Slowey then, Slowey now
Posted on September 11th, 2008 – 8:56 AMBy Howard
Kevin Slowey seems like a really smart guy who understands that pitching is about making adjustments — and can make ‘em.
He showed that off last night when he battled through the first inning — single, single, deep sac fly, hard double-play grounder — and then held the Royals to two hits and one walk over the next six innings.
Think back to early in the season when some people wondered if he was really ready to be a successful major league pitching. Here’s a Section 220 excerpt from late May: “Kevin Slowey vs. the Tigers tonight doesn’t exactly inspire confidence based on his last two starts. He needs to figure out how to find a bit extra so he doesn’t get into two-strike duels with opposing hitters. The Twins point of view is that Slowey needs to figure that out in the majors because he would dominate if returned to Triple-A and it would likely slow his progress.”
By the way, Slowey won that start against Detroit, his first win of the season after four losses.
Since getting pummeled by the White Sox during those four games of hell in early June, Slowey is 10-3 in 16 starts with a 2.98 ERA and only 105 runners allowed in 103 innings. In that May post, I mentioned the struggles of Tom Glavine and Greg Maddux early in their careers, with the idea that maybe Slowey would follow their career paths. I think that could still happen.
Whatever the case, the Twins were right about having him learn up here rather than in Rochester.
As Bert pointed out last night, Slowey is gaining command within the strike zone, which makes him more effective at working batters and staying away from the two-strike, foul-filled duels that boosted his pitch count in his early starts. In one of them, at Colorado, he managed to throw 109 pitches in 5 2/3 innings despite walking only one batter (and giving up seven hits).
That’s a stark contrast to the middle-inning meltdowns that have plagued Glen Perkins, who could (and perhaps will) learn from Slowey’s example.
It’s been fun to watch him.
(A side note: Section 220 is pleased to bring you this public service announcement from the blog Bugs and Cranks.)
Day game today. On FSN. Find a place to watch. It’s not slacking because there’s a pennant race going on.
other people are here too
67 Responses to "Slowey then, Slowey now"
“He showed that off last night when he battled through the first inning”
howard i think you meant to say “battled his tail off”!
the royals are not a very good team, a lot of scuffling going on. not much getting after it or battling.
Great performance by Slowey yesterday. He and Liriano and Baker some day can be a triple-headed rotation monster like Atlanta’s of yore (and yes Baker needs to do some work on it)
Another pitching-related thing, is that (ok it is KC, but) Boof looked dominant last night. 97 mph fastballs, 90 mph sliders; I think that he finally found his niche as a reliever, along with some of his lost off season weight. Boof, Perkins and hopefully Neshek could be great assets in the pen next year…
“Day game today. On FSN. Find a place to watch. It’s not slacking because there’s a pennant race going on.”
Howard, you mind relaying that info to my boss? I mean, I have no issue taking a 3 hour lunch break, I just don’t think that excuse will fly.
On Slowey. I’m thinking he is becoming our Ace, or at least our #2. The Cisco kid could probably still become the ace, but I do see a lot of Brad Radke in Slowey. I like it. Maybe he will win 20 someday just like Bradke.
imo we will find out what these guys are made of in the 4 game series against the rays. playoff race on the road against a very good team may seperate the wheat of the chaff. games against the royals don’t say much, a very weak lineup.
With all the respect to Radke, Slowey can become a much better pitcher. This year (at 24) his ERA is 3.63 and his WHIP is 1.087. Radke’s best year (at his peak at 31) produced ERA of 3.48 and WHIP of 1.161…
I’ll be there… my boss is a season-ticket holder. I think she’ll understand!
someone on one of these Strib blogs was bashed and ridiculed for saying that he thought Slowey could win 150 games in his career. So, he changed that to 200 wins! Who was that again?
Seth…I give up. That Fire Vavra and Gardy guy?
I was bashed for saying Slowey could win 350. (granted I was joking) However, I could easily see 250 though in this era of bullpen usage.
Slowey has been very impressive. I love watching this kid pitch and as a Twins fan you have to be very excited with the young rotation we have for the future. I actually think it was Roy Smalley who brought up that point last night about Slowey having better command within the strike zone.
The future is so bright we should all be wearing shades. I agree with thrylos98 Baker, Liriano and Slowey make a good 123 punch i’m still not sold on Perkins or Blackburn yet but they have shown some good things this year as well. Lets give boof a little love as well he did a good job in relief last night.
But Keith Law says Kevin Slowey is at best a #4 starter! He obviously is pitching lucky… (sarcasm)
I think Blackburn is going to be very good. I like the way he pounds the strike zone. Perkins needs to learn how to battle more, but I love the way he isn’t afraid to pitch inside. Perkins may need a better off-speed pitch to be more successful as a starter, but hey the kid is 12-4.
I think Slowey has assured himself a spot on this rotation for next year. I wish I could say the same for Blackburn and Perkins.
Sean, I think I read that too. It’s funny cuz in Keith Law’s world Greg Maddux would be a #4 starter as well. I think now days people think that to be a top tier starter you have to strike people out. I would say keeping the walks and hits to a minimum is just as important. Having great command and a presence on the mound are equally as important.
Here’s the front line starter litmus test. Do you feel confident every time this starter goes on the mound, regardless of the opponent? I’d say yes with Slowey. A number 4 doesn’t give that kind of confidence. In fact, with a #4, you expect to win maybe half the time.
Seth, that was me re: the 200 wins…
Yeah, Slowey is going to get 250 wins. Maybe if we time warp back 70 years and he gets inserted into a 3 man rotation.
Keith Law has always been a Span hater too. He gets so disgruntled when his ‘top prospects’ don’t get drafted according to his meticulously crafted lists….
I’m officially backing Perkins too. he’s been pretty solid, and not just because of the wins. Really, all five have been pretty good this year. If there is one I am concerned about long-term, it would be Blackburn because of the lack of strikeouts. But, he certainly isn’t just a soft-tosser like Silva, so maybe he’s got some staying power.
Swarzak looked good down the stretch. Mulvey looks like a very solid #3 or #4 guy based on being about league average in the International League as a 22/23 year old. Duensing could be solid. Manship is working his way up. This organization got it right when they decided pitching and pitching depth was the way to go!
LNP is 2-8 in the KC series…that is clutch hitting..seeing it pretty good huh!
Day will soon be ruined when the line-ups are posted and he is in there for the 56th straight time
fraud
The problem I can see is that Slowey (or Liriano, Baker, Perkins, Blackburn..take your pick) may get so good that he (they all) will become too expensive for the Twins to sign. Could you imagine if all 5 of these starters kept getting better and better? No way all 5 get signed to big deals. We better enjoy this now.
Nice to have so much depth for possible trades, but with all the pitching we have, I didn’t think we needed to add three more arms in the Santana deal. A hitting prospect or two might have been better.
seth are you thinking if they trade a starter for infield help it should be blackburn? or are you against trading any of them?
Butch Winegar, are you any relation to Butch Wynegar?
No, I think he’s related to Gustav Vinegar, for the sour and irrelevant taste of his comment. At least “Bobby Randall” was spelled correctly yesterday when the mediocre, disgruntled alumni weighed in.
I can’t cut out to watch…. taking tomorrow off to do a DC/Baltimore trip with a twins game to end it sunday. losing 2 TV games to see 1 live…oh well, maybe i will go Sat night also/
I don’t think we can rip Keith Law too much. He is a former front office guy and i imagine that some front offices are higher on certain guys than others.
More important though. If he REALLY knew what he was talking about, he’d be a present front office guy. 
Two straight games where bullpen wasn’t needed with game on the line = two straight wins.
“seth are you thinking if they trade a starter for infield help it should be blackburn? or are you against trading any of them?”
I’d rather not trade any of them because depth is so important and having too many good options is way better than not having enough. But if they would trade one of them, Blackburn is the only one I would consider.
Howard, who do like as AL MVP? Do you like Morneau’s chances if the Twins take the Central? He doesn’t seem to be getting much love on the national scene. Is Quentin out of contention even if the Sox take the division? Do you think Frankie Rodriguez or Cliff Lee could take it? Youklis or Pedroia?
BTW, personally I think Mauer’s value to the Twins is probably pretty close to Morneau’s, but based on the 2006 vote I don’t see him getting it. Plus Gardy’s calling Morneau his MVP, not Mauer.
seth would some kind of blackburn for atkins trade make sense? blackburn could do very well in that park being a sinkerball pitcher. atkins hits more homeruns on the road but his average is lower away. could be .280 25-30 homerun guy if he got out of coors. he could be a nice rh bat behind morneau.
Average Joe…have you been drinking Kool Aid with Dick Bremer lately?
Look, you don’t give the MVP to a singles hitter. It just doesn’t happen. There’s a reason why Jeter, as great as he is, doesn’t have an MVP award…MVPs go to the guys who drive in the runs and bring home the bacon, not the guys who are reliable everyday to do the little things.
I agree, we can’t afford to trade any of our starters away. Our rotation is young and solid. They can only get better. We can afford to package boof, cuddy, harris and crain. in a trade for a 3b/dh guy
Next Year’s Opening Day Rotation
Liriano
Slowey
Baker
Perkins
Blackburn
If the Twins make the playoffs Justin definitely deserves the MVP. Moreso than last time even. However, if the Twins miss the playoffs, I could see Pedroia getting it. He’s the hot name right now, and you just don’t hear Josh Hamilton much anymore. BTW Morneau will probably catch Hamilton in RBI’s by seasons end.
I agree Roto we all know the guy who wins mvp is almost always on a playoff team. I just don’t want to see a pitcher get the mvp they have there own award.
sickel has a piece on luke hughes.
http://www.minorleagueball.com/
They won’t get anything useful in a trade if they don’t give up one of their starters or a couple of the SP prospects. It just doesn’t work that you can trade 4 mediocre guys and get a good, young player in return.
As for Slowey, I’ve been pretty hard on him, but he’s been very good in the 2nd half of the year. Hopefully I was wrong in saying he’s a 4th starter.
As for the ESPN and BA guys, I don’t get why you all get so emotional over their statements. They see waaaaaay more players in a year than most of us see in a 5. They have waaaaaaay more time and data than we do. They make predictions and assessments about nearly every player in the minors. They are going to be wrong a lot, just because of that. There is no hate for the Twins, there is no grand conspiracy.
Yeah pitchers definately don’t deserve the MVP. In fact closers don’t even deserve the CY Young. K-Rod won’t even throw 100 innings. How is that Cy or MVP worthy? It would be an abomination if he won either award. Especially cuz he’s the 3rd best closer in the AL. Behind Mariano and Nathan.
LNP is 2-8 in the KC series…that is clutch hitting..seeing it pretty good huh!
I was wondering when you guys would get to LNP. Took you long enough. While were at it, nice throw on the run last night. I wonder how many times Morneau has saved Punto an error on a routine play this year. My guess–20 times.
Today’s game on FSN….Thank goodness I am retired, and get to watch the game before I fire up the grill again for one delicious late lunch/early dinner of chicken and brocolli with cheese sauce. Our MadDog JunkYard MUTTS are to be admired for their efforts. GO MUTTS. WIN TWINS!!!!!
The way the Twins operate, they sign their players to their first big deals. It’s the 2nd one where the players get too expensive.
Generally, a players 1st big contract will be 3-5 years in the $3-10M range. The players are also in their mid 20’s at this time.
For their 2nd contract they are approaching 30 and want $15M+. The Twins are willing to pay this if the length of the contract is in the 3-4 year range. Anything above that, no way.
My thoughts RE: our Pup Pitchers. Sign them all to long term contracts so we can dominate a decade of the future the way Atlanta dominated in the past for a decade with a fantastic rotation. The bullpen will then be awesome the way it is. That is my opinion. GO MUTTS!!! WIN TWINS!!!!!!!
Johnny Canuck is now my background on my computer. Awesome.
“I wonder how many times Morneau has saved Punto an error”
Saving Buscher, Tolbert and Everett errors would require Morneau to be a better athlete. (or possibly a superhero)
We have a fantastic 1st baseman in Justin, that is why he is there, because every throw from the infielders is not going to be perfect. Trust me, I know, I played 1st base in HS, College, and TownTeam ball.
DrDon,
You missed my point, which was that Punto’s throws can be scooped, but Buscher’s and Tolbert’s throws must be chased.
btw, your diet isn’t THAT interesting.
But maybe that’s just me.
DrDon, what’s for dessert?
birdofprey,
“DrDon, what’s for dessert?”
My guess is an Apple-tini triple.
Same as breakfast.
Bonsie is on the verge of realizing something important: He pitches better from the stretch. I saw him a few weeks ago come in and pitch from the stretch, and he was spotting his mid-90’s fastball up, down, in and out. Totally dominated. Then he comes out pitching from the wind-up and he’s all over the place. Maybe someday he’ll find command from the windup, but for now he’s got plenty of power and much better control without the big leg kick.
Obviously, Keith Law knows a lot more about baseball prospects than I do, but on a couple of occasions I saw people bring up Span to him during ESPN chats and the guy just refuses to admit he misjudged that one. He’s all, “well, he doesn’t have enough MLB at bats yet to know…. blah blah blah.” I’d agree that he’s only been up for a short time, but Law totally ripped the Twins for taking Span with their #1 pick a few years ago and he just couldn’t admit that they might have seen something that he missed.
http://www.kuklaskorner.com/images/uploads/johnnyburlesque.jpg
Johnny Burlesque
Is Brian Runge paying attention behind the plate?
Here is a little tidbit from Keith laws chat today -
How about this: Where would they be if they hadn’t dealt Santana? Three games up? Five? Their good season is, to some degree, an indictment of their baseball philosophy - they may have traded away a playoff berth and a dominant postseason rotation (you want to face Johan-Liriano-x-x-Johan in a five-gamer, no matter who solves for “x?”) and took a disappointing package of prospects rather than shoot for the playoffs and take two picks at the end of the year. I haven’t seen anyone else take that line.
He is right on the money in that the Twins would be better, but talk about unfair. I mean did anybody think the Twins were going to compete? I doubt he did. So the only other option looked at for Santana was to trade at the All-Star break. Maybe they should have done that, although Gomez, Mulvey, Humber & Guerra aren’t busts yet. But I really doubt that you can blame the Twins front office for not keeping Santana because should have known they would be contending for a division title with the roster they had.
Nathan coulda pitched another inning, he only threw 15 pitches. Now I gotta sit through the Guerrier heart attack special.
great here we go. Guerrier is about to cough up another one.
oh wait, no….. they’re going to let Reyes do the honor of coughing the lead up.
shocking
shocking…. Reyes comes in, one pitch to hand guerrier the L, and then he gets pulled. Probably wanted to get back to his double cheeseburgers or something. They oughta throw the cheeseburgers out there at this point see if they can get some relief outs.
Could someone please ask Gardy or explain to me why you don’t have go-go bunt over the runner in the 7th with the game tied and one out? Instead he pops out, Span follows with what should have driven the go-ahead run and avoided th whole extra inning mess.
You’ve shown you like bunting in the first to get on the board how about doing it with the game on the line (especially since you chose not to have the guy steal 2nd).
Brutal that could be the season right there. Yeah the bullpen is blowing sgames but you should be able to put some runs up against Duckworth at least more than 2. And then KC doesn’t have the great bullpen okay with Mahay or but that other guy they should have rocked.
Looks like the ChiSox will get Acives/Pettitte/Ponson/Mussina in that order when they play the last meaningful series in Yankee Stadium history next Mon-Thurs.
I suppose it’s still tentative. Also tentative but still probable is the Sox best starters (without Richards) with Vasquez facing Mussina in the last meaningful game in Yankee history.
Expect the Yankees offense to be one final fireworks display and the ChiSox to fizzle without a fully recovered Crede and Konerko — if even that — and totally without Quentin.
Could be a Yankees sweep.
I mean, Vasquez facing Mussina in the last meaningful game in Yankee STADIUM history.
Expect grueling capacity crowds too.
Poor bitchsox. Can’t wait to hear their comments after the series.
[…] Originally published by A Fan’s View […]
WEIRD STATS:
Twins total HRs is 48% of W. Sox
Twins total of Xtra base hits is 84% of W. Sox
Twins total of non-HR Xtra base hits is 111% of W. Sox
I wonder how many solo shots the Whities have.
Twins still have more runs than W. Sox; right?
RELEVANT STAT:
There are only 13 non-Twin starting pitchers in the AL with better ERA’s than Blackburn’s in the last 30 days. The current rankings for the past 30 days:
Liriano 2nd
Slowey- 8th
Baker- 14th
Blackburn 17th
Perkins 28th
And I wonder how many RBIs the Twins and W. Sox have each produced with their Xtra base hits.
