Casilla activated. Bass outrighted to Rochester
Posted on August 20th, 2008 – 3:55 PMBy La Velle
The Twins have officially activated Alexi Casilla from the 15-day disabled list. To make room for him, the Twins outrighted righthander Brian Bass to Class AAA Rochester.
Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said he needed an extra bench player with Delmon Young and Adam Everett nursing injuries. So the Twins will try an 11-man staff for awhile, with Gardenhire pointing out that another pitcher, “is just a phone call away.”
Gardenhire also pointed out how well Randy Ruiz has swung the bat since being called up and wanted to keep him.
Bass is 3-4 with a 4.87 ERA but has struggled lately to the point where the Twins were using him sparingly. Being outrighted means that Bass cleared waivers. He has 72 hours to accept the assignment or become a free agent. “I’ll think about it,” Bass said. “We’ll see.”
Casilla, who has recovered from a torn ligament in his right thumb, was 4 for 7 in two rehab games at Class A Beloit.
181 Responses to "Casilla activated. Bass outrighted to Rochester"
YAY!
this is the move i wanted.
I still would have liked a bullpen replacement but this makes sense with Everett and Young on the mend.
good move … it still would be nice to add Al Reyes or David Weathers in the next couple days or so
The bullpen is already obviously tired and now we are going to shorten it?
Al Reyes signed with the Mets.
Al Reyes signed by Mets.
I think they will wait out Everett and if he has to go to DL they will bring up Korecky in 3-4 days. The bully can hold that long.
Bass wasn’t pitching much.
Al Reyes is old and had has arm problems.
Weathers is interesting, but haven’t heard his name around here.
Maybe the Twins will shock us and deal for a pitcher by the time Joe C. lands in L.A.
Wow, cleared waivers. Who’d thunk it?
We are going on the road to play four games against probably the best team in baseball. I think we’re going to need the bullpen.
makes sense, just got to get the bullpen back on track… Bonser’s outing today provides some optimism.
” “I’ll think about it,” Bass said. “We’ll see.”
Yes explore all your options Brian i’m sure the Sox and Rays will be calling shortly.
“Shawn in Binghamton says:
August 19th, 2008 at 9:30 pm
we could DFA Bass and wait 4 or so days to then trade out a position player for a pitcher(Korecky)”
This is clearly a play for the WS roster. They want plenty of defensive substitutes available when they PH for Everett and Punto and whomever is at 3B. That’s how confident they are right now…….
Boof has been solid in his last 6 outings, maybe they had deemed him turned around.
“” “I’ll think about it,” Bass said. “We’ll see.”
Yes explore all your options Brian i’m sure the Sox and Rays will be calling shortly.”
I bet the Rockies are interested
another pitcher is “just a phone call away”
Indeed. And I fully expect that phone call to come sooner than later…unless our starters can start going 7 and take some pressure off the bullpen.
Bass needed to go…whether it was today or a few days from now…I’m cool with that.
At the same time, I’m not cool with leaving the bullpen as is and one good game against the worst offense in the league (as Doogie pointed out a moment ago) doesn’t tip the scales for me.
Maybe the Twins are more concerned with the pitching they will face on this trip then they are the hitting.
makes sense for Bass to explore his options. He won’t even be first on the pecking order to come back up and if someone wants him on their big league club, he makes big league salary.
Is there anything you folks WON’T complain about?
Forget the sky, It already fell to the middle of the earth. Let’s get creative here…
Regards,
Note to Brian,
Man-up. Get on the plane to Rochester and we’ll see you 9/1.
Shawn,
He makes big league salary, no matter what he decides to do.
Sweetone,
you’re right. smacks head….
Twins choose Ruiz over Bass.
This way, Guerrier’s arm can fall off and they’ll bring up Korecki.
Should have DL’ed Guerrier a week ago.
BTW, teams of course dominated Liriano with hits and walks last April. Sure, it was only Oakland…..But Liriano pitched tough today, though it was disappointing.
I don’t think any franchise will ever dominate him again. It’ll be very much vice versa.
Time to re-nickname him Franchise.
To be fair Dragon, the team we’re chasing has scored 117 runs already this month…I don’t think it’s too much to ask to shore up our pitching holes.
Dragon,
i am plenty happy with this. The guy rarely pitches, most teams go 11 deep on pitching anayway. We may have bullpen problems but he didn’t provide a solution to them. A 12th guy will be brought in within a week i’m guessing.
I do find it odd they’d DFA him now, but wouldn’t do so to bring up Korecky or another pitcher when the pen was imploding. They must really, really feel this is their only option.
they should have sent young or gomez down instead of bass. they will need the arms against the angels of out west somewhere.
Do we need to start a “Free Bobby Korecky” chant?
11 pitchers? I hope our starters can be more efficient for the next week and a half, then we can call up some more relief relief for September.
To be fair, we dont have to play the team we’re chasing for another month, and only 3 times.
Again, the Dragon, read all the posts. People have been calling for Korecki, no?
It would be a wise move for Bass to take the assignment…no team will really want him. Plus if he does well in Rochester, he’d be one of the first to come back with his 3/4 of a seaon experience already.
Romer: I’ll take 4-0 with an ERA under 2 any day as a “franchise”
Jason,
I would be glad to be fair, if there was even least amount of fairness shown on this blog. It’s not, so I’m just getting along. 
There’s NOT ONE win which has been celebrated and/or enjoyed this season here. Constant complaints and nit-picking, and generally faulty forcasting.
Regards,
right Jeff, but I think the Angels, Rays, Tigers, and Orioles all score a lot of runs, too…
this blog post is unrelated to a win.
The franchise nickname back already? I think that name will be appropriate when he gets back control of his fastball and can go 6+ innings consistently.
P.S. I hope his fastball will get up to 94-95mph next year
romer,
Sure they call for Korecky because he’s NOT here. As soon as he’s here, the complaints will start. He doesn’t part his hair correctly, he threw a ball instead of a strike…blah, blah, blah.
I could sit down and write ALL the days posts by myself, they’re so predictable.
Regards,
“they should have sent young or gomez down instead of bass”
Young … hahahaha, really? … Gomez maybe, but it wouldn’t make sense to send him down for a little over a week
Dragon,
gotta ask. “What do you want people to post?”
Remember when we used to have R.A. Dickey? Glad he’s with the Mariners, and it’s not only because I don’t like the way he wears his pants.
this is a net gain. Bass adds nothing.
He doesnt rest the bullpen, because all he does is make things worse for the relliever which follows him.
The comment on optioning Young down to AAA is laughable at the least
“faulty forcasting”
nice bit of irony, there…
there’s two sides to your claim…you make it seem like this is belly-aching…I prefer to think of it as fandom. I enjoy EVERY Twins win and take great pride in them…but at the same time, baseball is a constant struggle to get better…
plus, it makes for good conversation. I guess if you want this…I’ll dish it up, but there’s not much conversation to it:
What a game by Red Dog today!
Liriano got after it, baby!
Punto made up for his errors early big time and continues to produce!
Wow that bullpen was rock solid…I think Boooooof is back, baby.
Joe Nathan is a joy to watch…he’s worth the price of admission by himself!
a 7-2 homestand! Are you kidding me! This squad absolutely rocks!
D Young continues to tear the cover off the ball!
Kubel’s hot streak over the weekend is proof that this squad is going to the playoffs!
How about Gardy…that guy absolutely gets after it. He has these guys ready to go each and every day! Move over Joe Maddon, I’m voting for Gardy!
Joe Madden will win the AL Manager of the year hands down.
They should have outrighted Bass to the dumpster
matt since when are we supposed to make sense with our posts?
this blog is for over reacting to a small sample size.
[…] The recent problems with the Twins’ bullpen have been well documented, and we have our own opinions about what should be done about it. Apparently, though, the Twins have different ideas. […]
No he won’t, Adam…are you kidding me…look what Gardy’s done with this squad…most picked us to finish 4th or 5th in the AL Central!
It has to go to Gardy!
Besides, they even get it done after he gets tossed from games! Maddon is merely benefiting from great FO moves…
Gardy for AL Manager of the Year!
The Tampa Rays are THE story of baseball this season. I think Gardy will be a strong but distant second.
Why Bass can go:
Boof has adapted, his numbers and usage reflect this.
Breslow is used more and trusted to get some righties out.
Guerrier has to be getting to the point where he is rested.
Nathan can be used more.
2 heavy usage games in the next 4 and someone will come up to replace a position player.
I guess Bass didn’t battle his tail off.
I’d go Gardy…look at the passion…every cut away of Maddon shows him sitting back with his legs crossed in the dugout…
they show Gardy and he’s perched up with one foot on the dugout stairs and his head tucked behind the dugout wall…rearing to leap out at any sign of a close call…
I gotta go Gardy on this one…we have Leyland and Guillen in our division–both World Championship managers, and Gardy’s about to beat both of them.
You know, Plunkton, Bass has been getting after it…I think a few days in Rochester will straighten him out and he’ll be back up here in no time, mowing guys down.
Guerrier is rested but he still can’t pitch. I wouldn’t trust him at all right now.
IowaTwin…did you see his last outing? He’s improving…he’ll be fine.
if Guerrier can’t pitch the Twins may be screwed.
He’s never been that great and now he’s got a mental block and a tired arm. We’ll see more of Breslow than Guerrier I would guess.
12 pitchers was supposed to prevent what happened to Guerrier (tired arm).
Maybe 11 pitchers will also somehow become ironic and the pen will somehow become rested.
There’s an inside chance at this if the likes of Young and Ruiz (since we don’t have Beltre) start bashing HRs.
I wanna see more Twins starters leave after pitching 8 complete with 7-6 leads. Nathan is set up to pitch lots and lots of 9th innngs in the next 40 days.
In other words….Messrs. Slowey/Blackburn/Baker/Perkins, pitch 110 pitches and allow two 2-run HRs a game and another run or two and complete 8. Use the PB less and let the eventually healing offense beat the other team.
I LOVE to watch Ruiz bat. Wish I could see him face Nolan Ryan, just for the fun of it. He seems like a veteran MLB crusher at the plate the way he handles himself.
He very well could justify this move down to 11 pitchers.
(And that was my exact thinking in getting Beltre for Perkins — a move up for a move down).
Peace.
Shawn & Jason,
I realize it’s fandom.
I guess is there is little reflection, just reaction and over-reaction, IMHO.
There is good and bad to this season. I suspect the good outweighs the bad, at least as I see it.
Just read through any blog topic in the last month(s) and tell me that there is any sense that the Twins are having a better season than the Nationals (I will grant you that it’s not much better).
If you knew nothing about the Twins, and you read these blogs, you would think they were the worse team in baseball.
Regards,
“if Guerrier can’t pitch the Twins may be screwed.”
LOL you must not have access to Reusse’s column, huh, Shawn? He had the same exact take yesterday!
Don’t worry, Guerrier will get after it!
i was reading the red wings blog not too long back, and all they did was complain about korecky and their bullpen… much like we all do with the twins. don’t cross your fingers for much help coming from down there…
I should add, I hope I’m really wrong about Guerrier because we need him to be serviceable.
I missed Dick and Bert today…they make Twins games very exciting…glad to know they’ll be back tomorrow night..
Also, they added a telecast to the schedule…next Wed’s game v. Seattle. I love you, FSN North!
Dragon,
the worst teams in baseball may or may not have enough people to care. Not sure. I know during the 90s i cared about the Twins but not as much as now.
Jason,
I actually read it. We need Matty to be decent. He reminds me of 2005 Guerrier that was alot like Bass.
Hey, I loved my 90s Twins…huge fan of Chad Allen and Otis Nixon. Scott Erickson’s no-no; Marty Cordova ROY; Ron Coomer’s All-Star Game appearance; Brad Radke’s 20-win season…
oh yeah, they also won a World Championship in ‘91
90s rocked!
“There’s NOT ONE win which has been celebrated and/or enjoyed this season here. Constant complaints and nit-picking, and generally faulty forcasting.”
We smell bitchsox butts way too close to us, the Dragon. This isn’t only about baseball fun, it’s about justice.
With a lower payroll, the Twins have players with excellent character and work ethic. Hell, this is about America itself, no?
I just thought it was funny because the take was pretty much the exact same…I would agree, as well…but I also think they should bring in someone else for backup…
wait, nvm…we’re set, Matty should be okay!
“I could sit down and write ALL the days posts by myself, they’re so predictable.”
I know, I know.
There were stupid people in my class in high school too. They’re all over.
Liriano since his call up:
4-0; 1.14 ERA
Nothing else matters in regards to him.
Man I hope Boston loses tonight…then we’ll just be .5 game back in Wild Card, too. Go O’s!
Boof - you are a starter again. You start the 2nd half of every Franchise’s outing. Look! even Franchise is being panned by the evil, never satisfied blogger. Hope command returns
Joe madden wins manager of the year easily. TB has never even won more than 70 games in a year, ahve they?
The Bass move was about 2-3 weeks almost too late… Glad to see that Gardy is willing to stick with 11 pitchers (at some point this season he wanted 13). As far as the starters are concerned, Slowey (3 CG, 2 SO) and Blackburn are the only 2 that shown that may actually go 7-8. Baker should be there, but the last month he has been regressing. Liriano is throwing way too many pitches to last more than 5-6 and Perkins is really a bullpen guy. Glad to see Boof’s effort today.
Re: Weathers: He is 38, he pitched 54 innings this season (just 8 less than Guerrier), his WHIP is an awful 1.519 in the lesser league (for comparison Bass had a 1.551 WHIP) and was released by the hapless Reds. Why would he be better than Korecky or Delaney, I am not sure…
“I could sit down and write ALL the days posts by myself, they’re so predictable.”
Don’t burden yourself, the Dragon:
I’ll write all the jimmy bee posts, you get the rest.
What the Twins need this road trip:
2-2 vs. Angels
2-1 vs. Mariners
3-1 vs. A’s
2-1 vs. Blue Jays
Road trip = 9-5
That’ll put us at 81-59 and about 3 games back with 22 to play, 12 at home.
“…Perkins is really a bullpen guy.”
Didn’t he go 8 once?
Road trip = 8-6
About 5 games back.
Buscher’s defense will account for 2 of the 6 losses.
the Dragon will ignore it.
:)>
Lala73
Nathan had 2 career CGs in the minors and Guerrier 6, but they are not starting pitcher material… Perkins tends to implode hit 4th 5th inning
You know who has impressed me this year? Kubel has actually proven to me that he is quite servicable in the bigs.
BTW: Command for Liriano returns when Mauer catches him again. Redmond seems hell-bent on “establishing the fastball,” a pitch for which Liriano has minimal control right now.
Mauer, on the other hand, tends to “pitch backwards” with Liriano. The past two starts before today–which Mauer caught–Liriano has looked much better, painting that outside corner with change-up after change-up, then using the high fastball to keep the hitter honest, then finishing the AB with a slider, sometimes a change up.
Redmond old-school’s him in that “Twins way,” (read: “establish the fastball”) while Mauer calls to his current strengths. I mean, it’s no secret that Liriano’s command rests in his change-up and slider right now.
Haha Jason, are you trolling? I’m digging it!
Also Lala72, a 20/11 K/BB rate is pretty mediocre for a guy who in 2006 was the nastiest pitcher in the league. It’s great that he’s been able to wiggle out of jams through the first 4 starts since he’s been recalled, but that’s inevitably going to catch up with him if he doesn’t start to miss some more bats and gain control of his fastball. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll take the 4-0 record and 1.14 ERA, but there’s certainly room for improvement, and to say that “nothing else matters for him” is incredibly short-sighted.
maybe one of the September callups should be the Rochester pitching coach - no complaint but….
But the only way to really make the fastball more effective is to use it less. He needs to get ahead with pitches he can control consistently, then put hitters away with the fastball or slider.
Do you know how many fastballs Mike Mussina throws a night? Like, six.
Offspead and breaking stuff is important, and Lirian still has plus stuff on both his change-up and slider. his fastball is no longer “plus,” thus it should be his THIRD pitch until arm strength improves.
Joe understands as much. That’s why in Liriano’s last outing, he recorded a handful of strike-outs, 14 ground ball outs and only TWO fly-ball outs in seven innings.
I really believe, no matter how much I like Redmond, that Joe calls him much better this year.
the white sox have some tough games coming up in august… i wouldn’t necessarily say a 9-5 road trip puts us 3 games back.
we’ll be lucky to split in anaheim.
if they Twins get to 9-5 this road trip they will probably be at most a game or so behind, if not ahead (record 79-59)
the WhiteSox play 2 fewer games in that span, it’s a good bet that Tampa will take at least one of them, they will not sweep the Baltimore and Cleveland series and will lose the Boston series, adding up to something like 7-5 for that span (record 78-58)
Realistically, a 7-7 road trip, with some help from their friends against the Sox, would be a ok…
Lala,
Redmond has caught 2 out of the 4 liriano starts now, His first game back Redmond caught, I was at the game, and he did exactly what you said mauer does with him in that game, mad him ‘pitch backwards’. So its not the catcher.
Liriano couldn’t control his fastball the best as that game went on and Redmond started calling a ton more changeups, at one point at least 4 in a row.
I think his changeup is his best pitch right now anyway, he should be throwing more of ‘em.
I didn’t see today’s game, but 107 pitches in 5 innings is a lot, BUT, he won the game did he not? He’s fine.
Glad Bass is out. He was very unreliable and his ERA was terrible for a relief pitcher.
No, TwinsNotes, you’re wrong. I watched that game. The first NINE pitches Liriano threw were fastballs. He threw THREE sliders through the first three innings.
There’s no comparison between the way the two catch the game, for whatever reason. And it’s obvious to anyone who has ever done some scouting.
So, no offense, but you’re wrong, TwinsNotes. The two have and always will call two very different games. And in this case, Joe calls a better game for Liriano.
Stay real. I’m out.
Wonder if Bass’s phone has been ringing off the hook with offers…the Dodgers might want him to pitch to Ramirez in batting practice.
Thrylos98
“Liriano is throwing way to many pitches to go more than 5-6 innings”
Today,yes but in his four August starts he has thrown 401 pitches over 23.2 innings.By the same token, your boy Slowey has thrown 399 pitches over 24.2 innings.Let’s not make judgements based on one game.Liriano struggled today,but he’s doing no different than any of the other starters right now.
As for Perkins,he deserves a little more credit than “he’s really a bullpen guy” he has more quality starts than does Slowey I believe,and a better pecentage of QS per games pitched.Slowey can be very good,as he was last night,but he hasn’t actually lit it up when it come to pitching deep into games on a regular basis.
Lala
I’ll link it then(Liriano’s 1st start after being recalled was on August 3rd):
notice Redmonds name as Catcher. I was AT THE GAME, you obviously did not watch it.(I’m talking about his 1st start by the way, not todays, as I said, I did not see todays game).
Re: Liriano, think of him as a new pitcher not the Liriano of 2006, because that is what this procedure does to pitchers and clearly he was not in pitching shape before he went to the minors. With that mindset, if a pitcher you haven’t seen before was called up from the minors and in his first 4 games he was 4-0 with 1.52 ERA, would anyone complain?
and for the fun of it, here are Liriano’s numbers for his 4 games as a starter in 2006 vs. since his call up this year
first 4 games Liriano started in 2006:
Record 3-1, IP 22, BB 10, K 18, ERA 1.64
first 4 games Liriano started in 2006:
Record 4-0, IP 23.7, BB 10, K 20, ERA 1.52
Methinks, he actually has better numbers lately 
and Redmond did exactly what you said in that game. It is not the Catcher.
A catcher is NOT going to call the same type of game each time out for the same pitcher.
Do you know what a Good catcher does? He gets a feel for his pitcher during the game and plays to his strength’s THAT DAY, not based on what he SHOULD do or be doing based on skill or past results.
Redmond and Mauer are both professionals, and both very good at their position, and I’m sure they both have a handle on how their pitcher is throwing that day.
Liriano did not have his best control today - he still went five innings and won. In my view, it has nothing to do with the catcher. So far, he is 4-0 after coming back from Rochester, and It is certainly an improvement over Livan Hernandez (see his stats with Colorado. Watch it, Liriano is capable of winning six more in a row…
and Lala,
his first 9 pitches were NOT fastballs in that 1st game back against cleveland, If I remember right (and I know I am) He struck out Grady Sizemore (1st batter of game) on a slider. and then K’d Ben Francisco 2 batters later on a slider as well to end the 1st.
“Perkins tends to implode in the fourth or fifth inning” Again look at the stats,not any more so than Slowey.Perkins 11 QS out of 20,Slowey 9 QS out of 20.
crazy as hell — twins are 18 games over .500.
QS is worthless measure (not even a stat)
Did you see any other Twins’ pitcher got so riled up by a teammate’s error that a. caused him to make an error in the next place and b. pick a fight with that teammate in the dugout?QS is worthless measure (not even a stat)
here are some real stats:
WHIP Slowey 1.063, Perkins 1.423
Opponent OPS per inning
Perkins:
1 .646
2 .959
3 .646
4 .771
5 .767
6 .940
7 1.247
8 .932
9 N/A
(thus the implosion)
Slowey:
1 .501
2 .754
3 .646
4 .672
5 .758
6 .899
7 .662
8 .154
9 .545
also, this year for Perkins, OPP OPS:
high leverage: .717
medium leverage: .682
low leverage: .982
and career WHIP as a reliever 1.198 vs 1.423 as a starter (in the majors)
He could be a great 8th inning guy, but really he needs to do some work to last after the 5th
You can’t blame Bass for exploring his options. The Twins are loaded with young starters, so he’s go no chance there. If Neshek comes back there may not be any bullpen slots either. Plus we still have promising guys in the minors. The Twins organization is not an ideal place for a fringe pitcher to try to land a job.
Interesting match up at Scranton tonight for Rochester:
Swarzak (and his 2.25 ERA in AAA) vs Ian Kennedy. Melky Cabrera starts at CF for Scranton (hard to avoid mental references to that rumored Santana trade last winter)
I think we’re going to need the bullpen.
It’s Brian Bass. If the Twins need Brian Bass to come into a game it’s too late.
C’mon. We’re not going to complain about Brian Bass being sent down are we?
mickey Mental,
18 games over .500 is actually a misprint.
Instead of investing in team salaries, Pohlad has instead bought wins not earned. The scandal has not yet been discovered, but I have this information from sources who have never ledd me astray before.
Regards,
Thrylos - I couldn’t agree more with your 5:25 post.
Everyone needs to quit expecting ‘06 Liriano and enjoy and support today’s Liriano, who’s pitching pretty friggin damn well if you hadn’t noticed. Disregard his control. Look at earned runs and losses in his 4 starts since the recall.
I bet the number of pitchers who’ve done better than that over their last 4 starts could be counted by the fingers on a single hand.
Celebrate the guy, don’t knock him.
If Bass cleared waivers, can’t we trade him to the Mets for an A-Ball prospect and/or eighteen dollars?
They’ll take anyone at this point. Hell, ship him to Cincinnati. Krivsky always loved our garbage… maybe Jocketty will too. See if we can get Brandon Phillips as a PTBNL…
Dragon,
if that was the case, the Yanks would have already gotten the WS.
Shawn,
I keep reading here that Pohlad has much more money than Steinbrenner
Regards,
Anyone else think Brian Duensing could be up in the majors when he gets back? He’s done a fair job at the olympics.
“BTW: Command for Liriano returns when Mauer catches him again.”
Great observation, Lala.
“Anyone else think Brian Duensing could be up in the majors when he gets back? He’s done a fair job at the olympics.”
He’s a fair pitcher. I wouldn’t have confidence in him during a pennant race.
Phil Humber
Anyone notice Humber’s work in his last 10 appearances?
4-1 2.80 45ip 37h 14w 43k
The first four of those were in relief.
Can he help in the pen? To be part of the playoff mix, does he need to be called up before September 1?
He may be the best option they have in AAA.
the Dragon,
check this Forbes list of the 400 richest Americans from 2007
http://www.forbes.com/lists/2007/54/richlist07_The-400-Richest-Americans_FinalWorth.html
Pohlad with 3.1 bil net worth has more cash than Donald Trump. Poor Steinbrenner has only 1.8 bil net worth.
He may be the best option they have in AAA.
not quite (Korecky, Duensing, Delaney (AA) even Swarzak would be better options), but he is an almost sure shot to be called up because if he does not make the 25 man roster next year he would be a minor league free agent
C’mon. We’re not going to complain about Brian Bass being sent down are we?
I’m going to complain that it wasn’t done weeks, maybe even months ago.
Do the Twins believe in Korecky? I recall reading something about him needing a better second pitch to be successful at this level. His numbers certainly look solid.
Duensing hit rate is too high and strike out rate to low to be a relief option.
It would be great if Delaney was major league ready. He certainly can fool young hitters.
I don’t see evidence of Swarzak being able to help. He was awful in AA (to be fair Humber was awful until the last 6 weeks). He does have a low ERA in 4 starts of AAA but a low K rate and almost a hit an inning. I do believe he has a better long term outlook.
” Perkins tends to implode hit 4th 5th inning”
Because you’re good, you get a pass on the grammar, thrylos.
BUT, without knowing Perkins career minor league starting stats (and I believe they were ALL starts at AAA), and getting back to the original challenge of yours — that Perk isn’t a reliable starter of longevity — here’s the pertinent stat category. (All stats with sufficent sample size) —
INNINGS PER START - 2008
Perk - - 6.14
Baker- - 5.98
Slowey - 6.07
Blackie- 6.11
Franchise - irrelevant
Livan- - 6.07
Right? None of the above had any relief appearances, correct?
Yet, according to ERA (including the “new” Liriano’s), Perk is the 5th best starter.
Looks like Perk has taken over the old Livan role better than anyone else — “Who cares about his ERA as long as he eats innings and wins games.”
:)>
[…] Originally published by Twins Insider […]
Swarzak in Sept. If the best arms in AAA/AA are starters then we will see them working out of the Twinks pen in September.
Wow, there’s still 11 2008 Twins pitchers with more innings than Franchise.
For the record, he averages 4.86 innings per start this year, but of course his 7 starts are an insufficient sample size compared.
Watching FSN. They just showed Cuddyer’s injury play. He walks off the field limping, but unaided — even down the dugout steps.
No whiner, him.
God forbid it, because it would be a depressing shame if the Twins were in the WS without him.
Bass has good stuff and a good mental makeup.
Bass’ agent will have Bass choose free agency. He will shop him around. Someone will like the looks of his stuff. He will find a big league spot for him.
I don’t agree about QS not being a good measure. Every other measure blends starts together as if the average of all starts is the only way to measure things. IF starts have some independence from each other statistically, then something that takes into account how good each start was is as, or more, relevant statistically speaking than something that averages all starts together.
Some days a pitcher is great, some days he’s not. While you could argue that is sample size dependent, others could argue that some days a guy is really on, and some days he’s really off.
I think dismissing QS is just as silly as saying wins is the only stat that matters.
Time to give credit where credit is due:
In his last 8 games, Nick Punto is 14 for 35 (.400) including 5 doubles. He also has 3 base on balls. He is getting on base in about half his AB.
Of course he is Punto, so Punto haters are certain to concentrate on the half of his AB that he isn’t getting on base.
Looking at thrylos’s 6:11 post and his most-important stat category (and like I said, he’s good), innings 3-6 are kind of similar between Slowey and Perk. But yes, Slowey wins.
So, seriously, I do have more confidence in Slowey and Baker to have more in-game longevity than Perk……but not THAT much more.
I think the Twins will win between 6-8 games on this road trip. Hopefully it will be closer to 10…
Make that half his plate appearances.
Swarzak has a nice game through 6 innings tonight. Leading 4-2. 6k/1w.
They will probably take him out. He is over 100 pitches.
dragon
why do you come to this blog if you can’t stand the posts? Is it just to get your blood going? Just curious. I don’t blame you, i read katherine kersten’s story’s in the strib, just to see what she’s bitching about and wants to censor that particular day. must be the same thing.
Liriano was all over the place today and was fortunate to be pitching against the A’s. That said, he was able to win a game when he didn’t have his best stuff and I didn’t sense the anxiety in my stomach that Livan regularly imparted. Liriano is 4-0 (since recall) and the Twins are 72-54. Who would have guessed it? And bloggers are discussing who should be brought up from AAA/AA to bolster the team. All in all (and I think this is MR. Dragon’s point in his earlier posts), the Twins organization has done a miraculous job, to date, from FO to minor league rebuilding. See and look for the sunshine and overlook a few clouds.
Craig
I’ll grant you that punto is having a relatively nice year. but you must know that people gripe about punto because it is so very hard to forget his season a year ago. It was truly one of the most awful seasons, in every aspect of the game, in recent mlb history. I am a Ron Gardenhire fan most of the time, but I suspect alot of the gardy griping is 2006 punto related as well, what with gardy stupidly trotting him out there every day last season to start. Everyone has their faults, and one of gardy’s was turning a blind eye to the enormous struggles of punto. It may be irrational, but the loathing of nick punto is very similar to the hatred of steve bartman, who likely cost chicago nothing with his ill-timed interferance, in chicago’s north side, and the hatred of Bill Buckner, a solid player for many years, in Boston.
It’s not only a part of baseball, but a part of life; People want a scapegoat. get used to it.
The problem I have with “quality starts” is similar to the one I have with the Twin Cities media They reward mediocrity.
A quality start is when a pitcher goes 6 innings with 3 earned runs or less allowed. This translates to an ERA of 4.50 when for this season the AL average ERA is about 4.15. Like saying atta boy you got a C average pat pat…
That’s why I prefer WHIP as a stat to compare pitcher’s abilities…
If Baltimore holds on, the twins are .5 game back from the wild card
Paul,
“Phil Humber…To be part of the playoff mix, does he need to be called up before September 1?”
From Major League Baseball Transactions:
“Players must be on a team’s 25-man roster as of August 31 to be eligible for post-season play. The only exception is that a player on the 60-day disabled list may be replaced by another player from the team’s 40-man roster (as of August 31) who plays the same position.”
Pat Neshek is the only Twin on the 60-Day-DL. He could be replaced on the Twins playoff roster by another pitcher(Humber) on the Twins 40-man roster.
You’ve got to be kidding me,
let’s get the Buckner story straight. Billy was a long time Cubs solid player who was traded to Boston for Dennis Eckersley and displaced Dave Stapleton, both all time Boston fan favorites. There was a huge ax to grind for fans about the Buckner trade, and in his second full season with the Sox, while they were thinking that the Bambino curse was finally over, comes the Mookie ball. Not a single situation, just the last straw that broke the camel’s back…
You got to be kidding me-If people are looking for scapegoats,maybe they should look in the mirror!
Sid,
Humber is on the 40 man roster… This statement is kinda cryptic and missing something:
a. You can put on the post season roster anyone who is in the active roster (25 man) on Aug 31 (in other words, what your active roster is on Aug 31, that is your post-season roster)
b. If one of those 25 gets injured and goes on the 60 day DL after Aug 31, you can substitute another person on the post season roster, but this person has to be on the 40 man roster by August 31.
I don’t think of Punto as a scapegoat at all. I just think of him as a goat. The guy is never leaving the line-up, I have accepted that, so I am just going to cheer for that beaverface until after this season when hopefully some other team gets fooled and offers him a bigger contract than what the Twins will offer. We can save the money by not re-signing and have Tolbert play shortstop, then pay some punto-esque utility player the league minimum. Done and done. But as of right now, I am Punto’s #1 fan because I am a Twins fan first.
Bass bad. Casilla good. Well done.
So thry,
Let’s say Humber comes up in September and kicks butt. Does Boof suddenly tweak his back?
T,
something like that, but me thinks that Delaney might be more probable than Humber for that
Angels with a big win today, let down tomorrow?
Good day to all:
Great news on Casilla. Thanks Brian Bass for the contributions he made early on. Too bad he struggled lately but this is the right move. Hopefully the good BP work today is a harbinger of things to come. Now we all hold our breath. 7-7 seems like a real stretch for this road trip. Starting with a win would be huge. On the other hand, a 1st game loss would only add pressure for the next, and the next. So go get em tomorrow!
And now, not to rain on anyone’s parade, but is anyone else wondering about Casilla’s exceptional recovery time? Ligament strains are time-conditioned injuries, depending on the severity. I dont know the grade of this injury was ever publicly acknowledged. Even so, the timetable seems remarkable, to say the least. Begs the question then: Are HGH-type drugs still with us? Would there ever be proactive reporting if/when a player’s turnaround time seems questionable? Is Casilla’s turnaround time questionable?
Sorry guys, dont want to rain on this parade. But the whole thing around PED’s and HGH and God knows what else really bothers me. These are fair questions in my book. Anybody else have a thought or two?
No. I disagree completely ray.
rayreiner,
These were fair questions if, say, Juan Rincon were still in the clubhouse and the calendar read 2006…but c’mon, has it just been awhile since you posted? Get a clue, man, you can’t piss in people’s pocket and then tell them it’s raining…offering a mea culpa before suggesting that the player and/or organization cheats doesn’t alter such feckless, untimely and surely stupid “observations.”
You’ve got to be kidding me! says:
August 20th, 2008 at 8:16 pm
dragon
why do you come to this blog if you can’t stand the posts? Is it just to get your blood going? Just curious. …”
Several answers,
1.) I can’t believe the tone…which I personally disagree with.
2.) To be a hemorrhoid.
3.) Daniel stated most of it at 8:20 “All in all (and I think this is MR. Dragon’s point in his earlier posts), the Twins organization has done a miraculous job, to date, from FO to minor league rebuilding. See and look for the sunshine and overlook a few clouds.”
4.) I am humble enough to believe I actually know less about the innerworkings of the team, AND what is REAL in FO dealings (particularly since the Twins FO DOES NOT negotiate through the media). Charges which populate this site from time-to-time which explicitly state that the Manager and FO are INTENTIONALLY putting a substandard team on the field.
5.) In my life’s experience, managers in any capacity, have a style somewhat unique to themselves, and there is NO exclusively successful model. You can have a bombastic Lee Iacocca, at Chrysler or the confidently more reserved Jack Welch at General Electric. Both were highly successful with very different styles.
6.) Criticism is fine and enjoyed, when mixed with the most modest bit of reality, and the recognition that it is not(or may not be) the only answer.
Regards,
“It’s not only a part of baseball, but a part of life; People want a scapegoat. get used to it.”
I suppose it is a little like in school, when some kid is singled out to be picked on.
milton bradley’s turnaround time seemed questionable. he healed from a torn acl in 6 months, when it normally takes over a year. i think casilla’s injury just wasn’t as serious as originally thought. it was a partial tear and he healed quickly, it happens.
If Casilla proves to be health they should put Everett on the DL and call up a relief pitcher.I think it will depend on how we do against the Angels to start the road trip.It’s a heck of a thing to be experimenting with while they are still in the race but what else can they do? I would like to see them take a flyer on Slama
“I don’t think of Punto as a scapegoat at all. I just think of him as a goat. The guy is never leaving the line-up, I have accepted that, so I am just going to cheer for that beaverface until after this season…………..”
No you won’t. You have been spewing hatred toward him for as long as I can remember. That won’t change.
GENO,
I agree dropping a pitcher is a high risk experiment. Gardy ran out of pitchers in Seattle last time the Twins were there. Cost a game. Commenting on having to leave Guerrier in: “We ran out of bullets” - Gardenhire
Reyes was out with food poisoning at the time, but still….
The New and Improved Craig says:
August 20th, 2008 at 9:46 pm
“It’s not only a part of baseball, but a part of life; People want a scapegoat. get used to it.”
I suppose it is a little like in school, when some kid is singled out to be picked on.
Exactly! May not be fair, but that’s life.
Beach volleyball in the pouring rain is nice.
eunomian:
thanks for your reply…I think! Feckless and stupid, maybe…but untimely? I dont think so. If I was a professional reporter, what better time to start asking questions about player rehab time? If you recall, Casilla’s MRI results reported a torn ligament in his thumb. AFter that MRI, Casilla backed-off his season ending surgery announcement. Who did he initially talk to about that? Why would Casilla come up with season-ending surgery all on his own? Problem is, there was no announcement as to the grade of the tear, which, in my opinion, should be standard operating procedure in this post-’roids era with any DL-level injury. All of this happened 20 days ago. Standard ortho care for non-complete tears calls for a different time-line…link attached.
So you may be right. My observations may be stupid and feckless. But that’s never stopped me before. I love asking stupid questions. Usually they are the most interesting one’s anyway.
http://orthopedics.about.com/cs/handcondiitions/a/gamekeepers.htm
Mr. reiner, Stand back and accept second place!! No one deserves to be the donor of more stupid questions than yours truly. Have enjoyed much of what you post and hope that you will continue. And to my friend Mr. Dragon, please don’t argue with a dog with a bone, it is truly fruitless and may be self-injurious.
Mucho gracias Daniel1966. Entering the Stupid Questions Club is a hard-earned and always well-deserved honor. Glad to share the accolades with you!
By the way folks, somebody earlier mentioned beach volleyball in the rain is pretty good. They were right. I’ll be tied-up for the rest of the evening, enjoying this visually stunning sporting event.
Good night to all!
Beach volleyball in the pouring rain is nice.
And the U.S. pulls out the extra skimpy white “jerseys”
rayreiner,
given than none of us were privy of Casilla’s MRIs, such comments are a bit of a guess work. There are tears and tears. The thumb is not a weight bearing part of the body. He could hit right handed (with an adjusted grip) as soon as the injury happened. The issues were that he could not hit left handed (the back thumb has to grab the bat) and he needed to pull 2 fingers out of his glove pocket slit to field the ball. Now it hurts less and he is able to do it. Is he healed 100%? who knows? he might need off season work on the thumb. But he is just right enough to play. That simple. And there are cortisone shots and painkillers for this, which are not illegal. Nobody claimed that he is completely healed…
Jason Im sorry but adam is right the winner is Don Maddon(hands down). They have a smaller payroll than MN does. Before the season started most of their current roster were unknowns to the rest of the league. Ad to that they have to play NY & Boston. Now if they make the playoffs and both of these teams don’t then the Media will have a field day with this story.And even then he still might not get it because his team may have to win the series just to prove this whole season was not some kind of fluke! Sorry, this will not be gardy’s year because he has Morneau and Mauer as stars he and has problems getting all his players on the same page.And a F/O that can’t or won’t pull the trigger on a trade to help this team.Yes gardy may have a good reputation as a Mgr but unless those writers in the media think so you and I will never see the day that Gardy’s gets this award….
frankly, based on team record and turnarounds, Ozzie the clown deserves (and will get) more votes than Gardy for the AL manager of the year…
Not much talk on any of the blogs about the magnificent Coach Anderson lately. I hope he is brainstorming ways to get more innings from his starters. There have been too many long AB’s off of them lately.
And the 4-core (without Liriano) pretty much has excellent control. But hitters know this. And there are no wiser hitters than those with the Angels.
I hope our youngsters are prepared to give a different look to this older, now-tiring Angel crew of batters:
Be more conveniently wild. Pitch inside. An unusual increase in walks. Hit a batter or two. Sliders in the dirt for swinging strike-three’s. Just make the batters know a little less of what’s coming.
Because Twins pitchers throw strikes, use subtle movement, and are adept at finding their spots at the plate. And batters know it — and TRUST in it more now. But I know Baker and Blackburn can hit 95 if they let it fly.
Let’s see some surprise power pitching, young men. Let’s see if the best pitching coach in MLB can become just a little more crafty and make the Angels look back after this series and ask “What the hell just happened?”.
Pitch opposite of the presumed scouting report from time to time…….
The Twins are 46-23 at home and 26-31 on the road.
23 games over .500 at home and 5 games under .500 on the road. Ouch.
They play 24 of their next 30 games on the road before ending the season with 6 games at home. OUCH!
23 games over .500 at home and 5 games under .500 on the road. Ouch.
That’s alot of ouch. Haha
some weaker teams on the trip, though, craig.
Liriano had 5 K’s Wednesday, and every one of them ended with a slider. That’s too predictable - good teams will slaughter him if he always comes with a slider for the out. Francisco has to start spotting his fastball a little more like Slowey does, low and inside/outside. Trouble is, Liriano doesn’t have Slowey’s precision mechanics, so spotting the fastball is difficult. The best thing about Liriano today is that he’s showing he’s a battler, not just a recovering phenom. It wasn’t just his speed and hard slider before; Liriano is one determined stud of a pitcher.
I’m stoked that Liriano starts Monday against the Mariners in Seattle. Hopefully the Twins can sweep them this time. Seattle got bent over by the White Sox.
Well, I, for one, am having a very good morning…hopefully Howard will join us soon.
Unbelievable how awesome these Twins are…we’ve got all the right pieces in all the right places.
And with Boston losing last night, this is becoming a repeat of 2006…where the AL Central will gladly sweep up the Wild Card spot as well.
So many positives I don’t know where to begin…
Span is still the Man
Nicky’s getting after it
We can win without him, but Mauer’s the best
Morneau is back to being the all-around best hitter on the squad–mixing patience, persistence, and power
Kubel is free and we’re all loving it! His series last weekend put the rest of baseball on notice that you better not walk Morny, or else!
D Young is coming into his own!
How about Brian Buscher! Wow, finally, a third baseman…the Gaetti era was a long time to wait, but we’re glad he’s here!
Go-go…best 9 hitter in baseball, bar none.
And the manager….AL Manager of the Year…Ron Gardenhire…withstanding the test of time against the big names (Leyland) and the big shots (Guillen) and still going strong!
I think 10-4 or 11-3 on this road trip is not out of the question!
They play 24 of their next 30 games on the road before ending the season with 6 games at home. OUCH!
Seriously? Wow. What kinda backwards scheduling is that?
Why did the convention play any part in scheduling twins games? So far as i know, the convention is taking place in a different building, in a different city, on the other side of the river. How does it effect twins games? Maybe some of those republicans would have wanted to go see a ball game.
My guess (and frankly I don’t like it), is that the Twin Cities were concerned about traffic, parking, and overall lack of space to put the media, the two teams, traveling fans, and the convention goers.
It sounds like a bunch of bull to me. Tampa Bay’s still playing down at Tropicana and they’ve potentially got a Hurricane blowing in.
Lirano won yesterday without his best stuff.The rest of the starting staff isn’t that fortunate,the spotting of their pitches have to be almost perfect to succeed.In time,Blackburn,Baker,Slowey and Perkins will either develop another pitch or learn to change speeds better.This staff could develop much like Maddox and Glavine did.The future looks encouraging!
If the twins flop on this road trip, i’m voting democrat for sure.
It’s kind of bizaare, really. For all the crap that bush and the republicans get, right or wrong, the fate of the twins may be decided because of the republicans.
and before anyone is offended, both of my last 2 posts were made with tongue planted firmly in cheek.
While the Twins have been doing a great job and the team that has been
assembled is not only extremely competitive but exciting and fun to
watch with all that speed.I have one thought and before you dismiss
this, please read on and then you can completely disregard it. I think
that the Twins should sign Barry Bonds. (wait please keep
reading) It would send a message to the fans as well as the team that
the twins want to win. If his past is NOT ignored but addressed
appropriately, I think that the fans would support it. Also I think
that you could make a compelling argument to Bonds that he is in a
very unique situation to play for the minimum while repairing to some
degree his reputation. He could be paid the peroration of the league
minimum and just play for the love of the game and a chance to win
that ever elusive championship. This would also bring his career full
circle, since he would be playing in a place much like he started out
(Pittsburgh) in a small market with small market work habits.
The way to couch this to the players, is to have a team meeting and
have them make the decision before extending this idea to Bonds. IF
bonds agrees to come in and be contrite and humble and try to fit in
and be a part of the solution. He needs to view this as a last chance
opportunity. I think that both could sides could win. The other
added bonus, would be a dramatic spike in ticket sales for just
curiosity alone
Thoughts?.
Jason,
Thanks for the ray of sunshine. You are new at it and have gone a bit overboard
Regards,
For once Jason got it exactly right, although I think 12-2 is more likely. I like the new Jason. Welcome to the sunshine side of the park.
Casilla in, Bass out. I love it. Thanks for the early efforts Bass but you just have not been getting it done lately and I would not have liked to see Ruiz sent back down.
Now, DL Everett and bring up Korecky.
“I’ll think about it,” Bass said. “We’ll see.”
Please leave our organization. You are not a major league caliber pitcher.
Thank you.
who cares, its a meaningless move
