Friday Notes
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First
things first, I am on my way to the Twin Cities, in 11 minutes, for tonight’s TwinsCentric/KFAN’s Lindsay Viewing Party. The Twins play
the Royals at 7:00 tonight, and we will all be at Smalley’s 87 Club down by
Target Field. There will be drink specials throughout the night. There will be
some prizes. Basically it is an opportunity for a bunch of Twins fans to get
together and watch the Twins play. Sure, it’s been a frustrating year, but we
can still have fun talking about the team. It is also an opportunity to
contribute to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Donations will be
encouraged, but certainly not required. So, if you’re able, join us tonight!
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I
have to admit that I am thrilled that the Twins called up Brian Dinkelman. Drafted by the Twins in 2006 out of a small NAIA
school in Illinois. He has gradually worked his way through the Twins entire
system. He has been in big league training camp the last year. He has been very
consistent, and he is again having a terrific year. It does tell us where the
Twins season is going, sure, but you have to feel happy for a guy like that.
·
Of
course, it comes, in part because Trevor Plouffe has
struggled defensively, and he has made his way into Ron Gardenhire’s
doghouse. Has Plouffe struggled? Sure. Is it as bad
as Gardy and the team is
making it sound? I don’t think so. But, as the Rochester
Baseball Observer
pointed out very well, the Twins need to trade Plouffe
now because as long as Gardy is manager, he will
never get a real opportunity. It’s all part of the double-standard that the
manager has with some of his players. Plouffe gets
called out for everything wrong he does and we rarely hear about the good stuff.. Danny Valencia gets called out every day for something.
Matt Tolbert made a play the other day that he threw past Valencia at third
that cost at least two runs. Gardenhire’s response?
It was the right play, just a bad throw. And frankly, I agree. But Tolbert wasn’t
thrown under the bus, was he? In fact, the only thing we heard was that
Valencia wasn’t back in the right position. Well yeah, he tried to make the
play in the hole. Plouffe is a doghouse guy, even
though he is as good of a person as there is. It’s not the first occurrence of
this. It happened to Pat Neshek a year ago. Matt Garza.
Jason Bartlett. The only one that has escaped it is Glen Perkins, and I have no
idea how that happened. Gardy learned from Tom Kelly
who was notorious for being tough on your players, preferring sometimes the
scrappy veterans. Gardenhire is the same way. And
this isn’t a fire-able offense, but it is my one frustration with Ron Gardenhire.
·
Last
night, I was on the Twins Minor
League Weekly podcast
with Travis Aune. We talked about last night’s box
scores, some transactions and our players of the month of May, so please check
it out. (Note, you’ll have to bear with a short technical difficulty early in
the show, but it’s only about a minute)
·
The
Twins acquired former top outfield prospect Jeremy Reed from the Brewers AAA
team as depth at Rochester.
·
A
few injury updates to report on. It
sounds like Aaron Hicks could be back within a few more days from his thumb
bruise. I have heard that Brandon Roberts could be back from his oblique injury
in the next week. Angel Morales is likely out 2-3 more weeks with his elbow
injury. Estarlin de los Santos will be out at least
another four weeks with his elbow injury. The Twins have gone the way of rest
and rehab with elbow injuries again this year. It’s the way they went with Neshek and Loek Van Mil. This
year, they have done so with Miguel Munoz, Angel Morales and Estarlin de Los Santos. Hopefully it is the right decision
for them.
·
Brian
Dozier, Danny Rams and Bruce Pugh were named to the Florida State League
All-Star team yesterday. Congratulations to them.
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SS/2B
Steve Singleton and LHP Michael Tarsi were promoted from New Britain to
Rochester yesterday after their game.
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Final
thought, I know people don’t like him and think it is all about the nepotism,
but you have to have a ton of respect for Red Wings infielder Toby Gardenhire. Maybe it is just a small sample (ok, no maybe
about it), but after a 2-4 day yesterday with two doubles, he is hitting .294
in AAA with six doubles. There’s no way he sustains that, but I do think it
shows that he has worked really hard, and he can play at that level. Am I
saying he’s great? No. But he should not get beaten up as bad as he does. And
if he gets a brief promotion, oh well. I have no problem with that (well,
depending on who comes off the 40 man roster to make it happen, of course.)
As always, if you have any questions or comments, please feel free to leave them below.
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