Minnesota Twins: 3 things the Twins must do to get back into the ALDS
The Minnesota Twins season is on the verge of a disappointing ending, but if they make a couple of adjustments, they could get back into the ALDS.
You might as well call me an optimist because I’m not ready to throw in the towel on the Minnesota Twins. The Twins put together a tremendous season in 2019, winning 101 games and while many of those wins came against the likes of the American League Central (which was downright awful), they still were able to compete with some of the best teams in the American League to finish two games behind the New York Yankees in the standings.
Yet, in the first two games of the American League Divisional Series, the Twins have looked like the minor league counterparts that got called up and thrust into the October crucible that is postseason baseball. With many bad decisions, it’s easy to laugh about the team’s roster construction and horrible decisions, but to put it mildly, the Twins aren’t playing their game.
The Twins got here on being a calm, composed team that wasn’t rattled by a small deficit. Now outside of the raucous environment of Yankee Stadium, Minnesota will have a chance to right the ship the next two games at Target Field in front of their home crowd, which hasn’t seen a home playoff game in nine years.
The odds are stacked against the Twins in winning this series and if the Twins play as they did in the first two games, fans might as well pack the Homer Hankies up right now. However, if they can take a deep breath and make a couple of adjustments, the Twins still have a chance in this series and make an improbable comeback.
Take better at-bats
You may ask me to start off with the pitching and we will certainly get to that. But as prolific as the Bomba Squad was over the regular season, they didn’t see the same results at Yankee Stadium despite hitting three home runs in the opener of this series. The big difference? The Yankees are getting guys on base when they hit the big blast.
During the regular season, the Twins did not look like blindfolded children at a pinata party at the plate. In fact, in most ways, they had a lineup that was superior to what the Yankees are trotting out. While the Twins didn’t set the world on fire by drawing walks (their 525 walks finished 18th in Major League Baseball), they were able to see success by waiting for the right pitch, ranking sixth in MLB in strikeouts (1,334) and second in average (.270) and OPS (.494).
In the first two games, the Twins have been eager to make up multiple runs with one swing of the bat and it’s been to their detriment. With every hitter seemingly expanding the strike zone, the strikeouts have gone up as the Yankees have punched out 27 batters over the first two games. That’s a Gerrit Cole level of dominance.
With at-bats such as this gem from Eddie Rosario (via Twins Daily’s Ted Schwerzler on Twitter), the Twins are simply trying too hard to hit a ball 500 feet. While they shouldn’t try to completely change their game and start bunting, being more selective at the plate could make a big difference.
Challenge the Yankees (but not right down the middle)
Throughout the first two games, the Twins have looked like they have forgotten all of the pitching coach Wes Johnson’s tutelage. While the right idea is to throw strikes, the Twins have channeled more of former pitching coach Rick Anderson‘s philosophy as the Twins have pitched to (3-2-1) contact.
As Twins Daily’s Parker Hageman showed on Twitter, the Twins have decided to challenge the Yankees, with a majority of their pitches in the strike zone. That is a good thing. The bad thing is that the Twins have decided to do it by throwing directly down the middle of the plate.
In Game 2 alone, the Twins threw a whopping 11 percent of their pitches in the middle of the strike zone and mixed in with all other pitches in the middle, Minnesota basically lobbed soft toss to the Yankees with a combined 25.8% of their pitches over the middle of the plate. Against a lineup that hit 307 home runs, that just doesn’t seem like a good idea.
Of course, that also runs the risk of nibbling too much. That’s what happened in Game 1 as the Yankees took their time and saw 193 pitches in the process of putting up 10 runs. As the Twins mulled and fretted with each pitch, the Yankees were able to mount rallies and wound up cashing in with every situation that presented itself.
As the Twins head into Game 3, making the Yankees have to work harder for their runs will have to be a priority.
Use your best arms (aka better bullpen management)
Personally, I’m about to call Kemps and see if they can do the whole missing person thing on the side of one of their cartons. Has anybody seen Taylor Rogers lately? Maybe Trevor May? How about Sergio Romo? Oh, he pitched in Game 2 when it was out of hand? Well, that’s cool.
So now that I’m done telling jokes, the really funny thing has been Rocco Baldelli‘s management of his bullpen during this series. The Twins have put themselves in big holes thanks to who he’s put in and when he’s put them in.
Consider Game 1. When the two teams went to their bullpens, the Twins had a chance in the game in a 4-4 tie. Baldelli’s answer here was putting in Cody Stashak, who served up a pair of bombs that eventually put the Twins in a 7-4 hole. After turning to Kyle Gibson, who hasn’t been effective since June, his latest bullpen blunder put the game out of reach in an eventual 10-4 defeat.
Game 2 was more of the same for the Twins’ skipper. After Randy Dobnak succumbed to the “Uber” chants of the Bleacher Creatures in Yankee Stadium, Baldelli went to Tyler Duffey. This would have been a solid choice if Duffey hadn’t thrown 25 high-stress pitches the night before. The result was a grand slam from Didi Gregorius, that served as a death blow in a 8-2 loss.
In either scenario, Baldelli didn’t go to one of his best relievers, instead opting to save them for a late-game situation. That situation never came because the ones he decided to put in were ineffective.
dark. Next. Grand slam puts Twins on brink of elimination
With the Twins having no room for error, Baldelli needs to go all-in on his best relievers. This may mean putting Romo in in the sixth and maybe asking Rogers to go for a two-inning stint to keep the game within reach. This could set the Twins up for failure or overuse, but at this point, there is nothing else to lose but the season.