Doubles

You GOTTA BE trollin' me.

Schooooooooop on pace for approximately 622 strikeouts this season. Sustainable?

Shout-out to Craig Gentry for going with Hendrix' version of "All Along the Watchtower" for his walk-up jam.

Sweet HoF humblebrag, BERT.

Cowboy Joe is such a turd.

What a pick by Mauer. High degree of difficulty there.

He's seeing a lot of pitches, but walks do seem to be out of Jonathan's scope.

I have zero doubt Sano could be a great third baseman if he really wanted to.

Unsliced bacon is called pork belly, and it is glorious. In retrospect, I do prefer it with some level of slicing. Carry on, as you were.

Ugh, ugly AB for Buck. Seems like when he struggles he is almost always behind in the count 0-2 / 1-2.

Holy moly, Chief.

Not sure this applies, but when I go into the MLB GameDay app I always have to enable my location...

Man, how great it is that baseball is back! Also, how great that we can now stream on our phones via the Fox Sports Go app? Love it.

Digging all those swinging strikes.

Ahhh, semantics. Thank you.

Curious as to what makes HR a 'Twins hater.' He's not my favorite baseball analyst, but was very friendly during the times I talked to him. Always treated me very well.

I'd love to see Sano's numbers if he were able to play 150 games, but I'd settle for 140. Can't help but think we'd be looking at a monster season. Like, MVP potential-type season. But it all comes down to games played. I'm going with 122, and I would be ecstatic to be way wrong on that number. What is your prediction for Sano's GP?

Without having to pay out my @$$, how is that? And thank you for not making a "California Math" reference!

Look, I'm just not a fan of Bert's 'broadcasting' style. The guy had a long playing career, & undoubtedly has a wealth of knowledge, but he'd rather play to this gregarious, fun-loving goofball character he has cultivated. Those of you who don't know would be flabbergasted to learn how much of a pig the guy can be. Bert's all about shock value. I get that Bert has his fans- many of them, in fact- but I'm ready to move on from 'California math,' 'the best athlete on the field,' and the countdown to Bert's birthday. The whole 'D & B' broadcast team has gotten remarkably stale and I'm ready for something different.

Sweet, this should allow Bert time to give us more useless nuggets straight out of the Twins media guide. And if this means the winds of broadcast change are blowing in the direction of Smalley, Morneau, LaTroy, et al, then all the better.

I'm not certain people fully appreciate how hard hitting a baseball is. I also believe most fans have no idea how much time & effort goes into honing a Major League swing. It's not as simple as 'figuring it out'. It's a constant process of evolution and adjustments. Remember, hitters are facing guys that are constantly working on their craft, too. To me, that confrontation between pitcher & hitter- each of whom are constantly trying to better themselves- is what makes baseball captivating to me. Didn't mean to pick on your post, Bean- and I fully agree that a 'fast start' isn't necessary for Buck to have a great season. But in addition to the physical side, hitting is as much a mental game as anything else. Digging in to a batter's box with a .125 batting average staring at you from the JumboTron in mid-May is enough to wear anyone out mentally. The game's hard enough when just playing an opponent. It's exponentially more difficult when you are also playing yourself. Doesn't always appear that way, but baseball's a difficult game to play. Accordingly, there's two kinds of players. Those who have been humbled by the game, and those about to be.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IziVMHkIHMY/Tu2To4ZgcBI/AAAAAAAAXsk/3p6bgAJm-IA/s640/FastTimes_095Pyxurz.jpg

Thares, Pecota, Zips, & Steamer sound like a formidable pitching rotation.

I think a slow start is a concern for all major leaguers. Hitting is pretty difficult. I applaud Buxton's mental toughness. To have the lengthy horrible stretches he has had at the plate, and to not let it affect his defense shows great qualities. I also second the poster that questioned having Buck bat third in the order, especially for as long as he did even after his struggles became obvious. But, man, we all saw how a hitting Buxton changes the Twins lineup significantly. Serious game-changer.

I'm not any more concerned about a lack of offense than I would be hyped up if they were lighting it up at the plate. Either way, it's spring training. Come Thursday at 2:05pm, none of it matters either way. The only spring training concern I have every year is health. Rosario's is a bit of a concern to me at this point.