jimbo92107

This 2021 team fields better than the Bomba Squad. If they can stay healthy, Simmons and Buxton could subtract many hits and runs from the opposition over the season. At the plate they appear to be searching for an identity. Piranhas or Bombas? I'm fine with a bit of a split personality. Maybe they can execute either approach when needed. Surprised and pleased that Simba appears to be a high-contact guy, like Luis and Torts. The whole lineup has home run potential, tho maybe not in the bunches of the Bomba Squad. Hard to repeat that after the league took a couple psi from the ball. More and more impressed by the bullpen. Not perfect, but quite effective.

I know I shouldn't hide my feelings. It's bad for the lombargo. So here's my real take on Baddoo. First, congrats to the kid. Detroit snatched him out from under our noses, and at the moment it looks like the steal of the year. Second, I like to say, Ghaaa. Sounds good, but I'm not actually that upset. The Twins have several good OF prospects in their system. Baddoo was considered promising, but a bit injury prone, and not quite ready to take on pro pitching. Kiriloff, Larnach and Rooker are considered better bats, and Celestino is considered a better CF if Buxton goes down again. Frankly, if Baddoo pans out better than Broxton, Detroit's scouts deserve praise. He's still a long shot to be a star in the league, but his first couple weeks sure have looked good. I hope he does well, but I'm not upset with the guys the Twins decided to keep on the 40. A certain amount of talent will escape an organization now and then. Good for the players.

Andrelton Simmons: Key play of the game. How many Twins shortstops in the last 20 years make that play? Not a one. Simmons is faster, stronger arm, and better baseball IQ than all of them. Plus he's a scrappy good hitter. Gold bars for his weight. Maeda: He said it in the post game interview - he's been trying out stuff he'd been working on in spring training. I saw him try a few of his new-look curves. They didn't work, so he resorted back to last year's pitches. He looked irritated, like "what am I doing different?" I suspect he'll figure it out. Boyd: I agree with Morneau on this one. Put in a L/R/L/R lineup against him. He'll be less comfortable. Baddoo: Ghaaaaaa!

With guys like El Cherubo I sometimes wonder 'what if.' What if he really got himself into physical shape? What if he showed up one spring looking like an NFL running back, or even a reasonable facsimile thereof? He might find himself driving baseballs another twenty feet. He might find himself fast enough to steal some bases, fast enough to stretch more bases from hits. Fast and flexible enough to bare-hand that grounder and gun out the runner headed for first. How good could Willians Astudillo really be? Sometimes I wonder.

My favorite part of the game was watching Duffey follow Thielbar. Both guys are curveball masters that used to have low-90's heat. Both guys did Johnson's power pitching course. Now Thielbar has a 94 mph heater to complement his assortment of slow curves. Not just higher velo, but with control. With that extra weapon he befuddled Detroit's hitters for a couple innings. When Duffey followed, I thought I could see him using the same approach with his new amped-up heat (94 to 96 mph) to go with his harder curves and occasional change. Clearly the extra couple mph - with added control - is helping both these guys dominate. Even better, the new mechanics appears to be easier on the body, which bodes well for longevity.

Gaaaaa, Baddoo is monster zero for Detroit! Gaaaa! Dobbs had a hiccup. Chill, peebles!

The team looked great today. Arraez comps better to a young Tony Gwynn than a Rod Carew. Have the Twins assembled Bomba 2.0? Garver sez yeah. Simmons sez, 'Hey, sprinkle some of them sparkles on this here baseball glove, too.' Michael Pineda makes me feel sorry for all those little pitchers that need to perfect their mechanics. Pineda just leans his massive frame towards home, gives a little kick, and THWOP, another low-90's pitch zips in somewhere low around the zone. The big righty had the Brew Crew looking like they were playing whack-a-mole most of the five innings he pitched. Baldy did well to yank him after a long 5th. Long season ahead. Get those new relief arms some innings. Is Alcala for real? Sure looked real today! Buxton out with some illness. Not covid. Chicken soup! I think I will stop worrying about Kepler's hitting now. Now I worry about Polanco's bat. Meanwhile, Akil Baddoo began His Storied History with a first career at-bat home run (Rosario 2.0?). Just as I glumly predicted, he's going to be a great one...for the Detroit Tigers. Next, Twins will DFA Nick Gordon, who will then pump iron for six months, pack on 30 pounds of muscle for a total of 160, then become Detroit's star SS for the next ten years. Gaaaaaa!

We get an idea how good Berrios can be when his mechanics are...just...right. Suddenly his heater hops up to 96. Suddenly his curve breaks a foot in the last ten feet of travel. Suddenly he's popping all his pitches within inches of where the catcher holds his glove. Glorious. Reminds me of mid-career Roger Federer, who could effortlessly serve a tennis ball into a far corner or right down the middle. Almost always it was 127 mph. Federer himself said he could hit it harder, but there was no need. Perfect control at 127 will do just fine. Same is true for Jose Berrios. When the mechanics are...just...right, the ball explodes out of his hand, with minimum effort. Because of this, a hitter cannot key off of the pitcher's "muscling up" to heave a big heater, much less read the change up, which was getting helpless whiffs. Same goes for his curve: By getting all the power early from his legs and torso, with such good poise, he can toss the curve wherever he wants. Funny thing is, Berrios should be able to dominate even more, if he can hang onto the mechanics he had Saturday. This could be quite a season for the guy we all want to become the ace of the Minnesota Twins.

If Donaldson stays hurt, then Kirilloff gets the nod, because Garlick bats right, and his spot goes to Rooker if he scuffles at the plate. As mentioned, Arraez must keep his bat in the game, so he goes to 3B. Thank goodness Arraez is so position flexible.

Wander Javier...once considered an all-world prospect, now a trivia question. Where did he go? What happened to him?

Pineda's first start worries me. The big guy will find his mojo soon, but Milwaukee might try to jump all over him in the first few innings. If his change-up isn't ready, it could be a disaster. Lucky the Twins have a very talented infield.

Fasten your seatbelts, wear a mask, wash those filthy hands, and don't ride motorcycles. Do tons of careful stretching, mind your mechanics, try to do everything the right way. Carve that on a stone tablet (not too heavy) and give it to Baldelli. Long season ahead. Pull the chocks, weigh anchor, and do your pre-waddle checklist. Where are my car keys? Did I leave the stove on? Oh, and take your vitamin D. That stuff is good for everything!

We have seen it before...guy scuffles his first few times up in the bigs. Then, somewhere along the line he "figures some things out" like no more swinging at outside curves. After that, he's a major league ballplayer. Kyle Garlick could be one of those guys. If spring performance means anything at all, the best hitter in spring should get a legitimate shot. Integrity move by the Twins. Now, most of us are assuming that Garlick will cool off at the plate, but that's our own bit of homer bias. We would prefer the kid that came up through the Twins system to get the nod. With this group of young outfielders, anything could happen. Garlick could stay hot at the plate, or he could scuffle, opening up an opportunity for Rooker, Celestino, or Larnach. It's going to be fun watching each one struggle to find their game and hang on.

Garlick is good for morale - baseball is supposed to be a merit system, not playing favorites. Garlick had a better spring than Rooker, thus he gets a roster spot. Rooker did look well-schooled in left field. Catches with both hands, good footwork, etc. If he continues to hone his hitting on the taxi squad, he'll be the first one called up, should Garlick...um, lose his initial allure. Sorry. Tip-toeing around all those pungent puns.

Nice deal for both sides. Given Dobsie's origin story (so similar to Wolverines), these millions give a good man a solid nest egg. Meanwhile, the Twins get a bargain basement version of Kenta Maeda, at the very start of a career that looks good now, but could get even better.

Akil Baddoo makes the cut in Detroit! Ghaaa, it's happening! They just got Puckett 2.0! Next they'll get Nick Gordon, who will pump up to 180 pounds and become a power-hitting SS for ten years! Ghaaaaaa!

Here we are once again at the Clearance Table of the Bargain Basement of Major League Baseball. Over there is a box of miscellaneous electrical fixtures, a pile of dangerous extension cords, some lamps, a collection of brooms, and a baby crib full of league veterans. Now and then a savvy shopper will emerge from this place with a Nelson Cruz or even an Ichiro Suzuki with a couple good years left in him. Usually they wish they'd just grabbed some of those cheap extension cords. The Minnesota Twins are famous for trying and failing to get great deals here. Truth is, all the teams shop here, and usually fail. Age and injuries wear down even the best players. Here we are again, spinning that big wheel on Happ and Shoemaker. Yep, the probability is low that either one of them will shine as bright as in their late 20's, but each guy was a star for a while, so maybe... Come to think of it, we don't just do this for them. Whom amongst us did not smile when old Bartolo Colon fooled a few more hitters, then did his behind-the-back flip to first, then hit an improbable home run? The story of the Savvy Veteran is as old as the game itself. Some of us dream that a little of that old glory rubs off on our crusty selves, don't we? Good luck to Happ and Shoe. We got plenty of backup, if they fail.

Yikes, you bet $20 bucks on a 38 year old pitcher? Another twenty reasons not to bet on sports... Okay, where are those little emoticons... <--- there's where you put that money!

Opposite reaction to J.A. Happ's outing. I was actually impressed. He was getting hammered, but clearly it wasn't bothering him. He was simply throwing pitches, then observing where they wound up in and around the zone. His intention, according to a couple of very good Twins ex-pitchers (Santana and Hawkins), was to gather information, make some corrections, then be ready for the season. If Happ is that cool a customer, he may well be a very solid pitcher. Supporting evidence: After getting hammered like that, a rookie usually would get wild, start firing fastballs like a bad shotgun. Happ continued to throw his low-zone sliders and changes. No apparent deviation from the plan. Conclusion: He didn't care about the game's outcome. He was using the hitters for pitching practice. Yet another reason for fans to discount the results of spring training games. Sometimes a pitcher really is just sharpening his tools.

I thought about that, too. But his glasses are so classic, I say polish 'em up and keep sending them out there.

I'll admit there were times in 2019 (only fifty years ago, sigh) when I thought it would be nice if Randy Dobnak added just one more squirrelly pitch to befuddle hitters. Now he has added that pitch, and his ERA is sub-1. What else need this man do? Do they want an upper 90's fastball? Ain't gonna happen. Like Maeda, Dobs exists with cleverness and guile, not pure power. Like Maeda, Dobs has found a formula to get guys out. Will it last? Insufficient data. However, physically he looks like a big, human diesel engine that will chug along for years with little more than a new pair of shoes now and then. After a slight delay, I think Dobnak will be a starting pitcher for the Twins for a long, long time.

Dobnak and Stashak should share a hotel room, since they'll probably be sharing a taxi back across the river within two weeks of opening day. All spring I think I saw Astudillo totally whiff on one swing, which caused a commotion on the bench. Torts looked pissed, so he rifled the next pitch so hard to left field, it skipped over the low fence and scared the fans. Musta been going 110 mph off his bat. The guy must have the highest hard contact rate per swing in the league. Obviously Baldelli sees him as a great RBI guy. Looking for ways to keep that bat in the lineup. With a runner on 2nd and 0 or 1 out, who would you rather step up than Astudillo? Pretty good lineup, but I don't expect it to stay that way for long. I miss Eddie already.

Like pretty much everybody else here, my biggest fear is another David Ortiz situation, where the Twins let some promising slugger get away and take on a superhero name like Big Papi. Then they hit 45 to 50 home runs every year for the next decade. Somebody promise me Rooker won't do that. It's okay to lie...

Dobbs could step in on a moment's notice should a guy get injured or just fail to perform. He's a horse that eats innings. You can't just leave him the the barn munching hay. He belongs out in the field, eating innings. Don't feel right, otherwise.

Sounds like the Twins don't really have the players to make this deal. However, for a pitcher of Castillo's quality I would not hesitate to offer both Buxton and Kepler in trade, going with the next wave outfield of Kirilloff, Celestino and Larnach. Man, these windows are small!