roger

The high point of the game for me was, 1) Arraez, 3 for 3 with a walk when I went to bed after 9; and 2) Bundy pitching great. Why he didn't get another inning, I don't understand? Maybe they wanted him to have a good experience and got him out before he wouldn't? I don't understand pinch hitting for certain players whenever the pitcher changes, ie, Becham for Celestino, then whoever for Becham with Gordon coming into left field. Had they just left Celestino in the game, he is a more experienced outfielder and may have played the 9th inning ball differently. Doubt he would have caught it, but anything other than getting to the wall and the Twins may have won in 9. Beginning to wonder whether any of these relief pitchers can go two nights straight. Lopez wasn't all that sharp. Who is left for today? Is Sands still on the roster? If he is, he may have to pitch 4+ innings.

Question? It is unlikely Larnach, Ober, Maeda or Winder will be ready to be back by Sept. 1. I am guessing that if they are injured they don't have to be on the active roster on Sept. 1 to be eligible for the playoffs. Do they?

Thanks for the additional data. Explains a lot. My old eyes tell me he isn't great, but seems few catchers are and few teams are running. Interesting.

I don’t know what your comment means DJL44? I do know that I saw him throw out his first runner, and that was well into the season. I believe he was something like 0 of 17, or something like that. And that runner was actually safe, but tagged out when he slid over the bag. So to my old eyes, he is not good in controlling the running game.

Like FlyingFinn, I had to lookup more info of McMahon. Was surprised to see he was the player the Twins got in the Ryan Harper trade. Wow, that seems like forever ago. Kid is a tad old for A ball, but he is sure getting it done before and after his promotion. Acuna got another key hit. Sure hope he and Mercedes are the real deal.

Great update in this morning’s Strib. Larnach is in Fort Myers, working out every day…hitting, throwing, running straight, defensive work and direction-change drills. Maeda (30 pitches) and Ober (25) both threw bullpen sessions Friday. Ober threw all his pitches while Maeda concentrated on his slider. Maeda has his next bullpen scheduled Monday, Ober Tuesday. Sounds to me all three are on track for rehab stints beginning at Fort Myers the last week of August. Barring setbacks, all three could join the Saints around Labor Day and back with the Twins around September 15.

So many disappointing seasons. Will one or two of Correa, Buxton, Kepler, Sanchez or Polanco get hot and hit like they have in the past. Just one or two together with getting Larnach back and healthy could carry this team to the playoffs.

Want to second what DJL44 said. Giving up 2 runs in 4 innings, was that Balazovic's best outing this year? It is progress, isn't it? And although they are limiting innings, SWR has been throwing well. And it seems like every day we are talking about Julien and Urbina. Two kids just flat out keep hitting. And how about that pair down in the DSL, Mercedes and Acuna. Don't recall having a duo like that down there in a long, long time. And sure is exciting seeing all the draft kids getting assigned to the FCL Twins. Cannot wait to see Prielipp get his first start.

Very interesting and thanks for posting this. Was shocked that E-S was ranked that low. Will he become the hitter we thought/hoped for while watching him every day this spring? Or will his strikeouts and lack of defense limit his potential? Still shocked at how lowly he was ranked. The player I will miss is the big Cornhusker lefty. Since he was drafted and watching Seth's interview last winter he has impressed me. But as for what we gave up and got in return, seems like the FO did very well and this one source tends to agree.

Will second, or third those comments above regarding the attack on Miller. But I am an old Badger state guy and I gotta like him, eh? What I am absolutely thrilled with is that Brooks Lee made his Hi-A debut and even got a hit. Now I know he may be too old for Hi-A, he is only hitting .250 and blah, blah, blah. I expect he was excited, yet, seemed like a player in that brief clip we saw. Can he move up the ladder rapidly and appear at Target Field in 2023? Don't know where he will play with Royce Lewis manning short, but they will find a place if he is special.

Do we know the extent of Rodriguez' knee injury? Did it require surgery? Have believed Canterino is special. Damn dirty shame, but must agree that his future is so questionable. Does anyone have information on how injuries have been in other organizations? Are they as bad? Do people believe that especially with pitchers, the 2020 year off is part of the cause?

Question Brock? My memory is suspect and don’t remember if it was this CBA, the last one or proposals leading up to it. But didn’t the union fight against some revenue sharing enhancements proposed by the owners?

Will second your motion to move Julien up to the Saints. Kid has so many tools. Could be exciting. So many guys throughout the organization that I just don't know much about. Nowlin is certainly one, who pitched a heck of a game last night. Expect like anyone in the lower levels he has lots to work on. But sure seems like he could be a find for a 19th round draft pick. Any indication when/if we are going to see Prielipp in a game? And where?

I see a situation where the Twins need to trade one of the guys towards the end of the list prior to mid-November when they need to make the 40-man adds. Only problem is we seldom see trades the week or ten days following the World Series. Do we have too much starting pitching, No. But do we need to add to this group, I also say No. What I see as a need this coming winter is the addition of a couple good relievers as our pen has five very good relievers and three who most would prefer weren't on the team.

We can only hope, can't we Seth? We can hope that Royce Lewis will get healthy, stay healthy and become a player similar to Derek Jeter. And that Alex Kirilloff's surgery will be a success and his wrist will never be a problem in the future. With a healthy wrist, can he be the hitter Joe Mauer was? And Jose Miranda is the next Miguel Cabrera. Wouldn't it be great three years from now if the Twins have a healthy Buxton, Arraez, Jeter, Mauer, Cabrera and Yount? Only question is who plays shortstop, Yount or Jeter? I will now wake up from my dream and see that although it is a nice morning in the Twin Cities, it was an ugly night in Los Angeles.

Has Pagan really pitched 28 innings in the last 30 days? If so, that may be the reason he has been disappointing as I suspect most of those outings were an inning or less, ie, he must have made around 25 appearances.

Back in the early 70's, the Brewers drafted a high school kid from Southern California early in the first round. He began his hall of fame career mid-season the next season. Robin Yount was a special talent. Brooks Lee has the advantage of being older with three years of college experience. I ask, can the Twins be so fortunate to have gotten a young man who just might be as talented as Yount? Probably not, but somewhere there is a young kid who will put up that type of career, why not Lee?

Great news that Lee is being pushed to high A. Am really anxious to see Prielipp get a few starts before the season ends. Have any of you with the contacts gotten any word on when/if he will be getting started?

The Strib had a nice article about Lee yesterday, I think. In it they had comments from the family he lived with two years ago when playing for Wilmar in the NWL. They mentioned that they planned to see him in either a week or two after he arrived in Cedar Rapids. Things can change, but sounds like he will be moving up soon.

Following the 4 game Toronto series and Thursday's concert, they are now at 22,520. Should they continue to be in a pennant race, that will likely go up.

We didn't lose two key pieces, rv78, we lost three. Royce Lewis is also out for nearly the entire season, bah humbug!

Thanks for the recap, Nick, and the video of Rocco’s opinion of that play. For some reason, I recall original reports saying they were expecting Larnach to have a 6-8 week recovery. Another two weeks and then a 15-20 day trip to the minors would put him back around September 10. Have my fingers crossed that both he and Maeda are back by then. Would be great getting either of the other pitchers also back by the last two weeks.

After the third inning we left Champps for home. I believed the Twins had no chance, they were toast. Imagine my surprise that Archer settled down and not only made it thru 5, he didn’t allow any more runs. And then Sands, who looking at his numbers should have been shelled by the Toronto lineup, pitched 3 shutout innings. My question, will they keep Sands on the staff and use him in 2-3 inning outings like today? And if they do, can he repeat today’s excellence?

Best of luck to a young man who has the potential to be one of the best hitters in the game. The Twins have four special young hitters, AK, Lewis, Larnach and Miranda. We are seeing Miranda every day. Can you imagine what this team will be like after all four get healthy with a year’s experience behind them?

Good article in today's Strib about Brooks Lee. They talked to the family he lived with when he played in Willmar of the Northwoods League two summers ago. The family mentioned they were planning on seeing him in two weeks when he moves up to Cedar Rapids. Interesting comment, hopefully happens and he gets a few weeks to face much better pitching.