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Why don’t Twins just jettison Jepsen?

Twins reliever Kevin Jepsen will be 32 years old in a month or so and he is pitching in his ninth season in the big leagues. Jepsen was selected in the second round by the Angels in 2002 and the Twins selected Jesse Crain just a few picks later. Like most pitchers, Jepsen started his career as a starter but was moved to the bullpen full-time in 2006 and he has not started a game since.

The Twins acquired Jepsen in a trade with Tampa for prospects Chih-Wei Huh and Alexis Tapia at the trade deadline in 2015. Not unlike many of the relievers in MLB, Kevin Jepsen has had an up and down career. Very few relievers are consistent from year to year and if they are, they usually find themselves in a closer’s role.

Jepsen was a godsend for the Twins last season when he pitched great as the 8th inning guy before taking over the closer role from Glen Perkins in mid-August. 2016 has been one of those bad seasons for Jepsen from day 1. Jepsen has lost his closer role now but he has appeared in 32 games this season and pitched 29.2 innings. In his 29+ innings Jepsen has given up 42 hits and 12 walks and given up 22 runs, 21 of them earned. The man has pitched horrendously for the Twins while getting paid $5.3 million.

So what do you do with him? Why keep a reliever who is pitching poorly even if he is making a modest $5.3 million? But who will take a reliever off your hands that has given up 42 hits in 29+ innings and has a 6.37 ERA? Jepsen has pitched one clean (no hits or walks) inning in his last 23 appearances going back to April 25th. The Twins may not get much in return but there are teams that would take a chance on Jepsen because it is not unheard of for players like Jepsen to turn their year around with a change in scenery and he is a free agent after this season. Even if the Twins can’t get anyone to take Jepsen than just dump him and you still win, there has to be some minor league pitcher in the Twins system that deserves a look.

UPDATE: Kevin Jepsen was designated for assignment on July 3, 2016.

According to ELIAS

Dozier ties Twins franchise mark

Brian Dozier hit two home runs and knocked in four runs in the Twins’ 4-0 win over the White Sox last night. It marked the ninth consecutive game that Dozier delivered an extra-base hit, tying the Twins franchise record in that category. Mickey Vernon had a double, triple or homer in nine consecutive games for the then Washington Senators in 1953. Prior to Dozier, the last major-league player to produce an extra-base hit in at least nine consecutive games while starting at second base in each game during the streak was Chase Utley in 2008.

Dozier broke the Twins record of eight consecutive game XBH that was previously held by Harmon Killebrew (1970) and Tony Oliva (1969). Another long time record bites the dust……

According to ELIAS

A total of 52 homers pushes June’s average into near-record territory

Fifty-two home runs were hit on Sunday in MLB, the most on any single day in more than 10 years since June 11, 2006, to be exact, when 54 home runs were hit. This is just the latest example of the dramatic increase in the home-run rate over the first three month of this season, from 2.09 per game in April, to 2.28 in May, to a near-record 2.52 this month.

In fact, there have been only two months in the history of major-league baseball in which the per-game home-run average was as high is it has been this month (minimum: 10 games played). Those were the first two months of the 2000 season, at the height of home-run hysteria: 2.56 in April and 2.64 in May.

Twins shock Yankees with home-run blitz

The Twins defeated the Yankees, 7-1, yesterday in a game that proved the rule about the futility of trying to predict baseball. Minnesota arrived at Yankee Stadium with the lowest winning percentage in the majors (.311). But the Twins hit six home runs, which was their highest total in any game since 2007 and, perhaps more impressive, the highest total in franchise history in any of their 1887 games against the Yankees (including 1903 through 1960 as the Washington Senators). The last team with the worst record in the majors to hit six homers in one game was Tampa Bay in 2002 at Kansas City.

Twins nine inning games with 6 or more home runs

Rk	Date	Tm	Opp	Rslt	PA	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI
1	1962-04-29 (2)	MIN	CLE	W 7-3	41	7	13	1	0	6	7
2	1963-08-29 (1)	MIN	WSA	W 14-2	49	14	20	1	1	8	14
3	1964-05-14	MIN	CHW	W 15-7	44	15	15	3	0	6	15
4	1966-06-09	MIN	KCA	W 9-4	38	9	13	2	0	6	9
5	1993-08-15	MIN	OAK	W 12-5	44	12	17	0	1	6	12
6	2000-04-09	MIN	KCR	W 13-7	43	13	16	5	0	6	13
7	2001-07-12	MIN	MIL	W 13-5	46	13	15	4	0	7	13
8	2004-04-10	MIN	DET	W 10-5	47	10	15	1	0	6	10
9	2007-07-06 (2)	MIN	CHW	W 12-0	48	12	15	2	0	6	12
10	2016-06-26	MIN	NYY	W 7-1	37	7	8	0	0	6	7

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 6/27/2016.

Twins Minor League Player of the Week – Jose Berrios

Rochester Red Wings (AAA) right-handed pitcher Jose Berrios is the Twins minor league Player of the Week. Berrios made one start for the Red Wings on Thursday at Columbus, pitching 8.0 scoreless innings, with three hits allowed,two walks and nine strikeouts, earning the win. In his last four starts for the Red Wings, Berrios has gone 3-1, 2.51 ERA (28.2 IP, 8 ER) with eight walks and 32 strikeouts. In 10 starts for the Red Wings this season, he is 6-3, 2.92 ERA (61.2 IP, 20 ER) with 25 walks and 67 strikeouts, while holding opponents to a .199 batting average.

Berrios had a brief stint with the Twins earlier this year when he made his major league debut on April 27 but he was not particularly effective so he was sent back to Rochester. His next call-up by the Twins which should be soon could be the one where Berrios comes up to stay for a long time. What have the Twins got to lose, let him come up and polish his skills at Target Field.

Former Twins pitcher Duensing on opt-outs

Pitcher Brian Duensing was a 2005 Minnesota Twins third round compensation selection for the Twins losing free agent shortstop Cristian Guzman to the Washington Nationals. Duensing signed with Minnesota for a reported bonus of $400,000 and began his ascent to the big leagues with the Elizabethton Twins and debuted in relief with the Twins on April 10th, 2009 in a 12-5 Twins victory at US Cellular Field. Originally a starting pitcher, the Twins used him as a spot starter and reliever from 2009-2012 before moving him to the bullpen full-time late in 2012.

After appearing in 354 Twins games from 2009-2015 and posting a 41-37 record with 2 saves and a 4.13 ERA it became time for the Twins and the 32 year-old left-handed Duensing to part ways. I recently ran across a Q&A that Duensing did with FanGraphs discussing the opt out and how he used it during his free agency which was a first for him in his baseball career. It shows how baseball isn’t always a bowl of cherries for everyone.

Brian Duensing Ponders Opt Outs and Home

This Day in Twins History – Twins beat WSOX in Milwaukee

June 24, 1968 – In a one game series, the Twins beat the Chicago White Sox 1-0 in County Stadium in Milwaukee in a game called after 5 innings due to rain. The reason the game was played in Milwaukee was that in 1968, Bud Selig, a former minority owner of the Milwaukee Braves who had been unable to stop the relocation of his team three years earlier, contracted with the Allyn brothers who owned the White Sox to host nine home games (one against each of the other American League clubs) at Milwaukee County Stadium as part of an attempt to attract an expansion franchise to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Box score

To read more please see “A short history of the Milwaukee White Sox“

According to ELIAS

Suzuki takes lessons from Mauer

Kurt Suzuki went 4-for-5 with six RBIs in the Twins’ 14-10 victory over the Phillies on Tuesday. Suzuki is only the second catcher in the Twins’ franchise history to produce at least four hits and six RBIs in a game, joining Joe Mauer, who had five hits and seven RBIs on July 26, 2010.

Things can always be worse

Everyone is upset with the Twins poor play this season but at this stage of the season the 1982 Twins were worse. On this date in 1982 the Twins were in Chicago where they lost 5-4 to the White Sox when Harold Baines hit a double off reliever Terry Felton and knocked in the winning run in the bottom of the eighth inning. Sounds just like 2016 doesn’t it? The Twins record dropped to 16-53 and 25 games behind the division leaders. Felton’s 1982 season wasn’t a good one, he finished 0-13. Box score.

The Twins of today stand at 21-48 and 18 games out of first as they prepare to take on the Phillies tonight.

According to ELIAS

Santana gets back on track

Ervin Santana was charged with two earned runs in 7 1/3 innings to earn the victory in the Twins’ 7-4 win over the Yankees at Target Field yesterday. Santana was coming off perhaps the worst five-start stretch of his major-league career (0-5 with a 7.71 ERA). He had never before lost five consecutive starts while producing an ERA that high. Santana also snapped his personal eight-game losing streak against the Yankees, which spanned 11 starts since September 2008 and was the longest current losing streak against the Bombers for any major-league pitcher entering play on Sunday. That distinction now belongs to CC Sabathia, who has lost his last seven decisions against his current team (2001 to 2008).

Twins minor league player of the week – Felix Jorge

TWINS MINOR LEAGUE PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Ft. Myers Miracle (High A) right-handed pitcher Felix Jorge is the Twins minor league Player of the Week. Jorge made one start for the Miracle, allowing one run on six hits in 7.2 innings pitched, with no walks and six strikeouts against Lakeland on Wednesday.

The 22 year-old Jorge has made 11 starts for the Miracle this season, going 6-3, 1.59 ERA (73.2 IP, 13 ER) with 10 walks and 61 strikeouts.

Jorge has described by a Twins source as a poor man’s Ervin Santana. He has a thin body and doesn’t throw hard, but he has a good mix of pitches and throws strikes, lending hope that he can stick as a starter. Signed by the Minnesota Twins as a non-drafted free agent on Feb. 21, 2011 for $250,000.

Twins sign Dominican right-hander Felix Jorge

Twins Minor League Report June 19, 2016

Why don’t Twins just jettison Jepsen?

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