Eric R Pleiss

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I don't know that I would buy into that. They were with the Twins because they showed an ability to succeed above the Minor League level. In the case of Parmelee, his career AAA line is very impressive, so nothing to be too excited about here. But with the other two, they were probably stretched and challenged up in the Big leagues, and they made changes and learned and grew. Now they're facing lesser talent, have a few new tricks/approaches, and put that into play. With Florimon's D, certainly you have to think there is some lack of focus going on there, and that should be addressed by the coaching staff. The guy has been a MLB regular for the better part of two years, he struggled big time with the stick most of the last two years, especially this year, and he's probably sulking a bit in AAA, taking some plays off, or not being in the right mindset. I don't think that's an excuse for Florimon, or the full reason for success at the plate, but I think there is a lot more to going down to AAA than just changing jerseys.

If you can still remember the early part of the season, Chris Colabello was a monster. He was hitting .346/.386/.577 through the first 20 games of the year. He had nine multi-hit games, and went hitless just four times. He was the darling of the American League for a while due to some timely hitting and a bunch of RBIs. But his line since April 23 tells me the league has started to adjust. Since April 23, Colabello has been hitting an anemic .125/.188/.188. Over those 17 games he has just two extra base hits, five walks, and twenty five strike outs. He hasn't had a single two-hit game over that span, and he has more games (nine) without a hit, than he does games with a hit (eight). Originally published at http://www.baseballtwins.com. So what is ailing Colabello? Let's start by taking a look at his spray charts. This is a good place to look for symptoms of Colabello's issue. We will not be sure what is going on, but we might be pointed in the right direction. We'll use the April 23 date to split up his season. http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NQfoieke-Sw/U3Uabhm1ykI/AAAAAAAAFgI/kRsvLOi_zLw/s1600/colabello+pre.gif What we see in the early season spray chart is that Colabello was hitting the ball all over the field. He did a nice job of hitting some fly balls the other way, but still had plenty of power to center field and his pull side. We also see line drives spread out pretty evenly across the diamond. http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CEiO2-rQNUI/U3Uabqyaf1I/AAAAAAAAFgE/KP9BI05rEb4/s1600/colabello+post.gif After April 23, Colabello's chart looks completely different. We see a higher percentage of his balls in play barely making it out of the batter's box, and lots of infield grounders. There are only a handfull of line drives, and no fly balls hit to his pull side. He's either poking the ball the other way, or rolling over the ball and grounding out to the shortstop and third basemen. What does this tell us, other than that Colabello has been struggling? Well, the lack of balls being hit to his pull side is discouraging. Colabello needs to be able to drive the ball to his pull side to be really effective. A couple of things could be going on with pitchers, they could be pitching him away more frequently. Last year there was a lot of talk about how far away from home plate Colabello stands, begging the opposing pitcher to attack the outside corner where Colabello would have a harder time getting to fastballs. The other thing that could be happening is that Colabello is struggling to catch up to MLB caliber fastballs, and after a hot first month, the opponents started to pick up on this, and are challenging him more with the fastball, throwing less breaking balls at him. Let's take a look at the data and see what pitchers are doing to Colabello. We'll start with the pitch location data, to see if pitchers are pounding him on the outside corner. http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yLBLpP2DCcI/U3UckcSz2iI/AAAAAAAAFgY/IxskCzFJWcs/s1600/pitches+pre.gif What we see at the beginning of the year is a whole lot of pitches down in the zone, and while there is some evidence that pitchers prefer to pitch him outside, he was still seeing a lot of pitches over the plate and inside. After his mostly disappointing 2013 season, it was not surprising to see pitchers unafraid to throw the ball over the plate to Colabello, and to see what he did with it. http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--xgUdI420jM/U3UckXG2QqI/AAAAAAAAFgc/M7RYfBS2PFA/s1600/pitches+post+23.gif After April 23, you see a lot more pitches down and away from Colabello, the part of the zone he has the most trouble covering because of his stance away from the plate. All of a sudden there are almost no more pitches down and in, a significant change from the early part of the season. We also see, surprisingly, that Colabello saw 24 pitches down the heart of the plate, belt high, a typically dangerous place for a baseball to be. But other than down and away, that is where Colabello is seeing the 2nd most pitches! We know that pitchers are in fact pitching Colabello more to the outside, but they are also throwing him pitches right into the heart of the plate, so there has to be more to it. Maybe pitch types will tell us a little more. http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nKt7kDdVs4s/U3UhYc9zu-I/AAAAAAAAFgo/-vakUnCSPL4/s1600/pitch+type+by+time.gif What we see in this graph is the first two months of the season, Colabello is seeing a lot more fastballs, almost 10% more, and a lot less off speed stuff. This, combined with a spray chart filled hit balls in play to his push side, leads me to believe that Colabello is having a hard time catching up to fastballs. Pitchers are comfortable throwing him fastballs because even when he recognizes the pitch, he has trouble hitting it with authority. Pitchers are throwing less off-speed pitches because those are the types of pitches that Colabello can handle. He's also seeing a lot more breaking balls than he was early in the year. When he's cheating a little bit to catch up to the fastball, he is more susceptible to the breaking ball, especially late break that Colabello would be unable to adjust to. This is not good news. While there are some minor adjustments Colabello could make, bat speed is pretty tough to improve. He either has it, or he doesn't. Standing a little closer to the plate could give Colabello better coverage down and away, and he can certainly help himself by laying off some of those outside pitches, but there might not be much Colabello can do to look more like the hitter he was through the first 20 games of the 2014 season. For more baseball #analysis including the Bert Blyleven Trade Tree, visit http://www.baseballtwins.com.

I'll reach out to Jim Crikket, he knows all with the Kernels.

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[ATTACH=CONFIG]7383[/ATTACH] Photo from Bryan, https://www.flickr.com/photos/begreen90/ The Twins dropped a day game to the Tribe on Thursday afternoon, losing the four-game series three games to one. The Twins fell behind early and while they managed to pull within one run after the top of the seventh, the Indians pulled away for a nine to four victory. Every team in the Twins system was on the road today, and the road was not a friendly place. Transactions The Twins announced that they are calling up Matt Guerrier. To make room for Guerrier on the 40-man roster, the Twins waived Brooks Raley, who was claimed by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. To make room for Guerrier on the 25-man roster, the Twins optioned lefty Logan Darnell back to AAA. After Thursday's game the Twins also optioned SS Pedro Florimon and C/OF Chris Herrmann to AAA Rochester. Eduardo Nunez and Aaron Hicks should be joining the Twins Friday in Detroit as their replacements. Red Wings Report Rochester 1, Columbus 5 Box Columbus completes a four game sweep of Rochester, and Scott Diamond was tagged with the loss. Diamond pitched all eight innings for the Red Wings, he gave up five earned runs, walked three and struck out four. Diamond was surprisingly efficient, despite the walks and earned runs, throwing just 108 pitches, and shutting down 10 of the final batters he faced. Trevor Bauer, one of the prized jewels in the Cleveland Indians system, was the story of the night. He went seven and two thirds innings, gave up just three hits, two walks, and struck out nine. The Red Wings mustered just three hits, one each from Eric Farris, Deibinson Romero, and Eric Fryer. The best thing for Rochester is getting out of Columbus, they scored just eight runs over the four game series. Rock Cats Review New Britain 5, Bowie 6 Box New Britain battled on Thursday night, and took a two run lead in the top of the eighth inning. Sean Gilmartin turned in a quality start for the Rock Cats, going six and giving up three earned runs. Cole Johnson pitched a scoreless inning of relief, and Lester Oliveros was tagged with a Blown Save and the Loss, giving up three runs (one earned) in the bottom of the eighth as Bowie stole a win from the Rock Cats. The Rock Cats had eleven hits, and six of them came from their corner outfielders, Reynaldo Rodriguez (RF) and Daniel Ortiz (LF). Both were three for four, but Rodriguez benefitted from men on base in front of him and Ortiz hitting behind him, as Rodriguez picked up two RBIs (including a solo home run) and scored three times. Miracle Matters Fort Myers 3, Jupiter 2 Box The Miracle's David Hurlbut pitched nine innings of six hit baseball, throwing just 99 pitches and led Fort Myers to fourth consecutive victory. From the fifth inning through the eighth, Hurlbut did not allow a single batter to reach base. His final line was nine innings, six hits, two runs (one earned), NO WALKS, and he struck out three. His ERA now sits at an impressive 1.69. Levi Michael, now hitting .322 in his third year in the Florida State League and finally looking like the player the Twins expected when they drafted him first overall, led off the game but left before his at bat was over after fouling a ball off of his foot. Byron Buxton was just one for five, but he hit a double, and scored a run. He still looks like he is adjusting to playing full speed, and had a couple more strike outs tonight. This was really a team effort tonight, as the Miracle spread their eight hits around to seven different batters, and four different players scored runs. The Miracle also stole three bases, one each for Niko Goodrum, Jorge Polanco, and Adam Brett Walker II. Kernels Nuggets Cedar Rapids 7, Wisconsin 22 Box Felix Jorge pitched into just the fourth inning (3.2), giving up eight earned runs, throwing 80 pitches and taking the loss for the Kernels. Alex Muren replaced Jorge, but did not fare much better, pitching just two and a third innings, giving up three earned runs himself. Both Jorge and Muren gave up two home runs. Brandon Bixler, who has been excellent this season for the Kernels, entered in the seventh and gave the Kernels two scoreless innings, lowering his ERA to 0.47. The Kernels scored plenty of runs, but when the pitching staff gives up eleven runs, there is not much hope of pulling out a win. Jason Kanzler led the way on Thursday with a three for five night, two RBIs, a home run, three runs scored and no strike outs. J.D. Williams and Engelb Vielmal each picked up two hits of their own and five different Kernels picked up RBIs, but the seven runs they scored just could not overcome Jorge's poor start. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY HITTER: Jason Kanzler, Cedar Rapids Kernels PITCHER: David Hurlbut, Fort Myers Miracle FRIDAY'S PROBABLES: Rochester @ Toledo (6:00 PM Central) – Yohan Pino (Listen) New Britain @ Bowie (5:35 PM Central) – Pat Dean (Listen) Jupiter @ Fort Myers (6:05 PM Central) – Alex Wimmers (Listen) Cedar Rapids @ Wisconsin (6:35 PM Central) – Aaron Slegers (Listen)

SDB, He was in the class, but also was dealing with a lingering injury from the CWS, so he didn't play even after he signed.

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The Twins ended their home stand on a positive note, Phil Hughes picked up the win with a quality start and the Twins picked up the series win over the Orioles. Let's see what happened in the Minor Leagues Red Wings Report Louisville 6, Rochester 12 BOX The Red Wings extended their winning streak to three games and now sit four games over .500, tied for their best mark of the season. With the Win the Red Wings won the four-game series against Louisville, the fourth consecutive year they've done so. Alex Meyer had a rough outing, so maybe the book is out on his new changeup. He went just four and two thirds innings, giving up four runs, five hits, three walks and five strike outs. Meyer also gave up a home run in the fourth inning to Louisville's Mike Constanzo, ending Meyer's scorelss innings streak at 15 2/3. Edgar Ibarra picked up the win for the Red Wings, pitching two and a third innings (two his, one run, two walks, and a strike out), and Matt Guerrier finished out the final two innings, serving up a home run along with three hits, and a strike out. Sunday was a big offensive day for the Red Wings, setting or matching season highs for runs scored in a game, hits in a game, runs scored in an inning, hits in an inning, extra-base hits, and total bases. Every Red Wings player picked up at least one hit, and six players picked up at least two. Chris Parmelee led the way with a three for five night, scoring three runs, knocking in five RBIs and hitting two home runs and a double. He's now hitting .333 on the year with a .395 OBP and .600 slugging. Eduado Nunez, despite not playing in eleven of the past twelve Rochester games, was also three for five. He is now hitting .313. Rock Cats Report New Hampshire 2, Rock Cats 5 BOX The Rock Cats have now won three straight and earned their first series sweep of 2014. Virgil Vasquez, making his third start (and fifth appearance) of the year picked up the victory with seven and a third innings of four hit baseball. He only struck out one hitter, but he lowers his ERA to 1.57. Adrian Salcedo, who came into the night with three consecutive strong outings, finished out the final inning and two thirds, giving up just two hits and a walk, while striking out four batters. His ERA came down a little bit, but it is still at 8.4 for the year, due mostly to an April 12 outing in which he allowed six earned runs in just a third of an inning. Despite scoring five runs, the Rock Cats had just seven hits on the night. Four of those runs came in the first inning. Corey Wimberly (1-4) led off the first with his only hit of the night, a triple. Nate Hanson ended the day, 2-4 with a run scored and a first inning RBI, driving in Wimberly. Daniel Ortiz had the Rock Cats' only other extra base hit on the night, a first inning double off the left field wall that scored Hanson. Miracle Report Bradenton 4, Fort Myers 2 BOX The Minnesota Twins organization was dealt their only loss of the day in Fort Myers. The Miracle had just five hits against Bradenton, and just two against starter Jason Creasy who struck out six Miracle hitters in 5.2 innings. Jason Wheeler pitched 5.2 innings as well, but he served up seven hits, three runs (two earned) a walk, and five strike outs. He now sports a 2.78 ERA. With just five hits and two runs (both unearned), there is not a lot to say about the Miracle hitting from Sunday. Five batters, Levi Michael, Byron Buxton (making his return to game action), Travis Harrison, Aderlin Mejia, and Adam Brett Walker II, were hitless, and no one recorded more than one hit, or any extra base hits. If not for three Bradenton errors the Miracle may not have scored at all. Kernels Repor Peoria 0, Cedar Rapids 2 BOX The Kernels won the series in exciting fashion on Sunday night with a 2-0 shut out of the Peoria Chiefs. The Kernels scored early, tallying a run in the second and another in the third and held on for the win. Ryan Eades is now 3-3 after picking up the win, his ERA is down to 2.87 and he looks every bit the polished college pitcher the Twins thought they were drafting last year in the second round. Eades went five innings, struck out five, walked two, and surrendered no runs on three hits. Yorman Landa pitched three innings and gave up just a hit to go along with four Ks of his own. Hudson Boyd picked up the save with a perfect inning in the ninth. J.D. Williams, playing in just his second game of the year, was the hero of the day at the top of the Kernels lineup, reaching base three times with a 2-3 day and a walk. Ivory Thomas was 0-1 but he picked up three walks, a stolen base and scored a run. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day - Ryan Eades, Cedar Rapids Kernels Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day - Chris Parmelee, Rochester Red Wings MONDAY'S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester @ Columbus (5:35 PM Central) - Brooks Raley (Listen) Trenton @ New Britain (5:35 PM Central) - TBD (Listen) Bradenton @ Fort Myers (6:05 PM Central) - Matt Tomshaw (Listen) Cedar Rapids @ Quad Cities (7:00 PM Central) - Ethan Mildren (Listen)

Thanks. Trying to find my rhythm here on Twins Daily. Appreciate the feedback.

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If you are a real baseball junkie, Thursday was a great day of baseball. The Twins organization played EIGHT baseball games yesterday. The Twins played two (lost both), the Red Wings played one (squandered a great pitching performance), the Rock Cats palyed two (split a double header), the Miracle played one (a lopsided loss) and then Kernels played two as well (swept both sides of a double header). With so much baseball action on Thursday, we will get right to it! [ATTACH=CONFIG]7323[/ATTACH] (Bare Antolos/Rochester Red Wings) RED WINGS REPORT Louisville 2, Rochester 1 BOX SCORE In their last eight games, the Red Wings pitchers have struck out 94 hitters in just 71.0 innings. Alex Meyer was a big part of that stretch, owning 22 of those Ks in just 12.1 innings. On Thursday, Trevor May took his turn and struck out 11 Louisville hitters over six full innings (giving up two earned runs on just three hits). Perhaps even more exciting for May and Twins fans is that he rebounded from a poor outing the week before and he only walked a single batter last night. The bullpen did their job and held the Bats scoreless in the final three frames, but the Red Wings offense could not find a way to break through a strong performance from Louisville's Josh Smith, who lowered his ERA to 2.20 on the night. The Red Wings only tallied three hits, so there are not a lot of strong performances to discuss. Chris Parmelee extended his hitting streak to 14 games, the longest in the International League this season, and could match his longest career hitting streak with a hit tomorrow. Parmelee also drew a walk and was one of two Red Wings hitters that reached base multiple times. James Beresford was the other man on base more than once, and he managed a hit and two walks, and scored the lone run of the evening. Oswaldo Arcia played the entire game at DH going 1-4 with two strike outs as he continues to rehab from his wrist injury. ROCK CATS REVIEW New Britain 6, Harrisburg 3 BOX SCORE In the first game of the double header (two seven inning games) the Rock Cats came out on top, thanks to a quality start from Taylor Rogers (six innings pitched, three earned runs, one strike out) and a perfect inning from Lester Oliveros. First basemen Reynaldo Rodriguez led the day with three RBIs on a 2-4 night, all three ribbies coming via a three run homer in the first inning to put the Rock Cats on top. Kennys Vargas was 1-3 with two runs scored and two RBI on a homer of his own in the fifth. Right fielder Mike Kvasnicka provided the rest of the offense with a solo home run of his own. Brandon Waring, featured on the most recent Talk to Contact podcast, was just 1-4. New Britain 3, Harrisburg 4 BOX SCORE The Rock Cats out hit the Senators, and the Senators committed three errors (in a seven inning game) and the Rock Cats still could not find a way to win. Tyler Duffy surrendered a late run pitching for six full innings, and struck out five batters and his ERA sits at just 1.50 this spring. Cole Johnson came in and blew the save, giving up three unearned runs in the bottom of the seventh, recording just a single out. Kenny Wilson was 2-4 with a run scored and Nath Hanson was 2-3 with an RBI but other than those two guys, a pretty underwhelming performance from he rest of the Rock Cats team. Rock Cats manager Jeff Smith was ejected for the third time this year, undoubtedly frustrated as the Rock Cats are now just 7-17 in this young season. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 2, Palm Beach 8 BOX SCORE The Miracle had nine hits, but Jose Berrios only made it through five innings, giving up four runs, three earned. He recorded four strike outs, two walks, and gave up six hits. Mason Meloakis came in and mad things worse, surrendering four earned runs over one and two thirds innings. Madison Boer closed out the game with an inning and a third, giving up just one hit and struck out two Palm Beach Cardinals. The Miracle were just 3 for 11 with runners in scoring position and they left nine men on base. This was a game of missed opportunities. Aderlin Mejia who is hitting over .400 went 1-5 with a double and a strike out. Mike Gonzales and Adam Brett Walker II were both 2-4 but there was not much going on with this Miracle team. KERNELS NUGGETS Kane County 2, Cedar Rapids 5 BOX SCORE A ho-hum performance from the Kernels pitching staff last night. Starter Josue Montanez did not give up an earned run, but gave up a couple unearned runs and only pitched four innings. Yorman Landa picked up the win with two scoreless innings in relief and Brandon Peterson picked up the save. The Kernels one through five hitters collected all seven of their hits, with Ivory Thomas, Joel Licon, Bo Altobelli and Engelb Vielmad all hitless at the bottom of the order. Mitch Garver led the way with a 2-3 night with a double, two runs scored, and an RBI. Zach Larson was the other big contributor, going 2-3 with a run scored. Kane County 4, Cedar Rapids 5 BOX SCORE The second game of the night was a back and forth battle, and multiple runs were scored in almost every inning. Kohl Stewart was on the hill for the Kernels, he pitched five and two thirds innings and gave up three runs, but only one was earned. He struck out four Cougars to go along with just two walks. Not Stewart's best outing of the year, but another encouraging outing from one of the Twins prized Minor League possessions. Engelb Vielma picked up two hits in the night cap, but he continues to struggle at the bottom of the lineup, now hitting just .200. Logan Wade was 2-4 with two doubles and two runs batted in to lead the way for the Kernels. DH Bryan Santy also picked up two ribbies with a two run bomb in the fourth inning. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Trevor May, Rochester Red Wings Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Logan Wade, Cedar Rapids Kernels MONDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Louisville @ Rochester (6:05 CST) – Scott Diamond (Listen) New Hampshire @ New Britain (5:35) – Sean Gilmartin (Listen) Ft. Myers @ Palm Beach (5:35 CST) – David Hurlbut (Listen) Kane County @ Cedar Rapids (5:00 CST) – Felix Jorge (Listen) Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the Thursday games here.

Some of it is the physicality - the throws are longer, you make more plays, more frequently. If you don't have great arm strength, you're going to be trying to put something extra on a lot of throws, leading to a lot more throwing errors, or you'll be rushing to get throws off without proper form. Some of it is mental - you're seen as the captain of the infield, you feel the added pressure of those extra plays and longer throws. And suddenly you're Chuck Knoblauch and you can't throw the ball anywhere.

Yup. He's looked pretty decent so far this year, and with the Twins going without a left-handed starter, he could easily be the next man up (though that entire Rochester rotation has had a pretty strong week).

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