Monday, September 4, 2006

Twins Thoughts

Twins Minor League Report

Sunday Shorts

Well, it's Monday and I don't have to go to work! Don't you just love days like that! A weekday with no work. Holidays are the best! Anyway, no rest for the weary, and because of this site, I sometimes am quite weary. So, here is a holiday issue of SethSpeaks.net. Before we get started, last week, I promised that I would think about posting a picture of my girlfriend and I on the Wild Thing ride at Valleyfair. Well, today is the day, so here it is:

 

Like I said, I'm not really a ride guy. No one else seemed to mind the ride, but I was freaking out pretty good! But, I survived, barely, and even rode on a few more rides. Some weren't so bad. One, just about killed me! Oh well. It was fun!

 

Second, I want to congratulate the Elizabethton Twins. They won their first game yesterday to force a third and final game with the winner being this year's Appalachian League champions. The Twins won it a year ago, but this year, they will have to settle for second place as they fell in the third game of the series 4-3 to Danville.

 

As always, please feel free to e-mail me, or you could also leave Comments down below. Have a great Labor Day!

 

TWINS THOUGHTS

In games one and two of the Twins/Yankees series, the final scores were lopsided. The same can be said for game three as the Yankees took a big 10-1 decision over the Twins.

• Bert Blyleven appears to be in a bit of trouble for some comments he made during the Twins pre-game show. For some reason, he thought he was recording a segment which would be aired later so he threw a couple of F-Bombs out there in asking for a re-tape. Only then was he made aware that they were on live. I think it is hilarious! I am just guessing that the FCC will not find it as comical, not at noon on a Sunday! I'd love to hear your comments on what the Twins should do in this situation.

• Speaking of stupid quotes, how about this one from Torii Hunter, "The Yankees have a $200 million payroll, and we play for minimum wage." I'm not sure if Torii thinks that his $10 million salary equals 'minimum wage? I wonder if he will consider himself "unemployed" when the Twins give him $2 million just to go away. There's no I in team, but there are two-I's in Torii!

• I questioned one thing with the starting lineup on Sunday. The Twins always seem to have a lot of struggles with young pitchers that they haven't seen before. Darrell Rasner was called up from AA to make the start. In his Sunday morning show, Ron Gardenhire said that they were trying to find out what they could about him, but it's hard to come by, and they can't get any video of him. Well, if that's the case, there was at least one guy on the Twins roster who has seen him pitch this year. Alexi Casilla likely saw him pitch for Trenton. In any case, I just don't think that the Twins would have been hurt had they put Nick Punto back at 3B and let Luis Rodriguez sit a day. When Luis Castillo comes back and starts, Punto will be back at 3B, so I didn't understand the lineup alignment. Also, I understand wanting to put a young player in a position in which he can succeed. I wouldn't start Casilla against Randy Johnson, or Mike Mussina, or maybe even Chien-Ming Wang, but he could have against Darrell Rasner or Jeff Karstens.

• Casilla again came in as a pinch hitter in the top of the 8th, this time for Jason Bartlett, who had gone 2-2. He again had a solid at bat, taking another walk. I know that we want him to get a hit, but you have to be impressed by a guy who has the patience to take a walk in his first two big league plate appearances.

• Alex Rodriguez again had two home runs in this game. The first came against Matt Garza and was a deep fly to CF. The second came off of Pat Neshek with two inherited runners on in the seventh. If you saw that at bat, I thought it was quite curious. Neshek threw his first pitch, a fastball, and Alex Rodriguez just stared out at him. At first, my thinking was that he was a bit stunned by Neshek's motion and delivery. He just stared for awhile. On second thought, I happen to think that A-Rod may have seen the follow-through-point that Neshek does after every pitch and may have thought that Neshek was trying to show him up. Twins fans know that it is just what Neshek does, but remember that the Tampa Bay Devil Rays were upset about it the first time they saw him as well. I guess if A-Rod felt he was being shown up, he did a good job of getting back at him. Later, he was seen in the dugout just continuing to watch Neshek pitch.

• If you want to see something that is completely showing up the opponents, what's up with the whole Smell 'Em thing? Now that could definitely be considered offensive to an opponent. In case you don't know what it is, when a Twins hitter gets a big hit with a runner in scoring position, he will turn to the Twins dugout and thumb his nose in that direction. The idea is that they can smell the RBI. In reality, it completely looks as if they're showing up the opponent by this gesture. So, when AJ Pierzynski mocked it when the Twins and Sox were playing,, I actually thought it was funny.

• You know I'm as big a Matt Garza supporter as their is. However, even I got frustrated watching him throw yesterday. He was throwing too many off-speed pitches, and no matter what he was throwing, too few of them went for strikes. Of the 96 pitches he threw, just 53 of them went for strikes. Now, I do acknowledge that the Yankees hitters all seem to have a different strike zone than the Twins hitters, but that still isn't an excuse. In all, he went 4.2 innings and gave up five earned runs on seven hits and four walks.

• Fortunately for the Twins, Mark Redman was able to beat the Chicago White Sox, so the Twins remain just 1/2 game behind the Sox in the AL Wild Card race.    

Any other thoughts on the Twins, Yankees, Devil Rays, White Sox, Tigers or anything baseball? E-mail me, or leave some Comments below.

         

TWINS MINOR LEAGUE NOTES

Thanks again for stopping by this site. If you have any questions, comments or ideas for future postings, please e-mail me.

Sunday, September 3, 2006

Twins Thoughts

Twins Minor League Report

Saturday's Story

I'm back again, thought that it would be easier to just write a little bit each day over this extended weekend. I think it may bring more attention to the minor league seasons as a few Twins affiliates are in, or making, the playoffs. Also, the Twins/Yankees series is always fun to watch. Enjoy, and of course, feel free to Comment below, or send me an e-mail.

 

By the way, I wrote an article of the Twins Scout.com page entitled "The Next Johan" which was posted this morning. Check it out here, and then check out their Forum and feel free to sign up and Comment.

TWINS THOUGHTS

On a windy, rainy day in New York, the Twins were able to use the long ball and some solid pitching to beat the Yankees 6-1. Here are some notes from the game.

• Although Bert Blyleven wanted him to do more, Scott Baker was able to hold the Yankees lineup to one run on two hits and three walks over five innings. Sure, the wind held down potential home run blasts by Robinson Cano and Alex Rodriguez, but that's just using the elements to your advantage (or, plain luck). Baker came up with a huge strikeout of Derek Jeter with two on and two out in the bottom of the fifth to hold the lead.

• Dennys Reyes came in and got the next five hitters out. Jesse Crain got the final out of the 7th inning. Because the rain came down harder then, he is credited with the cheap save. But again, bullpen did the job.

• Although balls to center and right field were knocked down, Torii Hunter drilled a ball through any wind to left center field for a home run to give the Twins a 2-1 lead.

• With Ron Villone on the mound and two runners on base, Justin Morneau hit a line drive down the left field line that went over the fence for a three-run homer. It was his 33rd home run of the season. FSN's camera showed Morneau rounding first and mouthing "(Expletive) Yeah!" I couldn't believe that they kept showing that because it was pretty clear what he said. I thought it was funny. But why did he say that? Was it because he had just given the Twins a four run lead in this one game. Was it in response to the Yankees fans shouting "MVP! MVP! MVP!" after Derek Jeter doubled in the Yankees run, almost staking his claim on the MVP race in the league's biggest market? Was it because Villone was the pitcher who hit Morneau in the head last year in Seattle?

• Derek Jeter went 1-2 with a walk. His batting average is at .343. Joe Mauer went 1-3 with a walk and his average remains at .350.

• The Chicago White Sox, behind Mark Buehrle and a balanced offense, defeated the Kansas City Royals 5-3. So the Twins remain just 1/2 game behind them in the AL Wild Card race. 

Any other thoughts on the Twins, Yankees, White Sox, Tigers or anything baseball? E-mail me, or leave some Comments below.

         

TWINS MINOR LEAGUE NOTES

Thanks again for stopping by this site. If you have any questions, comments or ideas for future postings, please e-mail me.

Saturday, September 2, 2006

Twins Thoughts

Twins Minor League Report

FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS

Good morning everybody! It's Saturday, but I thought I would do a brief update of what happened on Friday night. I've missed some days of late because of work, so I figured if I had a chance, I could write something small on a Saturday morning. Enjoy, and of course, feel free to Comment below, or send me an e-mail.

 

First things first, congratulations to the Rochester Red Wings for their first playoff berth in nine years!

TWINS THOUGHTS

The Twins lost 8-1 to the Yankees last night in a game in which they were completely out played. There were a few notes that I thought I would bring up after watching the game.

•  Does anyone have any confidence that the Twins can win a game started by Carlos Silva? The guy just is too hittable and unlike last year, he just doesn't have it in him to get out of tough situations anymore.

• Unfortunately, with the news that Brad Radke also has a stress fracture in his shoulder (to go with the torn labrum), it would appear that Silva will have to stick in the rotation. In a Wild Card race, the team just can not afford to essentially give a game away every 5th start. When Johan Santana starts, the team always has a chance to win. With the way that Boof Bonser and Matt Garza have throw their last few starts, I feel like the Twins at least have a shot at wins when they start. I'm willing to stick behind Scott Baker. I'm just wondering if the Twins can ask Team USA to please send Kevin Slowey back to the country so he can be the Twins 5th starter. Or maybe Glen Perkins AAA debut will go very well tonight and he can join the staff in time for Silva's next start. I know, that's four rookies and Johan, but I think that the Twins would be better off.

• Phil Nevin made his Twins debut last night. He batted seventh and served as the team's DH. In four plate appearances, he didn't put a ball in play. He struck out twice, but he also walked twice. If nothing else, he was on base 50% of the time, and he did show a veteran plate approach.

• Alexi Casilla also made his Minnesota Twins debut. He came in to pinch hit for Nick Punto in the top of the 8th. Batting left handed, he did swing at a couple of pitches that were a little bit high, but he still was able to show good discipline and worked a walk... twice. After a pitch was called a ball, Casilla took off for first base. Midway down the line, he was told to come back, that it was just ball three. He went back, fouled off another pitch, and then took another ball for the walk. Gardy apparently went back and watched the at bat on video later and noted that he had really walked the first time, so he actually saw five balls. He went out to 2B for the bottom of the 8th. The first batter grounded out to him, and the second batter hit a pop up that he caught. If Luis Castillo can't play today, I think that Nick Punto, who struggled some defensively at 2B, should return to 3B and Casilla should get the start at 2B.

• Justin Morneau went 2-4 with the lone RBI for the Twins. He hit a 9th inning double to score Michael Cuddyer. Joe Mauer went 1-2 with a walk. That combination is one of the best tandems in baseball.

• Derek Jeter went 3-5 to improve his batting average to .342. Mauer's 1-2 left him at .350.

• Bobby Abreu and Alex Rodriguez each went 3-5 also. A-Rod hit two solo homers and drove in another run with a single.

• The Kansas City Royals are doing a very nice job in their Spoiler role. Last night, they beat the White Sox 7-5 so the Twins remain just 1/2 game behind them. 

Any other thoughts on the Twins, Yankees, White Sox, Tigers or anything baseball? E-mail me, or leave some Comments below.

         

TWINS MINOR LEAGUE NOTES

Thanks again for stopping by this site. If you have any questions, comments or ideas for future postings, please e-mail me.

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