Twodogs

This is correct. The Twins have no on field leadership, and they are playing like it. They have absolutely no fire in them, they seem mentally soft and have no sense of urgency out there on the field. I know the Sabermetric people are going to bash me for this one, but one of the main differences between this Twins team and last years is the on filed leadership of Torii Hunter. He was a leader on and off the field for the Twins last year. When they did good they had their dance offs, etc... He wasn't afraid at all to tell the players when they messed up also and at least told them and showed them how to go about their business everyday. Right now they don't have that, Joe Mauer is not a leader, sure he takes care of himself, but he is not an everyday player that is an on field leader. No matter how bad Torii was according to the computer specialists, he couldn't be any worse than Mastronni and half of the other guys they are throwing out there. Right now they are lacking leadership and I'm not sure if there is any of it laying around waiting to step in and take over that role. They are not going to be a whole lot better as the year wears on.

You mean like Donald Trump??? Ha ha, I jest.

I don't think they ever should have even called up Meyer, he had a couple of decent starts in AAA, they should have left him there to get more confidence and more work in. I think they jumped the gun a little on him. they need to send him back and put him back in the rotation down there and see how he does.

Seemed to me that Castro laid down a nice bunt against the Twins yesterday. I mean if you know teams are going to shift you, you should be practicing bunting at least an hour every day. If then continue to run the shift out there and you can bunt successfully against it, a hitter will probably get at least 1 extra hit per month, add 6 - 7 hits on to any one of the Twins averages last year and I bet their overall hitting averages go up fairly significantly. All this whining about shifts makes me sick. 7 extra hits for Joe Mauer last year takes him from .265 to .277. I mean how stubborn are these hitters. Start bunting or drag bunting or pushing the ball into open spots if they aren't going to fill them. Obviously with a guy on 3rd and the team needs a fly ball to score him you hit away.

Santana would be great as a backup outfielder. He belongs on this roster.

All these guys that get shifted all of the time, Molitor should probably sit them all down and teach them how to bunt. If Arcia could put a bunt down towards 3B at all and everyone would have been safe. I know bunting isn't sexy but if they are giving it to you?

It is really frustrating watching the twins constantly strike out in important situations

I just don't get why they would pull him out of the rotation in Rochester and not pitch him with Minnesota. I think Meyer should go back down and pitch every 5 days until they need him to start. JMO

Nolasco and Arcia were probably the most hated Twins players coming out of spring training and everyone wanted to get rid of them. So far they have both been big reasons as to why the Twins have even won any games this season. Nolasco so far has probabaly been the most consistent starter the Twins have and Arcia has come through in the clutch a few times already this year.

I think Buxton will be fine.

Buxton is hitting .172 and Sano is hitting .190. So do you think Sano's growth will be stunted also? They aren't performing to differently?

But there are a lot of sellers, the Twins need to have something that the other teams want, and generally they haven't had that lately. So they will have a tough time being picky about what they get back, only way they can be picky is if they are willing to keep the players they are trying to dump.

Well Nolasco is hitting 94 on the gun. I was saying earlier that after missing parts of two years I think his arm and legs may be a little stronger this year. could be his year this year.

Seems like Santana came in with a game plan that shut Baltimore's hitters down a little, Pressly seemed to kind of follow that same game plan, whereas Fien, May and Jepson all came out throwing fastballs and Baltimore kind of teed them up like they would in a spring training game?

Kind of like the old Metrodome, with the AC on?

K rate, OBP

I watched him against the Nationals I believe and he reminds me of Serrano from Major League. Coach Brown, Wow!!! this guys hits a ton, why hasnt anyone else picked up on him yet? Scouts or player director, Ok, no more fastballs, throw him some curveballs, Swings and misses Coach Brown, Oh!!?? I see Parks bats looked afraid of the curveballs. Ha ha Hopefully he overcomes that.

Not too many former pitchers made the cut: Matt Garza (Brewers), Francisco Liriano (Pirates), R.A. Dickey (Blue Jays), Vance Worley (Orioles), Pat Neshek (Astros), Jeff Manship (Indians) and Liam Hendriks (A's). Former PItcher Mike Pelfrey is slated to be 4th in the Detroit Tigers Rotation I believe??

Well I wonder what that same scout thinks about Detroit's rotation?? Since Pelfrey is slated as their #4 starter??

Probably the old adage a bird in the hand is worth 2 in the bush. They have something that they know what they are capable of and they have a tough time trading it for something that they don't really know? They do it in a heartbeat if they feel like they can get more back for the prospect, but even up trades are hard because they are probably just not familiar with the other guy in the deal. So maybe they just go ahead and keep what they have? I think back to the Restovich, Buchanon et al days. I mean they had guys like Morneau, Hunter, all of those guys that you just knew were going to beat those other guys out. So why didn't they trade those other guys when their value was high? Most likely because they knew what they had, those other guys were capable, and if a couple of the dudes in front of them went down with injury or just didn't pan out they had someone else that could maybe produce. So they held on to them. Had they traded them they probably would have ended up with someone not quite as capable, but then again they may have found some diamond in the rough too? JMO

then he had a pretty decent year in San Diego or something like that also.

Well I'd guess that if he were changing his approach that maybe he'd do some more off season strength training, but it doesn't appear that that has happened?

I wonder if that catcher just had a tough time with lobbing the ball to someone. I have seen people who can throw a ton, like hit the cutoff man perfectly, but ask that person to toss the ball to the umpire and they have problems? That might have been that catchers issue, had he gunned it to the pitcher every time the throw probably would have been perfect, but then that pitcher might have been a little peeved at the end of the game too, just my thought on why that guy threw like that?

I totally agree that he may not be the same pitcher he has been. I sure hope that he is, and I'm going to assume that he will be until he isn't. I think that maybe with Jepson and May full time this year, he can get an extra day off every so often and I am hoping that allows him to be more effective late in the season. That's what I am hoping for.

So if a guy hits .300 for the year he'd be considered a solid hitter right?? Does it matter if he hits .350 in the first half and .250 in the second?? Or would he be a better hitter if he hit .250 in the first half and then hit .350 in the second half?? Both hitters are still .300 hitters right? So he hasn't been a great pitcher, but the numbers he has put up are solid, he is decent, about a strikeout per inning, around a 3.00 era, probably around a 1.10 whip all since about 2011. Yeah he has a lot of saves, but anyone who pitches the 9th inning is going to get saves in this day and age. But his numbers overall are solid, so he is a solid pitcher. Now do those numbers hold up after his recent injuries, IDK, but we will have to see. Up until now, he has been solid. Maybe he falls into the overuse category in which case the bullpen should have a few more options this year with May and Jepson for a whole season.