stringer bell

It is really early to decide whether someone is hitting or not. Hicks was under .200 until his three-hit day. All of a sudden, he is tearing up AAA because he had a good game? I was opposed to Hicks abandoning switch hitting and remain so. It is questionable he'll ever hit well against RH pitching as a left handed hitter. It is much more doubtful that he would ever thrive as solely a right hander. Give the guys 'til the end of the month to show something. If failure continues, abandon a bad plan and go with the kids.

Swim had two hits yesterday. He has hit in all six Miracle games. Currently hitting .346, with no extra base hits and six RBI.

Arcia: Yes, he needs to hustle all the time and yes, he shows emotion and most of us like that. That is style. On substance, his swing gets long while he's trying to hit 500 ft. homers, he needs to shorten that swing and settle for more singles and doubles. The home runs will come, but not if he keeps trying to hit it 500 feet.

What is the best way to get him moving toward his potential upside? Honestly, I think he needs to modify his approach a bit. He really takes far too many "no chance" at-bats.

What about Polanco's speed? Someone called his speed "game changing" but I saw him play myself and scouting reports also put his speed at "above-average". Eddie Rosario is another guy who has been classified as a burner by some and about average by others. Yet another example is Aaron Hicks. I hope I haven't totally hijacked this thread, but I would like to know the true rating for speed of some of these guys.

I remain mostly unimpressed and 100% puzzled by Arcia. His minor league resumé says hitter not slugger, but he has seemed to adopt Mark Reynolds as a model rather than somebody like Bobby Abreu. Arcia is not long and lean, he well-muscled and wide, but he has the speed and the arm to be a capable base runner and defender. So far, his value is derived almost completely from hitting the ball over the fence. He seems to have stagnated in recognizing pitches and is neutralized by left handed pitching. From the behind the scenes rumbling to his not starting two of the first six games, it looks like Arcia might be the player that the Twins choose to be an example. I still like Arcia's potential, but he needs to show progress in developing his overall game.

I've beaten the drum to trade for Bourjos since early in the off-season. While I acknowledge that he isn't a great hitter, he is elite defensively, if currently healthy. Putting one of the top defenders in all of baseball in center field for somewhere between 60 and 80 per cent of the innings might do wonders for the Twins outfield defense and their pitching staff. I could live with Bourjos (lifetime OPS+ 94) hitting ninth in a lineup that had all eight other regulars with OPS+ north of 100 last year.

I have been at Fort Myers for Twins' Spring Training for the last four years. I always watch plenty of minor league action, and the last two years Alex Swim has caught my eye. Perhaps it is the unusual last name, perhaps it is the smooth left handed swing, or maybe it is just happenstance, but when I've seen Swim at the plate in BP or minor league games, there have been a lot of line drives. He is a left handed hitting catcher, who also has logged considerable time in the outfield. So far, in two plus years in the Twins' organization, Swim has hit .305 with an OPS of .702. Swim is 5'11" and goes about 180 pounds. So far, he hasn't hit for much power (16 doubles, no homers), but I believe he will develop more extra-base sock in the near future. I have no idea what kind of defense Swim plays behind the dish, I have seen him make a few nice plays and throws from the outfield. I presume he is adequate or the Twins would move him full-time to the outfield (only a guess). I do know that Swim has not been regarded as a top prospect, but since he has a left handed bat and offers utility by playing other positions, I think he has a better chance than most to get to the majors, a la Chris Herrmann. On Saturday, Alex provided the game-winning hit for the Miracle with a walk-off single in Fort Myers' extra-inning 4-3 win. Keep it up Alex!

The Twins are off to a dreadful 1-5 start and so far exactly one player has positively surprised--Tommy Milone. The other four starters have ranged from pedestrian to awful, the bullpen has been putrid with few exceptions. Outfield defense was expected to be bad and has met that low bar. It was flat-out embarrassing to see two easy catches missed in the same inning today. Many hitters are off to slow starts, some with resumés (Hunter, Plouffe, Dozier) and others less so (Schafer, Arcia, Santana). To be fair, the Twins' hitters have faced a bunch of All-Star starting pitchers and played all six games on the road, but they have looked feeble a lot more than they've looked promising. My question is how long the Twins will continue to trot out guys like Boyer, Stauffer, and Pelfrey (with another large question mark next to Ricky Nolasco's name) and continue with Schafer being stretched in center field. The long term answers remain in the Twins' farm system. Do the Twins wait until May 1st, or the 4th of July? Of course, it is possible that this is just a stretch of bad baseball that almost all teams go through. I was in San Francisco last summer when the Giants were stinking it up and the hometown fans were ready to abandon a team that had won it all twice in the last four years and who would go on to win it all in 2014. My humble opinion is that the Twins' flaws are pretty much real flaws and not just a rough patch. They definitely need improved pitching and defense and their offense might make a move in the wrong direction this year. If I were GM (and thank goodness I'm not!), a couple of bullpen guys would be one more bad appearance away from release or Rochester, Arcia would have a couple of weeks to get it together and the starters except for Hughes and Gibson would need to show something in their next few appearances. What should the timetable be for giving up on this year and going with the prospects?

Buxton does not equal Hicks. Hicks is a guy who advanced slowly through the ranks to AA and then was thrown to the wolves at age 23. Many were projecting him to be a competent major league center fielder based on good (not great) tools and a history of progression. Buxton has been ranked in the very top of prospects since he came into the system. The tools are far better than Hicks, but it still comes down to projection. Buxton could fail, but it would be quite a surprise. Hicks uninspiring major league career so far is much less of a surprise. That said, Buxton's struggles to stay healthy and some struggles against breaking pitches and changes of speed are probably raising some uncertainty. He's young and immensely talented and center field looks pretty grim if he's isn't ready in twelve months or so.

Today's loss is an example where a more well-rounded team would win. The Twins put a four-spot on a good pitcher but then couldn't add on, they got a poor and short start from their guy and then got outpitched by a mediocre bullpen.

I didn't see much of Pelf's outing, but he threw some good pitches. He just can't afford to pitch from behind all the time.

Ash capitalizes.

Back to the future--Sox have Gordon Beckham at third base. He started his career as the Sox third sacker.

Milone with a 1-2-3 inning including a strike out. Not to be Captain Obvious, but his change is pretty effective if he can manage to get ahead on the count.

Let's see, if they strand three per inning for nine innings....pretty sure that will set a record.

With no information at hand, I will guess they will play. They would have postponed this game early because it is a getaway day, plus there won't be much walkup sales and there probably wasn't a lot of tickets sold for the game in the first place. Of course, I could be completely wrong.

Alex Swim please

Off to work early this morning. Doubt that I will catch any of the game. Best wishes to the hitters vs. a tough hurler in Sanchez. I was going to start a thread before the first game, but since the Twins were shut out with no extra base hits, most categories are still open. Let's try this. Predictions: 1) First run scored. 2) First extra-base hit 3) First home run 4) First RBI 5) First error 6) First win (pitching) 7) First hold 8) First save not by Glen Perkins 9) First complete game 10) First double-digit strikeout (pitching) My guesses: 1) Santana 2) Escobar 3) Vargas 4) Mauer 5) Plouffe 6) Thompson 7) Duensing 8) Graham 9) Trevor May 10) Ricky Nolasco

Power was a Puerto Rican and I remember the announcers calling him "flashy". He solidified the defense in the infield for sure, but Harmon had to play left field. Stigman was a Minnesota native, from tiny Nimrod in northern Minnesota. He had a couple good years with the Twins.

Mauer's .268 was powerless. The key here is that when Joe has a good year, he hits left handed pitching well, when he if off, that is where he really suffers. A three-time batting champ probably earns a little slack about being platooned/rested vs. LH pitching.

With Opening Day having come and gone, I made a check of all the major league rosters. I always check for ex-Twins and this year there are 28. Here is a list: Drew Butera, Samuel Deduno, Pat Neshek, Sam Fuld, RA Dickey, Liam Hendriks, Danny Valencia, AJ Pierzynski, Matt Garza, Kyle Lohse, Carlos Gomez, Anthony Swarzak, Michael Cuddyer, Wilson Ramos, Delmon Young, Francisco Liriano, Vance Worley, Ben Revere, Rene Rivera, Craig Breslow, David Ortiz, Jason Marquis, LaTroy Hawkins, Justin Morneau, Kendrys Morales, Joe Nathan and Garrett Jones. Lots of catchers, first basemen, outfielders and DHs. In addition I checked the number of teams that carried three catchers (5) and 13 pitchers (5). Two teams are listed with only 11 pitchers, but I believe they both will activate their 12th pitcher when he starts a game in the first week.

From my vantage point in my living room, West had a good day calling balls and strikes. I thought he gave Price a couple pitches when facing Schafer (who later singled), but overall he was competent. West's decision at the end of the game was not the right way to go about things when another ump has a better angle, but he probably was sure what he saw. I've always thought of Joe West as one of the poorer umps, and one who makes the game about him, but he did handle himself properly.

I'm always aware of L/R splits. With it being Opening Day, Molitor wanted the nine guys who will usually start at the beginning of the season in there. Going off last year's splits alone, Escobar definitely needs to be starting against left handers. There are many ways to get him in the lineup vs LH starters. 1. Rest Santana. I am convinced that Danny will drop off significantly against LH pitching. When he has a bad at-bat, it is almost always against LH pitchers. 2. Vargas out. Probably Plouffe to DH, with Escobar at third. Vargas' splits vs. LH weren't good last year. 3. Rest Mauer. Again, Escobar to third, either Plouffe or Vargas at first with the other the DH. Moving Plouffe over gives more positional flexibility later in the game. 4. Arcia out/rested. Escobar in left for Arcia. 5. Schafer out. Santana to center? Escobar to short. I suspect we won't see Santana in center any time soon (this month). Robinson will probably start most games against lefties (Sale on Sunday), but Schafer isn't good against portsiders.

Don't disagree with anything stated. I've been pretty happy with Santana's SS play in the spring and yesterday. Hard to judge jumps in the OF, but I know that despite excellent speed, Schafer has never graded out as even average in center field. Still don't think any of the candidates for the CF job would have caught Cespedes' triple, however.