Game Thread: Twins @ Indians 8/3 6:10pm

[twinssporto]

Another great night on the Thread.  Thanks fellas!

[sampleSizeOfOne]

Figures that when i finally put the trash out and plug the cellphone in, the games over.

 

There are five swings rated the most passionate, the most pure....

 

This one left them all in the dust.

[stringer bell]

I DVRed the game and just finished watching. Several thoughts: Trevor May's glove looks like it should belong to a Little Leaguer. Everyone else's glove looks twice the size of their hand. May's doesn't look like it is big enough for Donald Trump. Just think how good the Twins offense would be going if their two most ballyhooed players (Sano and Buxton) were playing like All-Stars. It's not fair to expect those two guys to live up to the hype, but Buxton's offense and Sano's defense halve been pretty disappointing.

 

Polanco looks pretty comfortable at third, despite limited experience. I like him there better than Sano already, and if I'm penciling in an infield for next year, it is Mauer, Dozier, Escobar, and Polanco, making Sano one of three DHs. More on Polanco--he looks really good at the plate. Good approach and good swing. Combined with being a switch hitter and having decent speed, I would think it would be hard for him to have a long slump. I'm really surprised his minor league numbers aren't even better.

 

Speaking of Polanco, what we've seen of him he's really a good player, but he'll have to go some to be better than Dozier. The numbers for this year are almost elite despite a miserable start. He's hitting more and more balls with authority to right and right-center and his power as a middle infielder is pretty much the best in Twins history. He most likely will hit his 100th homer this year, almost all in the last four years. Unless Kepler continues to hit like Babe Ruth or Sano gets hot, Dozier will lead the club in homers for four consecutive years. The only guy to match or exceed that for the Twins is in Cooperstown. If Dozier is traded to make room for Polanco, the team better get a haul, because IMHO Dozier might have made the adjustments to be an elite hitter.

 

Mauer and Kepler have had great series against the Tribe, but a lot of others are swinging good bats, it's tough to get ABs for Grossman and Vargas, who weren't slumping either, It will be interesting to see who sits tomorrow vs a rookie.

 

Finally, 37 runs in three games! Wouldn't be fun to see a big number tomorrow afternoon? I suppose the rook will throw seven scoreless and the Twins will lose 2-1 or something, but this is a lot more fun than watching them lose game after game. Oh yeah, welcome to .400 baseball. For probably the first time all year, the Twins don't project to lose 100 games.

[Circus Boy]

 

Another great night on the Thread.  Thanks fellas!

 

And gallas!

[HitInAPinch]

 

I DVRed the game and just finished watching. Several thoughts: 

 

EDIT !

Polanco looks pretty comfortable at third, despite limited experience. I like him there better than Sano already, and if I'm penciling in an infield for next year, it is Mauer, Dozier, Escobar, and Polanco, making Sano one of three DHs. More on Polanco--he looks really good at the plate. Good approach and good swing. Combined with being a switch hitter and having decent speed, I would think it would be hard for him to have a long slump. I'm really surprised his minor league numbers aren't even better.

EDIT !

 

I'm with you on Polanco.  In a very SSS, I like his AB's and his play at 3rd.  At this point in the season, I prefer that the Twins let Sano play-out his hitting issues at DH and let him get past his fielding problems at 3rd. 

 

With Polanco now and Plouffe coming back in a week or so, there doesn't seem to be a need nor reason to play Sano in the field.  His bat is the #1 priority and need for the Twins.  An occasional rotation of Sano to a field position to accommodate another teammate won't kill the team.

[Loosey]

 

I don't get the chance to watch too many games, but I get to tonight. I'm sitting here debating which broadcast to watch and I think I am legitimately tuning into the Twins team. Smalley is pretty good. Maybe its SSS, maybe my hatred for Bert is blinding me. How do people here generally feel about the job Smalley is doing?

I think he is great.  I learn something from him every broadcast.

[Halsey Hall]

Didn't I see it flashed across the screen that Plouffe went back on the DL and is out for the season. If so, I'm sick. We'll never get rid of him, or can we trade a guy on the DL?

[sampleSizeOfOne]

Shoot.

 

Just realized the schedule said 12 eastern time, not central time...

 

i'll get right on it...