Friday, May 23 2008
Pitcher Injuries
and Game Notes
It's going to be a quick one today due to some time constraints. I thought it was a good opportunity to share an e-mail with you that I received about two weeks ago from a man named Bruce U. regarding the Twins pitching. He certainly makes a good point and it is something that I think is worth of discussion. So, I am just going to post his e-mail and let you discuss. (And again, I would encourage you to check out Travis' Top 50 Twins Prospects list and discuss/debate it with him and others)
As much as I like Rick Anderson, something about Twins pitching, conditioning, etc has got me to thinking.
Liriano - Tommy John;Neshek - ligament;
Perkins - shoulder strain;
Reyes - forearm strain;Slowey - bicep strain;
Crain - rotator, labrum;
Baker - various arm and other;although not in the system anymore, (Matt) Garza - some kind of strain somewhere;
Rincon - arm strain somewhere;
Nathan - God forbid.
Did I get them all???
What do you think? I guess I would say that you can't help but wonder how Eddie Guardado (who earned that "Everyday" moniker while with the Twins) made it through those seasons while with the Twins, but he has been hurt a lot since. I think that the question/discussion is a fair one. What is different? I remember that when Dick Martin was the team's trainer, there was rarely anyone on the DL. Really, ever since then, it has been one injury after the next. Are the Twins more injured than other teams? Obviously with the current state of the Twins, the injury bug is not specific to only pitchers.
Discuss amongst yourselves.
Twins 8, Rangers 7
This was just a strange game from the start, actually from even earlier, like when the lineups were announced. Against a right-handed Vicente Padilla, Joe Mauer and Jason Kubel were out of the lineup with Craig Monroe and Mike Redmond taking their spots. With all of Gardy's talk about Alexi Casilla being a future shortstop, it was Casilla at 2B while Brendan Harris played SS.
And maybe the strangest thing was the slumping Michael Cuddyer batting third in the lineup. Of course, he does that and Cuddyer responds by going 2-4 with two walks.
Carlos Gomez made another spectacular catch. The game wasn't on TV, but when seeing the highlights, the catch illustrates a couple of things that we know of Gomez. First, he is some kind of athlete with some kind of speed. Second, he's still working on taking routes to the baseball. When it all comes together, which could be within a year or so, he is going to be a special centerfielder!
Oh, and he can hit too. In this game, he went 4-5 with his fourth home runs. He also had another bunt hit. Simply put, he is good, and only going to get better.
Any other thoughts on the Twins or this game? What are your thoughts on the Twins weekend series in Detroit?
Twins Minor League Updates
Thursday SethSpeaks Player of the Day – Whit Robbins, Ft. Myers Miracle
Thursday SethSpeaks Pitcher of the Day – Santos Arias, Beloit Snappers
ROCHESTER REPORT
Thursday - Red Wings 3, Pawtucket 11 – The Red Wings managed just six hits in this game, and Randy Ruiz
had two of them. Brian Buscher had a two run double. The
struggles of Philip Humber just continue. He gave up seven runs (6
earned) on five hits and four walks in just 3.2 innings. Casey Daigle
came in and gave up two more runs in 2.1 innings. Heath Totten
pitched a scoreless inning before Ricky Barrett came in and gave up
two runs on three hits and a walk in one inning.
NEW BRITAIN NEWS
Thursday - Rockcats 2, Harrisburg 5
– With the Adam Everett injury hanging overhead and Trevor
Plouffe not playing, speculation was high that he might be moving on
up to the Twins. In the end, that didn't happen, but the speculating was
fun! The Rockcat bats managed just four hits. Matt Moses and
Erik Lis each doubled. Jason Miller started and gave up four two
runs in four innings. He struck out five. Then Jay Sawatski came
in and gave up just one run over three innings, but he was charged with
the loss. Kyle Aselton then gave up two runs on two hits and two
walks in two innings, but he did strike out... two.
FT MYERS MEMOS
Thursday
- Miracle 3, Palm Beach 4 – Jeff Manship takes the loss in this game,
but the right-hander's line was not bad. In seven innings, he gave up
four runs (just two earned) on six hits and no walks. Danny Vais
threw two shutout innings to close it out. Whit Robbins went 2-4
with and RBI double. Edward Ovalle also went 2-4. Danny
Santiesteban connected for a solo home run, his third of the year.
BELOIT BITS
Thursday - Snappers 2, Clinton 7
– Santos Arias continues to impress since his promotion to the
Midwest League. He improved to 2-1 with seven strong innings. He gave up
one run on three hits and two walks while striking out seven. Loek
Van Mil then struck out four in two shutout innings. Ben Revere
went 2-5 and stole two bases. Chris Parmelee and Danny
Lehman each tripled.
That's it for today! Have a great Friday and weekend!
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