Infield Competition
In the infield competition, Olmedo got a start at shortstop and went 1-2 He also reportedly made a nice play in the field. Escobar replaced him and went 0-1. Dozier was at second and went 1-2 while driving in a run. Carroll (1-3) started at third with Sobolewski (0-1) replacing him.
Outfield Competition
Benson got his first start in center field and went 0-3 with a strikeout. Mastroianni replaced him and went 0-1. Ramirez went 1-2 as the starter in right field and Boggs went 1-1 in left after replacing Winningham.
Pop off the Bench
Colabello went 1-2 and drove in the winning run. Clement went 0-1. Both came in as reserves.
Rotation
Worley was the only pitcher to go more than one inning. DeVries pitched late in the game, after Deduno and Vasquez and before Hernandez. They all gave up at least one hit and Vasquez gave up a home run.
Bullpen
Burnett, Fien and Augustine each pitched an inning and gave up 2 hits and a run.
Summary
Olmedo's start at shortstop may move him up as a candidate for the utility infielder spot. Dozier helped himself by getting a key hit. Ramirez and Boggs both are trying to make their case as extra outfielders. Colabello continued to hit and is ahead of Clement for a bench bat spot, if one exists.
In the bullpen competition, Augustine may not get many more chances and he didn't take this one. Burnett and Fien didn't shine either, but both will likely be around until the end of spring training with a lot more opportunities. The late, one inning, appearance by DeVries may indicate the Twins don't think he is a serious candidate for a rotation spot. That was likely already true of Vasquez and Hernandez.
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Monday, February 25, 2013
Today's Bullpen Competition - Monday
There are nine pitchers scheduled to pitch today. Worley is starting, but there are four other starters on the list. Those include DeVries, Deduno, Vazquez and Hernandez. Burnett, Fien, Guerra, Tonkin and Augenstein are the bullpen candidates scheduled to pitch.
As the home team, the Twins will need at least nine innings from their pitchers. Worley will take two innings. That leaves 7 innings to be divided among 9 pitchers. At least one of those 9 will be held in reserve for the 10th inning if the game goes into extra innings. But, if they give another starter 2 innings, they can't fit an inning for all the rest.
Burnett and Fien are certain to get one inning each. Deduno and DeVries should also get at least one inning, although DeVries may get two. Guerra, Vasquez, Hernandez, Tonkin and Augenstein will take the other 2 or 3 innings. Hernandez came to the Twins in the Liriano trade, so this would be the first time the major league staff has seen him in a game situation. All five are likely slotted for minor league rosters. Tonkin is a hard throwing minor league prospect who could get a chance in the Twins bullpen later this year if he shows well this spring.
The Twins have a lot of pitchers in camp and its clear finding game opportunities for all of them is a challenge. That challenge will get greater for bullpen candidates as the starters get stretched out and pitch more innings in each game.
As the home team, the Twins will need at least nine innings from their pitchers. Worley will take two innings. That leaves 7 innings to be divided among 9 pitchers. At least one of those 9 will be held in reserve for the 10th inning if the game goes into extra innings. But, if they give another starter 2 innings, they can't fit an inning for all the rest.
Burnett and Fien are certain to get one inning each. Deduno and DeVries should also get at least one inning, although DeVries may get two. Guerra, Vasquez, Hernandez, Tonkin and Augenstein will take the other 2 or 3 innings. Hernandez came to the Twins in the Liriano trade, so this would be the first time the major league staff has seen him in a game situation. All five are likely slotted for minor league rosters. Tonkin is a hard throwing minor league prospect who could get a chance in the Twins bullpen later this year if he shows well this spring.
The Twins have a lot of pitchers in camp and its clear finding game opportunities for all of them is a challenge. That challenge will get greater for bullpen candidates as the starters get stretched out and pitch more innings in each game.
Top Prospect Lists "All a bunch of crap?"
"All a bunch of crap." That is what Philadelphia Phillies General Manager Ruben Amaro says when asked about recent prospect rankings that are devoid of Philllies prospects. Of course he wouldn't say that if he had a bunch of prospects on those lists. But is he right anyway?
Of course for sportswriters and fans who follow a teams prospects, these lists aren't crap at all. We are thrilled for our team's future when it has a bunch of young players recognized as among the best in baseball by whoever makes the list. Fans spend hours arguing over who is the better prospect and ranking their own teams prospects.
The problem is we often can't even agree after the fact on who the better player was 20 years after their careers end. Yet here we are arguing over whether some teenager who just finished high school will have a better career than a guy who is 25 already trying to earn a spot in the big leagues. In that sense, these lists clearly are "all a bunch of crap."
There is another level, however, where these lists lead us to seriously misunderstanding of the game. To the players and to the team, it doesn't matter at all - they can all be successful or all unsuccessful. They aren't really in competition with one another. They are only "competing" with themselves to be as good as possible. Of course, once they get to the major leagues they will compete for jobs based on how good they are. But if they are good enough, they will have a job.
Of course for sportswriters and fans who follow a teams prospects, these lists aren't crap at all. We are thrilled for our team's future when it has a bunch of young players recognized as among the best in baseball by whoever makes the list. Fans spend hours arguing over who is the better prospect and ranking their own teams prospects.
The problem is we often can't even agree after the fact on who the better player was 20 years after their careers end. Yet here we are arguing over whether some teenager who just finished high school will have a better career than a guy who is 25 already trying to earn a spot in the big leagues. In that sense, these lists clearly are "all a bunch of crap."
There is another level, however, where these lists lead us to seriously misunderstanding of the game. To the players and to the team, it doesn't matter at all - they can all be successful or all unsuccessful. They aren't really in competition with one another. They are only "competing" with themselves to be as good as possible. Of course, once they get to the major leagues they will compete for jobs based on how good they are. But if they are good enough, they will have a job.
Bullpen Competition Weekend Update - Monday 2/25/2013
Roenicke struggled a bit in his outing on Saturday. Wood pitched well. So did Pressly, although it didn't sound like he showed the mid-90's velocity it was rumored he had in the AFL last fall. Robertson struggled, even walking a left handed batter.
Martis is preparing for the World Classic, so he was stretched out to two innings. He gave up a run in his second inning and got out of it on a double play.
On Sunday, Perkin, Burton and Duensing all pitched. Duensing gave up some runs, but that probably isn't meaningful. They were followed by Perdomo, Slama and Guerra. Perdomo helped himself by pitching a 1-2-3 inning, with two strikeouts and. most importantly, no walks.
Slama got hit and lasted less than an inning giving up 2 hits and 2 walks. Guerra replaced Slama, walked a batter and then got the final out. He pitched one more inning, giving up 3 runs, including a 2 run home run. They are both longshots to begin with and, obviously, neither one helped their cause.
Martis is preparing for the World Classic, so he was stretched out to two innings. He gave up a run in his second inning and got out of it on a double play.
On Sunday, Perkin, Burton and Duensing all pitched. Duensing gave up some runs, but that probably isn't meaningful. They were followed by Perdomo, Slama and Guerra. Perdomo helped himself by pitching a 1-2-3 inning, with two strikeouts and. most importantly, no walks.
Slama got hit and lasted less than an inning giving up 2 hits and 2 walks. Guerra replaced Slama, walked a batter and then got the final out. He pitched one more inning, giving up 3 runs, including a 2 run home run. They are both longshots to begin with and, obviously, neither one helped their cause.
Competition Update - Sunday 2/24/2013 Game Results
Infield Competition
In the infield competition, Carroll started at second and Florimon at shortstop. Olmedo started at third base and went 0-2. Beresford replaced Olmedo at third base and Santana replaced Florimon at shortstop.
Outfield Competition
Hicks started in center field and leading off. He went 0-3. Boggs replaced him and hit a three run home run in three at bats. Parmelee went 1-2 in right field. Thomas, in competition as an extra outfielder, went 0-3 after replacing Parmelee in right. Mastroianni came into the game as a PR, stole a base and scored.
Pop off the Bench
Colabello replaced Morneau at first and went 2-2, with 2 singles and an RBI. Clement started at DH and went 0-1, with a walk and a strikeout for the second straight day. Ramirez went 0-3 with an RBI after replacing Willingham.
Summary
Florimon helped his case for shortstop by showing he could get on base. Olmedo didn't do much with his chance. Hicks 0-3 day didn't add any reassurance that he is ready to hit major league pitching. Boggs helped himself a little as an extra outfielder, while Thomas and Ramirez didn't do anything to help their chances. None of the guys competing for spots as "pop off the bench" helped themselves.
There was also an intersquad game where almost every player not in the game yesterday played on one of the two teams. They used two DH's in each team to get everyone at bats. I am not going to try to evaluate the meaning of those.
In the infield competition, Carroll started at second and Florimon at shortstop. Olmedo started at third base and went 0-2. Beresford replaced Olmedo at third base and Santana replaced Florimon at shortstop.
Outfield Competition
Hicks started in center field and leading off. He went 0-3. Boggs replaced him and hit a three run home run in three at bats. Parmelee went 1-2 in right field. Thomas, in competition as an extra outfielder, went 0-3 after replacing Parmelee in right. Mastroianni came into the game as a PR, stole a base and scored.
Pop off the Bench
Colabello replaced Morneau at first and went 2-2, with 2 singles and an RBI. Clement started at DH and went 0-1, with a walk and a strikeout for the second straight day. Ramirez went 0-3 with an RBI after replacing Willingham.
Summary
Florimon helped his case for shortstop by showing he could get on base. Olmedo didn't do much with his chance. Hicks 0-3 day didn't add any reassurance that he is ready to hit major league pitching. Boggs helped himself a little as an extra outfielder, while Thomas and Ramirez didn't do anything to help their chances. None of the guys competing for spots as "pop off the bench" helped themselves.
There was also an intersquad game where almost every player not in the game yesterday played on one of the two teams. They used two DH's in each team to get everyone at bats. I am not going to try to evaluate the meaning of those.
Sunday, February 24, 2013
Today's Bullpen Competition
There are seven relievers scheduled to pitch today. Hendriks is starting and Gibson is the second starter. They will likely each get a couple innings. That leaves 5 innings for the relievers. Perkins, Burton and Duensing will each pitch one inning. Those guys are set to be part of the roster. That leaves 2 innings for the relievers in competition for a spot.
Competition Update - Saturday's Game
Infield Competition
In the infield competition, Dozier started at second and Florimon at shortstop. Each went 0-2 in two plate appearances. Escobar started at third base and went 2 for 3. Sobolewski replaced Escobar and went 0-2.
Outfield Competition
Mastroianni started in center field and leading off. He went 1-3. Thomas replaced him and went 2-2 with an RBI. Parmelee went 0-2 in right field.
Pop off the Bench
Colabello started the game at first and went 0-3. Clement replaced him and went 0-1 with a walk and a strikeout. As mentioned above, Sobolewski went 0-2.
Summary
In the battle for bench spots, Thomas helped himself. He has a shot at the 4th outfield spot if Mastroianni is the starter in center field. None of the guys competing for spots as "pop off the bench" helped themselves. Escobar probably helped himself a little bit in the infield competition by showing some bat. Of course, its just one game.
In the infield competition, Dozier started at second and Florimon at shortstop. Each went 0-2 in two plate appearances. Escobar started at third base and went 2 for 3. Sobolewski replaced Escobar and went 0-2.
Outfield Competition
Mastroianni started in center field and leading off. He went 1-3. Thomas replaced him and went 2-2 with an RBI. Parmelee went 0-2 in right field.
Pop off the Bench
Colabello started the game at first and went 0-3. Clement replaced him and went 0-1 with a walk and a strikeout. As mentioned above, Sobolewski went 0-2.
Summary
In the battle for bench spots, Thomas helped himself. He has a shot at the 4th outfield spot if Mastroianni is the starter in center field. None of the guys competing for spots as "pop off the bench" helped themselves. Escobar probably helped himself a little bit in the infield competition by showing some bat. Of course, its just one game.
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