Twinkie Town

Photo by Brandon Sloter/Icon Sportswire via A division-by-division look at MLB before Opening Day A week from now, it will be all Twins all the time here at Twinkie Town. Before that glorious moment, I’d like to take a bird’s-eye view of my most compelling non-MN baseball storylines heading into the 2023 season. Let’s go division-by-division... AL Central Call it rampant homer-ism, but I truly believe the Twins will win this division by 5+ games. As Brandon Brooks’ Rival Roundups have chronicled for weeks, the Royals and Tigers simply aren’t ready to make...

Jordan Johnson-USA TODAY Sports Gauging Expectations Some fanbases have the luxury (or curse) to be in a World Series-or-bust mindset season after season. I dare say that 32 years after their last championship, Twins Territory does not fall into that basket. That’s not to say that mediocrity is good or high expectations are bad, but it’s just the simple reality of our situation. 20-some playoff losses in a row will do that for you. There’s something to be said about the thrill of being in the thick of a playoff race when the rubber meets the road in September, no...

Trea Turner #8 of Team USA hits a grand slam to take the lead in the eighth inning during the 2023 World Baseball Classic Quarterfinal game between Team USA and Team Venezuela | Photo by Daniel Shirey/WBCI/MLB Photos via Game Preview and Thread — Team USA tries to repeat as World Baseball Classic Champions Matchup: Team USA (5-1) vs. Team Japan (6-0) First Pitch: 7:00 PM (ET) Broadcast: Fox Sports 1 Venue: Miami, loanDepot Park Probable Starters: USA — RHP Merrill Kelly; Japan — LHP Shota Imanaga Photo by Mary DeCicco/WBCI/MLB Photos via ...

Max Kepler has been a spring standout for the Twins. | Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports We’re two-thirds of the way through the Grapefruit League schedule. Who has stood out at the plate for the Twins? We’re less than two weeks away from real, live, regular-season baseball. We’re also roughly two-thirds of the way through the Spring Training slate. While nobody should be drawing anything resembling a conclusion based on a couple of handfuls of Grapefruit League games, we have something of a sample size now and it’s always interesting to see who has stood out...

This man, seen here riding in elegance with a lovely lady in the back of a pickup truck, was on the cover of 2010's "MLB: The Show." | Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/ A delightful tale for children of all ages. Who doesn't love toys? The newest edition of the baseball video game “MLB: The Show” comes out fairly soon. For the last few years, when “The Show” comes out, I’ve writen a post here about how much I enjoy it. Partially as a baseball fan, but also as an adult, then nearing and now 50, who plays with children’s toys. Toys that cost $60 a year. One tends to...

Photo by Rob Tringali/WBCI/MLB Photos via Just one more round-up before the square-up. Twins Pass is on sale, the weather has more of a “disgusting rain” vibe than “unceasing snow” vibe, and the tax deadline is coming up. All these signs point to a Minnesotan spring galloping quickly over the horizon. We’re 13 days from the season opener in Kansas City, with plenty of World Baseball Classic left on the docket to tide us over. Until then, there’s always a little room at the table for more: RIVAL ROUNDUP, BABY There have been a lot of fun storylines from the...

Photo by Daniel Shirey/MLB Photos via Julien upsets the field in round 4. Who comes next? Edouard Julien was champ in round 4. A lot of love for the fast-rising prospect after a hot spring. The lefty infielder could make a big impact on the Twins this season. Brooks Lee 49.7% (Lewis 41.9%, Rodriguez 8.4%) Royce Lewis 76.4% (Rodriguez 15.4%, Varland 5.3%, Wallner 2.9%) Emmanuel Rodriguez 44.1% (Julien 38.4%, Varland 10.4%, Wallner 7.1%) Edouard Julien 57.9% (Prielipp 13.6%, Woods Richardson 9.5%, Martin 8.2%, Wallner 5.4%, Varland 5.4%) We’ll keep the list long...

Photo by Mary DeCicco/MLB Photos via The altitudinous backstop has his day in the sun I am very tall. Not Robert Wadlow or Andre the Giant tall, but I occupy 6 feet-8 inches of vertical real estate. When out in public or otherwise interacting with strangers, I often debate the merits of carrying pre-made cards to distribute the following statements: The weather is just fine, thank you No, I did not play basketball Yes, my parents are tall (and I have two brothers clocking in at 6’7” & 6’6”) Sure—I can help you reach that I had to chuckle when Twins catcher...

Griffin Jax #22 of the Minnesota Twins delivers a pitch against the Boston Red Sox in Grapefruit League play. | Photo by Megan Briggs/ A weapon that tunnels with his wipe-out slider in the zone should help his fastball One of the most common refrains we hear about players coming into Spring Training is that they are “in the best shape of their life”. Those reports fuel optimism about a pending breakout or a veteran return to form, depending on the circumstances. The past few off-seasons have seen a new trend pop up in the Spring Training reports, especially for...

Photo by Brace Hemmelgarn/Minnesota Twins/ Its all anyone seems to talk about. Previously on Twinkie Town: Obligatory Brandon Brooks Rival Roundup Link Would anyone notice if I just re-linked all his links? Could whip up one of these in seconds. Don’t snitch on me, Brandon. Zach wonders if the Twins bullpen can bring us all back to 2003, a time of great triumphs, such as the mapping of the human genome, and more impressively the release of Tommy Wiseau’s masterclass of film-maling “The Room.” Oh, and the Twins finally had a good team for literally the first...

Photo by Mark Cunningham/MLB Photos via Less than three weeks from the season’s start! The World Baseball Classic is already underway, and despite spring training having just started, it feels like the baseball season will be on top of us before we know it. The Twins start their 2023 season in just 20 days, and we’ll be galloping into winter again by the time this year’s ballgames are all squared away. The mist is clearing as the final free agents leave the board and league-wide Opening Day rosters come into focus. But there’s always time for a little...

Twenty years ago, the pen was a powerhouse Heading into the 2023 season, the Minnesota Twins have reasons to be optimistic about their bullpen. Jhoan Duran is an established velocity superstar, Caleb Thielbar continues to bamboozle opposing hitters, and both Griffin Jax & Trevor Megill harbor intent to touch triple digits themselves. Sure, the front office may be a little overconfident in the unit based on past performance, but there is evidence to suggest that a pitch mix change may also pay dividends. All in all, it certainly doesn’t look like a build-on-the-fly...

Photo by Chris Coduto/ We move into the glut of mid-level prospects. Emmanuel Rodriguez narrowly takes down the competition to win round 3. Brooks Lee 49.7% (Lewis 41.9%, Rodriguez 8.4%) Royce Lewis 76.4% (Rodriguez 15.4%, Varland 5.3%, Wallner 2.9%) Emmanuel Rodriguez 44.1% (Julien 38.4%, Varland 10.4%, Wallner 7.1%) Julien’s hot Spring seems to make him a favorite for the next round. We’re in the glut of mid-level prospects where it just depends the type of player you prefer, so we’re doing a monster vote this round with 6 players. Twitter only lets me do 4...

Kenta Maeda delivers a pitch to the Tampa Bay Rays during a Grapefruit League Spring Training game | Photo by Julio Aguilar/ Kenta Maeda’s PitchCom adventure is a reminder of how hard it is to hit a baseball, even when you know what pitch is coming The Twins drew some headlines and some chuckles last week when starting pitcher Kenta Maeda pitched two scoreless innings against Tampa Bay. The attention-getting part of that outing was that Maeda pitched while the volume of the PitchCom device that he and his catcher Tony Wolters were using to communicate their pitch...

Lake Tahoe, where Bally Sports will go out on the Corleone boat to do some fishing. | Photo by George Rose/ Some changes could be coming to your screen machine. So… you may have heard that Bally Sports is now, officially broke. A few weeks back, they stopped payments owed to creditors. It’s almost certain, now, that they will declare bankruptcy. What does this all mean? Short version: to we Twins fans, not a lot. The Twins will have games on TV, just like always. Medium version: exactly how they will have those games is up in the air. It could be on MLB’s...