Twins

Immediately following last night’s remarkable game, John Bonnes, Matthew Trueblood and Matthew Taylor were joined by a live virtual audience to discuss Kenta Maeda’s near no-hitter, Rocco’s tough decisions and their reaction to the Twins’ first extra-innings game under the new rules.

There’s arguably no position in baseball more important than the man behind the dish. And while 2021 is still a ways down the road, the Twins will have to make some decisions regarding their catching situation thanks to an unexpected 2020 season behind home plate.

Let's identify a free agent and potential trade target starting pitcher for the Twins by analyzing Statcast's new spin metrics.

Luis Castillo is one of baseball's best starting pitchers, and could be the first big name to hit the trading block this spring. What could the Twins give up to land him?

Once again the Twins offense was quiet and Matt Shoemaker, who was one out away from a quality start, ended up allowing five runs on three homers. Oakland crushed Minnesota to take the series opener at Target Field and the Twins now have the worst record in baseball.

As the Twins embark on the daunting offseason task of building their 2022 pitching staff nearly from scratch, it's worth wondering if their forward-thinking front office might step outside the box and take a nontraditional approach.

A revealing recent quote from general manager Thad Levine leads one to believe it's a path they're considering.

The Twins made several roster moves on Saturday morning, sending four hitters to minor league spring training including their two top prospects. They now have 49 players on their spring roster. 

The Twins got another excellent start from Dylan Bundy, who pitched six innings on 60 pitches, but Colorado had an even better one from Germán Márquez. Minnesota’s offense couldn’t figure him out and the Rockies held on to a sixth-inning run to win the series opener.