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John Bonnes

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Blog Entries posted by John Bonnes

  3. Aaron and John podcast from Freehouse and discuss the Twins final roster decisions, Kyle Gibson’s opportunity, losing Vance Worley and Alex Presley, distinctive Fanny Bay oysters, Byron Buxton’s injuries, gimpy knees, expectations for the Twins lineup, roto-bird, Aaron’s new iPhone and the magic of Tinder. You can listen by downloading us from iTunes, Stitcher or find it at GleemanAndTheGeek.com. Here's the breakdown:
    0 Aaron’s Knee
    4 KFAN
    8 Freehouse
    11 25-man roster
    12 Kyle Gibson
    13 Wrong Aaron
    14 Sam Deduno
    17 Losing Worley
    21 Losing Presley
    23 Oysters
    28 Keeping Bartlett
    33 Bullpen moves
    35 More Barltett
    40 Keeping Guerrier
    41 Powered by Cheese Curds
    42 Buxton’s injury
    46 Embracing “youth”
    49 Lineup over-under
    50 Brian Dozier
    54 Kurt Suzuki
    56 Joe Mauer
    60 Josh Willingham
    64 Oswaldo Arcia
    68 Jason Kubel
    70 Trevor Plouffe
    73 Aaron Hicks
    75 Pedro Florimon
    77 Josmil Pinto
    78 Losing kids
    81 $1000 burger
    85 Aaron’s iphone
    94 Tinder
  5. Aaron and John talk about Glen Perkins' contract extension, St. Patrick's Day craziness, what the plan is for Josmil Pinto and Aaron Hicks, unwanted apartment guests, drinking and eating at Mason's downtown, Ricky Nolasco starting Opening Day, running into KFAN producer Ryan Donaldson and his crew, waitresses in short shorts, out-of-options Twins, and getting too excited about spring training stats. You can listen by downloading us from iTunes, Stitcher or find it atGleemanAndTheGeek.com.
     

  7. Inside, Outside And Truth

    · John Bonnes · 03/07/2014 01:56 PM

    Bloggers and sabrmetricians are sometimes portrayed as treating players as tumbling dice. It's rhetoric meant to discredit and vilify, but it's not totally without merit. I know this because I think I'm about to treat Kyle Gibson and Chris Colabello as tumbling dice.
     
     
    Insiders (players, coaches, etc.) and outsiders (sabrmetrician, bloggers) have vastly different perspective on players and their development in two important ways. First, there is the matter of how much we value our projections. From the outside, we can talk of a player's development curve as an abstraction. We see him as a 22-year-old with an outstanding walk to strikeout ratio and we project him to become a different player four years from now. That projection is a range of possibilities, but it's a statistically backed range. We average them out and derive a destination.
     
     
    However, to the player in that development curve, and to the organization responsible for that development curve, there is no range. There is one spot: where he ends up. The range includes success and it includes failure and he can end up in either. That spot is everything. To them, the range means nothing. The average of that range certainly means nothing.
     
     
    So the first lesson is that player development curves, which are derived from watching groups of players, mean very little to the individual player or their organization.
     
     
    But there is a second and scarier aspect and that surrounds responsibility. We talk about these curves as if the player's progress along it is mandated from some higher forces. But the player and the organization can't count on that. They have to live it. They have to find their way through the obstacles, face the setbacks, make the adjustments.
     
     
    There are hundreds of games, thousands of repetitions, and uncounted adjustments for each player. These are what, when we add them all up, constitute improvement. They do not just happen. From the outside, we see a certain inevitability of improvement. But from the inside, improvement is far from inevitable. It is work and it is risk.
     
     
    However, there is value in being an outsider, too. There is an objectivity that can be lost while working one's way through the maze from the inside of the curve. Maybe some of those improvements, while not inevitable, are very likely. Maybe there are some basic aspects of being human that we eventually overcome.
     
     
    I'm hoping that is the case for Kyle Gibson and Chris Colabello. I talked to each earlier this week about their struggles after they were called up last year. From a distance, I wondered if Gibson thought his struggles were related to arm fatigue after coming back from Tommy John surgery. I wondered if the patience Colabello showed in a few games this week was due to some adjustments he's making in the batters box.
     
     
    They both said I was wrong. Instead, they both listed the same problem and that problem was far more basic and human: they had been nervous.
     
     
    Here's Gibson when I specifically asked him about wearing down at the end of the year.
     
     
    "No, I was just tense. I was not relaxed. I wasn't loose. And I wasn't very aggressive. I fell behind a lot of hitters and when you fall behind guys, big league hitters are pretty good. It makes a big difference.
     
     
    "Even in the starts when I struggled, the hitters who I got ahead of, they didn't really have too much success off of me. But I got behind a lot more hitters than I got ahead of. Getting myself in trouble was a lot of that. That's one thing I've worked on this offseason was being more aggressive and throwing more quality strikes.
     
     
    "I think some of it is confidence and some of it is just getting comfortable and getting used to your surroundings and playing in front of 30 or 35,000 fans every day. About seven or eight starts in, I realized I was gripping the death out of the ball or the life out of the ball. I wasn't relaxed and I wasn't loose. I'm just now figuring out how to transition that from the bullpens to the game because I've never had to really deal with that kind of adrenaline and excitement. I'm starting to get better at it, but it's still a process."
     
     
    This makes perfect sense. I KNOW I'd be nervous. So I wasn't too surprised when later that day Chris Colabello said something very similar.
     
     
    "I think it's a little bit of everything. In terms of just creating a mindset where you're relaxed, allowing yourself to remember how to slow the game down. I talk about that a lot. Last year, coming into this year, that was important to me. Obviously, having been around some guys here for a while now, getting a little bit more comfortable, and trying to know who I am, and them knowing who I am as well. It's more about approaching your at-bats with a little calm."
     
     
    Both players provide a perspective from inside the development curve. Anxiety is one of the challenges with which they have to wrestle. They feel like they're making progress with that. They feel like that progress is a big part of changing where they land on the development curve for the better.
     
     
    But from the outside, I don't know if I believe what the dice are telling me. I believe they are being totally honest. I know they have put a lot more thought into their development than I. I know they have a lot more data from which to base their conclusions. I believe that discomfort was a factor in their struggles.
     
     
    But ultimately, I still wonder if Colabello had trouble making adjustments to big league stuff because it's hard for 30-year-olds physiologically to make adjustments to big league stuff. And I wonder if Gibson wasn't as aggressive because he was getting hit when he was aggressive, and he was getting hit because his arm had been through a hell of a couple of years.
     
     
    It is also not surprising to me that neither player would concentrate on these factors because both are out of their control. Colabello cannot become 24. He can only approach each at-bat more mindfully, which he is demonstrating. Gibson couldn't do anything about what his arm has been through, other than resting it this offseason, which he did.
     
     
    The players don't care about those things for the same reason the bloggers and sabremetricians treat them as dice: you don't focus on on that which you cannot control. Both groups, inside and outside, look for truth based on their position in the curve. I suspect the truth lies somewhere in-between.
  8. Well, that was brutal. Instead, let's focus on something else: tonight marked the start of the Twins second turn through the rotation, and their seventh spring training game. The roles for players are clearer as are the spring training battles. So what do several Twins positional hopefuls need to do to make it to Chicago for Opening day?
     
     
    THE LINEUP
    Joe Mauer, Josh Willingham, Brian Dozier, Trevor Plouffe, Kurt Suzuki, Alex Presley
    What the need to do: Stay healthy.
     
     
    Pedro Florimon
    What he needs to do: Get healthy. For what it's worth, he took grounders with the rest of the infielders today. He looks like he's getting close to returning.
     
     
    Jason Kubel
    What he needs to do: Stay healthy and show he's not completely done. He hasn't done the latter yet, but there's a lot of time.
     
     
    Oswaldo Arcia
    What he needs to do: Last week, I would have said just be normal. As in, don't struggle too much, don't get too angry, don't go to cray-cray. The job in right field is his job to lose, but he can lose it. (Boy, can he lose it.)
     
     
    That was last week. Today, I'm not so sure. If Arcia does NOT win that spot, he will not be on the bench. He'll be in AAA.
     
     
    That takes care of he starting nine. If the Twins carry 13 position players, which would seem likely, it leaves four spots. Interestingly, assistant GM Rob Antony wasn't committing to that yesterday, saying "it hasn't been determined."
     
     
    If they only carry three spots, those spots are going to a backup infielder, catcher and outfielder. More to the point - a backup shortstop, catcher and center fielder, since there is nobody in the starting nine that can back up those spots. Keeping that in mind, let's look at some other names:
     
     
    BACKUP INFIELDERS
    Eduardo Escobar
    What he needs to do: He's the default choice, because of his age and flexibility. Bartlett hasn't demonstrated that he can play third base, and the Twins haven't tried him there this year yet, either. Doug Bernier can play second base, shortstop and third base like Escobar, but he's also eight years older than him.
     
     
    Doug Bernier
    What he needs to do: Escobar would need to get hurt or do something else for the organization to completely lose confidence in him.
     
     
    Jason Bartlett
    What he needs to do: First, he needs the Twins to carry at least 13 position players because if he's the shortstop, the Twins are going to need to also bring up either Escobar, Bernier, Deibinson Romero or Brandon Waring to back up third base.
     
     
    However, He makes a somewhat intriguing 13th player in that he can be a backup infielder AND could theoretically be a bat off of the bench. It's not totally clear the 34-year-old can do either, but he might at least be able to get on base. He also looks pretty good as a possible substitution for Florimon late in the game.
     
     
    Chris Colabello
    What he needs to do: There might be a couple of ways he makes the team:
    At DH - He needs two of Kubel, Arcia and Parmelee to look very, very bad while he looks very, very good. Even then, I'm not sure it's enough. He likely needs two of them to be unable to play, frankly.
     
     
    He makes another interesting 13th man candidate. With as many left-handed bats as the Twins have, it makes sense to have a right-handed bat that they can plug in occasionally. To win that spot, he needs to look quite a bit more appetizing than Jason Bartlett and Wilkin Ramirez, who we'll get to in a second.
     
     
    James Beresford, Deibinson Romero, Brandon Waring, etc.
    What they need to do: There needs to be a series of small miracles.
     
     
    It was interesting that Bereford started tonight at second base when most of the other starters were going to be in the Opening Day lineup. Dozier got to sit because he made the long trip to Jupiter yesterday, but that doesn't explain why Escobar and Bernier weren't there. Beresford also played third base yesterday. He would likely be option C as the utility infielder.
     
     
    BACKUP OUTFIELDERS
    Darin Mastroianni
    What he needs to do: Ideally, he would show he still has the wheels, if not the instincts, to play center field. He would show he has the wheels to do something when he's on base. He would show that he can get on base.
     
     
    But he doesn't need to do any of these things. He just needs to play center field passably enough that nobody panics. The center field situation is petty dire until Hicks finds himself or Buxton charges up here. Mastroianni is the default fix for now.
     
     
    Wilkin Ramirez
    What he needs to do: Ramirez is an interesting contrast to Mastroianni. He's less of a center fielder, but more of a hitter. If Mastroianni can't outplay him defensively, he could theoretically be the backup "center fielder," though I'm not totally sure the Twins would want to do that to him. He did play several games there for the Twins last year.
     
     
    But Ramirez has another way to stick on the roster if Mastroianni beats him out. He could be the 13th man. He's right-handed, has some power and gives the Twins a fifth outfielder. His primary competition would be Colabello.
     
     
    Aaron Hicks
    What he needs to do: Defensively, he's superior to everyone on this list including the starter Alex Pressly. But the Twins would need to be desperately worried about Mastroianni's and Ramirez's defense to limit Hicks' playing time to that of a backup (or short-side of the platoon) in the majors. They have to want him playing every day in AAA.
     
     
    Chris Parmelee
    What he needs to do: Parmelee's best chance to make this roster is probably to beat out Kubel or Arcia at a spot in the lineup. It's not as far-fetched as I might have thought. Gardenhire has batted Parmelee higher in the lineup than Arcia and Kubel a couple of times. Tonight, Parmelee started in right field while Arica came off the bench. It's clear that Gardenhire has confidence in Paremelee - provided Parmelee has confidence in himself.
     
     
    "I don't worry about where I put him in the lineup," Gardy said after a recent game. "If he's confident, he can hit. It's all about a confident thing with him and not getting too deep into his own head and just going up there and swinging. When he does that, he's got no problems. And right now, he's not worried about a thing. He's just up there swinging. If we can keep that, we've got a good player."
     
     
    Parmelee has one other thing going for him: he's out of options. If he doesn't make the roster the Twins could lose him to another team, especially if he has a nice spring.
     
     
    He can't play center field, so his only other option is to be the 13th man. Even being out of options, that's an uphill battle because he bats left-handed and a right-handed hitter makes a lot more sense with this lineup. Perhaps if Ramirez is the right-handed center fielder, then maybe Parmelee would be an option. But maybe not even then.
     
     
    BACKUP CATCHERS
    This comes down to the Twins deciding which of three values do they want to embrace?
     
     
    Josmil Pinto
    Value = development. It's hard to tell if Pinto holds his own destiny in his hands this spring, but there is no doubt he does long-term. His goal right now is to show the Twins that he's ready, primarily defensively, or at least that he can continue to learn on the job from Suzuki. Even then they might want to keep him in AAA to play every day.
     
     
    I would think his odds go up if Kubel struggles, since Pinto could play there when he's not catching and learn defensively from Suzuki. If he does make it, he could also be the right-handed bench bat the Twins would like, which is a nice benefit. That might open a door for Bartlett (for another right-handed bat with defensive chops) or Parmelee (as a left-handed bat who is out of options) to be the 13th man.
     
     
    Eric Fryer
    Value = Veteran defense. On the one hand, they might think they already have this with Suzuki on the roster. On the other, I would never underestimate the Twins to value veterans who play strong defense.
     
     
    Chris Herrmann
    Value = Flexibility. If only he could also play center field. He can play first base or corner outfield, so keeping him opens the door to all kinds of mix and match possibilities with Bartlett, Colabello or Mastroianni and Ramirez as the 13th man. It would likely be bad news for Parmelee, because they would still need a right-handed bat.
     
     
    If I had to guess right now, I think I'd say that if Parmelee wins right field, the bench is Escobar, Mastroianni, Fryer and ... let's go with Bartlett. And if not, maybe they try to stash him as the 13th man.
  9. Well, that was brutal. Instead, let's focus on something else: tonight marked the start of the Twins second turn through the rotation, and their seventh spring training game. The roles for players are clearer as are the spring training battles. So what do several Twins positional hopefuls need to do to make it to Chicago for Opening day?
     
     
    THE LINEUP
    Joe Mauer, Josh Willingham, Brian Dozier, Trevor Plouffe, Kurt Suzuki, Alex Presley
    What the need to do: Stay healthy.
     
     
    Pedro Florimon
    What he needs to do: Get healthy. For what it's worth, he took grounders with the rest of the infielders today. He looks like he's getting close to returning.
     
     
    Jason Kubel
    What he needs to do: Stay healthy and show he's not completely done. He hasn't done the latter yet, but there's a lot of time.
     
     
    Oswaldo Arcia
    What he needs to do: Last week, I would have said just be normal. As in, don't struggle too much, don't get too angry, don't go to cray-cray. The job in right field is his job to lose, but he can lose it. (Boy, can he lose it.)
     
     
    That was last week. Today, I'm not so sure. If Arcia does NOT win that spot, he will not be on the bench. He'll be in AAA.
     
     
    That takes care of he starting nine. If the Twins carry 13 position players, which would seem likely, it leaves four spots. Interestingly, assistant GM Rob Antony wasn't committing to that yesterday, saying "it hasn't been determined."
     
     
    If they only carry three spots, those spots are going to a backup infielder, catcher and outfielder. More to the point - a backup shortstop, catcher and center fielder, since there is nobody in the starting nine that can back up those spots. Keeping that in mind, let's look at some other names:
     
     
    BACKUP INFIELDERS
    Eduardo Escobar
    What he needs to do: He's the default choice, because of his age and flexibility. Bartlett hasn't demonstrated that he can play third base, and the Twins haven't tried him there this year yet, either. Doug Bernier can play second base, shortstop and third base like Escobar, but he's also eight years older than him.
     
     
    Doug Bernier
    What he needs to do: Escobar would need to get hurt or do something else for the organization to completely lose confidence in him.
     
     
    Jason Bartlett
    What he needs to do: First, he needs the Twins to carry at least 13 position players because if he's the shortstop, the Twins are going to need to also bring up either Escobar, Bernier, Deibinson Romero or Brandon Waring to back up third base.
     
     
    However, He makes a somewhat intriguing 13th player in that he can be a backup infielder AND could theoretically be a bat off of the bench. It's not totally clear the 34-year-old can do either, but he might at least be able to get on base. He also looks pretty good as a possible substitution for Florimon late in the game.
     
     
    Chris Colabello
    What he needs to do: There might be a couple of ways he makes the team:
    At DH - He needs two of Kubel, Arcia and Parmelee to look very, very bad while he looks very, very good. Even then, I'm not sure it's enough. He likely needs two of them to be unable to play, frankly.
     
     
    He makes another interesting 13th man candidate. With as many left-handed bats as the Twins have, it makes sense to have a right-handed bat that they can plug in occasionally. To win that spot, he needs to look quite a bit more appetizing than Jason Bartlett and Wilkin Ramirez, who we'll get to in a second.
     
     
    James Beresford, Deibinson Romero, Brandon Waring, etc.
    What they need to do: There needs to be a series of small miracles.
     
     
    It was interesting that Bereford started tonight at second base when most of the other starters were going to be in the Opening Day lineup. Dozier got to sit because he made the long trip to Jupiter yesterday, but that doesn't explain why Escobar and Bernier weren't there. Beresford also played third base yesterday. He would likely be option C as the utility infielder.
     
     
    BACKUP OUTFIELDERS
    Darin Mastroianni
    What he needs to do: Ideally, he would show he still has the wheels, if not the instincts, to play center field. He would show he has the wheels to do something when he's on base. He would show that he can get on base.
     
     
    But he doesn't need to do any of these things. He just needs to play center field passably enough that nobody panics. The center field situation is petty dire until Hicks finds himself or Buxton charges up here. Mastroianni is the default fix for now.
     
     
    Wilkin Ramirez
    What he needs to do: Ramirez is an interesting contrast to Mastroianni. He's less of a center fielder, but more of a hitter. If Mastroianni can't outplay him defensively, he could theoretically be the backup "center fielder," though I'm not totally sure the Twins would want to do that to him. He did play several games there for the Twins last year.
     
     
    But Ramirez has another way to stick on the roster if Mastroianni beats him out. He could be the 13th man. He's right-handed, has some power and gives the Twins a fifth outfielder. His primary competition would be Colabello.
     
     
    Aaron Hicks
    What he needs to do: Defensively, he's superior to everyone on this list including the starter Alex Pressly. But the Twins would need to be desperately worried about Mastroianni's and Ramirez's defense to limit Hicks' playing time to that of a backup (or short-side of the platoon) in the majors. They have to want him playing every day in AAA.
     
     
    Chris Parmelee
    What he needs to do: Parmelee's best chance to make this roster is probably to beat out Kubel or Arcia at a spot in the lineup. It's not as far-fetched as I might have thought. Gardenhire has batted Parmelee higher in the lineup than Arcia and Kubel a couple of times. Tonight, Parmelee started in right field while Arica came off the bench. It's clear that Gardenhire has confidence in Paremelee - provided Parmelee has confidence in himself.
     
     
    "I don't worry about where I put him in the lineup," Gardy said after a recent game. "If he's confident, he can hit. It's all about a confident thing with him and not getting too deep into his own head and just going up there and swinging. When he does that, he's got no problems. And right now, he's not worried about a thing. He's just up there swinging. If we can keep that, we've got a good player."
     
     
    Parmelee has one other thing going for him: he's out of options. If he doesn't make the roster the Twins could lose him to another team, especially if he has a nice spring.
     
     
    He can't play center field, so his only other option is to be the 13th man. Even being out of options, that's an uphill battle because he bats left-handed and a right-handed hitter makes a lot more sense with this lineup. Perhaps if Ramirez is the right-handed center fielder, then maybe Parmelee would be an option. But maybe not even then.
     
     
    BACKUP CATCHERS
    This comes down to the Twins deciding which of three values do they want to embrace?
     
     
    Josmil Pinto
    Value = development. It's hard to tell if Pinto holds his own destiny in his hands this spring, but there is no doubt he does long-term. His goal right now is to show the Twins that he's ready, primarily defensively, or at least that he can continue to learn on the job from Suzuki. Even then they might want to keep him in AAA to play every day.
     
     
    I would think his odds go up if Kubel struggles, since Pinto could play there when he's not catching and learn defensively from Suzuki. If he does make it, he could also be the right-handed bench bat the Twins would like, which is a nice benefit. That might open a door for Bartlett (for another right-handed bat with defensive chops) or Parmelee (as a left-handed bat who is out of options) to be the 13th man.
     
     
    Eric Fryer
    Value = Veteran defense. On the one hand, they might think they already have this with Suzuki on the roster. On the other, I would never underestimate the Twins to value veterans who play strong defense.
     
     
    Chris Herrmann
    Value = Flexibility. If only he could also play center field. He can play first base or corner outfield, so keeping him opens the door to all kinds of mix and match possibilities with Bartlett, Colabello or Mastroianni and Ramirez as the 13th man. It would likely be bad news for Parmelee, because they would still need a right-handed bat.
     
     
    If I had to guess right now, I think I'd say that if Parmelee wins right field, the bench is Escobar, Mastroianni, Fryer and ... let's go with Bartlett. And if not, maybe they try to stash him as the 13th man.
  10. Wilkin Ramirez has had to demonstrate a lot of patience in his career. The 28-year-old finally made his way onto an Opening Day roster last year, only to have his season shortened by a concussion and ended by a broken tibia. But the Twins were patient too, re-signing him this offseason. Maybe he could surprise them again, like last spring training.
     
     
    Maybe it shouldn't be a surprise any more. Surrounded by Twins prospects in the late innings of a tie game with the Orioles, Ramirez delivered the decisive blow: a three-run blast over left center in a staggering ninth inning. The kids surprised too, finishing with a 9-2 win after being handed a 1-2 deficit in the late innings from the starting lineup.
     
     
    "I didn't have to start managing until I got the starters out of here," joked manager Ron Gardenhire. "That's what I just told those guys. 'You guys are in here high-fiving, but we didn't do nothing until you guys got out of the game.'"
     
     
    That's not entirely true. Vance Worley started the game and got some good things done: specifically, he threw strikes. Determined to put a miserable 2013 behind his, he's come into camp completely healthy, lighter and with confidence in his arm slot, which is something he couldn't say last year. He threw two scoreless innings, although he was helped by an over-the-outfield-wall catch by Darin Mastroianni. Ron Gardenhire liked what he saw.
     
     
    "I liked what he did," said Gardenhire. "He had a good angle going down. He threw some really nice tight breaking balls that were down in the zone. Worked fast. Was throwing it over. They hit a couple of balls on him, but he went right at them."
     
     
    The teams traded runs in the fourth. Ramirez picked up the first of his four RBI on a single that drove in Chris Colabello (who had been walked for the second time). But the Orioles responded with their first run when Aaron Thompson misplayed a dribbler off the bat of Nelson Cruz that plated Nick Markakis.
     
     
    The Twins fell behind in the 6th inning. Trevor May had recorded four outs and Gardenhire liked what he saw, specifically the changeups May was throwing. Unfortunately, Orioles slugger Chris Davis, who hit 53 home runs last year, liked what he saw too. "I elevated one that [Davis] elevated right back," reflected May. The solo shot put the Twins into a 2-1 hole.
     
     
    It turned out OK - the pitching prospect was just setting the table for some of his minor league teammates. Infielders Danny Santana and James Bereford both played on the AA New Britain Rock Cats with May last year. In the eighth inning they worked together to tie the game when Beresford singled and Santana drove him home with a triple.
     
     
    That ended up being a precursor to the fireworks in the final frame. Top prospect Byron Buxton lit the fuse and nearly provided a memorable explosion. He hit a rocket line drive that cleared the center fielder's head and bounced (sigh) OVER the wall for a ground rule double. Had it not, fans might have seen a rare inside-the-park home run on a ball in which nobody stumbled or took a odd bounce. Buxton was rounding second base as it cleared over the wall. "I would have liked to have seen him running that thing out," mentioned Gardenhire. "After it bounced out, I was kid of disappointed."
     
     
    That feeling likely dissipated quickly. Buxton was driven in two batters later by prospect Max Kepler before Ramirez's rocket shot. With just 70 games of big league experience, Ramirez is looking to surprise people the same way he did last year coming out of spring training. "He's pretty sure of himself," says Gardenhire. "Confident, confident young man. He's healthy. He made my team last year doing the same thing and he knows what's at stake here, so he's coming out and ready to play."
     
     
    The kids continued to follow his lead, including Santana, whose locker was right next to Ramirez in the visiting clubhouse. Santana hit his second triple of the game later in the ninth, driving in two more runs. The speedy shortstop has left an impression with Gardenhire. "As I've told people, this guy's pretty exciting. He's got jets. I'm pretty confident when he walks up to the plate something is going to happen."
     
     
    Plenty happened today, even if Twins fans had to wait until the late innings for it. It's only fitting that in a game that required patience, Wilkin Ramirez came through.
  11. After reaching Detroit's AAA Toledo team as a 21-year-old, Hoffman spent his third full year with them last year as a 24-year-old. But the left-handed reliever's stats showed a change. Last year, Hoffman struck out 35 batters in 35 innings. He had never come close to that rate previously. He thinks he knows why.
     
    "The pitching coach, who is now the coordinator of Detroit, AJ Sager, told me I needed to learn to throw my slider for a strike," says Hoffman. You don't really think about using it as a strikeout pitch. He goes 'You need to be able to throw that 0-1, 0-0, 2-0, to keep hitters off balance.'
     
    "I took that to heart, went home and worked on throwing it as a strike. I would actually go out [in games] and throw 15 pitches and I'd throw 13 sliders. It was just keeping hitters more off balance than anything. You're a little more effective when you take that to heart, which you don't think about."
     
    Hitters figured out the change, so Hoffman further pivoted to keep them off balance. "You change it up," replied Hoffman. "You don't want them to get 'Oh, yeah, he's just going to throw sliders at you.' You're going to change it up. One outing is strictly fastballs. Or I'll throw it and pitch backwards to guys. It's one of those weird little things that you don't think about until they sit down and tell you."
     
    The results suggests that Hoffman may have turned a corner just prior to the Twins finding him. It wasn't a coincidence that he found the Twins, either. "[My agent] sat me down, and he has a top five list of where he would like us to go and a top five list of where we're willing to consider. And Minnesota was on there. And we had a couple of other teams, but all-in-all, the best opportunity was here to maybe get a call up."
     
    Hoffman and his agent looked at the Twins roster and saw plenty of left-handers, but most are young left-handed starters. I wonder if they considered that Scott Diamond might need to be in the bullpen if he doesn't make the rotation, since he's out of options. But while Hoffman isn't sure his choice will lead to a call-up, he feels like right now, he made a good decision. Because he's happy.
     
     
    "Don't tell my secret: it's been awesome. Whether I get called up or not, it's been an absolutely awesome experience for two weeks already."

  12. Pitcher Preparation

    · John Bonnes · 03/02/2014 03:16 AM

    What are pitchers focusing on in the first couple of spring training games? It's pretty basic, but requires some balance. Yesterday's starting pitcher, Scott Diamond, explained "At this point right now, first outing, I'm trying to attack the zone. My focus right now is working down." Closer Glen Perkins, who pitched a scoreless fifth inning, echoed that sentiment. "I just wanna command the ball. I want to throw strikes. I want to get ahead of hitters and keep the ball down, which after [Grady] Sizemore, I did a pretty good job of."
     
    And despite the inevitable stories about guys working on new pitches, that means mostly airing out fastballs. Perkins threw almost exclusively fastballs. "I threw fastballs for strikes and threw one slider to get AJ [Pierzynski] at the end. I wasn't planning on throwing a slider. Josmil called one and that was a good time." Diamond mixed things up a bit more. "I threw everything. Only a couple changeups. Only a couple curveballs. Mostly fastball-happy."
     
    They hope that by doing so, they gain a little insight that they can use later. Diamond talked to pitching coach Rick Anderson after his outing about being fluid. "[Anderson] said that some of those pitches today I was nice and easy and fluid with, and some of them were a little tight. And when I'm a little tighter, that really restricts my motion. Or at least delayed action on my baseball, on my pitch."
     
    Perkins emphasized that there is a balancing act surrounding getting oneself ready. On the one hand, "I'm not into game situations. I just want to make sure I'm throwing my pitches. That's first and foremost, making sure that the pitches are ready to go."
     
    But on the other hand, part of getting ready is proving to himself that he is ready. "What got me into this position is coming to camp ready to go, ready to compete, going out there and throwing well. I don't want to have to make excuses that it's only spring training so my results don't matter. I want to go out and I want to pitch well. I think that instills confidence in me and it instills confidence in the coaching staff."
     
    But above all, the goal is to stay healthy. Perkins is looking to avoid over-stressing his arm. "I want to find that happy medium of effort and velocity and not going out there and having to overextend, having to overthrow. Where it comes out easy, it comes out good. You find that balance as the spring goes on."
     
    While Diamond wonders if some of his trouble last year weren't a result of not being healthy in the spring. "Last year in spring training, being hurt, facing GCL-Rookie ball guys? To be able to come out [this] spring in this kind of atmosphere, get the heart pumping a little bit, it's definitely going to help me get better adjusted for the season."
     
    So far, so good for Diamond. He's very happy to report he felt perfectly fine. "That's the big thing. Felt really good. Felt strong for the most part. Little anxious, though."
     
    That's natural. Nerves can be another thing to work on in spring training.
  13. What was the fan reaction in Hammond Stadium following the gut-punching news about Miguel Sano?
     
    Honestly, it was smiles. Basking, wondrous smiles expressed with the eyes and shoulders moreso than the lips. Or at least that what I saw as I walked up to the Hammond Stadium gates. Yes, the Twins had received the worst possible news for one of their cornerstone prospects. But it was still a home opener, still 80 degrees and sunny, still a record-sized crowd watching a baseball game.
     
    The first couple innings helped the mood. The Twins lineup jumped all over Red Sox starter Allen Webster, who is fighting to keep his wildish mid-90s fastball out of Pawtucket this year, and being opposed by the Red Sox crowded rotation. The Twins didn't help his cause.
     
    If only you really could tell everything you wanted to know about a season by that first game, first at-bat, first pitch. If so, we'd know that Brian Dozier's power last year was real. His first at-bat concluded with a double off the left field gap's wall, missing a home run by a couple of feet. If so, Joe Mauer's move to first base would turn him into an RBI machine. He immediately drove Dozier home. If so, the concerns about the Twins offense this year would be baseless. They plated three and knocked Webster from the game before he could finish his second inning.
     
    That's not how it works, of course. The real omen of the day was the Sano news. It's another delay for a rebuild that's going into it's fourth year. It always hurts to lose a year of player development, but it's worth noting that the important clocks hasn't begun to tick for Sano. He's only 20, and this doesn't impact his "option" years, let alone his player service time.
     
    Historically, it's been much worse. The Twins lost Francisco Liriano for a year within months of him making the team. They lost Mauer for most of his first full year in his first game. And Jason Kubel in his first offseason. And Morneau when he was hit by Ron Villone....
     
    Sigh. Talk about an angle that doesn't get enough talk. How come so many of the Twins top prospects have been injured just as they are reaching the majors? Does that happen to any other franchise? How different could the last decade have been? And how about we hunt down the White Sox fan with the little voodoo doll and beat the snot out of him.
     
    For that job, I nominate just about anyone except Tony Oliva. As I left Hammond stadium, I saw an older man tussling in the grass with a couple of toddlers. He stopped long enough for their mom to take an photo with his head upside down on the short grass. He got up and laughed and told his friends it was time to go
     
    It was Oliva. The kids had no idea who he was. The dad didn't either. The mom suspected it was Oliva but admitted that when he stopped while he was walking past the kids, she thought he was going to scold them for wrestling and tearing up the grass on the concourse.
     
    Nope. Instead, a day that started out with incredibly depressing (and seemingly inevitable) news ended with an impromptu joyful moment between rugrats and a Twins legend on the walkway to Hammond. Short of finding the Sox voodoo guy, maybe this is how we shake ourselves from this Minnesota sports funk. If not, at least it uncovered some smiles.

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