I like writing this: The Twins’ Carlos Correa. That’s right, folks. He is ours and he is quickly living up to the hype, the praise and the money after he singled in his spring training debut on Sunday, then homered on Tuesday against the Tampa Bay Rays in what would be a 4-2 Twins loss.
So be it. There was plenty to get excited about. In addition to Correa, there is the Carew-like figure of Luis Arraez, who I find is just moments away from being declared a great hitter. He already has a career batting average of .313 and he went 2-for-2 on Tuesday with two doubles. Two other hitters I get excited about — Byron Buxton and Oregon State man Trevor Larnach — also connected with a double apiece.
On the mound, Bailey Ober was OK and the bullpen was sensational.
Ober allowed two runs on four hits over three innings, but he also walked three batters. He didn’t appear to be too pleased with the home plate umpire during his start. Reliever Trevor Megill took the loss, but then he was followed by Jharel Cotton, Yennier Cano and Jhoan Duran and they lit it up, each striking out the side in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings.
On the downside of the ledger, catcher Gary Sanchez struck out twice and has now struck out eight times in 16 at bats this spring, or 50 percent of the time. No doubt he is not going to see as many fastballs as he did playing for the Yankees in that lineup.
The other challenge for the Twins: Hitting with runners in scoring position. The Twins were 1-for-9 on Tuesday.
Extra innings…
-In the category of more good news, the Twins have signed right-handed pitcher Chris Archer to a one-year deal worth $3.5 million. Over his nine-year career, Archer is 61-81 with a 3.87 ERA. However, he has always been known as a strikeout pitcher, fanning 200 or more batters in 2015-2017 when he was with the Tampa Bay Rays. He also saw very limited action last season and yet in only 19-plus innings he struck out 21 for a strikeout rate per nine innings of 9.8.
And then there was this…
Here is my take on today’s #MNTwins game. Cotton, Cano and Duran 9 up 9 K’s the last three innings.And a Correa Bomb for good measure. That’s all you need to know
— Doug Munson (@TwinsWild16) March 29, 2022
Source: Baseball-Reference.com