The Twins managed to finish the week with a win, splitting a four-game series with the reigning AL Pennant winner, the Toronto Blue Jays. Unfortunately, both Joe Ryan, Cole Sands, Emmanuel Rodriguez, and Walker Jenkins were the new additions to the injury report this week. There had been encouraging signs from the oft-injured Jenkins, as he was healthy from Opening Day in St. Paul, slashing .256/.396/.389 in 25 games. However, he ran into a wall this past weekend and looks to be out for the time
being. With regards to Ryan, he was pulled from his start yesterday with elbow soreness after pitching to two batters. He underwent an MRI, but no further news yet. The Twins have fallen to the worst team in the AL Central after a good week from the Kansas City Royals, but this is shaping up to be exactly the season Twins fans were expecting.
The Past Week on Twinkie Town:
- Check out The Feed, where you can add your discussions about the Twins!
- We’re starting a new segment called Daily Questions! Provide your opinion on the Twins and debate with the community!
- Game threads and recaps are back! Commiserate with your fellow fans as we experience the season together.
- Zach Koenig bangs the “it can always be worse” drum as he looks back at the 2016 Twins team.
Elsewhere in Twins Territory:
- Dan Hayes at The Athletic checks in on Tom Pohlad one month into his first season as the Twins’ controlling owner.
- Neal Justin at the Star Tribune reviews the new musical about Joe Mauer at the Hopkins Center for the Arts.
- Lou Hennessy at Zone Coverage offers a few more bargain bin options for the Twins’ bullpen.
- There were signs of life from the bullpen yesterday, with Andrew Morris and Taylor Rogers leading the way.
In the World of Baseball:
- Nothing has really changed at the top of the American League, with the Yankees, Rays, and A’s leading the way, but the bottom has shuffled quite a bit, with the Angels and Twins joining the bottom five teams.
- Atlanta has a nice 2.5-game cushion at the top of the National League, and the Mets and Phillies have strung together a few wins after dealing with their double-digit losing streaks.
- The Pittsburgh Pirates have been a nice revelation this season, and on Saturday, they shellacked the Reds and managed to make history by having every hitter in the lineup hit an RBI.
- Rob Thomson was fired by the Phillies after a 9-19 start. ESPN reported that Phillies POBO Dave Dombrowski had offered the opening to the recently-fired Alex Cora prior to letting go of Thomson, but ultimately Cora declined, and the Phillies appointed Don Mattingly as interim manager.
- Jay Jaffe at Fangraphs looks at how offense has changed with the new ABS challenge system.
