stringer bell

That should have been a close play. What is Celestino’s sprint speed?

Despite missing a couple of starts due to COVID and having a couple of short starts due to ineffectiveness, Dylan Bundy leads the Twins in innings pitched.

Neither does Kirilloff.

I knew it would get him going!

Gio doesn’t have a clue right now.

In case anyone is wondering, Emilio Pagan can't be optioned to St. Paul without his consent. The rule is after five years of service MLB players can refuse to be optioned. Pagan passed five years of service earlier this month.

How does service time work for 27th men in doubleheaders? I know Winder isn't optioned, merely returned, but does he only get one day's MLB service time? Further, does this count toward the 15 days he must stay in AAA (barring injury) or the 20 days required to make the move an official option?

As per usual, an interesting lineup. That said, one thing about this year's team is that they have major leaguers across the board. It wouldn't surprise me if the Twins tallied five or more runs tonight. Run suppression on the other hand, well Dylan Bundy and the bullpen will have to convince me that they can hold Cleveland to four or less runs. BTW, the betting on this game is even, but ESPN gives the home team a 62 percent chance of winning. What do they know?

He was the 27th man. With all the transactions the Twins have had, I thought there might be some chance that someone else would go on the IL (with Winder staying) or perhaps someone else sent to St. Paul.

There’s an epidemic of not running hard out of the box and it’s not just the Twins. In fact there are very few like Kirby who busted it out of the box every time.

Who are the Twins going to send down or place on the Injured List to make room for Winder?

He was the 27th man. With all the transactions the Twins have had, I thought there might be some chance that someone else would go on the IL (with Winder staying) or perhaps someone else sent to St. Paul.

I'm sure the injury bug will hit and one or more of the current starters will be sidelined at some point. That said, with a few notable exceptions, the starters have really done a good job keeping the team in games. There is enough big league talent that I don't see Sands or another Chi Chi type getting any starts. I'm certain I've just jinxed the rotation and somebody on the St. Paul roster (other than Winder) will start a key game against the Guardians or White Sox.

I confess to being a Jeffers fan, so take this with that bias. I want to cut him some slack on that play. I don't think he actually was sure where the ball went when he hit it and then probably thought it would go foul. I haven't seen Jeffers doing much half-hearted in his time with the Twins. As far as him getting thrown out at second, the ball bounced into two gloves perfectly for him to be out on a bang-bang play.

I am assuming that despite his excellent start, Winder is going back to St. Paul. Has there been any confirmation of that? Also, I would assume there is no point for him physically to go back to Minnesota until the team does. He isn't going to pitch today or Thursday and the team returns on Friday.

Ah, the wonders of recency bias and small sample size. I certainly like Duran in the bullpen. This season would look very different without him. The demons (walks and home runs) have again beset Pagan. Someone with those demons shouldn't be pitching in the highest leverage situations. The Twins currently have an eight-man bullpen. They also have three relievers on the IL (Smith, Megill and Coulombe) and one (Cano) on option at St. Paul. On top of that, they have three, maybe four pitchers on the 60-day IL who could be activated within the season. Injuries will happen, but that is a lot of players to fit into a bullpen and if more are added by trade, many will be jettisoned. Of all the options within the organization, I'm hard pressed to see anyone who could be trusted to get crucial outs at the end of a game in October.

Gio had a tough game.

Career high for Buck!

Five.

Moran has pitched better for the Twins than he has for the Saints.

Six outs to get. We have Thornburg and Moran plus Duran available. I imagine they won’t use Duran unless the game gets closer. Tomorrow and Thursday, the Twins have Bundy and Archer starting so they’ll need innings from the ‘pen especially on Thursday.

Grinding my teeth already.

I’m wondering if there might be service time manipulation in play for Winder. How many days on option does he have to have in order for the Twins to get an extra year before free agency?

MIRANDA!!!!

Okay, I’ll say it. The HP ump hasn’t missed many in the box. He’s called a few outside the zone, but every pitch in the zone has been called a strike. Usually when I complement a home plate ump for calling a good game, he immediately misses calls that hurt the Twins.