stringer bell

Thanks, haven't seen anything from you in a long time. If I am correct, welcome back!

Ozzie Guillen said "when you manage against AJ, you hate him. When he's on your team, you hate him less." The most detailed thing I heard about AJ"s season in SF was that he really missed his old team. He wanted to watch the Twins on TV and talked a lot about the way things were in Minnesota. The Giants players were not impressed.

Kyle Garlick. Unconcur. According to ESPN, the Twins face one lefty per series Allen of the Guardians, McClanahan on the Rays and Kikuchi of the Jays. This does even up the bench options a bit, but ..............

There is a thread going on possible Twin All-Stars this season. How about one for ex-Twins? Several former Twins have made All-Star teams and I expect that story to continue. Luis Arraez is leading MLB in batting average and looks to be a lock to represent the Marlins in the game this July. Several others will likely be considered. Here is a short list: Feel free to add comments and suggest other candidates. Yennier Canó--based on merit and his story, he should be considered. He has an ERA under 1.00 and virtually came out of nowhere. Spencer Steer--the first payment for Tyler Mahle. A month ago, it appeared Steer might be a platoon 1B-3B. Since that time, he has been one of the best hitters in the NL. He's hitting in the .280s, playing every day and has an OPS over .800. Cincy doesn't have any sure All-Stars and Steer has probably been their best position player. BTW, I don't consider Steer an ex-Twin as most on this board do, because he never played for the team in regular season. Brent Rooker--A month ago, it appeared he would be a lock. May wasn't kind to the A;s DH. However, he plays for Oakland, so there aren't many candidates. Rooker sits at .260 with a still-healthy .863 OPS. Liam Hendriks--Has just returned from cancer treatment, so being chosen would be more about his struggle with disease than performance, but I think it's a possiblity.

Interesting lineup decisions for Baldelli. Assuming Buxton is out and Correa in, he has Solano, Polanco, Correa, Farmer and Lewis to cover the infield and DH (all RH hitters). Castro and MAT could cover two OF spots, with either Kirilloff or Kepler available for RF. There’s a case for everyone but Farmer to get a day off among the infielders. I expect Wallner is on a plane from Buffalo.

The game will be on Fox.

Or you could say it was an evenhanded analysis. I don't know where to go on the "play Buck in center field" debate. I vacillate depending on how bad I think his knee is. If it's Mickey Mantle or Tony Oliva bad, maybe DH is all he can do, if it's minor (and seeing him run the bases you start to believe that) then get him out there.

I'd bet a large virtual sum that a healthy Buxton will again to an elite hitter at some point in the future. There is innate streakiness in him and his approach and right now he's in a valley (or maybe a well). So, if all you're waiting for is Buck to be elite, just wait. The larger questions do remain. Is the club better off with Buxton playing at least part-time in center field? Can he stay healthy doing so? What is the condition of his knee (and hip)? I've said it before and I'll say it again--I'd love to see the 2021 version of Buxton (who lasted only 61 games) for as long as he could go. He'd easily be one of the top 5 players in MLB and might do more WOW things than anyone. I lament that that will probably never happen. They've put curb feelers on a Lamborghini and I see little prospect of that changing.

I'm an old guy waiting on my third joint replacement surgery in the last seven months, so when the Twins aren't on TV, I spend a lot of time reading about the Twins and I have a chance to try to organize my thoughts about my favorite team. My weekly check of MLB stats shows little change from last week. The Twins are still 14th in runs scored and 2nd (fewest) in runs allowed. The Twins +48 run differential is fourth best in the American League, trailing Tampa, Texas and Houston. Pitching team stats are off the charts good. First in strikeouts opponents on-base, second in ERA, runs allowed, WHIP and top ten in (fewest) walks allowed and (fewest) homers allowed. The Twins have (I believe) a better HR differential than they did in 2019 (prorated). I couldn't find the numbers, but I believe the Twins are at the top or close in starting pitcher innings and quality starts. Most of these numbers have changed little since a week ago, but i (and all of Twins Nation I suspect) am far more optimistic after the team defeated Houston two of three in Houston and won the first two games of the Cleveland series. Winning papers over disturbing trends and flaws and two pretty dramatic wins really help in the standings and the psyche. The return to immediate star status of Royce Lewis and the continued strong play of Alex Kirilloff have been two of the biggest reasons for optimism. Lewis' contributions are hard to underestimate. A guy who hasn't played 20 games in the majors came up with two HUGE hits, a tying single off relief ace Ryan Pressly and a 420 ft. game-tying homer against Cleveland setup man Trevor Stephan. Kirilloff has been on base well over half the time, continually taking good at bats and showing no evidence of wrist problems that cost him most of the last two seasons. Many others have chipped in. Jhoan Dúran flashed 105 mph heaters last night and got five outs to secure a victory. Against the Astros, he worked two innings and got the win after Ryan Jeffers hit a two-run homer. Jeffers has been very good, both behind the plate and in the batter's box. Willi Castro plays everywhere, gets some hits, steals bases and got a huge walk off sacrifice fly Thursday night. Jorge Polanco gets key hits. Donovan Solano has shown his worth as a pinch hitter and right hand platoon guy. The rotation has been outstanding, even "bad" starts are not really bad and Bailey Ober just gave the Twins six scoreless innings last night. Am I satisfied? Of course not. We all want more. It is reasonable to expect much more from some of the highest paid players--Buxton is hitting .220 with an OPS below .800 and only DHing. Pablo López has had more off nights than good ones since inking a rich extension and Jorge López again seems broken. Joey Gallo is in his second major slump and is less the 100% due to a nagging hamstring. Team leader and supposed superstar Carlos Correa has been a huge disappointment and is dealing with an ominous foot issue. An uptick from most or all of these players should make up for any regression from those who have done well. Lastly, I'd like to see more from Lewis and Kirilloff. Royce has hit homers and flashed admirable leather. I'd like to see him hit balls in gaps and steal bases. AK keeps getting on and rises to the occasion in big situations, but I'd like to see more power. He homered twice in the first week and has only hit one (barely) over the fence since. Rather than making opposing pitchers pay for a mistake by hitting a single, I'd like to see him drive the ball more. I believe it is in Kirilloff and Lewis to be perennial All-Stars and have to remind myself how little they've played after each missed most of the last two years due to injury.

Didn't he DH for the Astros in the World Series? The hitting has not been what I would expect, and the defense has been OK. Jeffers has been getting the odd game in the job share lately and I think that is fair. Given the lack of options in the Twins system, it would be good to keep both guys as fresh as possible and their jobs appear secure for the foreseeable future.

Thielbar today maybe? They could use another left hander against the Guards, for sure. I would expect the Twins to use most, if not all, of the 30 rehab days in Maeda's case, particularly since there is no easy move to get him back on the active roster.

First, I'll offer my definition of a disappointment. A disappointment is someone who performs far less well than expectations after considering mitigating factors. Mahle isn't a disappointment to me because an unforeseen injury has taken away 90% of his season. My number one disappointment is Correa, although I suspect he has been more nicked than the fan base is aware. #2 would be Miranda. #3 would be Buxton, #4 Vázquez and #5 Nick Gordon. Dishonorable mention would be Jorge López, Griffin Jax and perhaps Jorge Alcalá

I wanted to point out that Jeffers had another strong game. He did not score the run, but it was his double that set up the inning. Good offensive numbers so far and a good receiver. The running game hasn’t killed the Twins as I feared. Vázquez has had a couple of good game recently, as well.

I saw a tweet saying it was not official, but that the hammy was again a problem for Gallo.

It sounds like the player to go on the IL will be Gallo. Wallner should be. recalled to fill that spot. It is possible that Thielbar is also added back to the roster tomorrow.

Nice game story. Nice game. Tough lefty tomorrow vs. the undefeated Sonny Gray. As the commercial says “let’s get it!”

Bailey is living right. Naylor just got under it.

I thought AK was the DH in the original lineup. With Gallo out maybe they wanted to keep the option of moving AK to the OF.

What a play by Lewis. Too bad it was a fast guy at the plate.

He's gotta hit and if he does, they'll find a place for him.

I think it was said he played third in high school (not that long ago), so it's not entirely new and he has played some third in the minors and AFL.

Good call to hold Kirilloff. Kepler hit it too hard.

Looking forward to watching AK hit in the middle of the lineup for the next decade.

Going into this season, it was Willi's best spot. I think he's been very good at third so far this year.