Minnesota Twins Talk

His defense is awful. He single handedly gave up the tying run tonight. He's allowed multiple runs this week alone. And he's hitting .185. He doesn't even draw walks anymore. Granite or any replacement level player would be an upgrade. Why are we clinging to him?

There really isn't anyone in the rotation looking terrible right now. When Erv comes back would it be advantageous to go to a 6 man rotation? Especially while Erv is building up stamina. I mean can a 6 man rotation hurt the starters? Especially if they are getting in some bullpens in between starts. Would they potentially be fresher at the end if they are in the hunt for the playoffs? Just some thoughts.

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Bernardino did a nice medium dive into Kyle Gibson's improvement. We've all heard about mixing in more 4 seamers and fewer 2 seamers. Turns out, he's also throwing way fewer change ups while his slider is the most whiffed pitch in the majors this year. That get-me-over curve that he uses second time through? Third most. Fits the eye test. When he nibbles hitters ignore the unhittable slider, and he gets killed. When he attacks hitters have to swing or guess and his slider is amazing. https://www.twincities.com/2018/05/28/how-on-earth-is-kyle-gibson-missing-so-many-bats/

The Twins, desperately in need of more offense, have two right handed bats at catcher in AAA: Wynston Sawyer and Williams Astudillo. Is it time to replace the anemic hitting of Bobby Wilson with one of these guys? Won't solve the current run production problem, but it couldn't hurt. Watching this line-up fail to score night in and night out is starting to wear me down! Are these desperate times needing desperate measures???

This could be a very bad week. I'd like to see them shuffle the roster/batting order and bullpen. Release Grossman. DFA Kinley and Rogers. Call up Curtiss and Duffey. Sign an OFer (Melkey Cabrera?) or call up Granite. RH batting order Buxton Mauer Rosario Dozier Kepler Sano LoMo Escobar Castro Bullpen: Pressly and Reed closer/8th depending on situation. Rodney Duke as Loogy only Hildy Duffy Curtiss Give Hughes a couple more starts until hopefully Santana is back.

Last night's game between the Phillies' AAA team, the Lehigh Valley Ironpigs, and the Twins AAA team, the Rochester Red Wings, featured Trevor Plouffe at 1B for Lehigh (2-2, HR, 3 RBI) and Miguel Sano at 3B for Rochester (3-4, HR 2 RBI). Former Phillies #1 prospect Trevor May started the game for Rochester and took the loss as the Ironpigs won, 4-3. Nick Gordon, making his first AAA appearance, entered the game in the bottom of the 8th inning as a defensive substitute at SS but didn't get to bat.

In a tweet a few minutes ago Phil Miller says the Twins have DFA Phil Hughes.

Courtesy of the great Carlos Gonzalez, Star Tribune:

The entry draft is quickly approaching. In his second mock, KLaw has the Twins picking Cole Winn, RHP, Orange Lutheran (California) HS. At least it isn't a college reliever... Hopefully, there will be a catcher prospect available within the first few rounds.

TWINS FANS I am putting together a digital photo history of the Twins…..every player…..1961 through 2017. The only photos of players not in their Twins uniforms are listed below. If you have a photo of any of the 5 players in their Twins uniform, please contact me at conklinwj@aol.com. Again, I’m only looking for digital photos (e.g., JPEGs) that can be emailed (or scanned & emailed). Willing to trade and help you with your photo collection. If obtaining a copy of the entire Twins CD (2700 photos) interests you, please contact me at the above email address. Bill 1963 Don Williams 1989 Lee Tunnell 1994 Kevin Campbell 1997 Kevin Jarvis 2003 James Baldwin

With Mauer out, Morrison will be playing first. DH is open, so Sano can DH here just as well as Rochester. Maybe wait an extra day or so to do the whole "five innings at 3rd base" rehab plan. What's the cost? They could use an extra hitter in the lineup. Starting Sunday.

I'm filing this under "good problems to have" but how will this rotation look when Santana and May get healthy? Berrios Romero Gibson Odorizzi Lynn Santana May May is the obvious guy to push the bullpen but I really like him better as a starter. I think Lynn starts pitching better here and will be tough to bump out of the rotation. There will always be injuries but it will be interesting to see how Molly handles this moving forward.

There’s an author who works for MLB.com - that’s right, he actually represents the sport itself - who annually publishes a list of active players who seem possibly destined for Cooperstown: https://www.mlb.com/news/potential-hall-of-famers-who-will-play-in-2018/c-264650420 His list includes Yadier Molina but not Mauer. I’ve seen this on other similar types of lists too. Here’s the issue...Yadier Molina is older than Mauer and, remarkably, has *less* bWAR for his entire career than Mauer has for only his peak-7 years as a catcher. Don’t let anyone try to convince you that Molina is more worthy. It’s just silly.

Did I miss something and see Jason Castro is just on the 10 day DL even though they have said he is out for th season after his surgery? Or are they just biding their time and will make the move once they find another catcher to add to the roster. Bobby Wilson can go back to Rochester for team depth.

With Castro out for the season, do the Twins roll with Garver/Wilson, or should they look to upgrade? Should they make a run at Realmuto?

I haven't heard anything. Is he close to coming back? Is he going to go on a rehab assignment first?

Castro messed his knee up. Not sure how long he is out for. Finally time for some Garv sauce. Wilson has an OPS of .332 in 40 AB's...don't expect a lot of production at the plate from him. Personally would have liked to see Willians Astudillo.

Max Kepler and Eddie Rosario have been two of the stars for the Twins thus far this season. It seems that Max Kepler is finally having the breakout season many have predicted him to have and Eddie Rosario is proving that last season's breakout was for real. Max Kepler Kepler's production during the first 30+ games this season has been more surprising. The most notable thing for me is the improvement in his BB% and K% to about 11.5% and 13% respectively. Kepler seems to have taken a jump forward in terms of his approach at the plate and command of an at bat. This improvement in approach and command has allowed him to be in more positive hitting situations and has …

As we have seen over the years when given opportunities to play every day Eduardo Escobar shines. Filling in for Miguel Sano so far this year he has shown he has the bat to be 3rd baseman, posting a .993 OPS while hitting 15 doubles and 7 home runs in 2018. Over his career Escobar has primarily played the left side of infield playing 322 games at short and 196 at 3rd base. However, he has played a handful of games at 2nd base in his career. The opportunities have been limited in Minnesota over the last 4 or 5 years with Dozier being a fixture there. However, it has been well publicized Brian Dozier would like to test free agency this winter. And if he finds a ne…

Trevor got the start tonight at Fort Meyers. Hopefully all goes well, and he can add another quality piece to the big league staff soon.

Garver’s minor league track record suggests an interesting .OBP/Power profile from the catcher position. He’s old for someone just breaking into the majors (27), but he got a relatively late start and catchers can take more time. The sample size is still limited and Garver hasn’t done it consistently at the MLB level, but he’s flashed the power a little during the beginning of this season and also the BB rate during his first stint. As a hitter, it seems like if he can settle into the 10-12 BB% he showed during his minor league track record and/or push towards the 11.5 BB% he put up during his first 50 PA’s in the majors and approach the 30 2B - 20 HR power poten…

Of course, I had to wait until the Twins played the Angels to see a game on TV here in Japan. (Perhaps when Tanaka-san pitched for the Yankees against the Twins, the game might have been televised, but I was working.) I got to watch the game in which Lynn pitched against Skaggs. I know this is a minuscule sample, but here is what I saw. The Twins hitters generally had good at bats against the Angels. The Angels are a good team--better than last year. Having Ohtani-san in the line-up really does make their line-up tough to get through; Ohtani-san adjusts very well to pitcher tendencies IMHO (this is the only point not based on a small sample--we see Ohtani-san every nigh…

I was thinking about the trade deadline today. If the Twins are still in it after the All-Star Break and don't have any huge injuries (knock on wood), they're a pretty solid team. It’s hard to see where they’d need massive upgrades. • The starting rotation almost has too many options so outside of an ace, it makes little sense to get a pitcher. Even then, not sure there’s going to be a starting pitcher available who moves the dial that much. • The bullpen has struggled at times but is deep with a lot of options in the high minors. You could make a move but the market on elite bullpen arms is always high and I’m not sure the Twins will have a need that excuses the cost. …

____________________________________________________________________________ The Twins Bullpen Now and Going Forward: ____________________________________________________________________________ The Twins bullpen is their obvious weak-point--there is some promise though I personally think Rodney is at best a league average closer and probably something somewhere below average. I think he’s going to cost the Twins games this year and I think he already has. With that being said, I’m not sure the Twins have the best group in the league...but Trevor Hildenburger, Ryan Pressly, and A. Reed are doing a pretty solid job as the 7th/8th inning guys. While Taylor Rogers and…

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I found the comments towards the end of the column on how to deal with Sano and motivate him interesting. I more or less agree with the general comments and tenor of the piece. Other than that comment, I am just going to post this and duck. http://www.startribune.com/swinging-for-the-mountains-is-miguel-sano-s-weighty-issue/481643771/

What direction do you see this team going? Do you see us having enough Minor League depth to sustain losing player streak like, Kepler, Buxton, Rosario, Berrios, our young core. Or do we just go straight to rebuild mode after they retire/go somewhere else? Genuinely curious what you all think.

Eddie continues to come up with big hits and good defense. He plays a bit recklessly at time, but with maturity, this should correct itself. Love watching him play and mature.

Some old British newsreel footage of the Twins at Spring Training in 1964. The team was reportedly the first to put up players in a racially integrated hotel. Unfortunately, no sound. http://britishpathe.com/video/VLVA8LP1E0ILV8C7JQ8ZOA9P0P6DU-USA-BASEBALL-TEAM-BOOKS-IN-AT-INTEGRATED-HOTEL