Liriano Struggles

• Francisco Liriano struggled in his start yesterday. He breezed through the first two innings before allowing a run in the third. He went into the fourth, but allowed two more runners on base before being taken out. He was later tagged with the runs as Brian Bass let them in. Both Dennys Reyes and Pat Neshek continued their stellar springs with a shutout inning for each of them.

Offensively, Jason Pridie doubled to lead off the game, but it was his only hit of the game. Delmon Young later drove him in with an RBI single to center field. Adam Everett had a good day, going 2-3 with an RBI double.

Unfortunately, the Twins loss to the Marlins, 5-3, despite both teams recording 10 hits each. Despite Liriano's poor results, it's a great thing to see that he's able to at least go into the fourth inning. He threw nearly 60 pitches, in just his third start since arriving to Ft. Myers. He's making progress, and although he seems confident that he'll be ready to start the season in the bullpen with the Twins, I just hope that he stays healthy and can work on all the rest of the glitches later. His health is (to me) the biggest concern, as it generally takes (at least) a year to start regaining form. As long as Liriano can stay healthy, I don't think I can be upset.

On a side note: Steven Tolleson got to suit up with the big league club yesterday and went 1-1 at the plate while replacing Adam Everett at shortstop.

• Today, the Twins will face the Baltimore Orioles and Philip Humber is set to make his first start of the Spring. He's been pitching great all Spring and can hopefully improve his chances of landing a possible rotation spot. Unfortunately, he'll probably need to be lights out for the rest of Spring in order to claim a spot as both Francisco Liriano and Kevin Slowey continue to improve.

Toby Gardenhire is scheduled to suit up as a backup infielder, and it's likely he'll get at least one at bat and will probably play the field just a little bit. When asked about it, father (and manager) Ron Gardenhire said:

"He gets meal money. That's good. That's less I have to spend."

• Center Field Watch: Craig Monroe got his first start in center field yesterday, and went 0-3 at the plate. He was replaced by Denard Span later in the game, but did not do anything to suggest that the Twins would be better off with him in center, over either Span or Carlos Gomez. It didn't help when his biggest task was to catch a routine fly ball. He's likely not in the running anyway for a starting spot, but he will probably spend time there when either Span or Gomez need a day off. Either way, here's a funny article on Gardenhire's "irrational love" for Monroe.

• Scott Baker skipped his bullpen session yesterday as he's still recovering from a strained lat muscle, but instead of his back causing him to skip the session, it is a flu bug that's gotten to Randy Ruiz, Carmen Cali, Rick Anderson and others as well. He has not pitched in a game in 10 days. With this setback in his return, he may be forced to start the season on the disabled list if he can't get back to action soon.

• Here's a good video of Michael Cuddyer doing a card trick with Denard Span.

Spring Training Rumblings

• It was not exactly what the Twins had in mind when they signed Livan Hernandez earlier in the off-season. He attacked the hitters nicely throughout the first 2 innings, but after that, he left the ball up in the zone and gave up what seemed to be hit, after hit, after hit while giving up 6 runs in his 4 innings of work. He gave up 2 runs in the fifth round before leaving, and Randy Keisler let in another of Hernandez's runs before getting out of the fifth inning. Joe Nathan later came in and struck out 2 while lowering his ERA to 1.50 on the spring in another scoreless inning.

Offensively, the Twins got 8 hits off of the Blue Jays, and four of them came off the bats of Justin Morneau and Joe Mauer. The two combined to go 4-6 with 2 runs and 2 RBI's. Carlos Gomez got a bunt single and, to no surprise, ran the bases very well and he's living up to the nickname "Go-Go" as he stole his 6th base of the spring. Craig Monroe hit a nice RBI double into the gap between the baseline and the outfielder in left field. And Denard Span also collected a hit to raise his average to .287 on the Spring.

A Scary moment happened in the fifth inning. Matt Watson of the Blue Jays hit a ball to the wall in center field. Going all out, Gomez caught the ball over his shoulder and went into the wall face first. It knocked the wind out of him, and as he laid on the ground, I'm sure many Twins fans' hearts stopped for just a moment before he walked off the field under hi own power.

And despite getting off to an early 1-0 lead in the first inning, the Twins lost to the Blue Jays, 8-3.

• The Twins will play host to the Marlins tomorrow, when Francisco Liriano makes his third start of the Spring. Hopefully this outing will be better than his last start against the Red Sox, in which he gave up 3 runs in just 2 innings of work. But really, as long as he continues to be pain free and continues to work on his arm strength, results are not really a big deal to me right now.

• After Alexi Casilla was sent down in the second round of cuts, Ron Gardenhire mentioned that he may be moved back to shortstop as he's been "sloppy" at second. Gardenhire also went as far as to say that Casilla may very well be our future shortstop.

This comes as a little of a surprise as Gardenhire has been pretty adamant on leaving him at second base, despite the fact that he has one of the best arms of any of our infielders and has more range than any of them as well. The move would be a logical thing to do, as the other infielder viewed as the "future shorstop", Trevor Plouffe's defense has been sporadic throughout his career. Casilla will start the season in Rochester, where he'll be joined with Alejandro Machado, Tommy Watkins (probably), Matt Tolbert (probably) and Matt Macri who could all be looking for spots in the middle of the infield. As of right now, Casilla is viewed as the likely starter at shortstop with Macri at third and Tolbert at second in Rochester.

• Players of the Week (3/10-3/16)

At the Plate
Joe Mauer - Catcher

Note: Joe Mauer had an exceptional week and has really impressed so far this spring. There seems to be no lingering effects from his quad injury that put him on the disabled list last season, which definitely means that with all injuries aside, we should expect numbers to be back up this season, like they were in 2006 when he won the American League Batting Title. Mauer improved his Spring average to .409 while going 5-10 with 7 runs, 3 RBI, a double and a home run last week.

Runner-Up: Carlos Gomez, Right/Center Field: 6-17, 5 Runs, 3 RBI's, 2B, 3B, HR and 2 SB's.

On the Mound
Kevin Slowey - Right Handed Starter

Note: After having a rough first couple of starts, Kevin Slowey seems to have found his groove. He had an impressive week winning both of his decisions to go 2-1 on the spring. He allowed 6 hits in this first start, but proceeded to shutout the Marlins through 3 innings of work. He finished the week going 2-0 in two starts. He pitched 7 innings, allowed 1 run on 8 hits, walked just one batter while striking out 8.

Runner-Up: Phil Humber, Right Handed Starter: 1 Hold, 1 Save, 5 innings, 1 hit, 2 walks, 1 strikeout.

• The Twins announced on Sunday that two more players were cut, to lower the number to 40 players who remain in Major League Camp. Pitchers Carmen Cali and Kevin Mulvey were sent to Minor League camp, despite both having impressed while in camp. Cali cleared waivers, which he needed to do as he is out of options, so he'll start the season in Rochester, where Mulvey will be joining him.

Cali was viewed as one of the likely options for the Twins' 12th pitching spot. Ron Gardenhire has expressed his desire to carry two left-handed pitchers in the bullpen, and Cali would've given him that. This could open the door to Glen Perkins, who has spent both of his trips to the majors in the bullpen, and has had success in limited action. The team views him as a starter, but with Cali cut, he is definitely a guy to keep an eye on.

Parmelee, Benson starting in Beloit

The Twins are currently playing the Blue Jays, and Hernandez is pitching well. He's throwing strikes and is working the inner-half of the plate nicely. Adam Everett is leading off while Gomez is hitting last. Probably just to get Everett more at bats, but there is a possibility that the Twins go with this kind of lineup a few times this season.

Anyways, onto the real news.

The Twins have informed both Joe Benson and Chris Parmelee that they will start the season back in Beloit, after spending all of 2007 there. It doesn't come as a real shock, however with the amount of outfielders in the lower-levels of the organization, I thought they'd for sure start in Ft. Myers. Besides Benson and Parmelee, Ozzie Lewis, Rene Tosoni, Andrew Schmeising, and first round pick Ben Revere were all likely to start the season in Beloit.

Here's my prediction of what happens.

• Ben Revere starts the season in extended Spring Training and then moves up to Elizabethton at some point.
• For Beloit, Joe Benson starts in center field, Chris Parmelee starts in right field, Rene Tosoni starts in left field, while Ozzie Lewis starts at DH.

If any player skips a level, I believe it will be Rene Tosoni as many believe he has the best chances of advancing quickly through the organization. He makes good contact on the ball which allows him to hit to the gaps and he plays solid defense.

Benson, just 20 years old did not really impress last season in Beloit hitting just .255/.347/.368. He only had one really "good" month, which was in July when he hit .275/.367/.431 with 3 of his 5 home runs and 6 of his 18 stolen bases. He plays above average defense, and is one of the best athletes in the Twins system. He's a legitimate 5-tool player, but still needs to polish all of his skills.

(Benson).............(Parmelee)

Parmelee, also 20, also did not have a great season in Beloit, despite hitting 15 home runs and 70 RBI's. He hit .239 with a dreadful .313 on-base percentage and an unspectacular .414 slugging percentage. He was drafted for his power, which he definitely has. However, he has horrible plate discipline and struck out 137 times last season. He likely will never hit highly for average, but he needs to cut down on the number of strikeouts opposed to walks. If he can do that, he should move back up many of the top prospect lists.

The lower-levels of the Twins farm system is stacked with offensive potential, hopefully this season many of them will work on what they need to do to progress and there can be a strong waive of both pitching and hitting prospects in a couple years.

Friday Tidbits

Hey everyone, again sorry for the lack of posting this week. I was pretty busy trying to get everything I could done before Spring Break which happens to be next week for me, however I have a lot of homework (pretty much from just one class) that I'm going to have to do over break, but hopefully I can return to managing my time more efficiently.

Anyways, not a whole lot happened this week, but here are some things that you might find interesting:

• Ron Gardnehire all but said that Jason Pridie will not be the opening day starter in a quote earlier this week in which he called Pridie a "role guy", which means that puts more all the spotlight on Denard Span and Carlos Gomez to win the job, as if it wasn't already all on them to begin with. Span and Gomez have combined to go 2-14 this week, and Span collected both hits, one being a double. Pridie on the other hand has gone 2-4 with an RBI. We'll see how this thing plays out.

• Scott Baker's shoulder strain could force him to start the season on the DL, which would likely make way for either Nick Blackburn or Philip Humber in the rotation, as both of them seem to be pitching much better than Kevin Slowey. However, it's going to be hard sending Slowey back to Rochester when he has absolutely nothing left to prove there. Either way, this is not good news for the Twins who have many questions in their rotation to begin with. Now we might have to hear about Baker's injury for a while if it continues to linger.

• Jesse Crain is also injured after being hit near his knee with a line drive in yesterday's Minor League game. It doesn't sound like it's serious, but we'll likely find out more sometime later today.

• Francisco Liriano made his second start of the Spring and went 2 innings and gave up 3 runs on 3 hits while walking 2 and striking out just 1. However, I don't view this as necessarily a bad thing, he reportedly pitched near 90% and pitched 53 pitches. His control is alarming right now though, and hopefully he can get that under wraps before the time the season starts. But again, I can't expect too much from him this season, nobody can.

• Seth Stohs gave us 7 different perspectives on the center field competition, he also gave us 7 perspectives on the second base competition. Definitely check those out, they're a good read.

• Nick Nelson is in the middle of his "Position Analysis" series in which he addresses each position and gives his thoughts on that spot including who he thinks will be the starter come opening day. He's done catcher, first base and second base.

• Lisa Winston does a nice job going over the Twins in an article on milb.com.

• Former Twins pitcher Kyle Lohse has signed a 1-year $4.25 deal with the St. Louis Cardinals. They'll likely depend on Lohse a lot this season, as the Cardinals pitching staff just can't seem to stay healthy. This wasn't a bad move by the birds.

Have a great day.

Twins have options at Second

Last season, Luis Castillo was traded in July to make room for the up and coming Alexi Casilla at second base. Although he put together a solid 4 month 'audition' by hitting .302 with great defense, the Twins 'only' got an aging catching prospect in Drew Butera and a solid outfielder in Dustin Martin. Many thought the Twins could've gotten more, or should have gotten more, but that was not the case. However, many were ecstatic at the thought of Casilla gaining experience in order to take over the starting job this season. But unfortunately, that wasn't the case.

The 23-year-old Casilla made many mistakes on and off the field, including a time where he arrived late to a game and was in manager Ron Gardenhire's "doghouse" for the remainder of the season. He certainly did not leave a very good taste in the mouth of the manager's and Gardenhire later went as far as to say that Nick Punto was (most likely) going to start at second base next season, basically disregarding any sort of competition between Punto and Casilla.

Then in late November, a gift that some still might think came from the heavens above, the Twins acquired Delmon Young from the Tampa Bay Rays. Along with Young, the Twins also acquired infielder Brendan Harris. Harris, had a very solid season in 2007 with the Rays. Playing mostly shortstop, he hit .286/.343/.434 with 12 home runs and 59 RBI's last season in 521 plate appearances last season. The Twins would love to see him duplicate those numbers, or even improve on them, but one thing could hold him back, his defense.

To put it into perspective, Brendan Harris allowed 11 errors in 87 games at shortstop. In fact, if he qualified, he would've ranked last in the league in both Zone Rating and Range Factor as a shortstop. However, as a second baseman, although he would've ranked last in Range Factor, he would've been league average in Zone Rating and his 1 error in 47 games would've become about 4 (give or take) throughout an entire season. That would've ranked him 2nd in the league only behind Gold Glove Winner Placido Polanco. Basically what this shows is that as a shortstop, Harris is dreadful, but as a second baseman, he is at least average.

But Harris, Punto, and Casilla aren't the only three players that seem to be vying for the job, although they do seem to be the most likely to win.

Matt Tolbert is also hoping to crack a spot on the roster, and Ron Gardenhire has already said that he will not use him as a utility player. He instead views Tolbert as an everyday player, so it's all or nothing for Tolbert. After hitting .337 between April and June, he took a nosedive the rest of the season hitting .249 from July and September. Tolbert was at one point in time moved to third base to take over for Nick Punto, but the arrival of the next person on this list shot that plan down. Tolbert can play a variety of positions, but like Harris, he's best valued at second base.

Brian Buscher is not a player many would consider for the second base job, and to be frank, I don't see him winning the job at all. But nonetheless, he is an option. As much as I like Buscher, he just would be too much of a liability on defense to be able to justify having him in the middle of the infield. His bat is probably the best out of this group, however his defense would make any of these guys mentioned look like Roberto Alomar at second. I believe that Ron Gardenhire is only considering him at second base in a reserve role, however it is something to keep an eye on. If his defense was even close to any of the guys mentioned, I would be all for having him in the linepu. However, our lineup in my opinion is improved over last season as is, so there's no need to abandon our defensive philosophy just to have a (slightly) better hitter in the lineup.

Tommy Watkins is also a guy fighting for a roster spot, and although he's unlikely to win a starting job, if anyone on this list deserves it, it'd be him. Watkins has spent 10 seasons in the organization and finally made his Major League debut last season. In his (very) limited time with the Twins last season, he impressed many with his versatility and his great approach at the plate. I don't see him having anything more than just an "average" year for a second baseman, but he's definitely fighting for a backup job and if he begins to hit the cover off the ball, he could challenge for a starting spot, although even I know that's very unlikely to happen.

With that said, (and obviously, things can change between now and then, but) I believe that Nick Punto will start at second base on opening day. And it won't be because he won the position, instead I believe that it will have to do quite a bit on who's pitching. Livan Hernandez looks to be destined to start opening night and he is a sinker-ball pitcher which means that there will be plenty of ground balls for the infielders to have their hands full with. I think the team would like to start the season out on a good foot (defensively) and Punto would likely give us that. I'm not saying Punto will play every time a groundball pitcher is on the mound, because that would likely be 3-4 times per week, but I do believe that at least to begin the season, the pitchers would probably appreciate the fact that Punto can help them out more than Harris could and it should put (even if only a little) less stress on the pitchers, which should result in better outings by our starters.

Livan Hernandez Starting Opening Day?

Yesterday, Ron Gardenhire mentioned that he's leaning toward having Livan Herandez start the March 31st Home Opener against the Los Angeles (of Anaheim) Angels.

“We’re kind of trying to go with [Hernandez], but we’ll see how everything goes,” Gardenhire said. “He should be the guy. … I was kind of leaning that way, but wait and see what happens as we go along here.”

Hernandez is not having a great spring, especially not one that would justify having him start opening day, so this just goes to show how much Gardenhire values having a veteran starting pitcher in the rotation. Hernandez is not concerned with his numbers this spring and said that he generally does not have impressive numbers in the spring as he takes his time getting ready to pitch when it counts.

The only "locks" for the rotation seem to be Hernandez, Boof Bonser, and Scott Baker. And barring injury, Baker will likely follow Hernandez with Bonser then following Baker. Of course, Spring Training still has just under 3 weeks from being completed, so anything is possible.

Thoughts from the Weekend

Hello again everyone. Sorry for my lack of posting, I was fairly busy this weekend. Anyways, the Twins went 3-1 this weekend.

On Friday, the club had a split squad game. One squad played against the Red Sox, and the other against the Blue Jays. Francisco Liriano started the game for the Twins against the Red Sox and went 1 2/3 innings and allowed 2 hits while walking one and striking out one. He threw 40 pitches, with just a handful of the pitches being sliders. His change-up looks to be another potentially great pitch. He'll likely rely more and more on his fastball-change-up as his bread and butter instead of his slider which he threw about 20 times too many per game. Nick Blackburn turned in 2 1/3 innings of hittless relief. Justin Morneau and Craig Monroe both went deep for the first time of the spring to lead the way offensively. The Twins won 7-2.

The other game was started by Glen Perkins who went 3 innings of scoreless ball and struck out 3 batters in the process. Phil Humber and Kevin Mulvey both pitched 2 innings apiece and combined for 5 strikeouts. Carlos Gomez went 2-5 at the plate with an RBI triple and his 3rd stolen base of the season. Randy Ruiz went 3-4 with his 2nd home run of the spring. The Twins won 4-0 and outhit the Blue Jays 11-5.

On Saturday, the Twins faced the Pittsburgh Pirates. Scott Baker took the mound for the Twins and struck out 3 in his two innings of scoreless ball while leaving the game early with a "tweaked lat muscle." The injury is not considered to be serious, however the club will still push back his next start as a precaution. Juan Rincon pitched out of a bases loaded, no out jam in the 4th inning, while Brian Duensing allowed 3 runners in and loaded the bases before he left the game. Justin Morneau and Michael Cuddyer lead the way offensively, while Jason Kubel, Craig Monroe and Jon Knott all went yard to put the Twins ahead for good 8-4.

On Sunday, the game was again televised and Twins fans got a double-dose of center field action. Denard Span started the game in center field, while one of the players competing for that position, Carlos Gomez, started in right field. Span went 0-1 at the plate to start the game, while reaching base the next four consecutive at bats on walks. He showed great discipline at the plate and was solid defensively. Gomez left four men on base while going 0-3 at the plate. Jason Pridie also left four men on while going 0-2 at the plate, but did come around to score late in the game. Randy Ruiz continued to impress the club as he went 1-1 in two plate appearances with a walk, a run, and an RBI. He's batting .471 this spring with 4 RBI's. Boof Bonser, Randy Keisler, and Matt Guerrier all had an ERA of 9 in their innings. Bonser and Keisler combined for 7 of the teams 8 walks. The Twins lost 7-4, despite scoring 2 runs in each of the last two innings.

This is something that I'm going to try and do the rest of Spring and probably carry it into the season as well. These are my players of the week (March 3rd-9th):

Player of the Week

At the Plate
Rand Ruiz - First Base/DH

Note: Ruiz had a very solid week while getting a fair share of at bats in the lineup. He is fighting for a roster spot, and is definitely making it interesting. Unfortunately for him, his versatility is an issue as he's viewed mostly as a DH and a first baseman. He's spent some time in the outfield, but it's unlikely that he'd ever play there with the Twins. In order to make the team, he'll have to continue to rake. He finished the week by going 7-12 at the plate while scoring 4 times, driving in 4 runs, and hitting 2 Home Runs.

Runner-Up: Delmon Young, Left Field. 7-14, 2 Runs, 4 RBI's, 1 Home Runs.

On the Mound
Brian Bass - Right Handed Starter

Note: Bass made 3 appearances this week and impressed the team as he's trying to prove that he's not just a dark horse candidate for a rotation spot. After a solid season in Rochester, he is most likely going to be back there to begin the season, unless he continues to pitch this well. He went 5 innings, and gave up 1 run, on 5 hits, while striking out 6.

Runner-Up: Phillip Humber, Right Handed Starter. 4 Innings Pitched, 1 Hit, 3 Strike Outs.

12 Players Cut

On Sunday, the Twins made the first round of roster cuts. The two players some are surprised by are infielder's Alejandro Machado and Jose Morales. The team has plenty of infielders and still a few more catchers that they have to look at, however I'm surprised with these two as they both have a good chance of being in Minnesota at some point this season. And early at that. The rest of the cuts looked as follows:

-Pitchers-
Armando Gambino
Oswaldo Sosa
Jose Mijares
Zach Day
Brian Duensing
Deolis Guerra

-Infielders-
Jeff Christy
Felix Molina
Allan de San Miguel

-Outfielder-
Darnell McDonald

Have a great day!

My Thoughts From Yesterday's Game

First, I want to acknowledge that this is the two-year anniversary of the death of Kirby Puckett. He suffered a stroke at his home in Scottsdale, Arizona and emergency surgery couldn't revive him and he passed away. Honestly, all that needs to be said about him, has been said. All we can really do is cherish the memories he gave so many fans and remember the true legend that he was.

R.I.P. Puck!

In case you didn't see it, I was blogging during the game yesterday and I tried to give enough information for those of you who couldn't watch the game, to get an understanding of what is going on.

Anyways, after the game, these are my thoughts on some of the players:

Delmon Young: Isn't he great? I was just thinking to myself on how much of an asset he's going to be in our lineup in the future. In his first at bat, he took ball one, and then watched as a strike went straight down the middle. After that pitch, he tilted his head in disgust and slapped his bat. He then took the next two pitches for balls before Ian Kennedy left a ball up in the zone and he took it to deep center field. And as soon as it was hit, everyone knew it was gone.

He later laced a single to right field in his last at bat. The entire game, he showed great patience at the plate and definitely shows that he's working on improving his OBP and average, despite the fact that Ron Gardenhire wants him to stay aggressive at the plate.

Kevin Slowey: He didn't pitch great, however the box score looks a lot more than what actually occurred. In my opinion, Slowey pitched great besides two balls left up in the zone to both Robinson Cano and Wilson Betemit back-to-back in the second inning, which both were hit for doubles to deep center field. Besides that, I liked the way he worked all four corners of the strike zone and the way he kept throwing strikes to guys like Alex Rodriguez and Jason Giambi. He didn't back down against anyone, and I liked the way he handled himself out on the mound.




In regards to his walks, both were to Derek Jeter and Rodriguez and both were on full counts. It really surprised me with how many people were jumping down Slowey's neck after the game. He pitched a good game against all of the Yankees starters (give or take Betemit) and he didn't pitch great, but it's too early in the Spring to pretend that the sky is falling with him. He'll probably pitch in another 6-7 games and still has a lot of time to solidify his spot in the rotation.

Carlos Gomez: Now, Gomez definitely did not excite anyone yesterday. He went 0-5 at the plate and made multiple mistakes on defense. First he misjudged a ball hit by Robinson Cano in the second inning. In first glance, I didn't think it mattered as the ball kept carrying, however after watching the play a few more times, you'll see that if he didn't take a step towards home plate and instead he took a step back, he would've caught the ball with no problem. But instead, the ball went about five feet over his head. Next, he made two bad throws towards home plate, one right after another. He first tried throwing out Johnny Damon out at home, and had the ball been about 10 feet to the right, he would've gotten him out by a good 5-10 feet. He then later tried to (what looked like) make a throw home to get Jason Giambi out, but Justin Morneau wisely cut it off and tossed it to second base to get Robinson Cano out.

However I did observe two positives. One, although his arm is inaccurate, he definitely has a cannon and he just needs to take his time making an accurate throw and that will come with experience. The other positive was that he can definitely fly. In his first at bat, he placed a soft bunt between the pitching mound and third base and nearly beat out the throw. The only reason he was out was because Wilson Betemit made a nice barehanded play.

Brian Buscher: He had a couple great at bats, and even looked good on defense. As silly as it may sound to some of you, he may challenge Mike Lamb for the starting third base job. However, he still has a lot to prove. He made great contact with the ball and showed great awareness at the plate. In his at bat where he laced a single to right field, he was behind 2-2 and took two balls very close to the strike zone. But in his first at bat, he hit a hard liner to first baseman Jason Giambi who made an impressive leaping grab to stun Buscher as he ran to first base.

I'm very excited to see how he does the rest of Spring. I've been on Buscher's bandwagon since he made his arrival in Minnesota last season, and I still think he could be a solid starter for us.

Brendan Harris: He looked stiff at the plate, as well as defense. If I had to guess right now, I'd say that Ron Gardenhire would likely start Nick Punto over Harris if the season opened tomorrow. Because at least we know that Punto offers good defense. But I think that Harris will become more and more comfortable on both aspects of his game, which could make him the favorite.

Garrett Jones: He's an interesting story. He's a 26-year-old prospect who is looking for a spot on the 25-man roster. If he doesn't make the club out of Spring Training, he'll have to clear waivers in order to go back to Rochester, and it's very unlikely that he does that. So in essence, this is Jones last shot in a Twins uniform. If he doesn't make it, he's gone. And yesterday, he definitely raised some eyebrows as he took a Joba Chamberlain fastball to the bleachers in deep right field. Chamberlain left the ball up in the zone and Jones capitalized.




It's going to be interesting to see what they choose to do with Jones. I think it's really a competition between Jones and Brian Buscher for the last spot on the bench. Matt Macri could be an option, however Buscher is outplaying him at the same position, so as of right now, it's Jones-Buscher. Buscher has options left, but he probably has more value to the Twins future than Jones does. Either way, he definitely moved up in my books after that home run. Yowza.

Randy Keisler: They were talking about his inability to throw strikes in his career, but he had no problem with that yesterday. He jammed a lot of hitters and forced them to swing at balls that they shouldn't have. He has a very small chance of making the roster, but he definitely impressed viewers yesterday.

Alexi Casilla: He made a few very nice plays yesterday. On defense, he made a great dig at shortstop and made an off-balance throw on one foot to get Jason Giambi out at first. He also later took part in the teams only double play of the afternoon. On offense, he 'goofed' by not swinging on a hit & run but Jason Pridie (for some reason) was called safe at second despite not sliding. But after that he hit a hard grounder up the middle for a single and later stole second base. He definitely looks like he improved over the winter and I'm excited to see what he'll do this season.

Alejandro Machado: I have to admit, I don't know a ton about this guy, but yesterday he was pretty impressive at the plate. With the bases loaded, he hit a 2-run double down the first baseline that put the Twins up 6-4. I didn't get to see him on defense, as he took over at DH, but from all the reports he plays great defense so he could also have a shot at making the roster.

Jason Pridie: If it weren't for Colin Curtis' diving catch in the 8th, he would've finished the game 2-2 with a double (possibly a triple) 2 RBI's and a stolen base. However, Curtis robbed him on a great play and allowed just one run to cross the plate. I hope that Pridie plays more in the next televised game, so we can all get a better glimpse of him then. But consider me impressed with what I saw from him in this game.

Ricky Barrett & Oswaldo Sosa: Barrett definitely had some control problems, however he has a very nice curveball that got a few batters to make awkward swings. Sosa has a lot of movement on his pitches, which is nice since I saw most of his fastballs sit in the 88-90 range. But he did serve Shelly Duncan a beach ball at the letters and Duncan completely crushed the ball to (possibly) the other side of Florida.

Overall: I don't want people to get the impression that I'm putting a lot of stock into this game, because I'm really not. I just wanted to share my thoughts on the game. I was throughly impressed for the most part and it got me even more excited for the season to start.

Live Game Blogging: Twins vs. Yankees

Twins win 7-5!

(Winning Pitcher): Pat Neshek (Losing Pitcher): Edwar Ramirez (Save): Oswaldo Sosa

I should have my post game thoughts up later tonight/early tomorrow. Hope you enjoyed the updates.

• Bottom of 9th:
Pitching change: Oswaldo Sosa in for Ricky Barrett
Morgan Ensberg flied out to Carlos Gomez in center field for the first out of the inning. Brett Gardner grounded out to second baseman Felix Molina for the second out. And Shelly Duncan hit a fastball up in the zone over the fence in left field. Chris Woodward then hit a single to left-center field to extend the inning. Before Jason Lane who represented the tying run struck out looking. Twins 7, Yankees 5

• Top of 9th:
Pitching change: Ross Ohlendorf in for Chris Britton
Carlos Gomez (who has played the entire game) hit a fly ball to start the inning. Felix Molina struck out swinging. Jose Morales laced a ground ball single left field as Chris Woodward was beginning to shade him to second base and then Morales hit it his way. Randy Ruiz got jammed up and in by a 97 mph fastball before later striking out on a pitch down and away. Twins 7, Yankees 4

• Bottom of 8th:
Pitching change: Ricky Barrett in for Pat Neshek
Colin Curtis grounded out to Randy Ruiz to begin the inning. Francisco Cervelli hit a hard grounder to third base, and Matt Macri made a strong throw to get him out at first. Nick Green hit a grounder up the middle, but Alexi Casilla was shading him perfectly and got him out. Twins 7, Yankees 4

• Top of 8th:
Pitching change: Chris Britton in for Edwar Ramirez
Position change (Yankees): Francisco Cervelli in for Jorge Posada at catcher.
Jose Morales drew a lead-off walk to start the inning. Randy Ruiz hit a grounder to shortstop and Morales was out on the fielders choice. On the relay to first, Shelly Duncan couldn't dig it out of the dirt and Ruiz was safe. Chris Basak was then hit with a pitch to put a runner on first and second with one out. Matt Macri hit got an infield hit which was misplayed by Morgan Ensberg at third base. With the bases loaded and one out, Alejandro Machado hit a 2-run double down the first base line to put the Twins ahead. With one out and runners on second and third, Jason Pridie hit an RBI sacrifice fly to left field, scoring Macri from third. Machado stayed at second base and later stole third base while Alexi Casilla was at bat. Casilla then grounded out to second base to end the inning. Twins 7, Yankees 4

• Bottom of 7th:
Pitching change: Pat Neshek in for Dennys Reyes.
Position change (Yankees): Gregory Porter in for Alex Rodriguez at DH.
Pat Neshek retired the Yankees side in order for a very quick inning. Chris Woodward, Jason Lane and Gregory Porter never had a chance. Porter struck out to end the inning. Twins 4, Yankees 4

• Top of 7th:
Pitching change: Edwar Ramirez in for Jonathan Albaladejo.
Position changes (Twins): Alejandro Machado in for Jon Knot at DH.
Position changes (Yankes): Chris Woodward in for Derek Jeter at shorstop. Nick Green in for Bernie Castro at second base. Morgan Ensberg in for Wilson Betemit at Third Base. Brett Gardner in for Melky Cabrera in Center Field.
Alejandro Machado popped out. Jason Pridie hit a single to left field to start the inning. Jason Pridie advanced to second base on a stolen base (failed hit and run, Casilla didn't swing, Pridie didn't slide and was out, however was called safe despite the fact that the umpire was right there to see it). Alexi Casilla hit a sharp single up the middle and was off of glove which allowed Pridie to score from second base. Alexi Casilla then stole second base while Carlos Gomez was at bat. With a full count, Gomez struck out. On a wild pitch, Casilla advanced to third base. Felix Molina then struck out swinging to end the inning. Twins 4, Yankees 4

• Bottom of 6th:
Pitching change: Dennys Reyes in for Randy Keisler
Position change (Twins): Chris Basak in for Delmon Young in Left Field. Randy Ruiz in for Justin Morneau at First Base.
Position change (Yankees): Bernie Castro in for Robinson Cano at second base (pinch run)
Robinson Cano hit a hard single up the middle to start the inning off. Wilson Betemit hit a routine grounder to third base, but the ball got away from Felix Molina at second base, trying to start a double play. Both runners were safe. With two on and nobody out, the Yankees tried a hit & run but Alexi Casilla tapped second base and made the throw to first to get the double play, Castro advanced to third. Shelly Duncan struck out swinging to end the inning. Great job by Dennys Reyes to not allow a run to cross the plate despite the Yankees having two on and no outs. Twins 3, Yankees 4

• Top of 6th:
Pitching change: Jonathan Albaladejo in for Joba Chamberlain.
Position change (Twins): Jose Morales in for Joe Mauer (pinch run)
Position changes (Yankees): Jason Lane in for Bobby Abreu in Right Field. Shelly Duncan in for Jason Giambi at First Base. Colin Curtis in for Johnny Damon in Left Field.
Joe Mauer hit a double to left center field. Justin Morneau then hit a fly out to center field, and Jose Morales tried to advance to third base and Melky Cabrera threw him out by a mile. With two out, Delmon Young hit a sharp single to right field. Matt Macri struck out swinging to end the inning. Twins 3, Yankees 4

• Bottom of 5th:
Position changes: Alexi Casilla in for Matt Tolbert at Shortstop. Jason Pridie in for Garrett Jones in Right Field. Matt Macri in for Brian Buscher at Third Base. Felix Molina in for Brendan Harris at Second Base.
Alex Rodriguez hit a deep fly ball just short of the center field warning track, but it was hauled in by Carlos Gomez. Alexi Casilla made a great dig and a phenomenal throw to first base to just get Giambi out by a foot. Casilla was off-balance on one foot to make the play. Jorge Posada hit a soft grounder to Justin Morneau at first base to end the inning. Twins 3, Yankees 4

• Top of 5th:
Brian Buscher hit a hard single to right field to begin the inning. Jon Knot struck out looking on an inside fastball. Garrett Jones crushed a home run to deep (deep) right field, also scoring Buscher. Matt Tolbert was hit on the back of his ankle, on the very next pitch. Carlos Gomez hit a shallow fly ball which almost dropped but Melky Cabrera made a nice running catch. Tolbert retreated to first base before Cabrera's throw reached the base. With two out and a runner on first, Brendan Harris hit a grounder up the middle and Tolbert was out at second on a fielders choice. Twins 3, Yankees 4

• Bottom of 4th:
Pitching change: Randy Keisler in for Julio DePaula
Melk Cabrera struck out swinging to start the inning. Johnny Damon hit a ground ball to Brendan Harris for the second out. And Derek Jeter hit a hard grounder under Brendan Harris' glove for a base hit. Jeter latter advanced to second base on a wild pitch that got away from Joe Mauer. Bobby Abreu then hit a fly out to center field for the third out. Twins 1, Yankees 4

• Top of 4th:
Pitching change: Joba Chamberlain in for Heath Phillips
Brendan Harris got ahead 3-1 before grounding out to second base. Joe Mauer hit a chopper to first base. On a full count, Justin Morneau drew a walk. Delmon Young hit a ground ball to third base to end the inning. Side note: Joba Chamberlain threw 18 pitches in the inning, 11 of which were counted for balls. He definitely was working on his off-speed stuff and only threw a couple fastballs. Twins 1, Yankees 4

• Bottom of 3rd:
Pitching change: Julio DePaula in for Kevin Slowey
Julio DePaula allowed a single to Jason Giambi on the first pitch. DePaula later balked, allowing Giambi to advance to second. Jorge Posada got behind 0-2 before hitting a fly out to right field on a 3-2 count. Robinson Cano hit an RBI single, but was tagged out trying to advance to second base. It looked as if Carlos Gomez attempted to throw it home, but Justin Morneau cut it off and tossed it to Matt Tolbert at second base to tag Cano out at second. Wilson Betemit struck out to end the inning. Twins 1, Yankees 4


• Top of 3rd:
Pitching change: Heath Phillips for Ian Kennedy
Phillips got Garrett Jones out right away. Matt Tolbert struck out swinging. Carlos Gomez hit a broken bat grounder to shortstop and was out by a few feet at first to end the 1-2-3 inning. Twins 1, Yankees 3

• Bottom of 2nd:
Delmon Young scared viewers (and himself). After Jorge Posada hit a fly ball to the left field warning track, the sun made him lose track of the ball and it scared him when he hit his glove. But bottom line, he made the out. Robinson Cano hit a double over Carlos Gomez's head, after Gomez made a bad cut on the ball, however he probably wouldn't have gotten it had he made a perfect jump on it anyways, the ball kept carrying. Robinson Cano scored as Wilson Betemit hit a double off of the center field wall. Gomez made a nice play getting it back into the infield. Slowey struck out Melky Cabrera swinging. Slowey then threw a wild pitch to the backstop which allowed Betemit to advance to third base. Johnny Damon hit a single up the middle, despite an attempted dive by Brendan Harris, Betemit scored from third. Damon then stole second base. Slowey then walked Derek Jeter in a good at bat by Jeter. With runners at first and second, Bobby Abreu hit a single to center field and Gomez made a wild throw to home plate and it went wide of the plate, allowing Damon to score from second base and Abreu to advance to second base. With runners on third and second, Alex Rodriguez struck out swinging for the third out. Phew. Twins 1, Yankees 3

• Top of 2nd:
Justin Morneau Hit a flyout to Melky Cabrera in center field. Delmon Young hit a home run to deep center field on a 3-1 count. One word... WOW. Brian Buscher hit a hard line drive to right field, however Jason Giambi made a great jumping grab. Jon Knot hit a grounder to shortstop to end the inning. Twins 1, Yankees 0

• Bottom of 1st:
Kevin Slowey had a solid first inning. He gave up a single to Derek Jeter and then Bobby Abreu hit a forceout to second base. He made Rodriguez look silly on a few swings before eventually walking him in a very good at bat. Jason Giambi struck out looking for the third out. Slowey pitched very well in this inning. Twins 0, Yankees 0

• Top of 1st:
Carlos Gomez almost beat out a bunt to first, but a barehanded throw by Wilson Betemit got him by a half step. Brendan Harris hit a single to left. Joe Mauer hit a 3-4-1 double play to end the inning. Twins 0, Yankees 0

Wednesday Morning Update

The Twins released their lineup for today's game against the Yankees, which is scheduled to start in just over 3 hours.

1. Carlos Gomez - CF
2. Brendan Harris - 2B
3. Joe Mauer - C
4. Justin Morneau - 1B
5. Delmon Young - LF
6. Brian Buscher - 3B
7. Jon Knott - DH
8. Garrett Jones - RF
9. Matt Tolbert - SS

Kevin Slowey (starting)
Randy Kiesler
Ricky Barrett
Julio DePaula
Dennys Reyes
Pat Neshek
Brian Bass
Oswaldo Sosa

Here's the Yankee Lineup:

1. Johnny Damon - LF
2. Derek Jeter - SS
3. Bobby Abreu - RF
4. Alex Rodriguez - DH
5. Jason Giambi - 1B
6. Jorge Posada - C
7. Robinson Cano - 2B
8. Wilson Betemit - 3B
9. Melky Cabrera - CF

Ian Kennedy (starting)
Joba Chamberlain

Not sure who else is supposed to pitch for the Yankees

It's going to definitely be a fun game to watch and I'm hoping the Twins can pull out a win on National Television, yeah, that'll show 'em! (I wish)

La Velle E. Neal III also reported that Francisco Liriano will start Friday's game against the Boston Red Sox. He also said that the Twins are working with Liriano to reduce the way he spins in his follow-through.

I also just noticed for the first time (probably has been this way for a while), but the Twins website has added Delmon Young to the top of the page, and took out Johan Santana. But like I said, I just noticed it today, but it's probably been there for a while.