A solid 2-1 win for Twins in K…

Posted by John on June 30, 2009 under John | Be the First to Comment

A solid 2-1 win for Twins in Kansas City. Baker was a bit inefficient but great outings from the bullpen. #mntwins

Any Twins fans in Kansas City …

Posted by John on under John | 2 Comments to Read

Any Twins fans in Kansas City for the series? How’s the new Kauffman stadium? Looks great from tv.

Fan Friday – Jake Lunemann

Posted by John on June 26, 2009 under John | Be the First to Comment

This week’s Fan Friday comes from Jake Lunemann. Jake is a Twins fan since the age of 6 (when Shane Mack was his favorite player). Lunemann currently has a scouting internship with Baseball Info Solutions. BIS helps produces The Bill James Handbook and other statistical and scounting publications. You can read more of Jake’s work at www.twinsmix.com…

Every Minnesota Twins fan knew who to watch in the Twins lineup this year, Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau. Then throw in peppered expectations for Jason Kubel and Michael Cuddyer, not to mention offseason acquisition Joe Crede. We all thought this team would have one of the most feared lineups that the Twins have had in the past 15 years. I am here to tell you that our teams playoff hopes hang on the shoulders of one man who you may not expect. Denard Span.

While Span was on the DL we got to “enjoy” a man who we have not seen much of this year, Delmon Young. While I have not given up on Young completely, it is fast approaching that level. Young hits for a very empty batting average and even if you were getting good production from him it would not be worth having to see him run around the outfield. Young’s defensive numbers (UZR/150=-23.2 and Range=-5.2) are similar to Washington National’s outfielder Adam Dunn (UZR/150=-22.4 and Range= -8.7) who regularly stars on ESPN Sportscenter’s Not top 10. Span on the other hand has amazing range which only seems mundane because of who patrols center field for the Twins. On top of this he is seemingly on base constantly (current OBP .388), steals bases (12), and draws walks almost as often as striking out (31:37).

So far this season Kubel has had a breakout year and Crede and Cuddyer have played as well as we could have hoped. Mauer and Morneau are each having MVP type seasons (and sadly, will probably split votes so neither will win) so really we are only missing a productive speed guy. While I think Brendan Harris and Matt Tolbert will be moderately successful given full time at bats they are not going to be the catalyst that makes or breaks a team. Denard Span is this guy. To make a comparison to another Twin, think of Cristian Guzman with more patience at the plate and better defense. A guy with the ability to spark a rally, drive in runs, and make game saving defensive plays. So there we have it, with Span at the top of the lineup, a top 10 offense in the major leagues. Without Span, we are the Chicago White Sox. Gross.

Off the TePoel: Good Rebound

Posted by Dain on June 25, 2009 under John | Be the First to Comment

I must say I didn’t expect a great game from the Twins today after the series-changing momentum killer bottom of the 8th inning last night. But they came out strong, survived the predictable 6th inning slump from Baker, and won the game with a combination of old and new Twins baseball. Great to see Denard Span back out there. With Gomez playing a bit better, Span stabilizing the top of the lineup, and the rest of the crew maintaining their health, we could see the offense stay hot. Maybe, just maybe, we’ll get out of this train leading to nowhere.

Is anyone else tired of the Twins not playing well until mid or late June? In 2006 it was the start of a historic run. 2008 it was a surprise. But now, for the third time in the last four years, this is a definite trend. I’m a huge Gardy fan, if you’ve ever read what I have to say, I love him as a manager. Tons of respect for the guy. But I think he’s getting too much slack here. As if we didn’t learn last year, each game counts. Get your team together by April – what else is Spring Training for?

What happened to the days of teams going out there and just demoralizing opponents for 162 games, like say, the Yankees in their run in 1996, 1998, and so on. Those were not mega star teams, early on anyway. Hard to believe, but they really weren’t. They looked beatable on paper but they just had that edge, that knack, that once the game began, you just didn’t think you could win, even if you were ahead. Those teams made a killing just edging out wins with scores like 5-2, 3-1. or 6-5. Nowadays players seem so delicate that there’s no consistency to the lineup. And if the Twins do play well and win a few games it’s like we just run with what we have and more or less approach some games like, if we win, we win, if not, oh well, at least we’ll get rested up!

That’s why he’s the manager though, and I’m not. This is a different brand of baseball and there’s a reason for it. Health is key and you don’t need to demoralize opponents. You just need to win one more game than they do to make the playoffs, and you’ve narrowed down the divisions to a handful of teams so the competition really may not be as deep when the divisions had 7 teams or more, like in the 60’s and 70’s.

Well, enough random thoughts for one night. Let’s see this team take shape before the all star break.

A New Star in Minneapolis

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I really am not an outspoken fan about any other sport other than baseball, but as a Minneapolis resident I do follow the Timberwolves, Vikings, and the Wild. For the first time possibly ever on Twins MVB.com I wanted to talk about the Wolves.

In case you missed the NBA Draft this evening, Minneapolis has a new sports star and I have a favorite NBA player… Ricky Rubio. Rubio is an 18 year old kid from Spain who dazzled the rest of world at the Olympics last summer in Beijing. Rubio is a tall, skinny point guard with an enormous wingspan and bedazzling passing skills.

Don’t worry, this isn’t going to become a basketball blog, but I wanted to be the first to jump on the Rubio bandwagon and start the Ricky fan club. Who’s coming with me?

Twins take the series in Milwa…

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Twins take the series in Milwaukee, their 3rd road series win of the year, and pack up on their way to St. Louis.

Fan Friday is open for tomorro…

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Fan Friday is open for tomorrow? Who wants to write a 300-400 word column about anything Twins to get your voice heard on a blog? #twinsmvb

Ready to settle into work this…

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Ready to settle into work this afternoon and listen to the Twins. Let’s win the series!

Heartbreaker for Twins; Blackburn

Posted by John on June 24, 2009 under John | Be the First to Comment

After seven stellar innings from Nick Blackburn, Twins fans started to imagine “Blacky” picking up his second complete game in a row when Nick toed the mound in the 8th inning. The visions of not only a complete game, but a victory were quickly dashed in the 8th frame.

As if the Jason Kendall RBI double to tie the game 3-3 was not enough, Blackburn attempted to make a fantastic play to gun Kendall out at third base. Before I could blink an errant throw was rolling all the way to the leftfield wall and Jason Kendall was slowly trotting to home with the go ahead run in the bottom of the 8th inning.

A quick save from Trevor Hoffman and what seemed like a potential complete game win for Blackburn and the Twins became a heartbreaker in Milwaukee. That’s all I got.

.500, Let’s Face It

Posted by John on June 21, 2009 under John | Be the First to Comment

Typically, TwinsMVB.com has always been a very positive outlook blog. I’ll always love the Twins no matter what and I’m a glass half full kind of guy. The last couple posts from my good friends Mitch and Dain have been quite honest and frank about some of the holes in this 2009 Twins roster. So it would seem that I should be hear to say why everything is going to be ok and that the Twins are going to come out on top right? Not so fast…

The Twins just went 3-3 in a six game homestand against the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Houston Astros. The Pirates are in last the N.L. Central with a 31-38 record while the Astros are in 5th with a 32-35 record. After the homestand the Twins set one game below .500 at 35-36 and currently trail the Detroit Tigers by four games in the A.L. Central.

I know it was only six games and really the Twins were in every single game and with a few more bounces the other way could have gone 5-1; however, maybe it’s time we face it and come to grips that the Twins are just a .500 club. They have never been more than one game above the .500 mark all season and can’t seem to make any win streak of more than two games.

Despite all of this many players are having outstanding seasons especially on the offensive side. Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau are locks as 2009 All-Stars and Jason Kubel and Michael Cuddyer are putting up solid seasons as well. With Kevin Slowey and Nick Blackburn pitching strong and Scott Baker starting to turn things around this club seems too talented to hover just above or below .500. But let’s face it… it’s the first full day of summer and this team is really starting to feel like nothing more than a .500 club.

Let’s just be glad that touch above .500 might be enough to win this division.