Seth Stohs

When spring training opened up in late February, I posted an article called Twins Two-Way Planning in which I said that the Twins 2011 roster was probably built perfectly to go one of two directions. In essence, if things went poorly, they had enough one-year, veteran contracts of guys that other teams might have interest in at the trade deadline. The Twins could get prospects to help push forward the rebuilding process. However, the other scenario was, “IF seven or eight of the factors listed above are going positively, AND the Twins are getting positive performances from their minor leaguers and these new players, AND the team is in contention in mid-July, THEN they will have plenty of payroll flexibility to add a significant piece or two at the deadline, if they choose.” So, what were the “factors listed above” and how are the Twins doing in those categories… you know, since they barely have double-digit wins on the season. FACTORS The health of Joe Mauer The health of Justin Morneau The health of Denard Span The elbow of Scott Baker The durability of Carl Pavano The mindset and performance of Francisco Liriano The improvements of Danny Valencia, Ben Revere and other young players Matt Capps ability to get outs in the 9th 2-5 bullpen arms need to step up and contribute consistently well. Minor Leaguers coming up and contributing when needed throughout the season (Hendriks, Diamond, Gutierrez, Guerra, Waldrop, Oliveros, Benson, Parmelee, Dozier, etc.) Each one of those ten Factors was a factor whether or not the Twins brought in any free agents. If seven or eight of those factors wind up positive for the Twins, they have a chance to compete. Let’s review: Joe Mauer has been healthy, or at least he has been in the lineup all but one game this year. (1) Justin Morneau just came off of the 15 day disabled list. If there are positives from this, they are that 1.) he just missed the 15 days, and 2.) it was for wrist pain, not concussion symptoms. The health of Denard Span has been good all season, until the last couple of days when he has been out of the lineup with a hamstring injury. Hopefully this is just another day at most, and he’ll be back at the top of the lineup where he has been quite good. (2) The elbow of Scott Baker certainly was a big story in spring as Baker tried so hard to get back while also trying so hard to make people understand that he really was in pain. He went in for elbow surgery that turned into Tommy John surgery too. The durability of Carl Pavano probably can’t be questioned yet as he has not yet missed a start. However, concerns about his velocity have led to an MRI. He will make his next start this weekend, but this factor certainly is in flux at this point. (2.5) The mindset of Francisco Liriano is always a question, and despite very good performance throughout spring training, his performance since Opening Day has been nothing short of immensely disappointing. He was finally moved to the bullpen a week ago. The improvements of Danny Valencia, Ben Revere and otbher young players. I would assume that I meant players like Trevor Plouffe, Alexi Casilla and Luke Hughes in the “other” players grouping. Well, Valencia is in Rochester after a really horrible start to his season. Revere has spent most of the season in AAA as well. Plouffe is hitting below .150. Hughes was lost to the A’s when he was Designated for Assignment, and Casilla has a sub-.600 OPS. Matt Capps is 7-7 save opportunities and despite two losses, he has been pitching fairly well. (3.5) Two to five bullpen arms needed to step up. I would say that Glen Perkins, Matt Capps, Brian Duensing and Jared Burton have been really good in their roles this season. Anthony Swarzak has played multiple roles, but he has been solid for the most part. Jeff Gray has walked too many, but he has been better than expected. The bullpen was a huge concern coming into the season, and to this point, they have been alright. (4.5) It’s always good to get help from the minor league roster, and this will or can happen throughout the season. Scott Diamond and PJ Walters have come up from Rochester and been very good in limited duty so far. Brian Dozier made his much-anticipated 2012 debut and has been very solid defensively and with the bat in his ten days with the club. Hendriks and Parmelee struggled after making the Opening Day roster and are back in Rochester but likely will contribute later in the. Waldrop should be healthy soon. Deolis Guerra is doing very well. (5) As for the new guys, Willingham has carried the offense most of the season. Carroll has been a stabilizing force in the infield. Doumit started slow, but he has been great with the bat the last three weeks. (and now he may be hurt) However, Marquis has been quite bad, and Zumaya didn’t throw even twenty bullpen pitches before needing Tommy John surgery. (6) Add to these factors that the Twins starting pitchers’ have all performed to a nightmarish, worst-case-scenario, and although no one could have predicted 11-25, it shouldn’t be surprising that this team is struggling already in the season.

Following the game, Manager Ron Gardenhire mentioned that RHP Nick Blackburn had an injury in his thigh? I translate that to meaning... we need an excuse to get him out of this rotation because he is really bad. Need an injury to get him to the DL. But, if Blackburn would go on the DL, who would start? My assumption: Anthony Swarzak would move to rotation with Jeff Manship taking Swarzak's long relief job. Could also be: Brian Duensing or Cole DeVries. (DeVries would need a 40 man roster spot to open up)

Ryan Doumit has been placed on the 15-day Disabled List with a calf injury. Ben Revere was promoted and is expected to be in Detroit on Thursday.

Erik Komatsu in CF and leading off tonight. Span scratched with the hammy.

very good story/informatoin!

Twins Lineup: Erik Komatsu CF (Denard Span scratched with hammy) Brian Dozier SS Joe Mauer DH Josh Willingham LF Justin Morneau 1B Ryan Doumit C Trevor Plouffe RF Alexi Casilla 2B Jamey Carroll 3B SP: Nick Blackburn

I think that MLB throws the book at him and they should. He threw the helmet at a downward angle in the direction of the ump. That's pretty ridiculous. Maybe not 50, but if he gets lets that 25-30 games, I'll be disappointed.

http://toronto.bluejays.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20120515&content_id=31385244&vkey=news_tor&c_id=tor Brett Lawrie got tossed last night for arguing balls and strikes (actually arguing balls that were called strikes). Instead of just arguing professionally, Lawrie decided to take his helmet off and throw it to the ground in the general vicinity of the umpire. The helmet bounced up and hit the umpire... If you haven't seen the video, be sure to check it out (I'm trying to link it here). What do you think? How long should the suspension be?

It's not like Boer pitched well when he went to Beloit last year... and it's not like Summers figured out the Midwest League instantly this year... I mean, if they're not pitching well over something a little longer than a small sample, whats' the rush? That's my only point. It's not about getting them to the big leagues faster... it's about them being ready when they get there... or at least it should be.

I think that prospect rankings (myself included) do not give enough credit to four-year college guys. Guys like Shibuya and Dozier who went all four years and then got drafted. They come out already 1 year older than most of the college guys drafted and get put in the low levels. The Twins and Brian Dozier remedied that by him being promoted pretty quickly. After signing they play for E-town, and that's fine, just an adjustment to pro ball. Dozier didn't spend more than 8-10 weeks in Beloit before moving up to Ft. Myers. Suddenly his age isn't quite as big of an issue, but it wasn't until he got to AA last year that he was where he "should" have been by prospect rankers. I'd keep Shibuya in Beloit until the all-star break, as they typically do and then move him up if he's still pitching this well.

Besides David Ortiz (who was gone before Vavra)... I'd like to see that list?

I was joined by FoxSportsNorth.com's Tyler Mason on tonight's Twins podcast. We talked about a lot of the team's topics. Later, I was joined by Scott Povolny of Territory Train to discuss upcoming trips. We went through the scoreboard and much more. Check out the show here: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/jack-steal/2012/05/16/sethspeaks-weekly-minnesota-twins-podcast

That is correct. These suspensions have to be served with the same team that they were on when suspended. So, unfortunately, Game 1 of those 32 doesn't start until the E-Town season starts.

Please explain.

From the Twins Twitter Feed: #Twins to reinstate Justin Morneau from 15-day DL prior to tomorrow night's game in Detroit. Option Chris Parmelee to Triple-A Rochester.

I think there was just an understanding... ha!

Twins Lineup: Darin Mastroianni CF Joe Mauer C Josh Willingham LF Ryan Doumit DH Brian Dozier SS Chris Parmelee 1B Erik Komatsu RF Alexi Casilla 2B Jamey Carroll 3B Jason Marquis SP

The third episode of the (Ft. Myers) Miracle Insider show. There is a tutorial on playing 1B by Michael Gonzales and a great day as players helped at the Miracle annual Special Needs camp. Watch it here, and feel free to leave your comments, and what you'd like to see from future episodes. http://www.milb.com/multimedia/vpp.jsp?content_id=21423791&sid=t509

You can view the page at http://twinsdaily.com/content.php?546-On-this-date-May-15

The Twins lost again last night to fall to 10-25 on the season. A Ryan Doumit 8th inning home run got Twins fans quite interested, but Matt Capps gave back the run in the top of the ninth. Enough about that, huh? Today, Justin Morneau turns 31 years old. New shortstop Brian Dozier celebrates his 25th birthday. And my little girl, Jozie, is more than a little bit excited to be turning a big six years old. In other words, she's been keeping me busy with her excitement the last couple of days (err... months!) anticipating today, May 15th. With so little positive to talk about with the current Minnesota Twins team, I thought it would be fun to take a look back at some Twins history on May 15. 1978 - The Twins and Orioles matched up and it wasn't exactly a pitcher's dual when Dennis Martinez opposed the Twins' Roger Erickson. In this May 15 game, the two teams set the record for most walks in a game with 22. Martinez walked four Twins batters in 4.1 innings. Nelson Briles walked three in 3.2 innings. John Flinn walked three in 1.1 innings. Erickson, the Twins starter, impressively only gave up four runs in his 5.1 innings during which he gave up seven hits and eight walks (without a strikeout). St. Cloud State's Greg Thayer came in and walked three over the next three innings (he also hit two batters). Mike Marshall came in and he walked just one batter in 1.2 innings. The only pitcher in the game who did not walk a batter was Orioles' lefty Tippy Martinez, who got the one batter he faced out. The Twins managed to win this game, 9-6, in ten innings when Willie Norwood knocked a three-run, walk-off homer to score Rich Chiles and Rob Wilfong. 1981 - On the day Justin Morneau was born, the Twins lost 9-4 to the Orioles. ronizlally, the O's starter was Dennis Martinez in this game too. FOr the Twins, it was the great Pete Redfern on the mound. He gave up five runs on 11 hits and two walks in 4.1 innings. Jack O'Connor came in and gave up two runs on six hits and three walks in three innings. John Verhoeven gave up two unearned runs on two hits and a walk in 1.2 innings. Gary Ward led the Twins on this day. He was 2-3 with a walk, his third home run, two RBI and a stolen base. Mickey Hatcher was batting third. He hit his eighth and ninth doubles of the season in this game. For the Orioles, there was plenty of offense. Al Bumbry went 2-3 with three walks. Ken Singleton was 3-4 with a walk, his eighth home run and four RBI. Eddie Murray went 3-6 with his third double. Former Twins hitting coach Terry Crowley hit his fourth double of that season. Long-time Ft. Myers Miracle hitting coach Jim "Slice" Dwyer was 1-2. Oh, and Bobby Bonner went 4-5. Those were four of the 21 big league hits he accumulated over parts of four seasons. Just 6,268 fans came out to Met Stadium to watch this game. 1987 - Brian Dozier was born on this day, and the Twins got a very exciting win over the Boston Red Sox! When we think back to the '87 Twins World Series team, we certainly don't think about Juan Berenguer as a starter. However, he started this game and gave up just one run on three hits and a walk in eight innings. The lone run came on a solo home run off the bat of Wade Boggs. Bruce Hurst was very good for the Red Sox too, going all nine innings. Steve Lombardozzi went 2-4. Tom Brunansky, Greg Gagne and Dan Gladden each had a hit. But Kirby Puckett played hero in this one. He was 2-3 with an intentional walk in the game. After George Frazier pitched a perfect top of the ninth inning, Puckett came up with a runner on in the bottom of the ninth inning and hit a two-run, walk-off home run to give the Twins a 3-1 win over the Red Sox. 1989 - Kent Hrbek dislocated his shoulder attempting to make a diving play and wound out on the Disabled List until June 26. 1991 - On May 15, the Twins lost 4-2 to the Milwaukee Brewers. The story was St. Paul native and future Twins DH, Hall of Famer Paul Molitor. He hit a single, a double, a triple and a home run, all off of Twins starter Kevin Tapani. 2006 - My daughter was born and while in the hospital, we watched the Twins lose 7-3 to the Chicago White Sox. Scott Baker gave up five runs on 11 hits and a walk in 4.2 innings. Willie Eyre gave up a run in his inning. Dennys Reyes (aka, Big Sweat) came in and struck out four over 2.1 innings. Joe Nathan struck out two, but gave up a single run in the 9th. For the White Sox, Scott Podsednik, Joe Crede, Chris Widger and Robb Mackowiak each had three hits. Podsednik, Crede and Widger each hit a home run. For the Twins, Michael Cuddyer was 2-3 with a walk. Torii Hunter was 2-4 with his eighth home run of the season. 2011 - Jose Bautista hit three home runs against the Twins... if you can believe that. Future Hall of Famer, John Smoltz, who certainly is a memorable opponent name in Twins history (pitched Game 7 of the 1991 World Series opposite Jack Morris), turns 45 years old today. Hall of Famer, George Brett of the Royals, who had many memories against the Twins, turns 59 years old today. Finally, Red Sox starting pitcher (and all-around good guy?) Josh Beckett turns 32 years old today. Thank you for taking a day here with me and walking through some random Twins history on this date. The Twins had a couple of walk-off home runs on this date, and a couple other historical (positive or not) moments. So, what will happen when the Twins player Cleveland this afternoon? How will Brian Dozier perform on his 25th birthday? How will Cleveland outfielder Michael Brantley perform on his 25th birthday? [ATTACH=CONFIG]957[/ATTACH]

Looking into it... I'd be shocked if Levi Michael was moving to AA now because he has been really bad. Arcia's on a nice role and could move up.

He's been pitching quite well most of the season and particularly of late... I wouldn't make too much of this one. Where Capps gets in trouble is when he has a couple of these back-to-back.