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Post originally appeared at 105 The Ticket's Cold Omaha: There’s a Minnesota Twins player who has quietly turned himself into one of the best players in the American League at his position, and it might be time the team takes notice financially. It’s not Joe Mauer, who is still signed to that hotly-contested deal through 2018. It isn’t Brian Dozier, who inked a four-year, $20 million extension just before the season started. No, it’s third baseman Trevor Plouffe, whom many in Twins Territo
In the minors on Sunday, Twins affiliates saw a solid rehab appearance from starter Ricky Nolasco in Cedar Rapids, and eight dominant innings from a left-hander in Rochester. Multiple games had dramatic finishes, but just one team would bring home a victory. Read on to find out what happened and where! RED WINGS REPORT Syracuse 4, Rochester 6 Box Score Rochester plated four runners in the third inning, and two in the fourth to provide just enough offense for the bullpen in the ninth, after sta
After two weather related cancelations, the Red Wings finished the week by playing a double header against the Syracuse Chiefs. Rochester had been on the road for the past two weeks, sweeping Scranton then being swept by Pawtucket and finishing by taking two of three against Syracuse. Rochester’s biggest struggle so far this season has been their offense, currently ranking in the bottom half in the league in runs (9th), hits (11th), home runs (8th), RBI’s (8th) & 13th in stolen bases in th
This is the first time in Ron Gardenhire's life that he hasn't been actively involved in baseball since his youth. However, it doesn't mean he wouldn't like to be back in the action. Fox Sports is reporting Gardenhire hired an agent for the first time in decades to "monitor possible managerial openings." Since there are currently no openings, he isn't actively pursuing a position but he's open to considering all possibilities. There's also no reason to hurry since he had a year remaining on h
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://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6e_UhOY5we8/VTmhpynyKFI/AAAAAAAALbM/tzwDlStrcgM/s1600/torii.jpg This week on the Talk to Contact podcast we rehash the week that was in Twins territory, including Mike Pelfrey and Trevor May pitching for a job in the rotation after Ricky Nolasco returns from his rehab start in Ced
The Twins were off on Thursday, so a lot of people spent a lot of time trying to figure out what the heck Torii Hunter was doing when he scampered towards home plate on Wednesday night, attempting a straight steal of home. If that doesn't do it for you, you can get your baseball fix from the newest Talk to Contact podcast featuring TwinsDaily's own Jeremy Nygaard talking about the MLB draft and the Twins' payroll. RED WINGS REPORT Rochester @ Syracuse Chiefs The Red Wings and Chiefs were p
<img src="http://assets.podomatic.net/ts/19/ad/da/paulpleiss/1400x1400-576x576+0+82_10546909.jpg" alt="itunes pic" /><br /><p>This week on the Talk to Contact podcast we rehash the week that was in Twins territory, including Mike Pelfrey and Trevor May pitching for a job in the rotation after Ricky Nolasco returns from his rehab start in Cedar Rapids, what the hell Torii Hunter is doing attempting a straight steal of home, and our very own Jay Corn finally earns his Talk to Con
Stealing Home - can you balk the balk? Last night during the Minnesota Twins game against the Kansas City Royals, there was a controversial play in the top of the 2nd inning. With the Twins up 3-0, the bases loaded and 2 outs, Kennys Vargas was at the plate, Torii Hunter was on 3rd, Joe Mauer was on 2nd and Brian Dozier was on 1st. The count was 0 and 1 after Vargas fouled off the 1st pitch of the at-bat. As Royals starting pitcher Jeremy Guthrie started his wind up for the pitch, Torii brok
Yesterday I decided to take a look at Sean Hjelle, a local prep pitcher from Mahtomedi who was ranked the 28th best prep prospect in baseball by Prep Baseball Report. I took one look at him and thought, “This is the tallest pitcher I have ever seen,” but that isn’t surprising seeing he is an even seven feet tall. With that height some people might worry about his delivery, but he seemed to repeat it with ease, and threw 85-90 miles per hour into the eight inning. He showed a two-seamer, a four-s
Mike Pelfrey's arm is feeling better. Last night he pitched 7 shutout innings against the Royals as he struck out four, walked two, and gave up five hits as the Twins cruised to a 3-0 victory. That's a good result, but it doesn't necessarily indicate Pelfrey's arm is feeling better. Well, how about this factoid? Pelfrey's sinker's average velocity of 93.5 mph in 2015 is the highest it's ever been, according to fangraphs PITCHf/x velocity data. His fastball's 93.1 mph average is also the
According to Mike Berardino of the Pioneer Press, Ricky Nolasco will be making a rehab start in Cedar Rapids on Saturday. http://www.twincities.com/twins/ci_27945723/minnesota-twins-ricky-nolasco-set-rehab-assignment?source=rss If it is successful, he should be returning to the Twins. Will he take his place in the rotation or will they put Nolasco in the bullpen? After Pelfrey's 7 innings of shutout pitching last night, all 5 of the current starters have had a quality start. If Molitor puts No
Scott Boras, still complaining about Kris Bryant and Addison Russell, thinks a panel should decide if a young player is ready to make the team out of spring training. Coincidentally, this would benefit Scott Boras. I think a rule or panel that would make a team give up roster decisions to a third party is...um, far-fetched at best. http://espn.go.com/chicago/mlb/story/_/id/12737070/agent-scott-boras-wants-panel-rule-readiness-players-prior-end-spring-training
The Twins got off to a very rough start for the 2015-16 season going 1-6 in the first week which is about the worst possible start for a new manager in Paul Molitor. They didn’t even manage a run until their third game, but the second week of the season has been quite the turnaround. One thing that has surprised me about the Twins is the play of Phil Hughes. He hasn’t been performing to what I expected of him. It’s also worrisome to see Brian Duensing hit the DL so early in the year. The Twi
Phil Hughes and Kyle Gibson were the Twins best starters last year, but they are almost opposite pitchers, with Hughes being a fly ball pitcher and Gibson being a ground ball pitcher, and Hughes walking less and striking out more. First we will look at Phil Hughes, who as a fly ball pitcher allowed just .69 home runs per nine and 23.2% line drives, 36.5% ground balls, 40.2% fly balls (10.5% in the infield,) and threw 822 balls to 2224 strikes while Kyle Gibson allowed .60 home runs per nine and
On Sunday afternoon Trevor May went six innings in his second start of the year for the Twins, holding the Cleveland Indians to just one run on four hits and zero walks. He struck out seven. Torii Hunter also hit his first home run in a Twins uniform since 2007, a three run shot in the sixth inning to help the Twins beat the Indians 7-2, closing their first home stand of the year with a 4-2 record and two series wins. Two of the Twins affiliates went into extra innings, with one collecting a wal
Def. jour·ney·man \-mən\ : a worker, performer, or athlete who is experienced and good but not excellent In the nomenclature of the game we have many names for the journeyman. On competitive teams we typically use the more endearing terms: role player, utility man, pinch hitter, defensive replacement. But on a losing team we tend to describe them in less complementary ways: placeholder, seat warmer, has been. A journeyman’s value is not typically described with season stats or career slash l
Talk about Irony... Rosario hits a slam for the Red Wings....they lose 6-4 Sano slams for the Lookouts..they lose 6-4 Thank Goodness FT Meyers didn't hit a slam allowing them to win with a dominant pitching performance by Chin Wei Hu...7-0 The big team wins on a walk off hr by Plouffe and my man Escobar shines..he first throws a runner out at the plate Then adroitly swings at a horrible inside pitch that he knew the catcher would have trouble with scoring a run from third.. In his
Like Vader's lightsaber cleaving through the Jedi Temple, the Minnesota Twins figured out how to get some hits. Last year's offense has finally shown up fashionably late (Kasota Gold? [Am I doing this right?]). Anyone who Everyone thought the Twins were on pace for a historically bad season. Like, 100 plus losses bad. I've been called a Pohlad Pocket Protector, a homer, and a Gardy Guy; but to think this team would have the worst record in the Twins' franchise history is preposterous at best.
Author’s Note: Thank you for checking out this story. My name is Mat Batts and I hope to bring you some stories and insight from the minor league lifestyle here on Twins Daily throughout the season. This will be my second season (first full) in the Twins organization and my second stint here in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. I look forward to getting to know a lot of you—online or in person—as we move forward this summer. I hope you enjoy! It’s no secret that player appearances can be, well, uncomfortabl
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://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Jsdsjb0g_VE/VTEtRryR2ZI/AAAAAAAALZI/TsDPU-8kpdk/s1600/hunterdouglas.jpg We went a little wild this week, 110 minutes wild. We chatted about the Twins' recent struggles, reviewed our experiences from the Home Opener (including the returning of Torii Hunter), and tried to decide what
The Twins surprised everyone and won on Thursday afternoon, taking two out of three against the Royals to win their first series of the year. Down on the farm, things did not go as well with every affiliate in action taking the loss. RED WINGS REPORT Rochester @ Pawtucket PawSox Box Score Despite seven runs on twelve hits, the Red Wings lost to the PawSox in the bottom of the ninth when Ryan Pressly, working in his third inning of the evening, gave up a one out home run to Pawtucket's
<img src="http://assets.podomatic.net/ts/19/ad/da/paulpleiss/1400x1400_10527623.jpg" alt="itunes pic" /><br />This week we chat about the Twins' recent struggles, review our experiences from the Home Opener (including the returning of Torii Hunter), and try and decide what is going on with Tommy Milone. In the second half of the program we are joined by Seth Stohs from TwinsDaily.com to talk about the first week of Minor League baseball. And of course, beer, baseball, and the new
The Minnesota Twins recently got their second win of the Major League Baseball season, and while it wasn't on the back of an offensive outburst, the run support was enough to get the job done. A stagnant start to the season had Paul Molitor searching for creative ways to get things going. After making a few lineup tweaks, the Twins got back in the win column. The question is, what should we expect going forward. In changing around the lineup, the key differences were in swapping spots between To
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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