Going into the season, the Twins looked to be in a pretty sorry state. Last year, they struggled to score and, outside of Johann Santana, the starting rotation was aspiring to mediocrity. During the offseason they were very active, though not necessarily in a good way. They let Torii Hunter sign with the Angels as a free agent and traded Santana, my pick for the best pitcher in baseball, in exchange for Carlos Gomez, Philip Humber, and an A-league bullpen arm. Gomez is extremely young for a guy with major league experience, and has shown that he is an exciting defensive player in the outfield and is extraordinarily fast. Humber is a former pitching prospect with an injury history – basically a gamble. Heaven only knows about the other guy. Their other big move was trading Matt Garza, one of their best young pitchers, for Delmon Young, a young outfielder with lofty expectations.
In short, the Twins started the off season as a bad team studded with good players, and ended it a worse team, populated with fewer good players. Their chances at success (defined, at least by me, as not being the worst team in the division), hinge on (a) nobody important getting hurt and (b) some young players turning in surprisingly good seasons.
Through the first few weeks of the season, they have been about what one could expect. The only team in the AL the Twins have outscored is the Royals (by only 8 runs), and they would need to score 14 runs more than the Rangers, the next weakest offense, to catch them. This despite the facts that both KC and Texas have played against tougher pitchers and defenses. Gomez has played like a defensive replacement, and is in danger of losing his starting job. Unfortunately, Young and 3B Mike Lamb have been worse than Gomez at the plate. Michael Cuddyer, one of their relatively strong hitters from the past couple years, has been hurt. Among their other regulars, only Justin Morneau has made strong positive contributions.
They couldn't do much worse if they just started the backups, and that's what they've begun doing. In the game last night, six players appeared as hitters who were not in the starting lineup on opening day. They scored two runs, only slightly below their average for the year.
The Twins' best pitcher thus far has been Nick Blackburn. Yeah, I don't know him either, but he's been pretty good considering he's an injury replacement from their AAA team. Scott Baker has also been very good, striking out quite a few batters, but giving up more than his fair share of HR. Frankly, most of the rotation has been decent. Even Livan Hernandez, their opening day starter, has been occasionally useful. Unfortunately, Francisco Liriano, who was having one of the all-time great pitching seasons before he blew out his elbow two years ago, has looked more like Hernandez than Santana, whom he was supposed to replace in the rotation. He is in danger of being sent to the minors. Kevin Slowey, originally slotted as their number 2 starter, has been hurt most of the year.
So the Twins are about what they looked like before the season started. A bad offense. Acceptable rotation, even if no particular pitcher is standing out. They currently stand ahead of the Royals in the standings by one game. Success! The big question is this: can the Royals continue to out-suck the Twins?
Other – likely more interesting – notes from the AL Central: Jim Thome just passed Ernie Banks on the all-time HR list. Is he really a Hall of Fame player? ... The White Sox are in first place, and are among the league leaders in offense and defense. Are they legit? And if they're still contending in July, do they still try to trade Crede and promote Fields? ... Both the Indians and Tigers have underperformed their expectations so far. Which is the most likely to turn their season around?
The Phillies are looking to get healthy at the top of the order with Jimmy Rollins and Shane Victorino out with injuries. Ryan Howard has been stone cold! But so has been Robinson Cano of the Yanks. Ryan will get hot as the weather becomes warmer. He will be using Citizens Bank Park as a launching pad. Pat Burrell is eyeing some big bucks as he has been scorching hot to start the season. Then there a guy name Chase Utley who has been unbelievable. Last week he had 6 straight multi-hit games. And before that he had 6 HRs in 5 games. He might be this year's NL MVP. The pitching led by Cole Hamels has done quite well this year. Little concerned with Brett Myers decreased velocity. The bullpen has been exceptional if we can forget the first game of the year when the bullpen gave up 7 runs. If you take out the first game the bullpen has an ERA under 2. Otherwise it is around 2.50 Just read today that Mike Lieberthal is coming back in June to retire with the Phillies. Mike was their catcher for 13 years. He played 1 season with the Dodgers last year. Way to go out as a Phillie, Lieby!!
In the NL East, Who would ever think that Florida would be in first place after trading Cabrera and Willis. I know that is a long season so look for the Phillies to move up. The Mets are getting hurt with aging veterans such Pedro, Alou, Delgado. Not that the Mets can't bounce back but since June 1st of last year they are only a .500 ball club. Heard the last part on WFAN.
Hey, all non-Yankee fans! Here's your spot to sound off on your favorite team. 
4 comments:
Just to get this party started...
I'm not quite sure why the Expos' logo is in that pic. The Nats' logo is there too. I guess it filled out the 5x6 grid. Who knows?
Yeah, that's an interesting montage. D-backs, Brewers, Pirates and Astros twice each? Expos and Nats? Why even add that extra column of logos?
Going into the season, the Twins looked to be in a pretty sorry state. Last year, they struggled to score and, outside of Johann Santana, the starting rotation was aspiring to mediocrity. During the offseason they were very active, though not necessarily in a good way. They let Torii Hunter sign with the Angels as a free agent and traded Santana, my pick for the best pitcher in baseball, in exchange for Carlos Gomez, Philip Humber, and an A-league bullpen arm. Gomez is extremely young for a guy with major league experience, and has shown that he is an exciting defensive player in the outfield and is extraordinarily fast. Humber is a former pitching prospect with an injury history – basically a gamble. Heaven only knows about the other guy. Their other big move was trading Matt Garza, one of their best young pitchers, for Delmon Young, a young outfielder with lofty expectations.
In short, the Twins started the off season as a bad team studded with good players, and ended it a worse team, populated with fewer good players. Their chances at success (defined, at least by me, as not being the worst team in the division), hinge on (a) nobody important getting hurt and (b) some young players turning in surprisingly good seasons.
Through the first few weeks of the season, they have been about what one could expect. The only team in the AL the Twins have outscored is the Royals (by only 8 runs), and they would need to score 14 runs more than the Rangers, the next weakest offense, to catch them. This despite the facts that both KC and Texas have played against tougher pitchers and defenses. Gomez has played like a defensive replacement, and is in danger of losing his starting job. Unfortunately, Young and 3B Mike Lamb have been worse than Gomez at the plate. Michael Cuddyer, one of their relatively strong hitters from the past couple years, has been hurt. Among their other regulars, only Justin Morneau has made strong positive contributions.
They couldn't do much worse if they just started the backups, and that's what they've begun doing. In the game last night, six players appeared as hitters who were not in the starting lineup on opening day. They scored two runs, only slightly below their average for the year.
The Twins' best pitcher thus far has been Nick Blackburn. Yeah, I don't know him either, but he's been pretty good considering he's an injury replacement from their AAA team. Scott Baker has also been very good, striking out quite a few batters, but giving up more than his fair share of HR. Frankly, most of the rotation has been decent. Even Livan Hernandez, their opening day starter, has been occasionally useful. Unfortunately, Francisco Liriano, who was having one of the all-time great pitching seasons before he blew out his elbow two years ago, has looked more like Hernandez than Santana, whom he was supposed to replace in the rotation. He is in danger of being sent to the minors. Kevin Slowey, originally slotted as their number 2 starter, has been hurt most of the year.
So the Twins are about what they looked like before the season started. A bad offense. Acceptable rotation, even if no particular pitcher is standing out. They currently stand ahead of the Royals in the standings by one game. Success! The big question is this: can the Royals continue to out-suck the Twins?
Other – likely more interesting – notes from the AL Central: Jim Thome just passed Ernie Banks on the all-time HR list. Is he really a Hall of Fame player? ... The White Sox are in first place, and are among the league leaders in offense and defense. Are they legit? And if they're still contending in July, do they still try to trade Crede and promote Fields? ... Both the Indians and Tigers have underperformed their expectations so far. Which is the most likely to turn their season around?
The Phillies are looking to get healthy at the top of the order with Jimmy Rollins and Shane Victorino out with injuries. Ryan Howard has been stone cold! But so has been Robinson Cano of the Yanks. Ryan will get hot as the weather becomes warmer. He will be using Citizens Bank Park as a launching pad. Pat Burrell is eyeing some big bucks as he has been scorching hot to start the season. Then there a guy name Chase Utley who has been unbelievable. Last week he had 6 straight multi-hit games. And before that he had 6 HRs in 5 games. He might be this year's NL MVP.
The pitching led by Cole Hamels has done quite well this year. Little concerned with Brett Myers decreased velocity. The bullpen has been exceptional if we can forget the first game of the year when the bullpen gave up 7 runs. If you take out the first game the bullpen has an ERA under 2. Otherwise it is around 2.50
Just read today that Mike Lieberthal is coming back in June to retire with the Phillies. Mike was their catcher for 13 years. He played 1 season with the Dodgers last year. Way to go out as a Phillie, Lieby!!
In the NL East, Who would ever think that Florida would be in first place after trading Cabrera and Willis. I know that is a long season so look for the Phillies to move up. The Mets are getting hurt with aging veterans such Pedro, Alou, Delgado. Not that the Mets can't bounce back but since June 1st of last year they are only a .500 ball club. Heard the last part on WFAN.
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