Seth Stohs Speaks on Sports, The Minnesota Twins, and more!

The White Sox won their Wednesday afternoon game against Cleveland, so the Twins had to win on Wednesday night to retain their four game lead over the South Siders. Francisco Liriano threw seven shutout innings and yet he wasn’t even the best pitcher in the game. Tigers’ starter Max Scherzer showed just how good he can be and gave up just one run in nine innings. But in the 10^th inning, Danny Valencia knocked a single to center field that scored Michael Cuddyer from second base to give the Twins a 2-1 win. This game was a pitcher’s dual. Tuesday night’s game was a ugly display but turned into a win, and at this stage of the season, that’s all that matters.

· Dan Wade asks if Danny Valencia could be the AL Rookie of the Year.

· John Bonnes writes that he’s buying into Danny Valencia… now.

The Twins have 29 more games to play. The White Sox also have 29 games remaining. The Twins have a four game lead in the division, and I am hearing way too many people saying that the AL Central race is over. Let’s see, the Twins were able to win the AL Central one year ago despite being three games out with four games to play. The Twins and White Sox play three more games against each other, in Chicago. There are several reasons that the Twins and their fans need to keep the pressure on.

· Injuries – It started before the season when Joe Nathan’s season came to an end before it even started. Justin Morneau has been out nearly two months and there is no reason to believe he can come back this year. Jim Thome’s back has tightened up, something that shouldn’t be a surprise. Brian Fuentes’s back locked up on him, and although he is only expected to be out a couple of days, how do we know that is all? Jason Kubel took a pitch off of his hand. It’s not broken, but clearly it will take a few more days for him to be 100% Orlando Hudson clearly isn’t playing at full speed. Nick Punto is back on the disabled list. JJ Hardy has to get days off yet because he is far from 100% and it shows on defense. Joe Mauer got absolutely beat up behind the plate on Wednesday night. Obviously Fuentes and Randy Flores are around because of injuries to Jose Mijares and Ron Mahay. Kevin Slowey is also on the DL. Putting all of these players who are either hurt or injured is exhausting, and alarming. The team has won despite playing very short-handed. Of course, the White Sox have been hurt by injuries as well. They have lost Jake Peavy for the season. Gordon Beckham was hit by a pitch and did not play on Wednesday. Matt Thornton and JJ Putz were put on the Disabled List a week ago. But I think you would have to say that the Twins have many more injuries on their roster.

· Bullpen – Does anyone really trust Matt Capps on a consistent basis? He has a bad WHIP, and has never been in a pennant race before. Jon Rauch is scarier. Matt Guerrier is terrific, but he is prone to giving up some home runs. And until Jose Mijares gets back, Flores is a scary option too. Brian Fuentes and Jesse Crain are trustworthy, and the bullpen depth is terrific, but there are question marks. Again, the White Sox bullpen has plenty of holes too. Putz and Thornton had both struggled before going on the DL, and Jenks is not trusted. Sergio Santos is showing signs of tiring. Chris Sale is awesome, but he was in college three months ago.

· Outfield Defense – it was a concern before the season, and it has not been pretty at all. Denard Span won’t be winning any Gold Glove Awards. Jason Kubel may not have a ton of range, but whatever he gets to, he catches and has a strong arm. Everything hit to left field when Delmon Young is playing out there is an adventure, and just because a ball hits his glove does not mean that he will catch it. These players generally have done more than enough offensively to offset their defensive flaws, but in low scoring games, one mistake can mean a loss.

· 4^th and 5^th starters – After Francisco Liriano, Carl Pavano and Brian Duensing, what can we expect from the other 40% of starts? Scott Baker remains inconsistent. Kevin Slowey is hurt. Nick Blackburn had an incredible performance against a bad Seattle lineup on Saturday, but are we ready to believe that he has turned a corner yet? Never underestimate Mark Buehrle, Gavin Floyd, John Danks or Edwin Jackson.

· The Manny Impact – He’s weird. He doesn’t always try hard. But when he is healthy and care, he can still be a high-impact player who could really spark the White Sox team.

· The Sale Factor – The Twins have a ton of left-handed hitters, someone like Chris Sale could play a huge role. in the Twins/White Sox games, and he will be a big part of their

Baseball Prospectus tells us that the Twins have an 89.6% chances of making the playoffs. Hey, I think that the Twins will win the division. But if we look at the bottom of the Twins lineups the last few games, runs have been at a premium. 29 games isn’t a lot, but the biggest reason I’m not willing to hand the Twins the AL Central is baseball’s best reason. It’s Baseball. Anything can happen in baseball!

TWINS MINOR LEAGUE NOTEBOOK

Here is a look at the Wednesday night’s minor league scores and highlights:

· Rochester 2, Syracuse 7 – Anthony Swarzak was back on the mound to start this game. He gave up four runs on eight hits and two walks in six innings to raise his ERA this season to 6.08. Pat Neshek gave up two runs on one hit and one walk in 1.2 innings. Rob Delaney came in and gave up a run of his own, two hits and a walk before getting the final out. Jacque Jones and Brandon Roberts had two hits each.

· New Britain 10, Reading 7 – Ben Revere continues to amaze. In this game, he was 3-4 with a walk, his fourth triple and his 35^th stolen base. Steve Singleton went 3-5 with his fourth triple. Evan Bigley went 2-5 with his first triple. Chris Parmelee went 2-5 with his second triple and his third stolen base. Joe Benson was 2-5 with his 14^th stolen base and three RBI. Jair Fernandez was 2-4 with his 11^th double. Juan Portes hit his eighth home run. Tyler Robertson was the recipient of the offense. In seven innings, he gave up four runs (3 earned) on seven hits. He walked two and struck out five. Blake Martin came in and gave up three runs on three hits in 1.2 innings. Matt Williams gave up one hit before getting the last out.

· Ft. Myers 1, Palm Beach 0 – Liam Hendriks has been incredible this year. In this game, he threw five shutout innings. He gave up two hits, walked none and struck out four. Brett Carroll threw three shutout innings for the win. Jhon Garcia recorded the save after a scoreless inning. Yangervis Solarte went 2-3. Jonathan Goncalves drove in the lone run. The Miracle had just five hits in the game.

· Beloit 4, Burlington 3 (11 innings) – The Snappers remained just one game out of a playoff spot with just five games to go by winning this game. Edgar Ibarra started and gave up three runs on six hits in six innings. He walked one and struck out eight. Andrei Lobanov and Pedro Guerra walked three but did not allow a run in a combined 1.2 innings. Miguel Munoz struck out four in 2.2 scoreless innings. Eliecer Cardenas recorded his eighth save by getting the final two outs. Aaron Hicks went 3-4 with a walk. Josmil Pinto hit his 20^th double and 10^th home run. Wang-Wei Lin went 2-4 with a walk.

· Elizabethton 7, Pulaski 4 – It’s playoff time in the Appalachian League, and in Game 1, the E-Twins played well to take a 1-0 series lead. Manuel Soliman got the call in Game 1. In 6.2 innings, he gave up four runs (3 earned)on five hits. He walked one and struck out eight. Michael Tonkin was perfect for the final 2.1 innings to gain the win. Danny Ortiz continued his hot hitting. He went 3-5 with two doubles. Nate Roberts returned and was 2-3 with two walks, two doubles and a stolen base. Andy Leer had a double and a triple. Gunner Glad hit two doubles. Jhonatan Arias went 2-5.

Any thoughts on the Twins or the Twins blogosphere? Feel free to leave your questions and comments here.

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Arizona Fall League Rosters Announced

Seven Twins Headed to AFL

On Tuesday afternoon, the Arizona Fall League rosters were announced. As I’ve mentioned previously, each team sends seven players to the league. The Twins prospects will play for the Peoria Saguaros this year, along with prospects from the Chicago White Sox, the Cincinnati Reds, the San Diego Padres and the Tampa Bay Rays. So, who is heading to Arizona to represent the Twins?

The Pitchers

· David Bromberg – RHP – As I mentioned yesterday, Bromberg has very quietly put together another very good year. He was the Twins Minor League pitcher of the year in 2009 after a very solid year with the Ft. Myers Miracle. He began 2010 by making 17 starts at AA New Britain, and has been even better in his nine AAA starts. Despite leading his league in strikeouts the previous three years, Bromberg remains a greatly underappreciated prospect.

· Carlos Gutierrez – RHP – I would assume that Gutierrez will be pitching primarily out of the bullpen. After making 16 starts for the Rockcats, he moved into the bullpen and made 16 appearances. He has pitched better out of the ‘pen and the assumption has always been that he and his 95+ mph sinking fastball would play better in a relief role.

· Tyler Robertson – LHP – This one is a little surprising. It has been a tough AA Debut for the tall, talented lefty. He has gone just 3-12 with the Rockcats (And also got a loss in his one spot start with Rochester). Following a very good 2007 season, he was my #1 ranked Twins prospect, but he was hurt some in 2008 and his numbers have not been the same since. That said, he has a lot of talent, and a lot of potential. As the team’s 3^rd round pick in 2006, the Twins will need to decide if they will protect him on their 40 man roster.

· Kyle Waldrop – RHP – It’s been a very good year for Waldrop, even with the struggles the last six weeks. There had been talk of the Twins shutting down Waldrop, so that is why I am a little surprised that he is going to Arizona. It will be a good opportunity for Waldrop to continue to work out of the bullpen on that sinking fastball that has helped him to a successful AAA debut season.

The Hitters

· Joe Benson – OF – The power portion of his five-tools definitely came into play in 2010. He has hit 20 homers with the Rockcats and added four more during his short stint back in Ft. Myers. It’s definitely been a tough second half for Benson in terms of batting average, but he continues to have a high Isolated Discipline. He will be added to the 40 man roster after the season, but he will likely return to New Britain in 2011. This Arizona experience will help him gauge where he is at.

· Chris Parmelee – 1B – This one is surprising for me only because he played for Mesa in the Arizona Fall League last year and in my time following the Twins minor leagues, I haven’t seen a player go to the AFL in back-to-back years. That said, since returning to the Rockcats from Ft. Myers, Parmelee has been terrific. He’s hit .321 with a .404 OBP since the All-Star break.

· Ben Revere – OF – Revere returned to the Twins lineup just three weeks after being hit in the eye by a pitch. It has been great to see him get back in the lineup and play well. Revere was likely headed to the AFL either way, but getting these at bats at the end of the Rockcats season probably eases some of the concern. Arizona will allow Revere to get more at bats against top competition.

TWINS MINOR LEAGUE NOTEBOOK

Here is a look at the Tuesday night’s minor league scores and highlights:

· The Twins didn’t play very well on Tuesday night, but they won, and that’s all that matters at this point in the season. Right? Matt Capps got tough in the 9^th for the Save. Danny Valencia had three hits and two of them doubles. But a 4-3 win is always a good thing. Injuries are adding up way too quickly though, so hopefully recovery will happen quick, particularly now for Orlando Hudson and Jason Kubel. But with September 1^st here, Jose Morales and Trevor Plouffe will be around on Wednesday night as the first wave of September call-up. More to come.

· Rochester 5, Pawtucket 6 – David Bromberg took the loss in this game after giving up five runs on five hits (3 HR) and two walks in five innings. He struck out four. Kyle Waldrop needed just 18 pitches to throw two shutout innings. Anthony Slama needed 32 pitches to work through the eighth inning during which he gave up one run on two hits and two walks. Brock Peterson went 2-3 with a walk and his 19^th home run. Brandon Roberts was 2-4 with a walk and his fifth double. D’Angelo Jimenez was 2-4 with his 12^thdouble. Brendan Harris hit his fourth home run.

· New Britain 6, Reading 5 – Chris Parmelee’s hot streak continues. In this game, he went 3-4 with a walk and two doubles. Juan Portes was 3-4. Steve Singleton was also 3-4 including his 42^nd double. Steve Hirschfeld started and gave up four runs on eight hits (2 HR) in 4.1 innings. He walked three and struck out two. Carlos Gutierrez gave up four hits in 2.2 shutout innings. He struck out three. Steve Blevins pitched a perfect inning. Billy Bullock recorded his 13^th save but still gave up a solo home run.

· Ft. Myers 4, Palm Beach 1 – Alex Wimmers start with the Miracle has been terrific, and on this night, he was very good. In five innings, he did not allow a hit or a run. He walked one and struck out six. Dan Osterbrock and Kane Holbrooks each pitched a hitless inning. In the 8^th inning, Matt Schuld gave up a hit, and then gave up a run in the 9^th. Deibinson Romero went 4-4 in this game. Allen de San Miguel hit his fifth home run, a three run blast that provided the team more than enough offense for the win.

· Beloit 5, Burlington 9 – Tom Stuifbergen started and gave up five runs (4 earned) on eight hits in 6.2 innings. He walked two and struck out eight. Eliecer Cardenas gave up four runs (2 earned) on one hit and three walks and recorded just two outs. Sam Spangler walked one but got two outs. Zach See pitched a scoreless ninth inning. The Snappers scored their five runs on just seven hits. Josmil Pinto hit his 9^th home run. Reggie Williams went 1-3 with two walks and his seventh stolen base.

· Elizabethton 9, Johnson City 3 – Andy Leer had a big game in this one. He went 3-5 with two doubles and a triple. Brian Burke and Danny Ortiz were each 2-5 with a double. Oswaldo Arcia hit his 21^st double. Preparing for the playoffs, the E-Twins got a couple of innings for several pitchers. Pat Dean started and threw two perfect innings, including three strikeouts. Logan Darnell struck out two in two scoreless innings. Adam Achter threw three shutout innings and struck out four. BJ Hermsen struck out two in his shutout inning. Adrian Salcedo gave up three runs (1 earned) on three hits in the 9^th. He struck out two.

Any thoughts on the Twins or the Twins blogosphere? Feel free to leave your questions and comments here.

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Quick Update

After an incredibly busy weekend, I have been just exhausted, so I apologize for not posting much here. I have decided that trying to sleep a little bit at night can’t be a bad thing. So, I am up early this morning to write a quick posting. Last night, I was actually able to find almost two hours of time to mow my lawn before a big rain storm, so that’s good. The Twins had an off day on Monday, and it was much needed as they prepare for the final month of the season. That starts with three big games starting tonight against the Tigers. As much as the Tigers have struggled, they are still a solid team. And the matchups are not necessarily great for the Twins. Tonight it will be Brian Duensing against Armando Galarraga. Tomorrow night it will be Max Scherzer opposite Francisco Liriano. And on Thursday night, the Twins and Scott Baker will go against Justin Verlander. So, here are a couple of quick links for you:

· Last night on the SethSpeaks.net Weekly Minnesota Twins podcast, I was joined by Twins minor league catcher Dan Rohlfing who certainly had an interesting 2010 season. JJ Stankevitz, the White Sox writer for Examiner.com also joined later in the show to discuss what’s going on with his team. Why didn’t they claim Brian Fuentes? Why did they claim Manny Ramirez? And what does it all mean in the AL Central race? By listening to the show, you can get my thoughts on the return of Ben Revere, and the Twins’ acquisitions of Randy Flores and Brian Fuentes and many more Twins topics.

· This morning, I posted my TwinsCentric StarTribune.com blog. It was called Who Can Help and was a look at who the Twins could be calling up as September call ups over the next week. For Monday’s TwinsCentric blog, I wrote about my Saturday in St. Cloud, watching the Minnesota Twins alumni game at Joe Faber Field.

TWINS MINOR LEAGUE NOTEBOOK

Here is a look at the Thursday night’s minor league scores and highlights:

· Rochester 1, Pawtucket 2 – Matt Fox has been pitching well of late. In this game, he went six innings and gave up two runs (1 earned). He gave up just four hits, walked two and struck out two. Glen Perkins threw two scoreless innings despite giving up four hits and a walk. Brendan Harris went 2-3 with a walk. Jose Morales hit his 19^th double, and had his sixth and seventh passed balls.

· New Britain 6, Reading 7 (11 innings) – Mark Dolenc walked with the bases loaded to give the Rockcats a lead in the 11^th inning, but Blake Martin gave up a three run homer in the bottom of the 11^th and the team had another loss. Matt Williams started and gave up two runs on four hits and two walks in 5.1 innings. Tony Davis walked three and gave up one run in 1.1 innings. Billy Bullock gave up one run on three hits in 1.1 innings. He struck out three. Martin threw two scoreless innings before giving up three in the 11^th frame. Joe Benson went 2-3 with two walks and his 20^th AA home run. He also stole his 12^th base.

· Ft. Myers 4 – No Game Scheduled.

· Beloit 7, Burlington 3 – It was an interesting start for Martire Garcia. The lefty gave up just two runs on four hits in five innings. However, he walked seven hitters and struck out six in the win. Nelvin Fuentes gave up a run on a hit and a walk in his inning. Matt Tone struck out three (and walked four) in two scoreless innings. Miguel Munoz got the final three outs. Lance Ray went 2-3 with a walk and two doubles. Yorby Martinez went 2-3 with a walk and a double. Steve Liddle had two hits. Josmil Pinto hit a triple and drove in two runs.

· Elizabethton 7, Princeton 2 – Jean Mijares has done a nice job as a starter the last couple of outings. In this game, he gave up two runs on two hits and three walks in six innings. He struck out eight. David Gutierrez, Adrian Salcedo and Jose Gonzalez each pitched a scoreless inning in relief. Gonzalez struck out three. Brian Burke, Kyle Knudson and Jhonatan Arias each went 3-4 with a double. Andy Leer went 2-4.

· GCL Twins – their season is complete.

Any thoughts on the Twins or the Twins blogosphere? Feel free to leave your questions and comments here.

Monday, August 30, 2010

Saturday in St. Cloud

Happy Monday! It was a fun day on Saturday. It started with my second Fantasy Football Draft. As that was winding down, I did a radio interview on espn radio in Bismarck. The TwinsCentric & Sooze Viewing Party at Howie’s in St. Cloud was a lot of fun, and we got to see a great performance by Nick Blackburn and an impressive debut by newly-acquired Brian Fuentes. Following the Twins game, I went over to Joe Faber Field, home of the St. Cloud River Bats, to watch their 3^rd annual Minnesota Twins Alumni game. I wrote about it over at the Star Tribune TwinsCentric page.

The Twins have an off day today, and there are plenty of Twins talking points. There are also a lot of Minor league talking points, including the incredible return to the lineup of Ben Revere. We will talk about those things and more on tonight’s SethSpeaks.net Weekly Minnesota Twins podcast at 9:00.

Friday, August 27, 2010

Friday Links and Thinks

We’re back with another week of “Friday Links and Thinks.” I hope everyone has a great weekend and it’d be great to see several of you in St. Cloud on Saturday!

QUESTION OF THE WEEK

Wednesday is September 1^st, the first day that teams can expand their major league rosters beyond 25. Of course, that doesn’t mean that teams will only bring up players on September 1^st. My guess is that the Twins will call up a couple on the 1^st, and then 2-3 more after the Rochester season ends on Labor Day. The Rochester Red Wings and New Britain Rockcats were both eliminated from playoff contention sometime around Memorial Day, so that’s one less obstacle. So, here are some candidates for consideration:

THE GIVENS

· Jose Morales – he’s a given if only to help make Gardy more willing to sit Mauer a little bit in the season’s final month. He can also pinch hit.

· Anthony Slama – He came up for two days and was sent back down. I’d expect he’ll be called up sooner rather than later.

· Trevor Plouffe – He’s been up three other times this year, might as well get him back up here.

· Pat Neshek – I think that Neshek is a given or at least he should be.

THE MAYBES

· Alex Burnett – he spent most of the season with the team until his control caught up to him. He has really struggled since going to AAA. But he definitely fits into the Twins future plans.

· Rob Delaney – he had a bad first half and has really been solid in the second half. How many arms will they want to bring up?

· Brendan Harris – They do owe him money for next year, almost $2 million, but he was already removed from the 40 man roster and would need to be added. Does he have any future with the team?

· Jacque Jones – not on the 40 man roster, not an improvement defensively over even the current Twins outfielders (really!), bats left-handed, provides the Twins nothing but a nice story, which is the only reason he’s a maybe.

· Brock Peterson – he should be considered if only as a right-handed bat off the bench with some power potential. Another great story, he was the Twins 49^th round pick in 2002. If Jones is considered, Peterson has to be ahead of him on the list of 1.) more deserving, and 2.) more likely to help the Twins.

THE DOUBTFULS (but don’t be completely shocked)

· Jose Lugo/Tony Davis – These guys are left-handed and breathing. Lugo has been over-worked with the Red Wings and his numbers show, but from a scouting perspective, he’s got the stuff to succeed. 94 mph fastball with a slider in the upper 80s. Lacks control. Davis was a 2009 draft pick who has advanced quickly to AA. He’s left-handed and gets a lot of strikeouts, just too many walks.

· Toby Gardenhire – Just throwing him out there to get a reaction… don’t worry!

· Anthony Swarzak – he is on the 40 man roster and was good for about four starts last June with the Twins, but he’s been bad in 2010.

What do you think? Who would you send? I would bring up Morales, Slama, Plouffe, Neshek, Delaney and Peterson. My guess is that Delaney and Peterson will not be included, but could help.

WEEKEND AHEAD

Delmon Young provided the Twins with the type of jolt they needed early in Thursday night’s game. Young knocked a three-run home run off of Cliff Lee in the second inning. In the third, Michael Cuddyer drove in two more runs with a double. But on this day, the story was Francisco Liriano. Pitching on extra rest, Liriano did a great job early in the game. He got ground balls and he limited base runners. It was exactly what the team needed after losing three games against someone they are fighting for position with. With the win, the Twins took a ½ game lead over the Rangers and remained 3 ½ ahead of the White Sox. The White Sox will face the New York Yankees this weekend while the Twins travel out west to take on the Mariners in Seattle.

Here are the pitching matchups:

· Friday night – Scott Baker (11-9, 4.63, 1.33, .280) vs Jason Vargas (9-6, 3.43, 1.20, .241)

· Saturday night – Nick Blackburn (7-8, 6.49, 1.65, .338) vs Doug Fister (4-9, 3.87, 1.25, .271)

· Sunday night – Carl Pavano (15-9, 3.56, 1.16, .260) vs. Luke French (2-4, 4.57, 1.41, .274)

TWINS MINOR LEAGUE NOTEBOOK

Here is a look at the Thursday night’s minor league scores and highlights:

· Rochester 1, Pawtucket 3 – David Bromberg is quietly putting together another very solid season. In this game, he gave up three runs on eight hits in 6.1 innings. He walked one and struck out five. Jose Lugo got the final two outs of the seventh inning. Anthony Slama got back to the Red Wings quick and threw a scoreless inning. Kyle Waldrop threw a scoreless inning, allowing one hit. The Red Wings had just five hits. Brandon Roberts was 2-4. Danny Lehmann hit his second double.

· New Britain 6, Binghampton 8 – Chris Parmelee led the offense in this game by going 3-4 with a walk and his first triple. Steve Singleton went 2-3 with two walks. Steve Hirschfeld gave up four runs on four hits and four walks in four innings. Guess how many he struck out. That’s right, four. Tony Davis gave up four runs (just one earned) on three hits and two walks in three innings. He did strike out four. Loek Van Mil threw two shutout innings.

· Game 1 – Ft. Myers 4, Palm Beach 1 – Alex Wimmers made his second start and threw three shutout innings. He gave up one hit, walked two and struck out four. Dan Osterbrock came in out of the bullpen and gave up one run on two hits and a walk in two innings. Matt Williams and Dakota Watts each threw a scoreless inning. Deibinson Romero had a great game. He went 3-3 with a walk, his 10^th and 11^th doubles and his fifth triple. Brian Dozier went 2-3.

· Game 2 – Ft. Myers 7, Palm Beach 3 – Kane Holbrooks has been terrific all season. In this game, he gave up one run on four hits in six innings. He walked three and struck out five. Shooter Hunt came in and walked the two batters he faced. Steve Blevins came in and got the final three outs. Yangervis Solarte went 3-4 with his seventh double and first triple. Chris Herrmann hit his second home run.

· Beloit 4, Kane County 3 – The Snappers are still alive in the playoff race in the Midwest League. Aaron Hicks kept them in the running on this night. Hicks went 2-3 with a walk, his 27^th double and 19^th stolen base in the game, but his sixth home run came in the 8^th inning and gave the Snappers the lead. Tom Stuifbergen started and gave up three earned runs on six hits and three walks in 5.2 innings. He struck out six. Andrei Lobanov came in and gave up three hit in 2.1 shutout innings. He struck out two. Miguel Munoz came in for the save opportunity and shut the door, striking out two in the ninth.

· Earlier on Thursday, Oswaldo Arcia was named the Player of the Year in the Appalachian League.

· Elizabethton 2, Pulaski 3 – Andy Leer led the offense by going 3-4 with his fifth home run. Oswaldo Arcia went 2-4 with his sixth triple. Brian Burke went 2-4. It wasn’t enough on this day. Pat Dean started and gave up three runs on four hits in five innings. He walked one and struck out eight. Adam Achter came in and threw two shutout innings. Dallas Gallant struck out four in two scoreless innings.

TWINS BLOGS

Here is a look around the Twins blogosphere. A good site to find 66 Twins blogs is Newsbobber’s Minnesota Baseball Blog site., but you can also look on the left side of this page for many. I’ve only included blogs that have been updated in the last few days (let me know if I’m missing any sites that I should add):

· Aaron Gleeman posted his Link-O-Rama for the week.

· Check out Twinkie Town’s Roger Dehring’s Minor League Recap.

· Jeff A updates us on the week for former Twins at The WGOM.

· Twinkie Talk gets in to the highly debated (at least of late) role that advanced stats play in awards discussion.

· Check out Part 1 of Coffeyville Whirlwind’s look at The Franchise 1991.

· Ed Thoma, the Baseball Outsider, writes Stephen Strasburg the inevitable. Sad stuff!

· North Dakota Twins Fan only posted one new blog this week. What the heck!!? You’d think he was busy with other stuff or something… Oh yeah, he got married last weekend and moved… OK, I’ll lay off! But next week, I’m expecting a couple of new postings!! Regarding the Randy Flores signing, Off the Mark writes “At Least He’s Not Glen Perkins.”

· For the Love of the Game offers a stern warning, Don’t Mess with Texas!

· Knuckleballs discusses the Minnesota State Fair and lets us know when Twins alumni will be present at the team’s booth.

· That’s Twins Baseball is about to release a new book, Gardyball.

· On the road with… went to see the Rockcats play in Binghampton and has a good summary of his time, pictures and video. Great stuff!

· Did I mention… Congratulations to Cody, the North Dakota Twins Fan (who no longer lives in North Dakota) on his wedding! Best wishes!

· Last weekend, Kevin from Twin Nation posted a Q&A with Kyle Gibson.

· You can still sign up for a Twins Train trip to Detroit in September! Or a Twins Train trip to Lambeau Field in Green Bay to watch a Sunday night game.

· The Glorious Nation of Hrbekistan played another 9 innings this week with some great Twins notes.

· Check out Judd Spicer’s City Pages Blog called Waiting for Morneau: Drama in need of an end.

· Happy 40^th Birthday to the great Jim Thome!!

TWINSCENTRIC STUFF

Here are the links to the StarTribune.com TwinsCentric blog postings for this week:

· Monday – John Bonnes – Surprise Hero

· Tuesday – John Bonnes – Looking for a Bump?

· Wednesday – Nick Nelson – No Place Like Home

· Thursday – John Bonnes – Gratis Flores

· Friday – Parker Hageman – ?

· By the way, the next TwinsCentric (and Sooze) Viewing Party will head out of the Twin Cities Metro and up the road to St. Cloud. The lovely and talented Sooze is running the show on this one. On August 28^th from 2:30-6:30 at Howie’s in downtown St. Cloud, there will be drink and appetizer specials as well as some give-aways. Those in the Metro, it’s not too far away, and those in the outstate, come on down! These events have been a lot of fun and a great opportunity to meet some of your favorite bloggers.

· Following the TwinsCentric Viewing Party, I am going to stay in St. Cloud and head over the Joe Faber Field. The St. Cloud River Bats of the Northwoods League (a college wood bat league) are hosting the Minnesota Twins alumni game at 7:05. Several former Twins players, including Corey Koskie, Jim Eisenrich, Juan Berenguer, Al Newman and several others will be playing in a game. There will be a lot going on throughout the night. Following the game, the player’s jerseys will be signed and auctioned off. Proceeds from the evening will be going to the Miracle League of Central Minnesota. Check out the River Bats website for much more information.

· And then you’re also probably reading the other Twins blogs at StarTribune.com: LaVelle E. Neal’s Twins Insider, Joe Christensen’s Around the Majors, and Howard Sinker’s A Fan’s View.

· John Bonnes is on The Power Trip Morning Show on KFAN Tuesdays and Friday’s during the 7:00 hour. (Podcasts available here.) I am on KFAN with Paul Allen each Thursday morning at about 9:20. If you would like to listen, the podcast is available here.

PODCASTS AND MORE

· On Monday night’s SethSpeaks.net Weekly Minnesota Twins Podcast, I discussed the Twins and took a few questions from callers.

· On Tuesday night, Travis Aune and I co-hosted Twins Minor League Weekly. We talked to Wes Sharp from the St. Cloud River Bats, and then talked about the Twins minor leagues throughout the show. It was a really fun podcast.

Any thoughts on the Twins or the Twins blogosphere? Feel free to leave your questions and comments here.

Thursday, August 26, 2010

What Will Francisco Do?

Following their third straight loss down in Texas, the Twins optioned Anthony Slama to Rochester to make room for their new acquisition, left-handed reliever Randy Flores. Flores was designated for assignment last week by the Colorado Rockies and the Twins claimed him. The Rockies sent him without requiring compensation from the Twins. Flores just turned 35 years old. He debuted in the big leagues in 2002 with the Texas Rangers but was soon sent to the St. Louis Cardinals where he spent several years, including being part of their 2005 and 2006 postseason runs. Believe me, this is not some great signing by the Twins. Flores is not a difference maker. His season ERAs since 2006 have been 5.62, 4.25, 5.26 and 5.25. Somehow this year, his ERA with Colorado was 2.96 with a 1.28 WHIP. But the Twins and we, as fans, should not care about any of that. All we should care about is what he does over the next six weeks of the regular season. Remember last year when the Twins signed Ron Mahay at this time of the season. No one was terribly excited about him. No one was terribly excited about acquiring Jon Rauch from Arizona that same day. Both of them really helped the Twins down the stretch. In his career, right-handed batters have hit .306 with an .850 OPS. Left-handers have hit .266 with a .765 OPS. Strangely, in 2010, right-handers are hitting .229 with a .702 OPS while lefties are hitting .220 with a .776 OPS. Six weeks is a very small sample, so we can just hope he chooses now to have a very good small sample!

Tonight, Francisco Liriano will return to the mound after being pushed back three days due to a ‘tired arm.’ I’m trying not to worry much about the situation. In most previous years, Roy Halladay would be DLd by the Blue Jays with a tired arm, and he could come back just fine. So, let’s hope that Liriano is just fine. If it’s anything more than a tired arm, I would just assume that the Twins DL him rather than have him start. So, from that perspective, it will be an interesting start for Liriano, the Twins and fans. From another perspective, it will be interesting to see how Liriano pitches in a matchup against one of baseball’s best starting pitchers, Cliff Lee. We’ll be able to tell in the first inning. Will his fastball sail up and away to right-handed pitchers? Will his follow-through be wild and all over the place?

Before he was traded, Lee was having a tremendous season with the Seattle Mariners. He was 8-3 with a 2.34 ERA and a 0.95 WHIP. Since coming he Texas, he has made nine starts and is 2-4 with a 4.18 ERA despite a 1.03 WHIP. His last three starts, he has given up four runs in 6.1 innings against the Yankees, six runs in 7.2 innings against the Rays, and eight runs on ten hits (including four home runs) in 5.2 innings against the Orioles. So, either the Twins are catching him at just the right time, or he is due for a really great start.

One thing we know for sure, he won’t walk many. In 174.2 innings this year, he has 11 walks and two of those are intentional. So, should the Twins batters be aggressive, knowing he’ll be around the plate? Or should they try to be patient and get Lee’s pitch count up? It’s a tough question because the second option would be great, but if he gets ahead of everyone early in the count, his pitch count will not be high. Twins batters need to step out and try to fluster Lee. Remember when Carlos Gomez would bunt on him and Lee would talk at Gomez? In 18 career starts against the Twins, he is 8-3 with a 3.40 ERA.

The Twins have lost these three games in Texas, and they are important games in determining (again, assuming these are the teams to win the AL Central and AL West) who is the #2 seed in the playoffs and gets home field advantage in the first round against the Wild Card team from the East. But don’t forget that the Twins swept the Rangers in Target Field earlier this year and the two teams will play three more times in Target Field over Labor Day weekend.

Any other Twins topics you would like to discuss?

SATURDAY IN ST. CLOUD!!

As previously mentioned, the Twins Geek, Sooze and I will be at Howie’s Sports Bar in St. Cloud for the TwinsCentric Viewing Party. The Twins play the Mariners at 3:00, so we’ll be there by 2:30 and throughout the game. There will be drink and appetizer specials, and prizes to be given away. Hopefully by having an event like this in the outstate will allow more people the opportunity to be there and meet many more Twins fans.

Following the TwinsCentric Viewing Party, I am going to stay in St. Cloud and head over the Joe Faber Field. The St. Cloud River Bats of the Northwoods League (a college wood bat league) are hosting the Minnesota Twins alumni game at 7:05. Several former Twins players, including Corey Koskie, Jim Eisenrich, Juan Berenguer, Al Newman and several others will be playing in a game. There will be a lot going on throughout the night. Following the game, the player’s jerseys will be signed and auctioned off. Proceeds from the evening will be going to the Miracle League of Central Minnesota. Check out the River Bats website for much more information.

Hopefully I can meet several of you at both of these events in St. Cloud on Saturday!

Here is a quick glance at what happened on Tuesday in the Twins minor league system.

Red Wings Report

Rochester 2 Scranton/Wilkes Barre 3 – Matt Fox put together his best start in awhile. In 5.2 innings, he gave up one run on five hits. He walked two and struck out nine. Rob Delaney got a strikeout to get out of the sixth inning. After a scoreless seventh inning, Pat Neshek gave up two runs in the 8^th. Alex Burnett got the final two outs. Brendan Harris went 1-3 with his 14^th double, and he drove in both runs. D’Angelo Jimenez was 1-2 with two walks and his third triple.

New Britain Notes

New Britain 8, Binghampton 6 – After being swept on Tuesday, the Rockcats got a nice win on Wednesday. Bobby Lanigan started and gave up one run on four hits and two walks in three innings. Mike McCardell came in and gave up two runs on three hits in his three innings. Carlos Gutierrez gave up three runs on five hits and a walk in the next 2.2 innings and Billy Bullock got the game’s final out.

Miracle Matters

Ft. Myers, Palm Beach – Postponed by rain.

Snappers Snippets

Beloit 3, Kane County 4 – Martire Garcia made another Snapper start and was terrific! The lefty threw six shutout innings. He allowed three hits, walked two and struck out six. Matt Tone came in and gave up one run on one hit and a walk in 1.2 innings. Eliecer Cardenas went the final 1.1 innings but was charged with three unearned runs to take the loss. The Snappers had just six hits. Danny Rams hit his 15^th home run. Michael Gonzales (27) and Lance Ray (10) each added a double.

E-Twins Talkers

Elizabethton 4, Pulaski 5 – Manuel Solimon gave up four runs (2 earned) on four hits and two walks in five innings. He struck out six. Adrian Salcedo took the loss. He gave up one run on two hits in the final four innings. Jamaal Hawkins was 2-4 with his 10^th double. Brandon Henderson was 1-3 with a walk and his sixth double.

GCL Twins Topics

GCL Twins 3, GCL Orioles 2 – Nick Alloway was given a start and came through with a very good outing. In five innings, he gave up two runs on four hits. He walked none and struck out four. Bart Carter came in and struck out five in four scoreless innings. Candido Pimental went 2-3 with a walk. JaDamion Williams hit his third double. Miguel Sano hit his 13^th double.

Any thoughts on the Twins or the minor league system? Feel free to leave your questions and comments here.

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

No Right Answers

UPDATE – Twins sign LHP Randy Flores, and put Ron Mahay on the 60 Day Disabled List. My comments… eh? Or Meh? He is a lefty.

The Twins entered the ninth inning down by a score of 4-3. Neftali Feliz, a rookie and yet one of baseball’s best and hardest throwing pitchers, came in to protect the lead. Delmon Young lined out to the warning track in right field. Danny Valencia was robbed of extra bases when Julio Borbon ran down a ball on the warning track in dead center. Ron Gardenhire sent Jim Thome to bat for Alexi Casilla, and Feliz hit Thome in the leg on the first pitch. Jason Repko pinch ran for Thome, and Matt Tolbert stepped to the plate to bat for Drew Butera. Tolbert struck out to end the game. The Twins lost 4-3.

But those final decisions certainly created plenty of discussion.

Point #1 – Since JJ Hardy was not used as a pinch hitter, it is clear that he is more hurt than we thought, that it was more than just a day off for the Twins regular shortstop. That is not a good thing, especially in this case when the bench is so diminished.

Point #2 – Once Thome was on base, should Tolbert have been used as a pinch-runner, with Repko been used as a pinch hitter? Feliz had given up some rockets to right-handed batters to start the inning. Right-handers have hit Feliz a little better over the course of the season than left-handers. Since Tolbert struck out, it’s easy to say Repko could have done better than that. Unlikely since Repko traditionally strikes out much more frequently than Tolbert does. The reality, Jason Repko isn’t a good hitter, and Matt Tolbert is probably a little worse. Neither matchup was ideal.

Point #3 – Maybe Drew Butera should have just batted for himself. First, if he had extended the game, the Twins would not have lost the DH. Since Tolbert and Repko are only slightly better offensive options than Butera, it had to at least be considered.

Point #4 – I haven’t heard many people talk about this, but maybe the Twins should have just let Alexi Casilla bat so that Thome could have batted for Butera with a runner on base. The obvious reason that this is not a good answer is because if (or more likely, when) Casilla got out, then a hitter of the caliber of Jim Thome would not have even had the opportunity to tie the game. However, from the Rangers’ perspective, with Thome pinch hitting and Butera coming up (with Repko/Tolbert as pinch hitting options), why even pitch to Thome? Of course you walk him, or in this case, why not just hit him on the first pitch and take your chances with the Twins triple can’t hit options.

None of those discussion options is a good option. Simply put, there was not a good answer for Ron Gardenhire in that situation. The Rangers have shown through two games why they are dominating the American League West. On Monday, the Twins got to see Rich Harden healthy, and how good he can be when healthy. On Tuesday, we got a better idea of just why the Twins went hard after Colby Lewis this offseason before he signed with the Rangers. Things do not get any easier in the next two games against the Rangers. CJ Wilson gets the nod tonight and Cliff Lee starts on Thursday. After the Twins swept the Rangers earlier in the season at Target Field, it will be tough for the Twins to win a game in Arlington.

SATURDAY IN ST. CLOUD!!

Hopefully I can meet several of you at both of these events in St. Cloud on Saturday!

Here is a quick glance at what happened on Tuesday in the Twins minor league system. For a ton of information on who is hot, who is not, which teams still could play in the playoffs and much more, please listen to last night’s Twins Minor League Weekly podcast.

Red Wings Report

Rochester 4, Scranton/Wilkes Barre 5 – Kyle Gibson made his third AAA start for the Red Wings. In five innings, he gave up two unearned runs on two hits and two walks. He struck out five. However, of the 81 pitches he threw, just 49 were strikes. Kyle Waldrop gave up one run on three hits in 1.2 innings. Rob Delaney gave up two runs on three hits in 1.1 innings to take the loss. Dustin Martin went 3-5 with his 23^rd double. Brendan Harris went 3-5. Brian Dinkelman went 2-5 with his 29^th double.

New Britain Notes

Game 1 – New Britain 1, Binghampton 8 – Chris Province gave up eight earned runs on 11 hits and two walks in 3.1 innings. He struck out three. Blake Martin threw two scoreless innings, allowing two hits and walking two. Mike McCardell got the final two outs. The Rockcats managed just five hits.

Game 2 – New Britain 0, Binghampton 7 – Deolis Guerra started and gave up five runs (3 earned) on four hits and two walks in 3.2 innings. Santos Arias then gave up two runs on four hits in 1.1 innings. Billy Bullock struck out two in a scoreless inning. The Rockcat bats managed just three hits in this game.

Miracle Matters

Ft. Myers 5, Palm Beach 1 – Bruce Pugh won for the sixth time this season. He gave up one run on three hits and three walks in six innings. He struck out four. Jhon Garcia threw three shutout innings to record the save. Deibinson Romero Yangervis Solarte was 2-3. was 2-4. Nate Hanson went 2-5. Drew Thompson went 1-2 with two walks. Allan de San Miguel hit his fourth homer, and Brian Dozier hit his third homer.

Snappers Snippets

Beloit 8, Burlington 11 – After such a rough start to his season, James Beresford went over the .300 mark on the season when he went 3-5 in this game. Steve Liddle went 2-4 with a walk and his 16^th double. Josmil Pinto went 1-2 with two walks and his 17^th double. Pedro Guerra got the start and gave up four runs (3 earned) on five hits and four walks in five innings. He struck out three. Nelvin Fuentes then gave up two runs on two hits and a walk in two innings. Sam Spangler came in and walked the two batters he faced. Miguel Munoz came in gave up both of those inherited runs and three more runs in the eighth inning.

E-Twins Talkers

Elizabethton 4, Bluefield 5 – Through four innings, Blayne Weller was throwing a shutout. Then he gave up five runs and got just two outs in the 5^th inning. At that point, the game was delayed by rain. Michael Tonkin came in when the game resumed and threw 3.1 shutout innings. He gave up just two hits, walked one and hit another batter while striking out three. Brandon Henderson went 2-4 with his fifth double. Andy Leer was 2-3. Danny Ortiz and Nick Lockwood were 2-4.

GCL Twins Topics

GCL Twins 3, GCL Rays 4 – Ricardo Arevalo fell to 0-7. He gave up four runs (3 earned) on eight hits. In 4.1 innings, he gave up four walks, hit a batter and struck out two. Derek Christenson got the final two outs before the game was called on account of rain. Rory Rhodes went 2-3 with his fifth double and second stolen base. Eddie Rosario went 2-3.

Any thoughts on the Twins or the minor league system? Feel free to leave your questions and comments here.

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

In Defense of Denard

Tonight at 10 – check out this week’s Twins Minor League Weekly!

With Nick Punto out with injury so much this second half, it appears that some Twins fans feel the need to find a new player to bash for any and all reasons. It appears that that guy is Denard Span, at least for the foreseeable future. Some of it is earned. He is not having a good season by the high standards he set in his first two seasons. His OPS+ of 122 in 93 games in 2008, and his 114 OPS+ in 145 games in 2009 were remarkable standards. An OPS+ of 100 is league average, so he was well above that with OPS of .819 and .807. In 119 games so far in 2010, his OPS is .691, and his OPS+ is at 88.

I don’t think OPS is the best stat to look at when looking at a leadoff hitter. Most leadoff hitters do not have the power to have a high slugging percentage which is half of the OPS equation. However, I believe that the On-Base Percentage half of the OPS equation is very important for a leadoff hitter. After posting OBP of .387 and .392 his first two seasons, his OBP is just .337 in 2010. That is significant.

Defensively, we knew he wasn’t Carlos Gomez in centerfield. He certainly wasn’t going to be like Torii Hunter or Kirby Puckett out there. That said, I think we all assumed that he would be better than he has been. Too many times he has been tentative. Carlos Gomez was horrible at running routes to fly balls, but his incredible speed more than made up for it. Kirby Puckett wasn’t as fast as Denard Span, but he got tremendous reads on fly balls and too charge of centerfield. Outfielders are going to make errors. They all have a couple of bad drops throughout a season, and lose a ball or three in the lights/sun/high sky. It happens. However, Span did such a nice job in the corner outfield positions his first two years that the move to center field should have been easier.

And Span’s base running has not been terribly good or smart. He has been picked off more than a half-dozen times. That really wasn’t an issue his first two seasons, although as someone who monitors the minor leagues, it was definitely an issue for him throughout his minor league career, including in AAA.

So, has it been a particularly good year for the Twins leadoff hitter and centerfielder? Not at all. Not even an optimist like me can spin it to make it look like Span is having a good 2010 campaign. But there are several things to consider before judging too harshly, or at least some numbers that you may want to consider, just food for thought.

Let’s start with the offense, and I looked at a few numbers to compare Span to. I didn’t compare him to other centerfielders. That doesn’t make much sense. I mean, to compare Span to someone like Josh Hamilton doesn’t make a lot of sense. He’s a #3 hitter. So, I compared Span’s numbers in 2010 to those of other leadoff hitters in 2010. Actually what I did was compared Twins leadoff hitters to other leadoff hitters around baseball, with the understanding that Span has been the team’s leadoff hitter in about 95% of their games.

OPS - .701 ranks 17^th among the 30 teams.

OBP - .337 ranks 14^th among the 30 teams.

IsoD - .071 ranks 10^th in the league.

GB/FO – The 1.26 ground outs to fly outs is 7^th in the league.

So again, Denard Span has some disappointing numbers compared to his numbers in previous season. No question about that. However, I think that when we take a look at the production compared to league average leadoff hitters, we see something different. He has been very average in 2010. His OPS is just below the middle of the pack. Again, when power is factored in, his numbers aren’t as high. Consider that he may have lost two or three home run balls in centerfield, and realize that he already has a career high in doubles and seven triples, and those numbers could be a little higher. On base percentage is huge, and he has taken a large step back. However, he is right about average among the league’s centerfielders. I thought looking at his Isolated Discipline would make sense too. That is simply his on-base percentage minus his batting average. In the two previous seasons, Span was at .093 and then .081. This year it is down to .071 which is still not bad at all, and it is still in the top third in baseball. It also indicates that his lower numbers are directly attributable to batting average. A leadoff hitter should ground out more than he flies out. It is cliché, but you want speed guys to hit the ball hard and low, and he is doing that.

How about his defense? And, I am still one who is skeptical of any defensive metrics, but many are starting to buy into them. UZR (Ultimate Zone Rating) and UZR/150 seem to be the metrics that more and more are subscribing too (and you can find them and many more stats at fangraphs.com). Let’s look at how Denard Span compares to other centerfielders around baseball:

UZR (0 is average) – 2.6 – this is 8^th among regular starting centerfielders and above average.

UZR/150 – 3.9 – this is also 8^th in the league.

RZR - .940 – according to this, Span is #2 in baseball among CF.

To add a little perspective to those numbers, Torii Hunter’s UZR this year is -3.9, and his UZR/150 is -5.5. Matt Kemp is by far the worst with a UZR of -15.6 and a UZR/150 of -21.2. Again, certainly not a great or elite center fielder, but Denard Span, by these metrics, is playing at a slightly better than average level.

Last night in the reactionary or over-reactionary social media form of Twitter, many Twins fans were talking about the fact that Denard Span didn’t make a leaping catch at the wall that turned out to be a double. Would Torii Hunter have caught it? Maybe. Would Carlos Gomez have caught it? Probably. But in this one case, Span didn’t make the catch. Should he have? That’s debatable. Twitter was all a-Twitter with people bashing Span (again!), and that’s the point where I started realizing that he has become the new Nick Punto. If making leaping catches at the wall have become expectations, then I definitely think that we have been spoiled as Twins fans by the CF defense.

Has Denard Span had a good 2010 season? Of course not. No one is insinuating that he has. He wouldn’t tell you that he’s happy with his season. Has it been disappointing year for him? Absolutely.

But should Twins fans give up on him? Of course not!! He’s 26 years old. He has been one of the best leadoff hitters in the game the last two years. Right now, he is in a funk both offensively and defensively as well as on the base paths. It’s not pretty, but the Twins would be crazy to quit on such a talent, such an athlete. He will be just fine.

As I said on last night’s SethSpeaks.net Weekly Minnesota Twins podcast, he has been one of the more disappointing members of the team this year. I would put Scott Baker, Kevin Slowey, Nick Blackburn and the Twins medical and training staff ahead of him. But I did note that for the Twins to win the AL Central and advance, Span will have to pick it up. It would be great if for the final four weeks of the season, Span can find his 2009 form and be a force at the top of the order. He is absolutely capable of it. He has done if before and will again.

What do you think? Is this just me being too positive again? Have you given up on him?

Here are some notes from Monday’s minor league games:

· Rochester 0, Lehigh Valley 7 (6 innings) – This game was rained out after six innings, and based on how well it was going for the Red Wings, that is just fine. Cole DeVries was called up to make the start in place of the promoted Nick Blackburn. He went 2.1 innings and gave up three earned runs on four hits and two walks. He struck out three. Jose Lugo then gave up three runs on four hits and five walks in 1.2 innings. Tim Lahey then gave up one run on three hits and two walks in 1.1 innings. The Red Wings managed six hits, and Erik Lis hit a double.

· Beloit 6, Burlington 4 – James Beresford went 3-4 with a walk and his 18^th double. Wang-Wei Lin hit his fifth and sixth doubles. Steve Liddle added his 12^th home run. Clint Dempster started and gave up four runs (2 earned) on seven hits and a walk. He struck out three in five innings. Brad Stillings came on and gave up one hit and one walk in three scoreless innings. He struck out five. Eliecer Cardenas picked up the save with a scoreless ninth.

· Elizabethton 9, Bluefield 6 – Danny Ortiz had a big game! He was 3-5 with his 13^th doubles, his ninth and tenth homers and four RBI. Oswaldo Arcia went 3-5 with his fourth steal. Kyle Knudson went 2-3 with two walks. Andy Leer was 2-5 with his 14^th double. Jean Mijares made the start and gave up two runs on five hits in five innings. He walked just one and struck out nine. Adam Achter made his professional debut and gave up four runs on five hits in 1.1 innings. But of the four outs he got, three came on strikeouts! BJ Hermsen got the next five outs. Jose Gonzalez struck out two in a scoreless inning for his sixth save.

· New Britain, Ft. Myers and the GCL Twins all had games postponed by rain.

Any questions or comments on the Twins or the minor league system? Feel free to leave your questions and comments here.

Monday, August 23, 2010

Monday Morning Notes

It’s going to be a quick update today. Got back from the lake pretty late last night and decided that sleep would be for the best. So, I woke up really early instead and jotted down a few notes. Today, please feel free to comment with any other thoughts that you have after a weekend series win against the Angels. Seriously, this team is playing so well right now. They won two out of three against the Angels, and two out of three against the White Sox. They had a nice 7-2 home stand and have been one of baseball’s best teams since the All Star break. The team headed to Texas late after last night’s game, and will now start a four game series against a very good Texas Rangers team. These games are important. You see, the Twins and Rangers are the current leaders in their respective divisions. Between those two teams (assuming they are the two division’s representatives in the playoffs), the team with the higher record will have home field advantage in the first round of the playoffs against the Wild Card team. They play seven games before Labor Day, and they are important. Here are some thoughts on the Twins, but please feel free to add storylines if I missed any because I had to listen to the game on Friday night, only watched bits and pieces of the Saturday game and thanks to spending more time at the lake than planned on Sunday (a good thing), I had to listen to most of the Twins game, although I also had to spend most of the drive listening to kids’ songs.

· Unfortunately, arguably the biggest story of the weekend was more injuries. Before the weekend started, Nick Punto was put back on the Disabled List, and Matt Tolbert was brought back. Saturday’s game was painful in a few ways. Kevin Slowey got hit in the second inning, and he left the game after the third inning with that pain behind his right elbow again. Later in the game, Ron Mahay injured his non-throwing shoulder. The two were put on the Disabled List following the game, and Nick Blackburn and Anthony Slama were called back up. Blackburn makes sense for two reasons. First, there isn’t exactly a better option at Rochester, and he has been solid there. Second, this team made a serious commitment to him this spring and will continue to give him opportunities. He has done it before and should be able to do it again. He was supposed to start for Rochester on Monday night, but instead will start for the Twins. In doing so, the Twins also pushed Francisco Liriano back to Thursday, giving him an extra three days to rest his “tired arm” I know some people don’t like that and may want him to push through it, but this is the smartest thing to do. The team has a five game lead in the division and can afford to do this. No, that doesn’t mean they are giving away anything, but Liriano is so important to this team that you have to make sure he’s right, and he’s strong, especially in September and October. And the other promotion with Anthony Slama who has certainly had some ups and downs since his return to Rochester, but is a good pitcher.

· With Mahay on the DL, and Glen Perkins unable to get left-handed hitters out, the Twins are essentially without a Left-handed relief specialist. Unfortunately, Jose Lugo is the lone lefty in the Rochester bullpen and he’s been overused and has an ERA over 6, and walks too many. Ryan Mullins is a soft-tossing starter, but he’s out for the year with a back injury. In New Britain, Tyler Robertson (a good prospect, young, left-handed) has been pretty bad in his first AA attempt. Blake Martin was just promoted from Ft. Myers.2009 draft pick from the University of Florida, Tony Davis, is probably the lefty in the minors most ready to help the Twins, but he is walking a ton. I have no doubt that the Twins are claiming any left-handed reliever that is being put through waivers. But I also think that having a lefty specialist is quite as big of a deal as many seem to think. The Angels won a World Series several years ago with no lefties in their bullpen. Of course, that requires that the right-handers in the bullpen actually get left-handed bats out. Or… 2010 third round pick Pat Dean, a lefty out of Boston College, is dominating at Elizabethton. Maybe he can be the Twins’ version of Chris Sale!!

· The Twins added another game to their division lead over the White Sox this weekend thanks to some horrific scheduling. When Friday night’s game between the White Sox and the Royals was rained out, they scheduled a double-header for Saturday night. Instead of playing a day-night double header with the first game at noon and the second at the normal time, they played two games at night… In fact, the second game didn’t start until after 11:00 central time because the first game went 11 innings (and the Royals won!). That second game didn’t finish until after 2 a.m. which is terrible, and the teams had to play another 1:00 game on Sunday. Three games started and completed within about a 22 hour period. I don’t care if I’m happy that the White Sox lost two of those three, that kind of scheduling isn’t fair for anyone!

· There are sayings that ball players use sometimes to talk about a batter taking really good swing. “Good wiggle!” “Swing out of your shoes!” Well, after watching the swing that Danny Valencia put on his home run ball, I think those could apply as he took one of the biggest swings I have seen in a long time. Fortunately, he connected and gave the Twins a needed first run in last night’s game. With Punto back on the DL, Valencia is going to continue playing 3B. He would have anyway, even with Punto back, but Punto could have given him a day off a week or so. With Matt Tolbert as the backup option, let’s hope that Valencia doesn’t get too many more days off!

· At 9:30 tonight, I’ll be hosting the SethSpeaks.net Weekly Minnesota Twins podcast. Tune in, ask questions. I’ll be taking your questions or comment on the Twins and their minor leaguers throughout the show.

Here are some notes from Sunday’s minor league games:

· Rochester 3, Lehigh Valley 1 - Anthony Swarzak won for the fifth time this season. The righty gave up one run on five hits in 6.2 innings. He walked one and struck out four. Rob Delaney got the next four outs, two via the strikeout. Alex Burnett gave up a hit and a walk but pitched a scoreless ninth for the save. Brendan Harris and Brock Peterson each went 2-3 with a walk.

· New Britain 3, New Hampshire 6 – Tyler Robertson gave up six runs on seven hits and four walks in 4.1 innings to take the loss. Loek Van Mil gave up a hit, walked three and struck out two in 1.2 scoreless innings. Tony Davis threw two shutout innings. The Rockcats managed just three hits.

· Ft. Myers and Bradenton had their game suspended in the 2^nd inning. 2010 draft pick and St. Cloud State alum David Deminsky made the start for the Miracle and struck out two in two scoreless innings before the rains came.

· Beloit 5, Burlington 8 – Edgar Ibarra gave up six runs (3 earned) on seven hits and three walks in five innings. Zach See then gave up two runs on three hits and a walk in his two innings. Andrei Lobanov pitched one scoreless inning. Daniel Santana was 2-4 with a walk and his second triple. Wang-Wei Lin went 2-2.

· Elizabethton 2, Bluefield 0 (10 innings) – The winning run scored on a wild pitch, but the E-Twins are in a close division race, so they’ll take them any way they can get them. Logan Darnell started and gave up just two hits in seven shutout innings. He walked four and struck out ten. Dallas Gallant then threw two scoreless innings before Jose Gonzalez came in and recorded his fifth save. The E-Twins managed just four hits. Derrick Phillips hit his fourth double.

· The GCL Twins had Sunday off.

· Cole DeVries is on his way to Rochester. Will he start in place of the scheduled Nick Blackburn tonight?

Any questions or comments on the Twins or the minor league system? Feel free to leave your questions and comments here.

Friday, August 20, 2010

Friday Links and Thinks

I think I would like to make this “Friday Links and Thinks” a regular occurrence. There are a lot of great Twins blogs that deserve to be noticed. Also, please check out the Twins Train schedule of events. I know that they have a trip planned to Detroit in September. Who knows? You could watch the Twins clinch the AL Central division title!? They also have some specials on their trip out to Lambeau Field in October to watch Brett Favre and the Vikings take on the Packers in a Sunday night game. Go to TwinsTrain.com, check out the Itineraries and such, and then send them an e-mail, asking about the specials… Mention my name, and maybe you’ll get an even better deal!! (Seriously)

QUESTION OF THE WEEK

The other part of the Friday Links is the Thinks. Today, I’m going to throw out who I think that the Twins will send to the Arizona Fall League this year, and you can add your thoughts or selections. Normally the Twins send three pitchers and three hitters (and then usually one more). The players must be from countries that do not have winter leagues, and they must have played at AA or AAA. Teams have been able to send one person from Hi-A Ft. Myers, and last year, they were allowed to send two. Typically the Twins don’t send guys back two years in a row. Here are my seven picks:

· Alex Wimmers – I think that they will want the 2010 top pick to get some more innings.

· Kyle Gibson – Although his innings will be monitored the rest of this season, as long as Gibson is healthy, they may want to have him throw another 20-25 innings in Arizona.

· Carlos Gutierrez – Might as well get the 2008 first-rounder there too, right? I think it’d be a great environment for him to continue to work out of the bullpen.

· Liam Hendriks – I’m not 100% certain if Australian players are able to play in Arizona, but after his appendectomy cost him more than a month of an incredible season, it would be good to get him some innings.

· Ben Revere – OF – if he is cleared to play after his eye injury, the team would like him to play in Arizona.

· Joe Benson – OF – It’s been a breakout year of sorts for Benson, and it would be good for him to get more at bats in the Fall League.

· Danny Lehmann – C – It’s always good to have extra catchers in Arizona, and Lehmann, defensively, is excellent and would work well with the pitching prospects.

What do you think? Who would you send?

WEEKEND AHEAD

The Twins won two out of three at Target Field against the White Sox and increased their division lead to four games. Next up is a weekend home series against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Torii Hunter will return to Minnesota and make his Target Field debut. He will get to make his first attempt against the right field wall. The Angels are seven games behind Texas Rangers in the AL West, a position they share with the Oakland A’s, and a position they are not accustomed to this decade. The Twins will see the Angels best two pitchers in this series, but hey, the Angels get to see the Twins best pitcher of late (Duensing), and maybe Kevin Slowey will throw another seven no-hit innings, and this time get a chance to complete it… maybe?

Here are the pitching matchups:

· Friday night – Brian Duensing (6-1, 2.00, 1.05, .223) vs Dan Haren (1-3, 3.44, 1.31, .269)

· Saturday night – Kevin Slowey (11-5, 4.22, 1.23, .270) vs Trevor Bell (1-3, 5.40, 1.70, .333)

· Sunday night – Scott Baker (10-9, 4.85 ERA, 1.34 WHIP, .284 BAA) vs. Jered Weaver (11-8, 3.11, 1.10, .221)

TWINS BLOGS

· Check out the new Twins blog The Glorious Nation of Hrbekistan.

· Nick Nelson wrote about The Crain Game, a look at the interesting story and timeline of Jesse Crain.

· Inept Ullger takes a look at the pitch selection for Jim Thome’s walk-off on Tuesday night.

· Andrew Kneeland wrote a tremendous blog post called Matt Capps and the Immediacy of Twitter. It’s terrific!

· On the road with Shawn… adds another stat to the blogosphere by contemplating the effect of the double play.

· North Dakota Twins Fan writes about Five Goals for the rest of the season.

· Target Field: No Longer Where Joe’s Balls Go to Die is the creative title of For the Love of the Game’s most recent blog post.

· Babes Love Baseball went Under the Bleachers with Jeff Manship.

· Emoeby gets to raise the flag at the Twins game.

· Aaron Gleeman posted Twins Notes on Thursday.

· Erin from Twinkie Talk wrote about Francisco Liriano’s Home Run rate and puts it into historical perspective.

· Coffeyville Whirlwind posted its All Franchise Team for 1981-1990.

· Baseball Outsider Ed Thoma blogged on the splits of Jason Kubel.

· Check out the Jim Crikket rant on Knuckleballs.

TWINSCENTRIC STUFF

Here are the links to the StarTribune.com TwinsCentric blog postings for this week:

· Monday – Sunday’s Game: One right decision, another questionable

· Tuesday – Seth Stohs – Admitting is the first step…

· Wednesday – Nick Nelson – If the playoffs started today

· Thursday – Seth Stohs – Twins 2010 draft update

· Friday – Parker Hageman – Behind Mauer’s second-half surge

PODCASTS AND MORE

· On Sunday night, I was joined on the SethSpeaks.net Weekly Minnesota Twins Podcast by co-host Travis Aune from Travis Twins Talk, We were joined by Phil Mackey of 1500ESPN and from the White Sox writer for Examiner.com JJ Stankevitz. We discussed the A’s series, the decision to remove Kevin Slowey from a no-hitter, Justin Morneau, and previewed the Twins/White Sox series.

· Last night, Travis Aune asked me to be a guest on his podcast. It was a lot of fun. We discussed a lot of Twins minor league topics, the Twins and White Sox, and even a little about the Vikings!

Any thoughts on the Twins or the Twins blogosphere? Feel free to leave your questions and comments here.

Thursday Night, August 19, 2010

One to Forget… Quickly!

UPDATE – I will be posting the Friday Links and Thinks later this morning, so be sure to check back for that look around the Twins blogosphere. Until then, I was on Travis Talks Minnesota sports podcast last night, so listen to that. Or, head over the KFAN.com’s Fan on Demand and listen to me on with Paul Allen yesterday.

Carl Pavano did not have a good night, and if he was going to have a night with poor results, this was the right night. Pavano gave up seven runs on a career-high 15 hits in just five innings. Although the results are really all the mattered, I think it is fair to say that Pavano was BABIP’d to death in this game. What does that mean, you ask? BABIP = Batting Average on Balls in Play. It basically is a way of saying that once a pitcher lets go of the ball, if he does not issue a walk, record a strikeout or give up a home run, then anything can happen. Francisco Liriano has been the most “unlucky” pitcher in baseball this year. His BABIP is approaching .350. On this night, Carl Pavano gave up 15 hits, but an argument could be made that only four or five were actually solid hits. Yes, the home run to Konerko, that was hit well. But other than that, there were a bunch of bloopers, a couple of infield singles, or singles just through the infield. On this night, the singles are singles and the runs are runs and it all adds up to a loss. But understanding that it was a very ‘unlucky’ night for Pavano helps put this game into perspective. Did Pavano pitch well? No, and I don’t think anyone would tell you as much. But if those soft hits were a few feet to either direction, the game is much different. Glen Perkins came in and pitched the 7^th and 8^th innings. He allowed two of Pavano’s runs to score, and he gave up four more, but in my mind, that’s just fine. That is the role that Perkins needs to fill. In a game like that, you don’t want any of your good pitchers to have to even warm up. Perkins helped the Twins on this night, even if the numbers were not good. Also, Jon Rauch pitched the ninth which was good as well since he needs some work and some confidence back.

The Twins had some base runners, but there is a reason the Mark Buehrle has been good for a long time. He is crafty.

I personally think that an 11-0 loss is much easier to move past than a tough loss. I know some think that this game will have lasting effects. Not at all. Starting pitching is what will determine how the Twins play against the Angels this weekend.

The Twins had their top three pitchers (Scott Baker, Francisco Liriano and Carl Pavano) on the mound in these three games against the White Sox. None of the three got on out in the sixth inning. Not great performances at all. Some will tell us that it is something we should worry about, and if you want to, you can. I guess I look at it and say that despite three less than normal performances, the Twins found a way to win a series at home against their biggest division rival. By winning two out of three, they added a game between them in the standings and head into the weekend with a four game lead.

Here is a quick glance at what happened on Wednesday in the Twins minor league system:

Red Wings Report

Kyle Gibson made his second start for the Red Wings and did well. In five innings, he gave up two runs on five hits. He walked one and struck out three. He threw just 76 pitches. Tim Lahey came in and threw two shutout innings. Alex Burnett pitched a scoreless 8^th frame, but he then gave up two runs in the 9^th and took the loss. Matt Tolbert went 3-5. Brian Dinkelman went 2-5 with his 28^th double. Matt Macri went 2-4 with a walk and his 20^th double. Brock Peterson was 2-4 with his 21^st double. Brendan Harris was 1-3 with two walks.

New Britain Notes

The struggles of Deolis Guerra continued on this night, but the team was able to beat Richmond 7-6. He gave up five runs on nine hits (including two homers) and three walks in four innings. Tony Davis gave up one run on one hit and three walks in two innings. He struck out two. Loek Van Mil threw 1.2 shutout innings. Billy Bullock got his tenth Double-A save by recording the final four outs, two of them on strikeouts. Jeff Howell went 2-4 with his fifth Rockcat double. Evan Bigley went 2-5.

Miracle Matters

The Miracle lost to Charlotte 8-1. The biggest reason, the base on balls. Miracle pitchers walked 14 batters. Bruce Pugh started and gave up two runs on five hits and six walks in five innings. Steve Blevins came in and gave up two unearned runs on one hit and three walks in his inning. Shooter Hunt came in and faced four batters. He walked all four. Three of them scored. Jhon Garcia came in and gave up one run on three hits and one walk in three innings. Nick Romero again led the offense. He went 3-4 with his 23^rd and 24^th doubles. Nate Hanson went 2-3 with a walk. Tobias Streich went 2-4.

Snappers Snippets

The Snappers scored three runs in the top of the 9^th and held on for a 5-3 win over Wisconsin. James Beresford went 2-4 with his 16^th double. Danny Rams was 2-4. Pedro Guerra made the start for the team and gave up one run on five hits and four walks in 4.1 innings. He struck out five. Brad Stillings then gave up two runs on four hits and a walk in 2.2 innings. Miguel Munoz struck out three in two scoreless innings.

E-Twins Talkers

Elizabethton lost 6-2 to Pulaski. Blayne Weller gave up four runs (1 earned) on seven hits in four innings. He walked one and struck out three. Dallas Gallant then gave up two solo homers in his second inning of work. Adrian Salcedo and Jose Gonzalez each threw a scoreless inning. Oswaldo Arcia went 2-3 with two walks. Buddy Munroe went 2-4 with his third home run. Nate Roberts went 2-4 with a walk. Derek Phillips hit his first home run.

GCL Twins Topics

The Twins lost 3-2 to the Rays. Ricardo Arevalo started and gave up two runs on one hit and two walks in four innings. He struck out six. Luis Nunez then gave up an unearned run on one hit in three innings. Tyler Herr struck out two in a scoreless inning. Kelvin Silvania was 3-4 with his fifth double. Kennys Vargas went 2-3 with a walk and his 13^th double.

Any questions or comments on the Twins or the minor league system? Feel free to leave your questions and comments here.

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Twins Win Again!

Leading Off with Quick Hits:

· I’ll be on KFAN, its affiliates and KFAN.com on Thursday at about 9:20 with Paul Allen, talking about the Twins. Listen live or listen later.

· I posted a blog on the StarTribune.com TwinsCentric page last night with an update on the 2010 Twins draft. Now that the signing deadline has passed, who did the Twins sign, and how have those guys been playing?

· Finally, in conjunction with Sooze, the next TwinsCentric Viewing Party will be Saturday, August 28^th, and this time, we are heading out of the Metro and up highway 10 or highway 94 to St. Cloud. It will be held at Howie’s Sports Bar in down town St. Cloud. There will be prizes and drink and appetizer specials. And, as always, it’s just fun to bring a bunch of Twins fans together. I always tell people that the outstate produces more Twins fans than the Metro, so help prove me right!

For the second straight night, the Twins were able to get in the end zone and kick the extra point. On Tuesday night, the White Sox got two field goals but were unable to hold the late lead. On Wednesday night, the White Sox got a touchdown, but were unable to take advantage of it by missing the extra point. Two straight games ended with a final score of Minnesota 7, Chicago 6. And in both games, the White Sox had their opportunities. On Tuesday night, they fought back and took the lead only to see Jim Thome walk-off in the bottom of the 10^th with a long blast. On Wednesday night, the Sox were unable to take full advantage of a wild Francisco Liriano.

But this is where it is important to look at the big picture. The Twins beat the White Sox on Wednesday night and now hold a five game lead over the Sox in the AL Central. Think about that for a second. Last Tuesday when the Twins were set to start a three game series in Chicago, the two teams were tied atop the division. The two teams split the first two games of that series. So going into last Thursday’s game, the two teams were again tied. That means that in the last seven days, each team has played six games and the Twins have gained five games in the standings on the White Sox. It is incredible how quickly things can change. Of course, remember in late May, the Twins had a 9 ½ game lead on the White Sox, and it was not long before the Twins were four games behind the White Sox in the division. So, regardless of what happens tonight, there still are a lot of games to be played, and nothing is yet guaranteed. The Twins are now 70-50 and have 42 more games to play. The Twins are twenty games over .500. How about this… the Twins Magic Number to clinch the American League Central title is 38.

With that, let’s take a quick look at the Good and the Bad from last night’s game. Fortunately, there should be much more good than bad!

THE GOOD

· Joe Mauer – He is pretty good at playing the game, baseball. Since the All-Star break, he is now hitting .446. He has raised his batting average from .295 to .335 in no time. He is a doubles machine, tied for the league lead with 39 doubles. He is on pace to set a new doubles record for catchers. He had four more hits last night including his very first official home run at Target Field, a line drive to left field that barely went over the fence.

· Michael Cuddyer – Cuddy went 3-4 in the game and is 5-9 in this series. Always a streaky hitter, Cuddyer was 0-9 in the Oakland series (with three walks). He went 5-12 in last week’s series in Chicago. Or, maybe he just plays his best when the team is playing its best competition. Also, his 1B defense has become very good.

· Denard Span – He had another two hits on this night. He now has four multi-hit games in his last six games. Not only that, but he has started to hit the ball with more authority.

· Ron Gardenhire’s Bullpen Usage – Jeff Manship replaced Francisco Liriano and had a 1-2-3 sixth inning. He got one out in the seventh inning and allowed one single. With the middle of the White Sox lineup coming up, Gardy brought Jesse Crain into the game and he got the job done! Again! He then got three more outs in the eighth inning. Credit obviously goes to these two pitchers as well, but I thought that the usage of the best bullpen arm against the best hitters from the White Sox was great strategy by the Twins manager.

THE BAD

· Francisco Liriano might be fighting a little dead arm phase. He went just five innings last night and walked four. That is the alarming number. But he struggled with control in and out of the strike zone. The four walks show the lack of control outside the strike zone, but the fastball right down the middle to Andruw Jones (that he launched into the Twins bullpen) shows lack of control in the strike zone. In his past three starts, Liriano has gone only a combined 15.1 innings. He will be fine, but the most beneficial thing of getting a large lead would be to feel more comfortable giving Liriano and Pavano some extra rest.

· Matt Capps – “Threevolts” tweeted during the top of the 9^th “Capps has become the new Guardado.” Fair, but I responded by saying, “Capps has become the new Rauch.” Let’s face it, even if Capps looks a little better as a closer than Rauch, there is a reason that his overall numbers were so similar to Jon Rauch’s numbers. Yes, he throws a mile or two per hour faster than Rauch, but he is almost as hittable. I still stand by my comment that adding Capps does make the Twins bullpen a little bit better, but I will also stand by my comment that giving up Wilson Ramos, who was called up by the Nationals, for him was WAY too much.

· Gardy’s Repko Usage – Don’t get me wrong, I like Jason Repko and think that his defense is terrific. However, I don’t understand why Gardy insists on putting him into the game late in place of Jason Kubel. If we have visually seen anything in the Twins outfield, it is that Jason Kubel doesn’t do a bad job out there, and if he gets to a ball, he catches it. He does a nice job playing the wall and has a very strong arm. Meanwhile, Delmon Young struggles out in left field. He is not a real natural outfielder in left, and even if he gets to a ball, it isn’t a certain out. He does have a very strong, accurate arm though. I guess my comment would be that I don’t know that it is Jason Kubel is the one outfielder that would or should require a defensive replacement. In fact, I think an argument could be made that Denard Span in centerfield of late could be the outfielder replaced.

Here is a quick glance at what happened on Wednesday in the Twins minor league system:

Red Wings Report

The Red Wings lost in the bottom of the ninth at Buffalo 7-6. Nick Blackburn made another start. He gave up five runs (4 earned) on eight hits and a walk. In 5.1 innings, he struck out five. Kyle Waldrop got the final two outs of the sixth inning, but not before allowing an unearned run and the two inherited runners to score. Anthony Slama then threw two shutout innings. Rob Delaney got two outs in the ninth but then allowed the final run to score. Matt Tolbert went 3-4. Brandon Roberts went 2-5. Erik Lis hit his fourth Triple-A home run and drove in three runs. He has been on a tear.

New Britain Notes

Chris Province was the story in the Rockcats 3-1 win over Richmond. Province came to the Twins organization from the Red Sox in exchange for Boof Bonser before spring training. Province has been forced to make a few spot starts for the team, and on this night, he was very good. He gave up one run on two hits over the first 6.2 innings. Carlos Gutierrez came on and got the final seven outs, three on strikeouts, to record his second save. Chris Parmelee went 2-4. Jair Fernandez hit his fourth home run, a two run blast.

Miracle Matters

The Miracle figured out Rays top prospect Matt Moore after seeing him late last week and beat Charlotte 5-0. Angel Morales was 2-4 with his ninth double and three RBI. He also stole his ninth base. Nick Romero went 2-4 with his 22^nd double. Ramon Santana was 2-3. But Kane Holbrooks was again up for the challenge. The 2009 draft pick threw seven shutout innings. He gave up seven hits, walked two and struck out six. Dakota Watts came in and got the final six outs.

Snappers Snippets

The Snappers got a big 14-7 win over Wisconsin. Reggie Williams went 3-6 with his third triple, sixth home run and three RBI. Lance Ray went 3-3 with a walk and his 6^th and 7^th doubles. Michael Gonzales went 3-5 with his 22^nd and 23^rd doubles and four RBI. Danny Rams was 2-5 with a walk and his 26^th double. Michael Harrington was 2-5 with his first double. Yorby Martinez was 2-5. Aaron Hicks returned to the lineup and went 1-4 with two walks. Clinton Dempster was the recipient of the great run support. He went the first five innings and gave up three runs (2 earned) on six hits. He walked two and struck out five. Matt Tone gave up two runs on two hits and a walk in two innings. Zach See worked a perfect inning. Andrei Lobanov came in and gave up two runs on three hits and a walk in his inning.

E-Twins Talkers

Elizabethton and the rest of the Appalachian League did not have games scheduled for this game.

GCL Twins Topics

The Twins lost 3-1 to the Rays. Cesar Ciurcina started and gave up just one run on three hits and a walk in six innings. He struck out seven. Hein Robb gave up two runs on four hits and a walk in two innings. Bart Carter pitched the ninth and was perfect. Rory Rhodes and Kennys Vargas were both 2-4 and had four of the team’s six hits.

Any questions or comments on the Twins or the minor league system? Feel free to leave your questions and comments here.

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

He’s Unbelievable Thome (or To Me!)

On Monday night, I drove three and a half hours to my parent’s place. On Tuesday morning, my mom and I drove three hours to my brother’s place. My sister met us there and we drove about one hour in to Target Field. After all that driving, I think that it is fair to say that it (and all the driving back on Wednesday!) was well worth it! One Swing! That was all that it took to be worth it all! (by the way, if you get to one of the games of this Twins/White Sox series, be sure to get a Scorecard and read the Dugout Splinters, written by me, and JJ Stankevitz.

Jim Swing.JPG Thome Talk.JPG Thome Pie.JPG

Photos Courtesy Heather Stohs

First of all, a huge thank you to Paul Allen of KFAN and Vikings fame for letting me use his tickets for this game. Row 5, right by the 1B camera well. They really are some terrific tickets, and the experience sitting down there is great.

Just a couple of quick notes before I pass out and start out the long trek home early in the morning:

The Good:

· Jim Thome – I mean, that last at bat was the stuff of legends. Off the all-star lefty reliever Matt Thornton. Against his old team. He had two other hits in the game. The guy can flat-out hit. The second he made contact, we knew the game was over. He now has 581 homers in his career, and 17 on the season.

· Delmon Young – He had been struggling. He got Sunday off. The team had the day off on Monday. Young came back refreshed. He had three hits in the game including his 15^th home run. Just as impressive, he did a very nice job defensively, including covering a lot of ground to make a great catch.

· Denard Span – he had his third multi-hit game in his last five games, and he took good at bats and hit line drives.

· Jason Kubel - The two-run triple that he hit in the 1^st inning was probably the hardest hit ball of the game, with the exception of the Thome walk-off. It was his only hit of the game, but it was a big one. However, he is on the Good list in large part due to the incredible diving catch he made to help Baker out early. He went back and to the right and all-out dove to make a great catch.

· Orlando Hudson - got things going well early with his sixth home run of the year in the first inning to give the Twins their first run. Defensively, he made all the routine plays and a couple of really terrific plays too.

· Danny Valencia – He had two doubles in the game. He didn’t have any RBI, but nothing he could do about it. He ripped a double to the right field gap early in the game, and Jim Thome was thrown out at home trying to score from first. Any other runner (except me) would have scored there. His second double again came with a runner on first base. This one went to the left centerfield gap. Unfortunately it bounced over the wall for a ground rule double meaning the runner from third could only advance to 3B.

· Glen Perkins – The lefty replaced Scott Baker with two outs in the top of the 5^th and the bases loaded. He was able to get the third out of that inning and eat up the sixth inning as well.

· Matt Guerrier – pitched a scoreless 7^th inning.

· Jesse Crain – dominated n the 8^th inning.

· Joe Nathan – Before the game, Joe Nathan was out in right field playing catch. He wasn’t throwing real hard. He wasn’t pitching. He was just in shorts and a Twins t-shirt and just playing catch. But as he was throwing, I couldn’t see anything noticeable. It appeared to be pain free. No, he can’t pitch in 2010, but it was sure good to see. He then went down the line and signed autographs for at least 15 minutes.

The Bad:

· JJ Hardy - the only Twins hitter without a hit.

· Scott Baker – John Danks is a work horse. Yes, he gave up four in the first inning, but he still went seven innings and gave up only five runs total. Baker, he was given a 4-0 lead and he started giving it up right away. There is absolutely no bulldog in Scott Baker, and I don’t get why. He even threw a ball poorly to 1B for an error. It’s not explainable. There is no reason for him to be this bad or this inconsistent at this stage of his career.

· Jon Rauch and Matt Capps – Might as well lump them together because they are the same pitcher. Rauch is an absolute mess right now. Forget the success he had in the first half. He is not a very good pitcher right now. And when the Twins acquired Capps, we looked at the numbers and saw that Capps was about the same pitcher as Rauch. His numbers were all either the same or very close to Rauch’s. Yes, Capps may “look” a little more like a closer than Rauch, because he throws a couple miles per hour faster, but the numbers don’t lie. They are about the same pitcher. Lots of base runners, lots of hits. Tonight, they both gave up one run on three hits.

· On-field kid – It was on the opposite side of the field, but I think a kid, maybe 12-14 years old, ran onto the field and over to Delmon Young. He turned around and as security made its way out to him, the kid jumped back in the stands. He went up a few rows and sat down. The security guards grabbed him and escorted him AND HIS PARENTS and sibling, out of their seats. That was the craziest thing. Was the kid drunk? Did his dad maybe tell him to do it? It was strange.

· The Wave – Man, I hate the wave. I think everyone knows that. I heard someone say that the crowd stayed around for the whole game (true) and that the crowd was fully engaged, “in fact, the crowed had the wave going around the stadium like 5 times.” When I hear that, I just shake my head. People doing the wave aren’t into the game, they’re into the wave. It is always done at times that make no sense, and I just do not understand why some people think it is so cool.

· Funny Parents – I love the adults who are just rude to players. For instance, there was one guy in our section during batting practice who really wanted a ball. Omar Vizquel picked up a ball a little ways away. The dad yelled, “Hey White Sox.” OK, if you’re going to be a jerk, at least know the names, especially of guys of Vizquel’s stature. He continued to be annoying. After Kevin Slowey spent some time with family or friends nearby, this guy said something to Slowey, and used his kid to get something. Then when a ball did come over there, he predictably stole it from a few kids.

The Highlights:

· OK, it was pretty cool being able to see that Thome walk-off home run tonight. That was definitely a highlight I’ll never forget.

· Apparently my mom and I were on TV. A groundball came down the 1B line and the first base coach threw it back in to a guy who it hit in the stands, three rows in front of us.

· The highlight of the night for me – Following the Jim Thome home run, I got a high-five from the great Khalid El-Amin! Seriously! He is the guy who was hit by the previous foul bounder and got that ball. His son got a ball from Orlando Hudson. El-Amin, the former Minneapolis North, U-Conn and NBA player is still playing basketball in Europe. He is a big Twins fans and was completely engulfed in the game. So when Thome hit the homer, El-Amin came up the aisle and gave me a high-five. That was cool!

Finally, here are a few more quick notes:

· Since I was at the game last night, Travis hosted Twins Minor League Weekly last night.

Any questions or comments on the Twins or the minor league system? Feel free to leave your questions and comments here.

Most Recent Postings (for a complete list, check out the Archives)

8/25/10 – No Right Answers

8/24/10 – In Defense of Denard

8/23/10 – Monday Morning Notes

8/20/10 – Friday Links and Thinks

8/19/10 – One to Forget… Quickly!

8/19/10 – Twins Win Again!

8/18/10 – He’s Unbelievable Thome (To Me?)

8/16/10 – Controversial but Clearly Correct

8/15/10 – Duensing Deals a Dandy

8/13/10 – Friday Night Game Notes

8/13/10 – Friday Links and Thinks

8/12/10 – Round 3: Twins Top Sox, Take Lead

11/27/08 – Now Available: Minnesota Twins Prospect Handbook - 2009

Photo Album

Look at my online photo album filled with pictures from my vacations, sporting events. (under construction)

About me

Some information about Seth.