Game of the Week: August 10: MIL @ MIN

[Commissioner Erick]

Milwaukee Brewers (62-50) @ Minnesota Twins (44-66)


MIL: Kevin Gadea (2-4, 3.86 ERA)
MIN: Jose Berrios (1-4, 6.75)


The Milwaukee Brewers have constantly wheeled and dealed this season, making four deals at the trade deadline alone in an attempt to improve their pitching. Kevin Gadea was added two weeks earlier, but he's part of the new brood of Brewers pitchers and will be on the hill tonight.

The Minnesota Twins meanwhile have stable management for the first time this season and have made a number of changes once Scott Fitzsimmons has taken the reigns.

A lot of new faces will be on the diamond during the Brewers-Twins border war during this edition of the Game of the Week.

With all the changes with the rotation, lost in the shuffle was Milwaukee's decision to send down A.J. Reed this month. Reed was having a strong season playing about half the time, hitting 15 home runs with a .931 OPS. With him in Colorado Springs, the Brewers only have two players on the team with double figures in home runs.

Hanser Alberto has gotten the bulk of the new at bats. Alberto is having the best year of his career, but has been a bit player in his past. He has four home runs and eight doubles in 116 plate appearances, so he's hitting for power, but he doesn't have a history of big power. Rule-five pick Nick Longhi has also taken a lot of swings this year, and he has eight homers and a .369 OBP in 70 starts.

The Brewers have had those lesser-profile players stepping up, but their whole team has been a collection of low-profile players playing pretty well. What they don't have is a lot of offensive star power that can be relied upon for big production. The Brewers have only gone 14-20 since the end of June and it's possible the lack of star power has hurt them. However, the Brewers did have a decent OPS in July, so Milwaukee has continued to produce. They're hoping their struggles can be patched up with better pitching.

Kevin Gadea will get the start, his sixth for Milwaukee. Thanks to Milwaukee's four-man rotation, Gadea isn't going deep into games, giving the Brewers more than 4.1 innings just once. He has been effective though, working to a 3.00 ERA and 1.14 WHIP as a Brewer. If the Brewers bullpen, now seven-men after it was six-deep most of the seasons, can continue to hold up under the strain, then Gadea's inability to go more than 4 innings won't be awful.

The Twins have suffered through absentee management this year, a season after an inspiring run to the playoffs. As a result, tonight's starter Jose Berrios was left in limbo after a mild arm injury earlier this year. Berrios is only 1-4 with a 6.75 ERA since coming back. He didn't have any rehab after missing most of the season so he's still rounding in to form. He went 6 innings in his last start, a positive bit of news as Berrios continues to build back his arm strength.

Fitzsimmons has made some changes to his lineup as well. Engelb Vielma won a gold glove last year and is still a terrific defensive infielder, but he's been benched for good looking prospect Luis Arraez. Just 23, Arraez has hit well since coming back, starting his major league career hitting .419 with three doubles in eight games. Arraez has a history of huge batting averages. He's hit over .300 at every juncture, hitting .331 in Rochester last year, and he gives Twins fans something to look forward to over the final stretch of the year.

Lewin Davis is another rookie making a great impression. Davis only has 27 games under his belt, but he already has 10 home runs and a .654 slugging mark. A Florida State League All-Star in 2018, Davis has hinted at big power in his past and is showcasing it in his stint in the majors this season.

If the Twins veterans can return to their power form of 2019 where they hit the fourth most home runs in the AL and combine it with their exciting rookies, they could be back near the top of the AL Central in 2021.


Questions for the GMs:


For Vic Black, you gave Orlando Arcia a lot of time at catcher earlier this year. It appears with Arcia in the minors that the experiment is over. What did you take away from it?

You added a number of pitchers at the deadline. Will that allow you to switch to a five-man rotation going forward?

Why did you send A.J. Reed to the minors?

For Scott Fitzsimmons, you joined the Twins midway through the season. What were your first thoughts of the team?

What changes have you made since coming aboard and why?

You've gone with a four-man rotation. What is your rationale behind that?

[scotttwins]

You joined the Twins midway through the season. What were your first thoughts of the team?

I think everyone around the clubhouse would admit that it's been a disappointing season so far. A number of factors have contributed to a team without consistency and leadership, but certainly I think the talent is still on the roster - and not just on the squad that played finals last year, but on the bench and in the farm system as well. The main thing about this run in is to get some good streaks under the belt and get the team used to playing alongside one another again. 

We did look to dip into the transfer market at the end, but there were just a few players who I thought deserved more chances this year to show their worth and with all the paperwork of an administrative change-over we didn't want to rush into deals for the sake of it. We're a better squad than just being a rental supplier for play-off hopefuls so it was necessary to hold on some key pieces. We'll look again in the post season.

What changes have you made since coming aboard and why?

They've mainly been line-up and pitching staff changes, I think the team was stuck in a bit of a rut and we just needed some fresh blood. We'll be rotating through both some infield and outfield set-ups in the coming months to blood some youngsters, but also to give them time with some of the veterans. The young kids have performed well so far, even if the results haven't shown it, and I'm sure they'll have periods of inconsistency in their first step-up, but I've been quite pleased so far.


You've gone with a four-man rotation. What is your rationale behind that?
Probably a temporary measure with the return of Berrios, I think we can build the rotation around him again but I'd like to see some more pressure thrown on the rotation as we still assess this team. I'm also of the belief that with the right anchors a four-man rotation can be very effective. I've had success with it in the past, but if it doesn't prove right for the PBA then obviously that's something we'll look at adapting in the coming weeks. 

[vicblack22]

For Vic Black, you gave Orlando Arcia a lot of time at catcher earlier this year. It appears with Arcia in the minors that the experiment is over. What did you take away from it?

Yes, the Arcia experiment is over.  I had to go with safer defensive options to finish the year.  What I took away from the experiment is not to do it in the regular season. 


You added a number of pitchers at the deadline. Will that allow you to switch to a five-man rotation going forward?

Nah.  The pitchers I added were upgrades to the staff.  As we got deeper into the season and closer to a postseason birth, we needed better pitchers to compliment the offense.  For the time being, we are going to stick with the 4 man rotation.  If it aint broke don't fix it right?

Why did you send A.J. Reed to the minors?

Before being sent down, Reed had gone like 2 for 20 in 5 games.  That really wasn't helping us so we decided to go with the two rule 4 guys who were playing pretty well at the time.  I don't really care a lot about power, I just like players to hit the ball and get on base.  Hopefully AJ can get got when he gets back to the majors for this playoff push. 

[Commissioner Erick]

Twins 7 - Brewers 2


WP: J. Berrios (2-4)
LP: K. Gadea (2-6)
SV: J. Reed (1)


Kevin Gadea got hit hard and couldn't make it out of the fifth inning. Jose Berrios didn't allow a run until he was lifted in the seventh.

It's not the size of the rotation, but the quality of the pitchers.

Berrios continued to round into form after an extended absence, Nick Gordon got on base four times and scored twice, and the Minnesota Twins knocked off the Milwaukee Brewers 7-2.

Minnesota's pitching was excellent throughout the contest. Berrios was sharp as he worked 6 innings, allowing just a run on four hits, walking none and fanning seven.

Berrios started off the game allowing a weak ground ball to get through to left field for a Charlie Tilson double. He struck out Keston Hiura, one of four times Hiura would strike out, and retired Lourdes Gurriel on a line drive right to Byron Buxton and a fly out to Jorge Polanco to end the inning. In the second inning Omar Carrizales singled and stole second base. An error on the throw pushed him to third, but Berrios struck out Jermaine Palacios to get out of the inning unscathed.

Berrios really settled down after that, allowing just one hit, a Jermaine Palacios double, and one hit batter going forward. His most impressive inning was the sixth when he struck out Hiura on four pitches, struck out Gurriel on four pitches, and struck out Polanco on three.

By this time Miguel Sano had singled in Nick Gordon in the first and doubled home Gordon in the sixth before scoring himself on a Lewin Davis double. With Eddie Rosario's home run added in, Minnesota had a 4-0 lead.

It took until the seventh for the Brewers to break through. Orlando Arcia hooked an 0-2 curveball into left field for a single, prompting Scott Fitzsimmons' manager bot to pull Berrios and turn to the pen. Michael Tonkin came in and a prompt stolen base and error against him put runners on the corners. Brian Mundell singled to make it 4-1, but Jermaine Palacios again came up empty in a big spot, hitting into a double play to bring in the run but kill the rally. The Twins escaped the inning up 4-2.

Jake Reed came on as a setup man in the eighth and worked a scoreless inning before the Brewers' beat-up bullpen allowed three runs without a hit in the bottom of the eighth. Reed stayed on for the ninth and recorded his first save.


Questions for the GMs:


For Vic Black, your offense couldn't get things going against the Twins, with Jermaine Palacios having a particularly rough game. Will he see a lot of time going forward with Arcia back in the majors?

Corey Knebel was banged up and still worked, looking very unimpressive in his three batter stint. Why did he end up pitching?

Omar Carrizales had his 13th steal and is on his way to posting double digits in steals and homers. Talk about what he's meant for you?

For Scott Fitzsimmons, you moved Eddie Rosario into the lineup and responded with a home run. Talk about what you like about him?

Jake Reed was pretty dominant in his stint. Will he get any opportunities to close before the year is up?

Brian Dozier walked and scored but didn't have a hit, continuing a disappointing year. What will your plans be for him the final six weeks of the year or so?