Thrylos

Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch ---- The (big) boys were out of town today and this left only the two A-level squads in action at the Lee County Sports Complex fields playing the A and Advanced A level Orioles' squads. One of the things that need to be noted, is that these squads do not see each other in regular season competition. The Twins' Advanced A team, the Fort Myers Miracle, is in the Florida State League, whereas the Orioles' Advance A team, the Frederick Keys, is in the Carolina League. The Twins' A team, the Cedar Rapids Kernels, is in the Midwest League and the O's A team, the Delmarva Shorebirds, is in the Southern Atlantic League. Even their higher level short season teams are in different leagues: The Elizabethton Twins are in the Rookie Appalachian League, whereas as the Aberdeen IronBirds are in the Short-Season A, New York-Pennsylvania League. So the players (and the coaches) are not really familiar with each other. Another fun thing about today was that there were 9 of my top 40 Twins' prospects playing today and at least 3 more players who will receive consideration for next season: Numbers 8 (Berrios), 10 (Gonsalves), 11 (Eades), 12 (Jorge), 13 (Harrison), 16 (Kepler), 18 (Walker), 24 (DJ Hicks) and 26 (Duffey.) Here is what I saw from them today: http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3695/13177436535_d31d13bbae_z.jpg Jose Berrios, was on top of his game. He probably gained a couple on inches of height from last season and his fastball gained a few notches. He was throwing easy 94-96 mph four seamers, his curveball was its usual plus pitch (but probably the third best curve by a Twins' pitcher today; more on that later) and his changeup is improving. He struck out the side first inning and cruised afterwards. A solid pitcher for that number 8 ranking, who might move a bit higher if he shows some endurance and pitches a bunch of innings at Fort Myers this season. http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7194/13177710964_681d1eb16c_z.jpg Stephen Gonsalves, my 10th ranked prospect, threw the single nastiest pitch on both fields today: His 12-6 slow 69-73 mph curveball is a devastating pitch. And coming from a tall lanky lefty who is all arms and lengths, is even more harder to hit. Solid 89-91 mph two seamer and a good high 70s changeup complement his offerings. I have Gonsalves ranked as the highest ranked LHP prospect in the Twins' system, and unless I get really flabbergasted by Luis Thorpe, it will still be the case. That curveball (or any plus plus secondary "out" pitch) is very hard to develop, while adding mph on one's fastball is easier. http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7256/13177422415_6ab89bd344_z.jpg I admit that I also got a bit of heat when I ranked Ryan Eades as the Twins' 11th best prospect. And the reasons I did, are the same reasons that today I think that the ranking is pretty good: He is a very polished pitcher with at least 4 above average pitches: His bread and butter is a 89-92 mph two seamer with crazy movement. Think Deduno, but with better control. Today, the results were not good, because he had to throw it up the zone because the home plate umpire did not call the low strike at all, but this is a plus pitch at that level. Add above average to plus slow curve, cutter/slider and change, and you got a complete pitcher. http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7077/13177704344_8de105fdd3_z.jpg Felix Jorge (my number 12 prospect) is a guy who a lot of people think that he is throwing high 90s heat because of the sound of the ball when it hits the glove, plus he has this nice frame and fluid delivery and looks like he can throw fast. Here is my mini scouting report in the prospect rankings (go to number 12.) His fastball touched 92 today, but it is a really heavy sinker. This guy is a warm killer. Great downward movement and good horizontal tailing. The breaking ball (called it a slurve back then, still stand with it) is tight. Second best breaking ball today. Very easy delivery. I think that the change up with improve, and I bet that he has a four-seamer in his back pocket. Really. http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2108/13177443575_f369d18d21_z.jpg Keeping with the pitchers and skipping up to number 26: It was good to see Tyler Duffey pitch and I have this feeling in the back of my head that he will be a reliever again. His fastball was up to 95; and this is about 4 mph more than his average last season. And that was a very effective pitch. He is also throwing a slider and change, which both are above average. As far as the position players go: These two guys (who were first and second on one of the most meaningless stats - RBIs - in the Twins' organization last season) look even bigger this season. Florida State League beware. http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3738/13177558073_8aa5964146_z.jpg http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3668/13177560143_b01f6f072c_o.jpg Travis Harrison is in incredible shape. The last couple seasons, he was the prototypical slow power hitter guy, even as a teenager, making people think that he is a corner OF/1B/DH type. This season the Fort Myers' (and likely New Britain) fans will be in for a treat. Today he legged out a triple, he has much better range at the field. A total delight to see. Dark horse to shoot up the prospect rankings big time. And he hit in the second hole tonight. Speaking of people who will shoot up the rankings (at least mine) here are 3: Engelb Vielma. This is the single one most unknown superstar in the making in the Twins' organization. He turned two unassisted double plays (one a line out/throw out the other a step on second throw at first) today and he made them seem so easy. Like it is an everyday kind of thing. Looks like his contact tool is getting better. He has crazy nutty speed and as a cutoff guy, he almost threw a guy out at third on a easy triple. Very strong arm. And he has room to grow. I think that he will move into second in my SS rankings after 6th overall ranked Jorge Polanco. http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3701/13177673914_d8502e87ee_z.jpg The other two guys are catchers who just look like ball players: Brian Navarreto (pictured below) and Mitch Garver. All of a sudden, I think that the Twins are alright in catcher depth in the organization. http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7017/13177552423_6e4095c29d_z.jpg

Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch --- Second day of live coverage of the Twins Spring training from Fort Myers. Today there was mainly major league action and some minor league drills before the Miracle and Kernels games, with the Red Wings and Rock Cats squads traveling. As a reminder, you can find all Spring Training coverage here. On the single A Beloit side of things, there was a lot of fielding practice going on, including a lot of serious work with the pitchers. I think that these gentlemen might make a pretty mighty squad this coming season: http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3817/13155470175_43444cd015_c.jpg On the field few paces west (Field 2) the high A squad was doing drills with Doug Mientkiewitz and company. This is more of a note to self, but this guy, is one to follow, especially after his lights out appearance at Elizabethton last season. Second tallest person in the Twins' system (Loek Van Mil now has replaced Tanaka in his previous team in Japan) and I think that his future is bright. http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3692/13155477975_efc6eb09d3_c.jpg And, yes, Hudson Boyd looks a lot slimmer and he ever volunteer to carry stuff around: http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3833/13155478785_6bccbc667d_o.jpg Even this guy was practicing with the Miracle: http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3723/13155476875_a5e52d6263_c.jpg And it was good to see him rip a couple and let them go. (This is Alex Wimmers, if you don't know.) He then joined a bunch of Red Wings' pitchers like Alex Meyers, Yohan Pino, Danny Turpen and company for a toss. The main affair at Hammond Stadium was a 2-2 a piece tie with Baltimore. Mike Pelfrey started and he pitched a fine 3 innings. A couple things to note (actually one) : Either he is working on a sinker (yes) or they calibrated the Hammond Stadium radar (yes too). He was tossing mainly two seamers with a couple of curves and splitters mixed in today and his two-seamers were sitting around 89-91 a good 4-5 mph below his usual four seamer velocity. Good to see Mattie Guerrier throw today, especially after Jared Burton, because he was so much better than Burton. Easy 92-93 mph, nice mechanics, I am not sure whether he should be regarded as a dark horse at this point. Give him a week or so of work and I suspect that he might make the team. Glen Perkins signed a contact extension and this was what he had to say: http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3802/13155692973_5d4bfb0cfe_z.jpg The other half of the Twins' split squad punished the Yankees 7-2 up in Tampa today. Here are the newest Spring Training Dashboards reflecting both games today: (You can find all of the 2014 Spring Training dashboards here) : A reminder of the scoring system: For the pitchers, I quantify using a measurement created by Bill James more than a decade ago called " Game Score". It is calculated as follows: You start with 50 points for each pitcher. Add 1 point for each out. Add 1 point for each strikeout. Subtract 2 points for each hit. Subtract 4 points for each earned run. Subtract 2 points for each unearned run. Subtract 1 point for each walk. There is a point bonus for pitching more than 4 innings as well, adding 2 points for each IP after the 4th, but this is not too applicable here. Game Scored of 49-51 are "average" (yellow), everything higher than 51 "above average" (green), and everything below 49 "below average" (red). For position players, I devised a similar metric that goes like this: Start with 0 points (unlike the pitching Game Score that starts with 50) Add 1 point for each Run, RBI, 2B, SB, BB, and HBP recorded. Add 2.5 for each hit, 3 for each 3B and 4 for each HR. Subtract 1 for each CS and GIDP, subtract 1 for each error, for catchers add 1 for each CS Subtract 0.2 for each SO and 0.5 for each AB. Again, as in the Pitching Battle Dashboard, the Position Player Battle Dashboard is color-coded based on average, above average and below average performances, where: Average is Batting Game Score between 0 and 2 Above average is Batting Game Score higher than 2 Below average is Batting Game Score less than 0 Players on the 40-man roster are in bold. The ones without options are also underlined. Left-handed pitchers are in italics. Here is the Dashboard for the Twins' position players: http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7362/13155492095_352c570fd9_o.png and for the pitchers: http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2753/13155781264_a62fe2f6fe.jpg

Yeah. Sulbaran is on double secret probation because he showed up pretty out of shape. He is taking part of conditioning drills now and pitching alone (like in this live batting practice I described.) You can look at him pitching in that shot up there. He is about 5'10" and 210ish. Mostly lower body, bit of belly. Not Mijares- or Silva- or Boof-like by any means...

He had one error. He bobbled the ball in a routine play.

Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch ---- I am on site at Fort Myers and this will be the first in a series of reports regarding the Twins' major and minor leaguers from the Lee County sports complex grounds. As a reminder, you can find all Spring Training coverage here. Miguel Sulbaran came to the Twins from the Dodgers in the Drew Butera trade last season and started four games for the Cedar Rapids Kernels, the Twins single A affiliate. Sulbaran did not make it to my top 40 off-season Twins' prospect list, but he made the cut in plenty lists, so I was intrigued to see him pitch for the first time, throwing live pitching practice to Pedro Florimon (mostly) and Nate Hanson. He is stockier than his listed 5'10", 185 lbs, with strong lower body. He has a good fastball in the low 90s with good pop. He threw a very good changeup, and an excellent curve, which had Florimon guessing. He also has a slider that is a cutter-like pitch. 30-40 live batting practice pitches are not a big sample size, but I think that the Twins have something here. On the other hand 30-40 pitches were plenty enough to see that Florimon is not even close. He made contact with only 2 balls, neither of which left the cage. The biggest issue is timing. I just cannot see how he can make the team with just 2 weeks left in Spring Training. http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7350/13136375015_76fff1d022_c.jpg Today the Twins were hosting the Red Sox at Hammond Stadium and had another Spring Training attendance record with 92xx people. Phil Hughes was the starter for the Twins. He started the first inning throwing primarily his four-seamer that was sitting between 92-94 and touched 95. He also threw a few cutters at 88-91 and his curveball that was pretty much the story of his game. He is working on it this spring to replace his slider and it was the main pitch he threw his last 2 innings of work, along a few two-seamers and cutters and a couple of high 70s low 80s change ups. His curveball hit anywhere from 69-75 mph and he threw one for strikes (one of them caught David Ortiz looking at strike 3) as well as at the dirt. His appearance was much better than the results that were in part on a fielding error by Plouffe or a ground ball and on another on Mauer on a low pick off throw by Hughes (that one actually could have been on Hughes as well.) http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7422/13136473583_87a90eb494_z.jpg Hard to see Mauer at first base, but he was fine (other than that one play) http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3703/13136656044_c9936f7f8f_z.jpg Matt Hoffman pitched a couple of innings for the Twins and I think that he is in competition for a Lefty Spot in the pen. http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3773/13136710264_59187d50c5_c.jpg He really has 2 pitches now, a fastball that touched 89 and a breaking ball of sorts that was thrown around 80. That is somewhat of a slurve, but with more of a change up type of motion and I can see it raking havoc against left hand batters. Deduno has pitched for 3 innings and they were strong 3 innings. I could not believe that he would be ready this close to his shoulder surgery, but he threw really well. His fastball was as lively as ever from 88-92 and his control was better than I have seen from him before. I was really impressed today. http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3829/13136668904_470dc4a1a5_z.jpg Mike Tonkin finished the game for the Twins and he had a solid outing. One thing that might mean something or might not, is that his fastball was clocking from 91-94 (with the Hammond Stadium radar) with is a few ticks lower than his usual fastball. He is a candidate to break camp with the Twins this Spring http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3802/13136687924_93cedd3ba6_z.jpg I am not sure that any of these gentlemen, on the other hand, will be breaking camp with the Twins: http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3707/13136632934_6ee12253ec_z.jpg And the reason I am saying this is that Hicks has been solid both with the bat and on the field, while Presley has been anaemic with the bat and error prone at the field and he has a long way to climb now to even reach the back up level, while Frier is probably fourth in the depth chart, behind Hermann, Pinto and Suzuki (alphabetically.) Chris Herrmann might have been the surprise of this spring, along with Danny Santana, and will be interesting to see these two guys up North. Chris Collabelo is another player who might be knocking at the door and this might mean bad news for Jason Kubel. There was a replay today on a disputed home run call, and I cannot believe how primitive looking the replay apparatus is: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-53tTpYiHiJ4/UyJOmR-xjII/AAAAAAAAAPE/793LhoLoUXU/s1600/P3130153.jpg All in all it was a good game. There was a questionable stop sign by the Twins third base coach, Joe Vavra, with 2 outs and down one at the eighth inning, but I guess coaches have Spring Training as well. Regardless, if the Twins are to climb off the 90 loss hole, they need to be more aggressive at every phase of the game including base running.

With teams like the Phillies likely having Jeff Manship as their 5th starter, Diamond has some value. He would have had more if he pitched better this spring. About moving Worley for prospects: He is the same age as Kyle Gibson, and 2 years older than Trevor May and Alex Meyer. He is not as old as Correia, for example.

Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch ---- One of the most contested spots for the Twins, on paper, this Spring Training was going to be that of the 5th starter. The newly signed (or re-signed) Ricky Nolasco, Phil Hughes and Mike Pelfrey, in addition to holdover veteran Kevin Correia, had four spots, while the three out of option guys (Samuel Deduno, Scott Diamond and Vance Worley, in alphabetical order) were to battle for that fifth spot, maybe with the addition of first round draft pick Kyle Gibson and newly acquired once top prospect lefty Kris Johnson. Even opinions that maybe two of the later group might win spots and force a trade of Kevin Correia were mentioned. That was on paper and theoretically. Here is what is happening in reality: Ron Gardenhire had this to say about Samuel Deduno: "He's healthy. Coming out of the 'pen, whatever, I like the guy. I would love to have this guy on my staff". In other words, one of the no-options-left pitchers is all but destined for a bullpen position. In addition, here is the list of the pitchers who have started the Twins' games this spring (including the "B" and intrasquad games) : 2/27 (intrasquad) : Hughes 2/27 (intrasquad) : Correia 2/28 (Red Sox) : Pelfrey 3/1 (Red Sox) : Diamond 3/2 (Rays) : Nolasco 3/3 (Blue Jays) : Correia 3/3 (Pirates) : Worley 3/4 (Marlins) : Hughes 3/5 (Orioles) : Pelfrey 3/7 (Pirates - B game) : Correia 3/7 (Pirates) : Worley 3/8 (Blue Jays) : Hughes 3/9 (Phillies) : Pelfrey 3/11 (Rays) : Nolasco (today) So other than the 3/1 game, Scott Diamond has been pitching in relief, like Samuel Deduno, Kyle Gibson, Kris Johnson et al., which means that if he makes the club, it will likely be as a reliever and the Twins all but handed the 5th starter job to Vance Worley. And this is not a bad thing necessarily because he is the youngest of all 3 pitchers with no options, has the highest upside and has had the most success in the majors. http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8244/8607108312_32801af160_z.jpg

Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch ---- One of the most contested spots for the Twins, on paper, this Spring Training was going to be that of the 5th starter. The newly signed (or re-signed) Ricky Nolasco, Phil Hughes and Mike Pelfrey, in addition to holdover veteran Kevin Correia, had four spots, while the three out of option guys (Samuel Deduno, Scott Diamond and Vance Worley, in alphabetical order) were to battle for that fifth spot, maybe with the addition of first round draft pick Kyle Gibson and newly acquired once top prospect lefty Kris Johnson. Even opinions that maybe two of the later group might win spots and force a trade of Kevin Correia were mentioned. That was on paper and theoretically. Here is what is happening in reality: Ron Gardenhire had this to say about Samuel Deduno: "He's healthy. Coming out of the 'pen, whatever, I like the guy. I would love to have this guy on my staff". In other words, one of the no-options-left pitchers is all but destined for a bullpen position. In addition, here is the list of the pitchers who have started the Twins' games this spring (including the "B" and intrasquad games) : 2/27 (intrasquad) : Hughes 2/27 (intrasquad) : Correia 2/28 (Red Sox) : Pelfrey 3/1 (Red Sox) : Diamond 3/2 (Rays) : Nolasco 3/3 (Blue Jays) : Correia 3/3 (Pirates) : Worley 3/4 (Marlins) : Hughes 3/5 (Orioles) : Pelfrey 3/7 (Pirates - B game) : Correia 3/7 (Pirates) : Worley 3/8 (Blue Jays) : Hughes 3/9 (Phillies) : Pelfrey 3/11 (Rays) : Nolasco (today) So other than the 3/1 game, Scott Diamond has been pitching in relief, like Samuel Deduno, Kyle Gibson, Kris Johnson et al., which means that if he makes the club, it will likely be as a reliever and the Twins all but handed the 5th starter job to Vance Worley. And this is not a bad thing necessarily because he is the youngest of all 3 pitchers with no options, has the highest upside and has had the most success in the majors. http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8244/8607108312_32801af160_z.jpg

Well, I am not sure about that Check my blog today.

Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch --- Here are the latest Twins Spring Training battle dashboards updated for yesterday's game and the Spring Training cuts. The players who were cut are not longer listed. You can find all of the 2014 Spring Training dashboards here) : A reminder of the scoring system: For the pitchers, I quantify using a measurement created by Bill James more than a decade ago called " Game Score". It is calculated as follows: You start with 50 points for each pitcher. Add 1 point for each out. Add 1 point for each strikeout. Subtract 2 points for each hit. Subtract 4 points for each earned run. Subtract 2 points for each unearned run. Subtract 1 point for each walk. There is a point bonus for pitching more than 4 innings as well, adding 2 points for each IP after the 4th, but this is not too applicable here. Game Scored of 49-51 are "average" (yellow), everything higher than 51 "above average" (green), and everything below 49 "below average" (red). For position players, I devised a similar metric that goes like this: Start with 0 points (unlike the pitching Game Score that starts with 50) Add 1 point for each Run, RBI, 2B, SB, BB, and HBP recorded. Add 2.5 for each hit, 3 for each 3B and 4 for each HR. Subtract 1 for each CS and GIDP, subtract 1 for each error, for catchers add 1 for each CS Subtract 0.2 for each SO and 0.5 for each AB. Again, as in the Pitching Battle Dashboard, the Position Player Battle Dashboard is color-coded based on average, above average and below average performances, where: Average is Batting Game Score between 0 and 2 Above average is Batting Game Score higher than 2 Below average is Batting Game Score less than 0 Players on the 40-man roster are in bold. The ones without options are also underlined. Left-handed pitchers are in italics. Here is the Dashboard for the Twins' position players: http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7311/13065973095_9726a80ebb_o.jpg And for the Pitchers: http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3476/13066304804_e90d00a5a8_o.jpg

I think that he will be ahead of at least Pressly who has options and no longer has to be on the MLB roster not to be lost. His chances are very good.

Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch --- Yesterday I speculated about the first cuts of the Spring Training for the Minnesota Twins. This morning the Twins announced these cuts and there were only a couple names I have not mentioned yesterday. After these 16 cuts, the Twins now have 48 players in the major league camp. Here is the full list of the cuts: 40-man roster: Optioned to AAA Rochester Red Wings: LHP Logan Darnell LHP Edgar Ibarra LHP Brooks Raley RHP Trevor May Optioned to AA New Britain Rock Cats: 1B Kennys Vargas Optioned to A+ Fort Myers Miracle: OF Max Kepler SS Jorge Polanco Non-roster invitees: Re-assigned to the Minor League Camp: OF Byron Buxton C Kyle Knudson C Matt Koch RHP Alex Meyer RHP Lester Oliveros RHP Yohan Pino OF Chris Rahl 3B Miguel Sano C Stuart Turner The only surprises that I did not see yesterday, were Oliveros, Pino, Raley and Buxton. I thought that the Twins might want a longer look at the first 3, and even-though Buxton looked over-matched, I thought that they might want him to hang around a bit longer. It made sense to cut another catcher, since they re-assigned more pitchers than I thought. Even more importantly is who did not get cut, especially among players who never played in the majors and are on the 40-man roster. It was not a surprise, but a confirmation that the Twins will not hang the starting SS job to Pedro Florimon, without taking a long look at Danny Santana (and Eduardo Escobar,) both of whom are having a great Spring. Also not a surprise that the Twins let the two Jasons (Bartlett and Kubel) be around a little longer, even though they are definitely not performing. http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8244/8607103336_d44c2a4bd1_z.jpg

Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch ---- Like most teams the Minnesota Twins will be announcing the first cuts of the major league Spring Training camp very soon. Who will those players be? One group of players who gets cut first are players on the 40-man roster who do not have much likelihood to make the team and were added on the roster for protection's sake. I think that Logan Darnell, Max Kepler, Jorge Polanco and Kennys Vargas will be the four casualties from this category. I think that Trevor May is on the bubble and might be in the first cuts list as well, because he has been pitching primarily in relief (and not that great) and will need to be stretched as a starter and it might be good timing with the minor league games starting the coming Monday. Edgar Ibarra, who has yet to play because of Hepatitis B, is another serious candidate to go to the minor league camp to recuperate. I think that the Twins will want to have a longer look on Danny Santana, Kris Johnson (they are performing really well and with Pedro Florimon yet to play because of his apendectomy and the fifth starter job wide open, there might be real opportunities). I also suspect that the Twins would want a longer look on Brooks Raley because he just has not been around much and they might need to make a decision on his 40-man roster spot. There is not much pressure to cut non-roster invitees (because they do not have to be in the Major League DL, receive ML pay and have their clocks ticking, if there is an injury during camp,) but I suspect that some will be cut as well. Sean Gilmartin would be a good candidate from this group because of the opportunity to get stretched in Minor League games. Also with the reduction in pitchers, the Twins are likely to demote a catcher or two, because they do not need them, with Stuart Turner and Matt Koch being the most likely. Even though Jason Kubel and Jason Bartlett are having a hard time hitting the ball, I suspect that the Twins will give them every opportunity to succeed in Spring Training. This might not be the case for Chris Rahl who sees fellow non-roster outfielder invitees Jermaine Mitchell, Darin Mastroianni and Wilkin Ramirez performing better than him. Here are the latest battle dashboards updated for today's game (and you can find all of the 2014 Spring Training dashboards here) : A reminder of the scoring system: For the pitchers, I quantify using a measurement created by Bill James more than a decade ago called " Game Score". It is calculated as follows: You start with 50 points for each pitcher. Add 1 point for each out. Add 1 point for each strikeout. Subtract 2 points for each hit. Subtract 4 points for each earned run. Subtract 2 points for each unearned run. Subtract 1 point for each walk. There is a point bonus for pitching more than 4 innings as well, adding 2 points for each IP after the 4th, but this is not too applicable here. Game Scored of 49-51 are "average" (yellow), everything higher than 51 "above average" (green), and everything below 49 "below average" (red). For position players, I devised a similar metric that goes like this: Start with 0 points (unlike the pitching Game Score that starts with 50) Add 1 point for each Run, RBI, 2B, SB, BB, and HBP recorded. Add 2.5 for each hit, 3 for each 3B and 4 for each HR. Subtract 1 for each CS and GIDP, subtract 1 for each error, for catchers add 1 for each CS Subtract 0.2 for each SO and 0.5 for each AB. Again, as in the Pitching Battle Dashboard, the Position Player Battle Dashboard is color-coded based on average, above average and below average performances, where: Average is Batting Game Score between 0 and 2 Above average is Batting Game Score higher than 2 Below average is Batting Game Score less than 0 Players on the 40-man roster are in bold. The ones without options are also underlined. Lefty pitchers are in italics. Here is the Dashboard for the Twins' position players: http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3561/13023264433_20ff891743_o.jpg And for the Twins' pitchers: http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2627/13023264663_129d2596d1_o.jpg

Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch ---- The Twins lost to the Baltimore Orioles' travel squad yesterday in a pretty bad way (11-5.) Here are the Spring Training Battle Dashboards updated after yesterday's game: For position players: http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7424/12966868145_25dfce691f.jpg For pitchers http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2214/12966868315_0c1783496e.jpg Scott Diamond's performance, even though collectively awful, and reflected by the lowest Game Score this season, it was a tale of two innings: He pitched a really excellent fifth inning (which actually made me think that he might be a decent choice for the pen potentially, if he does not make the rotation,) and a really really poor sixth inning with balls going all over the place and a hard time throwing strikes. What was the difference? In the fifth inning he pitched fast and had a very fluid delivery. One single fluid non-stop motion. In the sixth inning he was tentative and looked like he was thinking too much about what he was throwing and it was a lot like last season. When Diamond does that, he tends to do this exaggerated pause at the end of his delivery and it is very noticeable with his back leg: The foot hangs up in the air with the cleats facing upwards and his his body parallel to the ground, and he stays there immobile for a full second or two, as the pitch is traveling to the plate and he is watching it hit the glove (or the bat or the dirt) in this position. Like this: http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7319/12966869565_cbcb83ec2a_z.jpg It might make a pretty interesting yoga posture, but not good baseball: That pitch is almost in the glove, the delivery should have ended, both feet should be on the ground and he should be ready to field his position. And all those things mentioned in the previous sentence were there for Diamond the previous (successful) inning. I don't think that it is a cause and effect relationship (as if the exaggerated pausing and posturing would cause bad pitches) but a symptom of maybe forcing it up there or thinking too much or trying to be too perfect, instead of just pitching and letting go. He did the same pausing at the end of his delivery all last season. Just another thing to watch this Spring.

Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch --- As in the past few years I will use dashboards to keep track of the performance of the Twins' players during Spring Training in order to get a numerical and visual representation of who is doing what, of the players who are battling for a position on the 40-man roster. With few games in and the first cuts coming early next week, it might be a good time for the first one of these. To determine that, we need to figure out who are the "locks" to come up North with the Twins. As far as position players go, Joe Mauer, Brian Dozier, Trevor Plouffe, and Josh Willingham are locks for starting positions. Kurt Suzuki is also a lock to make the 25-man roster, but not a lock to start, so he is included in the list. A lot of people might think that Pedro Florimon might also be a lock, but I think that he has to work to make it up North. The major Spring Battles for position players are: The starting and backup catcher jobs, the starting SS job, the starting DH job, two of the starting OFs, and bench positions. As far as the rotation goes, Ricky Nolasco, Phil Hughes and Mike Pelfrey are locks. Kevin Correia might still be considered a lock by man, however he could potentially be beaten for the fourth spot in the rotation and get traded before Spring Training. In addition, the fifth spot in the rotation is wide-open. As far as the pen goes, the only locks I see are Glen Perkins, Jared Burton, Brian Duensing and Anthony Swarzak, again pending trades. The starting pitcher combatants for the last rotation spot(s) could also gain positions in the pen. From the list I excluded players like Kennys Vargas, Byron Buxton, Max Kepler et al who will not make the Twins out of Spring Training. A reminder of the scoring system: For the pitchers, I quantify using a measurement created by Bill James more than a decade ago called " Game Score". It is calculated as follows: You start with 50 points for each pitcher. Add 1 point for each out. Add 1 point for each strikeout. Subtract 2 points for each hit. Subtract 4 points for each earned run. Subtract 2 points for each unearned run. Subtract 1 point for each walk. There is a point bonus for pitching more than 4 innings as well, adding 2 points for each IP after the 4th, but this is not too applicable here. Game Scored of 49-51 are "average" (yellow), everything higher than 51 "above average" (green), and everything below 49 "below average" (red). For position players, I devised a similar metric that goes like this: Start with 0 points (unlike the pitching Game Score that starts with 50) Add 1 point for each Run, RBI, 2B, SB, BB, and HBP recorded. Add 2.5 for each hit, 3 for each 3B and 4 for each HR. Subtract 1 for each CS and GIDP, subtract 1 for each error, for catchers add 1 for each CS Subtract 0.2 for each SO and 0.5 for each AB. Again, as in the Pitching Battle Dashboard, the Position Player Battle Dashboard is color-coded based on average, above average and below average performances, where: Average is Batting Game Score between 0 and 2 Above average is Batting Game Score higher than 2 Below average is Batting Game Score less than 0 Players on the 40-man roster are in bold. The ones without options are also underlined. Lefty pitchers are in italics. Here is the Dashboard for the Twins' position players: http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7417/12938185454_9148dee6eb_o.png And here for the Pitchers: http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7375/12937878823_9dc4fab48e_o.png

Good stuff! Couple of things: How about Arcia being a lock because of his skill to hit the ball far and have Kubel and Parmelee fight for a spot. I don't think that Kubel has had a hit in 3 ST games so far, has he? He should not be a lock, because of his past.... Re: Meyers: He threw all but 2 fastballs today according to what he said post game because he just wanted to get the feel and establish his FB command. Naturally he got hit. No reason to worry here. Swarzak on the other hand...

Good stuff I lived too long in New Heaven to recommend anyone (I like) to stay there. Agreed, if you like pizza, Pepe's is one of the top places (and their white clam pizza is to die for). Modern is pretty good too. Other than that, if you don't have anything to do with the big four letter school, New Haven is not that very worthy. Also, flying to any of the 3 NYC airports will be a. a pain in the rear b. begging for delays and c. more expensive, because you would have to get to New Britain. On the other hand you will have the experience of an awesome drive crawling through the Bronx on I-95, which might be nice (if you don't lose a wheel in a pothole.) Nah. Fly to BDL. Delta flies directly from MSP. Rental cars are cheaper there than in NYC and going through security faster As far as staying, based on the times I have been in the area, I think that either the Meriden-Wallingford area (about 15 minutes south towards New Haven) or the Framington area and from that side of I-84 west (North of New Britain) are probably better than Hartford. Not a big Hartford fun either. As far as food goes, the one thing I would recommend (in addition to the New Haven pizza, which is out of the way) because it is just so New England, is to google "fish fry" and find a small ma and pa joint that looks a lot like the old school Dairy Queens with just outdoor seating. Oh. Like MN, wine and beer is sold in liquer stores that in the local dialect are called "Package Stores". So if you are looking for microbrew offerings to take to your hotel room, ask for a "package store". Nothing to do with the UPS store.

Vargas at DH in 2015. First base is taken for a while

This too: http://twinsphotog.files.wordpress.com/2014/02/20140226_bjh_129.jpg

Just got this. This is how Vargas looked yesterday: Hardly Fielder-like

No. Worse comes to worse he has surgery, misses half a season and makes the team in 2015

That's an old picture He is wearing 70 (Sano 72, Vargas 68, Kepler 67, Polanco 78, Meyer 66, May 65)

[I]Originally published at [URL="http://tenthinningstretch.blogspot.com/2014/02/random-thoughts-from-twins-intrasquad.html"]The Tenth Inning Stretch[/URL][/I] --- Today the Minnesota Twins unofficially had their first game of spring training; it was an intrasquad contest. Here are some of my thoughts from what happened in this game: [LIST] [*]Pitchers seem to be well ahead of hitters: [LIST] [*][B]Phil Hughes[/B] pitched 2 scoreless innings throwing 21 out of 27 strikes, striking out 4 (including Buxton and Sano) and his FB was 91/92 mph [*][B]Kevin Correia[/B] also pitched 2 run-free innings with 14/26 strikes, a K and a BB. [*][B]Kyle Gibson[/B] hit 94 mph on the gun and also pitched 2 scoreless innings (18/25 strikes) [/LIST] [*]Phil Hughes said that he will not throw the slider, a pitch he threw 21.3% of the time last year, but not with much success. In 2013 the slider resulted in -0.8 runs per 100 pitches. He will replace it with a slow curve (9% of his pitches last season with about average success) and a cutter, a pitch he has not thrown consistently since 2011. The cutter was very good in 2009 and 2010 but not as good in 2011 and he abandoned it. A curve is a pitch that he will throw primarily against LHBs and the cutter (and slider) against RHBs. [*]I am not convinced Kevin Correia will be with the Twins for a long time. I can see Gibson pushing him to the trading block during spring training. [*][B]Eduardo Escobar[/B] played 3B (replacing Sano), which is [URL="http://tenthinningstretch.blogspot.com/2013/11/in-path-that-brian-dozier-blazed-2014.html"]his worst fielding position[/URL], instead of shortstop (his best fielding position; he won the Gold Glove for the Venezuela Winter League this off-season). I feel Escobar can[URL="http://tenthinningstretch.blogspot.com/2013/11/in-path-that-brian-dozier-blazed-2014.html"] replace Florimon as the Twins' starting shortstop[/URL], if given a chance. It is frustrating to see Gardenhire playing him out of position. [*]The big boys did really well defensively [LIST] [*][B]Miquel Sano [/B]had several good plays at third base including several strong throws, which is good news for the shape of his elbow [*][B]Kennys Vargas[/B] ma y have made the defensive play of the game with a diving stop and throw to the pitcher (Worley) who was covering first. Both these guys' defense is better than certain people might want you to believe [/LIST] [*]I hope [B]Byron Buxton[/B]'s performance today (0-3, 3K, 1BB late in the game) will bring back to earth the fans who think he should be the Twins' starting centerfielder in 2014. He has a great future, but patience is needed. [*][B]Josmil Pinto[/B] played today, which is good news, meaning that his back is better, but Rob Antony said on the radio that the Twins think he came to spring training "a bit heavy", which is bad news, because it sounds like the Twins' brass is preparing the ground for a demotion and going with Suzuki as the starter, a non-optimal situation. [/LIST] [I]Originally published at [URL="http://tenthinningstretch.blogspot.com/2014/02/random-thoughts-from-twins-intrasquad.html"]The Tenth Inning Stretch[/URL][/I] [CENTER] [URL="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8124/8607106528_5592ff77b8_z.jpg"][IMG]http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8124/8607106528_5592ff77b8_z.jpg[/IMG][/URL][/CENTER] View full article