\n\tThe standings don\u2019t mean much in late February, but a six-game skid still isn\u2019t ideal. Since our last check-in, the Twins have dropped six straight and now sit at 2-7 overall this spring. It\u2019s early, workloads are being managed, and plenty of pitchers are still building up \u2014 but this past week wasn\u2019t exactly clean baseball.\n<\/p>\n
\n\tThe stretch included a pair of Tuesday losses (10-5 to Baltimore and 12-1 to Tampa Bay), a 5-3 loss to Boston on Wednesday, a 6-4 defeat against Pittsburgh on Thursday, a 17-5 blowout by the Yankees on Friday, and a 13-8 loss to the Red Sox on Saturday. The results don\u2019t matter much this time of year, but individual performances are worth monitoring.\n<\/p>\n
\n\tWith that in mind, here\u2019s the latest temperature check.\n<\/p>\n
\n\tWho\u2019s Hot? \n\tIt\u2019s not just the production, it\u2019s the at-bats. He\u2019s controlling counts and squaring up pitches he should be driving. When a hitter pairs contact ability with impact like that, it stands out.\n<\/p>\n \n\tGabriel Gonzalez<\/a>: As if there wasn\u2019t already enough traffic in the outfield picture, Gonzalez is forcing his way into the conversation. Since our last check-in, he\u2019s 4-for-6 with a pair of batted balls over 104 MPH. That\u2019s loud contact by any standard.\n<\/p>\n \n\tHe\u2019s shown he can handle different pitch types and hasn\u2019t looked rushed at the plate. With all of the left-handed outfielders in the Twins\u2019 system, a productive right-handed bat like Gonzalez could make things interesting if this continues.\n<\/p>\n \n\tKody Clemens<\/a>: Clemens has swung the bat well early on. He\u2019s 3-for-10 with two walks and, notably, no strikeouts. For a player whose value is tied heavily to power, that kind of zone control is encouraging.\n<\/p>\n \n\tAll three balls he put in play Saturday were over 100 MPH, and he\u2019s hit a few others hard that turned into outs. Clemens likely projects as infield depth, particularly on the right side, but he could carve out a bigger role if he keeps controlling at-bats and hitting the ball this hard.\n<\/p>\n \n\tWho\u2019s Not? \n\tHis fastball touched 97.8 MPH, so the raw stuff is there. But when you can\u2019t consistently land pitches in the zone, velocity doesn\u2019t matter much. For a pitcher who\u2019s battled command issues in the past, this wasn\u2019t a step forward.\n<\/p>\n
Alan Roden<\/a>: I\u2019m not sure anyone has helped themselves more this spring than Roden. He\u2019s 7-for-12 with a home run, and the contact quality has backed it up. He\u2019s recorded multiple 100+ MPH exit velocities and hasn\u2019t looked overmatched in any situation.\n<\/p>\n
Marco Raya<\/a>: Friday against the Yankees was a tough one for Raya. He recorded just one out while allowing five earned runs on one hit and four walks. He threw only 16 of 31 pitches for strikes, and command was clearly the issue.\n<\/p>\n