Thrylos

I left at about the sixth inning when A+ was leading 1-0. Double by Sano to deep center (lost in the wind by the centerfielder), a ground out and a single by Lance Ray I think. All those off Luke Bard. Then Andrew Ferreira came in for A, (Twins' 22nd round pick in 2012 from Hahvahd) and was effectively wild to shut down the bats. So not sure who won But they will score a bunch or runs

Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch --- Today the Twins beat the Toronto Blue Jays 14-5 at Hammond Stadium with about a week remaining at Spring Training; meanwhile there were AAA vs AA and A+ vs A scrimmages at fields number 2 and 3 on the minor league side. Here are my thoughts and observations of the day A lot of great performances today, including Joe Mauer's 6 RBI day that included a HR at dead center and Aaron Hick's 4 for 4 day, but the performance of the day happened at field number three and was witnessed by about 50 people, including Twins' General Manager Terry Ryan. During the high A vs. A matchup that included stars in the making like Miguel Sano, Byron Braxton, Travis Harrison, Jorge Polanco, Kennys Vargas etc, a little known 10th round draft pick stole the show. DJ Baxendale, who was the Twins' 10th round pick from the University of Arkansas last summer and has been stretched to be a starter this season retired all 9 A players he faced, striking out 8. Only second baseman Aderlin Mejia was retired by a 3-1 ground out. Not a small fit, because the Cedar Rapids' lineup started with Buxton, Polanco and Harrison. Baxendale's stuff was absolutely filthy and his control was perfect (he had only one called ball the whole game). Two sinker with a lot of motion, a sharp breaking ball and a change up that had a life of its own. I will be very surprised if he does not move fast in the organization. This was one of the single most dominating pitching performances I have ever seen at any level of play. It was as if a major leaguer was pitching against Rookie league kids. Definitely someone to follow this season in Fort Myers (even though I suspect that he might end the season in New Britain.) Speaking of, this Fort Myers squad will score some runs and will be a serious contender in the Florida State League. Sandwiched between Miguel Sano and Kennys Vargas, at the clean up spot today was Mike Gonzales, the Twins' 9th Round pick in 2008. For the ones not familiar with Gonzales, he has had his up and downs (mostly downs) mainly resulting from lack of discipline and hard time controlling his weight. Last season he played with the Miracle and was mediocre. This would be his make or break season and looks like he will repeat the high A tour to start the season. The 25 year old is in probably the best shape of his career and actually is dwarfing Vargas, if that is possible. I expect a break through season from Gonzales this year. Alex Meyer pitched for the AA team against the AAA and the little I got to see him (the A vs high A matchup was the center piece of the day) he looked pretty good with a great fastball and impressive command. Luke Bard who pitched for the Cedar Rapids team also pitched pretty well, but he was eclipsed by Baxendale. At the Stadium it was an overcast and very windy day and lots of home runs resulted. PJ Walters got the node for the Twins and he just did not have it today. Plus he ran out of gas pretty quickly. I don't think that the threw anything harder than 80 mph in his last inning. His fastball was clocked at 88-91 in the first innings and this was about 2-3 mph less in actuality because of the Fort Myers radar. He is not ready to start the season in the majors at least as a starter. Just not there yet. Brian Duensing was solid other than the home runs and Jared Burton was impressive. I am not sure that Josh Roenicke will make the team; I feel that it is a battle of 2 spots between him, Tim Wood and Jim Pressly and the other two have been better, even though Roenicke had a good appearance today. Since he can pitch multiple innings, maybe will slide in the Swarzak role while he is on the DL. His fastball touched 94 mph and his breaking ball was effective today. I have the feeling that Pedro Florimon and Brian Dozier are pretty much enshrined as the starting middle infielders and from now until the opening day it is a matter of them to get to know each other. Second day in a row that started in their respective positions. Chris Parmelee had another lackadaisical performance. I don't know if he feels that there is no way that he will not make the team, but the level of effort is just not what it should be at this point. Hasty plate appearances and swinging at bad pitches is not the way to make people feel that you deserve a position among the best 13 position players of the Twins. More cuts will be coming soon and I think that Ray Olmedo, Brandon Boggs, Jeff Clement, Dan Rohlfing, PJ Walters, Tyler Robertson and maybe one of Casey Fien and Alex Burnett will be it. One week until opening day and the slate should clear pretty quickly. http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8528/8587802906_d2a7df64ed_b.jpg

Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch --- Today the Twins beat the Toronto Blue Jays 14-5 at Hammond Stadium with about a week remaining at Spring Training; meanwhile there were AAA vs AA and A+ vs A scrimmages at fields number 2 and 3 on the minor league side. Here are my thoughts and observations of the day A lot of great performances today, including Joe Mauer's 6 RBI day that included a HR at dead center and Aaron Hick's 4 for 4 day, but the performance of the day happened at field number three and was witnessed by about 50 people, including Twins' General Manager Terry Ryan. During the high A vs. A matchup that included stars in the making like Miguel Sano, Byron Braxton, Travis Harrison, Jorge Polanco, Kennys Vargas etc, a little known 10th round draft pick stole the show. DJ Baxendale, who was the Twins' 10th round pick from the University of Arkansas last summer and has been stretched to be a starter this season retired all 9 A players he faced, striking out 8. Only second baseman Aderlin Mejia was retired by a 3-1 ground out. Not a small fit, because the Cedar Rapids' lineup started with Buxton, Polanco and Harrison. Baxendale's stuff was absolutely filthy and his control was perfect (he had only one called ball the whole game). Two sinker with a lot of motion, a sharp breaking ball and a change up that had a life of its own. I will be very surprised if he does not move fast in the organization. This was one of the single most dominating pitching performances I have ever seen at any level of play. It was as if a major leaguer was pitching against Rookie league kids. Definitely someone to follow this season in Fort Myers (even though I suspect that he might end the season in New Britain.) Speaking of, this Fort Myers squad will score some runs and will be a serious contender in the Florida State League. Sandwiched between Miguel Sano and Kennys Vargas, at the clean up spot today was Mike Gonzales, the Twins' 9th Round pick in 2008. For the ones not familiar with Gonzales, he has had his up and downs (mostly downs) mainly resulting from lack of discipline and hard time controlling his weight. Last season he played with the Miracle and was mediocre. This would be his make or break season and looks like he will repeat the high A tour to start the season. The 25 year old is in probably the best shape of his career and actually is dwarfing Vargas, if that is possible. I expect a break through season from Gonzales this year. Alex Meyer pitched for the AA team against the AAA and the little I got to see him (the A vs high A matchup was the center piece of the day) he looked pretty good with a great fastball and impressive command. Luke Bard who pitched for the Cedar Rapids team also pitched pretty well, but he was eclipsed by Baxendale. At the Stadium it was an overcast and very windy day and lots of home runs resulted. PJ Walters got the node for the Twins and he just did not have it today. Plus he ran out of gas pretty quickly. I don't think that the threw anything harder than 80 mph in his last inning. His fastball was clocked at 88-91 in the first innings and this was about 2-3 mph less in actuality because of the Fort Myers radar. He is not ready to start the season in the majors at least as a starter. Just not there yet. Brian Duensing was solid other than the home runs and Jared Burton was impressive. I am not sure that Josh Roenicke will make the team; I feel that it is a battle of 2 spots between him, Tim Wood and Jim Pressly and the other two have been better, even though Roenicke had a good appearance today. Since he can pitch multiple innings, maybe will slide in the Swarzak role while he is on the DL. His fastball touched 94 mph and his breaking ball was effective today. I have the feeling that Pedro Florimon and Brian Dozier are pretty much enshrined as the starting middle infielders and from now until the opening day it is a matter of them to get to know each other. Second day in a row that started in their respective positions. Chris Parmelee had another lackadaisical performance. I don't know if he feels that there is no way that he will not make the team, but the level of effort is just not what it should be at this point. Hasty plate appearances and swinging at bad pitches is not the way to make people feel that you deserve a position among the best 13 position players of the Twins. More cuts will be coming soon and I think that Ray Olmedo, Brandon Boggs, Jeff Clement, Dan Rohlfing, PJ Walters, Tyler Robertson and maybe one of Casey Fien and Alex Burnett will be it. One week until opening day and the slate should clear pretty quickly. http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8528/8587802906_d2a7df64ed_b.jpg

So Parmelee has a scholarship? How about Tyler Robertson? He has about as much MLB experience as Parmelee does. How about Alex Burnett. He has more. Are these 2 handed jobs as well just because? And the other 2 did more at the MLB level than Parmelee. Indeed Ryan/Gardy said that Parmelee will be an outfielder (instead of a first baseman) this season. From that to him anointed the starter, is a long way. I think.

That ^^^

is this fantasy stuff?

Platooning him with Parmelee might be an option at this point. I just have not bought into the Parmelee craze at this point. And I do not think that Parmelee "earned" a starting job by any means by his performance (at the MLB level) in regular season 2012 or Spring Training 2013. But he is a first round pick and the Twins never give up on those... Thanks, BTW

Substitute "Liriano" and "Delmon" (it is history and nobody can change this) for "Morneau" and "Willingham". Same? Any reason for Ryan not to trade Willingham and Morneau any time soon?

Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch --- Actually I spent the day at Port Charlotte, watching the Twins beat the Rays; thus, no minor league report today other that the 5 guys (Jason Christian, Nate Hanson, Chris Colabello, Bruce Pugh and Dan Turpen - of Kevin Slowey trade fame) who made the half an hour trip up North to fill in as needed. Here are my thoughts and observations from today: I did not see it, but Scoot Diamond pitched for the AAA Twins' team against the Red Sox' AAA team down at Fort Myers and his line was: 3 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 2 K. Not too encouraging. A couple notes about the Charlotte Sports Park (the home of the FSL Charlotte Stone Crabs and the Spring Training home of the Rays.) I think that the most parks I visit, the more and more I appreciate Hammond Stadium and the whole complex as a Spring Training venue. Here is one example: The minor league fields in Port Charlotte have an entrance with a door and a guard behind it and they were locked. Also, unlike Hammond stadium, there are cloth barriers on the chain link fences, which make following the action pretty awful. One of the gems of Charlotte Sports Park (and a peak into Hammond Stadium 2014) is the wrap around deck from short left to short right field. A great place to watch the game, esp. sitting on the tables by the Twins' bullpen at Right Center Field. Really looking forward to Hammond Stadium having one of those next Spring Training. I came down here for Spring Training with an open mind about Kevin Correia (yes, I know...) and I think that I know what the Twins saw in him. When he hits the lower third of the strike zone he is actually a good pitcher; when he doesn't, he is bad. Today he pitched against what was very close to the Rays' opening day lineup and did alright. His fastball was at 89-91 (the radar there is probably alright, since Price was at 92-95, which is pretty true) and was good at the lower third, but flat and hittable at anything above that. Change and breaking ball were both effective. He pitched much better than Worley did yesterday. I can start warming up to the idea that he will be serviceable for the Twins, but he will be walking a fine line if he needs to have pinpoint control to be serviceable (and he does need that.) On another note, Correia is too slow and deliberate. Not exactly a human rain delay, but pretty close... The Twins' four relievers (Tim Wood, Glen Perkins, Alex Burnett and Casey Fien) did a fine job. Wood is an interesting character and reminds me a bit of Jim Hoey physique-wise. He has a bit deception on his movement and short-arms the ball. He hit 94 with his fastball (Perkins did too) and he got swings and misses with his breaking ball. Very energetic guy and one of the few players who still uses chewing tobacco. Interesting to see whether he makes the team and how he will fit in. Alex Burnett needed this very badly. This was his only above average appearance in Spring Training (and it came in his seventh outing.) Every thing was working for him, including his fastball that went up to 92. A very good sign, but I am not sure at this point whether it is too late for him to make the team. Dan Rohlfing and Wilkin Ramirez continued their great appearances this Spring. Rohlfing started at first base and moved to left field later in the game. I think that his versatility eventually will be valuable to the Twins, but he has to build up on what he achieved this Spring Training and translate it into a good season with the bat at AA. As far as I am concerned, Dan Rohlfing is THE story for the Twins this Spring Training because he pretty much came from nowhere. Nowhere as a career .249/.296/.313 in parts of 2 seasons in AA. Now he has to take the leap. At this point and with Darin Mastroianni having a fairly anemic day at the plate plus misplaying a fly ball, I wonder whether Wilkin Ramirez is actually battling Mastroianni for the 4th OF position and not only Drew Butera and Jeff Clement for the last spot on the 25-man roster. He has been really good this Spring, he is a good defender at the corner OF spots, has some pop, has some speed, and has played some Centerfield (albeit last time in 2011.) I think that all three starting infielders today (Brian Dozier, Pedro Florimon and Eduardo Escobar) make the team, with Dozier and Florimon the starters at second and short. What you look in a double play combination is chemistry and these two seem to have it. I just hope that the Twins decide that this is the case and have them play the rest of Spring Training together so they click even better. As far as I am concerned, a cohesive middle infield is key to good defense and I hope that the Twins decide in one and let it be without taking guys in an out like they did the last few years. That would be a recipe for defensive disaster. Tomorrow the Twins are playing the Blue Jays in Hammond Stadium and will be interesting to see what a lot of people think is the team to beat in the American League in 2013. http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8530/8584354680_01097b2964_b.jpg http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8392/8584354366_b31c3dcace_b.jpg

Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch --- Actually I spent the day at Port Charlotte, watching the Twins beat the Rays; thus, no minor league report today other that the 5 guys (Jason Christian, Nate Hanson, Chris Colabello, Bruce Pugh and Dan Turpen - of Kevin Slowey trade fame) who made the half an hour trip up North to fill in as needed. Here are my thoughts and observations from today: I did not see it, but Scoot Diamond pitched for the AAA Twins' team against the Red Sox' AAA team down at Fort Myers and his line was: 3 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 2 K. Not too encouraging. A couple notes about the Charlotte Sports Park (the home of the FSL Charlotte Stone Crabs and the Spring Training home of the Rays.) I think that the most parks I visit, the more and more I appreciate Hammond Stadium and the whole complex as a Spring Training venue. Here is one example: The minor league fields in Port Charlotte have an entrance with a door and a guard behind it and they were locked. Also, unlike Hammond stadium, there are cloth barriers on the chain link fences, which make following the action pretty awful. One of the gems of Charlotte Sports Park (and a peak into Hammond Stadium 2014) is the wrap around deck from short left to short right field. A great place to watch the game, esp. sitting on the tables by the Twins' bullpen at Right Center Field. Really looking forward to Hammond Stadium having one of those next Spring Training. I came down here for Spring Training with an open mind about Kevin Correia (yes, I know...) and I think that I know what the Twins saw in him. When he hits the lower third of the strike zone he is actually a good pitcher; when he doesn't, he is bad. Today he pitched against what was very close to the Rays' opening day lineup and did alright. His fastball was at 89-91 (the radar there is probably alright, since Price was at 92-95, which is pretty true) and was good at the lower third, but flat and hittable at anything above that. Change and breaking ball were both effective. He pitched much better than Worley did yesterday. I can start warming up to the idea that he will be serviceable for the Twins, but he will be walking a fine line if he needs to have pinpoint control to be serviceable (and he does need that.) On another note, Correia is too slow and deliberate. Not exactly a human rain delay, but pretty close... The Twins' four relievers (Tim Wood, Glen Perkins, Alex Burnett and Casey Fien) did a fine job. Wood is an interesting character and reminds me a bit of Jim Hoey physique-wise. He has a bit deception on his movement and short-arms the ball. He hit 94 with his fastball (Perkins did too) and he got swings and misses with his breaking ball. Very energetic guy and one of the few players who still uses chewing tobacco. Interesting to see whether he makes the team and how he will fit in. Alex Burnett needed this very badly. This was his only above average appearance in Spring Training (and it came in his seventh outing.) Every thing was working for him, including his fastball that went up to 92. A very good sign, but I am not sure at this point whether it is too late for him to make the team. Dan Rohlfing and Wilkin Ramirez continued their great appearances this Spring. Rohlfing started at first base and moved to left field later in the game. I think that his versatility eventually will be valuable to the Twins, but he has to build up on what he achieved this Spring Training and translate it into a good season with the bat at AA. As far as I am concerned, Dan Rohlfing is THE story for the Twins this Spring Training because he pretty much came from nowhere. Nowhere as a career .249/.296/.313 in parts of 2 seasons in AA. Now he has to take the leap. At this point and with Darin Mastroianni having a fairly anemic day at the plate plus misplaying a fly ball, I wonder whether Wilkin Ramirez is actually battling Mastroianni for the 4th OF position and not only Drew Butera and Jeff Clement for the last spot on the 25-man roster. He has been really good this Spring, he is a good defender at the corner OF spots, has some pop, has some speed, and has played some Centerfield (albeit last time in 2011.) I think that all three starting infielders today (Brian Dozier, Pedro Florimon and Eduardo Escobar) make the team, with Dozier and Florimon the starters at second and short. What you look in a double play combination is chemistry and these two seem to have it. I just hope that the Twins decide that this is the case and have them play the rest of Spring Training together so they click even better. As far as I am concerned, a cohesive middle infield is key to good defense and I hope that the Twins decide in one and let it be without taking guys in an out like they did the last few years. That would be a recipe for defensive disaster. Tomorrow the Twins are playing the Blue Jays in Hammond Stadium and will be interesting to see what a lot of people think is the team to beat in the American League in 2013. http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8530/8584354680_01097b2964_b.jpg http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8392/8584354366_b31c3dcace_b.jpg

No. I think that he is the story of this Spring Training (as far as I am concerned) and he definitely put himself in the Twins' radar. But... he never played a full season at AA. I would bet that he starts the season in AA with Josmil Pinto.

Kind of a moot point after tonight's announcement of Hicks being the starter.... Both of those balls were at short center. The first one he was playing deep and ran and then he stopped and the ball just fell 10 feet in front of him. I think he misjudged that. Slow high pop. No wind today btw. The second one he was playing more shallow and it was not that much of a moonshot as the first one so it got there faster but it was catchable. Maybe he was tired or hurt or something but both of those were catchable. And if they were caught, Tyler Robertson's day would looked a tad different.

Done deal. Per the MLB Network the Twins announced that Hicks is it... (Did not help that Mastro let 2 balls drop in front of him today I bet)

per the MLB network. Details will probably follow tomorrow. Great to hear and I could not see a different outcome...

Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch ---- I am officially at Fort Myers, where I will be through Monday, attending Twins' games and checking on the minor leaguers. Unlike last season, when I pretty much presented a photo diary with 20+ images a day and some commentary, this season I will be doing something different: I will be presenting some of my observations and thoughts during the day on both major and minor leaguers, as well as other Spring Training-related items. Of course, I will add a few pictures on each post. I will probably make a couple of picture posts after next week, maybe as a Spring Training retrospect of sorts (since I am taking a ton of pictures this season.) Today the Twins hosted the Yankees at Hammond Stadium and the AAA team hosted the Red Sox' AAA team on field number 1. Here are my daily thoughts and observations: Happy to be part of the biggest home Spring Training crowd ever for the Twins: a record 8366 people attended the game at Hammond Stadium and it showed it. Standing room only and even that was sold out before the game. Speaking of Hammond Stadium, some pretty interesting additions to the ballpark menu include deep fried cheese curds and calamari fingers (both of them at the "party deck" area at short right field.) For what is worth: Alex Meyer, Evan Bigley and Oswaldo Arcia were practicing with the Rochester group this morning. Speaking of Rochester, I was not really impressed with 3 of the pitching newcomers: Elarton, Lane and Vasquez. Got to see Miguel Sano take fielding drills with the New Britain squad. BJ Hermsen was in that group as well, as were Josmil Pinto and Matt Koch. Pinto is not a surprise to start at AA, but if Koch stays there. it will be a pretty big surprise. Likely he is filling for Dan Rohlfing who is with the big boys still. Over at the A and lower field, there were major pitching drills going on. Kennys Vargas was on the field at first during those drills, and I would swear that he looks even bigger this season. Speaking of pitching drills, back at the big league camp, there was a pretty large one going on this morning. Good to see that Rich Harden was actually participating, but was the only pitcher who did not throw the ball. Both Scott Diamond and Anthony Swarzak did throw the ball, btw. Speaking of Swarzak, he later pitched batting practice to the infielders who were not playing today and he shattered Brian Dozier's bat to about 6 pieces (one of which went towards Swarzak and another popped in the back of the cage; nevertheless it was a large commotion) Pretty good to see Swarzak back; he could be ready be the beginning of the season, but the Twins will put him on the DL. Speaking of bats, Dan Rohlfing, it his plate appearance before his home run, sent his flying into the crowd about 6 rows over the Twins' dugout. Large commotion but no injury and a nice souvenir. Dan Rohlfing keeps being the surprise of the Spring as far as I am concerned, because there was a guy from whom nobody expected anything at the beginning of ST and now he is on the Twins' catching prospects map. Thoughts about individual performances today: The good: Trevor Plouffe was great at the field in several chances and he had solid plate appearances. Good to see him back from his injury. Wilkin Ramirez, who went 3-3 and was hit by a pitch, will make the back up outfielder/last spot on the bench race really interesting. Solid on the plate against major leaguers. I really liked Ryan Pressly. He has an effortless delivery and can dial it up. At this point, I will be surprised if he does not make the team. The bad: Vance Worley was all over the place today. I had a chance to watch him pitch both with the Phillies and with their AAA affiliate (IronPigs, which happens to be about 10 miles away from where I life) and he is not the same guy. Not sure what's up, but it is worrisome at this point. He had a bit of success lately when he tried to mix his offerings up, but the first few innings his two seamer was very flat. He probably lost a few ticks as well, since the Hammond Stadium gun had him at 88-91 (got to subtract 2-3 for that gone.) 2 weeks left, he really needs to pick it up. Ray Olmedo was fairly shaky on the field. Bad jumps, miss-judgements and the such. I thought that he had an outside chance at a utility role, but I just do not see it now. Darin Mastroianni was not at his best either. He let a couple balls drop right in front of him for singles during Tyler Robertson's breakdown, which brings us to The ugly: Robertson was miss-matched at this game. The ball was coming off his hand flat when he was throwing the sinker that topped at 88 (with that gun) and the Yankees' AAA squad hit it like it. His breaking ball was good, but if the fastball is not there, he will not survive. I will be surprised if he is not one of the next cuts. Several scouts at the game (look at the following picture) and not sure who they were scouting. Among them the Twins' First Scout who watched the game with a stopwatch on his left hand and a scouting book the size of Gutenberg's Bible on his lap. Tomorrow I will be at Port Charlotte watching the Twins visit the Rays' home park. First time at that ballpark for me and I look forward to it. http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8382/8581525526_989538dda9_b.jpg http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8239/8580423363_6c30958803_c.jpg

Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch ---- I am officially at Fort Myers, where I will be through Monday, attending Twins' games and checking on the minor leaguers. Unlike last season, when I pretty much presented a photo diary with 20+ images a day and some commentary, this season I will be doing something different: I will be presenting some of my observations and thoughts during the day on both major and minor leaguers, as well as other Spring Training-related items. Of course, I will add a few pictures on each post. I will probably make a couple of picture posts after next week, maybe as a Spring Training retrospect of sorts (since I am taking a ton of pictures this season.) Today the Twins hosted the Yankees at Hammond Stadium and the AAA team hosted the Red Sox' AAA team on field number 1. Here are my daily thoughts and observations: Happy to be part of the biggest home Spring Training crowd ever for the Twins: a record 8366 people attended the game at Hammond Stadium and it showed it. Standing room only and even that was sold out before the game. Speaking of Hammond Stadium, some pretty interesting additions to the ballpark menu include deep fried cheese curds and calamari fingers (both of them at the "party deck" area at short right field.) For what is worth: Alex Meyer, Evan Bigley and Oswaldo Arcia were practicing with the Rochester group this morning. Speaking of Rochester, I was not really impressed with 3 of the pitching newcomers: Elarton, Lane and Vasquez. Got to see Miguel Sano take fielding drills with the New Britain squad. BJ Hermsen was in that group as well, as were Josmil Pinto and Matt Koch. Pinto is not a surprise to start at AA, but if Koch stays there. it will be a pretty big surprise. Likely he is filling for Dan Rohlfing who is with the big boys still. Over at the A and lower field, there were major pitching drills going on. Kennys Vargas was on the field at first during those drills, and I would swear that he looks even bigger this season. Speaking of pitching drills, back at the big league camp, there was a pretty large one going on this morning. Good to see that Rich Harden was actually participating, but was the only pitcher who did not throw the ball. Both Scott Diamond and Anthony Swarzak did throw the ball, btw. Speaking of Swarzak, he later pitched batting practice to the infielders who were not playing today and he shattered Brian Dozier's bat to about 6 pieces (one of which went towards Swarzak and another popped in the back of the cage; nevertheless it was a large commotion) Pretty good to see Swarzak back; he could be ready be the beginning of the season, but the Twins will put him on the DL. Speaking of bats, Dan Rohlfing, it his plate appearance before his home run, sent his flying into the crowd about 6 rows over the Twins' dugout. Large commotion but no injury and a nice souvenir. Dan Rohlfing keeps being the surprise of the Spring as far as I am concerned, because there was a guy from whom nobody expected anything at the beginning of ST and now he is on the Twins' catching prospects map. Thoughts about individual performances today: The good: Trevor Plouffe was great at the field in several chances and he had solid plate appearances. Good to see him back from his injury. Wilkin Ramirez, who went 3-3 and was hit by a pitch, will make the back up outfielder/last spot on the bench race really interesting. Solid on the plate against major leaguers. I really liked Ryan Pressly. He has an effortless delivery and can dial it up. At this point, I will be surprised if he does not make the team. The bad: Vance Worley was all over the place today. I had a chance to watch him pitch both with the Phillies and with their AAA affiliate (IronPigs, which happens to be about 10 miles away from where I life) and he is not the same guy. Not sure what's up, but it is worrisome at this point. He had a bit of success lately when he tried to mix his offerings up, but the first few innings his two seamer was very flat. He probably lost a few ticks as well, since the Hammond Stadium gun had him at 88-91 (got to subtract 2-3 for that gone.) 2 weeks left, he really needs to pick it up. Ray Olmedo was fairly shaky on the field. Bad jumps, miss-judgements and the such. I thought that he had an outside chance at a utility role, but I just do not see it now. Darin Mastroianni was not at his best either. He let a couple balls drop right in front of him for singles during Tyler Robertson's breakdown, which brings us to The ugly: Robertson was miss-matched at this game. The ball was coming off his hand flat when he was throwing the sinker that topped at 88 (with that gun) and the Yankees' AAA squad hit it like it. His breaking ball was good, but if the fastball is not there, he will not survive. I will be surprised if he is not one of the next cuts. Several scouts at the game (look at the following picture) and not sure who they were scouting. Among them the Twins' First Scout who watched the game with a stopwatch on his left hand and a scouting book the size of Gutenberg's Bible on his lap. Tomorrow I will be at Port Charlotte watching the Twins visit the Rays' home park. First time at that ballpark for me and I look forward to it. http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8382/8581525526_989538dda9_b.jpg http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8239/8580423363_6c30958803_c.jpg

Adding another mediocre bad to the 3-4 mediocre bats the Twins' have at middle infield, when this bat has a worse glove than at least 2 of the existing ones (Florimon, Escobar) and is older and costs twice as much, does not make much sense...

Kirby. 2 World Series. 'nough said.

Here is something to chew on for the ones who are worried about Hicks' "service time": If Hicks starts April Fool's with the Twins and stays all season, the Twins have control of the next 6 years of his career. At about year 3 or 4 (at least) of that, Byron Buxton will be calling for a starting job.

I think that someone in their late 20s can have a place in a rebuilding team and potentially follow in a contending young team (if the rebuild is successful) as a bat off the bench and/or as an occasional starter (think Barry Larkin/Randy Bush - role not age) Would that be Colabello? I don't know. But I would not dismiss anyone from a rebuilding team unless they are the wrong side of 30 (like plenty of other players in this Twins' "rebuilding" team...) My feelings about Thome in a Twins' uniform were the same as my feelings about Favre in a Vikings uniform (HOFer or not.) WHY?

Pleasantly surprised to see Dan Rohlfing being the last catcher standing other than the 2 locks and Butera. He had a great spring and apparently opened some eyes over there. Add the facts that he can play 1B and OF in a pinch and is a great defensive catcher and you might have a surprise in the making (but likely next season...) Surprised that Burnett is still there... frankly.

I think that the Twins can open 5-6 spots on their 40-man roster tomorrow if they wanted to: Alex Burnett Casey Fien Ryan Pressly Tyler Robertson Josh Roenicke Caleb Thielbar Tim Wood Pick the 4-5 who do not make it to the MLB roster and Drew Butera that's 5-6

Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch (where the graphics are better for some reason) ---- t is already almost a month into Spring Training games for the Twins, and it is time for the second version of the dashboards. You can find all 2013 Spring Training dashboards here, for reference. Again, you can find explanations of the measures and the colors of the dashboards to quantify Spring Training performance of the combatants in both the position player and pitching battles in these two links. The dashboard includes today's game against the Pirates. I indicate the players who were cut in italics and the day they were cut by the MiLB indication. This is the last time these dashboards will have dates, because they are getting too long. Next edition will have them compressed and only the active combatants will be listed. In addition, WBC game results are included for the relevent players (Beresford, Butera, Colabello, Deduno) This is it. The final 2.5 week of Spring Training where competition gets better and battles get fiercer. I will be in Florida and Fort Myers for the largest part of the next two weeks, so expect some exclusive coverage on the Twins major and minor leaguers from the Spring Training site. Here is the position player dashboard: http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8507/8563335192_2ef915d347_c.jpg Few Observations: Aaron Hicks has won the CF starting job; whether the Twins' brass let him have it, is it still up for grabs Aaron Hicks has taken the lead for the Center Field starter position The other 2 OF positions (RF and bench) are still wide open, with Darin Mastroianni returning strong from his hamstring injury and Wilkin Ramirez performing consistently well and steadily leading Chris Parmelee who improved a bit but still trailing. The infield battle and the bench battles are wide open. Butera, Colabello and Olmedo have been sightly better than the rest and all three would be potentially battling for that last roster spot. Here is the pitcher dashboard: http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8251/8563335060_24de8c406a_c.jpg Few Observations: Cole DeVries , Samuel Dedouno, PJ. Walters and Pedro Hernandez are all making a case for the one or two starting positions open, while Liam Hendriks is trailing pretty badly. Of these pitchers, the ones who do not make the rotation, still will have a chance for a long reliever position. Alex Burnett has not had a single good appearance this spring and I just cannot see how he can make the team if he does not change this pretty quickly. Tyler Robertson have turned it around this week with several good appearances and after the cuts is the only lefty reliever left (other than the locks Duensing and Perkins) Ryan Pressly and Tim Wood (other than a single horrible game) have been good and I think they have one foot in the opening day roster. Josh Roenicke, Luis Perdomo and Casey Fien had ups and downs,and all are probably fighting for the last bullpen spot.

Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch (where the graphics are better for some reason) ---- t is already almost a month into Spring Training games for the Twins, and it is time for the second version of the dashboards. You can find all 2013 Spring Training dashboards here, for reference. Again, you can find explanations of the measures and the colors of the dashboards to quantify Spring Training performance of the combatants in both the position player and pitching battles in these two links. The dashboard includes today's game against the Pirates. I indicate the players who were cut in italics and the day they were cut by the MiLB indication. This is the last time these dashboards will have dates, because they are getting too long. Next edition will have them compressed and only the active combatants will be listed. In addition, WBC game results are included for the relevent players (Beresford, Butera, Colabello, Deduno) This is it. The final 2.5 week of Spring Training where competition gets better and battles get fiercer. I will be in Florida and Fort Myers for the largest part of the next two weeks, so expect some exclusive coverage on the Twins major and minor leaguers from the Spring Training site. Here is the position player dashboard: http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8507/8563335192_2ef915d347_c.jpg Few Observations: Aaron Hicks has won the CF starting job; whether the Twins' brass let him have it, is it still up for grabs Aaron Hicks has taken the lead for the Center Field starter position The other 2 OF positions (RF and bench) are still wide open, with Darin Mastroianni returning strong from his hamstring injury and Wilkin Ramirez performing consistently well and steadily leading Chris Parmelee who improved a bit but still trailing. The infield battle and the bench battles are wide open. Butera, Colabello and Olmedo have been sightly better than the rest and all three would be potentially battling for that last roster spot. Here is the pitcher dashboard: http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8251/8563335060_24de8c406a_c.jpg Few Observations: Cole DeVries , Samuel Dedouno, PJ. Walters and Pedro Hernandez are all making a case for the one or two starting positions open, while Liam Hendriks is trailing pretty badly. Of these pitchers, the ones who do not make the rotation, still will have a chance for a long reliever position. Alex Burnett has not had a single good appearance this spring and I just cannot see how he can make the team if he does not change this pretty quickly. Tyler Robertson have turned it around this week with several good appearances and after the cuts is the only lefty reliever left (other than the locks Duensing and Perkins) Ryan Pressly and Tim Wood (other than a single horrible game) have been good and I think they have one foot in the opening day roster. Josh Roenicke, Luis Perdomo and Casey Fien had ups and downs,and all are probably fighting for the last bullpen spot.

I would not leave Ramirez out of the equation at this point. Olmedo as well.