Greetings from a sun-splashed Target Field where the Minnesota Twins are preparing to face the Miami Marlins for the first time since 2013. That year, the Twins split two games at Target Field and dropped a pair in Miami.
The split was actually a doubleheader on April 23 of that year, where Ricky Nolasco ended up pitching the second game with Jose Fernandez — whom the Twins will fortunately miss — pitching the first. Then-Marlins manager Mike Redmond had initially intended for the starters to go in the opposite direction before ownership mandated that he flip them for a reason that was never entirely clear. Even in Redmond’s pre-game comments on that Tuesday it sounded like he wasn’t totally sure why.
Some 25 months later he was ceremoniously ousted, not only 38 games into the 2015 season, but 38 games into a contract extension signed at the end of 2014. As a result, Redmond will be “paid” to not manage the Marlins through the 2017 season.
Don Mattingly is managing the Marlins now, and they’re off to a 30-27 start — four games behind division-leading Washington in a very competitive NL East division.
—
Starter Kyle Gibson was in the clubhouse before Tuesday’s game, and is slated to start Saturday against the Boston Red Sox according to manager Paul Molitor. Gibson told Cold Omaha that he felt good and that his arm felt good in his rehab start against Louisville over the weekend. “My stuff was OK,” Gibson said. “The slider was average and my curve and changeup were not good. Luckily they were going after the hard stuff.”
Gibson vowed to attack more and work in the strike zone more consistently this time around with the Twins. He mentioned getting ahead with his fastball as something he — like virtually all pitchers — has to do to be successful this time around.
—
Closer Glen Perkins threw his second bullpen in what’s expected to be a set of three. He threw 37 pitches — mostly fastballs with some sliders mixed in — and came out of the session feeling OK. “It was good. I wasn’t discouraged or encouraged by it,” Perkins said afterward. “I think it’s just a matter of continuing to build arm strength. Playing long toss (beforehand) today felt as good as I’ve felt in a really long time.” Perkins said he threw “20-some fastballs and some sliders” and said it’s another step in the right direction.
Perkins wouldn’t commit to only needing three bullpens for sure. “I don’t know,” Perkins said, noting his next bullpen will happen Friday. “I’m going to have to see. The original plan was two and I said it wasn’t going to happen. I knew I wouldn’t be ready after two.”
Perkins said he’d need to feel better Friday than he did on Tuesday before he’d be ready to throw to batters. If that were to take place, he may have to head down to the team’s complex in Fort Myers since the Twins will be on the road playing the Angels. “I think if I face live hitters it would be down in Florida,” Perkins said. “I’ll throw Friday, and if I’m ready to face hitters, then I will. It’ll probably be down in Florida because there’ll be nobody here.”
—
Here’s how the Twins will line up today:
Pat Dean will make his fourth start with the Twins on Tuesday. Dean lasted just five innings against the A’s on June 1 in his last start — his shortest of the four since the Twins added him to the rotation after sending down Jose Berrios. Dean has allowed a single home run in all four starts, and saw his strikeout numbers drop to just three in five innings against the A’s after having 17 in his previous three starts combined. That’s more consistent with his work in the minor leagues (5.3 K/9), but when he’s gotten swinging strikes this season it’s been with the slider (13.3 percent).
Three of the four home runs Dean has allowed this season have come on four-seam fastballs — the pitch he has thrown the most. One thing that’s concerning is that the best OPS against Dean has on any pitch is from his slider, and it’s an unseemly .772 mark. At the risk of being an alarmist, regression might hit Dean relatively quickly.
Opposing Dean is fellow lefty Adam Conley, a 26 year old who has had bouts of shaky command with the Marlins this year but by and large has put together a nice season. Conley throws harder than Dean — roughly 91-92 with his fastball as opposed to 88-89 for Dean — but also relies pretty heavily on a slider and also has a changeup. He basically has used a three-pitch mix which has gotten him to this point with almost a strikeout per inning. The swinging strikes come on the slider (21.4 percent whiff rate) but the changeup is really good as well (14.6 percent). He’s allowed just three hits on the change all year (.094 batting average). If he can find the zone with his fastball, he’s tough to solve.
Conley was better in April (3.67 ERA) than May (4.68) but is coming off a very solid start against the Pirates last time out: six innings, two hits, zero runs and 9-3 K/BB ratio.
—
Notes and Quotes
- Molitor’s next win will be his 100th as manager of the Twins.
- The Twins and Marlins have split the 10 meetings in the all-time series.
- Byron Buxton has at least one hit in all six games since returning, and is 10-for-23 (.435/.417/.652) in that time frame, lifting his season OPS to .690 from .497 when he was sent out.
- Only three teams have fewer steals than the Marlins (17). The Twins are tied with San Diego and Texas for eighth in MLB with 37.
- Only the Royals (47) and Braves (23) have fewer home runs than the Marlins (48).
- Molitor on if Robbie Grossman in the No. 2 hole is a one-day thing or an experiment: “I’m experimenting hopefully with some knowledge behind the decisions we make. I haven’t gone to the hat method yet. I’m just trying to look at guys, left-right matchups, on-base percentage, who is taking good at-bats, who I want up later in the game. A lot of things that you look at. He’s a guy who has had to fight for major league at-bats all his life and how he’s put together a couple nice weeks for us. I like how he swings the bat, especially from the right side. Just kind of changing it up a bit. With Nunez, him and Joe up at the top, we can create some opportunities for the guys in the middle.”
- Molitor on Buxton this time around: “We’re kind of just letting him go. It’s been fun to watch. I think we see confidence. He doesn’t like to lose ‘em; I think this guy is born to win. He’s staying on the ball. Longer at-bats. Seeing more pitches. He mixed in a nice bunt the other day. Going the other way. Just a lot of things that are positive in terms of what we’re hoping to see from him.”
- Molitor on if six games are enough for him to be sold on Buxton this time around: “No. I would like to think it’s trending in the right direction. You’ve heard me talk about Byron for a long time. I have a lot of confidence in where his career is going to go. It just has a tendency — especially at a younger age — to have a bit more volatility to the curve as you follow it. I hope he can just keep pushing upward and the incline keeps going forward. There’s going to be some times where he’s going to have to step back and make adjustments and evaluate….that’s just how the game goes.”
- Molitor on who has impressed him from the bullpen: “It’s been different at different times. We’ve had some guys that have had nice runs. Pressly’s been good at times. Control gets him once in awhile. We’ve seen May be really good at times. Kintzler’s done a nice job coming over. Tonkin’s had his moments. You can go right down the list. Rogers…Boshers….of course Fernando’s year has been good. Kevin’s had the toughest time finding consistency out there on the back end. You keep trying to shape it, and keep trying to move guys around a little bit to get them on track.”
