A Few Random Twins Thoughts Part IV

[stringer bell]

Welcome back to my ongoing little thread where my opinions come out to play. I hope to add to the conversation about the Twins. When last I wrote, the Twins were in first place and my attention in the division was the Chicago White Sox. That has changed. Cleveland has climbed into first place, winning three straight series on the road and sits atop the AL Central. I attended the matinee yesterday and saw Cleveland first-hand. They are a pretty good club and playing very well right now. They've da eveloped enough hitters that the top 2/3s of their lineup is good. Their bullpen looks much better than the Twins and they have an abundance of speed, which helps them in the field and on the base paths. Cleveland isn't very deep, but if they avoid injuries, they are a complete team that will have a winning record. 

Alex Kirilloff is back with the Twins. When I wrote about this team just before Opening Day, I opined that AK's floor was Mark Grace offense and Will Clark defense and his ceiling was Mark Grace defense and Will Clark offense. After his wrist woes, I was worried that he would never be the same player he could have been. Now, I'm back on the bus for Kirilloff. He's going to hit and he is going to be a fine first baseman (IMHO of course).

Trevor Larnach meanwhile has hit the skids. Since June 1, his OPS is .429, and he's struck out 24 times in 68 plate appearances. He still looks like a better hitter and ballplayer than the guy who played last year, but he might soon be losing playing time or perhaps he'll be sent back to St. Paul. Speaking of demotion to St. Paul, if all the position players are healthy, the Twins have two too many on the major league roster. Miguel Sano will start his rehab probably in July and the Twins would have 20 days to wait before they have to bring him back to the majors. Most likely, there will be injuries to players that make the unpleasant decisions of demotion or DFA moot. That said, if all of the 15 players are healthy, it is still a tough call as to who should be sent down or DFAed. My vote would be Larnach and Nick Gordon, but my opinion could change. A third choice would be to DFA or trade Sano. I don't think that is out of the realm of possibility.

I wish Ryan Jeffers could throw out a few runners. He is a good receiver and seems to synch well with the pitchers and I think the bat will come around. I am running pretty cold on Gary Sanchez these days. Yes, he has power, but he's hitting about .215 and watching him "run" down the first base line probably upsets me more than it should. 

Luis Arraez is having a great season, but he's not a lock for the batting title. In fact, right now he trails Tim Anderson of the White Sox in BA. Anderson had an injury and is below the plate appearance threshold, but he's hitting .354 to Arraez' .349. Arraez is a .216 hitter with a .534 OPS against lefties. He should get several days off when the Twins face southpaws.

It appears that the pitching coach and the manager don't trust Tyler Duffey at all right now. If this is in fact the case, it might be time to bid him farewell. With current pitcher usage, every bullpen arm needs to contribute and currently Duffey isn't contributing. There are bullpen arms on the horizon (returning from injury) and if the Twins are saherious about contending they will pick up at least one late-inning reliever by the trade deadline. 

Devin Smeltzer has really done a nice job as a soft-tossing lefty in the starting rotation. I hold my breath every time he throws an 88 mph fastball over the plate, but he is getting the job done. He's also thrown more six inning or more starts than anyone on the team except Joe Ryan. 

I'll close with my continued confusion about Byron Buxton. I am not a doctor, so I don't know if putting him on the IL to work through his knee tendonitis is the right call. What the Twins are getting from Buxton is much, much less than what the Twins got from him in 2021 (in 60 games). He has only played 33 games in the outfield and he is not a threat to steal a base. His value is almost exclusively from hitting home runs. IMHO, the plan isn't working if this is what we will see the rest of the season. According to the Twins web site, Buxton's knee has not improved since suffering an injury in April.

[Richie the Rally Goat]

all aboard the Alex Kiriloff bus! Even this guy is technically on it

[RpR]

Kirilloff is headed for the Mendoza line again, but the so are all the rookies except Gordon; at that Gordon's Willie Mays Hays fielding is not a positive for the Twins.