Meanwhile, on the field

It was an excellent weekend for the Twins in yet another shiny new ballpark, Miller Park in Milwaukee. The Twins took 2 of 3 from the Brewers, scoring impressive victories on both Friday and Saturday. A few quick thoughts:

• Francisco Liriano is as good as advertised. He was masterful against the Brewers, showing that he can dominate major league hitters. He'll get cuffed around at some point this season, but he looks like a guy who could be a big winner, maybe even this year.
• Boof Bonser may have a silly name, but looks like a serious pitcher. Bonser did a nice job keeping the aggressive Brewers off balance, striking out 8 in his debut and giving up only one run in his initial appearance. Jesse Crain blew the game later, but Bonser is a poised fellow and certainly looked more impressive than the man he replaced, Kyle Lohse. Let's see how he does next time.
• Joe Mauer is a heck of a hitter. Mauer had nearly as many hits in Milwaukee over the weekend as Kirby Puckett did in his famous weekend in 1987. Mauer has a better understanding of a major league strike zone than just about any 23 year old hitter I've ever seen. The power will come eventually, too. When Mauer is about 28 or 29, he's going to be a monster.
• The Brew Crew has a lot of upside. The young players that Doug Melvin and Ned Yost have assembled are an impressive group. Prince Fielder is a very good young hitter, Rickie Weeks has a lot of talent and Bill Hall is an excellent all-around performer. The key will get getting their young pitching to be more consistent. This is the best Milwaukee team I've seen in probably 20 years.