Monday lineups: Go Go’s a no-go again
Posted on August 18th, 2008 – 4:06 PMBy Joe Christensen
After racking up a season-high 17 hits Sunday against Seattle, the Twins are going with a similar lineup tonight against A’s All-Star Justin Duchscherer.
Brian Buscher for Brendan Harris is the only change. That means Carlos Gomez is on the bench again, with Jason Kubel in right field and Randy Ruiz at DH.
Updates to come…
Update (5:50 p.m.): Gardy said he wants to give Gomez a break, especially against Duchscherer, one of the tougher pitchers in the league. I wouldn’t look for this to last long, however, as Gardy also doesn’t want to wear out Jason Kubel’s knees in right field.
The folks at Cretin-Derham Hall might have divided loyalties tonight, with Jack Hannahan playing third base for the A’s. Hannahan was a senior at CDH when Joe Mauer was a freshman. They never played together, but they are good friends.
I guess two bus loads of fans will be here supporting Hannahan, who also played for the Gophers. That’s OK. Mauer will have a few supporters here, too.
A’s (56-67)
1. Mark Ellis, 2B
2. Eric Patterson, LF
3. Bobby Crosby, SS
4. Frank Thomas, DH
5. Jack Cust, RF
6. Kurt Suzuki, C
7. Carlos Gonzalez, CF
8. Jack Hannahan, 3B
9. Daric Barton, 1B
Starting pitcher: RH Justin Duchscherer
Twins (70-53)
1. Denard Span, CF
2. Nick Punto, 2B
3. Joe Mauer, C
4. Justin Morneau, 1B
5. Jason Kubel, RF
6. Delmon Young, LF
7. Brian Buscher, 3B
8. Randy Ruiz, DH
9. Adam Everett, SS
Starting pitcher: RH Nick Blackburn
Metrodome. First pitch: 7:10 p.m.
295 Responses to "Monday lineups: Go Go’s a no-go again"
would they send Go-go down when Casilla comes back? hmmm
A great lineup. Would only be better with Casilla in at # 2.
with his good weekend we should get used to punto playing everyday until the end of the season. he got his ave up over .200 for the last month. say good bye to everett when casilla gets back.
Interesting to see Buscher moving up in the order at the expense of Ruiz. I think its a solid decision, but one I wouldn’t have expected.
let’s all talk more about punto.
Can’t argue with that lineup…Twins have been patient enough with Go-go…time to go with what works down the stretch!
lefty vs righty
I don’t think Everett is going anywhere, I think Ruiz will be the one to go down once Casilla is back.
Buscher is probably just batting ahead of Ruiz because Gardy wants a R-L-R combination towards the bottom of the order.
Would it be smart to send Go-Go down for a couple of weekes to find his bat, then bring him back for the final playoff push?
It’s not exactly the same as yesterday is it? I thought Harris was in there yesterday.
I’d like to see NOGO sent down but you and I both know that there is a 99.9% chance that ain’t gonna happen.
don’t they need ruiz for a righthanded bat the only one beside harris?
Yes Harris was in the Lineup yesterday, also Young was in front of Kubel.
I wish we didn’t have to talk about Punto so much, but the fact still remains he can’t drive in runs when it counts. 25 RBI’s last year and 23 RBI’s this year is disturbing, especially since he bats second. But we’re winning, so I guess you just gotta shrug and move on.
goobledygookguy:
Gomez, Redmond are righties too…
My recollection is that every time Kubel wins over Gardy with a hot streak and gets in the everyday lineup his bat disappears and he goes into a slump. Let’s hope this latest hot streak transforms into some consistent play.
AJ, we don’t have to talk about him. Maybe if no one talked about him he’d just go away.
Morneau’s bat finally coming back around, let’s hope Kubel gets it going in this series too.
ben: pinch hitting material, gomez nuff said, redmond that old gardy thing with the catcher getting hurt business. i was talking about usable bats.
They can’t send Gomez down to make room for Casilla. That would leave Young, Span, and Kubel as the only outfielders. I’m nervous enough having four outfielders and Punto for emergencies. Three outfielders is just too thin.
T,
Don’t you mean for Kubel to keep it going in this series? Unless I missed something from his series against Seattle…
t: morneau needs to step it up he’s been going down hill, 2nd in rbi, 11 in ave. but 23rd in hr. he really needs to hit more homeruns he just isn’t that complete a player without more homeruns.
best judge of a player is homeruns and a pitcher is wins.
“A great lineup. Would only be better with Casilla in at # 2.”
Agree 100%, and hopefully next year we have Casilla at SS and Hughes at 2B.
“Morneau’s bat finally coming back around, let’s hope Kubel gets it going in this series too.”
Kubel’s been doing well since June.
June .312/.409/.636 in 77 AB
July .271/.343/.424 in 59 AB
August .317/.378/.610 in 41 AB
In the Twins lineup, that’s good enough to play every day.
Bottom line on the bats: We need to view the Seattle series with a certain amount of skeptism because their feeble pitching made EVERYONE, from Nick Punto to Randy Ruiz look like Ted Williams…so as I watch the next three games, I’ll be looking for two things–continued success among those who got hot over the weekend (namely Kubel, Morneau, and Punto) and bullpen improvement.
This A’s squad is also pretty bad, but they’re not as embarrassing as the Mariners are with their pitching, at least. So I’ll be impressed if we keep it going and get at least 2-of-3. If we let the A’s have their way this week (either off our bullpen or otherwise), it will look pretty bad since Chicago just took 2-of-3 there and it has been a House of Horrors for them the last few years.
At this point, I think Everett and Lamb are your options to depart for Casilla to come back. Ruiz goes down only when Cuddy comes back.
Most overhyped Twin: Carlos Gomez
Runnerup: Delmon Young
Most unappreciated Twin: Nick Punto
Runnerup: Brian Buscher, Brendan Harris
Most Improved Twin: Denard Span
Runnerup: Jason Kubel
That’s how I see it. What say you?
Oh yeah, I’d throw Casilla up there with Denard in Most Improved.
Lamb won’t leave as he is the only backup 1B until Cuddyer comes back.
lamb also has the considerable contract through next year.
Playing Ruiz to see if he can hit a righty. With no position to play, if he can’t do this, he’s on his way back to Rochester. He should be the one to go back when Casilla is ready anyway, because of the lack of defense.
I’m not sure how I feel about Gomez and whether he needs to be in the majors right now. It’s great to have him for a defensive replacement in the late innings for Kubel, but he is absolutely lost at the plate. He needs to spend all of next year at AAA. He’s young, he has talent, now he just needs to translate that talent into skill.
Most overhyped Twins: Gomez
Runnerup: Delmon
Most unappreciated Twin: Brendan Harris
Runner up: Nick Blackburn
Most Improved Twin: Span
Runner up: Kubel
If Span hadn’t 180-ed on his development, then it would Kubel. But Kubel raked in the minors, and his knee injury really hurt this team in the long run. He’s finally getting back to around where his numbers should be. Hopefully he can do it all season next year.
Best judge of a player is not homeruns. Not sure what the best judge is but not homeruns. A lot of opinions on that one. However, it is ERA for a pitcher.
not necessarily era for a pitcher. a reliever with a habit of letting inherited runners score is not effective, even if his era is 0.00.
most unappreciated has to be Kubel. There are still plenty of people here who don’t think he should even be on the team, let alone be a DH.
I’d mostly agree with the rest of what you said.
I agree with Ave. Joe.
Wha? Best judge is HR’s? OPS (on-base pct. + slugging pct.). That takes into effect AVG, Walks, Doubles, HR’s. That’s the best judge. By your account, Adam Dunn is the best player in the majors.
In the AL, that would be Bradley, Rodriguez, Quentin, Youkilis, and Drew.
Morneau would be 12th.
Average Joe,
I don’t think Young goes in there with Gomez. He has come around to deliver a solid season for being a young player.
I think Cuddy goes in there, due to the fact he got the contract and didn’t do much (although he was injured often).
Don’t you mean for Kubel to keep it going in this series? Unless I missed something from his series against Seattle…
There’s a certain amount of sarcasm delievered with that statement.
We need to view the Seattle series with a certain amount of skeptism because their feeble pitching made EVERYONE, from Nick Punto to Randy Ruiz look like Ted Williams…
This is why I asked you to define what Kubel “getting it going” meant PRIOR to the 3-game Seattle series.
Joe:
Over-hyped: Denard Span (Gomez at the beginning of the year, but Span’s gonna take Mauer’s “Baby Jesus” nickname away pretty soon here)
Runner-up: Brian Buscher
Under-appreciated: Brendan Harris
Runner-up: Jason Kubel
Most Improved: Jason Kubel
Runner-up: Denard Span (Even I admit his improvement, but man he’s still talked about like some kind of deity it seems like), Delmon Young (from the beginning of the season to now), Alexi Casilla
At any rate, I wouldn’t expect an offensive outburst tonight against Duchscherer. He’s been outrageously good this season. Hopefully we can get his pitch count up and knock him out early that way.
Mickey - I see your point but it was not the reliever’s fault that the baserunner got there in the first place. You have a very valid point, however.
Sweetone: Ruiz could play first, too.
Twins are toast tonight, methinks
“We need to view the Seattle series with a certain amount of skeptism because their feeble pitching made EVERYONE, from Nick Punto to Randy Ruiz look like Ted Williams…”
Would you disagree with that statement, T?
Most overhyped has to be Cuddyer. His production vs. salary was the worse. For second pick anyone from Lamb and Monroe.
Most improved: Casilla. Span was just called up this year, so there is no comparison for the improvement part. For second, I’d give the nod to Buscher compared to his last year performance.
I agree with the Kubel as the most unappreciated and second has to be Harris.
I agree with Jason’s views regarding the healthy hitting against the anemic Seattle staff. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Gardy’s insistence on Punto hitting 2nd is illogical; it’s the proverbial “square peg in round hole” thought process. He needs to bat 8 or 9, period. And AJ Pesh said it all about his RBI production. He ain’t getting it done. Every time he comes to the plate I groan.
Nick Punto went 6-for-14 with 2 doubles over the weekend…either the dude had an amazing overnight turnaround or Seattle provided less-than-major league-quality pitching….like I said, if he does it against Oakland, I’m back on board…
Side note: Gardy is the man…I pretty much have to back every call he’s made lately.
make that 3 doubles last weekend for Punto…sorry for short-changing you, Nicky.
Mike,
While Ruiz is officially a 1B, he really is DH/PH only.
even Gardy himself criticized his move to pitch to Ichiro with runners on second and third on Saturday
Unfortunately, if you look at the season, despite Punto’s recent atrocities, he’s batting .319 with RISP overall. Therefore, Gardy can look at that and continue to bat him second.
Oh well, Casilla is re-joining the club Wednesday, barring any complications on his rehab in Beloit, so we won’t need to worry about that much longer! (Knock on wood)
And since people are listing Delmon as overhyped… I’ll just say this:
Since the All-Star Break, Delmon has a line of .307/.355/.465, to give him an .820 OPS and go along with 4 HR, 17 RBI, and 3 SB. He’s already drawn as many walks in 2008 as he did in all of 2007.
He’s batting .315 with 6 HR and 38 RBI since June 1… I’d say he’s far from overhyped at this point. He probably fits better in the other two categories, based on peoples’ opinions on these blogs…
What a lot of you guys are forgetting is that in 2 weeks the rosters are expanded. Tolbert, Casilla, etc can all come on board without ANYONE going down. The postseason roster has to be set by (I think) Sept 1st, but after that Korecky, Humber, et al can come up and fill up the bullpen. I think the expansion helps the Twins the most in the division race. We can throw 8 pitchers a night R vs R and L vs L. It will make finishing games a lot easier. Most teams’ lefthanded batters are weaker vs lefty pitching. Ours happens not to be. This crazy expanded roster allowance really helps the Twins.
“August .317/.378/.610 in 41 AB
In the Twins lineup, that’s good enough to play every day.”
That’s good enough to play every day for any team’s lineup. A .988 OPS? Yes please.
“Wha? Best judge is HR’s? OPS (on-base pct. + slugging pct.). That takes into effect AVG, Walks, Doubles, HR’s. That’s the best judge. By your account, Adam Dunn is the best player in the majors.”
I’m pretty sure gobbledygook was implementing sarcasm there.
I think the Twins may have to use Gomez for defensive purposes only. He seems to have alot of difficulty hitting or bunting. But he really does cover alot of ground in center field.
Would you disagree with that statement, T?
Seattle’s pitching looked like crap, but I didn’t come out on Friday and say this:
Jason says:
August 15th, 2008 at 3:40 pm
Does anyone care to agree with me that Kubel needs to get it going this weekend (or will I be obliterated for even suggesting such a thing)? He is our 5 hitter now, for better or worse.
Boy. You must REALLY think Kubel sucks if you felt he wouldn’t be able to get it going against such a terrible pitching staff.
For somebody who’s got no qualms calling people out when they miss on an assessment, you sure are reluctant to eat your crow.
Heck, I’ve feasted on my fair share for thinking that Cuddy+Young would be providing a nice 3/5(or 5/3) sandwhich around Morneau by now. Not to mention that I figured their production would compensate for Everett’s bat.
It’s okay to be wrong Jason. We all do it occasionally.
So Casilla’s on track to make it back shortly here right? But what’s the rule on guys on the DL.
Let’s say (however unlikely) that either Tolbert or Cuddyer is able to come off the DL midway through September. Are they able to go on the playoff roster or are the Twins SoL in that regard?
Most overhyped: Gomez (I’m guilty of this) Runner-up: Nobody (If I was talking about Gardy’s most overhyped it would have to be Punto)
Most Improved: Casilla and Span tie for first. Runner-up: Nick Blackburn
Most under appreciated: Joe Mauer. That’s right, Joe Mauer. He doesn’t get the credit he deserves because he doesn’t hit the long ball, but what he does when he’s healthy at an offensive premium position is remarkable. He’s the best catcher in baseball, hands down. Runner-up: Delmon Young. Kubel is a close third, but DY is the only productive RH bat in our lineup. He takes way too much flak for a 22 year old and people refuse to acknowledge his contributions. His defense is shaky at times but people never mention that he’s playing a new position or the effect that has on his work in the field.
The postseason roster has to be set by (I think) Sept 1st, but after that Korecky, Humber, et al can come up and fill up the bullpen.
But none of those guys are able to go on the postseason roster should they be able to contribute moreso than the current batch.
“It’s okay to be wrong Jason. We all do it occasionally.”
Most of us do it occasionally. I can’t think of one time I’ve been wrong.
tolbert is hitting .265 (.307 obp) with 3 rbi, 6 extra-base hits and 15 strikeouts in 83 at-bats. he might someday be a fine major league player. but in the context of these blogs he strikes me as the most over-hyped.
As long as they were eligible to come off the disabled list by Sept 1st, the Twins can activate them (designate Ruiz or whoever won’t be on the playoff roster, for a couple days, then recall) to make them eligible for post-season play.
T,
Cuddyer and Tolbert cannot make the PS roster if they are not on the active roster by Sept 1 (and players on the DL are not on the active roster)
I definately would give most improved to Casilla…mostly because I was pretty tough on him last year (was one of those who had lost all hope for him after 07)
He’s come back and lit the place up. Span has done a fantastic job, but I don’t think he had as much of a chance to “turn it around” since he was only up for a few weeks early in the season.
I definately feel both Harris and Young are tied for underappreciation, as the Young/Garza trade gets a LOT of flack when these two have combined to contribute a lot to this offense. (Harris slowly becoming a doubles machine while Delmon has been hitting consistently…just not for power)
I say “Bartlett who?”.
“Nick Punto went 6-for-14 with 2 doubles over the weekend…either the dude had an amazing overnight turnaround or Seattle provided less-than-major league-quality pitching….like I said, if he does it against Oakland, I’m back on board…”
A third possibility is: judging players based on a weekend series is a really, really bad idea, whether the player does well or poorly, or whether the opposition is at the top or bottom of the standings.
I can’t think of one time I’ve been wrong.
If you can’t think of one time you’ve been wrong, odds are you’ve just found it. 
I’m preparred to admit that I likely heard that somewhere.
T:
It’s GETTING to the postseason first. We can call up Korecky, Humber, Duensing, Pridie…whoever. So what if they aren’t on the postseason roster. If Redmond needs to be pinch-ran for or if we need another lefty in the 8th inning in the middle of Sept, we have another set of legs or another arm.
Cuddyer cannot walk unassisted at this point. To think about post season roster is a bit premature…
T - I don’t think we will need those guys on the postseason roster. 1 or 2 of our starters can go to the pen. Mix that with extra days off and that fixes a good chunk of our bullpen problems. We do however need the bullpen help to get to the playoffs, and I would prefer not having to wait until september to get it.
What happened to Danny Graves??? Is he still in the organization? Couldn’t he get a few major MLB batters out?
Duluth - I doubt it, he can’t get AAA hitters out.
Interesting idea to send Gomez down to AAA when Casilla returns to get his bat going again, then bring Gomez back up when rosters expand on Sept. 1st.
Dane, that would make only 3 outfielders eligible for the post season: Span, Kubel and Young, which is a bad thing. This team does not 4 middle infielders and 2 left hitting third basement. One of them would have to go, and my guess would be either Everett or Buscher
thry: If it means they’re off the postseason roster, I think Everett’s the odd man out. Casilla/Harris/Punto has the MIF covered. Buscher and *gulp* Lamb handle 3B while Lamb also can back up Morneau.
They won’t send down Buscher when they’ve used him far more than Lamb at 3B of late. Especially if it means he can’t be on the playoff roster.
Most over-hyped blogsters:
T
Most under rated:
mike wants wins
BC from ND
sid
mickey mental
Most improved:
The New and Improved Craig
Most likely to strikeout with the bases loaded:
Steve from Fridley
T is kind of Jekyll and Hyde. That’s why I said blogsters (plural).
Bartlett has been hurt a lot this year, but I think Harris is a better player overall. Young has had his bright spots and Pridie is doing well right now in AAA. I don’t think Garza would ever have pitched well here, he needed a change of scenery and his replacement, whover you say it is has done an adequate job (Slowey, Perkins, Blackburn)
T,
not sure about the postseason roster yet 
I hope that Gardy goes with 11 pitchers and 14 position players (like most managers). In that case, the weakest link in the pen (Bass) will not make it. Also, an extra outfielder (Pridie/Kielty?) and Ruiz would probably make it. Still leaves an odd man out in the infield, who most likely be Everett and I hope that Bass gets phantom 15 day DL’d on August 31 to bring up the extra outfielder…
Thanks Craig, but it’s hard to be overhyped when you’re hated.
I hope that Bass gets phantom 15 day DL’d on August 31 to bring up the extra outfielder…
Maybe he’ll catch some of that “tendonitis” from Silva. Or perhaps develop a limp after straining his neck like that Yankees pitcher on Wednesday.
his replacement, whover you say it is has done an adequate job (Slowey, Perkins, Blackburn)
Garza and Santana’s replacements are the two worst starters. That would have been Livan and Boof. Garza and Santana would have started instead of those two.
Craig,
that’s logic after the fact
Garza’s and Santana’s replacements would have been Livan and the least experience starter (Blackburn) who would have not made the team if Garza were there… (and who would have had Young’s spot in the LF? Tyner? and Harris’ spot in the infield? Howie Clark?)
T,
It’s just a joke. I sure hope you aren’t “hated”. You certainly are not hated by me. It’s just baseball. It’s just fun. Anyone hating another blog participant needs to take a hard look at themselves.
Most Improved: Span
Most Underappreciated: Harris, Kubel and Buscher
MVP: M & M boys
Most Overhyped: Gomez, hands down….
Kubel and Span would have started the year in the OF instead of Young and Gomez. Casilla would have started instead of Harris. Bartlett would have started instead of Everett. Santana would have started instead of Livan, and Garza would have started instead of Bonser.
Maybe, on the last point (Garza-Bonser).
Considering the above, we should all be happy Smith didn’t make another move, before the deadline.
So who would have been the DH at that case? Tyner? And there is no way that Blackburn would have been in the rotation before Bonser based on spring training performance…
The A’s are having the A lineup today, other than Kurt Suzuki, nobody is hitting higher than Harris…
Dh would have been your boy, Ruiz. He would have only about 175 strikeouts right now.
Also, if BS had simply done nothing over the winter, Buscher would have started at 3B, instead of Lamber.
Crappy pitching makes so-so hitters look good, and the Twins feasted on Seattle’s crappy pitching. Seattle did a little of that too, on our middle relievers. It was a close thing. I agree with a caller on the radio earlier today that the Twins should move one of their starters (Blackburn) to middle relief, then call up their best starter from AAA. Blackburn’s got sinker stuff, so he could help bridge the gap from innings 6 through 8. That might just be enough to give the other relievers enough rest. Meanwhile, cut Bass. He’s got nothing these days.
Here is the lineup out of spring training if BS had done nothing:
Span
Casilla
Mauer
Morneau
Cuddyer
Kubel
DH/ ???
Buscher
Bartlett
Starting Pitchers:
Santana
Garza
Baker
Slowey
Blackburn/Bonser
for those who want to convert a current starter into a reliever, here is a little trivia:
Name any starters for who were converted into relievers during August, and they were lights out as relievers for the rest of the season.
Good luck.
No sense lamenting the foibles of a rookie GM. Life goes on, even without Garza and Santana, but I sure miss those two.
In case anyone puts any weight on these. Foxsportsnet’s power rankings have the Twins at #4, with Angels 1, Cubs 2 and Rays 3.
Garrett Jones would have been the DH
and given Cuddyer’s, Punto’s and Bartlett’s injuries, you’d see the likes of Darnell McDonald and Chris Basak up…
nice
nope. nobody puts any weight on those.
Smith has not been perfect. I think that he needs to get rid of Ryan out of the front office, because I am not sure how much influence he has.
Bad calls for Smith (in my book) this season:
* re-signing Rincon
* Monroe, Everett and Lamb
* Cuddyer extension
* Bass
* Doing nothing at the deadline
other than that, he’s been fine, and I am not sure how many of the decisions were based on Gardy whining about needing veterans vs. Smith (Livan, Cuddyer, Monroe, Everett, Lamb)
for me the litmus test would be whether he extends Punto. If he does, he fails.
Doesn’t want to wear out Kubel’s knees? Wait, didn’t Sid just write that Kubel’s knees were good? I mean, if it came from Sid ….
Hannahan, that seems familiar, too. Wasn’t he in the movie, “Slap Shot?” Oh, wait, that was Hanrahan, With an R, whose wife was a ….
Let’s go Twins!
And if Buscher had done “nothing” over the winter, as Craig wished, Morneau would still be signed to a one-year deal, and Santana would be walking at the end of this season, having given us nothing more than two draft picks in return. We’d have Kubel in the OF as opposed to Gomez, and Randy Ruiz or Darnell McDonald would be our DH. And Casilla didn’t win the job out of Spring Training, so our second baseman would’ve been Punto. Casilla may never have been called up.
I’ll take Billy’s moves, and Delmon’s future.
There, I’ve replied to my one Craig post for the month.
If Bill Smith had done nothing over the winter, not Buscher… haha.
Although Buscher as GM could be interesting…
And does anyone think Span would be nearly as good as he’s been if he’d won the job out of Spring Training with no competition?
Steve, Buscher wouldn’t be the first marginal Twins’ infield to make it to GM, y’know
All you all thinking Young has been special since June, compare his numbers to other LFers in the AL. He’s not league average since June 1, or since July 1. Now, he might be in August, but that’s a small sample size.
He’s on my over-rated list. Hopefully August is reflective what the Twins will get going forward. That would put him on most improved….
BS chose trading Santana, instead of taking the picks. That’s fine, but if the Twins don’t make it to post season this year, it was that trade that sunk them.
Losing a pitcher with superstar potential, plus the starting SS, for a LF and a utility infielder, doesn’t cut it. One of the worst trades of all time.
Delmon has to become a superstar for this trade to make any sense. I want 120 runs scored, a .320 average, 45 HR and 140 RBI, from Delmon or else it’s a completely awful trade.
I won’t go as far as Craig, but I tend to agree - I didn’t like either pitching trade at the time, and I like the Santana one even less than I did then. Not one sure fire MLB player for one of the five best pitchers in the game. Cleveland got more for CC.
Delmon will need to be one of the 5-7 best LFers in the game for me to like that trade. Garza is better than any Twins starter, except maybe Liriano.
mike wants wins,
could you please publish that list, along with the age of the left fielders and how much they make a year, to be able to make holistic comparisons
no, but you can go to ESPN.com, or to any number of other sites and find the data.
Alright Craig, and I want Garza to become a perennial Cy Young Award winner to show me that the trade was awful.
Anyhow, not a good start, Blackburn. Let’s hope that at the end of the game, Bremer and Blyleven are talking about what a great job Blackburn did of recovering from his only mistake of the game.
I’ve posted it before.
Losing Garza for a LF who can’t catch the ball (Young), and the right hand portion of a 3B platoon (Harris), is awful. Delmon is lackadaisical as well.
What does Delmon’s age have to do with whether or not he was good this year, as I was refuting. I didn’t say he wouldn’t be good, I said he hasn’t been as good as people think, relative to the rest of the league.
Not to diminish the guys we have, but Santana and Garza are better than all of them. Like Mike says, Liriano may be the one exception. Maybe.
See Blackburn is up to his regular tricks. And how Mauer let that 3rd strike go by without swinging at it is beyond me.
At least Seattle has jumped out to a 2-0 lead.
Garza’s had a few lights out starts this season, but overall, has barely put up better numbers than Blackburn.
We didn’t get a left fielder when we got Delmon. We got a right fielder, but the Twins refused to move Cuddyer. I still think that as soon as Cuddyer went down, Young should’ve been put in right field, but that’s not his fault that he’s playing in a position where he has to cover more ground than he’s used to.
I’m done with this argument. Night Craig.
mike,
Apparently Tampa sent Garza to a proctologist to get his head out of his posterior.
Regards,
Jeeziz H!
Free reign for Punto bashers now.
Two shoddy fielding plays in one inning. be lucky if we don’t get burned by it.
Night Steve. I’m done too. You get the last word.
Garza is better than any Twins starter, except maybe Liriano
Based on what?
here are the numbers:
Liriano (after call up all stats) 1.45
Garza 3.63
Blackburn 3.73
Baker 3.91
Slowey 3.94
Perkins 4.17
WHIP
Liriano 0.989
Slowey 1.085
Baker 1.203
Garza 1.211
Blackburn 1.300
Perkins 1.423
K/BB
Slowey 4.65
Baker 3.88
Blackburn 3.17
Garza 2.28
Liriano 2.14
Perkins 2.11
winning percentage
Liriano 1.000
Perkins .769
Baker .700
Blackburn .600
Garza .588
Slowey .529
Mike,
With your reasoning, SF made out big time in the AJ trade, he was as good or better than Nathan that 1st year, so EVERYONE in baseball who considers that a stupid trade on SF’s behalf is insane…correct?
Regards,
Thrylos,
You’re forgetting that Garza has the coolest NAME.
Oh wait, that still goes to Blackburn.
I don’t think Garza is better than all but Liriano. He’s just as good, with more raw potential, but at the moment he is not better. He is too erratic and inconsistent.
This whole trade debate is getting in the way of the important issue of discussing Punto.
Ugh! how was that a strike?
Steve,
I think that Slowey has a pretty good name for a pitcher… too bad that the Twins let go of Ballfour (sic)
For this year, is what I said today.
But, if you want to go to next year, who does Humber or Mulvey replace at SP or closer? Where is Guerra next year in the majors? Does Gomez beat out Span, Young, Cuddeyer, Kubel, Pridie for much playing time? I’m not so sure they get much next year either.
I’ll give you that Garza is about even with the current pitchers this year, but who has better stuff and a higher ceiling (and if ceiling doesn’t count, don’t come back and say how good Gomez will be some day)?
Yeah really… if we had Garza, Blackburn, Slowey, and Balfour, we’d definitely have the best pitching staff (name-wise) in all of baseball.
And let’s not forget we briefly were in control of R.A. Dickey as well!
This settles what happens when Casilla gets up…
I will say, I really like Blackburn much more than I anticipated liking him at the beginning of the year. He has a mental toughness or something that makes him successful. I also think he has better stuff than I thought.
I’ll give you that Garza is about even with the current pitchers this year, but who has better stuff and a higher ceiling
So Delmon is held up to what he does this year but it’s Garza’s potential that determines it’s a bad trade. That doesn’t seem fair.
mike,
You win.
Regards,
Mike,
I think Delmon’s ceiling is higher than the Metrodome’s, let alone Garza’s
As for the outfield situation, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a trade in the offseason, given the crowded situation. I don’t think anyone should ever give too much credit to anything Kelly Theiser writes, but she did hint at a possible offseason move in the last Twins’ mailbag.
As for Humber, Joe C. pointed out in his last entry that the Twins thought he might be able to pitch as a late-inning reliever when they got him in the trade, so maybe we some experimenting with that. He’s been great in AAA lately. I’d be all for it.
Way to redeem yourself on that play Everett!
….says:
good point. I think Garza has pitched like a number 3 so far, and I think Young has been below league average for LFers so far. But, they also gave up their starting SS (which led to them signing Everrett), and got back a player Gardy won’t hardly play. That would look a TON worse if Bartlett had not gotten hurt.
…says,
It’s OBVIOUSLY a couple of bad trades…Get over it!!!
mike wants wins,
as far as upside goes, my opinion is that Slowey, Liriano (in that order) have higher upside than Garza and Baker is about equal. Liriano has better stuff than Garza. Slowey (believe it or not) has better stuff than Garza. Garza has one plus pitch (4-seamer) that if he locates it he is fine, if he doesn’t he is dead meat.
You are mixing in the Santana trade, but you forget the $20 mil a year bit. If you add it up, $20 mil a year will be enough for 2 difference makers for the Twins…
Regardless, all of that is ancient history, as far as I am concerned, and I am looking at today and tomorrow and not try to look at what ifs, because it is futile
Bartlett’s numbers this year are way down, although that could very well be due to injuries.
Steve, I wish Humber would get a shot right now at late inning work. But, they won’t do it, even though they are desperate for help and in a pennant race. I’d bring him up right now and see how good he is. But, it’s not my job and money on the line, and I understand their risk aversion.
thrylos: if they spend that $20MM, I’ll add those players into my assessment.
but, you are right, it is irrelevant now. I was just commenting on others’ comments.
I can’t watch tonight, how’s the umping and pitching?
Mike,
I don’t think there’s much risk in going from Bass to Humber, haha… but apparently they love Bass still, for some reason…
Mike,
Duchscherer’s control is shaky, but his pitches are moving a ton. The ump made a crappy call on Kubel during his strikeout, but hasn’t looked bad other than that yet…
Blackburn’s looking pretty decent thus far, with the exception of the first-pitch home run to Ellis.
And the Sox get to Washburn to tie the game… he’s hurting us even though we didn’t make the trade for him! Haha…
They just pretty much confirmed Punto’s return for next year, aside from gardy gushing about his gold glove calibur glove and range…. the fact he was one of 5, with the other 4 being under club control for quite a while….
Gardy may love Punto but Smith might deem him too expensive for what the team needs.
I have no doubt they’ll re-sign Punto, unless they “trade” Gardy.
what a break for the Twins
too bad for Duchsherer but good for the Twins
Duchscherer out of the game with an injury… great news for the Twins, horrible news for my Fantasy teams. 
Haha
later duscherer (sp?). thank goodness for the twins. bring on sourloss.
Bummer, no one should cheer an injury. What happened?
I`m at the game and it looked like it was his elbow
iphone or blackberry gatty?
The way he was limping it seemed groin like…..atleast that is what dick and bert were saying
Gordo and Danny were saying leg/knee etc, not arm problem….
After Dick and Bert said it looked like you could read his lips say “no way,” I rewound the TV…
“No way I can pitch,” I believe he said… not good for Duchscherer. Too bad, he was a great story this year, finally convincing the A’s to use him as a starter and then leading the Majors in ERA…
Very tough play but Delmon, as a fielder, just drives me nuts.
lg dare
Did the Twins just make Kirk Saarloos look good? Ouch.
After that extended half-inning due to injury, did anyone notice if Blackburn left the dugout to stay warm or not? If not, are there no facilities in the dugout area (i.e. exercise bike, whatever) to keep a pitcher loose?
Big out here for Blackburn
Bass is warming up…
can we take some pitches maybe…
Sox down 4-3
And now Sox up 5-4… man…
how many times does a long man come out and dominate the twins?
7-4 Sox
And I repeat, Delmon drives me nuts in the field.
So far this game has a dead feel to it. Perhaps it’s the hangover from the stress of the weekend fingernail-hanging games with the M’s, but they just don’t seem to have the “zip” yet tonight.
They’re throwing the ball around, bloopers…yuk.
We need Saarloos to throw at Morneau or Mauer and wake the team up.
I don’t mind losing but these guys are on a little win streak and should be playing with a little more verve. Maybe the fans will have to get them revved.
I think that’s a bit of a tough error on Delmon (not defending the misplay) simply because Cust was in well ahead of that throw. For him to get to second base there, he would’ve had to have been already on his way to second even as Delmon was jumping for that ball.
Oh well, no harm done. Middle of the order… let’s get it going guys!
Let’s see if Punto can lay down a bunt and slide into 1B head first and ignite the crowd, then we can discuss how great he is!
Willie,
The A’s are something like 5-23 as a club since the All-Star Break. I would mind losing to them, and the Twins should too, especially after the struggles they put up against a team like the Mariners.
They need all the wins they can get at home now, with the majority of the schedule coming on the road.
White Sox and Red Sox both winning… this is a big game. They need a comeback, and they better wake up and realize it.
Why does Delmon drive you nuts? Any one who has watched major league baseball the last 20 years knows that Young is the worst defensive starting left fielder during that time. He looks like a fat water buffalo on skates out there. His muff (which was called a double) turned this game from 1-0 to 3-0 in the blink of an eye. DH this guy, heck I’d rather have Kubel out there!
wow… that sucked
Why is it that Punto feels it necessary to argue, or at least stand frozen and stare at the ump after every single called third strike?
That one may have been borderline, but it’s definitely a common trend, it seems…
Nice at-bat, Joe!
ok Justin Morneau, your turn.
I got in just in time to see the “strike” to Punto.
Has that been the story of the evening or was that a fluke call?
And wow…Morneau.
wow, that REALLY sucked.
this whole thing sucks! where’s the emotion… you’re right, everyone just seems flat and docile.
Well look at LNP trying to help with the roster decision with Casilla coming back soon….. trying to take out either Harris or Everett…. not very nice of him to take in on himself but shows he is very pro-active
Sounds like the boys have a hangover from partying after the sweep.
Bob,
Jack Cust starts in LF for the A’s frequently. Manny Ramirez starts. Carlos Quentin is barely faster than Paul Konerko. Adam Dunn?
Delmon doesn’t cover much ground, but he’s not even close to the worst defensive LF in the game right now, let alone of the last 20 years.
Besides, he’s a right fielder. Span should be playing left with Cuddyer out, where he can cover the larger territory.
Steve,
At least in that instance, when the ball is on the Right Handed batters box line and you get called out, consternation is appropriate. ducksure was also getting that call. Blackburn hasn’t been pitching there enough to see if that call is consistant.
Regards,
Mariners put in Miguel Batista… game over.
Come on Twins, we need this one…
On a plus side. 7 innings out of Blackburn. THey needed that after the weekend.
I assume - hope - he’ll come back out. 90 pitches and every inning helps right now.
My bet is the Twinks lose 2 of 3 to Oakland…The A’s are one of the teams the Twins can’t ever seem to beat….
Dragon,
I agree, it’d be nice to see Blackburn going down there to see if it’s consistent.
Still, I know I’m not the only one who’s noticed Punto’s dramatics after getting called out. It’s just uncalled for, unprofessional, and flat out annoying.
You strike out, you don’t look shocked and dismayed. You walk back to the dugout and make up for it next time.
Instead, Punto stares at the ump, leans back, walks off shaking his head, and even throws his helmet or hits it with his bat. I hate that attitude in general, especially for a guy who couldn’t even bat his weight last year.
9-4, finally got out of the 5th inning… but I think the Sox will cruise to another win…
burns is probably going 8 tonight
Blackburn needs to go another inning Twin’s bullpen stinks right now besides Nathan..
what happened to Everett??
foul ball liner from Punto hit him in the hand in the dugout..
what’s with our guys and line drives injuring us!?
Did they say he was hit by a ball in the dugout?
Mariners put one on the board, YES!
Steve,
That attitude might be appropriate in general, that specific instance it was complimentary to the ump. Looks like he’d call a strike if the ball went over the 3rd base coaches box.
Regards,
Joe just posted an update, took Everett to get xrays on his hand…
Casilla, 1-2 in the AA game tonight.
Harris home run anyone?
Randy! my man
btw, does anyone else think that Buscher looks like George “the animal” Steele?
i would have been okay with just a hit… but alas, no more…
If he starts eating third base, we’ll know he’s George.
gotta love our crowd, so into the game, so let’s do the WAVE!!! ugh..
Frank Thomas…clutch.
Even the blogs are fairly dead tonight… someone needs to get Twins Territory fired up… Gardenhire should find an excuse to get himself tossed.
6 hits, 3 runs.. not a bad outing, especially going 8 innings… apparently our offense has taken the night off…
better than the 3 pitching performances vs Seattle…
Sure would be nice if the offense wouldn’t ruin a nice deep start by Blackburn tonight.
If Everett winds up on the DL it’s pretty much the same thing that would’ve happened in the long run. Everett to DL…or DFA’d….either way here comes Casilla.
On the plus side, it gets Macri up here early.
Gone sort of unnoticed has been Blackburn’s start tonight. I’ve been of the mind that the jury is still out on the top three starters for a possible playoff rotation. I’ve felt that neither Slowey, Blackie or Perkins had really separated themselves as the one to join Baker and Liriano. It may be that Blackburn has staked his claim tonight.
Of course this presumes a playoff appearance. Tonight’s offense is making that look a bit like a pipe dream.
We need our own version of the rally monkey. Rally Mosquito, anyone?
But regardless…that’s pretty freaky how things have been working out for the Twins when it comes to stuff like that.
(referring to Everett’s potential DL)
Punto is a dead weight
and here is the Buscher/George Steele comparison
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3207/2776071769_2b9c5bd359_o.jpg
Well it looks like if we are going to rally we’re going to have to beat the baseball version of the Bismark, the Atlantic Wall, the Unsinkable Titanic.
The bigger they are the harder they fall….where did this guy Ziegler come from? Nice numbers.
Less than elegant. But I’ll take it.
that was nuts. I’ll take it!
Except the Bismark just met HMS Hood, aka, Joe Mauer.
That’ll get ‘em fired up! Way to go Mauer!
is that an inside the parker?
That is a VERY low K-zone.
And Mauer likely would’ve gotten home anyway after the 3B mowed him over like that. Still. WOOOOOOOO!
Triple + Error I think.
Base hit!
I think it’ll be a triple and advance on the error on the throw.
Need moar Kubel.
Well…that oughta please a few people around here.
ah sh*! that’s not the way to do it Kubel! now you’ll be benched for a week!
Is that guy’s name Clive Davis? Seriously?
Can I get him on my fantasy team with Coco Crisp and Milton Bradley?
Kenny Rogers is on the DL…and I don’t know what happened to Mike Jackson after he left the Twins.
Then there’s a Carlos Santana I believe somewhere in the league.
what was lost in this noise is that Blackie went 8 innings tonight…
looks like this game is going to be a close loss
Rajai Davis
major head case and all the talent in the world (and there goes Butcher)
I saw it thry, big start for Blackburn tonight. Twins have gotten a couple of great Monday starts (Perk last week and Blackburn this week)
It’d be nice to see them at least tie it to take the burden off his shoulders.
WHAT?! Seriously?
Terrible tag by Harris
he looked out, but the tag was on his hip after he already reached the bag… great throw by Mauer though
Wow…not even close on those last couple. STOP NIBBLING.
I hate plays like those. Sometimes he’s out, sometimes he’s safe….you never know.
Who are we kidding, we’ll be down by three again in a matter of moments.
I thought Harris was slow/off the mark getting that tag down. I’m not an expert on that aspect of the game, but it looked shaky and I wonder if Everett makes the play.
Sox are up 5-12
true, another day and another ump and it’s an out call… we need replay!
Yeah, in a situation like that…it comes down to the ump being in position or not.
Boy, Crain has been almost as craptastic as Guerrier in terms of finding the strike zone.
I feel bad for Gardy in a way…not a lot of choice in the bullpen other than Nathan for guys with good mojo going.
It will be somewhat ironic if the undoing of the Twins’ playoff hopes this year come from what has been, at least, among the pundits, one of their recent strengths.
Not doing anything back in the spring when Neshek went down really could end up costing them a chance at the post-season. Of course, not many would have said that then, but boy, do we miss Neshek ( I realize that’s not the case tonight…just making a general comment on the suckitude of the bullpen.)
love those fly ball bunts!
There’s a break.
Ha, Bert said an unsuccessful bunt by Carlos Gomez.
How is that ruled? F-3?
Can you blame him Buckwheat?
Wasn’t it F-5?
T,
I think that’s ruled as a F-UP
the bunt? not sure…
need a K, or ground ball…
I’m surprised the runner didn’y try to break that up to try and force a drop or bad throw
cripes, some weakly hit balls here in this inning… yet they threaten… isn’t that what the Twins are supposed to do!
thry with the punchline!
Also, thanks eaa. I get the counting backwards al the time in the infield.
I’ve been waiting all game for Bert to call Carlos Gonzalez “Carlos Gomez…” I was gonna be disappointed if he didn’t.
Nice job Breslow
Good recovery by Breslow.
and there is the new set up man for the Twins…
As the Hawk would say, “HE GONE!”
Breslow for President!
Now let’s GO Twins in the bottom of the 9th!
It’s been awhile since we’ve gotten to see a walk-off HR…
How about Randy Ruiz? He needs his first big league HR sooner or later… he’s already a nice story, let’s add another chapter!
Young, Butch, Ruiz… need some runners.
We may end up with Breslow and Korecky as the bridges the way things are going.
Ok, time to break out the Rally Mosquito!
Go boys! Walkoff victory.
Any chance of Lamb hitting for Ruiz after seeing lefty’s Mauer and Morneau cranks balls last inning?
Hmmm. DL everett just before the road trip and bring up Korecky?
Young has no chance with this guy.
I’m just saying this to work reverse psych.
Young trying to hard tongiht.
that was ugly.
There you go eaa.
Mike Lamb. Oh God.
wow, too many free swingers… could have used a patient approach there.
Ziggy wants that corner. He’s going to get it in a BAD time for the Twins.
see, like that.
the world will end, not with a bang, but a BAAAAA
Mike Lamb. The eye of Rod Carew.
Oh PLEASE don’t get caught tealing to end it…
nice to be wrong
Throw it away please.
or picked off first!
Call: Harris hits game tying double, blog explodes with anti-Punto venom.
Mike Lamb. The eye of Rod Carew.
That bat. Eeeeeeh not so much.
Punto COULD potentially get the walk off here.
eaa: i like that.
No way. Punto is the reason Harris is in. Harris double equals Punto for president.
Are you KIDDING me with that strike?
Ok…so much for the Rally Mosquito. Any other suggestions?
That was a BS strike two call…
Boy. That zone got a LOT bigger in that last inning.
Well, they made it interesting. Build off that.
Ump apparently had plans after the game…wtf!
that was crap. nice frickin’ strike zone. those were both off the plate.
better wake up for tomorrow.
I’m curious which other teams the A’s beat since the ASG?
I know one was the Whities.
Maybe everyone heard, White Sox over M’s 13-5 in the eighth. Four more homers for Sox, but not in a row this time.
I’m hoping that two innings takes Ziggy out of the A’s bullpen for the rest of the series. Looking for silver linings here.
yeap
I have been hating severely disliking the As since their (now proven steroid-tainted) championships of the late 80s early 90s, in the good ole AL West. As a matter of fact, up to this day I use a certain adjective when I refer to them before the As. It’s very similar to the noun I use to describe the Packers (hint a consonant and a vowel are slightly changed). Maybe I have an issue with green uniforms, but this game left me disappointed (esp. as far as the hitting goes, and please Vavra fans speak up…)
Too many double plays ground into at bad times tonight (Morneau), Twins didn’t score enough runs. Oakland now has six wins since the All-Star break.
I asked earlier why the Twins’ pitchers always seem to cough up runs after extended half innings and whether or not Blackburn did anything tonight prior to the top of the fourth. There was no response. Ergo, I must assume it was a dumb question or there was no evidence of Blackburn “staying loose”. If nothing was viewed, fine. It the Twins have made no accomodation for such contingencies, shame on them. That two-run fourth cost us this game.
dang
Daniel1966,
the Twins have a facility to accommodate pitchers staying loose during long stretches of inactivity.
The only reason I did not answer that when asked previously was because I thought that I sensed a hint of sarcasm about Blackburn re: the bicycle (check this article from LEN3 http://www.startribune.com/sports/twins/16197872.html)
Mr thrylos, Again I thank you for your informative response. I read the article and it answered a part of my query. However, I didn’t read where either an exercise bike or other strategy was used by the Twins’ pitchers at the Metrodome to keep their pitchers loose.
Daniel1966,
take it from an eyewitness, there are several places in the Twins’ clubhouse where pitchers can use to keep loose after delays. The article reference was to make the point about Blackburn and the bicycle reference…
Mr thrylos, Again, thanks. I am not trying to be difficult but , as I recall, it is quite a distance to the clubhouse from the dugout. Is there such a facility near the dugout. Does anyone know? Responses welcome. And again, thank you, Mr. thrylos.
Man I’m looking good at the plate tonight
