Thursday, April 13, 2006

Twins Thoughts

Twins Minor League Notes

American Idol Thoughts

Two in a Row...

One more, and we can call it a winning streak!

Good morning everyone!

So yesterday, I went to mlb.com radio to listen to some of their programming. They had an error on their site and instead of allowing me to listen to the show, it took me to a screen saying that I needed to Buy the mlb.tv package. After numerous attempts, thinking I had done something wrong, I finally gave in. I bought one month of the mlb.tv package. It was just $14.95 for a month. Also, they have a new deal called mlb.tv mosaic. With that, you will actually be able to watch six games online at the same time, on your computer monitor. You can then select which game you would like to listen to. I think that is pretty cool, so I don't even feel bad about it. Last night, I kept switching from game to game. So, this is not a promo for mlb.tv, but it is baseball related and something that I think is very neat.

With that, I was able to watch one of the most amazing pitching performances that I have ever seen. Heading into the season, most baseball analysts and fantasy baseball analysts projected that 2006 could be a huge breakout season for the Orioles Daniel Cabrera. Why? Well, my thing is that he is about 6-7 and strong (258 pounds). He throws the ball 98 mph and has a sharp slider. Twins fans saw him throw a complete game shutout last summer. This year, he has another full season under his belt and his new pitching coach is Leo Mazzone. What have the results been? Well, in his first start, he went just 1.1 innings. He gave up seven runs on three hits, and SEVEN walks. So, what did he do last night? Well, in the first two innings, he had four strikeouts. He was looking good. All told, he went five innings and gave up just a run on three hits. He struck out ten Devil Rays batters. Sadly, it would be hard to classify it as a good start. Why? Because he walked NINE Devil Rays batters. He also threw three wild pitches. I have never seen anything like it!

TWINS NOTES

Last night, the Twins fell behind again when Carlos Silva gave up three runs in the second inning. But in the bottom of the second inning, Tony Batista doubled in a run. The big hit for the Twins, however, came off of the bat of Justin Morneau who hit a three run shot in the bottom of the fourth. The Twins had a brief 4-3 lead until Nick Swisher homered to tie the game. But, Joe Mauer came up with a runner on third and just one out, and he hit a deep fly ball to center to score the run. Torii Hunter added an insurance run with a solo homer. That was a good thing since Nick Swisher hit another home run in the 6th. Silva, Juan Rincon and Joe Nathan finished the game without allowing the tying run to score and the Twins had a two game winning streak! Here are some more thoughts.

• Nick Swisher hit two home runs last night for the A's. Last year, as a rookie, he hit 21 home runs. He had two homers in a September call up in 2004. He now had three home runs this year. That gives him 26 home runs in a season and a month. His father, Steve Swisher, was a big league backup catcher for the Cubs, Cardinals and Padres for nine years. He hit a total of 20 career home runs.

• I know, many say that I am too much of a Justin Morneau apologist. However, when he does get a hold of a ball and knock out a home run, it is a thing of beauty. From a technical standpoint, it is all about proper timing and weight transfer for Morneau. He gets in trouble when he lunges. But when he is able to keep his weight bat, he creates a lot of power, as we have seen in two straight games now and four times in less than a week.

• Morneau's most impressive plate appearance may have been his walk against lefty Brad Halsey.

• Last year when the Twins played the A's, they had a rookie 1B from Minnesota names Dan Johnson who was tearing the cover off of the ball. After sitting out both Tuesday and Wednesday, Johnson was back in the lineup for Oakland last night. He went 0-4 to drop to 0-23 on the season. 

• Is this the Carlos Silva we are going to see all season? Was last year just an aberration? In reality, he is not giving up more hits than he did a year ago. He is still throwing strikes. Last night, in seven innings, he walked none, but he also struck out none. Is this going to be a year in which the hard-hit grounders find the hole rather than being hit at fielders?

• The Star Tribune's Michael Rand ran a fun Q&A with Lew Ford. It talks about his reputation, his intelligence and his occasional mis-hap.

• Tony Batista went 3-4 last night with a double. That increases his average to .292. There was a fun discussion about him in yesterday's comments. Some seemed to think that I was hoping that Batista would fail. That is not really the case. If he's in a Twins uniform, of course I want him to help the Twins win. I also hope that he can hit 30 homers and drive in 100 runs. If he does that, he is well worth the $1.25 million investment. My instincts (along with Batista's lifetime stats) tell me that he will not hit better than about .245 with an on-base percentage of less than 28% I think that there are betting options out there. Yes, even Michael Cuddyer. Let's just say that Batista hits .240/.280/420. That is a .700 OPS. Cuddyer is fully capable of hitting .270/.330/.380. Even that is a .710 OPS. However, I also want the Twins to win, and I want their players to succeed to get there.
  Here is another opinion on Tony Batista. Call it an introduction to a debate. Feel free to address Jon's comments in the Comments below:

  Seth:
   
  I read your comments about Tony Batista, and know others share your views.  I don't and here's why I'm right, and the doubters are wrong.
   
  First, let's address the Michael Cuddyer lovefest.  The only viable option besides Batista at third is Cuddyer, and I just don't understand why the Twins organization gives this guy so many chances.  I've been to the Twins home opener now for 11 straight years, and for the last 4, Cuddyer has been a starter.  In 2003 in right field (the year before it was Brian Buchanon starting there, ugh); 2004, at second base; 2005, at third base; and 2006, back in right field.  His stint at third last year was brutal.  Something like 19 errors in only 90-ish games.  So just from that standpoint, Batista will be better.  He lacks great range, but his career error numbers at third are far better than anything we could expect from Cuddybear (17, 16, 19, and 20 in four seasons where he played 150+ games).
   
  Second, and more importantly, is the pop in Batista's bat.  The Twins haven't had a guy hit 30+ homers since (gulp) 1987!  That's right - it's been almost 20 friggin' years.  What's more startling is that the MLB team with the second longest dry spell hasn't had someone hit 30+ since 1999.  Our streak is 12 years longer than the next longest dry spell - unbelievable!  Knowing this makes the Batista deal all the better.  He's hit 30+ homers 4 times in his MLB career.  Granted, he'll I predict he'll hit .240 and strikeout 130 times, but the run driving potential is worth it.  Especially when you consider that Cuddyer is a career .260 hitter with no flashes of pop in his bat.  Certainly not the likes we've seen even from even someone like Matt LeCroy, who hit 17 bombs last year in about 300 ab's.
   
  In a nutshell, the Batista deal was a steal.  And a significant upgrade at third base from anything we otherwise would've had.  And finally, on Michael Cuddyer, it's like he's sleeping with the boss or something.  There's simply no other rational basis for giving the guy that many chances.  None.  Especially when we've had guys like Ortiz and LeCroy who have at least shown flashes of real pop in their bats, but who we've been unwilling to give an equivalent number of chances to prove themselves.
   
  Seth -- keep up the good work on your column.  And don't feel badly.  You can't be right all the time!  -Jon

• Discuss amongst yourselves...

• The matchup for the series finale with the A's is today at 12:10. It pits Joe Blanton against Kyle Lohse.

If you have any thoughts on the Twins season, last night's game, or today's game with the A's, or anything Twins related, please send me an e-mail, or post some Comments down below. Were you at the game last night? What were your impressions of the pre-game show or anything?
 

TWINS MINOR LEAGUE NOTES

Do you have any further thoughts on any Twins prospects, minor leaguers, or these summaries? I would love any input, or ideas to make it better. Thanks! E-mail me, or also feel free to leave comments below.

AMERICAN IDOL THOUGHTS

Last night, the American Idol finalists fell from eight to seven remaining as Bucky Covington was eliminated. It is really too bad that we have to put up with another week of Ace. Taylor was horrible too, but clearly he has built up quite a following. Like I said yesterday, Bucky has stuck around and in the last two or three weeks, he has actually been decent. He has deserved to be ousted in previous weeks, just not this week. Oh well, let's all just not vote for Ace next week!

From Wednesday: Who do I think will be eliminated tonight?

Ace Young -The time has come. He may be saved by picking a popular song, but signing a popular song really poorly is not good either. Taylor deserves to go just as much, but it is time to rid this competition of Ace.

 Again, for further American Idol thoughts, be sure to check out the fine folks of curlio.com for their take on the elimination show.. Leave some comments below, or, if you're shy, send me an e-mail. 

Welp, that is it for today. If you have any thoughts, opinions, comments, critiques, or ideas on anything, please e-mail me, or let's get a discussion going in the Comments.

Back to Archives           Home