Minnesota Twins
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Picking up the PaceMay 7th, 2008
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As we exit April and enter May the young Twins have finally found some consistency. They sputtered through the first month, looking really good some nights and forgettable the next.
All was to be expected heading into the season, so it was not really a disappointment for most Twins’ hopefuls, but just as were saying “in a couple years “ the Twins now sit atop the Central Division.
A week ago the Twins were four games behind the then division-leading White Sox and appeared to be no more than a .500 or below type of team.
They had just got back from a disappointing road trip to Oakland and Texas where they dropped four out of six games and waiting for them at the Teflon Dome were the then-first place White Sox and their homer-hitting lumber.
The White Sox currently have an American League-leading 38 homers this season. The Twins? Well they are tied for a Major League-low, as of May 6, with just 16 long balls. That’s just about one every other game, but it hasn’t slowed them down. As usual they manufacture runs with directional hitting and speed on the base-paths. The White Sox prefer to do it the quick and easier way and just knock it out of the park. Two teams with two completely different formulas for success. Read more
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Return to NormalcyApril 24th, 2008
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About a week ago, I wrote an article on the Twins’ failings in the bullpen. But a lot changed in a week, and that angle had to be ditched– well, not completely. I’m still going to bring up what happened, but we now have light at the end of the tunnel.
Things were looking scary for the Twins when, in the span of one week, the Twins’ mighty setup men managed to blow three big divisional games. The culprits: Pat Neshek, Matt Guerrier and Jesse Crain.
Neshek began the mess by giving up a grand slam to Joe Crede in the opening game against the Chicago White Sox on April 7 to spoil a 4-3 lead in the seventh. The Twins went on to lose 7-4. Guerrier started the inning by loading up the bases for Neshek, so we can’t give Neshek all the blame, but he did give up the shot to bring them all in.
Then on the following Monday, Guerrier and Neshek managed to blow a five-run lead and eventually, the game, to the slumping Detroit Tigers 11-9.
Crain followed suit the very next night, spoiling a solid start by Scott Baker by giving up a rocketing two-run homer to Detroit’s Magglio Ordonez in the eighth inning to give the Tigers a 6-5 win and two-game series sweep.
The result of rough week for the setup corps was a combined nine runs given up and three losses in just 3 1/3 innings pitched, ballooning their combined ERA to 8.95 on the season to go along with their 0-3 record.
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Leadoff ThreatApril 9th, 2008
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After a decade of searching, the Twins first true leadoff man since Chuck Knoblauch has seemingly arrived in Minnesota.
The emergence of the Twins’ new speedy table-setter and center fielder Carlos Gomez has been the biggest ray of hope for the young team this season. He has opened a lot of eyes with his ridiculous speed and great abilities, at the plate, in the field and most obviously on the base-paths.
Gomez currently leads the Twins in hits, bunt singles, stolen bases, runs, and on-base percentage, much like he did throughout spring training.
In my first post I talked about how he is the fastest man in MLB, but insiders worried if he was going to be able to get on base enough to utilize that speed.
Well, in the first week of the season he has shown he can in fact arrive at first base and thus wreak havoc on the base paths for opposing teams. Though the extra base hits (just two doubles) may not be there yet, he has shown an uncanny ability to bunt his way on and wheel his way around to score. Read more
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Opening DayApril 2nd, 2008
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Opening day for baseball is the day that diehard fans face their lofty spring training hopes and ridiculous expectations head on. Those whose teams don’t fare so well then forget that there are still 161 games to go and that opening day is just one game to start off six months of constant baseball. Nonetheless it is a fantastic day for baseball enthusiasts like the writers at hometown9.com, to sit back, relax and see what all the talk is about.
For a month everybody gets to study how their team is shaping up in spring training, read the local sports writer rant and rave about the up-and-coming five-tool prospect who might win the center-field job, and place wagers with their co-workers on how their respective teams will finish.
Well most national media outlets would tell you that the Minnesota Twins are not Read more