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There can be plenty of surprises at the beginning of a season.

The Twins find themselves around the .500 mark and most fans would likely be happy if the club was able to keep up this pace for the remainder of the season. It might not be likely but stranger things have happened in the world of baseball.

One of the most intriguing players so far this year has been Kevin Correia. He has surprised most Twins fans with his performances on the mound. Of the members in the Twins ...

Updated 04-25-2013 at 08:23 AM by Kevin

Tags: carl pavano, kevin correia, matt macri, ramon ortiz, san diego padres, san francisco giants, scott diamond

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Twins

The Minnesota Twins had an off day. So did the Cedar Rapids Kernels and the Ft. Myers Miracle. New Britain and Rochester’s games were affected by weather, nothing new during this season. So, today’s Minor League report may not be long, but hey, there is still baseball to write about so we’re going to do just that.

There have been several transactions throughout the organization in the past week. On Wednesday, it was Drew Leachman who was promoted from Cedar Rapids to Ft. Myers. He started ...

Just a month removed from being celebrated for his amazingly quick recovery from Tommy John surgery less than 11 months ago, Mike Pelfrey’s numbers through his first four starts in a Twins uniform have been extremely disappointing.

This raises the questions of whether or not Pelfrey is completely ready for reintroduction into the major leagues. After all, this follows step with the plight of Joe Nathan in 2010 who rushed through his rehab only to hit a wall ...

Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch
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For a few years now, I have been doing a feature, pretty much on a monthly basis, which was called "Who is hot in the Twins' minors" (you can see last seasons' versions here.) This included a list of the best players in the Twins' system, based on cumulative performance year to date, broken down by position.

I am giving it a new twist this year: I am listing the best team of 25 players in the ...

Here's your quick, easy, inaccurate guide to the last week in Twins Baseball

Game 15

Cold Weathered Out

After going all the way to Chicago just to find out that another game would be postponed due to inclement weather, the Twins groaned loudly in protest. Manager Ron Gardenhire's offer to take everyone out for ice cream was a nice thought but...seriously...whose thinking about ice cream on the 79th day of February?

Game 16

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Tags: jesse crain, josh willingham, mike pelfrey, oswaldo arcia, wha happened?

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Double-headers are perfect. Ideally, the Twins would play twenty-four hours a day and I could always listen to them on the radio. There's probably some silly reason that wouldn't work, though.

Heard about the Arcia home-run on a quick phone check, then listened to enough game to feel like the Twins had it ready to put in their pocket. Then I alternated snippets of radio updates and smart phone monitoring to realize the second game might stay close, but it was probably never going the ...

Tags: arcia, john bonnes, rally song, twinsinstereo, zhivago

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Also posted at wgom.org

Bill Singer (1944)
Bill Krueger (1958)
Todd Jones (1968)
John Barnes (1976)

Right-hander William Robert Singer was with the Twins for four months in 1976. He was born in Los Angeles, went to high school in Pomona, California, and signed with the Dodgers as a free agent in 1961. He advanced rapidly through the minors, reaching AAA in 1964 at age 20. He averaged over 200 innings per season in three years at AAA Spokane. His numbers ...

When healthy, Joe Mauer is one of baseball’s elite players, and a fitting centerpiece for a championship-caliber team. The Twins are aware of this, which is why they locked him up with a $184 million contract back in 2010.

When they committed to paying the hometown star $23 million annually for eight years – up until he’s 35 – the Twins knew that the best value in the deal was likely to come on the front end. That’s just a natural facet of baseball and ...

There is no shortage of great story lines through the first three weeks of the Cedar Rapids Kernels' inaugural season as the Minnesota Twins Class A affiliate in the Midwest League.

To begin with, the Kernels (12-5) sit atop the MWL Western Division standings, with a one-game lead over the Quad City River Bandits (Astros). Cedar Rapids has had success both at home (5-2) and on the road (7-3).

The biggest story of the first three weeks of the MWL season has undoubtedly been ...

It wasn't that long ago that Oswaldo Arcia was a member of the Twins minor leagues. Today he made his biggest mark at the big league level by cracking his first home run and knocking in three runs. His long ball turned out to be the difference in the team winning the first game of their double header 4-3.

He would be moved up to the third spot in the batting order for the second game of the double header so it was an exciting day for the budding star.

There were some ...

Tags: clete thomas, eddie rosario, eric farris, lance ray, miguel sano, nate hanson, taylor rogers, trevor may, virgil vasquez

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Minor Leagues

Entering his fourth professional season, Rochester Red Wings pitcher Kyle Gibson is hopeful that this is the year he gets his chance to pitch in Minnesota. Currently listed as Baseball America’s #68 ranked prospect in their 2013 Top 100 Prospect list, and #5 on their organizational list, it’s safe to say that there are high hopes this year for the future Twins right hander. After batting practice on Monday, I had the chance to talk about his rehab, ...

Tags: kyle gibson, rochester red wings

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Rochester Red Wings

Also posted at wgom.org

Jason Tyner (1977)
Carlos Silva (1979)
Sean Henn (1981)

Outfielder Jason Reynt Tyner was with the Twins from 2005-2007. He was born in Bedford, Texas, went to high school in Beaumont, Texas, and was drafted by the Mets in the first round in 1998. He hit over .300 almost every year in the minors and stole a good number of bases, although even in the minors he did not hit a home run until 2004. He made his debut with the Mets in June ...

"Strike two, you're out," seems to be the current mantra for most of baseball.

One of the biggest challenges for batters in recent years has been their ability to come back in an at-bat after falling into a two-strike count. Since 2006, there has been a steady decrease in player’s ability to hit with two strikes. Last year, two-strike hitting dropped to a new low, as batters were only able to muster a .178 batting average.

How do pitchers have so much of an advantage ...

Tags: adam dunn, bobby bonds, ichiro suzuki, jayson werth, joe mauer, juan pierre, mark reynolds, martin prado, matt carpenter, prince fielder, todd helton, tony gwynn, wade boggs

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Twins

It's April 22, yet we're experiencing another snowstorm. The Twins were postponed and will play a split-doubleheader tomorrow (hopefully; I wouldn't bet on it). And despite having a day-off Wednesday, there won't be a game because the Marlins have 20 straight days with games starting Thursday, so they can't play Wednesday.

Only three affiliates were in action today, let's see how they did:


espn.com (Bruce Kluckhohn/Getty Images)
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Tags: aj pettersen, alex meyer, anthony slama, eddie rosario, jd williams, jose berrios, miguel sano, trevor may

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