Latest / Twin Cities Territory / Twins drop finale, win series vs. Chicago; Royce ripping up Triple-A

Transcript

Twins drop finale, win series vs. Chicago; Royce ripping up Triple-A · Twin Cities Territory

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: The Twins take a series from the Chicago White Sox,
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: albeit with a very rough finale and eight nothing loss
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: on Wednesday to close out the series. After wins on
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: both Monday and Tuesday, Royce Lewis is red hot in
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: Triple A. We'll talk about that as well and more
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: today on the latest episode of Twins Citi's Territory Our
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: Minnesota Twins podcast. I'll get tired of that soon, I promise.
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: Minnesota Twins podcast here on the follow Territory Network. Zach
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: Piers from The Athletic along with Dan Hayes The Athletics.
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: Minnesota Twins beat writer Tyler Duffy is busy playing baseball.
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: He may join us later, we'll see, but for now
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: it's the two of us, and we'll start with the
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: big league club.
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: Dan.
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: We debated taping the show on Wednesday morning. If we had,
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: it would have been perhaps a touch more upbeat, But
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: the Twins still got you out of three against Chicago,
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: which is nothing to sneeze at after they came in
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: with a five losing streak in Chicago came in with
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: a five game winning streak.
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: Yeah. Look, the takeaway is they won a series from
• 1:06
  Speaker 2: a team that pretty much beat them up last week
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: in Chicago. I thought that the contrast, and let's not
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: overlook that Muni Mirror Kami was not in this series.
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: He's hurt, he's out five weeks for the White Sox,
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: their slugger. But still the White Sox are a good team.
• 1:23
  Speaker 2: And that's the takeaway from this last week. You know,
• 1:26
  Speaker 2: they look pretty pretty real. I mean, they have flaws,
• 1:30
  Speaker 2: but they are a good team. They've turned it around
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: in three years. And the Twins came back and played
• 1:35
  Speaker 2: some really good baseball both Monday and Tuesday night. And yeah,
• 1:38
  Speaker 2: Wednesday was a disappointing loss. It was pretty ugly. Three errors,
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: I think two on the same play. TODs Bradley did
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: not look good. But they won a serious and they
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: have seven winnable games coming up here against Detroit and
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: Kansas City, who were worse than them. That was the
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: step you had to take. Like you're in this stretch,
• 1:57
  Speaker 2: you still fod to go out of this seventeen in
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: a row. It's gonna be a bullpen game on Thursday.
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: There's so many things going against them right now, with
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: Kenry Rojas hurt and Bailey overhurt and Royce Slewis is
• 2:08
  Speaker 2: down and Matt Walner's down. Like there's so many battles
• 2:11
  Speaker 2: that the Twins are facing right now that you take
• 2:13
  Speaker 2: a series victory like this was a good, a good
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: little stop to that slid, you know, losing five in
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: a row and then coming in and taking the series
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: right away from a red hot team. You know, again,
• 2:24
  Speaker 2: disappointing Wednesday, but a lot of good signs, you know,
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: especially from the offense over the course of and the
• 2:30
  Speaker 2: bullpen over the course of this three game series.
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: I know you're right, Dan, but I just I hate
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: ending on the sour note day games just they have
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: no juice. They give me, just give me the willies.
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: And today was just no fun at all to watch.
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: But yes, Taj Bradley struggled pretty much throughout the game,
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: but really kept the damage entirely to the first inning
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: and kept the scoreboard cleaning after that. But the Twins
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: just never had any bats going in the finale. But
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: two great wins Monday and Tuesday, and just you know,
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: a little too early to see if this is the
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: start of another stretch of good play. But you brought up,
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: Dan that the next two opponents are the Royals coming
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: into town for four games, last place in the AL Central,
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: which is a surprise I think, and obviously the Twins
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: did not do particularly well against them in that first
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: week of the season series they played in Kansas City,
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: and then they have to go to Detroit, who also
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: has been struggling, although just coming off a sweep of
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: the Rays in Tampa Bay. So they may look easy
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: on paper, but who knows what's in store these next
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: seven games. For sure, I think nothing is taken for
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: granted in this division or really anywhere in the AL
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: this year.
• 3:43
  Speaker 2: No, you're right, I mean I think anybody Detroit still
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: does have talent. They're just beat up. Like, yeah, they
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: have a lot of injuries, and Google has been out
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: and that's a massive loss. But then Berlander has been
• 3:54
  Speaker 2: out and so may you look around and they won
• 3:56
  Speaker 2: the division for a reason justin yes he still plays. Wow,
• 4:03
  Speaker 2: But like I feel like, really, any team can beat anybody,
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: even when it's a really bad team. The White Sox,
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: even a one hundred and twenty one losses a couple
• 4:13
  Speaker 2: of years ago, we're still capable of winning one of
• 4:16
  Speaker 2: three at times, even though they didn't, even though it
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: was more like one of four, for them, but you
• 4:22
  Speaker 2: always have to be aware of that. You can't take
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: a bay lightly. And you know, this was a disappointing
• 4:27
  Speaker 2: game on Wednesday because you felt you came in with that,
• 4:30
  Speaker 2: like what you were talking about, just how it's a
• 4:35
  Speaker 2: tough way to end it, because you came in knowing
• 4:37
  Speaker 2: you could sweep the White Sox and really gain some ground.
• 4:40
  Speaker 2: And it was kind of over before it even started.
• 4:43
  Speaker 2: You know, Todds Bradley got the bases loaded and then
• 4:46
  Speaker 2: with the one out walk to runner in and that's
• 4:47
  Speaker 2: not very characteristic of him. Gave up the two runs
• 4:50
  Speaker 2: single that got through and you know, had the weird
• 4:54
  Speaker 2: play too defensively where it was a comebacker thought he
• 4:57
  Speaker 2: looked the runner back through the second to get the
• 5:00
  Speaker 2: out and the runner scored anyways from third base. It
• 5:04
  Speaker 2: just was sort of he described himself as out of rhythm,
• 5:08
  Speaker 2: and I think the whole team looked out of rhythm
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: in a day where you were hoping for the best
• 5:12
  Speaker 2: and a sweet but you know, the White Sox are
• 5:15
  Speaker 2: a good team and they weren't going to go down
• 5:16
  Speaker 2: without a fight, and Eric Fetti looked great and the
• 5:19
  Speaker 2: White the Twins offense looked pretty Feeble. I'm not surprised
• 5:23
  Speaker 2: by that at all. Eric Fetti has pitched great against
• 5:25
  Speaker 2: the Twins since he's been back in the majors a
• 5:27
  Speaker 2: couple of years ago, so the outcome doesn't shock me, like,
• 5:31
  Speaker 2: but you know, you definitely feel the Twins. You had
• 5:33
  Speaker 2: hoped that it was not eight nothing and that you
• 5:36
  Speaker 2: showed a little fight, and they they certainly did not
• 5:38
  Speaker 2: have their best day.
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: There were some real feel good things from those first
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: couple of games. Tristan Gray three for seven, a Grand Slam,
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: seven RBIs in those first two games, and then today
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: three errors including two one to one play and what
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: it was overall, sort of another disjointed defense game, A
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: nice play by Trevor Larnick throwing out a runner at
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: second at one point that he had a misplay himself.
• 6:07
  Speaker 2: That's right. So yeah, everywhere he wanted good things and
• 6:11
  Speaker 2: there were plenty, and it's funny that that happened with
• 6:14
  Speaker 2: Great because he looked great. I mean in the Grand Slam,
• 6:16
  Speaker 2: which I don't know if anybody predicted him hit a
• 6:19
  Speaker 2: home run that there or not, I'm not sure.
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: Five six. We're five for six now thanks to Dan
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: Hayes redeeming himself.
• 6:27
  Speaker 2: Yes, but that was that was a very cool moment.
• 6:31
  Speaker 2: I thought, Prelip on Tuesday night, you know, he gets
• 6:34
  Speaker 2: in trouble. He's had two rough starts where the stuff
• 6:37
  Speaker 2: was good in his past two but just had some
• 6:40
  Speaker 2: issues in the middle of it, and it looked like
• 6:43
  Speaker 2: it was getting away from him on Tuesday, and he
• 6:45
  Speaker 2: recovered and he retired eleven of twelve and was efficient
• 6:50
  Speaker 2: enough to go in and get to the seventh inning
• 6:52
  Speaker 2: for the first time in his pro career. And that's
• 6:54
  Speaker 2: a stepping stone for him. That's a huge deal because
• 6:57
  Speaker 2: he was on the ropes in that third an and
• 6:58
  Speaker 2: gave up three runs Ironbucks and made that crazy catch
• 7:02
  Speaker 2: at the wall kind of with his back to the field,
• 7:05
  Speaker 2: and it turned things around for him. And I thought, Freli,
• 7:09
  Speaker 2: you know, that was a big step for him, just
• 7:11
  Speaker 2: because if you have three bad ones in a row,
• 7:13
  Speaker 2: you're still looking for the answers, like how do I
• 7:15
  Speaker 2: turn this background and find what I was? And in
• 7:18
  Speaker 2: the middle of what could have been a bad start,
• 7:20
  Speaker 2: he turned it into a positive one. I know, he
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: gives up the he came back and the seventh gave
• 7:24
  Speaker 2: up the two hits and one of those runs scored.
• 7:26
  Speaker 2: So I know the line still says six innings, four runs,
• 7:29
  Speaker 2: but I think there was some real growth for him
• 7:31
  Speaker 2: there which he needed. Like this is this is the
• 7:35
  Speaker 2: league adjusting to you. You're facing another team or the
• 7:39
  Speaker 2: same team for a second time, so you have to
• 7:41
  Speaker 2: adjust back. And there were some good moments for him
• 7:44
  Speaker 2: in that. And so it is it's like it's hard
• 7:48
  Speaker 2: to because we have this one thing right in front
• 7:51
  Speaker 2: of us that just happened, the recency bias, but there
• 7:54
  Speaker 2: were a lot of good things.
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, I think the difference with the first
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: two games of the series was just the bad showed up.
• 8:01
  Speaker 2: You know.
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: Joe Ryan allowed four runs to not early, they were
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: the three running came later for him, but really all
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: three starters. We're not lights out by any means, but
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: the bats were around for the first two games and
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: they weren't on Wednesday. And by the time Cody Lowson
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: came in and gave up the three extra runs to
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: really make it a blowout, it was sort of kind
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: of over at that point anyway. Hard to put too
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: much stock in that, but it's a series win against
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: the team the Twins were chasing and continue to chase.
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: In the standings, but they were six and a half
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: back wait, I'm sorry, five and a half back of
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: the White Sox starting this series. It's back to four
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: and a half after the loss today. But they kept
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: themselves in the vicinity either on the outside of the
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: wild card race looking in Dan obviously a little too
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: early to be standings watching, but some interesting implications as
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: they continue to stay around the periphery of the playoff
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: fight here, you know, with whatever fifty some days to
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: go before who knows what another fire sale or.
• 9:04
  Speaker 2: Not correct and look like for fan's sake, they just
• 9:11
  Speaker 2: need to keep doing what they did this week this
• 9:14
  Speaker 2: three AM serious, stay interesting, stay relevant, and don't put
• 9:17
  Speaker 2: yourself in a part in a spot where everyone's looking
• 9:21
  Speaker 2: at you and going, how do we pick all the
• 9:24
  Speaker 2: remaining meat off the carcass like buzzys, because that's what happens.
• 9:28
  Speaker 2: And so I mean, they're in a weird spot where
• 9:32
  Speaker 2: they are twenty nine and thirty four. They clearly, like
• 9:35
  Speaker 2: you said, they're on the periphery of the wildcard race.
• 9:37
  Speaker 2: But they need to be better than they were on
• 9:40
  Speaker 2: that end of that road trip to stick around in it.
• 9:43
  Speaker 2: And this is a good chance with Cleveland or Kansas City,
• 9:47
  Speaker 2: Detroit to kind of just get closer to five hundred
• 9:50
  Speaker 2: and stay relevant, because, look, you're trying to get through
• 9:53
  Speaker 2: this part where you're weathering injuries, and Thursday is gonna
• 9:56
  Speaker 2: be interesting. Nick Abel is going to throw a two
• 9:59
  Speaker 2: up bullpen live or two live batting practice on the field,
• 10:03
  Speaker 2: so you know that's a positive sign for getting a
• 10:06
  Speaker 2: starter back. And Kendrick Rojas already is started throwing. I
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: believe he was going to be cleared by team doctors
• 10:14
  Speaker 2: Monday night, and it wasn't gonna be a long rehab
• 10:16
  Speaker 2: if he was, because it's been so recent. He took
• 10:20
  Speaker 2: some anti inflammatories and his left elbow inflammation responded well
• 10:24
  Speaker 2: to that, so you're hoping you can get some guys back.
• 10:27
  Speaker 2: Bailey over I think since we last went on air,
• 10:31
  Speaker 2: they found mild flexer strain and it's ten to fourteen
• 10:34
  Speaker 2: days shutdown for him. You're weathering the storm here and
• 10:38
  Speaker 2: you got to just try and do what you can
• 10:40
  Speaker 2: to stay relevant. And a key to that while this
• 10:43
  Speaker 2: pitching was, you know, battling through injuries, is the offense
• 10:47
  Speaker 2: stepping up. And I thought they did a good job
• 10:50
  Speaker 2: the first two nights, especially that Joe Ryan start. That
• 10:54
  Speaker 2: was crazy. You know, you take the five to one
• 10:56
  Speaker 2: lead washing or the White Sox come back, and then
• 10:59
  Speaker 2: you add on and five more and blow it out
• 11:01
  Speaker 2: and make it a nine to four game and give
• 11:03
  Speaker 2: yourself some comfortable space to just breathe for the first
• 11:07
  Speaker 2: time in a couple of days, because the toll taken
• 11:10
  Speaker 2: on the bullpen basically from Thursday through Saturday was massive.
• 11:16
  Speaker 2: It was chaotic, and they needed a little bit of that,
• 11:19
  Speaker 2: and you know, I thought that was encouraging. And to
• 11:21
  Speaker 2: beat up Davis Smartin on Tuesday, who came in with
• 11:25
  Speaker 2: two e eight and one two era we left with
• 11:29
  Speaker 2: the two sixty one area. That was a good showing
• 11:32
  Speaker 2: by the offense.
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: Twins now six and a half behind Cleveland as we
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: sit here Wednesday afternoon. Cleveland still to play later tonight.
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: Twins also two back in the wildcard again. More action
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: to come later today, but as of now, if you
• 11:48
  Speaker 1: like what you hear, please give us a like, a subscribe,
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: a comment. However you consume this podcast. If you're watching
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: on YouTube right now, there's a QR code on the screen.
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: We're trying to get to five hundred subs.
• 12:00
  Speaker 2: Love it.
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: If you would join us, and we will be right
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: back after a quick word.
• 12:05
  Speaker 3: This episode is brought to you by fan Duel Baseball fans,
• 12:08
  Speaker 3: the MLB season is in full swing, and fan Duel
• 12:11
  Speaker 3: is giving you a chance to call your shot with
• 12:14
  Speaker 3: Daily Dingers. Joining the action is easy. Just make your
• 12:17
  Speaker 3: free pick on who's hitting a home run in their game,
• 12:19
  Speaker 3: and if you're right, you'll get a profit boost to
• 12:21
  Speaker 3: use on your next bet for a chance at extra winnings.
• 12:24
  Speaker 3: It's just another reason why FanDuel is the home of
• 12:27
  Speaker 3: home runs. So are you ready to play your game?
• 12:29
  Speaker 3: Head over to FanDuel dot com slash podcast to get started.
• 12:34
  Speaker 3: That's FanDuel dot com slash podcast. To opt in for
• 12:38
  Speaker 3: Daily Dingers and make your free pick on who's hitting
• 12:41
  Speaker 3: a homer. Playball and swing for the fences on fan Duel,
• 12:44
  Speaker 3: an official partner of Major League Baseball. No purchase necessary,
• 12:48
  Speaker 3: opt in required. Bonus issued as non withdrawable profit boost tokens.
• 12:53
  Speaker 3: Restrictions apply, including any token expiration and max wager amount.
• 12:58
  Speaker 3: See terms at sportsbook dot fanuel dot com. Gambling problem
• 13:02
  Speaker 3: call or text one eight hundred gambler.
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: And we're back here on Twin City's territory. Dan, I
• 13:11
  Speaker 1: keep looking at the schedule, like when is the murderer's
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: row of you know, just brutal opponents coming, And it
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: never does. And it's just when you when you look
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: at the standings and it's there's only three teams in
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: the American League that are better than four games over
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: five hundred. There's only three teams in the NL that
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: are better than five games over five hundred. Those teams
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: are very much over five hundred and very scary for sure,
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: But it's it just kind of seems like every series
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: the Twins are playing another team kind of like them
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: around around five hundred, some good signs, some bad. And
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: I don't know what you make of that, if your ownership,
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: if you're the front office, if you're trying to think
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: of what to do. On the one hand, there's certainly
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: an opportunity to go for the playoffs as things stand
• 13:58
  Speaker 1: right now. On the other hand, what what then, you know,
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: how how far? How far do you get? What do
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: you what?
• 14:05
  Speaker 2: What?
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: What would you even want to give up to do that?
• 14:08
  Speaker 1: But I kind of go back to like some of
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: the comments I had, I don't even know when a
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: week ago or so, where like is it enough to
• 14:15
  Speaker 1: maybe convince you not to tear it down? At least
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: is it enough to make you can you know, keep
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: keep the good the good pieces? Or are these little
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: spurts of good play like the Tristan Gray Grand Slam
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: and big offensive surge enough to make him and other
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: players like him all of a sudden valuable in a
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: way that makes them attractive to other teams. I don't know,
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: but we have about twenty more shows to go before
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: the trade deadline, so I think we're gonna keep speculating
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: about it, even though we will just have to wait
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: out and see how it plays out.
• 14:45
  Speaker 2: Look, it's it's a really challenging spot for Jeremy's old
• 14:48
  Speaker 2: to be in because like Joe Ryan's gonna leave as
• 14:52
  Speaker 2: a free agent. Yeah, we're pretty much we're pretty much
• 14:54
  Speaker 2: certain of that, right, But what do because of where
• 14:58
  Speaker 2: the twins are with the four point three percenters only,
• 15:03
  Speaker 2: is it more valuable to you to hang on to
• 15:05
  Speaker 2: Joe Ryan for this year plus and go for it
• 15:08
  Speaker 2: and make a run and try to get your fans
• 15:11
  Speaker 2: back on board and say, hey, look, this might be
• 15:14
  Speaker 2: our reality. But at least we're gonna like not give
• 15:16
  Speaker 2: in because I think fans are so sick of teams
• 15:19
  Speaker 2: that give in. The twenty five team, you know they
• 15:23
  Speaker 2: were it was so middling. I understood why they did it,
• 15:26
  Speaker 2: and to see what they got back in that hole
• 15:29
  Speaker 2: for the ten players they traded, I understand what they
• 15:31
  Speaker 2: were doing. They're trying to reload the cupboard. Well, the
• 15:33
  Speaker 2: cupboards a lot better off than it was. Right, It's
• 15:36
  Speaker 2: not full, it's not perfect. It's still got flaws. The
• 15:40
  Speaker 2: team needs to spend and add, but there there's enough
• 15:44
  Speaker 2: here right now where like you could convince me, hey,
• 15:49
  Speaker 2: you know if you want to keep your fans and
• 15:51
  Speaker 2: not piss them off, Like fans are gonna be pissed
• 15:54
  Speaker 2: off either way. Right, we do know that you keep
• 15:56
  Speaker 2: Joe Ryan, they're gonna be pissed off that you kept
• 15:58
  Speaker 2: them and didn't and just let them walk for nothing
• 16:00
  Speaker 2: after a year and a half, you trade them, you're
• 16:02
  Speaker 2: gonna piss off enough of the people that were like,
• 16:04
  Speaker 2: why are you giving in? There's no winning in this,
• 16:07
  Speaker 2: But they're gonna have to walk that line, figure out
• 16:10
  Speaker 2: what it is, what's important, and it's going to be
• 16:14
  Speaker 2: a very interesting trade deadline for them, because maybe you
• 16:18
  Speaker 2: win some fans back if you're hanging around and you
• 16:21
  Speaker 2: add on and take some of the talent you have.
• 16:24
  Speaker 2: I mean, we're talking about a team that's about to
• 16:25
  Speaker 2: add the third overall pick. They have the third pick
• 16:29
  Speaker 2: in the draft, which is at the All Star Game
• 16:32
  Speaker 2: or right there before, maybe on this Saturday night, I
• 16:34
  Speaker 2: can't remember the date of the draft. But you're looking
• 16:37
  Speaker 2: at adding either Rock from UCLA, von Lackey from Georgia Tech,
• 16:43
  Speaker 2: or maybe Grady Emerson, the high school kid. You're looking
• 16:48
  Speaker 2: at adding some real serious talent to your franchise right
• 16:51
  Speaker 2: then and there. So you're going to keep adding on
• 16:54
  Speaker 2: as it is. It's going to be very interesting to
• 16:58
  Speaker 2: see what they do because Ryan could definitely get them
• 17:01
  Speaker 2: a hale. You know, we'll hear some opining on it
• 17:06
  Speaker 2: soon whether or not teams are going to try and
• 17:10
  Speaker 2: use the potential lockout as a reason to not give
• 17:12
  Speaker 2: you everything for Joe Ryan, That's gonna be interesting to
• 17:16
  Speaker 2: see how that plays into it. And you know, I
• 17:19
  Speaker 2: mean Ryan Jeffers. Ryan Jeffers will come back sometime before
• 17:22
  Speaker 2: the deadline. Ryan Jeffers would be a rental if you
• 17:25
  Speaker 2: traded him, if they gave him the quality, like I
• 17:27
  Speaker 2: think the Twins should let him play it out and
• 17:30
  Speaker 2: give him a qualifying offer, and you know, or if
• 17:34
  Speaker 2: you're going to trade him, you tell teams, hey, we're
• 17:36
  Speaker 2: gonna give him qualifying offer unless you give us a
• 17:38
  Speaker 2: prospect that is better than the qualifying offer. And I
• 17:41
  Speaker 2: mean there's a lot of little miniature details to handle
• 17:45
  Speaker 2: here that are so far removed right now. I mean,
• 17:49
  Speaker 2: who knows, maybe Royce Lewis comes back and makes an
• 17:51
  Speaker 2: impact in this team, you know, hits the gas again,
• 17:54
  Speaker 2: Like that's that's a possibility that's out there, and you
• 17:58
  Speaker 2: just there's so much time. It's gonna be fun to
• 18:02
  Speaker 2: go back and forth on this, but let's be honest,
• 18:04
  Speaker 2: none of it means anything until the last five or
• 18:05
  Speaker 2: six days before the deadline.
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: It doesn't really doesn't, and it could go anyway, right,
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: I mean, like they're twenty nine and thirty four. It's
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: not very good all things considered, right, I'm not sure
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: there's anything more fun as a fan. Well, okay, winning
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: championships is probably the most fun thing, but I wouldn't
• 18:26
  Speaker 1: really know much about that. Sorry, my four year old
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: son is in the next room. It might barge in
• 18:32
  Speaker 1: here at any moment, But we'll turn it into a
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: bit don't worry. Oh what's up, buddy? You want to
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: go to Emmy's house? Okay, give me about five minutes, buddy.
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: Aside from winning championships, yeah, you can come in. I
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: think there's nothing more fun than it's a team that
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: isn't supposed to be good but bonds together, grows together,
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: figures it out, and somehow finds their way into playoff
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: contention even if they don't make it. Just like playing
• 19:03
  Speaker 1: meaningful baseball in August September is super fun for a
• 19:06
  Speaker 1: team that everybody picked to suck.
• 19:09
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't know.
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: I don't know if this team is going to be that,
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: but it does. There are those signs that has that potential.
• 19:14
  Speaker 2: There vibes here, There are vibes. This is not a
• 19:16
  Speaker 2: team that's dead. Last year's team did not have the
• 19:19
  Speaker 2: vibes the way this team does. Like last year was
• 19:22
  Speaker 2: a bunch of I don't know, like the what was
• 19:24
  Speaker 2: wrong with the mix last year? But it just felt
• 19:27
  Speaker 2: off a lot of times. And we saw a blow
• 19:29
  Speaker 2: up with Griffin Jackson Rocobaldelli the day before the deadline
• 19:32
  Speaker 2: last year and the dugout. You know, you had ten
• 19:36
  Speaker 2: guys that were arbitration eligible. Last year you had a
• 19:38
  Speaker 2: bunch of impending free agents. It was just a weird mix.
• 19:41
  Speaker 2: This group loves each other far more than that group did.
• 19:44
  Speaker 2: You can see it. It's evident they pick each other up.
• 19:47
  Speaker 2: They want to pick each other up, and I think
• 19:49
  Speaker 2: that that is something that is you know, we're playing
• 19:51
  Speaker 2: for sixty ball right now. That's what the Twins are
• 19:53
  Speaker 2: doing right now. They're playing four sixty ball. They're on
• 19:55
  Speaker 2: pace for seventy five and eighty seven. That's not sexy,
• 19:58
  Speaker 2: that ain't great, But you also get the sense this
• 20:02
  Speaker 2: is a group that gives, you know, cares enough that
• 20:06
  Speaker 2: it can get a little bit better and keep them interesting.
• 20:09
  Speaker 2: They just need things to fall their way, and the
• 20:12
  Speaker 2: pitching needs to get healthy very quickly because you can't
• 20:16
  Speaker 2: keep going with four men in the rotation and then
• 20:19
  Speaker 2: bullpen days. So they need some solutions, without question. But
• 20:26
  Speaker 2: the vibes being good is a you can't manufacture that,
• 20:29
  Speaker 2: and that's something that they have. Well.
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: I can't believe we made it twenty minutes into the
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: show without mentioning Royce Lewis. But he is red hot
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: right now. Yes, albeit in triple A and Dan wrote
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: about that on the Athletic. You can read about it
• 20:44
  Speaker 1: right now on the Athletic dot com. He has now
• 20:48
  Speaker 1: been twelve games Dan since his demotion, eleven games eleven
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: games since his demotion, and he's on an absolute terror.
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: We should probably show you the stats while we talk
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: about it here.
• 20:58
  Speaker 2: But because that headline was dated, because it said seven
• 21:01
  Speaker 2: homers and then he hit a grand Slam today, they
• 21:04
  Speaker 2: already played it today.
• 21:05
  Speaker 1: This is not dated. Dan and I worked very hard
• 21:07
  Speaker 1: to make sure this was updated before the show. Yes,
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: three seventy average seventeen for forty six, so one point
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: three sixty nine ops, eight homers nineteen rbish. But Dan,
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: the time is still not quite right to bring him back,
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: at least according to the Twins.
• 21:24
  Speaker 2: It's getting close though, and it's getting hard to ignore,
• 21:27
  Speaker 2: and they're devising ways to try and get him back,
• 21:30
  Speaker 2: and there's been a lot of talk about versatility the
• 21:32
  Speaker 2: last couple of days. Royce Lewis took some grounders at
• 21:35
  Speaker 2: first base yesterday over there started at second base today.
• 21:39
  Speaker 2: Clearly they're looking for ways to get him into the lineup.
• 21:42
  Speaker 2: They want to devise it. It's you're in a tough spot,
• 21:45
  Speaker 2: right you just asked brooks Lee to go from shortstop
• 21:48
  Speaker 2: to third base. Asking brooks Ley to move to second
• 21:51
  Speaker 2: base from third base would be difficult. So what do
• 21:54
  Speaker 2: you do? Do You put Brooksley back at shorts up?
• 21:57
  Speaker 2: Possibly maybe that's what they'll do, But they're looking at
• 22:02
  Speaker 2: ways to maybe get Royce in there and at bats,
• 22:06
  Speaker 2: and it's going to be hard not to give him
• 22:08
  Speaker 2: them when he gets back. I mean, we're talking about
• 22:12
  Speaker 2: just these aren't cheap home runs. The exit velocities, the
• 22:16
  Speaker 2: kind of stuff that they're looking for are through the
• 22:19
  Speaker 2: roof good. His double last week on Thursday, he doubled
• 22:22
  Speaker 2: and homeward in the Thursday's game. His double was one
• 22:24
  Speaker 2: hundred and fifteen point seven miles per hour off the bat.
• 22:27
  Speaker 2: Royce Lewis has never hit a ball that hard. Today
• 22:30
  Speaker 2: his home run was one hundred and seven to seven
• 22:32
  Speaker 2: is grand Slam. He went three for five today with
• 22:36
  Speaker 2: five RBIs. He started at second base, he started a
• 22:39
  Speaker 2: double play, He made no errors. Like everything he's asked
• 22:43
  Speaker 2: them to do so far, he's doing it. And he
• 22:47
  Speaker 2: apparently made some minor swing changes. He took the two
• 22:50
  Speaker 2: days off in between. The demotion happened May nineteenth, he
• 22:53
  Speaker 2: reported on May twenty one. From what I heard, he
• 22:57
  Speaker 2: talked to people Boriscorp, some of the hitting people there.
• 23:01
  Speaker 2: They gave him some things like ideas, Hey, this is
• 23:03
  Speaker 2: what you were doing when you were really successful, so
• 23:06
  Speaker 2: why don't you start doing this? And he took some
• 23:08
  Speaker 2: of that in. He emphasized it. He's been doing that
• 23:11
  Speaker 2: and he's getting off swings that looked unlike anything that
• 23:15
  Speaker 2: he was doing when he was with the Twins. He
• 23:17
  Speaker 2: was missing cookies right and left. Is there any chance
• 23:21
  Speaker 2: that triple A pitching is as good as the major leagues?
• 23:23
  Speaker 2: Oh no, not remotely, Like sixty percent of what you're
• 23:26
  Speaker 2: seeing in the major leagues. Maybe seventy percent, right, But
• 23:29
  Speaker 2: the fact is Royce Lewis was missing cookies in the majors.
• 23:32
  Speaker 2: He could not you threw it down the middle. He
• 23:34
  Speaker 2: was the ninety five mile around fastball on the Saturday
• 23:38
  Speaker 2: night game that he got demoted. That was one of
• 23:40
  Speaker 2: those telltale signs to made that like right down the
• 23:43
  Speaker 2: middle of ninety five, right in the nitro zone the
• 23:46
  Speaker 2: area to punish it, and he swung through it. And
• 23:48
  Speaker 2: then he was swinging that pitches over his head and
• 23:50
  Speaker 2: it was everywhere but this has been you can tell
• 23:55
  Speaker 2: a good reset for him, and he is feeling free
• 23:58
  Speaker 2: because the swings he is he was not capable of
• 24:01
  Speaker 2: these swings thirteen fourteen days ago, so it's a good sign.
• 24:05
  Speaker 2: Is it going to be this in the majors? Is
• 24:07
  Speaker 2: he really get hit three seventy with a four to
• 24:09
  Speaker 2: twelve on base and a nine to fifty seven slug
• 24:11
  Speaker 2: in percentage? Probably not, But would you really put anything
• 24:14
  Speaker 2: past Royce Lewis? Like he has that talent in him,
• 24:17
  Speaker 2: And it was the guys in the clubhouse are noticing.
• 24:21
  Speaker 2: Everybody around the Twins is noticing. I walked up to
• 24:23
  Speaker 2: Byron Buckston after the game today to eight nothing loss right,
• 24:27
  Speaker 2: Usually guys want to get out of there, and I
• 24:28
  Speaker 2: asked Byron, I was like, did you see what Royce
• 24:31
  Speaker 2: did today? He's like, yeah, what, Like like I wouldn't
• 24:34
  Speaker 2: know already. It's like, did you know he started at
• 24:36
  Speaker 2: second base? Turned double plays, like yeah, and like then
• 24:40
  Speaker 2: we talked for fifteen minutes and he is so pumped
• 24:43
  Speaker 2: for Royce right now, he said he's just been texting him.
• 24:46
  Speaker 2: Has tried to like stay out of the way, but
• 24:49
  Speaker 2: also you know, provide positive reinforcement. All along. He's fired
• 24:55
  Speaker 2: up and Joe Ryan their day talking to Joe Ryan
• 24:57
  Speaker 2: when we were in Pittsburgh, Joe Ryan was doing the
• 24:59
  Speaker 2: same thing. These guys are looking out for Royce Lewis.
• 25:02
  Speaker 2: They know that the best version of them has Royce
• 25:04
  Speaker 2: Lewis right in the middle of that lineup and hitting
• 25:07
  Speaker 2: and hitting like this, So we'll see, we'll see. I
• 25:13
  Speaker 2: think I was just getting played off there. Ye hey, buddy,
• 25:19
  Speaker 2: what do you do playing? It's the first time I've
• 25:23
  Speaker 2: been played off stage. Where's the like the cane with
• 25:26
  Speaker 2: the hook yanked me off? Buddy?
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: All right, the.
• 25:37
  Speaker 2: You're muted.
• 25:40
  Speaker 1: You may still hear the residual sounds of guitar in
• 25:43
  Speaker 1: the background, but we have successfully gotten him out of
• 25:47
  Speaker 1: the room. So apologies to everybody for a string on
• 25:51
  Speaker 1: top of him not knowing how to play guitar, or
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: a string is also broken on it, so it's just
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: a it's a bad combination.
• 25:56
  Speaker 2: But.
• 25:59
  Speaker 1: Obviously it's for Royce Lewis, And you know that's a
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: big asterisk that hangs over the whole thing. But I
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: feel the same way I feel when when a team
• 26:08
  Speaker 1: is like playing a bunch of bad teams and beating
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: them and everyone says, well, they're playing bad teams. We
• 26:12
  Speaker 1: would you do you want them to lose? Do you
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: want them to struggle? Right? He needed that for his
• 26:17
  Speaker 1: confidence so bad. If he was hitting even good but
• 26:21
  Speaker 1: not great in triple A right now, like I think
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: that that doesn't help at all. So to have him
• 26:27
  Speaker 1: on this year.
• 26:29
  Speaker 2: Yeah, Like, look, one's sixty three in the majors. He's
• 26:32
  Speaker 2: tired of looking at that one sixty three he does
• 26:34
  Speaker 2: the major miners. And one other thing that's critical in
• 26:39
  Speaker 2: this he's struck out ten times in fifty one play appearances.
• 26:43
  Speaker 2: That is less than twenty percent his career Marcus twenty one.
• 26:46
  Speaker 2: Before he came back from the ile stint in April,
• 26:49
  Speaker 2: his career strikeout rate was twenty one point four percent.
• 26:53
  Speaker 2: He was striking out about thirty four percent of the time.
• 26:56
  Speaker 2: After it just looked so different for him. And this
• 27:00
  Speaker 2: is a guy that's a vibes guy. He always is.
• 27:01
  Speaker 2: And I don't think people understand how much that means
• 27:05
  Speaker 2: to him. But he is a positive guy. And so
• 27:07
  Speaker 2: all the negativity that he's been dealing with has definitely
• 27:12
  Speaker 2: like it affected and he needed this and it's for
• 27:14
  Speaker 2: that reason. Look, it is Triple A. But he's done
• 27:19
  Speaker 2: it before at the major league level. We're not talking
• 27:20
  Speaker 2: about a guy that's never done it. He hit two
• 27:22
  Speaker 2: on runs off Kevin Gossman in Game one of the
• 27:25
  Speaker 2: playoffs twenty twenty three. He hit ten home runs in
• 27:27
  Speaker 2: a month after missing fifty eight games in June of
• 27:31
  Speaker 2: twenty twenty four. This isn't the guy that's just never
• 27:34
  Speaker 2: done this and never proven it. He's a guy who
• 27:36
  Speaker 2: has and he's gone through a lot, and there's no
• 27:39
  Speaker 2: guarantees that he's got to come back and just be fixed.
• 27:42
  Speaker 2: But I don't think he would be what he was before.
• 27:45
  Speaker 2: I think we'll see somewhere in between, and maybe we
• 27:47
  Speaker 2: will see good. But you know, look, Miguel Snow went
• 27:51
  Speaker 2: through the same thing in twenty eighteen, except Miguel Snow
• 27:53
  Speaker 2: was out of shape because he had broken his leg
• 27:55
  Speaker 2: the year before. I wrote about this in the story
• 27:57
  Speaker 2: that's up today. There will be another story up about
• 28:00
  Speaker 2: Vyslows tomorrow because it's just fascinating right now. But Miguel
• 28:03
  Speaker 2: Snow essentially went for they called it a holistic camp
• 28:08
  Speaker 2: where he was doing conditioning and he was just hitting,
• 28:12
  Speaker 2: and he returned. He left in middle of June of
• 28:15
  Speaker 2: twenty eighteen. He returned at the end of July, right
• 28:17
  Speaker 2: before the deadline. He still stunk the rest of the season,
• 28:21
  Speaker 2: but in twenty nineteen he had thirty four homers. He
• 28:23
  Speaker 2: had a nine to twenty three ops. He recovered his
• 28:26
  Speaker 2: career until his knee kind of came in and derailed
• 28:28
  Speaker 2: him a couple of times. But this kind of thing
• 28:31
  Speaker 2: can happen, and it can be a good thing for
• 28:34
  Speaker 2: a guy. We've seen it before, and I truly believe
• 28:37
  Speaker 2: Voice can handle this, and I think, you know, they
• 28:40
  Speaker 2: could use his upbeat, positive vibes in this clubhouse for sure.
• 28:47
  Speaker 1: Four games with Kansas City coming up next Bullpen game
• 28:51
  Speaker 1: Thursday is Debbie Matthews Friday, Joe Ryan on Saturday, and
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: Connor Prelip on Sunday. Saturday and Sunday are both afternoon games.
• 29:00
  Speaker 1: I guess we'll have time to talk about those again
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: because we'll be back with you on Friday after the
• 29:04
  Speaker 1: opener on Thursday night, and we'll see if the Twins
• 29:10
  Speaker 1: can keep the I guess relatively overall, all things considered
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: good vibes despite Wednesday's blowout of loss. Once again, if
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: you if you like what you heard. Please toss us
• 29:21
  Speaker 1: a like, a subscribe a comment. We'd love to hear
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: from you. There's a QR code on the screen for
• 29:26
  Speaker 1: those watching on YouTube. We would love to have you follow.
• 29:31
  Speaker 2: In our show. Dan.
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: Any final words of wisdom before you push off for
• 29:35
  Speaker 1: the day.
• 29:37
  Speaker 2: Just span new to your pets. That's that's my final
• 29:40
  Speaker 2: words of wisdom.
• 29:41
  Speaker 1: You know you don't hear that enough these days. You
• 29:43
  Speaker 1: used to every day. Yeah, yeah, they still do. They
• 29:46
  Speaker 1: still say it does who is it Drew Carrey?
• 29:50
  Speaker 2: It is Drew carry I haven't watched it in so Yeah.
• 29:53
  Speaker 2: I just think that's an important message to get out there.
• 29:56
  Speaker 1: That's a good note to any as any to end on.
• 29:58
  Speaker 1: Thank you very much, Dan, and thank you all for
• 30:00
  Speaker 1: listening or watching, and we will see you next time
• 30:02
  Speaker 1: on Twin Cities Territory.
• 30:04
  Speaker 2: Bye bye,