Sherry's Series Takeaways: Twins vs. Mariners

Sa-No Go? 
At the end of the 2021 season, Miguel Sano seemed to have found a rhythm and confidence in his swing. He finished the season with 30 home runs and 75 RBIs. 

Spring training fans seemed to get their hopes up as Sano seemed to be in the same form that he was in last season and hitting home runs like it was nothing. 

In the season-opening series, Sano struggled at the plate. In the four-game series with the Mariners, Sano had 16 plate appearances and went 0-for-13 with three walks and six strikeouts. . 

While we consider a truncated spring training, hitting off Double-A and Triple-A pitchers, other players in the line-up were getting multiple hits by the third regular-season game.

Sano is 0-for-13 and Alex Kiriloff is just 1-for-15 so far. While it's still early in the season and only 16 plate appearances, fans are unsure that Sano has what it takes to be a productive part of this team in the lineup offensively. Yes, he gets on base, but is that enough?

In an interview with Phil Miller from the Star Tribune, Rocco Baldelli explained that he feels differently. He feels there are too few at-bats to go off of and that Sano has been working hard at laying off bad pitches. That is true, and he does seem to have more plate discipline; maybe he's just getting another slow start. His defense has been outstanding to start, so maybe we just need to trust Rocco on this one. 

We have pitching
For the first time in four baseball seasons, I feel good about the pitching. The pitching has been impressive thus far, and rookie Joe Ryan did not disappoint in his first Opening Day start. He seemed to settle down after getting over his first-inning jitters and giving up two runs. He had four strikeouts. 

In Game 2, Sonny Gray had his Twins debut and matched Joe Ryan with four strikeouts and two runs. Sonny, like Ryan, was pulled early, leaving fans frustrated again with another managerial decision by Rocco.  

Both pitchers are solid starters and have strong fastballs that make hitters chase. They both have a strong command of the mound and control of the strike zone. When looking back at the games, compared to Bailey Ober, both pitchers held the Mariners to two runs in five innings, which isn't too bad for a new guy and a rookie.

Even if some are frustrated with Rocco pulling the starters early, the Twins have a strong bullpen. The bullpen has players from trades, rookies, and everything in between: like Jorge Alcala, Caleb Thielbar, and Jharel Cotton. They all gave fans impressive performances and a lot of confidence in our bullpen and, oddly, our front office. 

New reliever Jhoan Duran (affectionately known as "Durantula" or "Hurricane") has become a fan favorite with his nasty pitches. In the three innings pitched in the series, Duran's velocity was over 101 MPH.

With Taylor Rogers going to the Padres and Tyler Duffey struggling in game two, Duran is a very welcome addition to the bullpen and could be a solid contender for a closer. 

The front office continues to surprise us with their trades and acquisitions to bolster the pitching staff. The Twins may not have the ace we are looking for in our starters, but we certainly have the depth and ability to move players around to keep us in contention until we do.

These bats are on fire
Not only was the weather for opening day chilly, but so were the bats. As the weather warmed up, so did the bats. By game three of the series against Seattle, the players were making contact. The first person to bring life to a game was Gio Urshela. 

Urshela seemed a little unsure in spring training, but it didn't take him long to find his stride in Minnesota, leading with the first Minnesota Twins home run of the season in game one. Over the next three games, other hitters quickly followed suit: Luis Arraez, Max Kepler, Carlos Correa, and Byron Buxton, who hit his second-fastest home run at 112.3 MPH. 

Gary Sanchez, who came over with Gio Urshela in the Yankee trade, left many Twins fans with negative feelings and doubted his position on this team. Sanchez wasted no time getting to work to show us that he indeed is an asset and has a lot to offer this lineup as the designated hitter. 

In-game one, Sanchez swung often and swung hard. With the crowd cheering his name in the bottom of the ninth, Sanchez fell short in the last hit of the game, thinking he hit a home run, accompanied by a bat-flip. Unfortunately, because of the cold weather, the ball did not carry as far as not only Gary thought but the entire stadium and both teams. 

In the third game, Sanchez didn't come up short of a home run when he hit a grand slam to give the Twins a five-run lead over the Mariners, with a very well-earned bat flip. 

It seems that the Bomba Squad may be back in action!  
 

Come back for more Top Three Takes after each series!