stringer bell

Rosario with three more singles yesterday. He is second in the AFL in batting average, second in SB, and first in hit (12 in 6 games). Kepler had a hit, walk and stolen base. He is holding his own (.250 BA). Adam was the only other farmhard that played yesterday. He went an inning and gave up two runs.

Two more hits for Rosario today (Wednesday). He is playing CF for the River Rafters, after making all of his other starts in left. Finished 3-5. So far, so good for Rosario!

While the topic is left field, the reality is that both left and center are probably unsettled. The Twins have to decide about Danny Santana. If he goes to shortstop, two positions need to be filled. If the Twins decide that Santana is a shortstop, I think the club has to go outside the organization to get a major leaguer who is a plus fielder, most likely to play center. I think they should lean on internal options for left in that scenario. If Santana is your regular CF, then the competition should be wide open between several options. I really don't want to see Aaron Hicks in a Twins uni to start to 2015. He hasn't performed when the games count and he has shown the folly of believing in spring training numbers. I would peg the competition as between Schafer, if he is retained, Rosario, Parmelee and perhaps Daniel Ortiz. All but Parmelee would qualify as a step up defensively from the pretty bad defense we saw last year. All are LH hitters. It seems to me that the Twins could use a good defender who hits right handed. Peter Bourjos has been mentioned a lot, another guy to look at might be Craig Gentry. Gentry had concussion issues last year and would have to be acquired by trade unless Oakland cuts him loose.

I don't know about Ortiz winning a starting job, but I think he might get a shot as a fourth/fifth OF, depending on the exact roster makeup. From what I've seen and read about Ortiz plus a handful of PAs in Spring Training, he is a three-position OF who doesn't possess any one outstanding tool, but can do a little bit of everything. Right now, the Twins have LH hitters Schafer, Parmelee, and Rosario along with switch hitter Hicks all in the mix and probably ahead of Ortiz, but Parmelee and Schafer might not be retained. Hicks and Rosario are both coming off disappointing 2014 campaigns. Ortiz is a minor league free agent, but I have to believe the Twins will re-sign him.

OK, you have Schafer, Parm and Rosario who all hit LH. Schafer and probably Rosario would be considered pretty good defenders. Hicks is a prospect who has always hit better RH. If he were strictly platooned, he will have reached his floor and ceiling at the same time and he would start between 40 and 50 games. Nuñez would be a fast infielder playing outfield. In his 16 games out there he made some really nice plays and looked totally lost a couple of other times. Add to this soup the fact that Parmelee and Nuñez both had reverse platoon splits last year. Finally, how many guys can the team carry to man left field? I think two is really the max and one of them has to be a backup center fielder.

Continuity and an outstanding defensive center fielder will improve the Twins outfield a lot. Having a good/better than good left fielder would also help a lot. In looking at available outfielders (free agent or trade), there just aren't many the fit the bill. Schafer in left is pretty good defensively, but as others have noted, his upside is negligible and his continued good performance is questionable.

2011--minor leagues with Sept callup. 2012--bench for thw Whities, traded for Liriano, mostly bench for the Twins 2013--bench/utility for the Twins, regular play for the Red Wings when sent down. No injuries, he had just played sporadically when in the majors until 2014. The 73 starts in 277 games is correct.

That is correct. Going into this year, Escobar had 1.128 years of service over two years plus September of 2011. I calculated that to be 273 games, it actually is 277. He started 73 games in those 277 games that he was active, less than 27% of the games he could start. Yes, he sat on the bench a bunch while accumulating his 1.128 years of service. Many, including me, thought Escobar's only role was utility infielder, despite some indications that he is a better hitter than assumed. For this year, at least, he showed he was a pretty good hitter.

Agree to disagree. 332 PAs in 1.7 years means that Esco was previously a guy who got to play a game here and there but never got consistent at-bats. By my count Escobar started 73 games out of a possible 273, so about a start every four games. Not exactly a formula for good offensive performance. He got his chance to perform and he thrived. Santana got a chance to perform on the big stage and he thrived more.

I think last season is a better apples-to-apples comparison. Both had over 400 PAs and played pretty much regularly. Including Escobar's stats from partial seasons when he was a bench player aren't really a fair comparison. Still Santana is younger (about a year and a half) and had the superior offensive season. Santana's BABIP was .405 while Esco went for .326.

Santana's BABIP was .405. Which would be easier to sustain? I think I know, but I would like to be convinced that the other is possible.

Of all the guys listed, I think Danny Ortiz has the best chance to help the major league team. He is young, has some versatility and has decent tools across the board, although none stand out.

Santana certainly has the tools to be a decent or better SS. He was so raw in ST, I thought he was a long way off defensively. There weren't any red flags, to me, from his play at short with the Twins, but I would have to put his defense as "unproven" at best.

I expect at least one of the three guys to debut in 2015, maybe all three. I'd say the bullpen is due for some turnover and the new guys should be hard throwers. Those guys fill the bill.

I didn't include it in the write-up but my opinion of Santana's defense at short during Spring Training was that he was not ready, bordering on awful. He dropped balls, booted balls, and made several poor throws. He didn't look good going in and struggled on the double play pivot. No, his defense was subpar, to be kind. His defense at short looked okay during the season. Maybe he had made progress to "adequate" already, but it will take a bit more time to convince me. The one sure thing is that the shortstop position looks far better than it did a year ago.

Fryer started one game after Pinto was promoted. I don't find that excessive at all. Certainly, I would have liked Josmil to start more games behind the plate. As it turned out, the games against non-contenders were a couple series with the Sox and the three-gamer with the D-Backs. Suzuki had a fine year and he had the manager's confidence. There will be a new sheriff in town and Pinto should get a chance to win the confidence of the new guy.

Maybe we could swap problem first round draft choices. Their ages and stats are pretty similar and maybe both guys could benefit from a fresh start.

Nice to hear from you Madre Dos! We met at Ft. Myers last year. I'm mostly with you on Josmil. I sure hope he gets a better chance this year. He certainly is a hard worker and should be able to overcome whatever obstacles that are in front of him.

While I have mentioned several times that Pinto has been in the organization for most of a decade, he signed with the Twins when he was 16 or 17. A lot of changes go on between 16 and 25 for most of us. Pinto wasn't considered much of a prospect until 2012, when he turned a lot of flab in muscle (can't remember for sure, but I think he lost 15 pounds) and started turning on balls. It seems that the fine points of catching either weren't conveyed to him or he didn't get them. I like his power, plate discipline and use of the whole field, but going into next season at 26, he really needs to be able to catch acceptably.

Great start for Rosario, who really needed it. Also it is wonderful to see top prospect Buxton healthy and holding his own after missing 3/4 of the year. Until he proves otherwise, I want Eddie Rosario as the starting left fielder for the Twins in 2015.

I was absolutely convinced that Aaron Hicks needed to be sent down to AAA to start 2014, ask ChiTown. Now the season is over and what has he proven? To me, handing him the center field job would be the definition of insanity--"repeating the same mistakes over and over again and expecting different results," It seems to me that posters here want to give Hicks a regular position (or 4th OF slot) based on potential and tools. The performance hasn't been there. I know that the Twins won't be picked to contend next year, but I think they have to go into the season expecting to be in the race. If they are doing that, they can't send out a guy who has failed two years in a row to try the same plan for the third time. In regards to the player's development, I think absolutely it is best to send him back to AAA to master that competition. We can all agree that Hicks has shown he can handle AA, but a .740 OPS isn't mastering the next level. Hicks needs to improve his overall game, but specifically he has to hit better left handed. I think he would be much better off working on that specific thing in Rochester. If he continued to be anywhere near as poor from the left side for the Twins, he would almost have to be platooned and platooning a guy who has unrealized potential (especially the RH hitting half) is counterproductive IMHO.

The controversy over Pinto concerns both his offense and his defense. How good a hitter can he be with regular at-bats? He could be very good. He is strong and has demonstrated extra-base power for the Twins in his stints with the club. He also has a good idea of the strike zone and will take a walk. Pinto uses the whole field and has plenty of power to put balls over the fence. It is possible if he were given regular at-bats, he would be in the upper third of catchers offensively.September complaints about Twins lineups centered on two players--Danny Santana and Josmil Pinto. The fans remaining at Twins Daily wanted Santana to get reps at shortstop (with attendent opportunities for Aaron Hicks) and they wanted to see the state of Josmil Pinto's catching ability. The fans were largely disappointed. Santana mostly stayed in center field and Pinto started only eight games at catcher and left one of them before he either hit or caught. We will wait for answers, or at least more definitive evidence, in the spring. For his entire stay with the Twins in 2014, Pinto was a bit of a lightning rod. Many wanted him in the lineup every day either as the DH or catcher. Some are convinced that he can never be a regular catcher because he doesn't have the necessary defensive tools and skills. If anything, this season was evidence that as far as Pinto is concerned it can't be a half-in half-out proposition. Due to injuries, Pinto got a lot of at-bats in April and his hitting was decent. He didn't catch much and but when he did he was noticeably less than adequate behind the plate. This meant fewer games catching, and when everyone got healthy Pinto didn't get many at-bats at DH and was also sub-standard when behind the plate. He was optioned in June, reportedly to work on his defense. Many expected Pinto to be back before September 1st, but he didn't force his way back with his performance in Rochester and Kurt Suzuki had a career year. Defensively, the slings and arrows come from all directions. In 2014, he was 0-20 throwing out base runners in 2014. He has consistently graded out poorly when it comes to framing pitches. Pinto, after nearly a decade in the organization, has been called lacking in pitch-calling and blocking pitches. That is a whole lot of things to improve upon! In watching Pinto throw, there is no question that his arm is strong enough to stay behind the plate. However, there is also no question that his throwing mechanics were screwed up before he was optioned to Rochester. It is certainly not entirely his fault that he failed to throw out a single base stealer, but on the other hand, he should be in line for more of the blame than any other individual. As for pitch framing, Josmil was the personal catcher for the thoroughly inconsistent Samuel Deduno. If there was one pitcher on the Twins who probably didn't deserve having borderline pitches called strikes due to total unpredictability it was Deduno. It stands to reason that Pinto's pitch framing numbers would be bad. I think game calling and being a coach on the field is in the eye of the beholder. For what it is worth, an ump said it was "night and day" as far as viewing pitches after Pinto returned in September, and Kyle Gibson credited Pinto with calling a good game in both of his last two starts, which were both good starts for Gibson. There is good potential in Josmil Pinto's bat. I don't see anything that precludes him from being at least adequate as a receiver at some point. I do have a point and counter point though. Pinto has been known as a hard worker and no one has questioned his work ethic. However, he has been in the organization since 2006 and he, by all accounts, has quite a ways to go to get to competent as a major league receiver. Click here to view the article

I guess I wouldn't limit his competition to 4th OF. I would say that he will come to spring training battling for a spot, with no guarantees. If Eddie Rosario is better overall, Hicks past time in the majors shouldn't win him a spot. I'm half-kidding about Eddie, but he might be due for a major-league breakout. I don't think you want a 25-year-old with admittedly good tools as your fouth OF. If the Twins retain Schafer, he is ideal for that role especially with the elite base-stealing tool.

Physics Guy--yes Hicks is still young. Yes, he has impressive tools. However, there isn't much to suggest he can hit enough even to be a fourth OF. He hasn't been good above AA. He has successfully moved only one level at a time. If there is something there, he needs to show it in Rochester. It is close to folly to give him a spot as a starter again.