Free agent pitcher and ex-Yankee, J.A. Happ, saw more spring training action on Friday, but perhaps he wishes he hadn’t after he was roughed up in a 7-6 loss to the Atlanta Braves. The Twins are 1-6 in exhibition play against the Braves. Happ followed Kenta Maeda, who was his usual sterling self. Maeda scattered... Continue Reading »

Twins starting pitchers Jose Berrios, Kenta Maeda, Matt Shoemaker, J.A. Happ and maybe Randy Dobnak or Lewis Thorpe, have pitched extremely well this spring. So well, in fact, that their collective performance has stood in sharp contrast to that produced by the relief corps. (My apologies to Mr. Michael Pineda who is very much a... Continue Reading »

Twins manager Rocco Baldelli unveiled the real deal on Sunday, using a lineup that we can probably expect to see a lot during the regular season. All the familiar names were there: Max Kepler, Josh Donaldson, Nelson Cruz, Mitch Garver, Jorge Polanco, Miguel Sano, Byron Buxton, Andrelton Simmons and Brent Rooker, who played in left... Continue Reading »

In games that Twins pitchers Jose Berrios, Kenta Maeda, Michael Pineda, Matt Shoemaker, Devin Smeltzer and Lewis Thorpe have started so far this spring — and this is likely to be the starting rotation, give or take Smeltzer, for the regular season — they have allowed a grand total of one earned run. That came... Continue Reading »

The Twins fell to 2-1 on the young start to exhibition play after the Atlanta Braves shut out the club 6-0 on Tuesday. It appears that Twins manager, Rocco Baldelli, went with youth on the mound and they didn’t fare so well, allowing 11 hits, including four extra-base hits, over seven innings. Braves pitching, meanwhile,... Continue Reading »

The not-so-terrible Tigers on Saturday swept a doubleheader from the Twins, a situation that now has the team from Minnesota looking up in the AL Central at new league leaders. The Tribe is in first, the White Sox are in second and the Twins are now in third place, 1.5 games out of the top... Continue Reading »

Ex-Dodger Rich Hill looked every bit like a 40-year-old pitcher and the bullpen was just as bad as the Brewers scored early and often to beat the Twins, 9-3, on Wednesday. Hill got into trouble right away, lasting all of two-plus innings. He allowed four runs, all earned, on 53 pitches. He also walked three... Continue Reading »

Kenta Maeda gave the Twins six strong innings and the offense followed suit to blast the Milwaukee Brewers and win the series 12-2 on Wednesday. This felt like the team’s most complete win so far this season. Maeda breezed through the early part of the game and the hits appeared to come easily as every... Continue Reading »

During the Twins’ six-game winning streak, the bullpen was the talk of baseball, pitching scoreless frame after scoreless frame and racking up six saves. That was not the case on Saturday. Despite three home runs from Nelson Cruz, Max Kepler and Byron Buxton, which also happened to be his third straight game with a long... Continue Reading »