Seth Stohs

Dozier actually started with the GCL Twins and played about 6 games with them before moving up to E-Town.

1.) No way that Michael goes to E-Town. I was actually somewhat surprised to keep hearing he'll likely go to Beloit. I would have guessed Ft. Myers until Terry Ryan mentioned him as a Beloit candidate. As for 1B at Beloit, they'll go with Rory Rhodes and Roy Larson.

"Seth: I love your podcasts but you are becoming too much of a homer and are losing touch with reality. This team will never again reach 80 wins with the inept Terry Ryan in charge!!!!" OK.

Pretty sure it wasn't nerves that got to him. He's been around a long time. He wasn't nervous the second inning. He just lost his release point. That's uncharacteristic for him. Nothing to worry about.

That was one of the saddest days I can remember. I printed out Puckett pictures and hung them up around my desk. I kept getting asked how I was doing, which annoyed me. I just finally had to leave work and be by myself. I was a grown man, and I was acting like a kid, like I had lost a family member. Puckett was really my first sports hero. I really haven't had one since then, and I'm OK with that.

Here are today's lineups for a noon start (on FSN): Ben Revere LF Jamey Carroll SS Ryan Doumit C Chris Parmelee 1B Danny Valencia 3B Brian Dinkelman RF Steve Pearce DH Joe Benson CF Alexi Casilla 2B Scott Baker pitching.

You can view the page at http://www.twinsdaily.com/content.php?285-Minor-League-Health-Report

On Tuesday, Twins minor leaguers need to report to spring training camp. Tomorrow, they will get going with their first official workout. With 66 players currently in big league camp (40 roster, 26 non-roster minor leaguers), another 120 or more players will report for minor league camp. This includes players in the rookie leagues on up. There are going to be a lot of stories from minor league camp that we’ll be following here throughout camp. You will hear plenty about Miguel Sano, Eddie Rosario, Aaron Hicks, Alex Wimmers, David Bromberg, Anthony Slama and other top prospects, but we will also make a point to talk about players that you may not otherwise hear about. Today, I wanted to start by writing about several players who missed time in 2011 due to injury. Some of these guys missed the whole year. Others were shut down early. Each of them will be worth following through minor league camp to see how they are progressing and where they wind up. Here they are in no particular order: Kyle Gibson – RHP – The news has been very good to this point for Gibson. He was shut down in July last year, and he had Tommy John surgery in September. Last week, Terry Ryan surprised many by saying that Kyle Gibson will pitch in 2012. He is doing very well on his rehab program. Just yesterday, he threw from 60 feet. Since Gibson had his surgery, he has talked about following the Stephen Strasburg timeline. That puts him back on a mound before mid-season and potentially making rehab appearances by July. It would be ideal for him to make several starts somewhere in 2012 so that he can have a normal offseason in preparation for spring training of 2013. [ATTACH=CONFIG]268[/ATTACH] Dallas Gallant – RHP – Gallant signed late in the 2010 season after a strong showing in the Cape Cod League. In April of 2011, he had Tommy John surgery. He recently said, “I’m doing great! Arm feels strong. Threw to batters for the first time last Friday, and it went really well.” He is a little over 10 months from surgery. There will likely be no restrictions on him in spring training, but the organization will likely limit his innings this season. There is a chance that he will head to Beloit to open the season, but with Tommy John and the Beloit April weather, I would think he’ll start at Extended Spring Training and move up to Beloit as the weather warms up. Gallant is a talent, so they will make decisions that are best for his long-term career. Matt Bashore – LHP – Bashore pitched some at Elizabethton last year, but they shut him down early just as a precaution. The former supplemental first round pick will need to advance beyond the rookie leagues in 2012. Reports out of instructional league were that he has regained most of his velocity and his secondary pitches were looking sharp. He also became a father for the first time this offseason. He is certainly one to watch in 2012. Miguel Munoz – RHP – Munoz made his first start with the Ft. Myers Miracle in 2011 and then was shut down with elbow issues. He made a comeback late in the season but was shut down again. He never did have elbow surgery. He just rehabbed and was throwing well in instructs. Hopefully he will be at 100% in 2012. Munoz has a lot of talent. Brad Stillings – RHP – Stillings had shoulder surgery and was rehabbing following the season. He should be ready to go full-out at the start of spring training. David Bromberg – RHP – 2011 was a year to forget for Bromberg. He went to big league spring training, but four starts into his New Britain season. He was hit in the arm by a line drive, breaking a bone. He missed most of the season. Bromberg works as hard as anyone. He has lost over 40 pounds over the past two years, and he has regained all of his range of motion and velocity. Although he is off the 40 man roster, he could factor into the big league club sometime in 2012. Tony Davis – LHP – Davis had shoulder surgery late in the season to relieve the pressure and pain caused by a pinched ulna nerve. The issue was creating pain and tingling in his fingers. He rehabbed in Ft. Myers until November, but when he went home, he was given a full bill of health. The hard-throwing lefty heads to camp hoping to impress again. Garrett Jewell – RHP – The 2011 draftee was shut down with some shoulder inflammation late in the short season. He immediately began a rehab program and when he was sent home, he was cleared and should be ready for camp. Michael Tarsi – LHP – The tall left-hander had minor shoulder surgery late in the season. He worked very hard through his rehab sessions. Once his program allowed him to throw, he was happy and surprised by how good it felt. Although he doesn’t throw real hard, the lefty had a very solid 2011 season working out of the bullpen for the first time in his career. Ben Tootle – RHP – Tootle missed most of the 2010 season with injury that resulted in shoulder surgery. He returned to the mound in 2011 with the Beloit Snappers, but he was clearly still working through getting his arm back. He fought control and late in the season, he was shut down. He continued to work very hard, and will be in much better position physically to pitch in 2012. It would be great to see the hard-throwing righty get his velocity back near triple digits as he showed when the Twins drafted him. Nathan Fawbush – RHP – The long, lanky right hander has really good stuff, but he has been hurt most of the time since he signed with the Twins as a 2010 draft pick. Soon after signing that season, he hurt his hand on a comebacker. Last year, he fought bursitis in his right shoulder and a sprained elbow. He rehabbed all offseason and should be ready again for spring training this year. Levi Michael – SS – Michael fought all kinds of injuries in 2011. He had a couple of different leg injuries. He didn’t play in games during the Instructional League, but he did participate in the workouts. He should be ready to go this spring. I know a lot of Twins fans are eager to see how the team’s 2011 top pick will perform. Scouts all seem to agree that the Twins got a very good player with the 30th pick. Estarlin de Los Santos – SS – De Los Santos fought elbow pain throughout the 2011 season. Before the season ended, he had surgery to remove bone chips from his right elbow. He was limited to second base last year, but should be able to get back to shortstop in 2011. He has a very strong arm. Kelvin Mention – OF –The very-strong, athletic outfielder missed all of 2011 because of shoulder surgery. He should be at 100% as spring training starts, and it will be fun to see how he does. He played with fellow Twins prospect, JD Williams, in high school and hopes to have a similar breakout season. Steve Liddle – 1B/OF – 2011 was a frustrating season offensively for Liddle. Following the season, he had surgery of his non-throwing labrum. The tear has been repaired, and he says that he is 100% heading into spring training. He should be able to show much more with the bat now that he’ll be swinging with two strong shoulders. Philip Chapman – C – The Twins 2012 draft pick had knee surgery two weeks ago to repair some torn cartilage. He will likely miss a month of action, but his advanced bat should push him to Beloit when he is ready for the season to begin. As you can see, most of the players who dealt with injuries in 2011 should be ready to go as spring training starts. We will continue to monitor the progress of Kyle Gibson and Dallas Gallant throughout the season in their recoveries from Tommy John surgery. The Twins lost a lot of players to injury in 2011, and it extended to some very talented minor leaguers as well. Hopefully 2012 will be a much more healthy campaign.

Thank you! It was a lot of fun!

You can view the page at http://twinsdaily.com/content.php?282-Two-(Bad)-Innings-Topple-the-Twins-in-Loss-to-Red-Sox

Sometimes a team needs just one bad inning to lose a ball game. The Twins had two (really) bad innings in a 10-2 loss to the cross-town Red Sox. Jason Marquis made the start for the Twins and struck out two in a scoreless first inning. He came back out for the second frame and things did not go well at all. Marquis gave up four runs on three hits, a couple of walks and three wild pitches. The pace of the game slowed dramatically that second inning. Jeff Manship came in and quickly recorded the final out of the 2nd inning. He pitched a quick third inning as well, although he did give up a long home run to former Twin David Ortiz, who was playing 1B for the Red Sox. Liam Hendriks pitched very well. He struck out three in two scoreless innings. Carlos Gutierrez came in and quickly struck out two in his inning. Then came the 7th inning. Deolis Guerra came in and really struggled. He fell behind most hitters and paid for it. He gave up five runs on four hits and a walk. Biggest hit was a 3-run homer off the bat of prospect Dan Butler. Brendan Wise came in and threw a perfect 8th inning. Tyler Robertson gave up a leadoff single but struck out two in a scoreless ninth. Offensively, the Twins managed seven hits. Joe Mauer had two of them, a solid single to left field on a fastball and a line drive single to right on a slow curveball. Denard Span was 1-2 with a walk. Josh Willingham was 1-1 with a walk and was hit by a pitch. The positive story of the game, in my mind, was the performance of righty Carlos Gutierrez. He must have taken manager Ron Gardenhire’s post scrimmage comments last Thursday to heart. Recall that Gutierrez walked three batters and then gave up a double before the inning was called of without recording a third out. In this appearance, Gutierrez was very aggressive. He threw hard, but he threw a lot of strikes. What he found was that the movement and velocity on his pitches made the ball hard to hit. He struck out two batters and just looked incredibly impressive. [ATTACH=CONFIG]262[/ATTACH] (photo courtesy Jim Crikket) Other highlights including the pitching of Australians Liam Hendriks and Brendan Wise. Hendriks is the Twins top pitching prospect. We saw him in September last year. He showed good control and movement on his pitches. Brendan Wise is a 26-year-old minor league free agent who is yet to reach the major leagues. He profiles similarly to Kyle Waldrop in that he is a ground ball machine. We saw that tonight with two weak groundballs. I hope he is given a legitimate opportunity to make the Twins roster in 2012 after posting ERAs of 2.08 and 1.90 the last two seasons with the Tigers’ AAA affiliate in Toledo. The Twins will return to the field at noon on Tuesday.

Probably not the outing that Deolis Guerra wanted in his 2011 debut, huh?

Completely agree... and I certainly don't know the answers. That's why I posted this so that all those that keep asking at least have something.

Travis and I will go live at 9:00 with a new episode of Twins Minor League Weekly. With the opening of minor league camp in the next couple of days, we'll start talking more about the minors. However, we'll certainly be talking about the Twins' big league camp and what's going on there now that games are starting. So, check out the podcast live at nine. Join the chat room and ask questions. If you can't listen live, you can certainly listen later by going to the same link. http://www.blogtalkradio.com/jack-steal/2012/03/06/twins-minor-league-weekly

Doesn't matter who they take, there is risk. The risk is far, far higher with Giolito than with Appel. Appel's ceiling is pretty solid too. I mean, he'll be a solid top of the rotation guy, and much more likely. I worry about his K-rate, but everything else is great. (except his last start) I mean, it's not like Appel is a bad pick. I'd rather go with the guy with the highest ceiling, but when he doesn't get above AA will all the same people who say that it's absolutely the right choice eat their words? No, they'll bash the organization because Appel has been to X All-Star games and playoff wins.

whydidn't - Can't take anything from Marquis' performance tonight. He'll be fine. He's had a career of being pretty solid. No need to worry about him. If he stays healthy (and last year's injury was a fluke, broken leg), he'll eat 190-200 innings, post an ERA around 4.60, give up a bunch of hits and be fine as a back of the rotaion starter. Also, Hendriks is close, but I don't think anyone thinks he's ready. Give him a couple of months in Rochester, work on a couple of things and go from there.

I have FSN+!! I have FSN+!!!

Jeepers, it's the Twins against four former Twins!! (Ortiz, McDonald, Repko and Punto!)

which makes Juan Pierre a great comp for Revere. Early in Pierre's career, he would hit over .300 and get on base at a very good clip and then steal a ton of bases. Similar defensively. If Ben Revere turns into a young Juan Pierre, that could be very valuable. It will largely be dependent upon his ability to hit over .300.

I wish him well. Seems like a good guy and a well respected coach. He's been in baseball a long time!

Just e-mailed my cable provider and found that I will NOT be able to watch the game tonight. Fox Sports North Plus is on their digital and HD packages, but not in the normal one. My response was "Any chance I can get either of those packages by 6:05?!' No response yet. UGGH!