Tom Froemming

Turley, 27, last pitched for Somerset in the Atlantic League. He was a starter, and set a league record for Ks in a postseason game (14). While he was fantastic there (2.02 ERA, 0.918 WHIP, 5.08 K/BB), he started the season at Double A Portland and struggled (4.29 ERA, 1.514 WHIP, 1.71 K/BB).

Dazzle sounds fairly confident they'll play ... which makes me nervous

Sooo they're not playing this game tonight, right? Anybody hear anything or have any guesses?

Here's hoping. Even worse than the overall record last year was the fact it felt like the season was over barely after it had started. Coming out of May with a 15-36 (.294) record was a tough pill to swallow. One more note in regard to all the home games, we can probably expect Miguel Sano to continue his hot start. So far in his young career, Sano has a .921 OPS at Target Field (.791 on the road).

FWIW Berrios is working on some mechanical adjustments. On the Red Wings' pregame show just now he said he's trying to ditch that wrist curl thing he does with his pitching hand behind his back at the start of his delivery. Said he's been doing that his whole life, so it has been difficult to change that habit. Primary reason for the change is they think it will help his command, but they're also hoping it make it less likely he'll tip his pitches.

The phrase taking things one day at a time is a baseball cliche for a reason: Looking ahead can be the kiss of death. After an 0-9 start to last season, the Twins are 6-3 this year. So they're going to be much better this season, right? Well, the marathon of a season has just begun ... but maybe. Right now, all we know is the team is off to a good start and if you look ahead at the schedule, as dangerous as that may be, there is reason for optimism.Friday night, the Twins start a 10-game homestand, which is tied for their longest of the season. In fact, 16 of the team's next 22 games will be played at Target Field and 28 of the next 43. Since Target Field opened in 2010, the Twins have a .461 winning percentage at home versus a .425 mark on the road. If we just assume the team plays to those averages over the next 43 games, they'll go something like 19-24. In other words, they'd head into June a couple games under .500. That would be pretty exciting stuff from a team that some idiot (me) suggested could lose another 100 games this year. I realize that's probably about the least-sensical prediction method you could come up with, but the point is this: Even if the Twins play exactly like they have over the past six seasons (poorly), they should still have a respectable record a month and a half from now. This early, it's hard to draw many conclusions, but we should know a lot more about this 2017 Twins team a week from today. Despite the home-heavy schedule ahead, the Twins face some tough tests. They're going to get a feel for what's it's like facing the cream of the crop in the American League. Not that a team coming off 103 losses can talk, but the Royals, White Sox and Tigers aren't exactly projected to be world beaters this season. Chicago is in town this weekend, but Monday the Twins open a four-game series against Cleveland. A week later, the Twins travel to play three games against the Rangers and the first weekend of May the Twins host the Red Sox. The results against those three defending division champions should serve as an excellent measuring stick to determine if this hot start for the Twins is legit or a mirage. It's also worth noting that things could get especially difficult in June. The Twins open the month with a 10-game West Coast road trip and play a total of 37 games in 39 days before heading into the All-Star break. Luckily, sandwiched in the middle of that streak is another 10-game homestand. But hey, that's getting a little ahead of ourselves. For now, let's just soak up the sunshine of 6-3 and look forward to seeing the Twins at Target Field on a regular basis through the end of May. We may not be able to know how it's all going to play out, but it sure has been a fun start. ADDITIONAL NOTES -The Twins scored 11 runs in their victory over Detroit Thursday. The 2016 Twins scored a grand total of 14 runs over their first nine games and didn't score double digits in a game until Jun 21, when they beat the Phillies 14-10. -The White Sox already started some measure of a rebuild this offseason, but if the Royals and/or Tigers get off to poor starts they could also go into fire sale mode. In KC, Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas and Lorenzo Cain are all set to become free agents at the end of the season. And there is something of a cloud of uncertainty surrounding the Tigers after the death of their excellent owner Mike Ilitch, who was always willing to stretch the payroll if he felt it increased the likelihood of his team winning a World Series. This year, maybe more than ever, it's very important to get off to a good start in the AL Central. The division already doesn't look particularly strong, but in the second half a few of the teams could gut their rosters and become complete pushovers. -Next month, the Twins will play 18 of their 27 games at home. Last May, they played just 10 of 27 at Target Field. The terrible start to 2016 crippled that team, but having a tough schedule in May made it very difficult for them to get things back on track. -On this date a year ago, I wrote a blog post at Twins Daily titled Finding Hope At 0-8. In it, I did some similar nonsensical math, saying the team was really only four or five wins off the pace from what many of us had expected, meaning they only had to win one extra game a month than we had originally projected them for. Things ... um ... did not work out that way. This is a great opportunity to point out that anybody can start up their own blog at Twins Daily and write whatever they'd like. Even if you write something that ends up being comically wrong, like I did, there's a chance you could get your article promoted to the main site. At the very least, hundreds (if not thousands) of Twins Daily readers will read what you've written, you'll get some comments and I promise you'll have fun. Click here to view the article

This is a great point on Stewart. I honestly do not believe Kohl is trying to strike anybody out. I think he's trying to be efficient. That strategy makes a lot of sense for him up to this point in his career. Coming into the draft, one of the biggest question marks surrounding Stewart involved the fact he has Type 1 diabetes. It seemed there were some questions surrounding his durability. While we would have loved to see him dominate, he has certainly answered any questions about his ability to handle a starter's workload. He's gone from 87 to 129.1 to 143.2 innings pitched the past three seasons. And he has been successful, so there was little incentive for him to adjust his approach. But you hit the nail on the head, if he gets clobbered like this on a regular basis we'll see him make some adjustments and try harder to miss bats.

If you want evidence that Paul Molitor has influence over the 25-man roster, I think the fact that Danny Santana is still around is all you need. He's been one of the worst players in baseball for two years and had a poor spring. Hard for me to believe the front office would have been keen on keeping him (though we'll see what happens once Ehire Adrianza is healthy).

I'd send Duffey down to get him stretched out. If extra bullpen arms are needed eventually, there are a host of other guys should be able to step in and contribute in the middle innings. There are very few Plan B guys for the rotation right now. Berrios sticks out, for sure, but I think teams use an average of something like 10 starters a season. The only other minor league SPs on the 40 man right now are Felix Jorge and Fernando Romero. Other options are guys like Nick Tepesch, Jason Wheeler, Paul Clemens and David Hurlbut.

I'm really intrigued by Matt Albanese. He's healthy now, correct? Anybody see him on the backfields at all during spring training?

I forgot to congratulate Todd Van Steensel, who has been promoted to Chattanooga. Pretty sure he had the craziest work commute ever, which he shared on Twitter today (@toddvs35).

The Twins minor league Opening Day was subdued by weather postponements and lack of offense, but their affiliates kicked things into gear on Friday. A top prospect hit a walk off, there was a dominating pitching performance and even the team that didn't pick up a victory made a valiant comeback attempt. Here's a look at everything that happened in the Twins minor league system on Friday.RED WINGS REPORT Rochester, Syracuse (POSTPONED) Rainstorms and even some snow has hit Syracuse, wreaking havoc on the Red Wings' season-opening plans. The first two games of their series in Syracuse have been cancelled, but Saturday's forecast shows only a 20 percent chance of precipitation (though the high is just 47 degrees). Assuming they (finally) get their opener in, Jose Berrios will face off against Joe Ross (3.43 ERA over 19 starts with the Nationals last season) in as good a minor league pitching matchup as you could hope to find. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 4, Mobile 3 (10 innings) Box Score Nick Gordon gave the Lookouts their first win of the season in dramatic fashion, hitting a game-tying sac fly in the bottom of the seventh before driving in Tanner English on a walk-off single in the bottom of the 10th inning. Gordon finished 3-for-4 at the plate and started a pair of 6-4-3 double plays in the field. English, who reached safely three times on the night, led off the 10th with a double before Gordon, the very next batter, ended it. Dan Rohlfing hit a home run and Travis Harrison just missed one of his own, smacking a double off the wall. Minor league veteran Matt Tracy started for the Lookouts and went 5 2/3 innings while giving up three runs (just one earned) on seven hits. He struck out four and walked one. Nick Burdi came on in relief, and after his first pitch got by Rohlfing for a run-scoring passed ball he settled in to throw 1 1/3 perfect innings with one strikeout. Raul Fernandez handled both the eighth and ninth innings before John Curtiss came in for the 10th, picking up the win in the process. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 8, Jupiter 11 Box Score Sam Clay had a night to forget, but the Miracle offense broke out after being shut out in their opener. Last season's Midwest League batting champ Luis Arraez had three hits out of the leadoff spot, Zander Wiel drove in three runs and catcher Brian Navarreto hit a solo home run. Fort Myers trailed 4-1 entering the seventh inning, but Clay surrendered six runs in 2/3 of an inning. There will surely be better days ahead for the former fourth-round pick, who made all of his 24 appearances last season as a starter. His teammates did their best to pick him up, but fell just short. Down 11-1 in the eighth inning, Doug Mientkiewicz's boys showed no signs of giving in, as they rallied back for four runs, followed by another three runs in the top of the ninth. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 4, Beloit 0 (7 innings) Box Score In Game 1 of their doubleheader with the Snappers, Eduardo Del Rosario turned in a dominating performance for the Kernels. The wiry 21-year-old right-hander threw six shutout innings while striking out seven and walking one. Del Rosario surrendered just two hits, one of which was on a bunt. Cedar Rapids scored three of their runs in the top of the second inning. Lewin Diaz led off with a double and scored on Jaylin Davis' two-bagger, which was followed by another RBI double by Mitchel Kranson. Davis later added a sacrifice fly in the third inning. Colton Davis pitched the seventh, sealing the shutout for the Kernels. Cedar Rapids 2, Beloit 3 (7 innings) Box Score The Kernals couldn't quite finish off the doubleheader sweep, as Beloit won it on a walk-off double. Lewin Diaz went 2-for-3 with a double and drove in both runs for Cedar Rapids. Tyler Wells followed up Del Rosario's masterful performance with some swing-and-miss stuff of his own, but he also struggled with his command. Over four innings, Wells had six strikeouts, but he also walked four and hit a batter. That wildness is uncharacteristic of the big right-hander, as he issued just 17 walks over 47 1/3 innings last season. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Eduardo Del Rosario, Cedar Rapids Kernals (6 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 1 BB, 7 K) Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Nick Gordon, Chattanooga Lookouts (3-for-4, 2 RBI, walk-off single in the bottom of the 10th) SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester @ Syracuse - (12:05 CST) RHP Jose Berrios Mobile @ Chattanooga - (6:15 CST) - RHP Fernando Romero Jupiter @ Fort Myers (5:05 CST) - TBD Beloit @ Cedar Rapids (5:05 CST) - RHP Sean Poppen Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Friday's games. Click here to view the article

Can we talk about how stupid the White Sox's new stadium name is? It changed from U.S. Cellular Field to Guaranteed Rate Field for 2017. I get Target Field is named after a sponsor too, but at least it sounds kinda cool.

Oddly enough, in 2015 the team had its worst walk rate during that excellent month of May. March/April: 7.1 BB% May: 6.1 June: 7.0 July: 7.0 Aug.: 7.0 Sept./Oct.: 9.2 And last year's gawd awful team drew significantly more walks than that 2015 squad, 513-439.

My favorite play of the series was yesterday when Polanco ranged to his right, made a nice pick, avoided Sano and fired to end the seventh inning. Here's a link to that highlight. This is true, but I like the fact that Molitor is going to keep putting him in the three spot, at least for the time being. If you think Buxton is your third hitter on Opening Day, why let 15 plate appearances change your mind? If Byron has the peace of mind that even if he has a bad series, or a bad few weeks, he's still going to be in there everyday I think we're going to see some very good things happen for him this season.

Great stuff. I think before long we'll see some sort of head protection become universal for pitchers. Somebody needs to come up with something low-profile and comfortable to wear. We've seen some advancements in the design of batting helmets (though nobody seems to be able to make one that'll stay on Eduardo Nunez's head), but I haven't heard much about studies on catcher's masks or helmets. Seems to me like those goalie-style one-piece ones would be safer, but tons of guys still use the old school two piece ones. Of course, you're never going to be able to protect everybody from everything. There will always be potential for some freak play where a middle infielder's knee nails a guy right in the wrong spot on the head. And none of the protection options I mentioned above would prevent anybody from getting hit in the neck, like Phillip Hughes did. Certainly the more and more velo we're seeing on the mound and the exit velocities we now have access to off the bat make you think of things like this. I'm glad the base coaches wear helmets now, and there's more netting to protect the fans, but it'd be great to see the MLB continue to keep a focus on safety.

Our Mr. Grossman, whatever you wanna call him, is 6-for-11 with a pair of doubles and a homer off Danny Duffy over his career. So no matter if Park, Vargas or whoever was on the roster, he'd probably be DHing today anyway.

Hard to project his future due to his lack of size, but Eduardo Del Rosario is a super fun pitcher to watch right now. Really came along as the year progressed. Over his last nine games had a 2.31 ERA, held opponents to a .195/.275/.314 line and had 60 Ks against 15 BBs. His swinging strike % over that stretch was about 15%, which is elite.

Man, that's a great looking Triple A roster. Is Paulsen strictly a 1B now, or could you see him playing some in the outfield corners? Have any thoughts on Goodrum's defense at shortstop to share?

Definitely more work and attention has been put on the change than the curve, but the overall vibe is he is working on mixing things up more. Yes, the changeup has not been a pitch Hughes has been comfortable breaking out with any kind of regularity in the past, so he's been throwing it like crazy this spring. He told Patrick Reusse "I’m in. I’m going to throw the changeup this year.” So I think, for better or worse, we're going to see Hughes continue to work on getting the feel for that pitch.

I believe anyone on the 40-man roster with more than five years of service time can refuse an outright assignment to the minors. My guess would be in this scenario Hughes would just elect to become a free agent. The Twins would still have to pay him every penny owed on his contract. I think if you're looking for ways to ditch Hughes, the most likely outcome would be something similar to the Ricky Nolasco trade. The Twins would have to package Hughes with a prospect and chip in some money.

I guess you could say I'm high on Phil Hughes