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Twins fans are blinded by nostalgia when it comes to 2019's Twins' Bomba Squad. Image courtesy of Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports In 2019, the Twins put together one of the greatest seasons in franchise history. They won 101 games - second-best in Twins history - and cruised to a division win. Known as the Bomba Squad, the team broke numerous home run records, including MLB’s team record of 307, and they had five players hit 30 or more home runs. It looked like a youth movement was leading the way, but sustained success eluded them, both in the postseason and in subsequent years. In the postseason, the Yankees swept the Twins. pushing their playoff losing streak to 16 games. People look back at that team as one of the few times the Twins could be considered "true contenders," but in reality, they are blinded by nostalgia. The failures of the team all come down to sustained success. Sustained success is something that has been echoed time and time again since Derek Falvey and Thad Levine took over the team in 2016. The reasoning behind it is simple: anything can happen in the playoffs. The more times you make the playoffs, the more chances you have to go on a World Series run. The primary way to achieve this level of success is through team control. When trading at the deadline, players are often acquired as rentals. But trading for players with a year or two of team control gives the receiving team much more value. The same goes for signing team-friendly contract extensions. The Twins have committed to this philosophy in recent years through multiple moves. Pablo Lopez - traded for with two years of team control Chris Paddack - traded for with three years of team control and then a contract extension Tyler Mahle - traded for with 1.5 years of team control Jorge Lopez - traded for with 2.5 years of team control Gio Urshela - trade for with two years of team control Controlling players for multiple years solidifies parts of the team while also giving the organization the financial freedom to build around these players. In 2019, however, the organization ditched this idea. 2018 was a disappointing year, and in the following offseason, the Twins decided to fill their gaps with one-year rentals. It started in November when the Twins filled their first base gap by picking up CJ Cron off of waivers. Then they signed Jonathan Schoop to a one-year deal at second base, followed up by a one-year deal (plus a team option) to aging slugger Nelson Cruz. In February 2019, the Twins acquired Marwin Gonzalez for a two-year deal. To "fix" their issues in the rotation, they signed Martin Perez to a one-year deal. Notice the pattern here? It would have been easy to write off the season, except all those rentals started off hot and propelled the team into playoff contention. It became even more complicated as the season went on. By midseason, the one-year rentals were already starting to decline. Cron got hurt and had a bad second half. Perez had a hot start but got rocked the rest of the season. Schoop had a bad month in June and was mostly replaced by the up-and-coming Luis Arraez. Only Cruz continued to shine and was awarded the team MVP as a 39-year-old. By the time the trade deadline rolled around, either the front office felt that the early season success truly was sustainable despite warning signs, or they felt pressured to make a move to push the team further into contention. They added Sergio Romo and Sam Dyson. Romo was decent to finish the year, and the Dyson trade is arguably one of the worst of Derek Falvey's time. In the end, the acquisitions didn't matter enough, and the Twins fell short of the Yankees in the ALDS. The 2019 team produced great memories but had a lack of substance behind them. When one takes a step back and looks at the whole picture, one realizes how deceptive the year was in evaluating the Twins' future. The 2019 Twins were entertaining to watch, but when it comes to their effect on the franchise, people are blinded by nostalgia. View full article

For this installment of the AL Central Rundown series, we will be taking a look at second base. This is a position that will look a little different for the Minnesota Twins this season, but what will it look like for the rest of the division? Let’s dive in.The Rundown After some changes to the position leading into the 2020 season, second base will, for the most part, look the same as it did a year ago within the American League Central, as each of the five projected Opening Day starters at second base were members of their team a season ago. The division has a good mix of both experienced veterans, and youthful players at the position, and while there are no clear-cut stars within the division, it is more than fair to say that each of the five second basemen have their own unique set of skills that they will bring to their respective teams in 2021. Detroit Tigers After a rather unremarkable season with the Twins in 2019, Jonathan Schoop took his talents across the division to play for Ron Gardenhire’s Detroit Tigers on a one-year contract in 2020. Schoop did well in the shortened season, as he belted 8 home runs and had a wRC+ of 114 in 44 games as a Tiger. His defense at the position remained solid, as Statcast measured him in at two Outs Above Average. This performance was good enough for the Tigers to decide to bring the 29-year-old Schoop back on another one-year deal for $4.5 million. For the rebuilding Tigers, Schoop is slated to be the 4th highest earning player on the roster. While the results for Schoop were promising in 2020, the advanced metrics tell a slightly worse story of what actually happened. While Schoop produced a respectable wOBA of .334, his expected wOBA stood at just .288, which ranked in the 21st percentile of MLB hitters last season. A big explanation for this was the fact that Schoop had a difficult time elevating the ball in 2020, as his average launch angle dropped to 8.7 degrees, down from a much more efficient 12.7 degrees in 2019 with the Twins. This resulted in Schoop’s Barrel rate dropping from 8.8% in 2019, down to just 5.6% in 2020. It will be interesting to see if this has any effect on Schoop’s performance over a much larger sample size of a full MLB season. Cleveland Much like Detroit has done with Jonathan Schoop, Cleveland has also decided to bring back their veteran second baseman Cesar Hernandez after signing him to a one-year deal prior to the 2020 season. Hernandez will be earning $5 million in 2021, and Cleveland has a club option for $6 million in 2022 with no buyout amount if they choose not to bring him back. It is probably fair to say that Hernandez was the best second baseman in the AL Central a season ago. His 1.9 fWAR lead all second basemen in the division and was the third highest among all second basemen league-wide, behind only DJ LeMahieu and Brandon Lowe. Hernandez was a steady presence for Cleveland most of the season, but he really came on strong over the final month. In his first 24 games of 2020, Hernandez posted an OPS of .685, with very little power, as he hit zero home runs and had a slugging percentage of just .337. However, over his final 34 games the power started to come around, as Hernandez tallied three home runs, 12 doubles and a slugging percentage of .457, helping increase his OPS up to .817 over that span. In addition to a solid above-average bat, Hernandez also has an excellent glove out in the field. In 2020, Hernandez finished tied for third among second basemen with 4 Outs Above Average. Hernandez particularly excels at moving towards his left to make a play defensively, however, moving to his right, or in, can present a challenge for Hernandez at times. Chicago White Sox Perhaps the second basemen with the most intrigue, and the most upside, in the AL Central is former 4th overall pick Nick Madrigal, who was teammates with Twins prospect Trevor Larnach on the 2018 College World Series Champion Oregon State team. Madrigal was a quick mover through the minors, and made his MLB debut last summer, taking over duties as the full time second baseman during the final month of the season, where he hit .340 with a 112 wRC+. Standing at 5’7”, Madrigal does not, and likely will not ever generate much for power, but his freakish contact abilities will allow him to compete for batting titles year in and year out. If he can improve upon his low walk rate of just 3.7% in 2020, Madrigal will make a great on-base threat in that dangerous White Sox lineup. In addition to his bat, Madrigal is also a plus defender at second base. Coming up through the ranks, Madrigal has always been considered a good fielder, and he put that on display this season finishing with 2 Outs Above Average in just 29 games played. Behind Madrigal, the White Sox also have Danny Mendick, who played in 33 games for the White Sox last season, with most of that time coming at second base before Madrigal took over. Mendick posted a slash line of just .243/.281/.383 with a wOBA of .285 and an expected wOBA of just .250, which ranked near the very bottom of position players in MLB last season. Kansas City Royals Kansas City Royals second baseman Nicky Lopez is certainly not the top second baseman in the division, but he is arguably the most exciting player of the group to watch. Lopez makes his hay defensively, where he shines as one of the best defensive second baseman in the game today. In 2020, Lopez lead all second basemen defensively with 6 Outs Above Average and 5 Runs Prevented. Offensively, Lopez needs to pick it up a bit if he would like to have a long MLB career. Since being called up in 2019, Lopez has a wRC+ of just 55 in 159 career games. This ranks dead last among the 226 MLB hitters with at least 500 plate appearances over that time. Despite his poor offensive performance thus far in his MLB career, there is potential for more as he does own a career .378 OBP and a .781 OPS as a minor leaguer. Despite his quickness on the field, and signs of high-end speed, Lopez hasn’t utilized that very effectively early on in his career, as he is just 1 for 7 on stolen base attempts and has a BsR (Base Running Runs Above Average) of -2.6. Beyond Lopez, the options for the Royals at second base are limited. The two most likely candidates currently within the organization are Hanser Alberto, who has spent parts of five MLB seasons with the Texas Rangers and Baltimore Orioles, and Gabriel Cancel, who has not played a game above Double-A. However, neither player is currently on the 40-man roster, so expect the Royals to give Lopez plenty of leash this season as he continues to develop. Minnesota Twins Second base will be an intriguing storyline to follow for the Minnesota Twins this season. With the addition of Andrelton Simmons, Jorge Polanco will transition over to second base, a position he is presumably much better suited for. However, this creates the issue with what to do with Luis Arraez, who is more than good enough to be in the starting lineup in his own right. Rocco Baldelli will likely use a variety of options to get Arraez involved, which could include a transition to Left Field. Back in 2019, Jorge Polanco got off to a great start to the season, as he had an OPS of 1.000 through the first two months of the campaign, which eventually led to him being named the American League starting shortstop in the All-Star game. However, after that hot start to 2019, Polanco has been nothing all that remarkable as a hitter. Over the final four months of 2019, Polanco had an OPS of .761, before posting a .658 OPS in 55 games in 2020. If he struggles with the bat again this year, it will not surprise me to see Arraez start getting more playing time over Polanco at second, especially if one of Alex Kirilloff, Brent Rooker or Trevor Larnach forces their way into the lineup in left field. Jorge Polanco’s defensive struggles at shortstop are well known by nearly all Twins fans at this point. The parts of shortstop that gave Polanco the most trouble were running in on the ball, and covering the hole between short and third, and then making that throw across the diamond to first. At second, this should be less of a problem for him. Grade ’Em Here is how the Steamer project system has these second basemen performing, among other AL second basemen in 2021. Note, Jorge Polanco is not listed among second basemen, but rather he is in the shortstop projections. Download attachment: Screen Shot 2021-02-17 at 8.42.22 PM.png Download attachment: Screen Shot 2021-02-17 at 8.45.24 PM.png Detroit Tigers: C Jonathan Schoop will provide a nice veteran presence to this young Tigers core as they continue transition into a new era. He is not a game changer by any means, but that is not what the Tigers need him to be at this point. The best thing Schoop can provide the Tigers is getting off to a great start, and potentially creating some trade value at the trade deadline. Cleveland: B- Cesar Hernandez is by all accounts a quality veteran second baseman. Like Schoop, he won’t be a needle mover, especially as Cleveland looks to reload, but he will give them quality at-bats at the top of the order, and a good enough glove in the field to keep from being a big hole in the Cleveland lineup. Chicago White Sox: B+ The future is certainly exciting for what Nick Madrigal could bring both offensively and defensively to the White Sox. While his severe lack of power will limit his celling, there is no reason why he couldn’t one day develop into an All-Star level player. Will that happen in 2021 is yet to be determined, but any sign of progression will continue to excite the White Sox fanbase about his future. Kansas City Royals: C- The only thing keeping this grade above a D is the potential that the soon to be 26-year-old Nicky Lopez has for improvement. However, if he fails to progress even a little offensively, the Royals could have one of the worst second base situations in the American League, and that is despite the great defense Lopez provides. Minnesota Twins: B There is still a lot of question marks that need to be answered with Jorge Polanco. Does that bat come back to what we have seen from him before? Will the move to second base have a big impact on Polanco defensively, or will he remain a below average fielder there as well? How much time does Luis Arraez get at second base, and will he eventually become the everyday second baseman for the Twins? With all of those questions, it is hard to give them a grade above a B, even with the potential that both Polanco and Arraez still have. The Voice of the People Here’s how people voted on Twins Daily’s twitter poll that ran through Wednesday night. Take it with a grain of salt, as there was defiantly some bias in the voting. AL Central Rundown Series AL Central Rundown: Catchers AL Central Rundown: First Basemen Click here to view the article

In early December 2018 the Minnesota Twins found their replacement for Brian Dozier. With the fan-favorite having been traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers prior to his free agency, Derek Falvey and Thad Levine needed to find another second basemen. Replacing Dozier’s pop wouldn’t be easy, but they tabbed a former All Star to do so when they inked Jonathan Schoop to a one-year deal. Now with the season behind us we can evaluate how it turned out. At the time of his signing I wasn’t too terribly interested in the pact. Dozier provided a significant amount of power, but also displayed strong on-base skills. For a Twins team also losing Joe Mauer, getting guys that could fill the basepaths seemed like a must. Schoop owned just a career .294 OBP and he was coming off a poor .682 OPS. After being dealt from the Orioles to the Brewers for the stretch run, things got even worse. Obviously, it was the goal of Minnesota to rekindle the 25-year-old All Star that picked up MVP votes in 2017. He’d played all but two games from 2016-2017 and could be counted on as an everyday contributor. Although range wasn’t his greatest asset at second base, there was a howitzer attached to his shoulder and the arm would help to substantially upgrade the defense that Dozier brought to the position for the Twins. We didn’t know that Major League Baseball was going to juice the pill for 2019, but it helped a guy like Schoop to launch dingers at a relatively significant rate. With so many power hitters around him in the lineup however, his skillset became somewhat redundant and the emergence of Luis Arraez made him replaceable. The 23 longballs in just 121 games was plenty respectable, and the .777 OPS checked in as the second highest mark over the course of a full big-league season. At the end of the day though, it was the .304 OBP that likely did him in. The bulk of his 2019 was spent batting in the final three spots of the lineup. Even outside of run production lineup positioning, Schoop became a punchline due to the times in which he would come through. Late and close situations saw him post just a .658 OPS while he owned just a .618 OPS with runners in scoring position and two outs. By leverage, he was at his best (.813 OPS) in the lowest stress scenarios. If you needed a hollow home run it seemed that Schoop became a lock. Having just turned 28 there is plenty of runway ahead for the Curacao native. It obviously won’t be with the Twins, and I’m not entirely sure he’s rebuilt his value on the back of his 2019 exploits. Power at second base isn’t exactly guaranteed, but the sport has also shifted much more towards an on-base production model. It was that skill Minnesota appeared to need most, and ultimately that downfall that led to him being replaced. There’s no reason to categorize the $7.5 million Minnesota handed to Schoop as foolish, but I think we can effectively say it worked out as planned. That’s a bit more than you’d like for a replaceable asset, but given the dollars paid to Arraez it should be considered as a wash. Minnesota’s offense was otherworldly in 2019, and whatever Schoop provided became a relative footnote. For more from Off The Baggy, click here. Follow @tlschwerz

With the band-aid now being ripped off and the offseason underway for the Minnesota Twins, no time will be wasted when considering how to reload for the 2020 Major League Baseball season. Rocco Baldelli’s club isn’t going to be an underdog going into the new year, and they should have plenty of momentum built towards a second straight AL Central Division title. When considering who may be on the way out, Derek Falvey has more than a handful of decisions to make. There’s a very strong group of players that lay the foundation for the Twins core, but we’ve seen where deficiencies may lie, and opportunities exist. With a handful of guys set to take their talents elsewhere, but choice or designation, it will be on the collective decisions made by Minnesota to best position the roster for success. Not every guy with the ability to return should, and it will be in those difficult discussions that the skeleton of the roster is constructed. Looking at each situation individually, here is what I’d both suggest and think that the Twins will do. Nelson Cruz: $12MM option in 2020 This picked up today (October 9) and I’d imagine the front office couldn’t have ever been more excited to spend such a sum. Jake Odorizz: Free Agent After coaching him to a career season and a debut in the All-Star game, it would make plenty of sense for the Twins to retain his services. A qualifying offer somewhere around $18.5MM could be doled out, but that tends to lean more on draft pick compensation should the player decide to leave. Instead I’d think that Minnesota should make him a long-term part of their rotation and offer him something like $45MM over the next three years. Kyle Gibson: Free Agent The former 2009 1st round draft pick will very likely be in another organization for the first time in his career. At 32-years-old it’s the end of an era and will be very different for all parties involved. Dealing with health issues all season didn’t do any favors to Gibson’s performance although he did set a new career best strikeout rate. Unfortunately, a rotation that needs to improve substantially just won’t have room. Jason Castro- Free Agent Wrapping up the three year deal he signed with the Twins, Castro’s free agency hits at the same time Mitch Garver has emerged. Jason Caught a career low 79 games in a split opportunity situation this year, but he posted his highest OPS since 2013. Garver should see something closer to 80% of the starts in 2020, but a veteran backup makes a ton of sense. The Twins could ask Jason what his thoughts are on a part time spot, or they could find someone or a similar ilk on the open market. My hunch is that his time here is done. Jonathan Schoop- Free Agent A one-year deal following a down season gave Schoop the opportunity to bounce back. He did that even while leaving some to be desired. His .777 OPS was nearly .100 points higher than 2018 but Luis Arraez emerged and took over his starting role. At 28 Schoop should still have a decent market at a down position, and even if his bat isn’t what it was in 2017, his arm keeps him significantly above average at the position. Good find for someone, but not going to be back in Minnesota. C.J. Cron- Final Year Arbitration After making just south of $5MM in 2019 Cron is looking at an increase near $6-8MM in 2020. He certainly didn’t finish the year the way he started, but a mangled thumb gave him issues since July. Cron will be only 30 years old and looked the part of a very strong contributor. It doesn’t make a ton of sense to move Miguel Sano to 1B and taking over as a primary DH for Nelson Cruz down the line seems a more logical step anyways. The market isn’t flush with options, and Cron can be had in his final arbitration year as he paves the way for Brent Rooker or Alex Kirilloff to take over. It’s not a guarantee, but I’d expect him back. Martin Perez- $7.5MM Team Option There’s no way the Twins are paying Perez nearly double what he made for them this season. Despite a strong start he was a disaster down the stretch and that led to more rotation questions than they hoped to handle. It would make some sense to bring him back at a lesser figure on a one-year pact that can be supplanted by developing arms on the farm. I don’t think the Twins will (or should) prioritize Perez, but he could be a factor depending on how the rest of the starting rotation is addressed. Sam Dyson- Final Year Arbitration At the deadline Minnesota added the best arm that was moved in the Giants Dyson. Unfortunately, he came with unannounced red flags and provided less than zero value in his time here. Now having undergone shoulder surgery, Minnesota will likely want no part of his 2020 situation. It’s too bad for the Twins, and at worst a bad look for Dyson. The Giants claim they didn’t know about an injury, and Sam suggests he’d been pitching through it for years. Good riddance to this one, and hopefully some compensation can be recouped through the league. Sergio Romo- Free Agent Entering his age 37 season Romo is no longer a spring chicken. Despite his weird knee tendencies, he’s also been a pretty strong beacon of health. Effective once again this season, the Twins should covet his presence in the clubhouse next year. Romo has a great personality and brought a level of excitement to the mound. There’s significant strikeout stuff on the back of a sweeping slider, and fortifying the relief corps a bit further this winter would be ideal. For more from Off The Baggy, click here. Follow @tlschwerz

The Twins drop the rubber match to the Washington Nationals as they were outhit 14-12 and outscored 12-6. Kyle Gibson was hit hard but showed some positive signs while most of the offense scuffled against left-hander Patrick Corbin.Box Score Gibson: 4.2 IP, 8 H, 5 ER (6 R), 4 BB, 5 K, 6.13% strikes (57 of 93 pitches) Bullpen: 4.1 IP, 6 H, 6 ER, 2 BB, 4 K Home Runs: Cruz (36), Schoop (22) Multi-Hit Games: Cruz (2-for-5), Schoop (3-for-5) Top 3 WPA: Schoop (.092), Castro (.071), Cruz (.061) Bottom 3 WPA: Gibson (-.302), Stewart (-.120), Stashak (-.47) Gibson Hit Hard in Return to Mound but It Wasn’t All Bad After missing two starts Gibby returned to the mound with the tough task of facing the Washington Nationals who were going for the series win. The Nationals are a top 10 team in all of baseball when it comes to facing right-handed pitching as well as being one of the best teams in baseball since June 1. Throughout the evening Washington was hovering around .380 in xBA, per Statcast, which means Gibson was getting hit hard which was mostly due to not hitting his spots. For example, Adam Eaton’s home run to lead off the fifth inning was left middle/middle, and this was a recurring issue through the night for Gibson. It also didn’t help that he walked four hitters. That said, there were some positive things to note. Gibson’s fastball velocity was actually a tick or two above his average in the first inning before settling in at about 94 mph, which is where he normally sits. A good sign considering the symptoms of ulcerative colitis include weight loss and fatigue. What might have been the most impressive thing from his start tonight was the movement of his off-speed pitches which induced a 21 percent swinging strike rate against a team who Fangraphs has ranked as third in all of baseball in contact percentage. In all, it wasn’t a terrible start and may be somewhat expected considering his recent illness coupled with the line-up he was facing but there were still some positive takeaways. Cruz, Schoop, Garver Hit Well, Rest of Line up Squanders Opportunities As the Nationals were smoking the ball from the top of the order to the bottom, the Twins struggled to make hard contact against the soft-throwing lefty Patrick Corbin. Through the evening the Twins xBA was in right around .275 give or take 10 points or so before plummeting in the later innings to the low .200’s. Rosario responded to a Rendon homer in the top of the first with a RBI single to right scoring Luis Arraez who had doubled on a ball that had an xBA of .020 (yes, the “2” is in the right spot). Cruz blasted his 36th home run in the bottom of the third while Mitch Garver was about two feet away from hitting his 31st home run of the season in the bottom of the fifth. Other than Schoop, who hit his 22nd home run in the eighth as well as a 109 mph line drive at an umpire, the rest of the offense was pretty stagnant. This was a little surprising as this was the best lineup the Twins had in the three game series with the Nationals. Postgame With Baldelli Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet Click here for a review of the number of pitches thrown by each member of the bullpen over the past five days. Click here to view the article

The Twins offense cracked open in Saturday night’s 5-3 victory. Mitch Garver drove in four runs, including the game-winning three-run shot in the seventh inning.The win increased Minnesota’s AL Central lead to 6.5 games.Box Score Odorizzi: 5.1 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 10 K, 67% strikes (66 of 99 pitches) Bullpen: 3.2 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K Home Runs: Garver 2 (28) Multi-Hit Games: Garver (2-for-3), Astudillo (2-for-4) Top 3 WPA: Garver .248, Schoop .196, Sano .081 Bottom 3 WPA: Cron -.171, Rosario -.121, Polanco -.020 Garver scored the lone run off Cleveland starter Aaron Civale on a solo shot in the first inning. Garver’s 27th homer set the record for the most in a season by a Twins catcher. Earl Battey hit 26 in 1963. Jake Odorizzi threw 5 1/3 innings of two-run ball, falling one short of his career high with 10 strikeouts. The start held more weight, as Michael Pineda was handed a 60-game suspension today for violating the league’s drug policy. Pineda had been the most reliable Twins starter since the break, posting a 3.04 ERA and striking out 9.4 batters per nine innings. The Twins bullpen has been one of the best in the last month. Tyler Duffey continued his success, holding Cleveland to just one run on a wild pitch. Duffey struck out two in his relief of Odorizzi. With Sam Dyson uncertain to return, the Twins are exploring other options out of the pen. Zack Littell allowed one hit in a scoreless seventh inning. Sergio Romo limped off the mound after setting up in the eighth. Taylor Rogers was great again, retiring the side in order to secure the win and his 25th save. The win was important for Minnesota. Avoiding the potential sweep with Indians ace Mike Clevinger on the mound tomorrow, the Twins are more than treading water to win the division. Postgame With Baldelli Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet Click here for a review of the number of pitches thrown by each member of the bullpen over the past five days. Click here to view the article

The Cleveland Indians won, again, against the Detroit Tigers, but the Twins held their own and kept the division lead at 3 1/2 games. Jonathan Schoop continues his power streak as he hit two more home runs today, as the Twins inch closer to breaking two MLB home run records. Jake Odorizzi tossed six solid innings today for a quality start while striking out eight Sox batters as the Twins secured a series win.Box Score Odorizzi: 6 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 8 K, 60.2% strikes (59 of 98 pitches) Bullpen: 3 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K Home Runs: Schoop (20, 21), Garver (24) Multi-Hit Games: Garver (3-4 HR), Polanco (2-4 2B), Schoop (2-4 2 HR) Top 3 WPA: Schoop .302, Odorizzi .120, Polanco .059 Bombas to Start, Bombas to End After the Twins offense scored just three runs last night against the White Sox ace, they came out early and mashed against Ross Detwiler. It started with a three-run homer from Jonathan Schoop for his 20th of the season. The Twins are now just one home run away from Jorge Polanco from breaking the record for most players with 20 home runs in a season. The Twins added some more runs the next inning after a leadoff hit-by-pitch, a double and an intentional walk gave them bases loaded with no outs. Eddie Rosario grounded into a fielder’s choice but beat the throw to drive in one run, and then Miguel Sano smacked a ball that went right through Tim Anderson’s legs for another run. The Twins offense somewhat stalled after these early runs as they struggled to get men on base, and when they did, couldn’t close. In the fourth inning they put together a two-out rally with two hits, and Cruz’s second intentional walk of the game, but Rosario grounded out to end the threat. In the next three innings, the Twins sent just 11 batters to the plate and never had a runner past second. That included Sano being hit by a pitch, which would later put him out of the game, and two hits, one of them by Luis Arraez, who took over for Sano. Schoop had enough of the scoreless innings for the Twins as he mashed his second home run of the game down the third base line. After Cave showed some smart base running and extended a single into a double, Mitch Garver sent a ball high and deep to left-center field to put the Twins up 8-2. Odorizzi Minimizes Damage in Route to Quality Start Just like last week when Odorizzi faced off against this White Sox team, he gave up a run in the first inning. However, he was able to mimnimize the damage as he came back to strike out Moncada after falling behind 3-0, and went upstairs to strike out Anderson to finish the inning. After a big turn around in the first inning, Odorizzi sailed through his next two innings with two 1-2-3 innings where he picked up a strikeout in each inning. After he retired the first batter in the fourth and had set down nine straight, he ran into some trouble after allowing two hits and a walk to load the bases. Odoirzzi was again able to keep the damage minimal as he got a fielder’s choice and picked up his fifth strikeout of the game after giving up just one run. In the fifth inning, Odorizzi picked up two quick outs, but ran into a bit of trouble after allowing a walk and a sharp single to center field. Odorizzi made quick work of Moncada and struck him out on three straight pitches to end the inning. Odorizzi picked up his third 1-2-3 of the game in the sixth which included his eighth strikeout of the game as his night ended and he picked up a quality start. Schoop’s Power Jonathan Schoop continues to mash the ball as of late, and unlike his usual blowout-game home runs, he has been hitting bombas in bigger spots for this Twins offense. In his last five games that he has played, he has six hits, but five of them are home runs. Take a look at the Twins' win percentage at the time of his first 16 home runs and the win probability it added: For reference on his last five home runs: -Aug. 16 Schoop hits two-run go-ahead home run in the seventh. -Aug. 21 Schoop extends lead to five runs with a two-run homer which turned out to be helpful insurance runs. -Last night Schoop homers in the second to extend the lead to 2-0. -Tonight’s second inning three-run home run to get the Twins on the board, and his eighth inning insurance home run (didn’t add that much win probability). Postgame With Baldelli Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet Click here for a review of the number of pitches thrown by each member of the bullpen over the past five days. Click here to view the article

The Twins recovered after a poor performance on Friday to take the series from Detroit and finish the homestand with a 3-3 record. The 7-4 win increases their lead in the AL Central to 3 1/2 games, as Cleveland fell to Kansas City 9-8.Box Score Pérez: 6 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, 68% strikes (68 of 100 pitches) Bullpen: 3 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 2 K Home Runs: C.J. Cron (21), J.Schoop (18) Multi-Hit Games: None Top 3 WPA: Pérez .214, Garver .154, Schoop .101 Martín Pérez returned to Target Field after a very successful road trip in which he allowed just two runs in 11 innings. The bullpen and bats restricted Pérez to no decisions in both starts. The Twins allowed 8-of-9 leadoff batters to reach base in last night’s victory. On Sunday, Pérez surrendered just one. C.J. Cron assisted Pérez to his first win since before the All-Star break with a three-run blast in the fourth inning. Pérez twirled six strong innings, allowing two runs and striking out five. Pérez has walked 3.8 batters-per-nine this year, but gave a free pass to just one hitter on Sunday. His cutter was extremely effective to right-handed batters, which is an important development after the pitch was dominant during the first half of the season, but not so during the middle part of the schedule. Left-hander Matthew Boyd started for Detroit and allowed seven runs in six innings. Jonathan Schoop had one of the four Twins’ hits, as he laced a two-run homer down the left field line in the sixth. The Twins lead the league in OPS against left-handed pitching (.885). Catcher Mitch Garver doubled off the wall in the third to improve his torrid numbers against lefties. Boyd walked five and struck Max Kepler with a pitch in the fourth. The Twins figure to see Boyd at least once more, as they have seven more head-to-head matchups with Detroit. They have scored 10 runs off him in two starts. Cody Stashak continued to be a reliable low-leverage arm out of the bullpen, pitching two innings of one-hit ball with a strikeout. He was helped out by an outstanding catch in left field by Jake Cave. Lewis Thorpe entered in the ninth with less luck, surrendering three hits and two runs. Thorpe escaped the jam and finished the job. Stashak and Thorpe saved the arms of Rogers, Dyson and Romo. All of which will receive two days of much-needed rest. The Twins will enjoy an off-day tomorrow before facing Chicago for a three-game series against Lucas Giolito and the White Sox. Postgame With Baldelli Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet Click here for a review of the number of pitches thrown by each member of the bullpen over the past five days. Click here to view the article

It wasn’t an easy one, but the Twins managed to defeat All-Star lefty Mike Minor and the Rangers in the second game of the series in Arlington, 4-3. Jonathan Schoop hit a clutch game-winning two-run dinger and the bullpen combined to throw 3 1/3 innings of shutout ball.Box Score Odorizzi: 5.2 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, 59.6% strikes (59 of 99 pitches) Bullpen: 3.1 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 3 K Home Runs: Kepler (33), Schoop (17) Multi-Hit Games: Gonzalez (3-for-4), Adrianza (2-for-4) Top 3 WPA: Schoop .288, Romo .230, Rogers .155 Bottom 3 WPA: Cron -.115, Polanco -.113, Garver -.098 Cleveland dropped the second game of their series against the Yankees in New York, which brings the Twins lead to a game and a half atop of the AL Central. That’s the highest advantage the Twins have since Aug. 7, as they now own a 74-48 record, still the fourth best in baseball. Unlike the series opener, it took Minnesota a bit longer to get on the board. After throwing a 26-pitch, but scoreless, first inning, Mike Minor managed to keep the Twins scoreless until the fourth, but they took advantage of a Rougned Odor error, who dropped a Miguel Sanó routine pop-up. Right on the first pitch after that, Max Kepler homered to right field, to give Minnesota a two-run lead. Wunderboy keeps adding accomplishments to his career year. This was his 33rd home run of the season, which moved him closer to the single season record for a Twins outfielder, as informed by our Twins Daily own Ted Schwerzler. He also moved the Twins a bit closer to the all-time single season home run record. All with this bomb: Odorizzi continues to bounce back After the worst month of his career after his rookie season (7.43 ERA this July), Jake Odorizzi continues to show signs of recovery. He couldn’t hold on to the one-run lead he took into the sixth, but he was one out short of a quality start. After tonight, he is now posting a 2.07 ERA in three August starts and 1.95 if you count his last July start, against the Marlins. His improvement brings Twins fans a little more optimism for a playoff run, since he’s starting to look much more like the All-Star he was during the first half of the season--in a much needed time. Other than a rare wild pitch during the fourth inning (only his second as a Twin), he basically didn’t have big problems in his first five innings of the game, allowing the Rangers to score only one run on three hits. But Texas got to him during the sixth and made him pay after he allowed a leadoff double and a two-out walk. Nomar Mazara became the last batter he faced, as he hit a two-out double to deep center field, giving the home team its first lead in the series. But that wouldn’t last very long. The unlikely hero Batting only .217 in his previous 15 games coming into tonight and having hit his last homer in Jul. 28,, I guess it’s hard to say many people envisioned Jonathan Schoop being the one to push Minnesota toward the win. But that’s the magic with this year’s Twins. The Bombas simply won’t stop. He crushed a 2-2 changeup over the plate, following a Marwin Gonzalez single and the Twins retook the lead. Other than hopefully providing Schoop’s season with a sparkle he’s been looking for in the past two months, that home run was the 238th for the Twins this year and they now need 30 to break the Yankees single-season record established last year. Minnesota is on pace to hit 316 this year. The bullpen takes care of business When Odorizzi gave up that lead-blowing double in the sixth, Tyler Duffey was called to put out the fire. He struck out Odor to end the inning and started a very efficient night for the Twins ‘pen. Sam Dyson recorded his third consecutive scoreless outing for Minnesota. He did get some help from the defense, which turned an inning- ending double play after he allowed two runners to reach. In his first appearance since giving up a tenth inning grand slam on Sunday, Taylor Rogers came into the game in the eighth and also held the Rangers scoreless. When most people thought he would come back to record another six-out save, Baldelli decided to bring in Sergio Romo and he also got the job done, earning his 20th save of the year. Hats off to Margo Despite the colder than usual night from the offense, Marwin Gonzalez simply refuses to cool down. After a four-hit night on Thursday, Margo led Minnesota with three hits on the night and he’s now batting .404 since the start of the Atlanta series. Postgame With Baldelli Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet Click here for a review of the number of pitches thrown by each member of the bullpen over the past five days. Click here to view the article

Luis Arraez has been a revelation for the Twins offense and at the same time, Ehire Adrianza has been a very strong utility player. Jonathan Schoop was brought in to take over second base from fan favorite Brian Dozier. He’s had some great hot streaks, but it might make more sense to play Arraez and Adrianza at this point. Could Schoop become the odd-man out?The Twins had a lot of questions when it came to replacing Brian Dozier this off-season. Jonathan Schoop seemed to be a nice, short-term solution at second base. Ehire Adrianza has always seemed to fit the role of utility infielder and few could have predicted the impact Luis Arraez would have at the big-league level. Over the last two seasons, Adrianza has hit .254/.319/.384 with 40 extra-base hits in 176 games. He has also shown defensive flexibility by playing all over the infield including over 660 innings at shortstop during that stretch. Schoop is limited to playing second base as he has logged less than 230 innings at other positions throughout his seven years at the MLB level. The rise of Arraez has also cut into Schoop's time on the field. As a 22-year old, Arraez has put together some unbelievably professional at-bats in his 182 plate appearances. Entering play on Tuesday, he is hitting .356/.429/.444 and he might have a strong argument to be named the AL Rookie of the Year. First year manager Rocco Baldelli certainly has faith in Arraez and if the playoffs started today Arraez would be penciled in at second base. Schoop has compiled some strong numbers in a Twins uniform and Baseball Reference has he accounting for 1.2 WAR. May was a good month for him as he posted an .835 OPS with six home runs and five doubles. He hasn’t had more than four home runs in any other month and his OPS dipped to .622 in June and .787 in July. Since the calendar turned to August, he’s gone 1-for-5 with no extra-base hits. He’s also only started one game in that stretch, Saturday’s contest with the Royals. Currently, the Twins have gotten by with having him relegated to a bench role. What happens if the club needs another relief pitcher? This could force the front office to make a choice between Schoop and one of the other infielders. At this point, Schoop might be the odd man out. While Schoop has been worth more than replacement level when it comes to WAR, his win probability added total is one of the worst totals of his career. He entered play on Tuesday with a -1.28 WPA. His only year with a lower total was 2014 with the Orioles when he accounted for a -3.00 WPA. Schoop has the lowest WPA among qualified batters on the Twins roster and he’s over a full win lower than the next closest qualified batter. Schoop could have some big hits for the Twins in the weeks ahead but he shouldn’t be taking at-bats away from Arraez. At season’s end, Schoop will be a free agent and Arraez will enter the year as the team’s starting second baseman. It helps to have Schoop to add depth to the roster, but it’s getting closer to the point where he might be holding the team back from adding other players (especially pitchers). Do you think it’s time to cut Schoop loose? Leave a COMMENT and start the discussion. Click here to view the article

The Atlanta Braves got going right where they left off last night and hammered Perez early. For the second straight game, the Twins offense was silent through five innings, this time Fried was striking out batters left and right. They awoke in the sixth, and tried another comeback in the ninth, but it wasn’t enough as they drop the series and are in trouble to be up just two games before their series against the Indians.Box Score Perez: 6 IP, 11 H, 6 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, 65.9% strikes (67 of 102 pitches) Bullpen: 3 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 1 K Home Runs: Sano (20) Multi-Hit Games: Rosario (2-for-5), Sano (2-for-5, HR), Cron (2-for-4), Cave (2-for-4, 2 2B) Bottom 3 WPA: Rosario -.049, Schoop -.085, Perez -.321 Braves Ready For Perez The Atlanta Braves came out swinging early today and jumped all over Martin Perez for another rough start by Perez’s. Perez has been the Twins’ worst starter for quite some time now. Since May 30th, 11 starts, he holds a 6.21 ERA and a 1.47 WHIP. Today was no different for him. After getting Ronald Acuna Jr. to fly out to start the game, Albies and Freeman went back-to-back, while both only seeing one pitch. The inning wasn’t over as the Braves put together a 2-out rally with a single and double scoring another run. The home runs and double were all on fastballs left right over the heart of the plate, and Perez paid. After a quick 1-2-3 in the second, the deficit got worse in an ugly third inning that ended featuring the only Twins highlight thus far. The ugly inning went single, single, walk, passed ball to score one, error, RBI single, and a walk to bring in a run. All of this was done with no outs, but what better way to get out of an inning then getting three outs in one pitch. For the second time in just over two weeks, the Twins turned a triple play and both were behind Perez. Last time it was Arraez-Schoop-Sano, and today it started with Sano going to Schoop and ending it with Cron at first. This was the fifth time in franchise history to turn two triple plays in the same season. Perez was able to settle down after that triple play and gave up one run in his next three innings. Perez had two very bad innings, but was able to stay in the game and give the Twins six innings to allow the bullpen to do less work than seemed likely after the first inning. Fried Fires Through Twins Max Fried was red hot to start off this game, and gave the Twins offense a lot of trouble through his first five innings. After the first time through the order, Fried was perfect while striking out seven of the nine batters he faced. Jeremie Rehak was the home plate umpire and had a lot of questionable calls that had the whole Twins dugout in a frenzy and Marwin Gonzalez smashing his helmet into the ground following a strikeout. The Twins got their first hit to start the fourth inning which was a double, and later had runners on second and third with two outs. Miguel Sano drilled a liner to center field that was caught to end the Twins threat. The next inning the Twins had another second and third, this time with only one out, but Fried picked up a huge strikeout on Schoop and then Graver flew out to end the threat again. Through five innings, Fried had given up just three hits while striking out a season-high 10 batters, but much like last night, the Twins woke up in the sixth inning. The Twins put three singles together and Fried’s day was over. Fried ended up being responsible for the three runs that were ultimately scored that inning. Twins Comeback Falls Short The Twins, just like last night, were dead through the first five innings, but in the sixth inning they came alive to make things interesting. Tonight it was four singles and a double in the sixth to score three runs and trim the lead to four. Unlike last night, the Twins couldn’t use the momentum to get closer. Ronald Acuna Jr. put the finishing touches for the Braves this series as he hit a two-run homer in the eighth inning to put them back in front by six runs. The Twins stranded runners on second and third in back-to-back-to-back innings, though the third time was after they scored three runs. The Braves added two more runs in the ninth to really put the game away. The Twins put together three more singles in the ninth to score another run and a Miguel Sano three-run home run brought the deficit down to just four. Next Series The Twins will face the Cleveland Indians tomorrow for a four-game series that will be huge in terms of standings. The Indians won game one today and if they win game two, they will be just two games back of the Twins. Though the starters got hammered these past two games, Zack Litell, Cody Stashak, and Kohl Stewart gave the Twins quality innings in the bullpen so the Twins’ top guys could have some time off for this huge series. Postgame With Baldelli Click here to view the article