Almost Over…
Almost
It was
yet another rough day for Twins fans on several levels, and it just gets harder
and harder to hold out any hope. Last night, the Twins lost 2-0 to the Blue
Jays which in itself is not a big deal. Ricky Romero
was tremendous for 8.2 innings. He is one of the better left-handed pitchers in
baseball and had a no-hitter into the sixth inning when Denard
Span and Trevor Plouffe had soft singles. They got a
couple of base runners on in the bottom of the 9th, but Frank
Francisco came in and got Michael Cuddyer to check
swing at a 96 mph fastball just off the black. On its own, this 2-0 loss to the
Blue Jays with a terrific pitcher on the mound is not a big deal. Carl Pavano needed about 1950 pitches to get into the 6th
inning, but he kept the strong Jays lineup off the scoreboard. Alex Burnett
came on with two of Pavano’s runners on base and
nobody out and didn’t allow the runners to score. He went out for the next
inning and got a couple of runners on and Jim Hoey
was brought in. He gave up a run on a bloop single
with a bad Delmon Young throw. He then got a big
double play. Glen Perkins was good again. Joe Nathan had a nice battle with
Jose Bautista that Bautista won with a solo home run, but I thought Nathan
looked much better.
The
good news is that Delmon Young was back in the
lineup. Again, based on what he did last year, this is a great thing. Trevor Plouffe was back in the lineup as well, and although he’s
had just two good games, he at least appears to be a better option than the
other options. Jim Thome will hopefully be back next
week. Jason Repko will hopefully be back next week.
But, hope
is certainly dwindling. Right now, this is a really bad baseball team. No, I
don’t believe that it means someone should be fired, or even that anyone needs
to be blamed. We’ve discussed all that before. It’s just a bad, bad year. As
Aaron Gleeman pointed out after the game, if the Twins play at a 90-win pace
the rest of the season, they will end the year with an 82-80 record. 82-80
probably won’t get them to the playoffs (although it could), and frankly,
things are not going to just get better overnight, so really, they’ll have to
play at an even better level.
And
another thing, if Joe Mauer isn’t back in the Twins
lineup by Memorial Day, he might as well sit out until the 4th of
July. If Joe Mauer isn’t back my Memorial Day, then
they need to allow Tsuyoshi Nishioka to use as much
rehab time as he needs, and to let him spend time the 20 day rehab schedule
playing in the minors and adjusting to American baseball. That is what would be
best for his long-term future. If Joe Mauer isn’t
back until after Memorial Day, then the Twins should start looking to deal, to
be sellers for the first time in over a decade. They might as well start that
process right away as many they can get more for guys in June than in late
July. At that point, they might as well go with Valencia, Plouffe
and Hughes in the Twins infield every single day to see what they have.
I’m
not quite ready to discuss all of that, but it likely won’t be long before I
start thinking about 2012.
And,
that’s why it’s good to keep tabs on what is going on in the Twins minor league
system. Yesterday, I posted a bunch of Twins minor league notes, but here are a bunch more:
·
There
have been some transactions:
·
With
Delmon Young coming off of the Disabled List, it was
Rene Tosoni sent back to Rochester. I think this makes
sense. In my mind, Tosoni profiles as a big league
starter while Ben Revere profiles as a fourth outfielder… that the Twins will
likely make a starter.
·
With
Tosoni going to Rochester, 2B Steve Singleton was
sent back to New Britain (see how he did on Friday night), which of course
makes no sense to me.
·
Ryan
Mullins will go to New Britain.
·
Logan
Darnell will report to Ft. Myers
·
Pat
Dean and Ben Tootle are set to go to Beloit.
·
Last
week, when Matt Parker was promoted to Beloit, it was because Kyle Knudson was
put on the Disabled List.
·
Want
to know what happens in Extended Spring Trainings? Todd Van Steensel
is a right-handed pitcher that the Twins signed this offseason from Australia. He
has a blog called The Clubhouse
Chronicles that is absolutely terrific!
·
Allan
de San Miguel is heading to Ft. Myers to rehab his elbow. He is not having
Tommy John surgery at this time.
·
It’s
Saturday morning, which means you will want to go to Twinkie Town for Roger’s Minor League
Report.
If you
have any questions or comments about the Twins minor league system, please feel
free to e-mail me, ask me
in the comments, or on
Twitter.
Minor League Notes
Friday SethSpeaks.net Minor League Hitter of the Day– Steve
Singleton, New Britain Rock Cats
Friday SethSpeaks.net Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Bobby Lanigan, New Britain Rock Cats
Red Wings Ramblings
Friday
– Red Wings 4, Charlotte 6 – Scott
Diamond gave up six runs on 11 hits and a walk in 4.2 innings. He struck out
three. Carlos Gutierrez came in and threw 2.1 scoreless innings. He gave up
just one hit, walked none and struck out two. Phil Dumatrait
pitched one scoreless inning. Ray Chang went 3-4 with a walk. Seven other
players had one hit. Dustin Martin had a double and drove in three runs.
Rock Cats Report
Friday
– Rock Cats 2, Portland 0 – Bobby Lanigan started and threw eight shutout innings to record
his fourth win of the year. He gave up just three hits, walked none and struck
out four. Jake Stevens records the same with a scoreless ninth. The offense
managed just three hits. Steve Singleton was back from Rochester and went 2-3
with his 12th double and third home run.
Miracle Matters
Friday
– Game 1 – Miracle 2, Dunedin 3 – Andrew
Albers started the first game for the Miracle. He went five innings and gave up
two runs on seven hits. He also walked none and struck out three. Shooter Hunt
came in and in the two innings he threw, he gave up one run. He walked one and
struck out one. The team managed just six hits, and Ramon Santana had the only
extra base hit, a double.
Friday
– Game 2 – Miracle 1, Dunedin 7 – Tom
Stuifbergen gave up three uearned
runs on three hits in three innings. He walked none and struck out none. Matt
Tone then gave up two earned runs on three hits in his two innings. He struck
out two. Jhon Garcia gave up two runs on four hits
and a walk in one inning. And Dakota Watts threw a scoreless ninth frame. Nick
Romero went 2-3. Aaron Hicks was 1-3 with a walk, and Danny Rams hit his sixth
double.
Snappers Bites
Friday
– Snappers, Quad Cities – Postponed
by Rain.
As
always, if you have any
questions or comments, please feel free to leave them below.
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