I've been staring at the computer screen for some time now, trying to think of something clever to write about this weekend's series against the White Sox. Unfortunately, I can't think of anything.
The Twins took two of three from the Sox in Chicago, which is good I guess. (EDIT: By that I mean they LOST two of three, which is BAD I guess. Man I'm dumb. Thanks commenters.) Johan Santana seemed to be back in his true form yesterday, allowing just one run on five hits over seven innings while striking out 10. It appears likely that Santana will lead the majors in strikeouts again this year, as the current leader Erik Bedard has been shut down for the season.
It was interesting to see Jason Kubel hitting second in Ron Gardenhire's lineup yesterday. This is actually an idea that a lot of Twins fans have been tossing around for some time. Kubel doesn't have the speed of a prototypical No. 2 hitter, but he has some on-base skills and he controls the bat well. I think he has enough power to hit sixth or seventh, but he's certainly not miscast as a No. 2 hitter. I'm glad to see Gardy experimenting with ideas like this here in these meaningless September games.
I am not glad, however, to see Gardy starting Nick Punto and Luis Rodriguez while forcing Brian Buscher and Alexi Casilla to ride the pine. I have been saying for a long time that Buscher should be playing everyday. And while it's okay to sit the struggling Casilla every now and then, he hasn't played in almost a week now. I know that Casilla's mistakes can be infuriating, but he's a talented kid. Just let him play Gardy. You're not accomplishing anything by throwing Rodriguez out there at second base.
I guess you just have to take the good with the bad. Jose Morales had a great major-league debut on Saturday night, going 3-for-3 with a double, but he hurt his ankle and was placed on the disabled list. Fortunately, Joe Mauer made his return to the lineup yesterday and went 1-for-3 with a walk, although he didn't seem to be quite back at full speed.
Worth noting: despite a horrible start to the season, Kubel is now out-slugging Michael Cuddyer .433 to .432. That speaks to what a great resurgence Kubel has had in the past couple months, but even more it speaks to what a tremendously disappointing season Cuddyer has had overall.
Monday, September 10, 2007
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4 comments:
the twins only won 1 game of the series.
yeah, we were at the games this weekend and unless I was more drunk than I thought, the Sox took 2 out of 3.
Whoops. For some reason I thought they had won on Saturday night. Silly me... thanks for the correction.
Nick...we're you drinking?
Should I even be asking this question?
haha.
Yeah it's sad how horrid Cuddyer has been. I mean..the WHOLE team.
Next year will be our year. I never felt we were going to do anything amazing this year anyways.
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