32-year old switch hitting 2B Orlando Hudson has been outstanding to this point for the Twins. He has played in 47 games for the Twins this season and he is 57 of 188 (.303 avg, .783 OPS) with 36 runs scored, 2 homers, 13 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. Hudson gets a lot of good pitches to hit batting in front of Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau so there is no reason to think that he won’t continue putting up good numbers. Plus his glove really is a asset to the pitching staff.

The Twins only have two holes on the roster as I look at things right now. With that in mind they need to get bold and make a couple of moves. First off I would trade catcher Wilson Ramos to the Blue Jays for Jason Frasor. The Twins need help in the bullpen and the Blue Jays would jump at making this trade as Ramos would be their starting catcher of the future. But he is blocked with the Twins by Joe Mauer and he isn’t going to help the team by playing well in AAA. Then I would call the Cleveland Indians and I would offer them Alex Burnett or Jeff Manship plus Alexi Casilla for Jhonny Peralta. I’m pretty positive that the Indians would make that deal seeing as they aren’t going anywere fast. Getting Peralta and Frasor would lock up the A.L. Central in my book.

31-year old righty reliever Jon Rauch is doing a fine job of replacing injured Joe Nathan as the closer so far this season. He has pitched in 15 games (0 starts) for the Twins this year and he is 1-0 with 10 saves, a 1.69 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP. He has very so efficient because he attacks the strike zone from the second he arrives on the pitcher’s mound. He has only walked 2 batters while whiffing 12 in 16 so far this season. Rauch has bought into the Twins’ guideline for pitchers of throwing strikes and letting the defense help you out.

The Twins are going to take it slowly with 20-year old switch hitting outfielder Aaron Hicks who is their #1 rated prospect according to Baseball America. Hicks has played in 29 games in A-ball this season and he is 31 of 106 (.292 avg, .859 OPS) with 24 runs scored, 3 homers, 9 RBIs and 5 stolen bases. He has now played in 141 games in three years in the minors and he is 149 of 530 (.281 avg, .814 OPS) with 99 runs scored, 11 homers, 65 RBIs and 27 stolen bases. The Twins are set in the outfield for now so they have no need to rush Hicks.

The Twins have placed starting shortstop J.J. Hardy on the 15-day disabled list with a left wrist contusion. Hardy has played in 25 games this season for the Twins and he is 25 of 100 (.250 avg, .699 OPS) with 11 runs scored, 3 homers and 11 RBIs. The Twins have recalled 28-year old switch hitting infielder Matt Tolbert to replace Hardy on the active roster. Tolbert has played in 27 games in AAA-ball this season and he is 26 of 112 (.232 avg, .632 OPS) with 10 runs scored, 1 homer and 5 RBIs. He has played in 112 games in parts of two years with the Twins in which he is 78 of 311 (.251 avg, .648 OPS) with 46 runs scored, 2 homers, 25 RBIs and 13 stolen bases. Tolbert will likely be playing all over the infield for the Twins while he is up with them.