Recent News

Don't look now but it looks like Francisco Liriano might have remembered how to pitch. His last two starts have looked much better than the horrendous pitcher that was on the mound at the beginning of the year. This might be jumping the gun a little since his last two outings came against two poor offenses, the Oakland A's and the Kansas City Royals.

The Twins offense couldn't back the strong outing by Liriano because Bruce Chen shut them down at the plate. Jonathan Broxton made the ninth inning a little interesting with two men getting on base but he was still able to preserve the 1-0 win for the Royals.

After a couple more games with the Royals, the Twins will head home to start a couple weeks of interleague play. The Cubs, Phillies, and Brewers will all visit Target Field and there is a chance for the Twins to do well with the way some of these teams have looked on the field.

For now, let's look at the abbreviate minor league schedule from Tuesday night. ...

The second round opened with the Twins selecting LHRP Mason Melotakis out of Northwestern State. Unlike Bard before him, who will get a chance to be a starter, Melotakis will most likely start in the bullpen. He sold himself with an excellent performance in the Cape Cod League. Melotakis is a mid-90s power arm that will probably pitch some rookie-ball innings and then join the Beloit bullpen this summer.
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As important as Monday was to the Twins organization because of the draft, there was another reason it was important. Kyle Gibson threw off of a mound for the first time since having Tommy John surgery. In a text message, he said that it "went really good!" He added that his "arm felt great!" For Gibson, it was another milestone passed on the way to getting back into some games later this summer!

Ben Revere and Jamey Carroll each had three hits. Josh Willingham hit his 11^th homer. Justin Morneau hit his 10^th homer, and Trevor Plouffe hit his seventh home run as the Twins topped the Royals 10-7. Congratulations to Cole De Vries on his first Major League win. He gave up five runs (4 earned) in five innings, but then Alex Burnett threw two scoreless innings. Jared Burton tossed a scoreless inning. Then after Jeff Gray made things interesting, Matt Capps came in for the final out for the save.

Here is a look at the Twins minor league scores and highlights from Monday: ...

Of the last decade's drafts, I think it’s safe to say that the two first round picks for which the Twins took the most immediate heat were 2001 and 2007. It might be worth noting just how ridiculous that looks right now. In 2001, the Twins took Joe Mauer as the #1 pick and were lambasted for being too damn cheap and possibly blinded by a local kid. In 2007, the fiscal-based criticism was similar when they drafted Ben Revere "above slot" and it was compounded by a perception that the Twins were way too happy with their annoying little Piranhas and devoid of power.

But if you take a look at first round picks the Twins have made, Mauer and Revere currently rank among some of the best, even given Revere’s limited role so far. ...

With the second overall pick in the 2012, the Minnesota Twins selected high school outfielder Byron Buxton out of Appling County High School in Baxley, Georgia. In doing so, they chose one of the consensus most talented prospects, but one with his share of risks.

Buxton’s athleticism has earned comparisons to Eric Davis, Matt Kemp and even Willie Mays. (Read that last sentence again.) He is blessed with speed that is among the top seen in a prospect and an arm that has hit 97 miles per hour when throwing from a mound. He projects ...

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