Thome's milestone home run was a three-run blast that stretched the Twins' lead to 9-5. They eventually won the game 9-6 on the back of Thome's 5 RBIs.
Showing posts with label tigers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tigers. Show all posts
Monday, August 15, 2011
600!
Congratulations to Jim Thome for hitting his 600th career home run off of Daniel Schlereth in the 7th inning of last night's game in Detroit. It was his second of the night, as he had already homered the inning before off of Rick Porcello. He is the eighth player ever to hit 600 home runs, joining Barry Bonds, Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, Willie Mays, Alex Rodriguez, Ken Griffey Jr., and Sammy Sosa.
Thome's milestone home run was a three-run blast that stretched the Twins' lead to 9-5. They eventually won the game 9-6 on the back of Thome's 5 RBIs.
Thome's milestone home run was a three-run blast that stretched the Twins' lead to 9-5. They eventually won the game 9-6 on the back of Thome's 5 RBIs.
Monday, July 12, 2010
Twins Update: Starting Rotation, Morneau, Mauer
The Twins hit the All-Star break in a bit of a slide. They lost four games in a row before their series-salvaging win yesterday against Detroit and enter the break in third place. Of course it was none other than Carl Pavano who stepped up and pitched an excellent game to put the Twins in position to win. That followed terrible outings from the Twins' previous two starters, Francisco Liriano and Nick Blackburn. Blackburn has been nothing short of horrendous the entire year, which is unfortunate considering a) the Twins signed him to a 4-year deal in the offseason, and b) he's been in the starting rotation the entire year!
I continue to have faith in Liriano, despite some struggles over his last couple of starts. Maybe that's just the fantasy owner in me--since I own him in both of my leagues--but his FIP is still a dazzling 2.19, even after Friday's meltdown, and his xFIP is just 2.97. Blackburn, however, has no such redeeming features. Since the beginning of June, he's lasted more than four innings in just three of his eight starts. Not coincidentally, those three starts are the only ones in that span in which he's walked more batters than he's struck out. In total, he's walked 14 batters against just 17 strikeouts and allowed 43 runs (40 earned) in 36 innings. Yes, his ERA is over nine during that period, which is pretty easy to do when you've surrendered at least 4 runs in all but one start.
Scott Baker is another guy who I have a fantasy investment in, and a lot of patience with. The cortisone shot he had this past weekend is a little worrisome, but hopefully the extra rest will solve that problem. Otherwise, I am very confident in Baker. It's just maddening how poorly he's doing considering his peripheral stats. He's walking a career low number of batters, and he's striking them out at a career-high rate. His K:BB ratio on the season is an even 5.00, good for third in the Majors, and he still continues to be battered around on the mound.
That number ranks behind only Cliff Lee and Roy Halladay, and just ahead of Jered Weaver, Dan Haren, Zack Greinke, and Josh Johnson. That sounds like some pretty good company to me. Incidentally, the Twins have 4 of the top 16 pitchers in K:BB ratio, with Liriano placing 12th (3.90), Pavano 13th (3.82), and Kevin Slowey 16th (3.58). The one starter not ranked near the top is, of course, Blackburn, who ranks in the bottom ten with his typically embarrassing mark of 1.26.
Back to Baker, though. His recent run has been particularly frustrating. Even though he has struck out 25 batters in his last four starts (23.1 innings) and walked ZERO, he's managed to give up 17 runs. If you go back one more start, he's struck out 37 batters and walked one over his last 30.1 innings, so suffice to say, I just don't understand how he can possibly continue putting up those ugly surface numbers.
The MVPs are both banged up now, with Justin Morneau suffering from a blow to the head and Joe Mauer dealing with general catcher fatigue. Generally I think baseball players are pretty much wimps, but anything involving a head injury or the soreness from catching have my sympathy. (A quick aside: physical exhaustion from DHing a few days in a row certainly qualifies as one of the things that gives me that impression. I'm looking at you, Jim Thome.) With Morneau, I think back to the time when he was hit in the head with a pitch all the way back in 2005. He never seemed to fully recover during the season, and struggled to his worst statistical year by far. This, however, seems much less serious--and Morneau has said it doesn't feel anything like that time--but I still keep that in the back of my mind.
While Morneau's injury will prevent him from starting or playing in the All-Star game on Tuesday, all indications are that Mauer will play. If he was sore enough that he couldn't play yesterday, I'd like to see him sit it out, but then again I would be disappointed if neither Mauer nor Morneau were able to play since it would also mean the Twins would not be represented on the playing field.
Just as I have faith in Liriano and Baker, I have faith in the Twins as a whole. I still think they are the best team in the division, and I think they will prove it in the second half.
I continue to have faith in Liriano, despite some struggles over his last couple of starts. Maybe that's just the fantasy owner in me--since I own him in both of my leagues--but his FIP is still a dazzling 2.19, even after Friday's meltdown, and his xFIP is just 2.97. Blackburn, however, has no such redeeming features. Since the beginning of June, he's lasted more than four innings in just three of his eight starts. Not coincidentally, those three starts are the only ones in that span in which he's walked more batters than he's struck out. In total, he's walked 14 batters against just 17 strikeouts and allowed 43 runs (40 earned) in 36 innings. Yes, his ERA is over nine during that period, which is pretty easy to do when you've surrendered at least 4 runs in all but one start.
Scott Baker is another guy who I have a fantasy investment in, and a lot of patience with. The cortisone shot he had this past weekend is a little worrisome, but hopefully the extra rest will solve that problem. Otherwise, I am very confident in Baker. It's just maddening how poorly he's doing considering his peripheral stats. He's walking a career low number of batters, and he's striking them out at a career-high rate. His K:BB ratio on the season is an even 5.00, good for third in the Majors, and he still continues to be battered around on the mound.
That number ranks behind only Cliff Lee and Roy Halladay, and just ahead of Jered Weaver, Dan Haren, Zack Greinke, and Josh Johnson. That sounds like some pretty good company to me. Incidentally, the Twins have 4 of the top 16 pitchers in K:BB ratio, with Liriano placing 12th (3.90), Pavano 13th (3.82), and Kevin Slowey 16th (3.58). The one starter not ranked near the top is, of course, Blackburn, who ranks in the bottom ten with his typically embarrassing mark of 1.26.
Back to Baker, though. His recent run has been particularly frustrating. Even though he has struck out 25 batters in his last four starts (23.1 innings) and walked ZERO, he's managed to give up 17 runs. If you go back one more start, he's struck out 37 batters and walked one over his last 30.1 innings, so suffice to say, I just don't understand how he can possibly continue putting up those ugly surface numbers.
The MVPs are both banged up now, with Justin Morneau suffering from a blow to the head and Joe Mauer dealing with general catcher fatigue. Generally I think baseball players are pretty much wimps, but anything involving a head injury or the soreness from catching have my sympathy. (A quick aside: physical exhaustion from DHing a few days in a row certainly qualifies as one of the things that gives me that impression. I'm looking at you, Jim Thome.) With Morneau, I think back to the time when he was hit in the head with a pitch all the way back in 2005. He never seemed to fully recover during the season, and struggled to his worst statistical year by far. This, however, seems much less serious--and Morneau has said it doesn't feel anything like that time--but I still keep that in the back of my mind.
While Morneau's injury will prevent him from starting or playing in the All-Star game on Tuesday, all indications are that Mauer will play. If he was sore enough that he couldn't play yesterday, I'd like to see him sit it out, but then again I would be disappointed if neither Mauer nor Morneau were able to play since it would also mean the Twins would not be represented on the playing field.
Just as I have faith in Liriano and Baker, I have faith in the Twins as a whole. I still think they are the best team in the division, and I think they will prove it in the second half.
Monday, June 28, 2010
Jim Thome's Triple
With the Twins down 5-1 to the Tigers, and generally having played abysmally over the last week or so, I was not in a good mood. Jason Kubel had already grounded into two inning-ending double plays and Francisco Liriano had given up four runs in the first inning. After Ramon Santiago's at bat in the fourth inning, I was at my low point. That's because Santiago was 2-2 with a walk, on the back of a bunt single, an infield single, and a terrible walk call. When the batter stays in the box to continue hitting, you know you've made a huge mistake (pitch #5).
My immediate thought was: oh my god, Thome might get a triple!! As he lumbered, to put it nicely, around the bases, I considered all the things that would be moving faster. Prince Fielder. Bengie Molina. The guys in World's Strongest Man when they're pulling an 18-wheeler. And, despite all that, he was able to leg out his first triple since 2004. Which couldn't help but put a smile on my face, regardless of the situation.
As I type this, Thome just homered to make it 5-4! I swear, I didn't write anything in the offseason about how Thome was a useless pickup!
That's when Jim Thome made everything feel okay. With Michael Cuddyer on first base, Thome crushed a ball to right-center. It was hit so hard, in fact, you thought he might not make it to second. That's when things got interesting--the ball caromed off the side of the scoreboard and rolled back toward the right field corner.
My immediate thought was: oh my god, Thome might get a triple!! As he lumbered, to put it nicely, around the bases, I considered all the things that would be moving faster. Prince Fielder. Bengie Molina. The guys in World's Strongest Man when they're pulling an 18-wheeler. And, despite all that, he was able to leg out his first triple since 2004. Which couldn't help but put a smile on my face, regardless of the situation.
As I type this, Thome just homered to make it 5-4! I swear, I didn't write anything in the offseason about how Thome was a useless pickup!
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
It goes on and on and on
The Metrodome had its farewell party on Sunday, but the Twins refuse to close it down. Despite already playing a 163rd game of their regular season, the Twins still decided they hadn't played enough, forcing the play-in game to go extra innings. There were enough thrilling moments to give someone a heart attack, but in the end they pulled out an AL Central Division championship, leaving the Tigers bitterly remembering the 2006 season and their last division title of 22 years ago.
The game had everything. Huge home runs, clutch hits, costly blunders, managerial miscues, costly pitching... it all added up to the most exciting Twins game I've ever been privileged to experience. [For full disclosure, I was alive for the 1991 World Series, but I was just two, and I've only been a really involved fan for about 5 years.]
Now it's on to Yankee Stadium, where the Twins are 3 for their last 29, against a team whom they lost all 7 games during the regular season, with their entire bullpen being used yesterday and Brian Duensing starting game 1. Sure, it looks pretty bad, but that was the case in early September and as late as last Thursday too. And, whatever the case, the fact that they made it to the postseason is special in its own right.
But before I conclude this, I have to look back at the game that was.
It started innocently enough, as the teams were scoreless through the first two innings. In the top of third, though, Scott Baker gave up three runs, including a Miguel Cabrera homer. But Baker settled down after that inning, and the Twins answered immediately with a run in the bottom of the third thanks to an error by Rick Porcello on a pick-off attempt.
The game remained uneventful until the sixth inning, when Jason Kubel hit a solo home run to bring Minnesota within a run. Following a walk to the next batter, Rick Porcello was lifted for Zach Miner. I don't know if it's just me, but I was surprised to see Miner in this game. He seems like a mop-up man to me, but maybe that's just my impression because he gets hit around every time the Twins see him (6.39 ERA, .919 OPS against them in 2009). Regardless, I was giddy.
Sure enough, Orlando Cabrera connected for a home run in the seventh that cleared the right field wall by about 3 millimeters and put the Twins on top 4-3. Again, though, the other team responded, as it would be all night. Having already burned through Jon Rauch and Jose Mijares in the seventh inning, Matt Guerrier stayed in for the 8th, after having gotten a huge out with two runners on in the frame before. Magglio Ordonez--who has been Joe Mauer-like the past two months--smashed a solo homer to lead off the next frame and tie the game.
After getting an out but walking two batters, Guerrier was relieved by Joe Nathan. Nathan did his job, inducing a infield fly and strikeout of Gerald Laird--who made big outs all night long--to end the threat. The bottom of the inning was quick, as the Twins went 1-2-3, which set the stage for a very nerve-wracking ninth inning.
Nathan stayed in for a second inning, but gave up two hits to start it off. Ramon Santiago pushed a excellent bunt down the first base line to get things going, and immediately I was worried. Very recently he did the same thing (I believe in the Twins 7-2 loss last Wednesday) to begin an inning, and the Tigers capitalized and scored a few runs. When Curtis Granderson followed with a single, my heart jumped to my throat. Placido Polanco stepped up to the plate, the second-toughest man to strike out in the Major Leagues this year (7.4 %). Of course Joe Nathan did it, making him look incredibly foolish as he kicked a leg out to avoid being hit, only to see the ball break back over the plate.
Still, a sacrifice fly or a even a slow roller could have put the Tigers up at this crucial juncture, but the Twins got some really good fortune when Magglio Ordonez crushed a ball that was caught by Orlando Cabrera who threw to first and got a gigantic double play. For one of many times last night, I was able to breath a huge sigh of relief.
The bottom of the ninth inning saw the Twins put a man in scoring position with one out, but Cabrera failed to get him in before Joe Mauer was intentionally walked. And up came... Carlos Gomez?! I don't argue with the move, as it was a good time to bring in a defensive replacement when Gardenhire did, but it was enormously disappointing to find him hitting when I had forgotten and thought it would be Jason Kubel. As you know, Gomez grounded out to send the extra game into extra innings.
That's where things got really shaky. Jesse Crain got the first out, hit Aubrey Huff on an 0-2 pitch, and then struck out Ryan Raburn, before Brandon Inge doubled in pinch-runner Don Kelly on a close play at the plate to give the Tigers the lead. Gerald Laird ended the inning with a groundout, but the damage had been done.
Well, damage, but not enough damage. Michael Cuddyer opened the bottom of inning with a looping fly ball to left field, and as I was screaming for it to get down I saw Raburn go into his fateful slide. The ball missed his glove and bounced past him and Curtis Granderson as I began shouting "Go, go, go!' Cuddyer hustled into third base to put the Twins in great position. I cursed out Delmon Young as he grounded out weakly on the first pitch, and Brendan Harris followed him with a walk. That meant it was up to Matt Tolbert and Nick Punto to keep the Twins' season alive.
Tolbert battled in his at bat and sent a bouncing ball up the middle, and I dropped to my knees as I saw Polanco closing in on it for a sure double play; somehow, though, it scooted through and Cuddyer scored to tie the game! Not only that, but pinch runner Alexi Casilla was now on third base still with only one out. Now Nick Punto had a chance to extend the Metrodome's life. And that he did, but by lining into a double play that meant there would be another inning in this play-in game. Raburn tried to atone for his earlier blunder by gunning down Casilla at home on an extremely close play. Casilla had a great slide, but he wouldn't have needed it if he hadn't been so late getting back to tag up. Nonetheless, the game continued.
The eleventh inning featured little excitement, as Crain, Ron Mahay, and Bobby Keppel each got an out in the top half and the Twins went 1-2-3 in the bottom half followed by the Twins going down in order in their half. That left Keppel to face the Tigers in the twelfth inning, the same guy who I had vehemently not wanted to see enter the game when he started warming up with Baker struggling in the third.
With one out, Keppel allowed runners to reach second and third before intentionally walking Raburn to load the bases. He then got Brandon Inge to ground into a force out at home on a great play by Nick Punto. With two outs and the bases still loaded, Keppel fell behind 2-0 and then 3-1 on Gerald Laird. As I struggled to contain myself, screaming angrily about what I would do if he walked in the go-ahead run, Keppel got a called second strike and then a swinging strike from Laird to finish the inning. For Laird, it was yet another big out and a nice capper on his 0-6 night.
In Minnesota's half-inning, Carlos Gomez was again batting instead of Jason Kubel, but this time he answered with a single to left field. As Fernando Rodney was in his fourth inning, I figured it was about time the Twins made Jim Leyland pay for that decision. Michael Cuddyer did his part by advancing Gomez to second, bringing up Delmon with the winning run in scoring position. He didn't get a chance, though, as Rodney gave him an intentional free pass to first base with two of the lightest-hitting players in the game due up: Alexi Casilla and Matt Tolbert.
Some people think it was a mistake to walk Young, but I wholeheartedly disagree. For the Tigers, the choice was a) pitch to Young and then Casilla with no force or b) pitch to Casilla and Tolbert with a force at second and third. That seems like a no-brainer to me. The .198 hitter then strolled to the plate, and I was reminded of last year against Chicago when he made the final out of the Twins' season, but also of the second game of the year, when he singled in two runs with two outs to give the Twins a 6-5 walk-off victory.
Oh, how similar that second memory was, as Casilla sent a ball bounding between the first and second baseman that, as you could tell immediately, would score Gomez from second and send the Twins into the postseason on the strength of a 6-5 victory over the Tigers. And Casilla got his own personal reward as his average went up to .202, sparing him the ignominy of being below the Mendoza line for the season.
The game had everything. Huge home runs, clutch hits, costly blunders, managerial miscues, costly pitching... it all added up to the most exciting Twins game I've ever been privileged to experience. [For full disclosure, I was alive for the 1991 World Series, but I was just two, and I've only been a really involved fan for about 5 years.]
Now it's on to Yankee Stadium, where the Twins are 3 for their last 29, against a team whom they lost all 7 games during the regular season, with their entire bullpen being used yesterday and Brian Duensing starting game 1. Sure, it looks pretty bad, but that was the case in early September and as late as last Thursday too. And, whatever the case, the fact that they made it to the postseason is special in its own right.
But before I conclude this, I have to look back at the game that was.
It started innocently enough, as the teams were scoreless through the first two innings. In the top of third, though, Scott Baker gave up three runs, including a Miguel Cabrera homer. But Baker settled down after that inning, and the Twins answered immediately with a run in the bottom of the third thanks to an error by Rick Porcello on a pick-off attempt.
The game remained uneventful until the sixth inning, when Jason Kubel hit a solo home run to bring Minnesota within a run. Following a walk to the next batter, Rick Porcello was lifted for Zach Miner. I don't know if it's just me, but I was surprised to see Miner in this game. He seems like a mop-up man to me, but maybe that's just my impression because he gets hit around every time the Twins see him (6.39 ERA, .919 OPS against them in 2009). Regardless, I was giddy.
Sure enough, Orlando Cabrera connected for a home run in the seventh that cleared the right field wall by about 3 millimeters and put the Twins on top 4-3. Again, though, the other team responded, as it would be all night. Having already burned through Jon Rauch and Jose Mijares in the seventh inning, Matt Guerrier stayed in for the 8th, after having gotten a huge out with two runners on in the frame before. Magglio Ordonez--who has been Joe Mauer-like the past two months--smashed a solo homer to lead off the next frame and tie the game.
After getting an out but walking two batters, Guerrier was relieved by Joe Nathan. Nathan did his job, inducing a infield fly and strikeout of Gerald Laird--who made big outs all night long--to end the threat. The bottom of the inning was quick, as the Twins went 1-2-3, which set the stage for a very nerve-wracking ninth inning.
Nathan stayed in for a second inning, but gave up two hits to start it off. Ramon Santiago pushed a excellent bunt down the first base line to get things going, and immediately I was worried. Very recently he did the same thing (I believe in the Twins 7-2 loss last Wednesday) to begin an inning, and the Tigers capitalized and scored a few runs. When Curtis Granderson followed with a single, my heart jumped to my throat. Placido Polanco stepped up to the plate, the second-toughest man to strike out in the Major Leagues this year (7.4 %). Of course Joe Nathan did it, making him look incredibly foolish as he kicked a leg out to avoid being hit, only to see the ball break back over the plate.
Still, a sacrifice fly or a even a slow roller could have put the Tigers up at this crucial juncture, but the Twins got some really good fortune when Magglio Ordonez crushed a ball that was caught by Orlando Cabrera who threw to first and got a gigantic double play. For one of many times last night, I was able to breath a huge sigh of relief.
The bottom of the ninth inning saw the Twins put a man in scoring position with one out, but Cabrera failed to get him in before Joe Mauer was intentionally walked. And up came... Carlos Gomez?! I don't argue with the move, as it was a good time to bring in a defensive replacement when Gardenhire did, but it was enormously disappointing to find him hitting when I had forgotten and thought it would be Jason Kubel. As you know, Gomez grounded out to send the extra game into extra innings.
That's where things got really shaky. Jesse Crain got the first out, hit Aubrey Huff on an 0-2 pitch, and then struck out Ryan Raburn, before Brandon Inge doubled in pinch-runner Don Kelly on a close play at the plate to give the Tigers the lead. Gerald Laird ended the inning with a groundout, but the damage had been done.
Well, damage, but not enough damage. Michael Cuddyer opened the bottom of inning with a looping fly ball to left field, and as I was screaming for it to get down I saw Raburn go into his fateful slide. The ball missed his glove and bounced past him and Curtis Granderson as I began shouting "Go, go, go!' Cuddyer hustled into third base to put the Twins in great position. I cursed out Delmon Young as he grounded out weakly on the first pitch, and Brendan Harris followed him with a walk. That meant it was up to Matt Tolbert and Nick Punto to keep the Twins' season alive.
Tolbert battled in his at bat and sent a bouncing ball up the middle, and I dropped to my knees as I saw Polanco closing in on it for a sure double play; somehow, though, it scooted through and Cuddyer scored to tie the game! Not only that, but pinch runner Alexi Casilla was now on third base still with only one out. Now Nick Punto had a chance to extend the Metrodome's life. And that he did, but by lining into a double play that meant there would be another inning in this play-in game. Raburn tried to atone for his earlier blunder by gunning down Casilla at home on an extremely close play. Casilla had a great slide, but he wouldn't have needed it if he hadn't been so late getting back to tag up. Nonetheless, the game continued.
The eleventh inning featured little excitement, as Crain, Ron Mahay, and Bobby Keppel each got an out in the top half and the Twins went 1-2-3 in the bottom half followed by the Twins going down in order in their half. That left Keppel to face the Tigers in the twelfth inning, the same guy who I had vehemently not wanted to see enter the game when he started warming up with Baker struggling in the third.
With one out, Keppel allowed runners to reach second and third before intentionally walking Raburn to load the bases. He then got Brandon Inge to ground into a force out at home on a great play by Nick Punto. With two outs and the bases still loaded, Keppel fell behind 2-0 and then 3-1 on Gerald Laird. As I struggled to contain myself, screaming angrily about what I would do if he walked in the go-ahead run, Keppel got a called second strike and then a swinging strike from Laird to finish the inning. For Laird, it was yet another big out and a nice capper on his 0-6 night.
In Minnesota's half-inning, Carlos Gomez was again batting instead of Jason Kubel, but this time he answered with a single to left field. As Fernando Rodney was in his fourth inning, I figured it was about time the Twins made Jim Leyland pay for that decision. Michael Cuddyer did his part by advancing Gomez to second, bringing up Delmon with the winning run in scoring position. He didn't get a chance, though, as Rodney gave him an intentional free pass to first base with two of the lightest-hitting players in the game due up: Alexi Casilla and Matt Tolbert.
Some people think it was a mistake to walk Young, but I wholeheartedly disagree. For the Tigers, the choice was a) pitch to Young and then Casilla with no force or b) pitch to Casilla and Tolbert with a force at second and third. That seems like a no-brainer to me. The .198 hitter then strolled to the plate, and I was reminded of last year against Chicago when he made the final out of the Twins' season, but also of the second game of the year, when he singled in two runs with two outs to give the Twins a 6-5 walk-off victory.
Oh, how similar that second memory was, as Casilla sent a ball bounding between the first and second baseman that, as you could tell immediately, would score Gomez from second and send the Twins into the postseason on the strength of a 6-5 victory over the Tigers. And Casilla got his own personal reward as his average went up to .202, sparing him the ignominy of being below the Mendoza line for the season.
Friday, October 2, 2009
Why not?
As you can see from my last two postings, I woke up Thursday morning feeling a lot more hopeful than I did Wednesday night after their second loss to the Tigers. And I still feel that way thanks to an utterly necessary victory on Thursday afternoon against Detroit. Even if your spirits aren't as high as mine, you can at least take solace in the fact that: a) there will be at least one more meaningful game in the Metrodome, b) the Tigers will not be able to celebrate with the Twins looking on from the other dugout, and c) the Twins have battled through numerous injuries and have still not been eliminated with just three games to go.
Now, you may say, what does that matter if the Twins aren't going to make the playoffs. You might say, why should I think they have a shot? And that would certainly be a logical argument: They're two games back with only 3 games to play, and they have to go up against the possible Cy Young winner Zack Greinke in one of the games. Well, my answer is simply, why not? Why is it that the Twins have no shot?
The Tigers will host the White Sox for three games, and they need to lose at least two of those to leave the Twins a window of opportunity. They did just that only last weekend, with the obvious (and important) difference being that the series was in Chicago. Take a look at the pitching match-ups, though. It's Jake Peavy vs. Edwin Jackson on Friday. Jackson has been quite good this year, but so has Peavy in his limited playing time. More importantly, Peavy handled the Tigers one week ago, plowing through 7 scoreless innings and striking out 8 with a modest 95 pitches.
Next up it's Alfredo Figaro against Freddy Garcia. Figaro will be making just his third major league start in his fifth major league game, and thus far has an ERA of 5.74. Garcia, meanwhile, will be making his eighth start of the season. He got knocked around his last time out by Detroit, but before that he had pitched six innings and allowed 3 or fewer runs in six consecutive starts. On Sunday, if it still matters, it will be Justin Verlander opposite Mark Buehrle. Obviously that game will be tough regardless of who pitches for the White Sox, but Ozzie Guillen has stated it will be Buehrle in the case that the Twins are still alive--and the White Sox won't necessarily have to win this one anyway.
For the Twins, Jeff Manship will pitch on Friday against Lenny DiNardo. This figures to be high-scoring, as Manship has not exactly been lights-out and DiNardo has been awful as well. He's walked 13 versus just 8 strikeouts and has allowed 21 runs (17 earned) in 20.1 innings. There's no doubt it's a winnable game for the Twins. Saturday will be the toughest game for sure, as Zack Greinke will be starting. Countering with Nick Blackburn just isn't equal, and it doesn't help that he'll be pitching on 3-days rest. But it's only one game, and you never know what can happen in that small sample size.
On Sunday, it will be quite an achievement if the Twins are able to suck viewers away from football, even though the Vikings don't play until Monday, because it will mean they're still in the hunt. Brian Duensing is currently penciled in to start, and I haven't seen anything about other options if it is the deciding game. Sure, he's not the guy you won't to be taking the mound in that situation, but you also DO want Luke Hochevar to be staring in from the pitching rubber for the other team. He's allowed at least as many runs as innings he's pitched in five of his last six starts, and he's allowed fewer than 4 runs in an outing just twice since July.
All told, the fact that I've spent this much time analyzing the next series means I really think they could do it. Coolstandings gives the Twins an 8.2 % chance to still make the playoffs. Certainly not something I'd bet on, but also more than enough for me to still hope.
I realize this was overly positive and extremely biased, and I've left out many reasons why the Twins won't win the division. My response: that's the point. Perhaps I'm setting myself up for a huge fall, and I should have just sunken into misery after Minnesota's loss in Wednesday and been done with it. But I haven't. I won't give up until it's officially over. In some situations, that statement would be ridiculous. But not with only three games left in the season.
Now, you may say, what does that matter if the Twins aren't going to make the playoffs. You might say, why should I think they have a shot? And that would certainly be a logical argument: They're two games back with only 3 games to play, and they have to go up against the possible Cy Young winner Zack Greinke in one of the games. Well, my answer is simply, why not? Why is it that the Twins have no shot?
The Tigers will host the White Sox for three games, and they need to lose at least two of those to leave the Twins a window of opportunity. They did just that only last weekend, with the obvious (and important) difference being that the series was in Chicago. Take a look at the pitching match-ups, though. It's Jake Peavy vs. Edwin Jackson on Friday. Jackson has been quite good this year, but so has Peavy in his limited playing time. More importantly, Peavy handled the Tigers one week ago, plowing through 7 scoreless innings and striking out 8 with a modest 95 pitches.
Next up it's Alfredo Figaro against Freddy Garcia. Figaro will be making just his third major league start in his fifth major league game, and thus far has an ERA of 5.74. Garcia, meanwhile, will be making his eighth start of the season. He got knocked around his last time out by Detroit, but before that he had pitched six innings and allowed 3 or fewer runs in six consecutive starts. On Sunday, if it still matters, it will be Justin Verlander opposite Mark Buehrle. Obviously that game will be tough regardless of who pitches for the White Sox, but Ozzie Guillen has stated it will be Buehrle in the case that the Twins are still alive--and the White Sox won't necessarily have to win this one anyway.
For the Twins, Jeff Manship will pitch on Friday against Lenny DiNardo. This figures to be high-scoring, as Manship has not exactly been lights-out and DiNardo has been awful as well. He's walked 13 versus just 8 strikeouts and has allowed 21 runs (17 earned) in 20.1 innings. There's no doubt it's a winnable game for the Twins. Saturday will be the toughest game for sure, as Zack Greinke will be starting. Countering with Nick Blackburn just isn't equal, and it doesn't help that he'll be pitching on 3-days rest. But it's only one game, and you never know what can happen in that small sample size.
On Sunday, it will be quite an achievement if the Twins are able to suck viewers away from football, even though the Vikings don't play until Monday, because it will mean they're still in the hunt. Brian Duensing is currently penciled in to start, and I haven't seen anything about other options if it is the deciding game. Sure, he's not the guy you won't to be taking the mound in that situation, but you also DO want Luke Hochevar to be staring in from the pitching rubber for the other team. He's allowed at least as many runs as innings he's pitched in five of his last six starts, and he's allowed fewer than 4 runs in an outing just twice since July.
All told, the fact that I've spent this much time analyzing the next series means I really think they could do it. Coolstandings gives the Twins an 8.2 % chance to still make the playoffs. Certainly not something I'd bet on, but also more than enough for me to still hope.
I realize this was overly positive and extremely biased, and I've left out many reasons why the Twins won't win the division. My response: that's the point. Perhaps I'm setting myself up for a huge fall, and I should have just sunken into misery after Minnesota's loss in Wednesday and been done with it. But I haven't. I won't give up until it's officially over. In some situations, that statement would be ridiculous. But not with only three games left in the season.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
2 games, 2-run difference
If nothing else, the first day of games between the Twins and Tigers lived up to the hype it was given and the excitement I felt for it. Both games were decided by one run, and thus obviously went down to the wire.
The first went the Twins' way, as Nick Blackburn recovered after a shaky beginning to cruise through seven innings with just one run allowed. Rick Porcello was performing similarly for the Tigers, though he pitched just 6 1/3 innings. A sac fly by Denard Span had tied the game at one earlier and set the stage for a dreadfully disappointing ninth inning. After Alexi Casilla doubled to start it off, Matt Tolbert bunted him over to third base--the third such sacrifice in the game for the Twins. That one I like. The next one, however, I didn't like, and Nick Punto popped it straight up for an inning-ending double play on the suicide squeeze attempt.
But Jon Rauch pitched a scoreless bottom half despite a leadoff walk, giving the Twins their chance in extras. They took advantage immediately, scoring two runs in the tenth on Orlando Cabrera's single and Delmon Young's sacrifice fly. They would need both as Curtis Granderson homered off Joe Nathan before he got the next three outs in succession.
The second game looked bad from the start. Brian Duensing finally pitched like one might assume Brian Duensing would pitch, and Justin Verlander continued to pitch like one would think Justin Verlander would pitch, giving Detroit a lead. But then the Twins struck as Verlander's pitch count climbed toward 100, scoring twice in the sixth, and again as it soared past 125, scoring twice in the eighth. That made it 5-4 Tigers with just one more chance remaining for the Twins.
And yet again Curtis Granderson led off the Tigers' half-inning with a solo home run, this time off Matt Guerrier. That really put the Twins in trouble with just 3 outs left. And it proved to be the difference as the Twins took advantage of an error by Placido Polanco (despite what the official scorer may think) and a misplayed ball by Granderson to score one run and get the tying run at second base. Denard Span, though, flew out to end the ball game with the score 6-5 Detroit.
Granted, that was the one game of the series the Twins could "afford to lose", with Verlander toeing the rubber, but to come up just short is really heartbreaking. There's no time to sulk, though, as they need to come back and win the next two games on Wednesday and Thursday to stay in the play-off hunt.
The first went the Twins' way, as Nick Blackburn recovered after a shaky beginning to cruise through seven innings with just one run allowed. Rick Porcello was performing similarly for the Tigers, though he pitched just 6 1/3 innings. A sac fly by Denard Span had tied the game at one earlier and set the stage for a dreadfully disappointing ninth inning. After Alexi Casilla doubled to start it off, Matt Tolbert bunted him over to third base--the third such sacrifice in the game for the Twins. That one I like. The next one, however, I didn't like, and Nick Punto popped it straight up for an inning-ending double play on the suicide squeeze attempt.
But Jon Rauch pitched a scoreless bottom half despite a leadoff walk, giving the Twins their chance in extras. They took advantage immediately, scoring two runs in the tenth on Orlando Cabrera's single and Delmon Young's sacrifice fly. They would need both as Curtis Granderson homered off Joe Nathan before he got the next three outs in succession.
The second game looked bad from the start. Brian Duensing finally pitched like one might assume Brian Duensing would pitch, and Justin Verlander continued to pitch like one would think Justin Verlander would pitch, giving Detroit a lead. But then the Twins struck as Verlander's pitch count climbed toward 100, scoring twice in the sixth, and again as it soared past 125, scoring twice in the eighth. That made it 5-4 Tigers with just one more chance remaining for the Twins.
And yet again Curtis Granderson led off the Tigers' half-inning with a solo home run, this time off Matt Guerrier. That really put the Twins in trouble with just 3 outs left. And it proved to be the difference as the Twins took advantage of an error by Placido Polanco (despite what the official scorer may think) and a misplayed ball by Granderson to score one run and get the tying run at second base. Denard Span, though, flew out to end the ball game with the score 6-5 Detroit.
Granted, that was the one game of the series the Twins could "afford to lose", with Verlander toeing the rubber, but to come up just short is really heartbreaking. There's no time to sulk, though, as they need to come back and win the next two games on Wednesday and Thursday to stay in the play-off hunt.
Saturday, August 8, 2009
The Issue of Instant Replay
I almost wrote this post after the Twins' heartbreaking loss to the A's a few weeks ago, when Michael Cuddyer was called out at home trying to score on a potential game-tying run in the 9th inning. After last night's game full of controversial calls, though, I decided it was time for this post.
Baseball is living in the stone age. The technology is there for instant replay, and baseball should be using it to improve the product that it puts on the field. They finally made some concessions regarding home run calls, but that doesn't go far enough. It's unbelievably frustrating to see Cuddyer beat the tag at home, have the opposing pitcher admit it after the game, and see his foot hit the plate before the tag 1000 times on replay, and yet there's nothing anyone can do about it. In order to rectify situations like this, I have a plan that keeps the game moving while getting the calls right at the same time.
To start, an extra umpire would be necessary. Umpires, being the stubborn bunch that they are, would never agree to let any outsider make calls, but it is way too slow to have the umpires all have to gather and walk into the dugout just to review a play. Therefore, you add an extra member to the crew, and umpires have an extra rotation spot: replay booth. The replay booth umpire would be in charge of reviewing every single play. With the nature of baseball, he could easily determine before the next pitch whether the play needs to be further reviewed or not. If he feels that he needs to look at a couple replays, he can let the crew chief on the field know, and the game will be paused for a maximum of 30 seconds as he looks over the replays. If the reviewer cannot tell within that time whether the call should be overturned or not, then there is not sufficient evidence to overturn it.
This system would actually speed up the game. There would be no more lengthy childish arguments with managers; the managers would have no role in replay. It is inevitable that baseball will move towards these technological innovations, but at this point it's going as slowly as possible. Eventually balls and strikes will be called by a system such as Pitch f/x, but for now I'm not worried about that. This replay system would be used for plays on the bases, fair/foul calls, catch or trap, and home run calls.
Of course, there could be problems because of the continuous nature of baseball. If an outfielder makes a catch with a runner on first, but the reviewer determines that it was a trap, it would be difficult to say where the runner would have ended up. Therefore, at this point, it might be best to limit the use of replay to plays where there are no resulting actions to consider.
In no sense is this a perfect system, but it is a big improvement on what Major League Baseball has in place now: an antiquated system in which umpires are incapable of fault and are powerless to overturn calls even they might think are wrong. To be honest, I do not blame the umpires; some of these calls are very difficult to make. What is frustrating is to see them defend their calls even after realizing it's obviously wrong (like the tag play last night where even Granderson admitted that he was tagged) and rebuff efforts to improve the game with instant replay. It would be perfect for plays like the play at home that ended the game against the A's a few weeks ago. To be fair, it would not solve all controversial calls, including some from last night that sparked this post. The controversial balk calls were a matter of judgement and would not be cleared up by replay. The only reason I'm sure that Brendan Harris tagged Granderson is because Granderson admitted as much; the replay was not clear or conclusive. Nonetheless, this system would move baseball in the right direction, towards a goal I think we can all agree is a good one: accuracy in calling plays that are crucial to the game's outcome.
Baseball is living in the stone age. The technology is there for instant replay, and baseball should be using it to improve the product that it puts on the field. They finally made some concessions regarding home run calls, but that doesn't go far enough. It's unbelievably frustrating to see Cuddyer beat the tag at home, have the opposing pitcher admit it after the game, and see his foot hit the plate before the tag 1000 times on replay, and yet there's nothing anyone can do about it. In order to rectify situations like this, I have a plan that keeps the game moving while getting the calls right at the same time.
To start, an extra umpire would be necessary. Umpires, being the stubborn bunch that they are, would never agree to let any outsider make calls, but it is way too slow to have the umpires all have to gather and walk into the dugout just to review a play. Therefore, you add an extra member to the crew, and umpires have an extra rotation spot: replay booth. The replay booth umpire would be in charge of reviewing every single play. With the nature of baseball, he could easily determine before the next pitch whether the play needs to be further reviewed or not. If he feels that he needs to look at a couple replays, he can let the crew chief on the field know, and the game will be paused for a maximum of 30 seconds as he looks over the replays. If the reviewer cannot tell within that time whether the call should be overturned or not, then there is not sufficient evidence to overturn it.
This system would actually speed up the game. There would be no more lengthy childish arguments with managers; the managers would have no role in replay. It is inevitable that baseball will move towards these technological innovations, but at this point it's going as slowly as possible. Eventually balls and strikes will be called by a system such as Pitch f/x, but for now I'm not worried about that. This replay system would be used for plays on the bases, fair/foul calls, catch or trap, and home run calls.
Of course, there could be problems because of the continuous nature of baseball. If an outfielder makes a catch with a runner on first, but the reviewer determines that it was a trap, it would be difficult to say where the runner would have ended up. Therefore, at this point, it might be best to limit the use of replay to plays where there are no resulting actions to consider.
In no sense is this a perfect system, but it is a big improvement on what Major League Baseball has in place now: an antiquated system in which umpires are incapable of fault and are powerless to overturn calls even they might think are wrong. To be honest, I do not blame the umpires; some of these calls are very difficult to make. What is frustrating is to see them defend their calls even after realizing it's obviously wrong (like the tag play last night where even Granderson admitted that he was tagged) and rebuff efforts to improve the game with instant replay. It would be perfect for plays like the play at home that ended the game against the A's a few weeks ago. To be fair, it would not solve all controversial calls, including some from last night that sparked this post. The controversial balk calls were a matter of judgement and would not be cleared up by replay. The only reason I'm sure that Brendan Harris tagged Granderson is because Granderson admitted as much; the replay was not clear or conclusive. Nonetheless, this system would move baseball in the right direction, towards a goal I think we can all agree is a good one: accuracy in calling plays that are crucial to the game's outcome.
Monday, July 6, 2009
A real bad inning
I just watched the condensed game from Sunday on MLB.com, and Brendan Harris had quite the forgettable inning. In the fourth inning, the Twins scored 6 runs on 6 hits and 2 walks, yet Harris managed to make 2 outs in the inning. In fact, he was the only Twin to come to the plate in the inning and not reach base, since Jason Kubel got thrown out attempting to steal second.
And later in the game he struck out with 2 outs and the bases loaded.
And later in the game he struck out with 2 outs and the bases loaded.
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Twins lose epic game
It took just over five hours, but the Twins finally succumbed and lost to the Tigers in the 16th inning of Friday night's game. Twin #2 and I were out with friends all night, so you can imagine our surprise when we got back and checked to see the game was still going at 1:35 EST. Joe Crede grounded out to end the game very shortly thereafter, before we could even put together what had happened.
Unfortunately, since I didn't actually see the game, I don't have much of anything to write about it. Once MLB.com gets the condensed game up I'll watch that, but this is all I'll be writing on the topic. Delmon Young had a superb game, singling, doubling, homering, and--most impressively--walking in 7 plate appearances. Denard Span collected 5 hits in 8 trips to the plate, including a triple.
The bullpen was formidable for 10 innings after Kevin Slowey's early departure, allowing just 3 hits, 2 walks, and a hit batsmen. Brian Duensing made his first appearance since his call-up and filled his role admirably, surrendering just a solo homer and a walk in 3.2 innings. R.A. Dickey, though, was not sharp and gave up 9 hits and 4 runs in 3 innings, taking the loss in the process.
And I have a feeling Gardy's going to be sweating it out with only the eleven pitchers tomorrow!
Unfortunately, since I didn't actually see the game, I don't have much of anything to write about it. Once MLB.com gets the condensed game up I'll watch that, but this is all I'll be writing on the topic. Delmon Young had a superb game, singling, doubling, homering, and--most impressively--walking in 7 plate appearances. Denard Span collected 5 hits in 8 trips to the plate, including a triple.
The bullpen was formidable for 10 innings after Kevin Slowey's early departure, allowing just 3 hits, 2 walks, and a hit batsmen. Brian Duensing made his first appearance since his call-up and filled his role admirably, surrendering just a solo homer and a walk in 3.2 innings. R.A. Dickey, though, was not sharp and gave up 9 hits and 4 runs in 3 innings, taking the loss in the process.
And I have a feeling Gardy's going to be sweating it out with only the eleven pitchers tomorrow!
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Quick thoughts
Wednesday's game was an epic, lasting thirteen innings and keeping me from studying for my macroeconomics exam for far too long. I felt the effects of that at 2:00 today when I was taking the test. But at least the Twins won on Joe Crede's walk-off grand slam to make it seem like it was all worth it.
Justin Morneau added his ninth home run of the season, and Jason Kubel had a huge game-tying pinch-hit home run in the eighth inning. After Luis Ayala and Matt Guerrier seemingly gave the game away again, the rest of the bullpen, save Craig Breslow, combined to hold the Tigers scoreless for the next 6+ innings.
That included Jesse Crain, who was the culprit in Tuesday's loss. Although he allowed the go-ahead run to score on a balk, he still pitched well. Fortunately, the offense bailed him out, with Kubel's single, Denard Span's sacrifice bunt, and Matt Tolbert's game-tying single before Crede eventually came up with the bases loaded and ended the game in grand fashion.
Thursday afternoon's game got off to a slow start. Perhaps because the Twins were up so late the night before, they came out sluggish against Justin Verlander, accumulating 4 hits and 2 walks while striking out 12 times in the first six innings. After Scott Baker fell apart at the seams in the sixth inning, that seemed to be the equation for a loss.
Prior to that inning, Baker had again been spectacular on a day when the bullpen needed it most--through 5 innings, he had allowed only one hit and no walks. Certainly Gardenhire had to leave Baker in for that whole inning, as he had actually gotten two outs before any of the runs scored. With the bullpen taxed from the 13-inning affair the night before, it was a no-brainer.
The Twins then came up with their own 2-out rally in the seventh inning. Down 5-1 with two outs, the Twins had turned the tables and were up 6-5 by the time the inning had ended. Again it was Morneau, Kubel, and Crede who came through with the big hits, just as they hit the big home runs on Wednesday.
Not to be forgotten is an important outing from Craig Breslow, who has experienced his share of struggles to start the 2009 season. With all the other bullpen options used on Wednesday, it was probably not with great conviction that Gardy called him into the game, especially in the top of the eighth after the Twins had taken the lead. He responded, though, with 1 2/3 scoreless innings.
And with Joe Nathan's perfect ninth inning, the Twins completed a sweep of the Tigers and moved above .500 and just 1/2 game behind the division-leading Royals.
Justin Morneau added his ninth home run of the season, and Jason Kubel had a huge game-tying pinch-hit home run in the eighth inning. After Luis Ayala and Matt Guerrier seemingly gave the game away again, the rest of the bullpen, save Craig Breslow, combined to hold the Tigers scoreless for the next 6+ innings.
That included Jesse Crain, who was the culprit in Tuesday's loss. Although he allowed the go-ahead run to score on a balk, he still pitched well. Fortunately, the offense bailed him out, with Kubel's single, Denard Span's sacrifice bunt, and Matt Tolbert's game-tying single before Crede eventually came up with the bases loaded and ended the game in grand fashion.
Thursday afternoon's game got off to a slow start. Perhaps because the Twins were up so late the night before, they came out sluggish against Justin Verlander, accumulating 4 hits and 2 walks while striking out 12 times in the first six innings. After Scott Baker fell apart at the seams in the sixth inning, that seemed to be the equation for a loss.
Prior to that inning, Baker had again been spectacular on a day when the bullpen needed it most--through 5 innings, he had allowed only one hit and no walks. Certainly Gardenhire had to leave Baker in for that whole inning, as he had actually gotten two outs before any of the runs scored. With the bullpen taxed from the 13-inning affair the night before, it was a no-brainer.
The Twins then came up with their own 2-out rally in the seventh inning. Down 5-1 with two outs, the Twins had turned the tables and were up 6-5 by the time the inning had ended. Again it was Morneau, Kubel, and Crede who came through with the big hits, just as they hit the big home runs on Wednesday.
Not to be forgotten is an important outing from Craig Breslow, who has experienced his share of struggles to start the 2009 season. With all the other bullpen options used on Wednesday, it was probably not with great conviction that Gardy called him into the game, especially in the top of the eighth after the Twins had taken the lead. He responded, though, with 1 2/3 scoreless innings.
And with Joe Nathan's perfect ninth inning, the Twins completed a sweep of the Tigers and moved above .500 and just 1/2 game behind the division-leading Royals.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Liriano finally wins
It took six starts, but Francisco Liriano picked up his first victory of the season yesterday against the Detroit Tigers. He improved his control problems, as he threw 68 of 103 pitches for strikes (66.02 %) and tallied 9 strikeouts to go with that. And had Gardy not left him in for the eighth, his final line would have looked fairly nasty.
Denard Span (4 hits) and Michael Cuddyer (triple, 3 RBIs) led the offense, while Carlos Gomez also added a double in his lone plate appearance. I feel like mentioning every good at-bat Gomez has because I like him so much and am rooting so much for him to do well, and it has been such a struggle for him to this point.
Alexi Casilla's struggles, though, are an entirely different animal. Casilla had a single today, but his OPS is now all the way down to a season-low of .430. It's been almost a month of this putrid offense now, so I think it's time Casilla finds a pretty permanent place on the bench if, as many seem to believe, there are no other options in Rochester. Otherwise, that may be the best place for him. Just so you can have a visual: since April 10th when Casilla went 3-5 with a triple and had an OPS of .757, he has 6 total hits, 1 being a double, in 58 at-bats. That means he's hit .103/.185/.121 for the past four weeks. Nick Punto would be embarrassed by that even if it were August of 2007.
To go back to Liriano's control issue, though--it's no mystery that his control has suffered since his return from Tommy John surgery. It was most evident at the beginning of the 2008 season when he walked 13 batters in his first three starts (10 1/3 innings) and threw just 53.08 % of his pitches for strikes. But his control is still lacking now when it's compared to his All-Star season in 2006.
In 2006, he threw 66.67 % of his pitches for strikes and 66.43% after taking over a rotation spot on May 19th. Then, after the aforementioned horrid start to 2008, Liriano ended up throwing 61.08 % of his pitches for strikes over the course of the season. And this year he has thrown only a slightly better percentage for strikes-- 61.62 %. As one of many adjustments he has had to make since returning from the injury, I think improving this percentage (as he did today) will help him greatly in moving toward his absurdly dominant level of 2006.
Denard Span (4 hits) and Michael Cuddyer (triple, 3 RBIs) led the offense, while Carlos Gomez also added a double in his lone plate appearance. I feel like mentioning every good at-bat Gomez has because I like him so much and am rooting so much for him to do well, and it has been such a struggle for him to this point.
Alexi Casilla's struggles, though, are an entirely different animal. Casilla had a single today, but his OPS is now all the way down to a season-low of .430. It's been almost a month of this putrid offense now, so I think it's time Casilla finds a pretty permanent place on the bench if, as many seem to believe, there are no other options in Rochester. Otherwise, that may be the best place for him. Just so you can have a visual: since April 10th when Casilla went 3-5 with a triple and had an OPS of .757, he has 6 total hits, 1 being a double, in 58 at-bats. That means he's hit .103/.185/.121 for the past four weeks. Nick Punto would be embarrassed by that even if it were August of 2007.
To go back to Liriano's control issue, though--it's no mystery that his control has suffered since his return from Tommy John surgery. It was most evident at the beginning of the 2008 season when he walked 13 batters in his first three starts (10 1/3 innings) and threw just 53.08 % of his pitches for strikes. But his control is still lacking now when it's compared to his All-Star season in 2006.
In 2006, he threw 66.67 % of his pitches for strikes and 66.43% after taking over a rotation spot on May 19th. Then, after the aforementioned horrid start to 2008, Liriano ended up throwing 61.08 % of his pitches for strikes over the course of the season. And this year he has thrown only a slightly better percentage for strikes-- 61.62 %. As one of many adjustments he has had to make since returning from the injury, I think improving this percentage (as he did today) will help him greatly in moving toward his absurdly dominant level of 2006.
Monday, May 5, 2008
It doesn't get much better
Oh, it didn't start off well. A home run by Curtis Granderson. Four straight hits following that. A wild pitch. A throwing error by Joe Mauer. Finally, after six runs scored, Boof Bonser escaped the first inning. Needless to say, it wasn't looking good; I was already consoling myself with the "at least they won two of three" routine.
But what a change between the first inning and the rest of the game. Bonser pitched beautifully; the defense made great plays; the offense came through with big hits and made all those runs back. The Blyleven/Bremer combination, as with many, isn't my favorite, but I listened to their call of Mauer's go-ahead, 2-RBI single at least four or five times--"High chopper, over the mound, INTO CENTERFIELD, and the Twins take the lead!"
Truly everyone contributed to Sunday's victory. I know it's cliched, but it really was a team effort. Of course, some individuals stole the spotlight. For me, Boof Bonser was incredible. To come back after that horrid first inning which included 42 pitches, and then pitch five more great innings... it was really good to see that. I can't say enough about how impressed I was with his composure. In the end, his overall line was below average, but every starter is going to allow six runs once in a while, and the fact that he was able to keep it at six and keep the game within reach, and save the bullpen a little, was fantastic.
Joe Mauer had the clutch hit in the seventh to complete the four-run inning to go along with a double earlier. Carlos Gomez and Brendan Harris had already had two-out run-producing hits in the inning, though of very different variety. Harris smoked a ball into left for a ground rule double, while Gomez bounced the ball high of the plate and easily beat Renteria's throw to first (and he made a good play on it). Justin Morneau also had a two-out RBI single in the fourth inning, and Nick Punto picked up his first two RBIs of the year in the fifth with a two-run double.
Oh, and the infallible Joe Nathan picked up his eleventh save.
To win this game, and complete the sweep, is definitely the high point of the season so far. Saturday's win moved the Twins into first place and above .500, and this game, after a simply great comeback, gave them their best record as of yet and subsequently a 1 1/2 game lead in the AL Central. It was also their fifth straight win, and the fact that the victories were against the White Sox and Tigers makes it that much better.
But what a change between the first inning and the rest of the game. Bonser pitched beautifully; the defense made great plays; the offense came through with big hits and made all those runs back. The Blyleven/Bremer combination, as with many, isn't my favorite, but I listened to their call of Mauer's go-ahead, 2-RBI single at least four or five times--"High chopper, over the mound, INTO CENTERFIELD, and the Twins take the lead!"
Truly everyone contributed to Sunday's victory. I know it's cliched, but it really was a team effort. Of course, some individuals stole the spotlight. For me, Boof Bonser was incredible. To come back after that horrid first inning which included 42 pitches, and then pitch five more great innings... it was really good to see that. I can't say enough about how impressed I was with his composure. In the end, his overall line was below average, but every starter is going to allow six runs once in a while, and the fact that he was able to keep it at six and keep the game within reach, and save the bullpen a little, was fantastic.
Joe Mauer had the clutch hit in the seventh to complete the four-run inning to go along with a double earlier. Carlos Gomez and Brendan Harris had already had two-out run-producing hits in the inning, though of very different variety. Harris smoked a ball into left for a ground rule double, while Gomez bounced the ball high of the plate and easily beat Renteria's throw to first (and he made a good play on it). Justin Morneau also had a two-out RBI single in the fourth inning, and Nick Punto picked up his first two RBIs of the year in the fifth with a two-run double.
Oh, and the infallible Joe Nathan picked up his eleventh save.
To win this game, and complete the sweep, is definitely the high point of the season so far. Saturday's win moved the Twins into first place and above .500, and this game, after a simply great comeback, gave them their best record as of yet and subsequently a 1 1/2 game lead in the AL Central. It was also their fifth straight win, and the fact that the victories were against the White Sox and Tigers makes it that much better.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Another Tough Loss
Yet again the Twins gave away the game in the eighth inning, as Jesse Crain allowed three runs to score, allowing the Tigers to come back from a 4-3 deficit. And going into the sixth inning, that deficit was 4-1. Even Jason Beck, the Tigers' MLB.com writer, had put the Twins down as the victors. His recap reads:
Scott Baker pitched well but was victimized by the home run ball, serving up solo homers to the aforementioned three Tigers. Crain also had an error (who knows how costly it really was) in his attempt to pick Placido Polanco off first base in the eighth, and allowed the fourth home run of the night, this one a two-run shot by Miguel Cabrera.
And, just as on Monday night, the Twins offense did enough to win, but couldn't rally in the ninth. Both times they had their chances after making Todd Jones work, with Matt Tolbert striking out after a tough at bat to end the game last night. Joe Mauer collected two hits and two RBIs to break an early season slump, while Justin Morneau crushed his fourth home run of the year.
The most concerning aspect of the team right now is clearly the bullpen. In the past two days, Crain, Matt Guerrier, and Pat Neshek have all faltered. In fact, the only reliable relievers so far have been Joe Nathan, Brian Bass, and Dennys Reyes. Who would have thought this? Granted, it's very early and I'd still much rather have Neshek, Guerrier, or Crain on the mound in a tight situation, but that may be the bad part. I can't see Reyes performing like this all year and I don't think I'll be trusting Bass late in the game at any point in the foreseeable future. Which really is to say that those three better get it together or the bullpen (and the team) is in trouble.
After getting swept in the two-game series with the Tigers, the Twins move back to the Metrodome for another two-game series, this one with the Rays.
The Tigers got home runs from Gary Sheffield, Magglio Ordonez, Carlos Guillen the Tigers' offense never quite got it together against the Twins. Starter Nate Robertson lasted 6 1/3 innings, striking out five and yielding one walk in the loss.
Scott Baker pitched well but was victimized by the home run ball, serving up solo homers to the aforementioned three Tigers. Crain also had an error (who knows how costly it really was) in his attempt to pick Placido Polanco off first base in the eighth, and allowed the fourth home run of the night, this one a two-run shot by Miguel Cabrera.
And, just as on Monday night, the Twins offense did enough to win, but couldn't rally in the ninth. Both times they had their chances after making Todd Jones work, with Matt Tolbert striking out after a tough at bat to end the game last night. Joe Mauer collected two hits and two RBIs to break an early season slump, while Justin Morneau crushed his fourth home run of the year.
The most concerning aspect of the team right now is clearly the bullpen. In the past two days, Crain, Matt Guerrier, and Pat Neshek have all faltered. In fact, the only reliable relievers so far have been Joe Nathan, Brian Bass, and Dennys Reyes. Who would have thought this? Granted, it's very early and I'd still much rather have Neshek, Guerrier, or Crain on the mound in a tight situation, but that may be the bad part. I can't see Reyes performing like this all year and I don't think I'll be trusting Bass late in the game at any point in the foreseeable future. Which really is to say that those three better get it together or the bullpen (and the team) is in trouble.
After getting swept in the two-game series with the Tigers, the Twins move back to the Metrodome for another two-game series, this one with the Rays.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Oh, what could have been.
I was reminded of this feeling all too rudely yesterday, after the Twins gave away two 5-run leads in losing to the Tigers, 11-9. After twenty-four consecutive innings without scoring, the Tigers suddenly realized that they did in fact have a good offense. They scored four runs in the sixth, one in the seventh, and six more in the eighth to complete their comeback. Matt Guerrier and Pat Neshek bore the brunt of the runs, with Nick Blackburn having three charged to his name too. The Tigers' victory also allowed Blackburn's first win to elude him again.
The offense had a good night, evident in the fact that they put nine runs on the board. They took advantage of multiple costly errors by the Tigers, but Adam Everett made his own very costly error in the eighth (Isn't that what he's supposed to be good at? Because he certainly isn't hitting). Joe Mauer continued his hitless streak (0-14), despite getting on base via the walk three times. And the aforementioned Everett did actually pick up two hits in the game, one being a double. It was his first multi-hit game of the year and his first extra base hit.
That about does it for yesterday; there's plenty more I could say but it can be best summed up as a game that got away from the Twins. Hopefully they'll send the Tigers back to their reeling ways today.
The offense had a good night, evident in the fact that they put nine runs on the board. They took advantage of multiple costly errors by the Tigers, but Adam Everett made his own very costly error in the eighth (Isn't that what he's supposed to be good at? Because he certainly isn't hitting). Joe Mauer continued his hitless streak (0-14), despite getting on base via the walk three times. And the aforementioned Everett did actually pick up two hits in the game, one being a double. It was his first multi-hit game of the year and his first extra base hit.
That about does it for yesterday; there's plenty more I could say but it can be best summed up as a game that got away from the Twins. Hopefully they'll send the Tigers back to their reeling ways today.
Monday, April 14, 2008
He's Back?
The tone should be easy to infer from the title. Francisco Liriano's first start was, without considering the circumstances, a disaster. Of course, you can't ignore the circumstances: it was his first major league outing since September of 2006 and he underwent Tommy John surgery later that year (in November).
I was really excited to see him back--as was everybody--and subsequently disappointed with this outing. But at the same time, I've tempered my expectations for a while. Obviously, yesterday's performance was uninspiring, but you can't put much stock in it. A good performance would have been fantastic while this can simply be called typical. He was up and down during the spring and his rehab starts (with more downs really) and was making his first start in the big leagues in a year and a half.
It goes without saying that it was great to see him throw 90 pitches and not have any physical problems. Hopefully, he can build off of this and get better with each start. I expect that he will make a few more starts at the very least, especially with Kevin Slowey now on the DL. It will be interesting to see what the Twins will do if he continues to struggle. Of course, I hope he doesn't, but if this scenario does occur, what will they do? Do you send him back to AAA when Slowey comes back? Or perhaps to the bullpen? What if one of the other pitchers starts to struggle too? Or are the Twins committed to keeping him in the rotation for the remainder of the year?
Liriano is not the only who has struggled recently though. Carlos Gomez's and Joe Mauer's batting averages have dropped precipitously, to .259 and .244, respectively (it's currently the third inning of the game). Adam Everett is still hitting .125 and Justin Morneau, although obviously improved from his awful start, is only batting .214. As of yet, none of the Twins' hitters have been all that impressive, with the possible exception of Matt Tolbert. That's not to say that all of them are playing terribly, just that none have been impressive.
Nick Blackburn, who is making his third start, has now opened the game with three scoreless innings. That means the Tigers have not scored a run in their last 22 innings. Amazing.
I was really excited to see him back--as was everybody--and subsequently disappointed with this outing. But at the same time, I've tempered my expectations for a while. Obviously, yesterday's performance was uninspiring, but you can't put much stock in it. A good performance would have been fantastic while this can simply be called typical. He was up and down during the spring and his rehab starts (with more downs really) and was making his first start in the big leagues in a year and a half.
It goes without saying that it was great to see him throw 90 pitches and not have any physical problems. Hopefully, he can build off of this and get better with each start. I expect that he will make a few more starts at the very least, especially with Kevin Slowey now on the DL. It will be interesting to see what the Twins will do if he continues to struggle. Of course, I hope he doesn't, but if this scenario does occur, what will they do? Do you send him back to AAA when Slowey comes back? Or perhaps to the bullpen? What if one of the other pitchers starts to struggle too? Or are the Twins committed to keeping him in the rotation for the remainder of the year?
Liriano is not the only who has struggled recently though. Carlos Gomez's and Joe Mauer's batting averages have dropped precipitously, to .259 and .244, respectively (it's currently the third inning of the game). Adam Everett is still hitting .125 and Justin Morneau, although obviously improved from his awful start, is only batting .214. As of yet, none of the Twins' hitters have been all that impressive, with the possible exception of Matt Tolbert. That's not to say that all of them are playing terribly, just that none have been impressive.
Nick Blackburn, who is making his third start, has now opened the game with three scoreless innings. That means the Tigers have not scored a run in their last 22 innings. Amazing.
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Twins Lose Rain-Shortened Game
In a game which featured more time spent in the dugout during 2 rain delays (1:48) than actually on the field (1:47), the Twins dropped their final divisional game of the year 9-4 to the Detroit Tigers. The loss also secured the Twins their first non-winning season since 2000, but they still have a chance, albeit unlikely, to finish at .500 if they are able to sweep the Red Sox in Fenway. For the Tigers, the win was not enough to keep them in the playoff hunt, as a Yankees win eliminated them from playoff contention. Johan Santana had trouble finding the strike zone, and neither his defense nor the weather was exactly helping him out. Alexi Casilla made 2 errors on the day (one while Santana was in) leading to 3 unearned runs, and a long delay after the 3rd inning prevented Santana from coming back out in the 4th. All in all, Santana's season finale was a 3 inning start in which he gave up 2 hits, 2 earned runs, 3 walks, and struck out 4. This start ended a streak of 123 straight starts for Santana in which he pitched at least 5 innings. The four strikeouts put Johan 2 ahead of Peavy, and the Padres' hurler only managed 1 K in his start today, so Scott Kazmir remains the only obstacle now to Johan capturing the major league strikeout title. However, Kazmir is only 6 behind Santana, and that is definitely an achievable mark in his start tomorrow at the Trop.
The Twins did take a 4-0 lead in the first inning after a Justin Morneau RBI single and a Rondell White 3 RBI double, but Johan coughed up most of the lead in the bottom of the 2nd, and Nick Blackburn struggled in his 5th career major league appearance, giving up 6 runs on 7 hits over 2 innings.
On Tuesday, Torii Hunter gave a radio interview, and though I like Torii a lot, I couldn't help but feel a twinge of disappointment and anger at Hunter once again bashing his teammates by saying this:
When asked if he was referring directly to Joe Mauer's sitting out a few games once again, he denied that he was pointing out a specific player, but did go on to criticize the toughness of all the younger players by saying:
I've always liked Hunter as a player and liked his willingness to speak and provide a quote for the most part, but lately his habit of attacking fellow players in the media has gotten annoying.
On another baseball note, fans voted that Barry Bond's 756th home run ball be branded with an asterisk and then delivered to the hall of fame. That choice got just under half the votes, with the choice to deliver it to the hall of fame intact coming in 2nd, and the idea of blasting it into space coming in a distant 3rd. Apparently, the hall of fame has agreed to accept the ball in whatever condition it gets to them, which came as a surprise to me. Maybe they're planning on repairing the ball somehow once they get it, or maybe Cooperstown has really decided to display the ball with the asterisk as evidence of baseball history and the fans' take on the illegitimacy of the so-called 'steroids era.'
The Twins did take a 4-0 lead in the first inning after a Justin Morneau RBI single and a Rondell White 3 RBI double, but Johan coughed up most of the lead in the bottom of the 2nd, and Nick Blackburn struggled in his 5th career major league appearance, giving up 6 runs on 7 hits over 2 innings.
On Tuesday, Torii Hunter gave a radio interview, and though I like Torii a lot, I couldn't help but feel a twinge of disappointment and anger at Hunter once again bashing his teammates by saying this:
"Somebody needs to slap a couple people around and say, 'You've got to play no matter what."
When asked if he was referring directly to Joe Mauer's sitting out a few games once again, he denied that he was pointing out a specific player, but did go on to criticize the toughness of all the younger players by saying:
"It's a different breed. I don't know what's going on in the Minor Leagues, but it's different."
I've always liked Hunter as a player and liked his willingness to speak and provide a quote for the most part, but lately his habit of attacking fellow players in the media has gotten annoying.
On another baseball note, fans voted that Barry Bond's 756th home run ball be branded with an asterisk and then delivered to the hall of fame. That choice got just under half the votes, with the choice to deliver it to the hall of fame intact coming in 2nd, and the idea of blasting it into space coming in a distant 3rd. Apparently, the hall of fame has agreed to accept the ball in whatever condition it gets to them, which came as a surprise to me. Maybe they're planning on repairing the ball somehow once they get it, or maybe Cooperstown has really decided to display the ball with the asterisk as evidence of baseball history and the fans' take on the illegitimacy of the so-called 'steroids era.'
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Tigers Shutout Twins
In a reversal of roles, the Tigers dominated the Twins on Tuesday night in the process of winning 8-0, the fourteenth time this year they have not scored a run over the course of a ballgame. The Twins didn't really do anything well in this game, with the possible exception of turning three double plays (although that really is negated by the fact that they grounded into three double plays themselves). Michael Cuddyer and Garrett Jones notched two hits apiece, and Jones had his first career stolen base. Matt Garza had a poor performance, and Julio DePaula was no better in relief. Of course, Juan Rincon was able to pitch 2/3 of an inning without allowing any runners to get on base.
It looks as if Joe Mauer will play just one more game this year, possibly two. Gardenhire has said he will definitely catch for Johan Santana in tomorrow's game, but that may be it. After a season where he has been hindered by a myriad of injuries, and now may need surgery for a possible hernia, the time off is well-deserved. With the Twins out of the playoff picture long ago, this is a good move which will hopefully aid in getting (and keeping) Mauer healthy for next year. In addition, I found Aaron Gleeman's article regarding Mauer very interesting, especially the last paragraph, where Gleeman compares him to Derek Jeter. I have always thought Derek Jeter is incredibly overrated, and I found the evidence he presents to be very enticing.
Alexi Casilla went 0-3 in today's game, bringing his average on the year down to .228. In the month of September, he has batted just .222/.222/.250. He has not drawn a walk since August 26th and he has not gotten an extra base hit since September 1st. In his last six games, he is 1-20 (.050) with five strikeouts. Why do I bring up these statistics? While I do think he should playing right now, with thoughts of October erased long ago, I don't know if Casilla is ready to be the everyday second baseman in 2008. When the Twins traded Luis Castillo, Casilla was supposed to replace him relatively seamlessly; but that has not happened. Although he has been a threat to steal once on base, the rest of his numbers are not good. I think the Twins should be gunning for at least a division title next year, which puts Casilla in an odd position. While it seems he needs time to develop, the Twins do not (or at least should not) have time for that next year. But at the same time, there is no easy answer to who else there is to play second base. This is one of many things the organization will have to take a long, hard look at in the offseason.
As I finished this entry, the Yankees fell 7-6 in the tenth inning to the Devil Rays, meaning the Tigers have not yet been eliminated from playoff contention. The Twins now get another crack at doing just that tomorrow!
It looks as if Joe Mauer will play just one more game this year, possibly two. Gardenhire has said he will definitely catch for Johan Santana in tomorrow's game, but that may be it. After a season where he has been hindered by a myriad of injuries, and now may need surgery for a possible hernia, the time off is well-deserved. With the Twins out of the playoff picture long ago, this is a good move which will hopefully aid in getting (and keeping) Mauer healthy for next year. In addition, I found Aaron Gleeman's article regarding Mauer very interesting, especially the last paragraph, where Gleeman compares him to Derek Jeter. I have always thought Derek Jeter is incredibly overrated, and I found the evidence he presents to be very enticing.
Alexi Casilla went 0-3 in today's game, bringing his average on the year down to .228. In the month of September, he has batted just .222/.222/.250. He has not drawn a walk since August 26th and he has not gotten an extra base hit since September 1st. In his last six games, he is 1-20 (.050) with five strikeouts. Why do I bring up these statistics? While I do think he should playing right now, with thoughts of October erased long ago, I don't know if Casilla is ready to be the everyday second baseman in 2008. When the Twins traded Luis Castillo, Casilla was supposed to replace him relatively seamlessly; but that has not happened. Although he has been a threat to steal once on base, the rest of his numbers are not good. I think the Twins should be gunning for at least a division title next year, which puts Casilla in an odd position. While it seems he needs time to develop, the Twins do not (or at least should not) have time for that next year. But at the same time, there is no easy answer to who else there is to play second base. This is one of many things the organization will have to take a long, hard look at in the offseason.
As I finished this entry, the Yankees fell 7-6 in the tenth inning to the Devil Rays, meaning the Tigers have not yet been eliminated from playoff contention. The Twins now get another crack at doing just that tomorrow!
Monday, September 24, 2007
Twins Shutout Tigers
It was a good game for the Twins, resulting in a 2-0 win at Comerica Park, their first shutout since August 31st against the Royals and eighth of the season. If the Twins win tomorrow, they will officially eliminate the Tigers from the playoff race, but that is all but a formality at this point. Still, it would add a little something to a victory tomorrow. Carlos Silva had a brilliant start, giving up just six hits and no runs in 7 2/3 innings, his fourth time this season not allowing a single run. Silva has now allowed three earned runs or less in ten of his last eleven outings, although in one of them he left after three innings. Other than those two starts, though, he has pitched at least six innings in all of those games. Obviously, his performance has an effect on his market price and the ability and/or willingness of the Twins to re-sign him. He has one start left this season, presumably coming on September 29th against the Boston Red Sox.
Afterwards, Glen Perkins came in in relief of Silva to get the last out of the eighth with a man on second. Yet again, Perkins was successful, meaning he has not allowed a run or any inherited runners to score in his five appearances since his recent call-up. To be fair, that selection of time is very small (3 2/3 innings), but he has come into some tough situations, and I think his performance is very promising. I definitely look at him as clearly a better solution than either Dennys Reyes or Carmen Cali in the bullpen or even possibly as a starter sometime in the future.
Joe Nathan picked up his 35th save in the game, which brings him within one of last year's total of 36. It was also his 7th save of the month, bringing him within one of his monthly high this season. The offense was not good in the game, but being as the pitching was so good, I'm willing to look past that at this point of the season. I know the Twins don't really have any other options, but having Matthew LeCroy in the lineup is a disappointment. And I also know he is apparently a great guy, but he just isn't a major league caliber player anymore. When Torii Hunter and Justin Morneau singled, and Michael Cuddyer walked in the third inning with two outs, it seemed like something big could happen. But then I became aware of the fact that LeCroy was coming up next, and subsequently lost hope very quickly. Not to my surprise, he popped out to end the inning. The Tigers also took advantage of his poor defense, stealing four bases, something that almost certainly wouldn't have happened had Joe Mauer or Mike Redmond been healthy enough to play. Or probably even if Chris Heintz were playing.
On a note completely unrelated to the Twins, I want to make sure everyone heard what happened to Milton Bradley, when he suffered one of the strangest injuries I have ever heard of. First base umpire Mike Winters apparently said something that really didn't sit well with Bradley, and a heated argument ensued. Padres manager Bud Black then ran out to hold him back. As Bradley struggled with Black, he fell to the ground clutching his knee. Later, he learned he had a torn ACL, and will be out for the season with the Padres sitting a 1/2 game ahead in the National League Wild Card. For the complete story, click here.
In tomorrow's game, Matt Garza (4-6, 3.72) will face righthander Yorman Bazardo (1-1, 3.24). This is the second time in less than a week the Twins are up against the rookie Bazardo, who has now pitched 18 1/3 big league innings, and has made just the one start. In that start, he did not pitch terribly, but also did not stay in for the requisite five innings needed to pick up the win. Although lefties have had only 32 at bats against him and righties just 31, there is a very distinct difference in his numbers to each side. Righthanded batters have hit a paltry .097/.194/.161, while lefthanded batters have hit .313/.333/.594. Again, the sample size is small, but a difference that big indicates that, although the gap will close, lefties hit Bazardo much better. This will definately help Gardy, as he is incapable of looking at splits, and these splits go along with the traditional logic of playing lefthanded batters versus righthanded pitchers.
Afterwards, Glen Perkins came in in relief of Silva to get the last out of the eighth with a man on second. Yet again, Perkins was successful, meaning he has not allowed a run or any inherited runners to score in his five appearances since his recent call-up. To be fair, that selection of time is very small (3 2/3 innings), but he has come into some tough situations, and I think his performance is very promising. I definitely look at him as clearly a better solution than either Dennys Reyes or Carmen Cali in the bullpen or even possibly as a starter sometime in the future.
Joe Nathan picked up his 35th save in the game, which brings him within one of last year's total of 36. It was also his 7th save of the month, bringing him within one of his monthly high this season. The offense was not good in the game, but being as the pitching was so good, I'm willing to look past that at this point of the season. I know the Twins don't really have any other options, but having Matthew LeCroy in the lineup is a disappointment. And I also know he is apparently a great guy, but he just isn't a major league caliber player anymore. When Torii Hunter and Justin Morneau singled, and Michael Cuddyer walked in the third inning with two outs, it seemed like something big could happen. But then I became aware of the fact that LeCroy was coming up next, and subsequently lost hope very quickly. Not to my surprise, he popped out to end the inning. The Tigers also took advantage of his poor defense, stealing four bases, something that almost certainly wouldn't have happened had Joe Mauer or Mike Redmond been healthy enough to play. Or probably even if Chris Heintz were playing.
On a note completely unrelated to the Twins, I want to make sure everyone heard what happened to Milton Bradley, when he suffered one of the strangest injuries I have ever heard of. First base umpire Mike Winters apparently said something that really didn't sit well with Bradley, and a heated argument ensued. Padres manager Bud Black then ran out to hold him back. As Bradley struggled with Black, he fell to the ground clutching his knee. Later, he learned he had a torn ACL, and will be out for the season with the Padres sitting a 1/2 game ahead in the National League Wild Card. For the complete story, click here.
In tomorrow's game, Matt Garza (4-6, 3.72) will face righthander Yorman Bazardo (1-1, 3.24). This is the second time in less than a week the Twins are up against the rookie Bazardo, who has now pitched 18 1/3 big league innings, and has made just the one start. In that start, he did not pitch terribly, but also did not stay in for the requisite five innings needed to pick up the win. Although lefties have had only 32 at bats against him and righties just 31, there is a very distinct difference in his numbers to each side. Righthanded batters have hit a paltry .097/.194/.161, while lefthanded batters have hit .313/.333/.594. Again, the sample size is small, but a difference that big indicates that, although the gap will close, lefties hit Bazardo much better. This will definately help Gardy, as he is incapable of looking at splits, and these splits go along with the traditional logic of playing lefthanded batters versus righthanded pitchers.
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Twins Swept
After being swept by the Tigers for the second straight time, the Twins have fallen to 72-77, 5 games below .500, the farthest they've been from .500 this season, and the farthest since June 11th of last season. Scott Baker provided a pretty good start, but began roughly as Johan Santana did yesterday, giving up four runs in the first three innings. The offense was again lackluster, batting 7-34 (.206), but pushed across 4 runs and had a chance late when Joe Mauer, pinch-hitting for Chris Heintz, struck out looking with the bases loaded. It was an especially rough night for Jason Kubel, who went 0-5 with three strikeouts, while Nick Punto went 2-4 with a double.
Speaking of Punto, he had two hits in each of his last two games, which is the first time in his last 81 games (72 with a plate appearance) that he has had consecutive multi-hit games, dating back to July 10th and 12th. That sort of futility meant research had to be done. After looking at some of the other worst hitters in the league (in terms of batting average), there wasn't much conclusive data, but I decided to put it up anyways because this relatively small amount of data took a while to collect. I've listed games since consecutive multi-hit games, times with consecutive games with extra base hits, number of games with multiple extra base hits, and regular old slugging percentage for the players with the lowest batting averages in the American League, and a few of the worst in the National League too. The numbers in parentheses indicate games with a plate appearance.
Nick Punto................81 (72)........3.........1......... .262
Richie Sexson...........17................10........3......... .399
Ray Durham.............67.................5.........2........ .346
Andruw Jones..........14................11........1......... .411
Juan Uribe................3...................6.........4........ .393
Julio Lugo.................10.................8.........6......... .348
Lyle Overbay...........56 (55)........9.........7.......... .394
Brandon Inge...........82 (80)........5.........2.......... .389
Vernon Wells............35 (34)........9.........7.......... .408
Jermaine Dye...........14................11.......10........ .484
Jason Varitek...........37................5..........2.......... .394
Travis Hafner...........9..................9.........7.......... .437
So as it turns out, that streak is not the longest, even among the small sample size (although presumably the longest streaks would be among the guys with the lowest batting averages). But what is apparent is his utter lack of extra base hits. His three times of having consecutive games with an extra base hit is behind everyone's. This is even though all of his streaks are two games, and everyone else has at least one of three or more games, excluding Inge (any streak would be counted as 1; for instance, 5 consecutive games would be counted as just 1 streak). And most appalling of all, even though Andruw Jones equals him in this category, is his ONE game with multiple extra base hits this year. You ask when that game was? Opening day.
Of course, these statistics, albeit interesting to look at, really don't show us any more than this one:
Bizarro World MLB Leaders:
Slugging %
Punto....................... .262
Omar Vizquel......... .295
Jason Kendall......... .315
Marcus Giles.......... .319
Tony Pena Jr......... .337
OPS
Punto...................... .552
Vizquel................... .595
Pena Jr................... .615
Kendall................... .617
Giles....................... .620
Make sure to notice how far "ahead" he is of the next "best" in each category in the American League (in case you need help, it's Tony Pena Jr.). Nick Punto, congratulations; you've raised your average to .205, your slugging percentage to .262, and your OPS to .552 by going 4-7 over the last two games. But I'll give him some credit for hitting .273 with a .636 OPS in September, because if he'd kept that up the whole year, he'd only have the 2nd worst OPS in the American League.
Speaking of Punto, he had two hits in each of his last two games, which is the first time in his last 81 games (72 with a plate appearance) that he has had consecutive multi-hit games, dating back to July 10th and 12th. That sort of futility meant research had to be done. After looking at some of the other worst hitters in the league (in terms of batting average), there wasn't much conclusive data, but I decided to put it up anyways because this relatively small amount of data took a while to collect. I've listed games since consecutive multi-hit games, times with consecutive games with extra base hits, number of games with multiple extra base hits, and regular old slugging percentage for the players with the lowest batting averages in the American League, and a few of the worst in the National League too. The numbers in parentheses indicate games with a plate appearance.
Nick Punto................81 (72)........3.........1......... .262
Richie Sexson...........17................10........3......... .399
Ray Durham.............67.................5.........2........ .346
Andruw Jones..........14................11........1......... .411
Juan Uribe................3...................6.........4........ .393
Julio Lugo.................10.................8.........6......... .348
Lyle Overbay...........56 (55)........9.........7.......... .394
Brandon Inge...........82 (80)........5.........2.......... .389
Vernon Wells............35 (34)........9.........7.......... .408
Jermaine Dye...........14................11.......10........ .484
Jason Varitek...........37................5..........2.......... .394
Travis Hafner...........9..................9.........7.......... .437
So as it turns out, that streak is not the longest, even among the small sample size (although presumably the longest streaks would be among the guys with the lowest batting averages). But what is apparent is his utter lack of extra base hits. His three times of having consecutive games with an extra base hit is behind everyone's. This is even though all of his streaks are two games, and everyone else has at least one of three or more games, excluding Inge (any streak would be counted as 1; for instance, 5 consecutive games would be counted as just 1 streak). And most appalling of all, even though Andruw Jones equals him in this category, is his ONE game with multiple extra base hits this year. You ask when that game was? Opening day.
Of course, these statistics, albeit interesting to look at, really don't show us any more than this one:
Bizarro World MLB Leaders:
Slugging %
Punto....................... .262
Omar Vizquel......... .295
Jason Kendall......... .315
Marcus Giles.......... .319
Tony Pena Jr......... .337
OPS
Punto...................... .552
Vizquel................... .595
Pena Jr................... .615
Kendall................... .617
Giles....................... .620
Make sure to notice how far "ahead" he is of the next "best" in each category in the American League (in case you need help, it's Tony Pena Jr.). Nick Punto, congratulations; you've raised your average to .205, your slugging percentage to .262, and your OPS to .552 by going 4-7 over the last two games. But I'll give him some credit for hitting .273 with a .636 OPS in September, because if he'd kept that up the whole year, he'd only have the 2nd worst OPS in the American League.
First Inning Dooms Santana, Twins
It seems like Johan Santana has been struggling of late in the first inning, and after a little research, I found it to be true. In his last five starts, Santana has allowed 17 earned runs in 34 innings (4.50 ERA) and a 1.29 WHIP. Here are his stats over that span, broken down between the first inning and the rest of the game:
1st inning- 5.0 innings, 13 hits, 3 walks, 3.20 WHIP, 12 runs, 21.60 ERA, 4 home runs
After 1st inning- 29 innings, 22 hits, 6 walks, 0.97 WHIP, 5 runs, 1.55 ERA, 3 home runs
Clearly, there is a huge difference. 71% of the runs he has allowed were scored in the first inning, along with 37% of the hits and 57% of the home runs, while first innings represent only 15% of his total innings pitched. And only once in the five has he gotten out of the first inning without giving up a run. Whatever is causing Santana's struggles in the first inning needs to be fixed, because without that inning, he has been better than spectacular. In yesterday's game in particular, he allowed 4 runs on 4 hits and a walk in the first frame, and then proceeded to pitch 7 scoreless innings in which he gave up just two hits and a walk.
As for the rest of the game, the offense managed only six hits, including an 0-12 from Joe Mauer, Torii Hunter, and Justin Morneau, and accumulated only one RBI. The Twins scored on a wild pitch, throwing error, and a groundout. The only bright spot was Nick Punto got two hits to prop his average up to a hefty .202. Actually, that's probably a bad thing; that might mean Alexi Casilla will ride the bench for the rest of the year.
As for Sunday's game, this post is very late, and it's already started, so I'll just say they're down 3-0 in the second inning. Jeez!
1st inning- 5.0 innings, 13 hits, 3 walks, 3.20 WHIP, 12 runs, 21.60 ERA, 4 home runs
After 1st inning- 29 innings, 22 hits, 6 walks, 0.97 WHIP, 5 runs, 1.55 ERA, 3 home runs
Clearly, there is a huge difference. 71% of the runs he has allowed were scored in the first inning, along with 37% of the hits and 57% of the home runs, while first innings represent only 15% of his total innings pitched. And only once in the five has he gotten out of the first inning without giving up a run. Whatever is causing Santana's struggles in the first inning needs to be fixed, because without that inning, he has been better than spectacular. In yesterday's game in particular, he allowed 4 runs on 4 hits and a walk in the first frame, and then proceeded to pitch 7 scoreless innings in which he gave up just two hits and a walk.
As for the rest of the game, the offense managed only six hits, including an 0-12 from Joe Mauer, Torii Hunter, and Justin Morneau, and accumulated only one RBI. The Twins scored on a wild pitch, throwing error, and a groundout. The only bright spot was Nick Punto got two hits to prop his average up to a hefty .202. Actually, that's probably a bad thing; that might mean Alexi Casilla will ride the bench for the rest of the year.
As for Sunday's game, this post is very late, and it's already started, so I'll just say they're down 3-0 in the second inning. Jeez!
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