Good Evening, aTwinsFanInMaryland here and happy to bring you tonight’s game thread. Your (14-9) Minnesota Twins take on the (8-15) Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park @ Camden Yards in game 2 of a 4 game series. Last night, I had the chance to take my wife and daughter to the game and see a Twins win. An added bonus, Chris Paddack threw us one of his warm-up balls (see attached photo). A fun night overall. Now on to tonight’s game!

Roster Moves: No announced roster moves today. Roster stands at 26 men (14 pitchers, 12 batters)

 

The Pitchers: Each teams ace makes there way to the pitching rubber. RHP #41 Joe Ryan (3-1, 1.17 ERA, 23 IP, 25K’s) vs LHP #50 Bruce Zimmerman (1-1, 0.93 ERA, 19.1 IP, 21K’s)

quick note: There’s potential for us to have another excellent pitching matchup tonight as both pitchers have excellent numbers thus far. We all know what Joe Ryan has done so far but Bruce Zimmerman has shined as he replaces John Means (tommy john) as the staff ace. The offense could be at a premium.

 

The Lineup:

Twins:

1. Byron Buxton CF

2. Carlos Correa SS

3. Jorge Polanco 2B

4. Gio Urshela 3B

5. Jose Miranda 1B

6. Gary Sanchez DH

7. Max Kepler RF

8. Ryan Jeffers C

9. Gilberto Celestino LF

Orioles:

1. Cedric Mullins CF

2. Trey Mancini DH

3. Anthony Santander RF

4. Ryan Mountcastle 1B

5. Austin Hayes LF

6. Rougned Odor 2B

7. Tyler Nevin 3B

8. Anthony Bemboom C

9. Jorge Mateo SS

quick note: For the Twins, Urshela get’s the start at 3rd as Miranda moves over to 1st in his second career game, Miranda will be looking for his first Major League hit in tonight’s game. For the Orioles, Trey Mancini returns to the lineup after missing the previous 3 games with rib soreness.

 

Draft Kings Odds: Twins (-165) Orioles (+145) o/u 7

On This Day In Twins History: 

Very cool! Glad you and your family had a good time. 

9 minutes ago, aTwinsFanInMaryland said:

Please tell me you got her some mini-baseball helmet ice cream right after this!!

3 minutes ago, shortround81 said:

Please tell me you got her some mini-baseball helmet ice cream right after this!!

As a matter of fact, Yes!

Just now, aTwinsFanInMaryland said:

As a matter of fact, Yes!

That's the kind of game update I like to hear

Miranda at first, lefty on the mound? Me likey

 

I hope we win.

6 minutes ago, sampleSizeOfOne said:

I hope we win.

Did we win yet?

It continues to blow me away that so often, like with Miranda, they call someone up to make his first appearances in The Show, and instead of letting them play the position they are most familiar with, they put them in at a position that they have little (and sometimes virtually none) experience playing. If that is what they want to do, why not do it in the minors in the 100s of games played just in case? Hard enough to make the transition at the plate, why not give them more anxiety in the field? Here's to Miranda's success inspite of the lack of planning.

1 hour ago, CRF said:

Very cool! Glad you and your family had a good time. 

Nothing like taking the family to the ball park.  I can still smell the freshly mowed grass at Met Stadium.

16 minutes ago, h2oface said:

It continues to blow me away that so often, like with Miranda, they call someone up to make his first appearances in The Show, and instead of letting them play the position they are most familiar with, they put them in at a position that they have little (and sometimes virtually none) experience playing. If that is what they want to do, why not do it in the minors in the 100s of games played just in case? Hard enough to make the transition at the plate, why not give them more anxiety in the field? Here's to Miranda's success inspite of the lack of planning.

He played 3rd last night. He has played 1st, 2nd and 3rd in the minors, albeit 3rd most often and 1st least often. He himself says he likes 2nd base the best. Urshela is a better defender at 3rd. Miranda isn't going to supplant Urshela and be the starter. So ... the choice is to have him sit and only play 3rd when you give Urshela a day off at 3rd. That isn't ideal either. His role is going to be to split time at 1st with Arraez and to fill in at 3rd. If you only want him to play 3rd, then he sits or stays in St. Paul.

17 minutes ago, h2oface said:

It continues to blow me away that so often, like with Miranda, they call someone up to make his first appearances in The Show, and instead of letting them play the position they are most familiar with, they put them in at a position that they have little (and sometimes virtually none) experience playing. If that is what they want to do, why not do it in the minors in the 100s of games played just in case? Hard enough to make the transition at the plate, why not give them more anxiety in the field? Here's to Miranda's success inspite of the lack of planning.

He is no stranger to first base. His versatility was probably one of the factors that got him promoted. 

Very little first base. Read about it (lots of articles and reports), don't know how to look up the actual numbers. My point is still the same, regardless how you like to qualify it. Not saying he shouldn't be here...... or given the opportunity. And he is a virtual stranger at first base....... so far.

28 games at first base last year. I don't think that is "very little" experience at first or is a "virtual stranger".

Not sure there are any but for the fans of the musical “Hamilton” it looks like Jose Miranda has a famous cousin…

 

12 minutes ago, h2oface said:

Very little first base. Read about it (lots of articles and reports), don't know how to look up the actual numbers. My point is still the same, regardless how you like to qualify it. Not saying he shouldn't be here...... or given the opportunity. And he is a virtual stranger at first base....... so far.

I think he's played there more in the minors than Arraez did. Not really sure what else you expect. Again, he will only sit, then. He's got experience at all three bases and he will likely play 2 of them with the Twins. It's a very good position for him and he will get playing time that way.

Edit: Stringer got the numbers for us, and yeah, I agree with stringer ... 

4 minutes ago, aTwinsFanInMaryland said:

Not sure there are any but for the fans of the musical “Hamilton” it looks like Jose Miranda has a famous cousin…

 

LOVE Hamilton! Will get to work with Leslie Odom, Jr this summer ... so excited!

OH!!! Maybe the Twins will do a Hamilton night???? That would be so cool! If cousin would come on board  

Like the lineup and there should be some runs put up tonight. 

Miranda is not a defensive star. He is just as good at 1B as at 3B. He feels most comfortable at 2B but isn't a real glove there either and is never going to move Polanco. Hopefully, Miranda hits a few line drives into left and right center tonight. That is his specialty. 

One more comment on Miranda playing first base--Trevor Story had never played second base and Bobby Witt Jr. played half of the innings at third as Miranda has at first coming into this season. Moving someone to the easier position to get their bat in the lineup isn't unprecedented. It is not like they are putting him in center field or shortstop.

Nice interview with Lewis on the pre-game show. That's the first time I've seen him speak. Very impressive, as is his reputation. He could teach a few veteran players a lesson or two in humility and determination. I hope we get to see him on the TF field soon.

39 minutes ago, Squirrel said:

He played 3rd last night. He has played 1st, 2nd and 3rd in the minors, albeit 3rd most often and 1st least often. He himself says he likes 2nd base the best. Urshela is a better defender at 3rd. Miranda isn't going to supplant Urshela and be the starter. So ... the choice is to have him sit and only play 3rd when you give Urshela a day off at 3rd. That isn't ideal either. His role is going to be to split time at 1st with Arraez and to fill in at 3rd. If you only want him to play 3rd, then he sits or stays in St. Paul.

I'm not completely sure he won't supplant Urshela, if he hits as expected. Urshela had only one extra base hit in April, so to be a plus offensive player, he really needs a high OBP. Miranda's hitting is supposed to be legit, having good bat-to-ball skills plus power. If he put up above-average offensive numbers, he could get plenty of at-bats at third, as well as first and DH.

Just now, stringer bell said:

I'm not completely sure he won't supplant Urshela, if he hits as expected. Urshela had only one extra base hit in April, so to be a plus offensive player, he really needs a high OBP. Miranda's hitting is supposed to be legit, having good bat-to-ball skills plus power. If he put up above-average offensive numbers, he could get plenty of at-bats at third, as well as first and Dh.

I guess I should qualify what I meant ... that isn't going to happen today. He's not going to be called up and supplant Urshela on day 1 and become the regular starter. I think at most he would split time there, though. I still don't think he will supplant him completely. But time will tell.

Correa with a hustle double!!

Hustle double for C-4!

Just now, Melissa said:

Correa with a hustle double!!

I'm a fan of those.

Fastballs up with 2 strikes is becoming a trend to Buxton. He needs to learn to lay off.

Am I the only one who is worried about Buxton's strikeouts? He's hitting a lot of homers, but wouldn't he be better off putting the bat on the ball more often and beating out some singles (and doing what Correa just did, turning singles in doubles)? Especially if he's batting leadoff, I'd like to see a higher OBP even at the expense of some SP.

2 minutes ago, PDX Twin said:

Am I the only one who is worried about Buxton's strikeouts? He's hitting a lot of homers, but wouldn't he be better off putting the bat on the ball more often and beating out some singles (and doing what Correa just did, turning singles in doubles)? Especially if he's batting leadoff, I'd like to see a higher OBP even at the expense of some SP.

It's becoming a trend watching him take pitches down the middle and then swing at his eyeballs.

2 minutes ago, PDX Twin said:

Am I the only one who is worried about Buxton's strikeouts? He's hitting a lot of homers, but wouldn't he be better off putting the bat on the ball more often and beating out some singles (and doing what Correa just did, turning singles in doubles)? Especially if he's batting leadoff, I'd like to see a higher OBP even at the expense of some SP.

Yes, I don't think Buxton is a finished product as a hitter. The words "he can be pitched to" come to mind. There are holes that can be exploited, but the holes are much smaller than they used to be.  

We make errors?