Minnesota Twins Daily Clips Saturday, May 27, 2017

Transcription

1 Minnesota Twins Daily Clips Saturday, May 27, 2017 Rays' Chris Archer too strong as Twins' winning streak ends at four. Star Tribune (Neal) p. 1 Reusse: Twins' international signings have paid off, Nishioka notwithstanding. Star Tribune (Reusse) p. 2 Twins pitching prospect Nick Burdi to have Tommy John surgery. Star Tribune (Neal) p. 3 Twins designate lefthander Adam Wilk for assignment to make room for Mejia. Star Tribune (Neal) p. 4 Twins return home after sweep of Orioles, prepare for holiday weekend. Star Tribune (Neal) p. 5 Chris Archer cools off Twins as Rays claim 5-2 win. Pioneer Press (Berardino) p. 5 Twins relief prospect Nick Burdi headed for Tommy John surgery. Pioneer Press (Berardino) p. 6 Mejia looks to build off first win vs. Rays. MLB (Donnelly) p. 8 Struggling Sano comes up empty in loss. MLB (Jackson) p. 8 Late rally not enough vs. Archer, Rays. MLB (Jackson & Donnelly) p. 9 Prospect Burdi headed for elbow surgery. MLB (Jackson) p. 10 Report: Twins prospect Nick Burdi to Undergo Tommy John Surgery. ESPN 1500 (Depue) p. 10 Wetmore: This stretch with no rest will define the season for the Twins. ESPN 1500 (Wetmore) p. 11 Twins snap four-game win streak, lose at home to Rays. Associated Press p. 12 Minnesota Twins will reportedly pass on Hunter Greene with top pick in draft. FOX Sports (Haberin) p. 13 Which relievers are most likely to move before trade deadline. ESPN (Blengino) p. 14 Keri the 10: Break up the Twins, Fantasy baseball advice and more MLB observations. CBS Sports (Keri) p. 14 Twins top prospect Nick Burdi will undergo Tommy John surgery. NBC Sports (Varela) p. 16 Nick Burdi To Have Tommy John Surgery. Baseball America (Norris) p. 16 Twins Designate Adam Wilk. MLB Trade Rumors (Todd) p. 16 Twins Nick Burdi To Undergo Tommy John Surgery. MLB Trade Rumors (Adams) p. 17 Twins Talk: Outfield Coach Jeff Pickler. WCCO (Jones) p. 17 Rays' Chris Archer too strong as Twins' winning streak ends at four La Velle E. Neal III Star Tribune May 27, 2017 Brian Dozier dropped to a knee while striking out in the first inning on a slider from Rays righthander Chris Archer that broke straight down. Joe Mauer followed and whiffed on the Archer slider that breaks down and in on lefties. Miguel Sano was next, and swung and missed the sweeping slider for the final out of the inning. It was quite the how do you do? to the Twins on Friday night. The Twins learned right away they needed a hard hat and lunch pail to battle the braided and high-sock styling Archer, but to no avail as the Rays slugged three home runs and eased to a 5-2 win at Target Field. You have to have a plan for him for sure and just try to eliminate his nasty pitches and make him try to elevate the ball and then make good contact, said Kennys Vargas, whose RBI single in the seventh was the first run off Archer. But his fastball was pretty good tonight. His breaking pitch, [too]. He was good tonight. While their 14-5 road record sparkles, the Twins are at home more losses than any American League team. But Friday wasn t about them losing as much as it was about being beaten by Archer, who held them to two runs over 7⅔ innings on five hits with 11 strikeouts.

2 Yes, 11 strikeouts. With a slider he can manipulate and a fastball that reached 98 miles per hour as late as the seventh inning, Archer had his best weapons working on Friday. His slider is his most devastating pitch in terms of swing and misses that you ll see, Twins manager Paul Molitor said. He can make it disappear both down and in to the lefties and away to the righties. He s not afraid to throw it behind in the count. The Twins first hit came with two outs in the third when Jason Castro hit a sharp grounder that deflected off shortstop Tim Beckham. He retrieved the ball but his throw to first base was late. It was ruled a hit. As the game went on and the outs accumulated, Castro s grounder remained the Twins only hit. The hardest hit ball by a Twin was Mauer s rope to left field in the fourth that was caught for an out. Twins lefthander Hector Santiago tried to keep the Twins within range, but ran up his pitch count while doing so. After working three shutout innings, Santiago needed 29 pitches to navigate the fourth. And a 3-2 belt-high fastball to Logan Morrison became a two-run homer to open the scoring. They said he hasn t pulled a fastball in like two years, and he did it tonight, Santiago, 4-3, said. You just tip your cap. Kevin Kiermaier hit a two-run homer off of Ryan Pressly in the sixth to make it 4-0. Archer threw just 68 pitches over the first six innings but 33 in the seventh and eighth innings. That s when Vargas had his RBI single and Dozier drove in a run with a single in the eighth. Steven Souza, Jr. homered in the eighth for the Rays. But that was all the Twins could muster against an in-form Archer, who is 4-0 with a 1.38 ERA at Target Field. He came out and was on the high end of his game, which we know he is capable of, Molitor said. Impressed by velocity as well as slider command. We swung and missed at that slider I don t know how many times. When it had depth it was almost unhittable. Reusse: Twins' international signings have paid off, Nishioka notwithstanding Patrick Reusse Star Tribune May 26, 2017 Bill Smith was the Twins general manager for four seasons, 2008 to When you refer to Smith and the international market, the first name mentioned by his critics would be Tsuyoshi Nishioka, a veteran shortstop from Japan. Nishioka proved incapable of playing shortstop in 2011 spring training, then incapable of playing in the big leagues a failure of such a proportion that it assisted in getting Smith fired after the 63-win season. Six years later, the Twins have experienced surprising success through the first quarter of the schedule, and there s no greater reason than three international signings that came when Smith was running things in the summer of 2009: Miguel Sano and Jorge Polanco, the Dominican left side of the infield, and Max Kepler, the baseball pioneer from Germany in right field. Smith was contacted on Friday in Connecticut, where he was visiting his parents and playing as the partner of his 86-year-old father, Wee (William Edward), in a Coast Guard Academy golf tournament. My dad is class of 53 and served until 1980, Smith said. He started this tournament years ago, and I haven t been able to play in it too often. When we finished the complex in the Dominican last December and left the Twins, I told Dad: I m going to be your partner in this event as long as you still want to play. As for the topic at hand, the signing of Sano, Polanco and Kepler out of one international market of amateurs, Smith said: Do me a favor. Keep me out of it. The credit goes to Mike Radcliff and our scouts Fred Guerrero, Howie Norsetter and others. Smith s praise for Guerrero a young scout at the time who has continued to get promotions from the Twins for his work in Latin America was effusive. Fred stayed on Sano, stayed in contact with the family, through all of baseball s investigations into Miguel s age and proper identification, Smith said. He believed that it would cleared up, and that we would have a chance to sign Miguel. 2

3 Radcliff was staying in frequent contact with Rob Plummer, then Sano s agent, assuring him the Twins would be a candidate until the end of the process. This was before Major League Baseball attempted to control international spending with budgets for each team. The Twins had a self-imposed budget of a bit more than $2 million, which was middling at the time. We had given just under $800,000 to Kepler and $725,000 to Polanco, and signed a number of other players, Radcliff said. We were tapped out. The initial July 2 signing date had long passed. It was Labor Day and Sano still had not been cleared to sign. Radcliff and Guerrero kept assuring Smith that this was the player Sano that had to be an exception for the Twins. Smith took that message to owner Jim Pohlad and team President Dave St. Peter. Radcliff and Guerrero were OK d to make a big offer when it was allowed by MLB. Sano was cleared and, on Sept. 29, it was revealed that he intended to sign with the Twins for a $3.15 million bonus. Miguel was a player that everyone wanted, Radcliff said. And Polanco and Kepler, if we hadn t signed them, there were other teams that would have signed them for a similar amount of money. That said, yes, it s unusual to hit on three players like that, as it appears we have, out of the international market in one year. Miguel it would have been a shock if he didn t make it. Kepler and Polanco were both 16, one from Germany, the other a slender infielder from the Dominican, so you see the talent and hope that it develops. Twins manager Paul Molitor had Sano batting third, Kepler fourth and Polanco sixth Friday night. And No. 5 hitter Kennys Vargas was signed in 2009, for $80,000 as a free agent from Puerto Rico (after going undrafted a year earlier). You sign those kids at 16, 17, and there s incredible patience involved for the players, for the development people, for coaches, Molitor said. Eight years later, they are all together producing for us. I d say it has to be unusual to get three out of one signing period. Bill Smith wanted no credit; he would have preferred no mention, in fact. Still, it might be time to point to Sano, Polanco and Kepler, and concede that trio trumps the Nishioka foray into international talent. Twins pitching prospect Nick Burdi to have Tommy John surgery La Velle E. Neal III Star Tribune May 27, 2017 Righthander Nick Burdi, the hardest thrower in the Twins organization, has a torn ulnar collateral ligament and will have season-ending Tommy John elbow ligament replacement surgery. Burdi, with Class AA Chattanooga, pitched a scoreless 1⅓ innings Sunday vs. Biloxi but gave up three hits he had allowed six all season before that and lowered his ERA to He had some pain in his elbow after his last outing, said Derek Falvey, Twins chief baseball officer. A precursor to some of the issues with a UCL, so we had him seen, brought him up here to Minnesota and had him evaluated. The exam revealed a torn ligament, so the club is working to schedule a time for surgery. It s a huge blow for Burdi, who was trying to get back on track after pitching only three innings last season because of a bruised humerus. He was on track to be promoted to Class AAA. It s also a blow to the Twins. Burdi s fastball is around 98 miles per hour and has hit 100 a few times this season. We all feel terrible, Chattanooga manager Jake Mauer said. He was throwing the ball very well. It is very disappointing. Perkins ready for more 3

4 Veteran lefthander Glen Perkins threw in the bullpen Friday, and the session went very well. He used all of his pitches as he threw close to maximum effort. It s a significant sign that he has cleared a big hurdle in his return from shoulder surgery last year. He s gotten to a point to where he feels really good, Falvey said. He has been more aggressive in his throwing program. When you have this type of surgery, you want to be more attentive to the details as you are bringing him back and don t want any setbacks. Perkins will throw one more time on Tuesday, possibly facing hitters, before heading to Fort Myers to pitch in extended spring training games. Perkins pitched in just two games last season before landing on the disabled list on April 13 because of shoulder problems. He then had surgery June 23 to repair a torn labrum, a surgery in which the labrum had to be re-attached to the bone. Falvey would not speculate on how much time in the minors Perkins will need before returning to the Twins, but he s clearly reached the point where the next phase of his comeback can take place. You don t want to put a guy in front of hitters if they aren t there yet, Falvey said. He s pretty close. Hughes seeks answers Righthander Phil Hughes will have a second opinion on his ailing right shoulder as he investigates the source of his problems. In his latest test, his shoulder was checked for a possible nerve problem but the test came back clean. After being examined by Twins doctors, Hughes is looking for a specialist to take a look at his case. Trying to get to the bottom of this, he said. Hughes felt discomfort during his start Sunday against Kansas City and felt it was similar to what he had gone through when he needed surgery to treat thoracic outlet syndrome. We are very likely to explore another opinion and get into some detail with respect to his thoracic issue in the past to figure out if there s some elements to what occurred last year, Falvey said. Etc. Lefthander Adalberto Mejia arrived in town as he prepares to start Saturday. He last pitched Sunday in the second game of a doubleheader against the Royals as the 26th man. He had to return to Class AAA Rochester, where he threw in the bullpen Wednesday. The Twins designated lefthander Adam Wilk for assignment to make room for Mejia. Wilk was 0-0 with a 3.86 ERA in two outings. Twins designate lefthander Adam Wilk for assignment to make room for Mejia La Velle E. Neal III Star Tribune May 26, 2017 A couple of quick notes before it's time to sleep fast: WILK DESIGNATED: To make room for the return of Adalberto Mejia, the Twins designated lefthander Adam Wilk for assignment after the game. The Twins have 10 days to trade Wilk or try to get him through waivers and send him to Class AAA Rochester. Wilk was 0-0 with a 3.86 ERA in two outings for the Twins. "We'll see if there is a trade possibility," Twins manager Paul Molitor said. "If not, we'll see if we can keep him around." SANTIAGO FROM THE STRETCH: Hector Santiago decided to pitch from the stretch from the beginning on Friday. He lasted 51/3 innings, but said he had some success with it. Pitching from the stretch allows him to slide step and quick pitch in order to throw timing off. Rays hitters didn't like it at times and cried foul. Santiago explained himself to Tim Beckham at one point. "I know you guys are mad and all that stuff because I'm quick pitching," Santiago said. "Hey, hitting is all about timing and if I can throw their timing off its a plus for me." His big problem has been getting lefties out, and it continued on Friday. Lefties entered the game 13-for-26 against Santiago with three home runs. The three lefties in the Rays lineup - Corey Dickerson, Logan Morrison and Kevin Kiermaier - were 3-for-6 on Friday with a homer and two walks. 4

5 Twins return home after sweep of Orioles, prepare for holiday weekend La Velle E. Neal III Star Tribune May 26, 2017 It's Friday. Memorial Day weekend is here. And the Twins are in first place. Will the Twins start to see a success-related spike in attendance? Checked with one club official this afternoon, and they are hoping for 80,000 this weekend against the Rays and a really nice crowd on Monday when the Astros come to town. The club has noticed an increase in walkup sales during the last couple of homestands and, with school ending and the weather turning nice, they anticipate a response to how well the club has been playing. I'm being asked if the Twins are for real several times a day. I'm not quite there yet, but if they can remain over.500 they should be in the wild card race. And, as we see them play more teams, there have been few moments where they have looked overmatched. Pitching will be the key. They can't afford any more injuries to the starting rotation. And they could use a power arm in the bullpen. Here are a couple things to watch tonight and this weekend: Target Field will be the site for a center field showdown between the Twins' Byron Buxton and the Rays' Kevin Kiermaier. Kiermaier is outstanding in the field, but did have a clunker defensive game recently that has affected his overall numbers. But he has range and is fearless. Buxton already is one of the best center fielders in the game and has made several outstanding plays this season. It will be hard to hit a ball past these two stud defender. Hector Santiago is on the mound tonight, looking for his first win since May 9. He's has terrible problems with left-handed hitters, as they are 13-for-26 against him with three home runs. Santiago needs his change up to shut them down but has not had the right feel for the pitch in recent outings. Tampa Bay has four lefties on their roster, and three of them are in the lineup tonight. Brian Dozier, 2B Joe Mauer, 1B Miguel Sano, 3B Max Kepler, RF Kennys Vargas, DH Jorge Polanco, SS Eddie Rosario, LF Byron Buxton, CF Jason Castro, C Hector Santiago, LHP Chris Archer cools off Twins as Rays claim 5-2 win Mike Berardino Pioneer Press May 26, 2017 Twins manager Paul Molitor isn t one to heap unmerited praise on opponents, so it was perhaps with a bit of foreboding that he discussed Tampa Bay Rays ace Chris Archer on Friday afternoon. Gosh, man, he s a tremendously gifted athlete, Molitor said before the spindly right-hander sent his team to a 5-2 loss at Target Field. You can just tell from the way he moves around and makes plays off the mound. He s been blessed with an arm that s just high-end elite. He can reach back and get that little extra velocity. 5

6 Archer showed that in striking out the side in the first all on sliders between 90 and 92 mph and hardly slowed down from there. Jason Castro s two-out infield single in the third was the only base runner Archer allowed until Joe Mauer s leadoff single off a 97-mph fastball in the seventh. By then, however, Archer was cruising with a 4-0 lead, courtesy of two-run homers by Logan Morrison in the fourth off Hector Santiago (4-3) and Kevin Kiermaier off Ryan Pressly in the sixth. We swung and missed at that slider, I don t know how many times, but when it had depth it was almost unhittable, Molitor said. We stayed with the game. It was just a little too much of Chris. Coming off a three-game sweep at Baltimore that lifted them to a majors-best 14-5 on the road, the Twins dropped to at home. Every other division leader entered the day between three and eight games over.500 at home. At least the Twins maintained their two-game lead over the second-place Cleveland Indians, who lost 6-4 at home to the Kansas City Royals. After striking out 11 over 7 2/3 dazzling innings, Archer improved to 6-1 with a 1.84 ERA in seven career starts against the Twins. Among teams Archer (4-3) has faced at least five times, only the Houston Astros (1.68 ERA) have struggled more against him. Before Archer moved to 4-0 with a 1.38 ERA in four career starts at Target Field, only Seattle s Hisashi Iwakuma (0.40) had a lower career mark here among those with at least three stats. The Twins starting lineup entered 13 for 66 (.197) with 22 career strikeouts against Archer, and the only two players on their roster with homers off Archer (Chris Gimenez and Eduardo Escobar) opened on the bench. Incredibly, Archer, now 28, was traded twice by the age of 22 in deals that netted Mark DeRosa for the Cleveland Indians and Matt Garza for the Chicago Cubs. Those teams met in last year s World Series. His slider is his most devastating pitch in terms of swings and misses that you ll see, Molitor said. He can make it disappear both down and in to lefties and away from righties, and he s not afraid to throw it behind in the count. He s one of those guys it s going to be tough to have a good at-bat against him every time. Or any time. Unfortunately we swung at a lot (of sliders) that disappeared down, Molitor said. He d run the count full and he d throw that slider and we d swing. When he s throwing that hard, it s hard to be looking slider because you know he can throw it right by you too. Kennys Vargas and Brian Dozier broke through with run-scoring singles off Archer in the late innings, but Alex Colome came on to strike out Miguel Sano on three hard cutters en route to a four-out save. After the fifth four-strikeout game of his young career, Sano is on pace for 254 strikeouts. Santiago, meanwhile, seemed to have designs on a pitching duel with Archer until a 29-pitch fourth that included his fifth homer allowed in his past three starts. Pitching exclusively out of the stretch for the first time as a starter, the veteran lefty tied his season high with six strikeouts and jumped ahead with strike one to 17 of 22 batters. Lifted in the sixth at 101 pitches, Santiago watched as Pressly allowed the first of his 10 inherited runners this year to score on a misplaced 96- mph fastball. Some good signs, a lot of positives, Santiago said. A pretty good game for completely changing your mechanics over a week span, so I ll take it. Twins relief prospect Nick Burdi headed for Tommy John surgery Mike Berardino Pioneer Press May 26, 2017 Double-A Chattanooga right-hander Nick Burdi, one of the Twins top pitching prospects, is headed for Tommy John surgery after suffering a full thickness tear in his ulnar collateral ligament. Burdi, 24, last pitched on Sunday at Biloxi, where he worked his seventh scoreless outing of the month and lowered his season earned-run 6

7 average to An examination in the Twin Cities by Twins physician John Steubs confirmed the diagnosis. He s been a little bit sore, and it s gotten worse, said Matt Sosnick, Burdi s agent. Last time in particular was really painful. That s why he had a pretty good idea of what this was before he even got the MRI. It s really disappointing. Burdi recorded four outs during a 24-pitch outing Sunday, but the three hits he allowed were as many as he d given up in his eight previous outings. He did it on one pitch, Twins farm director Brad Steil said. He made one or two more pitches, finished the (eighth) inning and then came out. He was doing great. He felt great. He was probably pitching as well as he ever had for us. Burdi, the Twins second-round pick in 2014 out of Louisville, was limited to just three outings last season with a bruised right humerus. Like Twins starter Kyle Gibson, he visited the Florida Baseball Ranch in Plant City, Fla., this offseason in hopes of taking stress off his arm with a tweaked delivery. The changes appeared to have paid off as Burdi was back throwing in the high 90s and touching 100 mph with his fastball until Sunday s setback, which ended with a groundout to third by Milwaukee Brewers prospect Jacob Nottingham. The Twins don t believe Burdi s offseason work contributed to his injury. My feeling is that didn t really have anything to do with it, Steil said. We were encouraged by the changes he made. These things just happen, especially with guys that throw hard like him. In 104 career innings, Burdi has a nine-inning strikeout rate of In 17 innings this year, he had allowed just nine hits and four walks while fanning 20. Obviously he s proven when he s healthy he s an absolute premium prospect, and the Twins are treating him that way, Sosnick said. We just want to make sure everything we do ultimately leads to the goal of getting him back on the field as quickly as he can. Twins farm director Brad Steil has been discussing medical options with Sosnick and Burdi. A primary repair procedure, which helped Kansas City Royals reliever Seth Maness return to competition in less than nine months, is not being considered for Burdi, nor are platelet-rich plasma injections. Two or three orthopedic surgeons are under consideration. Burdi is doing his own due diligence as well. He s the kind of guy, when he found out about it, he said, I want to go in there tomorrow, get this done and start rehabbing as soon as possible, Sosnick said. Burdi becomes the fourth well-known member of the Twins organization since early March to be slated for elbow-ligament reconstruction. He joins outfielder Alex Kirilloff, the Twins 2016 first-round draft pick, and big-league pitchers Trevor May and Ryan O Rourke. HUGHES UPDATE Twins right-hander Phil Hughes, placed on the disabled list Monday with biceps tendinitis, has undergone multiple MRIs and X-rays and likely will seek a second opinion from a specialist in thoracic outlet syndrome. Hughes has already visited Edina-based Howard Saylor, who performed rib-removal surgery on Hughes last July 6. In 2011, while with the New York Yankees, Hughes visited St. Louis-based vascular specialist Robert Thompson, but TOS, which involves the compression of arteries and veins in the pitching shoulder, was ruled out. We wanted to keep digging deeper to figure out what the source of the discomfort was, Twins chief baseball officer Derek Falvey said. He s talked about what he felt. I think that s really what we have right now. When you have arm-related fatigue and pain with pitchers, they sometimes will point to different areas and that radiates in different directions. Meanwhile, reliever Glen Perkins (shoulder surgery) had another encouraging bullpen session Friday and could face hitters in live batting practice as soon as Tuesday. He could head to extended spring training to ramp up his rehab against hitters by May 31. 7

8 BRIEFLY Left-hander Adalberto Mejia rejoined the Twins in advance of Saturday s start. Mejia, who picked up his first big-league victory with seven strong innings Sunday against the Kansas City Royals, threw his normal bullpen Wednesday in anticipation of being recalled. To make room for Mejia, the Twins designated lefty Adam Wilk for assignment after Friday s loss. Claimed off waivers from the New York Mets on May 10, Wilk had a 3.86 ERA in two long relief outings. Former Twins left fielder Josh Willingham attended Friday s game with his two young sons. The author of a 35-homer season with the Twins in 2012 was greeted warmly by his ex-teammates and coaches. Willingham retired after reaching the World Series with the Kansas City Royals in Mejia looks to build off first win vs. Rays Patrick Donnelly MLB May 27, 2017 The Twins and Rays resume their three-game series on Saturday afternoon at Target Field with Tampa Bay right-hander Jake Odorizzi (3-2, 3.14) looking to stay on a roll. Odorizzi struck out a season-high eight batters in a no-decision against the Angels on Monday. Odorizzi has pitched at least six innings in each of his last four starts. Twins lefty Adalberto Mejia (1-1, 4.96) picked up his first Major League victory on Sunday when he beat the Royals in Kansas City, allowing three earned runs in seven innings. Things to know about this game The Rays are on the first leg of a nine-game road trip. The team will fly an estimated 6,389 miles on a trip that will take them to Minnesota, Texas, and Seattle before returning home on June 6. The Twins' 14-5 road record is the best in the Major Leagues. They took five of six games on a trip to Kansas City and Baltimore last week. Evan Longoria hit seven home runs in seven games against the Twins in 2016, including five in a four-game series at Target Field last June. Logan Morrison added four homers in that series. Struggling Sano comes up empty in loss Shane Jackson MLB May 27, 2017 MINNEAPOLIS -- Regardless of the recent circumstances, it was about as ideal of a situation as the Twins could ask for. The team's most impactful hitter, Miguel Sano, came to the plate representing the tying run in the eighth inning of Friday's 5-2 loss to the Rays. After Minnesota chased Tampa Bay righty Chris Archer from the game, Sano had a chance to serve as the hero with two on and two outs. "We were able to plate a couple and got the tying run in the eighth inning. We stayed with the game," Minnesota manager Paul Molitor said. Instead, Sano saw four cutters from reliever Alex Colome and whiffed on three of them to bring the fans at Target Field back to their seats. The brief moment of suspense was silenced with Sano's fourth strikeout of the night in as many trips to the plate. The previous three were courtesy of Archer, who recorded 11 strikeouts. It marked the fourth time in the last five games that Archer has whiffed at least 11 batters. "He's really tough, you have to have a plan with him," the Twins' Kennys Vargas said. "But his fastball was good tonight and his breaking pitch. He was great tonight." But once the team finally got to the bullpen, it was unable to capitalize. And it highlighted a recent slump for the team's slugging third baseman. Sano has struck out in his last seven at-bats. For the night, he record seven swinging strikes, including four on the slider. He took just one called 8

9 strike -- a slider -- against the Rays. "Right now, for whatever reason, he's pulling off those sliders a little more than what we had seen earlier," Molitor said. "Just over the past couple games. Everyone goes through those stretches, where success becomes a little bit harder to achieve." Perhaps even more concerning, Sano continues to struggle at the plate at Target Field. After Friday's loss, Sano has a.253/.387/.437 line compared to.343/.436/.776 on the road. Molitor is confident Sano will sort it out. "I know he's going to work at it and start trying to stay on the ball a little bit better," Molitor said. "Hopefully it will give him a better chance, because when he puts it in play good things happen." Late rally not enough vs. Archer, Rays Shane Jackson and Patrick Donnelly MLB May 27, 2017 MINNEAPOLIS -- Tampa Bay right-hander Chris Archer continued his dominance at Target Field, as he stymied a hot Minnesota lineup in the 5-2 victory on Friday. The loss snapped the first-place Twins' four-game winning streak. Archer recorded a strikeout in all but one inning, notching a total of 11 punchouts. He has now whiffed double-digit batters in four of his last five starts. After scoring 28 runs over its last four games, Minnesota only managed a pair of runs -- on RBI singles by Kennys Vargas and Brian Dozier -- against Archer. He is now 4-0 with a 1.38 ERA in four career starts at Target Field. "Since Spring Training I've felt really good," Archer said. "Tonight I had three pitches going and the defense picked me up, saved my pitch count a little bit." The Rays offensive attack supported Archer's gem with a trio of blasts. Logan Morrison and Kevin Kiermaier each hit two-run homers in the fourth and sixth, respectively. All but one of the four runs were charged to Twins' lefty Hector Santiago, who suffered his third loss of the season. Santiago switched to throw out of a stretch this time around and allowed four hits over 5 1/3 innings, in which he struck out six batters and walked two. "It felt good, the command was there," Santiago said. "I can do a few different things out of the stretch. The first guy of the game, you have a quick pitch, a slide step. You can do all kinds of different things." After diving several feet in front of a single in the seventh, much to his own amusement, Steven Souza Jr. redeemed himself with a solo shot off Matt Belisle in the eighth inning. According to Statcast, the ball traveled an estimated 435 feet with an exit velocity of mph. The projected 435 feet marks the fourth longest homer hit by the Rays this season. "Going up to the plate he made a comment, 'I'd better do something here,'" Rays manager Kevin Cash said with a laugh. MOMENTS THAT MATTERED Playing a hunch: Cash kept three left-handed hitters in his starting lineup because lefties came into the game hitting.500 (13-for-26) with three home runs this season against Santiago. The decision paid off in the fourth inning when Morrison launched a two-run homer to put the Rays on top 2-0. Morrison tattooed a full-count fastball deep into the right-field seats. According to Statcast, the ball traveled an estimated 390 feet with an exit velocity of mph. The previous three homers Santiago served up to lefties all traveled at least a projected 393 feet. Tampa Bay's three left-handed hitters in the lineup -- Morrison, Kiermaier, and Corey Dickerson -- combined to go 3-for-6 with two walks against Santiago. Sano struggling: The Twins chased Archer in the eighth inning, ending his bid for a fourth career complete game. Eddie Rosario doubled off the wall to open the inning, and Dozier followed with a RBI base knock after consecutive strikeouts. Following a two-out walk to bring the tying run to the plate, the Rays called on reliever Alex Colome. The righty answered the bell by striking out Miguel Sano on four pitches. Sano finished the night with four strikeouts in as many trips to the plate. He has whiffed in his last seven at-bats. 9

10 "Right now, for whatever reason, he's pulling off those sliders a little more than what we had seen earlier," Minnesota manager Paul Molitor said. "Everyone goes through those stretches, where success becomes a little bit harder to achieve." SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDS Santiago moved to the stretch in order to help him get ahead of hitters and it worked. He threw a first-pitch strike to 17 of the 21 batters he faced or 81 percent. Dating back to 2015, his previous first-pitch strike percentage in a game was 78.6 percent. WHAT'S NEXT Rays: Right-hander Jake Odorizzi (3-2, 3.14 ERA) is coming off an eight-strikeout performance in a no-decision against the Angels. He has made quality starts in his last two outings at Target Field, and gets the nod today at 2:10 p.m. ET. Twins: Left-hander Adalberto Mejia (1-1, 4.96 ERA) is expect to start for Minnesota on Saturday at 1:10 p.m. CT. Mejia earned his first Major League victory last time out, as he held the Royals to three runs over seven innings during Sunday's doubleheader. Prospect Burdi headed for elbow surgery Shane Jackson MLB May 26, 2017 MINNEAPOLIS -- The Twins announced on Friday that right-handed prospect Nick Burdi will undergo Tommy John surgery after suffering a torn right ulnar collateral ligament. "Nick had some pain in his elbow after his last outing," Minnesota's chief baseball officer Derek Falvey said. "We brought him up to Minnesota and had him evaluated. We will have to to wait and work out the next details with him. That information will be coming in the next few days." Burdi, who is Minnesota's No. 18 prospect according to MLB Pipeline, missed most of last season with a bone bruise. This year for Double-A Chattanooga, Burdi had appeared in 14 games and posted a 0.53 ERA. The hard-throwing 24-year-old struck out 20 batters and walked four over 17 innings. Since being selected in the second round of the 2014 Draft, Burdi has recorded a 3.20 ERA in 80 appearances. Worth noting Falvey also said the latest test for Phil Hughes -- who was placed on the disabled list (right biceps inflammation) last weekend -- revealed no nerve damage. Hughes will likely get a second opinion before the club decides what to do next with the right-hander. "We have done some MRIs," Falvey said. "Still working to resolve the next steps there. We are very likely to explore another opinion to figure out if there are some elements that occurred with him last year." Glen Perkins (60-day DL) threw a bullpen session on Friday. He is scheduled to throw another session on Tuesday and be more aggressive on the mound. Falvey said the team then plans to send him to Florida to face live hitters as early as Wednesday, depending on how he feels after his next bullpen session. Perkins has not made a Major League appearance since April of last season. "He feels good, his bullpen went well today," Falvey said. "He's pretty close [to 100 percent]. I think once you get to the point of facing hitters, you don't want to put a guy in front of hitter if they are not there yet." The Twins also officially named Adalberto Mejia as the starter for Saturday. Mejia served as the 26th man during Sunday's doubleheader against the Royals. In that start, Mejia tossed seven innings of three-run ball to notch his first Major League victory. He was added to the roster after Friday's game and left-handed pitcher Adam Wilk was designated for assignment. Wilk allowed three earned runs in seven innings in two outings for the Twins. Report: Twins prospect Nick Burdi to Undergo Tommy John Surgery Jake Depue ESPN 1500 May 26, 2017 The injury is a tough break for Burdi, who missed nearly all of 2016 with a bruised humerus in his pitching arm. Burdi was pitching extremely well for Double-A Chattanooga this year. In 17 IP, he has a 0.53 ERA, 20 strikeouts, and a WHIP. He last pitched Sunday for the Lookouts. 10

11 Burdi said earlier this season that the changes he d made to his delivery over the offseason had made him a better pitcher, and the results so far have suggested that s the case. In addition to the sparkling ERA and strikeout numbers, his fastball velocity was in the triple digits, and his walk rate was way down. The news is also a tough break for the Twins, who may have seen Burdi as a candidate for the bullpen later this season. Wetmore: This stretch with no rest will define the season for the Twins Derek Wetmore ESPN 1500 May 26, 2017 The Twins are in the midst of a string of games in which they re scheduled to play 45 times in 45 days before the All-Star break mercifully arrives. That brutal run is the product of weather delays and doubleheaders. This run of games will define the Twins season. Think that s an exaggeration? Consider what will immediately follow. After Miguel Sano and Ervin Santana return to the Twins following all-star week, there will be only 15 games remaining until the non-waiver trade deadline. Nine of those games will be against World Series contenders: the Astros, Yankees and Dodgers. Let s say, for argument s sake, that the Twins are one game worse than.500 between today and the all-star break this stretch of games I m talking about. They d be with two weeks to go until the trade deadline, and that looks like a buyer to me. If they continue at their current pace, they d be 51-37, which you can bet would have the rest of the league on notice. On the other hand, if the Twins crater between now and then, and fall to a.500 record or worse, it gets harder to make the argument the front office should trade prospects for rental-player help to win the division or take down a Wild Card spot. It s an arbitrary cutoff, I ll freely admit. But I m sticking with the contention that these next 45 games will define the 2017 season for the Twins. You ll hear some say that the upcoming slate is important because of who ll they ll face. They just swept the Orioles in Baltimore, and they ve got the Astros coming up quickly. Yes, they ll have some challenging games with difficult pitching matchups. That s not what matters to me. I think that it can tend to get overstated when we focus on a baseball season as a string of series rather than zoom out of focus and pay attention to the larger whole. A recent FanGraphs analysis concluded that the Twins have had the 10th easiest schedule in the league, and the way I see it, that hasn t a particularly big reason why they ve been successful. (In fact, you could argue the opposite, that the Royals are looking worse right now because they ve been beat up by the Twins.) The Twins have scored just 4 more runs than their opponents this year, and so if those runs were distributed randomly, you d expect about a.500 record. Instead, they re 25-18, and they shouldn t have to apologize for their record and they won t have to give back any of those wins. Now the question becomes: Can they keep it going? With many analysts forecasting the bad kind of regression for the Twins, can they continue to exceed those expectations? I have two questions for the Twins over their next 45 games: 1) How are you going to string together a starting rotation? Can you continue to carry the sixth-best staff ERA in the American League, built on the excellence of Ervin Santana, the emergence of J.O. Berrios, and the defensive renaissance you ve undergone this season? And 2) How do you get by and also find rest for your best players? Miguel Sano s not going to get much of a break until the annual All-Star Hiatus and the way things are going he won t get any rest during that week, either. How do you find rest for him while also counting on him to carry the offense? Brian Dozier may still be affected by a tender ankle that he sprained earlier this season. He ll never ask his way out of the lineup, but he maybe 11

12 he needs to sit once or twice for the good of his productivity. Joe Mauer gets his days off, and he s earning them right now, for sure. Max Kepler has been a force at the plate, and he ll need to be given some time off eventually most likely against a left-handed pitching matchup. The Jason Castro-Chris Gimenez dynamic behind the plate appears to be working out well for the Twins right now. The bullpen is in good shape right now, but just when that picture starts to look nicer it s worth remembering that the pen is always a day or two away from needing some help. Manager Paul Molitor, the front office, and the collection of players in the clubhouse all have their work cut out for them over the next 6 weeks. And the stakes are rising. What happens in that stretch of games could very well define their season. Twins snap four-game win streak, lose at home to Rays Associated Press May 27, 2017 MINNEAPOLIS All Steven Souza Jr. could do after making a head-scratching blunder in the outfield was laugh, take his medicine and wave to the jeering crowd. Oh, and hit a homer. Souza followed an embarrassing misplay in right field with a towering solo shot to back Chris Archer s 11 strikeouts in Tampa Bay s 5-2 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Friday night. I m going to be a GIF forever, Souza said with a chuckle. Kennys Vargas hit a looping liner into right-center field in the seventh inning and Souza gave chase. But he lost the ball in the lights and then decided to dive and hope for the best. I just hit the deck hoping it wasn t going to hit me in the face, Souza said. I had no idea where it was. When I looked up, it was about 40 feet away from me. Center fielder Kevin Kiermaier doubled over laughing while watching the replay. Good effort, Rays manager Kevin Cash deadpanned. You re never surprised with anything he does. That s Souz. When Souza stepped to the plate in the eighth inning, the Twins showed the replay of the dive on the video board and the crowd gave a tonguein-cheek standing ovation. A good sport, Souza smiled as he stepped into the box, then belted his eighth homer into the second deck in left field to make it 5-1. It s all in good fun. You play this game, you re going to make a fool of yourself eventually, he said. I don t think I ve ever gotten a standing ovation for making a bad play. That was pretty funny. Archer (4-3) gave up two runs and five hits in 7 2/3 innings and reached double digits in strikeouts for the fourth time in five May starts. Logan Morrison and Kiermaier added two-run homers and Alex Colome got four outs for his 13th save, winning a battle with slugger Miguel Sano with two on in the eighth inning. Hector Santiago (4-3) gave up three runs and four hits and struck out six in 5 1/3 innings. Vargas and Brian Dozier drove in runs for first-place Minnesota, one of the surprise teams in the league this season. ARCHER SHINES Routinely hitting 97 mph with his fastball and mixing in a knee-buckling slider, Archer set down 10 straight between an infield single from Jason Castro in the third inning and a sharp single from Joe Mauer in the seventh. 12

13 Vargas drove Mauer in to put the Twins on the board, ending the Rays pitching staff s streak of scoreless innings at 23. Archer now has 51 strikeouts in May and has one more start to break David Price s club record of 54 set in June Impressed by his velocity as well as his slider command, Twins manager Paul Molitor said. We swung and missed at that slider I don t know how many times. When it had depth it was almost unhittable. FLASHING LEATHER Archer got some help from his defense to put the clamps on a team with the fifth-best batting average in the American League. Souza made a lunging catch at the wall in right field to take a hit away from Vargas in the second inning and Corey Dickerson sprinted to catch a liner from Mauer off of his shoelaces in the fourth inning. TRAINER S ROOM Rays: RHP Brad Boxberger, on the 60-day disabled list with a right flexor strain, is scheduled to throw a bullpen on Monday in Florida. Twins: Closer Glen Perkins, who has been on the disabled list all season with shoulder problems, threw a bullpen on Friday. He will throw again on Tuesday before departing to Florida for extended spring training.... Hard-throwing prospect Nick Burdi will undergo Tommy John surgery. UP NEXT Rays: RHP Jake Odorizzi (3-2, 3.14) will start Game 2 on Saturday. Odorizzi leads the majors with 20 no-decisions since the start of last season, 16 of which have come after yielding two earned runs or fewer. Twins: Molitor said that LHP Adalberto Mejia (1-1, 4.96) will be recalled from Triple-A Rochester to start Saturday s game. Mejia started for the Twins on Sunday, but was sent back down because Molitor has had to juggle the rotation due to so many rainouts early this season. Minnesota Twins will reportedly pass on Hunter Greene with top pick in draft Tim Haberin FOX Sports May 26, 2017 According to a report, the Minnesota Twins are likely to pass on high school superstar Hunter Greene with the top pick in next month s draft. Star high school pitcher Hunter Greene is one of the most highly-touted prospects entering the 2017 MLB Draft, with many prognosticators identifying him as the potential number-one pick. That first overall selection belongs to the Minnesota Twins, but according to a recent report, the club is expected to pass on the 17-year-old at the top of the draft. Per Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports, the Twins will not pick Greene at number one, barring a late change. He points out that a high school righthander has never been drafted first overall, and that will remain the case should Minnesota indeed go elsewhere with their pick. Heyman says that the Twins likely candidates seem to be pitcher Kyle Wright of Vanderbilt, pitcher and first baseman Brendan McKay from Louisville, and high school shortstop Royce Lewis out of JSerra High School in California. Wright is viewed as the probable choice. Greene has generated much attention of late with his recent cover story in Sports Illustrated. Lee Jenkins provided an in-depth profile of the teenager, highlighting his athletic prowess as well as his upbringing in the game of baseball. If Greene does get past the Twins at number one, don t expect him to fall far. The Reds and Padres have the second and third picks, respectively. 13

14 Hailing from Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks, California, Greene has done plenty to excite scouts. At 6-foot-4 and 210 pounds, he already has a pro-ready frame and should only get stronger as he matures. Greene has impressed as both a pitcher and hitter, reaching 102 mph on the radar gun and belting balls well over 400 feet. Call to the Pen s own Benjamin Chase projected Greene to the Twins at number one overall in the first and fourth versions of his recent mock drafts. The youngster has been the consensus top draft prospect on many prominent lists, including Baseball America and MLB Pipeline. While it s certainly possible the Twins may prefer a more polished college-level player, fans shouldn t take anything for granted until the first round of the draft actually takes place on June 12. Minnesota had two scouts watch Greene throw a bullpen session last weekend, and the club s interest has been rather apparent throughout the process. Could this report be a smokescreen or are the Twins actually prepared to turn away from the hype and fanfare surrounding Greene? Stay tuned. Which relievers are most likely to move before trade deadline? Tony Blengino ESPN May 26, 2017 This is an excerpt from the following article: 9. Brandon Kintzler, Minnesota Twins Right-handed pitcher Twenty-seven of the 30 relievers with the most saves have swing-and-miss rates over 10 percent. Twenty-nine are over 8 percent. Kintzler is sitting right around 4 percent. That isn't to say he doesn't have value. Kintzler is a big-time grounder guy, and his sinker has been a reliable out pitch for him. That said, his market value would presently seem to be at an all-time high. The big surprise here has been the Twins' level of play this season. This could be an early test for their new front office. They could decide that their play thus far is a mirage, making it an easy call to test the market on Kintzler. Even if they decide that they have a real shot at a playoff berth this season, I'd argue that they should still move him. A big return isn't guaranteed, as he's a free agent at year's end. Get what you can at his market's apex and go with the next man up in the closer role. Keri the 10: Break up the Twins, Fantasy baseball advice and more MLB observations Jonah Keri CBS Sports May 26, 2017 This is an excerpt from the following article: 1. Break up the Twins! As much emphasis as we thrust on games in September and October, sometimes the biggest moments of a team's season happen in April and May. That goes double for a team like the Twins, who've had very few late-season moments to celebrate over the past few years. The eighth inning of Wednesday's game against the Orioles felt like one of those moments. With two outs, two on and the Twins clinging to a one-run lead, left-hander Taylor Rogers faced fearsome Baltimore slugger Chris Davis. Rogers quickly fell behind 3-0, eliciting visions of a gameturning three-run jack from the last major-league player to hit 50 homers. Then Rogers started fighting back. He fired one well-placed low fastball for strike one, then another well-placed low fastball for strike two. Then with the game on the line, Rogers hurled his fourth curveball of the at-bat, a sweeping rainbow of a pitch that dropped right into the zone for strike three. Rogers and catcher Chris Gimenez both pumped their fists as they ran off the field. Even in May, it feels good to win a battle that actually matters. Yes, Davis leads the majors by a mile in taking called strike three, and looked awful keeping the bat on his shoulder for six straight pitches in that big of a spot. But by beating the O's 4-3 on Wednesday, the Twins swept a road series against one of the best teams in the league, extended their winning streak to four games, won their 10th game in 14 tries and extended their AL Central lead to two games. Repeating: It's Memorial Day weekend, and the Minnesota Twins are in first place. Last week, I wrote about the emergence of electric right-hander Jose Berrios, who looks like the ace of the staff after just three starts. Watch this Wiffle Ball of a breaking pitch he throws to O's catcher Caleb Joseph, remember that he pairs that piece of evil with a mid-to-high-90s 14