According to ELIAS

What’s better than triple-double? How about a triple-triple.

Eduardo Nunez, Shane Robinson, and Eduardo Escobar all tripled in the sixth inning for the Twins yesterday. And if that doesn’t seem unusual enough for you consider this: Minnesota scored only one run in the inning, with Robinson getting picked off and Escobar getting stranded. The Twins did win the game 4-3.

It was the first time since the Washington Senators moved to Minnesota in 1961 that the Twins had three triples in one inning. And it was the first instance in the expansion era of a team scoring only once despite three triples in an inning. The other 20 teams to do so averaged 4.6 runs in those innings. Source:ELIAS

According to ELIAS

Hunter ablaze in May

Torii HunterTorii Hunter and Eduardo Nunez reached Chris Sale for second-inning home runs and the Twins were never headed in their 4-3 victory yesterday in Chicago. Hunter, who will turn 40 this summer, is having quite a month, batting .351 and slugging .623, with six homers and 18 RBIs in 19 games. Since the team moved to Minnesota in 1961, only one 39-or-older Twins player has ever had a month of at least 75 at-bats in which he batted .350 or better while slugging .600 or better; in July of 1993, 41-year-old Dave Winfield batted .355 and slugged .710. Source: ELIAS

Today’s Twins Notes has this to say about Torii today: Torii Hunter hit his 199th career home run in a Twins uniform yesterday to reach 200. The last to do it was Justin Morneau (221 total home runs with Twins) who did it in 2012. Gary Gaetti is next on the list with 201 all-time, Kirby Puckett finished his Twins career with 207 home runs.

Checking in with the Twins

When you visit the CenturyLink Sports complex when there are no games going on it can be kind of boring. I know, I know, I have nothing to complain about as I watch the Twins prepare for a new season in the 80 degree sunshine that SW Florida provides. When I got to the ballpark I ran into Seth Stohs from Twins Daily who had just arrived a day earlier and we chatted for a while. The Twins were playing the Pirates up in Bradenton so the remaining crew of Twins players back in Fort Myers was made up primarily of starting pitchers and a few position players that didn’t make the trip like Joe Mauer, Torii Hunter and Eduardo Nunez.

The minor league players hadn’t reported yet although I believe they are scheduled to report today. With the minor league group reporting it would mean that it is time for the Twins to announce their first group of cuts which I believe will be announced later today.

Ton Kelly
Ton Kelly

As I was leaving the minor league fields I happened to see former Twins skipper Tom Kelly sauntering back from the minor league complex to Hammond Stadium bat in hand. I said hello and asked about his health as we walked back. TK told me he was not 100% as yet but was getting stronger everyday. He told me about how his doctor had literally “gotten in his face” and told him to rest and do nothing after he was released from the hospital. Of course TK being who he is couldn’t sit still for long but he found out quickly that the doctor knew what he was talking about and since then TK has listened to the doctor and abided by his wishes. The doctor told him it would probably take about 6 months to get back to where he was before the stroke and the 6 month mark is coming up soon. As we got closer to the stadium more fans recognized TK and soon a group had gathered for pictures and autographs with the Twins legend. I continue to be amazed at how Tom Kelly has mellowed over the years. Good for you TK, stay healthy because the Twins and their fans need you.

As always I managed to get some pictures of the action for you down here and you can check them out on the right hand side of the page under the 2015 Spring Training link.

Twins best dressed?

Where else except in the final edition of the 2014 Minnesota Twins Game Notes can you find the following paragraph.

Eduardo Nunez
Eduardo Nunez
Cory Provus
Cory Provus

TWINS BEST DRESSED AWARDS: The annual best dressed award given out by the Baseball Communications department goes to Eduardo Nunez in 2014. Nunez was known for his custom suits mixed with slim fitting dress shirts in a nice mix of colors and patterns. He also sported a variety a skinny ties and a wide range of footwear, he never cut corners and proved it with his matching belts and trendy socks. He says he owes most of the credit to his good friend Robinson Cano. Honorable mention in 2014: Anthony Swarzak, Jordan Schafer and Glen Perkins. Most improved was radio broadcaster Cory Provus. Cory is known for his tight lululemon shirts (often a size too small) while he showcases one of his several colors of AG Jeans The Portege cut. He took a step forward in 2014 with purchasing a few Brooks Brothers non-iron dress shirts, but where Cory really separates himself is when he dons his Hugo Boss suit during press conferences.

The This and That section in the Game Notes had some valuable info as well:

• The Twins have lost three of their last four games on the final game of the season.
• On the season, Twins hitters have averaged 3.99 pitches per plate appearance, second highest in baseball (Boston, 4.05).
• The Twins are hitting .309 (69-for-223) with runners in scoring position this month, the third best average in baseball.
• The Twins have gone 70-0 when ouscoring their opponent in 2014.
• The Twins have gone 7-0 when shutting out their opponent in 2014.
• The Twins went 0-11 when being held to zero runs.
• The Twins went 36-35 when wearing blue uniforms and 11-22 when wearing the traveling grays.

It just goes to show that even if you lose 90+ games four years in a row you can still have a sense of humor. Well done boys!

Someone needs to wake Gardy up

"<strongI have been a Ron Gardenhire fan for a long time but I have to admit even I am more than a bit confused and irritated with his recent infatuation for having his players play multiple positions. I understand that a team needs to have utility players that can play multiple positions but there is no need to have each player on the 25 man roster be able to play multiple positions. I think you are doing a disservice to the player and the team when you have your players playing out of position. A professional player is best at one particular position no matter how many positions he might be able to play. A player becomes more skillful at his position by playing his position day after day and helps the team because everyone knows how that player will react day in and day out. An everyday player does not become more valuable by playing more positions, he becomes more valuable by becoming a better player in his assigned position. Players are not paid more because they can play more positions, they get paid more when they excel in a particular position.

I believe that Gardy is making a huge blunder by playing Danny Santana out in center field. Santana has been groomed to be a shortstop since the team signed him back in 2007 and now you bring him up to the big leagues for the first time and what do you do but send him out to play center field about 30% of the games he has played in Minnesota. What the hell? Gardy was unhappy with Pedro Florimon because he couldn’t hit and so Santana gets called up because he might be your shortstop of the future. So what does Gardy do? He turns his utility man Eduardo Escobar into the teams starting shortstop and sits Santana on the bench. Santana is still learning to play shortstop and you are playing him in center field one-third of the time? I know you have a hole in center but why send Santana out to the outfield to learn to play center field in the major leagues? Just because Santana has speed does not mean he is a center fielder, he might be, but why have him learn how to play center in the big leagues, that is what the minor leagues are for. Then in a week or two you will complain that Santana is not hitting and you send him down to the minors where he will play shortstop once again. You bring up a guy to the big leagues for the first time in his career and you play him out of position? That is just plain stupid. You hurt Santana’s development at shortstop and you hurt the Twins team while Santana learns to play center. Why in the world do you want Santana to learn to play center anyway? Byron Buxton is your center fielder of the future and is probably just a year or so away and you waste your time and Danny Santana‘s future by playing him out of position? What are you thinking? Look at the big picture Gardy, this is just plain silly.

There is nothing wrong with playing someone out of position in an emergency but to do it on purpose time and time again is just plain wrong. Santana is not the only example, look at Chris Herrmann. The 26-year-old Herrmann is supposedly a catcher and he has been in the big leagues for a total of 81 games and he has played the corner outfield more than he has been behind the plate. Today I read that he going to the minors and you want him to learn how to play center field there, why? Yikes! Dan Gladden would do better in center field now than Herrmann will ever do and Gladden is 56 years old and hasn’t played in the big leagues since 1993. Eduardo Nunez is still another example, why send this infielder out to patrol left field? Nunez played for the Yankees for 281 in four years and the Yankees had him in the outfield 8 times. Nunez has appeared in 11 Twins games, he has played in the Twins infield exactly once, at 3B. Nunez is an infielder, not an outfielder, DH or a PH.

This is not the National League Gardy with double switches and all that goes with that, manage like you want to win some games here in Minnesota. If you want to help develop players then give up your current job and take a job in the minors where you can help them develop all you want. One day you say you want to come to the ballpark everyday and throw out the same line-up day in and day out and the next day you play players in positions they are not familiar with. The majority of the blame for the Twins playing players out of position falls on Gardy’s shoulders because Terry Ryan and Rob Antony let Gardy manage as he wishes for the most part and that is the way it should be. But, I think that Gardy has crossed the line here and Ryan and Antony need to step up and put a stop to this foolishness ASAP.

Bottom line it is the managers responsibility to play his players where they have the best chance to succeed both in the field and in the batting order and to help the home team to win games, I don’t think that Gardy is doing that with this team in 2014.

According to Elias

 

Eduardo Nunez
Eduardo Nunez

Eduardo Nunez capped Minnesota’s three-run eighth inning with an RBI single that gave the Twins a 4-3 lead that they never relinquished yesterday in their victory at Detroit. The Tigers had won the last 53 regular-season home games in which they led in the eighth inning or later, which was the longest current streak of its kind in the majors before Sunday’s loss.