Category: General Blogging

This is a general blogging category.

Kepler and Berrios to play for Futures World Team

Rosters were recently announced for the SiriusXM Futures Game to be played on Sunday, July 12 at Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati during the All-Star break and the Twins will be sending two players, who will both play for the World Team, outfielder/1B Max Kepler and right-handed pitcher Jose Berrios.

Max Kepler
Max Kepler

The 22-year-old Kepler was born in Berlin, Germany has played 55 games for Double-A Chattanooga this season, hitting .342 (69-for-202) with 18 doubles, eight triples, three home runs, 29 RBI and 11 stolen bases. He was originally signed by the Twins on July 11, 2009.

Jose Berrios
Jose Berrios

The 21-year-old Jose Berrios, was born in Baymon, Puerto Rico, has made 14 starts for Double-A Chattanooga, posting a record of 7-3, 3.23 ERA (83.2 IP, 30 ER) with 23 walks and 86 strikeouts.Berrios, who was drafted in the first round (32nd overall) of the 2012 First-Year Player Draft, started for the World Team in 2014 at Target Field, tossing a perfect inning.

Barring injury I think there is at least a 50/50 chance both of these young players will make their big league debut with the Twins this season. Congratulations to both Max and Jose. Source Twins Notes

2015 Futures Game Rosters

Will the Axe Bat replace the round handled bat?

I have chopped a lot of wood of the years and played a little baseball but I have never considered the two related in any way. Matter of fact I thought that chopping wood often kept me from playing baseball. Come to find out now that someone has tied an axe handle and a bat together and it might just be catching on.

“In 2006, a New Yorker named Steve Leinert obtained a patent on the axe handle for a baseball bat, a concept Ted Williams hit on decades earlier in his book “The Science of Hitting,” in which he compared a baseball swing to that of an axe. “Try it for yourself,” Williams wrote. “Get a bat and swing it against a telephone pole. I do this with doubting young Washington players. Where is the wrist position at point of impact? Square and unbroken, that’s where, just as when you hit a tree with an ax.””

The Axe Bat made its debut in MLB two years ago when former Philly and now Dodger shortstop Jimmy Rollins occasionally used an Axe Bat in major league games. Now Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia has spent a month using it as his lone bat, and the results are promising.

Axe handled batOne of the benefits of the axe bat handle is that it is supposed to limit hamate bone injuries, it will be interesting to see if the axe handled bat catches on and if it really does help prevent hand injuries. I suppose like anything else, if someone has some success with it, the bat will find its way into clubhouses all across baseball.

Here is a story that Jeff Passon did on the bat for Yahoo Sports.

Can Mauer get 100 RBI?

Joe MauerManager Paul Molitor has Joe Mauer hitting in a run producing slot in his batting order and publicly has stated many times that he is happy with Joe’s production. The numbers however; seem to show a different story. Mauer’s best season from an RBI perspective was his MVP season in 2009 when he had 96 RBI. That season Mauer had an RBI every 6.31 plate appearances but don’t forget he hit .365 that year and clubbed 28 home runs.

Through yesterday Mauer has 35 RBI and is getting a RBI every 7.54 plate appearances and at this rate he would need over 750 plate appearances to get 100 RBI and Mauer has had over 600 plate appearances in his 12 year career just four times peaking at 641 in 2012. Even if Mauer gets 600 plate appearances he is on pace to get 80 RBI. The best bet that the Twins have in their line-up right now to knock in runs is Torii Hunter who gets an RBI every 6.5 plate appearances. Hunter will be 40 very soon but you have to ride the horse that is pulling the load right now no matter how old he is.

Looking back over Twins history the best ratio for RBI per plate appearance was Kirby Puckett‘s 1994 season when he had 112 RBI in 484 plate appearances for a RBI every 4.32 plate appearances. No one in American League history since the Twins started play in 1961 has ever had a better RBI ratio per plate appearance. Had that season not been cut short Puckett was on pace for an amazing 151 RBI.

I had zero RBI in a Twins uniform but yet I had a 24 year MLB career as a player.
I had zero RBI in a Twins uniform but yet I had a 24 year MLB career as a player.

Do you know who the only Twins hitter is that had 100 or more RBI in a season and yet have 9 or fewer home runs?

What Twins player was with the Twins for parts of four seasons and had 76 plate appearances and had zero RBI? After being traded by the Twins he actually had 99 career plate appearances to start his big league career without an RBI before getting his first RBI on his first career home run.

Congratulations Byron Buxton!

Buxton congratulated by Plouffe after scoring what turns out to be the winning run in his first big league game.
Buxton congratulated by Plouffe after scoring what turns out to be the winning run in his first big league game.

The Twins announced yesterday that they had selected the contract of outfielder Byron Buxton from Chattanooga (AA). Buxton, 21, made his major league debut today against the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Park in Arlington after hitting .283 (67-for-237) with seven doubles, 12 triples, six home runs, 20 stolen bases and 37 RBI in 59 games for the Lookouts this season. The Georgia native was ranked as the top prospect in baseball by MLB.com entering this season and Twins top prospect by Baseball America and earlier this week, he was named a Southern League All-Star. Buxton was drafted second overall in the 2012 First-Year Player Draft. Buxton has 263 minor league games and 1,168 plate appearances under his belt before making the jump from AA to the big leagues.

Buxton who was assigned number 25 went 0-4 in his first big league game but after reaching base on a fielder’s choice in the ninth inning scored the winning run on a double by Eddie Rosario.

Congratulations Byron Buxton on moving up to the big leagues and I can’t wait to see play at Target Field.

Check out these Chattanooga pictures

Chattanooga Lookouts logoIf you get a few minutes you need to check out these behind the scenes pictures of the Chattanooga Lookouts taken by Twins photographer Bruce Hemmeigam over the span of four days and posted on MiLB.com. Some great shots of players that we hope to see in Minnesota Twins uniforms soon.

By the way, May 20th is an very interesting day in Twins history, take a few minutes and check out our Today in Twins History page.

Who will reach the majors first? Buxton or Correa

The Houston Astros had the first overall pick in the 2012 June Amateur Draft and they used that pick to select 17 year-old Puerto Rico Baseball Academy shortstop Carlos Correa. The Minnesota Twins had the second choice and they used it to draft 18 year-old outfielder Byron Buxton from Appling County High School in Baxley, Georgia. Both players are currently rated as the top prospecst in their organizations and Buxton has been rated as baseball best overall prospect two years running. Both players have had injuries delay their arrival in the major leagues.

Carlos Correa Carlos Correa is  6’4″ and 210 pounds and is a right-handed hitter and missed all but 62 games in 2014 due to injury. Correa was recently promoted from AA Corpus Christi to AAA Fresno and is holding his own in six games in the PCL after tearing up AA to the tune of a .385 average with seven home runs, 32 RBI, and 15 stolen bases (with zero caught stealing) in just 29 games. To this point Correa has 264 minor league games and 1,180 plate appearances under his belt.

Miguel Sano Chattanooga 2Byron Buxton is 6’2″ and 190 pounds and also bats from the right side and as we all know all too well, missed all but 14 games in 2014 due to several injuries. Buxton too started this season in AA with the Chattanooga team but got off to a dismal start but has caught fire and is hitting .241 with seven triples, four home runs, 25 RBI, and 10 stolen bases in 11 attempts in 36 games. To this point Buxton has 240 minor league games and 1,061 plate appearances under his belt.

The fans for both teams are anxious for Correa and Buxton to be promoted to the big club. In recent years both the Astros and Twins have been their divisions cellar dwellers but both teams have played surprisingly well in 2015. Does the fact that their teams are playing good baseball slow down or speed up the process of reaching the big leagues for these two future stars?

Being the top picks in the 2012 does not guarantee that you will be up to the bigs sooner than players that are drafted further down the list. Todate there are eight other players drafted later in the first round of the 2012 draft that have tasted a sip of life in the major leagues, but all but one, Cubs shortstop Addison Russell (11) were drafted out of college (by the A’s and traded to the Cubs). Other 2012 first rounders that have reached the majors are catcher Mike Zunino (3), RHP Kevin Gausman (4), LHP Andrew Heaney (9), RHP Michael Wacha (19), RHP Marcus Stroman (22), catcher Kevin Plawecki (35) and RHP Eddie Butler (46). There are also two second round, three third round, two fourth round, two fifth round, one sixth round, one seventh round, and two ninth round selections that have spent time in the major leagues.

So when will Carlos Correa and Byron Buxton get that call to report to Houston or Minnesota? Which one of these future super stars will get the call first? These two players will be compared to each other from years to come, it will be interesting to see how their careers compare over time.

UPDATE: Carlos Correa was called up by the Astros on June 8th.

UPDATE: Byron Buxton was called up by the Twinss on June 14th.

These were some quick games

Frank ViolaI thought that with all the attention this year on the length of games that it would be fun to take a look at some of the quickest nine inning games in Twins history in terms of wall clock time. The fastest game turned out to be a Twins 3-0 loss at Exhibition Stadium to the Toronto Blue Jays as starter Jim Clancy and his Twins counterpart Frank Viola faced off.

Twins 9 inning games in 1 hour and 45 minutes and under

Rk Date Opp Rslt PA AB Attendance GmLen ?
1 1982-09-28 (1) TOR L 0-3 28 27 0 93
2 1973-07-01 CAL W 2-1 32 31 27,068 100
2 1968-09-13 BOS L 0-3 31 31 23,171 100
4 1968-08-22 NYY W 3-1 31 26 15,898 102
5 1979-08-12 OAK W 1-0 30 27 14,500 103
5 1974-06-17 BAL L 0-1 31 29 7,157 103
7 1975-09-26 CHW W 2-1 33 29 2,769 105
7 1966-04-12 KCA W 2-1 29 26 21,658 105
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 5/11/2015.

The fastest Twins nine inning game in this century you ask? That would be a 1-0 loss to the Oakland A’s in McAfee Park on June 2, 2007 when Joe Blanton beat Carlos Silva in one hour and 49 minutes. Since the 2000 season began, the Twins have played in only nine complete games that lasted two hours or less.

The Twins longest game in terms of time was a 17 inning six-hour and 36 minute affair back on May 7, 1995 when the Indians beat the Twins 10-9 at Jacob’s Field. I suspect that the 39,431 fans at the ballpark got their money’s worth that day. I wonder what Tom Kelly’s temperament was like after that game? The Twins used nine pitchers and the Indians used eight. Oddly enough, the Twins have played only two games that lasted six or more hours and they were both against the Cleveland Indians. The other long game against the boys from Cleveland was a six-hour and 17 minute affair at the Metrodome but this time the Twins came out with a 5-4 win in 22 innings on August 31, 1993.

I also took a look at the length of an average Twins game in 1961 versus an average Twins game in 2014. Back in the Twins initial season an average Twins game took two hours and 40 minutes, last year an average Twins game took three hours and 7 minutes.

Congratulations to Eddie Rosario

Rosario, Eddie 2015Eddie Rosario found the first big league pitch he saw to his liking and he hammered it into the Target Field left-center field bleachers for a home run. The pitch was thrown by left-handed starter Scott Kazmir and put the Twins up 1-0 en-route to a 13-0 white-washing of the Oakland A’s. Rosario becomes the 115th player to hit a home run in his first major league at bat but only the 29th player in big league history to swing at the first pitch he saw in the major leagues and hit it for a home run.

Rosario goes into the Twins record books as the 10th Twin to hit a home run in his first game but the first to do it on the first pitch of his first plate appearance. Six of the 10 home runs in the first game came on the first at bat.

I have been waiting for the Twins to call up Rosario and it was nice to see him have a positive impact in his first major league game. Rosario’s parents were in the stands to witness their sons historic moment. Although Rosario’s stay in Minnesota is expected to be short, you never know, he might just be here to stay. Congratulations Eddie!

BOX SCORE

Twins players that have hit a home run in their first major league game

Rk Player Date Opp Rslt PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BOP Pos Summary
1 Eddie Rosario 2015-05-06 OAK W 13-0 4 4 1 1 0 0 1 1 8 RF
2 Luke Hughes 2010-04-28 DET L 6-11 4 4 1 1 0 0 1 1 9 3B
3 Andre David 1984-06-29 (1) DET W 5-3 4 4 1 1 0 0 1 2 7 RF
4 Gary Gaetti 1981-09-20 TEX L 3-4 3 3 1 1 0 0 1 2 7 3B
5 Tim Laudner 1981-08-28 DET W 6-0 4 3 1 2 0 0 1 2 8 C
6 Kent Hrbek 1981-08-24 NYY W 3-2 5 5 1 2 0 0 1 2 8 1B
7 Dave McKay 1975-08-22 DET W 8-4 3 3 1 1 0 0 1 1 8 3B
8 Eric Soderholm 1971-09-03 (1) OAK W 9-4 4 2 2 1 0 0 1 1 7 3B
9 Hal Haydel 1970-09-07 (2) MIL W 8-3 3 3 2 2 1 0 1 1 9 P
10 Rick Renick 1968-07-11 DET W 5-4 4 4 1 1 0 0 1 1 7 SS
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 5/7/2015.

I find it kind of interesting that all the players on the above list were slotted 7-9 in the batting order.

Odds and Ends

Most of us know that the Twins longest consecutive game hitting streak is 31 games and that record holder is Ken Landreaux but did you know who holds the Twins record for the longest multi-hit (two hits or more) game hitting streak? The record is 10 games and Chuck Knoblauch accomplished that feat in 1996.

It is baffling to me why Twins managers Ron Gardenhire and now Paul Molitor keep sending infielders out to play the outfield. Is that something that Twins managers have to agree to do?

J.R. Graham
J.R. Graham

I am a little concerned about the lack of patience that Paul Molitor is showing with his young players. I know that Danny Santana, Oswaldo Arcia, Kennys Vargas and J.R. Graham have struggled so far this season but you don’t improve your skills by sitting on the bench. I say play these guys day in and day out through May and then reevaluate the situation. It is not like the Twins are in the hunt for a playoff spot. Molitor should know that players need to know that their manager has their back and will keep their butts in the line-up as they improve their skills. Since Graham is a Rule 5 guy the Twins need to keep him on the 25 man roster all season or return him or maybe even work out a trade that will allow them to send him to the minors. Molitor should not have to manage a 24 man roster.

Is it just me or is Paul Molitor the second coming of Gene Mauch? It seems to me that Molitor seems to think that he is smarter than the average manager and the game revolves around him and not the players. Molly, just fill out the line-ups and let the boys play.

If you traveled to Florida to watch the Twins during spring training from 1961-1990 you had to go to Orlando and you watched the Twins play at Tinker Field. A couple of days ago the Target Field grandstand came crashing down as a demolition team took over the old historic ballpark where Babe Ruth, Jackie Robinson, Harmon Killebrew, Rod Carew and many other legends of the game once played. To read more about it and to see a couple of short video clips you will need to go here.

Alex Wimmers
Alex Wimmers

Is former first round pick, 21st overall in 2010 Alex Wimmers going to be added to the long list of Twins pitchers that have been first round selections that have turned out to be duds? The 26 year-old right-handed Wimmers is in his sixth season with the Twins and thus far he has an 8-8 record with a 4.44 ERA in just 176+ innings. Although a starter, Wimmers has never pitched more than 84 innings in any season in the Twins system. Wimmers is in Chattanooga this season and in 3 starts has a 7.80 ERA in 15 innings.

That Shane Robinson guy kind of grows on you, I really like him as the fourth outfielder on this team. Jordan Schafer on the other hand I believe is on borrowed time here in Minnesota, if he is here another week I will be surprised, I think he needs to start looking for a “real” job. But who would the Twins bring up to replace him? No one in the Twins minor league system is beating down Terry Ryan’s door demanding a ticket to Minnesota. Best bet is probably Aaron Hicks who is hitting over .300 but I would like to see Eddie Rosario who is starting to hit in Chattanooga get a shot at the Twins center field job.

Another question for Terry Ryan, why are the Twins using Mark Hamburger as a starter in Rochester?

And finally, the Twins end the month of April with a 10-12 record, that is pretty good considering their horrendous start this season. Two games under .500 isn’t bad for this point in the season.

Two former Twins players excluding the previously mentioned Landreaux have had 30 game or longer hitting streaks in the majors during their professional careers, can you name the players and the length of their hitting streaks?

Twins minor leaguer Adrian Salcedo suspended for 80 games

Adrian Salcedo 2015The Office of the Commissioner of Baseball announced yesterday that Minnesota Twins Minor League right-handed pitcher Adrian Salcedo has received an 80-game suspension without pay after testing positive for Tamoxifen, a performance-enhancing substance, and Heptaminol, a stimulant, both of which are in violation of the Minor League Drug Prevention and Treatment Program.

The suspension of Salcedo, who is currently on the roster of the Double-A Chattanooga Lookouts of the Southern League, is effective immediately.

MiLB story

GM Ryan disappointed in suspension