jims070109

On the homepage

Sunday's paper

Olympic moms get all-around gold

Out There

Homegirls

Gardens

Her garden became his inspiration

Home | Sports | Twins

Stop me if you've heard this one: Bullpen needs help

We went through this last year. Maybe it is finally time the front office remedy the relief pitching problem.

Print this story

More from Jim Souhan

KANSAS CITY, MO.

Last summer, the Twins deduced that they needed one more quality righthander in their bullpen.

Then they blew a chance to secure a 2008 playoff spot, searched for relief help all winter, prayed that a cast of thousands would produce a quality setup man all spring, and spent the first half of the season holding open tryouts during the eighth inning, and after all that ...

This summer, the Twins deduced that they needed one more quality righthander in their bullpen.

This does not qualify as progress.

Tuesday night, the Twins finally fielded their optimal American League lineup, featuring Joe Crede, Nick Punto and Carlos Gomez, with Delmon Young sitting on the bench. Even with all of their position players healthy, the Twins' lineup is not optimal; despite the excellence of Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau and a productive first half from Jason Kubel, they rank seventh in a 14-team league in runs scored.

The lineup, though, is not the Twins' most worrisome problem. That would be their bullpen, which, although it has performed well on this road trip, remains one arm short.

Twins manager Ron Gardenhire is so desperate to build a bridge to closer Joe Nathan that he has considered using a journeyman knuckleballer as a setup man.

R.A. Dickey is a good story and is having a surprisingly good season. He is not, however, a setup man.

Matt Guerrier has excelled this year -- faring well against lefties, righties and in tight situations -- after being burned out during the stretch run last year. Tuesday night, as the Twins beat the Royals 2-1, Guerrier got Miguel Olivo to ground out with two on and two out in the eighth.

But he can't be the only righthanded late-inning reliever on a team serious about contention, or he will be overused again.

Lefty Jose Mijares has fared far better than you would have guessed after the Twins shipped him out in spring training. His splits -- lefties are batting .057 against him, and righties .347 -- suggest he is more of a lefthanded specialist than a pure setup man.

With Jesse Crain and Luis Ayala having pitched their way off the big-league roster, the Twins are one power righthander away from looking formidable.

Give the Twins' front office this much: They balked at acquiring righthander Juan Cruz, who has been awful for the Royals. (The Royals' ineptitude is as contagious as swine flu.)

Mike Radcliff, the Twins' vice president of player personnel, lives in Kansas City, and visited Gardenhire the past two days. Gardenhire continued to ask for relief help.

"There's been talk of people," Gardenhire said. "Not the right people yet. But we're in the beginning phases, not about the people who are out there but people who could be out there.

"There's a definite need, just like there was at the beginning [of the season], to find that guy, and hopefully we'll be able to do something."

Dickey is 1-0 with a 2.45 ERA, but the Twins are just starting to use him later in games, and he still has a 5.24 career ERA. He's still more likely to help as a consumer of innings than a true setup man.

Bobby Keppel has looked impressive in his first two outings, pitching 6 1/3 shutout innings and displaying a nasty sinker.

"Keppel was the story tonight," Gardenhire said. "He did a heck of a job. ... We've been looking for a performance like that. Maybe we found something in this young man."

The Twins envisioned Ayala, Crain and Mijares setting up Nathan. Now they're considering Dickey, a knuckleballer who didn't make the team out of spring training, and perhaps Keppel, who has recorded 19 outs in the big leagues this year.

They're both good stories -- and long shots.

Maybe it's time for the Twins' front office to add a sure-thing, late-inning righthander, after a year of thoughtful deliberation.

Jim Souhan can be heard Sundays from 10 a.m.-noon on AM-1500 KSTP. jsouhan@startribune.com

Recent Twins stories

Mets' Johan Santana throws off mound for 1st time since elbow surgery - July 1, 2009

Mets' Johan Santana throws off mound for 1st time since elbow surgery - New York Mets ace Johan Santana threw off a mound for the first time since elbow surgery last Sept. 1 and said he felt good. More