Hosken Bombo Disco

There's this fascinating split on opinion about Escobar as shortstop. Even Ryan and Molitor seem split. Half the people on Twins Daily see him as a good everyday shortstop and the other half doesn't know what the first half is hallucinating on.

LOL... They did get one!

8 complete!

Right on. It's too bad we don't have 8 runs for him to go the distance tonight.

I can't believe it's Fein and Thompson warming up and not Perkins.

Yes and No. With KC's bullpen, expect that 6th = 9th inning

no Josh Donaldson is the 3B now, and Miggy is the 1B EDIT: voting still open thru tonite

Rosario has a great batting eye and presence-- until the count runs 3-2

I have no idea what he said, but I concur

DAN SAN!

Gibson gets out of a jam that was not quite of his own making (2 weak hits and a walk) and strikes out Perez on the 1 ball, 4 strike pitch! (Sorry but I think Cederstrom should have given Gibson a couple of those pitches

Strike zone tonight so far has been the size of a pinhole. I'm not sure you can fit a baseball through it. EDIT: though Gibson's half of the 3rd went well for us. And that's your GCU: your Gary Cederstrom Update. Somehow I don't think that will catch on

I'm surprised nobody's updated this thread yet. I heard on Barreiro coming home that the Cardinals scouting director has been dismissed by the team today. http://www.stltoday.com/sports/baseball/professional/cardinals-fire-scouting-director/article_b529088f-70c3-51c5-bab2-106afa1d2a12.html That's a pretty high post...however... the guy was just promoted to that position this offseason. And he was brought in in 2009 and appears to have been a Luhnow guy. Still a developing story. The Twins get criticized for not opening themselves to new ideas or personnel. Well, this helps me understand why they play it so conservatively with inviting outsiders in to their organization, because this could become a worst case scenario playing out for the Cardinals.

I don't view it as controversial, but more of just punting on a decision. Two weeks isn't a big deal. Either May or Pelfrey should go to the pen though. The pen needs their help. The Twins are more than welcome to become innovators but I dont think the rest of the league will be following them anytime soon. Over a season it will cost a starting pitcher a half dozen starts. Unless what drjim said above and a team can use a guy in relief on his throw day.

I think I also read than Vargas is actually going to Rochester not Chattanooga, so not sure if the Chattanooga rumor was an administrative hitch that the media spotted and blew out of proportion, or if it was a brief but intentional signal to Vargas by the front office, or what. I am not opposed to Vargas playing the rest of the year in the minors. But from my point of view, Danny Santana was getting those Vargas at bats and Santana belongs in the minor leagues much more than Vargas does.

Way too soon to call Vargas unsalvageable. Ortiz was about 25 or 26 when he really started to look like a professional hitter, and then another year or two before he became dominant. I don't want to see Vargas turn into another Ortiz in another organization. Same with Arcia. Vargas has better numbers than Danny Santana this year, even with less opportunity, so I've got to think there is more to this shocking (to me) demotion than just performance.

I guess that's the bottom line. It's gonna be difficult when you never have to face the guy or only even have to think about him once every 3 seasons.

Never mind this entire flawed post

Mauer or Hunter figures to bat fourth this inning if we get a base runner. (Pinch hitting for pitcher slot)

Broadcasters are ALWAYS better off if they UNDERSTATE the play. Always. Hard to overstate how true that is

Oooh. Sorry. The answer we were looking for was Kurt Suzuki. (via a double switch) Thanks for playing, and we have some nice parting gifts for you.

Happy Canada Day! This is the day when Canadians do things like not work, fire up a barbecue, and help their kids move out. But maybe someone more Canadian can explain better than me, since I am not Canadian at all. Today's pitching probables are Trevor May (4-6, 4.62) versus Johnny Cueto (4-5, 2.98). Weather in Cincinnati: Summerlike and beautiful. Lineups: TWINS 2B Dozier SS Nunez RF Rosario 3B Plouffe 1B Vargas C Herrmann CF Santana LF Robinson P May REDS 2B Phillips 1B Votto 3B Frazier RF Bruce C Pena LF Byrd SS Suarez P Cueto CF Hamilton So the Cincinnati manager is the one batting the pitcher 8th in the lineup today. However, Johnny Cueto is hitting .200, which is better than what our 6th hitter is hitting. Other things to think about: 1. It was brought to our attention last night that a "leap second" was added to the last minute of the last day of June. Since today is July 1, you could consider this leap second to have happened either last night or last month—take your pick. You may be upset like me that you weren't told about this beforehand. What this leap second did was prolong a month that the Twins will want to forget. Therefore I am guessing that either the White Sox or Royals were behind this. Maybe the Tigers. 2. Another possibility is the Cincinnati Reds were behind it. But after last night's game, they probably want that leap second back. They could have used it over All Star week which is in Cincinnati in a couple weeks. What is a leap second, anyway? It seems so technical. It's the baseball equivalent of overmanaging. It would be easier to just do what the Romans did, and wait until we get snowstorms in June before deciding to add a few extra weeks to the end of February. Leave it to humans to try to do something about the fact the earth orbits around the sun. Which, as long as we are being technical, isn't actually true. (I might have scooped the science guys on this one.) By the way, I did Google "leap second" and looked at some images. I was not impressed. 3. Speaking of the Romans, the Cincinnati Reds ultimately trace their name back to the ancient Roman general Lucius Cincinnatus, who was a lowly alpaca farmer before being voted dictator of the republic to help fight a war. This was 2,400 orbits around the sun ago, give or take a leap second. I won't give away any spoilers, but let's just say the Romans battled their tails off. Otherwise the Twins might be finishing a three game series against the Aequi Yellows, or some such obscure name, with the name "Rome" having been long missing into the mists of history. 4. Cincinnatus returned to his farm after the war to find that his alpacas had all run away, because he failed to close several of the gates behind him. To be exact, gates 3, 6, 14, 29, and 34. Anyway, he then decided to take up GMO crop farming, which didn't require dirt, and which also saved him plenty of Roman coin on soap and laundry since his clothes did not get dirty when he was in the field. Among the other innovations of Cincinnatus's GMO farming was a breed of black spruce trees which can grow in Major League baseball stadiums, and the development of a grain that bakes easily into the shape of a pre-sliced hot dog bun which can be preserved for thousands of years. Perhaps you've tasted one. 5. From the Roman general Cincinnatus we move to Marge Schott, who have less in common than you might think.... on second thought, let's not talk about Marge Schott. Let's talk about the ballgame. It's time! Play Ball!

I would also like to see him get a shot to pitch a clean 7th or 8th inning. Although I have to concede I wouldn't want to see him enter a close game. Coming into a game in the 1st and 3rd inning and runners on base can play with the mind too. Because unfortunately Meyer seems to be letting his mind pitch instead of his body right now.

one more strike........

Prescient. Come on Danny.