Minnesota

Twins

Rashi is merely a depth addition for Minnesota after being removed from Arizona’s roster last week. The 30-year-old has posted a serviceable 5.40 ERA across 20 innings in the majors over the last two seasons. It’s worth noting that he’s compiled some impressive numbers at the Triple-A level in recent years, but that success hasn’t translated into a permanent role at the highest level.

Bell’s home run was his sixth of the year. He hit a three-run home run as part of a furious Twins comeback attempt in the ninth inning. Bell’s hitting .224 with a .636 OPS, so he’ll have to pick up the pace if he wants to get traded to a contending team before the end of the year.

Prielipp gave up four hits, walked one and struck out seven. He fell to 2-4 with the loss. Prielipp had a quick hook after only 77 pitches as he was pulled with one out in the fifth inning. The move backfired on Twins manager Derek Shelton as his chosen reliever Andrew Morris allowed three runs. Prielipp has a 5.15 ERA. He’s lined up to face the Cardinals at home next weekend.

Lewis made his first career appearance at the position late during Saturday’s game and now will draw his first start there on Sunday. The 27-year-old slugger was lighting the world on fire at the Triple-A level once again before going 0-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout during his return to the Twins on Saturday.

Twins’ skipper Derek Shelton told reporters that the club considered putting Buxton in the lineup as the designated hitter but ultimately decided it was best to give him another day off following Friday’s collision with the center field wall. He’s still considered day-to-day and it’s possible he could be used off the bench on Sunday.

The first inning was eventful for Ryan. After the leadoff homer, Bobby Witt Jr. sent a shot to left-center that both Trevor Larnach and Ryan Kreidler tried to catch, leading to a collision. Fortunately, both were OK after being checked on and Kreidler actually held on to the ball. After that, things were pretty quiet. Ryan struck out five and allowed no additional extra-base hits. He remains 4-3 with a 3.07 ERA. He’ll next face the Tigers on Thursday, unless the Twins decide to add a fifth starter before then and push Ryan back to Friday against the Cardinals.

Orze’s pitching wasn’t so much the issue; he allowed a pair of singles, neither of which were hit hard, and threw 13 of his 17 pitches for strikes. However, he made a bad judgment call on a comebacker following a leadoff single and a stolen base, choosing to try to throw out the runner returning to second instead of taking the easy out at first. The gambit failed, and after a successful sac bunt, the Royals tied the game on a sac fly and took the lead on a Bobby Witt Jr. liner just over a leaping Orlando Arcia at short. It’s Orze’s third blown save, but he’ll still be in mix for saves in the wide-open Twins pen.

Lewis made his second career start at second base and, after some shuffling, his first major league appearance at first today. The error came on what should have been a routine double play turn, but Lewis, still a novice at second, didn’t realize how much time he had with his back to the runner and made a bad throw. Of course, that still wouldn’t have been an error, since the double play can’t be assumed, but the ball went into the dugout and allowed the batter to advance to second. On offense, Lewis had a weak groundout, a walk and a weak popout before coming up with two on and two outs while down by one run in the bottom of the ninth and striking out looking against Alex Lange. It’s all a good reminder that there might not ever have been a bigger skill gap between Triple-A and the majors than there is right now. Still, Lewis will surely get another chance Sunday.

Twins manager Derek Shelton said there are no plans for Buxton to undergo imaging after he suffered a right shoulder contusion while making a phenomenal leaping catch at the center-field wall during the third inning of Friday’s series opener against the Royals. It’s the same shoulder that he injured while sliding into second base back on May 23. The 32-year-old fantasy stalwart will get some extra time off to rest and recover this weekend, but he appears to have avoided serious injury. Fantasy managers should consider him day-to-day heading into Sunday’s series finale. It’ll be Ryan Kreidler taking over in center field on Saturday afternoon.

Lewis returns to the big leagues after nearly a month at Triple-A, where he tore the cover off the ball, hitting .333 (20-for-60) with 10 homers across 15 games. The gap between Triple-A and the big leagues feels wider than it has in recent memory, which makes projecting immediate success for Lewis a challenge as he returns to the majors. He’s clearly regained some confidence at the plate, which is an important variable. He’s expected to see time at third base, second base, first base and DH moving forward. At a minimum, Lewis is worthy of a speculative add in deeper mixed leagues on the chance he can translate his strong Triple-A run into sustained success at the highest level.