Wednesday,
July 21, 2010
The Bunt
Seriously? Bunting. In that situation? Believe me, I get what Joe Mauer was
thinking, and he is a very good bunter. No question about that. But at that
time in the game, the late innings, you want and need your #3 hitter to attempt
to drive in the go-ahead run. I say “Attempt” because we don’t know what would
have happened. He very easily could have grounded into a double play. He could
have drawn a walk. He could have popped up. He could have homered. Who knows?
And I do get the theory in Mauer’s head. He is
not selfish. He isn’t selfish and wants to show his confidence in teammate Jason Kubel,
even against a left-handed pitcher. He doesn’t feel the need to play hero.
Unfortunately (for him), his spot in the batting order, and his mega-contract
dictate that he be selfish and go out and win a ball game for his team. Fair or
not, that is what he needs to do.
It makes us realize that batting average doesn’t matter, and many other
stats don’t matter. As we are no insisting and understanding that a
middle-of-the-order hitter go out and drive in runs can no longer argue that
RBI are overrated stats. I was one who always thought that RBI were too much a result of opportunity, and I still believe
that they are. But teams pay for the guys who produce, and that does mean RBI.
Kevin Slowey was solid. I would say
if we are looking at the most recent starts of Slowey,
Baker and Blackburn, Slowey’s was the best, and Baker’s
was the worst. Does that mean that Blackburn is the one out of the rotation
when Duensing jumps into the rotation? Does Blackburn
go to the bullpen or to Rochester? What do you think is going to happen?
Is it just me, or is Carlos Santana
pretty good?!
Here are some quick notes on what happened in the Twins minor league system
on Tuesday:
·
Rochester lost 1-0 to Buffalo on Tuesday afternoon. Anthony Swarzak
pitched really well. In seven innings, he gave up just one run (in the 7th)
on the six hits and two walks. He struck out nine. Brad Hennessey threw two shutout innings. Unfortunately the Red
Wings managed just three hits off of former Twin Ramon Ortiz.
·
New Britain was shutout 2-0 by Harrisburg. The Rockcats had just four hits. Steve Singleton went 2-4, and Joe Benson hit his 14th AA
double. Tyler Robertson had his
second straight good start. He threw six shutout innings. He allowed six hits
and a walk while striking out five. Chris
Province went 1.2 innings and gave up two runs on three hits. Tony Davis struck out the one batter he
faced.
·
Nate Hanson singled in Deibinson Romero with the winning run in the bottom
of the 11th inning. Allan de
San Miguel went 3-3. Evan Bigley went 2-4. Dan
Osterbrock continued his excellent pitching. He
reduced his ERA to 2.62 In eight innings, he gave up
one run on eight hits. He walked one and struck out eight. Joe Testa struck out three in three shutout
innings.
·
There were no games scheduled in the Midwest League on
Tuesday.
·
Elizabethton lost to Johnson City 4-3. Blayne Weller gave up two runs (1 earned) on
six hits in seven innings. He walked two and struck out nine. Jean Mijares
gave up two unearned runs on two hits in an inning. Zach See struck out two in a scoreless inning. Daniel Santana went 3-5. Buddy
Munroe went 2-4 with his third double. Oswaldo Arcia went 2-4 with a walk and his 11th
double.
·
The GCL Twins beat the GCL Orioles 11-10. Eddie Rosario went 4-5 with his eight
double, first triple, three RBI and 12th stolen base. Kennys Vargas hit three doubles in five at
bats. Matej Hejma went
3-4 with a walk. Jorge Polanco went 3-4 with three RBI. Kelvin Silvania and Jairo Rodriguez each had two hits. Pedro
Guerra gave up only an unearned run in six innings. He gave up four hits,
walked one and struck out three. Tyler
Herr then gave up four runs on three hits and two walks in his inning. Bart Carter then gave up five runs on seven hits in two innings.
And for more about The
Bunt Heard ‘Round the State, check out this
excellent article by 1500espn’s Tom
Pelissero.
If you have any comments, please feel free to leave
them here.