stringer bell

I think Lewis and Kirilloff are untouchable, along with Graterol and probably Thorpe. Anyone else should be on the table.

Raley's numbers are pretty good and he's played some center field, indicating he's ok in the outfield, but is he better than Cave? Is he going to displace Kepler or Rosario? I understand he's currently on the Injured List, as well.

While Arraez has stepped up, one of the few problems I see for the Twins is their lack of capable replacements in the minors. Cave is a big-league player, but besides him there isn't a player in Rochester capable and deserving of promotion to the majors IMO. Injuries are going to happen and I don't anticipate the lineup suffering much because of the current bench--Gonzalez, Astudillo, Arraez and Adrianza--they are big league players (we'll need a little bigger sample size with Arraez) and they are versatile. On the pitching side, other than hoping for lefty to emerge from Meíja, Vasquez or Moya, no one has jumped out at Rochester. Meíja hasn't started a rehab yet and the other two have not been effective. Maybe one of the AA arms can help, but in a pennant race, I wouldn't want to rely on rookies. The top prospects have not fared well on the whole, with a large number of them being injured (both pitching and position). Package some of them for pitching help? I guess I'd say go for it. There will be a lot of potential free agents after this season, including three members of the rotation. To me, this looks like a time to go for it.

I was watching and Berríos wasn't completely sharp through four innings. He had made quite a number of pitches for only allowing two base runners going into the inning. It was a barrage of singles (maybe one double mixed in) and he had exceeded 100 pitches, probably 30 in the inning. I thought it was the right call especially since he had thrown so many pitches.

Two nit-picks here. Cron wasn't on the field except to hit (DH last night) and Duffey was fine, but threw a lot of pitches. I didn't think he was dominant, but he did get the job done.

LaTroy is excellent. Not far removed from the players and someone who hung around the majors for a long time. I really like his perspective. Morneau is far better than I would have thought. I'd rather have Hawkins and Morneau than any of the other color analysts we've seen in the past few years (exception of Jim Kaat--far and away the best color guy still living).

You're not seeing what I'm seeing Wally. Hildenberger has been batting practice for a month.

I think WHIP is another measure that is more accurate than ERA. Hildenberger hit 2.0 with his last outing. I checked his career numbers and they look pretty bad, as well. I do tend to agree with Chief that there has been some smoke and mirrors productivity in the bullpen. Other than Rogers, it is white-knuckle time every reliever toes the slab in a close game.

The Angels were relentless for three games, but didn't get the big hits. 45 hits in a three-game series and they only won one game. I will buy into the "luck argument" a bit. I haven't seen so many weakly hit balls roll through the infield against the shift, combined with so many balls getting through the shift. It's hard to say this, but Mike Trout wasn't that consequential. He could have driven in a dozen runs and probably seen to it that the Angels swept, but the Twins got him out in key at-bats. It seems to me that the whole homestand was regression to the mean. Twins' starters allowed runs, including home runs after being tremendous for quite a while. Opposition hitters found grass with weakly hit balls and got balls over the fence. The Twins struggled with runners on, particularly against Detroit, but managed still to win four of seven, not great, but not a total disaster.

Regarding not bunting--with all of the strikeouts and pop flies in today's game, it is far from a guarantee that the next guy will bring in that run. Kepler hits a lot of pop flies and a lot of grounders into the shift, one of the two would have advanced the runner, the other not so much. Kepler is consistently inconsistent. He's already had three or four "snags" where he's 1-10, 2-15. He'll come out of it with multiple hits and extra base hits. I'd like to see a true leadoff hitter, but given what is available, I think Kepler is as good a choice as anyone.

With the announcement that Nelson Cruz suffered a wrist injury yesterday, my immediate thought was who would replace him in the lineup and on the roster if he had to go on the injured list. It would appear to me that the answer is the much-discussed Miguel Sanó, who is on his third and last stop in his rehab program. Much has been written about Sanó. I wish to confine this discussion to the ballplayer between the lines. The other stuff has been beaten to death IMHO. What will the Twins get when a healthy Sanó is on the active roster? Sanó came up to the big leagues with much hype in 2015. He was going to be the power hitter the Twins hadn't had since Harmon Killebrew. Another comparison, because of size, was Frank Thomas. Sanó's rookie year was excellent. Despite being called up only at midseason, he was a contender for Rookie-of-the-Year. His traditional state line--.269 BA, 18 homers, 52 RBI was very good. Double the homers and RBIs for a full season, and there is a perennial All-Star, future Hall of Famer. Plus, he was only 22 years of age. A deeper look at his rookie stats was probably even more encouraging, while Miguel struck out over 100 times (in a half season), he also walked more than 50 times, giving him a solid OBP of .385. His OPS was a stellar .916 which yielded an OPS+ of 149. After a minor injury, Miguel only played 11 games in the field, so we couldn't be sure about his defense. For his superior half-season of work, Miguel Sanó was voted the Twins' Player of the Year. 2016 started with Sanó installed as the new right fielder. He was never competent or comfortable there and it seemed to affect his hitting. After a month and a half of futility in right field, Miguel moved back to third to demonstrate a rocket arm, but less-than-soft hands. His metrics at third came in below average, but at least he could hit. Well, the hitting didn't go as well either. Sanó ended up playing in 116 game, having an OPS of .781 with 19 homers and 51 RBI as the Twins flailed and failed and lost over 100 games. Sanó missed over 30 games due to injuries. Again, a deeper look into Sanó's numbers is a mixed bag. In 160 additional plate appearances, Sanó only hit one more homer than 2015, his walk rate plummeted while his strikeout rate stayed basically steady. The batting average ended at .236 and his OBP fell to.319. Sanó was a deserved All-Star in 2017. He came to camp as the third baseman, healthy and came out of the gate on fire. His first-half stats were outstanding--.276, 21 homers, 62 RBI and his defense at third was satisfactory. The strikeout rate remained about the same (35%), but he also walked 44 times, a big improvement over 2016 and the OBP was .368 at the break. Since the 2017 All-Star break, Miguel Sanó hasn't been very good. The combined numbers from the second half of '17 and 2018 are .211 BA, 20 homers, 56 RBI. OBP at .292, slugging .408, with an OPS of .700. The walk rate is below 10% and the strikeout rate is 38%. These are not future Hall-of-Fame numbers. They aren't even starter numbers. In addition, according to metrics (and my eyes) Sanó remains a below-average third baseman, despite a plus-plus arm. To summarize this rather elongated prologue, Sanó's on-field performance has been a roller coaster. He started looking like one of the brightest stars, faded, came back to that level again and faded again. Does this up-and-down have to do with injuries? Certainly. The point here is to suggest that the Twins shouldn't be counting on Sanófor too much. Expectations of another Frank Thomas or Miguel Cabrera should be tempered by now. I think they should expect more than they gotten since the All-Star break of 2017. They should get more than Mark Reynolds-like production. If the strikeouts keep coming and the homers are too infrequent, he can still be optioned. This club looks like at least a contender for postseason. If that is the case, they shouldn't be playing guys based on potential or upside. Miguel Sanó is at a crossroads in his career (in my opinion). He soon will have a chance to step on stage with a good team and help them make postseason, and maybe have success there. He's now 26 and shouldn't be judged on what he might do, he should be judged by how he is actually performing on the field.As a Twins fan and a baseball fan, I hope he can find his earlier success. As someone who has seen a lot of hyped players come and go, I am a bit skeptical.

I disagree about lack of depth, at least among the position players. It has been great to have Cruz' bat in the lineup, but the team can work around not having him for a week or two if it comes to that. If they have to put Cruz on the IL, they have a replacement for him in Sanó. With Sanó's ability to play third and first, they might be able to kind of rotate the DH between a catcher (Astudillo or Garver), Sanó and perhaps one of the outfielders. It also would keep Cave in the majors for as long as Cruz was out. I think the lack of starting pitcher depth is much more concerning. Teams don't get away with five starters in the rotation very often and if the next-best option is Kohl Stewart, well I think that is a problem. I said earlier that Hildenberger has at least one option. I do believe the league has figured out much of his deception and the stuff he has requires really good command and he hasn't shown it since last year at midseason. Some of you old-timers might remember a right-handed reliever the Twins had named Frank Eufemia. He was nearly unhittable his first trip around the league, but when he faced teams a second or third time, he became very hittable. Eufemia didn't throw hard and featured a really good off-speed pitch. I wonder if Hildy is another example.

I thought the interview was very interesting. He got a win and a quality start, but was candid that he wasn't close to dominant. It is a tough life for a starting pitcher nowadays if you can't strike out guys and have to depend on the fielders behind you (and high walls). Stewart doesn't have a swing and miss or putaway pitch. He does get a lot of ground balls. IMHO, unless he finds another consistent effective pitch, he's not even a #4 or #5 starter. He is still relatively young and perhaps he will blossom. It is no small feat for any high school draft choice to make the majors and he has done that.

Hindsight is 20-20. There was another game to consider with a callup from Rochester starting. I do think that Rocco might consider Hildenberger and Harper swapping roles.

Are the limitations to callups effective this year? The Twins may be only able to add a couple players in September.

For the role of a spot start, I think Stewart and Littell would be the two most obvious choices.I would venture that both are considered limited upside guys at this point, but guys that can be adequate.

Here we are on May 9th and the Twins have the best record in Major League Baseball. They have had some low moments, but mostly everything has gone as well as, or better than, expected. Chatter about the Twins has been positive, especially after dominating a bad Baltimore team and then winning a series (and the season series) against the Houston Astros. A 4-2 road trip, including a dominant sweep in Toronto have put the Twins a season-high 11 games over .500. I doubt everything will continue to come up roses for the Twins, it never does. They will suffer injuries and players will slump or disappoint. Even in the best of years, these things happen. However, it appears that in most respects, the team assembled by the relatively new executive team of Falvey and Levine is set up well to handle struggles and snags when they occur. Let's look at what has transpired in the mostly cold and wet months of April and early May. With the exception of Miguel Sanó, the offense has been healthy and rolling. The Twins are in the top tier in the league for run-scoring, home runs, slugging and OPS. They don't walk much (most of the lineup is comprised of aggressive hitters), but they don't strike out much, relative to the rest of the league. The Twins are averaging well over five runs a game, playing many games in poor weather conditions. They appear set to challenge team records in runs scored and home runs this year. The power is well-distributed, with most of the regular lineup already hitting six or more homers. They have endured slumps from regulars and a slow start from Marwin Gonzalez (who has essentially replaced Sanó) without suffering much on the scoreboard. Pitching has been a surprise. The team is in the top half of many key pitching stats, including runs per game, quality starts, shutouts, innings pitched by starters, and opponent's batting average. Three of the five starters have been outstanding, with a fourth (Kyle Gibson) rounding into form in recent starts. The starters good work has taken pressure off of the bullpen. The bullpen hasn't been spotless, but they've gotten the job done. The late-inning quartet of May, Hildenberger, Rogers and Parker has been satisfactory, if not dominating. Defensively, the team is also doing very well. New acquisitions Gonzalez, Schoop and Crom have all played well in the field and the team has mostly been able to keep it's regular outfielders on the field, all of whom are plus defenders. Individual performances of note include José Berríos ascending to ace or near ace status. Jorge Polanco playing good defense and breaking out with the bat, Martín Pérez finding a few mph on his fastball and coming up with a cut fastball to (so far) become an outstanding rotation piece. The catching duo of Mitch Garver and Jason Castro (with a few appearances by Willians Astudillo) has been outstanding with the bat and has been given credit for helping the pitching improve. On the negative side, Marwin Gonzalez hasn't hit much, new rotation member Michael Pineda has struggled mightily in his last four starts and several relievers at the front end of the bullpen have had trouble getting people out. Many more players have stepped it up beyond those mentioned. Basically, the good play to this point has been a team effort. Can this run continue? Well, I think the competition changes with many more games against familiar opponents in the Central Division--three of those teams (KC, Chicago and Detroit) are in one stage or the other of rebuilding--so the schedule figures to be somewhat more favorable. I doubt the Twins can keep hitting so many homers (they are on a pace to hit almost 300!) and I also doubt the pitching will continue to be dominant, but there is no doubt that they are improved. I think the need going forward this year is adding pitching. A starter to perhaps supplant Pineda and a strong bullpen arm would be helpful and when injuries happen, such improvements might be vital. The Twins are now considered favorites to win the Central, but they need to keep doing what they're doing. Credit for this improvement should be given to Falvey and Levine, who also hired rookie manager Rocco Baldelli. They've shown they pay attention to the metrics that are part of the game now and made good decisions in putting together a team for today without breaking the bank or mortgaging the future. There's a long way to go, but the ride this year promises to be fun and it might be magical.

Do you mean Injured List for Polanco or are you suggesting a DFA of Adrianza and then a recall of Gordon if Polanco is "nicked"? I don't know if a contending team would want to throw a younger player who hasn't mastered AAA out to be a regular shortstop (not sure if that's his best position either). I'm guessing that Adrianza is considered the superior defensive shortstop and if he is on the roster, that he would fill in for a Polanco injury of short duration. If the injury was longer term, do you call up a rookie who has 0 MLB plate appearances? As far as Adrianza goes, no he's not a great hitter. However, I don't think 50 plate appearances is a large enough sample to project his offensive prowess. Last year, in more than 350 PAs, he had an OPS of .680, substandard but OK for a three-position backup infielder. I would expect similar if he was in the lineup three or four times a week for a month. I don't know what we''d get from Gordon.

It was a hypothetical. Actually, in my mind and using the current Twins roster, maybe the most legitimate scenario would be the trio of first base, catcher and DH. With both Castro and Garver raking, it kind of makes sense to get more in the lineup and if Garver is good enough at first base, perhaps they could get both of their (at least temporarily) hot bats in the lineup at once. Cruz is hitting too well to bench every fourth day, but having some sort of a platoon where a switch hitter covers more than one position could work for some team.

Development. Gordon hasn't mastered AAA, but he is a #1 draft choice. Having him sit on the bench and pinch run or play once or twice a week is not the way for him to develop into what he will be. Ronald Torreyes is currently inactive for Rochester. I don't know the details, but I doubt he will be a recall for the Twins in the near future.

I doubt Adrianza gets DFAed any time soon. Gonzalez has not played an inning at second or short, so the obvious preference is to go with Ehire. Also 46 at-bats is a really small sample size. If Adrianza goes 4-4 or more realistically 6-14, he's hitting .200. Adrianza doesn't hit enough to be a regular, but he's a plus defender and a switch hitter who is accustomed to a reserve role. I'm sure there are many similar players, but they don't exactly grow on trees. The Twins don't want to lose him. (IMHO)

Adrianza has decent speed to pinch run. Nobody steals any more, certainly not a pinch runner unless it is Buxton. Bringing up Gordon for less than full-time play would be a mistake, I think. I would like to see a situation where 12 guys shared 9 positions, each guy getting >450 plate appearances. In my mind, it would be four guys sharing 3 positions in three groupings. #1–catcher first and DH. A guy like Garver could start 40 at each (especially the way he’s hitting). #2–second, short, and third with a Marwin-type starting 40 at each position and #3 the outfield with a “fourth regular” replacing each starter for 40 games. The 13th position player could be a pinch hitter/runner or third catcher who might spend half of his season in AAA if 13 pitchers are needed.

Watching Pérez' first couple outings this year, I thought he would be helped greatly by an off-speed pitch. Against right handers, he worked almost exclusively in with fastballs and sliders. He seemed to lose command after 50 or so pitches. Now he's throwing both the cutter and the change and is working both sides of the plate. He's also been solid through 100 pitches. The Twins currently have three of the top 10 pitchers in ERA. One is Berríos, who would have thought the other two would be Odorizzi and Pérez?

I think it is up to Sano how soon he is recalled. If he hits and fields his position, he will be up by 5/20. If the Ks keep coming and the hits stop, he'll be optioned. I don't think there are any guarantees. I just checked BB Reference for something and each day they have assorted photos of player all the way from the 19th Century to today. Right next to each other were two guys who were going to be superstars, Gregg Jeffries and Grady Sizemore. Both had their moments, but weren't all-time greats. Sano was promoted that way as he came up. I just don't know if it will happen for him.

The Twins are averaging the second-most IP per start in the AL (heard on a Twins' broadcast). I don't see the need for all of Morin, Magill and Romero. For now, they can cut to 12 pitchers easy enough. Yes, they have to at some point add Reed and Meíja, but they should be able to do that and someone will suffer some sort of injury. They would have to add a 13th pitcher for the doubleheader next week. My guess is that Romero will be the "shuttle guy"going back and forth from Rochester. If they have to, they would DFA either Magill or Morin before they would lose Meíja or (from the position side Adrianza). If they are forced to go to 13 pitchers for a week or two, it is my guess that Astudillo is optioned.