stringer bell

[quo"Ite name=CRArko" post="271252" timestamp="1408234613]Annabel series."I am lying."

Royals are supposed to have the best defense in the AL, but haven't been that good against the Twins.

380 ft. Will do. 'waldo tried to hit it 580.

Let's get a few runs here.

Nice throw Zuke.

Not exactly stellar trips by Santana and Dozier.

"Ace" Ventura is giving the Twins lots of baserunners. Twins say "no thank you" to his generosity.

Santana starting at shortstop will be enough to keep me watching. I have weighed in on the SS/CF issue already, but to quote an old BYTOer "season over", so let's see what Danny can and can't do at shortstop. I was fondly recalling Jim Thome's 600th home run today. It occurred on one of my last visits with my mother before she passed away. She couldn't have cared less about baseball but turned on the game because she knew I was a fan. She was happy for Thome because it made me happy. Pretzel logic, but aren't moms great?

What I saw in Spring Training was far short of major league defense from Santana. The hands didn't look particularly soft, the throwing demonstrated a strong, but not accurate arm. I think there were concentration lapses and issues with fundamentals. I don't know if that could all click much as his hitting has, but there was more than one issue to clean up with Santana. OTOH, Escobar is definitely not the most "rangy" shortstop. He seems fundamentally sound, has a strong and accurate arm and good hands.

The problem is that far too many of Nolasco's pitches didn't get to Suzuki this year!

Thanks for making my day, JB! Actually, that must mean the '13 Twins won a grand total of 12 games for the remainder of the season? Wow. The schedule is a bit daunting, if we consider the Tigers and Indians to be contenders. I think the Tigers are, but the Indians aren't. The Twins should have a lineup of Santana, Dozier, Mauer, Vargas, Plouffe, Arcia, Suzuki, Escobar and Parmelee/Schafer at their disposal. I don't think this compares with what was left in August and September last year. Further, the rotation of Gibson, Hughes, May, Milone, Nolasco looks much better than what the Twins were sending out late last season. I think 73 wins is doable, but not much more than that.

I have no doubt that Jokin is correct on his numbers of games caught by Mauer. I do want to say that circumstances have a lot to do with those numbers. In order to get the unquestioned best hitter on the team more plate appearances, the Twins used Mauer more as a DH and some as a first baseman. They also signed a bat-first free agent to back Mauer up. This created two spots for Mauer and Doumit and they switched on day games after night games etc. Mauer has had injury issues as well, but Gardenhire and the front office used these means to get more plate appearances for the three-time batting champion.

Schafer has his hit against a lefty.

Well, six in a row retired.

Unforgivable to be picked off in that situation. I think Plouffe might have got lucky.

Way to keep that all-important sixth run from scoring.

That was well hit, but Santana misplayed the ball.

The new Nolasco looks a lot like the old Nolasco.

The old "at-em" ball.

I don't think comparisons to Doumit are fair. Doumit was a veteran player when the Twins acquired him. He was a better than average hitter during his first year with the club, and received regular playing time. He was the primary DH and the primary backup to a perennial All-Star. In addition, Doumit had some positional flexibility in that he played 55 games in the outfield in the two years he was with the Twins.

Swarzak's ankle apparently healed pretty quickly. While it doesn't make much difference to me, this is what I thought would occur before Pino made his last start in Houston. He'll almost certainly be back at some point this year.

I've said the developments at shortstop are one of the top positive events for the 2014 Twins, with Polanco and Nick Gordon rated as prospects in the future. It makes no sense to bring in Cabrera at this stage of his career, even less sense than bringing in Drew this spring.

Oops. Pretty sure Milone made his Twins debut against the Astros.

Josmil Pinto had a breakout season in 2013. He was the best hitter for New Britain, advanced to Triple A, and got a promotion to the major leagues in September. Pinto took advantage of his promotion by hitting well and impressing management with his work ethic. There was consensus that he had "work to do" as a receiver, but given his vast improvement, it was thought Josmil would step into a regular role with the Twins by midseason. It didn't work that way. Kurt Suzuki has enjoyed a surprising career season as a free agent signee and is now firmly entrenched as the Twins regular catcher. Pinto got playing time as an alternate at catcher and as a frequent DH when several Twins' hitters were hit by the injury bug. When the Twins' hitters got healthy, there was no place for Pinto and when he got a games behind the plate, he regressed defensively. Pinto was sent down in June. He suffered an injury that cost him a couple weeks at Rochester, but has otherwise been healthy. At 25, Pinto has been the Red Wings best hitter. As of Wednesday, he was hitting .287 with an OPS of .898, 5 homers and 30 RBI in 42 games. Pinto will take a walk and has good power. I assume Josmil will be recalled when Rochester's season is over, if not before. I don't know if he has improved behind the plate, or not. I think it will be tough for him to get consistent playing time with the Twins unless Suzuki would fall off a cliff or get injured. Should he be a trade candidate? Should the Twins try to have him be a third catcher and DH? Should the Twins continue to keep him in the minors to work on his catching skills? I see the Twins not having much depth in the upper minors at catcher. Perhaps they could trade Pinto for another young catcher who is a better defensive player. I don't know if that player exists. I don't see Pinto as a regular DH. I think he could be a regular catcher, but it doesn't look like he will get a chance with the Twins for years. It would probably be best for him to get a chance with another team, but the Twins shouldn't sell low on him.

Rosario's path to the majors is now easier as an outfielder. A year or two ago, it looked like outfield was booked up and second base was the course of least resistance. It probably will help Eddie to be considered an option at both. Rosario isn't lighting it up at AA, but he has had a solid couple of weeks. His OPS is about .700 and he's sprinkling in some extra base hits. I don't think this year has been a huge step back, but he needs to step up next year.