Center and Shortstop

[stringer bell]

With the injuries to Nuñez and Plouffe, Danny Santana will probably be starting at shortstop most of the time going forward. I heard Gladden discussing the situation and he made it sound like whether there were injuries or not, that Fuld would be the regular center fielder while Santana would get occasional starts there and also play shortstop. I don't know if this is information from the club or Gladden speculating. I hope it was just him speculating, because Fuld is a fourth OF and he shouldn't be getting full-time at-bats. This scenario also limits Escobar's playing time and I, for one, think Eduardo has earned the shortstop job, for now. Out of necessity, he has played at other positions the last four games, but when Nuñez returns I would hope he plays third and Escobar can go back to shortstop, where he has played very well. We all are assuming that Escobar's BA will fall below .300 (I do too), but I'm predicting that Santana's BA will fall below .300 before Escobar.

 

BTW, Escobar's OPS is higher than Santana's and EE has almost 200 plate appearances. Pretty soon we are going to quit comparing Escobar's start to Colabello or that way Escobar started off last year. I believe he already has more plate appearances than he had all of last year.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

I also feel Escobar has won the SS job, and hopefully Nunez can get back on the field in a day or two. Truly a tough break with Plouffe and Nunez getting hurt the same day.

 

I was a little disappointed seeing the replay of Fuld's throw on the sac fly that ended the game. A pretty shallow ball. I knew Fuld had a below average arm but it was not only a weak throw, but 30 feet up the third base line. We've seen throws like that from Delmon and Revere in the past. Meanwhile Santana has the stronger arm but seems to lack the skill to catch and transfer (never mind his ability to judge where the ball is actually going to come down).

[stringer bell]

Including Fuld's poor throw, I counted five bad plays for the Twins' outfield. 1) Arcia lost V-Mart's first inning drive in the sun. 2) Willingham played a ball in the corner into a triple 3)Arcia took extra steps and still made a poor throw to the plate on the resulting sac fly. 4) Arcia dropping the ball on the warning track 5) Fuld's poor throw on the game-winning fly ball.

[jokin]

Including Fuld's poor throw, I counted five bad plays for the Twins' outfield. 1) Arcia lost V-Mart's first inning drive in the sun. 2) Willingham played a ball in the corner into a triple 3)Arcia took extra steps and still made a poor throw to the plate on the resulting sac fly. 4) Arcia dropping the ball on the warning track 5) Fuld's poor throw on the game-winning fly ball.

 

Add 2 infield plays that were botched and it was a bad day all around:

 

6) Rosario botched a play at 3rd in the Third that was clearly playable and ruled a hit, but was definitely an old school error.

 

7) Mauer dropped a foul pop that was ruled no play but was an error.

[stringer bell]

Add 2 infield plays that were botched and it was a bad day all around:

 

6) Rosario botched a play at 3rd in the Third that was clearly playable and ruled a hit, but was definitely an old school error.

 

7) Mauer dropped a foul pop that was ruled no play but was an error.

Mauer didn't drop the popup, but should have made the catch.

[twinsnorth49]

Add 2 infield plays that were botched and it was a bad day all around:

 

6) Rosario botched a play at 3rd in the Third that was clearly playable and ruled a hit, but was definitely an old school error.

 

7) Mauer dropped a foul pop that was ruled no play but was an error.

 

When did Rosario get called up and why is he playing 3rd base?

 

Escobar has definitely earned the SS job in my mind, we're up over 200 PA's and he's still strongly contributing. The right move is to move him back to SS after Nunez returns and continue to give bats to Santana while having him play CF with Fuld as the 4th OF.