stringer bell

Plouffe has a sore wrist that has bothered him since he came off the DL in June according to the PP. He finally revealed this after he left the game in the eighth inning last night.

The other part of this, Mike, is that you are asking two players to move to positions they never played before (Mauer made an emergency start in right, but still). Arcia has been an outfielder exclusively in pro ball while Mauer has played about half a season at first in the majors and played quite well there from what I've seen.

I agree and would add that probably he has "overregressed" if there is such a word. Diamond had a lot of things go right, and it seems like he has been paid back double for every mistake he's made this year. I don't think his arm was 100% and with such a small margin for error an inch or two makes a lot of difference. I expect that Diamond will be starting for the Twins next year and will put up numbers closer to 2012 than 2013.

Here's the lineup for the Twins: Presley cf Dozier 2b Plouffe 3b Arcia rf Doumit dh Willingham lf Pinto c Parmelee 1b Florimon ss Correia p About the best Gardy can do against a right hander.

You can learn a lot about playing outfield. The biggest thing is to be able to focus--as a rookie Brian Dozier couldn't focus on defense, as a second-year guy, he has been great--playing the wall properly and taking good routes to balls takes practice and I don't think Arcia has worked enough at that yet. He has enough range and arm right now to be a better than adequate outfielder. The rest can be improved on, and if he wants to be a good all-around player, he can improve.

Rocky??

Do I have this right? After two (2!) innings, seven of the nine Twins' starters have a hit? Four runs and seven hits is more than a game's worth!

Arcia hit 53 homers in over 1500 plate appearances, about one every 30 PAs, going into this year. He struck out 289 times, less than once every five PAs. This year for the Twins, he has struck out 105 times in 347 PAs. It looks to me like he is looking to launch every pitch. I like that the Twins are hitting more homers vis a vis their opponents, but if the cost is becoming strikeout machines with a small increase in long balls, maybe that isn't a transaction worth making.

Arcia has a bright future if he doesn't get too concerned with hitting each pitch 500 feet. He'll probably remain (overly) aggressive for quite a while, but he has hit at every level, not so much for power as overall good numbers. We know he's strong enough to reach the seats to any part of the park, but he needs to make more contact and that means trying to hit balls where they are pitched and quit chasing so many balls out of the zone, especially with two strikes.

The other bonus of Mauer at first is the probability that he will miss fewer games to rest added to the probability of missing less games due to injury.

I knew I forgot somebody. Thielbar! He has done very well in his half-season. I suspect there is some smoke and mirrors there, but maybe he gets the award. I'll echo Snepp. Myers is the AL MVP, hands down.

With Hicks dispatched to the minors and not recalled, Arcia scuffling mightily on his last recall, and the only real "success" being Andrew Albers, who gets the nod as the Twins ROY?

Regarding Pinto, I think he looks very comfortable and confident as a hitter. With 40 plate appearances he already has some of the best strike zone judgment on the team. He hasn't had a particular pitch repeatedly eat him up and has feasted on mistakes. I am pretty convinced he will hit quite well (somewhere north of .725 OPS). He will apparently need to grow as a pitch caller and receiver, but it looks like he has both the tools and the motivation to get better.

The classic first baseman is tall, Joe Mauer is tall. Mauer has already lost a step or two, so his range as an outfielder wouldn't be especially good. The number one reason to move Mauer would be to protect his health and maximize his hitting. I believe first base is the right position to do that.

With each passing day that Joe Mauer isn't playing baseball this summer, it seems that much more likely to me that he won't catch again, except perhaps in an emergency. I have been on record that the Twins should make Mauer a first baseman next year, as of today I am on record as predicting that the Twins will make Mauer their everyday first baseman next year. While moving Mauer to first base will solve one problem (who replaces Justin Morneau), it opens another one (who replaces Joe Mauer). This serves as a preface for my topic. Josmil Pinto has moved up two levels in the Twins organization and really hasn't missed a beat. At 24, he looks like he can hit at any level and his catching, while not Gold Glove level, seems to be sufficient. I have been thought highly of Pinto all year. He mashed at AA, moved up to AAA and hit over .300 and finally has been great in a SSS trial for the Twins. It sure looks to me like he could sustain being a good hitter going forward. The Twins still have two other guys who can catch on their roster. Ryan Doumit has had a disappointing season, but has a track record as a decent hitter. Doumit has played a lot of outfield (poorly) and DHed more than he has caught this year and metrics say he is a lousy receiver. He has one more year on his contract and could be traded in the offseason. Chris Herrmann has acquitted himself well in the majors this year after a disappointing season at Rochester. Herrmann has been OK behind the dish and added a few big hits. He's shown he can handle a corner outfield spot as well as catcher and the word is that he might be able to play third or first as well. Herrmann hasn't yet logged a full year as a big leaguer, so if he's in the majors, he will earn minimum pay and be under team control until the next decade. Would the Twins be willing to go with Pinto as a full-time catcher next backed up by part-timers Herrmann and Doumit? I think Pinto is part of the future for the Twins and the combination of Doumit and Herrmann is adequate to back him up, but I'm not sure the team sees it that way.

I am still intrigued by Plouffe. He goes through stretches where he looks like he finally gets it, and then goes through stretches where he looks like he doesn't belong in the major leagues. He made a nice play on Longoria and has made a couple other good plays. He's one of the few that are swinging well right now.

First and second, nobody out, most teams' fans would be saying "how many runs", Twins' fans are saying "how will we blow it?"

C'mon TD regulars, make it to page 2!

Friday nights are typically slow anyway and with the Twins having two chances to win (slim and none) tonight and the likelihood of anything positive happening also pretty small, it figures that there wouldn't be a lot of interest.

Really, really tough to get too wound up in this version of the Twins. I'm paying attention when Pinto and Presley hit and pulling hard for Dozier. The pitchers are "meh" at best (poor starters--tired relievers) and almost all hope is gone. I got off the golf course and checked to see how the NL batting race is going, not how the Twins were doing because frankly I really doubted that the Twins had much chance against any Tampa pitcher..

Their Escobar is way better than "our" Escobar, at least tonight.

Ok, Gardy, you've made your point. A .240 hitter is the best you've got so he's hitting third. Well, it isn't really happening for Dozier in the #3 hole, so get him out of there.

How rare is the two out RBI single for the Twins? How about for their opponents? In a nutshell, this seems to be the difference between the Twins and the teams they are playing.

Florimon-Escobar: I think Pedro has the edge in both range and arm. Escobar is pretty sure handed, but I don't think he has superior range or speed

The serious answer, to me, is that it should be done before the last series and the Twins will win a couple against the Tribe if they are eliminated before that last series.