First 3 Games: + & -

[jimbo92107]

- 3 Losses in the bag.

++ Joe Mauer looks a LOT better than last year. Seeing the ball quicker.

+++ Danny Santana, ditto. Looks great all around.

+ Escobar looks solid at the plate and SS.

+ Buxton looks better at the plate, same in CF. No longer over-matched. 

+ Sano not a complete disaster in RF, in fact looks fairly competent.

- Sano's not finding the ball well yet. Starting off swinging flat?

- Dozier cold at the plate, but good at 2B.

+ Plouffe looks okay at plate, solid at 3B.

- Rosario almost as cold as Dozier at plate, good in LF.

- Park is struggling, but not completely over-matched.

 

- Santana's command was inconsistent.

+ Gibson looks a little stronger than last year.

+ Hughes looks a little stronger.

 

- Jepsen looked passive, needs to attack.

+ May looks good.

++ Ryan Pressley looks really good.

+ Abad looks pretty good.

- Fien looks like his command isn't there.

 

 

[Linus]

Um May looks good?

 

The most disturbing thing to me is the number of strikeouts / lack of competitive at bats. This is a carryover from last year and a problem that will doom them to feast or famine on offense.

[70charger]

 

Um May looks good?
 

 

You're saying he doesn't? In only 4 innings pitched, he's got 7 strikeouts, a 2.25 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP. I mean, SSS and all that, but it's hard to complain about that. 

[jimmer]

Um, Sano looks fairly competent in RF?

[Old Twins Cap]

Main thing is that a lot of Twins key players are young and up coming.  If they improve and get better, the Twins will be fine.  If the young guys have tough nights that turn in to tough months that turn into a long term struggle, then the Twins will be one of the worst teams in the league.

[Platoon]

I know it's way too early to panic. But it's not to early to surmise. The SO's aren't going away, the history of the players involved would indicate that. Sooner or later there will be a barrage of HR's, but I bet a lot of them are going to be solos. The defense could be a wash compared to last years. Buxton is living up to his rep already, but Sano will drag the level down. The question is how far his level of improvement will go. Everyone who ever played, reached an end point. He better be a long way from his. As for the pitching? Enough has been said about the pen, so that meh is all I want to add. As for the starting staff, the team often uses KC as an example of winning without a dominant staff. But you better have an awful good defense to cover the lack of SO's. You can do without one or the other, but not both.

[Brock Beauchamp]

My opinion of the team hasn't changed a bit (except for Escobar, who is unbelievably good again). It's three games. Yeah, opening the season 0-3 really sucks but the weather is cold and players are still figuring it out.

 

I'm irritated that the Twins can't string together a win but it's just three games. Annoying but not terribly important in the grand scheme of things.

[sorney]

 

- 3 Losses in the bag.

++ Joe Mauer looks a LOT better than last year. Seeing the ball quicker.

+++ Danny Santana, ditto. Looks great all around.

+ Escobar looks solid at the plate and SS.

+ Buxton looks better at the plate, same in CF. No longer over-matched. 

+ Sano not a complete disaster in RF, in fact looks fairly competent.

- Sano's not finding the ball well yet. Starting off swinging flat?

- Dozier cold at the plate, but good at 2B.

+ Plouffe looks okay at plate, solid at 3B.

- Rosario almost as cold as Dozier at plate, good in LF.

- Park is struggling, but not completely over-matched.

 

- Santana's command was inconsistent.

+ Gibson looks a little stronger than last year.

+ Hughes looks a little stronger.

 

- Jepsen looked passive, needs to attack.

+ May looks good.

++ Ryan Pressley looks really good.

+ Abad looks pretty good.

- Fien looks like his command isn't there.

That's a lot of +'s for a team that has started off 0-3.....I admire your optimism and level-headedness.

I'm too emotional, and already ready to blow the team up and start over

[bluechipper]

If this awful hitting continues, Buxton should bat leadoff, with Dozier 3rd. Maybe it's just Dozier's rough start, but I don't really like him leading off.

[Pardon My Dinger]

Not a predictions thread, I realize, but looks like Joey Joe Joe Shabadoo is going to be hitting third for almost the whole season, and I think we're all going to feel pretty okay about that. 

[gocgo]

Nothing like heading to the world champions to fire off a winning streak....we need some competition!

[gocgo]

-- 2-21  with RISP

-- 6 BB and 35 K's  Ouch!

[Vanimal46]

I'd put Gibson as a - ... His sinker looked good but was having problems locating his other pitches. 

Escobar deserves a ++ .... one of the few very bright spots on the team right now. 

 

Dozier deserves a  - -  .... I'm not expecting a .500 BA with 4 HRs already, but his at-bats have been brutal so far. 

Pressly +++ ... very impressed with him so far. Hope he can keep it up. 

[HitInAPinch]

3 days of crappy weather.  GOODBYE BALTIMORE!

[Loosey]

In three games the pitching staff gave up 11 runs.  3.66 runs per game.  Pretty solid especially given the bullpen had to pitch in 7 innings in the first game and had to come on early in the 3rd due to rain. 

 

Once the bats get going they would hopefully be able to get more than 2 runs.  2 runs per game and 11 + K's per game won't cut it though.  Hopefully a lot of this can be attributed to cold weather, stopping and starting games and just not having timely hitting/slow start.

 

 

[Drew]

Sano has made a couple of catches look easier than I expected but between the horrible dive that cost a run and his close-your-eyes-and-stab-at-the-air miracle catch I have a hard time saying he looks fairly competent. He could very well get there, but right now he looks like a guy who has never played RF before (imagine that). 

 

I've been a baseball fan too long to overreact to 3 games in April but man Escobar looks like a legit, 1st division SS. Great looking swing, obviously good gap power and his D is perfectly fine. If he gets his OBP to .325-.330 he'll get AS consideration. Sort of a big "if" but I don't think it's out of the realm of possibility. 

[twinsnorth49]

Ok so he should have just left it at Sano not being a disaster in RF, but hey let's make a mountain of a molehill.

 

Bats are the issue, the important ones. 3 games, good grief.

[Foghorn Leghorn]

Dozier is cold as ice... I still do not think he realizes these games count?

Mauer looks really good, Sano looks like he is starting to find himself with those couple hits yesterday.

Escobar has been great, why not have him at the 2nd spot? Or even lead off since Dozier has been beyond horrible.

Bux is budding into a superstar..

[bluechipper]

I didn't think this team was going to have any problem scoring runs. Hopefully the obp and strikeouts don't become too big of a problem as the season really gets going.

[mlynch16]

 

If this awful hitting continues, Buxton should bat leadoff, with Dozier 3rd. Maybe it's just Dozier's rough start, but I don't really like him leading off.

Escobar should lead off with Buxton second just to get them some more at bats if nothing else.

[Willihammer]

I'll say this in the Twins defense- that O's team looks goooood. Whenever that lineup finally gels, watch out. They are going to blow teams away.

[Comrade Bork]

Don't worry friends! We are exactly on pace for another 83 win season!

[jokin]

 

I'll say this in the Twins defense- that O's team looks goooood. Whenever that lineup finally gels, watch out. They are going to blow teams away.

 

Funny... on Sunday Reusse said the AL looks like it's going to be at its best in a long time... solid-to-great team throughout the League, no doormats he says, EXCEPT, Oakland and... Baltimore...

[twinsnorth49]

 

Dozier is cold as ice... I still do not think he realizes these games count?

 

 

 Yes, this has to be it, I mean what else could it be right?

[Willihammer]

I mean, we lost but it could have been a lot uglier IMO. We walked a ton of batters. Buxton caught two balls about 6 inches above the CF fence (one off Davis in the fist game and one of Schoop in the third). The Rule 5 kid is still on fire. I mean, their worst regular could be JJ Hardy for cripes sakes. The lineups is stacked and the bullpen has some weapons too. They just need a little starting pitching.

[Willihammer]

I scouted orioleshangout.com for the game threads and they are all talking about the renewed focus on OBP. That was a point of emphasis all spring evidently. And it seems to have taken. They're going to score a ton of runs I think.

[Platoon]

My opinion of the team hasn't changed a bit (except for Escobar, who is unbelievably good again). It's three games. Yeah, opening the season 0-3 really sucks but the weather is cold and players are still figuring it out.

 

I'm irritated that the Twins can't string together a win but it's just three games. Annoying but not terribly important in the grand scheme of things.

I am not throwing the team under the bus for three games, or under any bus for that matter. But the fact is that the things that seemed like they were going to be a problem have been. And might easily stay that way over the long haul. The single player who could mitigate this is Buxton, his upside is that high. Sano already did his offensively last year, and his defensive ceiling is most players floor. Any other improvements would have to come from Mauer or someone not on the current roster. As for Park, I have no clue. He can just as easily be a plus or minus, to me it's a crapshoot.

[Foghorn Leghorn]

Yes, this has to be it, I mean what else could it be right?

Not sure you tell me

Whichever "analyst" that said the Orioles would be a doormat is a dummy.

These same "analysts" predicted an Indians Nats World Series last year

[Physics Guy]

 

If this awful hitting continues, Buxton should bat leadoff, with Dozier 3rd. Maybe it's just Dozier's rough start, but I don't really like him leading off.

I want nothing to do with Dozier batting 3rd.    At Spring Training I saw him come up twice in with a runner on third and nobody out when he was batting 3rd and struck out both times.    All he had to do was hit a ground ball to the right side or a fly ball to get the runner in and he failed both times (as did the two guys after him).    If they find somebody who can get on base better than him, move him out of the leadoff spot and put him at 5 or 6.    He has a career .729 OPS with RISP and .639 hitting 3rd (although in only 89 PA).    I just feel like he gives away too many AB to be a run producer.    I'll reconsider when he starts using the whole field.

[Platoon]

I want nothing to do with Dozier batting 3rd.    At Spring Training I saw him come up twice in with a runner on third and nobody out when he was batting 3rd and struck out both times.    All he had to do was hit a ground ball to the right side or a fly ball to get the runner in and he failed both times (as did the two guys after him).    If they find somebody who can get on base better than him, move him out of the leadoff spot and put him at 5 or 6.    He has a career .729 OPS with RISP and .639 hitting 3rd (although in only 89 PA).    I just feel like he gives away too many AB to be a run producer.    I'll reconsider when he starts using the whole field.

I think Dozier puts too much pressure on himself when he perceives responsibility. Last year when they tried him in the middle of the order, his numbers suffered. This year he has been labeled the team leader (?) and possibly is stressing to be able to wear that mantle? Some will think this is psyco babble, but different players respond to responsibility in different ways. It's early, time will tell, but there is some previous history there.