stringer bell

These are all small sample sizes. Everyone in questions can be optioned, including Godoy. It does make sense to keep Godoy in the system. Thre is a near certainty that more than two catchers will be needed down the road. I disagree with the contention that the Twins benefitted most from the expanded rosters. They are in the upper tier for starter innings pitched and have had two occasions to have a long reliever. I’m confident that other teams have had more need for long relief. I also understand that if the situation could change immediately. The Ober injury could trigger changes to the team’s plan.

Currently 14 pitchers and 14 position players on the active roster. Three players can be activated by the May 1 cut down date. I would 100% expect that Romero, when he is activated, will go on a rehab assignment in St. Paul. From the sound of it, Gray will not be activated until next week, so the Twins could get away with carrying 13 pitchers until then (about May 5). That would mean they would have to cut one pitcher and one position player until Gray is activated. I suspect Kirilloff won't be activated until he is driving balls all over CHS Field, so the one position player that can/should be sent to St. Paul is Celestino. The second player? I am going to go with Winder, but it could be Stashak. Another option would be to send Godoy back to St. Paul and keep an extra pitcher.

I just read that Jordie Blaze (Jordan Balazovic) will be doing a rehab start soon. I've always thought that he profiled better than Winder. Last year, he missed the start of the season because of a back injury (IIRC) and this year, it has been his knee. At least, it hasn't been arm issues to set him back. Simeon Woods-Richardson is starting tonight for Wichita. He has been lights out so far for the Wind Surge. Canterino has pitched a couple of times for Wichita, but only short starts. He also has great stuff if he can stay healthy.

For those among us that have seen the earth orbit the sun more than 50 times, the St. Paul paper had a writer named Don Riley who weekly had an item "scattergunning from the catbird's seat". In a similar fashion,I have several thoughts and have thrown them together for comment: 1) Has anyone seen two wackier late inning victories than the Twins 2-1 win on Friday and the 5-4 walk-off on Tuesday? 2) Raise your hand if you thought at the start of the season that the best lineup against a right hander would include Nick Gordon in left field and Luis Arraez at first base. 3) Is it time to move Carlos Correa down in the lineup temporarily? He seems to be fighting himself at the plate. 4) With three of the next four opponent starters left handed and a roster reduction coming, I think Garlick will be getting his chance, but if he doesn't hit soon he could be the roster casualty. 5) Dylan Bundy's stuff doesn't make anyone go "wow", but his command has been beyond excellent and he knows how to pitch. 6) Things are going well for the Twins now, but the bullpen doesn't have enough impact arms. They either need to go outside the box and convert a minor league starter or outside the organization (my preference). 7) Sano, Correa and Polanco are off to miserable starts, but there are dozens of established major leaguers who aren't hitting. ? I’ll believe that Alex Kirilloff is healed when he starts driving the ball regularly. I'm not convinced he will contribute to this year's team. 9) The schedule in May for the Twins is Charmin soft. They need to take advantage and run of a 20-win month. 10) Joe Ryan and Bailey Ober have been terrific so far. This shouldn't have been taken for granted. Maybe the Twins' staff knows something about developing pitchers after all. Please comment on any of these items or any random thoughts you might have about the 2022 Twins.

ESPN just put out their power rankings for this week and the Twins are 17th, right behind Chicago, who they just swept. Oh well. I predict the Twins will be in the Top Ten by the end of May FWIW.

Also nice to see back-to-back wins when Buxton doesn’t do anything special. With their good days, Larnach and Jeffers moved their OPS above .700. Polanco, Sanó and Correa need to get it going. If the starting staff can continue at anything resembling this rate, then the big area of concern has to be the bullpen. Two more late-inning arms are needed IMHO.

Reverse jinx completed.

My prediction: Baez spoils the shutout.

If Coulombe can have a quick, uneventful ninth. The entire bullpen should be available tomorrow.

Coulombe for the ninth.

Two at bats each from Larnach and Jeffers really improves their numbers.

Max thinks it’s Bauer pitching for the Tigers.

Max Kepler ??

I kind of thought Godoy would catch tonight. Day game tomorrow with a tough lefty pitching and I expect Godoy will get that assignment.

There was one out when Sano had his at-bat. I don't think it was an easy catch for Grossman or any right fielder, but I think that ball gets caught far more often than not. Larnach did the right thing, especially with the way the pitcher was throwing the ball all over the place (possible wild pitch). He probably scores more than 50% of the time, even though he tagged up when the ball got past Grossman, but there was only one out, so it figured he'd be held at third. Sano messed up but could have gone back to first--no one was covering there (I think). In the end the Tigers screwed up in the field worse than the Twins ran the bases. Crazy!

I liked Rogers a lot, especially when he wasn't confined to the traditional closer role. That said, if getting the Paddack we saw last night (he was pretty good at KC, too), it is probably worth it to make the trade. Losing Rogers leaves a hole in the bullpen, however. I think, to be competitive, the Twins need to add two quality arms for late-inning leverage and at least one of them should be a lefty. If it requires a prospect, so be it. The bullpen, as put together now, isn't good enough.

As for transactions, I expect a lot of pitchers to go on the Injured List and also a few DFAs and trades. It will be interesting to see what Triple A teams do with all the pitchers added to their rosters.

Close. MLB is permitting 14 pitchers until May 29. This was reported yesterday. I do expect the Twins to go with 14 pitchers unless they don’t activate Gray by May 2.

Both parties really would have to want this. The Twins have a top prospect in St. Paul to deal with and they will probably have to count on inexperienced pitchers rather than acquiring a proven veteran. I just don’t like the idea of paying huge dollars for middle infielder in his mid to upper thirties. I think this is a real stumbling block.

The Twins BBB should be Build a Better Bullpen. Only one other team in MLB is carrying as few as two left handers on their active roster, so I think it behooves the Twins to look especially for left handed talent. At St. Paul, the only lefties are the much discussed Moran and Smeltzer. I think that if the Twins want to improve their bullpen they either have to go outside the box—promote a prospect and convert him, at least temporarily, into a reliever. Or they must go out of the organization. Make a trade and sacrifice a prospect.

That’s what I saw, too. I didn’t get to see, but I would doubt there was anyone covering first, so Sanó should have run back there. Enough mistakes (Twins base running, Tigers fielding) in one play for a month or maybe a season.

Two games in the last four where the opposition self-destructs. Oh my!

He has played well. Seems like it makes it harder for Miranda to make the majors, though.

Correa and Sano have given him a lot of cover.

Polanco is due!