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.
Find him on Twitter
Posts about Twins transactions
Torii Hunter excited for Torii, Jr.
Posted by: Jim Souhan Updated: April 12, 2012 - 10:35 AM
Chatted with Torii Hunter this morning. Last night, he hit his head against the rightfield wall...and then hit a grounder up the middle and turned it into a double with hustle.
Most players get hit in the head these days, they are sent for tests and observation. Hunter's name was in the lineup Thursday morning before he even got to the clubhouse. Angels manager Mike Scioscia knows Hunter always wants to play.
``Man, I'm like a '64 Impala, with no seat belts,'' Hunter said. ``Old-school.''
True. After a little baseball talk, Hunter started bragging about his son, Torii, Jr. He has a lot to brag about.
Hunter says Torii, Jr., got a 27 on his first try on the ACT, and about 1,600 on the SAT. ``He has a 37-inch vertical, runs a 4.48 40,'' Hunter said.
Torii, Jr., is deciding whether to play football or baseball, or try to play both. Notre Dame, Mississippi State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Arkansas, Texas Tech, West Virginia and Arizona have offered him football scholarships. He's considering Stanford and Minnesota for their baseball programs.
Arkansas might have had an edge before Bobby Petrino got fired. ``His uncle went there, his Momma went there, I signed there, and they have a really good engineering program, and that's what he wants to do,'' Hunter said. ``But Stanford is one of the best in that area.''
I got the feeling that Hunter was quite impressed with Stanford's campus and academics. ``We went there on a recruiting visit,'' Hunter said. ``Just 6,500 students. They have the students live with the athletes, which I like. The way they set up everything on the recruiting visit kind of sold us. We're sitting in the weeds, waiting to make the decision.''
---------------------------------------------------
The Vikings just sent out a press release about long-snapper Cullen Loeffler awarding an equipment grant to Ingram High in Texas.
From the release: Minnesota Vikings long snapper CULLEN LOEFFLER and USA Football will donate a $1,500 equipment grant to football programs within the Ingram (Texas) Independent School District, which Loeffler attended as a youth.
A lost weekend
Posted by: Jim Souhan Updated: April 8, 2012 - 4:41 PMThe Twins managed five runs in 27 innings against a last-place team and three starting pitchers the average fan has never heard of.
What was even more alarming to me was the mistakes that were made this weekend. Danny Valencia was a mess at third. Josh Willingham made a couple of nice plays (one strong throw and one brave collision with the wall) in left but also made two errors in two innings.
Sunday, reliever Matt Maloney didn't hold runners well, and Luke Hughes didn't hold the runner on second, and the Orioles executed a double steal that had the Twins' staff steaming.
Saturday, Jared Burton gave up two home runs on changeups even though the scouting report said not to throw changeups to the hitters in question, meaning catcher Joe Mauer and Burton weren't paying attention.
Quickly, to the positives from the weekend:
1. Jamey Carroll is a wonderful fielder. He may lack exceptional range, but he makes every play within his grasp.
2. Justin Morneau swung the bat with authority, hitting two doubles and two more deep drives. He looks like a slightly skinnier version of his old self, and it's obvious moving him to DH has relieved a lot of stress on him.
3. Sean Burroughs is the gamer the Twins have been saying he is. He made two fine plays at third on Sunday, one a basket catch over his head in foul territory that required a slide on the harsh surface of the warning track, and a fine diving stab to his left.
I grew up watching Brooks Robinson and Mark Belanger in Baltimore, and reading Brooks' books, and he always said that great plays started with anticipation. That's Valencia's problem: He's thinking about his last at-bat, and by the time he reacts to the ball it's too late.
4. Anthony Swarzak could pitch in the big leagues for a long time because of his attitude. He never complains about his role, and on Sunday, pitching for the ill Liam Hendriks, he gave the Twins five strong innings.
5. Glen Perkins pitched well in his lone inning of the weekend.
The Twins are 63-106 in their last 169 meaningful games, and now will play their next 16 games against the Angels, Rangers, Yankees, Rays and Red Sox.
Baseball seasons are like major championships: You can't win them early, but you can lose them early. The Twins are in danger of falling out of contention before the end of the month.
---------------------------------------------
I'm writing about the Twins' home opener, and comparing the Twins to the Orioles' franchise, in tomorrow's paper. Here's my column off Saturday's game: http://tinyurl.com/7lo26dh
Please follow me on Twitter at @Souhanstrib.
Ick.
Posted by: Jim Souhan Updated: April 7, 2012 - 10:10 PMI thought the Twins played well on Friday.
I thought they were pathetic on Saturday, when they lost, 8-2, to the Orioles at Camden Yards.
Danny Valencia took terrible at-bats and missed the key play of the game in the field. Josh Willingham made two errors in two innings on singles to left. Francisco Liriano lost his delivery and lasted just four innings. The Twins made Tommy Hunter look like Roy Halladay.
There are two bright spots this weekend: Justin Morneau is cutting loose his swing, and Jamey Carroll is a very good shortstop.
Other than that, the Twins, following a fairly promising spring, look horrible. And while the players are saying what ballplayers always say about it being a long season, don't think for a second the braintrust is happy with the quality of play on Saturday.
This was bad baseball from a team that was the second-worst team in baseball last year.
If the Twins can't handle the Orioles, what are they going to do against the Angels, Yankees, Red Sox, Tigers, Rangers and Rays? Or the Jays?
Just filed my column for the Sunday paper. I'll be in Baltimore on Sunday for the series finale, then heading to Minnesota for the home opener.
Please follow me on Twitter at @Souhanstrib.
I'll be co-hosting the Ron Gardenhire Show from 9:30-10 on Sunday morning on 1500espn, then co-hosting Sunday Sports Talk from 10-11:30 with Tom Pelissero.
Go, Lynx.
Twins' Game 2: Know anybody who can pitch?
Posted by: Jim Souhan Updated: April 7, 2012 - 5:33 PMWelcome to Opening Day
Posted by: Jim Souhan Updated: April 6, 2012 - 10:16 AMBaltimore -
My view on the 2012 Twins: They'll be much better than the 2011 Twins, and still not very good.
The math is simple: The Twins lost 99 games last year. They could improve by 15 games and never be in contention all season.
The early-season schedule, once they leave Baltimore, is daunting, and they're facing that challenge without two of the guys they expected to be in their rotation: Scott Baker and Jason Marquis.
I think the lineup will be greatly improved. I think this team will score far more runs. I expect Joe Mauer to contend for another batting title, and Justin Morneau looks far more optimistic today than he did when I saw him early in spring training.
Twins officials project Chris Parmalee to produce similar numbers to Jason Kubel. Josh Willingham is remarkably slow, but could produce a little more power than Michael Cuddyer. The bench and position-player depth in the organization should be greatly improved. Trevor Plouffe, Ben Revere and Luke Hughes were asked to be starters last year; this year they're bench players. Sean Burroughs should be a nice addition. The shortstop position will be greatly improved, whether Carroll holds the job or Brian Dozier takes it.
But the pitching is a house of cards. They are dependent on Francisco Liriano and Matt Capps coming back from horrific seasons, and dependent on Scott Baker getting healthy and for the second time in his professional life pitching more than 170 innings.
In short, here's my view on this season: The Twins will regain respectability but not contend, not unless the Detroit Tigers implode.
The best-case scenario might be for this team to play well enough to remain intriguing, but not fool itself into thinking that it shouldn't trade the likes of Liriano and Capps at the trading deadline to augment a promising group of young players.
I like this group of position players and the organization depth much more than I did a year ago, but the 2012 team lacks defensive range and dynamic pitching.
As someone who loves covering a contender, I hope I'm wrong.
----------------------------------------------------------
I began covering the NFL in 1989. The audio of Gregg Williams instructing his players to knock out 49ers is grotesque but not surprising. I've had similar, although less graphic, conversations with many defensive coaches over the years. Williams just took the concept to an extreme.
I know every time former Vikings defensive coordinator Floyd Peters faced Joe Montana, he wanted Montana knocked down or out. He just didn't use the kind of language Williams did.
-----------------------------------------------------------
I'll be covering the opening series in Baltimore, then flying back on Monday morning for the Twins' first series. Sunday, I'll co-host the Ron Gardenhire Show at 9:30 on 1500espn, followed by Sunday Sports Talk from 10-11:35. Please follow me on Twitter at @Souhanstrib.
ADVERTISEMENT
Post By Category
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
inside the StarTribune
-
425 Portland Av. S.
Minneapolis, MN 55488
(612) 673-4000
- Company
- Subscriber Services
- Website
- Buy Ads
- Store
- Connect with Us
© 2013 StarTribune. All rights reserved.
StarTribune.com is powered by Limelight Networks
Newspaper Subscriptions
eEdition
RSS
Newsletters