twinssouth

If you look thru the system, we have a shortage of quality 1st baseman. Sure, you can plug guys in but sooner or later, you have to have someone who knows the nuances, makes the routine plays, holds runners, be a big target, scoop balls out of the dirt, etc. and can hit. That's why I hope Kepler continues to play 1st. He already is a good outfielder. That combo with his bat is perfect for the Twins. His role could be similar to Cuddyer's with the Twins - Rf & 1st As mentioned, at last night's game, he was clearly the best player. If it was me, I'd send him up to AAA for a Fall call up.

You maybe on to something with him, putting undue pressure on himself There's no question of his talent; He had 4 plays last night, 2 were zingers. He was loose, instinctive, firing a ball like it was shot out of a cannon on the tough ones.

It's also possible that Sano is a little bummed out that Buxton got the call up and he hasn't joined him yet. But, he needs to clean up his defense It's possible that Burdi's inning could have ended better had Sano made that play.

Concerning Sano, the Jacksonville pitchers were throwing him off speed all night, had only 1 fb to hit all night and that was a long fly out to left center. Was caught looking on his strike out on a breaking ball.

Only saw him once in outfield and that was last year. Only had 1 put out so hard to comment. He is fast (not Buxton speed). Also don't really know enough about his arm strength but from my eyes, he's easily the most athletic, so smooth. Polanco is similar.

Hey Nick, I see where the Forum is posted twice, can you consolidate into one for me. Thanks Nick

I thought he looked great. I don't get all the fuss about his defense. He showed off really strong arm strength on a deep grounder. He handled every chance with ease

Saw quite an entertaining game if you were a Jacksonville fan last night in Chattanooga. First off, it was brutally hot. We were just a few rows up behind home plate and a full hot sun is coming at you from over left field. With no air flow, it felt watching the game inside a 400 degree oven. Busiest guy last night next to Burdi trying to get out of an inning was the "Cold Beer here" guy. I kid you not, if you didn't gulp the beer down in one shot, it became hotter than a pistol. Brett Lee was having a nice night, facing our old buddy Matt Tomshaw. Both lefties physically look eerily similar except Brett had better stuff. He was dealing tonight. His FB was sitting between 87 to 91, showed nice curve balls between 75 to 80, Change up around 80/81 and he was hitting his spots, spinning the ball nicely, really good movement. He was pitching a shut out into the 7th inning, got 1 out, and had runners on 1st and 2nd. That's when Doug M pulled him but I thought he should have stayed in as he still looked like in control of the game. At that point Burdi came in to just get out of the inning, as we were up 3 to 0 but the wheels came off really quick. Burdi had a bad night, ok, I'm kind. Actually, he was wild, all over the place, couldn't find the strike zone. His FB was sitting 95 to 99 and sliders or curve (couldn't tell) in upper 80's. The harder he threw it, the straighter the ball and when the batter hits it, it goes a long way (pretty simple huh). I actually thought his best fast ball was one at 95, had nice movement and good placement. I think he need's to slow down a tad and get his control back. Miguel tonight didn't help him any by letting a roller go by him and having the runner score from 2nd. That should have been an error charged to Sano. When all said and done, Nick Burdi got NO outs. Both runners he inherited from Brett Lee scored plus he let in 2 more, 1 walking the batter in with bases loaded. I suspect he didn't sleep well last night. Then Jake Reed comes in. Still, 1 out thanks to Brett L. I actually like the way he pitches, was down and away for the most part, his fb sitting 92/93 and a nice upper 80's slider when on. He actually had a great battle with Miohael Morse, the big Marlins 1st baseman who was on a rehab assignment, ended up striking him out. But the next batter; Michael Juengel for the Suns, clobbered a down and inside 1/3rd of the plate Grand Slam homer off Reed's 93 FB, just inside the LF foul pole. Wow, in 2/3rds of an inning, we went from being up 3 to zip to down 8 to 3. Well, as the song goes, "Momma says there be days like this." One thing to bear in mind with the power arms; when the ball comes in fast and the batter makes contact, oh boy. Hopefully they miss bats the next time out. Both the guys need to throw more off speed in my opinion. To cap it off, the ump on bottom of the 8th ruled runner interference on Stuart Turner to 1st. What a bogus, lousy call, no way did that happen. Doug M ran out to the field, argued rightfully so, got thrown out of the game. All of us in the stands cheered for Doug. The player of the game was no question, Max Kepler, going 4 for 5, 2 RBI's (should have had 3 if the 3rd base coach, had called the runner in). This guy is good. He$$, he even stole a base tonight. He needs to be in call up discussion. The whole package showed off tonight. Also want to pass a few good words on to unsung heroes Harrison and Gonzales. I like Mike Gonzales swing. Little more contact and he could (hopefully) be in discussion for future dh roles. Miguel needs more work both offensively and defensively. It was a fun night, lots of action, talking to scouts behind me and Jacksonville Sun pitchers doing the tracking for tonight in front of me. Next game I see needs to be cooler though.

Saw quite an entertaining game if you were a Jacksonville fan last night in Chattanooga. First off, it was brutally hot. We were just a few rows up behind home plate and a full hot sun is coming at you from over left field. With no air flow, it felt watching the game inside a 400 degree oven. Busiest guy last night next to Burdi trying to get out of an inning was the "Cold Beer here" guy. I kid you not, if you didn't gulp the beer down in one shot, it became hotter than a pistol. Brett Lee was having a nice night, facing our old buddy Matt Tomshaw. Both lefties physically look eerily similar except Brett had better stuff. He was dealing tonight. His FB was sitting between 87 to 91, showed nice curve balls between 75 to 80, Change up around 80/81 and he was hitting his spots, spinning the ball nicely, really good movement. He was pitching a shut out into the 7th inning, got 1 out, and had runners on 1st and 2nd. That's when Doug M pulled him but I thought he should have stayed in as he still looked like in control of the game. At that point Burdi came in to just get out of the inning, as we were up 3 to 0 but the wheels came off really quick. Burdi had a bad night, ok, I'm kind. Actually, he was wild, all over the place, couldn't find the strike zone. His FB was sitting 95 to 99 and sliders or curve (couldn't tell) in upper 80's. The harder he threw it, the straighter the ball and when the batter hits it, it goes a long way (pretty simple huh). I actually thought his best fast ball was one at 95, had nice movement and good placement. I think he need's to slow down a tad and get his control back. Miguel tonight didn't help him any by letting a roller go by him and having the runner score from 2nd. That should have been an error charged to Sano. When all said and done, Nick Burdi got NO outs. Both runners he inherited from Brett Lee scored plus he let in 2 more, 1 walking the batter in with bases loaded. I suspect he didn't sleep well last night. Then Jake Reed comes in. Still, 1 out thanks to Brett L. I actually like the way he pitches, was down and away for the most part, his fb sitting 92/93 and a nice upper 80's slider when on. He actually had a great battle with Miohael Morse, the big Marlins 1st baseman who was on a rehab assignment, ended up striking him out. But the next batter; Michael Juengel for the Suns, clobbered a down and inside 1/3rd of the plate Grand Slam homer off Reed's 93 FB, just inside the LF foul pole. Wow, in 2/3rds of an inning, we went from being up 3 to zip to down 8 to 3. Well, as the song goes, "Momma says there be days like this." One thing to bear in mind with the power arms; when the ball comes in fast and the batter makes contact, oh boy. Hopefully they miss bats the next time out. Both the guys need to throw more off speed in my opinion. To cap it off, the ump on bottom of the 8th ruled runner interference on Stuart Turner to 1st. What a bogus, lousy call, no way did that happen. Doug M ran out to the field, argued rightfully so, got thrown out of the game. All of us in the stands cheered for Doug. The player of the game was no question, Max Kepler, going 4 for 5, 2 RBI's (should have had 3 if the 3rd base coach, had called the runner in). This guy is good. He$$, he even stole a base tonight. He needs to be in call up discussion. The whole package showed off tonight. Also want to pass a few good words on to unsung heroes Harrison and Gonzales. I like Mike Gonzales swing. Little more contact and he could (hopefully) be in discussion for future dh roles. Miguel needs more work both offensively and defensively. It was a fun night, lots of action, talking to scouts behind me and Jacksonville Sun pitchers doing the tracking for tonight in front of me. Next game I see needs to be cooler though.

He was clearly the best player on the field. He looks just like a young Justin Morneau. As Seth said, what a beautiful swing. He should have had 1 more RBI but the coach filling in for Doug M (who was thrown out in the 9th inning for arguing a bogus crappy call by the ump) held up the runner at 3rd who could have easily scored. I hope the Twins keep him at 1st.

I'll tell you how: I saw the play. When the ball was hit, the runner was almost half way between 2nd and 3rd. Sano goes to his left to field it, the ball goes under his glove because he didn't bend over enough to reach it and the ball ends up in left field. That should have been an error charged to Sano but wasn't If he had done his job, he would have had the ball or at least stop the ball, check the runner at second and fire to first for the out. Sano's line last night should have been 2 errors and 0 for 5. My Son in Law thought he seems disinterested at times when on the field. He has athleticism as there were 2 really nice plays he made where he got to show off his cannon but when the errors happened, he was playing stiff.

At Lookouts game last night; Burdi, Reed, Sano, you can thank them for the loss. IMO, in my amateur eyes, Sano is not ready, offensively and defensively.

I remember a lot of those drafts and all the misses the Twins had. Back then, it seems the Twins drafted for sign ability, perhaps more than talent. They always seemed to blame the Metrodome for lack of resources rather than the scouting department which hung around forever. And, of course, old Cal Griffith, was not about to shell out any big money. But then, they always bragged about finding the hidden gems in the later rounds. The 2000 draft is a great example when they did that deal with Adam Johnson. Seems back then, someone else (maybe Matt Harrington who also flamed out) was the consensus higher pick. They blamed those drafts on the MLB collective bargaining agreement where 1st rounders' were asking for the moon. But, you're right, Seth, drafting is not a perfect science. Oh, and who can forget Eddie Bane. I remember that 1 run game he had. I was thinking he's our Ace to take us to the promise land. Oh well. I hope our current crop of high draft pitchers don't do a Bane or Mills or Serafini, etc. etc.

I haven't seen him pitch yet but will (hopefully if in the rotation) when the Red Wings make their annual trip to Gwinnet GA but I thought I read that his FB sits around 92 to 93 during starts, maybe I'm wrong and thinking of Brett Lee. Isn't he also a fellow U of KY graduate (Twins have so many of them) That's nice velocity for a lefty starter and probably would tick higher in relief. Also, that Prospect page needs to update his file, as to when drafted.

I'm bummed out. Going up to Chattanooga to see Buxton next week and now he's gone. Our last game was rained out so looking forward to seeing him. Sigh, well, happy for him and the Twins Org and all you guys up north. Let's retire his jersey now.

Twins drafting college power relievers seemed to have started in 2012 draft and if it wasn't for injuries to a lot of them, my guess is we would be seeing 1 or 2 by now. Look at the list that have gone under the knife; Luke Bard JT Chargois Mason Melotakis Zack Jones Who am I missing, probably more. That was in 2012 alone and was anoutstanding draft. Seems only reliever that stayed healthy is Duffy and he's now a starter.

I like the pick. Power lefty hard to come by. Hits 98 and watching MLB.com, saying he has 3 pitches. Twins can take the Finnegan route last year where he ended up with the Royals in the pen and now back in the minors working as a starter. Read last week, a scout was saying, if he had been starting, he could have been the 1st pick in the draft. Pair him up with Melotakis when he comes back from TJ next year and we have some amazing lefty's in the minors; Jay, Melotakis, Gonsalves and maybe the best of the bunch in Thorpe. Just doesn't sound like there are any sure bets in this draft, as to pitchers. The Rangers picked Tate at No. 4 and Mayo said he could end up in the pen. So, looks like a crapshoot this year. I just wanted the highest upside guy. Since it's not Aiken, I'm happy with Jay.

If you're going upside, I'd roll the dice on Aiken

This is priceless. One of the best ever

If you're going to take a chance on Jay, why not just take Aiken. Sure worked out great for the Nationals when they took Giollto (sp). When drafted, they knew he needed Tommy John, now he's the top rated pitcher in Minors. Aiken has 4 pitch mix, backed with high heat, was last year's 1st pick, I'd jump all over it.

Arcia needs to stay down, he's brutal in the outfield. Saw him in Tampa in LF totally miss a simple fly ball. All of us saw the balls trajectory under the dome roof, yet he blew it. Must have been busy eating a Snicker bar or something. Twins are winning with better outfield defense, why change it up.

Thanks for sharing the article. Talk about a long road back. I saw him pitch back in 2013 ST and was really impressed with his stuff and saw why the Twins took him so high. Few innings later into the year and he was done. Year and 1/2 later and he's back. At Georgia Tech, he was a starter, then moved to closer his final year because of his shoulder. Pretty severe injury to bounce back from but from the report with his velocity, he's got a great start. Kudos to the Twins in showing patience.