jimbo92107

There, see? I wasn't worried. ;-) In my own defense, the last batter he did pitch inside. Maybe Garcia really likes the left side of the plate. Also, I'm kind of stupid.

Garcia really needs to pitch inside. He can't depend on deep fly ball outs.

Either Garcia stops nibbling outside, or the A's are going to smack him around next inning.

What I'm not seeing from Garcia is a willingness to work inside. I have not seen him make batters move their feet. Instead, he's doing a lot of nibbling on the outside corner, and Oakland's boys are starting to lean out over the plate and smack those pitches to the outfield. Good DP by Sano/Dozier.

Wow, Castro's really got that spot picked out in left field. Nice grouping.

Good to see they finally got rid of that huge wasp's nest. Nice redecorating job!

I've been trying to think of a Twins pitcher that Garcia reminds me of. Scott Diamond. Cocks his wrist like Diamond, fastball tails glove side like his.Garcia's command may be better than Diamond's, but like the former Twin, it's a little puzzling why more hitters don't tee off on him. I guess "late movement" is the current theory.

Yup. If Zach Granite does at this level what he was doing at AAA, the Twins have no reason to keep Robbie Grossman around. His walks are nice, but otherwise, Granite's overall game is better. Plus, the Twins can use a serious base stealer in the lineup, or at least on the bench.

Buxton can take his time. Zach Granite is looking better and better out there. I like this kid's quick, flat swing. Built for a high average. Byron will have his job back the moment he feels healthy. Meantime, it's fun watching Granite.

Dang, were the Twins this bad last season? I don't think so.

Does the "trade deadline" actually mean anything? Don't teams just waive players any time they want, then yank them back if nobody wants to make a deal? Anyway, I don't see shopping Erv, Doz, Gimenez, Adrianza, etc, to be giving up on this season. Tell that to the hyper-excited young men making their major league debuts. They will be busting their backs trying to be superstars. At the same time, we've all seen the best team in the league, and it is the Los Angeles Dodgers. This young, incomplete Twins club is not yet competitive on that level. There is no shame in acknowledging this fact, and it's not surrender to plan for the future.

Win-win. Zona gets a back up catcher, Twins get a classic Twins wimpy pitch-to-contact RP that can fool mediocre hitters, but will get slaughtered by top teams.

I don't see this season as a failure, especially in light of how good the best couple teams are. I have very little criticism of the level of effort by everybody on the team. That said, it's time for the Twins to start making moves to make room for the talent in AAA and AA. If this organization wants to make a serious run in, say, 2019, then now is the time to get their most mature prospects up to test their game. I'm okay with the rookie follies to follow. The team's record will doubtless collapse as a result of a serious "sell" policy. Young pitchers will make mistakes, get too excited, etc. Young position players will flail at curve balls, blow fielding plays, etc. It's time to make those mistakes this year, getting the rookie shakes out of the way so they can settle down next year.

It certainly is touch and go. What convinces me isn't so much the team's chances to make the playoffs (diminishing), but the stark reality of the two best teams in baseball: the Astros and the Dodgers. This year's Twins have just about zero chance to compete at that level. Houston was the first shock, when we saw what buzz saws their batting order was. Good pitching, too. But then came the Dodgers. Buzz saws with a little nitro in the gasoline. And we didn't even see their best pitcher. Yeah, if the plummet continues for the next few days, sell. Sell all the guys that definitely won't be here in 2019, and that could include either or both catchers, Hughes, Santiago, Santana, Dozier, etc. Make room for the late season experiments. The time is nigh for Gonsalves, Gordon, Garver, Romero, Stewart, Jorge, Rosario, Curtiss, Reed, and some of the lesser prospects that are doing well in AAA.

Hey, I just realized that if Griffin Jax declared himself to be trans-gender, he could be back in the Twins system by next week! Hooray for bigotry!

This is useful. The Twins core players need to see the level of play they need to reach if they want to win a championship a couple years from now. The Dodgers are easily the best team in baseball this season. That's how good you need to be, boys. Or better.

It's hard to beat this year's World Series Champions. Dodgers v. Astros. Dodgers win 4 games to 2.

Yes, Berrios was destined to be a great pitcher unless whatever team drafted him screwed him up. All credit to the Twins for resisting the impulse to make young Jose Berrios a typical Twins "pitch to contact" boring pitcher. When you see the real deal, it's important not to tinker with a good thing. Kudos for not making Miguel Sano a contact hitter, too. Sorry about Kennys Vargas... Berrios was taken in the supplemental first round of the 2012 draft, after Kohl Stewart. Both guys were about the same age, but one was already a crafty, talented young pitcher, while the other was a great all-around athlete. Recall that Stewart, like Joe Mauer, was regarded as a great QB talent, recruited by Texas A&M to succeed Johnny Football. When both young men hit the minors, the focus for Stewart was learning how to throw something other than a fastball for strikes, and then how to command his off-speed pitches. Berrios already had a hard curve and a developing change up to go with his mid-90's fastball, and he had much better command than Stewart right off. Berrios was mowing guys down with his curve and change before Stewart learned how to throw them for consistent strikes. Fast forward five years, and we see the result. Stewart has learned how to throw an average curve ball, no idea about his change up. His fastball probably is more accurate, but his velocity has actually gone down, not up. Meanwhile, Berrios is striking guys out in the bigs with three plus pitches, all of which he was striking guys out with before he was drafted. Again, kudos to the Twins for not screwing up Berrios. They focused on refining his pitches, not changing them. They worked with him on strategy and fitness, but they let him continue to be himself. If you look at the results of "manufactured" pitchers, look at Kohl Stewart and Derrick Rodriguez. Good heat, average curve, maybe a mid rotation guy. The great ones, almost always have something special, as a pitcher, before they are drafted. Not talking about a high-90's fastball, either. I'm talking about the craft of pitching. If they don't show that early, they probably won't ever have it.

Berrios was selected in the supplemental first round in 2012, after they picked a high school kid, Kohl Stewart fourth overall. Stewart was considered the best pitcher-athlete in the draft...Texas A&M wanted him to succeed Johnny Manziel at QB...but even then Berrios was known for being an intense, competitive, ambitious, talented teenage pitcher in Puerto Rico. I believe he was the highest drafted pitcher ever from PR at that time. Right away it became clear that Berrios already was a talented pitcher, where Stewart needed to learn how to do something more than just throw a baseball hard. What became clear was that of the two, Berrios probably would advance faster than Stewart, though estimates of their ceilings varied quite a bit. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/José_Berríos Now we know which of the two looks like a better pitcher all around - the kid that already knew how to pitch. Kohl Stewart still may become a starter, but he looks like a mid-rotation guy. Berrios is a front liner. Of the two, the one that learned the fundamentals of pitching from Twins coaches was Stewart. The one that learned higher-level strategy was Berrios, but he already knew how to get guys out with more than just a fastball. Berrios already had a snappy curve and a developing change-up. Honestly, I can't say for sure what the problem is with the Twins system, but it seems rare for them to develop a pitcher "from scratch" as in taking an excellent athlete with a live arm and making him an ace, or even an ace prospect. Maybe it's like great QB's in the NFL - they need to be great passers from early on, because it's almost impossible to increase a guy's accuracy if it isn't already there.

Berrios was thought to have great talent and an advanced approach right from the beginning. I think Twins coaches did a good job...not screwing him up.

Good intro. Who are we playing?

Yup, Adrianza is this season's Nunez. No reason not to trade him to a contender that wants a top infielder that hits surprisingly well, and can steal a base. Twins have Vielma and Gordon knocking on the door, so Adrianza doesn't figure into the long term plan. Neither does Dozier, but I doubt the team can do that deal during the season.

On Gibson I agree. The Twins may be dangling him as a fixer-upper, like Alex Meyer. Is there some relatively simple way to make him a better pitcher? Juggling a soccer ball? Pilates? Ninja training? A different grip on his slider? Some major league coach will say, "Yes, I can fix Kyle Gibson and turn him into an 18-game winner." I have always thought Gibson had the potential to be a front line starter, but never got there, for some reason. Maybe the only way we'll ever find out is if he escapes the Twins system. This team has had a ton of bad results in developing starting pitchers. Would the Rays have done a better job with Gibson? Would they have even picked him? Seems like the Twins have had good luck mostly with pitchers that already knew how to pitch coming into their system, guys like Blyleven, Viola, and lately Berrios. Maybe that's a clue...draft pitchers that already have an advanced approach, not just flamethrowers. That high 90's high school kid may light up the radar, but can he attack the zone with a deceptive mix? Can he adapt during a game? If the Twins were really good at developing pitchers, why is Kohl Stewart treading water in AA? And yet, right beside him is Stephan Gonsalves, a guy that has always been a pitcher. Gonsalves is ready to hit the bigs, while Stewart's future is anybody's guess. I was a fan of Gibson's when he first came up, but at this point I could see him as trade bait. I would still want something significant in return, but it does look like the man could use a fresh start. Like Alex Meyer, maybe some pitching coach can fix him with relative ease. Meanwhile, make room for Gonsalves.

Weird move. Colon appears to now have one main pitch, an arm-side bending 2-seamer in the mid 80's. It's a darn good SECONDARY pitch, but after a few innings hitters figure it out and start smashing it all over the park. Gibson, for all his early struggles, appears to be pitching better lately. Colon's "upside" is what we saw tonight - a few innings of good results, then an inning of luck, then BOOM. The best thing for the Twins would probably be for Colon to go to the pen and try to teach guys his little two-seamer. If one guy learns that pitch, it could make him much more effective...combined with a decent fastball and a good curve.

"...Stephen Gonsalves and Fernando Romero are looming in Double-A." Somebody tell those young men to quit looming. It's creeping me out.