bunsen82

Well got through the inning - used a few pitches - alas still tied. The bullpen for the Saints is probably going to be pretty strong. Several borderline relievers hoping to get a chance. We will likely be sending arms up and down all season - especially if we Ober is only getting us 4 innings.

Does Orze have a strikeout pitch?

Only 4 innings for Ober . . .yuck.

ugh - oh well needed that inning - got things tied up.

Lets break this open.

Well Gray got the job done.

What happened LOL

Damn he got his inside pitch and missed, wowzers

Bases load with Lewis and Gray coming up . . . ugh - all or nothing Lewis.

Bell has been clutch. Thats his 6th rbi - can he get his run total up to 8?

Am I in the twilight zone . . . For the last 2 years we have had articles upon articles complaining about our lack of catching depth. We traded a former frontier league free agent for the basement level backup in Alex Jackson. Who had some flashes last year . . . but who got through waivers with no one claiming him and his $1.5 million salary. This was the best case out come for the Twins I was thrilled we were able to get him to AAA. Even still as of right now no one saw him as a legitimate backup - even worthy of a dfa pickup. Jeffers has a better than 50/50 shot of being traded midseason. Caratini was signed to be the backup for now and the bridge starter until our younger C prospects in AA and lower can make it to the big show. For $7 million a year, we got the 3rd best catcher this year. He has looked solid behind the plate, has a great rapport with Bradley (which is worth its weight in gold) and the bat and his approach at the plate looks great. Baserunning needs some improvement along with the rest of the team. Its not Caratini's issue this roster is wonky and we are waiting for some chips to fall. Jeffers to get traded, See if Clemens continues to solidify himself as a big leaguer or if he falls out of favor and Wagaman becomes the primary 1st baseman. Getting rid of Larnach and adding a better offensive option in Rodriguez, Roden or Jenkins, and waiting for Culpepper to take the SS reigns will suddenly cause this roster and lineup to make much more sense. In either case rather than just having Jeffers on a 1 year contract that we would have been forced to keep him all year due to no back up - We now have Caratini to fill in that hole, we can actually get some trade compensation and if either Caratini or Jeffers gets hurt we actually have depth in Jackson in the minors. Seems to be a great outcome all things considered, and nothing to fret about after 6 games.

I gave the disclaimer in there. I said he is prone to blowups and this is 2 starts in. Even still he was averaging 93 mph last year - 96 to 97 this year and hitting 100 on a couple pitches. The splitter is back and working well. He seems more confident up there, and when he has got into trouble moments, rather than just rearing back and chucking and hoping for the best - he seems to have a plan - whether from his pre game study ect. This has been my stance since we got him - trade deadline thread, trade grade article, individual game threads, the Bust article. The multiple articles this offseason. Say what you will I have been consistent. What that primarily was about was 3 things - bringing back the splitter, improving mechanics for more velocity, 3. putting in the necessary home work to be successful. So yes this is 2 starts, but the process, the work put in is ultimately what matters. He had the 2nd best stuff of any pitcher in his first outing . . . that isn't hyperbole, its not hope, its fundamental improvement. We have him for 4 years instead of this year and next year for Jax as well (hehe). So ultimately say what you want, put on the breaks if you wish - he has done what I hoped he would do. He put in all the necessary ingredients. Now he just needs to make the cake.

Well shows they are continuing to work on the bullpen. Who gets demoted or does he go to AAA immediately. It is odd they didn't claim him in February when he was on waivers if they like him. Unless his stuff has looked significantly better this spring. The rockies claimed him in November (didn't get past the Twins) but then would have passed them to be claimed by the Marlins in late Winter.

The Twins have Bradley for 26-29, for 2 years remaining of Jax this appears to be absolutely a slam dunk in the Twins favor. Jax is still Jekyl and hyde for the Rays. Bradley has put in the work both on the mental side and the physical side. Doing the homework and understanding how his arm slot affects the velocity, plane and effectiveness of each pitch, and tweaking each of the 4 pitches he is utilizing and bringing his split back to the fore front. He is also doing a game plan on the hitters which he has never done prior to coming to the Twins. There was one batter today that I am sure the game plan was to pitch him inside. He threw 2 inside pitches past him and then jammed him for a weak out. He also put on 5-10 lbs and stayed in the Twin Cities to work on his craft. He put in the effort that it requires to be a big league pitcher, and the results show. The stuff in his 1st outing was the 2nd best of any pitcher. Today not quite as good, but overall a dominant performance that gave the Twins a win they so desperately needed. His bugaboo has always been the blow-up start. There is still a risk of that, but right now I think the Rays are really regretting this trade, their fans already are on public forums. Now Matthew this article seems quite the turn around when you had one article after the trade deadline where you graded the trades and gave the Bradley for Jax trade a C- stating "Bradley was once a hot name, but he’s struggled with a 4.70 ERA over 350+ MLB innings. Jax had 2.5 years of control left and could have drawn more in the offseason. His reported trade request might’ve sped up the timeline to Minnesota’s detriment." You also called him a bust after a handful of starts last year. Its amazing how fickle fans and writers can be.

Josh Bell is having a really nice start. 2 home runs back to back game -1 Left handed, the other right handed, both hit a mile. .222/.400/.667 7 runs, 2 doubles, 2 homers, 5 RBI, 5 BB, 1 HBP - (8 SO). He is putting up some counting stats, doing some damage and overall being a very productive DH/1st base. Get that batting average up a bit - and he will look like a steal. Ultimately if he can provide an OBP over .350 with increased home run potential - we will be very very happy.

@Matthew Taylor - Its time for another bump. Bradley's stuff in his 1st outing was the 2nd best of all starters. Today he put in a great outing to lead the Twins to a win. This spring Abels stuff has looked great. Now he had some trouble locating in a piggyback performance but I still have extremely high hopes for his progress this year. Roden looked strong in spring training as well - he just needs an opportunity (ie Larnach).

I think we are closer to .500 ball than .333 ball but we will see. There are some glimpses. Need a few more to get on base more frequently. Bell is showing more promise of being more of the masher most have hoped for in his career.

And with that Bradley got through 6. Come on boys get him the win.

He still looks pretty eratic to me.

Well if you are going to strike out - a 7 pitch at bat isn't the worst outcome.

Bradley with a nice start to this game. See if he can get 5-6 innings - 27 Pitches after 2 innings.

Well they were bad on purpose - so they achieved their goal.

Now Wallner has had a couple bonehead moments, but his approach at the plate looks pretty darn good. Josh Bell has a +.2 WAR .200/.381/.533 slash line 168+ OPS+. Small sample size but nice home run yesterday. 5 runs and 4 rbi's.

And thats game.

Jeffers on - Wallner up - he could tie it up with 1 swing.