4/13 - 4/16: Twins at Yankees

[EvilEmpire]

Our close friends the Minnesota Twins come visiting for a four game series. With the Rays playing out of their collective minds, now would not be a good time for the Twins to perform beyond their traditional norms in NY.

But that could be challenging. The Twins are playing well right now with a strong 8-4 start to the season. And the Yankees are already banged up a bit even beyond the decimated starting rotation.

Pitching matchups:
Joe Ryan vs. Jhony Brito
Tyler Mahle vs. Nestor
Kenta Maeda vs. Domingo German
Pablo Lopez vs. Gerrit Cole

Young Brito starts things off. He's been unexpectedly good so far. Another young guy who is fun to watch.

 

[jon abbey]

Twins have very good pitching now, bullpen too. Their position players are hurting, Kepler and Gallo on the IL, Correa has missed the last four games (but was hoping to come back today last I heard), Farmer and Buxton had to leave yesterday's game midway.

 

[jon abbey]

Gleyber back, DJ gets one more day, Correa and Buxton in for MIN.

1 2B Gleyber Torres
2 CF Aaron Judge
3 1B Anthony Rizzo
4 DH Giancarlo Stanton
5 RF Willie Calhoun
6 3B Oswaldo Cabrera
7 LF Franchy Cordero
8 C Kyle Higashioka
9 SS Anthony Volpe

 

[jon abbey]

Higgy caught Brito his first two starts also.

 

[Wingack]

Hoping the Twins really Twins it up for the Yankees this weekend.

 

[jon abbey]

Hoping the Twins really Twins it up for the Yankees this weekend.

I blame this post

 

[jon abbey]

um

 

[strek1]

I don't think I've EVER seen the Twins do anything like this at Yankee Stadium. It's usually the other way around.

 

[terrynever]

I could have hit some of those meatballs. Twins were running up to the plate to hit.

 

[jon abbey]

MIN led off a game last June (in MIN) with three straight HRs off Cole and 5 HRs off him in his 2 1/3 innings. NY came back to win 10-7, but they only got down 7-3 in that one and the Twins pen is better now.

 

[jon abbey]

NY's bigger problem is covering the rest of this game, I expected Matt Krook up today but presumably tomorrow now.

 

[EvilEmpire]

What a shitshow. All you can do is laugh.

 

[EvilEmpire]

Laugh and be thankful for such a long season.

 

[jon abbey]

Joe Ryan 1/3 of the way to a perfect game.

 

[jon abbey]

Brewer at 52 pitches, through the 4th.

 

[jon abbey]

Judge's 45 game on base streak is over, Hicks replaces him.

 

[jon abbey]

IKF pitching the 9th, NY will still need to make a move before tomorrow's game, but could have been a lot uglier in terms of pitching usage.

 

[jon abbey]

10 to tie, 11 to win! Get IKF a W!

 

[jon abbey]

Rizzo cares.

 

[jon abbey]

Stanton does not.

 

[jon abbey]

This is how I watched the game today, for the record:

I started it just a few minutes late, usually I wait until at least 30-45 minutes have built up so I can fast forward non-action. The first two guys got on and Buxton went to 3-0, still scoreless, and I paused and checked the score, which was 4-0 MIN already. I muted the TV, switched to the Tigers/Blue Jays in the background, and kept an eye on the box score as the pinball numbers mounted. I went back later and watched the final inning or two live, so the only run I saw scored all night was Rizzo's second HR. A complete dud of a game for NY obv (outside of Rizzo and Hamilton), but feeling good about my personal fan run differential for the evening at least.

 

[EvilEmpire]

DJ still out. Volpe leading off.

1. Anthony Volpe (R) SS
2. Aaron Judge (R) CF
3. Anthony Rizzo (L) 1B
4. Giancarlo Stanton (R) DH
5. Gleyber Torres (R) 2B
6. Franchy Cordero (L) RF
7. Oswaldo Cabrera (S) LF
8. Jose Trevino (R) C
9. Isiah Kiner-Falefa (R) 3B

 

[terrynever]

DJ reminds me of the race horse Seabiscuit. Always a little gimpy.

Pretty early in season to have a throbbing quad.

 

[jon abbey]

DJ says he'll be good to go tomorrow, Donaldson could be activated Sunday also.

 

[ThePrideofShiner]

I guess it is our turn to hit a million homers.

 

[EvilEmpire]

Have I mentioned lately how much I love Nestor Cortes?

I love Nestor Cortes. Watching him work his way out of trouble is always fun. Always.

 

[EvilEmpire]

Franchy looked pretty feeble going after a Correa porch job that he could maybe have made a play for but then makes up for with a diving catch on Solano.

 

[EvilEmpire]

And Stanton hits a line drive HR that got out super fast.

 

[ThePrideofShiner]

Have I mentioned lately how much I love Nestor Cortes?

I love Nestor Cortes. Watching him work his way out of trouble is always fun. Always.

I was coming to offer my own Nestor appreciation post. Just an incredible find and a tremendous player.

 

[terrynever]

Nestor going seven is huge for Boone and his bullpen.

 

[EvilEmpire]

Damn.

 

[terrynever]

Boone tried to leverage his closer into facing top of lineup. Holmes failed.

Buxton is a remarkable base runner. Best athlete on the field.

 

[ThePrideofShiner]

Holmes has been shaky as shit so far this season.

 

[jon abbey]

It's a fascinating equation, the Yankees own the Twins but Correa owns the Yankees, what happens when Correa is actually on the Twins? Nothing good for NY so far this series.

 

[jon abbey]

Hoping the Twins really Twins it up for the Yankees this weekend.

Again I blame this post.

 

[Wingack]

Again I blame this post.

Haha.

 

[EvilEmpire]

I'm glad the Red Sox didn't pivot to Correa when his price started dropping.

 

[terrynever]

The Twins are a good team that showed it tonight. The jinx days are over.

 

[jon abbey]

I'm glad the Red Sox didn't pivot to Correa when his price started dropping.

He has a cannon in the field too, I am not going to miss him when he breaks for good.

 

[EvilEmpire]

He has a cannon in the field too, I am not going to miss him when he breaks for good.

Tons of balls hit to him today and he had plenty of opportunity to show it off (the arm). I don't remember any particularly tough plays, but everything he does out there looks smooth.

So yeah. I won't miss him when he's gone either.

 

[EvilEmpire]

Also, it would be great if the guys could stop hitting soft ground balls to short.

 

[jon abbey]

Much like Brito was due for some negative mean reversion Thursday night, German tomorrow is due for some in a positive direction.

NY can't afford to lose Cole or Cortes games with the rest of the current rotation, especially at home against an emergency fill-in, bad loss.

 

[EvilEmpire]

Game three against the juggernaut Twins. DJ is back and leading off and Higgy takes a turn.

1. DJ LeMahieu (R) 3B
2. Aaron Judge (R) CF
3. Anthony Rizzo (L) 1B
4. Giancarlo Stanton (R) DH
5. Gleyber Torres (R) 2B
6. Franchy Cordero (L) RF
7. Oswaldo Cabrera (S) LF
8. Kyle Higashioka (R) C
9. Anthony Volpe (R) SS

 

[jon abbey]

Much like Brito was due for some negative mean reversion Thursday night, German tomorrow is due for some in a positive direction.

Career high 11 Ks and perfect into the 6th, that works.

Cole/Lopez tomorrow, got to get the split.

 

[terrynever]

Nice to see Volpe steal 3 bases and walk twice. He seems to be settling in a bit.

 

[jon abbey]

Nice to see Volpe steal 3 bases and walk twice. He seems to be settling in a bit.

He really needs to be leading off, a single or walk for him is close to an automatic SB if he tries. DJ to 5th, Gleyber to 6th, lengthens the lineup.

 

[terrynever]

He really needs to be leading off, a single or walk for him is close to an automatic SB if he tries. DJ to 5th, Gleyber to 6th, lengthens the lineup.

Agree about lengthening the lineup. Volpe brings a real speed component that has not been a prominent part of this team in recent years. Judge runs well for a big man. Gleyber is stealing bases. Cabrera can run and Peraza must have some speed. The complete transition could take 2-3 years. The offense will feature home runs and speed once all the real prospects have settled in.

 

[ThePrideofShiner]

Stanton hurt? Peraza is in the clubhouse and Stanton is not in the lineup.

 

[EvilEmpire]

1. Anthony Volpe (R) SS
2. Aaron Judge (R) CF
3. Anthony Rizzo (L) 1B
4. Gleyber Torres (R) 2B
5. DJ LeMahieu (R) 3B
6. Willie Calhoun (L) DH
7. Oswaldo Cabrera (S) RF
8. Jose Trevino (R) C
9. Aaron Hicks (S) LF

 

[EvilEmpire]

Some detail on the Stanton thing: 10 day IL with a strained hamstring from that double he hit yesterday.

Stanton is being placed on the 10-day injured list Sunday with a strained hamstring, Jim Bowden of The Athletic reports.
Spin: The 33-year-old apparently suffered the injury during Saturday's matchup with the Twins as he legged out a long double. Stanton is scheduled to undergo an MRI, which should provide some clarity on the severity of the injury. Oswald Peraza was recalled from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in corresponding move.