AScheib50

Does anyone else feel like Tyler Duffy has completely flown under the radar on a pretty quick rise through the system? I feel like he was in Ft Myers just yesterday and now he is knocking on the door. What is the scouting report on him? Probably more of a 4th starter type? his K numbers seem pretty good as he has moved up, too, which is nice. He was one of the college relievers, right? Because he has seemed like a nice innings eater so far, too.

For some strange reason while reading this I got to wondering what Luke Bard was up to...anyone know what his status is? Have we given up hope on him at this point?

I would love the idea of them going younger and not clinging to some of these older guys, but the problem is the young guys aren't ready yet or they are hurt(ie: Sano). It's starting to become painfully clear this year is not the youth movement year...maybe next year, or if we are lucky things change this summer and they go young. If you look at our division rivals, the White Sox, they did the youth movement thing this offseason...not sure what the Twins were waiting for...we will see how things turn out I guess.

As a kid growing up in Chicago watching a lot of White Sox games in Frank Thomas' hay day, I feel like hes got to get in. He was an absolute beast. I struggle with the PED guys. I have a weird outlook. To me Barry Bonds was a top 5 player before he ballooned up. But to me guys like Sosa and Palmeiro probably would have been nobodys without PEDs. So I find myself leaning more towards favoring Bonds even though he was easily the most unlikable player of the generation. I'm still on the fence whether or not I would vote for any of them, but if I voted for any PED user it'd be Bonds...mostly based on his seasons in Pittsburgh.

I feel like it has to just be 2 catchers. I was always under the impression Gardy had his third catcher just because he Dhed Mauer and hated to idea of losing the DH spot for one game should the catcher get hurt while Joe DHed...I always found this crazy (even though I was at the game where I believe Garza had to hit because the above scenario actually happened) But with these catching options, none should be DHing anytime soon so that concern should be gone, thus the need for a third catch is out the window...right?

Not sure about the Polanco love...everyone seems to be on his bandwagon this offseason. I watched him a few times this year when the Kernels were in town playing Kane County and I wasn't blown away personally. Extreme small sample size, I know, but I don't see him above Rosario yet, considering league and track record, Rosario is a ways ahead of him in my opinion.

Here's just a little food for thought. Following the origins of this post, I'm not advocating one way of the other just throwing this out there. Take a look at what Manny Machado did in the minors before debuting last year at a 19 year old...Manny Machado Minor League Statistics & History - Baseball-Reference.com

This whole thing really reminds me of a book I just finished, it was called Odd Man Out by Matt McCarthy. He pitched in Rookie Ball for the Angels in the early 2000s. He played with the likes of Alberto Callaspo and Eric Eybar and Joe Saunders. Basically, it covers the year he spent playing minor league ball. It was crazy to hear about their lifestyles and what they had to go through. Especially interesting was the relationship between the "Dominicans" (apparently it was a blanket term for Latin players) and the Americans. So the issue between Lanigan and Sano seems like something straight from this book. The other thing from this book that is applicable is the way Joe Saunders was treated. He was a top 10 pick the same year the author was drafted. He signed a big contract and basically came to Rookie ball getting treated favorably was not making a ton of friends. So I wonder if sometimes these bonus baby types, like Sano, have a hard time relating to the rest of the players or carry themselves a little differently. Long story short. We really underestimate what playing minor league ball is like. It's a grind to say the least and a lot of crazy stuff happens that we don't know the half of.

I think everyone needs to cool their jets on this one. It will happen. A few days aren't hurting him. Also, I don't know about calling up all the guys you mentioned. They still need to field a team in Cedar Rapids. I could see Hicks getting promoted and Rory Rhodes taking his place. I would probably let Polanco stay at CR for now though.

In Polanco's defense, the throw from Goodrum that he dropped was a little low. But no question it shoulda been caught. He just seemed to have a lack of concentration on a few plays that I would have preferred to see him make. On a positive note, Travis Harrison looked okay at third. He didn't have much action but he made the plays hit his way. I was pretty nervous on a harder hit ball to him but he scooped it up and made the throw in time to get the out. Funny watching him next to Hicks and Walker, they are both huge and their power makes sense, but Harrison is a normal lookin dude yet he's been showing great pop.

The Cedar Rapids Kernels are in my neck of the woods this weekend so I headed over to watch them face the Kane County Cougars tonight. Jose Berrios was starting so I was greatly looking forward to it. He wound up going 5 2/3 innings and looked pretty good. He only gave up three hits and had four strikeouts. He had a pretty rough start to the game. He issued a walk to the lead off hitter. After recording an out he threw a wild pitch, which left a runner on third with one out. That runner would come home on a single, but would be the only guy to score that inning despite the wheels almost coming off. The next batter grounded to short and Niko Goodrum fed Jorge Polanco for a taylor made double play, but Polanco dropped the throw. There have been some reports about Berrios being rattled easily or perhaps being too emotional. This seemed evident here as he was noticeably upset and the pitching coach immediately came out to calm him down. He then issued another walk to load the bases and was circling the mound and scoffing at a few calls. He then got the inning ending double play he had set up two batters before. After avoiding that train wreck he really settled in. I was thoroughly impressed by his ability to shake off a rough start and work through it. The high amount of pitches that inning might have ended his night a little early as he wasn't able to get out of the 6th, but it was one of those nights where the Box Score doesn't tell the whole story. His fastball was sitting at 92 and he cocked back and got 94 a few times to get strikeouts. His change up wasn't used much but looked interesting. He definitely wasn't afraid to throw the curveball. He threw it a few times in counts where he was behind. The fastball must have some late life on it or something because it was blowing guys away at 92. Watching him I was getting kind of a Johan Santana vibe...maybe cuz of his size or the speed on his fastball but he was pretty overpowering at times. Very fun to watch. Other than Berrios there were some bright spots. One bummer was that Byron Buxton was the DH so I didn't get to see him play the field. But he left an impression still. His speed is unreal. He legged out a fielder's choice then promptly stole second practically standing up and advanced to third on a throwing error by the catcher. Watching him run is worth the price of admission. I feel like when he gets on base he has an automatic green light to go whenever he wants. The big standout to me tonight was first baseman, Dalton Hicks. He mashed the ball in each of his at-bats. He had three hits. One was a double. But even his singles seemed to be crushed. He's a beast so it should be very interesting to see his development. I was impressed by him though. If I remember right, he got buckled by a few good breaking balls, which seems to be a constant with young hitters. I am a fan now for sure, though. I was less than impressed with Jorge Polanco's defense. Small sample size obviously. But he had a rough game at second. He did make a spectacular mid-air, between the legs tag on a stolen base attempt. But he botched two double plays and he was part of a trio to let a ball drop in shallow center. I know it's just one game so I'm not too worried but he just had a rough game so I was a little underwhelmed by him is all. I'm sure he's perfectly fine over there and today was an abberation. All in all, this is a great team to watch. So much talent all across the diamond. I could go on from what I saw, but I will leave it with the things that really stood out. But if you get a chance go out and watch the Kernels, I doubt you'll be disappointed.

The Cedar Rapids Kernels are in my neck of the woods this weekend so I headed over to watch them face the Kane County Cougars tonight. Jose Berrios was starting so I was greatly looking forward to it. He wound up going 5 2/3 innings and looked pretty good. He only gave up three hits and had four strikeouts. He had a pretty rough start to the game. He issued a walk to the lead off hitter. After recording an out he threw a wild pitch, which left a runner on third with one out. That runner would come home on a single, but would be the only guy to score that inning despite the wheels almost coming off. The next batter grounded to short and Niko Goodrum fed Jorge Polanco for a taylor made double play, but Polanco dropped the throw. There have been some reports about Berrios being rattled easily or perhaps being too emotional. This seemed evident here as he was noticeably upset and the pitching coach immediately came out to calm him down. He then issued another walk to load the bases and was circling the mound and scoffing at a few calls. He then got the inning ending double play he had set up two batters before. After avoiding that train wreck he really settled in. I was thoroughly impressed by his ability to shake off a rough start and work through it. The high amount of pitches that inning might have ended his night a little early as he wasn't able to get out of the 6th, but it was one of those nights where the Box Score doesn't tell the whole story. His fastball was sitting at 92 and he cocked back and got 94 a few times to get strikeouts. His change up wasn't used much but looked interesting. He definitely wasn't afraid to throw the curveball. He threw it a few times in counts where he was behind. The fastball must have some late life on it or something because it was blowing guys away at 92. Watching him I was getting kind of a Johan Santana vibe...maybe cuz of his size or the speed on his fastball but he was pretty overpowering at times. Very fun to watch. Other than Berrios there were some bright spots. One bummer was that Byron Buxton was the DH so I didn't get to see him play the field. But he left an impression still. His speed is unreal. He legged out a fielder's choice then promptly stole second practically standing up and advanced to third on a throwing error by the catcher. Watching him run is worth the price of admission. I feel like when he gets on base he has an automatic green light to go whenever he wants. The big standout to me tonight was first baseman, Dalton Hicks. He mashed the ball in each of his at-bats. He had three hits. One was a double. But even his singles seemed to be crushed. He's a beast so it should be very interesting to see his development. I was impressed by him though. If I remember right, he got buckled by a few good breaking balls, which seems to be a constant with young hitters. I am a fan now for sure, though. I was less than impressed with Jorge Polanco's defense. Small sample size obviously. But he had a rough game at second. He did make a spectacular mid-air, between the legs tag on a stolen base attempt. But he botched two double plays and he was part of a trio to let a ball drop in shallow center. I know it's just one game so I'm not too worried but he just had a rough game so I was a little underwhelmed by him is all. I'm sure he's perfectly fine over there and today was an abberation. All in all, this is a great team to watch. So much talent all across the diamond. I could go on from what I saw, but I will leave it with the things that really stood out. But if you get a chance go out and watch the Kernels, I doubt you'll be disappointed.

I don't get to see a lot of Twins games in person due to my location, but I was in Milwaukee for the 14 inning game and walked away conflicted by Florimon. It was a one game sample, of course. The first like 7 innings he looked great. Showed good defense and made some great rangy plays. He chased down a fly ball in mid left field that I thought would drop for sure. So I was impressed there. But then the wheels came off late in the game. He botched a double play in the 9th, which actually didn't burn the Twins. Then he made a very questionable play going to third on a GB to short and was gunned down by Jean Segura. His stamp was all over that game, both good and bad. It had me kicking around the idea of a blog post about the Two sides of Pedro Florimon. He showed he definitely has the tools, just maybe lacks focus from time to time.

I've always been hoping Mauer would start racking up more doubles in the absence of his home runs. But each year I am somewhat disappointed in the totals. I've always felt he should be around 40 doubles each year with his abilities but he seems to always be around 30 or so...maybe this is the year he starts to prove me right. I live in Chicago so I don't get to see a ton of games but I always follow on gameday and I kept seeing him striking out and thought it was weird. Then Nick posted in a thread that he was striking out around 20% of the time...which validated my concerns that he was indeed K'ing too much. It's something to keep an eye on, but he's hitting .341 so I won't worry just yet.