After complaining of shoulder pain several times over the past few weeks, Glen Perkins finally landed on the disabled list yesterday, although he and the team are still unsure as to what specifically is afflicting his ailing left shoulder since a recent MRI exam revealed no structural damage. Filling Perkins' vacant roster spot will be Jeff Manship, who was called up from Triple-A after going 4-2 with a 3.22 ERA and 1.02 WHIP in eight starts as a member of the Rochester rotation. Manship will initially serve as a long reliever.
Last week I lamented that the Twins' "unaddressed bullpen has predictably caused plenty of problems for the Twins this year, and yet the team has done nothing to augment the unit other than calling up mediocre former minor-league starters like Sean Henn, Bobby Keppel, Brian Duensing and Kevin Mulvey." You can now add Manship to that list. I like the 25-year-old right-hander's long-term potential, but at this point he's not likely to be a whole lot more effective than Duensing or Mulvey. I suspect the reason he was called up, instead of someone like Rob Delaney or Anthony Slama who has the potential to be an actual difference-maker in the bullpen, is that Manship can be called upon to jump into the rotation should the struggles of Nick Blackburn, Anthony Swarzak or Francisco Liriano continue (though Liriano took a very promising step last night against the Royals, which pleased me immensely).
Even accounting for his recent successful run in Rochester, Manship has posted a 4.08 ERA and 137-to-66 strikeout to walk ratio over 202 2/3 combined innings between Double-A and Triple-A. This after compiling a 2.42 ERA and 221-to-57 strikeout-to-walk ratio between rookie ball and two levels of Single-A. That might seem like a serious regression, but it's hardly unusual for college pitchers like Manship to dominate the early levels of the minors before getting a wake-up call against superior hitters at Double-A or Triple-A, and Manship's decreased strikeout rate and increased hittability in the upper levels certainly don't doom his chances to succeed as a big-league pitcher. One thing he has continued to do well, for instance, is induce ground balls and limit home runs. Manship has allowed only 20 long balls in 444 2/3 minor-league innings, including only three in 126 innings this year.
At the very least, Manship certainly figures to be a better performer than Perkins has been lately. Since the start of July, Perkins has yielded 28 earned runs on 50 hits over 29 1/3 innings spread across seven outings (six starts). During that span, he has posted a lousy 10-to-9 strikeout-to-walk ratio and opponents have hit .376/.410/.556 against him. It seems quite clear that his ailing shoulder has impeded his performance -- which up to that point had been adequate -- and yet many fans continue to skewer him. In tweets, blog comments and message board postings I've perused over the past couple days, I've observed numerous people essentially labeling Perkins a wuss for putting himself on the DL (which appears to be what has happened here, for all intents and purposes). The guy battles through pain and tries to contribute for a couple months, then when it becomes clear that he's not helping the team's cause he pulls himself from the rotation, and yet in both instances he's a coward? Cut him some slack.
The Twins are still very much alive mathematically in the AL Central race, but with the way they've played lately, a playoff berth is looking like a less and less feasible possibility. It's starting to appear that the rest of this season might be best spent getting a look at what the Twins have in their Triple-A system and figuring out which players might be able to contribute to next year's cause. If that's the case, handing some big-league playing time to the likes of guys like Manship and Mulvey isn't a bad idea.
Last week I lamented that the Twins' "unaddressed bullpen has predictably caused plenty of problems for the Twins this year, and yet the team has done nothing to augment the unit other than calling up mediocre former minor-league starters like Sean Henn, Bobby Keppel, Brian Duensing and Kevin Mulvey." You can now add Manship to that list. I like the 25-year-old right-hander's long-term potential, but at this point he's not likely to be a whole lot more effective than Duensing or Mulvey. I suspect the reason he was called up, instead of someone like Rob Delaney or Anthony Slama who has the potential to be an actual difference-maker in the bullpen, is that Manship can be called upon to jump into the rotation should the struggles of Nick Blackburn, Anthony Swarzak or Francisco Liriano continue (though Liriano took a very promising step last night against the Royals, which pleased me immensely).
Even accounting for his recent successful run in Rochester, Manship has posted a 4.08 ERA and 137-to-66 strikeout to walk ratio over 202 2/3 combined innings between Double-A and Triple-A. This after compiling a 2.42 ERA and 221-to-57 strikeout-to-walk ratio between rookie ball and two levels of Single-A. That might seem like a serious regression, but it's hardly unusual for college pitchers like Manship to dominate the early levels of the minors before getting a wake-up call against superior hitters at Double-A or Triple-A, and Manship's decreased strikeout rate and increased hittability in the upper levels certainly don't doom his chances to succeed as a big-league pitcher. One thing he has continued to do well, for instance, is induce ground balls and limit home runs. Manship has allowed only 20 long balls in 444 2/3 minor-league innings, including only three in 126 innings this year.
At the very least, Manship certainly figures to be a better performer than Perkins has been lately. Since the start of July, Perkins has yielded 28 earned runs on 50 hits over 29 1/3 innings spread across seven outings (six starts). During that span, he has posted a lousy 10-to-9 strikeout-to-walk ratio and opponents have hit .376/.410/.556 against him. It seems quite clear that his ailing shoulder has impeded his performance -- which up to that point had been adequate -- and yet many fans continue to skewer him. In tweets, blog comments and message board postings I've perused over the past couple days, I've observed numerous people essentially labeling Perkins a wuss for putting himself on the DL (which appears to be what has happened here, for all intents and purposes). The guy battles through pain and tries to contribute for a couple months, then when it becomes clear that he's not helping the team's cause he pulls himself from the rotation, and yet in both instances he's a coward? Cut him some slack.
The Twins are still very much alive mathematically in the AL Central race, but with the way they've played lately, a playoff berth is looking like a less and less feasible possibility. It's starting to appear that the rest of this season might be best spent getting a look at what the Twins have in their Triple-A system and figuring out which players might be able to contribute to next year's cause. If that's the case, handing some big-league playing time to the likes of guys like Manship and Mulvey isn't a bad idea.
5 comments:
Funny, after being so upset watching Twins games I took the night off to watch Hurt Locker instead and I miss Liriano's good start. Oh well.
Our flavor of the month has arrived, Nick! Maybe the Twins front office is reading your comment section? If that's the case let's start talking about Tolleson, Delaney and Slama and see if we can get some more guys up here.
I agree though, while we're not quite out of it, things don't look all that encouraging. And I'd love to see how guys like Manship, Mulvey, Duensing, etc. can perform before we need to make tough decisions in the off season about our 40 man roster, which if I read Seth's website right we'll have some interesting questions this offseason about who needs to be added.
The last two years, the Twins brought in mediocre veteran starters and had the young guys start in the minors. Eventually, the vets were replaced and the young guys were brought in. The strategy did provide depth, but people were pretty happy that this year they went with all the young guys.
I didn't really do a very good job of framing that as a question, but I've been thinking about the two strategies as the rotation has struggled, and I was wondering what your thoughts were.
Assuming you backed the strategy of starting with the young guys this year, do you still think the Twins have been foolish wasting time with mediocre vets, or have you changed your mind any?
I did think that the idea of veteran leadership was overblown, but I do think this group could have used some. On the other hand, Baker started the year on the DL, Slowey will finish it on the DL, and Perkins has been injured.
I have a very hard time believing that the success of any of these pitchers last year had anything to do with Livan Hernandez sucking it up in the rotation for the first few months of the season. I don't really see what impact can be provided by having a veteran in the rotation that can't be provided by a good pitching coach. Which makes me question how much of a wizard Rick Anderson really is.
Manship's relatively low strikeout rate does concern me a little, especially if he's going to be pitching out of the bullpen. I realize the Twins need someone who can slip into the rotation if necessary, but it just seems to me like the bullpen is already full of guys who pitch to contact. It would be nice to have another strikeout pitcher in the 'pen, especially in high-leverage situations.
By the way, I just saw your video posted on Gleeman's blog. That is just all kinds of awesome.
It would be nice to have another strikeout pitcher in the 'pen, especially in high-leverage situations.
I agree. Too bad the Twins don't have anybody like that in their minor-league system. Oh, wait...
By the way, I just saw your video posted on Gleeman's blog. That is just all kinds of awesome.
That's one way to put it, I guess. But thank you :-)
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