Twins playing games that matter: Regular season

[bleedspeed177 [enjin:6603232]]

I was glad to see Jose had a strong start. Not perfect, but bent instead of broke. Nobody in the organization will say it, but he is a big part of this season as he is the future. They need him to be a top 3 starter in our rotation moving forward if not #2.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

Yeah, really fun to see the kid go out and dominate like that. I watch him, and I honestly can't see how he has been so dominant in the minors (and on Saturday)...his breaking ball isn't overly impressive and he doesn't get his fastball over 92 very often. But I guess he has some extraordinary movement on his fastball because the Indians just weren't able to square up pitches that seemed hittable to me. Let's hope Saturday wasn't a fluke, because he and Santana could be a very nice top of the rotation.

[bleedspeed177 [enjin:6603232]]

I think Jose has to be a pitcher and not thrower to be successful up here. I think he tried to thrower last year. He will be all about locating his pitches and setting up batters.

Thinking back to great young pitchers. Scott Erickson was I guy I remember coming up and just dominating, but looking back at his stats. He was solid, but not dominating. Didn't he have a crazy slider or something? Then got injured and lost a lot on his pitches, but still had a 16-year career.

[bleedspeed177 [enjin:6603232]]

Saw this. Not worried about it, but never a dull moment.

http://www.startribune.com/blogger-hints-twins-pitcher-jose-berrios-used-substance-on-baseballs/422213413/#1

[Monster]

Does Ervin Santana have anything that's dominating? That guy has been a pretty good pitcher for a most of his career now. Ace? No. Pretty good? Yeah. The Twins need more than that out of Jose but if he ends up being Ervin that would still be a pretty big step in the right direction.

[bleedspeed177 [enjin:6603232]]

Does Ervin Santana have anything that's dominating? That guy has been a pretty good pitcher for a most of his career now. Ace? No. Pretty good? Yeah. The Twins need more than that out of Jose but if he ends up being Ervin that would still be a pretty big step in the right direction.

I wish we could count on Ervin Santana as a floor for Jose Berrios. I was really hoping Kyle Gibson would be a Radke type pitcher. I think he might still click, but I don't think it will happen here.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

Does Ervin Santana have anything that's dominating? That guy has been a pretty good pitcher for a most of his career now. Ace? No. Pretty good? Yeah. The Twins need more than that out of Jose but if he ends up being Ervin that would still be a pretty big step in the right direction.

Monster, while Santana doesn't throw overly hard, I believe his slider has often been described as elite. I have heard hitters describe his slider as "white", meaning for some reason they can't pick up the laces and thereby the spin. I think he is putting his slider in better spots this year, and that has a lot to do with his success. Credit to Castro? I don't know. But something is different.

[Monster]

Does Ervin Santana have anything that's dominating? That guy has been a pretty good pitcher for a most of his career now. Ace? No. Pretty good? Yeah. The Twins need more than that out of Jose but if he ends up being Ervin that would still be a pretty big step in the right direction.

I wish we could count on Ervin Santana as a floor for Jose Berrios. I was really hoping Kyle Gibson would be a Radke type pitcher. I think he might still click, but I don't think it will happen here.

I'm a pretty optimistic guy but I honestly don't see it clicking for Gibson anywhere. He has had one nice season and that's about it and it was the only season he has approached 200 innings. He turns 30 in October which isn't old since pitcher can pitch well into their late 30's etc but still. The hope right now for me is he can be a not terrible bridge starter to when the Twins have young arms that are more ready. I honestly have more faith in Hughes being worthwhile the next few years than Gibson. Smalley thought at the beginning of the year Gibson had turned a corner but he said Gibson's biggest problem is basically he just implodes when things don't go right and he doesn't throw the ball over.

[bleedspeed177 [enjin:6603232]]

i thought he was maybe 28 tops. Not a good outlook for him now. Would he have a pitch he could use as a reliever?

[Monster]

i thought he was maybe 28 tops. Not a good outlook for him now. Would he have a pitch he could use as a reliever?

He got old fast didn't he? He should have been hanging out with Anthony Randolph...wait no!!! Lol

I don't know enough about Gibson's arsenal to say if he could convert to be an effective reliever. LST might have good thoughts on that.