Twins continue roster shuffle

The Twins have the day off today but Terry Ryan and his front office staff have been busy. Minnesota Twins announced after yesterday’s game that Chris Colabello has been optioned to AAA Rochester. In two stints with the Twins this year, Colabello appeared in just six games, hitting .133 (2-for-15).

Clete Thomas
Clete Thomas

This morning the Twins announced that reliever Tyler Robertson currently in Rochester has been designated for assignment to free up a spot on the 40-man roster to make room for outfielder Clete Thomas who has been recalled from Rochester and will join the team in Kansas City. The 28-year old left-handed hitting outfielder appeared in 12 games for the Twins last year hitting .143 with 16 strikeouts in 28 at-bats after being claimed off waivers from Detroit in April. In 36 games in Rochester this season, Thomas is hitting .296 with 9 home runs but history tells us that once he returns to the big leagues that things will change. I am not sure what the Twins see in Thomas but he can play some decent outfield and will make a good late inning outfield replacement until Wilkin Ramirez returns from the DL.

Tylere Robertson
Tylere Robertson

Robertson wore out his welcome in Minnesota earlier this year when he walked 14 batters and allowed 4 home runs in 25 innings. Robertson is only 25 and a lefty so I am sure there are teams out there that will be happy to take Robertson off the Twins hands and maybe the Twins can even get a PTBNL, who knows, stranger things have happened. I think it is interesting that in the last week or so the Twins have cut ties with two 25 year-old players like Robertson and Joe Benson that were considered promising players a short time ago. I am not sure if the Twins and Terry Ryan feel that they have much more promising players in the pipeline or if they are sending some sort of message to the entire organization, time will tell.

Twins Minor League Player of the Week

Rogers, TaylorFt. Myers (A – Florida State League) left-handed pitcher Taylor Rogers is the Twins Minor League Player of the Week. In one start for the Miracle, the 22 year-old Rogers pitched 7.0 shutout innings, with seven hits allowed, no walks and seven strikeouts. Rogers was selected by the Twins in the 11th round of the 2012 First-Year Player Draft from the University of Kentucky. The Twins gave Rogers a $100,000 signing bonus and that is not bad for a player drafted 340th over all. Rogers was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in 2009 in round 37 but chose to attend the University of Kentucky.

The 6’3″ 175 lb. Rogers started the season in Cedar Rapids where he did not seem to be particularly effective starting 3 games (0-1) and pitching a total of 10 innings allowing 14 hits with 10 strikeouts along with a 7.20 ERA and a 1.80 WHIP but for whatever reason the Twins promoted him to Ft. Myers where he has started 6 games going 4-1 with a 1.32 ERA and a 1.15 WHIP. Go figure….

Previous winners this season include: pitcher Tyler Duffey, infielder Miguel Sano, outfielder Adam Walker, infielder Jorge Polanco, pitcher Kyle Gibson, infielder Chris Colabello, and pitcher Logan Darnell.

According to Elias

The average of 14.98 strikeouts per major-league game during May was the 5th-highest average in a full month in major-league history. (We’re not including fragmentary baseball months, usually March or October, in which fewer than 60 games were played.) The record was set just last September, when there was an average of 15.47 strikeouts per game.

That brings us to the larger point: Over the 138-year history of Major League Baseball, the top nine months on that list – that is, the list of months with the highest average of strikeouts per game – are the last nine months. You read that correctly. Not nine-of-the-last-12, nor nine-of-the-last-10, but nine-of-the-last-nine. There were 14.91 strikeouts in September 2011, 14.63 in April 2012, followed by 14.93 last May, 15.01 last June, 15.07 in July, 14.68 in August, the record 15.47 in September, 15.29 in April and now 14.98 in May. Those are the nine highest monthly strikeout averages in baseball history. Attention must be paid.

 

This Day in Twins History – May 31

 

Bert Blyleven
Bert Blyleven

5/31/1976 – With trade rumors running rampant due to how poorly salary negotiations had progressed, Bert Blyleven walked off the mound after pitching a complete game at the Met in front of 8,379 fans trailing the California Angels 3-1. A number of fans were on Blylevens’ case shouting and singing “bye-bye Bertie” and Blyleven angrily looked up at the hecklers and flashed them the “one finger salute”. That was the final straw for Twins management and Bert along with shortstop Danny Thompson was traded to Texas the next day for pitchers Bill Singer and Jim Gideon, shortstop Roy Smalley, 3B Mike Cubbage and $250,000.

Here is what Blyleven had to say about that trade in a piece he penned for NBC Sports in July 2010 – “In 1976, I could see my first trade coming. I was going to become a free agent at the end of the year, and Twins owner Calvin Griffith didn’t have any interest in negotiating a new contract with me. In fact, at the start of the year, he sent me a contract for the exact same amount I had made the previous year. I rejected it, hoping to get a raise, but his next offer was for 20 percent less, which was allowed as I was under team control. Obviously that was a sign that the Twins weren’t going to keep me around. When the trade to the Rangers came down on June 1 that year, I didn’t handle it very well. When I got my last out in a 3-2, complete-game defeat the night before, I gave the fans a one-finger salute as I left the field. It was a mistake on my part, but I was young and upset at how ownership had treated me. But despite my initial unhappiness, things worked out in the end, and Texas gave me a three-year contract for three times as much as I was making in Minnesota. When the Rangers needed hitting a year and a half later, they dealt me to Pittsburgh as part of a four-team deal. The Pirates added three more years to my contract, which was nice, and also gave me a chance to win my first championship, as we took the World Series in 1979.”

Ken Landreaux5/31/1980 – Outfielder Ken Landreaux goes 0-for-4 in Minnesota’s 11-1 loss to the Orioles Scott McGregor, ending his hitting streak at 31 consecutive games. It is the longest streak in the AL since Dom DiMaggio’s 34-game streak in 1949. Ken’s streak started on April 23rd. Landreaux had 49 hits in 125 at bats during the streak for a .392 batting average. This streak still remains the team record.

 

Twins striking out at a record pace in 2013

StrikeoutsThe Twins played their 50th game of the season last night when they beat the Milwaukee Brewers 4-1 at Target Field and their record now stands at 22-28. Last night they struck out 7 times, the night before they struck out 14 times in 14 innings and the day before that they struck out 7 times. I don’t know how many of you have noticed but Twins batters are striking out at a record-breaking pace.

The 1997 Twins struck out a team record 1,121 times in 5,634 at-bats. That equates to batters striking out once every 5.03 at-bats which also is a team high. If you spread that out over the 162 games they played that season it comes out to 6.92 strikeouts per game. That 1997 Twins team finished with a 68-94 record under manager Tom Kelly. That team had two hitters strike out more than 100 times, Rich Becker had 130 and Terry Steinbach contributed 106.

This years Twins have struck out 418 times in 1,718 at-bats through 50 games. That means that batters are striking out once every 4.11 at-bats, almost a full at-bat worse than they have ever done. If you prorate that over 162 games at their current pace, they will strike out 1,354 times in 5,566 at-bats which blows away their 1997 high water strikeout mark. If you look at it at a strikeouts per game, their current running rate is 8.36 KO’s per game. Again blowing away their historic worst 1997 mark of 6.92 KO’s per game.

Excluding any strike shortened season, the 1978 Twins struck out the fewest times. That group of hitters struck out just 684 times in 5,522 at-bats or once every 8.07 at-bats. That comes out to only 4.22 strikeouts per game. Danny Ford led that team in strikeouts with 88 and no one else had more than 70.

The most strikeouts that a Twins batter has had in a single season is 145 and both Harmon Killebrew (1969) and Bobby Darwin (1972) share that honor. Killebrew led the Twins in strikeouts seven times and Gary Gaetti is next on the list having led the team in strikeouts six times. This years team is on pace to have five hitters with 100 or more KO’s, Josh Willingham, Aaron Hicks, Joe Mauer, Chris Parmelee and Brian Dozier all have a solid shot. Both Willingham and Hicks are on pace to set a new Twins season high strikeout mark with 159 and 147 respectively.

Things can certainly change as some of these young hitters hopefully improve as the year moves along but if their play to date is any indication, you had better hang on to your hat if you are sitting near home plate when the Twins are batting because some of those whiffs may send your hat flying.

According to Elias

Joe Mauer
Joe Mauer

Joe Mauer knocked out a first-inning homer off Doug Fister, propelling the Twins to a 3-2 victory in Detroit. Less than 20 hours earlier, Mauer’s one-out, ninth-inning single had broken up a potential no-hitter by Anibal Sanchez. You have to go back 44 years to find the last time that a major-league player broke up a no-hitter in the ninth inning in one game, and then hit a first-inning home run in his next game. And the Tigers were the victims then, too. On May 31, 1969, Detroit’s Joe Sparma took a no-hitter into the ninth inning at Seattle, but the Pilots’ Don Mincher spoiled things with a one-out double; Sparma finished with a one-hitter, winning the game, 3-2. The next day, Mincher’s two-run, first-inning homer off Earl Wilson helped the Pilots win, 8-7.

Twins Minor League Player of the Week

Logan Darnell
Logan Darnell

New Britain (AA) left-handed pitcher Logan Darnell is this week’s Twins Minor League Player of the Week. In two starts for the Rock Cats, Darnell, 24 went 1-1, 0.60 ERA (15 IP, 1 ER) with nine hits allowed, one walk and 15 strikeouts. Darnell, a 6’2″ and 210 lb. lefty was selected by the Twins in the sixth round of the 2010 First-Year Player Draft. This marks his first ever Twins minor league POW honor at this level. In four season of minor league baseball, Darnell is 28-24 with a 4.15 ERA and a 1.36 WHIP. In 403 innings he has given up 439 hits and struck out 269 batters.

Previous winners this season include pitcher Tyler Duffey, infielder Miguel Sano, outfielder Adam Walker, infielder Jorge Polanco, pitcher Kyle Gibson and infielder/outfielder Chris Colabello.

Twins call up Walters, lose Benson and break 10 game losing streak

PJ Walters
PJ Walters

The Minnesota Twins announced prior to todays game with the Tigers in Detroit that they have selected the contract of right-handed pitcher P.J. Walters from AAA Rochester. Walters started 12 games for the Twins in 2012 going 2-5 with a 5.69 ERA and a 1.51 WHIP. Walters started strong and finished strong in 2012 but in between he had 5 games where he gave up 25 earned runs. The 28 year-old Walters has also seen big league action with the Cardinals (2009-2011) and with the Blue Jays in 2011. The Twins had signed Walters to a free agent contract in December 2011 and then in October 2012 Walters became a free agent again only to resign with Minnesota a couple of days later. This season Walters made nine starts for the Rochester Red Wings, going 4-2 with a 3.31 ERA (54.1 IP, 20 ER), 46 strikeouts, 16 walks and one complete game.

Benson, Joe 2013Additionally, the Twins reported that AAA Rochester outfielder Joe Benson was claimed off outright waivers by the Texas Rangers, making room for Walters on the Twins 40-man roster. Benson was drafted by the Twins in the second round of the 2006 First-Year Player Draft. Benson had appeared in 21 games for the Twins in 2011 and in 74 at bats hit .239 with 6 doubles, 1 triple and no home runs and struck out 21 times. Benson has had injuries issues the last couple of seasons and the Twins brain trust has seemed to lose faith in a player they once though would be their five-tool center fielder of the future. I hate to see Benson leave the Twins but I wish him the very best.

The Twins beat the Tigers 3-2 this afternoon and broke their 10-game losing streak. The Twins scored 3 in the first and then hung on behind Walters 6 solid innings (2 earned runs) and a number of relievers before Perkins finally closed the door on the Twins losing streak. Gardenhire did not get to take part in the Twins post game celebration as umpire Joe West had excused Gardy earlier in the game. Who knows, with the Twins on a 10 game slide maybe West thought he was doing Gardy a favor?

Max Kepler
Max Kepler

Twins prospect Max Kepler continues to have some arm issues that he has been rehabbing since earlier this spring. Now,, after appearing in a couple of games, pain has returned and now Kepler has been diagnosed with tendinitis tendinosis so he will be shut down for about the next two weeks. Hopefully this Twins prospect can get healthy again soon and join the Cedar Rapids Kernels which is where he was expected to open the season.

I also wanted to let everyone know that I just added my 1,000th item to my Today in Twins History page and I will continue to add new items frequently as we move forward to continue to add Twins history to the Twins Trivia site. Make sure you check in frequently to keep up with what has transpired each day in Twins history.

According to Elias

Joe Mauer
Joe Mauer

Joe Mauer‘s single was the only hit for the Twins last night in Detroit off starter Anibal Sanchez, marking the third time in his career that Mauer had one base hit and his teammates had none. That’s tied for the most such “one-hitters” among active players. Jerry Hairston Jr. and Michael Young also have played three games in which they got their team’s lone hit in a one-hitter. Mauer had previously broken up no-hitters in the ninth inning off Neftali Feliz on August 23, 2010 at Texas as he tried to finish off a combined no-hitter started by Rich Harden and again off Gavin Floyd of the White Sox in Chicago on May 6, 2008.

This Day in Twins History – May 24

Milt Pappas
Milt Pappas

5/24/1964 – Harmon Killebrew of the Minnesota Twins hit the longest home run in Baltimore’s Memorial Stadium, a 471-foot shot to left-center off right-hander Milt Pappas in the 8th inning of a 7-6 loss to the Orioles in game two of a doubleheader. The Twins were shutout in the first game 2-0 by Robin Roberts.

Dick Drago
Dick Drago

5/24/72 – In one of the best pitching duels in Twins history, the Twins Jim Kaat and the Kansas City Royals Dick Drago go hammer and tong for eleven scoreless innings before the Twins Danny Thompson doubles to center to lead off the top of the 12th inning off Drago and then Rod Carew singles him home for the game’s only run. The Twins Wayne Granger comes in to shut down the Royals 1-2-3 in the bottom of the 12th for the save. Drago was the tough luck loser pitching all 12 innings, facing 43 batters, giving up 6 hits, one walk while striking out 13 Twins batters. Kaat pitched 11 innings for the win and held the Royals to 5 hits, 3 walks, and struck out 7 of the 40 Royals he faced. The game took 3 hours and 15 minutes and only 8,381 fans saw a pitching duel for the ages at Municipal Stadium that day. Boy, if they counted pitches back then the old clicker would have really had a good work-out.