Tag: Rocco Baldelli

What does AI predict for the Twins in 2024

Just for fun I asked AI Microsoft Copilot powered by GPT-4 to tell me how the Minnesota Twins will do in 2024. Here is what it had to say:

The Minnesota Twins are gearing up for the 2024 MLB season, and there are several intriguing story-lines to watch. Let’s dive into some predictions:

  1. Royce Lewis Makes All-Star Team, Earns MVP Consideration:
  2. Joe Ryan Bounces Back with an All-Star Season:
  3. Twins Projected to Win AL Central Again:

In summary, keep an eye on Royce Lewis, Joe Ryan, and the Twins as they aim to defend their division title and make a deeper playoff run in 2024! ??

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State of the 2023 Twins at the half-way pole

Derek Falvey and Thad Levine – credit MN Twins

I have followed the Minnesota Twins since 1961 (with the exception of my Navy years 1965-1968) but very few Twins teams have frustrated me as much as this season has. I have never been one to sugar-coat the Twins performance and I think I have done my share of ripping the Twins organization over the years. My site, Twinstrivia.com is intended to be a Minnesota Twins historical website so I try to not spend a lot of time writing about my personal feeling regarding the Twins although I do not hide the fact I am a huge Twins fan and watch them when ever I can, more so on TV now days than in person. But this 2023 Twins team is getting to me.

The Minnesota Twins coming off a three-game series in which they went 0 for 23 with RISP and were outscored 13 to 3 and swept by the high flying Atlanta Braves. After the series-sweeping 3-0 loss manager Rocco Baldelli had another closed-door meeting with his team in which he told them that they were playing was unsatisfactory baseball. I would have paid good money to sit in on that meeting.

The Twins have been in first place for the majority of the 2023 season but have played uninspiring baseball for most of the year. The starting pitching has been good but the bullpen has been less than stellar and the hitting has been abysmal, particularly situational hitting.

Continue reading State of the 2023 Twins at the half-way pole

Finally it is time for games that count

It has been a number of years since I have been this excited about the beginning of a new baseball season. I can’t wait for it to begin and it starts tomorrow. There are a number of rules changes that I think will make baseball more fun to watch. There are so many changes in the game this year from bigger bases, shift limits, the pitch timer, limits on throws to first base, and more. The extra-inning rule with the so called “Ghost Runner” was made permanent and I really don’t like that rule at all but you have to take the bad with the good.

One of the other changes that MLB made that I think is fantastic is the schedule change, the number of games still stays at 162 but every team will face every other team at least six times during the regular season so fans will get to see the best players in the game in their home ballpark for a minimum of three games, unless of course they are injured.

Then there are our home town Minnesota Twins who I think are set to earn back the AL Central Division title in 2023 that has eluded them since 2020 and that was only in a 60-game season. The Twins were swamped with injuries last season and finished 78-84 and in 2021 they finished with a 73-89 record. Can they win 15 more games in 2023 than they won lost year? I think they can.

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Twins fun facts from Twins 3/24 & 3/25 ST notes

SPRING FLING: Today the Twins will play the 28th and 29th of 32 scheduled Grapefruit League games as the Twins and Braves will play a pair of split squad at Hammond Stadium and CoolToday Park in North Port. After today, one more game will be played at Hammond Stadium and two more games will be played on the road. The Twins will complete the exhibition season with a 1:05 pm (ET) game in Bradenton against the Pirates on Tuesday, March 28. After the game, they will fly to Kansas City, hold an optional team workout on March 29 then begin a three-game, four-day series at Kauffman Stadium from March 30-April 2. Rocco Baldelli announced to the media how the starting five will open the season: for the Kansas City series – RHP Pablo López on Thursday, March 30 , RHP Sonny Gray on Saturday, April 1, RHP Joe Ryan on Sunday, April 2. For the Miami series – RHP Tyler Mahle
on Monday, April 3, RHP Kenta Maeda on Tuesday, April 4.

THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT: Below is a look at Baseball America’s top ten Twins prospects entering the 2023 season: 1 Royce Lewis, 2 Brooks Lee, 3 Emmanuel Rodriguez, 4 Edouard Julien, 5 Connor Prielipp, 6, Matt Wallner, 7 Marco Raya, 8 Louie Varland, 9 David Festa, 10 Simeon Woods Richardson.

Below is a look at MLB’s top ten Twins prospects entering the 2023 season: 1. Brooks Lee, 2 Royce Lewis, 3. Emmanuel Rodriguez, 4. Connor Prelipp, 5 Matt Wallner, 6 Simeon Woods Richardson, 7 Marco Raya, 8 Misael Urbina, 9 Matt Canterino, 10 Louie Varland.

PROSPECT SHOWCASE IN TAMPA: The Twins beat the Yankees yesterday afternoon at George M. Steinbrenner Field by a score of 6-4. Pablo López was the starter in his final tuneup of the spring, allowing two runs on two hits in 3 innings pitched. Kenta Maeda made his final official spring appearance in relief, allowing two runs on three hits in 5 innings pitched, with five strikeouts. Twins prospects Edouard Julien and Emmanuel Rodriguez both went 2-for-4 with a home run, as Rodriguez’s three-run jimmy jack gave the Twins a ninth inning lead and eventual victory.

Tomorrow’s pitchers: Minnesota: Sonny Gray (R), Cole Sands (R), Jorge Alcala (R), Jhoan Duran (R)
Boston: Chris Sale (L), Kaleb Ort (R), Richard Bleier (L), John Schreiber (R)

Twins fun facts from Twins ST notes

Credit – FOX 9

Since the Twins are publishing their Twins Notes for each Spring Training game I thought that I would pick out one item from each days notes and pass it along here. Today’s note is from March 2.

This season marks Rocco Baldelli’s fifth as the Twins’ manager, he will enter the regular season with a career managerial record of 288-258 and two division titles (2019 and ’20). Baldelli is one of eight managers in team history (since 1961) with 250 victories. Rocco’s coaching staff for 2023 includes: first base/catching coach Hank Conger, quality control coach Nate Dammann, assistant bench coach Tony Diaz, hitting coach Rudy Hernandez, pitching coach Pete Maki, bullpen coach Colby Suggs, hitting coach David Popkins, assistant pitching coach Luis Ramirez, assistant hitting coach Derek Shomon, bench coach Jayce Tingler and third base/outfield coach Tommy Watkins.

A look at Twins Quality Starts over the years

According to WikipediA, in baseball a quality start is a statistic for a starting pitcher defined as a game in which the pitcher completes at least six innings and permits no more than three earned runs. The quality start has effectively replaced the ‘complete game’ as a meaningful measure of a starting pitcher’s performance.

The quality start was developed by sportswriter John Lowe in 1985 while writing for The Philadelphia Inquirer. Nolan Ryan has used the term “High Quality Start” for games where the pitcher goes seven innings or more and allows three earned runs or fewer, which baseball columnist and formber BBWAA president Derrick Goold referred to as “Quality Start Plus.”

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2022 Twins Turkey of the Year

Once again it is that time of the year, time to name the 2022 Twins Turkey of the Year, but first, I would like to wish all of you a very Happy Thanksgiving. We all have a lot to be thankful for even if the Minnesota Twins play in 2022 is not one of them. As you might imagine, there were plenty of candidates for this years honor after the team crashed and burned playing .357 baseball in September and finished the second half with a 28-40 record. Hopes were sky high when the Twins spent over $35 million to sign shortstop Carlos Correa but as the season wore on, the Twins wore down even if manager Rocco Baldelli rested his players for the big Fall push.

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Twins fire head athletic trainer Michael Salazar

Manager Rocco Baldelli and head athletic trainer Michael Salazar

Somebody’s head had to be on the chopping block after the 2022 Minnesota Twins dismal season and it looks like head athletic trainer Michael Salazar is that unlucky soul. The way the Twins front office makes it sound he will be the only casualty but we will have to wait and see what happens down the line. That certainly does not sit well with me or many other Twins fans.

Twins interim pitching coach Pete Maki has been named as the pitching coach and interim bullpen coach Colby Suggs will also drop the interim label from his poisition on the coaching staff. One of these days I need to find out what a bullpen coach does besides answer the phone. I read somewhere where Derek Falvey stated that an assistant pitching coach may be added to help Maki with his duties. It seems like it will only be a matter of time before there will be as many coaches as there are players on the team. I wouldn’t be surprised if maybe some coaches get reassigned, third base coach Tommy Watkins comes to mind but we will just have to wait and see.

Once the World Series comes to an end we will see what the Minnesota Twins off-season looks like. There are many questions and issues to be addressed, it will be interesting to see how things shake out.

Twins fans might not recognize their team

Minnesota Twins fans might not recognize their team this season when they go out to Target Field. The Twins have so many new players you will need to spend a few bucks and buy a scorecard just so you know who is playing where. Twins fans are already wondering who secretly snuck in during the dark of night this off-season and bought this Twins team from the Pohlad’s and has told Derek Falvey and Thad Levine to get off their butts and start putting together a winning team, money is no object. How else do you explain the Twins signing Carlos Correa to a three-year deal at $35.1 million per year? And the trades? What the heck is going here in fly over land?

The rumors were running wild last night as I went to bed that the Minnesota Twins and the San Diego Padres were talking let’s make a deal. The Padres have an excess of starting pitchers and the Twins are in need of starters so it looks like a match made in heaven. When I got up this morning I found out that a deal had indeed been consummated with the Twins getting starting right-handed pitcher Chris Paddack and right-handed reliever Emilio Pagan from San Diego in return for closer Taylor Rogers and first baseman/outfielder Brent Rooker. The Twins will also receive a player to be named later and will send cash to San Diego in the deal. That cash amount apparently covers all of Rogers salary but $700,000 in 2022. Rogers can become a free agent after the 2022 season.

Taylor Rogers

Lots of Twins fans are not happy to see Rogers, the Twins closer traded. Rogers was the Twins 11th round pick in the 2012 draft, the same year the Twins drafted Byron Buxton, Jose Berrios and Tyler Duffey. Rogers made his big league debut in April of 2016. Rogers has been a solid reliever ever since and he took over the closing chores in 2019. Rogers was named to his first All-Star team last season but suffered a finger injury in late July and he missed the rest of the 2021 season. Rogers has a twin-brother Tyler who pitches for the San Francisco Giants.

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I miss the complete games

The last time the Minnesota Twins team had ten or more complete games by their pitching staff in a season was in 2001 when they had 12. The last time they had more than 8 complete games in a season was in 2010. The Falvey/Levine regime has had a grand total of ten complete games since they came into power after the 2016 season. Once they installed Rocco Baldelli as their manager the Twins have had one complete game in 2021, zero in 2020 and one in 2019. The only Twins pitcher to throw a complete game since 2017 was Jose Berrios so they rewarded him by trading him. Do you know who the last Twins pitcher to throw a complete game before Berrios was? That would be Bartolo Colon on August 4, 2017. Back in 1963 and 1967 the Minnesota Twins team had a franchise high of 58 complete games.

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