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We’re nearing the middle of January and there are still plenty of high-caliber free agents on the open market. The Minnesota Twins have committed over $30 million to a foursome of players that should all be expected to help this club. There’s still another $30 million the front office could choose to allocate (more on that here), but the question is whether they’ll fall into advantageous situations like 2018.Both Lance Lynn and Logan Morrison were coming off strong showings during the 2017 season. Any indications that they’d need to settle for bargain basement deals in the final hours of the free agency cycle were not apparent throughout the winter. The Twins were able to take advantage of both players and the market last season, but the deals went poorly for all involved. There’s an opportunity for things to be different this time around, and it’ll be worth monitoring to see what the reaction is. After Lynn and Morrison flopped, story lines down the stretch emerged that the Twins would shy away from one-year deals or rogue agent type players. After being non-tendered, Minnesota’s first two acquisitions, Jonathan Schoop and C.J. Cron, were both brought in on one-year pacts. All things are not always created equal however, and this is an instance of that. Cron had a career year in 2018 but was sent packing by the Rays. Grabbed by a system owning familiarity with his background, it had to feel like a nice spot for C.J. And Schoop is on a one-year bounce back opportunity after being an All Star in 2017. More with something to prove rather than a level of scorn, guys like Schoop, Cron, and even Parker could funnel that energy into a Twins club that has improved over the course of this offseason. Given the decline in talent that the Indians have seen, any level of motivating factors outside the field of play may serve to close the gap. There’s still just over a month until pitchers and catchers arrive at sunny Fort Myers for spring training. Obviously, the biggest names should have new homes by then, so things will have to start moving sooner or later. Bryce Harper and Manny Machado aren’t taking one-year deals because teams may be waiting them out, but Minnesota could end up striking late again on someone like Dallas Keuchel or Cody Allen. Should the Twins emerge as a landing spot for a bigger name, I’d imagine it would come in the form of a price drop but still a longer-term pact. Allen or another reliever could be acquired on a one-year deal that wouldn’t come with baggage if the money ends up being right. For the former Cleveland closer, there’s probably a good deal of relationship equity in place with this Twins organization. When the dust settles, I’d certainly hope that Minnesota has another move in them. If they learned anything from last year however, grabbing the guys who feel the process did them a disservice isn’t a good bet. The clearance rack is a fun place at Target, but we’ve seen how human commodities work out at Target Field. Jumping in on a market for guys who shouldn’t still be angling for a role, and compensating them at a level that suggests you believe they’ll advance their own and your cause, may be the bow this team needs to place on jumping the gun into relevancy. Click here to view the article

Eddie Rosario led the Twins with 24 home runs, followed by Max Kepler with 20 and Brian Dozier with 16, but neither of those three are represented among the players who slugged the five longest home runs for the Twins in 2018. Who made the list? Come check it out.Here are the top-five longest home runs hit by Twins batters in 2018, as measured by Statcast’s projected distance: 5. Logan Morrison, 442 feet off Glenn Sparkman on Aug. 4 It’s no surprise to see Sano and Austin top this list, but neither of them led the team in average home run distance this year. That title goes to Cave, whose 13 homers traveled an averaged distance of 419 feet. The runner-up was Mitch Garver, who averaged 408 feet on his seven home runs. Previous installments of the 2018 Highlights Series: Walk-Off Wins | I took a look back at all six of the Twins’ walk-off wins from 2018. Super Rosario and La Tortuga | Eddie Rosario and Willians Astudillo provided excitement in an otherwise down season. Here I reviewed some of their most entertaining moments. Top Pitching Performances | Here’s a look back at the top five outings of the season as rated by Game Score 2.0. Click here to view the article

Logan Morrison Hip Impingement Q&A Heezy1323 Twins DH/1B Logan Morrison was recently shut down for the remainder of the season and, by reports, is expected to undergo surgery for a hip condition that has been bothering him for much of the year. The problem is being reported as ‘hip impingement’, which is a fairly common diagnosis. Some may recall that the NBA’s Isaiah Thomas dealt with this problem over the past couple seasons and underwent surgery more recently. So what is ‘hip impingement’? And when does it need surgery? And what happens during surgery? Let’s dive in and see what we can find out: Question 1: What is hip impingement? Hip impingement is another term for what orthopedists call ‘femoroacetabular impingement’ or FAI. This term basically means pinching of the hip labrum tissue between the bone of the ball and the bone of the socket of the hip. The hip is a ball and socket joint. Around the rim of the socket is a tissue called ‘labrum’ which acts as a cushion, and also seals the ball into the socket. In an ideal world, the ball is perfectly round and the socket is perfectly hemispherical. In this case, when people move the hip around, there is no pinching. However, in some people, rather than being round the ball is more shaped like a grape or an egg. In these cases the extra bone can cause a pinching of the labrum when the hip is flexed (for example, when seated). Over time, this repetitive minor injury can cause damage to the labrum. There can also be extra bone on the socket side, which can have a similar effect. These two situations are called CAM impingement (extra bone on the ball) and PINCER impingement (extra bone on the socket). In many cases, both CAM and PINCER impingement coexist. Question 2: I don’t remember LoMo getting hurt. When did the labrum get torn? Typically, this is not an injury that results from a single incident (though it can happen that way). It is much more common for this to be the result of an accumulation of ‘microtraumas’ over a long period of time. In addition, the CAM and PINCER deformities are quite common in people who don’t have any pain in their hips. In some studies, >50% of asymptomatic patients have some signs of CAM or PINCER deformity on hip xrays. Simply having the ‘extra bone’ doesn’t automatically mean it is going to be a problem. Our understanding of why people develop these deformities is improving, but we don’t know the cause at this time. It appears to be more common in people participating in athletics (particularly hockey), so we think it has something to do with low-level trauma to the area during growth years. Question 3: Does a labrum tear always need surgery? No. A labrum tear is also a very common finding in patients with no hip pain. In one study of patients between 18-40 years old who had no hip pain, MRI’s of the hip showed a labrum tear about 40% of the time. So clearly not every labrum tear causes pain or requires surgery. There are also a number of conditions that can cause similar pain to hip impingement (ranging from hernias to pinched nerves in the spine to ‘sports hernias’ and many others). Therefore, time is often spent trying to decipher what the actual cause of the pain is in these patients, as it isn’t always as straightforward as we would like it to be. Question 4: How do we tell which labrum tears need surgery and which do not? This can be difficult, but typically rest, anti inflammatory medication, physical therapy and/or injections of cortisone are tried prior to surgery. Many patients can find success with these treatments. However, some do not, and surgery may be warranted. Question 5: What is done during surgery? There has been a significant evolution of techniques in hip surgery over the past decade as surgery for this condition has become more common. It can be done either open (through an incision) or arthroscopically (through the scope). Arthroscopic treatment is much more common, particularly in the United States. The hip is stretched apart by use of a special table that pulls the joint open about 1cm. The scope is put in to the joint and tools are used to examine the joint space. We look at the surface cartilage, labrum and other structures in and around the hip. Once we have looked at everything, any ‘extra’ bone on the socket side is carefully removed with a tool called a burr. The labrum tear is often repaired with small anchors back to the rim of the socket (from where it tore away). The ball is then released back into the socket and we use the burr to reshape the ball, removing extra bone in that area as well. Surgery often takes 2-4 hours depending on the extent of injury. Question 6: How long is the recovery? As with any surgery, the recovery is variable, but most high-level athletes are back to full sports around 6-8 months after the operation. There have been several studies examining the performance of professional athletes in different sports after return from this hip surgery. Most have shown little or no diminished performance after recovery. I’m certain even Morrison would say he didn’t have the season he was hoping to have for the Twins, and this hip issue certainly could’ve been part of the reason. Hopefully he can improve after surgery and get back to his 2017 form, whether for the Twins or elsewhere.

Twins DH/1B Logan Morrison was recently shut down for the remainder of the season and, by reports, is expected to undergo surgery for a hip condition that has been bothering him for much of the year. The problem is being reported as ‘hip impingement’, which is a fairly common diagnosis. Some may recall that the NBA’s Isaiah Thomas dealt with this problem over the past couple seasons and underwent surgery more recently. So what is ‘hip impingement’? And when does it need surgery? And what happens during surgery? Let’s dive in and see what we can find out: Question 1: What is hip impingement? Hip impingement is another term for what orthopedists call ‘femoroacetabular impingement’ or FAI. This term basically means pinching of the hip labrum tissue between the bone of the ball and the bone of the socket of the hip. The hip is a ball and socket joint. Around the rim of the socket is a tissue called ‘labrum’ which acts as a cushion, and also seals the ball into the socket. In an ideal world, the ball is perfectly round and the socket is perfectly hemispherical. In this case, when people move the hip around, there is no pinching. However, in some people, rather than being round the ball is more shaped like a grape or an egg. In these cases the extra bone can cause a pinching of the labrum when the hip is flexed (for example, when seated). Over time, this repetitive minor injury can cause damage to the labrum. There can also be extra bone on the socket side, which can have a similar effect. These two situations are called CAM impingement (extra bone on the ball) and PINCER impingement (extra bone on the socket). In many cases, both CAM and PINCER impingement coexist. Question 2: I don’t remember LoMo getting hurt. When did the labrum get torn? Typically, this is not an injury that results from a single incident (though it can happen that way). It is much more common for this to be the result of an accumulation of ‘microtraumas’ over a long period of time. In addition, the CAM and PINCER deformities are quite common in people who don’t have any pain in their hips. In some studies, >50% of asymptomatic patients have some signs of CAM or PINCER deformity on hip xrays. Simply having the ‘extra bone’ doesn’t automatically mean it is going to be a problem. Our understanding of why people develop these deformities is improving, but we don’t know the cause at this time. It appears to be more common in people participating in athletics (particularly hockey), so we think it has something to do with low-level trauma to the area during growth years. Question 3: Does a labrum tear always need surgery? No. A labrum tear is also a very common finding in patients with no hip pain. In one study of patients between 18-40 years old who had no hip pain, MRI’s of the hip showed a labrum tear about 40% of the time. So clearly not every labrum tear causes pain or requires surgery. There are also a number of conditions that can cause similar pain to hip impingement (ranging from hernias to pinched nerves in the spine to ‘sports hernias’ and many others). Therefore, time is often spent trying to decipher what the actual cause of the pain is in these patients, as it isn’t always as straightforward as we would like it to be. Question 4: How do we tell which labrum tears need surgery and which do not? This can be difficult, but typically rest, anti inflammatory medication, physical therapy and/or injections of cortisone are tried prior to surgery. Many patients can find success with these treatments. However, some do not, and surgery may be warranted. Question 5: What is done during surgery? There has been a significant evolution of techniques in hip surgery over the past decade as surgery for this condition has become more common. It can be done either open (through an incision) or arthroscopically (through the scope). Arthroscopic treatment is much more common, particularly in the United States. The hip is stretched apart by use of a special table that pulls the joint open about 1cm. The scope is put in to the joint and tools are used to examine the joint space. We look at the surface cartilage, labrum and other structures in and around the hip. Once we have looked at everything, any ‘extra’ bone on the socket side is carefully removed with a tool called a burr. The labrum tear is often repaired with small anchors back to the rim of the socket (from where it tore away). The ball is then released back into the socket and we use the burr to reshape the ball, removing extra bone in that area as well. Surgery often takes 2-4 hours depending on the extent of injury. Question 6: How long is the recovery? As with any surgery, the recovery is variable, but most high-level athletes are back to full sports around 6-8 months after the operation. There have been several studies examining the performance of professional athletes in different sports after return from this hip surgery. Most have shown little or no diminished performance after recovery. I’m certain even Morrison would say he didn’t have the season he was hoping to have for the Twins, and this hip issue certainly could’ve been part of the reason. Hopefully he can improve after surgery and get back to his 2017 form, whether for the Twins or elsewhere. Click here to view the article

Aaron and John talk about the Twins trading Fernando Rodney, Logan Morrison's season mercifully coming to an end, Kohl Stewart's surprising call-up and MLB debut, Tyler Austin getting his big chance, Ervin Santana's bad pitching and headline-grabbing quotes, and the upcoming event at Target Field with general manager Thad Levine. You can listen by downloading us from iTunes, Stitcher, iHeartRadio or find it at GleemanAndTheGeek.com. Or just click this link. Sponsored by Simple Contacts, Casper Mattresses and Bye, Goff & Rohde. Click here to view the article

It was a highlight evening at Target Field Saturday night. Johan Santana was enshrined into the Twins Hall of Fame, Jose Berrios had a strong performance and the lineup flexed its muscles en route to victory.Snapshot (chart via FanGraphs) Jose Berrios: 66 Game Score, 7.0 IP, 2 ER, 6 K, 3 BB, 66.0% strikes Home Runs: Eddie Rosario (20), Max Kepler (14), Logan Morrison (15) Multi-Hit Games: Max Kepler (3-for-3, HR, BB), Logan Morrison (2-for-4, HR) WPA of 0.1 or higher: Kepler .318, Berrios .166 WPA of -0.1 or lower: None. Download attachment: WinChart84.png Berrios ran into some control issues in the third inning. He walked three of the first four batters he faced that frame, then surrendered a two-run single to Alex Gordon. That was the only blip on the evening, as Jose went on to give up just those two runs over seven innings. It had to have been pretty cool for Berrios to have the opportunity to perform with Cy-tana in the building, and he stepped up to the occasion. Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Download attachment: Bullpen84.png Next Three Games Sun vs. KC, 1:10 pm CT: Ervin Santana vs. Danny Duffy Mon at CLE, 6:10 pm CT: Kyle Gibson vs. Trevor Bauer Tue at CLE, 6:10 pm CT: Adalberto Mejia vs. Carlos Carrasco Last Three Games MIN 6, KC 4: Long Day at the Office CLE 2, MIN 0: Carrasco Stars in Dominant Performance CLE 6, MIN 2: Deadline Day Ends in Defeat Click here to view the article

Twins Daily Roundtable is a weekly series. As part of this series, a question will be posed to the site’s writers and they will respond in 200 words or less (Some writers don’t like to stick to this limit). This will give readers an opportunity to see multiple points of view and then add their own point of view in the comments section. One year ago the Twins sailed into the All-Star break with two players, Miguel Sano and Ervin Santana, representing the club at the Mid-Summer Classic. Neither of those players and a long list of others haven’t lived up to expectations in the first half. It’s been a roster full of flounders. This week’s roundtable discussion question is: “Which Twins player has most underperformed in the first half?”Nick Nelson Sadly it is a pretty long list, but to me the clear answer is Byron Buxton. It doesn't all fall on his shoulders – injuries, bad luck and questionable decision-making from the front office have played their parts – but however you want to apportion the blame, Buxton's season has been a massive letdown. At age 24, and coming off a breakthrough second half that earned him down-ballot MVP votes, Buxton had the looks of a centerpiece. His ceiling was sky-high and the floor seemed to have risen as the rawness dissipated. I think we'd have all been happy with him reproducing the 3.5 WAR he produced in a 2017 campaign marred by prolonged early slumping. Instead, Buxton has delivered -0.4 WAR through the Twins' first 94 games this year. When not on the disabled list or in the minors, he has been a sub-replacement level player, and that's just not something I would've ever imagined. Most alarming: As he continues to whiff at a 30% rate in Triple-A, and now faces another injury-related absence, it's getting harder and harder to see him making any real impact for the Twins in 2018. Tom Froemming I feel like this is a bit of a trick question. Since the specific wording is "underperformed" I'm going to leave out the guys like Byron Buxton, Miguel Sano and Jorge Polanco who just haven't been on the field much. Oh, and toss Ervin Santana and Jason Castro in there ... dang there are a lot of guys who haven't been able to contribute. The free agent addition trio of Logan Morrison, Lance Lynn and Addison Reed immediately stand out as underperformers. Man, even two of those guys are on the shelf right now. Lynn has been pretty frustrating, but he's been pitching better as a whole after a dreadful start. I think there's hope of Lynn at least being a league-average starter from here forward (make sure to blast this out to the other 29 teams in baseball. Wink, wink.) With both Morrison and Reed I have some real concerns they're never going to be assets again. Morrison has been hitting the ball hard and his strikeout rate is down, but the shift is killing him. It feels like the league has figured out how to pitch to him/position against him. Maybe he makes a counter adjustment, but I'm not super optimistic. He also adds no value in the field or on the bases and plays the position that's easiest to replace. No pitcher is going to deal well declining velocity, but a two-pitch guy who loves to pound the zone like Reed is really going to slip. Hopefully he'll rest up, come back refreshed and find those extra couple mph he's been missing, but the fear is that arm has just seen too much wear and tear. He’s been remarkably durable for today's standards, but nobody's immune to aging. Well, except for Fernando Rodney, of course. Final answer: Morrison. Cody Christie There were a trio of players that came to mind when I came-up with this questions. Miguel Sano, Byron Buxton, and Logan Morrison have all underperformed but I went into the season with higher expectations for the first two players on the list. Sano and Buxton were supposed to be the heart and soul of the Minnesota Twins for the next decade. Right now, it’s hard to imagine either of them playing in meaningful games at the big league level in 2018. Sano looked utterly lost at the plate this season and he is down in Fort Myers trying to reset his professional career. Buxton has fought through injuries but he has struggled when he has been on the field at the big league level and at Triple-A. Entering the season, I expected Buxton to take the next step especially after the way he played in the second-half of 2017. He has taken multiple steps in the wrong direction and that’s why he is the player who has most underperformed. Andrew Thares There have been many Twins players who have underperformed during the first half, and one would assume that at least one or two of these guys would bounce back and have a big second half. For me I’m looking at Logan Morrison. While we knew going in that it was unlikely Morrison would repeat his success from 2017, it wasn’t exactly like Morrison was a slouch before then either. While his first half numbers haven’t looked all that appealing at .192/.289/.357 with 10 home runs, Morrison has the potential to find his home run stroke and breakout at any second. Logan Morrison’s peripheral numbers also support the case that he will have an improved second half. The first glaring number that sticks out to me is his .212 BABIP. While Morrison is the ideal candidate to have a lower BABIP than most given how often he is shifted against and his lack of speed, but at .212, he is still well below his .268 career average. The Statcast metrics also support the case that Morrison has been hitting the ball better than his results show. Here are what a few of Logan Morrison’s actual stats look like compared to his expected stats via Statcast. AVG: .192 Expected: .249 SLG: .357 Expected: .483 wOBA: .287 Expected: .356 Those are all really big gaps that suggest that Logan Morrison has been hitting the ball much better than his results show. SD Buhr Talk about a question that has an endless list of possible responses! Byron Buxton? Miguel Sano? Ervin Santana? I mean… one of those guys hasn’t played a game so far and the other two arguable hurt the team by playing in the games they DID show up for. If I have to choose just one, I’ll go with Sano. Santana was supposed to be ready to go by May or June, at the latest. It’s almost August and we haven’t seen him anywhere near Target Field. Buxton couldn’t hit his weight in 28 games with the Twins and hasn’t hit a whole lot better in Rochester since supposedly becoming healthy after injuring a toe. Sano didn’t hit his weight either… though, to be fair, his weight has ballooned to the point where not a lot of MLB players CAN hit at that level. He’s hitting .328 at High-A Ft. Myers so I guess at least he’s hitting his weight at that level… probably. But Sano has hit just 2 home runs in 64 at-bats at Ft. Myers and let’s face it, hitting for power is really the ONLY thing this guy brings to the table at this point. If he can’t do that three levels below the big leagues, that’s more than just a little discouraging. I have some hope that Santana will return and contribute in the second half of the season and it looks to me like Buxton could, as well (though with Cave’s work, there may not really be any rush to get Buck back at this point). But Sano? Maybe if I had read something… anything… about his conditioning being significantly improving, I’d have some optimism. Right now I have none. Steve Lein I am resoundingly in the camp of two players for this question, and they are the two whom were expected to propel the Twins into their next level of competitiveness after they reached the playoffs in 2017. They're also both currently playing in the minor leagues because of their struggles. I'm obviously speaking of Byron Buxton and Miguel Sano. Buxton followed up his blistering second half of 2017, where hit hit .300/.347/.546 (.893 OPS) with 24 extra-base-hits (11 home runs) and 35 RBI in 56 games, with a 2018 line of just .156/.183/.200 (.383 OPS) in only 28 games. This was before and during, but thankfully not after his foot injury, when he was sent to in Rochester to regroup and has just a .679 OPS in eighteen games. Sano followed up a 2017 season that saw him be selected to his first All-Star Game, where he also finished runner-up in the home run derby, with a miserable 37 games with the Twins before they made the what some might call drastic move, in sending him all the way down to Fort Myers. He hit just .203/.270/.405 (.675 OPS) before that move and his road back may be a long one. If they can get even one of those guys back to playing like they had in 2017, things could look better for the Twins in the second half. If you missed any of the most recent roundtable discussions, here are the links: Second Half Star Sell, Sell, Sell? Fixing the Offense Romero’s Rotation Spot Top Prospect Timelines Click here to view the article

With John Bonnes in San Diego, Parker Hageman joins Aaron Gleeman to discuss the final week of a rough first half, Kyle Gibson's slider-based turnaround, Brian Dozier getting back on track, the enigma of Max Kepler, trade deadline candidates, Logan Morrison and Addison Reed going on the disabled list, and how much longer the Twins can stick with Matt Belisle. You can listen by downloading us from iTunes, Stitcher, iHeartRadio or find it at GleemanAndTheGeek.com. Or just click this link. GLEEMAN AND THE GEEK: EPISODE 378 Sponsored by Bye, Goff, and Rohde, SotaStick, and SeatGeek. Click here to view the article

Aaron Slegers faced 11 Kansas City hitters Tuesday night, seven of them recorded hits. He lasted just 1 1/3 innings and gave up five runs. That doesn’t give a team much of a chance to win a ballgame. The Twins’ bullpen did a nice job getting things pointed in the right direction until Addison Reed had yet another bad outing in the ninth. It was a bad loss to a bad team, but Cleveland may have had an even worse night.Snapshot (chart via FanGraphs) Aaron Slegers: 13 Game Score, 1.1 IP, 5 ER, 0 K, 0 BB, 65.9% strikes Bullpen: 7.2 IP, 4 ER, 8 K, 4 BB Lineup: 2-for-7 w/RISP, 6 LOB WPA of 0.1 or higher: None WPA of -0.1 or lower: Slegers -.381 Download attachment: WinEx710.png Logan Morrison made one of the worst baseball plays you’ll see all year. Down 5-1 in the bottom of the second inning, he hit what appeared to be a leadoff double. Nice, right? Well, LoMo decided he’d try to stretch it into a triple and was thrown out. You just can’t do that. A rookie wouldn’t get a free pass for that kind of a mental error, let alone a veteran like Morrison. You’re down 5-1, there are no outs … honestly, dude what are you doing? Something has to be wrong with Addison Reed. He gave up three runs on three hits; a single, a triple and a home run. Since the start of June, Reed has surrendered 13 earned runs in 12 1/3 innings pitched. Reed’s average velocity on his four-seamer has been holding pretty steady over the past few years. He was right around 93 mph from 2014-2017, but he started out this season sitting more like 92 mph and things have continued to dip. Tonight, he topped out at 91.6 mph per Baseball Savant, but averaged 90.3 mph. Maybe Morrison and Reed need to go down to Single A too. On the plus side, Taylor Rogers was great in an extended appearance. He threw a season-high 37 pitches over 2 1/3 no-hit innings. He struck out two and walked one. Also, Brian Dozier hit his 14th home run. Not a great night for the Twins, but things aren’t exactly going swimmingly for Cleveland either. The led 4-0 heading into the ninth inning of their game tonight. Closer Cody Allen gave up three runs, and then a miscommunication played a part in the Reds scoring four more runs en route to victory. From Cleveland’s reporter from The Athletic: Uff da. That bullpen is a nightmare. Gotta love the AL Central. Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Download attachment: Bullpen710.png AL Central Standings CLE 49-41 MIN 40-49 (-8.5) DET 40-54 (-11) CHW 30-61 (19.5) KC 26-65 (-23.5) Next Three Games Wed vs. KC, 12:10 pm CT: Lance Lynn vs. Burch Smith Thu vs. TB, 7:10 pm CT: TBD Fri vs. TB, 7:10 pm CT: TBD Last Three Games MIN 3, KC 1: Minnesota’s All-Star Shines MIN 10, BAL 1: Twins Pick Up First Sweep of 2018 MIN 5, BAL 4: More Baltimore, Please Click here to view the article

If the familiar faces aren’t delivering, why not turn to some fresh faces, right? That plan worked out well Thursday night at Target Field, as Aaron Slegers held Baltimore to one run over six innings and Jake Cave was 3-for-3 with two doubles, a walk and an outstanding leaping catch.Snapshot (chart via FanGraphs) Aaron Slegers: 61 Game Score, 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 2 K, 1 BB, 65.3% strikes Bullpen: 3.0 IP, 1 ER, 4 K, 1 BB Lineup: 2-for-7 w/RISP, 7 LOB WPA of 0.1 or above: Slegers .266, Hildenberger .126, Cave .120 WPA of -0.1 or below: None Download attachment: WinEx75.png This is exactly the type of game we’ve come to expect from Slegers down in Triple A. He doesn’t overpower hitters (just two strikeouts) but he keeps them off balance. The Orioles only got one run off of three hits and a walk against Slegers, who only needed 72 pitches to complete his six frames. The Twins scored their first run in the bottom of the third thanks to a pretty comical error by the O’s. Minnesota took a 3-0 lead, but things tightened up again thanks to a pair of Jonathan Scoop solo homers — one off Slegers and the other off Addison Reed. Clinging to a one-run lead, Trevor Hildenberger pitched a scoreless eighth inning. The Twins added a pair of runs in the bottom half to take some of the excitement out of Fernando Rodney’s night. He pitched a perfect inning with a pair of strikeouts to earn his 18th save. Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Download attachment: Bullpen75.png AL Central Standings CLE 48-37 MIN 36-48 (-11.5) DET 38-51 (-12) CHW 30-56 (-18.5) KC 25-61 (-23.5) Next Three Games Fri vs. BAL, 7:10 pm CT: Lance Lynn vs. Dylan Bundy Sat vs. BAL, 1:10 pm CT: Kyle Gibson vs. Kevin Gausman Sun vs. BAL, 1:10 pm CT: Jake Odorizzi vs. Alex Cobb Last Three Games MIL 3, MIN 2: Pushing Against a Stone MIL 2, MIN 0: Strikeouts Galore MIL 6, MIN 5: Oh, That Rodney Experience Click here to view the article

*I’m primarily posting this to my blog in order to use it as part of a tutorial video I’m putting together, but I hope there are also a few things in here you find interesting. It would have been difficult to expect Logan Morrison to replicate the excellent numbers he posted last season, that was by far his best year after all, but LoMo has fallen so far behind even his career averages you have to wonder if he’s ever going to turn it around. He’s actually made solid contact, and is putting the ball in play more often than in 2017, but the drop in results is shocking. Here’s a quick glance at his career numbers via Baseball-Reference: I recently dove a little deeper into the numbers for a video I recorded for YouTube. Something I didn’t touch on was the fact that opposing pitchers seem to have figured out how to attack Morrison. Dave Newman of the New Richmond News in Wisconsin shared this on Twitter: https://twitter.com/dmnewman/status/1010644735512449024 Attached below are two heat maps via Baseball Savant, the first shows his average exit velocity. Notice the low numbers on inside pitches up in the zone … … and the second shows his slugging percentage. As you can see, even though he’s had better exit velocity on balls down and away, it’s not translating into much. So what needs to happen for Morrison to turn things around? An adjustment. He somehow needs to alter his approach without completely turning his back on what made him one of the best power hitters in baseball last season. Easier said than done.

Jake Odorizzi didn’t survive the second inning, as the Rangers got to him for six runs, and the Twins couldn’t recover. They did manage to make things interesting in the end, but couldn’t complete what would’ve been an epic comeback as Logan Morrison struck out with the bases loaded.Snapshot (chart via FanGraphs) Jake Odorizzi: 21 Game Score, 1.2 IP, 6 ER, 3 K, 1 BB, 65.0% strikes Bullpen: 7.1 IP, 3 ER, 9 K, 1 BB Lineup: 2-for-9 w/RISP, 8 LOB Top three per WPA: Rosario .204, Garver .057, Dozier .054 Download attachment: WinEx623.png The Twins jumped out to an early lead thanks to an Eddie Rosario two-run homer in the first, but Texas scored nine unanswered runs. Morrison blasted a two-run homer of his own in the sixth inning, and the Twins actually had the game-tying run on base in the ninth. You don’t give up six runs before you can record six outs all because of bad luck, but the way Texas got to Odorizzi does seem a little fluky. Three of their six hits came on balls that had a hit probability of less than 50 percent, per Baseball Savant. That includes their only extra-base hit, a double. It’s not like Odorizzi pitched himself into trouble, as he had a very strong strike percentage of 65, but the Rangers were racking up hits on pitches outside of the zone. Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Download attachment: Bullpen623.png AL Central Standings CLE 41-33 DET 36-40 (-6) MIN 33-40 (-7.5) CHW 25-51 (-17) KC 23-52 (-18.5) Next Three Games Sun vs. TEX, 1:10 pm CT: Jose Berrios vs Bartolo Colon Mon OFF Tue at CHW, 7:10 pm CT: TBD Wed at CHW, 7:10 pm CT: TBD Last Three Games TEX 8, MIN 1: Circling the Drain BOS 9, MIN 2: There Go Those Shiny Pitching Stats MIN 4, BOS 1: For Grossman and Kepler, The Price Was Right Click here to view the article