AL DIVISION SERIES: TWINS VS ASTROS

October 7, 2023

Rocco Baldelli

Minute Maid Park

Minnesota Twins

Pregame 1 Press Conference

Q. I know you've been -- helped kind of the stolen base aspect of the game to a couple of players on your side, but how much do you anticipate taking advantage of the struggles they've had with controlling the running game?

ROCCO BALDELLI: The strategy parts of all of these games are the interesting things to speculate on. I think I probably prefer to just let everyone watch and see these sorts of things.

But we're not going to play baseball too differently than the way we've played it all year, and the guys that we have that can go out there and steal a base are going to have the right to go out there and do it again.

We do have some guys that have done a pretty good job of being good, aggressive base runners. When they get out there, they're ready to go. Willi Castro has done that all year long. Stevenson. We talked about it a lot about the roster, but truthfully I wanted to have him on the roster and thought he offered us a lot of different things.

So to think that those guys are going to go out there and be ready to steal a bag wouldn't be farfetched.

Q. Taking Fundy off the postseason roster, you have one lefty in the bullpen. What kind of gives you confidence to only have one lefty for the series?

ROCCO BALDELLI: You want to have it all is what you want. You want to be able to carry Stevenson. On top of that, Royce is still DH'ing, is moving a lot better, but he's still not flying yet. It makes you want to carry the extra position player.

That's really what it comes down to in a lot of ways. You have to decide, you have to make calls, just like they did. Yes, I would like to have Fundy on the roster too, and he's been good. He's been good against both righties and lefties. But no team has that luxury.

So when it comes down to 26, that's the number. One thing that our pitching group does have to offer is we have five active starters on an ALDS roster, which I don't think every team has, and on top of that, we have another guy or two that can go two or three innings in the pen. We have several guys that can cover more than an inning.

If we had just kind of a one-inning group of guys to choose from, then you have to really consider carrying the extra pitcher, but that's not our group this year.

Q. Along the lines of pitching, Kenta hasn't pitched in a week. Chris Paddack hasn't gotten in. During the season, there would be something of an urgency to find or schedule those guys. I'm guessing you don't do that in a playoff series. Is it difficult to not use certain guys and kind of change your usage pattern that you would normally have during the season?

ROCCO BALDELLI: It's not difficult because in these games, in these playoff games, you're playing to win, and you're going to put the best pitcher out there every inning that you think is going to get you through that inning. If some guys end up not pitching for a while, then part of our job is to get them the work in some other way while also not overworking them because we might need them maybe the following day.

So we've seen a lot of guys over the last week to ten days just go touch the mound, and they might not have worked themselves into a game, but they get a little bit of -- you know, maybe grab a little bit of feel back by just getting on the mound and the bullpen and getting a little work in and things like that.

But not every guy is going to be getting enough work in these games on a regular basis, so we have to find other ways to help them. But you can't get overly concerned about that. You have to make sure -- your players have responsibility. Our guys know they have to be ready. When we call their name, they have to be ready to pitch even if they haven't pitched in a while.

And every team is dealing with the same thing. We're not alone in this.

Q. What did you see in terms of progress from Royce in the field during the workout yesterday?

ROCCO BALDELLI: I would call it gradual progress. He's doing well. I was pleased with what I've heard and what I've seen and where he's at right now. He's in a good spot to help us win games right now, but he's just not in a place where I feel comfortable yet, the medical staff feels comfortable yet, just sticking him at third base. Can he make most of the plays right now without issue? Yes, he can. But it's not really about making most of the plays. It's about some of the more difficult plays that he will have to be asked to make in these games.

We can't put him in a spot where he's going to stretch himself and compromise himself. So when we've gotten over that point, over that hump, then we'll do it. Then we'll put him out in the infield and let him go. We're just not quite at that point yet.

Could it be this series even? I think it's possible, just not today.

Q. You have Bailey Ober pitching today, Paolo Lopez pitching tomorrow, and Christian Vazquez was on the Astros postseason roster last year. How big of an advantage is that pitching matchup and having Christian Vazquez's knowledge help you in this series?

ROCCO BALDELLI: Vazquez has a tremendous understanding of the game. He's a guy we've relied on all year long in a lot of ways. We've rotated our catchers all year. Both of them have played regularly, and Vazquez is a guy that a lot of our pitchers actually, they really enjoy throwing to him because of his -- the way he handles them during the game, the way he prepares, really all aspects of the defensive side of the ball.

I don't like sitting here saying we have an advantage in any way just because he has some experience and knowledge of the other team. Correa also has a little bit of time here too and all that. So we have some guys that know these guys well, but really once the game starts, I think a lot of that goes kind of out the window. It just comes down to what happens on that given day.

Q. How much of the conversation with Byron is strictly his own health versus, okay, maybe he could DH but you're using that slot for Royce right now?

ROCCO BALDELLI: Well, I had kind of a longer conversation with Byron last week going into the first series. I've talked to him a little bit recently. I did tell him that he was not going to be on the active roster for this series. Didn't get into every detail of that.

But a lot of it comes down to more than just -- is he doing actually reasonably well right now? I'd say yes. He had a good live BP session facing Alcala yesterday on the field. I think he looked good, felt good, and came out of that okay. But being active on the roster for this series right now, there's a lot more that goes into it. There is, than just generally how he's feeling.

He would have to run and feel pretty good doing that. The spot that he would take, he'd have to potentially go in the field and play in the field. Instead of making it -- they might not all be two player moves if you were going to use him. There's a lot that goes into it is really the point.

What we're going to do is keep him going. He's definitely improved. He looks, I'd say, pretty good. We'll take that. Let's keep playing. Let's keep winning games and keep winning series and keep having to push Bux and see just where he can get and see if we can get him active.

Q. How are they prepared to face Justin Verlander taking into account his playoff history?

ROCCO BALDELLI: Yeah, Verlander is, beyond being one of the greatest pitchers we've seen over the last 20 years just generally speaking, he's kind of a unique character because of the way he attacks hitters, and he's been especially good for a long time now against left-handed hitters. I think there's a lot that goes into that. There's not just one reason for it. He's got a lot of pitches that are just -- they're effective against guys that swing from that side of the plate, with the ride, cut, fastball, and the command, the fact that he gets the pitches to spots in the zone that are tough to get to. The big breaking ball, the up and down breaking ball is a tough pitch against some of these guys too.

But also, a lot of our best hitters, they're left-handed. What we're going to do is send them out there. It's him going at our guys and us going right back at him, and we'll see who's better today. That's what a lot of it is going to come down to. We have some guys that make good adjustments at the plate, and we have some guys that can hit pitches that a lot of lefties struggle with.

So I think it will be kind of a great showdown in that regard watching the way he attacks and the way that we adapt to what he's doing.

Q. You've been pretty aggressive pinch-hitting to get platoon advantages all season, even midgame. How do you view the fact that that might not really be available much in this series because of how right-handed their bullpen is? Do you see it as a positive, a negative? How does that affect your strategy there?

ROCCO BALDELLI: I don't see it as a positive or negative. I just see it as a different. The games might look different than most of the games we play.

I do think that tomorrow's game will be different than today's game. Obviously with Valdez starting, and we'll generally run the guys that are going to go out there and face lefties. There will be pinch-hitting, some pinch-hitting going on tomorrow at some point along the way.

But today might be kind of like what I just referenced, their starting pitcher going at our starting lineup, and just seeing who breaks first. Truthfully, I'm looking forward to it because I think we have a group that can do a lot of good things against right-handed pitching, even some of the best right-handed pitchers in the game, like the guy we're facing.