¡Feliz Día de Berrios!
Before my bypass surgery, the doctors cautioned me that during recovery I would have good days and bad days. They were right. I spent the two weeks before the surgery getting my mind right, and I managed to maintain a positive attitude for the first week or so of recovery. Medications kept the worst of the pain at bay, but I just could not get comfortable enough to sleep at night. After about ten days of sleep deprivation, I started to unravel like a baseball that's had the cover knocked off of it. But forewarned is forearmed, and when the cardiac blues hit I recognized the signs and reached out for help, or rather, my family sternly directed me to get help. Prescriptions for a muscle relaxer and a sleeping aid were forthcoming. After a couple of days on those I was able to sleep for four or five hours at a stretch, and now I'm sleeping pretty much through the night. I no longer feel quanked, the relentless acute pain has diminished to just a nagging soreness, and I feel like I've turned a corner. And the thing that has helped me the most mentally has been the return of baseball and the performance of this Twins team. Watching the games, hanging out in the game logs, and reading as much as I can find online has kept my mind turned outward toward something hopeful instead of inward and focused on my troubles. I still have a long road ahead of me, and I feel once again like I can handle it. If only the weather would get with the program, everything would be coming up roses. But enough about me.
The Twins head into today's rubber game with the Phillies sporting a 5-2 record. If you count Friday night's series opener in which Odorizzi was KO'd in the first inning as an outlier, the team has performed remarkably well. Strong starting pitching has set up solid bullpen work. The defense has been quite good with Polanco showing both range and snazzy leather at short. Yesterday Buxton and Astudillo joined forces for a highly memorable 8-2 flyout/throw out double play that nailed Bryce Harper at the plate as he attempted to score on a sac fly by leaping over La Tortuga. That play alone had me feeling actual joy again. In five games, new fan favorite Willians Astudillo sports a .500 batting average and a 1.458 OPS. In Friday's game, Polanco became the first player of the season to hit for the cycle and now has an OPS of 1.151. After slow starts, Kepler and Rosario are flexing their man muscles and showing some power at the plate. Solid base running has helped put more runners in scoring position and more runs on the scoreboard. Sure, there are still some guys that need to step it up at the plate, but six regulars are batting .300 or better, and ten players have on base percentages at or above the .300 mark. Byron Buxton in particular appears to have figured out how to hit major league pitching and is showing a level of confidence we have not heretofore seen. On paper and based on the early small sample sizes, there's a lot to be optimistic about this year. This is a fun team to watch, and I'm looking forward to an entertaining season.
Opening Day starter Jose Berrios takes the mound again today for the Twins. He's 1-0 with a 1.84 ERA and 14 strikeouts after two starts. The Phils counter with Zach Eflin who was outstanding in his season debut earlier this week, racking up nine strikeouts in five innings of scoreless work. After plenty o' scoring in the first two games of this series. Twins hitters will need to recognize and lay off Eflin's slider if they want to maximize their plate appearances today. If both pitchers bring their best stuff to the mound, we can probably expect another old fashioned pitchers' duel. That's enough words for now, except to say...
Play ball!
