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http://i.imgur.com/wNmXavJ.jpg If you just looked at the ball and strike totals on this graph, you'd probably think that I had accidentally posted a graph for Phil Hughes in the wrong article. But low and behold, with reports of Phil imparting some words of wisdom to the young hurler, Trevor May came out and put together probably his best outing of his short major league career. With the exception of a four hitter stretch in the 4th, May was very impressive. He gave up 5 hits, walked zero,
The Minnesota Twins' front office is going to be faced with making some difficult decisions this offseason - decisions they are woefully ill-prepared to make. http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/GardenhireBrunansky2012.jpg Ron Gardenhire and Tom Brunansky (photo: Knuckleballs) Many professional sports organizations change their on-field management at least as often as they change accounting firms. It's just part of the way they do business. When you lose more games tha
http://i.imgur.com/Bj0y0pZ.jpg Another quality start, but who knows who things may have changed had Mauer not booted the ball early in the game which lead to the two run home run. Hughes' control was working as usual, though he did walk his first batter in 140 innings in the second. Many were surprised that it occurred against a team like the White Sox who walk so rarely (24th of 30 with a 6.9% BB%), but I figure it's a matter of Phil knowing the White Sox are aggressive, so he has to work the
The death march to 90 losses continues today with another doubleheader, this time against the South Side Sox. Sixteen games remain in this frustrating season which produced one, maybe two, rotation pieces and some optimism that the Twins can score enough runs to be competitive. For the record, the Twins need to win 11 of 16 games to avoid 90 losses. Actually, if they did that it would be a bit more than cosmetic, since they are playing playoff contenders in ten of the last 16 games. My tho
Well guys, I hate to break it to you.. but next year will be just as bad...and that is a reason to keep Gardy believe it or not.... First of all Gardy will be back if he wants to be back..Twins wont burn 5mil especially looking at next year and realizing..more of the same is coming... Why next year just as bad? Simple .....Pitching.... Hughes had had a career year...will he be as good next year..I think he will be close.... Now what do we have? Nolasco is showing why we signed him..and with the
http://i.imgur.com/jZp6Vma.jpg This is the type of appearance Twins fans hoped they were getting when he joined the club this year. An innings eater who can go deep into a game and keep you competitive. With 117 pitches, he reached a career high and the most he's thrown in a game since 2012. At 61.5% strike rate, it'd be incorrect to say he pounded the strike zone, but that really isn't his profile. However, he didn't walk any body, and the only big mistake he made was a splitter to Carlo
http://i.imgur.com/7Cz3DBi.jpg Part one of the twin billing didn't go as hoped. Gibson looked lack luster, and Cleveland took advantage to the tune of 7H, 7ER, 2BB 0Ks and 2HR in only 3IP. He only threw 57% of his pitches for strikes and only one swing and miss. His changeup was particularly futile. It fooled no one, getting not a single swinging strike, and was put into play 10 times, on only 14 pitches! In fact, the only time it ended up a strike was if someone offered at it (10 BiP and
Here we are, at the tail end of another lost season. This season, in the beginning, was a different season. The team fought, there was some urgency, and the team was able to keep its head above water for the first two months. After Kyle Gibson pitched a gem in Detroit in early June, I, along with many others in Twins Territory, were starting to become optimistic that something decent may become of this season. That lasted all of half of a week, as the team fell into disarray immediately and have
http://assets.podomatic.net/ts/19/ad/da/paulpleiss/1400x1400-360x360+32+0_9920149.jpeg There hasn't been a lot of good things to talk about with this ball club. That doesn't mean we don't have things to talk about, and we even got into a couple of spirited conversations this week, most notably about the coaching staff and their uncertain future in Minnesota. Mike Trout and the league leading Angels came to town and swept our hometown heroes, but at least Target Field faithful were reminded what
Bud Selig is set to retire this off-season after 22 years at the helm of Major League Baseball. Rob Manfred has already been voted in as his successor, a position he has been groomed for over since starting to work for MLB in 1998. The 55-year old Manfred will have a variety of issues on his plate as he takes over from the 80-year old Selig. During Selig's tenure as commissioner, baseball has been marked by a variety of ups and downs. A large growth in attendance has increased revenue across t
http://i.imgur.com/IioT54T.jpg Is it just me, or does Trevor May rely to heavily on his fastball? Maybe it is because he does use the fastball so heavily, but he always seems to get great swinging strike rates on his off speed offerings, and that trend continued tonight. Four walks in 5 innings is still a lot, but he did a good job of working out of trouble tonight, something that he had struggled with earlier. Another thing of note is that his average fastball velocity has gone up over a
This is the third post in a series looking at different story lines in relation to the Twins as the season comes to a close (Part 1: Starting Rotation, Part 2: Prospect Promotions) September has been a rough month over the last three seasons and this year is continuing to follow that trend. The moto of the month might be "Wake Me Up When September Ends" but there seems to be a small glimmer of hope on the horizon. This could give you a reason to still pay attention over the final weeks. At the
The Twins have just been swept by the Angels. They were competitive for three games, but got beat up on Sunday. The fact is that, despite a fairly good offense in the five games, the Twins had no chance because the Angels are superior in all facets of the game. At least some of the young guys are playing and a few are thriving. Kennys Vargas is hitting and slugging and Danny Santana is established as a good hitter who has played center field more than his natural position of shortstop. In
http://www.twinsandlosses.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/30c5ebfa57730257176efea5450657cd.jpg Originally posted on www.twinsandlosses.com @TwinsAndLosses No, this isn’t a post about the recently demolished Metrodome (R.I.P. and screw you, Zygi), this is a post about something near and dear to my heart: The Twins’ “M” logo. I’m a huge fan of the “M” logo the Twins have used since 1987. It seems that every year past 2010, the Twins have made small steps in moving closer and closer to the fa
As of this morning, Astros and Cubs have better records: Astros 1 game better Cubs, 3 games better I thought I'd never see the day where the Astros pass the Twins in the rebuilding race but it has happened They got rid of the Manager, have young talent playing and don't seem to have any ridiculous contracts hanging over them, like the Nolasco fiasco. Yikes, Terry and the crew have been outdone. I've always been a fan of Terry because of his ability to build a Farm System but sometimes
http://i.imgur.com/wr12NTM.jpg Hughes continues to show incredible control, and the most amazing thing about tonight's performance is that of his 12 swinging strikes he induced, 10 of them came on his 4 seam fastball. Good miss rates, good strike out totals, and he pitched the entire 7th inning using only four seam fastballs (10 pitchees, 8 strikes, and 2 strike outs). A shame he couldn't get the win. Sorry the last two write ups were so brief. Posting at 3:45 will lead to that. Feel fre
http://i.imgur.com/fWS5pCP.jpg Sorry it's a day late, but it's going to be a dollar short. Long weekend, results in this being put up at 3:30am. Control was a little spotty, good swing and miss numbers. 8 hits, 2 ER against a decent LAA offense. Some bad defense really hurt him, particularly the Arcia error which not only led to a run, but also led to an extra 14 pitches being thrown that inning. Worked out of trouble a lot, but then again, was in trouble. After seeing an initial spike
The Twins will probably lose 90 games this year. That doesn't mean that they will be making wholesale changes of their roster, at least not from the position player standpoint. After watching half of the Angel series, I'm convinced that all of the 13 position players that will head north out of Fort Myers are playing for the Twins right now. Most of the players are givens. A couple of guys will have competition and two of the jewels of the system will probably get their chance sometime in 2015,
Let's face it, there isn't much left to talk about in terms of the Twins and their 2014 season. We know the story all too well at this point. Worst starting pitcher ERA in all of baseball, last place in the AL Central, can never seem to get a hit with runners on base, etc. This tired story has caused me, like many of you, to care way more about the future than the present. In this post, I am attempting to answer a simple question: Which players look OK to stick with in 2015 and which players cou
While the current edition of the Cedar Rapids Kernels have been making their way through the Midwest League playoffs this week, a group of 20 Kernels alumni are on the verge of claiming the first Florida State League championship in franchise history for the Fort Myers Miracle. (Click here for David Dorsey's story on the Miracle's pursuit of a championship) http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Walker1.jpg Adam Brett Walker lines a home run vs Clinton on September 2,
With the Minor League season all but over, this is likely the last time I will be writing the Minor League Report for the 2014 season. I won't disappear completely, you can still find me and the rest of the Talk to Contact crew talking beer, baseball and the news over at www.TalkToContact.com on our weekly Minnesota Twins podcast. Thank you for hanging out with me and talking Minor LEague ball this year at Twins Daily, it has been a blast. The Twins played host to the Los Angeles Angels of A
http://i.imgur.com/bsmdmBx.jpg Low Swinging Strike percentage, 7 hits, 2 walks and 1 K. I don't think Gibson had his best stuff tonight, but he still managed 7 innings, and despite one big inning kept his team in the game. His command was not impressive, throwing only 63% of his pitches for strikes. Exacerbating that was his struggles on the first pitch of at bats. He fell behind 11 of the 28 batters he faced, and only got ahead on 12 of them (8 called strikes and 4 foul balls). He gave up
Josmil Pinto (aka Beans) wants you to do the Target Field Helmet Challenge. He years for you to stuff your face with a helmet full of fries, another full of nachos and a third filled with ice cream for a savory dessert. He wants you to live large and be merry. He wants you to do the helmet challenge. On September 15th the Twins host the Detroit Tigers. Pitching match-ups are still a long ways off, but the boys from the Talk to Contact Podcast would like to invite you to join them at the
Deuces were wild for Mendez on Wednesday in Vegas. In his Triple-A debut, the 22-year-old slugger went 1-for-3 with two walks, two runs scored and two RBI.
I am not a follower of Donald Trump. I have participated in several no kings rallies and am disgusted with what he and his followers have done to our country and the world. I would like to know what most Brazilians feel about the United States now and about the folks our citizens have elected to represent us.