Friday Notes Feast
Posted on March 14th, 2008 – 5:06 PMBy La Velle
I have a bunch of notes and observations from camp today.
Carlos Gomez is quite a player when he puts the bat on the ball. He needs to show the Twins that he can make adjustments at the plate or they will consider having him start the season in the minors.
Gomez needs to be more balanced in the batter’s box or he’ll always struggle with breaking balls. He’s a very confident young man, which the Twins don’t want to take away, but he also needs to respond to coaching suggestions. Friday, in which he was 2 for 5, was a good day in that regard.
People in the organization feel that Denard Span has risen to the occasion in camp. He’s batting .227 but five walks has his on base percentage at .393. However, he’ll need to boost that average to make the Span-or-Gomez decision tougher.
I don’t understand why Pridie has been taken out of the running so early. He’s the type of player whose skills won’t jump off a scout’s card but will grow on you over time. And he went 2 for 4 Friday to up his average to .310.
Joe Nathan looked real good Friday. “His fastball had a lot of life,” Gardy said.
Gardenhire also was impressed with Phil Humber’s three hitless innings of work (he did walk a batter). Humber could force a tough decision with a couple more outings like the one on Friday.
At this point, you have to believe Nick Blackburn deserves a spot in the rotation, with Kevin Slowey, Glen Perkins, Humber and others in the hunt. That would make the rotation Livan, Baker, Boof, Liriano and Blackburn.
By the way, expect Liriano to go into the season still trying to let the slider go like he used to. That’s the mental hurdle that must be cleared after Tommy John surgery.
Matt Macri, who was cut today, has the size to develop power and should be worth watching at Class AAA Rochester. Gardy said Macri will be moved around the Red Wings infield.
Make sure you check the gas gauge when picking up a rental car.
Twins lefthander Dennys Reyes switched rentals Thursday night but didn’t realize that the car given to him was low on fuel. Reyes was driving on Interstate 75 about 9 p.m. when the car ran out of gas and stopped.
Reyes left the car on the shoulder of the freeway to walk a mile to a gas station to purchase a gas can and fuel.
“I was walking back, and cars were coming at me going, `beep! beep!’ ‘‘ Reyes said.
Reyes said he got about 300 yards from his car and noticed a squad car was behind it. He began to run toward the vehicles but the squad car pulled away by the time he got there..
Twins owner Carl Pohlad, in Fort Myers for a few days, visited the club before the game. Confined to a wheelchair, he stuck out a hand and said, `how you guys doin’’ as he rolled by Brian Buscher and Garrett Jones.
Delmon Young walked up to Pohlad and greeted him with a handshake, but wasn’t aware who Pohlad was until Nick Punto introduced him.
“He’s the boss.’’ Punto said.
Pitching coach Rick Anderson has the flu and wasn’t at the park on Friday. Minor league pitching coordinator Rick Knapp filled in for him. Lefthander Carmen Cali was sent home with the flu too.
Matt Tolbert is a batting cage rat. I think he’s taken more swings in the cage than anyone in camp. He has little chance of making the team (Craig!) but should debut sometime this season.
A couple observers at camp feel that Delmon Young has the fastest bat on the team.
32 Responses to "Friday Notes Feast"
Nice to see Nick “McSuckin” Punto is have another spring training. Look for another .220 season of tail-battling!
Gee, so Tolbert won’t be our starting SS. That Gardy must be a complete moron
thanks for the update LaVelle
“Gardy said Macri will be moved around the Red Wings infield.”
This probably indicates that the Rochester infield (other than 1B) will be: Tolbert 2B, Castilla SS, Buscher 3B, Macri rotating…
Delmon is a scary man. The interesting thing is that he is less than 2 months older than Gomez, but when you see these guys in the box they seem light years away. Great pick up for the Twins…
rochester is going to be a fun team to keep track of…i hope our announcers this year will make more of an effort to inform us of whats happening in the minor leagues, especially AAA….wonder how to make a formal request for that kind of coverage…any hints Lavelle?? or can we just depend on you for that coverage?? that would be wonderful too…im sure you dont have enough to do just covering the twins…lol…………
Joe, is Phil Humber a candidate to fill out the rotation? He is outperforming everyone. Slowey. Perkins. Blackburn. Everyone.
LaVelle (LOL sorry I mixed up you and Joe’s blog above), is Phil Humber a candidate to fill out the rotation? He is outperforming everyone. Slowey. Perkins. Blackburn. Everyone.
A good time for the announcers to inform us about, down on the farm report, has always been when were getting the snot, beat out of us at the time,,,and Gordo wants us to look forword to something,,, I,ll turn on the Radio sometimes, and he,s giving farm reports , Iknow that were behind with out even knowing the score,,,
Span had two hits taken away in the game that got rained out. He is not struggling at the plate at all. His BA is more than 100 points higher than Gomez’s, and his OBP is more than 200 points high than Gomez’s. The choice is painfully obvious.
Another exciting thing about young is that he has only 3 K’s and 2 BB’s in 28 at bats. I refuse to accept Span winning CF yet. I’m hoping either Gomez gets his crap together or else they at least try a Craig Monroe/Jason Pridie platoon before throwing Span out there. Time will only tell.
Great report LEN. It saddens me that they have taken Pridie out of the race for CF. He is the best choice AT THIS TIME. Let Gomez avoid Super 2 status in Rochester. This team isn’t winning the 2008 World Series. Hope Billy steps in and tells Ron that Carlos is going to AAA whether he likes it or not.
Span is raw, Gomez is “rawer”. Span appears to be having a decent spring. From the sounds of things, Gomez has a bit to learn, especially about Twin’s philosophy. Gomez also appears to be pretty cocky and quirky. Nothing wrong with confidence, but as a young player he needs to be careful that the vets don’t start to roll their eyes at his soundbites and quotes. Cocky and quirky when your good is accepted (see ManRam). Cocky when you aren’t can get you in hot water with your teammates and manager. I see Span staying up and getting a shot to finally show what he’s got at the MLB level, and Gomez starting at AAA, learning the ins and outs and gaining experience and PT, and then coming up to help later in the year when injuries, etc. come up. I’m not comparing Gomez to Ramirez, but in refernece to his nature, I would love for him to some day get good enough for us to say it’s “Carlos being Carlos”.
LaVelle,
Consider ASKING Gardy why Pridie was removed from the CF race.
Please relay his answer to us.
Thanks.
LaVelle,
I apologize for not completing my post.
If Gardy’s answer is “we see him as a 4th outfielder”, please ask him why; ie., what skill set is Pridie lacking that dropped him out of the CF competition?
Thanks, again.
Aaron Fix, if your only concern is BA and OBP during a couple weeks of spring training you are correct. I however, think over time Gomez will prove to be the much better option. I could be wrong and you could be right, just an opinion.
-A
Sane, here is what Gardy did say regarding Pridie…basically thinks he is a 4th OF type that can play everywhere.
“I look at him as more of a role guy,” Gardenhire said of Pridie.
AaronK,
I heard that answer also, but I’d still like to know specifically what skill(s) Pridie lacks.
WHY does Gardy “look at him as more of a role guy?”
They must consider the CF job as a higher priority, so for Pridie to be eliminated, he must lack something.
Unless they are penalizing him for being too versatile and that just seems illogical to me.
“Reyes said he got about 300 yards from his car and noticed a squad car was behind it. He began to run toward the vehicles but the squad car pulled away by the time he got there..”
Oh course the squad car pulled away. They have things to do, they couldn’t wait the 2 hours it was going to take Reyes to go that last 300 yards!!!
Has anyone heard any mention of 3rd base prospect Matt Moses this spring? What is his status? Have the Twins finally realized he is a bust and will never become a big leaguer?
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Wow, these are some really smart, insightful comments … sheesh. My condolences to you, La Velle.
Matt Moses has been moved to the outfield for the time being. The top two third base prospects in the system are Deibinson Romero and Danny Valencia…
HEY HARRY PLOPPER - YOU GOT THE SCORE WRONG - UNLESS HOFFHARBER HIT A SEVEN-POINT-SHOT AT THE BUZZER TO WIN BY SIX.
That Reyes is really observant. First he didn’t know his Visa was about to expire and now he doesn’t realize the needle is a little too far to the left!!!
tolbert will make this team if they go with 6 infielders
Prediction Sid
Harry,
Hope your prediction is right on.
Wow I’d like to see Pohlads wheelchair its probaly made of pure gold from all that money he saved when the twins traded Santana.
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