stringer bell

The three pitcher signings all look pretty bad at this point. Hughes is the youngest and had a fine season for the Twins in 2014. I would guess he is the most likely to "play up" to the money in his contract. Nolasco has been ineffective and snakebit. He was on his way to having an okay year and then felled by an old ankle injury. Santana has spent the least amount of time with the team and his numbers are poor. In one of Santana's starts, he set down the Angels after the Twins had lost four straight games. He had the chance to salvage the Yankee series, but gave up his second homer of the game and got the loss. Today was a big chance for Ervin to be a stopper and earn some of that big contract, but he instead took the loss. Those three contracts just about guarantee that the Twins won't pursue any big-ticket starters this offseason.

Holy cow! this guy is throwing 100 mph after 80 pitches?

That's it. I'm done.

I do hope the Twins let Kepler get some time this September, just to get his feet wet and also reward a really awesome season for him at AA. Beyond that, I think he starts spring training penciled for AAA, but given a shot to make the team. He would be behind the trio of Buxton, Hicks, and Rosario, as well as Arcia who would be out of options. The chances for at least one of the four to either be injured or fall off dramatically are (unfortunately) pretty high. Kepler should get his chance sometime next year and I think he will do very well.

Perkins has been the shining light of a suspect bullpen. A lot of pressure is on him as the man at the end. A tick down in confidence, maybe a mph down in velocity and just a few inches in location make a lot of difference.

Tough, tough, loss. Seems they go to NY and do things like that.

OK, Eddie's been very good, but he should have caught that ball.

Nice job Casey. On the running game, circumstances yielded the results. Dozier was thrown out on a pitchout. Hunter was retired on a missed swing on a hit and run and Nuñez was out because the shortstop was able to simultaneously make a catch and tag of a short hop. Dozier, Nuñez and Rosario all had gotten great jumps on steal attempts.

I would like to see the more aggressive Rosario in right. There is slightly less area in right, and Eddie has played a dozen or so games in right, so he is more experienced playing the multi-surface wall. As for throwing, I don't think the difference is great and what difference there is in strength is made up for by his accuracy and aggressiveness in charging balls.

First team to 10 wins?

Keep-rap.

The Twins need you to post that more often.

Brand new ball game!

Not to speculate too much, but my guess is that the pitcher broke his nose. I hope he's not too badly hurt. I'm really surprised more pitchers don't get hit.

Tight zone early, with the exception of strike three to Hicks.

The Twins current playoff probability according to Baseball Prospectus is just 7%. That seems low, given the fact that they only trail wild card leader Baltimore by 1.5 games and play the Orioles four games within the week. Here's a tale about the underdog winning. A young sophomore track runner has had a respectable season in the 1600 meters going into the conference meet. However, she hadn't beaten three older runners (one of whom went on to win the state championship) all year. On a cool, cloudy spring day the sophomore starts out in the lead, as the other higher-seeded runner settle into a trail position, eyeing the other favorites, while the young slender sophomore takes a big lead. Nobody challenges for the first half-mile. On the third lap, the favorites decide they had better start to challenge the leader. It takes a while to close the gap and after three quarters of the race, it looks like the younger runner will fade to fourth place as the three older, stronger runners are clustered within a few yards of the leader. Two challengers try to pass, but can't get past. The last major challenger waits until the last 100 meters, but the leader somehow has a kick left and holds her off as well. The sophomore runs her best time by 15 seconds. It is good enough to hold off the contenders she had never beaten before or after the one conference meet. This story has the advantage of being true, at least as I remember it. My daughter was a sophomore and stunned herself, her coach and her dad winning the conference race. If there were a prospectus for high school track meets then, I'm sure her victory percentage would have been lower than seven per cent. That is what makes sports fun!

Face it, Torii will want to play if he re-signs. I think it would be good to have someone who is a platoon partner or in Hicks' case, someone to take at-bats from his weaker side. That would be a left handed hitter and hey! Oswaldo Arcia will be out of options. As stated above, there really shouldn't be a need for a glove-first three position outfielder. I think Arcia should be penciled in as a fourth outfielder option. That doesn't leave anything for Hunter. In another thread, I speculated the Twins could look at Lonnie Chisenhall if he's non-tendered because he is earning some stripes as a right fielder and would offer a back-up option for Sano, if Plouffe is traded.

I like Kepler getting a couple weeks at the end of the season. He'll stay with the Lookouts until they are eliminated in their playoffs (given their depleted roster, probably in the first round). How much he plays depends on where the Twins are in the standings (we should have a better handle on that after this road trip). Vargas is hitting very well, a third catcher should be added, and a bullpen arm (Tonkin and Achter if he gets optioned in the next two weeks). I thought Polanco had been playing at AA, correct? It is news to me if he has been injured.

I want Buxton here in place of a pitcher. I also think that Hicks should play left field, not right. I believe Rosario would be the superior right fielder immediately and with time Hicks would be a little better in left than Eddie. Plouffe is an everyday third baseman, who has played a few games at first to accommodate the phenom. It makes far more sense to trade him for value than make him into a guy who moves all over the field. I presume, without another OF being signed, that Hicks, Rosario, and Buxton have the lead for the three starting position next year. The other outfielder to start ST would be the out of options Arcia, with Kepler being given a shot to join the club, but most likely starting in AAA.

Buxton has played as long at AAA as he did with the big boys. We should probably hold equal weight for each (ie not much at all). I guess I would look at how many balls he has hit hard, and how many times he has struck out and then look at what pitches (breaking balls, chain jumps [that's for Always 33] got him out.

The optimum thing would be to go back to 12 pitchers, adding Buxton for a pitcher. That could be accomplished as soon as the end of the Yankee series, if the Twins starters go deep in games.

Most of the above post is a nice defense for signing Hunter last year. In retrospect, the signing of Hunter is defensible, if not a good move. But going into 2016, Eddie Rosario, Byron Buxton and Aaron Hicks will all have made gigantic steps toward establishing themselves, and Max Kepler will have put up dominant numbers at AA. Add in the possibility of an Arcia rebound and there are five players to fill the three outfield spots. While Hunter hasn't really stood in anyone's way this year, the situation would likely be different next year.

If Plouffe is traded, I think the Twins should take a look at Lonnie Chisenhall. He isn't a free agent, but I doubt the Indians will offer him a contract. Lonnie Chisenhall is now playing outfield for the Tribe, he won't have completed four years of service, I doubt he has any options remaining. Chisenhall could be the Twins backup plan for third base in the event Sano can't cut it. He could be a platoon option in the outfield and be a worthy pinch hitting option. Chisenhall turns 27 at the conclusion of the regular season.

Great job, JB! Kind of an important game for the Twins. Before the home stand, I thought four of six was essential for them to be serious about playing for the Wild Card. A win today would be four of six.

I'm mildly surprised that the Twins are keeping May in the 'pen. Duffey's line yesterday was interesting, because although he walked five, he only threw 90-some pitches in six innings. In watching him for more than a couple of pitches for the first time, he seems to sling the ball. The breaking ball is effective, but he needs to get ahead of counts. Is it possible that the Twins are auditioning May to be a permanent member of the bullpen? The velo went up, he has the ability to miss bats, and he's young and under team control for several years. On another tangent, let's not sell Milone short. He been a very decent left handed starter, despite not having a great fastball. The Twins can control him for the next three seasons and having a lefty in the rotation is a plus.