The Twins are trying to extend a winning streak so modest it's wearing a parka over another parka.
Lopez is the guy to do it if ever there was one. Let's go, Lopez! Let's get this winning streak a little....scandalous. Can we get a dizzying second game over .500?? The mind positively reels.
Twins open a four game series at Target Field against the Red Sox. While the Sox have one more win than the Twins, they play in the AL East, which makes that figure mean something entirely different.
The Twins' offense is, uh, not good right now...
#MNTwins in deep slumps:
Byron Buxton is 0-for-21 and hitting .136 in his last 25 games.
Joey Gallo hitting .133 with 0 homers in his last 15 games.
Max Kepler hitting .130 with 1 homer in his last 20 games.
Christian Vázquez hitting .183 with 0 homers in his last 38 games.
— Aaron Gleeman (@AaronGleeman) June 18, 2023
And as Rhu_Ru noted, in yesterday's game, "Gallo, Buxton, Kepler, and Jeffers K'd in all their ABs". So yeah, that's not great! We're getting one of those years where we do things like have a promising road trip then trip onto our faces against lesser teams. I fear this is going to be the type of team we have this year. Again. Rays of sunshine, bracketed by frustration. Uh, play ball!
Pablo López
vs
Shawn Armstrong
The Twins are 31-30 while the Rays are now 44-19. The Twins winning one of the next two would be a success I think.
Cleveland comes to town to kick off a four-game weekend series tonight, so this is a chance for the Twins to gain some ground head-to-head on a divisional rival. I'm not sure what to make of this team yet since we haven't seen them hitting on all cylinders since April, but I've been duly impressed with the starting rotation. Pablo Lopez has been solid (considering what we gave up I'd like more out of him), Sonny Grey has been phenomenal, but some regression to the mean has to happen eventually, right? The young guys are getting it done, too, we've seen some great starts by Ryan and Varland. The bullpen has been decent, not outstanding but solid enough to keep games winnable in late innings, with some notable exceptions, of course. I don't know what's wrong with Jorge Lopez, for example, the last two outings of his I've seen were horrendous and he simply could not get an out. It's like he's got relief pitcher yips or something, keeps throwing the ball exactly where he doesn't want to. Anyway, tonight we get Pablo Lopez and Tanner Bibee slinging the horsehide. Let's hope the offense we found in Houston made the trip home and shows up for this series.
Play ball!
The offense stinks. The pitching doesn't. Even the much maligned bullpen isn't THAT bad. Just gotta score more than -2 runs a game.
Gonna have to really deal today, Pablo.
Ohtani Day in progress. The Twins counter with Pablo López; Buxton is out of the lineup.
Hey, look at that, another free MLB.tv game! And our old friend Plouffe! will be in the booth the whole road trip.
The Twins walk into Dodger Stadium while the home team maintains a nine game win streak in their arena. On top of this, the Twins have lost ten(!) games in a row against the Dodgers.
Syndergaard is not at his best this season and López is at nearly half his ERA. While the Dodgers have decent pitching overall, let's hope the Twins can get to Noah early.
The Assbats® seem to have taken the weekend off, and hopefully they didn't make the trip out to LA.
Seth Lugo
vs
Pablo López
Twins starters are tied with the Mariners for first in fWAR, 5.2. The Rays are third at 4.3. The relievers unfortunately rank 17th. More unfortunately, the batters are way down at 21st. Correa is a big part of that but Miranda has been worse. The success of the starters means it has been nice to know the team will be in the game until late each time. Sure, I also know those 2-0 games very likely could end up at 2-0 or 2-1 but it's nicer than knowing last season it will not stay at only two runs given up.
Disconcerting. That's the safe-for-work word I'll use to describe blowing into the Windy City and dropping the first two games - both of them achingly winnable - to the Pale Hosers. Pitching has not been the problem, though (odd how saying that feels like putting on a shirt that doesn't quite fit right).
Between the last two losses and a couple of others here and there the Twins could easily have 20 wins or more under their collective belt. Instead, sporadic ass-battery has reared its ugly head and is driving the team down. Six out of nine hitters in today's starting lineup have averages below .250 and as a team the Twins are hitting a paltry .232, and from that vantage point you can damn near see Mario Mendoza. Buxton solo home runs are great to watch, but if they don't ultimately deliver puppies and fireworks what's the point?
On the mound today, Pablo Lopez (2-2, 4.00 ERA, 46K) will face off against Lucas Giolito (1-2, 4.15 ERA, 34K). Hopefully when Lopez comes off the mound today it will be late in the game with the Twins leading and no trainers in sight. It's great to have starting pitching depth in St. Paul, but it's even better when you don't have to use it.
Play ball!
Twenty games in the books. A full 1/8 of the season already done. How do the Twins look?
Well, they mostly look pretty good! The pitching has been excellent, led by a deep rotation and a pretty sharp high leverage bullpen. The Pablo Lopez trade has looked like a win/win, but the extension nudges it into the Twins' favor, I think. I loved the trade from the moment it was announced, and haven't seen anything to make me rethink it.
The hitting has been....less good, to be charitable. Gallo pretty much IS the offense at the moment. Getting Polanco back and sitting the next Denard Span Danny Santana squarely onto the bench will help, but a lot of the other pieces have to get moving. Jose Miranda has been slightly less valuable than Miguel Cabrera, which would be fantastic news....if it was 2012 - quite a bit less so in the year of our lord 2023.
Hosting the second worst team in baseball should help, but the non-Gallo contingent of the lineup is going to have to show up.
Luckily, one run is all they'll really need, because Pablo Lopez is in the mound, and he's going to be slinging zeroes all day. Let's go Twins!
