Twinkie Town Oct 20, 2020
Grading the 2020 Twins: Miguel Sano
Photo by Brace Hemmelgarn/Minnesota Twins/ Another incomplete, but lets put a letter on it anyway As we did last offseason, Twinkie Town writers are grading player who appeared in a game for the 2020 Minnesota Twins. (Last year’s grades can be found here, this year’s here.) Players will be graded individually on an A-F scale based on their hitting, fielding, and whatever else the author wants to consider. This one is going to be another controversial Twin. The Twins signed Josh Donaldson last winter, pushing Miguel Sano across the diamond to first base. Fans expected growing pains as...
Twinkie Town Oct 15, 2020
Grading the 2020 Twins: Josh Donaldson
Photo by Brace Hemmelgarn/Minnesota Twins/ How did the Bringer of Rain’s season shake out? We’re back at it! Last fall and winter, Twinkie Town writers graded every Minnesota Twins player that touched the field during a game in a Twins uni in 2019. (If you’re interested in those, click here.) The series this offseason will grade the individual performances of each player from 2020, who will receive a classic grade on the scale of A through F based on their hitting, fielding, and whatever else the author wants to consider. To peruse the grades from 2020, click here. Today, I’ll...
Minneapolis Star-Tribune Oct 7, 2020
Josh Donaldson had a lot to say on Twitter about umpires, shifts
Twins third baseman Josh Donaldson, who missed the two-game playoff sweep last week with a calf injury and unfortunately like his Twins teammates now has a lot of time on his hands, spent some of it on Twitter Tuesday espousing some big opinions about MLB umpiring and teams that employ infield shifts. On umpiring, Donaldson had an interesting back-and-forth with Trevor Plouffe — just a current Twins third baseman and former Twins third baseman, both No. 24 here, chopping it up — about what they were seeing during Tuesday's games. Plouffe tweeted: "I like most umpires. I really do. But...
Twinkie Town Oct 5, 2020
How Houston’s pitchers beat Minnesota’s hitters
Photo by Hannah Foslien/ The Astros’ pitching strategy was simple... and effective. Many factors can reasonably be pointed at as the cause of the playoff sweep that provided another disappointing end to a Twins season. Here’s a sampling of my favorites: Rocco Baldelli overmanaged Game 1. Josh Donaldson’s injury. Byron Buxton’s injury. Jorge Polanco’s error in the 9th inning of game 1. An over-reliance on a suddenly leaky bullpen. Bad luck on Eddie Rosario’s lineout with the bases loaded in the first inning of Game 1. You likely have your favorite among these and no doubt have...
Minneapolis Star-Tribune Sep 29, 2020
Alex Kirilloff added to Twins playoff roster with Josh Donaldson sidelined
The Twins activated rookie outfielder Alex Kirilloff, who has never played above Class AA, for their playoff series against the Astros because third baseman Josh Donaldson is still injured.
Puckett's Pond Sep 27, 2020
Minnesota Twins: Who Steps Up if Buxton and Donaldson can’t go?
As the Minnesota Twins look to the postseason, I take a look at what injuries mean to the lineup and how they can overcome them. In the Wizard of Oz it was the scary “Lions and Tigers and Bears, oh my”!! Friday night turned a bit a scary for the Minnesota Twins as Josh Donaldson […] Minnesota Twins: Who Steps Up if Buxton and Donaldson can’t go? - Pucketts Pond - Pucketts Pond - A Minnesota Twins Fan Site - News, Blogs, Opinion and More
Minneapolis Star-Tribune Sep 26, 2020
Twins expect Byron Buxton and Josh Donaldson back for playoffs
The center fielder has a mild headache and the third baseman feels ''pretty good.''
Twinkie Town Sep 26, 2020
Injury updates on Buxton and Donaldson
Photo by Brace Hemmelgarn/Minnesota Twins/ The updates are as good as it’s going to get. Last night, a pair of core Minnesota Twins players suffered injuries and had to leave the game. Josh Donaldson left the game early due to cramps in his right calf. Byron Buxton had to leave the game after being hit by a pitch on his helmet and was able to walk off under his own power. Not much news came out during the post-game, but the beat writers have reported some updates that have been announced this afternoon. Betsy Helfand of the St Paul Pioneer Press had this tweet about the injuries...
Twinkie Town Sep 26, 2020
Reds 7, Twins 2: Buxton/Donaldson possibly hurt, Sox also lose
Conferring on the quantum dilemna, “what would Joe West want us to do?” | Photo by Hannah Foslien/ 2020 injuries. No wonder I was late putting the GT up. This is awful. Two Twins left this game because of injury; Byron Buxton after being hit right in the head by a unintentionally misthrown pitch, Josh Donaldson for reasons yet unknown. In the postgame presser, Rocco Baldelli had no further information on either injury. That’s bad. It is not good. However, the Chicago White Sox also lost, so Minnesota still leads the division. Cleveland won, so they’re tied with Chicago one game...
Minneapolis Star-Tribune Sep 25, 2020
Despite loss, Twins are on doorstop of AL Central title
Although the Twins lost 7-2 to Cincinnati, and saw Josh Donaldson and Byron Buxton exit with potential injuries, Minnesota has a one-game lead in the division with two games to play.
Minneapolis Star-Tribune Sep 24, 2020
Podcast: What a difference a week makes for Josh Donaldson, Twins
A week ago, it looked like the Twins' chances of winning the AL Central had evaporated in a flurry of dust at home plate in Chicago. But after the Josh Donaldson ejection game, the fortunes of the Twins and White Sox changed. Now the Twins are back in first place -- and Donaldson is a bathrobe-buying hero.
Twinkie Town Sep 23, 2020
“Bomba Robes” shirts now available from Breaking T!
Do you support baseball players being comfy? I know I do! Vox Media has affiliate partnerships. These do not influence editorial content, though Vox Media may earn commissions for products purchased via affiliate links. Say what you will about Josh Donaldson, but the man changed my life forever when he gifted personalized robes to his teammates before the game yesterday. I will never be the same after witnessing the absolutely glory of pictures like these: Robes are officially back. #MNTwins pic.twitter.com/F246wlSBjn— Brace Hemmelgarn (@bracehemmelgarn) September 23, 2020 In...
Minneapolis Star-Tribune Sep 23, 2020
Twins set 40-player roster for postseason; Josh Donaldson fined for ejection
The Twins have released their 40-man roster for the postseason, which consists of the current 28-man roster plus a 12-man taxi squad.
Minneapolis Star-Tribune Sep 23, 2020
Those glorious Twins bathrobes: A gimmick worth cheering for
The Twins rallied to walk off the Tigers with two runs in the bottom of the 10th, right around the same time Cleveland was doing the same thing to the first-place White Sox. The combination moved the Twins within a half-game of the division lead. But during and after those developments, the only thing many Twins fans wanted to talk about was … bathrobes? As our La Velle E. Neal III reports, Twins third baseman Josh Donaldson gave custom robes to his teammates — some casual elegance as they enter a strict quarantine period heading into the postseason. Nelson Cruz, who didn't play in...
Twinkie Town Sep 22, 2020
Josh Donaldson took a shot at Buxton and Kepler and nobody cared
And why sanitization of our local media does more harm than good A lot has been said about the arrival of Josh Donaldson to the Twin Cities. He has an intense nature, a storied career and apparently is not above...
