Thursday, July 7, 2005
JUNE GRADES - Pitchers
Good morning everybody! I know I am a few days late on my June Grades, but as you also know, I have been gone since the end of the month and this was my first opportunity to get to them. I have decided to do something a little bit different this month. Instead of throwing so much at you and including all of the Twins players, I am going to break it up. Today I will review and grade the Twins pitchers in June. Tomorrow I will do the same thing for the hitters. Hopefully this will encourage more discussion. Also, if you look at all of this and then read the Twins Thoughts and the Twins Minor League Reports, it gets to be a lot.
So, let's take a look at the players and see how they did in the season's second month and please feel free to comment, even disagree:
PITCHERS
THE STARTERS
KYLE LOHSE
(5 starts, 29.2 Innings, 2-3 with a 5.16 ERA, 8 walks, 16 strikeouts, 1.69 WHIP, 4.85 K/9)
The rollercoaster ride that Twins fans call Kyle Lohse was back in one of its patented valleys in June. After such a strong April, we all had high hopes. It probably would have been best to try to trade him at that point because his value is probably back down again. He did make all of his starts and averaged six innings per.
June Grade: C-
May Grade: A-
April Grade: D
JOE MAYS
(5 Starts, 28.2 Innings, 1-1 with a 4.40 ERA, 7 walks, 8 strikeouts, 1.47 WHIP, 2.51 K/9)
Mays had a very middling month of June. He had a couple of great starts to bookmark the month. His first June start was a 7 1/3 inning no decision against the Yankees and his final start was an 8 inning win against the Royals. The problem is the he went just 5.1, 4 and 4 innings in his middle three starts and gave up at least five runs in each. Overall, just a very average month.
June Grade: C+
May Grade: B
April Grade: B
BRAD RADKE
(6 Starts, 35.2 Innings, 1-4 with a 4.54 ERA, 6 walk, 26 strikeouts, 1.40 WHIP, 6.56 K/9)
Like Mays, Radke had a very average month. His record looks (and is) bad, but his ERA is league average. As much as I am a Radke-apologist and have no problem admitting that, he was not great in June. He had three starts in which he went just five innings. However, two of the losses came in games in which he gave up two or less runs. Stiff neck? Certainly there are jokes to be made about the eight homers he gave up in the month. And his first inning runs allowed are excessively discussed. Was it a good June for Radke? No. Am I in any way worried about him? Not one bit.
June Grade: C-
May Grade: B+
April Grade: B-
JOHAN SANTANA
(5 Starts, 36.2 Innings, 1-2 with a 3.93 ERA, 11 walks, 40 strikeouts, 0.98 WHIP, 9.82 K/9)
The month started out well for Santana as he went eight, nine and then eight innings in his first three starts. However, in his last two starts, Santana gave up four and six runs to the Padres and Brewers respectively. As would likely be the case with most pitchers, most innings he looks good. There are just innings in which a walk leads to a three run homer and a big inning for the opponent. That has been the story much of the season for Santana. He has looked completely dominant most of the time as evidenced by his WHIP and K-rates. However, he did struggle with his control and the walks did frequently come back to haunt Johan in June. His "other" numbers tell us that he will be fine. He just needs to eliminate that one big inning each game that is hurting him.
June Grade: B-
May Grade: B
April Grade: A-
CARLOS SILVA
(5 Starts, 34.1 Innings Pitched, 3-0 with a 4.46 ERA. 2 walk, 11 strikeouts, 1.34 WHIP, 2.88 K/9)
Seven innings, 2 runs. Six innings, 3 runs. 7.1 innings, 4 runs. Nine innings, 2 runs. That is a string of four pretty solid starts for Silva. His ERA in those games was 3.40 which would be a very solid month. Unfortunately, his final June start was against the Royals and he had what was really his only bad start of the year. He went just five innings and gave up six earned runs. He started the season with ten straight games in which he went at least seven innings. In June, he went seven three of five games. Still isn't striking many out, but he isn't hurting himself with the walk either.
June Grade: B-
May Grade: B+
April Grade: A
THE BULLPEN
JESSE CRAIN
(15 Games, 17.2 Innings, 2-0 with a 1.02 ERA, 3 walks, 5 strikeouts, 0.74 WHIP, 2.55 K/9)
Crain is continues to win. He is now 8-0. Of course, you always have to question a reliever's Win-Loss record because it is possible to not hold a lead and then for your team to score runs and you would still get the win. That said, Crain gave up just one run in two of his 15 appearances, zero in the others. That is how you generate a legit low ERA like he has. There is concern about his lack of strikeouts. I don't know why he isn't getting more. But he also isn't walking anyone or giving up many hits, so whatever he is doing, it is working!
June Grade: A-
May Grade: A
April Grade: B+
MATT GUERRIER
(8 Games, 12 Innings, 0-0 with a 2.25 ERA, 2 walks, 10 strikeouts, 1.17 WHIP, 7.50 K/9)
Guerrier has continued to pitch well and because of it, we have seen him in more important situations. We have seen that if Crain and Rincon were both used one day, Gardy is not afraid anymore to us Guerrier in tough situations, and he has come through. His curveball is great and he has spotted his fastball well. In one game, he gave up two runs in 2 innings, and those were two of just three runs he gave up the whole month.
May Grade: A-
May Grade: B
May Grade: B
TERRY MULHOLLAND
(11 Games, 10 Innings, 0-1 with a 8.10 ERA, 4 walks, 2 strikeouts, 2.00 WHIP, 1.80 K/9)
After a very strong May, Mulholland came back with a flop of a June. He pitched about the same amount, but had nowhere near the success. He walked more and struck out less. He gave up a lot of hits. Now, you can blame the fact that he is used in many roles as an excuse, but really the game is the same. When you pitch, you have to get guys out and in June, Mulholland simply didn't. He gave up at least one run in five of his 11 appearances.
June Grade: D-
May Grade: A-
April Grade: D
JOE NATHAN
(11 Games, 10 Innings, 0-2 with a 6.30 ERA, 5 Saves, 9 walks, 14 strikeouts, 1.80 WHIP, 12.60 K/9)
In a June 16 loss to the Giants, Nathan gave up four earned runs in just 1/3 of an inning. Take that game out of his month, and his ERA drops to 2.79 which would be very respectable. But even so, it was not a good month for Nathan. He didn't have a lot of save opportunities, and when he did, he really struggled with his control. He gave up a run in just three of his 11 games, but he also had 1-2-3 innings in just three games. Again, Nathan clearly has the stuff and his track record over the past two and a half years tells us that he will be just fine. It was just a second consecutive rocky month for the All-Star closer. Once he regains his control, he will return to his dominant ways.
June Grade: D
May Grade: C-
April Grade: A
JUAN RINCON
(12 Games, 13 Innings, 2-0 with a 2.77 ERA, 5 walks, 16 strikeouts, 1.00 WHIP, 11.08 K/9)
As you can probably see from most of the illustrations today, a reliever's ERA is a very volatile statistic. Rincon had a respectable 2.77 ERA for the month. However, he had one game in which he gave up three earned runs in just one inning. If you remove that one performance from his monthly statistics, Rincon's ERA would have been a sparkling 0.75. So, I think it is important to also note that Rincon was successful in not allowing a run in 10 of his 12 appearances. His strikeout rate was back up and he didn't allow base runners as he had in May. I think the dominating Rincon is back.
June Grade: B+
May Grade: C+
April Grade: B+
JC ROMERO
(12 Games, 10.1 Innings, 1-0 with a 3.48 ERA, 5 walks, 12 strikeouts, 1.45 WHIP, 10.45 K/9)
Likewise, Romero was credited as allowing a run in just three of his 12 appearances. He had one game in which he gave up three earned runs in 1.1 innings. Without that game, Romero's ERA would have been just 1.00. But as you know if you've come to this website at all in the past, Romero's ERA is always a little suspect too. Or, at least it may not be truly indicative of his performance. So frequently when Romero comes in to start an inning, he does just fine. When he is brought in with runners on, odds are that they will score. Those runs are charged to the previous pitcher. But, Romero's strikeout numbers are back up. His walks are a little high though.
June Grade: B-
May Grade: B
April Grade: B+
So, there are my June Grades for the Minnesota Twins pitchers. Again, tomorrow I will post my grades for June for the Twins hitters. I would love to hear you thoughts or comments on any of them. Please feel free to agree or disagree and let me know why. Send me an e-mail.
Johan Santana was good through six innings, giving up three runs. But he stayed in for the seventh and a Garrett Anderson three-run homer gave the Angels a 6-5 lead and ended Santana's day. I thought it was interesting that Santana really struggled against the Angels' lefties. Darin Erstad was 2-4. Garrett Anderson was 2-3, including the big home run. He also walked. Adam Kennedy was 0-2 but also had a walk.
Mike Redmond is great! Yesterday, he was 4-4 with a homer and three RBI. Not bad for a backup catcher! Lew Ford was 2-3 with a walk, and Torii Hunter was 2-5.
The Twins will now try to head into the All-Star break on a positive note. They have a four game series against the Kansas City Royals at Kaufmann Stadium:
Thursday - 7:10 - Kyle Lohse (7-6, 4.36, 1.36, .297) vs Jose Lima (1-7, 7.58, 1.67, .311)
Friday - 7:10 - Brad Radke (5-8, 4.07, 1.24, .288) vs Zach Greinke (1-10, 6.09, 1.55, .308)
Saturday - 6:10 - Joe Mays (5-3, 3.84, 1.33, .285) vs JP Howell (1-3, 7.77, 1.81, .313)
Sunday - 1:10 - Carlos Silva (7-3, 3.68, 1.24, .326) vs DJ Carrasco (4-3, 3.69, 1.41, .270)
ROCHESTER REDWINGS
Wednesday - REDWINGS 1, Syracuse 5 - Levale Speigner was called up from New Britain to take the roster spot vacated by Scott Baker. I was happy to see him get the chance. He was just 1-6 at New Britain, but his ERA was below four. In the game, he gave up five runs (4 earned) on 11 hits. He walked none and struck out three. Beau Kemp and Brent Schoening then combined for 3.1 shutout innings. Kevin West went 2-3 with a walk. Terry Tiffee's tear continues as he went 2-4 with a double. Jason Tyner was also 2-5 with a double.
NEW BRITAIN ROCKCATS
Wednesday - ROCKCATS 6, Norwich 10 - John Thomas gave up seven runs in just four innings of work last night. Jason Miller then gave up three over the next two innings. Ben Pattee went 2-3 with a double. Gabby Torres went 2-4 with two RBI. Danny Matienzo was 2-5 with a double. Luis Jimenez was 0-1, but he walked four times.
FT MYERS MIRACLE
Wednesday - MIRACLE 0, St. Lucie 4 - Scott Tyler started and didn't do poorly. He gave up two runs over five innings. Chris Schutt then gave up two unearned runs over the final three innings. The problem was that the offense was just non-existent, scraping just five hits together. Matt Tolbert had two of them.
BELOIT SNAPPERS
Wednesday - SNAPPERS 3, Wisconsin 5 - You have to wonder if Anthony Swarzak is going through a bit of a dead arm period right now as the second half of the season begins. He had another rough outing last night. In just 3.2 innings, he gave up four runs (3 earned) on six hits and a walk. Kevin Culpepper then gave up a run over the next 2.1 innings. Kevin Slowey continues to dominate in his first month as a pro. In his two innings, he didn't give up a run and struck out four. Landon Burt and Deacon Burns each went 2-4. Burns had a double.
ELIZABETHTON TWINS
Wednesday - E-Town 2, Kingsport 1 - Yancarlos Ortiz was 2-4. Travis Kalin was 2-3. Toby Gardenhire had an RBI double. Adam Hawes gave up a run over the first five innings. Danny Vais went two shutout innings to improve to 2-0. And Tim Lahey struck out two in his inning of work for his fourth save of the season.
Finally, the Gulf Coast Twins lost 5-3 to the GC Pirates, but the story was Joshua Dean for the Twins. The 1B went 4-4 with his first pro home run.
That's it for today! As always, please feel free to e-mail me your thoughts on the Twins, the minor leagues, or anything you would like to discuss.