Shane Wahl

I like the Boston broadcasters. I always like listening to the opponents' broadcasters other than the White Sox, obviously. It is good to here what other team's are saying about the Twins. Also, Mauer with one RBI already.

Does the ® mean "registered" like in they registered their firearms?

Forecast: 75 degrees and clear Lineups: Boston Red Sox 1. Dustin Pedroia, 2B 2. Mookie Betts, CF 3. Pablo Sandoval, 3B 4. Hanley Ramirez, LF 5. David Ortiz, DH 6. Mike Napoli, 1B 7. Xander Bogaerts, SS 8. Brock Holt, RF 9. Blake Swihart, C Pitching: Rich Porcello ® Minnesota Twins 1. Brian Dozier, 2B 2. Torii Hunter, RF 3. Joe Mauer, 1B 4. Trevor Plouffe, 3B 5. Eduardo Escobar, DH 6. Eddie Rosario, LF 7. Chris Herrmann, C 8. Aaron Hicks, CF 9. Danny Santana, SS Pitching: Phil Hughes ® Things to think about: 1. The chance to move to 10 games over .500. I was mildly optimistic about this team, but that optimism was based on a few things happening. None of them have happened, and yet the Twins are currently 27-18. Danny Santana and Kennys Vargas regressed significantly instead of maintaining 2014 performance, Joe Mauer--though RBI lovers are silent for once--is not hitting very well at all, and looks like he is not returning, ever, to even being close to the old Joe, and Nolasco has only really shown the potential to be a major league starter just very recently. And yet . . . a win today and the Twins are 28-18. Inconceivable! 2. Jealousy. The Red Sox looked to bounce back after last season and reload for another WS attempt. Right now they are 21-25 and are having trouble scoring runs. The David Ortiz era is finally actually eding and it isn't so pretty. The Red Sox have to be looking at the Twins with envy. Both teams have excellent farm systems to draw on nd both have begun the process, but the Red Sox would be six and a half games back of the Twins if they were in the same division. 3. Sweep. After sweeping the White Sox about a month ago, the Twins are poised to sweep the Red Sox with a win today. I also have to sweep my entire house in preparation for moving out of this house and into a new one soon. One would be good and the other is always very bad. 4. Catching. Chris Herrmann behind the dish today after the late night game last night. I am predicting two hits and an RBI for Herrmann today. He isn't going to be the man of the hour, but given that his days have got to be numbered (right?), it will be nice for Herrmann to have a good game and end (right?) this stint with the Twins on a good note. I am willing to call Josmil Pinto myself (right?). 5. Holt. Brock Holt will be the one (one, I tell you!) guy to really hit Hughes today. 6. Porcello. Rick seemed to be righting the ship before his last outing, which was a bit of a disaster. Let the Twins cause even more pitching turmoil in Bean Town with a smackdown today. 7. I don't actually think that will happen. I am predicting a 4-2 Twins win. I am calling out Joe Mauer to be the offensive leader today with three hits and two RBI. Phil Hughes will make us happy with another strong outing, relieving any worries still lingering. I also think he will strike out six in seven today.

"Him?" indeed. You should always have an AD reference. I cannot believe how good Pelfrey has been.

There is just no way in hell that I would not promote Sano by August 1 this year. He has an .890 career AA OPS with 28 homers in 457 plate appearances.The logam for this year will be between Arcia, Vargas, Pinto and Sano.

1. I basically never use "OMG" ever. 2. I also basically never start a thread and just say nothing. 3. There is nothing else to say about Gonsalves tonight, at least through five innings.

For quite awhile around here there has been a lot of talk about moving Plouffe to another position, even when the Twins show zero indication of doing anything like that other than having Plouffe be another option at first base. He isn't going to move, he will be moved, and I actually really like the potential return. With David Wright having his issues, I wonder if the Mets would trade Plawecki for Plouffe in some kind of deal.

Always a fan of shedding washed up players like Peterson to make way for prospects.

Bernier is, obviously, and that would have been the clear move here. There is plenty of dead weight on the 40-man to get actual help on the roster if needed.

Given how many pitchers they had already used, they had to ride someone out and it happened to be Graham. Wasn't Perkins the 7th reliever used?

He is busting out in a big way this year. This is a surprise (maybe not that he is having a good year, but certainly this great of one so far). I would not have thought it going into the season, but September is going to be Max's time this year! Even though he really has two options left, it will still be nice to see him in action in September. He isn't going back to the AFL.

I certainly didn't think it would last, but--and I know I am about to refer to spring training as meaning something--I remember a game in particular where Boyer stood out in ST, in a game with Burdi and others pitching. He was hitting the corners at 95. His current performance shows a couple things. One, dedication is mental just as much as it is physical. Boyer seems like he really has his "head in the game" right now. Two, it shows that there is *something* to the strategy of trying to find the right guys here and there to fill out a roster.

I believe the Twins have an extended trip to the NL at the end of June. I bet you that he will be down through that time.

For the record, awhile ago I complained that Greg Peavey was in the organization. And now he has been fantastic since.

Also, what are the "mixed reports" on Pinto's defense? Where in the *hell* are any actual reports on his defense? Can anyone find a single sustained analysis about it other than Parker's excellent job a few months ago? That report *certainly* did not indicate a need for the disregard of Pinto for this long into the season as a Twins catcher.

By a ways off I just meant some years. A minimum of three, I would think. But no, I thought he was going to be a fast-riser on the lists this year. I think he is getting there.

Yeah, that would change things. I like having Berrios as a wildcard in there. There seems to be a history of young pitchers taking control in the playoffs over the years. And the Twins have really been ill-equipped every year for them in terms of the pitching staff.

I thought somebody had this penalty too. Maybe it isn't Santana.

For the record, I think I go Hughes-Gibson-May-Berrios for the playoffs, with Meyer and Rogers in the bullpen for strikeout potential).

(And I realize that trades out of the bullpen could affect this too . . . some of these guys might be good on a playoff roster to come in and strike a guy out . . .).

That part of it totally slipped my mind (probably because it was a ridiculous thought).

Well, I am using answers to figure out who really should be in the rotation at the end of year, pretty much regardless of whether the Twins actually make the playoffs. Being contenders instead of pretenders is going to mean having legitimate pitching for the playoffs. And that is going to exclude a number of the above pitchers.

I love to see them do things like this to rattle the cage a little. Then the natural mid-season move to the next level isn't such a drastic move. I would think the move to Chatty is coming soon for him, as long as they get the timing down for whoever else is going to be on the move (Duffey, Berrios? above, Gonsalves below).

I am writing a blog post about blueprints for the rest of 2015. Anyway, it got me thinking about that miracle scenario where the Twins make the playoffs. Usually the thinking is that this means the team sticks with veterans and whatnot. Probably not in this scenario this year, for the most part though. Anyway, which of the following four pitchers would you want in a playoff series right now (assuming health and sustainable performance based off what they are currently doing, though give Meyer a tiny break and assume that Santana doesn't regress too much): Hughes Gibson Pelfrey May Nolasco Santana Milone Meyer Rogers Berrios Wheeler Duffey/Dean/Other (non-FA) Please no FAs because that gets out of control speculative.

MLB FIP for Milone: 2012--3.93 2013--4.30 2014--4.69 2015 early--6.33 Whole hell of a lot of the wrong direction there.