stringer bell

You've gone in the wayback machine to April!

Have you been to the Fort in late August/early September? I presume it is different than mid-March.

Puny doubles.

This may go down in Twins History as the "Three True Outcomes Series"!

Ooh, Ooh! I'd better start paying attention to the game. "Bernie" is up!

Nope, what I know about music is that I like to sing.

Pretty sure you're talking about the TD thread posters and not the guys on the field at the Cell. Am I right?

Nope.

C'mon, one little single with a RISP!

If I heard Hawk on a Twins broadcast, I'd feel dirty.

Kevin Correia, K King?

How good is Stanton really? I see him as very good, but not elite. Besides that, he's a corner OF. I think the player traded for has to be elite to go after him. Miggy is elite. I'm not sure that Stanto is.

One guy with above average speed in the Twins' starting lineup today. Four with average speed and four below average to glacier slow. Role reversal with the Sox.

Very noticeable dropoff in arm strength this year. Hiding an injury? He's never been on the DL, which has been a point of pride for him.

As far as Plouffe goes, give him the rest of the year. He was decent until his concussion and calf injury and was still hitting okay for a week or so after coming back. He's been brutal for well over a month, but with no real option between him and Sano, it is probably best to see if Plouffe can "find it" again. Mastroianni is a better option than Clete and they'll have to make decisions next week when his rehab is over. I think the Bernier for Escobar thing has to do with service time for Escobar.

Have I mentioned how much I hate wasting at-bats on the likes of Clete, Grampa, and "Bernie"?

With 70% of the season in the books, I thought I would take a look at what has happened compared to my expectations. I thought the Twins would improve slightly, but because of starting pitcher issues, they wouldn't contend. So far, in this very general prediction, I am right. The Twins look like they will win a few more games, finishing somewhere in the high 60s to low 70s and their starting pitching has been a bigger mess than I would have predicted. More specifically, I said that the overall success of the season would be determined by the number of players who established themselves. In that category of players were non-rookie, first year starters--Florimon, Dozier, Plouffe, and Parmelee. In addition, Aaron Hicks was the Opening Day CF, making his debut on that night. So far, the results in this category have been distressing. Only Dozier has made a case to be a solution, with Florimon probably exceeding expectations but still a poor offensive option. Plouffe had a decent first half, but since an injury he's been dreadful. Parmelee never really got going and Hicks spent about a minute above the Mendoza line and is now assigned to Rochester. As far as development of pitchers, we can start with the failures--Worley and Diamond--both sent to AAA on merit. The hope is that perhaps neither were fully recovered from off-season surgeries and that they will compete for spots in 2014. Correia and Pelfry, on balance, have been close to what would be expected (which isn't much). The guy who has stepped forward is Deduno, who has seemingly put his own spin on "pitch to contact" and has done well in his dozen or so starts. The bullpen has been a team saver. IMHO, it has kept the Twins from becoming the Central Division version of the Astros. From middle guys to the closer, all have performed at least decently on balance. There is an excess there, particularly if the Twins come up with enough starting pitching next year to average 6 innings instead of this season's norm of barely 5. The defense, on balance, has improved. Up the middle, with an improved Mauer behind the plate, Florimon and Dozier in the middle infield and mostly Hicks in center, they are much better than 2012. The outfield corners not so much. First and third are status quo. I haven't mentioned a couple of rookies. Gibson has not been good at all, but he looks like he has enough stuff to be a decent starter. Caleb Thielbar has been a real revelation as a member of the bullpen. Chris Colabello and Oswaldo Arcia have hit some long balls. Arcia has reinforced the opinion that he will be a cornerstone for the club in the years ahead. In summary, this is a team in transition. The next wave is getting closer and we've seen a couple of players who will be part of that wave. It is disappointing that some medium talents haven't stepped up, but not really that surprising. Because of this, the prospects for next year look more bleak than I would have predicted at the start of the year.

Colabello should be getting at-bats. I think his trial will be shorter than younger guys, but if he's a big league hitter, it effects guys like Willingham, Morneau, Parmelee, and even Pinto. I definitely don't want to see him in the outfield in a game that matters, but I would like to see if he can hit in the big leagues.

One stat I've watched with interest all year is home runs ratio. With the recent spike in long balls for the Twins, I checked their home runs hits vs. home runs allowed. At this point, the Twins have hit and allowed the exact same number of long balls--109. Even when the Twins were good, they have been outhomered. Without checking the stats, I'm pretty sure that have not had a season where they homered more than their opponent since before their first World Series championship in 1987. Whether it was the plan or not, the team has added guys with power while subtracting guys like Span, Revere, Casilla, Nishioka, and Carroll (reduced role) so that improvement in the home run table had to happen. I like the idea of having a double-digit HR guy at every position. It hasn't translated to better offense or many more wins, but in this era, I think it is the way to win.

Several pitching prospects seem to be getting bit by the "one big inning" bug. I know that has been the case with both Meyer and May going into today. I haven't checked May's line today.

Berrios done after 7.1, 2 H, 1 BB, 7 K. I think the kid will be very good!

Today's PP says Mastro's time is up on 8/15. The Twins will have to make a move on the 40-day and the 25 man if they want to keep him.

Berrios with a great outing thru 6.

There's one of those playing right field for Colorado that I wish the Twins would have retained. I suppose he wouldn't be hitting .330 in the AL at something resembling sea level.

On a baseball note, c'mon guys, hit with runners on base and quite flailing at bad pitches. How many times have the Twins had a runner on second with no outs or on third with less than two outs and failed to score?