jimbo92107

Get Bromberg to Rochester!

Funny thing about hammering...it assumes the nail will stay in one place. If Cole DeVries is a finesse pitcher, then he already knows that he will need to mix up his velocity, spin and placement to survive in the bigs. Scott Diamond is already doing that, and succeeding. Pitching is all about making hitters uncomfortable. If you don't have a big fastball, then you figure out other ways to do it. I think a lot will depend on Cole's ability to execute damage control. People will get some hits off him, sure. Can he handle it? Can he limit the damage, or will he collapse emotionally like a little boy? He worked his way to the majors from an undrafted free agent. Maybe he's already got the mental toughness to hang in there.

Were you not watching? His pitches WERE moving. Stipulated that the Brewers were laughing, and everybody (even the ump) was trying to get the thing over, but Butters really was throwing some respectable stuff. Harder to hit than Marquis, anyway... ;-)

I'd go make-or-break with Anthony Slama. Let's find out if he can get out major leaguers. Move Swarzak to the rotation. Same deal for Swarzak, make or break. If Either guy falters, feel free to make more moves. It's time for experiments, all season long.

Drew Butera is quite an athlete. His spontaneous success at relief pitcher did not look like an accident to me. It looked like he had good pop on his FB, good movement on all his pitches and reasonable control. Obviously he was balking from the set, but that can be corrected in one lesson. It would take a little longer to stabilize his delivery to avoid those high heaters, but again it's not a huge deal when your delivery is so short and so out front. Impressive, and it wouldn't surprise me to see him out there again. As for Mauer at 3rd, it would take him one week to get the basics, and in two weeks he'd be making the bare-hand play on bunts. Oh, and Mauer could step in and pitch, too.

Plouffe finally got all that shaggy hair out of the way. Now he can see the ball better, and he can start saving money on shampoo!

Where art thou, RA Dickey?

I do get the impression that the Twins minor league system isn't doing a very good job of teaching winning baseball. Where's the fire? Where's the super-aggressive attitude? A baseball player should learn to apply PRESSURE to the other team with everything he does, like Bryce Harper. It's not just a matter of learning how to field a grounder and swing a bat. These guys need to learn to steal bases and how to rob the other team of base hits. They should be learning smart, aggressive, opportunistic baseball. They should play with constant hustle, like hockey players. Frankly, they should all be learning to play like Brian Dozier. He should not be an anomaly; his style of play should be the norm.

I agree with some of Souhan's suggestions. Cut Marquis, send Pavs and Blackburn to the pen, start Swarzak, Duensing, Diamond, Walters, and Hendriks. Keep Gardenhire, but replace Vavra with Bruno. DO NOT trade Span; right now you won't get squat for him, even though he's the star of the team. The starters on this team are worn out, so use younger arms and get ready to call up more for relief duty. Also, get Slama up here and get David Bromberg up to Rochester to get ready for his MLB debut, which I would do in about one month. More than anything else this team needs healthy young arms to keep games respectable. Second priority is to get them hitting the ball harder. Sure, hit it where it's pitched, but hit it HARD!

Masochist says, "Beat me, beat me!!" Sadist replies, "No."

Sounds like Tim Shibuya needs to be bumped up a notch. Pretty much agree with clutterheart. Might as well move a few people to a level that suits their achievements.

The good news is....uh.... Well, either Swarzak or Duensing are better than Marquis. And better than Blackburn, and Liriano. And Pavano. Is Liam Hendriks still available?

Mauer ain't doing it this year. Willingham.

I'd take Zimmer, hands down. Twins need to load up on power arms, and this one throws strikes. As a converted infielder he'll need to spend time learning to pitch, but with the mechanics to throw high 90's, and the accuracy to throw strikes, he's going to be at least a dominant reliever, maybe a dominant starter. The fact that he's a great athlete is another huge plus, because it means he's less likely to lose his touch or hurt himself by clumsiness. Of course, as long as the Twins are this bad, they should take a top pitching prospect every year. Stockpile them, then cash in after several years when Gibson and Wimmers are regulars.

On Capps: He has improved his pitches quite a bit, but last night he reverted to his old bad habits. His stuff was coming in mostly flat, so hitters were starting to find it and pound it. Even so, Capps has done two things to improve his pitches. He has learned to move it around in the zone, and he has added movement, including a decent splitter. Unfortunately, last night he looked tense, so he wasn't getting his pitches to swerve and dip. He also was a little off balance with his footwork, which produces erratic location. Joe Nathan almost always plants his stride foot in exactly the same place, and finishes on balance. That's what gives him pinpoint control. Why all pitchers don't do that is mysterious to me. Ryan Doumit isn't Mike Redmond. Twins got really lucky with Red Dog, and it probably won't happen again. However, Doumit does occasionally belt one into the seats. In fact, we may see more offense out of Doumit now that his body isn't taking the punishment from catching every day. That was the idea going in, and it looks to be happening. Liriano looks terrible. His delivery is so inconsistent, it's hard to imagine him regaining control for a whole game. He really, really needs to simplify his recipe. He needs to stand tall, start on balance and finish on balance. A good delivery should be reversible: You should be able to balance on the stride foot, then rock back to your drive foot and raise your knee just like before you let go of the ball. How many pitchers could do that? Maddox, Koufax, Seaver, Verlander, Lincecum, Nathan, Rivera... It would be hilarious to see Liriano try it.

Bring up Sano, and watch him flail at filthy curve balls, change ups, sliders, fork balls, etc. Do you think major league pitchers are going to throw him fastballs? That's what he's hitting in A ball, mostly fastballs, because most pitchers can't rely on their spun balls to get guys out. They don't really start seeing great off-speed pitches until they get to AA and AAA. By that time they start seeing future starters and relievers, plus guys that have been in the majors, sent down to rehab or work on their stuff. In the low minors you can survive by not swinging at off-speed pitches, or feasting on off-speed mistakes. In the majors, they'll be happy to strike your butt out with off-speed stuff. You bring Sano up before he learns situational hitting, and you'll ruin his confidence. On the other hand, if you bring up Ray Chang, you've got a third baseman who already knows Dozier. Chang's a good fielder, and his average right now is over .300. Slap hitter, but he knows which way first base is. If Plouffe continues to whiff, might as well bring up a decent contact hitter, Ray Chang.

David Bromberg is my dark horse to make a leap forward this season. Go get 'em, big guy!

At this point I see no reason not to give Slama an extended shot at relief pitcher. If the guy's gets hitters out, then who cares how he does it? Even knuckleballers get more chances than Anthony Slama. Call him up, give him a chance, and if he blows it, cut him. At least let the guy try his hand. If he fails, he can go try elsewhere. Saints need pitching... ;-)

Feels like the team is not so slowly disintegrating. Whatever.

Sounds simple. Parmelee needs to learn how to hammer pitches on the outside part of the plate. If he can do that, then it stops being his weakness, and pitchers will need to find some other way to get him out.

Terry Francona, hands down. Worlds better than Gardenhire. Molitor would be cool, but he's better suited to teach, not manage. As for a new hitting coach, there are lots of good ones out there. I loved Mike Redmond's simple, flat swing and resulting .299 average and line drives to the gaps. Could he teach some of the boys in Rochester to hit like that, say, Drew Butera? Don't try to lift it or hit down on it; just hit it flat and hard. Molitor got Span to do that, but I'm not sure his quick-swing dojo is right for everybody. At the major league level, Chili Davis would be my choice. Perfect batting stance, and he could do it all as a hitter: power, average, versatility. I would love to teach every kid player to have a stance and a swing like Chili Davis. Just wear a pad over your front foot. He beat up that foot pretty bad with foul tips.

Why not bring up Aaron Bates? He's a good 1B, and his average probably won't go lower than it already is so far, .237. Might even go up a bit. He's hit over .300 a few times in the minors, including last year, .316 at AAA Rochester. If we're just talking respectable replacements, Bates seems logical.

I like Albert Pujols, he's a class act. Should I tell him what he's been doing wrong? Maybe I'll wait until after the Angels leave town... I don't want him to hit five home runs in the next two days.

Now that's more like it. Look for teams that collect good arms, like the Reds, Dodgers, Giants, Mets, Braves, etc. At least one of them could use a top-three lead-off hitter averaging over .300, great range in CF, good base runner, and a smart, consistent player. Wait a minute. Why are we trading him again??

Well, not so much Werth anymore. Broken left wrist, same one he had troubles with in 2006. He's done for the year. Still, Span is worth a lot more than a closer, which the Twins already have in Capps, who now has serious movement on his pitches. Twins also have Perkins. Why would they consider trading for someone else's injured closer? How about Gio Gonzalez? See, there's nothing they have that they'll give away. If the Twins trade Span, it better be for at least a top starting pitcher prospect, like a Kyle Gibson with no arm problems.