You could start this story at the end, in the final minutes of Tuesday’s game, when Delmon Young finished off his 4-for-5 night with a single to shallow right field that — because it came on a 3-and-2 pitch — allowed Michael Cuddyer to get a big jump and score easily from second base. It capped a performance that showed plate discipline totally incongruous with the .290 on-base percentage that Young owns this season, much like the recent offense of Alexi Casilla (2 for 3 with a walk and RBI double) doesn’t look like it comes from a guy with a .209 average.

But the victory really highlighted, once again, the thinness of the Twins pitching staff. I want someone to look up today when the Twins last used five pitchers in a game who all spent time in the minor leagues during the season.

That was the case last night, including the well-intentioned but failed Armando Gabino experiment. (The only entertaining thing about Gabino’s 2 2/3 innings was listening to Bert’s futile attempt to pronounce his name, calling him “Garbino” over and over again in a classic Bircle Me Cert performance.)

Gabino did provide a flashback to 2006, however. Does anyone else remember the Sunday afternoon in August when the Twins, in need of a starter, fetched Mike Smith from the minors to pitch against  Kansas City. Smith lasted three innings and was never heard from again.

How much of a flashback?

Smith (2006): 3.0 innings, 5 hits, 4 earned runs, three walks, one strikeout, Twins rally to win
Gabino (2009): 2.2 innings, 5 hits, 4 earned runs, three walks, one strikeout, Twins rally to win.

To Gabino’s credit, he didn’t bring Smith’s mullet to the mound.

It remains to be seen whether the Twins will give Gabino another chance, but the cold truth is that if a serviceable veteran starter or middle reliever  can be had on waivers, the Twins have two pitchers (Gabino and Philip Humber) who are as replaceable as a plastic fork and spoon. Enough things are breaking right for the Twins right now that a half-dozen OK starts or 15 more good innings out of the bullpen could be a couple of gap-closers.

(Note to Twins: Not Brian Bass.)

How much of a true rejuvenation this is remains to be seen. Yes, the Twins have won five straight and looked good by rallying from behind. But 4 of the 5 victories have been by one run against the last place teams of the AL East and Central. Truer tests will come in the next week against the Rangers and White Sox, not to mention a four-game trip to Toronto, where they haven’t won a game since the Twins had a third baseman named Tony Batista.

It’s fun right now, but there’s harder work ahead.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 26th, 2009 at 9:17 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.