jimbo92107

Joe Mauer is a great guy, and he used to be a great catcher. However, even if he comes back and gets his average back up to .350, he's still going to be a singles hitter at a power position. Best scenario for all concerned would be to trade Mauer to the Red Sox, where he could play right field like Cuddyer and bang 80 doubles per year off the Green Monster. His bat doesn't fit the way the Twins want to build a team here, but in Boston he would have well over 100 RBI per year until he can't wave a stick anymore.

Love that Santana kid. His short, quick swing and surprising power reminds me a little of Paul Molitor. Speed, too. With his versatility, he could be a super utility guy, or settle in at CF or SS. As for Hicks, I'm with Gardenhire - let him prove he can hit better pitching in AAA. Hicks was horribly overmatched at the mlb level. Needs to learn situational hitting, pitch recognition. He's going to be a long-term project that might not get back to Minneapolis before late next season. Better that then more unprepared embarrassment. Meanwhile, it's time to bring up more of the kids like K-Var. There's at least five pitchers in Rochester that I'd rather see than Burton, who has really been looking mediocre. I'd like to see S-Gil, D-Gue, A-Mey, T-May, and maybe MarBurg.

What I'd like to know about Jordan Schafer is how he's getting himself out at the plate. What's he doing wrong - trying to pull everything, over-swinging, a big hole in his swing, etc. There might be something about him that Bruno can work on. Maybe he can borrow Danny Santana's bat and approach. Or Suzuki's.

Wondering how good a kid like Berrios could be is almost better than finding out. It's before anything bad happens, no blown elbows, no off-field embarrassments, no worries about service time or if a contract suits the player's ego... Right now I'm wondering if JO Berrios is really the top man in the Twins farm system. I'll let myself dream about that for a little while longer.

I watched RA Dickey pitch for the Blue Jays last night; reminded me how many ways there are to get hitters out. They showed several of his pitches in super slow motion, and one thing I noticed was that he was making the ball rotate in various directions, not just rolling it over. He threw a strange sinker to Big Papi that broke straight down in the last five feet...it rotated left to right like a globe. He then threw another one that seemed to rise and fade right to another guy, slowly tumbling forward. In another game I watched a Rays pitcher befuddle Twins hitters with a motion so herky jerky, it had three stops in it. Somehow the guy still managed to throw strikes, and it seemed our guys were helpless, no idea how to time it. On top of that I have seen pitchers that can bend the ball exactly to the corners, or tilt a curve so that it's almost unhittable. I've seen so many ways to get guys out besides the obvious blazing fastball. My question is, from this huge bag of tricks, how does Lewis Thorpe get guys out? Is he expanding his bag of tricks? Does he have something unusual to look for, like a funky leg kick? The kid sounds like a comer. What's he got that's so special?

Of course you trade him if the return is good. You could even include Duensing in a package deal for Suzuki. Two good players currently performing at a high level for one or two top-20 prospects. Orioles? They could use a good catcher, and every team can use another good lefty reliever. Twins need a fire sale, quick. I'd dump most of this team, including Joe Mauer, whose bat doesn't fit at 1st base unless he's banging doubles off the Green Monster in Boston. Too bad Mauer has a no-trade clause, but he might okay a trade to the Red Sox, where his average would go back up to about .370 the rest of his career.

I know that hitters try to read pitchers. Do pitchers read hitters, too? I suppose they do, if they think they see something that indicates a hitter's intention. Recently I've been watching Joe Mauer's at-bats, and I may have detected something that pitchers and catchers are using against him. It's common knowledge that Mauer wants to become more of a power hitter, turn on inside pitches, pull and lift them. What I've noticed is that Mauer seems to be tipping off his intention to try pulling the ball. When he waggles the bat over his head, he's looking to pull it. I think when a catcher sees him doing that waggle, he instantly positions himself outside, so when Mauer tries to pull it, he can't do it effectively. Conversely, when Mauer holds the bat very still above his head, he is signalling that he's going to do his patented inside out swing down the third base line. When the catcher sees that, he positions himself inside, so Mauer has to get his hands inside and fight off the pitch. Has anybody else noticed this tell? It may have something to do with Mauer's peculiar ineffectiveness this season. If it's true, then Mauer certainly is clever enough to reverse reverse his behavior, making the current tell useless. Waggle the bat, then hit the outside pitch to left field. Hold the bat still, then smash an inside pitch over the fence. Do that a couple times, and the joke will be over.

I saw the whole game from the Legends Club. Dickey's knuckler works best at about 81 to 82mph, but on this 31F day, he was throwing it around 75 to 76mph, so it wasn't behaving the way he wanted. As a result he was having to throw his alternate pitches, a so-so curve and a BP fastball. Twins hitters were simply looking for the knuckles at release. See knuckles, don't swing. Don't see knuckles, sit on the curve. Ka. Boom. Even worse, Dickey really has to hump it up to get 87mph out of his fastball, which hitters can see. If that knuckler isn't working right, it's a long day for Dickey.

Just figured what Aaron Hicks is doing rong at the plate. In the movie "Blazing Saddles" there's a dance scene where gay dancers push their hands forward while pushing their asses backwards, singing, "...that's why they're doing the French Mistake..." Yup, Hicks is doing the French Mistake. It's not as obvious as in the comedy, but the effect of letting your rear hip trail behind the swing accomplishes the same thing: no power, no reach, lots of weak pop-ups. The rear hip has to torque in front of the swing, dragging your hands along for the ride. Right now Hicks is faking it, trying to make it look like he's turning his hip, but it's actually trailing. The result is a weak arm swing, not a body swing. The only real way to cure the French Mistake is to whip the bat thru the zone as hard as you can, over and over, then do that when you're at the plate. Turn the hip, then let it rip.

It's not a stat, but Florimon lately has been looking a lot more confident at the plate than earlier in the season. I think we're seeing him blossom as a complete baseball player.

Mauer hitting 2nd instantly puts pressure on the pitcher to get Hicks out, which should give Hicks more hittable pitches. Unfortunately, Hicks is starting the season with a lot of whiffing. That should change as he settles down. Already the few walks Hicks has drawn have paid off, with Joe Mauer right behind him.

I called it on Danny Valencia - 35 home runs, great defense, starting outfielder for the Twins for the next decade! Yo, whatcha think of me now, be-atch!

Polanco's got a lot more power hitting right. Hitting left his hip pull looks unnatural. Harrison at third looks like his shoes weigh ten pounds each, and he will be a total sucker for change-ups the way he lunges forward in the box.

Hammer / Slammer Homerama?

I like Swarzak's bulldog attitude. He's a rotation regular waiting to happen.

If he's been working out and lifting weights, then David Bromberg should come back stronger this season. Go get 'em, big guy!