The Twins suffered a 7-6 walkoff loss to the Athletics today, and the defeat was perhaps a particularly costly one for the Minnesota team. Both Max Kepler (hamstring) and Willians Astudillo (bruised hand) had to make early exits due to injury, while manager Rocco Baldelli told Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press and other reporters that Kenta Maeda was trying to fight through some minor groin tightness that developed during the game.
Astudillo was hit by a pitch in the second inning and remained in the game before being replaced at catcher prior to the top of the fourth. Kepler’s injury occurred during the eighth inning, when he doubled and then advanced to third on a wild pitch before scoring on an Andrelton Simmons home run. Both players are being evaluated, while Maeda’s problem seems to be somewhat minor and perhaps the least-serious of the three injuries.
More from both the AL and NL Central…
- Cardinals outfielder Tyler O’Neill is day-to-day after suffering a sprained left middle finger in tonight’s 5-3 St. Louis loss to the Padres. O’Neill hurt his finger while stealing second base in the sixth inning, and remained in the field for the bottom half of the inning before being replaced prior to the bottom half of the seventh. O’Neill has already spent time on the injured list due to a groin injury this season, and he has hit .250/.290/.530 with eight home runs over 107 PA. Despite the low OBP and an ungainly 32.7% strikeout rate, O’Neill has been an overall productive (122 wRC+) hitter thanks to his big power and a lot of hard contact. The defending Gold Glove winner is also still providing very solid defense in left field.
- Adam Engel has missed the entire season due to a hamstring strain but could be nearing a rehab assignment, White Sox manager Tony La Russa told MLB.com’s Scott Merkin and other reporters. Engel “certainly is looking more like himself” in workouts, according to La Russa, and “as far as the physical getting to 100 percent, I think he’s either there or very close.” Engel’s return would be welcome news to an injury-plagued Chicago outfield, particularly if Engel can combine his normal strong glovework with the offensive improvement (.295/.333/.477 in 93 PA) he showed in the 2020 campaign.
- Matt Duffy has been a solid contributor for the Cubs, hitting .284/.379/.370 over 95 plate appearances while getting the bulk of third base playing time since Kris Bryant has been regularly deployed in the outfield. According to The Athletic’s Patrick Mooney and Sahadev Sharma, Duffy has long been on the Cubs’ radar, as the team tried to land Duffy both in the 2019-20 offseason and last summer, before Duffy instead inked minor league contracts with the Rangers in the winter and then the Yankees after Texas released him before the season. Duffy didn’t end up seeing any MLB action in 2020, and his agent Paul Cohen tells Mooney and Sharma that “I probably had half a dozen teams reach out to me: ’Would [Duffy] be interested in joining our front office or our coaching staff?’ That’s the kind of impression this guy has made through his travels.”
Astudillo better be OK or I’m coming to Minneapolis and getting all the protestors to take to the streets again, since they’ll protest anything these days (and have no idea what they’re protesting about).
Astudillo has struck out only 115 TIMES IN HIS ENTIRE PROFESSIONAL CAREER, dating back to 2009. That’s so impressive I had to capitalize part of the sentence.
Pitchers hold champagne celebrations BETWEEN INNINGS if they strike out Astudillo.
I’m still hoping Bill James will revise WAR and give at least fractional bonus points to players like Astudillo — for how rare it is that he strikes out and his playing multiple positions. James could add 0.1 or 0.2 WAR to his total at the very least.
You are a socially ignorant man.
#SayHisName WILLIANS ASTUDILLO!
Where is that mute button!
Strikeouts mean nothing and grounding out into double plays is the worst out a hitter can make. Ben Gigsby is why the mute button was invented. Moron.
A’s fan your own favourite team loses every October thanks to not driving runners from 3rd home. Don’t talk about “strikeouts mean nothing” when K’ing in crucial situations has enhanced the A’s legendary choke jobs in the postseason.
Dead wrong. K’s mean nothing and actually are a good out to make if it means running up a pitch count on a good pitcher to get into a weaker bullpen.
As for your silly comment about my fave team that had nothing to do with the convo but apparently you can’t see past my screen name and instead punched down like an idiot, if they hit a HR instead of a K they would have won more games? What a stupid thing to say. Who cares about what the A’s do anyway? I don’t run the team or play for them. My comment is general, are you too stupid to understand this? Here’s a mute for you too, dingbat.
Ehh.K’s mean nothing is a stretch. Look at double play numbers, numbers with runners in scoring position, OBP, etc. in culmination with this. It is not a mute stat.
“it means running up a pitch count on a good pitcher to get into a weaker bullpen.”
How many times a year is this actually a situation teams find themselves in? Bullpens aren’t put together like they used to be.
“if they hit a HR instead of a K they would have won more games? What a stupid thing to say”
No one said that, except you? I agree though, that was a pretty stupid comment for you to make. Weak strawman attempt. The point that poster was making is that not putting the ball in play with less than 2 outs and a runner on third and instead striking out costs teams runs. I have no idea if the claim he made about it hurting the A’s specifically is valid, but the idea presented is one that’s hard to argue against.
A’s fan, implying I punched down means you’re saying I’m more superior than you? I didn’t think that but if you do, ok.
I would mute me too. You don’t like being challenged on your blatant baseball ignorance.
“Ben Grigsby is why the mute button was invented”
This would make a good Mountain Goats-styled song.
@Ben
N
Woops, screwed up the last post, was trying to say that I had no idea that Astudillo put the ball in play so often! I looked it up and he only struck 20 times in the time he’s been in the bigs.
Sabermetrics does take strikeouts into account. It just doesn’t over value weak contact.
Weak contact to score runs from 3rd? Or a hard hit fly ball to the track to score a run from third. Yes. God forbid putting runs on the board when a situation presents it.
Austudillo is SOFT zero respect for him giving the “ who farted face” after yerín homer off his 47 mph pitch
Wow, its probably the first time Kenta Maeda got injured. Better than Stripling who always get injured while both of them in LA
Last at bat loss, not walkoff loss – Twins were at home.
So what we are saying is that the Cubs wanted a guy on the field that everyone else thought was done with his career and ready for a behind the scenes role?
Somebody has to replace KB when he gets traded.
Tyler O’Neil hurt his finger.
I have hurt my finger for years over his hitting.
Wasnt Duffy on waivers and could have been claimed by anyone? Why didnt the cubs get him then?
Yeah that made no sense. He took a minor league deal even though cubs were offering ?? Lol. Sure
I don’t know why players still dive head first, instead of feet first while trying to steal a base. Especially with all of the injuries that have occurred while diving head first. On top of the fact that I’d be scared of getting a head injury.
Because diving will get you there faster than sliding.
-There’s at least a psychological feeling of having more control and ability to adjust head first.
– The whole body is generally lower to the ground and theoretically harder to tag on a swipe than on a feet first slide where the upper torso usually stays more upright.
– the 2B/SS leave the tag on for extended periods of time now hoping that the foot or hand will pop off for just a second and it can be reviewed; superior grip with the hands.
It should straight up be against the rules to dive into 1B when running after an AB. My god its the dumbest move that so many players still do, even when its proven to injure you. I’d LOVE to see that rule enacted, if only to force the players to stop doing this obnoxiously stupid, low percentage diving move.
With regards to the comment though, players dive headfirst because their arms and hands and fingers create more ways to get to the bag than the larger, easier-to-tag legs.
Never thought I’d see the day when I was so happy for Engel to be coming back. Sox have been fine without him, but he’s definitely an improvement over the likes of Garcia.
Engel coming back soon!
Can’t imagine the Whte Sox any better than what they have already been – the BEST TEAM in MLB!!!
Tyler O’ Neal is the defending gold glove winner?
Yep. Probably would have taken as much time to google as to post.
We need Engel back, with all the injuries he can be our 2 hitter. He has plus Contact, Power, Speed, fielding and a great arm. Must fill the 2 spot. 2022 is the Sox year, but with Engel back this year, they can still be serious contenders even with all these injuries
Engel as two hitter is awful idea.
He was great at end of season last year, but historically has been a marginal hitter.
They need to elevate Grandal to 2 hole, because even though he hasn’t been hitting for average, he has the second highest OBP on team because he walks so much, and he’s starting to hit a little.
Let Engel bat 8th and see if his numbers last year were real before putting him in a premium position in lineup.
It’s great that Engel is closer to return but there is no way he is hitting number two, come on. I think he will play just about every day since he is a great defender and the best hitter who can play CF that they have, but he will hit 8th or 9th most likely, depending on where Madrigal hits. I think much like Mercedes they may find that Engel is a much better player than they thought when he plays every day vs righties and lefties, but he ain’t hitting number two. Still I am excited to hear he his progressing. Never would have thought Eaton would be their only healthy outfielder among him, Robert, Eloy, Engel, and that the latter 3 would miss between 2 and 6 months each, geez. Engel should provide a boost over their other dismal options in CF.
Who will the Sox move off their active squad when Engel returns?!
They have all been good. Timely hitting and above ave defense!
Jake Lamb. Rarely plays, hasn’t offered much offensively or defensively, can easily be replaced by someone like Gavin Sheets if another player is injured.
stltoday.com/sports/baseball/professional/birdland…
O’Neal moved to 10-Day IL with fractured finger.