stringer bell

Watched the last half of the Saints game. Chi Chi Gonzalez was effective, as was Megill and Hamilton. That makes me suspect any pitcher. The step between Triple A and the majors could be huge.

Maybe not so wrong. If he’s healthy and can’t get people out, maybe it’s time to cut bait on Stashak.

If one thing concerns me, I just don’t see who’ll get key outs out of the bullpen. I wonder if Thielbar’s pixie dust has run out and whether Stashak can regain his 2019 form. Romero really didn’t impress either. Maybe the plan is to try a lot of options and see which ones pan out, but in the meantime watching the struggles is pretty painful.

I wonder if the option limits are in play here, particularly if Buxton could still end up on the IL. This reminds me a bit of last year, in that every time I thought Celestino was certain to be sent to St. Paul, someone got hurt and he stayed on the active roster for 57 days.

Yeah, it is time for a few guys to start hitting. Correa had a promising at-bat, but got called out. Just not enough hard contact.

There isn't much "roster chum" among the position players. As far as the pitchers, relievers who aren't back-end and who aren't at least in AAA would qualify for that definition IMHO. I think Vallimont should be in jeopardy, other than that, no obvious choices to clear spots.

The Twins have the two catchers who have split time and so far Sanchez has been far more productive. Going into the Red Sox series, Bremer mentioned that Jeffers had not swung and missed in a game up to that point. He's struck out a bunch the last two days. Jeffers hasn't hit many on the barrel so far, but I guess I'm thinking he will eventually hit at a decent level. Sanchez hit a grand slam, a double and a couple of other hard hit balls, but has 11 Ks. With Sanchez in a walk year, the Twins have Jeffers (still unproven), two prototypical third catchers (Cisco and Godoy) and then prospects at high A or below. In summary, they are betting very heavy on Ryan Jeffers. I'm pretty sure they aren't going to give up on Jeffers very soon.

I continue to be intrigued by the Twins 40-man roster. In hindsight, it appears a near certainty that the Twins were looking for a way to clear space for Garlick before the season started. Apparently, they were counting on moving a pitcher or two off the 40-man, either by DFA or placing them on the 60-day IL, or by trade. They have since designated Cotton to make space for Garlick, but if/when they need another catcher, they will have to make room. I'm also pretty sure two pitchers that are in St. Paul (Minaya and Smeltzer) would be on the staff if they were on the 40-man roster. I think there are DFA candidates on the 40-man, but with the coming cut to 13 pitchers, the Twins probably don't want to promote someone and then risk that guy or someone being claimed within two weeks. Certainly, other teams have the same issues. Having two catchers on the 40-man and so many pitchers just does make it tougher for the Twins to maneuver than most.

Weather is not an excuse to be 3-5, but I think the offense will improve with warmer weather. The flip side is that the pitchers numbers might not good so good a month from now.

Well, I might be wrong about Stashak. He was recalled to replace Sonny Gray.

Agree about Vallimont, but the Twins went to the trouble of adding Garlick to the active roster and I doubt they will both demote him and take him off the 40-man roster. I think the next guy would be Stashak, perhaps as soon when he completes his rehab.

If they drained fluid from the knee, I'm really surprised that they didn't immediately put him on the injured list.

It's early, but oh my! A lot of great offense and plenty of good pitching. I doubt Vallimont is on the 40-man by May 1 and there are candidates to be promoted to the majors, although they would have to be added to the 40-man roster.

Well, Jake Cave hasn’t played for St. Paul for two days. Is he on a flight to Boston?

I would expect that Gray is put on the Injured List. 10 days means he only misses one start and the Twins do have an extra starter (two if you count Winder).

Larnach wasn't pulled for a pinch runner and in fact got a third hit in the ninth.

Early season. In one game, Larnach's average goes from .000 to .333.

Grooved one to Bogaerts with a runner on, otherwise he was pretty good. Threw strikes, decent velocity and at least two of his pitches (fastball and slider) sure looked like major league pitches.

Not a platinum glove play by the shortstop.

Romero to pitch the eighth and perhaps pitch his way to St. Paul.

Yeah, but Kirilloff has to get through that injury and that could be a tall order.

Are they going to ask Winder to finish? This isn't a Dereck Rodriguez situation. I'd like to see him leave on a positive note.

I do remember a thread last year in July or August where people were discussing who was the better prospect between Kirilloff and Larnach and a lot of people thought Larnach because he was getting on base more often. Larnach struggled mightily after that, but I still think he can be a really good corner outfielder.

Two straight good at-bats from Larnach.

Okay, it used to be that turning the double play was a huge part of a second baseman's job. The second sacker had to deal with guys coming at them from all angles and had to make different pivots depending on how the runners were coming in. Now, they can stand at the back of the bag and unhindered, throw the ball to first. I remember Carew, especially after his knee injury, being not great as a pivot man, and that may have hastened his move to first base. Bobby Randall, OTOH, didn't have great range, but he could make that pivot no matter who was bearing down on him. Shifts also have minimized the importance of the pivot IMHO.