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How do the Twins perform on the corners compared to other team in the AL Central? Previous: Up the Middle First Base (ranked by wRC+) Tigers (1st) 176 Sox (2nd) 129 Royals (8th) 118 Indians(10th) 110 Twins (11th) 98 Cabrera is a monster. Abreau is very good. Santana will be better. I think Mauer can close the gap and approach Hosmer’s production in the second half. It is hard to imagine the Twins climbing out of fifth at 1B though. They really need Mauer to be a league ave
How does the Twins performance up the middle compare to the other teams of the AL Central? With the help of fangraphs, here is how the AL Central teams performed up the middle. Catcher (Ranked by wRC+) Tigers (4th) 100 Royals (7th) 87 Indians (8th) 86 White Sox (9th) 80 Twins (13th) 56 For fear of long discussion about WAR, I will leave it out. For the other positions, I will put some defensive rankings. We could start a thread and argue about catcher defense and framing also. I will state
Okay, we're past the statistical halfway point in the season. Sometimes it takes a while to flesh out who can help a team for the present and the future and sometimes circumstances make that decision. However, the Twins still haven't made decisions about several positions and players. The team is in the race for a wild card and they have not solidified several positions on the team. Here's my take on the key decisions that need to be made. 1-Shortstop. Danny Santana started the season as the r
It is time to re-evaluate the top pitching prospects in the Twins system. Trevor May graduated, and the 2015 draft brought in three fresh pitchers to this list. 1. Jose Berrios (1): RHS, 5-27-94 2015 status: Strong improvement over 2014 AA numbers. Promoted to AAA. ETA: essentially MLB ready now. 2. Tyler Jay (NR): LHR, 4-19-94 2015 status: Sent to Fort Myers to the bullpen, likely for the remainder of 2015. Starting ability in question. ETA: 2017 3. Stephen Gonsalves (5): LHS, 7-8-94 2015
Over the weekend, Ervin Santana returned to the Twins starting rotation. After serving an 80 game PED-related suspension, the free agent acquisition came out of the gates strong. Twirling eight strong innings, Santana sat back and watched it all implode. Paul Molitor went to the bullpen, and his relievers let him down yet again. Most recently, the suspects were Blaine Boyer and Aaron Thompson. In a tie game over the weekend, Molitor elected to give the ball to arms not named Glen Perkins. Of the
The Minnesota Twins were unable to take the series on Sunday in Kansas City, falling 3-2 to the Royals in Ervin Santana’s season debut. He did more than they could have hoped for limiting the Royals to just two runs on three hits, while striking out eight. But Miguel Sano driving in another run, and Aaron Hicks going yard weren’t enough to get him the victory. In the minors on Sunday, there was a comeback win for one squad, and another pounded out fourteen hits to jump out to early big lead.
Oswaldo Arcia hit his 4th homer of the season and drove in 2 runs for Rochester last night (2-K's as well). His average is up to .261. With an over crowded OF(Rosario, Hicks, Hunter, Robinson and Buxton to return(?) in a month or so) and Sano maning the DH position for now, will Ozzie ever see the green grass of Target Field's again?
With eight MLB at-bats under his belt, its not fair to say we've seen what Miguel Sano is made of yet. He is hitting .375 with a double, an RBI, a run scored and a .500 slugging percentage. Those look pretty good, but his 50% strikeout rate does not. All that is simply to say that he has not shown us enough to judge from his stats what kind of a player he is going to be. I have noticed several things from him though aside from his stats about the way he plays the game, and they make me feel pret
In each of the past several seasons, the Cedar Rapids Kernels have held an “Autism Awareness Night” at the Veterans Memorial Stadium, with the Kernels wearing special jerseys that are auctioned off to benefit The East Central Iowa Autism Society. The Society’s web site reports that the rate of autism is currently 1 in 88. However, as the site goes on to point out, “To most Americans, 1 in 88 is a number. To the families of a child with autism, our 1 in 88 has a face and a name.” For one Kern
http://www.twinstakes.com/wp-content/uploads/Miguel-Sano-Career-Stats1.png Miguel Sano’s Career Stats from MiLB.com The Minnesota Twins have called up their #2 prospect Miguel Sano from their Double-A affiliate Chattanooga Lookouts. Add Miguel to the list of top 10 prospects* already called up this season by the Twins, Eddie Rosario(#8), Jorge Polanco(#4), Alex Meyer(#10) and Byron Buxton(#1.) Although he’s listed as the #2 prospect, he might be the most anticipated prospect to come up for
-SHTICKBALL- In the front office of a professional team, one General Manager is getting rave reviews because of his recent hard work and dedication. What fans don’t know is how much he’s struggling to make himself look busy. “I just spent forty million dollars today so local sportwriters wouldn’t call me a wimp.” The GM said, wiping sweat from his brow. “I had a plan to draft and develop some good players, but now I’m just wasting my boss’ money so that it looks like I’m working.” This prod
I am deeply impressed with Miguel Sano. Yes I saw the game. Yes I saw him strikeout, but I also saw his eye, his swing his confidence. I did not see the deer in the headlights like Buxton showed. Sano believes he can play in this league and hit these pitchers, and you know what, he can! It might take a little but look for him to start hitting.....and this will help the Twins mightily. He is this years Santana, that could be Rosario as well. Any way, I picked Vargas as over rated
Miguel Sano made his MLB debut on Thursday evening and (of course) picked up his first career hit via an infield single in the top of the ninth inning at Kauffman stadium in Kansas City. He's a huge young man, just starting his (hopefully) huge MLB career. Oh, and the Twins won thanks to a spectacular eight-inning shutout from Kyle Gibson capped by a Glen Perkins save. RED WINGS REPORT Red Wings vs. Lehigh Valley IronPigs Box Score Rochester and Lehigh Valley were scoreless through four and
I've posted it several times in different blogs or comments over the last couple of weeks, but as much as I'd love to think the twins can compete this year, I don't think they are going to. However, I do think that the Twins can win 80-82 games, and at least be fun to watch, and the recent surge of minor league talent flooding the big league team has kept me very interested in the big league team despite a losing month of June. I've watched the major league debut's of Eddie Rosario, Byron Buxton
Following the conclusion of the 2014 Major League Baseball season, longtime Minnesota Twins manager Ron Gardenhire was shown the door. Although the four seasons of losing weren't all his fault, he did little to help the matter either. In his place, Paul Molitor took over. So far in 2015, results as a whole have been promising, but one area continues to be baffling. Why can't Molitor and the Twins just be happy playing their position? The main culprit, the outfield. Heading into the season, the
The calendar has turned to July and the Minnesota Twins find themselves barreling towards a very interesting crossroads. On one hand, they have exceeded all expectations. At 41-37, they are 4.5 games out of the AL Central lead, and holding down the second Wild Card spot. On the other hand, Minnesota fumbled through June to the tune of an 11-16 record. With divisional foes looming, the Twins are set to sink or swim. Ahead for the Twins is an immediate opportunity to position themselves. Over the
There isn’t a more polarizing figure on the Minneapolis sports landscape than Joe Mauer. It’s not hard to see, either. For instance, have a look at social media when Mauer gets a day off — any day off — and how the average fan reacts to it. Never mind the fact that Mauer came into Wednesday tied with Brian Dozier for the most games played on the team. One certainly can’t fault the average fan for suggesting Mauer hasn’t played particularly well this season, however. Mauer’s hitting just .263/.
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I was originally going to write about the Twins "June Swoon", but the news of Vargas' demotion followed by word that Miguel Sano would assume his spot on the roster makes last month's struggle old news. The Twins are above .500 so by loose definition they are contenders to make the playoffs. They have promoted three of their top prospects within the last month and it looks like this won't be the end of the moves. First, a look at positions, followed by a look at players. Center Field: The Twi
The Minnesota Twins dropped yet another series today, this time at the hands of the NL Central Cincinnati Reds. Looking to take the rubber match against staff ace, Johnny Cueto, runs seemed as though they would be few and far between. With a lackluster lineup to start, Minnesota did themselves no favors throughout the contest. At the end of the game it was Kennys Vargas who took the fall with a demotion to Double-A Chattanooga. But really, is Vargas to blame at this point? Following an impress
Before there was Ervin Santana, there was Phil Hughes. Before the 2014 season, the Minnesota Twins double-dipped and signed two starting pitchers. Although it was Ricky Nolasco that received the bigger contract, it was always Hughes that should have been looked like as a better fit. Leaving New York and the Cracker Jack box known as Yankee Stadium, he should have been expected to succeed. 2015 was always going to be a tough act to follow after a strong 2014, and so far that's proven true. In his
Over at Twins Daily, we have been counting down the Twins system's top prospects as part of our midseason update. This allows for players like recent first round pick Tyler Jay to fit into the Twins overall prospect rankings. There is plenty of depth in the Twins system so there are some very good players outside the top 10 rankings. Some players like Byron Buxton and Eddie Rosario will likely use up their rookie eligibility this season and graduate out of the rankings. This means other player
Going into the 2015 season, few Twins prospects brought more intrigue than that of Jose Berrios. The 2012 1st round pick (32nd overall), has flown through the minor leagues, and sights were set even higher. Suggesting he wanted to make a splash in spring training, Berrios is now staring his final hurdle in the face. As I reported late last night, Berrios has received the promotion to Triple-A Rochester. After pitching to the tune of a 3.08 ERA along with a 9.18 K/9 ratio, Minnesota decided a new
Houston reached base 3 times on Thursday. He's hitting .308/.398/.440 (.838) since joining the Surge and stole his 14th AA base. His 38 total SB is tied with Yasser Mercedes for organizational lead.
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Winning the Cedar Rapids Kernel prize from TD is far better than winning the FIFA World Peace Prize. Thanks.· 0 replies
