Wednesday
Night, June 2, 2010
A Busy Baseball
Night!
Valencia
Promoted!
It has been a busy night of news in the baseball world and I wanted to
blog my immediate responses to some of the stories. Admittedly, part of the
reason is to get a new blog post out there in case I am unable to handle my
third straight 9:00 p.m. start time for the Twins. The Twins will send Kevin
Slowey to the mound to face Cliff Lee in
what should be a very good matchup. But here are some stories from the night:
CONDOLENSCES TO CUDDYER
…and to his wife Claudia. Apparently Cuddyer’s father-in-law passed away and after tonight’s
game, Cuddyer will leave the team and be put on the Bereavement
List. According to Joe Christensen, Cuddyer is
expected to be back on Tuesday. First and foremost, best wishes to Michael and
his wife, Claudia, who just lost her father. There are so many stories that
remind us to put baseball into perspective, and this is one of them. So best wishes to the family, and return when you and your wife are
ready.
On the baseball side of this unfortunate situation, someone will be
promoted to the Twins following the game to take Cuddyer’s
roster spot while he is away. With Cuddyer
unavailable, the only other outfielders on the 40 man roster are Delmon Young, Denard
Span and Jason Kubel. There is not another
outfielder on the 40 man roster. Therefore, it is my belief that they should
add an outfielder to the 40 man roster and to the 25 man roster, even if for
just four days. Who? Ben Revere? No way. This will be a spot where the player
will play one, maybe two games, so I’d just leave Ben Revere in AA New
Britain. Jacque Jones? It would be a great story to see him come back.
However, the time when this player would play would be against a left-handed
pitcher so that Jim Thome and Jason Kubel would not both have to be in the lineup. A
right-handed bat would be ideal. Dustin Martin? Maybe if it was three
weeks ago, but he has slumped. And, he’s left handed too. The easy choice in my
mind is Jason Repko. He is playing very well
in Rochester. He can play all three outfield positions. He bats right-handed.
He could give Denard Span a day off.
Indications are that it will be Jason Repko.
He was not in the lineup for the Rochester Red Wings tonight…
So how do the Twins make room for him on the 40 man roster? Again,
very easy. I would put Clay Condrey on
the 60 Day Disabled List, retroactive to late March. Condrey
isn’t going to be coming back in the next week, and the 60 days are already
past, so if Condrey did get called back up, it wouldn’t
be an issue. Repko has enough skills that they could
keep him on the 40 man roster even after he would be sent down, or he could
clear waivers and be sent back to Rochester. I am pretty certain he is better
than Matt Tolbert!
UPDATE – DANNY VALENCIA
PROMOTED TO THE TWINS. Seth is thrilled!!! Absolutely
thrilled. I’m not sure I understand it, with the Twins need for an
outfielder. What it tells me is that Orlando Hudson must be out longer
than we’ve been told (shocking, right?). This makes sense if Valencia is now
the Twins starting 3B with Nick Punto moving
over to 2B for the time being, or to the utility spot for good! In my book, the
Minnesota Twins 2010 Prospect Handbook, I wrote an article called On
the Cusp: Danny Valencia… now, the article
could be Danny Valencia: Big Leaguer!!
GOOD BYE TO GRIFFEY
We all knew this was coming. He wasn’t hitting at all, and the time had
clearly come. Today, Ken Griffey, Jr. retired from Major League
Baseball. He is a sure-fire, first-ballot Hall of Famer. He has 630 home runs,
fifth all time. He was never mentioned in any steroid talk (which, of course,
means nothing). He was incredible defensively early in his career. He had a strong
arm. He was so fast. He had one of the most pure swings that I have ever seen.
As you can tell, “KGJ” was a personal favorite of mine. I remember
figuring out the pattern of the 1989 Bowman baseball cards, you know, those
larger sized cardboard cards. I figured out who the three or four players who
were always before Griffey. I remember the Donruss
Rated Rookie. I remember getting TWO 1989 Upper Deck Griffey card, Card #1 in
their inaugural set. Obviously Kirby
Puckett was my all-time favorite player. Chuck Knoblauch was
certainly up there too. But of non-Twins players, there is no doubt the Griffey
was my favorite (with Roberto Alomar and Barry Larkin
close behind).
Called up to the Mariners in 1989 at the youthful
age of 19. His father often played left field for the Mariners that year while
Junior was in Center. He made some of the most amazing catches. And that smile.
At that time, he truly loved playing the game, and you could tell. The smile
was a constant. It was infectious. I remember when he would take batting
practice with his hat backwards and the older generation of fan thought it was
such a travesty. I thought it was cool. Some thought it was disrespectful. Come
on, Ken Griffey Jr respected the game. How
could he not?
By all accounts, Griffey was not only a first-ballot Hall of Fame player, He was also a Hall of Fame caliber person and
parent. That matters too. In my mind,
there is absolutely no reason to not vote for Griffey the first year he becomes
Hall of Fame eligible. Griffey and Greg Maddux are two guys from
my generation that should receive (but won’t) 100% of the vote.
It’s always unfortunate when a player of that magnitude goes out a year
or two too late. Regardless, his 2010 struggles should not detract in any way
from his amazing career.
28 OUT PERFECT GAME AND ONE
IMPERFECT CALL
I guess we have found a way for Twins fans and Tigers fans to unite.
Starting pitcher Armando Galarraga had a
perfect game going into the 9th inning against Cleveland this
evening. Austin Jackson made an absolutely incredible catch in deep
centerfield for the 1st out of the inning. Mike Redmond
grounded out to the shortstop for the 2nd out. That brought Jason
Donald to the plate. The infielder hit a roller between first and second
base. Miguel Cabrera ranged far to his right to field the ball. Galarraga covered first. Jason Donald was out by
about three-fourths of a step. Only… 1B umpire Jim Joyce called Donald
safe. Clearly a missed call. Galarraga
played it cool and got the next batter for the final out.
After the game, Joyce watched the replay and saw that he was wrong. He
went to Galarraga and admitted his mistake. He
apologized. Very classy.
Jim Joyce’s name will be mentioned negatively for weeks. Fans in Detroit
may never forgive it. I may be strange, but I am already feeling very bad for
him. Think about this. Jim Joyce doesn’t want this. He wants to make the right
calls. He doesn’t want his name dragged in the mud. He called what he saw. He
was wrong, and he has since admitted it. But his job is to call what he sees.
No, his job is to make the right call. That’s right. But you know what?
The pitcher’s job is to not give up hits or runs. The hitter’s job is to get on
base or drive in runs. The fielders’ job is to make all of the plays
defensively. I guarantee that umpires’ percentage of doing their job right is
much, much higher than that of the players and the managers.
That said, Galarraga’s
game will be forgotten with all of the one-hitters in baseball history rather
than being one of 21 or 22 pitchers in Major League history to throw a perfect
game. I was really impressed by Galarraga in the 9th
inning. He seemed to be enjoying the moment. Consider he began this season in
the Tigers AAA rotation behind guys like Jeremy Bonderman
and Dontrelle Willis. He showed great
class after the game as well. Call me impressed!
MINOR LEAGUE SCOREBOARD
Here is a quick glance at what
happened on Wednesday in the Twins minor league system:
SethSpeaks Wednesday Minor League
Hitter of the Day – Jonathan Goncalves – Ft. Myers Miracle
SethSpeaks Wednesday Minor League
Pitcher of the Day – Dan Osterbrock – Ft. Myers Miracle
Red Wings Report
Wednesday – Rochester 5, Norfolk 4 –Anthony Slama came in with a two run lead
in the 9th. He gave up a run, but held on for his 11th
save. Matt Fox started and gave up
two unearned runs in just 1.2 innings. He was hit in the foot by a comebacker
and left the game. Tim Lahey came in and threw 3.1 scoreless innings. In fact,
he didn’t allow a hit, walked two and struck out three to improve to 5-1. Kyle Waldrop threw two scoreless
innings. Rob Delaney gave up a run
in 0.2 innings before Jose Lugo got
the final out of that inning before Slama closed the
door in the ninth. Trevor Plouffe went 1-3 with a walk and his fifth home run. Brock Peterson added his seventh homer
of the year.
New Britain Notes
Wednesday – New Britain 5, Altoona 10 – Carlos Gutierrez had a rough one on this day. He gave up seven runs
on ten hits (two home runs) in five innings. Chris Province gave up two runs over the next three innings on four
hits. Joe Testa
gave up a run in his inning. Ben Revere
went 2-5 in the game. Erik Lis had a two run double.
Miracle Matters
Wednesday – Ft. Myers 4, Dunedin 3 – Dan Osterbrock needed a good start, and he provided the Miracle with
one. The lefty gave up one run on two hits in six innings. He walked two and
struck out three. Pat Neshek came in for his first rehab appearance and
struck out two in a perfect 7th inning. Jose Gonzalez came in and gave up two unearned runs in the two
innings but it was enough for the save. Jonathan
Goncalves had two fielding errors in left field,
but he went 2-3 with a walk. Evan Bigley and Brian
Dozier were each 2-4 in the game. Chris
Parmelee was 1-2 with two walks
.
Snappers Snippets
Wednesday – Beloit 1, Lake County
6 – Michael Tonkin probably deserved much
better. The young right-hander gave up five unearned runs in 5.2 innings. He
allowed just two hits and one walk, but he fell to 0-3. Peter Kennelly got out of the sixth inning although he allowed a
run as well. Dakota Watts walked two
and struck out one in his inning. Kane Holbrooks struck out two in a perfect inning. Aaron Hicks provided the offense for
the team’s lone run. Hicks hit his fifth home run of the year. He was 2-4. Danny Rams had two doubles in four at
bats. James Beresford was also 2-4.
If
you have any thoughts, please feel
free to comment here.