Twins

The Twins extended their win streak to five games on a chilly Tuesday night, beating the Tigers 5-4 in bizarre fashion in the series opener on a final play you have to see to believe.

The Twins’ bullpen troubles are well-documented, and if they hope to contend in the second half and into the postseason, they’ll need to add at least one high-leverage reliever. Their best option resides in Colorado. 

With the news that St. Paul native Louie Varland has been called up to the Minnesota Twins and will make his major-league debut on Wednesday in The Bronx, let’s take a look at the meteoric rise of the right-hander from Concordia University in St. Paul. 

In yet another inspired night by the offense, who had Byron Buxton homer twice, the Twins got a convincing win against the Rays to start the series. Devin Smeltzer had a quality start, despite not finishing it the way he wanted.

The Minnesota Twins didn’t have a good season in 2021 and they were rewarded with the 8th overall pick in the 2022 Major League Baseball draft. After a few seasons of later picks, they were in a position to draft a prospect of impact. When Cal Poly’s Brooks Lee fell into their lap, there’s no denying the organization’s excitement level reached unparalleled proportions.

Louie Varland is scheduled to make his big-league debut on Wednesday in Yankee Stadium. Here are four things to keep an eye on during his much-anticipated debut. 

We’re another week closer to the mid-July draft and activity is starting to pick up. As we get into May, the focus begins to tighten. While the picture still appears very broad to almost everyone, the tea leaves begin to occasionally drop. But that’s the fun of drafts: It’s up to you whether you want to believe them or not.

Recently, there has been one consistent chorus amongst Twins fans, sung with such coordination that they could adequately back up on a Queen track: “when the Twins add at the deadline…” Indeed, even this author has dabbled in assuming this, but finding a proper trade may be a trickier proposition than we think.

Prospects flame out every year in baseball. It’s just the nature of the game. From organizational depth to top prospects, no young player’s impact is guaranteed. Three former top Twins prospects have particularly important seasons on the horizon in 2023.

The melancholy Minnesota sports fans reeling from Timberwolves and Wild losses earlier in the evening who decided to flip their TVs over to catch the ending of the Twins game were treated to one of the most exciting albeit baffling endings of a game seen in a long time. Hey, a win is a win, right? Here are 3 of my Takeaways from yesterday's wild ending. 

No Buxton. No Correa. No Urshela. But Luis Arraez, the best hitter right now in baseball, was still in the lineup and provided the power. Chi Chi Gonzalez was promoted for his second start of the season, it was likely to be a bullpen-heavy game. The Twins faced Shane Baz, making his first start of the season after being on the IL all season.

A manager's decision to pull a starting pitcher or squeeze another inning out of them is often criticized. Rocco Baldelli, who tends to pull pitchers quickly, is no exception. But what goes into that decision and how should we assess the effectiveness of Baldelli's quick hook?