John Bonnes

Updated 5/24 - While all the previous mocks had the Minnesota Twins selecting shortstop Nick Gordon with the 5th overall pick in the MLB Draft, neither of the two released on Friday did. And the second hinted that the Twins could have some tough (but fruitful) decisions ahead. First, John Manuel released his 3rd mock draft and took things a step farther than he had in Mock 2, when he had high school pitcher Tyler Kolek falling to the Twins but the Twins passing on him to stick with Gordon. This time, they didn't pass: Then MLB.com released another mock draft, but this one was by Jim Callis, who is known as one of the more plugged-in writers in Major League Baseball. He also had the Twins selecting Tyler Kolek, but there really was no decision to be made - Nick Gordon had been selected by the Cubs the pick before. He also hinted that if things break right, the Twins could have their choice between Kolek, Gordon and prep catcher Alex Jackson depending on how the Cubs and Marlins feel about high school players. Photo courtesy of Rinaldi Photos Updated 5/20 - Who will the Twins choose as the fifth overall pick in the upcoming MLB draft? Oddly enough, in their latest mock drafts, Keith Law (ESPN.com), Jonathan Mayo (MLB.com), John Manuel (Baseball America) and Kiley McDaniel (Scout.com) all have the Twins picking the same guy. But how each gets to that point is very different. Overview This year’s draft features three high-upside pitchers that are at or near the top of almost everyone’s list. (There were four, by the way, but one needed Tommy John surgery.) Carlos Rodon – College left-hander from North Carolina State that everyone expected at the beginning of the year to be the #1 pick. He’s been good enough to still be, but others have also risen. Brady Aiken – A very polished high school left-hander from San Diego that has risen sharply to be one of the top pitching prospects. Tyler Kolek – A 250-pound high school right-hander with 101 mph fastball who will need to work on his command. Then there are some position players that are perhaps a half step lower, including Nick Gordon – a high school shortstop, Bradley Zimmer – a college center fielder and Alex Jackson – a high school catcher/outfielder. Arms First Two of the mock drafts have those three high–upside pitchers going first, second and third and in the same order. Both MLB.com and Scout.com have Rodon going first to the Astros, Kolek going second to the Marlins and Aiken going third to the White Sox. They vary in their fourth pick. Jonathan Mayo has the Cubs choosing Jackson, who many feel is the best all-around hitter in the class (and some feel might not stay at catcher because teams will want to promote his bat quickly). But Kiley McDaniel has the Cubs going with what many consider the safest pitcher in the draft – Aaron Nola, a right-hander out of Louisiana State. Nola is also a pitcher in whom the Twins reportedly have some interest. But both agree that the Twins would then choose Nick Gordon, who should be able to stay at shortstop throughout his career and has added strength. There have been lots of reports about the Twins zeroing in on him. One question raised by McDaniel is what the Twins do if he's not available – if he’s sniped by one of the teams in front of the Twins, particularly, the Cubs. Another question not raised is whether the Twins might take Jackson over Gordon as in McDaniel’s draft. Close But Not Quite Keith Law jumbles the picks a bit and has Jackson sneaking into the second spot, nabbed by the Marlins. In his scenario, the Astros grab Aiken, the catcher Jackson is grabbed by the Marlins and the White Sox grab the hefty Kolek. That gives the Cubs a shot at one of the three big pitchers – Rodon, oddly enough – and they snap him up. So by the time the Twins draft, the same names are on the board as they were for the MLB.com draft. The Twins still take Gordon in his scenario. An Arm Falls John Manuel, however, sees a scenario in which one of the bigger arms falls to the Twins and they need to make a decision. In his scenario, Rodon goes first, as he has in three of these four mock drafts. The Marlins grab the catcher/outfielder Jackson. Interestingly, Manuel mentions that he thinks the White Sox, who pick next, covet Jackson if he gets past the Marlins. In this scenario, he’s gone, so they take the left-handed prep pitcher Aiken. When the Cubs choose at fourth, Manuel has them passing on Kolek because a 250-pound high schooler officially qualifies as an “outlier,” especially for an organization that prefer’s college pitchers. So they go with Kyle Freeland, a college left-hander who is moving up the boards fast and provides the right mix of upside and risk. (The other drafts have Freeland being taken soon after the Twins, in the seventh or eighth pick.) That leaves the Twins with a big decision. They certainly haven’t shied away from prep pitchers like Kolek. But they have also spent a lot of time scouting Gordon. Manuel lays out the decision: “The Twins have done their due diligence on the top prep arms, and their emphasis on finding velocity in recent drafts could lead them to Kolek. But they’ve also done a lot of work on Gordon, whose middle-of-the-diamond athleticism is too much to turn down.” The Twins once again end up with the athletic high school shortstop, but I don’t think this will be the last time we’ll talk about a tough decision regarding Kolek and Gordon. We’ll update this story as more mock drafts are released. You can also check out the 46-page(!) MLB Draft thread on Twins Daily with several other mock drafts being noted throughout. Finally, you’ll find daily draft coverage on Twins Daily through the 2014 MLB Draft on June 5-7. Previous coverage included: Twins Daily’s scouting insider Jeremy Nygaard gave his Mock Draft v 1.0.

Aaron and John talk about the Twins' surprisingly decent first quarter of the season, management calling out Aaron Hicks through the media, Brian Dozier being one of the league's best players, Oswaldo Arcia going back to the minors, Chris Colabello turning back into a pumpkin, Kurt Suzuki proving to be a fine investment, and whether the Twins have something in Eduardo Escobar. You can listen by downloading us from iTunes, Stitcher or find it at GleemanAndTheGeek.com.

Sponsored by Ticket King It's no secret: the hot ticket for this weekend's Mariners' series is Sunday’s afternoon game. Let’s see why:Series Preview Seattle isn't terrible. They enter this series a .500 team, which puts them in the middle of the AL West and the midst of a very large pack of teams that are somewhat viable Wild Card teams (which includes the Twins, by the way.) They’re also on pace for the 81.5 games that Vegas expected them to win this year. That’s a lot better than they did last year when they won 71 games. It’s easy to say the difference it the offseason signing of Robinson Cano. Cano, however, has been disappointing. He is still hitting for average (.301) and getting on base (.356), but his power has disappeared. The regular season is one-fourth complete and Cano has one home run. Joe Mauer has more home runs than Cano. Kurt Suzuki is out-slugging him. You'll likely get to see Cano no matter which game you go to. He's played in every game this year for Seattle and has played second base in all but two of them. Pitching Matchups However, you'll only get to "King" Felix Hernandez on Sunday, which is the first reason Sunday’s game is the hot ticket this weekend. Hernandez has not been disappointing. He's been Hernandez: three-ish ERA, among the league leaders in strikeouts and on pace for 230 or so innings. That’s been his profile now for 10 years - and he's just 28 years old. He'll be facing Twins pitcher Ricky Nolasco, who is pitching better than his 5.51 ERA suggests, but that's damning with faint praise. Nolasco has a 3.86 ERA since May rolled around, and his hit rate (11.4 H/9) suggests he's been a little unlucky. Seattle isn’t a bad bet to assist his turnaround; the Mariners are twelfth in the AL in runs scored. But if you can’t see Felix, at least you won’t have to watch Kevin Correia take the hill. Mercifully, Twins fans won’t see him starting at Target Field until the next homestand – if he’s still in the rotation. On Friday, Kyle Gibson (who has also been struggling lately) faces a rejuvenated Chris Young. On Saturday night, bring some extra cash for an extra round of beers, because Samuel Deduno faces Roenis Elias, a left-hander from Cuba that looks like he’s every bit as wild as Deduno. Weather But the best reason that Sunday is the hot ticket is because it’s going to be relatively hot, especially in the seats down the Target Field third base line. The forecast is for sunny and 70 degrees, which would be only the fourth time this year it’s reached 70 degrees. Hopefully, this is the game that turns around the weather for the better this year. Don’t you want to be a part of that? Friday night is going to be on the cool side, but there are lot of tickets available, including some in Row 8 of Section 3 if you want a closeup view of Cano at second base. Tickets are quite a bit scarcer for the first Saturday night game of the year. And tickets are scarcer still for Sunday, though I see a pair just above the Mariners dugout that would be nice. All are an even better deal if you use the promo code DAILYDOUBLE, which will get you 10% off and supports Twins Daily. Whatever your needs, your local ticket supplier,Ticket King, can help.

Aaron and John unpack the MLB/iTunes fiasco, reflect on a jumbled Twins roster, examine Phil Hughes turnaround, play a lot of GATG intros, cast a skeptical eye towards Danny Santana and Chris Parmelee, ignore their mothers and debate the size of Aaron's ego. You can listen by downloading us from iTunes, Stitcher or find it at GleemanAndTheGeek.com. The Twins took the series against the Tigers with a 4-3 win on Sunday, so on Monday you can take 50% off a large or extra-large pizza from PapaJohns.com by using the promo code 'twinswin'.

Sponsored by Switch My Trip Phil Hughes Big Switch pitching performance on Friday night successfully stared down a three-game losing streak and Justin Verlander. It was also his fourth straight quality start, suggesting that Hughes is in the midst of his own Big Switch. That switch is half of what we thought it would be, but half unforeseen, though maybe we should have expected it.When the Twins signed Phil Hughes this offseason to a 3-year, $24 million contract, reactions to the deal were split, with very little middle ground. The agreement was an easy target for criticism. Hughes record last year was just 4-14 with a 5.19 ERA. In what world did those numbers justify a three-year deal, let alone $24 million guaranteed? The Twins are looking to switch things around this year. Every week, Metro Transit recognizes a Twins player who successfully switched the outcome of a game for the better.The alternate view boiled down to one hope: like Snake Plissken, Hughes just needed to Escape from New York. Part of that argument was subjective. Hughes was once the top pitching prospect in the minors, the guy that Yankees wouldn’t trade for Johan Santana. He was called up as a 20-year-old, and even now is just 27 and approaching his prime. By all accounts his stuff has been better than his performance. He had faced the brightest of spotlights on the biggest of stages with the highest of expectations as one of the league’s youngest players. All of which could overwhelm anyone. But the other reason to get him out of New York was more objective: Hughes has always been hurt by his home ballpark. In particular, his tendency to give up long fly balls was hurt by Yankees Stadium’s smaller dimensions, especially in right field. For instance, last year Hughes gave up seventeen home runs in Yankee Stadium and just seven on the road. His ERA at home was 6.32, but 3.88 on the road. His record was 1-10 in the Rebuilt House that Ruth Built, but 3-4 everywhere else. Perhaps Hughes just wasn’t made to pitch in the Bronx Bandbox. So far, the home run theory is holding water. Hughes home run rate has dropped 40% to .9 HR/9 from 1.5 HR/9 last year. This year’s rate, by the way, matches his home run rate on the road last year. His 3.92 ERA also almost matches what he had on the road last year. Maybe this success isn’t such a surprise. But there is another change, too. Hughes walk rate (1.3 BB/9) is half of what it was last year (2.6 BB/9) and over his entire Yankees’ career (2.8 BB/9). This is probably also something we might have anticipated, though maybe not to this degree. Pretty consistently, when pitchers have come to the Twins and pitching coach Rick Anderson, we have seen a decline in walk rate. Of course, we’ve also see a decline in strikeout rate, which we’re also seeing with Hughes, from 7.5 K/9 down to 7.0. Still, that’s a trade worth making. Taken all together, there are some reasons to believe that this offseason’s best case scenario is coming true, and we’re watching a Big Switch in a player’s career. If so, instead of being foolish, the three-year deal the Twins signed would be brilliant. Hughes would be locked into a relatively affordable $8M contract through his 30-year-old season. It could work out well for Hughes too – that’s a good age to look for his next big deal, whether it is from the Twins or some other team. The contract, widely derided nationally, is paying off for both sides in the early going. Why fight traffic and parking? Say Switch My Trip for the next Twins game. Metro Transit can provide you and your whole family a train ride to the game. Planning your trip is as easy as clicking on this link.

Aaron and John review a plethora of weird roster moves, wonder about the impact of Joe Mauer's bat, discuss pineapple sauce with Lindsay Guentzel, endorse Eduardo Escobar, compare John's facial hair to Jack Morris' and interview Aaron's favorite bartender at Stella's. You can listen by downloading us from iTunes, Stitcher or find it at GleemanAndTheGeek.com. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]~~~ Sunday's win was big because it gave the Twins a series victory heading into a long and difficult road trip. It was also big because it gives YOU 50% off your order from PapaJohns.com on Monday with the promo code "TWINSWIN." ~~~

Sponsored by Switch My Trip May arrived three days late, but Saturday The Sun found clouds it could occasionally hurdle. The gloom passed and Twins Territory awoke from abad dream, one filled with wind and rain and Dodgers and losing baseball stacked on top of losing baseball on top of desperate roster moves and game-winning line drives that die an early death, suffocated by leather. But on Saturday The Sun shone, warming the fans who sat down the third base line, which was almost all of them, because SUN. It warmed Twins bats and fueled the ongoing transformation of Trevor Caterpillar to Butterfly Plouffe, who sprung forth and staked the Twins to an early 1-0 lead in a very unbutterfly-like way, because butterflies don't know what a gapper is, let alone how to hit one. The Twins are looking to switch things around this year. Every week, Metro Transit recognizes a Twins player who successfully switched the outcome of a game for the better. The Sun softened Brian Dozier's glove and quickened his twitchy wrists which offered a sacrifice in the form of white horsehide, launched to the upper facing of the left field bleachers. And Dozier's sacrifice pleased The Sun. The Sun relieved the bilateral weakness from Joe Mauer's manhood, empowering all 6-feet 3-inches of man muscles to slug an opposite field home run that delivered Dozier and Pedro Florimon and a lead incapable of dissipation. But mostly The Sun shone brightest on Kevin Correia, who reflected it and dazzled Orioles batters for seven innings. It warmed his hands and it strengthened his grip and his pitches played with The Sun, darting away from lefties bats... and even further away from right-handers. The Sun brought back memories of last year, when Correia was younger and effective and a bargain and – dare I say – the staff leader. And it dissolved last Friday’s nightmare of artillery shots bouncing off outfield walls and an overmatched Chris Colabello in right field, running for his life. And it melted the 7.33 ERA over a full point - still a bad dream but a dream in which Correia still has a major league career, which is not an unpleasant slumber. And the Twins won and spring returned and Byron Buxton was healthy again and reporting to the home of The Sun, Fort Myers. For who better to entrust with his future? And who better to provide our Big Switch? Why fight traffic and parking? Say Switch My Trip for the next Twins game. Metro Transit can provide you and your whole family a train ride to the game. Planning your trip is as easy as clicking on this link.

~~~ sponsored by Ticket King ~~~ OK, you can come out now. The bad weather has (mostly) passed. It’s going to be 60 degrees, one of the best young players in baseball will be visiting and Mike Pelfrey will not be pitching. That sounds like a pretty fair weekend to grab some great seats at Target Field. In fact, it sounds like a pretty fair weekend to all the Twins Daily guys, who will be attending Saturday’s game. (Say “Hi.”) Slogging Along It’s been a sluggish start for the Orioles who entered May with a .500 record, the first time they’ve started that “poorly” over the last three years. By May 1st last year, they were already five games over .500, just like they were the previous year. But in the AL East, it hasn’t hurt them. They are in second place in the packed division because the entire division is sluggish. As of Thursday, not a single team in the division had scored as many runs as their opponents. While the records for the teams vary between four games over to five games under .500, the run differential of all the teams are between -6 and -12. None have been good; none have been terrible. Slippage The same can be said about the Orioles pitching and hitting. Neither is necessarily a dire problem, but neither is quite as effective as they were last year. Last year’s offense ranked fourth in the American League with 4.6 runs per game; this year’s lineup has slipped to seventh (4.5 runs per game). Last year’s pitching was sixth overall (4.38 runs against per game) while this year’s arms have slipped to ninth (4.75 runs per game.) And remember: last year’s Orioles didn’t make the playoffs. The team got a mix of good news and bad news this week offensively. The positive news was the activation of Manny Machado on Thursday. The 21-year-old is a rising superstar in major league baseball, a mix of power, speed, defense and youth that might be the most coveted third baseman in baseball right now. However, on Sunday, slugger Chris Davis was placed on the DL with an oblique injury. Davis crushed 53 home runs last year, including one at Target Field. Barring a postponed game, he won’t go yard here this year; this is the Orioles only scheduled trip to Minnesota. Sloppy Starts Baltimore’s offense could use a boost because a few players in the lineup are really struggling. Twins fans might be surprised to hear that one of them is JJ Hardy, who the Twins traded to the Orioles three years ago to make room for (cringe) Tsuyoshi Nishioka. (And if you think I mentioned Nishi just so I could include this picture on the right, you could not be more correct. Let's admire it again, shall we?) Anyway, Hardy's hitting just .242 with no home runs and a .258 on-base percentage. He’s also been battling a hamstring strain that kept him out of the lineup last week. He should play this weekend, but hopefully his turnaround will wait until after the Orioles leave town. Ditto that sentiment for pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez. Jimenez was signed to a $50M contract this offseason to help anchor the top of the rotation. He’s been an anchor alright: 0-4 with a 6.59 ERA entering Friday’s night’s start versus Ricky Nolasco. Jimenez’s control has been brutal this year, walking seventeen batters in 27 innings. That’s also led to relatively early exits: he has yet to get more than six innings of outs. ~~~ If you would like to see Manny Machado up close, I see row 2 and row 3 seats right be third base available for Friday’s game. Saturday you can bake in the sun for the whole game in Section 125. And on Sunday, I’d consider the $17 tickets in Section 240, so I can watch the Twins for two hours and then retire to the nearby Town Ball Tavern to watch the Wild at 3:00. All are an even better deal if you use the promo code DAILYDOUBLE, which will get you 10% off and supports Twins Daily. Whatever your needs, your local ticket supplier, Ticket King, can help. ~~~

~~~ sponsored by Ticket King ~~~ The Dodgers have been to Target Field before; just three years ago the Twins (despite a dismal year) took two of three, serving as dismal hosts. With Minnesota in the middle of a week-long rainstorm, the Dodgers might be back quite a bit sooner. There is no point in avoiding it: the story for this series is the weather, so let’s break it down…. The Possible Makeup Dates There are three dates this year that the Dodgers and Twins both have open and they’re all on Mondays: May 19 – The Twins will be wrapping up a homestand against Boston and Seattle and the Dodgers will be leaving Arizona and be on their way to New York City to play the Mets on the 20th. Also, both teams (at least right now) have an off day earlier that week, so it wouldn’t be such a hardship. This date seems like it would work best. July 28 – The Twins will be concluding a nine-game homestand and the Dodger will be finishing a nine-game road trip. This one doesn’t work out quite as well because the Dodgers would need to fly from San Francisco on Sunday and back home on Tuesday, but it’ll work. August 25 – The Twins will be ending a 10-game homestand against AL Central teams and the Dodgers be wrapping up their own homestand too. Again – this game isn’t exactly on the Dodgers flight path. They would leave LA, fly to Minneapolis, play a game and then go back to Phoenix to face the Diamondbacks. Actually, “a game” might be optimistic. If two games are cancelled, I suppose one of these days could host a doubleheader. I also suppose this presents a unique opportunity for those people who are buying Twins tickets on the open market (such as at TicketKingOnline.com). All of these dates generally have a lot nicer weather then you’ll see right now. Why not buy some seats super cheap and wait to see which game you get? I can think of three significant risks to that plan: 1) The game might be played as scheduled in really miserable conditions. 2) The game might be part of a doubleheader on Thursday, when there is a slightly lesser chance of rain. 3) The rescheduled game could be on a Monday afternoon, which could be good or bad depending on your work schedule. An Unbelievable Story Oh yeah, you might want to know a thing or two about the Dodgers. First: Yasiel Puig. Puig’s stats this year aren’t quite as gaudy as last year, when he was called up as a 22-year-old, hit .319 with 19 home runs and 11 stolen bases, finished second in Rookie of the Year voting, garnered votes for the National League MVP and led the Dodgers from last to first in the NL West over the last 100+ games of the season. His was easily the most exciting story in baseball last year. And yet his story may have already been topped. Recently, the story of his escape from Cuba was detailed in Los Angeles Magazine by Jesse Katz. A quick summary: drug lords, Cuban informants, double-crossing HVAC contractors, threats with machetes, lawsuits, chicken blood and a dead boat captain. I dare you not to click the link. Anyway, you’ll find him in right field, so you might want to shoot for something in Section 103, where I see $15 tickets. (Which is coincidentally in Target Field’s craft beer corner. Just saying.) No matter how his story ends, it might be able to tell your grandkids someday that “you saw him when….” Pitching Matchups Your guess is as good as mine as to how the pitching matchups will look if there’s another rainout. Kyle Gibson is up next and will likely get a chance to bounce back after his first rough outing and after having a couple of extra days of rest. Mike Pelfrey should pitch the second game, but if either of those first two games are cancelled, might the Twins just stick with Ricky Nolasco on Thursday and skip one of Pelfrey’s starts? The Dodgers rotation is bringing some star power, as they are wont to do. They’ll start with Zach Greinke, who is 0-3 with a 5.63 ERA lifetime in Target Field. Then comes Dan Haren, who is sporting a 3-0 record and a 2.03 ERA so far. If they get all three games in we’ll see Josh Beckett, who has recovered from a thumb injury and has a 2.45 ERA in four starts. ~~~ Obviously, this is a chance for some bargains, especially considering the drawing power of the Dodgers. There are $4 tickets for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. If you’re a Dodgers fan, the seats around their dugout are a little more scarce, but I see a pair right next to the dugout for each game for $55-$62. That becomes an even better deal if you use the promo code DAILYDOUBLE, which will get you 10% off and supports Twins Daily. Whatever your needs, your local ticket supplier, Ticket King, can help. ~~~

Aaron and John talk about th Twins' no-swing approach, Alex Meyer's new pitch, car problems, dumping Mike Pelfrey, waiver wire madness, Josmil Pinto's first 40 game, ugly rotation numbers, seeing each other out in the wild, Paul McCartney, and how not to party. You can listen by downloading us from iTunes, Stitcher or find it at GleemanAndTheGeek.com.

~ Sponsored by Switch My Trip ~ From condemnation to redemption. Trevor Plouffe traveled that path over the span of three innings in Wednesday’s win over the Rays. It also appears he may be well along that path in his Twins career. It isn’t often that a player goes from goat to hero in the same game, but Plouffe did Wednesday, and thus wins our Big Switch award this week. Plouffe had the most damaging at-bat and the most valuable at-bat for the Twins – and believe it or not, we can measure these things. Sabrmetrics has come up with a nifty statistic called Win Probability Added (WPA) that never would have been practical in a world before computers. It’s easiest to understand if you start at the back of the acronym and work forward: it measures how much a player ADDS to the PROBABILITY of a WIN. Here’s how it works: ~ The Twins are looking to switchthings around this year. Every week, Metro Transit recognizes a Twins player who successfully switched the outcome of a game for the better. ~ Something like 30 years of baseball games were broken down at-bat by at-bat. Each situation was noted: the difference in score, the inning, the outs, and which bases are occupied. The total number of games that ever had that situation was counted. And then the total number of times the team that was in that situation won was counted. The result is a very precise percentage that indicates historically how likely a team is to win a game given a situation. Let’s use Plouffe’s at-bat in the ninth inning to show you how it works. You can follow along on the Fan Graphs site, which elegantly tracks games this way, play by play and in a summary. When Plouffe strode to the plate in the top of the ninth inning, the Twins had lost a 4-4 lead but were threatening to push the deciding run across the plate. Sam Fuld had opened the inning with a double and had advanced to third base on Brian Dozier’s ground ball. Joe Mauer had been walked to set up the double play. Teams in that situation – tie game, top half of the ninth inning, runners on the corners, one out – had won 69.2% of their games. But when Plouffe obliged with a sharply hit ball to the shortstop that turned into an inning-ending double-play, the scales turned completely. Historically, the chances of winning a game going into the bottom of the ninth tied are only 37.4% Plouffe’s double-play had cost the Twins 32% of Wednesday’s game. But it didn’t cost them the game. Because Casey Fien escaped a bases loaded jam in the bottom of the ninth. He then held the Rays without a hit in the tenth and eleventh innings. Fien, by the way, is the unheralded hero of that game. Nobody contributed more to that win. His heroics also gave Plouffe another chance in the 12th inning. This time Plouffe came through. Mauer led off the 12th with a soft infield single to start the rally. Colabello got the accolades two batter later, finishing off a four RBI night that tied a record for the most RBI in April by a Twins player. But it was Plouffe’s double in between the hits that most helped the Twins win. That knock moved the needle from the Twins having 58% chance to win to an 82% chance. While Colabello provided four RBI and a viral video, it was Plouffe’s double that turned the 12th inning from interesting to inevitable. Plouffe has become far more interesting, too. We’ve seen a hot streak from him before; he hit 13 home runs in the span of a month in 2012. But we’ve never seen this combination of power, average and plate discipline from him before. Most encouraging is that he’s hitting right-handed pitching. Over his career, he’s flashed power against right-handers, but holds just a .232 batting average, including 234 strikeouts compared to just 77 walks. This year? He’s hitting .327 with as many walks as strikeouts (12). Plouffe entered the year with a question hovering over his career: how soon before uber-prospect Miguel Sano takes third base from him? If Plouffe continues to hit like this, the same question exists, but it’s no longer a threat; the way Plouffe is hitting now, his bat would play at just about any spot on the field. From condemnation to redemption – in a game, and maybe in a career. That is indeed A Big Switch. ~~~ Why fight traffic and parking? Say ‘Switch My Trip’ for the next Twins game. Metro Transit can provide you and your whole family a train ride to the game. Planning your trip is as easy as clicking on this link.

sponsored by Ticket King Your first place Minnesota Twins? Not yet, but with Detroit coming to town retaining a one-game lead, you could be hearing that phrase as early as tonight. In fact, if you don’t hear it Friday night, you might need to wait a while, because the Tigers are bringing out their big guns for games two and three. Granted, it's a pitifully low standard, but a game for first place, even in April, allows a guy to fool oneself that it means something. That’s my #5 reason to grab a great seat to tonight’s game at Target Field . But there are more: #4 – Get ‘Em BEFORE They’re Hot The Tigers scored the second most runs in MLB last year. This year they’re 27th on that list. Read that last sentence again. To be sure, they had some defections from their lineup, starting with Prince Fielder, who was traded to Texas for Ian Kinsler - but Kinsler really replaces Omar Infante, who signed with the Royals. The Tigers also lost Jhonny Peralta and then lost his replacement, Jose Iglesias, for the season with stress fractures in both of his legs. Their team OPS is almost 50 points lower than they finished last year. But that OPS is still 732, which is slightly higher than the Twins 730 OPS, and would be good for eighth in MLB. Detroit’s real problem is that they have only hit .212 with runners in scoring position. Coincidentally (or not) that also ranks 27th in MLB. That’s not likely to continue. A team that’s hitting .265 overall (6th place) is likely to see their clutch hitting progress to the mean, and with it, their offense. A turn against the Twins starting rotation might be just the thing to spark them. So I'm getting a ticket for Friday, before the Tigers get hot. #3 – Avoid the Aces The Tigers have a hell of a poker hand, getting dealt three aces in Max Scherzer, Anibal Sanchez and Justin Verlander. The latter two will take the hill on Saturday and Sunday vs. Phil Hughes and Kyle Gibson. I like a challenge as much as the next guy, but criminy…. Friday night’s game is a little more reasonable. Kevin Correia, who is the heavy favorite to win “Twins Man-crush Who They Will Angrily Justify Re-signing To A Stupid Contract This Offseason” Award, will face Rick Porcello. Porcello is no slouch – he’s sporting a nifty 3.15 ERA this year – but he also hasn’t won a Cy Young Award or ERA title yet. I’ll choose the game he starts. #2 – Sun > Rain I wouldn’t mind seeing Verlander pitch on Sunday, but there is no guarantee that we would see him pitch. Paul Douglas is describing it as “Cloudy and Soggy. I’ll take the highs of 65 on Friday and Saturday instead, thank you very much. #1 – The Offseason In Minnesota Is Long No, I’m not talking about the fact that the Twins season has basically been over by mid-August for the last three years. I’m talking about the insanely long and bitter winter, when wearing a Twins cap for any extended period of time leads to your ears CLIMBING INSIDE OF YOUR HEAD TO BEAT YOU ABOUT THE BRAIN REPEATEDLY. The Twins have a solution and it’s being given to the first 10,000 fans who show up to the Friday night game where the Twins take back the AL Central, however briefly. We’ll see you there. ~~~ It seems like Minnesota agrees with me. You're going to want to get your tickets early, because tickets are scarce for Friday's tilt, with the cheapest being $19 at TicketKingOnline.com. Saturday, you'll find a lot more, with tickets starting at $12, with plenty on the lower level. Or, if you're a gambler by nature (or happy to come back later in the year for a possible rainout) you can find tickets for Target Field on Sunday for just $7. Plus, if you use the promo code DAILYDOUBLE, you’ll be supporting Twins Daily and get 10% off. Whatever your needs, your local ticket supplier, Ticket King, can help. ~~~

sponsored by Freehouse When it comes to bars and restaurants around their ballpark, baseball fans like their institutions. There is something comforting about finding a place that fits them, a place they can share with their kids, both now and later, the same way they share their favorite game. In short, they’re looking for a sense of community. We’re proud to welcome Freehouse as a new entry to the pregame and postgame scene and sponsor of Twins Daily and Gleeman & the Geek. I’ll be shocked if they don’t become one of those institutions. Indeed, judging by the crowd on a recent Saturday when there wasn’t a Twins game, they may already be. Their name implies they get the community focus; a “free house” is a neighborhood pub in England that isn’t tied to the beers of just one brewery. (Freehouse, despite having a brewery on site, is a “free house.” They also serve other commercially available beers on tap, including locals like Summit.) The layout retains that focus; as you walk in the door, a large rectangular bar is the first area you encounter. However, there’s lots of room for lots of areas of focus, because it’s a big place. Behind the bar is a large dining area. Behind that is a large kitchen. On the side are the tanks where they brew their (as of a month ago) seven types of beers. This is the largest and most ambitious restaurant opened by Blue Plate Restaurant Company, which also owns The Lowry, Edina Grill and Groveland Tap. Aaron and I visited about a month ago for our “Baseball is Back!” episode and reviewed their food and beer “live” as it was placed in front of us by manager Dave Wohlforth. Admittedly, we're their target market. Freehouse’s tagline is “Breakfast to Beer” which could just as easily be the motto of a mashup of Aaron’s and my Twitter feeds. We mostly sampled pumped up traditional favorites. For brunch, Aaron ate the lion’s portion of the Ciabatta French Toast, which had a sweetness accentuated by a touch of cayenne. Their most popular item is the $1000 Burger made with short rib, brisket and duck fat. And my favorite was the Roto-Bird, which is “just” a perfectly prepared rotisserie chicken. When I go back, I want to bring some risk takers, so I can taste a few of their more adventurous offerings. Like Lobster Mac n Cheese that includes Cheez-its. Or the Bone Marrow or Oxtail appetizers. Or the entire section of their menu titled “Jars.” We also made our way through the beers. The four originals are solid examples of traditional styles: a kolsch, an IPA, a brown and a stout. The brown was my favorite. I’m partial to that style, but this went beyond my personal preferences; it was a smooth, rich, toasty draught without being too heavy. Beyond those, Freehouse is extending their range with a wheat, a hoppy amber, a west-coast IPA and a Bock, which wasn’t ready when I was there. I’m not a wheat guy, but I’d recommend the other two for someone who wants to be challenged beyond the basics. Freehouse opened back in December and has already demonstrated the ability to stick around and please a crowd, whether they happen to be near a ballpark or not. Fortunately for Twins fans, they are. And fortunately for Twins Daily members, they’re one of the first bars and restaurants, along with Mason’s to support Twins Daily’s efforts to build a community around the independent voices following Twins baseball. Please welcome them, follow them on Twitter and stop by before or after your next Twins game and thank them for their support of Twins Daily.

You know how in between innings, sometime the mascot comes out with a pneumatic gun and shoots t-shirts or hot dogs or whatever into the crowd? Have you ever seen him shoot out pizzas? Want to know why? Because there’s a lot better way to give away free pizzas. By now you’ve noticed that the Twins and Papa John’s have teamed up to offer 50% off pizzas using the ‘TWINSWIN’ promo code the day after a Twins win. What you don’t know is that Papa John’s is also giving away a few hundred pizzas this year to the Twins Daily community. And in a far less messy manner than having TC launch them out of a potato cannon. We’re going to start giving them away with this story. We’re going to give away 10 pizzas to Minnesotans who comment on this story, with the rules below. But as I am wont to do, I‘m going to make a broader heartfelt point. Hang in there. Pizza’s on its way. Twins Daily believes in the power of community. We believe we’re stronger as a group than we are individually, which is why Parker, Nick, Seth, Brock and I ditched our individual sites to make Twins Daily. We further recognize that this community is stronger because of all the individuals making contributions to it – writers, moderators, commenters, editors, contributors, supporters AND sponsors like Papa John’s. Furthermore, we believe that gifts like several hundred pizzas should support efforts to build that community, and to reward those who continually do so. Today, let’s work on getting people to join the community. To enter, just leave a comment below with a) your favorite Twin and your favorite kind of pizza. Unfortunately, the codes are only good for MN Papa John’s stores; apparently this potato cannon also has its limits. But if you win one and want to give it away to a friend in Minnesota (or a fellow Twins Daily member you want to honor), that’s fine. We’ll let it run through the weekend and then pick 10 participants randomly and send the winners a promo code for a free large, 2-topping pizza from Papa John’s. I’d like to thank Papa John’s for their sponsorship, and I’d like to thank our members who cooperatively work to make this a community which adds a great deal of satisfaction and enjoyment to our lives. Now get after it. The pizza party starts now. (Sans the pneumatic potato gun.) ~~~ Also, since the Twins beat the Blue Jays in the first game of Thursday's double-header, you can get 50% off a L or XL pizza from PapaJohns.com if you use the 'TWINSWIN' promo code. ~~~

~ sponsored by Ticket King ~ Often Blue Jays don’t migrate, staying in cold weather most of the year. This year’s flock follows their example, coming to town during a cold snap, confident they can feast on a Twins team they beat five times in six tries last year. They shouldn’t count on it; unlike their namesakes, these Blue Jays live indoors. So for hardy Minnesota Twins fans, which game is the best ticket? The History The Blue Jays aren’t often listed among the ranks of MLBs most depressing clubs, but last year they “celebrated” 20 years since their last postseason appearance.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Management (and ownership) certainly did their best to end the streak prior to last season, buying half the Marlins team at a Miami fire sale. But instead of lifting them to the top of the division, age and injuries sunk them to the bottom of the AL East. They’re faring a little better this year, scratching their way to one game over .500. That’s a pretty fine record considering they’ve had to face the Rays, Yankees and Orioles already this season. But then again, since they’re in the AL East, they’ll be facing those team another 47 times. Oh, and none of them are the reigning AL East champions. Maybe it’s not so hard to see why it’s been 20 long years for Blue Jays fans…. The Offseason Last year’s uninspiring performance meant very few moves this offseason. You can hardly blame ownership, who already had $137 million dollars sunk into the payroll. However, the Blue Jays apparently came very close to signing to free agent pitcher Ervin Santana this spring when five veteran (and highly compensated) players – Jose Bautista, Mark Buehrle, R.A. Dickey, Edwin Encarnacion and Jose Reyes – said they were willing to defer their salary to bring him aboard. It was so close to happening that the MLBPA (the players union) had been approached and approved the deferrals. The Ticket That didn’t happen, so the Twins won’t face Santana, and instead face the three starting pitchers with the worst ERA on the team. Don’t get too excited about that. As we count down to the best ticket, you’ll see there are plenty of challenges ahead…. #3 – Tuesday night – Brandon Morrow vs Phil Hughes. Morrow is the right-handed flame thrower and he struck out nine in his last game. He teased for years, seemingly broke through to stardom in 2012 and then suffered through a miserable and injury-filled 2013. This year his ERA is 5.73, but he sports a 13:2 strikeout to walk ratio. That bodes well for the Jays. If you like raw stuff, here’s your game. #2 – Wednesday night – R.A. Dickey vs Mike Pelfrey The former Mets teammates battle in the American League. Dickey (who you might have mercifully forgotten, played with the Twins in 2009), is a knuckleballer, so it was damn hard not to pick this as The Ticket. His ERA is 5.30, but he’s still just a little over a year removed from a Cy Young Award. Get seats as close as you can and watch that butterfly hiccup. #1- Thursday night – Dustin McGowan vs Kyle Gibson Who would choose Dustin McGowan over RA Dickey? The answer, of course, is “almost everyone, six years ago.” That’s when McGowan was 26 years old and looked like an upper-half-of-the-rotation talent. It was also the last time he won a game EXCEPT for last week, when he beat the Orioles to garner his first “W” since 2008. He’s 32 years old, now, has been through a litany of shoulder woes and is scrapping to stay out of the bullpen. I’ll be rooting for him, well, to lose, obviously, but to lose a tightly contested matchup to Gibson. Also, Thursday is a day game. And it’s supposed to snow on Wednesday. That might have had something to do with my ticket choice, too. ~~~ In past years the Blue Jays have traveled surprisingly well, but this is looking like a great series for bargain hunters. TicketKingOnline.com has $3 tickets for all three games – and I see four seats in the Champions Club for just $135 apiece on Tuesday night. That’s $100 less than I’ve ever seen those. Plus, if you use the promo code DAILYDOUBLE, you’ll be supporting Twins Daily and get 10% off. Whatever your needs, your local ticket supplier, Ticket King, can help.