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Remember when people were talking about Miguel Sano being “the next David Ortiz?” Ha. That sure didn’t happen. Sure, Sano had a few good years with the twins, and was a fan favorite, but that k rate always lingering around 30% sure didn’t help his play on the field. I think it was pretty obvious all along that sano wasn’t going to be the next David Ortiz, but the twins pulled the last straw when after just an ok 2021 season, he was injured, and in his 60 at bats, only managed to get five hits. That’s only a 083 batting average! They obviously turned down his 10m$ option and little has been heard about him since. We did hear he had gone to Tampa Bay’s facility’s, but that deal probably will never come over again.If he wants to continue playing baseball he has three options: 1. Sing a low-cost contract with a low level MLB team like the a’s or reds 2.Sing a minor league contract (most likely) 3. Go to japan and try to re-invent his swing Any of those would at this point be good options for sano if he wants to continue playing baseball. At this time he is still a free agent floating around for any team that wants him.

The Twins and the Padres started a three-game series Friday night, just the 21st time the two teams have met over their history. With the Twins line-up poised to battle a left-handed pitcher, Joe Ryan took the mound in search of his eighth win of the season. Box Score SP: Joe Ryan 4.2 IP, 8 H, 10 ER, 2 BB, 7 K (81 pitches, 57 strikes (70%)) Home Runs: Byron Buxton (25) Bottom 3 WPA: Joe Ryan (-.350), Gilberto Celestino (-.101), Miguel Sano (-.081) Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) More Pitching Woes The Twins gave up the lead early in the game when Luke Voit hit a home run to center field after a lead off walk to Jurickson Profar, scoring both players in the bottom of the first. What looked like a fluke early on, spiraled quickly into pitching misery for Joe Ryan. In an uncharacteristic game, Ryan gave up five home runs and had ten earned runs overall. This writer noticed early on that Ryan struggled with command, some of his pitches lacking movement and speed making him extremely hittable for the Padres. Ryan has not given up more than four runs a game this season and was the first Twins since 2003 to give up 10+ runs in a game. Manager Rocco Baldelli finally pulled Ryan after being shelled and going through the order three times by the fifth inning. The fifth inning was the worst for the rookie pitcher. He saw all nine hitters, gave up six runs pushing the lead to ten for the Padres. Needless to say, it was a rough game, one of the hardest we’ve seen for him this season. Jovani Moran came in to relieve Ryan and quickly closed out the inning with four pitches allowing the game to move to the next inning. Moran and Jharel Cotton did a great job keeping their pitch counts low and moving swiftly through the innings. In a complete change of pace, the bullpen managed to move quickly through the game and manage any further damage incurred by the starter. The offense was as dismal as the pitching tonight. Unable to produce any runs, The Twins bats stayed quiet until Byron Buxton hit his 25th home run of the season at the top of the fourth inning, finally getting them on the board, trailing only by two with plenty of game left. Blake Snell, who has had a rough season for the Padres, held the Twins to just one run before being relieved by Dinelson Lamet, a RHP who was recalled from Triple-A El Paso for Mackenzie Gore. Lamet handled business for the Padres keeping the Twins off the board. Twins fans have been seeing Miguel Sano in the line-up since the Milwaukee series. Sano came in as the Designated Hitter again and completed his first full game today, and while he was doing well in Triple-A Saint Paul, the Twins have been easing him back into the game, he’s yet to get a hit, and Twins fans took to Twitter to express their frustration with Sano on top of the already mounting frustration with the pitching. The game overall was dismal, but the eighth inning was entertaining. While the Padres were pitching, the crowd came to a roar and Dick Bremer and Roy Smalley continued to talk about the game, while security wrestled a streaker. To add to the excitement, the Twins brought in Nick Gordon as a relief pitcher. Gordon started the mound appearance with the umpire staff giving him a hard time about his glove. The glove Gordon had evidently looked similar to the color of a baseball masking the pitch. While the staff found Gordon a new glove, the Padres staff loudly blasted “what’s going on” by 4Non Blondes in the background. Gordon went with the flow: smiling during ‘glove gate’, took calls from Sanchez and had a scoreless eighth inning. The Twins were quickly shut down in the ninth inning by Tim Hill, ending the game and the frustration for the evening. After a couple tough losses in Milwaukee, this was not a great way to start a comeback. With the trade deadline looming, the Twins need to make some moves that will benefit the team. Even if the play-offs aren't in the future this season, the pitching core needs help. What’s Next? Pitching matchup for the rest of the series: Saturday 6:15 pm CST: Sonny Gray (5-3, 3.52ERA) vs RHP Joe Musgrove (8-3, 2.63 ERA) Sunday 1:10 pm CST: TBD vs RHP Sean Manaea (5-5, 4.33 ERA) Postgame Interview Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet View full article