CHICAGO WHITE SOX NOTES:
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MINNESOTA TWINS NOTES:
THE TWINS: Have gone 3-2 through five games on their six-game homestand, going 2-1 vs. the Astros, followed by a 1-1 split of the first two games vs. the White Sox this week…this afternoon, the Twins will play the three-game series finale with the Sox…after today’s game, the Twins will travel to New York to begin a seven-game, eight-day roadtrip with four against the Yankees from Thursday-Sunday, followed by an off-day on Monday, then three against the Red Sox at Fenway Park from next Tuesday-Thursday.
ALL PABLO DAY NIGHT AT TARGET FIELD: The Twins beat the White Sox last night at Target Field by a score of 4-3 in 10 innings, winning their second extra-innings game this season and second this homestand…Pablo López was the starter but did not factor into the decision, allowing two runs on three hits in 7.2 innings pitched with one walk and 10 strikeouts…he retired his final 23 batters in his Target Field debut…Pablo’s 10 strikeouts marked his third career double-digit strikeout game and one short of his career-high…the offense recorded nine hits, including home runs from Byron Buxton (2) and Michael A. Taylor (1).
The 23-straight batters retired for López to finish his night marked the third-longest stretch for any Twins starter or reliever during any stretch of a game (Elias):
PITCHER DATE/OPPONENT CONSECUTIVE RETIRED
Jack Kralick……………………. August 26, 1962 vs. Kansas City Athletics………………………………………25
Scott Baker………………………. August 31, 2007 vs. Kansas City Royals………………………………………..24
Pablo López……………………….April 11, 2023 vs. Chicago White Sox…………………………………………23
RUN THE JULS: The Twins announced today that they have recalled infielder Edouard Julien from Triple-A St. Paul…Julien, 23, played in nine games for the Saints, hitting .290 (9-for-31) with two doubles, two home runs, four RBI, seven walks, a .421 on-base percentage and a .970 OPS.
The Québec City, Canada native played for Team Canada during the 2023 World Baseball Classic in March and hit .538 (7-for-13), with two doubles, two home runs, two RBI, five walks and led the tournament with a 1.821 OPS.
Julien played in 113 games for Double-A Wichita in 2022 and hit .300 (120-for-400) with 19 doubles, three triples, 17 home runs, 67 RBI, 98 walks, a .441 on-base percentage and a .931 OPS…he led the Texas League in walks and on-base percentage and ranked third in OPS, sixth in slugging percentage (.490), and seventh in batting average.
After the 2022 season, he played for Glendale in the Arizona Fall League and hit .400 (28- for-70) with a .563 on-base percentage and a 1.248 OPS and was named the league’s Breakout Player of the Year and an AFL All-Star.
He ranks as the organization’s fourth best prospect by both MLB.com and Baseball America and ranked as having the best strike-zone discipline in the Twins’ system by Baseball America…he is the No. 96 prospect in all of baseball, per MLB Pipeline
Edouard is looking to become the 11th Canadian to play for the Twins, joining Justin Morneau (Canadian Baseball HOF), Corey Koskie (HOF), Dave McKay (HOF), Rene Tosoni, Scott Diamond, Reno Bertoia (HOF), Georges Maranda, Jesse Crain, Andrew Albers and Vince Horsman.
BUX FRESH SOX: Byron Buxton is hitting .278 (66-for-237) with 20 doubles, one triple, 16 home runs, 39 RBI, 45 runs scored and an .898 OPS in 69 career games vs. the White Sox… below are his first 48 career games vs. the Sox (June 22, 2015-June 29, 2019), compared to his last 21 (June 30, 2019-present):
AVG R H 2B HR RBI BB K OBP SLG OPS
FIRST 48 .234 27 37 13 7 21 11 46 .291 .449 .740
LAST 21 .367 18 29 7 9 18 3 21 .393 .823 1.216
NOTE: Nine of those home runs and 16 RBI have come in his last 14 games.
MOUND MATES: Through 11 games, Twins starting pitchers have combined to post a 2.59 ERA (66.0 IP, 19 ER), with 15 walks, 81 strikeouts and a 0.91 WHIP…below are their ranks among all starting staffs in Major League Baseball:
ERA BAA FIP WHIP HITS ALLOWED K’s WAR
TB – 1.80 TB – .190 TB – 1.98 MIN – 0.91 TB – 40 MIN – 81 TB – 2.4
MIN – 2.59 MIN – .190 MIN – 2.86 TB – 0.92 NYY – 43 TEX – 74 MIN – 1.9
NYY – 3.15 NYY – .216 LAD – 3.56 LAD – 1.08 MIN – 45 CWS – 73 LAD – 1.7
MIL – 3.38 MIL – .217 TEX – 3.30 SF – 1.09 DET – 46 TB – 71 TEX – 1.6
SF – 3.38 SD – .229 NYY – 3.54 MIL – 1.16 CHC – 47 SF – 64 NYY – 1.5
TWINS AND SOX: Twins and White Sox are playing the third of 13 meetings this season…after this three-game series, their next series will be in three games from May 2-4 at Guaranteed Rate Field…since 2015, the Twins have gone 79-66 against the Sox, their most wins against any opponent in that span.
The Twins have beat the Sox 65 times at Target Field (since 2010), second-most of any opponent (Kansas City – 66).
THE BUCK SHOW: Byron Buxton hit his 100th career home run last night, becoming the 20th player in club history (since 1961) to reach that mark…he has 12 hits in 39 at-bats to start the season (.308)…since 2021, Buck is hitting .348 (54-for-155) with 13 doubles, 16 home runs, 30 RBI and 34 runs scored in 41 March/April games…in 2021, he was named American League Player of the Month for April.
SERIES-LY SPEAKING: A victory today would secure the third series win of the season for the Twins…in 2022, they went 21-24-6 in series play, going 14-8-4 at home and 7-16-2 on the road…the Twins have gone 2-1 through their first four series this season, going 3-0 at Kansas City from March 30-April 2, 1-2 at Miami from April 3-5 and 2-1 vs. Houston at Target Field from April 7-9.
THE TRUTH ON TREVOR: Trevor Larnach went 1-for-3 with a walk last night, extending his career-long on-base streak to 11 straight and has a .420 on-base percentage during his current run…he leads the team in hits (13), RBI (8) and walks (8).
Reaching safely in 11 straight to start the season is the longest since Brian Dozier (17) and Joe Mauer (13) started 2018.
The top five Twins on-base streaks to start a season are Kent Hrbek — 33 in 1982, Joe Mauer — 28 in 2016, Jacque Jones — 27 in 2005, Chuck Knoblauch — 23 in 1997 and Tom Brunansky — 23 in 1985.
STARTING PITCHER – SONNY GRAY 54
A Will face White Sox for the 11th time in his career, is 4-2, 4.47 ERA (52.1 P, 26 ER), with 21 walks
and 48 strikeouts…last faced Chicago-AL on September 2, 2022.
Recorded a career high 13 strikeouts in his last start during the Twins’ home opener April 7.
Acquired by the Twins on March 13, 2022 in a trade with the Reds, along with right-handed pitcher Francis Peguero, in exchange for right-handed pitcher Chase Petty.
LAST START: Did not factor into the decision for the Twins home opener against the Houston Astros on April 7, opposite José Urquidy…pitched 7.0 innings, with one run over four hits and one walk issued… struck out a career high 13 batters…his previous record was 12 batters, which he last reached on July 3, 2019 against Milwaukee…struck out five of the first 10 batters he faced…relieved by Griffin Jax to start the eighth inning as the bullpen combined to pitch 2.0 scoreless innings in relief of Gray, before Jorge López allowed a an unearned run in the 10th inning…Twins secured the victory via a walkoff RBI single by Kyle Farmer.
Gray’s 13 strikeouts were the most by a Twins starter since Francisco Liriano’s 15 strikeouts July 13, 2012 vs. Oakland.
TWO STARTS AGO: Was the winner in his season debut in game two of a three-game series at Kansas City on April 1, opposite Jordan Lyles…Twins won 2-0, securing the series victory…pitched 5.0 shutout innings, with three hits allowed, four walks and just one strikeout…walked four of his first 13 batters faced…relieved by Jorge Alcala to start the sixth inning, as the bullpen combined to pitch 4.0 scoreless innings in relief of Gray.
AGAINST CHICAGO-AL: Gray is facing the White Sox for the 11th time in his career, going 4-2, 4.47 ERA (52.1 IP, 26 ER) with 21 walks and 48 strikeouts in his 10 previous appearances…last faced Chicago-AL on September 2, 2022 at Guaranteed Rate Field…did not factor into the decision after pitching only 4.0 innings, surrendering two runs, five hits, one walk and striking out two batters.
Made one relief appearance against the White Sox on August 7, 2018 where he pitched the final 3.0 innings of a 13-inning game as a Yankee…allowed only one hit, issued one walk and fanned four batters…earned the win.
Since becoming a Twin, Gray has a 9.39 ERA against the White Sox, the second highest against any team has faced trailing only the Red Sox (10.80)
HOME SWEET HOME: After his home debut, Gray is 0-0, 1.29 ERA (7.0 IP, 1 ER) with one walk and 13 strikeouts…his at home ERA is ranked eighth in the American League (minimum 7.0 IP)…Gray went 4-2, 2.66 ERA (67.2 IP, 20 ER) with 25 walks and 78 strikeouts in 13 starts at Target Field…is now 50-38, 3.82 ERA (735.1 IP, 312 ER) with 248 walks and 714 strikeouts in his career at home.
LEFTIES AND RIGHTIES: So far this season, Gray has seen more success against right-handed hitters as opposed to lefties…in his first two starts, Gray has held righties to .130/.161/.200 (4-for-30) with 13 strikeouts as opposed to lefties who are slashing .250/.438/.333 with just one strikeout.
In his career, Gray owns a .237 opponent batting average (628-for-2654) with 674 strikeouts against right-handed hitters and a .222 batting average (571-for-2569) with 678 strikeouts against left-handed hitters.
Since 2019, is holding left-handed hitters to a .202 (172-for-851) batting average, is now third among major league right-handed pitchers (min. 750 AB) in that span, trailing Gerrit Cole (.190) and Zac Gallen (.198).
THE ARSENAL: Gray is currently using a six-pitch mix, per Baseball Savant…continued to use his curveball the most at 31.5 percent compared to 24.6 percent last year…has exclusively used the slider against righties and has only used his changeup against lefties…eight of his 12 strikeouts in his last start came from the slider…here’s a look at his repertoire so far:
PITCH (AVG. MPH) PCT. (# OF PITCHES, VS. RHB/LHB) RESULTS
Curveball (79.0)………………………31.5% (57 pitches, 25/32)……………………… .250 (3-for-12),1 2B, 3 K
Slider (82.8)…………………………….18.2% (33 pitches, 33/0)……………………………. .000 (0-for-10), 9 K
4-Seam Fastball (92.6)…………….17.1% (31 pitches, 16/15)……………………….. .429(3-for-7), 1 2B
Sinker (92.2) ……………………………13.3% (24 pitches, 19/5)………………………….. .167 (1-for-6), 2 K
Cutter (87.3) ……………………………11.0% (20 pitches, 19/1)………………………………… .000 (0-for-5)
Changeup (87.2)……………………….8.8% (16 pitches, 0/16)…………………………………. .000 (0-for-2)
SONNY DAYS: Gray is starting in his third straight day game this season…his 0.75 ERA ranks fifth among American League pitches for day games…Gray is 36-27, 3.26 ERA (525.1 IP, 190 ER) with 177 walks and 499 strikeouts in his career during day games.
CAREER NOTES
• Twins are fourth organization (Oakland 2011-17, New York-AL 2017-18 and Cincinnati 2019-21).
• Acquired by Minnesota on March 13, 2022 in a trade with the Reds, along with righthanded pitcher Francis Peguero, in exchange for right-handed pitcher Chase Petty.
• Has made seven Opening Day rosters with the Athletics (2014-2016), Yankees (2018), Reds (2019-2020) and Twins (2022).
• Named to American League All-Star team in 2015 for Oakland and the National League squad in 2019 for Cincinnati (did not pitch in either).
• 2019 recipient of the Johnny Vander Meer Award as the Reds’ Most Outstanding Pitcher and finished second to Atlanta’s Josh Donaldson in voting for the MLBPA’s National League Comeback Player of the Year Award.
• Named to Baseball America’s 2019 major league All-Star second team…named American League Pitcher of the Month for April in 2014…in 2013 was the Athletics’ Minor League Pitcher of the Year and a Baseball America Triple-A All-Star. • Originally selected by Oakland in first round (18th overall) in 2011 First-Year Player Draft out of Vanderbilt University…led Vandy to its first NCAA College World Series berth in 2011.
• Is 0-2, 2.95 ERA (21.1 IP, 7 ER) with 12 walks, 18 strikeouts and a .189 opponent batting average in four career Postseason starts.
AGAINST THE CENTRAL: Gray is facing an American League Central opponent for the 53rd time in his career (51st start)…he is 24-13, 3.27 ERA (297.0 IP, 144 ER), with 117 walks and 269 strikeouts in his career against the AL Central.
Since becoming a Twin last season, Gray is 7-2, 2.76 ERA (62.0 IP, 19 ER), with 16 walks and 61 strikeouts in 12 starts against the AL Central…he ranks sixth in ERA and is tied for ninth in strikeouts against the AL Central since 2022 (50.0 IP minimum).
