Where they at, how they doing?

I don’t know about you, but every time I see Liam Hendricks close out a game with his massive fist pump I get annoyed. Mainly because he’s another “what could’ve been.” Also, probably because it means the Twins have likely just lost. Should I be happy for him and his success? Sure. I just cannot forget the 18 agonizing starts it took before he recorded his first win with the Twins in 2012. That’s 17 games started with Minnesota and no wins. It was just unbelievable, but here we are. He’s one of the best relievers in the game, leads the AL in saves and just closed out the All-Star Game. Oh, he’s also making $54 million over the next three years.

Check out these hilarious clips of Liam mic’d up during the All-Star Game.

I think the FOX crew immediately regretted this decision. You really can’t help but laugh.

Here’s some quick facts about Liam Hendriks: played for the Twins from 2011 to 2013, career ERA is exactly 4.00 - past three seasons sub 3.00, Australian, 32 years old and wife has a baseball clothing boutique.

Eduardo Escobar got a hit during the game which was good to see. You cannot dislike this guy. He plays for the worst team in baseball, and this was Esky’s first All-Star Game invite. Major League Baseball chose him as a reserve to represent Arizona. Escobar was very excited to get the nod - saying he works hard for this, so this was big for him and his family. Now he’s batting 1.000 in All-Star Games. Not bad for El De La Pica.

Photo by Matt Dirksen/Colorado Rockies/Getty Images

Quick facts: He played with the Twins from 2012-2018. He came as part of the Liriano trade to Chicago. Escobar is Venezuelan, has more home runs than any Twins player (20) and is married with five kids.

Photo by Matt Dirksen/Colorado Rockies/Getty Images

Lance Lynn, another White Sox pitcher, came in and got two outs, gave up a walk, then struck out J.T. Realmuto. Lynn was an All-Star in 2012 with the Cardinals. Lynn currently is 9-3 with the Chicago and has a sub-2 ERA. His stint with the Twins was 20 games of sub-par baseball. The team signed him in 2018 as a FA for 1 year/$12 million and thankfully were able to salvage some of that $$ when he was dished to his beloved Yankees. Anyway, now he’s out there beating the Twins, 2-0 against Minnesota this year with one no-decision. Go figure.

Lance Lynn facts: He was in the Little League World Series in 1999. Grew up in Indiana. He resides in Tennessee in the off-season. He’s 6’5 and 34 years old.

Photo by Bruce Kluckhohn/Minnesota Twins/Getty Images

Another former Twins pitcher made the team, Ryan Pressly. Good thing the Twins have a stellar bullpen, so it doesn’t hurt so much watching these guys. We didn’t see Pressly Tuesday night because he is on paternity leave I guess. He and the other three Astros All-Stars didn’t make an appearance in Denver. Funny how that happens. They all had other things going on. Pressly was with the Twins from 2013-2018. In true Minnesota sports fashion, he became an All-Star in 2019.

Pressly facts: He’s 32, Twins got Jorge Alcalá and Gilberto Celestino in the Pressly trade to the Astros, this will be he and his wife Katherine’s first child.

Photo by Daniel Shirey/MLB Photos via Getty Images

Lastly, some say he was snubbed by Shohei Ohtani as the starting AL pitcher in the All-Star Game, Kyle Gibson is having a heck of a season on a heck of an awful team. That takes skill. He’s another pitcher who since leaving the Twins has become an All-Star. Are we seeing a trend here? Kyle was once the right-hander Twins fans were constantly hopeful, optimistic about. It just never happened. He ate innings but never had a season with an ERA better than 3.62. Gibson pitched an inning in the All-Star game: Flyout - Single - Flyout - Popout. Interesting.

Here’s his stat line so far this season: 6-1, 2.29 ERA, 102 IP, 88 SO, 1.07 WHIP

For comparison, here is Ohtani’s: 4-1, 3.49 ERA, 67 IP, 87 SO, 1.21 WHIP

Rangers are 35-55. Angels are 45-44.

Gibby Facts: Like Lynn, Gibson is also from Indiana and tall. Kyle is 6’6. He was drafted by the Twins in 2009 and with the MLB team from 2013-2019. He signed a 3-year $30 million contract with the Rangers. He has three kids. He was a communications major in Missouri. He has his own segment on Youtube called ‘Kart with Kyle” <— click to check it out