FlyingFinn

Neither one of these guys is ready for MLB (not to mention that SWR is injured!). They are more like Cole Sands. Give them one level at a time and they should be good. Rush them and slow down their progress.

Wallner looks like he is taking batting practice. Low and outside, homer to left. High and inside, homer to right. He is carrying the Wind Surge as the pitchers often need it. Not sure Varland was the best pitcher of the night, giving up 5 hits and 2 walks and 3 runs in 5 or so innings. Julien doing well again tonight but Martin, not so much. Raya and the Fort Myers pitchers were great. One Cavaco homer and the rest of the night the hitting and the fielding (4 errors, both runs unearned) stunk. That league is death to most hitters except for E. Rodriguez. Povich also had better numbers than Varland but the CES-less Kernels batted like Fort Myers.

I think guys like him and Varland need to advance one level each year once they hit AA. Getting a little MLB action helps them understand what they need to do. Having said that, the Twins made need a long relief guy and I wonder if Sands might be that guy. Not sure he's quite ready for that but the Twins pen may need to try it. Sands and Varland don't throw the stuff that Balazovic (not sure what's wrong with him, giving up 7 ER and 3 HR in less than 1 inning tonight) and Canterino do but they also don't get hurt as much.

Blasted, wrong. CES goes on the IL.

I agree, as far as winning it all or going all in. I believe it is because we then have a chance to make the playoffs and believing anything can happen after that, including our young starters blossoming early. 2nd reason - to increase attendance.

One of those three is the post-Polanco second baseman. How do they compare to each other defensively at that position? I realize Martin plays so much SS that it may be hard to evaluate.

Wow, a night with a lot of great news after losing every game the night before. Best news - Raya is making his normal start after coming out very early in the last game. Great hitting - Julien with a super night and Martin if 4 for 4 with 4 walks to start the 2nd half, if I have that correct. Wallner continues to roll and the Wichita bullpen was lights out after looking like the back half of the Twins bullpen the night before. Pitching - Festa, Tavares, and Sands looked good for starters. Interesting...................... CES does not finish the first game nor play the 2nd game last night and Jake Rucker was called up to Cedar Rapids. Anyone see him arrive at the airport or bus station in Springfield, where the Wind Surge are playing???????

I did not think about the required minor league time and, as you said, who knows when his clock started and stopped on that. I would actually put Bundy in long relief in the pen and Thornburg would be sent down. Bundy seems to do well with longer rest and I think Winder should be on a set schedule.

This just gives them four more days for the Twins to use other pitchers and Winder will get called back up and will make his next start with the Twins IMO.

Miranda said he got the sign correct. He just thought Celestino was actually bunting that pitch. Bad rookie mistake, partly caused by his lack of speed.

To me, it's Miranda vs. Steer. Neither is a major league SS. Steer plays 2B and 3B. Miranda plays 1B and 3B (Twins play Arraez at 2B and Miranda at 1B at times. Therefore, it appears Miranda will play 2B only in emergencies). Batting - Miranda's start at AAA was actually better than Steer's as far as batting average. It seems they are on the same pace for HR's. Miranda started very slow for the Twins but has adjusted well since. I give the edge to Miranda. Fielding - I think Miranda was an okay fielder in AAA at 3B and will end up okay in the majors in the end as well. Is Steer better? If the unimpressive arm is correct and he can't play 3B in the majors , probably not. If that's incorrect, he probably is. Speed - Is Steer faster than Miranda? One of Miranda's biggest shortcomings is speed. A mistake like he made on the safety squeeze yesterday becomes an out because he had to guess about the bunt in the first place and couldn't get back fast enough after that, both due to his lack of speed. Good problem to have both of them. Sure enjoyed seeing them move up through the organization.

Martin and Headrick with great nights. Multiple blown saves from the Twins through the minors these past two weeks. Yikes! The Fort Myers hitters have seemed to hit a wall. Again, this seems to have coincided with Rodriguez' injury. So has the 2nd half of the minor leagues started already? Must have otherwise Fort Myers and Cedar Rapids wouldn't have clinched the 1st half by now.

1. Duran 2. Pagan - he's got the pitches and just has to perform consistently 3. Thielbar - for situations that include lh's 4. Jax - his pitching tells another story this year. I just can't get last year out of my mind. It appears that I may be wrong about him. Hope so. 5. Canterino - not sure what his injury is. If it's not much, his stuff is good enough for him to be another Duran this year if his arm allows. Yes, we will trade for 2 relief pitchers at the trade deadline.

Amazing what a difference their record has been pre-Steer and post-Steer. I don't know the exact #'s but I don't think they had a losing week pre-Steer (except week #1) nor have they had a winning week post-Steer.

For a top prospect, we are just sitting Miranda on the bench a lot. When Polanco comes back, he is almost certainly headed down. That may be great for him to get AB's every day again and show what he learned in his first stint in MLB.