Minnesota Twins

Game two of the series is going to go much better than game one did, right? OK, I’m not terribly confident about that, either, but we can hope. If you want something to at least look forward to… kind of… the Twins announced today that Sam Deduno would be called up to start on Friday in Detroit. It’s not that we should assume Deduno will be incredible, but he won’t be any of the same guys we’ve been watching fail miserably to start seemingly every other game recently. In the mean time, here’s tonight’s line up: TWINS @ BRAVES Carroll, 2B Simmons, SS Mauer, C Heyward, RF Willingham, LF Upton, J, LF Morneau, 1B Freeman, F, 1B Plouffe, 3B McCann, C Doumit, RF Uggla, 2B Hicks, CF Francisco, J, 3B Florimon, SS Upton, B, CF Pelfrey, P Hudson, T, P

Everything you need for Tuesday night's Twins versus Braves game is right here!

Braves Tim Hudson #15 / Pitcher / Atlanta Braves Height: 6-1 Weight: 175 Bats: R Throws: R Born: Jul 14, 1975 W-L G GS CG SHO SV BS IP H R ER HR BB K ERA WHIP 2013 - Tim Hudson 4-3 9 9 0 0 0 0 51.0 52 29 29 6 15 39 5.12 1.31 Tim Hudson didn't pitch in 2012 because, much like his opponent, he had Tommy John's surgery. Also much like his opponent, Hudson's been struggling a bit. In his last start against Arizona, Hudson gave up 5 earned runs on 8 hits and only pitched 5 innings. Hudson told reports after the game that the scouting report on Eric Chavez--who drove in 3 of the earned runs--hadn't been correct, but come on, Tim. Come on. The Twins players who have faced Tim Hudson in the past don't have a very good track record--although they obviously all faced him before his Tommy John's surgery. The Twin who's had the most success against Hudson is Ryan Doumit, who's still only 1 for 4 (.250 BA) against him. Josh Willingham is a dismal 1 for 20. You can see the full rundown here. Twins Mike Pelfrey #37 / Pitcher / Minnesota Twins Height: 6-7 Weight: 230 Bats: R Throws: R Born: Jan 14, 1984 W-L G GS CG SHO SV BS IP H R ER HR BB K ERA WHIP 2013 - Mike Pelfrey 3-4 8 8 0 0 0 0 38.1 57 30 28 4 11 18 6.57 1.77 Like Hudson, Mike "My Tongue Gives Me Powers" Pelfrey is also coming off of Tommy John's surgery, and also struggling. Pelfrey's last start against the White Sox was even worse than Hudson's in fact--Pelfrey surrendered 5 earned runs on 8 hits but only pitched 4 innings. Before that last start, Pelfrey had showed signs of improvement, however, so hopefully he can pick back up on that trend. Having previously pitched in the National League East for the Mets, Pelfrey has a lot of experience against several of the Braves veterans--and it doesn't look good. Brian McCann is 18 for 39 (.462 BA) with a .533 OBP and 2 home runs in his career against Pelfrey, and even Tim Hudson is 3 for 6 with a double. I'm not even going to go over the rest of the list because it's pretty depressing, but you can take a look for yourself.

In a mildly surprising turn of events, the Minnesota Twins have elected to give the fifth starter's job to Samuel Deduno. Following the demotion of Pedro Hernandez and recall of Caleb Thielbar, we speculated yesterday over a trio of pitchers who could make their 2013 MLB debut. The favorite was clearly Kyle Gibson, but apparently the Twins aren't ready to make that move. Deduno has made just three starts for the Red Wings this season, although after two rough outings impressed in the third by striking out eight and walking just two in 6.1 innings. He did allow four runs (after allowing a combined two prior), but clearly the Twins are looking at this differently than the fanbase. Possibly they see this as an opportunity to see whether or not Deduno has anything to offer the club in the future; Gibson's future is in no doubt, as he will definitely will be playing a larger role. Perhaps they see value in adding a pitcher who, if he struggles, won't give the front office reservations in sending him back down. Whatever the case, the message to fans about Gibson is this: when Kyle Gibson is brought up, it will be for good. He won't be brought up to make three or four appearances only to be returned to Rochester. The lone remaining detail on this move is to see who the Twins remove from the 40-man roster in order to add Deduno. Right now the roster is full. Tim Wood, Pedro Hernandez, B.J. Hermsen, Drew Butera, or Joe Benson would be among my list of players most likely to lose their spot.

Happy Kent Hrbek Day Twins fans! Here are some links to enjoy: Yes, it's true--today is Kent Hrbek's 53rd birthday. Please enjoy this clip of Hrbek being introduced in Atlanta in Game 3 of the 1991 World Series after the notorious Ron Gant incident (we love it, Kent). Anyone watching the game last night knows that Danny Gladden hung a Kent Hrbek jersey out the window of the radio broadcast booth at Turner Field, prompting Atlanta TV broadcaster Chip Caray to remark: "Kent Hrbek spelled backwards is cheater." Did you know Twins great Tony Oliva hit the first home run by a DH in MLB? Bob Sansevere recently interviewed Tony about his thoughts and experiences as one of the first DHs in MLB. Speaking of interviews, Mike Berardino sat down with rookie Oswaldo Arcia for his first in-depth interview as a major leaguer. The good news is that David Ortiz doesn't personally hate the Twins anymore. The bad news is that he is still a Twins killer. Tom Powers asked Ortiz about his transition to the Red Sox some ten years ago, and of course throws in the story about Corey Koskie putting peanut butter in his underwear because of course. There's a bat turning heads in Class A Cedar Rapids, and it's not who you might think. But John Sickles over at Minor League Ball did recently go to see Byron Buxton in-person and wrote a nice piece about his observations. People are still saying Joe Mauer is really good. What is notable about this recent Yahoo! column though are the comments on it afterwards. Oh my gosh, the comments. People are also still saying the Twins should trade Joe Mauer.

When the Twins announced that Friday's starter was TBD and included Kyle Gibson in the list of candidates, it rightfully generated some buzz. As fans, we've been waiting to see Gibson pitch far, far longer than we ever thought we'd have to. Gibson was taken in the first round in 2009, and I was hoping he could be fast-tracked a la Matt Garza and make a cameo in 2010. That was a long shot, since injury necessitated Garza's initial call-up, but 2011 seemed a very reasonable target. Fast forward two years and Gibson, now 25 years old, still hasn't debuted thanks to Tommy John. Frustrating? Definitely. Especially since the pitching has been so, so dreadful the past couple years. The Twins have waited so long to promote Gibson, though, that I have to wonder if at this point they aren't better served to just hold off another 3-4 weeks to prevent him from reaching Super Two status. I'll be the first to say that I dislike making moves based on service time implications. It robs the fans of the opportunity to see the best product possible, and it robs the team of having the best chance to win on any given day. I applauded the Twins for not being afraid to roll the dice on Aaron Hicks -- service time be damned -- even if I wondered whether or not he was ready. I wanted Gibson to break camp with the team as well, but at this point, with the Super Two cutoff looming in mid-June, what does a promotion accomplish? The Twins are seven games out of first place, and they're not exactly looking like contenders these days. Promoting Gibson now seems like an exercise in instant gratification, when patience may be more logical. It'd be fun to see Gibson up here, but it could literally cost the Twins upwards of $10M in the long run. Promoting Gibson will assure that he's in the top 22% of his service class, which will make him eligible for arbitration four times instead of three times. Instead of paying Gibson something like $490K, $510K, $540K, $4M, $7M and $10M for his six years prior to free agency (assuming all goes well), it'd be more like $490K, $510K, $4M, $7M, $10M and $13M. Even if the Twins were to work out a long-term extension with Gibson, his agents would have extra leverage in knowing that he qualified as a Super Two player. Instead of negotiating to buy out three arbitration seasons, the Twins would be buying out four arb seasons (plus however many free agent years are in the deal), which would significantly increase the price. Also, it's not as if he's consistently dominated the International League apart. I realize that sounds crazy, considering two of his past four games have been shutouts, but he's given up nine runs on 18 hits in 7 2/3 innings in the other two. I can see why Terry Ryan called him "uneven" when talking to Darren Wolfson last week. The Twins are seven games out of first place, and we're not really expecting them to contend. If this looked like a race that might go down to the wire, it'd make all the sense in the world to get the best players on the 25-man roster ASAP. But does getting an extra four starts at the Major League level in a season where the Twins aren't expected to finish at or near the bottom of the AL Central really outweigh the long-term cost? If the logic was to get him as much exposure to MLB hitters as possible in a season where his innings will be limited, that would make sense. But if that were the case, Gibson would've been up quite some time ago instead of Pedro Hernandez. I really, really hate making decisions based on service time, but at this point I've waited so long to see Kyle Gibson pitch for the Twins that I'd be perfectly ok with waiting one month more, knowing what's at stake down the line. That said, if he does get the call, I'll be all smiles as I set my DVR accordingly.

How fast is Bryon Buxton? He was out of the cameraframe before the bat landed in his first at-bat Monday.(Photos by Linda Vanderwerf)Last week, in taking note of a dramatic game-ending grand slam by prized Twins prospect Byron Buxton, I said I'd better get a move on if I'm going to see him play for Cedar Rapids this year, because he might be promoted quickly to Fort Myers.And so it was that I essentially burned two days off — Sunday and Monday — to see one minor league game. Monday afternoon, the Kane County Cougars (Cubs affiliate) at Cedar Rapids.I have plenty of observations to make from that game, and I'll dole them out over the next few days, but today's post will be about Buxton, because he was the big reason for the trip.Buxton homered in his second at-bat, a majestic fly ball that flew over everything in left field. That was his only hit in five trips to the plate. He struck out twice, reached on an error and was retired on a grounder to third.Byron Buxton awaits a pitch.And he made two magnificent catches in center field. In the first inning, Kane County's Gioskar Amaya drove a ball to deep center. Buxton made the catch with his back to the infield and hit the fence on his next step. The impact knocked him down, but he got up quickly.In the ninth, Pin-Chieh Chen drove a liner to left-center. Buxton made a diving catch just before the ball found the grass.(I was sitting right behind the Kernels dugout. Kernels coach Tommy Watkins had been moving left fielder J.D. Williams toward center on Chen, then had him move two steps back toward the foul line. After Buxton's catch, Watkins,who spent the game on the top step of the dugout, turned around and said with a grin to somebody inside the dugout: I moved him back because he was crowding Buck.)Tom Kelly has said that Buxton is the fastest player he's ever seen, and I saw some of that in play Monday. He hit a one-hopper in the first inning right at the third baseman, and the throw only got him by a step at first base.Buxton led off the fifth. He tried a bunt and fouled it off but ran it out as if to show us all how fast he is and how easily that speed comes. He followed with a soft grounder to short; the shortstop charged the ball and juggled it trying to make a rapid exchange from glove to throwing hand, and Buxton was safe. It was ruled an error, and I suppose that, had the shortstop made the play perfectly, he would have been out. I suppose. It certainly would have been a close play. I'm convinced: There is no such thing as a routine groundball out to the left side with Buxton.Having reached first, he stole second base easily. He then came around on a pair of ground outs.

Julio Teheran is a good pitcher. It just hasn't looked like it so far this season. But today, the struggling Twins offense bought into every bait pitch and couldn't catch up with the pitches they should have caught up with, and in the end Minnesota was cast aside like a junior high team. It was not fun to watch. Which makes me appreciate those of you who stuck around for the game thread so much more! Kevin Correia continued his downward trend tonight with a first inning implosion that led to a four-inning, five-run performance. He allowed eight hits. Granted, Brian Dozier should have been able to get the lead runner at second with one out (and possibly turn the double play), but he mishandled the ball and could only get the batter at first, but that's no excuse. The Braves were locked on to Correia, and locked on early. This is what we were afraid would happen. Kevin Correia in April: 5 starts, 36.1 IP, 1.07 WHIP, 2.23 ERAKevin Correia in May: 4 starts, 21.1 IP, 1.69 WHIP, 6.75 ERA ROLL CALL! Jesse (58) kenzertz (54) jere.johnson.37 (40) ColossusOfRhode (25) less cowbell, more 'neau (21) Mulholland Reborn (21) DavidRF (20) Sportsavenue (8) myjah (6) Marv_MN (5) Bullet Point Highlights The lone Twins run came off Josh Willingham, who launched a solo shot in the ninth. His sixth homer helped make up for how awkward he looked at other point in the night. Ryan Pressly (2 IP, 1 BB, 1 K) and Caleb Thielbar in his MLB debut (2 IP, 1 H, 3 K) were impressive out of the bullpen this evening. Pressly entered in the fifth and turned around a quick inning when the Twins needed him to, and Thielbar looked a little nasty with some of his stuff. After a strikeout to end the inning Thielbar walked back toward the dugout, and the camera caught Freddie Freeman giving him a look that, pure in simple, said: "What the hell was that?" After going 1-for-3 with a walk tonight, Trevor Plouffe is hitting .310/.375/.517. Chris Colabello has been starting in right field for the Red Wings the last few nights. What are the chances that the Twins see Chris Parmelee's struggles and are considering giving Colabello an audition. Because, really, what could it hurt? Aaron Hicks made a great relay to the plate from center field in the first inning. It was a sharp single by Freeman, but on a play where Jason Heyward probably should have scored easily from third base, Hicks nearly snagged him. The throw bounced once and was fielded cleanly by Joe Mauer, but his swipe tag missed Heyward by a hair. Studs Ryan Pressly Caleb Thielbar Justin Morneau In Limbo Josh Willingham Trevor Plouffe Aaron Hicks Duds Kevin Correia Brian Dozier Chris Parmelee Joe Mauer

Monday was supposed to be a noon start for the Kernels, but the storms that rolled through Cedar Rapids did a little number on the ballpark. They lost electricity for quite some time and there was some damage to signage and one of the picnic areas in left field. The infield tarp didn’t exactly end the night in the same position it started it, either. Nonetheless, the Kernels’ staff worked their butts off and the final game of the team’s series with the Kane County Cougars got started about 1:30. Personally, that worked out great for me, since I couldn’t shake myself loose from the office until after 1:00, but there were several busloads of youngsters from schools that only got to see a couple of innings of baseball before having to get back on their buses. The Kernels ended up winning the game 8-7 and claiming three out of four games in the series against the Cubs’ MWL affiliate. Byron Buxton and Travis Harrison each hit their seventh home run of the season this afternoon. I have no video of either home run. (Sorry guys, but I can’t capture every at-bat on video. I have to put my camera down to drink a beer every once in a while, after all.) But I did catch a couple of things I thought you all might enjoy seeing. First… here’s a video of Niko Goodrum’s bases clearing triple in the sixth inning. Goodrum is just one Kernels player with serious wheels. As I said, I didn’t get a video of Travis Harrison’s home run, which exited the entire ballpark and landed on 8th Avenue. Byron Buxton has hit a few out on to the same street, but his home run today merely cleared the LCF wall (borrrrrrring) and I didn’t get a video of that, either. But Buck doesn’t just score on home runs. Here’s a series of videos that I think demonstrates how capable the Kernels are of manufacturing runs. It happens to involve Buxton, but honestly, it could just as easily feature any number of Kernels hitters. Buxton leads off the fifth inning with a chopper up the middle. It was ruled an error on the shortstop and I understand that… but it’s highly unlikely that Buxton gets thrown out at 1B even if the guy fields the ball cleanly. Every infielder in the league knows that they have to play every infield ground ball perfectly to throw out at least half of the Kernels hitters. Buxton takes a modest lead off of 1B, but that doesn’t stop the Cougars from throwing over to keep him close. Nor does it keep Buxton from stealing 2B. The catcher, again knowing he has to hurry, doesn’t come up with the pitch cleanly and can’t even make a throw. Candido Pimentel expertly hits behind Buxton and moves him to 3B. With one out, Niko Goodrum makes contact and drives Buxton in with a ground ball. It’s not as flashy as a home run, but it’s an example of how Buxton and his team mates have used their speed to intimidate and ultimately beat their opponents through the first several weeks of the season.

doggone these east coast games.. I can’t hardly get home early enough to get these out to you! But here we go! Minnesota @ Atlanta Dozier, 2B Simmons, SS Mauer, C Heyward, RF Morneau, 1B Upton, J, LF Willingham, LF Freeman, F, 1B Plouffe, 3B Laird, C Parmelee, RF Uggla, 2B Florimon, SS Francisco, J, 3B Hicks, CF Upton, B, CF Correia, P Teheran, P Live Chat Software