Thursday July 10, 2003
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Part II - Where Have They Gone? (Former Twins - Pitchers)
Last week, I did a report on former Twins hitters (LINK) in the major leagues. Twenty-three former Twins were mentioned. Before I move on to the former Twins pitchers, I have to point out one former Twin hitter (if you can call it that) that I unintentionally neglected last week.
The Oakland A’s just called up David McCarty. And, for good reason. At AAA Sacramento, McCarty played in 91 games and had 352 at bats. He had 23 doubles, 15 home runs and 72 RBI. Yesterday afternoon, McCarty batted 5th for the A’s. He went 2-3 with 2 doubles, a run and an RBI on a sacrifice fly, for the game-winning RBI in the 7th inning. The 34 year old McCarty was the Twins first round draft pick (3rd overall) in 1991. To say he was a disappointment to the Twins is probably an understatement. In parts of three seasons with the Twins (1993-95), McCarty played in 167 games. He had a .239 batting average with 26 doubles, 3 home runs and 37 RBI in 506 at bats.
OK, to the former Twins pitchers:
Matt Kinney - Milwaukee Brewers -
Matt Kinney is having a breakout season for the Brewers. He spent parts of both 2000 and 2002. In that time, he was 4-9 with a 4.82 ERA. He pitched in 22 games (20 starts), totally 108 1/3 innings. Since he was out of options and not guaranteed making the Twins team out of spring training, the Twins traded him, with Javy Valentin to the Brewers for a couple of pitching prospects. This year, with the Brewers, Kinney has started 17 of his 18 appearances, and pitched 111 1/3 innings. He’s just 6-7 with a 4.61 ERA.
Todd Ritchie - Milwaukee Brewers -
Ritchie joined the Brewers this season after a horrendous year with the White Sox last year. Todd Ritchie was the Twins first round pick in 1990. He didn’t make it to the Twins until 1997. He pitched in 57 games for the Twins, all out of the bullpen (98 1/3 IP). He had a 2-3 record with a 4.85 ERA. Since leaving the Twins, he has played for the Pirates and the White Sox. He is currently on the disabled list for the Brewers, but before that, he started 5 games for them and was 1-2 with a 5.08 ERA.
Hector “Carrisco” Carrasco - Baltimore Orioles -
Carrasco was recently called up by the Orioles. He’s pitched in just four games and 5 1/3 innings. He has no record, but a 3.38 ERA. Before being called up, he went 4-2 with 4 saves and a 2.22 ERA at AAA Ottawa. Carrasco was with the Twins from 1998 through 2001 (with an 8 game stint with the Red Sox at the end of the 2000 season). In that time, Carrasco pitched in 219 games and accumulated 256 1/3 innings. He was 14-11 with an ERA of 4.60.
Todd Jones - Boston Red Sox -
Todd Jones started this season in Colorado, where he had pitched in 2002 as well. He pitched 39 1/3 innings in 33 games (1-4, 8.24 ERA) for the Rockies before being released by them. A couple of weeks later, he was signed by the Red Sox and is now on their roster. The other night, he recorded his first win. He’s pitched in just 3 games and 5 1/3 innings for the Sox. He’s 1-0 with a 5.06 ERA. Todd Jones came to the Twins from Detroit in 2001 for Mark Redman. He pitched 24 games with the Twins, and was 1-0, with 2 saves, and a 3.26 ERA.
Mark Redman - Florida Marlins -
Redman was the Twins first round pick in 1996 out of the University of Oklahoma. He made his debut with the Twins in 1999, going 1-0 with a 8.53 ERA. In 2000, Redman made 24 starts (32 appearances) for the Twins and went 12-9 with a 4.76 ERA. He struck out 117 and walked 45 batters. In 2001, Redman started 9 games and went 2-4 with a 4.22 ERA before going down with an injury. An injury that a lot of the Twins and manager Tom Kelly questioned. Kelly thought Redman was taking too long to come back. So, when he could come back, the Twins traded him to the Tigers for Todd Jones. Redman did well in his time in Detroit (for a Detroit pitcher). When Tiger teammates questioned his attitude and play, he was sent to the Florida Marlins this past offseason. He’s been great this year for the Marlins. He’s started 14 games for them, and is 7-3 with a 2.80 ERA. He’s walked just 25 and struck out 70 batters. And, he’s still just 29 years old.
Denny Neagle - Colorado Rockies -
Denny Neagle was a big time prospect for the Twins back when the Twins won their last World Championship. In 1991, the Gopher alum pitched in 7 games for the Twins (3 starts), and went 0-1 with a 4.05 ERA. He was traded, with Midre Cummings, to the Pittsburgh Pirates after the season for John Smiley. He went from the Pirates (where he was a 1995 All-Star) to the Braves (where he was a 1997 All-Star), where he played great, winning 20 games in 1997. After the Braves, Neagle became a Red, and midway through the 2000 season, he was traded to the Yankees, and helped them to the 2000 World Series championship. Neagle then took the big money and went to Colorado where it’s impossible to put up good pitching numbers. This season, at age 34, Neagle started out on the disabled list, but he’s back now. He has started 5 games and is 2-2 with a 6.26 ERA.
Mark Guthrie - Chicago Cubs -
Guthrie pitched for the Twins from 1989 until part-way through 1995 when he was traded to the Dodgers. The lefty was a top setup man for the Twins most of those years. He made 240 appearances (489 2/3 innings) and had a record of 29-27 with a 4.19 ERA. He made a number of starts in 1990 and 1991, but he has been valuable since going 100% to the bullpen. Since leaving the Twins in 1995, Guthrie has played for the Dodgers, Red Sox, Cubs, Devil Rays, Blue Jays, A’s, Mets, and this year is back with the Cubs. So far, he’s appeared in 35 games, pitching just 22 1/3 innings. He’s 0-3 with a 2.42 ERA. A 37 year old left-hander, he’s got at least 8 more years by Orosco-standards.
Jack Cressend - Cleveland Indians -
Cressend pitched 2/3 of an inning in last weekend’s Twins/Indians series. This year with the Indians, Cressend has pitched twice, 2 1/3 innings, no record and a 3.38 ERA. At AAA Buffalo, Cressend was 1-0 with a 1.23 ERA before his recall. He pitched parts of 3 seasons (2000-2002) for the Twins. He pitched really well in 2001, but lost it in 2002 before being taken off the 40 man roster and claimed by Cleveland. His career numbers with the Twins were 3-3 with a 4.59 ERA.
Pat Mahomes - Pittsburgh Pirates -
Pat Mahomes pitched in two games this year with the Pittsburgh Pirates. In 5 innings, he was 0-0 with a 3.60 ERA. Back at AAA Nashville, Mahomes has pitched in 28 games (40 1/3 innings). He’s 6-2 with a 2.23 ERA. Mahomes never lived up to expectations with the Twins, despite getting plenty of chances from 1992-1996. He went 18-28 in that time. Since leaving the Twins, he’s pitched and experienced varying levels of success, for the Red Sox, Mets, Rangers and Cubs, before the Pirates this season.
Mike Lincoln - Pittsburgh Pirates -
In 26 games with the Twins in 1999 and 2000, Lincoln had a record of 3-13 with an ERA of 6.77. He spent the last 2 years with the Pirates. This year, he’s battled injuries, but in 4 games has pitched 4 innings. He has no record, and a 4.50 ERA.
Any additions or comments, please e-mail me and let me know.
TWINS AND BASEBALL THOUGHTS -
Twins lose yet again. But, hey, I’m a Twins addict. I watched them during the bad years, and a little frustration right now isn’t going to keep me from continuing to do so. But, based in their performance the past month or month and a half, they are certainly inviting us all to, in the immortal words of the legendary Coolio: “Come along and ride on my fantastic, SLIDE, SLIDE, Slippety SLIDE!”
They are now 44-45. Fortunately, the White Sox lost to the Tigers, so the Twins are still a game up on them. With Anaheim beating the Royals late last night, the Twins didn’t lose further ground to them.
Kenny Rogers discussed publicly how QuesTec affects him. He basically said that he needs to get corners and has been told by umpires that in parks that have QuesTec cameras, they won’t call corners, because they don’t want to get bad grades. Rogers says that he doesn’t have the stuff to throw anything by hitters. Well, tonight was a case of that. I thought Rogers pitched very well and fought the small strike zone and frequent base runners.
Alex Rodriguez is really good!
Jason Varitek was voted in as the 32nd All Star for the American League, and it was well deserved. Although, they could have put Jeremy Giambi in there (or any Red Sox player) and that person would have been voted in. Johnny Damon was voted as the 30th (final) All Star last year, when he was in Boston. Boston fans are good voters!
Geoff Jenkins was voted as the 32nd All Star for the National League. Also, very deserved! So, the 2 that I chose to vote for, got in!
Also, Mike Sweeney will not be playing in the All-Star game. He’ll be in attendance, but his injury will keep him out of the game. The Yankees Jason Giambi was chosen to replace him.
BASKETBALL NOTES -
Lebron James scored 17 points yesterday, with 2 rebounds and 3 assists in 29 minutes. Oh, the Cavs lost, not that it really matters. However, James won’t play in the Cavs last 3 games in Orlando, as he will be attending a wedding back in Ohio. So, the Wolves team won’t have to/get to face him.
The Timberwolves team last night went to 2-0 defeating the Milwaukee Bucks team 98-78. John Wallace again led the team in scoring with 15 points. Rookie Rick Rickert added 14 points on 6-9 shooting. He added four boards and 5 fouls in 23 minutes. First-round pick Ndudi Edi added 11 points in 28 minutes. Cal Bowdler (who had a tip-in to win Tuesday’s game) added 14 points. Quincy Lewis scored 9 of his 11 points in the first quarter. Check out Dan Barriero’s article on Lewis from the Minneapolis Star-Tribune yesterday. Very interesting!. Igor Rakocevic contributed with just 5 points, but 8 assists.
VIKINGS NOTES -
Looks like Michael Bennett’s foot injury could keep him out for much longer than anticipated, and yesterday, it was reported that he could be out the whole year! It’s being looked at by a foot specialist. If Bennett can’t go, look for 4th round pick, Onterrio Smith to get a lot of carries, with Doug Chapman. Moe Williams will get 3rd downs and goal lines.
That’s it for today. Any comments are welcome. Just e-mail me and I’ll respond to them all. Thanks for taking the time to visit my site and be sure to stop by frequently and tell your friends or sports fans about it! If you have any ideas for daily topics, please feel free to make a suggestion!
Have a great day!