Patterns

Twins 4, Royals 1
Twins 7, Royals 3
Royals 5, Twins 4 (12 innings)

I'm beginning to see a pattern emerging. The Twins begin a road trip against a non-divisional opponent, give away a couple of games thanks to poor pitching and defense, then recover to win the next series vs. a division rival. This is how the last 3 road trips have gone over the past month: the sweep at the hands of the Red Sox (2 games lost by the bullpen) followed by a 3-1 series win in Detroit; the sweep at the hands of the Yankees (all-around terrible baseball) followed by a 2-1 series win in Cleveland; and now a series loss at the hands of the Mariners (2 games lost by the bullpen) followed by a 2-1 series win in KC.

If your cup is half full, you might say that it's great to see the Twins able to bounce back from a bad start, and that it's more important to beat their division rivals - which is true. But, if your cup is half empty, you might point out how consistently the bullpen is allowing runs on the road (12 of the last 19 games), and how the next road trip is a 14-gamer, all against non-divisional opponents.

My cup is looking a little on the empty side right now. That's mostly because the Twins threw away first place for the second time this week. The sweep of the Royals was theirs for the taking, the last out of the 8th inning in Adam Everett's hand. All he had to do was make an on-target throw to first and the Twins would have handed their 4-3 lead to Joe Nathan in the ninth. But the inning only got that far because Brian Buscher double-clutched on a slow 2-hopper to third, enabling the relentlessly hustling Mark Teahan to reach with a leadoff "single" (how is Teahan only hitting .250? He's killing the Twins).

But that's not all. In the 6th, also with Teahan at the plate and 1 out, Scott Baker got a chopper to the right of the mound. He prudently chose to get the sure out at 1st base - except no one was covering: Mike Lamb had gone for the batted ball and Nick Punto was late covering. Baker tried to shovel it to Punto at the last second, but it got by him and rolled into foul territory, allowing 1 run to score and moving Teahan to 3rd. That brought the infield in, enabling Jose Guillen's grounder to go through for an RBI single. Even the Royals can beat you when you give them extra outs and bases.

The bullpen lost the game today, but I can't hang it on them. Matt Guerrier faced 3 batters, getting 2 grounders and a strikeout. Dennys Reyes, though he threw a wild pitch, got outs from the 2 men he faced. Craig Breslow did about as much as you can ask of him - he's not good enough to go twice through the order without getting nicked. (Although, you'd like to think he could get Tony Pena, Jr. out at least once, considering that he's, you know, a crappy hitter.) However, the bullpen allowed 2 ER in 11 IP in the series - really pretty good.

The hitting also left a bit to be desired, with the Twins accumulating just 24 hits in 30 innings of batting. Luckily, they drew so many walks (22 in the three games, plus a HBP) that the few hits they got should have been enough to earn the sweep. An extra run or two would have come in handy on Sunday, and I've got to call out Jason Kubel (3 ABs with runners on 3rd, 0-3 with a foul pop and 2 K) and Delmon Young (2 GIDP). With a 4-2 lead heading to the bottom of the 7th, Gardy sensibly inserted Gomez into the defense in place of Kubel. Once the game was tied, I really regretted not having Kubel at the plate, regardless of how bad a day he was having. Oh well.

On a lighter note, Livan Hernandez made his debut for the Rockies this afternoon: 2.2 IP, 7 H, 9 ER, 4 BB, 1 K. Glad we don't have to worry about that crap any more.

Plan D?

When I saw that SS Adam Everett had been non-tendered by the Houston Astros yesterday, I thought, "Ooh, we need a shortstop!" After spending about 30 seconds perusing his career stats, my enthusiasm faded, and I moved on. So, of course, today the Twins signed him to a 1-year, $2.8 million contract. My initial reaction was something like:

Ummmmm, 'kay.

But a few more minutes of research showed Everett to be one of the most superlative defensive shortstops in the game. Guys like that can make a big difference to a team, especially when a young starter gets himself into a bases-loaded, 1-out jam, and that two-hopper up the middle turns into a double-play instead of a two-run single. Casilla may have more offensive upside at short, but it won't make too much difference to have Everett get those at-bats instead. We can always pinch-hit for him in a critical situation. It's a good Moneyball move: his best skills are under-valued, so his contributions are affordable for the Twins.

It may also help us to focus on Bill Smith's strategy for this off-season. The Twins obviously won't be able to slug with the Tigers, but could outpitch and out-defend them. Let's put our resources toward the parts of the game the Tigers have overlooked. Why not put together the best defensive team we possibly can?

I think Marcus Giles fits into that, while providing some offensive potential that someone like Everett has never shown. Why not go after Inge for 3B? He'll solidify the left side, and provide 20+ homers while he's at it. How about Coco Crisp or Corey Patterson for CF? Either one will play dynamite D up the middle while getting on base less than 1/3 of the time. The pitching would have to carry the team, but that's our strength right now, and the market for available players doesn't offer much in the way of hitters.

The heart of the lineup, as currently constituted, should provide plenty of pop - Mauer, Cuddyer, Morneau, Young, and Kubel are all capable of improving on their numbers from last year. The other four slots in the lineup would be filled with pretty light hitters, but that was also the case in 2007. The Twins should be able to improve upon their run total from last year. And with a team built for defense and pitching, they might prevent a few more runs while they're at it. That improved run differential should be enough to provide a winning season.

By the way, this Everett signing highlights how easy it is to fill roster spots with players commanding moderate salaries. Such players will be available in every off-season. Just another reason it should be considered possible to set aside $20+ for Santana.

In other news, there was this report that came out today. The only Twin implicated for performnce-enhancing drug use while a member of the franchise was pitcher Dan Naulty. Though no one claims the list of players in the report to be exhaustive, I think it serves to confirm what I had always suspected - that Ron Coomer came by his power naturally.

Only the good kids could go through the steroid era without anybody hitting 30 homers in a season.