h2oface

Inherited runners-scored: Burdi 2-2, Reed 3-3 Jacksonville Top of the 7th Matt Juengel singles on a ground ball to left fielder Adam Walker II. Viosergy Rosa flies out to center fielder Niko Goodrum. David Adams singles on a line drive to right fielder Travis Harrison. Matt Juengel to 2nd. Pitching Change: Nick Burdi replaces Brett Lee. Terrence Dayleg doubles (7) on a fly ball to left fielder Adam Walker II. Matt Juengel scores. David Adams scores. Chadd Krist singles on a ground ball to third baseman Miguel Sano. Terrence Dayleg scores. Kenny Wilson walks. Chadd Krist to 2nd. Carlos Lopez singles on a line drive to right fielder Travis Harrison. Chadd Krist to 3rd. Kenny Wilson to 2nd. Austin Nola walks. Chadd Krist scores. Kenny Wilson to 3rd. Carlos Lopez to 2nd. Pitching Change: Jake Reed replaces Nick Burdi. Michael Morse strikes out swinging. Matt Juengel hits a grand slam (12) to left field. Kenny Wilson scores. Carlos Lopez scores. Austin Nola scores. Viosergy Rosa strikes out swinging. Burdi gives up a double and clears the bases for Lee, and Reed comes in and gives up a grand slam to tag Burdi with more runs. These guys should be friends and stop doing that to each other! How does a guy score from second on a grounder to third?

It surprises me that Danny Santana would be DH'ing instead of getting more reps at short. I just remember that playing baseball and being young....... resting was not really a necessary activity.

Great. As it should be. After the Hicks news..... I would have thought Ryan was brain dead if it didn't happen. Goes to show that it is a good thing not to pay attention to so called experts who state opinions as fact. Will Buxton lead off? Be featured in the lineup? Will this finally get Mauer out of the 3 hole, at least until and if Joe can hit like he deserves to be there again?

What is the point of having Oliveros start? He was doing just fine as a reliever, and there are plenty of starters now.... and more coming?.

I remember a 3 inning tie game into extras where Graham pitched great... for 3 high leverage important innings, giving up only 1 hit, no walks, and 2 Ks, and we beat Pittsburgh on Mauers homer. I could look up others. His start of 4 innings and only 1 run given up was pretty darn good. Since getting shelled in one appearance with 2 homers on May 14, he has given up one earned run in 5 appearances, going 13.2 innings with 1 walk and 11ks and 14 hits. In his 16 appearances, he has only given up an earned runs in 4 of them, and for 3 of the 4 only one. I really don't see how he is mentioned in the same breath as Stauffer.

Perhaps on July 4.

Here is the box link for the 2nd Lookouts game, a 3-2 win. I hate 7 inning professional games. So Little League. http://www.milb.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?gid=2015_06_09_cngaax_jacaax_2&t=g_box&did=milb&sid=t498

I am still not assuming that the stretch run is coming, especially after losing 4 out of the last five games and hitting like all the pundits have said would happen. Relief this year for sure...... and if needed, use him. Team control is secondary to having a piece that could be helpful if the playoffs come.

Who knows, eh? The speed he will throw as a starter is a guess no matter if you are a scout or a fan. I like that he is a college pitcher that you don't have to wait 5 to 6 years to maybe help the club. I am not a fan of selecting high school arms. I might have liked Fulmer better, but here's to hoping it works out and sometime in the future adds a fine lefty to the rotation.

"Interestingly, while KC's World Series run last year was heavily driven by speed and aggressiveness on the base paths, the Royals have stolen only 30 bases this season, ranking them ninth in the AL. That should make life a little easier for Kurt Suzuki." Let us hope that is the case, and not the other viewpoint...... that Suzuki and the Twins' pitchers will make it easy for KC to steal bases and increase their season number.

So correct me if I am reading this article wrong, please. Ryan is upset and considers it invalid for Baumann to write an article from a collection of stats and a general knowledge of baseball, and Ryan is upset that someone do that without seeing the team play. But that is basically his exact practice when he decides who to draft. He won't look at them, but rely on other people's reports.How is this different than what Baumann is doing? Isn't it all opinion, anyway?

It stlill happens every day, every game, and since there is a double header today, it will happen even more. To ever let up and lope at all to first base is just not smart. The double could have been a triple. The swinging strikeout not caught could force a throw to first. But the "pros" do it all the time. All of them on this team do it, unless they think they really might have a chance to beat it out. It is really shameful. What else do they have to do at the time, anyway? The get to play ball and get paid way too much to do it. RUN!!

Stated as fact and not opinion, but I think it is opinion, and no one knows what it would take yet, but it is highly rumored that Tulo will be traded. I contend, and now repeat, it is a start to the conversation..... one doesn't even know what Colorado would want yet. There are plenty of redundant pieces in the minors that are very good prospects, but many of the same eventual pieces. The trick is to trade some while their up side is shouting and the downside hasn't gotten exposed to much to make them lose value.... like the talk is about Alex Meyer's current value dropping to very low.

And what if Tulos's injuries are behind him? And what if he does sustain? And what if Polanco is not the future shortstop but Gordon is?.... in 4 to 5 years, just in time to replace Tulo? Polanco and Santana both have fielding ability questions. No prospect is a sure thing. Either way, you don't need both or all three or 4. Remember the amazing haul for Johan Santana? Will Santana and Escobar become another Rivas/Valencia/Florimon/Parmalee that you yo-yo back in forth from AAA to the show, can rake in the minors but fail everytime in the show?..... and then finally give up on them and get nothing in return? Or do you go with arguably the best all around shortstop in the show in the middle of his prime years as a team leader in the infield leader position for the rest of the new youth coming up? Polanco could be great. Gordon could become great. Or not. Tulo is. The main point is that you can make a mega-deal to vastly improve the team right now without ruining plans for the future. You can't make 10 of them, but you can make at least one.

I think the mega-deal should be attempted at Shortstop, and for Tulo, who is going to be traded, just a mattter of who to. Some combination of Pinto, Arcia, Meyer, Santana, (or their choice of shortstop from Santana, Escobar, Polanco, and Gordon), could all be on the table to start the conversation without digging into the future team. I would hate to give up Meyer, but it has become obvious to me that the FO really isn't that interested in having him help the team. The only two not offered could be Buxton and Sano, but stay selective on what is given up. Pinto seems not wanted. Shortstop problem is handled with 3 more in the wings. DH solved as Arcia and Vargas can't both be the DH only. Add Pinto as a catcher with upside bat (basically another DH for us as he rarely even catches in Rochester), and Colorado could have almost ready prospects to help them quickly. Now there is just Sano (soon) and Vargas needing ABs at DH. Colorado may have different pickings, but this would start the conversation. The Twins could solve their shortstop problem with prospects they are burying in the minors anyway, and replaced the problem with arguably the best all around shortstop in the show while still with 3 more that could replace Tulo if hurt.

I sure hope to see Alex Meyer get some innings. Since the move to the pen, and with Fien needed the rehab and the rain, it seems like he is on the DL or something. They need to get him in some games. Not pitching is not progressing.

Did you notice if Hughes is throwing more strikes on 0-2 and 1-2 counts? It seems to me like he is, but I didn't really pay attention last year. He seems to be serving up meat on counts that a guy with his stuff shouldn't be in the zone, much less in the middle of it.

It was just a musing, that marriage has not been good for Mauer's baseball, and the concussion is a real thing, too, i agree. Still.......... as anyone that is married knows, marriage takes a lot of work and attention and time and focus. Add to the mix two kids at the same time, and you have an intangible that can be pshawed if inclined, or considered if one attempts to look for answers outside the box. Either way, or neither way, Joe Mauer is not what he once was to this point since the concussion, marriage and children has been added to the compartments of his life, and the move to first has not created the effects desired. Here's to hoping he finds it. Turn on the ball, Big Joe!

I would love to see a trade with Colorado, giving them Stewart, Arcia, and Danny Santana for Tulo. Nothing against Stewart, but Tulo is the best, and Stewart is in high A and a hope and dream.

Mauer hasn't been the same since he got married. Could be coincidence, but it seems his married life has not been good for his baseball compartment.

Perkins. That is all I can see if it is to be an All-Star team, and not fan favorites. Fan voting is horrible. 25 votes? Do people really have time to do that? I quit voting years ago. Picking all-star teams from just a hot start is always ridiculous to me. It should be the second half of the previous season and the first half of this, and also career performance. To have an all-star team composed of the players that were hot for the first two months (maybe the third is in there too, but usually if you don't start hot and stay hot, that is it for you) is not really an all-star team. Also, there should no obligatory picks. This "every team has to have one representative", even if they are not deserving comparatively to the others on the team, is not what an all-star team is all about. Pitchers have the best selection process...... fans should never pick the all star team.

"And Alex Meyer, a 25-year-old, 6’8”, hard-throwing pitching prospect who was traded straight-up for Span, has been moved to the bullpen in order to try to straighten him out. Promise resides in youth, and yet most of the team’s best young talent can’t crack the major league roster." Is Meyer shrinking under all this stress? He seems to have lost an inch.

I knew that, too. That jet that flew over my head just missed me..... good one. Thanks for the insight on the pitch count for Berrios.

It is nice to have depth. The Dodgers thought they had too many outfielders, and traded Kemp and tried to trade Eithier. Now, Crawford and Puig are out and Ethier and Van Slyke are needed desperately, and both are doing great. No need to trade Milone if he can be ready when....... and I mean when and not if....... when the injury happens and he is needed. They are paying him 2.8 million no matter where he pitches.

Meyer's day to start was yesterday, and Fien got the relief inning, and Meyer was not used today in favor of Achter. I hope Meyer gets in some games if he is going to be developed. Maybe the games were too close and they want to win the minor league game more than be developing? There should be a rule against blowing someone's save, tacking on runs to their ERA, and then stealing the win. It just doesn't and has never seemed fair. That pitcher shouldn't get the win. Maybe there already is, but it is never used by the official scorer. Official Rules: 10.00 The Official Scorer 10.17 Winning And Losing Pitcher (a) The official scorer shall credit as the winning pitcher that pitcher whose team assumes a lead while such pitcher is in the game, or during the inning on offense in which such pitcher is removed from the game, and does not relinquish such lead, unless (1) such pitcher is a starting pitcher and Rule 10.17(b.) applies; or (2) Rule 10.17(c.) applies. Rule 10.17(a) Comment: Whenever the score is tied, the game becomes a new contest insofar as the winning pitcher is concerned. Once the opposing team assumes the lead, all pitchers who have pitched up to that point and have been replaced are excluded from being credited with the victory. If the pitcher against whose pitching the opposing team gained the lead continues to pitch until his team regains the lead, which it holds to the finish of the game, that pitcher shall be the winning pitcher. (b.) If the pitcher whose team assumes a lead while such pitcher is in the game, or during the inning on offense in which such pitcher is removed from the game, and does not relinquish such lead, is a starting pitcher who has not completed (1) five innings of a game that lasts six or more innings on defense, or (2) four innings of a game that lasts five innings on defense, then the official scorer shall credit as the winning pitcher the relief pitcher, if there is only one relief pitcher, or the relief pitcher who, in the official scorers judgment was the most effective, if there is more than one relief pitcher. Rule 10.17(b.) Comment: It is the intent of Rule 10.17(b.) that a relief pitcher pitch at least one complete inning or pitch when a crucial out is made, within the context of the game (including the score), in order to be credited as the winning pitcher. If the first relief pitcher pitches effectively, the official scorer should not presumptively credit that pitcher with the win, because the rule requires that the win be credited to the pitcher who was the most effective, and a subsequent relief pitcher may have been most effective. The official scorer, in determining which relief pitcher was the most effective, should consider the number of runs, earned runs and base runners given up by each relief pitcher and the context of the game at the time of each relief pitchers appearance. If two or more relief pitchers were similarly effective, the official scorer should give the presumption to the earlier pitcher as the winning pitcher. (c.) The official scorer shall not credit as the winning pitcher a relief pitcher who is ineffective in a brief appearance, when at least one succeeding relief pitcher pitches effectively in helping his team maintain its lead. In such a case, the official scorer shall credit as the winning pitcher the succeeding relief pitcher who was most effective, in the judgment of the official scorer. Rule 10.17(c.) Comment: The official scorer generally should, but is not required to, consider the appearance of a relief pitcher to be ineffective and brief if such relief pitcher pitches less than one inning and allows two or more earned runs to score (even if such runs are charged to a previous pitcher). Rule 10.17(b.) Comment provides guidance on choosing the winning pitcher from among several succeeding relief pitchers. (d) A losing pitcher is a pitcher who is responsible for the run that gives the winning team a lead that the winning team does not relinquish. Rule 10.17(d.) Comment: Whenever the score is tied, the game becomes a new contest insofar as the losing pitcher is concerned. (e) A league may designate a non-championship game (for example, the Major League All-Star Game) for which Rules 10.17(a.)(1.) and 10.17(b.) do not apply. In such games, the official scorer shall credit as the winning pitcher that pitcher whose team assumes a lead while such pitcher is in the game, or during the inning on offense in which such pitcher is removed from the game, and does not relinquish such lead, unless such pitcher is knocked out after the winning team has attained a commanding lead and the official scorer concludes that a subsequent pitcher is entitled to credit as the winning pitcher.