It was another big week here at Twins Daily. The Twins (finally) added some starting pitchers, we wrapped up our top prospects list and there was an actual Twins baseball game played. So come check out this edition of Twins Weekly to catch up on what you may have missed, including some great pictures from media day.Let’s take a quick look back at all the articles from the front page in the order they were published. This edition of Twins Weekly covers Friday, Feb. 16 to Thursday, Feb. 22.

 

Twins Sign RHP Anibal Sanchez... No, Really | Seth Stohs

Twins Acquire Jake Odorizzi From Rays For Jermaine Palacios | Seth Stohs

The Twins Almanac for February 18–24 | Matt Johnson

Gleeman & The Geek: Ep 356: Jake Odorizzi & Anibal Sanchez | John Bonnes

Twins Daily Top Prospects: #3 Nick Gordon | Cody Christie

Is This Front Office Truly Enlightened About Pitching? | Nick Nelson

Seth's Twins On Deck Podcast (Episode 7) | Seth Stohs

Getting Rid Of The Bad Odor Might Be Izzi | Cody Christie

Twins Daily 2018 Top Prospects: #2 Fernando Romero | Tom Froemming

Sano Going To Let It Eat | Ted Schwerzler

Twins Daily 2018 Top Prospects: #1 Royce Lewis | Nick Nelson

Who Are These Guys? (Twins Non-Roster Invites) | Seth Stohs

Gameday: Twins Versus Gophers (Exhibition) | Seth Stohs

Backstop Battery Becoming an Asset | Ted Schwerzler

TD 2018 Minnesota Twins Top Prospects Recap | Nick Nelson

 

From the Twins Daily Blogs

Below are some additional items of note from the blog area. I've pulled excerpts from each piece in an attempt to hook you in.

 

A Potential Upgrade for Kennys Vargas

By Andrew Thares

The Twins do still have 4 years of team control of Vargas, but now might be the time for the Twins to look to move on from him. A few teams that I could see drawing interest in Vargas would be the Colorado Rockies, St. Louis Cardinals and Kansas City Royals. Now where would the Twins go to get this potential upgrade for Kennys Vargas. For that, we can look at our neighbors to the East, in the Milwaukee Brewers’ right-handed hitting first basemen Jesus Aguilar.

 

Will the Real Kyle Gibson Please Stand Up?

By Jamie Cameron

Gibson’s fastball command and usage had a significant impact on hitters. Opposing hitters O-Swing % (the amount opposing hitters swing at a pitch outside the strike zone) increased from 18% to over 25%. Additionally, Gibson was able to generate more swings inside the zone with his fastball increasing that number 18% to 61%, a career high. In other words, if your stuff isn’t outstanding, you better to be able to keep hitters off balance by moving it around in the zone, or command the strike zone, as Alston would call it. It will be fascinating to see if Alston can further leverage this improvement Gibson made in the second half of 2017 for a successful 2018.

 

Breaking down Jake Odorizzi

By JohnOlson

Who is Jake Odorizzi? Depending on who you ask and under what context, you'll get a different answer to this question. Around Twins social media, I've seen such differing opinions - from "Should he be the Opening Day starter? He may be our best pitcher" to "He's, at best, a number 4 starter". I would contend that he is likely the middle ground between these two, very different statements.

 

The Yu Paradox

By Matthew Lenz

So yes, I am frustrated. I'm disappointed. I'm sad. I'm [enter whatever adjective you want] that the Twins weren't able to sign yet another superstar to bring them to the next level. But I love the Twins and will continue to cheer them on. I will continue to follow them once this crop of talent is gone. I'm not only here when things are good, but I'm also here when things are bad. I may not be happy with every decision made, but that doesn't make me (or you) a bad fan.

 

Current batters and their historical positions going into 2018

2018 Baseball Stats – current pitchers all time rankings

Both these pieces by mikelink45 take a look at which players are approaching noteworthy career milestones as we enter the 2018 season.

 

Say Cheese!

I'd like to share a few of my favorite pictures from media day. We'll leadoff with new Twin Anibal Sanchez, who looks like he's not quite sure what he's supposed to do with his hands.

Download attachment: Sanchez.jpg

Next up is fellow offseason addition Fernando Rodney. Yes, he always wears his hat like this. Let your eyes adjust, let it sink in. He does this in tribute to his late father. Hopefully all of Twins Territory can get up to speed and not dog on him for wearing his hat funny.

Download attachment: Rodney.jpg

Speaking of accessories, here's Ervin Santana. He seems to be in good spirits, but at the very bottom of the photo you can get a glimpse at the cast on his hand.

Download attachment: Ervin.jpg

Here's Tyler Duffey doing his best impression of Wilson from Home Improvement.

Download attachment: Duffey.jpg

Next up is another new Twin, Michael Pineda. He's not going to be able to pitch for quite some time, so making him participate in picture day seems a little cruel. And the look on is face is all like "c'mon man, do I really have to do this?"

Download attachment: Pineda.jpg

But you know what? Trevor May has got that exact same look. Must be those Tommy John surgery blues.

Download attachment: May.jpg

(All images credited to Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports)

 

Video of the Week

Baseball! There was a Twins baseball game last night, and it ended in dramatic fashion. Bottom of the ninth. One out. Tie game. Bases loaded ...

OK, so maybe it wasn’t all that dramatic, but it was pretty great to be watching baseball again. The Twins will be on Fox Sports North Sunday at noon CT.

 

Item of the Week

Speaking of spring training, check out this sneak peak at the Twins spring program. So simple, subtle and clean.

 

More From Me

I've been playing around some with live streaming of late. Here's a link to a stream I did immediately after the Odorizzi trade was announced. I was also fortunate enough to be a guest on the latest edition of Minnesota Sports Weekly with Travis Aune and Chad Smith. Here's a link to the episode. Cory Provus, the radio voice of the Twins, was on at around the 36-minute mark. I closed out the show, making my entrance about an hour and a half into the program.

Alright, that does it for this edition of Twins Weekly. Thanks for reading and have a great weekend everyone.

 

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Buxton's bat is beautiful.