Minnesota Twins Daily Clips Sunday, September 17, 2017

Toronto rides big eighth inning to 7-2 victory over Twins. Star Tribune (Miller) p. 1 Byron Buxton's stolen bases are coming with ease. Star Tribune (Miller) p. 2 MLB Insider: Teams seeking Miguel Sano-like talent at age 13. Star Tribune (Miller) p. 3 Twins can’t touch Marco Estrada in 7-2 loss to Blue Jays. Pioneer Press (Berardino) p. 4 Byron Buxton on fired manager Doug Mientkiewicz: ‘More of a brother to us’. Pioneer Press (Berardino) p. 5 Gibson looks to stay on a roll vs. Twins. MLB.com (Mason) p. 6 Twins' Wild Card quest slowed by Blue Jays. MLB.com (Jackson and Mason) p. 7 Twins' confidence in Mejia remains high. MLB.com (Jackson) p. 8 Kyle Gibson’s new approach to fastballs may be key to his late-season breakout. ESPN 1500 (Wetmore) p. 8 Twins lose, which secures the Indians as winners of the A.L. Central. ESPN 1500 (Wetmore) p. 11 Mejia pulled in 4th inning, Twins lose 7-2. Associated Press p. 11 Doug Mientkiewicz fired by Twins while dealing with aftermath of Hurricane Irma. Yahoo! Sports (Townsend) p. 12 KFGO named Twins Affiliate of the Year. KFGO (Staff) p. 13

Toronto rides big eighth inning to 7-2 victory over Twins

Phil Miller | Star Tribune | September 17, 2017

Ground balls are great, Trevor Hildenberger said last weekend, when they are hit right at fielders. But, the Twins rookie reliever added knowingly, “I think those even out at some point.” As far as he, Brian Dozier and the Twins are concerned, the account balance must be back to zero by now. Four Toronto batters put balls into play off Hildenberger in the eighth inning Saturday night; three hit routine grounders in Dozier’s general direction at second base and one lifted a pop-up. And somehow, that soft contact constituted a game-breaking rally, because the Twins turned none of them into outs. The Blue Jays rode Marco Estrada’s arm, Josh Donaldson’s bat and that motley collection of bloops and bleeders to a 7-2 victory at Target Field, one that — combined with the Angels’ 2-0 victory over Texas — shrank the Twins’ lead for the AL’s second wild card to one game over Los Angeles. “They just hit them where they weren’t. The ground balls found holes, the pop-up found a hole,” Hildenberger said. “I don’t feel too bad — my job is to throw strikes, make them put it in play, try to induce some weak contact, and I feel like I did that.” Trouble is, Estrada induced even more, keeping the Twins off balance with a brilliant mix of low-90s fastballs and high-70s changeups that produced an astonishing 11 pop-ups in the infield. “He’s one of those guys, when he’s got command of those pitches, you get in between,” Twins manager Paul Molitor said of the Toronto righthander. “We saw some underwater-type swings — we couldn’t slow ourselves down enough to make good contact. And when you get out front, you’re going to have a tendency to get under the ball.” Estrada (9-8) gave up only three hits in eight innings, a single by Dozier and home runs by Eddie Rosario and Eduardo Escobar. Meanwhile, Donaldson smashed two more homers — that’s 17 in his career vs. the Twins, and three in two nights — and a pair of singles, too. Adalberto Mejia gave up three runs in three innings in his first action since straining his biceps Aug. 9, but Molitor said the rookie lefthander

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“absolutely” deserved another start, presumably Thursday at Detroit. “I don’t have any qualms about him going back out there. I thought his velocity was there, his slider was good, his changeup — they all played,” Molitor said. The Twins kept the score close into the eighth, when Dozier and Hildenberger’s nightmare inning decided the game. Pinch hitter Ezequiel Carrera led off with a grounder up the middle that Dozier barely got a glove on but had no play. Donaldson was next, and with Dozier shifted to the third-base side of the infield, he hit a sharp grounder that Dozier dove for but couldn’t quite reach. When Donaldson stole second, Molitor opted to intentionally walk Justin Smoak to load the bases. With Jose Bautista up, the Twins once again moved Dozier to the third-base side, but Bautista promptly hit a pop-up to shallow right field, an easy play for Dozier had he been in his normal position — but about 2 feet out of his reach as he raced back, scoring Carrera. Worse, Dozier kicked the ball as he tried to slow down, and Donaldson scored as well. The infield then shifted toward right for Kendrys Morales, and Hildenberger induced a routine grounder to shortstop — where no infielder was stationed. “I think [Hildenberger’s] point’s accurate,” Molitor said. “His stuff was the same, we just didn’t get the results.” Byron Buxton's stolen bases are coming with ease

Phil Miller | Star Tribune | September 17, 2017

Lefthanded pitchers look directly at you if you are standing on first base, Byron Buxton points out, so “it’s hard to be very sneaky over there.” Not that Buxton requires much subterfuge to steal a base. The Twins center fielder is so fast, and gradually becoming so adept at picking his spots, that he can practically shout “I’m going,” and still beat the throw to second base. Buxton has stolen 25 bases in 26 attempts this season, and the past 21 in a row — since he reached second base successfully at Baltimore on May 28 but was tagged out when he overslid the bag . With a 96.3 percent success rate, he’s on pace to shatter Denard Span’s Twins record of 86.7 percent, set in 2010, among players with 25 steals. His next stolen base will tie the Twins’ franchise record of 22 in a row, set in 1994 by Chuck Knoblauch and tied early in the 2000 season by Matt Lawton. Not that he’s keeping track. “I guarantee you, I didn’t know about” the streak, Buxton said. “He’s on quite a run. Sometimes he runs when I know it’s going to be a little more of a risk, but there are times we have to take that chance,” said manager Paul Molitor, who once successfully stole 36 in a row while with Toronto. “Like a lot of these guys, he’s starting to trust his instincts.” Even against lefthanders, which is a testament to Buxton’s speed, but also to his preparation. The 23-year-old swiped second base easily Friday against Blue Jays lefty J.A. Happ, meaning that four of his past eight steals have come with the pitcher staring at him as he starts his motion. “As I’m up here longer, I’m learning more about lefthanded pitchers. We look at a lot of tape and go over what to look for,” Buxton said. “I’m not as hesitant as I once was to run” on lefties. Lefthanders provide a greater danger of being picked off, but Buxton hasn’t come close to being fooled yet. “You hope that by the time guys get up here [to the majors], getting-picked-off days are behind them. In the minor leagues, you’re more inclined to chalk up a guy getting picked as him trying to get better,” Molitor said. “Righties might get you on a balk move, which isn’t called very often. The lefties might get you with their different options. It’s just him becoming comfortable in knowing he can get back [to the base], and learning to anticipate his break.” Sano still not ready Miguel Sano will accompany the Twins to New York on Sunday night, but only for a day. Molitor said the injured All-Star slugger has personal business to attend to, and will then return to the Twin Cities to resume his rehab from a stress reaction in his left shin. Does Molitor expect to see Sano at all on the 10-day trip, which also goes to Detroit and Cleveland? “I haven’t thought about whether I might or might not. It’s day to day for me,” Molitor said. “The reality is, I”m not as encouraged today as I was

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when we first got home, because I heard about some of the things he had done prior to our return. And it just hasn’t been a great week. He hasn’t been on the field as much as we had hoped. I know he’s been in there doing his work and he’s been able to swing a little bit. Like we’ve said all along, progress is slow.” Missing Dougie Buxton was sorry to hear that his former manager at Class A Fort Myers and AA Chattanooga, Doug Mientkiewicz, had been fired by the Twins. “I loved playing for him. He helped me become a better player,” Buxton said. “He taught us how to play the game to win.” MLB Insider: Teams seeking Miguel Sano-like talent at age 13

Phil Miller | Star Tribune| September 16, 2017

The Twins, like most MLB teams, will send scouts to a showcase in the Caribbean this week for Venezuelan prospects, a chance to measure and evaluate players who will eventually sign contracts to play professionally. But this gathering of baseball talent is unusual — though it reflects the new reality of international scouting. All the players will be 14 or younger. “There’s nobody there eligible to sign now, or in 2018. They’re all 2019 players,” said Mike Radcliff, Twins vice president for player personnel. “Under the system we have now, we’re being asked to scout 13-year-olds.” Not only scout, but offer millions of dollars to the best of them. The reason? New spending limits for teenage talent have encouraged the network of trainer/agents (known as buscones), who make their own deals with players to showcase them and negotiate bonuses in exchange for a percentage of the contract, to find and accept handshake commitments from major league teams well before their players turn 16 and are eligible to be signed. That has caused teams to commit money to younger and younger players. “Teams are agreeing with players for 2020 now, that’s how far out it is,” Radcliff said. “Almost all of the best guys for next [July] are locked up already and off the market. And since everybody wants a [top player], to assure you get one, you have to move on to the next year, and the next one.” It’s an unintended consequence of the new collective bargaining agreement between MLB and the Players Association, which established concrete limits, $4.75 million to $5.75 million, on how much a franchise can spend each year to sign players from countries — Venezuela, the Dominican Republic, Cuba and others — that are not part of the amateur draft. One need only look at the Twins roster, which includes such non-draft-eligible players as Miguel Sano, Jorge Polanco, Ervin Santana and Max Kepler, to understand how important international signings can be. A half-dozen years ago, teams could simply offer huge bonuses to the best players near signing day, a process that had the effect of keeping most players uncommitted until signing day neared, in hopes of leveraging a bigger contract. The previous CBA attempted to curb bonus inflation by imposing penalties on teams that exceeded suggested limits, a system that didn’t deter big spenders from swallowing the penalties and blowing past their budgets. Make no mistake, teams value potential star players far beyond the limits MLB is trying to impose: When a bidding war broke out over Bahamian outfielder Lucius Fox two years ago, the Giants ponied up $6.5 million, or more than the entire annual international budget that each team is allotted today. The Twins, under the leadership of Latin American coordinator Fred Guerrero and with their new Boca Chica academy now in place, have had success signing some of the top Dominican players under the old system, with Sano in 2009 (he received a bonus of about $3.1 million), Wander Javier ($4 million) in 2015 and Jelfry Marte ($3 million) in July all choosing Minnesota. With money potentially drying up under the new system, though, buscones are eager to get commitments on seven-figure contracts — though nothing can be in writing — earlier than ever. It’s all legal because it’s nonbinding, though teams generally are reluctant to “raid” each other’s committed players. Still, teams “do a lot of babysitting,” Radcliff said, as signing day approaches, just to make sure. “It feels like we spend almost as much time trying to find out who’s still available and who’s not as we do going to scout players,” Radcliff said of the new scouting reality. “And it’s impossible to know what a 13-year-old is going to turn into. Did you know what you would be when you were

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13?” Still, the Twins will have scouts at that Venezuelan showcase next week. “If you want to keep up with the Joneses,” Radcliff said, “this is what you do now.” Twins can’t touch Marco Estrada in 7-2 loss to Blue Jays

Mike Berardino| Pioneer Press | September 16, 2017

It might be time for Toronto Blue Jays basher Josh Donaldson, who fancies himself the “Bringer of Rain,” to share that nickname with Marco Estrada. You probably wouldn’t get much complaint from the Twins, whose hitters went quietly in eight innings of mostly helpless hacks against the veteran right-hander. A pair of Donaldson homers off rookie left-handers, including a first-inning shot off Adalberto Mejia, sent the last-place visitors to a 7-2 win on Saturday night at Target Field. It was Estrada, however, who truly amazed with his mid-70s changeup to complement a low-90s fastball. “When he’s got command of those pitches, you get in between,” Twins manager Paul Molitor said. “It seemed like we were late on the fastball or getting under it, and the changeup we were out front. We saw some underwater-type swings that we just couldn’t slow ourselves down enough to make some good contact.” Perfect until Eddie Rosario’s 24th homer to start the fifth, Estrada (9-8) coaxed 11 pop-ups through eight innings of three-hit ball. Seven of those were caught in foul ground. Rosario’s homer came on a 3-1 fastball. He also drew a four-pitch walk in the seventh for the only three-ball counts the Twins forced all night. “You get out front, you’re going to have a tendency to get under the ball,” Molitor said. “I don’t know how many outs we had in the air compared to groundballs, but it seemed fairly lopsided to me.” Of the Twins’ 23 outs on balls in play, just three came on the ground: Joe Mauer’s comebacker in the first, Eduardo Escobar’s tapper to second in the third and Rosario’s grounder to first in the ninth. Escobar added his 19th homer off an Estrada changeup in the eighth, but otherwise Estrada continued his second-half turnaround that has seen him allowed three earned runs or less in nine of his past 11 starts. “Some guys tried to maybe take that (aggressive) approach, but he did a good job,” Molitor said of Estrada. “You couldn’t count on it being a fastball. He started a lot of guys off with get-me-over curveballs and changeups too. He had guys guessing. When a guy throws like that, pitch recognition is the biggest aspect to try to be successful.” Until Brian Dozier’s two-out single on a changeup in the sixth, Jays pitchers had retired 32 of the past 34 Twins batters, dating to Dozier’s leadoff homer in Friday’s fifth. Over his past four starts and 28 2/3 innings against the Twins, Estrada has now worked to a 2.20 earned run average. Assured they will leave town after Sunday’s game still looking for their first September series victory in a matchup of more than two games, the Twins have been held to a total of 11 runs since Tuesday’s 16-0 win over the lowly San Diego Padres. Go back to the final two games in Kansas City, both losses, and the Twins have sandwiched a total of 16 runs in six games around Tuesday’s seven-homer laugher. They still hold at least a one-game lead in the race for the second American League wild card. Mejia, making his first big-league start since Aug. 8 due to upper arm soreness, was chased after giving up four straight hits in the fourth. Donaldson’s homer was the only scratch off him the first time through the order, but Justin Smoak’s run-scoring double and Kendrys Morales’ infield hit ended Mejia’s night after 57 pitches. Molitor said he would have no problem keeping Mejia in the rotation next Thursday in Detroit, pointing to his mid-90s fastball and the quality of his secondary pitches. “I felt no pain in my arm,” Mejia said through a translator. “I felt very healthy. I didn’t think my pitches were going to be so good being a month and a half out of the big leagues, but I felt they were really good.”

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A three-run eighth against rookie reliever Trevor Hildenberger broke the game open as the Twins’ infield shift backfired multiple times, most notably on Jose Bautista’s bases-loaded bloop single over a drawn-in infield. Dozier, who started the play on the left side of second base, was unable to reach the well-placed pop-up and then kicked it out of reach to allow a second run to score. “Bautista couldn’t have thrown it out there any better,” Molitor said. Donaldson also connected off an 0-1 slider from reliever Gabriel Moya in the eighth, giving him 19 of his 28 homers since the all-star break. The former AL Most Valuable Player has reached safely 10 times through the first three games of this series, including three homers, five runs and five runs batted in, to push his season average against the Twins to .423. Byron Buxton on fired manager Doug Mientkiewicz: ‘More of a brother to us’

Mike Berardino| Pioneer Press | September 16, 2017

Like so many players in the Twins’ clubhouse, Byron Buxton was disappointed to hear the news of Doug Mientkiewicz’s firing after five seasons managing in the minor-league system. Buxton played for the old-school skipper from 2013-15 at both Class A Fort Myers and Double-A Chattanooga. “He knows how to bring out the best in players,” Buxton said. “He was very fiery. When you did things right, he would let you know, and when you did things wrong, he’d let you know as well — and he’d tell you ways to correct.” The former World Series and Gold Glove winner took delight in giving his young players freedom to take chances on the field or ask questions on any topic at any time of day or night. “He wasn’t just a coach to most players,” Buxton said. “He was more of a brother to us. He fit in. He’d tell us all the time: ‘Y’all can text me anytime of night. It doesn’t have to be about baseball. It can be about life.’ “ Buxton, who remains in frequent contact with Mientkiewicz, is among 16 current Twins to have played for him in the minors. How did he instill winning ways en route to four playoff trips and two league titles? “It’s more the character and the energy he brought to the field every day,” Buxton said. “It’s the excitement, the way that he knew how to play the game. He showed us the right way to play the game.” Rookie outfielder Zack Granite was named Twins minor league player of the year in 2016 after stealing 56 bases and improving across the board with Mientkiewicz’s Lookouts. “Honestly, he was the guy that took me from an OK player to the next level,” Granite said. “He turned me into a hitter, taught me how to drive the ball. That’s what changed my game. I have nothing but respect for that guy. He’s the hardest worker I’ve seen.” Granite responded well to the manager’s confrontational style. “He was that intense guy,” he said. “He speaks the truth. He ain’t going to sugarcoat anything. He didn’t when he was a player. He always had that chip on his shoulder. He was a very aggressive coach.” One of Granite’s favorite moments came after he stole home on his own with Mientkiewicz coaching third. “We didn’t talk about it at all; there was no verbal (cue),” Granite said. “I just saw it and I went for it and I was safe. He was like, ‘I knew you were going to do that. I saw it in your eye when you looked at me.’ He turned me loose, and I had my best year under him. I’m going to miss him.” STILL NO SANO Miguel Sano is tentatively scheduled to travel to New York City for a day next week while the Twins are in town, but it’s for a personal matter, manager Paul Molitor said. “The intent is to keep him back here to keep working,” Molitor said.

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On Day 28 of his injury absence, Sano tested his left shin with 35 swings off a tee indoors. He still hasn’t been able to run harder than 75 percent, leaving Sano in limbo as the regular-season schedule enters its final two weeks. “I have to be patient,” Sano said. “It takes time.” Added Molitor: “The reality is I’m not as encouraged today as I was when we first got home because I’d heard about some of the things he’d done prior to our return. It just hasn’t been a great week. He hasn’t been on the field as much as we had hoped. As we’ve been saying all along, progress has been slow.” NICE CALL After the Twins blasted walk-off homers in the 10th inning two straight nights this week, the routine was the same for Twins radio broadcaster Cory Provus. He went home, tucked in his 4-year-old son Cooper and was met with a bleary-eyed question. “Dad, what’d you say?” the boy asked of classic moments that came well after his bedtime. Provus tried to reconstruct his calls of just the second back-to-back walk-off homers in Twins history. He used conversational tones to describe the exploits of first Eddie Rosario and later Byron Buxton, but that wasn’t good enough for his baseball-loving son. “Do the call, Dad!” Cooper said. “Do the call!” Provus might have delivered the Buxton call an extra time or two for his son. Buxton is Cooper’s favorite player. BRIEFLY Brad Steil, Twins director of minor league operations for the past five seasons, will switch to director of pro scouting. He will work in conjunction with pro scouting coordinator Vern Followell to help merge the analytics and scouting aspects of the Twins’ player-evaluation process throughout the majors and minors. Gulf Coast League manager Ramon Borrego will leave early next week for the Venezuelan Winter League, where he will run fall camp for Caribes and serve as third-base coach for a second straight year. Twins utility man Ehire Adrianza is set to play again for Caribes, but rookie teammate Niko Goodrum isn’t planning to return. Goodrum shared an apartment with Borrego in troubled Venezuela last winter at the manager’s invitation. Gibson looks to stay on a roll vs. Twins

Tyler Mason | MLB.com | September 17, 2017

Right-hander Kyle Gibson looks to extend his streak of quality starts when he takes the mound for the Twins in Sunday's series finale at Target Field, as Minnesota aims to keep its hold on the second spot in the American League Wild Card race. Toronto will counter with Joe Biagini. Gibson (10-10, 4.97 ERA) has had quality starts in each of his last five outings. He earned wins in four of those and a no-decision in the other, which ended in a Twins victory. During that stretch, Gibson has lowered his ERA by more than a full run, from 6.05 to 4.97. Biagini (3-10, 5.07 ERA) will be making his 16th start of the year and his fifth since he moved to the bullpen in early July. His role for 2018 remains uncertain, but manager John Gibbons says Biagini has a chance to make a case for the rotation next year in his final few starts of 2017. "He's probably going to get about three more starts," Gibbons said. "I think that'll help make a decision for next year, what his role is. He's already proved he can be really good out of the bullpen." Things to know about this game • Gibson faced the Blue Jays on Aug. 27 and struck out seven while allowing two runs in 6 2/3 innings to earn the win. It was the second of his five straight quality starts entering Sunday. • Toronto DH Kendrys Morales has faced Gibson far more than any of his teammates. Morales has 29 plate appearances against Gibson, but is 5-for-26 with a home run in his career against his former Twins teammate. • Biagini made 26 relief appearances this season for Toronto. He has a 5.40 ERA as a starter and posted a 4.26 ERA as a reliever.

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Twins' Wild Card quest slowed by Blue Jays

Shane Jackson and Tyler Mason| MLB.com | September 16, 2017

MINNEAPOLIS -- Josh Donaldson clubbed a pair of homers to back a gem by Marco Estrada, as the Blue Jays pushed past the Twins, 7-2, on Saturday night at Target Field. Minnesota has lost back-to-back games to Toronto and dropped its lead for the second American League Wild Card spot to one game over the Angels, who beat the Rangers. Estrada allowed two runs over a season-high eight innings, giving up three hits with four strikeouts and one walk. Eddie Rosario recorded the first hit off Estrada with a leadoff home run in the fifth, while Eduardo Escobar crushed solo shot in the eighth. The Twins have homered in 15 straight games, which is one shy of the club's longest streak. "Vintage Estrada, really," said Blue Jays manager John Gibbons. "It's really a tough lineup to pitch to, it really is, but he did what he normally does." Donaldson, who tallied four hits, supported Estrada's efforts with a first-inning homer off Minnesota left-hander Adalberto Mejia, who took the loss. In his first start since returning from the disabled list, Mejia gave up three runs on five hits across three-plus frames. Donaldson notched the 14th multi-homer game of his career and fourth this season with a solo homer in the ninth. "I thought Mejia's stuff was good. Some of the selection and location might have been off a bit," Twins manager Paul Molitor said. "He had to pay the price for that." Toronto's Justin Smoak delivered an RBI double in the fourth and Kendrys Morales plated two runs with a pair of singles. Jose Bautista snapped an 0-for-17 skid with a trio of hits and drove in a run. MOMENTS THAT MATTERED Donaldson's dinger: Donaldson crushed a chest-high, first-pitch fastball from Mejia in the opening frame. According to Statcast™, Donaldson's 26th home run went a projected 447 feet with an exit velocity of 107.9 mph. It was Donaldson's second-longest blast of the season and his sixth-longest since Statcast™ started tracking at the start of 2015. It was also the highest pitch Donaldson has homered off of, with a height of 3.71 feet off the ground. "I've been seeing a lot of fastballs up in the zone pretty much all season long," Donaldson said. "There's times when I'm swinging and missing at it, and there's times when I'm connecting with it. The times that I connect with it, good things normally happen for me." More > Jays chase Mejia: Following Donaldson's first-inning homer, Mejia retired the next eight batters he faced and appeared to be in control. It was Donaldson who broke the streak, with a leadoff single in the top of the fourth. Toronto then strung together three consecutive hits, including an RBI double by Smoak and an RBI single from Morales, to end Mejia's night. All four hits off Mejia in the fourth were well struck, as they each had an exit velocity of at least 102.7 mph, per Statcast™. More > "I didn't think my pitches would be so good, being a month and a half out of the big leagues," Mejia said. "But I felt really good." WHAT'S NEXT Blue Jays: Right-hander Joe Biagini (3-10, 5.07 ERA) will start Sunday's finale against Minnesota at 2:10 p.m. ET. Biagini is making his fifth straight start since returning to the rotation after a stint in the bullpen. He's 0-2 with a 4.91 ERA in his four previous outings. Twins: Right-hander Kyle Gibson (10-10, 4.97 ERA) will start the finale at 1:10 p.m. CT. Gibson faced the Blue Jays on Aug. 27, when he allowed two runs and struck out seven in 6 2/3 innings. Gibson is 2-1 with a 4.45 ERA in five career starts against Toronto.

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Twins' confidence in Mejia remains high

Shane Jackson | MLB.com | September 16, 2017

MINNEAPOLIS -- Twins left-hander Adalberto Mejia wasn't expecting to dominate a powerful Blue Jays lineup, especially after not pitching at the Major League level in over a month. As a result, Mejia admitted he thought he pitched well -- given the circumstances -- in a 7-2 loss to Toronto at Target Field on Saturday night. Mejia allowed three runs on five hits over three frames in his first big league action since Aug. 8. "I didn't think my pitches would be so good, being a month and a half out of the big leagues," Mejia said. "But I felt really good." Mejia, who had been on the disabled with a left biceps strain, was lifted after four batters in the fourth frame without recording an out. Mejia threw 57 pitches, including 39 strikes, and logged his third straight start shorter than five innings. But this time around, it was less about the results and more about how Mejia looked on the mound. Minnesota manager Paul Molitor admitted afterward that he had no concern about trotting Mejia back out for his next turn, while the team remains in the thick of a postseason hunt. The Twins' lead for the second American League Wild Card spot fell to one game over the Angels, who beat the Rangers. "I thought Mejia's stuff was good. Some of the selection and location might have been off a bit," Molitor said. "He had to pay the price for that." The first example of Mejia paying the price came against the second batter of the night. Mejia retired the leadoff batter on seven consecutive fastballs and turned to his heater on the first pitch to the next batter -- Josh Donaldson. Donaldson clobbered the chest-high fastball to left field that went a projected 447 feet, according to Statcast™. It was Donaldson's second-longest home run of the season. Mejia's 93.5-mph fastball to Donaldson was measured at 3.71 feet off the ground, the highest pitch Donaldson has homered off of since the start of 2015. However, it was not Mejia's intended placement of the pitch. "I was surprised, because, first of all, I didn't try to throw the pitch in that area," Mejia said. "Second of all, he was able to get to it. So yeah, that surprised me." Following the blast, Mejia retired the next eight batters he faced before giving up a single to Donaldson. Mejia then surrendered three straight hits, which was enough for Molitor to turn to the bullpen. All four hits off Mejia in the fourth had an exit velocity of at least 102.7 mph, per Statcast™. Still, that was attributed to Mejia's location and selection rather than his velocity, which is why Molitor has complete confidence in his young hurler during the homestretch. "I don't have any qualms of him going back out there," Molitor said. Kyle Gibson’s new approach to fastballs may be key to his late-season breakout

Derek Wetmore | ESPN 1500 | September 17, 2017

MINNEAPOLIS – Kyle Gibson owes a dinner – a few dinners, actually – to small handful of different people within the Twins organization. Based on his recent run of success, the former first-round pick will probably be glad to pick up the check. Maybe it’s just the price to pay in order to improve in the big leagues. See, earlier this season, Gibson was struggling so badly that he was demoted to Triple-A, never mind the fact that he was somewhat established as a big league starter at that point. That probably didn’t sit well with the former first-round pick. But to his credit, Gibson got to work, and during his recent string of starts, he’s been stellar for the Twins. Here’s how dramatic the change has been over the past two months. The first row houses Gibson’s numbers through a start against the Astros in mid-July. The second row is his pitching line in 9 starts since then. Gibson has boosted his strikeout rate by 41 percent, and cut his walk rate in half. The difference in ERA speaks for itself. Most encouragingly for Twins fans, the better results of late don’t appear to be random. He appears to have improved his mechanics, he’s

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throwing more 4-seam fastballs, he’s got a more aggressive mindset, and he’s working to throw more pitches in the strike zone. Gibson’s improved results are at least in part a result of a few concerted changes that he’s made on the job — one of which has cost him a few dinner bills. Fastballs up One of the important points of Gibson’s turnaround is that he’s gone from being a sinkerball pitcher to a guy who trusts a 4-seam fastball. Especially one that lives at the top of the strike zone. At 29 years old, he’s basically choosing to swap out a bunch of his sinkers every game for a more standard 4-seam fastball. It doesn’t have the same sink, and over the long term, likely won’t get the same number of groundballs as Gibson’s 2-seamer. But it’s worked for him. Since mid-July, he’s evolved from starter you’d consider sending out to the minor leagues into a starter you’d consider sending out to start a game in the postseason. And converting from sinkers to using fastball true at the top of the strike zone isn’t easy and doesn’t happen overnight. One way Gibson’s learned to executive is by being more competitive about his between-starts bullpen sessions. “I would try to put pressure on bullpens, put something on the line,” Gibson said. “‘Hey, if I don’t hit this spot 7 outta 10, I owe you dinner.’” “Whatever it is, you want [to trick] your brain into being under pressure and trying to execute pitches at the same time,” he said. “Ultimately, when you have 30,000 people out there screaming is when it makes it the hardest to just go out there and execute.” Gibson admitted he owes pitching coach Neil Allen, bullpen coach Eddie Guardado, and bullpen catcher Nate Dammann a couple dinners. Putting something on the line, even if it’s relatively small, can trigger loss aversion and be used a powerful psychological tool. That’s Gibson’s theory, anyway. Honed in the bullpen, he’s putting that fastball to work in games now. My working theory is that Gibson has slowly changed as a pitcher over time, but the rubber really met the road in the middle of July. He had a start in Houston – and a corresponding bullpen session — in which Byron Buxton told Gibson that he’d noticed some discrepancies in one of Gibson’s breaking balls while standing in the batter’s box to track pitches. Combine that friendly advice with the offseason work Gibson did at the Baseball Ranch in Florida – working to keep his shoulder and back strong and healthy, while using a large plastic “balloon” ball every day to train his throwing mechanics – and then add in a move to the center of the pitching rubber, and you’ve got the potential recipe for a transformed pitcher. Matthew Trueblood of Baseball Prospectus wrote an excellent review of some mechanical changes Gibson has made. They’re beyond the scope of this piece, but check out that piece if you like to geek out on pitching mechanics. Here’s a look at Gibson’s pitch distribution, broken down by month, according to Brooks Baseball. Notice the tradeoff? Gibson is giving up a lot of sinkers — the very weapon that got him drafted in the first round and helped him rise all the way to the Major Leagues – in exchange for some straighter heaters. Why? The league is evolving Plenty has been written this year about research that pretty convincingly shows that some hitters are making a conscious trade with their approach at the plate. In simple terms, some have observed that hitters are swinging harder and accepting the fact that they’ll whiff on more pitches (leading to more strikeouts) for the benefit of hitting the ball harder and farther when they do connect. It’s more complex than that, though. Some hitters are also willing to give up on trying to hit ground balls to try to lift the ball more regularly, because, in short, fly balls yield better results than grounders, on average, and the reward of a home run is more than worth whatever risk is involved in cutting out the majority of your ground balls. Hitters like Justin Turner and Josh Donaldson are proud proponents of this approach. Anecdotally, there also seems to be more adaption to downward movement. Hitters are getting better at “hunting” sinking fastballs, and a pitch that used to get pounded into the ground is now getting lifted out of ballparks across the country (and parts of Canada). Across MLB, the recent trend is that pitchers are throwing fewer fastballs, and that baseball in general is backing off the use of a sinker. According to Jeff Sullivan at FanGraphs.com, it could be a result of hitters evolving to become better at hitting sinkers harder than they did before. Here’s an excerpt from a recent article from Sullivan, with plenty of data to back up his claim (emphasis mine): “Four-seamers are in, and sinkers are out.

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“It’s an easy trend to buy into, because the easiest explanation is intuitive. For some time, teams targeted sinkers for soft contact and called strikes in the expanding low zone. There was a belief that fastballs up turned into home runs. And then, of course, the league got a whole hell of a lot better at hitting the low pitch out of the ballpark. … Swings started to gear up for elevating the low sinker…. Where many of those swings have a vulnerability is up, around the belt. The uppercut swing can have trouble connecting with pitches in the upper half, and those pitches have long gotten swings and misses, anyhow.” So, in short, hitters around the league may be evolving. This is Kyle Gibson’s counter-punch. Some teams have the goal of trying to wait around for pitches up, so the hitters can get under the ball. “Because they know if they hit ground balls, they’re going to be outs,” Gibson said. “So, as I’ve had to adjust, it’s really tough as a sinkerball guy who’s living at the bottom of the zone. It’s tough to throw a 4-seamer at the top of the zone, when your whole focus for almost your whole career is just sinker down, sinker down, sinker down, let them swing…” “You have to be able to throw that pitch that’s just below the letters but above the belt, so it’s out of the danger zone,” Gibson said. “[Tell yourself] ‘All right, I’m just going to grip it and rip it and let it ride at the top of the zone.’ And keep it up there.” More strikes in the zone, more swings out of it? Gibson has made a minor change in his arm slot on his breaking balls, and he’s moved over to the middle of the rubber. Both of those adjustments may help him for the same reason. Chat up MLB pitchers long enough and you’ll inevitably hear talk about “tunnels.” Picture in your mind the path a ball takes from the instant it leaves a pitcher’s hand to the moment it strikes the catcher’s mitt. Now, picture what 10 or 20 or 100 pitches looked like superimposed on the same screen, When a right-handed slider (which breaks down and right-to-left, from the perspective of the mound) and a right-handed changeup (which breaks down and left-to-right) follow the same path before the break, it’s harder for a hitter to decipher which pitch is on the way. “I think it helps me sinker,” Gibson said of throwing a lot more 4-seamers. “Slider and changeup play off of each other, right? … It’s the same thing with a four-seam and two-seamer.” When a hitter can’t tell whether the ball is going to sink or stay on a “straight” plane – or even create the illusion of rising – suddenly, even knowing it’s a fastball doesn’t guarantee the hitter knows where it’s going. That extra split-second of uncertainty, even a few hundredths of a second, can be critical. If a batter can instantly identify a pitch, it’ll be easier to take balls out of the strike zone, or to square up balls in the hitting zone. “A small change has made a big difference, maybe in how long my stuff stays in the hitting zone longer. And then even the ones that are chased are a strike – or appear to be a strike – for a longer distance to home plate. That was the whole idea behind it, but I think I’ve finally seen the results to come behind the process,” Gibson said. “I think I’ve struggled with it mostly because coming up through the minor leagues, I was a sinkerballer. That’s just what I did,” he said. Elevated mindset I spoke with multiple people that aren’t quoted in this story, and I think that it’s fair to say that Gibson has elevated his mindset. He’s heeded advice to go with the 4-seam (straighter) fastball to complement his old favorite weapon, the 2-seam sinker. He’s worked to make that a useful tool in his arsenal. He’s also taken to pounding the strike zone more often, which the Twins implored him to do earlier this season. The word is that they showed him stats that suggested he had worse results when he was below a certain percentage of strikes on a given day. Not just strikes, but the number of pitches that are actually in the zone. If you develop a reputation as a nibbler, teams may be willing to wait you out and draw their walks and score their runs. More balls in the strike zone means more swings from an opponent, and then that opens up the possibility that balls outside the strike zone will be chased. Still, the new Gibson, who cut his teeth on the Mizzou motto of “out or on in 3 pitches or less” and then grew up in the Twins’ system of pitching to weak contact, has a refined understanding of what it means to get a hitter to chase a pitch. “It’s important to be in the zone and not just rely on the chases,” Gibson said. “You read here and there about it, but I’m not actively trying to get more strikeouts, and I’m not saying, ‘OK, I need to get 15 swings and misses tonight.’ For me, a bad-swing foul ball is ultimately the same thing as a swing-and-miss. You don’t get the number for it.” “At some point you have to get outs in the strike zone, and that’s what I’ve been trying to work on.”

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Twins lose, which secures the Indians as winners of the A.L. Central

Derek Wetmore | ESPN 1500 | September 16, 2017

The Twins on Saturday got all they could handle from Blue Jays starter Marco Estrada. The home loss took Cleveland’s “magic number” from 1 down to 0, meaning the Indians have now clinched the postseason as the division winner. That was merely a formality after the Indians won 22 games in a row, which some contend is a modern-day MLB record. And the Indians will be a tough draw in the postseason if they keep getting excellent starting pitching from guys like Corey Kluber, Carlos Carrasco, Trevor Bauer and others. For the Twins, it’s not terribly significant that the Indians clinched the division–it’s been fairly certain for a couple of weeks now that Cleveland would be the division winners. The Twins are duking it out with the Yankees and Angels (and a few other stragglers) for the two Wild Card spots in the American League. As it stands right now, the Twins would travel to New York to face the Yankees in a one-game playoff for the right to advance to the A.L. Division Series. If the pitching staff stays on schedule the rest of the way, it appears that the Twins would have the option of using Ervin Santana in that one-game playoff, which would be a wise move in my estimation. The Twins, at 77-71, still sit in decent position in the Wild Card standings. They trail the Yankees by 5 games, but they’ll play 3 more in New York starting on Monday. The Twins hold a 1.5-game lead over the Angels as of this writing, with the next closest competitor 3.5 games out (Seattle). How did Cleveland take the division? Well, winning 9 in a row around the time of the trade deadline certainly helps. Winning 22 in a row in late August and into September is another good tactic. Check out this data visualization from Daren Willman. Mejia pulled in 4th inning, Twins lose 7-2

Associated Press | September 16, 2017

MINNEAPOLIS — Marco Estrada is getting hot just as his contract with the Toronto Blue Jays is nearing an end. Not that he’s talking free agency just yet. Saturday night was all about playing spoiler to the contending Minnesota Twins. Estrada worked eight efficient innings, Josh Donaldson homered twice among his four hits and the Blue Jays beat the Twins 7-2. Minnesota’s loss clinched the AL Central for the Cleveland Indians and gave teams a chance to gain on the Twins for the final AL wild card. Minnesota entered the day two games ahead of the Los Angeles Angels. “We can still stop other teams from going, I guess,” Estrada said. A free agent at the end of this season, Estrada (9-8) continues to rebound from a tough nine-game stretch earlier this year where he went 0-5 with a 9.52 ERA. Since then, he’s 5-1 and extended his string of allowing three earned runs or fewer to nine of his last 11 outings. “I’d like to finish strong, open up some eyes maybe and hopefully get the chance to come back here,” Estrada said. “You want to keep winning. It’s a little late now, but we’re still out there busting our butts.” He sure looked like a playoff pitcher Saturday, allowing two homers but not much else. Aside from solo shots by Eddie Rosario and Eduardo Escobar, the Twins didn’t get a runner in scoring position until Joe Mauer’s leadoff double in the ninth, when the game was a lready well out of reach. “He kept us off balance pretty much all night and it’s tough when a guy’s on like that,” said Byron Buxton, who ended his six-game hitting streak. Donaldson gave the Blue Jays a lead in the first by sending a first-pitch shot off Adalberto Mejia (4-6) into the second deck in left-center. He also led off the fourth with a single and came around to score on Jose Bautista’s single. A batter later, Kendrys Morales drove in Justin Smoak with a single.

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Estrada took care of the rest, retiring 12 of his final 15 batters after he allowed three hits and a walk with four strikeouts. “After the trade deadline, I think he just kind of kicked it back in gear,” manager John Gibbons said. “We knew it was just a little blip that he’d pull through.” Matt Dermody pitched a scoreless ninth for Toronto. BAUTISTA BUSTS HIS SKID Nothing like a trip to Minnesota for Bautista to cure his 0-for-17 skid. Bautista, whose 14 homers at Target Field are the most of any non-Twins player at the ballpark, had three hits and an RBI. “I expect to see him hit a home run before he leaves here,” Gibbons said. “He normally does.” DONALDSON’S BOMBS Donaldson now leads the AL with 19 homers since the All-Star break. “I’ve been seeing a lot of fastballs up in the zone pretty much all season long,” he said. “There’s times when I’m swinging and missing at it, and there’s times when I’m connecting with it. The times that I connect with it, good things normally happen for me.” MEJIA’S RETURN Making his first start since a biceps injury last month sidelined him for 35 games, Mejia seemed to recover after Donaldson’s homer and retired eight straight batters before getting chased in the fourth. Still, the rookie said he felt good afterward. “Some of the selection and location might have been off a little bit and he had to pay the price for that,” Molitor said. TRAINER’S ROOM Twins: Molitor said the plan is keep Miguel Sano (shin) in Minnesota when the team starts a 10-game trip in New York next week. Molitor added it’s possible the first baseman may need to go to New York for a personal reason. “It just hasn’t been a great week,” the manager said of Sano’s slow recovery. UP NEXT: Blue Jays: RHP Joe Biagini (3-10) returns to the mound after throwing a career-high eight innings on Tuesday in a 3-2 win against Baltimore. Twins: RHP Kyle Gibson (10-10) tries to even the four-game series. He last pitched against Toronto on Aug. 27, when he threw 6 2/3 innings and gave up two runs on seven hits in Minnesota’s 7-2 victory. Doug Mientkiewicz fired by Twins while dealing with aftermath of Hurricane Irma

Mark Townsend|Yahoo! Sports| September 16, 2017

Like any other business, baseball can be ruthless. Just ask every manager who has hung up the phone or walked out of the owner’s office unemployed. Managers being fired is just one of the many harsh realities attached to the game. It happens every year, at every level. It’s something they all know is coming eventually when they sign up for the job. But the dismissal of Doug Mientkiewicz, a former major leaguer who had been serving as manager of the Twins’ Single-A affiliate, the Fort Meyers Miracles, has raised some eyebrows. That’s because Mientkiewicz is currently dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Irma, which damaged his home in the Florida Keys. Mientkiewicz learned the news on Friday, not long after his cell phone service had been restored. It served as the latest gut punch in a week filled with them. He was working to help his community clean up and get back on its feet when the phone rang, and not surprisingly he’s pretty upset about what transpired during that call. He hasn’t held back in the 24 hours since, telling the Star Tribune that the timing and handling of the decision was less than professional. “I’ve been cutting down trees up and down the block, cleaning up after the hurricane, and watching the National Guard go up and down the

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street. My cellphone was out for several days, and then I got a call today. I’m out here working my rear end off, dealing with the remnants of the hurricane, and they call to tell me I’m fired. You think they will ever do something professional as an organization?” It’s tough not to feel for Mientkiewicz given the circumstances. Most can only imagine what it’s like going through the anticipation and aftermath of such a powerful storm, not knowing when your life will return to some semblance of normalcy. It’s a situation we wouldn’t wish on anyone. But, again, this is what baseball managers sign up for. Baseball and business go on, and in Mientkiewicz’s case he at least knew this possibility existed. “I wasn’t shocked, because I had a message that changes were taking place,” Mientkiewicz said. “I feel bad for the kids who played for me, including the ones I managed that are helping the Twins make a run for the playoffs right now. Ask any of them about me as a manager.” As much as the timing bothered him, Mientkiewicz was even more bothered by the lack of communication from Twins general manager Thad Levine and CBO Derek Falvey. Instead, he received the news from director of minor league operations Brad Steil, who refused to divulge why the decision was made and who was responsible for making it. That part is understandably frustrating. One would think a guy who was drafted by the Twins in 1995, represented the franchise as a player for seven years, and now as a minor league manager, would garner a little more respect. Mientkiewicz says the Twins brass offered him next to nothing in terms of feedback throughout the entire season. The whole situation seems a bit odd and undoubtedly runs deeper than what we’ve heard. The timing though is definitely unfortunate, and that doesn’t reflect very well on the Twins. More than anything though, it’s a harsh reminder that baseball at the professional level will always be business first. KFGO named Twins Affiliate of the Year

Staff | KFGO| September 16, 2017

Fargo, N.D. (KFGO) - The Mighty 790 KFGO has been named the Minnesota Twins Affiliate of the Year. KFGO received the award for making the biggest impact in our community and surrounding area. We will recieve a $5,000 dollar grant from the Twins Community Fund to benefit youth baseball and softball in our area. KFGO also received tickets to the September 16th game and KFGO's Operations Manager, Joel Heitkamp, gets to throw out the first pitch. "It's an honor to be recognized by such a great organization," Heitkamp says about the award. "Fargo-Moorhead and the greater Red River Valley is the heart of Twins country!" There are 97 radio stations across five states in the Twins Treasure Island Baseball Network. This is the 6th Annual John Gordon/Twins Territory Affiliate of the Year award.