twins/mlb
Jim Souhan analyzes the local sports scene and advises you to never take his betting advice. He likes old guitars and old music, never eats press box hot dogs, and can be heard on 1500ESPN at 2:05 p.m. weekdays, and Sundays from 10 a.m.-noon.
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Posts about Twins offense
What a lousy game
Posted by: Jim Souhan Updated: September 11, 2012 - 10:51 PM
Twins lose, 9-1, tonight. The Twins announced 28,993, which might have been within 10,000 or so of being correct.
It was ugly. Josh Willingham says he lost a fly ball in the twilight. That led to a three-run inning that goes on Scott Diamond's record. And that was about all that happened.
A few tidbits-
-Ben Revere continues to play with a lot of life. He went 3-for-5, his 38th mutli-hit game. Joe Mauer leads the team with 43. Revere also made a fine running catch in left-center.
Revere got a handshake and a few sentences of praise from Tom Kelly in the dugout before the game. Kelly doesn't offer false praise.
I think Revere should be this team's centerfielder next year. But I've been saying that for a while.
-Justin Morneau went 2-for-3 and is hitting .326 in his last 62 games and .357 in his last 17 games. Some of my insiders say he still struggles to cover the whole plate, but I see him getting hits to leftfield, which is always the sign that he's staying back and swinging well.
-The Twins have scored one run or fewer 24 times this year. While their rotation is the most important area of concern, that's a pathetic statistic for what should be a professional lineup.
-Scott Diamond allowed four runs in six innings, but I thought he battled pretty well despite Willingham's mistake and without his best stuff.
-Pedro Florimon continues to dazzle on some plays, but I see him being a little too lax on relays. He could have thrown one or two runners out at third tonight had he been alert on one play and had he thrown accurately on another.
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To chime in on a popular national debate, I think the aspect of the Stephen Strasburg debate that is too often missing is that the Nationals aren't shutting down someone who would likely have dominated in the postseason. They're shutting down a young pitching coming off Tommy John surgery who likely would have been hitting a wall in October, even if the Nationals had rested him to stretch his workload into the postseason.
In my view, it's unlikely he would have pitched well against top competition while fatigued. The Nationals have a deep rotation without him. Whether or not the Nationals handled Strasburg correctly, they'll be better off with starting pitchers in the postseason who aren't reaching their physical limits.
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I'll be on 1500espn at 2:05 p.m. tomorrow. Please follow me on Twitter at @Souhanstrib.
Why DL Span?
Posted by: Jim Souhan Updated: August 30, 2012 - 4:16 PMSo why would the Twins place Denard Span on the disabled list two days before they're allowed to expand their roster for September callups?
I think there are two reasons.
1. They want to bring up Matt Carson, a corner outfielder who played well in his brief stint with the team. Because they sent Carson down a week ago, they can't call him up again unless he's replacing someone who is headed for the DL. Thus, the move.
2. Reading between a lot of lines, I also think the Twins are tired of waiting for Span, who has been ``day-to-day'' for a long time. This is a way of telling him that he's driving them nuts and that they'd rather play other people at this time, anyway.
Other notes from the Twins' 5-4 loss to Seattle:
-Twins lost 8 of 190 against Seattle this season.
-The Twins have lost 17 of their last 21 against the Mariners.
-Josh Willingham had two bat at-bats with runners in scoring position early in the game, then dropped a line drive in the sixth that prolonged the Mariners' four-run sixth. He also hit his 32nd home run.
-Brian Duensing's record is now 3-10 with a 5.26 ERA.
-I'll be on 1500espn at 6:30 tonight and 2:05 tomorrow. My Twitter handle is @Souhanstrib.
Next year's infield?
Posted by: Jim Souhan Updated: August 30, 2012 - 3:25 PMWatched Trevor Plouffe and Pedro Florimon take the field for early infield practice today. It's one of those little things that could be meaningless but indicates a willingness to work on their craft.
The morning of a day game following a night game, they might have been tempted to sleep in or relax in the clubhouse with their teammates. Anyway, while watching them, I started to project what the infield will be next year.
Trevor Plouffe is the third baseman. Ron Gardenhire keeps pushing him to work on his fielding and concentration, but let's be honest - the guy has hit 20 homers in 321 at-bats. He's going to be in the lineup.
I think Florimon has a chance to stick as the shortstop. He's talented and athletic, with a strong arm and speed, and the Twins don't believe he's going to be a classic bottom-of-the-order out.
Brian Dozier, I'm guessing, will, be given a chance to compete with Florimon next spring, and if Florimon holds the job, Dozier might be the leading candidate to play second if the Twins don't spend on that position in free agency.
Eduardo Escobar is likely to become a utility infielder.
Justin Morneau is the obvious choice at first base, but Chris Parmalee's big season at Class AAA gives the team options.
Between catcher, DH, first base and the three outfield spots, the Twins will have Joe Mauer, Morneau, Parmalee, Ryan Doumit, Josh Willingham, Denard Span, Darin Mastroianni and a handful of prospects like Arcia and Hicks.
To me, that glut, or potential glut, points to a trade this winter of Span, if the Twins can aquire enough pitching to justify sacrificing a good offensive player. Trading Span would open centerfield for Revere, who belongs there, and rightfield for Parmalee or one of the prospects.
The Twins could trade Morneau, too, which would open first base for Parmalee and free payroll to pursue pitching.
No longer sure Twins in playoff race
Posted by: Jim Souhan Updated: August 28, 2012 - 10:40 PMColleague Patrick Reusse figured it out before I got back up from the Twins' clubhouse:
Since July 18, 2011, the Twins are 71-127, for a winning percentage of .357.
That's pathetic.
For the Wednesday paper, I conducted a lengthy interview with Twins GM Terry Ryan. He was not happy. The column is about future plans, but he's stumped as to why what should be a pretty good lineup has fallen apart.
The Twins have failed to homer in 10 of their last 11 games. They went through a 14-inning scoreless streak before finally scoring in the third inning on Tuesday, and then they went to sleep until a token rally in the ninth.
They've been outscored 47-19 in their last eight games.
A lack of pitching is the reason they're not in contention. There's no sound explanation for why they've stopped hitting.
-The Mariners have beaten the Twins in seven straight games.
-The Twins are 10-26 against the AL West.
Enough about this team. Again, my interview with Terry Ryan will be in the Wednesday paper and at Startribune.com.
Please follow me on Twitter at @Souhanstrib.
Hendriks vs. Hernandez
Posted by: Jim Souhan Updated: August 27, 2012 - 10:11 PMLiam Hendriks allowed just one run in his first complete game, but lost, 1-0, to Felix Hernandez on Monday night at Target Field.
Tidbits and thoughts after another Twins loss:
-Hernandez has won four games 1-0 this year. He's allowed one earned run in his last 27 2/3 innings this year. He is the third pitcher since 1969 to have four wins with 1-0 scores in one season. The other two were Fergie Jenkins in 1974 and Bert Blyleven in 1976.
-The Mariners have beaten the Twins in six straight games.
-Asked why Justin Morneau wasn't running from third on Trevor Plouffe's grounder to second in the seventh inning, Twins manager Ron Gardenhire indicated that he doesn't believe in putting Morneau, with his injury and concussion history, at risk on such plays.
-The Twins have one homer in their last 10 games.
-I asked Twins outfielder Ben Revere if Hernandez was intimidating or sneaky. ``Sneaky,'' Revere said. ``Some of his pitches are so good, you think they're going to be a ball and they come back for a strike, there's so much late movement.''
-Given that Gardenhire often cites a pitcher's pace as an indicator of success, I asked Hendriks if he thought pitching with a quicker pace was a result of, or a cause of, his success on Monday.
``It's a bit of both,'' he said. ``It starts off as the result of pitching well early in the game, and then as soon as you get into a groove, it definitely helps you. It keeps you going.''
One way to get into a groove is to be on the same page as the catcher. How many times did he shake off a Joe Mauer sign on Monday? ``I didn't shake him off once,''' Hendriks said. ``We were on the same page all night. He called an absolute fantastic game.''
-Hendriks on how long he's been waiting to pitch this way in the big leagues: ``Well, this is my 14th start, so about 14 starts.''
Hendriks has yet to win a major league game.
-Joe Mauer caught his 832nd career game, passing Earl Battey for first place on the Twins' all-time list. He made one throwing error. He also made a fine, sliding catch against the backstop.
-The game lasted 2:10, tied for the shortest of the Twins' season, with a May 1 game at the Angels.
-The Twins have turned 133 ground-ball double plays this season, most in the majors. Pedro Florimon started one masterfully, getting screened by the second-base ump before handling a bad hop and pitching it to Jamey Carroll.
-Before the game, Twins' general manager Terry Ryan said it's time for Trevor Plouffe to prove he's the third baseman of the future. Plouffe had one shot to the centerfield fence caught, robbing him of a double, and hit a single. He also worked on fielding grounders early in the afternoon.
-The Twins are 52-76. If their lineup continues to slump, their 63-99 finish of a year ago is within reach.
-Asked about Scott Baker and Carl Pavano being in the Twins' future plans, even though they're injured and will become free agents at the end of the season, Ryan did not rule out the Twins being interested in one or both.
Please follow me on Twitter at @Souhanstrib.
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