Baker slowed with back injury
Posted on March 12th, 2008 – 11:57 AMBy Joe Christensen
FORT MYERS — Twins pitcher Scott Baker is progressing slowly from a back injury, and Manager Ron Gardenhire did not rule out the possibility Wednesday of the righthander opening the season on the disabled list.
Pitching coach Rick Anderson “says if this goes on for another week or so, we’re going to have to start making other plans,” Gardenhire said. “That’s what we’ve got to find out, whether, it’s going to push on.”
Baker felt a twinge near his latissimus dorsi muscle Saturday, when he pitched two innings against the Pirates. His next start would have come Thursday, but Nick Blackburn is scheduled to start in his place.
Baker said he felt good playing catch Wednesday and hopes to have a bullpen session Friday. He said he thinks he will be ready to start the season with the team.
“I think as much as I’d like to be out there [now], a couple extra days is such a small sacrifice to make,” Baker said.
Earlier, Gardenhire had sounded hopeful that Baker would be able to pitch in a minor-league game this weekend.
“I just talked to the trainer, and he’s not going to quite make it this weekend, let’s put it that way,” Gardenhire said.
Twins lineup
1. Carlos Gomez, CF
2. Joe Mauer, C
3. Michael Cuddyer, RF
4. Justin Morneau, 1B
5. Delmon Young, LF
6. Jason Kubel, DH
7. Brendan Harris, 2B
8. Brian Buscher, 3B
9. Adam Everett, SS
Starting pitcher: LH Francisco Liriano.
Red Sox lineup
1. Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
2. Kevin Youkilis, 1B
3. David Ortiz, DH
4. Manny Ramirez, LF
5. Mike Lowell, 3B
6. J.D. Drew, SS
7. Jason Varitek, C
8. Jed Lowrie, SS
9. Alex Cora, 2B
Starting pitcher: RH Clay Buchholz.
Hammond Stadium. First pitch 12:03 p.m. (Central)
46 Responses to "Baker slowed with back injury"
Wow,
looks like reasoning for Livan to start opening night. Does it really matter if it is him or Boof?
It’ll be interesting to see how Ellsbury and Lowrie do.
I like this lineup it will be interesting to see how they hit today
I think this lineup today is the closest we’ve seen to the opening day 9.
I’d still like to see Gardy give it a try with Cuddy/Young flipped.
Agreed, I like the lineup but with Lamb at third instead Buscher. The leadoff spot concerns me, however. I’m hoping Gomez spends the year in AAA so he can develop more. That will leave us with Denard f’n Span at center and in the leadoff spot, but we’re not going anywhere this year anyway. And before all of you Span lovers attack me for being negative and shout “just give him a chance!”, let me break it down for you. Span has a career .696 OPS in over 1900 minor league ABs. Even if he were to duplicate that number somehow, which won’t happen, he’ll still be 58 points below the AL average at center. Why we didn’t get Lofton or Patterson for a year to warm the spot for Gomez is unfathomable.
2-0 after 2. Ellsbury grounds to SS after Cora single.
Veritek HR
Young Fans starting 2nd
kubel chases first pitch, lines to CF.
scott,
Why didn’t we get Lofton or Patterson for a year to warm the spot for Gomez?
I think you answered your own question.
“we’re not going anywhere this year anyway”
Interesting linup today… might be a sign of where the Twins want to go. I think Lamb would be in there today if he wasnt hurting…
I still am unsure about Gomez though. I like him a lot, but Reusse actually made a good point when he said that Gomez was jamming himself a lot by extending the handle into the zone too much. Nothing that cant be fixed, but annoying that it keeps happening. I would rather not reward him if he keeps hitting in the .100s this spring. Maybe start the season with a Span/Monroe platoon in CF, make Gomez get it together…
I would like to see Yound 3rd and Cuddy 5th, otherwise this lineup looks pretty solid, now if they could only get some hits…
I heard something about Monroe being an option in CF also does anyone know if he can actually play the position if so why hasn’t he gotten at least one start there this spring?
Not a strong outing by the Franchise. 2+IP 3ER, 1 HR, 2 2b, 2bb
Since 2004 Monroe has played 75 games at CF with a career CF FP of .986.
He could do it as a platoon player…
I’d like to see Delmon in center
Buchholz seems to have it today
BC of ND,
Yes, Monroe has played CF. I read earlier this year that Gardy and BS thought he could be adequate at CF, but only on a part time basis. He could platoon like RyanW suggests above, especially against LHP.
Sane, we’re not going anywhere this year because we DIDN’T make that kind of move. and instead we’ll have quite possibly the worst hitter in baseball leading off for us.
RyanW, why would we platoon Span and Monroe in center? Monroe is not playing any center field. Pridie should be the starter, Span should be in the Northern League, and Gomez should be in AAA.
RyanW,
Agree on everything.
Gomez’s main problem is that he jumps at the pitch, (leaving his hands behind) which prevents him from hitting the ball in front of his left hip and thereby jamming himself.
It is usually caused by over-excitement.
He needs to play at a level (AAA?)where he can remain calm at the plate.
Many hitters with this problem are fine in batting practice, but too hyped to “stay back” in games.
How about LNP in center? Maybe he would get his bat going too
In center, I like the Pridie in the bigs, Gomes in AAA and Span in the parking lot scenario… I actually think Pridie will be the guy to start.
Monroe hits left handed pitching pretty well- his career numbers are .273/.319/.495/814
Span is a lefty, his numbers might be acceptable if he is only hitting right handed pitching (I cant find his minor league splits). And he has outplayed Gomez this spring.
In the Trib today, Gardy said the CF race is between Gomez and Span with Pridie trying to earn an extra OF spot. So we can argue whether or not Pridie should start, but it would be pointless as it appears that he will not.
RyanW,
Monroe has started 58 games at center in his career and his defensive stats are below average across the board. Yeah, you could put him there, but it doesn’t mean he’ll be any good.
RyanW,
Span does have a split bias.
2007 (Rochester) against RHP:
360 AB .275/.326/.375/.701
i was way down on span, hell, maybe he will surprise us all…sometimes competition wakes a man up…for a long time span saw only tori hunter and himself as the someday replacement, now all of a sudden theres 3-4 guys seriously in the run…i still like gomez in AAA for at least part of the year…twins can cover cf with pridie and span
it sounds like gomez is pretty ugly at the plate.
whole damn lineup is ugly at the plate
Scott- I got my information from Baseball Reference:
http://www.baseball-reference.com/m/monrocr01.shtml
No where did I say he would be great defensivly. It is just an option, we might need all the firepower that we can get in our linup. Platoning him would allow Kubel to stay in the linup everyday as well.
Thanks Columbo, any career ML splits? or just 07?
I got my info from there as well and he’s only started 58 games in center. And Kubel should be in the lineup everyday regardless. Monroe should be strictly a bench player.
Do people like Kubel? Think he’s gonna be good? If so, is that as just a DH or somewhere in the field?
There’s no room in the outfield for Kubel, but the man can really hit the baseball. He had a great second half last year at the plate.
Kubel will be good this year if they just leave him alone and play him everyday. He’ll at least give us a reliable DH for the first time since Chili Davis.
I’ve never liked Kubel, but I didnt see any of last year so I was basing that on years past. It seems like alot of people think he’ll hit well this year. I hope so.
Keep in mind that he missed all of ‘05 with a serious knee injury and then didn’t get the ABs (220) in ‘06 to make a complete comeback. Last season was essentially Kubel’s first full season in the majors and he hit .273/.335/.450 with 13 homers in 418 ABs. He’s also only 25 with a ton of upside. My prediction is that if he gets 500+ ABs, he’ll hit around .275/.340/.475 with close to 20 homers.
RyanW,
I can only find splits for ‘07.
Scott,
thats a pretty modest prediction for a kid with up-side playing a full season, I think. Though maybe that’s to be expected… I dont know. I really hope he does well, t’would be nice.
My point is that players should earn spots. Gomez is not doing that right now, Span actually is. There is a 300 point difference in Span and Gomez this spring in OBP.
I am not a big Span guy, which is why I would prefer he platoon with Monroe rather than have the everyday job.
Columbo,
thanks for looking. I will post if I can find more…
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