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Do you like Wins (Ws) or do you dislike Strikeouts (Ks)? The Minnesota Twins are 4-0 to begin the season and they've used all aspects of the game to help them win those 4 games. They've pitched very well, they've played great defense and they've scored plenty of runs to win two games and as much as they needed to win the other two games. Unfortunately, Byron Buxton is struggling mightily at the plate and he's hitting out of the number 3 spot in the batting order. He's still playing great defense and the Twins have needed that defense to help win the 4 games. So, here's the question, with Byron Buxton struggling, do you move him down in the batting order to take some pressure off of him? Or, do you leave him in the 3 spot because the team has been winning? On the season, Byron Buxton is 1-for-18 with 1 hit, 1 walk and 11 strikeouts. He's struggling to make contact with the ball. Because of that, we've heard he can't hit and he's terrible and, of course, we've heard the Twins should move him out of the 3 spot in the batting order. A lot of fans thought right off the bat (no pun intended) that he shouldn't be hitting from that spot in the batting order, anyways. Before the game, Paul Molitor said he won't consider moving Buxton out of the third spot just yet. Then, last night, Byron went 0-for-4 with 4 strikeouts and he said after the game, "I ain't swinging the bat so good." He also made 2 spectacular catches in the first inning to keep the game scoreless on one catch and at 1-0 with the other catch. The 2nd catch was the 3rd out of the inning and the White Sox had runners on first and second so most likely 2 runs would've scored if he doesn't catch that ball. The final score was 3-1 Twins so he's helping the Twins win with the glove despite being non-existent with the bat. Why mess with what might be a winning formula and, at the same time, chance messing up Byron Buxton's mental state even more by moving him from the 3rd spot in the batting order? He's already putting too much pressure on himself to produce, thinking he has to swing when he doesn't, being too anxious on every pitch. He's going to put in the work to get out of this slump and he'll have the help & support of all his teammates and coaches to get him through it so leave him there for now while reassuring him of the reasons he was put in that spot to start the season. Someone commented that it doesn't matter if they're winning. What? The whole point of the game is to win! What other reason is there for playing the game? YOU PLAY TO WIN THE GAME! Herm is right! Now, teams can play bad and win and play good and lose. There's almost always something that can be done better to help you win, but, like someone else said, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!" So, let's say he moves down the batting order after 4 games and 19 plate appearances and the Twins start losing. What do you do then? Move him back? Try something else? There's no reason to panic after 4 games no matter who's struggling at the plate, in the field, or on the mound. It's a 162-game season. Players can't be playing scared that they're going to come out if they make a mistake. It's a team game. The team wins or the team loses. I'd love to hear your thoughts, or 'Takes.

Are the Minnesota Twins building a framework of winning baseball? The Minnesota Twins begin the 2017 season with new hope as they enter a new era of their franchise. After hiring a new Chief Baseball Officer in Derek Falvey and a new General Manager in Thad Levine, the Twins seem headed in the right direction. Of course, it’s hard to go anywhere but up after a 103-loss season but, with this new regime taking over the organization, the feeling is they will turn this team around and, maybe, they weren’t as bad a team as their record showed last season. Last season was the worst season in this franchise’s history in terms of the number of losses but how many of the losses and how bad the season was can be attributed to a young team that couldn’t get over the hump with a big hit or not enough leadership in the clubhouse? It was a season most people would like to forget but, the players that went through it can learn from that season, too. Even if it’s something as simple as never wanting to go through that again can help them now and in the future. Learning how to win can come from knowing what has made you lose in the past. Help is on the Way There is talent on this team. Most of that talent is in the field or at the plate rather than on the mound but still, there is talent and it’s talent that can be a big part of turning this team around. Don’t get me wrong, there’s some talent on the mound, too. It just might not be enough talent. That’s where Derek Falvey and Thad Levine come in. They are known for having a background steeped in pitching. They have been able to find and develop pitching that has helped their teams get to the playoffs. There was a meeting asking, “Do you think there is a true ace in the Twins organization currently, at any level?” Thad Levine humorously just answered, “Yes.” Derek Falvey elaborated on the question, saying they don’t like limiting any player and they want to maximize every player’s potential. He used Indians ace Corey Kluber as an example saying that he didn’t come up through the minor leagues as that prototype guy. Thad Levine said they think there is somebody in their farm system that can get to that level. They just don’t know who that is yet. Someone or many will overachieve their potential and turn Minnesota Twins pitching into a strength instead of a weakness. That is what is so exciting about this season. They will use every way possible to develop the pitchers currently on the roster and, maybe, more importantly, develop the prospects they have coming soon and also to scout pitchers (and players) they might draft with the number 1 pick and the entire 2017 MLB Draft. Changing Mechanics? Can a tweak in any given pitcher’s mechanics make them into a better pitcher? Or a different pitcher? How much better? How long will it take? A good example of a veteran pitcher is 29-year-old right-handed starting pitcher Kyle Gibson. He’s always had a ton of potential, advancing from High-A to AAA in his first professional season. Gibby’s biggest problem has been finding consistency from start to start where he can be the best version of the pitcher he should be. He’s been up and down on almost a month to month basis where he’ll be great for a while then struggle. If he can be the same pitcher every start, he should be an above .500 pitcher and be a key to this team getting back to competitive baseball again. You can say the same thing about every pitcher in the organization. From your opening day starter Ervin Santana to a pitcher ready for the next step like Jose Berrios to a pitcher just hitting the higher levels in the minors like Kohl Stewart to a pitcher just drafted in 2016, any one of them could improve with a tweak to their mechanics, changing a grip on a pitch or two, moving one way or the other on the rubber, or adding a new pitch to their repertoire. Maybe they see something in Hector Santiago which explains why they kept him, too. A Winning Framework Pitching and defense are a huge part of helping a team win. That is precisely why Derek Falvey and Thad Levine had Jason Castro as their primary target in free agency. As a catcher, Jason Castro helps both the pitching and the defense so they addressed two weaknesses with one signing. Signing Jason Castro to a 3-year, $24.5M contract probably seems a little too high. That’s because the first thing most fans will look at are his stats and they will be underwhelmed. The majority of fans just look at the standard stats, with most of those being on the offensive side of the game. Mr. Castro won’t wow you with his bat, which isn’t to say he can’t hit, but it’s not the reason he’s getting that big contract. Casual baseball fans might not understand how much a catcher has to do with the pitching staff and the entire game.* In fact, they are really like quarterbacks behind the plate, a leader in the field and in the clubhouse. Being called a “catcher” really limits what they do on a day-to-day basis. *This is also a big reason why Joe Mauer is still being paid $23M a year but, that’s a conversation for another time. The skill most talked about when it comes to Jason Castro is pitch-framing. How many times did we hear the phrase Pitch-Framing in Minnesota in the Old Era? Did we ever hear it? Pitch-Framing is the skill of catching a pitch and framing it so it looks like a strike to the umpire. That’s the quick definition but that almost sounds like catchers are cheating and, of course, nobody likes being thought of as a cheater so here’s Jason Castro’s longer and more definitive explanation of pitch-framing: “The goal at the end of the day is to try to help your pitcher keep as many strikes as possible,” Castro said. “And to not do anything to take away from presenting pitches that are in the strike zone to the umpires that would lead them to believe that any given pitch is not a strike.” With his pitch-framing, Jason Castro will help the pitchers get more called strikes. Changing a ball to a strike will also change the behavior of the hitter and slightly widen the strike zone. Castro was ranked the 5th best overall at pitch-framing with 12.8 runs above average. Compare that to Kurt Suzuki who was 5 runs below average and the Twins could save almost 18 runs with a better pitch-framer. We’ve all seen how a strike being called a ball or a ball being called a strike can affect a game. A catcher also has to be a leader. Leadership was another area where the Twins struggled last season. A catcher leads by knowing his pitching staff, knowing their pitches, knowing how they want to pitch and knowing how to use all of that information to get the opposing hitters out over the course of an entire game. They have a gameplan for the opponent and each of the opponent’s individual players. They are also part-time psychologists because they have to know how to motivate the pitching staff, get them to calm down if things aren’t going well and figure out how to get the best out of them. Then, of course, there’s the actual playing the game part. That’s somewhat important, right? Jason Castro’s defense will help stop the opponent’s running game with his arm and when to call for a pitchout and/or a pickoff throw. “Hello, this is Diamond Security…Jason Castro speaking. Is everything alright? You mean like a bass guitar? Oh, I see. Can you describe it? Ok, it’s square and they are stuck into the ground. Have you ever thought of bringing them in the house or locking them up somehow?” Love for the Glove Speaking of defense, we have come to yet another weakness the Twins have to fix in order to start winning more often. They’ve got some areas that are very good and should be for a long time but there are, of course, some areas that still need some work and will require some patience. The strongest area is the outfield, predicting Eddie Rosario is in left, future gold glover Byron Buxton is in center and Max Kepler is in right. All 3 of them are young and they are above average defensively. They are slightly above average at 1st base with Joe Mauer as the starter and at 2nd base with Brian Dozier. The areas of concern are at shortstop with Jorge Polanco and 3rd base with Miguel Sano. Something that comes from a team trying to take the next step is figuring out if Polanco and Sano can hold down the job defensively on the left side. It’s been said that Miguel Sano’s natural position is 3rd base. Natural usually means that’s where they aren’t meant to play and we did see him make some great plays at the hot corner last season but we also saw a lot of bad plays like infield fly balls that dropped to the ground. Give the man credit though. He used the offseason to workout to get in better shape and to work on his defense. He has a rocket for an arm and is pretty good coming in on bunts. We’ll see how he progresses through the season. The Twins moved Jorge Polanco to 2nd base a couple years ago, moving him from the shortstop position where he had played most of his career. Was it due to arm strength, defensive range, throwing accuracy, or just trying him out at 2nd base because he really never looked like he’d make it as a major-league shortstop? The Twins are no stranger to having a new starting shortstop as a season opens. They’ve only had one shortstop since 2004 that has started 2 seasons and that was Pedro Florimon. It’s pretty crazy that they haven’t been able to find and/or develop a shortstop in 12 years. Is it impatience at the major league level, giving up on a player too soon? Or is it giving up on a player too soon in the minors? Or did they actually never have anyone capable of being their shortstop for an extended stay? Whatever the answer is, it doesn’t paint a good picture of the old front office and the scouting department. They claimed shortstop Ehire Adrianza off waivers from the Milwaukee Brewers in early February mainly for his glove. He’s average at best with the bat but he does have decent on-base skills. Knowing defense helps teams win, Falvey & Levine probably want a fallback option in case Jorge struggles at short and they want that fallback option to be solid defensively. Let’s Play Ball!!! The bottom line is, for the most part, the same as it has always been for the Minnesota Twins. If they pitch well and play good defense, their offense is good enough to score enough runs to win games. That offense was 16th in all of baseball and 9th in the American League in runs scored last season. That’s 4 ½ runs per game and it can easily go up with good years from Miguel Sano, Jorge Polanco, Byron Buxton, Joe Mauer, Max Kepler, Byungho Park at some point and a new hitting coach in James Rowson. This is The Dawn of a New Era of Minnesota Twins baseball. Winning is coming. It’s just a matter of how soon. This is a baseball team with a lot of talent. Can some confidence individually and as a team get them there as soon as this season? That’s a lot to ask. I’m predicting 75+ wins. Thanks for reading our TwinsTakes on the 2017 Minnesota Twins season. We’d love to hear what you think or your ‘Takes on how you think the Twins will do this season. We’re on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+. We also post most of our articles on TwinsDaily.com. That’s why we call it TwinsTakes.com because it’s… Our 'Takes, Your 'Takes, TwinsTakes.com!

Byungho Park reassigned to the minors? 13 pitchers? The Minnesota Twins have made their final roster decisions for Opening Day 2017, which is on April 3rd and only 3 days away. They: assigned 1B/DH Byungho Park to minor-league campalong with OF JB Shuck, 3B Matt Hague, INF Benji Gonzalez, 1B/DH Ben Paulsen, and C Eddy Rodriguez [*]named LHP Adalberto Mejia their 5th starter [*]RHP Tyler Duffey will join the bullpen [*]will add C Chris Gimenez to the 40-man roster [*]optioned C John Ryan Murphy to AAA Rochester So that means the 25-man Opening Day roster, for now, is: Hitters/Fielders – 12 C – Jason Castro 1B – Joe Mauer 2B – Brian Dozier 3B – Miguel Sano SS – Jorge Polanco LF – Eddie Rosario CF – Byron Buxton RF – Max Kepler DH – Robbie Grossman Bench – C Chris Gimenez, INF Eduardo Escobar, UTIL Danny Santana Starting Pitchers – 5 RHP Ervin Santana LHP Hector Santiago RHP Kyle Gibson RHP Phil Hughes LHP Adalberto Mejia Relief Pitchers – 8 RHP Brandon Kintzler RHP Matt Belisle RHP Ryan Pressly LHP Taylor Rogers LHP Craig Breslow RHP Michael Tonkin RHP Justin Haley RHP Tyler Duffey On Disabled List LHP Glen Perkins (?), LHP Ryan O’Rourke, INF Ehire Adrianza, 1B/DH Kennys Vargas (?) Why “for now?” Because, obviously, everyone is most likely wondering how Byungho Park did not make the team after a great Spring Training where he hit 2 doubles, 6 HRs and had 13 RBIs among 19 hits with 6 walks and 15 strikeouts in 51 at-bats for a .353 average and a .414 on-base percentage. He showed that he’s worked on his swing and is taking better at-bats.There might be a few reasons. First off, he’s not on the 40-man roster and the Twins already have to add backup catcher Chris Gimenez to the 40-man roster. Assuming they’re taking Buddy Boshers off the roster for that spot, who else can you take off of it to find a spot for Byungho Park? Ryan O’Rourke? He’s on the 10-Day DL so he can’t be removed unless they move him to the 60-Day DL and he won’t be out that long. They could move Glen Perkins to the 60-Day DL and they still might but I believe he has to agree to that and he probably doesn’t want to be out until near the end of May if he can get back before that. There may be other players you could take off the 40-man roster but, obviously, the front office and the coaches like those players or they wouldn’t be on the roster. Second, yes, Park’s stats are impressive but, they’re also from Spring Training, which is hard to take seriously so, maybe the front office would like to see him continue that same type of consistent hitting and good at-bats in AAA. If he keeps mashing the ball like he did in Spring Training, he’ll most likely get called up to the big club. Or if Robbie Grossman or a reliever or someone else struggles early, they could make a move to recall him? Third, and this might be the biggest one, maybe Derek Falvey and Thad Levine are looking to acquire and/or move a player to make room for Mr. Park. By reassigning him to minor-league camp, some other teams might show some interest. We expect them to be looking for every possible way to improve this team. Why 13 pitchers? That seems unusual but, again, that doesn’t mean they’ll stay with 13 pitchers for the whole season or even a month of the season. The Minnesota Twins biggest problem (and need) has been pitching since the losing started 6 seasons ago. So, having 13 pitchers shows how bad it’s been. They might need that many to get through a week. If the starters are pitching bad, that bullpen can get overworked quickly. So, they might want to get a look at these guys in real games when it counts rather than just evaluate them in spring training. Some, if not all, pitchers are working on new mechanics, new pitches, and/or new grips on pitches, trying to get used to those new tweaks to their deliveries or adding a new pitch. They aren’t that concerned if they get hit hard during a game. Plus, having 13 pitchers could mean they are going to go with this starting lineup for awhile and let them play. They’re going to let Jorge Polanco and Miguel Sano figure out if they can stay at shortstop and 3rd base. The bench of Eduardo Escobar, Chris Gimenez, and Danny Santana gives them the flexibility to replace every position as Gimenez has played some 1st base, Escobar and Santana can play 2nd, 3rd or short and Santana can play in the outfield, too. Sano could play some 1st base and in the outfiel…uhh…no, let’s not go back to that. Anyways, this lineup does have some flexibility even if there are only 12 players. So, basically, let’s wait and see how it goes for the next 3 days before Opening Day. If they’re still the same after that, let’s give them some time to play it out for awhile and see what happens. It might not be as bad as you think. Thanks for reading our TwinsTakes. We’d love to hear your TwinsTakes. That’s why it’s… Our 'Takes, Your 'Takes, TwinsTakes.com!!!