stringer bell

Pelfry had nothing. He looked excellent last outing.

Jack criticism of Mauer is barely veiled.

At least Dick isn't calling for Dozier to bunt.

Nice at-bat Escobar.

Bremer loves sacrifice bunts.

They need to score a lot more than 6.

You wouldn't think that bunch of no-names could score 4 in a week.

Where is the all caps GET HIM OUT?

This could be interesting real quick. Gomes seems to homer every series against the Twins.

Another mistake and this could be a game again.

For you youngsters, Terry Francona has been called Tito for most of his adult life because his dad, also a big leaguer, was known as Tito.

This getting runners on and then driving them in could be a thing.

And the Twins two best position players get doubles this inning.

Mauer intentionally walked. I say again, "thank you Tito".

The Twins best shortstop produces the first run.

And Molitor (or Suzuki) returns the favor.

I say "Thank you, Tito!".

I'm going with the under that Brock provided.

Over-under for runs? Base loaded none out. All-Star pitcher opponent.

I have a companion piece blog about the Twins' young outfielders. I speculated that one should be traded and said that the obvious choice was Arcia, although I am not sure that is the right move. Perhaps the guy that should be moved is currently overvalued. That could be Kepler or maybe it is Hicks. My point is that it isn't wrong to trade a player with upside. If you can get a lot more for a guy who projects pretty high, it might be better to do so than trade the next guy who might have a lower ceiling, but a higher floor.

Another factor in this decision has to be what has happened to relief pitchers in the Twins system. Oliveros seems to have flamed out (injured now?) at AAA, Achter is a soft-tosser and Tonkin seems to be good at AAA, but has failed in his chances in MInnesota. At Chattanooga, the vaunted big arms of Reed, Burdi, and Zach Jones have flamed out, at least for now. A couple of starters may be moved to the bullpen, or maybe already should be there, but guys with a chance because of strikeout ability and high K rates haven't progressed as expected. Having Jepsen both this year and next, seems to be an OK move. Giving up a couple of decent arms in A ball isn't terrible. It seems that Hu has overperformed his stuff, but it is questionable that he can move all the way to the majors and thrive.

Hunter has helped the 2015 club, but he should not be re-signed. The Twins will have Hicks, Arcia, Kepler, Rosario, and Buxton available as outfielders, there is no need for Torii. That salary could help in improving another position. I'm not sold on Polanco as a shortstop and his play in the minors hasn't provided any reassurance. Jay and Rogers are left handed and the plan has been for Jay to convert to starting in 2016. I sincerely doubt that Graham makes the club in '16, without the Rule V tag.

Kepler is currently leading his league in all categories of the saber triple crown--OBP, Slugging, and OPS. He's 22 and also has 10 triples and 13 stolen bases. To me, that is domination. He's held his own since Buxton, Sano, and Polanco left the league. As mentioned above, his BB/K ratio is excellent. Der kid is breaking out, no doubt about it.

n 2016, barring a trade, the Twins will have five players under the age of 26 who profile to be good or better outfielders. Five of these players will have played for the Twins, and the sixth (Max Kepler) might make his debut this September. Here's a look at all six, with my view of strengths and weaknesses: Oswaldo Arcia--Strengths: Big Time left handed power. In 853 Twins' plate appearances, he has 36 homers and a .437 slugging average. Pedigree of hitting. Going into this year, Arcia dominated the minor leagues, hitting .314 with a .375 OBP, and played each level young for his age. Charisma. He's an emotional player, who loves to do well and celebrate his success. Weaknesses: Fielding. Watching Arcia in the field has ranged from entertaining to embarrassing. He has a good arm and covers enough ground, but has let several balls clank off his glove or fall to the ground. He has been guilty of taking bad at-bats to the field, losing focus and playing fundamentally unsound defense. Strikeouts. Even in this high-K era, Arcia qualifies as a strikeout machine. He has whiffed 259 times in his 853 PAs, well over 30% of the time. Platoon splits. Arcia has struggled against lefties. His OPS+ vs. port siders is 67 with a batting average of .231. Byron Buxton--Strengths: Tools, Obvious to all, Buxton has a wealth of athletic tools. He is the fastest man to ever wear a Twins uni, he has impressive bat speed and plentiful strength to hit for average and power, and a fine arm plus great fielding instincts. Work ethic. With all the tools, Buxton is both coachable and a hard worker. He profiles as a leadoff hitter with 50+ stolen base speed who would transition to the middle of the order. Weaknesses: Unproveness (is that a word?). Buxton has only 40 plate appearances and didn't thrive, hitting under .200. The slowest to develop of Buxton's tools are his hitting. He has started slowly at each level.Injuries. Buxton missed almost all of last year with three injuries. He only played a handful of games for the Twins before going on the DL. Aaron Hicks--Strengths: Again, tools. Hicks profiles as above average in all five tools. He isn't off the charts in any category, but is a fast runner with a cannon arm, he can reach the seats and reach base and cover ample ground in the outfield. Selectivity. As a hitter, Hicks chases less than most young players, and has always drawn his share of walks. Since coming back to the team this year, he has remained selective, while being a more aggressive as a hitter. Weaknesses: Platoon splits. Hicks lifetime average vs. right handers is below .200 (.568 OPS), while hitting almost 100 points higher vs. lefties and has an OPS of .860. Looking only at 2015, the splits are still there. he's hitting .237 (.639 OPS) against right handers, but continues to have a dominant side, hitting .404 with a 1.092 OPS against left handed pitching. Previous struggles. Hicks was a failure in 2013 and a disappointment in 2014, if he slumps will he tumble back to that level? Max Kepler--Strengths: Projectable sweet swing. From the start Kepler has always looked the part of a fine hitter. He hadn't played much baseball when signed by the Twins and needed plenty of time to get things in order, but he's always projected as a fine hitter.Athletic. Kepler is tall, but fast. He might lead his league in triples (passing Buxton) and has stolen 13 bases in 2/3 of a season. League Dominance. As of yesterday, Kepler led the SL, in hitting, on-base, slugging, and OPS. Versatility. Kepler is a lefty all the way, but has played all three outfield positions plus first base. He projects as a good defender at the corners, Weaknesses: Two levels to go. Kepler is only at AA, he hasn't played an inning at AAA or in the majors. Injuries. Max has had his share of injuries, which probably slowed his development to this point. He missed the Futures Game with a sore shoulder. Platoon splits. Going into this year, Kepler had struggled against left handed pitching. He has solved lefties this year, with an OPS above .850. Lack of Power. Kepler has only six homers this year, three in the last week. Power is often the last tool to come forward, but it is possible that at his peak, even if he blossoms, his line might more resemble Joe Mauer than Bryce Harper or Mike Trout. Eddie Rosario--Strengths: Solid Stroke. Eddie has been viewed as a solid hitter and carried that to the major leagues. Stands in against lefties. No discernible platoon splits. He's able to hit for about the same amount of power regardless of which hand the pitcher throws with. Aggressive. Rosario gets his hacks, plays in the field and runs the bases aggressively. It has caused some outs on the bases and a couple of errors, but the net has been positive. Versatile defender. Rosario has started multiple games in all three outfield positions and done fine at all three. He has enough range to play center and enough arm to play right. Weaknesses: Over aggressive. The flip side of Rosario's aggressiveness is that he chases pitches, runs into outs and takes too many risks in the field. Not dominant. Doubtful that Rosario will ever be a slugger or contend for a batting championship. He profiles mostly as "good", but not elite. Strike against him. Eddie was suspended for a drug of abuse, meaning that any other infractions would cost him a season. I am assuming that Kepler will be ready to help the Twins by sometime in the first half of next year, if not sooner. With the DH, the Twins could carry four of these five guys and have enough at-bats for all of them. However, five outfielders needing more than 500 plate appearances is one too many. Do the Twins deal one of these guys to get bullpen help, a catcher or a shortstop? Since they are all young, I would think that they need to choose one guy and give him up to address positions of relative weakness. My pick would be Arcia, mostly because of his struggles in the field. A case could be made for Hicks, Rosario or Kepler.

Green light for victories with the TD crew here to cheer them on!