Weekend Twins Notes
As mentioned, I went to the Twins/A’s game on
Saturday night. I love going to Target Field. We got there about 45 minutes
early and just hung out on Target Plaza. As I prefer to do, I went into the
stadium as soon as the gates opened. It’s fun for me to watch batting practice,
any field work and just walk around the whole stadium. Also, I know I
recommended it before, but I did go to the State Fair booth in centerfield and
got the Ribs & Fries for $8.50. As you recall, these are Michelbob’s ribs. I didn’t expect them to be as good as
those I had in Naples, but they were really, really good. I definitely
encourage people to get that!
I have to admit, though, that the Twins/A’s game was pretty disappointing. Not just because if was
1-0. I actually love a good 1-0, 2-1, 2-0 type of ball game, but this was not a
well played game. Both teams didn’t take advantage of opportunities to score
more runs. Delmon Young threw out a runner at home to
end the first inning, but the other missed opportunities were due to really
poor execution. The Twins had a runner on third base and nobody out and didn’t
score. Danny Valencia and Luke Hughes each hit the ball hard a couple of times.
Gio Gonzalez is one of the best pitchers that most
fans haven’t heard much about, so he does deserve a lot of credit. But even he
wasn’t totally on his game. There were a lot of deep counts. And, of course,
had the Twins found a way to sneak out a second straight 2-1 win, all would
have been worthwhile.
Things were worse for the Twins on Sunday. I
listened some, watched some… I actually fell asleep on the couch while trying
to watch the Twins play. That’s how bad it was… Making it even worse for me is
that I was asleep for the Twins three-run inning and missed both a Joe Mauer non-weak groundout (he doubled) and the monumental
590th home run of Jim Thome. Unreal. The only Twins offense of the weekend, and I couldn’t
keep my eyes open for it.
Here are a couple of Quick Twins Notes:
·
While Alexi Casilla struggles at the plate and in the field, Trevor Plouffe has eight hits in his last three games at Triple-A
Rochester, including three home runs and two doubles. Plouffe
played 2B on Sunday and committed an error. I know that many Twins fans are
ready to end Casilla’s time as the Twins regular
shortstop. That would be a mistake. The Twins made the decision in the
offseason that Casilla would be their starting shortstop.
It would be wrong to end that after just nine games. In fact, I really believe
in the theory that players need six weeks to two months before making big
decisions like that. The Twins made their beds, now they have to sleep in it
for a little while. Casilla is hitting just .167 and
frankly, not even putting together good at bats. But as of today, there is not
a better option in the organization. Six weeks in Rochester may tell us that Plouffe can be the regular SS for the Twins, but again, we
shall find out. It is probably the harder decision, to stand by Casilla, but for now, it is the right thing.
·
While being
frustrated, watching that game on Friday night, I was amazed by the ovation
that Mauer continued to get despite weak groundout
after weak groundout. I wondered aloud (via Twitter) when it would be OK for
the Target Field fans to start booing Mauer, if
somehow they needed to wait until after the opening weekend, or would it be
longer? Of course, I know that at the end of the year, Mauer
will hit over .310. I think that he’ll show some more power than last year. I’m
not worried, but at the same time, the weak grounders are very frustrating.
·
Equally
frustrating is Mauer’s defense. His unwillingness to block
a lot of pitches in the dirt. In the game I was at, pitchers had two wild
pitches in which Mauer just stabbed at the ball. Part
of me is fine with that. I don’t want to see a talent like Mauer
taking a bunch of baseballs off the chest. We all prefer he catch more games
and if being a little lazy at times is how he can get there, ok.
·
Please note that
neither of those Mauer opinions have anything to do
with his contract, or the fact that he is making just over $10 million more in
2011 than he did in 2010.
·
When Tsuyoshi Nishioka was put on the Disabled List, it was an obvious
choice to call up Luke Hughes and make him the starter at 2B. Hughes was nearly
on the roster to start the season, so it made sense for him to come up. That’s
why, when Kevin Slowey was put on the Disabled List on
Saturday, I was a little surprised that the team went with Alex Burnett as the
promotion. The final bullpen spot seemingly came down to Jeff Manship and Jim Hoey, so I
assumed Hoey would come up. However, he had pitched
two innings on Friday and would not have been available on Sunday. Burnett was
sent down to minor league camp relatively early.
Hey, the big picture is that we knew that the
Twins early schedule would be difficult. They’re 3-6, and still have 153 games
to go. We knew Chicago would be tough. I don’t think anyone is buying Cleveland
or Kansas City as contenders yet, are they? So, let’s let this play out. There is
too much talent in the Twins lineup for it to struggle much longer. The
starting pitching has been solid. The bullpen hasn’t been bad. They’ll be OK.
It’s just at times like this when you have to trust the process, I guess.
Or, you can panic and worry, or quit watching
the team… Up to you?! J
I got home last night and hosted the
SethSpeaks.net Sunday night Twins podcast. It was fun answering your questions.
I got a couple of callers. So, be sure to download that. I talked about the
weekend in the minor leagues on there, including some of the highlights. I will
get you caught up on the minor league information (including just how hot
Trevor Plouffe’s bat is, Joe
Benson’s first homer of the season, the 4-0 Ft. Myers Miracle, the hitting of Oswaldo Arcia and Danny Ortiz and
the strikeouts of Adrian Salcedo, and more).
However, after a long weekend and a lot of
travel (in gloomy, gray, rainy conditions), I ended up passing out. Sleep was
very much needed as I’ve got a very busy week. The Twins have an off day today,
and I need it as much as they do! HA!
However, at 10:00 tonight, Travis Aune
and I will be co-hosting Twins Minor League Weekly
(now on both Monday and Thursday nights). So, be sure to check that out for all
kinds of minor league information!
Feel free to leave
your thoughts, questions or comments.
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