Parker Hageman

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Disappointing but not surprising. It was odd that when Terry Ryan was on KFAN today he said there was 'frustration' with Baker because 'there was nothing wrong with him.' Clearly something is wrong.

I'd love to see a study of size of the different fields across the league. Obivously, RF at Target Field is not nearly a spacious as Fenway but it's not as small as Yankee Stadium. I'd like to see where in the grand scheme of things it fits in.

No, 500 innings is not enough of a sample size to state the UZR accuracy. That's not even a season's worth of innings. I would wager that, if given the same amount of innings, he would end up with very similar UZR numbers to Cuddyer. Depending on the velocity/trajectory/etc on the ball's path, plenty of outfielders have pulled up short. With the Metrodome's surface, I believe we've seen more outfielders stop short on balls because of the way it could easily carom off the ground and become an inside the park home run. Cuddyer had a lot of defensive faults but getting to balls in front of him was one of his strong suits - according to Plus/Minus system, he was usually in the positive range one plays that were short but well into the negative marks when it came to deep fly balls.

That's sort of an inaccurate depictions of Doumit's playing time in RF. Prior to 2010, he had manned RF in 334 innings. The commentator may have been referring to that particular season.

FYI: Ryan Doumit's RF "defense" http://minnesota.twins.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=11084785&c_id=mlb

Per Joe Christensen's blog at the Star Tribune, Ron Gardenhire has announced tomorrow's lineup: Looks like an offensively deep lineup considering Chris Parmelee is batting eighth. Defensively? Doumit and Willingham in the corners won't be the greatest coverage team but their bats could compensate for that lack of range. More importantly: BASEBALL'S ALMOST HERE.

In addition to the clubhouses, etc, the Metrodome also allowed patrons to smoke in the Rally Room - a bar in CF which also had 2-for-1 beer specials in the 3rd and 5th innings. Great place to be if the game slipped out of hand.

If Jim Leyland can smoke there, everyone should be able to smoke there.

Phil Mackey confirms that it is indeed AA New Britain to be closer to his daughter.

Having played an umpteen amount of town ball games, you get used to having baseball-themed songs blasted at you. Not being much of a country music fan, I still found Alabama's "Cheap Seats" as one of the more memorable tunes that was pumped into our earholes.

My excuse is that I am taking the following Monday off to attend the home opener, a much, MUCH, MUCH more important event in my book.

Blackburn's ability to rebound and contribute will be crucial to the team's ability to turn things around. Alleviating a suspect bullpen will be one way he can add value to this rotation.

LaValle has since retracted his statement saying Twins officials have said nothing is finalized.

According to LaVelle E Neal, the Twins have optioned Jason Marquis to Rochester, where he'll likely make a few starts before rejoining the team. It's been a tough spring for him as his 7-year-old daughter experienced a horrifying bike injury that put her in a coma. Fortunately, there is good news from the family.

LaVelle has dubbed this one the Mauer Bowl as it pits brother versus brother on the battlefield. I have to admit, it would be a fun game to go see in person. Here's your starting lineups: MIRACLE Daniel Santana, 2B Jairo Perez, 3B Oswaldo Arcia, RF Dan Rohlfing, C Lance Ray, LF Angel Morales, CF Danny Rams, DH Michael Gonzalez, 1B Levi Michael, SS Marty Popham, RHP TWINS Denard Span, CF Alexi Casilla, 2B Joe Mauer, 1B Justin Morneau, DH Josh Willingham, LF Ryan Doumit, C Luke Hughes, 3B Trevor Plouffe, SS Ben Revere, RF Nick Blackburn, RHP

Aaron Gleeman and John Bonnes are organizing a viewing party for Friday's opener. If you are in the Twin Cities - specifically the Hopkins area at the Wild Boar - join Gleeman and the Geek, as they say weird things like "UZR" and "BABIP" during the game to nerd up the joint. More details here. NOTE: I would love to join in the festivities but my desire to remain gainfully employed is an impediment towards me getting all beered up and watching baseball at 2 PM. (I know, right? What is this, Russia?!) I am, however, Tivo-ing the game so if you would kindly refrain from Tweeting any updates until after 4 PM that would be greatly appreciated. Repeat, please stay off all social media until I am able to catch up. Thank you, Parker

I've got some video footage of his outing against the Pirates last week that I could compare to his Reds delivery. Just reflecting back on the game, I'd wager there isn't a delivery change as he threw from the stretch throughout the duration of the game - even when the bases were empty - but I'll give it a comparison to see if anything's been altered.

The ballpark is filled with plenty of baseball-themed music, John Fogarty's 'Centerfield' being an obvious staple. What do you classify as you favorite baseball song? For me, quickly became my favorite baseball-themed song. How about you guys?

Ha. Thank you for pointing out the errors in the piece. You are a big fat winner in my book.

You can view the page at http://twinsdaily.com/content.php?393-Five-things-to-watch-as-you-watch-this-April

While many fans will be focusing their attention on the more mainstream topics such as Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau’s health, Denard Span’s lingering concussion effects and Francisco Liriano’s resurgence, here are five things you can point out to your buddies as you watch games this month to make you seem like a genuine hipster seamhead: (1) Nick Blackburn’s adjustments and repertoire. Much has been made this spring about Blackburn’s shift on the rubber from the first base side to the middle. While this may help him hit a few spots with his sinking fastball that he was not afforded from a few inches to the left, what you should really watch for is his new “over-the-top” arm action that he has transitioned towards. In addition to his health, this might be the biggest attribute for a rebound season in 2012. Why would this have anything influence? A more “over-the-top” arm action would translate into a higher release point and, much like I described with Kyle Waldrop, the higher release point combined with good sink gives hitters less of the ball to hit through the hitting zone and should lead to more ground balls and missed bats. Blackburn’s spring numbers has been impressive, for whatever emphasis you want to put on them. In 17 innings, he’s racked up a decent 12/4 K/BB ratio while allowing just four runs. Perhaps more importantly than those numbers was the pitching work behind them. In addition to getting gobs of grounders according to Phil Mackey’s statistics Blackburn held opponents to a 73% contact rate in Grapefruit League play, a rate that is significantly better than his regular season performance (he has a 88.4% contact rate). The question is, has his healthy arm allowed him to throw his slider again - a pitch he hasn’t thrown with regularly or effectiveness since 2009 - thereby incited more swing and misses this spring? Or has the new arm angle resulted in added movement? Is there some other factor in play? Blackburn’s new release point was on display during this spring’s Yankees broadcast. Unfortunately, MLB.tv did not archive the game in order to properly dissect and compare it to his previous motion. On the other hand, Blackburn is scheduled to pitch on April 9th at the home opener so there will be ample opportunity to begin examining the changes in both his arm action through the video as well as the movement results through pitch f/x system. (2) Alexi Casilla’s left-side leg kick. A week ago I wrote that Twins fans may be surprised at what Casilla may be capable of offensively. This was based on the highly volatile offseason league performance that provides little confidence in basing any conclusion off of: He finished the spring with a .300 average in a little under 50 plate appearances and, surprise!, an ailing hamstring that kept him out of play for the final games of the warm-up circuit. Despite the injury, he’s scheduled to be ready by opening weekend. One of the reasons I cling to some hope for Casilla was his emergence last year. After spending most of 2010 and 2011 performing like the slap-hitting second baseman we’ve come to expect, he made some adjustments to his left-handed swing which had the ball jumping off his bat. From May 1 onward, Casilla hit an impressive .281/.344/.408 in just shy of 300 plate appearances. Needless to say, the post-May 1 Casilla would be a great addition to the Twins lineup. The question is will he show up? Watch Casilla from the left-side of the plate. If he is stepping toward the pitcher prior to the pitch being thrown, he’s using a high-contact but low-impact type of swing that does not engage the lower half. If he is striding after the pitch is thrown, as he did post-May 1 last season, that’s a much more able to produce power (doubles power, let’s not get carried away here) from his legs and hips. (3) Scott Baker’s fastball velocity. After being one of the bright spots in the Twins rotation for half the season last year, because of his barking elbow, Baker will start the 2012 season on the disabled list. Spring has not been kind to him. His fastball’s velocity, the best pitch in his repertoire, had abandoned him, residing at 85-88 miles an hour in camp. That’s a range that has been well-below Baker’s standard average velocity in-season. Dating back to 2007, there were just a handful of outings in which the right-hander fell below the 90 mile per hour mark, most, I suspect, were injury related. [ATTACH=CONFIG]494[/ATTACH] Meanwhile, in 2010, we witnessed what happens when he was unable to control his fastball and he was splattered across the diamond. Perhaps because of both location and the velocity, Baker was pummeled in his limited amount of work this spring – allowing seven hits, two for home runs, while striking out just one. This is disheartening for multiple reasons but biggest is that the promise he flashed in 2011 would be a welcomed addition to this rotation. Baker will make a start on Thursday with the Ft Myers Miracle and, if all goes well, he will be set to rejoin the team. If he makes it back to Minnesota this month, be sure to watch both the radar gun readings as well as where the catcher’s target is and where his fastball ends up. (4) Ryan Doumit’s plate discipline. Earlier this week I documented Doumit’s plate discipline improvements last year in Pittsburgh in conjunction with the increase in walks this spring. Obviously, this may be nothing more than a small sample size occurrence however, keep an eye on his at bats in April. Like Doumit, former Twin Jason Kubel had a similar experience last spring and while it did not translate into more walks during the regular season, Kubel came out and had a torrid first month. In his first 102 plate appearances, Kubel hit .351/.392/.511 with nine doubles and two home runs. Clearly, Kubel was dialed in and recognized what was “his pitch.” Even if his spring walks do not manifest into regular season walks, the meaningless free passes may be a sign that Doumit is seeing the ball well and laying off of breaking balls, off-the-plate fastballs and other trickery from the pitchers. The telling point will be if he is driving the ones that he chooses to swing at. (5) Matt Capps’ new pitch [ATTACH=CONFIG]495[/ATTACH]While watching him warm up a week ago Tuesday at Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota, a stadium which allows fans to saddle up next to the bullpen and view the pitcher’s getting loose from an amazing vantage point, I noticed Capps was tossing a few split-finger fastballs - an offering that was not among his regular arsenal. He’d let a few go and then confer with the bullpen coach about release or movement or whatever. Monitoring from above the pitcher’s mound, you could see that these pitches were moving fairly well down and in to right-handed hitters, a stark difference in comparison to his fastball and slider. For the most part, Capps has been a pitcher who has labored up in the zone. With mostly a fastball-slider combination and a forearm injury to boot, he struggled to (1) get hitters to miss (his swinging strike rate dropped from above 9% to 6% in 2011) and (2) getting ground balls (his ground ball rate plummeted from 50% to 40%). When he was on the mound, the bats were loud. The hope is that the splitty will provide a bit of speed deception as well as enough movement to entice a few more swing and misses. Unfortunately, new pitches are not always a magic elixir for what ails you. A year ago, Jose Mijares and the coaching staff raved about his new two-seamed fastball that was supposedly going to help him battled right-handed hitters better. That did not pan out so well for the newly minted Kansas City Royal. Most spring on-lookers have agreed that opponents have continued to make noise off of Capps, including nailing four home runs off of him. This may be a byproduct of him “trying new things” out there - including incorporating his splitty – but, if this continues into April, the more ominous question is if his arm is 100%. Watch for more two-strike splitters from Capps this April. The only impediment is if hitters continue to obliterate the ball before he gets to two strikes.