I take it back about Clete

[Shane Wahl]

Even if he totally sucks the rest of his time with the Twins, I apologize for my hatin' on him. I don't care if he turns into a pumpkin tomorrow. What he did tonight is damn good.

[old nurse]

Upon occasion a player will perform at their potential best. The more of those occasions the more secure a roster spot.

The rarer occasion is a regular TD poster publicly changing their mind..

[Gernzy]

I know we cannot expect this every night, but if he can at least hit above .250 until Hicks gets back, he should have a spot on the team.

 

Ramirez will probably be gone.

[stringer bell]

Let's not get carried away. Clete Thomas is a 29 year old AAAA player at best. Last year, he started well, hitting a homer and a couple of extra base hits before devolving into a strikeout machine. Congrats, Clete, on the nice game. I hope you have several more, but I continue to expect less than replacement level offense and passable defense.

[Badsmerf]

I know we cannot expect this every night, but if he can at least hit above .250 until Hicks gets his act together in AAA, he should have a spot on the team.

 

Fixed it for you.

[Badsmerf]

Let's not get carried away. Clete Thomas is a 29 year old AAAA player at best. Last year, he started well, hitting a homer and a couple of extra base hits before devolving into a strikeout machine. Congrats, Clete, on the nice game. I hope you have several more, but I continue to expect less than replacement level offense and passable defense.

 

Like less than a .179/.249/.326 slash line? Because that's all he really needs to replace. Granted, Hick's OPS has been about .700 the last couple of months but it was helped by 6 HR's in May and a .389 BABIP so far for June.

[Guest USAFChief]

Like less than a .179/.249/.326 slash line? Because that's all he really needs to replace. Granted, Hick's OPS has been about .700 the last couple of months but it was helped by 6 HR's in May and a .389 BABIP so far for June.

Like less than a 29 year old never-will-be, who (if we're just tossing out the recent good to emphasize previous bad) was helped by 4 hits on June 12th, but was .077/.077/.077 before that.

[Mike Sixel]

Hey, I'm going to celebrate this one good game. I just don't want Gardy to keep him in the lineup all the time......they need to see what Parmalee has, they need to get Arcia's feet wet, it would be handy to see if Herrmann can hit or field.

 

It is great to win games, but this year imo, it is more important to win more games NEXT year.

[jay]

Shane, we're going to hold you to this in a month when Clete is still batting .180/.200/.340 with 40% Ks!

[big dog]

Congratulations to Clete on an outstanding game! I hope he has a good one tonight as well.

[chopper0080]

Hey, I'm going to celebrate this one good game. I just don't want Gardy to keep him in the lineup all the time......they need to see what Parmalee has, they need to get Arcia's feet wet, it would be handy to see if Herrmann can hit or field.

 

It is great to win games, but this year imo, it is more important to win more games NEXT year.

 

Agreed. Clete deserves to be in the rotation, but so does Doumit, Parmalee, Herrmann and Arcia deserves consistent playing time. Willingham and Morneau need reps to build up their potential trade value and who knows with Doumit. He could possibly work his way into becoming a trade chip.

 

Hopefully, whomever it ends up being, the cream rises to the top.

[Shane Wahl]

This gave Thomas about 5 more chances in Gardy's eyes.

[Mike Sixel]

This gave Thomas about 5 more chances in Gardy's eyes.

 

Yup......

[Nick Nelson]

Like less than a .179/.249/.326 slash line? Because that's all he really needs to replace. Granted, Hick's OPS has been about .700 the last couple of months but it was helped by 6 HR's in May and a .389 BABIP so far for June.

 

He was probably about due for that after putting up a .189 BABIP in April & May. And yes, the 6 HR's have helped. Why is that being presented as a mark against him?

[ScottyB]

Let's face facts, both Thomas and Ramierez will be gone when Mastoianni comes off the DL and at least one of them will be off the 40-man.

[YourHouseIsMyHouse]

Like less than a .179/.249/.326 slash line? Because that's all he really needs to replace. Granted, Hick's OPS has been about .700 the last couple of months but it was helped by 6 HR's in May and a .389 BABIP so far for June.

 

Do you really think Hicks is the same player now that he was in April? No way and his season line isn't what we've been getting recently. Why would you demote a player that is improving his play where he needs to be?

[Brock Beauchamp]

He was probably about due for that after putting up a .189 BABIP in April & May. And yes, the 6 HR's have helped. Why is that being presented as a mark against him?

 

Because not a single one of those homers left the stadium. I mean, who is Hicks kidding here? Any homer that doesn't leave the stadium doesn't really count. I mean, anybody can hit a regular homerun.

 

I thought we were past the point of saying Hicks needs to be in AAA. I was against his promotion. His first three weeks were absolutely atrocious. Now he's hitting. You let him play in Minnesota until he stops hitting. That's all there is to it.

[kab21]

Clete Thomas is just organizational depth. He doesn't deserve to be part of the playing rotation other than the fact that he is the only player capable of playing CF on a daily basis. He will play until Hicks comes back and then he can rarely play as the 4th OF'er until Mastro is back. The Twins do have one too many players in the RF/LF/DH/1B rotation but that's not the end of the world.

[TheLeviathan]

So does 0-3 with 3 ks mean you were right about him?

 

I'm confused about how much I should judge one's value/career by one game.

[big dog]

Apologizing for specific remarks, which is what actually happened in the opening post, isn't the same thing as changing your mind about a player. It's just acknowledging that someone had a good day. My expectation for Thomas hasn't changed, but I can still hope, and be happy when he's above expectation.

[Badsmerf]

I'm not past it. I'm still bitter and feel wronged (possible lawsuit?) that I have had to watch him this long. Just think of the player he could be if he didn't switch hit....

 

*can we get the JJ Hardy picture back for hijack? Or was that BYTO?

[old nurse]

If Clete gets sent back does he have to take the sombrero with him?

[spideyo]

Y'know what? I'm happy with what Clete has been doing here. Nobody expected him to come up and become an offensive powerhouse or become a human highlight reel, but he has done his job, and held down the spot while Hicks heals.

[Oldgoat_MN]

I like Shane's post.

Clete had a great day. Possibly a career day.

 

He was the reason the Twins won that game and I, too, am happy for him.

 

What happens down the road will be determined by his play in that time.

 

But no one can ever take away that game where he was absolutely the star.

[Riverbrian]

Some players work on things... If you do work on things... It's possible that you solve things.

 

I'm not saying that is what happened... I'm just saying that sometimes yesterday doesn't mean **** when you are looking at tomorrow.