Physics Guy

I'd take that guy again. What would the board look like if he was on our roster this year?

Well said. The Twins threw up a clunker again last night. This does have a feel of similar circumstances when Ryan traded Luis Castillo away and the boys in the dugout were hoping for reinforcements. I'm hoping the vets can hold the young guys together and the team can finish strong. I'd like May to replace Millone in the rotation if he has another weak start. He is starting to look very hittable.

Ray Miller, 30 years ago. Geez I'm getting old.

I doubt you will get much argument here.

I guess it's pretty simple: 4.58 RS/game vs. 4.42 RA/game. Pythagorean has them at 21-19, so slightly outperforming. I haven't been able to watch a ton of innings, but it seems to me the starters are keeping the squad in games and the offense is finding a way to win ball games. Over the past three years, my impression was that our starters had us out of a game by the fourth inning. It seems those games are few and far between this year.

I disagree with both posts with regards to Hicks playing a corner OF position. The average LF in MLB last year had a .702 OPS and the average RF was .768. I think Hicks should be able to be somewhere in that range. He would also bring an above average glove to the corner OF. His OPS may be more heavily weighted towards OBP, but that is not necessarily a bad thing. We have a number of potential power hitters who may not be great OBP guys. Hopefully Hicks balances that. Here are the OPS for the primary LF/RF for each of the playoff teams in the AL: Bal: .694/.729 Det: .912/.765 KC: .783, .710 LAA: .745/.776 Oak: .767/.763

...and Bernier made two nice defensive plays tonight. Not quite Robinson ending the game nice, but still nice plays.

Guys are getting their hacks in tonight. Just looked this up to comment on another thread. Santana is hitting .318 this year if you take away the Detroit series at the start of the season.

Holy batting practice Batman!

First, why are we talking about Polanco's clock starting? They sent him down shortly after and he has very little time accumulated. As long as he doesn't come up anytime in the next month, why does that matter? If he were to come up now, he might qualify as a Super 2 for arbitration. I'm pretty sure they have three years of options on him and wouldn't be forced to keep him on the roster until 2017. Huh??? Take away the first series of the season and Santana is .297 coming into tonight (3/4 so far tonight). I don't understand the issue with bringing up Bernier. He strictly becomes a late inning defensive replacement and allows other guys to get the AB's. He can play all three IF positions. If it means Rosario gets Nunez's AB, great. If they are going to continue keeping Nunez around because Esco is passable in the OF (which seems true so far), Bernier is the logical callup. If you want to argue for Pinto, I'll say he should have been up for Nunez prior to Nunez going on the DL. This is a short-term solution only that doesn't take AB away from guys who should be getting them.

3/4 with two doubles has Escobar starting to figure it out.

Don't look now, but Torii might not be as done as some thought. He has an .819 OPS since Apr 15. Phil Hughes appreciated the HR tonight no doubt.

Five things the Be Happy (Don't Worry) about: 1) Danny Santana has increased his BA from .195 to .267 in two weeks. 2) Joe Mauer is hitting .308. 3) Trevor Plouffe has nearly doubled his BA and reached base in 15 straight games. 4) Aaron Thompson has turned in an excellent start as a LH reliever. 5) Kyle Gibson has three quality starts in five appearances and had a very nice outing last time out.

Bulldozier already hit on most of what I was going to say. .240 is fine when you OPS .915. My guess is that he was pitched around plenty and took walks when pitchers were nibbling. I suspect he will be fine. I worry less about the bat as I do whether he will be able to play 3B.

Anybody else annoyed by the poor base running on this squad. Joe looked brutal a few games ago, can't remember the game. Arcia at home, seriously? Act like you give a crap and get in a run-down. He knew he was dead so he just runs into the tag? I realize these guys are pros and don't make mistakes on rundowns very often, but geez. Also, who goes home on contact with the infield in? If they play in, it has to get through the IF. 2nd and 3rd becomes 1st and third. I hoped Molly would bring some smart base running. So far I am disappointed.

Pinto up for Vargas, catches 1 in 4 or 1 in 5 and is primary RH DH. Arcia can get some AB's as LH DH. Give Hicks until May15. If he's still close to his current numbers, time to bring him up.

Yep, have to agree that Vargas gets sent down right now if Pinto is called up. He could use some AAA time to get his swing right again. Playing some at 1B wouldn't hurt also.

Those numbers seem pretty logical since teams have been shifting on him. For the past couple of years the book seems to say to play him pull in the IF and opposite in the OF. This would make it much harder for him to get the hits to LF and CF like he used to. The concerted effort Bruno is making to get him to pull the ball on occasion seems to be working.

I seem to remember the same things being said about Bartlett at one point and he turned in some pretty good seasons at SS (albeit some with the Rays). Let's give him some time to work out the kinks.

I would vote with DFA Nunez. Yes he is the backup utility guy, but Bernier would be fine as a stopgap until if Nunez is claimed. If Esco or Santana gets hurt, the other should play nearly all of the time anyways. You just need Bernier to play good defense for a spot start to keep them fresh. Escobar is getting more than Utility AB right now because he has earned them. The additional AB that would have gone to Nunez if he becomes the utility guy end up with Pinto, which I am more than happy with, or Herrmann, which I am fine with as well.

One day, just make sure it's not the only one of that kind. What they don't know doesn't hurt them.

I'm sorry, but I have a hard time excusing Molitor on not forcing Arcia to bunt there. They are basically daring us to do it. Sad thing is, major leaguers are horrible bunters.

Boyer: 4 outings, runs given up in all four. Not a good start.

Jumping in late, but had to comment. Dick just stated that Joe didn't walk much last year, just 60 times. Career rate is 12.1% and high of 14% two years ago. Last year was 11.6%. Being a broadcaster must be like being a politician, you can say what you want even if it really isn't true.

Thielbar looked bad (5.73 ERA) in ST and Thompson was about 1/3 that (1.93).