Morneau update. Twins-Jays lineups
Posted on June 26th, 2007 – 4:31 PMBy La Velle
Justin Morneau is scheduled to address the media at 5:20 today. It will be his first comments since he blasted into Miguel Olivo on Friday.
[UPDATE] Morneau isn’t sure when he will return, but he appearently won’t need to go on the disabled list…
“I don’t want to put a date on it,’’ Morneau said, “You don’t want to push it too much, then all of a sudden I’m out for two or three weeks. You want to take that extra two or three days and make sure it’s better and then be ready to go the rest of the way.
“We have to see how it goes, then I have to run around a little bit and see how it feels.’’
[MORE UPDATES:] Morneau was being examined by doctors a few minutes ago, so we could learn more about his timetable after the game.
Gardy is worried about his bullpen being worn out, but he can’t call up a 12th pitcher because he has a few banged up position players and needs options on the bench.
Gardy also said that Matt Garza is, “close,” so the Twins could have another pitching option ready if someone with the big club needs to be sent down…
The lineups are out, and there’s a new Twins first baseman….
Toronto (38-37): 1. Wells, CF. 2. Rios, RF. 3. Stairs, 1B. 4. Glaus, 3B. 5. Thomas, DH. 6. Zaun, C. 7. Hill, 2B. 8. Lind, LF. 9. McDonald, SS. Pitching: Marcum.
Twins (38-36): 1. Castillo, 2B. 2. Bartlett, SS. 3. Mauer, C. 4. Cuddyer, 1B. 5. Hunter, CF. 6. Kubel, LF. 7. Redmond, DH. 8. Tyner, RF. 9. Punto, 3B. Pitching: Scott, `The Outmaker,’ Baker.
56 Responses to "Morneau update. Twins-Jays lineups"
Gardenhire has the first three correct.
When Morneau returns, it will be interesting to see if the failed experiment (Mauer batting second) is over for good.
Cuddyer at first!?! That should be interesting to watch tonight.
If you’re going to DH Redmond to get him in the lineup, why not play Mauer at first and Redmond at C? Then you can DH Tyner or whoever else Gardy thinks is playing well..
Yeah, I’d much rather have Mauer at first and then let Redmond catch.
But, I do know that Mauer has told Gardy that he doesn’t want to play 1st.
Hey La Velle, a couple of questions:
1) What did Morneau have to say?
2) Will Cirillo be heading to the DL? I know he’s been playing hurt for a while now.
Mauer stated a few days ago he wasn’t at all comfortable playing at first.
Well, I am happy to see that Castillo’s hand is ok after that spiking. Ouch! That would have made things more interesting if he could not play.
I’m really puzzled by these comments. You want Gardy to take his Gold Glove-quality catcher, who has never played a game at any other position, rather than use a guy who has major-league experience at three infield positions, including 40 games at first, and who can be replaced by a good defensive outfielder…why?
If the Twins had a good DH alternative, I guess I could see the point, but they don’t.
Supply “and move him to first” after “any other position.”
Well my only problem with the lineup is Tyner starting in rightfield.
I guess I’m just looking for a way to keep Cuddyer there and get someone else at first base.
Anways, we shouldn’t have to worry about 1st base to long as it looks like Morneau will be back tomorrow or Thursday.
One more thing, if Cirillo does go on the DL eventually, who do you bring up? Tolbert, Jones or someone else?
I’ll say this, the official scorekeeping tonight leaves a lot to be desired.
Mauer can any position he wants, if I am manager. That’s my cornerstone.
I think its a pretty good indication of the state of your offense when the first two batters on your team try to bunt for hits.
what do you think the reds would want for this guy
Jay Bruce 18 | OFStatus: Active
——————————————————————————–
Stats
AVG:
.444
HR:
3
RBI:
8
SB:
1 Bookmark PlayerFull Name: Jay A. Bruce
Born: 04/03/1987
Birthplace: Beaumont, TX
Height: 6′ 2″
Weight: 218
Bats: L
Throws: L
2007 Season
Team League AVG G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI TB BB SO SB CS OBP SLG OPS
SAR FSL .325 67 268 49 87 27 5 11 49 157 24 67 4 4 .379 .586 .965
CHA SOU .444 4 18 3 8 1 0 3 8 18 1 6 1 0 .474 1.000 1.474
Minors .332 71 286 52 95 28 5 14 57 175 25 73 5 4 .385 .612 .997
Who is this man pitching and what has he done with Scott Baker?
Where are the bats!!!!!!!!
Baker is pitching like a GOD and no-one
is backing him up!!
Arrrrggghhhh!!!
Well, that is a question to ask the Rangers. Twins are facing a guy with a 3 ERA and Baker has an ERA over 6. How in the world is the Rangers not scoring? Maybe Baker has decided that the best way to win games is pretend he is facing the Yankees who also can’t seem to hit against him.
Jay Bruce would likely cost a top pitching prospect plus Hunter and a reliever (Rincon?).
Hunter has hit hte ball hard twice, maybe he will drive someone in. It looks like it will have to be himself though.
Nora-
The Rangers??
oops, sorry the Blue Jays. LOL
The unfortunate thing about people believing that the W-L record is important is that Scott Baker essentially gets nothing for his 7.1 innings of great work tonight. Fortunately, there are more and more people who realize that the W-L record means absolutely nothing and will know that his more important numbers all got much better with this outing!
Arg. Annoying everytime we score the pitching seems to manage to give it back the next inning.
Sigh. Any time Tyner is in the game I am sad. I have nothing against the guy personally as I’ve never met him. But, as a MLB player he leaves a lot to be desired. I’d rather have Santana hitting.
Not a good night for Matt Garza. Five innings, 10 hits, four earned runs, six strikeouts, one homer. 96 pitches.
Scott Baker essentially gets nothing for his 7.1 innings of great work
The game is about winning, not pitching well. He gave up one too many runs to win didn’t he?
Wins have their limitations. Like any baseball statistic, taken out of context they can be misleading. But they also measure the most important aspect of the game.
so, would you evaluate a pitcher by if a starter wins? Let me ask this: If you’re a GM or a manager and you have two pitchers with the following lines…
Pitcher A - 7 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 0 BB, 10 K.
Pitcher B - 5.1 IP, 6 ER, 11 H, 2 BB, 1 K.
Tell me which pitcher gave his team a better chance to win? Which one pitched better? Which one did better about what he could control?
Now, if Pitcher A lost 1-0, did he pitch any worse? If Pitcher B’s offense scored 15 runs over the first three runs for him and he got the Win, does that mean he pitched any better?
My contention is that To a Team, all that matters is W-L record. But a starter can only control so much.
How about this then…
Pitcher C - 1/3 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 0 K.
What if that pitcher blew a save chance and allowed the game to be tied in the Top of the 9th. Then what if the home team wins it in the Bottom of the 9th. That guy gets the Win.
In 2005, Bartolo Colon won the Cy Young Award over Johan Santana. Why? Because Colon won 24 games and Santana won just 16. Of course, Colon didn’t pitch as well, allowing more than a run more per game on average.
Do you think Tyner’s little league team knows he is missing tonights game to be horrible for the Twins?
I suppose the little league team has enough players, so the bench guys can miss.
Geeze Tyner, could you get one clutch hit in your life?
I agree Seth, you definitely can’t go solely by a pitcher’s wins and losses when judging him. I’d much rather go by his ERA.
“Wins have their limitations. Like any baseball statistic, taken out of context they can be misleading. ”
The problem with wins, as distinct from other statistics, is that everything they tell us can be measured better in other ways. The only added info they offer is noise.
Anyway, Scott Baker got a lot out of this game, namely another few weeks in the major leagues.
Thanks Austin, but of course, solely looking at ERA isn’t completely accurate either. The main reason is because of inherited runners. This is why reliever ERAs are hard to judge as well. If the previous pitcher leaves the bases loaded and a reliever comes in with two outs and gives up a double and all three runs score, they are not charged to him. For a starter, it means a bit more though.
I would say that WHIP is very important to look at. Opponent BA/OBP/SLG is key in the same way you have to look at all three for hitters.
But as TT wrote: all baseball statistics, especially viewed alone, can be very deceptive.
Years ago a pitcher was expected to pitch the whole game. Teams wanted their pitcher to win the game. All other stats were less important.
Nowadays, pitchers pitch five innings every five days, and are exhausted.
I like traditional baseball, but considering how the game is now played, a pitchers W-L statistic is no longer important.
The problem with wins, as distinct from other statistics, is that everything they tell us can be measured better in other ways.
I don’t think that is true. A pitcher can’t get a win unless their team wins and they can’t get a loss unless their team loses. And a starter doesn’t get a win or a loss unless they leave the game with their team winning or losing. What else measures that?
Rene Leveret drove in 6 runs for the E-Twins tonight. Hitting .480 in his first six games with 3 dingers and 15 RBI’s. The kid from St.Martin can rake.
Eliz has scored more than 10 runs in 4 of their six wins. 14-3 blowout tonight.
Guess making Punto a “groundball” hitter instead of pop flies is working well too 
Make a deal. Look at the upcoming prospects that will need a spot. Guys we didn’t even discuss at the start of the year: Blackburn, Mullins and Duensing. 2 of the 3 are lefties and should be valuable commodities. Plus Perkins and Garza, Liriano back next year.
Oh and congrats on a nice night TouchDown Baker. Too bad the “O” didn’t help.
I’m at work, can anyone tell me if Hunter was safe in the 8th? I know Gardy got tossed (watch out Bobby Cox!), Thanks in advance!
He was tagged on his back pocket or maybe even his batting glove. It was the right call. Another example of Gardy getting tossed unnecessarily.
That said, Hunter grabbed the umpire and essentially made him listen to him. 90% of other big league ball players do what he did and they’re instantly tossed. Hunter should be suspended. Gardy may have saved him there.
Nowadays, pitchers pitch five innings every five days, and are exhausted.
While I know this is intended as an exaggeration, I think it ignores the fact that a pitcher who only gets 15 outs can’t hold a job as a starter.
The problem with a lot of the component stats is they ignore that reality. A guy pitches 5 innings and has a good whip and only a couple earned runs and people think that is a success.
I also think people ignore what a win means. It means the pitcher left the game with his team ahead. And a loss means they left the game with their team behind as a result of the runs they gave up. Those are not meaningless measures in the game of baseball.
Offense was offensive again, but Twins get the W. Now, please lets get one more bat from someone. Teams are now itching to unolad players. It’s getting late early 
I also think people ignore what a win means. It means the pitcher left the game with his team ahead. And a loss means they left the game with their team behind as a result of the runs they gave up. Those are not meaningless measures in the game of baseball.
Wins and losses are how the game is measured, but last time I checked, baseball is a team game. Assigning one player the result of the game when they have no effect on more than half of it, well, let’s be generous and call it questionable. You do realize Juan Rincon was awarded the ‘win’ tonight, right? Was his outing better than Baker’s? Neshek’s? Nathan’s? Absolutely not.
Baker pitched very well…and Punto still proves that he’s one of baseball’s worst players.
TT,
Are you honestly arguing that Johan Santana with his 2.83 ERA and Jeff Suppan with his 4.90 ERA are equal pitchers since they both have 8 wins. Same with Chris Young with his 2.08 ERA and Miguel Batista with his 4.85 ERA who both share 7 wins.
The problem with wins and losses is that so much of it is dependent on your teammates. Pitchers don’t score runs in the AL. ERA is also flawed because of the issues Seth mentioned which also reflect teammate influence although it is infinitely better than Wins. WHIP and OPS are the best measures because the pitcher has complete control over those factors and are the best gauge of future performance.
Great game by Baker tonight. No fluke BABIP, just great pitching throughout. Neshek’s performance was also tremendous.
A great example of the worthlessness of wins/losses is Johan. If you look at his stats such as WHiP, ERA, K-9 and opponent’s avg, slugging %, and OBP he is easily and clearly having one of the five best seasons of any pitcher in the league this year. However his win-loss record is rather modest.
The mainstream media would never consider this guy for the Cy Young at this point because of the 8-6 record, but that’s ridiculous. The only reason he has that record is because the Twins scored something like 10 runs for him in six starts at one point. There isn’t a pitcher in baseball that is going to get a bunch of W’s with that kind of production.
Hence, and not surprisingly, I agree with Seth: wins are worthless.
“Pitching up” and other pet peeves.
In an early LEN report on the game, he expressed surprise that Baker was successful last night because he was “pitching up”. The key was that he was able to keep his pitches out of the middle of the plate. The media frequently uses “pitching up” as a euphemism for throwing pitches down the middle, but it can be misleading. An effective high, hard one can be a very good pitch. Up and in and down and away are still the most difficult pitches to hit. Baker’s success last night was based on hitting the corners, in and out, and had little to do with whether he was “pitching up”.
Another euphemism that Bert misuses all the time is “middle in”. Sometimes he uses that term to describe a pitch on the inner half of the plate, sometimes a pitch on the inside corner, and sometimes a pitch off the inside corner.
I agree with the thread that suggests wins and losses as a statistic for pitchers is often not a reliable indicator of pitching effectiveness. ERA is better, but it too has problems. A composite look at all statistics is necessary as no one stat tells all. The sportswriters, including our locals, who voted for Colon over Santana based solely on WL record despite composite superiority for Santana got it wrong.
One last comment on the threads on this post, Leveret at Eliz certainly is off to a fast start, but the problem is he is already 21 and will turn 22 later this year. Rookie league performances for older players can be misleading.
I’m never surprised by a Baker start. He’s at a stage in his career where we should expect him to either pitch really well (when he’s on) or really poorly (when he’s off). He doesn’t have enough experience (I think) to get by with his lesser stuff (nor does he have that one, great out pitch).
I just read on another site that the Marlins were about to acquire former Twin, Jacque Jones from the Cubs for a song. But the deal was apparently nixed by the MLB. Why don’t the Twins deal for Jones? He hit 27 dingers last year. I think he’d be a great fit in left field and as a DH.
Any thoughts?
Jones is awful.
He’d fit right in though with some of these bums.
Howard, tough call but watching Kubel’s line when heading for second base it does appear like he stopped or hesitated which likely means single and advanced on the throw. I think he would have had a bit wider turn at first had he thought double all the way.
That last response should have ended up in Howard’s blog regarding Kubel’s rbi
single or double last night.
not baseball but what do you think
Timberwolves talking three-way Garnett deal
By Adrian Wojnarowski, Yahoo! Sports
June 27, 2007
NEW YORK – Minnesota Timberwolves forward Kevin Garnett is close to going to the Phoenix Suns in a monumental three-way trade that would send Phoenix forward Amare Stoudemire to the Atlanta Hawks, league sources said Wednesday.
Atlanta would move the Nos. 3 and 11 picks in Thursday’s draft, as well as Zaza Pachulia and Anthony Johnson, to Minnesota.
Minnesota owner Glen Taylor has delivered a mandate to his basketball executives to get a deal done, one league executive said.
Yahoo! Sports has learned that the trade would also save the Hawks from an emerging showdown between the front office and coaching staff over whom to draft with the third pick. The front office and coaching staff had settled on Florida power forward Al Horford, but a faction of the Atlanta Spirit ownership group, with business interests in China, is pushing them to take Yi Jianlian.
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The deal hinges on Atlanta general manager Billy Knight saying yes, as well as Hawks ownership, which is mired in lawsuits, being willing to increase payroll. It is believed that star Hawks guard Joe Johnson talked to his former Suns teammate on Wednesday and that the 24-year-old Stoudemire, a first-team All-NBA choice, told him that he’d welcome the trade.
Adrian Wojnarowski is the national NBA columnist for Yahoo! Sports. Send Adrian a question or comment for potential use in a future column or webcast.
Updated on Wednesday, Jun 27, 2007 2:34 pm EDT
Santana is a beast. Anyone know how long his contract runs for?
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