VandyTwinsFan

I'll throw out a guess or 24. Twins Wins: 37.5 UNDER Mauer's OPS: .815 UNDER Dozier HRs: 14.5 UNDER Sano HRs: 9.5 OVER Hicks: .350 OBP OVER Sano OPS: .900 OVER Hunter HR: 8.5 OVER Perkins Saves: 22.5 UNDER Gibson ERA: 3.25 OVER Santana ERA: 3.50 OVER Hughes ERA: 3.75 UNDER Arcia PA: 150 UNDER Buxton PA: 150 UNDER Trevor May Starts: 5.5 OVER Mike Pelfrey Starts: 5.5 OVER Alex Meyer IP: 6.5 OVER Jose Berrios IP: 15.5 UNDER Kurt Suzuki OPS: .600 UNDER RP acquired via free agency and trade: 1.5 UNDER Catchers acquired via trade: 0.5 UNDER Trevor Plouffe OPS: .775 OVER Brian Duensing ERA: 3.80 OVER Blaine Boyer ERA: 3.80 OVER Casey Fien ERA: 3.80 UNDER Wow. Those made no sense. I realized I'm still pessimistic about this team and forced myself to be optimistic on some people. Might as well have flipped a coin the whole time.

I had forgotten about that! That was crushing. There was a lot of anger towards umpiring and that the Yankees get all the calls because the league would make more money with a major market team in the playoffs. Jerks. I kept thinking of Jesse Crain's 2nd hanging slider in a row to Mark Teixeira. Why, Jesse, why?!!!

I was looking at the game day thread and noticed a poster saying that he was going to cover all the playoff games. At the time of the post it was a joke, and a decent one at that. At this point in the season the chance of that poster having some work ahead is becoming a real possibility. Then I realized, the Yankees aren't doing too bad this year either. Those. Damn. Yankees. Oooh I hate those guys. Not because they're just a bunch of felons, or should be, but because they've destroyed the Twins in the playoffs during my entire Twins fandom. For a painful refresher, let's review the recent history with the Yankees. 2003: Won game 1, lost the next 3 including the last 2 in the dome. 2004: Won game 1, lost the next 3 including the last 2 in the dome. Games 2, 4 in extras. 2006: This year would be different!..Swept by the Athletics. Sorta different I guess. 2009: Swept. Game 2 was in 11 innings. 2010: Swept: Games 1,2 at Target Field. Winning pitcher of game 3...Phil Hughes! Wow. That's pretty rough. It was rough. It hurt. I remember watching those 2009 and 2010 series and just thinking that the whole team expected to be beat. They were facing the mighty Yankees! All the confidence from the entire year just disappeared. I felt cheated. I wanted everyone to see how good this underrated team was. That they had the talent to play with the big boys. I told everyone to watch...and all they saw was a lifeless team crumble in big moments and then pack it in the next game, unable to recover from the blow. I sure hope that we don't meet them again! Wait a second, there's only 3 guys on this team who were apart of that misery. Joe Mauer, Torii Hunter, and Brian Duensing. Plouffe played in 22 games in 2010, but not once in the playoffs. Joe Mauer: 2006: .182/.250/.182 2009: .417/.500/.500 with a 2B 2010: .250/.308/.250 Torii Hunter: 2003: .429/.500/.786 with a 3B, HR 2004: .353/.368/.588 with a 2B, HR Brian Duensing: 2010: 1 GS, 5 ER in 3.1 innings, 7 hits with 1 BB and 1 K Hunter appeared to care less who the Yankees were...11 years ago. Ahem, he seems to be holding it together so that's a good sign. No Power Mauer is the version that seemed to show up against the Yankees. We can only cross our fingers on this one. As for Duensing, he's not starting anymore so that's a relief! One can now look at the rest of this team, the combination of new veterans and youth and wonder how they'd respond to facing the Yankees. I can't help but be optimistic that the likes of Sano, Rosario, and possibly Arcia will care very little who they're playing. The bigger the opponent, the more pumped they get to show what they can do. At least that's my hope. Fortunately, we won't have to wait very long to see how they react with a 3 game series in MN July 24th-26th. I'll certainly be watching. This very well may be a preview of the upcoming playoffs. Let's hope it has a much different ending than the previous 5.

This was a joke back on Feb 22nd. It's looking like you may have some work ahead of you...we'll have to remember to make you keep your word. Every. Playoff. Game.

If anyone is a glutton for punishment and wants to get worked up...go back later and watch the top of the 6th. Holy moly this is bad. Sorry Trevor May, you got hosed this outing.

I distinctly remember him getting to a full count before striking out a batter for out #2 in his first inning. I went back and watched the archive just to see his wildness. I think you might be using the gameday play-by-play as a reference for your pitch results. In spring training, it won't give correct pitch results. If it's a walk, it calls all the pitches balls. If it's a strikeout, all the pitches were strikes. Just off of memory, I think his first walk was 4-0, then 4-1, then 3-3 K, then I forget.

Just went back and watched Meyer pitch again after not really paying attention the first time. Holy struggles with fastball command, batman! At least he was able to throw the curve over, which got him out of the second inning. He got bailed out of his first inning bases loaded with one out jam by a guy swinging at ball four in a full count. For a guy trying to win the 5th starter job, it was pretty disappointing. I guess he did only give up one run on one hit over two innings...

After reading this I'm going to take a moment of silence in appreciation that there has been very little talk this year of infielders playing the outfield. I believe last year there were references to Escobar, Plouffe, Nunez, Kubel (a DH at that age), Colabello, Bartlett, and probably Mauer. This year, I think the only talk of it is whether or not Herrman will make it as a super-utility guy. This...(inhales deeply) is a good thing. Smart play on Robinson's part. There are always injuries in ST and if he gets blocked here there may be a different ballclub that needs a 4th OF by the end of March. I think yesterday he was the one who pulled a potential home run back over the fence. It came out of his glove and ended up being a triple, but nice place regardless.

Arcia "looking" good today. 2-3 with singles to left and right Dozier 1-2 with a double, run scored, and walk Plouffe seems to be getting into the swing of things 1-2 with a single and a walk Dozier just got caught stealing 3rd. Nobody out.

Anyone happen to know a site that shows spring training stats for every year going back maybe 5 years? I'd be curious if Mauer has always hit this weakly during ST or if this is a bad omen. I know we shouldn't use ST stats as a predictor of anything, I'm just curious is all.

E. Santana seems to be getting hit pretty hard. Single, single, homer, triple.

I quickly forgot it in the excitement of reading the article, but well done on the title.

I've noticed a lot of people consider moving Plouffe to the outfield. I don't recall his games in the outfield so he must not have been Delmon Young level awkward. However, after watching how slow his feet are when he runs the bases I don't think he's going to be anything great out there. It looks like he's running on his heels, which is not conducive to a quick first step forwards or backwards nor top end speed, both of which are much more important for an OF than an IF. I'm just highly skeptical of big Plouffe playing a decent OF.

I'd love to do this for a Rangers series, but I have a huge fear of commitment...

* Probably, yes. ** Absolutely health was #1. Lower pitch limits were set. I would think they would want him to be efficient with those fewer pitches. I'm pretty sure they've always had issues with his control and want him to walk fewer people. **(a) Honest question, do you have any reports saying his control issues were related to that new 3 finger changeup he introduced last April? The reports early on last year were that he was really liking it. I was hoping it would be the "breakthrough" they were calling it. *** Personal opinion at this point. I think you may weight their ceilings higher than I. But, they are extremely close in my eyes too. I'm pretty excited to see how things work out this year (who isn't?).

Oddly enough, I'm more excited for Meyer. I can understand, argue, and perhaps agree that Berrios is the better prospect...but Meyer's stuff is downright fun to watch. Granted, I haven't seen more of Berrios than his futures game performance.

I don't think it's fair to compare Meyer to Randy Johnson, Mr. Statistical Anomaly, HOF pitcher and master of all things involving throwing a baseball including bird destruction. If Alex Meyer becomes a HOF pitcher winning multiple Cy Youngs after age 30 then I'll eat the crow he blows up with a baseball (and love every bite if he does it in a Twins uniform). When the team basically tells you to stop walking guys and you'll move up and you continue to walk guys, have high pitch counts, and in general fail to do everything they ask you to do involving control...your command sucks. Berrios is simply a more complete package at a younger age. Meyer has some better qualities but he also has issues, issues that make Berrios the slightly better prospect...in some people's eyes.

IMHO, I would have to say its probably his control at such an early age. There have been several reports and quotes saying that he has outstanding control of all his pitches. Combining that with his "stuff" and work ethic makes him such a good prospect. We've seen in the big leagues that throwing 100mph doesn't play if you can't put it over the plate, which appears to be Meyer's issue. Some state that all Meyer has to do is become like Randy Johnson and learn how to control his massive frame in his late 20's. That'd be great! However, it's unlikely. Berrios doesn't have some magical physical gift to learn. His talent is already there. He needs to learn how to pitch to big league hitters and work on the movement of his pitches, the type of things coaches excel at and coaches love hard workers. I guess what I'm saying is that Berrios has everything you could want in a frontline starter...minus 5-7 inches of height. Works VERY hard, good personality, good velocity, good control, a mix of pitches, reasonable health history, and he's ambitious. All these things work towards making him a #3 prospect. Don't get me wrong, I love some Alex Meyer pitching, but his control sucks and pro hitters will wait for that mistake pitch and crush it. Also, let me reference a bleacher report article that emphasizes command as what differentiates an Ace from a #1 starter. "The bottom line is this: If you have either a deep repertoire or a nasty signature pitch and very good command, you have a shot to become a No. 1-caliber pitcher."

I went to a few games back in 2011. I think I actually enjoyed the lawn area the most, but it was a slow day and there weren't a ton of kids running around so I could enjoy my beverage and hotdog in peace. Probably a weekday. The players warm up in that area so you end up being really close to a few. You may get a little sore on the lawn, but the park is so nice you can easily go for a walk and stretch your legs. I wouldn't do it every day, but once was a nice treat. Other notes: car is a must, water was still cold, was told not to swim off sanibel island due to stingrays, sunset was still beautiful there, bring sunscreen.

I like this guy and I don't even know him. That van is awesome. It's a representation of a mindset for him. I'm sure it took a bit of funds to find one of that vintage and get it in proper running order. Also, a van of that nature isn't going to attract the attention of sketchy individuals like a big shiny new one would. He's just doing what he loves. It doesn't affect his career in any way. All he's doing is glorified camping. At least it's not in a tent.

Will the Hunter+Arcia = (slowest OF ever) experiment last beyond All-Star break? Will a Twins pitcher have more strikeouts than any of the Twins position players? Arcia had 127 K's in 103 games and Phil Hughes had 186 K's last year. Next best for pitchers was Nolasco at 115 K's. If a tough Plouffe could tough through, how many games would a tough Plouffe tough through? In a 7 game series between the big league club and roster made of the AA/AAA teams, how many games does the big league team win?

My MVP would be Suzuki. Dozier may be more exciting with the HR and steals and the flashy diving plays, but Suzuki has been the glue that has made this team work. He plays hurt, dinged up, leg falling off. If Pinto weren't up to start the season, he'd play every game. Defensively, he keeps the ball in front of the plate. It seems like the pitchers trust him and like working with him. Offensively, 25 K's in 311 plate attempts. Crazy low for this team. Highest OBP and average. 3rd in RBI after hitting up and down the lineup and in only 79 games while splitting with Pinto. Clutch hits, doubles, walks. The guy is having a career year and has made this team what it is so far.

From Keith Law: Minnesota's Kennys Vargas, who stood around first base but is awful over there, showed no ability to cover the outer half or to handle offspeed stuff inside, though he did hit a "double" off the right field wall on a fastball; the throw beat him to second, but the shortstop, Corey Seager, couldn't hold on to it. Pretty scathing in regards to Vargas. Not much to say on Meyer, other than his two Futures appearances have totaled 10 pitches combined. He stated Berrios wasn't finishing his curve, the change was better, and his delivery is tough to repeat and that Berrios might not be using his lower half enough.

I've just plain enjoyed watching this team more than last year. Especially when Santana was playing. More exciting in general. Most people hate September when the team is out of the running but I like seeing the young guys come up and play. This should be a good September to see some of the future.