Louie Varland
vs
Davis Martin
The season mercifully comes to an end. The postseason starts this Friday with four games each day through Sunday.
The 2022 Twins were projected for about 82-80 and will finish at either 77-85 or 78-84. The 2021 Twins were projected at 88-74 but finished 73-89. They played at a 69-win pace from June onward. They are 9-9 versus the White Sox. A win today keeps them above .500 in the division while a loss puts them at exactly .500.
Johnny Cueto
vs
Josh Winder
The final week of games. Most of them against Chicago. Plenty of time to end the season on a high note by beating up on them and finishing second.
Bailey Ober
vs
Daniel Lynch
Let's take a look at the Twins traded away in the offseason, or deadline for Mahle, and how they performed compared to the players acquired.
Twins traded away this year:
| Name | PAs/IP | wRC+/ERA- | rWAR | fWAR |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mitch Garver | 215 | 100 | 0.4 | 0.3 |
| Isiah Kiner-Falefa | 490 | 86 | 2.7 | 1.1 |
| Josh Donaldson | 495 | 101 | 2.6 | 1.8 |
| Spencer Steer | 64 | 84 | 0.1 | 0.0 |
| Brent Rooker | 36 | 15 | -0.5 | -0.4 |
| Taylor Rogers | 60.1 | 127 | -0.9 | 0.9 |
DRS likes Kiner-Falefa's fielding but UZR and OAA rate him as average. Similar with Donaldson but OAA agrees with DRS.
Rogers has replicated his 2020 season where he has a below average ERA but above average/good FIP. Although his FIP since the trade to Milwaukee has also been bad but it was very good with San Diego.
Acquired Twins this year:
| Name | PAs/IP | wRC+/ERA- | rWAR | fWAR |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gary Sánchez | 425 | 87 | 0.5 | 1.1 |
| Gio Urshela | 495 | 112 | 2.5 | 1.6 |
| Chris Paddack | 22.1 | 105 | 0.2 | 0.9 |
| Emilio Pagán | 58.0 | 126 | -0.8 | -0.3 |
| Tyler Mahle | 16.1 | 115 | 0.1 | -0.1 |
Zack Greinke
vs
Sonny Gray
This is Greinke's fourth start against the Twins this year. He's 0-3 so far, although one was a 0-1 loss. He's otherwise having a perfectly average season.
Just like the Twins exactly average 70-70 season. At this point, I'm simply hoping to finish with at least 82 wins. There are 11 games remaining against teams below .500 with the other 11 against Cleveland or Chicago.
Michael Wacha
vs
Joe Ryan
Yesterday's win guaranteed the Twins a .500 record for the month. They sit at 14-13 so far with a single game left to keep the month above .500. The Guardians continued their good August with another win to stay 1.5 games ahead of the Twins. The White Sox meanwhile, are not, and have fallen 4.5 games behind the Twins. It's going to be a tight race to the ~86 wins necessary to win the division.
Dylan Bundy
vs
Framber Valdez
The Guardians won yesterday and the Twins did not, falling further back in the division. The Orioles have a better record. MLB released its 2023 schedule and for the first time, every team will play all other 29 teams in a season. There's still a bias towards intradivision games, but it's less than it used to be. The AL Central has a chance for everyone to be below .500 next year.
Valdez is having his best season yet. He's also left-handed. Insert everything free wrote yesterday into this game log.
Daniel Lynch
vs
Tyler Mahle
Finally a beatdown of a bad team. After a great start last night by former and again current teammate Gray, it's Mahle's turn to continue the great pitching. Especially if it means pitching deep in the game and removing the need for Pagán to enter the game.
Sonny Gray
vs
Ryan Pepiot
Twins now tied with the Guardians in the division. BR ranks them both as average teams. Finishing 81-81 does feel like an accomplishment considering how the season has gone after May. FanGraphs projects them for 84 wins. Keep it close fellas and I'll find out in the morning.
Day game alert!
Tyler Alexander
vs
Joe Ryan
New bullpen additions should be available today. Let's get a lead and show off what a functioning bullpen actually looks like.
Chris Archer
vs
Corbin Burnes
Burnes won the Cy Young last year. He's been almost as good this year. This will be a tough game, just like last year. Fortunately Colomé isn't on this year's team but neither is Rogers or Berríos (though maybe that's fortunately this year).
Today's game is available on YouTube.
