Article: Report From The Fort: Living In The Present

[John Bonnes]

The big purge has been delayed for at least one more day, leading to a day of anticipation or anxiety or purgatory or … living in the present, maybe? After all, it sounds like the decisions have been made. Tomorrow isn’t getting here any faster. There is a baseball game in the sunshine. Let’s travel the zen path and soak in what is in front of us today.Speaking Of Zen, Stay Calm

We saw at least one possible version of the Twins lineup versus right-handed pitching, and as soon as I saw it, I knew what would freak people out:

 

1 - Dozier

2 - Kepler

3 - Buxton

4 - Mauer

5 - Sano

6 - Rosario

7 - Park

8 - Polanco

9 - Murphy

 

If this ends up being the lineup the first week of the regular season (and it probably will), I can describe fans reactions in six words: OHMYGOD JOE MAUER IS BATTING CLEANUP. There is going to be a lot of freaking out.

 

I think the thought process is as follows. First, this allows Molitor to bat two of his guys where he wants them: Dozier leads off and Buxton bats third. Also, batting Mauer after Buxton does the following:

• Gives Buxton a little protection.
• Puts a high OBP guy in front of Sano
• Divides to strikeout prone right-handers with a left-hander.
• And finally, it’s not like Buxton needs an extra-base hit to move around the bases.

Postgame, regarding his lineup versus right-handers, Molitor said straight up “This is definitely an options I would consider in terms of the top five.” So we know which way he’s leaning right now. But I’ll predict it doesn’t last long, for the same reason we talked about on Monday: I can’t imagine Mauer feels comfortable with the expectations of being a cleanup hitter. In the meantime, enjoy this hanging curveball for snark.

 

Also, while I do like the idea of someone breaking up Buxton and Sano, I’m also hesitant saddling Buxton with the expectations that come with hitting third. It may be that this is a work in progress all season. Again, stay tuned.

 

Lord He’s Fun To Watch

In the bottom of the first, Buxton hit a line drive to left field, towards the line. It was not in danger of getting past the outfielder, who raced over, fielded it cleanly and gunned it into the infield.

 

And Buxton was STANDING on second base.

 

There are very fast players who could hustle right out of the box and slide into second base beating that throw. But Buxton made it look routine. When he rounded first there was a gasp of anticipation from the crowd for his daring ploy. And then ... the tension just faded away. There was never really any question.

 

It was so smooth as to be mundane. I’m sure there were casual fans who didn’t think there was anything unusual about the play. Meanwhile, in the press box, baseball writers are laughing and looking around at each other with that “Did you SEE that?” look on their face. It was the first topic that came up when talking to Molitor. "Don't watch the ball," Molitor advised us after a Buxton hit. He doesn't need to worry.

 

Park vs Heat

The Twins faced Tampa Bay’s Chris Archer today, who throws 97 miles per hour. I was most intrigued to see how ByungHo Park would fare against that kind of speed. I wouldn’t say he looked overmatched, but he did strike out swinging.

 

He made up for it two at-bats later, albeit against a cutter from Austin Pruitt. It was the lone run of the game, which the Twins won.

 

The Last Piece?

Robbie Grossman played in a minor league game today and it sounds like everything went well. He should play versus Boston tomorrow. That might well be the last piece of the puzzle for the roster. If something changes and he isn’t healthy, the Twins could bring north JB Shuck as a backup outfielder, though with Danny Santana on the roster, that’s not a sure thing. With Ehire Adrianza battling an oblique strain (and Tommy Fields demoted today), I don’t see an infielder that would replace him.

 

Which leaves the possibility of carrying 13 pitchers north. That sounds crazy, but it would allow the coaching staff and the front office to both get what they want. Alex Wimmers could make the team and still keep Michael Tonkin and Justin Haley in the organization. At the very least, it would allow the Twins to delay exposing Tonkin to waivers.

 

I asked a scout with a front office background about whether that is really beneficial or not. Is a player even more likely to be claimed when there isn’t as much traffic on the waiver wire in a week or two? In general, he felt like it was easier to get a player through waivers then because of teams' mindset. The question becomes: “Is he that much better than the guy we got?” If there isn’t a clear cut difference, they’ll just stand pat.

 

40-Man Moves

One challenge about carrying 13 pitchers is it would require another move to make room for Alex Wimmers on the 40-man roster. I don't think that's likely, so let’s wrap up this story with the candidates for the roster that are not on the 40-man and the probable moves:

• If ByungHo Park wins the DH job, the Twins can put left-handed reliever Glen Perkins on the 60-day DL
• If Chris Gimenez wins the backup catcher job, they’ll need to drop someone. I expect that is left-handed reliever Buddy Boshers.
• If Alex Wimmers wins the bullpen job, it likely means Michael Tonkin does not. So he would need to be exposed to waivers because he’s out of options. That would open a spot.
• If Nick Tepesch wins the swingman role, it likely means Justin Haley does not. So as a Rule 5 pick, he would need to be offered back to his old team. That would open a spot.

There will be more cuts tomorrow, but it sounds like final cuts might wait as long as Thursday. Still, Molitor said we’ll have some (maybe not all) clarification on final roles tomorrow. It was pointed out to me that the truck with players’ stuff left on Monday morning, when there were still around 40 guys left on the roster. So there are about 15 guys whose stuff is going to need to be shipped back.

 

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[bluechipper]

I think Justin Haley helped himself a lot today in making his case to make the roster.

[Halsey Hall]

If they loaded everyone's vehicle on the transport they'll need another to take it to Rochester, NY.

[Squirrel]

They said there were 8 car trailers loaded. By the time I saw the five that were there, three had already departed.

[Bill Brown69]

I don't mind the lineup much. In the other thread I had Park/Sano as 4&6 interchangeable with Mauer as the 5 hitter just to break up the strikeout prone righties and with Mauer's OB% the 6 hole guy should get ample opportunities to hit a 2 run homer. The only other thing I had different was catcher at 7 just to put all the base cloggers in 1 bunch.

[nytwinsfan]

This is how I'd do it.

 

For Righties:

 

1 - Buxton
2 - Mauer (1B)
3 - Dozier
4 - Sano
5 - Kepler
6 - Rosario
7 - Park/Grossman (DH)
8 - Castro
9 - Polanco

 

For Lefties:

 

1 - Buxton
2 - Dozier
3 - Sano
4 - Park (1B)
5 - Grossman (DH)
6 - Kepler
7 - Polanco
8 - Murphy
9 - Rosario

[USAFChief]

I was also at the game today and the Buxton double was pretty remarkable. It was a routine single to left...IMO the left fielder didn't even have to hustle over towards the line to field it. He took about 6 or 8 steps to his right, fielded the medium line drive on one hop, looked up to lob the ball in, because it was a SINGLE, and it was already too late.

 

Remarkavle.

[ashbury]

I’m also hesitant saddling Buxton with the expectations that come with hitting third.

Absent other evidence, I'll go with his past difficulty being the recognition of breaking pitches headed for the dirt, and not an inability to deal with expectations. If he's indeed turned the corner on that fundamental skill then he can handle the pressure of hitting third.

[ashbury]

I was also at the game today and the Buxton double was pretty remarkable.

He got a similar double the other day, didn't he? And probably a few additional times as well.

[Dave The Dastardly]

What's he pointing at? Is it a bird? A plane? Kent Hrbek in tights?

[LeatherAntenna]

Mauer at cleanup so says the article? Well he does have a trend going, 10 HR in 2015, 11 HR last year. Who knows, maybe this year 12 HRs is in the cards.

[D.C Twins]

I think Dozier should actually bat behind Sano. From his leadoff success, Dozier has proven that he can supply his own power without line up protection....but I do think that Sano and the Ks (name of a band?!) would benefit from some line up protection.

[Guest]

Mejia should start in Rochester but could be in Minneapolis by the end of April if Hughes or Santiago don't look better than they have this spring.

[DocBauer]

First, a couple quick hits:

 

1} I love what Molitor has done this spring. He's been experimenting with different lineups and options. He's shown an openness I don't think we saw last season. Is this more evidence of the FO changes allowing Molitor more freedom?

 

2} I've said for a while I thought Buxton would eventually develop more power and slide down in the lineup. I never expected it to happen this soon. I think we're all unconvinced he's ready for this role at this point, but wouldn't it be interesting as hell if he was?

 

3} Despite any comfort level and past production in the leadoff spot, I still don't like Dozier hitting there vs 3 or 4. But...see point #2.

 

Now...I absolutely both love and hate this lineup.

 

There was a milb manager about 10 years or so ago...forget who and what organization...who evaluated his roster and established a lineup of 1-2-3 hitters throughout his lineup. In other words, he had 3 leadoff hitters, 3 number two hitters, 3 number three hitters. And he was successful with this. This lineup reminds me of that somewhat.

 

I love the "idea" of Mauer/Grossman in the 4 spot, (to me these two form a sort of platoon in the lineup), providing contact and OB behind the first three batters and a sort of "leadoff" hitter before Sano and others. It helps stagger the lineup, which I find very interesting. The bad part is Mauer has seemed devoid of even doubles power the past few years.

 

But I àbsolutely love the creativity here.

[David HK]

 

Mauer at cleanup so says the article? Well he does have a trend going, 10 HR in 2015, 11 HR last year. Who knows, maybe this year 12 HRs is in the cards.

I gotta admit, that one gave me a snot bubble...

[Trov]

In terms of the lineup.  I do not see an issue with it.  I am thinking there must be some analytics behind it.  Sure when Cleveland last year had Santana at lead off people were saying, "What the hell!"  Baseball is changing and so is the "traditional" way of doing things.  People think Buxton should lead off because of speed, but what else does he bring for lead off, not much.  Sure Joe will never hit many HR, but I think the article brings in good points with Buxton at 3 spot his single will be doubles and Joe can drive in with single.  If for instance, it is three up three down first Joe, a high OBP leads off second in front of Sano instead of bases empty.  I would not be surprised if you start to see many more interesting line ups that say screw tradition.