Minnesota Twins 3 Up, 3 Down: Twins have another exhausting week
With injuries and another marathon game, the Minnesota Twins are likely counting the days until they head into the All-Star break.
Back on June 19, the Minnesota Twins played the longest game of the season and the history of Target Field when they took down the Boston Red Sox 4-3. It was a tough game for the Twins despite picking up the victory and one that left the Twins with a little bit of a hangover effect coming into a weekend series with the Kansas City Royals.
After splitting with the Royals last weekend and heading into this week with the sky is falling paranoia that has consumed Twins fans all season, the Twins took two more games in impressive fashion before running into an 18-inning affair with the Rays on June 27.
With two marathon games in nine days, the Twins have the look of a team that’s running on fumes heading into the final week of the first half. Compound the Twins bad luck with a pair of key injuries and it’s likely that the Twins are crossing days off the calendar as they head into their four-day break.
Even so, the Twins will look to remain focused as they take on a pair of solid AL West clubs in the Oakland Athletics and Texas Rangers this week and there is plenty going right (and some going in the other direction) as they get ready for the final stretch of the first half.
UP: Nelson Cruz
Nelson Cruz didn’t take home the victory in the MLB All-Star Starters Election, but he did have a week that is starting to show that he’s heating up. In the weekend series with the Chicago White Sox, Cruz went 5-for-9 with three home runs, including a mammoth blast over the batters eye at Guaranteed Rate Field on Saturday afternoon.
With this weekend’s offensive explosion, Cruz is now hitting .284 on the season with 16 HR and 46 RBI while hitting third in the lineup. The 38-year old’s numbers are even more impressive, when you consider he missed two weeks in May with a wrist injury.
Cruz’s first season in Minnesota has gone extremely well in the first half and you can argue that his production is what the Twins were expecting with slumping third baseman Miguel Sano. With a long break to recuperate, Cruz should be ready to go in the second half as he continues to be a lynchpin in the Twins’ lineup.
DOWN: Twins All-Star hopes
The Twins have one of the best records in the American League and a lineup that entered Sunday scoring the most runs per game with 5.74 per contest. With a lineup that has gained notoriety as the Bomba Squad thanks to their ability to crush home runs, one would figure that the Twins would have plenty of representation in the All-Star Game.
Not so fast.
As the American League’s roster was slowly rolled out on Sunday afternoon, the Twins wound up with just two All-Stars with Jorge Polanco winning the fan vote and Jake Odorizzi being voted as a reserve pitcher.
The lack of Twins on the All-Star team is disappointing, but it might be a blessing in disguise moving forward. With a long break on the horizon, banged up players such as Eddie Rosario and Max Kepler can have some time off to recharge and get ready for the second half.
Besides, in 1987, the Twins had just one All-Star in Kirby Puckett. Later that year, the Twins would go on to win their first World Series title. It’s probably not relevant here, but it’s just a thought.
UP: Jorge Polanco & Jake Odorizzi
While it’s interesting to chatter about the Twins that didn’t make the All-Star team, we should at least tip our caps to the players that did make the Midsummer Classic. Both Polanco and Odorizzi deserve to be in Cleveland for the All-Star Game and both are having seasons that have exceeded expectations.
Polanco won the MLB All-Star Starters Election by claiming 42 percent of the vote to defeat Houston’s Carlos Correa and New York’s Gleyber Torres. Polanco has had a MVP-worthy season for the Twins, hitting .320 with 11 HR and 39 RBI. Even after signing a seven-year extension in February, it’s safe to say that nobody was expecting this kind of breakout from Polanco, who will turn 26 later this week.
Even more surprising has been the rise of Odorizzi, who has rebounded from a tough 2018 season to put together a Cy Young Award campaign in 2019. Odorizzi has gone 10-3 on the season with a 2.73 ERA, which is fourth in the American League. The Twins might be looking for an ace in the second half of the season, but with Odorizzi and Jose Berrios in the fold, the Twins are looking strong at the top of the rotation.
DOWN: Eddie Rosario
The good news is that the Twins haven’t had any major injuries that could derail their dream season to date. The bad news is that recently, the Twins have dealt with injuries that have resulted in a death by a thousand paper cuts.
The latest victim of the Twins injury bug was Eddie Rosario, who turned his ankle during the Twins victory over the Rays on June 26. While the Twins were hoping that Rosario could just take a couple days off and return to the lineup, their 18-inning game the following day forced their hand and with Byron Buxton and Marwin Gonzalez not ready to return on Friday night, the Twins put Rosario on the disabled list in order to call up some fresh bodies.
The timing for Rosario’s injury couldn’t have come at a worse time as he was poised to claim his first trip to the All-Star game after being snubbed last summer. Although he was not named to the All-Star team, it’s fair to wonder if the injury may have had something to do with that. With a .282 average with 20 HR and 60 RBI, Rosario definitely had the numbers to head to Cleveland, but instead, he’ll have to sit through the All-Star break and be ready to go for the second half.
UP: Lewis Thorpe
We could talk about Buxton and Gonzalez being activated here, but instead, we’ll talk about the path that Lewis Thorpe has had on his way to the major leagues. While it wasn’t the same emotional path that fellow prospect Devin Smeltzer had taken to the major leagues, Thorpe’s path also encountered adversity thanks to elbow problems that led him to miss the 2015 and 2016 seasons.
Thorpe’s road to recovery hasn’t been a smooth one and his numbers at Triple-A Rochester (3-4, 5.71 ERA) were not screaming for a call-up. With the Twins needing arms out of the bullpen and Kyle Gibson making a 17th inning cameo during the marathon, Minnesota decided to give Thorpe his first major league start on Sunday and he did well, limiting the White Sox to two runs over five innings while striking out seven.
Perhaps the coolest part out of all of this was the 24-hour trip his parents took from Australia to surprise their son moments after he received the news of his major league debut. While Thorpe didn’t get the win, it’s moments like these that make following baseball fun.
DOWN: The Twins’ overall health
After two marathon games in a nine-day stretch and a couple of tough losses to the White Sox over the weekend, the Twins look like a team that desperately needs a break. Luckily for them, the All-Star break is right around the corner and as we’ve mentioned earlier, that might be a blessing in disguise for a team with playoff aspirations.
With all the negativity surrounding the injury front, there could be good news on the horizon barring anything unforeseen in the next week. The Twins have already gotten the services of Buxton and Gonzalez back and should have Rosario and Willians Astudillo back once they hit the field after the All-Star break.
4 Twins that got snubbed for the MLB All-Star Game. dark. Next
The best thing about this is that the Twins haven’t had a massive drop off with these players out of the lineup. Sure, the Twins have had some clunkers, but they still haven’t had a three game losing streak and had three straight months with a winning record for the first time since 2010. If the Twins can keep this going, it should be a special second half in Minneapolis.