Riverbrian

Or the option to store out for later innings.

Good luck to you... Let's have a TD quick survey on what dog diehard should get. I'm suggesting a Collie... They are beautiful and you may fall in a well someday.

Ahh... That might be the Nunez... Yankee fans were talking about. Right in front if Cabrera... Yuck

He might be regressing to the mean. That's such a TD phrase.

That was a bummer... Like waiting for a new Dog for X-mas and getting a fruit fly.

Kendrys Plural... With the bases loaded!!

Santana is pretty good at swiping.

I'll go with that.

That little bloop by Joe was perfect... Might mean the snake has stopped biting.

Escobar showing the power... I love it.

Just so everyone understands... I am all for being patient with Hicks. He has the tools to be a superstar and I don't want him just discarded like he'll never get it. I'd be upset if we just dealt him away like we did with Gomez. To be fair to Hicks... If Memory serves... I believe that Hicks was benched by Gardy early last year for not hitting the cut... This may have slowed him down a little with his arm aggressiveness. I think teams are aware of his arm... I'm sure they have scouting reports. But... they also may be aware of him not using it to the fullest... Who knows? When I talk about Hicks Right Now... it has nothing to do with what I think Hicks could be in the future. Right now... I think he needs to go down to Rochester and continue to work on some things and those are the things that I list along with hitting RH exclusively. If his head is one of the things that he needs to work on... I have no idea... But Rochester would be good for that as well if he does.

String... I think we are on the same wavelength but I gotta ask... Why are you under the impression that I think he should make unnecessary throws? I'm saying I've heard he has a world class arm and I'm saying I've seen it once. 129 games played... I've watched over 100 of those games. How come I've only went "Wow... Look at that"... Once? Yankee Stadium... I don't remember the base runner... I just remember the ball rolling around the CF warning track and he made a throw to 3B on the fly... That only someone with a cannon could make. I just think... I'd see it again somewhere. He has 12 assists but pretty routine stuff because I remember the good ones. I think he clipped Cruz at 2nd once on a nice spin and throw. Ok... That's Two but that isn't a lot... If you have a hose and he clearly does. i'm not saying anything definitive about Hicks but knowing when to let it fly and when to hit the cut is part of the game and part of engagement. I want to be clear... I'm not saying that Hicks doesn't know or care because I don't know. I'm saying... I assume I'd see more examples of letting it fly with the arm he clearly has but... not unnecessary... You know... letting it fly.

If memory serves... Larry Brown had a serious issue with Iverson at practice and he went public with those concerns. Iverson may not need practice but his teammates do and he can help his teammates by participating. But... I know very little about Iverson... I've never met him. So for all I know... Larry Brown may be a drama queen... I've never met him either. Hicks is probably a whole different animal... I have no idea... None of us do... But can't we assume that there are most likely varying levels of engagement across professional baseball and varying levels of expectation from management. With no proof... I honestly believe some players don't work their butts off. I believe they lay up often... They are way too human to believe otherwise. With that said... I have no idea where Hicks fits in... I only know... I'm not seeing what he's capable of thus far. And I don't need a trite sound bite or quote out of context to tell me what I'm seeing.

I agree with this... How Indeed? Not only last spring... But THIS SPRING!!! I can't grasp the CF thinking this year and I'm really trying to grasp it.

Personally... I never place a lot of faith in sound bites or quotes. How a manager feels about a ballplayer could never be boiled down to a sentence. Repeating myself... I was shocked that Hicks made the team out of ST after his 2013. Not using LEN as proof of anything... But... If they had lack of engagement concerns... Aloof issues with Hicks... If you couple that with his actual 2013 statistical performance... It makes the Twins approach to CF beyond baffling. The Twins screwed up. I have no idea what Hicks is like... I can only judge by what I've seen. Here's what I've seen: 1. I rarely see him hit a ball hard... Hits... Outs... The ball doesn't scream off his bat. The hits he gets are usually soft. Something ain't right... I don't know what it is but something ain't right. 2. He has speed but I rarely see him use it. I don't watch him play and say... "Man... Is he fast". But I've heard that he is. I've seen him range on some flyballs and that's about it. Where are the stolen bases? Where are the extra bases? Where are the moments where Dick or Bert say "Hicks sure can run". He's been here long enough that we would have seen something with his feet by now. 3. We've all heard about his 96MPH high school fastball. I've seen him make one throw that made me go wow!!! Last year Yankee stadium. From the CF wall to 3B on the fly... I know he has it but why doesn't he use it. If he has a rocket arm... Why haven't we seen it. He's just dumping the ball into the cut. In the short time that Santana has been in CF... I've seen him hit the ball hard... I've seen him use his feet with speed that you notice and what should be even more obvious to all watching... I've seen Santana actually try to throw runners out. Yes he has failed miserably a couple of times but I've seen him try. I don't think he has Hicks's arm but I've seen him try to nail runners more often then I've seen Hicks try in a much much shorter period of time in CF. Whatever problems the Twins have with Hicks... I dont know and I don't trust the quotes. But my guess is that you all see the problems. If he has an arm... Show me the gun! If he has speed... Show me an example of his wheels. There ain't many examples. I can find examples with Santana. For those who think that Hicks is our best OF... I respect your opinion but I honestly believe you mean he has the potential to be our best defensive outfielder and with that I agree completely. If Hicks is the best we have based on performance. We are in trouble... Because I really don't see it.

His combination of power speed and defense has been crowd pleasing. I don't think I'd trade him for any 2B right now.

Yeah... It's outta control today. With that said... Nothing like good butter. It makes stuff taste good... Right Gibby?

Dear Santana... You are good bunter and I appreciate you using this ability with your speed to get a hit or two on occasion... However... Don't Do it with Lawrie.... He's too good. Try the other side with Lind instead. That's All... You are doing great... Sincerely, Riverbrian

Wouldnt it be awesome if Gardy had that sort of Auto-Correct for his lineup Card. He'd put Suzuki in the lineup and it would auto-correct to Pinto.

Yes I did.... And I wasn't even close. I'm gonna blame auto correct.

Twins SP: Phil Hughes 1. Santana CF 2. Dozier 2B 3. Mauer 1B 4. Willingham LF 5. Morales DH 6. Arcia RF 7. Plouffe 3B 8. Suzuki C 9. Escobar SS Blue Jays SP: Marcus Stroman 1. Reyes SS 2. Cabrera LF 3. Bautista RF 4. Encarnacion DH 5. Lind 1B 6. Lawrie 3B 7. Kratz C 8. Tolleson 2B 9. Gose CF Things to Think about: Sorry I'm late with this... I got caught up at work on something. A little different format... Apparently it's OK for Suzuki to Catch a day game after a night game. The Stroman kid is highly ranked prospect for the Blue Jays and he should be fun to watch. That's All

I gotta go yell at some kids... Keep hanging zeros KC... WHIP be damned!!!

Brunansky must get credit for fixing Escobar, Plouffe, Santana. But... He had to Break Joe to do it.

Scrappy Crappy would be an awesome nickname.

I thought it was a sign for how to dress for 10cc. I just figured Slacks and a dress shirt would be ok for that.