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The Minnesota Twins have watched their 2018 season of promise turn towards a different direction, and now ramble on towards a close. Over the course of the year adversity has been a common theme, and in dealing with it, a monumental struggle. When building out a 25-man roster talent obviously reigns supreme, but the addition of personalities able to influence the human element in the optimal way is of the utmost importance as well.Looking back on the offseason, it’s hard not to reminisce about how much talent was acquired through the dollars that were spent. A potentially unconsidered caveat however, is that the amount of one-year deals handed out played out counter-productively within the clubhouse. That sentiment has been offered by a few different publications, and the return of Matt Belisle was noted heavily as one rooted in veteran leadership. As a team takes shape, leadership is a quality that is both formed and earned. Despite being outside of the organization for the vast majority of the year, Chris Gimenez carries a strong reputation for being a veteran leader. When looking to discuss how that leadership impacts the game, a conversation with the Twins backstop seemed imperative. I was able to ask him a handful of questions, and he provided plenty of insight as to what level of impact can be made when the fans aren’t watching. Twins Daily: We often hear of "veteran leadership" as a term tied to why a player may be acquired. How is that defined for you? Is it a vocal thing, lead by example, or something entirely different? Chris Gimenez: Veteran leadership is all the above! It’s absolutely a vocal thing, it’s being able to see things and either address it with the individual or in a group setting. The veterans are the ones that have been there and done that and have either failed or succeed and now are there to offer advice or just lead by example a lot of times! TD: In assembling a 25-man roster, how important is it to have a true leadership presence. Is lacking in that area something that can be debilitating to a clubhouse? CG: In putting together 25 guys one of the most over looked but most important aspects of a team is the leaders! It would be like going into battle but without a plan of attack. Not having someone in that locker room to lead is absolutely debilitating. I’ve often found that the leaders of the clubhouse are the guys who do not play every day! They can see things from a different perspective and are often able to address things. TD: You've obviously been in plenty of big-league clubhouses, and now on two separate Twins teams. What are some of the most important takeaways from how a team comes together in your time as a professional? CG: Teams often really come together around the first month of the season or the first real hardship you encounter. A lot of times the 25 guys that start the year together haven’t had much time together in spring training. Getting guys in the clubhouse joking around having fun on the ball field is what creates that. We often do team dinners on the road to get guys together and hang out off the field. It’s great for building relationships and having all the guys on the same page. All teams are different in how they come together ultimately, but these things help that along a bit. Leaders are integral in facilitating things like this on and off the field. TD: It's probably a little bittersweet going from a contender to a team with no postseason chances this season. When something like that happens how do your personal goals change? What are you looking to bring to Minnesota over the final month? CG: You are right anytime you move down in the standings it’s not ideal, but honestly, I think it was the perfect move for me. This place has really felt like home and what we accomplished last year was nothing short of spectacular. When a group of guys believe in each other it can become a very powerful thing. My goal for the rest of the season is to help wherever I can. Through the twists and turns of a season the team has gotten a lot younger, which is a good and bad thing. My job now is to be a vocal leader in the clubhouse to show these guys how to go about their business daily. Show these guys what it means to be a good teammate and a big leaguer! I will help young pitchers in the video room, catch pens, and give feedback. I’ll also help young hitters with the in-game adjustments they will have to learn to make. Most importantly, I’ll be the guy who shows everyone how to have fun and know that’s ok to do as well! TD: Over the course of your career, you've been employed under both Thad Levine and Derek Falvey at multiple stops. What can you tell us about them as executives that fans may not see or know? CG: Thad and Derek are very smart guys. I know that’s not breaking news, but I think you can expect a very forward-thinking front office. I know they have a plan, and last year might have altered that a bit, but they are very smart and knowledgeable in what they do. Derek has a great eye for pitching so that should be one area to look forward to as they move forward. Thad is great with people and relationships as well as advanced metrics. The plan might have been reset a bit this year, so I think you will still see a competitive team but some young kids getting valuable experience. TD: As a veteran, you've crafted your game over a significant portion of time. Mitch Garver is playing through his rookie year this season and has seemed to progress nicely from early on. What's your assessment of him in the time you've spent working together? CG: First off, Garv has made big strides this year behind the plate! I think we all knew it was in there and the bat plays but Jason getting hurt this year kind of thrust him in there to learn on the fly and he has done a great job. He needs to continue studying hitters, and I’ve been really impressed with his ability to formulate and execute a game plan! This year has been a long one for him, and this last month can really get to you physically if you’re not used to it. Because of that, he will be better prepared in the future as well. I think there is a lot to like about Mitch in the very near future, and I won’t be surprised when he is a very good big-league catcher and has a long, great career. TD: Finally, having been a part of two Twins teams going in opposite directions, what do you think is the biggest factor in turning it around for 2019? Injuries and unfortunate situations have reared their head this year, but where does the biggest area of opportunity lie? CG: Health will always be a big part of the next year. Loosing Erv really hurt as the anchor of your staff wasn’t there. He’s the guy that was supposed to lead by example out there every fifth day. I also think some next steps from a few core players will help that as well. I really like some of the bullpen pieces we have for the future, as well as a few of the young starters. Continuing to sprinkle in guys to fill in the gaps will also help. I love the coaching staff in place, they do a great job with the young guys. Click here to view the article

What can you even say about this game? Well, to even call it Major League Baseball is an embarrassment on multiple levels. The Twins played very poorly, there was an epic ump show and things wound down with Chris Gimenez on the mound. What do we even call this? Total system failure is already taken.Snapshot (chart via FanGraphs) Download attachment: WinChart92.png In the sixth inning, Matt Belilse made his first appearance since being activated off the disabled list. He threw three pitches, the last of which hit Adrian Beltre. For some reason, home plate umpire Alan Porter determined it was intentional and tossed Belisle. The score was already 10-0 at that time. In the eighth inning, Addison Reed got ejected for arguing balls and strikes. The score was 13-2 at that time. I hope Mr. Porter is real proud of himself for entertaining all the people who came out to the ballpark to see him. Gimenez came in to replace Reed, because of course. At least Gimenez provided a light-hearted finish to this game by hitting a two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth. The Twins experimented with the opener today, starting things off with Gabriel Moya. He gave up a two-run homer in the first. Zack Littell came in for the next four innings and gave up three runs, though only two were earned. Oh yeah, the Twins also committed three errors today. Tyler Duffey recorded only one out and gave up five runs (four earned). Alan Busenitz recorded two outs and gave up a run on a homer. Reed gave up a run before he got tossed and the Rangers scored five runs off Gimenez in the eighth. If you ask me, it’s a little bit bush league to have your guys swinging out of their shoes against Gimenez. On the other hand, I guess it’s pretty bush of the Twins to have him pitching in the first place, especially in September when there should be an abundance of arms. Jake Cave was a bright spot for the Twins, as he hit his 10th home run of the season. He’s now gone deep in three straight games and has has six homers in his last 13 games. Postgame With Molitor Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Download attachment: Bullpen92.png Next Three Games Mon at HOU, 1:10 pm CT: TBD Tue at HOU, 7:10 pm CT: TBD Wed at HOU, 7:10 pm CT: TBD Last Three Games TEX 7, MIN 4: Is Jose OK? MIN 10, TEX 7: Tex-plosion! CLE 5, MIN 3: Odorizzi Fades, Busenitz Blows It Click here to view the article

He’s back! The Twins re-acquired 2017 two-way sensation Chris Gimenez at the waiver trade deadline, and his presence on the roster immediately paid off. Gimenez pitched and hit a home run Sunday. Shohei Ohtani? Pfft, who needs 'em!?!?!? Read on for the full rundown of everything you need to know (and a bunch of stuff you’d rather forget) from the past seven days.Weekly Snapshot: Mon, 8/27 through Sun, 9/2 Record Last Week: 2-4 (63-73 overall) Run Differential Last Week: -22 (-59 overall) Standing: Second place in AL Central (-14) HIGHLIGHTS Most of the positive news coming out of Twins Territory this week had to do with the minor leagues, so you’ll want to make sure and check out the “down on the farm” section. As for the major league club, the entire starting pitching staff is struggling and the offense has had difficulties scoring runs. Pretty tough to find silver linings when that’s the case. Luckily, Jake Cave and a couple of the guys in the bullpen have continued to impress. Cave has homered in three straight games and has six homers in his last 13 games. Trevor May pitched 2 ⅔ scoreless innings and struck out six batters in the process. His ERA is down to 1.88 and he’s racked up 22 strikeouts in 14 ⅓ innings while walking just three batters. Taylor Rogers added 2 ⅔ innings to his scoreless streak, which is now at 14 ⅔ innings. He’s only given up seven hits and a walk over that span and has stranded eight of the nine runners he’s inherited in the process. Also, Joe Mauer reached another milestone this week, scoring the 1,000th run of his career, and Willians Astudillo hit his first Major League home run. Left-handed reliever Andrew Vasquez, a former 32nd-round pick who opened the year with the Fort Myers Miracle, made his Major League debut Saturday. He recorded two outs in that game, giving up an unearned run due to his own two errors. OK, so maybe that wasn’t such a hallmark moment, but debuts are always highlights in my book. LOWLIGHTS Everything else. The Twins’ established starting pitchers all appear to be fighting through some things right now. Kyle Gibson (5 ER in 5.1 IP), Jake Odorizzi (3 ER in 5.1 IP) and Jose Berrios (5 ER in 4.0 IP) combined for a 7.98 ERA this week. To make matters worse, the rookies struggled as well. Kohl Stewart (3 ER in 4.2 IP), Stephen Gonsalves (3 ER in 3.2 IP) and Zack Littell (2 ER in 4.0 IP) combined for a 5.84 ERA, and even combining to allow four unearned runs. So yeah, the defense was real bad too. Littell served as the “primary pitcher” in the Twins’ first experiment with the opener Sunday. It was was a complete disaster in what ended up being an embarrassing 18-4 loss. It’s not like the offense was firing on all cylinders, either. They averaged 4.3 runs per game this week even with a 10-run effort sprinkled in there. One of the big dates on the transaction calendar passed this week, as Aug. 31 was the deadline for waiver trades. The only move the Twins made was to send Bobby Wilson to the Cubs for Gimenez and a player to be named. Big news, I know. TRENDING STORYLINE Rosters expanded on Sept. 1, meaning the Twins had enough room to activate Matt Belisle off the DL and call up Gimenez. Yay! Vasquez, Littell, Tyler Duffey and Johnny Field, were also added to the active roster. With the minor league season ending there will likely be a few more guys who join the Twins early this week. A couple players we know will not be joining the Twins are Fernando Romero and Byron Buxton. Romero has pitched a career-high 146 ⅔ innings this season, and has been showing some signs of fatigue over his past five starts, so the team is deciding to shut him down to avoid any further stress on his arm. There was a lot of good discussion already at the site about Buxton leading up to this decision. First in Nick’s Awkward Decisions article, then in Ted’s piece titled Hardball, the Twins and Byron Buxton. I don’t feel the need to rehash everything here, since it’s already been well-covered and I’m sure will continue to be a topic of discussion. Make sure to check out this week’s episode of Gleeman and the Geek for more. The reasoning the Twins, through GM Thad Levine, have provided on that move are not exactly clear. There was some acknowledgement that service time had something to do with the move, but the club is also insisting that Buxton’s left wrist injury continues to bother him. Anyway, Mike Berardino of the Pioneer Press did an excellent job of reporting on the decision. I recommend you go check out his article from Saturday evening if you’re interested in seeing how Levine addressed questions. Personally, I think it’s clear this has everything to do with manipulating his service time in order to gain an extra year of control. Absolutely 100 percent. If his wrist is still bothering him, why in the world was he even playing games for Rochester in the first place? If the Twins were in the playoff hunt right now, Buxton would be on this team. Anyway, moving on ... Now that we know who’s up and who’s definitely headed home at the conclusion of the minor league season, who’s left? The only other healthy players on the 40-man roster are John Curtiss, Chase De Jong and Lewis Thorpe. Like Romero, Thorpe has already established a new career-high in innings pitched, but (unlike Romero), he’s finishing strong. Thorpe got called up to Rochester for his final four starts and pitched to a 3.32 ERA, 1.20 WHIP and 4.33 K:BB ratio (10.8 K/9, 2.5 BB/9). DOWN ON THE FARM On the final day of their regular season, the Fort Myers Miracle clinched a playoff appearance. They entered Sunday a game back, meaning they need to win AND the team they were chasing had to lose. They pulled it off, as a 2-1 Miracle victory combined with a 5-2 loss by the Charlotte Stone Crabs sent Fort Myers to the postseason. Brusdar Graterol (4.2 IP), Jovani Moran (2.1 IP) and Colton Davis (2.0 IP) were up to the task, combining to give up just one run. Aaron Whitefield drove in a run on a single in the fourth inning, stole second base, stole third base and scored on a throwing error by the catcher. The Miracle open their series against the Palm Beach Cardinals Tuesday night. Cedar Rapids also qualified for the playoffs, and will kickoff its playoff series Wednesday evening Elizabethton has already opened up postseason play, and won its matchup in the Appalachian League Semifinals. The E-Twins are trying to defend their 2017 league title, and take their eighth Appy League Championship since the turn of the millennium. Game 1 against the Princeton Rays is Tuesday evening. The participants for the Arizona Fall League were also announced this week. The Twins are sending pitchers Griffin Jax, Hector Lujan, Alex Robinson and Devin Smeltzer. The position players who are Arizona bound include Travis Blankenhorn, Jaylin Davis, Luke Raley and Brent Rooker. Additionally, Chattanooga manager Tommy Watkins will be managing the Salt River Rafters. The AFL season opens Oct. 9. LOOKING AHEAD The Twins head to Houston to play the defending World Series champion Astros. The series opens with a Labor Day matinee. After taking Thursday off, the Twins will come home to play their second to the last series of the season at Target Field. Monday, 9/3 at Houston, 1:10 pm CT Tuesday, 9/4 at Houston, 7:10 pm CT Wednesday, 9/5 at Houston, 7:10 pm CT Thursday, 9/6 OFF Friday, 9/7 vs. Kansas City, 7:10 pm CT Saturday, 9/8 vs. Kansas City, 6:10 pm CT Sunday, 9/9 vs. Kansas City, 1:10 pm CT CATCHING UP ON TWINS DAILY GAME RECAPS Game 130 | CLE 8, MIN 1: Where Did the Runs Go? Game 131 | MIN 4, CLE 3: Astudillo Gets First Homer, Mauer Scores 1,000th Run Game 132 | CLE 5, MIN 3: Odorizzi Fades, Busenitz Blows It Game 133 | MIN 10, TEX 7: Tex-plosion! Game 134 | TEX 7, MIN 4: Is Jose OK? Game 135 | TEX 18, MIN 4: Speechless Click here to view the article

The Minnesota Twins have traded catcher Bobby Wilson to the Chicago Cubs in exchange for catcher (and relief pitcher?), and Old Friend Chris Gimenez and a potential Player To Be Named Later.The Twins want to give the veterans that they have traded an opportunity to play in the playoffs and win a World Series title. Now Bobby Wilson has that opportunity. Wilson is currently on the disabled list and touted for his tremendous defense and veteran leadership for the catchers and pitchers. Chris Gimenez? Well, the same thing, plus he can pitch in blowouts instead of Mitch Garver or Willians Astudillo, right? Share your thoughts. Click here to view the article

Free agency has been slow moving this off-season. Few of the top free agents have signed and there has even been talk about collusion among MLB’s teams. Realistically, teams are smarter about the way they spend money and this year’s crop of free agents has plenty of flaws. The Twins have been tied to Yu Darvish from the beginning. Minnesota’s front office hasn’t been shy about mentioned their intentions of trying the hook the biggest fish on the free agent market. A thrilling conclusion could be coming and Twins’ fans could have an answer as early as this week.Darvish Decision Looming Jon Morosi of Fox Sports and MLB Network is reporting that Darvish is expected to make his decision this week. He also adds that the Twins are one of the teams still in discussion with the star pitcher. It is interesting that his only note about a current team is the Twins. However, there have been plenty of other teams connected to Darvish in recent weeks. The list of teams includes the Twins, Cubs, Rangers, Dodgers and Brewers. Gimenez Signing Former Twins catcher Chris Gimenez signed a minor league deal with the Chicago Cubs this week. Sporting News compared this move to when the Cubs brought in David Ross to be paired with Jon Lester in 2015. Gimenez worked with Darvish in Texas and helped the pitcher on his way back from Tommy John surgery. Darvish has also called Gimenez his “all-time favorite catcher.” Five-Year Offer Darvish will turn 32 next August and he has only pitched one season of more than 200 innings. This might make it tough for team’s swallow a long-term deal. With many big free agent signings, there is some “dead” money at the end of the deal where the player isn’t playing at the same level as prior to his contract signing. According to reports, Darvish has at least one five-year offer on the table. There are still multiple teams in the mix for Darvish’s services but it sounds like his decision will be made by the end of the week. What are your thoughts on the latest Darvish news? Will he be in a Twins uniform by the end of the week? Leave a COMMENT and start the discussion. Click here to view the article

Aaron and John talk about the latest Yu Darvish rumors, Glen Perkins' retirement, Joe Nathan's appearance at the Winter Meltdown, returning to KFAN for another season, exploding tires and ruined lunches, Super Bowl festivities, the Brewers' big push, and $36 guacamole. You can listen by downloading us from iTunes, Stitcher or find it at GleemanAndTheGeek.com. Or just click this link. Sponsored by Bombfell and Simply Contacts. Click here to view the article

Jason Castro hit a go-ahead two-run single and his 10th home run of the season and Bartolo Colon held Detroit to one run over 6.1 innings to lead the Twins to victory in their final game of the regular season. This was the 85th victory of the year for the Twins. On to the Big Apple ...Snapshot (chart via Fangraphs) Download attachment: Snapshot101.png Jason Castro quietly had a very nice season for the Twins, but he was overshadowed by many of his teammates. He had the second-best season of his career at the plate, surpassing the numbers he had posted the previous three years. He also played a role in turning the pitching staff from having the worst ERA in the league in 2016 to 20th this season. Castro was the only significant addition the Twins made this offseason, which makes their turnaround from 103 losses to the postseason all the more impressive. It was the guys who were already in place who really led this team out of the basement. Guys like Brian Dozier, who was 2-for-2 with his 30th double, 78th walk and scored his 106th run. Chris Gimenez hit a pinch-hit homer, his seventh of the season and Joe Mauer had an RBI double. Joe closes out the regular season with a .305 batting average and an .810 OPS. That's the first time he's hit those marks since 2013. Byron Buxton stole his 29th base of the season. The only time he was thrown out stealing all year was when he overslid the bag. Miguel Sano was 0-for-3 with a strikeout, and did not look especially comfortable the two times he had to run to first base. Paul Molitor has until Tuesday morning to submit his roster for the Wild Card game. It seems likely Sano will be present, but the Twins skipper will have a difficult decision to make as to whether or not to start Sano or turn to him as a pinch hitter. It was nice to see Colon’s season end on a high note, especially after he struggled in September. The game ended with Gabriel Moya, who entered the game in the eighth inning with the score 4-1, picking up his first career save. He struck out two batters over 1.2 perfect innings. So that does it for the regular season. Next up: The Wild Card game in New York. I'm already stressed out just thinking about it. This is gonna be awesome. Final AL Central Standings Cleveland 102-60 Minnesota 85-77 (-17) Kansas City 80-82 (-22) Chicago 67-95 (-35) Detroit 64-98 (-38) Final AL Wild Card Standings WC1: Yankees 91-71 (+6) WC2: Minnesota 85-77 Kansas City 80-82 (-5) Angels 80-82 (-5) Tampa Bay 80-82 (-5) Postgame With Molitor Pitcher Usage Doing something different for the finale. Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the staff over the course of the entire season: Download attachment: Pitching101.png Looking Ahead Mon: OFF Tue: Twins (Ervin Santana) at Yankees (Luis Severino), 6:00 pm CT Wed: OFF Thu: Twins (TBD) at Cleveland (TBD) … book it. Looking Back DET 3, MIN 2: Twins Lose In Romine Sideshow Game MIN 6, DET 3: Dozier, Escobar Lead Offense To Victory CLE 5, MIN 2: Ervin Caps Banner Year With 5 Shutout Innings Click here to view the article

It was all smiles and high fives in the Twins dugout as they crushed the Diamondbacks to complete the sweep Sunday afternoon. They’ve now won four in a row and 11 of their last 14 games. As a sign things have truly turned the corner for the Twins, they forced an opposing team to use a position player as a pitcher. Good to see the other guys have to revert to that tactic.Win Expectancy (via Fangraphs) Download attachment: WinEx820.png Top 3 Twins per WPA: Buxton .125 | Kepler .096 | Polanco .069 The Twins offense put up a nine spot to open the game, ensuring it would be a nice little low-stress Sunday at the ballpark. That kind of an inning obviously took a team effort, but Eddie Rosario provided the marquee moment when he absolutely crushed a grand slam. Twins W-L Record Overall: 63-59 Last 10: 7-3 Last 20: 13-7 Last 40: 21-19 Last 80: 39-41 AL Central Standings Cleveland 68-54 Minnesota 63-59 (-5.0) Kansas City 62-61 (-6.5) AL Wild Card Standings WC1: Yankees 66-57 (+2.5) WC2: Twins 63-59 Angles 64-60 (back mere percentage points) Kansas City 62-61 (-1.5) Seattle 63-62 (-1.5) Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Download attachment: Bullpen820.png Looking Ahead MON: Twins (TBD) at White Sox (Carson Fulmer), 4:10 pm CT MON: Twins (TBD) at White Sox (Carlos Rodon), Game 2 TUE: Twins (Kyle Gibson) at White Sox (Lucas Giolito), 7:10 pm CT WED: Twins (Ervin Santana) at White Sox (James Shields), 7:10 pm CT Question of the Day The MLB Little League Classic is tonight. Do you have any memories to share of meeting a ballplayer when you were a kid? If not, who was your favorite player growing up? Click here to view the article

Sunday’s win over Detroit wasn’t pretty, but after what Twins Territory had to suffer through in 2016, we’ll take anything we can get. After mustering just 59 wins last season, the 2017 Twins have now hit that mark in just 116 games.Win Expectancy (via Fangraphs) Download attachment: WinEx813.png Brian Dozier led off the game with a home run, his sixth big fly already this month. That’s now 19 of Dozier’s 23 homers this season that have been solo shots. Miguel Sano also homered, driving a two-run shot in the third inning. In contrast, 15 of Sano’s 26 homers have been with runners on. In between those two taters was a whole lotta bunting. The Twins offense has been hotter than a furnace, but they decided to give away a bunch of outs early in this one. They bunted three times in the first three innings, one of which was a successful squeeze bunt by Byron Buxton and one was an unsuccessful sacrifice by Robbie Grossman in which the lead runner was thrown out. They were feeling awfully generous on defense, too. Twins were up 4-1 in the fifth inning, but opened that frame with a Miguel Sano missed-catch error at first base. Things got really weird from there, as Chris Gimenez had an implosion behind the plate. Four balls got by Gimenez in the inning, three were scored passed balls and the other was credited as a wild pitch to Ervin Santana. To put that into perspective, Jason Castro has just four passed balls all season. Twins W-L Record Overall: 59-57 (.509) Last 10: 8-2 (.800) Last 20: 10-10 (.500) Last 40: 19-21 (.475) Last 80: 40-40 (.500) AL Central Standings Cleveland 63-52 Minnesota 59-57 (-4.5) AL Wild Card Standings WC1: Yankees 61-54 WC2: Minnesota 59-57, Angels 60-58 (tied, Sunday LAA game in progress) Seattle 59-59 (-1.0, Sunday game in progress) Kansas City 58-58 (-1.0, Sunday game in progress) Defensive Lineups Here’s a look at the starting lineups from the past seven games: Download attachment: Lineups813.png Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Download attachment: Bullpen813.png Looking Ahead Mon: Off Tue: Twins (Bartolo Colon) vs. Cleveland (Danny Salazar), 7:10 pm CT Wed: Twins (Kyle Gibson) vs. Cleveland (Carlos Carrasco), 7:10 pm CT Click here to view the article

Twins pitchers have been much more successful this season when Jason Castro has been behind the plate. Are there stats we can point to that prove he’s a far superior game caller/pitcher whisperer than Chris Gimenez? Or are there too many variables that cloud the numbers?One of the fun parts that came from the Twins signing Castro as a free agent over the winter was we had numerous writers take deep dives into the value of catcher framing. Castro has long been considered to be excellent at presenting pitches, and the numbers indicate he’s having another good season. Castro ranks ninth in the league in framing runs above average, but what about his game calling and ability to manage a pitching staff? Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be any good way of quantifying those things. Twins pitchers have performed significantly better when throwing to Castro than Gimenez. Is that trend likely to continue? That I’m not sure. In terms of framing, Gimenez is no slouch, either. He ranks 31st among the 83 catchers Baseball Prospectus has ranked. Gimenez also controls the running game well and, at least from the outside looking in, seems to be one of the more fun guys to be around on the team. Plus, he’s provided valuable versatility and has even hit better than Castro this year. If it sounds like I’m trying to butter him up before I drop the hammer, it’s because that’s exactly what’s happening. I like Gimenez, and think he’s a good backup catcher, but the following numbers don’t put him in a positive light. Overall team stats Pitching to Castro: 587.2 IP, 4.13 ERA, .758 OPS against, .286 BABIP Pitching to Gimenez: 267.9 IP, 6.30 ERA, .882 OPS against, .324 BABIP Castro: 26 of 65 starts (40%) have come against teams with OPS above league average. Gimenez: 10 of 31 (32.3%) starts have come against teams with OPS above league average. Broken down by pitcher (minimum 50 IP total this season) Ervin Santana Castro: 96.2 IP, 2.61 ERA, .664 OPS against, .244 BABIP Gimenez: 33. IP, 5.18 ERA, .745 OPS against, .172 BABIP Kyle Gibson Castro: 56.2 IP, 6.19 ERA, .879 OPS against, .323 BABIP Gimenez: 38.0 IP, 5.92 ERA, .912 OPS against, .342 BABIP Jose Berrios Castro: 42.0 IP, 3.00 ERA, .558 OPS against, .254 BABIP Gimenez: 37.2 IP, 4.06 ERA, .776 OPS against, .297 BABIP Adalberto Mejia Castro: 55.2 IP, 4.04 ERA, .754 OPS against, .279 BABIP Gimenez: 14.2 IP, 4.91 ERA, .915 OPS against, .308 BABIP Hector Santiago Castro: 60.0 IP, 4.65 ERA, .715 OPS against, .242 BABIP Gimenez: 10.1 IP, 11.32 ERA, 1.109 OPS against, .387 BABIP Phil Hughes Castro : 28.2 IP, 6.91 ERA, 1.046 OPS against, .388 BABIP Gimenez: 25.0 IP, 3.96 ERA, .709 OPS against, .263 BABIP I’m confident in concluding that Castro has been much better at the game calling/pitcher handling aspect than Gimenez this season. I’m less confident saying Gimenez has been downright bad at it. Santana has thrown by far the most innings for the Twins this season, so his numbers weigh heavily on the team stats. So this could be the case where, for whatever reason, Ervin is much more comfortable pitching to Castro and his splits have skewed the big picture. There is some debate whether looking at catcher ERA between two guys on the same team is even valuable, but it really doesn’t hold much value when comparing guys on different teams. I’m going to do it anyway. For what it’s worth (maybe nothing) Gimenez has the worst catcher ERA among all players with at least 10 starts behind the plate. If it sounds like I’m having a hard time drawing conclusions from all this info, it’s because I am. That’s where you come in. Let me know what you think. Full disclosure: I am a huge Mitch Garver fan, but I see no reason why he can’t coexist on the roster with both Castro and Gimenez (assuming they use a four-man bench). Along with catching, Garver has played some left field and first base down in Rochester. He’s having a fantastic season, but his ability to hit lefties (.996 OPS) would be particularly valuable on the big club. So I see Mitch more as a bench bat who can catch than a threat to take over as the primary backup catcher. Click here to view the article

Jose Berrios pitched much better than the box score suggests, as he went blow-for-blow with Chris Sale before the Twins bullpen allowed a couple of inherited runners to score. A few questionable managerial decisions did not aid the Twins in their comeback attempt.Win Expectancy & Top 5 Plays (via Fangraphs) Download attachment: WinEx626.png Download attachment: TopPlays626.png In the early goings it looked like we might be seeing Berrios’ first clunker this season. In the first inning, he gave up two runs on four hits, one of them a homer, and a walk. It could have been much worse, but a double play in the middle of it all softened the damage. Berrios recovered, retiring 13 of the next 14 batters he faced. Chris Gimenez slugged a solo homer in the third inning, tying his career high with five on the season. He cleared the Green Monster, check it out: Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Download attachment: Pen626.png *Dillion Gee was optioned to Rochester after the game to make room for Hector Santiago, who will be activated from the DL to start tomorrow. Tuesday Twins (Hector Santiago, 5.36 ERA) at Boston (Drew Pomeranz, 4.07 ERA), 6:10 pm CT Pomeranz has some eyebrow-raising reverse platoon splits this season. Left-handed batters have a .997 OPS off him while he’s held righties to a .687 OPS. He also hasn’t been as good at home, registering a 4.89 ERA and 1.37 WHIP at Fenway Park. Santiago’s last start was June 6, though he threw three no-hit innings Wednesday in a rehab start. He’ll likely be on a conservative pitch count. Hector has been very good over his last five starts against Boston, posting a 1.88 ERA. AL Central Standings Cleveland 40-35 Twins 39-35 (-0.5) Kansas City 37-37 (-2) Detroit 33-42 (-6.5) Chicago 32-42 (-7) Just a heads up so nobody worries about me, I'll be off the grid for the next couple days and won't be able to provide recaps for Tuesday or Wednesday night's games. As always, thanks for reading! Click here to view the article

The Minnesota Twins started a catcher in left field on Saturday in Cleveland and walked out of the ballpark with a win and a chance to sweep the Indians. That catcher, Chris Gimenez, would later move to first base defensively and hit a mammoth home run in the ninth inning to pad the Twins' one-run lead by one more. This was originally published at FoulPlaybyPlay.com, a community for foul-mouthed, sports broadcasters providing commercial-free, uncensored play-by-play and color commentary during select games. To join our webinar for Monday's game, visit here and fill out the registration form at the bottom of the page. On Saturday, Twins’ manager Paul Molitor had to scratch right fielder Max Kepler after fouling a ball off his right foot on Friday, and left fielder Eddie Rosario due to illness. And since Eduardo Escobar had to play third base for Miguel Sano (illness) for a second straight day, he couldn’t play left field for Rosario. Enter Gimenez, the Twins’ backup catcher, mop-up reliever and, now, fifth outfielder. Despite liabilities in both corners of the outfield, Gibson walking four over four and two-thirds innings, and Kennys Vargas repeatedly getting in Brian Dozier’s way defensively, the Twins found a way -- like they have all season. Matt Belisle almost blew it for the Twins but battled after falling off the first base bag and missing a double-play throw that allowed the tying run to score. Dozier didn’t miss a big mistake on a fastball up and in and broke the 2-2 tie in the eighth inning, and Rosario came on to play left, moving Gimenez to first so the Twins wouldn’t lose their backup catcher for the rest of the game. Brandon Kintzler, a closer averaging six strikeouts per nine innings, gave up a two-out double to Francisco Lindor before locking up the save. He’s tied for the league lead in saves at 20. The Twins bullpen, the worst in baseball, picked up Kyle Gibson, who failed to complete six innings for the tenth time in 13 starts. He also failed to complete five innings for the fourth time in his last 13 starts. Taylor Rogers and Tyler Duffey carried the bulk of the load again, and the Twins got their most unlikely and impressive win of the season to pull within a half game of Cleveland in the American League Central Division. Then the Twins went to work on Sunday, taking an early 2-0 lead thanks to a two-run double by catcher Jason Castro. And with Ervin Santana finding his command and pounding the strike zone, the Twins completed the sweep of Cleveland and moved into first place in the AL Central with two weeks until the All-Star Break. It was the vintage Santana the Twins will need to remain competitive this season. He was getting swings and misses on sliders buried in the dirt and painting the corners with 95-mile-per-hour heat while walking no one and striking out seven over six shutout innings. Twins fans keep awaiting the regression, and you feel it’s got to show itself over this stretch where the Twins face quality starter after quality starter everyday for over a week, all on the road. Luckily, the Twins can’t seem to lose on the road, winning over 70 percent of their road games. That’s better than everyone but the MLB-best Houston Astros. The Twins play 21 games in 20 days entering the All-Star Break, with four of those games coming against the surging Kansas City Royals. They have 15 of those games to go, so if the Twins can hang around the .500 mark entering the All-Star Break, they’d not only be in contention, but potential buyers at the Trade Deadline. Instead of searching for pitching prospects for the near future, Falvey might be forced to consider pitching rentals for this season. Maybe free-agent-to-be Jake Arrieta could be had for Eduardo Escobar now that Kyle Schwarber’s been demoted. San Diego’s Clayton Richard is also a free agent after the season, and with the Padres’ glaring needs in left field and at shortstop, Falvey could target Brad Hand as a relief pitcher to include with Richard. Hand won’t be easy to acquire, though, given his stellar K:BB ratio (4.25) and the fact he won’t be a free agent until 2020. I’d say only Nick Gordon and maybe Zach Granite are off the table if your Falvey, but it might take one of them to get Hand if Escobar, Polanco, Grossman or Rosario aren’t desired. The Twins just got bullpen reinforcements in Dillon Gee and sidearmer Trevor Hildenberger, so they’ll get a sense of whether baseball’s worst bullpen is trending up entering the All-Star Break. Phil Hughes could even join the bullpen sometime soon, and while we don’t know what to expect of Hughes, just having another guy out there who can throw more than one inning would be a blessing for a starting rotation that rarely pitches six innings. Hughes has tossed two scoreless innings with AAA Rochester, allowing one hit and two walks while striking out one. Glen Perkins is still a long way from contributing to the Twins, but would be a welcomed addition come mid-July or early August. One thing is clear -- the Twins’ rebuild is way ahead of schedule. F@*k Dick and Bert will be trying something a little different on Monday, as Jose Berrios takes on Chris Sale and the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park starting at 6 p.m. CST. We’re doing a webinar so you can get involved with the show. You can register for the webinar by following the link above and filling out the registration form. Then use the login form below it to join us for a drink, and we'll talk Twins baseball and real life.

Miguel Sano, Max Kepler and Eddie Rosario were unavailable to start and the Twins were facing arguably the best pitcher in the American League. But thanks to a plus performance from the pitching staff, a key managerial decision, big hits in big situations and amazing defense, the Twins pulled out a hard-fought victory anyway.Win Expectancy and Top 5 Plays (via Fangraphs) Download attachment: WinEx624.png Download attachment: TopPlays624.png There was a lot of great stuff to get to from this one, but nothing can beat how it ended. Check out this amazing diving catch from Byron Buxton to record the final out: Per Statcast, the catch probability was 49 percent. Buxton was 0-for-4 with three strikeouts, but he made another tough catch up agaisnt the wall in the third inning. Taylor Rogers, who bailed out Belisle in the seventh and pitched a scoreless eighth, picked up his fourth win of the year and Brandon Kintzler earned his 20th save, with a hat tip going to Buxton for that beautiful catch. Mauer had an excellent game as the DH, going 2-for-2 with a double, a run scored and a pair of walks. Postgame With Gimenez Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Download attachment: Pen624.png Sunday Twins (Ervin Santana, 2.97 ERA) at Cleveland (Josh Tomlin, 6.07 ERA), 12:10 pm CT Tomlin has been struggling of late, posting an 8.76 ERA over his past three starts. Opposing hitters have hit .407/.435/.746 (1.181 OPS) off him during that span. Santana has also been having a rough go of late, but in his last five starts against Cleveland he’s 3-1 with a 1.72 ERA. AL Central Standings Cleveland 39-34 Twins 38-34 (-0.5) Kansas City 37-36 (-2) Chicago 32-41 (-7) Detroit 32-41 (-7) Yep, after all that’s happened the road warrior Twins will have Ervin Santana on the mound tomorrow with the opportunity to not only sweep Cleveland, but also move back into first place. Man, this team. Click here to view the article