PITTSBURGH – Due to a combination of injuries and struggles, the current Twins roster is fraying in a few places. Through most of the year, the one constant has been the starting rotation. As they go, so goes this team. And right now, they’re not going well.
Bailey Ober became the latest Minnesota starter to endure a difficult outing, allowing eight runs (seven earned) in 4 2/3 innings as the Twins fell to the Pirates, 10-9, at PNC Park. It’s absolutely worth noting that a ball lost in the sun in the six-run second inning proved extremely costly to Ober, and he was hurt by a catcher’s interference as well.
Regardless, the result was a big early deficit and another game where Twins relievers were pitching earlier than you’d draw it up. The point is not to cast blame, merely to understand that the best version of the Twins begins with starting pitching that pitches well and deep into games.
“What we can do is just control what we can control,” Ober said. “It sucks that a game like that happened today, where circumstances in a different spot, if there’s clouds out, maybe I only give up two runs, you know what I mean? It’s just worrying about what we can handle and doing the best that we can every day that we’re out there, and that’s all that we can [do].
It was the fourth straight game in which the Twins starter failed to complete the fifth inning, and the sixth time in nine games that the starter has allowed at least four earned runs. Homers have become a problem for the group, and Ober permitted three on Saturday – one of them after he should have been out of the second inning.
It was 2-1, Pirates, with two outs in the second when Spencer Horwitz hit a routine pop-up to left field. Trevor Larnach lost it in the sun, and though the ball was counted as a single, it’s a play that should have been made. The Pirates’ next four batters reached, capped by an Oneil Cruz homer, and it was 7-1 by the time the inning was over.
“I’m going to defend Bailey here a little bit because I do think it cost him 20-plus pitches,” Twins manager Derek Shelton said. “And other than that, he gave up the home run to Horwitz, and he gave up the home run to [Jake] Mangum, and then in an unfortunate situation, which, it happens in elements, but then it ends up costing us five runs.”
Still, Ober did give up three home runs, even if one happened after he should have been out of the inning, and Minnesota starters have allowed nine of them in the last seven games. And that’s a problem for the Twins, who need their starting five to shoulder the load.
Three players who were expected to be key pieces of their lineup are not currently on the roster, with Ryan Jeffers on the injured list and Royce Lewis and Matt Wallner in Triple-A after slumping badly. Meanwhile, the bullpen has been a work in progress all year, and while some roles have started to crystallize a little bit recently, it’s still not all sorted out.
That leaves the rotation, which for much of the year pitched like one of the best in baseball. Joe Ryan is coming off an exceptional start in the Twins’ last win, on Tuesday in Chicago. Zebby Matthews, who starts Sunday, has had a pair of quality outings since being recalled from the Minor Leagues.
But rookie Connor Prielipp has hit a speed bump after a dazzling start to his career. Taj Bradley was brilliant over the season’s first six weeks, but missed two weeks due to injury. He was excellent in his first start back from the injured list, but never got locked in on Friday and was pulled after four innings due to a limited pitch count.
Then there’s Ober, who, even if he’s granted some grace for the second inning, has been less effective over his last three starts than previously. There’s plenty of talent in the group, and no reason to think they can’t get sorted back out. But for the moment, it’s a challenge.
“When we aren't hitting the ball, they're taking care of business,” said Kody Clemens. “And when stuff doesn't go their way, it's important for us to try and stack at-bats together and score some runs and try to cover our guys.”