Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Quick Thoughts
Hello everyone! Well, I am going to make this a quick one because of how late I got home last night. And, let's be honest, the Twins 8-1 loss to the Mets doesn't give much to write about, so I am just going to fill out some bullet points, ask some questions
Juan Rincon. He's not good anymore... but I bet there are teams around the big leagues that think that he has something left. It is time to trade him before he completely implodes. In 24 innings pitched, he has given up 30 hits. More importantly, he has walked 13 hitters. Also, in the last two years combined, he gave up four total home runs in 151.1 innings. This year, he has already allowed allowed four homers.
Pat Neshek. Why is he the guy coming in with the team already down 8-1? I realize that he is a sure-thing and you just want to get out of the inning, but is that really the situation to bring in your best reliever, even if just for two batters?
It certainly isn't just the arms that deserve some negative talk. Check out these numbers:
In his last three games, Luis Castillo is 0-13. In his last six games, he is just 3-25.
Joe Mauer is 7-37 since his return. He has seen his batting average drop from .353 to .309.
Torii Hunter is 2-14 in his past five games (granted, one game was the Sunday game against Milwaukee when he left after being hit by a pitch.
Jason Kubel is now 3-22 in his last seven games.
Nick Punto is 2-18 in his last six games.
Jason Bartlett is 2-12 in his last four games.
Mike Redmond is 3-15 in his last four games.
Just to remain somewhat positive, Michael Cuddyer now has a nine game hitting streak. In that time, he has gone 12-36 with four doubles and a triple.
Rochester lost 6-0 to Ottawa. The big story of the game was that Columbus's Brandon Watson went 0-5 to end his 43 game hitting streak. But the Red Wings managed only a double from Denard Span and a single from Alexi Casilla in the game. Jeremy Cummings went 4.1 innings and gave up four runs on five hits and two walks. Carmen Cali then gave up two runs in two innings. Ricky Barrett struck out three in 1.2 shutout innings before Julio DePaula pitched a scoreless frame.
New Britain lost 8-7 to New Hampshire. The offense was good. Garrett Guzman went 3-5 with his 7th home run. Trevor Plouffe was also 3-5. Brock Peterson went 2-4. Brad Baker started and went the first five innings. He gave up five runs on seven hits. Tim Lahey gave up three runs in two innings. Danny Powers went two shutout innings.
Beloit had a day off.
Ft. Myers played a lot of baseball tonight, losing to Tampa 6-4 in 14 innings. Anthony Swarzak made his second start back with the Miracle. He gave up two runs (1 earned) on four hits. He walked one and struck out five. Armando Gabino finally gave up a Florida State League run, actually two of them, in one inning. Eddie Morlan struck out four in two shutout innings. Angel Garcia went four shutout innings. But then Kyle Aselton gave up two unearned runs in the 14th. Unfortunately, the two runners that scored on the error reached via the walk. Juan Portes and Edward Ovalle were both 3-7. Javi Sanchez was 2-5 with a walk.
So, the Twins are at .500 right now. What are your overall thoughts on the team? Are they a good team that just isn't playing consistently? Are they a bad team with just enough talent to keep them trading water? Are they just an average team? And, in general, what does that mean? Are they out of contention? Can they make the playoffs with the addition of one bat? One arm? Who? Feel free to discuss.
And with that, I need to call it a day. I will be back in the tomorrow, hopefully with much more meaningful information for you!
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