Minnesota

Twins

Margot’s home run was his fourth of the year. He hit a solo shot off Kyle Hendricks in the fifth inning. Margot played centerfield with Byron Buxton on the bench. He’s not a fantasy option as most of his playing time comes against left-handed pitchers or off the bench. Margot is hitting .243 with a .651 OPS and 26 RBI on the year.

It was Jax’s eighth save of the season and first since June 23rd. Jhoan Duran pitched the eighth inning, but there’s been no changing of the guard here. Jax has value in that he can provide good ratios and strikeouts for a reliever, but he’s not the regular closer for Minnesota so the most you can expect is the occasional save.

Wallner’s first double was a gift as Pete Crow-Armstrong lost the ball in the lights, but he doubled again later in the game and came around to score. Wallner was the designated hitter and hit fourth in the lineup on Monday. As a strong side platoon option, Wallner is regularly hitting in the middle of the order against right-handers. He’s been hitting well since his latest call up from the minors. Wallner is hitting .269 with a 1.030 OPS and 14 RBI on the year.

Festa allowed just four baserunners on a pair of hits and walks, respectively, over five strong frames at historic Wrigley Field. He’s struck out at least six batters in each of his last four appearances and has allowed a total of three runs over his last three appearances spanning 14 1/3 innings of work. He was removed after 82 pitches, and hasn’t completed more than five innings in any of his appearances, which indicates the Twins aren’t going to let him work deep into games moving forward. However, he has strikeout stuff and has been effective over his last three appearances, despite a bloated 5.55 ERA overall. He’s certainly in streaming consideration in mixed leagues now. The 24-year-old rookie right-hander is set to face the Guardians at home this weekend. He’s at least worthy of a speculative roster spot in all fantasy leagues at this juncture.

Lee did work on the field before the game, but Willi Castro was again in the lineup at short. It sounds like this is just a precaution, and he’d be OK to start at shortstop if needed. Lee has been rather disappointing offensively to date, and it’s possible that he’ll be sent down once Carlos Correa returns.

Winder has really struggled this year, so this will probably be a brief stint for him. He had a 6.35 ERA in 34 innings out of the pen for St. Paul.

Okert has a 4.45 ERA in 38 appearances this season. He figures to rejoin the Twins later this week.

Lewis wound up with two homers, seven RBI and four walks in the three games against the White Sox. His OPS stands at 1.056 through 33 games, which is the second-highest mark for anyone with at least 40 at-bats (Aaron Judge is at 1.157).

This should have been the easiest win of Woods Richardson’s young career; he was facing a team that had lost 19 straight, and the Twins gave him eight runs to work with in the first two innings. Woods Richardson, though, wound up giving three runs between the third and fourth, and the Twins declined to send him back out for the fifth at 89 pitches. The Twins will likely continue to be pretty careful here; Woods Richardson is nearing his career high for innings and it’s quite possible he’ll be needed to make postseason starts.

The club had planned on taking Buxton out of the game anyways given their large lead at the time, so him crashing into the wall in center field made that call even easier. He was checked out by the Twins’ medical staff and no issues were found, so he shouldn’t need to miss any time going forward.