jimbo92107

No way Max learned English in Texas. Getting rid of that accent is tougher than winning a piss fight with an ornery mule. Tougher than a rawhide pillow. Tougher than a bowl of rocks for breakfast. Tougher than teethin' on a old car tire. Tougher than findin' out yer best gal is a rodeo clown. Tougher than a rubber burrito. Tougher than findin' out that weren't no burrito. From yer best gal, who's a rodeo clown.

I vas a liddle dissapoinded zat he hes no Cherman aggzent, but I'll ged ober it. Watched a short interview; sounded like he grew up in Ohio. Velcomen to de mejor liggs, Maximus! Maybe we can get him to watch some Hogan's Heroes, so he can develop a good Colonel Klink... ;-)

Fantastic news for Max Kepler. Well earned. Congrats to Der Kid!

Kepler will platoon with the other three OF's next year, also spelling Mauer at 1st base. Rosario, Buxton and Hicks will continue to play great outfield, with no drop off for Rosario, who will improve at the plate with at least 22 home runs, and an average of about .270. Rosario will be the steadiest player on the team. He reminds me a little of Bryce Harper. He has upper deck power that isn't going away. Buxton will start hitting line drives on a regular basis, and around the All Star break will start banging balls over the fence, but not soon enough for All Star votes. 12 to 15 dingers next year. Buxton's base stealing will improve drastically as he learns to lead off better and read pitchers. He will be a constant threat to bunt for hits. Hicks will continue to improve his lefty hitting, but his power numbers will still be better from the right side. Kepler will struggle at the plate briefly, then start hitting tons of line drives. A polite young man, he will hit balls into the gaps and maintain a high average until around mid-season, then finish with 15 or so homers in the last three months. Sano will hit 38 homers next season, then 42 or more for the next 15 years. This is what my eyeballs tell me, but they could be lying. Damn my eyes!

I think I'm going to wander away. See if I can find something shiny.

Twins have a logjam of guys that need to hit 9th. Dozier should get a couple games off to get his legs back. Play Nunez at 2nd for a couple. Nunez always looks great after a week on the bench.

I think we have just seen something more frustrating than a bad internet connection. At least we have Tom Kelly's incisive commentary to help us through the game. Eh...

Same thing happened to me two games ago. Kept freezing up every 20 seconds, I finally left the house and did something else. Not sure where the blockage is, but it's very frustrating.

No, leave Santiago in!! We like him!!

Eddie!!

Felix Jorge continues to be the Little Engine that Could. Not a big guy, but what a fighter on the mound!

Miguel Sano has been facing mostly junk since his first at-bat in the majors. Pitchers knew then, and they'll never forget what Sano can do to a fastball. For his part, Sano will always have to work the count just the way he's been doing, trying to corner the pitcher into that fatal 3-2 count, then mashing anything in the zone... or taking his walk. What's unusual is seeing a rookie that is so experienced playing the cat and mouse game of pitch counts. Part of that game for Sano is not letting pitchers see a predictable pattern in his approach per pitch. Just as pitchers work to avoid tipping their pitches, a hitter must work to avoid tipping his intention to swing. If you take a deep breath, dig in a little more, or get a certain look, pitchers pick up on those signs and adjust accordingly. Also just like pitchers, hitters can bluff these signs and try to "set up" the other guy. I haven't spotted anything specific about Sano's intention to swing, with one possible exception: When you see a big grin on his face, as a fan don't look away. When a pitcher sees that look, I can scarcely imagine their reluctance to throw a baseball in the zone.

For some reason while I was reading Brian's intro I was hearing professor Harold Hill (Robert Preston) do his "Trouble in River City" speech from the Music Man. Rollicking prose!

Honorable mention addition: Trey Vavra.

If Drew Storen is that good, why did the Nats get Papelbon?

Hicks didn't start until after the ball hit the ground. Waaay too late. Good throw and tag.

The feed from mlb.com is the worst yet. Really hard to follow the action with all the reloading of the page. Sucks.

Dang, that was a home run Garcia just took away. Eddie's gotta hit it about two feet higher.

Stewart Turner is a great defensive catcher, and his hitting improved in the second half. He's not ready to be a good hitter at the mlb level, but his glove right now is the best in the Twins organization. Looking forward to the playoff push, would Turner behind the plate be better than Fryer or Herrmann? Yes. Would his hitting be worse? Hard to be much worse. If Suzuki can't go, then Turner could be the least bad option.

Twins veterans are battling late-season fatigue, and their younger players are striving to improve and keep up the good play. Is the team set up for a late season push? Miguel Sano's home run trot was a very good sign. Both his swing and his trot looked like a guy whose hamstring didn't hurt. Eddie Rosario loves the moment. Lots of high-drama moments coming in the next couple weeks. Brian Dozier has a shot at 30 home runs, first time for a Twin since Josh Willingham's 35 dingers in 2012. With Sano around, this will be Dozier's last chance to lead the team in home runs. Aaron Hicks has now proved that he can send a baseball over the fence from both sides of the plate. Can he turn it on from the left side towards the end? Can he hit his targets from right field? Byron Buxton has showed steady improvement at the plate and as a base runner. Will he continue to improve over the last weeks? Kennys Vargas is a sleeper candidate for a late season hero. He's got the size and the swing to hit balls as far as Sano. Can he find the discipline to get favorable counts, then hit his pitch? Torii Hunter appears to be swinging the bat with more vigor since he's had a few days off. With more rest, could Hunter get back just enough for a few more key hits and plays? Joe Mauer also looks a bit fresher after having a key day off here and there. Will he remain steady, or does he have a late-season surge in him? Trevor Plouffe has played a lot of games this season, hit clean-up, protected Sano, played first when Mauer needed a break, etc. If he does more during the closing stretch, that would truly be heroic. Eduardo Escobar has looked great since he got his shortstop job back. Justice! This guy could easily be a late season hero. He's playing happy baseball. Danny Santana and Eduardo Nunez are mostly riding the bench these days, but both of them are capable of doing heroic things. The pitching staff has been all over the place this season, but some guys that might step up are Ervin Santana, Tyler Duffey, Jepsen, May, Milone, Boyer, and maybe even JR Graham. Kyle Gibson showed that he's capable of shutting down the Kansas City Royals if he'll pitch the way he knows how, after getting chewed out by Neil Allen. Would it help to get chewed out an inning earlier, or will he remember next time?

Ricky Nolasco has been a good pitcher in the past, and next spring he should be completely healthy for the first time in a few years. Who knows, maybe he'll look great. Twins have gotten stung both ways by injuries - guys getting hurt here, and guys getting healthy after they leave.

Pelfrey's problem has been command of his fork ball, which he lost after the first half. Before this season Pelfrey was basically a two-pitch guy that struggled after the second time through the order. His fastball is his bread and butter, bending left and right low in the zone. Unfortunately, after seeing it a couple times, hitters barrel it up and start driving it. Pelf's benders are at best average, and he doesn't throw them well enough to strike out a lot of guys. Enter the fork ball, Pelfrey's third and most difficult pitch to hit and throw. When he had command of the fork, Pelf could dangle it belt to ankle, getting lots of whiffs. Now without it, he's back to being a two-pitch guy. Frankly, that's bull pen stuff. This might be a very good time to give a starter tryout to Logan Darnell. Maybe he's better than we realized, like Tyler Duffey. Why not find out.

Nice game. A little surprised that Tommy Milone held the Royals down. Good show.

Dirtball from Jepsen. Filthy dirtball!

Ferrari outfield. Speed and gunz.