Minnesota Twins vs Toronto Blue Jays Series Preview
Minnesota Twins Look to Revamp Roster Once Again in Quest for Answers
Barring any rainouts during this four game series, the Twins will hit the quarter pole mark for the 2016 season. Yes, 25% of the season will have gone by and the Minnesota Twins are only at 10 wins for the year (10-29), almost 20 games under .500, and 13.5 games back of the division leaders.
Playing .500 the rest of the way out (which would be a huuuge improvement over their current play) would leave them at 71-91, yet the Twins are not yet ready to throw in the towel. Unlike the 1982 season that was lost early on, the Twins front office isn’t ready to turn it over to the young ones just yet.
Yesterday, the Twins optioned left fielder Eddie Rosario to AAA Rochester for Cleveland cast-off, corner outfielder Robbie Grossman. Grossman’s one full season in the majors was with Houston in 2014 with a line (.233 AVG / 14 2B / 2 3B / 6 HR / 37 RBI) and cannot play center field. A head-scratcher, for sure.
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So, after trading away Aaron Hicks, and promising an outfield of Rosario – Byron Buxton – Max Kepler for the near future, the Twins debuted that exact outfield after some early struggles, only to scrap it for Robbie Grossman – Danny Santana – Miguel Sano…not an outfield you’d expect to win many Golden Gloves any time soon.
The Minnesota Twins faced a struggling Detroit Tigers team at the start of the week and during the first two games sported them an 8-run first inning and a 7-run 7th inning. In the final game, a comedy of errors in the field out-and-out handed the Tigers game three.
Now, the Toronto Blue Jays come to Target Field. They too, are scuffling, losing 5 in a row. Coming off a sweep at the hands of the Tampa Bay Rays, Toronto (19-23) has fallen to fourth in the AL East, 7 games behind the Baltimore Orioles. It’s a smack in the face compared to where they were last October after defeating Texas in the ALDS to face the Royals for a chance at the AL pennant.
Speaking of getting smacked in the face, Jose Bautista was suspended 1 game for his role in last week’s brawl against the Texas Rangers. Blue Jays manager John Gibbons was handed down a 3 game suspension, and will serve out his final game in tonight’s opener.
Thursday Night Game
Marco Estrada (1-2, 2.89 ERA) vs Ervin Santana (1-2, 3.38 ERA)
7:10 Target Field
TV: Fox Sports North
Friday Night Game
Aaron Sanchez (3-1, 3.29 ERA) vs Tyler Duffey (1-2, 1.85 ERA)
7:10 Target Field
TV: MLB-TV (Out of Network) and FSN
Saturday Day Game
J.A. Happ (5-1, 3.40 ERA) vs Pat Dean (0-1, 4.50 ERA)
1:10 Target Field
TV: MLB-TV (Out of Network) and FSN
Sunday Day Game
Marcus Stroman (4-1, 4.23 ERA) vs Phil Hughes (1-6, 5.70 ERA)
1:10 Target Field
TV: Fox Sports North
Next: Toronto Breakdown
Toronto: After reaching last year’s ALCS, the Blue Jays were full of hope entering 2016. Led by reigning MVP, Josh Donaldson, and the bat-flipper himself, Jose Bautista. But the Blue Jays have been streaky this year.
They have lost at least three in a row 4 times this year, and won back-to-back games or have gone on a winning streak (at least 3 games) 6 times times already in the young season.
Offense: Unlike last year, when you could peruse the AL stat leaders and see 3, 4 Blue Jays in every offensive category, only Edwin Encarnacion (5th in RBI with 30) is among the 2016 leaders. Donaldson, Bautista, Chris Colabello (PED suspension), and even Encarnacion, are all down across the board compared to last year’s offensive explosion.
Toronto ranks 4th in MLB in strikeouts (Twins are 8th), and many experts think they are trying too hard to match last year’s power numbers. Left fielder Michael Saunders (.311 / 6 HR / .911 OPS) has been a pleasant surprise with his start, batting usually in the 7-hole.
Player(s) to Watch: Troy Tulowitzki and Josh Donaldson. Tulo has shown sparks here and there of finding his stroke (April: .169 AVG / .618 OPS / 4 HR vs partial May: .233 AVG / .760 OPS / 4 HR) after getting dropped in the batting order. He’s a lifetime .350 hitter against current Twins pitchers.
Donaldson, despite his struggles this year, is still the heart of the Blue Jays. His lifetime .396 average versus current Twins pitching includes a .357 AVG / 1.329 OPS split against game one starter Ervin Santana.
Pitching: Toronto ranks 5th in the AL in ERA (3.73), and their batting average against (.248) is nearly 35 points lower than Minnesota’s. Roberto Osuna has blossomed into a reliable reliever (8/9 in save situations), collecting a stellar (1.69 ERA / 1.00 WHIP / 18 K / 4 BB) line for a closer.
Player to Watch: J.A. Happ. Happ has been killing the opposition softly and efficiently. He doesn’t strike out a lot of guys (only 5.72/9, lowest among Jays starters) and has given up 6 home runs (second-worst on team). He’s been keeping his pitch count down, and he’s inducing an incredible 33% of double possibilities into actual converted GIDP’s (11/33). By comparison, in 2011 while pitching for Houston, Happ converted 11/104 for the entire season.
Next: Minnesota Breakdown
Twins: What to do, what to do. Tied with Atlanta for the worst record in the major leagues, the Twins are re-tooling their line-up once again. Many, like myself, think the Twins should throw in the towel on play-offs prospects for 2016 and start playing the future now.
Veterans say there is such a steep learning curve, one that takes the average young player 1000 at bats to get comfortable. Given this, the front office should bring up those players and get that much needed experience now, instead of struggling through the curve again next year.
What 1982 taught us was that all this young talent came in together, struggled and lost together. Learned what it took to win, what bad habits to get rid of, and experienced a close comradeship as they fought to become relevant and make playoff runs.
This same formula was repeated with the Royals as they finally decided to go young, bring them up together, and sprinkle in some veterans in middle and late relief. Right now, the Twins have millions invested in mediocre starting pitching that is un-tradeable, journeyman outfielders, and no reliant back-end relievers to close out a game within grasp. Time to wipe the chalkboard clean.
Next: Eddie Rosario Optioned Grossman Added
Notes: Pat Dean will get his first major league start in Saturday’s game after pitching well in relief Monday. Dean stretched his arm out to over 90 pitches in 5.1 IP, scattering 10 hits, allowing just 2 runs.
Former Twin lefty, Neal Cotts, asked for and was granted his release from the L.A. Angels yesterday. Cotts had a 3.29 ERA with 13 K’s/3 BB’s in 14 games. Maybe he thinks there’s an opening with the Twins.