righty8383

Looking at Kirillof's stats, one thing is for sure, when he's up, the ball (almost always) gets put in play. Just 11 strike outs and 2 walks in 90 AB's. Not sure if I should be concerned about the lack of walks, but I do like the everything else so far. Maybe they should give him a taste of the midwest league before the season is over.

Didn't know that, thank you

So will the Twins let this kid get his feet wet in the DSL or will they just wait till next year?

I just get the feeling that Thorpe will look great for a month or 2. Then he'll get pulled in the 2nd inning and soon after we'll hear the news we've been dreading. I'm sorry but its so rare these days that a player is able to successfully rehab even a partially torn UCL and have it hold up long term.

Stereotypes are often based on some level of truth. But often becomes exaggerated to make arguments stronger or to put a negative light on the subject. In the Twins case, there are many stereotypes that have stemmed from some kind of truth but winds up becoming exaggerated to the point that some people just look silly. Hitting the other way: It seemed to start when David Ortiz criticized the Twins for trying to get him to hit to the opposite field. I think one of his quotes from his book was "they wanted me to hit like a bitch." I'm paraphrasing a bit because I can't remember the exact words he used. Funny thing is, some of Ortiz' biggest hits have been to the left side of the field. JJ Hardy perpetuated things when he brought up some of the methods the Twins would use in BP. Having him spray balls around the field while his coaches in Baltimore encouraged him to go ahead and yank everything into the seats. He would later back off these claims and even credit Joe Vavra for helping reinvent his swing after a disastrous 2009 season. The damage had been done though. People went to the forums and used Vavra as another reason toe blast the Twins hitting methods. Twins' hitting coaches throughout the system teach pretty much the same way all high level coaches do. They want players to utilize their strengths and improve on their weaknesses. While using a balanced approach and having the ability to use the whole field. Pitch to contact, don't go for strike outs: "pitch to contact" has become a focal point of ridicule for the Twins over the last few years. Some of it is deserved. Not because of the way they teach guys to pitch, but because they had acquired an army of pitchers who could do nothing BUT pitch to contact. However, I have read on forums and comment sections, people who are concerned that the strikeout pitchers the Twins have acquired lately (Alex Meyer, Trevor May, Jose Berrios) will be discouraged from striking people out. This is a preposterous claim that has stemmed from the "pitch to contact" stereotype. Rick Anderson recently got so tired of the criticism that he banned the term "pitch to contact" throughout the organization. I'm sure he wasn't serious but it just goes to show how annoyed he was with it. Anyway, any smart baseball mind should tell you that pitching to contact is not always such a bad thing if done properly. Just ask last year World Series Champions San Francisco Giants. Twins are too slow promoting players: This is not entirely baseless, but it is often exaggerated. In the last 5 or 6 years, the Twins deserve some criticism for prospects moving slowly. Not because those prospects deserved to move faster, but because the Twins had so few players that deserved to move faster. This is a product of some poor drafting and lack of good international signings. Last year when Byron Buxton was drafted, I couldn't believe how many people expected him to take at least 5 or 6 years to reach the bigs. The truth is, if he performs, he will rise fast and could easily be up by 2015. Aaron Hicks was drafted in '08 and is expected to make the club this year. That is kind of slow for such a high pick. But who would argue that based on his production prior to last year, he should have moved faster? I have also read on more than one occasion that if Mike Trout was in the system, he would be in single or double A this year. Another claim based on virtually nothing. We have not had a position player dominate the minors at the same level Trout did. The last high drafted pitcher we had that really dominated, made his ML debut a year after he was drafted. That was in '06. This is just a few. Anybody else have any Twins' stereotypes that they would like to share, positive or negetive?

Stereotypes are often based on some level of truth. But often becomes exaggerated to make arguments stronger or to put a negative light on the subject. In the Twins case, there are many stereotypes that have stemmed from some kind of truth but winds up becoming exaggerated to the point that some people just look silly. Hitting the other way: It seemed to start when David Ortiz criticized the Twins for trying to get him to hit to the opposite field. I think one of his quotes from his book was "they wanted me to hit like a bitch." I'm paraphrasing a bit because I can't remember the exact words he used. Funny thing is, some of Ortiz' biggest hits have been to the left side of the field. JJ Hardy perpetuated things when he brought up some of the methods the Twins would use in BP. Having him spray balls around the field while his coaches in Baltimore encouraged him to go ahead and yank everything into the seats. He would later back off these claims and even credit Joe Vavra for helping reinvent his swing after a disastrous 2009 season. The damage had been done though. People went to the forums and used Vavra as another reason toe blast the Twins hitting methods. Twins' hitting coaches throughout the system teach pretty much the same way all high level coaches do. They want players to utilize their strengths and improve on their weaknesses. While using a balanced approach and having the ability to use the whole field. Pitch to contact, don't go for strike outs: "pitch to contact" has become a focal point of ridicule for the Twins over the last few years. Some of it is deserved. Not because of the way they teach guys to pitch, but because they had acquired an army of pitchers who could do nothing BUT pitch to contact. However, I have read on forums and comment sections, people who are concerned that the strikeout pitchers the Twins have acquired lately (Alex Meyer, Trevor May, Jose Berrios) will be discouraged from striking people out. This is a preposterous claim that has stemmed from the "pitch to contact" stereotype. Rick Anderson recently got so tired of the criticism that he banned the term "pitch to contact" throughout the organization. I'm sure he wasn't serious but it just goes to show how annoyed he was with it. Anyway, any smart baseball mind should tell you that pitching to contact is not always such a bad thing if done properly. Just ask last year World Series Champions San Francisco Giants. Twins are too slow promoting players: This is not entirely baseless, but it is often exaggerated. In the last 5 or 6 years, the Twins deserve some criticism for prospects moving slowly. Not because those prospects deserved to move faster, but because the Twins had so few players that deserved to move faster. This is a product of some poor drafting and lack of good international signings. Last year when Byron Buxton was drafted, I couldn't believe how many people expected him to take at least 5 or 6 years to reach the bigs. The truth is, if he performs, he will rise fast and could easily be up by 2015. Aaron Hicks was drafted in '08 and is expected to make the club this year. That is kind of slow for such a high pick. But who would argue that based on his production prior to last year, he should have moved faster? I have also read on more than one occasion that if Mike Trout was in the system, he would be in single or double A this year. Another claim based on virtually nothing. We have not had a position player dominate the minors at the same level Trout did. The last high drafted pitcher we had that really dominated, made his ML debut a year after he was drafted. That was in '06. This is just a few. Anybody else have any Twins' stereotypes that they would like to share, positive or negetive?

Buxton may not start the season in Cedar Rapids but he will be up there before July. Probably in mid-May.

One mistake that you made Mnfan, was giving Credence to the prospect rankings submitted by mlb.com. Looking at the list, there are a lot of odd rankings 6-20. IMO Seth Stohs and several others on this site are way better at ranking prospects.

69 games is NOT a small sample size for the minor leagues.

It would be ridiculous for Arcia to start in AA. If that happens I will be more willing to submit to those who accuse the Twins of being far too conservative with prospects. Honestly, there is absolutely nothing for him to prove in AA. Also, to the author of this blog, our midwest league affiliate is Cedar Rapids, not Quad Cities.

What would really be cool is if the Twins would let the Kernals host a series at Target Field. I know other teams have done this.

Hey JC, are you in that area where you don't get the Twins on cable, but you would also get Twins' games blacked out on the mlb.tv package? I know there was a poster on another message board that had this issue. Total BS... Edit: I just read the link you posted in the article so my question had been answered.

Reading the last paragraph in this sentence, normally I would call that an extreme view reserved for the most cinical of Twins fans. But honestly, the case of Anthony Slama has me thinking on the same lines. If I were to meet Terry Ryan I think the 1st thing I would ask is "what the hell does Anthony Slama have to do to get a chance with the big club?"

So everytime the Twins get off to a crappy start we can just go back to '06 for hope? Forgive me if I'm not so optimistic. Do you see Justin Morneau turning it up and having an MVP year? I don't. Do we have an ace that can win a CY Young? Not even close. It goes on. The Twins got off to a bad start in '06 but they had the pieces to get back in the race making it one of the most exciting seasons of baseball I've ever watched. This team does not have those pieces so stop kidding yourself. This may be true about the offense, but the pitching is just as bad as what we've seen. Worst starting staff in all of baseball with little hope on the farm

Looks like his AA debut was delayed

No chance it would be Ulger. Personally, I would say Bruno is the only in house candidate that should be considered. It doesn't sound like Moliter would be interested and I would pray that they don't consider Carew.

It could be worse...you could be a Cubs fan. Try telling one of them to be patient.

I beleive Shibuya is next in line to start for Beloit. I wonder when Corey Williams will get some action.

This is really good work you are doing. Thank you

The 3-0 strike call on Towles was something that would've had me irrate if it was a regular season game. The pitch was 8 inches (not exaggerating) inside, then Towles grounded out the next pitch. Glen Perkins looked great. Benson does look overmatched. He hit poorly in winter ball and that is carrying over to spring. I hope he figures things out by the time the season starts.

I heard he had a dispute with the Twins at the end of the '09 season regarding some stuff that was stolen from him. I also heard he didn't like the seats that were reserved for him at Target field so he did not renew in 2010. Thats just what I heard...

I don't want to see Revere in center or LF on a regular basis. He should be limited to pinch runner and spot starter. His arm is too much of a liability. Do you remember last year when AJ Pierzyski scored the winning run from 2nd base on a line drive to center. Revere made the throw on 5 hops and AJ scored easily standing up. The arm is more of a liability that some people understand. Lets say he cuts off a hit to the gap that nobody else would've got to, the hitter gets a double anyway because Revere can't get the ball back to the infield quick enough. Offensively, his speed is his only asset. He needs to be able to get his OBP over .350 to be worth having in the lineup IMO. The farthest I've seen him hit a ball was that shot in Detroit when he tried to get an inside the park HR. That ball went about 350 in the air. His lack of power allows outfielders to come way in and take away the short singles. Ultimately Benson will be the best option for CF. His overall defense is better than Revere and he is more productive offensively. Some may say Benson is not quite ready and I will say, neither is Revere. The only difference is Revere will never be unless he can drag bunt and take more walks.

I don't mind criticism as long as its construnctive. The Twins are often accused of things that just aren't true. You mentioned being cheap as one of them. The one that I find proposterous is when people suggest that the Twins suppress power both hitting and pitching. I remember last year, a star tribune article about the great season Sano and Rosario were having with the Etwins. One commenter said something like "just wait till Vavra gets a hold of them and turns them into slap hitting singles hitters". Some people really beleive this is happening. The same people probably think they intend to turn Hudson Boyd into a soft tossing control pitcher.

I disagree with Boyd and Harrison being so low. I know they are both yet to play pro ball, but when ranking prospects, max potential is one of if not THE most important thing. In my opinion, both these guys are top 10 when you look at max potential alone.

I think a common misconception people have about Scott Baker is that he is just another Twins' "pitch to contact" guy. On the contrary... As he showed last year before getting injured he is very capable of striking guys out. He is nothing like Nick Blackburn, Brian Duensing, Liam Hendriks etc... Those guys have to pitch the ball down to keep the ball on the ground and avoid the HR ball. Baker should throw a lot more at the waste and letters. His fastball is the rising kind and hitters often get under it. One drawback is that this can create a lot of foul balls causing the pitch count to rise. Then there is his above average slider to compliment the fastball. Prior to last year I had one major complaint about Baker. His willingness to give the hitters something to hit when he is ahead in the count. A fastball in the strike zone with an 0-2 count is unnaccaptable. I'm not sure who to blame, Scott Baker for lack of killer instinct, or the Twins for there overuse of the pitch count. If he throws a slider low and away or a shoulder high fastball and the batter doesn't bite, that is one more pitch that he has thrown. God forbid a Twins pitcher gets his pitch count in the 120's. Let me ask this...If pitch count is so important in preventing injuries, why does it seem like relief pitchers are getting TJ surgury at nearly the same rate as starters? Honestly I think mechanics, strength & conditioning and even luck are bigger factors in a pitcher staying healthy. My guess is that the pitch count is a product of teams doing whatever they feel is necessary to protect thier investments. Last year I was pleased to see Baker attempting to miss more bats when ahead in the count instead of just letting guys put the ball in play. Now I ask this...was it because Baker finally adopted that killer instinct that a guy with his stuff should have? Or was the poor defensive play behind making him feel like he had to get hitters out himself to have a chance of winning? Whatever the reason I want to see more. If Baker stays healthy this year he should be able to win 15 games and finish in the top 10 in strike outs