They need to make a bronze statue of this pose

A six strikeout campaign in the first 3 games against the Royals, with a chance to add more this afternoon, has pushed the Big Donkey up to 21 strikeouts, tied for 122nd in MLB. Another 3 strikeout day would likely move him into the top 100.

In the overall race, Matt Olson of Atlanta continues to head the field with 43Ks, Jazz Chisholm, Jr of the Florida Fish has 41, Ryan McMahon of Colorado and Teoscar Hernandez of Seattle are tied for 3rd with 38, and MJ Melendez of the Royals, who is playing like he snuck onto the team bus at a rest stop and grabbed a jersey, is in 5th with 36.

Lurking one back in a six way tie for 6th are strikeout luminaries Aaron Judge and Eugenio Suarez, both well known to connoisseurs of the K.

YokelRidesAgain said:

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A six strikeout campaign in the first 3 games against the Royals, with a chance to add more this afternoon, has pushed the Big Donkey up to 21 strikeouts, tied for 122nd in MLB. Another 3 strikeout day would likely move him into the top 100.

In the overall race, Matt Olson of Atlanta continues to head the field with 43Ks, Jazz Chisholm, Jr of the Florida Fish has 41, Ryan McMahon of Colorado and Teoscar Hernandez of Seattle are tied for 3rd with 38, and MJ Melendez of the Royals, who is playing like he snuck onto the team bus at a rest stop and grabbed a jersey, is in 5th with 36.

Lurking one back in a six way tie for 6th are strikeout luminaries Aaron Judge and Eugenio Suarez, both well known to connoisseurs of the K.

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Horse tranquilizer isn't for the faint of heart.

Strikeouts can be a cruel mistress.

Donkey swung at 5 straight pitches in his second at bat, putting none into play and setting himself up for an inning ending, 2 out strikeout.

And then the pug pitching for Kansas City HITS HIM WITH A PITCH.

Joey-and a lot of other people- came around to score as the Twins sent 12 men to the plate in a 7 run inning.

Teammate Jorge Polanco did manage to strike out twice in one inning, and is 3/4 of the way to a sombrero after three innings.

I think Rocco was in on it

Only one strikeout for King Donkey yesterday, leaving him mired in a tie for 119th in MLB with 22Ks.

The Twins are off today, but five of the six starters they face for the rest of the week are righties, which should give Joey ample playing time. He needs a 10 strikeout week as he tries to claw his way back into the race.

Matt Olson continues to strike out like a man possessed, currently with 45 Ks on the year, on pace for a record breaking 251.

Bad night for the Donk.

The White Sock starter kept failing to miss his bat, as Joey hit two useless balls for easy outs, before being pulled for strategeric reasons as Chicago went to a lefty reliever.

Donkey in a deep slump as he has gone two games without a strikeout, and seen his average fall to a more Joey-esque .206. The White Sock pitchers did not help matters by walking him three times.

Joey is up to 5th in the lineup tonight, making his first appearance against Indians Guardians starter "Peyton Battenfield".

This Battlebot does not seem to be much of a strikeout pitcher, having thrown only 14Ks in 17.1 career innings pitched.

Tonight's game will be televised on Apple TV+.

YokelRidesAgain said:

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Joey is up to 5th in the lineup tonight, making his first appearance against Indians Guardians starter "Peyton Battenfield".

This Battlebot does not seem to be much of a strikeout pitcher, having thrown only 14Ks in 17.1 career innings pitched.

Tonight's game will be televised on Apple TV+.

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Love is a Battenfield.

YokelRidesAgain said:

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Joey is up to 5th in the lineup tonight, making his first appearance against Indians Guardians starter "Peyton Battenfield".

This Battlebot does not seem to be much of a strikeout pitcher, having thrown only 14Ks in 17.1 career innings pitched.

Tonight's game will be televised on Apple TV+.

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Bettenfield looks like one of the worst pitchers in the MLB, but the silver lining is that he does have a decent whiff rate.

I forgot how horrifyingly bad Apple TV's baseball coverage is.

A commentator is currently explaining how "you don't see center fielders hitting as many home runs as Byron Buxton".

Yeah, dude, center field is for slap hitting singles hitters like Willie Mays, Mickey Mantle, Joe DiMaggio, Mike Trout, Ken Griffey, Jr., etc.

Dies Irae said:

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Bettenfield looks like one of the worst pitchers in the MLB, but the silver lining is that he does have a decent whiff rate.

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That barrel rate is alarming, but I think Donkey can help him out with the chase stats.

Donkey is playing the outfield tonight after the Twins sent the guy who has been playing left and batting cleanup to Triple A.

I think playing first has made him focus a little too much on the game. Hopefully in the outfield Joey will be distracted, and carry that over to the plate.

AB #1: It's working! Donkey swinging K!!!

UPDATE #2: As everyone expected, Peyton Manningfield is throwing a perfect game through three innings.

AB#2: Useless fly to short right for Donkey's second at bat. The umpire called a strike on ball four against the heart and soul of German baseball, Max Kepler, and Battlefield remains perfect through 5.

UPDATE #4: Battedball gives up the perfecto on a single after 5 2/3 innings, and then coughs up the lead with a 2 run homer to the Teutonic wonder, Max Kepler.

AB#3: ANOTHER K SWINGING FOR DONKEY!!! After his early season struggles, his average is finally back below the Mendoza line, where it belongs.

AB#4: A little Twins rally brings Donkey to the plate, but he grounds out 4-3.

Donkey not in the lineup today against a lefty.

For the moment, his rise up the strikeout leaderboard is stalled, in a tie for 102nd place.

Joey picked up a pinch strikeout yesterday and is back in the lineup for today's game.

BALL NINE! BALL NINE! BALL NINE!

Joey didn't even get a chance to take the bat off his shoulder in a high leverage strikeout situation, men on first and second with nobody out, as the lugnut pitching for the Indians Guardians walked the second straight batter on 4 pitches.

Mediocre day for Donkey, finishing 0 for 2 with one strikeout and 2 walks.

He could have ended the game with a dramatic K, but grounded out weakly to first instead.

He has a real flair for the mundane

WACHA WACHA WACHA!

Beautiful high leverage K for Donkey, fighting off the chance at the 4th sac fly of his career with men on 2nd and 3rd with one out.

As you can tell from the photo, his swing was, uh, slightly late.

After a pitiful performance by the Twins' lineup yesterday, Rockhead Baldelli intimated that changes would be made to the Twins lineup, leading us all to hope afresh for ***LEADOFF DONKEY***!

Instead, the Twins shipped the only player with an RBI yesterday to Triple A, and moved Joey down to 7th in the lineup.

Life is hard, but it is harder when you are stupid.

Donkey just turned a nifty 7-3 double play after a barehand catch in the outfield. Obviously he meant to do that.

I just watched that highlight. Incredible.

That double play was just what Donkey needed to get him going!

Halfway to the sombrero after four!

Joey continued his relentless pursuit of excellence yesterday, adding two hits, an RBI walk, and most importantly, a strikeout. His batting average is back at the Mendoza line, and he is up to 83rd in strikeouts for the season, with 32.

Because his manager is a Rockhead, Joey is unlikely to start against Cubs lefty Drew Smyly tonight.

At the top of the leaderboard, Matt Olson of Atlanta continues to pace the field with 56. Teoscar Hernandez of Seattle is right on his heels with 54. Jazz Chisholm, Jr. of Miami is in 3rd with 50, followed by Ryan McMahon of Colorado with 49, and the Dodgers' James Outman with 48.

The strikeout flag is flying at half-mast this morning at the news out of Kansas City.

The Royals have decided that Big Franny Reyes sucks too much to be on the Royals, which I'm not sure how is even possible.

A highly anticipated bidding war among the other 29 teams will hopefully materialize.

But for now, both Reyes and Miguel Sano--the only hitter in MLB history to reach 1000 strikeouts faster than Joey Gallo--are out of baseball.

Donkey, who is leading the Twins in weighted on base average, plants a three run homer in the upper deck.

Do you see, Rockhead? Lead. Off. Donkey.

Carlos Correa, who is hitting .190 and has a fully guaranteed $200 million contract, is picking up the slack at the strikeout position, with two by the third inning.

Unfortunately I am on my way back to the Twin Cities from South Dakota, so no photos today.