After the Twins win today at Detroit they sit at 12-12, and now the real question is can they sustain this and actually finish the year with a .500 win percentage or better. I think the Twins can win 80 plus games this season, but I think they need to tweak a few things if they are to continue this pace and make us forget the past two horrible seasons.
The first thing that needs to be done is the Twins need to move Eduardo Escobar to the everyday shortstop position. I know Gardy and the coaching staff loves having him able to come off the bench and play multiple positions, but he is playing too well for this team to just have him sit out on the bench 3 out of every 5 days. Escobar has been better defensively than Florimon this season and hit better and hit for more power. If Plouffe continues to struggle defensively and doesn't bring the power from the offensive side, they could look at going with Escobar at 3rd and go back to the piranha days of a bunch of speedy defensive minded infielders.
The next thing that needs to be done is Kyle Gibson needs to join the major league rotation. Gibson is no longer really having struggles with his control at Triple-A. His strikeout to walk ratio is now at 3 to 1 and he is averaging 9 strikeouts per 9 innings with a WHIP (walks and hits per innings pitched) 1.11, so essentially he is allowing 1 baserunner per inning which is outstanding. He is one of the few power pitching prospects in our system and he is finally ready to come up and help us.
Lastly, they need to continue to be patient with the young players that are coming up. If these players like Hicks, Arcia and Dozier are going to be a part of our future they need to take their lumps and learn the game at the major league level. They need to learn how to handle the grind of a major league season at a young age to help them become better in the coming years as our good young core of prospects continue to come up. Dozier and Hicks both struggled HORRIBLY to begin this season but since essentially flip flopping spots in the order both have started to get things going at the plate.
All in all, if the Twins play their cards right, they could be much improved and make us forget about the past two seasons and make us look forward to 2014 and beyond.
Written by Nick Calo, follow me on Twitter for more updates and sports thoughts @PRH1987
The first thing that needs to be done is the Twins need to move Eduardo Escobar to the everyday shortstop position. I know Gardy and the coaching staff loves having him able to come off the bench and play multiple positions, but he is playing too well for this team to just have him sit out on the bench 3 out of every 5 days. Escobar has been better defensively than Florimon this season and hit better and hit for more power. If Plouffe continues to struggle defensively and doesn't bring the power from the offensive side, they could look at going with Escobar at 3rd and go back to the piranha days of a bunch of speedy defensive minded infielders.
The next thing that needs to be done is Kyle Gibson needs to join the major league rotation. Gibson is no longer really having struggles with his control at Triple-A. His strikeout to walk ratio is now at 3 to 1 and he is averaging 9 strikeouts per 9 innings with a WHIP (walks and hits per innings pitched) 1.11, so essentially he is allowing 1 baserunner per inning which is outstanding. He is one of the few power pitching prospects in our system and he is finally ready to come up and help us.
Lastly, they need to continue to be patient with the young players that are coming up. If these players like Hicks, Arcia and Dozier are going to be a part of our future they need to take their lumps and learn the game at the major league level. They need to learn how to handle the grind of a major league season at a young age to help them become better in the coming years as our good young core of prospects continue to come up. Dozier and Hicks both struggled HORRIBLY to begin this season but since essentially flip flopping spots in the order both have started to get things going at the plate.
All in all, if the Twins play their cards right, they could be much improved and make us forget about the past two seasons and make us look forward to 2014 and beyond.
Written by Nick Calo, follow me on Twitter for more updates and sports thoughts @PRH1987