Twins 11, Mariners 0
Twins 9, Mariners 6
Mariners 5, Twins 3
The Twins came within 2 innings of a weekend sweep in which they never trailed - quite a departure from the first couple weeks of the season. Some observations from the series:
Last season I predicted that Joe Mauer would have a breakout year in the HR department because, with his legs back under him, all those warning track outs to left-center would have just enough extra on them to carry into the seats. It didn't happen in 2008, but so far he has 3 HR in his first 33 AB of 2009, all of them just over the wall in left-center. Mauer has been all-around awesome since coming off the DL. He'll cool off, of course, but there's no reason to think that this can't be his best ever OPS season. Provided he stays healthy, of course.
Right behind him is Justin Morneau, who twice followed Mauer's HR to left with blasts to RF, and came very close to having a 3rd straight game with a HR when his 3rd-inning drive on Sunday hit the top corner of the baggie in deep right-center. (That makes 2 balls from Morneau so far this season that would have been out just about everywhere but the Metrodome.)
As well as those two are swinging, I think it's time to move Cuddyer up in the order, if not between them, then certainly right after Morneau. For Cuddyer, the signal of whether or not he's seeing the ball well is his walk rate, which has been through the roof in recent weeks.
Scott Baker finally put it all together. He was so close to that level in his previous start - his failure last Sunday was in allowing all his hits consecutively - that I feel pretty confident that he's ready to resume his position as the Twins most consistent starter.
Did Francisco Liriano's outing on Saturday remind anybody of Baker's the previous week? He only made it once through the order without a hit, but it still fell apart awfully quickly. Thank goodness he got plenty of run support.
Nick Blackburn has, for the most part, been pretty good about following a poor start with a good one. That was the case again on Sunday, when he pitched his best all-around game of the season, allowing only 5 H and 1 BB in 7 IP with 6 K - nearly matching Baker's outing. I was impressed with how Blackburn was able to pitch out of a runners at the corners with no out jam early in the game.
With Blackburn at 99 pitches and lefties Ichiro and Griffey Jr. due up in the 8th, it made sense to go to the LHP 8th inning guy, Jose Mijares. He was scored upon for the second straight outing, in this case on a game-tying HR to Griffey. Griffey, by the way, is slugging .611 vs. the Twins this year, and just .317 vs. everybody else. Jesse Crain came on and failed to retire a batter, including sending a run home on a WP. The first batter he faced was Adrian Beltre. He's sluggling .680 vs. the Twins, but just .243 vs. everyone else. So what does everybody else know that the Twins pitchers don't?
Sunday was a rare example of a game in which the team that threw drastically more pitches managed to win. I love that the Twins, having chased Seattle's starters early on in the first two games of the series, were able to grind Erik Bedard out of the game with 110 pitches thrown in just 4.2 IP. It's a credit to Bedard's abilities that he was able to limit the damage to just 2 runs. Anyway, that kind of patient approach is going to pay dividends if the Twins will keep it up in future games.
Showing posts with label Scott Baker. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Scott Baker. Show all posts
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Notes on the Rays Series
Rays 7, Twins 1
Twins 4, Rays 3
Twins 8, Rays 3
Though it wasn't quite a QS, this was a huge step forward for Scott Baker. His command was much better, as he struck out 7 in 6 IP and, most importantly, kept the ball in the yard. He also had a string of 10 straight batters retired from the end of the 1st through the 4th. The XBH he allowed with 2 out in the first weren't great pitches, but the Evan Longoria 2B was very nearly foul and Carlos Pena's 3B was nearly caught by Cuddyer at the wall. The 2 runs allowed in the 5th, despite a WP and a PB, really just came down to: Alexi Casilla isn't quite tall enough and 2 bloopers around a BB. Baker has moved out of Baker 2006 territory and into the realm of Francisco Liriano this April, i.e. pitching OK overall, but not doing a very good job of scattering/stranding baserunners.
Speaking of Liriano, he was terrific until the 6th inning. His biggest trouble the last couple of starts has been retiring the leadoff man. He was able to work around it until the 6th, but putting the speedy guys on in front of the boppers is not a recipe for success. It's too bad he couldn't quite get through the 7th (really, Casilla should be 2 inches taller), but I love seeing him out there after the 6th with the Twins in the game.
The key to the Rays rally in the 6th was BJ Upton stealing 2nd despite being picked off. We all know that Justin Morneau has had a tendency to wear down over the course of the season, so these early days off from the field are important. But I miss him when he's not out there defensively. Cuddyer made some mistakes at 1st on Morneau's first day off in Chicago. Brian Buscher didn't exactly make a mistake in this game, it's just that he's a very deliberate player. You can see it in his ABs - it helps him avoid expanding the strike zone, but it also makes him just a little bit late on fastballs he should be attacking. On the pickoff play with Upton, he was just a smidge too slow getting the ball out of his glove. Make that play, and Longoria is batting with 2 out and the bases empty.
I have to compliment Buscher on the way he took that RBI HBP in the 6th. He barely flinched. That's the sign of someone who understood the situation and was mentally prepared to get hit.
Great work by Jose Mijares striking out the middle of the Rays' order after allowing a leadoff walk to Carl Crawford. I suspect he's seen the last of Rochester.
Joe Nathan is going to have to concentrate on throwing his first fastball down - that's twice now he's been taken deep on the first pitch of his outing.
Nick Blackburn was at his best on Wednesday night. Not just because he got 11 ground ball outs to 7 fly balls. Not just because he mixed his pitches effectively. He did a fine job of damage control in the 2 innings where the Rays were able to string some hits together, getting Evan Longoria twice with RISP. The only walk he allowed came with 2 RISP to a LH hitter with 2 out in the 7th. Because he pitches to contact, some grounders will sneak through, and some fly balls will drop in, but he was able to stay away from the fat part of the bat enough to limit the Rays to only 1 XBH.
As I predicted, Gardy has been sticking with Blackburn longer this year. He certainly had justification to make a pitching change as the 7th inning jam unfolded. But he stuck with his starter, and Blackburn held the Rays to just 1 run in the inning. That confidence in the starters is going to pay dividends down the road.
When the offense is scuffling to score runs, isn't it wonderful when the other team spots you a 4-run lead in the 1st inning? That rally went ground ball single, IF single chopped over 3B, BB, uncaught popup for a run, WP for a run, IF hit for a run, WP for a run. Almost as many runs as the Twins had mustered in the first 2 games of the series, all thanks to wildness from the pitcher and inefficient defense.
If Justin Morneau's HR total winds up a little bit lower than you were hoping at the end of the season, remember his 4th inning RBI double. That was within about a foot of being a HR, high off the baggie in right-center field. That's a HR in most other parks - certainly at the new Yankee Stadium.
Twins 4, Rays 3
Twins 8, Rays 3
Though it wasn't quite a QS, this was a huge step forward for Scott Baker. His command was much better, as he struck out 7 in 6 IP and, most importantly, kept the ball in the yard. He also had a string of 10 straight batters retired from the end of the 1st through the 4th. The XBH he allowed with 2 out in the first weren't great pitches, but the Evan Longoria 2B was very nearly foul and Carlos Pena's 3B was nearly caught by Cuddyer at the wall. The 2 runs allowed in the 5th, despite a WP and a PB, really just came down to: Alexi Casilla isn't quite tall enough and 2 bloopers around a BB. Baker has moved out of Baker 2006 territory and into the realm of Francisco Liriano this April, i.e. pitching OK overall, but not doing a very good job of scattering/stranding baserunners.
Speaking of Liriano, he was terrific until the 6th inning. His biggest trouble the last couple of starts has been retiring the leadoff man. He was able to work around it until the 6th, but putting the speedy guys on in front of the boppers is not a recipe for success. It's too bad he couldn't quite get through the 7th (really, Casilla should be 2 inches taller), but I love seeing him out there after the 6th with the Twins in the game.
The key to the Rays rally in the 6th was BJ Upton stealing 2nd despite being picked off. We all know that Justin Morneau has had a tendency to wear down over the course of the season, so these early days off from the field are important. But I miss him when he's not out there defensively. Cuddyer made some mistakes at 1st on Morneau's first day off in Chicago. Brian Buscher didn't exactly make a mistake in this game, it's just that he's a very deliberate player. You can see it in his ABs - it helps him avoid expanding the strike zone, but it also makes him just a little bit late on fastballs he should be attacking. On the pickoff play with Upton, he was just a smidge too slow getting the ball out of his glove. Make that play, and Longoria is batting with 2 out and the bases empty.
I have to compliment Buscher on the way he took that RBI HBP in the 6th. He barely flinched. That's the sign of someone who understood the situation and was mentally prepared to get hit.
Great work by Jose Mijares striking out the middle of the Rays' order after allowing a leadoff walk to Carl Crawford. I suspect he's seen the last of Rochester.
Joe Nathan is going to have to concentrate on throwing his first fastball down - that's twice now he's been taken deep on the first pitch of his outing.
Nick Blackburn was at his best on Wednesday night. Not just because he got 11 ground ball outs to 7 fly balls. Not just because he mixed his pitches effectively. He did a fine job of damage control in the 2 innings where the Rays were able to string some hits together, getting Evan Longoria twice with RISP. The only walk he allowed came with 2 RISP to a LH hitter with 2 out in the 7th. Because he pitches to contact, some grounders will sneak through, and some fly balls will drop in, but he was able to stay away from the fat part of the bat enough to limit the Rays to only 1 XBH.
As I predicted, Gardy has been sticking with Blackburn longer this year. He certainly had justification to make a pitching change as the 7th inning jam unfolded. But he stuck with his starter, and Blackburn held the Rays to just 1 run in the inning. That confidence in the starters is going to pay dividends down the road.
When the offense is scuffling to score runs, isn't it wonderful when the other team spots you a 4-run lead in the 1st inning? That rally went ground ball single, IF single chopped over 3B, BB, uncaught popup for a run, WP for a run, IF hit for a run, WP for a run. Almost as many runs as the Twins had mustered in the first 2 games of the series, all thanks to wildness from the pitcher and inefficient defense.
If Justin Morneau's HR total winds up a little bit lower than you were hoping at the end of the season, remember his 4th inning RBI double. That was within about a foot of being a HR, high off the baggie in right-center field. That's a HR in most other parks - certainly at the new Yankee Stadium.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
April Showers
Red Sox 10, Twins 1
This was vintage Scott Baker. 2006 vintage. Not a good year.
I'll cut him a break on the first inning hits - they weren't so much well hit as well placed. The rest were richly deserved, as Baker consistently missed badly with his fastball, walking the backup catcher in front of a bomb from SS Nick Green, then hanging pitch after pitch in the 3rd, resulting in only 2 runs thanks to Michael Cuddyer's diving catch of Jason Bay's liner before Mike Lowell's HR. Baker looks totally uncomfortable on the mound - he walked off the field dejectedly after every inning. But I guess this was a little better than his first start - he allowed 1 fewer HR and got 2 more outs. Baby steps.
The Twins have never done much against Tim Wakefield, and he was tough again today, inducing a ton of popups. The offense was able to get a few guys into scoring position, but they couldn't string any hits together.
I was struck by how the quirky dimensions of Fenway Park played well for the Sox today. Had this game been played at the Metrodome, Denard Span's 7th-inning double would have been a HR, Kevin Youkilis' first-inning HR would have been a double (if not a foul ball), and David Ortiz' 7th-inning double would have been an out.
We got another look at waiver-wire pickup Juan Morillo in a mop-up situation, and the results were ugly. After the afore-mentioned double to Ortiz, he walked 3 straight batters, forcing in a run, and left without retiring a batter. His fastball was consistently in the high 90s, for all the good it did him. R.A. Dickey came on and surrendered an RBI single, a SF, and a bloop ground-rule double. Mercifully, the umps called for the tarp and the game ended before the inning could get any worse.
Red Sox 7, Twins 3
Of the two games, this was the matchup I liked. Brad Penny came into the game with an ERA of 11.00, and Francisco Liriano was coming off of a QS vs. the Blue Jays.
It was obvious that Liriano had electric stuff. He struck out 4 of the first 6 hitters, allowing only a BB to JD Drew. His first pitch to Jason Varitek was a slider that hit him in the back foot. After Liriano had made a string of All-Star players look silly, Jeff Bailey, just recalled from AAA, was able to time an outside fastball and lift it just over the monster in LF for a 3-run HR. Are you kidding me? The other 3 H Liriano allowed were all doubles. The one hit by Dustin Pedroia that set up the 3rd inning rally was a ridiculous piece of hitting as he went down and got a shin high pitch off the inside part of the plate and somehow kept it fair down the LF line.
Liriano was his own worst enemy in this game. As great as his stuff was, he couldn't control it, resulting in 4 BB and a HBP. 4 of those 5 hitters wound up scoring. Liriano will be very tough to score against once he tightens up his control.
It should be noted that the bullpen did a terrific job tonight. Matt Guerrier, Luis Ayala and the newly recalled Jose Mijares combined to allow 1 H in 4 scoreless innings with 3 K. Mijares threw nothing but strikes.
On the offensive side of things, the box score doesn't come close to telling the story. Penny's stuff was awful - he couldn't get his curveball over and there was no movement on his fastball. From the first batter, the Twins smacked line drives all over the field. Had this game been played in a different park, or in different weather conditions, they might have hit 5 HR: Justin Morneau, Jason Kubel, Cuddyer and Delmon Young (twice) hit drives to the warning track or beyond in deepest CF. In the top of the 4th, Morneau led off with a laser HR into the seats beyond the bullpen. Two pitches later, Kubel hit a nearly identical drive just a few feet to the left that missed the stands for a ground-rule double. After Brian Buscher reached on an error, Delmon Young hit the deepest ball of all, which CF Jacoby Ellsbury was able to haul in with a leaping catch at the wall about 420 feet from home plate. In addition to the 6 H they collected, the Twins hit 7 other balls off Penny well enough to get hits. There were 4 IF liners in the game, 2 of which were in Pedroia's glove so quickly that the men on 1st were helpless to avoid being doubled off. Not our night.
Mauer's Rehab or The Rake's Progress
Joe Mauer caught 6 innings of an extended spring training game today, going 3-4 with a double and a SF and throwing out an attempted base stealer. The other day I suggested that the Twins should think about accelerating their timetable if Mauer went 8-16 with 4 BB and had shown he could catch at least 6 innings by the end of play on Thursday. He's 6-11 with 3 BB so far. Think he can go 2-5 tomorrow? Me too. Doesn't look like he needs another week to get his timing down.
Let's think this through. Mauer will likely DH on Thursday, setting himself up for 7 innings of catching Friday, DH duty Saturday, 8 innings Sunday, DH Monday, 9 innings Tuesday and as many innings as he can handle Wednesday before next Thursday's off day. Why can't he follow that schedule with the Twins? This weekend's series is in Cleveland, which means that Mauer could meet his 7-inning catching quota and still hit in the top of the 8th before being replaced by a lesser player. On Sunday, that gets him every inning but the 9th, and his usage would be normal for the Tampa series at the Metrodome.
What if he aggravates the injury? Well, what if he aggravates it in Fort Myers? Is there something that could happen to him in Cleveland that couldn't happen to him in Florida? Take the gamble. If he gets hurt again, say he would've been hurt anyway and put him back on the DL. If he doesn't get hurt, the Twins get to play 5 or 6 extra games with Mauer in the lineup. Through tonight's game, Mike Redmond and Jose Morales are hitting .231/.298/.288 and still haven't thrown out a base stealer. Mauer could almost top that OBP without taking the bat off his shoulder. This is a tight division race - every game counts. Don't waste a week of Mauer's production on the Florida State League.
Minor League Notes
Another good night for Rob Delaney and Anthony Slama, who combined to strike out 5 in the final 3.1 innings of New Britain's win tonight. Delaney now has 10.2 IP under his belt and has allowed only 9 H, 0 BB and 15 K. Slama has thrown 6.2 IP, allowing 4 H and 2 BB with 12 K. If they keep this up, they need to be in Rochester by June.
This was vintage Scott Baker. 2006 vintage. Not a good year.
I'll cut him a break on the first inning hits - they weren't so much well hit as well placed. The rest were richly deserved, as Baker consistently missed badly with his fastball, walking the backup catcher in front of a bomb from SS Nick Green, then hanging pitch after pitch in the 3rd, resulting in only 2 runs thanks to Michael Cuddyer's diving catch of Jason Bay's liner before Mike Lowell's HR. Baker looks totally uncomfortable on the mound - he walked off the field dejectedly after every inning. But I guess this was a little better than his first start - he allowed 1 fewer HR and got 2 more outs. Baby steps.
The Twins have never done much against Tim Wakefield, and he was tough again today, inducing a ton of popups. The offense was able to get a few guys into scoring position, but they couldn't string any hits together.
I was struck by how the quirky dimensions of Fenway Park played well for the Sox today. Had this game been played at the Metrodome, Denard Span's 7th-inning double would have been a HR, Kevin Youkilis' first-inning HR would have been a double (if not a foul ball), and David Ortiz' 7th-inning double would have been an out.
We got another look at waiver-wire pickup Juan Morillo in a mop-up situation, and the results were ugly. After the afore-mentioned double to Ortiz, he walked 3 straight batters, forcing in a run, and left without retiring a batter. His fastball was consistently in the high 90s, for all the good it did him. R.A. Dickey came on and surrendered an RBI single, a SF, and a bloop ground-rule double. Mercifully, the umps called for the tarp and the game ended before the inning could get any worse.
Red Sox 7, Twins 3
Of the two games, this was the matchup I liked. Brad Penny came into the game with an ERA of 11.00, and Francisco Liriano was coming off of a QS vs. the Blue Jays.
It was obvious that Liriano had electric stuff. He struck out 4 of the first 6 hitters, allowing only a BB to JD Drew. His first pitch to Jason Varitek was a slider that hit him in the back foot. After Liriano had made a string of All-Star players look silly, Jeff Bailey, just recalled from AAA, was able to time an outside fastball and lift it just over the monster in LF for a 3-run HR. Are you kidding me? The other 3 H Liriano allowed were all doubles. The one hit by Dustin Pedroia that set up the 3rd inning rally was a ridiculous piece of hitting as he went down and got a shin high pitch off the inside part of the plate and somehow kept it fair down the LF line.
Liriano was his own worst enemy in this game. As great as his stuff was, he couldn't control it, resulting in 4 BB and a HBP. 4 of those 5 hitters wound up scoring. Liriano will be very tough to score against once he tightens up his control.
It should be noted that the bullpen did a terrific job tonight. Matt Guerrier, Luis Ayala and the newly recalled Jose Mijares combined to allow 1 H in 4 scoreless innings with 3 K. Mijares threw nothing but strikes.
On the offensive side of things, the box score doesn't come close to telling the story. Penny's stuff was awful - he couldn't get his curveball over and there was no movement on his fastball. From the first batter, the Twins smacked line drives all over the field. Had this game been played in a different park, or in different weather conditions, they might have hit 5 HR: Justin Morneau, Jason Kubel, Cuddyer and Delmon Young (twice) hit drives to the warning track or beyond in deepest CF. In the top of the 4th, Morneau led off with a laser HR into the seats beyond the bullpen. Two pitches later, Kubel hit a nearly identical drive just a few feet to the left that missed the stands for a ground-rule double. After Brian Buscher reached on an error, Delmon Young hit the deepest ball of all, which CF Jacoby Ellsbury was able to haul in with a leaping catch at the wall about 420 feet from home plate. In addition to the 6 H they collected, the Twins hit 7 other balls off Penny well enough to get hits. There were 4 IF liners in the game, 2 of which were in Pedroia's glove so quickly that the men on 1st were helpless to avoid being doubled off. Not our night.
Mauer's Rehab or The Rake's Progress
Joe Mauer caught 6 innings of an extended spring training game today, going 3-4 with a double and a SF and throwing out an attempted base stealer. The other day I suggested that the Twins should think about accelerating their timetable if Mauer went 8-16 with 4 BB and had shown he could catch at least 6 innings by the end of play on Thursday. He's 6-11 with 3 BB so far. Think he can go 2-5 tomorrow? Me too. Doesn't look like he needs another week to get his timing down.
Let's think this through. Mauer will likely DH on Thursday, setting himself up for 7 innings of catching Friday, DH duty Saturday, 8 innings Sunday, DH Monday, 9 innings Tuesday and as many innings as he can handle Wednesday before next Thursday's off day. Why can't he follow that schedule with the Twins? This weekend's series is in Cleveland, which means that Mauer could meet his 7-inning catching quota and still hit in the top of the 8th before being replaced by a lesser player. On Sunday, that gets him every inning but the 9th, and his usage would be normal for the Tampa series at the Metrodome.
What if he aggravates the injury? Well, what if he aggravates it in Fort Myers? Is there something that could happen to him in Cleveland that couldn't happen to him in Florida? Take the gamble. If he gets hurt again, say he would've been hurt anyway and put him back on the DL. If he doesn't get hurt, the Twins get to play 5 or 6 extra games with Mauer in the lineup. Through tonight's game, Mike Redmond and Jose Morales are hitting .231/.298/.288 and still haven't thrown out a base stealer. Mauer could almost top that OBP without taking the bat off his shoulder. This is a tight division race - every game counts. Don't waste a week of Mauer's production on the Florida State League.
Minor League Notes
Another good night for Rob Delaney and Anthony Slama, who combined to strike out 5 in the final 3.1 innings of New Britain's win tonight. Delaney now has 10.2 IP under his belt and has allowed only 9 H, 0 BB and 15 K. Slama has thrown 6.2 IP, allowing 4 H and 2 BB with 12 K. If they keep this up, they need to be in Rochester by June.
Monday, March 9, 2009
Back from Tech Week
Back in middle school I used to participate in the school play every year. As I got older, I realized that theater wasn't going to fit into a schedule that usually included piano lessons, choir and chamber choir, soccer, etc. Partly that was because I realized I was a bigger music geek than a theater geek. But mostly it was because of tech week - the week before the show opens, when a sparse rehearsal schedule expands to a nightly obligation as the cast runs the entire production while integrating lights and sound. I gave up theater because I felt like a couldn't afford to do nothing but theater for a week.
Flash forward to this winter, when I decided to supplement my stay-at-home dad days with my first-ever job as Sound Designer for a play. My experience with film prepared me for this rather well, and I got to write a bunch of incidental music as well. It's a credit I'm proud to have on my resume. The show opened Saturday night. So the reason I haven't blogged so far in March is, of course, because last week was tech week. Night after night I came home after 1:30 AM, then had to fill my days with composing, mixing and my normal dad duties. Exhausting. Today feels like a vacation.
Some interesting things have happened around the Twins in that time, and I've kept abreast of them as best I could:
Scott Baker's contract
The Twins and Baker agreed to a 4-year, $15.25 million contract that buys out Baker's arbitration years and includes a $9.25 million club option for his first year of free agency in 2013. For someone who has shown himself to be no worse than a #2 starter over the past season and a half, that strikes me as a bargain. All he has to do is stay healthy and continue to produce at the same level throughout his peak years and the Twins will more than get their money's worth. Good job, Bill Smith! Now go extend Joe Mauer.
Juan Cruz to the Royals
Royals GM Dayton Moore has made some bizarre choices as he's tried to build his team, but the signing of Cruz is a great move for them. With Closer Joakim Soria already one of the game's better 9th-inning pitchers, the Royals now have the best late-inning combination in the division. Their record in games they lead after 7 innings is likely to be very good. The question is: how many late inning leads will they have?
Joe Nathan's shoulder
Nathan had to pull out of the WBC, but he looked none the worse for wear in a perfect inning of work yesterday which included 2 K. A loss for team USA, but probably better for the Twins to have him in camp.
Dennys Reyes signs with the Cardinals
It took Reyes almost 3 weeks into spring training to finally find a team. The Cards will pay him $3 million for 2 years, $1 million more than the Twins paid him for the last 2 years. For a team uncertain about the back end of its bullpen, it never made sense to me that the Twins would be willing to let Reyes walk and hand his role to either Craig Breslow or Jose Mijares. Both of those guys seem to be capable of getting out more than just lefties, and therefore should have been considered for more than just the lefty fireman job that Reyes held. They may assume a broader role as the season goes along, but will probably see unnecessarily limited use, at least at the beginning of the season, when they are asked to get the last out of the 7th inning, then see the ball handed to Jesse Crain or Luis Ayala for the 8th. When you have a guy whose skills are as perfectly suited to bailing RHPs out of jams as Reyes' are, and whose contract requirements are so modest, it strikes me as a bit narrow-minded to let him walk away in favor of someone who may be overqualified for that job. Basically, I don't think putting Breslow or Mijares in Reyes' role is the most efficient use of the Twins' limited bullpen resources. Oh, well.
The spring so far
Now that we're about a third of the way through the spring schedule, I'll take a look at how people are performing so far and post that tomorrow. I can generally say that I've been pleased with the quality of the pitching and defense, and disappointed in much of the offense, although most of the games so far have been played without Mauer and Justin Morneau. It's nice to see the team getting in the habit of playing well and winning - hopefully that will carry over into April.
Flash forward to this winter, when I decided to supplement my stay-at-home dad days with my first-ever job as Sound Designer for a play. My experience with film prepared me for this rather well, and I got to write a bunch of incidental music as well. It's a credit I'm proud to have on my resume. The show opened Saturday night. So the reason I haven't blogged so far in March is, of course, because last week was tech week. Night after night I came home after 1:30 AM, then had to fill my days with composing, mixing and my normal dad duties. Exhausting. Today feels like a vacation.
Some interesting things have happened around the Twins in that time, and I've kept abreast of them as best I could:
Scott Baker's contract
The Twins and Baker agreed to a 4-year, $15.25 million contract that buys out Baker's arbitration years and includes a $9.25 million club option for his first year of free agency in 2013. For someone who has shown himself to be no worse than a #2 starter over the past season and a half, that strikes me as a bargain. All he has to do is stay healthy and continue to produce at the same level throughout his peak years and the Twins will more than get their money's worth. Good job, Bill Smith! Now go extend Joe Mauer.
Juan Cruz to the Royals
Royals GM Dayton Moore has made some bizarre choices as he's tried to build his team, but the signing of Cruz is a great move for them. With Closer Joakim Soria already one of the game's better 9th-inning pitchers, the Royals now have the best late-inning combination in the division. Their record in games they lead after 7 innings is likely to be very good. The question is: how many late inning leads will they have?
Joe Nathan's shoulder
Nathan had to pull out of the WBC, but he looked none the worse for wear in a perfect inning of work yesterday which included 2 K. A loss for team USA, but probably better for the Twins to have him in camp.
Dennys Reyes signs with the Cardinals
It took Reyes almost 3 weeks into spring training to finally find a team. The Cards will pay him $3 million for 2 years, $1 million more than the Twins paid him for the last 2 years. For a team uncertain about the back end of its bullpen, it never made sense to me that the Twins would be willing to let Reyes walk and hand his role to either Craig Breslow or Jose Mijares. Both of those guys seem to be capable of getting out more than just lefties, and therefore should have been considered for more than just the lefty fireman job that Reyes held. They may assume a broader role as the season goes along, but will probably see unnecessarily limited use, at least at the beginning of the season, when they are asked to get the last out of the 7th inning, then see the ball handed to Jesse Crain or Luis Ayala for the 8th. When you have a guy whose skills are as perfectly suited to bailing RHPs out of jams as Reyes' are, and whose contract requirements are so modest, it strikes me as a bit narrow-minded to let him walk away in favor of someone who may be overqualified for that job. Basically, I don't think putting Breslow or Mijares in Reyes' role is the most efficient use of the Twins' limited bullpen resources. Oh, well.
The spring so far
Now that we're about a third of the way through the spring schedule, I'll take a look at how people are performing so far and post that tomorrow. I can generally say that I've been pleased with the quality of the pitching and defense, and disappointed in much of the offense, although most of the games so far have been played without Mauer and Justin Morneau. It's nice to see the team getting in the habit of playing well and winning - hopefully that will carry over into April.
Monday, September 29, 2008
In the Clubhouse
Twins 6, Royals 0
Magic Number: 1
First of all, thank you to Scott Baker for giving the Twins the 2nd best game of his career on a day when they had to win. Obviously, the CG vs. the Royals last year when he took a perfect game into the 9th was better. But today, he allowed just 4 singles in 7 IP and set a new career high with 9 K. Before the season began, I said Baker would be the Twins' #1 starter. With his performances on this home stand (14 IP, 1 ER, 9 H, 2 BB, 13 K) he proved that he's an ace. Lots of teams have good pitchers, but an ace is someone who is good when his team has to have a win. We saw a couple this weekend: Johan Santana (3 H CG shutout, 9 K on 3 days' rest) and CC Sabathia (4 H CG shutout, 7 K on 3 days' rest). I hope Baker will get a chance to cement his ace status in the playoffs.
Baker might have been able to complete the game, had Gardy wanted to take him out to 120 or so pitches like Sabathia and Santana threw. The Mets and Brewers have very dicey bullpens, so you'd better leave the ace in there. The Twins can rely on Joe Nathan, of course, but the 8th has been a nightmare since Pat Neshek went down - until Jose Mijares showed up, that is. He allowed just 1 ER in 9 September innings (that coming when Matt Guerrier was on the mound) on 3 H (one a "double" that Delmon Young lost in the ceiling). He and Nathan combined with Baker to hold the Royals to a score even the Twins' sputtering offense could overcome.
I was afraid we were asking for a repeat of Saturday's defeat when the Twins left 7 men on base over the first 3 innings, including 5 in scoring position. They could only muster 2 R from 4 BB, 2 HBP and 2 E, thanks mostly to the fact that they only came up with 2 H. In the 7th, the Twins loaded the bases again, and finally got an RBI hit from Young to give themselves some breathing room. Joe Mauer delivered a 2-run triple in the 8th to put the game away.
Mauer finished the day 2-5, giving him a .330 BA for the season. I guess his batting title isn't official until it's determined if the Twins will play on Tuesday - stats from that game count towards the regular season (although if Morneau were to come up with 2 RBi in game #163, Josh Hamilton would have a right to be ticked). But according to my math, he should have enough even if he goes 0-5.
Now the Twins are like a golfer who has finished his round with a 1-stroke lead. He chills out in the clubhouse while his opponent heads to the 18th tee needing a birdie to force a playoff. With the exception of Mark Buehrle's performance on Sunday, the White Sox have been awful this week starting on short rest. Today, it's Gavin Floyd's turn. Jim Leyland will surely be pumped up to ruin the season for the Sox, but will his team of underachievers follow his lead? Freddie Garcia will start for the Tigers having made 2 starts this season - 1 good, 1 bad. Can he beat his former team? Can he stay in the game long enough to protect his combustible bullpen? Do the Sox have one more crappy game in them?
I guess I'll be watching. Go Tigers.
Magic Number: 1
First of all, thank you to Scott Baker for giving the Twins the 2nd best game of his career on a day when they had to win. Obviously, the CG vs. the Royals last year when he took a perfect game into the 9th was better. But today, he allowed just 4 singles in 7 IP and set a new career high with 9 K. Before the season began, I said Baker would be the Twins' #1 starter. With his performances on this home stand (14 IP, 1 ER, 9 H, 2 BB, 13 K) he proved that he's an ace. Lots of teams have good pitchers, but an ace is someone who is good when his team has to have a win. We saw a couple this weekend: Johan Santana (3 H CG shutout, 9 K on 3 days' rest) and CC Sabathia (4 H CG shutout, 7 K on 3 days' rest). I hope Baker will get a chance to cement his ace status in the playoffs.
Baker might have been able to complete the game, had Gardy wanted to take him out to 120 or so pitches like Sabathia and Santana threw. The Mets and Brewers have very dicey bullpens, so you'd better leave the ace in there. The Twins can rely on Joe Nathan, of course, but the 8th has been a nightmare since Pat Neshek went down - until Jose Mijares showed up, that is. He allowed just 1 ER in 9 September innings (that coming when Matt Guerrier was on the mound) on 3 H (one a "double" that Delmon Young lost in the ceiling). He and Nathan combined with Baker to hold the Royals to a score even the Twins' sputtering offense could overcome.
I was afraid we were asking for a repeat of Saturday's defeat when the Twins left 7 men on base over the first 3 innings, including 5 in scoring position. They could only muster 2 R from 4 BB, 2 HBP and 2 E, thanks mostly to the fact that they only came up with 2 H. In the 7th, the Twins loaded the bases again, and finally got an RBI hit from Young to give themselves some breathing room. Joe Mauer delivered a 2-run triple in the 8th to put the game away.
Mauer finished the day 2-5, giving him a .330 BA for the season. I guess his batting title isn't official until it's determined if the Twins will play on Tuesday - stats from that game count towards the regular season (although if Morneau were to come up with 2 RBi in game #163, Josh Hamilton would have a right to be ticked). But according to my math, he should have enough even if he goes 0-5.
Now the Twins are like a golfer who has finished his round with a 1-stroke lead. He chills out in the clubhouse while his opponent heads to the 18th tee needing a birdie to force a playoff. With the exception of Mark Buehrle's performance on Sunday, the White Sox have been awful this week starting on short rest. Today, it's Gavin Floyd's turn. Jim Leyland will surely be pumped up to ruin the season for the Sox, but will his team of underachievers follow his lead? Freddie Garcia will start for the Tigers having made 2 starts this season - 1 good, 1 bad. Can he beat his former team? Can he stay in the game long enough to protect his combustible bullpen? Do the Sox have one more crappy game in them?
I guess I'll be watching. Go Tigers.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
One Down
Twins 9, White Sox 3
Twins fans couldn't have asked for much more than they got last night.
Scott Baker delivered a strong start, allowing just 5 singles and a walk in 7 IP. It's crucial in this series that the Twins' starters go deep into the game and keep the ball in the yard, and Baker achieved both. He'll need to be just as good in his final start on Sunday vs. KC.
I thought it was funny how Chicago's run in the 2nd was a Twins kind of rally: 2 singles, aggressive baserunning puts a man on 3rd with no out, scores when the next guy puts the ball in play (GIDP by Ken Griffey, Jr.). Then the Twins' runs in the bottom half were White Sox kind of runs: leadoff man walks, next man up hits a homer.
The Twins accomplished something last night they've rarely managed to do lately - they outslugged their opponent. 2 doubles, and triple and 3 HR was like a week's worth of XBH on the just-finished road trip. It would be great if they could keep it up for the rest of the home stand.
Jason Kubel led the way, going 3-4 with 2 HR and a triple. (If only I hadn't been eliminated in the first round of my fantasy playoffs!). Delmon Young followed him by going 3-3 with a double, HR and BB. The Twins got nothing from Denard Span and Alexi Casilla at the top of the lineup, and scored 9 runs anyway. Span & Casilla will need to get on base a lot the rest of the way.
Matt Guerrier was brought in to mop up the 9th inning, and issued a 2-out walk followed by a 2-run HR. After an August in which he compiled a 10.13 ERA and 2.06 WHIP with 3 HR in 10.2 IP, he's allowed a 9.82 ERA and 2.59 WHIP with 3 HR in 7.1 IP in September. If the Twins make it to October, I wouldn't even put him on the playoff roster. He's absolutely toast.
As heartening as this victory was, we've seen it before recently. It was every other game of the disappointing split with the A's. It was the first 2 games of the Royals and Orioles series. It's critical that the Twins win this series, obviously, but they won't really get out of the hole they've put themselves in unless they sweep. The situation is like that of a team that loses the first 2 games of a playoff series. When you come home, you need to win 2 to stay alive, but you don't want to end the series having to win the last 2 on the road either. So we're back to square one tonight, with a tough matchup against Mark Buehrle. Keep it up.
Twins fans couldn't have asked for much more than they got last night.
Scott Baker delivered a strong start, allowing just 5 singles and a walk in 7 IP. It's crucial in this series that the Twins' starters go deep into the game and keep the ball in the yard, and Baker achieved both. He'll need to be just as good in his final start on Sunday vs. KC.
I thought it was funny how Chicago's run in the 2nd was a Twins kind of rally: 2 singles, aggressive baserunning puts a man on 3rd with no out, scores when the next guy puts the ball in play (GIDP by Ken Griffey, Jr.). Then the Twins' runs in the bottom half were White Sox kind of runs: leadoff man walks, next man up hits a homer.
The Twins accomplished something last night they've rarely managed to do lately - they outslugged their opponent. 2 doubles, and triple and 3 HR was like a week's worth of XBH on the just-finished road trip. It would be great if they could keep it up for the rest of the home stand.
Jason Kubel led the way, going 3-4 with 2 HR and a triple. (If only I hadn't been eliminated in the first round of my fantasy playoffs!). Delmon Young followed him by going 3-3 with a double, HR and BB. The Twins got nothing from Denard Span and Alexi Casilla at the top of the lineup, and scored 9 runs anyway. Span & Casilla will need to get on base a lot the rest of the way.
Matt Guerrier was brought in to mop up the 9th inning, and issued a 2-out walk followed by a 2-run HR. After an August in which he compiled a 10.13 ERA and 2.06 WHIP with 3 HR in 10.2 IP, he's allowed a 9.82 ERA and 2.59 WHIP with 3 HR in 7.1 IP in September. If the Twins make it to October, I wouldn't even put him on the playoff roster. He's absolutely toast.
As heartening as this victory was, we've seen it before recently. It was every other game of the disappointing split with the A's. It was the first 2 games of the Royals and Orioles series. It's critical that the Twins win this series, obviously, but they won't really get out of the hole they've put themselves in unless they sweep. The situation is like that of a team that loses the first 2 games of a playoff series. When you come home, you need to win 2 to stay alive, but you don't want to end the series having to win the last 2 on the road either. So we're back to square one tonight, with a tough matchup against Mark Buehrle. Keep it up.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Gomez Woulda Had It
Twins 2, Angels 1 (12 innings)
Whew! I don't know about you, but I don't think I could have handled another 12 inning loss. Thank goodness the Angels finally opened the door for a run in the top of that inning, courtesy of our old buddy Torii Hunter. Nick Punto's drive to the wall in right center ticked off his glove for a leadoff triple, setting up Denard Span's game-winning RBI single through a drawn-in infield. Torii actually slightly overran the ball, definitely a play he normally makes - definitely a play that Carlos Gomez makes. Ha!
That gift triple allowed the Twins to redeem a night of magnificent pitching from Scott Baker and the bullpen. For Baker it was the 5th time this season he's allowed 2 or fewer runs in 7 IP without earning a win. As with the Cleveland game in June, his only blemish came in the first inning, when Mark Texeira reached down and practically one-armed a good low, outside fastball over the wall in CF. Not even a mistake by Baker, really. Still, this was the effort the Twins needed to combat Anaheim's ace, John Lackey, and Baker showed himself to be every bit our ace, actually out-doing Lackey's line by one hit in an otherwise almost identical performance. Great way to kick off the road trip.
The bullpen will need to be solid on this trip, and they got off to a good start as well. Matt Guerrier managed to avoid the Oakland series, so he'd had 3 days off to get his game back together. He was asked to pitch the 9th, and escaped allowing only a walk. I considered that to be the positive outing he needed to get his confidence back up, so I was a little alarmed to see him back out there for the 10th. He got himself into immediate trouble, giving up a leadoff single, but the Angels helped him out by popping up their sacrifice attempt. Guerrier still allowed another baserunner in the inning on a walk, but he was able to finish the inning unscathed. Jesse Crain followed with a most expedient 11th inning, needing just 6 pitches to march through the heart of the Angels order. Joe Nathan, as usual, was nails in the 12th.
(By the way, isn't it amazing how much more quickly the game flows along when the plate umpire has a liberal strike zone? Yesterday's 9-inning game took 2:56 to play; tonight the 2 teams needed just 20 minutes more to play 12 innings. Granted, the Angels aren't nearly as patient as the A's, but there were a ton of pitches (namely the first strikes of the 10th to Gomez and Span) that would have been called balls yesterday. Think the games are too long? Tell the umps to call more strikes!)
Torii's gift also absolved the Twins offense of a mostly ineffective night at the plate. John Lackey is among the best pitchers in the league, so scoring on him was never going to be easy. But when you have runners at second and third with nobody out and your 2-4 hitters coming up, you gotta be able to come away with something. If I had to blame one hitter for tonight's low run total, it would have to be Justin Morneau. Three times he came up with RISP with less than 2 outs, and he went K, DP, K (awesome turn by the Angels on the DP in the 8th, though). I'm just so used to seeing him come through in those situations, it was disappointing to see him struggle. If I had to blame 2 hitters, the other would be Alexi Casilla. He came up in the 8th and 10th with first base open and less than two outs and failed to put the ball in play. In the 8th, he flailed at a pitch over his head. Obviously, his rehab assignment wasn't long enough to get his plate discipline back up to the level it had been.
Anyway, it was a very important win for the Twins. They need to at least split this series in order to get this monster road trip off to a good start, and now they only need to win 1 of the next 3 in order to accomplish that. Also, they've moved within 0.5 games of the idle White Sox, and tied the Red Sox for the Wild Card lead. Keep up the good work, fellas!
Whew! I don't know about you, but I don't think I could have handled another 12 inning loss. Thank goodness the Angels finally opened the door for a run in the top of that inning, courtesy of our old buddy Torii Hunter. Nick Punto's drive to the wall in right center ticked off his glove for a leadoff triple, setting up Denard Span's game-winning RBI single through a drawn-in infield. Torii actually slightly overran the ball, definitely a play he normally makes - definitely a play that Carlos Gomez makes. Ha!
That gift triple allowed the Twins to redeem a night of magnificent pitching from Scott Baker and the bullpen. For Baker it was the 5th time this season he's allowed 2 or fewer runs in 7 IP without earning a win. As with the Cleveland game in June, his only blemish came in the first inning, when Mark Texeira reached down and practically one-armed a good low, outside fastball over the wall in CF. Not even a mistake by Baker, really. Still, this was the effort the Twins needed to combat Anaheim's ace, John Lackey, and Baker showed himself to be every bit our ace, actually out-doing Lackey's line by one hit in an otherwise almost identical performance. Great way to kick off the road trip.
The bullpen will need to be solid on this trip, and they got off to a good start as well. Matt Guerrier managed to avoid the Oakland series, so he'd had 3 days off to get his game back together. He was asked to pitch the 9th, and escaped allowing only a walk. I considered that to be the positive outing he needed to get his confidence back up, so I was a little alarmed to see him back out there for the 10th. He got himself into immediate trouble, giving up a leadoff single, but the Angels helped him out by popping up their sacrifice attempt. Guerrier still allowed another baserunner in the inning on a walk, but he was able to finish the inning unscathed. Jesse Crain followed with a most expedient 11th inning, needing just 6 pitches to march through the heart of the Angels order. Joe Nathan, as usual, was nails in the 12th.
(By the way, isn't it amazing how much more quickly the game flows along when the plate umpire has a liberal strike zone? Yesterday's 9-inning game took 2:56 to play; tonight the 2 teams needed just 20 minutes more to play 12 innings. Granted, the Angels aren't nearly as patient as the A's, but there were a ton of pitches (namely the first strikes of the 10th to Gomez and Span) that would have been called balls yesterday. Think the games are too long? Tell the umps to call more strikes!)
Torii's gift also absolved the Twins offense of a mostly ineffective night at the plate. John Lackey is among the best pitchers in the league, so scoring on him was never going to be easy. But when you have runners at second and third with nobody out and your 2-4 hitters coming up, you gotta be able to come away with something. If I had to blame one hitter for tonight's low run total, it would have to be Justin Morneau. Three times he came up with RISP with less than 2 outs, and he went K, DP, K (awesome turn by the Angels on the DP in the 8th, though). I'm just so used to seeing him come through in those situations, it was disappointing to see him struggle. If I had to blame 2 hitters, the other would be Alexi Casilla. He came up in the 8th and 10th with first base open and less than two outs and failed to put the ball in play. In the 8th, he flailed at a pitch over his head. Obviously, his rehab assignment wasn't long enough to get his plate discipline back up to the level it had been.
Anyway, it was a very important win for the Twins. They need to at least split this series in order to get this monster road trip off to a good start, and now they only need to win 1 of the next 3 in order to accomplish that. Also, they've moved within 0.5 games of the idle White Sox, and tied the Red Sox for the Wild Card lead. Keep up the good work, fellas!
Monday, July 21, 2008
Grievances
Twins 6, Rangers 0
Twins 14, Rangers 2
Rangers 1, Twins 0
Oh, so tired.
Baby crying. All night crying. Why is she crying?
Is she hungry? Does she need change? Is she gassy?
Or maybe she's upset that the Twins outscored the #1 offensive team in the Majors 20-3 over three games (allowing just 11 hits!), yet failed to earn a sweep. That certainly upset her daddy. You know I have a hard time losing well-pitched games, but when it's a first-rate pitcher like CC Sabathia or Dice-K, I can swallow it. For me, Vicente Padilla does not qualify, yet he's shut out the Twins twice this season. Argh!
Poor Scott Baker. Yesterday was the 3rd time in his last 8 starts that he went 7 or more IP allowing 1 or fewer runs and the Twins didn't win. With even a pittance of run support, his record could be 9-1 right now. What a drag to lose your perfect game/no-hitter/shutout all at once to a kid who's only been called up for the weekend. Still, what a marvelous season Baker's having: ERA of 3.26, WHIP of 1.09, 5 K for every BB. I guessed before the season began that he would prove to be the Twins' ace, and he's certainly filling that role (until an antsy LHP is recalled from AAA, anyway).
Little things matter so much in 1-0 games. The play that really bugged me (other than letting the count get to 3-2 on Taylor Teagarden) came in the bottom of the 6th. Denard Span led off with a walk, and Carlos Gomez was, sensibly, asked to bunt him over to 2nd. He popped the bunt up to the catcher, and Alexi Casilla followed with a sharp grounder right on the first base line that was fielded at the bag to start an inning-ending DP. Had Gomez successfully sacrificed, I suspect the first baseman would have been playing in (protecting against a possible bunt from Casilla), but a few steps off the line. With that defensive positioning, the exact same ground ball from Casilla likely would have found its way into the RF corner, easily scoring Span to tie the game and putting Casilla in scoring position for Mauer and Morneau.
My agent was about to file a grievance with the blogger's union to investigate the irrational continued use of Livan Hernandez in the rotation, Brian Bass in the bullpen and Gomez at the top of the lineup. Then Saturday night came along and turned my world upside down. Livan had allowed 12 ER on 19 H and 3 BB in just 8 IP over his first 2 starts vs. the Rangers, but he shut them down this weekend, allowing just 2 ER on 5 H and 1 BB in 7 IP. I couldn't have asked any more from Francisco Liriano (except quite a few more strikeouts, perhaps). Bass relieved him and had a 1-2-3 8th inning with a strikeout. And Gomez went 2-4 with a walk, using his amazing wheels to turn a slow chopper off the third baseman's glove into a double.
All of that is just one game. Unfortunately, the folks who set the roster and the lineup will use it as evidence that everything is hunky-dory as is. It seems like one good game can overrule 5 bad ones. But the team is winning, for now. Hopefully, Blackburn and Slowey will pick up the baton from Baker and shut down the Yankees. And I hope the Rangers, on their way to Chicago, will remember that they are awesome at scoring runs and blow the White Sox to bits.
Twins 14, Rangers 2
Rangers 1, Twins 0
Oh, so tired.
Baby crying. All night crying. Why is she crying?
Is she hungry? Does she need change? Is she gassy?
Or maybe she's upset that the Twins outscored the #1 offensive team in the Majors 20-3 over three games (allowing just 11 hits!), yet failed to earn a sweep. That certainly upset her daddy. You know I have a hard time losing well-pitched games, but when it's a first-rate pitcher like CC Sabathia or Dice-K, I can swallow it. For me, Vicente Padilla does not qualify, yet he's shut out the Twins twice this season. Argh!
Poor Scott Baker. Yesterday was the 3rd time in his last 8 starts that he went 7 or more IP allowing 1 or fewer runs and the Twins didn't win. With even a pittance of run support, his record could be 9-1 right now. What a drag to lose your perfect game/no-hitter/shutout all at once to a kid who's only been called up for the weekend. Still, what a marvelous season Baker's having: ERA of 3.26, WHIP of 1.09, 5 K for every BB. I guessed before the season began that he would prove to be the Twins' ace, and he's certainly filling that role (until an antsy LHP is recalled from AAA, anyway).
Little things matter so much in 1-0 games. The play that really bugged me (other than letting the count get to 3-2 on Taylor Teagarden) came in the bottom of the 6th. Denard Span led off with a walk, and Carlos Gomez was, sensibly, asked to bunt him over to 2nd. He popped the bunt up to the catcher, and Alexi Casilla followed with a sharp grounder right on the first base line that was fielded at the bag to start an inning-ending DP. Had Gomez successfully sacrificed, I suspect the first baseman would have been playing in (protecting against a possible bunt from Casilla), but a few steps off the line. With that defensive positioning, the exact same ground ball from Casilla likely would have found its way into the RF corner, easily scoring Span to tie the game and putting Casilla in scoring position for Mauer and Morneau.
My agent was about to file a grievance with the blogger's union to investigate the irrational continued use of Livan Hernandez in the rotation, Brian Bass in the bullpen and Gomez at the top of the lineup. Then Saturday night came along and turned my world upside down. Livan had allowed 12 ER on 19 H and 3 BB in just 8 IP over his first 2 starts vs. the Rangers, but he shut them down this weekend, allowing just 2 ER on 5 H and 1 BB in 7 IP. I couldn't have asked any more from Francisco Liriano (except quite a few more strikeouts, perhaps). Bass relieved him and had a 1-2-3 8th inning with a strikeout. And Gomez went 2-4 with a walk, using his amazing wheels to turn a slow chopper off the third baseman's glove into a double.
All of that is just one game. Unfortunately, the folks who set the roster and the lineup will use it as evidence that everything is hunky-dory as is. It seems like one good game can overrule 5 bad ones. But the team is winning, for now. Hopefully, Blackburn and Slowey will pick up the baton from Baker and shut down the Yankees. And I hope the Rangers, on their way to Chicago, will remember that they are awesome at scoring runs and blow the White Sox to bits.
Sunday, July 13, 2008
My Strange Life
Twins 6, Tigers 5
It's about 4:45 AM as I write this. I tend to sleep in 2 hour chunks now. Tonight it seems to have more to do with the throbbing of my surgically repaired knee than with our newborn baby, who's been blessedly quiet for the first night of her life.
Adding to my discomfort is the remnant of a paranoid dream I was having, in which I was the property of the Chicago Cubs, and the last piece they needed to fill out their championship roster. There were Cubs fans everywhere outside my room and window, wishing for my knee to recover faster. Not in a kind-hearted," we care about his health" kind of way, but in a petulant, "he'd better not screw this up for us" way. Wham's "Everything She Wants," which was playing in the waiting room of the physical therapist's office the other day, is the relentless soundtrack of this fantasy. "Somebody tell me why I work so hard for them!"
Anyway, it seemed like a good time to get out the laptop and talk about yesterday's game, which was blacked out on MLB.TV even though it was not the featured game on our local Fox affiliate. From what I heard, it went quite well for Scott Baker. He's beginning to build up some nice career numbers vs. the Tigers, about 1 ER lower than his career ERA. Good to be good against a division rival. It messed up my fantasy numbers to have him start the 8th, but with his pitch count at just 96 and the way the bullpen has been used over the last few days, Gardy had to try to get as many outs from him as possible. The 'pen bent a little, but once again held the lead.
After he struck out the side in the 9th, I thought it was a good time to check on Joe Nathan's K/9 rate for the season. It's 10.44, up from 9.67 last year. No signs of decline from him yet, to say the least.
I was sorry to see Nick Punto scratched from the game - he's been playing so well at SS - but Brendan Harris capably filled in. He also contributed the way you love to see a platoon guy do, beating up LHP Nate Robertson for 3 H, HR, 3 RBI. His 2 singles came with RISP and 2 outs, the first real damage the Twins have done in that situation since early in the game on Thursday. His overall splits vs. LHP still aren't very impressive, but hopefully, he can continue to be effective in this role. Not that a trade for someone like Adrian Beltre (5th in the league in BA vs. LHP, good zone rating) wouldn't be a welcome addition.
Speaking of additions, it's disheartening to keep seeing things like this. Yes, Francisco Liriano had a little hiccup a few starts ago, meaning he's only been awesome in like 9 of his last 11 starts. Livan Hernandez had a little hiccup a few starts ago as well, but in the other direction. Meaning he's been bad in 7 of his last 10 starts. But we don't have a spot for Liriano right now. Really?
And this. Why does everybody think Carlos Gomez is going to wake up tomorrow and stop being a bad hitter? It took Denard Span 2 extra years in the minors to get the point where he is. Why does Gomez get so much license?
In spite of their shortcomings, I'm really pleased with the way the Twins have responded to a disappointing series in Boston. Heading off to a 7-game road trip vs. the Red Sox and Tigers, I would have been pleased to see the Twins win 3, and they've done that. 2 of their 3 losses have been by just 1 run. They continue to hang with the best in the league. If they can win this afternoon and sweep the series, they have a chance to undo what they did against the Tigers back in April. Then, shaky bullpen play let the Tigers off the mat from their abysmal start, and began their long march back to the happy side of .500. With a sweep of this 4-game series, the Twins have an opportunity to deliver the knockout blow to their division rivals: down 8 games to the White Sox and Twins with just 68 left to play, I think the Tigers would have to start to accept that they won't be able to make the playoffs this year. Here's hoping we can make it a 2-team race!
It's about 4:45 AM as I write this. I tend to sleep in 2 hour chunks now. Tonight it seems to have more to do with the throbbing of my surgically repaired knee than with our newborn baby, who's been blessedly quiet for the first night of her life.
Adding to my discomfort is the remnant of a paranoid dream I was having, in which I was the property of the Chicago Cubs, and the last piece they needed to fill out their championship roster. There were Cubs fans everywhere outside my room and window, wishing for my knee to recover faster. Not in a kind-hearted," we care about his health" kind of way, but in a petulant, "he'd better not screw this up for us" way. Wham's "Everything She Wants," which was playing in the waiting room of the physical therapist's office the other day, is the relentless soundtrack of this fantasy. "Somebody tell me why I work so hard for them!"
Anyway, it seemed like a good time to get out the laptop and talk about yesterday's game, which was blacked out on MLB.TV even though it was not the featured game on our local Fox affiliate. From what I heard, it went quite well for Scott Baker. He's beginning to build up some nice career numbers vs. the Tigers, about 1 ER lower than his career ERA. Good to be good against a division rival. It messed up my fantasy numbers to have him start the 8th, but with his pitch count at just 96 and the way the bullpen has been used over the last few days, Gardy had to try to get as many outs from him as possible. The 'pen bent a little, but once again held the lead.
After he struck out the side in the 9th, I thought it was a good time to check on Joe Nathan's K/9 rate for the season. It's 10.44, up from 9.67 last year. No signs of decline from him yet, to say the least.
I was sorry to see Nick Punto scratched from the game - he's been playing so well at SS - but Brendan Harris capably filled in. He also contributed the way you love to see a platoon guy do, beating up LHP Nate Robertson for 3 H, HR, 3 RBI. His 2 singles came with RISP and 2 outs, the first real damage the Twins have done in that situation since early in the game on Thursday. His overall splits vs. LHP still aren't very impressive, but hopefully, he can continue to be effective in this role. Not that a trade for someone like Adrian Beltre (5th in the league in BA vs. LHP, good zone rating) wouldn't be a welcome addition.
Speaking of additions, it's disheartening to keep seeing things like this. Yes, Francisco Liriano had a little hiccup a few starts ago, meaning he's only been awesome in like 9 of his last 11 starts. Livan Hernandez had a little hiccup a few starts ago as well, but in the other direction. Meaning he's been bad in 7 of his last 10 starts. But we don't have a spot for Liriano right now. Really?
And this. Why does everybody think Carlos Gomez is going to wake up tomorrow and stop being a bad hitter? It took Denard Span 2 extra years in the minors to get the point where he is. Why does Gomez get so much license?
In spite of their shortcomings, I'm really pleased with the way the Twins have responded to a disappointing series in Boston. Heading off to a 7-game road trip vs. the Red Sox and Tigers, I would have been pleased to see the Twins win 3, and they've done that. 2 of their 3 losses have been by just 1 run. They continue to hang with the best in the league. If they can win this afternoon and sweep the series, they have a chance to undo what they did against the Tigers back in April. Then, shaky bullpen play let the Tigers off the mat from their abysmal start, and began their long march back to the happy side of .500. With a sweep of this 4-game series, the Twins have an opportunity to deliver the knockout blow to their division rivals: down 8 games to the White Sox and Twins with just 68 left to play, I think the Tigers would have to start to accept that they won't be able to make the playoffs this year. Here's hoping we can make it a 2-team race!
Sunday, June 22, 2008
From Modest Beginnings Come Big Innings
Twins 7, Diamondbacks 2
Twins 6, Diamondbacks 1
Twins 5, Diamondbacks 3
The Diamondbacks' pitchers did a great job of shutting down the Twins' offense in 21 of 24 IP. In the other 3, the Twins enjoyed timely hitting as fine as anything the White Sox did two weeks ago (minus the HRs). This makes 5 straight games in which the Twins have scored 4 or more runs in a single inning, nearly batting around as they do. It's beginning to feel like it's just a matter of time before everything starts dropping in, and that's a very good feeling for a team to take onto the field against pitchers the likes of Randy Johnson and Brandon Webb (and, coming this Tuesday, Jake Peavy). It's brought them all the way back from their atrocious last road trip and positioned them to once again compete for the division.
I didn't think it accurate to see in some of the write-ups that Randy Johnson got "knocked around" on Friday. That one bad inning began with an infield hit from Delmon Young, followed by a drive off the baggy from Brendan Harris for a double. Matt Macri chopped a 2-run single up the middle that seemed to take forever to get into CF. After Carlos Gomez flied out, Alexi Casilla delivered a bunt single, Macri hustling to 3rd on an errant throw from the catcher. Joe Mauer hit a SF to left, Casilla taking second on a close play at the plate. Justin Morneau grounded the next pitch into LF for an RBI single, and moved to 2nd on a close play at the plate. Craig Monroe capped the rally with a 1st-pitch HR just over the wall in left-center. 6 R on 6 H, but only 2 balls really hit hard. A lot of the hits Johnson gave up on Friday were the result of curious defensive placement - SS Stephen Drew played deep in the hole vs. most righties, and several of them took advantage by grounding singles up the middle that would have been routine outs given normal positioning.
Saturday night's big rally began with a well-placed bunt single by Mauer (despite a valiant fielding attempt from brand-new 3B Augie Ojeda). Morneau hooked a 1-2 slider into the RF corner for an RBI double, then moved to third when the short-hop throw from the cutoff man bounced away from the catcher. With the infield in, Michael Cuddyer grounded to short, then Jason Kubel walked on 5 pitches. Delmon Young went with a fastball on the outer half and drove an RBI single to RF, then he and Kubel moved up a base on a wild pitch. Brian Buscher worked ahead in the count, then drove a ball to the base of the wall in LF, scoring 2. Harris immediately grounded a pitch past the diving 1B, driving in Buscher. Gomez struck out on 4 pitches, none of which were in the strike zone. Casilla took the first 3 pitches for balls, then grounded the 3-2 pitch up the middle to drive in the 6th run. It looked to me like the only bad pitch of the inning was the double to Buscher - everything else was nice hitting by the Twins.
The fifth inning today began with a ground-ball single to CF by Kubel. Young followed with a fly to deep left that was blessedly lost in the day-game roof and fell for a double. Buscher took advantage by grounding a 2-RBI single up the middle. Harris grounded the 1st pitch he saw through the left side for a single. Gomez laid down a perfect Sac bunt, setting up Casilla for another 2-RBI grounder up the middle. Mauer reached on an error by the shortstop, sending Casilla to 3rd. He scored on a SF by Morneau - Mauer was nailed at 2nd trying to tag to end the inning.
Besides timely hitting from Harris, Casilla, Macri/Buscher, Morneau and Young, these innings had something else in common - they all had the Twins aggressively flying around the bases, forcing the D-backs into poor throws, and taking advantage by claiming extra bases. (Unfortunately, they all had an out from Gomez in the middle of them as well, though at least on Sunday it was productive.) They were, quite simply, the embodiment of how the Twins have managed to score the 4th-most runs in the AL while being last in HRs and 8th in OPS: put the ball in play, run the bases. This week, it's worked.
The other facet of this is the pitching. Twins pitchers have now delivered 9 consecutive quality starts since Livan Hernandez was last blown to bits in Cleveland. In this series, Scott Baker, Nick Blackburn, and Hernandez combined for 20 IP, 3 ER, 19 H, 2 BB, 15 K. The bullpen allowed 0 ER and just 4 base runners in its 7 IP. For the home stand, the starters averaged 6.2 IP, 1.76 ERA and 1.12 WHIP. Washington and Arizona are, admittedly, not the hottest teams in the NL right now, but this result has to be a huge confidence boost for a young team. With strong contributions from mid-season call-ups beginning to supplant some of the veterans signed during the off-season, this home sweep vs. the NL is strangely reminiscent of 2 summers ago...
Twins 6, Diamondbacks 1
Twins 5, Diamondbacks 3
The Diamondbacks' pitchers did a great job of shutting down the Twins' offense in 21 of 24 IP. In the other 3, the Twins enjoyed timely hitting as fine as anything the White Sox did two weeks ago (minus the HRs). This makes 5 straight games in which the Twins have scored 4 or more runs in a single inning, nearly batting around as they do. It's beginning to feel like it's just a matter of time before everything starts dropping in, and that's a very good feeling for a team to take onto the field against pitchers the likes of Randy Johnson and Brandon Webb (and, coming this Tuesday, Jake Peavy). It's brought them all the way back from their atrocious last road trip and positioned them to once again compete for the division.
I didn't think it accurate to see in some of the write-ups that Randy Johnson got "knocked around" on Friday. That one bad inning began with an infield hit from Delmon Young, followed by a drive off the baggy from Brendan Harris for a double. Matt Macri chopped a 2-run single up the middle that seemed to take forever to get into CF. After Carlos Gomez flied out, Alexi Casilla delivered a bunt single, Macri hustling to 3rd on an errant throw from the catcher. Joe Mauer hit a SF to left, Casilla taking second on a close play at the plate. Justin Morneau grounded the next pitch into LF for an RBI single, and moved to 2nd on a close play at the plate. Craig Monroe capped the rally with a 1st-pitch HR just over the wall in left-center. 6 R on 6 H, but only 2 balls really hit hard. A lot of the hits Johnson gave up on Friday were the result of curious defensive placement - SS Stephen Drew played deep in the hole vs. most righties, and several of them took advantage by grounding singles up the middle that would have been routine outs given normal positioning.
Saturday night's big rally began with a well-placed bunt single by Mauer (despite a valiant fielding attempt from brand-new 3B Augie Ojeda). Morneau hooked a 1-2 slider into the RF corner for an RBI double, then moved to third when the short-hop throw from the cutoff man bounced away from the catcher. With the infield in, Michael Cuddyer grounded to short, then Jason Kubel walked on 5 pitches. Delmon Young went with a fastball on the outer half and drove an RBI single to RF, then he and Kubel moved up a base on a wild pitch. Brian Buscher worked ahead in the count, then drove a ball to the base of the wall in LF, scoring 2. Harris immediately grounded a pitch past the diving 1B, driving in Buscher. Gomez struck out on 4 pitches, none of which were in the strike zone. Casilla took the first 3 pitches for balls, then grounded the 3-2 pitch up the middle to drive in the 6th run. It looked to me like the only bad pitch of the inning was the double to Buscher - everything else was nice hitting by the Twins.
The fifth inning today began with a ground-ball single to CF by Kubel. Young followed with a fly to deep left that was blessedly lost in the day-game roof and fell for a double. Buscher took advantage by grounding a 2-RBI single up the middle. Harris grounded the 1st pitch he saw through the left side for a single. Gomez laid down a perfect Sac bunt, setting up Casilla for another 2-RBI grounder up the middle. Mauer reached on an error by the shortstop, sending Casilla to 3rd. He scored on a SF by Morneau - Mauer was nailed at 2nd trying to tag to end the inning.
Besides timely hitting from Harris, Casilla, Macri/Buscher, Morneau and Young, these innings had something else in common - they all had the Twins aggressively flying around the bases, forcing the D-backs into poor throws, and taking advantage by claiming extra bases. (Unfortunately, they all had an out from Gomez in the middle of them as well, though at least on Sunday it was productive.) They were, quite simply, the embodiment of how the Twins have managed to score the 4th-most runs in the AL while being last in HRs and 8th in OPS: put the ball in play, run the bases. This week, it's worked.
The other facet of this is the pitching. Twins pitchers have now delivered 9 consecutive quality starts since Livan Hernandez was last blown to bits in Cleveland. In this series, Scott Baker, Nick Blackburn, and Hernandez combined for 20 IP, 3 ER, 19 H, 2 BB, 15 K. The bullpen allowed 0 ER and just 4 base runners in its 7 IP. For the home stand, the starters averaged 6.2 IP, 1.76 ERA and 1.12 WHIP. Washington and Arizona are, admittedly, not the hottest teams in the NL right now, but this result has to be a huge confidence boost for a young team. With strong contributions from mid-season call-ups beginning to supplant some of the veterans signed during the off-season, this home sweep vs. the NL is strangely reminiscent of 2 summers ago...
Monday, June 16, 2008
Go Young
Twins 10, Brewers 2
Twins 9, Brewers 4 (12 innings)
Brewers 4, Twins 2
The road trip that began with a 4-game sweep in the unquenchable hell-fires of the South Side ended rather well this weekend with a series win vs. the Milwaukee Brewers. After being absolutely immolated by the Sox (12.12 ERA, 4.1 IP/start) to culminate a string of 11 games without a quality start, the starters have been quality in 5 of the last 6 games, including all three this weekend. It should come as no surprise to anyone that the pitcher who failed to deliver a quality start was none other than veteran "innings-eater" Livan Hernandez. Kevin Slowey (age 24), Glen Perkins (25) and Scott Baker (26) all did what Livan could not - they went at least 6 IP while keeping the team in the game.
Slowey was brilliant on Friday night, facing just one hitter over the minimum through 6 innings. 4 of the 5 hits he allowed were for extra bases, so eventually he gave up some runs, but he finished 8 IP with only 2 ER allowed. I hope this illustrates that Slowey is an actual Major League pitcher: in his last 7 starts, he's gone 5.2, 5.2, 6, 9, 6, 3 and 8 IP. Which game doesn't belong? Of the 8 starts in which he didn't get hurt, he's come within 1 IP or 1 ER of a quality start in 7 of them. His WHIP is at 1.14, tops among Twins starters with at least 8 starts. His K/BB ratio is 35/7. He's allowed 9 HR, most of them in his final inning of work, so he has an important adjustment to make in order to survive his 3rd trip through the order. But it's a relatively minor one for the International League's best pitcher of 2007. He'll be one of the steadiest members of this rotation for the remainder of 2008 and years to follow.
Perkins backed up his solid outing on Monday with another on Saturday. He got touched for 3 ER on 8 H (including a tremendous HR from Ryan Braun - but there's really no shame in that), but walked only one while striking out 6. I feel pretty comfortable for the most part when I see that he's going to start a game. He should get better as the year goes along.
Scott Baker looked solid in his two starts on the road trip. The 2-run HR by Mike Cameron spoiled his afternoon yesterday, but he tied his career high in Ks (4 in one inning!) and otherwise matched Perkins' line against a team that had been swinging the bats very well coming into the series. I'm even more confident when he's on the mound than Perkins.
Nick Blackburn, age 26, not seen in this series, is averaging 6.1 IP over the 13 starts in which he wasn't hit in the face with a line drive. I'm feeling pretty good about him, too, though he's the true rookie in the rotation. So it does not please me to see that he will skip his turn in order to rest some sore muscles. I was rather hoping they'd be skipping the old man, Livan, age 33 (or so). Though his former team, the Washington Nationals, are dead last in the Majors in runs and OPS, I don't know that Hernandez will be able to stop them. Please, Bill Smith, get him off the team soon!
The Nats aren't a great pitching team either, so hopefully the offense will be able to keep Livan in the game. I'm definitely looking forward to having the team back home, where they are above .500, and where Joe Mauer has an OPS about .200 points higher. Throw that in with the steady hitting of Justin Morneau and some occasional table-setting wonders from Carlos Gomez and Alexi Casilla and things could get interesting. It was great to see Delmon Young go 6 for 10 over the weekend, though he still needs to calm down a bit out there. Brain Buscher had a terrific re-introduction at 3B - I wonder if Lamb's job is in trouble?
The best part of the weekend for me, other than the pitching, was the performance of Jason Kubel. He went 5 for 13 with 1 walk, and 2 of his hits were HR, giving him 4 on the road trip. He looks fantastic at the plate, showing no inclination to chase bad pitches early in the count. Basically, he looks like the guy who was the Twins' best hitter during the second half of last season. Through the first half of June, he's hitting .325/.426/.700 with a 6/7 K/BB ratio. Yummy!
The Twins weren't playing particularly well when the road trip began, but the White Sox would have beaten just about anybody the way there were playing a week ago. Having weathered what will likely prove the most brutal stretch of games this year, the Twins are still in second place, just 4.5 games back. As the GM continues to trim the under- and non-performers from the roster, I feel good about where the Twins are right now. They have an excellent chance of being a better team in the second half.
Twins 9, Brewers 4 (12 innings)
Brewers 4, Twins 2
The road trip that began with a 4-game sweep in the unquenchable hell-fires of the South Side ended rather well this weekend with a series win vs. the Milwaukee Brewers. After being absolutely immolated by the Sox (12.12 ERA, 4.1 IP/start) to culminate a string of 11 games without a quality start, the starters have been quality in 5 of the last 6 games, including all three this weekend. It should come as no surprise to anyone that the pitcher who failed to deliver a quality start was none other than veteran "innings-eater" Livan Hernandez. Kevin Slowey (age 24), Glen Perkins (25) and Scott Baker (26) all did what Livan could not - they went at least 6 IP while keeping the team in the game.
Slowey was brilliant on Friday night, facing just one hitter over the minimum through 6 innings. 4 of the 5 hits he allowed were for extra bases, so eventually he gave up some runs, but he finished 8 IP with only 2 ER allowed. I hope this illustrates that Slowey is an actual Major League pitcher: in his last 7 starts, he's gone 5.2, 5.2, 6, 9, 6, 3 and 8 IP. Which game doesn't belong? Of the 8 starts in which he didn't get hurt, he's come within 1 IP or 1 ER of a quality start in 7 of them. His WHIP is at 1.14, tops among Twins starters with at least 8 starts. His K/BB ratio is 35/7. He's allowed 9 HR, most of them in his final inning of work, so he has an important adjustment to make in order to survive his 3rd trip through the order. But it's a relatively minor one for the International League's best pitcher of 2007. He'll be one of the steadiest members of this rotation for the remainder of 2008 and years to follow.
Perkins backed up his solid outing on Monday with another on Saturday. He got touched for 3 ER on 8 H (including a tremendous HR from Ryan Braun - but there's really no shame in that), but walked only one while striking out 6. I feel pretty comfortable for the most part when I see that he's going to start a game. He should get better as the year goes along.
Scott Baker looked solid in his two starts on the road trip. The 2-run HR by Mike Cameron spoiled his afternoon yesterday, but he tied his career high in Ks (4 in one inning!) and otherwise matched Perkins' line against a team that had been swinging the bats very well coming into the series. I'm even more confident when he's on the mound than Perkins.
Nick Blackburn, age 26, not seen in this series, is averaging 6.1 IP over the 13 starts in which he wasn't hit in the face with a line drive. I'm feeling pretty good about him, too, though he's the true rookie in the rotation. So it does not please me to see that he will skip his turn in order to rest some sore muscles. I was rather hoping they'd be skipping the old man, Livan, age 33 (or so). Though his former team, the Washington Nationals, are dead last in the Majors in runs and OPS, I don't know that Hernandez will be able to stop them. Please, Bill Smith, get him off the team soon!
The Nats aren't a great pitching team either, so hopefully the offense will be able to keep Livan in the game. I'm definitely looking forward to having the team back home, where they are above .500, and where Joe Mauer has an OPS about .200 points higher. Throw that in with the steady hitting of Justin Morneau and some occasional table-setting wonders from Carlos Gomez and Alexi Casilla and things could get interesting. It was great to see Delmon Young go 6 for 10 over the weekend, though he still needs to calm down a bit out there. Brain Buscher had a terrific re-introduction at 3B - I wonder if Lamb's job is in trouble?
The best part of the weekend for me, other than the pitching, was the performance of Jason Kubel. He went 5 for 13 with 1 walk, and 2 of his hits were HR, giving him 4 on the road trip. He looks fantastic at the plate, showing no inclination to chase bad pitches early in the count. Basically, he looks like the guy who was the Twins' best hitter during the second half of last season. Through the first half of June, he's hitting .325/.426/.700 with a 6/7 K/BB ratio. Yummy!
The Twins weren't playing particularly well when the road trip began, but the White Sox would have beaten just about anybody the way there were playing a week ago. Having weathered what will likely prove the most brutal stretch of games this year, the Twins are still in second place, just 4.5 games back. As the GM continues to trim the under- and non-performers from the roster, I feel good about where the Twins are right now. They have an excellent chance of being a better team in the second half.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Moral Victories
Indians 1, Twins 0
Twins 8, Indians 5
Indians 12, Twins 2
Another Thursday, another series lost. But I don't feel too bad about this one. It's hard to lose 1-0 games, but when it's the guy who was the best pitcher in the league last year who shuts you out, well, that's understandable. Obviously, the base-running was terrible, but when Sabathia is that on, you're just not going to win. It's when Vicente Padilla throws a shutout that I get upset. Besides, the valiant start from Scott Baker was precisely what the Twins needed, breaking a string of 11 straight games without a quality start.
I still quibble a bit with the sequence to Garko in the 1st inning: after getting ahead 0-2, Mauer and Baker tried to get him to chase consecutive sliders off the plate (yes!). Garko laid off, evening the count. At that point, I would have liked to have seen them bust him in, keep him thinking the ball might come inside. They went back outside, and even though the ball was 4 inches off the plate, he leaned out and lined it up the middle for the game's only RBI.
Still, a terrific effort from Baker, backed up nicely by Nick Blackburn on Wednesday. The Twins' most consistent starter so far this season, Blackburn showed that Friday's drubbing at the hands of the White Sox was a fluke. Boof Bonser did not inspire confidence out of the 'pen, and Gardy had to bring Reyes in to try to bail him out. Grady Sizemore was not fooled when Reyes tried to slip a breaking ball over the inside corner, and belted a 3-run HR (the first off Reyes this season) to bring the Tribe back within 1. Luckily, Jason Kubel, Justin Morneau, and next-generation piranhas Carlos Gomez and Alexi Casilla did enough offensively to keep the Twins in front. I must say, it was particularly gratifying to light up Paul Byrd - I've always been irritated that the Twins couldn't be patient enough to knock him around.
The Indians were certainly patient enough to knock around Livan Hernandez on Thursday, proving that his recent string of awful starts (5 GS, 24.1 IP, 11.20 ERA, 2.49 WHIP, 4 HR) is most definitely not a fluke. If the Twins had had the sense to deal him after his start in Colorado, they might have gotten a quality prospect or two, in addition to some extra payroll space. Now, if someone were to offer a Single A bench-warmer and a case of beer, I'd jump at the chance to unload Livan for some kind of return.
But the bad pitching didn't stop there. After Brian Bass doused the situation Livan left in the 4th with a quick DP and flyout, he proceeded to allow 3 ER on 2 H, 2 BB and a HBP while recording just 2 outs in the 5th before being relieved by Craig Breslow (who is, so far, a good pitcher). Boof followed Breslow and allowed 2 ER on 4 H in his inning, although he did strike out the side. Moral victories.
The Twins should have had the stones to shake up their roster before the road trip started, but I guess they just wanted to see which of their option-less pitchers still had it in them to contribute. In that respect, this was a productive series. With Juan Rincon designated for assignment earlier in the day, the Twins got to look at their three worst pitchers in Thursday night's game. All have been on a downward trajectory as bad as Rincon's, all needed to prove that they could eat innings and keep the team in the game, and they all struggled. Any of them (all of them?) could be taken off the 25-man roster at this point and make the team better.
The Twins finally have an off-day on Monday, the day Blackburn should start. Francisco Liriano has put together 3 straight outings in which his K/9 was greater than 9.00, and his control has been much better. He could hardly do worse than Livan. His next start in Rochester will be on Sunday. The Twins should skip Livan's turn in the rotation on Tuesday, pitch Blackburn on 5 days rest instead, then send out Slowey, Perkins and Baker on their normal rest. That would allow Liriano to start at home a week from Saturday. No "seasoned" veterans in the rotation, but when your veteran is as bad as Livan, I'll take the rookies. I would also send Bass down and recall Bobby Korecky.
Hopefully, those and others moves are coming soon!
Twins 8, Indians 5
Indians 12, Twins 2
Another Thursday, another series lost. But I don't feel too bad about this one. It's hard to lose 1-0 games, but when it's the guy who was the best pitcher in the league last year who shuts you out, well, that's understandable. Obviously, the base-running was terrible, but when Sabathia is that on, you're just not going to win. It's when Vicente Padilla throws a shutout that I get upset. Besides, the valiant start from Scott Baker was precisely what the Twins needed, breaking a string of 11 straight games without a quality start.
I still quibble a bit with the sequence to Garko in the 1st inning: after getting ahead 0-2, Mauer and Baker tried to get him to chase consecutive sliders off the plate (yes!). Garko laid off, evening the count. At that point, I would have liked to have seen them bust him in, keep him thinking the ball might come inside. They went back outside, and even though the ball was 4 inches off the plate, he leaned out and lined it up the middle for the game's only RBI.
Still, a terrific effort from Baker, backed up nicely by Nick Blackburn on Wednesday. The Twins' most consistent starter so far this season, Blackburn showed that Friday's drubbing at the hands of the White Sox was a fluke. Boof Bonser did not inspire confidence out of the 'pen, and Gardy had to bring Reyes in to try to bail him out. Grady Sizemore was not fooled when Reyes tried to slip a breaking ball over the inside corner, and belted a 3-run HR (the first off Reyes this season) to bring the Tribe back within 1. Luckily, Jason Kubel, Justin Morneau, and next-generation piranhas Carlos Gomez and Alexi Casilla did enough offensively to keep the Twins in front. I must say, it was particularly gratifying to light up Paul Byrd - I've always been irritated that the Twins couldn't be patient enough to knock him around.
The Indians were certainly patient enough to knock around Livan Hernandez on Thursday, proving that his recent string of awful starts (5 GS, 24.1 IP, 11.20 ERA, 2.49 WHIP, 4 HR) is most definitely not a fluke. If the Twins had had the sense to deal him after his start in Colorado, they might have gotten a quality prospect or two, in addition to some extra payroll space. Now, if someone were to offer a Single A bench-warmer and a case of beer, I'd jump at the chance to unload Livan for some kind of return.
But the bad pitching didn't stop there. After Brian Bass doused the situation Livan left in the 4th with a quick DP and flyout, he proceeded to allow 3 ER on 2 H, 2 BB and a HBP while recording just 2 outs in the 5th before being relieved by Craig Breslow (who is, so far, a good pitcher). Boof followed Breslow and allowed 2 ER on 4 H in his inning, although he did strike out the side. Moral victories.
The Twins should have had the stones to shake up their roster before the road trip started, but I guess they just wanted to see which of their option-less pitchers still had it in them to contribute. In that respect, this was a productive series. With Juan Rincon designated for assignment earlier in the day, the Twins got to look at their three worst pitchers in Thursday night's game. All have been on a downward trajectory as bad as Rincon's, all needed to prove that they could eat innings and keep the team in the game, and they all struggled. Any of them (all of them?) could be taken off the 25-man roster at this point and make the team better.
The Twins finally have an off-day on Monday, the day Blackburn should start. Francisco Liriano has put together 3 straight outings in which his K/9 was greater than 9.00, and his control has been much better. He could hardly do worse than Livan. His next start in Rochester will be on Sunday. The Twins should skip Livan's turn in the rotation on Tuesday, pitch Blackburn on 5 days rest instead, then send out Slowey, Perkins and Baker on their normal rest. That would allow Liriano to start at home a week from Saturday. No "seasoned" veterans in the rotation, but when your veteran is as bad as Livan, I'll take the rookies. I would also send Bass down and recall Bobby Korecky.
Hopefully, those and others moves are coming soon!
Friday, June 6, 2008
Location, Location, Location
Orioles 5, Twins 3
Twins 7, Orioles 5
Orioles 3, Twins 2
Once again, a Thursday afternoon loss leads to an ultimately disappointing home stand. After hanging with the Yankees for four games, the Twins couldn't cash in against the slumping O's. I thought Baltimore played an all-around good series - they got solid starting pitching, dependable work from the bullpen, made a lot of plays in the field, and were pesky at the plate. They did a great job of hitting mistake pitches. And my goodness, there were a lot of mistakes from the Twins' pitchers.
The Orioles hit 6 HR in the series, accounting for 7 of their 13 runs, including the game-winner on Thursday. I was pretty amazed by the dinger Mora hit off Kevin Slowey in the 6th inning on Tuesday night - he turned very quickly on a low-and-in fastball down 0-2 in the count. All the other HR hit by the O's were off pitches belt-high over the plate. Even an unimpressive BA team like the O's can hit those.
Slowey and Scott Baker had similar starts: each easily got ahead of most hitters, but then struggled to put them away. Slowey in particular gave up several 2-strike hits, and Baker seemed to need 6+ pitches in each AB, reaching a pitch count of 99 through just 5 IP. I was frustrated by the HR Baker allowed - he'd thrown 8 pitches already to Markakis, 7 of them fastballs. With first base open and a right-handed batter coming up, I felt that was a time to be careful with the 3-2 pitch, maybe locate a breaking ball just off the plate and see if he'd chase, or try an off-speed pitch. Nope, belt-high fastball over the plate. Ding!
This brings up an interesting side-effect to the wonderful lack of walks from the young starters Slowey, Baker and Blackburn: they're so determined not to walk people that they offer too good a pitch when they're ahead in the count. Radadmes Lis was getting 4-6 inches off the plate from Tuesday night's umpire - Slowey could hit that spot, why not try to stretch the strike zone? This may also be a problem with still relatively young catcher Joe Mauer. If he sets up outside and they hit the glove, maybe they get the call. If he sets up on the corner and they hit the glove, maybe the hitter hits it hard!
This makes two straight starts in which Glen Perkins was utterly unable to command his stuff. Pitch after pitch right in the sweet spot. I hope it's only a slump. Good work from Boof Bonser out of the bullpen - keep that up!
The 13-man rotation resulted in some creative managing from Gardy late in Thursday's game: Kevin Slowey was used as a pinch-runner for C Mike Redmond, Kubel pinch-hit for DH Craig Monroe, and Mauer pinch-hit for LF Delmon Young. That meant Mauer had to catch, Kubel had to go to left, and Slowey became the DH. I thought Gardy would use Brendan Harris instead of Mike Lamb to start the 9th against LHP closer George Sherrill, but Harris was needed to pinch-hit for Slowey if it got to him (he was on deck when Casilla made the final out). With Punto back to the DL and Morneau dragging with a bum knee, I don't think the Twins can sustain a 3-man bench for very long. They have to decide to drop someone from the bullpen. Either Rincon or Bass would be the likely choices.
Carlos Gomez had a hit in each game, but overall was 3-14 with 3 K in the series. For the homestand, he was 6-34 (.176) with 9 Ks. If he doesn't start having better ABs soon, I'm going to start harping for Span again.
The Twins drafted a toolsy HS outfielder and 2 college pitchers in the first round on Thursday. One pitcher was a stretch, the other fell into their lap. Pretty typical draft, I'd say.
Twins 7, Orioles 5
Orioles 3, Twins 2
Once again, a Thursday afternoon loss leads to an ultimately disappointing home stand. After hanging with the Yankees for four games, the Twins couldn't cash in against the slumping O's. I thought Baltimore played an all-around good series - they got solid starting pitching, dependable work from the bullpen, made a lot of plays in the field, and were pesky at the plate. They did a great job of hitting mistake pitches. And my goodness, there were a lot of mistakes from the Twins' pitchers.
The Orioles hit 6 HR in the series, accounting for 7 of their 13 runs, including the game-winner on Thursday. I was pretty amazed by the dinger Mora hit off Kevin Slowey in the 6th inning on Tuesday night - he turned very quickly on a low-and-in fastball down 0-2 in the count. All the other HR hit by the O's were off pitches belt-high over the plate. Even an unimpressive BA team like the O's can hit those.
Slowey and Scott Baker had similar starts: each easily got ahead of most hitters, but then struggled to put them away. Slowey in particular gave up several 2-strike hits, and Baker seemed to need 6+ pitches in each AB, reaching a pitch count of 99 through just 5 IP. I was frustrated by the HR Baker allowed - he'd thrown 8 pitches already to Markakis, 7 of them fastballs. With first base open and a right-handed batter coming up, I felt that was a time to be careful with the 3-2 pitch, maybe locate a breaking ball just off the plate and see if he'd chase, or try an off-speed pitch. Nope, belt-high fastball over the plate. Ding!
This brings up an interesting side-effect to the wonderful lack of walks from the young starters Slowey, Baker and Blackburn: they're so determined not to walk people that they offer too good a pitch when they're ahead in the count. Radadmes Lis was getting 4-6 inches off the plate from Tuesday night's umpire - Slowey could hit that spot, why not try to stretch the strike zone? This may also be a problem with still relatively young catcher Joe Mauer. If he sets up outside and they hit the glove, maybe they get the call. If he sets up on the corner and they hit the glove, maybe the hitter hits it hard!
This makes two straight starts in which Glen Perkins was utterly unable to command his stuff. Pitch after pitch right in the sweet spot. I hope it's only a slump. Good work from Boof Bonser out of the bullpen - keep that up!
The 13-man rotation resulted in some creative managing from Gardy late in Thursday's game: Kevin Slowey was used as a pinch-runner for C Mike Redmond, Kubel pinch-hit for DH Craig Monroe, and Mauer pinch-hit for LF Delmon Young. That meant Mauer had to catch, Kubel had to go to left, and Slowey became the DH. I thought Gardy would use Brendan Harris instead of Mike Lamb to start the 9th against LHP closer George Sherrill, but Harris was needed to pinch-hit for Slowey if it got to him (he was on deck when Casilla made the final out). With Punto back to the DL and Morneau dragging with a bum knee, I don't think the Twins can sustain a 3-man bench for very long. They have to decide to drop someone from the bullpen. Either Rincon or Bass would be the likely choices.
Carlos Gomez had a hit in each game, but overall was 3-14 with 3 K in the series. For the homestand, he was 6-34 (.176) with 9 Ks. If he doesn't start having better ABs soon, I'm going to start harping for Span again.
The Twins drafted a toolsy HS outfielder and 2 college pitchers in the first round on Thursday. One pitcher was a stretch, the other fell into their lap. Pretty typical draft, I'd say.
Monday, April 21, 2008
Pitching and Defense
Twins 3, Indians 0
Twins 2, Indians 1 (10 innings)
The Indians were the single biggest reason the Twins didn't make it to the happy side of .500 in 2007. They beat the Twins in 14 of 18 meetings, including every time Santana faced them. While their pitching staff stymied the hitters, they always managed to get the big hit just when they needed it, or the Twins would give them an extra out or base with a defensive miscue.
Not so much this weekend.
Although the Tribe's only run on Sunday was a direct result of an unturned double play (high relay throw from Brendan Harris), the Twins otherwise made every play they were supposed to make, and several they weren't. Infielders and outfielders were diving around all over the field, most notably when Carlos Gomez saved the game with his sprawling catch in the 9th. The defense did turn 5 DPs, four in support of Nick Blackburn on Saturday. Delmon Young picked up his 3rd OF assist to preserve the shutout. Neither team committed an error in the series.
Blackburn's performance was a clinic in minimizing damage. Though he allowed a baserunner in just about every inning, he didn't hurt himself with walks, and his sinker kept setting up DPs. The very definition of "scattering" 8 hits in 7.2 innings. Had the Twins been able to pad the lead a bit, I thought he might get the chance to match Carlos Silva's 11-hit, 6 DP shutout vs. the Angels a few years ago.
Scott Baker was arguably even more effective, allowing just 5 hits and one walk in 7 innings. The missed DP chance extended the second inning by 3 batters and 13 pitches, so had it been turned, Baker might well have completed 8 shutout innings. His 8 Ks were 1 short of his career high.
The bullpen was nearly flawless as well, allowing only 3 baserunners in 4.1 innings. It was particularly heartening to see Neshek come in with a runner on in the 9th and slam the door (thanks, again, to the athletic prowess of Gomez), something he was unable to do in Chicago and Detroit.
Last weekend, the Twins took 2 of 3 from KC despite scoring just 8 runs in the series. Hard to top, but they did it this weekend, taking 2 of 3 from the Tribe despite scoring just 5 runs in the 3 games.
Three weeks into the season, the Twins are near the bottom of the AL in runs (13th), OBP (14th) and SLG (12th), yet are tied for second place in the division, just 2.5 games behind the White Sox. This is thanks to a pitching staff that ranks very highly in ERA (3rd), fewest walks allowed (1st), and WHIP (1st), and a defense which is among the leaders in throwing out baserunners (1st in caught stealing %, tied for 1st in OF assists). Thank goodness for pitching and defense, otherwise the Twins would be in big trouble.
Twins 2, Indians 1 (10 innings)
The Indians were the single biggest reason the Twins didn't make it to the happy side of .500 in 2007. They beat the Twins in 14 of 18 meetings, including every time Santana faced them. While their pitching staff stymied the hitters, they always managed to get the big hit just when they needed it, or the Twins would give them an extra out or base with a defensive miscue.
Not so much this weekend.
Although the Tribe's only run on Sunday was a direct result of an unturned double play (high relay throw from Brendan Harris), the Twins otherwise made every play they were supposed to make, and several they weren't. Infielders and outfielders were diving around all over the field, most notably when Carlos Gomez saved the game with his sprawling catch in the 9th. The defense did turn 5 DPs, four in support of Nick Blackburn on Saturday. Delmon Young picked up his 3rd OF assist to preserve the shutout. Neither team committed an error in the series.
Blackburn's performance was a clinic in minimizing damage. Though he allowed a baserunner in just about every inning, he didn't hurt himself with walks, and his sinker kept setting up DPs. The very definition of "scattering" 8 hits in 7.2 innings. Had the Twins been able to pad the lead a bit, I thought he might get the chance to match Carlos Silva's 11-hit, 6 DP shutout vs. the Angels a few years ago.
Scott Baker was arguably even more effective, allowing just 5 hits and one walk in 7 innings. The missed DP chance extended the second inning by 3 batters and 13 pitches, so had it been turned, Baker might well have completed 8 shutout innings. His 8 Ks were 1 short of his career high.
The bullpen was nearly flawless as well, allowing only 3 baserunners in 4.1 innings. It was particularly heartening to see Neshek come in with a runner on in the 9th and slam the door (thanks, again, to the athletic prowess of Gomez), something he was unable to do in Chicago and Detroit.
Last weekend, the Twins took 2 of 3 from KC despite scoring just 8 runs in the series. Hard to top, but they did it this weekend, taking 2 of 3 from the Tribe despite scoring just 5 runs in the 3 games.
Three weeks into the season, the Twins are near the bottom of the AL in runs (13th), OBP (14th) and SLG (12th), yet are tied for second place in the division, just 2.5 games behind the White Sox. This is thanks to a pitching staff that ranks very highly in ERA (3rd), fewest walks allowed (1st), and WHIP (1st), and a defense which is among the leaders in throwing out baserunners (1st in caught stealing %, tied for 1st in OF assists). Thank goodness for pitching and defense, otherwise the Twins would be in big trouble.
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
When It Rains...
Twins 12, White Sox 5
The Twins don't have the most formidable lineup in the league - it's not even in the top 3 in the division. But it's better than 3 runs a game, so an eruption was bound to come sooner or later. Some notable things:
Jason Kubel hit a grand slam and knocked in 6 runs, his best single-game performance since last July when he hit a grand slam and knocked in 7 runs, also against the White Sox in Chicago.
The beneficiary of Kubel's finest days was, in both cases, Scott Baker. In his last 2 starts at US Cellular Field, he's allowed 10 ER in 10 IP, yet is 2-0, thanks to 32 total runs of support. Boof Bonser would kill for a quarter of that.
Carlos Gomez and Delmon Young each drew a walk! I'm going to chart how many times they walk in the same game this season. I'll bet it doesn't happen more than once a month.
Gomez had himself a fine game, despite being picked off in the first. He had 4 PAs that lasted 4 or more pitches, drew the aforementioned walk, did not strike out, and made a fine diving catch.
Every Twins starter had a hit except Adam Everett. Tolbert is starting tomorrow, right?
Congratulations to Brian Bass on his first Major League save (snicker - what a silly stat!). He allowed just 1 ER in 4 IP, saving the rest of the bullpen for a rainy day.
I hope that rainy day comes tomorrow, and keeps up for half the weekend. The Sox lineup is freaky hot right now - I don't like Livan's chances against them. Whenever the game is made up they'll almost certainly have cooled off. In addition, Slowey is still not well, and Liriano doesn't look like he's quite ready to come up yet, so an extra off day or two would be most helpful for the Twins as far as hiding their non-existent 5th starter. Where's Crash Davis when you need him?
The Twins don't have the most formidable lineup in the league - it's not even in the top 3 in the division. But it's better than 3 runs a game, so an eruption was bound to come sooner or later. Some notable things:
Jason Kubel hit a grand slam and knocked in 6 runs, his best single-game performance since last July when he hit a grand slam and knocked in 7 runs, also against the White Sox in Chicago.
The beneficiary of Kubel's finest days was, in both cases, Scott Baker. In his last 2 starts at US Cellular Field, he's allowed 10 ER in 10 IP, yet is 2-0, thanks to 32 total runs of support. Boof Bonser would kill for a quarter of that.
Carlos Gomez and Delmon Young each drew a walk! I'm going to chart how many times they walk in the same game this season. I'll bet it doesn't happen more than once a month.
Gomez had himself a fine game, despite being picked off in the first. He had 4 PAs that lasted 4 or more pitches, drew the aforementioned walk, did not strike out, and made a fine diving catch.
Every Twins starter had a hit except Adam Everett. Tolbert is starting tomorrow, right?
Congratulations to Brian Bass on his first Major League save (snicker - what a silly stat!). He allowed just 1 ER in 4 IP, saving the rest of the bullpen for a rainy day.
I hope that rainy day comes tomorrow, and keeps up for half the weekend. The Sox lineup is freaky hot right now - I don't like Livan's chances against them. Whenever the game is made up they'll almost certainly have cooled off. In addition, Slowey is still not well, and Liriano doesn't look like he's quite ready to come up yet, so an extra off day or two would be most helpful for the Twins as far as hiding their non-existent 5th starter. Where's Crash Davis when you need him?
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Small Ballers
Twins 4, Royals 3
Another solid game for the pitching staff, and some good hitting and aggressive base running led to the win.
Scott Baker really labored in the first 2 innings. I thought the game was going to last 4 hours the way he was going. Credit the KC hitters for spoiling a lot of pitches and laying off others. So many 5+ pitch ABs. And when they did put them in play, they fell in. Thinking about Slowey's short start yesterday, I wasn't sure what the bullpen was going to do if Baker didn't make it to the 6th. But he settled in, setting down 11 in a row after John Buck's RBI single in the 2nd. The Royals helped out by swinging early in the count and putting balls in play. In the end, despite a rather tight pitch count, Baker managed to pitch 6.2 innings, enough for Neshek and Nathan to take it the rest of the way.
Carlos Gomez had another good game. He got a bunt hit leading off, stole second and scored on Mauer's single. He got another infield hit in the 4th, stole second again, but was stranded when Mauer grounded out. Then he drilled a double in his last AB. He is having about as good a first week with the Twins as anyone could have hoped.
Morneau finally got a hit and another RBI, though Cuddyer was injured on the play while sliding into 3rd. Kubel pinch ran and scored on a groundout by Young. In his other 3 ABs, Morneau struck out and hit into 2 DPs. He's not quite out of the woods yet.
I enjoyed the sequence of events in the 4th inning. Lamb led off with a double, Tolbert sacrificed him to third, then Everett brought him home with a suicide squeeze. Many will deride the use of two sacrifices in an inning, but with light-hitting middle infielders coming up, and Gomez not yet accomplished at hitting with men in scoring position, it was good to see the bottom of the order produce a run using their higher percentage skills.
With Cuddyer headed to the 15-day DL, Denard Span will get his first taste of the Majors this weekend. Whether Gardy will want Kubel to be the RF most of the time, or LF and switch Young to RF, or put Span in CF and move Gomez to RF (as was the case in several spring training games) remains to be seen. If he doesn't start, Span will certainly get some opportunities as a pinch-runner or defensive replacement for Kubel. I thought he earned a spot on the roster in the first place, so I'm happy to see him get a chance so soon, though, obviously, these aren't the best circumstances. Hopefully, he will acquit himself well, and at least prove that he has some value in a future trade.
Another solid game for the pitching staff, and some good hitting and aggressive base running led to the win.
Scott Baker really labored in the first 2 innings. I thought the game was going to last 4 hours the way he was going. Credit the KC hitters for spoiling a lot of pitches and laying off others. So many 5+ pitch ABs. And when they did put them in play, they fell in. Thinking about Slowey's short start yesterday, I wasn't sure what the bullpen was going to do if Baker didn't make it to the 6th. But he settled in, setting down 11 in a row after John Buck's RBI single in the 2nd. The Royals helped out by swinging early in the count and putting balls in play. In the end, despite a rather tight pitch count, Baker managed to pitch 6.2 innings, enough for Neshek and Nathan to take it the rest of the way.
Carlos Gomez had another good game. He got a bunt hit leading off, stole second and scored on Mauer's single. He got another infield hit in the 4th, stole second again, but was stranded when Mauer grounded out. Then he drilled a double in his last AB. He is having about as good a first week with the Twins as anyone could have hoped.
Morneau finally got a hit and another RBI, though Cuddyer was injured on the play while sliding into 3rd. Kubel pinch ran and scored on a groundout by Young. In his other 3 ABs, Morneau struck out and hit into 2 DPs. He's not quite out of the woods yet.
I enjoyed the sequence of events in the 4th inning. Lamb led off with a double, Tolbert sacrificed him to third, then Everett brought him home with a suicide squeeze. Many will deride the use of two sacrifices in an inning, but with light-hitting middle infielders coming up, and Gomez not yet accomplished at hitting with men in scoring position, it was good to see the bottom of the order produce a run using their higher percentage skills.
With Cuddyer headed to the 15-day DL, Denard Span will get his first taste of the Majors this weekend. Whether Gardy will want Kubel to be the RF most of the time, or LF and switch Young to RF, or put Span in CF and move Gomez to RF (as was the case in several spring training games) remains to be seen. If he doesn't start, Span will certainly get some opportunities as a pinch-runner or defensive replacement for Kubel. I thought he earned a spot on the roster in the first place, so I'm happy to see him get a chance so soon, though, obviously, these aren't the best circumstances. Hopefully, he will acquit himself well, and at least prove that he has some value in a future trade.
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