The White Sox are back in town.
Over the past handful of years, that's been music to the ears of baseball fans in Minnesota. Since 2008, the Twins are 21-6 at home against the Sox. Ozzie Guillen often lamented his team's hex at the Metrodome (where they hadn't posted a winning record since 2005), and Target Field has – up to this point – not proven much friendlier.
Baseball is a random game where few things can be relied upon, but success for the Twins when facing the South Siders on their own turf has been one of them.
Will that continue to be the case this year? Rain has delayed the latest chapter of this classic rivalry, which figures to get underway tonight. It seems an appropriate time to gauge each club.
At present, the Twins and White Sox both find themselves in unfamiliar and undesirable territory: the bottom.
Chicago has gradually recovered from its miserable 14-23 start, winning 19 of 31 to move within two games of .500.
The Twins, on the other hand, saw their early drought carry on longer and have experienced a more rapid correction, with nine wins in their past 11 games. They remain 13 games under .500, but will look to continue their march toward respectability this week against Chicago.
Prior to the season, most people expected the Tigers, White Sox and Twins to battle for the AL Central crown. With the latter two climbing steadily while the Indians free-fall (they've dropped 11 of their last 15), we may be seeing the cream rise to the top.
But Detroit isn't going away, so these are critical games for the teams set to compete at Target Field tonight and tomorrow. With Alexi Casilla and Ben Revere setting the tone for the offense (and Tsuyoshi Nishioka likely to be activated for tonight's game), the Twins will employ a speed-based, small-ball approach that prompted Ozzie Guillen to token the "piranhas" nickname several years ago.
If the Twins can effectively implement this game plan and win, as they have consistently over the past couple weeks, we can expect plenty of effuse praise for the scrappy bunch from Ron Gardenhire. And Guillen, of course.
Showing posts with label piranhas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label piranhas. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Wednesday, July 02, 2008
Keeping the Cats in the Bag
Considering how many times the Twins bullpen has fallen apart against the Tigers this season, it was nice to see the unit remain mostly intact last night as the Twins got back in the win column with a 6-4 win over the Tigers. There was reason for concern, as Ron Gardenhire's options were limited in the game -- Matt Guerrier had thrown 30 pitches in the previous night's ballgame, and the manager prefers not to use Jesse Crain (who'd also pitched in that game) on consecutive nights. This left the Twins without access to their two best right-handed relievers and meant that Brian Bass was sent out to throw 1 2/3 relatively high-leverage innings. That's a potential recipe disaster, but kudos to Bass and the rest of the Twins relievers for keeping the Tiger bats in check and holding on to this victory.
The win could have been by a much more comfortable margin, but the Twins made a TON of outs on the basepaths. Aside from the five double plays they hit into, they also had Nick Punto run into an out at home plate when he tried to score from second on a ball that skipped away from third baseman Carlos Guillen. I couldn't tell whether the decision to try and score was Punto's or third base coach Scott Ullger's, but it ended up proving a misguided one when Punto was thrown out by several feet at the plate. Combined with Carlos Gomez hesitating to go home from third on a ground ball to first base in the first inning, which led to his getting thrown out at home, this is not the type of fundamental baseball you'll want to teach your kids.
The litany of lost runners on the basepaths somewhat masks the fact that the Twins had a pretty good night against left-handed starter Nate Robertson, which is not insignificant. With Michael Cuddyer already on the disabled list, Ron Gardenhire elected to bench two of his other prominent middle-of-the-lineup bats in Joe Mauer and Jason Kubel against the southpaw. That Gardenhire saw fit to play Denard Span in favor of Kubel in right field is curious, seeing as how Kubel has been the team's best hitter over the past month by a wide margin, and Span was hitting even worse against lefties in the minors this year than Kubel has in the majors. Apparently Kubel's struggles in 13 career plate appearances against Robertson were enough to convince Gardenhire that Span -- who's never seen Robertson -- was a better option. And the decision worked out just fine, as Span went 1-for-2 in the game with a double off the Tigers starter.
In total, the speedy trio of Span, Carlos Gomez and Alexi Casilla reached base in 10 of their 14 plate appearances, which proved crucial in the absence of the aforementioned big bats. I feel another "piranha" craze coming on in some form (Dick Bremer last night called them "rabbits"), which does not excite me. Alas, I guess I can deal with it if these three continue to set the table for Mauer, Morneau and Co.
I'll part today with a couple minor-league notes...
* As I pulled my hair out while watching the Twins bullpen give away another game to the Tigers on Monday night and then bit my fingernails while watching Bass pitch to one of the league's most dangerous lineups with a three-run lead last night, it occurred to me that the Twins could use some bullpen help. Which makes it all the more baffling that Anthony Slama is still sitting in Ft. Myers.
For whatever reason, Slama was not promoted to Class-AA New Britain along with his teammates Danny Valencia, Robert Delaney, Jeff Manship and Brian Dinkelman a few weeks ago. This in spite of the fact that Slama is 24 (far older than the average prospect in Single-A ball) and has been -- and continues to be -- just about as dominant as a reliever can possibly be at that level. Slama currently holds a 0.42 ERA and 73-to-12 strikeout-to-walk ratio over 42 2/3 innings. In his last 10 appearances, 31 of the 45 outs Slama has recorded have come by way of strikeout. I realize that promoting prospects can be tricky business, but Slama is stagnating at the Single-A level, and as one of the only pitchers in the system who appears to have a legitimate chance of legitimately aiding the big-league bullpen in the somewhat near future, the Twins absolutely must find a way to move Slama up so he can face a more suitable level of competition.
* Deolis Guerra, the prized young right-hander acquired in the Johan Santana trade, tossed a three-hit shutout for the Miracle last night. In spite of his 8-4 record, Guerra has been fairly disappointing this year. He's a 19-year-old playing in Advanced A ball, so it's impossible to pass judgment on him at this point, but the fact that he's seemingly made no progress from last season is disconcerting. In fact, Guerra has taken some visible steps backward. Even after tossing the shutout last night, Guerra holds a 4.32 ERA in 16 outings, with a 4.99 K/9 rate and a 4.21 BB/9 rate. Last year, as an 18-year-old at the same level, he posted a 4.01 ERA along with 6.62 K/9 and 2.51 BB/9.
These numbers are far from condemning. I can't stress enough that Guerra is very young for this level of competition, and his coaches have apparently been fidgeting with mechanics which is bound to have a negative effect on performance. Still, for all his upside, Guerra has failed to put up dazzling numbers anywhere as a professional player, and I have a hard time viewing him as the top-notch pitching prospect that many others see him as. We can only hope that last night's gem represents a significant step in the right direction.
The win could have been by a much more comfortable margin, but the Twins made a TON of outs on the basepaths. Aside from the five double plays they hit into, they also had Nick Punto run into an out at home plate when he tried to score from second on a ball that skipped away from third baseman Carlos Guillen. I couldn't tell whether the decision to try and score was Punto's or third base coach Scott Ullger's, but it ended up proving a misguided one when Punto was thrown out by several feet at the plate. Combined with Carlos Gomez hesitating to go home from third on a ground ball to first base in the first inning, which led to his getting thrown out at home, this is not the type of fundamental baseball you'll want to teach your kids.
The litany of lost runners on the basepaths somewhat masks the fact that the Twins had a pretty good night against left-handed starter Nate Robertson, which is not insignificant. With Michael Cuddyer already on the disabled list, Ron Gardenhire elected to bench two of his other prominent middle-of-the-lineup bats in Joe Mauer and Jason Kubel against the southpaw. That Gardenhire saw fit to play Denard Span in favor of Kubel in right field is curious, seeing as how Kubel has been the team's best hitter over the past month by a wide margin, and Span was hitting even worse against lefties in the minors this year than Kubel has in the majors. Apparently Kubel's struggles in 13 career plate appearances against Robertson were enough to convince Gardenhire that Span -- who's never seen Robertson -- was a better option. And the decision worked out just fine, as Span went 1-for-2 in the game with a double off the Tigers starter.
In total, the speedy trio of Span, Carlos Gomez and Alexi Casilla reached base in 10 of their 14 plate appearances, which proved crucial in the absence of the aforementioned big bats. I feel another "piranha" craze coming on in some form (Dick Bremer last night called them "rabbits"), which does not excite me. Alas, I guess I can deal with it if these three continue to set the table for Mauer, Morneau and Co.
I'll part today with a couple minor-league notes...
* As I pulled my hair out while watching the Twins bullpen give away another game to the Tigers on Monday night and then bit my fingernails while watching Bass pitch to one of the league's most dangerous lineups with a three-run lead last night, it occurred to me that the Twins could use some bullpen help. Which makes it all the more baffling that Anthony Slama is still sitting in Ft. Myers.
For whatever reason, Slama was not promoted to Class-AA New Britain along with his teammates Danny Valencia, Robert Delaney, Jeff Manship and Brian Dinkelman a few weeks ago. This in spite of the fact that Slama is 24 (far older than the average prospect in Single-A ball) and has been -- and continues to be -- just about as dominant as a reliever can possibly be at that level. Slama currently holds a 0.42 ERA and 73-to-12 strikeout-to-walk ratio over 42 2/3 innings. In his last 10 appearances, 31 of the 45 outs Slama has recorded have come by way of strikeout. I realize that promoting prospects can be tricky business, but Slama is stagnating at the Single-A level, and as one of the only pitchers in the system who appears to have a legitimate chance of legitimately aiding the big-league bullpen in the somewhat near future, the Twins absolutely must find a way to move Slama up so he can face a more suitable level of competition.
* Deolis Guerra, the prized young right-hander acquired in the Johan Santana trade, tossed a three-hit shutout for the Miracle last night. In spite of his 8-4 record, Guerra has been fairly disappointing this year. He's a 19-year-old playing in Advanced A ball, so it's impossible to pass judgment on him at this point, but the fact that he's seemingly made no progress from last season is disconcerting. In fact, Guerra has taken some visible steps backward. Even after tossing the shutout last night, Guerra holds a 4.32 ERA in 16 outings, with a 4.99 K/9 rate and a 4.21 BB/9 rate. Last year, as an 18-year-old at the same level, he posted a 4.01 ERA along with 6.62 K/9 and 2.51 BB/9.
These numbers are far from condemning. I can't stress enough that Guerra is very young for this level of competition, and his coaches have apparently been fidgeting with mechanics which is bound to have a negative effect on performance. Still, for all his upside, Guerra has failed to put up dazzling numbers anywhere as a professional player, and I have a hard time viewing him as the top-notch pitching prospect that many others see him as. We can only hope that last night's gem represents a significant step in the right direction.
Sunday, April 15, 2007
The Bats Finally Come Out
After the last two games against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, I was thinking about how the Twins almost lost two games a pretty bad team. They got lucky breaks due to bad Tampa Bay defense and baserunning and still managed a loss with Johan Santana on the mound Friday night. Facing a guy like Scott Kazmir gave them an excuse, but it was still just the Devil Rays. Some notes:
* Last night the Twins finally broke out in a big fashion against Edwin Jackson and the hapless Devil Ray bullpen. With 14 hits and 12 runs, the offense was filled with stars, with the 3-4-5-6 (Mauer, Cuddyer, Morneau, Hunter) going 9-for-17 with 8 RBI and 6 runs scored. Cuddyer was particularly impressive, going 4-for-4 with two RBIs and a double, hustling on every play and making an outstanding throw to catch B.J. Upton making another Tampa Bay baserunning mistake by trying to strech a double to a triple.
* Cuddyer is hitting .390 (16-for-41) so far this year and has 8 RBI, starting out much hotter than previous Aprils, as he has hit .227/.287/.377 in 154 April at-bats in the previous three seasons. He has historically been a better second-half hitter, so seeing him start off this hot is very encouraging. As much as Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau are keys to the offense, Cuddyer having a great year is just as important to the Twins competing.
* Of course, Cuddyer won't be the most talked about story of last night. Jason Tyner went 3-for-5 and nearly hit the first home run of his career, but he was denied by the baggie, just as he was on a similar drive last year. Tyner managed two doubles, which is big power for him, in a start in center field while Torii Hunter rested in the DH spot. Maybe Tyner will hit .300 again, but I'll remain cautious about his use. If he can come in to give Hunter a rest and get a few hits, then he he'll be doing a good job. Tyner wasn't the only "piranha" hitting balls hard, though, as Luis Rodriguez took Ruddy Lugo deep.
* The other story is Sidney Ponson, who picked up his first Twins victory. Ponson once again had a very mixed outting. He managed to strike out six hitters in 5 1/3 innings, but he also walked three. His lack of control is frustrating and causes him to constantly tread a dangerous line, since he is hittable (he also gave up eight hits). However, Ponson gave up only two runs. A lot of that can be attributed to Juan Rincon, who came in with men on second and third with one out in the sixth inning and managed to get both hitters out. After some frustrating early outings, it was good to see Rincon get three strikeouts in 1 2/3 innings. Ponson also got some help from his defense, with good plays from Cuddyer and Jason Bartlett. Ponson hasn't looked terrible, but his control isn't great right now and he has given up too many hits. The good news is that, if you watch his post-game interview on FSN, Ponson is fully aware that throwing down the middle isn't a great idea.
* On a final note, I would expect Alexi Casilla's amazing play for the final out to be shown numerous times on SportsCenter and to get that all-important "Web-Gem" label.
* Last night the Twins finally broke out in a big fashion against Edwin Jackson and the hapless Devil Ray bullpen. With 14 hits and 12 runs, the offense was filled with stars, with the 3-4-5-6 (Mauer, Cuddyer, Morneau, Hunter) going 9-for-17 with 8 RBI and 6 runs scored. Cuddyer was particularly impressive, going 4-for-4 with two RBIs and a double, hustling on every play and making an outstanding throw to catch B.J. Upton making another Tampa Bay baserunning mistake by trying to strech a double to a triple.
* Cuddyer is hitting .390 (16-for-41) so far this year and has 8 RBI, starting out much hotter than previous Aprils, as he has hit .227/.287/.377 in 154 April at-bats in the previous three seasons. He has historically been a better second-half hitter, so seeing him start off this hot is very encouraging. As much as Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau are keys to the offense, Cuddyer having a great year is just as important to the Twins competing.
* Of course, Cuddyer won't be the most talked about story of last night. Jason Tyner went 3-for-5 and nearly hit the first home run of his career, but he was denied by the baggie, just as he was on a similar drive last year. Tyner managed two doubles, which is big power for him, in a start in center field while Torii Hunter rested in the DH spot. Maybe Tyner will hit .300 again, but I'll remain cautious about his use. If he can come in to give Hunter a rest and get a few hits, then he he'll be doing a good job. Tyner wasn't the only "piranha" hitting balls hard, though, as Luis Rodriguez took Ruddy Lugo deep.
* The other story is Sidney Ponson, who picked up his first Twins victory. Ponson once again had a very mixed outting. He managed to strike out six hitters in 5 1/3 innings, but he also walked three. His lack of control is frustrating and causes him to constantly tread a dangerous line, since he is hittable (he also gave up eight hits). However, Ponson gave up only two runs. A lot of that can be attributed to Juan Rincon, who came in with men on second and third with one out in the sixth inning and managed to get both hitters out. After some frustrating early outings, it was good to see Rincon get three strikeouts in 1 2/3 innings. Ponson also got some help from his defense, with good plays from Cuddyer and Jason Bartlett. Ponson hasn't looked terrible, but his control isn't great right now and he has given up too many hits. The good news is that, if you watch his post-game interview on FSN, Ponson is fully aware that throwing down the middle isn't a great idea.
* On a final note, I would expect Alexi Casilla's amazing play for the final out to be shown numerous times on SportsCenter and to get that all-important "Web-Gem" label.
Friday, April 13, 2007
Morneau Comes Up a Hero Again
Before talking about the game and the heroics of Justin Morneau and Carlos Silva, I would like to mention that Torii Hunter has once again made a fool out of himself in public. In an interview on ESPN news following the game, Hunter said that there is "very little chance" of him re-signing and laughed about how the only way to keep him around would be if the Twins paid him what he needs.
Hunter said he wanted to be "politically correct" and not be a "distraction" during the season, but this is not a good way to start things. It is apparent that the Twins likely won't keep Hunter, but that's no reason for him to go off and say such things.
As for the game, a few things obviously stand out. For one, there was an unbelievably awful base-running error by two Devil Rays in the ninth that prevented them from taking the lead, as Ben Zobrist was keep at third on a Carl Crawford smash into the corner. However, Crawford thought he had a triple and run all the way to third. Seeing Crawford coming for the same base, Zobrist started to go home before getting caught in a run-down by Joe Mauer off a Luis Castillo throw. After Mauer tagged Zobrist out, he noticed that Crawford now had inexplicably decided to run back to second as Zobrist went home and Mauer threw Crawford out. It was so crazy that I couldn't stop laughing. But after laughing for minutes, one thing that was clear: the Twins got pretty lucky.
They didn't blow their opportunity and in the bottom of the ninth, when Morneau lead off with the score tied at 2-2. With a Brian Strokes offering right over the outer half of the plate, Morneau went with the pitch and drove a game-winning home run just into the arms of awaiting Twins fans in the Home Run Porch in left field. As huge as Morneau's blast was, it was hard to forget the other hero of the game, Carlos Silva.
Silva lasted 6 2/3 innings, giving up seven hits and no runs while striking out four and walking two. Having given up only the one run in 11 2/3 innings so far, Silva currently boasts a 0.77 ERA. Hard to think that through the first two weeks of the season, Ramon Ortiz and Silva would be boasting the best starter ERAs so far, but they are. And such a pleasant surprise is surely welcome. But, as with Ortiz, it has to be cautioned that Silva certainly isn't going to be better than Santana this year. Still, if he can continue to show a solid change-up and a good sinker, he certainly can have a good year and prove most of the Twins blogosphere (including us) wrong.
The other big hit came from Michael Cuddyer, who hit a two-run blast in the fourth to give the Twins the lead. So far, Cuddyer has looked impressive, hitting .364 with 6 RBI. Likewise, after two hits last night, Jason Kubel is now hitting .333 and may be hitting his stride. Kubel was mentioned as a breakout candidate for this season and it would be a safe bet to say that keeping him in the lineup is a good idea.
As for negatives, I will continue to point out that the "piranhas" are looking pathetic this year, as the two who started, Castillo and Nick Punto, went a combined 0-for-8 last night. So far this year, the piranhas (including Jason Tyner and Jason Bartlett) have gone a combined 17-for-101, or a horrendous .168 average. Horrendous because the name piranha implies that none of these guys have much power to speak of and are basically singles hitters. So, if they aren't hitting near .300, they aren't very useful. I won't rally too much against Castillo, since he will come around, and I think that Bartlett will as well, but Tyner already is a liability and Punto could become one at the plate again.
Lastly, Juan Rincon showed last night that he may not be over his problems that began at the end of last year, as he got knocked around in the eight inning and gave up the two runs Tampa needed to tie the game. Rincon was only saved by Pat Neshek, who came in and got the last two outs on strikeouts. Neshek should be in the set-up role regardless, as at this point he is clearly more dominant than Rincon.
Today, we will look forward to the battle of lefty ace starters between Johan Santana and Scott Kazmir. Should be good fun!
Hunter said he wanted to be "politically correct" and not be a "distraction" during the season, but this is not a good way to start things. It is apparent that the Twins likely won't keep Hunter, but that's no reason for him to go off and say such things.
As for the game, a few things obviously stand out. For one, there was an unbelievably awful base-running error by two Devil Rays in the ninth that prevented them from taking the lead, as Ben Zobrist was keep at third on a Carl Crawford smash into the corner. However, Crawford thought he had a triple and run all the way to third. Seeing Crawford coming for the same base, Zobrist started to go home before getting caught in a run-down by Joe Mauer off a Luis Castillo throw. After Mauer tagged Zobrist out, he noticed that Crawford now had inexplicably decided to run back to second as Zobrist went home and Mauer threw Crawford out. It was so crazy that I couldn't stop laughing. But after laughing for minutes, one thing that was clear: the Twins got pretty lucky.
They didn't blow their opportunity and in the bottom of the ninth, when Morneau lead off with the score tied at 2-2. With a Brian Strokes offering right over the outer half of the plate, Morneau went with the pitch and drove a game-winning home run just into the arms of awaiting Twins fans in the Home Run Porch in left field. As huge as Morneau's blast was, it was hard to forget the other hero of the game, Carlos Silva.
Silva lasted 6 2/3 innings, giving up seven hits and no runs while striking out four and walking two. Having given up only the one run in 11 2/3 innings so far, Silva currently boasts a 0.77 ERA. Hard to think that through the first two weeks of the season, Ramon Ortiz and Silva would be boasting the best starter ERAs so far, but they are. And such a pleasant surprise is surely welcome. But, as with Ortiz, it has to be cautioned that Silva certainly isn't going to be better than Santana this year. Still, if he can continue to show a solid change-up and a good sinker, he certainly can have a good year and prove most of the Twins blogosphere (including us) wrong.
The other big hit came from Michael Cuddyer, who hit a two-run blast in the fourth to give the Twins the lead. So far, Cuddyer has looked impressive, hitting .364 with 6 RBI. Likewise, after two hits last night, Jason Kubel is now hitting .333 and may be hitting his stride. Kubel was mentioned as a breakout candidate for this season and it would be a safe bet to say that keeping him in the lineup is a good idea.
As for negatives, I will continue to point out that the "piranhas" are looking pathetic this year, as the two who started, Castillo and Nick Punto, went a combined 0-for-8 last night. So far this year, the piranhas (including Jason Tyner and Jason Bartlett) have gone a combined 17-for-101, or a horrendous .168 average. Horrendous because the name piranha implies that none of these guys have much power to speak of and are basically singles hitters. So, if they aren't hitting near .300, they aren't very useful. I won't rally too much against Castillo, since he will come around, and I think that Bartlett will as well, but Tyner already is a liability and Punto could become one at the plate again.
Lastly, Juan Rincon showed last night that he may not be over his problems that began at the end of last year, as he got knocked around in the eight inning and gave up the two runs Tampa needed to tie the game. Rincon was only saved by Pat Neshek, who came in and got the last two outs on strikeouts. Neshek should be in the set-up role regardless, as at this point he is clearly more dominant than Rincon.
Today, we will look forward to the battle of lefty ace starters between Johan Santana and Scott Kazmir. Should be good fun!
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