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Michael Rand started RandBall with hopes that he could keep lies from conquering the minds of the weak. So far, he's only succeeded in using the word "redacted" a lot. He welcomes suggestions, news tips, links of pure genius, and pictures of pets in Halloween costumes here, though he already knows he will regret that last part.
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Tuesday (Liriano trade rumblings + the Twins' bullpen) edition: Wha' Happened?
Posted by: Michael Rand under Professional baseball, Twins fans Updated: June 26, 2012 - 8:56 AM
*The team's overall play, for example, has been downright decent for the past 36 games -- a sharp contrast to the first 36 games this season. Remember when the Twins were 10-26 and we were wondering if they might lose approximately 1 million games? Well, they are 20-16 in their past 36 (which would be a 90-win pace over an entire season if, you know, they hadn't played at a 45-win pace early). The starting pitching hasn't been great, but it's been better. The bullpen has been pretty nice all year. And the bats, while a bit sporadic, have come around as well. In short: You don't wince at the ballpark that much anymore. Baby steps.
*Francisco Liriano, for example, is tantalizingly close to making you almost trust him again -- about as much praise as we are willing to give him after 2011 and the start to 2012. At the very least, his latest strong outing Monday in a 4-1 win over Chicago is taking the question of his trade value to a realistic level (and a national level, based on this tweet from Buster Olney):
Here's one of the most intriguing possibilities for the trade market:40 Ks,14 walks, 2.41 ERA in his last 37.1 innings. espn.go.com/mlb/player/gam…
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) June 26, 2012
*And let's talk, just for a moment, about that bullpen. The Twins lost a bunch of relievers after the 2010 season and tried to piece things together in 2011. It was a failure, despite the emergence of Glen Perkins. They had a 4.51 bullpen ERA last season, the worst in MLB. They have shaved almost an entire run off that number this year (3.58) and sit 15th in MLB in bullpen ERA -- a jump into the middle of the pack that looks even better in comparison to last year. Perhaps the biggest key to the 'pen has been Jared Burton, who has given the Twins a late-inning righty that they just didn't have for so much of last season. His numbers are flat-out great: 31 IP, 22 hits, 6 BB, 29 Ks, 11 holds and two saves (each of the latter category coming in the past two ballgames, as the Twins are 4-for-4 converting saves with Matt Capps on the mend. When you consider the Twins have an American League-leading 16 one-run victories (yes, they are 16-11 in one-run games, with more than half their victories coming by that slim margin) and are 3-0 in extra innings ... combined with the fact that their relievers have logged the third-most innings in MLB because of many short outings by starters ... and you get an even greater sense of the bullpen's worth this season.
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