Sunday night in K.C.
Posted on April 22nd, 2007 – 6:38 PMBy La Velle
The Twins are back in the Twin Cities after dropping two of three games to Kansas City. As I found out while cruising the clubhouse afterward, the players know they haven’t played their best baseball.
This is one month of six, so it’s unrealistic to expect the Twins, or any team, to play top ball all season long. The Dodge and the Mets look good, and the Red Sox just took it to the Yankees. That’s not enough of a reason to begin the playoffs now.
The Twins are 11-7. They were 7-11 at the same point last season. Which one would you rather have? And several players took the big picture view, pointing out that being 11-7 after the way they have played bodes well.
However, there are some concerns.
For the most part, the Twins are doing what they should do against lesser competition and with the home schedule they have in April. If this is horse racing, they will step up in class later this week when they play at Detroit.
And have you looked at their opponents in May? Boston, White Sox, Detroit, Cleveland, an improved Brewers team, Toronto. The baserunning must be tightened up. The offense needs a healthy Rondell White. Ramon Ortiz must prove the first four starts were for real. Sidney Ponson has to find his command. Playing the way they have will not yield a 11-7 record over 18 games against those teams.
Several people already have thrown out trade suggestions. Hold off on those. Most GM’s use the first 6-8 weeks to see what develops before making adjustments. Of the five Twins starters, Ponson would be the likely one on the hot seat. But he’s expected to get the ball a few more times. It helps when three-fifths of your rotation is giving you a chance to win.
Rondell White and Jeff Cirillo really could have helped this club against the lefties they faced last week. White could be ready in the next few days, but Cirillo won’t be back for several weeks, which is a blow. I think everyone expected White to be activated by now and Josh Rabe sent to the minors.
Gardy told me a couple of days ago that he feels that Jason Kubel can hit lefties and will get his shots. But Gardy has used the Tom Kelly approach to not letting the bench get stale and has given Rabe some at-bats against lefties. The letters, `DH,’ next to Mike Redmond’s name just doesn’t look right, but he was going good last week and Gardy decided to use him. I talked to Kubel about this over the weekend, and he’s not worried about getting more at-bats; he knows his time is coming.
Jason Bartlett’s errors have been puzzling. There have been a few times when he’s fallen down while going to his left and catching the ball when he usually stays on his feet. So maybe his groin muscle pull is affecting him some.
Alexi Casilla sure has a lot of talent. He can fly and has a rocket arm. It’s good that he’s around to fill in for Luis Castillo when he’s banged up and Bartlett when he needs a break. Don’t know about you, but I think Casilla should stay with the club the rest of the season.
As for Castillo, I think the club would consider putting him on the disabled list if they had someone ready to call up - or someone ready to be activated (White). Castillo will need his days off, but there’s nothing like a player in a contract season, and I expect Castillo to get into the lineup as soon as he can.
So White and Castillo need to get healthy. Ponson and Boof Bonser need to produce. Bartlett needs both. And the heart of the order needs to keep doing what it’s doing. That’s all.
I tried to cover a few areas here. Let’s see how the Twins respond this week and the schedule begins to get more challenging.
71 Responses to "Sunday night in K.C."
Hey La Velle!
I was wondering what your thoughts are on Gardy keeping Kubel on the bench. It is pretty clear that Josh Rabe is not a MLB Level player. He is a career AAA player and I don’t really see a use for him on our roster. Why doesn’t Gardy let Kubel play? I just do not get it. You cant be sharp only getting a few at bats a week. Gardy sometimes does some things that I just cant comprehend….Any insight into this would be appreciative! Really let that game in KC when Ponson was on the hill get away from us.
I agree that Rabe is not a MLB player, however, Kubel cannot play LF in the MLB. He is a DH in the making.
I find it funny that Sid wrote an bi-line about how how deep the system is, but at the same time we have Mike Redmound starting three days in a row at DH, Rabe in LF and we have L-rod on the bench.
Tyner should be in LF everyday. Speed does not go into slumps.
I wasn’t surprised not to see Kubel in the lineup today. The wind at KC was really bad and I was actually relieved not to see Kubel in left.
“Tyner should be in LF everyday. Speed does not go into slumps.”
Yeah, but not being able to hit does.
Tyner has been doing quitewell in the hitting department. And is pretty good defensively and I remember him having some good outfield assists last year. He is the better option in LF.
Kubel shouldnt be a regular LF for us, but he should be getting a chance to DH. Obviously Gardys statement when he said he thinks Kubel can hit lefties just fine is garbage because he hasnt started him. Redmond should not be DH every day plain and simple. Rabe and Rodriguez should not be on the 25 man. Rodriguez does have a nice glove and is a bit more valuable so I dont have that much of a problem with him as I do with Rabe.
One thing about Luis Castillo, he makes the pitchers work. De La Rosa threw 94 pitches, and it seemed all the piranas weren,t trying to get on via the— any way you can method,/walk/get hit by a pitch, squibber etc. No it was try to hit it far by swinging at the first pitch. We need Luis back in the leadoff spot.
Can’t figure these errors by Bartlett. Ortiz had to throw {and show] 5 or 6 more pitches. Small thing, but small things add up in close games. Oh well we’re still 11 and 7. HAVE FUN!!! GO TWINS!!!
I don’t know how anyone can say that Tyner hasn’t been hitting. He is hitting .343 and drove in some key runs in the Seattle series. If he isn’t appreciated for not having a high slugging pct that is a different matter but as a substitute piranha, I think he did much better than expected!
So has J-Bar said anything about his groin hindering him at short? Defense was his strong point to begin with, I can’t imagine he would start slipping right now for no apparent reason.
Kubel needs everyday work. He never looks comfortable against lefties. I think that could be cured with a little more regularity in his PT. Unfortunately, he’s a bit of a car accident waiting to happen in LF. I think he would be much better suited in the DH role. Tyner should be playing out in LF everyday until Rondell gets back. I trust his base-running and fielding abilities. His batting will suffice for the time being - as mentioned above, it has done more than suffice recently. Like La Velle says, little stuff like the baserunning and fielding is what’s going to keep the Twins together through this rough stretch of competition. Tyner, and the Twins have always been successful when they have done all of the little things right. With the Twins’ new sense of power in the middle of the lineup alongside fundamental baseball, we could stretch out quite a lead in a competitive AL Central.
I don’t know about the rest of you, but I am wondering what in the world is going on with the bullpen. Is Big Sweat a Big Fluke? Is there something wrong with his mechanics? Or has he just been found out? Although he is my idol, I think Neshek should be a purely situational (righties) reliever. Lefties - even during his remarkable stretch last year - rocked him pretty well with some hard-hit outs. This year those hard hit outs are finding the gaps and finding the fans. Leave the situational lefties to Big Sweat (assuming he can find success again) and Perkins.
It’s exciting to see how the pitching prospects at AAA progress as the season moves along. What a decision it will be to see who replaces Ponson - strictly my prophecy. I’d say Slowey is the dark horse and could rise above an otherwise shaky Garza, and a cocky Perkins (not that being cocky is always a bad thing). Perkins just may find his niche in the bullpen this summer.
Like Christensen has raved about before, let us not forget about this Manship prospect. It’s great to know that the Twins scouting department continually has guys like him that have the ability to make big jumps through the farm system and make a big splash. It makes the future look promising in lieu of such failed contract negotiations with our current stars.
One more thing. The very forgotten Scott Baker has pitched well thus far at Rochester - although, still early. Similar to years past in AAA, he will probably find success to come quite easy. But can he avoid being a career All-Star minor leaguer, and make the jump the big show? I spoke with Gardy about Baker once when he visited my college. It seems that he lacks conviction on the day of his starts. If he let’s up seven earned runs in 4ip and gets yanked, he sits on the bench without any emotion. Gardy said that he would prefer to see Baker knock a water cooler over and show some emotion to drive him to success in his next start. Gardy noted that he does not approve of such fury after failure. However, it may help ignite a stuck-in-the-mud pitcher like Baker.
Gardy exemplified this theory with a Boof story from 2006. After a poor start, Bonser was notified that he was going to be sent down to AAA. After being told, Bonser took his rage out on some equipment around the clubhouse. After that trip to the minors, Bonser was never the same. Upon his return to the majors, Bonser suddenly stood on the mound with confidence and cool of a 15-year veteran - the success played out like a veteran. As many have noticed though, Bonser’s success rate isn’t what it was last year. I think next time he has a poor outing, the equipment manager should print out a target and tape it to a couple water coolers.
Agreed on Kubel. Dumbfounded. He is already the Twins’ 4th best hitter! Get him in the lineup! Rabe is just atrocious to start over him, but even Redmond “hitting well” is bad over him. And if ever a situation called for a PH, tonight with 2 outs and Hunter on 2nd did. A HR ties the game. You HAVE to pinch hit Kubel there for Redmond. Kubel is just fine against lefties by the way, and he will be just fine in the OF with a little more regular playing time there.
It will be nice to have White back, and Cirillo back soon. 2 other things for me:
1) I love Nitro Casilla but he’s not ready for the leadoff spot. Gardy needs to not have 2 automatic outs (the way Punto is swinging) in front of Mauer. Kubel should actually be our 2 hitter now for a while.
2) I also think the injury must be effecting Bartlett. It’s terrible about Castillo because it’d be nice to give Bartlett a full 4-5 days to get healthy, with Casilla taking over for him at SS. But that can’t happen when Castillo’s out.
I just don’t like Kubel in the number two hole. He has some power but I prefer a little more speed. Let Kubel DH, but let him DH a little bit lower in the order. How about this for the time being?
1. Casilla
2. Tyner (I like Tyner here because of contact percentage vs. Punto, especially the way Punto has been swinging the bat.)
3. Mauer
4. Cuddyer
5. Morneau
6. Hunter
7. Kubel
8. Bartlett
9. Punto
Any opinions?
Hey La Velle!
Ive noticed that Casillas exchange between glove and hand, especially during turning dps is sometimes painfully slow, any word on that? is there a problem? do they know it exists? are they doing something about it?
i think he failed to turn at least 3 double plays over the last few days
I also agree with La Velle about the schedule. I think the Twins really need to turn it up a notch if they don’t want April’s flowers to quickly become May’s showers. (You gotta get two of three against KC–you just can’t squander game one like that against a team like the Royals.)
No more Redmond DHing! It’s one thing for Mauer to DH and Redmond to catch, but the other way around? You’ve got to be kidding me! There we are in the ninth inning and Redmond comes up against a righty with two out as the tying run. And no freaking PH, because there’s no catcher on the bench. How about Kubel right there with the game on the line? Nope, he’s in the on deck circle.
I realize that Redmond had a big day on Saturday, but his value is in being a competent backup to Mauer, not a DH.
Nico I agree with you about Casilla’s glove/hand exchange. I love the guy’s speed and athleticism but I’ve seen at least a couple of instances where he failed to turn on the DPs. I hope they can work on that with him.
LaVelle,
I’m as big a fan of the Twins as I am of you! Keep up the good work.
As far as the team goes, it’s early, but even with yesterday’s loss to KC, I’m still impressed with the team’s performance in many areas. So, as a fan, I need to exercise patience as the Twins progress into the long great season of America’s favorite pastime. I suggest we all do the same.
There are many things going right for the Twins they’re 11-7 and haven’t played their best yet. I agree with my co-horts above. Tyner should be playing everyday, Kubel should be the DH everyday- The Pirhanas have got to start BITING.. PONSON,,owch! Can he or can’t he-Overall the pitching has been good but we need this guy to come through. Did anyone really believe Bartlett would be a .300 hitter in 2007 - Rabe needs to go back but Casilla needs to stay up to push Bartlett everyday. Most importantly what a power outage 9 Homeruns as a team. Another reason to have Kubel in the lineup!
“He (Kubel) is already the Twins’ 4th best hitter! Get him in the lineup!”
I hope this turns out to be true, but I always wonder why expectations are so high on Kubel. He has NEVER proven himself at the ML level. I hope I eat my words, but I don’t think he will ever turn out to be the answer.
Tyner should be in LF and Kubel should be given a shot at DH to prove me wrong - well I am guessing he could care less about me.
Rabe should be in little league. Redmond (great backup catcher) should be on the bench.
When all are healthy you will have quite the log-jam for two spots:
White
Tyner
Ford (Will he ever return?)
Kubel
Cirillio
I like Tyner everyday. He seems to have heart.
My main concerns with the way that the 11-7 Twins have started out has been the boneheaded plays that have occurred the past few days. I guess more so, there have been several baserunning gaffes that have happened since the NY series. The errors that Bartlett has committed are only one symptom of a much larger concern in that the Twins are not playing in the field their best defense, nor has their baserunning been stellar. Stolen bases aside, even the top “veterans” on our team including Morneau, Cuddyer and even Mauer have made rookie type mistakes on the bases. It is so uncharacteristic of them that it has probably been the thing that I have worried about the most. How much better would the Twins record have been had the teams’ baserunning been up to the level that they usually play at?
The game @ KC last Friday night was embarrassing to say the least, what with the complete meltdown of practically every pitcher that went up against the lowly Royals? Even though we won on Saturday, the pitching performances by the entire staff have been subpar at best since the Twins arrived in KC, not just Ponson.
Items:
Ponson … very short leash. Probably one more start only unless it is significantly better than his first three. Looks like Slowey rather than Garza or Perkins will get the first shot as a replacement.
Perkins … needs to go back to Rochester. Likely will be replaced by Venafro to be another situational lefty esp since Reyes is struggling.
Bartlett … looks like a deer in headlights.
Punto … great utility player but doesn’t have the offense to be a regular 3rd baseman in the bigs. Last year was a career year for him, and he still finished dead last among starting AL 3rd baseman in OPS. He is a real drag at the top of the order. But, Moses is a flop at Rochester, and not sure if Winfree at AA can field the position. Last year’s draft pick from U of Miami named Valencia is tearing up low A ball hitting for average and power. Barring a trade, I expect Punto will keep the position warm until one of the prospects in the minors is ready.
Tyner has been a spark, but he also does not have the offense to be a regular left fielder in the bigs. His OPS of .836 YTD is misleading compared to his career OPS of around .630. But, he is a good short term replacement in left field until White returns.
Kubel … a real defensive liability so far and is not given enough PA to really get in a groove. Put him at DH and leave him there. I agree with comments above that Redmond is a great backup but not a viable DH.
Bonser … has been ok except for gopher balls. Has shown enough to stay in rotation.
Silva and Ortiz … have been great. If they can stay consistent the Twins will remain competitive.
Everybody relax on the early starts at Rochester. Moses is not a flop yet and it’s too soon to say that Slowey has passed Garza.
True, Slowey has been lights out, but Garza appears to have settled down after trying too hard prove he belonged in the majors in his first couple of starts.
Tyner: Please. Not an everyday player. Put those notions to rest. Nice backup, but will be too much of a liability at the plate, especially with RISP.
Left field: Gonna be a quagmire all year. Get used to it.
Reyes: Much like a stock-market correction. Time to come back down to Earth, big fella.
I had a blast in KC with all the Twins fans in a fantastic ballpark!
My first item–Bartlett’s errors. Enough is enough. He needs to sit for three straight games; Casilla looks outstanding in the field and the jury’s out at the plate. Bartlett is officially a liability.
Kubel should be the everyday DH. Why don’t the Twins figure out what other AL teams have learned–DH is a position. You can’t mix and match and treat it like an after thought, or you’re going to end up with the awful production we’ve had. Kubel should be told he will DH every game (day off maybe once a week).
The baserunning errors on Saturday were embarassing. Good thing that one wasn’t on TV. What the hell was Mauer going to third on a pop up to the pitcher’s mound for? How does Morneau not score from second on a double off the wall? Good thing we won.
What an unbelievable scene at Kauffman Stadium. 2010 here we come….(but will we have the same tailgating availability????)
Please, no more Rabe. Kubel should play every day at this point. He needs at bats. He basically has played 1/2 season over the last 2 years! I’d rather have him out there flailing around and getting some at bats and experience than Rabe, who will never be more than he is right now. Punto, never been a big fan. His year last year is only considered good because the Twins don’t have any other 3B, and because he was sooooooo bad in previous years.
Two points:
The twins have been terrible base runners for the past few years, IMO, so there shouldn’t be any surprise.
Slowey won’t make the club until September. Ryan and Gardy won’t let him (not saying whether that’s good or bad).
LaVelle I don’t understand the Twins thinking White will be ready soon. Last week they thought he would be ready in Seattle then he tried running on grass and the calf was agrivated. What will happen when tries running on the rug at the dome?
Lots of good comments here. obie, couldn’t agree more on Punto. He’s a great utility guy, but can’t hit enough to be a regular third baseman. Good versatility out in the field, but a little guy like him who doesn’t hit for power needs to make more contact. I like Tyner, but you need more power out of an outfielder in today’s game. Ponson should get a couple more starts, but it’s going to be time to give a kid a chance soon. Ortiz is looking like the real thing. Even when the box score shows that Silva pitches well, I’m a little leery. If he’s getting outs with fly balls, that doesn’t bode well for later in the season when the ball starts carrying better in the warmer weather. Last time I saw him pitch, though, he got a lot of ground balls, so there’s reason for hope on that front. You know Johan will start pitching better as the season wears on. They haven’t really played that well yet, so I’ll take 11-7.
I’m happy that the Twins are 11-7, to be sure, but I’m just not quite sure what to make of things. At first, I figured that the baserunning gaffes were just the result of A) Ullger making a few mistakes and B) guys still getting into regular-season form. But the mistakes are continuing. I can’t help but to think that things will get better in this area, as basically the same group of guys wasn’t nearly this bad last year. But I’m a bit concerned that things have continued to go poorly on the basepaths, outside of the stolen bases.
I have to think that Bartlett’s problems in the field are probably a combination of a lingering groin injury and, perhaps, his problems getting into his head. He was a good fielder last year, and I see no reason for him to regress unless he has a physical problem, which the Twins say he does. If only Castillo wasn’t out, the result might be simple: play Casilla at SS until Bartlett’s groin is better. Unfortunately, we need Casilla at both positions at the same time. I guess we’re lucky that he’s done pretty well in the majors so far.
LaVelle last week I asked if you were concerned about the lefties the Twins were going to be facing. They lost 2 games to KC and now tonight we get another lefty matchup. Hopefully Carlos can keep it close for us and we can start hitting again. I agree that Rabe just doesn’t look like a major league outfielder. Kubel may run around looking bad but I think that is inexperience from missing so much time out there. I think he can hit and that is a good thing for us right now. Bartlett just looks like his confidence is down and his legs are bothering him. If Luis was not hurt I think they would give Alexi a couple games and let Bartlett rest but that is not really an option right now. We do look thin right now in the infield other than at first and even that is just an injury away from being a bad situation too.
So last night the Yankees used Pettitte again in relief because it was his normal day to throw in the pen. Why don’t more teams do that? I would have to think that on his normal day to throw Santana could get a couple outs. I don’t think the Twins would EVER do it other than maybe in the playoffs but it is a curious thing as to why the Yanks have done it now twice with Pettitte and he claims to WANT to do it to help the team.
The Yanks are throwing Pettitte in relief because they’re desparate!! Thank God that’s not a problem with the Twins. Kubel needs to be in the lineup everyday as the D-H period! Give the kid some consistent at bats. The Twins have a total of 9 home runs from 4 players inclduing L-Rod. Not good!
I’m a little worried about the “country club” atmosphere.
Gardy laughing about all of the base running blunders and the players chanting “no B-P” before Sunday’s game and getting their wish granted. Then we go out, swing at every first pitch, and lose a game we could have easily won with the pitching performance of Ortiz. Hopefully we get healthy and Sid and Boof step it up because May is going to be a very tough month.
I write to once again address Bartlett:
This is not a “lingering groin” thing. He gets his glove on the ball but doesn’t make the play, time and time again. So I don’t know if it’s in his head, or he’s just not as good anymore, or whatever it is…..but this is not a physical thing–it’s all around….he can’t catch, he can’t throw. Bad combo. Like I said, he better face three days or so on the pine, and we’ll go from there.
Yeah, what was up with all the first pitch swings yesterday, it was driving me nuts. You think Vavra would have a talk with the guys, have them take some pitches and try to draw a walk. De le Rosa has had control issues in the past.
I thought for awhile yesterday that the Twins were playing with a 24-second clock, with a lot of first- and second-pitch swings. But I think the 9th-inning called strike threes against Morneau and Redmond showed the plate umpire was not much for the patient approach. He must have had a date or a plane to catch.
As for Bartlett, the Twins took a lot of heat for sending/leaving him in the minors at the start of last season. I think now we may be seeing some of the reason for the team’s concern back then rear its head again.
I think Mauer would look good as a 2 hitter. He has great bat control, is patient, can hit and run, has a high on-base percentage, plus it would move all of our good hitters one spot up the order. If we have trouble getting guys on base in front of our run producers, why not eliminate one of those spots? Unless Morneau might try too hard batting cleanup…
1 Castillo
2 Mauer
3 Cuddyer
4 Morneau
5 Hunter
6 Kubel
7 White
8 Bartlett
9 Punto
El Guapo, I like your order. I thought that’s what they should have done last season as well. With Mauer batting third it seems like he always gets on with two outs.
El Guapo. I’ve been arguing for Mauer to hit two-hole since last year. It’s the best place for him. He’s our version of Jeter, except perhaps better with the bat. That lineup keeps the left-right-left-right alignment and let’s Morneau hit cleanup where he belongs.
But Gardy would have to move his man love Punto to the bottom of the order. Granted, that’s where a .220 hitter should hit, but not in Gardy’s world.
On the other comments. I wouldn’t mind seeing Tyner more. He has brought more to the team this year than Kubel. There’s no reason why Kubel can’t DH and Tyner can play left.
Also, it’d be nice if the Twins beat writers could tell us more about this mystery Rondell White injury.
Great point by ‘bufftwins.’ Kelly Theiser (I think) at Twinsbaseball.com pointed out the ‘No B.P’ chant in her notes section. What kind of leadership is LaVelle’s boy Hunter displaying by lobbying for less work? And more to the point, why is Gardy granting that request?
Where are all these Kubel fans coming from? To me, he’s shown absolutely nothing. He can’t field, he’s slow, and all his hits seem to be bloops and nubbers. Give me Tyner any day over Kubel.
To everyone Saying Kubel Hasn’t proved it look at his splits from June last year when he was healthy and playing alost everyday [b] .333/.365/.580 [/b] One month really doesn’t mean much unless it’s the only time in a player’s career he was starting every day and healthy.
LEN why doesn’t the startrib support HTML tags in the comments?
Dave, Tyner over Kubel? Seriously? Kubel’s an impact player; Tyner is a career AAA player to this point.
They did take BP, only they did it in the cages under cover. They were trying to avoid going out into the elements. Now maybe that is the same problem (work ethic) but its not like they were in the clubhouse shooting dice pre-game.
Blunders on the base paths!!!What about the base coaching (espeically Scott Ullger 3rd base coach))for the blunders on the base paths.
Do the players follow the signs given by the coaches or are they doing their own thing?
Some responiblity must be given to the coaching staff for not making the players aware of the game situation.
Isn’t that why the coaches are there in the first place.
What’s the case here? Coaching mistakes or player blunders.
Mauer should be batting second!!
2. Mauer
3. Cuddyer
4. Morneau
5. Hunter
1,6,7,8,9 spots ahould all be interchangeble. Move 3-6 into 2-5!!!!!!
Kubel an impact player? When? Have you seen him in the field? He’s horrible. Do we need him in the lineup everyday if he’s gonna hit .200? Tyner hits, maybe not homeruns, but when Tyners up with 2 outs and runners in scoring position, I feel he has a good chance of extending the inning. With Kubel, I’m getting ready for the commercial break.
Also, Tyner’s a career AAA player to this point? What do you think Kubel is? I’m not saying Tyner is the answer. I’m saying Kubel is not. Send him back to the minors if he needs to hit every day.
What’s amazing is the Twins record despite all the bone-head plays, errors, and suspect pitching. Gardy must have a stomach tied in knots watching the misplays. This is not Twins Baseball. They can not hold onto first place playing like this
Puzzling to see the way people talk about Tyner and Kubel. A few facts:
Tyner is 30 years old. 30-year-old players very rarely improve. Even if he hits .310 as he did last year, he is a very poor hitter (.698 OPS last year, awful for a LF, OK for a shortstop). I’m glad we have him, but it’s absurd to think that he will ever be a decent everyday player.
Kubel is 24 years old, he is recovering from a devastating injury, and before that injury, at age 22, he terrorized AAA pitching to a degree that made him one of the top 2 or 3 hitting prospects in baseball. His presence on the team is not predicated on his 2006 performance, it’s predicated on the hope that he will someday recover enough from his injury to be the hitter he once was.
These two players have zippo in common.
If Ortiz keeps piching well hopfully the Twins will have the hind sight to sign him to an extention during the season that would give us some opptions
on moving a pitcher like Baker and Rincon and maybe a lower level pitcher to try to get a thirdbaseman. The Dodgers are loaded with 3B men and have
a top 10 prospect at AAA. I still would like to see TR talk to the reds about Encarnacion. If Kubel is our future in LF then Gardy really needs to give him an honest shot to play everyday. Look what it did for Cuddyer.
The farm system is not looking to good
for position players. We will have to make trades or sign some good free agents to replace Hunter, white and a thirdbaseman. It would be nice to not have to worry about the LF spot hopefully Kubel can get the job done.
Roy and David, exactly right. Tyner isn’t HALF the player Kubel is and ever will be. Kubel is the next Cuddyer, plain and simple.
And I second the thought on Encarnacion. We need one more bat with White/Cirillo being old/injury prone, Bartlett struggling, and Punto REALLY struggling.
OPS is not a fair stat for a singles hitter and should not be used to compare Tyner to Kubel. They are apples and oranges…
Kubel “MAY” have power. Tyner will never have power.
Tyner will play a strong OF, steal some bases, lay down some nice looking bunts, and not make mistakes.
Tyners Stats over last 4 years and 400 ABs .308 BA, 11 SBs and just 3 errors.
I would be fine with that in LF for a while until Kubel or White proves something better. Let Kubel DH for a bit to see if he is for real. Sometimes I think we all remember last year’s grand slam and listen to the hype…Terry Tiffee had hype as too.
ok in your world batting .300 with a .330 OBP and .340 slg as good as a .280 hitter with a .360 OBP and a .450 Slg? Terry Tiffee had the success that Tyner had inthe Minors Kubel had the success that Mauer and Morneau had in the minors BIG Differance Tiffee was never anything more that a marginal 3b prospect Kubel was rated in the 20’s on BA prospects list. Compareing Tiffee to Kubel is about as dumb as statement as I have ever seen. People who actaully know baseball would tell you that The Differance between Tiffee and Kubel is about as big as the Differance Between Tyner and Hunter.
With the piranhas looking more like goldfish, the Twins need a 30 to 40-homer guy at third base.
Michael Blaine
http://rudelystamped.blogspot.com/
Good to see we made sure we didn’t use nathan and waited for the save situation.
Pain in the Crain-ium.
Power doesn’t gauruntee wins. There is an example tonight apparently lowly TB beat the Ysnkees even with 2 homers from A-rod.
This is the same kind of team the Twins have fielded for years and have won 4 or 5 divisions.
Calm down, it’s April. Divisions are not won or lost this early. Twins showed that last year.
Paul, Nobody should care what Kubel did in the minors. He had a severe injury which he may never come all the way back from. I guess I just dont think the major leagues are where you rehab injuries and develop players. I thought thats what the minor leagues were for. I hope he does become the next Michael Cudyer. But as of right now he reminds me more of the next Buck Buchanan.
Speaking of Buck Buchanan, he is now a member of the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks in Japan. I saw him strikeout on TV a couple of weeks ago, but his BA was above .300. (The Hawks are the former homes of both Kenji Johjima and Tadahito Iguchi.)
For those of you demanding Ponson’s exit from the rotation, remember when you were saying to get rid of Carlos Silva in spring? They are a lot alike, tempermentally and pitch-wise. Carlos found something in his last spring start, Sidney went the other way. I think if given the time (and maybe some in the bullpen included) Sid can get back his control, which seems the main thing which is off. Starting out behind so many hitters does not help him keep men off base-nor does sloppy or inattentive fielding behind him like Bartlett and Casilla did. (And what was up with the “hit” that fell between Sid and Punto at KC? I was there at the game, it was embarrassing to see the Twins play Royals’ style baseball! Bartlett was practically sitting on one ball he couldn’t make a play on, Casilla seems to have trouble getting the ball out of his glove…maybe it was the infield dirt? Sidney seemed not to like the mound much, so maybe the dirt is kind of funky, could explain so many examples of Three Stooges fielding!) Anyway, I think Ponson can turn things around, I just hope he won’t need too long to do it. You never can tell, though. But I’ve watched him pitch better in KC, and yes even worse-the game Friday he had four Ok innings (an infield hit led to one run, a homerun to Mike Sweeney was regrettable but not awful, no one on) and then he just was both bad and unlucky in the fifth. He could have gotten away with “only” five runs on him if the double play grounder he induced wasn’t turned into a force by the defense. That would also have saved Glen Perkins a run off him, and maybe his wild pitches too. Perhaps it could have turned the game around, just by stopping the Royals at 3 runs in the fifth. It is the little things that ruin games-like not realizing Ponson was REALLY upset after the homerun to Mark G (I can’t spell his name, OK?) and someone should talk to him and calm him down before letting him throw to another hitter.
But hey, it’s early…Sid and Boof have not been good, but with only 3 and 4 starts, it’s way too soon to say they can’t do better, even have good years. I expect Ortiz will do less well in the long run, as will Silva-but I feel all of the starters can be serviceable. I have more doubts about the fielding and offense-but again, this is April!
Ease up, people! Sidney, Boof, Bartlett and whoever else you are down on have not destroyed all hope-they may yet become steady contributors to a winning Twins team! Give them a chance, stop being so down and negative and singling out players who have to go. Support even the struggling Twins, OK? Slumps happen, to teams and individual players. That’s what these guys are in, I think. They can do better, and likely will…if the team doesn’t give up on them as so many critics have already!
A couple reflections on last night’s painful exhibition:
Silva is NOT back to 2005 form. His control was erratic all night, and he threw a ton of pitches. It appeared he might have been squeezed by the umpire on a few calls, but Sowers didn’t seem to have the same problem.
Second, if Punto can’t be taught to hit the ball on the ground, then he has to sit. He came up swinging from the heels last night, displaying massive Punto Power, which translates to routine, medium-deep fly balls for the most part. (At the same time, expectations need to be realistic: Michael Blaine, if you have a line on an available 30-40 HR third baseman who doesn’t wet himself whenever a ball is hit at him, I’m sure TR would be willing to listen.)
Will someone explain why Gardy removed Perkins? He was finally getting some work in, he had one out and no one on, and Gardy pulls him, apparently, strictly on the basis of rightie/leftie matchup. The guy is a starter, and is fully capable of pitching 4-5 innings. Instead, Gardy pulls him, then has to send Crain out for a third inning, which he’s not used to. Protecting his bullpen I understand, but this is not the first time he’s mismanaged pitching in game situations, at the expense of losing a winnable game. Anyone remember Nathan being sent out for a third inning in the the playoffs?…
Kubel just needs playing time, I suspect. His swing looks sound, his timing is improving. He’ll probably never be a golden glove in left, but neither will Tyner, White, or the other suspects out there.
Dave if it was up to me I would have ahd Kubel in the Minors until june last year where he could get consitant AB’s and regain his swing. But he wasn’t and never really got alot of playing time because esp in the second half when his knees starting hurting. The point is that Just because he hasn’t proven anything is no reason not to play him. Give him 300 At bats now that he’s healthy of playing every day and see what he does he still has a chance of helping the Club for 3-4 years and being a very good hitter if he doesn’t do anything in those 300-400 At bats of playing everyday he’s probally done. We threw away 300 at bats for Undell last year now give Kubel a shot LF, Dh I don’t care. But let’s not throw away prefectly good china because it’s got a little dust on it.
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