stringer bell

Promising top of the first.

One other note would be to switch out Nunez for Florimon. Nunez could fill in at second, short, third, left and right and could both pinch run and pinch hit. Florimon would be a defensive replacement at short and a pinch runner.

If and when the Hammer returns, I say they are far better defensively with Kubel manning left than Willingham. That is to say that when Kubel and Willingham are both in the same lineup, Kubel should be the left fielder, Willingham the DH. I suppose they could flip-flop on day games after night games. Kubel has been very good in left except for his lack of range.

Nit-pick, but I believe Vargas is on the 40-man.

There's room for Parmelee if Mauer hits the DL and that could be a real possibility if he doesn't play in the next couple days. Hicks and Arcia look to be ready to go by the end of the road trip if not sooner. Hicks for Santana, Arcia for Herrmann, Nunez for Florimon. If the Twins want to go down to 12 pitchers, Parmelee for Darnell and of course, Parmelee for Mauer if he is DLed.

Isn't Guerrier Burton +2 or 3 years? He had a good run with minimal stuff, but that was years ago.

Huh? I remember at least one start, and I think a couple of others, where Nolasco couldn't get his fastball over. He had better luck with breaking balls. For Nolasco to be effective, he needs at least two pitches to be working at some level.

A response to a couple thought expressed here: Colabello doesn't seem to have much of a platoon split--while he was slated for occasional DH duty, he would be most likely hitting against both left handers and right handers as he has. He hit everyone early in April, not so much the last two weeks. Kubel is being used every day (as opposed to being platooned) and has spent most of his time in left field (not DHing). I agree that he has cooled, but he is being asked to play out of his element. Also, he is an established major leaguer who has experienced seasons of success, as opposed to the three I listed (Plouffe and Pinto both had a hot month, Colabello had experienced no more than a couple of good games).

I believe it is 51. Number 50 is Nolasco and #51 is Correia.

Three early stars of the surprising Twins' offense have struggled of late. All are still playing regularly, but diminished playing time could be in the offing if the current disabled players return. Josmil Pinto has been in a long o-fer, broken in his last at bat last night. He hasn't driven the ball much in the past week and has struck out more while walking less. Pinto has DHed a majority of the time, and the return of Arcia (and demotion of Herrmann) could diminish his at bats as a DH. Colabello hasn't hit well at Target Field and had a poor homestand. Much like Pinto, the strikeouts are up and hard hit balls are rare. The return of an outfielder would make Colabello into the DH, and two returning outfielders could mean a platoon. Plouffe has no such worries, but still has struggled for more than a week. So far, he hasn't gotten the ball in the seats and the strikeouts are climbing. Each of these players seemed to be "riding the wave" in April, but now have fallen off. Which ones will adjust and find continued success and which ones will be thought of as having a fluky month?

Sounds like Hicks is doing OK. He should be off the concussion DL by the end of the road trip. I thought all along he needed a trip to Rochester, but maybe he and Fuld platoon, with Sam also getting a good number of ABs at the corners. Herrmann isn't a big league hitter, he should be sent down and Pinto would lose most of his DH at-bats, but if Arcia or Parmelee can man right field there shouldn't be a problem with that (Colabello as DH).

Gibson, after his third start.

First concussion. Riding my bike in a rainstorm for a Little League game that ended up being cancelled. Hit some loose gravel and hit my head. Was on the highway when I stopped bouncing and saw an approaching semi. My little brother pulled me out of the way. Concussion #2. First football game of my sophomore year. I didn't expect to play, but someone got hurt and I was facing a 300 pound lineman. I stood him up on the first play and our running back fumbled the ball. I looked back and saw the ball, dived for it, and collided with about three other guys. Ran off to the sideline of the opposition. Went back in the next series. I recovered three fumbles that day (2 ours, one theirs), never touched the football again during a game.

Atta kid, Perk!

Danny Santana--Batting 1.000, OPS 2.000. Time to retire.

Ball 1 and Ball 2 to Suzuki were Strike 2 and Strike 3 to Kubel.

Yep. Used all three catchers and all three shortstops.

Serious answer--Santana to the outfield, Herrmann behind the plate.

Danny Santana nearly had a very memorable debut! I usually don't question strategy, but with only two moves to make, do you use both your bench guys with two outs and the bottom of the order coming up?

Alt241

Eventually, Florimon, Herrmann, Santana, and Darnell (13th pitcher) need to go down. Nuñez, Willingham, Arcia and Parmelee (?) should replace them. I realize this is adding three corner OF types and if a guy who can play center becomes available, it would make some sense to add him instead of one of the outfielders.

It doesn't make sense to bring up Bernier for a week--a 40-man move would have to be made and if he were quickly demoted, he'd either have to stay on the 40-man or be exposed as a DFA. Here are the moves I think are warranted right now--Nuñez for Santana (no point in keeping Santana in the majors to sit on the bench), Parmelee for Herrmann (one Chris can't hit and one might have a chance). Arcia for Florimon as soon as Arcia shows he is ready (I'm thinking less than a week). Going to two catchers shouldn't be that big a problem since Pinto has cooled and there would be multiple candidates to DH and play corner OF. Definitely Colabello should only be a DH and 1B and he and Kubel shouldn't be playing every day.

Dozier is doing exactly what leadoff hitters are supposed to do--score runs. Because of the high walk total, his OBP is solid, and with the 11 SB and undoubtedly good baserunning skills, he scores more runs than his OBP would suggest. Further, even though he has struck out 30 times in about 140 PAs, even when he has fanned, he has worked the count most of the time, very few three or four pitch punch-outs. IMHO, the long balls are mostly a bonus and it would be great if they were all three run bombs, but the fact is that almost all of the Twins homers this year have been solos.

The Twins are 4-0 in rubber games. I heard yesterday that they are 1-9 in series openers. If you had heard that after 29 games, that Dozier and Plouffe would have combined for 15 doubles and nine homers, who would have guessed the distribution? Plouffe has 14 doubles and a solitary homer, while Dozier has only one double, but has clubbed 8 homers. In checking team statistics, the team is still second in run scoring (per game), while allowing the third-most runs in the American League. Finally, here's my first All-Star watch: Brian Dozier is #1 in OPS among AL second basemen and Trevor Plouffe and Kurt Suzuki are #2 at their respective positions.

Bernier has one skill, a versatile glove. If Escobar is the regular SS, the Twins need to have someone who can hit a little or run a bit as a utility guy. I see the Nuñez played for the Red Wings today. Overall, he would be the better fit as a utility infielder. If Mauer is out for any period of time, DL or not, adding Parmelee and optioning Herrmann makes sense. The Twins still need someone who can play center, unless Hicks is ready in the minimum amount of time. Of course, it may be that the Twins need a center fielder because Hicks isn't a big league hitter.