Twins off tonight after they completed a 2-4 West Coast roadtrip to Oakland and Texas. The trip saw Francisco Liriano hit an ultimate low showing no command and being sent down to minor leagues, a offense stymied by Oakland’s pitching scoring only 5 runs in three games, a surprise offensive burst of 12 runs in Texas to claim a victory, Michael Cuddyer hit his first homerun of the season in his first game back from the DL, and of course the return of Livan Hernandez to earth as he was roughed up by the Rangers.
All in all, not a great road trip, but the Twins remain at 11-14 and are right in the pack of a crowded AL Central through the first month of the season.
THINGS I NEED TO SEE
- With the return of Cuddyer, Ron Gardenhire has decided to move Delmon Young down in the order. This should put less pressure on Young who seems to be pressing at the plate, but I need to see him start hitting! He has no homeruns and only 8 RBIs.
- We knew the rotation would have some question marks this year, but we thought our bullpen would be very solid. Gardenhire can’t be afraid to use Joe Nathan in non-save situations and the rest of the bullpen (excluding Dennys Reyes) needs to step up.
- As figured with a young club, the Twins seem to score 1 run one night and 9 runs the next night. I need to see some more offensive consistency. With Cuddyer healthy, hopefully the Twins can settle into a set batting order.
I’ll be in Minneapolis tomorrow evening for the opening game of the 2 game series against the White Sox. This will be my first game since opening day, so hopefully I will see the THINGS I NEED TO SEE.
Until then, see this… an amazing catch made from college baseball that was the #1 play of the week on Sportscenter!
As the first unrelated Minnesota Twins post on this blog, this post is somewhat special or unique. I wrote this article for another online baseball publication and since Ken Griffey Jr. was my favorite player growing up as a kid along with nearly every other kid my age I thought I would publish it.
In case any of you baseball fans haven’t noticed, Ken Griffey Jr. is approaching a milestone. With his 597th career homerun today against the Houston Astros, “the Kid” is set to join an elite club that contains only five members: Barry Bonds, Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, Willie Mays, and Sammy Sosa.
Maybe it’s just me, but I feel like Junior isn’t getting the love he deserves. Yeah, now ESPN has the Junior graphic and is beginning to flash to his at bats, but 600 homeruns is a big deal. It makes me wonder if Griffey’s pursuit at 600 has gone silent because of the lack of controversey in his homerun total.
I can only speculate (but can do so with 100% confidence) that Barry Bonds and Sammy Sosa achieved 600 career homeruns partly due to the use of performing-enhancing drugs. Ken Griffey Jr. is the poster boy of how to play baseball the honest way during the steroid era of the 1990s and 2000s. Perhaps it’s because of all the injury shortened seasons or the fact that he has played on losing teams in Cincinnati, but many have forgotten the days when Ken Griffey Jr. ruled the world of baseball. He was a perennial All-Star, a Gold-Glove outfielder, a fan favorite across the country, and a member of the All-Century team.
Griffey was not only in pursuit of the single season home run record year-in and year-out, but was on pace to pass Hank Aaron and become the homerun king. Tragically, in his eight years with the Reds, Griffey has played in more than 140 games only twice and from 2002-2004 played a total of only 206 games.
As a kid growing up in the 90s, Griffey was my hero. I wore the cap backwards, played the video game, and even wore his sneakers. He certainly is not the player he used to be and we can always wonder where he could have been if he stayed healthy.
A few things are for certain: Griffey will be in the Hall of Fame, Griffey plays the game the way it should be played, and Griffey will hit his 600th homerun very soon. When he does, let’s give him the love, respect, and appreciation he deserves.
Sorry for the delay in posting, things have been busy here as the end of my college career is nearing. I don’t have time today to post either, but I wanted to post the opinion of one of my favorite sports writers Buster Olney of ESPN. He had some interesting things to say about Livan Hernandez…
Maybe you prefer pure power, total domination. Maybe you loved Dwight Gooden in 1985 and Roger Clemens in the 2000 playoffs and Joel Zumaya’s 101 mph fastball in 2006. But maybe you like a pitcher who works a game like Indiana Jones — lots of tension, lots of vulnerability, a pitcher who seems to be at the mercy of circumstance, and yet at the same time possesses a lot of swagger and moxie. You cover your eyes watching this pitcher work into and out of jams, and yet somehow he seems to have a measure of control.
If this is what you like, we present Livan Hernandez, American Leaguer.
Pitching in the National League last year, Hernandez allowed 247 hits and 78 walks in 204.1 innings, including 34 home runs. He throws his fastball in the mid-80s and a breaking ball in the mid-to-low ’60s. The idea that Livan Hernandez would have a chance to pitch in the bigger and badder AL seemed, on the face of it, completely absurd.
And yet he is spinning his breaking stuff and nicking the corners and getting ahead in the count and making burly hitters get themselves out with big swings. Five starts into the 2008 season, Hernandez has 11 strikeouts in 33 innings — but he’s walked just six, and has an ERA of 3.55; the Twins are 5-0 in his starts, after beating Oakland last night, in what was a no-decision for Hernandez.
And as always, Hernandez did something that reminded you of how he controls game, of what an old hand he is. In the first inning, Daric Barton slapped a single and reached second, and with Jack Cust at the plate, Hernandez and catcher Joe Mauer had a difficult time getting together on pitch selection; Hernandez glanced back at Barton and seemed impatient.
He summoned Mauer to the mound, as Twins manager Ron Gardenhire looked on with exasperation, and shortstop Nick Punto jogged into the mound; pitcher, catcher and shortstop all spoke through the webbing of their gloves.
Barton did not have a big lead, and there were two outs; he wasn’t going to steal a base. And yet Hernandez wheeled and fired toward second base, toward Barton — and Punto wasn’t covering the base. Rather, the shortstop was positioned well behind Barton, in a wonderful spot if the ball ricocheted away. The throw thumped Barton right in the back.
It all seemed very strange: A pickoff play right after a mound meeting, with the shortstop not covering the base. Did Livan hit Barton on purpose, to remind him that he didn’t believe in sign-stealing?
I figured the fleeting thought was absurd. And then Bert Blyleven, the Twins’ broadcaster, chimed in that as a pitcher, he always thought he had a free shot at the baserunner while throwing toward the bases. Maybe the cagey Livan did plunk Barton on purpose.
It’s all part of the guile that is Hernandez, who has been much better than anyone could have expected so far. Think about these numbers: Going into Tuesday’s game, the Twins had more quality starts in their first 19 games of 2008 (11) than they did in 2007 (9), and their ERA is a half-run lower. And the Twins are hanging in there in the AL Central.
I missed the random pickoff moment as I was not watching the game, but I can only imagine what Bert Blyleven had to say about it.
I admit my feelings toward Carlos Gomez on this blog have been similar to a 7th grade crush, so I decided to look deeper into the numbers to either justify my infatuation or come to that harsh reality that she doesn’t even know who you are.
Since Opening Day, I’ve fallen for Gomez and his electrifying speed. The speedster has 9 stolen bases in 10 attempts with his only caught stealing coming on a pickoff at first base. No catcher has been able to neutralize the kid’s speed. Go-go is currently on pace to steal 95 bases which would shatter the Twins record of 62, set by Chuck Knoblauch in 1997.
The most amazing part of Gomez’s stolen base count is his poor .284 on-base percentage. The kid is only getting on base a quarter of the time and leads the majors with 9 steals. With Gomez it’s not a matter of whether he can take 2nd or 3rd, but if he can get to 1st. Assuming Carlos can develop a better eye at the plate and raise his AVG. and OBP., 100 steals is certainly attainable.
At this point in the year, the strikeout to walk ratio is expected from the young hitter. Carlos has taken 2 walks and struck out 16 times. Certainly not what you want to see, but coming over from the Mets it was known Gomez was a free swinger and needed to work on his plate discipline. He was rushed through New York’s system and now is in a situation where he needs to play in the big leagues everyday. Hopefully with time hitting coach Joe Vavra and the Twins organization can fine tune Gomez’s at bats.
On a positive note I’ve been over impressed with Gomez’s defensive ability. The kid makes a lot of plays. He is obviously no Torii Hunter with his reads on the ball and the direction he takes to make the catch, but his speed makes up for many “rookie mistakes” and his defense will only continue to get better. With Denard Span playing out of position in right field this week, Gomez has adequately been covering more than his third of the field.
It remains to be seen whether or not Go-go will actually steal 90 bases. At his currently clip of getting on base 25% of the time I want to say it won’t happen. But perhaps speed does kill and Gomez will continue to impress us. As each week of the season moves on we’ll continue to learn more about the centerpiece to the Johan Santana trade, so for now I’m going to remain a wallflower and keep my crush.
The Twins suffered a tough loss last night falling 11-9 to the Detroit Tigers. Despite having a 5-0 lead in the 6th and a 9-4 lead in the 7th, the Tigers were able to take advantage of a bullpen collapse scoring six runs in the 8th and claiming their third victory of the season.
FRUSTRATIONS
- The Twins may have awaken a sleeping giant. They faced a 2-10 Tigers club at the perfect time and seemed to have a victory all but wrapped up. A big come from behind win like this may be all Detroit needs to get rolling.
- Matt Guerrier and Pat Neshek do not look good. This is bad considering these two are the best bullpen arms outside of Joe Nathan. I expect Jesse Crain and Juan Rincon to have some struggles, but the Twins need Guerrier and Neshek to be sharp. That’s the second time this week the bullpen blew a win.
- Pitchers are figuring out Carlos Gomez. So now that the Gomez jerseys have flown off the shelf and people have claimed Gomez the savior, we all must wake up a bit. Gomez is 0 for his last 14 and it seems pitchers are figuring hime out a bit. He’s been getting a lot of fastballs up and in and is having trouble adjusting. This is expected with a young player like Gomez, but hopefully he and hitting coach Joe Vavra can make the necessary adjustments.
- Everett can’t hit… or field? Yeah we knew he wouldn’t hit, for proof look no further than his .185 BA, but we were told he would be a phenomenal fielder. “Gold Glove Caliber” I believe were the words that Gardy used, yet Everett made his 3rd error last night in this very short season and it came at a very crucial time in the end of the game. There is rumor he’s having shoulder problems which would come as a legitimate excuse for the errors, but then why is he playing? Let the kid Matt Tolbert play. He’s crushing the ball and has something to prove. Frustrations go to both Everett and Gardenhire for his managing decisions.
Scott Baker takes the hill tonight facing off against the Tigers’ Nate Robertson. Hopefully the Twins can split the two game series and clear away some of my frustrations.
One thing I like to do on this blog is for the readers to hear opinions from people other than me. There are a lot of Twins fans out there, so here is the first installment of Thoughts from a Fellow Fan.
A good friend of mine from high school days back in South Dakota made the trip south to K.C. this weekend to see his first look of the 2008 Twins. Here are Thoughts from a Fellow Fan, Taylor.
Over the weekend I was lucky enough to go along with some friends down to Kansas City for the Saturday and Sunday Twins vs Royals games. Although the weather was probably more suited for football, the baseball games were fun nonetheless.
Saturday: Saturday’s game was great for two reasons. One, the Twins won which always constitutes for a great game, and second, the game was sold out due to Billy Butler jersey night. Coming into the game I expected a high scoring affair with a Bonser, Tomko pitching matchup. Naturally I was mistaken, and instead I witnessed a pitching duel. The Twins jumped up early thanks to a Jason Kubel solo blast, which contributed to his already solid start. If Kubel can stay healthy this year I expect a very solid year, ending with him surrounding the 20 home run mark. The Royals couldn’t get anything going, as Bonser looked wonderful on the mound, carrying a no-hitter into the 5th, only to be jynxed by a Royals fan behind us and thus gave up a single to Ross Gload. That was about the only positive for Royals fans as their offense mustered up no real threats throughout the game. The Twins had a chance to blow the game out in the 7th up 2-0, but failed to score a run after having the bases loaded with no outs. Thanks to the solid Neshek/Nathan combo the Twins shut to door and took game 2 of the series.
Sunday: This game was direct opposites for both teams coming in. The Royals fans failed to come out on a chilly Sunday afternoon, probably because of the back to back losses without scoring a run. On the otherhand the Twins fans came in full of anticipation for Fransisco Liriano’s first major league start since late 2006. The game looked as if it would be more of the same from the previous two nights as the Twins knocked on across in the first. But Liriano couldn’t hold the lead long as the Royals chipped away and took the lead with runs in the 1st, 2nd, and 4th innings. One positive to take from Liriano’s start was he didn’t let the game out of hand, which was something that easily could have happened because it seemed the Royals were constantly threatening. Obviouslly the main concern after Liriano’s start is with his command as he never seemed to be able to get ahead of hitters and finish them off. It was nice to see the development of his changeup, which if it was controlled properly reminded this me of a former Twins Lefy ace’s changeup. Bannister didn’t allow any real threat for the remainder of the game, and he continued the dominance he has shown all year, helping the Royals finished off the sweep.
Random Notes I got from the games: -The Royals stadium is incredible! They have the biggest HD jumbotron in the nation, and it is just wonderful for the fans. Also they have wiped out the old left outfield seats because they are putting in new seats in front of the waterfalls throught the staduim.
-The Royals fans hate Jose Guillen, constatnly chanting 12 million dollars which is what they are paying him to hit .100. It didn’t help when he dropped an easy fly ball in the first Sunday, leading to the only Twins run
-If you do attend a Royals game in the future, buy the cheapest available ticket. My friend and I baught the 9 dollar tickets, and ended up front row behind home plate both games. They do not have people checking tickets at each gate, and we basically wondered and sat wherever we pleased.
- The Royals will be good and soon. Their lineup is young and potent with emerging stars in Teahan, Gordon, and Butler. Plus the pitching staff is set up to be real solid with veterans Meche and Tomko and young guys coming into their own with Bannister and Grienke.
-These two teams are very similar, and will probably battle throughout the year in the standings. Who knows, maybe another 2003 is in store with both teams being in the division race after the all star break!
Livan Hernandez became the winningest pitcher in the majors improving to 3-0 as he allowed no runs runs through 7 innings Friday night in Kansas City. Hernandez got himself into some sticky situation, but walked away unscathed and confused the Royal batters with offspeed pitches and pinpoint control. I could have been a rich man had I bet people Livan Hernandez would start the season 3-0.
Carlos Gomez had another solid night picking up a double, triple, and knocked in 2 RBIs. Justin Morneau hit his third homerun of the season, a solo shot in the third inning, and two Twin rookies, Denard Span and Matt Tolbert, picked up their first career RBIs. Amazingly, Matt Tolbert who was the last man to make the Twins roster this spring is batting .556 to start the season. After collecting 3 hits tonight, Tolbert is 12-21 and making a good case to be in the lineup everyday. Very fun to watch the kid play. He plays tough, works hard, and adds some energy and electricity to the team.
I must admit, the move comes as a surprise to me as Liriano has struggled in his two minor league starts this spring posting a 6.75 ERA and allowing 11 hits and 7 runs in 9 1/3 IP. The Twins are not in a situation where they need Liriano and I think he should be brought back from surgery slowly. However, I trust the organization’s decision and lets hope that this begins the road back to Liriano circa 2006. As I stated this winter, if Liriano can return to his dominating form the 2008 Twins will be a dangerous team.
A 12-5 victory over the White Sox last night was filled with highlights for the Minnesota Twins.
In the 6th inning Jason Kubel broke a 7-3 lead into an 11-3 rout with a grand slam. Kubel went 2-6 with 6 RBIs in the game. Brendan Harris went 3-4 and scored 3 runs. Scott Baker pitched solid, not great, but he did strike out 7 in 5 innings and gave up 3 runs.
Ron Gardenhire said before the game, All we’re looking for is some more consistent swings throughout the lineup. We’ve had a guy hot here and there. We haven’t really clicked as an offense yet.
Gardy got what he was looking for as the Twins set season highs scoring 12 runs and collecting 13 hits.
Of all the highlights, Carlos Gomez may have stole the show in the first inning. Gomez had a phenomenal diving catch in the center/rightfield gap. The play won himself a Web Gem and a #1 spot on Sportscenter top plays!
Tonight’s game in Chicago has already been postponed due to heavy rain, so the team will move onto Kansas City for the weekend and the off day should actually help the rotation out. With Kevin Slowey unable to start Sunday and Francisco Liriano appearing unprepared to be called up, the rotation will get pushed back a day and everything should be fine.
No game yesterday as the Twins enjoyed their first off day. Still plenty news to report, so I’m going with a linked up blog post today. Read whatever grabs your attention.
* The plan was to have Francisco Liriano return to the majors on Sunday after his second minor league start; however, some things don’t always go according to plan as Liriano doesn’t appear ready.
* Something to chew on: yesterday the Twins announced an eight-year partnership with Sportservice who will provide the food in the new ballpark. Plans are to offer a new, unique, local menu. Lefsa anyone?
One week ago today I wrote about Opening Day and the start of the baseball season. Seven days later the Twins are 3-5 with some questions as well as some answers. All in all, I’d say 3-5 is about expected with opening series against the Angels, Royals, and a game against the White Sox. QUESTIONS Is Livan Hernandez for real? The ancient righty is off to a 2-0 start with a 3.86 ERA. He’s providing stability and leadership to a young rotation. Hope it continues!
When will Jason Kubel become full time? Kubel’s batting .221 and slugging .409, not great, but he’s younger, has more potential, is a better hitter, and Craig Monroe is batting .091 and slugging .182.
How will the Twins replace Michael Cuddyer? Denard Span was called up when Cuddy went on the DL. A surprise move in my opinion. Span slides into the #2 spot in the lineup which makes a lefty/lefty duo of Mauer and Morneau batting 3rd and 4th. I think the Twins lineup will have even more trouble scoring runs now and I think Delmon Young should be batting between the M&M boys. At least this may give Kubel more at bats.
Will Francisco Liriano make an impact in the rotation? I sure hope so. He struggled in his first minor league start and will make his AAA start today with Rochester. Word has it that he make return to the big leagues on Sunday.
ANSWERS
Joe Nathan is a stud. The Twins signing of Nathan was a sign of commitment to winning and it kept a shutdown closer in the bullpen. At least we know that if we’re winning going into the 9th inning, we’ll get the win. Nathan’s current line: 3 SV, 3 SV opportunities, 3 IP, and 3 SO.
Nick Blackburn is for real. In 2 starts and 12 IP, Blackburn has a 2.25 ERA with 12 SO and only 3 BB. He owns an 0-1 record due to poor run support, but this kid will be very important this season and may never lose his rotation spot that he won this spring.
The American League is deep. Baltimore is in first place, Oakland is not just rebuilding, Kansas City is so much better, and this leaves Boston, Seattle, and Detroit in last place. These three teams will not be in last place for long, but it doesn’t matter who the Twins play because the American League is good.
Carlos Gomez is really fast. The kid has stolen 5 bases already which has prompted the MVB to start a Carlos Gomez stolen base count in the sidebar. But he’s not just fast, Gomez is batting .333 and has scored 5 runs in 8 games. If he can continue to get on base, Mauer, Morneau, and Young will be very happy.
We’ll see what questions and answers emerge in week 2 of the season…
YOUR OPINION: What questions do you see so far concerning the Twins?
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