After losing 11-0 last night to an Orioles team that had dropped eight straight, the Twins sit at 6-11 on the season. They have been outscored 83-50 in 17 games, averaging less than three runs per contest. They rank last in the major leagues in runs, walks, home runs and OPS.
Things are as grim as can be.
They will get better. Even with the injuries and the presence of offensive black holes like Alexi Casilla and Drew Butera, the Twins are not going to remain the worst-hitting team in baseball for long. They're too talented.
But the inevitability of improvement for their mind-numbingly bad offensive start does nothing to erase the more legitimate long-term concerns that have manifested in the early going.
In analyzing the 2011 squad as the season approached, the one thing that most deeply concerned me was the precariousness of the club's principal investments. Yes, the Twins pumped payroll up to an all-time high $112 million, but much of that money was tied up in significant question marks.
It wasn't the cheap role players like Casilla and Butera who would determine this team's fate. It was the hobbled veterans whose bulky salaries forced the team to part with quality players like Orlando Hudson and J.J. Hardy, not to mention the entire bullpen.
So far, those pricy question marks have not fared well.
Joe Mauer, earning $23 million, struggled to a .554 OPS with one-extra base hit in nine games before landing on the disabled list with a bizarre assortment of ailments. There's no firm timetable in place for his return.
Justin Morneau, earning $14 million, has admirably returned to the field after a long battle with post-concussion syndrome, but has not been at all effective. He managed 11 hits -- no homers -- and three walks in 56 plate appearances before missing the last three games with the flu.
Joe Nathan, earning $11.5 million, also earns respect points for his recovery from serious injury, but it is evident that he does not belong on the major-league roster at this point. He is only hurting the club by occupying a spot in a bullpen that is already lacking trustworthy options.
The underrated Michael Cuddyer, earning $10.5 million, owns a .608 OPS with no homers, and still hasn't driven in one run in 16 games.
Those four players account for nearly half the payroll, and none have yielded any meaningful production up to this point. Throw in the struggles of moderately expensive players like Carl Pavano, Francisco Liriano, Delmon Young and Matt Capps, and it shouldn't be difficult to see why the team is struggling so mightily.
The front office invested a lot of money into this 2011 roster and so far they've been ripped off by the hideous product on the field. Hopefully these players can get over their illnesses, rust, slumps and mental blocks in a hurry, because these dismal performances are getting harder to watch for fans and harder to justify for a $112M team that should be amidst a window of contention.
Showing posts with label offensive ineptitude. Show all posts
Showing posts with label offensive ineptitude. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Monday, April 11, 2011
The Baseball Gods
At times like this, it's tough sledding for Ron Gardenhire.
The manager is surely as frustrated as anyone by his team's early offensive funk, doing everything in his power to turn things around. Yesterday, he gave Michael Cuddyer a start at second base and uncharacteristically wrote in Joe Mauer at catcher for a day game following a night game.
It was the best offensive lineup he could possibly put on the field against Brandon McCarthy and the A's, but the results were the same as ever. The Twins fell 5-3, marking the seventh time in nine games that they've been held to three runs or less.
At this point, there's not much Gardenhire can do other than pray that the baseball gods hurry up and show some mercy.
Mauer is hitting .233 with a .570 OPS. Delmon Young is hitting .188 with a .431 OPS. Cuddyer is hitting .107 with a stunningly bad .301 OPS.
Looking up and down the Twins' lineup, you find numbers like this almost across the board. Yesterday Gardenhire trotted out his 'A' lineup and when the game ended only two members of that group were hitting above .258. The team has managed a total of three home runs -- and allowed four times as many.
Ugly early-season trends tend to cause a lot of panic, but ultimately they almost always even out. You may recall that over the first couple months of the 2010 season the Twins struggled mightily with the bases loaded, but they went on to finish the campaign with a robust .320 batting average in such situations.
Mauer and the rest of the the gents powering the Twins lineup are very good hitters. It's odd to see so many of them slump simultaneously at the outset of the season, but there's virtually no doubt that those bats will ramp up, and soon.
But how soon?
Gardenhire can only hope that it will be this week, as the Twins host a Royals team that's opened with a surprising 6-3 record.
What better time than now for reality to set in for both clubs?
The manager is surely as frustrated as anyone by his team's early offensive funk, doing everything in his power to turn things around. Yesterday, he gave Michael Cuddyer a start at second base and uncharacteristically wrote in Joe Mauer at catcher for a day game following a night game.
It was the best offensive lineup he could possibly put on the field against Brandon McCarthy and the A's, but the results were the same as ever. The Twins fell 5-3, marking the seventh time in nine games that they've been held to three runs or less.
At this point, there's not much Gardenhire can do other than pray that the baseball gods hurry up and show some mercy.
Mauer is hitting .233 with a .570 OPS. Delmon Young is hitting .188 with a .431 OPS. Cuddyer is hitting .107 with a stunningly bad .301 OPS.
Looking up and down the Twins' lineup, you find numbers like this almost across the board. Yesterday Gardenhire trotted out his 'A' lineup and when the game ended only two members of that group were hitting above .258. The team has managed a total of three home runs -- and allowed four times as many.
Ugly early-season trends tend to cause a lot of panic, but ultimately they almost always even out. You may recall that over the first couple months of the 2010 season the Twins struggled mightily with the bases loaded, but they went on to finish the campaign with a robust .320 batting average in such situations.
Mauer and the rest of the the gents powering the Twins lineup are very good hitters. It's odd to see so many of them slump simultaneously at the outset of the season, but there's virtually no doubt that those bats will ramp up, and soon.
But how soon?
Gardenhire can only hope that it will be this week, as the Twins host a Royals team that's opened with a surprising 6-3 record.
What better time than now for reality to set in for both clubs?
Friday, October 08, 2010
Same Old Story
The Twins' loss in Game 2 of the ALDS last night wasn't as painful as some of the team's past postseason heartbreakers, but perhaps that's only because we as fans have been conditioned to these failures.
Certainly, the game had all the requisite attributes of a typical Twins playoff loss to the Yankees: an early lead that disappeared, a blown call by an umpire that proved costly, and -- most importantly -- a complete lack of offensive output from the Twins.
We can savage Francisco Liriano and Carl Pavano for failing to deliver quality starts, though there's nothing embarrassing about the results they got against the league's top-scoring offense. We can demonize home plate umpire Hunter Wendelstedt for another in a long line of whiffed umpiring calls that threaten the integrity of this great game (while commissioner Bud Selig seems content to ignore the issue). We can continue heaping blame on Ron Gardenhire, because his teams have now dropped 11 straight postseason games and while I don't think that has much to do with his managing I'm not going to waste my breath defending him anymore.
Ultimately, the Twins' failure to come away with even a single win over the first two games of this series falls squarely on the offense, just like it has throughout this miserable postseason drought.
The Twins last night faced a pitcher who'd started four games since the All-Star break and who was knocked around for nine runs on 19 hits in his two final regular-season tune-up starts. In front of a packed home crowd, the Twins manage to push two runs across. You don't beat the Yankees scoring two runs.
The game marked the seventh time during Minnesota's current postseason losing streak that they've scored three or fewer runs. You don't win games like that very often in the regular season (the Twins went 13-46 when scoring three times or less this year) and you certainly don't win them in the playoffs against an offensive juggernaut like the Yanks.
In Games 1 and 2, the Twins went 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position in front of their home crowd. It's difficult to label that kind of effort anything but pathetic. In fact, over their past five home playoff games, they have gone 2-for-30 in scoring opportunities. The players change but the story stays the same: the Twins can't get big hits and because of it they've turned into a postseason joke that no one takes seriously come October.
It's a reputation they've earned.
Certainly, the game had all the requisite attributes of a typical Twins playoff loss to the Yankees: an early lead that disappeared, a blown call by an umpire that proved costly, and -- most importantly -- a complete lack of offensive output from the Twins.
We can savage Francisco Liriano and Carl Pavano for failing to deliver quality starts, though there's nothing embarrassing about the results they got against the league's top-scoring offense. We can demonize home plate umpire Hunter Wendelstedt for another in a long line of whiffed umpiring calls that threaten the integrity of this great game (while commissioner Bud Selig seems content to ignore the issue). We can continue heaping blame on Ron Gardenhire, because his teams have now dropped 11 straight postseason games and while I don't think that has much to do with his managing I'm not going to waste my breath defending him anymore.
Ultimately, the Twins' failure to come away with even a single win over the first two games of this series falls squarely on the offense, just like it has throughout this miserable postseason drought.
The Twins last night faced a pitcher who'd started four games since the All-Star break and who was knocked around for nine runs on 19 hits in his two final regular-season tune-up starts. In front of a packed home crowd, the Twins manage to push two runs across. You don't beat the Yankees scoring two runs.
The game marked the seventh time during Minnesota's current postseason losing streak that they've scored three or fewer runs. You don't win games like that very often in the regular season (the Twins went 13-46 when scoring three times or less this year) and you certainly don't win them in the playoffs against an offensive juggernaut like the Yanks.
In Games 1 and 2, the Twins went 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position in front of their home crowd. It's difficult to label that kind of effort anything but pathetic. In fact, over their past five home playoff games, they have gone 2-for-30 in scoring opportunities. The players change but the story stays the same: the Twins can't get big hits and because of it they've turned into a postseason joke that no one takes seriously come October.
It's a reputation they've earned.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Stranded Again
On Sunday, the Twins lost 4-3 to the Brewers, seeing a ninth-inning comeback effort fall just inches short. The close loss could have been avoided; they left 14 runners on base.
On Tuesday night, the Twins battled the Yankees through five scoreless frames before heavy rain forced a delay and eventual suspension of play. The two teams picked up on Wednesday afternoon and Brian Duensing, making a pseudo-start after having worked out of the bullpen all season, gave up a tie-breaking solo home run to the second batter he faced. Duensing settled in after that, completing three innings of work with no further damage, but the Twins offense could muster no support and the Yankees notched a 1-0 victory. The Twins stranded 10 runners on base in the game.
In the nightcap of an impromptu semi-doubleheader, the Twins sent their ace Francisco Liriano out to face Andy Pettitte. The Twins were seemingly up to the task -- they took an early lead, they got a great performance from Liriano, they received a big game-tying knock from Delmon Young in the seventh inning -- but ultimately they fell short. The hitters failed in numerous key situations and Jon Rauch left a fat pitch over the plate for Nick Swisher in the ninth, propelling the Yankees to a second win on the day. In their third straight one-run loss, the Twins went 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position.
Last night, the Yankees one two games on home runs. The Twins, meanwhile, can't seem to hit the ball out of their home park. Hitters continue to see their soaring drives fall into fielders' gloves at the warning track, and it's pretty clear that frustration is building.
That frustration is reflected in a fan base that will be very unhappy if the Twins can't break the Yankees' spell and avoid an embarrassing home sweep against New York for a second season in a row.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Predictably Punchless
In past years, Twins fans have grown used to seeing a lineup trotted out on "getaway days" (usually Thursday or Sunday afternoon games) that featured several marginal backup players and inspired little confidence. On days like this, one could take a quick glance at the starting lineup and guess that a loss was in store.
This season, the Twins offense has featured enough depth that the team has been able to put forth a relatively imposing lineup even with a few regulars on the bench. That wasn't the case today, as soreness kept Justin Morneau, Joe Mauer and J.J. Hardy all out of the lineup. As a result, the starting nine for the Twins' series finale in Detroit featured Drew Butera at catcher, Luke Hughes at third and Brendan Harris at short, with Delmon Young and Jason Kubel manning the corner outfield spots. Even the big left-handed boppers that remained in the middle of the lineup -- Jason Kubel and Jim Thome -- had tough match-ups with a lefty on the mound. From both an offensive and defensive standpoint, it was the worst group that Ron Gardenhire has trotted out all year, making it tough to see how the Twins would be able to come away with a win.
As expected, the Twins came out with little firepower in a 3-0 loss. Despite drawing a favorable pitching match-up with the erratic Dontrelle Willis on the mound, the Twins couldn't come close to mounting a rally, managing just four singles in the game and accumulating only one at-bat with a runner in scoring position. The characteristically patient Twins' lineup drew just one walk against Willis while fanning six times. In the few occasions where they managed to get runners aboard, they killed themselves with double plays. It was a brutal offensive effort that wasted a strong performance from Carl Pavano, who hurled an eight-inning complete game and allowed only two earned runs but took the hard-luck loss.
After losing two of three to the Tigers, the Twins have finally lost a series, making them the last team in the majors to do so. That's certainly nothing to be ashamed of, nor is being shut out for the first time on April 29 (last year, the Twins' first shutout game in their fourth game).
Butera, who went 0-for-2 and set up the Tigers' first run with an errant throw on Austin Jackson's first-inning stolen base attempt, has indeed looked brutal at the plate, but those who raised a huff about his presence on the Opening Day roster have been made to look silly as he's started only three of the Twins' first 22 games while drawing a total of just nine plate appearances. One could make a valid argument that Butera might be the worst hitter in all the majors, but -- as any rational thinker could have expected -- he's had minimal impact on the team's fortunes thus far. With Wilson Ramos looking overmatched against Triple-A pitching so far, it's certainly looking like the Twins made the right choice in bringing Butera north as Mauer's back-up. That being said, Jose Morales' return from injury couldn't come soon enough.
This season, the Twins offense has featured enough depth that the team has been able to put forth a relatively imposing lineup even with a few regulars on the bench. That wasn't the case today, as soreness kept Justin Morneau, Joe Mauer and J.J. Hardy all out of the lineup. As a result, the starting nine for the Twins' series finale in Detroit featured Drew Butera at catcher, Luke Hughes at third and Brendan Harris at short, with Delmon Young and Jason Kubel manning the corner outfield spots. Even the big left-handed boppers that remained in the middle of the lineup -- Jason Kubel and Jim Thome -- had tough match-ups with a lefty on the mound. From both an offensive and defensive standpoint, it was the worst group that Ron Gardenhire has trotted out all year, making it tough to see how the Twins would be able to come away with a win.
As expected, the Twins came out with little firepower in a 3-0 loss. Despite drawing a favorable pitching match-up with the erratic Dontrelle Willis on the mound, the Twins couldn't come close to mounting a rally, managing just four singles in the game and accumulating only one at-bat with a runner in scoring position. The characteristically patient Twins' lineup drew just one walk against Willis while fanning six times. In the few occasions where they managed to get runners aboard, they killed themselves with double plays. It was a brutal offensive effort that wasted a strong performance from Carl Pavano, who hurled an eight-inning complete game and allowed only two earned runs but took the hard-luck loss.
After losing two of three to the Tigers, the Twins have finally lost a series, making them the last team in the majors to do so. That's certainly nothing to be ashamed of, nor is being shut out for the first time on April 29 (last year, the Twins' first shutout game in their fourth game).
Butera, who went 0-for-2 and set up the Tigers' first run with an errant throw on Austin Jackson's first-inning stolen base attempt, has indeed looked brutal at the plate, but those who raised a huff about his presence on the Opening Day roster have been made to look silly as he's started only three of the Twins' first 22 games while drawing a total of just nine plate appearances. One could make a valid argument that Butera might be the worst hitter in all the majors, but -- as any rational thinker could have expected -- he's had minimal impact on the team's fortunes thus far. With Wilson Ramos looking overmatched against Triple-A pitching so far, it's certainly looking like the Twins made the right choice in bringing Butera north as Mauer's back-up. That being said, Jose Morales' return from injury couldn't come soon enough.
Thursday, October 01, 2009
Deflation
By splitting the first two games of their four-game set against the Tigers on Tuesday, the Twins put themselves in position to control their own destiny. If they could win last night's favorable match-up, they'd have had the opportunity to move into a first-place tie with another victory today. Given that the Tigers had a weak right-hander taking the hill last night while the Twins were countering with a starter who has been one of their best, things seemed aligned for a key victory that would back the Tigers into a corner entering this afternoon's contest.
Unfortunately, Carl Pavano collapsed against a team he has dominated all year. Despite entering last night's start with a 4-0 record and 1.69 ERA in five turns against the Tigers this season, Pavano was knocked around for seven runs on seven hits in 4 2/3 innings of work, watching the Twins season circle the drain as the Tigers teed off time and time again on his meatballs.
There were certainly a number of forces working against Pavano. He didn't have his best stuff and might not have had his best command due to the chilly conditions. Perhaps most damaging to Pavano's chances was home plate umpire Marvin Hudson, whose strike zone was roughly the width of a grapefruit. Hudson would call no strikes on either outside corner, which is where Pavano typically lives. That forced the right-hander to bring his mediocre fastball over the middle of the dish, and the Tigers took full advantage.
Unfortunately, the Twins' hitters couldn't do the same. The tight strike zone worked both ways, but the Twins managed only two walks in five innings against substandard Tigers starter Eddie Bonine and repeatedly got themselves out by swinging at bad pitches. They jumped all over Bonine in the first inning for two runs, but that was all they'd register against him over frames in what -- considering the circumstances -- has to be viewed as the most disappointing effort we've seen from this offense all year.
Every now and then, all teams are going to lose to a bad pitcher. It hadn't happened to the Twins for a while, as their only two losses in the past eight games had come against Zack Greinke and Justin Verlander. But it happened last night, and at a very inopportune time.
The Twins face another bad pitcher today in Nate Robertson. If they can beat him, their postseason hopes will remain alive, but the heartbeat will be faint. The Twins would need a home sweep against the Royals in conjunction with a White Sox series victory over the Tigers in Detroit (or a series victory against the Royals with the Tigers being swept) this weekend in order to move into a first-place tie and force another one-game playoff.
It's tough to like those odds. In all likelihood, the Twins missed their chance last night. They deserve credit for battling back from a big deficit earlier in the month and earning that chance, but I doubt that serves as much consolation for them or their fans right now.
Unfortunately, Carl Pavano collapsed against a team he has dominated all year. Despite entering last night's start with a 4-0 record and 1.69 ERA in five turns against the Tigers this season, Pavano was knocked around for seven runs on seven hits in 4 2/3 innings of work, watching the Twins season circle the drain as the Tigers teed off time and time again on his meatballs.
There were certainly a number of forces working against Pavano. He didn't have his best stuff and might not have had his best command due to the chilly conditions. Perhaps most damaging to Pavano's chances was home plate umpire Marvin Hudson, whose strike zone was roughly the width of a grapefruit. Hudson would call no strikes on either outside corner, which is where Pavano typically lives. That forced the right-hander to bring his mediocre fastball over the middle of the dish, and the Tigers took full advantage.
Unfortunately, the Twins' hitters couldn't do the same. The tight strike zone worked both ways, but the Twins managed only two walks in five innings against substandard Tigers starter Eddie Bonine and repeatedly got themselves out by swinging at bad pitches. They jumped all over Bonine in the first inning for two runs, but that was all they'd register against him over frames in what -- considering the circumstances -- has to be viewed as the most disappointing effort we've seen from this offense all year.
Every now and then, all teams are going to lose to a bad pitcher. It hadn't happened to the Twins for a while, as their only two losses in the past eight games had come against Zack Greinke and Justin Verlander. But it happened last night, and at a very inopportune time.
The Twins face another bad pitcher today in Nate Robertson. If they can beat him, their postseason hopes will remain alive, but the heartbeat will be faint. The Twins would need a home sweep against the Royals in conjunction with a White Sox series victory over the Tigers in Detroit (or a series victory against the Royals with the Tigers being swept) this weekend in order to move into a first-place tie and force another one-game playoff.
It's tough to like those odds. In all likelihood, the Twins missed their chance last night. They deserve credit for battling back from a big deficit earlier in the month and earning that chance, but I doubt that serves as much consolation for them or their fans right now.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Lady Luck
Justin Morneau lifted the Twins to a walk-off victory last night when he hit a scalding liner at Akinori Iwamura that the Rays couldn't convert into a double play with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth, but it was a position that the Twins really never should have been in.
I say that not because it was unacceptable for Joe Nathan to surrender the game-tying home to Ben Zobrist in the top half of the ninth. Nathan's one of the best in the biz, but nobody's perfect and he's going to make the occasional mistake. The fact of the matter is that Nathan wouldn't have been protecting a one-run lead had the Twins not failed repeatedly in scoring opportunities for a second night in a row.
The Twins went 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position in last night's game, with the only hit coming on an infield single by Denard Span during their ninth-inning rally. On Monday night, the Twins had gone 0-for-9 in scoring opportunities, and they entered last night's game hitting just .265/.344/.348 in such situations on the season. Whatever clutch magic this offense purportedly had last year certainly has not been present so far this season, and has definitely been absent in this series. It seems the Twins have ended their affair with Lady Luck and are now courting a cold-hearted mistress by the name of Regression to the Mean.
After Morneau ripped a two-run homer in the first inning, the only way the Twins could find to score in the game were getting hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and hitting into a fielder's choice. That's not a sustainable offensive strategy and the Twins aren't going to be winning many games if they can't start driving some runners in with legitimate hits. Unfortunately, tonight they'll be going against Scott Kazmir, who happens to be left-handed. And we all know how this team has performed against left-handers so far...
I say that not because it was unacceptable for Joe Nathan to surrender the game-tying home to Ben Zobrist in the top half of the ninth. Nathan's one of the best in the biz, but nobody's perfect and he's going to make the occasional mistake. The fact of the matter is that Nathan wouldn't have been protecting a one-run lead had the Twins not failed repeatedly in scoring opportunities for a second night in a row.
The Twins went 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position in last night's game, with the only hit coming on an infield single by Denard Span during their ninth-inning rally. On Monday night, the Twins had gone 0-for-9 in scoring opportunities, and they entered last night's game hitting just .265/.344/.348 in such situations on the season. Whatever clutch magic this offense purportedly had last year certainly has not been present so far this season, and has definitely been absent in this series. It seems the Twins have ended their affair with Lady Luck and are now courting a cold-hearted mistress by the name of Regression to the Mean.
After Morneau ripped a two-run homer in the first inning, the only way the Twins could find to score in the game were getting hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and hitting into a fielder's choice. That's not a sustainable offensive strategy and the Twins aren't going to be winning many games if they can't start driving some runners in with legitimate hits. Unfortunately, tonight they'll be going against Scott Kazmir, who happens to be left-handed. And we all know how this team has performed against left-handers so far...
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Stormy Days
Rainy conditions in Boston prevented the Twins and Red Sox from being able to play on Tuesday night and limited one of yesterday's double-header match-ups to seven innings, but the results of yesterday's quick sweeping from the Red Sox are ones we'd probably rather forget.
Sixteen games into the season, the Twins aren't in terrible shape as far as the standings are concerned. They're just two games under .500 at 7-9 and remain within a couple games of first place. Yet, this team has played awful baseball up to this point. Six of their nine losses have come by a margin of four or more runs, they've trailed at some point in every game they've played, and their run differential of -31 is the worst in baseball. Their only series that could be considered a success thus far was a three-game home sweep over an Angels team with a decimated pitching staff and without its best hitter. The Twins are lucky to be close to a .500 record right now, and they almost certainly won't continue to be if they can't drastically improve their play.
Yesterday's day game was just about as ugly as they come. Scott Baker continued to serve up pitches on a platter, allowing three more home runs in his 4 2/3 innings of work. He's now coughed up seven homers in 8 2/3 innings this season -- this after serving up four long balls in his final exhibition outing. Baker always has been and likely always will be somewhat homer-prone, but something is clearly wrong here because the rate he's allowing balls to leave the park is nothing short of ridiculous.
The bullpen stepped in and didn't do much to stop the bleeding. After Craig Breslow tossed 1 1/3 scoreless frames in relief of Baker, Juan Morillo came on to pitch the seventh. I mentioned on Tuesday that "In spite of [Morillo's] solid showing on Saturday night, I'm sure it won't be long before we catch a glimpse of the command issues that caused the Rockies to sour on him," and it certainly didn't take long for that to happen. Yesterday, Morillo couldn't find the strike zone with his high-90s fastball, as 13 of the 17 pitches he threw were called balls and he issued three straight walks following a double by David Ortiz before being removed without recording an out. Naturally, R.A. Dickey came in with the bases loaded and sent all of Morillo's baserunners home on a single, a sacrifice fly and a double before the game was mercifully shut down due to weather.
For its part, the offense had a miserable day against Sox starter Tim Wakefield, managing just one run on five hits over seven innings and going 1-for-10 in scoring opportunities. Alexi Casilla's 0-for-3 day dropped his average for the season to .184 while Michael Cuddyer, Joe Crede and Mike Redmond -- who have all displayed varying levels of ineptitude at the plate this year -- also went hitless in the affair.
In the nightcap, the Twins were soundly defeated again as Francisco Liriano was tagged for seven runs in four innings and the offense had another flat showing in a 7-3 loss. Cuddyer went hitless yet again and the replacements for Casilla, Crede and Redmond -- Brendan Harris, Brian Buscher and Jose Morales -- all failed to improve on the performances of their predecessors as each went hitless as well.
In the nightcap, the Twins were soundly defeated again as Francisco Liriano was tagged for seven runs in four innings and the offense had another flat showing in a 7-3 loss. Cuddyer went hitless yet again and the replacements for Casilla, Crede and Redmond -- Brendan Harris, Brian Buscher and Jose Morales -- all failed to improve on the performances of their predecessors as each went hitless as well.
Between the day's two games, the Twins were outscored 17-4 and went 1-for-15 in scoring opportunities. These were a pair of bad, bad games, and unfortunately those have not been rare this season. On the bright side, it's still early and there's plenty of time to get things turned around. We can only hope that happens soon because this is hard to watch.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Thoughts on the Weekend Series
The Twins dropped two of three in Chicago this weekend, and aside from the win on Friday night in which they broke out for 12 runs, the offense really hasn't looked good so far in this young season. The Twins have been held to one or zero runs in four of the seven games they've played up to this point, and unsurprisingly have gone 0-4 in those contests. They'll need to get on track if they hope to succeed in their four-gamer against the 5-2 Blue Jays, who've averaged 6.6 runs per game.
Here are a few observations on the series against the Sox, and the rest of season up to this point...
* Francisco Liriano really struggled with his command on Saturday, issuing four walks -- two forcing in runs with the bases loaded -- while lasting just 4 2/3 innings in a blowout loss. Through two starts, Liriano is 0-2 with a 6.94 ERA and has had trouble hitting his spots in both starts. Let's not forget, though, that Liriano also experienced command struggles at the beginning of last season before bouncing back splendidly in Rochester and carrying those improvements forward to become one the American League's better second-half pitchers.
Watching Liriano has been a bit frustrating up to this point, but I don't think there's a ton of reason to worry yet.
* Joe Crede has started all seven games up to this point, and his back appears to be in fine shape. Defensively, Crede has looked very solid, flashing his range on a few impressive plays and handling almost everything sent his way. Offensively, he's looked like just the player I expected; he hasn't gotten many hits -- just four in 25 at-bats -- but when he has hit he's been able to do so with some power, as two of those hits have gone for extra bases.
Crede has looked fine thus far, but I would like to see Brian Buscher get a chance to start against a right-hander. He may get that opportunity tonight when the Twins face Jesse Litsch.
* For all the talking about his efforts to improve his plate discipline during the offseason in spring, Gomez has struck out nine times while drawing one walk in his first 23 plate appearances.
* The Twins' offensive struggles are understandable to some extent given that they've been playing without one of their best hitters in Joe Mauer, but the rest of the hitters in this lineup simply aren't pulling their weight right now. Gomez, Crede, Mike Redmond and Delmon Young are all hitting below .200 thus far. Michael Cuddyer is hitting .231 and Justin Morneau is hitting .259. The only Twins regular with a batting average over .300 thus far is Nick Punto. Go figure.
Here are a few observations on the series against the Sox, and the rest of season up to this point...
* Francisco Liriano really struggled with his command on Saturday, issuing four walks -- two forcing in runs with the bases loaded -- while lasting just 4 2/3 innings in a blowout loss. Through two starts, Liriano is 0-2 with a 6.94 ERA and has had trouble hitting his spots in both starts. Let's not forget, though, that Liriano also experienced command struggles at the beginning of last season before bouncing back splendidly in Rochester and carrying those improvements forward to become one the American League's better second-half pitchers.
Watching Liriano has been a bit frustrating up to this point, but I don't think there's a ton of reason to worry yet.
* Joe Crede has started all seven games up to this point, and his back appears to be in fine shape. Defensively, Crede has looked very solid, flashing his range on a few impressive plays and handling almost everything sent his way. Offensively, he's looked like just the player I expected; he hasn't gotten many hits -- just four in 25 at-bats -- but when he has hit he's been able to do so with some power, as two of those hits have gone for extra bases.
Crede has looked fine thus far, but I would like to see Brian Buscher get a chance to start against a right-hander. He may get that opportunity tonight when the Twins face Jesse Litsch.
* For all the talking about his efforts to improve his plate discipline during the offseason in spring, Gomez has struck out nine times while drawing one walk in his first 23 plate appearances.
* The Twins' offensive struggles are understandable to some extent given that they've been playing without one of their best hitters in Joe Mauer, but the rest of the hitters in this lineup simply aren't pulling their weight right now. Gomez, Crede, Mike Redmond and Delmon Young are all hitting below .200 thus far. Michael Cuddyer is hitting .231 and Justin Morneau is hitting .259. The only Twins regular with a batting average over .300 thus far is Nick Punto. Go figure.
Friday, April 10, 2009
Quick and Painful
Yesterday, Glen Perkins finally answered the Twins' call for a strong outing from a starting pitcher. In fact, he went above and beyond, tossing eight innings of one-run ball. Unfortunately, the rest of the team didn't show much appreciation, delivering a punchless performance against Jarrod Washburn and dropping the series finale 2-0 to finish with a split in their opening set against the Mariners.
The game was reminiscent of so many we've seen from this team before. Going against a mediocre left-hander, the Twins could never string together any type of rally, managing just five hits (zero for extra bases) and failing to move a runner past first base until the eighth inning. If there was one positive to be drawn from the game, it may have been that those who cut out of work to head over to the Metrodome had plenty of time to go back to work and finish their day (then again, maybe that's not really a positive). The contest barely ran longer than two hours thanks to the quick work of Washburn, who posted a 4.69 ERA last season and a 6.60 ERA this spring.
A series victory would have been nice entering this weekend's series at U.S. Cellular, where Twins pitchers surrendered a 928 OPS and 6.80 ERA last season. As it stands, the Twins will have a tough time leaving Chicago with a winning record. Tonight they'll be trotting out R.A. Dickey, who has a 6.31 career ERA as a starter, and on Sunday the White Sox will start Mark Buehrle, a much tougher lefty than Washburn. I'm confident that the Twins will get on track and start rattling off some wins at some point, but I'd be surprised if it were this weekend.
Friday, September 12, 2008
Still Slipping
Yesterday's game was the type that is truly painful to watch. The Twins get another very strong outing from their starting pitcher, only to have the offense blow repeated opportunities to score against bad pitchers and then to have the game slip away at the hands of the bullpen in extra innings.
Francisco Liriano recovered from some early struggles to turn in some a very good outing, going eight innings and allowing just two runs. (If you're interested, you can read a lot more of my thoughts on Liriano's outing, as well as the dilemma over how to use him down the stretch, at my Daily Dose column at Rotoworld today.) But the Twins offense could not take advantage, going 2-for-13 with runners in scoring position and scoring just twice in five innings against starter Brandon Duckworth, who entered the game with a 6.50 ERA, 1.93 WHIP and 5-to-10 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 15 innings on the season.
Justin Morneau delivered a clutch two-out hit with a runner on third in the first inning to bring home the Twins' first run, but from that point forward, watching the offense struggle mightily at home against a bad team was a frustrating practice.
In the second, the Twins put runners on second and third with one out. Carlos Gomez drove in a run with a single to right field, tallying the Twins' second run of the game and setting up a possible rally with runners on the corners and just one out. Unfortunately, the rally quickly fizzled when Gomez was picked off at first and Denard Span struck out to strand Brian Buscher at third. In the sixth, Joe Mauer hit a leadoff single and Morneau followed with a single of his own, putting runners on first and second with nobody out, but a Jason Kubel struck out and Mike Redmond grounded into a double play to end the inning. The next inning, the Twins put a pair of runners on with two outs, but again failed to capitalize when Alexi Casilla (who has been making horrible contact much of time) fouled out to third base. In the eighth, Mauer reached second on a two-base error to lead off the inning, but the Twins' 4-5-6 hitters failed to bring him home.
And with the offense fledgling, the bullpen let another game slip away. After Joe Nathan tossed a 1-2-3 ninth, the rest of the relief corps could not contribute even one scoreless inning against this Royals offense. Matt Guerrier gave up two straight singles, and on came Dennys Reyes with the task of retiring lefty David DeJesus, which he failed to do as DeJesus delivered a go-ahead RBI single to right. That was plenty for Joakim Soria, who set the Twins' suddenly punchless hitters down in order in the bottom of the inning.
Let's have no illusions: this loss should be blamed almost completely on a hideous offensive performance against a pitcher they should have had a field day against. But the bullpen is what has me feeling the most despair. I just don't see how it's possible that the Twins can make the postseason, much less succeed there, when the non-Nathan sector of the bullpen is so incapable of finding even a modicum of effectiveness. We keep waiting for these guys to turn it around, but it's not happening. No one has been able to work into a sustained groove. Guerrier can't get people out. Opponents are OPS-ing over 900 against Reyes since mid-August. Jesse Crain has a 6.75 ERA over his past 14 appearances. Boof Bonser alternates between looking utterly dominant and giving up long home runs, and can hardly be counted on. Craig Breslow has been the bullpen's most effective non-Nathan reliever, but Ron Gardenhire for some reason seems extremely hesitant to go to him in high-leverage spots.
If the bullpen can't pull it together during the 10-game road trip that opens tonight in Baltimore, the Twins could be toast by the time they return to the Metrodome. That's a scary proposition.
Wednesday, September 03, 2008
Another opportunity lost
There was some mystery to the Twins offense last night. Whats the mystery here? The mystery is discovering how the Twins offense managed to score five runs against the Blue Jays last night, in a loss nonetheless, without a single extra-base hit. One run can across on a wild pitch, another on a sacrifice fly, and one more on a two-out single by Delmon Young. In total, though, the Twins had nine singles and two walks, but still seemed lucky to get the five runs they did, even though their two stolen bases also helped them.
Of course, while the offense didn't pack too much punch in providing a solid amount of run support, the pitching staff's failure may be the bigger story of the loss. In a game in which a win would have given the Twins the lead in the AL central, the pitching staff was the true culprit, allowing 17 hits and three walks for a total of 20 baserunners while giving up seven runs. Therefore, the pitching staff was also somewhat lucky in that they didn't manage to give up more runs, helped by the Blue Jays offense leaving seven baserunners in scoring position with two outs.
Five of the Blue Jays hits went for extra-bases, including three home runs, two off of starter Glen Perkins, who did not look very good at all. Perkins' line is quite ugly: 5 innings, 10 hits, 4 earned runs, one walk, and one strikeout. In other words, Perkins was constantly putting on baserunners, getting hit hard, and was not showing any dominance at all. This may be somewhat closer to the real Perkins fans should expect, since his season stats are anything but impressive.
Sure, Perkins has a 12-3 record, but anyone reading this site knows that we do not consider a win-loss record to be that helpful in evaluate a pitcher's success, his future potential, or his efficiency. In 136 2/3 innings, Perkins has given up 160 hits, 20 home runs, and 62 earned runs (for a 4.08 ERA) while striking out 64 and walking 34. The walk rate is fine and above average, but a strikeout rate of 4.31/9 is terrible and a 1.39 WHIP is bad as well.
Fans should note that Perkins' xFIP (expected Fielding Independent Pitching) is 4.94, well above his current ERA, which that Perkins has certainly be lucky and regression towards the mean should not be surprising. In fact, if there is one young pitcher he seems bound to disappoint fans, at least somewhat, its Perkins, because he has the worst peripherals of anyone in the rotation and stats like xFIP suggest that fans should lower their expectations. Unfortunately, it comes at a bad time, as the Twins have often been in close games like yesterday's lately that they have lost.
Of course, I cannot put the blame purely on Perkins' woeful starting pitching. Boof Bonser also gave up a two-run home run in relief and Matt Guerrier continued to get beaten around, giving up three hits and a run in just 2/3 innings. (In fairness, he had 5 1/3 scoreless innings before last night, so he hasn't been utterly hittable of late, but his second half regression is hardly a secret) But the remedies to continue winning are simple and hard at the same time: the Twins need more consistent punch and the offense isn't going to win many games without hitting extra-base hits, but the pitching staff also needs to do its job more consistently. Its too bad, then, that it still appears that in some instances, fans may need to lower expectations and face some stubborn realities.
Of course, while the offense didn't pack too much punch in providing a solid amount of run support, the pitching staff's failure may be the bigger story of the loss. In a game in which a win would have given the Twins the lead in the AL central, the pitching staff was the true culprit, allowing 17 hits and three walks for a total of 20 baserunners while giving up seven runs. Therefore, the pitching staff was also somewhat lucky in that they didn't manage to give up more runs, helped by the Blue Jays offense leaving seven baserunners in scoring position with two outs.
Five of the Blue Jays hits went for extra-bases, including three home runs, two off of starter Glen Perkins, who did not look very good at all. Perkins' line is quite ugly: 5 innings, 10 hits, 4 earned runs, one walk, and one strikeout. In other words, Perkins was constantly putting on baserunners, getting hit hard, and was not showing any dominance at all. This may be somewhat closer to the real Perkins fans should expect, since his season stats are anything but impressive.
Sure, Perkins has a 12-3 record, but anyone reading this site knows that we do not consider a win-loss record to be that helpful in evaluate a pitcher's success, his future potential, or his efficiency. In 136 2/3 innings, Perkins has given up 160 hits, 20 home runs, and 62 earned runs (for a 4.08 ERA) while striking out 64 and walking 34. The walk rate is fine and above average, but a strikeout rate of 4.31/9 is terrible and a 1.39 WHIP is bad as well.
Fans should note that Perkins' xFIP (expected Fielding Independent Pitching) is 4.94, well above his current ERA, which that Perkins has certainly be lucky and regression towards the mean should not be surprising. In fact, if there is one young pitcher he seems bound to disappoint fans, at least somewhat, its Perkins, because he has the worst peripherals of anyone in the rotation and stats like xFIP suggest that fans should lower their expectations. Unfortunately, it comes at a bad time, as the Twins have often been in close games like yesterday's lately that they have lost.
Of course, I cannot put the blame purely on Perkins' woeful starting pitching. Boof Bonser also gave up a two-run home run in relief and Matt Guerrier continued to get beaten around, giving up three hits and a run in just 2/3 innings. (In fairness, he had 5 1/3 scoreless innings before last night, so he hasn't been utterly hittable of late, but his second half regression is hardly a secret) But the remedies to continue winning are simple and hard at the same time: the Twins need more consistent punch and the offense isn't going to win many games without hitting extra-base hits, but the pitching staff also needs to do its job more consistently. Its too bad, then, that it still appears that in some instances, fans may need to lower expectations and face some stubborn realities.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Unimportant History
Over the weekend, the Twins took a tough split against one of the league's best teams. Last night, they watched their bullpen once again blow a lead against one of the league's worst teams. Sigh.
Beyond some recent tough losses, recently there has been even more of a sense of annoyance. Annoyance at having to continuously face the onslaught of major media stories about Fransisco Rodriguez's "historical run" at Bobby Thigpen's save record.
It's true that the relative unimportance of this record has already been tackled by many major writers, but it's hard to ignore when the only real story over the weekend seemed to have been Rodriguez's 49th and 50th saves. The most common point to make, and perhaps the most important thing, is that Rodriguez's talent has nothing to do with the production of save opportunities that has allowed him to make a run at the record. A combination of luck, an often mediocre offense, and a great pitching staff outside of K-Rod helped produce the 55 save opportunities that have allowed Rodriguez to make this run.
This brings up several points to consider. One is that the save itself and the save opportunity is usually converted and the statistic itself isn't all that meaningful. The majority of three-run and even two-run leads are saved. Therefore, as a raw number, the amount of saves is not as important as save percentage. Granted, 50/55 save opportunities amounts to around a 91% save percentage, which is very good. However, our own Joe Nathan (92.1%), Joakim Soria (92.3%) and Mariano Rivera (97%) have significantly higher save percentages. What is the difference? Nathan has had 38 save opportunities and Rivera only 33. In fact, Rodriguez has had 16 more save opportunities than anyone else in the majors.
That certainly seems to suggest that Rodriguez's pursuit is not any more impressive than what Brad Lidge has done this year, converting all 31 save opportunities has had for the Phillies. In fact, that arguably not only makes Lidge the better closer, but also the more valuable one. Same goes for Soria, Nathan, and Rivera. All three AL closers listed have WHIPs below 1, with Rivera's 0.72 blowing the competition away. What is Rodriguez's? An ugly 1.27, which is also reflected by his mediocre 62/29 K/BB ratio, or 2.14. Nathan's is an impressive 4.69, but Rivera's in an outerwordly 11.17 or 67/6.
Which once again begs another question. Why aren't fans also discussing what might be Nathan's best relief year, with sub-1.00 ERA currently (and now a 1.13 ERA partially thanks to Nick Punto's infallible defense). And why aren't fans discussing how Rivera, at 38, is also possibly having his best year, with opponents "hitting" .175/.205/.257 this year to go with a 1.53 ERA. Each are having incredible years, but have gone relatively unnoticed because while they convert saves better than Rodriguez, they just don't have that counting stat the media seems so obsessed with. Eventually, fans might lose their affinity for the overrated save, but for now, it is making a lot more news then it should, leaving better stories in the dust.
* Twins fans may have noticed the return of a familiar face to the bullpen via the trade. Eddie Guardado was acquired from the Texas Rangers for minor-league closer Mark Hamburger. (As a fun fact, Hamburger was not drafted, but rather signed through a Twins tryout camp, after displaying a mid-90s fastball.) Guardado is nothing near the All-Star closer the Twins had back in 2002 and 2003, as he only has 28 strikeouts (versus 17 walks) in 49 1/3 innings, which is not too impressive and suggests he's been somewhat lucky, but he also has only given up 38 hits. More importantly, while he is killing lefties (.167/.521 OPS), righties are not knocking him around too badly either (.252/.721).
Guardado was able to quickly help the Twins last night, working a quick, scoreless eighth inning. It will continue to occur to many Twins fans that the front office could have made claims on superior bullpen help, like Chad Bradford, but trading for Guardado while giving up very little is at least a solid move for the club. Guardado doesn't strike me as the solution to the eighth inning, but he may be a better option than anyone else at this point and any improvement is good with just over a month to go in the season.
* I won't comment too much on last night's game, as I was unable to finish it due to the sleep deprivation caused by law school interview season. However, watching the Twins offense flounder against Miguel Bastita was frankly embarrassing. They should have been able to produce more run support for Fransisco Liriano against one of baseball's worst starting pitchers. And seeing that Jesse Crain gave up a walk-off home run only increases my own worries about the bullpen. Clearly, there is only one reliable member and its not Crain.
While I am at it, though, I should point out that after a solid start last night, Liriano's ERA dropped to 3.83, giving the Twins a rotation of starters all with ERAs under four. (Baker; 3.74, Perkins; 3.90, Blackburn; 3.78, Slowey 3.74.) In terms of ERA, no one in the group particularly stands out, but having five young starters capable of putting up solid to outstanding numbers can only bode well for the future of the franchise.
Its too bad, then, that the media is largely missing this story as well, as shown by this response to a chat with Jayson Stark to a question by a Twins fan about why the Twins five-man rotation isn't considered amongst the best:
"
Jayson Stark: I hear you, Chris. But I go back to my point about the Phillies. These guys have been unbelievable strike-throwing machines. But pretty much this whole rotation consists of guys who the Twins hope will keep them in the game. And that's not normally a formula for October success. Having Joe Nathan on your team IS a formula for October success, but we're not debating bullpens or whole staffs this week. "
I'll grant that I'm glad Stark recognizes the great Nathan, and generally I like Stark as a writer, especially considering that he actually mentioned VORP in the introduction to his chat, but I'm not sure that I'd consider the rotation a group of starters that you hope will win you a game. Maybe that is the case with guys like Blackburn and Perkins, but Baker, Liriano, and Slowey have legitimately dominated teams this year and should continue to do so. Hopefully this is another story the larger baseball media recognizes soon enough.
Beyond some recent tough losses, recently there has been even more of a sense of annoyance. Annoyance at having to continuously face the onslaught of major media stories about Fransisco Rodriguez's "historical run" at Bobby Thigpen's save record.
It's true that the relative unimportance of this record has already been tackled by many major writers, but it's hard to ignore when the only real story over the weekend seemed to have been Rodriguez's 49th and 50th saves. The most common point to make, and perhaps the most important thing, is that Rodriguez's talent has nothing to do with the production of save opportunities that has allowed him to make a run at the record. A combination of luck, an often mediocre offense, and a great pitching staff outside of K-Rod helped produce the 55 save opportunities that have allowed Rodriguez to make this run.
This brings up several points to consider. One is that the save itself and the save opportunity is usually converted and the statistic itself isn't all that meaningful. The majority of three-run and even two-run leads are saved. Therefore, as a raw number, the amount of saves is not as important as save percentage. Granted, 50/55 save opportunities amounts to around a 91% save percentage, which is very good. However, our own Joe Nathan (92.1%), Joakim Soria (92.3%) and Mariano Rivera (97%) have significantly higher save percentages. What is the difference? Nathan has had 38 save opportunities and Rivera only 33. In fact, Rodriguez has had 16 more save opportunities than anyone else in the majors.
That certainly seems to suggest that Rodriguez's pursuit is not any more impressive than what Brad Lidge has done this year, converting all 31 save opportunities has had for the Phillies. In fact, that arguably not only makes Lidge the better closer, but also the more valuable one. Same goes for Soria, Nathan, and Rivera. All three AL closers listed have WHIPs below 1, with Rivera's 0.72 blowing the competition away. What is Rodriguez's? An ugly 1.27, which is also reflected by his mediocre 62/29 K/BB ratio, or 2.14. Nathan's is an impressive 4.69, but Rivera's in an outerwordly 11.17 or 67/6.
Which once again begs another question. Why aren't fans also discussing what might be Nathan's best relief year, with sub-1.00 ERA currently (and now a 1.13 ERA partially thanks to Nick Punto's infallible defense). And why aren't fans discussing how Rivera, at 38, is also possibly having his best year, with opponents "hitting" .175/.205/.257 this year to go with a 1.53 ERA. Each are having incredible years, but have gone relatively unnoticed because while they convert saves better than Rodriguez, they just don't have that counting stat the media seems so obsessed with. Eventually, fans might lose their affinity for the overrated save, but for now, it is making a lot more news then it should, leaving better stories in the dust.
* Twins fans may have noticed the return of a familiar face to the bullpen via the trade. Eddie Guardado was acquired from the Texas Rangers for minor-league closer Mark Hamburger. (As a fun fact, Hamburger was not drafted, but rather signed through a Twins tryout camp, after displaying a mid-90s fastball.) Guardado is nothing near the All-Star closer the Twins had back in 2002 and 2003, as he only has 28 strikeouts (versus 17 walks) in 49 1/3 innings, which is not too impressive and suggests he's been somewhat lucky, but he also has only given up 38 hits. More importantly, while he is killing lefties (.167/.521 OPS), righties are not knocking him around too badly either (.252/.721).
Guardado was able to quickly help the Twins last night, working a quick, scoreless eighth inning. It will continue to occur to many Twins fans that the front office could have made claims on superior bullpen help, like Chad Bradford, but trading for Guardado while giving up very little is at least a solid move for the club. Guardado doesn't strike me as the solution to the eighth inning, but he may be a better option than anyone else at this point and any improvement is good with just over a month to go in the season.
* I won't comment too much on last night's game, as I was unable to finish it due to the sleep deprivation caused by law school interview season. However, watching the Twins offense flounder against Miguel Bastita was frankly embarrassing. They should have been able to produce more run support for Fransisco Liriano against one of baseball's worst starting pitchers. And seeing that Jesse Crain gave up a walk-off home run only increases my own worries about the bullpen. Clearly, there is only one reliable member and its not Crain.
While I am at it, though, I should point out that after a solid start last night, Liriano's ERA dropped to 3.83, giving the Twins a rotation of starters all with ERAs under four. (Baker; 3.74, Perkins; 3.90, Blackburn; 3.78, Slowey 3.74.) In terms of ERA, no one in the group particularly stands out, but having five young starters capable of putting up solid to outstanding numbers can only bode well for the future of the franchise.
Its too bad, then, that the media is largely missing this story as well, as shown by this response to a chat with Jayson Stark to a question by a Twins fan about why the Twins five-man rotation isn't considered amongst the best:
"
Jayson Stark: I hear you, Chris. But I go back to my point about the Phillies. These guys have been unbelievable strike-throwing machines. But pretty much this whole rotation consists of guys who the Twins hope will keep them in the game. And that's not normally a formula for October success. Having Joe Nathan on your team IS a formula for October success, but we're not debating bullpens or whole staffs this week. "I'll grant that I'm glad Stark recognizes the great Nathan, and generally I like Stark as a writer, especially considering that he actually mentioned VORP in the introduction to his chat, but I'm not sure that I'd consider the rotation a group of starters that you hope will win you a game. Maybe that is the case with guys like Blackburn and Perkins, but Baker, Liriano, and Slowey have legitimately dominated teams this year and should continue to do so. Hopefully this is another story the larger baseball media recognizes soon enough.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
A Series To Forget
Getting outscored by the Yankees 25-7 in the series is probably the most troubling number I can bring up to describe the frustration of watching the Twins slug through an ugly sweep in New York. What's worse is knowing that, while the sweep in Boston was memorable and bad, this was much worse. At least in the Boston series, the Twins had a good chance to win two of the games if not for bullpen malfunctions.
In this series? The Twins were thoroughly dominated in all three games and yesterday, they certainly did not help themselves either. The most apparent example, of course, was Alexi Casilla's completely boneheaded mistake that cost Glen Perkins what could have been another solid to good outing. Instead of completing the double play with runners at first and second with one out in the fifth inning, Casilla walked cavalierly over to the second-base bag, believing the inning to be over and then started to jog to the dugout, flashing a self-satisfied grin before being confronted by Perkins and his magnified one finger, symbolizing the lack of continuity between the game going on for everyone else and the one going on for Casilla.
Casilla certainly has made vast improvements this year, as evidenced by his .323/.360/.438 line and 38 RBI in 226 at-bats out of the No. 2 spot in the order. Despite the offensive improvement, and many good plays at second, Casilla continues to make the same kinds of stupid or silly plays that he was criticized for the last few years since he was first called up to the big leagues. The truly unfortunate thing for Twins fans is that there seems to be little to no evidence that Casilla is going to stop making these kinds of befuddling errors anytime soon.
Thus, instead of getting through five scoreless innings, Perkins followed the shocking mistake by giving up a two-run double to new guy Justin Christian and giving the Yankees the lead for good. Of course, it would be hard to tell the story of the sweep or yesterday's game for that matter by just mentioning the bad luck facing Twins starters and the bad defense.
First, in fairness, one particular player continues to flash a good glove and that's Denard Span, who made an impressive catch by robbing an impatient Yankee fan of a fly ball in the right field corner. Second, that discussion would leave out the punchless offense, which managed a meager seven runs in the series overall and only three in last two games against Darrell Rasner and an aging Mike Mussina.
Granted, Mussina has had a very good year, with a sparkling 13-6 record, 3.26 ERA, and 81/16 K/BB ratio. In fact, it's quite the impressive comeback year. But it's still hard to excuse the Twins' stale offensive performance, with as many extra-base hits (two) as double-plays grounded into on the day. Further confusing was why one of the Twins best hitters against right-handers in Joe Mauer was sitting on the bench, while Mike Redmond hit in the third spot (yes, he's hitting .313 against righties and .270 against lefties this year, but its an aberration, because that split is reversed over the last three years to the tune of .370/.422/.468 against lefties and .279/.312/.332 against righties) and the middle of the order went 2-for-12.
Of course, mentioning Mauer on the bench is probably splitting hairs to some extent, but the point remains. The offense was pretty ugly against the Yankees, just as the defense and pitching overall was, and that is particularly evident in their lack of execution, which should worry some fans. For instant, over the three-game series, the Twins scored only seven of the 31 base-runners they managed to get on. That's under 25%. Additionally, ten base-runners were left in scoring position with less than two outs. In other words, that incredible ability to be clutch with runners on that was enabling the Twins to remain a top offense despite their lack of serious power or any plate discipline outside of Mauer may truly be fleeting and there may be signs of it disappearing.
What's the good news for the Twins fans? Well, it is certainly hard to make much good news out of getting sweep by a possible contender, especially as bad as this one was. However, thankfully the next series will not present the same challenge, as the Cleveland Indians have all but admitted their season is gone by trading away C.C. Sabathia, the Twins hater and killer. On the other hand, the Twins will still face the Cy Young-contending Cliff Lee on Friday, but the good news there is the Twins managed four runs off him last time out. That's certainly more hopeful than this week's lack of execution so far.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Out-Dueled
Despite his battles with injuries and some surprising early performances from other hurlers, I have continually pushed Scott Baker as the best starter in the Twins rotation this season. Last night, he certainly looked the part, ending a string of ugly outings from Twins starters by holding the Indians to one run over seven innings of work. Unfortunately, that wasn't enough to end the Twins' current losing streak, as the offense came up empty against C.C. Sabathia in a crushing 1-0 loss.
Now, to be fair, Sabathia's 4.81 ERA entering last night's game did not reflect how well he has pitched for the majority of the season. After starting the season 0-3 with a 13.50 ERA and 14-to-14 strikeout-to-walk ratio over his first four games, Sabathia had bounced back nicely, going 3-5 with a 2.38 ERA and 68-to-14 strikeout-to-walk ratio in nine starts since. Last night, Sabathia gave up a few hits early, but settled in after giving up a single to Joe Mauer in the third and retired 17 straight batters, cruising through the ninth inning with a shutout and an impressively low pitch count.
The Twins managed just five hits in the game, all singles and none after the fourth inning. Two of the hits came on bunts, and the Twins did not draw a walk in the game. Tonight they will throw Nick Blackburn against Paul Byrd, a pitcher whom they have historically struggled against. Let's hope they can get some better results and worked their way out of this skid.
Now, to be fair, Sabathia's 4.81 ERA entering last night's game did not reflect how well he has pitched for the majority of the season. After starting the season 0-3 with a 13.50 ERA and 14-to-14 strikeout-to-walk ratio over his first four games, Sabathia had bounced back nicely, going 3-5 with a 2.38 ERA and 68-to-14 strikeout-to-walk ratio in nine starts since. Last night, Sabathia gave up a few hits early, but settled in after giving up a single to Joe Mauer in the third and retired 17 straight batters, cruising through the ninth inning with a shutout and an impressively low pitch count.
The Twins managed just five hits in the game, all singles and none after the fourth inning. Two of the hits came on bunts, and the Twins did not draw a walk in the game. Tonight they will throw Nick Blackburn against Paul Byrd, a pitcher whom they have historically struggled against. Let's hope they can get some better results and worked their way out of this skid.
Wednesday, May 07, 2008
Go Figure
What a day yesterday was. I had to get up in the morning to take a five-page essay exam, then I had to go to a funeral, then I had a heavy workload of games to cover for Rotoworld which kept me busy until about 1 a.m. Needless to say, I didn't have a whole lot of time or motivation to write about a debacle of a game in which the Twins came within two outs of being no-hit by Gavin Floyd.
Floyd, owner of a 5.83 career ERA prior last night's game, was mysteriously having a very successful year in spite of an even strikeout-to-walk ratio and a ground ball percentage of only 32.6. His success against the Twins last night is nothing totally new -- he held the Tigers to one hit over 7 1/3 innings in one outing early this season, and held the Orioles to two hits over six innings in another start. Yet, all signs pointed to imminent collapse for Floyd. His FIP of 5.18 belied his actual ERA of 3.16. His DER was an off-the-charts .835. Put simply, almost every advanced statistic suggested that Floyd had been extremely lucky this season. His luck continued last night, although fortunately for the good of our sanity, it ran out when Joe Mauer cracked a double into the gap in left-center with one out in the ninth inning.
The Twins offense showed some serious signs of awakening in Detroit this weekend, but last night was probably the sleepiest they've looked all year. That's fairly typical of this team, and really I should know better than to get lulled into a false sense of security by a few strong games.
One other thing I'd like to mention. Last year, the 7-9 spots in the Twins batting order were really bad. So bad, some will recall, that I actually added a "Bottom of the Barrel" feature to the sidebar which tracked the statistical ineptitude from those three combined lineup positions over a period of time. One of the biggest reasons that I figured the Twins offense was a lock to improve this year was because I figured there was no way they could fail to improve in those three spots. And yet, here are the hitting lines of the players who filled the 7-9 spots in the Twins order last night as of this morning:
7. Delmon Young: .256/.298/.299
8. Mike Lamb: .209/.227/.275
9. Adam Everett: .162/.184/.216
I don't know what's sadder, the stat lines listed above or the one listed below:
Sidney Ponson, 2008: 2-0, 1.33 ERA.
Floyd, owner of a 5.83 career ERA prior last night's game, was mysteriously having a very successful year in spite of an even strikeout-to-walk ratio and a ground ball percentage of only 32.6. His success against the Twins last night is nothing totally new -- he held the Tigers to one hit over 7 1/3 innings in one outing early this season, and held the Orioles to two hits over six innings in another start. Yet, all signs pointed to imminent collapse for Floyd. His FIP of 5.18 belied his actual ERA of 3.16. His DER was an off-the-charts .835. Put simply, almost every advanced statistic suggested that Floyd had been extremely lucky this season. His luck continued last night, although fortunately for the good of our sanity, it ran out when Joe Mauer cracked a double into the gap in left-center with one out in the ninth inning.
The Twins offense showed some serious signs of awakening in Detroit this weekend, but last night was probably the sleepiest they've looked all year. That's fairly typical of this team, and really I should know better than to get lulled into a false sense of security by a few strong games.
One other thing I'd like to mention. Last year, the 7-9 spots in the Twins batting order were really bad. So bad, some will recall, that I actually added a "Bottom of the Barrel" feature to the sidebar which tracked the statistical ineptitude from those three combined lineup positions over a period of time. One of the biggest reasons that I figured the Twins offense was a lock to improve this year was because I figured there was no way they could fail to improve in those three spots. And yet, here are the hitting lines of the players who filled the 7-9 spots in the Twins order last night as of this morning:
7. Delmon Young: .256/.298/.299
8. Mike Lamb: .209/.227/.275
9. Adam Everett: .162/.184/.216
I don't know what's sadder, the stat lines listed above or the one listed below:
Sidney Ponson, 2008: 2-0, 1.33 ERA.
Monday, April 28, 2008
Expectations
We are nearly a month into the 2008 season now. A few things have gone as I'd expected up to this point. Many things have not. Here are a few things that have taken me by surprise so far:
* I did not expect Carlos Gomez to have more extra-base hits than Delmon Young. Yet, through 25 games, Gomez has seven (five doubles, one triple, one home run) and is slugging .362, while Young has four (three doubles, one triple) and is slugging .309. Thus far, it doesn't seem like the Twins have gotten the power-hitting corner outfielder they thought they were by trading Matt Garza. In fact, it doesn't seem like they've gotten much of a hitter at all. Here's hoping Delmon can turn things around big-time in May.
* I did not expect Livan Hernandez's ERA to stand at a 3.55 ERA, which it did prior to yesterday's start. After surrendering seven earned runs in 2 2/3 innings in Texas yesterday, his ERA now stands at 5.05, which is much closer to what I was expecting.
* I did not expect Mike Lamb to be making me miss Nick Punto's offensive contributions. Punto through 25 games in '07: .220/.304/.317. Lamb through 25 games this year: .219/.244/.301.
Just about the only players on the entire roster that have actually lived up to my expectations so far are Joe Nathan, Brendan Harris and Justin Morneau (and, I guess, Matt Tolbert). The only players who have really surpassed my expectations are Nick Blackburn, who holds a 3.45 ERA through five starts, and Dennys Reyes, who has not allowed a run in eight innings of work.
Outside of those six players, there has been a whole lot of under-performance on this team. The bad news is that the result of all these disappointing performances is an 11-14 club that ranks near the bottom of the league in most offensive categories. The good news is that there's basically nowhere to go from here but up.
The Twins have the day off today, and then they play eight consecutive games against AL Central contenders. I want to say that I expect the Twins to play a lot better in these important upcoming series than they did for most of the weekend. But, as I've learned so far this season, it's often best to keep your expectations tempered.
* I did not expect Carlos Gomez to have more extra-base hits than Delmon Young. Yet, through 25 games, Gomez has seven (five doubles, one triple, one home run) and is slugging .362, while Young has four (three doubles, one triple) and is slugging .309. Thus far, it doesn't seem like the Twins have gotten the power-hitting corner outfielder they thought they were by trading Matt Garza. In fact, it doesn't seem like they've gotten much of a hitter at all. Here's hoping Delmon can turn things around big-time in May.
* I did not expect Livan Hernandez's ERA to stand at a 3.55 ERA, which it did prior to yesterday's start. After surrendering seven earned runs in 2 2/3 innings in Texas yesterday, his ERA now stands at 5.05, which is much closer to what I was expecting.
* I did not expect Mike Lamb to be making me miss Nick Punto's offensive contributions. Punto through 25 games in '07: .220/.304/.317. Lamb through 25 games this year: .219/.244/.301.
Just about the only players on the entire roster that have actually lived up to my expectations so far are Joe Nathan, Brendan Harris and Justin Morneau (and, I guess, Matt Tolbert). The only players who have really surpassed my expectations are Nick Blackburn, who holds a 3.45 ERA through five starts, and Dennys Reyes, who has not allowed a run in eight innings of work.
Outside of those six players, there has been a whole lot of under-performance on this team. The bad news is that the result of all these disappointing performances is an 11-14 club that ranks near the bottom of the league in most offensive categories. The good news is that there's basically nowhere to go from here but up.
The Twins have the day off today, and then they play eight consecutive games against AL Central contenders. I want to say that I expect the Twins to play a lot better in these important upcoming series than they did for most of the weekend. But, as I've learned so far this season, it's often best to keep your expectations tempered.
Tuesday, April 08, 2008
Seventh-Inning Screech
In his first big-league start last Wednesday, Nick Blackburn was in control. He pitched seven efficient innings, keeping runners off the bases and making just one important mistake (a wild pitch that scored the Angels' only run of the game). Making his second career start yesterday, Blackburn was not nearly as effective. He needed 90 pitches to get through five innings, allowing seven hits and two walks. Nevertheless, Blackburn worked out of trouble again and again, and when he handed the game over to the bullpen in the sixth inning, the Twins were ahead 3-2.
Unfortunately, it would not last. Matt Guerrier tossed a scoreless sixth, but then in the seventh inning disaster struck. Guerrier and Pat Neshek combined to allow five runs in the inning, capped off by a Joe Crede grand slam on a meaty fastball from Neshek. The big inning gave the White Sox a 7-3 lead, and they went on to win the game 7-4.
It was a pretty tough inning to watch, but it will happen from time to time. Guerrier and Neshek might be the team's most reliable relievers outside of Joe Nathan, but they aren't perfect. From time to time these guys will have rough games -- it's just unfortunate that both both happened to struggle in this one and lose Blackburn a shot at his first major-league win.
I'm a little less forgiving when it comes to the offense. The Twins have exceeded four runs only once in eight games so far. Yesterday, only one player had multiple hits. (On a positive note, that player was Mike Lamb, who doubled twice and drove in two runs, showing signs of breaking out of his early-season slump.) Adam Everett has a 301 OPS. As Aaron Gleeman notes, Delmon Young is showing a frustrating inability to pull inside pitches, which is preventing him from driving the ball with any kind of authority and raising serious questions about whether he'll even surpass last year's power totals. Denard Span is getting starts in right field for some peculiar reason.
All in all, things aren't going well on the offensive side of the ball. The Twins scored four runs in yesterday's game, which isn't horrible, but they wasted some scoring opportunities early on and the bats went to sleep in the middle innings, failing to give the pitchers any kind of breathing room in a tight game. I've been pleasantly surprised by the starting rotation so far, but it's time for these hitters to come around. The performance of the lineup thus far has been totally unacceptable.
Unfortunately, it would not last. Matt Guerrier tossed a scoreless sixth, but then in the seventh inning disaster struck. Guerrier and Pat Neshek combined to allow five runs in the inning, capped off by a Joe Crede grand slam on a meaty fastball from Neshek. The big inning gave the White Sox a 7-3 lead, and they went on to win the game 7-4.
It was a pretty tough inning to watch, but it will happen from time to time. Guerrier and Neshek might be the team's most reliable relievers outside of Joe Nathan, but they aren't perfect. From time to time these guys will have rough games -- it's just unfortunate that both both happened to struggle in this one and lose Blackburn a shot at his first major-league win.
I'm a little less forgiving when it comes to the offense. The Twins have exceeded four runs only once in eight games so far. Yesterday, only one player had multiple hits. (On a positive note, that player was Mike Lamb, who doubled twice and drove in two runs, showing signs of breaking out of his early-season slump.) Adam Everett has a 301 OPS. As Aaron Gleeman notes, Delmon Young is showing a frustrating inability to pull inside pitches, which is preventing him from driving the ball with any kind of authority and raising serious questions about whether he'll even surpass last year's power totals. Denard Span is getting starts in right field for some peculiar reason.
All in all, things aren't going well on the offensive side of the ball. The Twins scored four runs in yesterday's game, which isn't horrible, but they wasted some scoring opportunities early on and the bats went to sleep in the middle innings, failing to give the pitchers any kind of breathing room in a tight game. I've been pleasantly surprised by the starting rotation so far, but it's time for these hitters to come around. The performance of the lineup thus far has been totally unacceptable.
Thursday, April 03, 2008
4-6-3, Easy as 1-2-3
Last night, as I sat in the Metrodome taking in my first live ballgame of the season, I received a text message from a friend that said, "Twins are going to be the first team in history to go through an entire season without a home run." At the time, I chuckled at his hyperbole. Then, as the game progressed, I watched the Twins' offense sputter along, continually failing to work the count and seemingly ruining every potential rally by hitting into a 4-6-3 twin killing. And I thought to myself that maybe my buddy wasn't so far off the mark. I'm sure this team will hit some home runs eventually, but boy, have they looked bad up to this point.
There are two things that explain the Twins' night from an offensive standpoint pretty well. Here they are:
Angels' starter Joe Saunders: 8 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K, 80 pitches
And then the Angels' fielding section of the box score:
As I sat watching the game I felt like I was getting déjà vu. FOUR 4-6-3 double plays. When the offense only manages four hits to begin with, that stings.
Through three games, the Twins' revamped offense has managed a total of four runs. Not encouraging. On the bright side, Nick Blackburn's first major-league start last night was a huge success. Over seven innings, he allowed just six base-runners (5 H, 1 BB), and he did not allow a run-scoring hit, as the Angels' only run of the game came across on a wild pitch. Blackburn was also extremely efficient, needing just 86 pitches to get through the seven frames. While that might pale in comparison to Saunders' 10-pitch-per-inning average, Blackburn deserves a ton of credit for throwing strikes and getting the job done. If he keeps this up, he'll make things very interesting for the Twins once Francisco Liriano is ready to go.
On a final note, here's an amusing little tidbit that you might have missed if you were watching the game at home:
Matt Tolbert, who was playing in his first big-league game, drew a walk to lead off the ninth inning. Apparently he was very excited to have gotten himself on as the potential tying run, because after taking ball four he whipped the bat toward the Twins' dugout, and Carlos Gomez, who was standing in the on-deck circle, literally had to leap out of the way to avoid being creamed.
Hey, on nights like this one, you've just got to find something to laugh about...
There are two things that explain the Twins' night from an offensive standpoint pretty well. Here they are:
Angels' starter Joe Saunders: 8 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K, 80 pitches
And then the Angels' fielding section of the box score:
| FIELDING |
| E: E Aybar (1), J Mathis (1) |
| DP: Kendrick to Aybar to Kotchman Kendrick to Aybar to Kotchman Kendrick to Aybar to Kotchman Kendrick to Aybar to Kotchman |
As I sat watching the game I felt like I was getting déjà vu. FOUR 4-6-3 double plays. When the offense only manages four hits to begin with, that stings.
Through three games, the Twins' revamped offense has managed a total of four runs. Not encouraging. On the bright side, Nick Blackburn's first major-league start last night was a huge success. Over seven innings, he allowed just six base-runners (5 H, 1 BB), and he did not allow a run-scoring hit, as the Angels' only run of the game came across on a wild pitch. Blackburn was also extremely efficient, needing just 86 pitches to get through the seven frames. While that might pale in comparison to Saunders' 10-pitch-per-inning average, Blackburn deserves a ton of credit for throwing strikes and getting the job done. If he keeps this up, he'll make things very interesting for the Twins once Francisco Liriano is ready to go.
On a final note, here's an amusing little tidbit that you might have missed if you were watching the game at home:
Matt Tolbert, who was playing in his first big-league game, drew a walk to lead off the ninth inning. Apparently he was very excited to have gotten himself on as the potential tying run, because after taking ball four he whipped the bat toward the Twins' dugout, and Carlos Gomez, who was standing in the on-deck circle, literally had to leap out of the way to avoid being creamed.
Hey, on nights like this one, you've just got to find something to laugh about...
Wednesday, April 02, 2008
Well, There Goes the Perfect Season...
Here's how I started my analysis of Monday's season opener in yesterday's post:
On Monday, Livan Hernandez was efficient and effective, delivering seven innings of two-run ball to pick up the victory. Last night, Boof Bonser -- while not terribly inefficient -- was far from effective, surrendering eight hits over six innings, including three doubles and a home run.
On Monday, the Twins played strong defense to support their starting pitcher. Last night, their fielding was shoddy, as they committed two errors and repeatedly failed to execute defensively.
On Monday, the bullpen was lights out, as Pat Neshek and Joe Nathan slammed the door in the eighth and ninth to protect a one-run Twins' lead. Last night, four Twins relievers combined to allow five runs (four earned), seven hits and three walks in three innings, effectively turning a loss into a blowout.
On Monday, the Twins made up for some poor situational hitting (3-for-15 in scoring opportunities) by running the bases well and scraping runs across with some big hits. Last night, they managed only one run on seven hits and one walk, wasting rare base-runners by grounding into two double plays.
In short, Monday night's game was a blast to watch and last night's was excruciating. The pitching struggles for the Twins weren't overly surprising, as I've come into th season expecting plenty of uneven performances from this young staff. I am, however, very disappointed with the offense's ineptitude. Justin Morneau has failed to collect a hit in his first two games, which in and of itself isn't particularly alarming but raises some concern when viewed in combination with his terrible spring and brutal August/September last season. The Twins managed only one extra-base hit in the game and pounded the ball into the ground consistently.
One bad game can certainly be excused, but last night's offensive performance was painfully reminiscent to last year.
Tonight the Twins face a new challenge, with Joe Saunders representing the first left-handed starter they have faced this year. Southpaws posed an especially large problem for the Twins' hitters last year, but the hope is that the addition of hitters like Delmon Young, Craig Monroe and Brendan Harris can help with that issue.
Meanwhile, Nick Blackburn will make his first start of the season for the Twins. I'm actually pretty excited to watch him this year. My expectations are relatively low because he's awfully old for a rookie and his overall minor-league numbers aren't particularly impressive; yet, it's tough to ignore the fact that he was outstanding in Rochester last season and had a very good spring for the Twins this year. And you've got to figure there's something behind Baseball America's decision to recently rank him as the organization's No. 1 prospect, despite his age and lack of a high profile. Heck, I've even seem him mentioned in some circles as a sleeper Rookie of the Year candidate.
Of course, since the Twins are facing the lefty Saunders tonight, it is highly likely that Monroe will be starting at DH over Jason Kubel, who was the only Twin with a hit during the first four innings of last night's game. Having Monroe in the lineup against a southpaw certainly isn't the worst thing in the world, but if he plays it will be mean he's been in the starting lineup twice as often as Kubel so far, which is unacceptable to me even three games into the season. And so, I'll finish my post with a little graphic I designed yesterday (which I've also added to the sidebar). It will probably become a rallying cry for me and perhaps others among the growing mass of fans frustrated with Ron Gardenhire's misuse of Kubel...
Boy, tough to find anything not to like about last night's game. The Twins won 3-2, got a number of strong performances, and played good fundamental baseball. They left a ton of runs on the bases by going just 3-for-15 in scoring opportunities, but fortunately three was enough on this night thanks to some great pitching.After watching the Twins suffer their first loss last night, my positive feelings about Monday's game feel like distant memories. In many ways, the Twins' 9-1 drubbing at the hands of the Angels last night was a polar opposite of Monday night's victory.
On Monday, Livan Hernandez was efficient and effective, delivering seven innings of two-run ball to pick up the victory. Last night, Boof Bonser -- while not terribly inefficient -- was far from effective, surrendering eight hits over six innings, including three doubles and a home run.
On Monday, the Twins played strong defense to support their starting pitcher. Last night, their fielding was shoddy, as they committed two errors and repeatedly failed to execute defensively.
On Monday, the bullpen was lights out, as Pat Neshek and Joe Nathan slammed the door in the eighth and ninth to protect a one-run Twins' lead. Last night, four Twins relievers combined to allow five runs (four earned), seven hits and three walks in three innings, effectively turning a loss into a blowout.
On Monday, the Twins made up for some poor situational hitting (3-for-15 in scoring opportunities) by running the bases well and scraping runs across with some big hits. Last night, they managed only one run on seven hits and one walk, wasting rare base-runners by grounding into two double plays.
In short, Monday night's game was a blast to watch and last night's was excruciating. The pitching struggles for the Twins weren't overly surprising, as I've come into th season expecting plenty of uneven performances from this young staff. I am, however, very disappointed with the offense's ineptitude. Justin Morneau has failed to collect a hit in his first two games, which in and of itself isn't particularly alarming but raises some concern when viewed in combination with his terrible spring and brutal August/September last season. The Twins managed only one extra-base hit in the game and pounded the ball into the ground consistently.
One bad game can certainly be excused, but last night's offensive performance was painfully reminiscent to last year.
Tonight the Twins face a new challenge, with Joe Saunders representing the first left-handed starter they have faced this year. Southpaws posed an especially large problem for the Twins' hitters last year, but the hope is that the addition of hitters like Delmon Young, Craig Monroe and Brendan Harris can help with that issue.
Meanwhile, Nick Blackburn will make his first start of the season for the Twins. I'm actually pretty excited to watch him this year. My expectations are relatively low because he's awfully old for a rookie and his overall minor-league numbers aren't particularly impressive; yet, it's tough to ignore the fact that he was outstanding in Rochester last season and had a very good spring for the Twins this year. And you've got to figure there's something behind Baseball America's decision to recently rank him as the organization's No. 1 prospect, despite his age and lack of a high profile. Heck, I've even seem him mentioned in some circles as a sleeper Rookie of the Year candidate.
Of course, since the Twins are facing the lefty Saunders tonight, it is highly likely that Monroe will be starting at DH over Jason Kubel, who was the only Twin with a hit during the first four innings of last night's game. Having Monroe in the lineup against a southpaw certainly isn't the worst thing in the world, but if he plays it will be mean he's been in the starting lineup twice as often as Kubel so far, which is unacceptable to me even three games into the season. And so, I'll finish my post with a little graphic I designed yesterday (which I've also added to the sidebar). It will probably become a rallying cry for me and perhaps others among the growing mass of fans frustrated with Ron Gardenhire's misuse of Kubel...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
