Otto von Ballpark

No. Anyone on the 40-man or 60-day IL as of that date is automatically eligible for a postseason roster, and the Twins don’t have to submit their postseason roster until just before each round. And anyone in the organization on Sep. 1 can be named as a replacement for a postseason eligible injured player too — so Billy Hamilton could possibly find his way onto our postseason roster this year, even if he doesn’t get added to the 40-man until after Sep. 1.

Devin Smeltzer has been optioned back to AAA, with Jovani Moran recalled to take his place.

What game was on Fox in Portland, Maine? If you are talking MLBTV, then true national games are blacked out everywhere in the USA — the national TV broadcaster bought exclusive rights. However, these Fox Saturday games are “regional” so it has been my experience that they are only blacked out in the broadcast territories of the two teams involved. (That may not be official policy, but just a natural consequence of Fox and MLB having different broadcast maps.) Hence I was able to stream the other Fox game last night in Minnesota (Braves vs Cardinals, which coincidentally also ended in a walk-off walk!). If neither Fox Saturday game involves the Twins, I have been able to stream both on MLBTV in Minnesota.

What was the alternative? Thielbar is on a roll and just as important as Duran and Jax right now. Plus he's been our best reliever at stranding inherited runners, so he's better to save for Friday than have him start an inning on Thursday. Fulmer was on zero rest himself, as was Smeltzer. There's only so many times you can keep trotting out Pagan and Megill for multiple innings each before you're sabotaging your efforts to coax positive contributions from them too. And trailing 5-3 is not the same as trailing 9-1 -- it's hardly Nick Gordon to the mound territory. It didn't result in a win, and there are modest consequences to deal with tonight, but that's just an everyday reality in the sport -- you can't avoid it, you can only mitigate it. And we still have Thielbar plus other options to help mitigate tonight, if a no-rest guy needs help in a close contest.

Sometimes your top late inning arms need to pitch 2 innings, and sometimes they need to pitch back to back games. Last night, as the offense failed for 3 innings to close the gap any more than 2 runs, Baldelli judged that it was better to keep them all available for a potential back-to-back rather than stretch any of them to 2 innings in this particular game. Seems eminently defensible.

I'm not sure that any of the 3 are "unavailable" Friday night, based on pitching 1 inning each on Thursday after ample rest. This month, López has twice thrown consecutive nights coming off equal or greater pitch counts; Duran has two such recent games coming off similar pitch counts too (15 and 17). Likewise, any of them could have thrown more than 1 inning Thursday, if the offense had closed the gap at any point. The offense didn't, so it was better to limit each pitcher to an inning so they could still potentially appear Friday. We all know there are benefits to saving your best relievers until you need them, but there are diminishing returns to saving them for too long. And yesterday, having not held a lead virtually at all since Saturday, our returns on that strategy had diminished to basically nothing.

It’s easy enough to generate a draft schedule meeting either set of base parameters. But we know there are additional required parameters: if the contract with the players union mandates that you exchange a home game for a road game or insert off days or travel days in particular spots on your draft schedule, or teams or the league want particular accommodations due to travel/facilities/broadcasts, wouldn’t it be easier to make those adjustments when you have the flexibility to leave division home/road and non-division opponents slightly unbalanced? It’s like a path problem, and you have more potential paths you can follow. We know the schedule isn’t just spit out of a computer. There is a certain amount of finesse that goes into producing it, and I wonder if too much rigidity in the base arrangement makes the process more difficult.

With all of their fiddle players apparently on the injured list, the Twins and the TD forums both went in a deep funk, deep in the heart of Texas. In the land of Carlos Correa's ex's (ex-teammates, at least), a variety of Twins weaknesses were exposed. Some community members offered advice, while others seem ready to move on from this relationship. Still others helpfully provided some non-Twins content to distract us from struggles on the field. A week ago, @Number3 provided the modest suggestion to Just keep it close until the Twins can take the division in September. Since then, the losses have generally been close, but the gap in the standings is growing, so we may want to clarify the instruction! Relationship expert @sfe306 speculates that the Players like Baldelli as a person but.... Not to be outdone, @Emjay composes another breakup letter on behalf of players: So....Rocco, Analytics and the Twins underperforming. Will no one take Rocco's side here? Hopefully they can still be friends, in any case. How can the Twins improve? @USAFChief advocates outright theft (and better theft prevention), refuting the modern adage that "Stolen bases just don't matter". Bases would be great, but is there any way to steal some more pitching too? Looking around the league, @MMMordabito rails against a trend, or at least a glandular problem, as MLB Media Salivating over Exit Velocity is Getting Ridiculous. Then again, pitchers (and some motorists) have long enjoyed the thrill of radar gun readings, so it's no surprise that batters want to get in on that action. Finally, @Riverbrian is currently regaling us with an epic travelogue told over 11 parts (and counting) in The Sports Bar, beginning with Confessions of a Hit and Run Tourist - Day One. Be sure to read them all to gain a better understanding of the American experience, as well as the health challenges posed by the American diet. What's your dream baseball road trip, and why doesn't it include the Metrodome? Share it in the forums! View full article

That's interesting, thanks for the breakdown. I wonder if the slightly unbalanced/non-symmetrical schedule is slightly easier to put together, in practice? It gives them some flexibility to shift a few games around as needed to satisfy requirements of their contract with the players union. For example, perhaps an extra game against Baltimore in a particular series would allow the league to avoid scheduling the Twins for too many consecutive games or too long of a road trip elsewhere in the schedule? It could likewise help to accommodate some special requests by teams too.

Only because you were unable to negotiate an opt-out in your fan contract.

FWIW, Target Field was nearly a sellout for the two midweek games vs Milwaukee this year. Miller Park American Family Field didn't draw quite as well for the Tuesday game, but did quite well on Wednesday (for a day game, no less).

There's no "positional bonus" in wRC+. Buxton was in a virtual tie with 2 others for 4th place by that measure. And the top 9 qualified AL outfielders by wRC+ on that date made the all star team, regardless of CF/LF/RF. There's no case that Buxton should have been excluded from the team. There's a case that Julio Rodríguez could have started instead of Buxton, but they were close: virtually tied by wRC+, although Rodríguez had more PA. And despite Buxton getting the starting assignment, Rodríguez took over for him in the 4th and played the last 6 innings in CF. (Both got 2 PA.)

Also 2022 performance. Buxton was 5th in fWAR among AL outfielders (and only a rounding error behind #4) when he was announced as an all-star reserve. That's a counting stat, so it reflects how much he was able to play (and penalizes him for time spent at DH). By rate, he was 6th in wRC+ (and again, only a rounding error behind #4). The only guys clearly ahead of Buxton in either metric were Trout, Judge, and Yordan Alvarez. Judge and Trout were elected as starters (along with Stanton). Trout was injured so Buxton replaced him in the starting lineup; Alvarez was named as a reserve but also missed the game due to injury.

Obligatory weird photo demonstration:

Does Pagán have any special entrance music yet? (Or more accurately, exit music?)

No, "Augmented Reality" isn't a hot international pitching prospect, unfortunately. It's apparently a way to play games with your phone's camera, and fans at Target Field will be the first live sports fans to use it. Forbes: Minnesota Twins Launch First Shared AR For Live Sports App That Opens Door To Sponsorship Land Grab Could extend beyond just games:

Tyler Mahle was placed on the 15-day IL, retroactive to August 18. Devin Smeltzer has been recalled to take his place. Discussion here: https://twinsdaily.com/forums/topic/58469-mahle-to-the-il-smeltzer-recalled/?do=getNewComment

Does not signal a change in Mahle's health evaluation from earlier:

Retroactive to 8/18, 15 day minimum IL for pitchers

If you don't want to download the app, here's a link to watch the game on Apple TV+ in a web browser (have to sign in with your Apple ID): https://tv.apple.com/us/sporting-event/texas-rangers-at-minnesota-twins/umc.cse.ehsepxjehliysupx0hex9qqv

Apple TV+ games are still free, no subscription required — just download the Apple TV+ app. https://www.mlb.com/news/how-to-watch-rangers-twins-on-apple-tv-august-19-2022 The video quality on Apple TV+ seems better than Bally/MLBTV too. EDIT TO ADD: link to watch in browser (have to sign in with your Apple ID) https://tv.apple.com/us/sporting-event/texas-rangers-at-minnesota-twins/umc.cse.ehsepxjehliysupx0hex9qqv

The Twins contract with Bally runs through the 2023 season, according to this article: https://m.startribune.com/twins-tv-ratings-bally-sports-north-dave-st-peter-streaming-cable/600087575/