Minnesota Sports Forum

Starting pitching continues to be strong, and the lineup is beginning to hit like we thought it would. When someone disappoints (Rosario, for instance), we seem to have guys ready to step up...terrific to see signs of maturity in Arcia to go along with that power...we don't know if it's going to last, but right now he's a nice LH option between Sano and Park. Those two hit mammoth homeruns last night that were totally different...Sano's was a line-drive rocket to left center, while Park golfed one to the opposite field. These two guys are going to strike out a lot, but they both are going to punish any mistakes the pitcher makes. Too bad that Plouffe got hurt just as he was heating up, but Nunez is so absurdly hot he needs to be in the lineup. His defense will always be questionable, but I think Mollie prefers it to Sano's at third.

Now, let's hope the rain holds off for today...I have tickets to my first game this season!

My brother texted me last night after the win and said "I guess the Twins sure like to make things exciting!". It would be great to get a sweep tonight. The Twins need to get on a roll but if they can just start winning and splitting series that's the way you put together a winning season.

It turns out the Answer to all the Twins issues was Juan Centeno! Meanwhile Chris Herrmann is slugging for the D-backs After I saw he was starting in CF today I looked up his stats. Palka the guy they got for Herrmann is doing well at AA even if he is an older prospect that's good to see.

monsterpile wrote:It turns out the Answer to all the Twins issues was Juan Centeno! Meanwhile Chris Herrmann is slugging for the D-backs After I saw he was starting in CF today I looked up his stats. Palka the guy they got for Herrmann is doing well at AA even if he is an older prospect that's good to see.

I'm such a knee-jerk fan of the Twins...it's funny how a little 2-game win streak makes me feel better about the season!

I love what Centeno is doing at the plate! He's hitting .467...too soon to be comparing this to Ted Williams' .400 season?


(told you I was knee-jerk :) )

I watched the condensed versions of the last 3 games and hey the Twins are fun to watch again. Even if they hadn't won all those games there were some moments worth watching. Mauer with some power and maybe Dozier will get going again. Nunez just keeps hitting. Pat Dean, Grossman and Centero all doing something to help when they are out there. It's a bad team still but it's been a little more interesting the last few days.

monsterpile wrote:I watched the condensed versions of the last 3 games and hey the Twins are fun to watch again. Even if they hadn't won all those games there were some moments worth watching. Mauer with some power and maybe Dozier will get going again. Nunez just keeps hitting. Pat Dean, Grossman and Centero all doing something to help when they are out there. It's a bad team still but it's been a little more interesting the last few days.

They're fun to watch because they have so much power...Sano has homered in 4 consecutive games, and even Mauer has homered in 3 straight. But you're right...it's still a bad team. The fielding is inconsistent, baserunning is generally terrible, they strike out too much, and Hughes and Nolasco continue to look like batting practice pitchers. That said, sweeping a good Seattle team was quite impressive. A year ago I said that AL pitchers had figured out Dozier and he wasn't going to be the same hitter anymore unless he learned to hit to right (and he hasn't), but I still love the guy in the field...the double play he and Nunez executed to win Saturday's game was a thing of beauty.

I'm going to enjoy these rare winning streaks, but they're not going to be the team we need them to be until Buxton is up and hitting like he does at AAA, Sano gets his average up closer to .300, and Berrios and at least one other pitching prospect come up to replace Nolasco and Hughes. Hopefully we will see all of those things happen later this summer, and they can start building for next year.

longstrangetrip wrote:

monsterpile wrote:I watched the condensed versions of the last 3 games and hey the Twins are fun to watch again. Even if they hadn't won all those games there were some moments worth watching. Mauer with some power and maybe Dozier will get going again. Nunez just keeps hitting. Pat Dean, Grossman and Centero all doing something to help when they are out there. It's a bad team still but it's been a little more interesting the last few days.

They're fun to watch because they have so much power...Sano has homered in 4 consecutive games, and even Mauer has homered in 3 straight. But you're right...it's still a bad team. The fielding is inconsistent, baserunning is generally terrible, they strike out too much, and Hughes and Nolasco continue to look like batting practice pitchers. That said, sweeping a good Seattle team was quite impressive. A year ago I said that AL pitchers had figured out Dozier and he wasn't going to be the same hitter anymore unless he learned to hit to right (and he hasn't), but I still love the guy in the field...the double play he and Nunez executed to win Saturday's game was a thing of beauty.

I'm going to enjoy these rare winning streaks, but they're not going to be the team we need them to be until Buxton is up and hitting like he does at AAA, Sano gets his average up closer to .300, and Berrios and at least one other pitching prospect come up to replace Nolasco and Hughes. Hopefully we will see all of those things happen later this summer, and they can start building for next year.

Yep agree with all you said.

One thing I will add while I don't disagree with you about Nolosco and Hughes but that last game Hughes pitched the Defense certainly let him down a couple times. Both guys pitched well enough (or not bad enough lol) to give the team a chance and at this point that's not all you can ask for but I'll take it.

Mollie announced today that Hughes is moving to the bullpen so Gibson can start Thursday. That had to be a painful decision to make because Hughes is such a well-liked guy, but 7 losses before June and a 5.74 ERA isn't cutting it. Rumor is that the Twins were unhappy with the condition that Hughes and Perkins showed up in this spring, whereas Nolasco showed up in good shape...there might be a message in this demotion.

longstrangetrip wrote:Mollie announced today that Hughes is moving to the bullpen so Gibson can start Thursday. That had to be a painful decision to make because Hughes is such a well-liked guy, but 7 losses before June and a 5.74 ERA isn't cutting it. Rumor is that the Twins were unhappy with the condition that Hughes and Perkins showed up in this spring, whereas Nolasco showed up in good shape...there might be a message in this demotion.

Well wasn't Hughes having issues with his shoulder being tired or whatever? That may have more to do with it than anything. I wonder who gets to ride that well used Shuttle back to AAA.

Santana hurt his hammy today and is going to the DL and Buxton is coming up. It would be great if Buxton could get rolling.