At one time, Kennys Vargas, who stands 6-foot-5 and weighs 290 pounds, appeared to be the slugger of the future for the Twins. But with Joe Mauer established at first base and a variety of players to fill the designated hitter slot, including Miguel Sano, Vargas never really found a home with the Twins. Instead,... Continue Reading »

It’s that time of year again when sports publications and sports pages unveil their predictions for major league baseball. And many have praised the Twins for getting better in the offseason, but it’s still not enough, they say, to challenge the Cleveland Indians for the top spot in the American League Central. In other words,... Continue Reading »

The good news: The Twins are done playing the Kansas City Royals in 2017. The bad news: The Twins couldn’t win the series after nothing went right for them Sunday in an 11-3 loss. The ageless one, Bartolo Colon, showed his age Sunday after he gave up six runs in one-plus innings of work, or... Continue Reading »

The Twins have so far won two of a rare five-game series with the Chicago White Sox. They are now five games over .500, four and a half games back of the Cleveland Indians and continue to hold on to the second wild card slot in the American League, a half-game up on the Los... Continue Reading »

It was a wild four-game series with the Seattle Mariners. A blowout loss, followed by a blowout win — the Twins scored 20 runs on 28 hits — followed by a disappointing outing from Ervin Santana. But the series ended well Thursday after pitcher Jose Berrios went eight innings and limited the M’s to two... Continue Reading »

Aside from a poor start from Hector Santiago, who has since wound up on the disabled list, Twins pitching has been strong of late, helping the club win three straight games and six of their last 10. If they win Sunday, make it four straight wins and a sweep of the San Francisco Giants. Jose... Continue Reading »

Promotions and demotions were announced by the Twins on Sunday, but starting pitcher Kyle Gibson was not among the names mentioned. Instead, starting pitcher Adalberto Mejia is on his way to Triple-A Rochester, along with reliever Buddy Boshers, while Kennys Vargas was recalled and long reliever Justin Haley was placed on the 10-day disabled list.... Continue Reading »

Byung Ho Park will start the 2017 season as the Twins’ designated hitter, while Kennys Vargas, also competing for the same spot, likely heads to the minors with a one-way ticket to Triple-A Rochester. That’s the only logical outcome after the spring Park has had, compared to what Vargas did in March. To be fair,... Continue Reading »

Despite giving up three home runs in his last start, starting pitcher Phil Hughes still struck out four batters in five innings and came away with the no decision. And yet I singled out his tendency to give up the long ball in a recent post. But he improved on that previous effort by shutting... Continue Reading »