Twins switch-hitters

In baseball, a switch-hitter is a batter that bats either from the right side or the left side depending on if the pitcher is right or left-handed. Most curveballs break away from batters hitting from the same side as the opposing pitcher making such pitches often harder to hit than those from the other side. History tells us that most right-handed batters hit better against lefty pitchers and left-handed batters hit better against right-handers. This so-called platoon benefit is why managers use pinch hitters and LOOGY’s and why some players want to become switch-hitters.

Switch-hitting at its best

Switch-hitters have been around for ever it seems and yet according to sources that I have researched, only about 6% of baseball batters have been switch-hitters. You have to wonder if switch-hitting is such an advantage, why haven’t more of baseball best hitters been switch-hitters? The best career batting average for a switch-hitter is .316 by Frankie Frisch and he currently ranks 71st all-time. Some of the best switch-hitters in our era have been  Chipper Jones at .306 and Pete Rose at .303. Detroit Tigers DH Victor Martinez has a career average of .302 making him the highest currently active switch-hitter. Switch-hitters have been around for a long time and there have been some pretty good ones over the years, in addition to the players I just mentioned, you have to add players like Mickey Mantle, Eddie Murray, Roberto Alomar, Bernie Williams, George Davis, Lance Berkman, Tim Raines and Chili Davis to the list of switch-hitting greats.

Switch-hitting and the rules

A question often asked is can a batter switch for right to left or left to right during an at bat. The only rule that I can find that seemingly applies is 6.06(b) which states that “A batter is out for illegal action when he steps from one batter’s box to the other while the pitcher is in position ready to pitch.” Based on that, it appears you can switch from one batters box to the other as often as you want as long as you do it before the pitcher gets in his pitching position.

Twins switch-hitting history

The Twins currently have four switch-hitters on their 25 man playing roster, C Ryan Doumit, SS Pedro Florimon, OF Aaron Hicks, and utility man Eduardo Escobar.

Roy Smalley III
Roy Smalley III

In the Twins 53 years of existence the team has had 62 players that were switch-hitters but not all of them actually batted and we will touch more on that later. The Twins very first switch-hitter was actually a pitcher, Pedro Ramos. Ramos pitched and batted (1 for 4 with 2 RBI) in the Twins very first game when Ramos and the Twins shut out the New York Yankees 6-0 on April 11, 1961 at Yankee Stadium. The first Twins switch-hitting position player to appear in a game was SS Marty Martinez when he had an at bat against the Yankees at Met Stadium on May 30, 1962 in game 2 of a doubleheader. Martinez actually appeared in 3 earlier games as a Twins but was used strictly as a pinch-runner by manager Sam Mele. It wasn’t until 1976 however; that the Twins actually had a regular position player switch-hitting and that year they had two, rookie catcher Butch Wynegar and SS Roy Smalley. The Twins are playing their 53rd season and there has only been one year, 1973 that they have not had a switch-hitter step into the batters box wearing a Twins uniform. On the other hand, they had nine switch-hitters (Cristian Guzman was the only starter) at one time or another on their 1999 team that finished 63-97.

Twins switch-hitting pitchers

Looking at the Twins 62 switch-hitters, eleven of them were pitchers and claimed to be switch-hitters but only Pedro Ramos, Jim Perry, Dan Serafini, JC Romero, and Joe Mays actually set foot in the batters box. The other six, Stan Perzanowski, Darrell Jackson, Pete Filson, Jason Ryan, Pat Neshek, and Eric Hacker were switch-hitters only on the back of their baseball cards because they never batted in a Twins game. Jim Perry actually hit five home runs as a Twin.

Home runs from each side of the plate club

The Twins switch-hitter with the most home runs is Roy Smalley and he hit 163 career home runs and 110 of them were when he was a Minnesota Twin. The “home runs from each side of the plate” club is relatively exclusive but three of the members were Twins. Roy Smalley accomplished that rare feat twice, once against the Boston Red Sox at the Metrodome on  May 30, 1986 and once earlier in his career as a New York Yankee in 1982. Chili Davis became the second Twin to join the club when he did it against the Royals on October 2, 1992.  Ryan Doumit became the third Twin to do so when too joined the exclusive fraternity against the Royals on July 22, 2012. Chili Davis hit a home run from each side of the plate 11 times in his illustrious 19 year career. Just for comparisons sake, Mickey Mantle did it on 10 occasions.

One oddity that seems to stand out to me is how few of the switch-hitters employed by the Twins over the years actually threw left-handed. If you exclude the 11 switch-hitting pitchers from the list you are left with 51 switch-hitters and only one of the 51 threw left-handed, the other fifty were right-handed. Kind of strange. The lone left-handed position player was John Moses. But keep in mind that John Moses an outfielder by trade, actually pitched in 3 games for the Twins and it gets even stranger.

Twins best switch-hitters

So let’s take a look at the Twins top switch-hitters, there is no good way to rank them so I will list here all the Twins switch-hitters that have 1,000 or more plate appearances in a Twins uniform. The chart also shows positions played, games played, home runs and batting average. All the numbers on this chart are their Twins career numbers. Many of these players played for other teams but those numbers are not included here, I am only interested in their numbers as Minnesota Twins for this story.

Name Positions PA Games HR AVG
1 Roy Smalley 6,5,3 4676 1148 110 .262
2 Cristian Guzman 6 3538 841 39 .266
3 Butch Wynegar 2,5 3188 794 37 .254
4 Nick Punto 5,4,6,8,3 2707 747 12 .248
5 Gene Larkin 3.9.5.4 2670 758 32 .266
6 Denny Hocking 4,6,8,5,3 2455 876 25 .252
7 Al Newman 6,4,5,8 1876 618 0 .231
8 Alexi Casilla 4,6,5,8 1764 515 11 .250
9 Chili Davis DH,9,3 1163 291 41 .282
10 Luis Castillo 4 1036 227 3 .299
11 Matt Walbeck 2 1008 275 8 .230

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Some interesting numbers and players on this chart, about half the players were starters and half were utility players. No surprise that Smalley is the leader in home runs or that Chili Davis is second on that list but finding that Cristian Guzman is number 3 in the Twins switch-hitter home run list really surprised me.

A bonus question for you, this Twins switch-hitter had a career .425 batting average albeit in just 43 plate appearances, do you know who he is?

Twins Minor League Player of the Week

Miguel Sano
Miguel Sano

This week’s Twins Minor League player of the Week is none other than 3B Miguel Sano. In seven games for the Ft. Myers Miracle (Florida State League), Sano batted .360 (9-for-25) with three walks, three home runs, and 11 RBI’s. The Twins top prospect and one of the top prospects in all of baseball is batting .377 (23-for-61) with five doubles, five home runs and 15 RBI this season. Sano is about 6’3″ and goes about 195 but I think he has grown since these stats were announced.

Miguel Sano, 19 was named Midwest League Prospect of the Year following a strong season with the Beloit Snappers (Single-A). Sano participated in the MWL All-Star game and was named to the MWL postseason All-Star team after leading the league in home runs (28) and RBI (100). Sano was rated best power prospect and best infield arm in the Midwest League by Baseball America’s annual Best Tools survey.

Although this future Twins superstar is only 19, this is his fifth year playing in the Twins organization. In 2011 he hit .292 with 20 home runs in Elizabethton and in 2012 in Beloit he hit .258 with 28 home runs. It is in the field where Sano needs to improve. Sano was signed as a shortstop but has out grown that position and is now a full-time 3B. Sano had 26 errors between short and 3B in 2011 and 42 errors at 3B in 2012.

Interesting tidbits

After last nights win over the Angels the Twins announced that they have placed outfielder Darin Mastroianni on the 15-day disabled list with a stress reaction in his left ankle.. The Twins recalled Oswaldo Arcia to replace Mastroianni on the 25-man roster. Arcia made his major league debut on Monday night against the Angels, going 1-for-3, before being sent back to Rochester after the game. One of the oddities of Arcia’s major league debut was that Arcia was assigned number 31 but wore 42 on Jackie Robinson Day in his first game, on April 15, 2013.

I didn’t have tickets for tonight’s Twins versus Angels game that was postponed because of the weather but if I did, I would have been pretty irritated with the Twins for waiting until almost game time to call the game. The weather was questionable all day and the weather prognosticators have been saying for several days that it was going to be cold with rain, sleet and snow predicted for late Wednesday and beyond but yet the Twins waited until the last minute. To me that shows a complete disregard for the fans that have wasted their time, gas and in many cases parking money to arrive at the ballpark only to find the game had been postponed. This is not the first time this scenario of a last minute postponement by the Twins has taken place as it has happened to me before. Sure you get to go to another game but what about the money you blew on parking which isn’t cheap not to mention the gas. I know that the Angels will have to make another trip in to Minnesota but why punish the baseball fan for bad scheduling and bad decisions by ballclubs? The Twins have once again let their fans down.

The other day Tim Dierkes over at MLBTrade Rumors posted the highest paid player on each team and I took his info and rearranged it slightly and am reposting it here. You can catch the original post at MLBTrade Rumors here. Keep in mind that this is not a list of the highest paid players playing today, it is simply a list of the highest paid player on each team at the present time. Keep in mind too that some of these players salaries are being paid not only by the team they are currently with but possibly also by their previous teams and in some cases some of these players may not even play for their team this season due to being injured. It is an interesting list. Ricky Nolasco is making over 50% of the entire Marlins payroll. Bud Norris is the highest paid Astro at $3 million. A couple of former Twins players on this list too.

 

TEAM Player Dollars
1 Yankees Alex Rodriguez $29 MM
2 Phillies Cliff Lee $27.5 MM
3 Mets Johan Santana $26.4 MM
4 Twins Joe Mauer $23 MM
4 Tigers Prince Fielder $23 MM
6 Giants Tim Lincecum $22.125 MM
7 Dodgers Adrian Gonzalez $21.9 MM
8 Mariners Felix Hernandez $19.9 MM
9 Cubs Alfonso Soriano $19 MM
9 Reds Joey Votto $19 MM
11 Cardinals Matt Holliday $17.1 MM
12 Angels Josh Hamilton $17 MM
13 Nationals Jason Werth $16.6 MM
14 Pirates AJ Burnett $16.5 MM
15 Rangers Adrian Beltre $16 MM
15 Red Sox John Lackey $16 MM
17 White Sox John Danks $15.75 MM
18 Orioles Nick Markakis $15.7 MM
19 BJays Jose Bautista $14.2 MM
20 Braves Dan Uggla $13.2 MM
21 Royals Ervin Santana $12.75 MM
22 Marlins Rick Nolasco $11.5 MM
23 Brewers Rickie Weeks $11 MM
23 Indians Nick Swisher $11 MM
25 Rockies Jorge De La Rosa & Michael Cuddyer $10.5 MM
25 Padres Carlos Quentin $10.5 MM
27 Rays David Price $10.1 MM
28 Dbacks Miguel Montero $10 MM
29 A’s Chris Young $9 MM
30 Astros Bud Norris $3 MM

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According to Elias

Joe Mauer
Joe Mauer

Joe Mauer had four hits and knocked in three runs for the Twins on Monday night. It’s the ninth time in his career that Mauer had at least four hits and three RBIs in a game as a catcher. No other player has more than seven such games as a catcher since Mauer made his major-league debut in 2004.

Joe Mauer had four hits and three RBIs for the second straight game, and the Twins beat the Angels for the second straight game, this time by the score of 8-6. He became the first major-leaguer with at least four hits and at least three RBIs in two straight games since the Twins’ Danny Valencia did it in July 2010. Mauer had only one game of four-or-more hits over the past two seasons combined.

Last night marked Joe Mauer’s 21st career game with four-plus hits, which ranks fourth on the Twins all-time list, behind Kirby Puckett (47), Rod Carew (42) and Tony Oliva (28)…it was also his 356th career multi-hit game, which ranks sixth on the Twins all-time list, behind Puckett (702), Carew (617), Oliva (562), Kent Hrbek (469) and Harmon Killebrew (410).

The last two games with four hits each marked the second time in Mauer’s career with consecutive four-hit games, the previous time being June 26-27, 2006 vs. Los Angeles-NL.

Twins Minor League Player of the Week

RHP Tyler Duffey
RHP Tyler Duffey

This weeks Twins minor league player of the week is Cedar Rapids (A ball) right-handed pitcher Tyler Duffey. Duffey, 22, made one start during the week on April 7 versus Beloit earning the win. Tyler pitched 7.0 no-hit innings with seven strikeouts as Josue Montanez and Tim Atherton finished off the no-hitter for the Kernels.

Duffey is a 6’3″ and 210 lbs Houston, Texas native that was drafted by the Twins in the fifth round of the 2012 First-Year Player Draft out of Rice University. Duffey was 2-0 with a 1.42 ERA in 12 games, all in relief in Elizabethton last season. Duffey struck out 27 batters in 19 innings for the E-Twins. This season as a starter in Cedar Rapids, Duffey is 1-1 with a 2.13 ERA and has 11 KO’s in 12.2 innings.

Glimpse of the future?

Oswaldo Arcia
Oswaldo Arcia

With Twins outfielder Wilkin Ramirez out on paternity leave for  several days the ballclub needed to make a move and the move they made was to bring up one of their top prospects, outfielder Oswaldo Arcia. Arcia  played in New Britain last season and has just 9 games of AAA experience under his belt but so far he is pounding AAA pitching to the tune of a .414 batting average in 34 plate appearances with 8 runs scored, 3 home runs and 8 RBI’s. Hopefully the Twins did not bring Arcia up to warm the bench for a couple of days so I think it will be fun to watch this young man get his first shot at the big leagues. Arcia is more of a corner outfielder but he has played centerfield in the minors so I would not be shocked if Gardy had him playing in center for at least one game. He can’t play Arcia in center much more than that because you can’t have Hicks sitting on the bench either, they both need to play. I heard Gardy on his Sunday morning radio show state that it might be time to move Hicks out of the leadoff spot and I couldn’t agree more. It is not good to see your lead-off hitter strike out as much as Hicks does but what bothers me about Hicks striking out is that he takes so many called third strikes. At least take a hack at the ball, who knows, you might hit it. It is easy to be down on Hicks now with him hitting .047 and leading the league in whiffs and he may have to be sent down for a while to regain his confidence but the man is going to be a solid big league player, just give him a little time.

The poor start by Hicks has taken the spotlight off 2B Brian Dozier to a large degree but Dozier needs to turn it around and turn it around soon. Dozier is playing a decent 2B but hitting .161 will not cut it, particularly when you have young Eduardo Escobar scratching at Gardy’s door for more playing time. I think you are going to start seeing Gardy start to make some changes in his line-up and batting order soon, he can’t afford to sit back and watch this team flail away and say that good pitching stops good hitting, not every pitcher the Twins faced this year is an all-star. It would be nice to see what the Twins might look like playing in some decent weather for a change but if you look at the Twins schedule it might not happen for some time.

April not kind to the Twins

baseball in the snowIt is too early to tell what kind of team the Twins have for 2013 but from what I have seen in the nine games they have played so far, it is a team that is playing better than what it has the last two seasons. I am not saying they are playoff bound but the team is at least entertaining to watch and I hope they can start to gel as a team over time. Yes, the Twins are 4-5 but you could argue that two of those wins were gifts when outfielders from the Tigers and Orioles let a ball drop between them and gave the Twins gift runs. Everybody was worried about the starting pitching going in to 2013 but it is the hitting so far that has been missing. Hicks has been terrible with the bat but he is not the total reason this team is not hitting well. So far this year the 3-5 hitters have scored 11 runs, hit 2 home runs,  and have 9 RBI’s.  That is just plain terrible, Gardy needs to do something to shake-up this line-up. What scares me is that they are not playing all that well in the field either and they keep making mistakes on the base paths that are just plain embarrassing. The Twins have played just 9 games so the sample size is very small but here are some stats comparing the Twins to the rest of the league in various categories.

The Twins are 4-5 and in fourth place in the AL Central 2 games behind the division leading Kansas City Royals. The Twins have lost 3 games in a row.

The team is hitting .232 (13th place) and have scored 33 runs. Only the White Sox with 31 and the Rays with 32 have scored less.

The Twins and the Oakland A’s hitters lead the league in walks with 35.

Only the Houston Astros with 101 have struck out more frequently than the Twins 79 strikeouts.

Twins pitchers have a 4.09 ERA, good for 6th best and have given up only 4 home runs, the fewest in the league. Who would have thought that could happen, even after just 9 games?

Twins pitchers have the fewest strikeouts in the league and opponents are hitting .284 off Twins and Blue Jays pitchers, only the Yankees pitchers who are getting hit at a .306 clip are worse.

Twins relievers have a 2.73 ERA (3rd best) and are holding opposing hitters to a .231 average.

The Twins and the Indians each have 7 errors and only the Angels, Blue Jays, and White Sox with 8 have committed more miscues.

Everyone knows that Aaron Hicks is striking out at a frightening pace of 16 KO’s in 35 at bats in the leadoff position. But have you noticed that Josh Willingham has struck out 13 times in 29 at bats and that Joe Mauer has struck out 10 times in 40 at bats. In Willingham’s defense he also has 9 walks but Mauer and Hicks have 2 walks apiece. You have to wonder what might be bothering Mauer, his catching seems sub par this year too. Mauer has let a number of balls get by him and his throws to second base shouldn’t scare any opposing baserunners.

We will get a better feel for how good or bad the Twins really are very soon as they will play at home over the next 2 weeks or so as 12 of their next 15 games will be played at Target Field. We should also know by the time April is over if Aaron Hicks can catch his breath and turn things around before he finds himself in Gardy’s doghouse and on his way to Rochester. I sure hope so because the Twins don’t currently have a good plan B for center field unless Joe Benson catches fire. Hicks not running out his pop-up on Wednesday was obvious to anyone who watched the game but I didn’t like Gardy being so public about how upset he was about the rookie’s mistake. The Twins veterans like Morneau, Mauer, or Willingham should be taking care of issues like this, Gardy should have not gone public with his thoughts.

The Twins starting pitching is still a huge question mark and it will be interesting to see what Scott Diamond looks like in 2013. Mike Pelfrey has shown less than what most people expected, Hendriks has pitched like………Hendriks, I think you need to keep sending him out there every five days for a while and see what you get. I have liked Kevin Correia since they signed him but I know he can’t keep pitching like he has. Hopefully Cole De Vries can get healthy and fight for a spot again. The biggest disappointment to me so far has been Vance Worley but it is still way too early to determine anything.

The Twins drew the short straw from MLB this year from a schedule perspective with all those April home games and Mother Nature has not been as kind to the Twins as it has in the past but it is what it is. Now Dave St. Peter and the Twins find themselves having to make a hard decision in a no win situation today trying to determine if they should play the New York Mets tonight when temperatures are expected to be in the low 30’s with snow flurries predicted. It sounds like the Twins had all the 6 inches or so of snow removed from the ballpark yesterday and last night. It is a tough call because the Mets will only make one trip to Minnesota this year and the weather prediction for the rest of the week-end is bad with possible rain on Sunday too. As a matter of fact the temps are not scheduled to get out of the 40’s for the next week. So it makes sense to try to get the game in tonight but what about the fans comfort? Heaters or not, it will be miserable at Target Field and today’s game is scheduled to be a night game. The Twins are having trouble drawing fans as it is and when you add in cold and or snowy and wet weather you have a perfect scenario for Twins fans staying home and watching the game on TV. No matter what choice the Twins make, lots of Twins fans will be unhappy. It is kind of perfect storm and the Twins seemed doomed to come out on the losing end. As I stated earlier, predicted temperatures for the next week are in the 40’s and this entire Twins home stand will not see a temperature above 50 and all three games against the Angels after the Mets leave town are night games. OUCH!

You add in the little dust-up the other day about the Twins charging $15 for a group of 60 fans to watch Twins take batting practice and then withdrawing the offer later in the day and you have a rough start to the 2013 season for the Minnesota Twins and their fans.

Common sense has deserted the Twins

Here is a Press Release the Minnesota Twins sent out yesterday –

Early Entry Program Coming to Target Field

Early entry tickets permit entry into the ballpark 45 minutes before gates open allowing fans to watch Twins batting practice

MINNEAPOLIS-ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Minnesota Twins today announced they will offer fans the opportunity to purchase early entry tickets that will allow them into Target Field 45 minutes before gates open to the general public.

Only available before evening games, early entry will begin at 4:45 p.m. (Mondays – Thursdays), at 4:15 p.m. (Fridays) and 3:15 p.m. (Saturdays). Those times are designed to allow early entry fans to watch a majority of Twins batting practice.

Early entry tickets will be sold on a walk-up basis at the main Target Field Box Office beginning 30 minutes before the early entry time for that game. Tickets will cost $15 dollars, and sales will be limited to the first 60 fans. Fans will also be required to have a normal entry ticket to the game, and will not be allowed to exit and reenter the ballpark after batting practice.

In the case of batting practice being canceled, fans will be offered a tour of the Metropolitan Club, Legends Club and Champions Club as a substitute.

……………………………………….

Can you believe this? Back on January 16th I did a blog posting on Florida spring training and I wrote about what I thought was a stupid idea by the Detroit Tigers. The Tigers implemented a plan this spring to charge their fans $5 for the privilege of entering Joker Marchant Stadium in Lakeland early so that you could watch the Tigers take batting practice. Now our Minnesota Twins have proudly announced they have out done the Tigers with a similar plan but they are going to charge $15 for the right to watch Twins batting practice which is held before the gates open to the general public. Holy crap! What mental genius came up with this idea? I have read some comments from Twins fans and every comment thinks it is a greedy and stupid idea. Some of the fans are blaming the Pohlad family for their greed but there is no way in the world that the business savvy Pohlad family is responsible for an idea as silly as this. This Twins boner falls right in the lap of Twins President Dave St. Peter and the Twins wonderful marketing department. How the Twins could come up with a ludicrous plan like this when they have lost 90+ games two years in a row with attendance dropping like a rock and yet some marketing genius thinks they can bring some extra money in with this plan? Don’t tell me the Twins are doing this as a favor to the fans because if that had any validity what so ever, they would just open the gates sooner and not charge extra for the privilege. This plan is supposedly in effect only during evening games but even if they did it for every one of their 81 home games they would bring in a whopping $72,900 in revenue. Mr. St. Peter, what the heck are you thinking to approve something like this? The Minnesota Twins have done a number of stupid things over the years both on and off the field but to me this qualifies as the dumbest and most stupid move that the Twins have made since they moved here in 1961. If the Twins need the $72K that badly, maybe we should take up a collection and help them to raise the funds. The idea might be slightly palatable if they said that the money that they collected would go to a charity or something but to charge $15 to watch the Twins take batting practice and pocket the money is just plain wrong and is a sin against baseball in general.

I thought the Twins were interested in attracting fans but with moves like this they just shoot themselves in the foot. First off, it has always been stupid not to let fans watch the home team take batting practice but now to say that they are going to charge fans $15 to do this is just plain wrong. Has common sense lost its way at Target Field? Shame on the Minnesota Twins and Dave St. Peter for this ill-advised, nonsensical and shortsighted idea. I love baseball and the Minnesota Twins but ideas like this are what chase people away from the game and keep them from enjoying America’s pastime.

Twins president Dave St. Peter
Twins president Dave St. Peter

The Twins should immediately come out with an apology and rescind this moronic blunder stating that the recent cold snap and unusually cold spring has temporarily dulled their thinking and that common sense has prevailed over at Target field after thinking the plan through. I would urge all of you to drop Dave St. Peter a quick e-mail at davestpeter@twinsbaseball.com and let him know what you think of this Twins announcement. If you want to call the Twins instead, you can reach the team at 612-659-3400. It wouldn’t hurt to also drop a note to Bud Selig and let him know what you think of MLB teams making moves like this. The baseball commissioner can be reached at bud.selig@mlb.com . UNBELIEVABLE!

UPDATE: Later this afternoon the Twins announced that this program is no longer happening because according to Chris Iles, senior manager of corporate communications for the Twins the idea “was not fully vetted across the Twins organization.” The Star Tribune stated that Twins President Dave St. Peter said: “We’re looking at ways to add more access to batting practice, but I’m not sure charging incrementally is the way to go about that. … It was released before it ever should have been. It’s hard to believe, but it was not pulled down because of fan reaction.”

A number of radio shows I listened to today and social media sites I checked out were for the most part very negative about this idea. Whatever the reason for the quick back track, I am just glad to see the Twins back away from this idea.

Less than a week in and……

Tylere Robertson
Tylere Robertson

The Twins announced after yesterdays win in Baltimore that Tyler Robertson was optioned to AAA Rochester and that Anthony Swarzak was on his way off the 15 day DL to join the Twins. A lot of people like Robertson but I am not a huge fan, Robertson’s job is to get that tough lefty out and he has not done that on a consistent basis. What really bothers me about Robertson is that he just gives up too many home runs and he walks too many hitters. In 42 appearances between 2012-2013 Robertson has pitched 26 innings and he has given 5 home runs and 14 walks, both unacceptable numbers. Swarzak is not the answer either but until someone in the minors distinguishes himself, Swarzak will be pitching for the Twins.

Hernandez, Pedro 2013The Twins also officially placed Cole De Vries on the 15 day DL and called up Pedro Hernandez who was acquired in the Francisco Liriano deal last year with the White Sox to start against the Baltimore Orioles. The 23-year-old left-handed Hernandez has one big league game on his resume and it is a start for the Mighty Whities that he would like to forget. Hernandez lasted just 4 innings against the Red Sox on July 18 when he gave up 8 earned runs and 12 hits (3 home runs) while walking one and striking out two. Hopefully today will be a better day for Pedro.

I have to wonder how long the Twins are going to let Aaron Hicks struggle like he has been? In 24 plate appearances Hicks has walked twice and gotten one hit and has a .045 batting average. Yesterday he got thrown out trying to steal second and it wasn’t even close. Hicks looks nothing like he did in spring training and he looks scared at the plate and seems to have no idea what he is doing. I know it is still very early but you have to be concerned what this might be doing to his confidence, hopefully it will not set Hicks back. I think Gardy has no choice but to drop him down to the bottom of the order soon and hopefully that can kick start Hicks career. Hicks too has a huge part to play, he has to show he has the guts and confidence to work through this horrendous start. I hope he can do it or the Twins season is going to take a big down turn quickly. It would be nice to rest Hicks for a day or two and give him a chance to regroup but the Twins have no one healthy enough right now to play center with Mastroianni ailing.

How are things in the minor leagues? Here is a brief run down on hos things stand. The AAA Rochester Red Wings find themselves tied for last place in their 6 team division with an 0-3 record. The AA New Britain Rock Cats also find themselves tied for the cellar in their 6 team division with a 1-2 record. The High-A Ft. Myers Miracle are 3-0 and as one of two undefeated teams in their division sit in first place. The Low-A Cedar Rapids Kernels have put up a 2-1 record which is good enough to tie for second in their division just one game out of the lead. After just a dozen games played, the Twins minor league system stands at 6-6 (.500).

Today in Twins History – April 6

4/6/1951 – Twins pitching great and MLB Hall of Famer Rik Aalbert “Bert” Blyleven was born on this day in Zeist, Netherlands. Blyleven, now a Twins TV color commentator makes a big deal about his birthday and seems to mention his birthday on every Twins telecast and can tell you on any day of the year how many days it is until his next birthday. Bert is famous for using his “telestrator” for circling Twins fans in the crowd who have brought their “Circle me Bert” signs to the ball game.

4/6/1966 – The Twins swing a deal with the Red Sox and acquire catcher Russ Nixon and 2B Chuck Schilling and give up pitcher Dick Stigman and 1B Jose Calero.

4/6/1972 – For the first time in history, the major leagues failed to open because of a player strike, which started on April 1. The traditional season opener between Houston and Cincinnati was canceled and 86 games were lost before the strike was settled.

4/6/1973 – Tony Oliva hits the first home run ever by a designated hitter in AL history when he cranks one out against “Catfish” Hunter in Oakland in the Twins 8-3 victory.

4/6/1978 – In only the second game of the season while playing in the Kingdome, Twins 2B Rob Wilfong is hit by a pitch thrown by Mariners reliever Shane Rawley in the sixth inning and suffers a broken bone in his hand which sidelines him for a month.

4/6/1982 – A  huge crowd of 52,279 turns out for the inaugural game at the brand-new Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome. Twins rookie 3B Gary Gaetti goes 4-for-4 with a pair of home runs, but Seattle wins 11-7. By the way, the temperature outside that day was 28 degrees.

4/6/2004 – Playing in just his second major league game, Twins star rookie catcher Joe Mauer hears something “pop” as he slides and tries to catch a foul pop-up in a game against the Cleveland Indians at the Metrodome. The Twins actually ended up winning the game 7-6 in 15 innings. A few days later, April 8th, Joe ends up having surgery to repair a medial meniscus tear in his left knee. Mauer returns to the line-up on June 2 but continues to have trouble off and on with the knee swelling and he plays in his final 2004 game on July 15 and his first season as a Twin ends after just 35 games but in that short period he showed all of us what kind of bat he had as he hit .308 in 107 at bats.

4/6/2005 – The Twins are leading the Seattle Mariners 3-1 in the top of the 8th inning at Safeco Field when Ron Villone is brought in to face Twins 1B Justin Morneau. Villone beans Morneau and in the process Morneau suffers a mild concussion. According to a Star Tribune article in 2005, “Contributing to the concern is Morneau’s history of concussions. This was his fifth, although the first involving baseball. He suffered others playing basketball and hockey and, in the worst one, running backward in 2000 during a workout. He fell and hit the back of his head on the ground.” Morneau saw the pitch coming toward his head – a frightening recollection. “A heat-seeking missile,” Morneau called it. After a 2 week stint on the DL, Morneau returned to the line-up on April 22.

4/6/2009 – The Twins open their 28th and final season at the Metrodome with a 6-1 loss to the Seattle Mariners. The Twins opponent in the first regular season game at the Metrodome on April 6, 1982 was also the Mariners and the Twins lost that game 11-7.

By the way, I just set up a new page that I call Twins Audio and Video clips, check it out if you have a few minutes.