Steve Lein

After a rough, Mother Nature influenced series, in which the Twins were forced to use every one of their pitchers in a double-header vs. the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday, they received a valiant effort from their prized off-season acquisition, Ricky Nolasco, on Friday night to stave off a catastrophic pitching predicament moving into the weekend. Although Nolasco was able to save the bullpen with a complete game, 3-earned run effort, it wasn’t enough to save himself from taking a loss, as the Twins weren’t able to muster any offense against the Baltimore Orioles’ Ubaldo Jimenez, tallying only 4 hits in a disappointing effort for the first (semi) decent weather game I’ve been able to attend in section 107 at Target Field this year. Minnesota’s Minor League affiliates, were able to fare somewhat better however, going 2-2 on the night, including a familiar extra innings marathon. TRANSACTIONS The Twins recalled SP Logan Darnell from Rochester before the weekend games kicked off. He is due to make his MLB debut in reprieve of an overused bullpen, and optioned SP Kris Johnson back to Rochester after his double-header spot start on Thursday. RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 6, Louisville 1 Box score Scott Diamond took the hill for the Red Wings, and after an extremely disappointing start to his season, put together the first type of outing that that Twins fans remember from his staff-ace stretch of 2012. Diamond lasted 6.2 innings, scattering 6 hits and 2 walks, with only 1 earned run and 6 K’s. He was replaced by A.J. Achter, who finished the final 2.1 innings without surrendering a baserunner and finalized the victory for Rochester. The offense was led by the recently on-fire Chris Parmelee, whom had a 1st inning sac fly to score Doug Bernier, and a 5th inning solo blast, his 5th HR of the season, to make the score 4-1 in Rochester’s favor. DH Brad Nelson, and 3B Deibinson Romero added RBI doubles to contribute to the offense. ROCK CATS REVIEW New Britain 4, New Hampshire 2 Box score The acquisition from the Atlanta Braves organization that the Twins received for dealing Ryan Doumit last season put together arguably his best start for his new organization on Friday night. Sean Gilmartin tossed 6 innings of 1 run ball, allowing only 3 hits and racked up 8 K’s to secure the win, although he did surrender 4 BB’s. Relievers Daniel Turpen (hold), Lester Oliveros (hold), and Adrian Salcedo (save) all pitched a single inning and ensured the victory for the Rock Cats. The trio of relievers added 6 K’s to the team’s total, allowing 1 hit each, 3 total BB’s, and only 1 ER. Notable, was the rough start for Turpen, who started the 7th inning off with a single and stolen base to advance the runner to 2nd, and subsequent wild-pitch that put him on 3rd. But he then proceeded to K the next 3 batters looking to end the threat. On the offensive side, DH Kennys Vargas slugged his 5th HR on the season in the 6th inning, plating Kenny Wilson for a 4-1 Rock Cats lead. 2B Tony Thomas and SS (and Twins Daily contributor) A.J. Petterson added doubles to the offense, while Nate Hanson (another Minnesotan) added his second HR on the year in the victory. MIRACLE MATTERS Fort Myers 2, Palm Beach 3 (14 innings) Box score The Miracle attempted to emulate the Twins from Thursday night, lasting nearly 4 hours into the 14th inning. Unfortunately for them, the result was the same, a tally in the Loss column. David Hurlburt started for the Miracle and put together a quality start effort. He pitched 6 innings, allowing 7 hits and 2 ER’s with no walks and 2 K’s. He was replaced by lefty Steven Gruver who pitched into the 9th, then Tim Shibuya who tossed a much needed 4.1 innings in the extra effort. Tyler Jones became the recipient of the loss after giving up a single and HBP to start the 14th, a sacrifice bunt to advance the runners, then sac fly to plate the walk-off run. Fort Myers received multi-hit efforts from leadoff man (and subsequent keep-your-eye-on-prospect) 2B Levi Michael (2 doubles) and OF Adam Brett Walker II (double) in the extended game, but only 4 other hitters collected a hit on the evening. Although as a team they walked 9 times, they stranded all but 1 of them. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 2, Peoria 12 Box score The pitching staff for the Kernels had a rough night and were unable to limit an early, relentless attack from the Chiefs. Helium prospect Felix Jorge made the start, but was only able to last 3 innings. He allowed only 1 BB, but 8 hits including 1 HR, 2 3B’s, and a double, which resulted in a 5-0 lead for Peoria. He was replaced by Christian Powell, who fared even worse, surrendering 7 R’s (6 earned) in just 0.2 innings. He was relieved by Todd Van Steesel whom allowed every inherited runner to score in the 4th inning before recovering to strike out 4 through the 6th and 2.1 total IP. Brandon Bixler then provided the mop-up duty in the last 3 innings, allowing 1 BB, with 3 K’s. The offense was stymied to the tune of 14 K’s from the Peoria pitchers, though they were able to collect 10 hits on the night. They were led by 2B Logan Wade who went 3-5 with 2 doubles and an RBI, CF Jason Kanzler who went 2-5 with a run scored, and 3B Bryan Haar who went 2-4. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Scott Diamond, Rochester Red Wings Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Logan Wade, Cedar Rapids Kernels SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Louisville @ Rochester (12:05 PM CST) – Yohan Pino (Listen) New Hampshire @ New Britain (5:35 PM CST) – Pat Dean (Listen) Fort Myers @ Palm Beach (5:35 CST) – Alex Wimmers (Listen) Peoria @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 CST) – Aaron Slegers (Listen)

I've liked Brad Miller for a while...

rgvtwinstalk - I agree he might add even more. Though 6'2", 215 is already a large man and not even remotely "skinny" by any means! That's an extra 55 lbs from when he signed already, and quite a transformation if you look at pictures in a before and after fashion!

I'm a guy who loves talking prospects, so been reading all your entries. I just wanted to point out a few things you mention: On Lewis Thorpe: "Thorpe is young and continues to grow as he is 6’1 and a razor thin 160 pounds so he needs to get stronger." There is a lot of information out there about how Thorpe has added on significant weight since he signed, which resulted in his increased velocity and somewhat unexpected performance last year. Baseball America has him listed at 6'2" 215 lbs now, and I can say he's definitely not skinny anymore. On Alex Meyer: "However, once he gets to the majors a straight fastball will not be enough for him." The thing about Meyer's fastball, is it's NOT a straight fastball. It's not even a 2-seamer or a 4-seamer. He calls it a "No-seam Fastball" and has good arm-side run. -> http://www.fangraphs.com/fantasy/alex-meyer-progresses-impresses-in-arizona/ http://www.milb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20120831&content_id=37671602&fext=.jsp&vkey=news_milb

I'm a guy who loves talking prospects, so been reading all your entries. I just wanted to point out a few things you mention: On Lewis Thorpe: "Thorpe is young and continues to grow as he is 6’1 and a razor thin 160 pounds so he needs to get stronger." There is a lot of information out there about how Thorpe has added on significant weight since he signed, which resulted in his increased velocity and somewhat unexpected performance last year. Baseball America has him listed at 6'2" 215 lbs now, and I can say he's definitely not skinny anymore. On Alex Meyer: "However, once he gets to the majors a straight fastball will not be enough for him." The thing about Meyer's fastball, is it's NOT a straight fastball. It's not even a 2-seamer or a 4-seamer. He calls it a "No-seam Fastball" and has good arm-side run. -> http://www.fangraphs.com/fantasy/alex-meyer-progresses-impresses-in-arizona/ http://www.milb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20120831&content_id=37671602&fext=.jsp&vkey=news_milb

Meyer: 9 (Need front-line pitching more than anything. See the teams/staff's led by Santana for the why) Sano: 9 (haven't had a Power-Hitting prospect like him since, ever?! Maybe Killebrew. The list of Twins hitters with 30+ HR in a season in the entire history of the franchise, is laughable) Buxton: 8 (There are plenty of OF-ers, none with his potential impact, but it wouldn't hurt the future potential of the franchise as much as the other 2) Stewart: 4 (too far away to really worry about this too much right now) Rosario: 4 (He's either a LF-er, which there are plenty of other guys for, or a 2B-man, and I like Dozier more than him there)

I looked at something similar a while back, only taking into account the history of Twins prospects in the FSL. Chris Parmelee hit 16 HR's for the Miracle in 2009 in 123 games. That was the most in the past 5 seasons by any Twins prospect. Sano hit 16 HR's in 56 games for the Miracle this year. Going back to 2005 the highest HR total of anyone in a full season with the Miracle came from Brock Peterson, with 21 in 2006. So yeah, he's ridonkulous as far as Twins, and in general, prospects go.

The title of this blog entry was a phrase expressed in talking with a coworker this morning about his recent knee surgery, and what his doctor had told him in regards to the expectations for recovery that he had expressed. The timetable just wasn't nearly as fast as he had thought it would be. He went on to explain that he probably applies this "unrealistic optimism" to several other elements or moments in his life. For whatever reason, I immediately correlated this thought/phrase to the Minnesota Twins of 2013, another disappointed season no matter what metric you choose to look at. In the offseason and during Spring Training, all you heard from the front office of the Twins and all the local beat writers columnists, was that they "expected to be better," "there would be improvement," "so and so is healthy," "can't be worse," etc... This led to many fans into believing that this year would be better. Well I say shame on those fans, and even more shame on those scribes and executives for fueling the ignorant fan fire, because they should have known better. The Twins finished the 2011 season with It got me thinking that this was a very applicable statement to the Twins 2013 season as well. Talking Points: -players on roster due for regression (Diamond, Willingham) -Worst staff last year and replaced them with nobody who was an actual improvement -baseball smarts of minnesota

The title of this blog entry was a phrase expressed in talking with a coworker this morning about his recent knee surgery, and what his doctor had told him in regards to the expectations for recovery that he had expressed. The timetable just wasn't nearly as fast as he had thought it would be. He went on to explain that he probably applies this "unrealistic optimism" to several other elements or moments in his life. For whatever reason, I immediately correlated this thought/phrase to the Minnesota Twins of 2013, another disappointed season no matter what metric you choose to look at. In the offseason and during Spring Training, all you heard from the front office of the Twins and all the local beat writers columnists, was that they "expected to be better," "there would be improvement," "so and so is healthy," "can't be worse," etc... This led to many fans into believing that this year would be better. Well I say shame on those fans, and even more shame on those scribes and executives for fueling the ignorant fan fire, because they should have known better. The Twins finished the 2011 season with It got me thinking that this was a very applicable statement to the Twins 2013 season as well. Talking Points: -players on roster due for regression (Diamond, Willingham) -Worst staff last year and replaced them with nobody who was an actual improvement -baseball smarts of minnesota

I love Kepler as a prospect. I've seen him a few times now, and this year compared to last was a big jump in on-the-field production. At Spring Training this year he was playing games with the Beloit squad, and he was their best in-game hitter bar none in the 4 games I watched. I was actually flabbergasted after seeing what he did with them for that week that he wasn't on that team at all this year. Can say he's the first prospect where seeing him in-person bumped the opinion I had formed from reading/researching/etc... considerably upward, especially in the hitting department. Another guy who needs to skip a level after playing the same league 2 years in a row is Nate Roberts. Why they made him repeat Low-A this year is beyond me, plus, he's already 23. Might have set a record for runs scored if he'd played a full schedule with Sano, Vargas, et. al. hitting behind him.

Since he was brought up I've been telling people who keep saying they want to see a higher OBP from Revere, that it's just not going to happen because he's too good at making contact when he swings. He does function like a leadoff hitter in the sense that he'll look at a pitch or two before getting serious about taking a cut, but when he does, he's going to hit it somewhere in play. Take for instance these stats: Ball-In-Play %, and 5 or more pitch Plate Appearances. Revere: 86.1%, and 119 in 489 PA's (24.3%). Span: 80.3%, and 172 in 507 PA's (33.9%). Mauer: 72.7%, and 219 in 572 PA's (38.3%). I'm not going to fault a guy for hitting the ball too much, but it is who he is. His OBP will always be a function of his batting average, and to want a bigger OBP-split you have to somehow change the type of hitter he is or put strict limits on him, as you suggest.

Sano was "arguably" the best power hitter in the Midwest League?! Heh, I don't think there's an argument to be made for anyone else!

Diamond's ERA/Win Total etc.. are all very good right now, but as Seth says, like Blackburn, he's doing what he's doing in a non-typical fashion for a #1 or even #3 type starter, which is pretty much unsustainable long term. Keith Law's point I think is that if you look how some define #1 through #5 type starters, Diamond would fall into the #5 category. Look at who the Twins have in their starting rotation right now, of course Diamond is the Twins #1 this year, but an individual team's #1 or #3 is often times a lot different than a scout's classification of a #1 or #3. I'd say every starter the Twins are rolling out right now falls into the "fifth starter" category, most probably the "borderline fifth starter/spot starter" in actuality.

Just a note: Capps added a split-finger to use as sort of a changeup, not a cutter. It looks to me like Capps has always thrown 3 different fastballs, including a cutter. As for Guerra, I'd like to know if he throws harder out of the bullpen than he did as a starter. Something has to be going on where he's succeeding from the 'pen like this compared to his struggles as a starter. Maybe it's his makeup and it's much better suited to the 'pen, I don't know, but don't think "makeup" alone gets you the stark contrast in results like he has gotten with this transition. Take Perkins, added some ticks to his fastball and major bite to his slider that has him succeeding in the 'pen. Definitely a good thing to (continue to) see with Guerra though.

This... is flat out ridiculous. Gardenhire has every right in the world to go be with his family on an occasion such as this, and it has absolutely zero relation to "abandoning" his team that isn't playing well. The situations you're trying to connect together are mutually exclusive.

Much has been made recently about the boo birds in Target Field singling out Joe Mauer while he’s up to bat. It is somewhat hard to understand this early in the season while he’s actually performing pretty well from a grand scheme perspective, batting .319 with a .410 On-Base Percentage. He’s played in every game, has knocked in some runners, and has even hit a HR over the limestone wall in right field. But people’s eyes (including mine) are seeing something different, and that’s a lack of production in big moments and late in games. Hence the boo’s. You can point to statistics like his .400 batting average with runners in scoring position, or his 1.125 OPS while the Twins have a lead in a game, and think to yourself, “Joe is back!” That’s fine. But here are some other (admittedly small sample size, just like all these statistics, good or bad) stats that demonstrate clearly why many fans are frustrated with him thus far. The Twins have not lead many games this year, and while they’ve been behind on the scoreboard, Mauer’s tri-slash line is .256/.304/.326, good for a .630 OPS. Not exactly bringing his team back into any games… In the 7th, 8th, and 9th inning of all games, that tri-slash line is .200/.360/.200, a paltry .560 OPS. In those same innings, he has just 1 RBI and no extra-base hits. Not exactly producing in crunch time… Baseball-Reference.com has a statistic that tracks situational hitting called “late and close” (admittedly, I’m not sure on the exact specifics of it), in those situations, his OPS is .397. You’re not reading that incorrectly. Here’s some season tri-slash lines for Player X: 2001: .327/.378/.415 2004: .326/.374/.407 2009: .308/.365/.392 Mauer in 2012: .319/.410/.403. Pretty similar, right? So, any guesses as to who Player X is? I’ll give you the answer in the form of another question: Would you pay Juan Pierre $23 million dollars?! Personally, you won’t find me joining the boo-birds in getting on Joe’s case, as the title of this post states, it’s asinine. He’s a once-in-a-lifetime hitter, playing the games most physically demanding position a vast majority of the time. He’s won 3 batting titles. He’s won an MVP. He’s Joe freakin’ Mauer, a born and raised Minnesotan. But I also think you’re a little off on your analysis if you feel this is the same Joe Mauer that won those batting titles and an MVP award. When it has mattered this year, when the Twins and their fans have needed him to come through up to this point, he simply put, hasn’t. It’s a “what have you done for me lately” situation. In New York that would get you run out of town. In Minnesota, I guess you just have to deal with some boo’s until everything regresses (or progresses) back to the mean (which it will). You can follow me on Twitter: @MNTwinsGUFS, send any thoughts or questions to: twins.gufs@gmail.com, or leave your comments below! (Also available at: http://Twins.GearUpForSports.com/blog/ )

Much has been made recently about the boo birds in Target Field singling out Joe Mauer while he’s up to bat. It is somewhat hard to understand this early in the season while he’s actually performing pretty well from a grand scheme perspective, batting .319 with a .410 On-Base Percentage. He’s played in every game, has knocked in some runners, and has even hit a HR over the limestone wall in right field. But people’s eyes (including mine) are seeing something different, and that’s a lack of production in big moments and late in games. Hence the boo’s. You can point to statistics like his .400 batting average with runners in scoring position, or his 1.125 OPS while the Twins have a lead in a game, and think to yourself, “Joe is back!” That’s fine. But here are some other (admittedly small sample size, just like all these statistics, good or bad) stats that demonstrate clearly why many fans are frustrated with him thus far. The Twins have not lead many games this year, and while they’ve been behind on the scoreboard, Mauer’s tri-slash line is .256/.304/.326, good for a .630 OPS. Not exactly bringing his team back into any games… In the 7th, 8th, and 9th inning of all games, that tri-slash line is .200/.360/.200, a paltry .560 OPS. In those same innings, he has just 1 RBI and no extra-base hits. Not exactly producing in crunch time… Baseball-Reference.com has a statistic that tracks situational hitting called “late and close” (admittedly, I’m not sure on the exact specifics of it), in those situations, his OPS is .397. You’re not reading that incorrectly. Here’s some season tri-slash lines for Player X: 2001: .327/.378/.415 2004: .326/.374/.407 2009: .308/.365/.392 Mauer in 2012: .319/.410/.403. Pretty similar, right? So, any guesses as to who Player X is? I’ll give you the answer in the form of another question: Would you pay Juan Pierre $23 million dollars?! Personally, you won’t find me joining the boo-birds in getting on Joe’s case, as the title of this post states, it’s asinine. He’s a once-in-a-lifetime hitter, playing the games most physically demanding position a vast majority of the time. He’s won 3 batting titles. He’s won an MVP. He’s Joe freakin’ Mauer, a born and raised Minnesotan. But I also think you’re a little off on your analysis if you feel this is the same Joe Mauer that won those batting titles and an MVP award. When it has mattered this year, when the Twins and their fans have needed him to come through up to this point, he simply put, hasn’t. It’s a “what have you done for me lately” situation. In New York that would get you run out of town. In Minnesota, I guess you just have to deal with some boo’s until everything regresses (or progresses) back to the mean (which it will). You can follow me on Twitter: @MNTwinsGUFS, send any thoughts or questions to: twins.gufs@gmail.com, or leave your comments below! (Also available at: http://Twins.GearUpForSports.com/blog/ )

I agree 100% with everything you've stated here. Raw deal indeed.

What pitch is Shibuya throwing in that photo? I don't think that's a 2-seamer (not a normal one anyway), his index finger is curled on the side of the ball and the middle and ring fingers are on the seams. Gotta be his changeup, right?

is this satire?! I hope you're right though q;)

per Jim Rantz talking to MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo, Hicks is going to start in AA this year. You have a very short-sited, unfortunate circumstance, and small sample (or no sample in Michael's case) view of what a "Bust" is, Jack... Adam Johnson, now THAT'S a bust (and a Mike Radcliff guy, at the #2 overall pick)

I'll give you that it may be too early, but I don't buy your argument about Baker ($6.5 MIL), Liriano ($5.5 MIL), and Pavs ($8.5 MIL) potentially coming off the books meaning they're likely to be spenders next year more than they have been. If they were going to be spenders, this was the year to do it as they had Cuddyer ($10.5 MIL), Kubel ($5.25 MIL), Thome ($3 MIL), Nathan ($11.25 MIL), and Young ($5.374 MIL) come off the books, and they replaced them with Carrol ($2.75 MIL), Doumit ($3 MIL), Willingham ($7 MIL), and Marquis ($3 MIL).

Just want to point out on the payroll front, that the fact the Twins are Top 10 or Top 30% in payroll, means absolutely nothing when you actually consider the money they spend. What is the biggest free agent contract the Twins have ever handed out?...It happened this year...was for 3 years and 21 million dollars...to Josh Willingham... Sorry, but that's the definition of what a small market team is. Look at the Angels, who can spend $240 MIL on Pujols, and $77.5 MIL on C.J. Wilson in one offseason. That's 15 times more free agent money for 2 players than the Twins highest free agent signing ever. Also, consider the actual payroll numbers. Yes, the Twins were number 9 in the MLB last year with just shy of a $113 MIL payroll. The Yankees were obviously #1, with a $203 MIL payroll. So doing the math, the Twins spent 55.66% of the top team. Doesn't sound all that "big market", does it? This year, their payroll has fallen to just short of $100 MIL, and they'll be somewhere in the middle of the pack in payroll, no longer in the top 10. Big market teams get top-flight free agents, and even in Target Field, the Twins have yet to do anything of the sort. All the new stadium has done, is allowed them to keep one homegrown superstar who if they were still in the Metrodome would for sure be gone right now. Take his $23 MIL off the books, and what's their payroll? Bottom half of the league, that's what. The increase in revenue at Target Field has not allowed them to spend a bunch of money and bring in impact players, it's allowed them to keep one player. Fact is, The Twins certainly have not all of the sudden turned into a "big spender" or been transformed into a "big market team".