Article: MIN 7, CLE 5: EDDIE! EDDIE! EDDIE!

[Tom Froemming]

Eddie Rosario is not going to let this Twins season die. Rosie wore out Cleveland pitching all weekend, but today was something else. Eddie hit three home runs, the last of which was a walk-off to give his team a series victory.Snapshot (chart via FanGraphs)

Current record: 25-30

Kyle Gibson: 61 Game Score, 5.2 IP, 2 ER, 7 K, 2 BB, 63.6% strikes

Bullpen: 3.1 IP, 3 ER, 3 K, 2 BB

Lineup: 1-for-8 w/RISP, 7 LOB

Top three per WPA: Rosario .531, Dozier .315, Gibson .202

Download attachment: WinEx63.png

Pitches beware! No zone is safe when you’re facing Eddie Rosario right now. Inside? Outside? High? Low? Nope, you’ve got nowhere to go. Take a look at the chart below via Baseball Savant that shows the location of Rosario’s three home runs on the day:

Download attachment: Eddiechart1.png

What a performance, and what a season Rosario is having. He’s hitting .317 with a .925 OPS and those were his 11th, 12th and 13th home runs of the year. It’s June 3, and he’s already tied the second-most homers he’s hit in a single season (he hit 13 in 2015, his rookie year).

 

Cleveland also got a dominant effort of their own today from Edwin Encarnacion, who hit two homers and drove in four of their five runs. Pretty nice day at the park, but he’s no Rosie.

 

Kyle Gibson started this game and was perfect through the first four frames, but he only lasted 5 2/3 innings. He exited the game with the Twins up 3-1, but Ryan Pressly gave up a three-run, go-ahead homer.

 

The Twins stormed back to take the lead thanks to back-to-back home runs in the seventh, but Addison Reed gave up a round tripper in the top of the eighth to tie the game at 5-5.

 

Brian Dozier led off the bottom of the ninth with a nine-pitch walk before Rosario destroyed a 2-1 fastball to walk it off.

 

Here are the highlights:

Bullpen Usage

Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days:

Download attachment: Bullpen63.png

AL Central Standings

CLE 30-28

DET 28-31 (-2.5)

MIN 25-30 (-3.5)

KC 21-38 (-9.5)

CHW 18-38 (-11)

 

Next Three Games

Mon OFF

Tue vs. CHW, 3:10 pm CT (DH)

Wed vs. CHW, 7:10 pm CT

 

Last Three Games

MIN 7, CLE 1: Twins Battle Their Way to Another Victory

MIN 7, CLE 4: Escobar é o Fogo

CLE 9, MIN 8: Twins Fight Back, Fall Short

 

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Click here to view the article

[Kelly Vance]

Cue all the "Trade Eddie while his value is high" proponents. 

 

OK, just kidding.

 

Sorta.

 

But gee, give Eddie his due. He is a leader on this club and he is almost immortal. 

I love to watch him play.

 

And no, he is not available for trade. He is one of a kind. 

[AZTwin]

My buddy and I went to a Beloit Snappers game a few years back to watch Sano.  Rosario just went to the DL at the time so we missed being able to see him play but I remember telling my buddy that I wouldn't be surprised if Rosario became a better pro than Sano.  He thought I was nuts.

Edited June 3, 2018 by AZTwin

[Han Joelo]

Okay, back from my camping trip.  Who'd they trade?  Who'd they fire?  Wait...WHUT???

[jokin]

It's happening...

 

Only 2 down in the loss column to the Indians!

 

And Cleveland came to town on a hot streak. All the doomsdayers about the Twins offensive woes are all ducking for cover today.

 

Eddie is willing this team to stop feeling sorry for themselves and reach for more. 

 

(If I were Twins management, I'd make sure to provide airfare and passes for as many games as Eddie's family cares to see).

[mickeymental]

eddie monster.

[jokin]

 

Okay, back from my camping trip.  Who'd they trade?  Who'd they fire?  Wait...WHUT???

 

+1 Great post!

[bluechipper]

Eddie is so fun to watch.

 

Hopefully this is just a rough stretch for Addison Reed. I'd like to see Hildenberger be the set-up guy until he gets straightened out.

[jtkoupal]

I won't read into Addison Reed's struggles too much at this point. Probably nothing more than just a little rough stretch. He's been great most of this year.

 

Love seeing the offense, spearheaded by Rosario, heat up. It's crazy, decent pitching and some timely offense can beat the Indians.

 

The Twins gained 2 games on the Indians this weekend and have another crack at them in 2 weekends from now. 

**I will probably be at the game on June 16 in Cleveland!**

 

The Twins play 4 games in 3 days with the White Sox from Tuesday-Thursday

The Tribe play a pair of games with the Brewers  on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Perfect opportunity to bridge the gap a little bit more hopefully!

 

Enjoy these wins, Twins Territory, and enjoy the off day tomorrow. Let's get ready for Tuesday.

[bluechipper]

 

It's happening...

 

Only 2 down in the loss column to the Indians!

 

And Cleveland came to town on a hot streak. All the doomsdayers about the Twins offensive woes are all ducking for cover today.

 

Eddie is willing this team to stop feeling sorry for themselves and reach for more. 

 

(If I were Twins management, I'd make sure to provide airfare and passes for as many games as Eddie's family cares to see).

The offense has been great for about a week, but that doesn't quite make up for about 80% of the lineup not showing up for a month.

 

This is the offense I was expecting to see, which made that bad stretch so difficult to watch.

[Squirrel]

The offense has been great for about a week, but that doesn't quite make up for about 80% of the lineup not showing up for a month.

 

This is the offense I was expecting to see, which made that bad stretch so difficult to watch.

I think that describes everyone’s expectations and frustrations with the season thus far. I’m hoping this upward offensive trend continues.

[jimmer]

Getting my Red Rosario jersey today. Last time I got a Twins jersey with a name on it was Mientkiewicz...which I wore to the game today!

[luckylager]

Puckett-like weekend for Eddie. Hope he can keep it rolling. Earned an All-Star spot.

[Danchat]

Something that went a bit unnoticed today was that LaMarre went 3 for 4 with 2 doubles, and the one out should have been another double but Zimmer made a Buxton-esque play on the ball. If he can keep hitting the ball like he has the past couple days, we'll have ourselves a nice backup CF who isn't a total black hole in the lineup.

[DocBauer]

Did someone just turn the light switch on the past few days? Someone PLEASE keep laying the electric bill!

 

Other than over using Pressly today, what a great game and series!

[Darius]

Eddie is so fun to watch.

 

Hopefully this is just a rough stretch for Addison Reed. I'd like to see Hildenberger be the set-up guy until he gets straightened out.

That just seems like common sense, right? Apparently, there is unwritten rule that you can't bump a guy from his spot due to performance (see Rodney's first few weeks -- wouldn't it be nice to have one or two of those games back right now?). You MUST let him work it out in his accustomed high-leverage role, because of history or gentlemans agreements and handshakes or something.

 

There is no doubt in my mind he'll work it out. But, I agree, when you're pitching poorly and giving up moonshot after moonshot.....probably not the best idea to let him work out during a tie game in the 8th.

Edited June 3, 2018 by Darius

[wabene]

Rosie is a star in the making

[Darius]

The offense has been great for about a week, but that doesn't quite make up for about 80% of the lineup not showing up for a month.

 

This is the offense I was expecting to see, which made that bad stretch so difficult to watch.

IMO, it's all Dozier.

 

Rosario has been good all year. But, Dozier gets out of his annual brutal slump, and they all of the sudden start looking like a competent offensive club again.

[jorgenswest]

That just seems like common sense, right? Apparently, there is unwritten rule that you can't bump a guy from his spot due to performance (see Rodney's first few weeks -- wouldn't it be nice to have one or two of those games back right now?). You MUST let him work it out in his accustomed high-leverage role, because of history or gentlemans agreements and handshakes or something.

There is no doubt in my mind he'll work it out. But, I agree, when you're pitching poorly and giving up moonshot after moonshot.....probably not the best idea to let him work out during a tie game in the 8th.

I think they don’t bump him because they believe he gives them the best chance to win in his 8th inning role. Previous performance is not a good predictor of the next performance. Unless there is an injury or something that might indicate injury like drop in velocity, they should keep putting him in that role. It won’t be a matter of him working anything out if he does well in the next opportunity but rather the random variation of day to day performance.

[Darius]

I think they don’t bump him because they believe he gives them the best chance to win in his 8th inning role. Previous performance is not a good predictor of the next performance. Unless there is an injury or something that might indicate injury like drop in velocity, they should keep putting him in that role. It won’t be a matter of him working anything out if he does well in the next opportunity but rather the random variation of day to day performance.

To each his own.

 

But, IMO, if a guy is giving up a ton of dingers in recent days/weeks, I'm going with the hot hand during a one-run game in the 8th against the team you have to beat to make the playoffs.

 

If they think he gives them the best chance, but has been pitching terribly lately, arent they basing that on the history of his career before the struggles?

 

I'm not even upset that they gave him the eigth. I just replied my thoughts to a discussion initiated by another poster. I don't think it could really be disputed that if they were more fluid with the bullpen, they'd probably have a few more wins right now.

 

I'm not calling for a players head, or anything. When Rodney was struggling and Reed was great, switch things up. When Reed is struggling and Hildenberger, Duke, etc are pitching well, switch things up. I don't think it's really that controversial....but the predefined bullpen role paradigm runs deep in some folks, including our manager.

Edited June 3, 2018 by Darius

[stringer bell]

Reed, Ehire, and Pressly say thanks to Rosario, Dozier and LaMarre for pulling out this game. Also, a nice, but risky play by Wilson on the bunt.

 

Further on Reed, the velo is there, so I think we have to chalk it up to a rough patch and a bit of bad luck. Patience paid off with Rodney, I think, and probably will with veterans like Lynn and Morrison, as well as Reed.

[ashbury]

I won't read into Addison Reed's struggles too much at this point.

I will. I haven't been seeing the "stuff" on his pitches these past few games like I thought was there earlier in the season. I looked up this pitch from April, and while it's a site that specializes only in highlights (built-in bias there), I don't remember seeing this kind of movement this week:

https://mediadownloads.mlb.com/mlbam/mp4/2018/04/19/1951483483/1524158008909/asset_1800K.mp4

 

I would try hard to hold him out of several games and then see if his stuff rebounds from lighter usage. I imagine he's a gamer and won't pull himself out of availability willingly.

[Mike Sixel]

The offense has been good since Buxton went down, and Sano came back. That's partly a coincidence, but I don't think totally. I like when they win

[jokin]

 

. I like when they win

 

Mikewantswins............

[nclahammer]

I first heard about Eddie Rosario when I read an article about him edging then top prospect Miguel Sano for the HR lead in Elizabethton in 2011 by a margin of 21 to 20.  I'm thinking to myself who is this Rosario guy?    Saw him the next year with the Beloit Snappers (got my first auto from him) who also had Miguel Sano and Kennys Vargas in the line-up.  He continued to progress and impress, then came his 50 game suspension in 2014, which only seemed to motivate him even more as he made his MLB debut in 2015.  Love love LOVE the way he plays the game, even though it can be maddening at times.

 

[jokin]

 

Reed, Ehire, and Pressly say thanks to Rosario, Dozier and LaMarre for pulling out this game. Also, a nice, but risky play by Wilson on the bunt.

 

Further on Reed, the velo is there, so I think we have to chalk it up to a rough patch and a bit of bad luck. Patience paid off with Rodney, I think, and probably will with veterans like Lynn and Morrison, as well as Reed.

 

Good point on Lynn and Morrison. It was just a couple weeks ago that the pitchfork crowd were calling for them to be DFAd.

 

RPs all go through bad stretches. The difference this year in the pitching corps is that there are now multiple fixes soon ready to plug the holes. For example, how about going the Cardinals route with some of the prospects and make a starter into a temporary relief specialist, especially if they are on limited inning counts? Even May and Santana could relieve. And there are already rumblings that Pineda might be back for the stretch run...?? Busenitz... Curtiss...

Edited June 4, 2018 by jokin

[luckylager]

 

  Love love LOVE the way he plays the game, even though it can be maddening at times.

The "maddening" parts have come less frequently of late. He is settling into his game. Not playing out of his shoes like we've seen at times the last few seasons. Eddie is a ballplayer. He is very fun to watch. 

[Don Walcott]

Getting my Red Rosario jersey today. Last time I got a Twins jersey with a name on it was Mientkiewicz...which I wore to the game today!

We should all be getting Rosario jerseys. And the FO should take notice and extend him sooner than later . . . and sooner for later.

[jokin]

 

The offense has been great for about a week, but that doesn't quite make up for about 80% of the lineup not showing up for a month.

 

This is the offense I was expecting to see, which made that bad stretch so difficult to watch.

 

The turnaround has to start somewhere. So far, it looks like this might be it. Dozier and Sano have come back to life. Morrison has come back from the dead, Grossman is OPSing about 1.000 this week, LaMarre's insertion in CF has eliminated an automatic out at the bottom of the order.

 

Time to clean up on the White Sox with a sweep and finish off the homestand with a series win over the Angels and put the last putrid months in the rearview mirror.

[DocBauer]

The turnaround has to start somewhere. So far, it looks like this might be it. Dozier and Sano have come back to life. Morrison has come back from the dead, Grossman is OPSing about 1.000 this week, LaMarre's insertion in CF has eliminated an automatic out at the bottom of the order.

 

Time to clean up on the White Sox with a sweep and finish off the homestand with a series win over the Angels and put the last putrid months in the rearview mirror.

 

Just too bad there isn't room for both Cave and LaMarre for now. Looks like Cave has some talent. Of course, hopefully in a few weeks and a rehab this time, Buxton will be back 100% and get in a decent groove.