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In an effort to get back in the swing of writing about the Twins consistently, I'm going back to an old well: Cliff-Notes. After all, I end up checking the cliff notes of everything book I teach for plagiarism, I figure this is just getting ahead of the curve. (For the start on cliff-notes I made before September crushed my baseball loving soul click here) With that, let's start looking at Volume 2 of the Twins' Cliff Notes Chapter 1: "April" Plot Summary: With the traditional exposition of
Every team longs for a chance to add to the legacy of their franchise. How can they get another flag to fly over the stadium and become a part of baseball's legendary past? This is the premise behind the recent book release, In Pursuit of Pennants: Baseball Operations from Deadball to Moneyball by Mark L. Armour and Daniel R. Levitt. These two authors take the reader on a journey through the annals of baseball history to find what made front offices successful throughout each era. Armour an
When will Buxton be called up? He is ripping up AA (.880 OPS, 3 HR, 5 3B, 7 SB). We have seen Terry move position players quicker, like Santana, Vargas, Arcia, and Hicks. We have a need in CF. And I think they would love a little extra buzz this year. I think after the super 2 deadline he is up.
Yesterday the Minnesota Twins found themselves in need of another body as they were set to put Oswaldo Arcia on the disabled list. While Arcia sounds hopeful that he will just miss two weeks, the Twins needed a replacement for the immediate future. Despite Arcia being an outfielder, Paul Molitor noted that the Twins considered names such as Aaron Hicks, Eddie Rosario, and Josmil Pinto. When the dust settled, it was Rosario called up to make his big league debut. Now we have to ask, are the Twins
The Minnesota Twins promoted well-regarded prospect Eddie Rosario from Triple-A Rochester on Monday. Rosario wasn’t in uniform in time to start the game, and ultimately didn’t get in as the Twins eked out a close 8-7 win. Rosario, a two-time top-100 prospect according to Baseball Prospectus, was hitting just .242/.280/.370 at Rochester, leaving some to question why Aaron Hicks didn’t get the call instead due to his superior statistics. Manager Paul Molitor suggested it was not necessarily a lo
You might not guess it just to look at him, as he patrols centerfield for the Cedar Rapids Kernels, but there’s a good chance that Tanner English is among the most athletic ballplayers on the roster. http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/English15a-600x400.jpg Tanner English (Photo: SD Buhr) Sure, he measures just 5’ 10” tall and is listed at just 160 pounds, but don’t let his size fool you. English has athletic skills. For example, how many of his team mates do you th
In the spring of 2013, the Minnesota Twins promoted former first round pick, Aaron Hicks, to the Opening Day roster following spring training. That spring, he hit .370/.407/.644 with four home runs and 18 runs batted in across just 73 at bats. After dealing Denard Span and Ben Revere during the offseason, Minnesota needed their next ceneterfield, and they believed Hicks was the future. Fast forward to 2015, and you know how the story went. Fortunately for Hicks, the next chapter is yet to be wri
70-92, 66-96, 66-96, 63-99, those are the records of the Minnesota Twins over the past four seasons. At the end of 2014, Terry Ryan fired longtime manager Ron Gardenhire, and the Twins appeared determined to make a turnaround. While just a month into 2015, comments suggesting the Twins being lackluster and bad continue to be tossed around by the uninformed fan. It's time to realize the suggestion sounds clueless, and this club is proving you couldn't be more wrong. As things stand, the Minneso
It's the beginning of May, so I thought it would be a good time to evaluate my 2015 breakthrough prospect candidates based on their first weeks this year. Here I highlight the position players and will focus on the pitchers tomorrow. Lewin Diaz and Jack Barrie have not started playing yet this season. Jorge (JJ) Fernandez (CDR) was injured a few week ago and is just returning. Statistics so far: 44 PA, .220/.273/.341, three doubles, one triple, three walks, 10 strikeouts Levi Michael (CHA) i
A former first round pick delivered a walk-off victory in Chattanooga on Sunday afternoon, in a game where both teams combined for thirty-hits and twenty-seven runs to provide the most entertaining game of the year. Elsewhere, there were three quality starts from starting pitchers, and standout games from several hitters. Read on to hear all about the slugfest in Chattanooga, and everything else that happened in Sunday’s action! RED WINGS REPORT Norfolk 3, Rochester 7 Box Score Rochester
The Twins announced a pair of roster moves following Friday night’s game. With Ricky Nolasco (right elbow inflammation) and Brian Duensing (right intercostal strain) set to be activated, the Twins needed to make a pair of moves to free up spots. Caleb Thielbar was essentially sent down in favor of Duensing. Thielbar made six appearances spanning five innings in his stint with the Twins, striking out five and walking none while allowing three earned runs (5.40 ERA). The other, perhaps more surp
You can download the new Talk to Contact (@TalkToContact) episode via iTunes or by clicking here, and if you want to add the show to your non-iTunes podcast player, this is the RSS Feed. http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qNRr4kWb11s/VUTHN5VtGrI/AAAAAAAALd8/kvDKdXyhuQE/s1600/DL.pngPhoto credit: http://www.thatstwinsbaseball.com/This week's show features long laments about the inability of the Twins defense to play anything resembling defense. Costing the Twins somewhere in the neighborhood of one run a
http://assets.podomatic.net/ts/19/ad/da/paulpleiss/1400x1400-770x770+274+5_10569006.gif This week's show features long laments about the inability of the Twins defense to play anything resembling defense. Costing the Twins somewhere in the neighborhood of one run a game, the bad defense, combined with pitchers who don't miss bats and hitters who can't get on base is a recipe for disaster. Welcome to your 2015 Minnesota Twins. Hey, at least Joe Mauer has a hockey playoff beard. http://talk2cont
The Minnesota Twins are now into May, and they have completed the first month of their 2015 Major League Baseball season. After starting off on an ugly note against the Detroit Tigers, the team has settled in a played competitive baseball on a nightly basis (as should have been the assumption). Just two games below .500, there's no doubt this team has left some wins on the table. There's plenty of encouraging notes as we head into the summer months however. At 10-12, the Twins head into May in s
I just do not understand how baseball works. The Twins got all over perennial Cy Young candidate Chris Sale on Thursday night en route to trouncing the Chicago White Sox 12-2. Sale was out after just three innings and he had giving up nine runs, the most in his career. Trevor May gave up just a pair of runs despite scattering ten hits, but couldn't finish the sixth inning. Down in the Minor Leagues it was a little bit of a mixed bag on Thursday evening. Aaron Hicks, Eddie Rosario, Byron Buxton
Yesterday, the Minnesota Twins played one of the worst baseball games I have witnessed at the professional level for quite some time. With Phil Hughes leaving after five innings due to an injury, Tim Stauffer came on to take over. Handed a 7-3 lead, he promptly allowed two solo home runs (giving up three total runs), while getting just two outs. Casey Fien later allowed three more earned runs before leaving with an injury, and the Twins fell by a score of 10-7. Losing centerfield Jordan Schafer
With just one week left to go down in Fort Myers, the Minnesota Twins spring training campaign was winding down. First year manager Paul Molitor was faced with some tough decisions, and of those, the most important revolved around his starting pitching options. Choosing to send Mike Pelfrey to the bullpen, the veteran met the decision with anger, criticism, and some angst. Fast forward a few hours, and the Twins had inserted Pelfrey back into the rotation due to a suspension handed down to free-
Given our logjam of pitchers and the Dodgers rash of injuries...seems like we maybe could be a trade match with them. Ideally we could give them Nolasco (he loved it there and he did alright for them) and they would give us Van Slyke. We could use the outfield defense and he absolutely crushes LH pitching. I know what you are thinking...why would anyone in their right mind want Nolasco? And you are right...maybe we could throw in a lifetime membership to Calhoun Beach Club or something for
This post originally appeared at 105 The Ticket's Cold Omaha: Prior to Monday night’s game — the opening of an 11-game homestand that ranks as the longest of the season — Twins assistant general manager Rob Antony provided injury updates on the pair of pitchers currently residing on the club’s disabled list, as well as an update on Trevor May: Reliever Brian Duensing (strained right intercostal) threw a 30-pitch bullpen session, and it is expected that he’ll throw live to hitters before Thu
Through the early part of the season, the Minnesota Twins knew they were going to be without the services of Josmil Pinto. After taking three swings to the back of the head in a spring training game, there's no doubt the time lost due to injury was going to cost him a roster spot. After a largely unimpressive 2014, Pinto needed to earn his way on, and time simply ran out. Knowing that it's his bat the will carry him at the next level, the promotion is coming, but what will it look like when it d
Those who know their Minnesota Twins history will know that the Twins’ World Series wins in 1987 and 1991 are two of only three World Series ever where the home team won every game. Additionally, in their 1965 World Series appearance, the home team won the first 6 games before the Dodgers took the Series in Game 7 at the Met. This made me wonder: Do the postseason Twins exhibit extreme home-road splits? To find out, I compared the Twins’ postseason record against the overall record of postse
It may not be what casual baseball fans want to see, but in most cases and at most levels of professional baseball, the teams with the best pitching win the most games. Sometimes, it really is that simple. http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/KernelsAutographs-600x400.jpg (L-R) Zack Larson, Stephen Gonsalves, Zach Granite and CK Irby sign autographs on the field after a Kernels game on April 26 It arguably has been exactly that simple for the Cedar Rapids Kernels over t
Conventional wisdom heading into the MLB season had the Twins' offense, which returned essentially all its key 2014 pieces plus Torii Hunter, leading the team to a slightly improved 2015, albeit in a difficult division. Beyond Hughes and Santana, the starting pitching and an "iffy" bullpen were perceived weaknesses. That script has been completely flipped as the Twins wrap up the first month of the season Thursday. After a horrendous opening series against the Tigers, Twins starters have poste
On Saturday, Tait went 2-for-4 with a walk and his 17th double. The 19-year-old is hitting .219 with 17 doubles and 15 home runs at High-A Cedar Rapids.
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