stringer bell

I just saw a replay of Hicks' HR today in Toronto. I think his LH swing there was just fine. I do think he has taken better ABs righthanded, but hitting lefty is such a large advantage, it shouldn't be forfeited. I can't think of a single player who scrapped switch hitting and was a markedly better hitter. It could well be that if Hicks hit only righty he could become platoon fodder and a right handed hitter in a platoon is more accurately referred to as a "bench player". Hicks' lefty hitting has always lagged, but his R/L splits last year were fairly equal IIRC. Roy Smalley, a successful major league switch-hitter, pooh-poohed dropping LH at bats for Hicks and Roy should know something about that.

I'd say the consensus is that Dozier is absolutely a keeper for next year (at this point) and then come the questions after that--will Rosario be ready to claim 2B? Could Dozier become the primary utility infielder? Could Dozier move back to short to make room for Rosario? I do believe that Dozier has the ability to play shortstop and be a major league average fielder. It seemed to me that Brian made the classic rookie mistake of taking his at-bats with him to the field last year. He has been somewhere between very good and outstanding on defense this year as a second baseman.

Puig's going to make it, all right. He's going to be the "last man". I would bet a considerable amount of virtual dollars on that.

Alex Wimmers has missed almost three years of baseball. He suffered through Steve Blass syndrome and then had TJ surgery. For a college guy to have his development delayed that much is pretty close to a career killer.

I have seen many of these guys in Spring Training and also was in Cedar Rapids before Buxton left. I agree that this is an exciting group of elite prospects. My concern is that too few are pitchers and there are too many question marks attached to the top prospect pitchers. It looks to me like the next prospect to have a major impact is Tonkin because if anybody in the bullpen is moved, he will probably be promoted. Another high minors guy who I think has both a good future and an important role is Josmil Pinto. I expect Doumit to be gone and hope that the Twins go with Pinto as Mauer's backup rather than a utility guy like Herrmann or a glove-only guy like Butera.

The four-game sweep by the Yankees has pretty much washed out all hope for contention by all but the most optimistic fans. Since they've already lost five in a row, they are on the road for the next ten games and they play three teams against whom they've had trouble, I am looking at a substantial losing streak occuring before the All-Star break. What is the opinion of TD? I'm thinking 10 or more.

Josh Willingham went on the DL with a torn meniscus. He will be out 4-6 weeks. Currently, the Hammer leads the club with 10 homers. There are several on the team with 8 long balls and another (near) half dozen that have hit 6 or 7 homers this year. My poll question is: when Willingham returns to the team in August, who will be leading the club in long balls? Joe Mauer. The team's best hitter will take the lead in long balls Chris Parmelee. Parmelee hits more of his homers on the road and that is where the club will be playing most of their games from now until August. Trevor Plouffe. Trevor hit three on the homestand and seems to have his long-ball swing going. Ryan Doumit. Doumit is due for another extra-base binge. Justin Morneau. Also seemed to find his power stroke on the homestand. Oswaldo Arcia. Hasn't had as many at-bats, but he has six homers. Aaron Hicks. He seems to hit homers in bunches. Brian Dozier. He hit five homers in June, if he hits five in July, he'll probably being leading the team Josh Willingham. The Hammer is the Twins best home run threat.

Wilken Ramirez will make another spot available if/when he recovers from concussion symptoms. It makes zero sense to add someone not on the 40-man until they have to. The Twins are 3-3 when they have designated someone--Robertson, Benson, Burnett. I really can't see anyone claiming Walters and then keeping him on the 25-man roster.

MI won't even get into BABIP, LD% or stuff like that. I just looked at some statistics of the Twins at the midpoint of the season. There are some interesting numbers embedded in the disappointment of another losing season. 1. We shouldn't be griping about Mauer hitting into double plays. Joe has grounded into only three double plays all season. However, the reasons however are mixed: a) Mauer has mostly hit second in the lineup and leadoff hitters just haven't been getting on base. Joe has hit more balls in the air this year than any year previous and c) Mauer is on pace to strike out at nearly twice as many times as he ever has in one season. He's already fanned 66 times this year and his record in a single season is 88. 2. Noted slugger Brian Dozier has more walks in fewer plate appearances than Justin Morneau. Morneau has fewer free passes than Ryan Doumit and Chris Parmelee as well. What does this indicate? It appears that the league no longer fears Morneau. I recall vividly Tiger manager Jim Leyland refusing to pitch to Morneau in game situations, now the league is unafraid no matter the score. Morneau has sliced his strikeouts and hit well with runners on base, but big blows have been few and far between. 3. With home run leader Josh Willingham on the DL, probably until mid-August, the Twins don't have a single active player with double-digit home runs. However, they have four players (Doumit, Mauer, Plouffe, and Parmelee) with 8 homers. Three more guys have six or more. I do like seeing a lineup where every player is at least a modest threat of hitting the ball over the fence. My own personal pet peeve is seeing a succession of Twins with virtually no power. Seeing outfielders play in several steps for Carroll, Revere, and a bunch of middle infielders so much so that runners couldn't score from second on a single has bugged me no end.

Twins lineup per their website: 4. Dozier 2. Mauer 7. Arcia DH Morneau 5. Plouffe 3. Parmelee 8. Hicks 9. Thomas 6. Florimon 1. Gibson

I heard Bremer the other day say something to the effect that Dozier has been "stymied" in the .230s. While this is basically true, since June 1, Dozier has been an effective offensive player. He has drawn 18 walks and struck out only 15 times in that period and had a .389 OBP in June, which is very good. His OPS was .902 and he is 4-12 with three more walks so far in July. I would say that he has stepped it up. Parm has taken about a half-step forward, with a few good games and a number of bad ones. Give him the at-bats this year and hopefully we'll know what to expect in 2014.

I still think the Twins move a couple people. Someone from the bullpen, but not Burton who has lost all value, and either Morneau or Doumit. I think Doumit has more value than people think and that the Twins have someone they want to try "at the big league level" this fall.

Here's another fairer angle to compare Hammer/Cuddy: OPS+ for Willingham in 215 games is 131. Cuddy in 164 is 120. So, at this point Hammer has been both a better hitter and more durable. However, six weeks from now, the latter won't be true.

I'm a Cuddy guy all the way. The time was right for him to leave Minnesota and Willingham proved to be more than a replacement. However, I think it is wrong to use WAR, especially D-WAR as the sole gauge of a player's value. Cuddyer is a far better player than Willingham this year, but WAR pegs him closest among the Twins to Florimon (and his .225 BA) this year. That is a crock. Regarding the defense of Willingham vs. Cuddyer, I have seen Willingham take more lousy routes to balls and make more misplays in one year than Cuddyer did in his years since he primarily became a right fielder. Straight out leg speed is no contest and throwing arms are no contest, so I dispute the defensive WAR values attached to each. Willingham, when healthy, was the slugger for a season or more that someone like Cuddyer will never be, but he is being compensated pretty fairly as is the guy in Colorado for what each contribute.

Small quibble with you Brock. Hammer is a month older than Cuddy.

I saw Lee's bad start in person. He would throw a very good pitch or two and then throw a meatball "right there", no consistency whatsoever. Seemingly that was the only time he experienced that phenomenon. It looks like Albers will get a chance sometime this year if he continues to pitch well, especially if Gibson is shut down by Labor Day. I don't think you can have too many lefties, but it would help if their styles are a bit different. I mean Diamond and Albers are both Canadian!

I think this is the fourth "elimination start" for a Twins pitcher in the last month. Pelfrey had two (one meh, one pretty good IIRC), Diamond was pretty good on Monday and now Walters. The path for Walters is clear if he has a bad start--he has no options, so he would be DFAed and I can't see any takers. Meanwhile, Pelfrey seems to be doing incrementally better. I said it before, maybe I like his velocity too much, but he intrigues me a bit as a middle to bottom of the rotation veteran for 2014.

I'd take Bautista over Jones or Cespedes, but all of those guys (plus Coco Crisp) are good candidates. Why is Torii in the discussion?

As of 7/2, Thielbar and Duensing will be switching roles. Good idea for now. I'm sure they don't want to overuse and overexpose Thielbar, but he is getting folks out with a good number of Ks, while BDuns isn't.

Willingham is off the table because of his knee surgery, so possible position players who could be moved include Morneau and Doumit. All of the veterans in the bullpen could be on the table and starters Correia and Pelfrey should be available although Pelfrey's numbers are among the worst in the league and he's coming off the disabled list. My guess is that someone in the bullpen will be moved and there's still a chance that either Morneau or Doumit (maybe both) are traded. After the losses to the Yankees, the Twins are pretty close to realizing they can't contend with the staff they have.

How did I just know Ichiro would get a roller/bleeder/chopper to get that run home?

A long time ago (when super stations were novel) I listened to Skip Carey and his former player analyst discuss "moving 'em over and getting them in". They talked about when someone would give themselves up to advance the runner and agreed that the only time would be late in a tie game. They cited a lot of baseball people and while some said it is nice to hit the ball to the right side regardless, no one was in favor of sacrificing an out for a base unless it was the probable winning run. To hear Dick and Bert (and Smalley too) blather on about productive outs irritates me no end. The fact is that even if a team gets a runner to third with one out, it is far from a guarantee that the runner will score, especially with the bottom of the order hitting.

Well, the Hammer is out for two weeks. This really makes the Twins overloaded with LH hitters. Plouffe and Dozier are the Twins only everyday RH hitters, with Doumit, Florimon, and Hicks as switchers. Doumit and Florimon are stronger LH and Hicks RH.

Agree with Seth that Burton and Duensing need to be "fixed", you probably can add Pressly as well. Right now, Perkins, Thielbar and Fien are going well, Roenicke so-so and the three guys I mentioned are having their problems. I think they need to ride the hot hands a bit and try to make it to the All-Star game without being buried. I speculated on another thread that injuries might be the reason for poor productivity for several players. I think Doumit, Mauer, Pressly, Willingham and Burton all need some rest and a couple of them might benefit from a stay on the DL.

It looks like there are plenty of candidates to go on the Disabled List all of a sudden. In the bullpen, both Pressly and Burton have not been effective since they were nicked and I'm sure either one could be disabled. Willingham looks almost certain to be DL bound. Doumit and Mauer apparently aren't 100% either. If Willingham is disabled (near certainty) the simplest move would be to activate Hicks. Since both catchers aren't 100%, it might make sense to recall Herrmann instead, especially since he could fill in at an outfield corner, in addition to catching.