stringer bell

Moran has pitched much better for the Twins than he has for the Saints. In roughly the same amount of work, every stat looks better with the Twins--BB rate, K rate, H/IP, and WHIP. He has walk issues that I would presume will come back to bite him, but his stuff looks pretty good. The fastball looks to be an acceptable major league pitch and the changeup is first rate.

What we don’t know is how much time it would take to make him “full go”. I don’t like the current arrangement much at all, particularly that Buxton is DHing so often and that his great speed is only in evidence so sporadically. However, he hasn’t gone more than three days without playing in the field since he recovered sufficiently to play after his injury in Boston IIRC.

The Twins do have three days off in a row after the All-Star game. Buxton should be about as good as he can be after those three days.

According to the Twins website, Alcala is supposed to throw a bullpen session today and then a live batting practice session on Friday or Saturday. This is the first news I've seen on him since he was placed in a "holding pattern" after reporting stiffness after a one-inning rehab appearance.

Regarding 40-man decisions, Having Godoy available on the 40-man is desireable so that if he were to be called up for a day or two (if Sanchez or Hamilton were nicked up). Dropping either Hamilton or Godoy when Jeffers returns makes perfect sense. The closer we come to Larnach being activated, the less the club needs Contreras. I agree that a DFA of a pitcher could and should happen, maybe in conjunction with the acquisition of a pitcher or two, or adding back pitchers currently on the IL.

Correa's missed games are almost all due to time on the Injury List, whereas Buck hasn't been placed there all year. There is a difference there as well.

I am almost certain they'll give Sano some run at the major league level. If he is anything like the second half of '21 Sano, he would be a welcome addition. Who to send down? I guess I'd send Celestino. His defense has been good, but the unsustainable BABIP has regressed and he isn't much of an offensive player at all. For good reason, the Twins like Garlick in the lineup against LH pitching and Gordon, Miranda and Kirilloff have all hit well in the last month or so.

Yes, there are many things to be concerned about, but let's look at the entire picture. The Twins have a winning record at the break and a small lead in the division. This is primarily because they have a good lineup and their pitchers overperformed for the first third of the season. Three position players with less than a years experience have looked promising--Miranda, Kirilloff and Larnach (now out with injury)--and three pitchers with less than a years experience--Winder, Jax and Duran--have done well. Luis Arraez continues to show he is elite as a hitter and Jorge Polanco is giving indications that he'll have a monster second half to his season. Now to the minus side of the ledger. The rotation, which looked suspect coming out of Spring Training looks suspect again after encouraging performances early in the year. Sonny Gray hasn't been the same since coming off the IL the second time. Joe Ryan isn't dominating although he's really held his own and everyone else in the rotation is both limited in upside and an injury risk. The bullpen has been poor and prospects for improvement from within are close to non-existent. While looking at individual performances from the position players, there aren't many, if any, disappointments, the offense hasn't sustained above-average run scoring for more than a series at a time. For the second half (post All-Star break), I believe the Twins will continue to score runs well above average and they will continue to be a decent defensive outfit, barring devastating injuries. If they can find enough pitching, they will be in the hunt for the playoffs and a division crown. If not, they will continue to fade.

A hit, we have a hit! Kirilloff enters the break with a hit streak—7 games.

Archer’s line is going to look pretty lousy, but for 4 he was pretty good.

The dreaded third time through the order.

Cease might be why the offense is struggling. He’s pretty good.

I make that comment and Abreu immediately gets a hit. Four scoreless for Archer—dare we expect he comes out for the fifth?

Hits seem hard to come by this afternoon.

I thought they might start Arraez after Altuve begged off with injury, but MLB Trade Rumors says Gimenez will start.

My son-in-law’s idea. We’re on our way home and none of that stuff is at our house. Just drove by the White Sox home park about 15 minutes ago.

I wrote that comment about an hour and a half ago. I guess I was too impaired to push “Submit Reply”.

I did a “whiskey sampler” last night and my inspiration is ………impaired this morning.

They have a couple of easy cuts from the 40-man (Strotman & Contreras) so making room for Sanó shouldn’t be much of a problem, if they choose to do so. A couple homers at St. Paul doesn’t tell me much about his readiness (IMHO).

Jeffers has a fracture in his thumb and will be out for 6-8 weeks.

mlbtraderumors.com reported that Jeffers has a fracture in his thumb and will be out 6 to 8 weeks. Adding a catcher may now be a trade deadline priority.

Robert out of the game—injured?

“Watching” on Gameday. Was there any chance for Polanco to score on AK’s double?

Probably this move was made because Jeffers will only miss a few games, the rest of the WSox series plus the two-game Tiger series.

Caleb Hamilton added to the roster. Jeffers to the 10-day IL.