stringer bell

Diamond got absolutely no help from the guys behind him, either hitting or fielding. I thought he threw a lot of good pitches, despite being in the stretch practically the whole game. No problems with base stealing either. He has command of all of his pitches and while he's not dominating, he looks like he can be decent or maybe better than that. It is tough pitching when it looks like one run will beat you and Diamond had to believe that pretty early in the game.

Last chance for Mastro? I can't see them continuing with a team that has Revere, Komatsu, and Mastro. Isn't this game #43?

Maloney was on the 40-man until he was DFAed. I, too, hope that he gets his chance to pitch as a starter. He has been terrible when coming in in the middle of an inning, but much better when starting an inning. He also showed an inability to hold runners and seemed to be distracted once somebody ran on him.

This club needs pitching, but they also need power. Sano is years away and who knows if he'll pan out. There aren't many, if any, other hitters that profile as having above average power. If they can snag some low-wage guys with power, they need to do that as well as grabbing power arms.

Sure. That is correct. Run in the early innings, run later in the day if the game is still close. Hopefully, the Twins get opportunities throughout the whole game.

This is the guy Cuddy stole three bases on in one game last year. With Span, Revere, Carroll, and Casilla, there are guys to swipe bases if the game is close and they are getting on base.

With Valencia not in the lineup, I wonder if he's on his way to Chicago? Too many backup outfielders and no real third baseman. Danny V has been swinging the bat better the last few days.

Both Guerra and Oliveros with scoreless outings. Oliveros struck out four in two innings.

Even with his nice 28 plate appearances this year, Drew has an OPS+ of 40. That is 437 plate appearances in 151 games. Ride the hot streak while he's on it, we know it won't last too long.

Mostrianni and Komatsu are the same player--one lefty, one righty--there is certainly no need for both particularly with Revere up for now.

I don't usually speculate about trades, but there are times when I see a match of needs and excess. The Angels have Morales and Pujols plus a full outfield, even with Vernon Wells being sidelined (big loss). Their rotation is solid, but their bullpen lacks both talent and depth. The Twins have too many bullpen arms and no one in their rotation. The Angels have an excess RH power hitter (Trumbo). I think something could be done that would help LA- Anaheim this year--something like Trumbo and their most projectable AAA pitcher for one or two bullpen arms (Duensing and Burton/Capps) and maybe Benson, depending on how good a projected starter the Angels would give up.

Maloney has had a lot of success at Triple A as a starter. By midseason, I expect that he'll be in the Twins starting rotation and I think he'll put up better numbers than at least one of Walters and Diamond.

Mauer isn't going to move to third base unless 1) he volunteers to do it. EXTREMELY UNLIKELY. 2) There are no in-house options. Well, besides Valencia there aren't. 3) There is a capable replacement at catcher. No, Drew Butera's hot 25 ABs have not convinced me that he would be able to stay above the Mendoza line. Mauer has said that he wants to catch. Being a catcher is why he was paid all of that money. He should be the best guide when he needs to change positions.

Valencia is having a nice run at Rochester right now. His average is up to .293, and he hit his second homer tonight.

What about Waldrop? He is out of options, I believe. He is on rehab, after which he will have to be recalled. There are too many deserving relief pitchers and no real good starting options. I certainly think that Slama's numbers deserve a shot. Guerra and Oliveros have earned their way to Rochester and probably to Minnesota.

I think there are probably six relief pitchers more big-league ready than any starter in the Twins' minor league organization. Slama, Fien, Oliveros, Manship, Guerra and Waldrop, off the top of my head. Add to this that there is already one too many relievers on the ML club and this situation cries for stretching out relievers and putting them in the rotation. Probably in July, the situation will cry for trading relievers. Manship and Swarzak have always seemed like the same guy to me, with Swarzak having more durability. Both seem to do better in long relief than as starters.

Very happy with Dozier's performance so far. The key for Dozier now will be to adjust to the adjustments that teams will make once he has made it around the league. The second key will be to add on. Perhaps add more walks, power or stolen bases to his already satisfactory offensive performance. Dozier already looks to be a solid shortstop--that is a big improvement over last year's misadventures.

They're grasping at straws to find guys to start games and have probably half a dozen decent options in the minors for bullpen duty. They have to try some of these arms as starters, don't they?

Oliveros promoted to Rochester, where he has made two appearances (3.2 innings), yielding no runs and getting a save. His numbers at NB were very good--one win, one loss, 1.42 ERA and WHIP under 1. He struck out 17 in 19 IP.

I don't see any upside to Marquis staying with the team, much less the rotation. It is batting practice, he doesn't throw enough strikes to get hitters to chase and he can't make 'em swing and miss. I also don't want to see the bullpen messed with too much, it seems that the Twins have lots of bullpen options and the starting options are not at all attractive. Moving either Duensing or Swarzak out of the 'pen to the rotation would make sense.

Gardy hit the jackpot with the double switch in the bottom of the tenth inning. Plouffe got to swing in the eleventh and hit the game-winning homer. Earlier in the game, I thought Gardenhire made two questionable decisions. Neither cost any runs that I am aware of, but I think players were wasted when there was no need to waste them. Komatsu was used as a pinch-runner in relief of Doumit, and he was one base behind Butera. I thought Gardy should have used a pitcher (Walters maybe) and saved a position player. Secondly, Gardenhire used his last catcher (Mauer) in the top of the eighth. I thought that was an unnecessary risk, especially with the team already up two runs. Mauer GDPed. I thought he should have been saved for a game situation, especially since the Twins had already used their other catcher options. Yesterday, there was debate as to whether Diamond should have hit in the sixth. I had zero problem with that, but I thought neither decision today by Gardenhire was wise.

It's a (late) day game after a long night game. Given that Mauer had been struggling until last night's game, it made sense to sit him in one of the games in Milwaukee. Given Pavano's insistence that Son-of-Sal catch him, it doesn't surprise me that Mauer is not in the lineup.

It was only the 6th inning, the Twins had only one out and Diamond had cruised through the fourth and fifth. The Twins were coming off a 2 inning start only two days ago and had used four pitchers yesterday. There are arguments on both sides, but I think Gardenhire made the right call. Not trying to sound too much like Bremer, but I like having these decisions to argue over when playing under NL rules.

I don't think he trusts anybody but Carroll playing third. Until someone is acquired or recalled, I am predicting that Carroll is the starter there. Casilla starts by default at second, too.

I'm pretty surprised Mauer is in the lineup as the catcher today. If Diamond regresses today, I guess it will give Gardy justification to have Butera catch him until he regresses some more.