Andrew Mahlke

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Throwing a baseball is unnatural and puts a lot of stress on your arm. It’s just about managing that and making sure there isn’t a crazy amount of overuse

It is no secret that every Twins fan on social media wants pitching. When Carlos Correa signed for at least six more years, many fans still asked, “can he pitch?” or “why aren’t we getting any pitchers?” Every pitching acquisition comes with a cost, whether money or players. Good pitching costs more than good hitting, and the Twins were in a perfect situation to acquire pitching. Let’s dive into it. Image courtesy of Bruce Kluckhohn/USA Today Last year, the Twins starting pitching ranked 20th in ERA, 18th in FIP, 23rd in K/9, and allowed the 11th most HR/9. If this team was going to improve from a .500ish team to a playoff team, starting pitching needed to be upgraded. Enter Pablo López. In case you haven’t seen, All-Star 1B/DH Luis Arraez was traded to the Miami Marlins for López, INF Jose Salas, and OF Byron Chourio. Arraez hit .316/.375/.420 last year with a 131 wRC+. López was 10-10 with a 3.75 ERA and a 3.71 FIP. Arraez put up a 3.2 fWAR season compared to López’s 2.8. However, Arraez has an extra year of team control, which is why the Twins had such a high asking price for the 25 year old. According to Baseball Prospectus, Salas is the 93rd-best prospect, and Chourio had a .838 OPS in the Dominican Summer League as a 17-year-old. More than ever, pitching is at a premium in Major League Baseball. In the 2022-23 offseason, MLB teams usually receive more bang for their buck when signing position players instead of starting pitchers on the free agent market. As we have seen in the past few years, the current Twins front office prefers to trade for starting pitchers, and this premium on the free agent market could be the main reason. Using Steamer’s 2023 projection system, we can see how each player projects in the 2023 season. In the age of analytics, the primary statistic that gets players paid is Wins Above Replacement. On average, the top 31 free-agent starting pitchers this offseason signed for $7.21 million per WAR accumulated. On average, the top 31 free-agent position players signed for $6.44 million per win. This shows how much pitching is valued in today’s game and how teams are willing to spend more money to get more pitching. Like many professional sports executives, Derek Falvey was an economics major and knows that running a successful business or franchise is challenging. To get something, you must give something in return. The first two economic principles you will learn in an ECON 101 class are scarcity and opportunity cost. Scarcity means that the demand for a good (or, in our case, player) will always be greater than the availability of that good. In the current game of baseball, above-average pitching is more scarce than a first baseman with an OPS of around .800. Pitching is so valuable, and every team needs it. While Arraez is a great player and probably more valuable by WAR than López, he plays a position full of guys who can produce offensively, reducing his value. As we saw with the Twins last year, good pitching is scarce. López is not an ace by any means, but he would've led the Twins staff in pitching WAR (2.8) and innings pitched (180) in 2022. Above-average pitching isn't something the Twins have had much of in recent years, so López should significantly improve their pitching staff. Opportunity cost is the second economic principle used in every business decision. Opportunity cost is the loss of potential gain from other alternatives when one alternative is chosen. Every dollar you spend on a player is a dollar you can’t pay another player. Every dollar you give Correa is a dollar you can’t spend on pitching, and vice versa. This Twins front office may see it advantageous to spend big money on position players, given the market premium for pitching. The opportunity cost of trading Arraez is lower than one may think. You may get a slight decrease in production at first base from Jose Miranda and Alex Kirilloff, but both have shown that they are more than serviceable options. You are downgrading slightly in the infield and effectively upgrading from Bailey Ober to López while adding to the improved rotation depth. Another reason the Twins could trade Arraez was their surplus of infielders. The Twins now have seven infielders on their 40-man roster. They are Correa, Jorge Polanco, Miranda, Kirilloff, Royce Lewis, Kyle Farmer, and Edouard Julien. Correa, Polanco, and Miranda are all but penciled into the opening-day lineup. Kirilloff has had some of the best batted-ball data in the league when his wrist has been healthy. Lewis looks to be a future difference-maker once he returns mid-season from his second torn ACL. Farmer is a utility infielder who is solid defensively everywhere and hits lefties well. Julien had a .931 OPS in AA last year and a 1.248 OPS in the Arizona Fall League across 96 plate appearances. The only infielder among these seven who is worse defensively than Arraez is arguably Kirilloff, but he is first base only as a left-handed thrower. Arraez was only seen as a 1B/DH by the Twins' front office, significantly diminishing his value as a player. Once Lewis is ready to go, and Brooks Lee gets to the majors, Miranda would move to first, creating an odd-man-out situation. Having so many infield options that could be plugged in and perform well is a good problem. Economics always factor into these decisions that can make or break a franchise. Many decisions come down to opportunity cost and all the different routes front offices can take from offseason to offseason. Nobody likes it when their favorite player is traded. It sucks. It can make it less enjoyable to watch a team, and Arraez is one of the most fun Twins players in the last ten years. But putting all personal bias aside, from a business standpoint, this move makes sense. You are giving up a player at a position where you have a surplus of options in exchange for a position with less talent. Thank you for reading, and Go, Twins! View full article

Edouard Julien destroyed Jack Leiter. There were two extra-inning thrillers. Jordan Balazovic took the hill again. And there was a four-hour rain delay. Read about all of this and more in Wednesday’s minor league report! Let’s see what happened this Wednesday in the Twins organization. TRANSACTIONS The Twins sent OF Kyle Garlick on a rehab assignment to AAA St. Paul SAINTS (AAA) St. Paul 2, Iowa 4 Box Score The Saints did not start the day well for the Twins minor league affiliates as they fell 4-2 to the Iowa Cubs in an afternoon game. Jordan Balazovic took the ball for St. Paul in this one. Balazovic has had a rough year as he was 0-5 with a 9.26 ERA and a 7.41 FIP coming into today’s game. Balazovic’s first two innings were scoreless on Wednesday, and he was looking like he had maybe written the ship and turned it around. This all changed in the bottom of the third when Iowa put up two runs on four hits, including three straight two-out singles to produce the runs. Balazovic allowed John Hicks to hit a solo homer in the bottom of the fourth, increasing Iowa’s lead to three runs. Balazovic now has allowed 16 home runs in 49 ⅔ innings for St. Paul this year, which equates to 2.9 HR per 9 innings. To put that number into perspective, Twins fan favorite, Emilio Pagan, has allowed 2.1 HR/9 this year. Despite the lead-off homer, Balazovic bounced back and struck out two batters to end the fourth and his outing. Balazovic went four innings, allowing three runs on six hits and two walks while striking out three. The Saints got the deficit within one in the top of the seventh thanks to solo homers from Braden Bishop and Michael Helman. Iowa gave themselves some breathing room in the bottom of the eighth with a solo homer off of Jharel Cotton to increase the lead to two. Jermaine Palacios led off the ninth with a single to get the tying run to the plate, but nothing sufficed, and the Saints dropped the game 4-2. Kyle Garlick played in the first game of his rehab stint and went 1-for-4 with a single and two strikeouts. Helman, Bishop, Matt Wallner, and Mark Contreras all had two-hit games to lead the offense. Drew Strotman and Jovani Moran combined to throw three scoreless innings of relief to keep the Saints in the game. The Saints fall to 57-60 on the year with the loss. WIND SURGE (AA) Wichita 4, Frisco 0 Box Score The Wichita Wind Surge continued their incredible season and defeated Jack Leiter in a very well-played game on Wednesday night. Edouard Julien continued his incredible season by hitting his 16th homer of the year in the top of the first. Julien is now hitting .294 with a .944 OPS at Double-A this year. This gave Wichita starter Cody Laweryson a lead before he ever stepped on the mound. Laweryson never relinquished this early lead and was fantastic, throwing 4 ⅔ scoreless innings while striking out six, dropping his Double-A ERA to 0.92. The Wind Surge tacked on insurance runs in the sixth, seventh, and ninth innings. In the sixth, Jair Camargo walked, scoring Julien. In the seventh, Austin Martin doubled to score DaShawn Keirsey Jr. In the ninth, Will Holland hit his third Double-A homer to increase the lead to four. Francis Peguero, Ryan Horstman, Alex Phillips, and Steven Cruz combined to throw 4 ⅓ scoreless innings of relief to finish the game, striking out five. Peguero was credited with the win as Wichita moved to 66-49. Julien, Keirsey, and Alex Isola all had two hits to lead the offensive charge. On Thursday, Wichita will turn to Daniel Gossett who is fresh off a no-hitter. KERNELS (HIGH-A) Cedar Rapids 9, Lake County 10 Box Score Cedar Rapids dropped an extra-inning thriller to Lake County on Wednesday by a score of 10-9. The Kernels jumped out to an early lead, putting up five runs in the first inning. Mikey Perez led off with a single, advanced on an error, and was singled home by Brooks Lee. After Seth Gray walked, Jake Rucker smoked a double to score Lee and Gray. The next batter was Wander Javier, who hit his 11th homer of the year to give the Kernels a five run lead before they had recorded an out. The beneficiary of all this run support was Sean Mooney, who was making his first start since being activated from the injured list. Mooney just threw one inning and only faced three batters, getting two strikeouts and a flyout. After Mooney’s scoreless inning, Orlando Rodriguez came in as the bulk reliever for the Kernels. Rodriguez threw 4 ⅔ solid innings, allowing two runs while striking out four. After Orlando was done, the Kernels brought in Miguel Rodriguez who allowed three runs while just getting two outs as Lake County tied the game up at five in the bottom of the seventh. After not scoring from innings two through seven, the Kernels saw the game was tied and had to get it going. After Willie Joe Garry Jr. was hit by a pitch, Charles Mack smashed a two-run homer, his third of the year to give Cedar Rapids the lead. In the ninth, they added another insurance run thanks to a Mikey Perez homer. Going into the bottom of the ninth, the Kernels had a three-run lead and the game was close to done. Well, three batters into the ninth Lake County had tied it up thanks to a three-run homer from Korey Holland. Garry Jr. tied it up in the top of the tenth with an RBI single but Lake County answered in the bottom half to send it to 11 innings. In the 11th, Cedar Rapids did not capitalize and Lake County did, walking off Cedar Rapids in 11 innings. Rucker led the offense with three hits, and Perez, Lee, and Dylan Neuse also chipped in with two hits a piece. Ryan Shreve was credited with the loss for Cedar Rapids as their record falls to 68-48. MIGHTY MUSSELS (LOW-A) Fort Myers 7, Lakeland 6 Box Score After a four hour weather delay, Fort Myers delivered a walk-off victory in eight innings over the Lakeland Flying Tigers. Mike Paredes started on the hill for the Mighty Mussels. He went four innings, allowing three runs on seven hits while striking out one batter. Fort Myers got on the board in the first inning when Tanner Schobel singled, scoring Noah Miller. In the bottom of the fourth, Rubel Cespedes scored Ben Ross with a single to cut the Fort Myers deficit to one run. Then the rain came. Four hours later, the two teams resumed. Four hours after he hit a single, Cespedes came in to score on a wild pitch. One batter later, Misael Urbina drove in Carlos Aguiar with a single to give the Mighty Mussels a lead. The Flying Tigers tied it up in the top of the fifth and the game remained 4-4 until the first extra inning they played (the 8th inning). Juan Mendez came in to pitch for Fort Myers and allowed two runs in the top half of the eighth. With three outs to play with, Fort Myers needed a rally. Kala’i Rosario led off, reaching on an error by the second baseman to score Cespedes, who started the inning on second base. After an Aguiar walk, Luis Baez hit a single to score Rosario and tie it up. On the play, Aguiar was thrown out at home and Baez advanced to third. Three pitches later, Baez scored on a wild pitch to walk it off for Fort Myers. Schobel and Ross each had two hits to lead the offense, and Mendez picked up the win to improve his record to 3-2. Fort Myers improves to 62-50 on the year with the win. TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – Cody Laweryson (Wichita) - 4 ⅔ IP, 2 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 6 K Hitter of the Day – Edouard Julien (Wichita) - 2-for-5, 2B (15), HR (16), 2 R, RBI, K PROSPECT SUMMARY We will again keep tabs on the Twins' top prospects. You’ll probably read about them in the team sections, but if they aren’t there, you’ll see how they did here. Here’s a look at how the current Twins Daily Top 20 performed: #2 - Brooks Lee (Cedar Rapids) - 2-for-6, RBI #4 - Austin Martin (Wichita) - 1-for-4, 2B (10), RBI, BB, 2 K #7 - Noah Miller (Fort Myers) - 1-for-3, 2B (12), R, BB #9 - Matt Wallner (St. Paul) - 2-for-4, K #11 - Jordan Balazovic (St. Paul) - 4 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 3 K #14 - Edouard Julien (Wichita) - 2-for-5, 2B (15), HR (16), 2 R, RBI, K #18 - Tanner Schobel (Fort Myers) - 2-for-3, RBI, BB, SB (2) #20 - Kala’i Rosario (Fort Myers) - 0-for-3, R, BB, 2 K THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS St. Paul @ Iowa (6:38 CST) - RHP Louie Varland (1-0, 1.64 ERA) Wichita @ Frisco (7:05 CST) - RHP Daniel Gossett (2-1, 2.74 ERA) Cedar Rapids @ Lake County (5:35 PM CST) - RHP Luis Rijo (0-2, 8.03 ERA) Lakeland @ Fort Myers (Doubleheader - first game starts at 3:30 PM CST) - TBD Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Wednesday’s games! Thank you for reading, and Go Twins! View full article

Aaron Sabato had his biggest swing of the year. Jordan Balazovic had an excellent outing. Austin Martin returned from the IL, and Simeon Woods Richardson is one step away from the big leagues. Plus, Minor League affiliates went 4-0! Read about this and more in Wednesday's Minor League Report! Let’s see what happened this Wednesday in the Twins organization. TRANSACTIONS The Twins claimed RHP Jake Jewell off waivers from the Cleveland Guardians and optioned him to AAA St. Paul. RHP Simeon Woods Richardson was promoted from AA Wichita to AAA St. Paul The Saints placed C Roy Morales on the 7-day IL with a lower back strain LHP Aaron Rozek was promoted from High-A Cedar Rapids to AA Wichita The Wichita Wind Surge activated SS Austin Martin from the 7-day IL The Wichita Wind Surge transferred OF Leobaldo Cabrera to the development list LHP Jaylen Nowlin was promoted from Low-A Fort Myers to High-A Cedar Rapids SAINTS (AAA) St. Paul 6, Scranton 0 Box Score Is Jordan Balazovic back? The former Twins’ top pitching prospect has had an abysmal year but turned in four scoreless innings tonight for St. Paul, striking out four batters. The Saints got three early runs in the top of the second. After Chris Williams hit his first AAA double, Andrew Bechtold hit a 2-run single to score Williams and Caleb Hamilton. Later in the inning, Jermaine Palacios came through with a single to tack on an extra run. The game remained scoreless for a few more innings thanks to Balazovic and Evan Sisk, who was first out of the bullpen. Sisk threw 1 ⅔ innings while not allowing a hit and striking out two. Matt Wallner picked up his first triple as a Saint in the bottom of the seventh. This was Wallner’s only hit of the night as he went 1-for-5 with three strikeouts. The Saints added three more in the bottom of the seventh thanks to a catchers’ interference and a John Andreoli two-run single. Juan Minaya, Michael Feliz, and Drew Strotman all had scoreless outings in relief as the Saints quickly completed the shutout of Scranton 6-0. Sisk picked up the win, his second for the Saints. Andreoli and Michael Helman had two hits. Helman also stole his 17th base of the year. The Saints improve to 55-56. WIND SURGE (AA) Wichita 9, Tulsa 5 Box Score Wichita won a thrilling extra-inning game thanks to some late-game heroics from Aaron Sabato. Sabato, who was 3-for-25 with no extra-base hits going into his last at-bat on Wednesday, came up clutch. With the bases loaded and one out, Sabato took a 2-0 slider and hit it over the center field wall for a walk-off grand slam. The home run was Sabato’s 19th of the year between Cedar Rapids and Wichita, and hopefully, this breaks him out of his slump in AA so far Wichita took an early 4-1 lead through four innings, thanks to four good innings from Wichita starter Cody Laweryson who allowed one run and struck out four. Laweryson has been dominant in AA through 34 innings. He is 4-0 with 39 strikeouts and a 1.05 ERA. Alex Isola started the scoring with an RBI single in the first, and Cole Sturgeon followed with an RBI walk. In the fourth, Austin Martin drove in a run with a groundout, and Will Holland later came in to score on a wild pitch to give Wichita a 4-1 lead. Osiris German allowed three runs in 1 ⅔ innings out of the bullpen to bring the game to a tie. Will Holland came up clutch with an RBI single in the bottom of the seventh to give Wichita the lead back. Everything went smoothly until the ninth, when Casey Legumina allowed a leadoff homer to Ismael Alcantara to tie the game back up. After a scoreless bottom of the ninth, Legumina returned for the tenth. Legumina allowed the extra-inning runner to get to third with one out but stranded him thanks to a fielder's choice and a strikeout. In the bottom of the tenth, Holland drew a walk to open the inning. When DaShawn Keirsey moved up to third on a wild pitch, Tulsa opted to intentionally walk Edouard Julien to load the bases. After Austin Martin lined out, Aaron Sabato ended the game. Isola had the only multi-hit game for Wichita, but plenty of players had multi-walk games. Julien had four walks, Anthony Prato had three, and Sturgeon, Yunior Severino, and Keirsey had two. KERNELS (HIGH-A) Cedar Rapids 2, Wisconsin 1 Box Score The Kernels won a pitchers’ duel on Wednesday thanks to a strong outing from starting pitcher Travis Adams. Adams had allowed 11 earned runs through 10 ⅓ innings in Cedar Rapids until Wednesday, when he turned in his best outing in High-A this far. Adams went five innings, allowing one run on three hits while striking out eight. The game was tied at zero until the fourth inning, when Adams allowed his only run of the day on a single. This score held until the bottom of the sixth when Pat Winkel singled to center field, scoring Jake Rucker. After a strikeout, Wisconsin’s pitcher balked with two outs to score Seth Gray from third base. After taking the lead, the Kernel pitching locked down the game. Bobby Milacki entered the game in relief of Adams and threw two scoreless innings, picking up the win. After Milacki, Hunter McMahon threw scoreless eighth and ninth innings to lock down the save, his second of the year. McMahon has allowed only two earned runs in 29 ⅔ innings at Cedar Rapids this year. Winkel led the game offensively, going 3-for-4. Cedar Rapids improves to 65-45 with the victory and continues to be a force in High-A. MIGHTY MUSSELS (LOW-A) Fort Myers 6, Palm Beach 5 Box Score Fort Myers won in an extra-inning thriller on Wednesday thanks to a game-winning RBI single in the top of the 11th by 2022 second-round pick Tanner Schobel. The scoring was very back-and-forth all game long. Palm Beach jumped to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first off of starting pitcher Malik Barrington. Fort Myers answered right away as Ben Ross hit a 2-run homer in the top of the second for his first professional home run. That was followed by a Kala’i Rosario single and a Rubel Cespedes double, adding another run to the lead. In the bottom of the third, Palm Beach added three runs to chase Barrington, who went 2 ⅔ innings, allowing four runs on three hits and two walks while striking out two opposing hitters. The game was scoreless for a few innings until the top of the seventh when Misael Urbina tied it up with his fourth homer. Ross drew a bases-loaded walk later in the inning to give Fort Myers a 5-4 lead. It was looking suitable for Fort Myers, who needed two more outs in the bottom of the ninth to secure the victory when RJ Yeager hit a solo homer to tie it up and send it to extras. In the bottom of the tenth, Jackson Hicks induced a double play with two runners on base to send it to an extra frame, where Schobel would give Fort Myers the lead before Hicks stranded a runner at third with one out in the bottom of the eleventh to secure the win. Fort Myers had phenomenal relief pitching, as Hicks, Regi Grace, and John Wilson combined to throw 8 ⅓ innings while only allowing one run. Cespedes and Noah Cardenas each picked up two hits to lead the offense in the victory. Fort Myers improved to 59-47 with the win. DOMINICAN DAILIES DSL Twins 4, DSL Brewers 6 Box Score Starting Pitcher: Orlando Rubio (5 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K) Multi-Hit Games: Yilber Herrera (3-for-3), Isaac Pena (2-for-2) 2B: Herrera (6), Jose Rodriguez (14) TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – Travis Adams (Cedar Rapids) - 5 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 8 K Hitter of the Day – Yilber Herrera (DSL Twins) - 3-for-3, R, 2B, BB PROSPECT SUMMARY We will again keep tabs on the Twins' top prospects. You’ll probably read about them in the team sections, but if they aren’t there, you’ll see how they did here. Here’s a look at how the current Twins Daily Top 20 performed: #2 - Brooks Lee (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-4, 2 K #4 - Austin Martin (Wichita) - 0-for-5, R, RBI, BB, K, 2 SB (24) #7 - Noah Miller (Fort Myers) - 1-for-5, R, 2 K #9 - Matt Wallner (St. Paul) - 1-for-5, 3B (1), R, 3 K #11 - Jordan Balazovic (St. Paul) - 4 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K #14 - Edouard Julien (Wichita) - 0-for-2, 2 R, 4 BB, K, SB (14) #15 - Blayne Enlow (Wichita) - 1 ⅓ IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K #18 - Tanner Schobel (Fort Myers) - 1-for-4, RBI, BB #20 - Kala’i Rosario (Fort Myers) - 1-for-5, R, K THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Scranton @ St. Paul (7:07 CST) - RHP Louie Varland (1-0, 0.00 ERA) Tulsa @ Wichita (7:05 CST) - LHP Brent Headrick (2-1, 5.28 ERA) Wisconsin @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 PM CST) - TBD Fort Myers @ Palm Beach (5:30 PM CST) - RHP Mike Paredes (7-4, 2.88 ERA) Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Wednesday’s games! Thank you for reading, and Go Twins! View full article

The Twins took an early lead thanks to Jorge Polanco and Gary Sanchez, but as it has been so many times with this team, the bullpen relinquished the lead in the late innings on the way to an 8-5 loss. Box Score SP: Sonny Gray: 4 2/3 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, (80 pitches, 49 strikes (61.3%)) Home Runs: Jorge Polanco (15), Gary Sanchez (11) Bottom 3 WPA: Sonny Gray (-.280), Griffin Jax (-.172), Carlos Correa (-.148) Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) Pregame Notes Byron Buxton was not in the starting lineup Wednesday night. He has only played one inning in the field in the month of August. Rocco Baldelli revealed that his knee has experienced increased swelling since an awkward landing on a jump in San Diego. The best version of the Twins involves Buxton in centerfield and it’s tough to see them making a playoff run without him out there. He can provide plenty of offensive value but part of what makes him such a special player is the value he provides the team in the outfield. Early Deficit Like Tuesday night, the Twins allowed the Dodgers to score first on Wednesday when Max Muncy roped a homer off of Sonny Gray and Cody Bellinger drove in Gavin Lux with a sacrifice fly. Polanco Stays Hot After a tough 0-for-4 night on Tuesday, Jorge Polanco got the scoring started for the Twins in the third inning when he hammered a three-run homer down the right field line to give them a 3-2 lead. Since coming off the injured list on June 28, Polanco is hitting .222/.366/.462 (.828) with eight home runs and 21 RBI Gary Breaks The Drought Gary Sanchez hit his last home run on July 9th. In the fifth inning on Wednesday, he hammered a fastball from Ryan Pepiot 400 feet to right-center for his 11th homer of the year. Between homers, Gary hit .170/.283/.191 (.474) in 54 plate appearances. Hopefully, this home run is the start of one of those Gary Sanchez hot streaks where he can be one of the most prolific power hitters in the league. Sonny Side Down Sonny Gray did not have his best stuff, not making it through five innings before being pulled for Caleb Thielbar. Sonny struck out five batters and allowed three earned runs. He held the Dodgers mostly under control the first two times through the order, but the top of the Dodgers order went double, single, pop-out, double off of him the third time through. Homer Happy Bullpen Chris Taylor hit the go-ahead homer in the bottom of the sixth off of an 0-2 slider from Michael Fulmer. Before that plate appearance, right-handed hitters had not homered off of Fulmer in 111 plate appearances this year. So naturally, the Dodgers were the first team to do so. One inning later, Joey Gallo hit a pinch-hit three-run homer for his first homer as a Dodger off of Griffin Jax to give the Dodgers an 8-4 lead. Cole Sands did throw a 1-2-3 eighth inning which included strikeouts to Chris Taylor and Cody Bellinger so that is a good sign going forward for the rookie. All Rise for Arraez MLB’s leader in batting average, Luis Arraez, continued the heater he has been on lately. After an uncharacteristic 7-for-42 stretch, Arraez has multiple hits in his last three games, going 9-for-14 in those games, including a 3-for-4 performance on Wednesday. This ties Arraez for second in MLB in three-hit games, his 13th three-hit performance of the season. Cold Streak for Kepler Since coming off the IL on Saturday, Max Kepler is 0-for-17 and has not reached base safely. He could still be getting acclimated to playing with a broken pinky toe, but the Twins will need Kepler to start hitting, at the very least, at a league-average clip for him to be a solid contributor to the team. What’s Next? The Twins have an off-day Thursday, followed by a three-game set just 30 miles Southeast against the Los Angeles Angels. On Friday, they play at 8:38 PM CST and Tyler Mahle will make his second start as a Twin against southpaw Patrick Sandoval. Postgame Interviews Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet SAT SUN MON TUE WED TOT Sands 0 51 0 0 21 72 Pagan 0 19 0 32 0 51 Megill 12 0 0 35 0 47 Jax 11 0 0 0 21 32 Fulmer 13 0 0 0 17 30 Thielbar 0 21 0 0 3 24 López 17 0 0 0 0 17 Duran 7 0 0 0 0 7 View full article

First Round Pick Brooks Lee made his High-A debut and collected his first High-A hit. Second Rounder Tanner Schobel collected two hits for Low-A Fort Myers. Ronny Henriquez dominated in relief. Read about all of this and more in Wednesday’s Minor League Report! Let’s see what happened this Wednesday in the Twins organization. TRANSACTIONS The Twins signed RHP Ricky Mineo to a minor league contract The Twins signed RHP Jack Noble to a minor league contract The Twins signed SS Omari Daniel to a minor league contract The Twins signed LHP Jacob Edwards to a minor league contract The Twins signed RHP John Klein to a minor league contract St. Paul Saints (AAA) released 1B Curtis Terry RHP Daniel Gossett assigned to Wichita (AA) from St. Paul Wichita activated C Alex Isola from the 7-day IL SS Brooks Lee assigned to Cedar Rapids (High-A) from the FCL SAINTS (AAA) St. Paul 1, Columbus 0 Box Score The St. Paul Saints won a pitchers’ duel on Wednesday. Dereck Rodriguez started for the Saints and threw three scoreless innings, allowing two hits and striking out a pair. He has now allowed just two runs over his last 17 ⅔ innings. The Saints bullpen was phenomenal on Wednesday. Ronny Henriquez threw 3 2/3 hitless innings while striking out three in relief of Rodriguez. After Henriquez was pulled, Evan Sisk came in and got three outs, all strikeouts. He walked a batter but didn’t allow any hits or runs. Brad Peacock relieved Sisk with two outs in the eighth and collected the final four outs to pick up the save, his eighth of the year. The Saints got their lone run in the bottom of the fifth when John Andreoli socked his tenth homer of the season. This would prove to be the game-winning home run. Elliot Soto also picked up a couple of hits to help pace the offense. Twins Daily’s #9 prospect, Matt Wallner, had a tough day at the plate, going 0-for-4 with four strikeouts. He did potentially save a run or two, however, with an impressive sliding catch with two runners on base. The Saints improve to 52-53 on the season with the win. The Saints will send Jordan Balazovic to the mound on Thursday in hopes of getting to .500 on the season. WIND SURGE (AA) Wichita 0, Corpus Christi 3 Box Score Wichita dropped a tough pitchers’ duel to the Corpus Christi Hooks on Wednesday night. Wichita could only manage three hits in the loss. Cody Laweryson took the ball for Wichita and had a solid start, throwing three scoreless innings, scattering two hits, and striking out four. The game was scoreless until the top of the fifth when Osiris German allowed an RBI single to Joe Perez, putting Wichita in a 1-0 hole. The Hooks added another run off Blayne Enlow in the sixth to extend their lead to two. Wichita’s best offensive chances were all squandered. In the top of the second, when Jair Camargo and Cole Sturgeon walked to lead off the inning, three consecutive Wind Surge batters struck out to end the threat. In the fifth, Wichita had two guys on with back-to-back walks, but a double play ended the threat. In the sixth, Wichita got singles from Andrew Bechtold and Sturgeon but could not capitalize. With the loss, Wichita’s record drops to 56-47. KERNELS (HIGH-A) Cedar Rapids 5, Quad Cities 6 Box Score One day after playing in the Field of Dreams game, Cedar Rapids played a tightly contested game with the Quad Cities River Bandits, in which they lost by a score of 6-5. 2022 first-round pick Brooks Lee made his High-A debut, and he played a solid game, going 1-for-4 with a walk and a run scored. Jake Rucker started the game with a bang as he led off the game with a homer in the top of the first, his fourth homer of the year for Cedar Rapids (sixth between Cedar Rapids and Fort Myers). The River Bandits responded with three runs (one earned) off of starter Orlando Rodriguez in three innings. Rodriguez gave up two hits and fanned four batters in the start. Cedar Rapids got a run back in the top of the fifth thanks to Dylan Neuse’s third homer of the year (fifth between CR and FM). After the River Bandits tacked on another run to make it 4-2, the Kernels took the lead in the sixth thanks to an RBI double from Kyler Fedko, an RBI groundout from Pat Winkel, and an RBI double from Mikey Perez. Quad Cities tied it up in the bottom of the sixth; from there, it was a battle of the bullpens. Bobby Milacki threw a scoreless seventh, Jon Olsen pitched a scoreless eighth, and Ryan Shreve threw a scoreless ninth for the Kernels. Cedar Rapids squandered their opportunity to begin the inning with a runner on second in the tenth, and Quad Cities did not, as Shreve walked in the winning run. Perez and Fedko had two doubles to lead the offense in the loss. Cedar Rapids drops to 61-42 with the loss. MIGHTY MUSSELS (LOW-A) Fort Myers 5, Jupiter 9 Box Score Fort Myers played Jupiter tough but eventually faltered in the last few innings as they dropped the game 9-5. The Mighty Mussels were up 4-1 going into the bottom of the fifth inning but allowed eight runs in the last four innings as their pitchers got hit around quite a bit. Fort Myers started the scoring in the top of the first when Keoni Cavaco hit a sac fly and reached on an error, scoring Noah Miller. However, they could not capitalize on having bases loaded and one out after that, as Rubel Cespedes and Kala’i Rosario each struck out swinging to end the threat. This gave Fort Myers starting pitcher Jordan Carr a 1-0 lead before he took the mound. Carr pitched two scoreless innings before giving up an inside-the-park homer. Marlins #12 prospect Yiddi Cappe hit a sinking line drive that Misael Urbina dove for and missed, and the ball rolled to the fence, allowing Cappe to score. Fort Myers put up three more runs in the top of the fourth thanks to a single from Carlos Aguiar, three walks, an error, two wild pitches, and a passed ball. Jupiter got those runs back on one swing in the bottom of the fifth, thanks to Chase Luttrell. After that inning, Carr’s day was done. He went five innings, allowing four runs on seven hits and a walk while striking out a pair of Jupiter hitters. Cavaco gave Fort Myers the lead in the sixth when he doubled, scoring new Mighty Mussel Tanner Schobel. Regi Grace entered in the bottom of the sixth with a 5-4 lead, but the first two batters he faced hit a single and a homer, reclaiming the lead for the Hammerheads. This would give Jupiter the lead for good as they tacked on three insurance runs over the next three innings off of Grace and Samuel Perez. Schobel and Aguiar each had multi-hit games in the loss, and Noah Cardenas reached base four times thanks to a single and three walks. The loss drops Fort Myers’ record to 56-44 through their 100th game of the year. TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – Ronny Henriquez (St. Paul) - 3 ⅔ IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 K Hitter of the Day – Mikey Perez (Cedar Rapids) - 2-for-3, 2 2B (2), BB, RBI, SB (6) PROSPECT SUMMARY We will again keep tabs on the Twins' top prospects. You’ll probably read about them in the team sections, but if they aren’t there, you’ll see how they did here. Here’s a look at how the current Twins Daily Top 20 performed: #2 - Brooks Lee (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-4, R, BB, 2 K #7 - Noah Miller (Fort Myers) - 1-for-5, R, K #9 - Matt Wallner (St. Paul) - 0-for-4, 4 K #14 - Edouard Julien (Wichita) - 0-for-2, 2 BB, K #15 - Blayne Enlow (Wichita) - 2 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 4 K #16 - Ronny Henriquez (St. Paul) - 3 ⅔ IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 K #17 - Cole Sands (Minnesota) - 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K #18 - Tanner Schobel (Fort Myers) -2-for-4, R, BB, 2 K #20 - Kala’i Rosario (Fort Myers) - 1-for-4, R, BB, K THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Columbus @ St. Paul (7:07 CST) - RHP Jordan Balazovic (0-5, 10.75 ERA) Corpus Christi @ Wichita (7:05 CST) - TBD Cedar Rapids @ Quad Cities (6:30 PM CST) - RHP Travis Adams (0-1, 10.13 ERA) Fort Myers @ Jupiter (5:30 PM CST) - TBD Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Wednesday’s games! Thank you for reading, and Go Twins! View full article

Eighteen. If you follow the Twins, you know what that means. They hold the longest postseason losing streak in North American sports history, having lost their last 18 games. This year, the Twins are on their way to having another chance to break that streak. Who will start the first game on the mound? Going into the trade deadline on Tuesday, the Twins’ most significant need was obvious. They needed pitching. They were very successful in doing that, trading for relief pitchers Jorge Lopez and Michael Fulmer and starting pitcher Tyler Mahle. Since the departure of Wes Johnson on June 30, the Twins’ starting pitching has been abysmal. Their 6.28 ERA is 28th in the league, their 5.25 FIP ranks 29th, and their 8.8 BB% is 28th. To compete in the playoffs, they must improve their starting pitching. Usually, trading three top-20 prospects for a starting pitcher with more losses than wins and an ERA in the mid 4’s does not sound like a great idea. Although Mahle doesn’t look great on the surface, he is much better than these numbers indicate. Bad Luck Ballpark To start, Mahle pitched at Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati, which is the second worst park to pitch in, according to ESPN. When Mahle has pitched at home this year, he is 2-5 with a 4.76 ERA while allowing nine home runs in 64 innings. In road games, he is 3-2 with a 3.83 ERA and only three home runs allowed in 40 innings. Target Field is the second best park to pitch in, so Mahle will go from being at a heavy disadvantage to a severe advantage simply by changing home stadiums. Mahle is one of the unluckiest pitchers in the league, partially due to playing in Cincinnati. Mahle sports a 4.40 ERA, which is problematic. However, his expected ERA is 3.20, a full run below his actual ERA. This shows that he is due to have some regression and will eventually lower his ERA due to playing in a pitchers’ park. Among Twins starters, Mahle has the lowest expected ERA and the lowest expected batting average against (.206). Swing-and-Miss Stuff When asked about the Mahle trade, Carlos Correa knew he would be effective. “I checked his Baseball Savant, and there’s a lot of red,” said Correa. Mahle’s Baseball Savant percentile rankings are shown below, and Correa was right. Mahle does a great job of missing bats, ranking in the 70th percentile in strikeout rate and the 67th percentile in whiff rate. He is also in the top 25 percent of pitchers in the expected weighted on-base average, expected ERA, expected batting average, and expected slugging percentage. Mahle also has the best strikeout and whiff rate of any Twins starting pitcher. The Twins badly need a starting pitcher who can miss bats, especially when three regular Twins starting pitchers are in the bottom 30 percent of all pitchers in strikeout rate (Archer, Bundy, Smeltzer). Seventy-nine of Mahle’s 114 strikeouts this year have ended with a fastball, as that is his best pitch. Mahle’s fastball has a Stuff+ ranking of 119, which means it is 19 percent above league average when factoring in velocity, movement, arm angle, and release point. Opposing hitters are batting .200 with a .371 slugging percentage against his fastball, but the expected average is .167 with an expected slugging percentage of .293. In a playoff series, it helps when you have a pitcher who can strike out opposing hitters at will. Mahle may not have the strikeout stuff of pitchers such as Corbin Burnes and Gerrit Cole, but he has shown time and time again that he can miss bats and rack up strikeouts when needed. Another benefit of Mahle is that he can go deep into games. Mahle has gone at least five innings in 12 of his 13 starts and into the sixth inning in 11 of his 13 starts. With an improved bullpen, Mahle could save arms and go deep into games, potentially letting the Twins rely on their top bullpen arms of Jhoan Duran and Jorge Lopez and saving some other arms. Playoffs?! Under the new playoff format, the Twins will likely be in a wild card series which would play a best-of-three series. Before the trade, the Twins would have started Sonny Gray, Joe Ryan, and Chris Archer in a series. Now, they will throw Mahle, Gray, and Ryan. Pitching wins championships in baseball, and the Twins have added their ace in Tyler Mahle, who I believe should be the Twins’ game one starter in a playoff series. Who do you think should be the Twins’ game one starter? Mahle, Gray, or Ryan? Leave a comment and start a discussion. Thank you for reading, and Go Twins! View full article