Minnesota Twins

Minnesota Twins relief pitcher Tyler Duffey has been suspended for three games after throwing behind the legs of Chicago White Sox designated hitter Yermin Mercedes, per Jon Heyman of MLB Network.

Twins Pitcher Tyler Duffey has been tossed from the game after he threw a pitch behind Yermin Mercedes.

(via @NBCSWhiteSox) pic.twitter.com/vuA7ogfjpy

— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) May 19, 2021

Duffey is appealing the suspension, while manager Rocco Baldelli will serve a one-game suspension Thursday night against the Los Angeles Angels. 

Baldelli argued with umpire Jim Reynolds after Duffey was ejected on Tuesday, resulting in his suspension. 

White Sox manager Tony La Russa, who fed the fire against Mercedes after he hit a home run on a 3-0 count against the Twins on Monday, said he didn't view the pitch as malicious. 

"The guy threw a sinker," La Russa said (h/t Wilton Jackson of Sports Illustrated). "It didn’t look good. So I wasn’t that suspicious. I’m suspicious if somebody throws at somebody’s head. I don’t have a problem with how the Twins handled that." 

La Russa's failure to stick up for his player yet again echoes what he told reporters after Monday's home run: 

La Russa said he gave the take sign to Mercedes on the 3-0 pitch. He made a mistake. There's a consequence he'll have to endure within the family, per La Russa. "He's not going to do that again," La Russa said. He said it's more about sportsmanship and respect.

— Scott Merkin (@scottmerkin) May 18, 2021

La Russa on Mercedes and his 3-0 home run: "The fact that he is a rookie that was excited helps explain why he just was clueless. But now he's got a clue."

— Vinnie Duber (@VinnieDuber) May 18, 2021

Mercedes didn't back down in the face of criticism from his manager. 

"I'm going to play like that," Mercedes said. "I can't be another person. Everything was good. Some of the teammates talked to me—just be relaxed. Just do you. We are good."

Duffey has appeared in 16 games for the AL Central's last-place team (14-27), amassing a 4.40 ERA while striking out 13 and walking 10 in 14.1 innings. 

Minnesota Twins starting pitcher Jose Berrios is a "name to watch" if the Toronto Blue Jays begin to pursue ways to strengthen their staff, according to MLB Network's Jon Morosi.

Berrios is 3-2 with a 3.74 ERA and 3.53 FIP in eight starts so far, per FanGraphs.

The first question is why Minnesota would want to trade one of its best pitchers.

The Twins own the worst record (14-26) in the American League, but the door isn't totally closed on the playoffs. FanGraphs gives them an 8.8 percent chance of reaching the postseason, while Baseball Prospectus is a little more optimistic at 20.7 percent. 

Berrios is arbitration-eligible for one more year, with the bulk of the current roster signed or under team control through at least 2022. Should the organization miss out on the playoffs, the front office doesn't need to blow it up and start over.

But general manager Thad Levine might see sometime before the July 30 trade deadline as the best time to move Berrios since Minnesota's trade leverage will only dwindle the closer the 26-year-old gets to free agency.

The Blue Jays are second in the East at 23-17, 0.5 games back of the Boston Red Sox. The top four teams in the division are separated by just 1.5 games, so it promises to be a tight race.

Because of that, acquiring a starting pitcher would be a sensible move. Toronto's starters are collectively 21st in FIP (4.39) and 27th in home run rate (1.67 per nine innings), per FanGraphs.

Chicago White Sox manager Tony La Russa said he doesn't have an issue with Minnesota Twins right-hander Tyler Duffey throwing a pitch low and away behind rookie superstar Yermin Mercedes on Tuesday.

Tony La Russa's comments on the Twins throwing behind Yermín Mercedes: pic.twitter.com/dLe7Oriohk

— White Sox on CHSN (@CHSN_WhiteSox) May 19, 2021

"I wasn't that suspicious," La Russa told reporters in regards to whether he believed the pitch was thrown intentionally. "I'm suspicious when someone throws at someone's head. I didn't have a problem with how the Twins handled that."

Duffey was ejected for the pitch, which came one day after Mercedes swung on a 3-0 count and hit a home run off Twins utility player Willians Astudillo in the top of the ninth inning of Chicago's 16-4 win the night before.

Mercedes crushed that Astudillo offering to deep center field:

Should have known we weren't getting out of here without a Yermínator dinger! pic.twitter.com/ncTXlGCfpa

— White Sox on CHSN (@CHSN_WhiteSox) May 18, 2021

Twins manager Rocco Baldelli didn't appear to take too kindly to Mercedes' swing when speaking with reporters the next day:

Rocco Baldelli said given the context of the game, he was surprised to see Yermín Mercedes swing on a 3-0 pitch in Monday’s game. #MNTwins

— DanHayesMLB (@DanHayesMLB) May 18, 2021

But neither did La Russa, who went all-in on defending the unwritten rules of baseball over Mercedes. 

La Russa said he gave the take sign to Mercedes on the 3-0 pitch. He made a mistake. There's a consequence he'll have to endure within the family, per La Russa. "He's not going to do that again," La Russa said. He said it's more about sportsmanship and respect.

— Scott Merkin (@scottmerkin) May 18, 2021

No incidents happened during Mercedes' first three at-bats Tuesday before Duffey sent this pitch flying past the rookie:

Twins Pitcher Tyler Duffey has been tossed from the game after he threw a pitch behind Yermin Mercedes.

(via @NBCSWhiteSox) pic.twitter.com/vuA7ogfjpy

— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) May 19, 2021

Duffey and Baldelli were both tossed.

La Russa didn't seem to believe that Duffey threw behind Mercedes on purpose, but White Sox pitcher Lance Lynn came to the rookie's defense.

Lance Lynn’s full comments when asked about Yermín Mercedes getting thrown at pic.twitter.com/CHy0H4gTE0

— James Fegan (@JRFegan) May 19, 2021

So did shortstop Tim Anderson:

https://twitter.com/JRFegan/status/1394835844763111425

https://twitter.com/ChiSportUpdates/status/1394779990097551360

The same went for ex-White Sox skipper Ozzie Guillen, who now works for NBC Sports Chicago as an analyst:

How would @OzzieGuillen have reacted if someone threw at his player?

"I'm not gonna put up with that." pic.twitter.com/uvkP4T7trH

— Chicago Sports Network (@CHSN__) May 19, 2021

For his part, Mercedes doesn't subscribe to the unwritten rules, saying this before Tuesday's game:

Yermin Mercedes isn't here for the unwritten rules of baseball.

"I'm going to play like that. I'm Yermin. I can't be another person because if I change it, everything is going to change. ... We're just having fun. It's baseball." pic.twitter.com/WGf8ZyL2TN

— Chris Emma (@CEmma670) May 18, 2021

Chicago led 4-0 Tuesday but allowed five runs thanks in part to Miguel Sano's three homers and lost 5-4. The 25-16 White Sox still own the American League's best record.

Minnesota Twins outfielder Byron Buxton was placed on the 10-day injured list with a grade two hip strain, the team announced Friday. 

#MNTwins placed Byron Buxton on the 10-day injured list with a grade two hip strain and called up Trevor Larnach.

— Aaron Gleeman (@AaronGleeman) May 7, 2021

Trevor Larnach has been recalled to fill Buxton's roster spot. 

The 27-year-old was off to an MVP-caliber season through 24 games, slashing .370/.408/.772 with nine home runs, 17 RBI, five stolen bases and enough diving catches in center field to already fill up his 2021 highlight reel. 

Minnesota (11-19) entered Friday on a three-game losing streak and fourth in the American League Central. 

Larnach would make his MLB debut if he gets into the lineup.

The 24-year-old is MLB Pipeline's No. 3-ranked prospect in the Twins organization and its No. 69 overall prospect. Scouts believe in Larnach's ability to crush the ball, rating him a 55 hit, 55 power and 55 overall on a scale of 20-80. 

Per Pipeline: 

The Twins love his swing and he controls the strike zone extremely well, with the chance to eventually be a plus hitter from the left side. The power came after a swing adjustment and he's shown the ability to drive the ball to all parts of the ballpark as he continues to work on turning on inside pitches to his pull side. 

While Larnach doesn’t run particularly well, he's an adequate defender with an above-average arm who has shown the ability to play right field. It's that left-handed bat, though, that will get him to the big leagues and allow him to be the kind of run producer teams like to have in their outfield corners.

Despite the potential Larnach brings with him to the bigs, it's nearly impossible to expect the rookie alone to replace Buxton. As the Twins look to get their season back on track, expect manager Rocco Baldelli to rely on Jake Cave, Max Kepler, Kyle Garlick and Willians Astudillo in the field alongside Larnach. 

The Minnesota Twins released a statement Tuesday amid jury deliberations in Derek Chauvin's trial for the killing of George Floyd. 

In the statement, Twins ownership, the Pohlad Family, expressed support for Floyd's family and called for the death of Black people at the hands of police to stop:

A message from #MNTwins ownership: pic.twitter.com/TmDvdzahI5

— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) April 20, 2021

As part of the statement, the Pohlad family wrote: "We are horrified and ashamed that this keeps happening to Black people in our community and many other cities across our country." The family also noted "that whatever the jury decides, there will still be much work to do" to end systemic racism.

The Pohlad family also mentioned the killing of Daunte Wright, who was a 20-year-old Black man fatally shot by a police officer on April 11 in the Minneapolis suburb of Brooklyn Center, Minnesota.

Floyd—a 46-year-old Black man—was killed last May while being arrested by Minneapolis police.

During the arrest, then-police officer Chauvin kept his knee pressed on the back of Floyd's neck for several minutes while he was in handcuffs and on the ground. Chauvin continued to kneel on Floyd even while Floyd pleaded that he could not breathe. Floyd eventually stopped breathing and was later pronounced dead.

Chauvin was fired by the Minneapolis Police Department and subsequently charged with second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.

The jury for the case is in the midst of its second day of deliberations following testimony from both the prosecution and defense.

Saturday night's game between the Minnesota Twins and Los Angeles Angels has been postponed as the Twins deal with issues related to COVID-19, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic.

Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register reported Sunday's game is also canceled. 

Twins manager Rocco Baldelli told reporters before the game Saturday that he had to make a last-minute change to the lineup because of COVID-19 issues.

Saturday's concerns were just the latest in what has been a string of them for the team in the previous days: a member of the team's traveling party tested positive for the virus prior to their Friday night game, one day after Baldelli returned a false positive test of his own, per Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press.

"Just more challenges that we have to deal with, and that's what we have to do," Baldelli told reporters before Saturday's game. "We have to kind of keep our heads up. We have to keep moving forward. We have to keep focused on what we need to do to get ready for a game and also keep ourselves safe."

Twins shortstop Andrelton Simmons tested positive for the virus Tuesday, receiving his result after the team lost to the Boston Red Sox, president of baseball operations Derek Falvey told reporters Wednesday. He did not travel with the team to California.

Baldelli also said that outfielder Kyle Garlick and another unnamed Twin have tested positive:

Twins manager Rocco Baldelli says Kyle Garlick has tested positive for COVID-19 and another player had tested positive as well. That is in addition to Andrelton Simmons’ positive earlier this week as well as a staff member. Playing tomorrow’s game, he says, is “up in the air.”

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) April 18, 2021

According to the Associated Press, members of the Twins were able to receive a one-shot COVID-19 vaccine at Target Field last week, which Simmons declined. In a tweet last month, he said he does not plan to get vaccinated.

The Twins are currently scheduled to finish their series with the Angels at 4:07 p.m. ET on Sunday before heading to Oakland for a three-game series against the Athletics. However, as Baldelli noted, the Sunday game's status is "up in the air."

Minnesota Twins shortstop Andrelton Simmons reportedly tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday and will be placed on the COVID-19 injured list, according to the Associated Press (h/t ESPN). 

Per that report, Simmons chose against being vaccinated on Thursday when the Twins were given the option to receive a single-dose vaccine at Target Field. 

Minnesota's president of baseball operations Derek Falvey said the shortstop was experiencing "very mild" symptoms. He'll have to quarantine for at least 10 days as a part of MLB's protocols regarding the coronavirus. 

Simmons tweeted in late March that he would not be getting the vaccine:

I’ve received some questions and some requests regarding the vaccine. And for personal reasons and past experience I will not be taking it or advocating for it. I hope I don’t have to explain myself. And hope you all make the best decision for you and your family’s health

— Andrelton Simmons (@Andrelton) March 26, 2021

“We have to monitor his symptoms and determine whether or not he remains symptomatic or if there’s a change in symptoms,” Falvey told reporters. “If he doesn’t and he persists in everything just kind of as-is, much like J.A. Happ when we had the beginning of major league camp, if we can test him at the end of this process then he can return in 10 days.”

Falvey told reporters the Twins held a team meeting to continue upholding the league's coronavirus protocols despite the majority of players receiving the vaccine. 

"We're not out of the woods by any means on that front," he said. "Now is the time to be as vigilant as possible."

Infielder J.T. Riddle was called up from the organization's taxi squad to replace Simmons on the roster. The Twins have started the season 5-5 as they look to reach the postseason for the third straight year and fourth time in five seasons. The Twins have not won a playoff series in their impressive run, however.  

Monday's game between the Minnesota Twins and Boston Red Sox has been postponed in the wake of the fatal police shooting of Daunte Wright:

The #MNTwins issued the following statement regarding the decision to postpone today's scheduled game against the Red Sox. pic.twitter.com/7U1S2P928j

— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) April 12, 2021

Wright, a Black man, was shot and killed by police in Brooklyn Center, a suburb north of Minneapolis, on Sunday. The 20-year-old was driving with his girlfriend when he was pulled over, and police attempted to take him into custody after learning he had outstanding warrants for his arrest, according to CNN. 

According to Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs and Julie Bosman of the New York Times, body camera video showed the officer shouting "Taser!" before firing. Brooklyn Center Police Chief Tim Gannon said he believed it "was an accidental discharge that resulted in a tragic death." 

Twins manager Rocco Baldelli told reporters before the game that postponing it had been a possibility all morning amid "civil unrest and curfew concerns" (h/t Megan Ryan of the Star-Tribune). 

Brooklyn Center Police Department is about 8 miles from Target Field, where the Red Sox and Twins were supposed to begin play 5 minutes ago. https://t.co/Tls5hTuvgp

— Jason Mastrodonato (@JMastrodonato) April 12, 2021

"All of us, all of us, especially us in Minnesota right now, are tired in a lot of ways of having these types of conversations," Baldelli said. "There's a huge disappointment and sadness when you have to wake up to these things. … I shouldn't say there's a disbelief, because I think we've seen these things happening around the country way too much, but it is very disappointing and very sad every time we see this."

After the announcement, Twins president Dave St. Peter spoke to reporters and elaborated on the decision to postpone the game:

#MNTwins president Dave St. Peter on the decision to postpone: pic.twitter.com/hkpvF0CA5o

— DanHayesMLB (@DanHayesMLB) April 12, 2021

The latest killing comes amid the ongoing murder trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who is charged with second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in the killing of George Floyd (h/t CNN).

Floyd died in May 2020 after Chauvin held his knee on Floyd's neck for nearly nine minutes despite Floyd saying that he was unable to breathe. 

The teams have yet to announce a makeup date for the game but are currently scheduled to play Tuesday at 2:10 p.m. ET. 

Minnesota Twins bench coach Mike Bell died of cancer on Friday at the age of 46.

The team issued a statement confirming the news:

The Twins announced that bench coach Mike Bell has died of cancer at age 46. Just tragic. Condolences to his family and friends. pic.twitter.com/78oi86qSG5

— Mark Feinsand (@Feinsand) March 26, 2021

The Twins announced in February that Bell was going to work remotely and miss spring training as he recovered from surgery after being diagnosed with kidney cancer during the offseason. 

"Mike has handled this with great courage, and as I said before, he’s recovering, doing great and is looking for the next part of his recovery, which will take place at home in Arizona for the time being," Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said at the time. 

Bell was entering his second season as Minnesota's bench coach. It was his first experience on the coaching staff for a Major League organization. 

Prior to joining the Twins, Bell worked in player development with the Arizona Diamondbacks. He was a first-round draft pick by the Texas Rangers in 1993 out of Archbishop Moeller High School in Cincinnati. 

Bell played 19 games in the big leagues with the Cincinnati Reds during the 2000 season.

Minnesota Twins outfielder Byron Buxton is going to miss some time with a tooth issue. 

According to Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press, Buxton chipped his tooth while eating steak and had to undergo a root canal, though he is expected to return to the team soon.

Buxton, 27, hit .254 with 13 homers, 27 RBI and 19 runs in the 2020 season. He was on pace to set a career high in homers (previously 16), though the campaign was limited to just 60 games because of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Root canal is never a fun procedure. Be careful around those steaks, people.