Seth Stohs

Check out some of the podcasts on www.1500espn and www.kfan.com and see what you like...

The Twins and Yankees are set for Game 4 of their early-season series. Twins Lineup Denard Span CF Jamey Carroll SS Joe Mauer C Josh Willingham LF Justin Morneau DH Ryan Doumit RF Danny Valencia 3B Chris Parmelee 1B Alexi Casilla 2B SP: Anthony Swarzak Yankees Lineup: Derek Jeter SS Curtis Granderson CF Alex Rodriguez 3B Robinson Cano DH Mark Teixeira 1B Nick Swisher RF Raul Ibanez LF Russell Martin C Eduardo Nunez 2B SP: Phil Hughes

Reusse and Mackey were just discussing this topic on 1500espn... Which 'hitter' is called up to the Twins? The Twins 40 man roster is currently at 39, so they could look outside of the organization as well. Will they go with a 3rd catcher? (Very possible, in an attempt to be able to use Ryan Doumit more) Drew Butera's on the 40 man roster. Rene Rivera and JR Towles aren't. Will they add an infielder? Carroll and Casilla are both playing terrific right now, but both will need time off. Trevor Plouffe not an ideal backup SS. Tsuyoshi Nishioka in on the 40 man roster. Brian Dozier, Michael Hollimon, Ray Chang, Pedro Florimon are not. Could Ben Revere come back? What do you think?

Courtesy The Birthday Boys: [video=youtube_share;rLeHgE4DI-Y]

1.) I corrected the .487 SLG% Truly don't know where I got that number from. 2.) As for defense, I'm not a big believer in defensive stats yet, but every defensive stat last year had Span at the top when he was hurt. Not saying he would have stayed there, maybe he would have... general comment from me would be that he's a pretty strong defensive centerfield with a decent arm.

Correct... the definition of "productive" would need clarification, but I thought he was a playmaker, game-changer (and if nothing else, entertaining) last year when he didn't get get on base at a good clip. He made things happen, and we all know about the defense (range, not arm). I was actually encouraged by his strong September and looking forward to what he could make happen even getting on base 33% of the time... if he ever got on base more than 35% of the time, he would be very productive.

Yeah, I would say Paul Molitor, but then I would say that Josh Willingham would be probably next, and I wouldn't be surprised if Ryan DOumit is #3 on that list. The Twins (wisely) prefer to stay out of free agency, so their venture there with two hitters this offseason is kind of unusual.

Travis, I think I wrote that he is to talented to sit. In that section, I mentioned his career minor league line, including batting average and OBP. In doing so, I think I wrote that he is too young to call 'just a 4th OF.' If we agree on that, and that he is NOT a right fielder, then the demotion was the correct move. I don't think anyone questions the range he can cover in the outfield. I guess, i'm not sure how we completely disagree.

A work in progress. 4 errors in 9-10 games there so far, but people seem encouraged.

Consider that in each draft, somewhere around 1600 players get drafted. Maybe 50-55% of them sign. Even just analysing the first ten rounds, we're talking about 350-400 players. Can we analyze the draft before the draft? Can we even analyze it 5 or even 10 years later? Probably not. I've looked back 30+ years. It's incredible.

And Mila Kunis with Ashton Kutcher? What's the world coming to!? Strange Grantland Feature, by the way!

I've heard it is down, but there's no way of actually knowing that. I'm working on some draft preview kind of stories too and finding that it's really impossible to project.

You can view the page at http://www.twinsdaily.com/content.php?448-How-Ben-Revere-Got-to-Rochester

When the Twins long 2011 season came to an end, there were a lot of questions. Who would be back? Who would be healthy? However, in general, one of the players who was expected to remain with the Twins was Ben Revere. Throughout the offseason, it was just a given that, even thought he didn’t hit well in 2011, he improved his game in September and his range and speed made up for any other deficiencies. The biggest question early in the offseason was whether the Twins should have Revere play left field or center field with Denard Span playing the other position. The Twins talked about needing to improve defense throughout the offseason, and the thought of Revere and Span roaming left field and centerfield at Target Field was assumed to be part of that. So, how did it get to the point where, last Saturday, the Twins announced Ben Revere was headed to Triple-A? How did Ben Revere get to Rochester? OK, the literal answer is that he had a Sunday afternoon flight from Minneapolis to Rochester, NY. But I think we can all dig a little deeper than that. So many things have happened since then. Each of the following has had at least something to do with Ben Revere being back in AAA. Terry Ryan Reclaims Twins GM Job – When the news came that Bill Smith was losing the GM job and Terry Ryan was taking it back, Ryan did a lot of radio interviews. He was frequently asked about Denard Span and Ben Revere. When speaking of Span, he spoke glowingly about his defense, his arm, his approach at the plate, the pop in his bat, etc. When talking about Revere, it was quite clear that he felt that Revere was maybe a fourth outfielder and needed to improve. Cuddyer/Kubel Replaced by Willingham/Doumit – Although the Twins saved $21 million in this transition, they lose very little on the field. Denard Span is Healthy – Before the concussion issues last year, Denard Span was the top defensive center fielder in the league. He is also a tremendous lead-off hitter who gets on base at a great clip and has enough pop in his bat to accumulate a lot of extra base hits. Even at that point, as spring training began, the assumption was that Span and Revere would team up in left and center with Willingham covering the smaller right field. But a couple of things happened in spring that really reduced the likelihood of playing time for Ben Revere. Chris Parmelee’s Emergence – Parmelee had a strong second half in New Britain, a tremendous debut in September and a strong spring. It was clear that he had won a spot on the team. Justin Morneau as DH – With Parmelee able to play 1B and needing to play every day, it made it much easier to let Morneau get his confidence back as a full-time DH. HOWEVER… The Catchers Need to Play Elsewhere – Ryan Doumit was likely to be the Twins DH most days simply to get his bat in the lineup, but if Morneau is the DH, Doumit needs to play elsewhere. Joe Mauer will likely DH or play 1B when he doesn’t catch. That means that Chris Parmelee may need to play elsewhere. Doumit and Parmelee would not play well in left field but could hold their own in right field (and they got some time there in spring games). Gardenhire really likes Trevor Plouffe in right field. Willingham Feels More Comfortable in Left Field – As all of these things were pushing toward needing to find at bats for several players in right field, Revere included, Josh Willingham suddenly acknowledged that he felt more comfortable in left field. That made sense. I mean, that’s the primary position that he has played in his big league career. But, is it also possible that he moves to left and right field can be a place where Doumit, Plouffe and Parmelee can play? Claiming Clete Thomas – When the Twins had the opportunity to claim Clete Thomas, a guy they had drafted long ago out of high school, they jumped on it. With Thomas, they found a guy who can play all three outfield positions well, has a good arm, and has some power potential. Frankly, Revere's arm (even if it is stronger) is not strong enough for right field. In reality, this is good news for Ben Revere for a couple of reasons: Too Young to Sit – With all of the above bats (Doumit, Parmelee, Plouffe) to try to fit into right field and Span and Willingham in the lineup everyday, where were the at bats for the 23-year-old? In Rochester. Most are in agreement that Joe Benson, Brian Dozier and Chris Parmelee are guys who should be playing every day in Rochester instead of playing one to three times a week in Minnesota. Revere is younger than all three of them. Too Talented to Sit – If there is a belief that Ben Revere’s ceiling is that of a fourth outfielder, then playing three times or less a week is fine, regardless of the age. But how quickly do we forget that he has hit .325/.384/.487 in his minor league career. Although he hit an alarming .267/.310/.309 with the Twins in 480 plate appearances in 2011, it does not mean that is his ceiling. He has about 150 plate appearances in AAA, and there are things he can work on to improve and if there is a need with the Twins, he can come up and be more ready. In three games in Rochester this week, he has already played a game at all three outfield positions. He has made two or three diving catches already. He has also caught a ball in medium-deep centerfield and had a runner tag up and go to third on him. He is getting every day at bats as the team’s leadoff hitter. Instead of sitting on the pine with the Twins, he is getting better, and at the end of the day, that is in the best interest of Ben Revere and of the Minnesota Twins. [ATTACH=CONFIG]674[/ATTACH]

You can view the page at http://www.twinsdaily.com/content.php?445-Wednesday-Night-Game-Notes

I know that most Twins bloggers (myself included) were not a big fan of the Twins signing of Jason Marquis. I get that. However, if you can’t appreciate the emotions that he must have gone through tonight in his first start in Yankees Stadium, in his first start with the Twins, in his first big league start since his daughters ghastly bicycle accident, then I’m really sorry! So, he gave up three runs in the first inning after the Twins scored four in the top of the first. He gave up four runs in five innings and is credited with the Win. All I can say is good for him. And good for Brian Duensing and Jared Burton and Matt Capps. And Justin Morneau hit two home runs. And Josh Willingham’s late double extended his hitting streak. And the Twins have beaten the Yankees again. All is good! Here is a look at the Twins minor league scores and highlights from Wednesday: ROCHESTER 0, EMPIRE STATE (formerly SCRANTON/WILKES-BARRE) 2 In a game that took less than two hours to complete, the Red Wings bats were held in check and it took just one key hit against them to turn the game to a loss. Cole DeVries was terrific in this game. He threw six shutout innings to start the game. He came out for the seventh and gave up three hits. The third was a two-run single off the bat of Steve Pearce (yes, the same guy who spent part of spring training with the Twins). That was about it for the game. Brendan Wise threw a scoreless eighth inning. The Red Wings got the sixth double of the year from Matt Carson and a single from Tsuyoshi Nishioka. Those were the only two hits. Joe Benson had an eventful game. He had the Red Wings lone walk. He had an outfield assist. He was also ejected late in the game after a strikeout. The home plate umpire called him out on a check swing. Benson argued that he should have at least requested the opinion of the first base umpire. After DeVries efforts, the Red Wings starting staff has an ERA of 2.76 in 75 innings this season! It looks like Carlos Gutierrez could be out for an extended time period after learning that he has a strain in his labrum. He will head to Ft. Myers to rehab. Also headed to Ft. Myers will be Brian Dinkelman to get more work in as he is on the Disabled List with a hand injury. NEW BRITAIN 1, PORTLAND 2 The Rock Cats got a great start from Steve Hirschfeld again. The big right-hander threw seven shutout innings. He gave up just three hits, walked none and struckout seven. Blake Martin pitched a scoreless eighth inning in which he struck out two. The Rock Cats managed just three hits. Aaron Hicks was 1-3 with a walk. Yet, entering the bottom of the 9th, the Rock Cats held on to a 1-0 lead. Luis Perdomo came in, and he gave up two runs on two hits and three walks, and the Rock Cats took the loss. Amazingly, it was the first loss of their seven game road trip. Again, it was a very tough loss to Portland, but when you can go 6-1 on a road trip, things could be much worse. Alex Wimmers was skipped in the rotation due to a sore back and a slight strain to his flexor. He is expected to miss just the one start, but with a top prospect (especially a pitching prospect), conservatism is a good thing. FT. MYERS MIRACLE 0, JUPITER 4 The Miracle had their first day off of the season, and I would encourage everyone to check out the first episode of The Miracle Insider! BELOIT 6, KANE COUNTY 3 Unlike the other affiliates, the Snappers had some bats working on Wednesday afternoon. Eddie Rosario was 2-3 with a walk, his fourth double and two RBI. Adam Bryant was 2-4 with a double. Tyler Grimes and Jairo Rodriguez each hit a double as well. Steven Gruver had a strong start. In six innings, he gave up two runs on nine hits and a walk. He struckout three. Nelvin Fuentes gave up a run on two hits and a walk in 1.2 innings. He struckout two. Ryan O’Rourke recorded the save. He got the final four outs. --- Players of the Day for Wednesday, April 18, 2012 Hitter of the Day – Eddie Rosario [ATTACH=CONFIG]668[/ATTACH] Pitcher of the Day – Steve Hirschfeld [ATTACH=CONFIG]669[/ATTACH] --- A Look Ahead – Thursday, April 19, 2012 Schedule Rochester @ Empire State – RHP Sam Deduno New Britain vs New Hampshire – LHP Logan Darnell Ft. Myers vs Bradenton – RHP BJ Hermsen (rematch versus Jameson Taillon) Beloit @ South Bend – RHP Tim Shibuya --- If you have any questions or comments on the Twins minor league system, players, teams, etc., leave them in the Comments and I’ll try to answer them!

Nice 2nd inning for Marquis... would be nice if he can settle down and throw 5 innings tonight. I know, eventually we'll expect more, but for tonight, with all the family there, coming back, having his daughter able to be at the game... the human side has to take over a little. Emotional!

Brett Gardner scratched from the lineup.

Exactly. I'm a fan of Hughes and would loved to have seen him get a chance, but I won't pretend that they're going to miss him. It's just strange because there are so many other moves that would have (in my opinion) made much more sense. (I'm not sure that's a positive for an organization!)

The fact that there has been no word on Bowden AND they found it necessary to DFA a useful player unnecessarily, might mean something. Might mean that the Twins needed to make room for Bowden on the 40 man roster, OR that they plan to add someone like Dozier to the 40 man roster (and call him up) shortly.

Twins Lineup: Denard Span CF Jamey Carroll SS Joe Mauer C Josh Willingham LF Justin Morneau DH Chris Parmelee 1B Sean Burroughs 3B Clete Thomas RF Alexi Casilla 2B Jason Marquis SP Yankees Lineup: Derek Jeter SS Curtis Granderson CF Mark Teixeira 1B Robinson Cano 2B Nick Swisher DH Raul Ibanez RF Eric Chavez 3B Russell Martin C Brett Gardner LF SP: Hiroki Kuroda