Twins Hotspot

Delmon Young getting better.

noreply@blogger.com (J-mizzle) — Thu, 13 May 2010 13:43:00 +0000

If you've been watching the Twins in May, you've noticed a nice hot streak by Mr. Delmon Young. Since he got here, I've been toying with the idea of buying a jersey. But in the wake of big-time trade talk the past two offseasons, it's been hard to commit (plus the often putrid offense/defense). But if he keeps on his current pace, I don't think the Twins will be able to help but keep him around. And if you point to April as a reason to temper my excitement, I'll simply say he's a known slow starter. Which he is. The important thing is that we notice trends in his statistical production… so here's some info to chew on:

Delmon Young now has 13 hits in May.

Last year, he had a total of 13 hits in ALL OF May.

Also, he's doubled his extra-base hits (from 6 to 12) in just nine games this month.

Young had 14 hits (63 AB) in April this year, and has 13 in nine games (31 AB).

2008 K/BB ratio (April/May): 35:17 (208 AB)
2009 K/BB ratio (April/May) - 37:5 (109 AB)
2008 K/BB ratio (April/May, so far) - 10:8 (94 AB)

Since August 1, 2009 (281 ABs)…

32 extra-base hits
12 homers, 47 RBI
.298 batting average/.323 OBP

PREVIOUS 280 ABs From late 2008 to July 31, 2009

14 extra-base hits
77-for-280 .275 BA, .297 OBP
4 home runs, 35 RBI

The fact of the matter is that we're witnessing a turnaround in altogether approach at the beginning of the season. The past two years he's struck out over 30 times in April/May while walking 17, then five times. This year he's clearly made more contact and honed his strike zone discernment (just 10 strikeouts halfway through May). This - of course - has allowed Young to swing at better pitches and when he DOES make solid contact, the ball is jumping off his bat and finding bleachers or green space more often than ever before as a Twin. If it took a journey like this for Young to realize some of that massive potential, then it'll have been worth it. Because he's coming out the other side of the tunnel a new, more productive player.

Guys I'm watching.

noreply@blogger.com (J-mizzle) — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 17:31:00 +0000

In the wake of the Twins' second-straight loss and Nick Blackburn's mystery "is-it-an-injury-or-is-it-a-family-issue" thing, I decided to check out a month's worth of minor league stats to see if there's anyone cooking right now. I'll give you the bad news first: if you're hoping there's some little-known starting pitcher waiting to throw quality innings at the major-league level, you're not going to find him. Because you've probably already seen what Jeff Manship, Glen Perkins and others can do. And it's not really that great. But when you look at lower levels, you find a wealth of fun young talent outside of the Ben Revere's and Aaron Hicks' of the world. If you take a closer look, this is what you'll find…

Anthony Slama, RP, AAA Level
Everyone's heard about this guy by now, but it's worth mentioning that against all odds (he's a "fool you", not an "overpower you" kind of pitcher), Slama is leading the Rochester Red Wings in strikeouts in a relief role. He's recorded five saves, and would be a great choice to sub in for any of Jesse Crain, Sean Burnett or a few other relievers who've screwed the pooch this year. By the way, batters are hitting just .109 off him to start the year… I realize it's early, but he's displayed this kind of dominance at every level for the past three years or so.

Dustin Martin, 2B, AAA Level
I'm not saying Martin is the next big thing at second base, but he's shown quite an improvement in plate discipline this year in 16 games. He's got a 9:12 strikeout to walk ratio going right now (.424 OBP), where last year it was 39:92 (.319 OBP). Also, he hit a total of five homers in AAA last season, but has three this year. Looks like he's growing as a player, and he just turned 26, so there's reason to believe he could make an impact with the Twins.

Trevor Plouffe, SS, AAA Level
It's too early to evaluate a guy like this because there's not as stark a contrast to last season's totals like our guy Martin above. But in 20 games this season, Plouffe has only a 7:7 K/BB ratio (.367 OBP compared to .313 last year). And he's stolen two bases already compared to three in all of 2009 (118 games). He's making a little noise, so I'll keep an eye on him.

Brian Dinkelman, 2B, AAA Level
His power stroke hasn't come in yet, but the 38 doubles and eight homers in 2009 kind of caught my eye. Dinkelman is patient at the plate too, so far having recorded a nice .404 (13:11 K/BB) On-base percentage through 20 games played. He doesn't run much either, but I'm looking for a sign that the home runs might increase this year. He's 27 this year, and it's time to shine.

David Bromberg, SP, AA Level
Bromberg earned a promotion with a sizzlin' 2.70 ERA, 1.23 WHIP and 8.7 K/9 performance at High-A Fort Myers in 2009, and has responded well this year to souped-up competition. In his first three starts - 18 innings - he's given up just 13 baserunners and struck out 17 batters. Just two earned runs, as well. Impressive!

Bobby Lanigan, SP, High-A Level
Through four starts, it's pretty apparent why the 22-year-old Lanigan breezed through Elizabethtown and Beloit last year. He's struck out 20 batters and allowed two earned runs through 22 innings in 2010. Also, Lanigan has allowed just 20 baserunners, giving him a pretty dominant base from which to POSSIBLY leap to New Britain later this season.

Kyle Gibson, SP, High-A Level
A lot of people know Gibson's name… he was a highly-rated prospect in last year's draft, and has performed accordingly in 30+ innings at Fort Myers. In fact, he just threw a complete-game shutout his last time out, with six strikeouts and one hit allowed. Gibson's first start of the year was a little bumpy, but from that point on he's given up just 21 baserunners in 27 innings. And struck out 21 batters. He'll be in New Britain by year's end.

Liam Hendriks, SP, Low-A Level
Hendriks showed some signs of being really good last year with a solid K/BB ratio and K/9 ratio. Gotta love a guy who refuses to give free passes and limits balls in play. This season in Beloit, he's been downright dominant with 26 Ks in 22 innings and just nine TOTAL baserunners allowed. One earned run in four starts, as well. Somehow he hasn't factored into a decision yet so his record is 0-0, but don't let that fool you. He's been absolutely filthy thus far.

*****

Can't wait to watch the Twins face off against Cleveland this weekend. I'm a little worried about how bad the hitting looked over the past 14 innings or so, but then I remembered that we're actually a pretty solid scoring team, and that we'll probably sweep the Indians this weekend. Because they suck.

Until next time, thanks for reading!

Different is better.

noreply@blogger.com (J-mizzle) — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 12:55:00 +0000

It's April 22, and I realize the season started like 2-1/2 weeks ago. But this blog doesn't run on MLB time, so I'm starting now. And if this is your first time reading Twins Hotspot, you should know we do lots of things differently around here. You won't get point-by-point game reports or minor league updates every day. But I do care about that stuff… it's just that I package it differently and simply am not "in it" to make money. You won't ever see pesky ads around here, though I probably write as well as most other Twins blogger guys. I just do this stuff because I love the Twins and am excited about their successes and feel the disappointment when they lose. From Game 1 to the Playoffs, I hang on just about every pitch. Which means I'm a damned mess during games.

For the record, I haven't been to the new Target Field yet. Maybe you've heard about the place. And there are a variety of reasons why (in no particular order):

Laziness - The Dome was a lot easier to get to from St. Paul. Just hop on 94 West and you're there in 10 minutes. That means the ticket office was more convenient, parking was faster and the tickets themselves weren't nearly as "hot". So now I have to put more effort into it. Not cool.
Cost - I'm not poor. But I'm not exactly a "man of means" either. So Twins games are on the priority list, but not the IMMEDIATE priority list, budget-wise. I've got a family to feed! And these games are significantly more spendy than Dome games.
Nostalgia - I was at Game 162 last year… that beautiful Sunday when all was right in the world. The Twins won, the Tigers won, and we set up what turned out to be an unbelievable showdown between the two a couple days later. I want to always remember the Dome like that. Homer Hankies flying, people screaming their guts out, and Papa John's deep-dish pizza. Do they still have that? I love that stuff. Anyway, this part of it has been the most difficult for me. Walking into Target Field is going to alter the way I think about the Twins… for years we've had the crappiest facility, the boiler room of the league. Now, with the state-of-the-art building, there's going to be a new mentality. My new son will never see the inside of Metrodome (assuming the Vikes leave soon). I'll get over it soon - we have tickets to the May 9 game - but I may never recover from having a beloved sports landmark erased from existence.

*****

Speaking of things that are different, last night was the first time I'd seen Liriano pitch this year. The first thing I noticed - and I was positively GIDDY when I saw it - was that all of his motion was positive. No jerking around during the delivery. No falling off the mound. Just fluid, straight-toward-the-plate movement. I loved it. I actually bounced on the couch a little bit when I was watching. My wife can vouch for that. Plus, I kept him in a fantasy baseball league, so that's going well. All together, it's 15 shutout innings in a row with 14 Ks over that span. Plus two wins (which don't matter, but do look good).

Also, the team looks to be on quite a roll, with 11 wins in 15 games, and a chance at a sweep at noon today vs. Cleveland. Scott Baker vs. Mitch Talbot. Feels like a mismatch. Looks like a mismatch. Must be a mismatch.

More writings and thoughts and stats to come!

What is going on?

noreply@blogger.com (J-mizzle) — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 16:04:00 +0000

Last I checked, the Twins were dead and gone. Now they're…GASP!… 2.5 games back with ten left, including a four-game set in Detroit next week that looms especially large. I don't really know what to say about all this, but I'll just keep moving my fingers over the keyboard in hopes that 1) clear thoughts, 2) insightful points and 3) good grammar all flow nicely.

Since the last post on this blog, the Twins went from "Nail in the coffin" to "Lazarus-like" in a matter of 20 days. When they slumped to a 4-7 start to September, I was ready to throw in the towel, I'll admit it. But then Minnesota did something they hadn't done since the first half: get consistent starting pitching. Suddenly, Brian Duensing was our new Kevin Slowey, Carl Pavano settled down and Nick Blackburn reverted to pre-Break form. And Scott Baker - aside from a minor meltdown last Sunday vs. Detroit - has been lights out of late (last eight starts, 3.35 ERA, 1.117 WHIP, 7.6 K/9, .220 BAA). The result was a complete turnaround in fortunes, as the team rattled off nine wins in their past ten games to put themselves in position to challenge for the division.

But that's not all. See, the Detroit Tigers had a nice seven-game lead, and you don't lose a lead like that, this late, unless you collapse. And after reaching a season-high 14 games over .500 on September 6, that's exactly what they did, dropping nine of their next 12 games before winning the finale in Minneapolis and bashing Cleveland twice this week.

Here are the facts:

The Twins play Kansas City six times and Detroit four times.
Sounds like Francisco Liriano will be taking Jeff Manship's spot in the rotation Sunday, which means he'll once again pitch vs. KC in the final weekend of the season.
Denard Span is likely to return to the lineup Friday night, just in time to get a few game-action cuts before heading to Detroit
Duensing, Pavano, Blackburn and Baker will pitch against the Tigers
We are missing Justin Morneau and Joe Crede
Michael Cuddyer is extremely streaky, and is currently batting .381 with 5 homers and 16 RBI during the team's 10-game hitting streak. The previous 10 games? He batted .179 with 2 homers and five RBI. Watch out for a slump…
After batting .213 during the first five months of the season, Nick Punto's bat has come alive to the tune of .327 during September. What's more, Matt Tolbert is hitting .364 this month in the eight-hole. That's right folks, THE PIRANAS ARE BACKKKK!!!!
Jason Kubel has been especially bad lately - batting .219/.282/.486 over the past ten games.

Alright, every game is big now… Detroit plays today at 6:05 p.m., too. I'll be listening to it. Talk to you guys soon!

Absolutely blown away.

noreply@blogger.com (J-mizzle) — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 21:14:00 +0000

Joe Nathan is about as much of a performance "lock" as you'll find on the Twins roster. Except Joe Mauer. In 53 innings, he's sporting a 2.36 ERA with 70 strikeouts. The guy has 35 saves. He's nearly untouchable. And yet, yesterday afternoon, he took a elephant dump on the mound when we had the White Sox in a choke hold. And it wasn't just your run-of-the-mill blown save. He did it spectacularly, giving up back-to-back bombs to Gordon Beckham and Paul Konerko. Oh, and it didn't end there… he then walked two batters in a row before Ron Gardenhire realized the game hadn't ended in a 2-0 win, like he planned when he sent Joe to the mound to start the ninth. Oooff! Stomach-punch, baby!

And it's not like the season is over, but it's been over 24 hours since that second home run cleared the left field wall, and I'm still reeling. Really up in arms over this whole thing. I can't concentrate at work, my food tastes weird and my tooth even hurts. Things just don't feel right.

Thankfully, the Twins play a three-game in Cleveland this weekend. And the Indians are ripe for a butt-kicking after being swept by Detroit from Tuesday-Thursday.

Carl Pavano duels with Jeremy Sowers Friday night, then Scott Baker takes the mound Saturday against Justin Masterson. Then Sunday, we've got Nick Blackburn facing David Huff in the finale. Three very winnable games with -- I think -- our three most-trusted pitchers on the mound.

If this team has any designs on the division, they'll take 2-of-3 this weekend, and possibly sweep.

I'll be watching as much as possible, so hopefully these guys give me some reason to believe Wednesday was a complete fluke.

Pathetic Performances, Vol. II

noreply@blogger.com (J-mizzle) — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 12:58:00 +0000

I listened to the Twins game at work yesterday and could hear it in John Gordon's voice: Carl Pavano is WHO WE THOUGHT he was. If you didn't have a chance to read my larger post on Wednesday, I spoke about Pavano's horrific numbers against teams under .500. For a review… 41 2/3 IP, 7.52 ERA. And that was before yesterday's seven-inning, five-run ugliness. I was impressed that he managed to get through seven frames, and it was encouraging that he got better after the first time through the Royals' order, but by that time, the damage had been done.

The hitters can't be let off the hook either. What a horribly vanilla performance. Four runs, all driven in by Mauer. The team coaxed seven walks and picked up eight hits, but left nine men on base, including Orlando Cabrera's absolutely backbreaking bases-loaded double play to end the sixth. Mind you - three of the previous four batters were walked. Kansas City did their very best to gift-wrap a series win, but instead got their first one since late June. On top of all that, Justin Morneau, Michael Cuddyer and Joe Crede piled up zero hits in 11 at bats.

We can't expect the offense to produce big numbers every night, and against truly awful teams like KC, four runs of support should be enough. But they weren't, and the Twins completed a stretch of 3-12 baseball since their season-high four-game winning streak from July 26-29.

As a matter of fact, since their high-water mark of three games above .500 (43-40) on July 5, the team has spiraled into oblivion, going 12-19 since that point. Our saving grace has been taking 5-of-6 from Chicago, which is probably the reason for higher-than-normal fan morale. So that's why I still care… I was under the impression I was still full of hope, but it turns out the weight of beating Chicago makes me feel like less of a loser. Because hey, if we can beat them, then we can beat lots of different teams, right? Of course, now that they've added Alex Rios and Jake Peavy, we're probably going to struggle a bit more.

I think this stings more because it came on the heels of such an uplifting start from Liriano.

Alas, we must move on.

Cleveland comes to town on with 12 wins in their past 20 games and a combined 6-3 record vs. Chicago, Detroit and Minnesota over that stretch. Some of that was with Cliff Lee and Victor Martinez, but Lee only pitched twice in there - both outings were wins.

In our most recent series against the Indians, the two teams traded blowout wins before Cleveland took the rubber match by a score of 2-1 on the "strength" of Fausto Carmona's six innings of one-run ball. The Twins really helped him out though - grounded into 12 outs, including two double plays. Worst of all, the team completely wasted a really good outing from Nick Blackburn … he pitched into the seventh inning and gave up just two runs in the loss. He'll pitch Sunday and hopefully duplicate his success (Two starts, 1-0, 2.02 ERA).

Against Detroit and Anaheim - two of the better-hitting ballclubs in the American League - in his past two starts, Anthony Swarzak showed his true colors. If you want the numbers… a 24.75 ERA and 4.25 WHIP with no strikeouts in four innings. He's not a dominant stopper or even especially effective starter. He's a Bobby Keppel… a Brian Duensing. My guess? When Perkins' shoulder calms down, he'll replace Swarzak in the rotation (came out yesterday that he will not need surgery… it's just tendonitis). Maybe in September. Swarzy looked capable against the Cubs and had nice outings against Oakland/Anaheim back-to-back, so there's some talent there, but nothing consistent. He'll go Saturday vs. Cleveland's David Huff.

Tonight's starter, Scott Baker, pitched three scoreless innings before falling apart in Detroit last Sunday. The longball bit him again as he gave up a solo shot to Marcus Thames and a three-run job to Miguel Cabrera. It's been the story of Baker's season and a summation of his poor outings. He almost always starts strong, then crumbles into a fine powder when he starts to get hit. But before I throw him under the bus any more, I should mention the previous 26 innings where he went 2-0 with a 1.38 ERA, 1.00 WHIP and 24 Ks. He'll face Justin Masterson, the gem of the Cliff Lee deal.

Funny how quickly a rant can turn into a miniature weekend series preview.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed the post and I'll be back soon. Thanks for reading!

Franky comes though; Pavano up at noon

noreply@blogger.com (J-mizzle) — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 12:44:00 +0000

I got pretty lucky. On Monday, my friend Craig offered me box seats to last night's Twins game, and of course, I accepted without reservation. But on Monday, I could never have known what I'd be treated to in that climate-controlled cavern… yeah, the free drinks were nice, but Francisco Liriano's pitching performance was infinitely better. I was giddy the entire time, texting friends about how "vintage" he looked. There was a certain confidence and mission-mindedness about him that I hadn't seen since '06. Icouldn't believe what I was seeing. Seven innings, eight strikeouts, one run given up. HE'S NOT DEAD YET!

Yes, I know it was against the putrid Royals.

Yes, I know it was in the near-always-friendly Dome.

And yes, I know that pretty much anything resembling not sucking would have blown me away last night after Tuesday's abomination.

But I, and we, as Twins fans can't be satisfied with one sparkling start. That wouldn't be fair after what this a-hole Minnesota team has put us through recently. We need MORE. And we need Carl Pavano to provide us with the punctuation mark on a series win today. I chronicled his terrible, horrible, no-good, very-bad stats against sub-.500 teams in one of the three August 12 entries. In short, we shouldn't be surprised by a Nick Blackburn-like (post-All Star Break) outing today. And just how bad has Blackburn been in the second half of the season? Check this out:

Five starts… 0-3 record…8.87 ERA (23 ER in 23-1/3 IP)… 2.100 WHIP… players are .407/.426/.638 COMBINED batting against him…

I could go on for a long, long time. Oooohh… just found another stat:

He gave up 1 HR per 51.8 batters faced in the first half… Is giving up 1 HR per 28 batters faced in second half.

What the hell is wrong with this guy? Is the sinker not sinking? Is his arm tired? Are contract negotiations throwing off his concentration (rimshot!…a la The Common Man)? We might have to go to a four-man rotation with the bullpen pitching every fifth day. Or maybe get John Smoltz?

***Special thanks to Joe Crede for restoring my faith in his power bat last night. Somebody please put him in a padded room from now till today's day game.***

Twins day game today at 12:10 CST! Enjoy! Thanks for reading.

Anthony Slama PROMOTED!!!

noreply@blogger.com (J-mizzle) — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 22:51:00 +0000

From LaVelle E. Neal at Star Tribune.com:

Class AA New Britain righthander Anthony Slama has been promoted to Class AAA Rochester to replace Jeff Manship, who’s now with the Twins.

Slama, in 51 games at New Britain, was 4-2 with a 2.48 ERA while saving 25 games in 28 opportunities. He walked 32 batters in 65.1 innings but struck out 93 and held opponents to a .2o1 batting average.

There's also a fun story about Slama and some other, lesser call-ups that occurred today. This made my day... hope it makes yours too!

Jeff Manship promoted

noreply@blogger.com (J-mizzle) — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 17:34:00 +0000

One other note - the Twins just promoted AAA pitcher Jeff Manship for pitching depth after placing Glen Perkins on the 15-day DL recently. Manship is 4-2 with a 3.22 ERA in 50-1/3 innings pitching with Rochester so far this season. He started the year with Double-A New Britain and was promoted after 13 starts at that level in 2009.

Maybe there's room for Anthony Slama to move from AA now? Why he's been allowed to dominate without promotion is beyond me. In his past 13 innings pitched, he's struck out 20 batters and allowed just two earned runs on 13 baserunners. I'd like to kick Bill Smith about now.

Talking myself into the Twins

noreply@blogger.com (J-mizzle) — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 14:13:00 +0000

After reading that headline, you probably think I'm insane.

Maybe I am.

But I believe that with just 50 games left in the major league baseball season, Carl Pavano, Francisco Liriano and Scott Baker will lead our Twins to a Central Division championship. And before you crucify me and call me a bleeding-heart homer-idiot-stupid head, consider that the Minnesota offense ranks ninth in the MLB and sixth in the American League. The hitting is there, but can the pitching get up to snuff in time?

Of our remaining schedule, we play 60% of the games against teams with sub-.500 records. And that against such teams (CLE, KC, TOR, BAL, OAK), our pitching staff looks like this:

Vs. teams with sub-.500 records, 2009

Liriano - 41 IP, 4.17 ERA… the recent setback vs. Cleveland pushed his ERA over the 4.00 mark. Otherwise, he's had some very good starts. And I KNOW you remember how he finished 2008 (if you don't, let me help… August 3-September 21 - 61 IP, 2.05 ERA, 1.076 WHIP, 55 Ks). This is the same pitcher with a worse mindset. He's not hurt. A couple of solid starts could get him rolling.

Blackburn - 51 IP, 4.94 ERA… majorly affected by last night's blowout vs. KC and the implosion in Oakland a couple weeks back.

Pavano - 41-2/3 IP, 7.52 ERA… funny, Pavano can't pitch against bad teams, but has been magnificent against the likes of Detroit (30 IP, 1.48 ERA), Chicago (22-1/3, 2.42 ERA), Boston (6 IP, 2 ER) and New York (13-1/3, 2.70 ERA). I will now skip any sort of analysis, because this could be beyond explanation. Either way, I call it a wash, because 13 of our 20 remaining games vs. teams with above-.500 records are against CWS and DET. The thought is that he should be good enough not to get pounded by those same bad teams the rest of the season while remaining proficient against the Pale Hose and Motor City Kitties.

Swarzak - 22 - 2/3 IP, 4.37 ERA… he's really been up and down all year anyway. I don't trust him and I don't trust Perkins.

Baker - 53-2/3 IP, 3.83 ERA… if anyone thrives on bad-hitting teams, it's Baker. He'll strike 'em out and put up zeroes through most of his outings.

I think I just talked myself into a division title. Did I talk you into it?

A few hitting notes…

On his current five-game hitting streak, Delmon Young is batting .333 with two home runs and four RBI.
Since July 31 (10 games), Joe Mauer is batting .476 with two doubles, three home runs and 12 RBI. Over that same span, Justin Morneau has gone the other way a bit, hitting just .220 with two homers, two doubles and eight RBI.
In August, Nick Punto and Alexi Casilla have combined for seven hits in 40 at bats (.175) while a very capable counterpart - Brendan Harris - is 5-for-15 with a homer this month.
Joe Crede should be back in the lineup today.
Thanks for reading! Have a great day!

Bookend victories

noreply@blogger.com (J-mizzle) — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 13:13:00 +0000

Ever gotten a Christmas present you really didn't want? A couple of years ago, I got a zip-up sweater from my parents that wasn't my favorite. I held it up and muttered "huh...". Without saying another word, everyone knew that A) I didn't like it and B) I was too courteous to say so. And they haven't let me live it down, either. But hey, the wrapping paper was nice, and it's the "thought" that counts, right?

Much like that scenario, the Twins wrapped up their 10-game road trip with a win Sunday, leaving most fans with a nice taste in their mouths despite the 4-6 west coast swing. They wrapped up that turd of a trip with wins, but there's the issue of the proverbial sweater… the nuts and bolts of their journey. And it was an ugly one, where the pitching was horrid, for the most part. Interestingly enough, Anthony Swarzak emerged unscathed, with a 1.98 ERA in 13-2/3 innings in his two starts. But there weren't many bright spots outside of him. Most disappointing was the week-long collapse of our bullpen.

Joe Nathan saved the first three wins of the trip before blowing Friday's game. Jesse Crain got beat down on Friday in extra innings. R. A. Dickey gave up at least one run in each of his past four outings, ballooning his ERA to 4.05 from 2.83 on July 11. Even the previously untouchable Bobby Keppel was touched for four earned runs (Mon., Thu.) before pitching two shutout innings Sunday. But the good thing is that most of our relievers are good enough to bounce back. And we have some guys going pretty well, like Matt Guerrier, who's only given up ONE earned run since May 26. The key now is to keep them fresh with good starting pitching, so that they'll be of use to us in September.

Speaking of pitchers that are "of use", here are my top 6 Twins pitchers who scare me the least when taking the mound. I'll probably do this every week or two for the rest of the season.

Joe Nathan - He's the king of the staff unless the Twins trade for Halladay (not happening) or Cliff Lee (seems exceedingly unlikely). Too bad our best pitcher doesn't start.
Kevin Slowey - The fact that our most consistent starter is on the DL indefinitely should be very alarming for Twins fans. He may even need surgery to remove the bone chips in his wrist. If this were Perkins, I think we'd all feel better. But it's not. And Swarzak can't fill this hole forever. Slowey gave us good innings and rarely got into ugly jams… also struck out enough batters to get OUT of rougher innings.
Matt Guerrier - He's been the second best reliever all year long. Thanks for the nice comeback, Matty G.
Jose Mijares - Would have been ranked a bit higher if he hadn't given up earned runs in two of his past three outings.
Scott Baker - Baker is the Ace of the starters right now - he's really the only guy with enough control and decent "stuff" to face the best competition. And even he got into some major trouble in his last start (10 baserunners, five innings). The problem is that against the best offenses, he lacks the major "out" pitch to get out of an inning, so the pitch count gets ugly in a hurry because opposing batters just foul everything off.
Nick Blackburn - Blacky gives you innings and generally doesn't get destroyed. You can't ask for much else from a guy who doesn't strike people out and lacks devastating movement on breaking balls.

Here's LaVelle E. Neal's preview of the upcoming White Sox Series.

Have a great night - go Twins!

Kind of a Rough Week

noreply@blogger.com (J-mizzle) — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 15:22:00 +0000

The Twins have been battered since this past Sunday, giving up an amazing 43 runs in five games, including 32 in a three-game series with Oakland. Not only were the starting pitchers remarkably terrible (aside from Liriano/Swarzak on Sunday/Tuesday), the bullpen sported a 12.55 ERA in the four losses. The hitting has really be fine - we're scoring runs at a decent clip, so that's not really to blame. So it looks like we're left with starting pitching as the major problem, if only because the 'pen only just faltered over the past seven days. Let's dive in and dissect this mother.

Kevin Slowey (DL - Back next week to start for Perk) - After a dismal start to the year where he was shelled for five runs in consecutive starts, Slowey calmed down and was pretty much the Ace of the staff. From April 18-June 19, he struck out 60 batters in 73 innings while limiting the opposition to a .280 BAA and posting a 3.44 ERA. Then the wheels fell off in his two most recent starts, presumably because of the wrist soreness he was experiencing. We hope. This, however, is a guy I trust.

Francisco Liriano - In June, a better version of F-Bomb showed up, and that's exactly who we need the rest of the way. His full-season stats may not recover from the terrible start to

2009, but from June 5 to July 19, he shaved off 1.27 runs off his ERA, and struck out 49 batters in 49 innings. Couple that with a nice little .238 BAA, and we're cookin' with gas. As a matter of fact, Liriano has gone less than six innings just twice in his past eight starts. I won't hide the truth though - he's walking WAY too many batters, a problem that has led to short outings and unnecessary runs. The thing with Liriano is that the strikeouts mask his control issues, and that's something most guys on the staff can't do.

Scott Baker - For Baker, there was a clear turning point in June. He had just come off three consecutive starts where the opposing team blasted two home runs, and was facing Cleveland. Bake proceeded to strike out ten Indians in seven innings of two-run ball. Next game? He struck out eight in eight innings in

that super-weird game in Oakland when the team went into the ninth up 10-0, then won 10-5 in scary fashion. Fast forward, and Baker - despite two straight games where he gave up five earned runs (CHW/NYY on July 7/12) - has a 3.94 ERA and 57 strikeouts in his past 61 innings. He's also consistently giving the team a chance to win.

Nick Blackburn - It's been documented elsewhere, but Nick Blackburn is getting VERY lucky as

a ground ball pitcher this season, and it's a major reason for why he's been so good thus far. His strikeouts are down from a year ago, yet his ERA and WHIP are much better than 2008. The answer? His BABIP is almost 30 points less than last year. The same balls simply aren't finding holes. The defense is better with Crede manning third base, and that probably helps a bit, but not that much. Thus, he'll get hammered on occasion like he did Monday. Of course, if any pitcher left that many balls up in the zone, they'd get pounded too. All that said, you gotta love his stats from May 10-July 5… a 1.98 ERA in 81 innings. Without Blacky, the Twins would be at least 7-8 games behind in the division. Instead, they remain just 2.5 out.

Glen Perkins (Shoulder injury, might be placed on DL) - It's hard to hammer Perkins right now because of his shoulder injury. It's possible the malady led to some ugly performances, but either he's got some MAJOR issues, or he's just been bad since that early-season hot streak. When you look through his post-April outings, you can only point to one that was a legitimately dominant start - June 26 at St. Louis. Since April 26, he has an embarrassing 7.16 ERA in 60 innings pitched. Clearly not the guy he was last year, or people have figured him out. If you're looking for a guy to send to the bullpen when Slowey gets back, this is your man.

Anthony Swarzak - Our up-and-down rookie has flashed enough talent for me to believe he deserves to stay in the rotation when Slowey gets back. He's only made seven starts, but has better strikeout potential than Perkins and seems to have a better plan of attack. One flaw is that he has a much shorter leash… the managment must be babying him a bit still, as he's been pulled at 4-1/3 innings or less three different times. Overall, he seems to AT LEAST not get smoked by lower-echelon teams, and gives us a chance against the better ones.

So after all that, I contend that Perkins needs to leave the rotation in lieu of Swarzak for the balance of the season. But honestly, there isn't a whole hell of a lot of difference between he and Perkins right now. Let's hope for a solid weekend of baseball as we march toward the top of the Central division!

Pathetic Performances, Vol. I

noreply@blogger.com (J-mizzle) — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 15:31:00 +0000

And, with last night's abortion of an outing, I decided to begin a running series called "Pathetic Performances". Whenever the Twins leave me speechless after a mind-numbing comedy of errors, I'll write about it the next day. Deal? Deal.

You've probably heard a lot of really bad reactions to the Twins' 14-13 loss last night. The pitching was bad. The hitting, after the first three innings, was bad. The play at the plate was bad. All in all, a disgusting way to finish what was supposed to be a fun night for Twins fans to relax and enjoy the ball-bashing 3-4-5 combo of Morneau, Cuddyer, Kubel. They're fun. :)

So let's dive in and find out how bad Monday's game really was.

Pitching

Twins pitchers faced 48 batters and struck out zero. ZERO.
Starter Nick Blackburn, despite getting spotted an 12-2 lead, kept trying to get ground balls and - unfortunately - kept missing spots and leaving the ball up in the strike zone. Altogether, he gave up 13 hits and 7 earned runs, and they weren't dribbling grounders. The Athletics were SMOKING the ball all over the place.
The previously untouchable Bobby Keppel gave up three earned runs, and didn't even have the decency to record an out.

Batting

Granted, there's a lot less to talk about here, but there were still some really bad spots. Like Denard Span and Nick Punto (last night's no. 1 and no. 2) going 1-for-10. They scored a combined TWO runs on a night where the 3-4-5 guys went 10-for-13. Unacceptable, and another reason to continue the search for an offensive threat who can bat no. 2.
Alexi Casilla went 0-for-3, and is 1-for-17 since his return to the majors. He clearly has one foot out the door already.
In Denard Span's six at bats, he saw just 19 pitches. That's BARELY three per plate appearance. Inexcusable for leadoff man to go up there hacking.

Alright I'm done.

Another game tonight, with - hopefully - a better result.

Mollifying the Mob

noreply@blogger.com (J-mizzle) — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 21:32:00 +0000

All I've heard over the past few weeks is how every bullpen in the major leagues is looking for help, how most of them are overworked and struggling. And guess what: it's false, at least for your hometown nine, the Minnesota Twins. You may contend that they had a lot of trouble early in the season, and you'd be right. The thing is that since mid-to-late May, we found a group of arms that get to Joe Nathan with consistency. And lo and behold, since May 21, the team is 24-17 and moved into second place in the Central Division. And Nathan? He's got 16 saves over that span after notching just six in the previous seven weeks.

Let's have a look at our fearsome five - our quintet of bat-missing mavericks who've combined to lock down late innings in reliable fashion. And I'll present them as different types of meat, because I'm grilling out tonight. (stats as of Wednesday night, July 8)

Filet Mignon: Joe Nathan. You can't screw it up… filet mignon is great no matter how you cook it. You don't need spices and you don't need sauces, but when you add them, it still improves. In the same way, Joe Nathan is a masterpiece of a pitcher, but with a sound bullpen around him, he becomes all the more lethal to the opposition. Since May 21, Nathan has tossed 18 2/3 innings of scoreless baseball, and he's been about as dominant as anyone could hope for with an astounding 28:2 K/BB ratio over that span. Folks, when a pitcher doesn't put runners on base, and strikes out exactly half of the batters he faces, he can't be touched. That's what Nathan is doing, and when the other guys bridge the 7th and 8th inning gap, the game is virtually over.

Pork Tenderloin: Jose Mijares. If you cook a tenderloin just right - maybe let it sit in a brine a few hours, then grill it up - then you're bound to enjoy a juicy, delicious dinner. But pork is a fickle meat… you have to watch it because overcooking makes it taste like a boot. Señor Mijares came to the dinner table a little too often this past offseason, but has since returned a different man after a little Triple-A seasoning. When used in the right situations - a change of pace or against lefties - he's become dominant since May. Consider that he's only given up two runs in the past 16 games. Pretty solid for a guy who came to Spring Training looking completely unready to face major-league competition.

Burgers: Matt Guerrier. Everyone can make a burger, but not everyone can do it right. You can slap together a patty in five seconds, or add sauces and spices to the mix before flames ever char the meat. Matty-G learned this tough lesson last year… nibbling is great if you have pinpoint accuracy, but when you miss, the results can be disastrous. Thus, Guerrier came into 2009 with a different plan - make 'em hit the ball and let your defense do the dirty work. Since late May, he's thrown a larger percentage of strikes (69% in 2009 vs. 62% in 2008) and as a result, walked batters far less. This, of course, has led to less runners on base when he does give up the inevitable hit. Since May 20, Guerrier has even held batters to a .191 batting average against and just three extra base hits in his 20 innings pitched.

Beef Jerky: R.A. Dickey. When you're looking for a snack, beef jerky almost always fits the bill, but in large doses, can provide you with horrible gut rot. And we know Dickey is the same way, baffling batters with that wicked knuckler for an inning or so after the starter has been removed. Of course, when he's asked to go through the lineup more than once, the lack of velocity catches up with him. Still, since May he's posted a sparkling 2.45 ERA and struck out 14 batters in his 18 1/3 innings pitched.

Chicken: Bobby Keppel. Always good, and goes with everything. I like what I see with Keppel, and I'd like another helping, please. In his brief major league cup o' coffee, he's appeared four times and thrown 11 1/3 scoreless innings, with three of the outings spanning over two full innings. He's becoming a reliable option in the bullpen, and that, of course, is a good thing.

Enjoy your Friday before the White Sox series starts!

The plight of the underdog

noreply@blogger.com (J-mizzle) — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 14:33:00 +0000

Everyone loves an underdog. Especially me. As a fan of Minnesota sports, I've become accustomed to spouting phrases like "we never get respect" or "no one believes in us". This mentality has worked to galvanize the Minnesota Twins fan base in such a way that we pool our dreams together and hope it'll be enough - with some good ol' fashioned talent and scrappiness - to win. But I'm not talking about a franchise today, I'm talking about a player named Delmon Young and his winding path toward relevance.

Ever since he was a young kid, baseball has been easy for Young. Take this excerpt from a 2003 USA Today article as proof:

"Young, 17, hit .544 with seven home runs and 28 RBI and was intentionally walked 26 times this season for Camarillo High School. Young, 6-foot-3 and 205 pounds, has starred at the high school level for several years and shown great power potential and patience at the plate, an outstanding arm and good speed."

He then went to Tampa Bay's minor league system and thrashed A, AA and AAA pitching for the first two seasons (2004-05), posting a ridiculous 51 home runs, 53 steals and 214 RBI with a .318/.368/.533 batting line. Clearly, the kid was ready for a bigger challenge, and in 2006, Delmon got his shot at the major leagues.

The results have been mixed since hit insertion in the Tampa Bay lineup. Young's famed plate discipline has yet to materialize, evidenced by a career major league 67:288 BB/K ratio. He's seemed to swing and miss extremely often, and is currently going through his worst year as a baseball player with just three home runs and a sickly .264/.292/.346 batting line. Years of lofty expectations have caught up with Young, and people are getting impatient. He's finally become an underdog.

Tack on his dubious bat-throwing incident, along with the infamous Garza/Bartlett swap that landed Young in Minnesota, and even the biggest Twins fans have found reason to throw him under the bus.

This isn't a hopeless situation though - Young has a history of meteoric rises in the second half of the baseball season. "DY" batted .300/.344/.435 in the second half in 2008 with 8 homers. In 2007, he cranked out a .302/.326/.405 line. And since June 9 this season (15 games), he's scorched MLB pitching to the tune of a .322/.328/.503 line with two home runs and 10 RBI. Up to that point (36 games, April 6-June 8), he had only managed a meager .236/.275/.268 with one home run and 14 RBI.

There's a lot of talent in Young's bat, and maybe - just maybe - he'll begin to realize his potential in front of a fan base who understands how to embrace even the least-talented (Mark Madsen), moronic (Randy Moss, Fred Smoot), and disrespectful (Latrell Sprewell) athletes.

Droppin' an F-Bomb on Y'allz

noreply@blogger.com (J-mizzle) — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 23:26:00 +0000

If there's one thing I can't stand, it's inconsistency. The Twins, while sitting at 41-39 after today's win at Kansas City, would seemingly be the model of consistency if you look only at their record. After all, winning half your games means you are demonstrating an inability to sustain success. A lot of factors play into the team's ragamuffin end results, not the least of which is Francisco Liriano's glacial metamorphosis into something resembling a starting pitcher.

Of course, at age 25 and coming off Tommy John surgery, Frankie has had to relearn his arm slot, which anyone can tell you takes more than a couple tosses in the bullpen. And yet, after a horrid rollercoaster 6.60 ERA through the first two months, the F-Bomb has started to return.

In June, Liriano busted out a 3.77 ERA with 30 strikeouts in his 31 innings pitches. What's more, his BAA (batting average against) fell considerably in the month of June (.231) as compared to April/May (.296). All of this, of course, was highlighted by Francisco's tidy (97 pitches) seven-inning, six-strikeout performance this past Sunday in St. Louis. He even managed to strike out Albert Pujols once, and that's only happened 31 other times in 264 at bats this season. Good stuff.

If this is the Liriano we're going to get from here on out - the efficient, confident guy we can trust - then our Twins, as a whole, will take a turn upward.

Oh, and speaking of inconsistency, I apoligize for the ridiculous two-month hiatus on this little ol' site. If the inspiration isn't there, it's always best to put a lid on your output.

Thanks for reading!

Another Manic Monday

noreply@blogger.com (J-mizzle) — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 04:30:00 +0000

After taking two out of three from the Cleveland Indians this past weekend, I thought our hometown club might be ready for a little streak of success, but alas, they were not. Kevin Slowey and Nick Blackburn pitched admirably on Friday and Saturday, but the next two starters couldn't keep the momentum going. Glen Perkins gets a pass after the way he started the season, but our club will rarely win when the starter puts us in an early four-run hole. Scott Baker was effective, but still lacked the total control he exhibited at times last season. Here's a statistical look...

A few Baker-related notes:

Strikeouts: In his first two games, Baker managed to punch out just five batters in 8.2 innings, but in Monday's start, he K-ed seven men in six innings. I expect him to continue to keep the walks down if only because they've never been an issue before, and his enormous WHIP is sure to shrink as he returns to normal strikeout rates. Baker's K/9 last year was 7.4, and he had a sweet little 3.32:1 K/BB ratio as well. Despite the fact that he lost again, the way Baker changed speeds and hit corners was encouraging.
Duration of start: Going six innings and 99 pitches also bodes well for Baker's immediate future. He got into a little trouble at times, but Gardy left him alone. Baker bounced back after an awful first inning to keep the team in the game. He battled tonight, and churning out six frames helps out the bullpen. Hopefully they'll get another rest tomorrow with Liriano pitching.
The way runs were scored: Baker gave up seven homers in his first two outings, but didn't throw any gopher balls on Monday. In fact, his homers-per-nine innings rate was about 1.0 from 2007-2008, so while he has a slight propensity to give up the long ball, Baker he'll start to get more ground balls and Ks to limit batters' opportunities to take him deep.

***

Since my public humiliation of Joe Crede last Friday, he's actually picked up the pace, going 5-for-16 (.312) with two homers and three RBI. Not that Crede has to bash the snot out of the ball all the time, but we just needed something from the guy.

Big game tonight - hopefully Liriano can be a losing-streak stopper for our local nine against James Shields. Game time is 7:10.

Thanks for reading, and have a great day!

Get a Whiff of This

noreply@blogger.com (J-mizzle) — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 14:32:00 +0000

Justin Morneau, Jason Kubel and Denard Span have done a pretty nice job of keeping the Twins lineup afloat lately, but as we saw Wednesday and have witnessed in the past, you need more. We were supposed to get more from a healthy Michael Cuddyer and Joe Crede, but they've been worse than the bottom-of-the-barrel replacements we inserted in 2008. And I'm not sure how much longer we can allow Alexi Casilla to slap grounders toward expectant fielders at the top of the order. Granted, some of our problems will be alleviated when Joe Mauer returns in seven days, eight hours, 15 minutes and 12 seconds, but overall plate discipline can't be expected to be "good" all of the sudden, right?

Consider that the Twins have five players with double-digit strikeouts, but only one of those has more than one homer. It's widely held that power hitters' strikeout totals are downgraded a bit because they generally make up for their whiffing ways with numerous bases-on-balls. The thing is, our "power hitters" (aside from Morneau/Kubel) aren't hitting home runs, and aren't making up for it by getting on base. Additionally, a decent on-base percentage stands at around .330, and only a few of our regulars have even eclipsed that mark so far. Check out some stats:

Joe Crede (.167 Average/.286 On-Base/.310 Slugging) - Crede has been pretty tragic at the plate, aside from the home run he hit down in Chicago a few weeks back. In 42 at-bats, he's already struck out 12 times, and if it weren't for his glove, he'd be sitting the bench in favor of Buscher (who has at least shown some semblance of patience). The good news? Crede is hitting .286 against left-handers so far this season, and he'll face lefty Aaron Laffey on Sunday. Also, his career numbers say he'll eventually hit right-handers with greater consistency. Hopefully sooner than later.
Michael Cuddyer (.207/.254/.310) - Seems like Cuddy couldn't hit a soft-toss marshmallow with a cubicle wall about now, and would be playing a lot less if Carlos Gomez still had a pulse. The Magician is striking out three times as much as he's walking (11:4 K/BB), and we can only hope he'll heat up once May comes around.
Delmon Young (.229/.289/.343) - The only good thing that I can draw from Delmon's slow start is that he already his a towering home run this season. If you remember, he didn't go yard until June 7 a year ago. I'm probably the least worried about Young though, because if there's one thing he's going to do, it's hit for average. Expect a string of two-hit games to boost his average back up to .270 or so. Maybe it'll be accompanied by a little power.
Alexi Casilla (.184/.231/.224) - Casilla is known for going through rough stretches at the dish, but going 2-for-27 over the past nine games simply is NOT going to get it done. I'm expecting Brendan Harris to get some at bats shortly - he's actually been swinging it pretty well so far this season and isn't a terrible fielder. The problem is that Gardy knows how poor our pitching is right now, and likely won't sacrifice defense for a mildly-hot bat.

I'd write about Carlos Gomez, but he isn't playing enough to stir up anger.

Anyway, we're playing the Cleveland Indians this weekend… one of only three teams whose pitching has been worse than ours so far (6.31 ERA/1.642 WHIP). Good news! No Cliff Lee this time around. Of course, Cleveland still has Grady Sizemore, Travis Hafner (looks pretty solid so far) and Victor Martinez heading up the no. 3 offense in the league to date. With the way our arms have looked thus far, it could be a recipe for disaster.

Your weekend pitching match ups:

Fausto Carmona (1-2) vs. Nick Blackburn (0-1)
Carl Pavano (0-2) vs. Kevin Slowey (2-0)
Aaron Laffey (1-0) vs. Glen Perkins (1-1)

I wouldn't be surprised if the Twins win the series, but I'd be floored if we gave up less than 15 runs in these three games. Anyone else ticked off that Slowey has two wins and Perkins has a loss? Ugh.

Enjoy the weekend, and remember that I'll start writing more often in May. Thanks for reading!

Son of a Pitch; Angels Preview

noreply@blogger.com (J-mizzle) — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 18:28:00 +0000

Since I last posted, the Twins have gone 2-5 against the White Sox and Blue Jays. Not only have they gotten off to a decidedly dubious start, but they were obliterated in four of the five losses. By a total of 35-5. In four games. FOUR GAMES. Did I mention we gave up 35 runs in four games?

I want to toss out a quick qualifier… I know stats are bloated and ugly (or so pretty that it must be a mirage) early in the year, but when your bullpen rolls out the red carpet for the freaking Blue Jays in the Dome, it's time to mention a few things.

At a Glance:

In his profile on cbssports.com, Luis Ayala has a big ol' smile on his face, but that's probably the last time he shot anyone a grin. The guy is supposed to be our link to Joe Nathan, but instead has given up four earned runs in his past 3 1/3 innings and filled the bases with nine runners over the same span. I think we all knew he wasn't going to be a miracle worker, but even Eddie Guardado was better than that last year.
Against Seattle and Toronto, last year's Kevin Slowey could have been expected to keep us in the game and probably win one of the two contests. This year's Kevin Slowey gave up 24 hits, 1BB and 10 earned runs in 11 1/3 innings (2.205 WHIP and 7.94 ERA) against those mediocre lineups. Granted, the Twins left him in vs. Toronto for far too long, and he's already given up four homers (on pace for 60+... lol) after allowing only 22 last season. The fact of the matter is that he'll probably get a whole lot better.
It just seems like piling on to thrash Nick Blackburn, if only because he's our projected no. 5 starter, so I'll be nice. Despite his horrible statistical start (11 IP - 18 baserunners and a 1.6 k/9), Blackburn hasn't been the worst starter on the team. I think that's as good as I can do for a compliment.
And it's always a blast when you long reliever - in this case, Phil Humber - can't get anyone out. In his 4 1/3 innings of work this season, he's already given up six earned runs. And, of course, the runs don't bother me as much as how they're scoring… he's allowed 13 baserunners already, and if you're looking for an example of "playing with fire", he's exhibit A. Luckily, the Twins designated him for assignment today and signed Juan Morillo (horrible pitcher - has ZERO control with 55 walks in 59 innings of Triple-A ball in 2008) off a waiver claim..

The good news is that Francisco Liriano looks really solid and that Glen Perkins - despite the fact that the Twins' bats have collectively flipped him the bird in his first two starts - has dominated the competition. So let's all take a big breath and get a little perspective: we're 11 games into a 162 game season, and Joe Mauer isn't even back yet.

Speaking of Mauer, news broker earlier this week that he'll start a minor-league rehab stint next week, and try to return in about 7-10 days after that, barring a setback. He's been running without pain, and adding his bat into our lineup could be the fresh wind we need to get a little more consistent in our run production.

*****

Starting tonight, the Twins face the Los Angeles Angels for three games at the dome. The Angels are 4-5 on the season and are pretty banged up… Vladamir Guerrero is going to miss some time with a pectoral strain, and he'll most definitely miss the entire series… also, John Lackey, Kelvim Escobar and Ervin Santana will miss the series as they battle back from early-season injuries.

Friday's Starters: Nick Blackburn (0-1) vs. Dustin Moseley (1-0)
Saturday's Starters: Kevin Slowey (1-0) vs. Darren Oliver (0-0)
Sunday's Starters: Glen Perkins (0-1) vs. Shane Loux (0-0)

We all know about the Twins' streaky hitting thus far, and it's showing up in the stats, which is extremely convenient if you're a blogger. The team is no. 9 overall in hits, but aren't getting anyone home. They already have eight GDPs without Joe Mauer (ground into double play), they're third-to-last in the league in home run rate (1 homer for every 53.3 at bats) and have just 39 runs - good for no. 20 in the majors.

That's all for now. I'm writing tomorrow about our horrible hitting outfield. Something for everyone to look forward to!

Enjoy the game tonight - hopefully it's more than batting practice for those Anaheimers. Peace.

No support for Perkins

noreply@blogger.com (J-mizzle) — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 18:37:00 +0000

I’m disappointed today. Disappointed that the Twins could squander a Glen Perkins gem. Disappointed that Delmon Young has only seven at bats in four games, and – even worse – zero hits. Disappointed that our supposed eighth-inning guy Luis Ayala has already given up two runs in three outings. And I’m disappointed that, after absolutely crushing the competition with runners on base in 2008, we left FOURTEEN (14, yup) guys on the basepaths to end an inning. Worst of all, we did it against Jarrod Washed-Up (Washburn). Makes me cry bitter tears.

I’ll tell you what – writing about this stuff really does help though. I get frustrated listening to/watching games, and this is how I blow off the steam. So thanks for making it a worthwhile venture by reading my opinions every once in awhile. ☺

Anyway, there’s more to be ticked-off about, namely that our no. 1 (Span), no. 2 (Casilla) and no. 3 hitters (Cuddyer) combined to hit 0-for-11, but thankfully Cuddyer drew a walk to save the crew from getting skunked. Against Washburn, a guy who sported a 4.70 ERA, 1.46 WHIP and went 5-14 in 2008. I don’t get it. Except for the fact that Washburn, that bum, has a career 2.76 ERA at the Dome. Maybe we should have tried to sign him.

The news wasn’t all bad yesterday, no matter how much I try to spin it that way. Glen Perkins really did a masterful job against everyone but Adrian Beltre, who ended up hitting 6-for-13 this series with two walks in the win. Perkins gave up just one early run and managed to keep the baserunners to a minimum after an excruciatingly eventful first frame. Gotta respect the guy’s will to battle back after a rough start. Maybe it’s Perkins, not Kevin Slowey, who finds a little extra mojo this season and becomes our reliable no. 3 arm in the rotation.

Now it’s off to Chicago, the site of Twins despair (2-8) last season. We’ll run R.A. Dickey out to the mound tonight against Jose Contreres, then watch Francisco Liriano do battle versus Bartolo Colón Saturday. On Sunday, Nick Blackburn matches up against Mark Buehrle in the third game of the series. I’m glad to miss Danks and Floyd, but we’ll get a couple doses of them later this year.

Notes:

The Rochester Red Wings got underway Thursday and saw Luke Hughes, Dustin Martin, Trevor Plouffe and David Winfree smack homers in the opener. Nothin’ like a few fireworks!
Left-fielder Matt Moses bashed a bomb for the Double-A Rock Cats Thursday in the team’s second game of the season, and it’s good to see him get rolling right away. In addition, Anthony Slama (one of my favorites) struck out three batters in a relief appearance yesterday, and remains one of the top bullpen arms in the minor leagues. Hopefully he’ll get more pub this season.

Twins play tonight at 7:11 p.m. vs. Chicago… beat those pale hose down!

Crappy start

noreply@blogger.com (J-mizzle) — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 14:54:00 +0000

Yeah, we've won two out of the first three games, which probably should make me smile. But it really doesn't. Not when our starting pitching combines for an ugly 6.50 ERA, 1.333 WHIP and four home runs just 18 innings. I'll give Francisco Liriano a pass… he really did pitch well, giving up just four hits (two for homers) in the opener. He was pretty dominant otherwise.

But Kevin Slowey and Nick Blackburn have no excuse. TWENTY freaking baserunners? In 11 innings? Call it first-game jitters if you want, but I'm a little concerned. The earned runs don't bother me as much, because if you're playing with fire the way those two were on Tuesday/Wednesday, you're going to get burned. But we're playing the Mariners, folks. The Seattle Mariners. They had a combined .265/.318/.389 team batting line last year, and that was with Ichiro and Raul Ibanez. I'll give you ONE guess as to who hasn't been in their lineup the past three days… yup, it's Ichiro (illness) and Ibanez (on the Phillies).

Call me a "negative nancy", "grumpy gus" or "disgruntled duncan", but if this is what Slowey and Blackburn are offering, then I'll rebut with a polite "no, thank you." I could rail on these two for hours, but I realize we're three games into the season. I want to stress the point without belaboring it.

A couple of other thoughts:

Seattle outfielder Wladamier Balentien is a pretty solid prospect, but his name grates on me. It's pronounced VLA - DA - MEER, when it's clear it should be pronounced WALLA - DA - MEER. Personally, I prefer the later pronunciation. I'll work on this and get back to you.
The Twins had their first spotless night of relief Wednesday when Craig Breslow, Jesse Crain and Joe Nathan pitched a scoreless seventh, eighth and ninth inning, respectively.
After a horrific two-game power outage, Justin Morneau and Denard Span blasted the Twins' first and second home runs of the season. Nice to see 'em get off the schnide.

Alright, that's all for today - check back tomorrow for another post!

Twins Hotspot is BACK!!!!

noreply@blogger.com (J-mizzle) — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 15:47:00 +0000

Welcome to the Twins Hotspot in 2009! I've got no flashy updates planned, but I can promise honest, researched opinion as often as I find myself at the keyboard.

Going into the season, we have a few problem areas/things to worry about. Let's dive in.

Do we really trust Joe Crede to give us "punch" from third base? I’m skeptical at best… let’s put it like that. Yes, Crede slammed 17 homers and 55 RBI in limited at-bats in 2008, but no one would mistake him for a careful hitter. Cripes, in his best offensive season (2006), he walked 28 times. That places him outside of the top-200. Behind the likes of known-free swinger Rickie Weeks, to name one. Point being that if we expected a Twins-style hitter to walk through the door, we’ve got another thing coming. Toss in the fact that he’s played 97 and 47 games in the past two seasons, and I’m not ready to get all rowdy about our acquisition. To me, a successful season for Joe Crede begins and ends with health. If that happens, I expect 20-22 home runs and 65-80 RBI.

Can Delmon Young make the leap from platoon outfielder to everyday player? First of all, let me be clear… Delmon Young should be an everyday player. And for all the vitriol hurled at Young, he actually had a better season in 2008 than in 2007, when he drove in 93 RBI with 13 homers and looked like a big-time player in the making while destroying the Tampa Bay clubhouse. Consider that Young dropped his strikeouts from 127 to 102 in 2008. Or that he raised his BB count from 26 to 35 in 70 less at bats. Or that his .290 batting average and .336 OBP ranked #4 among regulars last season (more than half of the games played). He’ll continue to take better routes to the ball on defense, and we already know he has a cannon for an arm. And he’s 23 years old, 24 in September… give it a little more time.

Will Carlos Gomez' supposed commitment to plate discipline follow him into the regular season? This spring, Carlos Gomez has looked like a different player. In 50 at-bats, he’s belted three home runs, stolen eight bases, driven in seven RBI and most importantly, is hitting .280/.368/.580. He’s walked six times compared to eight strikeouts, which is a mark most patient hitters would be proud to own. Either way, it’s a far cry from his absolutely toxic 6:1 K/BB ratio in 2008. The question is whether this success will translate, because as we all know, Spring Training is not the end-all for projecting seasonal stats. But if, by chance, Gomez does get a ton better, we’ll all start breathing easier about the Johan trade.

How long is Joe Mauer really going to be out for? We all know Mauer is a top-3 catcher in baseball. Whether he’s going to produce while he’s in the lineup hasn’t been a question since his arrival back in 2004. The problem is that he keeps getting hurt, and it’s pissing everyone off. If it’s not a knee, it’s a hamstring… if it’s not a quad, then it’s his back. Check out this snippet from the Disabled List Informer – an absolutely wonderful injury source:
“See a pattern here? I do. Most injuries are on the left leg. As a clinician, what this tells me is that there is something predisposing Mauer to left-sided lower extremity issues. Usually, it stems from improper foot positioning, i.e. too flat of a foot, or too high of an arch. In most cases, it is that the foot on the involved side is flat, thus leading to altered mechanics up the chain (in the knee, hip, low back, and the associated muscles in these areas).”

Maybe there’s more wrong than we think? But aside from all this stuff is the back injury he’s currently dealing with, and the latest news from Twins writer LaVelle E. Neal is that he’ll miss most of April. But the real question is whether he’ll miss time because of nagging injuries after that.

Are we going to place our hope in a bunch of young pitchers again? Seriously? Don’t get me wrong, I love our starting pitching for what they provided last season. They soothed us all year despite injuries to the top two (Scott Baker – 1 month; Liriano – more than 3 months), when the front office laid waste to the fan base by letting Torii Hunter go, and traded Santana in late winter. So yes, I’m thankful and I love them. And I believe Liriano, Baker and Slowey will be just fine this season, but I’m not feeling Nick Blackburn and Glenn Perkins again. And it has nothing to do with Spring Training, where they’ve been really good. It’s just that they have such high WHIPs and such low strikeout rates that there’s seemingly no way they get this lucky again. Not to rain on the parade, but I’m expecting a regression.

Could the Luis Ayala signing be worse than 2008's Livan Hernandez signing? Which is worse: Never having a chance, or being really close, only to have something taken at the last second? Seems like most Twins fans would take the former over the latter from the different ways they treated Livan Hernandez and Matt Guerrier last season. They both had good moments and bad ones, but on the whole, Guerrier was light years more destructive than Hernandez because the piss-poor starts he spun were near-impossible to come back from. When Guerrier had a bad game, he gave up three hits and an earned run to snatch victory out of our grasp time and again. Enter Luis Ayala, who could be every bit the choke artist Guerrier turned out to be after July 4 last season. Looking at 2008, you can see why Washington/New York were so eager to part with him, what with a 5.71 ERA and 1.454 WHIP in 75 2/3 innings. That, and a pretty pedestrian 50 strikeouts (5.94 k/9).

Is this the year Joe Nathan gets hurt? I’m sorry to bring this up, but Nathan had shoulder problems in 2000, and is dealing with them again this spring. I mean, the guy is 34 years old, and an injury wouldn’t be completely out of the question after six straight malady-free campaigns. Right?

There’s little chance our division will be worse than last year. From the looks of things, Cleveland and Chicago will be our main competition, but Kansas City is on the rise and Detroit probably can’t get further than the rock-bottom they hit last year. Cleveland gets Fausto Carmona, Victor Martinez and Travis Hafner back from injury, and while they lost CC Sabathia mid-season, they should be ready to role with now-stud pitcher Cliff Lee leading the way. Sizemore, Peralta and up-and-comer Shin-Soo Choo along with Ryan Garko and Kelly Shoppach all look like solid bats. Chicago lost Carlos Quentin and almost the division after his wrist injury in September. With him, they were probably going to win the Central by 3-4 games. Tack on the fact that Ken Griffey Jr. and Nick Swisher gave them nearly nothing down the stretch/all year and you can see how good this team really is. Thome, Dye, Konerko, Quentin and Alexei Ramirez should all scare you. Thank god we stole Joe Crede! Kansas City remains a rag-tag group, but you can’t deny that their young hitters are going to continue to get better, and their pitching (Meche/Greinke) is finally able to shut people down on occasion. And closer Joakim Soria might be the best in the league (yes, better than Papelbon/Nathan/Rivera). Detroit lost Jeremy Bonderman for a large portion of 2008, and Gary Sheffield/Curtis Granderson struggled with injury at times, as well. Most of all, the team couldn’t get anything consistent from Justin Verlander, Nate Robertson or Kenny Rogers, which led to their undoing. I expect Detroit to struggle again without any reliable bullpen help (Brandon Lyon, Fernando Rodney), but one has to think they would improve a bit with a full season from their key players.

Alright, let's get ready for another Twins season, but be mindful of the things that COULD go wrong! It's really the only way to be a fan… loving our team while acknowledging the deficiencies. Home opener is on April 6, and I'm SUPER jacked-up for it! Plenty more to come.

Twins sign Guerrier, Ayala

noreply@blogger.com (J-mizzle) — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 23:09:00 +0000

I'm glad the Twins locked up Matt Guerrier for another season. For all the tongue lashing I unleashed this passed season, it should be noted that "Matty G" pitched pretty well in the first half before completely falling apart. Overuse? Certainly possible.

What we DO know is that he'll be in uniform along with Luis Ayala, who comes to the Twin Cities from the Washington Nationals after posting a pretty ugly 5.74 ERA and 1.450 WHIP in 2008. He did, however, show much better in previous years, and it appears our beloved Twins believe he can regain that form.

If he pans out, then our bullpen begins to solidify. If not, we could have the same roller-coaster second half again. Let's hope for the former.

Incredible!

noreply@blogger.com (J-mizzle) — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 17:04:00 +0000

I haven't written a word about the Twins on this blog since October 1, 2008. And the only reason I can think of is that I was going through a few stages of grief. Well, it's January 25, and I've finally passed through denial, indifference, weeping and now I'm getting my feelings out on paper. Or something like that.

A few thoughts:

The Twins need to sign Joe Crede RIGHT NOW. I'm not sure what the hesitation is, but there's no way they should be willing to settle for Buscher/Harris again.
I think I like our team coming into the season. The pitching was pretty good last year, but we'll need another bullpen arm. Hopefully Mijares is ready to roll. The hitting produced enough runs most of the time, and, of course, I'll talk about this in more detail as the season approaches.
I'm not sure how hard it is to do, but this blog ended up on Lavelle E. Neal's Star Tribune blog list. That was cool.
The plan is to post pretty regularly during the season this year. I started sometime in June or July last season and it worked out well. We'll play it by ear for the time being.

Have a great day!

Too Painful to Write

noreply@blogger.com (J-mizzle) — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 13:52:00 +0000

It's never fun when your team gets knocked out for the season, but it's a lot less fun when they're eliminated before the playoffs begin. Feels unfair... feels numb. Time to turn our thoughts completely to football and basketball now, where the Wolves and Vikings look better than last season and hold some promise.

But first, some responses to yesterday's post and a closing thought for the 2008 season.

From Jason in Illinois - "F*** the coin toss. How can you not have a tie breaker like season series determine who gets the home field in the one game playoff. If that was in the Metrodome, we would of won easily."

I agree, Jason... this coin toss crap has got to go. These games at the end of the year are too important not to be determined by a worthwhile statistic or measure.

From "Ignateous" guy from CBS.Sportsline.com - "Offensively, the Twins were an absolute disgrace for this game. The hitters had no plan and even less patience. They couldn't lay off of any of Danks junk. Why fly all the way to Chicago only lay a big egg?"

It's very difficult to breathe right now... maybe I shouldn't have done this so soon...

From "Ramius7" guy from CBS.Sportsline.com - D@mnit, that is two postseason opportunities pissed away in a row. Getting swept out by Oakland two years ago with Barry Zito's last good start and now this. On a side note, there goes any chance of Mauer or Morneau @ MVP. They both needed to step up during KC or this game and neither did.

And the "Silver Lining Award" goes to "Ramius 7" guy.

From "jigga023" guy from CBS.Sportsline.com - Delmon Young again showed why he will never be that great of a hitter. He can't lay off anything in the stadium. He is a guaranteed out and will swing at any first pitch offered. Him leading off the 8th was like starting the 8th with an out.

Morneau folded under the pressure for the last week or so. He didn't do anything.

Not much of a showing last night, but a good season overall. Here's to next year.

Well said, my friend... we didn't get the hitting we needed, and that's pretty much all it amounted to. The pitching was incredible.

I'll leave you with a photo and some links...

This was sent to me by a friend, Al, whose friend did a quick piece of artwork last night. It's a masterpiece. Glorious.

If you need some cathartic streaming radio, KFAN.com will be available all day...

A decent story that might help...

Another blog to read today...

I'll be writing a season wrap-up at some point before retiring for the season... probably will write about some offseason posts as well. And feel free to check out my other blog, The Pulse. It's basketball-related.

Have a wonderful day, and get ready for Fort Myers in 2009! We're Comin'!!!!