stringer bell

Pinto is having a first week similar to Wilson Ramos. Pinto got a homer, while Wilson never homered for the Twins. To quote Calvin Griffith about another young Twins' catcher "I really like this kid".

C'mon Chi-Town, give us some details!

Nice start, eh?

I don't think Esco has the range that Florimon does. PF probably has a bit more power, but neither Escobar or Florimon made the majors for their hitting. Escobar, to me, profiles as a pretty good utility guy and because of the weaknesses of Plouffe and Florimon could start half the games until Sano is recalled.

I think Rosario is a great prospect and he could well become an All-Star. He's not in the same constellation as Sano or Buxton and he would figure to be ready about the time they are. Perhaps he would be a really good piece to trade if Dozier continues to be a better-than-average hitter with ++defense.

Escobar could be the ideal backup to the three that are regulars this year--he could often replace Florimon vs. lefties, fairly often replace Plouffe against right handers and occasionally give Dozier a day off versus a tough righty. IIRC, Escobar hasn't had a lot of Triple A time and his month plus probably did his hitting some good (he has been raking at Rochester). He spent almost all last year on the Sox bench and didn't play that much for the Twins this year. I am not a fan of 30+ utility infielders who can't hit much and have zero (nadie, nunca, nada) power. Keep Beresford and Bernier in the minors!

I think Parmelee will be out of options. If Mauer is the primary first baseman, he probably will be competing to win a spot on the bench. Gardy gives all his players plenty of at-bats, so if he can hit, he'll get a lot of plate appearances. I thought Parmelee would run with the regular job he was presented this year. He surprised me with his more than acceptable defense in right, but just hasn't hit enough to justify a spot in the lineup.

Parmelee has not set Rochester on fire. He's played first and right capably, but his average stayed below .300 without a lot of power. I think Parm will have to win a spot on the Twins next year as a bench player. He's a 1b/RF who won't be guaranteed much playing time unless he hits or someone fails. Hicks also has been less than stellar. He was also injured, but in his limited play, he also hit below .250 with no homers. Next year, I guess Hicks will have to start in Rochester and earn his way back to Minnesota. Hicks still projects to be a major league regular, but the timetable now has a delay. Obviously, Hicks needs to hit better to advance and right behind him is uber-prospect Byron Buxton.

About August 1st, the Twins sent three young players to Rochester--Chris Parmelee, Aaron Hicks and Eduardo Escobar. Escobar had been one of two backup infielders and after a promising start had slumped horribly. Parmelee had started the season as the regular right fielder and heir apparent to Justin Morneau at first, and Hicks was viewed as a first round draft choice bearing fruit after putting together his best minor league season in 2012. Each was thought to be a lock to be recalled, if they found their swings and after Hicks forfeited enough service time to be under team control for another year. It is now September 6 and we don't know if any or all of the demotees will be back when Rochester finishes their playoff run. Where do these three guys stand in relation to where they were at the start of the year? The one guy who probably improved his standing is Escobar. He finished the Triple A season hitting over .300 and has sprinkled in some extra base pop. Escobar's defense has never been in question and I would project that Eduardo can count on making the 2014 Twins as a three-position infield backup. I would guess that Escobar's floor is backup infielder and his ceiling is "10th regular". I think he is what he is. More on Parm and Hicks later.

I don't trust defensive metrics either. I have seen a lot of Plouffe at third in the last two years and he has some things going for him defensively, but has never looked totally comfortable and at ease there. Third basemen need to hit for a better than a .700 OPS, especially guys that play below average "D" and provide nothing in baserunning etc.

Regarding LF-RF, there is a big left field at TF and having the guy with superior range (Hicks) play there isn't a total waste. Alex Gordon has a great arm and has settled in left (and won deserved Gold Gloves) so I have no problem if it shakes out with Hicks as a regular LF. It's not nearly as ridiculous as playing Ben Revere in right.

Waaay too early to rule out Arcia from the outfield. I'll agree that he hasn't been good out there but he has the skills (range & arm) to be decent or better and short 1Bs always bother me. Arcia can't be more than 6'0" can he? Let's get Oswaldo hitting again or he's a candidate to go back to Rochester to start 2014.

Plouffe goes as far as his bat takes him. At 27, I can't see him being a good fielder anywhere, but perhaps he would be more serviceable at first base. At third, he still doesn't seem to have good reactions or instincts. A .700 OPS isn't enough to get regular play at a corner, .800 is good enough, but Trevor's poor second half has pushed that OPS close to .700.

I guess I've seen most of Pelfrey's struggles and missed most of his good outings. From looking at his game-by-game lines, he has improved but remains pretty inconsistent. The trend is going in the right direction, he's not that old and he does have a mid-nineties fastball. I wouldn't object out of hand signing Mike Pelfrey for another year or two.

Here's my take: Probably pretty obvious, but this is a rotation like a lot of others in MLB, but lacking guys at the top. Most teams are searching for guys to fill out their rotations with guys like the Twins have but they have an established couple of arms they know will be there. The Twins need someone to be signed or step up who will be a top of the line starter and if they want to be serious about improving, they need two guys. Sign Hughes, sign another guy (I'd like to see what Pelfrey can do next year) and if it doesn't work, sign two more guys next year. The Twins can be players in free agency and if the position player talent develops like many scouts think it will, they certainly should be players for something more than bargain-basement starters.

I've been waiting to say this for a couple months--the leader in the NL batting average chase is ...........Michael Cuddyer. He sits at .331, one point ahead of Chris Johnson.

Eddie G is born and raised in California.

IIRC, Torre was a poor defensive catcher and he switched positions pretty early in his career. I just checked Baseball Reference--he was mostly a catcher for the Braves until age 28, but after that played first and third. with one exception (his age 30 year) where he played catcher for 90 games and third for 73. Torre caught just over 900 games out of 2200 as a major leaguer. Mauer has caught 400 more innings now than Torre did in his entire career.

Plouffe .2454, Dozier is .2451. With his six ABs today, Plouffe crawled into "qualified" by one plate appearance.

Who is the Twins' active qualified percentage batting leader? Morneau is gone, Mauer is disabled. Who leads among qualified hitters?

A little historical perspective. When the franchise was in Washington, the Twins were considered to have a Cuban pipeline and it continued after they moved west. Camilo Pascual, Pedro Ramos, Sandy Valdespino, Tony O, Zoilo Versalles, and Julio Becquer among others played for the Twins in the '60s. As far as the other Latin countries, the Twins haven't had many players. Of course, there are some exceptions--Cesar Tovar, Johan Santana etc. It is great to see the Twins coming up with Latin players. It does also seem to make the need more urgent for a Hispanic coach or two. MLB seems to have added numerous Hispanic players, so it only figures that the Twins would also add guys from "south of the border".

Will it be better baseball when Pawtucket plays Rochester? I think so. Houston really is a bad baseball team. The Twins appear to be a step ahead, but that is damning with faint praise.

I tried Popeye's for the first time about a month ago in Rockford, IL. It was underwhelming. My brother owned a KFC franchise years ago and I've been a fan since. It's the Colonel for me every time.

Great season at a key time in Pinto's career. He really sets himself to be a key guy for the developing Twins of mid-decade.

We've found Pinto's weakness!