Andrew Bryz-Gornia

It seems pretty clear that the Twins don't trust Slama's stuff. From what I've heard, he has 3 pitches: a straight, low-90s fastball, a pretty slow slurve, and a splitter. It also sounds like his success has come from a little deception in his delivery, and the Twins seem to think that this deception will not help him any more in the majors. Also, while it's been in very little time, he seems to have the makings of an extreme flyball pitcher. In other words, he could become homer-prone. However, the Twins have been bad for nearly 2 years now, and this is the perfect time to give someone like Slama a shot. His presence is not going to cost the team a playoff spot, and someone like Jeff Gray is merely filling a roster spot for the remainder of the season. Even Gray's one thing he did fairly well - induce grounders - has deserted him this year. I disagree with the idea that the Twins are afraid of being wrong, however. I'm sure if Slama succeeded, they would be thrilled. As I mentioned before, I'm sure the issue is that they think Slama has no chance of being a successful pitcher in the majors, and as someone else mentioned, it's pretty clear other teams feel the same way as Slama cleared waivers when he was removed from the 40-man roster last offseason.

I don't mind the ads in general, but one that was really bothersome was the Command strip ad. It kept opening, even when I didn't run my mouse over it, and after I'd close it, it would open again before I could scroll down the screen. If that's a common problem with that particular ad, I'd recommend getting rid of it if possible.

What I find odd about Diamond's curveball is that he gets so little break on it. PITCHf/x says that his curve gets an average of no inches of vertical break (without gravity), which is atypical of curveballs (Texas Leaguers says the average curveball breaks about 6 inches downwards without gravity). If anything, his curveball has the break of a slider (1.7 inches up w/o gravity), which when combined with its velocity (about 81 MPH), it makes me believe that Diamond actually throws a slider instead of a curve.

Hey, that's my line for trade proposals this one Twins usher always makes! Ex: Last year, this guy suggested the Twins acquire Matt Kemp AND Clayton Kershaw. I couldn't believe he was serious.

When Target Field first opened in 2010, something unexpected quickly became evident. Although the park's dimensions were somewhat modeled after the Metrodome, and the intent of Target Field was to be a ballpark that evenly favored both hitter and pitcher, everyone noticed that Target Field had seemingly become Petco Park Midwest. You didn't need ESPN's Park Factors to know that it was extremely difficult to hit the ball over the fence at 1 Twins Way, though Park Factors did confirm what we could see on FSN. Target Field's HR park factor was 0.682, which demonstrated that Minneapolis was the hardest city to homer in all of MLB. To give you an idea of how this park factor is calculated, it's: ((Home HRS + Home HRA) / Home G) / ((Away HRS + Away HRA) / Away G) Home HRS = HR hit at home Home HRA = HR allowed at home Away HRS = HR hit away Away HRA = HR allowed away Home G = Home games Away G = Away games Thus, a HR park factor of 1.000 meant that in a team's season (say, the Twins), they would have hit and allowed an equal number of home runs both at home and on the road. Being less than 1.000, Target Field allowed significantly fewer home runs than all other ballparks combined that the Twins played in during the 2010 season, and thus had the appearance that it was a pitcher's park. While the home runs hit (or failed to be hit) at Target Field got all the press, many people conveniently ignored many other offensive stats at Target Field. Despite the dearth of big flies, Target Field allowed just slightly fewer runs than those other ballparks the Twins occupied in 2010 (0.962), it was virtually even in hits allowed (0.996), and was actually above average in doubles and triples (1.097 and 1.171, respectively). Although many of us argued that those home runs in the Metrodome were turning into outs at Target Field, in actuality they were turning into outs and doubles and triples. In 2011, it was a different story, though it still painted Target Field in a negative light, at least from a hitter's point of view. The ballpark was starting to trend more into the even field that was intended, but it still wasn't entirely there. Target Field was still under 1.000 for runs (0.944), home runs (0.913), and now doubles and triples (0.930 and 0.943, respectively), while the hits were again virtually even (1.010). Thus, Target Field was still a pitcher's park, but now only slightly. This brings us to this season, and with the exception of the home runs, Target Field has actually started leaning towards being a hitter's ballpark. That's right. Take a look as Target Field has evolved since 2010 (MLB ranks are in parentheses). [ATTACH=CONFIG]1745[/ATTACH] Click to embiggen to your heart's content. Back in 2010, we were discussing how hitters would want to avoid Target Field because of the lack of home runs, while pitchers would be enticed to come here. This year, we can easily argue the opposite, that hitters would actually want to come to Minnesota to take advantage of the slightly superior hitting environment. As for why this has changed, there could be several hypotheses. We all learned that to hit a home run in Target Field, you had to pull the ball down the lines, and the Twins found a hitter that could do just that in Josh Willingham, along with adding other hitters that had hitting profiles that would fit Target Field (Ryan Doumit). Maybe the hitters themselves learned to adjust and finally figured out how to hit in Target Field. Then there's always Jason Giambi's dry concrete theory from 2010, where once the concrete in a ballpark is completely dry, the ball will have an easier time flying out of the seats (unbelievably, I cannot find a link for this quote online). However, that theory sure didn't apply to New Yankee Stadium in 2009 when it led the major leagues in the home run park factor category in just its first season in existence. So, the next time one of your buddies tries to comment on how Target Field is a terrible place for hitters, throw this post in his/her face. The home runs may still not be coming, but when it comes to virtually every other aspect of offense, this ballpark has become a small haven for hitters.

Yes, trade him. http://www.twinsdaily.com/entry.php?1528-Twins-Should-Make-Willingham-Available

As the July 31st trade deadline approaches, the Twins are judging which players should be dealt. Denard Span and Francisco Liriano are atop that list, but perhaps the most valuable player Minnesota possesses will likely remain here into August. Josh Willingham, who has been even better than I think anyone expected, is oddly not being shopped around, according to 1500 ESPN. Willingham currently has a .271/.384/.551 triple slash this year, and that doesn’t even include his 2 HR game from Tuesday night. Even excluding those 2 HR, this season has easily been Willingham’s best of his career. His .935 OPS in 2012 is .088 higher than his career, and .072 higher than his previous career best in OPS (2009 with Washington). His WAR is already a career best, though a slump definitely could change that. With all these positives, along with good health, Willingham’s trade value is sky-high. But, the Twins don’t want to trade him, and that is a huge mistake. The Twins are citing the fear that trading Willingham after signing him to a 3-year contract will chase away future free agents from signing multi-year contracts in Minnesota. I laugh at this argument. When the Twins signed Willingham, his 3-year, $21 million contract was easily the largest contract the Twins ever handed out to a free agent. Yes, they have signed Joe Mauer, Joe Nathan, Johan Santana, and others to heftier contracts, but Willingham’s contract was both the longest and most expensive free agent contract in Twins franchise history. The closest to topping his contract was Carl Pavano’s 2-year, $16.5 million contract signed prior to the 2011 season. Clearly, the Twins have never been big players in free agency, so why are they afraid of chasing away mid-level free agents? Besides, if the team is willing to accept that they are rebuilding, signing Willingham-level players would no longer be a priority. Also, the Twins handed out a 2-year contract extension to Ryan Doumit, who originally came to Minnesota on a 1-year, $3 million contract. If Terry Ryan fears other players will shy away from joining the Twins because of a Willingham trade, the he could always counter with Doumit’s extension as an example where they kept a player instead of dealing him. There is likely another reason that the Twins brass hasn’t shared, but I think is quite relevant. In trading Willingham, the Twins would lose one of their potential big stars for 2013. Next season, the big draw is Joe Mauer and…. who else? Ryan Doumit? Not really. Justin Morneau? He’s no longer the player he was prior to his concussions. Trevor Plouffe? This 2012 outburst has been nice, but we have to be wary that he might just be this year’s 2011 Brent Lillibridge. Keeping Willingham would provide another draw for fans, especially those that are still convinced that Mauer is a waste of $23 million per year. However, as I mentioned before, this season has been a career year for Willingham. Next season, he’s likely going to regress to something around his career norms. There’s always the risk that he puts up numbers below his averages, or he gets hurt and misses part of the year. The likelihood of him having another year like this one is not good, and the Twins should recognize that and take advantage while they still have the ability. In trading Willingham, the Twins do sacrifice a bit of the near future, but they could solve many problems that could arise in the next couple years. For one, they have been lacking good starting pitching and middle infielders for a while now. A trade could bring back a prospect or two that could fill either one or both of these holes in 2014. Denard Span might have similar trade value to Willingham right now, but I have to think that teams would find Willingham as the more attractive option of these two players right now. The Twins have had a history lately of selling players when their trade value is extremely low. Holding on to Willingham after this season would be a colossal mistake, and trading him within the next week while his value has peaked would greatly help the team in 2014 and beyond.

As the July 31st trade deadline approaches, the Twins are judging which players should be dealt. Denard Span and Francisco Liriano are atop that list, but perhaps the most valuable player Minnesota possesses will likely remain here into August. Josh Willingham, who has been even better than I think anyone expected, is oddly not being shopped around, according to 1500 ESPN. Willingham currently has a .271/.384/.551 triple slash this year, and that doesn’t even include his 2 HR game from Tuesday night. Even excluding those 2 HR, this season has easily been Willingham’s best of his career. His .935 OPS in 2012 is .088 higher than his career, and .072 higher than his previous career best in OPS (2009 with Washington). His WAR is already a career best, though a slump definitely could change that. With all these positives, along with good health, Willingham’s trade value is sky-high. But, the Twins don’t want to trade him, and that is a huge mistake. The Twins are citing the fear that trading Willingham after signing him to a 3-year contract will chase away future free agents from signing multi-year contracts in Minnesota. I laugh at this argument. When the Twins signed Willingham, his 3-year, $21 million contract was easily the largest contract the Twins ever handed out to a free agent. Yes, they have signed Joe Mauer, Joe Nathan, Johan Santana, and others to heftier contracts, but Willingham’s contract was both the longest and most expensive free agent contract in Twins franchise history. The closest to topping his contract was Carl Pavano’s 2-year, $16.5 million contract signed prior to the 2011 season. Clearly, the Twins have never been big players in free agency, so why are they afraid of chasing away mid-level free agents? Besides, if the team is willing to accept that they are rebuilding, signing Willingham-level players would no longer be a priority. Also, the Twins handed out a 2-year contract extension to Ryan Doumit, who originally came to Minnesota on a 1-year, $3 million contract. If Terry Ryan fears other players will shy away from joining the Twins because of a Willingham trade, the he could always counter with Doumit’s extension as an example where they kept a player instead of dealing him. There is likely another reason that the Twins brass hasn’t shared, but I think is quite relevant. In trading Willingham, the Twins would lose one of their potential big stars for 2013. Next season, the big draw is Joe Mauer and…. who else? Ryan Doumit? Not really. Justin Morneau? He’s no longer the player he was prior to his concussions. Trevor Plouffe? This 2012 outburst has been nice, but we have to be wary that he might just be this year’s 2011 Brent Lillibridge. Keeping Willingham would provide another draw for fans, especially those that are still convinced that Mauer is a waste of $23 million per year. However, as I mentioned before, this season has been a career year for Willingham. Next season, he’s likely going to regress to something around his career norms. There’s always the risk that he puts up numbers below his averages, or he gets hurt and misses part of the year. The likelihood of him having another year like this one is not good, and the Twins should recognize that and take advantage while they still have the ability. In trading Willingham, the Twins do sacrifice a bit of the near future, but they could solve many problems that could arise in the next couple years. For one, they have been lacking good starting pitching and middle infielders for a while now. A trade could bring back a prospect or two that could fill either one or both of these holes in 2014. Denard Span might have similar trade value to Willingham right now, but I have to think that teams would find Willingham as the more attractive option of these two players right now. The Twins have had a history lately of selling players when their trade value is extremely low. Holding on to Willingham after this season would be a colossal mistake, and trading him within the next week while his value has peaked would greatly help the team in 2014 and beyond.

The Scene Alexi Casilla on 3B, Jamey Carroll on 2B. Denard Span hits a grounder to Eric Hosmer at first base. Hosmer fires home to Salvador Perez, who chases Casilla all the way back to 3B. However, Carroll also advances to 3B, while Span hustles around and makes it to 2B. Casilla, upon seeing the other two baserunners safe, deliberately runs past 3B. Perez gives up chasing Casilla as he's now out of the baseline, and he tags Carroll, hoping for a double play. However, after some hesitation, the umpires only calls Casilla out and allows Carroll to stay at 3B. The 4 umpires then have a conversation, and ultimately decide that they made the right call. As it turns out, they were actually wrong. Why? For my explanation, I turn to a slew of rules: 7.01 A runner acquires the right to an unoccupied base when he touches it before he is out. He is then entitled to it until he is put out, or forced to vacate it for another runner legally entitled to that base. 7.03(a) Two runners may not occupy a base, but if, while the ball is alive, two runners are touching a base, the following runner shall be out when tagged and the preceding runner is entitled to the base, unless Rule 7.03( applies. 7.03( If a runner is forced to advance by reason of the batter becoming a runner and two runners are touching a base to which the following runner is forced, the following runner is entitled to the base and the preceding runner shall be out when tagged or when a fielder possesses the ball and touches the base to which such preceding runner is forced. Why are these important? 7.01 This means that Casilla was entitled to 3B, while Carroll was entitled to 2B when the play began. Although Carroll ran to 3B and was standing on it before Casilla returned to the base, the second sentence of this rule does not apply, as Carroll was not forced to run to 3B (there was not a baserunner on 1B when the play started). This is why 3B remains Casilla's base throughout the entire play. 7.03(a) Remember that Casilla was entitled to 3B. Thus, even though he was off the base and Carroll was standing on it, it was still technically Casilla's base. This rule states that if both runners were standing on 3B, then Carroll would be tagged out and Casilla would stay on 3B. Obviously, this is not what happened. Casilla ran past 3B while Carroll was standing on it, and Perez tagged Carroll before Casilla was called out for running out of the basepath. Since Carroll was the following runner and was tagged before Casilla was called out, this should have resulted in a double play. However, rule 7.03(a) does have an exception if 7.03( comes into play. 7.03( But, this rule does not matter. This only applies if Casilla and Carroll were forced to advance, as in if the bases had been loaded or they had been on 1st and 2nd. Since they started on 2nd and 3rd, there was no runner on 1st and Span was the batter, neither runner was forced to advance. Yes, even when Span ran to 2nd base, because Span himself was not forced to advance. Summary This play should have resulted in a double play. Casilla was entitled to 3B, so even though Carroll occupied it, it was Casilla's base. Carroll was tagged before the umpire called Casilla out for running out of the baseline, and since Carroll was the following runner, Rule 7.03(a) states that Carroll should have been called out. Subsequently, Casilla would have been called out for running out of the baseline, thus how the double play should have been the correct call. How did you know this? This play has happened in the past. Also, a similar play was featured in the "What's The Call" feature of Sports Illustrated for Kids many, many years ago.

The Scene Alexi Casilla on 3B, Jamey Carroll on 2B. Denard Span hits a grounder to Eric Hosmer at first base. Hosmer fires home to Salvador Perez, who chases Casilla all the way back to 3B. However, Carroll also advances to 3B, while Span hustles around and makes it to 2B. Casilla, upon seeing the other two baserunners safe, deliberately runs past 3B. Perez gives up chasing Casilla as he's now out of the baseline, and he tags Carroll, hoping for a double play. However, after some hesitation, the umpires only calls Casilla out and allows Carroll to stay at 3B. The 4 umpires then have a conversation, and ultimately decide that they made the right call. As it turns out, they were actually wrong. Why? For my explanation, I turn to a slew of rules: 7.01 A runner acquires the right to an unoccupied base when he touches it before he is out. He is then entitled to it until he is put out, or forced to vacate it for another runner legally entitled to that base. 7.03(a) Two runners may not occupy a base, but if, while the ball is alive, two runners are touching a base, the following runner shall be out when tagged and the preceding runner is entitled to the base, unless Rule 7.03( applies. 7.03( If a runner is forced to advance by reason of the batter becoming a runner and two runners are touching a base to which the following runner is forced, the following runner is entitled to the base and the preceding runner shall be out when tagged or when a fielder possesses the ball and touches the base to which such preceding runner is forced. Why are these important? 7.01 This means that Casilla was entitled to 3B, while Carroll was entitled to 2B when the play began. Although Carroll ran to 3B and was standing on it before Casilla returned to the base, the second sentence of this rule does not apply, as Carroll was not forced to run to 3B (there was not a baserunner on 1B when the play started). This is why 3B remains Casilla's base throughout the entire play. 7.03(a) Remember that Casilla was entitled to 3B. Thus, even though he was off the base and Carroll was standing on it, it was still technically Casilla's base. This rule states that if both runners were standing on 3B, then Carroll would be tagged out and Casilla would stay on 3B. Obviously, this is not what happened. Casilla ran past 3B while Carroll was standing on it, and Perez tagged Carroll before Casilla was called out for running out of the basepath. Since Carroll was the following runner and was tagged before Casilla was called out, this should have resulted in a double play. However, rule 7.03(a) does have an exception if 7.03( comes into play. 7.03( But, this rule does not matter. This only applies if Casilla and Carroll were forced to advance, as in if the bases had been loaded or they had been on 1st and 2nd. Since they started on 2nd and 3rd, there was no runner on 1st and Span was the batter, neither runner was forced to advance. Yes, even when Span ran to 2nd base, because Span himself was not forced to advance. Summary This play should have resulted in a double play. Casilla was entitled to 3B, so even though Carroll occupied it, it was Casilla's base. Carroll was tagged before the umpire called Casilla out for running out of the baseline, and since Carroll was the following runner, Rule 7.03(a) states that Carroll should have been called out. Subsequently, Casilla would have been called out for running out of the baseline, thus how the double play should have been the correct call. How did you know this? This play has happened in the past. Also, a similar play was featured in the "What's The Call" feature of Sports Illustrated for Kids many, many years ago.

Meanwhile, this lonely usher will be hanging out below the right field scoreboard, looking wistfully as Josh Willingham bounces a home run ball off one lucky person's pair of hands.

A 5.63 ERA in only 5 starts at Target Field is a terrible reason to not sign him. No, the Twins won't sign him because he'll be too expensive.

By now, you’ve probably heard about the dominant stretch R.A. Dickey has put together over his last few starts. He’s thrown back-to-back 1 hitters, and here’s his stat line from those two games combined: 18 IP, 1 R (unearned), 2 H, 2 BB, 25 K. In particular, look at that K/BB ratio. From a knuckleballer! Now how about his last 6 starts?: 48.2 IP, 21 H, 2 R (1 ER), 5 BB, 63 K, 3 complete games. As a Twins fan, it may be a bit bittersweet to see this from Dickey, because he was actually a Twin the year prior to joining the New York Mets. But, if you do a little fact-checking, you’ll see that the Twins actually had the dominant Dickey for part of his single season in Minnesota. Back when the Twins chose to release Dickey, he left with a 4.62 ERA, .286 batting average allowed, and a below-average 5.88 K/9 and 4.20 BB/9. However, I found that Dickey had a string of great outings for the Twins, and the rest of his season was quite poor. Back in Nov. 2009, I wrote about this and found that from May 1 to July 1, Dickey had the following line*: 33.2 IP, 1.34 ERA, 27 H, 11 BB, 24 K. For the remainder of the season, this is what he had: 29.2 IP, 8.49 ERA, 49 H, 19 BB, 18 K * In my 2009 blog post, it appears as though I credited Dickey with an additional inning, so this is why my numbers now and then do not match up for IP and ERA. While the numbers aren’t quite the same as what Dickey is doing now in New York, it does illustrate that for a time, he seemed to have figured out the knuckleball, and that for several months, Twins fans were treated to a similar R.A. Dickey as what Mets fans (and baseball fans in general) are seeing now. I will have to correct something I said in my post from a couple years ago, though. I had originally said that I thought in order for Dickey to have more success, he’d have to throw the knuckler slower. Well, I guess I was wrong, as Dickey’s gone and thrown his knuckler at whatever speed he chooses. He’s averaging about 77 MPH on it (about 2 MPH harder than when he was with the Twins), but he can dial it up to 81 and will throw it in the 60s as well. In that is likely what has aided his success. While he’s throwing nearly 90% knuckleballs and 10% fastballs, his ability to change speeds with the knuckler makes it seem like he’s actually a 4-pitch pitcher.* * Plus, I recall Dickey often throwing a knuckler that moved like a slider with the Twins, and there are some people on FanGraphs that claim that he’s learned how to throw a knuckleball that “rises,” or perhaps more accurately, doesn’t drop as much as a spinless ball normally would. I’m not bitter that Dickey’s enjoyed this level of success after leaving the Twins. Honestly, with only being good for half a season, releasing him seemed like a solid decision. I’m just content to just sit back and watch Dickey keep floating his butterfly ball past hitters.

By now, you’ve probably heard about the dominant stretch R.A. Dickey has put together over his last few starts. He’s thrown back-to-back 1 hitters, and here’s his stat line from those two games combined: 18 IP, 1 R (unearned), 2 H, 2 BB, 25 K. In particular, look at that K/BB ratio. From a knuckleballer! Now how about his last 6 starts?: 48.2 IP, 21 H, 2 R (1 ER), 5 BB, 63 K, 3 complete games. As a Twins fan, it may be a bit bittersweet to see this from Dickey, because he was actually a Twin the year prior to joining the New York Mets. But, if you do a little fact-checking, you’ll see that the Twins actually had the dominant Dickey for part of his single season in Minnesota. Back when the Twins chose to release Dickey, he left with a 4.62 ERA, .286 batting average allowed, and a below-average 5.88 K/9 and 4.20 BB/9. However, I found that Dickey had a string of great outings for the Twins, and the rest of his season was quite poor. Back in Nov. 2009, I wrote about this and found that from May 1 to July 1, Dickey had the following line*: 33.2 IP, 1.34 ERA, 27 H, 11 BB, 24 K. For the remainder of the season, this is what he had: 29.2 IP, 8.49 ERA, 49 H, 19 BB, 18 K * In my 2009 blog post, it appears as though I credited Dickey with an additional inning, so this is why my numbers now and then do not match up for IP and ERA. While the numbers aren’t quite the same as what Dickey is doing now in New York, it does illustrate that for a time, he seemed to have figured out the knuckleball, and that for several months, Twins fans were treated to a similar R.A. Dickey as what Mets fans (and baseball fans in general) are seeing now. I will have to correct something I said in my post from a couple years ago, though. I had originally said that I thought in order for Dickey to have more success, he’d have to throw the knuckler slower. Well, I guess I was wrong, as Dickey’s gone and thrown his knuckler at whatever speed he chooses. He’s averaging about 77 MPH on it (about 2 MPH harder than when he was with the Twins), but he can dial it up to 81 and will throw it in the 60s as well. In that is likely what has aided his success. While he’s throwing nearly 90% knuckleballs and 10% fastballs, his ability to change speeds with the knuckler makes it seem like he’s actually a 4-pitch pitcher.* * Plus, I recall Dickey often throwing a knuckler that moved like a slider with the Twins, and there are some people on FanGraphs that claim that he’s learned how to throw a knuckleball that “rises,” or perhaps more accurately, doesn’t drop as much as a spinless ball normally would. I’m not bitter that Dickey’s enjoyed this level of success after leaving the Twins. Honestly, with only being good for half a season, releasing him seemed like a solid decision. I’m just content to just sit back and watch Dickey keep floating his butterfly ball past hitters.

I realize my name is not Seth, but Slama has basically two pitches: a fastball and a slurve. Typically you want a starter to have about 4 pitches.

...and this is a thread titled "Robby Incmikoski & FSN Coverage," not "What's wrong with the Twins?"

I don't mind Robby at all. I don't feel that he's exceptionally good or terrible, but he does an adequate job. Yes, some of his questions have been poor (I'll always remember him asking Bert during an instructional, "Why do they call (a sinker) a sinker?") but all sideline reporters have terrible questions. It's like a rule that you can't make the player think too much. As for this debacle, I wasn't even aware that this happened, so I suppose I really don't care. Finally, Jim Souhan had an article about FSN refusing to let their on-air personalities be too critical of the teams they covered. This isn't it, but here he talks about Tom Kelly educating viewers instead of spewing mindless positivity. Kelly could be a little less monotone, but I appreciate that he's willing to criticize the team when necessary, and it's a shame that more FSN broadcasters don't do the same. What makes seasons like this year so frustrating is that us fans were fed that this was going to be a decent Twins team. Instead, they are the worst in baseball. It's like Joe Posnanski's system for rating movies: Instead of rating on how it was, rate it on how it was compared to your expectations before watching it. Basically, if we knew the Twins were going to be bad, we'd just shrug our shoulders. But we were told that this team would be just fine, so this start to the season has been exceptionally painful to watch. Some people may not be able to handle it, but I think I'd appreciate some honesty from the team and FSN instead of false, manufactured hope.

1. You meant Incmikoski, not Mastroianni. 2. After being in the Fan Cave, it's very likely that Lindsay will get a solid job from someone.

Then why not bring him up to the majors in a season that is already a lost cause and let the organization find out if he really has the stuff to get hitters out? The Twins have treated him like they already know how he will pitch in the majors.

Coming in to the 2012 season, it seemed like Alex Burnett had no shot of making the roster. A 6.97 ERA and over two baserunners per inning was not indicative of a pitcher worthy of a place in any team's bullpen, but due to the injuries to Joel Zumaya, Scott Baker, Kyle Waldrop, and Jason Marquis' daughter, Burnett found himself in the exact same place as he had been the past two years: on the Twins' Opening Day roster. Now, you can't take away very much from spring training statistics, but Burnett hadn't done much in the past two seasons that showed anything different. A career 5.40 ERA in nearly 100 innings coming into this year, with nearly 1 1/2 baserunners per inning was suggesting that Burnett was simply overmatched against major league hitters. Considering his track record in the minors upon becoming a reliever, this was very disappointing to see. http://weareoffthemark.wordpress.com/wp-includes/js/tinymce/plugins/wordpress/img/trans.gifHowever, Burnett appears to have finally figured it out, as he has yet to give up a run this season in 8 1/3 innings. Additionally, he has walked only one batter thus far, and his WHIP is down to a sparkling 1.08. Dick Bremer and Bert Blyleven were quick to point out that Burnett has been featuring a curveball more often this year, though they erroneously stated that it was a new pitch for him. In actuality, it's something he's always had in the majors, but his usage of it has changed. In the past two years, Burnett threw his curveball only about 7% of the time. This season, he's more than doubled it, as it's up to 15.5%. Granted, FanGraphs' Pitch Values says that it's been a terrible pitch (already worth -5.77 runs) but as viewers on TV can attest, this pitch has a lot of movement. Also, it's very possible that this pitch has allowed Burnett to set up his fastball and slider, pitches that have rated as average for him in his career. One of the biggest changes for Burnett has been his control. In his first two seasons, he walked about 4 batters per 9 innings, but in his 6 appearances this year, he's walked only one batter. I'm not going to credit Burnett's curveball as helping him improve his control, but like I said before, perhaps throwing it more often has helped set up his other pitches. It's still too early to say that Burnett will be a factor in the 'pen for the rest of the season, but at least right now, he's given us a glimpse of the pitcher he was supposed to be when he made his debut back in 2010.

Coming in to the 2012 season, it seemed like Alex Burnett had no shot of making the roster. A 6.97 ERA and over two baserunners per inning was not indicative of a pitcher worthy of a place in any team's bullpen, but due to the injuries to Joel Zumaya, Scott Baker, Kyle Waldrop, and Jason Marquis' daughter, Burnett found himself in the exact same place as he had been the past two years: on the Twins' Opening Day roster. Now, you can't take away very much from spring training statistics, but Burnett hadn't done much in the past two seasons that showed anything different. A career 5.40 ERA in nearly 100 innings coming into this year, with nearly 1 1/2 baserunners per inning was suggesting that Burnett was simply overmatched against major league hitters. Considering his track record in the minors upon becoming a reliever, this was very disappointing to see. http://weareoffthemark.wordpress.com/wp-includes/js/tinymce/plugins/wordpress/img/trans.gifHowever, Burnett appears to have finally figured it out, as he has yet to give up a run this season in 8 1/3 innings. Additionally, he has walked only one batter thus far, and his WHIP is down to a sparkling 1.08. Dick Bremer and Bert Blyleven were quick to point out that Burnett has been featuring a curveball more often this year, though they erroneously stated that it was a new pitch for him. In actuality, it's something he's always had in the majors, but his usage of it has changed. In the past two years, Burnett threw his curveball only about 7% of the time. This season, he's more than doubled it, as it's up to 15.5%. Granted, FanGraphs' Pitch Values says that it's been a terrible pitch (already worth -5.77 runs) but as viewers on TV can attest, this pitch has a lot of movement. Also, it's very possible that this pitch has allowed Burnett to set up his fastball and slider, pitches that have rated as average for him in his career. One of the biggest changes for Burnett has been his control. In his first two seasons, he walked about 4 batters per 9 innings, but in his 6 appearances this year, he's walked only one batter. I'm not going to credit Burnett's curveball as helping him improve his control, but like I said before, perhaps throwing it more often has helped set up his other pitches. It's still too early to say that Burnett will be a factor in the 'pen for the rest of the season, but at least right now, he's given us a glimpse of the pitcher he was supposed to be when he made his debut back in 2010.

If I had the chance, I'd pick a song that I like. Right now, I think I've settled on the first 1:30 of Dream Theater's "Outcry." Unfortunately, that's a bit long, so I guess I'm destined to be either a starting pitcher or closer, haha. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fi0_kBCvTH0

If Rizotti really is only good as a DH, I suppose it's no surprise why the Phillies didn't move him up very fast. With no DH and not wanting to play him at 1B (the easiest defensive position, mind you), they had no reason to promote him if his D wasn't improving. It's just too bad that he also hits lefty, but who knows, I wouldn't be surprised if he never sees big league action with the Twins anyway.

That will come when the respective cuts happen.