jimbo92107

Maybe not offensively, but an outfield of Rosario LF, Buxton CF, Hicks RF would not let a lot of fly balls hit the ground, and Hicks's arm in RF would become as feared as Cuddyer's arm was, after a month or so to adjust. None of the guys you mentioned has a gun quite like Hicks, or a glove, or the speed. All things considered, Hicks is very close to being an everyday right fielder when Buxton gets back, even with Arcia and Kepler around. Plus, there's no guarantee that either of those guys will sustain their minor league numbers in the majors. Arcia had serious problems with plate discipline and seemed to lose a lot of his initial power. Kepler will remain a complete question mark until after his first cup of coffee. I agree that both Arcia and Kepler should get a shot this season, which is a good one for testing out prospects. But I wouldn't bet on either Arcia or Kepler out-playing Hicks, even for platooning their lefty bats. Hicks's defense might turn out to be too valuable to lose out there, and his lefty bat is getting better.

To me it looks like Joe Mauer went back to hitting basics, which is to hit the ball where it's pitched, rather than trying to pull balls when nobody's on base. He was getting tons of outside pitches when it was clear that he was looking for pitches to pull with no RISP. Finally, a couple weeks ago, it was like he said, "The hell with this, I'll just go with the pitch," and that's when the balance shifted in his direction. Now Mauer is hitting balls to all fields, so the spray chart isn't as meaningful. If a pitcher can hit the outside corner consistently, Mauer will still slash it to left, but if it's over the middle he can belt it to center, and he's still watching for those inside pitches to pull. That's a much better plan than trying to pull everything, which was just getting him a lot of two-hoppers to second. I should mention that Mauer was so good at going opposite field that he was doing that to almost everything for a while. That's when teams started shifting him to left. Now Mauer is going up there with more of a normal plan. Turns out, he's pretty good at being a regular hitter, too.

LOOGY. Man, baseball's got some strange quirks.

Aaron Hicks, all we ask is one measly home run per game, and a few eye-popping catches in center. That's all we ask. Oh, and a couple stolen bases. That's all we ask. And a throw or two to gun down a runner. That's it, that's all we want. And maybe a bunt single. That's all we ask...

I'd send down Thompson, who looks tired. Replace him with Taylor Rogers. Replace Pressly while he's hurt with Tyler Duffy. Otherwise the pitching staff looks pretty good the way it is at the moment. I'd keep an eye on Alex Meyer and Jose Berrios. Jose could contribute early, and Meyer could come on late, but I'm not betting on Meyer to suddenly develop command. He's a long-term project. He may be 29 or 30 before he's really ready to dominate.

Cool thing about Trevor May coming in for extras... Now the Twins have a guy that can go six or seven innings if the game is tied at the end of nine. That saves the bullpen a huge amount of work. The other thing about May is, he's built so durably, he looks like he could pitch a couple innings every game. They won't use him that way, but in a pinch, they could for a few games. Milone could do that, too, but May's fastball is better suited than Milone's for relief work. Not sure if Pelfrey could handle pitching that often.

BOOOM, Dozier!! You know what? Let's all go vote for Brian Dozier about twenty times. He deserves it.

Thompson either has gone cold or is fried. I thought the same thing was happening to Boyer, but then he seemed to pick it up again. As observed by others, their innings aren't that high, but their number of appearances is ruthless. Thompson seems to be suffering from it. Boyer is holding on, barely.

I would have been shocked by any other result. You know what? Next season Nolasco might just turn into a pretty good pitcher. By then, his ankle will be in good shape and his arm will be, too. Good luck, Ricky Nolasco. Rehab hard.

Slightly better than a _healthy_ Kurt Suzuki. Recall that when the Twins acquired him, Suzuki was pretty worn out from starting several years for the A's. They wore him out, and Suzuki was looking forward to platooning a lot more with the Twins. That hasn't happened because of last year, when a healthy and fresh Suzuki put up career numbers at the plate. This year it's been different because the Twins are doing what Oakland did - wearing him out by making him catch almost every day. The result, as in Oakland, is that Suzuki's legs are too shot to get pop in his bat, and his offensive numbers have plummeted. My solution is to swap Chris Herrmann for Eric Fryer in AAA. Fryer is currently hitting .299 for Rochester (currently inactive for some reason, hope it's not an injury). Herrmann's bat has gone completely cold from disuse. He looks completely out of sync at the plate. Get him down in AAA to get regular at-bats. Meanwhile, let Fryer catch half the games for the Twins, so Suzuki maybe can freshen up for September. A beat up, tired Kurt Suzuki isn't in the same league as Lucroy. But when Suzuki is healthy and rested, he's pretty darn good. Suzuki needs some rest, even if the Twins bring up Stuart Turner, who may be Butera 2.0.

Not sure I've ever seen a Twins player that looks like he belongs in Vikings training camp. Miguel Sano is built like an NFL defensive end / pass rushing linebacker, almost like Anthony Barr. And Sano is fast, too. His first career hit was a dribbled grounder to short, and he beat it out. He runs hard! Given what I've seen so far of Sano's athleticism, I could see him playing corner outfield, third base or first as a position player. For this season, if the Twins actually reached the Series, The Twins would have to decide where they could play him depending on the defensive situation. Probably right field, given Sano's reputed canon arm.

This is selling the farm before the harvest. No, no, no. This is NOT a championship season for the Minnesota Twins, despite an entertainingly competitive few months. The starting pitching is much improved, but look what happened when they were up against good offenses. Same with the hitting. Good pitchers shut this team down. Also, Jonathon Lucroy is good, but he's no Pudge Rodriguez. Good defensive catcher, some pop in the bat, hits about .250. Slightly better than Kurt Suzuki, whom the team has been physically wearing out this season. A better option would be to swap Chris Herrmann for Eric Fryer, then let Fryer catch half the games in the second half of the season. Then Suzuki could rest more, have fresher legs and heal up from the daily beating of catching. Then his hitting would pick up. Meanwhile, Herrmann gets more playing time and more live at-bats in AAA. For better relief pitching, send down Duensing and Thompson and replace them with Theilbar and Taylor Rogers, and later some others from Rochester. Cost of all these moves: Zip. Plus, we get to find out who in Rochester is able to contribute to current and future campaigns. That's supposed to be the whole point of having a minor league system, to produce a stream of good players. Might as well use that first, before giving away a bunch of promising guys for a dubious run this season.

It's actually a golf thing. Some players (golf, baseball, tennis, etc.) utilize the natural pendulum action of their stick to generate easy power. Miguel Sano is one of those guys.

Hicks!! Boom!

Sano has huge power. Notice that his swing is very powerful, but completely under control. Cain didn't realize how hard Sano had hit that ball, and it surprised him by carrying over his head. Hasn't Sano factored in at least one run in every game so far? He really doesn't look like a rookie. He looks as professional as Rosario, with an even better bat. Should be interesting when he finally gets a chance at third base.

The reason I would send Chris Herrmann down to AAA is really about reps at the plate. Right now Herrmann looks so out of sync when he comes up, where a guy like Eric Fryer has been playing more steadily in AAA, and so Fryer has more of a chance to walk up with the plan and timing to get some hits. Let Fryer be the backup for a month or so, and let Herrmann get regular at-bats in Rochester, so he can get his batting eye back.

We've found out a lot by playing some of the kids this season. We found out that Buxton is at least a 60 on every standard tool, but a 30 on survival, and a 40 on baseball savvy. Danny Santana needs to work on carrying his bat longer through the zone. Vargas needs to get into a home run contest with AB Walker. Rosario stays, period. He looks like he's been a pro since he was six. Hicks is still improving by baby steps, which may go on for years, and yet I find myself enjoying it. The team still doesn't have an heir apparent at catcher, tho Stewart Turner (Butera 2.0?) is a "leader" in AA, while Mitch Garver (good arm, .237) and Alex Swim (.312) are looking good in Ft. Myers high A. Going forward, I'd like to see catcher Eric Fryer get the same kind of backup chance that Chris Herrmann has gotten in the first 3 months. Better defense, I hear, and Fryer is hitting .299 in Rochester. I'd also like to see Jorge Polanco get at least a month shot at short. I'm not overly impressed by the rap that he lacks arm strength. I saw him last fall, and he looked fine at SS, and his all around game looked more opportunistic than Santana's. Better bat, at least for now, and a more skillful base runner. Santana needs to loosen up and play with more joy. Maybe start singing karaoke. Otherwise, I'd like to see Max Kepler in AAA right now, and get him ready for the next stint of injuries to Hicks or Buxton. Der Kid is starting to look like he's almost ready for the show. Man oh man, where are the Twins going to put all these young starting pitchers over the next couple years! Wow, I actually forgot Miguel Sano. He stays, just like Rosario. This kid isn't an amateur, he's a professional baseball player. Always has been.

Like buying an old Cadillac DeVille with all the extras. Great in its day, but now you're looking for something newer, easier on gas, less expensive, better average...

Molitor's managerial talents will improve like magic the moment he's got better players. I guarantee it.

That was one of the wildest plays I've seen in a long time. Hicks's throw wasn't perfect, but the pinch runner Coleman was right, he was dead at home. That run down was classic.

AB Walker is one of my crazy favorites. Teams need a guy like this to remind them that baseball can be fun, like seeing how hard and how far you can hit a ball, even if you strike out...A LOT. Walker's strikeout stats are nuts. More than just about anybody's. On the other hand, he's batting well over .300, leads his league in homers, and has lots of yummy RBI's. He's also a very good athlete, good speed, decent glove, decent arm. Not an idiot in the outfield, just around average. Walker's all-or-nothing approach at the plate is one of the things people pay for when they buy a ticket to watch a baseball game. Lots of former little leaguers appreciate the slick fielding, the amazing pitching, etc, but most casual fans don't know what they're looking at...until some big, muscly guy cranks a baseball 450 feet over their heads into the second deck. That, we can all understand. That's AB Walker. I like it.

A taller version of Chris Young? With an mlb-average heater? Remember, the only thing that really matters is, can he get guys out? There's a lot of ways to do that, and no two pitchers do it quite the same way.

He's fast and athletic, with a good arm. Mainly I'd put him in CF until Buxton or Hicks gets back. Both those guys are faster and have even better arms. Rosario (to my eye) looks better in a corner spot, and that may be where Kepler winds up, too. I'm assuming Torii Hunter won't be back next season as the youth movement continues.

As I said earlier, the move I'd make for the outfield is Max Kepler to CF. Kepler's hitting looks better than what we've seen from Aaron Hicks, and his speed and arm are acceptable for that position. Plus, it allows Rosario to play a corner OF spot, where he looks better. I'd try Kepler for one month, see how he hits, then decide whether Der Kid works better than Hicks. If not, you bring Hicks back and send Kepler to AAA for the rest of the season. Meanwhile, I'd also bring up Jorge Polanco to play SS, so Escobar and Nunez can go back to bench duty. In fact, I see little reason to keep Nunez around once Polanco is up. Danny Santana should also spend the rest of the season in AAA, honing his hitting skills. Same deal there - play Polanco for a month, then if he scuffles at the plate, swap him for Santana at AAA. Both AA moves are predicated on the possibility of getting better offense from CF and SS.

Ha! Even better! Can't steal enough from the Red Sox!