With the excitement late in the season, my computer being broken, and the work I had to do, this is way late. But it's here now.
September
Record: 16-11
Best record at any point (games above .500): 82-74
Worst record at any point (games below .500): 70-72
Days in first (and biggest lead): 0 (2.0 GB)
Days in last (and furthest out of first): 0 (7.0 GB)
Longest win streak: 6 games
Longest losing streak: 3 games
Runs scored/runs against: 126/104
Most runs scored/most runs allowed: 11/12
Shutouts/times shut out: 3/0
Extra inning games: 1
Longest game: 10 innings
Hitter of the month: Michael Cuddyer (103 AB, 13 R, 8 HR, 24 RBI, 4 BB:18 K, 1 SB, .282/.321/.563)
After Justin Morneau went down with his injury, with the Twins 7 games behind the Tigers, all seemed lost. It was largely thanks to Cuddyer that the Twins were able to make up the seemingly insurmountable deficit. Not only did he fill the need at first base, he hit the best he had the entire year, and did it in the clutch too. He came up with 8 games with over .100 WPA after Morneau went down, including the huge go-ahead home run against the Royals with two games left in the regular season.
Bizarro World hitter of the month: Justin Morneau (39 AB, 2 R, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 5 BB:8 K, 0 SB, .077/.178/.179)
I hate to pick on Morneau when he was battling through an injured back, but it just wasn't even close. Morneau had only 3 hits in 39 at bats, and every other player with more than 45 at bats had at least a .744 OPS. In order to catch Detroit, everyone had to play well; meaning that it was the one who wasn't playing then who gets this award. At least he got his 30th home run and 100th RBI before he went down for the season.
Pitcher of the month: Jesse Crain (3-0, 13.1 IP, 5 H, 6 BB, 7 K, 0.00/0.83)
Crain was demoted earlier this year, but he came back strong in September to play a role in Minnesota's comeback. Though he had a very weak K:BB ratio, he limited baserunners, didn't allow a single run, and contributed a positive WPA in 12 of the 15 games he pitched. The 3 games in October didn't go as well, since he allowed runs in 2 of those appearances, including a go-ahead run in the 10th inning of the play-in game. But that wasn't September, so it doesn't count.
Bizarro World pitcher of the month: Jeff Manship (0-1, 19.1 IP, 22 H, 11 BB, 14 K, 6.05/1.71)
Manship was booted out of the starting rotation briefly in September, and for good reason. He lasted 5 innings just once in 4 starts, and allowed at least 3 runs in 3 of those starts. All in all, it wasn't a horrible showing from a rookie making his first starts in the big leagues, but most everyone else picked up their game in the Twins' push for the postseason, leaving Manship as the recipient of this award.
October
Record: 5-0
Best record at any point (games above .500): 87-76
Worst record at any point (games below .500): 82-76
Days in first (and biggest lead): 3 (1.0 GB)
Days in last (and furthest out of first): 0 (2.0 GB)
Longest win streak: 5 games
Longest losing streak: 0 games
Runs scored/runs against: 42/23
Most runs scored/most runs allowed: 13/7
Shutouts/times shut out: 0/0
Extra inning games: 1
Longest game: 12 innings
Showing posts with label jesse crain. Show all posts
Showing posts with label jesse crain. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Friday, July 17, 2009
Back to Blogging
I took the week off from blogging with the All-Star break going on for most of it. I would say nothing happened either, but that wouldn't be true. The Twins called up Alexi Casilla for his third shot with the club this season, with Matt Tolbert mercifully being sent back to AAA (I don't think any team wants a guy on their roster who can be most aptly described as a poor man's Nick Punto).
The Twins also called up Kevin Mulvey to replace Jose Morales and add a twelfth pitcher to the roster. A twelfth pitcher isn't a necessity, but I'd rather have that than a third catcher who wins the lottery more often than he gets to play. I'm not sure Mulvey is the right pitcher, though. Bill Smith pointed to his ability to pitch in long relief for why he was the choice; if I'm not mistaken, though, Minnesota already has three pitchers who fit that role very well in R.A. Dickey, Bobby Keppel, and Brian Duensing.
What the Twins really need is another late-inning arm, which is why I would have rather given Juan Morillo, Jesse Crain, or Rob Delaney a shot instead. Mulvey has value, but he is just overkill at this point in time. Obviously, none of these players are slam dunks, or that move would have been made. Morillo is still walking a lot of batters, but it's way down from last year in AAA (from 8.45 BB/9 to 5.21) and his strikeout rate is incredible (13.50 K/9). Additionally, he's holding opponents to a .195 batting average with a totally average BABIP of .301. All of that results in a 2.84 ERA, which is just .02 off his FIP of 2.86. So, after typing all that, I'm pretty convinced I want Morillo in the bigs; the only reason I'd think otherwise is if he wouldn't be able to be sent back down if he struggled. Anyone want to help me out on that?
Delaney, meanwhile, was recently promoted to AAA and has not been nearly as dominant as he was at AA, but is holding his own. His K:BB ratio is down from 40-to-6 to 17-to-9, resulting in easily his worst BB/9, K/9, and K/BB numbers in a few years. However, he's still holding opponents to a .234 average, but that's aided by a .233 BABIP. His ERA is probably a little bloated, though, due to his 1.21 HR/9 rate that's more than twice as high as at any stop in the minors since Ft. Myers in 2006, when he threw just 5 innings.
Crain is in the same camp as Morillo, having been demoted from the Twins and with similar peripherals. He's walked too many (7 in 14.1 IP), but he's got a good strikeout rate (10.67 K/9) and opponents are batting only .216 against him.
All in all, I don't mind Mulvey getting promoted because Crain and Morillo both already showed they aren't sure things, and Delaney hasn't been great thus far in AAA.
The Twins also called up Kevin Mulvey to replace Jose Morales and add a twelfth pitcher to the roster. A twelfth pitcher isn't a necessity, but I'd rather have that than a third catcher who wins the lottery more often than he gets to play. I'm not sure Mulvey is the right pitcher, though. Bill Smith pointed to his ability to pitch in long relief for why he was the choice; if I'm not mistaken, though, Minnesota already has three pitchers who fit that role very well in R.A. Dickey, Bobby Keppel, and Brian Duensing.
What the Twins really need is another late-inning arm, which is why I would have rather given Juan Morillo, Jesse Crain, or Rob Delaney a shot instead. Mulvey has value, but he is just overkill at this point in time. Obviously, none of these players are slam dunks, or that move would have been made. Morillo is still walking a lot of batters, but it's way down from last year in AAA (from 8.45 BB/9 to 5.21) and his strikeout rate is incredible (13.50 K/9). Additionally, he's holding opponents to a .195 batting average with a totally average BABIP of .301. All of that results in a 2.84 ERA, which is just .02 off his FIP of 2.86. So, after typing all that, I'm pretty convinced I want Morillo in the bigs; the only reason I'd think otherwise is if he wouldn't be able to be sent back down if he struggled. Anyone want to help me out on that?
Delaney, meanwhile, was recently promoted to AAA and has not been nearly as dominant as he was at AA, but is holding his own. His K:BB ratio is down from 40-to-6 to 17-to-9, resulting in easily his worst BB/9, K/9, and K/BB numbers in a few years. However, he's still holding opponents to a .234 average, but that's aided by a .233 BABIP. His ERA is probably a little bloated, though, due to his 1.21 HR/9 rate that's more than twice as high as at any stop in the minors since Ft. Myers in 2006, when he threw just 5 innings.
Crain is in the same camp as Morillo, having been demoted from the Twins and with similar peripherals. He's walked too many (7 in 14.1 IP), but he's got a good strikeout rate (10.67 K/9) and opponents are batting only .216 against him.
All in all, I don't mind Mulvey getting promoted because Crain and Morillo both already showed they aren't sure things, and Delaney hasn't been great thus far in AAA.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Notes from the last few days
Well, I've been absent from blogging for a few days in a row for no reason other than laziness. To get back in the swing of things, I wanted to just jot down some thoughts from the last few days.
==>Since I've started actually watching the games, I've noticed something that has nothing to do with the game play itself: how opposing announcers talk about Joe Mauer. When I'm watching road games (and thus listening to the opposing team's announcers), the announcers consistently gush about Mauer, as they should. But beyond that, they seem to always speak with trepidation any time Mauer is coming up. If he's coming up fourth in an inning, they'll start talking about how important it is to go 1-2-3 as soon as the inning starts; if he's due up third, they'll talk about how vital it is to get the first two guys out; if he's leading off, they'll talk about how important it is that he's batting with no one on base. To know that he's putting the opposing so much on edge every time he comes up is pretty cool.
==>I enjoy watching interleague play for two reasons. The first one is obvious: I get to watch teams I don't see. The second, however, may be a reason other people dislike it: I love watching pitchers hit. Now, normally, they look pretty bad, and no Twins pitcher has a hit yet, but that doesn't take away from the excitement. If someone hits a double, it certainly is cause for happiness, but an extra base hit for a pitcher would result in total exuberance. And what if they hit a home run? Of course, those are very unlikely--but that's what makes it so exciting when it does happen.
On a related note, the more I think about, the sillier I think it is that pitchers hit year round in the NL. It's cool to watch a few times a year, but to have guys you're paying millions of dollars (to pitch) to be chancing getting hit by a pitch or pulling a groin or jamming something in a slide just seems to be tempting fate.
==>Two roster moves were made since I last posted: Jesse Crain was sent to AAA following his most recent implosion in order to make room for returning starter Glen Perkins. Jason Pridie was called up from AAA for his second cup of coffee to replace Denard Span, who was placed on the Disabled List. Pridie likely won't be up very long, but hopefully he'll be able to notch his first career hit (he was 0-4 in his brief stint last year).
==>Speaking of Perkins, he had a solid return outing on Tuesday night against the Pirates. He threw six innings of two-run ball and thus picked up a quality start. In addition, he struck out four against just one walk.
==>Why is Jose Morales with the Twins if he is not going to play at all? I can understand it if they want to get him some playing time over Mike Redmond, but obviously don't want to get rid of Redmond; that's not the case though. He seems to literally be nothing more than insurance for days when Joe Mauer is DHing. I know it would have been helpful once (when Redmond was ejected) and almost helpful another time (when Redmond got hit on the hand and looked like he might have to leave), but it is really a very rare situation, and it's not worth taking up a roster spot for that possibility.
==>After Mauer's 4-4 showing to start the series with the Pirates, he had a double in four at bats Wednesday before sitting out today's game. His average is now at .425 (58-160). What that means is that he could go 0 for his next sixty-seven and still be hitting over .300. It also means he could go 0-30 and 0-34 and still be leading the Majors and the AL, respectively, in batting average (assuming of course that the leaders stay where they are). And I recently learned that he also technically leads the batting title race despite the fact that he doesn't qualify yet.
==>The Twins took 2 of 3 from the Pirates, but they are going to have to take more advantage of their opportunities against teams not as bad as Pittsburgh if they expect to keep winning. Consider this: in game 1, they hit into 5 double plays (and had a runner thrown out at home) and still scored 8 runs. In game 2, they had 1 hit in 10 at bats with runners in scoring position, but followed that up by hitting even worse with RISP in game 3 (1-11). And Michael Cuddyer got thrown out again at home plate on an infield grounder.
==>And last, but most definitely not least, I wanted to bring up Nick Blackburn's sparkling outing earlier today. He came within one out of a complete game shutout, but still managed to go the distance, give up one run, and allow only six hits. He's now pitched six straight quality starts, and has gone at least seven innings in all but one of them. In that span he's lowered his ERA from 3.83 to 3.09, despite only having more strikeouts than walks in two of the six outings. Total, he walked 11 with just 16 strikeouts, but, as he's done all year, was very successful. I don't know if he can keep it up with this smoke and mirrors approach, but I'll enjoy it while it lasts.
==>Since I've started actually watching the games, I've noticed something that has nothing to do with the game play itself: how opposing announcers talk about Joe Mauer. When I'm watching road games (and thus listening to the opposing team's announcers), the announcers consistently gush about Mauer, as they should. But beyond that, they seem to always speak with trepidation any time Mauer is coming up. If he's coming up fourth in an inning, they'll start talking about how important it is to go 1-2-3 as soon as the inning starts; if he's due up third, they'll talk about how vital it is to get the first two guys out; if he's leading off, they'll talk about how important it is that he's batting with no one on base. To know that he's putting the opposing so much on edge every time he comes up is pretty cool.
==>I enjoy watching interleague play for two reasons. The first one is obvious: I get to watch teams I don't see. The second, however, may be a reason other people dislike it: I love watching pitchers hit. Now, normally, they look pretty bad, and no Twins pitcher has a hit yet, but that doesn't take away from the excitement. If someone hits a double, it certainly is cause for happiness, but an extra base hit for a pitcher would result in total exuberance. And what if they hit a home run? Of course, those are very unlikely--but that's what makes it so exciting when it does happen.
On a related note, the more I think about, the sillier I think it is that pitchers hit year round in the NL. It's cool to watch a few times a year, but to have guys you're paying millions of dollars (to pitch) to be chancing getting hit by a pitch or pulling a groin or jamming something in a slide just seems to be tempting fate.
==>Two roster moves were made since I last posted: Jesse Crain was sent to AAA following his most recent implosion in order to make room for returning starter Glen Perkins. Jason Pridie was called up from AAA for his second cup of coffee to replace Denard Span, who was placed on the Disabled List. Pridie likely won't be up very long, but hopefully he'll be able to notch his first career hit (he was 0-4 in his brief stint last year).
==>Speaking of Perkins, he had a solid return outing on Tuesday night against the Pirates. He threw six innings of two-run ball and thus picked up a quality start. In addition, he struck out four against just one walk.
==>Why is Jose Morales with the Twins if he is not going to play at all? I can understand it if they want to get him some playing time over Mike Redmond, but obviously don't want to get rid of Redmond; that's not the case though. He seems to literally be nothing more than insurance for days when Joe Mauer is DHing. I know it would have been helpful once (when Redmond was ejected) and almost helpful another time (when Redmond got hit on the hand and looked like he might have to leave), but it is really a very rare situation, and it's not worth taking up a roster spot for that possibility.
==>After Mauer's 4-4 showing to start the series with the Pirates, he had a double in four at bats Wednesday before sitting out today's game. His average is now at .425 (58-160). What that means is that he could go 0 for his next sixty-seven and still be hitting over .300. It also means he could go 0-30 and 0-34 and still be leading the Majors and the AL, respectively, in batting average (assuming of course that the leaders stay where they are). And I recently learned that he also technically leads the batting title race despite the fact that he doesn't qualify yet.
==>The Twins took 2 of 3 from the Pirates, but they are going to have to take more advantage of their opportunities against teams not as bad as Pittsburgh if they expect to keep winning. Consider this: in game 1, they hit into 5 double plays (and had a runner thrown out at home) and still scored 8 runs. In game 2, they had 1 hit in 10 at bats with runners in scoring position, but followed that up by hitting even worse with RISP in game 3 (1-11). And Michael Cuddyer got thrown out again at home plate on an infield grounder.
==>And last, but most definitely not least, I wanted to bring up Nick Blackburn's sparkling outing earlier today. He came within one out of a complete game shutout, but still managed to go the distance, give up one run, and allow only six hits. He's now pitched six straight quality starts, and has gone at least seven innings in all but one of them. In that span he's lowered his ERA from 3.83 to 3.09, despite only having more strikeouts than walks in two of the six outings. Total, he walked 11 with just 16 strikeouts, but, as he's done all year, was very successful. I don't know if he can keep it up with this smoke and mirrors approach, but I'll enjoy it while it lasts.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Crain to the Disabled List
Jesse Crain has been placed on the disabled list with right shoulder inflammation. For those who were crying foul about his over-usage, this is already vindication; whether or not it can actually be attributed to that, though, is always questionable. Jose Mijares will now return to the Majors after a brief stint in Rochester. The bullpen is in trouble and this certainly doesn't help, but hopefully Mijares pitches like he did at the end of last year, thus mitigating the loss of Crain. If he pitches like he did this spring, it could spell a lot of trouble for the Twins.
I was planning a bigger post for the off-day but I got distracted with other things. Luckily for me, I'll have another chance on Thursday!
I was planning a bigger post for the off-day but I got distracted with other things. Luckily for me, I'll have another chance on Thursday!
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Perkins Delivers
Yet again, after two of the Twins much more-heralded starters had particularly bad outings, Glen Perkins came through with a great performance but did not earn the win. This time, at least, the Twins claimed victory, though only after working a little overtime. Perkins brought a 2-1 lead into the eighth inning but he allowed the tying run which pushed his season ERA to 1.69. However, his GB% (62 to 56, MLB average is 76) has dropped from last year through these two starts, while he has yet to allow a home run. This trend is unlikely to continue, so Perkins will need to start inducing more ground balls or he'll probably see a large rise in his ERA.
After writing about using Joe Nathan more in non-save situations, it seems as if Ron Gardenhire has listened. Nathan pitched the ninth inning yesterday, despite the fact that the game was tied at two, and he therefore had no opportunity for a save. Of course, I still feel like he should have also pitched the tenth since he threw only twelve pitches--I'll refrain from quibbling, though, seeing as how it was a very encouraging move.
The 11 innings may not ever have been necessary had the Twins been able to push across a run or few in a golden opportunity in the sixth inning. With the bases loaded and nobody out, the Twins plated zero runs due to a Michael Cuddyer strikeout and Joe Crede double play. Crede would later make amends with the game-winning double, but Cuddyer finished the game 0-5.
And I can't write a post about this game without mentioning Jesse Crain's performance. He pitched both extra innings and allowed no baserunners, while striking out two. The second strikeout, of Adam Lind, was an epic 12-pitch at bat that ended the eleventh inning. It's too bad Perkins was so good today, because Crain (as a reliever) doesn't have many chances to snatch a game ball and this would have earned it on a number of days.
After writing about using Joe Nathan more in non-save situations, it seems as if Ron Gardenhire has listened. Nathan pitched the ninth inning yesterday, despite the fact that the game was tied at two, and he therefore had no opportunity for a save. Of course, I still feel like he should have also pitched the tenth since he threw only twelve pitches--I'll refrain from quibbling, though, seeing as how it was a very encouraging move.
The 11 innings may not ever have been necessary had the Twins been able to push across a run or few in a golden opportunity in the sixth inning. With the bases loaded and nobody out, the Twins plated zero runs due to a Michael Cuddyer strikeout and Joe Crede double play. Crede would later make amends with the game-winning double, but Cuddyer finished the game 0-5.
And I can't write a post about this game without mentioning Jesse Crain's performance. He pitched both extra innings and allowed no baserunners, while striking out two. The second strikeout, of Adam Lind, was an epic 12-pitch at bat that ended the eleventh inning. It's too bad Perkins was so good today, because Crain (as a reliever) doesn't have many chances to snatch a game ball and this would have earned it on a number of days.
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