stringer bell

Smalley has said he's a great athlete, which may or may not be true. He doesn't seem to have great instincts, which might contribute to "bonehead plays" and I don't think he has what they call "soft hands". I've seen too many balls clank off his glove, both at third and first. He made a fine play on the hot smash down the line and the ball stuck.

Twins got 5 2/3 from Winder and 6 from Ober (career high?) and 6 from Ryan. if they get six from Bundy, the front office has to be pleased.

He did, but Arroyo guessed he'd throw it home and tagged right away. Larnach didn't cut loose (I think), but I don't know if it mattered.

Good base running by the Sox, it got them a run and saved them on out.

Definitely a defensive upgrade, but he could save him to hit for Celestino or Jeffers in a more key situation.

Too soon for pinch hitters Rocco, Especially with two outs and only a runner on first.

Absolutely.

Okay, minority opinion. I don't mind Roy Smalley as an analyst.

Pitchers not throwers on the mound today. Bundy has to hit his spots, but he's looking like Greg (not Mike) Maddux so far.

So far, pitches in the box are being called strikes. Pitches outside the box are being called balls. Refreshing!

Well, Jorge got that one over the monster.

Celestino!

Rich Hill is throwing just as hard as Bundy.

I think Bogaerts was below the Mendoza line when this series started. He's now over.300. I'd like to see some Twins follow the same path in the next couple of series.

So was this a former neighbor or a neighbor who is elderly? I love the English language.

TBH 1 thru 9 is Yeesh.

It's Patriots Day in Massachusetts today. Boston Marathon after the game.

We all know there is a lot of movement in the last few active and 40-man slots. 60-day IL assignments create room and doubtless that will happen to someone on the roster this year. That said, clearing two spots to move players up and down would be helpful, I think. The downside on Minaya and a number of other guys pitching for St. Paul, is they can't be optioned, so if they are on the active roster, they must be designated for assignment if they are to be demoted. I believe a player can be outrighted once, but a second DFA gives them the right to become a free agent.

The lineup posted is a combined 29-171. Off to a hot April start, well maybe not. The top batting average is .250 (Larnach) and if he were to go 0-4, he would be under the Mendoza line. Hitting was supposed to be this team's strength.

Strotman would have to perform. There are a bunch of pitchers at St. Paul with major league experience, but not on the roster. I count 11 and two guys who haven't made it to the bigs, who are pretty promising (Cano and Mason). Prioritizing by ability to help right now, I think Smeltzer, Minaya, and Cano are clearly ahead of Strotman and perhaps more. I've never seen Strotman pitch, even on TV, but I understand he has good velo and is coming back from TJ. It may be that the club is waiting for May 1, but I do think they need to get their best options for the 'pen on the roster ASAP.

The Twins have a full 40-man roster at present and there appear to be some players in St. Paul and perhaps Wichita who could help this club. Also, they only have two catchers on their 40-man roster, so an injury to one of the catchers (even if the player doesn't go on the Injured List) would necessitate a 40-man move. First, let me run down the players who could be reasonably considered for promotion: Mark Contreras, Jake Cave, Jermaine Palacios, Curtis Terry, Chance Cisco or Jose Godoy, Devin Smeltzer, Juan Minaya and probably a half dozen other pitchers and Austin Martin in Wichita (although he is off to a slow start). Others may play themselves into consideration as the year rolls along. With 24 pitchers on the 40-man roster, it would figure that a pitcher or two could be taken off the 40-man roster. Candidate #1 IMHO is Chris Vallimont. He's 25 years old, only reached AA and hasn't been effective at that level. #2 is Cody Stashak, who was just activated and knocked around by the Red Sox yesterday. To me, he doesn't look like the same pitcher who debuted in 2019. He doesn't have above-average velocity and has had injury issues. #3 is Jhon Romero, who the Twins claimed from the Nationals. He's 27 and has worked a grand total of 7 major league innings. For the Twins, he has allowed six hits in three innings. #4 is Drew Strotman, being converted to relief at St. Paul. He's 25, hasn't made his MLB debut and has had control issues. With teams cutting back to 13 pitchers, I would think there would be a decent chance that none of these guys would be claimed. I don't advocate a DFA for all of them, but if the Twins want to upgrade their active roster, they will need to clear space on the 40-man.

Nine games. Not nearly enough to make final judgments on players. Yes, players like Sánchez, Kepler and Sanó have reinforced doubts about them in the nine games, but I would predict that one of the three (at least) will exceed their production of recent years. I understand the doom and gloom. When a team isn't hitting, their pitching and defense deficiencies are magnified, such as pinch hitting and weakening defense in two positions and using less effective relief pitchers when trailing by multiple runs. It's darn hard to be patient, but that is really what needs to be done. The front office and manager need to decide who to be patient with and who to bench or let go. They have much better information than we do and they know more about baseball. Of course that doesn't mean that they're always right. Alexander Columé is a great example.

So, if more than one team claims a player, the outcome can be delayed by a bit of a bidding war? If one team claims a player, the team that designated the player can hold on for the full week and if no one claims that player, then they can move him back to AAA (e.g. Rodriguez)?

Not a fan of Rocco pinch-hitting for Gordon as early in the game as he has in two of the three games.

I'm curious about DFAs. Cotton was designated prior to Rodriguez and we already know that he (Gonzalez) was unclaimed and returned to St. Paul. Cotton was designated to make a place for Rodriguez (and a day later, Garlick) and we haven't heard the outcome of his DFA. What is the difference?