Month: May 2016

Twins walk-off history

walk-offThe walk-off hit that gives your team the win is as exciting as it gets at your home ballpark and a walk-off loss on the road is frustrating and depressing. Let’s take a look at Minnesota Twins history from 1961-2015 and see how the Twins have fared.

Seasons with most walk-off wins

Rk Tm Year #Matching
1 MIN 1987 16 Ind. Games
2 MIN 1974 12 Ind. Games
3 MIN 1992 11 Ind. Games
4 MIN 2005 11 Ind. Games
5 MIN 2002 11 Ind. Games
6 MIN 1977 11 Ind. Games
7 MIN 1971 11 Ind. Games
8 MIN 1965 11 Ind. Games
9 MIN 2007 10 Ind. Games
10 MIN 2004 10 Ind. Games
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 5/13/2016.

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 Seasons with most walk off losses

Rk Tm Year #Matching
1 MIN 1964 15 Ind. Games
2 MIN 1969 13 Ind. Games
3 MIN 1987 12 Ind. Games
4 MIN 1973 11 Ind. Games
5 MIN 1986 11 Ind. Games
6 MIN 1985 11 Ind. Games
7 MIN 1961 10 Ind. Games
8 MIN 2001 10 Ind. Games
9 MIN 1982 10 Ind. Games
10 MIN 1984 10 Ind. Games
11 MIN 2004 10 Ind. Games
12 MIN 1998 10 Ind. Games
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 5/13/2016.

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Some interesting Twins walk-off tidbits

  • The Twins had 150 walk-off wins at Met Stadium, 213 walk-off wins at the Metrodome and 37 walk-off wins at Target Field.
  • Between 1961-1981 the Twins were walked off 165 times, between 1982-2009 they were walked off 206 times, and between 2010-2015 they have been walked off 33 times.
  • Between 1961-2015 the Twins have 400 walk-off wins and 404 walk-off loses.
  • Doug DeCinces and Johnny Damon have the most walk-off game winners against the Twins, four each.
  • Kirby Puckett has the most walk-off hits for Minnesota with 12.
  • The fewest walk-off losses for the Twins were three in 1993 and again in 2006.
  • The Twins have beaten the Chicago White Sox 47 times in walk-off fashion, more than any other team.
  • The Twins have been beaten in walk-off fashion the most times by the Chicago White Sox, a total of 41 times.
  • Since 2006 the Twins have walked off the Yankees just once and lost via the walk-off on four occasions.
  • Pitcher Bill Pleis was the winning pitcher in the first Twins walk-off win and the losing pitcher in the Twins first walk-off loss.
  • The Twins first walk-off win came courtesy of Zoilo Versalles when he hit a game winning SAC fly off Dave Sisler of the Washington Senators.
  • The Twins first ever walk-off home run was a pinch-hit home run by Julio Becquer against Orioles pitcher Jack Fisher.

 

Twins Minor League Player of the Week – Yorman Landa

Yorman Landa 2016Ft. Myers Miracle (High A) right-handed pitcher Yorman Landa is the Twins minor league Player of the Week. Landa made three relief appearances for the Miracle, pitching 4.0 scoreless innings, with two hits allowed, no walks, five strikeouts and two saves. Landa who is in his sixth season in the Minnesota organization has appeared in 10 games for the Miracle, going 2-1, 2.77 ERA (13.0 IP, 4 ER) with two saves, four walks and 13 strikeouts. The 21-year-old was originally signed by the Twins as an undrafted free agent September 9, 2010 out of Santa Teresa, Venezuela.

Twins Minor League Report 05082016

The MLB June amateur draft is far from a science

2016 DraftThe 2016 MLB will take place June 9, 2016 in Secacus, New Jersey and the Minnesota Twins will have the 17th selection this year. There are already numerous mock drafts being published but as normal they are all over the board, so what else is new. Here is a list (with pictures) on MLB.com of their proposed top 100 2016 prospects.

Baseball draft are so different from all the other sports in many ways but the two main differences that stand out is that baseball drafts are more international than other sports and if you get drafted in baseball you can look forward to spend a number of years in the minor leagues before you have the experience and necessary skill sets to play in the major leagues. Sure there have been some players that went directly to the major leagues but they are rare and the last player to do so I believe is RHP Mike Leake who was drafted eighth overall in 2010 by the Cincinnati Reds from Arizona State and now pitches for the Cardinals. The last Twins player to be drafted and go straight to a big league mound was LHP Eddie Bane who also was from Arizona State.

The June amateur draft is exciting for the fans but it is serious business for the MLB teams that have spent lots of time and money watching these young prospects as they try to determine who is the best player available when it comes time to make their selection. Mistakes in a draft can and do haunt teams for many years. There are many ways to mess up a draft choice, the player may not turn out to be as good as you thought, you might have bypassed a star player, you might not be able to sign the player, the player and/or his agent may state they don’t want to play for you, and of course an injury may cut his career short. If everything goes your way you have yourself a baseball player but the odds are stacked against you.

Continue reading The MLB June amateur draft is far from a science

When is enough, enough?

The Twins lost another game today by a score of 9-2 at Target Field to the Baltimore Orioles. That makes 7 losses in a row and 10 out of their last 11. Let’s look at some facts:

  • They have won twice in 17 games on the road.
  • They are 6-10 at their home park
  • In April they were 7-17
  • So far in May they are 1-8
  • They have been outscored 174-111 after 33 games
  • They are 2-13 against other Central Division teams
  • Starting pitchers are 3-15
  • The closer is 2-4 with 2 saves and a 5.40 ERA
  • Six relievers have appeared in 14 or more games
  • The pitching staff has the highest ERA in the league
  • Opponents are hitting .274 against Twins pitching
  • The Twins are hitting .236
  • Twins have made more errors than everyone except for Oakland

I could go on and on but what is the point, this team is playing horrendous baseball right now and they can’t catch any breaks either, that’s life. Believe me when I say that this team is not as bad as it is playing right now just like it was not as good as it played in 2015.

Do they miss Torii Hunter in the clubhouse? Sure they do but even Hunter couldn’t help this team play to the level that most people expected. So what is the problem? In 1982 the Twins lost 102 games and after 33 games they were 11-22, the Twins record this year after 33 games is 8-25.

owner Jim Pohlad
owner Jim Pohlad

I don’t care what Jim Pohlad has said publicly, GM Terry Ryan and manager Paul Molitor have to be on the hot seat right now. Hitting coach Tom Brunansky and pitching coach Neil Allen should not be buying any green banana’s either. My prediction for what is it worth is this. The Twins have a day off on Thursday and then play three games in Cleveland and three more in Detroit after that. If the Twins don’t play .500 on the road this week, Paul Molitor will not return to Minnesota with the team as the Twins manager.

Paul Molitor
Paul Molitor

Twins players may respect Paul Molitor as a Hall of Fame player but they don’t know how to play for him. In my opinion Molitor is a poor handler of the pitching staff and is on pace once again to burn out his bullpen. I don’t see anything that Molitor has done to motivate these players or to help them win games, he writes out a line-up by going with the hot bats and just lets them play. That probably works great for a veteran team but not for a team this young and inexperienced. Sometimes a team and a manager just do not mesh. Maybe it is not Molitor’s fault but life isn’t fair.

This team needs someone to get mad bust up some things, call out some players for their brain farts and put the whip to them. These players are young but this isn’t their first rodeo, they have played the game before and they are better than this. It is about time someone tells them that and also tells them that if they can’t play like major leaguer’s then they won’t be playing in Minnesota. See ball, hit ball. Baseball is baseball no matter what level you are playing it, this isn’t rocket science or brain surgery. The bases are still the same distance apart, the mound is the same distance from home plate. Sure the major leagues are tough but if you can’t compete, then pack your bags and go home. Fans are paying good money to watch the Twins play baseball st a high level, if they wanted to watch a bunch of minor leaguers play they would buy tickets to watch the St. Paul Saints play.

I am surprised more Twins fans aren’t madder than hell and telling Twins management that they aren’t going to take this crap any more. Why no fans burning their tickets or fans in the stands with paper bags on their heads? I love baseball but the Twins are squeezing the fun out of the game. Call the Twins and tell them what you think and what you expect. The Twins have no excuses as far as I am concerned, don’t play the “this is a young team card”, all I care about is seeing the number in the “W” column increasing.

Twins minor league pitcher Logan Lombana suspended for 80 games

Logan Lombana 2016The Office of the Commissioner of Baseball announced that Minnesota Twins Minor League right-handed pitcher Logan Lombana has received an 80-game suspension without pay after testing positive for Ibutamoren, a performance-enhancing substance in violation of the Program. The suspension of Lombana, who is currently on the roster of the Single-A Cedar Rapids Kernels of the Midwest League, is effective immediately.

Lombana a RHP was selected by the Minnesota Twins out of California State University, Long Beach in the 25th round of the 2015 First-Year Player Draft. Lombana pitched for Elizabethton last season and started out 2016 in Cedar Rapids and has been used strictly in relief just as he was in college.

Player profile: Logan Lombana

According to ELIAS

Mauer makes first start in the leadoff spot

Mauer, Joe 2016Joe Mauer started in the leadoff spot for the first time in the major leagues in Tuesday’s matchup between the Twins and the Orioles which the Orioles won 5-3 at Target Field. Mauer, who was played 920 games at catcher, is one of only three players who debuted in the expansion era (1961 to date) to bat leadoff for the first time after having caught at least 800 games: Carlton Fisk, who started there only once, in 1980, in his final game for the Red Sox; and Ivan Rodriguez, who had 24 such starts there from 2006 to 2008.

Mauer made his 1,429th start in the majors on Tuesday. Over the last 20 years, only two other players started for the first time in the leadoff spot after having started as many games as Mauer: Mark McGwire (1,694th start in September 2000) and Ivan Rodriguez (1,899th start in August 2006).

Boxscore

This Day in Twins History – May 10, 2000

This is the kind of a game the Twins need to break out of their season long funk here in 2016.

Midre Cummings
Midre Cummings

In their biggest come from behind victory ever, the fourth place Twins storm back from an 8-1 deficit at the Metrodome and beat the third place Indians 10-9 on a walk-off two run homer from Midre Cummings. Eddie Guardado picked up the win for Minnesota and Steve Karsay took the defeat. Check out the boxscore and look at the names of some of the players that played for the Twins and Indians in this game. The reported attendance in the dome that day was 9,505.

Consternation in Twins land

consternation: a strong feeling of surprise or sudden disappointment that causes confusion

It is May 6 and the Minnesota Twins have a 8-20 record and find themselves in Chicago where they will play three games against the high-flying White Sox this week-end who are in first place in the AL Central division 10 1/2 games ahead of the Twins. Holy moley, 10 1/2 games back and it is not even Mother’s Day yet.

The Twins had a day off yesterday and the rumors started that the Twins have put pitchers Tommy Milone and Casey Fien on waivers. Supposedly catcher John Ryan Murphy is on his way to Rochester and 25-year-old catcher Juan Centeno is coming to Minnesota. The Twins also announced that pitchers Ryan O’Rourke and J.R. Graham were designated for assignment and outfielder Darin Mastroianni was brought up and Ervin Santana was brought back from the DL. That is a lot of changes to a baseball team in such a short window.

What is causing all this chaos?

Paul MolitorYesterday team owner Jim Pohlad said that it appears to be “total system failure” but at the same time he fully supports manager Paul Molitor and GM Terry Ryan. Talk about the kiss of death. It is easy to pile-on with the Twins playing so badly and I am not going to waste time here today listing all the characters from the players to the team president that are responsible for this mess. I do find it funny that the owner would say that the team does not want to give the “be patient” message to its fan base when they have been doing that since 2011.

Young teams are going to lose while they learn to play the game, just like all of us learned the tricks of the trade in our everyday jobs when we first were hired. Youth and potential are wonderful but they don’t make you a great team, you learn to win by playing and making mistakes. Do you remember 1982? The big mistake the Twins made over the last year or two was marketing their up and coming players as “stars” to be and making it sound like the Twins were playoff bound in 2016. Young players and teams take leaps forward but you have to also be prepared for the times when they fall backwards flat on their butts. Right now the Twins are looking up at the sky and wondering what the hell happened. I will tell you what happened, baseball happened, in baseball you never know what tomorrow will bring, that is what makes baseball so much fun.

What to do now?

Terry Ryan
Terry Ryan

As the old saying goes, when you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is to quit digging. First off don’t panic, you have a plan, review it and make the necessary changes to get the train back on the track. It takes time, let the players play and learn the game and forget about making the playoffs, realistically that was never in the cards to begin with so you have lost nothing there. Look for ways to improve by giving unproven and untested players a chance. Just because you are not a top pick does not mean you can’t play any more than being a top pick ensures that you will be a star in the big leagues.

What about manager Paul Molitor?

First off you have to understand I am not a fan of Molitor as the team’s manager, never have been and probably never will. Don’t get me wrong, Molitor is a very smart baseball man and a Hall of Fame player but that does not make him a good manager. As far as I am concerned the team can part ways with Molitor any time now. What has Molitor done to make the Twins a better team? The team is not hitting, running, or playing smart baseball, all things that Molitor was supposed to bring to the table. With a young team you have to be patient, I am not sure that Molitor does that by constantly benching players and looking for a hot bat. Pick your line-up, platoon if need be and stick with it.

Ron Gardenhire
Ron Gardenhire

Was it just a coincidence that Ron Gardenhire rejoined the organization a week or so ago? Maybe? Maybe not. Could the Twins be thinking of bring Gardy back? Maybe they told Gardy that Molitor was on a short leash and that they would name him as the interim manager for 2016 and that he then would be in the mix when they hunted for a full-time manager after the season ends? Lots of teams bring back managers they have fired previously.

Well, let’s see what tomorrow brings us in “As the Twins world turns”.

In 1982 the Minnesota Twins had their worst season ever in terms of win and losses when they finished 60-102. On May 6, 1982 they had a 10-18 record and were 7 1/2 games out of first. Scary!

Twins Minor League Player of the Week – Daniel Palka

Daniel Palka
Daniel Palka

Chattanooga Lookouts (AA) outfielder Daniel Palka is the Twins minor league Player of the Week. Palka played six games for the Lookouts, hitting .619 (13-for-21) with four doubles, two home runs, eight RBI, six runs scored and six walks. In 20 games for Chattanooga this season, the left-handed hitting Palka has hit .338 (27-for-80) with seven doubles, three home runs and 15 RBI.

The 24-year-old Palka was acquired by the Twins via trade with Arizona on November 10, 2015, in exchange for catcher/outfielder Chris Herrmann. Palka was selected by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the third round of the 2013 First-Year Player Draft out of Georgia Tech where he was named first team All-American by Baseball America and NCBWA in 2013. Palka led the ACC with a career-high 17 homers while batting .342 with 13 doubles, three triples and 66 RBIs in 2013.  Palka also pitched and was 2-1 with a 0.69 ERA in eight games. Daniel Palka signed with Arizona for $550,000.

Daniel Palka happy to have fresh start with the Lookouts

 Twins Minor League Report 05012016

According to ELIAS

No adjustment period for Zimmermann

Bill McAfee
Bill McAfee

Jerry KoosmanJordan Zimmermann allowed one run in seven innings at Minnesota yesterday to improve to 5-0 on the season. Zimmermann, who signed with the Tigers this past offseason after seven seasons with the Nationals, is the fourth hurler ever to earn a victory in each of his first five games in the American League after having previously pitched in the National League. Bill McAfee was the winner in each of his first five appearances (two starts, three in relief) for the Washington Senators in 1932. Jerry Koosman won his first five games, all starts, for the Twins in 1979 after having a 3-15 record for the Mets the previous year. And Matt Palmer earned the victory in his first five appearances, all starts, for the Angels in 2009. Zimmermann’s 0.55 ERA is far lower than that of McAfee (2.49), Koosman (3.86), and Palmer (4.26) during their 5-0 starts.