jimbo92107

Many years ago, I spotted a couple of what I thought were obvious tells in Francisco Liriano's setup. He would literally line up his leed shoulder with the side of the plate he was aiming for, and he would stand there with his leed shoulder lower when he planned to throw his slider. Just knowing that, I could call his pitches about 80 percent of the time. After a while, I got tired of talking about it. If anybody paid attention, clearly is wasn't the Twins. These days, tells tend to be more subtle, but they are still detectable. Like it or not, people communicate non-verbally, all the time. We are constantly sending signals, consciously or not. I can read some guys lateral location by subtle body lean as they stand at the set. A one-inch lean is all you need. By the way, pitching from the set makes it much easier to read a pitcher. You can see if they lean, or point their shoulders, or if they have some physical tick, like tightening their jaw if the catcher is calling for a pitch the guy doesn't want to throw. If a pitcher is losing confidence in his slider, he may frown as the catcher asks for one. If a pitcher frowns and shakes off a pitch, guess which pitch he's rejecting? The one that isn't working, of course! Which pitches fail most often? As one might expect, it's usually not the fastball, the one pitch every kid figures out first. Opposing coaches will have charts on every pitcher, which includes WHEN something like a slider stops working (later in a game, when he's getting tired of that extra wrist snap). Curves and changes can go out anytime. When you see that happen, you can sit on other pitches. When you see that happen, that's when you start looking for the telltale grimace. I don't see those tells very often, becauses the camera usually is pointed at the back of the pitcher's head.

The team's outfield has been disappointing. At this point, having called up their top prospect, why hold back with another top outfielder? Bring up Emmanuel Rodgriguez.

Congratulations to Walter Jenkins. Promotion well justified. Probably too late to save the season, but that's okay. Now, there's little pressure, other than for Jenkins to show off some talent. Tally ho, young man.

The clip of Lackey gunning down an attempted steal was...revealing. Out of his hand, the ball never got more than about five feet off the ground. Pitcher bailed out of the way. His catch and release must be one of the quickest in the system, and that ball must've been going at least 90 mph. When I was a kid, in about 4th grade, our team had a catcher with a rifle arm. He could peg that ball almost flat to second, and it usually popped my glove on the first base side of the bag. Funny how memories like that stick with you, almost sixty years later, barely seeming to fade. Our team kinda sucked, but that guy was a good catcher. I hope he remembers those days with a smile.

Twins have moved on from good utility players learning to play SS at MLB level. Kaelen Culpepper is a good SS, learning to hone his game at the MLB level. Culpepper belongs at short. The other guys looked more like players trying to fill in temporarily. At the plate, same deal. KC looks like a talented young guy adapting to the next level of skill. He's doing pretty well, doesn't look overmatched at all. Same on the bases. He's not the fastest, but he doesn't look afraid to try a steal. Until Marec Houston arrives, Culpepper belongs at short. He has fixed a chemistry issue in the field, allowing other guys to explore more appropriate positions. Twins are now strong fielding up the middle. Problem solved.

To which I reply, okay. Who else ya got that's a better outfielder than Walker Jenkins? They can take a seat, or play every day, somewhere else. That does include Keashall. If his weak arm is still suffering from his recent TJ surgery, then maybe he needs time off to rehab, and maybe retool his throwing mechanics, and learn how to play balls off the wall, in AAA.

Sounds more like they're protecting the Twins from winning more games than protecting their best prospect. Look, Walker Jenkins is BETTER. At what? EVERYTHING. Put him in for Roden, and what happens? Good stuff. Better hitting, better glove, better arm, better bat, better speed. The only outfielder you don't bench for Jenkins is Buxton, and that's because you need three outfielders. Pretty simple: Thank you for your service, Alan Roden. We found a better player. Have a seat.

Rojas has just beautiful stuff, but Marquez has that veteran stability that might rub off a bit on the rest of the pitching staff.

Austin Martin is a good ballplayer, but not much power at the plate, or with his arm. That said, he's been pretty good in LF, where he covers a lot of ground. He's been learning it quicker than Keaschall, and Martin's bat has been heating up lately.

I see videos of a big facility where they teach pitchers to reach the high 90's. Can't Keaschall do something like that? He's an excellent, strong athlete with plenty of twitch. He should be able to fire a ball at least 92 mph with a running start. What I can't believe is how INNACURATE the throws are from outfielders all over the league. I see guys missing home plate by twenty feet. WTF??

Buxton to LF, Walker Jenkins to CF, Emmanuel Rodriguez (Hit: 45 | Power: 55 | Run: 55 | Arm: 60 | Field: 50 | Overall: 50) to RF. Larnach can sub in LF, or be trade bait. Also: Whatever happened to Byron Buxton's arm? He used to be able to fire a strike to home plate from medium center. Now, he just seems to loop an easy throw to the cutoff man. Did he screw up his arm?

I've been down on Sabato since the day the Twins wasted a first round draft pick on him. I still think it was a wasted pick, but I do believe in recycling, when possible.

Pretty sure I never threw a baseball more than 80 mph, even with a running start. I cannot imagine what it must feel like to pinpoint a pitch at 100 mph, without even looking like he's straining. What an amazingly efficient bio-mechanical achievement. Jogs off the field like it was no big deal. Ha!

I just realized something as I watched Bell flail at Gasser's mediocre stuff. This is the exact reason you bring up Aaron Sabato...to face a lefty with mediocre stuff on a bad day. Sabato would look like a world-beater against this particular guy.

Despite the rocky start, it's hard not to be impressed with Taj Bradley's stuff. Such an easy 98-99 mph. Seems like he just needs a little refinement to iron out those odd glitches. Otherwise, the guy looks like he could mow down most hitters. He's hitting corners, spotting his breaking stuff...just those odd glitches.

I usually tried to look on the bright side of Twins drafts, but I have to admit, Sabato as a first round pick left me gasting my flabber. A big, slow first baseman? Were there zero pitching prospects better than that? Not even a shortstop? I assumed he would wash out in a year, but he hung on. Then I assumed he'd wash out the next year. He still hung on, not by that much, but he didn't quit. Okay, now he's 27 years old, in AAA St Paul. He's still a big, slow 1st baseman, and still not a great hitter, but he's a good one, at least against lefties. You know what? Call him up. The man refuses to quit. Maybe some of that will rub off on this Twins club. Remember Luis Astudillo? Sometimes, the odd shaped players do interesting things. Cuppa coffee for Aaron Sabato. Why the hell not.

Gotta like Minter. 1, 2, 3, seeya.

Solid move. Kreidler has been making some good plays at SS, but he looks more of a utility guy. Hoping they plug Kaelen Culpepper in at SS and leave him there for a while...like ten years. Unless Marek Houston is even better. Infield talent finally coming up. Stronger up the middle! Next, how about some outfield talent? I would rather see a home run ball rolling down Target Field plaza than across the roof of some St Paul warehouse. Let's see if Walker Jenkins can do that in Minneapolis.

Can the Twins use a young, power-hitting CF with a good glove? Can they use a better defensive shortstop? Jenkins and Culpepper are entertaining the wrong town. Bring 'em a few miles west, make the pro club stronger up the middle.

Two very different pitchers, both of whom I like. Zebby is a big, tough horse, a technician with developing command. Prielipp is a smooth operator, more of a thinker out there. Hard to say which of them will be more successful. Hoping they'll both keep getting better. It's fun watching how different types of pitchers work on getting guys out.

Just had a big salad at Taco Bell. Then, I read about Zebby. Okay, now I'm stuck in the little boy's room for the next couple days. Was it the lettuce, or Zeb's demotion? There's only one way to be sure: As soon as I get out of this bathroom...I'm going straight back to Taco Bell. Call me a maverick, call me irresponsible, I call it pure investigative science. After the initial shock, I have settled down. It's important to take the long view. Matthews is a talented young cuss, but his game could use a bit of refinement. If you remove the pressure of the show for a little while, that could allow him to make a few small, but important adjustments. It's a sure thing that he will be back up, just as sure as I made up going to Taco Bell. Overpriced crap!

Exactly. Good list of late bloomers. Clemens looks like the next in a memorable line. You want "chemistry?" Yah, a Grand Salami with two outs in the 9th will suffice. Kody Clemons was not blessed with a 100 mph arm like his daddy, but he's got something that runs in the family - total dedication to excellence. Over several years, this guy has gradually forged himself into a top-flight baseball player. There is a classic, by-the-book look to every part of his game. Sweet swing, on-balance running, mental alertness. He has reached a level where you just don't expect to see him make a poor baseball decision. That was a thing about Mauer, Pucket, Hrbek, Hunter, and other great ones. Clemons looks like he has that in him. Took a while to get there. He's there.

I remember and I agree on Jax's early career. His first shot was as a starter, and he flopped. Then, he became an excellent reliever. My point was, I think the Twins organization is too stiff with their career assessments, especially with starters that become relievers. Some guys become better pitchers, figure things out. Jax was one of those guys, and the Twins missed it.

Been a Randy Dobnak fan from the start, and I won't stop now. He always had the stuff to get guys out, just a problem staying healthy. This was not a failure by the Twins, just bad timing. Griffen Jax, on the other hand... Twins blew it with that guy. Should have given him a legit shot at starting. Epic fail.

Hate to say it, but Chief is right. I mean, I don't hate to agree with Chief... you know. Anyway, there's no reason at this point to keep David Festa on the 40. The healing time for two separate surgeries will soak up a year before the young man can even play catch, much less start throwing hard, with spin. The Twins pitching staff is like a TJ convention, and we have seen recovery from a similar nerve impingement (Mark Guthrie?), but when you have to have two major issues corrected with surgery....damn. It's hard not to consider that Festa's problems have something to do with his fundamental pitching mechanics. Is he a sidearm guy that holds himself sideways? Whatever caused it, we can assume that Festa's full recovery will require a very exacting examination of his mechanics, and possibly a fundamental relearning of how to get guys out without reinjury. At the moment, it is hard to imagine a path to major league success from where he is now. I can't rule it out, but Festa's MLB future, at this moment, does not look encouraging.