Hosken Bombo Disco

Nor are the recently-DL'd players key pieces: Vargas, Adrianza, O'Rourke.

I'm sure Craig Breslow will get this straightened out! Team meeting!

There is nothing more overrated than the Opening Day roster. That's why, including Dozier, it's ok to carry five middle infielders on the 25-man. So, no.

Grossman and Santana? One of those guys will probably start Opening Day in left field, since the Twins will be facing a lefty and Rosario will be platooned. Oh and if we're facing a lefty that means Mauer will have to rest, Kepler comes in to play first base, so the other one starts in right field. Wait, what?

Gimenez played a lot of outfield in camp. How much outfield will he play during the regular season?

Good point. Who else plays first?

Was it Falvey or Levine who said earlier in spring, "we will carry 12 pitchers." It seemed like a firm decision at the time.

And to think. Guys like Andrew Miller and Dellin Betances were failed starters. I will throw down a bet on Tonkin at 30-1 to lead the team in saves by the end of 2017. He misses more bats than other guys in the bullpen (including Pressly and especially Kintzler) and with a new catcher and data-driven approach to pitching, maybe Tonkin has been a good pitcher all along.

Tonkin can get another shot. The home runs are concerning but among 2016 qualifiers, he has decent swing/miss rates going for him.

Don't have the source handy, but I'm pretty sure I heard Falvey say that the Twins will be getting away from having roles defined as "set-up guy" and "closer." So once again, mixed signals.

Wasn't Vogelsong available?

That SI scout probably has 50 years experience in baseball. Or maybe it's one year of experience repeated 50 times. Hard to tell.

Maybe Santiago is ahead of the curve. There was another good article in the Times about how Tampa Bay pitchers work high in the strike zone. https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/03/24/sports/baseball/tampa-bay-rays-pitching.html http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/tampa-bays-cult-of-the-high-fastball/ There is a certain logic to it. As more batters go with the upper cut swing, the high heater gets harder to reach."Mike Trout can hit a shin-high fastball 450 feet." Check it out.

I now think it's Tonkin. Wimmers can still be optioned and the wonder twins have played it close to the vest by not letting go of virtually any of the pitchers in the organization.

It's ok no one told you when to run...

For Hughes today? Probably a nice thing, yes. Which only goes to show... The line between success and failure is paper thin. If Hughes doesn't get that assist, maybe he doesn't get out of the second and eventually gets pulled early. As it is, he pitched four shutout innings after that.

I've always considered you to be something of a poiser

Other possibilities and variables include: Berrios is making progress on his change-up delivery but is not there yetBerrios has seemed to run up high pitch counts in the past, and maybe a 75-80 pitch limit for a couple of games only gets him four inningsWith that fifth spot in the rotation his first two opponents would be the White Sox and maybe he doesn't match up well

Thanks Van! Convenient is a great word to describe their explanation. Calling it "misleading" or "b.s." always felt a little too strong and accusatory. I would have preferred they just said from the beginning that he's struggled way too much in MLB so far. I liked the Santiago comparison better because of the WBC but the timelines of Berrios and Hughes matched so well. Cest la vee, I guess.

I just published a blog on a possible schedule for stretching out Berrios. Let me know your thoughts. http://twinsdaily.com/blog/877/entry-8798-too-late-idea-for-stretching-out-berrios/

On Saturday, the Twins announced that young pitcher Jose Berrios would be demoted to Rochester to start the season. The reason, according to manager Paul Molitor, was "that the lack of work and consistency of work ... to try and rush the buildup here in the last ten days to try and get him ready to try and be in that spot didn’t make a lot of sense to me.” Does this explanation pass muster? Consider Phil Hughes is a given for the rotation, and that Berrios and Hughes have been on roughly the same pitching schedule this spring: Feb 25, Hughes: 2.0 innings Feb 26, Berrios: 2.0 innings March 2, Hughes: 2.0 innings March 3, Berrios: 2.0 innings It was at this point that Berrios went to play for Puerto Rico in the World Baseball Classic. Meanwhile, Hughes pitched in an intra-squad game on March 7. I will assume Berrios stayed loose or played some catch during that same time. Berrios and Hughes then made starts on the same day: March 12, Hughes: 5.0 innings March 12, Berrios: 5.0 innings After this, Berrios did not pitch again until the final, while Hughes made a start on March 17 for 5.0 more innings. However, Hector Santiago, teammate of Berrios on Puerto Rico, did say that Berrios threw a 55-pitch session of live batting practice during this time. Interestingly, both pitchers pitched again on the 22nd: March 22, Hughes: 2.0 innings March 22, Berrios: 1.2 innings This was the game Berrios struck out Giancarlo Stanton and Jonathan Lucroy with the nasty slurve-curve he throws: And here we sit, heading into Monday March 27. Both Berrios and Hughes would figure to pitch again in a day or two. In my opinion, if anyone needs to be stretched out, it's Hughes, who reported tingling in his fingers between innings last season, then had shoulder surgery. Obviously we are not privy to some of the things that goes on within the clubhouse and in private. I am also no pitching coach and do not know how pitchers prepare except for what I read on the Internets. However, the explanation that Berrios can't get "stretched out" does not hold up, in my opinion. Will Molitor and the Twins name a date for Berrios's return or the number of starts they plan to give him, or when the expect him to finally be stretched out? Berrios threw 40 pitches in his last outing the 22nd. How much more stretching out would Berrios need? How about something like this: March 22, 40 pitches (already complete) Tues. March 28, starting pitcher vs. Tampa Bay (50 or so pitches) Sun. April 2, no game, but a vigorous bullpen session (50-75 pitches - continue scaling upwards) Regular season: Sat. April 8, makes start against the White Sox, with a limit of 5 innings or 75 pitches That April 8 start is the turn of the fifth starter in the rotation. After that point, wouldn't Berrios be stretched out and ready to take his regular turn in the rotation? Yes? No? Thoughts?

Sounds about right. As disappointed as I am about Berrios, I would also be disappointed if the odd man out between Meija and Duffey were to take that final bullpen spot. I still like both those guys as potential starters.

Though I disagree, I am fine with people of the opinion that Berrios should start in AAA. However I am more interested in the substance of the decision. Would it really take Berrios that long to get stretched out for a 5 inning, 75-80 pitch limit for the fifth spot of the rotation?

I get that, but it doesn't address the comment or my question.

How do you read that comment, then?