Twins suffering bullpen blues

The Twins' relief woes are unprecedented under the Gardenhire/Anderson regime, leaving pitchers and coaches alike at a loss to come up with a solution.

By LA VELLE E. NEAL III, Star Tribune

Last update: September 9, 2008 - 1:28 AM

The last thing Twins pitching coach Rick Anderson wants to do is pull his relievers into a room and deliver a fiery speech, accompanied with chair-tossing and table-smashing.

Lashing out at his struggling relievers, to him, is not the best way to end their recent run of poor outings. But Anderson's patience is being tested. The Twins had a half-game lead on the White Sox after a victory over the Angels on Aug. 22, but they have lost 11 of 15 since.

The main culprit: the bullpen. But Anderson is of the belief that if a coaching staff panics, it trickles down to the players. The pitching coach does admit the sleepless nights are increasing as he looks for ways to turn the bullpen around. But once at the park, he strives to be patient and supportive as the Twins head into the season's final 19 games trailing the White Sox by 2 1/2 games.

"To me, the reason for the inconsistency is that they are all trying too hard," Anderson said. "They are all like, 'This is the one. I'm going to do it. We're going to be better.' I think if you keep harping on them, they are going to press even more and try even harder.

"And that's what you don't need right now."

The bullpen crisis is unprecedented in Anderson's tenure. Twins relievers have ranked no worse than fifth in the AL in ERA since he took over the pitchers when Ron Gardenhire was hired as manager in 2002. The Twins led the league with a 2.91 bullpen ERA in 2006 and were fifth last year at 3.80.

As of Monday, the Twins bullpen ERA of 4.07 ranked ninth in the league -- including a 4.76 ERA since Aug. 1. While the relievers' home ERA is a sparkling 2.48, it is 5.74 on the road. Part of the problem stems from a season-ending elbow injury suffered by top setup man Pat Neshek in early May.

The Twins suffered four walk-off losses during their recently completed 14-game road trip. And they have lost five games this season during which they have led by three or more runs in the seventh inning or later. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the Twins lost a total of five games in that manner from 2003 to 2007.

That's why Twins righthander Scott Baker admitted after Saturday's loss to Detroit that the bullpen struggling "is the last thing you would expect."

Gardenhire has been as baffled as anyone.

"It's been a little bit of a transition from what we are used to," he said. "We are used to having everything identified -- this guy does this -- and we have really had to try to mix and match and try to figure out who is hot and not, especially lately more so than usual."

Every reliever has struggled. Lefthander Dennys Reyes had retired the first batter he had faced in 19 consecutive appearances but suddenly couldn't find the right grip on his slider and threw three bad ones to Detroit's Curtis Granderson on Saturday. The last one slid over the plate and was hit for a game-tying, two-run homer.

"You rarely see that from the Big Sweat [Reyes]," Anderson said.

Joe Nathan blew three saves during the recent road trip -- and he is one of the best closers in the game. Nathan had blown only three of his first 38 save opportunities this year.

"Nathan says he's been snakebit," Anderson said. "I just think he's trying too hard."

A starting pitcher can work on mechanics and control in the bullpen. Kevin Slowey and Glen Perkins actually threw two bullpen sessions between starts until a few weeks ago in order to stay sharp.

Relievers trying to pitch a team into the postseason don't have that luxury. They have got to turn things around in game situations.

"They only thing you can do is come out the next day and make a change," said righthander Matt Guerrier, who had a 10.13 ERA in August and 9.00 so far this month, raising his season ERA from 3.49 to 4.73. "You can't go out there and try to do the same thing and get beat again. That's your fault. You go out and make adjustments and make a better pitch."

Nathan said the best way to forget about what has gone wrong is to remember that pitching in a playoff race is more enjoyable than pitching with nothing on the line.

"You've got to enjoy this," he said. "This is what you play for."

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