Kuzul

There are many ways to show your fandom of anything in this world. Quoting a movie word for word, knowing the complete backstories to every character on your favorite TV sitcom or drama, citing lyrics of a deep cut of your favorite artist, or watching your team’s games even though it has no shot at postseason play.

The Minnesota Twins are one of those teams. I’ll admit I haven’t been the most loyal Twins viewer over the past couple weeks with the NBA Finals and Stanley Cup being on, but now all we have left as sports fans is baseball.

As a side note, the NFL returns in less than 70 days.

So let’s look ahead at what might happen in the second half of 2013 with a prediction for every member of the Minnesota Twins.

While reading, keep in mind this deep-cut lyric from Bruce Springsteen’s “Living In The Future”:

“Don’t worry, darling. No, baby, don’t you fret. We’re living in the future and none of this has happened yet.”

Stats current as of Thursday, June 27.

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Every year, I make the proclamation that this is the year the Kansas City Royals contend. Every year it turns out the same way.

Again the Royals have fallen on hard times, losing 14 out of their last 17 ballgames.

The Minnesota Twins, on the other hand, have hit a little bit of a hot streak by winning seven of their last 10 ballgames and pulling within 4.5 games of the first-place Detroit Tigers.

Sure, the Twins are still four games below .500, but they are within striking distance of first place. The question is, how long will they stay there?

The first step for the Twins is to dominate this Royals series.

On Tuesday, the Twins start a three-game set against the Royals in Kansas City, and it is absolutely crucial to sweep this series if the Twins want to be in the conversation at least until the All-Star break.

We are all set enough in reality that we know there’s not a really good shot that the Twins can win this division, but they have the ability to at least string us along for another month or so.

It requires a sweep of a struggling Royals team in Kansas City. That would give the Twins a good chance of closing in on the first place Detroit Tigers, who are starting up a series with the 31-25 Tampa Bay Rays.

After the Kansas City series, the Twins have a three-game series in Washington against the Nationals, then play at home versus the Philadelphia Phillies before the Detroit Tigers come into town for three as well.

The Twins are staring in the face of nine straight games against opponents who are under .500.

It’s time to put up or shut up.

If the Twins want to contend, they need to win a lot of ballgames over the next ten days.

It may seem like an obvious statement to make, win ball games, but this is your alert to tune back into the Twins if you checked out after that horrendous losing streak.

Tune in and watch a little ball. If you live in Minnesota, it’ll help make it feel a little like summer since the weather sure hasn’t.

If you really want to be proactive, buy some tickets for June 14-16 when the Twins take on the Tigers at Target Field.

Who knows? That might just be a weekend-long battle for first place in the American League Central.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Buster Posey, Buster Olney and Buster Bluth from Arrested Development are all pretty successful Busters. Even Buster Brown, both the comic strip and the musician varieties, are on the list of top Busters. They are not on the list of busts, which is nothing like being a Buster.

A bust is simply defined as something or someone that had high expectations put upon them and did not meet those marks.

We’ve all been a bust once in twice in our lives, right?

But we’re not here to talk about my failures…unless this article goes horribly wrong. No, we are here to talk about the busts that have occurred in the Minnesota Twins’ draft picks.

This list focused on the last 20 years of Twins first-round draft picks. Stats are from each player’s respective Baseball-Reference minor league profile page.

So what are we waiting for? Just bust a move and click on that begin slideshow button.

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The Twins can’t sell beer at Target Field anymore this season. Why? Because they lost the opener!

That joke is admittedly juvenile, but what the heck. In April you can joke a little bit about a 4-2 loss. In life you need to laugh, especially if your life is a baseball season. Baseball is a marathon of 162 games; if you can’t kick back and joke or relax, you’re going to drive yourself insane.

It’s not good practice to totally hinge opinion on one game, but that’s exactly what we’re going to do. Despite the Twins losing their Opening Day contest to the division rival Detroit Tigers, there were a handful of positives and a huge negative to break down.

Vance Worley Bounced Back

As the game got rolling, Twins fans’ hearts sunk to the bottom of their stomach. The optimism of a brand new season came crashing to reality when newly acquired Vance Worley gave up a run to the third batter he faced in a Twins uniform.

Worley started the game by giving up hits to Austin Jackson and Torii Hunter, before Jackson was sent home on a Miguel Cabrera fielder’s choice. Then after a wild pitch sent Cabrera to second and a Prince Fielder double scored Cabrera, the Tigers were up two runs before some fans even got their frozen bodies into the seats at Target Field.

In the Tigers’ portion of the second inning they got another run across the board on an Omar Infante single, but after that Vance Worley settled in.

What looked initially to be a long afternoon for Vance Worley quickly turned into a quality start for the former Philadelphia Phillies pitcher. After that, Worley only gave up three hits in a nice six innings of work.

Worley left the game after six innings, giving up eight hits, one walk, three strikeouts and only giving up those three early runs.

There was some initial fear that Worley would struggle after not having a strong spring, but after the initial butterflies got out of his system he turned in a nice performance. Worley needs to turn in a quality start every time he toes the rubber, if the Twins want to find success in 2013.

Bullpen Impressed

The bullpen may have proved that nobody should even care what happens during the month of March on a baseball field. The bullpen looked rough, to say the least, this spring but the trio that appeared in the game yesterday impressed.

The beautiful thing is that neither Jared Burton nor Glen Perkins was a part of said trio.

After starter Vance Worley’s six innings, Ron Gardenhire handed the ball to Casey Fien who struck out three in 17 pitches for a perfect inning. In the 17 pitches Fien tossed, only four were called as a ball.

The eighth inning started in the hands of Brian Duensing, who found trouble early by giving up a leadoff single to Prince Fielder and walking Victor Martinez. Duensing got an out on an Andy Dirks sacrifice moving the Tiger two up a bag each. Johnny Peralta was then intentionally walked to load the bases and then Duensing came through and struck out Alex Avila. That was the end of Duensing’s day when Gardenhire decided to play matchups and bring in Josh Roenicke.

Roenicke stood on the mound with bases loaded and he uncorked his first pitch as a Twin to the backstop which scored the-not-so-fleet-of-foot Fielder from third. Two pitches later Roenicke did get Omare Infante to pop up to second, but the damage was done. Instead of just a blast to tie the game for the Twins they needed a bloop and a blast.

For Roenicke’s sake he did pitch the ninth and didn’t give up a hit in his whole appearance, making his wild one the only real bad mark on the bullpen’s performance on Monday.

The bullpen finished the day only giving up one hit and two walks (one intentional), which at least for the time being quieting the questions revolving around the bullpen. It should not be looked over that this happened without using the two best guys out of the bullpen.

If the bullpen can make these kind of performance more of the norm and not more of a rarity, assuming the lineup can scratch across more runs, Minnesota’s boys of summer may be a little bit better than advertised.

Mauer Looked Good

Not only did Mauer look good, but he also turned in one heck of a ball game at the plate. Mauer strutted up to the dish five times on Monday and only once did he not get on base.

Mauer, now in the two hole in the lineup, a move that should have been made years ago by manager Ron Gardenhire, will get more at-bats and proved why he should get those on Monday.

In the first inning, Mauer reached on a ball hit to Tigers’ third baseman Miguel Cabrera that he had trouble getting a hold of, resulting in an error. Two innings later Mauer doubled to left off the flame-throwing Justin Verlander. The fifth inning resulted in a four-pitch walk for the St. Paul native and in the seventh inning he knocked a single into left. Only in the eighth inning left something to be desired from a Mauer plate appearance when he flew out to, you guessed it, left field.

Saying Mauer getting on base can only mean good things is an obvious statement to make, but it can literally only result in good things. The top part of the Twins order could be deadly for opposing pitchers: Mauer, Josh Willingham, Justin Morneau, and Ryan Doumit fill the 2-5 spots. If Trevor Plouffe and Chris Parmelee can impress that’s a heck of a middle of the lineup.

Throw in the table setters of Brian Dozier and Aaron Hicks this lineup could look like a real nice, run producing machine.

Plate Discipline

Those runs could really pour in if the Twins continually show the plate discipline they showed on Monday afternoon. The Twins drew six walks, none of which were intentional, from three different Detroit hurlers.

Right fielder Chris Parmelee drew two walks while four others all got one free pass a piece. Everyone in the starting lineup got on base during the course of the game by either drawing a walk or getting themselves in the hit column.

The Twins did make the Tigers pitchers work; the Tiger staff threw 20 more pitches (172) than the Twins staff did (152).

That being said, the Twins batting lineup did send up the big ol’ red flag of the ball game.

Lack of Clutch Hitting

Tigers’ manager Jim Leyland yanked ace Justin Verlander after 91 pitches and five innings of work due to the cold conditions, but the Twins did not take advantage at all.

Verlander wasn’t exactly unhittable, giving up three hits and two walks while striking out seven, but any time you get four innings against the bullpen in a Verlander start you need to take advantage.

The Twins only got four hits the rest of the ballgame which sounds bad in itself, until you learn more about the hitting problems in the 4-2 loss.

The Twins left 12 men on base in the ballgame, which still isn’t the worst stat of the night.

The Twins went 1-9 with runners in scoring position. Willingham, Parmelee and Plouffe all went 0-2 with runners less than 180 feet from crossing home. Pinch hitter Wilkin Ramirez grounded out with runners on second and third in the sixth inning to kill a rally. The only successful Twin was Ryan Doumit with a bases-loaded RBI single in the seventh inning and then the rally died.

After that Doumit single the bases were loaded and one out for Trevor Plouffe in the midst of a 3-2 contest. All that Plouffe had to do was to get a fly ball to the outfield to score Josh Willingham from third, but to no avail. Plouffe became a strikeout victim on the pitching of Drew Smyly.

Next up was Chris Parmelee and he was pretty much a carbon copy of the Plouffe. Parmelee struck out to end the inning and the Twins never got close to a better scoring opportunity in the remaining two innings.

It is widely assumed the Twins hitting is not going to be the issue for the 2013 campaign, but that was not the case on Monday. The script was totally flipped. If the Twins want to win more ballgames than many of the pundits say they are going to, they need to take advantage of those situations.

The Twins were just a mere sacrifice fly away from a brand new ball game, that wouldn’t again feature the former MVP Justin Verlander.

Sitting on a bar stool, tweeting like a darn fool, that’s what I’m a doing today. @CollinKottke

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Life isn’t exactly a fairytale. If it was I’d be writing this from a beach in the middle of the tropics, but instead I sit in the middle of the snow-filled farm country of Minnesota. There’s real rich soil, but it doesn’t quite have the same warmth as sand between your toes.

Sports have their own fairytale scenarios, usually referencing Cinderella. The MLB’s biggest Cinderella story might be the 2001 Arizona Diamondbacks. The D-Backs beat out the ugly stepsister New York Yankees and won their date with the Commissioner’s Trophy.

The 2013 Twins have the odds working against them to get to the big dance, but they might have a run in them. Not as flashy as a World Series run, but a peak at the division isn’t outside the realm of possibility for the Minnesota Twins.

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Cheers, everybody! On Thursday the Twins made a move that wasn’t just a minor league contract. The Twins traded Denard Span to the National League East Champion Washington Nationals for minor leaguer Alex Meyer.

With that move the ball is rolling for the Twins offseason moves. It should be an active offseason for the squad and they will probably spend more than they usually do. The Denard Span trade just adds to the list of reasons why.

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The Internet is a wonderful thing. It’s the only way you’re reading this right now.

The Internet has provided the masses so much information that it’s almost unthinkable. Everyday something new appears on the World Wide Web, and currently most of that happens to be coming from the social media site Twitter.

Twitter’s micro-blogging format is supposed to give us an inside look at the lives of our favorite people. Actors, singers, politicians, athletes, news reporters and friends alike all can be found on the site. A lot can be said in 140 characters, just ask the Patrick Reusse of the Star Tribune and 1500 ESPN.

During Friday night’s Minnesota Vikings preseason game, the long-time columnist and radio host sent out the following tweet:

Whoever these announcers are on Vikings game … they would meet homer standard for FSN duties.

— Patrick Reusse (@1500ESPN_Reusse) August 11, 2012

Those announcers were rival radio station KFAN’s Paul Allen and Pete Bercich, whom, if you listen to any of their broadcasts, one would gather that they are a very biased duo. Allen has a tendency to refer to the Vikings in the first person: “We have to do this. We have a tough schedule.”

I’m not saying this is a bad thing, but it is definitely within the realm of being a “homer,” as Reusse stated in his tweet.

By the same token, the FSN duties Reusse is referring to are the Minnesota Twins announcers Dick Bremer and Bert Blyleven.

On their telecasts the homerism isn’t as blatant, but it’s still there. The two most always shine a positive light on the Twins—a team that hasn’t had much light to shine on to them the past two seasons.

Twitter exploded when Bert Blyleven made strong negative statements about struggling second baseman Tsuyoshi Nishioka. This kind of thing is unheard of from the FSN North booth.

That being said, Blyleven seemed to take offense to Reusse’s tweet last night. So much that Blyleven couldn’t fit it all in 140 characters. It took three tweets mentioning Reusse:

“@1500ESPN_Reusse Very interesting that a guy like you can consistently criticize others when you played what sport? You are Mr. Negative!”

“@1500ESPN_Reusse For years you have been a writer that always looks for the negative. Keep up the good work because you are good at it!”

“@1500ESPN_Reusse I believe weather baseball, football or whatever sport, fans want to hear positive. The ones that don’t, listen to YOU!”

It was a highly unexpected exchange—Blyleven is usually very soft spoken. Here’s the Reusse rebuttal:

“Missed Bert’s blasts until just now. Was it Twitter-only? P.S.: If I had to do it over, I’d still vote for him for Hall of Fame every year.”

Later he responded to a fan’s tweet directed at him about the Blyleven situation:

“One-sided battle. I’m not mad at anybody. RT @chazily: does this mean I have to choose sides in great battle with @BertBlyleven28 ?”

So by the looks of it, Reusse isn’t mad at anybody, but Blyleven does not seem too happy with Reusse. Blyleven had additional tweets mentioning other Twitter users saying that Reusse is a know- it-all and that Reusse should run for president for that reason.

Well, Bert get over it. You’re making a fool of yourself. You made my point in your second tweet blasting Reusse. Patrick Reusse is a writer; in fact, he is a sports columnist for a well-respected newspaper in the Minneapolis Star Tribune. He is paid for his opinion on sports, in two different mediums.

Yes, Reusse is a negative guy, but that’s how you get readers or listeners. You have to go against the grain, and then people listen to you. Reusse is a self-proclaimed curmudgeon and he won’t back down.

Whenever you are in the public eye, you are putting yourself out there to be criticized, even when what you’re saying isn’t that much of a criticism.

I’m not much of a soldier, but I’m behind Patrick Reusse on this one. To steal a segment from ESPN Radio’s Mike and Mike In the Morning…Bert Blyleven, just shut up.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

It’s a bird, it’s a plane—it’s Brian Dozier.

Not much has brought excitement to Minnesota Twins fans this season, but the arrival of Brian Dozier might just shine a light of hope. Dozier made his major league debut on Monday for the Twins, going 1-for-4 at the plate while starting at shortstop.

Brian Dozier has been hyped in Twins Territory since last year and the failed Tsuyoshi Nishioka experiment. Now, Dozier is the starting shortstop for the Twins, when last year at this time he was playing for the Single-A Fort Myers Miracle.

This season was Dozier’s only exposure to Triple-A ball. In 28 games with the Rochester Red Wings, Dozier hit .276 with 12 RBI. Respectable numbers, and it really can’t get a whole lot worse than what the Twins already have playing on the big league squad.

Dozier’s call-up results in the move of Jamey Carroll from short to (at the moment) second base. In fact, Carroll has played 555 games at second compared to only 225 at short. Carroll has also played 225 games at third, which means that Carroll may find himself flipping back and forth between the two bases while manager Ron Gardenhire tries to figure out who is the lesser of two evils: Alexi Casilla or Danny Valencia.

This call-up isn’t going to save the Twins, by any means. The Twins are still 7-21 and a last-place team—they might be in cellar for a while. Dozier does give the Twins a little bit of hope, though. If he succeeds, Twins fans might be able to see a light at the end of the tunnel.

Brian Dozier isn’t Superman, maybe Jimmy Olson—or at least Krypto the Superdog.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com