iTwins

The Rangers had to think they'd at least get one or two years of high level production from Fielder before he broke down. (Potentially) tough break for a team experiencing a whole lot of bad luck this season.

I thought we'd learn a lot about this team after the stretch against the O's, Indians, Tigers and Red Sox. They played solid against good competition and at this point I don't think we can keep writing that off as a fluke. I like 7 to 8 wins on this next stretch. I'll be interested to see if the Twins keep Hughes in his spot against the Yankees. After all of the talk that the NY stage and Yankee stadium got into Hughes' head, you'd think the Twins may just do him a favor and bump his start into the next series. (Then again, maybe Hughes WANTS to pitch against the Yankees in Yankee stadium?)

I'm glad to see Dozier's starting to gain national attention. Here's hoping some of that "spotlight' helps him make the All Star Game this year - he's earned it.

Kepler returned to the Miracle lineup on May 17th after sitting out the series against Brevard County. I've yet to hear any word as to why Kepler was out for the series - there weren't any reported injuries and the team didn't really address the issue (that I can find, it can be tough to find information surrounding the Miracle. If I've missed something regarding Kepler's "time off" feel free to add it to the thread). Kepler has returned to playing CF (after a brief stint covering 1B). He still likely profiles as a corner outfielder, but the ability to cover all three positions is a positive point in Kepler's game. Kepler's bat, however, continues to struggle this season. After seeing some signs of life a few weeks ago, Kepler's numbers have leveled off. He's still showing decent plate discipline, so there's hope the rest of his numbers could rise to expectations - but we can no longer write off his slow start to it merely being "early in the season". [table] [thead] YearTmLgLevAffGPAABRH2B3BHRRBISBCSBBSOBAOBPSLGOPSTBGDPHBPSHSFIBB[/thead] 2014FortMyersFLORA+MIN35141121182624218211519.215.319.347.6664234010 5 Seasons[/td]2421047920137241461622142183102176.262.344.418.7633851717261 Rk (3 seasons)Rk14664356384159339118414263114.282.363.432.7952431211240 A (1 season)A612632363556113940202443.237.312.424.73610022011 A+ (1 season)A+141121182624218211519.215.319.347.6664234010[/table] Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table Generated 5/22/2014.

When a team is mired in a rut of three losing seasons, it’s easy to overlook players who are achieving beyond expectations – especially when those players are relief pitchers. After all, who cares if you have a lights out right hander when the team is constantly down 6-0 by the third inning? For that reason, you could be forgiven if you’ve missed what Casey Fien has been doing over the past three years with the Twins. Since the Twins signed Fien as a minor league free agent from the Detroit Tigers organization, he’s developed into one of the better relief pitchers in baseball. So far in 2014, Fien is posting career best numbers.The 6’2" righty currently boasts a 3-1 record with a 1.89 ERA and 13:4 strikeout to walk ratio. His strong start helped him take over the 8th inning role from Jarod Burton in early April and he’s kept the role absolutely locked down through sheer dominant performances all season. Fien has only allowed an earned run in 2 of his 20 outings (oddly enough, both against Cleveland) and has rarely even yielded a hit in each appearance.Take a look at his game logs from 2014: [TABLE] Date Opp Rslt Dec IP H R ER BB SO HR HBP ERA Mar31 CHW L3-5 [/TD] 0.2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.00 Apr2 CHW L6-7 H(1) 1.0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0.00 Apr4 CLE L2-7 1.0 3 3 3 0 0 0 0 10.12 Apr6 CLE W10-7 H(2) 1.0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 7.36 Apr10 OAK L1-6 1.0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 5.79 Apr13 KCR W4-3 W(1-0) 0.1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 5.40 Apr17(2) TOR W9-5 W(2-0) 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 4.50 Apr20 KCR W8-3 0.2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 4.05 Apr23 TBR W6-4 W(3-0) 2.1 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 3.00 Apr25 DET L6-10 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2.70 May Opp Rslt Dec IP H R ER BB SO HR HBP ERA May1(2) LAD L3-4 1.0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 2.45 May3 BAL W6-1 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2.25 May4 BAL W5-2 H(3) 1.0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 2.08 May7 CLE L3-4 L(3-1) 0.2 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 2.63 May9 DET W2-1 H(4) 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2.45 May11 DET W4-3 H(5) 0.2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2.35 May15 BOS W4-3 H(6) 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2.20 May16 SEA W5-4 H(7) 0.2 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 2.12 May20 SDP W5-3 H(8) 1.0 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 2.00 May21 SDP W2-0 H(9) 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.89 19.0 12 4 4 4 13 1.89 [/TABLE] 　 That’s a lot of zeroes. Fien is currently 12th in WAR among AL relievers (0.6) and ranks 17th BABIP (.222), 16th in BB/9 (1.89), and 16th in FIP (.233). Those rankings become even more impressive once you factor in most of the players ahead of Fien are other team’s closers (Glen Perkins, Greg Holland, Koji Uehara – etc.) In short, outside of the true elite bullpen arms (I.E. closers) there are not many relievers pitching better than Fien in 2014. Of course, whenever a player is having a career year, the talk always turns to regression. How soon will the player "return" to his career averages and how far will the "fall" be? Thankfully Fien’s overall numbers show that if he does experience any regression this season, it might not be that dramatic. Take a look at his numbers since joining the Twins ‘pen: [TABLE] Year [TD=width: 25%]K% [TD=width: 25%]BB% [/TD] [TD=width: 25%]BABIP [/TD] [TD=width: 25%]2012 [/TD] [TD=width: 25%]22.7% [/TD] [TD=width: 25%]7.5% [/TD] [TD=width: 25%].229 [/TD] [TD=width: 25%]2013 [/TD] [TD=width: 25%]29.9% [/TD] [TD=width: 25%]4.9% [/TD] [TD=width: 25%].280 [/TD] [TD=width: 25%]2014 [/TD] [TD=width: 25%]18.3% [/TD] [TD=width: 25%]5.6% [/TD] [TD=width: 25%].222 [/TD] [/TABLE] Essentially, Fien’s advanced numbers all point towards one thing: consistency. Even if Fien’s early season hot streak cools, he’s still a high strikeout, low walk reliever who should continue to excel in late game situations. The question then turns to what the Twins should do with Fien going forward. He’ll be arbitration eligible in 2015, and is under team control through 2019. He’s 31 years old, so the Twins should be cautious about locking him into a long term deal – especially given how volatile relievers can be (See: Valverde, Jose) but he’s clearly providing value for the team in the short term. He could be a potential trade asset for the team if they fall out of contention before the trade deadline* or the team could simply choose to retain Fien and enjoy the quality arm out of the bullpen. *(As an aside: Do you know how nice it was to type "IF they fall out of contention by the deadline" and really mean IF – winning baseball is fun. We should do it more often.) Casey Fien has always been one of my favorite players for the Twins. His enthusiasm and fire on the mound is a blast to watch. This season he’s become the very definition of a "bulldog" out of the ‘pen for the Twins and is one of the few Twins pitchers who is not afraid to attack hitters and pound the strike zone with scorching fastballs. Fien has elevated his game to a new level this season – whether he can maintain this strong start remains to be seen, but either way the Twins (and Twins fans) have to be enjoying the fantastic output from Casey Fien so far.

Revere never really was going to be anything more than a 4th outfielder for a contending team. The Twins made the smart move and dealt him at peak value and managed to get (what seemed like) two useful pieces for him. Of course, now we know that Vance Worley was a disaster and Trevor May still has some questions. Revere would have helped the Twins slow Hicks' development and would have kept this "Shorstops in the outfield" experiment from ever developing if he was still on the roster this year. I think the Twins 'won' the trade initially - but neither team is probably happy with the overall value received (as of right now). If May develops into a back of the rotation arm - the Twins won this deal easily. If May doesn't pan out, it's basically a wash.

Haven't heard a peep about an injury. I wonder if it's just a couple of days off? I though he'd be back tonight, but it looks like he's still sitting.

So far, Max is posting numbers similar to the rest of the Miracle roster. Unfortunately, the Miracle's roster has largely been ice cold to start the season. Max is in the middle of the pack in nearly every offensive category for the Miracle. His .215 batting average is 9th best (of 15 eligible players) while his .315 OBP is 8th best on the team. His 2 doubles are the fewest of any regular starter - but he is second on the team in triples (3) and 7th in total bases (37). He only added one hit to his totals over the last week, but he has drawn 4 walks over 3 games, bringing his K / BB ratio much closer to 1:1 (15 K/ 13 BB). The early numbers haven't been exciting, but his rising walk totals and relatively low strikeout rate (3rd lowest, amongst regular starters) are good signs that he's seeing the ball well and should be able to get his average up in the coming weeks. [table] [thead] YearAgeAgeDifTmLgLevAffGPAABRH2B3BHRRBISBCSBBSOBAOBPSLGOPSTBGDPHBPSHSFIBB[/thead] 201421-1.7FortMyersFLORA+MIN31124107152323218211315.215.315.346.6603733010[/table] Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table Generated 5/13/2014.

I couldn't cheer for the team after they moved. That kind of betrayal would be too hard to forgive. That being said, I don't know where my allegiance would fall next. I couldn't cheer for any other AL Central teams (I despise them all!) and I couldn't switch to the NL (Ew, pitchers batting...) I supposed I'd end up with either Oakland or Tampa Bay. I like the way both clubs operate. Thankfully, this is a problem that I won't have to actually think about!

I thought the same thing. "In some situations where I did not have some success". Really? Bud you were the equivalent of a pitching machine on the mound for MONTHS in 2013 then you looked just as bad in the spring. You were given quite a few opportunities. Say what you want about Pelfrey, but at least after he turns in a clunker he calls it like it was. "I sucked", "I need to be better" - etc. This wishy-washy, not really owning your flaws attitude drives me bonkers.

There was a lot of "Only the Twins would give this guy a 3 year deal" talk from the big media outlets. I'm glad to see the "gamble" is paying off for the Twins. Hughes was a guy I wanted the Twins to persue because it seemed like he just needed a change of venue. So far, so good!

I like the idea of an overlay - simply putting the stats on the screen so those that are interested can have that information readily available. Maybe that would cause some fans to say, "What's BABIP?" and then look it up for themselves as well. I'd still like to see broadcasters take advantage of opportunities to advance the discussion when they arise. The FIP example from the post for instance - you don't have to go into detail or start a long discussion on it - but I don't know that pretending like it doesn't exist is the best way to go either.

I agree on the playing time issue. I had hoped Pinto and Suzuki would split time 50/50 - but I wonder if Suzuki's strong start has complicated thigns a bit? I'm sure it's hard for Gardy to sit a veteran catcher like Suzuki, who plays superior defense to Pinto and is hitting just as well (for now). If / when Suzuki cools, I'd expect Pinto's time behind the plate will go up.

I liked my mid 70's win projection before the season and I haven't seen much to make me deviate from that number. They're playing an absolutely brutal early schedule and haven't been blown off the map yet. So long as they keep treading water at or near (within 3 games or so) .500 during this tough opening stretch, I think they'll finish at 75 wins.

During Saturday's Fox Sports North telecast, Dick Bremer and Jack Morris were discussing the Minnesota Twins rotating crew of misfits in the the outfield. More specifically, they were talking about how injuries to Josh Willingham and Oswaldo Arcia have caused the team to play a 1B/DH hybrid in RF (Colabello) and whatever middle infielder they can find in LF (Nuñez, Escobar, Bartlett). Dick then went on to say (I'm paraphrasing a bit here, but the context is the same): Imagine if the Twins pitchers had average defense behind them. There have certainly been more runs allowed and charged to the Twins starters because of these out of place defenders - just imagine what the starters' ERA could be if not for the poor defense behind them. The funny thing is, you don't have to imagine. There is an advanced metric built to tell you that very thing. It's called Fielding Independent Pitching (or FIP) and it does exactly what it sounds like. It gives a rating of what a pitcher's ERA should have been, assuming all balls in play were fielded with an average defense. The very thing that Dick and Jack were wondering about was able to be easily answered but they either a) were not aware this stat existed or were unwilling to discuss this "advanced metric" on air. For what it's worth, Mr. Bremer - here's the answer to your question: [TABLE=class: rgMasterTable, width: 978] [TH=class: rgHeader, bgcolor: gray, align: right]#[/TH] [TH=class: rgHeader, bgcolor: gray]Name[/TH] [TH=class: rgHeader, bgcolor: gray, align: right]W[/TH] [TH=class: rgHeader, bgcolor: gray, align: right]L[/TH] [TH=class: rgHeader, bgcolor: gray, align: right]IP[/TH] [TH=class: grid_line_breakh rgHeader, bgcolor: gray, align: right]ERA[/TH] [TH=class: rgHeader, bgcolor: gray, align: right]FIP[/TH] [TH=class: rgHeader, bgcolor: gray, align: right]xFIP[/TH] [TR=class: rgRow] [TD=class: grid_line_regular, align: right]1[/TD] [TD=class: grid_line_regular]Samuel Deduno[/TD] [TD=class: grid_line_regular, align: right]0[/TD] [TD=class: grid_line_regular, align: right]2[/TD] [TD=class: grid_line_regular, align: right]23.2[/TD] [TD=class: grid_line_break, align: right]3.42[/TD] [TD=class: grid_line_regular, align: right]2.91[/TD] [TD=class: grid_line_regular, align: right]3.89[/TD] [/TR] [TR=class: rgAltRow] [TD=class: grid_line_regular, align: right]2[/TD] [TD=class: grid_line_regular]Phil Hughes[/TD] [TD=class: grid_line_regular, align: right]4[/TD] [TD=class: grid_line_regular, align: right]1[/TD] [TD=class: grid_line_regular, align: right]41.1[/TD] [TD=class: grid_line_break, align: right]3.92[/TD] [TD=class: grid_line_regular, align: right]3.30[/TD] [TD=class: grid_line_regular, align: right]3.84[/TD] [/TR] [TR=class: rgRow] [TD=class: grid_line_regular, align: right]3[/TD] [TD=class: grid_line_regular]Kyle Gibson[/TD] [TD=class: grid_line_regular, align: right]3[/TD] [TD=class: grid_line_regular, align: right]3[/TD] [TD=class: grid_line_regular, align: right]38.0[/TD] [TD=class: grid_line_break, align: right]4.74[/TD] [TD=class: grid_line_regular, align: right]3.95[/TD] [TD=class: grid_line_regular, align: right]5.06[/TD] [/TR] [TR=class: rgAltRow] [TD=class: grid_line_regular, align: right]4[/TD] [TD=class: grid_line_regular]Ricky Nolasco[/TD] [TD=class: grid_line_regular, align: right]2[/TD] [TD=class: grid_line_regular, align: right]3[/TD] [TD=class: grid_line_regular, align: right]44.2[/TD] [TD=class: grid_line_break, align: right]5.64[/TD] [TD=class: grid_line_regular, align: right]4.60[/TD] [TD=class: grid_line_regular, align: right]4.18[/TD] [/TR] [TR=class: rgRow] [TD=class: grid_line_regular, align: right]5[/TD] [TD=class: grid_line_regular]Kevin Correia[/TD] [TD=class: grid_line_regular, align: right]1[/TD] [TD=class: grid_line_regular, align: right]4[/TD] [TD=class: grid_line_regular, align: right]38.1[/TD] [TD=class: grid_line_break, align: right]6.34[/TD] [TD=class: grid_line_regular, align: right]4.41[/TD] [TD=class: grid_line_regular, align: right]5.03[/TD] [/TR] [TR=class: rgAltRow] [TD=class: grid_line_regular, align: right]6[/TD] [TD=class: grid_line_regular]Mike Pelfrey[/TD] [TD=class: grid_line_regular, align: right]0[/TD] [TD=class: grid_line_regular, align: right]3[/TD] [TD=class: grid_line_regular, align: right]23.2[/TD] [TD=class: grid_line_break, align: right]7.99[/TD] [TD=class: grid_line_regular, align: right]7.52[/TD] [TD=class: grid_line_regular, align: right]6.56[/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] Deduno, Gibson, Nolasco and Correia would all have better numbers, while Mike Pelfrey would be horrible either way and Phil Hughes would still be solid. This whole discussion raises a larger point, where should the worlds of advanced metrics and statistics meet with the traditional broadcasting presentation? While statistics like WAR, BABIP and O-Contact % may be a bit above the casual baseball fan's head right now, there are clearly moments where other advanced metrics - such as FIP (even xFIP) and OBP could provide great context to the game. Each broadcaster seems to fall on a different spectrum when it comes to discussing advanced statistics and their usefulness during a broadcast. Dick Bremer, for instance told Twins Daily last year that: "I think the new math in baseball tends to exclude a lot of people because a lot of people don't understand it...yet". While the broadcasters for the Houston Astros have fully embraced sabermetrics and have worked the discussion into the fiber of the broadcast. The answer, as with most things, lies in the middle. Are most fans ready to be inundated with WAR, BABIP and sabermetric talk during radio and television broadcasts without any explanation? I'd wager not. However, broadcasters can (and should) be willing to advance their viewers understanding when an opportune moment arises. Yesterday, for instance, Dick and Jack could have simply changed their wording slightly and they would have easily been able to describe FIP to the audience and provide a great moment of clarity and understanding for the statistic. When Brian Dozier makes his next unbelievable play - that's a great time to discuss his Ultimate Zone Rating (UZR) or his Defensive Runs Saved (DRS) and how it compares to the rest of baseball. I believe that when these advanced stats are provided within the context of the game, as it's happening, they'll go from "excluding the fans" to enlightening them, it's all just a matter of embracing the opportunities as they present themselves. Where do you fall on this discussion? Are sabermetrics too much for the "casual fan" or does baseball need to begin adapting its broadcasts and presentations around the new world of statistics?

As long as he keeps hitting and playing average defense, he's here to stay. I don't know that he'll be able to do both for an entire season, but I'd love to be proven wrong. I'm rooting for him, he's a blast to watch.

I thought about that prior to the game. I wonder if Gardy didn't want to mess with Plouffe, especially given his better than expected defense at 3B this year? Like moving him would desturb his 3B...mojo? (Not that I think that would've mattered, but Gardy has some unique ways of thinking some times...)

Outside of shortstop, there may not be another position player with lower offensive expectations than catcher. The physical toll of the position forces many elite offensive players into other roles – Bryce Harper, for instance, was moved from catcher to outfielder immediately after being drafted in an effort to extend his career. Others, such as Joe Mauer or (eventually) Buster Posey are moved later into their career when the beatings sustained as a catcher threatens to shorten their playing time or otherwise hamper their offensive value. Teams readily trade offense for defense when it comes starting backstops, making a true offensive catcher a rare luxury. That’s what makes Josmil Pinto so exciting. The Twins very well could have a truly impressive offensive asset at catcher, one year after moving one of the league’s best offensive catchers to another position. Forget rare, that kind of good fortune is unheard of. Pinto burst onto the scene as a September call up in 2013, finishing the month with 83 plate appearances and posting an impressive slash line of .342/.398/.566 while hitting 4 home runs and driving in 12 RBI. Pinto finished 2013 with the highest WRC+ among all catchers at 169, beating Joe Mauer’s impressive 144 WRC+. He also topped all catchers in BABIP, finishing with .440 – once again beating out Joe Mauer and his .383 BABIP for the top spot. Of course, Pinto posted these numbers in 1/5 of the plate appearances of Joe Mauer, Yadier Molina or Buster Posey - so they should be taken in the proper context and with a hearty grain of salt. I’m not here to tell you that Pinto is the next Molina or Mauer – his 2013 numbers were unsustainable even for the league’s best hitters and regression should be expected as Pinto piles up more plate appearances. However, his numbers from the past few seasons do point to some promising potential from the Twins future catcher. Pinto has been a member of the Twins organization since 2006 when he was signed as an amateur free agent. After five seasons of solid, albeit none too spectacular results, his bat came alive in 2012. Playing between A+ Fort Myers and AA New Britain, Pinto finished the season with a .295/.362/.482 line. Even more impressive was Pinto’s new found patience at the plate. In 2011, Pinto drew 14 walks in 73 games. In 2012, that number jumped to 43 walks over 105 games. His newfound offensive output followed him to 2013, where between AA New Britain and AAA Rochester he posted a .309/.400/.482 line over 126 games. His patience carried over as well, as he took 66 walks between the two levels. As we saw first hand, all of those numbers would pale in comparison to what he managed to do over the final month of the season at the big league level. At first glance, Pinto looks to have regressed in 2014; while he’s hit 5 early home runs (a mark that puts him second on the team, trailing only Brian Dozier’s 8) he’s only batting .228/.357/.424 while his strikeout rate sits at a higher than normal 22.3%. There’s reason to believe those numbers will improve, however, especially since Pinto’s minor league patience is beginning to show at the big league level. He currently leads all catchers in BB% (16.1%) and his .357 OBP is good enough for 8th overall among catchers. [TABLE] Season[TD=width: 7%]Team [/TD] [TD=width: 11%]O-Swing%[/TD] [TD=width: 11%]Z-Swing%[/TD] [TD=width: 9%]Swing%[/TD] [TD=width: 14%]O-Contact%[/TD] [TD=width: 14%]Z-Contact%[/TD] [TD=width: 11%]Contact%[/TD] [TD=width: 9%]Zone%[/TD] [TD=width: 6%]Pace[/TD] [TD=width: 9%]2013[/TD] [TD=width: 7%]Twins[/TD] [TD=width: 11%]30.7 %[/TD] [TD=width: 11%]52.9 %[/TD] [TD=width: 9%]42.1 %[/TD] [TD=width: 14%]58.0 %[/TD] [TD=width: 14%]84.6 %[/TD] [TD=width: 11%]75.2 %[/TD] [TD=width: 9%]51.3 %[/TD] [TD=width: 6%]22.6[/TD] [TD=width: 9%]　[/TD] [TD=width: 7%]　[/TD] [TD=width: 11%]　[/TD] [TD=width: 11%]　[/TD] [TD=width: 9%]　[/TD] [TD=width: 14%]　[/TD] [TD=width: 14%]　[/TD] [TD=width: 11%]　[/TD] [TD=width: 9%]　[/TD] [TD=width: 6%]　[/TD] [TD=width: 9%]2014[/TD] [TD=width: 7%]Twins[/TD] [TD=width: 11%]25.7 %[/TD] [TD=width: 11%]56.5 %[/TD] [TD=width: 9%]40.4 %[/TD] [TD=width: 14%]67.7 %[/TD] [TD=width: 14%]83.1 %[/TD] [TD=width: 11%]78.0 %[/TD] [TD=width: 9%]47.6 %[/TD] [TD=width: 6%]21.1[/TD] [/TABLE] Above: Pinto is chasing fewer pitches out of the zone (O%) while making better contact overall. Both numbers are good indicators for continued success. Even with his lower batting average, Pinto is currently 7th in WRC+ (122) among all catchers (minimum 90 PA). Outside of Buster Posey (148 WRC+) and Yadier Molina (126 WRC+) all of the other catchers ahead of him are posting career best BABIP and WRC+ totals, indicating they’re likely to regress as the season continues. (Kurt Suzuki, for instance, is currently tied with Pinto at 122 WRC+) Meanwhile, Pinto’s modest .245 BABIP is likely to improve as his batting average returns closer to his career norms. Pinto does have room to grow defensively as he’s still below average behind the plate. He posted a -3 DRS in 2013 and is currently at -1 DRS in 2014. He also has to work on keeping his hand back when receiving the ball – twice already this season Pinto has interfered with the batter at the plate (he got away with it against the Orioles, but was called for interference in the final game of the most recent Cleveland series). The Twins coaching staff has cited poor footwork when throwing out runners as an area of concern as well. There’s no reason to believe these areas won’t come around with experience, however. When Mauer's move to first base was announced in the offseason, it seemed unimaginable that the Twins would be able to find a smooth transition from one of the best offensive catchers in the game. Instead, the Twins have gotten an above average season from Kurt Suzuki. Meanwhile, Suzuki's replacement, Josmil Pinto is shaping up to be an offensive threat in his own right. When it comes of offensive output from the catcher position, the Twins appear to be one of the more fortunate teams in all of baseball.

I wonder if Danny Santana's last couple of games were enough to keep him on the roster and cost Florimon his spot? Earlier in the week it seemed like a forgone conclusion that Santana was gone once the team needed to make a move. I'm glad Santana is still here - he's a blast to watch - that kid is FAST!

Perkins and Dozier make the All Star Game (albeit, Dozier makes it after Cano or Pedroia get one of those odd, Mid July "ailments" that only pop up right before the ASG and have to bow out). Bonus points: I think Plouffe makes the home run derby field. (Long shot, I know, but it'd be fun)

I've never been one to gripe (loudly) about roster moves and manipulation as I've always felt that the front office has 10 times the information on a given player or situation than I could ever get my hands on. When it doubt, defer to folks with inside info. That being said, I'm struggling to see the logic here. Guerrier can opt out? So what!? The bullpen is one of the few areas where the Twins are DEEP - making a move to keep a 35 year old reliever seems...foolish. Furthermore, leaving the 25 man roster with 13 pitchers - after the starters have turned in quality starts 4 of the last 5 games is inexplicable. The bench is two players deep, and one of those options is a catcher / OF hybrid who is currently failing to bat his weight. The Twins lost a game last night because they're playing infielders in corner outfield spots - and NOTHING is being done on the roster front to address that? I'm stunned. Even if Arcia had a setback and the plan was going to be to call him up - at this point I think you should have a plan B (or C,D,E - I'm not sure which plan we're on by now). Waiting things out like this is unacceptable.

After being slated as one of the Miracle's starting corner outfielders heading into 2014 - Kepler has seemingly played just about every position available to him BUT corner outfield through the first month of the season. Byron Buxton's injury forced Max into the starting CF role for the first 22 of 25 games, and a recent injury to Dalton Hicks has shifted Max into a starting 1B role for the time being. The upside is, Kepler is showing his defensive versatility by being able to cover multiple positions - the downside...well, he's not exactly a GOOD CF (.978 fielding percentage with 1 error so far this season in CF). Through 3 games, however, he does seem to be a perfectly servicable player at 1B. Offensively, not much has changed for Kepler over the past week. A few more hits have bumped up his average slightly and a couple more walks have increased his OBP by 22 points from last week. His strikeout totals are beginning to climb as well. He's currently averaging 4 K's per week (or, around 1 per game) I don't think it's anything to be concerned about yet - as his walks have increased at an equal pace, but it's worth monitoring. [TABLE] Year Age AgeDif Tm Lg Lev Aff G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS TB GDP HBP SH SF IBB 2014 21 -1.7 FortMyers FLOR A+ MIN 28 112 99 14 22 2 3 2 18 2 1 9 12 .222 .304 .364 .667 36 3 3 [/TD] 1 [TD] [/TABLE] Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table Generated 5/8/2014.

Glad to see Gardy finally worked Danny into the lineup. He showed last night that his speed can be a game changer - I hope he gets a few chances to swipe some bases tonight. That being said, this is an interesting night to start him. Deduno has historically been a ground ball pitcher - and Santana has a well documented history with errors (He has 5 in Rochester this year already). He might have a lot of opportunities tonight... It's true that Deduno's ground ball rate is lower this year and his K% is higher, but one has to wonder if that's just the small sample size of working out of the 'pen throwing things off.

Moving on up! April was obviously an oddity. On the same token, we realistically can't expect an ERA 1.84 through May either. The starting staff's true identity lies somewhere inbetween - and given what we've seen over the past three years, an ERA in the middle of the pack would be a VERY welcome sight!

Of the 3, I'm really only concerned about Colabello, who has seemingly turned right back into a pumpkin after hitting that homer on his mom's birthday. Pinto's at bats have looked rough, but I think that's to be expected as a young player adapts to Major League pitching. For the most part, Plouffe's at bats have been solid and he's still making very good contact. He looked at strike 3 on the corner a few too many times for my liking last night, but they were also well thrown pitches. I think his new approach will help him weather these rough spots.