jimbo92107

Tooshay. It's actually very reassuring that Miguel Sano was able to make this adjustment. I'm assuming that Tom Brunanski was working with him on it. Nothing is sweeter than baiting pitchers with their own trick. Hopefully Sano can continue laying off the inside dirt ball. However, now that it's not a surprise anymore, I'm also assuming that pitchers will figure out something a little better than a BP fastball after the dirt ball fails to get a flail. It's not just younger players that have to make adjustments. Brian Dozier was pounding high inside fastballs for a crazy amount of time before pitchers finally started working him outside, and then Dozier had to stop trying to pull everything. Took him half a season to do that. And then there's Byron Buxton, who doesn't appear to have a plan at all. The first thing Buxton has to do is learn to look for a certain pitch, based on video study the night before. That's what pros do. So far I have seen no evidence that Buxton does this at all. It's like he blanks out and flips a coin in his head before the pitch. Not a good strategy. If you don't execute your plan, then the pitcher will execute his.

I don't know how they would swing it (!), but the answer for Byron Buxton is Chili Davis. If the Twins could figure out a way to rent Davis's services for one single month, he could fix Buxton's stance, swing, and approach. I don't know for sure if this is true, but I do know that for me, it's absolutely truthy.

I hereby call off the dogs on Miguel Sano. Some may recall that I identified a weakness in Sano's approach at the plate, specifically that he was having trouble laying off inside pitches in the dirt when he had two strikes. Pitchers were regularly getting Sano out by getting a couple strikes on him, then dumping that inside sucker pitch at his feet. The flip side of that strategy appears to now be happening. What happens when Sano does lay off that pitch? Apparently, pitchers have no clue. Twice on Sunday, Sano laid off the inside dirt ball. Both times, the next pitch was a middle-in strike that Sano 2-ironed into the stands, including one that looked to be smoked somewhere in excess of 110mph. His last drive in the top of the ninth in Tampa was a ball I would NOT catch without a baseball mitt. That sucker would break ALL your fingers, not just one or two. It reminds me why the Twins were first attracted to Sano. He doesn't really have a "home run swing." Instead, he just hits fly balls that keep going and going, about twenty five yards farther than a mere mortal. Sano's apparent adjustment means that pitchers' lives just got more complicated again. If Sano continues to lay off the inside dirt ball, then how do you get him out? The game continues. Meanwhile, the roster situation just got both simpler and more complicated. Who goes down when Plouffe comes up? Sure as heck won't be Sano, which means either Buxton or Vargas goes down. Vargas is playing good 1B, and his approach at the plate is vastly improved. Probably this means Buxton goes down, and he really does need to work on his approach. The outfield today is in pretty good hands with Grossman, Rosario, Kepler and Santana. Buxton will get his spot back when he refines his hitting game. Meanwhile meanwhile, what to do with Plouffe? Solid 3B, good hitter, but he can't do what Sano does. Twins need to move the guy.

Looks like Sano straightened out that pop-up from last year.

Something small goes wrong, and Gibson's game falls apart. He has a very fragile "zone" where everything is working. I'm not sure if he's ever going to mature into a reliable starter. Maybe after he leaves the Twins..?

I'm wondering where was the cutoff man? I didn't see anybody waving for the ball between Rosario and the pitcher's mound. So, Rosario threw it at the pitcher's mound.

Gibson does have a pretty pick good move to first...

I just saw Kevin Jepsen about to pitch for the Rays. Didn't the Twins trade a good AA pitcher for him? Dr. Hu comes to mind...

May looked seriously upset with himself as he walked off the mound. I hope he doesn't punch something with his pitching hand.

This is what happens when bachelors eat beans and wieners every day.

May looks like he forgot his own recipe for pitching.

That is right about where batters like 'em.

This shows how incredibly conservative most mlb teams are. If I were managing against the Twins, my guys would steal on every pitch with Suzuki behind the plate. We would have guys on third base all day long.

Low inside dirt ball with two strikes. That's the book on Miguel. Sano's got to learn to lay off that pitch.

I like the idea of adding Jason Wheeler to the rotation. A six-man ro would save a few innings on the other guys, and then we could see Wheeler a few times. Also bring up Shaggy and Light. See some fire!

Chili Davis. He could get Buxton hitting like an all-star.

That time Sano resisted the impulse to swing at the 2-strike inside dirt-ball. Result: next pitch he roped into left field. Okay, so maybe he can make the adjustments... We'll see.

What?? Wait! But... Aughhhh!!

I am noticing that the camera operators are doing their best to limit crowd shots in this game. They can't help it when they do a close up of Ervin Santana because there's a big empty bunch of seats in the background... I wonder if they have ten thousand in the stadium.

Snell looks like a good young pitcher to me. Rays seem to draft and develop one good pitcher after another.

He must love living in Tampa. Tons of cocaine there, that's all I've heard about it...

Sano clearly is overmatched in most of his AB's right now. He's also been playing lousy third base. A few weeks in Rochester might clear up both of those problems. I'm not saying he will face mlb level pitching in AAA. Part of his getting better will be discussing his hitting plan with different coaches, and then getting his confidence back by smashing some baseballs. The main difference is that the AAA games don't count against the Twins W/L record. That takes some pressure off Sano, which hopefully will allow him to implement the changes.

Well, that's how you pitch Miguel Sano: 1. Low and outside, swinging strike. Now Sano feels like an idiot early. He's gonna be careful not to - 2. Called strike, middle in. - to look like a fool again. Whoops, probably should have swung at that one. This time... 3. Swinging strike three, inside in the dirt. Rinse and repeat, over and over. This is the main reason Sano needs to spend a few weeks in Rochester. Pitchers have discovered a sequence to get him out. Outside low, inside high, inside low in the dirt. He's really a sucker for the low inside dirt pitch with 2 strikes.

Looks like the Twins should just draft big, athletic high schoolers, then teach them how to throw a baseball without wrecking their arms.

Sano should be sent down when Plouffe comes up. Various reasons. First, Sano is definitely scuffling since pitchers discovered that he can't lay off pitches in the dirt inside. Now he's striking out far too much because he gets behind early. Second, Sano's defense at 3B needs a lot of work. Regular reps with Tom Kelly and the AAA staff will get his feet better positioned. Third, Trevor Plouffe needs playing time to showcase his game pre-trade. Plouffe is still a solid 3B, and if he shows that for just a few weeks, he may be gone in a win-win trade for everybody. He's a starting caliber mlb third baseman, and I think people around here could show him a bit more respect. Assuming Sano accepts his demotion with maturity, he can spend a month polishing a couple critical aspects of his game, then be back up by September, looking daisy fresh and eager as a young bunny. By that time Plouffe should be gone, and Sano's backup at 3B will be Jorge Polanco, which I believe was the plan all along.