Punto lands on DL. Casilla recalled.
Posted on May 29th, 2009 – 10:16 PMBy La Velle
The Twins placed Nick Punto on the DL after the game. Brendan Harris will take over at short. Alexi Casilla will move in at second. Matt Tolbert will back them up.
More details later. On deadline…..
Update: O.K, I’m back.
First of all Ben, we still publish a newspaper. I had to finish the game story by 11 p.m. before I could come back here and add to this post. If you don’t understand that, that’s your problem.
Trish: I think I saw your friends in the pressbox before the game. One was wearing a Crede t-shirt. I haven’t seen many of those.
Thrylos: Trust me, I’m trying to nudge Morneau along with this. He said he hoped to have something done by the end of the road trip. We’ll see. I’m hoping he writes a lot about the team but he’s already planning to rip me for part of it. “Everyone rips me, that’s nothing new,” I told him.
About the move: Gardy was agitated before the game that he didn’t have middle infielder available off the bench. So we kind of got the idea then that something would go down.
I asked Gardy what would he have done in the eighth if Harris had gotten on and Tolbert had to hit. “I would have done something,” he said. Then he said he might have sent Delmon Young up to pinch hit, then used him in the infield. Wow.
Punto told me he needed a couple more days. But Gardy wanted backup. Casilla has been getting his hits and trying to play consistently good defense. He was a wreck when he got sent out. Hopefully he had time to clear his head.
Good for Tolleson. The Twins were high on their middle infield at New Britain. Tolleson carries himself very well. I think if he was called up to the majors right now he could handle it mentally. The Twins also like Brian Dinkleman at New Britain. Terry Ryan thinks he has leadership qualities.
74 Responses to "Punto lands on DL. Casilla recalled."
What? You mean something as trivial as a print deadline takes precedence over keeping US informed.
Hmph… in that case, I’m going to bed.
Daughter’s HS graduation tomorrow… going to be a bit of a long day.
La Velle, please don’t give us the on deadline excuse. It was noted very early on your blog tonight by Trish among maybe a couple others that there were clues this was evident.
Hopefully Lexi will find the magic!
Well even if he is as bad as he was before it will essentially be equal to Tolbert.
Let’s hope Casilla’s AAA Stint was a wake-up call to him. PLEASE
Hmm….funny how players all of sudden land on the DL when they suck. First Perkins and now Punto. Kudos to the FO for taking advantage of the loophole. Who is next to get “injured”? Liriano? Baker? Young?
I’m a Lexi fan - let’s hope we have a light bulb going on this time (for the next 10 yrs) 
Hopefully its career ending.
Bill, no if that was the case, Tolbert and Gomez would have to be first in line.
Uncanny the up/down every other yr of Punto - uncanny.
Ben - legit would have been sprinting to the front - Red-dawg….
Terry, true Redmond should be the next to go.
La Velle,
trish scooped you (and AP and that thing across the river and all) on this
Ben - I still think there could be a re-hab assignment for coaches - wonder if the pitching coach at Rochester could get a promotion for 15 days, and give Anderson a re-hab. Andy is good, but maybe a change of pace could spark something…..thinking aloud.
Yeah… the ghost of Redmond’s past is wayyyyy overdue to go. Smith got rid of better and younger players during the season (Monroe, Lamb) so this should be a no brainer
trish scooped you
That right there is funny Thry. I suppose being fair and balanced says the LENIII had alot going on, but still funny to a dumb blogger like me. LEN - keep up the good work, laughing tho -
Terry,
how about a permanent option to Andy who’s magic wand has never been proven and getting the guy who taught both Johan Santana and Pedro Martinez and Randy Johnson the change up as the Twins’ pitching coach for a while? Yeap (that’s two HOF pitchers and a 2 time Cy Young award winner). Bobby Cuellar deserves to be this team’s pitching coach more than Andy. If you don’t agree with this, please tell me who did Andy developed and/or helped as a pitcher…
straight and square… shoot
Thry - one word ‘Yes.’ I didn’t know how to spell Cuellar, so posted as such. Agree. TFelton is a loser pitcher but believe in pitching/defense and troubled right now regarding pitching/defense.
thrylos, Terry Felton,Ben, Adam, etal, anyone and everyone…..Thhheeeeee Ggghhhooooosssstttt offfffff DrDon will crap on your birthday cakes. Beware, my friends. When you hear the crow cawwwwww, remember…..
so perkins is off the DL in 3 or 4 days. what then?
LEN3 has business to take care of tonite. I mean they are in the Strip Club Capital of the World….Bet Denard can show him around the Boogie Down!!!
He’ll go on a rehab assignment to Rochester, probably makign a couple of starts and at that point, the Twins will take him off the DL and bring him back.
As I said yesterday, this trip to the DL for Punto is the best thing for this team. He simply was not producing anywhere near enough to keep a spot in the line-up but Gardy is incapable of benching him. Meanwhile, Casilla, problems and all, is still our best option at 2B. This gets Harris and Casilla both into the line-up.
Hopefully, they both play well enough that Gardy will not mess with it when Punto returns, and he can slide into a utility role, with either or Buscher or Tolbert going out. With a chance to get refreshed, hopefully Punto can recover at least mediocraty offensively in the utility role. I think part of his problem is that he simply is not cut out to play 162 game season as a starter.
Doc - I am tryin my darnest to get to bed tonight. Saw you search for me on Trish’s blog. I’ll be back tomorrow. Talk to you then?
thrylos and ben…do you guys have a life?? If you both have wives, which I’m sure you don’t. Where are they tonight? Think about that. LENIII does an awesome job reporting on this team so give him a break. Great work!
This team is feast or famine, not only in the way they play, but in the line-up they field. You have studs like Span, Mauer, Morneau, Cuddyer, Kubel, and Crede at the plate, joined by Slowey, Blackburn, and Swarzak in the rotation. Then you have guys like Punto, Tolbert, and Gomez in the line-up joined by the most pathetic top of the rotation 1-2 punch in all of baseball in Baker and Liriano. I mean, those guys are a combined 4-13 while the Slowey (3) and Blackie (4) are a combined 12-3.
I will say this much: We did NOT trade our future ace (Garza) and starting shortstop (Bartlett) just to sit Delmon and Harris. Play the damn guys already; play them every day and let’s see what WE got out of the deal.
In other words: How good is this line-up if Harris is hitting ninth?!
The good news for Punto haters (aren’t we all) is that groin injuries rarely, if ever, completely heal during a season. Just ask Marian Gaborik.
well, at least it’s SOMETHING different at ss (at least for a couple weeks).
LaVelle,
Those people who you saw probably were my friends. Dick said something on the air tonight about how my friend Laura from Duluth was in Florida watching the game. She was pretty excited. And I’m sure she loved the game even if we lost because she is a HUGE Cuddy fan and we all know Cuddy hit one out of there.
I hope Alexi can find it. We need him. Go twins!
Does anyone get bumped up from ft. myers to new britain?
that’s right. at the time the home run was a big one (no sarcasm there, trish).
while i’m nowhere near as high on cuddyer as laura from duluth, i sure don’t blame the guy because they were crazy enough to give him a bajillion dollars (just like i don’t blame punto). cuddyer is more than adequate in the everyday lineup and the twins have WAY bigger problems to fix.
No kiddin’? Ben and the rest of you are for real??!!??!!!!
LEN is composing a game narrative and publishing it for all of history to note. And in doing so, he takes notes and keeps track.
And you all think he should simultaneously keep track of all minor league rosters and other esoteria?
You’re nuts.
For example, after the 7th inning on Thurs when Beckett was walking off the mound, he made a dismissive gesture towards the HP ump — which LEN duly noted and reported, and which I hadn’t seen. I’m glad he reported that, because Beckett is a prick.
But you guys would rather — as soon as the inning is over — see him dig into his computer in some long-shot research mode hoping to come up with some kind of minor scoop?
Incredible.
22 - 24. Have you seen the June schedule? Twins are in MAJOR trouble w/ their road woes. Punto isn’t their only problem.
Why don’t you bring up Hughes, Valencia, Tolleson, Macri, Dinkleman, Pridie, Martin, even Watkins. Go get Garrett Jonens. That’s what 98, DrDon, Romer, Sane, Trish and others would want. The grass is always greener………
Looking back on last nights game, with the whole pinch hit for Tolbert thing: If Young would have pinch hit, wouldn’t have made sense to then put Young in left, Span in right, and Cuddy at 2B, since, you know, he’s actually logged major league innings at the position?
I’m sure Gardy ddin’t mention it, as the media and fans would have pestered him more often to do it to get all 5 outfielders in the same line up.
Good morning all. Thanks for the update, LEN. I do hope you could tell my comment at the very top was intended to be tongue-in-cheek. Of course you had a story to file on tight deadline after an east coast game. That’s a no-brainer that I just sort of thought everyone would know and understand. Ah well.
I’m wondering if there’s a bit of a rift developing between Gardy and Bill Smith. I’m not sure the two of them have seen eye-to-eye on the make up of this roster since the team broke camp in April. May be an interesting thing to follow.
I’m happy for Tolleson, too, and I’m anxious to see how he does in Rochester. Of course, being a Casilla fan, I’m very anxious to see if he’s got his head together and can start performing for the Twins like he did last year. Sure could use it.
Nick Punto gets a bad rap. He is not the reason that the Twins are not getting clutch hits this season. Punto is not why we left 13 men on base in the series finale against the Red Sox. Punto is not the reason why the Twins scored only three runs last night.
Clearly, Nick has struggled with hitting this year. He needs to make some adjustments, obviously,
Let’s say he comes back, plays good defense, and hits .280+ from June through the end of the season. That would be the Nick Punto we know and love playing up to his ability. I hope to see that this season.
Lala72, Matt Garza might not be an “ace.” He is a fine starting pitcher, however. He throws with power. We currently have no starting pitchers who throw a fastball regularly at 95 mph+. Trading a power pitcher like Garza is one reason why the Pohlads should walk into the office Monday and fire the GM.
Rocky Simon,
‘Why don’t you bring up Hughes, Valencia, Tolleson, Macri, Dinkleman, Pridie, Martin, even Watkins. Go get Garrett Jonens. That’s what 98, DrDon, Romer, Sane, Trish and others would want.”
I’ve never advocated any of that.
Try to mix in a little accuracy with your garbage.
Lala72 - I like the idea of having a good singles hitter at 9th. You know Tolbert is struggling, so he’s going to be out almost every time. You might as have a guy who gets on base more often at the 9th spot, to help create a potential rally situation in later innings as the Twins bat from 9th to the top of the order.
The line-up I want to see today against LHP David Price.
1. Span LF
2. Mauer C
3. Morneau 1B
4. Cuddyer RF
5. Crede 3B
6. Buscher DH
7. Gomez CF
8. Tolbert 2B
9. Harris SS
Against left-handed pitching this year, Delmon Young is batting .179, Kubel is batting .171, Buscher is batting .333, Tolbert is batting .200, and Casilla is batting .091.
Since the Twins don’t think they need better pitching…how about a run at Brian Roberts?
I am skeptical that Buscher will be in the lineup against a LHP. His career BA is .217 v. lefties.
I expect Kubel to sit (probably needs to anyway…I hope LEN gets an update on that knee) and both Young and Gomez in the lineup. Whether Span sits or not I’m not sure. And if Casilla is in town and not exhausted he’ll be in the lineup batting from the right side.
Might be a Red Dog day and have Mauer DH. Lots of different options depending on Gardy’s mood.
Maybe something like this:
1. GoGo CF
2) Mauer DH
3) Morneau 1b
4) Cuddy RF
5) Crede 3B
6) Harris SS
7) Young LF
Red Dog C
9) Casilla 2b
Span is hitting .365 against left-handed pitching. If he needs a day off, let him take one when the opposing starting pitcher throws right-handed. Span’s BA against RHP is .278.
Young can’t hit lefty pitching this year. He needs to sit.
Redmond is hitting LHP at .278 this year, better than Mauer’s .233. Maybe just sit Mauer and play Buscher at DH.
The message needs to be sent: hit consistently or sit. Period.
Ben, we’re all coming to your office Monday to watch how you do your job –assuming you have 1.
xastar,
“Redmond is hitting LHP at .278 this year, better than Mauer’s .233. Maybe just sit Mauer and play Buscher at DH.
The message needs to be sent: hit consistently or sit. Period.”
you just sat our most consistent hitter
“Ben, we’re all coming to your office Monday to watch how you do your job”
Dress appropriately in cesspool SCUBA gear.
Jim Crikket, no problems with you. You are on my A-list of posters here, along with romer, CMathewson, Thrylos, jama and several others…
Keep it up LaVelle. Not a frequent commenter but love the the updates, especially post-game. Thanks.
Young in the infield? Desperate times desperate measures!
I wonder if Gardy would’ve considered bringing in Cuddy from RF and shifting around the OF. Cuddy has SOME infield experience (even if it’s a number of years back) which would beat NO experience in Young.
Thanks for the updates, Mr. Neal!
Mauer is hitting very poorly against left-handed pitching this year. Bench him.
Commenters on blogs don’t generally understand leadership. One key rule of leadership is: treat everybody the same. If Joe DiMaggio was hitting .233 against lefties, and I had a .278 competent guy I could play instead of him today, I’d do it.
Star power doesn’t matter. W’s do.
Interesting development. Glad to see Casilla back. I was actually thinking in the past two games as Tolbert and Punto kept coming up in late, important game situations–”man, it would be nice to have Casilla in the line-up.” There’s supposedly no such thing as clutchiness…but Casilla’s got way more of it than Punto or Tolbert, in my opinion (or DY, in my current opinion.)
And yes, I just made a ridiculous statement. It is what it is.
DrDon, just read your Imp comment. Funny.
mauer needs to stay in the lineup not only for his bat, but to help keep the rays running game in check, as he had some success yesterday-im not sure redmond is up to that anymore..without getting crazy, this game today is pretty big in the overall pic for the twins…just cant afford to slip back any further-its time to turn this ship full steam ahead - and no punto to worry about for a few days anyway….good luck to casilla and hopefully this is his last shot at it and he makes it big….
LEN3,
I say just ignore the detractors; no need to respond. We all appreciate what you’re doing with the blog and we can recognize the unfounded criticisms for what they are.
xahstar-
just curious, since you want to bench our best hitter in joe mauer, who you would rather have hitting in his place?
It seems like the Rockies will soon be in a sale mode. I wonder if the Twins could come up with a deal to acquire Tulowitzki, Marquis and Steet. Tulowitzki is having a horrible year but he is only 24 and maybe a change of scenery could get him back to 2007 form. The Twins would probably have to give up Delmon Young and a highly rated pitching prospect or two to pull it off.
Thanks for the updates La Velle. So Gardy was going to go with Delmon in the infield… interesting. But after using Slowey as a PR last season, all is to be expected.
I just hope that Punto gets some cr*p about this from Gardy and the Twins, because he should have probably been in the DL a couple weeks ago. Both his fielding and esp. his hitting have been atrocious recently
It’s amazing how a sportswriter actually goes on his blog to argue with a fan who gives him some crap about not mentioning a potential move before Trish and other fellow bloggers who are not beat writers knew about it.
All I was saying is that usually a beat writer should be able to secure than information before a fan, even if it is directly announced in the form of a press release by the team. Relax.
The integrity of a beat writer is at stake if he/she comes to a conclusion based on rumors. We bloggers have the luxury of going elsewhere and say things that look like, it appears, etc. A beat writer doing that would then become a tabloid writer. Joe C, Howard S and LEN III release info as soon as it is officially announced. Keep it up, you three. Most of us appreciate accurate reporting, and you guys do not have to apologize to anyone. Thank you. DocDon
ben
grow up and stop trying to pick fights. this is a blog about the twins. its not here so you can rip writers. show a little maturity
The integrity of a beat writer is at stake if he/she comes to a conclusion based on rumors. We bloggers have the luxury of going elsewhere and say things that look like, it appears, etc. A beat writer doing that would then become a tabloid writer. Our three beat writers release info as soon as it is officially announced. Keep it up, you three. Most of us appreciate accurate reporting, and you guys do not have to apologize to anyone. Thank you. DocDon
well said DrDon
Interesting times!
DrDon, it amazes me how you can never take a joke. Some people need to learn when something is said in jest and when it isn’t. When I initially made the comment, I was simply joking around.
One of the writers, I don’t remember which one, mentioned a week or so ago that it is that time of the year for the Twins to evaluate everything. This is very common, as all MLB teams do the same thing. It is an interesting time, Rat_Face, you are correct. But, I insist, the three beat writers do NOT deserve to be ridiculed and blasted. That is another example of the bravery called cyber-bullying.
Easy to say now, Ben, after the fact. Did you have the decency then to send an email to the person you supposedly were joking with apologizing and that “it was taken out of context”? You sound like a politician.
DrDon, relax. I didn’t say I wanted them to report inaccurate details, but I find it highly unlikely that being a beat writer, you would not have some sort of feeling that a potential move is going to be made.
As La Velle stated in this post, he kind of had the feeling that something was to go down. Why could that have not been stated last night? Obviously by the end of last night’s game most of us had a feeling as well. By saying that, it would not hurt a beat writer’s credibility.
DrDon, it surprises me that you of all people would say something about people joking around on here. After all I do believe it was you last night that proceeded to try and flirt online with Trish first on this blog and then on the one that she set up later.
Ben, You take the cake. I have never been called out by one of the beat writers like you have, and now you take it out on me. Stupid is as stupid does. Have a good day.
I am not taking it out on you. I am responding to you, because initially what I said had nothing to do with you, yet you still decide to chime in with your two cents. It was at that point I responded.
There is no way this team, as it is, will compete even in the weak Central Division. We have one hope- blow this team up. Now would be great, at the end of the year would be suitable. Keep Morneau, Maurer, Swarzak, Nathan, Crede, Mijares, Slowey and Kubel. Everyone else is expendable. Make some trades, call up some youngsters, spend some money. Get rid of Punto, Crain, Ayala and Redmond. Trade Young and Cuddyer and Liriano while they still have value. Move Baker to the pen, he is only good for 4 innings anyway.
Blow this team up or soon you’ll see Cleveland in the rear view mirror as the Twins fall to last place.
A little dreaming…
1. Revere CF
2. Span LF
3. Mauer C
4. Morneau 1B
5. Kubel DH
6. Cuddyer RF
7. Valencia 3B
8. Plouffe/Harris SS
9. Casilla/Tolbert 2B
I realize it would be a stretch to see all these rookies up this year, but at this rate, the Twins aren’t going anywhere anyway, so why not give ‘em a taste of the bigs? I bet Valencia would make it, and Revere would be a serious bunt/slap hit/steal threat with a great glove in center.
Another good idea (about a month from now) would be to bring up Jose Morales and use him as a DH, backup catcher and backup first baseman. Much as I like Brian Buscher, he needs to develop by playing 3B every day in triple A. He doesn’t platoon well.
