I was all prepared to write that the Twins are starting to turn things around, and then they went and lost in extra innings again to the Cleveland Indians on Saturday. The Tribe gave Shane Bieber a 3-0 lead, but the Twins came back against one of baseball’s best pitchers to tie the game. But... Continue Reading »

During the 2020 season, the Twins, like every team in the majors, played most of their games against divisional rivals. The club was good enough to win a second straight AL Central title, but there was some scuttlebutt: Would the Twins have won the central if they had played outside the division last season? That... Continue Reading »

Free agent pitcher and ex-Yankee, J.A. Happ, saw more spring training action on Friday, but perhaps he wishes he hadn’t after he was roughed up in a 7-6 loss to the Atlanta Braves. The Twins are 1-6 in exhibition play against the Braves. Happ followed Kenta Maeda, who was his usual sterling self. Maeda scattered... Continue Reading »

Twins starting pitchers Jose Berrios, Kenta Maeda, Matt Shoemaker, J.A. Happ and maybe Randy Dobnak or Lewis Thorpe, have pitched extremely well this spring. So well, in fact, that their collective performance has stood in sharp contrast to that produced by the relief corps. (My apologies to Mr. Michael Pineda who is very much a... Continue Reading »

Twins manager Rocco Baldelli unveiled the real deal on Sunday, using a lineup that we can probably expect to see a lot during the regular season. All the familiar names were there: Max Kepler, Josh Donaldson, Nelson Cruz, Mitch Garver, Jorge Polanco, Miguel Sano, Byron Buxton, Andrelton Simmons and Brent Rooker, who played in left... Continue Reading »

In games that Twins pitchers Jose Berrios, Kenta Maeda, Michael Pineda, Matt Shoemaker, Devin Smeltzer and Lewis Thorpe have started so far this spring — and this is likely to be the starting rotation, give or take Smeltzer, for the regular season — they have allowed a grand total of one earned run. That came... Continue Reading »

The Twins fell to 2-1 on the young start to exhibition play after the Atlanta Braves shut out the club 6-0 on Tuesday. It appears that Twins manager, Rocco Baldelli, went with youth on the mound and they didn’t fare so well, allowing 11 hits, including four extra-base hits, over seven innings. Braves pitching, meanwhile,... Continue Reading »

The not-so-terrible Tigers on Saturday swept a doubleheader from the Twins, a situation that now has the team from Minnesota looking up in the AL Central at new league leaders. The Tribe is in first, the White Sox are in second and the Twins are now in third place, 1.5 games out of the top... Continue Reading »

Ex-Dodger Rich Hill looked every bit like a 40-year-old pitcher and the bullpen was just as bad as the Brewers scored early and often to beat the Twins, 9-3, on Wednesday. Hill got into trouble right away, lasting all of two-plus innings. He allowed four runs, all earned, on 53 pitches. He also walked three... Continue Reading »