Twins-Cardinals: First pitch (hopefully) at 2:00 p.m. Twin Cities time. Lineup changes!
Posted on March 29th, 2009 – 9:01 AMBy La Velle
The tarp is on the field. Rain is coming down.
Blame Joe Nathan.
Somehow, a set of bongos appeared in the clubhouse this morning. Nathan grabbed them and began to pound out a song.
“Is it raining yet?” he wondered.
Soon, Nick Punto and Matt Guerrier began their version of a rain dance.
Twins manager Ron Gardenhire walked out of his office and said, “there’s no need for a rain dance. Perry (Castellano, the strength and conditioning coordinator) said we’re going to play. So we’re going to get our work in!”
But now it’s raining.
The game is sold out and is being televised in the Twin Cities. And the Cardinals have ALL their regulars here. One media member who attended Michigan State (it shouldn’t be hard to figure who that is) is rooting for a washout because the Spartans are on at 2:20 pm EST.
My guess is that we will wait the rain out.
Update: The plan is to pull the tarp up at 1:00-1:10 CST. It should take 30 minutes to prepare the field. So first pitch could be 1:35ish, Central. Plans can always change….
Update: The tarp is coming off!!! But this crew needs an hour to get the field ready, Estimated first pitch: 2: 00.
Update III: Joe Crede and Justin Morneau have been scratched. Brendan Harris and Brian Buscher have taken their places in the lineup. No reason was given for the changes - but they usually announce injuries.
Update IV: The Cardinals have moved Skip Shumaker to the leadoff spot and Joe Mather to the No. 9 hole. I have no idea why. It’s LaRussa….
Not much news this morning. Joe Mauer spoke with the media briefly and said he feels the best he has all spring. He’s still only up to playing catch - they want to slowly build him up to more activities. Expect him to miss a month of the regular season - then be pleasantly surprised if he comes back before that.
Lineups
Cards
1. Joe Mather, DH
2. Rick Ankiel, CF
3. Albert Pujols,. 1B
4. Ryan Ludwick, RF
5. Khalil Green, SS
6. Chris Duncan, LF
7. Yadier Molina, C
8. David Freese, 3B
9. Skip Shumaker, 2B
Pitching: Chris Carpenter
Twins
1. Carlos Gomez, CF
2. Alexi Casilla, 2B
3. Joe Crede Brendan Harris, 3B
4. Justin Morneau Brian Buscher, 1B
5. Jason Kubel, DH
6. Michael Cuddyer, RF
7. Delmon Young, LF
8. Mike Redmond, C
9. Nick Punto, SS
Pitching: Kevin Slowey. R.A, Dickey and Jose Mijares also in line to pitch.
84 Responses to "Twins-Cardinals: First pitch (hopefully) at 2:00 p.m. Twin Cities time. Lineup changes!"
1st
I TOLD you guys they should have built Hammond Stadium with a roof… nobody listened…
Seems like every season there’s some reason that the Twins can’t get their ish together until mid-May. Now we’re going to be with out Mauer for a month this year. Last year we had all those washed up vets that had to waste the first month of the season proving what everyone suspected from the beginning….that they were washed up! What if Crain doesn’t pan out in the set-up role? What if Mauer’s injury nags him all year? We’re pretty deep every where except the pen!
I am still optimistic. Yeah, it stinks that Mauer is out possibly for a month, but I have a lot of faith in the young guys we bring up. We could have tried to go get another washed-up vet to replace him. I think one of the young guys (most likely Butera (sp?)) under Red will be just fine.
Livan Hernandez was an excellent early season choice the twins made that helped them a lotto get their young rotation going. He was anything but a “washed up vet” The twins have made many wise choices, but they can’t control an injury such as Mauers.
And as far as what if, what if, what if—-well what if everything goes great and the sky does not actually fall.
HAVE FUN !!! GO TWINS !!!
LARTWINFAN - well said.
Starting the season without Mauer does not bode well, but a team has to deal with whatever happens. The Twins have been pretty resilient. If the bullpen fails us we know we have strength in AAA.
Now all we have to do is score more runs than the other team… (hope the other teams haven’t thought of that)
Go Twins!
MARV!
Joe Mauer rolls out of bed & he can hit. Once he is healthy & in shape, he should come back pretty quickly. The Twins will be very competitive while Mauer is out, just as long as Morneau does not go out at the same time. This team has more depth IMO than any recent Twin’s team. A few players & pitchers will end up in AAA that would have made the team in recent years. Go Twins. Let’s get this season started!
1st ever post. I like Harris, but with ST winding down I’d like to see BS find a trade partner…trade Harris for bullpen help, keep Tolbert/Buscher as 3B plan B. Tolbert is a better option to back up at SS/3B. Please thoughts?
Jock strap: You crazy!!!
is there a website that will post if the game is cancelled? I’m here on vacation and don’t want to go over if it doesn’t happen
wow, a month for Mauer?
That is sad. But if Red can last 4 days per week and Butera the other 2-3 days, we’ll be ok. Red can give us some good hitting from the 7-8th spot, and we can plug in Butera at the 9th and move up whomever is there, probably LNP (although if Slowey is pitching, I wonder if we could have him hit for Butera instead…)
this will be a good test for them if/when the game starts. whose on the mound today? is it slowey? or is it blackburn/perkins? if its the former, go Twins, if not, then good luck guys (and thats from a Blackburn fan)
so if Mauer is out a month, is he going on the 15 day DL? is there a FA catcher with a better bat/at least equal glove as Butera that we could sign to a 2 way contract?
Thanks goodness, the Twins will be at home for 14 of April’s 22 games. That certainly helps with the tough schedule being played without Mauer. 11-11 record in April should be OK.
Matt, the Twins like the way Butera handles the pitchers, so signing a guy off he streets is not really an option this late in Spring Training.
LEN3, is there any concern about Denard seeing the ball as well as last year? I know he said lasik surgery helped him immensely. But, that process isn’t a permanent fix.
Thx, Yo
its mauers on field perfomance with the pitchers that counts as much as his hitting…redmond fills pretty well in there with this staff and i guess butera does pretty well, but hes no mauer and certainly doesnt have his bat..its imperative that mauer heal as fast as possible, because there is just no replacement period….a free agent would not be the answer with this young staff….
hopefully the twins have learned just how important every damn game is…last year to lose by one game, you can look back at 80+ games and find things that could have been done better…you can not nonchalantly play these games and lose 3-2 and think oh well, we will get them tomorrow…every game in april, may counts as much as those in sept, oct…..so lets get off to a good start, even without mauer and kick ass when he gets back….shoot for 100 wins….that will do it…
anyone seeing my comments?
msm, I see ‘em.
I don’t like the Kubel batting 3rd thing - that would mean after Morneau you’d have Crede, Cuddy, Delmon, Gomez, and Redmond/Butera, all RH hitters.
lineups are up at mlb.com
Gomez
Casilla
Crede
Morneau
Kubel
Cuddyer
Young
Redmond
Punto
facing Chris Carpenter
Mather (dh)
Ankiel
Pujols
Ludwick
Greene
Duncan
Molina
Freese
Schumaker
facing Kevin Slowey
C’mon Wobble what is the update? We know you are sitting next to Joe C and Kelly T in the Press Box twiddling your thumbs.
BTW: Tony L means business in Spring Training. Every time I look up he has brought a majority of his regulars on the road. Really nice to see. This guy is the best manager in baseball.
[…] Twins Insider – […]
Ben W -
I agree. Given OBP’s from ST perhaps Gomez or Young could bat third, the other (or Cuddyer) bat after Morneau, and Kubel could be a strong 6th. Late for a DH, but too many instances where a LOOGY could come in and pitch to two of the strongest members of our lineup.
Of course you could bat Morneau 3rd and Kubel 5th, but I don’t see Gardy doing that.
medschoolmatt,
I LOVE your idea having Slowey hit and Butera in the DH spot. But that would probably screw the kid up for life. But I would do it as a joke if I was managing. Leave Butera hangin for a bit.
I don’t like the idea of a short term FA for Maurer’s hole. Too close to the season and too short term.
Finally get to see Crede play third in a televised game!
Kubel or Young batting 3rd
Regards,
Wow. Just read Tigers put Willis on 15 day DL for Anxiety Disorder.
I’m really hoping liriano can increase his fb to consistently 94-95 instead of his 91-94 consistently 92 I think that would make a big difference for him
When will final cut to the 25 man be made? Transfer truck heading out up north Wed (packing) with players stuff.
I am Topp Dogg…..
Oh yeah! Slowey eats NL teams for breakfast.
If Span starts/gomez sits:
Span
Casilla
Young
Morneau
Cuddy
Kubel
Crede
Punto/Red
Butera/Punto
If Gomez starts/Span sits:
Casilla
Young
Morneau
Cuddy
Kubel
Crede
Gomez
Punto/Red
Butera/Punto
Regaining the ability to command his fastball will help Liriano a lot more than adding a couple MPH.
Not that both would be great, but of the two, I’d take the command over the velocity.
And this Mauer thing is getting more and more worrisome, to me. They can’t really afford a month or more without that bat in the lineup, and it sounds like a month is best case scenario.
The Cardinals have this game on FSN St. Louis as well (another reason for Tony L to bring his big shots on the road). Plus the Twins want this “Gate” or they have to reimburse all the season ticket holders since they don’t make up Spring games. They’ll do everything in their power to play 4.5/5 innings today….
I’ll be optomistic and say Mauer will be back in 3 weeks!!
MSM -
I like your lineups.
I don’t see Gardy sitting Gomez, though. He has said it will be Young sitting and I don’t see ST results impacting his decision. The lineup was set in December.
La Velle,
Just a factual point - the Twin Cities is on Central Daylight Time (CDT), not Central Standard Time (CST) right now.
Marv-Gardy has said that they will all get pretty equal playing time or at least thats the plan
“Wow. Just read Tigers put Willis on 15 day DL for Anxiety Disorder.”
That sounds like a good plan for many on this blog — put ‘em on the 15 day DL for anxiety disorder.
@mmmhmm: LOL I agree!
Tanner -
I would be happy to see that.
mmmhmm - Where do you think we are posting from?
Blah, stupid rain. I wanted to see Crede at third. Now I won’t until opening day.
Slowey owned Pujols.
For those watching broadcast television in the Twin Cities metro area the game is now on WFTC, channel 29.
Did gomez strikeout on 3 pitches did he chase any way out of the zone
Strike 3 was in the dirt and he did swing at that.
Strike 3 was also the third pitch.
Go-go!
Young & Gomez with the RBI.
Looking good.
what about the other 2
The other two, as I remember, were decent pitches and were probably potential called strikes.
Buscher….ufff
Too bad for Go-Go. A K get’s the ink on here, a 2RBI double barely mentioned.
OF course he sux…
Regards,
Slowey schools Pujols again
Slowey owns Pujols again.
Buscher…alright
No I’m happy gomez got the RBI double that was before the double and I was just wondering because he says he’s working on his plate disclpline andpatience
Gomez, Young, and Cuddyer off to good starts. Put Span in NOW so he can still go 0-3.
Ouch!
Starting to think comparing Slowey to Maddux might be an insult to Slowey.
Yes, I kid.
mj1-They nonchalantly played some of the games last year you say.They did not get to the majors playing nonchalantly,the other team’s players are big leaguers also!
Does anyone else think that Cuddyer looks a little flat-footed so-far this year?
lol, ok just testing my jinxing ability. Don’t worry, I wont be making those kind of comments during the regular season.
Punto would have been safe with the head first slide.
Haha Des right when u say that…
Does anyone else think that Cuddyer looks a little flat-footed so-far this year?
This year?
^^^
Haha
Gomez works a walk, with 2 strikes on him.
Let’s hope he can keep some of that up.
“Let’s hope he can keep some of that up.”
So far Go-go has been striking out less than Span. Go-go is showing he can lead off. No way you can ignore it any longer.
About time it rained here. .85 inches so far for the entire year. Got 1/2″ here, 3/4 mile from Hammond today.
[…] Twins Insider – […]
So…
Why hasn’t Jose Mijares been cut yet?
It’s time for him to go back to double-A where he belongs
Crede and MVP scared of the rain?
Mijares isn’t cut yet because they want him to work with Anderson a little bit longer but he’ll get cut.
Morneau took a lot of hits in the batting cage while the rain was going on. They figured he had his work in. I’m sure they didn’t want Crede to kill himself on the wet grass.
can you imagine how many people would want Gardy fired if Crede hurt his back playing on the wet field in a game that meant nothing?
Although that kid Cates….. he may never make it to the majors but he does have an impressive arm for his size….
What’s all the panic about Mauer being out. I told you a month ago he would be playing til May.
wouldn’t be, that is.
Let’s not get all wound up on Spring Training stats. All hits are not equal in the spring (early hits and hits off double A pitchers aren’t nearly as important as hits against Carpenter, etc). A lot of guys are trying to work on something specific (Young trying to pull the ball when he grounded into 4 DPs) and some things defy description (Tolbert tied for team lead in HR).
Gomez seems to have improved, but let’s wait and see. I wouldn’t exactly call him an ideal leadoff hitter yet.
Joe Crede and Justin Morneau have been scratched. Brendan Harris and Brian Buscher have taken their places in the lineup. No reason was given for the changes - but they usually announce injuries.
Wet glass, veteran players… donuts to dollars, Gardy did it to prevent injuries and not because they were injured
Gomez seems to have improved, but let’s wait and see. I wouldn’t exactly call him an ideal leadoff hitter yet.
Alright,
here are the options (and their ST OBP in parenthesis). Pick your poison:
Punto (.483)
Gomez (.372)
Casilla (.344)
Span (.257)
So are there no more post game threads anymore?
bill smith- we have good talented young catchers (morales, butera) which ever one doesnt make the team trade to boston for delcarmen (fixes two problems - one down the road when either morales or butera doesn’t get to play and the set up man job.
You think Mauer does that just to get the media away from himself?
