Luke Hughes

[pikestabber]

I like what I've seen from this kid in Spring Training (as of today he is hitting at .375 with 3HRs and 8RBIs), and the little bit we saw of him last season was encouraging, too. If memory serves (and that is a shaky proposition), he hit a home run in his first major league AB last season. In any case, nice to have some potential depth at 3B where power is expected.

What do you guys know/think about Hughes?

[DonBo]

Hasn't he been playing some at 2nd? Like to see him play there and 1st base in case (or when) Morneau goes down again. His bat is definetly a plus, not sure how good he is defensively. I think Valencia will be our everyday 3rd baseman for quite a while, be good to get Hughes some playing time somewhere else.

[mrklean]

how has danny v been playing so far this spring training?

[DonBo]

how has danny v been playing so far this spring training?

He's 6 for 14 (.400) with 4 doubles.

[pikestabber]

He played 3B today, but they are trying him at different spots (back-up to Casilla potentially at 2B). He was brought up as a 3B guy, but that is Valencia's job to lose (and he doesn't look like he wants to lose it!). I just think about utility infielders, and Plouffe, Tolbert, etc., really don't excite me offensively at all... I know it's just spring training, but I hope he emerges as either competition for Casilla, back-up for Valencia, or some combination of either regular day player or regular back up, but his defense has a long way to go...and that is usually a big "no-no" for the Twins.

[Cicada]

Utility infielders don't exsist to excite you offensively. If they did, they wouldn't be utility guys.

[soldoncass]

I think Hughes played a different position(2nd maybe) and they moved him to 3rd. I would rather they kept him and dumped Tolbert....not a fan of his( or Ploufe either).

[pikestabber]

Utility infielders don't exsist to excite you offensively. If they did, they wouldn't be utility guys.

?

To say a guy can't play multiple positions and still be a viable bat in the lineup is setting the bar pretty low. I'm not asking for 25HRs, 120RBIs and a .350 average, but I also think a .210 average and no pop in the bat at all are not acceptable...

[greebs]

I think he does have the most offensive upside potential by far of any of the backup infielders on the team. What's his reputation defensively? For a backup on a Gardy lead team, that will be a much more important factor than offensive ability.

[pikestabber]

What's his reputation defensively? For a backup on a Gardy lead team, that will be a much more important factor than offensive ability.

I think that is the problem...he does lack the defensive depth of the other back-ups, but if he can shore that up, we might have a solid guy in the next year or two if someone else doesn't step up or come along...

[Big Tom]

Gardy has said he just wants the utility guy to be able to make the "routine" plays. With another homer yesterday, this guy needs to make the trip North. He leads the team in HR's, RBI's and is batting .350.

He is a nice late inning pinch hitter/offensive substitution and would be a nice option when giving the left side infielders a day off. Plouffe and Tolbert are worse than Nicky Punto was offensively and no where near his defense.

Of course Gardy has his own way of seeing things as he hinted Manship will likely be one of the relievers. This guy has a 5.5 era in his two seasons. How Gardy can compare him to Guerrier is beyond me.

[SledNeck]

Man. I wanna see this guy up in MN all season

[Superduty]

Gardy will pick the guy with the best defense and accept whatever offense is contributed as a bonus. Luke Hughes is having a nice spring. I'm happy for him, but getting on a 2or 3 week hot streak against spring training pitching doesn't make you a major leaguer.

[Big Tom]

Average down to .254 but another tater today.

[greebs]

well he got sent back to minors today. hopefully it will help him get more at bats and maybe we'll see him brought up at some point during the year. don't know if tolbert had any options left and if that played a part or not but no doubt tolbert gets after it and works his tail off.

[nofishfisherman]

I think it makes sense to send Hughes down. He needs to play everyday to continue to get batter and to reach his full potential. If he stays up he'll just sit on the bench and not have the chance to improve, the last thing you want to do is stunt a guys growth as a player, especially when he's that young. On the other hand I think its pretty clear who Tolbert is and what he'll bring to the team. He's pretty much reached his potential so having him on the end of the bench isn't going to change anything.

[blue_healer_guy]

Matt Tolbert, the new Nicky Punto. I am now going to go vomit, unbelievable.

[nofishfisherman]

Matt Tolbert, the new Nicky Punto. I am now going to go vomit, unbelievable.

I think you need to look at the bigger picture here. The options are either Tolbert or Hughes. How does it help Hughes to sit on the bench and maybe get 1 or 2 at bats a week? He has some real potential if he can get playing time so he can improve his game. It would be nice having another person with a little power on the bench but not at the expense of stunting the development of a player with the potential of Hughes.

If you keep Hughes on the team this year and let him ride the bench maybe he'll win you one game with a clutch HR, if you send him down and let him improve maybe next year he can make the club as a full time player where he can help you win many more games.

At the end of the day I seriously doubt that the decision between Tolbert or Hughes is going to make or break our season.

[bucketmouth64]

What infield positions can he play? I thought I heard he didn't play all of them. If I were him I would find a 1B glove and start learning that position not knowing how Morneau's recovery will go all season long. Maybe Hughes could be the next Cuddyer.

[greebs]

I heard he plays 1b, 2b, 3b and the corner outfield positions. Not sure how good he plays any of them though. Guess if he's slightly above average in rf ande plays mediocre at all the infield spots then he already is the next cuddyer.

[WasteManagement]

Another thing with Tolbert is his speed. If you use Kubel in RF and he is on in the late innnings. Pinch run Tolbert and replace him with Repko in the OF. You can PR Tolbert for the DH as well.

If Casilla slacks or there is an injury i think Hughes sneaks up to start. But he needs to play everyday.

[blue_healer_guy]

My point is we know who/;what tolbert is, worse than Nicky. We always use this excuse, the Twins way for years. This Hughes kid is flat out a better baseball player than Tolbert. But we have to not rush the kid, bull. If tolbert is the utility player, I WANT NICKY BACK!

[jwmiller33]

If we still had Punto, we would still have to fill his spot because he is out 2-3 months with a hernia, so we would still be in the exact same position we are in now

[SledNeck]

If I was the coach, Hughes would be on the opening day roster. Hell, he'd be starting and Casilla might be the one in the minors

[Superduty]

Twin shortstops earn their pay with defense. Any offense is a bonus. Does anybody honestly trust Luke Hughes to play major league shortstop? Really?