2018 Twins Game Logs

2018 Game 68: Twins vs. Tribe

35 Comments

Hope is a good thing, but it can be slippery as a greased eel and just as hard to hold onto. For the past few weeks I've been pretty down on this team and at times I've shaken my head in disgust and declared them hopeless, but in the past week or two we've seen some signs that the team may be coming to life again. The two Eds continue to lead the Twins offense with Escobar taking an AL Player of the Week nod and Rosario playing like a bona fide All-Star (.379/.455/.828/1.282 in June). Adrianza's bat has come alive and hopefully his base running competence isn't far behind. I am heartened by the decision to move Miguel Sano to Fort Meyers for a complete retooling of his plate approach. I'll leave swing mechanics to the experts, but he definitely needs to work on pitch recognition, plate discipline, and situational hitting if he wants to avoid being tagged the next Delmon Young (nobody doubts his talent). Joe Mauer is back, Polanco will return to the field in a couple of weeks, and it sounds like Ervin Santana should be available for the second half. A win today would put the Twins four games under .500 and just three games from the division lead, and I like the way the team is trending. In April, the Twins posted a winning percentage of just .364. In May it was up a full 100 points to .464, and for June it's up to .600. That may or may not be enough winning to make it to October. If the Twins play .600 ball the rest of the season they'd only net about 88 wins. While they sneaked into the playoffs last year with 85 wins, they also finished 17 games behind Cleveland in the division, which is not exactly the catbird's seat, and the wildcard competition is looking to be much tougher this time around.

Jake Odorizzi (3-3, 4.19 ERA) takes the hill for the Twins who are looking to not only sweep the Indians but win their last six contests against them. The Tribe counters with 23-year old Shane "Don't call me Justin" Bieber (0-0, 6.35 ERA) in just his second major league start. Play ball!

35 thoughts on “2018 Game 68: Twins vs. Tribe”

  1. So the Twins have already run themselves out of an inning with baserunning that the DSL Twins would be ashamed of, and give the Indians a run by poor fielding. Not exactly an auspicious beginning.

  2. My dad and I were talking on the golf course just now, and he said "it's good to have Joe back. I know a lot of people don't like moneyball, but he gets on base better than Dozier"

    1. If Garver didn't tip the ball, it might have come back in time to get the runner at third.

  11. That's at least three called third strikes we've watched go by today. Most studies indicate you have a better chance to hit the ball when you swing at it.

    1. Tied for 107th. Dozier and Polanco finished last season with 30. Mauer also had 30 in 2009.

      1. Mauer hit 30 or more doubles eight times. Escobar's current pace puts him at 69 doubles for a full season.

        1. The single season record for doubles is 67, set by Earl Webb in 1931. Nobody has hit 60 doubles in a season since 1936.

  13. Once you get past the top three guys in the Twins' lineup, there's just nothing there.

    1. A lot of guys have to step up their game, no doubt. And the FO has to address the catcher issue.

  16. Is something wrong with Grossman? This would really be an odd time for a pinch-runner otherwise.

    1. Motter doesn't have enough opportunities this year, but last year with the Mariners was slower than Adrianza..

      Bremer now saying the heat got to Grossman.

  17. Sounds like Mauer got some really bad calls there, at least according to Atteberry.

    2. Strike three was right on the corner. Mauer would have been lucky to foul it off. Strike two was on the edge.

      1. Atteberry said strike three "wasn't even close". I guess we all see them with our hearts sometimes.

  18. I'm starting to wonder if those lights personally insulted Bremer. He keeps coming back to them being on.

  19. Morris complaining that he wants the stats for pitch location and break but not spin rate. He then confesses he has no idea how to measure the break. PitchF/X when it was first released did have break. It was measured in a logical manner but no one got it. Spin rate directly correlates with the amount of break and is a lot easier to communicate.

  21. Terrible day for Twins batting with RISP, but I guess hard to complain when they've been so good overall in those situations this year. They are 4th in the AL in batting with RISP and they are 9th in the AL in OPS overall. Their big problem is getting innings started. They are dead last by a wide margin in OPS when leading off an inning. They are 11th in the AL in on-base average when leading off an inning. So the Twins having so many chances today at least shows an improvement in leading off. I don't think there's a real skill to this other maybe players being more focused on just getting on base instead trying to hit for power. At least with Mauer leading off now, the Twins player that will lead off the most innings is the one best at getting on base. However, I do believe the No. 5 batter is the one second most likely to lead off an inning and Dozier has been batting 5th since being dropped in the order.

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