Nick Nelson

Diamond looking very sharp today. Really executing his pitches.

He's the hero we deserve, just not the one we need right now.

Ditto 2B, SS, 3B, RF and several rotation spots. That is the nature of a rebuilding team.

Yeah, Santana is probably not a good example as he's one of the most efficient strikeout pitchers on the planet.

No, because the best pitchers are the ones who rack up the most innings and typically those are the guys who are able to throw the ball past opposing hitters while also limiting walks. Those kinds of pitchers are clearly the most desirable but they're also incredibly hard to get. Cmat is framing this as contact pitchers vs. high-K/high-BB pitchers, which is more relevant because then we're talking about players that might be realistically available to the Twins. Also, Silva threw 188 innings in 27 starts in 2005, meaning he averaged 7IP/start. He also topped 200 innings in '04 and '07.

It was a Big Lebowski reference. What would be your proposed alternative? If they had DL'd Mastroianni, who is the CF that would be up on the big-league roster giving Hicks these breathers? Benson is the only option on the 40-man and he has no business being in the majors right now.

I'm not sure why Cmat is getting so much flack for what is a pretty straightforward and logical statement. The idea behind pitching to contact is very much aimed toward efficiency and lasting deeper into games. I remember Carlos Silva once pitched a complete game on 60-some pitches, and that was during a 2005 season in which he was in the zone. The problem (and I don't think I've seen Cmat deny this) is that pitchers who can't strike many hitters out tend to not be very good, or they're prone to extended slumps, so poor results prevent them reaching the seventh rather than pitch counts. As a case in point, outside of Correia's three outings, how many times has a Twins starter completed six innings this year? That's not because they've been reaching 100 pitches too early...

I wonder where Deduno currently sits on the totem pole. The timing of his injury was very unfortunate because he was primed to hop right into the Twins' rotation at the start of the season. Once he's ready (which shouldn't be too long now), will they give him a shot right away or send him to Rochester until an opportunity opens or he forces the issue?

It is interesting that they didn't call up anyone who adds depth at CF, which suggests that Hicks is pretty safe at the moment. I feel like there's been a noticeable change in him over the past couple games -- seems to be getting a little more comfortable in the box. Credit to Bruno?

You're right, I meant to mention him as well. Another guy who has a chance to break that mold a little bit, which is why I'd like to see him added to the mix ASAP.

You can view the page at http://twinsdaily.com/content.php?r=1576-Twins-Being-Crushed-by-Constant-Contact

[ATTACH=CONFIG]3781[/ATTACH]During spring training, I observed a trend. It seemed that, all too frequently, a Twins starting pitcher would get knocked around in an outing, and then remark after the game that he felt good about his performance. Executed his pitches and just didn't get results. I asked a beat reporter in Ft. Myers, and he mentioned that he'd noticed the same pattern. Of course, there's nothing groundbreaking or especially noteworthy about this. Pitchers are generally not concerned with their numbers in March, and often work on strengthening their weakest offerings. Still, to see shellackings played off with the shrug of a shoulder struck a chord in light of the rotation's performance in 2012, and my fears that the unit grew only more contact-heavy in the offseason. One particular incident stands out in my memory. The Twins were playing against the Rays in Port Charlotte in mid-March. Vance Worley was facing Luke Scott, and with an 0-2 count he delivered a sinking fastball in on the hands. Scott turned on it and drilled it over the fence for a home run. After the game, Worley expressed little regret over the pitch, telling reporters, "It did what it was supposed to do" and tipping his cap to Scott. I don't know if I've ever before heard a major-league hurler say that an 0-2 pitch "did what it was supposed to do" if the hitter made any type of contact with it. In that count, the pitcher is in complete control, able to fling anything that might fool his outflanked opponent. Worley's signature pitch did what it was supposed to do, and an unspectacular hitter deposited it in the stands? Not encouraging. Worley expressed the same type of sentiment after his meltdown against the Mets on Friday night. "They're hitting it where my guys aren't at," he told reporters. "I feel I'm not giving up real hard hits. It's just a matter of where they're hitting it." Here's the thing about these quotes: they're not wrong. Even when Worley is in his element, he relies on batted balls ending up in gloves. On certain nights the opposing lineup is going to string hits and beat him, even when he's executing his plan. That doesn't make him a bad pitcher, but it's the nature of a guy who throws his stuff around the zone and doesn't expect to miss many bats. Some have voiced frustration over what they see as a lack of accountability in Worley's remarks, but I just see an intelligent guy who knows what he is and realizes that he'll always be at the mercy of his fielders and plain old luck. Worley was a fitting Opening Day starter and tone-setter for this rotation. Each of the members behind him follows essentially the same blueprint, so it wouldn't be surprising to hear any of them respond similarly to a dud performance. It's not impossible to excel with this approach, and in fact when it's clicking the outings tend to be longer and more efficient. Nick Blackburn v. 2009 and Carlos Silva v. 2007 are prime examples of this. They logged 200 innings and healthily outweighed their bad starts with solid ones. But these examples also attest to the downside of a pitcher who lives and dies by contact; should he lose the slightest bit of movement on his sinker, or should an injury alter his mechanics a tad, hitters begin feasting. Suddenly those pitches look like beach balls. It's a fine line, and one the Twins are walking far too much in their starting corps this year. The rotation consists entirely of pure pitch-to-contact guys, and as a result starters have totaled only 27 strikeouts through 13 games. Defensively, they've proven ill-equipped to handle so many attempts, with bungled plays already piling up. But even with stellar glove support, a starting staff cannot expect to succeed while striking out only 9 percent of opposing hitters, as the Twins have up to this point. I think that number may slightly understate the strikeout proficiency of the current group but not by a whole lot. I just don't see how a rotation with this makeup can possibly expect to stay afloat. The good news is that the unit's makeup is likely to change as we move forward, and there are some interesting arms on the horizon with a chance to break the contact-heavy trend. Kyle Gibson should be up from Triple-A before long and while not a strikeout machine he'll likely miss more bats than any current Twins starter. Newly acquired fireballer Alex Meyer is off to a strong start in Double-A and has a chance to join the big-league club later this season, as does fellow New Britain Rock Cat Trevor May, who led the Eastern League in strikeouts last year. Add in veteran wild cards Rich Harden and Rafael Perez – who both have histories of dominance and should at least get a chance to start when they're fully healthy – and you've got a solid mix of potential options to enter the fold and add an element that is completely amiss in the Twins' rotation right now: intimidation.

I was referring to his status, not his personality, and meant it more in the "lively and volatile" sense. He's gone from Single-A to the big-league roster in less than a year.

Arcia is not a center fielder.

I agree that Hicks is obviously overwhelmed and should be sent down at this point, but I don't think that necessarily means the Twins made the wrong choice by bringing him north out of spring training. When he gets demoted (which I'm guessing will occur this week) he'll head to Triple-A with a clear idea of what he needs to work on, and when he returns he'll be fully prepared for what's coming. Meanwhile, the whole service time debate becomes totally moot, as expected.

Getting back to the subject at hand, I don't understand or agree with the decision to send Hendriks down. Regardless of how they've performed in their two respective appearances this year, Hendriks is a better pitcher than Pedro Hernandez, with a far better chance of figuring into the club's long-term plans. Ditto Cole De Vries, who I'm guessing will also get a roster spot ahead of Hendriks when he returns. Gardenhire makes vague references to Hendriks needing to improve his "consistency," but in reality he just needs to figure out how to get major-league hitters out. The only way he has a chance to do that is by continuing to face them. He has nothing left to prove in Triple-A.

You can view the page at http://twinsdaily.com/content.php?r=1567-Arcia-s-Short-Promotion-Speaks-Volumes

According to the Star Tribune's Phil Miller, the Twins have elected to call up red-hot prospect Oswaldo Arcia from Triple-A. It appears that Arcia's major-league debut will be a brief one – just a few days while backup outfielder Wilkin Ramirez is away for the birth of his child – but still the decision carries many levels of intrigue. Arcia is an exciting yet curious choice as a roster fill-in. Typically in a situation like this, a team will simply call up a body to provide depth, especially when the departing player is a fifth outfielder. Instead, the Twins have opted for one of their top prospects, a fast-tracked 21-year-old with 78 games of experience above Single-A. Arcia will likely be in the starting lineup on Monday, and for the rest of the Angels series; you don't call a player like this up to put him on the bench. He'll become the youngest player to debut for the Twins since Joe Mauer back in 2004. [ATTACH=CONFIG]3756[/ATTACH] I can't imagine the Twins will play Arcia in center, so subbing him for Aaron Hicks isn't really an option. That means Ron Gardenhire will have to shuffle his lineup to find room for the hot prospect. Maybe Gardenhire will have him spell Chris Parmelee in right field one day, then try him in left while sliding Willingham to DH the next. Meanwhile, a Rochester team that's gotten off to a rough start loses its best hitter for a short spell. Seems like a lot of to-do when the kid is only going to be up for three days, but this clearly signifies that the Twins want to get a look at Arcia in the majors, and now. It also might be a sign that they're looking to sway the public sentiment surrounding their product. With depressing mid-April snow showering the Twin Cities, the organization has been weathering an early-season storm of its own. The team has tanked after a nice start, with five straight losses marked by dreadful starting pitching, frustrating miscues in the field and repeated missed opportunities at the plate. Their heralded rookie center fielder has been an unmitigated disaster. They've also been dealing with painfully low turnout and blowback from their batting practice PR blunder. The Twins needed some sort of positive spark to turn the tide, and while this likely wasn't the driving factor in Arcia's promotion, it's an unmistakable side benefit. After impressing coaches in spring training (I heard rumblings in Ft. Myers of Gardenhire's adoration), the young outfielder has opened his season in Rochester by obliterating Triple-A pitching, with a .414/.500/.793 hitting line to go along with three homers and eight RBI through nine games. While some prospects in the lower minors have gotten off to good starts, Arcia is knocking on the door at the highest level and is clearly the system's headliner right now. And so the club will take advantage of this opportunity to showcase that headliner, if only for one series. The question that now arises is this: What do the Twins do if Arcia comes up and absolutely rakes for three games? Sending him back down negates the good vibes created by his early arrival, yet there's no path to long-term regular playing time with the big-league club. Willingham and Parmelee are locked into the outfield corners, and Doumit is going to get the majority of at-bats at DH. Of course, this wouldn't necessarily be a bad problem to have. Rather than seeking to downplay any stir created by Arcia's fast start and the disappointing early returns from the lineup, the Twins are actively fanning the flames, especially if the rook makes an impact at Target Field this week. Maybe that's the whole point. A message is being sent not only to Arcia, whose thunderous bat is being noticed and rewarded, but also to the players in the Twins' lineup who have been scuffling early on.

You can view the page at http://twinsdaily.com/content.php?r=1540-Patience-warranted-with-struggling-youngsters