Starting pitching: A mound of inexperience

FORT MYERS, FLA. — The Twins aren't delusional. They know there's no way they can replace a dominant pitcher like two-time Cy Young Award winner Johan Santana, whom they traded to the Mets.

But the bigger concern should be whether there's someone reliable like Brad Radke was ... or Rick Reed ... or Carlos Silva ... or like anyone else who helped the Twins win four AL Central titles from 2002 to '06.

The Twins believe they have pitchers ready to take on larger roles. Except for veteran free-agent acquisition Livan Hernandez, this year's rotation won't have anyone older than 26 or anyone who has thrown more than 281 career innings in the majors.

"They are getting thrown in the fire. That's where we have been put," manager Ron Gardenhire said of his young starters. "We don't have many options here. Somebody is going to have to step into those roles and go get 'em. That's the way it is."

Tough competition

The rebuilt rotation doesn't compare well in the AL Central, where strong starting pitching is a big reason behind the rise of the division.

Cleveland is led by lefthander C.C. Sabathia, who is more than equipped to assume the role as the best pitcher in the division now that Santana is gone. But the rest of the Indians rotation shows as much disdain for high ERAs as Sabathia; Cleveland starters led the American League with a 4.19 ERA.

Detroit is led by righthander Justin Verlander and is followed by capable arms in Jeremy Bonderman and Nate Robertson -- and all have gotten their licks in on the Twins.

The White Sox still have Mark Buehrle, who freezes Twins bats even when he's not at his best (20-10 all time against the Twins). Righthander Javier Vazquez was 4-1 against the Twins last season.

Think the Twins starters compare favorably with Kansas City's? Perhaps. But Brian Bannister was 12-9 with a 3.87 ERA in 27 starts last season -- a record four-fifths of the Twins rotation would kill for.

In addition to Santana, the Twins lost Silva to Seattle via free agency and traded Matt Garza, one of their top pitching prospects, to Tampa Bay.

That leaves righthander Scott Baker, 9-9 with a 4.26 ERA last season, as the most accomplished returning starter -- and he spent the first five weeks of the season in the minors. Righthander Boof Bonser went 8-12 with a 5.10 ERA in 30 starts in 2007 and lost more than 30 pounds during the offseason.

"That's why adding Hernandez was a key for us," General Manager Bill Smith said. "To add a veteran guy, a veteran starter, who has a proven track record in pitching a lot of innings."

Hernandez, 33, brings a 134-128 record, 10 consecutive seasons of at least 199 innings and a 85-mile-per-hour fastball to the Twins. He will have to prove his fastball isn't a bad match for a league with the designated hitter.

Baker and Bonser will be asked to lead the rotation.

"We expect that from them," Gardenhire said, "They have pitched some now. They've got some innings in the big leagues. We expect them to get better. Boof worked hard this winter, got himself in great shape. Bake turned a corner [last season]."

But neither Baker nor Bonser has thrown 200 innings in a season, and they're being asked to help pick up the 421 innings Santana and Silva combined to throw last season.

"That's what I want to do," Bonser said, "That 173 [innings] I put up last year ... I don't want to say it's garbage, but for my first [full] season I'll take it. I want to be a 200-inning pitcher. I know I can."

The youngsters

Lefthander Francisco Liriano likely won't return to the rotation until mid- to late April as he works his way back from elbow surgery in November 2006. He was 12-3 with a 2.16 ERA and an AL All-Star in 2006 before the injury, but there's no guarantee he will ever reach those kinds of numbers again.

Righthanders Kevin Slowey and Nick Blackburn, the likely fourth and fifth starters, debuted in the majors last season and have only 78 1/3 innings between them.

When will pitching coach Rick Anderson be able to take the training wheels off this group?

Regardless of who begins the season in the rotation, expect the Twins to lean on their farm system. They used eight starting pitchers last season as well as in 2004 and '05; in 2006, they used 10.

That means lefthanders Glen Perkins, Brian Duensing and Ryan Mullins and righthanders Philip Humber and Kevin Mulvey -- all of whom are close to the majors or have some major league experience -- could be a factor this season.

"I hope we have that ability to go get a starter if we need it," Gardenhire said.

It won't be pretty at times.

"I don't know if these young men are going to be able to step up or not," Gardenhire said, "but we like them. We like the heck out of them, and we will see how it goes."