Front Page: Twins Game Recap (8/31): Tigers Tally 10 Runs in Perez’s Worst Start of Season

[terrydactyls]

He's back!!

 

Yesterday was Saturday, August 31. It was the 135th game of the year putting the Twins 83% of the way through the season. The Twins hit 6 home runs setting the new MLB record for most home runs in a single season at 268 home runs.

[Riverbrian]

I realize the MLB HR record has been a foregone conclusion for awhile, it was only a matter of time. 

 

I also realize that we just lost to Detroit. 

 

I also realize that Martin Perez is not setting any minds at ease. 

 

And I realize that we have a prolific contingent of posters who would rather discuss failure than discuss accomplishments. 

 

However...

 

This team just broke the Home Run record and they did it before the Calendar turned September!!!

 

You read this thread and you can only assume that the 52nd loss of the season obviously trumps the greatest home run hitting team ever assembled.

 

Personally... I'm saying WOW!!! Thank You for giving me such a fantastic summer. I've witnessed history and I won't forget this. 

[Otto von Ballpark]

Baldelli had to leave Perez in because he used all of his high leverage relievers yesterday. And he was forced to do that because Falvine didn’t think it was worth sending Dobnak down for 5 days and replacing him with a long man.

  

Or until the AAA season ends. Isn’t that Monday?

I don't think it matters when the AAA season ends, in this case.

 

We can't option a player to AAA after the AAA season ends, but players already in AAA still accumulate days on optional assignment even after their season ends -- all the way up to the end of the MLB regular season. And they need to spend 10 days on optional assignment before they can be recalled again.

 

FWIW, no mention of a minor league end of season exception here:

https://www.thecubreporter.com/book/export/html/3521

[VivaBomboRivera!]

 

Some more on the pitching, including me stupidly getting mad about Tim Laudner ...

 

Nothing to apologize for.  If he's wrong, that's his fault.  The guy's a pro after all.  Good on you for having the facts straight.

[Otto von Ballpark]

Does any one know what the Tigers' batting average against the Twins is this season? It's gotta be at least .280. Maybe higher. And they are the worst offense in the AL.

DET .292 AVG vs MIN:

 

https://www.fangraphs.com/leaders/splits-leaderboards?splitArr=139&splitArrPitch=&position=B&autoPt=false&splitTeams=false&statType=team&statgroup=1&startDate=2019-03-01&endDate=2019-11-01&players=&filter=&sort=21,1

 

4th highest among our 2019 opponents, behind only ATL, NYY, and LAA. (And of course, we only 15 games combined vs those 3 clubs, and 14 games vs Detroit so far.)

[USAFChief]

It makes perfect sense, Arraez is a better hitter with runners in scoring position and he is a LH hitter (against a RH pitcher). It just didn't work out. Arraez the rookie should be more careful with those borderline calls. Btw, do you actually believe Schoop is going to get a hit or a walk in that situation? He hasn't done that all season.

There's literally an article currently on TD listing the 10 highest WPA HRs for the 2019 Twins.

 

Schoop is on the list.

[USAFChief]

I realize the MLB HR record has been a foregone conclusion for awhile, it was only a matter of time.

 

I also realize that we just lost to Detroit.

 

I also realize that Martin Perez is not setting any minds at ease.

 

And I realize that we have a prolific contingent of posters who would rather discuss failure than discuss accomplishments.

 

However...

 

This team just broke the Home Run record and they did it before the Calendar turned September!!!

 

You read this thread and you can only assume that the 52nd loss of the season obviously trumps the greatest home run hitting team ever assembled.

 

Personally... I'm saying WOW!!! Thank You for giving me such a fantastic summer. I've witnessed history and I won't forget this.

Personally, I note the HR record as a mildly interesting side note to the season. Lots of HRs help win games, but setting a record...who cares? Particularly in a season where there's obviously something going on with the ball.

 

I care lot more about winning the division, so yesterday's loss is much, much more interesting to me. If setting a HR record got you a postseason spot, maybe I'd give a darn.

 

YMMV, if course, but I think it's fair for some to talk more about the loss.

[Riverbrian]

 

Personally, I note the HR record as a mildly interesting side note to the season. Lots of HRs help win games, but setting a record...who cares? Particularly in a season where there's obviously something going on with the ball.

I care lot more about winning the division, so yesterday's loss is much, much more interesting to me. If setting a HR record got you a postseason spot, maybe I'd give a darn.

YMMV, if course, but I think it's fair for some to talk more about the loss.

 

Mildly interesting side note? Never happened before in the history of baseball. Juiced ball... break out the asterisk if you must. 

 

It wasn't that interesting of a loss... it was our 52nd loss... there will be more of them in September. 

 

 

[laloesch]

Why did he pinch-hit Arreaz for Schoop? Made no sense with the bases loaded down 6-10.

Makes no sense to me either. Schoop has the hot hand not Arraez. Baldelli might be great at creating a laid back, relaxed, comfortable, loose environment for his players but apparently he is not watching the stats of his hitters that closely or simply ignoring them. You would think down the stretch here with Cleveland following closely that Baldelli would be hunkering down and paying close attention to the stats to try and squeeze every last win out of this team to put Cleveland away. It's decisions like this that make me question his decision making. With bases loaded down 6-10 you have to go with the hot hand (Schoop).

 

Regarding Perez, after he gave up the homer to Ronny Rodriguez why did Baldelli not pull him? Certainly after Dixon's double you pull Perez by then right? The objective is to try and win a very winnable game instead of allowing your team to go down by 6+ runs and basically handing it away. I don't buy the reasoning that all the relivers were spent from the night before. Just don't buy it.

Edited September 1, 2019 by laloesch

[wabene]

Love Blyleven's comment. F you Anthony. Well said. My opinion of old Bert just doubled.

Concur, who would you rather have a beer with, Burt or Dick?

[USAFChief]

Concur, who would you rather have a beer with, Burt or Dick?

no.

[wabene]

no.

Well in this scenario I was buying so you just saved me some money, thanks!

[bird]

 

no.

 

 

concur

[AceWrigley]

 

Not nitpicking at all, that's copy editing and it's very much appreciated. I started typing that out prior to the last Garver blast and forgot to update it. Good lookin' out.

I've been a Twins fan ever since I was a kid who had to move to Minneapolis and live with my grand parents. Used to roll baseballs across the top of the dugout and Harmon Killebrew would sign them. Worked at Metropolitan Stadium as a newspaper hawker and would play catch with Cesar Tovar and Leo Cardenas and they would go through my lunch bag to see what kind of goodies my grandmother had put in there. For a kid who loved baseball, it truly was the best of times.

 

Twins Daily has become a warm and fuzzy place for me in the sense that there is a passion for all things Twins here. The game write-ups, the articles, the analysis, the comments . . . all fun to ingest and process and enjoy as we root for "our boys" in the dugout. This season has been great because we're actually winning baseball games again, in bunches. Keep up the good work. Now if we can just keep Byron Buxton from running into outfield walls and turning into Pete Reiser.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

Some more on the pitching, including me stupidly getting mad about Tim Laudner because it feels better than stupidly getting mad about Martin Perez, for some reason.

It’s not just Laudner, and it’s not just you

[h2oface]

 

I get the L/R  percentages thing that Rocco was looking for there with his hunch.

 

But here's the deal, over the last 15 days:

 

Schoop: .435/.458/1.130/(1.589)

Arraez: .244/.300/.267/(.567)

 

Arraez has been scuffling in the dog days of August, at bat, and in the field.

And in all reality, after a blazing start, his 2nd half OPS is only .742.

 

Schoop was well-rested and has been by far their hottest hitter over the last 15 days.

And 3rd best in OPS for August behind only Cruz and Cave. (Arraez is 9th best over the same time frame.)

Schoop's 2nd half OPS is actually .881, which is 4th best on the Twins (not counting Cave), while Arraez's .742 OPS ranks next to last- 11th best- only Jason Castro is worse.

Schoop also has a season # of .840 OPS vs. RHP on the road.

 

Still, it was a close call, but Rocco's percentages and hunches went with a scuffling rookie over an established vet with the game literally on the line.

 

Awesome breakdown of the decision. Kudos. Keeping it 100, without the bias.

[yarnivek1972]

 

I don't think it matters when the AAA season ends, in this case.

 

We can't option a player to AAA after the AAA season ends, but players already in AAA still accumulate days on optional assignment even after their season ends -- all the way up to the end of the MLB regular season. And they need to spend 10 days on optional assignment before they can be recalled again.

 

FWIW, no mention of a minor league end of season exception here:

https://www.thecubreporter.com/book/export/html/3521

It’s possible the rules have changed in 30 years, but in 1991 the Twins “optioned” Allan Anderson to AA on like August 30th, but were able to recall him just a few days later because the AA season was over.

[Otto von Ballpark]

It’s possible the rules have changed in 30 years, but in 1991 the Twins “optioned” Allan Anderson to AA on like August 30th, but were able to recall him just a few days later because the AA season was over.

Ah yes, Allan Anderson! I believe I attended his last MLB game in the '91 season finale.

 

I quickly found a news item dated Sep. 2nd, 1991 that has the Twins optioning both Anderson and Tom Edens to single-A Kenosha, at the same time they made a bunch of September call-ups. Both Anderson and Edens then appeared for the Twins on Sep. 4, presumably after being recalled:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/sports/1991/09/02/around-the-majors/91055000-87ed-4a56-b049-6d525966f9d2/

 

Here's a remarkable YouTube video that suggests the last Kenosha Twins game of 1991 was on August 28:

 

Today's rules definitely don't allow players to be optioned to minor league teams whose seasons have ended. Frankly I'm not sure why they'd have to be optioned at all after MLB rosters expanded. Might require further research...

 

Edit: this was back when the August 31st 25-man roster was the postseason roster. So I suspect Anderson and Edens were optioned on August 31, replaced by Jarvis Brown and Paul Sorrento, for postseason purposes. Must have had some rule at the time that allowed them to be sent to Kenosha and recalled just a couple days later.

 

From the Star Tribune, Sep. 5 , 1991: "The Twins added a fifth starter Wednesday, and they didn't have to go far to get him. Tom Edens and Allan Anderson, who were optioned to Class A Kenosha on Saturday when the Twins added hitters Paul Sorrento and Jarvis Brown to the postseason roster, were activated yesterday, with Edens designated the No. 5 starter."

Edited September 1, 2019 by spycake

[jokin]

 

I realize the MLB HR record has been a foregone conclusion for awhile, it was only a matter of time. 

 

I also realize that we just lost to Detroit. 

 

I also realize that Martin Perez is not setting any minds at ease. 

 

And I realize that we have a prolific contingent of posters who would rather discuss failure than discuss accomplishments. 

 

However...

 

This team just broke the Home Run record and they did it before the Calendar turned September!!!

 

You read this thread and you can only assume that the 52nd loss of the season obviously trumps the greatest home run hitting team ever assembled.

 

Personally... I'm saying WOW!!!

Thank You for giving me such a fantastic summer. I've witnessed history and I won't forget this. 

 

Personally, I said WOW! and WAY more enjoyed the 11 single, 1 double, ZERO homer, ZERO error, ONE Brusdar, game on Sunday WAY more than the game on Saturday....

 

(WAY over WOW, every single time)

Edited September 2, 2019 by jokin

[Riverbrian]

 

Personally, I said WOW! and WAY more enjoyed the 11 single, 1 double, ZERO homer, ZERO error, ONE Brusdar, game on Sunday WAY more than the game on Saturday....

 

(WAY over WOW, every single time)

 

Maybe sometime we will set the MLB singles record. 

 

But Today... This is what we get and nobody has done it before.