Bullpen disaster draws intense criticism of Twins' Rocco Baldelli

Baldelli trusted a lefty who has struggled against the heart of San Diego's order and the decision backfired Tuesday night.

Jul 26, 2024; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Minnesota Twins manager Rocco Baldelli (5) looks on prior to the game against the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park. Mandatory Credit: Brian Bradshaw Sevald-USA TODAY Sports / Brian Bradshaw Sevald-USA TODAY Sports

Bailey Ober put together another quality start in San Diego but manager Rocco Baldelli's decision to go with lefty reliever Steven Okert in the eighth inning has drawn intense criticism from fans and media as the Minnesota Twins lost 7-5 to the Padres on Tuesday night.

What happened? Ober allowed three runs on just four hits in six innings and Griffin Jax cleaned up his mess in the seventh inning on just 10 pitches to keep the game tied 3-3. No real harm was done becaue the Twins reclaimed the lead, 5-3, on a two-run single by Christian Vazquez in the top of the eight.

Instead of going to a trusted late-inning arm with a two-run lead, Baldelli went to Okert.

The left-hander, who has allowed 15 runs in his last 12.1 innings (meaning he had allowed 11 runs in his last 12 innings before Tuesday night's disaster) immediately gave up singles to Donovan Solano and Luis Arraez and then served up a three-run homer to All-Star Jurickson Profar.

That one went very ProFAR 😉 pic.twitter.com/OTnQ8snrgJ

— San Diego Padres (@Padres) August 21, 2024

Just like that the lead was gone and the Twins trailed 6-5.

Reason enough to take Okert out of the game after he faced his three-batter minimum? Apparently not because Baldelli left him on the mound for a lefty-lefty matchup with Jake Cronenworth and he gave up another single.

Baldelli trusted him for one more batter and Okert finally got an out by inducing a popout off the bat of star third baseman Manny Machado. What did Baldelli do next? He replaced Okert with Ronny Henriquez — who has spent the majority of his season at Triple-A St. Paul — and Xander Boegarts ripped a 102.5 mph double to score Cronenworth and put the Twins down by two.

Why did Baldelli go with Okert instead of late-inning arms like Jorge Alcala, Cole Sands, Caleb Thielbar or Jhoan Duran? All of them but Thielbar, who pitched Monday night, were available, according to Baldelli, but he went with Okert because the Padres had a bunch of lefties due up at the plate.

"They have runs where there's just a bunch of left-handed hitters coming up so we have to do something about that and match up," Baldelli said. "You see this run of left-handed hitters and it should be a good opportunity for our lefties to go out there and do their jobs.

Rocco Baldelli spoke about Bailey Ober's outing and the bullpen decisions in the 7-5 loss to the Padres #MNTwins | #MLB pic.twitter.com/pe9PenVMKR

— Bally Sports North (@BallySportsNOR) August 21, 2024

Baldelli trusted one of his two lefty relievers even though Okert has been very hit or miss this season. You don't have to look for very long on X before you see the scathing criticisms of Twins fans about the manager's decision.

The bullpen has cost the Twins in consecutive games at the worst possible time. On Monday, Jorge Alcala got blown up and the Padres rallied to beat the Twins. Meanwhile, the Guardians escaped the first game of their series against the Yankees with a 9-5 win in 12 innings, so the Twins enter play Wednesday tied with the Royals for second place in the AL Central, 3.5 games behind Cleveland.