Thursday lineups: Twins/Padres
Posted on June 26th, 2008 – 1:22 PMBy Joe Christensen
SAN DIEGO — One lineup change for the Twins today: Mike Redmond replaces Joe Mauer at catcher.
Standard protocol there with a day game after a night game.
Otherwise, Gardy is sticking with the lineup that built this eight-game winning streak.
After facing four Cy Young Award winners in the past five games, today’s matchup might look like a break, but Padres righthander Josh Banks has been very impressive since the Padres claimed him off waivers from Toronto on April 23.
That 1.62 ERA speaks for itself. The Twins’ scouting report says he throws seven or eight different pitches, so this should be interesting.
Update (3:50 p.m.): Twins prospects Denard Span and Luke Hughes have been picked to play in the All-Star Futures Game on July 13 at Yankee Stadium. Span will play for Team USA and Hughes, who hails from Australia, will play for the World Team.
This year, Team USA will be the U.S. Olympic Trial team. That means Span has been named to a list of about 60 players who are eligible for the Olympics. That’s a nice honor, but in his situation, he won’t be going to the Olympics. He is one phone call away from rejoining the Twins, especially if one of the starting outfielders gets hurt.
Twins (42-36)
1. Carlos Gomez, CF
2. Alexi Casilla, 2B
3. Mike Redmond, C
4. Justin Morneau, 1B
5. Michael Cuddyer, RF
6. Jason Kubel, LF (typo earlier had him at 1B)
7. Brendan Harris, SS
8. Brian Buscher, 3B
9. Scott Baker, P
Padres (32-47)
1. Jody Gerut, CF
2. Craig Stansberry, 2B
3. Brian Giles, RF
4. Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
5. Kevin Kouzmanoff, 3B
6. Chase Headley, LF
7. Khalil Greene, SS
8. Luke Carlin, C
9. Josh Banks, P
Petco Park. First pitch: 2:35 p.m.
139 Responses to "Thursday lineups: Twins/Padres"
We waont see Punto until we lose.
Way to not insert the entire B-Squad, Gardy! That’s awesome!
Apparently there will be a big gap in LF, but hey, we’re so hot right now it doesn’t matter!
But we all know had Harris not hit that homer last night…it’d TOTALLY be Punto right now.
I’m a bit skeptical about having two first basemen this afternoon. I think Kubel could use the break from running around, but I fear those two won’t be used to working so closely.
But I’m willing to try anything once.
Kubel is backing up Morneau in case the webbing breaks again.
Still can’t believe this Redmond hitting 3rd business. Weird.
That said, everything seems to be working at the moment so he’ll probably go 2-for-4 with a game-winning flare double down the right field line.
I’m not a fan of Redmond in the 3-hold, but I’m cool with the lineup otherwise. Banks is the kind of guy who has historically given us trouble.
Redmond batting third is just plain stupid… I understand now screwing with the lineup, but c’mon!! Just shift everyone up one slot and bat him 8th for crying out loud!!
I keep saying it, and the Twins keep making me look smart: The reason the Twins are a better team this year without Santana and Hunter is because Punto is NOT a starter and we have a deeper bench. Harris and Monroe demonstrated that last night. Done and done.
I should probably rip Redmond in the 3-hole cause last time I did he hit an RBI double in the first inning and added another hit….I find it kind of humorous in a sense, in that it’s almost Gardy’s way of saying ‘if the King is not at his Throne, then only the King’s apprentice can watch over it’…but in the end, it’s really no biggie…I’m sure the Pads won’t be ready for Red Dog’s line drives to right field…
That is, unless they load up their defense the way we apparently have…with two first basemen.
AJPesh - ture, true, true, true!! Punto is a terrible MLB player, and has no business on an active roster.
Yeah, I don’t quite get the premise of Redmond batting 3rd, but this team has proved me wrong on other things this year, and we’l see, maybe Gardy is on to something with batting him 3rd, maybe not.
I think they just have a ton of confidence in Baker so they wont need anyone in LF hell why not bring the entire OF in.
If Bake can strike out 4 guys per inning, there is no need for a LF.
Accuscore predicts a San Diego win today. 56 to 44. They must have seen we have two first basemen.
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/preview?gameId=280626125
Garza has a one hitter going, but who cares, he’s gone and we forgot about him already.
Out of curiosity, what’s Redmond’s stats out of the three hole this season? I’m guessing they’d be fairly limited, but would be interesting to know.
I suppose from a strticly NL perspective, Redmond ahead of the pitcher means that the pitcher essentially is worthless (could Redmond beat out the throw if Baker puts the bunt down?)
They could bat him above Harris & Buscher maybe, slide everybody else above him up one.
But it’s “worked” before I suppose…
“Accuscore predicts a San Diego win today. 56 to 44. They must have seen we have two first basemen”
For something called “AccuScore”, they’re sure putting a lot of weight into the fact that Matt Macri is on the Twins roster.
That two 1B thing must be throwing EVERYBODY.
T: take your own advice move on with the harris/punto thing it’s 2 days old now and i do apologize!
56-44 what is this a basketball game?
This year, Redmond is hitting
.467/.500/.600 in the 3-hole, 7/16.
Career wise, .338/.385/.396, 7/225. So, obviously Gardy knows something we don’t.
Actually, not messing too much with the comfort level is a good thing. “Don’t mess with a streak.” The best Twins lineup (produces the most runs) has Mauer in 2-hole, but its only 10 more runs (at best) over an entire season than Mauer in hitting 3, so its not that big a of a deal.
redmond in the 3 spot 2008: 15 ab, .467 ave, .500 obp.
gardy is much smarter than any of us thought!!
T are you ready at 6:00 tonight to see just how far McFail sets the T-Wolves back for years to come. I make a game out of his stupidity. While he is heading up to the podium if you see a guy about 6′4 chop block him thats me
‘bojicat…
How are the IA Great Lakes? I have family living there.
I wouldn’t worry to much about the accuracy of Accuscore, they have Macri with a 9.6% chance of hitting a HR, I bet on him hitting 3.
Regards,
jimmy,
can you imagine if Riley take Mayo and McFail still doesn’t grab Beasley and trades down for Love instead?
i can 
JIMMY BEE:
All drafts should use ping pong balls.
It’s the most fair way, as indicated by this year when one of the world’s most famous cities with one of the country’s largest fan bases gets to pick number one and help build another World Championship to add to the five or something they already have.
Sheesh!
“T are you ready at 6:00 tonight to see just how far McFail sets the T-Wolves back for years to come.”
I quit watching basketball a long time ago. And with all the news of refs fixing games coming out…looks like I picked the right time when I did.
I’ve been enjoying the Padres announcers during this series. Not a big Matt vasgergen (sp?) fan but Tony Gwynn does a pretty good job, IMO, and its fun hearing his take on the Twins.
Much better then Dick, Bert and Telly!
Telly is the worst anywhere.
Show me more Marney!
“Career wise, .338/.385/.396, 7/225. So, obviously Gardy knows something we don’t.”
Wow. That’s actually a lot better than I would’ve guessed.
Shawn in Binghamton I would get season tix and hold banners, make brochures, and wear t-shirts like they do at Detroit Lions games to fire McFail. What do I have to do. This may be all I can possibly take and especially if he passes on Beasley and reaches for someone like Brook Lopez.
You probably heard Houston
pitcher Shawn Chacon has been suspended after grabbing Astros GM Ed Wade by the neck and throwing him to the ground in the clubhouse Wednesday.
No Bobble Head Night for Chacon. They “Present a choking hazard.”
Funkytown…
Sorry to say I ran away years ago. Haven’t been back to visit my family in a couple years. I hear they are still holding up well though. I’d much rather be out at The Drydock or Tweeters than out here in Tacoma right now.
Mudcat! Waahaahaahaa!!!
That was bad…
JIMMY BEE:
Sorry, buddy, you need to think about Lopez. Draft him in the first round and take his twin brother with the bad haircut in the second round. Seven footers, that’s a good quality.
Twin Brothers
Twin Towers
Twin Cities!
They’ll all be busts anyway, so might as well get some free publicity.
I know the statistical “wisdom” is that it doesn’t really matter who’s hitting before or after you, but having been a pitcher I can say for certain that Redmond gets better pitches to swing at with Morneau hitting behind him than he would with the the #9 hitter in the on deck circle. This would be particularly true in the NL. No pitcher is going to be concerned about walking Redmond by picking at the corners of the plate if there’s no threat coming up next. But they’re much more careful about giving up that walk with Doc in the on deck circle.
just think what this place would sound like if mcfail ran the twins. well i guess the twins would be the royals!
Redmond’s batting third… again… ugh. I think I’d rather have anyone in today’s lineup except Baker in that 3 spot over him. I don’t get Gardy’s “logic” in consistently batting Red third.
Gomez really needs to get a hit to leadoff a game sometime here.
Oh well. Let’s go Twins… another 9-run game would be nice! Let’s give Baker some support!
gobbledygookguy says:
June 26th, 2008 at 2:38 pm
just think what this place would sound like if mcfail ran the twins. well i guess the twins would be the royals!
Worse!!! They would be the Ex-pos
Why does it sound like there’s cheerleaders in the background on the radio?
Anyone know why Delmon hasn’t played in SD? Just getting rest or is he hurt?
I see Stansberry fouled out to first.
Which Firstbaseman caught that ball?
Schedule,
Delmon isn’t playing because there is no DH, all starting pitchers are righties and Kubel has been swinging a hot bat.
‘boji cat:
Tweeters was heavily damaged in a fire this week. Going to rebuild.
“Anyone know why Delmon hasn’t played in SD? Just getting rest or is he hurt?”
Delmon is not hurt.
Kubel is playing in his place and the Twins have won 8 in a row. The lineup has been a constant and probably won’t change (except for resting Mauer) as long as the Twins keep winning.
I’m assuming Kubel is in LF and not 1B
Also, Kubel is the only Left handed batting OF on the roster.
Funkytown:
Wow. I just checked out the news. That is crazy. And sad.
i think it may be a stretch to say kubal has been swinging a hot bat. warm?
The new graphics on Gameday make the batter look some kind of escapee from a dance line, or a sanitation dept. worker with white hat. I like what it does with the pitches though.
wow he grooved that one right down the pipe
Memo to Scott, walks and fastballs right down Broadway are bad.
Ugly, ugly, ugly.
Man, did he slide out of the base path or what?
Just cant walk the pitcher, that was just awful
Kinda suprised they didn’t call that on the slide. Can’t get that far out on a take-out slide. Should have been a double play, instead a run scores because of the resulting throw.
Harris better keep hitting Bombs, I’m sure Gardy is itching to play Punto
Way to go Justin! Nice pokE!
Mr. RBI does it again!
Really can’t blame that error on Harris, he was in the right spot, the player slid out of the basepath on a takeout slide, causing Harris to jump in the middle of his throw. Again, don’t understand why it wasn’t called out.
Ben D — You’re right. And I would hate to bench someone batting .249 with a .667 OPS for someone hitting .288 with a .738 OPS, especially if the person being benched had less defensive range.
One nice week does not a season make…
2 Hours and 20 McMinutes till the next McFailure
GBG, neither does 59 at bats.
Have any of you guys actually watched Harris play? The guy has a cannon for an arm, usually pretty dang accurate, and what he gets to, he gloves.
The error should have been negated by the automatic doubleplay call by the 2nd base ump. The fact that it wasn’t called doesn’t take away from the cause/effect of the play.
Next thing I will see is someone is going to be criticizing Morneau since he had an error on him last night when the webbing in his glove broke.
Sometimes errors aren’t really the fault of the person getting charged with it.
Tony — nope. And I’m hopeful that the change in Harris’ swing is long term and he can produce. But I’m not going to make knee-jerk judgements about tired topics.
good inning there Baker. Way to shake off the wildness. /crosses fingers/
Me Too — looking back through all the comments here…trying to find it…no. Can’t find anyone faulting Harris for that particular error. Anything else you’d like to pull out of the ether?
And yes, I have seen Harris play. In person. Much improved at SS than at 2B at least.
So GBG, saying
And I would hate to bench someone batting .249 with a .667 OPS for someone hitting .288 with a .738 OPS, especially if the person being benched had less defensive range.
One nice week does not a season make…
isn’t a knee jerk reaction, to a tired arguement????
Yeah Baker !!!
way to go Bake
bottom feeder!
Is Brian Runge today’s 2nd base ump?
lol GBG…actually the nice week Harris had pretty does equal an entire season of production from LNP
bunt Gomez
Kay:
It says Jim Wolf is on 2B on Gameday.
Well, for everyone complaining about Redmond in the 3 hole, well, he is 2for3 at this point. Yep, thats why Gardy is the manager, and those guys are commenters on a blog…….
I can’t believe Redmond is batting third. What a mistake.
YES, way to get the lucky hit Morney
Morneau = stud
Best player on this squad, bar none.
another RBI!
Justin - you dah man!
(I know Razz, it just seemed like a Runge-type of call/non-call).
Morneau must be tired of the Bottom Feeders driving in all the runs!
New game. The better team will start to pull away now.
Just like last night.
(hope i didn’t jinx us)
Man, Baker is looking much, much better since he found the plate back. Keep it up big guy.
I wonder why Redmond throughout his career has never been considered as a fulltime catcher. I know he’s more suited as a back up now but why not early in his career.?
Hey Jason, how is Kubel doing on his 3 for 20 streak that was predicted?
No question that Punto needs to be in the lineup every day! He has proved that given a full time job he is the best hitter on the team. All those rbi he had last yr. They need to give him a contract extension before he gets to free agency. Harris hits to many homeruns and doesn’t slide head first into first, most exciting play in the game.
very good “what the….” 
what the…
You might want to take it easy eating those paint chips and mercury Kool-aid.
1 hour and 50 McFailing McMinutes to go
jimmy bee, do you have a prediction on what idiot move McFail is about to make?
Trade pick to memphis for the #5 and some how get adam Morrison he reminds McFail of himself
Oh yeah with the 5 pick take Brook Lopez’ brother the wrong brother
Trade # 3 pick to Boston for Glen “Big Baby” Davis
After I saw my hero Punto sticking some chew in his mouth the other night I bought some and started using it. Canged my life, banged my head sliding into the water cooler, ooch! If that wasn’t bad enough I chocked on the damn chew.
Me Too…2-for-11…
But I am cheering for him to ruin my prediction and bust this game open in the late innings!!!!!
Jason,
Since you like to cut a year by half to pass judgments.
I would expect a mea culpa shortly…
Regards,
Dragon, for the second (and final time), I never cut a year in half…I said “we’re seeing it with our own eyes”, which implies that so far the take has been correct, however, he (Cuddy) still has the second half to turn it around.
Nice play, Buscher!
Has anyone noticed that Delmon Young has been benched for several games in a row? Has anyone missed him? He’s gotta be pissed.
BTW, I think that’s eleven straight “Quality Starts” now.
The Padres radio team tore Carlin apart during the Greene at-bat (basically saying if Greene doesn’t get it done now, then forget it).
well the funny thing, Average Joe…remember when there was such a brew-ha-ha over his “streak” earlier in the year? Since then he’s missed about 6-10 games! So much for the streak!
Average Joe,
Nope it’s 1 in a row. Perkins only went 5 innings last night.
So 11 of 12 have been quality starts.
Cuddy…go deep here, please!
LOL Padres radio dude: “The Padres have blown a three to nothing lead for the second day in a row…what the heck is going on”
This guy has been hilarious to listen to
SweetOne, I stand corrected. Thx.
FYI,
Runge was suspended for…..
1 game
It’s amazing that Morneau can keep delivering while Cuddyer has been so quiet offensively while batting behind him. I think that all of the personal emotion is finally catching up to Mike.
I really praised the Garza for Young deal over the winter. I thought the Twins were finally willing to give up one of their pitching “prospects” for a solid hitter.
Well, after Garzas one hitter today, and his performance overall this year, it would be nice to have that trade back, but I still do give Smith credit for that trade. The outcome has not been in our favor so far, but I always felt Ryan protected prospects too much.
You cannot evaluate a deal over half season… Still I think that the Twins look like the got the best of it, if you realize that with Garza on the team there would be no Blackburn, who is pitching at least as well as Garza this year. Harris is an upgrade over Barlett and Young an upgrade over Lew/Tyner/White…
Doubling up your lefties to face Giles and Gonzalez is a fine piece of managing by Gardy.
I think the true comparison for Young would be Monroe/Span instead of Lew/Tyner/White since they weren’t going to be with the team regardless of the trade.
However, for the record I was in favor of the trade then, and I still think with time (and maybe a switch back to RF) Young will come around an be a good bat for the Twins.
Maybe Perkins and Baker can put on a bunting clinic for Gomez tomorrow.
they really need to get span up here to see what he can do…spell gomez a bit and cuddy too…none of our outfielders are tearing it up..thats for damn sure….
please don’t end the inning with a caught stealing
Beneke/FireVavra,
Any thoughts?
Nice win, gentlemen!
mj1
if span comes up who goes down? It won’t be Young, Cuddy, Kubel, Gomez. Twins will never do it.
That leaves Monroe. Monroe, as he showed last night, actually has some pop in his bat. I like him off the bench with spot DH and outfield starts.
The Twins have just won 9 in a row!! Why on god’s green earth would you make roster changes now???
Garza looked pretty good today going 9in with 1H and 10K. It sure would be nice if Delmon Young would start hitting some freaking HR’s. Otherwise we got ripped off big time.
Who cares about Garza? The Twins have won 9 in a row!!
right on, shaun!
well, the nine game win streak is nice, and helpful, but obviously it wont last. Having said that, if we knew now what would happen, I would prefer Garza over Young. But knowing what I knew then, I would still be in favor of this trade. I have to believe Young will gel at some point
They should DFA Bass or Bonser and go with 11 pitchers again - they serve the same role in the bullpen. At this point, I’d cut Bonser, but he is valued by this team for some reason. Competition from Buscher, Punto, and Macri worked wonders for the infield, making Harris a better hitter in the process. Bringing Span up could do the same for the OF, especially Gomez. I am frustrated by him.
DFA Bonser? The guy has some trade value and Bass is doing ok. I would guess we’ll see a trade of Bonser by the deadline.
the team has the longest winning streak in the majors. Why mess with it?
Re: Span. The kid should be given the opportunity to play in the Olympics if he makes the team. It’s an once a lifetime event and a huge honor to represent your country. It’s not like there are not any other outfield options on the bench (Monroe) and the minors (Pridie, McDonald) in case of an injury…
Punto needs to play SS. Gardy will eventually work him in. Too bad Bartlett is gone.
If Garza and Bartlett had not been traded away, for nothing, the Twins would be running away with another division title.
There are plenty of openings in the Twins OF. Span needs to be playing everyday for the Twins in the major leagues, not in the Olympics.
There will be no changes to the roster until we lose period.
New and Improved Craig, good to see you back.
If Carl was not such a cheapskate and bloodsucker from the taxpayers of Hennepin County, the Twins may have a 29 game winning streak now.
Span could replace any of the outfielders on the team, and it would be an improvement. I don’t see a problem with bringing up Span, during the win streak. The Twins need a lead-off hitter, who can get on base.
If Bill Smith had not brought in any of the new players, that he did in the off-season, the Twins would be printing post-season tickets, right now.
If the Twins offered Harris, Young and Pridie, back to the Rays for Bartlett, alone, the Rays front office would die laughing at such a ridiculous offer. Throw in Garza? Absurd! The Rays credit Bartlett for much of their success.
Young and Harris, should be reserves, at most. Pridie isn’t ever going to play in the major leagues, barring a dramatic reversal.
Craig,
Sorry if you were being sarcastic or humorous in the posts above and I just didn’t get it. But, if serious…
1. Garza is having a decent year with ups and downs. He is 6 and 4; lifetime 14-17. I am not quite ready to give him the next Cy Young.
For comparison, the guy that wouldn’t be here is probably Blackie. He has the identical 6 and 4 record. Interestingly their ERAs, WHIPs, and records are all nearly identical.
I am not seeing that as a big loss at this time, since we had excess young SPs and Blackie is stepping into the role nicely.
2. Bartlett may be on a “honeymoon” with TB fans. He is hitting worse than he did with us at .246.
Harris looks like he is getting more comfortable every day. He has 4 HRs to Jason’s 0 (a point of emphasis on these blogs). Harris has a better BA than Bartlett for the year and for their careers they are nearly identical.
Again, not seeing this as any big loss.
3. Looks to me like DY and Pridie are thow in bonuses for us.
4. I call it advantage Twins at this point in time.
Craig, just a question. Have you ever actually watched Bartlett play the field? Have you ever watched him field the ball? Harris may have problems with range (below average, but not bad at all, wouldn’t think that from all the negative commenter’s on here), but I will say that he has a MUCH more accurate arm, and it’s much stronger as well. If he gets to a ball, you can pretty much assume he’s gonna get it. Bartlett could get to more balls, but how many of those did he actually get an out on? I remember an awful lot of close plays at first, that were from throws in the hole. Just because he got to them, definitely didn’t mean he got the out on the play. Keeping it in the infield is a good thing, but it still counts as a hit, not an out.
BTW, I would think that the Rays could definitely take the Harris, Young, and Pridie for Bartlett trade in an INSTANT. Man, where do you come up with this stuff?????
BTW, how many people are glad that Craig isn’t running the front office? Think where this team would be right now if they would have traded Morneau for pitching like Craig was constantly pushing for during the offseason…….
Me Too: His Rays teammates and coaches have said repeatedly that Barlett is THE reason their defense is so much better this year. Gardy has said at least twice how good Barlett is in the field and how he misses his glove.
Again, his defense is better, and he did have a good glove, but I remember an aweful lot of infield singles. An infield single IS better than an outfield single, since it keeps the runners from advancing the extra base, or scoring from second. That much is true. I agree that his defense is better than Harris, but come on, it isn’t THAT much superior. His teammates are talking him up, that is great. That is what teammates and coaches are supposed to do. You always support your teammates. You don’t throw them under the bus.
BTW, Gardy was saying that when Everett was having problems, I can’t remember anything being stated after Harris has pretty much taken over the spot. Everett was a trainwreck, that much I agree with for certain.
BTW, with the stats that Bartlett is putting up this year, he needs to be an elite level shortstop, since his bat sure isn’t helping out the offense. Guess his teammates are pointing out his defense since they are trying to keep from crying about his offensive production.
/last statement was said in partial jest/
The Twins were existing in a politically correct, no criticism allowed world, making excuses for the team’s youthful age. Once the media and fans began to realistically criticize their game, they improved toward their potential. The fans and the media need to be more honest about the team’s performance, regardless of their age, and should criticize them in a realistic and constructive fashion which will enable them to improve–something that was lacking in 2007.
Walt,
Interesting theory.
Maybe, if one halucinates real hard, one might also find that the slow start had just a tad to do with a NEW (to the team) CF, LF, 3B, SS, 2B and 2 SP’s. That’s 62% turnover in the field and a 40% turnover at SP.
BUT, I am sure criticism is the real answer.
Regards,
Walt,
Make sure you put your Twins criticism in a form the coaches and players can use to plan their practice drills.
Without a clearcut to-do list organized by the fans and media, the coaches and players will have no idea what skills thet need to work on at practices.
The result would be chaos, rather than structured practices concentrating on those deficiencies uncovered by the fans and media.
