Sunday lineups: Twins/Red Sox
Posted on March 2nd, 2008 – 9:07 AMBy Joe Christensen
FORT MYERS — Craig Monroe said he hopes to play again by Tuesday. The strained muscle is actually between his left calf and left ankle. He said it’s hard to describe but feels like cramping, and it first surfaced Friday.
The Twins are 0-3. They take on the Red Sox again today, this time at City of Palms Park.
TWINS
1. Denard Span, CF
2. Nick Punto, 2B
3. Michael Cuddyer, RF
4. Justin Morneau, 1B
5. Jason Kubel, LF
6. Mike Redmond, C
7. Brian Buscher, 3B
8. Jon Knott, DH
9. Adam Everett, SS
Starting pitcher: RH Livan Hernandez (Matt Guerrier, Pat Neshek, Dennys Reyes, Julio DePaula and Bobby Korecky are also on the pitching list.)
RED SOX
1. Coco Crisp, CF
2. Dustin Pedroia, 2B
3. David Ortiz, DH
4. Manny Ramirez, LF
5. Mike Lowell, 3B
6. J.D. Drew, RF
7. Kevin Youkilis, 1B
8. Julio Lugo, SS
9. Doug Mirabelli, C
Starting pitcher: RH Tim Wakefield. (Clay Buchholz is scheduled to pitch in relief.)
City of Palms Park. First pitch, 12:05 p.m. (Central).
58 Responses to "Sunday lineups: Twins/Red Sox"
Who the deuce is Jon Knott, and Buscher is the suprise of camp right now. Give some info on him, if you please. Oh, and 1st?
Had trouble getting to ANY Twin’s blog this morning. Glad to see the bottleneck has been fixed. Could these two teams trade their starting CF if we throw a bag of balls & 2 new bats? 
I meant “throw in”.
Span one and Punto two. That makes the most sense for the season. Mauer can then stay hitting third, where he truly belongs.
Nice to see Buscher back in the lineup. Also, can’t wait to see how Korecky and Reyes do today.
The game is on Direct TV channel 623 at noon central time. I don’t think they black out preseason games.
I wish I could be there instead. I have had enough snow and cold!
That Knott guy is from Baltimore and last year san diego. Hard worker and has some pop in the bat.
Poor Cuddy…not many chances for him to hit with guys on today.
Buscher + Lamb + Kubel = 3 DH
Buscher + Lamb + Kubel = 3 DH
None are a very good H.
I wish that:
Buscher + Lamb + Kubel = DFR
Designated For Release
What’s wrong with them?
Lamb is actually been a pretty good hitter, the only question is how he can play everyday.
Buscher played what, 30 games in the majors? He has some power…
And Kubel played well most of the second half.
I just read a article in the trib that said that Gardy gets so upset at losing that he cant sleep at night, and then he puts a lineup like that in a game to start. It just doesnt make sense to me.
None of them can catch the ball, and none of them can run.
I’d like to see if Harris or someone else can play 3rd. I don’t see the point of putting Buscher out there.
My, none of them can catch the ball, and none of them can run, response was directed at the “What’s wrong with them?” post (Buscher, Lamb, Kubel).
Craig = DFR
Craig are you still being ridiculous? I thought your suspension, vacation, or wherever the heck you were banished to was going to help you get a grip if and when you came back. I’m leaving again… I’ll come back later… maybe you will have exhausted yourself…
Whattsamatter Craig? Having trouble getting anyone to take the bait lately?
Craig, I thought you were banned?
craig chased everyone away huh?
Some of us are in LEN III’s thread.
Good inning for Arnold Horshaaaaack.
I have been busy with work. Real busy, and I still am. I don’t have much time to post anymore. Glad to see you guys have missed me. It sure has gotten quiet on the Strib Twins blogs.
I really do like Span and Punto batting 1 + 2, with Mauer 3rd. I think Gardy will recognize this as the best way to start the batting order. He’s taking a look at Span and Punto together at the top today. That’s a positive sign.
I think Harris will eventually nail down the 3B job, sometime during the season. I like him, but definitely not as a middle infielder, except in a pinch.
With Livan replacing Johan Santana as the “Ace” of the team, things aren’t looking too promising for 2008. Hopefully Livan can keep the ERA under 5.00 in the AL (doubtful).
Adam Everett is the only one of the new acquisitions I have much interest in. He’s a throwback to the old days, when baseball was a game for the intelligent. For most of you guys, that means, before your time.
Even though the starting pitching is a complete shambles, I still am always optimistic about the team. The team looks pretty good up the middle (Mauer, Punto, Everett, Span). The corners are a little soft, but that can change over the course of the season (hopefully it will). I’m not concerned about the DH (almost any player can be one).
So I am not sure why everyone is so down on the Twins pitching. We have a ton of arms this year and should be able to produce 5 average to solid starters. If Liriano stays healthy and we have a rotation of…Liriano, Baker, Bonser, Hernandez and one of many options in the 5 spot, we will be all right! Great bullpen and a pretty formidable middle of the order and this Gomez kid is going to surprise some people! Gonna be a a fun year of Twins baseball!
Gomez needs to choke up on the bat, shorten his swing, and chop down on the ball more often. Then he might be okay. It’s a learning process and things like that are best learned in the minors. He can’t swing like he does and play in the major leagues.
I really like Gomez, but he’s probably a long shot to ever be a major league regular.
Livan doesn’t have to replace Santana as the ace, he just has to replace Silva in the middle… Liriano is going to be the ace. As far as soft corners go, how can you say our 2006 AL MVP is a “soft corner”? I also think the corner OF’s are going to be way stronger than whoever ends up in center, at least for this year.
Well Jimbo, The scribes may have deemed Morneau an MVP, but that doesn’t make him a very good player. He still can’t handle left-handers, is a slow-footed runner, and is the worst base-runner since the Twins had Mickey Hatcher. He always seems to run his team out of big innings.
Morneau is stiff in the field. He doesn’t move well to his left or his right, has a poor vertical leap, and still can’t handle the short-hop scoop. He still gets caught out of position in that in-between play when the ball is hit between the 1st and 2nd baseman. He just doesn’t have the judgement to figure it out. He is awful going down the line after popups. The pop fly generally befuddles him. If a thrown or batted ball hits him right in the letters, he catches it. Otherwise, forget it. He has a high fielding percentage within his tiny 2 ft radius.
In a nutshell, he loses a lot of games for you. That’s why that corner is soft. When he was out last season, the team didn’t miss him at all. That would be the case if he was traded. No loss.
Jimbo, I’m glad you asked! Ha-ha.
I still can’t believe the Twins lost Santana, Silva, and Garza, and replaced the three of them with Livan. Unbelievable.
Now, with Castillo, Bartlett and Tyner gone, even the hitting is worse. Totally unbelievable.
At least the Twins signed Everett. That’s one thing positive. If his range on turf is good, he should be a fielding improvement.
ya gotsta learn not to react to the idiot…that being craig of course–best to just ignore and let him peck away….
My bad!
Craig says:
March 2nd, 2008 at 2:29 pm
Well Jimbo, The scribes may have deemed Morneau an MVP, but that doesn’t make him a very good player. He still can’t handle left-handers, is a slow-footed runner, and is the worst base-runner since the Twins had Mickey Hatcher. He always seems to run his team out of big innings.
Morneau is stiff in the field. He doesn’t move well to his left or his right, has a poor vertical leap, and still can’t handle the short-hop scoop. He still gets caught out of position in that in-between play when the ball is hit between the 1st and 2nd baseman. He just doesn’t have the judgement to figure it out. He is awful going down the line after popups. The pop fly generally befuddles him. If a thrown or batted ball hits him right in the letters, he catches it. Otherwise, forget it. He has a high fielding percentage within his tiny 2 ft radius.
In a nutshell, he loses a lot of games for you. That’s why that corner is soft. When he was out last season, the team didn’t miss him at all. That would be the case if he was traded. No loss.
Justin job isn’t being a fast runner for the twins it’s to be a power hitter and he is a better good first baseman
If the Twins want to have any chance at competing this year, they need a slick, rangy, glove-man to play the hot corner.
Hitting at 3B isn’t that vital. Especially hitting for power. The glove is what is important.
It will be interesting to see in Delmon can handle left field. There’s a lot of ground to cover in the dome, and the roof in the dome can be really tough.
The reports on Delmon’s fielding skills are mixed. He has the arm, and he can run a little, but he isn’t very adept at running and catching the ball, and is not very sure-handed.
I think eventually the Twins will decide to hide Delmon in right, and bring up a better fielder to play left. I’m thinking a guy like Brandon Roberts, may be ready sometime this season.
Joe C. can’t you do something about Craig? LaVelle did.
I read somewhere, that the Twins want to get Tony Batista back, to platoon at 3rd. That certainly has to be a false report. Then again, he wouldn’t be any worse than Lamb or Buscher.
When you are reading the blog, the poster’s name is printed in boldface to the upper left of the post.
If you don’t want to read the writings of a given poster, just SCROLL DOWN.
JoeC and Lavelle have better things to do than to protect us against drivel.
nice win for the twins today…great day pitching and nice hitting…its going to be fun ….cant wait for it to count….not the biggest span fan, but he looked pretty good today…
sid…. Thanks for the advice, but it gets tiring scrolling down 70 or 80% of the time.
I just can’t look at the team with rose-colored glasses. I’m just not enamored with all the players. I know fans like to root, root, root, for the home team. It’s a good thing the team has good fans like you guys, who love them, no matter what. Keep cheering for the guys, that’s being a good loyal fan.
Sorry, if you are offended when I point out that a player is, in reality, less than stellar.
Discussing the team and the game, is always better than discussing an individual blog participant. No one is interested in anonymous blog participants. It’s the ideas that are interesting. Stick to discussing the post rather than the person making the post, and it’s a whole lot more fun.
Good to hear Span had a good game. Span is the man.
Talk to y’all another time.
Gman,
If scrolling is tiring you out, you need to go to the gym. lol
we found a way to keep me from wanting to post, or spend any time here. Craig go back in your cave. Goodbye
BC…. scroll down. lol.
gman, I think he’s not allowed to post on LaVelle’s blog, so I’m just going there.
my favorite “craig” post has been the one about when morneau was out last season that they didn’t miss him, he was only out for 3 games. the yankees could have gone without babe ruth for 3 friggin games. lol
i also think it’s funny that some people are taking him so seriously, obviously he’s just being dumb for the sake of being dumb, just ya know relax and let it go.
Haven’t any of you having issues with Craig ever had a teenager in the house? Same thing. The difference is Craig has been a ‘teen for years. Enjoy his “wisdom” because you will “miss him when he moves out” or gets banished from this blog too.
sid and rory…… you are both right, after reading your posts, I find scrolling down and letting it go is the best thing for the mind.
Talk to y’all another time.
Hopefully not for a long time, after you learn some netiquette.
Who is this Craig guy
It sounds like my analysis of Justin Morneau was a little confusing for people. Sorry about that. I will try to restate, clarify and expand upon it another day, and throughout the season, if people continue to request.
Saw the final score before I saw the lineup. Go figure that it’s Livan and the B-Side lineup that puts 8 on the board while keeping Bostons (almost) A-Squad lineup to two.
As is the magic and unpredictability of Spring.
