Nick Nelson

Things are pretty bleak for Twins fans these days. The club is caught amidst yet another mid-summer free-fall, the coaches and medical staff are once again coming under fire for their handling of injuries, and we're left to ponder who can be called up from Triple-A to plug yet another rotation hole while the offense scuffles. The negative storylines are too easy to grasp onto at this point, so in an effort to change the tone a bit, I thought I'd focus on a few positive developments that are currently taking place within the organization. Times are tough, but there are some very good and very meaningful things happening outside of the general misery that has characterized Twins Baseball lately. Let's dig into a few: 1) Top draft pick Nick Gordon is killing the ball at Elizabethton. It was a bit of a surprise when the Twins announced that they'd be sending Gordon -- freshly added out of high school with the fifth overall pick in the draft -- to advanced rookie ball in Elizabethton rather than the Gulf Coast League, where nearly all prep players start their careers. The club clearly had confidence in Gordon and so far that has proven to be more than justified, as the shortstop is off to a red-hot start at a level where most players are older and more experienced. Through his first 16 games, he's hitting .362 with two doubles, two triples, a homer and four steals. The strong debut puts Gordon on track to join a growing group of upper-echelon prospects within the Twins' system. 2) Jorge Polanco has been on fire since his surprising MLB stint. After joining the Twins a couple weeks ago as an emergency call-up, Polanco was quickly returned to his previous home in Ft. Myers, where he has been playing as though he'd like to get back to Minnesota in a hurry. In seven games since rejoining the Miracle, Polanco is hitting .367 with three doubles and two triples in 33 plate appearances. At this rate, it's hard to imagine he'll remain in Single-A for too much longer, even though he's one of the youngest players in the Florida State League. 3) Fast-rising J.O. Berrios is now in Double-A. If you've been regularly following the minor-league reports here on Twins Daily, then you know that Berrios has been on fire for months now, consistently turning in spectacular outings in which he's blowing away opposing hitters. He hasn't allowed more than two runs in a start since May 1st and his strikeout rate has been off the charts. This week, the Twins finally decided to show some mercy to FSL batters by promoting Berrios to Class-AA New Britain. The righty just turned 20 in late May, so he'll become the youngest player to appear in the Eastern League this year by a fairly wide margin. What Berrios is doing right now -- especially as an undersized specimen at a skinny six foot zero -- is remarkable. It will be interesting to see how he adapts in Double-A, but if he falters a bit, it's important to keep in mind the context of his situation. 4) Free agent success stories. There's understandably a lot of talk right now about Ricky Nolasco; the team's biggest free agent splash ever has thus far proven to be a poor investment. Nolasco follows in the footsteps of fellow free agent signing Mike Pelfrey, who also performed horribly for a stretch before admitting that he'd been bothered by an elbow injury. Very frustrating. But at the other end of the spectrum, the Twins have had two smashing successes in the free agent arena this year, and that's something that has been very rare for this franchise (in large part because they've been so unwilling to spend). Phil Hughes has been one of the American League's better starters, with a league-leading 9.27 K:BB ratio. He's 27 and locked up for the next two seasons at a very reasonable price. You'd have a hard time finding a contract signed during the past offseason that looks better than his right now. Then there's Kurt Suzuki, who has been a revelation on a one-year, $2.75 million deal. With Josmil Pinto needing more seasoning in the minors, Suzuki has been just what the doctor ordered, holding his own both defensively and offensively. He was recently named as one of Minnesota's two All-Star representatives. Suzuki's shockingly strong performance is especially satisfying in light of the fact that John Buck -- who the Twins were reportedly "extremely close" to signing before they ended up going with Suzuki -- was just designated for assignment by the Mariners. 5) Chris Colabello is back at it. Easily one of the best parts of April was Colabello's monstrous performance out of the gates. A great guy and a great story, the well-traveled slugger was also an epic producer during the early weeks of the season, coming through with clutch hit after clutch hit (including a home run while his mother was interviewed on live TV). Watching Colabello fall into a tailspin in May was tough, but after spending some time in Triple-A he's back up with the Twins and once again hitting the ball with plenty of authority. He's only had 16 plate appearances since his return, but has already smashed two doubles and two homers. Will pitchers readjust? Perhaps. But for now, Colabello is once again giving us a tremendous individual story to root for while the team as a whole fades out of relevance. Here's another happy note: Since the Twins beat the Mariners last night, you can get half off your L or XL pizza on Wednesday by ordering online at PapaJohns.com with the promo code 'TWINSWIN'!

Beyond this season, the Minnesota Twins still owe Ricky Nolasco a total of $37 million over three years. That's something that needs to be kept in mind as we ponder what the best course of action is for the struggling starter. Ron Gardenhire sounded like he was just about ready to be done with Nolasco during a cranky post-game interview on Sunday, and it's hard to blame him. Not exactly what you like to hear regarding a pitcher who was signed to be the stable leading force in the rotation, and paid accordingly, but Gardenhire's frustration is well warranted and the stats speak for themselves. Among qualified major-league pitchers, Nolasco's 5.90 ERA is the worst and nobody else is even close -- Justin Masterson is next at 5.16. Nolasco also ranks last in WHIP (1.62) and opponents' OPS (.902). I've been pretty bullish on the big righty, in part because I might be in denial -- I've liked him as a pitcher and was a fan of the signing -- and in part because there is some evidence that his horrendous results have been a little fluky. After all, he's not walking bunches of people, and his swing-and-miss percentage isn't far out of line with his career mark. Entering Sunday's game, he was averaging 6.4 K/9; over the past three seasons, he averaged 6.6. The difference now is that opponents are absolutely plastering Nolasco's pitches when they make contact and as the clunkers pile up it gets harder and harder to chalk that up to bad luck. On Sunday, he looked as ineffective as he's looked all year, failing to strike out a single batter while allowing eight of the 13 men he faced to reach base. It wasn't even a competitive outing, reminiscent of a Vance Worley performance in late March. Photo by Dan Hamilton, USA TODAY Sports Yes, American League lineups are better than those in the NL. But that doesn't come close to explaining the magnitude of Nolasco's struggles. What is going on, and how can it be fixed? No doubt the Twins' coaches and execs are racking their brains trying to find an answer. Options are somewhat limited when you're in Year One of a lucrative four-year contract. Gardenhire hinted at a possible demotion to the bullpen and Mike Berardino of the Pioneer Press noted that the club could choose to push back Nolasco's next start back until after the All-Star break, saving him from having to pitch at Coors Field and giving him extra time to straighten things out. Those are as good ideas as any, I suppose. You can't really cut him or send him to the minors, and you can't very well keep sending him out there when he's going like this. But there's also this problem: the Twins lack viable replacements for Nolasco at the moment. Trevor May is out with an injury; Alex Meyer has been extremely inconsistent and also hasn't thrown more than 90 pitches in a game since early May. Neither is MLB-ready. I suppose the Twins could go with someone like Kris Johnson or Logan Darnell, but they've already got Yohan Pino plugged in and when you're looking at multiple Triple-A non-prospects filling the big-league rotation, you start to feel a nauseating sense of deja vu. Is this the last three years all over again? When is it going to change? The Twins went out and spent big on free agent pitching during the offseason, and yet they still can't seem to escape the same old outcome: eroded depth and a totally inadequate starting staff.

When Chris Colabello's season got off to an insanely hot start, I remember multiple people commenting to me excitedly about how he was on pace for something like 200 RBI. Some folks just love to extrapolate those grandiose "on pace" figures when a guy has a great first couple weeks. It's fun early season fodder, but of course, it's all utterly meaningless. Projecting hypothetical full-season totals at the halfway point is a bit more sensible, because at this point we've got 50 percent of a season as our sample. That's not enough to preclude fluky performances, but 81 games is 81 games. I thought I'd examine some of the crazier first-half stats on the Twins, in the context of what the numbers will look like at year's end if the player replicates his first three months. Joe Mauer is on pace for four home runs and 52 RBI. And he hasn't even missed much time. He played in 75 of the team's 81 first-half games, piled up 336 plate appearances, and managed a total of two home runs and 26 RBI. Many people hoped, perhaps misguidedly, that the transition to first base would yield more prototypical power numbers. Others would have been satisfied with the usual Mauer, whose production would have been good -- not spectacular -- at an offense-oriented position. Instead, Mauer is on pace to play a career-high 150 games and drive in 52 runs. Part of that is on his teammates. Part is bad luck. But… man. Brian Dozier is on pace for 30 home runs and 30 stolen bases. Dozier has been pretty cold lately, so it might be a little difficult to envision him reaching this heralded milestone combo at the moment, but he's proven over the last two years that he's capable of catching fire at any time. Here's a list of players that have joined the 30/30 club since 2010: Matt Kemp, Ryan Braun (twice), Ian Kinsler, Mike Trout. That's it. Dozier's growth continues to amaze. In the minors, he topped out at nine home runs and 24 steals in a season. Photo by Jesse Johnson, USA Today Sports Eduardo Escobar is on pace for 46 doubles. OK, this really came out of nowhere. I have long wondered if the young infielder might have hidden offensive upside, to the extent that he might be a superior option to Pedro Florimon, but there was little in Escobar's track record to suggest this kind of two-bagger tear was possible. The 25-year-old entered this season with a .228/.280/.307 MLB hitting line. In eight minor-league seasons, he slugged .358 and topped out with 26 doubles in a campaign. Last year, only nine major leaguers hit more than 40 doubles, so if Escobar comes anywhere near the projected total it'd be wild. This has the makings of one of those half-season flukes, but if Escobar can keep it up, a doubles-machine shortstop with a decent glove is a quality asset. Phil Hughes is on pace to issue 20 walks. … In 32 starts and 206 innings. Wow. That would be fewer than half the walks Hughes allowed in 145 innings last year with New York, and even then his total wasn't bad. Ricky Nolasco is on pace to allow 250 hits. The Twins have had some hittable, contact-heavy staffs over the years -- they've given up the most hits of any team in the majors since 2011, in fact -- but in the past decade only one Minnesota starter has allowed 250-plus hits in a season: Carl Pavano (262). Ironically, that was in 2012, right after he'd signed what was at the time the most expensive free agent contract for a starting pitcher in franchise history. I don't actually think Nolasco is going to give up 250 hits. I expect big improvement in the second half, and hopefully we saw the beginning of that on Tuesday night. But if he keeps getting knocked around, the Twins aren't going to have much choice but to keep trotting him out. Glen Perkins is on pace to save 40 games with a 90-to-12 K/BB ratio. Obscene. Twins beat the Royals on Tuesday so on Wednesday you can get a half price large or extra-large pizza at PapaJohns.com when using the promo code 'TWINSWIN'.

On Monday night at Target Field, the Twins will play their 81st game, officially marking the halfway point of this 2014 season. As we reach this key milestone, the state of the club can best be summed up by a lineup decision that took place in game No. 80. In the final leg of a six-game road trip, with the Twins trying to snap a five-game losing streak, Ron Gardenhire inserted Chris Parmelee as his center fielder and No. 3 hitter. Now, I don't want to contribute to what could probably be described as a generally overblown reaction to this move. From my view, it was a defensible experiment by Gardenhire to try and coax some offense out of his lineup and pull his team out of the doldrums. But man, it sure says a lot about where this team is at right now. It's a statement about the condition of center field, a position that is so beleaguered by injuries and poor performance that the manager was willing to stick a slow-footed corner outfielder out there despite having one previous inning of MLB experience at the spot. Parmelee is probably least suited to play center out of anyone who's been there this year, and that's really saying something. It's a statement about the condition of the third spot in the lineup, which has yielded a sub-700 OPS in the first half thanks in large part to the struggles of longtime staple Joe Mauer. The lineup as a whole had averaged less than three runs per game in the past four series, prompting the manager to think outside the box. This was Parmelee's first career start batting third. And, on the bright side, it's a statement about Parmelee himself. Here's a 26-year-old former first-round pick who was designated for assignment at the end of spring training, only to go unclaimed by every other team and wind up in the minors. I was pleased that Parmelee was able to remain within the organization, and sure enough he rebounded with a strong showing in Triple-A, earning his way back to the big leagues where he's suddenly got one of the hottest bats on the club. After dropping five of six on their latest tour through the AL West, the Twins find themselves six games below .500 and eight back from the first-place Tigers. While they're still at a point where they could push themselves back into the mix with a strong stretch heading into the All-Star break, the Twins appear to be fading in much the same way they did a year ago. On June 20th last season, the Twins were 33-36, just three games below .500 after sweeping the White Sox at home. Three weeks later, on July 14th, they were 39-53 heading into the break, with all the talk surrounding which parts could be sold off. This year, on June 22nd, the Twins were 36-38, two games below .500 after -- yes -- sweeping the White Sox at home. And now they're on a slide that looks disturbingly similar to the one that pushed them directly out of contention a year ago. Obviously Gardenhire and the Twins are very serious about not allowing that to happen again, as illustrated by the Kendrys Morales signing and borderline desperation moves we're seeing with the lineup, but circumstances continue to tie their hands. The rotation reinforcements that appeared to be ready to make an impact are now a ways away, with Alex Meyer struggling and Trevor May on the disabled list. Oswaldo Arcia is a mired in a terrible ongoing slump. Danny Santana, who has been one of the team's biggest bright spots this year, is hurt with an unclear timeline to return. So as much as Gardenhire might want to shake things up and look for any possible way to get this thing back on track and avoid yet another midseason meltdown, at this point really all he can do is hope. Hope that the barrage of unfortunate injuries comes to an end. Hope that Mauer continues to heat up and become the lineup anchor that we know he can be. Hope that Trevor Plouffe can come back and provide a much needed jolt, with guys like Arcia and Morales joining in. We've still got half a season left, but with the All-Star Game (and, subsequently, the trade deadline) approaching, the Twins are going to need to figure out their identity. In that respect, it could be said that the next couple weeks will be the defining point in their season. Since the Twins snapped their losing streak with a win over the Rangers on Sunday, you can get half off your L or XL pizza from PapaJohns.com on Monday with the promo code 'TWINSWIN'!

When we ranked infielder Jorge Polanco as the eighth-best prospect in the Minnesota Twins organization this spring, we noted that a strong first-half performance in High-A could put him on the fast track to the majors. Of course, we never would have suspected it would be this fast. On Thursday, the Twins announced that they have promoted Polanco directly from Single-A to the majors. At age 20, he becomes the youngest player to don a Minnesota uniform since Joe Mauer back in 2004. Now, before you get too worked up, it bears noting that this move is most likely born out of necessity, and not permanent. With Trevor Plouffe and Eduardo Nunez already on the disabled list, the Twins were left dangerously thin on infielders after Danny Santana pulled up lame while rounding the bases on Wednesday night. Polanco was the only available player on the 40-man roster with the ability to play everywhere in the infield, so calling him up was the only way for the club to add infield depth without substantial roster tweaking. Having said that, Polanco deserves plenty of credit for putting himself in a position where Ron Gardenhire and the Twins aren't afraid to potentially put him up against big-league competition. While playing in the pitcher-friendly Florida State League and playing primarily at shortstop, the Dominican was hitting .289/.363/.404 with 20 extra-base hits (five homers), eight steals and a 42-to-35 K/BB ratio in 329 plate appearances. Polanco was the third-youngest qualified position player in the FSL. Now, he becomes the youngest player in the majors, outside of Texas' Rougned Odor. In all likelihood, Polanco's stay will be a short one. He's probably being brought up as insurance and might not even get a start. With Plouffe expected to return from the disabled list on Monday, the Twins can slide Pedro Florimon or Eduardo Escobar back into a backup role. Still, this is a pretty cool and unusual story. Hopefully we'll be able to see the kid get a chance in the coming days. To make room for Polanco on the 25-man roster, starting pitcher Yohan Pino was optioned to Triple-A.

The rosters for the MLB Futures Game were announced on Tuesday. Representing the Twins organization will be Single-A pitcher Jose Berrios and Double-A slugger Kennys Vargas. None of Minnesota's "Big Three" will be participating. Byron Buxton and Miguel Sano obviously have been injured, and Alex Meyer -- the team's top pitching prospect and its greatest hope for a top-of-the-rotation starter -- simply isn't having a very good season. That's fairly worrisome, especially when you look at his recent performance. Back in late April, it appeared that Meyer had turned a corner after reportedly learning a new changeup grip from his teammates. In his fourth and fifth starts of the season for Class-AAA Rochester, the lanky right-hander was as dominant as could be, striking out a combined 22 hitters over 12 2/3 innings while allowing no runs on five hits. At that point, Meyer was perhaps one or two more strong starts away from joining the big-league rotation and making a major impact. Yet, since that high point in his season, he has largely been a mess. In 10 starts since the beginning of May, Meyer has a 4.43 ERA and 1.54 WHIP, and has completed six innings in an outing only twice. He continues to miss bats with his high-end stuff (he ranks second in the International League with 83 strikeouts) but that's really the only aspect of his game that you could point at as being close to MLB-ready. The short outings are the biggest red flag. As a 24-year-old top prospect, Meyer is at a point where you'd like to see him facing some big-league competition, but the Twins aren't going to call up a guy who is routinely unable to complete five or six innings at Triple-A. Granted, his pitch counts are being watched closely, but he hasn't been effective. In his last three starts, the righty has failed to even reach the fifth. This raises an uncomfortable question: Is everything OK physically? It's hard not to wonder, considering that Meyer missed two months last year with shoulder soreness. Right now, he's laboring through short outings, struggling to throw strikes and uncharacteristically giving up bunches of hits. In his latest start for Rochester, he coughed up multiple home runs for just the second time in his pro career. This is just strange to see from a player of his caliber. If his problems are mechanical, the coaching staff has got to find a way to get him straightened out. If there's an injury at play, well, that's just beyond depressing considering the way things have already played out this year with Sano and Buxton. On the bright side, the Twins have had plenty of positive developments down on the farm. Berrios, who has been absolutely inhuman down in Ft. Myers (2.05 ERA, 10/6 K/9), ranks highly among them. Trevor May also continues to pitch well in Triple-A, providing another MLB-ready option with upside and making Meyer's setbacks a little easier to stomach. But, as I've often stated, I believe that Meyer is the single most important prospect in the organization, so as long as he continues to scuffle through short outings, it's going to be tough to get excited about the Twins' short-term outlook. They need more front-end talent in the rotation and nobody fits that profile better than a healthy, effective Alex Meyer. Despite some flashes, we simply haven't seen that guy consistently.

After finishing 0-for-4 with two strikeouts in Sunday's sweep-clinching win over the White Sox, Oswaldo Arcia ran his hitless streak up to 31 consecutive at-bats. As Phil Miller noted in his post-game wrap-up, that's eight short of the franchise record. For all his talent and explosiveness, Arcia has proven to be a slump-prone hitter, with a tendency to look totally lost during extended stretches at the plate. Right now, he's mired in what I have to imagine is one of the worst funks of his life. It's not just the lack of hits -- it's the intensely bad at-bats. Seemingly every other plate appearance involves three or four pitches, a few non-competitive swings, and a strikeout or a pop fly. Arcia is a good hitter. He conquered the minor leagues with remarkable ease and has certainly demonstrated the characteristics of a quality MLB slugger. Why isn't that showing through right now? This isn't a situation like Jason Kubel, where a prolonged slump was evidence of diminished bat speed and declining ability. Arcia is only 23 and strong as a bull. Clearly, a big part of this is mental, but I wonder if that's all it is. I'm reminded of a tweet posted by my colleague, John Bonnes, back on June 10th: I remember reading it at the time and thinking, "Overreact much there, Johnny Boy?" I mean, this was Arcia's second start since the ankle injury. But sure enough, it was only the beginning of what has turned into a three-week cold spell for the young outfielder. So maybe there's something to that after all. Early in the season, Arcia had missed almost two months with a wrist injury, but he came back red-hot in late May, batting .378 with four doubles, four homers and 12 RBI in his first 11 games off the DL. I was at Target Field for the last of those games, in which he sprained the ankle when he was picked off at second base after a double. It was a gut-punch, because at that point Arcia was the star of the offense; he'd smashed a grand slam earlier that night. He was frustrated and in obvious pain as he limped off the field. I was surprised to see him back the next night as a pinch-hitter. The Twins had seemingly dodged a bullet. But since rolling his ankle, Arcia is 2-for-39 (.051) with 15 strikeouts in 47 plate appearances. Could the ankle be the culprit for his ongoing issues? Has the wrist flared up again? Or is he really just stuck in his own head? Whatever the case, his slump is headed toward historic proportions and the Twins are going to have to figure something out. They've already given him a couple days off for a "mental break," and that appears to have helped little. Perhaps some extended rest would help get him back to 100 percent physically. Or maybe a demotion to Triple-A is in order. That seems like an unappealing option, since you'd like to see Arcia fight through this thing in the big leagues and there aren't any clearly superior alternatives available. But I do wonder how much longer Ron Gardenhire is going to be able to tolerate these hideous at-bats. What do you think? What should the Twins do about the struggling, vitally important young outfielder? Since the Twins defeated the White Sox on Sunday to complete a four-game sweep, you get 50% off your L or XL pizza from PapaJohns.com on Monday with the promo code 'TWINSWIN'!