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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

I asked the Twins Daily community for questions earlier this week, today I'm going to take a crack at answering them. I'd also love it to see your answers down in the comments. Let's get things rolling with a question about the offseason ... “with no immediate heir apparent at 2nd base, first base, catcher, and the need to bolster the 8th inning setup man and if things went well, I’d imagine front of rotation, how do you think the FO will fill those roles? There’s maybe 50/60 mil in payroll to play with, and all those prospects to dangle. It’s a huge roster turn over, can they get it all done in one offseason/up to all star break?” -Sconnie An Eduardo Escobar reunion makes so much sense. He can fill your opening at second base as well as provide insurance at third. I’m of the mind you can stick pretty much anybody over a first base. There will be plenty of options out there in free agency, but I’m also interested in what Tyler Austin can do. Max Kepler has experience there, though he’s also a borderline Gold Glove right fielder, so it may be a waste to put him at first. I believe LaMonte Wade played there some in college. Either way, I don’t think the Twins should be falling over themselves to bring Joe Mauer back. Still, a reunion would make a lot of sense, so I would project Mauer to be the Opening Day first baseman in 2019. I personally don’t see a huge need at catcher. I think a lot of teams would love to have a duo of Jason Castro and Mitch Garver, assuming Castro comes back healthy. Yasmani Grandal and Wilson Ramos would be significant upgrades, but I feel like other teams are going to be more desperate to get them. I believe the front office made a strong effort to land Yu Darvish last year, but your big free agents just aren’t going to be jumping at the chance to come play in Minnesota. No matter how much money there is sitting around, guys aren’t coming here until this club has shown it’s a legit World Series contender. I think the front office can reload and put together a competitive roster over the offseason, but taking it to the next level would probably be delayed until the trade deadline. “Why Belisle? Rosario for real?” -USAFChief I’ve been blowing off so much steam about Matt Belisle on Twitter that Seth threatened to unfollow me over it I don’t have an answer to that question. My best guess is that the front office is trying to secure a better draft pick next year and they know Paul Molitor can’t resist using him. Now that Fernando Rodney has been traded, it wouldn’t shock me at all if Belisle becomes the closer once he’s activated off the DL. Yuck. The only thing I'm certain about when it comes to Belisile is he truly must be a really awesome guy. Eddie Rosario’s free-swinging tendencies are cause for concern, but I still have to say he’s absolutely for real. Since the start of last season, Rosie has hit .294/.333/.503 (.837 OPS) in 1,079 plate appearances. To put that into context, Justin Morneau had an .832 OPS in his time with the Twins. Eddie drives me nuts sometimes, but he’s also probably my favorite Twin now that Escobar is gone. “Do you really believe that Molitor is the manager who can take us to the WS? How big of a diffence do you think it will be between what the Twins could/should do and what they will actually do this off-season? What do you really think went on behind-the-scenes and in the clubhouse regarding the rumors about a toxic clubhouse?” -Carole Keller I think a manager’s impact on wins and losses is generally overstated, but no, I don’t have a lot of confidence that Molitor is a manager who could lead a team to a World Series title. That being said, Ned Yost did it … so anything’s possible. I'll circle back to Molly in just a sec. Taking a look at the free agents that are expected to be available, I’m not really sure what I think the Twins should do. I’m sure the expectation from the majority of the fan base will be that they go out and fill in the payroll to a level that’s similar to this year, but I don’t think they’re going to be able to attract any of the big names like Bryce Harper or Manny Machado and I don’t expect them to spend just for spending’s sake. I’d bet they have a savvy offseason, but get ripped to shreds for not bumping the payroll up higher. It’s tough to speculate on anything regarding the clubhouse from the outside in, but I think it has more to do with losing than anything. Losing sucks. The roster turnover couldn’t have helped either, and I’m not just talking about the new guys. Ervin Santana, Jason Castro, Byron Buxton, Miguel Sano and Jorge Polanco were all expected to be regulars. With those guys being out in combination with adding a crop of free agents who were mostly bitter about their lack of a market, it would be no surprise if there was some turbulence. Now that, however, is something I think a manager should be able to have an impact on. It wouldn't be surprising to hear that some of the players are frustrated by the front office turning the page, but that should be an issue that's addressed internally. I still don't think Molitor is going anywhere. It's clear ownership loves him, hard for me to see them moving on until maybe this time next season. “Will Odorizzi be back next year? Will Fernando Romero make the starting rotation out of spring training next year?” -FormerMinnasotan Yes, I would expect Jake Odorizzi to be in the 2019 rotation. He should be expected to perform at about a league-average level. You don’t just let a starting pitcher like that walk unless you’re trying to slash payroll. A lot of what happens with Romero will depend on how the next couple months play out, but I would predict that he’ll start next year in Triple A. At this point a year ago, it would have been really hard to envision a scenario in which Adalberto Mejia wasn’t going to be in the rotation for this year, but he’s only made four starts with the Twins. I could see something similar happening to Romero. I also wouldn’t be shocked if Romero was pushed into a multi-inning relief role, similar to how Johan Santana and Francisco Liriano got their feet wet in the bigs. But again, that’ll also depend on who they go out and add. “What should TD be paying you per game recap?” -TheLeviathan Well, how much would you pay me per game recap as a reader? Probably nothing. It’s really hard to make money on the Internet. I’ve contributed to a lot of other places online and this is by far the best situation I’ve been in. TD could probably make some more money if the site was bombarded with ads, like some other places, but I like things the way they are. “What's your favorite Target Field food?” -scottz I will often bring my own food into Target Field, but my go-to concession stand item is the Turkey to Go sandwich. I like how they have the seasonings and sauce at the stand so you can flavor it to your liking. A pretty simple item, but an old standby. “How many five year olds could you take in a fight before they overpower you? Be honest.” -Mr. Brooks Oh boy, probably not very many. I don’t think I’ve been in a fight since middle school and all five-year-olds do is fight. So even though I’m older, they’ve definitely got the upper hand in terms of experience. I’ve got the size and the strength, but the five-year-olds would have a considerable advantage in the stamina department. This was a real brainteaser, so I did what any responsible human would do in 2018 and looked it up on the Internet. It says I could take on 21 five-year-olds, but that sounds like a really high number to me. Since you specifically asked me to be honest, I’d say 11. That’s assuming we’re talking about 11 five-year olds who are really gung-ho about scrappin’. Alright, that's it from me. Thanks for reading, please add your two cents in the comments and let me know if you'd be interersted in similar Q&As becoming a regular feature here on the site. 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

Welp, everybody’s been saying Mitch Garver isn’t playing enough, be careful what you wish for. Garver made his first appearance on the mound tonight in the ninth inning of a 10-0 game. And you know what? He was the only Twins pitcher who didn’t surrender a run. Chris Gimenez, eat your heart out.Snapshot (chart via FanGraphs) Kyle Gibson: 23 Game Score, 5.0 IP, 7 H, 6 R, 4 ER, 3 K, 3 BB, 52.6% strikes WPA of 0.1 or higher: None WPA of -0.1 or lower: Gibson -.238 Download attachment: WinChart86.png There were other, non-Mitch Garver pitching things that happened in tonight’s game, but I fear that if I go into much detail it may be deemed cruel and unusual. Here are the Twins’ hits: Jake Cave single, Logan Forsythe single, Jorge Polanco double and … nope, that’s it. Kyle Gibson had a rare rough night and Matt Belisle had his usual rough night. Gibson surrendered seven hits and Cleveland scored six runs, four earned over his five innings. Belisle gave up four more runs over his two innings. That puts Belisle up to 20 earned runs in 19 ⅔ innings with the Twins this season. Just for reference, that’s the same number of earned runs Taylor Rogers has allowed in 44 ⅔ innings this season. Belisle also needed a season-high 48 pitches to get through those two innings. The Twins will need to make a move tomorrow when they activate Matt Magill from paternity leave ... Postgame With Garver Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Download attachment: Bullpen86.png AL Central Standings CLE 62-49 MIN 52-59 (-10) DET 47-65 (-15.5) CHW 41-70 (-21) KC 34-77 (-28) Next Three Game Tue at CLE, 6:10 pm CT: Adalberto Mejia vs. Carlos Carrasco Wed at CLE, 6:10 pm CT: Jake Odorizzi vs. Mike Clevinger Thu at CLE, 12:10 pm CT: Jose Berrios vs. Corey Kluber Last Three Games MIN 6, KC 5: Cave Slugs Grand Slam as Twins Sweep Royals MIN 8, KC 2: New Twins Ace Wins in Front of Old Twins Ace MIN 6, KC 4: Long Day at the Office Click here to view the article

The band-aid is totally ripped off now. Once Eduardo Escobar got dealt, the only question became just how many Twins players would be on the move between then and the start of tonight’s game. Clubhouse mainstay Brian Dozier was the final domino to fall just hours before the first pitch tonight. What had to have been a tough day on the team ended in a 6-2 defeat at the hands of Cleveland. Tomorrow is a new day.Snapshot (chart via FanGraphs) Kyle Gibson: 53 Game Score, 6.0 IP, 3 ER, 6 K, 3 BB, 58.2% strikes Home Runs: Logan Morrison (14) Multi-Hit Games: Max Kepler (2-for-4, 2B) WPA of 0.1 or higher: Morrison .107 WPA of -0.1 or lower: Rosario -.127, Mauer -.133, Belisle -.202 Download attachment: WinChart731.png We’ll get back to the game in just a sec, but I have something more important to address first. Earlier today, Nick Nelson wrote a valuable piece as it relates to what to watch for moving forward. He noted seven particularly critical Twins players, but I’ve got something else I wanted to pass along that’s worth watching: I think Kyle Gibson may be growing a mustache (maybe). I dunno, you tell me … Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Download attachment: Bullpen731.png AL Central Standings CLE 58-48 MIN 49-57 (-9) DET 46-62 (-13) CHW 37-68 (-20.5) KC 32-73 (-25.5) Next Three Games Wed vs. CLE, 12:10 pm CT: Adalberto Mejia vs. Carlos Carrasco Thu: Off Fri at KC, 7:10 pm CT: TBD Sat at KC, 6:10 pm CTL TBD Last Three Games MIN 5, CLE 4: Awesome Sauce! BOS 3, MIN 0: Fenway Free Fall Continues BOS 10, MIN 4: Twins Blow Lead in Spectacular Fashion Click here to view the article

The Twins traded away Eduardo Escobar earlier today, clearly raising the white flag on the 2018 season, yet their first game after it's been made clear that they're sellers they lost because 38-year-old scrap heap veteran Matt Belisle gave up a walk-off home run. I'm pretty sure this is not how rebuilding works.Snapshot (chart via FanGraphs) Lance Lynn: 53 Game Score, 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 3 K, 1 BB, 63.1% strikes Multi-Hit Games: Jorge Polanco (2-for-4, R, BB), Eddie Rosario (2-for-5, 2B, 2 RBIs) WPA of 0.1 or higher: Rosario .423 WPA of -0.1 or lower: Cave -.105, Dozier -.170, Garver -.190, Rodney -.279, Belisle -350 Download attachment: WinChart727.png Let’s go around the horn … First Base Can’t say I’ve ever seen this before: … Oh ... Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Download attachment: Bullpen727.png AL Central Standings CLE 56-46 MIN 48-54 (-8) DET 44-61 (-13.5) CHW 36-66 (-20) KC 31-71 (-25) Next Three Games Sat at BOS, 6:10 pm CT: Jake Odorizzi vs. Rick Porcello Sun at BOS, 12:05 pm CT: TBD vs. Nathan Eovaldi Mon vs. CLE, 7:10 pm CT: TBD Last Three Games MIN 2, BOS 1: Gibby the Great MIN 12, TOR 6: More Like Er-win Sweep-tana!!! MIN 5, TOR 0: All-Star, Indeed Click here to view the article

Am I right!? Ervin Santana made an encouraging 2018 debut as the Twins managed to pull off a sweep at Toronto, scoring six runs in the top of the 11th inning. I spent much of the Royals series wondering aloud on here if the Twins taking a downturn before the deadline may be for the best, but these last three games have been fun. I mean, not really keep the band together fun, but still.Snapshot (chart via FanGraphs) Ervin Santana: 50 Game Score, 5.0 IP, 3 ER, 4 K, 3 BB, 61.9% strikes Bullpen: 6.0 IP, 3 ER, 5 K, 1 BB Lineup: 6-for-17 w/RISP, 12 LOB WPA of 0.1 or higher: Garver .396, Kepler .364, Belisle .289, Duke .140 WPA of -0.1 or lower: Morrison -.143, Hildenberger -.408 Download attachment: WinChart725.png Let’s go around the horn … First Base It’s great to see Ervin back, and his 2018 debut has to be considered a success. After a much longer recovery than expected followed by some concerning reports throughout the early stages of his minor league rehab assignment, Santana didn’t pitch a gem but he gave his team a chance to win. Santana topped out at 91.1 mph, but relied heavily on his offspeed stuff. According to Baseball Savant, only 25 of his 97 pitches were fastballs. He threw 37 changeups and 35 sliders. Last season, Ervin averaged 93.1 mph on his four-seamer and only threw his changeup 10.3 percent of the time. It’ll be really interesting to follow Santana’s pitch usage, but as a veteran who’s had to make plenty of adjustments over his career, one would think he can still be an asset even without his best stuff going. Second Base Trevor Hildenberger’s having a weird year. He gave up three earned runs in an inning of work today, coughing up the lead in the eighth inning in the process. He’s now given up 21 earned runs this season, 11 of which have come in three particularly ugly appearances. But hey, he’s been pretty awesome in those other 44 games. It was all OK, because the Twins were bailed out by ... Matt Belisle? Wait, that can’t be right. OK, so Matty B pitched his way into trouble and then was aided by terrible baserunning by Kendrys Morales, but he did pitch a scoreless ninth inning. And he wasn’t done! Belisle came back out for the 10th, gave up a leadoff single, but again worked a scoreless inning. Just gonna go ahead and pencil Matt Belisle into my projected 2019 Minnesota Twins bullpen right now. Third Base Max Kepler, well ... he had a bad moment. Garver entered this game having hit .308 with an .868 OPS over his previous 30 games. It was also great to see things work out so that Mitch was catching Santana’s first game back. Forming a battery with such a veteran is only going to help Garver’s development behind the plate. Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Download attachment: Bullpen725.png AL Central Standings CLE 55-46 MIN 47-53 (-7.5) DET 44-60 (-12.5) CHW 36-64 (-18.5) KC 31-70 (-24) Next Three Games Thu at BOS, 6:10 pm CT: Kyle Gibson vs. Brian Johnson Fri at BOS, 6:10 pm CT: Lance Lynn vs. Chris Sale Sat at BOS, 6:10 pm CT: TBD Last Three Games MIN 5, TOR 0: All-Star, Indeed MIN 8, TOR 3: Twins Cruise Over Toronto KC 5, MIN 3: Royals Sweep Twins, Butera Hits Inside-the-Park Homer (Seriously) Click here to view the article

Lance Lynn was pitching well, the Twins held a 4-2 lead and they were playing the White Sox in the sixth inning. What could go wrong? Lynn opened the bottom of the sixth by slipping while trying to field a weak grounder in the grass, and from that moment forward the Twins just kept on slipping.Snapshot (chart via FanGraphs) Lance Lynn: 45 Game Score, 5.0 IP, 4 ER, 8 K, 1 BB, 65.6% strikes Bullpen: 3.0 IP, 3 ER, 6 K, 2 BB Lineup: 1-for-1 w/RISP, 2 LOB Top three per WPA: Adrianza .230, Dozier .069, Cave .017 Download attachment: WinEx626.png Lynn ended up failing to record an out in the sixth, loading the bases on a bunch of weak contact prior to being lifted for Ryan Pressly, who promptly walked Tim Anderson on five pitches to force home a run. Later that inning, Taylor Rogers gave up a two-run single that put Chicago up 5-4. The Twins ended up using four pitchers that inning, as Alan Busenitz came in to record the third out. Unfortunately, Busenitz game up a leadoff homer in the seventh and another run came across while he was on the mound in the eighth after a single, a hit by pitch, an error and another single. Then Matt Belisle came in and walked in another run. And that was just the pitching! Ehire Adrianza had a good night, going 2-for-3 with a homer and Brian Dozier hit his 11th home run of the season, but the offense struggled. The team combined for six hits and a walk. They only had one at bat with a runner in scoring position all night. After that nightmare sixth inning that saw the White Sox take the lead, the bats combined to go 0-for-9 with four strikeouts. Postgame With Molitor AL Central Standings CLE 43-35 MIN 34-41 (-7.5) DET 36-44 (-8) CHW 27-51 (-16) KC 24-55 (-19.5) Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Download attachment: Bullpen627.png Next Three Games Wed at CHW, 7:10 pm CT: Kyle Gibson vs. James Shields Thu at CHW, 1:10 pm CT: TBD vs. Lucas Giolito Fri at CHC, 4:05 pm pm CT: TBD Last Three Games MIN 2, TEX 0: La MaKKKKKKKKKKKKina TEX 9, MIN 6: Odorizzi Lays an Egg TEX 8, MIN 1: Circling the Drain See Also Twins Minor League Report (6/26): Thorpe Dominant, Miranda Slams What Fernando Rodney Experience? The Rise and Fall of Miguel Sano Click here to view the article

Entering this game, the Twins hadn’t given up more than six runs all month and the pitching staff had a 3.17 ERA, good for sixth best in the league. The bullpen had been particularly strong in June, ranking fourth in all of baseball with a 2.60 ERA. Kyle Gibson did his part, delivering another quality start, but all those pretty numbers listed above look a lot more bloated after the bullpen had a bad day against Boston. Oh, and all the Eds are broken.Snapshot (chart via FanGraphs) Kyle Gibson: 49 Game Score, 6 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 5 K, 3 BB, 61.9% strikes Bullpen: 3.0 IP, 7 ER, 9 H, 4 K, 1 BB Lineup: 0-for-2 w/RISP, 3 LOB Bottom three per WPA: Pressly -.143, Mauer -.085, Grossman -.072 Download attachment: chart.png This game didn’t end well, but you can’t be too sore about the Twins taking two out of three from Boston. Speaking of sore, the bigger concern at the moment is some ailing Twins. Just think, what’s the worst thing that could happen to this offense right now? Being Ed-less, right? Well, Eddie Rosario was scratched from this game due to shoulder soreness and Eduardo Escobar was forced to leave after he was hit by a pitch. The good news is it sounds like Paul Molitor expects Rosie to be available tomorrow and Escobar only suffered a bruised elbow and is considered day-to-day. Down their two hottest hitters, there was little the Twins could muster against Rick Porcello. He pitched seven one-hit innings. Altogether, the Twins got only four hits and scored both of their runs in the bottom of the ninth inning. It was too bad, because Gibby pitched well once again. He got into some trouble, giving up seven hits while walking three batters and hitting another, but limited the damage to two runs over six innings. He’s now given up two or fewer runs in 10 of his 15 starts on the season. He also accomplished that feat 10 times in 2017, but that was in 29 starts. Entering this game, the Twins hadn’t given up more than six runs all month and the pitching staff had a 3.17 ERA, good for sixth best in the league. The bullpen had been particularly strong in June, ranking fourth in all of baseball with a 2.60 ERA. Ryan Pressly was charged with three earned runs while recording only one out and Matt Belisle also gave up three runs in his inning of work. Matt Magill even gave up a run. Molitor has already demoted Addison Reed from setup duties, at least temporarily, so Pressly’s continued struggles are especially worrisome. He hit a snag earlier this month and gave up two earned runs in three consecutive appearances. But since that bump, Pressly had strung together three scoreless innings in a row. Just when you thought he might be out of the woods, another rough outing pops up. Pressly closed out May with a 2.22 ERA on the season, but so far this month he’s surrendered nine earned runs in just 6 1/3 innings. On the other hand, Magill hadn’t surrendered a run in more than nine innings. He gave up a run on three hits in the ninth inning. It was a disappointing end to what had been a great series for the Twins. Next up, Texas comes to town. The Rangers are off to a poor start, but carry a five-game winning streak into Target Field. AL Central Standings CLE 40-33 DET 36-39 (-5) MIN 33-38 (-6) CHW (24-49 (-16) KC 22-52 (-18.5) Next Three Games Fri vs. TEX, 7:10 pm CT: Mike Minor vs. Fernando Romero Sat vs. TEX, 1:10 pm CT: Yovani Gallardo vs. Jake Odorizzi Sun vs. TEX, 2:10 pm CT: Bartolo Colon vs. Jose Berrios Last Three Games MIN 4, BOS 1: For Grossman and Kepler, The Price Was Right MIN 6, BOS 2: Bats Get to Boston Bullpen CLE 4, MIN 1: Lots of Traffic, Just One Run Click here to view the article

Aaron and John talk about Miguel Sano's demotion to Single-A, the Twins reuniting with Matt Belisle, Joe Mauer returning from the disabled list, how injuries skew perceptions, Jorge Polanco's latest setback, the latest development in our Tuesday Taproom Tour and friend of the podcast Hans Van Slooten joining the Twins' front office. You can listen by downloading us from iTunes, Stitcher, iHeartRadio or find it at GleemanAndTheGeek.com. Or just click this link.http://traffic.libsy...3?dest-id=74590 Sponsored by Bye, Goff & Rohde, Casper Mattresses, Seatgeek and Nutrafol. Click here to view the article

Prior to the news of the Minnesota Twins re-signing veteran reliever Matt Belisle, I had every intention of writing a piece on the curious usage of Matt Magill. Paul Molitor has routinely been lackluster when it comes to bullpen managment during his time as Twins skipper, but things got even more confusing today. After revamping the relief corps going into the season, Thad Levine, Derek Falvey, and Paul Molitor have found a way to make a relative strength into a revolving door. Needing a fresh arm at the tail end of April, the Twins turned to Matt Magill. Prior to that point, Magill last pitched in the big leagues during the 2016 season. He had just 32 innings under his belt, and at 28 years old, he was a relative flier. Now having been on the 25 man roster for 40 games, he's been used just 13 times in that stretch. Without knowing his numbers, it may not seem egregious given the lack of history to build off of. The numbers though, well they're very good. In 20.2 IP with Minnesota, Magill has posted a 1.31 ERA with a 7.4 K/9 and 1.3 BB/9. It wouldn't be a terrible thing to Magill to be largely unused if the Twins found themselves avoiding a need to go to their bullpen. However, in that 40 games timeframe he's been with the club, Ryan Pressly has been ran out to the mound 21 times, while Addison Reed has been called upon on 19 occasions. In the 21 games Pressly has appeared in, he has a 6.11 ERA and is allowing an .886 OPS to opposing hitters. Reed's 19 appearances have equaled out to a 3.38 ERA (compared to a 2.57 mark prior), and an .895 OPS against. To say they are running on fumes is an understatement. It being only June makes matters worse. Then comes the news of Matt Belisle. Not only is Paul Molitor not using his full relief corps currently, but he's now been given a veteran arm that the worst bullpen in the big leagues (Cleveland) decided to give up on even at Triple-A. Belisle filled in admirably as the Twins closer down the stretch last season, but his fastball velocity has declined to a career worst 90.9 mph. He's also ceded runs in three of eight appearances at the highest level this season. Molitor hasn't given Magill the opportunity to spell his horses despite Matt proving worthy of a chance, now he'll have an arm that should be utilized in a similar vein to Tyler Kinley or Phil Hughes before him. Sure, there's a value to clubhouse presence, and that will be a notion disseminated freely when referencing Belisle's signing. That's more a cop out than anything however. Addison Reed, Zach Duke, and Fernando Rodney were intended to be the veteran presence brought in over the offseason. All solid clubhouse guys, they effect Belisle has in the matter should be well represented in the doldrums of Target Field. By spinning an odd fit with the clubhouse tag, Minnesota should and does likely alienate more deserving players toiling away at Triple-A. Tyler Duffey noted frustration when he was recently optioned back to Triple-A. While he's had poor stints with the Twins this year, he was perfect in his recent opportunity and likely deserved better. Most egregious in all of this is none other than Alan Busenitz. Across 24 Triple-A innings thus far, Busenitz owns a 0.38 ERA, 10.5 K/9, and 1.9 BB/9. There's no other way to put it except that it's a massive mistake to have him be wasting bullets in Rochester. No longer a prospect at nearly 28 years old, Busenitz has proven he's well above the Triple-A level, and he should be working his way into a back-end role with the Twins. The signing of Matt Belisle on its own isn't some terrible decision. Given the factors at play however, it's one that Thad Levine, Derek Falvey, and Paul Molitor should all be questioned for. The bullpen is currently mismanaged, internal options likely provide a higher impact, and a negative message is sent throughout the organization. While the front office deserves to be commended for how they handled the offseason, the roster moves since the games began are puzzling at best. For more from Off The Baggy, click here. Follow @tlschwerz

On Tuesday afternoon, the Minnesota Twins announced that reliever Matt Belisle had signed with the Twins after being released a day earlier by Cleveland. Infielder Gregorio Petit was Designated for Assignment to make room on the 40-man and 25-man rosters. It was a minor transaction, in the big picture, but it certainly created a ton of discussion. What does this signing mean for the Twins? Let’s try to figure it out.When the news came out that the Twins had signed Matt Belisle, my level of surprise was fairly low. I don’t know why. It just seems like what we would have always deemed a “Twins” type of move. The DFAing of Petit was also not a surprise. But as I gave it more thought, my mind raced in several different directions, and at the end of the day, I’m much calmer, but I can’t say that the move makes any more sense than it did eight hours ago. It still begs several questions. 1.) What Does Matt Belisle Have Left? Matt Belisle got off to a very slow start last year with the Minnesota Twins, but he turned it on in the second half. He pitched well and did a nice job as the Twins closer after the Brandon Kintzler trade at the deadline. Late in the offseason, he signed a one year, $1.5 million deal with Cleveland. He made the Opening Day roster. He began the season with three scoreless outings before giving up runs in his next three outings. He responded with two scoreless outings. Cleveland DFAd him. Belisle became a free agent, but soon re-signed with the team. He was released on Sunday and signed with the Twins on Tuesday. In his 10 2/3 innings, he posted a 5.06 ERA. He walked one and struck out just four. In nine outings (and also 10 2/3 innings) for Triple-A Columbus, Belisle posted a 4.22 ERA with one walk and 11 strikeouts. In other words, he shouldn’t be a late-inning reliever, but the 38-year-old can probably be a solid big league pitcher still. 2.) What Does It Say About The Front Office’s Opinion of the AAA Relievers? This was my first thought, and I know it was the thought of many others. First and foremost, it is inexplicable to me that Alan Busenitz isn’t pitching in the big leagues. Of course, that was my opinion before the Belisle signing. He pitched well late in the 2017 season for the Twins and became a reliable arm for Paul Molitor. While Busenitz didn’t make the Opening Day roster, he was promoted in mid-April. He then pitched in four of the next six games. The Twins were struggling and needed arms, so Busenitz was sent back to Rochester. In 14 games for the Red Wings, He has posted a 0.38 ERA. In 24 innings, he has given up 15 hits, walked five and struck out 28. The 27-year-old has nothing to prove in AAA, and he still have some upside. But Busenitiz isn’t the only reliever in Rochester who has to be wondering what the Twins front office is thinking. Tyler Duffey was just sent down over the weekend to make room for outfielder Jake Cave. Duffey had pitched well in limited duty since being called back up. That said, it did make sense to want a fourth bench bat. So, three days later, adding a bullpen arm and going back to three bench bats has to make him think. In 26 innings over 11 outings for the Red Wings, Duffey has posted a 1.38 ERA. He’s walked seven and struck out 26 batters.John Curtiss has the pitches to be a dominant reliever. While his short stay with the Twins earlier this season wasn’t pretty, it doesn’t (or shouldn’t) limit anyone’s idea of his potential. Coming into Tuesday, he had a 1.61 ERA in 22 1/3 innings. In that time, he had 31 strikeouts, but ten walks.Luke Bard has 19 strikeouts and six walks in his 17 innings (11 games) since his return to the Red Wings after his stint with the Los Angeles Angels. His big fastball, slider and spin rates are pretty much big league ready.Nick Anderson has given up nine earned runs in his last three outings (2 2/3 innings) which raised his season ERA from 1.16 to 4.15. So, as rough as this current “slump” is, it’s important to think about the first 14 games and 23 1/3 innings. In his 26 innings, he has walked 12 and struck out 39.Jake Reed remains in the organization. He missed time earlier in the year and has struggled somewhat in his return. In his 15 2/3 innings over ten outings, he has walked seven and struck out 14 batters.While he’s left-handed, Gabriel Moya has also pitched well in his five weeks with the Red Wings after being optioned at the end of April. He’s posted a 2.11 ERA in 21 1/3 innings. In that time, he has walked eight and struck out 29 batters.Trevor May is working his way back from Tommy John surgery. As his rehab stint ended, the Twins optioned him to Rochester and he has worked out of the bullpen since. At some point, he’ll be ready as well.That is a lot of quality options who all were just told that they have been pushed down the line another spot with the Belisle signing. The team likely calls it "depth." Hopefully the players will consider it a challenge. The other option is that they get overly upset and don't handle it well. 3.) What Kind of Leader is Belisle? (And What Kind of Leadership Does This Twins Team Need?) Matt Belisle likely isn’t going to be a difference maker for the Twins bullpen (which, frankly, has been pretty solid most of the season). The Twins have pitchers at Rochester who are just as talented, if not more talented, and younger. What we keep hearing is that the Twins are bringing in Belisle for his leadership in the clubhouse. Fair enough. There were plenty of good stories in 2017 about the role Belisle played for the team, particularly in a leadership role. However, when the Twins signed Fernando Rodney, there was some conversation about him being brought in as a leader for the pitchers. Then Zack Duke was signed, and we heard about how great of a teammate he is. And, when they signed Addison Reed, his leadership was again mentioned. I don’t mean to downplay the value of veteran leadership. It is important. But there are a lot of veterans, and there are a lot of veterans who are touted as leaders, and there are several indications that the clubhouse is not a happy place right now. There are issues. The team is five games under .500, not at all where they felt they would be at this point, Can Matt Belisle’s leadership push the Twins to more wins? That is to be determined. Can he help the Twins offense score more runs? That would also be helpful. As would getting more of the regulars back on the field and healthy. Summary So at the end of the day, this is a minor move. Matt Belisle probably has a little left in the tank. Maybe he can help out. Maybe he can eat some of the innings that are currently constantly going to Addison Reed and Ryan Pressly so that they don’t reach 100 games pitched this year. Trevor Hildenberger is starting to take more and more of those opportunities, and Matt Magill has pitched well enough to earn those opportunities as well. We have also seen what Paul Molitor likes from his bullpen. He trusts Addison Reed and Ryan Pressly. In the first half last year, he trusted Taylor Rogers and ran him into the ground by the second half. We saw that somewhat in the second half last year when he used Trevor Hildenberger most every day over the final couple of months. My guess is that Molitor will not be afraid to use Matt Belisle late in games because of how well he did in the role last year. Trust. I also suspect that this is one move that the front office is giving Molitor and the team, a veteran, in an attempt to win this year. The trade deadline is about seven weeks away. By mid-July, the front office will have some big decisions to make. Most important, will they believe that the Twins could still make the playoffs this year? As Nick wrote yesterday, it’s not yet time to give up on this year. What this signing appears to me to be, in the big picture, is a message to the team and its veterans that they have a little over a month to turn things around and put themselves in a position to compete for a playoff spot. If not, all bets are off and at that time, we can start discussing which veterans could be on the trading block and which players will come up to take their places. Click here to view the article

For the past number of years, Fernando Rodney has come on to close baseball games for any number of big league teams. He’s been asked to pitch one inning, get three outs, and preserve the lead for his respective ball club. Over the years, he’s added the shooting arrow celebrating and a new number to his age tally. What he’s patented during his 16 major league seasons though, is the Fernando Rodney Experience. On Thursday it caused a lot of Twins fans to lose their collective minds.On the season, Rodney has been called upon eight times. He’s converted two save attempts while taking two losses and three blown saves. After his latest go-round with the New York Yankees, in which he recorded no outs and gave up three runs (two earned) his ERA sits at an ugly 6.75 across 6 2/3 innings pitched. From those numbers alone, you can choose to take the road of the collective majority and call for his head. The alternative is to look a bit deeper. This isn’t uncharted territory for Rodney, and really, it shouldn’t be for Twins fans either. On April 29th last season, Rodney owned a 12.60 ERA and was allowing opposing batters a 1.066 OPS off of him. He’d taken two losses and two blown saves over just 10 innings pitched for the Diamondbacks. All worse numbers than where he’s currently at for the Twins, Fernando then went on a run. For the rest of the season, Arizona called on him to pitch 45 1/3 innings. He turned in a 2.38 ERA, allowed opposing batters just a .442 OPS, and saved 33 contests while blowing just four more games. So why should you as a Twins fan be able to relate? How about because the same transformation happened right here at Target Field last year. Matt Belisle, who eventually replaced Brandon Kintzler as closer, owned a 9.00 ERA on May 7th. On that day he gave up six runs to the Boston Red Sox while recording just one out. From that point on though, the 36 year-old was lights out. In his final 47 1/3 innings for Paul Molitor last season, Belisle owned a 2.66 ERA and a .617 OPS against. Also an elder statesmen of the game who looked cooked in the early action, then a turnaround came. Now, for Rodney, the blueprint towards effectiveness seems pretty clear. Over the course of his career, Rodney’s plan of attack has been to lean on a strong fastball that touches the upper 90’s, and then come back often with a changeup that presents something like a 15 mph decrease in velocity. Through his 16 big league seasons, he’s averaged usage rates on those two offerings at 43% and 36% respectively. For the Twins this year however, something is way out of whack, as the bow hunter is throwing fastballs 64% of the time while serving up his changeup just 20% of the time. It’s easy to suggest that being 41 years-old could have some sort of effect on his performance, but the reality is that this same pitcher was 40 and effective one year ago. Instead of assuming a decline that the numbers disagree with (his average fastball velocity is exactly where it was last season), the more plausible explanation seems to be a process that’s deviated from what has worked so wonderfully in the past. Right now, and likely because of his pitch mix, Rodney is simply failing to keep hitters off balance. Knowing the fastball is coming more often, he’s been more predictable to sit on. Despite allowing just three home runs all year a season ago, he’s already served up two with April still having yet to fade away. The K/9 and BB/9 rates are actually wonderful for a guy who tiptoes both lines so feverishly, but it’s the 13.5 H/9 (nearly double his career average) that’s causing problems. Download attachment: Dbvlbv0XcAAs4ww.jpg-large.jpeg The Minnesota Twins have a few things they need to digest and address with their current closer. Arguably the most important is figuring out why the changeup usage has fallen off a cliff. It’s currently registering as the best quality of pitch average over the course of his career, and he’s not going to it at all. His fastball has never been less quality than it is right now, yet he’s leaning on it so heavily. Figuring out whether it’s a confidence thing, or just some ill-advised change in process is a must. From there, Paul Molitor and Garvin Alston must decide if the process can be rectified while keeping him in his current role. Ideally the Twins should want to have the flexibility of inserting arms like Addison Reed or Ryan Pressly at whichever point in the game high leverage first presents itself. Saving impact arms like that for what could be low leverage outs in the 9th inning would be wasteful. If Rodney can’t tweak his process while remaining in the closer role, they have to be willing to alter his usage until things are back on track. At the end of the day, I think there are a couple of really important takeaways here. Rodney is in no more of a dire situation than the Twins are as a whole right now. Being swept is hardly ideal, but they’ve played just 12% of their total schedule and there’s so much baseball ahead. On top of that, Paul Molitor’s bullpen is best constructed with the arms currently in it. There are contributors down on the farm, but none of them represent a golden ticket. Getting each of the guys currently beyond the outfield wall right is Minnesota’s best hope. There definitely comes a point in every player’s career where it’s simply time to hang it up and be real with the fact that the game has left you. Despite being 41 years old, there are plenty of reasons to doubt this being that crossroads for Fernando Rodney. The hope would be that in a few months, this date would be the one we look back upon and note it as having been the turning point. Click here to view the article