Thursday Morning, August 21, 2008
Bear With Me
I apologize for a lack of
updates of late. Tuesday night ended up being a series of issues and a four
hour drive and a few other things. Last night I got to the hotel and couldn’t
get a wireless connection throughout the night. For some reason, I can this
morning, but now I have to go to work! Hopefully I will be able to play catch
up!
I just have to mention Kevin Slowey and his incredible 7 inning, 12 strikeout performance on Tuesday night. The team definitely needed
that. Earlier in the day, I got an e-mail from him saying that he would again
be participating in the NFL “Expert” Pick panel this season, so that is great
news. Right now I am sitting at 22 participants. If there any Twins or Twins
minor leaguers interested in participating, please e-mail me. If there are
Twins bloggers interested, let me know.
Francisco Liriano
labored through five innings yesterday against the A’s. This shouldn’t be
surprising. First, we all know that Liriano’s control
is still not perfect, particularly with the fastball. Second, the A’s are
traditionally a team that takes a lot of pitches. That combination meant a
short outing. But despite base runners, Liriano gave
up just one unearned run in those five innings. Most important thing in
yesterday’s game, in my mind, was the two inning (scoreless) performance of Boof Bonser. Clearly he has some
stuff, so it was good to see him throw like that. The Twins definitely need
that down the stretch.
The Twins activiated
Alexi Casilla after yesterday’s game and Outrighted righty Brian Bass. I had been thinking that the
Twins would either release, DL or send down a hitter, but if you think about
this move, it makes complete sense. At the end of the month, the Twins have to
set their playoff roster. Yesterday, they had 13 hitters and 12 pitchers.
Today, they have 14 hitters and 11 pitchers which is a typical playoff roster.
Really, this will be good for Bass too. And Rochester should be able to use him
as a starter and build up his arm and his confidence because he was a solid
pitcher for them last year. It is exciting to have Casilla
back. He can jump right back in to 2B with Nick Punto
moving into SS (or a reserve role when Adam Everett is able to play). More
important, Casilla can get back into that #2 spot in
the lineup, pushing Punto back to the bottom of the
order.
And now begins the epic road
trip. The Twins haven’t played great on the road, no one really has, so don’t expect
perfection. It will be important to try to be at about .500 for the road trip
though if they want to have a chance with the White Sox down the stretch. The
Sox will be on the road for awhile too after a home series against Tampa. So,
just bear with them on this trip.
I haven’t been able to check
out minor league box scores the last two nights, so I will try to get caught up
on those as well.
Alright, that’s all I’ve got time for, but thanks again for your patience and continuing to stop by the site! Have a great day!