Stanzel’s Sports Takeout — BREAKING NEWS: 6-28-23.
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Primary reason for today’s Sports Takeout is to be sure you read the 2023 Minnesota Twins: Taylor’s Version, my latest Make Glove not W.A.R. column at Pulltab Sports. Which pitcher should be in Exile? Who’s got the best Style? Read now: https://www.pulltabsports.com/blog/the-2023-minnesota-twins-taylors-version
Braves Too Good for Twins
They say momentum is only as good as the next day’s starting pitcher. Well, it’s also only as good as your next opponent.
No, the Twins aren’t playing the Tigers any more, as the NL’s best team the Atlanta Braves has outclassed the Twins twice to begin a three-game series. Last night, Atlanta hit five homers against Joe Ryan en route to a 6-2 win. Still, the Twins had chances but they left nine runners on base.
Byron Buxton is back from his back spasms - but his resurgence seems months ago. He went 0-for-4 and his average has dipped to .202. Perhaps if he wasn’t protected in the lineup by .199-hitting Max Kepler…
Ryan was coming off a complete game shutout and you have to wonder if Rocco will ever let another pitcher do that again, with how he bounced back five days later.
A Takeout friendly 11:20 a.m. first pitch from Atlanta today. Kenta Maeda makes his second start since his injury.
NHL Draft Tonight
I had some memorable NHL Drafts - Chief of Amateur Scouting Guy Lapointe convinced our web guy and I to pull an all nighter in Ottawa before flying home on a 5 a.m. flight. We didn’t even drink; we sipped waters much to the waitress’ chagrin. We went back to get our bags, and J-Mac fell asleep on his bed and we almost missed our flight.
I could see some similar stories this week in Nashville, where the Wild has three of the top 65 picks…
An earlier than usual start for the NHL Draft this year. It goes Wednesday (round 1) and Thursday (rounds 2-7) to give teams one day before free agency starts Saturday. You don’t need me, nor my sources, to tell you not to expect the Wild to make much news in the coming week. Sure would be nice to sign that goalie to an extension…The Wild has about $9 million to spend - almost half of that will be Filip Gustavsson.
Loons Sign Finnish Star Pukki; Play FCK on Hump Day
The Loons step outside MLS play tonight for a friendly with Germany’s FC Kaiserslautern (I like the FCK billboards) at Allianz Field. He won’t play tonight, but the Loons signed Finnish scorer Teemu Pukki yesterday. The man is a human highlight reel.
Pukki has been playing with Norwich City of the English Premier League. This is a BIG signing, especially for a team that scores at the rate the Loons do.
And don’t let anybody tell you otherwise, the term “Finnesotan” was indeed coined by the Wild’s social team in 2014. Lot of imitators out there…
Lynx Get Miller Back, Beat Storm at Target Center
Diamond Miller returned from an ankle sprain and scored 18 points, but as usual it was Napheesa Collier who led the Lynx with 33 points in a 104-93 win over Connecticut at Target Center last night.
Collier is one of just five WNBA players averaging 20 or more points this season.
Outside of 13-1 Las Vegas and 2-10 Phoenix, it’s a muddled mess in the middle of the West. Minnesota is just 4-9, but only 2.5 games out of second.
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