MAKE GLOVE NOT W.A.R. — What the Twins Can Do to Right the Ship.

May 24

The Twins collapsed last August, but are threatening to do the same three months earlier and render some summer fun meaningless at Target Field. Let’s be honest, the AL Central is woeful - so the Twins will remain in the race and probably beat Cleveland. But there’s no reason to hold the status quo, when you’re throwing one of the league’s best 1-2-3 starting pitcher combos out there on a regular basis.

Here’s some things the Twins could do…

Now

Get Emilio Pagan off the roster.

Rocco Baldelli has done his best to keep the beleaguered reliever out of so called “high leverage” situations, but when you’re a team with an offense like the Twins, you can’t even afford your garbage inning guy to give up any runs. Pagan’s (scoreless) appearance in the ninth inning of a 4-1 loss to the Giants Tuesday may not be high leverage for most teams, but it is for the Twins.

The year 2019 sure seems like the exception rather than the rule, huh?

You know I’m not the biggest fan of analytics, but if the sniff test doesn’t tell you Pagan has no place on this team, the numbers say that too per The Athletic’s Aaron Gleeman.

Pagan is 32. He is what he is. He’s not going to suddenly improve. Some will say he’s been ok outside of a six-run appearance against Boston early in the season. But he’s being placed in positions to succeed, and often doesn’t.

I’m not suggesting they make a trade here. Admit you made a mistake re-signing him, designate him for assignment, call up a warm body from St. Paul. Just don’t give Baldelli the option of even calling his name on his next trip to the bullpen.

Next Week

This is the lead pipe cinch of the century - call up Royce Lewis from St. Paul next week the second he’s eligible to come off the injured list.

The Twins’ star of the future is rehabbing in Triple A while coming back from his second ACL tear of the same knee. The first overall pick in 2017 hit .300 in 40 at bats for Minnesota last year before he got hurt. June 21 was his last game.

Lewis had six hits and three homers in his first six games with the Saints. He’s expected to play any and all of second base, shortstop and third base. The Twins have had their share of injuries/underperformance at 2B and 3B this season, and you have to wonder once Lewis is up, if they’ll DH Carlos Correa on days that Byron Buxton rests.

You know where Lewis won’t play this year? Centerfield. He was injured in his first (and only?) career appearance in CF last year. He’s not physically cleared to play the outfield this season while recovering, but it would seem fools gold to put him there at any point in his career due to his injury.

Next Month

Check the vibe at Target Field. I know as well as anyone that kids are still in school right now, but the weather has been perfect and attendance has struggled to reach 20,000 on a regular basis.

The new rules are great for a lot of people, but they’re also not great for people who have to drive in from the suburbs for a two-hour experience.

This team (obvious statement) is not that gifted offensively. No one’s bringing groups of 20 to Target Field to see Sonny Gray methodically mow down another team’s lineup.

The Twins just have to put themselves into a position to make it a more entertaining product to bring more bodies into Target Field this summer.

At The Deadline

TBD.

It’s not like a team who will likely finish with 85-88 wins and contend for a bad division’s title wants to gear up too heavily for the post-season (see: Minnesota Twins 2022 trade deadline). But if you’re rolling out Lopez, Gray and Ryan three out of every four playoff games, you’re always going to stand a chance to get hot and maybe win a series and excite this state.

The Twins’ bullpen has issues outside of Jhoan Duran and Jorge Lopez. The latter hasn’t been all that great in the month of May, especially when the guy the Twins traded to get him - Yennier Cano - has allowed ONE run in 26 innings for Baltimore this season. Although, with the way he pitched in Minnesota, no one could have predicted it. But, the Orioles tweaked his mechanics and VOILA. (Remember, the Twins didn’t have a pitching coach with any sort of MLB experience last season).

Next Season

Evaluate everything. The irony is that the Twins gassed head trainer Michael Salazar at the end of last season and replaced him with Nick Paparesta. Twins players missed more than 2300 games due to injury in 2022.

And? Not much has changed. Yes, Byron Buxton has mostly stayed healthy, but the Twins are consistently missing 2-4 regulars out of the lineup each and every game. Jorge Polanco, a mainstay at 2B with limited injuries, has twice visited the IL this season. The Twins’ bench is short this week, with Joey Gallo out with a hamstring injury and Correa by a heel injury.

You’re always going to have freak injuries - like Kyle Farmer getting drilled by a baseball at the plate. But is there something wrong with the off-season training program? Does the strength staff need more home visits? Did they rush Kenta Maeda back? Is it just the cold?