The Twins host Tampa Bay on a Friday the 13th evening. This is also the start of a reunion weekend for the '91 Twins. Who will be gray, who will have gained weight and who will have a new trophy spouse? Well, we probably won't know about the latter, but we will see many of our old favorites and remember when the team won playoff games. Personal moment: I shook Jack Morris' hand in Fort Myers several years ago. Jack shook my hand and kept walking. Pretty sure that moment was more memorable for me than him.

Tampa is the first place team in the tough AL East, the third straight first place team the Twins will face. Minnesota has won five of seven versus Houston and Chicago. Tampa is also the darling of MLB, with their ability in the last several years to be competitive (or better) despite payroll limitations and a terrible home stadium.Their front office is viewed as smart, progressive and forward-thinking, relying on sabermetrics more so than on traditional baseball strategies. Interesting stats-the Rays lead all of MLB in strikeouts by their hitters, but still are third in runs scored despite only having the 13th best team OPS in baseball (lower than the Twins). Of course, Rocco was on the Tampa Bay staff before being hired to manage the Twins.

The Twins will send out Michael Pineda who has been pretty solid since returning from the Injured List. The Rays starter will be Shane McClanahan, lefthander, who has pitched very well this month. Notable players for the Rays include former Twins Matt Wisler, JT Chargois and of course DH Nelson Cruz. Both Wisler and Chargois have been effective out of the TB bullpen. Cruz has had a few good games, but his overall numbers haven't been up to his standards. That will probably change by the time the Twins are done with the Rays. 

One more personal note, I'll pay a lot more attention to Rays first baseman Ji-Man Choi. A new acquaintance of mine is good friends with Choi. They spent the All-Star break together playing golf, among other things. I have a bit more perspective on a foreign player coming to the US to play and not speaking English fluently. Go Twins!

As of 4:30, the lineups are available. Here you go......

PLAYER	W-L	ERA	WHIP	IP	H	K	BB	HR
S. McClanahan	6-4	3.75	1.25	84.0	77	99	28	11
M. Pineda	4-7	3.83	1.20	82.1	82	70	17	13

 

Tampa (70-45)

HITTERS	H-AB	RBI	HR	SB	AVG
B. Lowe2B	86-377	65	26	5	.228
W. FrancoSS	37-153	22	5	2	.242
N. CruzDH	99-360	60	23	3	.275
R. ArozarenaLF	105-388	52	16	11	.271
J. Wendle3B	88-318	38	7	6	.277
Y. Diaz1B	85-335	39	8	0	.254
K. KiermaierCF	59-244	24	2	8	.242
M. MargotRF	79-307	47	9	10	.257
M. ZuninoC	48-235	44	23	0	.204

 

Twins (50-65)

HITTERS	H-AB	RBI	HR	SB	AVG
J. Polanco2B	112-409	62	21	9	.274
B. RookerLF	16-102	6	4	0	.157
J. Donaldson3B	69-285	45	16	0	.242
M. GarverDH	36-162	28	13	0	.222
R. RefsnyderCF	21-68	10	2	0	.309
M. Sano1B	65-311	46	19	1	.209
T. LarnachRF	58-253	27	7	1	.229
R. JeffersC	34-163	27	9	0	.209
A. SimmonsSS	68-312	24	3	1	.21

 

Welcome back Nellie. 

Another first place team. Maybe these sandbaggers can pull off another one

Jim Kaat! This is a time when I wish I could be Dick Bremer.

Even a very wise veteran hitter can be struck out by a very wise veteran pitcher.

5 minutes ago, Nine of twelve said:

Jim Kaat! This is a time when I wish I could be Dick Bremer.

So you could make a fool of yourself in front of Jim Kaat?

Just now, LVTwinsfan said:

So you could make a fool of yourself in front of Jim Kaat?

That's probably what would happen. 

Just now, Nine of twelve said:

That's probably what would happen. 

Maybe not but at some point it will probably happen tonight

Darn shame we couldn’t get someone to take Donaldson at the break.

3 minutes ago, Aggies7 said:

Darn shame we couldn’t get someone to take Donaldson at the break.

I'm sure we could have, but at a certain point, the savings you realize just isn't worth it anymore.  If a team insisted the Twins cover $40M in salary in order to get a C- prospect who's 22 and repeating rookie ball, I'd rather hang on to Donaldson, and hope he can rebound.

Just now, Cap'n Piranha said:

I'm sure we could have, but at a certain point, the savings you realize just isn't worth it anymore.  If a team insisted the Twins cover $40M in salary in order to get a C- prospect who's 22 and repeating rookie ball, I'd rather hang on to Donaldson, and hope he can rebound.

I don’t know, guy has been a monumental bust in his time here, which I’d almost be willing to overlook if he weren’t such a loudmouth who can barely run to first. Bustaroo to the max

When will Buxton come back to play?

Sigh

BOOOOOOOOOO!!!

*sits down to watch baseball at 7:34pm after putting kids to bed*

”Well, ****.”

*turns off TV*

What i miss?

2 minutes ago, sampleSizeOfOne said:

What i miss?

Excellent baseball from the visiting team, same as always. 

We're only down 3-0. A small boulder to lift up a medium size hill...

 

And >7 innings left. We can do this!

2 minutes ago, sampleSizeOfOne said:

What i miss?

You miss nothing!

Just now, Brock Beauchamp said:

Excellent baseball from the visiting team, same as always. 

Well, what kind of host makes their guest look bad?

1 minute ago, sampleSizeOfOne said:

Well, what kind of host makes their guest look bad?

Minnesota Nice taken to an absurd extreme 

Not looking like our night, yikes

Twins Pitching is a mess!    

14 minutes ago, Aggies7 said:

I don’t know, guy has been a monumental bust in his time here, which I’d almost be willing to overlook if he weren’t such a loudmouth who can barely run to first. Bustaroo to the max

This is not even close to true.  2.4 WAR in 116 games, 14th amongst all 3B since the start of 2020.  If you calculate PA/WAR, Donaldson moves up to 12th, ahead of Arraez, Seagar, Chapman, and Bregman.  He's made about $21M, which means he's right on that $10M/WAR benchmark despite the missed time, since WAR is a counting stat.  If your issue is with the availability (or lack thereof), then I presume you hope the Twins don't extend Buxton at any price?

Cruz gets his. Everyone gets their hits tonight.

Looks like Pineda got hurt?

1 minute ago, Cap'n Piranha said:

This is not even close to true.  2.4 WAR in 116 games, 14th amongst all 3B since the start of 2020.  If you calculate PA/WAR, Donaldson moves up to 12th, ahead of Arraez, Seagar, Chapman, and Bregman.  He's made about $21M, which means he's right on that $10M/WAR benchmark despite the missed time, since WAR is a counting stat.  If your issue is with the availability (or lack thereof), then I presume you hope the Twins don't extend Buxton at any price?

So he’s been average? Is that what we were hoping for out of the signing?

Well, we'll probably get to see the new guy tonight.

sonuva

2 minutes ago, Cap'n Piranha said:

This is not even close to true.  2.4 WAR in 116 games, 14th amongst all 3B since the start of 2020.  If you calculate PA/WAR, Donaldson moves up to 12th, ahead of Arraez, Seagar, Chapman, and Bregman.  He's made about $21M, which means he's right on that $10M/WAR benchmark despite the missed time, since WAR is a counting stat.  If your issue is with the availability (or lack thereof), then I presume you hope the Twins don't extend Buxton at any price?

Bench Donaldson and call up 3rd baseman Miranda from St. Paul.