Thursday,
August 26, 2010
What Will Francisco Do?
Following their third straight loss down in Texas, the Twins optioned Anthony
Slama to Rochester to make room for their new
acquisition, left-handed reliever Randy Flores. Flores was designated
for assignment last week by the Colorado Rockies and the Twins claimed him. The
Rockies sent him without requiring compensation from the Twins. Flores just
turned 35 years old. He debuted in the big leagues in 2002 with the Texas
Rangers but was soon sent to the St. Louis Cardinals where he spent several years,
including being part of their 2005 and 2006 postseason runs. Believe me, this
is not some great signing by the Twins. Flores is not a difference maker. His season ERAs since 2006 have been 5.62, 4.25, 5.26 and 5.25.
Somehow this year, his ERA with Colorado was 2.96 with a 1.28 WHIP. But the
Twins and we, as fans, should not care about any of that. All we should care
about is what he does over the next six weeks of the regular season. Remember
last year when the Twins signed Ron Mahay at
this time of the season. No one was terribly excited about him. No one was
terribly excited about acquiring Jon Rauch from Arizona that same
day. Both of them really helped the Twins down the stretch. In his career,
right-handed batters have hit .306 with an .850 OPS.
Left-handers have hit .266 with a .765 OPS. Strangely, in 2010, right-handers
are hitting .229 with a .702 OPS while lefties are hitting .220 with a .776
OPS. Six weeks is a very small sample, so we can just hope he chooses now to
have a very good small sample!
Tonight, Francisco Liriano will return
to the mound after being pushed back three days due to a ‘tired arm.’ I’m
trying not to worry much about the situation. In most previous years, Roy Halladay would be DLd by the
Blue Jays with a tired arm, and he could come back just fine. So, let’s hope
that Liriano is just fine. If it’s anything more than
a tired arm, I would just assume that the Twins DL him rather than have him
start. So, from that perspective, it will be an interesting start for Liriano, the Twins and fans. From another perspective, it
will be interesting to see how Liriano pitches in a
matchup against one of baseball’s best starting pitchers, Cliff Lee. We’ll
be able to tell in the first inning. Will his fastball sail up and away to
right-handed pitchers? Will his follow-through be wild and all over the place?
Before he was traded, Lee was having a tremendous season with the Seattle
Mariners. He was 8-3 with a 2.34 ERA and a 0.95 WHIP. Since coming he Texas, he
has made nine starts and is 2-4 with a 4.18 ERA despite a 1.03 WHIP. His last
three starts, he has given up four runs in 6.1 innings against the Yankees, six
runs in 7.2 innings against the Rays, and eight runs on ten hits (including
four home runs) in 5.2 innings against the Orioles. So, either the Twins are
catching him at just the right time, or he is due for a really great start.
One thing we know for sure, he won’t walk many. In 174.2 innings this
year, he has 11 walks and two of those are intentional. So, should the Twins
batters be aggressive, knowing he’ll be around the plate? Or should they try to
be patient and get Lee’s pitch count up? It’s a tough question because the
second option would be great, but if he gets ahead of everyone early in the count, his pitch count will not be high. Twins batters need
to step out and try to fluster Lee. Remember when Carlos Gomez would
bunt on him and Lee would talk at Gomez? In 18 career starts against the Twins,
he is 8-3 with a 3.40 ERA.
The Twins have lost these three games in Texas, and they are important
games in determining (again, assuming these are the teams to win the AL Central
and AL West) who is the #2 seed in the playoffs and gets home field advantage
in the first round against the Wild Card team from the East. But don’t forget
that the Twins swept the Rangers in Target Field earlier this year and the two
teams will play three more times in Target Field over Labor Day weekend.
Any other Twins topics you would like to discuss?
SATURDAY IN ST. CLOUD!!
As previously mentioned, the Twins
Geek, Sooze and I will be at Howie’s Sports Bar in St. Cloud for the TwinsCentric Viewing Party. The Twins play the Mariners at
3:00, so we’ll be there by 2:30 and throughout the game. There will be drink
and appetizer specials, and prizes to be given away. Hopefully by having an
event like this in the outstate will allow more people
the opportunity to be there and meet many more Twins fans.
Following the TwinsCentric
Viewing Party, I am going to stay in St. Cloud and head over the Joe Faber
Field. The St. Cloud River Bats of the Northwoods
League (a college wood bat league) are hosting the Minnesota Twins alumni game
at 7:05. Several former Twins players, including Corey Koskie,
Jim Eisenrich, Juan Berenguer,
Al Newman and several others will be playing in a game. There will be a lot
going on throughout the night. Following the game, the player’s jerseys will be
signed and auctioned off. Proceeds from the evening will be going to the
Miracle League of Central Minnesota. Check out the River Bats website for much more
information.
Hopefully I can meet several of you at
both of these events in St. Cloud on Saturday!
Here is a quick glance at what
happened on Tuesday in the Twins minor league system.
Red Wings Report
Rochester 2
Scranton/Wilkes Barre 3 – Matt Fox put together his best start in awhile. In 5.2 innings, he
gave up one run on five hits. He walked two and struck out nine. Rob Delaney
got a strikeout to get out of the sixth inning. After a scoreless seventh
inning, Pat Neshek gave up two runs in the 8th.
Alex Burnett got the final two outs. Brendan Harris went 1-3 with his 14th
double, and he drove in both runs. D’Angelo Jimenez
was 1-2 with two walks and his third triple.
New Britain Notes
New Britain
8, Binghampton 6 – After being swept on Tuesday,
the Rockcats got a nice win on Wednesday. Bobby Lanigan started and gave up one run on four hits and two
walks in three innings. Mike McCardell came in and
gave up two runs on three hits in his three innings. Carlos Gutierrez gave up
three runs on five hits and a walk in the next 2.2 innings and Billy Bullock
got the game’s final out.
Miracle Matters
Ft. Myers, Palm Beach – Postponed by rain.
Snappers Snippets
Beloit 3, Kane County 4 – Martire
Garcia made another Snapper start and was terrific! The lefty threw six shutout
innings. He allowed three hits, walked two and struck out six. Matt Tone came
in and gave up one run on one hit and a walk in 1.2 innings. Eliecer Cardenas went the final 1.1 innings but was charged
with three unearned runs to take the loss. The Snappers had just six hits.
Danny Rams hit his 15th home run. Michael Gonzales (27) and Lance
Ray (10) each added a double.
E-Twins Talkers
Elizabethton 4, Pulaski 5 – Manuel Solimon gave up four runs (2 earned) on four hits and two
walks in five innings. He struck out six. Adrian Salcedo
took the loss. He gave up one run on two hits in the final four innings. Jamaal
Hawkins was 2-4 with his 10th double. Brandon Henderson was 1-3 with
a walk and his sixth double.
GCL Twins Topics
GCL Twins 3, GCL Orioles 2 – Nick Alloway was given a start and came
through with a very good outing. In five innings, he gave up two runs on four
hits. He walked none and struck out four. Bart Carter came in and struck out
five in four scoreless innings. Candido Pimental went 2-3 with a walk. JaDamion
Williams hit his third double. Miguel Sano hit his 13th double.
Any thoughts on the Twins or the minor league system? Feel free to leave
your questions and comments here.