5/1: Twins Face Familiar Foe, Try to Keep Ricky Rolling

(Photo Credit: Brian Curski, Cumulus Media)

It’s a bright and sunny day at Target Field, and it’s worth wondering if the Minnesota Twins hitters are running to the bat rack as an old friend takes the mound for the Detroit Tigers.

The early going for Mike Pelfrey in Detroit hasn’t been pretty, but that’s not the only reason the Twins are happy to see him back at Target Field. “I miss having Mike around here,” manager Paul Molitor said during his media availability Sunday morning. ”I think people that watch our team kind of watched him pitch during his tenure here. Sometimes it was good, and sometimes it was not too good. But he was a very well-liked teammate.”

Molitor said there’ll be no surprises facing Pelfrey, which isn’t surprising after he spent three up-and-down seasons with the Twins. “Facing him, we kind of know his MO,” Molitor joked. “Don’t make dinner reservations too early, that kind of stuff.”

Beyond the joking though, Molitor and the Twins know the exact way he’s going to attack the offense; it’ll be their job to take advantage. “He’s going to give you some fastballs to hit,” Molitor said. “He’s going to mix in that split and that little breaking ball, but he throws a lot of fastball. You’ve just gotta keep it on the plate, stay aggressive with him and hopefully we can have a good day with the bats.”  

Injury Updates

Plouffe and Santana should be coming off the DL soon. (Photo credit: Cumulus Media)
Plouffe and Santana should be coming off the DL soon. (Photo credit: Cumulus Media)

Trevor Plouffe batted and played third for Fort Myers in the first game of his rehab stint on Saturday, going 1-for-4 with a single and a strikeout in the Miracle’s 2-1 loss to Charlotte. The plan was originally for Plouffe to play seven innings at third base, but he made it through the entire game and appears to be no worse for the wear. We’ll get an update from general manager Terry Ryan on him this afternoon.

The plan is for Ervin Santana to throw a bullpen in Houston on Tuesday, and from that point the Twins will gauge how close he is to ready to return from the disabled list.

Here’s how the Twins will line up today:

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Ricky Nolasco takes the ball for the fifth time this season, and is currently carrying a 3.25 ERA (3.05 FIP), 0.90 WHIP and impressive 8.0 K/BB mark. So far he’s alternated his earned runs allowed (1-4-1-4), but still looked impressive last time out in spite of just missing out on a quality start. He’s pitched into the seventh inning in all four starts, and also induced 10 swinging strikes on 102 pitches against the Indians in his last start — his second start with double-digit whiffs.

The slider (16.9 percent) remains Nolasco’s go-to pitch for swinging strikes — it’s also his most-used pitch — but the curve and splitter have both also crept up over 10 percent in terms of whiff rate. According to Brooks Baseball, Nolasco got four swinging strikes on sliders in his last time out, with a pair each coming on the splitter and the slow curve. If Nolasco can work ahead with the fastball, his breaking stuff has been really good. So far, he’s been able to do just that.

Pelfrey is winless through four starts, and has allowed fewer than four runs just once all season. In that start, he allowed just one run to the Astros, but walked six batters and fanned just three. It’s worth noting that no team is striking out more than the Astros this season, as well. Pelfrey’s velocity has been down a fair amount this year (93.3 mph fastball last year, 91.6 this year), and he’s basically scrapped the rarely-used four-seamer altogether this year for the sinker, which he’s throwing about two-thirds of the time.

So far, his split has been a much better pitch for swing-and-miss and raw results (.552 OPS against), but his sinker has been absolutely obliterated. Opposing batters are hitting .413/.487/.619 off Pelfrey’s sinker. That’s not exactly a good combination when it’s used that often, but also when he has to use it often because of location issues. He’s issues more walks (12) than he’s gotten strikeouts (nine) this year.

Notes and quotes

“It’s been solid. Coming out of camp I wasn’t sure how frequently I might have to take him out to protect against certain matchups that might be challenging. But the way he’s gone about his business and the at-bats he’s had have been fairly consistent. He strikes out some, which we all know was going to be part of the package, but we’re getting a nice little return there. He seems to be gaining confidence in his ability to play at this level over here in the states everyday. I’ve been very pleased with him.” – Molitor on the first month in the big leagues for Byung Ho Park

“It’s an age-old debate, you know? I just hope our guys don’t try to do too much. The few times I had experiences against guys that were friends or former teammates, you know, you’ve got to put the fuzzy fugitive mask on them so you don’t see the face and just remember what you’re doing out there. You’re trying to win a ballgame. Hopefully the guys stay within themselves. We know Mike; he knows us. We’ll see how it plays out.” – Molitor on who has the advantage when hitters face a pitcher with home they’re very familiar.

* Park leads the AL rookies in home runs (six) and is second across MLB behind Colorado’s Trevor Story (10).

* Joe Mauer ranks first in the AL in on-base percentage (.453 and second in walks (20).

* The Twins rank seventh in baseball in highest offensive strikeout frequency (23.8 percent). Just one team — the Tampa Bay Rays — above the Twins on the list has scored fewer runs (80).

* Just three MLB teams have more intentional walks than the Twins (seven). All are NL teams (Nationals, Diamondbacks and Giants) where the No. 8 hitter is frequently walked in front of the pitcher’s spot.

* The Twins are No. 1 in MLB with a 23.6 percent line-drive rate.

* Double-A outfielder Daniel Palka was named the Twins Minor League Player of the Week. He hit .619 over the week with six extra-base hits, and is hitting .338/.424/.538 with 10 of his 27 hits going for extra bases (three home runs, seven doubles).

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(Photo Credit: Brian Curski, Cumulus Media)

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