jimbo92107

Trevor Plouffe today is playing the game of baseball at the highest level he can. He now has a solid foundation of physical fundamentals, and to that he has added a new layer of tactical and strategic awareness that is allowing him to process the game's many details and give himself the best odds to succeed. If you watch his demeanor at the plate, you can see it - like watching a mouse transform into a cat. Totally calm now, he looks for ways to put pressure on his opponent, no longer worrying about how a single at bat, or a play, or a game will affect his status as a player. Right now Trevor Plouffe is the most dangerous player on this team. I would find a way to keep him here.

Buxton for hitter of the day. I like it when a guy is constantly putting pressure on the other team. Buxton is doing that, including his steal, which makes opposing pitchers lose their cool. And imagine the kind of elite speed it takes to get SEVEN triples in just 36 games, and he spent the first twenty-something games shaking off rust!

If we stick to the two players I mentioned, the Hicks comparison doesn't hold up. Buxton especially has shown no signs of having large, puzzling gaps in his game, like Hicks. Meyer has alternately dominated and lost control of his stuff in AAA, but there's nothing fundamentally wrong with his delivery, or his arm already would have fallen off. I just watched Hicks, Rosario and Hunter dominate the outfield today, and it was a pleasure. Imagine what that outfield would look like with Buxton's speed in the middle, Hicks in right and Rosario in left. Every now and then you see a major league outfield that's so fast and skilled, you wonder if a baseball with touch the ground out there. Rosario did a great job chasing down a ball near the left field wall today, and he also almost gunned down Evan Longoria on what looked like an easy double. The ball got there about one tenth of a second after Longoria did, and he looked very surprised that it was so close. With Rosie, Hicksie and Buxie manning the field, great catches and throws would become everyday highlights. The pitching staff will save hits and runs. Remember the great diving catch a week ago by fourth outfielder Shane Robinson? Hicks gets to that ball without diving, as he did today. Buxton is even faster than Hicks, and has an even stronger arm! I'll grant that maybe it's still a bit too early for Meyer. Maybe he's not ready to be the "ace" of the pitching staff. I'd still like to see him in the bullpen, getting a few "low leverage" chances here and there, even if it's just a "cup of coffee" as they're calling it for Rosario. Maybe it will do Meyer some good to see that not every hitter at the MLB level is Mike Trout or Adrian Gonzalez. Striking out a few guys in the bigs might help him throw more strikes in AAA. Eddie Rosario clearly is having a great time with his little cuppa joe in the bigs. To me it looks like he's a little too timid at the plate, but then I like it when they swing really hard, just in case a baseball gets in the way. Byron Buxton may have some early jitters too, but I think once you call him up, he never goes down again. He's baseball's #1 prospect because baseball experts think he's on par with young superstars like Harper and Trout. The real question is, would bringing up Buxton and Meyer increase the chances of this Twins team making the playoffs? I think it would.

When I first saw Hicks come up, a couple things struck me. First, clearly he was an athlete of superior quality, which is the reason the Twins drafted him. He was big, fast, strong, coordinated, and apparently highly intelligent. Second, he seemed clueless at the plate. He would plant himself there like he was getting ready to fend off a Sumo wrestler, then flail at outside pitches while sticking his butt out like "The French Mistake" from Mel Brooks's "Blazing Saddles." It was mystifying to me how a guy so otherwise talented could look so passive and defensive at the plate. Didn't anybody show him video of Babe Ruth? Dave Winfield? He should be waving the bat and launching himself like those guys! Finally, we're seeing just a bit of this man's power potential. With his physical attributes, he should be able to launch home runs almost like Giancarlo Stanton. He should be making people cringe in fear in the third deck in center, and putting dents in outfield fences. Hitting isn't about trying to avoid striking out; it's about trying to launch little white baseballs into low earth orbit. I don't watch baseball to see Aaron Hicks work a count to a walk or a slap single. Guys like Aaron Hicks should be making pitchers dive out of the way and fielders look frozen in place. Look at the game's most entertaining player, Bryce Harper. He spends hours practicing not just in a cage, but with a weighted bat, learning how to swing that thing with frightening force. I want Aaron Hicks to swing the bat like Bryce Harper, but harder.

The last four years watching the Minnesota Twins has been a real beating. The only thing keeping me and a lot of other fans from bugging out completely was that we knew there was some help coming via the draft, and that knowledge came from websites like Twins Daily. We have now seen the 2015 version of this team, and it's getting better. Still, this ain't a playoff team, that's pretty clear. The pitching staff is still average at best, the position players are still largely punchless, and the defense is still below par. My question is this: Why stick with this group when we know they won't make the playoffs? Clearly they're not ready to challenge Detroit or KC, a couple teams that themselves don't look Series bound. At what point should this team figure that it's better to bring up guys like Meyer and Buxton, let them get their feet wet at this level, rather than keep them down on the farm in favor of a team that's going nowhere? The Twins brought Aaron Hicks up after tearing up AAA pitching for awhile. He looks much better at the plate, loading up and firing out. Buxton has never had trouble getting aggressive at the plate, or anywhere else. Anything he needs to polish, he can talk to Bruno. Meyer won't get better coaching in AAA than he'll get here, and he needs to see the guys he's got to beat. How much longer?

Max Kepler. He's living the German/American dream!

"The era of fixed emplacements is over." General Patton Statistics is doing for baseball what airplanes have done for war. Standing in the same equi-distant positions is ignoring the tendencies of a hitter. If your team wants an edge, this is one way of doing it. Baseball is supposed to be a fascinating game of looking for advantages. The shift is an interesting innovation, and it will be fascinating to see how it works, how teams will try to counter it, and so on. Of course it won't always work. Pull hitters will learn to hit oppo, or bunt, or try to drive it through the shift. It's already happening every game. I love it.

The one guy not mentioned here is AB Walker III. To me he looks like the LF the Twins will put out there with Buxton and Hicks, with Rosario as the fourth outfielder. Arcia may turn into a much better hitter as he matures. He's been showing signs of easing off his homer swing in order to get more RBI's. He can flip his wrists and hit a drive in the oppo gap with ease, which could raise his average and his RISP. However, Arcia in my opinion will never be an average defender. He flinches away from the wall, he takes bad lines to fly balls, lets too many balls fall in front of him, and lacks foot speed. Good arm, tho. The Twins could settle for Arcia in left, but Walker will develop into a better all around ballplayer. Walker's got just as much power as Arcia, but more athleticism, which implies that he'll become a better defender. Arcia at the moment is a better hitter, but I also expect Walker to refine his approach, at least as much as Arcia. Walker also steals bases, which Arcia will never do.

Congratulation, Aaron Hicks! Let's hope this time Hicks sticks. I wonder whom the Twins will be demoting?

Are people absolutely sure there's nothing physically wrong with Alex Meyer? I'm beginning to wonder if his shoulder, or something else, is putting a hitch in his git-along. Reason I'm saying this is that I'm trying to therapy my way out of a shoulder problem myself. I had a cortisone shot several days ago, and it's helped a lot, but I still can't follow through quite right hitting tennis balls. I have to assume that throwing fastballs at 95mph and sliders at 90 must require that all your parts are nearly 100 percent healthy. A slight problem in his shoulder could affect Meyer's ability to command his pitches with enough accuracy to avoid a lot of walks. Maybe it's even possible that it doesn't even hurt, but is affecting his motion, just enough to get these negative results. Granted, this is just speculation, but it really does seem odd that a guy with so much talent is unable to command the zone effectively at this point in his development.

Pitchers must find that chart absolutely terrifying. A .571 average on the low outside corner?? A .500 average middle in?? Not to mention .333 inside low... Jeebus! Plus, it looks like he's just not swinging at pitches out of the zone. Either throw it down the middle, or walk him. Yikes. Get ready for some tape measure home runs to center field by Trevor Plouffe.

So Aaron Hicks hit a double. Question: Did he steal third? I think the reason Hicks is still in AAA is that Molitor is looking for more than batting average. I think Molitor wants to see Hicks get aggressive in every aspect of his game. Let's see Hicks start noticing more opportunities. Does he bunt to beat a shift? Is he stealing on left handed pitchers? Is he shifting in the outfield, and getting a quick break with the bat? Has he been making plays that other players don't see? Aaron Hicks has the brains to do all this stuff. I wanna see the attitude. I want Hicks to be the clever bastard that makes everybody else look dumb and slow.

I met Trevor May at Twins Fest a few years ago. I thought he looked like Joe Mauer's cousin, he was such a big, sturdy guy. As a pitcher May has improved in just about every important aspect of his game. His balance looks better on the mound, and his command has improved vastly. Adding that change-up is huge, and he's also learning to tweak his curve ball. Truthfully, I thought at first that he had kind of a mediocre ceiling, but would be a reliable workhorse in the middle of the rotation. But if Trevor May keeps refining his game and adding to his bag of tricks, this guy could be really, really good. I do have one request of Paul Molitor and the pitching coach: Please, please insist that your pitchers all finish their deliveries ready to field a baseball. It's worth at least one fewer hit per game, and over the course of the season it's worth at least five fewer pitcher injuries. Every pitcher on the staff can knock down their ERA by knocking down a few more line drives, and save themselves some pain, too. Seriously, if you get hit in the ass by a line drive, not only does it hurt like hell, but you can't tell me that you had pinpoint control of that pitch!

This is a great psychological move for Rosario. See if he likes the coffee in the major league clubhouse. After his pot blunder, the kid may have needed something like this to verify in his mind that he's still highly regarded by the team. I bet he's smiling right now like it's the first time he's seen a sunny day for a couple years. Let's hope he mashes some taters and plays great outfield. Welcome to the big leagues, Eddie Rosario!

"...any manager would be crazy not to want to pencil Trout's name in the line-up card everyday." Actually, the Angels lineup card is printed with Trout's name in CF. If anybody else wants the position, they'll have to break the printer. ;-)

BTW, has anybody else notice that Trevor Plouffe so far this season is doing a good imitation of an All-Star third baseman? His fielding seems much better, and he really looks like he's "figured some things out" at the plate. Right now Plouffe and Torii Hunter look like the best field position players on the team, along with Escobar, who has no permanent position, but maybe should be the SS rather than Santana...

Too early to send Santana down. Let the kid get his game settled down for another month. If by then he's still flailing at the plate, bring up Jorge Polanco again. Polanco looks good at SS, and his bat looks more promising than Santana's. Either that, or just stick Escobar at SS and see how that works for a while. One thing I would NOT do is stick Santana back in the outfield. That didn't do him any good, and it cost other outfield candidates some playing time last year. BTW, has anybody else noticed that Santana's bat doesn't seem quite a quick as last season? Maybe he's swinging the stick too much like a garden rake.

When I watched Adam Brett Walker's home run at the end of spring training, his stance and swing reminded me of Chili Davis. Now if he can just learn to switch hit! ;-)

Question: If you took the best players today from Rochester, Chattanooga and Cedar Rapids, how would they fare against the MLB club in twenty games? My guess is the minor league team would go 15 - 5 against the Twins. Sano, Buxton and Rosario would tear the Twins pitching apart, while Meyer, May and Berrios would mow down the punchless Twins hitters. I'd go with this hitting lineup: 1. Polanco, SS 2. Buxton, CF 3. Rosario, RF 4. Sano, 3B 5. AB Walker II, DH (RF) 6. Pinto, C 7. Levi Michael, 2B 8. Brock Peterson, 1B 9. Hicks, LF Starters: Meyer, Berrios, May, Achter, Darnell. Releivers: Theilbar, Tonkin, Pressly, Melotakis, and Burdi to slam the door. Manager: Doug Mientkiewicz

It's possible that there's an ethical gray area here, at least from Ervin Santana's perspective. He might have bought some "stuff" from a buddy that told him it would help him recover from arm soreness, but then decided not to ask his buddy what was in it. Sure 'nuff, it worked. Also sure 'nuff, it was steroids. I do agree with one commenter that baseball may be too harsh on players that are using PEDs to recover from injuries. It's a shame that a fine pitcher like Santana reaches a point where it hurts more and more to do what they love, which is making a baseball duck and dance past major league hitters. If Santana suddenly was hurling it at 96 or 98mph, then it would seem more unfair, but he was just zipping it in at his usual velocity. On the other hand, baseball has always been a young man's game. By taking steroids, Santana beat out guys like May and Meyer, who now spend more of their careers in AAA. Also, this might explain why the Twins were able to sign Santana, when we all know that the Twins usually are last in line for top pitchers. Why did the big boys back off from Santana? Maybe this explains it.

Maybe the Twins should pay Santana with performance-enhanced money. Great big Monopoly bills. Sorry Ervin, but I don't buy the "I don't know what I was taking" excuse. This is 2015, not the 1990's. Players have to know, it's their job to know what's in the pills they're taking. If you bought dubious pills from a dubious source, it's your fault if they're full of yummy steroids. Meanwhile, the Twins should have called up May, not promoted Pelfry from the pen. May has already pitched in the bigs, so he's no longer a bundle of nerves. He should be able to settle down and be a horse. They should let May prove himself.

Yes, it's a bummer for May, but keep in mind that while May's control has improved, he still is prone to spells of inconsistency, where Milone has a record of being a mature control pitcher. If May continues to improve his command of the strike zone and to iron out his inconsistency, then soon he will be back in the starting rotation. I think Trevor May is going to be a workhorse starter for the Twins for several years, possibly on the same level as Kyle Gibson. It's just a matter of time, and probably not that much time. As for Pelfrey taking over from Milone (should he falter), I get the feeling Pelfrey is done as a starter for the Twins. He wasn't that good even when he was healthy, and now he's older, and post TJ. I think the Twins are going to see what they can get out of him as a middle releiver, where he can cut loose more with his heater, not having to budget his energy like a starter. Of course I don't know if the Twins promised Pelfrey that he'd get the first shot at a rotation spot if somebody goes south, but they already know his history, and there's no reason to expect him to suddenly develop better stuff. Pelfrey may do a spot start now and then if a somebody has a sore arm, but I think the fifth spot is destined to go to Trevor May.

Trevor May should keep a bag packed. If any of the starting five falters or gets hurt, May will get the call in about a minute.

"He may not be as stunningly beautiful as my lovely wife, but he’s dependable." Well played, sir.

Exactly. Schafer is a low-risk temp defensively in the OF. Excellent pinch runner, base stealer. And if Bruno can find the magic words to make him a .250 hitter, he could become a semi-regular player. Otherwise, he's gone next season after Hicks learns to have a plan at the plate, or if some other OF in AA or AAA can hit well enough to promote. Meanwhile, Schafer clearly does NOT have a plan at the plate. Not a good one, anyway. I saw him stand there and get struck out on 3 pitches from Hahn. That was not a plan, that was a guy that had no idea what to do, so he just stood there. Heck, I could do that, except I'd be leaping backwards and crapping my pants with every pitch... Those guys throw hard!