few weeks. Duffey has definitely struggled and you have to wonder what’s up with him. I think he will stick as a reliever but he’s found himself near the back-end of the bullpen.
Meanwhile, looking at the rotation, Ervin hasn’t been very good this summer. He’s been regressing back to his FIP (4.79 on the season) and seems to be reverting into the #3 pitcher he has always been, not the ace we had for a few months. Gibson has been replacement level but not as bad as in the first half, Berrios has been alright but he can get better, and I’m a bit concerned about Mejia. He has failed to pitch in long starts and finds himself pulled by the 4th or 5th inning – he needs to allow less baserunners and throw less pitches per inning/batter. I’m not buying Colon’s success – he’s clearly better than he was in Atlanta but he’s still not very good. The one thing he does do well is throw strikes and give up almost no walks – so far he’s been Hughes-esque in that department.

3. Lineups
Paste here

4. Examining Matt Garza
After having a dismal 2015 and 2016 season, Matt Garza is having a far better season in 2017. Here are his numbers:
2015-16: 5.18 ERA, 4.60 FIP, 1.54 WHIP, 6.3 K/9
2017: 3.68 ERA, 4.03 FIP, 1.25 WHIP, 6.1 K/9
Garza’s numbers are looking a lot better thus far and it’s thanks to giving up less walks and hits. (10.6 hits per 9 IP from 2015-16 compared to 8.5 hits per 9 IP so far in 2017). He’ll give the Twins a run for their money today as they’ll need a better start from Mejia to defeat the Brewers.

 

 

Alright Twins… let’s get back over .500!

 

 

3. Lineups

Paste here

 

But is he a righty or a lefty?

I got 21/25.  That was tougher than I figured once I got down to the last couple in the bullpen.  I couldn't for the life of me come up with Centeno.

 

That was fun!

 

But is he a righty or a lefty?

must be a switch hitter.

Only got 60%... I'm pretty embarrassed by that number.  I forgot Plouffe and Centeno as the position players. Duffey, Santiago, Kintzler, May Boshers, Pressly, Tonkin and Milone as the pitchers.

Edited August 8, 20179 yr by SF Twins Fan

Ha! I only got 64% ... I remembered most of the position players (forgot Centeno) but couldn't remember all the pitchers! Lol!

 

Good quiz and good intro!

 

Be that informative to those who have yet to sign up for a game thread ... you CAN talk about baseball and it's NOT off topic to do so!

Well done, Danchat!

Fun quiz. I got 19/25 (76%), but missed some pretty embarrassing ones. Cannot believe I didn't get Grossman, Gibson and Pressly. Also missed Plouffe, Hector & Milone.

Welcome back, Mr. Sano.

I love the lack of spoiler tags.....

That was a fun quiz. I missed Duffey, Milone, and Pressly, although I typed his name as Pressley and it didn't show up. Only reason I got Centeno was I just saw a highlight of him getting a game winning hit for the Astros a couple days ago, so I guessed his name and got lucky.

Lineups

 

Brewers
Matt Garza ®

1. Domingo Santana ® RF
2. Ryan Braun ® DH
3. Travis Shaw (L) 3B
4. Jesus Aguilar ® 1B
5. Hernan Perez ® LF
6. Manny Pina ® C
7. Orlando Arcia ® SS
8. Keon Broxton ® CF
9. Jonathan Villar (S) 2B

 

Twins
Adalberto Mejia (L)

1. Brian Dozier ® 2B
2. Max Kepler (L) RF
3. Miguel Sano ® 3B
4. Joe Mauer (L) 1B
5. Robbie Grossman (S) DH
6. Eddie Rosario (L) LF
7. Byron Buxton ® CF
8. Jason Castro (L) C
9. Jorge Polanco (S) SS

While I enjoyed that quiz, and choose to decline to say how many I got right, I'd like to defend us all by pointing out that (as now proven) the 103-loss team was fairly forgettable.

 

While I enjoyed that quiz, and choose to decline to say how many I got right, I'd like to defend us all by pointing out that (as now proven) the 103-loss team was fairly forgettable.

I found it interesting how this team is basically the same while subtracting the catchers, Plouffe, Tonkin, and Milone. There aren't that many differences except with most of the guys maturing and playing better. 

 

(Plus I don't think last year's team was that bad... poor defense + bad manager + bad luck (look at Pytha. W-L) and they were better than their record stated.)

Who was Plouffe?

 

Who was Plouffe?

 

Plouffe is the sound made by dropping a quarter into the toilet. 

 

Beloit is the other sound made. 

That was a fun quiz. I missed Duffey, Milone, and Pressly, although I typed his name as Pressley and it didn't show up.

Just wait until Aaron Slegers becomes part of Twins lore. Based on current experience, few will get his name right!

Plouffe is the sound made by dropping a quarter into the toilet. 

 

Beloit is the other sound made. 

Don't flip coins in the bathroom. Lesson learned.

I got 76%. Didn't realize it was 2016 because the title said 2017. Had 30 seconds to go when I realized.

Don't flip coins in the bathroom. Lesson learned.

Is it okay if i just flip the same coin multiple times?

 

I promise to wash my hands afterwards...

Interesting. Dick said Garza's major league debut was 11 years ago today.

Is it okay if i just flip the same coin multiple times?

The need to flip a coin while in the bathroom would seem problematic per se.

I got 76%. Didn't realize it was 2016 because the title said 2017. Had 30 seconds to go when I realized.

Sorry about that, I mixed the year up. Stupid me!

I doubt Rosario gets that anyway. That being said, that route should have been set to yakety sax.

The exact same thing happened last game Mejia pitched, with both him and Mauer going for a bunt and no one covering. 

I wish our guys could bunt like that. Hell, I wish they could just bunt in fair and not in the air! 

Edited August 9, 20179 yr by h2oface

God, I hope Buxton is okay. That looked bad.

Too busy eating a 2 lb stash of sunflower seeds to concentrate on the balls path......

Mejia not fooling anyone. The Brewers are loving to tee off on him....

Hey guys! Rosario hit the cutoff man!