Twins Fiend

Opening Target Field In Style

2010-04-16T05:58:00.001-07:00

The Twins finally play in a ballpark! It took 50 years, but Minnesota finally has a true ballpark for their major league baseball team! Their previous 2 homes were stadiums, not ballparks. This is a true ballpark.

I picked the wrong game to attend as I was at the 6-3 soggy loss on Wednesday but it didn't dampen my spirits one bit. What a facility! Just walking around and taking it all in was incredible. I can't wait to go back!

By the way, the Twins won ANOTHER series against a playoff caliber team! That 3 straight to start the season!

Game 1 with all the pageantry, was still a baseball game. Pavano was solid if not spectacular, as he worked out of early trouble, and the Twins were able to give him an early 3-0 lead with RBIs from Cuddyer (who hadn't been getting much in the way of RBIs before this series), Kubel, and Mauer with one of his trademark doubles. Mauer would get a little lucky with his 2nd RBI of the game when a grounder bound for the shortstop hit 2nd base and gave him an infield hit scoring Span for the 2nd time (2 BBs). Kubel got the first home run in Target Field with a solo rocket to right field in the 7th to finish the scoring for the Twins. Pavano lasted 6 giving up 1 run and Duensing allowed a sac fly by Pedroia. Rauch got his 5th save in as many chances.

Game 2 was all about clutch hitting. The Redsox got theirs from an unlikely source (#9 hitter) while the Twins didn't from one of their big boppers (Morneau). Slowely struggled to get any rhythm going on a soggy afternoon, but muddled through 5 innings managing to keep the damage down to 3 runs after allowing 4 walks which is very uncommon for Slowey, and 5 hits. He hasn't started the season that well, but he is still keeping the Twins in games. The bats were shutdown by the Redsox new big-money pitcher John Lackey. Hudson and Mauer got RBI singles off of him in the 3rd but that was it. So both starters were out and the score: 3-2 Redsox.

The Deciding inning (bottom 7, top 8)
Okajima came in to get Mauer and Morneau with 2 on, after awild pitch, Mauer was intentionally walked, and Morneau steps up with bases loaded 2 outs, Okajima gets him to pop out on the infield harmlessly. In the 8th with Jesse Crain pitching, He allows a single, and double, intentional walk, and gets a popout for the 2nd out. Jeremy Hermida, the Redsox #9 hitter, steps in and laces a double in the left-center gap scoring 3... ballgame. Cuddyer's solo homer was too little to late, it boiled down to clutch hitting, and on this day, the Redsox had it, and the Twins didn't.

Game 3 was the Liriano show. Fransisco Liriano got his first start at Target Field, and going by the result, I'd say he likes the new ballpark! The most encouraging thing about his start was how he worked out of first inning trouble, after a Pedrioa single and Martinez double it was 2nd and 3rd with one out, he settled down and got Youkilis on strikes and Beltre to ground out to 3rd. In the 2nd he had 2 on and 1 out again, and induced 2 ground outs to get out of the inning. After that he settled down and allowed only 1 hit and 1 walk the next 5 innings while striking out 6 for a total of 8 Ks and only 2 walks in 7 innings of shutout baseball. He was able to hit his spots with a good fastball (92-94 MPH) which he used to setup his nasty 82-85 MPH Slider and occasional changeup. He got offensive support from Span(2 -2B, 2 RBI), Cuddyer (HR, 3 RBI) and Punto (3 hits, 2 runs scored).

Series Top Performers:

Liriano - 7 innings, 0 Runs, 8 Ks, 2 BB
Pavano - 6 innings, 1 Run, 4 Ks, 1 BB
Span - 3 for 9, 6 BBs, and 2 RBI
Cuddyer - 5 for 12, 2 HRs and 5 RBI
Young - 4 for 7, 2-2B, 1 Run
Punto - 4 for 11, 2-2B, 3 Runs
Kubel - 5 for 11, HR and 2 RBI

Muddling along

Morneau 4 for 13, 0 XBH, 1 RBI
Hudson 3 for 14, 3 runs, 1 RBI
Slowey 5 innings, 3 Runs, 5 Ks, 4 BB

Poor performances

Crain - .2 innings, 3 ER, 1 BB
Mijares - 1 inning, 2 hits, 0 Runs but got bailed out with bases loaded GIDP

7-3 to start the year with 7 of 10 games on the road against quality opponents. Great start! Now its time to beat up on our division as we play the Royals, Indians, and Tigers 2 series each from now through cinco de mayo.

Go Twins!

Good Division Baseball

2010-04-12T05:46:00.000-07:00

Twins played 3 in Chi-town this weekend and managed to win 2 of the 3 from the south-siders.

Pitching

Theme of this weekend series: Clutch Pitching. Both teams had plenty and as a result. 3 1-run close ballgames where runs weren't easy to come by. Overall the pitching was good, but not great as there were many base runners for both teams all weekend. Thanks to either clutch pitching or bad hitting with RISP the games were played close to the vest.

Game 1

Liriano's debut was good if not great. He 3 runs in 6 innings with 3 Ks but he did have 5 BB. The bullpen was awesome in the first game giving us 5 shutout innings: 2 by Guerrier, 2 by Duensing, and the 11th inning save for Rauch, his first 1-run save.

Game 2

Baker's second start of the season was a definite improvement from his first. He scattered 5 hits over 7 innings and allowed 1 run in the 5th on a double by Pierzynski followed by a double by Teahan. Very solid, and the Twins managed just enough (2 runs) off of Garcia, who also pitched well. Mijares was beckoned in the 8th to get out 2 lefties, but he walked Teahan and then Pierre sacrificed him to 2nd. Crain came in and did a nice job cleaning it though, inducing a flyout by Beckham and getting Quentin to pop out to Mauer in foul ground. Rauch closed the door in the 9th again and took the major league lead with 4 saves.

Game 3

Blackburn was victimized by 3 home runs coughing up 4 runs and then left the game in the 8th with 2 runners on and 2 outs, Andrew Jones hit a seeing eye single off Mijares to score the 5th run. Overall I think this was a typical Blackburn outing, gave up some long-balls, which he will do when he leaves a ball up, but pitched efficiently and ate innings (7 2/3).

Way to Go:

Rauch - 2 scoreless 1-inning saves in 1-run ballgames
Duensing -- 2 scoreless innings in relief and the win.
Baker - 7 strong innings only 1 run allowed. Good pitching, good win.
Guerrier- 2 scoreless innings in relief of Liriano stretching the game to extras.
Crain - 2/3 of an inning but with a runner on 2nd in a 1-run game, good hold.

Things to Build on:

Liriano - 5 walks is too many, but he battled and didn't give up too many runs, giving the Twins a chance to win.

Needs to Improve:

Mijares - 2 appearances and 2 dissappointments. Game 1: walk, sacrifice to start the 8th to leave a bit of a mess for Crain to clean up. Game 2: Gave up the game winning single (although he inherited the runners).

Lineup

The home runs hitting spree ended when we left Anaheim. The Twins bats were slowed by Chicago's pitching this weekend. Luckily our pitching did just enough to win the series.

Top of the Order Slowly waking up

Hudson's bat has woken up a little after a poor series in Anaheim as he was 4-13 with 1 run scored. Not great but he does have a 4 game hit streak going, hopefully his bat is starting to wake up. Span had similar numbers (3-12 with 2 BB and 2 runs scored), not great but slight improvement from 1st series.

Middle of Lineup is coming around

One week into the season, Mauer and Morneau are off to good starts, Cuddyer is hitting for average but finally got his first RBI. Kubel got the big hit on Saturday with his first home-run (a 2 run shot) of the season, and Thome is what we have expected, bring a powerful bat in small doses.

Bottom of Lineup better than expected so far

Hardy & Young have been pleasant surprises so far, Harris has made the most of his chances, and Punto is.. well.. Punto, our weakest offensive regular.

Defense has been good with only 1 error in the first week.

Managing/Coaching? Well I have disagreed with Gardy on some decisions but overall can't complain, but Scotty Ulger's sending of Hardy on that last out on Sunday was a huge mistake, as Hardy was out by 4 steps!! It wasn't even close. Punto was the next hitter, with virtually no bench moves left (Casilla & Butera), but I would have liked to at least see Punto try.

It was a great opening road trip 5-2 is better than expected. Now lets break in Target field with some good baseball. I'll be there in person for Game 2.

Go Twins!

2010 Opening Series Summary

2010-04-09T07:22:00.000-07:00

The long anticipated debut of the 2010 Minnesota Twins has come. The 4 game opening series is over. The result? First series win in Anaheim since 2002, as we lose the opener but win the last 3 games of the series.

Lets break it down.

Starting Pitching

Scott Baker struggled early with control and never really found a good groove. Gave up 4 runs and couldn't get through 5 innings giving up 4 runs. I'm sure the nerves were partly to blame early on. 92 pitches in 4 2/3 innings is high, something to keep an eye on as had problems finishing off hitters in '09 causing pitch count to get high early.
Nick Blackburn took the mound to start the game with a 3 run lead (thanks to Mauer & Young) and surprisingly had command issues early walking first 2 batters, but got out of that jam by getting double play off of Torii's bat. But that was the last time he got Torii out as he had RBI single and 2-run homer off Blackburn in the 3rd and 5th respectively. Luckily no other Angel hitter was able to break through against Blacky and he handed the ball over to the bullpen with a 5-3 lead after 6 2/3 innings ... officially a Quality Start. Overall he spread out 8 hits and 4 walks over 7 innings so it wasn't a great performance but he battled and kept the damage on the scoreboard to a minimum.
Carl Pavano pitched 7 solid innings, not dominant but only gave up 1 run, no walks (1 HBP), and 6 hits. He did battle out of a bases-loaded 1 out jam in the 2nd, and eventually gave up a 2 out RBI infield single to Rivera but both Matsui's double and Riveras single could have been outs, they weren't routine plays but I expect the Twins to usually make one of the two. That being his only blemish he pitched very solid and earned a nice win.
Kevin Slowey's line reads 5 1/3 innings, 1 run (earned), 2 walks, 3 Ks and 92 pitches. Similar to Blackburn, Slowey muddled through, not pitching great but battling to keep damage to a minimum. He had 2 on and less than 2 outs in the 1st, 2nd, and 5th. To Slowey's credit only 1 run allowed, on the downside 5.1 innings isn't ideal.

In summary, Pavano was very strong while Slowey and Blackburn minimized damage while having enough run support, and Baker's start wasn't horrible was below average without enough run support.

Bullpen

Jon Rauch - 2 saves in 2 appearance both times he had a 3 run lead and only had 1 inning save required. So the conditions were optimal to start him off with some confidence. He allowed 1 run in the 2nd save but was very serviceable in his new role.
Matt Guerrier - allowed only 1 hit in 2 innings of work in the middle games of the series. Very solid doing his job as 7th/8th inning setup guy.
Jesse Crain - 2 appearances 2 very solid holds. Getting 5 big outs game 1 of series bridging the gap from Baker to Mijares nicely. In game 4 he struck out the side in his 1 inning of relief while allowing his first hit of the season.
Jose Mijares - struggled in Game 1 giving up 3 hits including back to back home runs, the first of which was to Matsui a lefty which is odd for the left-handed Mijares who has history of dominance against left handed hitters. But he rebounded nicely in game 4 of the series getting 2 strikeouts and recording a 1-2-3 inning.
Pat Neshek - His first regular season action in 1 1/2 seasons was mop up duty in the game 1 loss pitching the 8th. He allows 1 hit but got through the inning and got that much needed confidence that carried through to his appearance in Game 4 where he got 2 big outs with 2 men on and only 1 out in the 6th when the game was still just a 2-run lead.
Brian Duensing - In game 2 came in as a lefty specialist after Mijares struggled the night before and got Matsui to ground out weakly to 2nd base with Hunter on 2nd in a 2 run ball game. Nice to see Gardy using Duensing in this role some, as I know he will also be used as a long man in the pen.
Alex Burnett -- He came into the game in a perfect situation to make an MLB debut, no pressure, just mop up duty in the 9th with a 9 run lead. He got Izturi, Napoli, and Quinlan 1-2-3, so while he didn't have too tough of batters to face he did get the job done with 2 fly outs and a strikeout.

All 7 guys got action in this series, and all 7 made positive contributions. Other than Mijares giving up 2 HRs, and Rauch giving up a meaningless run, this bullpen pitched outstanding and are a huge reason for the 3 wins in this series, especially holding things down in game 1 and 4 after somewhat short starts by Baker and Slowey.

Lineup

Strong Opening series

JJ Hardy -- great start as a Twin -- 1.040 OPS including 2 home runs and 5 hits.
Justin Morneau -- after struggling this spring -- 1.240 OPS including 2 HR, 4 BB, and 6 runs scored.
Delmon Young -- hopefully a sign of things to come - 1.141 OPS , 2 HR, 6 RBI, only 1 K
Jim Thome -- only 9 AB but making his presence felt -- .967 OPS, HR, 2B, and 3 RBI
Brendan Harris -- making a case for more starts -- only 5 PA but a huge 2-run HR and a walk
Joe Mauer -- this is Joe being Joe -- 1.012 OPS, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 3 runs, 2 BB

Holding their Own

Michael Cuddyer -- solid if not spectacular -- 6 for 16 but only 1 extra base hit (2B) , 1 run, and no RBI
Nick Punto -- acceptable for #9 spot in order -- 2 for 8, triple, RBI, Run, & 1 steal

Struggled in this Series

Denard Span -- out of sync with bat -- 1 for 16 with 1 walk and .111 OBP and no runs scored.
Orlando Hudson -- slow start as Twin -- 3 for 17 with no walks and .222 OBP
Jason Kubel -- yet to find his groove -- 1 for 9 with 3 Ks, but drew 3 walks

Alexi Casilla played very little and Drew Butera not at all in this series.

Its a great sign for the Twins to be able to score 25 runs in 4 games without getting much at all from top of the order table setter. The home run was our weapon this week hitting 9 homeruns in 4 games is awesome, but don't expect that pace to continue. We will need more from Hudson and Span to continue to produce offensively.

Series Summary

My impressions of this series are that we won this series because of the home run and a strong performance by the bullpen as well as Pavano, while the other starters were serviceable. The homerun's won't always be in this big of number, however the top of the lineup shouldn't struggle this badly over the long haul either allowing us to manufacture more runs in other ways. It was a great start to the season, and I hope we can carry it over to Chicago this weekend.

Go Twins!

Spring Training Review

2010-04-07T06:51:00.000-07:00

I am a little late in issuing this as the Twins have already played 2 regular season games.

My plan for this blog is to post an entry for each series so I'll comment on the Angels series on Friday morning.

Spring Training Highlights

MLB Players

Delmon Young had a great Spring and came to came having shed 30 pounds in the offseason. Looks like he has rededicated himself to having a breakthrough season. I can't help but wonder if the early offseason trade of Gomez spurred Delmon on, since the trade basically gave him the everyday left fielders job for 2010 (as long as he performs).
Francisco Liriano had a great off-season some saying his trademark nasty slider from 2006 looks to be back. He carried over his play in Dominican Winter league into spring training and won the 5th starters role, hopefully he will soon move up the ladder and show he is a top of the rotation guy we all think he is capable of being.
Michael Cuddyer scorched the ball this spring leading the team in batting average throughout spring. Hopefully he continues to deliver from the right side of the plate.

Prospects

Anthony Slama had a very impressive spring and I believe will be called up sometime this season to help in the bullpen.
Wilson Ramos impressed everyone with his offense and defense and is a better catcher that Drew Butera but it was determined he needs to play everyday and get more experience in AAA. With Jose Morales, Butera, and Ramos behind Joe Mauer the Twins have no shortage of catching depth in their organization.
Danny Velencia was the best everyday third baseman offensively in camp. He will most certainly get a chance in Minnesota if Punto, Harris, or Casilla get injured or flounder.

Spring Training Lowlights

With the good there is always the bad.

Losing Joe Nathan for the season is by far and away the biggest lowlight of the 2010 Spring training for the Twins. It is impossible to fill his shoes but hopefully the depth in the bullpen will help us fill the void. Jon Rauch was named his replacement after it was initially said we were to do the "closer by committee" approach. Everyone in the bullpen has to step it up and see it as an opportunity to have a bigger role for the team.
Jose Morales had to have wrist surgery shortly before camp opened. He was slated to be the backup to Joe Mauer for the Twins this year, but missing Spring training and at least the first few weeks of the season is not the way Jose wanted to start the season. Luckily the afore mentioned catching depth will fill the gap in the short term, lets all hope he comes back and plays well backing up Joe.

Clearly there is more in-depth analysis of more prospects and other players who I could cover in detail, however many of the Twins blogs out there have covered it all in detail. This is just a rough overview of players I think will/could impact the success of the 2010 Twins.

Nathan is a big blow, but no other injuries to major players is a good sign. We know each year there will be injury challenges to overcome. Hopefully our depth within the organization will get us through whatever other things come up as the season progresses.

2010 Opening Day Roster

The big league lineup is the best I have ever seen a Twins lineup:

1. Denard Span
2. Orlando Hudson
3. Joe Mauer
4. Justin Morneau
5. Michael Cuddyer
6. Jason Kubel
7. Delmon Young
8. J.J. Hardy
9. Nick Punto

Top quality table setters in 1 & 2 ... and 3 - 8 can all hit for power. Punto is the weak link, but its an even year and he seems to play better on even years. Clearly the most promising looking lineup I've seen the Twins have since... well... since I've been watching (since '85)!

Staring Rotation is solid if not spectacular:

1. Scott Baker
2. Nick Blackburn
3. Carl Pavano
4. Kevin Slowey
5. Francisco Liriano

Baker is probably a #2 or #3 but will start the season as the Twins Ace. Blackburn, Slowey and Pavano are #3 or #4 quality starters going by their numbers. Liriano is the wildcard, if he can show some semblance of the slider he threw pre-surgery, he could become the Ace, but he could also be the Liriano who looked lost in 2009 and be demoted to the bullpen.

Bullpen

Closer: Jon Rauch
7/8th inning RH: Matt Guerrier
7/8th inning LH: Jose Mijares
6/7th inning: Jesse Crain
6/7th inning: Pat Neshek
Long man and LH specialist: Brian Duensing
Long man RH: Alex Burnett

A strength coming into camp looks a lot shakier without Nathan, however still looks very serviceable. Crain and Neschek will be the key to keeping Guerrier from being over used. Mijares is the wildcard here. If he can demonstrate an ability to get out right handed hitters his role will become bigger and more valuable than just a lefty specialist.

Bench:

Jim Thome - PH/DH and emergency 1st basemen
Drew Butera - Backup Catcher (until Morales returns)
Alexi Casilla - Middle infielder
Brendan Harris - Utility infielder (could platoon against lefties at 3B with Punto)

Thome is the clear upgrade from years past. We finally have a legitimate pinch hitter off the bench that can scare some people, we haven't had that since, well... I'm not sure, maybe Randy Bush? Brendan Harris is our next best bat off the bench and is a right handed to compliment to the left handedness of Thome.

Losing Nathan is a blow, but this team is too good to let that change the outlook. I have high hopes that this team could win the division again, and more importantly do damage in the post-season.

Go Twins!

Offseason for the ages

2010-03-31T05:53:00.001-07:00

I decided to take the winter off and have this one post summarizing the Twins offseason as we approach the season.

By my account this has been the best offseason in my memory (which goes back to the mid-80's) for the Twins! Here are the highlights:

In early November (wasting little time after the season) the Twins make a bold move by trading Carlos "Go-Go" Gomez to the Brewers for J.J. Hardy to stablize the revolving door at shortstop. Go-Go was a fan favorite, including my 5-year old daughters favorite since she got to sit on his lap at Twins Fest 2009 for a photo. This trade does 2 things, it gives us a shortstop for hopefully at least a couple of years that is slightly above average defensively and potentially a very good power threat at the plate. It also solidifies roles in the outfield... no more 4 outfielders for 3 spots, Young became full time LF, Span in CF, and Cuddyer in RF.
Offering arbitration to Carl Pavano, which was eventually accepted. This solidified the starting rotation as Pavano was a good middle-of-rotation guy for the Twins after the mid-season acquisition last year. This also keeps a veteran presence in the starting pitcher fraternity.
In early February, the twins signed Orlando Hudson to a 1-year contract to finish the makeover of our middle infield and giving us a solid hitter to fill a much needed gap in the lineup... the #2 hole between Span and Mauer. This signing surprised many Twins fans as many believed they would continue to be conservative and try to fill the role internally.
One day after O-dog signed, the Twins signed future hall-of-fame slugger Jim Thome to a 1 year contract to give us depth on our bench and more options at DH/Outfield should Young struggle again Kubel can play LF and Thome can DH. Another surprise move, that isn't a perfect fit as a right handed power bat off the bench would have been more ideal, you can't argue that its a great upgrade to our bench which in recent history has been pretty pathetic in terms of offense.
The biggest most anticipated move came later than most Twins fans were expecting but most importantly it happened. the Twins extended Joe Mauer for 8 more years after 2010, keeping him a Minnesota Twin through 2018! This signing was monumental for the Twins, not only inking the 4th richest contract in MLB history, but also because Mauer is the face of this franchise and a native Minnesotan, and arguably the biggest fan favorite of all time.

What a great off season for the Twins! I tip my hat to Jim Pohlad for spending some of the money that new ballpark is sure to generate, and to Bill Smith for using that money wisely.

Hopefully this is a sign of how the Twins wills operate in this new era of outdoor Twins baseball.

Spring Training summary to come later this week.

Game 163... I have 1 word: Unbelievable!

2009-10-07T06:05:00.000-07:00

I was there! Me, my wife, and 3 boys (ages 7, 10, & 12). It was the greatest baseball game I ever attended! I was at last years big comeback win versus the Whitesox to tie them for the division on game 159, that game was a big comeback that was very dramatic and fun, but this game was a see-saw of emotion, my 7 year old was emotionally spent by the 10th innning, I was getting there. Our seats weren't very good 21 rows up in upper deck Center field, but it didn't matter! That was a game I will never forget!

Big Moments in the game:

Cabrera's homer to give Tiger lead 3-0. The crowd was deflated, but getting the 1 run back the next inning gave everyone some hope.
Kubel's solo homer to make it 3-2. This got the crowd really going again. He absolutely crushed that pitch!
O Cabrera's 2-run homer to give the Twins a 4-3 lead! I have been at playoff games and I never heard the dome that loud! Crazy, my 7 year old had to cover his ears!
Ordonez's game tying home-run... as loud as it was the previous half inning it was equally quiet after that hit.
Nathan getting out of the Jam in the Top of the Ninth with unlikely strikeout and then the line-out double play! His fist pump was awesome!
Brandon Inge's double in the Top of the 10th. After getting out of major jams the previous 2 innings, a runner on first with 2 outs and Inge at the plate didn't seem like a big deal until it was 5-4. My 10 year old said, "I didn't come here and stay this long to see them lose!"
Micheal Cuddyer's leadoff "triple" that was badly misplayed by not 1 but 2 Detroit outfielders! After that I felt the entire dome thought this was our game, and we would win it this inning!
Tolbert's game-tying single! I still can't believe that ball made it through the infield, but when Casilla made it to 3rd with 1 out and the game tied, I thought we were gonna win!
Rayburn's awesome double play. Casilla's tag-up gaffe helped a little but it still took an outstanding throw by Rayburn to get him out at the plate.
Punto's throw home with 1 out and bases loaded on a chopper to 2nd! What a smart play knowing the double play was unlikely, but how lucky are the Twins that it was slow footed Cabrera trying to score from 3rd?
Keppel's strikeout of Laird. After falling behind 3-1 I began to accept in my mind that he was gonna walk in the go-ahead run, and I was hoping it would only be a 1-run deficit going into the bottom of the 12th with a tiring Rodney. But Bobby got a foul strike 2 and then for some reason Laird chase a ball below his knees and whiffed for strike 3!
Gomez's single to lead off the bottom of the 12th. I felt with his speed on the bases and no-one out we should be able to get him home. Then Cuddyer moves him over on a groudout to 3rd and they intentionally walk Delmon, I realized with 1 out it will be up to Casilla/Tolbert/Punto to get it done and I was worried.
Casilla, the hero in that epic Whitesox game 159 last year, singles on a bouncer in the hole between 1st and 2nd, Gomez bellyflops home and slides across the plate, and Casilla is the hero yet again! Twins win! Twins win!

There are other more minor but equally important moments, in the game like the luck that the Ump missed that Inge's jersey was brushed by a pitch with the bases loaded in the top of the 12th and Baker pitching around a lead-off double in the 2nd, just to name a few.

What a game. Thanks Twins for that memory with my family at the ballpark, I will cherish it. How they celebrated with the fans on the field afterwards, and the energy in the city as everyone eventually spilled out of the dome into the streets, it was a magical, memorable night!

The most unlikely road to the Division championship ever, even more so than the way they won it on the last game in 2006, because 3/5ths of the rotation falls apart in August, they lose both of their corner infielders for the season in early/mid September and yet somehow they finish the last 21 games 17-4.

One word: Unbelievable!

Make a major move or see everything crumble

2009-07-17T16:25:00.000-07:00

Ok. The All-Star break analysis from everyone under the sun is about done. Twins are about to start the second half with a game in Texas to start a 10-game road trip. Here is my take.

The next 2 weeks could make or break the next 3-4 seasons of the Minnesota Twins organization.

Seem a bit over the top? Let me explain.

This time of year, the Twins have been in the hunt for a division title every year since the M&M boys started playing together and even a few years before that. Every year they have glaring weaknesses that could be fixed with a trade or two before the non-waiver deadline. Every year they have done nothing or even worse given up players (Luis Castillo).

If your an all-world catcher with your contract year just a little over a year away... what makes you stay? Ok he is a local kid, so there is that angle, not a huge incentive. Year after year you see your organization waste chances at some postseason success.

There comes a time when you just want to feel like you can play with the big boys (Yankees, Red Sox, Angels). Joe wants more than just to make the postseason he wants to win the whole thing. The way this team has operated to date since Joe has been here, he has no reason to believe they will change.

Bill Smith, and Jim Pohlad if your smart you make a deal in the next 2 weeks, go get a impact player like Sanchez or Tejada. Trade a few of our prospects... win now, or see Joe leave after next season... with Mauer gone... Morneau will be soon to follow. Now your young nucleus is gone because you refused to trade a few "prospects"????

Please I beg you, make something happen....make us believe you want to win, and more importantly make Joe Mauer believe it too.

Lineup & bullpen thoughts.

2009-07-01T08:24:00.001-07:00

Yesterday the Twins played the lineup I think they should stick with as much as possible with their current roster (with the exception of Delmon giving Kubel a break when we face tough lefties).

Span -- LF

Harris -- SS

Mauer -- C

Morneau -- 1B

Kubel -- DH

Cuddyer -- RF

Crede -- 3B

Gomez -- CF

Punto -- 2B

Bench:

Tolbert, Young, Morales, Redmond, & Buscher

That is a pretty solid lineup sans Punto.

I have heard other bloggers talk about a kid in AAA, Steven Tolleson (see Josh's Thoughts). His defense is a little shakey but he is swinging a solid bat (kinda sounds like what everyone was saying about Harris a month ago). I don't know why he isn't given a shot instead of Tolbert (who is a duplicate of Punto, good defense but can't hit). With Tolleson and Punto we can platoon them at 2B depending on the situation (have Tolleson pitch hit for Punto late in games when we are behind, and bring in Punto for Tolleson as defensive replacement in games we are winning). Right now we don't have a difference with Tolbert and Punto.

With Tolleson he could bat 8th, and put Gomez 9th where he did decent last year as a "2nd leadoff guy" for the top of the lineup (LaRussa philosophy).

To me this is the last hole to be plugged in the lineup.

As for the Bench, Young really needs to be in AAA working on a better plate approach but that won't happen with his contract. Tolbert I've already commented on. Buscher is a need to backup a Crede with his back issues and give Morneau an occassional break at 1B. Redmond is our backup catcher. That leaves Morales who isn't getting any better riding the pine in the Majors as the 3rd catcher. He needs more work on his defense in AAA. It seems pretty clear that he will be Mauer's backup next season as Redmond will start looking into managing in the lower levels somewhere. I think his roster spot is best used with more help in the bullpen.

Bullpen issues by role:

Closer -- Nathan has looked stronger as the season has gone on. No issue here.
Setup Righty -- Matt Guerrier does well when he isn't over-used.
Setup Lefty -- Jose Mijares is in this role but is more of a Lefty Specialist as he has struggled against right handed batting this season.
Long Man -- R.A. Dickey needs to stay in this role as he does well there, but can get us through the 7th on occassion to give others a rest.
6th & 7th Inning Righty -- Keppel with only 2 appearances is a small sample size, but has been excellent so far, but his Minor league stats suggests that he is quite average.
6th & 7th Inning Lefty -- Henn is supposed to be Lefty help in the pen but has been shaky at best (0-3 in11.1 innings -- 9 ER, 8 BB, 2 HR).

The problem here is not overusing Guerrier. We need a lefty that can be more than a specialist, and a righty that can consistently work the 7th & occassional 8th to spell Guerrier. Now maybe Keppel can be that right hander, we'll find out. But a proven MLB reliever is a big need right now for the Twins.

Span will be missed, Welcome back Perkins!

2009-06-17T08:31:00.001-07:00

Span going on the DL really is a big blow as he is a great table setter for the M & M boys. So far in his absense, Gardy has tried Tolbert in that leadoff spot, but that hasn't worked, the best option appears to be Harris in leadoff and bat M&M 2nd and 3rd. Harris has the bat to get on base and the patience to draw a few walks as well. Gardy has to be thinking Harris could be 2nd in the lineup when Span returns so he can get Mauer back in the 3 spot and Morneau in cleanup where he likes them.

Perkins is back! And he pitched pretty well although he had a couple of near home runs to left field. He did appear to get stronger as the game went on, hopefully he is back to the form he had in April for his first 3 starts when he went 8 innings in each start and had a 1.50 ERA. For his first start back from DL to go 6 innings and get the quality start and more importantly the WIN, thats pretty darn good.

So far we are 6-1 in Interleague games! Keep it up and we'll have a very successful June!

Go Twins!

Swarzak instead of Liriano? Are You Sure!?!?!

2009-06-09T07:30:00.001-07:00

So I posted a while ago not to give up on Liriano after a couple of twin cities newspaper columnists suggested replacing him with Swarzak in the rotation when Perkins comes back.

That was after 2 decent outings from Swarzak and Liriano struggling, now lets revisit that discussion. Swarzak is 1-3 and he couldn't get out of the 4th inning last night. If we add that to his last start he has pitched a total of 7 2/3 innings allowing 9 runs (all earned) , 13 hits, 3 walks.

Liriano on the other hand, a proven commodity, got a decent start, he still is walking to many (4 BB) but was able to pitch out of jams. He went 6 innings allowing 1 run and the team WON. He didn't get the win, so no one talked about his performance. Why is that? A pitcher will pitch well not get the run support so its like the outing never happened.

Bottom of the lineup is waking up!?!? Top of lineup struggling.

This road trip is off to a 1-3 start, but I don't blame the bottom of the order for the lack of runs:

Gomez: 4 hits 2 RBI and 2 BB in his last 5 games. Respectible for the bottom of the order
Casilla: 0-3 last night but the 3 games before that he has 4 hits, 1 walk. He seems to be swinging better lately.
Tolbert: In a spot start Tolbert had a big 2 RBI single last night.
Young: has 1 hit in 3 of his last 4 games played.

The Big hitters have struggled on the road trip so far:

Span: 2-16 2-BB 5-Ks 0-RBI 1-Run
Mauer: 4-16 2-BB 2-Ks 0-RBI 1-Run (respectable but not Mauer-like)
Morneau: 1-15 (2 RBI but both on outs)
Kubel: 0-11 1-BB

That a combined: 7-58 (.121 BA) 2 RBI - This will NOT get it done and is the #1 reason we are 1-3 on this road trip so far.

Indians Series Summary

2009-06-05T06:27:00.000-07:00

Tuesday we got another W from Mr. (Find a way to win the game) Slowey! If Morneau doesn't tip that flare to right field Casilla probably catches it and Slowey would have had 7 shutout innings. He is getting it done with slightly above average stuff but he has been very smart. He is keeping hitters off balance and unbelievably he is 8-1! Good solid job by Nathan to get the 4-out save while Mijares looked a little shaky. On the offensive side, Mauer starts June the way he started May with another home run!

Wednesday we got what I expected to see against Boston in his previous start. The rook (Swarzak) got shelled. It was bound to happen, just surpised it happened against the last place team instead of the first place team. If I was Gardy I would have left him out for the 5th to see if he could compose himself and put up a zero, at that point with the way Lee was pitching the game was out of reach anyway why not find out what this rookie is made of?

Thursday the slumbering home-run bat of Jason Kubel woke up in a big way! 2 3-run home runs in the first 2 innings! And we had a Scott Baker sighting: 7 innings 3 runs (2 earned) and had a shutout into the 6th. That looked like the Baker we have been expecting to see a lot more of. He gave up another HR, as he will, but it was a solo shot, which is easier to swallow.

Another bad series for the bottom of the order (4 for 31 with 1 BB) , we need more from them, at least Gomez had 2 hits, although 2-10 isn't anything to get too excited about. Young and Gomez are still not patient enough at the plate.

Up next Seattle

Don't expect a ton of runs this weekend as Seattle is leading the AL in Team ERA: 3.88! The Twins pitchers have to go into this series thinking they will not have much room for error.

The first game is featuring the rematch of the Twins home opener (Liriano vs. Hernandez), this could be a close pitchers duel if Liriano can locate his fastball and mix in his changeup more to keep the hitters off balance and then get Ks with that nice slider.

The most favorable pitching matchup over the weekend is game 2 with Blackburn vs. Washburn but all 3 of the Seattle pitchers have been very tough, all 3 with ERAs under 4 and Bedard (Sunday's pitcher for Seattle) has his era under 3. With Felix Hernandez being a tough righty and the other two being tough lefties (which can be tough for the left-hand heavy Twins), the Twins pitchers have to step up this weekend.

Go Twins!

Young vs. Gomez

2009-06-02T08:44:00.000-07:00

Lately everyone is looking at our offense, or lack thereof from middle infield and from the Young/Gomez outfielder du jour. I think the Twins need some stability in the lineup. They need the same lineup for 5 games a week. The outfield shuffle isn't working for Gomez and Young.

I don't see any benefit from playing Young over Gomez. I will break down the argument I have for Gomez in 4 categories: Defense, Hitting, Base Running, and Potential

Defense

There is no argument defensively Gomez is far superior, and a Span, Gomez, Cuddyer outfield is much more effective than a Young, Span, Cuddyer outfield. Carlos has been referred by national media as one of the top defensive outfielders in the game.

Advantage: Gomez

Base Running

Stolen bases: Gomez 4 of 7, Young 2 of 4

Clearly Gomez has ability to steal a TON of bases, and Young is maybe slightly better than average.

Advantage: Gomez

Hitting

Hitting category at a glance looks pretty close:

AB (At Bats) -- Young: 109 Gomez: 100
HR (Home runs) -- Young: 1 Gomez: 0
RBI (Runs Batted In) -- Young: 14 Gomez: 3
BA (Batting Average) -- Young: .239 Gomez: .220
OBP (On Base Percentage) -- Dead even: .282
SLG (Slugging Percentage) -- Gomez: .310 Young: .275
OPS (On Base plus Slugging Percentage) -- Gomez: .592 Young: .557

Clearly these are anemic numbers! Both players have significant room to improve here.
The only category Young has a significant edge in is RBI (14 - 3), part of this can be attributed to the fact that he has routinely hitting 6th or 7th in the lineup with Morneau, Kubel, Cuddyer before him therefore giving him many more chances, because Gomez typically has had Punto, Casilla/Tolbert batting before him.

Advantage: EVEN

Potential

Both players are 23 years old. Both players have huge "up-side".

Many "experts" believe Young has the ability to hit .300 belt 30 HRs and drive in 100 runs a year. Some of those same "experts" believe Gomez to have the ability to bat 1 or 2 in a lineup, steal 70-80 bases a year, and score 140 runs.

Advantage: EVEN

The problem the Twins have is they have 1 outfield spot for the 2 young inexperienced players, as they need Span in leadoff spot and Cuddyer is clearly deserving of everyday duty based on his month of May stats.

Based on this analysis, it is clear to me that Gomez needs to be given an everyday opportunity. Bat him 9th, and see if he can get on-base for Span and Mauer. Let him go do his thing until the all-star break, then re-evaluate. Demote Delmon to AAA have him focus on patience and let him get his head clear, but most importantly get him ABs down in the minors, he clearly needs them.

A Deeper look at Liriano's season to date

2009-05-29T07:57:00.000-07:00

Twins lost 3-1 to Boston but Swarzak navigated his way through 6+ innings pretty well. Now Jim Souhan and Tom Powers are ready to kick Liriano out of the rotation!

I know Liriano has struggled so far (2-6, 6.42 ERA) but lets break it down a little.

In his 10 starts he has had 4 quality starts:

May 15th Against the Yankees in Yankee stadium where he only gave up 1 run in 6 innings, but everyone forgets that because we lost the game.
May 4th Against Detroit he pitched into the 8th inning in a 7-2 win. One of our 5 road wins to date.
April 28th Against Tampa he pitched 6 2/3 inning giving up 2 runs.
April 16th Against Toronto he gave up 2 runs (1 earned) in 6 innings but no one remembers cuz the bullpen collapsed and we lost 9 - 2

He had 1 Ok start where the Twins were given a chance to win but not exactly a quality start:

Home opener(April 6) vs. Seattle: he wasn't great, but 4 runs in 7 innings isn't horrible.

In all fairness that means he has had 5 poor starts... Of those he started the game well but gave up 1 or 2 crooked number innings with what I deem a mental lapse:

May 25th At Home vs Boston, 5 Runs in 4 Innings: scoreless 1st 2 innings then 5 runs in next 2.
May 20th loss versus ChiSox where he pitched 3 scoreless solid innings then gave up a 7 run 4th.
May 9th at Home vs. Seattle, 5 runs in 5 innings: scorelss 1st 3 innings then 5 runs in next 2.
April 22nd loss versus ChiSox where he pitched 4 solid innings and then gave up 4 runs in the 5th.
April 11th in Boston , 7 runs in 4 innings: scoreless 1st inning then 3 straight crooked numbers

In most of these 5 bad losses he wasn't giving up "small ball" dink and dunk sort of hits, most of the runs are scored on HRs and doubles. To me Liriano has too good of stuff to get hit that hard that much. So why is it happening? Mental lapses or lack of mental toughness when they get a guy or 2 on base, and there has been some quotes talking about him not locating his fastball.

Liriano when pitching well has 3 good pitches... fastball (low - mid 90s), slider (can still be knee buckling at times), and changeup which has been very effective when he is hitting his spots with his fastball.

Liriano's past (the way he finished 2008 and his 2006 numbers) and his stuff (not as good as 2006 but still above average) warrants Gardy to give him a chance to rebound and get over his mental lapses.

Swarzak has pitched well and deserves consideration to stay in the majors but I don't believe that should be at the expense of Liriano's starting spot in the rotation, at least not yet.

Not Pretty but a Win

2009-05-28T06:36:00.000-07:00

Last nights game versus the Red Sox wasn't pretty, but another quality start and W for Slowey and the lately resurging bullpen won the game for the Twins. Denard was setting the table but with 14 LOB there wasn't a lot of clutch hitting.

Hopefully Swarzak can continue his good pitching from last start and the clutch hits happen for the Twins today in the finally against Beckett, no small task for the Twins hitters.

No worries about Road just something to prove

Ruesse's column talks about how the Twins have a heavy road schedule ahead, and how we haven't played well on the Road (5-14), also how the Twins didn't take advantage of red hot month of May by Morneau and Mauer. All of this is easy to point out and one could argue that the Twins will be lucky to be 5 games under 500 by July 1st with such a heavy road schedule in June. I have a different outlook.

Break down the May road losses:

Tigers 9-0 -- Blackburn has a rare poor outing and a rookie pitcher (no-one has a book on him) shuts down the Twins.
Orioles 4-1 -- Rain started and stopped (several times) game that should have been postponed.
Orioles 5-4 -- Tough fought game with Mijares losing with run in bottom of 8.
Yankees 4 game sweep -- Tough fought games all 4 were close (3 Yankee walk-offs) - bullpen pitched a lot of innings and couldn't hold off Yankee hitters in homer friendly park.
White Sox 2 losses -- Buerle & Danks were good and Baker & Liriano stunk not getting into 6th putting even more stress on bullpen.

So the Twins in May were 2-9 on the road. However one could argue they aren't playing all that poorly the 4 game sweep at the Yankees could have easily been 2-2 or even a 4-0 the other way... and the rain shortened joke of a game in Baltimore you might as well throw out. The other Baltimore loss was a close hard fought game.

So I'm not making excuses for the Twins, they need to win on the road. But if you really look at the month of May's road games we haven't played poorly just were unable to close out games in 5 of the 9 losses, another loss was a joke of a game, so in actuality only 3 of the 11 road games did the Twins play poorly. Of the 5 close losses 4 were on the overworked bullpen and the other was the start of Perkins decline ending him in the DL.

Essentially the Twins bullpen needs to be clutch on the road, the starters have gone deeper into games lately giving the bullpen a bit of a reprieve, that will need to continue so the fresher arms in the pen can be more effective.

I am not overly worried about the Twins winning on the road, they have inter-league games coming up that they have historically been very good in. Pitching will be the key, getting a minimum of 6 and hopefully 7 quality innings from the starters, and good pitching from Mijares, Guerrier, and Nathan.

2009 Twins to date

2009-05-27T10:44:00.001-07:00

Since this is my first post with real content I thought I'd start with my thoughts on the 2009 Twins to date.

Pre-season 2009

Here is a quick review of what my general thoughts were about the Twins heading into the season.

Strengths

Starting pitching - 5 returning young solid starters from 2008
Defense - Gomez, Span, Cuddyer, Crede, Punto, Morneau, Mauer all good if not great defenders
Speed - Gomez, Span, Casilla, Punto use there speed to play "Small Ball"
Closer - Joe Nathan is rated by many as a top 5 closer in MLB

Weaknesses

Middle Relief Pitching -- Neshek and Reyes gone who will pitch 6th & 7th?
Hitting for Power - After Morneau, no one is a major power threat: Crede & Kubel considered OK.

2009 April & May reality

Its actually comical to look at that pre-season analysis and see how different it has played out so far.

We have been right about 1 Strength & 1 Weakness. 2 out of 6 in baseball terms isn't too bad ;)

Lets revisit each item:

Starting Pitching -- Only Mediocre definitely not a Strength

Liriano (2-6 ERA:6.42) has been disappointing and can't locate fastball
Baker (2-5 ERA: 6.52) was injured and had a very rocky start, starting to show improvement.
Slowey (6-1 ERA: 4.23) has been OK and benefited from a lot of run support
Blackburn (4-2 ERA: 3.55) has been Twins best pitcher, a solid middle of rotation guy.
Perkins (1-3 ERA: 5.36) started really well but got no run support, but has struggled in his last several starts before landing on DL.

Defense -- Very Strong

2nd fewest Errors in MLB! Crede has been great, Punto has been Punto, Gomez & Span seem to track down everything in the outfield, even Delmon Young has played well defensively lately. Morales and Redmond weren't great but held there own in April until Mauer returned.

Speed -- Mediocre at best

Small ball hasn't really happened like we like to draw it up, mainly because Punto, Casilla (when he was on the team) and Gomez haven't been on base! Their horrid hitting has hurt our ability to play traditional Twins Small ball. The lone bright spot has been Denard Span, who looked awful in spring training, has been hitting for average and drawing walks, he leads the team in stolen bases (with 10)

Closer -- Average

Nathan hasn't had a lot of work (18 appearances but only 9 save opportunities), but 22% of his saves chances have been lost, that isn't very Nathan like. He hasn't looked dominating even when he gets the saves. I'm not too concerned, Joe has underperformed to date, but hasn't had the regular work, so hopefully with regular opportunities he will get into a rhythm.

Middle Releif Pitching -- Poor

Ayala hasn't worked out too well, Guerrier had a bad April but has been markedly better in May. Crain has been a headcase so far. Mijares has been OK, but not as good as September last year, Dickey has probably been the only one I can actually say has been better than expected.

Hitting for Power -- Unbelievable!!!!

Morneau we expected to do well, but 14 HRs before the end of May is even better than we thought. Mauer has only had 1 month but is already hit 11 HRs, where did this sudden power surge come from!?!?! Cuddyer had a slow April but he is hitting well (8 HRs), Kubel had a better April and is slowed by a swollen knee. Crede is also hitting it into the crowd (8 HRs). 5th most HRs in the majors as a Team!!

What To Look For in June

Twins need to get the bottom of the lineup to play small ball like they did last night for 1 inning versus Boston, so the big guys can clear them off the bases with all this new found HR power (again like Morneau did last night). If they can do that the team speed will start to show through. Starting pitching needs to improve and get into the 7th Inning to keep workload down on guys like Guerrier and Mijares so they can be more effective when they do pitch.

Go Twins!

Welcome

2009-05-27T10:04:00.000-07:00

This blog is the rants, raves, opinions, and various other thoughts of mine about Major League Baseball's Minnesota Twins.

I'm a huge Twins fan with huge opinions. I find myself commenting on alot of other Twins blogs. So, I decided I need a central location for all my thoughts on the Minnesota Twins.

I don't know how much it will be read, and for now I don't really care. Its more for me than anyone. Fell free to comment about how insane my thinking is, how brialliant I am, or anything in-between.