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GAME THREAD: Twins @ White Sox, 4/23/22, 3:10 CT


Mill1634

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Roster Moves: The Twins have placed RH RP Jhon Romero on the 10 day injured list with right bicep tendinitis. Romero was placed retroactively to April 20th, so he is eligible to come back on April 30th. The Twins have also moved RH RP Jorge Alcala to the 60 day injured list after he was placed on the 10 day IL over a week ago. Alcala is dealing with elbow inflammation, and tried to resume throwing but things did not go well. The Twins have added C Jose Godoy from St. Paul. Godoy was on the 40-man roster this spring after being claimed on waivers, but was DFA'd and waived prior to the season. He cleared waivers and accepted STP assignment. Godoy figures to stay on the roster while Gary Sanchez battles injury, but doesn't seem long term as Sanchez has not been IL'd yet.

 

The Pitchers

RHP Dylan Bundy (2-0, 0.87 ERA, 8 K's, 10.1 IP) vs RHP Vince Velasquez (0-1, 4.15 ERA, 7 K's, 8.1 IP)

Both Bundy and Velasquez will make their third start of the year. Bundy has been the most impressive pitcher results wise thus far for the Twins, but the underlying numbers imply that he's been lucky. Obviously nobody is going to throw 0.87 ERA all year, but there is a chance Bundy is closer to 2020 than the 2021 version of himself. The fastball velo is concerning,  However, the slider continues to dominate hitters, which he throws only to RHH. It has a whiff rate of 60% after 36% in 2021. Velasquez was acquired as a free agent, and has never been a great starter. He is similar to other Sox arms in the past such as Reynaldo Lopez. Vince has a live arm, but has never been able to harness it into results. Last year working as a starter for the Phillies and Giants, he had an ERA of 6 in 90+ innings. Velasquez will throw a 4S, slider, curve, changeup, and sinker. The fastball sits between 92-94, and has an xSlug of over .900 this far. He throws a harder slider that gets the most whiffs. The other 3 pitches are all below average.

The Lineups

Twins

1. Byron Buxton (R) CF
2. Luis Arraez (L) 3B
3. Carlos Correa (R) SS
4. Jorge Polanco (S) 2B
5. Max Kepler (L) RF
6. Trevor Larnach (L) DH
7. Miguel Sano (R) 1B
8. Ryan Jeffers (R) C
9. Nick Gordon (L) LF

White Sox

1. Tim Anderson (R) SS
2. Andrew Vaughn (R) RF
3. Jose Abreu (R) 1B
4. Yasmani Grandal (S) DH
5. Eloy Jimenez (R) LF
6. Adam Engel (R) CF
7. Leury Garcia (S) 2B
8. Reese McGuire (L) C
9. Jake Burger (R) 3B
 

The biggest news is that Byron Buxton is back and is starting in CF. I assume the Twins didn't want Buxton playing in the wet conditions last night. Arraez slides to third base, where he has not been good, with Urshella out of the lineup. Larnach gets today's DH start with Sanchez out of the picture for now, which means that Nick Gordon gets the first start of the year in left field. Gordon is not someone I was high on, but he has been impressive in CF without much experience, and has done enough at the plate to warrant a few starts a week. Tim Anderson is still appealing his suspension, so he's still in the Sox lineup. Andrew Vaughn, who rarely plays b2b, gets a start in the two hole. Grandal, who didn't play yesterday, hits cleanup. Eloy Jimenez, who is not a good defender, will see the field today. Adam Engel, who pinch ran last night, is starting in center for AJ Pollock. 

Vegas Odds: White Sox +125, Twins -145, O/U 8.5

On This Day - 1999: The St. Louis Cardinals crushed the Los Angeles Dodgers 12-5. Third baseman Fernando Tatis set a Major League record by hitting two grand slams in a single inning (the 3rd). He simultaneously set a record with eight RBIs in that inning. Dodger Pitcher Chan Ho Park became the first pitcher this century, and only the second ever, to surrender two grand slams in a single inning joining Bill Phillips of the 1890 Alleghenys.

Pick to Click: Trevor Larnach goes yard

Prediction: Twins 7, White Sox 3

 

Go Twins!!

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6 minutes ago, OptimisticTwinsFan said:

What is happening with our pitching group right now? Everyone is on fire. Even Paddack has a 1.7 FIP or something like that.

Cats are friends with dogs, up is down, down is up… and the Twins hitters are awful, while the starting pitching is carrying the team

 

Anarchy!

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The launch angle swings used by Kepler and Larnach need to be re-tooled in consideration of the new deader ball, unless we see a repeat of Manfred changing the ball midseason again. Players must be confused about their direction. The clubs love power, power pays the bills, but a dead ball kills power. Austin Martin hits line drives but there is talk he is working on adding power. That added power wouldn't play with a dead ball but his line drives would. This is an ongoing dilemma. 

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