Saturday, September 30, 2006

Cuddyer, Perkins Stand Out in Close Loss

Just a few years ago, Glen Perkins was pitching for the Minnesota and was a fantastic left-hander. Let me clarify; that's the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers. Now, the Stillwater-native is up pitching for his hometown team. Last night, in a disappointing loss, Perkins pitched 3 2/3 innings, gave up one hit, walked none, and struck out five.

He was charged with a run, but it was Dennys Reyes who was brought in with two outs in the ninth that gave up an RBI single to A.J. Pierzynski, so it wasn't all Perkins' fault. Perkins looked great. He was throwing a fastball ranging from 91-95 MPH, moving it all over the plate and hitting the corners, while mixing in a slider and a nice curveball.

Mainly, its worth noting that he struck out Pierzynski and Jim Thome twice. Clearly, Perkins would be of good use in the Twins bullpen during the playoffs. The natural question is who he replaces on the 25-man playoff roster. Silva is a possibility, but it's highly unlikely that management would actually do that. Willie Eyre certainly hasn't earned a spot on the postseason roster. Also, a utility player, like Luis Rodriguez, could be left off.

Needless to say, Perkins has given the Twins something to think about over next few days. Other than him, Michael Cuddyer was about the only other positive element in the game. Cuddyer went 2-for-4 with three RBI and his double in the ninth scored two to give the Twins a great chance at a tie or winning the game. Having Cuddyer swinging a hot bat heading into the playoffs will be huge, especially since Justin Morneau has slacked a little recently.

Overall, Boof Bonser and the whole lineup had a down game. Bonser gave up three home runs, a bad sign since it looked like he might have gotten over his one major weakness. Joe Mauer had an off night and the rest of the lineup didn't look so great against Freddy Garcia, who has had a very subpar season outside of his two recent one-hit, eight-inning starts.

Obviously, the worst part is that the Royals had an incredible comeback against the Tigers to come back and beat them in extra innings. Already, the Twins have had their chance to take first and missed it. Today, the Twins put Matt Garza on the mound. Let's hope he can continue to show the progress he has made as we get closer to the playoffs.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

While Bonser did have a down game, his down game was against the White Sox, and his down game is still way better than Silva's down game or Baker's down game or Garza's down game. Dye hit a curve ball that was out of the strike zone. Cintron turned on a fastball that looked inside. Granted, neither pitch had great movement, but they were well located. He still made Konerko and a few others look silly at times.

Anonymous said...

I think that was two home runs.

Anonymous said...

Bonser has been impressive since he re-joined the rotation, but I still worry about him against the Yankees.

Anonymous said...

What the hell? Leave L-Rod off the team for Perkins. You must have a backup INF especially one that contributes solid ABs like the way he does. Willie Eyre is the only option to not make the team over Perkins.

Nick M. said...

Hmm actually your probably right. I reconsidered but Eyre isn't the only guy you could easily leave off the roster; Jason Kubel is another one you can make an argument for. To me, the only reason for putting L-Rod is that up until this last week, I swear I didn't see the guy for two months. If Gardy finds him so useless with Castillo out there, who knows.

But with that, Kubel and Eyre are the two guys you don't need. Eyre is obvious, Kubel just doesn't have anything right now.

Nick N. said...

Perkins is not going to make the postseason roster, despite his nice performance last night, so it's probably not even worth discussing.

However, his performance late this season does give me some optimism that he could compete for a spot in the rotation next season if Liriano can't come back.