Gardy sends a message in victory
Posted on July 12th, 2008 – 10:29 AMBy Howard
A quick thought about Friday’s game: It was great to see Guerrier, Nathan and Crain bounce back and handle the Tigers for a second straight game. But it’s also clear that, in order to make it through the season, Gardy needs another reliable and hard-throwing arm in the bullpen to complement those three and the situational lefties — Breslow and Reyes. Boof’n'Bass aren’t going to be those guys. The Twins need to replace one while the other does long relief and mop-up. I assume Gardy thinks he can manage his way through the personnel decisions in the outfield and on the left side of the infield.
But there are only so many quality pitches in each of the bullpen arms.
Enjoy the weekend.
28 Responses to "Gardy sends a message in victory"
Another arm should be #1 priority, a RH bat #2
I think Bass’ days are numbered. It just becomes a numbers game and while he’s certainly been serviceable, I still don’t think they’ll stay with 12 pitchers. If they decide to add another arm, it could mean Boof gets traded.
While these young arms are certainly being more productive as a group than one could have reasonably expected, a couple of pitchers are going to have to start getting 7-8 innings instead of the 6 that we’ve become accepting of as “good outings”.
“Howard,
There is some imposter using BC Beneke’s moniker.
The imposter completely blew his cover by saying good things about Punto and Span.”
There may be additional evidence that the imposter whom I “outed” yesterday is indeed NOT BC Beneke.
I have heard a rumor, that a poster using THAT moniker, has nominated Joe Vavra for the National Education Association’s (NEA) “Teacher of the Year” Award.
I rest my case.
Drop Bass and trade Bonser for relief help. Boof does have some value in the sense he has good stuff (not that we’ve seen it consistently) and is under team control for a while. One power arm in the bullpen would be great!
Who’s available to bring into the ‘pen?
A possible trade could be a good option to get an arm into the bullpen, but that is hard to think about since this bullpen is clicking quite well. I would not be for a trade for a reliever if it mess up what is going well.
Why not bring up Liriano to replace Perkins as a starter and put Perkins in the bullpen? Perk has done well, and he’d continue to do well in a relief role. Yeah, that’s the ticket.
Yes Howard’s and my analysis is right. The pen is the concern.
This all points to the fact that the Twins have no playoff-caliber type starter. The starters (sans Livan) are good, but you can’t count on them for a long game.
Also, I just had a quirky notion last night —– maybe it’s time for Slowey to take another step in his development. I know he’s dominated at AAA and the thinking is it would be useless to send him there. But maybe it’s ironically time to throw that notion out the window.
He’s been tutored — along with Blackburn and Baker — to be a nibbling type pitcher…not completely overpowering by any means. This is very good. But he used to have an overpowering curve in development.
And I wish he’d go back to it and start letting it fly with the FB too. AAA could be the place for him to do that. So, not to accomplish dominance and victories and stellar pitching performance at AAA, but rather to strengthen the arm a little more and strengthen (and change) a couple pitches and change his approach in the hopes he can become an 8-inning pitcher.
Bring Liriano up and send Slowey down. If Livan fails, bring Slowey back up.
What are the Twins going to get for Brian Bass Ackwards? A bag of 5 year old rain soaked batting practice baseballs from a 7th grade little league team? And we’d still have to throw in an autographed Mauer bat!
Boof Bonser could still command a Drew Butera type minor league player (I just washed my mouth out with soap because I originally typed prospect, but Drew Butera isn’t any better a baseball player than you or I are… sorry)…
But Bonser is going to be able to bring us a minor league quality player. Bonser also has the capability with his curveball to become a reliever/spot starter in an emergency.
Out right releasing Bass is not going to kill this team, but we still have to trade to bring something in.
I gave a long list on LaVelle’s blog the other day of potential pitchers…
Seattle - Rowland-Smith, Arthur Rhodes,
Texas - Guardado, Francisco,
Atlanta - Carlysle
Cincy - Affelt
Colorado - Grilli
Pittsburgh - Grabow
SD - Bell, Adams,
SF - Hinshaw
Washington - Rivera, Hanrahan
__________________
I also think that of the guys in the pen right now. Breslow might be the best 8th inning guy.
Though as insane as it sounds and how it could screw up the 40 man roster, and his progression. Shooter Hunt would be a killer 8th inning guy.
BC BENEKE-You knows these things,how good a pitcher do you think Shooter Hunt will be?
GENO,
Shooter Hunt was rated 3rd best RHP in the draft (rated before the draft) by Baseball America.
BA comments as follows:
“With a strong junior season, Hunt has moved himself into serious first-round contention. While the right-hander doesn’t always command his pitches well — he’s walked a few too many this year — he’s got terrific stuff, most notably his fastball and curve, both of which are above average. He hasn’t needed a changeup much, but he has the feel for one. There might be one or two right-handers who rank ahead of Hunt heading into the Draft, but he’s not too far behind them in the pecking order.”
Sounds like he has a Matt Garza arm with hopefully a better head.
GENO,
My bad!
My previous quote was from MLB scouting.
The following is from BA:
“Hunt has been impossible to hit all spring for Tulane in trying to lead the Green Wave back to regionals, limiting opponents to a .144 average while averaging 12.2 strikeouts per nine innings through 12 starts. Batters just can’t put the barrel on his lively fastball, which sits at 91-92 mph and tops out at 94, or his hard breaking ball, which features curveball break and slider velocity. A full-time catcher until his junior year in high school, Hunt still is learning the nuances of pitching. He nibbles at the corners and often pitches away from contact rather than attacking hitters. As a result, he had allowed more walks (42) than hits (38) this spring. A sturdy 6-foot-3, 200-pounder, Hunt should be more than capable of handling the demands of starting in pro ball. His biggest adjustment will be learning to trust his stuff so he can keep his pitch counts down. He flashes a plus changeup in the bullpen, though he doesn’t use it much in games. He led the Cape Cod League in strikeouts after his freshman season, which he spent at Virginia. Hunt could go as high as No. 7 to the Reds, but more likely fits in the middle of the first round.”
Thanks sane,this is what this blog should be all about,sharing information about the game we love!
Damn good info, Mr sane! Much thanks for the research abd input. Re: Matt Garza, you are probably right. It is truly sad that youth is wasted on the young.
All-Star Break Trade Check.
Name BA HR-RBI RBI+Runs
Bartlett .256 0-20 44
Harris .262 5-31 71
Young .286 3-36 83
W-L ERA
Baker 6-2 3.47
Blackburn 7-4 3.72
GARZA 7-5 3.96
Perkins 6-2 4.14
Slowey 6-6 4.26
Young plus Harris have produced 154 runs.
Bartlett has produced 44 runs.
(runs +rbi)
Garza’s ERA would put him as a middle of the rotation guy - not much different from Baker, Blackburn, Perkins and Slowey. - Definitely not irreplaceable. And probably relaceable by Liriano in about a month.
I love this discussion. I can’t seem to get enough of the rotation/bullpen talk. Here’s my take:
It all falls upon Livan. Should Livan somehow be traded, a trade to acquire another bullpen arm is almost required. There are multiple options out there, though the perfect situation would be to get the bullpen arm at the same store we get rid of Hernandez at.
Should Livan not be traded, and I think this is the more likely scenario, I would fully support a move of Liriano to the ‘pen. I cannot take Perkins out of the rotation with the few great starts he has. I would hate to have Liriano struggle right off the bat and be faced with another tough situation. It would also be hard to cut Livan, so I think this rotation is the way we stay for the remainder of 2008.
That’s not entirely bad, though. This rotation is doing just a fine job, albeit behind the stellar offense of Minnesota. Should Minnesota keep scoring even four or five runs a game this should not be a problem.
Also, with Liriano in the pen, the bullpen is in much better array. Everbody’s happy. 
Thanks for this discussion starter, Howard!
Geno,
Sorry I didn’t get back here until now. They summed it up pretty well.
Hunt could pitch in the majors as a reliever right now. Stuff wise he is possibly the best pitcher in the organization right now…
And from the sounds of it… he really enjoys making batters look bad.
It would not shock me if the Twins have him up here by the All Star Break Next season. He could be something special.
Not sure why all this talk about the bullpen and the “necessity” of another arm for the 8th inning.
Here are some splits:
Starter ERA: 4.60
Reliever ERA: 3.83
Home ERA: 3.35
Road ERA: 5.55
As I’ve been saying for a while, the Twins need to do something to prepare the pitchers better on the road.
If anything, another starter rather than a reliever might be better for this team
another thing…
before Hunt, I’d rather see what Delaney and Slama can do in a pen role…
what’s all this talk about dumping Bass. It’s time for Boof to go and Livan.
wow….all you experts lets see if i can remove your rose colored glasses and look at reality…
1. liriano - will never pitch from the pen - not a consistant thrower of strikes - coming of tommy john he would only be considered in the pen if everything fails for him and its a last chance to save his career.
2. livan is not going to be traded - he is going nowhere - he has won 9 games and on pace to win 15 games this year - where are you going to find a veteran that is available - a 15 game winner and economically feasible? if anything if livan goes bad losing his first 4 starts badly look for him and boof to switch roles - boof has upside and major league stuff -
3. this team will continue to pitch slowey - he has done everything possible at AAA ball - he is young great upside and he will be a fixture in the rotation the rest of the year.
bass throws strikes - and gardy is rather high on him - i agree he is scary -
breslow - has been released an awful lot - he is what he is an occasional 2 inning mop up guy or facing 1 lefty a game.
this young rotation was built this year for learning and experiencing the show and as a rebuilding year this is their time to get experience - just because they find themselves in contention does not change the focus and direction of the team - get use to what you see - there are no trades to be made - liriano will continue for the near term to continue to bulid confidence and physically build his arm strength - there is no rush to bring him back - nor should there be - he is at a critical point in his career jim rantz and smith know what is best for him….
BC,sane-If Shooter can be a Garza with a better mental makeup,we are in for great days in the future!
Shooter has a very good make up from every report I’ve read, and he truly has a mentality to just enjoy striking people out.
Re: Another arm
I think today’s game showed it the clearest. Needing to go with Bass in three one-run games in the eighth inning in a week should knock Bill Smith upside the head and tell him to get on the phones. Bass is a nice long man, but he’s nobody’s idea of an eighth inning set-up guy. Did anyone see that homer by Joyce off Bass? He hit the snot out of that ball.
The fact that Guerrier pitched so much this week proves that the pen needs another arm. Guerrier , Breslow and Nathan need some help.
I have another bullpen arm in mind.
He has a 3.86 ERA with the Mariners.
That ERA is better than Perkins, Slowey, Bass, Neshek, Boof and Livan.
He has pitched more innings (60) than any reliever on the Twins staff except Boof. (ex-starter)
He has pitched more innings than Guerrier, Bass, Nathan, Crain and Reyes.
He can pitch almost every day because his best pitch puts very little strain on his arm.
He is knuckleballer RA Dickey and he was Twins property this winter before they pissed him away to the approval of nearly the entire blog.
Everyone told me he was a career MLB failure with the Rangers and wasn’t good enough to even be kept at Rochester. If he made the Twins, he would just be taking away innings from Brian Bass. (5.31 ERA)
Just freaking brilliant!
Hey now. I mourned the loss of R.A. Dickey. Though I admit it was strictly on the basis of him having an awesome name.
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