Twins Offense Fulfilling Its Potential, And Then Some

What do you think the twins record would be if the started the Season with this current roster??

Are they only crushing it now because of the complete lack of pressure, or is there something completely different going on? Mollie figuring out how to manage the youth? (doubt it) Kepler single handedly putting the team on his shoulders?

2 months of the best offense seems like it's becoming a large SSS.

It's great to see the prospects starting to reach their potential. I'm optimistic Sano will report a different player next year, partially because some of his peers have (temporarily) passed him by. There will still be some ups and downs, but the bottom has been left behind as far as hitting is concerned.

Hopefully, the starting pitchers will start to catch up with the position players in the next year. At least they will have some options: Santana, Gibson, Berrios and Rodriguez likely make up the front four. Mejia, Duffey, Wheeler or May could be fifth to start the season. I wouldn't rule out Gonsalves after the all-star break. I don't think the pitching outlook is as bleak as most think.

Of course, a big trade for a high-upside SP wouldn't hurt. The Twins have enough depth to trade position players from either the MLB club or the farm system. Along with pitching, I'd like to see them pick up a SS who plays excellent defense.

This is an awesome fangraphs article about Max Kepler and how he seems to be really good at pitch recognizing:   http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/a-case-study-in-pitch-recognition-with-max-kepler/

 

Really worth a read.

Nice one! That was an awesome article.

I actually felt, coming out of spring training, that we had a starting staff that would egt us to the 7th inning. That we might actually have four guys that would pitch us nearly 200 innings each. But didn't happen. And won't.

I felt the bullpen seemed solid, with Perkins as closer, some ncie setup guys for the 8th, a nice mix of solid arms. Lots of ups-and-downs.

The offense, far from perfect, had the potential. The soph slump was evident the previous year. You could also see it this year. With so many coaches working with guys now, you'd think problems would be solved (the Twins have a second hitting coach, the bench coach, and all those consultants). 

And considering the lack of Park in the lineup, and the fizzle of Arcia, they are hitting homeruns. Nunez contributed above and beyond to that, fer sure.

Now jsut have to figure out who you want to have remain in a Twins uniform now and the immedoate future, and who is promising in the wings and where you will palce them. Lots of parts to put together a fine team, plus lots of spare parts to more today and tomorrow.

With Rosario and Kepler killing it, can we quit whining about the Hicks trade?

Keeping Hicks was more about giving Buxton more time in AAA, so I'm not sure what that has to do with Rosario and Kepler.

Also, in regards to Rosario, he's still swinging at everything, and having a good run of luck. Unless he learns how to take more than 1 walk per month, the bad Rosario is never going to be too far away.

Hicks was being re-positioned as a corner OF a swing-OF.

That has to do with Rosario and Kepler.

Well plenty of people wanted to keep Hicks as a stop gap to give Buxton more time at AAA, though I won't argue there were some who wanted a Rosario, Buxton, Hicks OF.

Regardless, Rosario needs a lot more time in AAA, so there would still be room for Kepler.