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Weekly Snapshot: Mon, 6/21 through Sun, 6/27
***
Record Last Week: 3-2 (Overall: 32-43)
Run Differential Last Week: +3 (Overall: -48)
Standing: T-3rd Place in AL Central (11.5 GB)
Last Week's Game Recaps:
Game 72 | MIN 7, CIN 5: Sanó Walks Off Reds in Extras
Game 73 | CIN 10, MIN 7: Late Comeback Falls Short as Bullpen Lapses
Game 74 | CLE 4, MIN 1: Bats Can't Back Up Berríos' Brilliance
Game 75 | MIN 8, CLE 7: Offense Powers Twins Through Bullpen Game
Game 76 | MIN 8, CLE 2: Happ Bounces Back with Bomba Support
NEWS & NOTES
As deflating as this Twins season has been for fans, following the frustrating and logic-defying plight of Byron Buxton may be even more heartbreaking than the team's overall struggles. It really is just one thing after another for the snakebitten superstar.
This time, a broken left hand, suffered via an HBP on Monday night in just his third game back from the IL. While evidently playing through some pain in a hip that was not back to 100%, Buxton was nonetheless effective, going 4-for-11 with a homer and double in his brief reappearance. Now, after missing a month and a half due to the hip strain, he's staring down a similar length of absence as this boxer's fracture heals.
It sucks. It absolutely sucks. For him, for the team, for the fans, for baseball.
Buxton's new injury led to a quick recall for Gilberto Celestino, who joins Max Kepler and Nick Gordon as the team's center field depth of the moment.
The rest of the week's roster action was centralized on the pitching staff, with more bad news hitting the bullpen. Luke Farrell, one of the unit's few standouts, went on the Injured List with a right oblique strain. Cody Stashak has been placed on the 60-day IL due to a disc injury in his back. Randy Dobnak was also shelved with a finger strain.
The Stashak move opened up a 40-man spot for Danny Coulombe, who was selected from the minors and started a bullpen game on Friday. Griffin Jax, also called up to fill a spot on the beleaguered staff, followed as the bulk guy for that game, and picked up his first big-league win.
HIGHLIGHTS
Miguel Sanó heated up again and reminded us what a game-changing force he can be when it's clicking.
Of course, it hasn't clicked often for him this year, which is why he found himself on the bench Monday night (an increasingly routine occurrence for him against right-handed starters).
While he didn't start the game, he did finish it.
Sanó followed with another huge hit the following day, coming inches short of tying things up against Cincinnati with another two-run homer, but instead settling for a double off the top of the wall that set up Alex Kirilloff's game-tying knock. Sanó started only twice last week, but had more multi-hit games (2) than he had in the previous month. He's also gone 13 consecutive plate appearances without striking out – a rather amazing feat for him.
Sanó helped lead the charge in a generally strong week for the offense, which produced 31 runs in five games and is on its way to finishing up an impressive month of June. The team has a .783 OPS this month, after finishing May at .744 and April at .723.
Also contributing to the recent run-scoring outburst at Target Field was Luis Arraez, who went 6-for-18 and was instrumental to Friday night's win, chipping in three extra-base hits and three RBIs. The glimmer of power was a very refreshing sight from Arraez, whose slugging percentage had dropped to .327 earlier this month before he gave it a boost with two doubles and three triples in his past eight games.
Kirilloff keeps on raking; he went 5-for-16 with a double, homer, and five RBIs. Nelson Cruz also stayed hot, contributing six hits including two home runs and a double. Josh Donaldson returned from a brief pause due to a calf scare, chipping in five hits (including a monster blast) and three RBIs during the Cleveland series. This is a pretty dang good offense.
The pitching inspires less confidence, but that's not true across the board. José Berríos was outstanding once again his last time out, holding Cleveland to one run over 6 ⅓ innings, although the offense couldn't back him up and snapped a string of seven straight wins with him on the mound. Rocking a 7-2 record and 3.41 ERA, Berríos may well be working his way toward another All-Star nod.
He and Taylor Rogers have clearly been the class of this pitching staff, which I suppose is not the most surprising development, all other things aside. It's noteworthy from a bigger-picture perspective because both are under team control for one more year in 2022. As the Twins weigh the merits of a retool-vs-rebuild path forward, Berríos and Rogers will loom as pivotal figures at the deadline.
Both long-tenured pitchers are sure to be in demand. Do the Twins feel they could afford to let either one go, if they aspire to bounce back and contend next season?
LOWLIGHTS
Outside of Berríos, Rogers, and a couple of others, there is just not much positivity to be drawn from this current group of arms.
Hansel Robles, who's generally been one of the more dependable bullpen fixtures, had an extremely tough week, coughing up four runs in two innings of work and getting tagged with a loss in Tuesday's game. Jorge Alcalá, whom the Twins badly need to emerge as a key piece for the late innings, gave up four earned runs in his two appearances, and sports a 5.40 ERA in his past 20 trips to the mound. Alex Colomé mixed in another meltdown, yielding three runs (one earned) on two hits and a walk in Tuesday's loss. He has a 6.23 ERA in June. Cyclical spare parts like Coulombe and Jax have not shown much.
Michael Pineda is hurt, and hasn't pitched into the sixth inning since May. Randy Dobnak was a disastrous mess before going on the shelf himself. Kenta Maeda has looked better since returning from IL, but remains a far cry from the dominant force we witnessed last year.
The Twins have the worst pitching WAR of any team in the American League. They've given up the second-most home runs in the majors. Their relievers are on track for historical ineptitude when it comes to letting inherited runners score. This is a brutal pitching corps with no simple fixes in sight.
TRENDING STORYLINE
If they're going to make a last-gasp effort to regain relevance, the Twins need to do something about the pitching unit. To rattle off wins like they need to up until the All-Star break requires consistently good work from the rotation and bullpen. Frankly: a dramatic turnaround.
But what can they do? They aren't going to shake things up with a splashy "buyer" trade, sitting in a last-place tie. There really isn't much available in terms of help on the farm, with top prospect Jhoan Duran sidelined indefinitely alongside MLB-ready arms like Devin Smeltzer and Lewis Thorpe. The best starting pitcher in St. Paul, 25-year-old Charlie Barnes, is a replacement-level guy through and through. (But maybe an improvement over the likes of J.A. Happ and Matt Shoemaker?)
Would the front office consider dipping down to Double-A for an upside arm like Jordan Balazovic or Josh Winder? It would be a bold and perhaps desperate measure, but ... desperate times.
LOOKING AHEAD
If the Twins want to jam their foot into the fast-closing door and keep it open a crack, here is their chance. After taking two of three from second-place Cleveland, they now head to Chicago for a four-game showdown against the division leaders. The White Sox are in a rut, having lost six of eight with an injury-plagued offense that's been stalling out. The Royals are straight-up crumbling, with 17 losses in their last 21 games.
Winning these next two series could help the Twins gain a foothold of sorts, with nearly a month still remaining until the trade deadline. It'll be interesting to see where things stand on the 4th, one week from today.
MONDAY, 6/28: TWINS @ WHITE SOX – RHP Kenta Maeda v. RHP Lucas Giolito
TUESDAY, 6/29: TWINS @ WHITE SOX – RHP José Berríos v. RHP Dylan Cease
WEDNESDAY, 6/30: TWINS @ WHITE SOX – RHP Bailey Ober v. LHP Carlos Rodon
THURSDAY, 7/1: TWINS @ WHITE SOX – TBD Undecided v. RHP Lance Lynn
FRIDAY, 7/2: TWINS @ ROYALS – LHP J.A. Happ v. RHP Brady Singer
SATURDAY, 7/3: TWINS @ ROYALS – RHP Kenta Maeda v. LHP Danny Duffy
SUNDAY, 7/4: TWINS @ ROYALS – RHP José Berríos v. RHP Brad Keller
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