Weekly Links-N-Thinks

It wasn't the best week for the Twins as the team lost the rubber game of their three game set with the Orioles on Sunday. This was followed by losing two out of three games to the dreaded White Sox.

Even with the poor play, Joe Mauer continues to be one of the best hitters in the game (.519/.594/.704 in the last 7 days). Aaron Hicks showed off all of his skills in one game to help the team to their only win of the week. It wasn't all bad for Justin Morneau either as he hit over .460 for the week with four doubles.

Things don't get much easier from here as the Boston Red Sox come to Target Field for a weekend set. Clay Buchholz takes the hill on Friday for the Sox. He has been one of the best pitchers in the American League this season but the Twins got to him in their last match-up a little over a week ago.

Boston's in town for a three game series but don't forget to check out some of the top baseball news from the last week.

• Byron Buxton smashed a walk-off grand slam and his teammates even let him get all the way around the bases! (The Kernels didn't do this on a walk-off a couple weeks ago.)
  
• Is there a connection between pitching to contact and the runs a team scores?
  
• Tom Brunansky is starting to get a feel for his new job. It also helps to have one of the best hitters in the game for the players to watch every day.
  
• With his performance earlier this week, there certainly has to be hope for Hicks.
  
• Some might even call it "The Aaron Hicks Game."
  
• Sometimes it helps to have 20/20 hindsight when it comes to free agent pitching.
  
• In the heart of the Twins offense, there has been a strong core this year.
  
• Chris Colabello took a different path but he certainly is making some noise this season.
  
• Sickels also wrote some prospect notes on a recent trip to see Cedar Rapids. Harrison and Walker were the subject of one post while Goodrum and Polanco headlined the other.
  
• Sports Illustrated's Fortunate 50 list came out and Joe Mauer ranks 20th.
  
• More top prospects are playing up the middle positions and this has cut back on production with first basemen at the big league level.
  
• Joe Mauer took over the active leader board for career batting average. Take that Pujols and Ichiro!
  
• Twins minor leaguer and Minnesota native Nate Hanson picked baseball over hockey.
  
• The offense has been great for Fort Myers but the pitching is helping the team to win games.
  
• There have been plenty of mock drafts posted in recent days and there starting to be a consensus for the Twins with the fourth pick:
  
• MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo: #4 Sean Manaea
  
• Baseball America: #4 Kohl Stewart
  
• ESPN's Keith Law: #4 Kohl Stewart
  
• Minor League Ball's John Sickels: #4 Kohl Stewart
  
• Here are some interesting notes on how players fared in games when their bobblehead was given out.
  
• Torii Hunter has changed his approach and the results have been very good for the veteran.
  
• The Marlins believe new manager Mike Redmond has their back (even if their team isn't very good)
  
• This deployed dad sure made a memorable return home.
  
• Mariners shortstops are hitting worse than pitchers so far this year.
  
• A campaign has started to push Mariano Rivera to start this year's All-Star Game. Apparently, they want to "Start Mo."
  
• Rawlings is changing some of the standards when it comes to baseball helmets.
  
• Have you ever wondered what Yankee Stadium would look like if it was made out of match sticks?
  
• A player in Korea celebrated a knock like it was a home run... then the outfielder caught it on the warning track.
  

My Weekly Rundown

• Saturday: Talk to Contact: Episode 37
  
• Monday: Mauer's hot streaks and chasing doubles
  
• Tuesday: Are the Twins a .500 club?
  
• Wednesday: Contemplating Cole De Vries
  
• Twins Minor League Report (5/15): Colabello Crushes
  

Video of the Week: As mentioned multiple times in this post, Aaron Hicks put together quite the effort earlier this week. In one game, he hit two home runs and he took a home run away from Adam Dunn. Like Puckett, Hunter, Span, and Revere before him, Hicks can scale the wall and bring one back into the park. Check out the smile on his face when he shows off the ball he caught.