jimbo92107

Well, one thing should be obvious to us all by now: Matt Shoemaker should be our closer! Also, Baily Ober looks like he's going to be a pretty good starter. Also, a few guys are starting to hit.

The best part about this losing season is that the FO is practically forced to try out some of the promising arms in AAA, like Duran and Blaze. Trying out Ober was the safest move, as he's known for excellent control. But now, with the veterans either breaking down or getting hammered, why not let a couple promising prospects come up and see what The Show looks like. Granted, the next round of call-ups may flop and scuffle like a skit from The Three Stooges, but that's what rookies do. Ask Celestino! Rookie goof-ups are a rite of passage. Before the rites are written for this blown season, let's see some of the kids come up and show us a flash or two what they've got in store. I wanna see a Duran heater at 100 mph, even if it does hit the top of the backstop. I wanna see Balazovic's wicked curve, even if he bounces it ten feet in front of the plate. If they throw 'em for strikes, all the better. Let them see that even their best pitches can fly half a mile in the other direction, if they don't mask their delivery. Early June, and we're already playing Future Ball. Yikes!

Good thing about Ober is that his stuff is naturally different, coming from that higher release point. Also, he can make adjustments easier than some others because of his ability/willingness to throw strikes with each pitch. Some Twins pitchers seem to go through spells where they can't find the zone at all. I have not yet seen Ober go through one of those spells. Big props just for that.

Sad when the highlight of the game was El Cherubo befuddling the opposition with his 43 mph nothing ball. Actually, there was a better highlight. Congratulations to Nick Gordon's solid 3 of 4 hitting, including his first mlb home run. Sometimes a dream does come true. Good for you, Nick Gordon.

Celestino seemed to have a knack for reading hits in CF, plus the speed to go get them. His bat looked promising, too. I have no problem letting him fill in for Buxton. I seem to recall Celestino also had good base stealing skills. Worth watching!

Agree with insagt1. Resnyder is better than Cave, and working his way towards being better than Kepler, if for no other reason than durability. Of course, all this is still a small sample size. The other thing I like about Refsnyder is hustle, which should count as the sixth tool. A guy that displays all-out hustle can help bring it out of the rest of a team, which can be the difference between winning and losing.

Rob Refsnyder's story shows how hard it is to hit consistently against good pitchers. It has taken years for Refsnyder to find an approach that works, and now the next test is to see if he can maintain the same approach as pitchers try everything in their power to disrupt it. Meanwhile, Refsnyder came to the right team to learn about power hitting. With successful examples like Cruz, Sano and Garver to watch, it's little wonder he has discovered what works. He sees it every day in the cages. What I see in the third frame looks a little more like Cruz and Garver. This could be very fun to watch.

I had noticed earlier, but now it may be slightly more important. Rob Refsnyder's muscular bod resembles a certain iron-pumping outfielder for the Los Angeles Angels. We've been told many times that baseball accommodates many body types. It certainly makes room for the guys that exercise like crazy. It does make me wonder what took Mr. Refsnyder so long to get to the majors.

Two encouraging signs. First, Larnach's approach clearly reveals a mature plan at the plate, where Park had little idea how to cope with mlb pitchers. Second, Larnach's swing is classically beautiful, short to the ball, long through it, minimal wasted motion. Park's swing was an extreme example of what I think of as the 'Cuban style.' Bat speed created by a 360 degree helicopter of the bat, starting from over the head with the bat literally pointed at the pitcher. As Park found out, this kind of swing puts a lot of stress on the wrists, especially if your timing is not right on the mark. The result was in fact a painful, ongoing problem with Park's wrists, which of course slowed down his swing, exacerbating his inability to adjust to mlb pitchers, until he was gone after one disastrous season. Fortunately, Larnach's swing does not appear to put undo stress on his body. It was simple, quick, on balance, and his finish was relaxed. Looked like he could repeat that swing a hundred times without getting tired. Too soon to conclude much, but I see nothing standing between Larnach and a long career bashing balls over fences and playing decent outfield.

Larnach's monster shot was a revelation. Not many men can hit a baseball that far. Those that can tend to be well-known names in the baseball world...or those that soon will be.

I've been predicting Dobbs as a mid-ro horse for a while, so no surprise there. Refsnyder? Never heard of him, but you can't help notice the non-stop hustle from the 30-year old journeyman. Luke Farrell? Another whiff on the name, but maybe Wes Johnson can forge something useful from just his heater and his slider. There are no sure things in baseball except retirement, but of these three, Dobnak seems the most likely to contribute long-term. His low-90's sinker bends arm-side almost like a screwball. He commands his slider decently well, and his change gets enough misses to be a third strikeout pitch. Best of all, his delivery is not max effort, which means he can work longer and command the zone better than the all-out hurlers.

So many straws I see - a wealth of them! Let us grasp, despite the ill favor of the gods of probability. Still, prospects do tilt my gimbal. If I grasp at these straws, what of the state lottery? Is it better to wallow in despair, or don the full motley, stagger 'neath the red nose and fright wig of the fool? Spend the whole stimulus on yet another long shot, or tighten the strap that girds these humble loins? An over-large sack of rice urges optimism. There are so many ways of cooking it.

After Hernandez's home run... That reminds me: Folks, be sure to get yourself vaccinated. Just like that home run, it will be over in a blink, and practically painless.

I really hope the Twins are done experimenting with Dobnak as a reliever. Dobbs has the stuff of a long-term starter. That sidepin sinker of his at 93 mph is killer. The ball curves and dips almost like Scott Erickson's high-speed screwball, but without the damaging arm action. It would be nice to see him add a high-zone four seamer to sprinkle in if hitters start using their golf swing.

I watched Jared Walsh's "foul ball" drive. How is it that I could see the yellow mesh of the foul pole partially obscuring the ball? That's because the ball, hooking hard to the right, passed BEHIND the foul pole, then reappeared to the right of the pole before it hit the wire. Home run. Fair is fair.

Hate to say it, but Matt Taylor makes sense. Trade Berrios now, while his apparent value is rising, before something goes wrong beyond this wasted season. Get a young starting prospect of approximately equal projection. From Jose's perspective, he could be motivated. Finally he could go to a serious contender, see how that sharpens his command. Meanwhile, '21 and '22 will become testing years for Duran, Balasovic, and all the other top pitching prospects. Let them get their feet wet at the mlb level, learn what pitches go over the fence, how to make adjustments the second and third times through the order, etc. By the way, for that reason alone the Twins should hang onto at least one good veteran, like Maeda, Happ or Shoemaker, just to help the kids learn the daily habits of a professional pitcher. At the same time, if we're talking about unloading players that won't be around for the next championship run... Trade Kepler, and maybe Sano. Again, it's not because they're not good enough, but because they'll become free agents that the team can't compete for, and because of the logjam of young players coming up. Donaldson and Simmons are short-term rentals. Unload them both at the end of this season, then bring up the kids. If your team isn't making the playoffs, then you should be constantly experimenting with fresh faces. Keep the revolving door between the minors and the club as open as the rules allow. That way, at least us long-suffering fans will feel like the organization is looking for ways to win.

I'm not saying that a non-standard pitching motion can't work. Check out Walter Johnson's arm action - just a tall, lanky kid skipping stones on a lake. Pitched a couple decades with no arm problems, and an ERA of about 2. But Johnson's motion was liquid smooth, where Cantarino's is jerky and abrupt. A closer comp might be somebody like Bartolo Colon, whose motion looked a lot like a catcher's throw, behind the ear to a snap. But it was a simple motion, where Cantarino's is much more complicated. That said, I could be wrong, I'm no pro coach. He does do an abbreviated drop and drive with his legs. My concern is with the timing, what that energy does to his command and his upper body if it's off by just a bit. As you said, we shall see.

Beer ball pitch, meet beer ball swing. Mercedes did not break an honor rule. In the Astudillo case, the Twins put a guy in that decide to throw sugar donuts. Most "emergency" pitchers at least throw the ball hard, which is more in line with "unwritten rules." If Torts throws an eephus to embarrass the Sox hitters, it is their option to smash it into the upper deck, if they can. Now, if the guy laid down a bunt, that would be breaking a rule. See the difference?

That's a horrible pitching motion. Looks like it's guaranteed to wreck every moving part in his upper body, as well as produce pitches scattered all over the place. Why has Canterino's motion not been majorly re-trained? Where are the professional coaches?

If perfect human happiness is 100 psi, Twins fans have been hovering around 30 psi for the last month. A full-team effort win like this puts at least another 35 psi into the Happiness Tire. Congratulations to Bailey Ober, whose stuff and command looks like it will play in the majors. Time will tell if his command and K/BB rate puts him in the middle or back of a starting rotation. He throws a lot of strikes. Congratulations to Miguel Sano. His struggles are well documented, but I don't think his level of effort has ever been in doubt. Today it all came together. May he have many more great days at the plate. Congratulations to Jorge Polanco. Like a lot of Twins, he has been struggling to find his game. Lately he has been getting better, and today he crushed a pitch (batting lefty) to win a game. Skol Twins! Pump that tire and plug the holes!

The Andrus flop was hilarious. Most of these guys are superior athletes that you couldn't knock over if you got a full running start. Suddenly one of them falls down from the merest suggestion of contact with the catcher. Call it cheating if you want, but you can bet the A's fans were cheering and laughing. A well-executed flop is every bit as artful as a wide receiver pushing off just with his elbow. Yes, it's cheating. Yes, they sometimes get caught. Yes, it's part of the game. Rortvedt's error in the rundown was simple: You're supposed to run as fast as you can at the runner, with the ball held next to your cheek, wrist back. If the runner makes a full brake for third, you snap a throw to the baseman, sticking your two fingers in his eyes. Then you're supposed to circle around the play to get ready for the next round. The rookie catcher instead followed the play, allowing Andrus the opportunity to execute his flop. The reason the flop worked was typical sleight of hand. The umpire's attention was split between the guy with the ball and the runner. When Andrus suddenly slipped on an invisible banana peel, the ump automatically assumed that Rortvedt had knocked him down. Well played, Elvis.

Clearly this season we will need to derive our satisfactions from little victories. Today the team won, and Miguel Sano vanquished his personal demon, at least for one day. The fact that his homer sailed over the right field fence is significant in that the team wants him to be able to hit the ball where it is pitched, not just try to pull everything. After David Ortiz went to Boston and became Big Pappy, he ragged on the Twins for trying to make him an "all-fields hitter," as if that was a bad thing. Well, just like Sano, Ortiz had plenty of strength to hit homers oppo. He just didn't do it. Even so, if pitchers are constantly tickling the outside edge to get you out, at some point a hitter must adjust, even if that means collecting a mere single to opposite field. Even Ortiz was forced to admit, later in his career, that the Twins were right to show him how to collect oppo hits. Some of those hits drove in runs that won games, just as sure as his homers did. Miguel Sano's power exceeds even that of Big Pappy. When Sano goes oppo, the ball will clear the fence, sometimes even when he doesn't quite get all of it. He doesn't need to settle for mere singles in that direction. If the Twins have been tinkering with Sano's swing, it's probably with oppo power in mind. He needs to punish pitchers that refuse to come inside. Speaking of which, I just checked the video of Sano's game-winning tater. Yup, it was a 95 mph heater on the outside edge. Boom, opposite field home run. Let the punishment begin.

Simple question. Given the self-interest of the team, should the Twins organization seek to partner with the city/state gov't to offer free vaccine shots to fans that have not yet had one? Probably this would limit the choice to the J&J single-shot vaccine, which also is easier to store than the other two. This would be a positive public relations move, plus it would of course help the state of Minnesota achieve a higher level of overall immunity from the Covid virus.

If you're talking about presenting stats with charts and graphs, Jax might want to look into another language, Python.

This is exactly what makes baseball so great. Either you win and feel good for yourself, or you lose, and by doing so you make your opponents very happy. Either way, happiness is created by the grand old game of baseball!