[TABLE=class: tr-caption-container] http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cWcmRxG78IM/T419D60ZDDI/AAAAAAAAAR4/w4wxuQuuC1s/s1600/Liriano.bmp [TD=class: tr-caption]Is tonight the night where Liriano puts it together?? [/TD] [/TABLE] [Originally published at Twins Fan From Afar] CC Sabathia is down. In two starts this season, he has 0 decisions. In 12 innings pitched, he's given up 16 hits, 9 earned runs, 2 home runs and 5 walks, while striking out 15. His ERA in this brief stretch is 6.75. Clearly, h
[TABLE=class: tr-caption-container] http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jh-qnf2Rgkk/T799K13-yvI/AAAAAAAAAXQ/tqi1cqrtG-4/s320/SweetMusic.bmp [TD=class: tr-caption]As an 8 year old, I couldn't understand why GM Andy MacPhail would trade away Frank "Sweet Music" Viola [/TD] [/TABLE] [Originally published at Twins Fan From Afar] I recently surpassed it. A couple years ago, in fact. The average age of an MLB player is 28.68 years old. I'll be 31 in a couple months. For every Jamie Moyer helping to incre
In the nightcap it wasn't just Miguel Sano and Eddie Rosario that I was excited to see. This was also my first time seeing righty Trevor May in person. May consistently hit 93 with his fastball in the 1st inning, and was moving it in and out pretty effectively. Same control problems we have all heard about, though. Had a 4-pitch walk and a wild pitch in the first inning. 20 pitches to get out of it. The second inning, though, was much better -- 14 pitches 1-2-3. Ironically, former Twins' farmhan
[TABLE=class: tr-caption-container] http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-enD_ad7IRkM/T7zbH9pyfMI/AAAAAAAAAW4/7QB8uOqRkd4/s320/Herm3.bmp [TD=class: tr-caption]In each of his 4 starts since joining the Rock Cats, B.J. Hermsen has gone over 6 innings. [/TD] [/TABLE] [Originally published at Twins Fan From Afar] Yesterday, I reviewed some notable hitting prospects for the New Britain Rock Cats. The team is now 10 games over .500 and is in first place with a 1.5 game lead over the Reading Philli
It's time again for my recap of tonight's action in the Twins' farm system. The parent club couldn't pull out a win tonight, so let's see how the affiliates fared. The Rochester Red Wings were off tonight. They are in last place in the International League North, 9 games out of first place with a 16-26 record. New Britain 1, Binghamton 8 Today's game was quite a test for the Rock Cats, facing top Mets pitching prospect Zack Wheeler. He routinely hits 97 with the fastball, and probably won't
[Originally published at Twins Fan From Afar] [TABLE=class: tr-caption-container] http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-P5vo20JSwUE/T4gjOXN7EYI/AAAAAAAAARQ/tVKHsUbz_PE/s320/Gibson.bmp [TD=class: tr-caption]Twins fans are wondering when, and if, Kyle Gibson will become part of the Twins' rotation [/TD] [/TABLE] This season, the Twins are shelling out $28.25 million on their intended starting pitching staff. Here's the breakdown: Scott Baker (will not pitch an inning this season): $6.5 million
[TABLE=class: tr-caption-container] http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nQM4h8sazyM/T7EE54Ig61I/AAAAAAAAAVc/0dAydXE054E/s1600/Wilkin.bmp [TD=class: tr-caption]Wilkin Ramirez is not long for AA if he keeps up his 1.228 OPS [/TD] [/TABLE] [Originally published at Twins Fan From Afar] Like their parent club, the Rock Cats split a 4-game series over the weekend against the Reading Phillies. I attended Thursday night's game, a 10-3 loss. You can find my game recap here. Apparently, I picked the one bad
To think, just 5 months ago, I questioned whether Aaron Hicks had earned his promotion to AA. Of course, at that time, I was basing my concern on Hicks' less-than-impressive High-A slash line of .242/.354/.368 in 2011. Importantly, Hicks was repeating High-A that season, so I had reason to be suspicious. Boy, was I wrong. Hicks unquestionably had a breakout season in 2012 that, at least for me, firmly places him in the top 5 of Twins prospects going into 2013. Let's look at his numbers from thi
[TABLE=class: tr-caption-container] http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jgbOh8Mq8aw/UL9W-7td2cI/AAAAAAAAAfo/I262BsuGsts/s320/AW+Pitch.JPG [TD=class: tr-caption]Steely Determination [/TD] [/TABLE] [Originally published at Twins Fan From Afar] This past spring, when I attended the Rock Cats' annual welcome home dinner, where I was seated with (a pre-Tommy John) Alex Wimmers, I purchased $5 worth of raffle tickets and won the opportunity to throw a ceremonial first pitch before a Rock Cats game. I
[Originally published at Twins Fan From Afar] **Full disclosure: this post is full of hypotheticals, and is not grounded in reality** [TABLE=class: tr-caption-container, align: center] [TD=class: tr-caption]Twins fans, can you picture Bryce Harper wearing the TC logo? [/TD] [/TABLE] The 2010 season produced some great memories for Twins fans. Jim Thome proved that you could be old (in baseball terms) and still
. Joe Mauer had a solid season. Justin Morneau played the first half
[TABLE=class: tr-caption-container] http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-leMRI9seyNs/T-hcXoyUwzI/AAAAAAAAAb0/3Q9nJmDmPhE/s320/Bigley.bmp [TD=class: tr-caption]Evan Bigley says, "Do not take my playing time, Oswaldo Arcia." [/TD] [/TABLE] [Originally published at Twins Fan From Afar] The Rock Cats finish up their four game series, as well as their week-long road trip, in a noon game today against the Richmond Flying Squirrels, but the series has already been a success. The Rock Cats won the first
[TABLE=class: tr-caption-container] http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CCa8MxdTpjY/T7o4SKD50wI/AAAAAAAAAWM/loUcirSMPdM/s320/Dozier.bmp [TD=class: tr-caption]Brian Dozier, new Twins shortstop [/TD] [/TABLE] [Originally published at Twins Fan From Afar] One player you probably have heard of since he was 15 years old. Between the prodigious 500 foot home runs as a teenager, the eye black that could be mistaken for war paint, and an ego big enough to handle a $6.25 million signing bonus, he came
[Originally published at Twins Fan From Afar] As I scanned down the list of position players on the Twins' 25 man roster, and saw names like Josh Willingham, Justin Morneau, Joe Mauer and Denard Span as starters, and guys like Luke Hughes and Sean Burroughs off the bench, something came to mind: there shouldn't be an awful hitter on this team in 2012. If you've followed the Twins for the past several seasons, there is always at least one hitter that can barely hit his weight, yet makes his w
[Originally published at Twins Fan From Afar] I've been thinking about this question lately. Baseball farm teams are, by nature, really interesting. General managers don't set the rosters, or even acquire the players. And I bet if the Rock Cats GM gets a call from Terry Ryan suggesting that he play the back-up shortstop because "something may be in the works," the back-up shortstop will get a lot of playing time, regardless of what that does to New Britain's chances. In the minor leagues, the
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-056cy5Z-OeM/UuGpH01MrdI/AAAAAAAAAto/__6b6ORgXW4/s1600/BlogTalkRadio.jpg [Originally published at Twins Fan From Afar] I've only done a few podcasts in the couple years that I've had this blog, but it's a lot of fun to do. Last night, Travis Aune, keeper of Texas Twins Fan, was nice enough to invite me on his weekly podcast. We talked for almost an hour. You definitely have to listen to it, but topics ranged from the Yankees' signing of Japanese pitcher Masahiro Tanak
New Britain only amassed 3 hits in the first of two 7-inning contests tonight, but to be completely honest, that wasn't the main -- or perhaps even secondary -- story. No, make no mistake, fans and reporters (including this fan/reporter) were here to see Miguel Sano, Eddie Rosario, and Angel Morales, the newest additions to the Rock Cats. I was fortunate to be in attendance, to take a few pictures, and even awful video, of the debuts. [TABLE=class: tr-caption-container] [TD=align: center]http:/
Last night I had a brief, and sort of strange, Twitter exchange with Tom Powers of the Pioneer Press. He tweeted "I'm still waiting for the Twins organization to hand Miguel Sano a first baseman's mitt." We exchanged a few respectful replies - this definitely wasn't a Twitter argument or war -- but it was still very confusing to me, and I still firmly believe I'm correct. (Here's the link to the first of the Tweets.) First, let's agree on one thing: Powers is correct that Sano's defense had
[TABLE=class: tr-caption-container] [TD=align: center]http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EctjgVfwZLE/UXLSVCXvCbI/AAAAAAAAAhY/21kS0rHiBc8/s400/IMAG0425.jpg[/TD] [TD=class: tr-caption, align: center]This picture of Justin Morneau hangs in a suite at New Britain Stadium. The Rock Cats do a great job of paying tribute to the Twins' greats that have come and gone from this stadium. [/TD] [/TABLE][Originally published at Twins Fan From Afar] After approximately the first two weeks of the 2013 season, th
I really hold back what I would like to say about then payroll arguments here. The fact that people don't accept the amount taken in dictates the amount going out requires one of two things. Extreme financial ignorance or fanatical bias that prevents the acceptance of something some basic. I did not change the argument. It's the same idiocy over and over. Do you really want to be on the side that suggests revenues does not determine spending capacity?
At this point in the pre-season, I’m just so happy to be seeing games again, I don’t care about the Twins record in 2023. I think they’ll win it all, unrealistically speaking 🙂
I really hold back what I would like to say about then payroll arguments here. The fact that people don't accept the amount taken in dictates the amount going out requires one of two things. Extreme financial ignorance or fanatical bias that prevents the acceptance of something some basic. I did not change the argument. It's the same idiocy over and over. Do you really want to be on the side that suggests revenues does not determine spending capacity?· 0 replies
