Cody Christie

Original post from North Dakota Twins Fan ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9DMuI0-XtTs/T6CxgJ6MPhI/AAAAAAAABPY/--E7C0uJ1Bk/s320/Slide1.jpg On Monday night, Ryan Braun put together an amazing offensive performance by hitting three home runs and adding a triple in another one of his at-bats. It was a historical night at the plate but there have been some even more historical nights in the long history of baseball. ESPN's SweetSpot Blog put up a vote of some of the greatest offensive nights in history. The leader in the clubhouse as of last night was Shawn Green and his 6-for-6 night with four home runs, a double, six runs, and seven RBI. It still stands as the MLB record for most total bases in one contest. This got me thinking about some of the best offensive performances in the history of the Minnesota Twins. Much like the SweetSpot post, these will only be regular season performances because the postseason is an entirely different story. Here are some of the top performances from regular season history for the Twins in order of when they occurred for the team. There are a ton of great games in franchise history so narrowing down the list is a tough challenge. At the end of the post, you will have the opportunity to pick what you think is the best performance in franchise history. It should be a fun exercise so I hope you enjoy it! 1. Bob Allison, 1963 Twins: 3-for-5, 3 HR, 3 R, 6 RBI (box score) The first three home run game in franchise history with one of the highest RBI totals for a single game for the Twins. Players like Harmon Killebrew, Tony Oliva, and Justin Morneau would hit three home runs in one contest but he will always be the first. In the early seasons of the Twins, it was a record setting game for a team trying to make their mark in Minnesota. 2. Glen Adams, 1977 Twins: 4-for-5, HR, 2B, R, 8 RBI (box score) Only two Twins have tallied eight RBI in a game and Glen Adams was the first member of the Twins to accomplish this feat. There was a lot of offense in this game as the Twins and White Sox combined for 31 runs. It could be argued that Rod Carew had a better game on this day with a 4-for-5 night with a home run, a double, five runs, and six RBI. The eight RBI are still hard to ignore and Adams game ranks as one of the best in team history. 3. Kirby Puckett, 1987 Twins: 6-for-6, 2 HR, 2 2B, 4 R, 4 RBI (box score) The greatest Twins player in history is the only player in the history of the franchise to compile six hits in a game. He has done it twice but one time it occurred in an extra-inning contest so we will pick the game that was decided in regulation play. There were multiple records set by Puckett in this game against the Brewers. Besides the team record for hits, he also managed the most total bases in franchise history with 14. His four RBI were also the difference in the score as the Twins won by a score of 10 to 4. It will be tough for another performance to top one of Puckett's best offensive performances. 4. Randy Bush, 1989 Twins: 3-for-4, 2 HR, 2 R, 8 RBI (box score) As mentioned earlier, Glen Adams was one of two players to have eight RBI in a game and the player to tie his team record for RBI was Randy Bush. Just like in the game from Adams, the Twins scored 19 runs as part of this eight RBI performance. He would only get 54 RBI for the year so having eight in one game is quite the accomplishment. For a light hitting outfielder with not a lot of power, this was quite the game. 5. Michael Cuddyer, 2005 Twins: 4-for-4, HR, 3 2B, 2 R, 4 RBI (box score) The team record for extra-base hits in a game is four and there have been multiple players to do this in a game and this includes multiple players on this list. Cuddyer was the last member of the Twins to be able get four extra-base hits and he did it in a 4-for-4 game in which he was intentional walked during the game. Mr. Cuddyer has also hit for the cycle in a contest for the Twins but this was also one of his best games during his time with the Twins. 6. Justin Morneau, 2007 Twins: 3-for-5, 3 HR, 3 R, 6 RBI (box score) Justin Morneau has run into some tough luck in the injury department in recent years but he is still one of the best power hitters in the history of the Twins. He is most current Twins player to hit three home runs in a contest and he did it in a blow out win against the White Sox. Harmon Killebrew, Tony Oliva, Kent Hrbek, and Bob Allison are the only player to have more 2-homer games than Morneau. His 12 total bases in the game are also close to the most ever in franchise history. 7. Jason Kubel, 2009 Twins: 4-for-5, HR, 3B, 2B, 2 R, 5 RBI (box score) This might have been one of the most exciting offensive performance in recent memory for the Twins. The team found themselves in a hole in the late innings of the game but one player was in the middle of a special performance. With the Twins down nine to four in the bottom of the eighth, the team started to mount their come-back. The exclamation point on the comeback would be off of the bat Jason Kubel. He already had a triple, double, and a single to his name and this meant that he just needed the home run to complete the cyle. A grand slam to give his team the lead in the late innings was a special moment in the final year of the Metrodome. Now is your chance to vote on the games listed above but it doesn't stop there because there have been other great games in Twins history as well. If you think there is a better performance, leave a comment below and start the conversation. CLICK HERE TO SEE POLL

Original post from North Dakota Twins Fan ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-joxCXH56GqU/T59svuioAYI/AAAAAAAABOw/aqD2LlJTQdI/s400/Slide3.jpg The first month of the baseball season is in the books and there have been surprises across the baseball world. The Angels and Albert Pujols had a rough first month after experts picked them to be fighting for a division title. The Rangers have being playing on another level from most teams in baseball. Matt Kemp is on pace for a record breaking year and the Dodgers are the top team in the National League. On paper at the start of the season, the American League Central seemed to be a one team race. The Detroit Tigers were the hands down favorite to represent the AL Central in the playoffs. But baseball is a funny game and the Tigers have stumbled a little getting out of the gate. This could open up the division to any of the other teams to find a way to dethrone the Tigers from their perch on top of AL Central. All of the teams in the AL Central are within six games of first place in the division at the end of April. Even with the tight race in the division, the Cleveland Indians are the only team to sit above .500 at the end of the first month. The Tigers and White Sox are both one game out of first with the Royals and Twins filling up the basement. So who is going to be able to separate themselves from the pack in the coming months? Only one team has a positive run differential as the teams start play at the beginning of May. The Indians have outscored their opponents by three runs since the season began and they have allowed the least amount of runs out of teams in the division. Every other division in baseball has a team that has scored at least 100 runs but the Central is lacking a team that has reached this feat. The Tigers have scored the most runs with 94 runs scored but they have also allowed the second most runs in the division. http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Vw5v2v_dTlc/T59s3FF6kgI/AAAAAAAABO4/7Fxv7Lmr4DA/s320/Slide1.jpg Some of the biggest struggles for teams in the Central have come in their own home games. None of the teams in the Central have a winning record at home and the Royals have the dubious distinction of being the only team in baseball that has not won a contest on their home field. The Tigers sit one game below .500 at home but the Indians, White Sox, Twins, and Royals sit three games or more below the .500 mark. http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3271GcHZouE/T59tAdydX7I/AAAAAAAABPA/4BG3yXR9iUE/s320/Slide2.jpg Here's a quick look at the other teams in the Central with a couple of notes about their start to the 2012 season: 1. Cleveland Indians (Record 11-9): In the last ten games, the Indians have gone 6-4 to push themselves to the top of the Central. They just completed a 3-3 home stand and now the are off to Chicago for an important series in the standings. Being on top of the division at the end of the first month is familiar territory to the Indians as they finished last April with an 18-8 record. Derek Lowe seems to be comfortable at the front of the Indians rotation. He finds himself tied for the league lead with four wins and he has a very good 2.27 ERA. 2. Detroit Tigers (Record 11-11): For the second year in a row, the Tigers are struggling to start the season. A slow start didn't impact the Tigers too much last season as they finished with 95 wins over the course of the season. Delmon Young's recent incident has been a little bit of a distraction and it will be interesting to see how the team deals with the fallout. Detroit needs to get some of their pitching in order for them to find success again but the division is still theirs to lose in 2012. 3. Chicago White Sox (Record 11-11): When the White Sox sold off some of their parts in the offseason, it seemed like they might be in the middle of a rebuilding project. They kept some of their parts and they have seen a resurgence among some familiar names. Adam Dunn was one of the worst hitters in baseball last year and he has five home runs to his name in 2012. Jake Peavy might have been the best pitcher in the American League for the first month of the year. 4. Kansas City Royals (Record 6-15): The Royals seemed to be the darlings of the baseball world before the season began. Their combination of young players and a strong bullpen looked to push them up near the top of the division. Some struggles at the plate from players like Eric Hosmer and Alex Gordon have made scoring runs a challenge. There have also been some speed bumps with the pitching staff that will need to be ironed out for the team to find success in the coming months.

Original post from North Dakota Twins Fan ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-joxCXH56GqU/T59svuioAYI/AAAAAAAABOw/aqD2LlJTQdI/s400/Slide3.jpg The first month of the baseball season is in the books and there have been surprises across the baseball world. The Angels and Albert Pujols had a rough first month after experts picked them to be fighting for a division title. The Rangers have being playing on another level from most teams in baseball. Matt Kemp is on pace for a record breaking year and the Dodgers are the top team in the National League. On paper at the start of the season, the American League Central seemed to be a one team race. The Detroit Tigers were the hands down favorite to represent the AL Central in the playoffs. But baseball is a funny game and the Tigers have stumbled a little getting out of the gate. This could open up the division to any of the other teams to find a way to dethrone the Tigers from their perch on top of AL Central. All of the teams in the AL Central are within six games of first place in the division at the end of April. Even with the tight race in the division, the Cleveland Indians are the only team to sit above .500 at the end of the first month. The Tigers and White Sox are both one game out of first with the Royals and Twins filling up the basement. So who is going to be able to separate themselves from the pack in the coming months? Only one team has a positive run differential as the teams start play at the beginning of May. The Indians have outscored their opponents by three runs since the season began and they have allowed the least amount of runs out of teams in the division. Every other division in baseball has a team that has scored at least 100 runs but the Central is lacking a team that has reached this feat. The Tigers have scored the most runs with 94 runs scored but they have also allowed the second most runs in the division. http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Vw5v2v_dTlc/T59s3FF6kgI/AAAAAAAABO4/7Fxv7Lmr4DA/s320/Slide1.jpg Some of the biggest struggles for teams in the Central have come in their own home games. None of the teams in the Central have a winning record at home and the Royals have the dubious distinction of being the only team in baseball that has not won a contest on their home field. The Tigers sit one game below .500 at home but the Indians, White Sox, Twins, and Royals sit three games or more below the .500 mark. http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3271GcHZouE/T59tAdydX7I/AAAAAAAABPA/4BG3yXR9iUE/s320/Slide2.jpg Here's a quick look at the other teams in the Central with a couple of notes about their start to the 2012 season: 1. Cleveland Indians (Record 11-9): In the last ten games, the Indians have gone 6-4 to push themselves to the top of the Central. They just completed a 3-3 home stand and now the are off to Chicago for an important series in the standings. Being on top of the division at the end of the first month is familiar territory to the Indians as they finished last April with an 18-8 record. Derek Lowe seems to be comfortable at the front of the Indians rotation. He finds himself tied for the league lead with four wins and he has a very good 2.27 ERA. 2. Detroit Tigers (Record 11-11): For the second year in a row, the Tigers are struggling to start the season. A slow start didn't impact the Tigers too much last season as they finished with 95 wins over the course of the season. Delmon Young's recent incident has been a little bit of a distraction and it will be interesting to see how the team deals with the fallout. Detroit needs to get some of their pitching in order for them to find success again but the division is still theirs to lose in 2012. 3. Chicago White Sox (Record 11-11): When the White Sox sold off some of their parts in the offseason, it seemed like they might be in the middle of a rebuilding project. They kept some of their parts and they have seen a resurgence among some familiar names. Adam Dunn was one of the worst hitters in baseball last year and he has five home runs to his name in 2012. Jake Peavy might have been the best pitcher in the American League for the first month of the year. 4. Kansas City Royals (Record 6-15): The Royals seemed to be the darlings of the baseball world before the season began. Their combination of young players and a strong bullpen looked to push them up near the top of the division. Some struggles at the plate from players like Eric Hosmer and Alex Gordon have made scoring runs a challenge. There have also been some speed bumps with the pitching staff that will need to be ironed out for the team to find success in the coming months.

Original post from North Dakota Twins Fan ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WwdGU6KVbEY/T554GUTlVrI/AAAAAAAABOk/s4sU_QlBSt8/s320/SanoHaperSwing.jpg One of the most hyped debuts in MLB history took place over the weekend with Bryce Harper being penciled in to the Washington Nationals line-up for the first time as a 19-year old phenom. His first game looked like it was going to play out perfectly but Matt Kemp's walk-off home run in extra innings spoiled the coming out party for Harper. In the game, Harper got his first hit by smacking a solid double off the wall in deep center field. His most impressive play might have been his tremendous throw from left field to the plate that should have gotten the runner if Wilson Ramos would have held on to the ball. The top of the ninth inning saw Harper come up with the chance to be the hero and he was able to get a sacrifice fly to give his team the lead but the bullpen would eventually surrender the victory to the Dodgers. In the middle of next month the Twins will have their own 19-year old top prospect when Miguel Sano celebrates his birthday on May 11. Unlike Harper who was getting experience at Triple-A for the Nationals, Sano is at Low-A trying to put together all of his potential. For the Twins and Sano, this will mean multiple seasons before he can be stepping on the grass at Target Field. Sano has shot up the top prospect charts since he signed with the Twins as a 16-year old. Baseball America had him ranked as the 94th best prospect shortly after the Twins signed him and before he had come to play in the United States. After a tremendous 2011 season, he shot all the way up to the 18th best prospect in baseball and another strong season, combined with some players graduating to the big leagues, could see him closing in on the top of the list. Watching a top prospect develop is great because it gives hope for the future of a franchise. The Twins and their fans have been struggling through the last two seasons and if these problems continue, fans of the Twins will start looking to the future. Sano is a big part of these plans and his development is something to watch for all of Twins Territory. So far this year, Sano has hit .262 with six home runs, two triples, and five doubles. He has shown the ability to get more walks this season with 17 free passes so far in 2012. Even with the higher walk rate, his strikeout rate continues to be high with 31 strikeouts in 84 at-bats this year. Besides cutting down on the strikeouts, his defense at third base needs to continue to improve. He has five errors in his first 82 chances for the Snappers. Harper was not only watched closely by fans of the Nationals but he was also on the radar of many baseball fans across the baseball world. Much like Harper, Sano could be on his way to being a top prospect in all of baseball. So what could the hype be like for Sano when he makes his debut in a couple of seasons? If Sano continues to improve in some of the weaker areas mentioned above, there is nothing stopping him from developing into a force that will make the entire baseball world take notice in the coming years. His raw power ability could be something that makes him standout among his peers and this separation could make the hype around him even stronger. But the dreams of seeing Sano at Target Field are still multiple years away at this point with plenty of development needed from young Mr. Sano. The last time the Twins had the top prospect in all of baseball was back before the 2004 and 2005 seasons when Joe Mauer topped the prospect charts for Baseball America in back-to-back seasons. His debut with the Twins was cut short when he was injured in the second game of the season. Surgery on the knee of Mauer would cause him to miss over a month but following his return, swelling in his knee would force an early end to the season for Mauer. Mauer's unhealthy rookie season took away from some of the hype he had built-up in the minor leagues. Fans of the Twins can only hope that Sano is following the same track as Mauer. The hype doesn't need to follow him to the big leagues but fans of the Twins will be happy to get a top tier player for many years to come out of Sano. The hype is building but there is still plenty of work to be done.

Original post from North Dakota Twins Fan ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WwdGU6KVbEY/T554GUTlVrI/AAAAAAAABOk/s4sU_QlBSt8/s320/SanoHaperSwing.jpg One of the most hyped debuts in MLB history took place over the weekend with Bryce Harper being penciled in to the Washington Nationals line-up for the first time as a 19-year old phenom. His first game looked like it was going to play out perfectly but Matt Kemp's walk-off home run in extra innings spoiled the coming out party for Harper. In the game, Harper got his first hit by smacking a solid double off the wall in deep center field. His most impressive play might have been his tremendous throw from left field to the plate that should have gotten the runner if Wilson Ramos would have held on to the ball. The top of the ninth inning saw Harper come up with the chance to be the hero and he was able to get a sacrifice fly to give his team the lead but the bullpen would eventually surrender the victory to the Dodgers. In the middle of next month the Twins will have their own 19-year old top prospect when Miguel Sano celebrates his birthday on May 11. Unlike Harper who was getting experience at Triple-A for the Nationals, Sano is at Low-A trying to put together all of his potential. For the Twins and Sano, this will mean multiple seasons before he can be stepping on the grass at Target Field. Sano has shot up the top prospect charts since he signed with the Twins as a 16-year old. Baseball America had him ranked as the 94th best prospect shortly after the Twins signed him and before he had come to play in the United States. After a tremendous 2011 season, he shot all the way up to the 18th best prospect in baseball and another strong season, combined with some players graduating to the big leagues, could see him closing in on the top of the list. Watching a top prospect develop is great because it gives hope for the future of a franchise. The Twins and their fans have been struggling through the last two seasons and if these problems continue, fans of the Twins will start looking to the future. Sano is a big part of these plans and his development is something to watch for all of Twins Territory. So far this year, Sano has hit .262 with six home runs, two triples, and five doubles. He has shown the ability to get more walks this season with 17 free passes so far in 2012. Even with the higher walk rate, his strikeout rate continues to be high with 31 strikeouts in 84 at-bats this year. Besides cutting down on the strikeouts, his defense at third base needs to continue to improve. He has five errors in his first 82 chances for the Snappers. Harper was not only watched closely by fans of the Nationals but he was also on the radar of many baseball fans across the baseball world. Much like Harper, Sano could be on his way to being a top prospect in all of baseball. So what could the hype be like for Sano when he makes his debut in a couple of seasons? If Sano continues to improve in some of the weaker areas mentioned above, there is nothing stopping him from developing into a force that will make the entire baseball world take notice in the coming years. His raw power ability could be something that makes him standout among his peers and this separation could make the hype around him even stronger. But the dreams of seeing Sano at Target Field are still multiple years away at this point with plenty of development needed from young Mr. Sano. The last time the Twins had the top prospect in all of baseball was back before the 2004 and 2005 seasons when Joe Mauer topped the prospect charts for Baseball America in back-to-back seasons. His debut with the Twins was cut short when he was injured in the second game of the season. Surgery on the knee of Mauer would cause him to miss over a month but following his return, swelling in his knee would force an early end to the season for Mauer. Mauer's unhealthy rookie season took away from some of the hype he had built-up in the minor leagues. Fans of the Twins can only hope that Sano is following the same track as Mauer. The hype doesn't need to follow him to the big leagues but fans of the Twins will be happy to get a top tier player for many years to come out of Sano. The hype is building but there is still plenty of work to be done.

"You throw the ball, you catch the ball, you hit the ball. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, and sometimes it rains."- Ebby Calvin LaLoosh, Bull Durham The rain came a tumbling down at Target Field on Saturday afternoon and the contest between the Twins and Royals was postponed because of the weather. By mid-afternoon, the skies had cleared up but the game had already been rescheduled as part of a day-night doubleheader on June 30. Even with the rainout at Target Field, there was still plenty of minor league action across the Twins system on Saturday. Here is a look at the Twins minor league scores and highlights from Saturday: ROCHESTER 3, BUFFALO 4 By the bottom of the third inning, the Red Wings found themselves in a 3-0 hole to the Bisons. PJ Walters started the game for Rochester and last five innings while surrendering the first three runs to Buffalo. In the sixth inning, Deolis Guerra made his first appearance at the Triple-A level since 2010 and he was solid. Guerra pitched three innings, allowing two hits, and striking out two. Esmerling Vasquez took the loss for Rochester in an interesting bottom of the ninth. He hit the lead off batter to start the frame and this was followed by a sacrifice bunt for the first out of the inning. The next batter was intentionally walked to set-up the double play but the problem was Vasquez walked the following batter to fill the bases. The fifth batter of the inning was struck out so the bases were loaded with two down before Vinny Rottino got a single to center field. Joe Benson was a big part of the comeback effort for Rochester with a 2-run home run in the fifth inning to cut the lead to one run. For the day, Benson went 2-for-4 with a home run and a double to raise his batting average to .187. Brian Dozier went 2-for-4 on the day with his ninth RBI of the year but he also had a throwing error in the fourth inning. Darin Mastroianni continued his hot streak with a triple in the contest as he is hitting .395 in his last ten contests. NEW BRITAIN 3, RICHMOND 5 No one in the Rock Cats batting order had more than one hit as the team lost for the third game in a row. Aaron Hicks followed up his big game at the plate on Friday night with a 1-for3 outing on Saturday. The only extra-base hit for New Britain came from Evan Bigley as he slapped a double in the sixth inning to bring the Rock Cats within a run. But this late inning rally would prove to be ill fated when Richmond scored an insurance run in the bottom half of the sixth. Steve Hirschfeld tossed six innings and gave up ten hits and five runs to the Flying Squirrels. It was Hirschfeld's second loss in his last two outings after winning his first two decisions of the year. Brett Jacobson looked good in relief by throwing the last two innings for the Rock Cats and not allowing a single hit. FORT MYERS 0, ST. LUCIE 4 There were a lot of hits in this game for both teams but the Miracle and the Mets both struggled to push them across the plate. In the game, the Miracle put together seven hits but failed to score a run and got shutout for the second time this year. The big boppers in for the Miracle were both able to put together a couple of hits. Angel Morales and Oswaldo Arcia each went 2-for-4 with a double. Both doubles went wasted as they were left stranded in scoring position. Jhon Garcia started the year as a relief pitcher but he was shifted to the starting rotation at the beginning of the week. In both starts he has gone five innings and allowed only one earned run. The Miracle have been unable to pull out the win for him in either of these trips to the mound. Matthew Hauser looked good in a little over two innings out of the bullpen. He only gave up one hit with one unearned run and three strikeouts. It was his third consecutive outing without giving up a run. BELOIT 3, DAYTON 7 All of the runs in this game were scored in the second inning and unfortunately for the Snappers, they came up on the short of the scoring spree. Steven Gruver started for Beloit and he never made it out of the second inning. Only three of the seven runs scored off of Gruver were earned but he allowed six hits and two walks. A.J. Achter did a good job of cleaning up the mess and he posted 4.1 innings pitched with no runs allowed and only three hits. Most of the offense came from the bottom portion of the line-up as the seven, eight, and nine batters each had an RBI. Matthew Koch was included in this group and he was the only Snappers batter to have more than one hit in the contest. Koch finished the day at 2-for-4 with a double. The other extra base hit for the Snappers came off of the bat of Eddie Rosario. It was Rosario's eighth double of the year and he leads the team in this category. Miguel Sano had a rough day by going 0-for-3 at the plate with two strikeouts. He also had his fifth error of the season at third base. As a team, the Snappers were 1-13 with runners in scoring position so the opportunities were there but a comeback wasn't in the cards on this day. --- Players of the Day for Saturday Hitter of the Day- Joe Benson http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-65oIeqGONR4/T5ysWLi5sZI/AAAAAAAABOI/QwGPQTR8wZQ/s1600/JoeBenson.jpg Pitcher of the Day- A.J. Achter http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MyLdV8HSrLA/T5ysbLky_0I/AAAAAAAABOQ/_K1T9lbKH10/s200/ph_592091.jpg --- A Look Ahead - Sunday, April 29, 2012 Schedule Rochester @ Buffalo - RHP Daryl Thompson New Britain @ Richmond - TBA Ft. Myers vs St. Lucie - RHP BJ Hermsen Beloit vs. Dayton - 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 Seth or I will try and answer them!

"You throw the ball, you catch the ball, you hit the ball. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, and sometimes it rains."- Ebby Calvin LaLoosh, Bull Durham The rain came a tumbling down at Target Field on Saturday afternoon and the contest between the Twins and Royals was postponed because of the weather. By mid-afternoon, the skies had cleared up but the game had already been rescheduled as part of a day-night doubleheader on June 30. Even with the rainout at Target Field, there was still plenty of minor league action across the Twins system on Saturday. Here is a look at the Twins minor league scores and highlights from Saturday: ROCHESTER 3, BUFFALO 4 By the bottom of the third inning, the Red Wings found themselves in a 3-0 hole to the Bisons. PJ Walters started the game for Rochester and last five innings while surrendering the first three runs to Buffalo. In the sixth inning, Deolis Guerra made his first appearance at the Triple-A level since 2010 and he was solid. Guerra pitched three innings, allowing two hits, and striking out two. Esmerling Vasquez took the loss for Rochester in an interesting bottom of the ninth. He hit the lead off batter to start the frame and this was followed by a sacrifice bunt for the first out of the inning. The next batter was intentionally walked to set-up the double play but the problem was Vasquez walked the following batter to fill the bases. The fifth batter of the inning was struck out so the bases were loaded with two down before Vinny Rottino got a single to center field. Joe Benson was a big part of the comeback effort for Rochester with a 2-run home run in the fifth inning to cut the lead to one run. For the day, Benson went 2-for-4 with a home run and a double to raise his batting average to .187. Brian Dozier went 2-for-4 on the day with his ninth RBI of the year but he also had a throwing error in the fourth inning. Darin Mastroianni continued his hot streak with a triple in the contest as he is hitting .395 in his last ten contests. NEW BRITAIN 3, RICHMOND 5 No one in the Rock Cats batting order had more than one hit as the team lost for the third game in a row. Aaron Hicks followed up his big game at the plate on Friday night with a 1-for3 outing on Saturday. The only extra-base hit for New Britain came from Evan Bigley as he slapped a double in the sixth inning to bring the Rock Cats within a run. But this late inning rally would prove to be ill fated when Richmond scored an insurance run in the bottom half of the sixth. Steve Hirschfeld tossed six innings and gave up ten hits and five runs to the Flying Squirrels. It was Hirschfeld's second loss in his last two outings after winning his first two decisions of the year. Brett Jacobson looked good in relief by throwing the last two innings for the Rock Cats and not allowing a single hit. FORT MYERS 0, ST. LUCIE 4 There were a lot of hits in this game for both teams but the Miracle and the Mets both struggled to push them across the plate. In the game, the Miracle put together seven hits but failed to score a run and got shutout for the second time this year. The big boppers in for the Miracle were both able to put together a couple of hits. Angel Morales and Oswaldo Arcia each went 2-for-4 with a double. Both doubles went wasted as they were left stranded in scoring position. Jhon Garcia started the year as a relief pitcher but he was shifted to the starting rotation at the beginning of the week. In both starts he has gone five innings and allowed only one earned run. The Miracle have been unable to pull out the win for him in either of these trips to the mound. Matthew Hauser looked good in a little over two innings out of the bullpen. He only gave up one hit with one unearned run and three strikeouts. It was his third consecutive outing without giving up a run. BELOIT 3, DAYTON 7 All of the runs in this game were scored in the second inning and unfortunately for the Snappers, they came up on the short of the scoring spree. Steven Gruver started for Beloit and he never made it out of the second inning. Only three of the seven runs scored off of Gruver were earned but he allowed six hits and two walks. A.J. Achter did a good job of cleaning up the mess and he posted 4.1 innings pitched with no runs allowed and only three hits. Most of the offense came from the bottom portion of the line-up as the seven, eight, and nine batters each had an RBI. Matthew Koch was included in this group and he was the only Snappers batter to have more than one hit in the contest. Koch finished the day at 2-for-4 with a double. The other extra base hit for the Snappers came off of the bat of Eddie Rosario. It was Rosario's eighth double of the year and he leads the team in this category. Miguel Sano had a rough day by going 0-for-3 at the plate with two strikeouts. He also had his fifth error of the season at third base. As a team, the Snappers were 1-13 with runners in scoring position so the opportunities were there but a comeback wasn't in the cards on this day. --- Players of the Day for Saturday Hitter of the Day- Joe Benson http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-65oIeqGONR4/T5ysWLi5sZI/AAAAAAAABOI/QwGPQTR8wZQ/s1600/JoeBenson.jpg Pitcher of the Day- A.J. Achter http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MyLdV8HSrLA/T5ysbLky_0I/AAAAAAAABOQ/_K1T9lbKH10/s200/ph_592091.jpg --- A Look Ahead - Sunday, April 29, 2012 Schedule Rochester @ Buffalo - RHP Daryl Thompson New Britain @ Richmond - TBA Ft. Myers vs St. Lucie - RHP BJ Hermsen Beloit vs. Dayton - 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 Seth or I will try and answer them!

Original post from North Dakota Twins Fan ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Since the last time you joined me for an edition of "Friday Links-N-Thinks," the Twins have only one one game and that was on last Friday. It has been a rough week for Twins fans as the team looked to get back on track against the struggling Red Sox. This didn't happen but the one consolation prize is the fact that the Royals come to town this weekend and they have their own share of problems to deal with this season. Hopefully this means the Twins can come out of the weekend with a series win before they head on the road again for a West Coast swing through Los Angeles and Seattle. Last weekend a former Twins player, Phil Humber, threw the 21st perfect game in the history of Major League Baseball. Humber was part of the Johan Santana trade but struggled at the Triple-A level and never made it past Rochester with the Twins. Overall, he spent six seasons in the minor leagues before the White Sox gave him a chance to be a starter. In only his 30 career starts, he was perfect with 27 batters faced and 27 outs recorded on the mound. As much as I don't like the White Sox, the transformation that this top draft pick has made is great to see from any player. Josh Willingham's wife having a baby, I "adopted" a prospect from the Twins farm system, and plenty more stories are all included in this weeks edition of "Friday Links-N-Thinks." Have a great weekend and enjoy! One of the highlights of the week over at TwinsDaily was the introduction of the "Adopt-A-Prospect" series for the site. I was lucky enough to get top pitching prospect Adrian Salcedo but there are plenty of other players to check out. The MLB Draft is fast approaching in June and Seth Stohs wants to know if taking a college pitcher is the right approach for the Twins. It's only the end of the first month of the season and the writers at Puckett's Pond want to know if it is too early to bump Miguel Sano up to Ft. Myers. Twins fans seem to have a lot to complain about but Twins Fan From Afar is sick of hearing three complaints from the fan base. Lindsay Guentzel is trying to survive the first MLB Fan Cave elimination and she needs your help to stay in NYC. Joe Mauer has appeared in every game for the Twins this year and Nick Nelson thinks Mr. Mauer is might be making a statement. Bobby Valentine needs to find a different way research his opponents because he apparently doesn't know how to use his phone. There have been some great nicknames in the history of baseball. Danny Valencia is off to a slow start at the plate and Parker Hageman thinks Valencia might have lost some of his swagger. Here's a contract strategy the Twins could use. Sign them young. Josh Willingham's family welcomed a new edition this week and this great photo started to speed around the internet. http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7_JZ7BG_ePE/T5oKeUg08TI/AAAAAAAABN8/i5ymdnQKm6c/s320/WillinghamBaby.jpg John Sickels from Minor League Ball put together his April Edition of the 2012 MLB Mock Draft. Who will the Twins take at number 2? Jim Thome has survived so far with having to play first base since he is back in the National League. Luke Hughes found a new team this week but he has run into a few snags in the fielding department. The off-day for the Twins on Thursday felt good and Brandon Warne offered up some ways to fix the Twins. Twins pitchers and catchers held a 20-minute closed door meeting after being swept by the Red Sox. Hopefully this can improve some of the results on the field. Former Twins player Shane Mack is auctioning off some unique items from his baseball career. Finally, a great read about New Britain's Chris Colabello and his amazing path to the Rock Cats. My Weekly Rundown: Monday: Where will Liriano fit into the bullpen? Tuesday: Adopt-A-Prospect Introduction: Adrian Salcedo Wednesday: Duensing ramping up his velocity in the 'pen Thursday: Attendance starting to dwindle at Target Field Video of the Week: There have been some crazy batting stances in the history of baseball but this college player might have found one of the most unique positions in the box. His name is Alex Buccilli and he is the DH for Coastal Carolina. Even the Batting Stance Guy has gotten in on the action.

Original post from North Dakota Twins Fan ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Since the last time you joined me for an edition of "Friday Links-N-Thinks," the Twins have only one one game and that was on last Friday. It has been a rough week for Twins fans as the team looked to get back on track against the struggling Red Sox. This didn't happen but the one consolation prize is the fact that the Royals come to town this weekend and they have their own share of problems to deal with this season. Hopefully this means the Twins can come out of the weekend with a series win before they head on the road again for a West Coast swing through Los Angeles and Seattle. Last weekend a former Twins player, Phil Humber, threw the 21st perfect game in the history of Major League Baseball. Humber was part of the Johan Santana trade but struggled at the Triple-A level and never made it past Rochester with the Twins. Overall, he spent six seasons in the minor leagues before the White Sox gave him a chance to be a starter. In only his 30 career starts, he was perfect with 27 batters faced and 27 outs recorded on the mound. As much as I don't like the White Sox, the transformation that this top draft pick has made is great to see from any player. Josh Willingham's wife having a baby, I "adopted" a prospect from the Twins farm system, and plenty more stories are all included in this weeks edition of "Friday Links-N-Thinks." Have a great weekend and enjoy! One of the highlights of the week over at TwinsDaily was the introduction of the "Adopt-A-Prospect" series for the site. I was lucky enough to get top pitching prospect Adrian Salcedo but there are plenty of other players to check out. The MLB Draft is fast approaching in June and Seth Stohs wants to know if taking a college pitcher is the right approach for the Twins. It's only the end of the first month of the season and the writers at Puckett's Pond want to know if it is too early to bump Miguel Sano up to Ft. Myers. Twins fans seem to have a lot to complain about but Twins Fan From Afar is sick of hearing three complaints from the fan base. Lindsay Guentzel is trying to survive the first MLB Fan Cave elimination and she needs your help to stay in NYC. Joe Mauer has appeared in every game for the Twins this year and Nick Nelson thinks Mr. Mauer is might be making a statement. Bobby Valentine needs to find a different way research his opponents because he apparently doesn't know how to use his phone. There have been some great nicknames in the history of baseball. Danny Valencia is off to a slow start at the plate and Parker Hageman thinks Valencia might have lost some of his swagger. Here's a contract strategy the Twins could use. Sign them young. Josh Willingham's family welcomed a new edition this week and this great photo started to speed around the internet. http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7_JZ7BG_ePE/T5oKeUg08TI/AAAAAAAABN8/i5ymdnQKm6c/s320/WillinghamBaby.jpg John Sickels from Minor League Ball put together his April Edition of the 2012 MLB Mock Draft. Who will the Twins take at number 2? Jim Thome has survived so far with having to play first base since he is back in the National League. Luke Hughes found a new team this week but he has run into a few snags in the fielding department. The off-day for the Twins on Thursday felt good and Brandon Warne offered up some ways to fix the Twins. Twins pitchers and catchers held a 20-minute closed door meeting after being swept by the Red Sox. Hopefully this can improve some of the results on the field. Former Twins player Shane Mack is auctioning off some unique items from his baseball career. Finally, a great read about New Britain's Chris Colabello and his amazing path to the Rock Cats. My Weekly Rundown: Monday: Where will Liriano fit into the bullpen? Tuesday: Adopt-A-Prospect Introduction: Adrian Salcedo Wednesday: Duensing ramping up his velocity in the 'pen Thursday: Attendance starting to dwindle at Target Field Video of the Week: There have been some crazy batting stances in the history of baseball but this college player might have found one of the most unique positions in the box. His name is Alex Buccilli and he is the DH for Coastal Carolina. Even the Batting Stance Guy has gotten in on the action.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HLsZhcPiKOU/T5jI5YubJyI/AAAAAAAABNk/t1Whequk2Mc/s320/target_field_46.jpg The first two seasons at Target Field have been very fruitful from the Twins perspective when it comes to selling tickets in their beautiful new ballpark. In 2010 and 2011, the Twins capped their season ticket sales and it was tough to find an open seat in any section with your naked eye for most of the season. Before a new stadium was built, the organization said they needed the cash flow involved with a new venue in order to stay competitive and the team raised their payroll significantly in the first couple years at Target Field. Target Field was built and the fans across Twins Territory responded by coming out in droves to see their new gem nestled into downtown Minneapolis. The 2010 season saw the Twins fighting for a division title and they finished the year with one of the best records in the American League. Nothing sells tickets like having a winner on the field so the first year at Target Field was very successful. Over 3 million fans attended games at Target Field in 2010 and this was only the second time the franchise had been able to reach this plateau. With the Twins coming off a successful 2010 and most of their core players still intact, there was still a high demand for Twins tickets in 2011. Season ticket sales were renewed at a high level and for the second year in a row, the team had to cap their sales on season tickets. Unfortunately the performance on the field was far less than in 2010. So as the season went on, there were far less people occupying the seats at Target Field (even if the seats were technically sold). For the second year in a row, the Twins crossed threshold of 3 million fans. By the end of the year, there were plenty of open seats to be found across the ballpark. http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aYdTC5egAhw/T5jL1QGzXgI/AAAAAAAABNw/-2mahCCdrIE/s400/TargetFieldAttendance.jpg During the offseason, the Twins made a variety of changes after Terry Ryan was reinstated as the general manager. One of the biggest changes was scaling back the payroll to get it closer to the $100 million mark. By the end of the 2011 season, the overall value of the team's payroll was around the $115 million mark. The front office knew that honeymoon period of fans coming out to Target Field to see the stadium was over. After a rough season, it was going to take a little bit of time to win the fans back over and bring them back to Target Field. The team planned accordingly and so far this season, their estimates seemed to be correct. The Twins first three home series of the year should be games that are big draws for fans. The Angels, Rangers, and Red Sox are all top notch teams in the American League with star players at multiple positions. Games like this usually makes it easy to fill the seats but a person can clearly find large sections of tickets that remain unsold. Early season weather can always be sketchy so this might keep some fans away. But on a beautiful night like last night with a top opponent in town, the crowd should have been higher than it was by the time everyone filtered into the ballpark. After nine games at home, the Twins have just crossed the 300,000 mark for attendance this season. The team has averaged 33,357 fans in their home contests but that mark is helped by the over 39,000 fans from the home opener. Besides the first home game of the year, the Twins highest attendance was the 35,854 fans at the first Saturday game of the year versus the Rangers. With a slow start by the team and some poor starting pitching performances, it is hard to imagine this number improving significantly in the coming months. From my perspective as a season ticket holder for the Twins, it was very easy to sell tickets for the first two years at Target Field. I could have multiple seats for all 81 home games and still find a way to sell tickets to friend, family, and on StubHub. In 2010, I lived over five hours away from Target Field and I was still able to have the full sheets of tickets for all 81 home games. In the second season at Target Field, it was still very easy to sell tickets to acquaintances and on the internet. But by the last month of the season, it was hard to even give the tickets away. The demand to go and watch a team fighting to stay away from 100-losses was not out there in the Twin Cities. Target Field is still one of the most beautiful venues at which to watch a baseball game. The food selection is amazing, the sightlines are excellent, and the ballpark experience is second to none. For the team to get back to selling out games, it is going to take having a winning team on the field. It seems like that might be a tough request in 2012 so it will be interesting to see how attendance fairs as the weather starts to warm up in the summer months.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HLsZhcPiKOU/T5jI5YubJyI/AAAAAAAABNk/t1Whequk2Mc/s320/target_field_46.jpg The first two seasons at Target Field have been very fruitful from the Twins perspective when it comes to selling tickets in their beautiful new ballpark. In 2010 and 2011, the Twins capped their season ticket sales and it was tough to find an open seat in any section with your naked eye for most of the season. Before a new stadium was built, the organization said they needed the cash flow involved with a new venue in order to stay competitive and the team raised their payroll significantly in the first couple years at Target Field. Target Field was built and the fans across Twins Territory responded by coming out in droves to see their new gem nestled into downtown Minneapolis. The 2010 season saw the Twins fighting for a division title and they finished the year with one of the best records in the American League. Nothing sells tickets like having a winner on the field so the first year at Target Field was very successful. Over 3 million fans attended games at Target Field in 2010 and this was only the second time the franchise had been able to reach this plateau. With the Twins coming off a successful 2010 and most of their core players still intact, there was still a high demand for Twins tickets in 2011. Season ticket sales were renewed at a high level and for the second year in a row, the team had to cap their sales on season tickets. Unfortunately the performance on the field was far less than in 2010. So as the season went on, there were far less people occupying the seats at Target Field (even if the seats were technically sold). For the second year in a row, the Twins crossed threshold of 3 million fans. By the end of the year, there were plenty of open seats to be found across the ballpark. http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aYdTC5egAhw/T5jL1QGzXgI/AAAAAAAABNw/-2mahCCdrIE/s400/TargetFieldAttendance.jpg During the offseason, the Twins made a variety of changes after Terry Ryan was reinstated as the general manager. One of the biggest changes was scaling back the payroll to get it closer to the $100 million mark. By the end of the 2011 season, the overall value of the team's payroll was around the $115 million mark. The front office knew that honeymoon period of fans coming out to Target Field to see the stadium was over. After a rough season, it was going to take a little bit of time to win the fans back over and bring them back to Target Field. The team planned accordingly and so far this season, their estimates seemed to be correct. The Twins first three home series of the year should be games that are big draws for fans. The Angels, Rangers, and Red Sox are all top notch teams in the American League with star players at multiple positions. Games like this usually makes it easy to fill the seats but a person can clearly find large sections of tickets that remain unsold. Early season weather can always be sketchy so this might keep some fans away. But on a beautiful night like last night with a top opponent in town, the crowd should have been higher than it was by the time everyone filtered into the ballpark. After nine games at home, the Twins have just crossed the 300,000 mark for attendance this season. The team has averaged 33,357 fans in their home contests but that mark is helped by the over 39,000 fans from the home opener. Besides the first home game of the year, the Twins highest attendance was the 35,854 fans at the first Saturday game of the year versus the Rangers. With a slow start by the team and some poor starting pitching performances, it is hard to imagine this number improving significantly in the coming months. From my perspective as a season ticket holder for the Twins, it was very easy to sell tickets for the first two years at Target Field. I could have multiple seats for all 81 home games and still find a way to sell tickets to friend, family, and on StubHub. In 2010, I lived over five hours away from Target Field and I was still able to have the full sheets of tickets for all 81 home games. In the second season at Target Field, it was still very easy to sell tickets to acquaintances and on the internet. But by the last month of the season, it was hard to even give the tickets away. The demand to go and watch a team fighting to stay away from 100-losses was not out there in the Twin Cities. Target Field is still one of the most beautiful venues at which to watch a baseball game. The food selection is amazing, the sightlines are excellent, and the ballpark experience is second to none. For the team to get back to selling out games, it is going to take having a winning team on the field. It seems like that might be a tough request in 2012 so it will be interesting to see how attendance fairs as the weather starts to warm up in the summer months.

Original post from North Dakota Twins Fan ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hj-BLOmvgjU/T5fjG_3qgEI/AAAAAAAABNQ/oj_3fiw0GF4/s320/Duensing.jpg For the second season in a row, the Twins have taken a player who had previously served as a starter and given him a prominent role in the bullpen. Last year the Twins were very pleased with the performance of Glen Perkins as he developed into their most reliable arm in the bullpen. In a lot of tough situations, Ron Gardenhire turned to Perkins to get the team out of a jam. But in the middle of a miserable season, it was hard to see the true value of those performances. Flash forward to 2012 and the Twins have shifted Brian Duensing into a role as one of their most important relief arms out of the bullpen. Through the first 18 games of the season for the Twins, Duensing has appeared in half of them. There has only been one game in which he gave up any earned runs and he has been primarily used in the eighth inning. Out of the team's five wins, Duensing has appeared in four of those games so the team is using him when they need him the most. Last season, Twins fans were astonished with the ability of Perkins to ramp up his velocity with his new spot in the bullpen. During the 2008 and 2009 seasons, Perkins was primarily used as a starter for the Twins. His fastball velocity sat around 90.5 mph in 2008 and in the next year it dropped to 89.7 mph. These are not numbers that jump off of the page at you. But if a pitcher is able to control this pitch and have some movement on it, he can still be successful. Take a look at the change in his velocity as he started to find his spot in the bullpen. http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4HdrY_DceMw/T5fhFLXY-UI/AAAAAAAABNI/eb4LO_KGNdQ/s320/PerkinsVelocity.jpg Much like Perkins before him, Duensing has spent a little bit of time as an arm out of the bullpen before. This means he has experience with the current role he is filling. But in many of the previous seasons when Duensing has started the year in the bullpen, he has found his way into the starting rotation by the end of the year. The least amount of games that Duensing has started in a year was nine games in 2009. He hasn't stayed in the bullpen for an entire year to show what he can do as a full-time relief option. http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Xp__Tla5jDk/T5fldf7UAII/AAAAAAAABNY/y6UoOjvRNNw/s320/DuensingVelocity.jpg Duensing hopes to find himself in the same territory as Perkins by the end of the year. The Twins were so impressed with the way Perkins looked in the bullpen that the club signed him to a contract extension during spring training. He will now be with the team through the end of the 2015 season and the organization has a option for the 2016 year. If Duensing is able to find similar success to Perkins in 2012, the team might consider giving Duensing a long-term deal. He will be arbitration eligible for the first time in 2013 so there is still time for the Twins to figure out what they have in Duensing. In an ideal world the Twins might have wanted Duensing to spend the entire year in the bullpen so he could be more accustom to this job. With all of the issues so far in the starting rotation, it makes it hard to imagine a situation where the Twins wouldn't have to turn to Duensing as a starter at some point in 2012. Scott Baker is out for the year, Francisco Liriano has been a disaster, and Nick Blackburn has been trying to come back from an injury. The Twins have already put Liam Hendriks into the rotation and Anthony Swarzak continues to be an option for making spot starts. In the minor leagues, Scott Diamond is off to a tremendous start but it is hard to imagine him being a long-term solution. It is nice to see Duensing showing the ability to transition back to the bullpen after spending most of last year in the starting rotation. There might be a chance that he moves back to the starting rotation at some point in 2012. But at this point, it looks like the team will give Duensing every opportunity to be a dominant relief option. If Perkins is in line to be the closer in the near future for the Twins, Duensing could be a dominant set-up man leading to the ninth inning.

Original post from North Dakota Twins Fan ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hj-BLOmvgjU/T5fjG_3qgEI/AAAAAAAABNQ/oj_3fiw0GF4/s320/Duensing.jpg For the second season in a row, the Twins have taken a player who had previously served as a starter and given him a prominent role in the bullpen. Last year the Twins were very pleased with the performance of Glen Perkins as he developed into their most reliable arm in the bullpen. In a lot of tough situations, Ron Gardenhire turned to Perkins to get the team out of a jam. But in the middle of a miserable season, it was hard to see the true value of those performances. Flash forward to 2012 and the Twins have shifted Brian Duensing into a role as one of their most important relief arms out of the bullpen. Through the first 18 games of the season for the Twins, Duensing has appeared in half of them. There has only been one game in which he gave up any earned runs and he has been primarily used in the eighth inning. Out of the team's five wins, Duensing has appeared in four of those games so the team is using him when they need him the most. Last season, Twins fans were astonished with the ability of Perkins to ramp up his velocity with his new spot in the bullpen. During the 2008 and 2009 seasons, Perkins was primarily used as a starter for the Twins. His fastball velocity sat around 90.5 mph in 2008 and in the next year it dropped to 89.7 mph. These are not numbers that jump off of the page at you. But if a pitcher is able to control this pitch and have some movement on it, he can still be successful. Take a look at the change in his velocity as he started to find his spot in the bullpen. http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4HdrY_DceMw/T5fhFLXY-UI/AAAAAAAABNI/eb4LO_KGNdQ/s320/PerkinsVelocity.jpg Much like Perkins before him, Duensing has spent a little bit of time as an arm out of the bullpen before. This means he has experience with the current role he is filling. But in many of the previous seasons when Duensing has started the year in the bullpen, he has found his way into the starting rotation by the end of the year. The least amount of games that Duensing has started in a year was nine games in 2009. He hasn't stayed in the bullpen for an entire year to show what he can do as a full-time relief option. http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Xp__Tla5jDk/T5fldf7UAII/AAAAAAAABNY/y6UoOjvRNNw/s320/DuensingVelocity.jpg Duensing hopes to find himself in the same territory as Perkins by the end of the year. The Twins were so impressed with the way Perkins looked in the bullpen that the club signed him to a contract extension during spring training. He will now be with the team through the end of the 2015 season and the organization has a option for the 2016 year. If Duensing is able to find similar success to Perkins in 2012, the team might consider giving Duensing a long-term deal. He will be arbitration eligible for the first time in 2013 so there is still time for the Twins to figure out what they have in Duensing. In an ideal world the Twins might have wanted Duensing to spend the entire year in the bullpen so he could be more accustom to this job. With all of the issues so far in the starting rotation, it makes it hard to imagine a situation where the Twins wouldn't have to turn to Duensing as a starter at some point in 2012. Scott Baker is out for the year, Francisco Liriano has been a disaster, and Nick Blackburn has been trying to come back from an injury. The Twins have already put Liam Hendriks into the rotation and Anthony Swarzak continues to be an option for making spot starts. In the minor leagues, Scott Diamond is off to a tremendous start but it is hard to imagine him being a long-term solution. It is nice to see Duensing showing the ability to transition back to the bullpen after spending most of last year in the starting rotation. There might be a chance that he moves back to the starting rotation at some point in 2012. But at this point, it looks like the team will give Duensing every opportunity to be a dominant relief option. If Perkins is in line to be the closer in the near future for the Twins, Duensing could be a dominant set-up man leading to the ninth inning.

Original post from North Dakota Twins Fan ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Seth Stohs and the other TwinsCentric guys have put together an interesting concept for inclusion on their website, TwinsDaily. Yesterday morning fans were asked to "adopt" a player from the Twins minor league system to follow as that player travels through the farm system. Each player was only allowed to be pick once and it was offered on a first-come, first-serve basis. Once you selected a player the rules became pretty simple. You were required to write an introductory post that included their basic information like height, weight, and handedness. This first post could also include their previous stats from their time in the minor leagues. Then during the rest of the year you are required to post at least once a week about their progress in the system. Overall it is going to be a fun process to watch develop over at the TwinsDaily site. I got to the selection forum about a half hour after the forum went live so some of the top prospects were already off of the board. I "adopted" Adrian Salcedo, the number seven ranked prospect in my top 20 Twins prospects for the start of the 2012 season. I wrote a short introductory post last night on TwinsDaily with the basic information about Salcedo and his statistics for the seasons he has completed through 2011. So throughout the year, I will be periodically updating you on one of the top pitching prospects in the Twins minor league system. Below you will find a introductory post on Salcedo with some information about how he got to this point in his career. Enjoy the first step in my "Adopt-A-Prospect" series with Adrian Salcedo. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OIe3abZOKUg/T5X6DR2bOdI/AAAAAAAABNA/GpSkUKFKL0w/s320/AdrainSalcedoMiracle.jpg Salcedo joined the Twins as a young 17-year-old out of the Dominican Republic back in 2007 and in his time in the organization, he has done nothing but impress as he has moved consistently through the farm system. The lanky 6-foot-4 right-handed pitcher is at the beginning of his fifth year as a pitcher in the organization and he has worked his way through the system to the starting rotation of the High-A Fort Myers Miracle. His journey from the Dominican Republic to this point in his career has been quite the story and he seems destined for Minnesota. In his first year with the Twins organization, Salcedo was asked to pitch in the Dominican Summer League. That first season allowed Salcedo to show his ability to be a control pitcher by only giving up eight walks and having a 0.842 WHIP. His 65.1 innings on the mound were solid as he posted a 1.65 ERA as a 17-year-old. It was a good start to his career and the Twins were happy with their new signee. The following season Salcedo came stateside for his first short-season in the Gulf Coast League. It seemed that the transition did not even impact Salcedo as he was able to post very good numbers for the second year in a row. His outstanding ERA from the year before went even lower to 1.46 with the GCL Twins. The Twins like control pitchers and he continued to fit this mold by only allowing three walks and a 1.022 WHIP. He pitched 61.2 innings and his SO/BB rate was 19.33, an off the charts number. Salcedo had caught the eyes of many in the Twins organization and he would be throw into the fire at the beginning of the 2010 season. The Fort Myers Miracle had some issues in their starting rotation and Salcedo was asked to make six starts with them to start the season. He had never pitched higher than the rookie leagues so this was a big jump to make for a 19-year-old. As could be predicted, there were some bumps along the way but the experience he gained with the Miracle could help him in the long run. Eventually, he would be sent back to the rookie leagues with the E-Twins and this level of competition seemed to help Salcedo get back on track. During his time in Elizabethton, he was twice named the pitcher of the week for the entire league. He ended the year with a 4.15 ERA and a 1.232 WHIP in 93.1 innings pitched between both levels. The start of the 2011 season would be another transition year for Salcedo because this would be his first year in a full season league. He quickly showed he belonged in the Midwest League by striking out 10 batters in his first trip to the mound. From there Salcedo would put up impressive numbers by posting a 2.93 ERA and a 1.170 WHIP in 135.0 innings on the mound. At the mid-season point, he was named as a Midwest League All-Star for his stellar play on the field. The Twins are being careful with Salcedo and he was asked to be a relief pitcher at the end of the year so the organization could limit his innings. Salcedo began this year in familiar territory with the Fort Myers Miracle but this time he would be playing at his own level. He has made three starts this year and in each of the outings, he has allowed two earned runs or less. The team is still working to stretch Salcedo out because he has not pitch more than five innings in any of his appearances. The one stat that sticks out so far in 2012 is the eight walks he has given up. For a control pitcher, the Twins will want him to be able to keep his amount of walks to a minimal amount. It is still early in the year so there is plenty of time for Salcedo to show that he is one of the best prospects in the Twins organization.

Original post from North Dakota Twins Fan ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Seth Stohs and the other TwinsCentric guys have put together an interesting concept for inclusion on their website, TwinsDaily. Yesterday morning fans were asked to "adopt" a player from the Twins minor league system to follow as that player travels through the farm system. Each player was only allowed to be pick once and it was offered on a first-come, first-serve basis. Once you selected a player the rules became pretty simple. You were required to write an introductory post that included their basic information like height, weight, and handedness. This first post could also include their previous stats from their time in the minor leagues. Then during the rest of the year you are required to post at least once a week about their progress in the system. Overall it is going to be a fun process to watch develop over at the TwinsDaily site. I got to the selection forum about a half hour after the forum went live so some of the top prospects were already off of the board. I "adopted" Adrian Salcedo, the number seven ranked prospect in my top 20 Twins prospects for the start of the 2012 season. I wrote a short introductory post last night on TwinsDaily with the basic information about Salcedo and his statistics for the seasons he has completed through 2011. So throughout the year, I will be periodically updating you on one of the top pitching prospects in the Twins minor league system. Below you will find a introductory post on Salcedo with some information about how he got to this point in his career. Enjoy the first step in my "Adopt-A-Prospect" series with Adrian Salcedo. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OIe3abZOKUg/T5X6DR2bOdI/AAAAAAAABNA/GpSkUKFKL0w/s320/AdrainSalcedoMiracle.jpg Salcedo joined the Twins as a young 17-year-old out of the Dominican Republic back in 2007 and in his time in the organization, he has done nothing but impress as he has moved consistently through the farm system. The lanky 6-foot-4 right-handed pitcher is at the beginning of his fifth year as a pitcher in the organization and he has worked his way through the system to the starting rotation of the High-A Fort Myers Miracle. His journey from the Dominican Republic to this point in his career has been quite the story and he seems destined for Minnesota. In his first year with the Twins organization, Salcedo was asked to pitch in the Dominican Summer League. That first season allowed Salcedo to show his ability to be a control pitcher by only giving up eight walks and having a 0.842 WHIP. His 65.1 innings on the mound were solid as he posted a 1.65 ERA as a 17-year-old. It was a good start to his career and the Twins were happy with their new signee. The following season Salcedo came stateside for his first short-season in the Gulf Coast League. It seemed that the transition did not even impact Salcedo as he was able to post very good numbers for the second year in a row. His outstanding ERA from the year before went even lower to 1.46 with the GCL Twins. The Twins like control pitchers and he continued to fit this mold by only allowing three walks and a 1.022 WHIP. He pitched 61.2 innings and his SO/BB rate was 19.33, an off the charts number. Salcedo had caught the eyes of many in the Twins organization and he would be throw into the fire at the beginning of the 2010 season. The Fort Myers Miracle had some issues in their starting rotation and Salcedo was asked to make six starts with them to start the season. He had never pitched higher than the rookie leagues so this was a big jump to make for a 19-year-old. As could be predicted, there were some bumps along the way but the experience he gained with the Miracle could help him in the long run. Eventually, he would be sent back to the rookie leagues with the E-Twins and this level of competition seemed to help Salcedo get back on track. During his time in Elizabethton, he was twice named the pitcher of the week for the entire league. He ended the year with a 4.15 ERA and a 1.232 WHIP in 93.1 innings pitched between both levels. The start of the 2011 season would be another transition year for Salcedo because this would be his first year in a full season league. He quickly showed he belonged in the Midwest League by striking out 10 batters in his first trip to the mound. From there Salcedo would put up impressive numbers by posting a 2.93 ERA and a 1.170 WHIP in 135.0 innings on the mound. At the mid-season point, he was named as a Midwest League All-Star for his stellar play on the field. The Twins are being careful with Salcedo and he was asked to be a relief pitcher at the end of the year so the organization could limit his innings. Salcedo began this year in familiar territory with the Fort Myers Miracle but this time he would be playing at his own level. He has made three starts this year and in each of the outings, he has allowed two earned runs or less. The team is still working to stretch Salcedo out because he has not pitch more than five innings in any of his appearances. The one stat that sticks out so far in 2012 is the eight walks he has given up. For a control pitcher, the Twins will want him to be able to keep his amount of walks to a minimal amount. It is still early in the year so there is plenty of time for Salcedo to show that he is one of the best prospects in the Twins organization.

Original post from North Dakota Twins Fan ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_bWFQY5qQ0M/T5VC1GRcBMI/AAAAAAAABM4/o-C_AlqMuUs/s320/LirianoHiding.jpg At the end of spring training, it seemed that Francisco Liriano was posed to have a strong start to the year. After pitching in the Dominican Winter League, Liriano had seemed to have it all together in spring training and he was ready to help the Twins forget about the headaches involved with the 2011 season. But here is a prime example of why you shouldn't trust spring training numbers because the results on the field have been disastrous. The statistics from his time on the mound this year are tough to look at. His ERA is 11.02 with an awful 2.327 WHIP and he has given up the most earned runs (20) and walks (13) in the entire American League. He hasn't been able to make it deep into games either with an average of just over four innings per start. Four starts into the 2012 season and the Twins are planning to "take a step back" with their left-handed hurler. This phrase can take on a whole bunch of meanings but the Twins can ill afford to leave him in the starting rotation. He has only made it through the fifth inning in two of his outings and he has hardly put the Twins in position to win by giving up an average of five runs per start. In the coming days, he could be asked to move to the bullpen and this would start a chain of events for the Twins. There are a couple of options for the Twins to fill the rotation spot that would be vacated by Liriano. With a couple of starters missing at the beginning of the year, Anthony Swarzak was asked to start the year in the rotation. He had one bad start earlier this week in New York but his first two appearances of the year were solid. The team has also seen some marginal success from Swarzak as a starter in the past. For his career when he starts, Swarzak has posted a 5.50 ERA and a 1.471 WHIP in 26 starts. These are not eye popping numbers but anything looks better than what Liriano has produced so far this year. If the Twins want to leave Swarzak in his role as a relief option, the Twins could look to the minor leagues to fill Liriano's rotation spot. Scott Diamond has been one of the best pitchers at the start of the season at the Triple-A level. He has some outstanding numbers in his four starts with an ERA of 1.07 and a 1.026 WHIP in 26.1 innings on the mound. In fact out of his four starts this year, he has only given up earned runs in one of is outings. His hot start to the season could be hard for the front office to ignore with a possible rotation spot to fill. The Twins seem determined to try and help Liriano to regain some of his confidence. One of the only ways for this to happen could be for him to shift to a different role out of the bullpen. This begs the question, where does Liriano fit into the bullpen? Would he be used as a long relief man for starters who aren't able to get far into a game? This might end up being a mop-up role but the Twins need him to spend some time on the mound in non-pressure situations. At the end of last season, the Twins gave Liriano a couple of relief appearances as the team was trying to limit the pain on a rough season. In one of these outings, the team was down by significant margin so there wasn't a lot of pressure on him and he managed to pitch two innings without any damage. The other contest was tied at two when he entered and the Indians ended up scoring five earned runs off of Liriano in a third of an inning. During his entire big league career, Liriano has an ERA of 4.46 with a 1.427 WHIP in 34.1 innings as a relief pitcher. Both of these numbers are higher than his career average as a starter. Near the start of spring training, I wrote about the possibility of Liriano not being with the Twins beyond the coming season. In this piece, I wrote that if Liriano were pitching well, the team would probably try to trade him before the deadline. That scenario doesn't seem to be coming true so my other point was that a bad season from Liriano could spell the end of his Twins career. For Lirano to have any trade value for the Twins, he would need to have a miraculous turnaround in the next couple of months. Barring a miracle, it looks like the Twins will shift Liriano to the bullpen and then part ways with the struggling pitcher at the end of the season. A once promising career with the Twins will always leave fans wondering what could have been for the player who was suppose to be an ace for years to come.

Original post from North Dakota Twins Fan ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_bWFQY5qQ0M/T5VC1GRcBMI/AAAAAAAABM4/o-C_AlqMuUs/s320/LirianoHiding.jpg At the end of spring training, it seemed that Francisco Liriano was posed to have a strong start to the year. After pitching in the Dominican Winter League, Liriano had seemed to have it all together in spring training and he was ready to help the Twins forget about the headaches involved with the 2011 season. But here is a prime example of why you shouldn't trust spring training numbers because the results on the field have been disastrous. The statistics from his time on the mound this year are tough to look at. His ERA is 11.02 with an awful 2.327 WHIP and he has given up the most earned runs (20) and walks (13) in the entire American League. He hasn't been able to make it deep into games either with an average of just over four innings per start. Four starts into the 2012 season and the Twins are planning to "take a step back" with their left-handed hurler. This phrase can take on a whole bunch of meanings but the Twins can ill afford to leave him in the starting rotation. He has only made it through the fifth inning in two of his outings and he has hardly put the Twins in position to win by giving up an average of five runs per start. In the coming days, he could be asked to move to the bullpen and this would start a chain of events for the Twins. There are a couple of options for the Twins to fill the rotation spot that would be vacated by Liriano. With a couple of starters missing at the beginning of the year, Anthony Swarzak was asked to start the year in the rotation. He had one bad start earlier this week in New York but his first two appearances of the year were solid. The team has also seen some marginal success from Swarzak as a starter in the past. For his career when he starts, Swarzak has posted a 5.50 ERA and a 1.471 WHIP in 26 starts. These are not eye popping numbers but anything looks better than what Liriano has produced so far this year. If the Twins want to leave Swarzak in his role as a relief option, the Twins could look to the minor leagues to fill Liriano's rotation spot. Scott Diamond has been one of the best pitchers at the start of the season at the Triple-A level. He has some outstanding numbers in his four starts with an ERA of 1.07 and a 1.026 WHIP in 26.1 innings on the mound. In fact out of his four starts this year, he has only given up earned runs in one of is outings. His hot start to the season could be hard for the front office to ignore with a possible rotation spot to fill. The Twins seem determined to try and help Liriano to regain some of his confidence. One of the only ways for this to happen could be for him to shift to a different role out of the bullpen. This begs the question, where does Liriano fit into the bullpen? Would he be used as a long relief man for starters who aren't able to get far into a game? This might end up being a mop-up role but the Twins need him to spend some time on the mound in non-pressure situations. At the end of last season, the Twins gave Liriano a couple of relief appearances as the team was trying to limit the pain on a rough season. In one of these outings, the team was down by significant margin so there wasn't a lot of pressure on him and he managed to pitch two innings without any damage. The other contest was tied at two when he entered and the Indians ended up scoring five earned runs off of Liriano in a third of an inning. During his entire big league career, Liriano has an ERA of 4.46 with a 1.427 WHIP in 34.1 innings as a relief pitcher. Both of these numbers are higher than his career average as a starter. Near the start of spring training, I wrote about the possibility of Liriano not being with the Twins beyond the coming season. In this piece, I wrote that if Liriano were pitching well, the team would probably try to trade him before the deadline. That scenario doesn't seem to be coming true so my other point was that a bad season from Liriano could spell the end of his Twins career. For Lirano to have any trade value for the Twins, he would need to have a miraculous turnaround in the next couple of months. Barring a miracle, it looks like the Twins will shift Liriano to the bullpen and then part ways with the struggling pitcher at the end of the season. A once promising career with the Twins will always leave fans wondering what could have been for the player who was suppose to be an ace for years to come.

Original post from North Dakota Twins Fan ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Well the Twins made their series in the Bronx much more enjoyable than was originally anticipated by many fans in Twins Territory. The offense seems to be clicking on all cylinders and the bullpen has been surprisingly good in some tough situations against a very good line-up. Hopefully this positive momentum will carry over into their weekend series with the Rays and the Twins can start the climb back to the .500 mark. The baseball world had plenty of stories from the entire week and the headlines will continue to roll in as the season progresses. Ozzie Guillen returned to the Marlins, Matt Cain and Cliff Lee got caught up in a pitcher's duel, Jamie Moyer seemed to defy Father Time, and Ivan Rodriguez is set to retire as a member of the Rangers. There were plenty of stories from the Twins organization as well. So let's jump in and see what's in store for this edition of "Friday Links-N-Thinks." Anthony Swarzak and Liam Hendriks are fighting for a spot in the rotation and Parker Hageman analyzes who has the inside track. Everyone knows the Twins cut payroll this year but how does that compare to the rest of the league. The Twins aren't going to carry 13 pitchers for the entire season so Minnesota Twins Musings looks at the roster shuffle that is coming in the near future. We are two weeks into the season and JC over at Knuckleballs tries to figure out who the Twins are. Luke Hughes was designated for assignment a couple of days ago and over at The tenth inning stretch they discuss how the Aussie got a rotten deal. At the beginning of the spring, Ben Revere was set to be a starting outfielder with the Twins. So how did he end up back in Rochester? Scott Baker went in for his elbow clean-up and woke up to find out the doctor's performed Tommy John surgery. Twins Fan From Afar continues to write some great coverage on the Rock Cats and he wrote about the lackluster coverage from the World Wide Leader in Sports. One of my favorite blogs to follow about the Twins is Baseball Outsider and he finally got a Twitter account so make sure to follow him. Twins top prospect Miguel Sano has been a beast for the Beloit Snappers by hitting his sixth home run of the season last night. MiLB wrote a feature article explaining his hot start. http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-O6rhjRlG80M/T5FNyo1hoXI/AAAAAAAABMw/0bf_7oKKbPE/s320/SanoSnappers.jpg Who would be on the All-Time Baseball Dream Team? Baseball: Past and Present come up with their starting nine. There are plenty of former Twins across MLB and Puckett's Pond took a look at how they have started the year. Current AL Central foe Prince Fielder stole a base earlier this week and it was a fun sight to see. Do you remember that famous blooper reel shot where Jose Canseco has the home run ball bounce off of the top of his head? Now you can buy the hat that was on his head for that famous play. Dear Football Writers, please don't write about baseball. Last week I had a link to a play where Delmon Young did a 360 trying to catch the ball. The ruling on the field after the play was a triple so MLB had to step in. The Twins just saw first hand how long a game can take in the Bronx. So which AL Central team has the fastest working rotation? Jim Leyland thinks the experts that make predictions at the beginning of the season are a bunch of idiots. He's probably right. My Weekly Rundown: Monday: Are we living in the "Golden Age" of catchers? Tuesday: Morneau's changing role leaving Parmelee behind Wednesday: 2012 MLB Draft starting to come into focus Thursday: Mixed messages might have messed up Liriano Video of the Week: Since the Twins were in NYC, they made time to visit the MLB Fan Cave. It also made sense because Lindsay Guentzel, a Minnesota native, is one of the nine fans hanging out in the MLB Fan Cave. Check out this video done with Joe Mauer during his visit and you can even make out Brian Duensing in the background.

Original post from North Dakota Twins Fan ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Well the Twins made their series in the Bronx much more enjoyable than was originally anticipated by many fans in Twins Territory. The offense seems to be clicking on all cylinders and the bullpen has been surprisingly good in some tough situations against a very good line-up. Hopefully this positive momentum will carry over into their weekend series with the Rays and the Twins can start the climb back to the .500 mark. The baseball world had plenty of stories from the entire week and the headlines will continue to roll in as the season progresses. Ozzie Guillen returned to the Marlins, Matt Cain and Cliff Lee got caught up in a pitcher's duel, Jamie Moyer seemed to defy Father Time, and Ivan Rodriguez is set to retire as a member of the Rangers. There were plenty of stories from the Twins organization as well. So let's jump in and see what's in store for this edition of "Friday Links-N-Thinks." Anthony Swarzak and Liam Hendriks are fighting for a spot in the rotation and Parker Hageman analyzes who has the inside track. Everyone knows the Twins cut payroll this year but how does that compare to the rest of the league. The Twins aren't going to carry 13 pitchers for the entire season so Minnesota Twins Musings looks at the roster shuffle that is coming in the near future. We are two weeks into the season and JC over at Knuckleballs tries to figure out who the Twins are. Luke Hughes was designated for assignment a couple of days ago and over at The tenth inning stretch they discuss how the Aussie got a rotten deal. At the beginning of the spring, Ben Revere was set to be a starting outfielder with the Twins. So how did he end up back in Rochester? Scott Baker went in for his elbow clean-up and woke up to find out the doctor's performed Tommy John surgery. Twins Fan From Afar continues to write some great coverage on the Rock Cats and he wrote about the lackluster coverage from the World Wide Leader in Sports. One of my favorite blogs to follow about the Twins is Baseball Outsider and he finally got a Twitter account so make sure to follow him. Twins top prospect Miguel Sano has been a beast for the Beloit Snappers by hitting his sixth home run of the season last night. MiLB wrote a feature article explaining his hot start. http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-O6rhjRlG80M/T5FNyo1hoXI/AAAAAAAABMw/0bf_7oKKbPE/s320/SanoSnappers.jpg Who would be on the All-Time Baseball Dream Team? Baseball: Past and Present come up with their starting nine. There are plenty of former Twins across MLB and Puckett's Pond took a look at how they have started the year. Current AL Central foe Prince Fielder stole a base earlier this week and it was a fun sight to see. Do you remember that famous blooper reel shot where Jose Canseco has the home run ball bounce off of the top of his head? Now you can buy the hat that was on his head for that famous play. Dear Football Writers, please don't write about baseball. Last week I had a link to a play where Delmon Young did a 360 trying to catch the ball. The ruling on the field after the play was a triple so MLB had to step in. The Twins just saw first hand how long a game can take in the Bronx. So which AL Central team has the fastest working rotation? Jim Leyland thinks the experts that make predictions at the beginning of the season are a bunch of idiots. He's probably right. My Weekly Rundown: Monday: Are we living in the "Golden Age" of catchers? Tuesday: Morneau's changing role leaving Parmelee behind Wednesday: 2012 MLB Draft starting to come into focus Thursday: Mixed messages might have messed up Liriano Video of the Week: Since the Twins were in NYC, they made time to visit the MLB Fan Cave. It also made sense because Lindsay Guentzel, a Minnesota native, is one of the nine fans hanging out in the MLB Fan Cave. Check out this video done with Joe Mauer during his visit and you can even make out Brian Duensing in the background.

Original post from North Dakota Twins Fan ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UlDvPeGs83o/T493ne6bprI/AAAAAAAABMo/LaBNyIvMhmk/s320/LirianoHeadDown.jpg In the aftermath of a disastrous outing from Francisco Liriano on Tuesday night at Yankee Stadium, there has been plenty written about the lanky left-hander for the Twins. The Twins watched Liriano struggle out of the gate in 2011 and now the same story is playing out at the beginning of 2012. In his first three starts of the year, he has allowed the most earned runs and walks in the American League. His ERA has ballooned to 11.91 and he has yet to make it into the sixth inning during any of his appearances. It has been a terrible start to what will be a contract year for Mr. Liriano. How far things have fallen with their once promising star and now the Twins find themselves in a precarious position with their pitcher that has never been able to regain his dominant form. The Twins are in the sixth year of the Liriano experiment and the results are turning out to be far worse than the hypothesis suggested back in 2006. One of the top prospects in all of baseball at 22-years old and now at 28, he seems to have reached his sticking point with the Twins. It is looking more and more like Liriano's career will be over with the Twins by the time the start of next season rolls around. There will be plenty of people who ask the question, "What went wrong with this young man?" His Tommy John surgery obviously played a role in diminishing some of his ability but he has shown flashes of brilliance since returning to the mound. But there has to be more to the downfall of Liriano. The Twins have tried a variety of approaches with Liriano during his tenure with the team. They have let him pitch in winter ball some seasons to see if that better prepared him for the start of the year. Some of the coaching staff has attempted to find different ways for Liriano to approach his pitching style to see if that would consummate better results on the field. All of these changes in approach might have come off as mixed messages to Liriano and this could have messed up some of his ability on the field. 2006 message to Liriano: "Go out and dominate by throwing your nasty stuff to every player in the line-up." This message sounded good at the time but everyone knew his violent delivery seemed posed for some kind of arm issue. The first half of the 2006 season was magical with Liriano and Johan Santana destroying the American League with their pitching efforts. It seemed like these two players might be enough to carry the Twins all the way to their first World Series in over 15 years. Liriano had dominant stuff so there was not much thought that he needed to put into his pitching. All he had to do was step on the mound and his electric stuff would take care of any batter who dug into the box. 2008-09 message to Liriano: "We really liked what you did before you got hurt so let's try and get you back to that point." Learning how to pitch after Tommy John surgery can be a challenge for some players. Liriano had been so dominant before the procedure and that filled him with confidence. Since he lost a little off of his dominant stuff, he was going to need to learn how to be a pitcher. This process wouldn't be pretty but the Twins still had hope that Liriano would be able to reach his ace potential once again. 2010 message to Liriano: "You have the stuff to be an ace and your injury is behind you. Now it's time to show that you are an ace." Liriano seemed to put it all together and the team looked like they had finally found their ace for the coming years. His confidence grew and the results were positive on the field. There were still some moments of weakness where nerves would get the best of Liriano but he seemed to have turned a corner. He was one of the top ten pitchers in the American League and on his way to being an ace. 2011 message to Liriano: "Maybe switching to being a pitch to contact starter will help be even better." In the offseason, Liriano took the winter off because of the high number of innings he pitched in 2010. He came to spring training out of shape and he had not been performing some of the elbow exercises the team had given him as part of his offseason workout regime. To overcome some of these problems, the Twins gave Liriano a new message. He wasn't suppose to try and strike everyone out because then he didn't last very long into the game. He should still get a strikeout when he could but a quick ground out was just as good as a K. The coaching staff had used this concept with other pitchers in the organization and it had served them well in the past. That wasn't the case with Mr. Liriano. 2012 message to Liriano: "Relax. Don't let the bad outcomes on the mound impact your results to the following batters. Become a pitcher and not a thrower." The biggest part of the message to Liriano might be the fact that he needs to relax on the mound. When Liriano seems to start to unravel, the catcher is suppose to be able to bring him back to reality and calm his nerves. Parker Hageman also notes that there seems to be something wrong with Liriano's mechanics. This will only add to the list of things the Twins need to change with Liriano for him to find success this year. Ron Gardenhire and Rick Anderson are probably the two men that have given plenty of messages to Liriano over the years. At this point in his career, the multitude of messages given to him has yet to change the course of his career in a more positive direction. It's looking more and more like Liriano might be better off with another team and new voices trying to get the message through to him. Now it seems the only question remaining is if the Twins can get anything for Liriano or if he will walk for free in the offseason.

Original post from North Dakota Twins Fan ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UlDvPeGs83o/T493ne6bprI/AAAAAAAABMo/LaBNyIvMhmk/s320/LirianoHeadDown.jpg In the aftermath of a disastrous outing from Francisco Liriano on Tuesday night at Yankee Stadium, there has been plenty written about the lanky left-hander for the Twins. The Twins watched Liriano struggle out of the gate in 2011 and now the same story is playing out at the beginning of 2012. In his first three starts of the year, he has allowed the most earned runs and walks in the American League. His ERA has ballooned to 11.91 and he has yet to make it into the sixth inning during any of his appearances. It has been a terrible start to what will be a contract year for Mr. Liriano. How far things have fallen with their once promising star and now the Twins find themselves in a precarious position with their pitcher that has never been able to regain his dominant form. The Twins are in the sixth year of the Liriano experiment and the results are turning out to be far worse than the hypothesis suggested back in 2006. One of the top prospects in all of baseball at 22-years old and now at 28, he seems to have reached his sticking point with the Twins. It is looking more and more like Liriano's career will be over with the Twins by the time the start of next season rolls around. There will be plenty of people who ask the question, "What went wrong with this young man?" His Tommy John surgery obviously played a role in diminishing some of his ability but he has shown flashes of brilliance since returning to the mound. But there has to be more to the downfall of Liriano. The Twins have tried a variety of approaches with Liriano during his tenure with the team. They have let him pitch in winter ball some seasons to see if that better prepared him for the start of the year. Some of the coaching staff has attempted to find different ways for Liriano to approach his pitching style to see if that would consummate better results on the field. All of these changes in approach might have come off as mixed messages to Liriano and this could have messed up some of his ability on the field. 2006 message to Liriano: "Go out and dominate by throwing your nasty stuff to every player in the line-up." This message sounded good at the time but everyone knew his violent delivery seemed posed for some kind of arm issue. The first half of the 2006 season was magical with Liriano and Johan Santana destroying the American League with their pitching efforts. It seemed like these two players might be enough to carry the Twins all the way to their first World Series in over 15 years. Liriano had dominant stuff so there was not much thought that he needed to put into his pitching. All he had to do was step on the mound and his electric stuff would take care of any batter who dug into the box. 2008-09 message to Liriano: "We really liked what you did before you got hurt so let's try and get you back to that point." Learning how to pitch after Tommy John surgery can be a challenge for some players. Liriano had been so dominant before the procedure and that filled him with confidence. Since he lost a little off of his dominant stuff, he was going to need to learn how to be a pitcher. This process wouldn't be pretty but the Twins still had hope that Liriano would be able to reach his ace potential once again. 2010 message to Liriano: "You have the stuff to be an ace and your injury is behind you. Now it's time to show that you are an ace." Liriano seemed to put it all together and the team looked like they had finally found their ace for the coming years. His confidence grew and the results were positive on the field. There were still some moments of weakness where nerves would get the best of Liriano but he seemed to have turned a corner. He was one of the top ten pitchers in the American League and on his way to being an ace. 2011 message to Liriano: "Maybe switching to being a pitch to contact starter will help be even better." In the offseason, Liriano took the winter off because of the high number of innings he pitched in 2010. He came to spring training out of shape and he had not been performing some of the elbow exercises the team had given him as part of his offseason workout regime. To overcome some of these problems, the Twins gave Liriano a new message. He wasn't suppose to try and strike everyone out because then he didn't last very long into the game. He should still get a strikeout when he could but a quick ground out was just as good as a K. The coaching staff had used this concept with other pitchers in the organization and it had served them well in the past. That wasn't the case with Mr. Liriano. 2012 message to Liriano: "Relax. Don't let the bad outcomes on the mound impact your results to the following batters. Become a pitcher and not a thrower." The biggest part of the message to Liriano might be the fact that he needs to relax on the mound. When Liriano seems to start to unravel, the catcher is suppose to be able to bring him back to reality and calm his nerves. Parker Hageman also notes that there seems to be something wrong with Liriano's mechanics. This will only add to the list of things the Twins need to change with Liriano for him to find success this year. Ron Gardenhire and Rick Anderson are probably the two men that have given plenty of messages to Liriano over the years. At this point in his career, the multitude of messages given to him has yet to change the course of his career in a more positive direction. It's looking more and more like Liriano might be better off with another team and new voices trying to get the message through to him. Now it seems the only question remaining is if the Twins can get anything for Liriano or if he will walk for free in the offseason.