7/27: Nunez Steals, Trade Deadline Deals, Sano Strikes Out and More

Nunez has been a stealing machine lately. (Photo credit: Cold Omaha)

Greetings from Target Field, where the rain was coming down pretty hard earlier, but things appear to have cleared off and there is a long line for 1991 World Series steins.

Tyler Duffey (5-7, 5.71 ERA) will take the mound for the Minnesota Twins, facing off against righty Mike Foltynewicz (3-4, 3.79 ERA). In his last start, Duffey was dealt his seventh loss of the season, giving up six runs on nine hits in 2.1 innings on July 21 at Boston.

“I think probably for most guys, and in particular Duff’s case, when you have an outing that kinda goes awry early, the anxiousness of the next four or five days before you get back on the mound … not really redemption, but to go out there and have a chance to compete a little bit better,” said manager Paul Molitor.

“He had a chance to watch Ervin work last night,” he added, referencing Santana’s complete game loss, “and he’s gotta pitch his own game, but he saw the aggressiveness of this team. And hopefully if he has the command, he’ll be able to use that as an advantage for himself. But I know he’s excited to get back on the mound tonight.”

Eduardo Nunez is leading off today, and Eddie Rosario is playing center field with Byron Buxton on the bench.

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Not only has Nunez continued to hit well after the All-Star Break, but his two stolen bases last night gave him 26 for the season, good enough for first in the AL and fourth in baseball. Only Jonathan Villar (36), Starling Marte (35) and Billy Hamilton (34) have more.

“We talk fairly regularly about his development as a base-stealer. Obviously the numbers are up given the fact that he’s played more than he ever has. But he’s trying to find ways to get better at it, times that he has been unsuccessful have been learning tools for him — when he’s picked the wrong pitch or maybe misread the slide-step,” said Molitor.

“But it’s a process. He has a lot of confidence, he has no fear. He’s got a lot better at the mechanical aspect of his breaks, and the improvement that I’ve seen this year is just understanding the guy on the mound, doing his homework and trying to swing the odds in his favor as often as possible.”

Deal or no deal

Kepler is a young player who has had a breakout season this year. (Photo credit: Cumulus Media)
Kepler is a young player who has had a breakout season this year. (Photo source: MLB/YouTube)

From the sounds of it, it’s unlikely that the Minnesota Twins are looking to deal their young players at the August 1 deadline. Molitor tiptoed around the question a bit when asked if there’s anyone he’s sticking up for that might not have seen their talents manifest themselves in the big leagues yet, unwilling to single anyone out in particular.

“One of the first days that [interim general manager Rob Antony] and I sat down, we kinda went through our 25-man, and we talked about each guy. A little bit about performance, a little bit about trying to collaborate on our evaluation of where they might fit and what role they might play going forward,” he said.

“Obviously there’s some better fits moving on, but I think the whole idea of moving younger players is something you want to avoid if you can, unless you find a way to fill a bigger hole.”

He specifically mentioned the Oswaldo Arcia move as one he’d like to avoid. Minnesota’s had was forced a bit on a player who struggled last season and was inconsistent at best this year, but also hit 34 home runs in his first two big league seasons.

Sano showed promise early in his career, but was traded this year. (Photo credit: Cold Omaha)
Sano showed promise early in his career, but was traded this year. (Photo credit: Cold Omaha)

“Sometimes you have to make tough decisions on people like that. I don’t think we have anybody that we’re overly-anxious to depart with. We have a lot of young guys, you look up and down our 25-man, there’s a few veterans mixed in, more maybe on the pitching side,” he said.

“But our young players, I think that we have to try to stay patient with what we have. We’re watching these guys kind of grow in front of our eyes in terms of adapting to the major leagues. More specifically to your question, I don’t really have anybody that fits that in particular. But Rob’s been very forthright with me in discussions he’s been having here, especially in the last couple days, about things that might or might not happen.

“I’m not too concerned about losing any young players that I feel are vital to our future.”

As far as if he gives his players a head’s up if they’re in trade rumors and could potentially be dealt, he said that he does not. “I might be wrong,” he said, “but I don’t.”

“I think it’s kind of an obvious part of the game. Most people are aware of what’s going on, and some people’s names are tossed around more than others, but if someone asks me about it, I’ll give them an honest answer,” he added.

“You’re not really gonna do a player a lot of good by telling them that, ‘Hey, just head’s up, you might be outta here in a couple of days.’ Because I don’t know that, for one, and as I talked about yesterday, it’s just kinda part of the game that you know exists, especially when you’re on a team that’s at the bottom of the division, and you have players that might be of interest to other clubs to help them try to get over the hump this year.”

Sano’s strikeouts 

Sano is one of the Twins' best hitters, but also strikes out a lot. (Photo credit: Cumulus Media)
Sano is one of the Twins’ best hitters, but also strikes out a lot. (Photo credit: Cumulus Media)

Miguel Sano has 221 strikeouts in his first 150 games, but Molitor doesn’t appear too concerned about it.

“I think 20 years ago the 220 strikeouts in 150 games would be alarming. Today it’s … I wouldn’t say par for the course, but there are a lot of people that are really good players that are striking out at incredible rates,” he said.

“When you look at production on the walks and the on-base, I think you would be a little more tolerant of the strikeouts. I hope that we can clean it up to some degree, because a lot of those strikeouts come where a ground ball would be an RBI.

“He’s a young enough guy to where you think those things would improve on both ends. Some of the negative things will come down, and hopefully some of the positive things will go up.”

Pierzynski’s return 

Current Braves catcher A.J. Pierzynski and Molitor were teammates in the Twins manager’s final season in Minnesota, and while his personality can turn some people off — especially Twins fans — Molitor had nothing but praise for him.

“I’ve known him a long time, had a nice visit with him yesterday. At that position, 19 years in the big leagues, he’s amongst some of the legendary names in the game in terms of how much he’s caught,” said Molitor.

“He’s still fighting away over there. He’s been a controversial figure in a lot of ways, and I kind have enjoyed that aspect of his personality. You can liven up a team with a guy who wants to compete, but sometimes maybe oversteps his boundaries every once in a while because things are gonna come out. But I think that can be a positive, and I think he’s had a good influence along the way.

“He’s learned from some good people, and now he’s passing some of those things on.”

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Nunez has been a stealing machine lately. (Photo credit: Cold Omaha)

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