stringer bell

I agree that it is a lot more about roles than it is about using the best pitcher in the highest leverage situation. It is supposed to be Robertson's job to get lefty hitters out and he failed. Failure does happen, but I still don't think Robertson is going to be very successful in the LOOGy role, unless he can squeeze a little more out of his fastball.

Per mlbtraderumors.com, the Twins have signed Eric Farris, presumably to play second base at Rochester. Farris is a small, speedy 27 year old, who has also played a bit of outfield. He has been an okay hitter in the minors and has stolen almost 200 MiLB bases.

May with a good outing at NB, but the Rock Cats were no-hit and lost 1-0.

From my fan's point of view at spring training, I think Florimon has the best shortstop tools--really good range, strong arm, quick release--and the Twins love those tools. Escobar looks like he can handle the job, but I don't think he will make many web gems. Dozier has been very good at second and provided some offense today. Three days is a very small sample, but I am fairly confident that Dozier will do a good job this year. I wouldn't be surprised to see Escobar grab short away from the flashier Florimon.

thrylos pointed this out in ST--Robertson seems to have lost some velo. 86 mph from a reliever is certainly below average especially for a big guy like him. Didn't he throw in the low 90s?

I actually think that two of the four veterans will not be active Twins after the trade deadline.

Also, it looks like Drew got knocked out of a game after getting hit by a pitch.

A waste of a nice day by Dozier and a good game from Plouffe. Not so sure about Escobar although he got two hits. Liam spent all his live rounds getting out of the fourth I guess. Obviously, he'll get another chance, but having a 4-1 lead and basically giving it back isn't good. I think there is some truth to the CW that starters going deep into games helps the bullpen. They need a good outing from Vanimal tomorrow.

Robertson needs to get more than half of the key batters out to keep a job. Nice job against Prince, not so much against Davis.

Roenicke is out of options, so the Twins would attempt to outright him and risk that he would be claimed. It would also clear a spot on the 40-man whether he was claimed or not. I think that is a gamble worth taking on a 30-year old middle reliever who doesn't throw that hard and has a history of control problems.

Another topic for DickBert on Thursday was relievers throwing huge numbers of innings. Both Dick and Bert remembered Bill Campbell who threw over 162 innings for the Twins. Neither mentioned an ex-Twin who should have certainly been mentioned when talking about relievers pitching high numbers of innings--Mike Marshall. Marshall threw over 200 innings out of the bullpen in 1974 for the Dodgers and won the Cy Young award. He pitched two or three years for the Twins and threw over 140 innings in one season. I remember him as surly, opinionated and a freak of nature. He threw every day whether he got in the game or not and seemed to have a bionic arm. Campbell, OTOH, seemed to have his effectiveness diminished due to the heavy workload he endured while a member of the Twins and later with the Red Sox.

If Parmelee goes 4-4 today, do we forget this thread? I am on record as believing Morneau is gone, either at the trade deadline or at the end of the season and I see CP as the only viable replacement at first base. It does help his case that he plays a serviceable RF, but he is the Twins' near future as the first baseman.

It appears that at least two of the Twins' disabled pitchers will be ready to go this month. Diamond is on schedule to start April12, and Swarzak should be ready about then, as well. Who gets sent down or released, or outrighted? It looks like De Vries could be disabled if he can't go on Sunday. Roenicke and Robertson could be in jeopardy if and when Swarzak is ready. What is the opinion of Twins Daily readers

Yes, I heard the postgame show which pointed out the Twins were above .500 for the first time since 2010. I have seen the positive comments about the starting pitchers and their success so far this season. I do believe this team is improved and I think they are due for better luck after two disastrous seasons where any luck they had was bad luck. This is a club that will be hard-pressed to exceed 70 wins without more than one positive surprise. Three full games have yielded 17 strikeouts in 27 innings. That is the opposite of a collection of "power arms". The three games were played in cold conditions, with tough lighting (sun and shadows) and with a strong breeze. The conditions helped the pitchers on both sides, without a doubt. Of course, those same conditions hurt the Twins hitters. It would figure that they will do better with higher temperatures, lighter winds and more normal lighting. There are positive developments. The team has gotten production from their bench players. Justin Morneau appears to be healthy and should put up good numbers. There are other veterans who should again be productive. However, the team has many, many question marks and it is doubtful that each question will be answered positively. Some observations: 1) Spring training doesn't matter much at all. Worley, Correia, and Pelfrey all looked like they were pitching batting practice, but now that the games count we see they are big leaguers. 2) I do like a few "scrap heap" players that the Twins have picked up--last year Burton established himself, this year perhaps Pressly might prove that he can be a bullpen arm for this year and the future. Casey Fien did well last year and has pitched well in a couple of game situations. 3) Maybe it is the weather, but the defense needs to improve. Mauer let too many balls get by him and made a couple of tailing throws to second, Florimon booted a ball and made several poor throws. Several balls eluded Plouffe at third, and their range on the corners of the outfield is going to be limited. 4) This season still is going to be about players establishing themselves in the field--Plouffe, Parmelee, Hicks, Dozier, and Florimon (or maybe Escobar)--or on the mound (Hendriks, perhaps De Vries, Gibson, Meyer, May). Winning two out of three against the AL champs is nice, but the glow will fade quickly if the team plays poorly on the road. I am happy to see wins and competitive games.

Yes, I heard the postgame show which pointed out the Twins were above .500 for the first time since 2010. I have seen the positive comments about the starting pitchers and their success so far this season. I do believe this team is improved and I think they are due for better luck after two disastrous seasons where any luck they had was bad luck. This is a club that will be hard-pressed to exceed 70 wins without more than one positive surprise. Three full games have yielded 17 strikeouts in 27 innings. That is the opposite of a collection of "power arms". The three games were played in cold conditions, with tough lighting (sun and shadows) and with a strong breeze. The conditions helped the pitchers on both sides, without a doubt. Of course, those same conditions hurt the Twins hitters. It would figure that they will do better with higher temperatures, lighter winds and more normal lighting. There are positive developments. The team has gotten production from their bench players. Justin Morneau appears to be healthy and should put up good numbers. There are other veterans who should again be productive. However, the team has many, many question marks and it is doubtful that each question will be answered positively. Some observations: 1) Spring training doesn't matter much at all. Worley, Correia, and Pelfrey all looked like they were pitching batting practice, but now that the games count we see they are big leaguers. 2) I do like a few "scrap heap" players that the Twins have picked up--last year Burton established himself, this year perhaps Pressly might prove that he can be a bullpen arm for this year and the future. Casey Fien did well last year and has pitched well in a couple of game situations. 3) Maybe it is the weather, but the defense needs to improve. Mauer let too many balls get by him and made a couple of tailing throws to second, Florimon booted a ball and made several poor throws. Several balls eluded Plouffe at third, and their range on the corners of the outfield is going to be limited. 4) This season still is going to be about players establishing themselves in the field--Plouffe, Parmelee, Hicks, Dozier, and Florimon (or maybe Escobar)--or on the mound (Hendriks, perhaps De Vries, Gibson, Meyer, May). Winning two out of three against the AL champs is nice, but the glow will fade quickly if the team plays poorly on the road. I am happy to see wins and competitive games.

Earned or unearned?

Carroll for Dozier. Otherwise status quo. Some might say this is the best lineup the Twins can put out there.

Third straight day game (but three hours earlier), I would guess that Mauer and Doumit flip-flop positions, but I would expect everyone else to stay where they are. I'm sure Gardy would like to see Parm and Hicks get off the schnide before they get a day off.

Overuse? I don't speak in reverential terms about it (like Dick of Dickbert), but I don't think you want to wear out your top bullpen guys by bringing them in every time the team is within two runs in the seventh inning. Ideally, Perkins and Burton should pitch between 55 and 60 games each. They will likely pitch two and sometimes three days in a row at some point, but both guys have had arm problems before, so they shouldn't be pushed too much. I wonder if that is why some guys with great stuff (Albuquerque of the Tiggers comes to mind) aren't closers, because their arms aren't resiliant enough to come back three and four days in a row.

It sounds like the Twins might get a rainout or two on the road trip. They may not need a fifth starter until Diamond is ready to go. Adding Walters would be a problem because he's not on the 40-man. I suppose the Twins could recall Hernandez for one start.

Seems pretty preposterous, but the Twins had precious few walk-off hits in their first three years at Target Field. Thome and the Hammer each had a walk-off homer, I remember gamewinners from Span and Delmon, but really not much in more than three years.

Or maybe Escobar is as good offensively as Carroll. Jamey is a sure thing, but what we're sure of is that he'll take good at-bats and hit for no power.

Two games in frigid Target Field. No one has come close to hitting one over the fence (Escobar's was probably the closest) and not much solid contact has been made by anyone. It is deadball-era ball and small mistakes are magnified. Correia and Worley have looked okay, but the hitters have been poor. I think I'll believe the weather has a lot to do with both situations.

Mauer misplayed the pitch, no question. It cost the club a run as it turned out. The earlier wild pitch also cost the team a run. A couple of weakly hit balls also cost the team runs. Meanwhile, Mauer and Florimon combined to allow Jhonny Peralta to steal a key base, followed by a not-well-hit double by Prince. Of course, the Twins also had opportunities to score and failed. The most notable failure came from Plouffe and Parmelee with the bases loaded in the 7th.

I DVRed the game yesterday and watched most of it last night. While I didn't see some key events, I heard about them on the radio. The Twins had a chance to beat the Tigers but came up short in key at-bats. They also were hurt by bases advanced by the plodding Tigers. What went right: 1) Worley outlasted Verlander. Even though he was the losing pitcher he managed to go six innings and reached the threshold for a "Quality Start". 2) Fien struck out the side in the seventh and it was the top of the order. 3) The offensive approach allowed the Twins to only face Verlander for five innings. 4) Worley had the Tigers hitting the ball on the ground recording something like 15 ground ball outs, including one outstanding play from Florimon. What went wrong: 1) Four Twins came up in a game situation and only one (Doumit) brought in a run. Plouffe and Parmelee had a great chance to knot the game or put the Twins ahead in the 7th inning and failed. 2) Duensing and Roenicke combined to yield a key insurance run in the 8th, after the Twins had closed to within one run. 3) Defensive misplays and failure to make plays cost the Twins dearly--a) Peralta was a dead duck with a good throw and tag, Mauer's throw tailed and Florimon failed to catch the ball. Two wild pitches allowed runners to advanced and each scored as a result of that. Mauer blocked a low pitch, but couldn't locate it and Roenicke's went between the wickets. c) Florimon booted a fairly routine grounder and Dozier might have left too early on Torii's hit and run roller in the first inning. d) Worley allowed too many baserunners, which put pressure on the defense and it never allowed Vanimal to get in rhythm.