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Blogs

Left Coast Bias

Back Fields in Motion - March 22, 2017

Today the big league club was on the road, and I did not follow them, returning to my haunts at CenturyLink Sports Complex.   It was a bit of an abbreviated day on the back fields for me, as I didn't arrive until 11, and the players had already departed for their lunchtime break because the games were slated for noon. And then that noon start meant the game was over well before 3:00. Fellow TD moderator ChiTownTwinsFan joined me to watch the Cedar Rapids single-A squad (or at least the momentary
Left Coast Bias

Back Fields in Motion - March 21, 2017

Greetings from sunny Florida! I'm lucky enough to be in Ft Myers for a week during Spring Training.   Today I spent the day mainly on the back fields, watching the minor league prospects. Normally I call these reports Hammond Notes (I must have been under the impression everyone remembers Hammond Organs when I thunk up that one), but Hammond is strictly speaking the major league field here, and it would be clunky to title today's entry CenturyLink Sports Complex Notes. The photo here is of all t
Off The Baggy

Twins Future Is Within Two Moves

The Minnesota Twins recently announced that 2015 6th overall pick Tyler Jay was headed to the bullpen full time. While that obviously saps the value from the pick, it's a clear indication that Derek Falvey and Thad Levine are all for positioning their young talent to produce the best possible return on the most ideal timeline. Given the state of the Twins, the organization actually has a lot of boxes checked off thanks to that young talent.   With Jay entering the fold, Minnesota now has a group
Baseball Intelligence

Pitch Framing and Twins Pitchers

On Wednesday, November 30, 2016 the Twins announced the signing of free agent catcher Jason Castro to a 3-year, $24.5MM contract. It was a move that was widely attributed to the members of the Twins’ new front office comfort with advanced analytics. Jason Castro is widely regarded as very good defensive catcher due in large part to his ability to frame pitches and steal strikes for his pitchers. In 2016 Castro ranked third in all of baseball in Baseball Prospectus’ Framing Runs statistic, with +
Off The Baggy

Jay Represents Twins Past And Future

Recently, Twins Daily reported that the Minnesota Twins have pulled the plug on turning 2016 6th overall raft pick Tyler Jay, into a starter. It's an unfortunate outcome that makes the pick look much worse off than what it was originally perceived, but at this point it's also representative of what was, and what is now. As the rest of Jay's narrative plays out, he'll be looked at through at a very unique lens.   When selected 6th overall in the 2015 draft, there was plenty of concern over the pi
The Twins Almanac

The Twins Almanac for March 19-25

March 19   Nothing happened today, except for the births of Paul Powell in San Angelo, Texas in 1948, and Tim Corcoran in Glendale, California in 1953. The two hit a combined .171 in 42 total games as Twins.   Powell went 5-for-31 as a Twins rookie in 1971. Corcoran, who played parts of nine season in the majors, went 9-for-51 for the Twins in 1981.     March 20 Happy 27th Birthday to Brad Hand   It’s the birthday of 2008 Chaska High School graduate and current Padres pitcher Brad Hand.
Off The Baggy

Twins 25 Man Roster Projection 2.0

With just a couple of weeks left of baseball down in Fort Myers, the Twins are gearing up quickly for the beginning of the 2017 Major League Baseball season. In what should be a much more competitive season, Paul Molitor's club is looking to put their best foot forward. It's been nearly two months since I last looked at the 25 Minnesota will take north two months ago, and an update is more than overdue.   Although there hasn't been a ton of shuffling, the Twins have been dealt a significant inju
Off The Baggy

Twins In For An Overhaul

With just a couple of weeks left until Opening Day, the Minnesota Twins will be whittling down their players in camp and aligning the 40 man. What that means for a team with no spots left on the 40 man roster, is a handful of hard decisions lie ahead. The interesting bit for the new regime, is that it appears there are more moves than initially were to be expected.   Although the active 25 man roster can remain in flux through the first few weeks, Derek Falvey and Thad Levine are going to need t
Off The Baggy

Twins Offense May Be Defense

There's no skirting around just how bad the Minnesota Twins were on the mound last season. Their starting pitching was the worst in the big leagues, and their relief options broke down far too often as well. Although and overhaul hasn't taken place, the more important understanding is that a heightened focus on defense may be all that was ever needed.   Target Field has been pegged all over the place as to which side of the game it favors. Although at times it plays big, I think the understood r
Off The Baggy

How To Stop The May Fallout

Having spent time at spring training down in Fort Myers last week, the Twins came off with a process that looked poised to process better results. 2017 has been looking like a season in which Minnesota could turn the page from an ugly 103 loss a season ago. Then, upon returning to Minnesota, the news that Trevor May's season would now be over had hit. What happens now?   After looking back through some of my tweets from Minnesota's exhibition against Team USA, it seems I had been aware of what r
Talkin' Turnstiles

2017 Twins Theme Night Recap

This week the Twins released their "Theme Nights" for 2017. For those who don't know, a Theme Night is different than a giveaway in the fact that instead of getting something for free, a person has to pay extra (although usually not much) to get a special item. I thought Theme Nights were strange when I first saw it, but now that I've gotten used to it, the idea makes more sense.   It's a way to drum up extra sales for games, to sell tickets in lower-selling areas that would probably go unsold o
The Twins Almanac

The Twins Almanac for March 12-18

March 12, 2006 Kirby Puckett Memorial Service   15,000 fans, family, and friends including Cal Ripken Jr., Dave Winfield, Kent Hrbek, Harmon Killebrew, Dan Gladden, Al Newman, Gardy, TK and more pay tribute to Kirby Puckett in a moving memorial service at the Metrodome. Mudcat Grant sang “What a Wonderful World.”     March 12, 2014 Sano Goes Under the Knife   Mets team physician Dr. David Altchek performs Tommy John surgery on 20-year-old Twins prospect Miguel Sano at the Hospital for S
Minnesota Foul Play-by-play

The Twins might not suck

After seeing the Minnesota Twins hold off USA Baseball 3-2 on Wednesday, a dangerous thought for any Minnesota sports fan crept into my head: these guys might not suck. The Twins are projected to improve more than any other team, but given last season, that’s not saying much. Many of the 14 more games the Twins are expected to win are due to an expected improvement in defensive runs saved. The addition of Jason Castro has a lot to do with it. He came through in an RBI situation in the second inn
Blog Sarah

Live From CHS Field...It's A World Premiere

In what may be the only time I’m ever in the men’s restroom at CHS Field, I took in the world premiere of “Safe at Home” last night, Mixed Blood Theatre’s new show about baseball, race and immigration. The story takes place prior to game seven of the World Series and centers on whether a Dominican pitcher scheduled to start the biggest game of his career will instead use the platform to protest the game and take a political stand. The show is divided up into nine “scenes” (or shall we call them
  • Sarah
Marthaler

Ranking: Methods of Speeding Up Baseball

1. Pitch Clock I used to be anti-pitch clock, like a lot of people. "Baseball doesn't have a clock!" I exclaimed, stupidly forgetting the day that I saw Freddy Garcia average (estimating here) fourteen hours between pitches. By the end of the third inning of the first pitch-clocked game I saw, I was a convert, and you will be too.   It moves the game along. I now support the shortest pitch clock possible, as well as a between-innings clock, and also support giving the umpire a BB gun to shoot pe
Views from the road

Are the Twins on the wrong path?

We have all seen the divide in posters here with the comments on which starters should be with the Twins. It is still early or midway in spring training and this article is not so much of that debate, but a question of how the Twins should approach the next 2 years.   Starters: Only Santana and Hughes will have contracts into the 2019 season. The best crop of Free Agent pitchers will be on the market after the 2018 season. I feel that the Twins by that time need to know what holes in the rotatio
Off The Baggy

The Dark Horse For The 5th Spot

Coming into spring training, the Minnesota Twins had no less than three of the five starting rotation spots claimed. Ervin Santana was a lock, Kyle Gibson wasn't going anywhere, and Phil Hughes was expected to be healthy enough to claim his role. With two openings left, Hector Santiago was presumably given another one, That left just one spot and a lot of competition for the Twins down in Fort Myers.   My expectation from the onset is that Trevor May would be given every opportunity to move back
Off The Baggy

A Twins Surprise In Filling Out The Bench

The Minnesota Twins have now played a handful of games this spring, and with the calendar quickly approaching the middle of March, players will be cut and reassigned to minor league camp shortly. For Paul Molitor's club, squeaking out extra wins on a roster looking to rebound from a tough 2016 is going to be an absolute must. I'm not so convinced there aren't a few surprises in store as to how the bench is constructed.   Arguably the most predictable scenario, or at least the one causing the lea
Talkin' Turnstiles

2017 Twins Promotions Release Recap

Years ago, at Christmas, I decided to give my family the gift of taking them up to a Twins game. I left picking the date up to my mother who picked a Sunday afternoon game in August.   Why that game? Because the giveaway was a Twins backpack or bag or something similar. She didn't pick because of the opponent, she didn't pick because the Twins were facing a great pitcher having a dominant season, she picked because of the giveaway. It was something I never would have thought of. I mean, bobblehe
Thrylos' Blog - select Tenth Inning Stretch posts

Predicting the Twins 25-man Roster - version 2.0

Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch ------   Ten days ago, before Spring Training games started, I took a preliminary cut at the potential Twins' 40-man roster. My view was that they Twins at this point will value veteran clubhouse presence and defense. I also suspected that participating at the WBC was a negative   That 25-man roster was:   Starting Pitchers (5) Ervin Santana Kyle Gibson Phil Hughes Trevor May Ryan Vogelsong   Relievers (7) Brandon Kintzler Ryan Pressly J.T. Charg
The Twins Almanac

The Twins Almanac for March 5-11

March 5 Happy 60th Birthday to Jerry Ujdur   It's the birthday 1975 Hermantown High School graduate Jerry Ujdur. Jerry made the Hermantown varsity team as an 8th grader. In ‘75 he met Dick Siebert halfway in Hinckley to audition for the legendary Gophers coach. He would win 27 games as a Gopher, second only to his teammate, Minnetonka High School grad Steve Comer's 30 wins. Ujdur appeared in 49 games, starting 37 for Detroit from 1980 to '83, winning 10 games for the Tigers in ‘82. He would pi
The Dollar Dome Dog

Joe Mauer's New Hobby Is Lighting Cigars With $100 Bills

-Shtickball- An Euphus Pitch of Truth   Minnesota Twins First Baseman is in the later years of his career, and says he's finally finding some of the finer things in life as a well paid veteran.   "You grow up, you get old, and you find things that you really enjoy." Mauer said after finally showing up to Spring Training "I've had a blast watching my kids grow up, I've had a good time trimming my lawn with scissors, and now I've started smoking cigars lit with hundred dollar bills, and let m

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