Last week I whined about how difficult it was to pick a player of the week, since the team as a whole had played so poorly. I hoped that this week’s decision would be difficult for a different reason, and my wish has certainly come true.

In week 2 of the season the Twins won 5 of their 6 games against arguably the best two teams in baseball. Pitching still isn’t in midseason form, but the bats (at least most of them) certainly are. Week 2 was also a week of resiliency as every win they recorded was in come-from-behind fashion. Some exciting games were played and we’ll be lucky if every week is as good as the one just completed. Let’s get to a discussion of the players nominated for Player of the Week. There were just too many good performances this week to discuss everyone, so forgive me if I left someone off.

Honorable Mention

• Scott Baker: Despite a minor equipment malfunction in the 2nd inning of Friday night’s game, this kid was flawless against the best lineup in baseball. He doesn’t have great stuff, but he pitched smart and located his pitches well. Baker is most responsible for Friday night’s win against the Yankees, and for that deserves mentioning in the POW discussion.
• Juan Rincon: Juan saw three innings this past week, 2 of which were against the Yankees. On Wednesday against Oakland he was brought into a 1-run game and managed to hold Oakland off to set up the win for the Twins. On Friday night he was brought in with a 3-1 lead and held the Yankees scoreless before the Twins added two more runs in the bottom of the inning. His most notable performance came on Saturday night when he inherited 1 runner, Johnny Damon, in the 9th. Damon promptly stole second and then moved to 3rd on a sac bunt. Rincon then had a long, 13-pitch faceoff against Sheffield that ended with a huge strikeout, keeping Damon at 3rd and 1 more run off the board. Rincon’s performance helped hold the Twins within one run, making their 9th inning comeback more doable.
• Juan Castro: Castro wasn’t expected to hit for the Twins, but he was 6/17 with a walk over the week. His solid fielding and good rapport with Luis Castillo was also enjoyable to watch all week long.
• Joe Mauer: Mauer was 5/16 with 3 RBI’s during the week. His most memorable at-bat came in the 9th inning on Saturday night againt the Yankees. Mauer worked the count full against Mariano Rivera before looping a single to opposite field. Mauer’s smart baserunning advanced him to third on a poor decision by Matsui in left.
• Tony Batista: Batista was 9/21 during the week with 5 RBI’s. He had the big 3-run HR during the Twins’ 6-run inning against Oakland on Tuesday night. He also had 3 doubles during the week and hit well in clutch situations. His fielding at third was also surprisingly solid.
• Luis Castillo: Castillo was 9/20 during the week including a 4/5 game on Saturday against the Yankees. Castillo is fun to watch as he manages to get on base by just simply making contact with the ball. Castillo has been a major boost to the top of the lineup, and his gold glove has been noticed in the infeild. The most notable moment of Castillo’s week was when he manged to get on base by chopping the ball just in front of the plate and barely beating Rivera’s fastball to first. Castillo scored the tying run in the 9th with Mauer scoring the winning run right behind him.

Player of the Week: Justin Morneau

After Saturday night’s heroics, the player of the week has to go to Justin Morneau. After Rondell White and Torii Hunter struck out with runners on 2nd and 3rd, Morneau came up against the best closer in baseball history. Rivera’s cutter busted Morneau’s bat (actually Mauer’s bat), but the strength of Morneau was enough to get the ball past 2nd basemen Robinson Cano to drive in the winning runs.

Morneau also had the big go-ahead 3-run homerun on Wednesday night against Oakland as well as another homerun late in the game on Thursday. He had a total of 8 RBI’s during the week. Special Recognition should also be paid to Joe Mauer who provided Morneau with his bats during the week. I suggest that Mauer also loan a bat to White.