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A big point of contention for Twins fans over the past calendar year has been the bullpen. And while expectations were low heading into 2015, the team exceeded them. The bullpen, however, did not. Absent context, the bullpen’s numbers don’t look that bad, right? The team cobbled together a 3.95 ERA, a nice 6.9 K/9 and was one of just a handful of American League bullpens to issue fewer than three walks per nine frames. Nothing about that necessarily stands out to the untrained eye, but nothing l
The snow has melted, the season has changed, and the Twins have embarked on Florida. Spring Training is now well underway, and the Twins are set to kick off their slate of games. As the team positions itself for the meaningful contests in April, it's the March matchups that will pave the way. On the mound to set the action off for the Twins will be Phil Hughes. The question is, what does that mean going forward? Paul Molitor made the announcement that Hughes will be the starter for the Spring
What is baseball going to do about teams tanking? That question, framed in one manner or another, is being posed incessantly by baseball media’s talking heads as Major League Baseball prepares to kick off the 2016 season. http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/tanking2-600x355.jpg There’s no question that teams like the Washington Nationals, Houston Astros and Chicago Cubs have emerged from prolonged periods of ineptitude to become not only competitive, but, in the case
Sunday will be the 10th anniversary of the death of Kirby Puckett, one of the most beloved Twins of all time. I just thought it would be nice to offer some memories of Puckett as a Twin – from his infectious smile to his game-winning 1991 World Series Game 6 home run. What's your favorite memory of Kirby Puckett?
As a new Major League Baseball season approaches, a renewed sense of hope imparts itself upon Twins Territorians. After a near playoff run a season ago, Paul Molitor's club will be looking to take the next step forward in the year ahead. Typically, that step isn't taken by every player, as regression candidates rear their heads. By now, you're probably aware that for 2016, my pick is none other than Eddie Rosario. Should that narrative play out, we find ourselves staring at one of the Twins most
Miguel Sano is listed by Baseball-Reference at 260 pounds. This LEN3 article has him at 263. If you've ever seen him up close, you know that Miguel Sano's true weight is probably something closer to thirty-seven billion pounds. It's also possible that he has no weight, but rather that the Earth's weight is measured in terms of the effect Sano's gravitational pull has on it. He's a large man, is what I'm saying. He's one scary, seriously oversized muscle with a face. That's an unusual-enough t
Wednesday's storms brought sunny skies, cool temps (low 60's) and strong winds to Ft. Myers. Got to Hammond a little later than usual (bad traffic) and pitchers were already into bullpen sessions. The first 5 pitchers I watched were Hughes, May, O'Rourke, Abad, and a lefty Pat Dean. As in other years Hughes' control is terrific and Abad is a big lefty, 6-1, 220 lbs. Neil Allen, Eddie G., and Latroy Hawkins were behind the mounds watching. The next 5 were Gibson, Jepsen, Brandon Kintzler (AAA
It's become a point of contention in some circles that the Minnesota Twins may not have a level of certainty at the shortstop position. Unfortunately, that notion couldn't be further from the truth, at least for the time being. Going into 2016, there's no doubt Eduardo Escobar has earned the right to start every day, and the expectation should be that he'll succeed. Way back when, I touched on the Twins continuing to benefit from the trade that sent Francisco Liriano to the Chicago White Sox.
I did something recently that I hadn’t done in probably 15 years. It used to be a habit. In fact, in retrospect, it may have actually become my very first true habit – something I came to feel I needed. Whether it was a good habit or a bad habit is probably open to debate, depending on one’s perspective. (This article was originally published at Knuckleballsblog.com) http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/carlinquote-2-600x400.jpg The habit had its roots in my youth.
Taking cues from another Twitter conversation, seriously you're missing out if you aren't following along (find me at @tlschwerz), the creativity surrounding baseball moves has been a hot topic of late. When looking at how the Twins have handled player acquisition in recent years, there's something to be said about what has been done well, and well, what hasn't. I first got to thinking about this after reading a very well thought out piece over on Twins Daily. In it, Bill Parker sparks the con
Joined by Paul Sporer in the latest episode: Sporer joins the program to discuss Texas, MLB The Show, and of course, pitching and fantasy baseball. Oh, and there's a little dachshund talk as well. Listen: http://traffic.libsyn.com/midwestswing2/MWS_-_Paul_Sporer.mp3 Subscribe/Review: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/facemidwestswing2s-podcast/id1073026341?mt=2
If you follow me on Twitter (and if you aren't you should: @tlschwerz), you know that going into a new Twins season, there's generally a good bit of optimism. While toeing the line far away from being a homer, I generally try to place a good deal of scrutiny on regression candidates going into any given season. A year ago, it was Danny Santana and Kurt Suzuki that could be seen from a mile away. This season, my point of contention has been Eddie Rosario. The talking point that has been Eddie R
On Monday, Bill Parker wrote on this very site about the Twins’ payroll, and about how complaints about the Twins’ relatively low payroll never seem to get past the surface, saying, He demands that we “show our work” and implies, essentially, that the Pohlads opening up their wallets wouldn’t have made enough of a difference to save the Twins from their awful finishes, and thus probably were right to hold onto their money. On the one hand, I agree and sympathize with that point. After all, no
A rainy day in Ft. Myers, but the boys still got their work done. The first 4 hitters on field 4 were the same as Monday; Buxton, Park, Arcia, and D. Santana. The second group was Benson, Escobar, Rosario and Mr. Joe Mauer. Buxton, Santana, Rosario, and Escobar were hitting line drives consistently. Tony Oliva was working with Arcia between at bats. Mauer looked very rusty at first, but during his last round hit the ball hard to right field. His last pitch one hopped the fence in right cent
I got to Hammond about 9:30 (temp was 73). The back infield was busy with pitchers (minor league guys I think) taking fielding practice. Field 4 had Tony Oliva watching over the guys doing warmup drills. Then they started hitting. Brunansky was pitching; the first 4 were Buxton, Park, Arcia (Bruno called him Archie) and Danny Santana. They all hit the ball fairly well; Arcia seemed to be trying to hit liners to left-center. The second 4 were Escobar, Sano, Rosario, and Joe Benson (He looked
As February quickly comes to a close, the Twins are ready to get fully underway with spring training activities down in Fort Myers. Pitchers and catchers have reported, with most of the roster following suit. With Paul Molitor eyeing an improvement on a strong first season, he knows that his club has some areas to work on. Minnesota found themselves in a good deal of beneficial situations a season ago. The club, more often than not, excelled in clutch or high leverage situations. Despite havin
The pitchers and catchers for the Minnesota Twins have finally reported to Spring Training and position players are already filtering into the Fort Myers camp in advance of their mandatory reporting day later this week. The Twins will open their season in Baltimore on April 4, but from all that’s being written about the Twins, it appears there are only minor questions about the composition of the Opening Day roster and even less question about the Opening Day lineup. Manager Paul Molitor has s
Now with every Major League Baseball team having hit their pitcher and catcher report dates, the upcoming season feels as close as ever. Despite snow being on the ground yet in some parts of the country, baseball is ready to bring back the feelings of summer. Prior to the action kicking off however, we have to take a look at how things are expected to play out. Back in January, I outlined how I saw the AL Central taking shape. With the World Champion Kansas City Royals again pacing the group,
I want to talk about the Twins and payroll, and how we talk about the Twins’ payroll. It’s been about a month since Jack Moore wrote the excellent and scathing The Minnesota Small-Market Con over at Baseball Prospectus Milwaukee. The points it makes are numerous and wide-ranging -- the most important, I think, is “f the billionaire Pohlads had been willing to take a short-term loss, they could have made their way out of the Metronome years earlier without taking the public for such a ride” --
With camp officially starting in just a couple of days, more and more players are arriving (Milone, Rosario, Benson just to name a few) thus more and more is going on in the backfields. Infielders/Pitchers could be seen fielding grounders on the half field while pitchers were throwing under Hammond Stadium, this day however I was not pulling myself away from the Sano and Arcia outfield drills and workouts on Field Four. It was a definitely a sight to see, defensive outfield drills followed by ba
Going into the 2016 Major League Baseball season, the Minnesota Twins have plenty on their plate when it comes to expectations. After having a winning season for the first time since 2010, and making a push for the playoffs, second year manager Paul Molitor will have his hands full when trying to fight off taking a step backwards. In 2015, the Twins did some things really well, but maybe more importantly than anything, they were handed a good deal of luck. Playing well above average in high le
The signing of Brian Duensing with the Kansas City Royals closes the book on a story that was started in 1989. In the first round of that year's draft, the Twins selected Texas A&M shortstop Chuck Knoblauch who would go on to spawn the trade that would put Twins GM Terry Ryan on the map and the fruits of that trade would be felt until 2015. After seven seasons of what looked to be the beginning of a HOF career, Chuck Knoblauch and his 37.9 WAR wanted out of Minnesota and to a contender. We
Joe Mauer has been a living embodiment of what the Minnesota Twins represent for nearly his entire career. He's the milk-drinking, Minnesota-nice, head-down, hard working ballplayer that has been the face of the franchise for the better part of the last 10 years. After trending downwards for the past few seasons, it's fair to wonder when Mauer's reign comes to an end. The immediate and shortest response is that the time has not yet come. Sure, each of the past two seasons, Mauer's numbers ha
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.
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hello Seth......you'll wanna correct the date in headline of today's minor league report. :-) Brad· 0 replies
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.· 1 reply
