Article: Twins Minor League Report (5/15): Colabello Crushes

[Cody Christie]

You can view the page at http://twinsdaily.com/content.php?r=1724-Twins-Minor-League-Report-(5-15)-Colabello-Crushes

[cmathewson]

"didn't go perfectly"--The understatement of the year. He was horrible, and has been underwhelming in his previous two rehab starts. Good thing he has options.

[Steven Buhr]

I posted videos of admittedly dubious quality of Jorge Polanco's triple, Dalton Hicks' RBI double and Tyler Grimes' HR over at Knuckleballs this morning. Don't shoot the photographer.

 

Knuckleballs ? Kernels Videos: Polanco, Hicks, Grimes

 

Oh, and I sure hope new Kernel Jeremias Pineda finds ways to get on base because he's got serious wheels once he gets there.

[tjsyam921]

Saw the double header in CR last night. Was a fun experience and something I look forward to doing in the near future. Both Kernels starters really labored and threw a lot of pitches. Seeing Buxton completely lay out for a ball late in game one was awesome to see.

 

In game two the Burlington starter must have had a wicked breaking ball because the Kernels swung at about 50 pitches in the dirt. Otherwise a very fun experience and something all Twins fans should check out.

[Seth Stohs]

SDBUHR - How is Pinedas' speed relative to Buxton or Pimentel?

 

tjsyam921 - thanks for sharing your experience. Nothing like double header baseball in the minors!! Feel free to share your thoughts any time you're there!

[Steven Buhr]

SDBUHR - How is Pinedas' speed relative to Buxton or Pimentel?

 

It's hard to say, Seth, based on one night but Pineda can fly. He played CF in Game 2 while Buxton DH'd. Pineda let a ball get over his head in CF and you couldn't help but wonder if Buxton would have had it, but that's not really fair, either.

 

If you haven't checked it out, you might want to read Jim Ecker's MSR story from last nights games. He focused on the team adding Pineda's speed to a pretty swift group already. Link is below, but here's a snippet:

 

"I would like to see him, Pimentel, Buxton and Williams ... Put them all on the line and see who comes out," said Mauer, smiling at the concept. "If you ask J.D., he'll tell you he's the fastest. He'll tell you that all the time."

 

Who's the fastest?

 

"Of course I'm going to say me," said Williams, an outfielder from Florida. "Yeah, definitely. I'd get them at the tape."

 

Pineda joins Kernels track team

[Shane Wahl]

It's hard to say, Seth, based on one night but Pineda can fly. He played CF in Game 2 while Buxton DH'd. Pineda let a ball get over his head in CF and you couldn't help but wonder if Buxton would have had it, but that's not really fair, either.

 

If you haven't checked it out, you might want to read Jim Ecker's MSR story from last nights games. He focused on the team adding Pineda's speed to a pretty swift group already. Link is below, but here's a snippet:

 

"I would like to see him, Pimentel, Buxton and Williams ... Put them all on the line and see who comes out," said Mauer, smiling at the concept. "If you ask J.D., he'll tell you he's the fastest. He'll tell you that all the time."

 

Who's the fastest?

 

"Of course I'm going to say me," said Williams, an outfielder from Florida. "Yeah, definitely. I'd get them at the tape."

 

Pineda joins Kernels track team

 

Haha! Yeah, I would LOVE to see that race.

[jokin]

It's hard to say, Seth, based on one night but Pineda can fly. He played CF in Game 2 while Buxton DH'd. Pineda let a ball get over his head in CF and you couldn't help but wonder if Buxton would have had it, but that's not really fair, either.

 

If you haven't checked it out, you might want to read Jim Ecker's MSR story from last nights games. He focused on the team adding Pineda's speed to a pretty swift group already. Link is below, but here's a snippet:

 

"I would like to see him, Pimentel, Buxton and Williams ... Put them all on the line and see who comes out," said Mauer, smiling at the concept. "If you ask J.D., he'll tell you he's the fastest. He'll tell you that all the time."

 

Who's the fastest?

 

"Of course I'm going to say me," said Williams, an outfielder from Florida. "Yeah, definitely. I'd get them at the tape."

 

Pineda joins Kernels track team

 

I have a couple questions, JC. Pineda was apparently deemed by the Twins to be more than ready to skip E-Town. Can you glean anything beyond getting his first hit and your comments above, from one game only of course, if he looks like he "belongs" at this level and can hit the ground running? Is there talk down there about preparing him to jump right in to CF for an imminent departure of Buxton promotion?

[Seth Stohs]

I have a couple questions, JC. Pineda was apparently deemed by the Twins to be more than ready to skip E-Town. Can you glean anything beyond getting his first hit and your comments above, from one game only of course, if he looks like he "belongs" at this level and can hit the ground running? Is there talk down there about preparing him to jump right in to CF for an imminent departure of Buxton promotion?

 

JC should answer that, but my opinion is that is guessing a little too much. They needed an extra outfielder now, and there's a good chance that at least Walker and possibly Williams would be promoted first.

 

I just think that the Twins decision not to promote Buxton because of a great first month is right. He's hitting .274/.353/.441 (.794) in May, which is very good for a 19 year old in his first full season. But it's not a number that screams promotion. If he would have put up those numbers in April, we would all be happy and thinking he was having a nice season. He now needs to make some adjustments, keep working, and see how it goes.

[jokin]

JC should answer that, but my opinion is that is guessing a little too much. They needed an extra outfielder now, and there's a good chance that at least Walker and possibly Williams would be promoted first.

 

I just think that the Twins decision not to promote Buxton because of a great first month is right. He's hitting .274/.353/.441 (.794) in May, which is very good for a 19 year old in his first full season. But it's not a number that screams promotion. If he would have put up those numbers in April, we would all be happy and thinking he was having a nice season. He now needs to make some adjustments, keep working, and see how it goes.

 

Yep. I posted something along those lines on another thread. Here's the reprint:

 

I'm guessing he's only off the pedestal for a short while. The League has made adjustments, now it's his turn to make his own adjustments to their adjustments. Every report says that he's very mature beyond his years and totally focused on his long-term goals. People forget, his batting peers in the Midwest League top group are anywhere from 22-25 years of age, similar age for many of the top pitchers in the League.

 

 

On the matter of "premature promotions"....

 

Would you say that Manny Machado was moved too fast when he was promoted after just 38 games at Low A at the age of 19? He produced a decent, but hardly a stop-the-presses, blow-your-socks-off, batting slash there of .276/.376/.483/.756.

 

Or perhaps, he was prematurely promoted after finishing that same season in High A with a pretty pedestrian, if not downright awful, .245/.308/.384/.692?

 

They actually did promote Machado with those pretty ordinary numbers to AA last year, just before his 20th birthday. His results there? .266/.352/.438/.789 in 109 games. Anything in those numbers that screamed to skip AAA altogether, and put Machado in the Orioles starting lineup for 51 games smack in the middle of the Birds first pennant race in 20 years?

 

By all accounts, Buxton can play his premium position in CF as well as Machado can play 3B, or eventually, SS.

 

 

[Steven Buhr]

JC should answer that, but my opinion is that is guessing a little too much. They needed an extra outfielder now, and there's a good chance that at least Walker and possibly Williams would be promoted first.

 

I just think that the Twins decision not to promote Buxton because of a great first month is right. He's hitting .274/.353/.441 (.794) in May, which is very good for a 19 year old in his first full season. But it's not a number that screams promotion. If he would have put up those numbers in April, we would all be happy and thinking he was having a nice season. He now needs to make some adjustments, keep working, and see how it goes.

 

I wondered about the reasoning behind Pineda's promotion, too. It's far too early to tell if he's ready to hit at this level or not, of course. He had a double down the left field line in his first AB tonight, grounded to 1st and struck out his other two ABs before being pinch hit for in the 9th.

 

I heard Kepler is starting to at least DH in EST games, so he might be ready to come up by the time Buxton is promoted.

 

Only Burlington and Beloit have seen Buxton for two full series, but between now and the end of the first half of the season (exactly a month from now), there will be several other teams getting an opportunity to adjust their approaches to Buxton. I think that's something the Twins want to see how he handles.

 

One thing he has going for him that I don't believe Sano did a year ago in Beloit is that with so many legitimate hitters behind him, there's no way teams can really pitch around him. Until Vargas was activated last summer, Sano didn't always have that benefit.

[Seth Stohs]

jokin, Machado is a good (And very rare) example. I think we can both agree that more has to go into a promotion than just the stat line.

[Joe A. Preusser]

I'm curious why I don't see more people screaming for Colabello to be called up? The guy has raked consistently all year, is approaching .350 and an OPS north of 1.000. Does the organization think he's one of those AAAA guys who will mash in AAA but struggle in the majors, or what is the holdup? I've appreciated what Ramirez has contributed in limited playing time, and I don't want Arcia moving anywhere, but we have to do something.

[Seth Stohs]

I'm curious why I don't see more people screaming for Colabello to be called up? The guy has raked consistently all year, is approaching .350 and an OPS north of 1.000. Does the organization think he's one of those AAAA guys who will mash in AAA but struggle in the majors, or what is the holdup? I've appreciated what Ramirez has contributed in limited playing time, and I don't want Arcia moving anywhere, but we have to do something.

 

There has been at various times, for September last year this spring, etc. Only thing is where would he fit right now. 1B is taken. DH has several options. Wilkin Ramirez is essentially the pinch-hitting bat, but he also is the backup in CF. Carroll may soon be getting more playing time and Escobar has shown himself to be a pretty good utility guy! I do believe Colabello will get up at some point.

[jay]

There has been at various times, for September last year this spring, etc. Only thing is where would he fit right now. 1B is taken. DH has several options. Wilkin Ramirez is essentially the pinch-hitting bat, but he also is the backup in CF. Carroll may soon be getting more playing time and Escobar has shown himself to be a pretty good utility guy! I do believe Colabello will get up at some point.

 

I think he could be an option if Mastro were healthy and could be the backup CF / pinch runner. Ramirez could go along with the 2nd Util IF to have Mastro and Colabello on the active roster.

 

Given Parmelee's lack of PT lately, I can't help but wonder if some other option might be in the works. Something has to give there with Hammer, Hicks, and Arcia playing most days.

[70charger]

I'm curious why I don't see more people screaming for Colabello to be called up? The guy has raked consistently all year, is approaching .350 and an OPS north of 1.000. Does the organization think he's one of those AAAA guys who will mash in AAA but struggle in the majors, or what is the holdup? I've appreciated what Ramirez has contributed in limited playing time, and I don't want Arcia moving anywhere, but we have to do something.

 

I was curious too. After a good last year, a hyped spring, and now this, I thought the Twins might really be able to use him. But the fact is we're not in a hurry. He's not really a prospect, he's not on the 40 man, and as a stopgap, he'd only be called up if we lost someone else to injury or possibly ineffectiveness (depending on who it is).

 

My thought is that trade deadline moves will end up giving him his shot, and after roughly 48 years in indy ball, that'd be a real story. I hope he's ready, and I hope he does well.