John Bonnes

AAaaaand then he stubs his toe again last night a little. Sigh. Still, those peripherals are pretty (38K in 28.1 IP with 10 BB). For all the hand-wringing going on at the major league level about Mejia, it's sure nice to see a southpaw that can bring the heat. He does seem like a kind of pivotal guy to keep an eye on.

Re: Game threads It sounds like these are coming back in a more limited form, so stay tuned. I'm happy to have them, but last year the overwhelming negativity kind of killed them. Which is not to say you can't be negative in a game thread; that's a valid reaction. But the people who take time to create and caretake the game threads can lose their motivation when doing so creates a cesspool of negativity. It's kind of hard work.

And Chrissie and I are celebrating our 25th anniversary there tonight. Sigh. Well, marriage isn't all sunshine and fair skies, that's for sure.

I thought about that too. Maybe there is a difference between the moods when a team is good or bad and maybe "good" means more topics, but fewer comments because people are more content?

Thank you for this suggestion. We are looking at a possible redesign of some things and making the community aspects of this more "up-front" would be a priority. You're absolutely right about this.

We’re definitely seeing a lot of activity at Twins Daily lately. We had a number of contributing writers draw a lot of attention, a small surge in registrations, lots of new topics in the forums, and a few new blog entries that show the breadth of ways the blog section can be used. Plus, a lot more traffic. Here is your breakdown and news for Twins Daily last week. We’re definitely seeing a lot of activity at Twins Daily lately. We had a number of contributing writers draw a lot of attention, a small surge in registrations, lots of new topics in the forums, and a few new blog entries that show the breadth of ways the blog section can be used. Plus, a lot more traffic. Here is your breakdown and news for Twins Daily last week. Stories Cody Christie and Ted Schwerzler topped our contributing writers, tallying up almost 14,000 views on their stories this week. Steve Lein, Matt Braun, Jeremy Nygaard and Miller1234 also made the top 10 list, along with Tom, Seth, John, and Nick. Seth’s minor league report on Tuesday, featuring another scoreless outing by Fort Myers Miracle Randy Dobnak, was the most read story of the week. Nick’s week in review was the second most read and John’s game recap on Tuesday was the third most read story. Of course, several of Tom Froemming’s stories were well represented. The top story for contributing writers was Cody Christie examining the impact Craig Kimbrel might have on the Twins bullpen. His minor league report was the second most read story. And I should also mention that Jeremy Nygaard returned to writing at Twins Daily and we had RandBall Stu’s usual Friday contribution, which was both funny and increasingly sad as the weekend progressed. Forums Registrations – 14 (we had 6 the same week in 2018) Topics – 71 (up 48% from same week in 2018) Posts - 2493 (down 23% from same week in 2018) There is some seemingly contradictory data here. We had more people join, and more topics, but less comments. I wonder if that isn’t driven by cutting down on game threads? One of the most gratifying things about Twins Daily for me personally is seeing people connect to each other. It looks like there is a lot of that going on in the forums. If you would like to register and comment, you can do so here (and we would love to meet you). The top ten commenters last week were: Mike Sixel, TheLeviathan, Mr. Brooks, ashbury, h2oface, bighat, nicksaviking, Hosken Bombo Disco, milldaddy35 and spycake. People who started at least two new topics (and who are not writing) are gunnarthor (3), sampleSizeOfOne, stringerbell and ashbury. Thanks you everyone for contributing, and thank you to our moderators for encouraging civil and thoughtful discussion. Blogs I count four new blog posts this week, and they each show some of the features of starting your own Twins blog on Twins Daily: Thieres Rabelo defended Jason Castro’s role on the Twins, and that story was eventually promoted to Twins Daily’s front page. Thieres is a newer writer to Twins Daily, and we’re excited to see what else he can share with us. Ted Schwerzler, on the other hand, has been one of Twins Daily’s most prolific writers over the last couple of years. He wrote about Eddie Rosario’s great start. If you click over, you’ll see he included a link to his own Twins blog, which we absolutely encourage. We want people to find you if you’re writing about the Twins. This story has not been promoted to the front page, but a lot of Ted’s are, and they all include links to his site, which is great. We have a relatively new writer named ajcondon who has been publishing blog posts that include game recaps, or in this case, a recap of the Houston Astros series. We love it when new writers take the personal risk of sharing their work with the community. He got some feedback in the comments and it was great to see him reply to those comments. I suspect you’ll see his work on the front page, soon. Friday, Brandon Warne wrote about addressing the Twins bullpen woes, taking an excerpt from a story he published over at Zone Coverage. Like Ted’s work, if you have an existing blog or web site, and want to do that, that’s fine. The only difference is that we’ll never promote a partial story to our front page because we don’t think it’s fair to make people click over midway through a story. But if it gets more attention to your work, have at it. Again, we want people to find you. Overall Traffic Users – 24,199 (up 34% from 2018) Sessions - 60,982 (up 29% from 2018) Page Views – 185,193 (up 9% rom 2018) The easy way to explain the increase in basic metrics across the board is that the Twins are actually good this year, and fun to watch, and so we’re busier. I also like to think we’re a pretty inclusive bunch, so members reach out to connect with more Twins fans, and I think that is something the community feels, too. There is some evidence to support the latter theory in the Forums section above, too. Let’s have another great week at Twins Daily. If there is other news you would like to see, or questions you have about the site, or feedback you want to give, we have this great comment section below. I’d love to hear what you have to say. View full article

On the one hand, Gibby's quality starts have both been against the Orioles. On the other, he's consistently getting a little deeper into each game, and that jives with the narrative about him likely needing a little extra time to get on track after that e coli disaster. I'm optimistic (which is not unusual, but still).

Aaron and John talk about the Twins' record-shattering power numbers, preparing for one of the toughest weeks of the season, Willians Astudillo going on the injured list, Matt Magill returning to the bullpen, Justin Morneau vs. Bert Blyleven, and how the bullpen could evolve from weakness to strength. You can listen by downloading us from iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, iHeartRadio or find it at GleemanAndTheGeek.com. Or just click this link. http://traffic.libsyn.com/gleemangeek/Episode_423_2019-04-28.mp3?dest-id=74590 View full article

Half the game was a party. The other half was torture. But the underdog Twins won an important game versus the Astros on Monday night thanks to a free-wheeling offense, nervy pitching from some unlikely names and some stellar defense. Image courtesy of © Erik Williams-USA TODAY Sports Half the game was a party. The other half was torture. But the underdog Twins won an important game versus the Astros on Monday night thanks to a free-wheeling offense, nervy pitching from some unlikely names and some stellar defense. Box Score Odorizzi: 5.2 IP, 8 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, 63% strikes Home Runs: Castro (1), Polanco (4) Multi-Hit Games: Polanco (4-5, 2B, HR), Cruz (2-5, both infield hits) WPA of +0.1: Odorizzi (.157), Cron (.146), Polanco (.149), Kepler (.112) WPA of -0.1: none (chart via FanGraphs) Lowest High-Hanging Fruit This is the game in this series that the Twins really needed. On Tuesday they’ll face Wade Miley (LHP, 3.32 ERA) and on Wednesday Justin Verlander (3.00 ERA, 38K). Tonight they faced Brad Peacock, who is far from a pushover, but is Houston's fifth starter and hadn’t pitched as a starter in two weeks. But that doesn’t mean it was low-hanging fruit. The Astros were still favored. Vegas gave them a 60% chance of winning. Survive and Advance Given the offense was seeing the back of the Astros' rotation, the Twins biggest challenge was keeping the Astros' lineup relatively in check for nine innings. Twins starting pitching hasn’t had a lot of success getting much past the fifth inning, even with good starts. Plus, after playing (and winning) three games over the last two days, the Twins two best relievers were probably unavailable. Taylor Rogers threw 45 pitches Saturday and Sunday, and Trevor Hildenberger threw 38, so it was unlikely either was going to be used except in the direst of emergencies. Odorizzi's performance gave him the highest Win Probability Added (WPA) score, and it probably underplays just how valuable he was. He navigated the Astros lineup almost completely three times. You might remember that navigating a lineup three times was not Odorizzi’s strong suit last year: opponents had a 1.159 OPS against him when facing him a third time. This time he gutted his way through 5 2/3 IP, giving up just two runs. Trevor May, who also threw 20 pitches yesterday, got the last out of the sixth. That left three fairly high-leverage innings to navigate and four available bullpen arms: RHP (and closer) Blake Parker, RHP Ryne Harper, RHP Tyler Duffey and LHP Adalberto Mejia. Manager Rocco Baldelli chose Harper for the seventh inning, Mejia for the eighth and Parker for the ninth. Harper gave up a three-run home run on a questionable pitch choice, but the rest of the trio held. The Twins had the game they needed, pieced together from some unlikely names. Defensive Play Of The Game In the bottom of the fourth, with the Twins leading 3-1, Odorizzi escaped a possible big inning thanks to an Eddie Rosario to Jonathan Schoop to Jason Catro relay that cut down Josh Reddick at the plate. Enjoy: https://twitter.com/ParkerHageman/status/1120502066105999360 More Offense The firepower that the Twins displayed in Baltimore continued in Houston, with a couple of noteworthy rebounds. Jorge Polanco, after a mini-slump in Baltimore and a rough first at-bat, had another monster game. Seriously, he has a .776 slugging percentage. That's obscene. Jason Castro, who entered the game hitting .143, left the game with an .823 OPS and hit his first home run this year. And Nelson Cruz beat out two infield singles that left Twins announcer Dick Bremer joking about the imminent apocalypse. Watching the top half of the innings was legitimately fun all night. Alternately, the bottom half was legitimately nerve-racking, but a middle-of-the-rotation starter and some middle relief arms did anything but a middling job. The Twins stole a game in Houston while simultaneously resting some of their more valuable bullpen arms. That can only help as they face even more difficult pitching the next two nights. Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days. It looks like the only bullpen arm who might be held back is Trevor May: Next Three Games Tue at HOU, 7:10 pm CT (Pineda-Miley) Wed at HOU, 7:10 pm CT (TBD-Verlander) Fri vs BLT, 7:10 pm CT (Berrios?-Cobb?) Last Game MIN 4, BAL 3: Gibby Good, Hildy Holds, Rogers Saves the Sweep View full article

Aaron and John talk about the Twins' fireworks show in Baltimore, debating the merits of pursuing Craig Kimbrel, Byron Buxton's doubles spree, Trevor Hildenberger the fire-fighter, Francisco Lindor rejoining the Indians, and spies reporting on John Bonnes in the wild. You can listen by downloading us from iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, iHeartRadio or find it at GleemanAndTheGeek.com. Or just click this link. http://traffic.libsyn.com/gleemangeek/Ep_422_Bashing_Baltimore_and_Considering_Kimbrel.mp3?dest-id=74590 View full article

Aaron and John talk about getting bumped by Tiger Woods, the end of constant off days on the Twins' schedule, big changes up and down the lineup, making sense of a three-headed catching monster, Tyler Austin's new home, their Donkey Kong skills, 612 Brew beers and the latest injury updates on Miguel Sano, Addison Reed, and Matt Magill. You can listen by downloading us from iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, iHeartRadio or find it at GleemanAndTheGeek.com. Or just click this link. Aaron and John talk about getting bumped by Tiger Woods, the end of constant off days on the Twins' schedule, big changes up and down the lineup, making sense of a three-headed catching monster, Tyler Austin's new home, their Donkey Kong skills, 612 Brew beers and the latest injury updates on Miguel Sano, Addison Reed, and Matt Magill. You can listen by downloading us from iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, iHeartRadio or find it at GleemanAndTheGeek.com. Or just click this link. http://traffic.libsyn.com/gleemangeek/Ep_421_Tigers_and_Tiger_2019-04-14.mp3 View full article

Little disappointed we didn't get a "Dan Gladden" name drop in this story someplace.

As a 23-year-old, Jorge Polanco finished 2017 with a 723 OPS (.256/.313/.410), but that includes a MONSTER August (1099 OPS) and very good September (768 OPS). It looked like he was ready for the next step.... ... but then came the half-year suspension. He still posted a very good (for a SS) 773 OPS (.288/.345/.427) over the last 80 games. But that suspension also made us wonder just how much of that August 2017 power was legit. It looks legit today. So far this year, in 44 plate appearances, he's hitting .375, with a .432 OBP and a ... .750(!) SLG. That's a 1182 OPS. Obviously, that's not sustainable, but how high can we hope for? A - .270/.330/.420 (750 OPS) B - .290/.350/.440 (790 OPS) C - .310/.370/.460 (830 OPS) D - .310/.370/.490 (860 OPS) He is still just 25, which is when power often develops. His defense (particularly throwing) seems to be better since he started throwing sidearm, and that might be helping him at the plate, too. Just how much offense can we hope for? Polanco's Baseball Reference Page

This isn't just because Chase had a bad outing. It's mostly because this bullpen needs to add a left-handers. They're short on them, even though it looks like there are three of them in the bullpen. But that's misleading.... 1. Taylor Rogers is their best reliever, so he's not being used as a "left-hander" per se. He's saved for the high leverage innings, and thus not really available when they need a left-hander. 2. When Martin Perez has been used, it has been in long relief, so he's not being used in traditional left-handed situations either. Plus, he's about to rejoin the rotation starting at this next homestand, so he won't be available. 3. That leaves Mejia, who has been used a lot (and has had real troubles with his control). Plus, Moya is (I think?) still injured. So this was mostly about giving them another left-hander then can turn to in the middle innings. Plus, he has put up some eye-popping numbers in the minors. He struck out 108 in 69 innings last year, including 7 in 5 IP w the Twins. He's legit.

Aaron and John return to the radio and talk about the ever-growing legend of Willians Astudillo, early impressions of Rocco Baldelli, Tyler Austin's brief stay on the roster, Byron Buxton's promising start, Michael Pineda showing big-time stuff, and joining the Costco world. You can listen by downloading us from iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, iHeartRadio or find it at GleemanAndTheGeek.com. Or just click this link. http://traffic.libsyn.com/gleemangeek/Final_Final_Show.mp3?dest-id=74590 View full article

Aaron and John talk Twins and watch a 5-4 Twins win with 100+ listeners at Able Brewery. You can listen by downloading us from iTunes, Stitcher, iHeartRadio or find it at GleemanAndTheGeek.com. Or just click this link. http://traffic.libsyn.com/gleemangeek/ep_419_FINAL.mp3 View full article

Aaron and John join a raucous KFAN crowd at Brothers Bar & Grill where they preview the Minnesota Twins season opening game for 45 minutes, then come back after the 2-0 win over Cleveland and discuss it for 45 minutes more. You can listen by downloading us from iTunes, Stitcher, iHeartRadio or find it at GleemanAndTheGeek.com. Or just click this link. http://traffic.libsyn.com/gleemangeek/ep_418_final.mp3?dest-id=74590 View full article