stringer bell

Nice play be Miranda.

Sánchez has been pretty good lately, but I’d trade him in a heartbeat for Melendez.

Gar-ree does not have good speed.

One run shouldn’t be too much to overcome, but so far the baseball gods are favoring the Royals today.

Not much luck this inning for Ober. The Twins, on balance, have had pretty good fortune on batted balls this season.

Good thing it was Kepler running instead of a Sanchez or Urshela or that would have been a triple play.

Weird GDP there. Takes away a promising rally.

I don't think Polanco has signed on to the lower launch angle, use the whole field approach.

I presumed Buxton would get a day off today and frankly he hasn;t been very dynamic on this road trip. The Twins' depth appears to be showing itself right now. I do hope Miranda can build off his two-hit day on Friday, but honestly he should be in St. Paul.

While I agree that there are too many outfielders who would fit in the fourth OF/platoon designation, Garlick hasn't played much first base at all (11 games--70 innings in the minors). Much like starting pitching, injuries and ineffectiveness usually sort this kind of glut out. It really doesn't make sense for Miranda and his .395 OPS to take up a roster spot solely because of his ability to play first base.

Yes, I have. It does seem that both Winder and Stashak were pitching acceptably and when the need for a roster spot developed, they were put on the Injured List. I expect those two (and Jhon Romero) have legitimate arm issues that in other circumstances they would try to pitch through, but with the roster crunch what it is, the management staff elected for them to deal with the ailment.

Not to be cynical, but does “shoulder impingement” translate to “stash on Injured List”?

Against the Royals, the Twins don’t have to hit homers. Not sure if that is true for better teams.

Or maybe save him for a similar situation tomorrow.

Gio is about the same size and build as former Twin third baseman John Castino.

A pair of runs in the third and another pair in the sixth.

Good swings the second time through the order.

I'm far from an expert on modern metrics. Yesterday, I commented that I thought Gilberto Celestino had gotten a disproportionate number of hits on soft contact. According to BBRef, it sure looks like he's been extremely fortunate. Celestino's BABIP (batting average on balls in play) is an incredible .477. Last year, in an equivalent number of plate appearances, that number was .140. Exit velocity this year is 83.9, last year was 87.2. Hard hit percentage this year is 28.9%, last year was 31.1%. Line drive pecentage is the same as last year--24.4%. Celestino's ground ball percentage is 55.6% (really high), compared to 46.7% last year. I presume that Gilberto was very unlucky last year and in his 67 plate appearances he has made up for that misfortune. It seems to me that Celestino has growing confidence and he shows in the field, but he seems due for regression. As a guy who makes contact and uses the whole field, I doubt he goes into a severe funk, but I don't think he's a .300 hitter and he hasn't shown much power. My thought that Celestino is a fourth outfielder at this point really hasn't changed despite the really good numbers so far.

The K is a good place to watch a game. Enjoy!

With Smeltzer optioned, do we know who replaces him? I suspect it is Larnach for now, with a pitcher to be added if needed.

Royce was 0-5 today with four strikeouts. Maybe it’s time to send him to Wichita. I kid, I kid.

Pagán didn’t walk anybody, and was able to allow three hits on solid contact and still hold them to one run. I was certain he’d try the change on 3-2, but Benintendi was looking for anything but that.

Leftovers from today’s chicken dinner.

Nope. I have said since April that the Twins either have to get another reliever from outside the organization or convert a young arm to the bullpen.

I hope Duran is throwing quality pitches for the Twins for the next six years or more.