Nine Innings Of Notes

1st Inning

Brian Dozier was moved out of the leadoff spot. He moved into the #3 spot for one game, and most recently, he has been batting sixth. It’s certainly understandable when you look at his 2016 numbers. Overall, he’s hitting .218/.307/.363 (.670) with six doubles and four home runs. Those certainly are not the kind of numbers you want at the top of the order.

However, the timing of the move down in the lineup is interesting. Consider that over his last 15 games, he is hitting .263/.344/.421 (.765) with three doubles and two home runs. Again, these are not elite number, and they’re probably more suited for a spot in the six or seven spot of a lineup.

However, it’s also important to note that his overall numbers in 2014 and 2015 combined were .239/.326/.431 (.757). So, what he has done over the last two-plus weeks is essentially what he has done the last two years overall. We are just used to him having a big first half and then struggling. As fans, we need to hope that he just got off to a rough first three weeks and maybe now he’ll take off again for the rest of the season.

2nd Inning

It’s been nearly a week since Paul Molitor first inserted Joe Mauer’s name into the leadoff spot in the Twins lineup. In five games since then, Mauer is 4-19 with three walks and four strikeouts. He is hitting .211/.318/.211 (.529). He’s had two two-hit games and three zero-hit games. Of course, five games is far too small of a sample size to make any rash statements about.

Mauer in the leadoff spot makes so much sense if you believe that the job of the leadoff hitter is to get on base. His .405 on-base percentage this season is behind only Jose Altuve and Victor Martinez.

In my mind, Mauer is best suited to be a #2 hitter, but the Twins really don’t have another ideal #1 hitter, at least not yet. So, might as well stick with it for now.

3rd Inning

When I was in Ft. Myers for spring training, Michael Tonkin was hanging on to a roster spot by a thread. After one miserable outing, he sat at his locker just kind of staring. It was an ominous feeling, a feeling of just knowing that this young man is about to be told that the team that drafted him just can’t keep him around any more. The thread he was hanging on to was the fact that he was out of options. Blessed with a 95 mph fastball and a slider that can be devastating at times, Tonkin barely hung on to an Opening Day roster spot.

Since baseball is a funny game, Tonkin has pitched quite well since the season began. Early in the year, he did allow several inherited runners to score, but overall, he has been good. In 16 games (and 18.2 innings), he has a 1.93 ERA and a 1.13 WHIP. He has walked seven and struck out 21.

His roster spot seems much more secure at this point.

4th Inning

The catcher position was clearly a priority for Twins in the offseason. Kurt Suzuki would be back, but the Twins let Eric Fryer go via free agency and Chris Herrmann was traded to the Diamondbacks. Stuart Turner and Mitch Garver were both scheduled for Chattanooga, so the team went out to get some veterans.

Obviously to this point the Aaron Hicks for John Ryan Murphy trade hasn’t worked out for either team, though at least Hicks is still in the big leagues. Of course, we need to remember that Murphy is younger than Garver or Turner. John Hicks was lost to the Tigers when the Twins chose to DFA him.

In a quiet move, the Twins signed veteran minor leaguer Juan Centeno to a minor league contract and invited him to spring training. He had a strong showing in big league camp but was sent down to AAA to start the season. With Murphy’s struggles, Centeno was promoted. On Saturday afternoon, he hit his first big league home run, and on Sunday, he had a big two-run double. He looks very solid behind the plate. While he had played a combined 24 games in the big leagues over the past three years (Mets and Brewers) coming into the season, he is still just 26 years old.

Fun Fact: Centeno was drafted out of Antonio Luchetti school in Puerto Rico. Twins prospect, currently in Cedar Rapids, Nelson Molina was also drafted from that school.

5th Inning

Kurt Suzuki’s 2017 option for $6 million automatically vests with 485 plate appearances in 2016. With 22% of the season complete, Suzuki has just 77 plate appearances. At his current pace, he would end the season with approximately 346 plate appearances, well short of that option vesting.

This is important for two reasons. First, the Twins (should) want to not have to pay him $6 million in 2017. No other team will want to pay him $6 million in 2017. Because he is nowhere near on pace for that option to vest, a team in search of a catcher near the trade deadline will not be afraid to acquire Suzuki, even if it would be as a primary starter. Not that the Twins could get much for Suzuki, but a “C” level prospect is still something.

6th Inning

Chris Herrmann is hitting .259/.306/.586 (.892) with the Diamondbacks through 20 games played this year. His slugging percentage is boosted by four home runs. On Sunday, he started in centerfield for the Diamondbacks, a position he had not played in a game since playing in Ft. Myers in 2010.

Herrmann hit two home runs for Arizona in a game just over a week ago. That’s pretty impressive, but check out the weekend another former Twins player, Danny Valencia, had for Oakland. On Friday night, he hit two home runs. On Sunday, his third home run of the game gave the A’s the win. Five home runs over the course of three games would classify as “pretty good,” I’d say.

7th Inning

Of course, Chris Herrmann’s time with the Twins had kind of run its course. Clearly Paul Molitor had little confidence in him behind the plate or in the outfield. Herrmann was out of options and certainly not guaranteed a roster spot with the Twins. Yet somehow, Terry Ryan was able to trade him to Arizona and get OF/1B Daniel Palka in return.

While Palka was a decent prospect with the Diamondbacks, he is not considered a big prospect by most. However, last year in the California League, Palka hit .280/.352/.532 (.885) with 36 doubles, 29 homers, 90 RBI and 24 stolen bases.

Palka impressed this spring when, just invited to dress with the big league club, he DHd in one game and hit two home runs. The next day, he hit another. At this still-early stage of the season, Palka is hitting .297/.389/.508 (.897) with nine doubles and a Twins system-leading six home runs and 23 RBI.

His .897 OPS is third in the system behind only Cedar Rapids’ catcher AJ Murray (.937) and outfielder LaMonte Wade (.923). Palka was the Twins choice for Minor League Hitter of the Month in April (Twins Daily chose Wade).

8th Inning

Stephen Gonsalves was the Minor League Pitcher of the Month by the Twins and Twins Daily’s Starting Pitcher of the Month. With another win on Sunday for Ft. Myers, he is now 5-1 with a 1.27 ERA on the year.

But even that doesn’t totally show how dominant that Gonsalves has been this year. Consider this. He was the Miracle’s Opening Night starting pitcher. In the first inning of that game, he gave up a three-run home run. Since that home run, he has thrown 42 more innings and given up just THREE more runs. That is a 0.64 ERA.

Overall in his 42.2 innings (7 starts), he has a 0.84 WHIP and has struck out 38 batters (8.0 K/9). He was promoted to the Miracle after nine starts in Cedar Rapids in 2015. Overall, he has made 22 starts for the Miracle and is 12-3 with a 2.16 ERA.

Gonsalves was the Twins fourth-round pick out of high school in San Diego in 2013. The Twins top pick that year, also 21 years old, was Kohl Stewart. He spent all of 2015 in Ft. Myers but wisely was kept at the level to start this season. He has responded by going 2-1 with a 2.08 ERA, a 0.98 WHIP and 8.6 K/9 through his first six starts. He is set to make his seventh start for the Miracle this season tonight.

22-year-old Felix Jorge has also made six starts for the Miracle. He is 2-3 but has a 1.80 ERA and a 0.85 WHIP. He has struck out 7.6 per nine. Tyler Jay (22), last year’s top pick who is transitioning to starting, had one clunker. Despite that, he’s 3-2 with a 3.03, a 1.19 WHIP, and an 8.3 K/9 rate. Despite just returning from Tommy John surgery last summer, Randy Rosario (22) was added to the Twins 40-man roster this past offseason. He is currently 3-2 with a 3.48 ERA and a 1.32 WHIP.

An interesting note, the average age of the Ft. Myers pitchers is 22.9. The average age of the Cedar Rapids pitchers is 23.1.

9th Inning

Byron Buxton has played in 20 games in Rochester now this season. He is hitting .301/.356/.494 (.850) with five doubles, a triple and three home runs. Very solid numbers, but that includes the very slow start he had with the Red Wings.

In his past 13 games, he is hitting .353/.411/.588 (.999) with three doubles and three home runs. He also has five walks to go with ten strikeouts. That is a 17.8% strikeout rate. Through his first seven games with the Red Wings, he had 11 strikeouts in 34 plate appearances, a 32.4% rate. And in his 15 games with the Twins before the demotion, 24 strikeouts in 49 plate appearances, a 49.0% rate.

So, the question is often asked, when should the Twins call up Byron Buxton. We all want to see him in the big leagues. We’ve all seen enough of Danny Santana in center field to fully appreciate just how great Buxton’s defense is. However, there should be no rush whatsoever to call Buxton back up. He is working now with a leg kick and getting more motion (and power) into his swing while at the same time putting in the effort to take very quality at-bats and learn the strike zone and see those breaking pitches. Though it may be hard, with the Twins season not exactly going as planned, the should be in no hurry to bring him back.

I’ve always said that even if it’s not as good for the Twins to have Buxton in AAA, it’s worth it to do what is best for Buxton in the long term because that will be what is best for the Twins too.

The Red Wings didn’t play on Sunday. Buxton left the game on Saturday with back spasms. With the cold weather in Rochester, he probably would not have played on Sunday anyway. The Red Wings took the bus to Charlotte to start a series. It will be interesting to see if Buxton is in the lineup after the long bus ride or if they give him a few more games. It’s important for him to be healthy because it is important for him to play.

There you have it, Nine Innings of Notes. Feel free to discuss any of the above and add more fun topics to the conversation.