Caretakers

Today's exclusive Caretaker-only audio content include John Bonnes and Nick Nelson discussing Louie Varland's rough outing, but why he was encouraged and the feedback that Baldelli gave him afterwards An update on Caleb Thielbar, who we haven't seen in a spring training game Baldelli's thoughts on Jovani Moran's possible bullpen roles, and what he's looking at for the last four spots in the Twins' bullpen. Baldelli dunking on Nick but still revealing some of his though

The Twins ended Wednesday’s home game against the Phillies in a 4-4 tie, but the day was more eventful than that boring outcome would suggest. In this 22-minute rundown of today’s key topics, I talked about: Carlos Correa’s spring debut, and some of the thoughts he shared after the game about putting a frustrating offseason behind him, dealing with the new infield positioning limitations, and facing the Phillies’ top prospect (who is a fellow Scott Boras client). Bailey Ober’s hugel

After getting back from Monday's 4-1 loss to the Red Sox at JetBlue Park, I sat down to record some thoughts from the game, touching on topics such as: Pablo López's strong Twins debut, in which he struck out three over two scoreless frames. Jorgé López's slightly less impressive spring training debut, which was marred by command issues but did see him touch 97 MPH on the gun. (Which he was pleasantly surprised with.) A good day for Max Kepler, who batted leadoff and managed

We're trying something new for Twins Daily's Caretakers: an audio report from John Bonnes on what he's seeing and hearing from players, coaches, and management inside Hammond Stadium. Today's report includes: News on Jorge Polanco's slow ramp up in spring training, and whether is knee is already a concern Emilio Pagan's offseason, and why his first bullpen session was so encouraging Thoughts from pitching coach Pater Maki on camp and how the Twins are adjusting to the new pit

THANK YOU for caretaking Twins Daily. Here's you're exclusive content. When baseball people break down pitch types into categories, they tend to use three: fastballs, breaking balls, and offspeed pitches. This distinction is decades old, long predating modern, data-centric pitching analysis. It’s a natural one, because it centers on the thing that makes each type of pitch effective: speed, movement, and deception, respectively. There’s another natural way to subdivide pitch types,

Today's spring training diary includes Max Kepler's muted reaction to the shift ban, Byron Buxton's excitement over Carlos Correa's return, and Michael A Taylor wanting to steal bases again.  This article continues exclusively for Twins Daily caretakers. To become a caretaker and read the rest of the piece, you can subscribe here.  

Today's spring training diary includes news on Jorge Polanco's slower start to spring training, Emilio Pagan's bounceback plan, and thought from Twins pitching coach Pete Maki. This article continues exclusively for Twins Daily caretakers. To become a caretaker and read the rest of the piece, you can subscribe here.

Inside Notes 2023-02-16.mp3    

Like the other 29 MLB teams, the Minnesota Twins face a new defensive challenge in 2023: they’ll have to adapt to rules barring shifts on the infield. When we think about the ramifications of that change, we often focus on fielders’ ability to reach and field the ball. In reality, though, there’s an interaction between raw range and throwing arm–one that will become more important. To that end, bringing back Carlos Correa at shortstop was crucial, but even his strong arm faces a tougher test und

Joe Ryan seems like a cerebral individual, especially regarding the art and science of pitching.  "I love talking pitching," Ryan told Fangraphs.com's David Laurilia in April. "I love messing around with the baseball, manipulating it in the dugout, just getting that feel. Then I get back on the mound with all of that. It's a good time." "Messing around with the baseball" makes it sound like his pitches happen by a cosmic accident, but as you can glean from his back and forth with Laur

López, who will turn 27 in March, has five pitches, and he’s tinkered with his arsenal several times in the past few years, as he and the Marlins have tried to accomplish the ascension from mid-rotation starter with upside to ace. The Twins will try to further refine that mix. It all starts, though, with the two pitches that require little in the way of further polish: his fastball and his changeup. When it comes to heaters, the Twins have a type, in more ways than one. Firstly, they like f

Less than eight months removed from his second career Tommy John surgery, The Twins signed Chris Paddack to a three-year extension.  The why is simple: Locking Paddack into a three-year deal at a low cost could provide them with rotation depth when he recovers. While there is always a risk, $4 million per year would be a deal for a starter with his upside.  Beyond the ability to save a few dollars, in his limited time with the Twins, Paddack showed real progress.  When the Twins

MLB free agency is really one name for two overlapping but distinct tasks. One of those is finding short-term answers to immediate problems. In this aspect, a front office needs to reinforce thin areas on their roster; balance the pursuit of upside with the necessity of setting a firm floor for a given roster spot; and husband their resources as closely as possible. They need to fill holes without leaving themselves ossified or cornered when the opportunity or the need to change tack arises.

If things had gone differently, Caleb Thielbar might have been in South Dakota, conducting recruiting visits and game-planning for a Division II baseball program as Augustana’s pitching coach.  If he didn’t seek help from Driveline Baseball, he might not have added the necessary velocity or maximized each pitch’s effectiveness. If he did not get invited onto USA Baseball’s Premier 12 roster in 2019 – one composed of mostly young prospects – he might not have caught the attention of scouts w

Last year, the Twins were 20.7 runs worse than an average team on the bases, according to FanGraphs. That was the second-worst mark in MLB. They stole (or even attempted to steal) fewer bases than any other team. They took the extra base on hits at a below-average rate, and they made outs on the bases at an above-average rate.  That has been a pattern throughout the Rocco Baldelli era, too. The team will point out that the whole league is moving away from steals and aggressive baserunning,

With the Orioles, López was a dominant backend of the bullpen arm, outfitted with an upper 90s sinker and wiffleball movement at the top of the zone. He had some intriguing offspeed stuff, was missing bats, and locking down games.  The Twins may have thought they could take a pitcher right near the cusp of being elite and make him that much better. However, that initial experiment has backfired.  What happened? Pick any stat you want from Jorge López and it was likely substantiall

We're so excited to give you all first dibs on tickets for the Meltdown. As a Caretaker, you get a free ticket, though you must claim it before Monday morning, so be sure to follow the directions below. Plus, you can buy up to three tickets at half-price, for $20.  Here's what you need to do: 1. Starting at 8AM on Friday, go to this link: https://www.etix.com/ticket/p/8338349/twins-daily-winter-meltdown-minneapolis-the-pourhouse-downtown 2. Use the password "MeltdownIsBack" to login.

The Twins’ ace not only had reverse splits, but was a true ace against lefties, and more of a fourth starter against righties. Since he saw more righties than ever before, the latter was a real problem.  This is an underrated aspect of the massive challenge that is succeeding as a starting pitcher in the major leagues. Years ago, I wrote about the fact that a switch-hitter is a strange creature, because they must maintain competence at two distinct tasks throughout the season: hitting left-

Farmer will cost the team between $5 million and $6 million via the arbitration process, and they had to give up pitching prospect Casey Legumina to get him. No front office–least of all the one run by Derek Falvey and Thad Levine–acquires a player at that price without a good reason. Here, in a nutshell, is that reason. Batted Balls 88+ MPH, Pulled, Launch Angle 10-40 Degrees, as a Percentage of All Plate Appearances, 2022 Player

Nevertheless, Miranda’s performance began to cool in August and leveled out for the remainder of the year. He hit .262 over his final 136 plate appearances with far less power production. How did teams adjust to him and what does it say about his potential going forward?  Before we start disparaging Miranda’s late season performance, let’s consider some of his strengths.  His 117 weighted runs created plus – a rate stat that takes into consideration park factors and current run en