Brandon Warne

Frustration is a word that has followed Twins right-hander Mike Pelfrey around for a while. Whether it was how he pitched on his road back from Tommy John surgery, to the surgery itself or even just the puzzling year he had last year where he gave the team virtually nothing in terms of production, the word frustration has been on the front burner as it pertains to Pelfrey. But don’t think for a second that the pitcher himself isn’t frustrated, too. “That’s all I’ve ever really known is to go out there and pitch,” Pelfrey said. “Whether I’m right or not, I want to pitch.” And it was that mentality that willed him back from elbow surgery less in less than a year. In fact, he was throwing in spring training games a lot earlier than that. “We’re in spring training and it’s been nine-and-a-half months and I’m pitching in a game, and I’m thinking ‘Man, I worked my butt off, but this is way too early,’” Pelfrey said of 2013, his first season with the Twins after spending seven seasons in Queens with the New York Mets. “But I felt OK doing it.” Pelfrey admits he probably wouldn’t have come back as fast as he did knowing all he does now, but he showed enough in stretches in the second half of 2013 to convince the Twins to re-sign him to a two-year deal which expires at the end of this season. To say early returns on that deal were iffy would be putting it nicely, as Pelfrey gave the Twins just five winless starts with a 7.99 ERA before hitting the disabled list after an ugly May Day start against the Dodgers. He wouldn’t see the big leagues again all season, and to hear Pelfrey tell it, he was just about ready to be finished. “If I didn’t have one more year left (on his current deal), I would have walked off last year on my rehab assignment in Rochester,” Pelfrey said. “And I said this year, if I don’t perform and stay healthy, I’m coming home. This is going to be it for me in 2015.” He’s not close to crossing that bridge right now, however. In fact, and this probably won’t come as any surprise, Pelfrey says this is the best he’s felt in his third year with the club. “It I could go back, I’d have probably taken a step back and I probably would have said something at the beginning of last year. I’d have said ‘Hey, I’m not right. I don’t know what’s wrong, but I’m totally not right.’ But right now, this is definitely the best I’ve felt.” And while underlying peripheral statistics say otherwise, Pelfrey’s early-season results have been generally positive. Not only has he been among MLB’s best in terms of added velocity in early-season action, but he’s returned to his heavy groundballing ways — a career-best 58.3 percent rate as of this writing — thanks to a new program that he picked up in the offseason. “I did a lot of shoulder strengthening stuff this offseason through a weighted ball program, and I think it’s really helped,” Pelfrey said. The program is the brainchild of Dr. Tom House, who is better known for his time as Texas Rangers pitching coach 20 years ago as well as his stint with USC baseball and his tutelage of Rinku Singh and Dinesh Patel, who are better known as the Indian pitchers from “Million Dollar Arm.” House’s methods are unconventional — he’s famous for having his pitchers throw footballs, something Pelfrey said is part of his program but not part of his in-season regimen — but he has gotten results, and he seems to have Pelfrey’s endorsement. “This is the first time I’ve ever done it,” Pelfrey said of the program which is called Velocity Plus Arm Care. “One day I went and looked it up and paid $500 just to do it. They sent me a program and these balls. I did it religiously, and I think it’s a big thing.” The first thing Pelfrey noticed in the spring after putting in the work with the program was not only how good he felt but the movement of his pitches. “For the first time in a couple years, I didn’t have to make the ball move,” Pelfrey said. “It was just doing it on its own.” There’s little doubt that increased movement has led to Pelfrey’s increase in ground balls, something that’ll remain a key issue for him as long as his strikeout rate remains below the league average. In the end, all Pelfrey wants to do is pitch. He was admittedly frustrated about the potential move to the bullpen, but he said that stemmed from frustration after all the work he put in to get healthy and work as a starter. That would appear to just be a part of Pelfrey’s makeup as a competitor, because by his own admission, all he wants to do is get on the mound. “Everybody wants to talk about the money and all that stuff,” Pelfrey said. “I couldn’t care less. I want to pitch.” — TWINS BY THE NUMBERS .306 – The Twins’ team wOBA — a number that takes all offensive contributions and adjusts them into a tidy little number that is scaled to on-base percentage. The Twins’ latest surge has them up to 22nd across the league, after languishing at the bottom in early-season play. 4 – Just four teams have fewer steals than the Twins with 10 (Dodgers, Rockies, White Sox and Nationals). The Twins have also been caught on nine occasions, for a paltry 52.6 percent rate of success. Generally speaking, teams would ideally steal bases at about a 75 percent clip to make it worth the risk. 21.1 percent – The Twins’ team strikeout rate, which is the ninth-highest in baseball. .317 – The Twins’ collective BABIP (batting average on balls in play). This is generally a pretty good indicator of batted-ball luck. At .317, the Twins stand a pretty good chance to regress back to the mean in this respect. 10 – Number of intentional walks the offense has drawn as a unit. Only five teams have drawn more. 8 – Number of bunt hits for the Twins — No. 1 across the MLB. This content originally appeared at Cold Omaha here. Please click through to support it.

Trevor May’s career got off to an inauspicious start. After wearing out Triple-A pretty well — 2.85 ERA, 8.6 K/9, 1.16 WHIP — May was summoned for an Aug. 9 start last season against the A’s. May only lasted two innings, struck out none and walked seven as just 28 of his 63 pitches went for strikes. Image courtesy of Brad Rempel, USA Today Trevor May’s career got off to an inauspicious start. After wearing out Triple-A pretty well — 2.85 ERA, 8.6 K/9, 1.16 WHIP — May was summoned for an Aug. 9 start last season against the A’s. May only lasted two innings, struck out none and walked seven as just 28 of his 63 pitches went for strikes. May didn’t complete five innings until his third start, and didn’t pick up a win until his fifth. As August came to an end, May’s ERA sat at 10.42. September was markedly better — if still not perfect — for May, as he posted a 6.08 ERA with 29 strikeouts and eight walks in 26.2 innings. Over his final four starts, he threw at least 90 pitches in each, and never fewer than 60 strikes. If you wanted the breakdown of May’s September versus his August, here it is: he threw nearly the same number of balls (non-strikes) in August (151) as September (157). The difference is, he threw nearly 80 more strikes in September. For a guy who has at times had issues throwing strikes in his career, that’s a reasonably big difference. May himself will tell you he felt he turned the corner in September, most specifically when preparing for his final start against the Tigers. May didn’t mince words either, as a guy who isn’t shy about saying what he feels. “I have a distinct memory of going into that start in Detroit kind of being like ‘I’m sick of letting guys dictate how I pitch. I’m really kind of tired of this Tigers team having the best time ever when they’re hitting,’” May said of his preparation for a six inning, seven strikeout performance against the Tigers. May was handed his sixth loss, but from a statistical standpoint, it was probably his second-best start of his cup of coffee with the big club. May considers that a jump-off point for his offseason. “I just wanted to go after them,” he noted. “They got me a little bit, but I thought I had them guessing and some guys swinging through things they thought they were going to hit.” After that start, May said he realized he had run out of ‘physical gas’, and that he made a promise to himself that the poise, confidence and aggressiveness was going to be there coming into 2015 because, as he said “You can’t pitch without it.” May doesn’t dodge questions about his control issues in the minors, and even last season. “I’m past the point of having jitters or just off my debut or all that stuff,” he said. “It’s time to get the job done.” May’s control woes were two-fold, at some points there were issues he could fix mechanically, and at other times it was just mind versus body. “There were times my body simply wouldn’t do what my brain said,” May noted. “But the vast majority of the times my big walk games were because I had a little bit of fear of throwing the ball over the plate. I’m not shy about that; it was happening.” But it hasn’t happened this year; in fact, through five starts since his call-up, he’s walked just five batters, and just four unintentionally. May made 29 appearances last year (28 starts), and walked four or more batters on six occasions — a rather large adjustment. May attributes that to not only a philosophical change, but facing that fear head-on and pummeling it into submission. “Just being relentless,” May said of his new mentality. “Just making them beat you 100 percent of the time is, I think, a good philosophy for me to have.” Since May is relatively new to the Twins landscape, he broke down his repertoire a little bit as well. He throws a fastball and a changeup as his strikeout pitches — his words — while the curve has been something he’s been working on with improved success in between-games action, whether it’s playing catch or side sessions. BrooksBaseball.net credits him with throwing 21 curves in Tuesday night’s game, which is more than any other two starts this year combined, so clearly that offering has evolved a bit. Each pitch for May has a different usage, like you’ll find with pretty much every pitcher. The two-seamer — termed a sinker via Brooks’ tracking logarithm — is what he considers his groundball pitch, which the statistics prove to be true with a 58.3 percent groundball rate in his brief big league career. Incidentally, the slider has proven heavy with a 50 percent groundball rate as well, so even though May is predominantly a fly ball pitcher — he says it’s due to the run on his four-seamer — he has a couple offerings that can kill worms if he finds himself in such a situation. The pitch we honed in on in discussions was the changeup, however. May has been a power pitcher as he’s risen through the ranks, but the changeup is something he’s wanted to reaffirm, and has done so with gusto this season. Thus far in his time in the majors, May has compiled a stellar 19.4 percent whiff rate on the pitch, a clean 10 percent-plus more than any of his other pitches. So while the fastball might be a strikeout pitch in May’s eyes, the changeup is without a doubt his putaway pitch. He’s keenly aware of it, too. In fact, future teammate Torii Hunter approached him after the Detroit start last year gushing about it. “You got me with the changeup,” Hunter admitted. “I couldn’t see it at all.” Kurt Suzuki was on board as well, and asked May early in the spring if he was “ready to throw some changeups this year?” May’s breakdown of the changeup is rather intriguing. “It moves exactly like my four-seamer does,” May said. “It’s an illusion. With the changeup, some guys get good action. For example, Gibby throws his as a sinker, so they see sinker action. So his action actually makes his changeup better. I kind of have a riding fastball as it is, so guys kinda have a tendency to swing under it because it’s going up over bats. But then the changeup is the same but it stays down and goes under there. It’s kind of an optical illusion, that’s what makes it so good.” The nuance of the changeup is one of baseball’s great mysteries, at least to the casual fan. What might be difficult to understand for someone who hasn’t faced a good one is that it’s nearly imperceptible if the pitcher throws it with the proper motion and mechanics. Essentially, it’s a pitch that’s designed to look like a fastball out of the hand — same arm speed, same arm slot — but the deception is when you find yourself finishing your swing as the ball crosses the plate. “It’s one of the harder pitches to throw,” May said. “I think fans see a lot of spin and they think breaking balls are the hardest thing to hit because it’s moving up or down or whatever. But if it’s picked up early, it’s not as hard to hit as a good changeup. A guy with a good changeup, if you can’t see, if it looks exactly the same and you can’t determine how fast it’s coming at you, you’re simply not going to hit it hard.” Well, as long as May keeps dealing with his changeup, it seems quite likely he can keep this early-season roll going. The Twins obviously thought well enough of his start to keep him in favor of veteran Tommy Milone, so maybe there’s some fire to go with May’s smoke here. This post originated at Cold Omaha. Please consider clicking through to support this content. View full article

The short answer is no. The long answer is nooooooooo.

Yes I do

Trevor May’s career got off to an inauspicious start. After wearing out Triple-A pretty well — 2.85 ERA, 8.6 K/9, 1.16 WHIP — May was summoned for an Aug. 9 start last season against the A’s. May only lasted two innings, struck out none and walked seven as just 28 of his 63 pitches went for strikes. May didn’t complete five innings until his third start, and didn’t pick up a win until his fifth. As August came to an end, May’s ERA sat at 10.42. September was markedly better — if still not perfect — for May, as he posted a 6.08 ERA with 29 strikeouts and eight walks in 26.2 innings. Over his final four starts, he threw at least 90 pitches in each, and never fewer than 60 strikes. If you wanted the breakdown of May’s September versus his August, here it is: he threw nearly the same number of balls (non-strikes) in August (151) as September (157). The difference is, he threw nearly 80 more strikes in September. For a guy who has at times had issues throwing strikes in his career, that’s a reasonably big difference. May himself will tell you he felt he turned the corner in September, most specifically when preparing for his final start against the Tigers. May didn’t mince words either, as a guy who isn’t shy about saying what he feels. “I have a distinct memory of going into that start in Detroit kind of being like ‘I’m sick of letting guys dictate how I pitch. I’m really kind of tired of this Tigers team having the best time ever when they’re hitting,’” May said of his preparation for a six inning, seven strikeout performance against the Tigers. May was handed his sixth loss, but from a statistical standpoint, it was probably his second-best start of his cup of coffee with the big club. May considers that a jump-off point for his offseason. “I just wanted to go after them,” he noted. “They got me a little bit, but I thought I had them guessing and some guys swinging through things they thought they were going to hit.” After that start, May said he realized he had run out of ‘physical gas’, and that he made a promise to himself that the poise, confidence and aggressiveness was going to be there coming into 2015 because, as he said “You can’t pitch without it.” May doesn’t dodge questions about his control issues in the minors, and even last season. “I’m past the point of having jitters or just off my debut or all that stuff,” he said. “It’s time to get the job done.” May’s control woes were two-fold, at some points there were issues he could fix mechanically, and at other times it was just mind versus body. “There were times my body simply wouldn’t do what my brain said,” May noted. “But the vast majority of the times my big walk games were because I had a little bit of fear of throwing the ball over the plate. I’m not shy about that; it was happening.” But it hasn’t happened this year; in fact, through five starts since his call-up, he’s walked just five batters, and just four unintentionally. May made 29 appearances last year (28 starts), and walked four or more batters on six occasions — a rather large adjustment. May attributes that to not only a philosophical change, but facing that fear head-on and pummeling it into submission. “Just being relentless,” May said of his new mentality. “Just making them beat you 100 percent of the time is, I think, a good philosophy for me to have.” Since May is relatively new to the Twins landscape, he broke down his repertoire a little bit as well. He throws a fastball and a changeup as his strikeout pitches — his words — while the curve has been something he’s been working on with improved success in between-games action, whether it’s playing catch or side sessions. BrooksBaseball.net credits him with throwing 21 curves in Tuesday night’s game, which is more than any other two starts this year combined, so clearly that offering has evolved a bit. Each pitch for May has a different usage, like you’ll find with pretty much every pitcher. The two-seamer — termed a sinker via Brooks’ tracking logarithm — is what he considers his groundball pitch, which the statistics prove to be true with a 58.3 percent groundball rate in his brief big league career. Incidentally, the slider has proven heavy with a 50 percent groundball rate as well, so even though May is predominantly a fly ball pitcher — he says it’s due to the run on his four-seamer — he has a couple offerings that can kill worms if he finds himself in such a situation. The pitch we honed in on in discussions was the changeup, however. May has been a power pitcher as he’s risen through the ranks, but the changeup is something he’s wanted to reaffirm, and has done so with gusto this season. Thus far in his time in the majors, May has compiled a stellar 19.4 percent whiff rate on the pitch, a clean 10 percent-plus more than any of his other pitches. So while the fastball might be a strikeout pitch in May’s eyes, the changeup is without a doubt his putaway pitch. He’s keenly aware of it, too. In fact, future teammate Torii Hunter approached him after the Detroit start last year gushing about it. “You got me with the changeup,” Hunter admitted. “I couldn’t see it at all.” Kurt Suzuki was on board as well, and asked May early in the spring if he was “ready to throw some changeups this year?” May’s breakdown of the changeup is rather intriguing. “It moves exactly like my four-seamer does,” May said. “It’s an illusion. With the changeup, some guys get good action. For example, Gibby throws his as a sinker, so they see sinker action. So his action actually makes his changeup better. I kind of have a riding fastball as it is, so guys kinda have a tendency to swing under it because it’s going up over bats. But then the changeup is the same but it stays down and goes under there. It’s kind of an optical illusion, that’s what makes it so good.” The nuance of the changeup is one of baseball’s great mysteries, at least to the casual fan. What might be difficult to understand for someone who hasn’t faced a good one is that it’s nearly imperceptible if the pitcher throws it with the proper motion and mechanics. Essentially, it’s a pitch that’s designed to look like a fastball out of the hand — same arm speed, same arm slot — but the deception is when you find yourself finishing your swing as the ball crosses the plate. “It’s one of the harder pitches to throw,” May said. “I think fans see a lot of spin and they think breaking balls are the hardest thing to hit because it’s moving up or down or whatever. But if it’s picked up early, it’s not as hard to hit as a good changeup. A guy with a good changeup, if you can’t see, if it looks exactly the same and you can’t determine how fast it’s coming at you, you’re simply not going to hit it hard.” Well, as long as May keeps dealing with his changeup, it seems quite likely he can keep this early-season roll going. The Twins obviously thought well enough of his start to keep him in favor of veteran Tommy Milone, so maybe there’s some fire to go with May’s smoke here. This post originated at Cold Omaha. Please consider clicking through to support this content.

The Minnesota Twins promoted well-regarded prospect Eddie Rosario from Triple-A Rochester on Monday. Rosario wasn’t in uniform in time to start the game, and ultimately didn’t get in as the Twins eked out a close 8-7 win. The Minnesota Twins promoted well-regarded prospect Eddie Rosario from Triple-A Rochester on Monday. Rosario wasn’t in uniform in time to start the game, and ultimately didn’t get in as the Twins eked out a close 8-7 win. Rosario, a two-time top-100 prospect according to Baseball Prospectus, was hitting just .242/.280/.370 at Rochester, leaving some to question why Aaron Hicks didn’t get the call instead due to his superior statistics. Manager Paul Molitor suggested it was not necessarily a long-term solution, which might have in turn led to a more permanent option being selected from the Red Wings. “He’s gonna get a chance to play in the short term,” Molitor noted. — The move that corresponded with Rosario’s promotion was putting outfielder Oswaldo Arcia on the disabled list with a right hip flexor strain. The injury isn’t entirely dissimilar from what forced Phil Hughes from his previous start, but perhaps just a bit more severe. Arcia said he first felt it when fielding a ball in the outfield and making a throw on Sunday, and it again seized up on him when he poked a single in a later at-bat. “When I tried to run hard, oh!” he colorfully quipped while talking to reporters in the clubhouse Monday afternoon. Arcia moved about with a considerable limp, and took a bit of ribbing from the team’s special assistant Tony Oliva, who is part of the uniformed personnel before games, and is no stranger to lower body injuries. Terry Ryan said he doesn’t expect an extended stay on the disabled list for Arcia. “I would hope after 15 days he’d be plenty ready to go,” Ryan said. “I don’t think anybody in there medical-wise is all that worried It’ll be one of those longstanding deals.” Arcia intimated to reporters before the game that he figured he’d be good to go in seven-to-10 days. — Also in the discussion for call-up in Arcia’s stead were Hicks (.289/.375/.494), Josmil Pinto (.299/.382/.403) and even Eric Fryer, who has been quite good (15-for-27 to start the season) in limited time splitting reps behind the plate in Rochester with Pinto. Ryan’s reasoning for possibly bringing up a catcher was that it would allow Chris Herrmann the flexibility to play in the outfield as well, but the team ultimately opted against it because both Rosario and Hicks offered the added flexibility of being able to handle center field. In that sense, it really seems as though the final decision came down to Rosario v. Hicks, with the Twins deciding they wanted to get a quick look at Rosario in his first cup of coffee in the big leagues. “This will be an opportunity to get his feet wet up here and see what it’s all about,” Ryan said of Rosario. “We’ll see how he responds and see what we’ve got.” Both Ryan and Molitor were complimentary of Hicks and Pinto as well, suggesting that this was by no means an easy decision. “Aaron’s doing fine,” Molitor said. “I’ve heard some really good things about him. His day could come soon as well.” Ryan added, “If this was a lockdown decision, you guys wouldn’t even be asking. But it wasn’t, we just haven’t had any outfielders go down recently.” — OLD FRIEND UPDATE Sam Fuld pinch ran for the A’s in the ninth inning after starting the game on the bench and is hitting just .216/.278/.341 in the early going while playing almost exclusively in center field. The plan was for Fuld and Craig Gentry to split time out there, but with Coco Crisp shelved with an elbow injury to start the season — he’s currently on a rehab assignment — both players have seen a good chunk of time, with Gentry mostly in left and Rule 5 player Mark Canha mixing in as well. Catcher Drew Butera was designated for assignment by the Los Angeles Angels after hitting just .190/.190/.190 in 21 plate appearances spanning 10 games. The 31-year-old Butera will have the option of refusing the assignment to the minor leagues should it come to that, but for now he’s been passed over by Carlos Perez as the primary backup to starting catcher Chris Iannetta. — TRIVIA Who did Joe Mauer hit his first career home run off? — AROUND THE AFFILIATES Rochester (14-9): Idle on Monday. Alex Meyer went seven innings, allowing just three earned runs with six strikeouts and four walks in Sunday’s win over Norfolk. Old friend Chris Parmelee (0-for-3, two walks) batted third for the Tides. Chattanooga (13-11): Byron Buxton continued his red-hot tear with a two-run walkoff home run in the bottom of the ninth to give the Lookouts a 2-0 win over Jacksonville. Zack Jones had pitched a scoreless ninth with two strikeouts and a pair of hits and ultimately got the win. Buxton’s home run and an earlier single from Sano accounted for all of the Lookouts’ hits for the day. Fort Myers (9-16): The Miracle’s woes continued, as they were held to just five hits as Matt Benedict, Isaac Sanchez and Brett McKinney of Bradenton held Fort Myers scoreless. Recently-promoted outfielder Zach Granite was the only Miracle player with more than one hit (2-for-4). Cedar Rapids (14-11): The Kernels scored the game’s final six runs en route to a 9-3 win over homestanding Wisconsin. The Kernels pounded out five doubles and a triple, with T.J. White (3-for-4) and Max Murphy (2-for-4) leading the way. Jared Wilson tossed six strong innings with seven strikeouts and three earned runs, and Zach Tillery took it the rest of the way, fanning four with just one hit allowed over the final three frames. — Speaking of Buxton — who was not in consideration for the roster opening vacated by Arcia, Ryan and Molitor both noted on Monday — it’s worth noting that this is a young man who is on an absolute tear. This is a guy who was hitting exactly his listed weight (.190) after play on April 26. But from April 27 to May 3 — so not yet including Monday’s heroics — Buxton hit .483/.543/.828 with two doubles and four triples over that seven-game span. That brought his season line up to .283/.357/.506, which is much more Buxton-like and could signify that the rust accrued over a mostly-lost 2014 season is dissipating. The Twins won’t tip their hand on plans for the uber-talented youngster, but reading between the lines, the club won’t wait a second longer than necessary once he is deemed ready. — BY THE NUMBERS 0 – Number of walks issued by Glen Perkins in 12 innings of work so far this season. 0 – Also the number of walks drawn by shortstop Danny Santana before he coaxed a four-pitch walk in the eighth. Santana was the last of 180 ‘qualified’ players in the big leagues to draw a walk this season. Santana and Jordan Schafer were the only two Twins to draw walks on the night; they came into the game with two walks combined over 150 plate appearances. 0 – Number of stolen bases for Jordan Schafer in three attempts. 0 – Number of teams striking out fewer batters than the Twins pitching staff, which entered play Monday at 5.3. The next worst — Texas — is still a full strikeout better at 6.4. 0 – Similarly, no teams came into Monday with a worse xFIP than the Twins at 4.60. In short, some numbers don’t believe the Twins’ team ERA of 4.03 — 19th league wide — is sustainable. Only time will tell. — TRIVIA ANSWER Joe Mauer homered off Detroit reliever Esteban Yan on June 6, 2004 — a three-run homer that gave the Twins the lead in the bottom of the eighth in an eventual 6-5 win. View full article

Too steep for me and the Brewers wouldn't want a deal with three catchers in it, I'm sure. Totally justifiable for the Brewers to ask for that, but it just isn't a good match I don't think.

The Minnesota Twins promoted well-regarded prospect Eddie Rosario from Triple-A Rochester on Monday. Rosario wasn’t in uniform in time to start the game, and ultimately didn’t get in as the Twins eked out a close 8-7 win. Rosario, a two-time top-100 prospect according to Baseball Prospectus, was hitting just .242/.280/.370 at Rochester, leaving some to question why Aaron Hicks didn’t get the call instead due to his superior statistics. Manager Paul Molitor suggested it was not necessarily a long-term solution, which might have in turn led to a more permanent option being selected from the Red Wings. “He’s gonna get a chance to play in the short term,” Molitor noted. — The move that corresponded with Rosario’s promotion was putting outfielder Oswaldo Arcia on the disabled list with a right hip flexor strain. The injury isn’t entirely dissimilar from what forced Phil Hughes from his previous start, but perhaps just a bit more severe. Arcia said he first felt it when fielding a ball in the outfield and making a throw on Sunday, and it again seized up on him when he poked a single in a later at-bat. “When I tried to run hard, oh!” he colorfully quipped while talking to reporters in the clubhouse Monday afternoon. Arcia moved about with a considerable limp, and took a bit of ribbing from the team’s special assistant Tony Oliva, who is part of the uniformed personnel before games, and is no stranger to lower body injuries. Terry Ryan said he doesn’t expect an extended stay on the disabled list for Arcia. “I would hope after 15 days he’d be plenty ready to go,” Ryan said. “I don’t think anybody in there medical-wise is all that worried it’ll be one of those longstanding deals.” Arcia intimated to reporters before the game that he figured he’d be good to go in seven-to-10 days. — Also in the discussion for call-ups in Arcia’s stead were Hicks (.289/.375/.494), Josmil Pinto (.299/.382/.403) and even Eric Fryer, who has been quite good (15-for-27 to start the season) in limited time splitting reps behind the plate in Rochester with Pinto. Ryan’s reasoning for possibly bringing up a catcher was that it would allow Chris Herrmann the flexibility to play in the outfield as well, but the team ultimately opted against it because both Rosario and Hicks offered the added flexibility of being able to handle center field. In that sense, it really seems as though the final decision came down to Rosario v. Hicks, with the Twins deciding they wanted to get a quick look at Rosario in his first cup of coffee in the big leagues. “This will be an opportunity to get his feet wet up here and see what it’s all about,” Ryan said of Rosario. “We’ll see how he responds and see what we’ve got.” Both Ryan and Molitor were complimentary of Hicks and Pinto as well, suggesting that this was by no means an easy decision. “Aaron’s doing fine,” Molitor said. “I’ve heard some really good things about him. His day could come soon as well.” Ryan added, “If this was a lockdown decision, you guys wouldn’t even be asking. But it wasn’t, we just haven’t had any outfielders go down recently.” — OLD FRIEND UPDATE Sam Fuld pinch ran for the A’s in the ninth inning after starting the game on the bench and is hitting just .216/.278/.341 in the early going while playing almost exclusively in center field. The plan was for Fuld and Craig Gentry to split time out there, but with Coco Crisp shelved with an elbow injury to start the season — he’s currently on a rehab assignment — both players have seen a good chunk of time with Gentry mostly in left and Rule 5 player Mark Canha mixing in as well. Catcher Drew Butera was designated for assignment by the Los Angeles Angels after hitting just .190/.190/.190 in 21 plate appearances spanning 10 games. The 31-year-old Butera will have the option of refusing the assignment to the minor leagues should it come to that, but for now he’s been passed over by Carlos Perez as the primary backup to starting catcher Chris Iannetta. — TRIVIA Who did Joe Mauer hit his first career home run off? — AROUND THE AFFILIATES Rochester (14-9): Idle. Alex Meyer went seven innings, allowing just three earned runs with six strikeouts and four walks in Sunday’s win over Norfolk. Old friend Chris Parmelee (0-for-3, two walks) batted third for the Tides. Chattanooga (13-11): Byron Buxton continued his red-hot tear with a two-run walkoff home run in the bottom of the ninth to give the Lookouts a 2-0 win over Jacksonville. Zack Jones had pitched a scoreless ninth with two strikeouts and a pair of hits and ultimately got the win. Buxton’s home run and an earlier single from Sano accounted for all of the Lookouts’ hits for the day. Fort Myers (9-16): The Miracle’s woes continued, as they were held to just five hits as Matt Benedict, Isaac Sanchez and Brett McKinney of Bradenton held Fort Myers scoreless. Recently-promoted outfielder Zach Granite was the only Miracle player with more than one hit (2-for-4). Cedar Rapids (14-11): The Kernels scored the game’s final six runs en route to a 9-3 win over homestanding Wisconsin. The Kernels pounded out five doubles and a triple, with T.J. White (3-for-4) and Max Murphy (2-for-4) leading the way. Jared Wilson tossed six strong innings with seven strikeouts and three earned runs, and Zach Tillery took it the rest of the way, fanning four with just one hit allowed over the final three frames. — Speaking of Buxton — who was not in consideration for the roster opening vacated by Arcia, Ryan and Molitor both noted on Monday — it’s worth noting that this is a young man who is on an absolute tear. This is a guy who was hitting exactly his listed weight (.190) after play on April 26. But from April 27 to May 3 — so not yet including Monday’s heroics — Buxton hit .483/.543/.828 with two doubles and four triples over that seven-game span. That brought his season line up to .283/.357/.506, which is much more Buxton-like and could signify that the rust accrued over a mostly-lost 2014 season is dissipating. The Twins won’t tip their hand on plans for the uber-talented youngster, but reading between the lines, the club won’t wait a second longer than necessary once he is deemed ready. — BY THE NUMBERS 0 – Number of walks issued by Glen Perkins in 12 innings of work so far this season. 0 – Also the number of walks drawn by shortstop Danny Santana before he coaxed a four-pitch walk in the eighth. Santana was the last of 180 ‘qualified’ players in the big leagues to draw a walk this season. Santana and Jordan Schafer were the only two Twins to draw walks on the night; they came into the game with two walks combined over 150 plate appearances. 0 – Number of stolen bases for Jordan Schafer in three attempts. 0 – Number of teams striking out fewer batters than the Twins pitching staff, which entered play Monday at 5.3. The next worst — Texas — is still a full strikeout better at 6.4. 0 – Similarly, no teams came into Monday with a worse xFIP than the Twins at 4.60. In short, some numbers don’t believe the Twins’ team ERA of 4.03 — 19th league wide — is sustainable. Only time will tell. — TRIVIA ANSWER Joe Mauer homered off Detroit reliever Esteban Yan on June 6, 2004 — a three-run homer that gave the Twins the lead in the bottom of the eighth in an eventual 6-5 win. This post originated at Cold Omaha here, please click through to give us a read there as well.

While I would also -- even as an impartial writer -- prefer to see the kids, I can sort of see the blueprint here. It's easier to go to the vets, cut them loose, and make the kids earn it. As long as it doesn't become a Sidney Ponson/Livan Hernandez type of thing, I don't think it's terrible. I wasn't a Shane Robinson guy before, and I'm still not going to say he's a part of the future, but as a fourth outfielder he's not too bad. Sometimes you find a piece like that. I think Terry Ryan has a special eye for that type of player.

These are my favorite things to write, and I like to think if it's something I find interesting, a lot of other people might too. Thanks for your support (and reading!)

The Twins announced a pair of roster moves following Friday night’s game. With Ricky Nolasco (right elbow inflammation) and Brian Duensing (right intercostal strain) set to be activated, the Twins needed to make a pair of moves to free up spots. The Twins announced a pair of roster moves following Friday night’s game. With Ricky Nolasco (right elbow inflammation) and Brian Duensing (right intercostal strain) set to be activated, the Twins needed to make a pair of moves to free up spots. Caleb Thielbar was essentially sent down in favor of Duensing. Thielbar made six appearances spanning five innings in his stint with the Twins, striking out five and walking none while allowing three earned runs (5.40 ERA). The other, perhaps more surprising move, was sending left-handed starter Tommy Milone to Rochester. Relegated to the bullpen just a day earlier, Milone’s fate was ultimately sealed when the Twins decided not only to keep Trevor May up, but that it would be better for the veteran lefty to remain stretched out as a starter rather than work out of the bullpen. These moves also grant newly-promoted right-handers Ryan Pressly and Michael Tonkin potentially brief reprieves from being sent back to Rochester. Pressly arrived in Minnesota on Friday afternoon after the club placed right-handed reliever Tim Stauffer on the disabled list earlier in the day with the same injury Duensing had — right intercostal strain — while Tonkin threw all of one pitch on Thursday evening in inducing a foul pop off the bat of Tyler Flowers in his one-third of an inning of work. How long Pressly and Tonkin stay up may not only be determined by how well they pitch, or how soon Stauffer and Casey Fien can return, but also how well a couple of relievers pitch at Triple-A as well. A pair of righties — Lester Oliveros and A.J. Achter — have also turned heads, and could be a part of the next wave of Red Wings to come up should the Twins need help. Oliveros — who is not presently on the 40-man roster — has been extremely impressive for Rochester through Thursday’s action, posting a 1.69 ERA and 21 strikeouts in 10.2 innings (17.7 K/9) in six appearances. A source relayed to 105 The Ticket that Oliveros had been throwing in the mid-90s recently on a consistent basis and hit as high as 96 mph when he made a spot start in a recent doubleheader. Despite the non-roster status, GM Terry Ryan said Oliveros was in the consideration but ultimately was passed over. “The roster (situation) didn’t make the difference,” Ryan said. “I think it’s consistency. You saw in spring training; he didn’t hardly pitch. He was in the conversation though. So was Achter.” Achter’s numbers aren’t as eye-popping as Oliveros’ — 3.72 ERA, 0.83 WHIP, 8.4 K/9 — but he has seen plenty of late-inning action, working the seventh inning or later in seven of his nine appearances. Ultimately, both figure to see some bullpen time with the big club before season’s end, as this depth ought to work to the club’s advantage. Trivia Against which pitcher does Torii Hunter have the most home runs in his career (five)? Injury Update Starter Phil Hughes — who left Thursday’s start with a mild left hip flexor strain — threw his usual bullpen on Friday and pronounced himself ready to start on Monday. Incidentally, that date lines up with a matchup against Oakland’s Jesse Hahn on “Hughes the Force” day, when the Twins will give away a Hughes Star Wars-themed Bobblehead doll. Old Friend Alert Pitcher Andrew Albers was called up by the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday to fill the roster spot of the departed Daniel Norris. Albers had a 1-3 record with a 3.09 ERA and 4.6 K/9 with the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons. Albers’ stay in the big leagues — his first since 2013 with the Twins — was short, as he was sent back to Triple-A after the game. Samuel Deduno made a spot start for the Houston Astros Friday night against Roenis Elias and the Mariners, and to his credit did a pretty nice job all things considered. Deduno lasted four innings (61 pitches, 41 strikes) with four strikeouts, two walks and just one earned run on three hits. The Astros ultimately won, 4-3. Chris Colabello was honored as the International League player of the month for April. In 20 games, Colabello batted .338/.427/.592 with five home runs and 16 RBIs. This was Colabello’s second time receiving the honor, as he was also honored in June 2013 with the Rochester Red Wings. Reliever Alex Burnett was released from his Mexican League team Guerreros de Oaxaca roughly 10 days ago after posting a 6.23 ERA (12.5 K/9) in seven appearances spanning 8.2 innings. Burnett spent the bulk of the 2014 season with Sioux City of the American Association -- think St. Paul Saints -- as a teammate of Rene Tosoni -- also a former Twin. Affiliate Update Rochester (12-9) – The Red Wings fell 4-3 to another old friend, as Chris Parmelee and the Norfolk Tides pounded out 12 hits en route to a win. Josmil Pinto had a two-run home run, while Pat Dean took the loss with 7.1 innings of 11-hit, four-run ball. Dean fanned one and walked one and is now 2-1. Chattanooga (10-11) – The Lookouts jumped out with three first-inning runs and never looked back as Tyler Duffey pitched seven solid innings to push his record to 1-2. Byron Buxton had three hits — including a double — atop the order, while Jorge Polanco, Travis Harrison and Adam Brett Walker each chipped in a pair. Fort Myers (8-14) – The Miracle found themselves on the short end of a pitchers duel on Friday, 2-1. Four Charlotte pitchers — including rehabbing Rays reliever Jake McGee — scattered six hits and just one run as the Miracle mustered just a double from Alex Swim for their only extra-base hit of the night. Brandon Peterson and Brian Gilbert combined for three hitless innings of shutout relief, fanning six and walking two. Cedar Rapids (12-10) – Stephen Gonsalves was the hard-luck loser as the Kernels were no-hit by a trio of Lumber Kings. Daniel Missaki, Kody Kerski and Troy Scott combined to strike out 10 and walk just two in the no-hit effort. Gonsalves was stellar as usual, striking out eight and walking just one while allowing a pair of earned runs on five hits over seven innings. Michael Theofanopoulos tossed a pair of shutout innings in relief. Tanner English and Trey Vavra accounted for the Kernels’ two walks in the loss. — One Year Ago The Twins entered play on May 2 with a 12-14 record after dropping both ends of a May 1 doubleheader to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Losing pitchers for the Twins on that day were Duensing and Mike Pelfrey. Trivia Answer: Torii has five career home runs against retired lefty Esteban Loaiza. He has four career home runs against Freddy Garcia and Saturday’s starter John Danks. All three of these pitchers were White Sox at one time or another. This story originated at Cold Omaha here, where your click would be graciously accepted. View full article

The Twins announced a pair of roster moves following Friday night’s game. With Ricky Nolasco (right elbow inflammation) and Brian Duensing (right intercostal strain) set to be activated, the Twins needed to make a pair of moves to free up spots. Caleb Thielbar was essentially sent down in favor of Duensing. Thielbar made six appearances spanning five innings in his stint with the Twins, striking out five and walking none while allowing three earned runs (5.40 ERA). The other, perhaps more surprising move, was sending left-handed starter Tommy Milone to Rochester. Relegated to the bullpen just a day earlier, Milone’s fate was ultimately sealed when the Twins decided not only to keep Trevor May up, but that it would be better for the veteran lefty to remain stretched out as a starter rather than work out of the bullpen. These moves also grant newly-promoted right-handers Ryan Pressly and Michael Tonkin potentially brief reprieves from being sent back to Rochester. Pressly arrived in Minnesota on Friday afternoon after the club placed right-handed reliever Tim Stauffer on the disabled list earlier in the day with the same injury Duensing had — right intercostal strain — while Tonkin threw all of one pitch on Thursday evening in inducing a foul pop off the bat of Tyler Flowers in his one-third of an inning of work. — How long Pressly and Tonkin stay up may not only be determined by how well they pitch, or how soon Stauffer and Casey Fien can return, but also how well a couple of relievers pitch at Triple-A as well. A pair of righties — Lester Oliveros and A.J. Achter — have also turned heads, and could be a part of the next wave of Red Wings to come up should the Twins need help. Oliveros — who is not presently on the 40-man roster — has been extremely impressive for Rochester through Thursday’s action, posting a 1.69 ERA and 21 strikeouts in 10.2 innings (17.7 K/9) in six appearances. A source relayed to 105 The Ticket that Oliveros had been throwing in the mid-90s recently on a consistent basis and hit as high as 96 mph when he made a spot start in a recent doubleheader. Despite the non-roster status, GM Terry Ryan said Oliveros was in the consideration but ultimately was passed over. “The roster (situation) didn’t make the difference,” Ryan said. “I think it’s consistency. You saw in spring training; he didn’t hardly pitch. He was in the conversation though. So was Achter.” Achter’s numbers aren’t as eye-popping as Oliveros’ — 3.72 ERA, 0.83 WHIP, 8.4 K/9 — but he has seen plenty of late-inning action, working the seventh inning or later in seven of his nine appearances. Ultimately, both figure to see some bullpen time with the big club before season’s end, as this depth ought to work to the club’s advantage. — Trivia Against which pitcher does Torii Hunter have the most home runs in his career (five)? — Injury Update Starter Phil Hughes — who left Thursday’s start with a mild left hip flexor strain — threw his usual bullpen on Friday and pronounced himself ready to start on Monday. Incidentally, that date lines up with a matchup against Oakland’s Jesse Hahn on “Hughes the Force” day, when the Twins will give away a Hughes Star Wars-themed Bobblehead doll. — Old Friend Alert Pitcher Andrew Albers was called up by the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday to fill the roster spot of the departed Daniel Norris. Albers had a 1-3 record with a 3.09 ERA and 4.6 K/9 with the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons. Albers’ stay in the big leagues — his first since 2013 with the Twins — was short, as he was sent back to Triple-A after the game. Samuel Deduno made a spot start for the Houston Astros Friday night against Roenis Elias and the Mariners, and to his credit did a pretty nice job all things considered. Deduno lasted four innings (61 pitches, 41 strikes) with four strikeouts, two walks and just one earned run on three hits. The Astros ultimately won, 4-3. Chris Colabello was honored as the International League player of the month for April. In 20 games, Colabello batted .338/.427/.592 with five home runs and 16 RBIs. This was Colabello’s second time receiving the honor, as he was also honored in June 2013 with the Rochester Red Wings. Reliever Alex Burnett was released from his Mexican League team Guerreros de Oaxaca roughly 10 days ago after posting a 6.23 ERA (12.5 K/9) in seven appearances spanning 8.2 innings. Burnett spent the bulk of the 2014 season with Sioux City of the American Association -- think St. Paul Saints -- as a teammate of Rene Tosoni -- also a former Twin. — Affiliate Update Rochester (12-9) – The Red Wings fell 4-3 to another old friend, as Chris Parmelee and the Norfolk Tides pounded out 12 hits en route to a win. Josmil Pinto had a two-run home run, while Pat Dean took the loss with 7.1 innings of 11-hit, four-run ball. Dean fanned one and walked one and is now 2-1. Chattanooga (10-11) – The Lookouts jumped out with three first-inning runs and never looked back as Tyler Duffey pitched seven solid innings to push his record to 1-2. Byron Buxton had three hits — including a double — atop the order, while Jorge Polanco, Travis Harrison and Adam Brett Walker each chipped in a pair. Fort Myers (8-14) – The Miracle found themselves on the short end of a pitchers duel on Friday, 2-1. Four Charlotte pitchers — including rehabbing Rays reliever Jake McGee — scattered six hits and just one run as the Miracle mustered just a double from Alex Swim for their only extra-base hit of the night. Brandon Peterson and Brian Gilbert combined for three hitless innings of shutout relief, fanning six and walking two. Cedar Rapids (12-10) – Stephen Gonsalves was the hard-luck loser as the Kernels were no-hit by a trio of Lumber Kings. Daniel Missaki, Kody Kerski and Troy Scott combined to strike out 10 and walk just two in the no-hit effort. Gonsalves was stellar as usual, striking out eight and walking just one while allowing a pair of earned runs on five hits over seven innings. Michael Theofanopoulos tossed a pair of shutout innings in relief. Tanner English and Trey Vavra accounted for the Kernels’ two walks in the loss. — One Year Ago The Twins entered play on May 2 with a 12-14 record after dropping both ends of a May 1 doubleheader to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Losing pitchers for the Twins on that day were Duensing and Mike Pelfrey. — Trivia Answer: Torii has five career home runs against retired lefty Esteban Loaiza. He has four career home runs against Freddy Garcia and Saturday’s starter John Danks. All three of these pitchers were White Sox at one time or another. This story originated at Cold Omaha here, where your click would be graciously accepted.

The point is that if you do this, you end up signing Plouffe to a market rate deal through his age 35-36 season....

Or today?

It is not even May. Sheesh.

That's standard procedure. You almost never see a team cut a guy outright before running him through waivers in some form or fashion.

I'm not saying he wasn't involved, but why pin it on him? And 'weeks' ago puts us before the season started. For a decision this big and sort of crazy? You know what, nevermind.....this isn't going to go anywhere.

Again, what were they supposed to do? Wait a few days as a good will measure? The contract was the good will measure here.

In today's marketplace, the contract I've suggested is a pittance. There's almost no risk to the Twins to pay Trevor Plouffe $7m a year. In fact, they'll probably have to do it as soon as next year simply due to arbitration.

I want to believe that was simply as a measure to make sure he was good health-wise, and I hope it isn't too late to revisit this. He's 32, there's no reason he should be landlocked right now.

This was completely tasteless, and I hope the writer is disciplined.

I get that luxury quite frequently, thank you.