Leaderboard

So much to respond to here: 1) Graterol! 2) I'm only slightly less psyched to see how the Twins use Ian Miller. This team could've used a really good pinch runner a lot this year. 3) Bummed for Hildenberger. 0.545 WHIP in the 7 games since he returned. That seems like someone this team could use. 4) Poppen was "recalled to not report" which I assume means he get a MLB salary and service time, which is a class move by the team. (And very opposite of how we felt this time last year with the Buxton shenanigans.) 5) Gibson news is a surprise, but it also isn't. We all were wondering just what was wrong. For his sake, I hope this isn't too serious and he recovers quickly. For the team's sake, him being healthy and back on his game for the postseason could be a real plus.

So, who gets the starts for Gibson? I like Thorpe's stuff the best of the callups, but Smetzer makes the most out of his ability. No Kohl Stewart for me, thanks.

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.

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.

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.

Yeah, I've been pretty hard on Kyle recently and feel like a giant ******* now that I know what's going on with him. Frankly, it's amazing he has been a league-average pitcher this season considering what has happened to him. Kudos to you, Kyle. Get well and I hope to see the best version of you in October.

Don't overlook Odorizzi. Since he spectacularly imploded against the Yankees, in six games he is 5-1 with a 2.65 ERA and good peripherals. I'm not knocking Pineda, he's been great, but Odorizzi has quietly been very good again since that implosion.

My wife has ulcerative colitis, and it's not something you ever "recover" from. It's something you work to keep in remission as well as you can, while still dealing with symptoms on a daily basis. I do hope that he can get into remission and keep playing, but it's a disease that saps all your energy and motivation to do anything, even then.

The "up yours" comment from Byleven needs way more love. It's just hilarious on so many levels: he's so bitter, the Fox Sports North guy is so petty, that record will never be broken, and Bert knows it. How fun!?

Baldelli made two big mistakes: 1. He should have batted Arraez before Garver. 2. He should have yanked Perez much sooner. First, batting a power hitter like Garver first is all fine and well, but wouldn't it be better if he is preceded by a high OBP guy like Arraez? Today that might have spelled a couple extra much needed runs. Second, of all the Twins starters, by far the most volatile is Perez. That is, his stuff is most likely to oscillate wildly from devastating to batting practice. When Perez implodes, it happens fast, even faster than Bad Gibson. A lot of this is because Perez's repertoire is too limited. Today he went inside far too much, especially to a lineup of all righties. Clearly Gardenhire had his guys sitting on inside pitches, and by the time Perez and Garver figured it out, it was too late. Moral: You've got to be ready to throw your pitches anywhere on or outside the periphery of the zone. Otherwise, if you fall into a pattern, mlb hitters will figure it out, and kill you.

..... and they lost the game. I just don't get why Baldelli leaves these starters in to be totally embarassed when they just don't have it, and give away the game. Prudent identification (and it really isn't hard) that it is happening, and you win games like this with our offense. Eat innings? It just doesn't hold up. You end of pulling them anyway after just a coupe of innings, and still have to use the other pitchers, but instead of being down 4 or 5 to whatever.... you are down 8-9 to whatever, and didn't accomplish anything. He has done it with Odorizzi, Berrios, Perez (the others?) and in all those games the offense came back and made a game of it and scored 7 plus runs..... and it could have been wins. I just don't get it. It accomplished nothing except to shatter confidence.

What was that? The Detroit Tigers have averaged an MLB-low 3.59 runs per game. They scored a total of three runs in their most recent series against Cleveland. A lineup that had zero hitters carrying an OPS above league average managed to beat the Twins, the greatest home run hitting team of all time, 10-7 Saturday.Box Score Perez: 2.2 IP, 9 H, 8 R, 7 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, 67.1% strikes (55 of 82 pitches) Bullpen: 5.1 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 7 K Home Runs: Garver 2 (26), Kepler (36), Polanco (20), Cron (24), Cruz (34) Multi-Hit Games: Garver (2-for-3, 2 HR, 2 BB), Polanco (2-for-4, HR, BB), Cruz (2-for-5, HR), Kepler (2-for-3, HR, BB) Bottom 3 WPA: Perez -.519, Sano -.079, Rosario -.056 Martin Perez came into this start with some positive momentum. He’d pitched to a 2.12 ERA in his previous three outings, though he had also walked nine batters in 17 innings. Still, a matchup against Detroit seemed to be the perfect opportunity to keep that positive momentum rolling. It did not end up going that direction. In fact, Perez had his worst start as a Twin. He gave up eight runs (seven earned) on nine hits while recording just eight outs. Again, this is by far the worst hitting team in baseball the Twins were facing tonight. Detroit scored seven runs in the third inning, the most the Twins have surrendered in any single frame all season. Ehire Adrianza played some disgusting defense out in right field that contributed to that inning. Still … worst hitting team in baseball. Ah, but there were bombas. Those sweet, sweet bombas that allowed the Twins media staff to completely ignore the results of the game and gush about all the records that fell. The Twins hit six home runs tonight; two from Mitch Garver one each from Max Kepler, Jorge Polanco, C.J. Cron and Nelson Cruz. They set the MLB single-season home run record with 268 bombas. Polanco’s tater gave the Twins eight players with 20 or more homers, a new record. Garver’s blasts gave the Twins 39 homers from their catchers this year, also a new record. It would have been a lot more fun if all those milestones were reached in a victory. It’s been a fun journey leading up to all those accomplishments, of course, but losing to the worst team in baseball leaves a terrible aftertaste on what should have been a delicious evening. At least Cleveland lost. In celebration of the Twins breaking the home run record, Cooper shared the 10 biggest Twins home runs this season as ranked by WPA. Make sure to go check that out for some fun reminiscing on what’s been a fantastic season. Postgame With Baldelli Click here to view the article

Yeah I thought Brusdar looked really good. Regularly located his fastball in the outer third and when he missed he seemed to miss outside. His slider was left middle-up quite a bit. Doesn’t look like a nasty / wipeout slider. But ohemgee that’s the easiest 100mph I can recall seeing. He looks like he’s playing catch.

La Tortuga has returned, all is good in Twins Territory! We learned this morning what Kyle Gibson has been dealing with much of this year. Explains a lot about his performance to date. Hopefully, he can get healthy and take his spot in the playoff rotation. Loved that first pitch at 100 mph from Graterol. But then pitch after pitch at 98 or 99. Could he be the final block in a dynamic bullpen?

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

no.

My mom suffered from Colitis for many years, as well as Crohn's Disease. I wish Gibson the best ... it was not easy for my mom, but today's treatments are much improved. Nonetheless, it could be a huge change in lifestyle for him ... depending on the severity.

Tigers have a .667 winning record against the Yankees. Only conclusion I can draw is the Yankees have that lead only because they are lucky they don''t have to play the Tigers that often.

.353 average vs RH pitching, and Garver up behind him. I liked that call. We didn't need a dinger, we needed our best chance of keeping the inning going.

How does any team jack six balls out and still (mis-)manage to lose? Perez gets direct blame, of course, but Johnson and Baldelli are on the hook for this. Stashak should have been warming on the Rodriguez homer and swapped in after Dixon doubled. No guarantee of a comeback down 2 - 6, but no reason not to immediately stop the bleeding either, since the bullpen will be stacked with fresh arms to face a bottom-feeding team again tomorrow. There is no excuse for what happened today. What good is a major league home run record when the team loses in such shameful and preventable fashion? Let the little girl in left field keep that ball. Good news? Magic is 23, still a chance to take 3 of 4, and 100 wins is still in reach. However, retaking the AL lead grows tougher with the Yankees now 5 games ahead. See you at the ball park again in a few hours.

The 2019 Minnesota Twins have broken the all time home run record for a single season! This quick post will highlight the ten most impactful home runs according to how much win probability they added in that game. Basically, I am ranking the ten most valuable home runs this season.10. Jonathan Schoop at Texas (8/16/19) 0.31 WPA Schoop entered this game in the midst of what is likely the largest slump of his career. The Rangers had taken the lead in the previous half inning, but Schoop put the Twins back on top with this two-run blast. The Twins would go on to win this game 4-3. 9. Miguel Sano at Angels (5/20/19) 0.34 WPA Sano’s second home run of the season was definitely a big one. The Twins were up 1-0 throughout the whole game but the Angels came back in the bottom of the seventh and tied it. Luckily, Miguel Sano came up clutch and smoked this two-run bomb that would lead to a 3-1 win. 8. Miguel Sano vs Detroit (8/24/19) 0.35 WPA This fifth inning blast from Sano gave the Twins a commanding 6-4 lead after being down 4-1 in a game the Twins couldn’t afford to lose. It came during a period where Sano was just insanely productive at the plate and that continued here. 7. Mitch Garver vs Kansas City (6/14/19) 0.37 WPA The Mitch Garver clutch two-run bomb against the Royals is definitely one of the most memorable homers this season. The late inning drama in a game tied at zero, followed by a crowd-exploding home run to take the lead and later win the game is something everyone will remember. 6. Miguel Sano vs Atlanta (8/5/19) 0.43 WPA This walk-off bomb from the Twins slugger was easily one of the most dramatic and exciting wins of the season. Playing against an elite Atlanta team, this was the perfect way to begin the series. This pinch -it blast is one of the most memorable homers this season. 5. Max Kepler vs Boston (6/18/19) 0.43 WPA This home run came in one of the craziest and longest games in Twins history. First of all, Max didn’t get an at bat until the eighth inning because he was subbed into the game. He tied the game in the eighth and then hit this clutch home run in the 13th inning. He would go on to provide the walkoff single in the 17th inning. 4. Byron Buxton vs Seattle (6/12/19) 0.45 WPA Byron Buxton had the entire state of Minnesota cheering for him for like 15 minutes after this huge home run. The Twins would eventually go on to lose, but we’re going to ignore that. Just remember how much fun you were having when this home run was hit to cap off a huge comeback. 3. Eddie Rosario vs Oakland (7/18/19) 0.46 WPA Rosario pinch hit for a struggling Jake Cave and did what Eddie Rosario loves to do. The Twins were down 3-1 against a great Oakland bullpen and with one swing of the bat, Rosario put the Twins on top for good. 2. Miguel Sano vs New York (7/23/19) 0.52 WPA If you are just a neutral fan, this was probably the greatest game you’ve ever seen. Constant lead changes, clutch hits and huge home runs, finished off by what could finish as the catch of the season. In the late innings, Sano crushed a memorable two -run blast that temporarily had Twins fans ecstatic. 1. Marwin Gonzalez at Milwaukee (8/13/19) 0.59 WPA Finally, the most meaningful home run out of this historic season so far was the Gonzo bomb off the elite reliever Josh Hader. The Twins held a lead all the way to the seventh inning, but Ryne Harper gave up a few runs and Hader was in for the two-inning save. Unfortunately for him, he was facing the bomba squad. After a Rosario double and Sano walk, Gonzalez came up with a chance to take the lead and did this…. Those are the ten most meaningful home runs this season in terms of win probability added. All of them so much fun, and yet we aren’t even at the most fun part of the season. Watch out MLB, the Twins are headed for the playoffs. Which home run was your favorite? Discuss in the comments! Click here to view the article

I didn't want to start another thread, so I'll post this on the game recap thread--are we certain that Odorizzi gets the ball tomorrow? If one of the callups (Thorpe or Smeltzer) is rested enough, wouldn't it make sense to give Odorizzi an extra day and have him start the Boston series? I really don't like the idea of a second-tier starter pitching to a desperate Boston team in Fenway.

ICYMI here's every single pitch of Graterol's outing today plus the usual analysis.

100 mph was nice, but Grat's most impressive pitch was his 98 mph 2-seamer that started outside, then broke in on the outer edge to a rightie. Over his career, that pitch will get him countless standing strikes. Batter has just enough time to recognize what looks like an outside pitch, then almost no time to get off a late emergency swing. That leaves the outside edge open to a four seamer that does not cut back in, thus getting tons of whiffs. Now you have right handed batters leaning out over the plate against a guy that throws 100 miles per hour. If Graterol learns to throw a cutter that breaks left, it will be truly unfair. Then he can play the same game with batters from both sides of the plate. If he adds a slider, change up or a curve, he'll be weighing his money instead of counting it.

Watching on Gameday, and listening, was Radsurb Loretarg really "struggling?" He seemed like he was hitting his spots with speed (obviously) and precision. Seemed like a couple of lucky hits to me, and the visit from Johnson was probably to say "keep doing what you're doing." Which worked wonderfully. Just my interpretation though. And I think that his name backwards is almost as cool as it is forwards.

The MLB.com story on Gibson said he's lost 10 pounds over the last month or so. Given that and how weak he said he felt on Friday, getting through 5 innings for him was a major case of sucking it up for the team.

5.5 feels good, man.

Cool article. It would be fun to see which defensive plays were most important too.

Graterol has not been starting since his activation off the DL. He's not stretched out, zero time to do so. He's not getting any starts in the remainder of 2019. Possibly in an opener role, but not as a traditional starter.

1] Very pleased by the opportunity for Graterol. I still think it's more about experience for 2020 but who knows, he might catch fire. 2] A little surprised by no Alcala, Hildenberger or Harper. Then again, Rochester still has a couple games to play so you can't bring up everyone. 3] Anyone else a little surprised Stewart was brought up? 4] This news about Gibson explains a lot. It felt all season he kept running out of gas about every other start. Not including just lacking endurance in general at the start of the season while recovering from his initial illness/diagnosis. But I never realized how thin he looked until his last start and a spotlight seemed to be shone on it. Really hope he can learn to manage the condition. I've had similar issues most of my life, though to a much less degree. It is definitely present in my family. And when it flares up, fatigue can hit pretty quickly.

Congrats to Wade! He had a tough run in his first MLB experience.

Good luck to Gibson. Health issues suck. It also potentially explains this season. I expect Alcala and Hildeberger to be up after Rochester is done. Well, hope on Alcala.

Harper, Hildenberger, Romero are all relievers. I suspect on or more will be up Tuesday after Rochester is done. They can’t deplete the roster too much with two games left.

Well there you go others were mentioning that Gibby looked gaunt. He's had digestive trouble all year and he does even thinner than usual. This could explain many things for him.

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.

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.

Pro-tip: Don't have your laptop update itself 2 hours before you're supposed to write the minor league report because it'll take a decade to finish updating and make the whole thing more annoying than it should be.

Wow is this productive. In two games we have eliminated both Perez and Gibson as post season starters - who is next?

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.

Absolute bummer of a game. Good news: The Twins set a record. Bad news: They lost because Perez had a really bad game. Good news: The Twins didn't lose any ground. Plus, they battled. Perspective: Again, they lost no ground. Perez has looked much better lately until today. Even if a team wins 100 games, they still lose 62. Our 5th SP just had nothing today. He adds to the 62. It's one game. Disappointing, but just one game.

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.

I wish Baldelli would stop feeling his pitchers can get out of the inning. Now with the icnreased roster, if a pitcher "just doesn't have it" no excuse to pull and put in a fresh arm. The rotation IS a mess. Again, could the Twins have gotten someone, anyone, in July. But too late to cry now. I was worried when the Yankees hit four homers in their game. But the Twins answered with six of their own, in a tough ballpark to hit homers (unless the Tigers are pitching). Happily, Cleveland lost (to a good team). The Twins can't let these things happen against the dregs of the division.

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

The Twins have announced a round of roster moves in conjunction with rosters expanding. Here’s a quick snapshot: Coming up: Willians Astudillo, Brusdar Graterol, Zack Littell, Ian Miller, Devin Smeltzer, Kohl Stewart, Lewis Thorpe and LaMonte Wade. Going to the IL: Kyle Gibson.The most exciting move among these announced roster additions is certainly Brusdar Graterol. He just turned 21-years-old earlier this week, and the Twins gave him quite the belated birthday present. Graterol missed more than two months earlier this season, but returned to action just before the end of July and started working out of the bullpen. In nine outings, Graterol pitched to a 2.03 ERA, 0.75 WHIP and held opposing hitters to a .143/.234/.238 batting line (.472 OPS). He struck out 15 batters in 13 1/3 innings and topped out at 103.8 mph. Ian Miller is the only other callup who has yet to make his major league debut. Acquired from the Mariners in early August, Miller's speed is his calling card. He's stolen 243 bases in his minor league career and been caught stealing just 51 times. That's a success rate of 82.7%. An outfielder, Miller hit .264/.346/.431 (.777 OPS) in 514 Triple-A plate appearances this season. Kyle Gibson hitting the Injured List is an unexpected development. Gibson has been suffering from ulcerative colitis. Here's a link to more information on that disease via the Mayo Clinic. It sounds like a potentially serious ailment, but at the very least something really terrible to endure. Here's wishing Kyle a quick recovery. In order to clear space on the 40-man roster, Sean Poppen was transferred to the 60-day IL due to a right elbow contusion. The additions of Willians Astudillo, Zack Littell, Devin Smeltzer, Kohl Stewart, Lewis Thorpe and LaMonte Wade were all expected. The biggest takeaway is that Astudillo and Wade, who were both on rehab assignments, were deemed healthy enough to be activated from the IL. Perhaps more notable is the players on the 40-man roster who were not added to the active roster. That includes Ryne Harper, Trevor Hildenberger and Fernando Romero. That trio was expected to be a big part of the Twins bullpen at the onset of the season. It's always possible they'll join the team at a later date. Also among the players not activated were Marcos Diplan and Stephen Gonsalves, who has looked good on the road to recovery. Jorge Alcala, a triple-digit-throwing pitching prospect who was promoted last week from AA to AAA with Graterol, also did not get a promotion, though he would've required being added to the 40-man roster. The last player on the 40-man roster to mention is Nick Gordon, but unlike Gonsalves, he has yet to return to action since suffering a left lower leg contusion. Who are you most excited about? Comment below, but you need to signup first; we're not animals here. Click here to view the article

And Odorizzi. Last six starts, 5-1 with a 2.65 ERA. This rotation might not be awful in the postseason, especially if Gibson and Berrios can get some rest.

Fun to watch Gaterol today! And great to see the Twins put up a 5-spot and have a pitcher in there who can protect the lead and get the job done. Big Mike Pineda, as has been said by just about everyone, is rising to the top of the rotation. Last seven starts, 5-0 with a 3.48 ERA. The Twins are in the home stretch and he is delivering.

On Friday night in Cedar Rapids, the Kernels won on a walk off hit for the third time in the last week. For the second time, infielder Spencer Steer provided that game-winning hit. The 2019 minor league regular season is running down. It’s been a long year for the players including the 2019 college draft picks whose seasons began in early February. Of the 2019 Twins draft picks, Steer has really been impressive. Recently we caught up with the third-round pick and got to know him.Spencer Steer was born and raised in Long Beach, California. He grew up an Angels fan, rooting for some really good, star-laden teams. Steer said, “I always loved Garrett Anderson, watching him play. Obviously I’ve loved watching Mike Trout the last eight years or so. It’s fun to be able to drive 20 minutes and watch him play.” That’s where he grew to love the game of baseball. He played at MIllikan High School where he starred on the baseball team for four seasons. He played in some Perfect Game events as well. “I got some great experience playing in those Perfect Game tournaments against that kind of competition.” In the offseason, Steer will head back to Eugene, take a few classes and enjoy spending time with his friends. Follow Spencer Steer on Twitter at @spenc__er. Click here to view the article

Well, bottom line is- when the team needs starters to take a step up, nearly all of 'em are taking a step back.

Steering in the right direction.

Sano hit 4 out of top 10. He is supposed to be the most dangerous hitter in Twins lineup.