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.

Pedro, not Manuel Florimon and he hasn't played a single inning of 3B. Burroughs or Hollimon will be the starting 3B at Rochester (whomever does not make the big team). Also I think that Butera will be in Rochester. Towles has an outside shot to make the Twins, but not Butera, over Hollimon or Burroughs if Gardy wants to go with 3 Catchers. I think Butera is done

I'd like to see how he ranks among other outfielders who are in the Hall before I form an opinion. I think that the only comparable style outfielder (high OBP, lower SLG) is Tony Gwynn and his numbers are much better than Ichiro's. And, yes, position matters. Were he a second baseman, it would had been easier, but as an outfielder? Not sure really...

I finally got to get to read pretty much the whole thing and I think that I have somewhat crystallized an opinion about this whole thing... - I think that it is unfortunate that this started by Phil because a. I think that he is a nice guy (unlike his co-workers on ESPN - Doogie aside) and b. he was a blogger once (and kinda still is, only now he spoon feeds the same canned club-provided information fed by the others with "Access") - "Access" is over-rated. "Access" is as good as what you access is worth. The truth is that the Twins' organization is not one of those that is very open with what is going on, even to people with "Access". On the other hand, the last 3-4 years, information about Twins' transactions, including the Sano and Willingham signings, a few trades and other discussions with other clubs has broken not by the ones with the Press Cards and "Access", but by alternative sources with access to people who are willing to talk or willing to give them a call or a text if they hear of something happening. And I know that this does not sit well with the mainstream media - That said, being a reporter is like being muzzled when you hear something that you are not supposed to hear. You are just not suppose to print it. Otherwise "Access" would be lost. I feel their pain. Case in point. This morning at Fort Myers before the Twins game. The bench players were taking batting practice. On one of the far dugout cages, Gardenhire and Tom Kelly had a very animated conversation that got pretty loud about certain players. I heard it. It will probably affect cuts. Will I say what they said? No. But I will speak between words. Someone with a reporter's card and "Access" would not even hear that because as soon as he/she showed up there, the conversation would had turned the other way... Lesson? Nothing really... just live and let live.

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.

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.

You can view the page at http://twinsdaily.com/content.php?369-Twins-Report-from-Fort-Myers-March-27th-edition-(TK-and-the-Beloit-Snappers)

Yeah, I don't think that you are missing anything Another little tidbit from today (which would not be obvious unless you were there, or had access but even those with access did not report) : Every day before the Twins' home games at Fort Myers a group of people usually back-up bench types take BP on the field right outside the ballpark and the non-playing pitchers are standing at the OF to catch balls. Today, they included the back up Catchers as well and they were: Dozier, Hollimon, Burroughs, Doumit and Towles. No Butera. Hughes was not there because he started but he was there Monday. So methinks that the Butera is about ready to go to Rochester. Word also has it that Chris Herrmann is reporting to New Britain, so that makes much more sense...

Seems like I missed a good one last night :/ Good points. But another major difference is that the Journalists have to be team mouthpieces to have that Access. Only time they are critical of people are after they are no longer with the team... or unless the team tell them to be critical. So that Access is kinda fake. Mouth fed news by the team.

Not sure Twins' like, but: Braves Phillies Cardinals Brewers Indians will be much worse than they were. If I were to pick the single-biggest drop, I'd say Cardinals

Seth, at that point Kelly was asking him (in jest) whether he was playing short or second and he was replying to the question... I do not see Hermsen (and esp. Romero in Beloit) either. I think that he will start at Fort Myers and maybe move up to New Britain the second half (has been a pattern for him the last couple seasons). But yesterday was the first time I saw him pitch live (I usually don't get to see Twins' prospects until they come out East) and he just did not have it... maybe a bad day.

Let's see where does Rochester's OF stands as of today: Benson, Tosoni, Mastroianni, Carson, Dinkelman, Ramirez. At least there is some breathing room with the releases of Dustin Martin and Scott Pearce, but still I do not see all those guys getting lots of PAs other than 1 or 2. Would a swap of Mastroianni with Revere make sense? Sure. or Maybe. But here is the problem: The Twins' are suposedly set at LF including the 2014 season and at CF including at least that much and maybe 2015 (with Span.) Revere cannot play RF. He has 2 more option years left so in 2014 he will be out of options. Benson will be knocking on the door hard in 2013 and Hicks/Arcia/Morales in 2014. It very quickly becomes a numbers game...

Thanks guys. Seth, I took 4-5 additional pictures of Baker at that point of the delivery (right after he released the ball) and he does have the same expression in all. I interpreted it as pain, but I have not seen pictures of him right after he releases the ball before. LimestoneBaggy. I am using a Nikon dSLR with a 300mm lens for most of these pictures

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.

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.

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

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

I cannot say surprised, but certainly disappointed at the Rivera move. Much better spring overall than Butera in all facets of the game. Just hope that the new way of thinking, just means 2 catchers make the team and not a third.

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

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

That's really sad, hope she is doing well

I had a chance to watch Casilla and Carroll yesterday afternoon at the AA/AAA game. Night and day. I think that Alexi is going to have a monster season. I would not mind if Carroll is the UT and Lexi and starting SS with Hughes the starting 2B. I think that we will all be (positively) surprised by Casilla this season

Alright, I posted my report from the action in Fort Myers today along with photos here.

and especially on days that the big team is far out of town and the ball fields are full of minor leaguers First day down at Fort Myers today for me. Fun going down and watching the kids (and the Twins' starting Middle infield that played for Rochester - Carroll- and New Britain - Casilla- game; if you wonder the Rock Cats won.) I will probably post more about it later, but a lot of interesting performances. Wimmers looked really good so did Tyler Robertson. Scott Diamond not so good. In one filed there was the AAA/AA game, in another the Beloit-Fort Myers game and at a third the kids will will start in Rookie ball/EST. I was very impressed by Josh Buriss. He was pitching on the field behind the New Britain-Rochester game and I had my back on him. And the sound of the ball on the glove made me turn, take a look and move my rear end there from the game. Good stuff More later, but here is a parting shot: http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6054/6869421370_3758db0558_z.jpg