stringer bell

Parmelee's stats stack up with Doumit and Morneau after his nice game tonight against the Yankees. He's got an OPS of .718, Doumit is .702 and Morneau is .749, Willingham is .754. While he may never be a star, he is on the right side of 30, he is versatile and cheap. Let him play almost every day or send him down.

Diamond was okay, Dozier had two hits and a walk and Parm smacked a homer and a double. Everything else was pretty much terrible, but there were a couple of bright spots.

I haven't been disappointed very often by a Twins' loss, but I'm pretty peeved right now. The Yankees were ripe for the picking and the lineup is not good. Yet, somehow they have scored 10 runs. The defense has been poor, especially the pitcher and catcher. I haven't been too upset about Doumit's catching defense but today it has been pathetic (perhaps due to ankle). I have been on board for Doumit as Mauer's backup, but go with somebody with better defensive skills! I still would rather see Pinto than Son of Sal or a utility guy like Herrmann.

They're playing Polanco at short. When I saw him, I thought Polanco's arm was a bit short for shortstop, as did Jim Crikket. Goodrum is tall (6'4"?) and maybe he can add versatility to his resume.

In visiting with Terry Ryan while watching a couple of intrasquad games, he said the Goodrum had to do something this year. He said that Goodrum had all the tools, but hadn't put it together. BTW, Goodrum was a Midwest League All-Star, so he has put it together to some degree. I notice that he has started games at both first and second base in the past week.

Florimon has been okay, but his numbers in the month of June were a bit frightening. While I am not a fan of most defensive metrics, my eyes tell me that Florimon has both good range and a great arm, although he has kicked a few balls that he should have made plays on. The offense for June: .173 BA, .220/.240/.460 slash line. We are about exactly halfway through the year. If Florimon's offense comes back to what it was for the first third of the season and his defense is steady, he is acceptable. If he continues to hit below the Mendoza line, striking out more than 25% of the time, the Twins will need to make a change.

Future OF of Kepler, Buxton, Arcia? Maybe there's a reason why the Twins aren't concerned whether the have Hicks after six years.

Gardy was in a pickle with a starter with a trend of struggling in the middle innings and an eighth inning guy who had a very rocky last four weeks. He got Diamond through 6.2 and got the final out of the seventh, but the eighth with the heart of the order coming up doesn't inspire confidence. I think Diamond earned another start and it will be against the power-packed Jays--we shall see.

Pelfrey is making a single rehab start in Cedar Rapids and he'll probably be back in Minnesota by midnight. The Twins could demote Walters and activate Pelfrey, but both Vanimal and Albers are also in line to replace Walters. I am of the opinion that Diamond will find it and again become a quality big league starter, but he has been brutal for most of the last two months.

I imagine we'll hear Dickbert say something like "this is a big start for Diamond" and we'll almost hear the "dum, dum, dum, daah" from the orchestra after the words are uttered. If Diamond doesn't improve tonight, it is likely he'll be getting reacquainted with Rochester, New York. In his favor, he will be facing a team that is crippled by injuries and has shown particular weakness against left handers. However, they are the Yankees and their lesser players have managed to always shine against the Twins. Diamond needs to neutralize the few star players left in the lineup and keep the ball in the park. I imagine the Twins will struggle against Pettitte. I can't remember the last poor game Pettitte had against the Twins, but it has been awhile. I expect that Dozier will lead off, but otherwise the lineup should be similar to what it has been this month. Mauer is due to snap out of his funk and Plouffe has been swinging well. I hope the Twins can scratch out four or five runs.

Parm getting (deservedly) thrown under the bus. However, it doesn't forgive KC for allowing two big hits from the 8-9 guys in the order.

Well, that lead lasted.....about two minutes.

Is the wind blowing in? Did the Twins have their fans running, pushing the fly balls in (for the top of the 2nd?).

Brian Dozier closes out easily the best month of his major league career.......on the bench.

I went to the trouble of checking out Santana's splits and his "batter vs. pitcher" stats against current Twins. Mauer is 14-30 and the "old Morneau" has 3 HRs in 22 ABs against Ervin S. Santana's splits all favor him in today's matchup--2.27 ERA on the road, 2.55 ERA in day games, and a better OPS against facing left handed hitters than right handed hitters.

Yup--either him or Escobar.

I checked third basemen a week or so ago and Plouffe is about the only middling one in the American League. Baltimore, Seattle, Tampa, Detroit, Oakland and Texas have All-Star contenders at the hot corner and everybody else (at that point) had a sub-.725 guy. ESPN is now listing Reynolds as a 3B for the Tribe, but it really seems like either the teams have a good third baseman or they have a problem.

I give Diamond a little slack for 2012. Also he has more efficient innings than some of the other suspects. He has not been able to avoid the big inning and he hasn't made the big pitch when he has needed it. Hendriks is a bit different from those dubbed "career minor leaguer". Until this year, he advanced quickly through the system with a lot of success in the minors. Now, he is apparently dealing with an arm issue, but he is still young. Albers, like Diamond and Hernandez, is left handed. Somehow, some way, that makes him a more attractive option for the rotation now and in the future.

Hernandez is in there with the rest of them IMHO. Diamond, De Vries, Hendriks, Pelfrey, Walters, Worley, and Albers all look like back-of-the-rotation types that can succeed if they hit their spots or get knocked around if they don't. That is seven guys for two spots. Pelfrey (veteran) and Walters (out of options) can't be optioned. Albers isn't on the 40-man, but if Walters is demoted, there would be a spot for him. It is akin to making your choice from the clearance rack at Target from the irregulars.

I don't know if Diamond is gone for sure. If Walters "soils the bed" again, he is done for sure and Pelfrey moves in for him and everybody gets an extra day's rest when Pelfrey is inserted. Diamond could lose his job if he's bad again--Pelfrey would replace him and (I suppose) Worley/Albers would take Walters' spot.

Has anyone seen the original long version of that commercial? I liked it best.

I have no doubt that Ramirez' days are done as a Twin. He is on the concussion DL and has no options. When he is pronounced healthy, I would expect him to be DFAed. This would create a spot on the 40-man roster. Thomas would be the better partial platoon partner, perhaps starting between a third and half of the starts against right handers. Thomas has been the Twins best leadoff hitter (both gulp! and SSS) and has been passable in center, except for charging base hits. Pelfrey isn't synched up with Walters and the Twins have no days off until the All-Star break. That would mean either Walters gets one more shot or people work on short rest. I am guessing Walters gets another start. The other option would be for Walters to be DFAed and give a Rochester starter (either Worley or Albers) a start.

Aaron Hicks is just about ready to be medically cleared to return to Minnesota. Clete Thomas has returned to the big leagues and been a functional outfielder and held his own as a leadoff hitter. I think he has outplayed Wilken Ramirez and has staked a claim as a fourth outfielder if the Twins want a serviceable center fielder as their extra guy. Also, Mike Pelfrey is ready to rehab and could be back in Minnesota in a week. The Twins probably will have to make some transactions in the coming week. Here are some scenarios (not allowing for a new injury or trade). 1. Although Hicks is healthy, the Twins will option Hicks to Rochester. Three weeks (outside of injury rehab) would give the Twins another season of control over the rookie center fielder. 2. The Twins could activate Hicks and DFA Thomas. They would risk losing Thomas and then create a spot on the 40-man roster. 3. The Twins could demote another position player and activate Hicks. Possible candidates would be Parmelee and perhaps Escobar. 4. A pitcher could be demoted. Walters could be designated and since a starter wouldn't need to be recalled for a few days, Hicks could be activated immediately. At the point where Walters turn would come, someone (Albers, Vanimal?) could be recalled to start then and someone would have to be demoted then. 5. Someone in the bullpen could be demoted. The Twins have eight guys in the 'pen and probably could survive with seven. Fien and Thielbar have options. 6. Pelfrey could come back to the active roster soon. The Twins web site says he will rehab on Monday and it assumed that if all goes well he will be activated and pitch for the Twins on the Saturday before the All-Star break.

Coming into the season, I was looking at Plouffe hitting .250-.270 with about an .800 OPS, with probably 20+ homers. I expected improved defense, but still not much more than "serviceable". Nearing the halfway point of the season, Plouffe hasn't produced the power I expected, but he's hitting for a better average and keeping the OPS pretty close to .800 (.783 according to ESPN). Eye test view of his defense is improved and serviceable. For the second half of the season, I would expect that Plouffe will hit more homers and continue to improve as a third baseman. He's just 27 and I think he'll be part of the solution for the Twins when they are contenders again, not necessarily as a third baseman. It could also be that Trevor could be trade bait as soon as this deadline.

Heart of the order for baseball pitcher KG to be eligible for a win.