It’s sunny and a bit cool as the Twins take batting practice in preparation of opening a six-game homestand against the Oakland A’s this evening. It’ll be a pair of solid righties tangling at Target Field, as Sonny Gray will come off the disabled list and make his season debut, while Ervin Santana will look to continue his sizzling start into the month of May. More on that in a bit.
There are a couple former Twins in town with the A’s, and both are off to slow-ish starts. The more familiar face is third baseman Trevor Plouffe, who is in the lineup batting eighth for the A’s against Santana. Plouffe has four home runs but is hitting just .207/.275/.366 through 24 games with the A’s. More on that shortly, as the media was afforded a chance to chat with him in the A’s dugout before the game. The other former Twin in that clubhouse is reliever Liam Hendriks, who has a 6.00 ERA through nine innings with an 8-4 K/BB ratio and 1.56 WHIP.
The Twins open this homestand — three with Oakland and three with the Red Sox before hitting the road again — with a 12-11 record, while the A’s come in 11-14. The Twins are just 5-7 at Target Field, but are 4-1 in their last five games and looking to stretch their winning streak to three after sweeping an abbreviated two-game set against the Royals at Kauffman Stadium over the weekend.
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Here’s how the Twins will line up today:
Here’s how the A’s will counter:
No pitcher has been tougher to hit this season than Santana, who has allowed opposing batters a collective batting average of just .115. That’s just 3.3 hits per nine innings, and that batting average is 44 points lower than the No. 2 pitcher in baseball (Ian Kennedy of the Royals). And while Santana’s peripherals may not suggest a sub-1.00 ERA is sustainable — 6.7 K/9, 2.6 BB/9 — he’s done a great job mixing his fastball, slider and changeup combination to keep hitters off balance all season long.
This game is a rematch of July 6 last season, when Santana basically took off for a sizzling finish. Santana threw a complete game, two-hit shutout against the A’s at Target Field that day with eight strikeouts and no walks to lower his ERA to 4.06. From that day forward, Santana was absolutely fantastic: 2.40 ERA, .596 OPS against and 89-27 K/BB ratio in 97.1 innings. Essentially, he hasn’t slowed down, as this season’s hot start can attest. He has to be one of the hottest pitchers in the game.
Gray is making his first start of the season after battling a lat injury — not unlike Mets righty Noah Syndergaard — and has a lot to prove after a rough 2016 season. The Twins only got Gray for one earned run in last season’s matchup at Target Field, but with five strikeouts and four walks, it was another in a long line of disappointing outings for the righty last season. He finished with a 5.69 ERA — more than double the 2.73 mark he had posted in 2015.
Byron Buxton said that as part of his preparation for Gray, the Twins monitored things Gray did during the good (2015) and the bad (2016), and also had some access to his work during his two rehab starts — one with Stockton (High-A) and one with Nashville (Triple-A). Between those two starts, Gray allowed zero earned runs in 11 innings with a 13-0 K/BB ratio and just three hits allowed. Which Gray will show up at Target Field on Tuesday night? It’s truly hard to say.
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#OldFriend Updates
Plouffe may be struggling a bit to start the season, but he appears to be happy to have found a home near his family in Southern California. Plouffe said it’s just a one-hour plane ride for his family to the Bay Area, and that his discussions with teams before signing were most productive with Oakland — hence the signing.
“It’s been nice to spend a few days here and just see everyone,” Plouffe said, as the team arrived on Sunday after a 7-2 loss to Houston that afternoon. “We went to Surly and had a beer, and that was nice. It’s good to be back.”
Plouffe said he wasn’t sure how fans would react to his return, but said he hoped they would be nice. “We’ll see what happens,” Plouffe said. He mentioned that he’d met with some of his former Twins teammates — Brian Dozier, Phil Hughes and also manager Paul Molitor — and even caught some grief from his former skipper for batting eighth in the lineup. “They’re finally hitting you where you belong,” Molitor joked.
“It feels right,” Plouffe said regarding his fit with the A’s. “Look, I knew there was a strong possibility that I wouldn’t be back here. I got the call in November, so it was early in the offseason. It sank in right there that I wouldn’t be back, so we started talking to different teams. We had the best talks with Oakland all offseason. Now it feels like home.”
It may feel like home, but Plouffe did say it was a bit different to find himself in a new organization after spending 13 seasons in some or fashion with the Twins after they made him a first-round pick in 2004. “I was telling Hughes and Doz — I saw them last night — that it’s just baseball,” Plouffe said. “That’s all the same. It’s getting to know the different guys in the clubhouse and understanding their personalities. That was all new for me. That was the big thing I had to get over.”
Plouffe said his favorite memory was the 2010 team — the only Twins team to qualify for the postseason in the Target Field era. Plouffe only appeared in 22 games that season, but it still left an impression on the 24-year-old back then. “I was just a part-time player,” Plouffe said. “But I felt like part of the team. I got to celebrate and that was a lot of fun. Unfortunately, that was the only year we got to do that.”
Plouffe was also complimentary of his successor at third base, Miguel Sano, who is coming off winning the AL Player of the Week award. “Miguel looks great,” Plouffe noted. “He looks bigger than ever, which is fine. It’s great. I’ve always said ‘Let that guy be big.’ He’s a big man. Let him be big. It looks like they’re letting him do that, and he’s doing well.”
Plouffe is wearing No. 3 for the A’s. Part of the reason is that 24 is not available — thanks to a certain player named Rickey Henderson — but there’s also an intriguing reason why he’s wearing the number, which he wore all the way coming up but wasn’t available when he got to the Twins. “It was a bit of a tribute to Harmon (Killebrew),” Plouffe said. “I loved the time I got to spend with him.”
Oswaldo Arcia is absolutely crushing the ball at Triple-A Reno (Diamondbacks). He’s hitting .351/.416/.701 through 21 games with 14 of his 27 hits going for extra bases. The path to playing time in Arizona might be difficult, however, as their outfield is fairly full with the likes of Yasmany Tomas, A.J. Pollock and David Peralta holding things down.
The Mariners designated former Twins reliever Casey Fien for assignment on Tuesday. Fien was outrighted to Triple-A Tacoma on April 12, and the Mariners purchased his contract two weeks later to bring him back up. The overall numbers aren’t good, as he’s allowed 10 earned runs in six innings (15.00 ERA) through six appearances. Fien worked just once in this last stint with the Mariners, allowing three earned runs — including a home run — while recording just one out against the Indians on April 30.
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Don’t sleep on the potential for Nick Tepesch to make Saturday’s start against the Red Sox. Defending Cy Young winner Rick Porcello is slated to take the ball for Boston, and Tepesch went through a full simulated game — Molitor said 31 pitches — on Tuesday before batting practice. Tepesch hasn’t pitched since being recalled by the Twins — or in any capacity since starting against the Gwinnett Braves on April 20 — but has been solid in his three starts with the Red Wings: 2.00 ERA (four earned runs in 18 innings), 17-4 K/BB ratio and 1.33 WHIP. Tepesch also has a 54.7 percent groundball rate with the Red Wings, and has flashed significant grounder potential in the minors at times. Tepesch hasn’t seen significant big league action since throwing 126 innings for the Rangers in 2014. Tepesch missed all of 2015 with elbow issues and also underwent surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome. “He’s in the mix for Saturday,” Molitor said Tuesday. “We’re not going to confirm anything until we see what tomorrow brings. Obviously, there’s a lot of talk about people who are doing well down below, but at the very least we needed him to face some hitters today after almost a couple weeks off.”
Adalberto Mejia will also be eligible to return to the Twins by then. He was sent to Rochester on April 22, so he should be eligible to return to the Twins as early as Friday. With off days and weather issues, Mejia has made only one appearance with the Red Wings since going back down. It was a good one, as he spun seven shutout innings with two hits, six strikeouts and no walks against the Louisville Bats. That Bats lineup included some fairly good hitters, like Dilson Herrera, Phil Ervin and a pinch-hitting appearance by Jesse Winker. That could be enough to get Mejia back up here.
The elephant in the room is Berrios, who has been absolutely brilliant this season at Rochester. Opposing batters are hitting just .157/.208/.235 against Berrios this season through five starts, as the 22-year-old righty has just a 1.09 ERA and 35-8 K/BB ratio through 33 innings pitched. He was just named International League pitcher of the week, and leads the league in ERA, innings pitched and is tied for second in strikeouts. The Twins, however, are preaching patience with Berrios, and want to make sure that when he’s brought up next time, it’s the last time.
“We have those conversations,” Molitor said of progress reports on how Berrios is pitching game-to-game, outside of reading box scores. “I’ll have conversations with Quade (Triple-A manager Mike) and people like that so you can get the verbal instead of just the written word. Some starts have been hit-and-miss in terms of some of those things that we’re looking for that will play up here. The last one was better in terms of breaking ball and changeup command. That was looked at as the highlight of his outing, that attributed to the final line. Those are the kinds of things we know he needs to do up here. Command the fastball, yes, but he needs those other pitches too. It’s one of those things where we’re not trying to jump the gun. He needs to continue to polish. We’ve all been anxious to get young talent up here in the past. Right now I think the continued patience is what everyone has a consensus on for the most part. Unless we get into a situation where we have to have him.”
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Injury Updates
Glen Perkins (shoulder) was around in the Twins clubhouse before the game. “He’s back for the homestand,” Molitor said. “He’s going to continue his rehab up here for awhile. I think he’s a little frustrated about how the ball coming isn’t improving a little faster. They’re going to have some conversations with our staff up here as well as medical people to see what we can do to jump that a little bit because it seems like he’s leveled off in terms of velocity and those types of things as of late. He feels good, it just hasn’t changed a lot yet as far as what he’s able to do with the ball.”
Ehire Adrianza (oblique) has played very well in his rehab stint, including what has now spanned six games at Triple-A Rochester. He’s hit .304/.429/.304 with the Wings while playing left field and shortstop with Rochester. He even made a great throw with the Wings from left field (see below) and Molitor says his arm definitely will play in the outfield, assuming he can work through the usual transitional things, like the natural arm-side tail that comes from throwing the ball that far.
“I think so,” Molitor said when asked if Adrianza was getting close to being activated. “The exposure to the outfield is still relatively young in terms of how many games and innings he’s played out there. The comfortability seems to be ahead of the amount of innings he’s played. We’re not in a rush. We have a little time here in terms of his rehab. I think it’s the 10th, or something like that? So I think for him to be playing consistently and getting experience out there and playing some infield too….we’ll obviously have to decide something when his time is up.”
Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reported on Tuesday afternoon that Twins lefty Ryan O’Rourke underwent Tommy John surgery earlier in the day. Dr. David Altchek — the team physician for the Mets — performed the surgery, which will shelve O’Rourke for the rest of the season.
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Notes and Quotes
- The Twins are expecting 20,000 fans for tonight’s game.
- The Twins head into their first game in May leading MLB in walk rate from an offense by nearly a full percent. Their 11.6 percent walk rate is 0.9 percent higher than the No. 2 team (Yankees) and only six teams are in double digits.
- The Twins are tied for the ninth-best strikeout rate from an offense this season with the Cardinals and Angels (20.4 percent).
- Just three teams have a lower soft contact percentage — as classified by Baseball Info Solutions — than the Twins (16.3 percent). The Twins are tied for 13th in highest medium contact percentage (via Fangraphs) and sixth in hard contact (34 percent).
- Eddie Rosario comes in on an 11-game hitting streak. Only two players — Mike Trout (14) and Freddy Galvis (13) — have longer existing streaks in the big leagues.
- The Twins went 4-1 on the last road trip, but did so with narrow margins as the offense averaged 5.4 runs per game while the pitching staff allowed an ERA of 5.11.
- The Twins were 2-4 against the A’s last year, including a three-game sweep in Oakland but winning two out of three at Target Field in July.
- Molitor on Sano showing leadership qualities, team-first mentality: “Those are really encouraging signs. You talk about young leadership development and people who can keep the focus on the team and all those types of things despite if you’re going well or poorly. I’ve seen him show those characteristics as a minor league player. He was a leader on the clubs when I watched him down there. Up here, you come up and show respect to the guys who have been here. Gradually those things can transition. It’s very early in the game still for him and we’re talking about one good month here to start the year. But the fact that he’s got that type of perspective is good for everybody.”
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