jimbo92107

Twins were very fortunate to score not just one, but two good pitchers via Rule 5 from the Atlanta Braves. First they got a very good reliever in Ryan Pressly, and then a couple years later they get J.R. Graham. Thing about Graham is, he's got starter stuff, and it wouldn't surprise me if he got some starts maybe next year, just to see.

I guess it's time to call this a pitching duel. Man, I wanted to see Sano pound one out...

Quick release from the glove, good stride into pitches. Hard line drives. From his small video clip on MLB. Yep, he could be good. Lots of stuff to work on...looks like he might get considerably bigger. Is that really all it takes to get $4 million bucks from the Minnesota Twins? I want a lot more video.

Can't say for sure if Jorge Polanco is the SS of the present, but one way to find out would be to call him up right now, plug him into the position and see what happens for a month. Meanwhile, you've still got Escobar and Nunez to back him up, while Santana goes to AAA to work on getting fatter contact. When nobody is standing out at SS, why not experiment? If Polanco needs a break, you can always put in a backup, and after a month you could swap Polanco for Santana in AAA. Either way, it's a learning experience for everybody.

D-dang! When I read the four honorable mentions, I see Berrios and Wimmers, two of my favorites. They didn't even make the top five? And no Dr. Hu?? Even without all the flame-throwing relievers, the Twins minor league system seems brimming with solid talent these days. Problem is, I don't see any obvious aces in the mix, not yet anyway. But a team with lots of mid-rotation starters in the pipeline could sure do a lot worse.

Moves that would be best for the team: - Danny Santana back to AAA for the rest of the season, plays SS. Work on harder stride, punching his hands at the ball. Needs to lengthen his barrel carry through the zone. - Jorge Polanco called up to SS. - Kepler called up to CF. I'd rather send him to AAA, but see if Der Kid can hit mlb stuff better than Hicks. Necessary experiment. - Send down or DFA Thompson, Boyer and Duensing, - Call up Taylor Rogers and Caleb Thielbar to the pen. - Move Trevor May to pen to replace Boyer. - Starting rotation: Hughes, Ervin Santana, Gibson, Pelfrey, Milone. The order doesn't matter much.

"Sometimes it doesn’t work out. Sometimes he comes back, and he’s frustrated. Because he has a pitch to hit that he wants to pull, and he’ll roll over." That's because pull power hitters don't keep their weight back like Joe Mauer does. Mauer developed his amazingly quick oppo swing with very little weight shift, which is the only possible way to let the ball get deep in the zone. In stark contrast, a power hitter like Jose Bautista meets the ball a foot or more before it reaches the plate. The only way to avoid topping the ball that far forward is to take a big step towards the pitcher. Mauer never does that, and so when he tries to pull the ball, his bat head comes around too far and he usually tops it to the second baseman. Mauer's other problem is consistency. Usually I would say a lack of consistency, but in Mauer's case, his swings are so consistent that as Molitor observed, Mauer's spray chart shows exactly where he's going to hit the ball with amazing consistency. In order for Joe Mauer to become a consistent pull power hitter, he'd have to develop a completely different swing, something more like a Jose Bautista stride, meeting the ball well out front with lots of barrel carry through the zone. I'm certain that Mauer is a good enough athlete to do it, but it's such a radical change that it seems unlikely he'd commit to the effort. Meanwhile, pulling the ball from his weight-back position is not going to work, we can all see that now. Maybe there's a Miguel Cabrera middle ground style that Mauer could adopt. The style Mauer uses today is built for hitting almost exclusively to the opposite field. He's still pretty good at that.

Yet the goal is quite measurable, simply in miles per hour. If you take the average velocity of a line drive home run that hits the middle of the first deck, you might get something like 103mph. Just guessing, but close enough. That should be Vargas's standard line drive when he barrels it up. Tell him just that. Swing to hit the ball at least 103mph every time, unless the coach signals you to ease up for a very specific reason, like two strikes and the winning run is on third. Otherwise, prepare exclusively in batting practice to hit rocket line drives, and anything over 103mph is okay, too. Velocity, not elevation. High mph, so you better shift your weight really hard into the pitch, and keep that bat tightly cocked, even as you lunge forward.

Not quite. Their problem with Vargas wasn't that he was hitting too many balls over the fence in BP, but that he was trying too hard to hit mortar shot homers. Bruno and Molitor wanted to see line drive BP homers, which are better practice for game swings, if you want to have a higher average. Instead, Vargas developed a problem similar to Joe Mauer's, where he stayed too much on his back foot, didn't transfer his weight, and wound up topping balls and hitting grounders. Who needs a 250 pound man that hits like Danny Santana? Vargas needs to launch his prodigious mass towards the pitcher and mash line drive home runs, not hit wrist-flip singles. More like Ortiz, less like Santana.

Possibly they sent Kennys Vargas to AA because they want him to brutalize some AA pitchers, to become the most feared hitter in that league. Vargas can look at AB Walker and go, "Oh yeah, I should bash balls like that guy, only farther." I hope Vargas takes out his frustrations on some poor, helpless AA pitchers. Get back to being a bully at the plate. Hammer some tape measure home runs. That's his ticket back to the majors. Swing that bat like Big Papi 2.0.

First, a hearty congratulations to Miguel Sano. He's getting to live the dream; now let's see him make some dreams come true at the plate! Condolences to Kennys Vargas. He's a good guy, but needs to get his mojo back at the plate. My suggestion: Swing more like that guy with the Red Sox, what's his name...David Ortiz. My prediction for next position player call-up is easy: Twins need a shortstop that looks a lot like Jorge Polanco. After that my eyes grow heavy and my sight grows dim, I'll have to stop for the night... ;-) But I'll guess that Hicks comes up before Kepler. But I won't bet much on it because Kepler looks like a legit hitter. Interestinger and interestinger.

I remember when I first saw him, how I liked Brian Dozier's gritty attitude. Reminded me of Nick Punto, as did his bat. When I heard that he was working with Bruno on improving his power numbers, like most people I didn't think much of it, and I was as surprised as anybody when he suddenly started jacking high inside pitches over the fence. But that wasn't his only improvement. I also remember when Dozier started developing his sliding style of fielding, to make up for his otherwise limited range from left to right. Now, he's the best in the league at sliding fielding, and it seems like other guys are copying his style. Best part is, every new skill Dozier has developed has been a well-considered, intentional addition to improve his game, and he always manages to play within himself in a physically sustainable way. Dozier's baseball-specific skillset makes him the most valuable position player on this team. I hope Eddie Rosario is paying close attention.

I'm not sure which of the current starters seem likely to pull up lame. They all seem pretty sturdy right now. Hughes has a little dead arm, but seems effective now. Pelfrey had a clunker, but not because of arm trouble. May also had a clunker, but looks strong as a horse. Gibson looks solid, and Milone looks like he could pitch forever like he's doing. Nolasco is gone, probably for the year. Santana is coming, but his arm should be relatively fresh. I agree that Berrios may not need more than a handful of starts in AAA to confirm what everybody feels about him - he's ready. But is he going to be ready to pitch better than Milone? May? Pelfrey? If Berrios completely dominates AAA hitters, then it will become a much more interesting question, but that's at least a few weeks in the future. Even if they do bring him up, I'm not sure they'd put him into the rotation right away. More likely he'd spend some time in the bullpen for long relief, then a spot start or two. They sure could have used him in the first game with Cincy!

Miguel Sano isn't being blocked by Trevor Plouffe at this point; it's Kennys Vargas. The Twins have been waiting to see if Vargas can get back some of that Big Papi look that he had last season, but so far it's not really happening. For some reason Vargas has toned down his power swings from both sides of the plate. Is it the Twins hitting philosophy, the same thing David Ortiz complained about? It could be that Bruno is trying to make Vargas more like Dozier, that is, more selective about which situations to unleash the home run swing. The down side is that Vargas doesn't look terrifying anymore. He looks like a poor imitation of Dozier. This opens up an opportunity for Miguel Sano to push Vargas down to AAA. Nobody is going to tell Sano to tone down his approach because it's already good enough to stick in the bigs. Sano can DH right now and do what the Twins were hoping Vargas would do. As for Kepler, I would also like to see him go to AAA, at least for a while. I'd like to see him face a little better pitching before he makes the leap, to make sure he's ready. Kepler could be special, but he needs to keep honing his baseball craft a bit longer. Frankly, the team should have done that with Byron Buxton, too. Compared to his physical tools, Buxton's level of baseball savvy seemed shockingly inadequate. Head-first slides with no gloves? Can't the team afford them?? The real eye-opener was Billy Hamilton. Probably no faster than Buxton, but the difference in baserunning skill is stark. Hamilton knows how to get a creeping lead, where Buxton stands rooted, not even hopping. Hamilton knows how to time a pitcher's move to home, where Buxton doesn't have a clue. Hamilton goes in feet first with a pop-up slide. Does Buxton even know how to do a pop-up slide? Why didn't somebody teach Buxton how to steal bases?

Adam Brett Walker's K rate is significant, but comparing it to Danny Santana's K rate isn't fair. Santana is a shortstop, a premium fielding position up the middle. His value as a hitter is getting on base and advancing other base runners with well-placed bunts, grounders and singles. For that reason Santana's K rate is unacceptably high, which is why he belongs in AAA while Jorge Polanco gets his shot. Walker's value as a hitter is knocking runners in with home runs and balls banged off the wall. Walker's K rate is not as important as an infielder's, because his power numbers are huge. Meanwhile, Walker reportedly would be an upgrade defensively from Eduardo Escobar in Left. Walker is athletic, fast, and has a good arm. His K rate is not that different from other power hitters who commit to a home run swing every time. Sure, it would be nice if it were lower, but do you want him to change his swing and lose that power? Maybe he should, depending on the situation. Meanwhile, if he continued to hit homers at the same rate as he does now, would the team win more games? I think it would.

This is the year to experiment with promising prospects. They may flail, they may fail, but it surely will be fun to watch. And every now and then we'll get to see a monster shot into the second deck, something Twins fans hardly ever see.

This year, and the next two years after that are when the Twins need to find where the top prospects and surprise overachievers fit into the contending teams of 2018 and beyond. That's why experiments like bringing up Jorge Polanco don't bother me, and shouldn't bother anybody else around here. At TD we love to speculate how this or that guy would fit in this or that position. Now's the time to start finding out for real. We should also realize that more unexpected things could happen. Polanco could flop at SS, or fail to hit. Santana could get hot at the plate, or start "figuring it out." More likely we'll continue to see the same kind of oscillations that are common for young players as they test out ways to deal with playing at the highest level. Terry Ryan realizes this, of course. Clearly he's looking for reasons to call up Polanco, Sano, etc. But we should all keep in mind that the long-term plan for this team is still more important than our immediate gratification. Plus, Ryan doesn't want to disrupt a surprisingly good season with a team slump caused by a bunch of rookies flailing at sucker pitches (Buxton, Vargas, Santana), getting hurt because they don't know how to protect themselves (Buxton), making tons of embarrassing errors (Polanco?), or pipelining BP fastballs because they have no command (Meyer). I put a question mark beside Polanco because we don't know he's going to look like a shaky rookie at SS. Maybe he'll look really good, like he did late last season. BTW, notice I didn't mention Rosario in the rookie problems department? He doesn't play like a rookie. He plays more like Dozier. Still working on stuff, but right there in the game mentally. He's not afraid of anything, but like Dozier, he plays within himself. Eddie's going to be very, very good.

For me, it's always been cigarettes, and cocaine. Whenever I feel down, one of those two will usually do the trick, and the more the merrier. I don't swing a bat like Joe Mauer, but man, I feel great! ;-)

Alex Meyer as a pitcher reminds me of Byron Buxton as a hitter. Clearly talented, but very raw. Seems odd that a guy that practices nothing but pitching would still look as awkward (not quite clumsy) as Meyer. I know he's very tall, but supposedly working every day with pitching coaches should refine that motion to something more precise and repeatable, including the finish. I did not see that in Meyer. Seemed like each pitch was different in some way. Leg drive varied, timing varied, arm slot varied. Sometimes he'd fall off to the left, sometimes not. The result was zero consistency and zero command of the zone. Meanwhile, Brewers hitters simply smiled and waited for Meyer to groove a fastball down the middle, so he wouldn't walk another guy. Compare that to Joe Nathan in his prime. Nathan would finish perfectly on balance, the same way every time. He was like a tightrope walker who's so good, the rope doesn't even wiggle. That gave him precision with that mid-90's fastball, which he could place within about one inch of all four corners. Meyer doesn't look like that at all. He's all over the place with his balance, and his mechanics. He may be many thousands of reps away from having mechanical consistency. On the other hand, his physical build reminds me of a taller Satchel Page. A couple years from now, if Alex Meyer isn't completely ruined by the impatient, unrealistic nagging of us fans, he might develop into a pretty impressive pitcher.

Good for Max Kepler and Jose Berrios. Both guys have worked like demons to become great prospects for the Twins. Wouldn't surprise me to see both of them in the Show this season.

I was surprised how physically awkward Alex Meyer looked on the mound. I realize he's 6'9" tall, but that's actually pretty short for a basketball player, and those guys are incredibly smooth and coordinated. Maybe he needs a physical trainer that focuses on agility and coordination drills, so this very tall young man can look more under control out there. Clearly he is gifted with some nasty stuff as a pitcher, but I'm waiting to see the control and command he supposedly gained by becoming a reliever. Maybe we'll see a significant improvement in his next outing.

I would much rather see the team continue with these rookie callups than to trade away promising mid- or upper-level guys from the system to bolster a dubious run at the playoffs. Last four years, we joked about how many variables had to go right for the Twins to look respectable. That included stuff like, 'If Gibson shines, or May shines, or Pelfrey shines, or Vargas catches fire,' etc. We were all hoping that Joe Mauer would magically develop a power swing like Adrian Gonzalez. We were hoping Alex Meyer would be the next Justin Verlander. Of course, almost none of it turned out the way we hoped. Guys got hurt, or failed, or got suspended, and Mauer still hits flat line drives. He tried half a season to pull and elevate, and all he did was top a bunch of grounders to second. Gotta step in when you pull the ball, Joe, or you'll top it. Now the needle of overall progress has slowly edged above the mediocrity line, so naturally we all want more. However, this team could collapse. It's not robust enough to weather a couple injuries to a couple starters, much less Brian Dozier, the lynchpin of this team. Therefore, this year and the next couple years should be thought of as transition years, not pennant years. Now is the time to give untested rookies a taste of the bigs, and see what goes wrong, which it will. We see that Buxton needs to wear hand protection on the bases, and he needs to learn to hit more difficult stuff. We see Alex Meyer still has control problems, tho his first outing should be dismissed as nerves. He's not going to be Justin Verlander, but he might be dominant in his own way, eventually. We see a steady, reliable pro in Eddie Rosario, and genuine promise in Danny Santana. We see possible mid-rotation stalwarts in Gibson and May. We see a possible future superstar power hitter in Vargas. However, there is still a lot of volatility in these guys. Santana tends to ride himself, so can get discouraged and in a funk. Vargas, same thing. Buxton needs Judo lessons, so he learns to avoid smashing into things and breaking himself. May is doing really well, but will one embarrassing outing injure his confidence? Is Meyer ready to enjoy pro baseball, or is he dreading his next outing? This team is building a very talented core, but it's still far too prone to slumps and wild pitches to consider it a serious contender for a playoff run. This is no finely tuned Cardinals or star-chocked Dodgers. This Twins team features some future stars that currently are flailing at sucker pitches, grounding into double plays and running into walls. If the young guys survive and learn from these minor disasters, in a few years we could be looking at quite a baseball team. Meanwhile, let's enjoy the Twins for what they are, but not pretend they're ready to conquer the best teams in the majors.

No, thousands of wildly cheering Brewers fans. They were really happy to see some big, raw kid throwing flaming heat right down the pipe, so their boys could swat home runs like Babe Ruth. For two glorious innings Brewers fans could forget that their season is already in the dumpster.

Message to Alex Meyer: Look at the bright side, kid. You just made thousands of people very happy. Seriously, the main thing here is to get that first appearance over with, so next time out he has a chance to control his adrenaline. He had great looking stuff today, but zero command of the strike zone. Thus, he was forced to throw it down the middle, and BOOM. Best thing for him is to get gently ribbed by Glen Perkins, then get back to work with Neil Allen. Welcome to the bigs, Alex Meyer. Hitters love 'em down the middle.

Alex Meyer gets his low-leverage situation...in the 1st inning, 1 out, 6 to 1 Brewers. Well, with the game already blown up, go ahead and show us some flames, kid.