Game 8: mariners @ twins

Well, hey, that was a fun first week!

It hasn't necessarily been against the most robust competition, but this team has looked really solid. The offense and pitching have both been second in the AL so far. Small Sample Size and some players playing out of their mind (I doubt Garlick will end the season with an OPS above 1.000), but the parts that should look good look really good.

Today, Big Mike Pineda tries to keep it going against the Mariners. He was pretty solid in his first start, so hopefully, he can keep up with JosACE and King Kenta. Our starters haven't lost a game yet.  The sun is actually peeking out. Keep it rolling, Big Mike!

And now for glorious return of...Twins on Leaderboards

rWAR - Byron Buxton - 1st (0.8)*
rWAR (position players) - Andrelton Simmons - 7th (0.6)**
Batting Average - Andrelton Simmons - 3rd (.450)
Batting Average - Nelson Cruz - 6th (.429)
Batting Average - Byron Buxton - 8th (.421)
Batting Average - Luis Arraez - 10th (.381)
On-Base Percentage - Andrelton Simmons - 1st (.577)
Slugging Percentage - Byron Buxton - 1st (1.211)
Slugging Percentage - Nelson Cruz - 2nd (.905)
OPS - Byron Buxton - 1st (1.687)
OPS - Nelson Cruz - 4th (1.340)
OPS - Andrelton Simmons - 9th (1.177)
Runs Scored - Simmons, Buxton, & Cruz - t-7th (6)
Hits - Simmons & Cruz - t-10th (9)
Total Bases - Byron Buxton - 4th (23)****
Total Bases - Nelson Cruz - t-10th (19)
Doubles - Simmons, Buxton, & Kepler - t-5th (3)
Triples - Max Kepler - t-1st (1)
Home Runs - Byron Buxton - 1st (4)
Home Runs - Nelson Cruz t-2nd (3)
Runs Batted In - Nelson Cruz - t-9th (7)
Bases on Balls - Simmons & Sano - t-10th (5)
Strikeouts - Sano - t-1st (14)
Stolen Bases - Kepler, Buxton, & Polanco - t-10th (1)
OPS+ - Nelson Cruz - 3rd (271)*****
OPS+ - Andrelton Simmons - 7th (238)
Extra Base Hits - Byron Buxton - 2nd (7)
Extra Base Hits - Kepler & Cruz - t-10th (4)
Times on Base - Andrelton Simmons - t-6th (15)
Hit By Pitch - Simmons, Kepler, & Cave - t-7th (1)
Sacrifice Hits - Kenta Maeda - t-1st (1)
Sac Flies - Cruz, Astudillo, & Arraez - t-3rd (1)
Caught Stealing - Jorge Polanco - t-1st (1)
Power/Speed - Byron Buxton - 4th (1.6)
AB per HR - Byron Buxton - 1st (4.8)
AB per HR - Nelson Cruz - 3rd (7.0)
AB per HR - Mitch Garver - 10th (9.0)
Outs Made - Jorge Polanco - t-7th (27)

* I didn't specifically call him out up above, but hot DAMN has Byron Buxton been amazing so far.
** I don't expect Simmons to keep it up with the bat, but the glove has been as advertised, and getting on base 58% of the time has been pretty nice.
*** That's not OPS, that's just his SLG
**** Keep in mind that because of the mystery bug, he hasn't even had enough at bats to qualify for the batting title yet.
***** Buxton's is 362, which would obviously be in 1st, if he qualified

rWAR for Pitchers - Jose Berrios - 9th (0.4)
ERA - Jose Berrios - 9th (1.54)
Wins - Jose Berrios - t-1st (2)
Wins - Maeda, Shoemaker, & Pineda - t-4th (1)
Winning % - Berrios, Maeda, Shoemaker, & Pineda - t-1st (1.000)
WHIP - Jose Berrios - 3rd (0.686)
Hits/9 - Jose Berrios - t-4th (3.9)
K/9 - Jose Berrios - 2nd (15.4)
Games Played - Hansel Robles - t-10th (4)
Saves - Alex Colome - t-1st (2)
Saves - Randy Dobnak - t-7th (1)
Strikeouts - Jose Berrios - 3rd (20)
Games Started - Maeda & Berrios - t-1st (2)
Home Runs Allowed - Randy Dobnak - t-7th (2)
Hits Allowed - Kenta Maeda - t-3rd (13)
Strikeouts per BB - Jose Berrios - 6th (6.67)
Losses - Robles & Dobnak - t-3rd (1)
Wild Pitches - Matt Shoemaker - t-8th (1)
Hit Batters - Maeda & Colome - t-8th (1)
ERA+ - Jose Berrios - 6th (285)
FIP - Jose Berrios - 7th (1.88)

38 thoughts on “Game 8: mariners @ twins”

  1. Duluth Trading* makes some quality threads, but I hope they change their underwear ad frequently over the season.

    This is not an endorsement of DTC underwear, which I haven’t tried.

    1. I have bought two belts from Duluth (had to get a smaller one because I lost a bunch of weight) and they have been the best belts I ever bought .

  2. Hearing the ballpark organ again reminds me of how glad I am they brought it over from the Dome. That’s one of the ambient sounds that connects my entire lifetime of baseball fandom. What I didn’t realize until I read this 2019 profile of Twins organist Sue Nelson was that the instrument, a 1977 Yamaha Electone spinet organ — came to the Dome from the Met.

  3. My son hates baseball. When Buxton slid into second, he said, "Is Buxton injured?" He knows one thing about baseball apparently

    1. You don't like relievers who strike out two with no walks and no home runs allowed per inning? That's a negative FIP for that inning. Just bad luck on balls in play, especially the leadoff infield hit.

      1. Personally, I would prefer to watch a 22 inning game, but I could stomach it a lot more if it were as you say.

        1. Same, but I don't want to see hitters pitch or pitchers bat unless they are a creature from Japan.

  4. Outing by "losing" pitchers for the Twins this year.

    Dobnak:
    Single
    Ground ball to second

    Robles:
    Groundout
    Strikeout
    IBB
    Single

    Rogers:
    After 1-2-3 ninth inning
    Bunt single
    Groundout
    Flyout
    Groundout

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