Nick Nelson

Byron Buxton returned with a bang after last week's injury scare, jolting a slumbering offense and leading the charge in a big weekend sweep over the rival White Sox that left the Twins in first place. Let us break it down. Last Week's Game Results: Game 10 | MIN 8, BOS 3: Garlick, Polanco Homer as Twins Split in Boston Game 11 | KC 4, MIN 3: Duffey Implodes as Twins Waste Winnable Game Game 12 | KC 2, MIN 0: Another Solid Pitching Performance Gets Wasted Game 13 | MIN 1, KC 0: Joe Cool Dazzles, Slough of Singles Game 14 | MIN 2, CWS 1: Twins Catch Break, Win Thriller Game 15 | MIN 9, CWS 2: Buxton, Bundy Lead in Comfortable Win Game 16 | MIN 6, CWS 4: Twins End White Sox Sweep with a Bang Weekly Snapshot: Mon, 4/18 through Sun, 4/24 *** Record Last Week: 5-2 (Overall: 8-8) Run Differential Last Week: +13 (Overall: +2) Standing: 1st Place in AL Central (0.5 GA) NEWS & NOTES Thankfully it was a week filled with more good news than bad news on the injury front. First, the bad news: Jorge Alcalá was moved to the 60-day injured list with his elbow inflammation showing no signs of improvement. He'll be out until at least June, dealing a serious blow to the Twins' bullpen outlook. Replacing him on the 40-man roster is José Godoy, who joined the team as a third catcher. The additional depth was needed with Minnesota's top two backstops experiencing some (hopefully minor) issues. Gary Sánchez was scratched on Saturday due to abdominal tightness and Ryan Jeffers was scratched on Sunday due to a knee contusion. Neither player was placed on IL, although seemingly neither was available on Sunday. With a cortisone injection improving the condition of his ailing right wrist, Alex Kirilloff is set to start a brief rehab stint in St. Paul on Tuesday. He may rejoin the Twins next weekend. Meanwhile, Byron Buxton is already back and making a HUGE impact. We'll get to that shortly. HIGHLIGHTS The refreshingly impressive Twins rotation kept on rolling in Boston, Kansas City, and back home into Minneapolis. Check out the yeoman’s work in each successive game Monday through Saturday: Dylan Bundy @ BOS: 5.1 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 6 K Chris Archer @ KC: 4.1 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 5 K Chris Paddack @ KC: 5 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 4 K Joe Ryan @ KC: 6 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K Bailey Ober vs. CWS: 5 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 6 K Dylan Bundy vs. CWS: 5 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K Add in Chris Archer's so-so effort on Sunday (3 IP, 2 ER) and the rotation posted a 2.21 ERA in seven games last week. Starting pitching is carrying this team in April. Joe Ryan's outing was perhaps the most critical of the bunch last week – he was masterful Thursday in a 1-0 victory where the Twins needed every bit of his greatness. With a marked increase in his slider usage (up to 31.2% in his first three starts, from 16.0% in 2021) Ryan continued to relentlessly attack the zone while inducing whiffs and weak contact. Dylan Bundy lowered his ERA for the season to 0.59 (third-lowest in baseball) with a pair of excellent starts. His early success owes to a few factors, but a big one is that he's pounding the strike zone at one of the highest rates in the league. His fastball has been extremely effective, despite ranking in the 9th percentile for velocity (averaging just 89.0 MPH). Hitters are batting .133 against it with zero extra-base hits through three starts. The offense's breakout on Saturday, which saw them score more runs (9) than they had in the previous four games (6) was keyed in part by Luis Arraez, who went 4-for-5 in the contest and is now slashing .354/.426/.458 after a 9-for-21 run. But the true star of the week – and stop me if you've heard this before – was Buxton. He only started three games, taking a few games off to make sure all was well with his sore knee, but the team's best player wasted no time making his presence felt. After a 1-for-4 game as DH against Kansas City on Thursday, Buxton started in center at Target Field on Saturday night and went 4-for-4 with a home run, HBP, and three runs scored. On Sunday, he came through with a clutch game-tying two-run homer in the seventh and then walked it off with an epic three-run blast in the 10th. It was a really special moment. There really aren't words to describe what Buxton is doing right now. He's single-handedly winning ballgames. He has hilariously accumulated 1.4 fWAR in a span of 10 games. His WPA in Sunday's game alone (0.761) was higher than all but seven MLB players had accumulated ALL season. This is amazingly fun to watch. I continue to believe Buxton's contract extension will go down as the most important move this franchise has ever made. LOWLIGHTS Up and down the lineup, hitters continue to generally struggle. Carlos Correa finally notched some hits, going 6-for-22, but they were all singles and he also mixed in three GIDPs. Trevor Larnach, who went 2-for-22 with eight strikeouts, looks like he belongs in Triple-A (and will likely soon head back). Max Kepler failed to register an extra-base hit or RBI; his slugging percentage sits at .300 yet he's still batting fourth or fifth every time he's in the lineup. But make no mistake: Miguel Sanó continues to be the biggest laggard on offense for the Twins. Following a 2-for-22 week, his slash line sits at an embarrassing .083/.224/.146, and the supposed slugger has produced just one home run and three RBIs in 15 games. It's a weird deal with Sanó. The process isn't bad. He's taking good at-bats and making hard contact, with barrel and chase rates that rank among the best in the league. But there's constantly no payoff and it's hard to view it all as just bad luck. On Sunday, in a key spot with the tying run on second in the 10th, he got the green light on a 3-0 count and popped out to the catcher. I mean come on dude. On the bullpen front, Tyler Duffey coughed up another close lead and saw it turn into a loss on his ledger. While his meltdown Tuesday in Kansas City was less damaging than the blown save against Seattle – this time the offense had three chances to tie or take a lead, although of course they failed – it was substantively much uglier. Rather than getting dinked and dunked on a string of hits like in his first blown save, Duffey gave up a pair of long home runs in KC on absolute meatballs left out over the plate. He left that outing with the worst Win Probability Added (-0.88) of any pitcher or hitter in the big leagues. With his season starting to feel like an Alex Colomé redux, Duffey bounced back on Friday night. Rocco Baldelli gave a strong vote of confidence to his embattled veteran, handing Duffey the ball with a one-run deficit in the eighth against the top of the Chicago order, and Duff delivered: a 1-2-3 inning with two strikeouts. Hopefully it's a sign of stabilization to come, because the Twins really need Duffey to be a Dude in that bullpen – especially in light of the unfortunate Alcalá news. TRENDING STORYLINE What is the plan with Gilberto Celestino? That is the big looming question in my mind right now. He's 23 years old, and still very much a developing prospect – he's played a total of 75 games above Single-A in the minors – yet for some reason Celestino is relegated to stagnation on the big-league bench. He's been with the Twins since Opening Day, accruing just 10 at-bats (with one hit) in three weeks. I get that the 40-man roster situation is a bit challenging, but this is getting ridiculous. Not only does Celestino offer very little as a bench player for the Twins, but more importantly, this is terrible for his development. He needs regular at-bats. I understood carrying him as a short-term patch while the Twins pursued Justin Upton, but if that's not happening ... what are we doing here exactly? LOOKING AHEAD Having passed their first test against an AL Central contender in flying colors, the Twins will now welcome another one to Target Field as Detroit visits for a three-game series. We're slated to see old friend Michael Pineda on Wednesday night. Then it's off to a Tampa for three games against the always-tough Rays. It feels like the Twins have faced an inordinate number of left-handed starters early on this year, and that trend continues with (at least) four southpaws on the upcoming docket. The health situations of Sánchez and Jeffers will be worth closely monitoring. TUESDAY, 4/26: TIGERS @ TWINS – LHP Eduardo Rodriguez v. RHP Chris Paddack WEDNESDAY, 4/27: TIGERS @ TWINS – RHP Michael Pineda v. RHP Joe Ryan THURSDAY, 4/28: TIGERS @ TWINS – LHP Tarik Skubal v. RHP Bailey Ober FRIDAY, 4/29: TWINS @ RAYS – RHP Dylan Bundy v. TBD SATURDAY, 4/30: TWINS @ RAYS – RHP Chris Archer v. LHP Shane McClanahan SUNDAY, 5/1: TWINS @ RAYS – RHP Chris Paddack v. LHP Josh Fleming View full article

It was a bad baseball game. It's not beautiful right now. The quality of play and entertainment in all of these games lately have been poor. At-bats drag on and nothing ever happens. It's not like these are constant amazing pitching performances. If it were isolated to last night's game it wouldn't be a big deal but this has been the nature of Twins games and MLB games at large. And I assure you that are a lot of people who feels this way, It's not about "instant gratification."

There is a happy medium between 2019 and what we're seeing right now, and Major League Baseball has been around it for most of my life watching it. I don't see why we need to be screwing around so much with the baseball and causing historic extremes either way. Seems really dumb.

Oh yeah, duh. Fixed in the article, thanks string.

Well that was something, wasn't it? In reflecting on a series opener that was – well, I guess everything we should have expected – here are three things that stick with me. 1: Baldelli showed confidence in Duffey, and it paid off. Confirmation bias runs rampant in sports fandom, and it's one reason that every coach, manager, and official reliably receives an undue share of criticism. In recognizing this, it's only fair to give Rocco Baldelli his due. I wrote earlier this week, following Tyler Duffey's second costly meltdown of this young season, that Baldelli should act quickly in reducing the veteran's bullpen role. This was less a reaction to Duffey's two bad outings this year and more with an eye toward his overall regression since 2020. He just seems to have lost a ton. Alas, Baldelli turned back to Duffey in a big spot on Friday night. With the Twins down 1-0 in the eighth inning and the top of Chicago's order due up, Duffey took the ball and mowed 'em down. He struck out Tim Anderson and Leury Garcia before inducing a groundout from José Abreu. Threat neutralized. And along with it, the angry mob. For now. 2: Correa finally caught a break. The game started in signature fashion for Carlos Correa. He worked a good first AB against Michael Kopech before smashing a hard drive up the middle ... straight to the shortstop for a double play – his league-leading fifth of the season to quash a modest budding rally. Correa hasn't looked great at the plate by any means, and his whiff rate says it all. But he's also been dealing with some rotten luck. His exit velocities and hard-hit rates are near the top of the charts, but so often the outcomes have resembled the above. So it was nice to see fortune finally tilt in his favor in the eighth inning. With runners on the corners and two outs, Correa drilled a 98-MPH one-hopper into the hole between short and third. Anderson made a nice play on it to his right, but his off-balance throw to first missed wide and chaos ensued. By the end of it all, the Twins were in the lead and Correa was pumping up his teammates in the dugout. It was an unorthodox way to finally come through for the new team but we'll take it. 3: Baseball sure is a boring product right now. I guess Correa's eventful infield hit could be described as exciting, but there have been few such moments in the many innings of baseball played this week. What a dull and dreary product fans are receiving these days. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy to have it. I realize that Major League Baseball could've easily been absent from our lives at this point, had the lockout not mercifully ended in March. But the quality of the play has just been really sub-par, with dead-ball era vibes across the league, and Friday was a perfect encapsulation. The Twins have been a big mess lately, yet Chicago was only messier. The winning runs scored on sloppy defensive plays, and the game featured a familiar lack of compelling offensive sequences. I was watching on TV with a few friends who are – I would say – at least moderate Twins fans. None of them could even sustain their attention on the ninth inning of a tightly contested one-run game. Even as a total diehard who revels in every intricacy of the game, I could feel their pain. It was a drag to watch. In the waning moments of a game where seemingly nothing ever happened, Emilio Pagán was battling through never-ending at-bats up until he finally escaped his self-made mess with a borderline strike three call. It was an unfulfilling end to an unfulfilling victory. I hope better days are ahead. View full article

This Twins season has offered more than its fair share of early frustration, and that has been felt throughout the fan base. The rancor might be even fiercer in the South Side of Chicago, where the White Sox are in a bad way in the face of much higher expectations. They're coming to Target Field for a weekend series. Something's gotta give in this key early showdown. Everyone reading this likely aware of the numerous issues plaguing the Twins. The offense has been a complete disaster so far, with three or fewer runs scored in nine of their 13 games amidst a historically cold start. The lineup just got done fumbling away a huge get-right opportunity, scoring four runs in three games against a sub par Kansas City pitching staff. The bullpen has already sprung some worrisome leaks, with Tyler Duffey's immense struggles intensified by a longing for Taylor Rogers. Byron Buxton has already had an injury scare. Alex Kirilloff's wrist immediately resurfaced as a big problem. Minnesota has yet to win a series and already finds itself in a 5-8 hole, which understandably is panicking a lot of fans more than it probably should given what we all went through last year. The Twins, and especially their much-hyped collection of bats, return home with much to prove this weekend. They'll be facing a team that is itself completely out of sorts and driving a deep sense of discontent among its followers. Coming into the season, the White Sox were clear favorites in the AL Central, and sported some of the highest odds for a World Series title. They looked the part while jumping out to a 6-2 start. But Chicago has since dropped four straight and just got swept out of Cleveland in a series where they were pretty thoroughly dismantled. Like the Twins, the White Sox are seeing their offense short-circuit. They've gone seven straight games without scoring more than three runs. Like the Twins, they've already had an injury scare with their superstar center fielder (Luis Robert exited Thursday's game with a groin strain, although it's said to be minor). Like Twins fans, Sox fans are ruing the impactful loss of a pitcher who they let get away. Carlos Rodon, who departed as a free agent without receiving so much as a qualifying offer from Chicago, is 2-0 with a 1.06 ERA and MLB-leading 15.4 K/9 rate through his first three starts. Meanwhile Dallas Keuchel's ERA sits at 16.50 after two turns. And if you think Twins fans have been cranky about the recent performance of their team, you should just see some of the frustration flowing by White Sox faithful. Below you can find a small sampling of the tweets that came across my feed on Thursday from Sox fans: There's no such thing as a "must-win series" in April and it's far too early for either team to be feeling a true sense of desperation. But these three games sure do feel like they carry an added level of weight, especially when you consider the stakes outside of all this chaos. For the Twins, or any other team, the path to a Central division title goes through the White Sox. This will be the first match-up between the two, and the last until July. Can the Twins kick the division favorite while they're down, at home, while reinvigorating a fed-up fan base? Or will the powerful White Sox unleash their pent-up angst on a team they thoroughly handled in 2021 while overtaking the division mantle? Like I said: one way or another, something's gotta give. Should be a fun weekend. Or else really, really not fun. View full article

The Twins had one of the best bullpens in baseball in 2019 and in 2020. In 2021 the front office handed him a closer that imploded, and then this year they traded his best reliever (by far) on the eve of Opening Day. Bullpen management has been a clear strength for Baldelli overall.

Tyler Duffey's season is off to an absolutely awful start. No matter how bad you think it is ... it's worse. After learning a stark lesson last year about how early high-leverage relief meltdowns can torpedo a season, how long will the Twins stick with their most tenured pitcher? To suggest that Duffey is solely responsible for the two losses he's been tagged with is not quite fair. In both cases he was working with an extremely thin late-game lead thanks to an offense that just can't seem to get going. Nevertheless, both on April 9th against Seattle and on Tuesday night against Kansas City, Duffey entered with a fresh inning and one-run lead. In both cases, those leads turned to deficits (and eventual losses) on his watch. As a result, Duffey enters play on Wednesday with the worst Win Probability Added (-0.88) among all major-league players. If this feels familiar, there's a reason. In 2021, Alex Colomé had the worst WPA in the majors by a wide margin for the month of April. We saw the effect his implosion had on the course of the Twins season. It's difficult not to feel a sense of déjà vu. Now, it also must be noted that we're dealing with incredible small sample sizes here. Duffey has made only three appearances this season. Making rash decisions on such a basis tends to be unwise. For example, Liam Hendriks also finds himself near the bottom of the WPA leaderboard – I doubt the White Sox are about to bump him into mop-up duty. But there is really no optimism to be drawn from Duffey's performance. He looks TERRIBLE. It seemed clear that he was on the road to regression last year as his peripherals all slid downward, but it was hard to envision such an extraordinary manifestation of this regression so rapidly. The main problem is that Duffey's fastball, which needs to be a reliable mainstay to set up his breaking ball, is an unusable pitch. He has thrown it 22 times so far and produced zero swings and misses. When putting the four-seamer in play, opponents are 4-for-6 with two doubles and a home run. The average exit velocity on this contact is a whopping 103 MPH. Good grief. Rocco Baldelli is short on alternatives at the back end of the bullpen presently, which casts a pall on the decision to trade Taylor Rogers on the eve of Opening Day. (Rogers, by the way, is 5-for-5 in save attempts with a 0.00 ERA for the Padres.) But using Duffey in big spots is simply not an option right now. He needs to be relegated to low leverage and unless things change quickly he's probably going to be on DFA watch. It's unfortunate to see from a well-liked player who's been with the organization for so long. But the Twins don't have the luxury of letting sentimentality affect their decision-making. Baldelli simply cannot stand idly by and let another season spin off the rails out of deference to a bad relief pitcher based on nothing more than stature and track record. He just can't. View full article

In their first full week of the 2022 season, the Twins experienced many ugly and unsettling moments. While it looks like they dodged disaster with a few key health scares, the glaring shortcomings of the lineup and bullpen continue to instill fright in fans. A familiar story. And as things stand, the Twins are back where they ended 2021: last place. Last Week's Game Results: Game 4 | MIN 4, SEA 0: Twins Split Series Behind Bundy Game 5 | LAD 7, MIN 2: Bullpen Collapses in Rainy Affair Game 6 | LAD 7, MIN 0: Kershaw Perfect as Dodgers Dominate Game 7 | MIN 8, BOS 4: Ryan Spoils Fenway Home Opener Game 8 | BOS 4, MIN 0: Bats Go Quiet Again in Boston Game 9 | BOS 8, MIN 1: Another Bullpen Meltdown Leads to Blowout Weekly Snapshot: Mon, 4/11 through Sun, 4/17 *** Record Last Week: 2-4 (Overall: 3-6) Run Differential Last Week: -15 (Overall: -11) Standing: 5th Place in AL Central (3.0 GB) NEWS & NOTES I tried knocking on wood last week when I mentioned that the Twins had entered the season with a relatively clean bill of health. We all knew it wouldn't work. Unsurprisingly, things took a quick turn on the injury front. On Tuesday, Jorge Alcalá was placed on IL with elbow inflammation – an ominous early sign for the right-hander, whose velocity had been noticeably down all spring from 2021. Griffin Jax joined the bullpen in his place. One day later, the Twins placed Alex Kirilloff on the shelf while revealing that his right wrist issues from last year are persisting, despite undergoing surgery nine months ago. Trevor Larnach, off to a brutal start in Triple-A following his second-half spiral last season, was the choice to replace Kirilloff on the roster. Also on Wednesday, the team designated reliever Jharel Cotton and added Dereck Rodriguez to the 40-man roster. It was a puzzling move to say the least; the Twins claimed Cotton very early in the offseason and essentially had him locked into their bullpen picture all along. He looked pretty good in his first two appearances, although he did struggle with control in the cold on Tuesday night. Exposing him to waivers so hastily, in order to add a fungible journeyman? It's weird. We'll see if Cotton makes it through and sticks around. Friday and Saturday brought the season's biggest scares on the injury front, although thankfully it appears that the Twins avoided seriously bad outcomes on either front. First, Byron Buxton hurt his knee while sliding awkwardly into second in the series opener in Boston. Optically it was horrifying. He slammed the ground in frustration and instantly removed himself from the game instantly. But in a rare showing of mercy from the injury gods, scans showed no structural damage and Buxton is only expected to return this week. Saturday's game saw Sonny Gray, the front office's biggest offseason addition to the rotation, pull himself in the second inning. It turned out he was bothered by a sore hamstring, and although Gray – unlike Buxton – didn't avoid the injured list (Cody Stashak was activated in his stead), there's optimism his stay there will be short. In the meantime, adapting the rotation to his absence will be easy, since the Twins can simply go back to a standard five-man setup. HIGHLIGHTS Early returns on Minnesota's buy-low free agency gambles in the rotation are quite good. As far as first impressions go, you can't do much better than Dylan Bundy and Chris Archer in their Twins debuts. Bundy shut down the Mariners on Monday night with five innings of one-hit ball, allowing just one hit and one walk. Although he could hardly be described as "dominant," generating six whiffs and two strikeouts against 18 hitters, the righty was efficient and effective. He threw 47 of 67 pitches for strikes, and easily could've given the Twins another inning or two with a full spring build-up. The next night, Archer delivered four shutout innings against an imposing Dodgers lineup – a performance made to look even more impressive by the way said lineup decimated the rest of the Twins pitching staff. Like Bundy, Archer's performance was more workmanlike than overpowering, as he registered five swinging strikes on 63 pitches. But his two biggest downfalls from the last two seasons – walks and home runs – were nowhere to be seen. Archer kept the ball in the yard and issued no free passes while flashing impressive velocity. If even one of these first glimpses is indicative of what's to come, that's a HUGE development for this year's rotation. Speaking of big developments for the rotation, Joe Ryan was absolutely dazzling in his second start of the season, silencing Boston's imposing lineup over six innings of one-run ball. Leaning heavily on his underrated slider, Ryan piled up seven strikeouts on 16 swings and misses. He walked no one and threw an exceptional 73% of his 82 pitches for strikes. A tremendously encouraging performance. Rounding out a strong week for the starting corps was Bailey Ober, who tossed six innings on Sunday with just two unearned runs allowed. Altogether, Twins starters have posted a 3.12 ERA with just 29 hits and 11 walks allowed in 40 ⅓ innings – and this while facing some pretty dang good opponents. LOWLIGHTS The bullpen has been a mixed bag so far, but the low points have been costly and alarming. The last thing you want is a relief unit that allows things to spiral out of control suddenly, and we saw it happen twice for this group in the last week alone. Both of these incidents involved Caleb Thielbar. On Tuesday, he and Jhon Romero combined for an eighth-inning meltdown that saw the Dodgers push across six runs on five hits and two walks. On Sunday, Thielbar was charged with four earned runs on four hits while recording just one out, ballooning his ERA to 23.63. That's a smidge lower than the 27.00 ERA that Stashak finds himself with, after coughing up two runs on three hits in two-thirds of an inning after replacing Thielbar. Stashak posted a 6.89 ERA in 15 ⅔ innings last year and after this disastrous 2022 debut, it's worth wondering if Cotton was the right guy to jettison. Wednesday was another tough day for the pen, with Rodriguez and Jax giving up a combined four runs in five innings following an inauspicious debut from Chris Paddack (4 IP, 3 ER). Meanwhile the bats flailed away against Clayton Kershaw, who was perfect through seven innings before departing. In general, this was an egregiously rough week for the offense, which got shut out twice in six games and has blown away the franchise record for fewest hits ever through nine games. Basically everyone is taking part in the struggles: Miguel Sanó went 2-for-20 last week. He did coax five walks while hitting his first home run, but Sanó's season is off to an abjectly awful start, especially when you account for the blatant sloppiness on defense at first base. Max Kepler went 4-for-24 and is batting .167 through nine games. He looks the same as always – extremely pull-heavy and easily subdued by defensive shifts. The lack of evolution is frustrating. Nonetheless, he batted cleanup on Sunday. Carlos Correa, the shining prize of Minnesota's offseason, has yet to find any rhythm at the plate. After going 2-for-20 last week, he's now batting .133 with a .512 OPS and 39% K-rate on the season. Too early to cast any judgment but he's off to a dreadful start for the new club. Gio Urshela went 3-for-16 with no extra-base hits and no walks. He's now got more GIDP (2) than XBH (1) this year. Ryan Jeffers and Gary Sanchez were a combined 5-for-31 (.161) with two walks and 16 strikeouts. By the way, Mitch Garver has a .382 OBP with the Rangers and is regularly batting third or fourth for them. Realistically, this team's success was always going to depend on a strong offense supporting a solid yet unspectacular pitching staff. The latter has mostly been doing its part, despite some hiccups from the bullpen, but the bats are not holding up their end. In five of Minnesota's six losses, they have essentially give the team no chance to win by scoring two runs or fewer. If this continues ... well, it's scary to think about. TRENDING STORYLINE Is the Justin Upton dream dead? It sure feels that way, now that the Twins have made a roster move to bring in Kyle Garlick while making no reported inroads with the free agent, who is available to sign anywhere. It's odd how few rumblings there have been since Upton cleared waivers last week. Is he just going to retire (or at least take the year off) and count the millions he'll make anyway? I could hardly blame him. One thing is for sure: with Kirilloff's status in limbo and the Minnesota offense falling on its face out of the gate, any kind of legitimate external boost would be welcome. LOOKING AHEAD After closing out another wraparound weekend series in Boston on Monday morning (ALERT: 10:10 AM CT start time), Minnesota will get a welcome respite from the challenging early slate with three games in Kansas City against the 3-5 Royals. Then the Twins return home for a crucial early-season series against the division-favorite White Sox. If the coming week goes well, it'll do a ton to alleviate the valid early concerns from fans who still feel sour after the disappointment of 2021. If it goes poorly? Hoo boy. MONDAY, 4/18: TWINS @ RED SOX – RHP Dylan Bundy v. LHP Rich Hill TUESDAY, 4/19: TWINS @ ROYALS – RHP Chris Archer v. LHP Daniel Lynch WEDNESDAY, 4/20: TWINS @ ROYALS – RHP Chris Paddack v. RHP Zack Greinke THURSDAY, 4/21: TWINS @ ROYALS – RHP Joe Ryan v. RHP Brad Keller FRIDAY, 4/22: WHITE SOX @ TWINS – RHP Vince Velasquez v. RHP Bailey Ober SATURDAY, 4/23: WHITE SOX @ TWINS – LHP Dallas Keuchel v. RHP Dylan Bundy SUNDAY, 4/24: WHITE SOX @ TWINS – RHP Jimmy Lambert v. RHP Chris Archer View full article

Tuesday might get rained out. Highly doubtful on Wednesday.

Based on... ? A handful of good games at Triple-A? I assure you, the Twins are looking for a RH complement to Kirilloff and Kepler in the corner OF spots. Cave is not a roster fit at the moment.

The Twins opened their season with a pair of close losses that could've easily gone the other way. Then they busted out the power bats with a dazzling offensive display in Sunday's lopsided win. It was an altogether encouraging weekend that saw newcomers and stars shining brightly. Let's break down the action. Last Week's Game Recaps: Game 1 | SEA 2, MIN 1: Robbie Ray Silences Twins Bats in Opener Game 2 | SEA 4, MIN 3: Duffey's Blown Save Spoils Buxton Heroics Game 3 | MIN 10, SEA 4: Power Bats Detonate in Blowout Win Weekly Snapshot: Fri, 4/8 through Sun, 4/10 *** Record Last Week: 1-2 (Overall: 1-2) Run Differential Last Week: +4 (Overall: +4) Standing: T-2nd Place in AL Central (1.0 GB) NEWS & NOTES The Twins came into this 2022 season with a remarkably clean bill of health (knocks on wood). Randy Dobnak and Cody Stashak both opened on the injured list, but neither was a key part of the team's plans. For the most part everyone seems to be in good shape, including some pitchers who loomed as question marks coming in. Let's hope this trend continues. Early-season injury woes played a huge role in tanking the '21 season in April and May. HIGHLIGHTS The new guys are making strong first impressions. In Friday's season opener, Gio Urshela put the Twins on the board for the first time in 2022 with a solo homer off of Robbie Ray. On Saturday, pitching staff newcomers Sonny Gray, Joe Smith and Jharel Cotton combined to allow two runs over 6 ⅔ innings. Emilio Pagán added a scoreless frame with two strikeouts in his Twins debut on Sunday. Gary Sánchez came just a few feet short of introducing himself to fans with a walk-off home run on Friday, but he didn't miss two days later when he launched a first-inning grand slam to the third deck, opening up a huge early lead for the Twins. Minnesota's flashiest new addition, Carlos Correa, has already shown what he can do with the bat, launching a 458-foot moonshot as part of Sunday's homer barrage, and we've also seen his defensive prowess in action several times. He played a key role in the weekend's finest highlight in the field – a perfect relay throw to gun down the go-ahead run at home plate on Sunday afternoon. As impressive as all these acquisitions were, one thing is clear: It's Byron Buxton's world, and everyone else is just living in it. The newly locked up face of the franchise started his season with a brief quiet spell, going hitless in his first seven at-bats, and then rattled off three straight home runs. The first of them, a go-ahead two-run homer in the eighth inning on Saturday night, should've lifted the team to victory. It was another entry in a shocking and depressing saga of Twins teams spoiling signature Buxton moments, but watching him scream into the dugout after unloading on that pitch was awesome nonetheless. Buxton's two dingers on Sunday helped set the tone for a bomba breakout, with the Twins piling up five homers in a route of the Mariners. But the explosiveness this weekend wasn't limited to the plate. Jhoan Duran made his big-league debut on the mound in Friday's opener, and he lived up to the billing. The 24-year-old showed remarkable poise, allowing the first two batters he faced to reach base on singles before bearing down and striking out four straight, all swinging. He finished with two scoreless innings, keeping the deficit at one and giving the Twins a chance at a late comeback. If Duran can stay healthy he's going to be a pivotal weapon at the back of this bullpen, that's clear. LOWLIGHTS It didn't take long for the Twins to feel the loss of their best reliever. On Saturday, a dramatic late home run gave Minnesota a one-run lead going into the ninth. In a spot where he would've normally loved to go to his longtime bullpen stalwart Taylor Rogers, Rocco Baldelli turned instead to his next most-tenured reliever. It didn't go well. Making his season debut, Duffey quickly coughed up the lead, allowing two runs on three hits. He frankly looked terrible, inducing just one swinging strike on 18 pitches. The blown save felt very familiar to last year's Alex Colomé experience, not just in terms of results, but even stylistically: ugly pitches out over the plate in key spots. Duffey has a lost a ton of juice since his peak in 2019, when he was one of the league's most dominant relievers. Back then he averaged 94 MPH with his fastball; on Saturday, he maxed out at 93.5 and usually worked in the 91-92 range. His mid-80s knuckle curve didn't looked very sharp. So far this has all the makings of another step downward in Duffey's regression. If it continues, hopefully Baldelli takes notice and adjusts the bullpen hierarchy accordingly. Duffey should not be getting critical high-leverage looks merely because of his experience and tenure. There are much better arms in this pen right now. Offensively, it's hard to complain much about a weekend that saw the Twins tally 14 runs with nine homers in three games, but once again this lineup is looking a bit too dependent on the long ball for run-scoring. It'd be nice to see a bit more rally action from, and that'll require some of the laggards to get going. Those include Alex Kirilloff (0-for-11) and Miguel Sanó (0-for-10). TRENDING STORYLINE The Twins bench is in flux. The team chose to carry Gilberto Celestino as fourth outfielder out of camp, but this is clearly a temporary arrangement. There's little doubt the team is angling for free agent Justin Upton, who cleared waivers over the weekend after being released by the Angels in late spring. Upton is a far cry from the star commodity of his heyday, but he's a nice fit on this Twins roster as an experienced corner outfielder who can still mash left-handed pitching. Although he struggled overall last year with a .705 OPS, Upton did slash .22/.355/.483 against lefties and has an .852 career OPS against them. He would also add ANOTHER first overall draft pick to an organization that already has Correa, Tim Beckham and Royce Lewis on hand. The Twins certainly aren't alone in their interest in Upton, now that he's free from his big contract in LA. I suspect we'll find out one way or another by early this week. If the team is unable to land the veteran, they'll likely swap out Celestino for Kyle Garlick, which would require a 40-man move. LOOKING AHEAD A tough week lies ahead for the Twins, who will wrap up their four-game series against Seattle on Monday before welcoming the star-studded Los Angeles Dodgers to Target Field for a short midweek series. From there, it's a day off on Thursday followed by a trip to Fenway for four games against the Red Sox. Over the next three days, we'll get a look at the back half of Minnesota's rebuilt rotation, with new additions Dylan Bundy, Chris Archer and Chris Paddack starting in consecutive games. It'll be interesting to see where Rocco goes with the rotation after that. MONDAY, 4/11: MARINERS @ TWINS – RHP Chris Flexen v. RHP Dylan Bundy TUESDAY, 4/12: DODGERS @ TWINS – TBD v. RHP Chris Archer WEDNESDAY, 4/13: DODGERS @ TWINS – RHP Walker Buehler v. RHP Chris Paddack FRIDAY, 4/15: TWINS @ RED SOX – RHP Joe Ryan v. RHP Nick Pivetta SATURDAY, 4/16: TWINS @ RED SOX – RHP Sonny Gray v. RHP Tanner Houck SUNDAY, 4/17: TWINS @ RED SOX – RHP Bailey Ober v. RHP Michael Wacha View full article

Better late than never. The lockout and then weather led to multiple delays for Minnesota Twins Opening Day, but now it's finally here. Today at Target Field, Robbie Ray and the Mariners will kick off the 2022 season against (rookie!) Joe Ryan and your Minnesota Twins. Get yourself fully ready with the links and resources below, including analysis of today's pitching tilt, breakdowns of each position on the roster, top prospect profiles, and more. It's all ahead. Breaking Down the Opening Day Roster On Thursday, the Twins finalized their Opening Day roster, with a few surprises rounding out the fringes. The most noteworthy names on the official 28-man squad heading into the season are rookie Josh Winder (serving as a long man in relief), Gilberto Celestino serving as the fourth outfielder (very temporarily, I suspect), and newcomer Jhon Romero edging Griffin Jax for a final bullpen spot. Matthew Taylor wrote a great article posing one pivotal question for each player on the 28-man roster. Oh, and the shakeup we'll cover next also added a very surprising twist to the season-opening mix. Catch Up on the Last-Minute Trade Between Minnesota and San Diego You can never count this front office out. Just when it looked like they were going to roll into the regular season with a conspicuously thin starting rotation, the Twins pulled the trigger on a big trade on the morning of MLB Opening Day. In a last-minute stunner, the team traded its longtime closer and best reliever Taylor Rogers, along with Brent Rooker, to San Diego for starter Chris Paddack and reliever Emilio Pagán. Seth Stohs offered some immediate reaction when the move was announced on Thursday morning, and Ted Schwerzler followed up with analysis of the trade's impact. Joe Ryan vs. Robbie Ray: How Big is Seattle's Matchup Edge? It has the makings of a serious mismatch on paper: the reigning Cy Young winner going up against a rookie with five MLB starts under his belt. JD Cameron has you covered with a full breakdown of the Ryan vs. Ray tilt. As he notes, "Ray could not contrast more markedly with Ryan in experience, build, or arsenal." Elsewhere, Andrew Mahlke wrote about how the Twins are showing major confidence in Ryan by giving him the Opening Day nod. Theo Tollefson pointed out that Ryan is in rare air as a rookie. Our Official Season Preview Guide The Twins experienced a lot of change over the past offseason. Your best bet for getting fully up to speed is by grabbing a copy of Twins Daily 2022 Season Preview. Featuring contributions from JD, Lucas, Nash, Rena, David, Seth, and myself, this PDF breaks down each of the club's biggest offseason moves – the Correa signing, the Buxton extension, the Gray trade, and much more – while also highlighting rookies who are likely to debut and laying out 22 crucial things to know before the first pitch. The guide is free to all caretakers. Buy in for a minimum of one month at six bucks, and it's yours. Stick with us if you're so inclined. But make sure you grab the guide. Position by Position Roster Analysis Over the past few weeks, I've been running through in-depth breakdowns of every position on the team as the season gets underway – from catchers to relievers. The questions we seek to answer in these pieces: What's the outlook? How's the depth? What's the plan going forward? Read up on the 2022 Minnesota Twins roster: Position Analysis: Catcher Position Analysis: First Base Position Analysis: Second Base Position Analysis: Third Base Position Analysis: Shortstop Position Analysis: Left Field Position Analysis: Center Field Position Analysis: Right Field Position Analysis: Designated Hitter Position Analysis: Starting Pitcher Position Analysis: Relief Pitcher Get Acquainted with the Top Prospects We recently unveiled our Twins top prospects tracker. I highly recommend bookmarking it and checking back often. It'll be updated throughout the season as stocks rise and fall. If you're looking for a detailed analysis of the organization's best upcoming talent heading into this 2022 season, you can read my overview of the system or click through to profiles on each of the top 20 Twins prospects (spoiler alert: MANY of them are going to debut this year): 20. Steve Hajjar, LHP: Big 6-foot-5 southpaw drafted in the 2nd round last year, touted for his changeup. 19. Edouard Julien, INF: Versatile fielder drew 101 BB in 112 G last year at Single-A, good for a .434 OBP. 18. Spencer Steer, INF: Mashed 24 homers in a breakthrough power season, playing mostly 2B and 3B. 17. Blayne Enlow, RHP: Looked to be clicking last year before TJ surgery, which will cost him '22 season. 16. Emmanuel Rodríguez, OF: Extreme contact woes marred otherwise highly encouraging rookie-ball debut. 15. Louie Varland, RHP: Honored as the org's top minor-league pitcher in '21 thanks to dazzling A-ball performance. 14. Cole Sands, RHP: Polished righty has posted a 2.53 ERA, 10.3 K/9 in two seasons since joining Twins system. 13. Matt Wallner, OF: Huge raw power will play if he can shore up his plate discipline and whiffing tendency. 12. Gilberto Celestino, OF: Was overwhelmed during rushed MLB debut, but the skills are undeniable. 11. Noah Miller, SS: 38th pick in '21 draft out of HS swings from both sides with legit chance to stick at short. 10. Josh Winder, RHP: Absurdly dominant between AA/AAA last year, and is basically ready to go at 25. 9. Chase Petty, RHP: Team's top draft pick from last summer was a high-school phenom with 100-MPH heat. Traded to Reds for Sonny Gray. 8. Simeon Woods Richardson, RHP: Mechanics and control hold back premium arsenal, but he's still young. 7. Jhoan Duran, RHP: Imposing flamethrower has makeup to dominate but must get past scary elbow issues. 6. Matt Canterino, RHP: His 1.13 ERA and 76 Ks in 48 IP since being drafted in 2019 say it all, good and bad. 5. Joe Ryan, RHP: Amazing numbers in minors were made to look legit during 5-start run with Twins. 4. Jordan Balazovic, RHP: Safest combination of ceiling, floor, and proven durability among arms in the system. 3. José Miranda, 2B/3B: Perennial breakthrough candidate broke through with minor-league season for the ages. 2. Royce Lewis, SS: Missed 2 straight years, but has the elite skills, athleticism, and drive to catch up fast. 1. Austin Martin, SS/OF: Headliner of 2022 deadline sell-off is a worthy top prize, with evident star qualities. Finally, a Word to Our Community I originally published this stream of thoughts on Twitter, but figured I would do so here as well, because you all are the people I was really addressing: It's almost Opening Day. An Opening Day some of us (legitimately) thought would never come. I'm feeling really excited and just gonna gush a little bit. In February we celebrated the 10th birthday of Twins Daily. It's been a wild and amazing ride. I feel both proud and humbled to have played a small role in it. John Bonnes, Parker Hagemen, Seth Stohs and Brock Beauchamp are the best partners and friends a guy could ask for. We've developed something so special that we're hoping to extend it into new markets. We joined forces with a Brewers site, Brewer Fanatic, with the goal of bringing our same model of community-based independent coverage to fans in Milwaukee. It's a movement! We also just launched a "Caretaker" program at TD which gives members a way to financially support our operation, mainly because they want to see it sustain and grow while supporting our creators. The response has been unbelievable. Seriously. Twins Daily is, and always has been, driven by the talented and dedicated people that contribute their time and energy to its cause. We have assembled so many that I can't even try to fit them all in a series of tweets. Y'all are amazing. You are the future. Baseball is ultimately a small part of life. Following it closely is a hobby and diversion. But it matters, a lot, to so many of us. That's become clearer than ever over the past few years as fans have repeatedly grappled with the prospect of losing their beloved summer pastime. Personally, this sport has connected me to John, and Seth, and Parker, and Brock. And basically everyone I know on through this community. I never would've guessed when I started a blogspot in 2005 that this obsessive side hustle would turn into something so integral to who I am. Our site's success instills in me a deep faith that this model can keep carrying fandom and online coverage forward. I'm stoked. The internet, for all its imperfections, is perfect for bringing together all sorts of random folks around a shared passion and pursuit. We're not competing with mainstream media or traditional journalism. We're adding to them. Twins fans have never had access to more awesome content and diverse perspectives. That was the entire goal of this endeavor from the start. THANK YOU. See you at the ballpark. View full article

According to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, the Twins are on the verge of acquiring San Diego Padres starter Chris Paddack. The 26-year-old would bring a controllable arm with upside to the needy Minnesota rotation. Although Derek Falvey had suggested that the team was ready to roll with its existing group of starters, fans know better than to take such remarks at face value. On the eve of (postponed) Opening Day, the Twins look to be adding an intriguing asset in Paddack, who was a top prospect turned outstanding big-league starter not so long ago. Details are scant at this point, but Rosenthal reports that the Twins are "working to acquire" the right-hander, who was known to be available after the Padres traded for A's starter Sean Manaea (thought to be another Twins target) last weekend. That language does not suggest any finality, but Rosenthal is not the type to report something like this on a whim. It's likely a deal is about to materialize. Of note: Trevor Larnach was pulled from the St. Paul Saints lineup just ahead of game time tonight. Paddack was ranked by MLB.com as the 34th-best prospect in baseball ahead of 2019, and arrived in the majors that year with a bang, posting a 3.33 ERA and 2.4 fWAR over 26 starts (140 innings) for the Padres. He struggled a bit in the shortened 2020 season, posting a 4.73 ERA in 12 starts, and last year was rough – at least according to his 5.07 ERA. But his 3.78 FIP and 3.87 xFIP suggest a good amount of bad luck was at play. He kept the homers in check, kept his velocity steady (averaging 95 MPH with the fastball), and maintained his excellent control. With a few tweaks, the Twins could get Paddack back on track as a strong #2/3 type starter, and he's under team control for three more seasons. Don't be fooled by the numbers from last year – which new Minnesota bench coach Jayce Tingler saw play out first-hand as Padres manager. This would be a big get. View full article

The Twins have not shown a propensity to invest heavily in their bullpen. Instead, their preferred approach is to gather a wealth of interesting, flexible options and sort through them during the season. It can work, but as they learned last year, sometimes the learning experience can be very costly. Projected Bullpen: Taylor Rogers, Tyler Duffey, Caleb Thielbar, Jorge Alcalá, Jharel Cotton, Joe Smith, Jhoan Duran, Danny Coulombe Depth/Prospects: Griffin Jax, Jhon Romero, Jovani Moran, Juan Minaya, Cody Stashak, Jake Faria, Yennier Cano, Drew Strotman, Lewis Thorpe, Trevor Megill, Ronny Henriquez THE GOOD During the first three months of the 2021 season, Twins relievers ranked 26th in the majors in the fWAR, 27th in FIP, and 25th in WPA. During the last three months, they ranked 13th, 15th and 4th in those respective categories. You might not have noticed it, due to the team's total irrelevance after May or so, but the bullpen improved dramatically from the first to second half. It was night and day. And it's not the first time we've seen this pattern play out. Back in 2019, Twins relievers ranked 10th in the majors in fWAR and 12th in FIP over the first three months, then led all of baseball in both categories the rest of the way. The front office and coaching staff have shown they can make this work: creating depth, then sorting through it until you find the right mix you can trust. Meanwhile, when looking at how poorly this regime's biggest bullpen splashes have panned in Alex Colomé and Addison Reed, who both looked like relatively safe plays, it's easy to understand why they'd opt against pouring investments into established commodities. There's a lot to like here. Taylor Rogers has consistently been one of the league's most effective late-inning relievers since 2018, and his sterling performance this spring helps alleviate concerns around any lingering effects from last year's finger injury. Tyler Duffey and Caleb Thielbar have proven to be rock-solid setup men. Jorge Alcalá offered real signs of optimism with his 2.88 ERA and .195 BAA last year after the All-Star break, playing a huge role in the bullpen's second-half turnaround. Joe Smith and Jharel Cotton were nice veteran pickups for the middle innings. There are also a some wild cards in the mix adding another level of intrigue. Chief among them is Jhoan Duran, who has been dazzling people with his incredible stuff this spring. He appears to be healthy and throwing at his best while the Twins are transitioning him into a full-on relief role. It's a perfect storm. He looms as a monster difference-maker in this pen. I've written about Griffin Jax as a guy whose stock could skyrocket in a relief role, and like Duran, the team is poised to tap that potential in short order. Jovani Moran has flashed good stuff from the left side. And any of the club's various pitching prospects – many of whom were discussed in our SP analysis – have a chance to impact the bullpen, especially with the likelihood that Minnesota will be looking for length and multi-inning options. THE BAD Last year we learned about the downside of sorting out a bullpen during the season: those early lesson through failure can be extremely costly. By the time Colomé pulled it together and the Twins moved on from some laggards, the relief unit had already played a huge role in tanking their season. This is the nature of the bullpen: it is a fickle beast, and yet so dramatically influential to the outcome of a season. Great bullpens carry teams into the playoffs and beyond. Bad bullpens can put an otherwise decent squad out of the running by June. This year's unit for the Twins really feels like it could go either way. That's always somewhat true, given the volatility of relief pitching, but the variability feels especially high right now. Rogers was at his best before going down last year, but we need to see him keep on cooking. At 31, his age is becoming as much of a regression factor as his injury. Duffey's performance last year included a bunch of ominous signs – most notably a drop in velocity and a HUGE drop in whiff rate. Alcalá has had his moments but feels hard to trust given the inconsistency. And let's keep in mind, this represents their first line of defense. Once you get past these established contributors, you're looking at mostly unproven prospects and minor-league signings. I'm not going to wring my hands over the lack of spending at this position (where the sum total of salaries will barely surpass that of White Sox closer Liam Hendriks alone), because relief free agency becomes such a hazardous game of darts, as we've seen. If the Twins can identify the right guys, implement the right tweaks, and pull the right strings, they'll be in good shape. Unfortunately, last year was not a great confidence-builder in their ability to do so. At least not until too late. THE BOTTOM LINE Lots of talent. Lots of question marks. The Twins have shown in the past they can handle a bullpen – they methodically developed the league's best in 2019, and it carried over to 2020 where they tied Tampa for the AL lead in bullpen fWAR – but last year's unraveling dimmed their shine. It's a big "prove it" year for Wes Johnson, Pete Maki, and the entire Twins pitching braintrust. Was 2021 a blip or a breakdown? Catch Up on the Rest of Our 2022 Previews: Position Analysis: Catcher Position Analysis: First Base Position Analysis: Second Base Position Analysis: Third Base Position Analysis: Shortstop Position Analysis: Left Field Position Analysis: Center Field Position Analysis: Right Field Position Analysis: Designated Hitter Position Analysis: Starting Pitcher View full article