Minnesota Update: Something to see here
The Twins beating Oakland isn't notable, but Matt Wallner's grand slam sure was.
The Twins beat Oakland on Tuesday, 11-3. It had an exhibition feel to it; Minnesota has little to play for except to tune up for the postseason, and the Athletics… absolutely would forfeit the series if they thought they could get away with it.
But there wasn’t nothing to see here, because you have to see Matt Wallner’s grand slam.
I have written this before, in the context of Wallner, but there was a time when the upper deck in right-center field in Minneapolis seemed more or less unreachable. When Target Field opened, something about the park - I remember a theory being “the concrete is still settling” - made it all but impossible to hit the ball out to right-center. Guys would pound the baseball, admire it from the plate, then have to start digging hard for second because the ball would barely reach the middle of the wall.
I don’t think this is so true any more… but at the same time, I don’t think anyone’s hit the ball as far as Wallner did on Tuesday night. Remember, it was a rainy evening in late September, and Wallner’s slam nearly hit the back wall - THE BACK WALL - in right-center field.
The cameraman could hardly follow the ball - it took me six or seven replays to see it land, in what appeared to be one of the upper rows in right-center, back by the scoreboard. StatCast said it was 114.5 mph off the bat, with a projected distance of 463 feet; somehow both of those numbers seem low.
I cannot find video of this, but it reminded me of Justin Morneau’s second career home run, way back in 2003. Morneau was hitting in Miller Park, and hit one off the scoreboard in center field, which was pretty much unreachable; it was one of those prospect moments where you go, “Oh, they might have something here.”
Wallner, of course, has been doing this all year; it was his second monster grand slam into the right-center bleachers this season. But I feel like this one is going to be memorable.
The pitching was also notable on Tuesday. First, Bailey Ober made his postseason case, striking out eight in five innings of work and allowing just two hits, no walks, and no runs. I’m not sure pitching against Oakland counts for much, but still.
Ober also replaced Kenta Maeda in the rotation, because Minnesota’s officially moving Maeda to the bullpen for the playoffs. I think you could argue that Maeda’s been the team’s third-most reliable starter this year, but the right-hander also pitched out of the bullpen for Los Angeles in the postseason in 2017, 2018, and 2019. Over 21 appearances, he had a 1.64 ERA, and allowed runs in only three appearances - two in games that his team was already trailing in.
Second, the Twins saw the return of Brock Stewart to the bullpen. Earlier this year, Stewart was one of the few bullpen arms the Twins could count on; for about a month, he and Jhoan Duran and the good version of Griffin Jaxwere basically all the Twins had, behind the starting rotation. If he can come back to be useful in the postseason, that would be huge news for a team that’s had plenty of bullpen struggles this year.
Third, Chris Paddack pitched in relief as well. Paddack, you may remember, was one of two players the Twins got for Taylor Rogers, just before the 2022 season; the other was Emilio Pagán, who has earned permanent Ron Davisstatus in the minds of Twins fans. Rogers hasn’t been amazing since leaving Minnesota, but this was only Paddack’s sixth appearance for the Twins, with a Tommy John surgery in the middle.
Paddack gave up three runs, but threw hard; if he can do so in the postseason, he still has a chance to finish ahead of (or behind?) Tyler Mahle in the “least useful pitchers that the Twins traded for” rankings.
Speaking of which, Minnesota also designated Dylan Floro for assignment. If you’ll remember, Floro was the team’s sole trade-deadline acquisition this year; they traded Jorge López to Miami for Floro, who had a 4.54 ERA before the trade and a 5.29 ERA after. So, it’s official: the front office did absolutely nothing at the trade deadline to help the team win a playoff game this year.
If it works, it works; Minnesota is 30-20 since the deadline, a 97-win pace. But this team will be judged on whether it wins a playoff game this year, no matter how many regular-season wins they end up with, and if they get swept by Houston or Seattle next week, I think it will still be fair to ask: could the front office have done more?
Finally: a big shout-out to John “Twins Geek” Bonnes and his band of merry men, who ate nine hot dogs and drank nine beers during Tuesday night’s game. This is known as the 9x9x9 Challenge, and I have to say, I’m just extremely impressed.
TODAY’S SLATE
TWINS vs Oakland, 6:40pm
ON DECK
GOPHERS VOLLEYBALL vs Michigan, Friday
GOPHERS FOOTBALL vs Louisiana, Saturday
LOONS vs San Jose, Saturday
VIKINGS at Carolina, Sunday
Hitting a ball that far should be worth extra. Like the 3pt line in the NBA. Let's make a line in the outfield and if you hit it above its worth more.