tony&rodney

Miranda did his best Astudillo impression running home. Is the baseline muddy?

Sanchez has done everything the Twins have asked him to do. Hopefully he can find a MLB job, but also hope he returns to St. Paul if none is offered.

Do you dislike the sound of his voice? Smalley (to me) has an annoying voice, but his knowledgeof baseball easily surpasses any of the other commentators. From the pitcher's side I favor Glen Perkins, but he actually has a decent voice. I have a terrible midwestern monotone and would be lampooned horribly by listeners.

Good for Rooker. Thing is, let's say he could put up identical numbers for the Twins this year .... does he push Buxton to the bench? There simply was no use for Rooker on the Twins roster last year and he still doesn't fit. Rooker is looking good for the Athletics though.

Max Clark.

April might be a little too soon to concoct an obituary for the Twins career of Max Kepler. It is true that the stats for Kepler have not been real hot the past couple of years but that same statement applies to other players in our current lineup as well. Maybe Kepler is gone after this year or even gets traded during the year, but I'm willing to see how Max plays up to the All Star game before reaching for another right fielder.

Hitting a baseball is really hard and being successful in MLB with a bat requires skill, confidence, luck, and the ability to focus on each at bat. Failure is so common that any thought of correcting or fixing past problems allows doubt to seep into your mind, which is then a problem for the current at bat. Perhaps Rooker has found the ability to treat each at bat totally in a positive light. I hope he continues his success all year, except against the Twins.

Kirilloff needs to play for St. Paul until he proves he is fully healthy and forces the Twins to make a decision through his play. AK needs to earn his call up to MLB. He hasn't really proven anything with the Twins. However, AK does have the sweetest swing in the organization and can totally mash. He is a fair outfielder but a good first baseman. It would sure be nice to see Alex work on his selectivity at the plate and lay off the high stuff. Similar to Miranda, Kirilloff thinks he can hit any pitch and MLB pitchers will take advantage. The best arrangement possible puts AK at 1B, Buxton in CF, Kepler in RF, Gallo in LF, and Larnach as the DH. These guys can also rotate as well. There are plenty of bats to go around.

No question at all, both of those are true.

The ABS system will be used in AAA starting Friday, apparently. Batters with a really good eye should benefit. If Julien can take his game and numbers that he put up at AA forward I don't see either Lewis or Lee matching that offensive production. However, folks are correct to point out that Jorge Polanco is a stalwart for the Twins and looking good right now. I do think that a bat like Julien would really look good DHing versus right handed pitchers.

Thank you.

I think the ABS system is used in Rochester, but not league wide and not in St. Paul. Correct?

Reminds me of how much Matt Lawton laughed in an interview when talking about what the strike zone looks like playing against the Yankees versus what it was when he played for the Yankees. Funny stuff Stu.

Kirilloff had a nice line drive base hit today and a hard out to left field but looked unwilling to take a walk in the 9th inning and waved at a pitch way outside. He wants to hit but needs to make the pitchers stay in the strike zone. AK has a sweet swing. I hope the Twins identify when he is ready. I think he will hit.

FWIW, Varland on the mound right now in Rochester.

This article correctly points out what Julien needs to accomplish in order to compete at the highest level: defense, hitting off speed pitches, and the K/W rate. Watching Julien play for St. Paul, via milb.com (it would be obviously better to evaluate his play in person), we can see his value. Julien is still a work in progress but his positives are noteworthy. First off, while it is correct that his arm is not very strong, it is close enough to adequate or similar to what we see from Miranda. Julien is not slick in the field but he gets to balls better than often given credit for, which we saw when he flagged down several grounders while playing for the Twins. He is improving but we should not ever expect him to be Roberto Alomar. I trust Julien's glove ahead of either Solano or Gordon. A guy who can carry an on base percentage above .400 with power, stolen base ability, and a high average is a valuable player in any lineup. Julien just needs to keep hitting and improving in small increments. I believe he would be a real valuable leadoff hitter versus right handers and DH for the Twins. Whether Buxton is now a full time DH beyond May is another story. Lastly (I noted this previously in other threads), I cannot recall a player having more strikes called on them when the pitch is so far out of the strike zone. I saw this last season when following Julien and we saw this a number of times this year when he was with the Twins. It happens to all players just as they benefit from some calls but Julien is seemingly a magnet for the 3-2 pitch (4 inches off the plate) being called a strike. This may be a standard for players who test an umpires patience with how often they are deep in counts such as a guy like Carlos Santana, first with Cleveland and now with Pittsburgh. The path for Julien to have consistent playing time with the Twins will be tough given the barriers at 2B, 1B, or DH but wouldn't it be nice to have a guy lead off who gets on base at such a high rate or crushes a home run to begin games?

No real worries. The bullpen is still in a good place. The Twins have Mahle, Lopez, Gray, and Ryan all scheduled to pitch versus Kansas City and a day off on Monday before Ober/Varland pitch. The Royals have only scored 82 runs thus far this season and we should hope that our starters fare well in this upcoming series. A greater concern is that the Twins have only scored 109 runs, but they look ready to break out. The Twins are in good shape. Perhaps the biggest challenge at this moment of the year concerns who is where defensively.

Check out the wonderful article and video on MLB. com about Maggi's debut. Terrific stuff, from the crowd to the umpire to the players on both sides to Maggi, ending with the crowd. Baseball, sportsmanship, all those good things in life all in one.

Maeda was not good (understatement), but the defense was pretty pathetic. Solano is merely a DH/ pinch hitter at this point. Gordon is totally stretched in centerfield. On a positive note we saw Joey Gallo glide across the grass in CF in the 9th inning to make a decent play look very routine. There is our centerfielder versus right handers when/ if Kirilloff manages to earn his way on to the team.

Looks like Headrick did a pretty good job today. I'm not too worried about the relief pitching right now. All of Sands, Stewart, Winder, and Headrick along with a couple of others maybe can handle reduced roles as a 7th or 8th pitcher in the bullpen. More concerned with the bats and inconsistent defense. Still, things are going fairly well thus far.

Maeda is in a tough place being an older player returning from a major rebuild of his arm. The mind knows what to do but the body doesn't necessarily follow as well. I agree with those who believe Kenta deserved to get his starts. Thing is, now we see a lack of physical readiness and it looks like an IL stint is needed. The Twins have some players who have earned their positions and spots on the team, but professional sports can be cruel and a host of younger/ less experienced players are chomping at the bit for their opportunity. Maeda may need to step back for recovery time now and this allows Ober or Varland to step forward. Soon enough we will see if names like Kirilloff, Lewis, Julien, and Wallner get their shot due to injury or a lack of performance. It is a long season and April has gone pretty well. Four games versus Kansas City to close out the month. So far so good.

Ok. Thank you. AK has looked very much in command at the plate. i have watched most of his at bats with St. Paul. I'll be patient. He does have to prove himself.

In more important news ... Alex Kirilloff is not in the lineup tonight against Rochester. Any reason for this?

Yes, I agree that Gallo has done a good job at first base. Kirilloff is better all around though at the position, likely because he has more repetitions. Gallo is a good athlete. He played a little third base as well as being an outfielder. I also agree with anyone who has suggested that AK has yet to deserve a position on the team based on his past mlb time, but believe that Alex is a superior bat who will hit his way into the top of the lineup. This pushes Gallo to either DH or the outfield and improves the team in several ways. Time will tell.

Well, they are in first place in the AL Central right now. Does that qualify. You cannot win a playoff series unless you are in it. The starting pitching staff is strong which is a big key to success in the post season.