adjacent

I see in the comments a narrative that the manager is too relaxed, too nice, etc. Maybe some of the commenters know Rocco personally to say that with authority. But careful, sometimes something showing calm demeanor in public does not say anything about how is he in the clubhouse, how competitive he is, etc. Yes, the hitting is awful right now, and if it doesn't improve soon, this season is in trouble. But I don't think is gonna get fixed screaming in the clubhouse or in public. Now, some now help on the hitting coaching side? That may help.

I am not going to research it, too lazy to do that, but I wonder if there ara data on injuries with regular rest, vs, playing continuosly. I know it is a topic that has been studied for pitchers, I am not aware of anything for field players

I was agreeing with the article all the alarming comings until I saw the date at the bottom of my computer screen: 4/14/21. Not the middle of April yet to say anything

Do they get any extra today with the double header?

He is an equal-opportunity destroyer

After a short drive (2 1/2 hs, not much) you can go and see the Paul Bunyon statue in Brainard.

And then Gameday showed 2 #3 pitches to Cabrera. I thought throwing 2 baseballs at the same time was illegal.

Does Garlick have options? Because it seems to me that if he doesn't then it is easy to give him the first chance, and if it doesn't work, you have Rooker. If you do it in reverse order, you lose Garlick without even a try.

Another variable with the White Sox is the Larussa experiment. How is this going to end up? With the Twins we already know how he works with the players he has (Well, in general)

I am sure that a lot more things are going to go into the decision than a batting or slugging average in a handful of spring training games. I guess they will be looking at all the things he must have been working with his coaches before deciding, and balance in the line up as well

Regarding Astudillo, I commented the other day kind of tongue in cheek that he drew a walk. But in today's at bat he seemed more patient that I had ever seen him. He waited for his pitch and didn't waisted it. Maybe he got the message? We'll see..

Beyond the 3 run homer, Gameday shows Duffey fastball barely at 90. Is that because of spring training or is sign of trouble?

And they missed the most important thing: Astudillo walked!!

Something tells me that for Sparkman and Shepherd, this spring training game will matter.

I agree with you but in one thing: The one that gives and approves work visas is the US government, not the foreign country government. In some specific cases, a No objection from the foreign government is required. I don't know in the case of baseball players. but the primary responsability is of the US government. Which, for all the discussions about immigration that there is, something is very seldom mentioned: the bureacracy to process immigration is woefully inadequate. Sometimes processing that should take days take months or even years. Fixing this, whatever you think of how immigration should be handled, should be a priority.

That wouldn't be very smart since the country itself has nothing to do. It's all on the US consul (or the US delegation as a whole) in that country, And also, the fact that Simmons was signed just before spring training. You can't start the immigration paperwork for an employee before the contratc is signed.

As it was stated in another thread, work visas are initiated by the employer, and have to be approved by the US consul in the foreign country. Other than show up at his appointment, there is little that the player can do.

This is a total misconception. 1) A work Visa is requested by the employer. The employee only shows up at the consulate to be interviewed and get the papers signed by the consul. 2) The decision to authorize the Visa is up to the Consul. You could have everything right but the Consul may decide to take his time and you can't do anything about it. I know this things because I am an immigrant, so they are part of my living experience.

Actually, if they are thinking long term deal (whenever in the future) any service time manipulation could be counterproductive

What it is said here about third base, plus what Donaldson was saying yesterday about being there at the end of the season, tells me that at the beginning Donaldson is going to have a lot of days off.

What is the options status on Thorpe? I read he was out of options, but the I remember seeing something he had a 4th option. Anybody knows if this is true? That is important for who takes the spot on the bullpen.

We've had to rely on guys like Littell, Romo, Arreaz, Stashak etc in the playoffs. This is the least I've cared about a Twins team going into a season in over fifteen years. I think you are forgetting 2011-2016. Boy, those were teams with lack of expectations. And still we watched them. Regarding this year, I am not too big on predictios because seasons usually are defined by the unpredictable. Yes, Buxton got injured all these past years, but that doesn't mean that he is going to get injured this year. Someone else that has been healthy all these years can get injured and affect the team in unpredictable ways. So, play ball! I am ready

"Does this make sense?" Yes, thank you!

Very informative article, as always. A question for those who know about pitching (that includes Parker but doesn't include me) "In 2018, he threw his fastball in the upper half of the strike zone 63% of the time but did so only 47% of the time in 2020. When he did locate up, opponents had a much more difficult time making solid contact (83.3 exit velocity) compared to when he would pitch to the bottom of the zone (93.8 exit velocity). It’s possible that the Twins could have him set his sights higher with his fastball in 2021. If he can keep that same tunnel effect while increasing the amount of separation between where the pitches end up, Colomé has the potential to miss more bats next year." If he tries to go higher with his fastball, and low with the catter, that doesn't in itself makes more difficult to get the tunnel effect?

I guess now it is time for the minor league signing that ends up being great, a la Thielbar