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Minnesota Twins
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Aaron Hicks is a batting average eating goblin. This would be a common refrain among Twins fans if “batting average eating goblin” was common baseball lingo. We should probably work on making that happen.
More importantly, we should put Hicks’s numbers into a little perspective. His astronomically, historically, atrociously low batting average, is astronomical, historic and atrocious, but let us free our minds a bit. The numbers I’m about to explore are not going to get good, I will ...
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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 question of whether or not Pelfrey is completely ready for re-introduction into the major leagues. After all, this is in line with the plight of Joe Nathan in 2010 who rushed through his rehab only to hit a wall a month into the season. Despite being the owner of a 7.94 ERA through 17 innings in 2013, the notion of removing Pelfrey from the rotation at this point appears moot. ...
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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? ...Here's your quick, easy, inaccurate guide to the last week in Minnesota Twins Baseball...'Game 15
Cold Weathered Out
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The history of Twins switch-hitters goes back to the first game the Twins played, but it was the last guy you would expect.
In baseball, a switch-hitter is a batter who can bat from the right side or the left side, depending on whether the pitcher is right- or left-handed. Most curveballs break away from batters hitting from the same side as the opposing pitcher, so they're often harder to hit than those from the opposite side. History tells us that most right-handed batters hit better against lefty pitchers and left-handed batters hit better against right handers. This so-called platoon benefit is why managers use pinch-hitters and LOOGY's and why some players want to become switch-hitters. ...
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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 – until he’s 35 – the Twins knew that the best value in the deal was likely to come at the front end. That’s just a natural facet of baseball and pro sports in general ...
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"Strike two, you're out," seems to be the current mantra for most of baseball. Unless you're Joe Mauer.
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 players' ability to hit with two strikes. Last year, two-strike hitting dropped to a new low, as batters were able to muster only a .178 batting average.
How do pitchers have so much of an advantage when it comes to throwing to batters with two strikes? ...
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It seems that just about every Twins game is snowed or rained or winded out these days. When is MLB going to wake up and start banning weather from their games?!? If nothing else, the Twins should have no home games in April, just in case it snows. Then, they should have no home games in May because of melting. June would be out due to mosquitoes. September is probably pushing it when it comes to snow again. August can be quite sultry.
The obvious solution: The Twins play all 81 home games in a row, immediately following the All-Star break. ...
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It's April 22 and 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 beginning Thursday, so they can't play Wednesday.
Only three affiliates were in action today, let's see how they did:
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I am not sure many really expected all of this.
The Twins are now 8-7 and have won four games in a row. This is while without their best 2012 starting pitcher for the first nine games, with Vance Worley being bad until his fourth start, with a horribly struggling rookie in Aaron Hicks, with Justin Morneau at even sub-2012 levels of production, with Ryan Doumit struggling, with . . . . well you get the idea.
The fact that the Twins are over .500 is surprising when you consider that only Joe Mauer, Eduardo Escobar, Pedro Florimon, and Kevin Correia are actually performing beyond expectations right now. ...
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On April 13th at Target Field, Aaron Hicks went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts, dropping his batting average to .047. It was the seventh time in 10 major-league games that he'd notched multiple strikeouts, and in total the rookie had whiffed in a whopping 43 percent of his plate appearances.
With the season two weeks old, even Hicks' most staunch supporters were facing the reality that his struggles amounted to more than a mere slump. ...
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After his start on Opening Day, I chatted with Twins starter Vance Worley about his on-going efforts to add a change-up to his arsenal.
Worley’s response was that he had not been quite comfortable throwing this particular pitch. Being a “feel” pitch, the right-hander bounced between throwing a split-finger change and a more conventional circle changeand he admitted to rarely throwing a change-up ...
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The Twins finished their home stand with two wins, two losses and 16 frost-bitten digits. Let's recap:
Game 10
Mets 16 - Twins 5
Yeah...that happened. But on the plus side, at least our name isn't a shortened form of the snobby title "Metropolitans". As in: "Oh, how droll! The Metropolitans have bested those cold weather klutzes in Minnesota! I must broach the topic with my Monacle repair man, when I go in for my bi-quarterly cleaning!" ...
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The week was dominated by the horrific bombings at the Boston Marathon, but there were numerous positive stories coming out of the tragedy, such as when a former New England Patriots lineman carried a woman to safety.
Many teams around the world of baseball paid tribute to Boston. "Sweet Caroline," which has become synonymous with Red Sox games, was played by most teams during a break in the action; even the rival Yankees stood united in support of Boston. Here are the fans at Target Field singing "Sweet Caroline."
Baseball continued to go on and there were some great stories from across the web. Have a safe weekend and give someone you love a call. ...
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Article: Series Preview: Twins vs White Sox, 6/18-6/20
Thread Starter: Brock Beauchamp Last Post By: PseudoSABR Today, 11:24 PM
Albers 4-0 in June, whip 0.92 including complete game SO, Gibson 2-0 June, whip 1.32
Thread Starter: robbie111 Last Post By: robbie111 Today, 11:15 PM
Article: Those Damn Yankees: A Twins Fan's Shocking Confession
Thread Starter: Brad Swanson Last Post By: Brad Swanson Today, 11:06 PM
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Thread Starter: SD Buhr Last Post By: SD Buhr Today, 10:56 PM
Article: Hicks and Melotakis: Kernels Roommates on the Rise
Thread Starter: SD Buhr Last Post By: SD Buhr Today, 10:56 PM
Article: Three-Bagger: Slowey, Gibson & May
Thread Starter: Nick Nelson Last Post By: jokin Today, 10:30 PM
Article: Three-Bagger: Slowey, Gibson & May
Thread Starter: Nick Nelson Last Post By: jokin Today, 10:30 PM
Article: Twins Minor League Report (6/17): It's a Miracle
Thread Starter: Jeremy Nygaard Last Post By: jokin Today, 09:57 PM
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Article: The Curious Case of Kyle Gibson
Thread Starter: Cody ChristieYou can view the page at http://twinsdaily.com/content.php?r=1910-The-Curious-Case-of-Kyle-Gibson
Last Post By: robbie111 Today, 11:29 PM