Month: July 2015

Twins trade for reliever Kevin Jepsen

 

Kevin Jepsen
Kevin Jepsen
Alexis Tapia
Alexis Tapia

The MLB trading deadline came and went and a number of big name ballplayers are changing uniforms but don’t look for any of those big name players here in Twins Territory. The Twins however; weren’t shutout in this years trading frenzy as Twins GM Terry Ryan swung a deal with the Tampa Rays for 31 year-old right-handed reliever Kevin Jepsen and in turn the Twins gave up minor league right-handed pitchers Chih-Wei Hu and Alexis Tapia.

Miracle All-Star Chih-Wei Hu finally catching his breath

Kevin Jepsen was a Anaheim Angels second round pick in 2002 and and signed by scout Todd Blyleven. Jepsen made his big league debut in September of 2008 as a 24 year-old and pitched for the Angels from 2008 through 2014 before being traded to the Tampa Rays for outfielder Matt Joyce.

A Tampa web site Rayscoloredglasses.com had this to say about Jepsen –

“Jepsen’s ERA in 46 appearances and 41.2 innings with the Rays was a shiny 2.81, but that really doesn’t tell the full story. His strikeout to walk ratio was just 1.70-to-1 as his 7.3 K/9, 4.3 BB/9, and 0.9 HR/9 were all his worst since 2011. His stuff remains promising–a mid-90’s fastball and a hard curveball–but his arsenal simply hasn’t been sharp often enough. His curve remains a good pitch, but he has never been great at throwing it for strikes and that especially became a problem as his fastball command withered. FIP, which estimates what a pitcher’s luck-neutral ERA should be based on strikeouts, walks, and home runs, pegs Jepsen as just a 4.13 ERA pitcher.”

Hopefully a change of scenery will help Jepsen because the Twins can certainly use bullpen help. Jepsen has a career ERA of 3.80 with a 1.35 WHIP and a 15-23 won/lost mark. His career KO/9 is 8.5 but he also has a 3.6 BB/9. Jepsen is making $3 million plus change this season and can’t become a free agent until after the 2016 season.

What to do, what to do?

 

Terry Ryan
Terry Ryan

This morning the Twins find themselves still holding one of the wild card spots by the skin of their teeth should the season end today. But we all know that 1/3 of the season still remains to be played, so what should the Twins do. The Kansas City Royals, Houston Astros, and the Texas Rangers are among a number of teams that have already made moves to beef up their teams and the trade deadline is coming up fast. The consensus is that the Twins need to beef up their relief pitching and also need to fill holes at short and at catcher.

GM Terry Ryan has stated several times that the Twins would like to make a deal for a relief pitcher but so far nothing has come to fruition. I appreciate how much the team has improved from the last four seasons but I think I am also being realistic in saying that this is not a playoff team. Yes this team plays good baseball on occasion but not consistently enough to make the playoffs.

I don’t think that the Twins planned on finding themselves in this position when the season began and now they face a difficult decision. Do they mortgage their future for a playoff run this year or do they stick to their plan for solid improvement this season and plan to make a serious run in 2016 or 2017? The declining fan base is watching to see what the Twins will do, do they make some deals to try to strengthen the team or do they stick to what they have and give their youngsters a chance to learn the game and learn how to win. The team is also watching to see what GM Ryan will do, will he try to add some pieces to help the team or will he simply say he tried to make some deals but they just didn’t pan out? A playoff run will help get some fans back to the ballpark while a white flag might signal to some Twins fans more of the same and the season ticket base will fall some more. Ryan is in a no-win situation, no matter which way he goes he will be criticized, but that is why he makes the big bucks. The thing to remember is that if the Twins do make some additions by giving up some prospects and still fall short of the playoffs then everyone loses.

The Twins are between the proverbial rock and a hard spot and the best option might well be to do nothing right now and keep playing the youngsters and watching them learn. The team still has too many holes to be a legitimate contender so let’s look at plugging the leaks this season before we sail off on that cruise to playoff land.

Last but certainly not least I want to mention this about prospects, a prospect is just that, he has proven nothing. A prospect today can be a dud tomorrow. If you trade your 5th best prospect today, you will still have a 5th best prospect tomorrow. Next man up! Look at the rosters of most teams, a lot of their best players started in another organization.

According to ELIAS

Big Papi and The Bambino

David Ortiz
David Ortiz

David Ortiz hit his 20th home run this season in the first inning of the Red Sox’ game against the White Sox on Monday. This is the 14th consecutive season with 20 or more home runs for Ortiz (2002-2015) and his 13th straight 20-homer season for the Red Sox (2003-2015). Only one other player hit at least 20 home runs for one American League team in 13 or more consecutive seasons. That was Babe Ruth, who slugged at least 20 homers in each of the 15 seasons he played for the Yankees (1920-1934). Source: ELIAS

What if…………

Twins minor league player of the week

Felix Jorge Cedar Rapids (Low A) right-handed pitcher Felix Jorge is the Twins minor league Player of the Week. The 6’2″ 170 pound Jorge made one start for the Kernels on Tuesday, allowing two runs on five hits in 7.0 innings pitched with one walk and seven strikeouts. Jorge has gone 5-3, 2.10 ERA (103.0 IP, 24 ER) with 23 walks and 82 strikeouts in 16 starts for the Kernels this season.

Jorge has a fastball that touches 95, a slider and a change-up. Now in his fifth professional season, Jorge has struck out 301 batters in 330.2 innings and has a 3.24 ERA and a 1.17 WHIP. Jorge was originally signed by the Twins as an undrafted free agent in February of 2011 as a seventeen year old for a reported $250,000.

Twins Minor League Report July 26, 2015

This Day in Twins History – July 25, 1977 – Goltz throws 180 pitches

Native Minnesotan Dave Goltz - Twins pitcher from 1972 - 1979 (courtesy of Minnesota Twins)
Native Minnesotan Dave Goltz – Twins pitcher from 1972 – 1979 (courtesy of Minnesota Twins)

Coming off a double-header sweep (with the 2nd game going 12 innings) of the A’s the day before, the Twins are again going up against the boys from Oakland at Met Stadium. The game goes 11 innings before the Twins prevail 2-1 on a bases loaded single by Larry Hisle. But, the real story of the game is Twins starter Dave Goltz who pitches all 11 innings throwing 180 pitches. Goltz improves his record to 12-6 as he faces 41 batters giving up 8 hits and walking 1 while striking out 14 Oakland A’s. In spite of all of this, the game is over in 2 hours and 39 minutes. Box score.

According to ELIAS

Satisfying night for Phil Hughes

Phil Hughes 2015Phil Hughes tossed seven scoreless innings against his former team as the Twins knocked out four home runs and took a 10-1 decision from the Yankees. Hughes emphatically ended his streak of having allowed at least one home run in each of his last eight appearances, the longest such streak in the majors this season.

It was Minnesota’s largest margin of victory over the Yankees in nearly 24 years; the Twins last beat the Yankees by a margin of at least nine runs on July 31, 1991, when they did it with a 12-3 win at old Yankee Stadium that also included four Minnesota homers. New York avoided a shutout by scoring a run in the ninth – a shutout that would have been only the second double-digit shutout loss ever to the Twins or to their ancestors, the Washington Senators. That’s right. These teams have been playing each other for 113 years, but the only double-digit shutout loss for the Yankees came on Sept. 7, 1928, when the Senators’ Bump Hadley three-hit the Yanks, 11-0. (Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig accounted for all three Yankees hits.) Source: ELIAS

According to ELIAS

Guess who leads the AL in two-strike extra-base hits?

Trevor Plouffe 2015Trevor Plouffe’s three-run homer on a 1-2 pitch yesterday accounted for all the scoring in the Twins’ 3-0 victory over the Angels. It was Plouffe’s 20th extra-base hit this season with two strikes in the count, the most by any American League player. Source: ELIAS

Twins minor league player of the week

Matt Batts
Matt Batts

Ft. Myers (High A)  left-handed pitcher Mat Batts (Harrison Mathis Batts) is the Twins minor league Player of the Week. Batts made one start for the Miracle on Friday at Brevard County, allowing one run on five hits in 7.0 innings pitched with no walks and five strikeouts, earning the win. Batts combined to go 7-4, 1.89 ERA (95.0 IP, 20 ER) with 19 walks and 93 strikeouts in 16 starts between Cedar Rapids (Low A) and Ft. Myers.

The Winston-Salem, North Carolina native was drafted by the Twins in the 17th round of the 2014 First-Year Player Draft out of the University of North Carolina-Wilmington where he was named Colonial Athletic Association Pitcher of the Year in 2013 and 2014. At Mount Tabor High School, Batts was named first-team All-State as a senior and set a school record by throwing a perfect game and a no-hitter in consecutive games.

Twins Minor League Report July 19, 2015

This Day in Twins History – Martin & Fox duke it out

Blly Martin
Blly Martin
Howard Fox
Howard Fox

July 19, 1966 – Two members of the Minnesota Twins exchanged blows in the lobby of the Statler-Hilton hotel after the team arrived in Washington early Tuesday. Howard Fox, the Twins’ traveling secretary, suffered a bloody nose and a cut on the face in the fight with third base coach Billy Martin. Martin was not injured. “Martin and Fox had words during the course of the flight here and again in the lobby as the team was checking in,” said Thomas A. Mee, director of public relations. Four other Twins – Bob Allison, Earl Battey, Jim Perry and Harmon Killebrew – broke up the fight after several punches were thrown.

Billy Martin in scrap with Howard Fox