Andrew Thares

Lol good catch on the MPH. I updated the article to the correct unit of measurement.

As we move forward in the AL Central Rundown series, our next look will be at center fielders across the division. Coming off a couple strong seasons, it’s worth asking is Byron Buxton the best center fielder in the AL Central, or will somebody else reign supreme in 2021?The Rundown Center field is a position filled with youth in the AL Central, as the average age of the five projected starting center fielders within the division is just under 27-years-old. Throughout the division, there is a good mix of superstar upside, and solid everyday starter. However, there is also a lot of risk at the position and projecting what kind of season most of these players will have in 2021 will be quite difficult. When it is all said and done, the AL Central will likely come down to the Minnesota Twins and Chicago White Sox in a heated battle down the stretch. So, it is only fitting that the biggest X-Factor on each of these teams will come from the same position, in center fielders Byron Buxton and Luis Robert. How these two players perform this season will have a massive impact on deciding the winner of the division. Detroit Tigers In a very small sample of just 30 games a season ago, Detroit Tigers center fielder Jacoby Jones finally broke out with the bat, as he had a very impressive 126 wRC+. A big reason for this was the power he displayed, as 14 of his 26 hits went for extra bases. After taking small steps forward with the bat in 2018 and 2019, 2020 was a big leap forward. However, when diving a little deeper into the numbers, it seems as though Jones benefited greatly from the small sample of just 108 plate appearances. When looking at such a small sample, it is often beneficial to rely more heavily on what the Statcast metrics say, rather than the results-based metrics, as they tend to normalize more quickly. One thing that stands out is how much worse Statcast said he should have performed than he actually did. For starters, while Jones had a wOBA of .353, his expected wOBA was just .308. For reference, that is roughly the difference, offensively, between Justin Morneau (career .353 wOBA) and Jason Castro (career .308 wOBA). Jones will need to prove himself on a much larger sample in 2021 before I start to believe that he is a much-improved hitter. Cleveland Oscar Mercado put up a strong rookie performance in 2019 with Cleveland, as he hit .269 with a wRC+ of 96. He was also a strong defender in the outfield, finishing 28th among the 133 qualified outfielders with 5 Outs Above Average defensively. However, that all changed in what was an awful 2020 campaign at the plate. In 93 plate appearances, Mercado hit just .128 with two extra base hits, and a wRC+ of -11. Yes, you read that right, negative 11. While all 2020 performances should be taken with a grain of salt, this performance was especially bad. It was also strangely reminiscent of Byron Buxton’s awful 2018 season, where Buxton had just 94 plate appearances and hit .158 with a wRC+ of -2. It is hard to believe that Mercado will be this bad again in 2021, so even a decently below average season from him would bring a massive upgrade to the Cleveland lineup from a year ago. Chicago White 2020 marked the anticipated debut of one of the game’s most highly touted prospects in Luis Robert. From day one it was evident that he had a skill set that has rarely been seen in the game. The first thing that was evident was how hard Robert was able to hit the ball when he squared it up. During 2020, Robert put 10 balls in play with an exit velocity of greater than 110 MPH, and despite weighing in at about 90 pounds less than Miguel Sano, Robert was able to match Sano in maximum exit velocity at 115.8 MPH. The other thing that is apparent is the physical tools Robert possesses in the outfield. While Robert isn’t Byron Buxton fast (but I mean who is), he can still fly, as his average sprint speed of 29.1 feet per second ranked in the 96th percentile across Major League Baseball in 2020. Robert also has a cannon for an arm that truly gives him a complete athletic tool set. While Robert is arguably one of the best, if not the best, athlete in the game today, it takes a lot more than just best athlete on the diamond to be the best ball player. Sure, Robert had a strong rookie season, but there are a couple glaring holes in his game. The first is his swing and miss rate of 38.4%, which is Sano level bad. Additionally, when Robert did make contact, he had a tough time squaring it up, as his average exit velocity of 87.9 MPH ranked in just the 34th percentile across the league last season. If Robert wants to become a superstar in the game, he will need to improve in that area drastically. Kansas City Royals After spending his first seven MLB seasons with the Washington Nationals, Michael A. Taylor inked a one-year deal for $1.75 million this offseason with the Kansas City Royals. At 29-years-old, Taylor is the elder statesman of the AL Central center fielders. Back in 2017, Taylor was on the verge of breaking out as a rising star in the game. He was only 26 and was coming off a season where he put up a 3.1 fWAR season. However, that never came to be, as Taylor has been worth just 0.6 fWAR in the three seasons since, including -0.3 in 2020. Not only has Taylor’s bat gone back to the well below average level it was prior to the 2017 season, but his superb defensive abilities have regressed from being among the best in the game, to right around league average. Given all of this, it is hard to expect that the Royals will get much more than roughly a replacement level player in 2021, which I guess is all they are paying for. Minnesota Twins After that awful 2018 season that I mentioned earlier, Byron Buxton has put together two very strong seasons, when he has been able to stay on the field that is. Buxton has always had the speed and the glove, but his biggest question mark was with the bat. During his first four seasons in the bigs, Buxton had an OPS of just .672. In the last two seasons, Buxton has turned that around, and posted a markedly improved OPS of .833. Perhaps the main reason for this improvement has been Buxton’s ability to cut down on the strikeouts. During those first four seasons, Buxton had a strikeout rate of 31.7%. That number has dropped to a much more manageable 24.2% over the last two seasons. The other big improvement for Buxton has been in the power department. From 2015-2018, Buxton hit just 28 home runs in 306 games played. In very limited time during 2019 and 2020, Buxton has hit 23 home runs in just 126 games. With Buxton’s whole game starting to come together as he enters his prime, the big question mark for this season will be can he just stay health? Grade ‘Em Here is how Fangraph’s Steamer projection system has these players performing in 2021. Download attachment: Screen Shot 2021-02-23 at 9.38.48 PM.png Detroit Tigers: C Jacoby Jones showed signs of a being an improved player in 2020, but he will need to continue that success over a much larger sample before I start believing that he is anything more than a slightly below average MLB center fielder. Cleveland: C- It was a very rough 2020 for Oscar Mercado, but I am not willing to give up on a young player that has shown promise as a result of one awful 30 game stretch. I believe there is a chance he can bounce back again in 2021. Chicago White Sox: A- Luis Robert has all the tools to be one of the best players in the game, but he will need to drastically improve on his swing and miss rate if he ever wants to become that player. However, he is still only 23-years-old, so he has plenty of time to continue to develop. Kansas City Royals: D There is little reason to believe that Michael A. Taylor will provide much, if any value to the Royals in 2021. However, with that franchise still being a few years away from competing, there won’t be a lot of pressure for him to perform. Minnesota Twins: A- Byron Buxton certainly has the skills to warrant a higher rating than an A-, but with the big question mark surrounding his health hanging over his head, it is hard to predict how many games Buxton will be on the field in 2021. Fingers crossed; this will be the year that Buxton can stay healthy and puts together the All-Star level season that we all know he is capable of. The Voice of the People MORE FROM TWINS DAILY — Latest Twins coverage from our writers — Recent Twins discussion in our forums — Follow Twins Daily via Twitter, Facebook or email Click here to view the article

The long wait for baseball to return is finally over. Not only have MLB teams began reporting to camp, but the 2021 college baseball season begins on Friday. So that brings the question, who are some of the players that could be on the Twins radar to take in this summer’s MLB Draft?After finishing the 2020 MLB season with the 4th best record in baseball, the Twins are slated to have the 27th pick in this year’s draft. However, with the Astros first round pick being taken away as part of their punishment for the sign stealing scandal, the Twins will have the 26th pick in the draft. Additionally, the Twins will have a pick in Competitive Balance Round A that comes right after the end of the first round. This means that the Twins will have two picks in the top 35 this year. With that in mind, let’s take a look at a few college players that could be in play for the Twins to take with either one of their first two picks. Ethan Wilson | OF | South Alabama | B/T: L/L Baseball America Rank: 18th MLB Pipeline Rank: 23rd If you want a prototype for a player the Twins are likely to take with one of their first picks in the draft, Ethan Wilson is it. In his freshman season in 2019, Wilson hit .345 with a 1.139 OPS and blasted 17 home runs in 56 games and was named a First-Team Freshman All-American. Those 17 home runs were tied for the 29th most in college baseball that season. In his sophomore season, Wilson played just 18 games before the season was cancelled, but in that span, he hit .282 with an OPS of .794. Wilson is known mostly for the production he brings with the bat, as his defense can be limiting at times in the outfield. He isn’t the fastest of runners and doesn’t possess a cannon for an arm by any means, but given his potential with the bat, it is hard not to think the Twins will be very interested in Wilson if he puts together another strong season this spring. Tommy Mace | RHP | Florida Baseball America Rank: 38th MLB Pipeline Rank: 36th For those of you who follow college baseball, you probably already know the powerhouse of a program that coach Kevin O'Sullivan has built over the past decade, primarily through dominate pitching staffs. Since 2016, the University of Florida has had 7 pitchers taken in the first three rounds of the draft, four of whom were first rounders. Among them is one of the newest members to the Minnesota Twins in Shaun Anderson. The story for Florida this year is no different, as they are the consensus number one team in the country heading into the season, and Tommy Mace is projected to be their Friday Night Ace. For his career, that spans three separate seasons, Mace has accumulated 179 and 1/3 innings pitched to the toon of a 4.37 ERA, with 145 strikeouts and 55 walks. At 6’7”, Mace is a tall and projectable righty that throws as many as five potentially average or better pitches. He hasn’t shown a lot for swing and miss stuff to this point yet, which is keeping him down somewhat in the rankings, but if he can add that part to his game this spring look for him to fly up draft boards. Levi Usher | OF | Louisville | B/T: L/R Baseball America Rank: 31st MLB Pipeline Rank: 78th In contrast to Ethan Wilson’s offensive first style, Levi Usher is an outfielder who excels defensively thanks to his speed and athleticism, with the bat still being a bit of a question mark, especially from a power perspective. Usher primarily played left field for Louisville last season, but whichever team drafts him will likely start him out at centerfield to see if his glove can stick there. If not, he will certainly be a plus corner outfielder with the flexibility to play center if needed. The question marks with Usher’s bat mostly come down to the fact that we just haven’t seen much of him. Usher spent his freshman season a Kirkwood Junior College in Iowa, where he hit .409 with 36 stolen bases. This performance landed him a spot with one of the top college programs in the country at Louisville. In 16 games for the Cardinals in 2020, before the season was cut short, Usher had an impressive .411/.484/.571 slash line and went 11 for 12 in stolen base attempts. However, that mostly came against weaker pitching in the non-conference portion of the schedule, so it remains to be seen how he fairs going up against some of the best college arms in the country in the ACC in 2021. Cody Morissette | SS | Boston College | B/T: L/R Baseball America Rank: 28th MLB Pipeline Rank: 43rd It is hard to find a player with a more well-rounded set of tools than Boston College shortstop Cody Morissette. There is no one part of his game that Morissette excels at, but there also aren’t really any weaknesses in his game either. In addition to that, Morissette has incredible positional flexibility, which will give him the opportunity to serve as a utility man if he is unable to stick at short full-time. The combination of Morrissette’s relatively high floor, along with his positional flexibility, give him a good chance of one day becoming an MLB regular which will be very attractive later in the first round and beyond. In 58 games as a Freshman in 2019, Morissette had a .320/.371/.476 slash line with 8 stolen bases, 4 home runs and 20 doubles. Morissette got out to an amazing start to 2020, hitting .448 with an OPS of 1.177 in 15 games. With production like that, in the ACC, it is hard not to get excited about a prospect like Morissette. In addition to Morissette, Boston College features two other players in pitcher Mason Pelio and outfielder Sal Frelick who each have the ability to be mid-to-late first round picks as well and should be on Twins scouts radar this spring. Richard Fitts | RHP | Auburn Baseball America Rank: 15th MLB Pipeline Rank: 17th Despite spending most of his first two college seasons coming out of the Auburn Tigers bullpen, Richard Fitts is drawing a lot of interest as a starting pitcher at the professional level and should get the opportunity to prove himself as a starter in the Tigers weekend rotation this spring. A reason for this optimism comes from the extended time Fitts has gotten out of the pen, as he has averaged nearly three innings per appearance in his college career. Another reason for optimism in Fitts making it as a starting pitcher is the strong three pitch mix that he possesses. His two best pitches right now are his mid-90s fastball and his sharp sinking changeup, both of which are great swing and miss pitches. Fitts also throws a good-looking slider that is still a bit of a work in progress, but it has the potential to become a third plus pitch in his arsenal. 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For this installment of the AL Central Rundown series, we will be taking a look at second base. This is a position that will look a little different for the Minnesota Twins this season, but what will it look like for the rest of the division? Let’s dive in.The Rundown After some changes to the position leading into the 2020 season, second base will, for the most part, look the same as it did a year ago within the American League Central, as each of the five projected Opening Day starters at second base were members of their team a season ago. The division has a good mix of both experienced veterans, and youthful players at the position, and while there are no clear-cut stars within the division, it is more than fair to say that each of the five second basemen have their own unique set of skills that they will bring to their respective teams in 2021. Detroit Tigers After a rather unremarkable season with the Twins in 2019, Jonathan Schoop took his talents across the division to play for Ron Gardenhire’s Detroit Tigers on a one-year contract in 2020. Schoop did well in the shortened season, as he belted 8 home runs and had a wRC+ of 114 in 44 games as a Tiger. His defense at the position remained solid, as Statcast measured him in at two Outs Above Average. This performance was good enough for the Tigers to decide to bring the 29-year-old Schoop back on another one-year deal for $4.5 million. For the rebuilding Tigers, Schoop is slated to be the 4th highest earning player on the roster. While the results for Schoop were promising in 2020, the advanced metrics tell a slightly worse story of what actually happened. While Schoop produced a respectable wOBA of .334, his expected wOBA stood at just .288, which ranked in the 21st percentile of MLB hitters last season. A big explanation for this was the fact that Schoop had a difficult time elevating the ball in 2020, as his average launch angle dropped to 8.7 degrees, down from a much more efficient 12.7 degrees in 2019 with the Twins. This resulted in Schoop’s Barrel rate dropping from 8.8% in 2019, down to just 5.6% in 2020. It will be interesting to see if this has any effect on Schoop’s performance over a much larger sample size of a full MLB season. Cleveland Much like Detroit has done with Jonathan Schoop, Cleveland has also decided to bring back their veteran second baseman Cesar Hernandez after signing him to a one-year deal prior to the 2020 season. Hernandez will be earning $5 million in 2021, and Cleveland has a club option for $6 million in 2022 with no buyout amount if they choose not to bring him back. It is probably fair to say that Hernandez was the best second baseman in the AL Central a season ago. His 1.9 fWAR lead all second basemen in the division and was the third highest among all second basemen league-wide, behind only DJ LeMahieu and Brandon Lowe. Hernandez was a steady presence for Cleveland most of the season, but he really came on strong over the final month. In his first 24 games of 2020, Hernandez posted an OPS of .685, with very little power, as he hit zero home runs and had a slugging percentage of just .337. However, over his final 34 games the power started to come around, as Hernandez tallied three home runs, 12 doubles and a slugging percentage of .457, helping increase his OPS up to .817 over that span. In addition to a solid above-average bat, Hernandez also has an excellent glove out in the field. In 2020, Hernandez finished tied for third among second basemen with 4 Outs Above Average. Hernandez particularly excels at moving towards his left to make a play defensively, however, moving to his right, or in, can present a challenge for Hernandez at times. Chicago White Sox Perhaps the second basemen with the most intrigue, and the most upside, in the AL Central is former 4th overall pick Nick Madrigal, who was teammates with Twins prospect Trevor Larnach on the 2018 College World Series Champion Oregon State team. Madrigal was a quick mover through the minors, and made his MLB debut last summer, taking over duties as the full time second baseman during the final month of the season, where he hit .340 with a 112 wRC+. Standing at 5’7”, Madrigal does not, and likely will not ever generate much for power, but his freakish contact abilities will allow him to compete for batting titles year in and year out. If he can improve upon his low walk rate of just 3.7% in 2020, Madrigal will make a great on-base threat in that dangerous White Sox lineup. In addition to his bat, Madrigal is also a plus defender at second base. Coming up through the ranks, Madrigal has always been considered a good fielder, and he put that on display this season finishing with 2 Outs Above Average in just 29 games played. Behind Madrigal, the White Sox also have Danny Mendick, who played in 33 games for the White Sox last season, with most of that time coming at second base before Madrigal took over. Mendick posted a slash line of just .243/.281/.383 with a wOBA of .285 and an expected wOBA of just .250, which ranked near the very bottom of position players in MLB last season. Kansas City Royals Kansas City Royals second baseman Nicky Lopez is certainly not the top second baseman in the division, but he is arguably the most exciting player of the group to watch. Lopez makes his hay defensively, where he shines as one of the best defensive second baseman in the game today. In 2020, Lopez lead all second basemen defensively with 6 Outs Above Average and 5 Runs Prevented. Offensively, Lopez needs to pick it up a bit if he would like to have a long MLB career. Since being called up in 2019, Lopez has a wRC+ of just 55 in 159 career games. This ranks dead last among the 226 MLB hitters with at least 500 plate appearances over that time. Despite his poor offensive performance thus far in his MLB career, there is potential for more as he does own a career .378 OBP and a .781 OPS as a minor leaguer. Despite his quickness on the field, and signs of high-end speed, Lopez hasn’t utilized that very effectively early on in his career, as he is just 1 for 7 on stolen base attempts and has a BsR (Base Running Runs Above Average) of -2.6. Beyond Lopez, the options for the Royals at second base are limited. The two most likely candidates currently within the organization are Hanser Alberto, who has spent parts of five MLB seasons with the Texas Rangers and Baltimore Orioles, and Gabriel Cancel, who has not played a game above Double-A. However, neither player is currently on the 40-man roster, so expect the Royals to give Lopez plenty of leash this season as he continues to develop. Minnesota Twins Second base will be an intriguing storyline to follow for the Minnesota Twins this season. With the addition of Andrelton Simmons, Jorge Polanco will transition over to second base, a position he is presumably much better suited for. However, this creates the issue with what to do with Luis Arraez, who is more than good enough to be in the starting lineup in his own right. Rocco Baldelli will likely use a variety of options to get Arraez involved, which could include a transition to Left Field. Back in 2019, Jorge Polanco got off to a great start to the season, as he had an OPS of 1.000 through the first two months of the campaign, which eventually led to him being named the American League starting shortstop in the All-Star game. However, after that hot start to 2019, Polanco has been nothing all that remarkable as a hitter. Over the final four months of 2019, Polanco had an OPS of .761, before posting a .658 OPS in 55 games in 2020. If he struggles with the bat again this year, it will not surprise me to see Arraez start getting more playing time over Polanco at second, especially if one of Alex Kirilloff, Brent Rooker or Trevor Larnach forces their way into the lineup in left field. Jorge Polanco’s defensive struggles at shortstop are well known by nearly all Twins fans at this point. The parts of shortstop that gave Polanco the most trouble were running in on the ball, and covering the hole between short and third, and then making that throw across the diamond to first. At second, this should be less of a problem for him. Grade ’Em Here is how the Steamer project system has these second basemen performing, among other AL second basemen in 2021. Note, Jorge Polanco is not listed among second basemen, but rather he is in the shortstop projections. Download attachment: Screen Shot 2021-02-17 at 8.42.22 PM.png Download attachment: Screen Shot 2021-02-17 at 8.45.24 PM.png Detroit Tigers: C Jonathan Schoop will provide a nice veteran presence to this young Tigers core as they continue transition into a new era. He is not a game changer by any means, but that is not what the Tigers need him to be at this point. The best thing Schoop can provide the Tigers is getting off to a great start, and potentially creating some trade value at the trade deadline. Cleveland: B- Cesar Hernandez is by all accounts a quality veteran second baseman. Like Schoop, he won’t be a needle mover, especially as Cleveland looks to reload, but he will give them quality at-bats at the top of the order, and a good enough glove in the field to keep from being a big hole in the Cleveland lineup. Chicago White Sox: B+ The future is certainly exciting for what Nick Madrigal could bring both offensively and defensively to the White Sox. While his severe lack of power will limit his celling, there is no reason why he couldn’t one day develop into an All-Star level player. Will that happen in 2021 is yet to be determined, but any sign of progression will continue to excite the White Sox fanbase about his future. Kansas City Royals: C- The only thing keeping this grade above a D is the potential that the soon to be 26-year-old Nicky Lopez has for improvement. However, if he fails to progress even a little offensively, the Royals could have one of the worst second base situations in the American League, and that is despite the great defense Lopez provides. Minnesota Twins: B There is still a lot of question marks that need to be answered with Jorge Polanco. Does that bat come back to what we have seen from him before? Will the move to second base have a big impact on Polanco defensively, or will he remain a below average fielder there as well? How much time does Luis Arraez get at second base, and will he eventually become the everyday second baseman for the Twins? With all of those questions, it is hard to give them a grade above a B, even with the potential that both Polanco and Arraez still have. The Voice of the People Here’s how people voted on Twins Daily’s twitter poll that ran through Wednesday night. Take it with a grain of salt, as there was defiantly some bias in the voting. AL Central Rundown Series AL Central Rundown: Catchers AL Central Rundown: First Basemen Click here to view the article

It is hard to find someone with a better pulse on what the Minnesota Twins front office is doing these days than Darren Wolfson, who Thursday morning mentioned that the Twins have interest in veteran starting pitcher Matt Shoemaker.Initially, my reaction to the Twins being interested in Matt Shoemaker was, ho-hum. However, that started to change when I began doing a little digging on Shoemaker, and realized he is the prototype pitcher that the Falvine regime likes to target and turn into a much-improved pitcher on a low-risk high reward deal. First, a little background on Shoemaker. He is a 34-year-old right-handed starter, with a career 3.86 ERA (4.03 FIP) with 8.1 K/9 and 2.2 BB/9 in 602 1/3 innings pitched, in a career that spans parts of eight different seasons with the Los Angeles Angels and Toronto Blue Jays. On the surface, Shoemaker’s 28 2/3 innings pitched in 2020 were not very impressive, as he posted an ERA of 4.71 (5.95 FIP). Additionally, Shoemaker has made just 32 starts and pitched just 166 innings at the MLB level since the start of the 2017 season. Much of the time he missed in 2017 and 2018 was from a right forearm injury, and when he finally recovered from that, he unfortunately tore his ACL on a freak rundown play back in April of 2019, causing him to miss the rest of that season. All this seems like a pitcher the Twins should steer clear from, but to me, this is all plays into why he would be a good target for the Twins and their small remaining budget, because he’s cheap. However, Matt Shoemaker is a lot more than just cheap, as there is reason to believe he could be a quality addition to the backend of the Twins rotation for the 2021 season. Let’s get into a few of those reasons, before all of you think I’m crazy. Velocity Spike The first thing I noticed when diving into Matt Shoemaker was the velocity spike that he had in 2020, particularly on his fastball. After following a typical early 30’s velocity decline, Shoemaker pumped his average fastball velocity up by 1.6 MPH on his 2019 average. Download attachment: chart.png While it is hard to know for sure what caused this, I can’t help but think it has something to do with Shoemaker finally being back healthy from the forearm injury that gave him so much trouble for a couple of seasons. While there is also an argument that could be made that the shortened 2020 seasons is what allowed Shoemaker to spike his fastball velocity, this wouldn’t make sense with his career norm as he has shown a tendency to increase, not decrease, his fastball velocity as the season progresses. Download attachment: chart (1).png Additionally, his fastball spike started to pay some dividends in the advanced metrics, particularly with his Four-seamer, where his expected wOBA dropped from a career .390 down to just .214 in 2020 on that pitch. Revamping His Pitch Usage Despite the improvement to his fastball in 2020, Shoemaker didn’t see a lot of tangible benefit to his performance as he was, by that account, not a very good pitcher in 2020. The big problem for Shoemaker was the home runs, as he gave up eight of them in just six starts last season. However, none of those eight home runs came off of Shoemaker’s four-seamer, as four came off his splitter, three off his sinker and one off his slider. In fact, opposing hitters thoroughly struggled against Shoemaker’s four-seamer in 2020, as they combined to go just 2-for-15 off that pitch, with zero extra-base hits. Despite this show of improvement, Shoemaker and the Blue Jays failed to utilize this improvement to their advantage, as he only threw his four-seamer 18.6% of the time, which is well below his career average of 26.3% leading into the season. Instead, they continued to focus the majority of his fastball usage on his sinker (25.6% of pitches in 2020), which has been a flat-out awful pitch for the almost the entirety of Shoemaker’s career. This is where an opportunity lies for the Twins to take advantage of. If they simply cut the usage of Shoemaker’s awful sinker in favor of what appears to be a much improved four-seamer, it would instantly bring his game to a whole new level. Additionally, Shoemaker showed some improvement with his slider in 2020, as opposing hitters hit just .231 with a .337 wOBA and a .305 expected wOBA off that pitch. The one home run he did give up on his slider last season traveled all of 365 feet, and apart from that, opposing hitters rarely squared up the pitch, as they combined for an 80.4 MPH average exit velocity against it last season. For reference, in the Statcast era, there has not been a single qualified hitter who has posted a season with an average exit velocity below that of Billy Hamilton’s 80.5 MPH in 2017 and 2018. This could be another point of emphasis for the Twins in trying to get more out of Matt Shoemaker in 2021. When looking at it this way, you can see how one or two simple changes could make a world of difference in Matt Shoemaker’s ability to get hitters out. Additionally, this change is exactly something that the Twins would be keen on making as doing away with the sinker, and upping the four-seamer and slider usage, has been a focal point of their pitching philosophy in recent years. You factor all of that in with the Twins ability to get the absolute most out of pitchers when other couldn’t (just look at Kenta Maeda last year as an example) and the Twins could have themselves a more than credible option to compete for a spot in the Twins starting rotation this spring, and he would likely be doing so on a cheap, low-risk deal for the Twins. — Latest Twins coverage from our writers — Recent Twins discussion in our forums — Follow Twins Daily via Twitter, Facebook or email Click here to view the article

Make it 18 straight losses. The Twins got to play a team that had a losing record in the regular season and still managed to get swept. Their commitment to extending this streak is unwavering. The Twins mustered just one run again today. Pain.Box Score Berríos: 5 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K Home Runs: None Bottom 3 WPA: Kepler -.128, Jeffers -.125, Rogers -.123 Jose Berrios came to play with his best stuff early. Through three innings, Berrios was perfect, and he only needed 29 pitches to get those nine very quick outs. Berrios made an excellent defensive play on an attempted bunt single by Kyle Tucker in the second. With the left-handed pull shift on, Berrios knew he was the only defender to cover that play, and he made it look easy. After two more quick outs in the fourth, the Astros put together a two-out rally. It started with walks to both Michael Brantley and Alex Bregman, before a weakly hit ball off the bat of Kyle Tucker found a hole in the Twins shift, bring Brantley around to score the first run of the game. Berrios was able to get Yuli Gurriel to ground out to third to end the inning. Berrios had another strong inning in the fifth. After surrendering a leadoff single to Carlos Correa in the inning, Berrios locked in and kept Correa from even advancing to second before getting out of the inning. Despite looking great through five, and only throwing 75 pitches, Rocco Baldelli decided that was enough from Berrios for the game, as he went to Cody Stashek in the pen to start the sixth. The Twins bats found themselves in a very similar situation to yesterday’s game in the first toady. With two outs in the inning, they loaded the bases and appeared primed to strike early. This time, the batter was Alex Kiriloff, who was making his MLB debut in a pivotal spot in the Postseason. Kirilloff was able to put a good swing on the ball, but just missed it a bit and hit a lazy flyball out to center. Kirilloff came up again in the fourth and picked up his first major league hit on a 105 MPH line drive to right-field. It wasn’t until the fifth inning that the Twins bats were finally able to scratch across a run. Marwin Gonzalez was given credit for a single after reaching on what was a tough play for Jose Altuve at second. Ryan Jeffers then followed that up by striking out looking on a 3-2 pitch that was clearly out of the zone. Luis Arraez then drew a one out walk, before Max Kepler also went down looking. Now with two outs, Nelson Cruz came up big in an eerily similar way to how the Twins scored their lone run yesterday. This time it was a pulled double over the left-fielders head that bounced of the wall, and then back over the left-fielders head back towards the field. Gonzalez came around to score the tying run easily, but then Luis Arraez was nailed at the plate trying to score the go-ahead run to end the inning. The controversy of the game came in Eddie Rosario’s leadoff at-bat in the sixth. With a three one count, Rosario drew what appeared to be a pretty clear walk. However, home plate umpire Manny Gonzalez did not see it that way, and called it strike two. Eddie Rosario was visibly upset with the strike call and had a few words with Gonzalez. Rosario wound up striking out on a foul tip a couple pitches later and let Manny Gonzalez have it. This led to Gonzalez ejecting Rosario from the game. Earlier in the game, it was Astros hitter George Springer who had words with Gonzalez after a missed strike three call. Here is the replay of both situations, so you can decide for yourself how they were handled by home plate umpire Manny Gonzalez. or Facebook. Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet Download attachment: Bullpen.png Click here to view the article

Good catch, thanks.

In just a blink of an eye the 2020 MLB regular season has come and gone, with the Minnesota Twins finishing the season as the American League Central Champions for the second consecutive year. Now, the Twins set their sights on the Houston Astros, who they will face in a three-game Wild Card Series taking place at Target Field.Sunday’s Game Recap CIN 5, MIN 3: Twins Lose In Extras, Win Division Today Twins vs. Astros 1:08pm CDT TV Broadcast: ABC Betting Lines: MIN -170, HOU +145, O/U: 7.5 Twins Starter: Kenta Maeda, RHP 2.70 ERA After acquiring Kenta Maeda in the offseason, the Twins have gotten everything they could have wanted out of him, and then some, during the 2020 season. As a result of his performance, Maeda has earned the number one spot in the Twins Postseason rotation. A big reason for Maeda’s improvement this year has been his success against not only righties (whom he has dominated throughout his career) but also against lefties, holding them to an OPS of .521. Not to be out done, righties had an even lower .484 OPS against Maeda this season. This dominance against right-handed hitters will be crucial in this series against the Astros, as they had 1,059 plate appearances by right-handed hitters this season, which was the fourth most in Major League Baseball. The Astros lineup does not have a lot of experience facing Kenta Maeda, accumulating just 31 career regular season plate appearances for their roster as a whole. Maeda also made four appearances against the Astros in relief during the 2017 World Series, where he famously gave up a game tying home run to Jose Altuve in the epic Game 5. However, outside of that Maeda was excellent against that dominant Astros lineup that is made up of many of those same players today. Across 5 and 2/3 innings pitched, Maeda allowed just the one earned run, and held them to an OPS of .655. Download attachment: 48A939D2-1AC6-4164-A33F-4C17FD70456E.png Astros Starter: Zack Greinke, RHP 4.03 ERA With the loss of Gerrit Cole and Justin Verlander, the 2020 Astros starting rotation is far less intimidating than the one that made them a matchup nightmare in the past few Postseasons. Now, Zack Greinke has been elevated into the number one role, though he is more than qualified for that spot himself. While the 4.03 ERA would suggest that the nearly 37-year-old Greinke is having a down year, that isn’t exactly the case. Greinke’s FIP of 2.80, which is carried by his career best 7.4/1 K/BB ratio in 12 starts this season. A big reason for Greinke’s slightly inflated ERA is his stranded runner rate of just 68.5%, which is his lowest since his final season in Kansas City, all the way back in 2010. Just as is the case with Astros lineup against Kenta Maeda, the Twins lineup has very little experience against Zack Greinke. In total, this Twins roster has just 65 career plate appearances against Greinke, with most of those coming from Alex Avila and Nelson Cruz. In total, the Twins hitters have combined for a .569 OPS against Greinke throughout their careers. Download attachment: 667CA853-3B5B-4DB6-8853-8B8AA5003C07.png Twins Lineup News & Notes - Rocco Baldelli said that Josh Donaldson and Byron Buxton had “a relatively good day” on Monday, as they try to recover from injuries that caused them to leave early Friday night’s contest against the Cincinnati Reds. - All eyes will be on the Cleveland Indians versus the New York Yankees Tuesday night, as aces Shane Bieber and Gerrit Cole will square off. - At 29-31, the Houston Astros and Milwaukee Brewers are the first two teams with losing records to make the MLB Postseason, since the 1981 Kansas City Royals did it with a record of 50-53 in the strike-shortened season. See Also Astros-Twins ALDS Preview: Which Starting Rotation Has the Edge? Astros-Twins ALDS Preview: Which Lineup Has the Edge? Astros-Twins ALDS Preview: Which Bullpen Has the Edge? 5 Reasons Why This Twins Team is Different MORE FROM TWINS DAILY — Latest Twins coverage from our writers — Recent Twins discussion in our forums — Follow Twins Daily via Twitter, Facebook or email Click here to view the article

At this point, the story of the Minnesota Twins Postseason failures have become all too repetitive. Dating back to 2004, the Twins have a Postseason losing streak of 16 games, with 13 of those losses coming at the hands of the New York Yankees, though you probably knew that already.On each of those teams we have always been able to look back and see what went wrong in the Postseason that brought what were promising seasons to a sudden halt. However, this Twins team is constructed in a new mold, that differs drastically from those in years past. So, here are five reasons why the 2020 Twins are different. 1. The Twins Have an Ace Pitcher Ever since the Twins traded away Johan Santana after the 2007 season, the Twins have been unable to find an Ace starting pitcher, even for so much as a single season. Sure, the Twins had Ervin Santana, who at times felt like an ace in 2017, but all of his peripheral numbers suggested otherwise, and that got exposed by the Yankees. Jose Berrios has been on the verge of breaking out into an ace for a few years now but has appeared to settle in as a very strong number two pitcher, which is just fine. This year, Kenta Maeda has been exactly the Ace that the Twins have been looking for all this time. Maeda’s 2.70 ERA and 3.00 FIP both rank 5th among qualified starting pitchers in the American League this year, while his strikeout to walk ratio of 8 to 1 ranks 2nd among that group. There is also this incredible stat, shared with us by Twins Daily writer Matthew Taylor. 2. Deep Starting Rotation Beyond Kenta Maeda, this starting rotation goes very deep with starting pitchers that I would be comfortable with starting Postseason games. Jose Berrios has really found his form after a slow start, and Michael Pineda has looked sharp in his return after the suspension. Additionally, the Twins can rely on Rich Hill and Jake Odorizzi (assuming he returns as planned) to give them quality innings as well. In years past, the Twins starting rotation has been their Achilles Heel against the Yankees lineup who can feast on some of the weaker arms the Twins have had to throw out there in years past. As a collective, the Twins ERA from the starting rotation finished at 3.54, which ranked 2nd in the American League. By contrast here is how the starting rotation has fared in seasons that the Twins made the Postseason, since trading away Johan Santana. Download attachment: 7CAEF4D3-4A04-45BD-B681-2D8E06AF871E.png 2010 and 2019 were the only two seasons where the Twins even had decent starting rotations. However, the 2010 staff (outside of Francisco Liriano) was built on pitch to contact pitchers, who all struggled to strike people out. Meanwhile, in 2019, the starting rotation was propped up on the performances of Jose Berrios, Jake Odorizzi and Michael Pineda (who wasn’t even on the Postseason roster as he was suspended). Now, not only do you get Pineda this time around, but you also add in Kenta Maeda and Rich Hill to give the Twins a complete one through five. 3. Bullpen Depth Another thing that the Twins have lacked in year’s past is a plethora of reliable options out of the bullpen. Throughout the 2000’s, the Twins bullpen essentially started and ended with Joe Nathan. There was usually one, maybe two other reliable arms other than Nathan, but that was about it. In 2010 and 2017, the bullpens had a few guys who would make okay 7th or 8th inning guys but lacked a relief ace that is so valuable in the Postseason. The only year where the Twins had a strong bullpen going into the Postseason was 2019, where the Twins went four deep with Taylor Rogers, Sergio Romo, Tyler Duffey and Trevor May. This year, the bullpen depth has been kicked up a notch. While outside of Duffey, the big four from 2019 aren’t pitching at the same high level this year, they are still strong options to get big outs in the Postseason. Additionally, Rocco Baldelli can turn to other arms out of the bullpen like Matt Wisler, Caleb Thielbar, Cody Stashek, Tyler Clippard and Jorge Alcala. Collectively, those five pitchers combined for a 2.44 ERA across 99 and 2/3 innings pitched this season, with none of them having an ERA above 3.00. This gives the Twins as many as nine relievers that they can turn to when needing to get big outs in October. 4. Byron Buxton Should Be Available Byron Buxton’s health has been a major talking point for about as long as he has been a major leaguer, and for good reason. His inability to stay on the field for extended periods of time has had a huge impact on the Twins. Since 2015, Buxton’s rookie season, he has played in 431 games, and has missed 439 games. In the 431 that Buxton has played in, the Twins have a record of 243-188 (.564 win percentage). In the 439 games that he has missed, the Twins have a record of 199-240 (.453 win percentage). Additionally, in each of those six season, the Twins have had a better record with Buxton than in games without Buxton, in case anyone wants to say the Twins just happened to be better teams in the years that Buxton was healthier and it wasn’t a lot to do with Buxton. In the two seasons that the Twins have made the Postseason since Buxton’s MLB debut, Buxton has played in a total of just 4 innings. In 2017, Buxton was pulled from the AL Wild Card game after hurting his back on a spectacular catch in the second inning, and he did not play at all in the 2019 Postseason. While it is still up in the air if Buxton will be available for Game 1 after taking a fastball off the helmet in Friday night’s loss to the Cincinnati Reds, the reports from the team make it seem like he is doing well and should be available. 5. No Road Games in Front of Yankee Fans How much of an actual impact this has is subjective, but there is no denying that going into a hostile Yankee Stadium to begin the Postseason can be quite the intimidating experience. In fact, the Twins won’t have to play any road games this entire Postseason, as they will host a three-game series against the Astros in the Wild Card round, and then any games beyond that will be at neutral site games. However, playing at Target Field, even without fans has to be seen as an advantage, as the Twins went 24-7 in games played at Target Field this year. While it is no guarantee that these differences will actually lead to different results for the Twins in this year’s Postseason, they certainly can’t hurt. While Twins teams of the past have had some glaring weakness that eventually lead to their Postseason demise, it is hard to pinpoint a specific weakness on this year’s ball club. Sure, the offense has been a bit of a disappointment at times, but when they have had a healthy Josh Donaldson and Byron Buxton in the lineup that has certainly not been the case. Hopefully, for the Twins sake, both of those players are ready to go for Game 1 on Tuesday against the Astros. MORE FROM TWINS DAILY — Latest Twins coverage from our writers — Recent Twins discussion in our forums — Follow Twins Daily via Twitter, Facebook or email Click here to view the article

The Tigers continued to give them everything they could handle, but the Twins prevailed on a walk-off hit by Max Kepler. With Cleveland coming back in the bottom of the 10th to beat the White Sox, the Twins are now just a half game back in the division.Box Score Bailey: 3.0 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K Home Runs: Buxton (13), Garver (2), Kepler (9) Top 3 WPA: Kepler .650, Rosario .490, Stashak .320 It was a promising beginning for Homer Bailey in his first appearance back since July 28th, as Bailey didn’t allow a baserunner through his first three innings of work. The fourth inning, however, was not so great as Bailey allowed a hit-by-pitch, two singles and a walk to the first four batters that he faced. This allowed the Tigers to tie the game and load the bases with nobody out. This led to Rocco Baldelli’s decision to go to the pen to get Cody Stashak to try and get out of Homer Bailey’s jam, and he did just that. The first batter Stashak faced was Brandon Dixon, who promptly hit into an unconventional 6-2-5 double play. Stashak then got Niko Goodrum to fly out to center field to get out of the inning. Byron Buxton got the game started for the Twins offense in the bottom of the first, when he belted a leadoff home run that stayed just fair down the left field line, giving the Twins an early 1-0 lead. Buxton was then presented with Nelson Cruz’s robe, that was a personal gift Josh Donaldson presented to his teammates prior to tonight’s game. The Twins bats were silent until the fourth inning, when Mitch Garver absolutely mashed a one out, solo home run off the facing of the third deck in left field. Just like Buxton before him, Garver was also presented with Nelson Cruz’s robe upon returning to the dugout. This was just the second home run for Garver on the season, due in part to missing a month of the season. The Twins were not done with their threat in the fourth after Garver’s home run. They were able to load the bases with two outs, thanks to a single from Max Kepler, a Ryan Jeffers walk and a pitch that hit Ehire Adrianza. This prompted a pitching change from the Tigers, who brought in Jose Cisnero to face Byron Buxton in an all-important at-bat. Cisnero got the job done for the Tigers, as he struck out Buxton on three pitches, leaving the bases loaded for the Twins. After getting out of Homer Bailey’s jam in the fourth, he came back out to pitch in the top half of the fifth. After getting two easy outs, Daz Cameron blasted a two-out double off the centerfield wall. Byron Buxton showed great restraint in not flying into the wall to try and make the play, and instead let up as he got to the warning track, to play the ball off the wall. Victor Reyes then drilled a line single to left, and Eddie Rosario came up firing and nailed Cameron at the plate to end the inning. Trevor May had a rough night for the Twins, as he pitched the sixth inning. May struggled with his fastball command, which lead to him walking three of the five batters that he faced. Of the 27 pitches that May threw, just 12 of them were for strikes. Tyler Duffey came in to try and get out of the jam for the Twins. Duffey was able to induce a weak comebacker to the mound, however, he had a tough time handling it, as it bounced away. Duffey then had to hurry the throw, that was a little low and unable to be scooped up by Miguel Sano at first, allowing the tying run to score. Sano has looked surprisingly sharp in his first season as a first baseman, but he misplayed this one a bit and was ultimately charged with the error. After getting out of the jam without allowing any more runs to score, Duffey came out to pitch the seventh. Daz Cameron belted a leadoff double into the right centerfield gap, and advanced to third on a Victor Reyes groundout in the next at-bat. Willi Castro then came up with a single that put the Tigers on top for the first time tonight. Duffey was able to get out of the inning, by inducing an inning ending double play off the bat of Miguel Cabrera. I n the eighth inning it was Max Kepler’s turn to provide the instant offense, at he lined a flyball that just cleared the overhang in right for the Twins third solo home run of the night. It is good to see Max Kepler stay hot, after a three-hit night on Sunday in Chicago, as we head into the final week of the season. His bat could be an X Factor in the Postseason for the Twins. Like Buxton and Garver before him, Kepler was also presented with Nelson Cruz’s robe. It will be interesting to see if this is something the Twins carry over for the rest of the season, or if it is just a one-night thing. After a scoreless ninth, we went to extra innings with the game tied a three. Taylor Rogers came in to pitch the tenth for the Twins, with Victor Reyes beginning the inning on second. Josh Donaldson made an excellent defensive play at third to start the inning, not only taking a hit away from Willi Castro, but also keeping Reyes at third. Miguel Cabrera then advanced him to third with a single to right field, before Jeimer Candelario drove him in with a single through the drawn in infield. After that, Rogers was able to retire the next two batters, and prevent the Tigers from added on any more runs. Jake Cave pinch ran for Josh Donaldson, who began the bottom of the tenth at second base. Cave immediately came around to score the tying run on a soft liner off the bat of Eddie Rosario into centerfield. Sano then blasted one of the furthest hit balls in Target Field, but unfortunately it landed about 20 feet foul in the Budweiser Roof Deck, before striking out for the first out of the inning. Mitch Garver then followed that up with a strikeout of his own, however, Eddie Rosario was able to advance to second base on a stolen base. This set the table for Max Kepler, who blooped a single over the third baseman’s head in left to bring Rosario around to score the winning run! That wasn't the only 10th inning walk-off hit that helped the Twins tonight, as over in Cleveland Jose Ramirez put an exclamation point on the Indians win over the White Sox with this three run blast. Postgame Pint Check out tonight’s Twins Daily Postgame Pint live stream on or Facebook. Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet Download attachment: Bullpen.png Click here to view the article

Coming off a series victory at the Friendly Confines, the Minnesota Twins will begin a quick two-game series versus the Detroit Tigers Tuesday night, back home at Target Field. The Twins are currently slated into the 4th spot in the American League standings and are just 1.5 games back of the White Sox for first place in the division.Sunday’s Game Recap MIN 4, CHC 0: Twins Down Darvish, Shutout Cubs Today Twins vs Tigers 6:40 pm CDT Betting Line: MIN -200, DET +180, O/U: 10.5 Twins Starter: Homer Bailey, RHP 3.60 ERA Homer Bailey made just one start for the Minnesota Twins, back on July 28, before ending up on the 45-day IL. After being activated this morning, Bailey will make his return to the mound in tonight’s matchup against the Tigers. Bailey had a respectable outing against the Cardinals in that start nearly two months ago, as he allowed just two runs over five innings pitched. It remains to be seen what kind of pitch count Bailey will be on tonight, but if he could repeat that outing, the Twins would surely take it. This is an important start for Bailey, who could still be in the Twins considerations for a spot as a long relief arm in the bullpen for the Postseason. Download attachment: 0EDF2A3F-BF46-42EA-B83C-1CB41213CC79.png Tigers Starter: Tarik Skubal, LHP 6.17 ERA The Twins will be getting their third look of the season against one of the Tigers young and promising arms in lefty Tarik Skubal. Despite an overall disappointing rookie campaign, Skubal has pitched well in his two outings versus the Twins, only allowing three runs in eleven innings pitched. While Skubal has gotten beaten around pretty good in a few of his other starts this year, there is a lot of promise with the former 29th round pick in the 2017 MLB Draft. In his two seasons in the minors, Skubal posted a 2.11 ERA across 25 starts and eight relief outings. Skubal features a mid-90s fastball, that he throws 60% of the time. His two secondary offerings are his slider and changeup. While the slider is a pitch that he will throw to both righties and lefties, Skubal has exclusively thrown his changeup only to righties this season. Skubal will also mix in the occasional curveball a few times per game. Download attachment: C3E08C3B-1212-428E-B9B5-A32951434BB3.png Twins Lineup News & Notes - The Twins activated pitcher Homer Bailey off the 45-day IL Tuesday morning, and optioned reliever Sean Poppen. - The Oakland Athletics clinched the AL West on Monday night. It was their first division title since 2013. - Toronto Blue Jays reliever Ken Giles will miss the rest of this season, and likely all of 2021, after having Tommy John surgery. Around the AL Central Indians 7, White Sox 4 Royals 4, Cardinals 1 1. CWS 34-20 0.0 GB (+72) 2. MIN 33-22 1.5 GB (+55) 3. CLE 30-24 4.0 GB (+40) 4. DET 22-30 11.0 GB (-64) 5. KC 22-32 12.0 GB (-31) Click here to view the article

Byron Buxton hit a pair of bombas, giving him home runs in three straight games, and Josh Donaldson had an ejection for the ages after hitting a home run of his own, but the White Sox beat the Twins 4-3 Thursday afternoon. After failing to reach the postseason the past 11 years, Chicago punched its ticket to the playoffs with this win.Box Score Maeda: 5.0 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 8 K Home Runs: Buxton 2 (12), Donaldson (5) Bottom 3 WPA: Romo -.371, Wisler -.164, Sanó -.150 Byron Buxton has been on a power display since his return from the IL. After his inside the park home run in game one of this series was taken away, Buxton has proceeded to homer in each of the last three games of the series, including two more today. The first was a solo shot in the top of the second, and the second was also a solo shot that came in his next at-bat in the fifth. The Twins have had quite the issue with the home plate umpiring throughout this four-game series. In the sixth, Josh Donaldson took exception to yet another missed call by the umpire. After some words with home plate umpire Dan Bellino, Rocco Baldelli came out to have a word and help defuse the situation. On the very next pitch, Josh Donaldson took out his frustration on both the baseball and on home plate, leading to his ejection. Kenta Maeda had himself another solid outing for the Twins. He did give up a pair of solo home runs to Jose Abreu and Edwin Encarnacion, but other than that he was lights out against this strong White Sox lineup. Maeda’s best innings came in the second, where he struck out Eloy Jimenez, Edwin Encarnacion and Yoan Moncada for an easy 1-2-3 inning. With the way he is pitching, Maeda seems like a shoe in to start in game one of the Twins first Postseason series. Matt Wisler came in to start the sixth inning in relief of Kenta Maeda, and immediately found himself in trouble. After loading the bases with just one out, Rocco Baldelli went to Trevor May to get out of the jam, and May did just that by striking out Yoan Moncada before getting Luis Robert to fly out to end the inning. There was more chaos in the Twins half of the seventh. Buxton leadoff the inning with a single, for his third hit of the ballgame. The with one out, Ryan Jeffers appeared to hit a flyout to centerfielder Luis Robert, however, after lapse in concentration from Robert that caused him to drop the ball the Twins were suddenly in business. Buxton took off running when the ball hit the ground, and as he approached third, he was inexplicably sent home by third base coach Tony Diaz with the ball almost already to the cutoff man. After an easy throw home, Buxton was out by about 45 feet. Had he stayed, the Twins could have had Buxton on third with just one out, to try and add insurance to what was a one run lead at the time. The Twins were not as fortunate on the mound in the seventh as they were in the sixth. After Tyler Clippard began the inning, Rocco Baldelli again made a move to the pen in the middle of the inning to try and get out of a jam, this time calling on Sergio Romo to get out of first and third with two outs. Romo was able to induce a weak groundball from Jose Abreu, however, Jorge Polanco was unable to make the play in-time, deep in the hole, and the game was tied at three. Eloy Jimenez then followed up with a double down the left-field line, giving the White Sox their first lead of the game. In the eighth and ninth innings, the Twins were able to get two-out singles from Nelson Cruz and Marwin Gonzalez respectively, however, they were unable to capitalize on their chances to tie up the game, as the Twins fall by a final score of 4-3. Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet Download attachment: Bullpen.png Click here to view the article

Another quiet night for the bats ended in a Twins loss Tuesday. Rookie Dane Dunning helped keep the White Sox rolling, surrendering two runs (one earned) over seven innings. Since dropping back-to-back games to the Twins to open September, the White Sox have gone 10-1.Box Score Dobnak: 4.1 IP, 8 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 4 K Home Runs: Buxton (9) Bottom 3 WPA: Dobnak -.259, Sanó -.103, Jeffers -.079 Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs): Download attachment: Winchart.png The Twins got another look at one of the strong young AL Central arms in Dane Dunning. Dunning was an often-overlooked secondary piece in the Adam Eaton and Lucas Giolito trade back in 2016. Dunning went seven strong innings for the White Sox tonight, allowing just two runs (one earned) on just three hits, while striking out seven. With the way Dunning has pitched in his first five starts, he is making a bid for a spot in the White Sox Postseason starting rotation. After having his inside-the-park home run in last night’s game taken away, Byron Buxton got redemption leading off the third inning of tonight’s ballgame. This time, there was no doubt as Buxton circled the bases with his usual lightning fast speed. That wasn’t the only time Buxton trotted around the basepaths tonight. In the fifth, Buxton reached base with a leadoff single on a liner over the shortstop’s head into centerfield. Buxton was then able to advance all the way to third during the next at-bat, thanks to both a wild pitch followed up by a passed ball. He then came in to score the Twins second run of the game on Ryan Jeffers RBI groundout. Randy Dobnak had another rough outing tonight, marking his third rough start in his last four outings. In the first, Dobnak allowed a run on three groundball singles, two of which come with two outs in the inning. He then allowed a couple more baserunners in the second but was able to pitch his way out of the inning without allowing another run to score. Dobnak wasn’t as fortunate in the third inning as he was in the second. He began the inning by issuing a walk to Yasmani Grandal before giving up another groundball base hit to Jose Abreu. Jorge Polanco made a nice diving play on the ball, but his rushed throw to second was errant, and allowed Grandal to advance to third. Dobnak was able to strikeout Eloy Jimenez for the first out of the inning, but then gave up a double to James McCann, followed by Luis Robert, and before you know it the White Sox had opened up a 4-1 lead. Tyler Clippard came on with one out in the fifth to relieve Randy Dobnak. After pitching out of yet another jam, Clippard came out to pitch the sixth and proceeded to give up a solo home run to Tim Anderson, that extended the White Sox lead to a score of 5-2. A big story of tonight’s game was the strike zone that umpire Will Little had behind the plate. It seemed to be all over the place, and more often than not it went against the favor of the Minnesota Twins. After yet another missed call from Little, where he rung up Ryan Jeffers to end the Twins half of the seventh. This led to some unkind words from the Twins dugout that resulted in the ejections of both Rocco Baldelli and Nelson Cruz. If you were unable to watch the game, here is a chart that illustrates the called strikes that the White Sox pitchers received tonight, as you can tell, it was pretty bad. Download attachment: 4353C84C-E26E-4E33-847D-91DF7CC3F2BB.png Jorge Alcala came in to pitch the seventh and eighth innings for the Twins, and aside from a solo home run that he gave up to James McCann in the seventh, it was another impressive outing for Alcala, who is making a strong case for being added to the Twins Postseason roster with his performance of late. Lost in everything, Travis Blankenhorn made his MLB debut tonight. After recording outs in his first two at-bats of the evening, he was hit by a pitch in the seventh, before picking up his first career MLB hit with a two-out double in the ninth. Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet Download attachment: Bullpen.png Click here to view the article