Article: DET 9, MIN 3: Third Out Eludes Gibson, Eades Debuts

[Tom Froemming]

Kyle Gibson struggled to finish off the Tigers in the second inning, the Twins’ lineup was uncharacteristically quiet against a Detroit staff maneuvering through a bullpen game and Matt Magill made sure there was no drama in the ninth inning. In between all that, Ryan Eades pitched two scoreless innings in his major league debut.Box Score

Gibson: 5.0 IP, 8 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 8 K, 67.0% strikes (63 of 94 pitches)

Bullpen: 3.0 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 5 K

 

Home Runs: Cruz (10)

Multi-Hit Games: Cruz (2-for-3, HR, BB)

 

WPA of +0.1: Cruz .102

WPA of -0.1: Gonzalez -.185, Gibson -.294

Download attachment: Win68.png

(chart via FanGraphs)

 

The key moment in this game came in the bottom of the second inning. Kyle Gibson retired the first two batters he faced, then got ahead of the next batter 0-2. One more strike and the good guys are back in the dugout.

 

Gibson’s next two pitches weren’t close enough to chase, however, evening the count at 2-2. Gibson manged to get a chase the fifth pitch, but the batter managed to hit a slider down and away into left field for a single to extend the inning.

 

Gibson lost an eight-pitch battle with the next batter, walking him on a two-seamer that was well outside the zone. He then hung a slider on the second pitch he threw to JaCoby Jones, who crushed a three-run homer.

 

That third out has been elusive for Gibson this season. In addition to the three-run homer, Gibson also gave up a two-out RBI single in the fifth inning. Entering today, opposing hitters had a .720 OPS with no outs, .648 OPS with one out and an .809 OPS with two outs against Gibby. Of the 11 home runs Gibson has now surrendered, six have come with two down.

 

That’s a strange trend, not only generally speaking, but also in comparison to Gibson’s career numbers. With both the 2019 league averages and Gibson’s overall career marks, OPS against shrinks the more outs there are.

 

It’s not like Gibson didn’t have good stuff today. He struck out eight batters and got 18 swinging strikes, which is the third-most whiffs he’s gotten in 12 starts this year.

 

Eades Debuts

Gibson’s short start created a nice opportunity for the Twins to get Ryan Eades his MLB debut. We’ve been privileged to some pretty special stories so far this season. Ryne Harper finally making his debut as a 30-year-old and cancer survivor/ultimate underdog Devin Smeltzer making it are about as good as it gets.

 

FSN managed to tug at my heartstrings pretty hard today, as they showed Eades’ wife in the stands, baby wearing their infant, crying her eyes out at seeing her husband on a major league mound for the first time. Beautiful moment to be able to witness.

 

Eades retired the first two men he faced, then walked the next two batters. Wes Johnson came out to the mound and probably said something along the lines of “hey, we’re not paying you by the hour,” and Eades retired the next batter to end the inning.

 

Eades came back out for the seventh and gave up a couple of hits. He was helped out by the combination of a bad send at third base and a good relay from Marwin Gonzalez to Miguel Sano to Jason Castro, but Eades ended up throwing two shutout innings. He struck out three batters and topped out at 95.5 mph.

 

Magill Floundering

Matt Magill followed Eades and struggled badly, once again. He gave up four runs on five hits. Over his last three appearances, Magill has surrendered 10 earned runs on 10 hits and three walks over just 1 2/3 innings.

 

Bats Struggle vs. Detroit Pen

The Tigers went with a bullpen game today and managed to hold the Twins to three runs on just six hits. They combined to strike out nine batters, Miguel Sano accounting for three of those punch outs. The Twins had just two extra-base hits today, Nelson Cruz’s 10th home run and Jorge Polanco’s 18th double of the season.

 

Really, the Twins as a whole just felt like the came out a little flat in this one.

 

Postgame With Baldelli

Bullpen Usage

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

Download attachment: Pen68.png

Next Game

Sun at DET, 12:10 pm CT (Odorizzi-Carpenter)

 

Last Game

MIN 6, DET 3: Offense, Bullpen Come Through Late as Twins Take Opener

 

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[Danchat]

Remember when Gibson was supposed to be the #2 to Berrios and it would have been a mistake to trade him away when we had control over his 2019 season? So far he's been erratic and somewhat ineffective. I expect far more from him against the worst lineup in baseball.

 

Suddenly with Perez falling apart, Gibson being mediocre, and Pineda being the definition of a #5 starter, I'm getting concerned for our rotation. The recent failure to pitch more innings is forcing the bullpen to cover more, and our pen isn't good in the first place.

 

Eades looks intriguing so far. I hope they have the patience to ride out some early struggles, but 2 scoreless innings is great to see from the rookie.

 

Magill doesn't have the ability to get anybody out right now - time for a really long IL stint or hand him his DFA papers. As much as we need another high leverage reliever, we could also use a couple more guys who can fill the not-as-important innings and not be horrendous like we've seen from Magill, De Jong, Adams, and so forth.

[Thrylos]

Has to be noted that Gibson did not follow his regular pre-start game preparation today and instead chose to attend pre-game religious services at the ballpark.  How much that hurt the Twins is hard to tell.

[Monticore]

Magill has to go. My cat could throw better.

[Tom Froemming]

 

Has to be noted that Gibson did not follow his regular pre-start game preparation today and instead chose to attend pre-game religious services at the ballpark.  How much that hurt the Twins is hard to tell.

I'm not sure, but I'd suspect that probably had about as much to do with his results as where he ate his breakfast this morning or which one of his shoes he tied first.

[Brock Beauchamp]

The Twins bullpen:

 

[Brock Beauchamp]

Has to be noted that Gibson did not follow his regular pre-start game preparation today and instead chose to attend pre-game religious services at the ballpark. How much that hurt the Twins is hard to tell.

Why exactly does this have to be noted?

[Brock Beauchamp]

I'm not sure, but I'd suspect that probably had about as much to do with his results as where he ate his breakfast this morning or which one of his shoes he tied first.

Wes Johnson is a right shoe first and a bacon and eggs guy. He’s also a devout satanist but I’m not sure that part matters.

[Thrylos]

 

Why exactly does this have to be noted?

 

If a starting pitcher went to the horse races, a parade, or another event before his start, instead of following his routine, wouldn't you want to know, esp. after he sucked?

Edited June 9, 2019 by Thrylos

[Brock Beauchamp]

 

If a starting pitcher went to the horse races, a parade, or another event before his start, instead of following his routine, wouldn't you want to know, esp. after he sucked?

Yes, because attending a religious ceremony at the park is obviously the same thing as leaving the stadium to go have a hotdog at a carnival.

 

Correlation is not causation. Your post says a whole lot about you and virtually nothing about Kyle Gibson.

[jz7233]

I really don't see Magill would stay on the roster for another day. He gave up 10 ERs to get 5 outs. Astudillo could do better than that. Why would Twins need him?

[Tom Froemming]

 

If a starting pitcher went to the horse races, a parade, or another event before his start, instead of following his routine, wouldn't you want to know, esp. after he sucked?

I mean, Ryan Eades didn't even get to the ballpark until 15 minutes prior to the first pitch. Pretty savage move for a guy showing up for his first day on the job He seemed to do OK despite the circumstances.

[Thrylos]

 

I mean, Ryan Eades didn't even get to the ballpark until 15 minutes prior to the first pitch. Pretty savage move for a guy showing up for his first day on the job He seemed to do OK despite the circumstances.

 

That kid was pitching with so much adrenaline, I bet he did not know which state he was

[jz7233]

 

Yes, because attending a religious ceremony at the park is obviously the same thing as leaving the stadium to go have a hotdog at a carnival.

 

Correlation is not causation. Your post says a whole lot about you and virtually nothing about Kyle Gibson.

Well I am sorry, I really think Throlys has a point there. Gibson is a professional baseball player. He should have followed his pre-start game preparation today. He gets paid to make sure he prepares the best for the game.

[shimrod]

Correlation is not causation. Your post says a whole lot about you and virtually nothing about Kyle Gibson.

 

How does noting the pitcher didn't follow his normal routine and then pitched poorly reflect on the commenter? Perhaps you interpreted the statement as a dig at religion but I didn't read it that way. 

 

Not that Gibson cost us the game. The bats and the bullpen deserve more opprobrium.

[Richie the Rally Goat]

That kid was pitching with so much adrenaline, I bet he did not know which state he was

I bet he knew exactly what state he was in, probably one of these two.

[rdehring]

I don't have a clue if the pre-game prep had anything to do with Gibson's disappointing start.  Yes, I think that is the word I would like to use to describe it...disappointing.  Although I didn't know about his pre-game, during the game I was wondering if the extra two days off between starts made a difference.  I know they are trying to get their starters extra rest for the long haul...just curious.

 

How many times have we heard Gladden and others talk about how long innings affect the defense.  Rather than a crisp quick inning and they are back in the dugout and ready to score some runs, they kind of get worn down in the field.  Sure looked like that was part of it today.  That and Sano really struggling to make contact with the ball.  Does this offense feel different when Rosario and Garver are on the bench?

 

Am I correct that Eades would have found out he was being added to the roster and called up around midnight last night?  Correct me if I didn't see clearly, but when the tv went to his family, wife and daughter as he was taking the mound for the first time the wife was crying her eyes out?  Couldn't be happier for him and his family.  Don't know what he makes at AAA, but assume it is $75k a year or so.  Suddenly making over $3k per game sure will help his young family.

 

Don't know what to think about Magill this past week.  At least he eventually got out of the inning. 

[Tom Froemming]

 

Well I am sorry, I really think Throlys has a point there. Gibson is a professional baseball player. He should have followed his pre-start game preparation today. He gets paid to make sure he prepares the best for the game.

Just because Gibson may not have followed his regular pre-start game preparation today does not mean he didn't prepare for the game.

[Brock Beauchamp]

 

Just because Gibson may not have followed his regular pre-start game preparation today does not mean he didn't prepare for the game.

Yes. He's professional ballplayer and if you actually watched the pregame show, they had a really good bit on how Kyle prepares between games. He's obviously ready, as his regimen appears to be solid and his results show as such.

 

I sometimes oversleep by 15 minutes, skip a full breakfast, and still manage to perform at a high level.

 

It's weird, how humans sometimes don't do the exact same thing every day.

[akmanak]

You are seeing the slow decline of our pitching staff.

[james2334]

It may be that the team was playing the 9th game of a 10 game road trip and showing signs of fatigue as a result. It's also possible that Willians Austudillo is a magical leprechaun and he took his magical lucky charms with him when they sent him to Rochester. I am pretty sure it's one of those two things.

[ashbury]

It may be that the team was playing the 9th game of a 10 game road trip and showing signs of fatigue as a result. It's also possible that Willians Austudillo is a magical leprechaun and he took his magical lucky charms with him when they sent him to Rochester. I am pretty sure it's one of those two things.

I watched Willians go 3-for-4^* in Pawtucket tonight, so I can confirm your hypothesis.

 

^{* _{Plus a walk on 4 pitches, his first time up!}}

[Don't Feed the Greed Guy]

"(FSN) showed Eades’ wife in the stands, baby wearing their infant, crying her eyes out at seeing her husband on a major league mound for the first time. Beautiful moment to be able to witness."

 

Lest we forget, this was the most important moment. Everything else was just a game.

[Don't Feed the Greed Guy]

And, second to to a weeping spouse, a professional baseball player bore witness to his guiding faith/philosophy for life. Everything else is just a game.

[TheLeviathan]

The underbelly of this rotation still worries me.

[bighat]

3/5 of this starting rotation has shown they have some serious issues. At this point Pineda looks like the 3rd best with Perez and Gibby locked in the battle of the basement. Lord forbid Odorizzi regresses like Perez and Gibby have, or Berrios gets hurt. It's appearing more and more like the Twins are going to have to empty the minor league cupboards before the trade deadline hits in order to make a serious run at the world series. And you know what? Why not? Adding a legitimate starter and 1-2 bullpen arms will be worth every penny the Twins pay.

 

Go get 'em tomorrow Twins, take the series and go .500 on the Cleveland-Detroit part of this roady.

[mikelink45]

I know this is just a short set back, but the pitching staff we all expected has shown up and it is not pretty.  The minor league replacements are not exciting.  The rotation is down to two, the bullpen is down to two.  What next?

 

I really want a bounceback from all of these pitchers, but this is Detroit - only Baltimore can give pitchers more to celebrate.

 

Our division stinks, but we have to do more and better.  Eades is another nice story.  How about getting us a quality major league reliever next.  We have enough stories for one year. 

[Aerodeliria]

 

Has to be noted that Gibson did not follow his regular pre-start game preparation today and instead chose to attend pre-game religious services at the ballpark.  How much that hurt the Twins is hard to tell.

According to...??? How do we even know this? Who is talking about this? This sounds more like an unsubstantiated idle rumor than factual data to me. Maybe he attended a service at the ballpark and did his pregame prep. That sounds more likely to me.

[Aerodeliria]

Eades was an interesting call up--certainly not the person I was thinking about. Let's see how long he lasts. He has had a good strikeout to BB ratio, but his WHIP/BA against/ERA are nothing to get excited about.

[RaoulDuke]

 

Wes Johnson is a right shoe first and a bacon and eggs guy. He’s also a devout satanist but I’m not sure that part matters.

 

There are tens of us!