It’s been a tough weekend for the Minnesota Twins, who were swept by their division rival Kansas City Royals, who now sit 2.5 games ahead of them in the American League Central and Wildcard standings. The sweep also put their playoff hopes suddenly in jeopardy.
Back on Thursday, the Twins had over a 95% chance of making the postseason, according to Fangraphs . That percentage has now slipped to 85.7%. And it wasn’t just about the Twins losing three games this weekend, to a team trying to take their spot in the standings. It was how they lost.
Rocco Baldelli mad about Minnesota Twins “unprofessional series”
The baseball they are playing right now is not pretty. Their manager Rocco Baldelli is growing tired of watching such poor effort. After their loss on Sunday, Rocco met with the team (something he doesn’t do often), then refused to meet with media.
All he told reporters was that his team put forth an “unprofessional effort” this entire series. End quote. This isn’t the first time we’ve heard about a P.O.’d Rocco, recently. Reports say he has not been happy with Royce Lewis, either.
There’s a reason Baldelli is upset. His team put up a total of two runs in their entire three-game series vs Kansas City, this weekend. That’s right. They lost 4-0 in game one, 4-2 in game two and 2-0 in game three.
The one game where they did score, the Twins held a 2-0 lead entering the 8th inning. Rocco Baldelli pulled Bailey Ober, after 83 pitches and just one hit, which proved to be a poor decision.
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But even if you throw that aside, the Minnesota Twins can’t expect to win very many games, no matter the decisions made by their manager, if they score just two runs… let alone very many series. Ryan Jeffers confirmed with reporters after the game just how pissed off Rocco really was.
The effort apparently sent Baldelli over the edge. After forcing players to sit in silence for several minutes, Baldelli entered the room and lit into his club like never before. Catcher Ryan Jeffers said it’s the angriest he’s seen Baldelli in four seasons together, and he appreciated the effort.
“He’s tried the rah-rah (speech) and the pump-up,” Jeffers said. “It was time for that. Maybe now is the time for the kick in the ass.”
The Athletic
This team remains 3.5 games ahead of the Detroit Tigers and Seattle Mariners, for the final Wildcard spot in the AL. In all likelihood, they should be able to hold onto that… but not if they keep getting swept.
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