According to ELIAS

Kepler’s power surge continues

Max Kepler
Max Kepler

One day after becoming the first Twins rookie in franchise history to homer three times in a game, Max Kepler cleared the fence one more time in Minnesota’s victory over the Indians last night. Kepler became the first Twins player since Kirby Puckett in August 1987 to hit four home runs within a two-game span. Only four other players this season have homered four or more times over a two-game span – Mookie Betts (five homers), Khris Davis (four), Michael Saunders (four), and Giancarlo Stanton (four).

Max Kepler maximizing his power potential for Twins

According to ELIAS

Kepler does something a certain 40-year-old has never done

Credit: Minnesota Twins
Credit: Minnesota Twins

Max Kepler slugged three home runs last night, which may make another active player who began his career with the Twins a little jealous. David Ortiz has hit 528 home runs in the majors and he has never had a three-homer game. Big Papi is one of three members of the 500-home-run club who never hit three in one game, along with Rafael Palmeiro and Gary Sheffield.

Corey Seager went deep three times in a game against the Braves in June. Kepler and Seager are the fourth pair of rookies to each have a three-homer game in the same season. The other tandems to do that were Mark McGwire and Mickey Brantley in 1987, Nick Markakis and Cody Ross in 2006, and Evan Longoria and Joey Votto in 2008.

Update: According to Elias, Max Kepler became the first European-born player in baseball history to homer three times in a game.

 

Kepler hits three homers in Twins’ victory

Box score

Congratulations Max!

Twins minor league player of the week – Lachlan Wells

Wells, Lachlan 2016Cedar Rapids Kernels (Low A) left-handed pitcher Lachlan Wells is the Twins minor league Player of the Week. Wells started for the Kernels on Monday against Dayton, pitching 8.0 shutout innings with two hits allowed, one walk and nine strikeouts and earned the win. The 19-year-old 5’8″ Wells has made six starts for the Kernels, going 3-2, 1.57 ERA (34.1 IP, 6 ER) with six walks and 29 strikeouts. Wells was signed as an undrafted free agent August 11, 2014 out of Newcastle, Australia for $300,000.

Wells twinsLachlan has a twin brother Alexander who is also a pitcher in the Orioles organization.

Australian twins bring competitive spirit to pro ball

Newcastle twins make pitch for baseball history

Twins Minor League Report July 31, 2016

According to ELIAS

Mauer’s first walkoff RBI since 2007

Joe Mauer 2016Joe Mauer drew a walk with the bases full in the last of the 12th inning, allowing the winning run to score as the Twins defeated the White Sox, 2-1 last night. Yes, the old walkoff walk, the fifth in the majors this season, but the first for the Twins since a game in 2007 when they also accepted one from the White Sox.

Now, the hard-to-believe part: That was only the second walkoff RBI for Mauer in his 13-year major-league career. The other one came in a game against the Athletics in 2007, which the Twins star ended with a ninth-inning single off Joe Kennedy.

According to ELIAS

First month in MLB history with three rookies with eight or more home runs

Max Kepler
Max Kepler

Max Kepler hit a score-tying home run for the Twins in the sixth inning and singled in a run in the seventh inning of Minnesota’s 6-2 win over the Orioles. Kepler’s home run was his eighth this month, which ties Trevor Story for the second-most homers by a rookie in July, one behind the Padres’ Ryan Schimpf with nine. This is the first calendar month in major-league history in which three different rookies each hit at least eight home runs.

According to ELIAS

Hard-luck loss for Santana

Ervin Santana 2016The Twins’ Ervin Santana allowed just two runs over nine innings but the Braves kept their offense in check as Atlanta prevailed, 2-0. It’s the fifth time over the last three seasons that a Twins starter tossed a complete game and lost (Ricky Nolasco pitched one game of this type in 2014, Phil Hughes once each in 2014 and 2015, and Kyle Gibson in 2015). That’s tied with the Giants and the Indians for the most losses of this type for any team’s starting pitchers over that span.

Twins Minor League Player of the Week – Andrew Albers

Andrew Albers 2016Rochester Red Wings (AAA) left-handed pitcher Andrew Albers is the Twins minor league Player of the Week. Albers made two starts for the Red Wings, pitching 15.0 shutout innings, allowing 14 hits, two walks and seven strikeouts, he earned the win last Saturday over Norfolk and again with a 9 inning complete game on Thursday vs. Syracuse.

The 30-year Canadian pitched for the Twins in 2014 and was released when that season ended and he then signed with Toronto. Albers became a free agent after the 2015 season and signed with Minnesota again. Albers has made 16 starts for the Red Wings this season, going 9-3, 3.14 ERA (97.1 IP, 34 ER) with two complete games, 23 walks and 63 strikeouts.  Albers is one of those “crafty lefties” with good control and whose fastball tops out at only 86 mph and is complemented by a slow curveball that he throws around 67 mph.

Twins Minor League Report July 24, 2016

According to ELIAS

Twins finally get to Price

The Minnesota Twins rapped out 11 hits against David Price in their 11-9 win in Boston yesterday, ending years of frustration against him. Price entered the game 9-3 with a 2.12 ERA against the Twins, having won his last five starts against them. Five runs tied the most that Minnesota had ever scored against Price, and its 11 hits were three more than in any other game.

According to ELIAS

Kepler 10 homers in last 33 games

Max Kepler
Max Kepler

Max Kepler‘s home run off Francisco Rodriguez in the ninth inning gave the Twins a 2-1 lead in their eventual 4-1 win over the Tigers yesterday. Kepler has hit 10 home runs over his last 33 games. Kepler is the fourth Twins rookie over the last 40 years to hit 10 or more homers over 1 33-game span. The other Twins rookies to do over the last 40 years are Kent Hrbek and Tom Brunansky, both in 1982, and Miguel Sano in 2015.

Terry Ryan is gone and the sun still rises in the East

Change is comingThe sun still rose in the east this morning just as it always has but the difference is that Terry Ryan is no longer the Twins GM. Lots of Twins fans are happy that Ryan is gone and many are sad and disappointed. I am never happy to see someone lose their job, especially a job they love.

But life moves on, and almost 48 hours after the announcement I think I would like to jot down some thoughts and questions that come to mind.

Owner Jim Pohlad
Owner Jim Pohlad

My over-riding thought about the situation is that I now have a different opinion of owner Jim Pohlad. I had originally thought that he was a hands off owner and that he would let his brain-trust run the Minnesota Twins organization. Now it appears to me that is not the case, in true Pohlad fashion he is taking charge and showing everyone that he who holds the gold makes the rules. There is nothing wrong with that, just don’t try to blow smoke up my skirt saying that you let the experts run the show. What I don’t understand about this announcement is why Pohlad would tell Ryan that his contract would not be renewed after the season ended? Why tell your GM in June that his services are no longer required but that he can run the team for the rest of the season if he wishes to do so? I guess that the team just did not want to announce a “firing”, they would have preferred simply not renewing his contract. Another thing, why would Pohlad say that the only stipulation for a new GM is that Paul Molitor will manage in 2017? Only Jim Pohlad and Dave St. Peter know for sure.

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