The Twins currently own the worst collective batting average in their history, and they are on pace to score their fewest runs in a decade. But Derek Falvey says he believes the roster he put together remains capable of becoming far more potent in the season’s second half, and he has no plans for a major overhaul at the trade deadline later this month.
“I still believe the vast majority of the offense we’ll get the remainder of the season is going to come from the guys we have in that room,” the Twins president of baseball operations said, gesturing toward the team’s clubhouse. “It’s not going to be via acquisition that’s going to make the primary difference. We’re going to have the guys that are already in that room make a big difference.”
That doesn’t mean he won’t consider a trade before the month is out. The front office just believes that their first-half underachievers — Carlos Correa, Byron Buxton, Max Kepler and Joey Gallo, among others — are a better bet to return to form than they are to deal for a productive hitter.
“We’ll have some conversations, certainly, about position players and pitchers to see if we can mix and match and find a way to add to this team,” Falvey said. “The reality is, the market is going to have limited options. … At the end of the day, some guys in there need to perform better. They know that. They’re not shying from that. The guys we expect to perform for us, those guys are going to need to carry us.”
Injury updates
Jorge Polanco’s All-Star break won’t be much of one. The injured second baseman will be at Target Field, running the bases and testing his sore left hamstring.
“Our expectation is that he would be part of a rehab assignment with St. Paul after the break,” Falvey said. “We’ll have to see how he is as he pushes it, but all signs point to good news.”
When Polanco joins the Saints, he may be joined by Brock Stewart. The righthanded reliever, who has given up only two runs in 25 ⅔ innings this season, threw off a mound on Sunday, “just building up” his pitching elbow, which was stricken with tendinitis two weeks ago. “We want to see how he responds. If that goes well, I’m hoping we track toward” a rehab assignment after the break.
Lefthander Caleb Thielbar will need more time, another five to seven days, Falvey suggested, to get to the same point that Stewart is at, given that his oblique injury recurred shortly after he returned in June.
Fighting to the end
Sunday’s game appeared over when first base umpire Ryan Wills called Jose Miranda out in the ninth inning. But the Twins disagreed, and despite trailing by 13 runs, Baldelli challenged the call.
Why extend a long-lost game? “For our team. For our players,” Baldelli said. “We’re not likely to win the game, we know that. But when one of our guys legs out an infield hit, we’re going to get him the infield hit. [We’ll] play on and see what happens.”
A replay review overturned the call, and the Orioles returned to their positions. Five pitches later, Kepler missed a slider in the dirt, and the game was officially over.
Etc.
• Even after giving up six runs despite facing only seven batters, Cole Sands doesn’t want the four days off he now gets for the All-Star break. He hadn’t pitched in eight days, after all, a likely contributing factor to his worst outing of the season. “Believe it or not, I’d like to be back out there tomorrow,” Sands said. “It’s tough after an outing like that to sit with it for a few days.”
• Joe Ryan took the mound to Pearl Jam’s “Dissident,” rather than his usual Grateful Dead tune “Fire on the Mountain” on Sunday. He wouldn’t explain his rationale for the change, other than to say, “It’s a good song. Good band.”
• Andrew Stevenson’s four-hit day included a home run and six RBI, Kyle Garlick added four hits of his own and drove in five runs, and the Saints won at Iowa for the third game in a row, beating the Cubs 20-4. St. Paul collected 19 hits and drew 13 walks, going 9-for-22 with runners in scoring position.