Twins pregame: Matt Tolbert to have surgery
Posted on May 20th, 2008 – 4:31 PMBy La Velle
After being examined on Tuesday, Twins infielder Matt Tolbert said that he will have surgery on Thursday to repair a torn ligament in his left thumb. He’ll need about 5-6 weeks to recover before resumes baseball activities, so it could be closer to two months before he plays again.
Tolbert was examined by Twins’ hand specialist Dr. Tom Varecka, who looked at Tolbert’s reports for just one minute before agreeing with an earlier recommendation that the infielder needed surgery.
Tolbert isn’t an expert, but said he was told that the ligament is torn away from the bone.
“100 percent recovery, supposedly.” Tolbert said. “I’m just ready to get it done.”
Tolbert injured his thumb when he dived for first base on Thursday while making the final out of the game.
In other news….
Watched an interesting drill on the field today. Justin Morneau, Jason Kubel, Michael Cuddyer and Craig Monroe all spent time at home plate, where a ball was placed on a tee for them to swat at.
Sounds dull, but it helps a hitter stay on the ball and focus on hitting it so it has backspin, which helps it carry more. Doing it on the field, instead of in a batting cage, allows them to see where the ball travels….
Here’s a link to a Baseball America story about the Twins developing a solid amount of pitching prospects. We can complain about the lack of good position prospects in the minors but the Twins still have pitchers in the system other teams wished they had.
5:31 update: Francisco Liriano had another solid outing for Class AAA Rochester in a midday game against Syracuse. The Red Wings lost, but check out Liriano’s line here.
And now….the lineups.
Rangers (22-24): 1. Ian Kinsler, 2B. 2. Michael Young, SS. 3. Josh Hamilton, RF. 4. Milton Bradley, DH. 5. David Murphy, LF. 6. Marlon Byrd, CF. 7. Chris Shelton, 1B. 8. Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C. 9. German Duran, 3B. Pitching Doug Mathis.
Twins (22-22): 1. Carlos Gomez, CF. 2. Alexi Casilla, 2B. 3. Joe Mauer, C. 4. Justin Morneau, 1B. 5. Michael Cuddyer, RF. 6. Jason Kubel, DH. 7. Delmon Young, LF. 8. Mike Lamb, 3B. 9. Adam Everett, SS. Pitching: Glen Perkins.
213 Responses to "Twins pregame: Matt Tolbert to have surgery"
Ahh! Where’s Luke Hughes - call him up! Gardy should realize that Perkins is tired and pull him! Fire Vavra! Fire Gardy! Nick Punto has no place on a major league DL! Fire Wally the Beer Man! Can’t we double-switch Delmon Young? Why isn’t Young in A Ball? Why isn’t Gomez in AA Ball? Sign Jacque Jones!
OK. There. I got it all out of the way for everyone. Now you can proceed with talking about baseball.
Jacque Jones signed with the Marlins
You forgot *I think we should switch Mauer to 3rd base*
Wouldn’t mind seeing Harris at 2B today and Casilla at SS. Is Harris nursing an injury too? 3 hits last night…
Nice GBG.
Here’s a thought though, why not have Delmon behind Morneau for protection. Cuddy is obviously struggling, which doesn’t give Morneau much to swing at. Delmon is at least hitting about .270.
GBG, you forgot to rip on Smith for not getting Jon Lester for Johann b/c he pitched a no-hitter.
i dunno GBG, is your rant pessimism? or the fact that people will now just talk about baseball optimisim.
anyone have a subscription to baseball america to read LeVelle’s link?
Shawn, When will then be now? 
i dunno, after everyone in the lineup gets 2 hits tonight, Vavra juggles chainsaws, Gardy fixes all of the teams with products purchased at “his favorite hardware store”, and Wally the Beerman comes to the mound to take out Rincon before he can throw a pitch.
i like seeing Casilla geting anther start just wish it was at SS but with harris not feilding good but if he can feild and hit better then he did last year i can see him staying up here when punto comes back
Team’s injuries*
This needs to be the lineup for tonight’s game:
1.Gomez-CF
2.Young-LF
3.Mauer-C
4.Morneau-1B
5.Kubel-DH
6.Harris-2B/SS
7.Cuddyer-RF
8.Lamb-3B
9.Cassila-SS/2B
I do not get why Harris is geting the blame.
Everett and Lamb had better be on the hot seat. They have gotten plenty of time to turn things around, but they have not. If I was Gardy I would let them know that if they do not turn it around by the time Punto and Tolbert are healthy that they will not be starters on this team.
Mike Lamb has zero homeruns and is batting .210. Adam Everett nearly leads the team with errors while still missing two and a half weeks, and of course is batting UNDER .200.
This is absolutely unacceptable. Why are they getting a free pass by Gardy?
Why is Gardy putting most if not all the blame on Harris for his defense?
Harris is learning a new position, and can hit a baseball, give him a break. Let him learn his position. The blame, though, needs to be put on someone and the blame belongs to Lamb and Everett. If they don’t put it together in 2/3 weeks i would designate Everett (and Rincon by the way) to assignment, and put Lamb on the bench. Maybe Lamb is better as bench player like he has been.
Justin I couldn’t agree more with your last two posts. Thank you!!
The reason Harris isn’t in the lineup is because Gardy hates his defense. Pretty simple. Why Everett and Lamb are getting a free pass for their shoddy defense is unclear. Especially Everett who is supposed to be a gold glove caliber fielder.
Just added a link up top to Rochester’s morning game so you can see Liriano’s line.
Agree with putting Delmon in the 2 hole. With Mauer behind him, pitchers wouldn’t be able to junk-ball him like they’ve been doing.
La Velle, if you’re going to post a link to a good story that requires a subscription to view, the least you could do would be to give us your username and password. 
What!? I thought that was a free story. Curses…..
Shawn — just getting tired of reading the same old same old in these comments, and all of the hysteria. Thought I’d just get it out of the way and have a little fun with it.
Can’t believe I forgot to get Mauer in there, though. Sigh. I guess there will always be something to crab about irrationally!
Rochester
Player AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
Span CF 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 .327
Jorgensen C 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .167
Watkins LF 3 0 3 1 0 0 0 2 0 .213
Macri 2B 5 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 .263
Buscher 3B 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 .312
Ruiz DH 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 .241
Jones RF 5 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 2 .185
Morales, J C 4 0 2 1 0 0 1 0 2 .297
Pridie 1- PR-CF 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .225
Santos SS 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 .181
Basak 1B 4 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 .243
Liriano P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Gomez, M P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Lahey P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Cali P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
BATTING
2B: Watkins (1, Purcey), Jones (9, League), Morales, J (4, League).
TB: Watkins 4; Macri 2; Jones 2; Morales, J 3; Santos; Basak.
RBI: Morales, J (9), Basak (8).
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Buscher; Basak; Ruiz 2; Macri.
GIDP: Basak; Buscher.
Team LOB: 10.
BASERUNNING
SB: Basak (5, 2nd base off De Jong/Kratz).
CS: Buscher (1, 2nd base by Purcey/Kratz).
FIELDING
E: Cali (1, throw).
DP: 2 (Santos-Macri-Basak, Buscher-Macri-Basak).
1-Ran for Morales, J in the 9th.
Syracuse
Player AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
Lydon RF 5 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 .289
Coats CF 4 1 2 0 0 0 0 1 1 .288
Lind LF 5 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 .325
Watson 1B 5 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .260
Thigpen 3B 3 0 2 0 0 0 2 1 1 .226
Adams 2B 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 .237
Nielsen DH 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .179
Cannon SS 4 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 .261
Kratz C 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .118
Cabral 2B-3B 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .154
Purcey P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
League P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Gosling P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
De Jong P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
BATTING
TB: Lydon 2; Coats 2; Lind 2; Watson; Thigpen 2; Adams; Cannon 2.
RBI: Thigpen 2 (17), Adams (24).
2-out RBI: Thigpen 2; Adams.
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Thigpen; Nielsen 3.
GIDP: Nielsen; Cabral.
Team LOB: 9.
BASERUNNING
SB: Coats (4, 2nd base off Liriano/Morales, J).
CS: Lydon (3, 2nd base by Liriano/Morales, J).
FIELDING
DP: 3 (Cabral, Cannon-Watson, Cannon-Cabral-Watson).
I could see the page:
Rochester
Player IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA
Liriano 7.0 8 2 2 1 3 0 3.93
Wow, I didn’t catch it pasted everything.
Somehow this club is .500 with this pathetic offense, a defense that lacks range, and pen that looks like the cracks are really going to start showing. Optimism lies in the fact that they cannot hit any worse, can they? Track records say some of these guys will turn it around.
Liriano’s line shows 9 baserunners in 7 innings & 3 strikeouts.
I guess it’s a step forward, but there’s still a long way to go.
Hrbek says he never hit a ball of a tee.
So, what’s the purpose? To turn line-drive hitters into deep fly ball hitters? Then, maybe home run hitters?
What was Liriano’s strikes/balls totals?
With Everett’s unability to make all throws he should 1)be put on the DL 2)moved to 2b where he can make the throws!
Harris should be moved to 3b, because gardy won’t put cuddy there and lamb ain’t getting it done!
Cuddy isn’t getting it done this year either! Maybe we should think of bringing up span and putting him in left and moving young to right!
LENIII, I am curious why Gardy decided to lose his DH yesterday (even though it made things fun to watch). I believe Clark can play short. He could have moved Cuddy to second, put Clark at short and put Monroe in right after he pinch hit, while still keeping Harris as DH.
Lamb’s D has been as advertised — no great shakes but nothing awful. It’s his bat that’s been weak.
Dick just said they had Cuddy Mic’d up for the game today. Get ready to here some f bombs.
Oh, Liriano was pitches-strikes 91-62, about the same as his last start. Pretty good.
I’m guessing he’s throwing a lot of FB’s to get command going, and he’s not going after the K’s.
This just in Micheal Cuddyer struck out while hitting the baseball on the tee.
The key about those 91 pitches is it got Liriano through 7 innings, instead of the 5 or 6 we’re accustomed to.
Liriano is showing a lot of progress. As romer indicated earlier, he is likely focused on the fastball that he has had so much trouble commanding. So if he is giving up a few more hits and not getting the K’s that isn’t necessarily a problem. All the strikes, 7 innings are all excellent signs. No way a few weeks ago he could have had a start like that!
I really like the lineup. Personally I would like to see Harris and Lamb platoon at 3rd. Neither very good in the field and frankly neither are great hitters. Harris has outhit Lamb for sure, but I think if Lamb focused on RHP he will come around.
I’m not going to get gleeful yet about Liriano. I’m thinking he’ll have to tediously go through a lot of starts just as he’s doing now in order to get command of the FB be second nature to him.
He might be coming up about the same time Tolbert returns.
OK. Tonight.
Wow, we’re getting Gomez and Casilla right off. This could be fun.
Been waiting to see this for a couple months. Probably setting myself up for disappointment.
Have there ever been faster unners batting back to back?
Wow!
I’d say it worked well, romer
Make’em pay Young
Morneau smacked it. Cuddy didn’t.
OK, is Delmon surging?
How did Cuddyer get out?
Interesting strategy for the Rangers — pitch around everyone until you reach the 8 and 9 hitters?
This game’s starting off more exciting than last night’s game! Maybe another four hours of baseball tonight!
Perkins with a smart plan and great execution in the 1st. He’d better not throw an 87 mph FB down the middle on the first pitch anymore. These Rangers will catch on to that real quick.
T-wloves get 3rd pick
David - grounder to short…throw came home to get Casilla. Mauer advanced to third — throw from the catcher went into left field, allowing that “pathetic slap-single-hitting homeboy favorite” to score. Cuddyer advanced to 2nd on the throw.
I wonder what the first pitch to Bradley was. FSN didn’t show it….
Thanks GBG
Wow I thought he threw a changeup, but it was a 91 mph FB. Nice deception, Perk!
OK - very off topic, but a 30 foot long Ford Bronco just went by my house. That’s right, a stretch limo…Bronco. Who thought that was a good idea? Who?
With Gardy back to his old tricks playing all weak hitting defensive players in the infield the pitchers better learn to win with 2 runs. Perkins will be lucky to get anymore.
Everett_Fan — which heavy-hitting offensive-minded infielders would you like Gardy to start instead of who’s in there tonight?
Harris needs to be given more of chance at 2b. Casilla to ss.
Also this is a sign of things to come. He will have Clark in front of Lamb in no time.
A Ford Bronco mobile keg party…..
Btw, romer, I’m with you on being excited about Gómez and Casilla. Thing is, they both have the ability to do something totally boneheaded or totally amazing.
And what speed at the top of the lineup.
I’m with romer, I like seeing the speed burners at the top. If Casilla could work the bat a little, they could get a lot of easy runs for the big boys.
Mauer WAY OUT IN FRONT of THAT pitch (!!!!).
Justin leavin’ it all on the field for the clutch hit (heh-heh).
Harris has played more games at 2B than at SS in his professional career, including his minor league experience. This includes 47 games there last season. Some people talk about him like he’s never seen 2nd base before this season.
Besides, Casilla’s 2 for 2 tonight. I’m as surprised as anyone, perhaps, but you won’t be able to blame a defeat on his offensive output so far…
Maybe Casilla batting right after Gomez makes him feel he’s part of the future instead of part of his miserable inept past taking Gardy’s displeasure all the time.
Great opportunity for Delmon’s first HR as a Twin.
So…
Is Mathis terrible, or are the Twins hitting well?
But he’s not taking the opportunity. An inside-out swing on that first pitch.
I would be happy to see Casilla win the ss job. He definitely has more offensive potential than the other options. It’s just that against the better offensive teams we always get outslugged and we always see a better offensive team in the playoffs. Gardy gets too attached to this formula which only allows us to win against inferior teams.
Delmon with a puny effort.
German is the Texas version of Rincon.
So..T-wolves with #3…
Yeah, Chicago Bulls get first pick. The rich get richer.
Boston’s middle infield isn’t full of sluggers, neither is the Yankee’s or the Angels. The Angels even have Figgens at 3B. The Twins don’t have the Manny’s, ARods or Vlads, that’s where they get outslugged
Another first pitch to Bradley FSN doesn’t show.
With the first pick of the 2008 NBA draft, the Chicago Bulls select…..
Derrick Rose
Do the wolves risk taking OJ Mayo or will McHale try another big?
That Darn Manny
I agree we don’t have the sluggers which is why we need some extra base hits out of 2b and 3b. If Gardy will play Harris and Casilla together against NY, Sox, Angels I won’t complain but I fear tonights success will go to his head. Could we win 3 of 4 against the Sox again with this group plus Clark/Punto at 3b?
i just prey they don’t take that Lopez guy out of Stanford
The problem with our lineup is that except for Morneau, good pitching shuts all the rest of the guys down. In the playoffs, we can’t touch guys like Beckett. They need to find one other guy who can handle their own against the best.
korecky for setup man 2008
Anybody get an update on Baker? I thought I heard he was still not feeling right yesterday.
EF, I think we need some extra base hits from 3B and LF.
But I see your point….if you can’t get them from those two positions, might as well get more from 2B.
looks like vavra’s job is safe for another day.
nope mickey, with that strikeout I want Vavra out!
It’s only Vavra’s fault when the hitters don’t hit. Otherwise, it’s good hitters doing what they do.
Kinsler hasn’t been the same since he got called out on that inside curvc yesterday. Young player doin what young players do.
You heard right, Carlos G.
Doesn’t look like Casilla wants to go back down. Looks like he smells his oppertunity
Perkins absolutely tight tonight. Superb job.
Telly did a perfect job with the locker room interview of Lamb and M Young.
It’s the live stuff which he’s nervous with.
on closer inspection, the twins haven’t scored for a few innings. so maybe vavra’s job is back in jeopardy …
Just got in, Tuesday night Volleyball league (or offense is about as sporadic as the Twins…cursed Vavra)
Good thing we’ve got Bass. He could be on track for a three-inning save.
But in a 9-0 lead after last night’s marathon you gotta give Perkins a bit of a leash.
I was surprised on the radio to hear it was 9-0…with Cuddyer already having 3 ABs in like the 5th.
“Yeah, Chicago Bulls get first pick. The rich get richer.”
I still don’t get the reasoning behind the lottery.
Okay bullpen…you don’t suck. At least not that much.
Gardy pulled the starter that was showing signs, and now the pen guy is struggling. I really hope Nathan doesn’t have to come out tonight.
T, what pen guy is struggling? A guy gets a hit the first pitch Bass threw. After that, he’s fine.
Man, Young is really starting to heat up.
Delmon’s showing some extra base hit power lately
Isn’t it time for Young and Cuddy to exchange places in the lineup? Come on Gardy…….
Hard to believe two guys as big as Young and Gomez are that fast. Man, can they scoot
Hopefully these triples Young keeps hitting start turning into HR’s…..
who’d of guessed Delmon would have more 3B that HR at this point in the season
oops. changed my mind again. guess vavra can stay.
I wonder how long it is actually gonna be until Young finally gets his first homer? With his swing, he isn’t getting loft on the ball, but he is hitting liners.
Anyone see him bat last year? Was he a line-drive hitter then, with his homers on screaming liners, or what?
Serious discussion attempt…
So, if Baker comes back healthy in another 10 days or so, and if Korecky gets another 3 outings or so similar to last night’s, who do you send down?
Seems the options are:
a) Slowey (giving a decent 4-5 innings and then struggling)
b) Rincon (has good stats, but seems to struggle when things get tight)
c) Korecky (unproven at the major league level; but was very composed with 1 out and sacks jacked last night)
d) Boof (giving several quality starts, but seems to give up just a few more runs than we get; also his last 4 starts have been pretty bad)
I would say Boof. But only slightly over Slowey.
Rincon or Booooooof will go down. Korecky will be the 8th inning guy
Carlos,
i would say send down slowey or cut Rincon
It has to be encouraging that the Twins are still around .500 with Delmon, Cuddy, Lamb, Everett, Harris, Gomez for his poor stretch, all struggling out of the gate. They all can’t be held down forever.
I say Slowey, we need bullpen guys and I’d much rather start Boof than Slowey. But I’d be looking for more pen help from AAA, too cuz Rincon ain’t got It. Any idea who we have down there that is ready to go
I don’t think Slowey has the stuff to get guys out in the majors. He can get ahead of guys but can’t finish the job. His control is enough in AAA to get guys out.
He was obviously missing his out pitch the other night. He has a good mix of pitches for being a starter, but with his pitching style, he needs to be acurate in order to be effective.
When he can’t spot a particular pitch, it basically takes away his out pitch, since they can sit on only one speed.
Lahey or Danny Graves would probably be the next AAA call ups, maybe even Zach Ward in AA
Boof is out of options and would be claimed if the Twins tried to send him through waivers. Rincon has more than 5 years of major league service so he can refuse an assignment to AAA, so that limits the options quite a bit. Personally, I wouldn’t mind if Rincon was designated for assignment and Boof to the bullpen, though I’d rather see one of them traded.
How do I e-mail the booth?
Derek Jeter suffered his fifth error of the season tonight. Last time I checked, that’s the same number as Jason Bartlett. Makes one wonder when the Yankees are going to put him on the block?
Yes, I keep going between these guys. It still could be Korecky, I suppose, if he has a couple bad outings. But, I also wouldn’t mind Rincon down and try Boof or Slowey for MR.
I think Slowey has good enough stuff to get guys out, but only twice through the lineup. Boof can have trouble first time through and then look good through 6. That doesn’t sound like relief pitcher to me. So, that’s why I lean towards Boof down, but would be fine with Rincon.
too many options… that’s probably not a good thing.
i think it is too early in the year to trade starters. What could we possibly get for Rincon?
Carlos G: Again Rincon has over 5 years of major league service and can refuse any assignment to AAA
Jeter should be the Yankees starting 1B by next year.
That didn’t stop Big Hurt or Jacque from getting released. Sometimes you just gotta let em go
thanks royster. I doubt there is much trade value on Rincon right now.
That was a good game, but not nearly as exciting as last night.
Texas had 7 straight series wins coming in here. They can still get a split, but not a win. That early drubbing really took their spirit out it seemed.
“T, what pen guy is struggling? A guy gets a hit the first pitch Bass threw. After that, he’s fine.”
Think of that as a trip to the mound. I’m not going to pull him, just remind me that he’s better than that hit.
Also, remember everybody…shutouts mean this team is in the toilet, but blowouts don’t count.
Just listened to an interview between Dan Gladden and Brian Bass. Aside from the fact that Bass was probably in pain, Gladden set the broadcast industry back 50 years with his in-depth prowess. What a joke! He thinks that his .270 avge while a major leaguer qualifies him to be a critic of far better players who are currently playing the game. Guess he forgot that a guy named Puckett might have help improve his status.
I do think though that if Boof got into the pen and could hump the fastball up a little not need to save some, his curve and slider could be really great pitches to get guys out.
I think Boof should be packaged in a trade with someone (Lamb, Everrett) and sent packing, surely they could get at least a decent prospect.
We’re gettin Ponson tomorrow, I’m going out on a limb and preidcting that we won’t get shut out.
A game like the one they won last night can really pick a team up. When the MVP’s of the game are Clark, Korecky and Casilla, that gets everybody a real shot in the arm. Now Perkins got his first win, that’s how momentum gets going. Who’s gonna step up next
MANNY:
Is that the same Pontoon who used to pitch for the Twins? ? ?
Oh oh.
AA stats:
Luke Hughes (3B) - 35 games, 52 hits, 7 2B, 3 3B, 10 HR, 21 RBI, 4 SB, .356 AVG, 1.061 OPS.
Steven Tolleson (2B) - 36 games, 44 hits, 12 2B, 1 3B, 4 HR, 26 RBI, 7 SB, .328 AVG, .938 OPS.
here’s an idea. either get them to the bigs immediately, and see what they can do, or get them up to AAA and see if they continue to progress. these guys are easily better options than Lamb, Harris, and Everett in the lineup. Use Lamb off the bench (where he’s been his whole career), cut Everett (who is useless in the field and in the box), and use Harris as the utility guy who can play 2nd, short, or third. Casilla’s defense is terrible and who knows how long before he’s hitting below .200, but keep him in until he slumps. Once he does slump, put harris at short with punto/tolbert backing up.
Lineup:
Gomez
Hughes
Mauer
Morneau
Cuddyer
Kubel
Young
Tolleson
Casilla/Harris/Tolbert
what do the twins have to lose? they aren’t going to win the division with the team they have right now. they aren’t going to get better for the future with lamb, everett, and harris in the lineup and these other guys in AA. so what’s the hold up?
Ponson tonight? Last time he was up against the Twins they started out slow but eventually worked him out of the game by the 4th inning or so.
I think it was his first or second start for the Rangers too.
And I agree with Manny. After that UGLY game Monday night, they come out and put together a more definite win. Heck, even Gardy was able to recognize when Perkins was on the verge of a meltdown and got him out of there with minimum damage (though Perk didn’t look to happy with himself)
As far as calling up Hughes and Tolleson…wouldn’t that be a bit drastic? From what I had been reading regarding Gomez, part of why he still has his edge is because they rushed him to the majors and likely stunted his developement a bit.
Well we pretty much have to be nothing but positive today after that blowout win last night…here I was thinking it was a day when Cuddy could break out of his funk and he still ends up with a 1-for-5er…oooops, I forgot, nothing but positivity today….
Gotta love the blowout wins…we deserve those from time to time…and nothing will cure an ailing offense quite like Texas pitching. Year in, year out, old reliable will be there for you. Thanks, Rangers.
Was a good game….let’s avoid any letdown as we face Sidney tonight…if we’re going to get a b-squad lineup on Thursday, I’d much rather it come with 3 wins in a row under our belt.
Sorry to hear that Matt Tolbert is going under the knife…I really thought that kid could help us…and the Denard Span injury hurts, too.
So where does that leave us? Well, Alexi is probably here to stay and the Cuddyer / Young funk better come to an end soon.
Wait, all positivity all the time, baby….at least for today.
Oh, one more thing to be positive about…Lew Ford was recalled for the Hanshin Tigers, is 3-for-5 since his recall, and is now batting .204.
Life is good today.
Oh no, Jason Tyner cleared waivers and has reported to AAA. Boy, I hope he isn’t back up when we play Cleveland next. He’s gonna bring out the big stick for us after the way we dumped him
The Twins will rue the day they cut Jason Tyner just wait and see. I can’t believe theres not one story on Liriano’s start yesterday.
Apparently the iminent return of Shin Soo Choo has made Tyner expendable. The real atrocity here is that someone with Tyner’s gifts wasn’t picked up on waivers. Just think if the Twins made a move and finally got that Delmon Young to the bench where he deserves. Wasn’t that how it went?
BC of ND says:
May 21st, 2008 at 8:54 am
The Twins will rue the day they cut Jason Tyner just wait and see. I can’t believe theres not one story on Liriano’s start yesterday.
I would much rather have Tyner then someone whom I would rather not say. Hmmm…..
Span is out for at least a month with a broken finger and will not be option for the Twins
Hows it going jimmy bee? Great win last night i’m giving all the credit to Vavra for that one. Am i the only one who’s praying that Casilla will stick this time up? I love the idea of having all that speed at the top of the lineup.
BC
I’ve never been a big Casilla fan, but I’m with you on that one. Even if Everett were to start producing, Casilla is still the SS of the future if he can get things worked out. Gotta love that speed!
Joe Mauer looks a lot better in the 3 hole with two guys like Casilla and Gomez in front of him. If they could bat about .270-.280 we could score a lot of runs.
Exactly right with there speed at the top of the lineup if even one of them get’s on base there’s a really good chance of putting runs on the board early. I’m not convinced that Everetts gold glove defense even exisits and his arm looks like a wet noodle. I say give Casilla the same amount of time there giving Gomez to work things out and see what he can do.
“Joe Mauer looks a lot better in the 3 hole with two guys like Casilla and Gomez in front of him. If they could bat about .270-.280 we could score a lot of runs.”
I was waiting to see who the first to crack that line would be…
A 3-hitter is there because he can drive in runs in any situation–with hitting for average when the table setters do their job, and hitting for power when the table setters don’t.
Mauer can only do the former–thus, he himself is a table setter, not a three hitter.
So long as we play Texas, there won’t need to be any discussion about our batting order…
I love the idea of Casilla batting leadoff eventually. Gomez, even though he has all that speed will start hitting for power soon I believe. I just can’t see a guy that is 6′4 having no power (unless it is no power Mauer). Can someone explain to me why the heck Alfonso Soriano bats leadoff. Complete waste of a power hitter
BC Adam Everett is useless. Worse then Kubel. Oh wait I take that back
soon, jimmy bee? How about now…Gomez’ 3 HR puts him fourth on this squad in that category…
Gomez also has 2 more extra base hits than our current No. 3 hitter.
Kubel 5 hr’s in 40 games this year
Monroe 4 Hr’s in 25 games this year
Jason says:
May 21st, 2008 at 9:48 am
soon, jimmy bee? How about now…Gomez’ 3 HR puts him fourth on this squad in that category…
switch Mauer to the 2
Casilla as leadoff
Gomez 3 hole
jimmy funny you should ask that question
check out the linke below. It’s a good article explaining why Granderson bats leadoff for the Tigers.
BC Good artricle
This “Mauer should bat 3rd” argument is getting old quickly.
Because at this point…it’s not a matter of Mauer’s talent, it’s all about the Twins lack of a guy who could actually hit third.
And did I just see somebody honestly suggest Gomez bat third?
Heck, Everett, Harris, even Casilla all have more homers than Mauer. I guess that makes them more qualified #3 hitters.
Let’s move Mauer 2nd, and now argue for the rest of the season who should bat 3rd.
Or we can move Morneau to 3rd along with Mauer and spend the rest of the season whining about who should be batting third.
The issue isn’t “Should Mauer hit 2nd or not?” anymore.
It’s “Who in God’s name can step up and hit third?”
Hey if your squad has the luxury of mashers in the 3-4-5 spots, then, yes, Granderson can bat lead-off.
Our squad has a three hitter with 0 HR and a 5 hitter with 1 HR.
Pardon me: “who should be batting fourth“
Gomez batting 3rd in this lineup has to be the most foolish thing I have seen in a while. I always thought Gomez and Granderson compared well, with Granderson having more raw power to Gomez’s speed. They both K a lot and don’t work counts.
I can imagine it now when Gomez is bunting from the 3 hole. hellfire and brimstone in the blog o sphere
Didn’t JRoll win MVP last year batting leadoff??
Gomez is not a 3 hitter yet but he very well could be in the next few years. Like jimmy said a guy who’s 6′4 and 200 lbs should be able to hit for power as well.
Brendan Harris can’t play any defense and makes 600,000 a year. That’s why he gets the short end of the stick. Mike Lamb has a 2 year contract with a team option for a 3rd year at like 3.8 million. And he plays a decent 3B from what i’ve seen. He has sucked at hitting except for some run scoring situations. So he gets to play. Brendan Harris is a train wreck at 2B and playing him full time at SS or 3B would make the Twins the joke of the league. Our D is bad now I can’t imagine Harris at short. Everett will probably be relased even though he makes 2.5 million cause nobody else is going to want him and he is terrible. Span broke his finger so their is nobody in AAA to help anywhere. Morales will proably be the backup next year bye bye Redmend. But that doesn’t help hitting at all. Lets all hope Chris Parmelee is the man and Luke Hughes is on the HGH and can keep up the hitting.
T move cuddy to the 3 for now and see if it puts a fire under his arse.
Please allow me to participate in the discussion of who should bat second, third or fourth in the Twins batting order.
It is SO interesting and absolutely crucial to the human condition.
Holy sh-t!!!!
Its no wonder football is America’s game.
BC I am off to hot, hot, hot, st petersburg florida in late june. I will then drive to Ft Myers and see where the twinkies play. Hot, hot, hot but fun, fun, fun. I will see the Rays play
Sid great one
I am ready for the wolves to draft someone utterly useless.
sid were you looking for the humancondition.com blog and ended up here by mistake?
jimmy bee
brook Lopez from Stanford would fit the bill and then draft his twin in the second round.
BC,
I was actually looking for an interesting discussion on baseball, my favorite sport, and stumbled on the Great Batting Order Debates.
After breaking my nose, when I fell asleep at the the keyboard, I will be taking your advice and clicking on humancondition.com.
Thanks for the tip.
jimmy i love Florida but it’s already a little to humid for me this time of year. When i retire i would love to live in the Florida Keys during the winter.
Oh and jimmy i think the wolves will take Mayo because he’s the most talented but it’s stupid because they have too many guards already. They should trade there pick.
sid your a funny guy i like that. Why don’t you start a discussion? Jimmy like to discuss LaPanta’s hair.
That Darn Manny says:
May 21st, 2008 at 10:41 am
jimmy bee
brook Lopez from Stanford would fit the bill and then draft his twin in the second round.
How bout the second calling of OJ from USC. With the McFail Mantra we would get hansbourough if available. McFail with draft picks is like a drunk with a ferrari
LaPanta’ hair was moving last night. They didn’t kill it enough and it started to wake up and crawl
OK.
Check out baseballamerica.com/online/prospects/prospect-pulse/2008 for a great article about Twins pitching development.
BC can we grab LaPanta’ hair and toss it back and forth to play the keep away game
Make that:
baseballamerica.com/online/prospects/prospect-pulse/2008/266108.html
Here is a great article on LaPanta
http://www.germes-online.com/direct/dbimage/50240086/Toupee.jpg
Stay with what you are familiar.
sid what do you project the lineup to look like this evening?
jimmybee,
My 10:34AM post indicates my lack of interest in the batting order.
As one poster who is much smarter than me keeps repeating:
“It just doesn’t matter!”
I gotcha sid.
I think Mike Lamb was in Houston too long his stance is a mirror image of Jeff Bagwells they both look like there taking a dump.
Anyone hear the name “Fat Elvis” before. That is Lance Berkman’ nickname.
BC,
If Lamb hits as well as Bagwell, he can go ahead and take that dump.
true Bags was a great hitter i loved that big upper cut swing he took. My favorite swing of all time though is Mo Vaughn’s i wish someone on the Twins would try to imitate that swing.
Ah, the steroid era, a time when Mo Vaughn was the man.
That,
If Mo Vaughn was on steroids, he must have forgotten the part about daily conditioning.
I suppose Cecil Fielder was on roids as well.
Do cheeseburgers contain steroids?
sane says:
May 21st, 2008 at 12:08 pm
Do cheeseburgers contain steroids?
HILLARIOUS
I guess Denys is still getting his daily roids portion.
Did anyone see the Livan groundout the other day when he tried to beat out a throw to first?
Yea jb. He ran for a long time in the same place, but he was safe. Pretty funny. I was hoping he wouldn’t pull something.
I think that was when Bert came up with the “it will take a HR to score Livan from first”.
You guys crack me up your like a ray of sunshine on a cloudy day i think i’ll write a song about it. Who wins in a 50 yard dash Mo Vaughn, Cecil Fielder or Livan Hernandez?
“Who wins in a 50 yard dash Mo Vaughn, Cecil Fielder or Livan Hernandez?”
Whichever guy finishes.
“Who wins in a 50 yard dash Mo Vaughn, Cecil Fielder or Livan Hernandez?”
Win, place and show if they are racing Mike Sciosia and Matt LeCroy.
It was revealed on December 13, 2007 in the report by Senator George J. Mitchell that Vaughn had purchased steroids or other performance-enhancing drugs from Kirk Radomski, who said he delivered the drugs to him personally. Radomski produced three checks, one for $2,200 and two more for $3,200, from Vaughn, one of the latter dated 6-1-2001, and another dated 6-19-2001. Radomski said that the higher checks were for two kits of HGH, while the lower one was for one and a half kits. Vaughn’s name, address and telephone number was listed in an address book seized from Radomski’s house by federal agents.
Yea jb. He ran for a long time in the same place, but he was safe. Pretty funny. I was hoping he wouldn’t pull something.
Livan’ stomach arrived at the base 3 seconds prior to his foot touching the bag
That Darn Manny says:
May 21st, 2008 at 1:16 pm
Radomski produced three checks, one for $2,200 and two more for $3,200, from Vaughn, one of the latter dated 6-1-2001, and another dated 6-19-2001.
Who the he_ _ uses a check with there name and address on it to buy illegal drugs.
Big Mo, baby, thats who.
come on guys, you really think that Mo Vaughn was that good without a little help. Seriously.
I was so excited when Vaughn went to the Angels. Then he spent a whole bunch of time riding the bench with injuries. I think he lived on the Angels Bench at the Big A. Hideous performance and a waste of time and money
Cecil was the last great clean HR hitter of his era. Junior too.
That’s the roids. Anytime I see a guy with a .325 average and 40+ HR’s, I gotta ask my self. Is this guy one of the alltime greats. Look at the big HR guys from the past. Only a very few hit for a good average. TAke Schmidt or Killebrew. Only the all time greats have a run like Mo did. He ain’t one of those.
TDM What Mo not an alltime great? I just liked his swing is all it looked like he was grabbing some guy off of a wrestling mat and throwing him out of the ring.
Frank Robinson deserves more credit for being one of the best hitters ever. a .294 ave to go with those 586 HR’s
and that was before they lowered the mound for the most part. The league average was .240
If you look at the list of guys who batted .300 and hit 35+ HR for 4 years in a row, It’s pretty small list. Mo’s there with guys like Gehrig and Ruth.
He was a great player no doubt about it. I’m curious about something though without roids how did Ruth ever hit 60 and how did Marris ever hit 61? As long as i’m at it why did it take 38 years for someone to break 60 again?
TDM what about Hammering Hank or Reggie Jackson. Mantle, Ruth, Schmidt. Baylor, Richie Allen. Dale Murphy,
TDM Orlando Cepeda.
Frank Howard, Dave Parker
Jack Clark
Andre Dawson & Jim Rice were around Cecils era
frank Howard never hit .300 Dave Parker never hit 30 2 years in a row
Hank only did it 3 time in a row .300/30
same with Willie
Regie only hit .300 once in his career.
Mantle did it in his prime
Murphy didn’t hit for average and neither did Schmidt. No one hits for .300 and 35 plus for multiple years in a row except the very best of all time until about 1995.
Richie Allen
jimmy bee,
thats a pretty impressive list of players but only one can say they matched Mo Vaughn for a 5 year stretch
Yeah I know who. Mr Ruth. Richie Allen was a very tallented ball player but didn’t do it in back to back years but he did do it several times.
