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Thrylos

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Blog Entries posted by Thrylos

  1. Thrylos
    Originally posted at The Tenth Inning Stretch
    ----
     
    Not necessarily in any order. Just notes I was making while watching the game:

    Luke Hughes was the emergency backup Catcher? Say what? I thought that it would had been Josh Willingham who actually caught before. And (I did double check) Luke has played in every position of the field in pro ball(including P) but C.
    Mauer and GIDP are not a good combination. So are Pavano and his 86 mph "fast"ball, esp when it ends up at the seats.
    The early innings reminded me a bit of last season when the Twins were making heroes out of no-name opposing pitchers. Arrieta's curveball is pretty nasty though. Helps opposing pitchers having perfect games through the first time in the order.
    Nice play by Carroll in the middle of the 3rd. Nice and steady. I don't think that Nishioka makes that play. And then he makes another one
    Memo to Denard Span: Please please do not get picked off first again. Paying attention helps
    Good to see Morneau get a hit at the 4th after Mauer hit a rocket to the Centerfielder
    I think that Pavano's pitching to contact with those soft-tosses will get too old too soon
    Great diving play by Parmelee on the bottom of the 5th. He is learning
    Pavano's breaking junk is working better than his (not so) fastball. Got to throw more of that. And nice D play by Valencia. I just hope they come back with a few runs. That sounds like a broken record from last season, I know...
    Surprise: Pavano does not irritate me any less than he did last season.
    And that Doumit and Span play was vintage Mike Cuddyer; Carroll is ok with the glove
    Nice catch and throw out at the plate by Willingham. Revere does not do that (the throwing out part)
    The Twins look like they are picking up from where they left last season. Not. Too. Good.
    Burroughs in to PH for Casilla. Lazy fly on the first pitch he saw. Not. Too. Good. Especially with a guy who cannot find the zone. Big mistake to not let Casilla draw a walk there. Even more interesting to see Plouffe instead of Luke Hughes as the Defensive replacement at second.
    That "close" play at 1st was not even close. Davis was off the bag. Way off the bag. When he caught the ball
    Jeff Gray reminds me of Dusty Hughes. A lot. Only he is right handed. And Gardy burns yet another pitcher in a meaningless game. And a good one (Duensing.)
    Good to see that Josh Willingham HR on top of the 9th! Made things interesting. Questionable called strike 3 against Doumit, Parmelee comes through and Plouffe up. Also interesting to see Revere PR for Parmelee. Unfortunately Plouffe hits a double play ball.
    At little better than it could be. Still disappointing to lose, but let's get the next ones. Tomorrow is another day.

  2. Thrylos
    Originally posted at The Tenth Inning Stretch
    ---
    Happy Opening Day to the Minnesota Twins who are starting the 2012 season by playing at the Baltimore Orioles at 3:05 PM local time. Here are some facts about the Twins' opening days of yore:

    The Twins lost their last 3 opening days
    The Twins' overall record, since they moved to Minnesota, on opening day is 25-26, so with a win today, they will be back to .500
    The following pitchers made the most opening day starts for the Minnesota Twins: Brad Radke (9), Bert Blyleven (6), and Frank Viola (4)
    The Franchise original opening day opponent was also the Baltimore Orioles on 4-29-1901 at the American Park in Washington DC
    The Twins' Franchise overall record on opening day is 62-49
    The Twins' Franchise opening day record against the Orioles is 6-1, with the only loss in a 6-7 game in 1957 at Griffith Stadium
    The only teams the Twins' Franchise has a losing record against on Opening day games are the Boston Red Sox, Chicago White Sox , Kansas City Royals, New York Yankees, and Tampa Bay Devil Rays (the only time they played them were of the Devil kind still)
    Only 5 of the 13 position players (Alexi Casilla, Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau, Denard Span and Danny Valencia) of the Twins' 2011 opening day 25-man roster are on the 2012 roster
    Only 6 of the 12 pitchers (Nick Blackburn, Matt Capps, Brian Duensing, Fransisco Liriano, Carl Pavano and Glen
    Perkins) of the Twins' 2011 opening day 25-man roster are on the 2012 roster

  3. Thrylos
    Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch
    ---
     
    Here is this week's installment:

    I cannot believe that Spring Training is over tomorrow and that the season begins this Friday. Orioles' Jake Arrieta (of the 5 some ERA and 1.5some WHIP in 2011) was named opening day starter agaist the Twins. Hope that the Twins' bats beat him up pretty nicely.
    Last November we heard that Plouffe was finally just an outfielder/DH. Unfortunately, Mr Gardenhire decided that "Plouffey" is the backup shortstop as well and he will have a "super utility" role. I think that this is a fairly unfortunate thing to do with one of your worse defenders, but Gardenhire has been doing it for years with Cuddyer...
    Despite this (which, thankfully, was valid only for the day that was posted), I am happy to see what is probably the strongest openning day bench for the Twins in recent memory.
    Ron Gardenhire did not crack the top ten in this top MLB managers list.
    A former Twins' player who has retired a while ago, is still active in his community.
    Looks like Jason Marquis' seven year old daughter who had a serious bike accident thankfully is doing better and Marquis will return to the Twins shortly.
    And it looks like Hammond Stadium will be upgraded after all (last paragraph of the linked article.) I hope the Twins give it the Target Field dimensions, because now it is 330-405-330 symmetrical.
    The answer to the Twins Trivia Contest about who is different that the rest in the Twins' Hall of Fame and Why, was Jim Rantz because he is still in the same position he was Elected in the HOF for. Even though nobody got the why exactly correctly, LeCroy24fan was the first one to get Rantz so he wins a game used bat of former No 1 Twins' draft pick BJ Garbe. Please e-mail me your snail mail address at thetenthinningstretch.at.gmail.com to mail it to you.
    The new Twins' commercial is a hit
    The Twins' product of the week, in honor of the new season is a book: 162 - 0: The Greatest Wins in Twins Historyhttp://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=biowriters&l=as2&o=1&a=1600783260 Would we all love an 162-0 season?

     
    The parting shot today is of the most unlikely man to make the Twins' 25-man roster: Sean Burroughs
     
    http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7267/6894005960_3e7cc7ed59_o.jpg
  4. Thrylos
    This post was originally posted in its entirety at The Tenth Inning Stretch. Because of the image limitations I can only post some of it. To see the whole post with 21 action photos of Twins' players from today's game against the Red Sox, please go here
    -----
     
    Tonight is my last night at Fort Myers. It has been a super blast to be able to spend 8-10 hrs a day at the Twins' Spring Training Complex on a daily basis. This will be the last of my Daily Reports from Fort Myers and it is a bit super-sized: 21 photos in all.
     
    Like every morning, I started the day at the minor league Fields. Today was one of the rare days that all 4 fields were occupied and Twins' minor leaguers were either doing drills (Fields 1 and 4) or taking Batting Practice (Fields 2 and 3). Happy to finally snap an action photo of this previously elusive Twins' prospect:
     
    http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7086/7030763905_344937f012_b.jpg
     
    Pretty tight two-seamer grip.
     
    And the Celebrity of the Day (he was watching AAA BP at Field 2 and chatting -maybe commiserating- with Joe Benson about haircuts and the Twins' policy) :
     
    http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7279/7030763917_d0a747618e_b.jpg
     
    Back at Hammonds Stadium for the Twins' game. Here are the lineups (names correctly spelled) :
     
    http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7087/6884665344_00f5f258d4_b.jpg
     
    I took this one just for Parker. "Thome is my Homey" sighting at Hammond Stadium:
     
    http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7052/7030763957_ea48124923_b.jpg
     
    Lots of familiar faces with the Red Sox:
     
    http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7187/6884665386_0d72e4b4f1_b.jpg
     
    http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7095/6884665406_178d94bee1_b.jpg
     
    http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7224/6884665416_a22a275bf0_b.jpg
     
    -----
    The remaining post, including 21 action photos of Twins' players from today's game against the Red Sox, because of image limitations here, continues at The Tenth Inning Stretch.
  5. Thrylos
    Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch
    ---
     
    'Tis the time of the year for the season predictions. I took a (unpublished) cut on these right at the beginning of Spring Training and then I finalized them today. I actually had to make a few changes based on events that happened in Spring Training and even teams' performances in Spring Training. Here are my predictions for the 2012 Major League Baseball season, including standing for each division, who will win the wild card and who will win the League Pennants and the World Series. Optimism abounds, since everyone (other than the Athletics and the Mariners) are starting with a clean slate:
     
    AL Central:
     
    Twins
    Tigers
    Royals
    Indians
    White Sox
     
    AL East:
     
    Red Sox
    Yankees
    Blue Jays
    Rays
    Orioles
     
     
    AL West:
     
    Rangers
    Angels
    Mariners
    Athletics
     
     
    AL Wild Cards: Yankees, Angels
     
    NL East:
     
    Nationals
    Phillies
    Marlins
    Braves
    Mets
     
    NL Central:
     
    Reds
    Pirates
    Brewers
    Cardinals
    Cubs
    Astros
     
    NL West:
     
    Giants
    Dodgers
    Diamondbacks
    Padres
    Rockies
     
    NL Wild Cards: Phillies, Pirates
     
    ALCS: Twins over Red Sox
    NLCS: Nationals over Philies
     
    WS: Twins over Nationals in 6.
     
    http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b2/2004_WorldSeries_Trophy.jpg
  6. Thrylos
    Originally posted at The Tenth Inning Stretch
    ---
     
    FORT MYERS FL. A bit before the seventh inning stretch of today's game with the Boston Red Sox, Twins' manager Rod Gardenhire went to the visitor's clubhouse at the Jet Blue Park and decided to have an impromptu press conference. He announced that, since last Saturday when Drew Butera was optioned to Rochester, Gardenhire has been having severe symptoms of separation anxiety including indigestion, night terrors, flu-like symptoms and other unmentionable things. To that effect, he said, he had to "do right by Drewy". He indicated that he has to "get that cannon arm of his on the field" and he thinks that this Spring Training Drew has shown signs of major improvement at the plate. "He will hit better than Nicky ever did for us this season, write it down", Gardenhire said. He also said, that Drew Butera will now be his starting Right Fielder and will slide in occasionally at Left Field and Center Field. "He is fearless out there, I always liked him and he has deceiving speed". Gardenhire admitted that sending Butera down (or rather pretending to do so) was a ploy to expose the haters and the closed-minded and "them bloggers and commies". Here is an exclusive spy shot of Drew Butera at the Hammond Stadium outfield on a AAA game this afternoon:
     
    http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6042/7036101445_c635065d25_o.jpg
  7. Thrylos
    This post was originally posted in its entirety at The Tenth Inning Stretch. Because of the image limitations I can only post some of it. To see the whole post with 16 action photos of Twins' players from today's minor league games including top Twins' prospects, please go here
    ---
     
    Double Bill today at Fort Myers: The Twins' AAA club played the Red Sox' equivalent at Field 2 and the Twins' AA club played the Red Sox' equivalent at Field 3. At the same time while the Twins were playing the Pirates at McKechnie Field. Fields 2 and 3 are back to back so it was easy staying in-between, peeking at the action on both fields and concentrating to the one that made the most sense depending on the action.
     
    Earlier around 10 AM there were Pitcher Fielding drills on Field 1, with pitchers of all levels of the organization from Extended Spring Training to New Britain, mostly Rookie and A, conducted by Tom Kelly, Paul Molitor and Jake Mauer. Pretty good company for one of the Twins' top prospects, don't you think?
     
    http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7059/7028032665_2743e1db90_o.jpg
     
    Seeing this guy participate in Pitching drills with the rest of the AAA pitchers (even though he was just tossing the ball softly) was a sight for sore eyes:
     
    http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7118/7028032639_301b773fe7_b.jpg
    (this is Kyle Gibson, for the ones who do not know him)
     
     
    Back to the games. Here is the AAA lineup:
     
    http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7214/6881930936_028c30eebe_o.jpg
     
    And here is AA:
     
    http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7074/6881931246_94114b4ac7_b.jpg
     
    (and, YES, even the Twins' staff cannot spell Mastroianni's and Herrmann's names correctly)
     
    The pitching roster for Rochester was Luke French, Brad Thompson and Jeff Manship and for New Britain it was Alex Wimmers, Deolis Guerra and Lester Oliveros. The pitching roster and the fact that Aaron Hicks was playing (right field) for New Britain, made my choice of main game easy. A bonus was that a Tampa Bay scout was there scouting the two Twins' relievers, which makes me think that something might be going on...
     
    There were some interesting spectators, involving a big name Twins' writer (not sure if he is going to write anything about this, though) :
     
    http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7060/6881930842_2aaba33f03_o.jpg
     
    And a certain pitcher who pitched most of last season with the Twins:
     
    http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7236/7028032549_c2037ba849_o.jpg
     
    BTW, since he was cut I have not seen him in a single workout since I have been at Fort Myers last Sunday, so either there is something with him or he will be packing his bags soon...
     
    Back to the AA game.
     
    Alex Wimmers pitched 4 strong innings. Good sinker with good movement sitting from 88-90 and touching 91 occasionally. His braking ball is decent and so is his change but they both need command work. The one thing that is amazing about Wimmers, if you have not seen him before, is how little he looks:
     
    ----
    The remaining post, including 16 action photos of Twins' players from today's Twins' minor league action, because of image limitations here, continues at The Tenth Inning Stretch.
  8. Thrylos
    This post was originally posted in its entirety at The Tenth Inning Stretch. Because of the image limitations I can only post some of it. To see the whole post with a dozen Action Photos of Twins' players from today's game against the Phillies, please go here
    ------
     
    This afternoon was the Twins' game with the Phillies at Fort Myers. The Minor League games also started early today, so the side fields were pretty quiet. As usually before Twins' games at Fort Myers, a select group of players were taking batting practice at Field #5, while the non-playing Pitchers were at the OF to catch the balls. The players there were the backup infielder types and back up catchers: Doumit, Towles, Hollimon, Dozier, Burroughs (who was fine to take BP with a soft splint on his left wrist.) Interesting point number one: Drew Butera was absent from that group. Interesting point number two: Batting practice was under the eyes of these two gentlemen who actually had an animated discussion about some of the participants, but it would be rude to listen to a private conversation now, wouldn't it?
     
    http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6040/6879271354_1fd26c839f_o.jpg
     
    Back to the game. Liriano was starting (which was a treat) but there were a couple of interesting position choices: Ben Revere was the starting Right Fielder and Luke Hughes was the starting first baseman. Hughes later moved to Left Field, when Willingham was lifted for Hollimon who stayed at the game playing 1B. Revere later move to Center Field, when Brian Dinkelman came in.
     
    You can read the box score and pretty much tell what happened in the game. Very encouraged by Liriano who was hitting 91-94 mph with his Fastball and was locating it properly. Also he induced a lot of ground outs, most with his slider and some with his FB, which is encouraging to see. As far as his mechanics go, he did stay tall (this delivery is on a slider) the whole outing
     
    http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7189/6879271410_c0b26e47da_o.jpg
     
    Mauer and Morneau made solid contact. Especially encouraging was to see a couple of hard and far hit balls by Morneau, including a Home Run. Here is his home run swing:
     
    http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6236/6879271444_9a71d997fb_o.jpg
     
    The people with "access" might have more information and they might have talked about it by now, but it appears that Willingham got something going on with his left forearm:
     
     
    http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7191/6879271566_f6806eb544_b.jpg
     
    Alexi Casilla laid a perfect bunt and he is one of the best bunters in the majors, but his bunting form is somewhat unorthodox:
     
    http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6047/7025372697_d464df4276_b.jpg
     
    Speaking about Frankie staying tall, this was later in the game after he got into trouble. Truly, most of the Frankie's trouble was defensive issues. Valencia could have been easily given an error on that ball that passed through 3rd base and Span should have caught that soft pop in shallow center at the 3rd inning. So Frankie did not stay tall at least in that one pitch (and that was a Fastball) :
     
     
     
     
    The remaining post, including photos (12 total) of Twins' players from today's game against the Phillies because of image limitations here continues at The Tenth Inning Stretch.
  9. Thrylos
    This post was originally posted in its entirety at The Tenth Inning Stretch. Because of the image limitations I can only post some of it. To see the whole post with Action Photos of Twins' prospects including 2 Round 1 draft picks, please go here
    -----
     
    Today the big boys were playing the Orioles in Sarasota. So were the AAA, AA and A+ squads and the only action at the Lee County Sports Complex was the Beloit Snappers hosting the Orioles A league squad at field number 3 and several other players, most of them rookies, practicing and scrimmaging in field 1.
     
    The Beloit game was a treat in many respects. First and foremost was that TK was the manager and it was interesting to watch TK manage a game from a dugout, even though this game was an A level Spring Training Game.
     
    http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6236/7022468581_dc614d78de_b.jpg
     
    A lot of interesting names in this game, and if one assumes that they all will start in Beloit, the Snappers' fans will be in for a treat. Here is the lineup:
     
     
    2B AJ Petersen
    3B Nick Lockwood
    RF Max Kepler
    1B DJ Romero (a surprise to play at that level)
    CF Romy Jimenez (another surprise to see at the level, the other way from Romero)
    SS Tyler Grimes
    DH Drew Leachman
    C Matt Koch
    LF Wang-Wei Lee
     
    JD Williams, Nate Roberts and Miquel Sano were around and did not play and Micheal Quesada entered later as a Catcher.
     
    http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6046/7022468617_ae7f3d3f96_b.jpg
     
    Interesting to see Tom Kelly around young players at that level, especially for the ones of us who knew how he was with rookies as a major league manager later in his career. Lots of yelling encouraging stuff from the dugout, lots of playing and teasing with them (esp. Sano, more on that later) and in general good good feeling. I am certain that these players had a blast.
     
    http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6039/7022468657_633d4413b8_b.jpg
     
    BJ Hermsen was the starter and he lasted about 3 innings. Hermsen is 22, played last season in Beloit and a little bit at Fort Myers, and he seems to be repeating Beloit. He was somewhat disappointing, having issues with his control and walking a lot of baby Orioles. I was really expecting a somewhat more polished pitcher than what I saw today. Maybe it is just a matter of time.
     
    http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6105/7022468633_45f6016281_b.jpg
     
    Second pitcher in was Steve Gruver (LHP) the 2011 7th Round pick who actually pitched 3 innings (and looks like he is stressed to be a starter in 2012.) He was very effective, a quick worker and he missed a few bats. I think that he has the potential to surprise in 2012.
     
    http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6042/7022468673_56a94255b7_b.jpg
     
    Another pitcher I haven't seen play (other than that awful video from Vandy where he broke his kneecap on the mount and made the play) is Corey Williams, the Twins' 3rd round pick in 2011. This guy can be really special for the organization. He has a heavy singing FB with a lot of movement, that sits around 91-92 (had to move and go to the scouting table to look his velocity, because his staff is THAT good) a good curve in the low mid 70s and he is playing with a change. His sinker/cutter is his bread and butter and he both missed bats and induced ground balls. And he is a leftie. He will probably be the closer for Beloit but I can see him make it all the way up to New Britain this season, he is just this good. Alternatively, he might be stressed to be a starter in 2013 or so, if he has the endurance. But this kid is special.
     
    http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7055/6876365912_50ccb11473_b.jpg
     
    Speaking of Special Kids. Sano did not play today for some reason. I overheard that he might be DHing tomorrow, so he might be fighting something or another. But he sat there absorbed in the game, very talkative with TK and his teammates and even brought water to the umpires at some point.
     
    The remaining post, including photos (16 total) of Miquel Sano, Hudson Boyd, Travis Harrison, Max Kepler and other Twins' prospects because of image limitations here continues at The Tenth Inning Stretch.
  10. Thrylos
    Today the Twins met with the Tampa Bay Rays at Hammond Stadium. This was the first time that Scott Baker would pitch after his recent bout with elbow right elbow tendonitis, so it was supposed to be an interesting day.
     
    Before I got there, I checked out the practice fields where the Twins' middle infielder bench-type players (Luke Hughes, Mike Hollimon, Pedro Florimon, Brian Dozier) were taking BP. Andy was tossing and he looks like he still got it:
     
    http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7270/6873268548_97daa423d0_o.jpg
     
    Further into the Minor League Complex, Tom Kelly, Jake Mauer and Paul Molitor were conducting infield drills. Levi Michael, Adam Bryant, Andy Leer, Eddie Rosario and Jairo Perez were among the participants. Will they all be Beloit-bound? Who knows, but it is a good possibility...
     
    http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7072/7019374597_da936e602e_b.jpg
     
    Brunansky was throwing BP for the Rochester team and the New Britain and Fort Myers teams were not around, which makes me think that they were traveling today. Bruno can be an interesting trivia questions answer: name a former Twins' player who rights left-handed but bats and throws right-handed. Not many of them:
     
    http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7107/7019394103_5e487cc4e5_b.jpg
     
     
    About time for the big game.
     
    http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7053/6873268706_ed1c6493c8_b.jpg
     
    And if anyone asks you: "How many Miracle Workers does it take to water down the infield," you now know the answer:
     
    http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7116/7019374709_8db04df5ae_b.jpg
     
    Baker was the big story of the game. How he is going to come back from the rest and the limited activity because of the tendonitis. The short answer is that it did not look too good. His fast ball was between 85-87 with an occasional 88 and one 89. Was pretty encouraging to see those numbers rise before the 2 HRs and seven earned runs. Here is a shot of Baker pitching earlier this afternoon:
     
    http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7139/7019394157_befd730f52_b.jpg
     
    He just looks like he is in pain. Which is very unfortunate for the Twins. Meanwhile, the Twins are have a plan B in place and this is Liam Hendriks who pitched 4 innings today and is lined up to take Baker's spot in the rotation for the Home opener if necessary:
     
    Because of the image limitation here (and I have about 15 in the post) please continue reading the post at The Tenth Inning Stretch
  11. Thrylos
    Originally posted at The Tenth Inning Stretch
    -----
     
    Here is this week's installment (also heavily influenced by Spring Training and brought to you from Fort Myers) :
     

    Please Check here later tonight for my report from Fort Myers today. Sure to please with a lot of photos, including: watching Tom Kelly manage a real live game, Twins' number one prospect Miguel Sano, a preview of Beloit next season and a couple of Twins' pitching prospects who are flying way under the radar. Will be posted here later tonight
    Good luck to Dan Osterbrock, Mike Tarsi, Kane Holbrooks, Blayne Weller, Spencer Steedley, Matt Schuld, Matt Bashore, Chris Cates, Steve Pearce, Dustin Martin, Ben Tootle, Tyler Koelling, Jason Bulger, Roy Larson, Deinys Suarez and Derek Christensen who were released by the Twins' organization last Thursday. I really do not understand how they could release Dan Osterbrock (he was ranked my top Twins' pitching prospect in 2008) but after they released Pedro Guerra earlier this year, I can believe that everything is possible...
    It sounds like Ron Gardenhire (and not Terry Ryan) will make the decision on whether they will carry 3 catchers. And with the one who had the best spring, Rene Rivera, cut today, sounds like another futile season of Drew Butera going North.
    Looks like, in addition to Capps, Perkins and Duensing, Swarzak and Maloney made the Twins' pen and Burton is pretty close to a lock as of yesterday (per Anthony on the Radio)
    Apparently Drew Butera is an annoying roommate, maybe because he is doing this without cleaning up; while a certain other Twins' player should be careful when what he is tweeting could be taken with a couple meanings and one of them pretty bad.
    Visitors to the Texas Rangers' ballpark will be able to feast on a new culinary hubris: The Champion Dog. Allegedly, this mess features a 1 lb hot dog in a 2-feet-long bun topped with sauteed onions, cheese and chili. All for just $26. Bucket or air sickness bag comes extra.
    This is an interesting development. Still in the idea box, but I think that it has the potential to chance how Latin American amateurs are looked at by the MLB teams.
    Meanwhile, here is a collection of Nishioka-themed Haikus. Wonder whether there are any original Haikus written in Japan about his demotion
    The Do you know your Twins? challenge is still open. And I am not sure that there are any winners yet, so feel free to participate
    Continuing the Twins' product of the week feature. Because there are so many out there and some of them are, well... interesting. This weeks' winner is: MLB Minnesota Twins Protoasthttp://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=biowriters&l=as2&o=1&a=B003C0BI10 You know those slices of toast that have the images of famous people and fetch a million dollars on ebay? A slice of toast with the Twins' logo is more fun.

     
     
     
    The parting shot today is of the get to know them variety. I am sure that even the most seasoned Twins' fans and the biggest Twins' Minor Leagues aficionados will not recognize the player pictured. He is one of the new Twins' Minor League free agents, Catcher Billy Killian. This is his age 26 season and has bounced in the Padres', Rangers', White Sox' and Orioles' systems (up to AA) before he played for the Frontier League Evansville Otters the past two seasons. On Sunday I saw him play with the Fort Myers and Beloit kids in their inter-squad game and was nothing short of impressive (of course he is much older.) Just another good story and a player to keep your eye on in the Twins' minors.
     
    http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7280/6874872364_823db449c9_b.jpg
  12. Thrylos
    Originally posted at The Tenth Inning Stretch
    ---
    This is the latest update of the Twins' Bench Battle and the Bullpen Battle Dashboards, to track player performance to date this spring. Brought to you from Fort Myers FL. Performances include those in the last two games vs the Rays yesterday and the Cardinals earlier this afternoon. You can read the basic premise behind the Bench Battle Dashboard here and behind the Bullpen Battle Dashboard here. At this point, there are 11 position players fighting for 3 bench sports and 9 pitchers fighting for 3 bullpen spots.
     
    I will be updating them daily and post daily updates. Players who were assigned to the minor league camp were removed from the dashboards but kept in the rankings, denoted by "(MILB)". One thing I am doing differently from now on (Because if I kept the old way these would be very hard to read and very small) is to not denote performance on a particular day (and use DNP if someone did not play) but list them sequentially. An advantage of this way of listing is to see which players played more, which means that the Twins are interested enough to have many looks. Because it is getting close to the season and the pitching staff has been somewhat of a concern, I am listing the performances of the pitchers who are "locks" to make the team, but do not include them in the rankings.
     
     
     
    Here is what the Bench Battle Dashboard looks like today:
     
     
     
     
    http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7107/7015426431_f75cba2b83_c.jpg
     
     
    Here is what the Bullpen Battle Dashboard looks like today:
     
     
     
     
    http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7198/7015426475_2b53e23f14_c.jpg
     
     
     
    Here is the ranking of the position player combatants today (based on position) :
     
     
    Catchers:
     
    J.R. Towles 2.3
    -----
    Rene Rivera 1.4
    Drew Butera 0.74
    Daniel Rohlfing 0.67 (MILB)
    Danny Lehmann 0.28 (MILB)
    Chris Herrmann 0.1 (MILB)
    ----
    Danny Rams -0.98 (MILB)
     
    Infielders:
     
    Luke Hughes 3.9
    Chris Parmelee 3.2
     
     
    ----
    Mike Hollimon 1.8
    Aaron Bates 1.3 (MILB)
    Sean Burroughs 1.2
    Ray Chang 1.1 (MILB)
    Brian Dozier 0.88
    Brian Dinkelman 0.69
    Tsuyoshi Nishioka 0.84 (MILB)
    Pedro Florimon 0.05
    ----
    Steve Pearce -0.31 (MILB)
     
     
    Outfielders:
     
     
    ----
    Joe Benson 1.7
    Wilkin Ramirez 0.43 (MILB)
    Matt Carson 0.29 (MILB)
    ----
    Darin Mastroianni -0.01 (MILB)
    Rene Tosoni -0.07 (MILB)
    Oswaldo Arcia -0.33 (MILB)
     
     
     
     
    Here is the ranking of pitcher combatants today:
     
     
     
    Matt Maloney 55.2
    P.J. Walters 54.3 (MILB)
    Liam Hendriks 53.2
    Casey Fien 52.7
    Jared Burton 51.7
    Carlos Gutierrez 51.3 (MILB)
    Luis Perdomo 51.3 (MILB)
    Kyle Waldrop 51.2
    ---
    Esmerling Vasquez 51 (MILB)
    Daryl Thompson 50.8 (MILB)
    Lester Oliveros 50.3 (MILB)
    Samuel Deduno 50.2 (MILB)
    Aaron Thompson 50 (MILB)
    Tyler Robertson 49.7 (MIL
    Scott Diamond 49 (MILB)
    ---
    Jeff Manship 48.6
    Jeff Gray 48.4
    Phil Dumatrait 46.2 (MILB)
    Brendan Wise 46.2
    Alex Burnett 45.8
    Deolis Guerra 42 (MILB)
    Jason Bulger 38.3 (MILB)
    Terry Doyle 31.3 (MiLB - returned to White Sox)
     
     
     
     
    As always you can find all Spring Training coverage at The Tenth Inning Stretch here.
  13. Thrylos
    Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch
    ----
     
    This is the latest update of the Twins' Bench Battle and the Bullpen Battle Dashboards, to track player performance to date this spring. Performances include those in the last game vs the Yankees earlier this afternoon. You can read the basic premise behind the Bench Battle Dashboard here and behind the Bullpen Battle Dashboard here. At this point, there are 11 position players fighting for 3 bench sports and 9 pitchers fighting for 3 bullpen spots.
     
    I will be updating them daily and post daily updates. Caveat: I am flying to Fort Myers and traveling pretty much the whole day tomorrow, so expect the next update after Sunday's game. Players who were assigned to the minor league camp were removed from the dashboards but kept in the rankings, denoted by "(MILB)". One thing I am doing differently from now on (Because if I kept the old way these would be very hard to read and very small) is to not denote performance on a particular day (and use DNP if someone did not play) but list them sequentially. An advantage of this way of listing is to see which players played more, which means that the Twins are interested enough tohave many looks. Because it is getting close to the season and the pitching staff has been somewhat of a concern, I am listing the performances of the pitchers who are "locks" to make the team, but do not include them in the rankings.
     
     
     
    Here is what the Bench Battle Dashboard looks like today:
     
     
     
     
    http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7111/7009187371_ccfd0f4068_c.jpg
     
     
    Here is what the Bullpen Battle Dashboard looks like today:
     
     
     
     
    http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7256/7009187323_4785a29977_o.jpg
     
     
     
    Here is the ranking of the position player combatants today (based on position) :
     
     
    Catchers:
     
    -----
    Rene Rivera 2.0
    J.R. Towles 0.76
    Daniel Rohlfing 0.67 (MILB)
    Drew Butera 0.41
    Danny Lehmann 0.28 (MILB)
    Chris Herrmann 0.1 (MILB)
    ----
    Danny Rams -0.98 (MILB)
     
    Infielders:
     
    Chris Parmelee 3.1
    Mike Hollimon 2.0
     
    ----
    Luke Hughes 1.9
    Aaron Bates 1.3 (MILB)
    Sean Burroughs 1.3
    Ray Chang 1.1 (MILB)
    Brian Dozier 0.78
    Brian Dinkelman 0.77
    Tsuyoshi Nishioka 0.84 (MILB)
    Pedro Florimon 0.28
    ----
    Steve Pearce -0.31 (MILB)
     
     
    Outfielders:
     
    Joe Benson 2.3
    ----
    Wilkin Ramirez 0.43 (MILB)
    Matt Carson 0.29 (MILB)
    ----
    Darin Mastroianni -0.01 (MILB)
    Rene Tosoni -0.07 (MILB)
    Oswaldo Arcia -0.33 (MILB)
     
     
     
     
    Here is the ranking of pitcher combatants today:
     
     
     
    Matt Maloney 54.8
    P.J. Walters 54.3 (MILB)
    Casey Fien 53.2
    Liam Hendriks 53.2
    Jared Burton 51.7
    Carlos Gutierrez 51.3 (MILB)
    Luis Perdomo 51.3 (MILB)
    Kyle Waldrop 51.2
    ---
    Esmerling Vasquez 51 (MILB)
    Daryl Thompson 50.8 (MILB)
    Lester Oliveros 50.3 (MILB)
    Samuel Deduno 50.2 (MILB)
    Aaron Thompson 50 (MILB)
    Tyler Robertson 49.7 (MILB)
    Jeff Gray 49.5
    Scott Diamond 49 (MILB)
    ---
    Jeff Manship 48.6
    Brendan Wise 47.6
    Phil Dumatrait 46.2 (MILB)
    Alex Burnett 45.8
    Deolis Guerra 42 (MILB)
    Jason Bulger 38.3 (MILB)
    Terry Doyle 31.3 (MiLB - returned to White Sox)
     
     
     
     
    As always you can find all Spring Training coverage at The Tenth Inning Stretch here.
  14. Thrylos
    Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch
    ---
     
    Because a lot of write-ups and reports from the beat writers about the Twins' Spring Training performance are mentioning how someone is "hitting", using only their batting averages (70s anyone?), I felt that it might be a good idea to rank all the Twins' hitters based on Spring Training OPS (which is a tad more meaningful.) Players denoted with "MILB" have been assigned to the Twins Minor League Camp. Clearly some players are having great performances, while other are struggling. We all know who there are. Also, in this ranking, a couple of cuts seem very curiously premature. Here is the list:
     
    Hollimon 1.246
    Parmelee 1.011
    Valencia .923
    Benson .884
    Chang .883 (MILB)
    Bates .879 (MILB)
    Rivera .871
    Hughes .867
    Casilla .816
    Span .783
    Revere .778
    Dozier .761
    Mauer .746
    Doumit .733
    Dinkelman .714
    Burroughs .713
    Willingham .710
    Towles .705
    Plouffe .654
    Butera .636
    Nishioka .589 (MILB)
    Florimon .508
    Ramirez .481 (MILB)
    Carroll .477
    Carson .448 (MILB)
    Mastroianni .445 (MILB)
    Rohlfing .400 (MILB)
    Herrman .333 (MILB)
    Pierce .310 (MILB)
    Tosoni .289 (MILB)
    Lehmann .286 (MILB)
    Morneau .258
    Arcia .222 (MILB)
    Rams .000 (MILB)
  15. Thrylos
    Originally posted at The Tenth Inning Stretch
    -----
     
    This is the latest update of the Twins' Bench Battle and the Bullpen Battle Dashboards, to track player performance to date this spring. Performances include those in the last game vs the Orioles earlier this afternoon. You can read the basic premise behind the Bench Battle Dashboard here and behind the Bullpen Battle Dashboard here. At this point, there are 11 position players fighting for 3 bench sports and 9 pitchers fighting for 3 bullpen spots.
     
    I will be updating them daily and post daily updates. Players who were assigned to the minor league camp today are indicated with "MILB" and are italized in the dashboards. Players cut earlier, were removed from the dashboards but kept in the rankings, denoted by "(MILB)". One thing I am doing differently from now on (Because if I kept the old way these would be very hard to read and very small) is to not denote performance on a particular day (and use DNP if someone did not play) but list them sequentially. An advantage of this way of listing is to see which players played more, which means that the Twins are interested enough to have many looks. As a bonus, because it is getting close to the season and the pitching staff has been somewhat of a concern, I am listing the performances of the pitchers who are "locks" to make the team, but do not include them in the rankings.
     
     
     
    Here is what the Bench Battle Dashboard looks like today:
     
     
     
     
    http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7092/7006709419_f20aa2f645_c.jpg
     
     
    Here is what the Bullpen Battle Dashboard looks like today:
     
     
     
     
    http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7222/6860595000_314d833d1a_o.jpg
     
     
     
    Here is the ranking of the position player combatants today (based on position) :
     
     
    Catchers:
     
    -----
    Rene Rivera 2.0
    J.R. Towles 0.76
    Drew Butera 0.73
    Daniel Rohlfing 0.67 (MILB)
    Danny Lehmann 0.28 (MILB)
    Chris Herrmann 0.1 (MILB)
    ----
    Danny Rams -0.98 (MILB)
     
    Infielders:
     
    Chris Parmelee 3.4
    Mike Hollimon 2.3
    Luke Hughes 2.1
    ----
    Aaron Bates 1.3 (MILB)
     
    Ray Chang 1.1 (MILB)
    Brian Dozier 1.0
    Sean Burroughs 0.85
    Brian Dinkelman 0.76
    Tsuyoshi Nishioka 0.84 (MILB)
    Pedro Florimon 0.46
    ----
    Steve Pearce -0.31 (MILB)
     
     
    Outfielders:
     
    Joe Benson 2.5
    ----
    Wilkin Ramirez 0.43 (MILB)
    Matt Carson 0.29 (MILB)
    ----
    Darin Mastroianni -0.01 (MILB)
    Rene Tosoni -0.07 (MILB)
    Oswaldo Arcia -0.33 (MILB)
     
     
     
     
    Here is the ranking of pitcher combatants today:
     
     
     
    Matt Maloney 54.8
    P.J. Walters 54.3 (MILB)
    Casey Fien 53.2
    Liam Hendriks 53.2
    Jeff Manship 52.5
    Jared Burton 51.7
    Carlos Gutierrez 51.3 (MILB)
    Luis Perdomo 51.3 (MILB)
    ---
    Esmerling Vasquez 51 (MILB)
    Daryl Thompson 50.8 (MILB)
    Kyle Waldrop 50.8
    Lester Oliveros 50.3 (MILB)
    Samuel Deduno 50.2 (MILB)
    Aaron Thompson 50 (MILB)
    Tyler Robertson 49.7 (MILB)
    Jeff Gray 49.5
    Scott Diamond 49 (MILB)
    ---
     
    Brendan Wise 47.6
    Phil Dumatrait 46.2 (MILB)
    Alex Burnett 45.8
    Deolis Guerra 42 (MILB)
    Jason Bulger 38.3 (MILB)
    Terry Doyle 31.3 (MiLB - returned to White Sox)
     
     
     
     
    As always you can find all Spring Training coverage at The Tenth Inning Stretch here.
  16. Thrylos
    Originally posted at The Tenth Inning Stretch
    ----
     
    This is the latest update of the Twins' Bench Battle and the Bullpen Battle Dashboards, to track player performance to date this spring. Performances include those in the last game vs the Tigers earlier this afternoon. You can read the basic premise behind the Bench Battle Dashboard here and behind the Bullpen Battle Dashboard here. At this point, there are 14 position players fighting for 3 bench sports and 11 pitchers fighting for 3 bullpen spots.
     
    I will be updating them daily and post daily updates. Players who were assigned to the minor league camp were removed from the dashboards but kept in the rankings, denoted by "(MILB)". One thing I am doing differently from now on (Because if I kept the old way these would be very hard to read and very small) is to not denote performance on a particular day (and use DNP if someone did not play) but list them sequentially. An advantage of this way of listing is to see which players played more, which means that the Twins are interested enough to have many looks. As a bonus, because it is getting close to the seasons and the pitching staff has been somewhat of a concern, I am listing the performances of the pitchers who are "locks" to make the team, but do not include them in the rankings.
     
     
     
    Here is what the Bench Battle Dashboard looks like today:
     
     
     
     
    http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7097/7003849219_3083f58d05_b.jpg
     
     
    Here is what the Bullpen Battle Dashboard looks like today:
     
     
     
     
    http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7060/7003849213_cb4c8f2d18_o.jpg
     
     
     
    Here is the ranking of the position player combatants today (based on position) :
     
     
    Catchers:
     
    -----
    Rene Rivera 2.5
    J.R. Towles 0.97
    Drew Butera 0.73
    Daniel Rohlfing 0.67 (MILB)
    Danny Lehmann 0.28
    Chris Herrmann 0.1 (MILB)
    ----
    Danny Rams -0.98 (MILB)
     
    Infielders:
     
    Chris Parmelee 3.6
    Luke Hughes 2.5
    Mike Hollimon 2.2
    ----
    Aaron Bates 1.3 (MILB)
    Sean Burroughs 1.1
    Ray Chang 1.1
    Brian Dozier 1.1
    Brian Dinkelman 0.76
    Tsuyoshi Nishioka 0.84 (MILB)
    Pedro Florimon 0.55
    ----
    Steve Pearce -0.31 (MILB)
     
     
    Outfielders:
     
    Joe Benson 2.8
    ----
    Wilkin Ramirez 0.43 (MILB)
    Matt Carson 0.29
    ----
    Darin Mastroianni -0.01 (MILB)
    Rene Tosoni -0.07 (MILB)
    Oswaldo Arcia -0.33 (MILB)
     
     
     
     
    Here is the ranking of pitcher combatants today:
     
     
     
    Matt Maloney 54.8
    P.J. Walters 54.3 (MILB)
    Casey Fien 53.2
    Jeff Manship 52.5
    Liam Hendriks 52.4
    Jared Burton 51.7
    Carlos Gutierrez 51.3 (MILB)
    Luis Perdomo 51.3 (MILB)
    ---
    Esmerling Vasquez 51 (MILB)
    Daryl Thompson 50.8 (MILB)
    Kyle Waldrop 50.8
    Lester Oliveros 50.3 (MILB)
    Samuel Deduno 50.2
    Aaron Thompson 50 (MILB)
    Tyler Robertson 49.7 (MILB)
    Jeff Gray 49.5
    Scott Diamond 49 (MILB)
    ---
     
    Brendan Wise 47.8
    Phil Dumatrait 46.2
    Alex Burnett 45.8
    Deolis Guerra 42 (MILB)
    Jason Bulger 38.3 (MILB)
    Terry Doyle 31.3 (MiLB - returned to White Sox)
     
     
     
     
    As always you can find all Spring Training coverage at The Tenth Inning Stretch here.
  17. Thrylos
    We have heard rumors that the Twins might be shopping "outside the organization" for a utility infielder after the demotion of Nishioka.
     
    These rumors have just started a couple days ago, and are fairly interesting. If I had to venture a guess, the Twins will not have to search far to find a utility infielder and the "new" utility infielder would not even need to move far to join the Twins' camp in Spring Training. The writing in the wall is almost getting clear:
     
    Looking across the street in the other Fort Myers' spring training team, it looks like MikeAvila, Jose Inglesias and Pedro Ciriaco are ahead of our old friend Nick Punto for the 3 Red Sox vacancies of starting short stop and potential bench spots.
     
    Is there a reunion of the Twins with Nick Punto in the cards? Only time will tell, but I do not discount the possibility...

    [video=youtube;OnA-N-YyBE8]
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnA-N-YyBE8

  18. Thrylos
    Here is this week's installment (also heavily influenced by Spring Training) :

    I am on my way to Fort Myers this weekend. There will be in situ coverage of the Twins major league and minor league camps, as well as games all next week from there. So make sure that you check here early
    and often. This will also give me a chance to update my Fort Myers Spring Training Guide
    for next season. I am also planning on a few surprises, but those will have to wait. I will be tweeting a lot during the games and as I get news about the Twins, so feel free to follow me on twitter @thrylos98 or
    come back here and see my latest Twins tweets at the left hand side of the page.
    By now we all know about the second round of the Twins' cuts, and I suspect sending Nishioka to Rochester was a bitter pill to swallow, but the right decision. This opens the door for someone like Mike Hollimon to win a roster spot. At this point, the Twins might want to take Nishioka off the 40-man roster as well. If he gets claimed, he does, if he does not, nothing lost and a spot gained... I also suspect that there might be a trade or 2 before the rosters get finalized.
    Speaking of Nishioka, I sure hope that the Rochester Red Wings are now paying his translator instead of the Twins. They can afford him with all the income they are getting by the Yankees and by selling Yankee paraphernalia in their web site.
    Speaking of the cuts... the one that I kinda find unreasonable at this point is Aaron Bates. He has been outperforming a lot of people, and it is a shame he was cut, while Matt Carson, Brian Dinkelman and Danny Lehmann are still around.
    This is a killer video of the Twins' Spring Training. A MUST watch.
    Twins' LHP pitching prospect Ryan O'Rourke, blogged about his first days in the Twins' minor league camp in Fort Myers. So does fellow pitching prospect Dakota Watts.
    At least certain Twins' players enjoyed St. Patric's day. Can you identify the one not identified? Hint: all 3 of them were in Rochester for at least parts of last season, and 2 of them were cut yesterday. Meanwhile another Twins' player, was at least thinking of sporting the Jose Reyes look (before haircut).
    I would not "panic about Justin Morneau" (and I do not "panic"), but I might be a tad concerned about Jason Marquis and Carl Pavano at this point. A quote by Marquis from that ESPN1500 link with the Morneau story: "I
    worked in my slider and today was the first day I used it. I wouldn't say excessively, but I felt like it was where I needed it to be. So I was pretty excited about it." All I have to say is that I am glad to see that he is pretty excited about the outcome...
    Meanwhile, both Cleveland and Kansas City lost their closers for a while and the White Sox have traded theirs a while ago... On the other hand the Royals' Broxton is having a nice Spring Training. Additionally, the new Tigers' third baseman, loves to stop line drives with his face.
    If you live around the Twin Cities area and have a taste for Twins' minor league ball, make sure that you check out Territory Train. I think that they follow the major league team around too.
    It started yesterday, but I think that since the Do you know your Twins? challenge has been a hit, and since I have lots of Twins' memorabilia to give away, I may continue doing that. At least on a monthly basis
    Continuing the Twins' product of the week feature. Because there are so many out there and some of them are, well... interesting. But this one, I ordered one for myself. This weeks' winner is: MLB Minnesota Twins Classic Baseball Bracelethttp://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=biowriters&l=as2&o=1&a=B001CG2W98

     
    The parting shot today is of dearly departed (to Rochester) Tsuyoshi Nishioka in full Chiba Lotte Marines regalia. I hope he returns to the performance he had then, via Rochester, soon.
     
    http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a0/Tsuyoshi_Nishioka_2010.JPG/399px-Tsuyoshi_Nishioka_2010.JPG
  19. Thrylos
    Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch
    ---
     
    This is the latest update of the Twins' Bench Battle and the Bullpen Battle Dashboards, to track player performance to date this spring. Performances include those in the last game vs the Red Sox earlier this afternoon. You can read the basic premise behind the Bench Battle Dashboard here and behind the Bullpen Battle Dashboard here.
     
    I will be updating them daily and post daily updates. Players who were assigned to the minor league camp were removed from the dashboards but kept in the rankings, denoted by "(MILB)". Also, I have denoted today's cuts the same way as well. One thing I am doing differently from now on (Because if I kept the old way these would be very hard to read and very small) is to not denote performance on a particular day (and use DNP if someone did not play or MILB if they were assigned to the minors) but list them sequentially. An advantage of this way of listing is to see which players played more, which means that the Twins are interested enough to have many looks. As a bonus, because it is getting close to the season and the pitching staff has been somewhat of a concern, I am listing the performances of the pitchers who are "locks" to make the team, but do not include them in the rankings.
     
     
     
    Here is what the Bench Battle Dashboard looks like today:
     
     
     
     
    http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6109/6851900434_d115b66d9e_o.jpg
     
     
    Here is what the Bullpen Battle Dashboard looks like today:
     
     
     
     
    http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7180/6998025627_68d74596ca_o.jpg
     
     
     
    Here is the ranking of the position player combatants today (based on position) :
     
     
    Catchers:
     
    -----
    Rene Rivera 2.5
    Drew Butera 1.0
    J.R. Towles 0.97
    Daniel Rohlfing 0.67 (MILB)
    Danny Lehmann 0.28
    Chris Herrmann 0.1 (MILB)
    ----
    Danny Rams -0.98 (MILB)
     
    Infielders:
     
    Chris Parmelee 3.2
    Mike Hollimon 2.5
    ----
    Aaron Bates 1.3 (MILB)
    Ray Chang 1.3
    Luke Hughes 1.3
    Sean Burroughs 1.1
    Brian Dozier 1.1
    Brian Dinkelman 0.89
    Tsuyoshi Nishioka 0.84 (MILB)
    Pedro Florimon 0.63
    ----
    Steve Pearce -0.31 (MILB)
     
     
    Outfielders:
     
    Joe Benson 2.2
    ----
    Wilkin Ramirez 0.43 (MILB)
    Matt Carson 0.37
    ----
    Darin Mastroianni -0.01 (MILB)
    Rene Tosoni -0.07 (MILB)
    Oswaldo Arcia -0.33 (MILB)
     
     
     
     
    Here is the ranking of pitcher combatants today:
     
     
     
    Matt Maloney 54.6
    Liam Hendriks 54.5
    P.J. Walters 54.3 (MILB)
    Casey Fien 53.6
    Jeff Manship 52.5
    Samuel Deduno 52.3
    Jared Burton 51.7
    Carlos Gutierrez 51.3 (MILB)
    Luis Perdomo 51.3 (MILB)
    ---
    Esmerling Vasquez 51 (MILB)
    Daryl Thompson 50.8 (MILB)
    Kyle Waldrop 50.8
    Lester Oliveros 50.3 (MILB)
    Aaron Thompson 50 (MILB)
    Tyler Robertson 49.7 (MILB)
    Scott Diamond 49 (MILB)
    ---
    Jeff Gray 48.3
    Brendan Wise 47.8
    Phil Dumatrait 46.2
    Alex Burnett 45.8
    Deolis Guerra 42 (MILB)
    Jason Bulger 38.3 (MILB)
    Terry Doyle 31.3
     
     
     
     
    As always you can find all Spring Training coverage at The Tenth Inning Stretch here.
  20. Thrylos
    Originally posted at The Tenth Inning Stretch
    --
     
    This is the latest update of the Twins' Bench Battle and the Bullpen Battle Dashboards, to track player performance to date this spring. Performances include those in the last two games vs the Marlins yesterday and vs the Pirates earlier this afternoon. You can read the basic premise behind the Bench Battle Dashboard here and behind the Bullpen Battle Dashboard here. I will be updating them daily and post daily updates. Players who were assigned to the minor league camp were removed from the dashboards but kept in the rankings, denoted by "(MILB)".
     
     
    Here is what the Bench Battle Dashboard looks like today:
     
     
     
     
    http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7203/6994319715_16772bb69b_z.jpg
     
     
    Here is what the Bullpen Battle Dashboard looks like today:
     
     
     
     
    http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7063/6994319827_e0b06d8697_z.jpg
     
     
     
    Here is the ranking of the position player combatants today (based on position) :
     
     
    Catchers:
     
    -----
    Rene Rivera 2.5
    J.R. Towles 1,1
    Drew Butera 1.0
    Daniel Rohlfing 0.67
    Danny Lehmann 0.28
    Chris Herrmann 0.1
    ----
    Danny Rams -0.98 (MILB)
     
    Infielders:
     
    Chris Parmelee 3.0
    Mike Hollimon 2.5
    ----
    Aaron Bates 1.3
    Ray Chang 1.3
    Brian Dozier 1.3
    Luke Hughes 1.3
    Brian Dinkelman 0.93
    Tsuyoshi Nishioka 0.84
    Sean Burroughs 0.78
    Pedro Florimon 0.55
    ----
    Steve Pearce -0.31 (MILB)
     
     
    Outfielders:
     
    Joe Benson 1.9
    ----
    Wilkin Ramirez 0.43
    Matt Carson 0.02
    ----
    Darin Mastroianni -0.01 (MILB)
    Rene Tosoni -0.07
    Oswaldo Arcia -0.33 (MILB)
     
     
     
     
    Here is the ranking of pitcher combatants today:
     
     
     
    Liam Hendriks 54.5
    Matt Maloney 54.3
    P.J. Walters 54.3
    Casey Fien 53
    Jeff Manship 52.8
    Kyle Waldrop 52
    Jared Burton 51.4
    Carlos Gutierrez 51.3
    Luis Perdomo 51.3
    ---
    Esmerling Vasquez 51
    Daryl Thompson 50.8
    Samuel Deduno 50.5
    Lester Oliveros 50.3 (MILB)
    Aaron Thompson 50 (MILB)
    Tyler Robertson 49.7 (MILB)
    Scott Diamond 49 (MILB)
    ---
    Brendan Wise 47.8
    Jeff Gray 46.5
    Phil Dumatrait 46.2
    Deolis Guerra 42 (MILB)
    Alex Burnett 41.3
    Jason Bulger 38.3
    Terry Doyle 31.3
     
     
     
     
    As always you can find all Spring Training coverage at The Tenth Inning Stretch here.
  21. Thrylos
    Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch
    ---
    This is the latest update of the Twins' Bench Battle and the Bullpen Battle Dashboards, to track player performance to date this spring. Performances include those in the game vs the Pirates earlier this afternoon. You can read the basic premise behind the Bench Battle Dashboard here and behind the Bullpen Battle Dashboard here. I will be updating them daily and post daily updates.
     
    Players who were assigned to the minor league camp are denoted with MILB and their lines are in italics. For simplicity's sake, I will remove these players from tomorrow's dashboards, but will keep them in the rankings for comparison purposes. It seems that all of the position players who were cut were underperforming and no over-performing pitcher was cut yet.
     
    Here is what the Bench Battle Dashboard looks like today:
     
     
     
     
    http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7061/6985813973_71bbceb73b_z.jpg
     
     
    Here is what the Bullpen Battle Dashboard looks like today:
     
     
     
     
    http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7068/6985814061_0f569be6af_z.jpg
     
     
     
    Here is the ranking of the position player combatants today (based on position) :
     
     
    Catchers:
     
    Rene Rivera 2.7
    J.R. Towles 2.1
    -----
    Drew Butera 0.7
    Daniel Rohlfing 0.67
    Danny Lehmann 0.37
    Chris Herrmann 0.2
    ----
    Danny Rams -0.98 (MILB)
     
    Infielders:
     
    Chris Parmelee 4.1
    Mike Hollimon 2.4
    ----
    Luke Hughes 1.6
    Tsuyoshi Nishioka 1.3
    Ray Chang 0.86
    Brian Dinkelman 0.61
    Aaron Bates 0.39
    Sean Burroughs 0.34
    Brian Dozier 0.27
    Pedro Florimon 0.08
    ----
    Steve Pearce -0.31 (MILB)
     
     
    Outfielders:
     
    Joe Benson 1.05
    ----
    Wilkin Ramirez 0.44
    Matt Carson 0.24
    Rene Tosoni 0.2
    ----
    Darin Mastroianni -0.01 (MILB)
    Oswaldo Arcia -0.33 (MILB)
     
     
     
     
    Here is the ranking of pitcher combatants today:
     
     
     
    Matt Maloney 54.3
    Jared Burton 53.8
    Casey Fien 53
    P.J. Walters 53
    Jeff Manship 52.8
    Kyle Waldrop 52.7
    Carlos Gutierrez 52
    Liam Hendriks 52
    Esmerling Vasquez 51.5
    Luis Perdomo 51.3
    ---
    Daryl Thompson 50.7
    Samuel Deduno 50.5
    Lester Oliveros 50.3 (MILB)
    Aaron Thompson 50 (MILB)
    Tyler Robertson 49.7 (MILB)
    Scott Diamond 49 (MILB)
    ---
    Brendan Wise 47.8
    Jeff Gray 46.5
    Phil Dumatrait 46.2
    Deolis Guerra 42 (MILB)
    Alex Burnett 41.3
    Jason Bulger 34.3
    Terry Doyle 31.3
     
     
     
     
    As always you can find all Spring Training coverage at The Tenth Inning Stretch here.
  22. Thrylos
    Originally posted at The Tenth Inning Stretch
    ---
    This is the latest update of the Twins' Bench Battle and the Bullpen Battle Dashboards, to track player performance to date this spring. Performances include those in the split squat games vs the Orioles this afternoon and vs the Red Sox tonight. You can read the basic premise behind the Bench Battle Dashboard here and behind the Bullpen Battle Dashboard here. I will be updating them daily and post daily updates. Players who were assigned to the minor league camp were removed from the dashboards but kept in the rankings, denoted by "(MILB)".
     
    Here is what the Bench Battle Dashboard looks like today:
     
     
     
    http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7067/6988712791_69e4f500b8_z.jpg
     
     
    Here is what the Bullpen Battle Dashboard looks like today:
     
     
     
     
    http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7191/6988712719_b3fa8df89d_z.jpg
     
     
     
    Here is the ranking of the position player combatants today (based on position) :
     
     
    Catchers:
     
    -----
    Rene Rivera 1.8
    J.R. Towles 1,6
    Drew Butera 1.0
    Daniel Rohlfing 0.67
    Danny Lehmann 0.37
    Chris Herrmann 0.1
    ----
    Danny Rams -0.98 (MILB)
     
    Infielders:
     
    Chris Parmelee 4.3
    Mike Hollimon 2.1
    ----
    Luke Hughes 1.7
    Tsuyoshi Nishioka 1.2
    Sean Burroughs 0.78
    Ray Chang 0.69
    Brian Dinkelman 0.61
    Brian Dozier 0.44
    Aaron Bates 0.39
    Pedro Florimon 0.01
    ----
    Steve Pearce -0.31 (MILB)
     
     
    Outfielders:
     
    Joe Benson 1.4
    ----
    Wilkin Ramirez 0.2
    Matt Carson 0.15
    ----
    Darin Mastroianni -0.01 (MILB)
    Rene Tosoni -0.07
    Oswaldo Arcia -0.33 (MILB)
     
     
     
     
    Here is the ranking of pitcher combatants today:
     
     
     
    Liam Hendriks 54.5
    Matt Maloney 54.3
    P.J. Walters 54.3
    Casey Fien 53
    Jeff Manship 52.8
    Kyle Waldrop 52
    Jared Burton 51.4
    Carlos Gutierrez 51.3
    Luis Perdomo 51.3
    ---
    Esmerling Vasquez 51
    Daryl Thompson 50.8
    Samuel Deduno 50.5
    Lester Oliveros 50.3 (MILB)
    Aaron Thompson 50 (MILB)
    Tyler Robertson 49.7 (MILB)
    Scott Diamond 49 (MILB)
    ---
    Brendan Wise 47.8
    Jeff Gray 46.5
    Phil Dumatrait 46.2
    Deolis Guerra 42 (MILB)
    Alex Burnett 41.3
    Jason Bulger 38.3
    Terry Doyle 31.3
     
     
     
     
    As always you can find all Spring Training coverage at The Tenth Inning Stretch here.
  23. Thrylos
    Originally posted at The Tenth Inning Stretch
    ---
    This is the latest update of the Twins' Bench Battle and the Bullpen Battle Dashboards, to track player performance to date this spring. Performances include those in the game vs the Philies earlier this afternoon. You can read the basic premise behind the Bench Battle Dashboard here and behind the Bullpen Battle Dashboard here. I will be updating them daily and post daily updates.
     
    Here is what the Bench Battle Dashboard looks like today:
     
     
     
     
    http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7206/6836979266_b702f6a51c_z.jpg
     
     
    Here is what the Bullpen Battle Dashboard looks like today:
     
     
     
     
    http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7066/6836979328_7114d8bd5f_z.jpg
     
     
     
    Here is the ranking of the position player combatants today (based on position) :
     
     
    Catchers:
     
    Rene Rivera 2.7
    J.R. Towles 2.1
    -----
    Daniel Rohlfing 0.67
    Chris Herrmann 0.43
    Danny Lehmann 0.37
    ----
    Drew Butera -0.4
    Danny Rams -0.98
     
    Infielders:
     
    Chris Parmelee 4.1
    Mike Hollimon 3.0
    ----
    Tsuyoshi Nishioka 1.3
    Ray Chang 1.1
    Luke Hughes 0.91
    Brian Dozier 0.49
    Brian Dinkelman 0.37
    Sean Burroughs 0.34
    Aaron Bates 0.3
    ----
    Steve Pearce -0.31
    Pedro Florimon -0.34
     
    Outfielders:
     
    Joe Benson 1.09
    ----
    Wilkin Ramirez 0.6
    Matt Carson 0.52
    Rene Tosoni 0.3
    ----
    Darin Mastroianni -0.01
    Oswaldo Arcia -0.33
     
     
     
     
    Here is the ranking of pitcher combatants today:
     
     
     
    Matt Maloney 54.3
    Jared Burton 53.8
    Casey Fien 53
    P.J. Walters 53
    Jeff Manship 52.8
    Kyle Waldrop 52.7
    Brendan Wise 52.3
    Carlos Gutierrez 52
    Liam Hendriks 52
    Esmerling Vasquez 51.5
    ---
    Daryl Thompson 50.7
    Samuel Deduno 50.5
    Lester Oliveros 50.3
    Aaron Thompson 50
    Tyler Robertson 49.7
    Luis Perdomo 49.5
    Scott Diamond 49
    ---
    Phil Dumatrait 48.3
    Jeff Gray 46.5
    Terry Doyle 44
    Deolis Guerra 42
    Alex Burnett 41.3
    Jason Bulger 34.3
     
     
     
     
     
    As always you can find all Spring Training coverage at The Tenth Inning Stretch here.
  24. Thrylos
    This was originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch
    --
     
    This is the latest update of the Twins' Bench Battle and the Bullpen Battle Dashboards, to track player performance to date this spring. Performances include those in the game vs the Blue Jays earlier this afternoon. You can read the basic premise behind the Bench Battle Dashboard here and behind the Bullpen Battle Dashboard here. I will be updating them daily and post daily updates.
     
    Here is what the Bench Battle Dashboard looks like today:
     
     

    http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7050/6833910192_77e16d78f8_z.jpg

     
     
     
    Here is what the Bullpen Battle Dashboard looks like today:
     
     

    http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7207/6833910274_8baa298b3a_z.jpg


     
    Here is the ranking of the position player combatants today (based on position) :
     
     
    Catchers:
     
    Rene Rivera 2.6
    J.R. Towles 2.1
    -----
    Daniel Rohlfing 0.67
    Chris Herrmann 0.43
    Danny Lehmann 0.37
    ----
    Drew Butera -0.4
    Danny Rams -0.98
     
    Infielders:
     
    Mike Hollimon 3.02
    Chris Parmelee 2.58
    ----
    Tsuyoshi Nishioka 1.47
    Luke Hughes 0.9
    Ray Chang 0.7
    Brian Dozier 0.63
    Sean Burroughs 0.43
    Brian Dinkelman 0.37
    Aaron Bates 0.3
    ----
    Pedro Florimon -0.28
    Steve Pearce -0.31
     
     
    Outfielders:
     
    Joe Benson 1.09
    ----
    Wilkin Ramirez 0.86
    Matt Carson 0.52
    Rene Tosoni 0.3
    Darin Mastroianni 0.09
    ----
    Oswaldo Arcia -0.23
     
     
     
     
    Here is the ranking of pitcher combatants today:
     
     
     
    Matt Maloney 54.3
    Jared Burton 53.8
    P.J. Walters 53
    Kyle Waldrop 52.7
    Casey Fien 52.7
    Jeff Manship 52.3
    Brendan Wise 52.3
    Carlos Gutierrez 52
    Liam Hendriks 52
    Esmerling Vasquez 51.5
    ---
    Daryl Thompson 50.7
    Aaron Thompson 50
    Tyler Robertson 49.7
    Lester Oliveros 49.5
    Luis Perdomo 49.5
    Scott Diamond 49
    ---
     
    Phil Dumatrait 48.3
    Terry Doyle 44
    Deolis Guerra 42
    Alex Burnett 41.3
    Jeff Gray 41
    Jason Bulger 34.3
     
     
    Samuel Deduno DNP
     
     
    As always you can find all Spring Training coverage at The Tenth Inning Stretch here.
  25. Thrylos
    This is a weekly feature at The Tenth Inning Stretch and originally published there
    ----
     
    Here is this week's installment (also heavily influenced by Spring Training) :

    Tomorrow is the first minor league spring training day. There are a series of games at the AAA, AA and A level all against the Boston Red Sox' affiliates; also expect the first cuts of Spring Training to be announced today.
    We all heard of long bus rides for the players to away parks in Spring Training, but if you want to have a
    taste of what those bus rides look like, here are links to a couple of pictures taken by Brian Dozier after the game against Tampa Bay a week ago, depicting a couple of his teammates in the Twins' bus on the return
    trip to Fort Myers: Danny Valencia, Ben Revere. This photo is from Danny Rams from yesterday's Twins' trip to Port Charlotte to play the Rays. Not your garden-variety school busses...
    Twins' infield prospect A.J. Pettersen describes his first day in the Twins Minor League Spring Training Camp. So does Twins' pitching prospect Tim Shibuya here.
    Vegas have set the over/under of the Twins' this season winning 73 games. This is good omen to the Twins' fans, because Vegas has been bombing with those predictions. They picked 85 for 2011 (Won 63), 82 for 2010 (won 94), 83.5 for 2009 (won 87 - that was close) and 73.5 for 2008 (Won 88). So look forward to an 88 win season
    A former Twins' player was suspended 50 days for violating the league's drug program, because he tested positive for a street drug not a PED.
    If you want to know how the Twins' players spend their down time at Fort Myers, you need to check this, this, this and this out. It seems to me that Glen Perkins is converting some of his teammates.
    Kyle Gibson's rehab is going well. He is playing golf albeit badly.
    Tomorrow (March 14th) is the Birthday of Twins' great Kirby Puckett, former Twins' catcher Butch Wynegar and former Twins' second baseman Brent Gates.
    The Twins' player Tweet of the week award goes to Glen Perkins, for tweeting this picture of one of his fellow pitchers.
    Troy Renck (Denver News Rockies' beat reporter) recently posted: "The Rockies’ continue to struggle with runners in scoring position". Wonder whether Mike Cuddyer has much to do with that.
    The word of the week is Bo Shue. As Ray Chang's middle name.
    And I think that I will start a Twins' product of the week. Because there are so many out there and some of them are, well... interesting. This weeks' winner is :
    MLB Minnesota Twins Mr. Potato Headhttp://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=biowriters&l=as2&o=1&a=B000PE54Z2
    The parting shot today is of Jason Marquis pitching against the Red Birds last Friday. Looking like an Eagle ready to jump onto its prey: eyes focused, wings spread half way, cleats in a perfectly horizontal position with the spikes facing the Florida sun. The ultimate balance of the ultimate predator.
    http://minnesota.twins.mlb.com/images/2012/03/09/ykIhh9PR.jpg
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