stringer bell

His defense might not be much, he's in the game for his bat--Drew Butera that is.

Maybe not.

Gotta comment on Bert praising Kemp for getting sawed off. Also, Miggy in the Tiger series. Those guys are paid to hit. Sure, it is better to advance the runner than not, but it is far better to get a hit. The right thing to do in the early innings is for three guys to try to get a knock with a runner on second and none out. Gibson showed that advancing the runner to third doesn't necessarily make the inning a success. It looks like the Twins are going to show that their bottom of the order couldn't score a run no matter where the leadoff guy reaches.

A lot of postponements, meaning there will be a lot of baseball tomorrow (weather permitting). I hope the Twins can get this one in!

I really dislike the idea of bringing up a 30+ career minor leaguer because he's had a hot 50 at-bats in AAA. I, too, would like to see what Escobar could do if he started five games a week for a month. It is interesting that after the long layoff, "regulars" Hicks and Florimon are riding the pine. Long term, I'm not fond of any of the Free Agent SS candidates. I would much rather find a young guy who's about ready to a major league regular. I don't know most of the names, but I definitely think the team should add a young shortstop.

So, playing tonight? On time? Wearing earlappers? How is the field? Is anyone there?

Future Stars: Miguel Sano and Byron Buxton. Emerging Rookie: Josmil Pinto Revelation: Chris Colabello. Starter who Finally "gets it": Trevor Plouffe. Only player to establish himself in 2013: Brian Dozier. What do all of these position players have in common? They are all right handed hitters. Since the emergence of MVPs Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau the Twins have definitely leaned left. Perhaps not in sheer numbers, but the most feared and respected hitters were lefties. The story is that the White Sox took Chris Sale early in part because they knew they would have to deal with the M & M Boys (don't know if that is completely true). So far this year, on the offensive side, the good stories have been about right handed hitters. Is this a good thing? In part, I think it is. Target Field seems more suited for right handed power. The high wall in right has turned a lot of blasts into singles and doubles and perhaps the prevailing winds help when left field is the pull field. I also think that most good right handed hitters diminish their platoon splits. So far, Colabello and Pinto have hit better against righties than lefties (SSS) and Plouffe and Dozier have evened up their numbers after being much better vs. lefties last year. Also, Joe Mauer provides a conterbalance and he is signed for five more years. Promising hitter Oswaldo Arcia also hits left handed although he hasn't done much this year due to injury. The irony of this is that the Twins have hit markedly poorer versus left handed pitchers so far this year. Part of that may be attributable to facing Mr. Sale and Mr. Price, who figure to give just about every hitter problems. I can envision a lineup later in this decade with as many as seven right handed regulars. It would depend on some guys to develop and others to show this early season isn't a fluke. I never thought there would be a time that Mauer was on the team where the team would be so right handed.

This is all based on them playing tomorrow. I'm not sure, but the weather doesn't look too promising for Wednesday, as well. They'll make every effort to play on Thursday, because making up three games to an NL opponent would be difficult to impossible. I would suspect if they don't play tomorrow, it will be Gibson pitching the afternoon game with Nolasco facing his ex-mates in the nitecap. As far as a 26th player, Parmelee would have been a good choice but he's not on the 40-man, nor is Bernier. Probably a pitcher, even though one won't be a necessity.

I haven't read all of the thread, but I sure would like to see Meyer go deeper in games. It looks like when he's sharp, he can get through 6 innings on 100 pitches, and when he is less than sharp, he doesn't even see the sixth. That said, how can we not be excited about a guy who throws hard, is young, and strikes guys out?

Doubleheader Thursday is what I'm thinking. As miserable as it has been today and yesterday, I have to imagine that Target Field is really soaked. Drainage is much better at modern stadia, but I can't imagine anyone playing until Thursday at the earliest. BTW, it is snowing pretty hard here in Rochester this morning. So far, nothing sticking except on the windshields of parked cars.

The rehab trip for Arcia is probably essential. He needs to get his swing going, and it wasn't going before his injury. If he isn't swinging well when the rehab time is over, I wouldn't be at all surprised to see him optioned. If someone else gets injured, I presume Arcia will be brought back right away. With all the rest the pitching staff is getting with the off days and postponements, they really don't need an eight-man bullpen. I know, I know, two short starts and they'll be short again.

The Twins' best defensive OF IMHO is Fuld, Hicks, Herrmann, but not by that much over Kubel, Hicks, Fuld. I don't think Herrmann's defensive "prowess" or his ability to catch are enough to keep him in the majors. I hope Arcia comes back at the end of his rehab as a more patient and disciplined hitter and also as someone who will focus on defense.

Let's look at how other teams regard their forebears before we criticize the Twins. Do the Giants memorialize the NY Giants, how about the Dodgers and the Braves? At least those teams kept the nickname for their franchise, and so did the Athletics. The Orioles (St. Louis Browns) changed everything, so did the Twins after more than 50 years. The Rangers and Milwaukee changed everything after shorter stays at the original city.

They don't like to use up the open dates. Remember the players are required to have off days after a certain number of days.

Given the weather forecast, the Twins might be done playing for the month of April. Oh sure, they probably will get a couple of games in vs. the Dodgers, but there's going to be a lot of rain the in next four or five days. Anyway, we've had several surprises in the first month. Colabello has been a revelation, Kubel has been more than competent both at bat and in the field, Plouffe has played at an All-Star level. The starting pitching has not improved overall despite many millions of dollars thrown at the problem. The entire team has shown immensely improved plate discipline. Here's some predictions for the remainder of this month and the month of May: 1) There will be a new regular shortstop. I think it will be Eduardo Escobar, who seems at least passable offensively and better than that defensively. Florimon is in an offensive rut and he's not a good hitter to start with. Other candidates include Nuñez and Santana, but Nuñez presents substandard defense and Santana so far hasn't mastered his abundant tools. 2) April stars Colabello and Plouffe will fade. It really is happening already. Kubel has gone through a high-strikeout funk and Colabello, despite hitting cleanup has struggled since a big game in St. Petersburg. 3) Starting pitching will improve. Nolasco has been disappointing, but he has a history of struggling out of the gate, we've seen Hughes come up with two back-to-back quality starts, and either Pelfrey or his replacement will be better in May. 4) Joe Mauer will have a better month of May than April. Mauer has struggled and if he's healthy, he'll hit. Are there lingering effects from his 2013 concussion? I don't know, but his long history shows he will hit. I think Joe has to adjust a bit, and he's never had to do that. However, he's just too talented of a hitter to fall off dramatically for a season and his numbers in April represent a dramatic falloff. 5) There will be a lot of roster moves. The Twins currently have two disabled players nearing activation. They have a few players at AAA who have been outstanding, probably meriting promotion to Minnesota. Further, they have two black holes in their regular lineup. The Twins seem to want to be more aggressive with their roster and there should be moves to be made.

If you put four guys on your mountain, it is Carew, Puckett, Harmon and Tony-O. As someone who saw Oliva play, he deserves to be a Hall-of-Famer, and he played his entire career with the Twins. I think there should be five and Mauer would be the fifth guy.

Neither are "pure" first basemen, but the Twins' AA and AAA first basemen have been hitting the last couple of weeks. Kennys Vargas had a dreadful start, but now has raised his BA to .286, with an OPS of .788. I predicted early this year that Vargas would be getting DH at-bats with the Twins in September. He was impressive in Spring Training and has trimmed down, although he is still a large human being. Meanwhile at Rochester, Chris Parmelee seems to have found his swing. He hit a walkoff solo homer today and now has a .330 BA and an OPS over .900. Parmelee looks to be a victim of the numbers game at his positions at this point. If he continues to rake, he might get another chance, but so far the corner outfielders and DH have been productive in Minnesota.

I have been on board with acquiring a near-ready shortstop from an organization that has SS depth in their system. I don't know which minor leaguers would appeal to other teams or if anyone is interested in what the Twins have on their 25-man roster. With the emergence of Colabello and Kubel and the AAA excellence of Parmelee (walkoff homer today), the Twins have depth at DH/corner OF and in the bullpen.

Regarding Pelfrey, he was a little better his last start. Still not even to satisfactory, but not embarrassing. The numbers are pretty stark--he's walked too many and his velocity isn't where it was last summer and fall. Pelfrey late last year was pretty good with a pretty high velo fastball and decent command and currently both are missing in action. If he's hurt, it would be in the interest of both player and team for him to take a DL stint. If he's 100%, it is fair to say that he's not pitching good enough to deserve a spot in the rotation.

Nice play by Escobar. Two outs to go.

The sun is out and the wind has diminished. Now finish this one off.

If they play tomorrow, perhaps Fuld for Kubel.

,Wrong side of the pole.

Redemption!

Pretty good in "The Robe".