It is already two weeks into Spring Training games for the Twins, so it is time for the second version of the dashboards. You can find all 2013 Spring Training dashboards here, for reference.
Again, you can find explanations of the measures and the colors of the dashboards to quantify Spring Training performance of the combatants in both the position player and pitching battles in these two links.
The dashboard includes last night's game.
Here is the position player dashboard:
Few Observations:
Here is the pitcher dashboard:
Few Observations:
The next version will be after the cuts. Speaking of the cuts, I think that: Bryan Augenstein, BJ Hermsen, Trevor May and Alex Meyer from the pitchers and Kyle Knudson and maybe James Beresford might be it for position players. The World Baseball Classic has decimated the numbers of the Twins position players available,make it hard to field 2 teams in split squad games, so I do not foresee many position player cuts before other Twins return from the WBC.
Again, you can find explanations of the measures and the colors of the dashboards to quantify Spring Training performance of the combatants in both the position player and pitching battles in these two links.
The dashboard includes last night's game.
Here is the position player dashboard:
Few Observations:
- Aaron Hicks and Eddie Rosario have been given many accolades, but for me the surprise of Spring Training for the Twins so far has been Danny Rohlfing, the Twins' 23 year old AA catcher who for all practical purposes has been regarded as organizational depth. However, with his performance in front of the Twins' brass, added to his excellent defense at catcher and versatility (can play 1B and OF as well), he has to be into the conversation regarding Twins' Catcher prospects
- Aaron Hicks has taken the lead for the Center Field starter position
- The other 2 OF positions (RF and bench) are wide open, with Darin Mastroianni returning today from a hamstring injury-caused week's hiatus and Wilkin Ramirez performing consistently well and steadily leading Chris Parmelee who really has not found himself and is also ailing. I would not be surprised if Parmelee started the season in AAA.
- The infield battle and the bench battles are wide open. None of the infielders fighting for the 2 positions has been ahead of the pack at this time.
Here is the pitcher dashboard:
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Few Observations:
- He is starting today again, but Cole DeVries has been pretty consistent and effective as a starter so far, and I think that he is on his way to earn either a starter or the long reliever position, depending on other pitcher's health
- Speaking of health, despite what it has been reported, I will be surprised if Anthony Swarzak, Rafael Perez and Scott Diamond start the season in Minnesota on April fools'
- PJ Walters' performance has been pretty steady as well, but unlike DeVries, he has been used as a reliever and been facing lesser competition. He still has possibilities for a pen or even a starting role, based on health
- Kyle Gibson has had ups and one horrible game. The jury is still out.
- Alex Burnett and Tyler Robertson have been as disappointing on the pitching side as Chris Parmelee on the position player side. I would not be surprised if they started the season in AAA.
- Ryan Pressly, the Twins' Rule 5 pick has been the most consistent reliever; other than a horrid game, Tim Wood has been great; Mike Tonkin has been surprising good and Josh Roenicke had ups and downs, but he has been trending up. Could these four pitchers win the four bullpen spots? Time will tell, but it will be a huge surprise if Tonkin does, since the highest level of play he saw has been a half season at Fort Myers with the Miracle.
The next version will be after the cuts. Speaking of the cuts, I think that: Bryan Augenstein, BJ Hermsen, Trevor May and Alex Meyer from the pitchers and Kyle Knudson and maybe James Beresford might be it for position players. The World Baseball Classic has decimated the numbers of the Twins position players available,make it hard to field 2 teams in split squad games, so I do not foresee many position player cuts before other Twins return from the WBC.
