Steven Buhr

I made the 3+ hour trip to Beloit this week for the Kernels' three-game series with the Snappers. Cedar Rapids entered the game tied for second place in the MWL Western Division with the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers, both a single game behind divison leader Kane County Cougars.However, it really doesn't matter where the Kernels finish relative to Kane County because the Cougars won a playoff berth in the first half of the season. What's important, at this point, is how the Kernels measure up to the Rattlers, as well as Quad Cities and Peoria. The latter two teams trailed the Kernels and Rattlers by three games entering Tuesday. Two of those four teams will earn playoff spots. The other two will join Beloit and Clinton on the outside looking in. Ryan Eades drew the start in the series opener for the Kernels and notched the win as the Kernels topped the Snappers 12-5. Eades, the Twins' second round pick in the 2013 draft, has had a challenging first full season of professional ball, but he's been having more success lately. On Tuesday, the first batter he faced, Beloit shortstop Melvin Mercedes, lined a ball to right field that hit the top of the right field wall and bounced over for a leadoff solo home run. In the second inning, he gave up a triple to left fielder Ryan Mathews, who then scored the Snappers' second run. From that point forward, through the remainder of his six innings of work, Eades shut out the Snappers.His final stat line (6 IP, 9H, 2 ER, 3BB, 4K) may not look all that impressive, but I'll say this about Eades: he seems to have a bit of bulldog in him. Twice on Tuesday night, he worked out of bases-loaded jams that had the potential to allow Beloit to break the game open.Instead, he got the outs he needed to escape and buy time until his offense beat up on Beloit pitching. That happened in the fifth and sixth innings, when the Kernels batted around in back-to-back innings and tallied a total of 10 runs, breaking what had been a 2-2 tie and moving to a commanding 12-2 lead. Kane County also won on Tuesday, scoring four runs in the 9th inning to top Quad Cities, 4-3. However, Wisconsin fell to Clinton, 4-2. As a result, the Kernels remain a game behind the Cougars and the Rattlers fell a game behind Cedar Rapids in the standings. After a series of roster changes, Cedar Rapids is operating one player short of the 25 player limit. The Kernels currently have 13 active pitchers and just 11 active position players, which is not ideal. "We're something bad happening away from being in trouble," was how Kernels manager Jake Mauer put it after the game, alluding to the fact that he's playing games with just two offensive players on his bench. Mauer indicated he was not aware of what plans the Twins farm director, Brad Steil, might have with regard to filling the club's 25th spot. Kohl Stewart could be coming off the disabled list at any time, according to Mauer, but both Zack Larson and Zack Granite, two outfielders who started the season with Cedar Rapids before incurring injuries, remain at the Twins training site in Fort Myers nursing those injuries. Chih-Wei Hu gets the ball for the Kernels on Wednesday and Mat Batts is scheduled to go on Thursday. A quick reminder: Thanks to the Twins win against the Houston Astros on Wednesday, it means that on Thursday you can get 50% off a Large of Extra Large pizza when you use the “TWINSWIN” promotion code at PapaJohns.com. View full article

There’s much about the game of baseball that never changes. Three strikes and you’re out. Bases are 90 feet apart. Then again, some aspects of the game are constantly adjusting to the times. Witness the amount of defensive shifting going on in Major League Baseball this season. You could say that one thing that never changes is that pitchers try to throw fastballs by opposing hitters. But the arsenal of pitches the pitchers use beyond the fastball seems to differ from one era to another. Pitchers in the first part of the 20th century could – and did – legally throw a spitball. Even after the spitter was outlawed, pitchers continued to do whatever they could get away with to gain an advantage over the batter. Roughing up the ball became popular. Now umpires toss baseballs out of the game the moment there’s the slightest scuff noticed on the surface of the sphere. Even legal pitches have come in to, and fallen out of, favor among professional pitchers. Recently, writer Pat Jordan posted an article at SportsOnEarth.com entitled, The Decline of the Curve. Jordan talked to a number of big league pitching coaches about why fewer pitchers are throwing a curveball than was the case in previous eras. Some of the coaches he talked to indicated that their organizations dissuade pitchers from throwing the traditional curve and others indicated that they don’t teach the pitch to their pitchers. Since I’ve observed a number of Cedar Rapids Kernels pitchers throwing curve- balls, I was curious about whether the Twins organization and, in particular, Kernels pitching coach Ivan Arteaga, have any established policy aimed at discouraging use of the curve or any other pitch. Over the past weekend, Arteaga graciously agreed to talk to me about the subject. I started out by asking whether the Twins have any kind of established policy concerning the subject of Jordan’s article, the curveball. “We actually encourage it,” Arteaga said. “We believe in having a complete mix. I believe, this is my opinion, mix creates value. “For example, I’ve got (Ricky) Nolasco this week here. He’s got five different pitches. Throws a slider, he throws a curve, he throws a split, he throws a straight change-up, he’s got a two-seamer. And he throws low-90s. “We were having a conversation and one thing we agreed on was that pitchers in the big leagues actually have to reinvent themselves time and time again. “So that being said, the curve is a pitch that is high-to-low, 12-to-6, you name it. It’ll give you depth. It’ll make your fastball better. It’ll save your arm a little bit. “So we encourage it. If you have the curve, great. If you don’t, we’ll try to teach you one. Hopefully, you can get it." Some of the coaches that talked to Jordan blamed the shrinking strike zone for the demise of the curveball. Sandy Koufax and Nolan Ryan could throw fastballs at the letters and get them called strikes, which set up their devastating curves. Umpires today won’t call that high pitch a strike and Arteaga agrees that the strike zone getting smaller has had an effect on the choices pitchers have made when it comes to their arsenal. “Over time, pitchers started to throw the change-up more, moving back and forth,” Arteaga observed. “I remember in the 80s and 90s, the split-finger fastball was the pitch to learn and then came the slider. That’s the pitch these days being taught. “Those pitches are basically strike zone down, strike zone right or strike zone left. The curve actually starts up away from the strike zone and it gets in to the strike zone at the end with some depth. “So if you have that pitch, the hitters are so used to looking for pitches in the strike zone, that once they see the ball go up, they give up on it. And then once they give up on it, it’s hard for them to actually make an adjustment and hit it. So they give up on it and you get some weak swings. Arteaga has a theory, beyond those that the coaches Jordan interviewed expressed, concerning why you see fewer pitchers throwing a curveball today. “This goes beyond professional baseball. Because in college, you get big programs, the same way you get big programs in Venezuela, Dominican and Puerto Rico, and so forth and so on. What creates value? The fastball. “Thirty-five or forty years ago you had to mix, you learned how to pitch. These days, you get kids that are 17-18 years old, they’re just fastball throwers. If they throw something else, it will be a change-up and it will be a slider, because it’s easier to throw. But at the same time, it creates more stress on the shoulder and in the elbow." Jordan, in his article, claimed that the curveball actually is easier on the pitcher’s arm than other pitches, which goes against some conventional wisdom in the game. Arteaga agrees, however. “It’s less stressful. It’s not as stressful as the slider.” Arteaga explained. “What happens with the slider is, there’s some kids who believe the slider should be lateral – should be either right or left – it’s more sidewise than it is up and down. And for them to create that, they have to actually drag their arms a little bit. “So when they drag their arm a little, they get a lower angle. Once you want to make that ball spin, the elbow suffers a lot. So you get tight. Once you get tight, those muscles start to pull against those tendons. That’s when you get all the injuries.” There has been talk among the fan base about the Twins limiting the number of sliders and similar pitches that some of their youngest pitching prospects throw in a game. The coach’s next comment perhaps sheds some light on that philosophy. “If you ask an 18-19 year old to pitch at a level like this,” Arteaga observed, “where he understands he has to come up with something more than the fastball, then he’ll throw the slider more than he should. He might not be ready to throw it, because he needs to mix.“ Arteaga doesn’t necessarily see the curve as the hardest pitch for his young pitchers to master. “The change-up to me is like the last pitch to come in an arsenal,” Arteaga said. “There are not many guys that have the feel for the change up and the repeatability for the change-up. And so it’s easier to throw fastball-slider-fastball-cutter than become a fastball-slider-change-up guy. So the change-up is like the last pitch to come into the arsenal. “It’s hard to repeat, because there’s a couple of things that come in to play,” he explained. “One is the grip. You have to find the perfect grip. And number two, you have to find a repeatable delivery, the same as the fastball. So you can get that extension out in front and the pronation to actually make the ball fade a little bit or go down as much as you can. “So you need to repeat it a lot. Almost as much as your fastball. You need to repeat it so you can get that same feeling, every time, of extension, pronation and arm speed. “Because if you ask any guy what they fear the most, it is to leave a fastball or change-up or breaking ball up in the zone. They say, ‘I don’t want to do that,’ so what do they do? They develop a sinker, they develop a slider; anything they can do to make it go down.“ Arteaga was asked about that split-fingered fastball that he acknowledged was all the rage 20 or so years ago. Does he, or do the Twins, teach splitter? “No, we don’t,” he answered quickly. “If you have one out of college or whatever and you can throw it, yeah, we’ll let you throw it. Why not? But we don’t encourage that. “We believe the less stress you put on the arm, the better it is. If you see the games on TV, in the big leagues, you don’t get that many guys throw the split finger fastballs any more. Maybe a few, but not what it used to be. “And it really has to be a good one for you to throw it in the big leagues, because they can see the seams. If it looks like a fastball, yes, you’ve got an advantage. Make it look like a fastball, in and out of the strike zone, you’re OK." As Arteaga alluded to earlier, Nolasco spent the better part of a week in Cedar Rapids, getting a pair of rehabilitation starts in with the Kernels. The interview came before Nolasco’s final Kernels appearance Sunday, but the coach liked what he saw of Nolasco leading up to that point. “He threw everything he’s got in the first outing so I expect the same in this one too. He got in to a jam a little bit there, and struck out a couple of guys. He looked like a big leaguer. Throwing his pitches down, making it go right, left, down. “Like Joe (Mauer) was saying, he’ll make it tough on hitters, when he’s right, he’ll make it tough because everything goes different directions and it’s the same motion. “Just seeing him throw in the bullpen, he’s got command, he’s got control. And he’s healthy, so hopefully he’ll be OK.“ And did Arteaga’s young Kernels pitchers watch the way Nolasco went about his business? “Oh yeah. That’s the way it should be. They’re paying attention.“ A quick reminder: Thanks to the Twins win against the Houston Astros on Wednesday, it means that on Thursday you can get 50% off a Large of Extra Large pizza when you use the “TWINSWIN” promotion code at PapaJohns.com. Image courtesy of Steve Buhr View full article

I made the 3+ hour trip to Beloit this week for the Kernels' three-game series with the Snappers. Cedar Rapids entered the game tied for second place in the MWL Western Division with the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers, both a single game behind Divison leaders Kane County. Outside of how it would be nice to be able to say the Twins' Class A club won their Division in the second half of the season, it really doesn't matter where the Kernels finish relative to Kane County because the Cougars won a playoff berth in the first half of the season. What's important, at this point, is how the Kernels measure up to the Rattlers, as well as Quad Cities and Peoria. The latter two teams trailed the Kernels and Rattlers by 3 games entering Tuesday. Two of those four teams will earn playoff spots. The other two will join Beloit and Clinton on the outside looking in. Ryan Eades drew the start in the series opener for the Kernels and notched the win as the Kernels topped the Snappers 12-5. Eades, the Twins' second round pick in the 2013 draft, has had a challenging first full season of professional ball, but he's been having more success lately. On Tuesday, the first batter he faced, Beloit shortstop Melvin Mercedes lined a ball to right field that hit the top of the right field wall and bounced over for a leadoff solo home run. In the second inning, he gave up a triple to left fielder Ryan Mathews, who then scored the Snappers' second run. From that point forward, through the remainder of his six innings of work, Eades shut out the Snappers. Eades' final stat line may not look all that impressive, but I'll say this about Eades: He seems to have a bit of bulldog in him. Twice on Tuesday night, he worked out of bases-loaded jams that had the potential to allow Beloit to break the game open. Instead, he got the outs he needed to escape and buy time until his offense beat up on Beloit pitching. That happened in the fifth and sixth innings, when the Kernels batted around in back-to-back innings and tallied a total of 10 runs, breaking what had been a 2-2 tie and moving in to a commanding 12-2 lead. Kane County also won on Tuesday, scoring four runs in the 9th inning to top the Quad Cities, 4-3. However, Wisconsin fell to Clinton, 4-2. As a result, the Kernels remain a game behind the Cougars and the Rattlers fell a game behind Cedar Rapids in the standings. After a series of roster changes, Cedar Rapids is operating one player short of the 25 player limit allowed. The Kernels currently have 13 active pitchers and just 11 active position players, which is not ideal. "We're something bad happening away from being in trouble," was how Kernels manager Jake Mauer put it after the game, alluding to the fact that he's playing games with just two offensive players on his bench. Mauer indicated he was not aware of what plans the Twins farm director, Brad Steil, might have with regard to filling the club's 25th spot. Kohl Stewart could be coming off the Disabled List at any time, according to Mauer, but both Zack Larson and Zack Granite, two outfielders that started the season with Cedar Rapids before incurring injuries, remain at the Twins' training site in Fort Myers nursing those injuries. Chih-Wei Hu gets the ball for the Kernels on Wednesday and Matt Batts is scheduled to go on Thursday.

Thanks guys. Appreciate the kind words. And yes, I do enjoy talking baseball with all 3 of the Kernels' coaches.

There’s much about the game of baseball that never changes. Three strikes and you’re out. Bases are 90 feet apart. Then again, some aspects of the game are constantly adjusting to the times. Witness the amount of defensive shifting going on in Major League Baseball this season. You could say that one thing that never changes is that pitchers try to throw fastballs by opposing hitters. But the arsenal of pitches the pitchers use beyond the fastball seems to differ from one era to another. Pitchers in the first part of the 20th century could – and did – legally throw a spitball. Even after the spitter was outlawed, pitchers continued to do whatever they could get away with to gain an advantage over the batter. Roughing up the ball became popular. (This article was originally posted at Knuckleballsblog.com.) Now umpires toss baseballs out of the game the moment there’s the slightest scuff noticed on the surface of the sphere. Even legal pitches have come in to, and fallen out of, favor among professional pitchers. Recently, writer Pat Jordan posted an article at SportsOnEarth.com entitled, The Decline of the Curve. Jordan talked to a number of big league pitching coaches about why fewer pitchers are throwing a curveball than was the case in previous eras. Some of the coaches he talked to indicated that their organizations dissuade pitchers from throwing the traditional curve and others indicated that they don’t teach the pitch to their pitchers. Since I’ve observed a number of Cedar Rapids Kernels pitchers throwing curveballs, I was curious about whether the Twins organization and, in particular, Kernels pitching coach Ivan Arteaga, have any established policy aimed at dissuading use of the curve or any other pitch. Over the past weekend, Arteaga graciously agreed to talk to me about the subject. I started out by asking whether the Twins have any kind of established policy concerning the subject of Jordan’s article, the curveball. “We actually encourage it,” Arteaga said. “We believe in having a complete mix. I believe, this is my opinion, mix creates value. “For example, I’ve got (Ricky) Nolasco this week here. He’s got five different pitches. Throws a slider, he throws a curve, he throws a split, he throws a straight change up, he’s got a two-seemer. And he throws low-90s. “We were having a conversation and one thing we agreed on was that pitchers in the big leagues actually have to reinvent themselves time and time again. “So that being said, the curve is a pitch that is high-to-low, 12-to-6, you name it. It’ll give you depth. It’ll make your fastball better. It’ll save your arm a little bit. “So we encourage it. If you have the curve, great. If you don’t, we’ll try to teach you one. Hopefully, you can get it." http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Arteaga2014a.jpg Ivan Arteaga Some of the coaches that talked to Jordan blamed the shrinking strike zone for the demise of the curveball. Sandy Koufax and Nolan Ryan could throw fastballs at the letters and get them called strikes, which set up their devastating curveballs. Umpires today won’t call that high pitch a strike and Arteaga agrees that the strike zone getting smaller has had an effect on the choices pitchers have made when it comes to their arsenal. “Over time, pitchers started to throw the change up more, moving back and forth,” Arteaga observed. “I remember in the 80s and 90s, the split finger fastball was the pitch to learn and then came the slider. That’s the pitch these days being taught. “Those pitches are basically strike zone down, strike zone right or strike zone left. The curve actually starts up away from the strike zone and it gets in to the strike zone at the end with some depth. “So if you have that pitch, the hitters are so used to looking for pitches in the strike zone, that once they see the ball go up, they give up on it. And then once they give up on it, it’s hard for them to actually make an adjustment and hit it. So they give up on it and you get some weak swings. Arteaga has a theory, beyond those that the coaches Jordan interviewed expressed, concerning why you see fewer pitchers throwing a curveball today. “This goes beyond professional baseball. Because in college, you get big programs, the same way you get big programs in Venezuela, Dominican and Puerto Rico, and so forth and so on. What creates value? The fastball. “Thirty-five or forty years ago you had to mix, you learned how to pitch. These days, you get kids that are 17-18 years old, they’re just fastball throwers. If they throw something else, it will be a change up and it will be a slider, because it’s easier to throw. But at the same time, it creates more stress on the shoulder and in the elbow." Jordan, in his article, claimed that the curveball actually is easier on the pitcher’s arm than other pitches, which goes against some conventional wisdom in the game. Arteaga agrees, however. “It’s less stressful. It’s not as stressful as the slider.” Arteaga explained. “What happens with the slider is, there’s some kids who believe the slider should be lateral – should be either right or left – it’s more sidewise than it is up and down. And for them to create that, they have to actually drag their arms a little bit. “So when they drag their arm a little, they get a lower angle. Once you want to make that ball spin, the elbow suffers a lot. So you get tight. Once you get tight, those muscles start to pull against those tendons. That’s when you get all the injuries.” http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/ArteagaMildren.jpg Kernels pitching coach Ivan Arteaga and then-Kernels pitcher Ethan Mildren There has been talk among the fan base about the Twins limiting the number of sliders and similar pitches that some of their youngest pitching prospects throw in a game. The coach’s next comment perhaps sheds some light on that philosophy. “If you ask an 18-19 year old to pitch at a level like this,” Arteaga observed, “where he understands he has to come up with something more than the fastball, then he’ll throw the slider more than he should. He might not be ready to throw it, because he needs to mix.“ Arteaga doesn’t necessarily see the curveball as the hardest pitch for his young pitchers to master. “The change up to me is like the last pitch to come in an arsenal,” Arteaga said. “There’s not many guys that have the feel for the change up and the repeatability for the change up. And so it’s easier to throw fastball-slider-fastball-cutter than become a fastball-slider-change up guy. So the change up is like the last pitch to come in to the arsenal. “It’s hard to repeat, because there’s a couple of things that come in to play,” he explained. “One is the grip. You have to find the perfect grip. And number two, you have to find a repeatable delivery, the same as the fastball. So you can get that extension out in front and the pronation to actually make the ball fade a little bit or go down as much as you can. “So you need to repeat it a lot. Almost as much as your fastball. You need to repeat it so you can get that same feeling, every time, of extension, pronation and arm speed. “Because if you ask any guy what they fear the most, it is to leave a fastball or change up or breaking ball up in the zone. They say, ‘I don’t want to do that,’ so what do they do? They develop a sinker, they develop a slider; anything they can do to make it go down.“ Arteaga was asked about that split-fingered fastball that he acknowledged was all the rage 20 or so years ago. Does he, or do the Twins, teach splitter? “No, we don’t,” he answered quickly. “If you have one out of college or whatever and you can throw it, yeah, we’ll let you throw it. Why not? But we don’t encourage that. “We believe the less stress you put on the arm, the better it is. If you see the games on TV, in the big leagues, you don’t get that many guys throw the split finger fastballs any more. Maybe a few, but not what it used to be. “And it really has to be a good one for you to throw it in the big leagues, because they can see the seams. If it looks like a fastball, yes, you’ve got an advantage. Make it look like a fastball, in and out of the strike zone, you’re OK." As Arteaga alluded to earlier, Nolasco spent the better part of a week in Cedar Rapids, getting a pair of rehabilitation starts in with the Kernels. The interview came before Nolasco’s final Kernels appearance Sunday, but the coach liked what he saw of Nolasco leading up to that point. “He threw everything he’s got in the first outing so I expect the same in this one too. He got in to a jam a little bit there, and struck out a couple of guys. He looked like a big leaguer. Throwing his pitches down, making it go right, left, down. “Like Joe (Mauer) was saying, he’ll make it tough on hitters, when he’s right, he’ll make it tough because everything goes different directions and it’s the same motion. “Just seeing him throw in the bullpen, he’s got command, he’s got control. And he’s healthy, so hopefully he’ll be OK.“ And did Arteaga’s young Kernels pitchers watch the way Nolasco went about his business? “Oh yeah. That’s the way it should be. They’re paying attention.“

And here I was going to offer you my Jake Reed autographed Jimmy Buffet Kernels jersey next time I saw you!

Mietnkiewicz joined the Twins because they had a position for him in FL and he had a family situation that made it important to him to live there. I haven't heard if that situation has changed. If not, could very well be that he's not interested in "moving up" quite yet.

Good questions. 1a & 1b) I think Suzuki would have to be the guess for #1 both years. I'd guess Herrmann for #2 a year from now and probably 2 years (you didn't list Fryer as someone we can choose from, or I'd say he's the odds-on favorite), but I'd give Turner a chance to get to that level if he turns out to be as good defensively as his potential seems to be. 2a & 2b) I think in the event of a serious injury to your #1 catcher while in contention for postseason, with those as your internal options, you make a trade with someone. I don't think any of the guys you listed should be the starting catcher on a contender within the next 2 years. I haven't seen Turner other than a short look in spring training, but he seems to be the real deal. I'm a believer that Garver can become a MLB starting catcher. My feeling is that one (or both) of them could be starting catchers in the big leagues 3 years from now. Sooner than that seems like a stretch.

Bruno averaged about 20 HR/yr in his career, did he not?

Just want to mention that after the game Wednesday night, Stewart was standing inside the doorway behind home plate having a conversation with family members visiting from Texas and, while doing so, patiently signed autographs and stood for pictures with a steady stream of fans who approached him while he was chatting. Minor leaguers are generally more patient with things like this than big leaguers, but I'm still happy to see Kernels players show that kind of patience with fans.

I'm not sure what exactly you mean when you refer to "affiliates" working with the "parent team," but obviously the local affiliate front office has absolutely no input over anything that goes on between the lines. The manager is an employee of the parent team and works with the farm director in determining who is getting what kind of playing time, so it is in fact the parent team who is determining the batting order and everything else concerning what goes on in terms of the game. The manager and coaches also are developing players' situational hitting approaches. I don't really care to see, for example, Mitch Garver leading off for the Kernels just because he's perhaps their most advanced prospect. I'd rather have him see a few more situations where he's hitting with runners on base, or even in scoring position, than simply have him see 2-3 more plate appearances per month by hitting 2 spots higher in the order. I'd also argue that we know that some "B" level prospects will eventually shine and become MLB players. We don't know which lucky few they are, but if getting those guys a few more plate appearances gives them a better chance at developing in to useful big leaguers some day, I don't think that's a bad thing.

I shot video of Burdi's inning on Wednesday night. I was going to post a link to it, but when I uploaded it to YouTube, for some reason it loaded sideways. So, rather than make everyone turn their heads 90 degrees to watch it, I figured I would just wait a few days and try again.

It's kind of funny. I keep hearing the same names from within the organization mentioned as successors. Molitor, Glynn, Mientkiewicz and Mauer. That's their MLB bench coach, their AAA manager, high-A manager and low-A manager. But when it came to assigning someone to manage in the Arizona Fall League last year, who did the Twins tap? Jeff Smith, their AA manager. The "word" I've heard from multiple sources is that Smith isn't particularly well-liked by players and others in the organization and every year there's talk of someone replacing him at New Britain. But he's not only still there, but the AzFL assignment would seem to signal that he's actually thought highly of by the Twins. Sometimes when you replace a manager, you look for someone who has a different approach or style. Gardy has always been a "players manager," by reputation. He comes off as one of the guys. If the Twins do decide to move in another direction this year (and I think they probably will), a guy from inside the organization that has a rep for being less of a players' manager might be someone they'd consider. One complaint I've heard about Smith is that he's sometimes more concerned with winning games than helping players develop. I'm not sure if that's really true, but even if it is, it might indicate being more suited for a big league job than one in the minors. He wouldn't be my choice, but I wouldn't be all that surprised to see him be the choice of the Twins FO.

Your assumption was correct. Nolasco was on a 50-pitch limit. He will be shooting for 75 pitches on Sunday and I would imagine maybe Eades might once again be the guy who comes in after Nolasco, since that would be his spot in the rotation again.

Just want to pass along that I'm hearing rumblings that Stewart may be activated in the next few days. He's done bullpen work lately and I wouldn't be surprised to see him on the mound when the Kernels go to Beloit for a mid-week series next week.

Wow, what a week James has had during the first week of August! Yes, I know, "small sample size" and all that, but check this out: 13 for 29 for a .448 batting average. Five of those hits were doubles. His slash line: .448/.467/.621 for a 1.087 OPS. He's had multiple hits in four of the six games he's played in this past week, including a four-hit night on Aug 2 and a pair of 3-hit efforts. Really good to see James catching fire as the Red Wings head down the stretch.

I think that's true, to a degree, in that it seems there's always a couple of low-minors backstops who people get excited about and then never really see develop in to legit big league catchers. I'm not sure it's so much that the Twins lose trust in them as it is that catching at the professional level is just tough damn work. By the time they've survived 3-4 years of minor league catching, some of those bodies are already pretty beat up and that affects their hitting as well as their defense. It's really a war of attrition. (And also why I'm not at all concerned about the Twins appearing to have an abundance of catching prospects across the high-A, low-A and rookie levels.)

Tuesday night was a big deal at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Cedar Rapids. Twins Joe Mauer and Ricky Nolasco were in the Kernels’ line-up together and at least twice the usual Tuesday night crowd squeezed into the ballpark to watch them. I don’t know that from witnessing it first hand, but only from accounts from media and family members that used my season tickets that night. Seems I had foolishly committed to making a business trip to St. Louis Sunday through Wednesday this week. So I missed the filled ballpark and, from what I understand, filled pressbox on Tuesday when Nolasco pitched and Mauer played designated hitter for the Kernels, who beat the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers 9-0 that night. I did make it home from St. Louis Wednesday in time to see Mauer’s rehab debut in the field at first base. I didn’t expect to see another huge crowd, but I certainly didn’t expect to see what was essentially a pretty normal 2,000+ crowd, either. Yet, that’s exactly what I saw. I’m not sure what that says about baseball fans in Eastern Iowa.Maybe it says we aren’t as awe-struck by the presence of big leaguers as some people think we should be. Maybe it just reemphasizes that the Twins organization still has a lot of work to do in the area if they want to truly make a dent in the Cubs’ stranglehold around here and make this area a part of “Twins Territory.” Maybe it reflects the reality that Joe Mauer, himself, does not have the star power that he did when he was winning batting titles and MVP awards, not to mention being the cover-boy of MLB video games for two straight years. Still, while a lot of the Twins fans in Minnesota who have been booing Mauer at Target Field this season might scoff, he’s an almost certain future Hall-of-Famer and he was in uniform playing for the Kernels Wednesday night. If you’re a baseball fan, why the heck would you NOT show up to watch? You can’t say nobody tried to get you out there. The Kernels began marketing the Mauer arrival even before they could officially announce it was happening. When it was still an “unofficial” thing, the Kernels announced via every media outlet they could get access to that they would have special extended ticket office hours Saturday and Sunday. And people did take advantage. They got tickets for Tuesday and they got tickets for this weekend’s games, but there was little demand for Wednesday’s contest. It’s great that there will be big crowds Friday and Saturday, but honestly, there were going to be big crowds Friday and Saturday, anyway. Already-planned promotions and tie-ins with a major local employer or two this weekend guaranteed the Kernels would have a couple pretty full houses those two nights, with or without a big league headliner. That’s good, perhaps, because there’s no assurance that Mauer will play both nights. He’s scheduled for an off-day on Thursday and he indicated after Wednesday’s game that he still has a few things on his “checklist” that he wants to accomplish before returning to the Twins, so I think we can safely assume he’ll be on the field Friday night. If I were a betting man, I’d put money on him also being with the Kernels on Saturday night. I would also be betting he’s en route to Houston to rejoin the Twins before the Kernels take the field on Sunday. Anyway, I just don’t understand the mediocre crowd Wednesday night.At least the fans who did show up didn’t boo Mauer when he walked to the plate. They didn’t rise to their feet with an ovation, either, but the polite applause is better treatment than he gets from his home town fans at Target Field these days. I don’t understand that treatment, either. On Wednesday night, Mauer continued to kick off the rust a bit. He went 0-3 before calling it a night. He grounded in to a force out in the first inning and was stranded at second base. He barreled up on one in his second at-bat and drove the ball to the warning track in left-center field. In his third trip to the plate, he watched two strikes go by and then went down swinging. Defensively, I don’t recall a ball being hit to him at all. He did get one ball thrown to him on a double-play attempt that went in the dirt and he didn’t come up with it. He obviously is not lighting up the Class A pitching he’s seeing, but that’s why you rehab in the minors. Keep in mind, it’s not like he’s been taking batting practice throughout his time on the disabled list. His injured oblique muscle meant he was pretty much on the shelf until taking a few cuts in the few days before coming to Cedar Rapids. Anyone who thinks it’s easy to sit out a month and then step in and immediately hit any level of professional pitching has never tried to do it. If he’s not making consistent solid contact by the time the weekend is over, then I’ll be a bit concerned.The Kernels and Twins PR guy Andrew Heydt have done a good job of getting media access to Mauer without totally disrupting the clubhouse and other aspects of the game day routine for the Kernels. As was the case Tuesday, Mauer met with the media after exiting the ballgame in an auxiliary locker room near the Kernels’ clubhouse. Here’s . I think you can tell he’s not pleased with his results on the field, but he’s also glad to just be back on the field again. His response to a question I posed also gives a little insight into those items on his “checklist” that he still wants to try to do before rejoining the Twins.The Kernels got pretty well drubbed in the game. Chih-Wei Hu had his first rough start as a Kernel, giving up six runs in the fourth inning. Nick Burdi pitched the ninth inning for Cedar Rapids. He maxed at 99 mph on the scoreboard gun, which is known as a “slow gun.” We use a +2 guideline in Cedar Rapids, adding 2 mph to what shows on the board, which means Burdi likely hit about 101 on that pitch. Otherwise he was in the mid-upper 90s with the fastball and around 90 with the slider. I have a few photos from the evening posted over at Knuckleballs if you'd care to go check them out. We’re celebrating my grandson’s first birthday on Friday by having a “Party at the Park,” and I’m looking forward to seeing Mauer donning one of these, “Jimmy Buffet Night” jerseys on Saturday night.(Again. if you want to see an image of the jerseys, you need to go to Knuckleballs.com.) Mauer may well be on his way to Houston to rejoin the Twins by Sunday, but I’ll be at the ballpark that afternoon to watch Ricky Nolasco stretch himself out to 75 pitches in his second rehab start with the Kernels. View full article

I got a bit video crazy Thursday night and if you'd like to see a bit of the result, click here to head over to Knuckleballsblog.com for a look. Video of Jake Reed's work on the mound in the 9th. Mitch Garver's leadoff double in the 11th. Bryan Haar's game winner, driving in pinch runner Jon Murphy to beat Kane County 4-3.

I appreciate the comments/suggestions concerning the minor league coverage. As one of the many writers who contribute content on specific minor league affiliates (in my case, the Kernels), I'm really interested in what sort of articles readers are interested in. I try to provide a mix of general updates and player/coach interviews and features, but it's not always clear which articles the TD community finds interesting and which draw mostly yawns. To that end, the comments and suggestions are welcomed.

Tuesday night was a big deal at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Cedar Rapids. Twins Joe Mauer and Ricky Nolasco were in the Kernels’ line up together and at least twice the usual Tuesday night crowd squeezed in to the ballpark to watch them. I don’t know that from witnessing it first hand, but only from accounts from media and family members that used my season tickets that night. Seems I had foolishly committed to making a business trip to St. Louis Sunday through Wednesday this week. So I missed the filled ballpark and, from what I understand, filled pressbox on Tuesday when Nolasco pitched and Mauer DHed for the Kernels, who beat the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers 9-0 that night. I did make it home from St. Louis Wednesday in time to see Mauer’s rehab debut in the field at first base. I didn’t expect to see another huge crowd, but I certainly didn’t expect to see what was essentially a pretty normal 2,000+ crowd, either. Yet, that’s exactly what I saw. I’m not sure what that says about baseball fans in Eastern Iowa. Maybe it says we aren’t as awe-struck by the presence of big leaguers as some people think we should be. Maybe it just reemphasizes that the Twins organization still has a lot of work to do in the area if they want to truly make a dent in the Cubs’ stranglehold around here and make this area a part of “Twins Territory.” Maybe it reflects the reality that Joe Mauer, himself, does not have the star power that he did when he was winning batting titles and MVP awards, not to mention being the cover-boy of MLB video games for two straight years. Still, while a lot of the Twins fans in Minnesota who have been booing Mauer at Target Field this season might scoff, he’s an almost certain future Hall-of-Famer and he was in uniform playing for the Kernels Wednesday night. If you’re a baseball fan, why the heck would you NOT show up to watch? You can’t say nobody tried to get you out there. The Kernels began marketing the Mauer arrival even before they could officially announce it was happening. When it was still an “unofficial” thing, the Kernels announced via every media outlet they could get access to that they would have special extended ticket office hours Saturday and Sunday. And people did take advantage. They got tickets for Tuesday and they got tickets for this weekend’s games, but there was little demand for Wednesday’s contest. It’s great that there will be big crowds Friday and Saturday, but honestly, there were going to be big crowds Friday and Saturday, anyway. Already-planned promotions and tie-ins with a major local employer or two this weekend guaranteed the Kernels would have a couple of pretty full houses those two nights, with or without a big league headliner. That’s good, perhaps, because there’s no assurance that Mauer will play both nights. He’s scheduled for an off day on Thursday and he indicated after Wednesday’s game that he still has a few things on his, “checklist,” that he wants to accomplish before returning to the Twins, so I think we can safely assume he’ll be on the field Friday night. If I were a betting man, I’d put money on him also being with the Kernels on Saturday night. I would also be betting he’s en route to Houston to rejoin the Twins before the Kernels take the field on Sunday. Anyway, I just don’t understand the mediocre crowd Wednesday night. At least the fans who did show up didn’t boo Mauer when he walked to the plate. They didn’t rise to their feet with an ovation, either, but the polite applause is better treatment than he gets from his home town fans at Target Field these days. I don’t understand that treatment, either. On Wednesday night, Mauer continued to kick off the rust a bit. He went 0-3 before calling it a night. He grounded in to a force out in the first inning and was stranded at second base. He barreled up on one in his second at-bat and drove the ball to the warning track in left-center field. In his third trip to the plate, he watched two strikes go by and then went down swinging. Defensively, I don’t recall a ball being hit to him at all. He did get one ball thrown to him on a DP attempt that went in the dirt and he didn’t come up with it. He obviously is not lighting up the Class A pitching he’s seeing, but that’s why you rehab in the minors. Keep in mind, it’s not like he’s been taking BP throughout his time on the Disabled List. His injured oblique muscle meant he was pretty much on the shelf until taking a few cuts in the few days before coming to Cedar Rapids. Anyone who thinks it’s easy to sit out a month and then step in and immediately hit any level of professional pitching has never tried to do it. If he’s not making consistent solid contact by the time the weekend is over, then I’ll be a bit concerned. The Kernels and Twins PR guy Andrew Heydt have done a good job of getting media access to Mauer without totally disrupting the clubhouse and other aspects of the game day routine for the Kernels. As was the case Tuesday, Mauer met with the media after exiting the ballgame in an auxillary locker room near the Kernels’ clubhouse. Here’s some video I shot of that exchange. I think you can tell he’s not pleased with his results on the field, but he’s also glad to just be back on the field again. His response to a question I posed also gives a little insight in to those items on his “checklist” that he still wants to try to do before rejoining the Twins. (Not having much luck posting the video here, so you'll need to go over to Knuckleballsblog.com to check out the video.) The Kernels got pretty well drubbed in the game. Chih-Wei Hu had his first rough start as a Kernel, giving up six runs in the fourth inning. Nick Burdi pitched the ninth inning for Cedar Rapids. He maxed at 99 mph on the scoreboard gun, which is known as a “slow gun.” We use a +2 guideline in Cedar Rapids, adding 2 mph to what shows on the board, which means Burdi likely hit about 101 on that pitch. Otherwise he was in the mid-upper 90s with the fastball and around 90 with the slider. I have a few photos from the evening posted over at Knuckleballs if you'd care to go check them out. As with the video, I have no idea how to get them to show up over here in TD with the new format (I used to simply cut from my blog and paste everything here, but that doesn't work any more). We’re celebrating my grandson’s first birthday on Friday by having a “Party at he Park,” and I’m looking forward to seeing Mauer donning one of these, “Jimmy Buffet Night” jerseys on Saturday night. (again. if you want to see an image of the jerseys, you need to go to Knuckleballs) Mauer may well be on his way to Houston to rejoin the Twins by Sunday, but I’ll be at the ballpark that afternoon to watch Ricky Nolasco stretch himself out to 75 pitches in his second rehab start with the Kernels.

Hey now! I suppose you're right, to a degree. It helps to have baseball get us through to the fall when we all get to spend our idle time making fun of Gopher football.