Eduardo Escobar Archives - Page 4 of 5

Who can hit leadoff for Twins?

The Twins have not had a decent leadoff hitter since Denard Span was traded after the 2012 season and he was a good leadoff man, not a great one. This past season the hitters that Ron Gardenhire sent up to the plate to hit lead off for the Twins were just plain dismal.

Rk	Player	G	OBP	PA	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	BA
1	Darin Mastroianni	3	.357	14	12	2	3	0	0	1	2	2	.250
2	Alex Presley	27	.339	121	112	9	32	1	11	1	8	21	.286
3	Clete Thomas	17	.312	77	69	12	16	2	5	0	8	21	.232
4	Brian Dozier	74	.310	344	312	40	79	12	44	7	23	63	.253
5	Jamey Carroll	26	.252	120	110	13	21	0	3	1	9	19	.191
6	Eduardo Escobar	9	.182	33	30	4	3	0	1	0	3	4	.100
7	Aaron Hicks	10	.109	46	43	3	2	0	3	0	3	20	.047
8	Chris Parmelee	2	.000	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
9	Wilkin Ramirez	1	.000	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.000
10	Ryan Doumit	1	.000	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
11	Chris Herrmann	2	.000	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	.000

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 12/22/2013.

The Twins could use Brian Dozier to hit lead off again but that is not his ideal spot in the batting order but yet Gardy might not have a choice. All things being equal, if you look a the projected Twins line-up the leadoff hitter should come from center field. But who will play center field for Minnesota in 2014? Unless something dramatic happens it looks like Darin Mastroianni, Alex Presley, and Aaron Hicks will battle it out this spring in Ft. Myers to see will open the season as the Twins center fielder.

Mastroianni spent most of 2013 on the DL and if you look at his major league OBP, it stands at .298 which is not very good but it is a small sample size of just 230 at bats. In the minor leagues Mastroianni had a .370 OBP but that is in the minors. Darin is 28 years old so he is not the Twins center fielder of the future by any means and is best suited in a back-up role but that doesn’t mean he might not start the season in center field.

Alex Presley who the Twins acquired from Pittsburgh last season in the Justin Morneau trade is also 28 and he was OK in that role at the tail end of last season but nothing in his past major league stats indicates that he could put up the same kind of numbers over a 162 game schedule. In the minors Presley had a .352 OBP but again, that is in the minors. He too has a shot at being the Twins center fielder on Opening Day but he too might just be a placeholder.

The ideal man for the job is 24 year-old Aaron Hicks but when the Twins gave him the job in 2013 he hit for a .047 average and his OBP was a microscopic .109 in the 46 plate appearances that Gardy gave him in that role. Hicks would like to get the 2013 season in his rear view mirror and start his major league anew in 2014 but who knows if the Twins brain trust will let him start the season with the Twins in Chicago. The Twins sent Hicks down to prove he belongs in the big leagues after hitting .192 in 81 games and Hicks responded by hitting all of .222 in the 22 games he played in Rochester. The Twins sent Hicks a message by not recalling him in September and Hicks had better come to Florida with a chip on his shoulder and play like a man possessed if he want to be the Twins opening day center fielder because he has something to prove to Gardy and Terry Ryan. Then again, Hicks had a fantastic spring training in 2013 and yet when the season started Hicks flopped big time. Hicks could very well start the season in Rochester and have to beat the Twins door down to prove he belongs in the big leagues with Minnesota. Dozier did it in 2013 and Hicks can do it this year. This team needs Hicks as their center fielder.

Looking back in Twins history to see who the best Twins leadoff hitters have been from a OBP perspective you have to admit that Chuck Knoblauch was the best the Twins have ever had. I know that Knoblauch was a jerk at times and a stuck up snob much of the time but the man played some good baseball for the Twins and it is a joke that he is not in the Minnesota Twins Hall of Fame. Hopefully he will get voted in this year, remember that you are voting for him for what he did in a Twins uniform on the ball field, not how he choses to live his life. While you are voting, put a “X” down next to Cesar Tovar too, he also deserves to be in the Twins HOF.

Best OBP hitting lead off with 100 games or more

Rk	Player	Year	G	OBP	PA	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	BA
1	Chuck Knoblauch	1996	151	.448	699	577	140	197	13	72	45	97	74	.341
2	Chuck Knoblauch	1995	134	.423	620	530	105	175	11	63	45	77	94	.330
3	Denard Span	2009	145	.392	676	578	97	180	8	68	23	70	89	.311
4	Chuck Knoblauch	1997	155	.390	712	608	116	178	9	58	62	84	84	.293
5	Kirby Puckett	1986	128	.375	592	558	103	189	25	77	15	26	74	.339
6	Lenny Green	1962	149	.367	713	609	96	165	14	62	8	87	36	.271
7	Cesar Tovar	1971	142	.364	653	598	90	191	1	41	18	41	34	.319
8	Otis Nixon	1998	107	.360	498	446	71	132	1	20	37	44	55	.296
9	Cesar Tovar	1970	156	.356	721	646	119	194	10	54	30	51	46	.300
10	Jacque Jones	2002	133	.346	606	558	92	169	25	81	6	37	123	.303

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 12/22/2013.

Byron Buxton is 2013 Minor League Player of the Year

Baseball America announced today that Byron Buxton is the 2013 Minor League Player of the Year joining Joe Mauer (2003) as the only Twins players to be so honored. The Twins second overall pick in the 2012 draft from Appling County High in Baxley, Georgia is on the fast track to Minnesota. A few days ago the Twins announced that Buxton will be joining the Twins contingent of players heading for the Arizona Fall League where he will join infielders Eddie Rosario and Max Kepler along with pitchers Trevor May, Alex Meyer, A.J. Achter, and Zach Jones playing for the Glendale Desert Dogs.

Buxton started the season at low Class A Cedar Rapids and was promoted in late June to high Class A Fort Myers, Buxton hit a cumulative .334/.424/.520 with 49 extra-base hits, 55 stolen bases and a sparkling 76-to-105 walk-to-strikeout ratio in 125 games. He led the minors with 18 triples, finished second with 109 runs scored, one behind Marcus Semien of the White Sox and 12th in stolen bases. Even more impressive, Buxton ranked sixth in the minor league batting race, 10th in hits (163) and seventh in on-base percentage, despite being a full year younger than any other member of those top-10 lists.

Twins minor league attendance numbers

I enjoy the work that Ballpark Digest does and check their site every day, as a matter of fact I have their RSS feed going to this site whenever they publish anything new. This past Monday they published their 2013 minor league attendance totals and averages for every team as well as how they ranked over all. They also have affiliated attendance by league. Check them out, they are interesting to look at and see how the Twins minor league teams rank.

September Call Ups

The Minnesota Twins announced on September 8th that they have recalled infielder Eduardo Escobar, outfielder Chris Parmelee, left-handed pitcher Scott Diamond and right-handed pitchers Michael Tonkin and Cole De Vries from Triple-A Rochester. Additionally, the Twins have selected the contracts of catcher Eric Fryer and right-handed pitcher Shairon Martis from Rochester. To make room on the Twins 40-man roster right-handed pitcher Sam Deduno and outfielder Wilkin Ramirez have been transferred from the 15-day disabled list to the 60-day DL.

Jamey Carroll traded to Royals

The Twins announced after yesterday’s game in Chicago that they had traded infielder Jamey Carroll to the Kansas City Royals for a PTBNL or cash. The 39-year-old Carroll wasn’t have a great season in 2013 hitting just .230 in 59 games and 191 at bats and the Twins weren’t going to resign him after this season anyway. The Twins will not get much of a player if they get one at all from Kansas City but it is a nice move by the Twins to send Carroll to a winning team that needs some infield help for the stretch run for a playoff spot. The Royals are at best a fringe team in the hunt for the wildcard spot but it will still be more enjoyable for Carroll playing there then playing out the string in Minnesota in what may well be his last season as a player in the major leagues. But I would not be surprised at all if we see Carroll in the big leagues again in the years to come as a coach or manager. I was not a fan when Terry Ryan signed Carroll to be the Twins shortstop prior to the 2012 season at the age of 38 but I had no issue with Carroll filling a utility role with the Twins. I never met Carroll but he seemed like a true professional who went about his business every day and never had a bad thing to say about anyone and was always willing to help the Twins youngsters learn the tricks of the trade. Carroll’s 59 game appearances this season is the fewest he has had in the major leagues since his rookie season as a Montreal Expos player in 2002. When 2013 comes to an end, Carroll will have 12 big league years in the books, not a bad ride for someone who has 13 career home runs and never had 500 at bats in a big league uniform during any season. The Twins will save a couple of million dollars a season with Carroll moving on and someone like Doug Bernier taking his place.

As I write this I still have not heard what roster move the Twins will make to replace Carroll on the 25 na roster but it seems like Gardy could use another infielder but then again there outfield situation is not that great either. The Twins don’t have that much to pick from in Rochester as far as infield help is concerned with Eduardo Escobar probably the best candidate but maybe they want to take a look at someone like James Beresford.

By the way, did you know that Carroll scored the final run in Montreal Expos history, scoring on a Terrmel Sledge RBI single in the 1st inning of their final game on October 3, 2004? Good luck in Kansas City Jamey!

And leading off for the Twins…..

The Twins just can’t find a leadoff hitter this season. After trading both Denard Span and Ben Revere this past off-season, manager Gardenhire has been searching high and low to find someone who can fill that role. The Twins have tried 6 players leading off the game and they have all failed miserably but since someone has to hit first, Gardy has given that job to 2B Brain Dozier since July 2. During those 29 games Dozier has 135 PA’s and is hitting .258 with a .306 OBP. Not exactly all-star caliber production but it is what it is.

Twins leadoff hitters in the games first at bat

Rk	Player	Year	G	OBP	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	BA	OPS	TB	HBP	ROE
1	Clete Thomas	2013	16	.313	16	14	5	3	0	0	0	0	2	3	.214	.527	3	0	1
2	Eduardo Escobar	2013	7	.286	7	6	2	1	0	0	0	0	1	1	.167	.452	1	0	0
3	Jamey Carroll	2013	25	.280	25	23	3	5	1	0	0	0	2	3	.217	.541	6	0	1
4	Brian Dozier	2013	51	.235	51	48	5	9	0	3	1	1	1	7	.188	.610	18	2	0
5	Aaron Hicks	2013	10	.200	10	8	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	6	.000	.200	0	0	0
6	Darin Mastroianni	2013	2	.000	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	0	0	0

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 8/8/2013.

How does 2013 compare to how the Twins leadoff hitters has done over the years? I know this is not probably going to shock you but the 2013 team is on a historically bad pace and if thing don’t improve quickly, this will finish as the worst OBP for a leadoff hitter in their history, even worse than the 1982 Twins who finished 60-102. A good leadoff hitter is nice to have but it certainly does not guarantee that you will be in the playoffs or even play .500 ball for that matter.

Historical Twins teams leadoff hitters in the games first at bat

Rk	Year	G	OBP	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	BA	OPS	TB	HBP	ROE
1	1995	144	.507	144	120	34	49	10	2	3	3	20	21	.408	1.107	72	4	0
2	1996	162	.481	162	133	37	49	8	1	5	5	21	20	.368	1.038	74	8	2
3	1992	162	.414	162	144	41	49	9	2	5	5	16	27	.340	.948	77	2	5
4	1970	162	.407	162	151	40	55	9	3	1	1	11	10	.364	.891	73	0	0
5	1994	113	.398	113	95	25	27	6	1	4	4	18	16	.284	.893	47	0	1
6	1987	162	.383	162	141	29	41	10	0	3	3	20	23	.291	.808	60	1	3
7	1977	161	.379	161	143	37	43	5	3	1	1	18	12	.301	.777	57	0	5
8	1997	162	.370	162	140	38	38	4	2	3	3	20	23	.271	.763	55	2	0
9	2009	163	.362	163	142	26	38	4	1	3	3	21	19	.268	.735	53	0	1
10	1990	162	.358	162	151	37	47	6	2	2	2	8	23	.311	.775	63	3	3
11	1976	162	.358	162	148	33	44	6	1	1	1	14	10	.297	.730	55	0	1
12	1966	162	.358	162	150	28	46	8	3	0	0	9	24	.307	.758	60	3	2
13	1973	162	.352	162	146	27	41	8	3	2	2	16	24	.281	.770	61	0	2
14	2005	162	.352	162	150	19	45	6	1	1	1	10	17	.300	.725	56	2	2
15	1969	162	.352	162	146	36	41	9	1	3	3	15	11	.281	.770	61	1	4
16	1998	162	.352	162	150	24	45	7	2	2	2	10	28	.300	.765	62	2	2
17	1971	160	.350	160	149	21	45	6	1	0	0	10	5	.302	.706	53	1	2
18	2002	161	.348	161	153	29	48	12	2	11	11	8	33	.314	.982	97	0	4
19	1975	159	.346	159	143	24	39	9	0	0	0	16	14	.273	.682	48	0	1
20	1999	161	.342	161	147	29	41	9	2	5	5	13	24	.279	.811	69	1	1
21	1978	162	.340	162	146	28	39	7	0	2	2	16	23	.267	.696	52	0	1
22	1980	161	.335	161	151	28	44	6	2	2	2	10	11	.291	.733	60	0	3
23	1967	164	.335	164	150	36	41	12	2	2	2	12	17	.273	.755	63	2	2
24	1989	162	.333	162	143	32	35	4	1	1	1	17	17	.245	.641	44	2	3
25	1986	162	.333	162	151	28	43	5	2	6	6	8	23	.285	.797	70	3	1
Rk	Year	G	OBP	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	BA	OPS	TB	HBP	ROE
26	2004	162	.333	162	153	24	45	6	0	6	6	8	16	.294	.784	69	1	1
27	2000	162	.327	162	149	32	40	10	4	3	3	13	27	.268	.777	67	0	1
28	1993	162	.321	162	153	21	43	1	0	1	1	7	20	.281	.628	47	2	3
29	2010	162	.321	162	144	28	34	9	1	1	1	16	18	.236	.654	48	2	2
30	2007	162	.321	162	147	23	37	4	1	0	0	15	17	.252	.614	43	0	4
31	2006	162	.321	162	145	22	35	4	0	1	1	17	21	.241	.611	42	0	2
32	2001	162	.321	162	146	19	36	7	3	4	4	15	24	.247	.739	61	1	0
33	1968	162	.321	162	147	27	37	7	0	2	2	10	13	.252	.661	50	5	1
34	1962	163	.319	163	143	29	32	5	1	1	1	17	13	.224	.613	42	3	1
35	1961	161	.317	161	148	25	38	9	0	1	1	13	18	.257	.655	50	0	2
36	2011	162	.315	162	148	29	37	3	3	1	1	14	22	.250	.646	49	0	2
37	1972	154	.312	154	142	25	36	3	1	0	0	9	9	.254	.600	41	3	3
38	2003	162	.309	162	153	28	41	9	1	6	6	9	28	.268	.766	70	0	3
39	1964	163	.307	163	151	31	38	9	2	3	3	9	23	.252	.704	60	3	0
40	1985	162	.302	162	149	25	36	6	1	0	0	13	18	.242	.598	44	0	2
41	2012	162	.302	162	152	22	39	9	1	1	1	10	15	.257	.651	53	0	0
42	2008	163	.301	163	147	25	33	5	1	2	2	16	27	.224	.614	46	0	2
43	1974	163	.301	163	148	25	34	5	1	3	3	12	19	.230	.638	50	3	5
44	1963	161	.298	161	154	24	41	8	2	5	5	7	15	.266	.740	68	0	1
45	1984	162	.296	162	154	27	40	2	1	1	1	7	17	.260	.601	47	1	1
46	1979	162	.296	162	150	22	36	4	1	0	0	12	16	.240	.576	42	0	1
47	1981	110	.291	110	103	17	25	1	1	1	1	7	16	.243	.592	31	0	0
48	1983	162	.290	162	153	24	38	5	0	4	4	8	19	.248	.650	55	1	2
49	1991	162	.278	162	149	23	32	3	1	3	3	12	21	.215	.587	46	1	1
50	1988	162	.272	162	155	25	37	8	0	5	5	7	19	.239	.659	60	0	2
Rk	Year	G	OBP	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	BA	OPS	TB	HBP	ROE
51	1965	162	.265	162	153	29	34	13	1	2	2	8	31	.222	.625	55	1	3
52	1982	162	.253	162	151	12	30	2	0	0	0	11	29	.199	.465	32	0	0
53	2013	111	.252	111	101	16	18	1	3	1	1	8	20	.178	.529	28	2	2

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 8/8/2013.

Let’s take a look at some of the Twins best ever leadoff hitters and see who had the best years and when they had them. I don’t think there is much question that Chuck Knoblauch was the best leadoff hitter the team has ever had.

Best Twins leadoff hitters in the games first at bat

Rk	Player	Year	G	OBP	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	BA	OPS
1	Chuck Knoblauch	1995	134	.500	134	111	32	44	9	2	2	2	19	20	.396	1.068
2	Chuck Knoblauch	1996	151	.497	151	125	36	49	8	1	5	5	18	19	.392	1.089
3	Cesar Tovar	1970	156	.417	156	145	39	54	9	3	1	1	11	10	.372	.913
4	Chuck Knoblauch	1997	155	.374	155	134	36	37	4	2	3	3	19	21	.276	.777
5	Jacque Jones	2002	132	.364	132	124	27	40	10	2	11	11	8	26	.323	1.065
6	Denard Span	2009	143	.364	143	125	20	34	4	0	2	2	18	17	.272	.716
7	Cesar Tovar	1971	142	.359	142	133	19	42	6	1	0	0	8	4	.316	.735
8	Denard Span	2010	151	.338	151	133	27	33	8	1	1	1	16	17	.248	.684
9	Lenny Green	1962	149	.315	149	133	25	31	5	1	1	1	13	13	.233	.624
10	Kirby Puckett	1985	160	.300	160	148	25	36	6	1	0	0	12	18	.243	.597
11	Zoilo Versalles	1965	155	.258	155	148	27	33	12	1	2	2	6	30	.223	.616

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 8/8/2013.

Here we are looking at the Twins best players leading off in any inning. I know a good leadoff hitter is important but when you look at the numbers over an entire season and the number of times that the leadoff hitter actually leads off any inning, I think you will find that none of them even average two leadoff plate appearances a game. I think the best you will find on the list below is about 1.97 per game.

Rk	Player	Year	G	OBP	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	BA	OPS
1	Chuck Knoblauch	1996	152	.462	288	242	65	87	15	5	8	8	35	38	.360	1.024
2	Chuck Knoblauch	1995	136	.458	240	202	52	72	13	5	4	4	32	32	.356	.988
3	Shane Mack	1992	133	.413	213	189	52	64	14	1	7	7	19	34	.339	.948
4	Kirby Puckett	1986	147	.385	270	253	58	87	12	2	10	10	13	29	.344	.911
5	Cesar Tovar	1970	156	.376	303	277	67	88	17	4	3	3	23	17	.318	.817
6	Denard Span	2009	144	.369	260	230	43	66	6	1	4	4	30	38	.287	.743
7	Chuck Knoblauch	1997	156	.368	272	242	59	70	9	3	4	4	27	34	.289	.768
8	Cesar Tovar	1971	147	.365	271	257	49	85	12	3	0	0	13	10	.331	.766
9	Denard Span	2010	151	.361	277	242	50	65	12	3	1	1	32	37	.269	.716
10	Zoilo Versalles	1966	130	.347	236	217	36	63	14	2	1	1	15	31	.290	.735
11	Jacque Jones	2002	135	.345	232	220	49	68	18	2	13	13	12	49	.309	.931
12	Lenny Green	1962	151	.336	298	268	52	70	12	2	5	5	26	18	.261	.712
13	Cesar Tovar	1968	142	.333	255	234	43	64	13	3	3	3	14	14	.274	.726
14	Zoilo Versalles	1964	137	.322	242	225	42	61	12	3	8	8	14	27	.271	.780
15	Kirby Puckett	1985	161	.320	300	282	42	78	10	3	1	1	18	31	.277	.664
16	Dan Gladden	1988	130	.315	248	230	46	60	12	1	6	6	17	29	.261	.715
17	Cesar Tovar	1967	136	.311	241	223	48	57	11	3	2	2	15	16	.256	.670
18	Cesar Tovar	1972	131	.311	238	221	43	57	8	1	0	0	14	15	.258	.614
19	Zoilo Versalles	1965	157	.285	284	267	54	64	20	3	2	2	14	47	.240	.645

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 8/8/2013.

A little of this and a little of that

When I listened to the Twins radio broadcast of their game against the Astros on Sunday while waterproofing my deck I found it amusing that Dan Gladden and Cory Provus seemed to be making fun of the Astros high strikeout total this season. I guess they both forgot that the Twins batters are no slouches themselves when it comes to not making bat contact. As of this morning Astros batters have struck out 1,034 times in 110 games, that averages out to 9.4 KO’s per game. The White Sox follow with 925 strike outs, the Red Sox have 909 strike outs and the Twins are next with 902 strike outs for an average of 8.4 per game. Had Willingham not gotten injured and Hicks played a full season in Minnesota the Twins might put up a serious challenge to Houston. Even without Willingham and Hicks the Twins are on pace to strikeout 1,356 times this season and blow away their previous team strikeout record of 1,121 that the 68-94 Twins of 1997 set.

On the good news side we have the Twins grounding into a total of only 60 double plays, the fewest in the league. The Orioles have the next fewest with 68.

Although the Twins seldom hit into double plays, stealing bases is not one of their strength’s as they have pilfered just 36 bases, only the Tigers with 29 and the Mariners with 35 have less.

The Twins OBP this season is .312. The Tigers and the Red Sox at .345 have the best OBP and as you might guess the Astros .299 trail the pack. The league average is .320. The Twins best ever OBP was .357 in 1996 while a .299 OBP in 1968 is the lowest full season OBP in Twins history.

Opposing batters have found Twins pitchers to be their league favorites as they have compiled a .278 batting average against Minnesota’s chuckers. Oddly enough, Twins pitchers have only given up 102 long balls ranking second best in that category behind the 86 given up by the Tigers.

There was a lot of speculation leading into the July 31 trading deadline that a number of Twins would be calling a new zip code home. When the trading deadline passed the Twins had made only one trade and he wasn’t even on the Twins 25 man roster at the time when GM Terry Ryan sent catcher Drew Butera to the Los Angeles Dodgers for a player to be named later or cash. The non-waiver Major League trading deadline has been July 31st since the 1986 season. Apparently that date is not necessarily circled in red on the Twins calendar of things to do. As a matter of fact, between 2000-2013 no team has made fewer trades in July then the Twins have. In the past 14 July’s the Minnesota Twins have consummated 15 trades.

July trade activity by club from 2000-2013

39 – Pirates, Padres

37 – Red Sox

36 – Cubs

35 – Dodgers

31 – Yankees

29 – White Sox, Indians, Rockies

28 – Royals

27 – Reds, Giants

26 – Orioles, Astros, Mets, Rangers

25 – Phillies

24 – Mariners

23 – Diamondbacks, Braves

21 – Marlins, Brewers, Cardinals

20 – Nationals/Expos

17 – Tigers, A’s, Blue Jays

16 – Rays

15 – Twins, Angels

Back on July 15 the Twins sent Oswaldo Arcia, Eduardo Escobar and Chris Parmelee down to Rochester and the next day called up catcher Chris Herrmann and infielder Doug Bernier. Herrmann has been with the Twins off and on but it was a long-awaited return to the big leagues for Bernier who saw action in just two games in a brief stay with the

Colorado Rockies back in 2008. Bernier has been in the minors since 2002 and has over a 1,000 minor league games under his belt. Though his primary position is shortstop, Bernier has played all over the diamond including pitching a couple of times but he has not ever squatted behind the plate. Bernier has spent time in the Yankee and Pirates organizations before hooking up with the Twins this past February. Todate Bernier has appeared in 10 games for the Twins and is hitting .261. It appears that the Twins will be letting Jamey Carroll go after this season or possibly trading him in a waiver deal this month and are auditioning for a new utility infielder. So far Bernier appears to be able to handle the role and I am sure he will be much cheaper than Carroll not to mention 6 years younger.

The Twins also recalled 27-year-old left-handed starter Andrew Albers from Rochester. Albers was originally drafted by the San Diego Padres in 2008 but shortly thereafter injured his elbow and had to undergo Tommy John surgery missing all of 2009 and then was released by the Padres. Albers spent 2010 pitching in an independent league in Canada and showed enough promise to be signed by Minnesota prior to the 2011 season. This year Albers was 11-5 with a 2.68 ERA and a 1.18 WHIP in Rochester. Albers has pitched 132.1 innings this year in 22 starts allowing 124 hits while striking out 116. Albers is expected to make his major league debut against the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday. It will be interesting to see what Albers can do in the big leagues, he has not had an ERA over 3.75 on any team he has pitched for. Albers will be wearing number 63.

Manager Ron Gardenhire needs 20 more Twins victories in the remaining 54 games to reach the 1,000 win plateau as the Twins skipper. With his position at risk, it would be a real shame if Gardy can’t get those 20 wins. I hope he gets those wins and many more as the Twins manager.

Twins Minor League Standings as of August 5

AAA Rochester is 63-54 and in 1st place

AA New Britain is 54-60 and in 5th place 16.5 games out

High A Fort Myers is 67-41 and won first half title but is currently in 4th place in the second half at 22-19 but only 1.5 games out

Low A Cedar Rapids is 67-43 and won the first half title and is leading the second half with a 27-15 record.

Rookie Elizabethton is 19-23 and in fourth place 8.5 games behind

Rookie GCL Twins are 19-19 and in third place 2 games behind

DSL Twins are 27-26 and in fourth place 7.5 games behind

According to Elias

Twins generate power from unlikely spots –

Brian Dozier, Oswaldo Arcia, Clete Thomas, and Eduardo Escobar provided unlikely power in the Twins’ 8-4 win over the White Sox at Target Field. It was the first time in team history that Minnesota players homered from the first, seventh, eighth, and ninth slots in the batting order in the same game.

There was one other such game this season. On April 30, the Indians homered from the 1, 7, 8, and 9 slots (Michael Brantley, Lonnie Chisenhall, Ryan Raburn, and Drew Stubbs). But prior to that, it hadn’t happened in the majors since 2005.

Looking back at April

The Twins finished April with an 11-12 mark playing at a .478 winning clip and in the middle of the pack in the Central Division, 3 games behind the division leading Detroit Tigers and just barely ahead of the Cleveland Indians and the Chicago White Sox. Everyone would like to see the Twins doing better but when you compare this teams play to expectations going into 2013 you can’t help but be pleasantly surprised. Before the season began I thought that if this team could put up a 74-88 (.457%) mark and improve 8 games over last season I would be satisfied that the team was making progress. The Twins have played most of their April games in questionable weather and you could argue this worked against them but then again you know that the other team was playing in that same weather so that is a wash. The Twins have played 13 of their first 20 games at home and they are slightly above .500 at Target Field at 7-6.

Although I have not yet seen a single game in person at Target Field this year, I have pretty much watched every game on TV from beginning to end. Here are my perceptions of how the Twins have played in April.

Wilkin Ramirez – (B) – has filled the difficult extra outfielder and pinch-hitter bench role well and is hitting .381.

Eduardo Escobar – (A-) – this switch-hitting utility man has already played at SS, 2B, 3B and in LF and is hitting .378 with a home run in 37 at bats. An easy player to like who makes you wonder if he could be good enough to man a regular spot in the Twins middle infield some day.

Jimmy Carroll – (B-) – the Twins forgotten man most of April but he does whatever is asked of him and almost acts like another coach out there for the Twins younger players.

Joe Mauer – (C+) – endured a long hitless streak late in the month but has played almost every day. Not sure exactly what, but something about Mauer just doesn’t look right to me this year. He is not as solid behind the plate this season and he strikes out way more than he has in the past. Almost looks like he is trying to show more power at the expense of average.

Justin Morneau – (C-) – hitting .253 with 2 home runs and 11 RBI’s. Very disappointing showing so far, Morneau used to be a solid RBI guy but that trait seems to have deserted him the last couple of years. We are watching a shell of what Morneau once was.

Pedro Florimon – (C+) – Playing as I would expect him to in his first full year at short. He and Dozier have shown they play well together. Florimon let’s some easy plays get away at times but for the most part has been solid at short. Hitting has been adequate but I was hoping to see more stolen bases from him and he is just starting to run in the last few games.

Josh Willingham – (C+) – Twins top power guy is doing what the Twins pay him to do and is hitting .250 with a team leading 13 RBI. The Hammer is also on pace to get on base 90-100 times via walks. A liability in LF but the Twins will keep sending him out there for his power. Would be nice to see Willingham get hot before the trading deadline because rest assured he will be moved to make room for Oswaldo Arcia sooner than later.

Brian Dozier – (C) – hitting better since he was moved to the lead-off role to replace Aaron Hicks and playing well at 2B. Dozier is hitting only .243 and he is a better hitter then what he has shown so far.

Trevor Plouffe – (D-) – continues to show that he can not hit big league pitching consistently nor can he play 3B. Then again he has shown he can’t play SS, 2B, or the OF either. Gardy can say what he wants to the press but he knows that Plouffe is not the Twins 3B. Things will change here soon. Problem is the Twins have no one to play here while they wait for Miguel Sano.

Oswaldo Arcia – (C ) – This power hitting lefty will make Twins fans forget trading Willingham in no time. Not a solid outfielder but then again Willingham isn’t either and Arcia is only 21 and will be a Twins fixture for years to come. Watch this guy get better every game.

Darin Mastroianni – (D) – has only 9 at bats due to injuries. This utility outfielder is a much better than what he has shown so far this year but he sure seems to get dinged up a lot.

Chris Parmelee (C) – has been disappointing so far and I expect Parmelee to turn it around soon. Parmelee is no speedster but he is a better outfielder then I expected and he finally notched his first home run of the season, maybe that will get him going.

Ryan Doumit – (C-) – disappointing start to 2013, no other way to say it. Doumit has to start producing with the bat.

Aaron Hicks – (D) – The only reason I gave him a D versus an F is his outfield play. I like Hicks and he will be a very good player but he seems in over his head right now. With no one else to play center the Twins keep sending him out there day after day but Joe Benson is starting to show signs of life so we will see how long the Twins patience lasts with Hicks. There is no shame in going back to the minors after a tough start in the big leagues, happens to almost every player. Needs to show his speed more frequently when he does get on base.

Jared Burton – (A) – the man has a 0.96 ERA with 12 KO’s and 2 walks in his 8th inning role, you can’t ask for more.

Josh Roenicke – (B) – Nice addition (stolen from the Rockies) to the relief staff giving up only 9 hits in 12 innings.

Ryan Pressly – (B) – When your Rule 5 selection sticks and has a 1.69 EA in 10+ innings in April you have to pat yourself on the back Mr. Ryan.

Anthony Swarzak – (B) – Got a late start due to his rib issues but has pitched well so far, hope he can keep it up.

Brian Duensing – (B) – doing fine in his current role but it just seems like they could get more out of this lefty then what they do.

Kevin Correia – (A+) – No one had a better month of April then Kevin Correia did. That said, most everyone knows that it is unlikely that Correia can continue pitching like he has without a few speed bumps but you have to enjoy what he is doing with the smoke and mirrors in his pitching arsenal. Keep it up Kevin, you are definitely my Twins player of the month.

Pedro Hernandez – (B-) – the mark may be a little high for this recently recalled Twin but he does what Gardy asks of him and in his two starts he has kept his team in the game.

Casey Fien – (C+) – always looks angry when he is pitching and he shows his emotion, I like that. Fien probably deserves a better mark then what I gave him but he had one real bad outing in early April when he gave up 4 earned runs and these grades are for the month of April. But look at his numbers in 2012, a 0.97 WHIP and this year his WHIP is 0.90 in spite of his bad outing, those are amazing stats.

Glen Perkins – (B) – the Twins closer shuts the door when he is called upon to save the game. The only runs he has given up have been in non-save situations.

Scott Diamond – (B) – another late starter due to surgery in the off-season but he is getting better with each start and there is no Twins starter currently on the team that I have more faith in keeping his team in the game than Diamond.

Vance Worley – (D) – is in my eyes the biggest disappointment on the team. He gives up so many runs in the first and second inning that the Twins are always playing from behind when he pitches. 46 hits in 28.2 innings with 9 walks tells you all you need to know how Worley has pitched. I’m tired of hearing too that “the pitches are coming out of my hand good”, all I care about Mr. Worley is what you put in the “W” column, the one that has a huge goose egg in it now.

Mike Pelfrey – (F) – I know he is coming off TJ surgery but the man says he is ready to pitch and yet he gives up 19 earned in his last four starts. This is unacceptable and one more bad start should cause him to give up his starting spot. Let’s see how long a leash that Pelfrey has.

In the end it is all about winning games and so far the Twins have put 11 in the win column in April. They are playing better than they have in two years and they are more fun to watch but the bottom line for judging any baseball team is how many games they win. There are no moral victories in baseball. When I look at the Twins hitting as a whole in April, I give them a “C” and when I grade the Twins pitching I come up with a “B-” for an overall team grade of “C+”. Just a month of baseball is a short time to judge anybody so I don’t lose sleep over these grades one way or another but yet there are some trends that are beginning to develop, some good, some not so much. Let’s see what May brings the Twins and their fans.

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.

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

Interactive Whiteboards by PolyVision

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?

Glimpse of the future?

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.

Twins post first “W” of the season

What a nice win! The Twins posted their first “W” of the season this afternoon in a come from behind walk-off double by Eduardo Escobar that scored Jamey Carroll and Brian Dozier with two out in the ninth at Target Field. I know that the Tigers outfielders probably should have caught that ball for the third out but the fact is they did not. Kevin Correia started and pitched 7 innings allowing two runs on seven hits and a walk while striking out two. Correia did a great job against the Tigers and kept his team in the game. I know it is only one game but maybe this will help quiet all those Correia critics out there. I have to mention Wilkin Ramirez too and give him his props for the pinch-hit double that plated the Twins first run in the seventh inning. On the not so good side, the Twins had 8 more LOB today making 20 in their first two games, they have to do better than that if they want to win games. The Twins still have not started a single inning this season with a lead. I wonder what the Twins are going to do when they have to add Scott Diamond to the roster in a few days, there is no obvious candidate to ship out to Rochester at this point.

Former Twins and current Tiger outfielder Torii Hunter started the game with 1,988 hits and had a single in the top of the third inning and singled again in the top of the fifth for hit number 1,990 but was thrown out at third base by Chris Parmelee on Miguel Cabrera’s single that scored Omar Infante as Hunter tried to advance from first to third.

Thirteen years ago today the Twins introduced TC Bear as their mascot and last May he marked his consecutive 1,000 game. That bear is out there day in and day out, he never misses a game, he just grins and bears it I guess. You can read a nice piece about TC by going here.

Tag: Eduardo Escobar

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