jimbo92107

I'd like to add one note about managers. Toronto pitcher Brett Anderson was pitching an excellent game, but as soon as he started losing it in the 5th inning, manager John Gibbons or one of the Toronto coaches should have noticed Anderson looking at his fingers and twitching his hand. That is a sure sign of a physical problem, as our own boys in the broadcast booth were commenting. Gibbons immediately should have sent the pitching coach out there to interrogate Anderson and demand to see the problem finger, not just accept a nonsense reassurance from Anderson. It's the job of coaches to see through jock bravado, for the sake of the team. Gibbons should have yanked Anderson the moment he started missing and glancing at his hand. They lost the game because they weren't willing to believe their own eyes.

Another excellent recap, mister Froemming. Thank you. Bunting is the issue; quality is the answer. If we recall bunting performance early this season, on a scale of 1 to 10, the Twins got a D. Especially Buxton, whose speed should have had him bunting baseballs since he first discovered he could outrun freeway traffic at the tender age of 5, to see such a man whiff on bunts, offer at pitches over his head, popping up bunts, etc... It was an insult to the Justice League. Where were the professional coaches when this lad was learning his ABC's? Anyway, Buxton and his sidekicks have gotten better at bunting, and I give much credit to Twins hitting coach James Rowson. Much as I liked Bruno, this new guy appears to be significantly more effective. Twins hitters now show better plate discipline, better form, and their bunting has improved. What this means is that our former complaints about bunting are now legitimately in question. The worst part about bunting is when it fails, right? Okay, but what if it works? We all know that a lot of games are decided by one run. If the odds of the bunt strategy are in your favor - when you have fast, skilled runners and fast, skilled bunters - then it does make sense to use that trick when it seems apt. Interestingly, it also makes sense for a guy like Kennys Vargas to be a good bunter. In last night's situation with Buxton and Rosie on 1st and 2nd, few expected Vargas to bunt, for he is large and slow. If he then lays down a good bunt, it becomes a perfect sacrifice, as the fielders are playing back at normal distance. If Granite comes in for Vargas, infielders would probably come in ten feet or more. On the other hand, that also means Buxton could steal third with ease... In any case, better bunting makes the strategy more desirable. Baseball games often are close contests, so a single run is a tempting goal. Molitor's decision to bat Vargas seems more like a hunch than a clever plan.

Mr. Anderson just swallowed the blue pill.

If you're the only Bullwinkle at a Rockies game, you should do quite well.

I agree with most of the comments I'm reading here, and I'd like to add that this Twins club has a hard-working, lunch bucket spirit that is pleasing to watch. Every player on the squad looks to be working on something to improve his game. Sano worked his butt off to improve his fielding technique. Buxton struggled mightily to refine his weight shift, timing and approach at the plate, while also vastly improving his bunting and stealing techniques. Rosario is learning to lay off outside junk, gradually narrowing his trigger zone. Kepler is struggling a bit at the plate, but he will figure it out. Mejia is gradually honing his command. Berrios is up and down, but always works like hell. Dozier learned a new trick - hitting oppo with power. Joe Mauer perfected his 1B fielding, and now appears to be getting his top hitting form back. Castro looks solid behind the plate, may have found his hitting stroke. Escobar looks like a starter at 3B, surprising power at the plate. Polanco quietly leads with his bat, his feet, and his glove. Gibson suddenly looks dominant after working on new mechanics. Lots of guys are improving on this team, clearly a sign that Molitor and the coaches are getting through to them that they can be champions, if they all work their butts off to get better. Championship teams are built, not just bought. They want to compete with the best teams, and they believe they can get there.

It gets worse, I'm afraid. It was Steak Night at the Paradise, and they have a really good steak dinner for about $15 bucks. It's just that I had too much meat lately, and I had to stop... Same with the fries, the burger, and the rings. I gotta lose a few pounds before I can't see my feet without a mirror. The Paradise has surprisingly good food, for a local bar. Except the enchiladas, I'd avoid those.

Gonzo should be pitching for the Twins next season right away. Get him out there early, expose him to mlb hitters, let him take a few lumps and learn what it takes. It will pay off later in the season when he's no longer a noob. Meanwhile, I wanna see Slegers up there again, and Jorge. I'd like to see Romero get a cup around mid season, if his arm still looks healthy. If it gets crowded in the starting ro, I'm okay wid dat. Put the pups in the pen, let them get innings in long relief. Stack the staff with talented kids, get them some innings in the show. 2018 is when it starts to happen, baby!

I was sitting in the Paradise Lounge, a bar in San Diego with a buddy, eating a Cobb salad, watching the last few innings of the Twins / Padres game. When Rosario came up bottom of the 10th, I said to my buddy, "Watch out for this guy. Best hands since Rod Carew." BOOOOM! Hahahahaha! I do like how Rosie is laying off the outside stuff now. He's still a little vulnerable to high stuff, but apparently the SD pitcher didn't know about that. Man oh man, did he crank that inside pitch. How the heck did he avoid hooking it foul? Good hands, brother. Good hands.

Hildenberger's saving grace is command. The arm action on his change is so good, hitters are waaaay ahead of it on a regular basis. Meanwhile, that curve has enough movement to make it very hard to square up. Add to that his modest low-side heater, which he keeps low in the zone, and his surprise 3/4 heater, which he can throw up to about 94. The combo of all that makes it very difficult for hitters to figure out what's coming next. I even saw him throw a change up from the 3/4 slot, which means you can't load up for the fastball when you see him go high. Clever approach to pitching, and it doesn't depend on raw velocity. Hildenberger could be a bullpen mainstay for a long time.

Duffey could be suffering from some arm fatigue. Lately his stuff seems to be lacking movement, which is his forte. The curves aren't bending quite as sharply, the heater looks a little slower. His command isn't quite as sharp. Bad time for this to happen, but he might need a week off. Same with Rogers, actually. Molitor might need to use Tonkin in high-leverage situations.

Going to be quite the logjam in the infield if the Twins hang onto Dozier. I totally agree that he is trying to personally carry the team into the playoffs. Dozier has always been a gamer, never more than since the break. Credit also to some other guys: Buxton has been hitting about .350, while Polanco, Mauer and Rosario have all surged mightily. Even with a mediocre pitching staff, the Twins could cause some trouble if they get into the tournament. Fun to see. That said, I'll reiterate that 2017 is NOT the year the Twins go all the way. This bunch is going to hit their peak between 2018 and about 2022, maybe longer, depending if they can find good pitching, which is still 80 percent of the game. The other half is mental.

Speed makes me drool, too. Were we talking about baseball..?

Alan Busenitz looks like a future closer to me. Spots his high 90's heat low inside and out. Hard breaking ball that gets whiffs. That's getting close to Joe Nathan stuff. Like Seth, I would like to have seen Jake Reed up by now. But I would settle for seeing Slegers again, or Jorge.

"So, you wanna learn to fly, little boy? Hang on!"

Hope this heat wave doesn't head east. I'm in Petaluma CA, and it's getting up to 106F today and tomorrow. It's just not cool when it's this hot.

As I have officially given up on Gibson for this season, I feel that my observations are reasonably objective. Gibson appears to be throwing a little more downhill than before. More of his pitches appear to be ending up in the bottom half of the zone. His breaking pitches appear to be more accurate and consistent, possibly with more spin. Seems like a lot more swings are whiffing, where in the first half they were fouling balls off. Whatever, I'll take it. Keep doing what you're doing, Mr. Gibson.

What a delightfully confounding team is this 2017 Twins. Before our very eyes they appear to be blossoming into a club that can play with anybody. A new young core is maturing while veterans are showing the kids how to act like professionals. However this season ends, it hints at a bright future for the Minnesota Twins.

Busenitz should be closing.

If Hildenberger gets a little better control of that 3/4 fastball, he'll be even tougher. Good news is, he probably will get better at it.

Might have been payback for robbing Shields of a strikeout earlier.

I am proud to say that I wasn't among those recommending the Twins trade Buxton during his learning process. I was just one of the guys saying he should be sent back down to AAA again. Glad I was wrong about that, too. The initial awkwardness of Buck's ultra short to-the-ball swing has gone away. Right now his swing is about as quick as anybody's in the league, plus all that power from his legs and long arms carrying the barrel through the zone. Funny thing about hitting: It takes a ton of confidence to NOT swing. Like Sano, Rosario, Kepler, and Polanco, Buxton now has enough confidence to lay off pitches outside his preferred hitting zone because he knows he can either foul off or mash just about anything he can reach. We saw the change in Rosario when he went on his hot streak - suddenly he became more selective. Same with Polanco. Now Byron Buxton has enough confidence to not swing, or, when he does, he mashes it.

You're exactly right. The difference between one run and an early blowout for Chicago was two hits with bases loaded, instead of a bunch of K's and easy fly balls. Imagine what Houston would have done, or Detroit, or the freeeekin Dodgers. Gibson walked a tightrope against maybe the lamest offense in the league. Rookies and early experiments as the ChiSox start their rebuilding efforts. Remember, first he allowed hits and walks to load the bases multiple times. Then he pitched with desperate intensity to escape major jams in the first three innings. Is that great pitching? Great pitchers are supposed to avoid those jams in the first place. On the other hand, if Gibson could find that level of intensity BEFORE the bases were loaded, then he might actually become a great pitcher. He has three borderline plus pitches - sinker, slider, change up - that get lots of whiffs when he's in the right frame of mind. Even his flat four-seamer gets whiffs after they see enough sinkers, if he throws it up in the zone. Yesterday Gibson's slider was breaking harder than I've seen it in a long time. The spin rate must have been crazy fast. He's got the stuff to dominate, yet too often he goes out their playing Mister Nibbles. I'd rather see the angry Gibson every time.

Gibson's doing this just to piss me off. Every time I'm ready to throw in the towel for him, he comes out and pitches like Cy Young. Okay Gibson, I'm throwing in the towel for the rest of the season on you. Prove me wrong some more!

I can't count, but actually (now that I think about it for the first time), it might be better to use Gee as a starter and find one more long man for the pen, using him as an occasional starter. Slegers could do that. The Twins appear to need at least three "relievers" that can pitch five innings when one of the starters implodes early. Gee might fit that role, but after his first start, you've got to put him into the rotation. Slegers has mechanics that look relatively easy on the arm, so maybe he could fit the long-man / starter role. Jorge has an easy motion, too....

If you go just by results, Gee and Slegers should be in the rotation. Gibson, not so much. Santiago, no way. Then it's a matter of finding a fifth pitcher. Gonsalves or Jorge?