Boiling Point
I’m often called the positive or the calm
Twins blogger. Not much gets under my skin. And I take pride in that. Kind of
the One Game at a Time thing, I guess. I’ve played the game of baseball, and I
know how hard it is. When players make errors, it doesn’t bother me. It’s part
of the game. When players look silly at the plate while striking out, I’ve been
there. Obviously not at the big league level, but anyone who has played
baseball beyond high school knows that this is a very humbling game by its very
nature. It is a hard game to play, and even though these players are big
leaguers, they are also playing against big leaguers, which
levels that playing field.
With any transaction, I try to think about
the deal from all perspectives. I won’t necessarily agree with every move (see
Ramos, Wilson for Capps, Matt), but I understood what they were thinking. I can
usually find something.
For some reason, when I saw the Twins
lineup and the Twins situation yesterday, it set me off, and that happens maybe
once a year. Joe Mauer playing right field was an
interesting situation, although I have no problem with it. In fact, I don’t
have a problem with the lineup as it was. But the team had no one available on
the bench until Luke Hughes showed up after the game started.
I ranted a bit on Twitter, which actually
kind of felt good. I think I may have over-done it in a couple of instances,
but I needed it, and now I’m back to my calm self. Here is a quick view of some
of my tweets from last night:
SethTweets: Gardy pre-game speech: “So,
this is our lineup and our defense. Don’t get hurt, we have no bench. Now Go
Beat CC and those Darn Yankees!!”
I blogged yesterday
several reasons why Joe Benson should have been promoted yesterday. The team knew that Denard
Span, Michael Cuddyer and Jason Kubel
could not play the OF. Against CC Sabathia, Rene Tosoni would have no chance. Maybe Benson wouldn’t either,
but it’s something. Benson was on the 40 man roster. But with the lineup that
the Twins played, it is hard to envision having a shot against one of baseball’s
best teams and one of baseball’s best pitchers.
SethTweets: I’m sure someone will. RT @jimmyjammer22 @LaVelleNeal @SethTweets so if mauer runs into the RF wall and breaks a leg, Gardy gets the blame?
There are a lot of Twins fans who blame Gardy for everything, and I’m sure that happening would
against be Gardy’s fault. This lineup and this
situation was a microcosm of the 2011 Twins season. Gardy
isn’t perfect, but a lot of the issues of this team have nothing to do with the
manager.
SethTweets: Now the Rochester Red Wings and New Britain Rock
Cats can no longer complain when the Twins leave them short-rostered!
#ThisIsRidiculous
Seemingly a couple of times a year, the
Twins will leave their AAA or AA affiliate with a very short bench. My typical
response has been that it is the role of those teams to help fill the Twins
roster when needed. I never imagined seeing a Twins game in which the Twins had
no one on the bench. So I understand the frustration now that the Twins have
experienced an empty bench.
SethTweets: And, if @MCuddy5 can’t play under these
circumstances, he clearly isn’t coming back any time soon. Why not DL?
Honestly, how long have we heard that Cuddyer is a day away? Span was a day or two away. He was
finally put on the Disabled List. Cuddyer is the
ultimate team player, and he has shown time and again
his willingness to play hurt. Understanding the Twins situation last night, I
am of the opinion that Cuddyer could not play, and
would not be able to play for at least a few more days.
SethTweets: And I’m the positive #Twins blogger who can usually
find something to make situations understandable. This is pretty pathetic! #HardToAdmit
I don’t like being negative. At all.
SethTweets: And there are still people who hold Ron Gardenhire responsible for this mess! Unreal.
(But it should be fun to watch)
Again, Gardy had
no good options in last night’s game. He has been handcuffed with the roster and
the injuries all year. That said, it was fun to see Mauer in RF, and a lineup that included Tosoni,
Revere and Plouffe. It’s still a great game!
SethTweets: Ha!! No one down there! RT @DWade
@SethTweets is there anyone in Beloit that’s also
already on the 40-man?
If the Twins had someone on the 40 man
roster in Beloit, he could have been to the Twin Cities in about 5 ½ hours! However, the Twins don’t have anyone on their
40 man roster in Beloit. That said… Tommy Watkins is the hitting coach there.
Maybe he could have been brought up to the Twins as an extra infielder!
SethTweets: I’m not blaming players, no questioning the
toughness & will of @MCuddy5, Morneau, Span or
others, but something isn’t right w/med. Staff.
We have all had our questions about the
Twins medical staff for years. Constant missed diagnosis. How many times has
someone been out for “a day” and gone on the Disabled List 10 days later? How many
more ‘rest and rehabs’ do they need? Why are there so many injuries this year
or in the last couple of years. Why isn’t Tolbert on
the DL? It’s injury after injury and missed diagnosis.
SethTweets: Must be! @bennyc50 @SethTweets
I wonder if the Twins lead the league in retroactive DL stints because they
wait so long to put them on?
This is my point. How many times have they
waited and called players day-to-day and then put them on the Disabled List
eight to twelve days later?
SethTweets: And the beauty of baseball is that this #Twins
roster could beat CC and the Yankees tonight cuz baseball
is a funny game! #GreatestGameEver
There’s always fun in baseball. There is always strange things that happen. Even the worst big league
players have good days and sometimes even against some of the best pitchers.
The Royals beat the Yankees and Red Sox sometimes. The worst teams still
generally win about 60 games and some of them against teams that will win 90 or
more games. Obviously by now you know that the obvious result of the game occurred
(Twins lost 8-4), but you never know.
SethTweets: Finally, I want Bill Smith’s explanation for how
this happens. Had to know Kubel would be gone. Two
guys haven’t played for a week.
Like I said, I can typically understand
pretty much anything that happens to a baseball team or a team’s roster, but
this one, I don’t get. They’ve known for awhile now that Span wasn’t coming
back anytime soon. I don’t know, but I have to assume that they knew before
Wednesday’s game that Kubel was going to need a day
away from the team for personal family matters. They couldn’t have known that
Luke Hughes was inexplicably going to be sitting at the wrong gate at the Rochester,
NY, airport and not show up until after game time. And again, Matt Tolbert
couldn’t swing a bat on Wednesday night. No way he was
available last night no matter what is said. I get that the Twins aren’t
competing, but it’s a big league club. This should never happen.
SethTweets:Alright, no
more whining for me… Ranting happens about once a year. I’m good now. Back to positivity. #ItsHappening
Thursday night presented a situation that
no big league team should ever have to go through. I still find it
inexplicable. But on Friday, Kubel should be back. Cuddyer is probably questionable. Hughes will be there,
presumably on time.
The Home Run/Non-Home Run
And then came the
Justin Morneau home run. The powerful Canadian hit a
long, towering fly ball down the right field line. The 1B umpire called it a
home run. I was actually watching it on mute thanks to being on a phone call. I
saw two replays that showed it VERY clearly was a foul ball. After the Yankees
asked for a replay, the umpires correctly changed the call to a foul ball. Gardenhire came out and argued, which is basically an
automatic ejection. But he was adamant, and I didn’t understand at all. Maybe
it was because I didn’t have the volume on. That was one of the stranger things
I’ve seen.
MINOR LEAGUE UPDATES
Here are some minor league highlights from
the last two days. But be sure to download and listen to last
night’s Twins Minor league Weekly podcast.
ROCHESTER RED WINGS
On Wednesday, the Red Wings lost to Lehigh
Valley 3-1. Andy Baldwin started and gave up three runs on seven hits. In six
innings, they walked one and struck out ten. Cole DeVries
struck out two in two scoreless, one-hit innings. Brandon Roberts was 2-4. Aaron
Bates was 1-2 with two walks. Toby Gardenhire went
1-3 with a walk and his third home run.
The Red Wings lost to Lehigh Valley 11-1 on
Thursday. The Red Wings managed just six hits. Dustin Martin was 1-2 with two
walks and his 25th double. Chase Lambin,
Aaron Bates and Steve Holm each hit a double. Dennys
Suarez gave up seven runs on seven hits and a walk in 3.2 innings. Chuck James
then threw 2.1 one-hit innings. Lester Oliveros made
his Red Wings debut and gave up a solo homer in his inning. Carlos Gutierrez
gave up three runs on four hits in one inning. He struck out three. Jim Hoey walked two in his scoreless innings.
NEW BRITAIN ROCK CATS
Wednesday night, the Rock Cats beat
Binghamton 7-3. Michael Hollimon went 3-4 with a
walk, his second triple and his 14th home run. Joe Benson went 2-5
with his 12th and 13th home runs and six RBI. Chris Parmelee was 2-5. Evan Bigley
went 2-3 with a walk. Blake Martin started and gave up three runs on seven
hits. In five innings, he walked five and struck out three. Deolis
Guerra gave up just one hit in three scoreless innings. He walked none and
struck out two. Tyler Robertson pitched a scoreless inning.
Thursday night, the Rock Cats lost 8-7 to
Binghamton. Logan Darnell started and gave up seven runs on ten hits and two
hit batters in 5.2 innings. He struck out four. Brett Jacobson struck out two
of the four batters he got out. Andrew Albers pitched a scoreless inning. Steve
Hirschfeld came in for the bottom of the 9th
in a tie game. He walked a batter, who advanced on a sacrifice bunt. After a
wild pitch, the game ended on a sacrifice fly. Chris Parmelee
went 3-5 with his 13th home run. Evan Bigley
went 2-4 with two RBI. Nate Hanson went 2-4 with his 13th double.
Michael Hollimon hit his 10th double. Joe
Benson hit his 26th double.
FT MYERS MIRACLE
The Miracle beat Jupiter 5-1 on Wednesday
night. BJ Hermsen started and recorded his first
Florida State League win. He gave up just one run on eight hits in six innings.
He walked one and struck out five. Matt Hauser went the final three innings to
record his fifth save. He gave up no runs on two hits and a walk while striking
out two. Oswaldo Arcia went
3-3 with his 11th double and his sixth home run. Dan Rohlfing went 2-4.
On Thursday, the Miracle lost a pitcher’s
duel 1-0. 2011 42nd round pick, Matthew Tomshaw,
started for the Miracle and gave up just one hit in five shutout innings. He
walked two and struck out four. Edgar Ibarra went the next three innings and
gave up just one run. He gave up three hits, walked one and struck out three.
Bruce Pugh struck out two in his scoreless inning. Reggie Williams went 2-4
with his fifth double. He had half of the Miracle hits. The others were the 14th
double by Danny Rams and the 12th double of James Beresford. Aaron
Hicks was 0-2 with two walks and his 15th stolen base.
BELOIT SNAPPERS
Beloit beat Kane County 10-1. Ryan O’Rourke
gave up one run on seven hits in 5.1 innings. He walked five and struck out
one. Adrian Salcedo got five outs. Jose Gonzalez and
Pedro Guerra each pitched a scoreless inning too. Guerra struck out the side. Jairo Perez went 2-4 with a walk, his 15th
double, his 13th home run and four RBI. Lance Ray, Danny Ortiz and
Adam Bryant each went 2-5. Jhonatan Goncalves went 1-3 with two walks.
Beloit managed just four hits in a 2-0 loss
to Kane County on Thursday. Jairo Perez led the
offense with two walks. Manuel Soliman started and
gave up two runs on six hits in seven innings. Sam Spangler threw a scoreless
inning.
ELIZABETHTON TWINS
Elizabethton beat Bristol 7-3 on Wednesday.
Derek Christensen went 4.1 innings and gave up three runs on two hits and four
walks. He struck out seven. Corey Williams then went 2.2 scoreless innings. He
gave up two hits and a walk. Cole Johnson struck out two in a scoreless inning.
Matt Summers then struck out two in his scoreless inning. Rory Rhodes went 3-3
with a walk and his second steal. Eddie Rosario went 2-3 with a walk and his 12th
home run and 15th stolen base. Matej Hejma went 2-4 with his third double. Max Kepler went 2-4 with his tenth double. Miguel Sano knocked
his 15th home run (9th HR in last 17 games).
The E-Twins got a big 13-3 win over Bristol
on Thursday. Miguel Sano went 3-5 with his 13th and 14th
doubles and four RBI. Eddie Rosario went 1-2 with three walks and his 13th
home run. JD Williamns went 2-5th his
ninth double. Matej Hejma
was 2-4. Niko Goodrm went
2-3 with a walk and his seventh stolen base. Tim Atherton started and gave up
two runs on five hits for the win. In five innings, he walked two and struck
out five. Cesar Ciurcina gave up one run on one hit
in an inning. He struck out three. Nick Alloway
pitched a scoreless seventh. Recently-signed Tyler Jones made his pro debut and
threw a scoreless inning. Steven Gruver pitched a one-hit ninth.
GCL TWINS
The GCL Twins beat 3-0 to the GCL Rays in the
first of two games on Wednesday. Hein Robb started and threw four scoreless innings.
He gave up four hits, walked three and struck out three. Kyle Wahl then threw
three perfect innings and struck out four. Candido
Pimentel was 3-3 with his first triple. Julio Torres went 2-4. Drew Leachman went 2-3 with a walk.
On Thursday, the GCL Twins lost 4-0 to the
GCL Rays. Ricardo Arevalo gave up four runs (3 earned)
on four hits in four innings. Gerardo Ramirez pitched a scoreless inning as
well before the game was postponed. The offense managed just two hits. Josh
Hendricks went 2-2 with his seventh double.
Any thoughts?? E-mail me, or leave some
Comments.