Twins announce their 2020 schedule

 

The Minnesota Twins today announced their preliminary regular season schedule for the 2020 season, marking the team’s 60th campaign in Twins Territory.

Minnesota will begin its diamond anniversary season with its earliest Opening Day ever, March 26 at Oakland. That contest will start a seven-game, two-city roadtrip against the Athletics (March 26-29) and the Seattle Mariners (March 30-April 1). The Twins will then host Oakland at Target Field for the home opener on April 2, part of a six-game homestand vs. the A’s (April 2-5) and the Cleveland Indians (April 6-8).

The Twins will again play 20 Interleague games over the course of the 2020 regular season (2 in April/ 3 in May/ 5 in June/ 5 in July/ 2 in August/ 3 in September). The home Interleague schedule includes the first-ever Target Field appearance by the San Francisco Giants (May 4-6), along with visits by the Milwaukee Brewers (June 16-17), the Colorado Rockies (June 26-28) and the Los Angeles Dodgers (July 28-29). The Twins will also face the Dodgers (April 28-29) and Brewers (August 25-26) on the road, along with trips to the Arizona Diamondbacks (July 20-22) and the San Diego Padres (September 22-24).

The Twins 2020 schedule features 16 home games in the month of April, 13 in May, 16 in June, 10 in July, 14 in August and 12 in September, along with showcase weekend series against the Boston Red Sox (April 24-26), Los Angeles Angels (June 4-7), New York Yankees (June 18-21), Toronto Blue Jays (July 9-12) and Houston Astros (July 31-August 2). After its successful debut in 2019, weekday (Monday-Thursday) night games at home will again start at 6:40 p.m. in the months of April, May (prior to Memorial Day) and September (after Labor Day), while Minnesota will host 46 of its 81 home games between those two holidays.

The Twins will play each of their American League Central Division rivals 19 times apiece: the Chicago White Sox (9 home/10 away), the Cleveland Indians (10 home/9 away), the Detroit Tigers (9 home/10 away) and the Kansas City Royals (9 home/10 away). The Twins will face each AL Central Division team for three series apiece at home and three series on the road.

2020 Season Tickets

Fans who purchase the 2019 Playoff Push Plan or a season ticket package for 2020 will have 2019 postseason ticket priority. Fans interested in buying season tickets can visit twinsbaseball.com.

All game times and broadcast information will be announced at a later date

Twins minor league players of the week – Larnach & Balazovic

Trevor Larnach (click on image to make larger)

Twins minor league Player and Pitcher of the Week honors have been announced and  AA Pensacola Blue Wahoos outfielder Trevor Larnach and High-A Ft. Myers Miracle right-handed pitcher Jordan Balazovic have been named.

In five games for the Miracle, Larnach hit .412 (7-for-17) with two home runs, five RBI, four walks and a 1.289 OPS. The 22-year-old was selected by the Twins 20th overall in the 2018 First-Year Player Draft out of Oregon State University. After signing with Minnesota the left-handed hitting Larnach started with rookie league Elizabethton and finished the season with Low-A Cedar Rapids. This year he started in High-A Ft. Myers and was promoted in mid-July to AA Pensacola. At the present rate on the fast track I would expect Larnach to at least make an appearance for the Twins in 2020.

Jordan Balazovic – click on image to make it larger)

Balazovic made the start on Thursday vs. Jupiter, pitching 5 shutout innings with two
hits allowed, one walk and nine strikeouts. The 20-year-old 6’5″ right-hander was selected by the Twins in the fifth round of the 2016 First-Year Player Draft out of St. Martin SS in Mississauga, Ontario. Balazovic pitched one perfect inning at the SiriusXM Futures Game this July at Progressive Field.

Balazovic carving path into Twins’ Future

 

Twins Minor League Report, 8-11-19

Twins minor league players of the week – Celestino & Ober

Gilberto Celestino

For the second straight week, the Twins have named Low-A Cedar Rapids Kernels outfielder Gilberto Celestino Twins Player of the Week. In his last six games for the Kernels, Celestino hit .458 (11-for-24) with one double, one home run, three RBI, two walks and a 1.144 OPS. Celestino was acquired by the Twins along with right-handed pitcher Jorge Alcala near the 2018 trade deadline in exchange for right-handed pitcher Ryan Pressly. Celestino was originally signed as international free agent by Astros, July 2, 2015 for a $2.25 million signing bonus and $275,000 for college.

Bailey Ober

High -A Ft. Myers right-handed pitcher Bailey Ober has been named Twins minor
league Pitcher of the Week. The 6’9″ Ober made the start last Saturday, allowing one unearned run on six hits in 6.1 innings pitched, earning the win over Lakeland. In 8 starts for the Miracle this season Ober is 4-0 with a 0.99 ERA in 45.2 innings. His WHIP matches his ERA at 0.99 and he has struck out 53 batters while allowing on 39 hits. Nice numbers!

The 24-year-old was drafted by the Twins in the 12th round of the 2017 MLB Draft out of College of Charleston and signed for a reported $125,000 signing bonus. Ober had been drafted by the Dodgers as a 23rd rounder in 2016 but chose not to sign.

Twins Minor League Report, 8-4-19

Nelson Cruz on a record breaking roll!

Nelson Cruz

Stolen from today’s MN Twins GameNotes. This is just crazy, the man is 39 years old. We are lucky to have watched him this year.

ALL ABOUT THE BOOMSTICK: Historic night in Nellyville:

Nelson Cruz has 30 home runs on the season, tied for second most in the AL.

He now has 30 for the sixth straight season. Active players with 30+ homer streaks include Albert Pujols (12) from 2001-12, Edwin Encarnacion (8) from 2012-19, and Miguel Cabrera (7) from 2007-13.

Cruz’s 30 home runs pass Chili Davis‘ 1991 total (29) for the most by a DH in club history, (MLB all-time record is 54 by David Ortiz in 2006).

Current .652 slugging percentage is the highest in club history (next: Killebrew, .606 in 1961).

Three homers last night marked the 12th time in club history:  Bob Allison (’63), Harmon Killebrew (’63), Tony Oliva (’73), Justin Morneau (’07), Max Kepler (’16), Brian Dozier (’16), Eddie Rosario (’17), Byron Buxton (’17), Eddie Rosario (’18), Max Kepler (’19), Nelson Cruz (’19) and Nelson Cruz (’19).

Becomes the 23rd player in baseball history with multiple three-homer games in a season (first in Twins history). The first in MLB history with multiple after turning 39.

After Cruz’s three-homer game July 25 at CWS, he joins Doug DeCinces (8/3 & 8, 1982) and Johnny Mize (7/13 & 20, 1938) as the only players to homer three times within 10 days.

Leads baseball in home runs since ASG (14), next players, Max Kepler and Mancini have nine. Also leads baseball in RBI since ASG (26)

Joins Jason Kubel (2009) as the only two players in club history with four five+ RBI games in a season.

Thanks for the show Boomstick!

Did you know?

Martin Perez

That Martin Pérez struck out four in his outing against the Yankees (game No. 99 of the season), and with his first one to Gary Sánchez in the second inning, he joined all four Twins starters with 90 strikeouts, making the 2019 Twins’ starting rotation the first five-man rotation in Twins history to record 90-plus strikeouts apiece through less than 100 games of any Minnesota Twins season ever. Credit to MN Twins GameNotes

Twins minor league players of the week – Celestino & Colina

Twins have named Low-A Cedar Rapids Kernels outfielder Gilberto Celestino and  AA Pensacola Blue Wahoos right-handed pitcher Edwar Colina Twins minor league Player and Pitcher of the Week.

Gilberto Celestino

In six games for the Kernels, Celestino hit .385 (10-for-26) with three doubles, one home run, four RBI, one walk with a 1.023 OPS. Celestino had a rough April but has been coming on since then. This year in 369 AB’s he is hitting .249 with 6 home runs and 39 RBI. The 20-year old right-handed hitting Celestino is already in his fourth season of pro ball. Celestino was acquired by the Twins along with right-handed pitcher Jorge Alcala near the 2018 trade deadline in exchange for right-handed pitcher Ryan Pressly.

Edwar Colina

Colina made his first AA start on Thursday for the Blue Wahoos against the Mobile BayBears, pitching 7 innings (CG), allowing one unearned run with three hits allowed, one walk and 10 strikeouts. Colina was signed by the Twins as an undrafted free agent at the end of September in 2015. Keep an eye on Colina….

Lewis goes yard again in Miracle’s win – Top Twins prospect provides support for righty Colina’s gem

Twins make a deal for relief help

The Minnesota Twins announced late yesterday that they acquired right-handed pitchers Sergio Romo and Chris Vallimont, along with a player to be named later from the Miami Marlins, in exchange for first baseman Lewin Diaz.

Chris Vallimont
Lewin Diaz

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Twins acquire Sergio Romo, Chris Vallimont and a PTBNL from Miami in exchange for Lewin Diaz

The Minnesota Twins are real road beasts

1976 – 1986 primary logo

According the MN Twins  July 26 GameNotes:

The Twins have gone 31-19 on the road this season, a .620 road winning percentage
that is the best in baseball. The Twins went 29-52 on the road in 2018. Twins have outscored opponents on the road 307-242. Their 110 road home runs have already surpassed their total of 80 from last year, and are only three shy of the Twins record of 113 set back in 1963.

At 30-20 (.600), Atlanta is the only other club with a .600-plus winning mark.

 

As the trade deadline approaches

Derek Falvey and Thad Levine

Some time ago I saw that Derek Falvey was quoted as saying and I translate loosely here that-

At the trade deadline you are required to make some moves. If you are out of the race you should make some trades to improve your team by acquiring young talent. If you are in the race you need to make some moves to make your team better for the push to the play-offs and beyond. Standing-pat is not an option.

To me that makes perfect sense and I don’t know why every team does not do this. Now in the next handful of days we will see if Falvey and his partner-in-crime Thad Levine will walk their talk. The Twins are surely in the race and since no team is perfect, there is always room for improvement. Pitching is always in demand and the Twins bullpen has been purged lately of relievers Adalberto Mejia, Mike Morin, Matt Magill and Blake Parker. The starting rotation is starting to wobble as of late and the Twins could use an ace to lead their rotation and take some pressure off Jose Berrios.

Luis Arraez

But as the old saying goes, you have to give up something to get something and that is always tough. Personally I have no issue with trading prospects for a proven commodity that will stay in your organization. I am not a fan of trading for a short-term rental player. Having said that, I would not consider trading a number one overall pick like Royce Lewis. Keep in mind though that there are always new and better prospects. Prospects don’t always come to fruition and players you did not see as a prospect develop over-night and become big leaguers.

There are also certain players like Luis Arraez that I wouldn’t trade unless the deal was a real steal. Arraez is the kind of player that the Twins need in the long run, a young guy that can get on base, the Twins don’t have many of these kinds of players and they don’t come around often. 

The next week or so will be interesting for sure, bring it on Mr. Falvey and Mr. Levine.