April 2009 Archives

The Twins have had a few blowout wins this year, but a majority of the lopsided games this season have come at their expense. On Wednesday night, I was a little worried with Scott Kazmir on the mound for the Tampa Bay Rays. The Twins usually don't fair well against left-handed pitching, and Kazmir has had success against the Twins in a limited number of past starts.

The Twins came out attacking Kazmir early though, with 4 runs right away in the first inning. They added 1 in the third and 3 more in the fourth, which finally ended a rough night for the starter.

Joe Nathan blew his first save of the season by giving up a leadoff home run to Ben Zobrist in the ninth inning. Gleeman suggested that perhaps Nathan isn't getting enough work. It's hard to disagree. Nathan has pitched just 7.0 innings all season. The only player that's been on the active roster all season and pitched fewer innings is Craig Breslow. Nathan is the highest paid member of the bullpen, and should be used more often.

Although Francisco Liriano couldn't get his first save of the season, he had his best outing of the season, allowing 2 runs through 6.2 innings.

Scott Baker had another less than great start and the offense failed to get much of anything started as the Twins were defeated handily by the Tampa Bay Rays in the series opener Monday night. The loss marked the 7th time this season that the Twins have been outscored by 5 or more runs, which contributes to their league-worst -29 run differential.

Although Baker didn't allow any home runs this time out, he did allow 4 runs on 5 hits and a walk through 6 innings. I'm sad to say it was Baker's best start of the season. He failed to complete 5 innings in both of his previous starts while allowing 6 runs in each. He struck out 7 Rays batters, and missing more bats is always a good sign. However, the Rays are 3rd in the league in strikeouts, so the higher rate is probably more indicative of a free-swinging ball club.

Whenever the Twins got something going offensively on Sunday, a double play was right around the corner. In the 2nd inning Michael Cuddyer drew a walk, which was following up by a Delmon Young inning ending double play. Jose Morales led off the 3rd inning with a single, and that was following by a Nick Punto GIDP.

The worst came in the ninth when the twins had worked to within 2 runs and were facing closer Kerry Wood. Morales again got a leadoff single, and then Brian Buscher walked on 4 pitches. Denard Span then grounded into a no-out double play to kill the rally and the game for the Twins.

Here's how the five outfielders stack up in terms of plate appearances and starts at various positions. The leaders for each column are highlighted.

Please click "Read More" to view table.

The Cleveland Indians entered the weekend series with the 3rd highest scoring offense in baseball. The Twins entered the series having allowed the 5th most runs in baseball. So far through two games, things have gone exactly opposite of what those numbers indicate.

The Twins have held the Indians to just 1 run in each of the last two games while taking advantage of poor pitching from Fausto Carmona and Carl Pavano. Kevin Slowey nearly pitched a complete game shutout, but ran into trouble in the ninth on Saturday and had to be bailed out by Luis Ayala. Nick Blackburn turned in his best start of the season, allowing just a run in 7 innings.

The Twins enter the series at Cleveland with a 7-9 record, which puts them just 1.5 games behind Chicago, Detroit and Kansas City for the division lead. Cleveland is just a game behind the Twins. The Twins are fortunate to have the record they have, considering they've played much worse than that in terms of runs scored (66) vs. runs allowed (97).

The pitching matchups for the weekend:

Friday: Nick Blackburn, RHP (0-1, 5.71) vs. __Fausto Carmona, RPH (1-2, 7.88) Saturday: Kevin Slowey, RHP (2-0, 5.89) vs. Carl Pavano, RHP (0-2, 9.69) Sunday: Glen Perkins, LHP (1-1, 1.50) vs. Aaron Laffey, LHP (1-0, 2.19)

1. Scott Baker allowing a 2-run homer in the first inning
2. Scott Baker allowing a 2-run homer in the second inning
3. Scott Baker allowing a 2-run homer in the third inning
4. Juan Morillo walking 3 of 4 batters, and allowing a double to the other
5. Back-to-back infield pop-ups from Jason Kubel and Michael Cuddyer with bases loaded

Yesterday Philip Humber cleared waivers and was outrighted to the AAA Rochester Red Wings. This means that all 29 other MLB teams had no interest in putting Humber on their active roster. Humber will move into Rochester's starting rotation, which is beneficial for both him and the Twins. The Twins have very few clear options if any of their top 5 go down over the course of the season, so it's possible Humber could see a return as a starter, that is if he can get on track.

Scott Baker will try to bounce back from his rough debut last Wednesday where he surrendered 6 runs in 4 innings against the Toronto Blue Jays. Pitching for the Red Sox will be knuckleballer Tim Wakefield who is coming off a complete game, 2 run effort against Oakland. Wakefield can be somewhat of a coin toss; his success largely depends on how his knuckleball is working. Last season he allowed 5 or more runs in 7 appearances, however still ended the season with a respectable 4.13 ERA. He's had 2 pretty good starts, so hopefully the Twins have found him on one of his down days.

Twins Insider today reported that Jesse Crain has been placed on the 15-day DL.

The Twins finished off their sweep of the Los Angeles Angels on Sunday with another stellar outing from Glen Perkins. The win moved them to 7-7 and just a game back of the trio of leaders in the division; Kansas City, Detroit and Chicago are all 7-5.

Glen Perkins needed just 84 pitches to complete 8 innings for the 3rd time in 3 starts. He gave way to Joe Nathan in the 9th. Two consecutive good starts combined with an off day on Monday will lead to a well rested bullpen when the Twins open a 2-game series in Boston.

The Twins followed up Friday night's improbable, Jason Kubel induced, comeback win with a solid victory on Saturday night. Big innings in the fifth and sixth helped the Twins to a 9-2 victory--their biggest win of the season. The win locked up a series victory against the Los Angeles Angels for the team's first series win of the season.

Kevin Slowey rebounded nicely from a shaky start to the season. After allowing 5 runs in each of his first two starts, Slowey held the Angels to just 2 runs through 7 strong innings. The long ball has been Slowey's achilles heel this year, and Torii Hunter's 2-run shot in the second inning was all the scoring the Angels would do.

Ron Gardenhire gave Jason Kubel his first start of the season in left field on Friday night, and in return Kubel put on the best show of the season and one of the better comebacks I've seen in recent years.

Kubel drove in the first run of the game on a double to the gap that scored Justin Morneau from first base. He singled in the third inning and added a triple and scored what was the tying run in the sixth inning. The real fireworks came in the eighth inning after the Twins had already scored 3 runs to reduce their deficit to 9-7. Justin Morneau was intentionally walked to load the bases with 2 outs. Kubel apparently didn't like that, and made Mike Scioscia pay the price. Kubel launched a ball to the upper deck in right-center to put the Twins up by 2 runs. Kubel's night marked the first time since Kirby Puckett in 1987 that a Twin hit for the cycle at the Metrodome (Carlos Gomez did it in Chicago last season).

The Twins claimed 25 year old righthander Juan Morillo from the Colorado Rockies today, and to clear room for him they designated Philip Humber for assignment. Humber is out of options, which essentially means he's gone unless no other team claims him from waivers. It seems unlikely that he would go unclaimed.

So, who is Juan Morillo? I had no idea, so I did some searching, and I still don't know much. He was signed by the Rockies in 2001 as an undrafted free agent. He came into the spring out of options, just like Humber. Morillo, however, didn't make the team when camp broke. Correction: Morillo did make the Rockies out of spring, but was sent packing to clear room for players returning from the DL. He made no appearances this year. Via Lavelle E. Neal:

The Twins have now lost 6 of their last 8 games and find themselves as the most outscored team in baseball with a -29 run differential. Problems exist in all facets of the game for the Twins--inconsistent offense, poor starting pitching and atrocious bullpen work so far.

ERA's rise and fall quickly in April, but at this point the team ERA is 5.19 with Glen Perkins, Jesse Crain and Joe Nathan being the only guys under 5. Thursday night's seventh inning implosion in which Craig Breslow and R.A. Dickey failed to record an out through 5 batters was particularly ugly.

The Twins were looking to Scott Baker to help them out of their early season pitching slump, but didn't quite get what they were looking for in Wednesday night's Baker debut.

Although Baker allowed "just" 5 hits and 2 walks in his four innings, the Blue Jays were mightily efficient in scoring runs. Baker surrendered 4 home runs to Blue Jay Hitters.

Up to this point, Glen Perkins has been the only pitcher that has given the Twins truly good starts. Last week he didn't get the win as the Twins lost 2-1 after Perkins pitched 8 innings of 1-run baseball. On Tuesday night it looked like Perkins might again become the victim of an offensive sleeper. With a 2-1 lead in the seventh and bases loaded, the Twins had a prime opportunity to separate the score a little bit. Unfortunately, Michael Cuddyer struck out and Joe Crede grounded into an inning ending double play.

The Blue Jays tied the game on Perkins in the eighth, and the game was ultimately not decided until Joe Crede redeemed himself with a walk-off double that score Justin Morneau in the 11th.

Things were looking good when the Twins got to Blue Jay starter Jesse Litsch early. They knocked him out of the game in the fourth inning after scoring 4 runs, and then added a couple more runs in the fifth.

Although Kevin Slowey left the game in the sixth inning with the lead, he got roughed up for 13 hits and 5 runs in his second consecutive bad outing. Slowey has allowed 4 deep balls and 22 hits through 2 starts--in other words, he's been throwing batting practice. Unfortunately, the bullpen couldn't hold the lead that the offense created, and the Twins lost by a score of 8-6. It's the team's 3rd straight loss and drops them to a record of 3-5.

The Twins struggled through the first week of the season on their way to a 3-4 start. All four losses came in games in which the Twins offense put up 0 or 1 runs, so clearly the offense needs to step things up and show a bit more consistency.

Carlos Gomez, Michael Cuddyer and Joe Crede each averaged more than a strikeout per game, with the team totaling 50 on the week-- about a 20% increase over their strikeout rate from 2008.

The Twins have said that Scott Baker will be activated in time to start Wednesday's home game against the Toronto Blue Jays. Obviously R.A. Dickey will be knocked out of his spot in the rotation, but that doesn't necessarily mean he'll be sent packing.

In the season opener Francisco Liriano pitched 7 innings of walk-free baseball. Although he allowed a couple home runs, I thought it was a decent outing. Saturday's game was a different story. Liriano allowed 4 walks, and his inability to find the strike zone was most evident in the fifth inning when Liriano walked in 2 runs for the Sox.

After failing to score a run on Thursday afternoon, the Twins bats came alive on a cold Friday evening in Chicago. Neither starter was great. R.A. Dickey and Jose Contreras lasted just five innings, but Dickey was just a little bit less hittable and was credited with the win. The Twins' record improved to 3-2, enough for first place in the division.

The Twins scattered single runs through 4 of the first 5 innings as Chicago tried to keep pace. Things got out of hand for the Sox in the seventh inning when the Twins posted 7 runs, more than they had scored in any of the previous 4 games. Justin Morneau led off the inning with his second home run of the season. Jason Kubel, Michael Cuddyer and Joe Crede were all then walked. Singles by Jose Morales, Nick Punto, Denard Span and Alexi Casilla helped provide the scoring, and then Justin Morneau added his second RBI of the inning with a sac fly.

It was the eighth inning before a Twins' baserunner reached second base, and that was the only time it happened in the game. The Twins managed just 5 hits, and fell to the Mariners by a score of 2-0, resulting in a series split.

It's a shame, because Glen Perkins gave the Twins their best start of the season, pitching 8 innings and allowing just 1 run on 5 hits. Luis Ayala allowed the 2nd Mariner run in the 9th inning.

For the second straight night, the Twins bullpen can be given a lot of credit for the win. Kevin Slowey got a bit roughed up, allowing 5 runs through six innings. He allowed 9 hits, 2 of which were homeruns, but walked none. The bullpen has been good the past couple nights, but Twins starters can't keep forcing them to pitch 3 or 4 innings a night. Last night Craig Breslow, Jesse Crain and Joe Nathan combined to allow just 1 hit and 1 walk in 3 innings.

Justin Morneau busted out of his 2 game funk and drove in 3 RBI. He homered in the first inning to drive in two, and later doubled to tie the game in the fifth. Jason Kubel drove him in for the game winning run the next at-bat.

I really like fangraphs.com. A quick glance can give you a pretty good idea of how the game went. The win probability graph for Tuesday's game was particularly interesting. See the point where the green line is nearly touching the x-axis? That's when Carlos Gomez was batting with 2 outs in the ninth. After that, the fun begins.

See the chart after the fold.

Down 5-3, and with Carlos Gomez at the plate with 2 outs and 2 strikes, it seemed clear that the Twins were headed to an 0-2 start against the Seattle Mariners. However, Go-Go drew a walk from Seattle Closer Brandon Morrow and Kubel and Buscher followed up with walks themselves. Denard Span brought the Twins within a run with his third single of the night and then Casilla poked a single into center field to score the tying and winning runs, in walk off fashion.

The Twins opened the final season in the Metrodome with a 6-1 loss to Felix Hernandez and the Seattle Mariners. Hernandez and Francisco Liriano dueled through the first five innings, but the game began to deteriorate in the bottom of the fifth inning when the Twins turned a bases loaded, no outs, situation into just 1 run after Justin Morneau grounded into an inning-ending double play.

In the sixth, Franklin Gutierrez slipped a 2-run homerun just past the outstretched glove of Carlos Gomez in center field, and a sloppy bullpen surrendered two more runs in the ninth.

It wasn't an all-bad night. Liriano actually pitched well, despite a few costly mistakes. 3 of his 4 runs surrendered came on long-balls, but he still made it through 7 innings on just 93 pitches. He allowed just 4 hits and 0 walks.

Just how tough is Mike Redmond? Check out what he eats for breakfast:

Via Twins Now here are tonight's lineups. Delmon Young sits.

Minnesota Twins

1. Denard Span, CF
2. Alexi Casilla, 2B
3. Michael Cuddyer, RF
4. Justin Morneau, 1B
5. Jason Kubel, DH
6. Joe Crede, 3B
7. Carlos Gomez, CF
8. Mike Redmond, C
9. Nick Punto, SS

In my mind, the best argument for an improved Twins club in 2009 is the potential to have Francisco Liriano on the mound for more than the 76 innings he provided last season. Replace the nearly 140 innings that Livan Hernandez pitched last season with Liriano's arm, and that makes a huge difference.

The Twins will host the Seattle Mariners tonight for the final season opener at the Metrodome in front of a sold out crowd. The Twins enter the season as the picks by many to win the AL Central, largely because division is relatively weak again this year.

The Twins came just shy of the postseason last year, however made very little moves in the offseason to make the team better. It's clear that they're counting on growth from within to make this team contend in 2009.

Looking to improve this year.

Michael Cuddyer struggled through injuries last season. While he was rehabbing a hand injury, he was struck by a ball and broke his foot. The string of bad luck limited him to just 279 plate appearances, hafter surpassing 600 in each of the previous two years.

With Joe Mauer and Scott Baker set to start the season on the DL, the seemingly minor aches and pains of Justin Morneau are getting more focus than they otherwise would.

Compared to last season, not a lot changed for the Twins this past winter. Last offseason saw the loss of Johan Santana and Torii Hunter as well as a trade that sent Matt Garza and Jason Bartlett to the Tampa Bay Rays for Delmon Young and Brendan Harris. This offseason's biggest move was the signing of Joe Crede, who comes into the season still trying to shake off any doubt about his health.

Let's take a position-by-position look at where the Twins stand in 2009 compared to 2008.

Surely a lot will be made of the forecasted high of 35 degrees on opening day in the Twin Cities. With the controversial roofless Target Field set to open next season, the open-air haters will be out in full force.

Cold weather has been and always will be part of the first weeks of the major league season. Minneapolis is hardly the only city that will host baseball next week in less than comfortable conditions. See the forecasts courtesy of weather.com:

Before the season starts I have to get my predictions set in stone, so people can point and laugh at me at the end of the season. Please share your picks in the comments.

American League

East: Tampa Bay Rays

Central: Cleveland Indians

West: Los Angeles Angels

Wild Card: New York Yankees

Cy Young: Roy Halladay

MVP: Grady Sizemore

ROY: David Price

Scott Baker just pitched 5 strong innings against AAA competition yesterday, so it comes as a surprise that Joe Christensen is reporting that Baker will start the season on the 15-day DL with shoulder soreness.