stringer bell

Make it five candidates for the rotation--I forgot De Vries.

The Twins have hit the 20 game milestone and are a breakeven 10-10. Considering the pessimism going into the season, we Twins fans should be happy with the results. Some raw numbers: Run differential is -6. Team ERA is 3.92, the Twins have scored 83 runs despite only 13 homers and a league-worst slugging percentage. They are 5-2 in one-run games and have allowed only 11 homers, second best in the AL. Many of these stats can't be sustained--they will allow more homers and win fewer close games--but the team is improved. The team hasn't gotten much from several players--Aaron Hicks is off to a historically bad start to a career. Morneau, Plouffe, Doumit, and Parmelee (normal 4-7 hitters) have combined for 4 homers and 24 RBI in 294 plate appearances and Worley and Pelfrey have been much more bad than good in their starting turns. Escobar and Correia have far exceeded expectations, but they are really the only ones who are performing better than one might expect. The defense has been inconsistent, highlighted by SS Pedro Florimon. However, there have been many highlight defensive plays as well. Two players in new positions--Parmelee and Dozier--have seemed to be good fits to their new spots. I think the club is still a ways away from truly contending. The top end of the rotation is suspect, the hitting is inconsistent, and they have put pressure on a pretty good bullpen. The upcoming road trip will probably tell a lot about the present for the Twins. In looking at minor league performance and players returning from injury, it appears that the back end of the rotation has many candidates for few spots. Current #4 starter, Pelfrey hasn't had a quality start and has had two lousy outings and two okay starts, never finishing the sixth inning. Pedro Hernandez, the nominal #5, pitched only 5 innings today, but was effective. There are no less than four candidates--Gibson, Hendriks, Walters, Deduno,--for starting spots and at some point Rich Harden could also be considered for a spot. Add in the two off-season trade acquisitions in AA and that is quite a logjam of potential starters. In the bullpen, Tim Wood and Rafael Perez are nearing health with a full bullpen and 40-man roster. Tyler Roberton has also pitched well at Rochester, so there could soon be too many okay options for too few spots there. In the outfield and at first base, the Twins have service time considerations with rookies Hicks and Arcia. When Darin Mastroianni returns from the disabled list, one of those two would figure to be sent down to Rochester. There is a chance that Chris Parmelee could be sent down instead, but I think the Twins have seen enough of Parm raking at Rochester. The outfield/first base decision could be complicated by somebody catching fire at Rochester. Colabello has been outstanding so far and onetime top prospect Joe Benson has put together a few good games. Another week in the minors would delay 21 year old Arcia's free agency for another year. Hicks would need to be sent down for three weeks to delay free agency. As with most roster decisions, it probably doesn't make any sense to decide until you have to, injuries and ineffectiveness usually help to make the decision easier.

The Twins have hit the 20 game milestone and are a breakeven 10-10. Considering the pessimism going into the season, we Twins fans should be happy with the results. Some raw numbers: Run differential is -6. Team ERA is 3.92, the Twins have scored 83 runs despite only 13 homers and a league-worst slugging percentage. They are 5-2 in one-run games and have allowed only 11 homers, second best in the AL. Many of these stats can't be sustained--they will allow more homers and win fewer close games--but the team is improved. The team hasn't gotten much from several players--Aaron Hicks is off to a historically bad start to a career. Morneau, Plouffe, Doumit, and Parmelee (normal 4-7 hitters) have combined for 4 homers and 24 RBI in 294 plate appearances and Worley and Pelfrey have been much more bad than good in their starting turns. Escobar and Correia have far exceeded expectations, but they are really the only ones who are performing better than one might expect. The defense has been inconsistent, highlighted by SS Pedro Florimon. However, there have been many highlight defensive plays as well. Two players in new positions--Parmelee and Dozier--have seemed to be good fits to their new spots. I think the club is still a ways away from truly contending. The top end of the rotation is suspect, the hitting is inconsistent, and they have put pressure on a pretty good bullpen. The upcoming road trip will probably tell a lot about the present for the Twins. In looking at minor league performance and players returning from injury, it appears that the back end of the rotation has many candidates for few spots. Current #4 starter, Pelfrey hasn't had a quality start and has had two lousy outings and two okay starts, never finishing the sixth inning. Pedro Hernandez, the nominal #5, pitched only 5 innings today, but was effective. There are no less than four candidates--Gibson, Hendriks, Walters, Deduno,--for starting spots and at some point Rich Harden could also be considered for a spot. Add in the two off-season trade acquisitions in AA and that is quite a logjam of potential starters. In the bullpen, Tim Wood and Rafael Perez are nearing health with a full bullpen and 40-man roster. Tyler Roberton has also pitched well at Rochester, so there could soon be too many okay options for too few spots there. In the outfield and at first base, the Twins have service time considerations with rookies Hicks and Arcia. When Darin Mastroianni returns from the disabled list, one of those two would figure to be sent down to Rochester. There is a chance that Chris Parmelee could be sent down instead, but I think the Twins have seen enough of Parm raking at Rochester. The outfield/first base decision could be complicated by somebody catching fire at Rochester. Colabello has been outstanding so far and onetime top prospect Joe Benson has put together a few good games. Another week in the minors would delay 21 year old Arcia's free agency for another year. Hicks would need to be sent down for three weeks to delay free agency. As with most roster decisions, it probably doesn't make any sense to decide until you have to, injuries and ineffectiveness usually help to make the decision easier.

This is the third straight 4-0 day for Twins farm teams IIRC. That would include 13 victories counting Rochester's win in the suspended extra inning game. The overall record for the four teams is now 54-33 despite Rochester's 9-14 record. This is definitely the most talent in the Twins' farm system that I can remember.

DickBert commented several times that Florimon was "attacking the ball" on grounders to the left side. Also, a topic of conversation was that Dozier was better at second because he could wait back, inferring that shortstops couldn't effectively wait for extra hops. I happen to believe this is true in Dozier's case because he doesn't have a gun like Florimon and Escobar. Also, in the strib gamer for today, it was indicated that Plouffe also wasn't attacking the ball at third and that apparently was a reason he wasn't in the starting lineup. Gardyspeak, or is there something to this?

Hey, look, it's Joe Benson! He's 6-15 in his last four games and raised his BA over .200 and OPS to .603. He has a double, two triples and a homer and a stolen base in those four games.

Great news on Gibson. I agree that service time is a consideration, but far from the only consideration. At Gibson's age it isn't as important as it would/will be for guys like Berrios, Sano, Rosario, and Buxton. I have thought all along that when Kyle is ready, he can force himself into the rotation. The primary consideration, I think, is an innings limit and how that will work with Gibson being in the rotation.

I liked your post and really like the vaulter.

I'm a Benson fan and happy to report another 2-4 for Joe, with a homer and two runs scored. He's raised his average all the way to .200! Stay healthy and keep hitting Joe!

It doesn't look like there is any hope for a regular shortstop in the higher minors. Danny Santana, who was billed as a possible long-term guy is struggling big-time in New Britain. He's hitting .214, without much power and has committed eight errors already.

Sounds like he could have been used in St. Paul.

I know this is a game thread, but the Escobar-Florimon comparison is interesting. Florimon made a terrific throw from shallow left to cut down a runner, also made a heads-up play to get Berkman showing his tools. Escobar might not have the tools (although he also has an outstanding arm), but his performance thus far has been excellent. Florimon has been uneven. Florimon slapped a solid single, but with a runner on third and two outs, got frozen for a called third.

I googled this: "In hotels, Dialing 8 was calling long distance. In baseball, Dialing 8 is a home run. In blogging, Dialing 8 is a set of posts from a blogger that I find lasting long and being strong – the cornerstones."

I'll say! I was going to comment that Diamond is having a Pelfrey-like start.

Chief, you and I are of the same generation, I think. It always was called "dialing 8" IIRC.

I'll try again here. Dan Rohlfing

I choose C-OF-1B Dan Rohlfing as my second Adopt a Prospect.

How about a really cheap win for Fien?

Oh yeah, Morneau leads off--why am I not excited about that?

If the Twins are going to win this game, they need the bottom of the lineup to produce against Nathan. To me, that is going to determine how successful the season will be.

Ron Washington--tactical genius.

All minor league teams have won/are winning. Lots of highlights. Meyer 6 solid IP, 7 Ks. Buxton HR, SB, now hitting .410, Sano went yard, Baxendale another win (2R in 6 IP), Rosario three hits, Michael two triples. Joe Benson had two hits and four runs scored.

I see Buxton as a leadoff guy at least to start his career. Like Kirby, he could become a #3 hitter, although Buxton has that great speed.

You're asking for a run-ny nose?

Mauer is throwing better this spring.