Lee-The-Twins-Fan

Anyone else think we'll see Perkins yet this inning?

Not yet... The Twins have to bat first.

Guess I'll have to put him back in my fantasy baseball lineups....

Volquez is out after 5.2 innings! Yay!

Got it, on a Nunez single!!! Go Twins!!!

Parks strikes out - swinging at ball four.

All th pitches to Park have been low-low-low – do they know something?

More Sano, but no more SNOW!

On Tuesday, I checked the 25-man rosters of all 30 MLB teams, checking not for quality, but quantity - of players by positions. While this may not be the opening day roster, it was probably close. Of the 30 teams: • Most had 12 pitchers. Two teams - the Athletics and the Mets had 11 pitchers. the Mets actually only had 24 players on the 25-man roster. The Cubs, Giants and Indians had 13 pitchers. All others had 12. • Four of the AL teams – Athletics, Red Sox, Royals and Tigers had a player named as a designated hitter. The other 11 teams did not. • The three-man catcher appears to be a thing of the past. Only the Cubs carried three catchers. All other teams had two designated as catcher. • Teams had between four and seven infielders and between four and seven outfielders designated. One should keep in mind that some players can play both infield and outfield positions (such as Danny Santana, Miguel Sano, Eduardo Escobar and Eduardo Nunez). Eight teams designated seven infielders, but only Oakland designated seven outfielders. The Athletics were also the only one to have only four infielders. A lot of teams had four, five or six infielders and outfielders. But only the Royals had equal numbers of each (five). • Half of the teams (15) had exactly six infielders. Fourteen teams had 4 outfielders; 11 teams had five outfielders. Five teams had either six or seven outfielders. • The most common roster was 12 pitchers, two catchers, 6 infielders and 5 outfielders (9 teams had that). • The Cubs, Mets, Athletics and Royals had unusual combinations of pitchers, catchers, infielders, outfielders and/or designated hitters that no other team had. Oakland's was most unusual - with 11 pitchers, 7 outfielders, only 4 infielders, 2 catchers and a DH. It's one of only 2 teams with 11 pitchers (all others had 12 or 13); only team with 4 infielders; only team with 7 outfielders, and one of four teams with 4 DHs. P IF OF CA DH Mets – 11 6 5 2 A's – 11 4 7 2 1 Cubs – 13 5 4 3 Royals – 12 5 5 2 1 Twins – 12 6 5 2 (most common) I'm not sure of the significance of all of this. But if the Athletics, Mets, Cubs and Royals succeed with their unusual combinations of players, will other teams copy them? Probably not.

And based on that one game, win the MVP award.

Escobar is not the flashy-type player, who gets the TV interviews and gets in the papers all the time. He's not competing with Dozier and Plouffe to be the leader of the Twins in the clubhouse. He just quietly goes about doing his business. Well, after two doubles in an otherwise completely forgettable season opener, Escobar won't be ignored by the media much longer.

Yeah, Span, Hicks, Gomez, Revere – no shortage of real GOOD OF. At least defensively. At some time this season, we could have five current and former Twins in centerfield, playing on one day. And Buxton, Rosario and Kepler can all play the position as well. As for the pen, Nathan, Neshek, Boyer and Cotts would be my back end. the problem – as you noted – with the former Twins lineup is there are no reserves for 2B, 3B and SS. None. That's rough. I'd put the current Twins roster and lineup against this squad any day.

I was able to watch four Lookouts games last April 30-May 3. It was great! Got to see Buxton, Sano, Duffey and Rosario before they joined the Twins. Very nice park – very close to the action – not much foul ground near home plate. Hope to go again sometime this year.

Here are some: • Rosario's OF assists. • Park's BA, OBP, K-rate and home runs. • Buxton's doubles. • Nolasco's ERA and W-L. • Berrios' ERA and W-L in AAA. (directly related to Nolasco's) • Sano's HR and K-rate. • Starters' ERAs.

Sweet tea, hot or iced.

I'm more bullish than most. I'm looking at a .280/.390/.590 (.980) line with 25 doubles, 30 home runs and 95 RBI. remember he'll be batting fifth or sixth often – behind Sano and Plouffe, driving them in.

Under... again. The Sox have poor defense, and not enough offense. I also don't know what Vegas sees in them. I'll split the difference in the last two years – 75 wins.

Looking at his splits for 2015 I find: • He likes Target Field, hitting .318 with an OPS of 1.065, compared to .224 and .775 • He was best in July, with his stats cooling in August and September. • Batting third, he only hit .194 in 34 PA. Small sample size. • Sano batted .308 with a 1.097 OPS with two outs, much better than with no outs or one out (125 PA). • With 2 outs and RISP, he hit .300 with a 1.042 OPS. • His best OPS (over 1.000) was in the first, third, seventh and ninth innings. • Strangely, his worst batting average was when facing a starting pitcher for the third time in a game (.163 with an OPS of .745) Much better BA and OPS on his first and second at bats against a starting pitcher. This goes contrary to most hitters, I believe. Fascinating.

I confess, I have been down on Danny Santana. I have written several times on TD that I expected him to be sent down, passed through waivers. But the last few days he has really picked up his offense. Maybe he's just not an every day player. What can I say. I hope he has a great season, and my doubts were totally unfounded.

I agree. On to more optimistic appraisals...

I'd reverse those – Berrios by May 10, Duffey by June 10.

If it's a question of over/under Seth's prediction, I'll take the under – and I'm a strong supporter of Rosario. I too expect a SLIGHT drop-off of many of last year's numbers because the league has seen more of him now. They'll know him better. It's a matter of if he can make the adjustment. it'll be even more important for him to lay off bad pitches this year – because of the lengthening of the lineup (adding Park, and last year, Sano and Buxton). As pitchers have to face a more daunting Twins' lineup (Dozier, Mauer, Sano, Plouffe, Park, Rosario, Escobar, Suzuki and Buxton), there will be fewer holes for pitchers; thus Rosario might get better pitches – unless he continues to swing at bad stuff. It's mainly up to Rosario. I see a .260/.290/.460 (.760), with 24 doubles, 16 triples, 16 home runs and 15 stolen bases. Still not bad for a full season, with a little more plate discipline and more walks.

And the catchers at AAA.

Molly wouldn't get fired that night, Well, he might. It depends on how good a bunt Sano lays down.

Happy Good Friday and Easter everyone.