Twins enjoy their ride with Hernandez and Gomez
Posted on July 5th, 2008 – 10:57 AMBy Joe Christensen
Friday’s 12-3 victory was no cakewalk for the Twins. In the sixth inning, they had some anxious moments, when Livan was being Livan, and GoGo was being GoGo.
Ben Francisco hit a leadoff homer, trimming the Twins’ lead to 5-3.
Jhonny Peralta doubled, and Brian Bass began warming in the bullpen. Then Hernandez walked Shin-Soo Choo, bringing Casey Blake to the plate, representing the go-ahead run.
Teammates marvel at Hernandez during moments like this. Hearts are racing, and he’s the calmest man in the ballpark.
“Nobody likes to pitch in a situation like that,” he said. “Everybody knows me. I pitch that way. I give up a lot of base hits and get double plays. That’s regular Livan. So it’s not surprising.
“When you go into that situation, you can’t get too excited or nervous. You’ve got to relax and think better. Think about what you want to do, where you want the guy to hit the ball and who you want to face. I walked the right fielder [Choo]. I wanted to face Blake.”
As Hernandez said this, I couldn’t figure it out. Blake is one of Cleveland’s hottest hitters, batting .371 over the past 28 days.
This morning, it hit me. Remember June 12, when Hernandez got pounded in a 12-2 loss at Cleveland? Choo went 2-for-2 off the veteran with a three-run homer.
Then, in the second inning Friday, Choo crushed a ball that Carlos Gomez caught with his back crashing into the center-field fence. So, with first base open in the sixth, Hernandez put Choo aboard with a five-pitch walk.
“It’s something I do on the mound,” Hernandez said. “You know, maybe a lot of people don’t do it. When I’m on the mound, I concentrate on something. I don’t want somebody to beat me. I want to walk the guy, with first base open. I think that was the ballgame right there.”
Blake came up, and Hernandez threw one of those back-door fastballs, a pitch that starts outside and curls back over the outside corner for strike three. Then David Dellucci hit a liner that looked like a base hit until Gomez raced in for another catch. (When his hat flies off at moments like that, it only adds to the excitement.)
Peralta was half-way to third base, and Gomez probably could have doubled him off, but he was stuck in fifth gear. He made the throw on the run, and it was a weak two hopper. Peralta got back safely.
So Hernandez had to face Ryan Garko, who grounded sharply to third, ending the inning.
What happened there with Gomez?
“I talked to him about it,” Manager Ron Gardenhire said, “and he said, ‘When you run as fast as I do, it’s hard to’ — I can’t even argue with him because I’ve never run that fast.”
Note: Head to La Velle’s blog for lineups and updates for the next two games. I’ll catch up with you again Monday from Boston.
107 Responses to "Twins enjoy their ride with Hernandez and Gomez"
Can’t say Livan didn’t give me a heart attack, but good win for the Twins anyway. I like Gardy’s line to end this one… haha… though to me it really did look like Gomez thought that was the third out.
Steve, can you find a kind word to say about Nick Punto this morning?
If the Twins are in sole possession of 1st Place in the AL Central at the All-Star Break that has to be considering THEE biggest surprise of the 2008 season so far…
Max,
That and the Rays.
Steve,
I would have more respect for Gomez if he would have said the three little words after that play - “I f-cked up!”
Its not THAT important, but IMO it reveals a ballplayer’s character.
I hear alibi’s from 15 to 18-yr-olds players every day, but hearing those three little words is almost as good as hearing “I love you” from your family.
Max and sane,
Could not agree with you more. It would nice to see a little more national recognition if we keep playing at this level and actually do have first place at the break. I’m pretty bored with A-Rod and Madonna..blah, blah, blah.
sane, what I would add to that is it shows leadership potential too. Owning your mistakes and “manning up” is a great character asset.
Actually, I hear few alibi’s from my 15 to 18-yr-old players after I tell them what I just told you.
Personally, I am loving the Twins season so far, but as far as the biggest suprise, it has to be the Rays. They have been perenial door-mats to that division, and right now, they are playing very, very good baseball.
Sure, they got the easier schedule during interleague play, but hey, they also get to play an unbalanced schedule against the East. The Twins play against the central.
The Twins have been there before, this is the first that the Rays have sniffed the lead in the division this late in the year that I am aware of.
Heck, why should we expect the kids to own up to their mistakes when the parents are so bad it themselves?
I work in an environment that mistakes happen frequently, and amazingly, it is never any of my guy’s fault. Sad really.
MeToo,
Interesting that the two biggest surprises are the two teams who both profited big-time from the Garza-Bartlett-Young-Harris trade.
Interesting that the two biggest surprises are the two teams who both profited big-time from the Garza-Bartlett-Young-Harris trade.
The two teams that profited big-time from that trade: 1) The Rays. 2) Tampa Bay.
Kinda hard to predict how the season would have went for either team this year, but yeah, it sure is interesting to note that both teams are surging, and both teams are seeing good results right now from the players that were exchanged.
Many on here like to complain about Young, but he has really surged during June, and continuing it so far this month. Seems it took him abit longer to heat up than it did last year, but heat up he has.
garza is pitching well lately, and the twins knew that was going to happen. but i think delmon is going to be big for the twins in the future. i mean, this is his first year here and he’s only 22. watch him in batting practice, the dude can hit some bombs, so i think it’s only a matter of time. bartlett for harris is a pretty throwaway part of the deal, they both have similar numbers, in fact, i think harris has better numbers by a small margin. i love hearing how “the rays made a great trade getting bartlett, he’s been a difference maker for them this year”, by espn and then he throws wildly to first. great shortstop.
Craig, I must admit that I would have liked to keep Garza here, but it would appear that starting pitching isn’t the issue with the team at this point.
To get something, you have to give up something. Young is a talent that can’t be gotten by giving up a Punto/Rincon package. Gotta give similar talent in a trade when the centerpiece of the trade is both young and talented. Delmon is under team control for several years. In order to get that control, you have to be willing to surrender a player that is both young and talented.
I think that the Twins did just fine in that trade. BTW, there is nothing, absolutely nothing, wrong with making a trade that actually benefits both teams. As a matter of fact, I am pretty sure it makes it easier for a GM to make a trade if previous trades proved successful for other trading partners before too.
With Delmon, while watching him during batting practice, it isn’t the bombs that I notice nearly as much as that virtually every ball of his bat is a line-drive. One thing about a linedrive hitter, they do get homers, but that doesn’t mean that they will get them with alot of frequency. I would take a line-drive hitter anyday over a fly-ball hitter. Sure, the fly-ball hitter will probably get more balls out of the park, but at a sacrifice to OBP. Good power is a great thing to have, but one thing about hitting liners, more of them have a better chance to fall in since they don’t stay up in the air nearly as long for the fielder to run under for the catch like some of those long outs to dead center that the mashers seem so good at hitting.
This is off topic, but I’ve gotten really annoyed at the quantity of punto-bashing on these blogs this year, so I decided to do some analysis to try to change a few minds. Here goes:
Point 1: This year, Gardenhire has not had a “man-crush” on Punto. Punto has seen action in a mere 29 games, with a total of 76 at-bats. That is only 1/3rd of the team’s games, and an average of just 2.5 at bats per game. That’s seven FEWER at-bats than Matt Tolbert, and 2 more at bats than Adam Everett.
Point 2: Punto’s offensive stats this year are actually *gasp* not that bad. He’s got a .289 batting average, and a .782 OPS. I mentioned Everett Above, Everett has an average of .189 and sluggin pct of .559, so Punto’s got 2 more at bats, and an over 200 POINTS better OPS. Some other OPS’s to consider this year: Jason Kubel: .792, Delmon Young: .734, Brendon Harris: .655, so Punto is a mere 10 points behind Kubel, and ahead of both Young and Harris. Now I’m NOT saying Punto is a better hitter than Young or Harris, but I am saying he is having a good year, and people should lay off. He has been fully deserving of his 76 at-bats.
Point 3: Historically, he’s not really that bad. Allright, 2007 was an absolutely lousy year for Punto no matter how you look at it. In fact, one of the worst offensive years in history. That said, what happens if you look at the rest of his career? If you take his career numbers and exclude 2007, he has an average of .263 and an OPS of .675. Now I fully realize that 675 is a very mediocre OPS, but guess who has a lower career OPS: Carlos Gomez (.663)
Point 4: You don’t even need any stastics to realize that Punto is in fact awesome in the field.
Do I think Punto should be a starter? probably not. But I do think Gardenhire has used him entirely appropriately this year. He is an ideal utility infielder, and I have no problem with him starting every once in a while, and even filling in for a month at a time when someone is injured.
So the moral of the story is: LAY OFF PUNTO!
Wow, can’t believe some people seem like they want to give up on DY so fast! You can’t measure the impact of the Garza-Young trade at this point anymore than you can measure the Santana-Gomez trade.
Still, it would be interesting to know what the Twins could have gotten from a team like Milwaukee for Johan if the Twins still had him AND weren’t in contention. I can’t believe the Brewers would make a trade for CC for 1/2 a season.
The player that consistently hit the long bombs in batting practice was apparently, former Twin, Luis Castillo. Gladden and Gordo were talking one day about Castillo and his BP home runs. According to them, Luis loved to go deep in BP.
Delmon apparently also sends the ball a long way in batting practice. According to Delmon, “anyone” can hit home runs in batting practice. Hey, even old Craig can. I’m a terror, in the cage.
A mediocre corner outfielder is not the equivalent of an excellent starting pitcher like Garza. Not even close.
Harris isn’t even a SS. He’s a fill in, due to injuries. He doesn’t compare to Bartlett.
Delmon hit another HR. He’s on the way to hitting the “8 or 9″, I predicted he would hit this season, when the trade was made. What ever happened to that guy who said I was an “idiot” for making that prediction. He said Delmon was going to hit 38 bombs. Delmon better get that bat smokin’, if he is going to hit 38. Ha-ha.
Craig,
Look at the numbers. Garza is not excellent starting pitching, good but not excellent. His numbers are the same as Slowey’s, who is a good, not excellent pitcher.
Now that is truly funny, the “We need to trade Morneau for pitching” guy is making fun of someone else’s opinions or predictions……
As for DY being mediocre, his season compares to Crawford’s, but yes he is in the lower 1/3. And Harris is having a way better year than Bartlett. So Young & Harris plus Slowey stepping up his equal to Garza, Bartlett and Crawford.
Craig, please show these stats that make Garza a once in 20yrs. pitcher.
Right now, Garza is having a good year, but great?, not even close.
Using your basis for criteria, the Twins are having a once in 20yrs. year.
Man, if Garza is having an excellent year this year, surely he’s got the cy locked up for the rest of his career if this is his low water mark.
superdave
point 1: Injuries are the only thing that prevented the man love. Gardy after last night called him a “great player”. um no. a great player is a MVP of the league, or the only catcher in AL history to lead the league in batting average. gardy has serious man love issues with gardy.
point 2: He is having a decent year this year because of his limited ABs. he is a 31 year old player with career hitting numbers that would embarrass most pitchers. if you think he’s found something here in 2008, then i’m wasting my time.
point 3: funniest arguement ever. you agree 2007 was one of the worst years ever by a hitter then say “but he’s not that bad”. you exclude the 450 plus ABs of 2007 to get his career OPS to .675 which you THEN concede is very mediocre (which is a kind way of saying its brutal).
point 4: awesome defensively? how about we do bring in statistics for this? career numbers.
At 2nd: .978 F% 5.31 RF .856 ZR
At SS: .969 F% 2.74 RF .787 ZR
At 3rd: .979 F% 4.67 RF .860 ZR
Those are not “awesome defensively” numbers.
Punto is a good utility player. Nothing more.
Moral of the Story? Get your head out of the sand.
But thankfully this is my last post on punto until the end of the season when i look at what has transpired.
Comme on Bill Smith, you have to find a way to get rid of the excess baggage on the team. Lamb and Everett have to go now. You can’t have Two lefthanded hitting 3rd basemans. Further, Macri has hit 3 hrs in 3 games in Rochester and Luke Hughes has 15 hrs and is hitting over .300 in Double A and needs to move to the next level.
Everyone knows it’s not about HR totals; it’s rbi’s. Craig, if you don’t want to sound ignorant write something that sounds like you know more than just HR totals. Let’s see how Delmon does with rbi’s the next few years. If those numbers don’t get near 100 per year then we can talk about mediocre.
Garza’s showing good numbers, and for his sake I hope he keeps it up.
SLG OBA AVG
.346 .293 .228 GARZA
.381 .294 .243 SANTANA
.504 .363 .336 HERNANDEZ
.441 .269 .243 SLOWEY
.439 .329 .294 BLACKBURN
.424 .295 .262 BAKER
.485 .350 .308 PERKINS
Statistics vs. opposition hitters.
kmack,
If Garza isn’t excellent, which starting pitcher in baseball, is excellent?
When will Punto suffer a career ending injury? Although the hope is tonight, I have a feeling it wont come until August
Let’s see Garza and DY in a couple years. Judgement on a trade aafter a half of a year seems ridiculous to me.
JP,
Thanks for your response…
I disagree that injuries are the only thing preventing the man-love. At the beginning of the season Punto was not injured and got very few at-bats. I know Gardy called him a great player, but what else do you expect a manager to say? Even if he doesn’t believe it, he has to build his team up. If Gardy truly believes Punto is a “great player,” then I disagree with Gardy. I don’t think Gardy truly believes it though. If he did, he would have handed Punto a starting job at the beginning of the year.
You say that his numbers are good this year because of his limited at-bats. That may be true, but as has been pointed out in earlier days why not play him while his numbers are up? And, don’t those limited at-bats prove my point one a bit?
You call my point three the funniest argument ever. In doing so you point out that I seem to be contradicting myself. I am not contradicting myself - I am trying to show that there is some complexity behind Punto’s numbers that most people are ignoring. I’m not saying he’s an all-star, or that he even deserves to be a starter. I’m saying that gardy has played him approprately, and that he fully deserves to be a utiltiy infielder that starts every once in a while.
I respectfully diagree that my head is in the sand.
Craig,
“A mediocre corner outfielder”
Delmon had 93 rbi as a 21-yr-old rookie last year for the Rays.
The Twins have NEVER (in 48 years) had a 21-yr-old rookie with more than 79 rbi. (Butch Wynegar)
Even if you are too stubborn to give Delmon props for that and insist he is mediocre NOW, in five years you will be denying that you ever posted that nonsense.
Erik says:
July 5th, 2008 at 2:07 pm
“When will Punto suffer a career ending injury? Although the hope is tonight”
When will Erik suffer a life-ending injury?
ASAP, I hope!
“he fully deserves to be a utiltiy infielder that starts every once in a while.”
We agree 100%. I’ve never asked for Punto to be gone. Never. But I don’t believe Gardy will play Punto as a utlity, spot startin player. If I’m wrong, I will freely admit my error, as it will be in the best interest of the Twins.
Gardy has man love for punto. In the same interview that he called punto a great player he said of Young and his great night: “Delmon Young was really on the ball tonight,” Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. “A lot of guys were.” See the contradiction? He called Punto a great player and said DY was on the ball but mitigated by saying a lot of guys were. No man love from Gardy for Punto? Cmon.
As for the complexity of Punto’s numbers? haha, I laughed at that. The complexity is this: Take out Punto’s putrid 2007 numbers and you still are left with AWFUL career hitting numbers.
“Now that is truly funny, the ‘We need to trade Morneau for pitching’ guy is making fun of someone else’s opinions or predictions”
Yes, I wanted the Twins to offer to Baltimore, Morneau for Erik Bedard, I would still make that trade. Bedard isn’t doing as well as he has in the past, but he is still excellent.
SLG OBA AVG
.376 .321 .231 BEDARD
Santana, Bedard, Garza, Baker, Slowey.
Blackburn, Perkins, Liriano in the wings.
What a staff…… Now if I could have also sent Cuddy for a relief pitcher such as ………..
“Erik says:
July 5th, 2008 at 2:07 pm
“When will Punto suffer a career ending injury? Although the hope is tonight”
When will Erik suffer a life-ending injury?
ASAP, I hope!
Jon, why would you lower yourself to Erik’s level?
Punto: He doesn’t deserve the bashing and ridicule that he has received. He “proved” last year that he wasn’t an everyday player, but he is a good utility guy.
Craig: I don’t know if I called you any names, but I thought your prediction on DYoung was crazy. Your were right on that one.
Trading Lamb and Everett: Lamb has a two-year deal plus an option. He would be a tough sell. You can’t trade someone on the DL, so Everett won’t go now. People have written Everett off. It is not fair because he never has been healthy. He probably wouldn’t have hit much, but he would be the Twins best option in the field. By the time he is ready to play, the Twins may have moved on to other option, but he is a big-league SS.
Garza has been very good. The Twins gave up an All-Star talent when they traded him. Young is coming on, but overall still is a disappointment. Maybe that won’t be true by the end of the month.
Oh look! Wittle Ewik wants attention! There there, Ewik. Soon it will be nap time.
Garza:
MLB ERA Rank - 27th
MLB SO’s - 87th(tie with BOOF)
MLB WHIP - 15th
OPP AVG - 10th
K/BB Ratio - 56th
Good, not excellent.
JP,
“Jon, why would you lower yourself to Erik’s level?”
I’m not lowering myself to his level.
Erik is wishing harm on a innocent, below average baseball player.
I am wishing harm on a pile of shit.
jon says:
July 5th, 2008 at 2:19 pm
Erik says:
July 5th, 2008 at 2:07 pm
“When will Punto suffer a career ending injury? Although the hope is tonight”
When will Erik suffer a life-ending injury?
ASAP, I hope!
****************************************************************
It’s just baseball, guys. When you start to talk about people getting injured, or killed, it all stops being fun and entertaining. You can do better. Take it from Craig. It’s possible to say something provocative, or nutty, without resorting to that. Try again. Thanks.
jon
good rationalization. a pile of *crap* isn’t worth your time. let it go.
Craig and JP,
I will do as you say.
Its just very difficult to let that stupidity pass without reponding.
Peace, out!
I think when I told the story about stealing my little nephews, Ryan Howard card collection, was my all-time low.
It was complete fabrication, but I thought it was funny at the time. It probably was funny, in a very demented way. I wish I could find that stupid post, just to see how bad it really was. Well, maybe I don’t.
Maybe, posting “Trade Morneau for Pitching” 136 times over a 5 day period, was my all-time low ….. nah… that WAS funny.
LNP occupies so much space on all the Twins blogs because there seems to be no middle ground — you either can’t stand him or you love him. That’s because the people who love him are totally enamored with him getting on the highlights for spectacular defensive plays. They conveniently forget some of the not so spectacular defensive plays that account for the fielding % cited already on this blog.
They also conveniently forget that for every spectacular defensive play he also occupies a space in the batting lineup. He undoubtedly had a career year in ‘06 and so far is doing well in limited AB in ‘08. IF he is used strictly as a utility fill-in and IF he doesn’t revert back to ‘07 form offensively, there could be a whole lot less space in blogs devoted to LNP although I have no doubt the people who love LNP will continue to campaign for him to be a starter.
Unless you don’t subscribe at all to the importance of momentum in baseball, think back to all the Punto at bats in the past when he futilely struck out looking (my biggest pet peeve about LNP - SWING your freakin’ bat - even if you miss it’s still a strike either way but maybe, just maybe you’ll run into the ball like King Felix did with his GS against Johan!!!).
Again, Punto lovers, don’t get me wrong, he’s a great asset to have as a utility backup and he probably will have hot streaks like last night but PLEASE do not encourage Gardenhire to make him a starter. ‘07 was probably his first chance to be a starter in his career and look at how well that went??!!!
Beisbol,
Actually the second half of 2006 “was probably his first chance to be a starter in his career and look at how well that went??!!!”
That was a 180 degree turn.
“Santana, Bedard, Garza, Baker, Slowey.
Blackburn, Perkins, Liriano in the wings.
What a staff…… Now if I could have also sent Cuddy for a relief pitcher such as ………..”
Wow, are you going to bring Coom-dog and Molitor out of retirement to fill in for all of the position players you’ve just traded???
Maybe we should have also traded Mauer to get Lohse back.
there’s plenty of middle ground on punto. he’s a solid sub on a contending team without a top-shelf shortstop and a string of infield injuries, which elevates him beyond sub status.
the surprising success of the twins thus far has left a lot of people unwilling to acknowledge that punto (and gardy) are doing ok and then some.
it just isn’t that complicated: if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it — why not enjoy the ride?
i would just ask that erik be removed from this blog, its just that simple–nobody needs to put up with that…its up to you joe c………..
Nicky does take up a lot of space on the blogs, for such a little player.
The Punto debates were raging, way prior to my very first post on any blog. I think Punto has been the most discussed Twin, by far.
I think Gardy is his biggest fan. I like him too, but only as an everyday player. Not as a reserve. I can’t stand to see all that talent, wasted, sitting on the bench.
Hi mickey,
Maybe there should be one blog, devoted just to Punto. We could all debate Punto endlessly. One day a Punto lover could write the blog, the next day a Punto hater could do it. Then we would argue and fight about Punto all day, and all night. The next day we do it all over again. I guess, that is kind of what happens, anyway.
yes, craig, that’s kinda what happens anyway. somehow it defies all logic while remaining endlessly amusing.
but i had one eye on the fox pregame show today and i don’t think they even mentioned the twins. that’s even crazier!
Re: Erik
Just ignore the little gnat…. he will go away. He is what I call a blog whore, just pi**ing people off. He is not a Twins fan, just an immature brat. So, good luck to the Twins tonight, and wittle Ewik can suck on his pacifier. GO PUNTO, GO TWINS!
I WOULD get the lineup off of LEN’s blog but…it’s not on there yet…I should know better…Twins pregame on Fox usually has them up sooner than LEN does.
Joe, don’t take days off OK?
Wittle Ewik is an attention whore.
mickey,
It’s all about the coasts and maybe Chicago. The whole Yankee - Red Sox thing, is beyond the point of being tolerable, for me.
“it just isn’t that complicated: if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it — why not enjoy the ride?”
That is my point. The Twins, with Harris at SS, went 15-3!!!! During which, Harris hit .277, .323 OBP and .799 OPS. Those are solid numbers. Our frustration with the situation is Gardy is messing with that success to get Punto in at SS, who even Punto-apologists concede is a poor hitter!!!!
Line-up (Guess)
CF Gomez
2B Casilla
C Mauer/Redmond
1B Morneau
DH Monroe
LF Young
3B Punto
SS Harris
RF Span
No problems for me with this line up with the LH pitcher for Cle.
JP, punto wound up at second (and was not a poor hitter) yesterday. part of my point is that gardy seems to be having a good year, too.
I would take Punto’s bat over Harris’ bat, this year. Nick gets on base. Harris doesn’t. Harris whiffs in about 25% of his AB.
Last season may have been Harris’ career year. Who knows?
mmmhmm, that’s right about gardy having a good year.
kmack,
That lineup is okay, but I would put Punto at SS and Harris at 3B. Switch Span and Gomez, having Span lead-off. Redmond the DH instead of Monroe. There, that’s better.
Also, Span in LF, Young in RF.
Better yet, put Gomez in LF, and Span in CF. Now, you have it.
Craig,
Harris is not a 3B, he hasn’t played there this year. Gardy is not pulling Gomez from lead off and has stated repeatedly (like you on some of your ideas) that he will not play Mauer and Redmond in the same game for fear of losing his DH if the C gets hurt, though he’s lost his DH a couple of times because of IF injuries.
Just so Punto is playing SS, that’s the most important thing.
jp — i don’t see the games so i may be wrong. but i think that the knock on harris is that he doesn’t get to as many balls as punto.
“I think when I told the story about stealing my little nephews, Ryan Howard card collection, was my all-time low.”
I logged onto a blog and an AA meeting broke out.
Ha-ha. sid, that’s a good one. Thanks for the laugh.
How do you read into my comments regarding Punto as a criticism for the job Gardy has done for the ENTIRE year? I’ve praised the job the coaching staff has done. I’m excited about where the Twins are, and part of my passion as a fan gets directed at decisions that I consider detrimental to the success of the team long term. Punto as an everyday starter fits into that criteria, IMO. And Punto, not a poor hitter for one day, is not good enough for us to win the division. Again my opinion. But please don’t state implications (that I think Gardy is not having a good year) based on my posts to be more than what I stated them to be.
Craig,
Absolutely no harm intended.
It just struck me as funny.
It was very funny.
sid, when is our next meeting?
Casilla = Switch hitter
Harris = Righthand hitter
Buscher = Lefthand hitter
Lamb = Lefthand hitter
Punto = Switch hitter
Tolbert = Switch hitter
Macri = Righthand hitter
Everett = Righthand hitter
Casilla, Harris, & Buscher should play everyday, with Punto subbing at 3B for tough lefties & late inning defense at 3B & SS and to give Harris & Casilla a day off now and again.
craig,
I am still looking for a new sponsor……………………………
and a liver donor.
MM
Punto’s career Range Factor at SS is 4.67. Harris’ is 4.25. Punto clearly has more range than Harris.
well, jp, gardy is the one who writes punto’s name on the lineup card. and who a manager puts at shortstop is probably one of his bigger decisions.
i’m just saying that if gardy thinks punto should be there, so be it.
I agree kmack.
Regarding Garza…I very much doubt he would be having the kind of season he is if he were still with the Twins. He needed a change big time. So keeping him would probably not have been wise.
“Casilla, Harris, & Buscher should play everyday,”
No, no, no. Casilla, Punto, & Harris(3B) should play everyday.
Neither.
Buscher should sit against LHP’s.
Buscher should NEVER sit against RHP’s.
MM
It is a very big decision. Thats why the passion from many posters. I’m just saying that if gardy thinks punto should be an everyday player, it is a mistake and to detriment of the team.
sid,
I’ll be your sponsor, but you wouldn’t want my liver. My doctor says my liver looks like a thin slice of Swiss cheese.
IMO
Craig,
“My doctor says my liver looks like a thin slice of Swiss cheese.”
You are drinking the wrong stuff.
The outfield presents a tougher problem though.
Gomez = Righthand hitter
Young = Righthand hitter
Cuddyer = Righthand hitter
Span = Lefthand hitter
Kubel = Lefthand hitter
Monroe = Righthand hitter
Cuddy & Monroe are the oldest and hardest to move, Gomez , Young, and Span have great upside and Kubel has been fairly steady over his career but is better suited to DH because of his knee’s. Kubel probably brings the most in a trade but I think Span will be sent down when Cuddy comes off of the DL.
sid,
Actually, I’m a non-drinker. I do like the smell of beer at a ballgame. I just have too many problems, already, without adding another one (drinking). I’ve known people who are in AA. It’s a great organization, from what I hear. Your joke was clever.
jp — i’m on board with those who say that since gardy is evaluating these players day after day and year after year from february through september, he’s in a position to know better than me.
but neither harris nor punto is ideal and that’s what makes it tough (and keeps the topic alive on the twins blogs).
Harris at 3B, Punto at SS against LHP tonight as expected. (per Lavelle)
Punto is the SS until further notice.
Craig,
I am a non-drinker also.
Thanks to my father who was a non-non-drinker, God Bless him!
sane says:
July 5th, 2008 at 4:46 pm
“Harris at 3B, Punto at SS against LHP tonight as expected. (per Lavelle)
Punto is the SS until further notice.”
YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!
Craig is happy!!!!!
thats company line b.s. MM
I’m not saying I’m smarter or right on this one. But evaluators are wrong ALL the time. So just because Gardy is around Punto doens’t mean he’s making the correct decision. For evidence of that you only need to go back to 2007.
Regarding Punto and Gardy, I think a lot of people have decided to hate them both and that controls their thoughts.
I don’t hate Punto! I think he’s valuable as a utility player, not a starter!
Look at Casilla. Gardy’s “evaluation” of him was to send him to the minors EARLY in spring training. If there hadn’t been so many injuries, Casilla would still be in the minors!
sorry to disappoint, jp. but without a true shortstop, i just don’t see a clear choice. so trusting gardy’s opinion is the best i can do. sometimes the company line really is the way to go. and if gardy was sticking with harris, i’d also be ok with that.
as for casilla, maybe that stint in the minors is exactly what he needed?
I don’t know you MM nor am I seeking your approval/agreement so you’re not disappointing me. Your ok with whatever Gardy chooses. But you’ll judge me for having an opinion on what I think is best for the team? Whatever.
I do know what Punto has done in over 1500 career ABs. I also know how the team played in the last 18 games with Harris as our starting SS.
well, jp, the “disappoint” part was merely a figure of speech … but i don’t think i’m “judging” you or your opinion. i’m just promoting mine — i think the difference between punto and harris is slight and a case can be made for either.
actually, i prefer punto as the super sub. but, unless and until his bat goes quiet, i don’t think he hurts the team as the shortstop.
that pretty much covers it from my viewpoint.
and we are in disagreement on this one then. i think punto’s batting history is significant enough that he will hurt this team if he gets over 300 ABs this year. and again why mess with the success of this team to find out?
i think we’re both done on this one.
GO TWINS!!!!
right on, jp, right on.
Long view, neither Harris or Punto is “THE ANSWER” at SS. Casilla might be. Tolbert or Hughes MIGHT be the answer at 2nd. Time will tell, meanwhile let’s enjoy this hot streak. 
Slowey, walk Sizemore from now on. You give up a triple to him in the 1st obviously pitching to him with runnerson is not a good idea.
Well I do not care for this teams lack of power(HR) but as long as the hits keep coming and the runs keep mounting I can forgive this team for its lack of power. and For now let’s just enjoy watching these guys. And did you see our little Nicky-pu get his first homerun last night! And he such a good player making all those hilight films..so good work Nicky……
Span should be the regular right fielder instead of Cuddyer. Cuddyer should be traded before the treade deadline for more bullpen help. Span is a much better all around player than the clumsy Cuddyer.
Span appears to be an absolutely outstanding defensive and offensive ball player. He has tremendous speed, good base stealing skills, is very fast on the bases, hits for a high batting average, has an oustanding eye and draws alot of bases on balls, and bats left handed. Span seems to add alot to the starting lineup that Cuddyer really doesn’t. Span’s on base percentage is vastly better than Cuddyer’s. Maybe it would be a great idea to trade Cuddyer before the end of July in order for the team to better position itself for the playoffs. The team appears much more threatening to the opposition with Span in the lineup instead of Cuddyer.
I am amazed by the Twins fantastic speed in the outfield and on the bases. The additional of Denard Span really puts the Twins in a catagory of their own in that no team comes close to matching them with speed. Michael Cuddyer doesn’t seem to fit in with the lineup and will most likely beome more expendable as time goes by. He is clumspy and has only hit three home runs for the year.
