Now, we are shifting our attention to another American favorite sport, one could say to be American original sports, Baseball. On this occasion, I will post about Minnesota Twins. Minnesota Twins first came to my radar today since frankly I am not such a fan of American baseball 
. But on first glance, at least from the articles that I read from the internet, Minnesota Twins seems to be a very good Baseball Team.
Read along below for various article that I found about Minnesota Twins.
—-
Getting the chance to be a major league pitcher for your hometown team can be a joy ride. For Glen Perkins and Pat Neshek, it’s been more like a roller coaster.
Both reached the big leagues in 2006, when the Minnesota Twins thought highly enough of the two rookies to keep them on their playoff roster. Neshek became the Twins’ top setup reliever to Joe Nathan, and Perkins went 12-4 as a starter in 2008.
It looked as if each would enjoy a long, successful career, but arm injuries derailed them both. Now, these two Minnesota kids are on the bubble, fighting for jobs on the Opening Day roster.
The Twins plan to keep seven relievers, and four of those spots have been set aside for Joe Nathan, Matt Capps, Jose Mijares and either Scott Baker or Kevin Slowey, depending on who becomes the No. 5 starter.
Neshek, a product of Park Center High School, and Perkins, a former Stillwater High School and Gophers pitcher, are among 10 pitchers still in camp competing for those other three spots.
Perkins, 28, is out of minor league options, so the Twins must either keep him on the roster or risk losing him on waivers.
“I don’t want to back my way into a spot,” said Perkins, who entered Friday’s game against Baltimore with a 2.57 ERA this spring. “Wherever I end up, it’s for a reason. If I’m here or somewhere else, as long as I’m healthy and throwing well, that’s all I’m really worried about.”
Neshek, 30, had a 1.69 ERA in five appearances before giving up home runs against Ryan Raburn and Miguel Cabrera on Thursday against Detroit. That day, his fastball ranged from 86-89 miles per hour. According to FanGraphs.com, Neshek’s fastball averaged 91 mph in 2006 and dropped to 89 mph in 2008, before the righthander had Tommy John reconstructive elbow surgery.
“There’s been so much made of the velocity,” Neshek said. “I’m kind of sick of it because everything you do, it’s, ‘What was his speed on the gun?’ With me, it’s always been about deception. If I’m not throwing 90-91, that’s fine. I’m looking for 88-89.”
Neshek has a funky delivery and relies heavily on his slider, especially against righthanded hitters.
The Twins have been hoping one of their righthanded relievers, besides Nathan and Capps, would distance himself from the others. Other candidates besides Neshek are Jeff Manship, Alex Burnett, Jim Hoey, Kyle Waldrop and Carlos Gutierrez.
Unlike Perkins, Neshek still has a minor league option remaining, meaning the Twins could send him to Class AAA Rochester. That’s where Neshek spent most of last season, going 5-1 with a 3.89 ERA in 30 appearances.
It was Neshek’s first year back from the surgery, and when it was over, he focused on rebuilding arm strength. Neshek said he noticed a difference early in camp, when he pitched batting practice to Twins hitters.
“I had guys coming up to me this year saying, ‘Wow that ball is coming out of your hand, and it’s really hard to pick up,’ ” Neshek said. “I didn’t get any of that last year, so that’s how I can kind of judge where things are.”
Perkins has regained the velocity he had before injuring his left shoulder in 2009. It actually came back last season while he was taking his lumps at Rochester, where he went 4-9 with a 5.81 ERA.
This spring, Perkins’ fastball has been clocked at 91-92 mph.
“This is the first year in a while that I came into camp coming off a fully healthy season,” Perkins said. “I started throwing earlier this (winter), not to come into camp in midseason form, but to have my stuff a little closer to game-ready.”
The Minnesota Twins have less than two weeks to finalize their roster for the April 1 season opener in Toronto. But at this point, Perkins and Neshek have grown used to life on the proving ground.
—-
The series on team offense continues with the Minnesota Twins. The Twins finished sixth in the majors and fifth in the American League in offense last season, scoring 4.82 runs per game.
The CBSSportsline probable batting order gives us a feel for the type of lineup Ron Gardenhire is likely to use. The OBP and slugging percentage used come from the Marcel the Monkey forecast system. One exception was Tsuyoshi Nishioka, where I reduced his career numbers from Japan by 20 points. Plugging those numbers in the Lineup Analysis Tool (LAT) produces the following results:
Best lineup: 5.32 runs per game
Probable lineup: 5.21 runs per game
Worst lineup: 4.99 runs per game
Regressed lineup: 4.75 runs per game
This is a very good team, especially if Tsuyoshi Nishioka lives up to his Japanese offensive stats. Alexei Casilla is the only hitter that looks below average, but I’ll take a .320 OBP from my shortstop.
Joe Mauer provides a great example of the conflict between the traditional lineup and the LAT lineup. Note that the best lineup computed by the LAT puts Denard Span, Joe Mauer, Justin Mourneau and Nishioka togther, but they go 9-1-2-3 instead of 1-2-3-4. Joe and Justin’s high OBPs work best in the 1-2 slots where they get the most plate appearances, while in subsequent times through the order, Denard Span acts as a table setter for power of the two big guns.
Morneau, of course, is the key. We don’t know how much his long term recovery from the concussion he suffered last season will hurt his hitting this year. If he’s healed properly, and with Jim Thome on the bench and sometimes DH, this team has a shot at leading the AL in runs scored.Minnesota Twins.
—-
Source
http://www.bellinghamherald.com/
http://baseballmusings.com/
—-
Well, today I gain knowledge on MLB team and it seems like Minnesota Twins shall be my favorites
