Thursday,
April 22, 2010
Quick Notes
After an eight
hour work day, I had a fun-filled seven hour drive back to the Twin Cities last
night. I got home about 11:15, so today’s blog is not going to be terribly
long. But hopefully you will still find value in coming here today. The nice thing was that at least I had a
Twins game to listen to. And hey, I get to go to the game today!! After being
to the ballpark three other times, this will be my first Twins regular season
game in Target Field.
From the sounds
of it, the Twins 6-0 would have been a very good game to watch. Francisco Liriano
continues to impress. In this game, he went eight shutout innings. He had just
six strikeouts, but he gave up just six hits and walked two. He continued to
pile up a lot of ground balls. It was an easy decision to take him out of the
game after the eighth inning and 102 pitches thrown. On the offensive side of
the ball, the Twins were able to work six more walks, something that has
definitely become a big part of their game. I think that trend started
happening last year and has clearly carried into this year. That will help the
Twins over the course of the year. The more they can get the starting pitcher
out early, the better during series. After two walks in the 2nd
inning, Brendan Harris singled in
one run. After a wild pitch, Denard Span
single in two more runs. With Liriano on the mound,
that wound up being enough. However, Michael
Cuddyer added a solo home run and a two run
triple later in the game to add some insurance, which is always a good thing.
The Twins
offense is scoring a lot of runs despite not hitting well with Runners in
Scoring Position. We all know that those averages will even out over time. But
I think Twins fans also need to recognize that it will be a rare occurrence when
all eight or nine Twins hitters are all hitting at the same time. The strength
of having a strong lineup 1-8 is that you’ve got two or three more hitters who
can be hot. There will be hot and cold hitters, but the more good hitters and
on-base guys you have, the more likely you have longer innings. It only makes
sense. If you have five good hitters, and know that only two or three of them
will be hitting very well at any time, you won’t score a lot of runs. However,
if you have eight good hitters, maybe five of them are hitting, or maybe three
of them are hitting.
As for Target
Field, it certainly appears to be playing very fairly so far. It looks like a
pitcher’s park, which is great to see. Yes, the Twins will lose out on some
home runs, but their pitchers could be spared a lot of home runs. Maybe when it
gets warmer, it will change and turn into a hitter’s ballpark (I expect this to
some degree), but it will be for both teams. So, how the ballpark plays is what
it is, and it is the same way for both teams.
The Twins have
won their first five series now after winning the first two games of this three
game series. An afternoon game today means an opportunity for their first
sweep. I happen to think that Drew Butera should
play in place of Joe Mauer
behind the plate. I like that Mauer wants to play
every day. I want him to want to play every day. But as a catcher, that should
not happen. It’s April, and we have to want him to play in 150 games throughout
the season, not be shot by June. That said, the Twins
also talked about giving Justin Morneau more time off. Alexi Casilla is yet to make a start, and
since both JJ Hardy and Orlando Hudson have played every game,
I expect Casilla will start for one of them. The
lineup I would like to see on Thursday afternoon would be:
Denard Span (CF), Alexi Casilla (2B), Delmon Young (LF), Justin Morneau
(1B), Michael Cuddyer (RF), Jim Thome
(DH), JJ Hardy (SS), Brendan Harris (3B), Drew Butera
(C ). \
Now some may say
that by going with a lineup like this, you are giving Cleveland the third game.
I completely disagree. First, I do believe that players need days off, but
secondly, there are still seven regulars in this lineup. You have your best
pitcher on the mound and a solid defense. There is no reason that this lineup
can’t still win. Does it mean they will? Who knows, but there is no reason to
believe they can’t.
FANTASY TRANSACTION ANALYSIS
Alright, made a
trade in a fantasy baseball league yesterday and I need some opinions on it. I
won’t say here which side of the deal I was so your opinion isn’t biases.
·
Team A Gets: Ryan Zimmerman, Freddy Garcia
·
Team B Gets: Kevin Slowey, Neftali Feliz, Colby Rasmus
Who wins that
deal?
Please feel free
to leave
your comments here.
SethSpeaks Wednesday Minor League
Hitter of the Day – Danny Rams – Beloit
Snappers
SethSpeaks Wednesday Minor League
Pitcher of the Day – Jeff Manship – Rochester Red Wings
Red Wings Report
Wednesday – Rochester 6, Buffalo 1 – Jeff Manship told me yesterday that his
arm was feeling really good. It showed last night as he threw six shutout
innings for his first win of the season. He gave up just four hits and no
walks. Matt Fox came in and gave up
one run on three hits in two innings. Kyle
Waldrop pitched a scoreless ninth frame. Trevor Plouffe led the offense on this
day. He went 3-4 with a triple and his second home run. Wilson Ramos was 2-3 with a walk and his second home run. Jason Repko
was 2-3 with a double. Matt Tolbert
was 2-4.
New Britain Notes
Wednesday – New Britain 4, Richmond 5 – Michael McCardell started for the Rockcats and gave up three runs on ten hits. He walked none
and struck out just one. Cole Devries
pitched a scoreless seventh inning, but he gave up two runs with just one out
in the 8th inning. Chris
Province came in and got the final two outs. Yancarlos Ortiz and Steve Singleton
each went 2-4. Whit Robbins and Estarlin de Los Santos each went 2-4 with a
walk. Ben Revere was 2-5. Danny Lehmann went 1-3 with a walk.
Miracle Matters
Wednesday – Ft. Myers 4, Charlotte 2 – Chris Herrmann, Michael Harrington and Deibinson Romero were all 2-4 in the Miracle win.
Ramon Santana hit a big two run double.
Bobby Lanigan pitched well again. The righty
allowed just one run on seven hits and a walk in 6.2 innings. Tony Davis got the next five outs, but
gave up just one run. Billy Bullock picked
up his second save by getting the final two outs.
Snappers Snippets
Wednesday – Beloit 9, Quad Cities 10 – The Snappers tried but
were able to come back from a 7-0 deficit after just two innings, but fell late
for the loss. Brad Stillings
gave up eight runs (just 3 earned) on 10 hits and two walks in 3.1 innings. Edgar Ibarra threw 2.2 scoreless
innings, striking out four. Peter
Kennelly took the loss giving up two runs in 2.2 innings. Steve Blevins got the final out. Danny Rams was 3-5 with two doubles. Steve
Liddle was 3-5 with one double. Angel Morales was 2-4 with a double. Wang-Wei Lin was 2-4 with a walk.
Any thoughts on the Twins or their minor league system? Leave
your comments here.