Game Thread: Twins v Astros, 6/8 @ 1:10pm CT

[Squirrel]

Game-time forecast: Mostly sunny. Winds blowing from left to right field at 5-10 m.p.h. Temperature around 70.

 

Astros:

SP, McHugh

 

Fowler CF

Altuve 2B

Springer RF

Singleton 1B

Dominguez 3B

Grossman LF

Carter CH

Corporan C

Villar SS

 

Twins:

SP, Deduno

 

Santana CF

Dozier 2B

Plouffe 3B

Willingham LF

Arcia DH

Nuñez RF

Parmelee 1B

Pinto C

Escobar SS

 

-------------------------------

 

Brian ... Brian ... Brian ... do tell us, what are you thinking today?

 

(Maybe there was another power outage at work; or maybe with the news today, he wants a moment of silence.)

--------------------------------------------------------

I'm here... I'm dedicating Thought # 5 to you and my wife.

 

Things to Think About:

 

1. Kendrys Morales -- It's Sunday Morning and I'm still floored. I just didn't see this coming and I don't think anybody across baseball saw it either. MLBTradeRumors would have picked something up from some beat writer or insider if they did. With no inside information whatsoever... I figured the Rangers or Yankees made the most sense... Maybe the Brewers as a dark horse. Nope... It was the Twins riding across the finish line like they were Tonalist. What were the odds here... 60 to 1?

 

2. Kendrys Morales -- He's 30 years old and he was born in Fomento Cuba which is a place I'm sure we've all visited at one time or another. I don't have to tell you about Fomento. Our family was driving from Austin to New Orleans and since it was on the way... we took a little detour to check out Fomento and it's rich Norwegian Culture. Formento moved from Fomento to Havana and it was obvious at a young age that he could roll a good cigar. This led to prominent placement and stardom on the Cuban National Team. In 2003... It was claimed (Morales Denied) that he made contact with an agent and it turns out that the Cubans don't like agents... It actually turns out that nobody on the planet likes agents but in Cuba... talking to them will get you bounced from the team and sent back home. It doesn't matter if he made contact with an agent... He made 7 attempts to defect and on the 8th attempt he arrived on the Florida shores floating across on a raft. Once on American shores... He immediately went to the Dominican Republic to avoid the MLB Draft and was signed by the Angels. He stroked it in the minors and hit the majors in 2006. His first full season was 2009 and it was a breakout year... Hitting .306 with 34 Homers. In 2010... it was more of the same... On May 28 he had already hit 10 home runs and his 11th came on May 29th and it was a biggie. A walk off 10th inning Grand Slam. He was so excited about the homerun... He decided to break his lower leg in celebration. This knocked him out for the rest of 2010 and all of 2011. He Returned in 2012... and the average had dropped a little and so did the power but it was still plenty good. He was traded to Seattle in the off season for Jason Vargas and 2013 was a lot like 2012... Not pre-injury but still plenty good. The Angels needed pitching and had spent 12 zillion dollars on Josh Hamilton and Albert Pujols. All in All... Kendrys Morales was a star in Cuba and he was a star in America. He can hit... He's plenty good and he's a Twin!!!

 

3. Jason Kubel -- First off... I don't take the same attitude toward Jason Kubel that some do. Yes... He was really struggling right now and no... I don't know why. Players do struggle from time to time and I don't think recent struggle should define them. I don't believe that his recent struggles mean that he's done. Players can snap out of it. However... I do think that the Twins releasing him may mean that he is done. We will have to see what happens to Kubes going forward. This morning... I'd like to thank Jason Kubel for all his years with the Twins and I do hope he ends up in Rochester to see if he can get his bat going again. When his bat was going he was a very nice hitter and he's awfully young to be totally convinced that he'll never do it again. But... He will need an actual job first. Morales is an upgrade and upgrades are how you get better and Kubel was an obvious choice to be released.

 

4. Collin McHugh -- McHugh rhymes with McWho??? This guy was nobody... A 2008 18th Round selection by the New York Mets out of Berry College in Georgia. He made his first start for the Mets after being called up to fill in for an injured Johan Santana and later traded to the Rockies for Eric Young Jr. He threw 19 innings for the Rockies last year and produced an ERA of (9.Horrible) and was DFA'ed by the pitching starved Colorado Rockies and claimed by the Astros as an I assume "WTH" signing. The Astros called him up early when Scott Feldman got hurt and he struck out 12 batters in a little over 6 innings and he just kept doing it. Everybody was assuming that McHugh would eventually be sent down but nobody is assuming that anymore. After 50 2014 Innings... His ERA is at 2.52 and he has struck out 54 batters while only walking 14... His WHIP is 0.96. This isn't nobody right now... This is a guy who has numbers that argue All Star Game. I haven't seen him pitch yet but I look forward to watching him throw today.

 

5. Patience -- While my wife was trapped under the couch she was trying to lift downstairs. She was downstairs... I had no idea what the problem was... She was just calling my name and I was yelling back to hold on because Arcia was about to hit. Her yelling got more intense as time went by and finally Arcia got done hitting and I went downstairs and I noticed her under the couch. She said... "Finally... Get this off me... I haven't got all day".

 

I thought about that for a second and I told her... "Actually... You do have all day? That's how life works... You always have all day.

[JB_Iowa]

• Rhett Bollinger ‏@RhettBollinger 7m
  Kendrys Morales will be in uniform and on the bench today. He's out of Minor League options so they can't send him down.
   
   
  

[Squirrel]

Watching the live stream news conference now … very interesting …

[jokin]

Watching the live stream news conference now … very interesting …

 

Linkie?

[Squirrel]

Sorry … it's done … was linked on the Twins site.

[jokin]

• Rhett Bollinger ‏@RhettBollinger 7m
  Kendrys Morales will be in uniform and on the bench today. He's out of Minor League options so they can't send him down.
  

 

Wow. It's almost like the scene in Moneyball, with one guys waiting outside the locker room door, while the other guys is told by Brad Pitt to clear out his stall 'cause "there's only room for 25 players."

[Squirrel]

And no lineup yet for the Twins … too much going on I suppose.

 

You don't think Kubes got to the park this morning and was told then? That's rough.

[jokin]

Sorry … it's done … was linked on the Twins site.

 

OK, then, relevant to your tease...can you hit on the highlights as to what was interesting?

[jokin]

And no lineup yet for the Twins … too much going on I suppose.

 

You don't think Kubes got to the park this morning and was told then? That's rough.

 

It certainly appears that way, baseball can be a cruel, cruel spot.

[Squirrel]

Well … just the whole thing … they had Cuellar and Oliva at the table with Morales and Ryan. Cuellar was the interpreter. They talked about Morales' readiness, why he couldn't be sent on a minor league assignment, that he was activated immediately, would be on the bench for today's game, was working out in Miami with (can't remember the name, but Ryan said it was someone he knew well), why only a 1 year … indicated that it was what Morales wanted, wants to play hard every day, looking forward to getting in the clubhouse and working with the team … I only saw it after it was started so I may have missed a few things but that was most of what I caught.

[Squirrel]

It certainly appears that way, baseball can be a cruel, cruel spot.

That actually happened at my work once … a player showed up for a concert, and was called in and terminated right before the concert started. Was very upsetting for everyone.

[jokin]

That actually happened at my work once … a player showed up for a concert, and was called in and terminated right before the concert started. Was very upsetting for everyone.

 

Who did they sign as the new DH...? Yo-Yo Ma?

[jokin]

Well … just the whole thing … they had Cuellar and Oliva at the table with Morales and Ryan. Cuellar was the interpreter. They talked about Morales' readiness, why he couldn't be sent on a minor league assignment, that he was activated immediately, would be on the bench for today's game, was working out in Miami with (can't remember the name, but Ryan said it was someone he knew well), why only a 1 year … indicated that it was what Morales wanted, wants to play hard every day, looking forward to getting in the clubhouse and working with the team … I only saw it after it was started so I may have missed a few things but that was most of what I caught.

 

 

 

Wow. Thanks for sharing..... I wonder if the discussion included a raise for Cuellar? There are now lineup scenarios where 60% of the team will be Spanish-first players.

[Squirrel]

Who did they sign as the new DH...? Yo-Yo Ma?

Lol … Yo-Yo does sometimes sit in with the orchestra and play. He'll play his concerto or whatever on the first half, and join the orchestra for whatever symphony or big work they do on the 2nd. But in the case of the termination (which ended up being overturned after months of legal stuff), they just go on down a player, since it was a violinist and the part was covered. If it had been a wind player, they would have had to get a sub in at the last minute.

[Squirrel]

Wow. I wonder if the discussion included a raise for Cuellar? There are now lineup scenarios where 60% of the team will be Spanish-first players.

Well … all this talk of needing a Spanish speaking coach around … and granted, Cuellar is the bullpen coach … but he did great. I don't think anyone else is needed. (And okay, I opened a can of worms, so let's not get too carried away with that topic even though game threads are kind of whatever for topics.)

[Squirrel]

Okay, saw on the MLB player update page that Arcia is in the lineup today … but still don't have a lineup!

[Beezer07]

Okay, saw on the MLB player update page that Arcia is in the lineup today … but still don't have a lineup!

 

1. Arcia

2. Arcia

3. Arcia

4. Arcia

5. Arcia

6. Arcia

7. Arcia

8. Arcia

9. Arcia?

[Squirrel]

Heh ... it's up now. Arcia DHing.

[jokin]

And Mauer is out.

[Craig Arko]

1. Arcia

2. Arcia

3. Arcia

4. Arcia

5. Arcia

6. Arcia

7. Arcia

8. Arcia

9. Arcia?

 

Attorneys at Law.

[Squirrel]

And Mauer is out.

 

Well ... he should take a day off. And they need to get Parms in there as more decisions are needing to be made. But we should start a pool as to when Dozier will get a day off.

[ScottyB]

Wow. Thanks for sharing..... I wonder if the discussion included a raise for Cuellar? There are now lineup scenarios where 60% of the team will be Spanish-first players.

 

If Morales started at 1B today, it would have been 67%

 

Actually make that 70% with Deduno

[Squirrel]

If Morales started at 1B today, it would have been 67%

 

Actually make that 70% with Deduno

Oh, that was another thing that was said ... he would primarily DH, especially in the beginning, but that in time, he'll have to get a glove on and play in the field, too ... giving Mauer a day off here and there.

[ScottyB]

Nice bench today - Morales, Suzuki, Mauer & Hicks

[ashbury]

Well … all this talk of needing a Spanish speaking coach around … and granted, Cuellar is the bullpen coach … but he did great. I don't think anyone else is needed. (And okay, I opened a can of worms, so let's not get too carried away with that topic even though game threads are kind of whatever for topics.)

 

One of the posters on the ESPN comments page for the Hou-Min game the other day brought up that more than 50% of Houston residents speak Spanish. I didn't bother to point out that that's not inconsistent with more than 50% speaking English, too; didn't want to get banned by them for trolling or bickering or whatever.

[Craig Arko]

Nice bench today - Morales, Suzuki, Mauer & Hicks

 

Considering what it's been for the past few seasons, that really is remarkable.

[ashbury]

Attorneys at Law.

 

Specializing in cases of assault on a defenseless ball.

[Richie the Rally Goat]

And Mauer is out.

I hope Parmelee takes advantage of the opportunity. He's been struggling, and I think he can help his cause with a big game today.

[Craig Arko]

One of the posters on the ESPN comments page for the Hou-Min game the other day brought up that more than 50% of Houston residents speak Spanish. I didn't bother to point out that that's not inconsistent with more than 50% speaking English, too; didn't want to get banned by them for trolling or bickering or whatever.

 

Waiting for Bremer to say "And to all our friends in Houston, Mae govannen! Qapla' Twins!"

[Richie the Rally Goat]

Considering what it's been for the past few seasons, that really is remarkable.

Considering earlier this season