stringer bell

That's a fun topic. I "adopt" players every year, usually underdogs of some shape or form. Among my "losers"--Matt Maloney, Alexi Casilla, and Rich Becker. Better results from 2006 vintage Cuddyer, the rookie AJ Pierzynski, Shane Mack, and Scott Leius.

Hendriks stays in the rotation..yes or no?

Hendriks only goes five. One run in five isn't bad, but he really showed the need for an out pitch.

Mssrs. Mauer and Morneau are not hitting the ball well. Twins chances diminish to near nothing when the heart of the order is dormant. How many hard hit balls have those two combined to hit? I would say less than 10. On a related note, I don't think Morneau will ever be what he once was, meaning his Twins' career will (and should) end either at the trading deadline or the close of his season.

Jamey Carroll is what he is--a power-challenged, surehanded utility infielder. He's 39 and has only once started half a season's games at one position. If Dozier hits like Alexi Casilla all year, he might be marginally better than any alternative at second, but it remains to be seen how much Dozier will hit. I expect he will hit between .250 and .270 with an OPS north of .700, maybe .750.

Actually, Florimon and Dozier aren't real young and it is probably now or never for both of them. If they fail this year, it will be time to move on to new alternatives. It is interesting--Florimon has hit and Dozier has fielded in a small sample size and it was thought that hitting would be Florimon's problem and there was a question of Dozier adapting to second base.

3-0 for the minor league teams. Two low scoring games and one slugfest.

Escobar power! Wow, that went a long way.

I expect Pelfrey to be inconsistent at the start of the season. I'm not stunned by his performance. However, both poor pitching and poor defense remind me too much of 2012.

Those of you that follow another game--politics--understand the concept of "spin". Gardenhire's public utterances, DickBert's comments and even some of Terry Ryan's quotes all go under that category. Compared to other GMs, Ryan is a straight shooter, but his statements are out there to further the current agenda, same with Gardy and the broadcasters.

Except that Dozier doesn't have to OPS .800 to be average. Something in the .750 range with good to outstanding defense would be fine, thank you.

I thought about asking how soon I had to get to Cedar Rapids if I wanted to see Buxton play there. Somebody already posted something similar. My next thought is how soon will Buxton make Aaron Hicks irrelevant? No doubt that Buxton has all the tools and according to the GM he has the right makeup. I've said for a while that the next under-21 player that the Twins have will be Berrios, but both Buxton and Sano could be here sooner than we think.

First of all, Dozier has looked tremendous at second (yes I am a baseball fan, not a scout) and that is worth something. Secondly, it is ridiculously early in the season to make declarations about offensive numbers. I said the same thing about Parmelee, who now has the second-highest OPS on the team (of qualifiers). One or two good games and Dozier's numbers would look fine and as a matter of fact, his OPS was well over .700 after his good game in Baltimore. I think Dozier's ceiling would be in the top half of regular second basemen and his floor is Alexi Casilla w/o the basestealing.

Ahh, the wonders of SSS and a 3-0 record in one run games! The Twins have managed a +3 run differential despite poor to middling stats. Everybody in the AL has played at least six games (two teams have played seven) and here are some rankings in team stats: The Twins are tied for 5th in runs per game despite the 12th best OPS and 14th best Slugging. They do have the 4th best OBP fueled largely by having the most walks. On the pitching side, the Twins have the 6th best ERA (they are 8th in runs allowed per inning) despite having the 12th best WHIP and the fewest strikeouts in the league.

Yes, I agree. Duensing is a versatile arm, probably best not used as a starter. He can get through multiple innings one day and get a tough RH hitter the next. He's valuable to the Twins, but could be valuable to a lot of other teams.

Six games is only the first step in a marathon, but the Twins have been more entertaining than I though they would be. I don't think any of the question marks have been answered, but they have managed to be in every game and managed to squeak out three one-run wins out of the first six games. I am not getting my hopes up, but there are a lot of things that make this club worth watching. In no particular order, here are some observations I have after one week of baseball. JJ Hardy--Is there something wrong with his arm? His throwing motion looks awkward and all of his throws looked like changeups. Also, is he that slow or was he not running out of the box on the slow roller to Florimon? Brian Dozier--He made the perfect sacrifice bunt with runners on first and second, forcing Manny Machado to field the ball and guaranteeing the advance of both runners. Dozier's turns at second have been outstanding. He's played a tremendous second base. He needs a couple of multiple hit games to get the BA up. Pedro Hernandez--He is lefthanded and breathing. Actually, I think he has a chance to be okay. Too many walks today, but his minor league history suggests that shouldn't be a problem. His three strikeouts in five innings is the best of the starters, I believe. The Twins have allowed only two homers in six games. If that keeps up, they have a chance to win a lot more games. KC looks like they're swinging well, so the club will have to make a great effort to keep the HR number low. Maybe Aaron Hicks will warm up after getting a meaningful RBI single to help win the game today.

Six games is only the first step in a marathon, but the Twins have been more entertaining than I though they would be. I don't think any of the question marks have been answered, but they have managed to be in every game and managed to squeak out three one-run wins out of the first six games. I am not getting my hopes up, but there are a lot of things that make this club worth watching. In no particular order, here are some observations I have after one week of baseball. JJ Hardy--Is there something wrong with his arm? His throwing motion looks awkward and all of his throws looked like changeups. Also, is he that slow or was he not running out of the box on the slow roller to Florimon? Brian Dozier--He made the perfect sacrifice bunt with runners on first and second, forcing Manny Machado to field the ball and guaranteeing the advance of both runners. Dozier's turns at second have been outstanding. He's played a tremendous second base. He needs a couple of multiple hit games to get the BA up. Pedro Hernandez--He is lefthanded and breathing. Actually, I think he has a chance to be okay. Too many walks today, but his minor league history suggests that shouldn't be a problem. His three strikeouts in five innings is the best of the starters, I believe. The Twins have allowed only two homers in six games. If that keeps up, they have a chance to win a lot more games. KC looks like they're swinging well, so the club will have to make a great effort to keep the HR number low. Maybe Aaron Hicks will warm up after getting a meaningful RBI single to help win the game today.

I watched the game after DVRing it, so I didn't check this game thread 'til the game was long over. Many comments--Willingham, Jones, and Casilla all were jogging when they should have been sprinting, also perhaps Hardy on the DP grounder. Casilla's is easily the most perplexing, unless he thought the ball was foul or something. Plouffe has now been plunked three times in six games--that would project to 81 in a season Chief. Hicks is clearly struggling, but got a big hit today. Many of the former players seem to think it is a thing like that which gets a guy going. Hicks hasn't looked like a gold glover in center yet. Much like Florimon, he has all the tools but has made some misplays although it is not a fireable offense to slip while trying to adjust your route. I thought the ump's zone was tiny today. It hurts guys like Hernandez a lot, but he seemed to adjust pretty well. Give two wins to Roenicke--he singlehandedly saved the bullpen and won the game yesterday and set it up so that the bully would be fresh to shut down the mighty O's today (yes sarcasm). How about productive outs? Dozier's bunt and Parm's SF both really helped the Twins today.

Agreed, he didn't seem to have enough on his fastball. Veteran lefty Clay Rapada was released by the Yankees, if the Twins want a LOOGy, he would be a candidate. Thielbar has struggled so far in Rochester and nobody else in the organization fits the profile of lefty specialist.

Let's see--for today the only bullpen guy unavailable should be Roenicke. I don't figure Hernandez for more than five innings, so Pressly, Duensing, Fien, Burton and Perkins might all get in. Still, with some uncertainty about Diamond and ineffectiveness from Hendriks, maybe they'll find a way to keep Hernandez around for a week or so. Diamond should throw today and I hope all goes well for him. There really isn't an obvious candidate to demote besides Hernandez, but things have a way of changing quickly.

It is probably Swarzak, I suppose. I am not a big fan, but the Twins' braintrust really likes guys who take the ball and particularly relievers who go multiple innings. I was thinking that Hernandez would be "one and done", making a start and then being sent back to Rochester immediately. With Robertson leaving, perhaps they will put him in the bullpen, again giving the team three bullpen lefties. He also would be able to go multiple innings as soon as he recovered from his outing on Sunday.

I predicted before the season started that Hicks would be sent to the minor at some point this season. The way he finished the spring, I thought I was going to be wrong. It seems really early to send him down, but so far he has been pretty close to dreadful.

Parm doesn't look athletic, but he hasn't misplayed any balls that I've seen and the other two regulars have. Not fast, but he catches what he gets to, throws okay and seems to read the ball well off the bat.

I agree 100%. Bert and Dick talked earlier this week about Bill Campbell working over 160 innings for the Twins. He had one more good year, but was dogged by injuries and done pitching effectively in his early thirties IIRC. There are many examples of guys who were good for a year or two, but faded or went out with injuries early in their career. In addition, relievers like to know their role and if Perk gets every high leverage situation, what is the role for everyone else? If you manage every game like it the seventh game of the World Series, current players won't last.

The defense hasn't been good yet, but you make good points. Dozier certainly has looked comfortable at second. I think Parmelee has been fine in right, although he will not show good range out there.