jimbo92107

Okay, I was slightly off when I said Rosario could be the best player on the Twins. I figured he would improve his whiff rate by being stingier at the plate. Nope, nope, nope. Instead, he decided he was Vlad Guerrero, able to hit anything within reach of a garden rake. Bad Eddie, bad! Go back to AAA and learn the boring discipline of a real MLB hitter! I disagree about Polanco. I think he could be a better hitter than Dozier, given time. Not the best time to trade Dozier, but from his perspective it would be liberation from a team that's going nowhere. Good points on Arcia. He could be a really good player on another team, but right now he's blocking Kepler. I'd also trade Plouffe and put Sano back at 3rd base. It's nice to know Sano can be a decent RF given time, but he's much better at 3rd, and it opens an outfield spot for the eventual trio of Rosario, Buxton, Kepler.

The only redeeming news is that you can get pretty good mustard at the dollar store.

I'm pretty sure Tony told Sano not to worry about getting oppo base hits. Instead, hit the ball out of the park wherever they pitch you.

Actually, TD should have a "Release the Krakon" button. A little CGI, a nice sound, and you're there!

Byung Ho Park appears to like the way Josh Tomlin throws baseballs.

Nolasco has a pretty good curve, but he doesn't vary the speed, rpm, slant or placement the way Duffey does. If you guess right and he doesn't bury it low, a decent hitter can hit it like a 5 iron.

"Let us pause mid-stream, and make our stand here!" - Lt. Douglas "Sitting Duck" McKenzie, First Tennessee, killed in the battle of Turkey Shoot Creek, 1862. Whether fording a river or choosing a snack from a vending machine, it is best not to stop in the middle. The Twins cannot stop half way across this river. It is time to plunk down some money, push those buttons, and hope the results are nutritious.

Brian, you have a gift for bringing the goofy and fabulous. Keep it coming, brother!

Sano is extra large man. Hit ball many far for distance.

Didn't I just read a couple days ago that Alex Swim retired from baseball?

Well written, succinct, insightful. A+. What to do now? Youth movement. Get rid of every player over 30 not named Mauer. Trade Plouffe, Dozier and Nunez for prospects, or a catcher. Infield - Sano, Esco, Polanco, Mauer. Util - Beresford. Outfield - Rosario, Buxton, Arcia. DH - Park. Starters - Duffey, Berrios, Gibson, Rogers, Meyer. Pen - Abad, May, Pressley, Chargois, Melotakis. Closer - May. Catcher - Turner, Murphy. Are they ready? Of course not. Will they lose tons of games? Of course. Does that matter? Not anymore.

I bet they would take Duffey in a straight swap, and there's no way I would do that. I think Bender's gonna be a good one.

What has impressed me as much as Park's hitting is his overall maturity as a ballplayer. Park is a complete professional in all aspects of the game, including fielding and base running. He has an excellent glove at first base, a good arm, and always understands the game situation. In fact, he reminds me a lot of Adrian Gonzalez of the Dodgers, but even more of a power hitter. As a hitter Park uses all areas of the field, and can punish a pitcher's mistakes with tape-measure homers in all directions. On top of all that, Park is a selfless player willing to forego his own stats to help his team win. With a runner in scoring position in a close game, he is perfectly willing to rap a single rather than looking for a less probable home run pitch. Is Byung Ho Park becoming the unspoken leader of this team? He certainly is leading by example.

Is Stephen Gonsalves on a plane to Chattanooga yet? How about now? How about now?

We've all seen this before. Weather system looks like it's going to pass right over the metro area, then it mysteriously does a 484/694 bypass. It's the Force, man... ;-)

Duffey is a curve ball pitcher. The rest of his repertoire is for variety. He is Bender.

Dear Juan Centeno, When a pitcher throws a curve ball in the dirt, it will ALWAYS kick to the side of the pitcher's throwing hand. Every. Damn. Time. If you were looking down when you waved your glove at the ball, you might have noticed that. Love, Jimbo

Yeah, the change-up still needs work.

I hope so, didn't see that one (Laundry day). This is exactly the time for Duffey to try out his change on 2-strike counts. He should start sprinkling that pitch into the mix. A good change makes everything else look better.

If Tyler Duffey does develop a good change-up, he can throw it on 1-2 and 0-2 counts instead of throwing his curve or his so-so heater. The extra option will make it very hard for hitters to sit on his other two pitches. The other thing Duffey could do is develop a cut fastball. His two-seamer is already a decent pitch; if he could also make it bend left, that's even more variety. Even without more pitches, Duffey is already a good pitcher. He throws his curves in at least three different ways, varying the speed, rpm and slant. Good command of all of them. You can't just "sit on his curve" the way you might with other pitchers, because it's not always the same curve.

Is Oswaldo Arcia becoming a smart hitter? End Times, brothers...

Most of the time as a baseball fan, you see the spring training lineup and you think, "With a little luck, if such and such breaks our way, this team could be good." Then the season starts, and it all falls to crap. This spring was a little different. With Sano coming back, with Rosario coming off a really good rookie year, with Buxton improving at the end of last season... It looked like the Twins were going to be pretty darn good, even without especially lucky breaks. Then the season started, and well, so far it has all fallen to crap. Except a few things. Joe Mauer unexpectedly got a lot better. Trevor May still looks solid in the pen. Nolasco made a big comeback so far. Pressly looks very good. Sano is starting to hit again. Danny Santana is making a decent comeback. Park turned out to be not just a good hitter, but a good all around player. Berrios looks like he's for real. Duffey still looks good. Even Arcia is making a determined effort to be a professional. There are other reasons for optimism, too. The Twins front office appears finally ready to make some serious moves to shake off the mediocre players. Will they bring up some young talent, or plug the holes with more placeholders? I suspect Jorge Polanco will be SS in Esco's place. Darren Mastroianni is coming up to do some CF duties. Will they bring up Rogers and Shaggy for the pen? You have to be willing to look past the wins and losses at this point. Look for improvements, or at least attempts at improvements. This team needs to try out a lot of different players in a lot of different roles to see who fits and who performs. That's why I'll continue to watch Twins baseball, even if they win only a third of their games.

Best reason to call Alex Meyer back up. If it comes to plunking batters, Meyer has plausible deniability. He uncorks a wild pitch often enough to claim it was an accident, and usually it is.

I haven't seen a bullpen with so little mojo in a long time. With half these guys, you're waiting for the next hitter to bust one over the fence, after the pitcher walks somebody. Fien and Jepsen look like they're battling dead arm syndrome. Tonkin is a guy with just enough velocity to dominate AAA, but not quite enough to just blow it by people in the majors. If he can't hit spots, he will not survive. O'Rourke is simply erratic with his control. Milone doesn't look anything like a relief pitcher, and I don't think he can turn it on quick enough to pitch out of situations when he comes in. Graham looked as bad as the rest of them, but it's his first appearance, so he slides this time. Thank goodness for Abad, May and Pressley. Three guys that can miss bats.

After it ended, the MLB sign said, "Thank you for watching....You still there??"