jokin

Buxton homers, survives hit-by-pitch scare http://cdn.fansided.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/193/files/2013/10/7594246.jpg Last night's Miracle game was an epic, 17-inning affair, that involved 35 players, a stellar 5-8 performance by SS Jorge Polanco, and also included 3 first round and 1 second round draft picks in the opposition, stacked Daytona Cubs, starting lineup, both teams combined for 41 hits, 23 by the Miracle and a combined 39 strike outs.....but all of this and the end result in a Miracle loss was completely transcended by the performance of just one player...the former #1, but now #2 prospect in baseball. It appears that now being ranked #2 means that like Avis, Byron Buxton is going to try even harder. http://www.milb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20140719&content_id=85219474&fext=.jsp&vkey=news_milb&sid=milb Buxton led off the game with a single and then hit his 3rd HR of the season, and his 2nd consecutive HR game. He followed that up with another single and a walk, leading to this in the 8th inning: As an aside, I encourage everyone to give Brice a listen, he does an excellent play-by-play job for the Miracle. And yes, Buxton was hit on "that" wrist. In a very good sign, Buxton stayed in the game, and actually played another 9+ innings after being hit, reaching base 2 more times on a walk and a 17th inning leadoff single, oddly enough another good sign for the wrist, after a swinging strikeout previously in the 10th inning (Buxton reached base leading off an inning 3 out of 3 times, on 2 hits and a walk). For the game, Buck reached base 7 times in 9 plate appearances and he had 9 flawless chances in CF. And yes, as all of Twinsland is no doubt aware: Curious fans will likely be checking the Miracle box score later this evening to get the follow-up on Buck's wrist and see what the new "Number 2" can do for an encore.

Your opinion on Maddon is one held only by a very tiny minority. Besides LaRussa, it's hard to come up with better field managers in the 21st Century. And it's very debatable that his teams were superior to what the Twins had.

Yep. And their GCL team results have been less than inspiring, besides. Are they counting on all the low-cost Intl guys to fill the gaps?

Sanatana is back with the Twins today.

I like this line of thought. If it isn't necessarily true, Ryan should play it up, regardless. Given the Dodgers generosity on the Butera trade, there's a chance to make a good trade, and even an outside chance for a blockbuster-good trade. The Dodgers were rumored to be making a run at Papelbon, what if Perkins is brought into play here? The Dodgers pen has only one quality LHP. Who knows, maybe the two top Dodgers prospects (Pedersen and Seager) are brought into the discussion, perhaps with an additional prospect from the Twins side.

+1. Santana case in point. He's literally learning on the job in CF, surviving on sheer athleticism.

You mean other than Gibson, Meyer and May? Santana was called up only after the Twins had left themselves no other options, even when it was obvious in ST that P-Flo wasn't going to be ready to play at a major league level.

Too much logic and common sense, JC. This just isn't the Twins MO, and both Sano and Buxton have been getting the superstar treatment for so long, I think they both have been sold on a big FA payday just down the road... I would be stunned if either was in a Twins uniform before July, 2015, and not a bit surprised if they don't get the call until September 1.

As I've outlined in the past when Hicks first came up in 2013, the potential cost to the team for calling him up early was going to be minimal compared to an early call for Buxton. Much like there was no need to fret about Plouffe being a Super 2 vs. holding back Sano in the same scenario.

If he was closer to K/9 of 9, we might also be talking about when his inevitable breakdown and TJ surgery is scheduled. We have to keep going back to how raw this kid is as a pitcher, and Klaw confirms what you surmised, he said it best yesterday: The Twins would be wise to continue on the present course for Stewart: ie, avoid over-reliance on the slider, keep tightening up the mechanics, working on the straight change, and continuing to build the arm strength (pre-hab is much better than re-hab) so that he can be counted on in a few years to throw 200 IP/year.

Consider the source on that one, a true novice in the acting GM role, demonstrating that he was in over his head.

As it should be. I doubt Pohlad is going to go full-Steinbrenner any time soon, but this recent interview is reminiscent of his tough talk and honest self-assessment last September. And the timing of the contents in this interview is interesting, seemingly, in terms of PR, the club should be slapping itself on the back and basking in the after-glow of the All Star Game successes both on the field and off. That Pohlad is willing to dish out a new round of tough talk at this point in time indicates to me that more significant changes are coming- up to and including, personnel moves going into the upcoming deadline, and then out to the next 120 days.

Does anyone know what percentage of Tomshaw's pitches are knucklers? If that is a growing number as he gains more confidence in the pitch, his age becomes less relevant.

No specific reports on his movement but there's this from Klaw yesterday: Which implies that his FB must have some nice downward movement. And best yet, at 2nd youngest qualified pitcher in the Midwest League...he's close to 2nd in the ML in GB% (mid 50% range), 3rd in lowest LD%, 6th lowest SLG average (just over .300...vs. league average of .376). So, yep, they aren't squaring up much on his stuff, and this is apparently only using his slider sparingly. Very encouraging, but I gotta think he gets shut down around 100 innings (currently 81.2 IP)- so maybe only 4-5 more starts, he's in uncharted territory right now- he'd be throwing a football around in any other July.

It's going to be quite interesting how the Buxton timetable all shakes out- as every move has implications up and down the system. Barring unprecedented aggressiveness by the Twins.... AA has to be his next step, and I would think if he continues to hit like he has the last two games...and...he demonstrates no lingering effects from the wrist injury, he could be in New Britain by this time next week, or no later than the end of the month. This sets up a potential OF in AA of Buxton, Rosario and Hicks, each needing time in CF. Hicks is finally showing some life in his bat, does he stay in AA or move up to Rochester? Tie this all in with Santana, who is playing full games now, but not hitting yet, and needs time in both CF and SS- which in turn affects Polanco, who is due for a promotion, and perhaps waiting on Michael to finish his rehab assignment with the GCL club. Meanwhile, Rochester has no CF on the roster, it seems like one of these guys should go there just to balance out the playing time issues. As of now, I share your optimism for Buxton's arrival, I've hoped the Twins and Buxton had this as their goal from the time he was drafted, but I wonder if they wait until the Super 2 date has passed- the AFL performance might push the timetable one way or the other.

Liam Hendriks dissents.

Close. From Klaw's latest article on the Top 50:

Well he started out with a scheduled start on Thursday (which lined him up with Nolasco's scheduled start next Tuesday), he was the only projected starter listed on the Wings site at the time, this afternoon it was bumped to Friday, and then you reported it as being bumped again to Saturday. Probably a clerical mistake for him not starting on Friday, but it may actually be significant in that he now lines up with Correia:confused:

I should say so....5 IP, 5 ER, 7 BB...perhaps the inevitable regression to the mediocre mean is happening.

Grichuk is slightly higher rated, younger and a class above, but Ramsey is left-handed and putting up much better numbers in AA (.302/.383/.535/.918) than Grichuk did and there is talk online that he's versatile enough defensively to play a competent 2nd base should a team seek to convert him or add to his utility. My thinking was that Ramsey could be a September call-up to get a tryout in CF and then possibly challenge for the job next year, possibly holding it down until Buxton arrives. Plus, by asking for less in Ramsey, you might get an additional prospect in the 11-20 range, as well- OF Thomas Pham would be a great get.

Jeremy's update, May moved back another day. Does that have any more significance, now pairing Meyer up with Nolasco's spot, rather than May?

Yeah, it looks like the theory that has been floated all along about Meyer taking Correia's roster spot might still come to fruition. But I still am not getting my hopes up too high for Meyer getting the call before September, or next year.

I don't think you'd go wrong getting James Ramsey instead of Grichuk. On-base machine, CF with some power. Florida State product. Because he's still at AA, and "have some depth at OF" is right, it's a stacked Cards system, you might be able to add another piece as well.

If the return included Joc Pedersen and Corey Seager (along with some bad contracts), I'd be more than willing to take the hit.

Well to be fair, we've been talking about Abreu and Tanaka for quite some time. They were never going to get Tanaka, of course. But, I said it when Abreu's name first came up, and said it on the day that Abreu was signed by the Sox, the Twins would rue the day they weren't more proactive on him.... his numbers in Cuba all comped favorably with Cespedes and Puig. Abreu was had for a veritable bargain by the Sox, now he's a hands-down ROY, and a mainstay piece for the life of his relatively cheap contract with Chicago.