Minnesota Twins Manager Rocco Baldelli made the decision to close the clubhouse to reporters on Wednesday following his team’s disheartening three-game sweep by the Atlanta Braves.
The Twins suffered a 3-0 loss, marking their sixth shutout of the season.
Baldelli expressed his disappointment with the team’s performance, highlighting their lack of adjustments during the game. He candidly stated, “Well, what I took away was the truth of the matter is we were flat and we made no adjustments really in the game almost whatsoever, and if you’re going to call a spade a spade and say how it is, that’s not good baseball.”
Acknowledging the magnitude of the defeat, Baldelli emphasized, “We got wiped this series by the team on the other side of the field. There’s no way we can walk out of this with any positives, to be honest with you, and that’s the truth.”
Prior to the series against Atlanta, the Twins held a half-game lead over the Cleveland Guardians in the AL Central. However, their losses dropped their record to 40-42, accompanied by an alarming 0-for-23 performance with runners in scoring position throughout the series.
The Atlanta Braves pitching staff posed a significant challenge for the struggling Twins, limiting them to just four hits while recording 14 strikeouts.
Reflecting on the team’s lackluster display, Baldelli emphasized the need for substantial adjustments, stating, “I mean if I’m rolling that up and trying to portray it any other way I’m lying, so we have to make some really, really legitimate adjustments to what we’re doing right now if we’re going to go out there and compete and win games against that team or really any other team.”
Baldelli opted not to single out individual players for underperforming, but he did grant shortstop Carlos Correa a day off to allow the two-time All-Star to recuperate.
Correa, who has been dealing with plantar fasciitis, has struggled this season, maintaining a batting average of .212 with 11 home runs and 37 RBIs in 71 games.
Correa’s struggles are not isolated, as both Byron Buxton and Joey Gallo have faced difficulties at the plate. Buxton has a batting average of .203, while Gallo’s sits at .189, with Gallo going 0-for-3 with three strikeouts in Wednesday’s game.
Collectively, the Twins ended the first half of the season with a team batting average of .232 and a .710 OPS.
Expressing his frustration, Baldelli admitted, “We’ve attempted to make adjustments in some ways. It hasn’t worked, just it hasn’t worked. This is a challenge. This is an ultimatum for our team.”
Calling for a change in approach and mindset, Baldelli remarked, “We’re here. These guys work their freakin’ [tails] off every day, but maybe we’ve got to work our [tails] off in a different way and have a different approach and a different mindset when we step out on the field ’cause really what we’re doing right now is frustrating because that’s madness going out there and doing the same stuff over and over and over again when we have guys that have shown either for periods of time or for their whole careers to be productive players to be falling flat as a group right now. We demand more of ourselves than what we’re doing right now.”
With an off-day today, the Twins have the opportunity to regroup before their upcoming three-game series against the Baltimore Orioles, set to start tomorrow.
Time will tell how the Twins respond to Baldelli’s harsh (but truthful) words.