https://twinsdaily.com/news-rumors/minnesota-twins/page/919/?d=1enhttps://twinsdaily.com/news-rumors/minnesota-twins/player-predictions-ss-eduardo-escobar-r4540/However, to start the 2015 season, Paul Molitor decided to give Santana the starting shortstop job. He stuck with him for a long time. On August 1st, Escobar became the Twins everyday shortstop again. Over the last 56 games, he hit .286/.350/.524 (.874) with 18 doubles and eight home runs. In just...4540Fri, 25 Mar 2016 09:49:00 +0000https://twinsdaily.com/news-rumors/minnesota-twins/byron-buxton-hopes-adjustments-pay-off-r4539/While Buxton acknowledged he was seeing pitches and movement that he had never truly experienced in the minor leagues, he was not making any excuses for the results either. “I gotta sit in the strike zone,” he said about his tendency to chase pitches. “I mean, yeah, it's a big adjustment up here b...4539Fri, 25 Mar 2016 03:46:00 +0000https://twinsdaily.com/news-rumors/minnesota-twins/opening-day-assignment-changes-nothing-for-ervin-santana-r4538/Santana's track record has earned him the right to usher in the new season. When his suspension was up, he struggled to get up to speed, posting an ugly 6.05 ERA in his first 10 games. However from the end of August forward, no Twins starter had worked as deep into games and had as much success as...4538Thu, 24 Mar 2016 17:56:00 +0000https://twinsdaily.com/news-rumors/minnesota-twins/beating-vegas-texas-rangers-r4537/Vegas’ Line: 84.5 wins What The Line Is Saying "You're good, partly because the rest of the division looks shaky. But you're going to be passed by the Astros this year." They’ll Beat Vegas If… They continue to hit the snot out of the ball. Yeah, their ballpark helped raise them to third best in th...4537Thu, 24 Mar 2016 06:06:00 +0000https://twinsdaily.com/news-rumors/minnesota-twins/player-predictions-3b-trevor-plouffe-r4535/I think those numbers all indicate that Trevor Plouffe is a middle-of-the-pack offensive third baseman right now. In 2015, he was a 2.5 win player. A year earlier, he was 3.9 bWAR. Over the last four years, he’s been a 9.3 bWAR player. Plouffe will turn 30 in mid-June. At $7.25 million in 2016, Pl...4535Thu, 24 Mar 2016 05:38:00 +0000https://twinsdaily.com/news-rumors/minnesota-twins/may%E2%80%99s-mentality-much-needed-in-pen-r4536/In 2015, the Twins bullpen ranked last in the major leagues in strikeouts, right behind Detroit’s abysmal unit. Missing bats isn’t everything, but doing so effectively eliminates bad luck, bloopers and bleeders from the equation, which can be particularly critical in close late-game situations. G...4536Thu, 24 Mar 2016 05:37:00 +0000https://twinsdaily.com/news-rumors/minnesota-twins/trending-324-roster-battles-r4534/The Starting Rotation All along the general consensus was that Tyler Duffey would be in the Twins rotation. Based on how he performed down the stretch last year, why wouldn’t he be? MLB might as well be short for “What have you done for me lately?” because, lately, Tyler Duffey hasn’t done much. H...4534Thu, 24 Mar 2016 02:12:00 +0000https://twinsdaily.com/news-rumors/minnesota-twins/wednesday-camp-notes-tides-changing-r4533/* It’s hard to say whether these coinciding events could be construed as “significant.” No one puts much stock into results on the minor-league fields, and Nolasco was facing a Rays lineup that was beyond watered down, since the team flew back from an exhibition in Cuba last night. Still, the big...4533Wed, 23 Mar 2016 20:19:00 +0000https://twinsdaily.com/news-rumors/minnesota-twins/tyler-duffey-uneven-in-minor-league-start-r4532/In a start against the Orioles' minor leaguers on the CenturyLink Sports Complex backfield (as chief competitor, Ricky Nolasco, prepared for his start at Hammond Stadium), Duffey failed to assert himself, allowing six runs spread over 5.2 innings on 90 pitches. Molitor, who had endorsed Duffey sev...4532Wed, 23 Mar 2016 18:44:00 +0000https://twinsdaily.com/news-rumors/minnesota-twins/roster-cuts-narrow-bullpen-competition-r4531/This round of cuts brings more clarity to the bullpen race. Assuming that Fernando Abad and the loser of the fifth starter competition (Ricky Nolasco?) are both in, that leaves one remaining spot in a seven-man unit. Boshers (who I wrote about in yesterday’s notes) was not really a factor in the...4531Wed, 23 Mar 2016 14:04:00 +0000https://twinsdaily.com/news-rumors/minnesota-twins/player-predictions-2b-brian-dozier-r4530/Obviously Brian Dozier accounted for most of the production. The 28-year-old played in 157 games and hit .236/.307/.444 (.751) with 28 home runs, 101 runs scored and 77 RBI. He also had career-highs in hits, doubles, triples, home runs and RBIs. It is also well documented that Dozier has been much...4530Wed, 23 Mar 2016 11:58:00 +0000https://twinsdaily.com/news-rumors/minnesota-twins/beating-vegas-seattle-mariners-r4529/Vegas’ Line: 82.5 wins What The Line Is Saying "Were you as good as you looked in 2014, or as bad as you looked last year? I don't know and don't care much, so let's split the difference." They’ll Beat Vegas If… They really are more like the 2014 team that had a productive Robinson Cano anchoring...4529Wed, 23 Mar 2016 11:45:00 +0000