Tuesday, March 29, 2005

Mays Struggles

Joe Mays, who was having such a good spring a week ago, is now struggling. Mays has had two straight bad starts, as he gave up four runs in four innings today against the Reds in a extra-innings victory. Mays, who looked poised to give Kyle Lohse a run for his money in terms of securing the fourth spot in the rotation, has fallen in that race rather abruptly.

Things have now turned in Lohse's favor as he is on a run himself lately after initially struggling in Spring Training. The problem is that Ron Gardenhire is likely going with a four-man rotation in the month of April due to all the bye days. That means Mays likely won't get a start until May. This means he could be sitting for a month, and thus he might prove to be less than effective this year. This could be bad news for the Twins, who would like to get help from Mays this year as a fifth starter. Hopefully, Mays can work out of the bullpen in April as an innings-eater and get his work in to prepare him for the rest of the year.

In other Twins News:

- Joe Mauer had a hell of a day at the plate, going 3 for 3 with two RBIs and a double. It was an important game for Mauer, as he successfully played behind the plate for consecutive games.

- Torii Hunter also had a good game, going 2 for 3 with his third home-run of Spring Training.

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