Defense! (Clap! Clap!) Defense! (Clap! Clap!)
Posted on August 25th, 2008 – 1:30 PMBy La Velle
I know there’s been a lot of talk about eighth-inning bullpen woes during the Twins-Angels series, but giving away outs was just as bad.
Brian Buscher and Carlos Gomez had their moments over the weekend, and it’s not far-fetched to think that they should have landed in Seattle on Sunday after a 3-1 series win if plays are made.
Most of Buscher’s problems have been with sailing his throws. He’s adequate with the glove. It was very unfortunate that he had breakdowns in both areas in the same inning.
And Gomez should have caught two drives hit near the wall over the weekend. I agree that the balls were smoked, and some of the toughest plays for outfielders are when balls are hit right at them. But Gomez is good enough to catch both those balls.
While I think the Twins anticipate Buscher to have his moments in the field, they should expect more from Gomez. And maybe that’s the worst we’ll out of Gomez this year. He’s made so many fine catches that his missed plays are glaring.
The loss on Sunday was unfortunate, but they left L.A. with two wins. The starting pitching stepped up. The hitters, for the most part, took good at-bats (does Delmon Young look dangerous when he’s ahead in the count, or what?). It looks like the intensity level kicked up a notch as they try to prove they can win on the road. I now feel my prediction of a 7-7 road trip may fall short.
Also heard today: Class A Beloit outfielder Ben Revere will have his left knee examined on Tuesday in the Twin Cities by team physician Dr. John Steubs. Revere apparently has some loose particles in the knee.
26 Responses to "Defense! (Clap! Clap!) Defense! (Clap! Clap!)"
might as well shut Revere down for the year. Start him up healthy in Fort Myers? next spring.
yea, that Saturday game would have, or coudl have been won without those 2, realistically 3 errors in that inning.
Not only did that give away runs, but it tired out Blackburn, and got him to lose his focus
it would not have been far fetched to go to Seattle 4-0
In the 87 series, the Twins had tied up game 6 and Hrbek came to the plate with bases loaded in the fifth inning I think.
The Cardinals brought in their closer, Bill Daley. Tim McCarver, the analyst explained game situations come in the first, fifth or ninth inning, and this was a game situation. Hence the closer. And he was right.
In this case, Herbie belted the first pitch over the center field fence for a grand slam, but the logic was still right.. Gardy needs to learn not to violate his Nathan only in the ninth dogma
It’s a double edged sword.
Either Nathan comes in early and you trust somebody else to save, or you trust somebody else early and Nathan comes in for the save.
Either way, you’re still trusting somebody not named Nathan to come up in a big situation later (be it a game saver or a literal save).
I agree T, but in one case, you guarantee you will be using Nathan, then you take your chances in the ninth.
As is, we never even get to use Nathan, when in fact he could have been useful in the eighth
Everyday Eddie is a Twin again!!
“He’s adequate with the glove”
Nope. He sucks and has no future with this team. His future is maybe a pinch hitter, but we already have Ruiz.
The Dallas Morning News is saying that Texas traded Eddie Guardado to the Twins. Anything?
Everytime Eddie back with the Twins?
*gulp*
I don’t know if I like this anymore than I would’ve liked seeing Hawkins.
starting in the 8th inning (maybe even the 7th) with a lead, the closer should, most of the time, face the top or middle of the order. why have your good, but second-tier relievers try to fight through the opponent’s best hitters and then have your elite closer face the bottom of the order? (yes, there are pinch hitters, but they are rarely going to be better than the 3-4-5 hitters). hoping that gardy will be a cutting edge manager and go back to the past when firemen were not just “closers”…
Isn’t Everday Eddie having everyday arm problems lately that will require surgery at seasons end.
KP: Anytime any team has tried going what you say, they’ve run into significant problems in the 9th. It’s exactly why teams use their best relievers in the 9th inning.
Some things make sense on paper, but don’t translate into game success.
Yeah, he has a partially torn rotator cuff.
its funny, I google newsed this Guardado thing. The first item was Guardado dealt to Twins. The second item was Guardado blows save in ninth (yesterday)
really give you confidence
however, I still commend the deal as it makes you think the FO is trying to do something
Eddie back? Good or bad?
I think its mixed. He currently has a 3.65 ERA in ~55 IPs. He’s only given up 3 HRs on the season, which is encouraging, but his SO/BB ratio of 28/17 makes me VERY nervous, if this really happens.
He does have a nice 1.00 WHIP, so he’s not putting on a lot of baserunners. Based on the recent performance of the pen, he will probably help.
if he can pitch, he is automatically the 2nd best pitcher in the bully. But who goes if he comes in? Lamb? trade him back to Texas. Ruiz to AAA? Everett?
Buscher to AAA?
I myself liked Hawkins in the set up role.
He did not have the temperment to be the closer, but when he was used as set up, he was pretty effective if I recall
Oops, 55 appearance, 49.1 innings, so my numbers above are a little skewed
Eddie > bad Crain
Eddie = good Crain
Eddie > Guerrier
In sharing with the Olymic spirit I want to see Eddie and Reyes throw on the old spandex and race the 100 meter. I don’t know who would win this race anyone have any ideas out there regarding the results???
Everett is needed for infield depth up the middle. Ruiz is the Twins right handed bat off the bench.
That leaves one of the lefty third basemen to go to open up space on the 25-man and playoff roster. Probably Lamb since Gardy said that Harris was taking some work at first.
Hey Len 3 what do you know about the Twins trading a Hamburger for Eddie Guardado?
Lamb or Buscher is my guess, and Buscher doesn’t require eating a contract.
100 meter dash who wins?
Eddie
Reyes
Fernando Valenzuela
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