stringer bell

Two consecutive things where I agree 100% with Bremer. Dozier should be an All-Star and could lose it because of the "Royal Flush" and Zuke hit that ball about as far as he ever can or will.

Steve Blass, Steve Sax, Dave Engle, Chuck Knoblauch and Matt Garza all seemed to develop mental blocks with their throwing.

Maybe Rosario lets himself be hit by that bouncer? Has anyone mentioned that Plouffe is slow?

May really has a nice mix, both in speed and break. It seems to me that both Rizzo and Bryant didn't quite time their swings and kept the balls in the park.

Dozier did not switch over to second until winter ball and IMHO his adjustment was nearly seamless. I think he's too good at second to consider moving. Plouffe is best at third.

Dozier is another example. He's able to lay off a lot of sliders that move out of the zone now and hence in the last year and a half he's drawn a lot of walks. Dozier will probably never have as high a batting average as a Rosario, but he has made a quantum leap as a hitter in part because of becoming better at recognizing pitches.

Great thread with a variety of opinions. Rather than respond to all of the posts, I'll offer up my thoughts on some of the comments made. 1) Unless he retires early, the Twins have a first baseman in Mauer. He's been somewhere between disappointing and awful the last two years. I have some hope that he will regress to his mean, but I doubt he'll ever be an All-Star again. 2) Kepler outhit Rosario (narrowly) in the AFL. He has outhit everyone (OPS) at AA. I recall watching him, Buxton and Sano taking BP three springs ago and the ball sounded different when those three hit the ball than when other prospects hit it. He's got fine speed and a good frame. I believe the power will come, but he could hit like Mauer with good OBP and a lot of extra base hits, not homers. 3) The Twins need LH power and Arcia provides that commodity more than any OF candidate. I don't think he is hopeless as an outfielder, but he has a long way to go to be adequate. He definitely needs another chance, but this year that would probably be at DH. Maybe that will be his role going forward, but the team could live with him on a corner with two plus outfielders filling out the outfield. If the Twins think he's a square peg in a round hole, he should have built some value to be traded. 4) Walker reminds me of Michael Restovich. Great power, fine speed, some holes in his swing. He's progressed and is having a fine year in AA. To me, he is behind Kepler as a prospect because he's older, right handed and hasn't played much besides the corner oufield. 5) Hicks hasn't shown me that he can hit in the majors. He might get another chance if Buxton is sent back to the minors. I hope he builds enough value to net something. On another team, he might be a starting center fielder. 6) I've liked Rosario for some time. I think his plate disciple has improved as he's adjusted to the majors. He's a good fielder and can steal a base. Will he be an All-Star? Probably not, but he could be a solid guy for a long time. I don't care that he had not done well in the upper minors, he can hit. 7) Buxton's least developed tool is hitting. I know he'll be fine, but it wouldn't surprise me that he would not be fine until he spends a bit more time in the minors. I hope not. Let's hope he learns at the big league level.

Buxton has a week and a half to secure center field. He hasn't hit close to enough yet, but he is a bit streaky. To be honest, he looks a lot like what I saw this spring.

Now Brian, are you sure this is the first game of the series? After all, it's still inter-league play and the site hasn't changed. JK Nice intro, as always. I want the Cubs to do well, but I don't want them to win, does that make sense? I want Buxton to do well, and I do want him to win. I haven't looked at the pitching matchups, but it is tough to get going against St. Louis' staff, the Cubs have to be a bit easier.

Nothing in the original post about Adam Brett Walker? He's having a pretty good year in AA as well. Kepler is leading the Southern League in hitting, second in triples (behind Buxton) and second to Schwarber in OPS. He has to be considered for next year. Also he was named to the Southern All-Star team after Buxton was promoted. I think Mauer to the OF is a non-starter. Arcia is trade bait, despite his offensive upside. Buxton needs to get rolling before Hicks returns or he'll be sent back down.

The outfield and DH positions on the Twins presents many options and decisions will have to be made. The opening day outfield of Hunter, Schafer, and Arcia has been revamped to Hunter, Buxton, and Rosario. DH Kennys Vargas was demoted and has returned, but his status and his future are uncertain. Hunter started slowly this year, had a fine month of May and, with most of the team, fallen off in June. Torii has provided good offense, satisfactory defense and a whole bunch of personality. He's under contract for this season and so far the team has gotten it's money's worth from the almost 40-year old. He figures to be the primary right fielder, with several DH days, going forward. Buxton, the crown jewel of the Twins' farm system, was recalled last Sunday. He has a two week audition where he can take over center field, if not he would go back to the minors. The bar isn't that high and I expect BB will do enough to prolong his stay with the Twins. If Buxton is demoted, the job goes back to Aaron Hicks, who has looked like a big leaguer, but not a future star. Eddie Rosario has had a good run with the Twins. He has played both corners and made a number of good plays in the field. He's done a nice job hitting. He still doesn't walk much, but I think he is getting better at swinging at strikes. I think Rosario is here to stay. Like the Twins best player, Brian Dozier, he can hit, run the bases, and cover a lot of ground in the outfield and he has a good, accurate arm. If Rosario is the regular in left, it moves Oswaldo Arcia to compete with Vargas for DH at-bats. Torii Hunter is on a one-year contract and will be 40 next month. Despite his good season, I can't see Hunter continuing as a player with the Twins. Going forward, the Twins have several candidates to step forward. Arcia is in AAA. In Chattanooga Adam Brett Walker and Max Kepler are having breakout seasons. A year from now, most of those guys could be in the big leagues. It is great to have such a rich farm system, but not all the guys will be able to play where they should be playing. There will be 40-man roster issues and I think the Twins will have to selectively reduce guys who may be read to contribute. That is why I can get behind a building team making a trade where they yield prospects. The Twins need to decide who to go with. I think the emphasis should be to go with younger, more athletic players who can contribute in all facets of the game. Buxton, Rosario, Dozier, and perhaps Hicks represent a bright future.

I will say it again. When a team is struggling, there's usually a blown save in the mix.

St. Louis doesn't roll over.

Who would Twins fans rather see hitting here, Sugar Shane or Vargas?

How about an insurance run or two?

Good things have happened when the Twins have worked the count.

Good base running by Rosario. He wasn't content to take one base and then scored on the medium fly ball.

In 25 hours, Chris Parmelee has hit more homers than any Twin left-handed hitter this year.

Milone doesn't have enough stuff to be more than a middle-of-the-rotation guy, but he is a major league starter.

Homered yesterday and 2-2 so far today. Maybe he's coming out of it.

I thought Kozma would bloop one in and make it 3-0. Would serve the Twins right for Herrmann forgetting how many outs there were.

I saw Willie Mays play, that tempers my opinion. He was a great hitter in an era when hitting .300 was pretty special, he was a wonderful defender and great base runner. I think that kind of overall greatness made him a better player than Ruth. I can't consider Bonds.

If a less-worthy guy wins the voting for second base, I think Dozier's chances are less than 50-50. Kipness is having an even better year and if a third 2b is taken (not a guarantee) Pedroia is a better known guy having a really good year and Altuve is the defending batting champion. Kinsler is yet another candidate, although I think his numbers aren't in the same category as Dozier, Pedroia and Kipness.

Agree. The OP said one game a week at third and one at first. The better way would be two games at third with Plouffe moving over to first for one of those games.

I suspect Buxton will struggle to hit. He should hit for a high enough average because he will beat out a bunch of infield hits and then hit mistakes. Let him hit ninth until he's really rolling.