Sherry Cerny

You know that I didn't think of Margot, I was seeing red over Martin and not Larnach or Miranda.

Dr, you are making me blush!!! Thank you! I am trying to get better. NOW I do know that his fielding could use some work in the aspect that he is in charge down there but struggled a bit with Buck in the field with him, so I for sure am excited to see his growth.

That is quite okay! I knew this was a stretch for some people. For me last night it was evident that his bat was missing. Some say that this is to keep Margot 'trying'...I am not sure how accurate that is! But, I suppose it could be! Martin will absolutely be back and I am so excited for when that is!

fully agree!!! I just miss him!!!

Finally, here at the end of a month that gave them plenty of bad problems, the Minnesota Twins have to navigate a good one. They sent out a rookie who had earned a better fate this week, to make room for a superstar on an increasingly loaded roster. Image courtesy of © Bruce Kluckhohn-USA TODAY Sports Finally, here at the end of a month that gave them plenty of bad problems, the Minnesota Twins have to navigate a good one. They sent out a rookie who had earned a better fate this week, to make room for a superstar on an increasingly loaded roster. There's no need to rehash the bad start the Twins had, because they have turned it around and the bats are on fire. A large part of that is thanks to rookie Austin Martin, who came up on Mar. 30 and immediately made an impact. Martin was drafted in 2020, and had one of the best bats in the draft. Injuries (plus a developmental detour or two) slowed his ascent to the big leagues, but he came to spring training healthy and ready, and when Royce Lewis got hurt on Opening Day, the club called him up. Martin has been an integral part of the Twins. His bat has been one of the best on the team, driving in six runs and scoring 16 to keep the team above water. While he is not the owner of the sausage, maybe Martin was the magic the team needed, and to see him sent down deserved a moment of reflection. Notably, later call-ups Trevor Larnach and José Miranda stayed put. Neither Miranda nor Larnach have made the impact that Martin has. Miranda certainly made a splash in 2022 when he came up for the Twins, but his 2023 and the start to his 2024 were anything but impactful. Miranda was brought up on Apr. 8, and has been comparable to Martin in the numbers that he has helped drive in, but his at-bats are streaky, with no consistency. There is an argument for Larnach, who certainly has a better batting average, but in the big picture, he doesn’t get on base as much as Martin. Larnach has a .379 batting average, but fewer appearances and fewer at-bats, so he's made less of an absolute contribution. Larnach's RBIs and runs are equal, at seven, and doesn’t have stolen bases or some of the ancillary skills Martin has. Larnach has shown how great he can be in clutch situations, but can’t hit both lefties and righties like Martin can. Martin bats .250 against righties, with only a 21% whiff rate and .167 with a 13.9% whiff rate against lefties. The latter number is ugly, but it would regress upward with time. Larnach is a great hitter; there is no argument there. However, the plate discipline that Martin has is one of the best on the team, and his speed sets him apart from Miranda and Larnach around the bases. He came around to score a staggering 79 percent of the times he reached base during his big-league stint, and while some of the credit for that goes to teammates, his legs deserve to be counted when choosing among fringe options like these. Larnach’s sprint speed is in the bottom half of the league, with Miranda’s speed hanging out slightly above that. Martin has two stolen bases and six doubles on the season. In each of the games where Martin hit into a double, the Twins won. It’s not saying that he is the reason for the win, but his contribution to the team is undeniable in that aspect. Willi Castro and Buxton took a bit to be productive at the plate like Martin was. Martin’s stolen bases equal Buxton and Castro put together. It's the same with doubles and RBIs. Martin’s speed is an absolute necessity on this squad and will be missed. Eventually, Royce Lewis will return to the roster, but that remains far off on the horizon. Until then, perhaps the team feels more comfortable with Miranda defensively than with Martin playing the infield. Still, this move was a bit of a bummer. Being objective as a fan and a writer can be hard at times. Baseball is a business, but it’s also hard to watch the guys to whom fans get attached sent back down or be traded. The good thing is, this is a good problem to have. View full article

There is still no word on Lewis, but I have to think it's getting close??? Because on March 28 it was at LEAST a month. So....I am impatiently waiting. I am HOPING after this Chicago series because May looks atrocious.

Thank you!!!! That means a lot. I am taking more reps to improve! We should NEVER get complacent, ever. I worry about trap games, so I am praying the bats and sausage keep doing what they are supposed to!

While finding out about the sausage has been amazing, I really have enjoyed watching Margot and Santana. I really hope that they keep it moving when the sausage explodes lol. They need one made out of Resin or something!

I am WAY excited for SWR, I really want him to stay. He's been working hard and I really think he is ready, but against these teams is one thing, his resilience will show in May.

Right!?!?! That's my hope! I am praying I didn't dog down on the Sox too much that they actually get a win against us lol

The Minnesota Twins' miserable start is understandable. Only the Tampa Bay Rays have been more burdened by injury trouble this spring. Unlike the Rays, though, the Twins have turned things around--and they're about to start getting healthy. Image courtesy of © Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports The Minnesota Twins' miserable start is understandable. Only the Tampa Bay Rays have been more burdened by injury trouble this spring. Unlike the Rays, though, the Twins have turned things around--and they're about to start getting healthy. The Twins suffered major blows with injuries early in the season, especially in the forms of Max Kepler, Royce Lewis, and Carlos Correa. The club started the season against some of the better teams in the league, and playing shorthanded left them sitting ducks. The injuries sucked the life out of the team: the bats died, and they fell into a spiral not only in the Central, but in the American League. Briefly, the Twins were in the cellar, alongside the Astros(?!), White Sox, and Athletics, looking at a dismal, long season. After the first series against the Kansas City Royals, the Twins plunged to a sub-.200 batting average and roughly a .300 winning percentage over the next three weeks. Nothing they could do at the plate made any difference. Their timing was off, their approach was worse, and if guys finally got on base, no one would get them home. Offensively, the guys were a mess. After being swept by Baltimore, with only a few days left in the month, the Twins headed home to play host to the Tigers and White Sox. They weren't able to get right against the upstart Detroiters, and things began to look truly grim. Leading up to the White Sox series, the team's batting average was .179, and the pitching was unable to conjure wins with no run support. Byron Buxton, Edouard Julien, Carlos Santana and Willi Castro looked like they were on a high-school team. The newest acquisitions, Manuel Margot and Santana, were utterly lost at the plate and the only one producing was Austin Martin. The questions of what was wrong were everywhere, but there was no answer. There was something wrong with the bats, and the only way to get better, was to use the White Sox to get their groove back and at least win the series. The Twins did that and then some. They dug deep and plowed right through four games against the White Sox with their first sweep of the season, one featuring both blowouts and big comebacks. The White Sox have never been great. For over a decade and a half, they have been the team you beat when you need to bring your averages up, but only talented and resilient teams actually convert on the opportunity that series presented. The Twins proved themselves to be such a team. It was on to Anaheim next. The Angels aren't a much better team than the White Sox, but they are more dangerous, so if Minnesota wanted to win this series, the bats would have to keep working. The Angels, recently taken over by Ron Washington, are essentially in a rebuild mode, but they still have dangerous hitters. Luckily, their pitching was not nearly as intact as their hitting, and the defense was lacking. The Twins took every advantage they could to expose all the gaps, and ran up the scores. Kyle Farmer, the lone player who had seemed not to shake things loose against the White Sox, got in on the action, getting two runs and two RBIs to help the club fly past the Angels for a three-game sweep. That makes seven wins in a row, back-to-back sweeps, and a record on the right side of .500. The injuries remain a headline for the Twins. Only the Rays (who just got swept on a visit to the South Side this weekend, leaving the White Sox with a bit of newfound confidence as the Twins come to town) have been notably more depleted by the injured list than have the Twins so far. Both Carlos Correa and Jhoan Durán are nearing returns, though, so by the end of this week, opponents will have to deal with a more representative version of the 2023 AL Central champs. In the meantime, they just need to keep Chicago down. The White Sox are the least relevant team in the league, except in that they gave the Twins the capability to start their climb out of the hole they have been in since their home opener against the Guardians. The White Sox and the Angels were simply a means to an end, and now that the team is nearer full strength, they should be able to keep rolling. With a fully healthy roster, April will seem like just a bad dream; the Twins will have everything they need to be in a postseason hunt. View full article

yep! We have editors. :)

Lol, I will let him know :)

lol okay. Some things are also changed by my editor.

It was edited :)

I never said trading polanco was the key to securing the position. it just worked out that way. period.

Okay Brian, we get it. lol. calm down. it's just an article.

Yeah, that wasn't my original sentence. I don't think we got a haul either. In my original I noted that we got those players, but that they haven't worked out quite yet, but that's not the focus of the article. I would LOVE to see him stay in against lefties!!! it's been fun watching him make contact and work

Maybe it was a promotional article. Maybe it was to help people find something good about this team with everything going on. But, it was about baseball, it was about a baseball player. Just because it wasn't stacked with numbers and stats, doesn't mean it's not a baseball article. It's an op piece stating why Julien is a good - or even better - replacement for Polanco.

A larger sample is always better - but if we waited for a larger sample - we wouldn't have any articles in the beginning of the season ;)

THANK YOU!!!!!

No, I don't think he is one of the best two way players because of injury. I am saying that he is making his mark and learning not only quickly, but his defense is one of the best on the team. he's not the best, I don't know if he ever will be considering the players we have - but considering Lewis and Correa are hurt, he's doing a hell of a job and that's thanks to the leadership on the team. I never said his place wasn't secure, what I said was that in POLANCO'S ABSENCE. I never said Polanco had to be the one to get traded, I said it made sense and Julien is stepping up. You are clearly reading too far into it, With everything that is going wrong with the team, it's nice to see that Julien is giving his best and then some. You don't have to agree, I am simply pointing out why Julien is defensively better than Polanco.

That’s okay! You can disagree. I see things totally different. I’m not worried about his speed considering he is one of two players who have actually stolen a base, when Buxton and Castro haven’t. There is also an argument for his last three games and I think it only gets better for him.