Not all doom and gloom on Twins’ latest road trip
Posted on April 16th, 2008 – 8:40 AMBy Joe Christensen
DETROIT — After two excruciating losses against the Tigers, the Twins return home tonight to face Tampa Bay. The bullpen collapses on the just completed 3-4 road trip were well-documented, but it’s not all gloom and doom for the Twins.
Here are seven positives as they come off the road:
1. Joe Mauer snapped an 0-for-15 skid, drove home two runs last night and finished 2-for-4 with a double and a run scored.
2. Carlos Gomez also snapped his 0-for-15 skid with a first-inning broken-bat double, though he had head-scratching at-bats the rest of the night.
3. Justin Morneau slugged a two-run homer (his fourth of the season) giving the Twins a 4-1 lead in the sixth inning.
4. After the Twins fell behind 6-4 in the eighth, the Twins made things interesting in the ninth, as Delmon Young hit a triple that would have been a home run had Ryan Rayburn not reached over the fence and almost caught the ball.
5. Craig Monroe followed with a one-out, RBI single, his second hit of the night, raising his average to .211.
6. Scott Baker turned in a strong start for the Twins, missing a chance to go 3-0 when the Twins’ 4-3 lead was squandered.
7. Even though Jesse Crain blew the lead in the eighth, there were encouraging signs. I was stunned to see his fastball hitting 96 miles per hour. He threw some pretty good 89-mph sliders, too. Not bad for a guy who had surgery to repair his right labrum and rotator cuff less than a year ago.
“I just think every time I’m out there I’m going to get a little more comfortable,” he said. “I was on my fourth appearance, so you know hopefully I’ll keep on getting out there.”
Crain said he’s been feeling better the day after his outings, which is another step in his recovery. With Matt Guerrier and Pat Neshek struggling, the Twins could use another late-inning option.
Note: La Velle is back in our command post tonight, so check his blog later for the starting lineups.
189 Responses to "Not all doom and gloom on Twins’ latest road trip"
it’s hard to be positive when the “strength” of the team looks this bad gives games away and gave the tigers a new lease on life.
Negative: the Twins bullpen gave up three leads on the road trip. And, the bullpen is supposed to be the strength of the team!
I think Gardy may want to rethink leaving Nathan on the pine when the game is on the line, two outs in the 8th.
Then again, not too many pitchers will be able to silence the Tigers. Ordonez hit a pretty tough slider down the right field line.
thanks joe,
we really didnt have a bad road trip.. you guys make it like this series was the end of the world.. what if you were clevland and lost a 4-2 lead on monday against the red soxs? WITH THEIR CLOSER!!!!! and then had to put him on the dl.. so it does happen.. sometimes the bullpen doesnt work out and most of the time they do good.. thats baseball for you.. want something more consistant watch something else… they do 162 games for a reason… people will make mistakes in 162 games.. it always happens.. thats why people arnt undefeated..
now… lets just cheer for them tonight!
gl ol hernandez
ps.. everett should either be cut or traded soon and use that roster spot to get someone else up from the minors.. cause if he can play defense fine but if hes always injured because of his defense thats crazy… just a waste of a roster spot…… and with lamb… we dont have a 3rd baseman thats ready or by that means has mlb potential.. yet.. valencia may be our closest thing to ready and hes 2 years away.. thats why we got lamb.. just a stop gap.. we overpayed him cause we didnt want to give buscher the job yet… and i dont really think hes even ready
ha! nathan on the pine when the game is on the line…. and i, for one, am a man that loves things that rhyme.
Gardenhires philosophy regarding Nathan is flawed you play to win and if Nathan can’t save the game in the 8th how the hell is he going to do it in the 9th.
Everybody is right that there are positive sign from the DET series. I liked the offense actually scoring runs, and the bullpen funk can’t last too long.
Still, after last year’s record against the Tigers I wish we could’ve taken the series.
That’s why quiver cheeks Nathan got a new contract. The Twins Bullpen will be in shambles soon with all the rookie pitchers and Boof Bonser.
On a side note Joe C your blog space is waaaay better then Howie’s blog space. Howie is to restrictive and he deletes alot of content written on his space by visitors. I guess what I am trying to say is thank you and don’t be a restrictive host like Howie. Thats probably why he sits at the bottom of the page
jimmy what did you say that was deleted because i’ve never seen Howard to that before.
lion,
“everett should either be cut or traded soon and use that roster spot to get someone else up from the minors”
Everett can have real value if his arm fully recovers. There is no one in the Twins minor league system to replace him as a solid, proven defensive MLB SS.
Don’t release him if you can’t replace him.
He is not helpless at the plate.
He could hit .250-.260 and bunt effectively.
I doubt that his shoulder problem is irreversible, but if it is, THEN you are correct - release him.
I think Crain (for some reason) was pitching around Polanco. Not sure why??
Joe - I think the encouraging signs you point to about Crain’s velocity are flawed… remember that the Detroit radar gun is juiced a little bit. At one point in time two or three years ago, it clocked Joe Nathan at 102… a mark he’s never approached since. Speaking of Nathan - he can’t be expected to start throwing the eighth inning too… Crain, Neshek, and Rincon have been absolute busts so far this season… enough said.
The Tigers are a great hitting veteran team and we will all see that as the season goes on. Granted the twins bullpen did not do there job but you have to give credit where credit is due.
If this were in sept and this was a must win, then sure bring in nathan. But to be in a spot like that in sept we’ll need crain to be an asset and I think it was a good move to show confidence in him this early. Didn’t work out - but that’s hindsight.
Crain was throwing 96 mph…….. right down the middle of the plate!! Last year i thought our bullpen was a strength of the Twins, but this year it doesnt look it. Crain is the same old pitcher, getting beat down every other time on the mound. Rincon has been terrible for about 3 years now. Guerrier and Neshek have both had two bad outings in a row. not good
Sometimes the hitter wins, that’s baseball. If the pen is our biggest worry then I’d wager we’ll be contending in sept because they’re track record is pretty good.
BC of ND yesterday about 2/3 of anything I said on Howard blog was soon deleted. It was really, really strange. I would have people like T who would do the usual T thing and copy a quote then comment on it like usual. Then it would get weird my quote would actually dissapear but the comment by T would still be there. It was really strange. Now today if I type in the comment screen and press submit it will not show up. I wasn’t to negative and just got upset at this. That is why now I am boycotting Howards blog and have lost some respect for a guy who deletes content from his blog by us the readers.
I didn’t get to see the game, but I noticed on the internet that Justin took 3 fastballs for called strikes after going up 3-0 in his last AB… what happened there? So frustrating.
Ted that pitcher had one of the strangest windup’s and Morneau couldn’t figure anything out on the pitcher ala juan marichal
Cool, thanks, jimmy, that makes me feel better! I was pretty steamed.
Twinsfan32,
Crain looked good last night. The surgury he had is tougher to come back to 100% than the Tommy John. The walk is the only batter he didn’t look sharp on. M Cabrera is one of the only palyers who could have handled a 96 mph fastball at the letters. M Ordonez hit a flat but very well located slider. Considering the injury he had I was shocked by the stuff he’s re-gained. He must have worked his tail off this winter. I expect him to pitch very well this year.
nathan does not have to pitch 2 innings going against the norm you should use the closer to save the game. last night the save was the 8th. the tigers had the middle of the order up and instead of our best we send out our 4-5 best relief pitcher. use your best against their best. then use crain or rincon or reyes in the 9th against the bottom of their order. better match up for us, just against conventional wisdom of the baseball gods. there is no law that says nathan can only pitch in the 9th when he can get a save.
Normally I’m all doom and gloom, hate and anger, but I agree with you Joe.
There have been a lot of positives lately… Both nights the team’s offense didn’t quit after the relief staff let them down.
It’s in that kind of attempt to pick each other up that a real TEAM is built, so as much as I think Gardenhire is a Moron, and I would never ask his advice on the New York Times Crossword Puzzle, I think he brings a sense of team together like no other manager in baseball. He just needs to surround himself with more coaches like Anderson and this team will be in great shape in a year or two.
Joe,
How about scoring 14 runs in two road games for a positive?
But some big negatives too.
1. Giving Detroit the spark they needed to turn things around. I’m sure they would have done it eventually, but things would have been easier for the rest of the division if the Tigers were now 2-12 instead of 4-10. Six wins to get back to .500 instead of ten.
2. Mike Lamb.
it’s hard to be positive when the “strength” of the team looks this bad gives games away and gave the tigers a new lease on life.
Though the supposed “strength” of the team (bullpen) showed some signs of weakness during this road trip, but the offense (07 weakness) and starting staff (supposed 08 weakness) have shown signs of being better than we thought.
I didn’t get to see the game, but I noticed on the internet that Justin took 3 fastballs for called strikes after going up 3-0 in his last AB… what happened there?
The ump happened. The top of the 8th and the bottom of the 8th featured two strikezones so different for a moment I thought I was watching a Yankees game.
JP- Mike Lamb is a good player and one of my new found fav’s. Did you see that play he made at third followed by that good save on a short hop by Morneau
gobble your exactly right and it should be common sense to bring in your best relief pitcher to pitch to there best hitters in a tight situation.
most of the post are doom and gloom with afew baseball minds.
tough loses. If it continues then something needs to change,
Everett is a 2.8 mil guaranteed and solid shortstop. check the stats.
We knew wht we have with his hitting.
Win Twins!
it seems the twins score much easier when the other pitcher walks a lot of hitters. with our lack of power those extra free baserunners help extend innings that have a few singles and an occasional 2b. the pitchers with good control (even below ave. pitchers) have given the twins problems with scoring runs. that can be said about any team but imo it is a bigger deal with us because of all the free swingers we have the bad control forces them to be a little more patient.
I don’t remember that play, jimmy bee. All I can remember are his at-bats. He doesn’t look confident at all. He was a real weak point in the lineup, I thought. I’m not saying can him - I think (hope) he’ll come out of it and have a good season. I shouldn’t have singled him out. Delmon’s been struggling too.
T you sound like Sid Hartman.
2 things I have observed lately
1. Gomez’ avg has been slipping very quick. He needs to try to have a better eye at the plate and get on base a little more. Gomez is actually tied for frst in steals but would have much more if he was on base a little more often.
2. Neshek desperatly needs to go on a weight lifting program. He has almost no muscle tone. The veganism will not help later in the season as much as a good weight program would. He should also get into alot of cardio
To Joe Christensen: Thanks for pointing out the positives about the Tigers series, including the encouraging signs regarding Jesse Crain.
Crain struck out the first batter he faced with some serious heat, then battled one of the scariest hitters in baseball, Gary Sheffield, and got Sheffield to hit a pop-up out. After walking Polanco, Crain’s pickoff throw to first base wasn’t perfect, but it was close enough that it should have been fielded by Morneau. He should have at least knocked the ball down. Instead the ball careened off of Polanco’s back and went way down the first base line, getting Polanco to third. The error should have been charged to Morneau instead of Crain. The slider to Ordonez that he hit for a double was a pretty good pitch, it was just good hitting by one of the best hitters in the majors. Same thing for the home run that followed.
That sequence and how baseball is so unpredictable is what makes the game so much fun.
Crain will be stronger for being thrown into the fire, and next time the outcome will be different. At some point a manager has to show confidence in his players.
To all you fair weather fans, how hard is it to sit at your computer this morning and criticize Gardy and Crain? How many of you are ready to throw a hardball at Gary Sheffield from 60′ away? Crain did damn good last night for a guy who had major surgery just a few months ago. He will be a major asset for the Twins this year and for years to come.
JP it was a great combo for Lamb and a good stop by Morneau and Dick yelled “and a great play by both corners of the Twins infield”. I actually like to call Lamb Captain Double.
Did anyone see that Maglio HR that ball was like a cruise missle getting out of the park
I have to agree with liondragon about releasing Everett. We already have a defensive specialist that is a weak hitter. How many do we need? I worry about our bullpen, but they should pull it together. Part of the problem was shaky defense. Also Detroit hitters are good + they had some luck, a tough combination. The starter have been a plesant surprise-a definate plus. Hopefully Carlos Gomez has a quick learning curve.
Delmon Young was 4-8 I’d the Detroit series. I can’t wait until he isn’t struggling.
We need Ordonez on our squad. Just so he can’t play against us. Look up his all-time stats against the Twins. it is rediculous.
We have blown more leads this year that we have the last 3 years combined. At least that is what it feels like.
Sorry, my memory is longer than two games. I guess Monroe will bat .500 the rest of the year.
How come I don’t remember Maglio being that good when he was with Chicago.
Sorry, Joe. Jessie “Booger” Crain is becoming the next Kyle Lohse: lots of talent on paper but it rarely shows on the field. 96 mph on a fastball isn’t impressive if Sheffield is knocking hanging breaking balls out of the park.
Ordonez was hurt alot with the White Sox.
Jesss Crain’s fastball is too straight and that’s the problem. Plus the gun in Detroit is always high. Zumaya comes in and hits 99 and 100 all the time. Get real!
Oh because he is quite the force with the Tiger’s
Anyway, Magglio was hurt most of the season before Chicago let him go. I never liked him. Early in his last year (2004), the White Sox were in Minnesota and the Chicago TV crew interviewed him before the game (I think it was Darrin Jackson):
DJ: Who do you think will be the team’s biggest competition in the division?
MO: Nobody. We are the best team.
DJ: Minnesota sure seems to do well against the Sox. Why do you think that is?
MO: The Metrodome gives them an advantage.
JP he was that jerk that said that. I remember someone saying something like that but never knew who said it
I like what I see so far from the Twins, although I have some concerns too. Gomez, while frustrating shows promise. Denard Span looked pretty good. Their starting pitching has been very consistent and should only get better, especially if Liriano and Slowey can get back into form. I am concerned about the way their bullpen has looked, but the season is too early and the division looks more balanced that most expected. I don’t see anyone running away with while Gardy figures out what he has.
The whole interview was like that. That was the White Sox. Buehrle is another one who was always putting down the Twins. I think last year humbled them a bit.
I,ve seen Delmon Young, bat a few times this year already,and don,t think that he has the power swing that should have for home runs,but does seem to have a good eye for the ball, shouldn,t see as many strick-outs, this year,, he needs to get into a grove, where he can put togather at least two hits a game,
With Young I am not seeing an rbi and glove replacement just quite yet for Torii’s production numbers
I meant to say HR not glove replacement
We,ve already seen the arm replacement, It,s as good as anybodys
Maybe not as good as Cuddy’s but yes it is pretty strong.
Uh oh i just checked and LNP was 4-4 against Josh Shields when they played them last year.
LNP is better for the Twins than Everett
Jimmy
Delmon has a stronger arm than Cuddy, plus he has some great accuracy as well.
As of right now i would agree. I’m willing to give Everett some more time but so far he’s done nothing to show me he’s a better SS than Nicky.
“We already have a defensive specialist that is a weak hitter. How many do we need?”
We need one for every poor-fielding, good-hitting infielder who started the game and helped give us a lead late in the game. (Lamb and whoever is playing SS instead of Everett)
SITUATION:
8th-9th inning; one-two run lead; Lamb and Tolbert (or Harris) have had their at-bats. Punto goes to 3B and Everett goes to SS. (when his arm recovers)
Now a roller doesn’t go through the 5-6 hole like it would between Lamb and Tolbert.
T you sound like Sid Hartman
How so? All I pointed out is that the Twins are going to have some tough times this season, but not for the reasons everybody thinks.
Apparently, Crain thinks he’s Nolan Ryan and can just throw fastballs over the plate on 1-2 counts. Idiot.
T to quote you:
The ump happened. The top of the 8th and the bottom of the 8th featured two strikezones so different for a moment I thought I was watching a Yankees game.
Classic Sid the umps or the refs lost the game for us.
Although I agree the strike zone did seem to wander around last night and a few times I went where the .ell was that?
IMO the twins will end about where they are now at or a little below .500 not unlike last year. We have to hope these young guys improve over the year and we’ll be all right.
Magglio has always killed Twins pitching.
I like Delmon as a player, not much power yet but I hope he goes about his at bats the way he has! Getting ahead in the count makes it easier to take the big swings at the ball.
Now Gomez makes me laugh sometimes with is bunt or bash approach. Doesn’t seem to be any middle ground in his swing. LOL Fun to watch still cause you never know what’s going to happen.
I like Tolbert over Everett st SS and at the plate so far, but that could change if Everett’s arm gets better. But right now those great snags are getting negated by a weak arm
Jama,
When did you get the jugs gun out to compair Young and Cuddy’s arm?
Crain’s fast ball was letter high. It was a good pitch. Just picked the wrong guy to throw it to. I don’t think anyone on the Twins line-up could handle that pitch.
Don’t like Everett under any circumstances. Give Tolbert more play.
Rod Carew needs to do remedial training on Go-Go’s bunting. Gawd awful.
“With Matt Guerrier and Pat Neshek struggling, the Twins could use another late-inning option.”
Like Joe Nathan?
It’s one thing to ask Nathan to throw ALL of the 8th and then the ninth. But one hitter? To get one more out instead of his usual three?
I think Gardy is still suffering from when he put Nathan out for a 3RD inning against the Yanks in the playoffs a few years back. I bet he swore that night that Joe Nathan would only ever get him three outs.
Joe - I think the encouraging signs you point to about Crain’s velocity are flawed… remember that the Detroit radar gun is juiced a little bit. At one point in time two or three years ago, it clocked Joe Nathan at 102… a mark he’s never approached since. Speaking of Nathan - he can’t be expected to start throwing the eighth inning too… Crain, Neshek, and Rincon have been absolute busts so far this season… enough said.
This isn’t much of an issue with the Pitch F/X system in every park now. The consistency between venues is pretty respectable.
The reason Gardy hasn’t put Nathen in the 8th inning is becasue it’s February 16th. Lets try things the way baseball has been played for pobabley the past 25 years now. What kind of message does that send to the rest of your bullpen if you just don’t let them pitch. If the Twins are in contention in late July maybe we see Nathen in the 8th with 1 or 2 outs.
Snepp…good point. Besides if the gun in Detroit was juiced it means Baker was throwing about 86-88 lastnight. It’s MLB not college.
When is our bullpen going to be depleted by? My guess is by the All Star break
If leaves Nathan on the bench enough we won’t have to worry about being in contention but at least nobodies feelings will be hurt.
Lets try things the way baseball has been played for pobabley the past 25 years now
Actually, most closers have higher innings pitched than games, which means that they have to take the ball in the 8th sometimes. The last few years and only if a team has reliable set up men, some closers (including Nathan) are just 9th inning men…
Let’s hope the manager comes to his senses and has Punto in the game tonight. He is the best player we have and doesn’t play all the time, I don’t understand it!
Randy Bush for president
Classic Sid the umps or the refs lost the game for us.
You said you agree fellow Siddite. And though Crain still had to throw the pitch, if the strikezone starts getting squeezed late in the game, that forces the balls up and into the middle.
And in most cases, that means right into the wheelhouse.
Jared ST is over it’s April 16th and to say a win in Sept is more valuable then one in April is ludicrous. You play to win each and every game so when September rolls around you don’t have to say well we only finished two games behind the Tigers.
I just looked and found out that the Cleveland Indians picked up Tyner. Good for Tyner. I always liked him. Maybe he will go yard off of Boof. I would laugh hard if he did. Maybe we will get a reversal role and the Twins will do the Tyner shift this weekend
The bullpen always starts slow. The twins usually do too. If the bats continue to hit like they are now, and Cuddyer comes back healthy, the bullpen and the rotation are going to be decent… i expect them to contend.
I just looked and found out that the Cleveland Indians picked up Tyner.
I just looked and found out we landed on the moon.
A few thoughts:
1) Everett’s performance thus far is eerily similar to what Twins fans saw with Juan Castro a few years back. I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Twins let him go in favor of Tolbert by the end of the season. However, being a veteran player, I can’t see the Twins making such a decision until at least the end of May/beginning of June. One simply cannot make an adequate appraisal of a player in a two week period, even the first two weeks of a season.
2) Gardy & Nathan. Since Nathan has been with the club, Gardy has had the luxury of one of the most effective bullpens in baseball. Perhaps it is this reason that Gardy hates to use Nathan for more than three outs. Coupled with the fact that we’re still in April, and the Detroit weather was less than balmy, I’m not surprised he stuck with Crain through the 8th.
3) Although the AB ended with a K, I was very impressed w/ Tolbert’s ninth inning at bat. For such a young player, he had an extremely mature approach. Although he got behind 0-2 (to a pitcher - Jones - who relies much more on savvy than stuff), the young infielder fought off a bevy of outside fastballs and didn’t bite on sucker sliders low and inside. The pitch that he eventually strikes out on is a slider that he foul tips to Pudge’s glove. If Tolbert continues to earn Gardy’s trust as a late-inning pinch hitter and continues to respond to that confidence with quality ABs, it might make the Everett decision a bit easier.
what would shift,,, would all the outfielders than come in,,,lol.
I just looked and found out we landed on the moon.
Now don’t be crazy we can’t do that.
I don,t mean to Mac, on Tyner, i do like him,,
Free Jason Tyner
Tthe little piranha needs to be with his own kind.
What kind of reception do you think that Mr Crawford will have tonight at the Dome, based on his comments about Delmon?
Jason Tyner
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Jason Tyner
Cleveland Indians — No. 16
Outfielder
Born: April 23, 1977 (1977-04-23) (age 30)
Beaumont, Texas
Bats: Left Throws: Left
Major League Baseball debut
June 5, 2000 for the New York Mets
Selected MLB statistics
(through 2007)
Batting average .275
Home runs 1
Runs batted in 94
Stolen bases 61
Teams
New York Mets (2000)
Tampa Bay Devil Rays (2000-2003)
Minnesota Twins (2005-2007)
Jason Renyt Tyner (born April 23, 1977 in Bedford, Texas) is a Major League Baseball outfielder in the Cleveland Indians organization. Tyner stands at 6′1″ tall and weighs 175 pounds. He bats and throws left-handed.
college and high school
Tyner attended West Brook Senior High School in Beaumont, where he was named Beaumont Student Athlete of the Year and was a member of the National Honor Society as a junior and senior. Following high school, he attended Texas A&M University, graduating in 1998. At A&M, he was named All-Big 12 (along with Jason Jennings) and second team All-American in 1998. He finished his collegiate career first on A&M’s all-time list for hits and stolen bases, was second in batting average, and third in at bats. Making the feat even more remarkable was he set the records in only three seasons. He also made the United States National Team in 1997.
Does anyone know if Tolbert has good speed?
“Student Athlete of the Year and was a member of the National Honor Society as a junior and senior.”
Too smart to be a successful MLB player.
Geeeee,, could we find out just a little more about the guy,,,
jason tyner also got picked in the first round by the mets
Sane - Too smart to be a successful MLB player.
Not really Baseball is a thinking mans game
jimmy bee: Tell that to Gardy!
jimmy bee: Tell that to Gardy!
Zing!
pintobean says:
April 16th, 2008 at 1:56 pm
jimmy bee: Tell that to Gardy!
That was actually a good one Frijole
Punto BETTER PLAY TONIGHT.
<3
BC of ND,
Obviously a win is a win. I know this. But teams go into a season with a plan. Usually the plan isn’t to burn the closer out. From the sound of it some of you want Nathen to throw 140 innings. Our bullpen is going to be fine this year. Bullpen’s always struggle early on. It’s not just ours.
pintobean r u playing tonight Karlee wants to know
pitching nathan in the 8th against the tigers best hitters isn’t going to wear him out. you still have rincon , crain and reyes to pitch all or parts of the 9th against the bottom of their order. use our best against their best not our 4 or 5th best against their best simple logic!
Pinto is still watching the replay of the screaming, laser shot he hit Monday night trying to figure out why Gardy doesn’t like him anymore.
thrylos98,
Your right most closers do have more innings than saves. Sometimes it could come form the taking the ball with men on in the eight. But most of the extra innings occur when a closer blows the save and the game goes into extra innings.
Pintobean,
I’m going to the game, and I kind of miss seeing you play and such.
Plus I miss hearing “whip it”
Jared i didn’t say he had to pitch both innings just bring him in to shut down the rally because if you don’t there’s no game for him to save anyway.
I think you mean “whiff it” explaining my hitting style!
More innings than games for a closer also occurs when the long, middle and setup relievers have been used up prior to extra innings.
What would it take to get Tyner back? Also we should bring up Humber or Mulvey soon. Also Pelfrey has been pitching for the Mets this year already.
2-0 1.50 era
I think we could have had this pitcher as well in the great Johan debacle
Maybe it would be a good idea to bring up Perkins at this point for the bullpen. Denny Reyes is the only lefty in there now, and maybe Perkins would be better than Brian Bass who, in 11 innings pitched has given up 9 hits, 6 runs, and 3 HR while only striking out one.
Yeah, just like we could have had Reyes, Wright and F-Mart.
Problem was, no one told the Mets.
What would it take to get Tyner back?
Bringing up Pridie from the minors…
just be glad that it was only a 2 game series with detroit…it was inevitbable what was going to happen with det at home, so im glad its over with no major damage done, yes we lost, but could have just as well won, & as silly as that sounds, there are some good things coming out of detroit also….so lets hope the twins regroup now and enjoy some home cooking and iron a few of the wrinkles left this early in the season….our bats seem to have awoken a bit, starting pitching has been good and will continue to improve, the bullpen will be ok…not to panic…punto & tolbert can easily take care of ss until everett is 100% ready to go…cuddy i think (an noone is saying) hurt worse than originally thought, this may be one of those lingering, nasty injuries…i hope not, but… and finally gomez needs to be reeled in and taught a few things or ship to AAA, as span can handle cf pretty well
You guys are so depressing here. Yeah it sucks to lose games like that but we were playing probably the best team in the majors and played pretty damn well. The Twins will be a good team this year.
Vikestrike,
Mariano Gomez (LHP) is outpitching Perkins at AAA. Bass is pitching better at MLB (3.27 ERA,than Perkins is pitching at AAA. (4.66 ERA)
Pelfrey was off limits
Does anyone know why we ever got rid of Kenny Rogers
jimmybee,
Kenny Rogers got rid of us.
$$$$$$$$$$
sane, Gomez is intriguing. Has he pitched in the majors? I noticed that Perkins’ ERA vs. LHB is 2.08 and 6.75 vs. RHB. Thus far, Gomez is ERA 0.00 vs. righties and 2.25 vs. lefties. I’m not saying this for the sake of sticking to my earlier suggestion, but maybe Perkins (presumably with more MLB experience) is better fit to bring up for situational, one LHB type situations. Some of the earlier comments suggested that maybe Gardy needs to be more liberal with the hook instead of letting someone go down in flames a la last night’s debacle.
Tolbert has very good speed. I saw he and Gomez race in ST(60 yard). Gomez won, but it was close.
jimmy,
Kenny Rogers was a free agent. He always signs one year deals and then signs with the highest bidder every year (usually ends up back with the Rangers about every other year).
BC of ND,
I get what you are saying. Bring in Nathen to face the Cabrera’s of the world in the eight, and Crain to close the game with the Thames’s of the world in the ninth. I’ve never thought of it that way and I was even acloser in college for two years. I guess I always just wanted the ball in hte last inning. However, I do like your thinking outside the box. It makes sense.
Bringing up Pridie from the minors…
Span is more like Tyner than Pridie is.
No way Punto is starting tonight, sorry Karlee. He might get in later in the game.
We don’t need another lefthanded reliever that just throws to one batter, then hits the showers. That’s what Reyes is doing. If we’re going to bring up anyone, it needs to be someone that can throw for an inning or two.
vikestrike,
Gomez is at his highest level ever. (AAA)
He has been at or near AA level lately.
Perkins is still recovering from arm problems.
Jared, there is no thinking outside of the box allowed. You have to stay inside the boxes or the umpires can eject you.
Also, who says I don’t like Nicky? I forgot I had him on the bench last night and could have pinch hit him for Monroe, who luckily did get a hit or he would have been on the bench for another 2 weeks. Sure, if I had pinch hit Monroe for Nicky the night before and Monroe gets that hit, maybe we win that game, but Nicky is still my man. I expect him to hit .300 this year
I didn’t know a closer could pitch the 8th and not the 9th. Is that a new rule?
Check out Bass’s last two outings. 5+ innings zero runs. He struggled his first two times on the mound but a lot has to be going through a kids head on his major leauge debut.
JJ says:
April 16th, 2008 at 3:16 pm
No way Punto is starting tonight, sorry Karlee. He might get in later in the game.
As i mentioned earlier Punto went 4-4 against Shield the last time he faced him. So not so fast me boy.
Reyes, Gomez and Pekins can all throw to more than one batter.
That is how the Twins choose to use Reyes.
The bullpen blew bigtime in Detroit. The tigers didnt just come back to tie the game. They gave them a 2 run lead going to the top of the ninth. It will take Nathan an hour to warm up, he hasn’t pitched since Sat.
If the closer pitches the 8th, he becomes the setup man’s setup man.
Understand?
Thanks for the laugh Gardy.
Perkins can throw to them, question is, can he get them out? So far in Rochester it looks like the answer is no.
They forgot that Gardenhire’s shoes didn’t come untied!!
That’s a really LAME list.
might as well add these too…………..
…and the Sun still came out and no one was injured in a car crash…..lame!!
Maybe BC
I would not mind Punto starting at third for Lamb. Lamb def. has not done crap so far this year.
does anyone have todays Star Trib in hard copy form? If so open the paper up and look at Bakers face. He looks mentally challenged. Also I notice that LNP has the leading avg on the Twins.
ES16,
I agree.
Perkins-no; Gomez-maybe.
JJ
Something seems not right about starting Tolbert and Punto, but your right Lamb has done nothing. I say Play Punto until he sucks again.
My guess is Perkins has something more substantial wrong with his arm.
It would be nice to bring someone else in to give them a shot in the bullpen, but the Twins are pretty much stuck with the bullpen they have. I don’t think they can send anyone down. They would have to get rid of someone and I don’t see them doing that.
Span gone anyone???
If Punto played every day he’d be an All Star. Best player on the team, it’s a shame he doesn’t play every day. Gardenhire must not be to smart or he’d see that.
Amazing to see calling for Punto to start.
jimmy bee I think Span looks a lot more comfortable at the plate than Gomez. If Cuddy has to do a little more time on the DL it could be a very tough decision on who to keep.
Amazing to see people calling for Punto to start.
More like If Lamb played every day he’d be an All Star. Best player on the team, it’s a shame he doesn’t play every day. Gardenhire must not be to smart or he’d see that.
It was a proud moment for LNP when he made the all-star team after getting the chacne to play everyday. Then he woke up and was mega pissed when he saw he was hitting .200 and was on pase to have the 5 worst batting average in the last 50 years.
Prediction
Gomez strikes out 182 times this year and walks 9 times.
BC of ND I would have to agree with you regardin Span. At this pace I don’t know who is less effective at the plate Gomez or Everett
How bout this idea I will spin out there. We could play polka music while the opposing team is up at the plate
JJ,
You have to go with the guy that has the higher ceiling. Gomez has an extremely high ceiling. Span can reach up and touch his ceiling.
Or,
We could get rid of Punto and Lamb. Then sign a Power Hitting 3B and pay him 6 million a year.
Salary
Lamb- 3.5
Punto- 2.4
I just remembered a game I went to last year were it was the begining of the end for Ramon Ortiz. He was facing the D-rays and he was up against James Shields. Coincidence?…hope so
LeeAnn,
If we did that than he would be a $12M 3B as would still have to pay Lamb and Punto.
I don’t know about the rest of you, but its really nice this year to see the Twins actually score some runs! How many games last year did we only score 2 or less runs? it seemed like it happened every game.
I agree ES16
I like Gomez and think he will be an all star one day. I also think he will strike out 182 times and walk 9 times this year.
I’m not sure there is such thing as a 6 million a year power hitting 3rd baseman anymore.
Ok SweetOne
We can get rid of Monroe (3.8 a year)
Are we getting close to a deal now.
jimmy bee says:
April 16th, 2008 at 3:56 pm
How bout this idea I will spin out there. We could play polka music while the opposing team is up at the plate
I like this idea sort but lets only do it against Cleveland as retaliation for the stupid ass fricken drum.
Nothing is worse that the rally monkey. I just puked in my mouth.
BC of ND or if stupid Atlanta comes to town. If I ever hear that stupid chant I will shove my head into the garbage disposal
twinsfan32 says:
I don’t know about the rest of you, but its really nice this year to see the Twins actually score some runs!
Actually they are averaging only a little over 4.00 runs a game while last year (ranked 12th in the AL, near last) they averaged 4.43 runs per game. Now my California math says we are worse this year.
Again if Punto played every day it would be different!
Ok no one likes my deal, final offer though.
We get rid of:
Punto– 2.4
Lamb—-3.5
Everett-2.8
Monroe–3.8
There is your 12.5 million a year 3B.
He better be a good one.
Jared ZZZZZZZ says:
April 16th, 2008 at 4:08 pm
Nothing is worse that the rally monkey. I just puked in my mouth.
I would have to say Atlanta with that chant. Also Steve Garvey makes me want to vomit a little in my mouth
why is it that the north dakota sioux are getting ripped by the ncaa for the name yet the indians and braves openly disrespect the name and the people? could it be $$$$$
Len3 is back from the dead and I’m playing tonight, happy days we’re going to turn things around.
LeeAnn,
What you are missing is that baseball contracts are guaranteed. They only way we can avoid not paying in of the players you mentioned is to trade them. And if they are so bad that we should get rid of them, what are the chances we can trade them.
When I mentioned $12M 3B what I meant was $6M for the new 3B plus the $6M we will still have to pay Lamb and Punto. So the new 3B would effectively cost the Twins $12M.
Len3 just posted my lineup. Nicky lovers can rejoice.
LeeAnn
You can nicknamed them (the fizzled out 4) Those 4 dead bats are a combined 19 for 95
Numbers against Detroit over the last two games:
Starting pitching: Twins 9 Tigers 6
Relief pitching: Twins 5 Tigers 11
Twins middle relief status (subjective):
Rincon - so far, as bad as in 2007
Crain- Fragile, coming back from surgery
Guerrier/Neshek - collapsed twice in one week
Reyes- left handed batters only.
Bass - Long relief if starters cannot go 6 or 7 innings.
We have a great relief pitcher in Rochester b y the name of Bobby Korecky- bring him up and give him a chance.
It is still only April…
The fizzled four contracts are up at the end of the year, I think. I think LeeAnn knows we are stuck with them until next year.
T… please get a job. With gas prices skyrocketing there’s only so much the rest of us can put into your welfare checks.
Actually Lamb’s is a 2 year contract.
I’d take Everett’s, Punto’s, Rincon’s and Monroe’s savings, plus the $10 mil the Twins are underbudget this year and make a serious run at Manny Ramirez this fall
Trade Mauer for bullpen help.
Trade my imposter for a pack of Big League Chew.
Ben D,
Thanks for the Tolbert info… all the more reason to ride this hot horse till he slows down. Seems like he’s been nothing but positives. I was just a kid when Knoblauch came on the seen, and in those days we didnt have internet and blogging, so typical fan didnt know a prospect until he came up, but this guy seems like another Knoblauch (except substitute position 2B for SS).
Thrylos,
You want to bat Manny as DH or move Young from LF? I dont think he’d come here and he’d rub the fans the wrong way anyway….
danimals,
Depending how Kubel goes this year, I’d either bat Manny as DH or have him at left , moving Young to right and Cuddy at 3rd (he is a big boy, makes big boy money and should be able to play 3rd).
As far as he is knocking runs in, he won’t rub the fans the wrong way. He might rub Gardy the wrong way, but I don’t care about that…
This is our good news?
1.) Our 3-hitter is 2 for his last 19.
2.) Our leadoff hitter is 1 for his last 19.
4.) We got a home run robbed.
5.) We’re paying a guy some 4M to bat .211.
Four out of the seven are actually bad news.
(he is a big boy, makes big boy money and should be able to play 3rd).
Morneau’s making more. Let’s move him to third, since the contract size apparently indicates an ability for that to actually work.
T,
that’s not the point (and you know it). Monreau never played 3B. Cuddy did, successfully, but he didn’t like it and whined.
thyrlos,
do you think Cuddy could move back to 3rd? i think as he’s gotten older, he’s started to look different (body type) - not saying he’s not as agile or as fast, just an impression i have.
as far as manny goes, it would be awesome if we could get him, but in my lifetime the only high profile free agents who have come to MN are molitor and winfield and they wanted to play for their hometown team b4 retiring. can anyone else remember getting someone high profile? i just think guys like manny would want to be on one of the coasts…
danimals,
remember a guy by the name of Chili Davis? This team needs to be aggressive in free agency
Cuddy back to 3rd, Mauer to 1st, and trade that one year wonder Monreau for a catcher and bull pen. Whoever is the hitting coach should be FIRED! Twin hitters seem lost during times when the
opposings pitcher is having trouble and then let then off the hook! You know 3-0 one walk hit a guy and then we swing at the first pitch and double play inning over what the ?? Just my view
His name was Chidi Davis, not Chili.
Cuddy did, successfully
I don’t recall fielding the ball that well at third. Lots of fumbling catches (not as bad as Batista, but not pretty).
And then wasn’t there the problem of him overthrowing? I remember at one point Cuddy played 2B and was moved from that position for the same reason.
They found a place for his arm in RF, and it’s worked thus far.
Listen the twins aren’t going to make a run make a run at manny in the off season.
The road trip had a couple of heart breakers thats the nature of baseball.
So far I like what i see from this group!! I still don’t think we can contend with Cleveland this tear but in the years to come we will be great!!
Everyone cross your fingers for Franchise tomorrow….if we’re to have any chance of competeing this year he has to get over the hump…..be patient it took Santana some time after he had debris removed from his elbow!!!
Don Baylor was another high profile free agent for the Twins.
Someone wanted to know.
I love the Twins, but lets be real, they will never reach the world series again and win it while acquiring free agents on the cheap every year. Detroit gets Cabrera, a few years ago Cleveland got Jim Thome , who by the way would have fit in very nicely with the Twins, but we are subjected to Rondell White, Craig Monroe, Ramon Ortiz, Ponson, Mike Lamb, Everett, and the list goes on. I understand small budget team and all that stuff, but once it would be great to actually get a big-time impact player in his prime and not on the downside of his career ala Paul Molitor and Dave winfield another example of the Twins stinginess. Remember the lineups they had when they won-power hitting , with great pitching. Their lineup is nice,but no one fears them and on a given night they can score , but give me an intimidating presence at the plate, ala Thome-for ten years it was we need a new stadium to keep our prime players and as soon as we get the stadium they lose Hunter and santana-we will never win a series if always in the rebuild mode switch is on.
Detroit gets Cabrera, a few years ago Cleveland got Jim Thome , who by the way would have fit in very nicely with the Twins
Detroit got Cabrera by trading away their farm. Which is part of the reason they got into trouble early.
Cleveland didn’t get Jim Thome, Cleveland lost Jim Thome. Chicago got Jim Thome, and it took Aaron Rowand…which is a gap in centerfield they’re only now starting to fill up again.
I’ll also throw in the obligatory “How many times has Chicago gone to the playoffs since aquiring Thome?” comment.
My mistake Thome went to the sox, point being , the Twins never make a big move to push them over the top. They keep picking up retreads from other teams and end up cutting them or letting them go instead of trying to go after a big time bat. With their current philosophy do you see them in the world series anytime soon T? I sure dont, that was merely my point. Instead of Tony Batista, sidney ponson, ramon ortiz, rondell white, craig monroe,adam everett, mike lamb, we are never in the running for a quality free agent. Free agency isnt obviously the only way to build a team but wouldnt it be exciting if the Twins said “What the hell lets sign santana, and then make a trade to get a guy like Cabrera. Or in past years get a guy like Jim thome-fans would get excited about this versus getting guys on the cheap or trying to somehow squeeze another win out of a guylike ramon ortiz or ponson. It is now closing in on 20 years since we have been remotely close to a world series team. Yes sometimes you have to give up something or spend some dough-to get a Miguel Cabrera-but just think about him in our lineup with Mourneau, Mauer, Torri Hunter,. you know the twins won two world series in a span of 5 years and the joy and memories from those two series still are fresh in my memory and then for 10 years they were awful and then pretty good for the last 5 years, but just once it would have been cool to see them push the envelope and see what could have happened. Last year they were 5-6 games out of first and they let Luis Castillo go, for virtually nothing. That sent a huge message to other players like Santana, the twins ownership doesnt really want to win , its still about economics etc. Love him or hate him , a guy like steinbrenner does whatever it takes to field a winning team and an exciting team. T really is their any one in the twins farm system that is that great that we couldnt have tryed to get a cabrera-answer NO!!! Oh and by the way -tonights game cleveland 4 twins 0-the twins anemic offense is exactly where it was a year ago, no punch at all. Pitching staff is worse as well-brand spanking new stadium coming in, with all those revenue sources and santana gone, hunter gone, but at least the payroll is in line with what makes pohlad happy. Yeeha!!!!!!
