A few things that make me feel pretty good:

*Kevin Slowey pitched five shutout innings last night while you were (probably) watching Duke-Belmont, Gophers-St. Cloud State or Lost. In Slowey’s last three outing, which came after two rocky ones at the start of spring, he’s given up 1 run on 11 hits (10 singles and a solo homer) in 12 innings. He’s also struck out 13 while walking only 1. Given that he’s about location and changing speeds, I’m hoping that it took those first couple of outing to get his stuff together and the Slowey who flummoxed the Reds last night is the guy who’ll be in the rotation week after next.

*Yes, Gogomez will be maddening sometimes in center field and at the plate, but 9-for-9 on stolen bases so far — many of them without drawing a throw and several of third base — makes me forgiving of some of the shortcomings, especially if I come to grips with ‘08 as a rebuilding year.

*Garrett Jones got sent out, which means his cleared waivers without being claimed by another team. I’m trying to figure out all the fuss about him. I mean, some people seemed to think he was the Anglo Big Papi and were fearful over his departure. Big guy, big swing, small results. Yawn.

*If the Twins and Joe Nathan are close to reaching agreement on an extension, that’s a very good thing. You don’t keep an ace closer if you’re thinking about a long-term rebuilding job. But if 2008 turns out being run to build a serious contender for 2009, questions about a closer won’t have to answered. I’ve made the argument that closers can be replaced more easily than some other specialists, but why borrow trouble here, especially when the owner can afford the tab? The Twin Cities are lucky to have two guys in town named Joe Nathan who are good at what they do.

*If last night’s batting order is what I see on March 31st at the Dome, I’m not complaining, although I’ll take Kubel if there’s a righty on the mound for the Angels, but I like that he doesn’t seem overmatched against lefties and that Monroe doesn’t have to sit against right-handers. Looks like a bench of Kubel/Monroe, Buscher/Tolbert, Redmond and Punto. That’s better than looking down the bench in hopes of finding a pinch-hitter and seeing Tyner and Luis Rodriguez raising their hands.

*Who’s with me on South Alabama and Western Kentucky today?
other people are here too.

This entry was posted on Friday, March 21st, 2008 at 10:55 am and is filed under Thoughts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.