Twins manager Rocco Baldelli responds to the ‘Fire Rocco’ chants at Target Field

There are likely some changes on the horizon for the Twins after their epic freefall over the last six weeks kept them out of the postseason.

Manager Rocco Baldelli, who is under contract through at least the 2025 season, says his job security isn’t something he spends a lot of time thinking about.

“I’ve never stressed out about that,” Baldelli, 43, said. “I stress out about the way we play. I stress out about the results and the process for us to get to those results. I don’t go to bed thinking about my job. I go to bed thinking about the job we do and how we need to do it better. And that’s the reality of it. We’ll let things play out.”

Baldelli entered Sunday with a 457-412 record with three playoff appearances in six seasons. The Twins crumpled when they were in the 2022 playoff race, buried by injuries, and he said the inability to find a way out of this year’s stunning downturn “will continue to irk me and bother me.”

As the Twins lost 25 of their last 37 games before they were mathematically eliminated from the playoffs, Baldelli tried different messages. He wanted them to remain loose. He blasted the team for an “unprofessional” series when they were swept in Kansas City.

“You always believe that there is a path that could work, and in six weeks the several, several paths that we went down, they all ended in the same place,” Baldelli said. “That’s frustrating.”

During the past week, there was a small pocket of fans at Target Field that rang out in “Fire Rocco” chants, which were heard in the dugout.

“The fans, I think, have a right to feel almost any way they choose,” Baldelli said. “I believe that. Frankly, any time we haven’t had success here, I’ve heard them in the stadium, and that’s part of managing a Major League Baseball team.

“I respect the fans. The Minnesota Twins fans showed me last year when we were in the playoffs amazing things, things that can change the outcome of a game in favor of their team. You can’t have greater passion than what I saw. If I’m going to accept that, take that and enjoy that, then I’ll also take the criticism when things don’t go well.”

Twins starting pitcher Bailey Ober said he didn’t think it was “super fair” to pin blame for the Twins’ collapse on Baldelli.

“I feel like most of the blame should be on the players,” Ober said. “But everyone’s entitled to their own opinion. If the players hear that, I don’t think anyone is really agreeing with that. It’s like, seriously, can’t you see what’s going on? He’s not the one at fault for this mishap that happened. We didn’t get it done.”

Baldelli plans to meet with Derek Falvey, the president of baseball operations, and other members of the front office in the next day or two to begin the typical season review process.

“I’m fully motivated and enjoy what I do,” Baldelli said. “I appreciate our organization and our fans. That goes without saying, but I still feel as passionately today about doing the job as I did the day I took it.”

In the Twins’ first game following their elimination from the postseason, they didn’t end their shutout until Ryan Jeffers homered with two outs in ninth inning in a 9-2 loss to the Baltimore Orioles on Saturday.

Zebby Matthews, who needed 80 pitches to record nine outs, surrendered a pair of two-run homers in his three-inning outing in front of an announced crowd of 30,558 at Target FIeld. Matthews yielded seven hits, six runs and three walks, ending his rookie season with a 6.69 ERA in nine starts.

Orioles third baseman Emmanuel Rivera hit a two-run homer off Matthews in the second inning, an RBI double in the third and a solo homer off reliever Louie Varland in the fifth. Rivera entered Saturday with three homers in 295 plate appearances.

The Twins had Kyle Farmer pitch the ninth inning, his third appearances of the season.

• The Twins placed Jose Miranda (low back strain) and Trevor Larnach (left hamstring strain) on the injured list Saturday, and pitcher Kody Funderburk was optioned. Pitcher Diego Castillo, utilityman Michael Helman and outfielder DaShawn Keirsey Jr. were called up.

• Ober plans to start Sunday despite the Twins’ elimination. “I make [Sunday’s] start, then I make every single one that I was supposed to throw for two years in a row,” Ober said. “That’s big for me and something I take pride in.”