Results tagged ‘ Jesse Crain ’
Oddest Game Ever
- Twins ground into five double plays, still beat Pirates 8-2
Well, not really. But this was a statistically strange game for the Twins. I mean, how in the hell do you ground into five double plays and still manage to score eight runs? Obviously a good number of those came with a runner on third and nobody out. I guess if you’re going to ground into a lot of double-plays, it should always be with less than one out. And a runner on third. While it’s certainly an unusual occurrence, it isn’t unheard of and isn’t any kind of record or anything. The Tigers also grounded into 5 double plays on the way to a 13-8 victory over the Blue Jays on April 16, 1996.
Joe Mauer went 4-for-4 with an RBI double, but no home runs. Slacker. Although, he was robbed of his last chance to hit one when Brendan Harris grounded into an inning-ending double play in the eighth. Right now, Mauer is batting .429/.497/.756 with 13 home runs. While it’s unlikely that Mauer will finish the season batting over .400 (he is a catcher, after all), he will most certainly be in contention for his third batting title as long as he remains healthy. Which is important because the Twins are probably going to try to sign him to a long-term deal, and obviously his numbers are going to have a significant effect on his value. The front office is obviously aware of the PR nightmare that would ensue if they failed to re-sign their native son, not to mention that they can’t seriously expect to contend for a World Series title if they keep letting their top talent go.
Glen Perkins was pretty effective, if not exactly dominant, in his first start since coming off the DL with elbow inflammation. He surrendered seven hits, but only two runs, and struck out four through six innings. His one mistake was to Nyjer Morgan, who blasted a two-run homer that cut the Twins’ lead in half. Paul Maholm wasn’t exactly sharp, but he also got a lot of tough breaks. Delwyn Young lost a Joe Crede fly ball in the lights for a Dome double that scored a run. And then there was that bizarre stikezone.
One of the things I hate the most about the Twins’ broadcast team (both radio and tv) is their obsession with pitch counts. Well, that and their inability to pronounce Muhollam Mahalo Maholm’s name correctly. Obviously they had to bring it up last night, since Perk was on a relatively short leash. This has been the subject of heated debate for years, and Rob Neyer wrote an interesting piece that sort of defends the concept behind the pitch count. I actually agree that pitch counts are unnecessary, but not for the same reasons as Bert Blyleven. Yes, they’re arbitrary and probably don’t really help prevent injury (it’s a lot more important to avoid a dramatic increase in workload, but that’s for another post), but they’re also, well, arbitrary. That is, unless they’re dealing with a rookie, most managers don’t really adhere to them too strictly and tend to let the starter pitch as long as he feels comfortable. If it’s the eighth inning and a starter is near 100 pitches, he’ll probably be allowed to go over that limit as long as he doesn’t feel fatigued. If it’s the fifth inning and a starter is near 100 pitches, then he’s probably laboring and should be taken out anyway. So the furor over pitch counts is a little overblown.
- Speaking of injures
Denard Span was placed on the 15-day DL. He has vestibular neuritis, which if I understand correctly, is essentially inflammation of a nerve in the middle ear caused by some sort of infection. Apparently it isn’t serious and he is expected to make a full recovery, but he’ll need to be out at least the next few games. In the meantime, Jason Pridie has been recalled from AAA and there’s a pretty good scouting report on him here. Most Twins fans probably remember Pridie as the guy who blew the save for Joe Nathan against Toronto last year, when he misplayed a single into a triple. Pridie came over as part of the Delmon Young trade, and doesn’t project to be anything more than a fourth outfielder at best. It isn’t likely that he’ll see much playing time, and will probably just be used as a defensive substitute in later innings.
As I mentioned in my previous post, Jesse Crain has been optioned to AAA Rochester. He hasn’t pitched in the minor leagues in nearly five years, and was obviously stunned by the news. Crain hasn’t even been marginally effective since May and the Twins really couldn’t afford to wait and hope he would work through his issues any longer. It was either that or release him, and obviously the organization isn’t ready to give up on him just yet. The Twins will go with only eleven pitchers for now, since they need to carry extra bench players at least as long as Denard Span is on the DL. The starters have been averaging about six innings per start this season, so it might not be necessary to carry more than six relievers. The only real issue is that Matt Guerrier, who’s already overworked, might have to carry an even heavier workload with fewer relievers in the ‘pen. However, it isn’t as though Crain was taking a lot of work away from Matty G. in the first place and the Twins may decide to call up another pitcher once Span is activated.
Good News: The Pitching Doesn’t Completely Suck
Oh sure, just as I was going to post something reassuring about the performances of our young staff, they done blowed up real good against an anemic Cleveland lineup. At home, no less. Well, I’m going to put it up anyway, because it’s the truth and I wasted an entire evening on this goddam thing. Both the starters and the bullpen haven’t been as bad as their overall records would indicate. The starting pitching in particular is about as good as it was last year, even though it kind of seems worse because of the disappointing performances by Scott Baker and Francisco Liriano to date. But even Scotty and Frankie haven’t been quite as bad as their respective 6.32 and 6.60 ERAs make them look. The Twins’ defense is ranked tenth in the league, and both Baker (4.74 xFIP) and Liriano (4.94 xFIP) appear to be getting burned the most by shoddy defense behind them. It’s been particularly bad for Baker, who also tends to give up a lot of home runs (he’s surrendered a career-high 14 going into today’s game against Cleveland). His last start against Tampa Bay was a good example of the problem he’s faced all year: the defense behind him failed to make a routine play, which put two runners on for the dangerous Evan Longoria. Baker naturally gave up a home run and was charged with three earned runs since the misplay behind him was ruled an infield hit rather than an error (never mind, it was ruled an error, but what was a tie game was quickly a three-run deficit due to poor defense). Same thing for Frankie, whose last two starts (especially the one against Boston) probably would’ve been quality starts were it not for the defensive miscues behind him.
Defense doesn’t account for all of Frankie’s misfortunes, however. His 1.619 WHIP and poor
1.79 K/BB ratio show that he’s not exactly pitching like the ace he was expected to be going into the season. The Twins have been reluctant to pull Liriano from the rotation, and for good reason. His 4.3 BB/9 rate is horrendous, but his 50 strikeouts lead the team and he often pitches well through the first four innings or so. His stuff still looks pretty nasty when he’s on, which makes his struggles just that much more frustrating. And he was really good after being called up from Rochester last year, posting a 2.74 ERA, 1.188 WHIP and a very good 3.16 K/BB ratio. Part of the problem is that he’s throwing his changeup a lot less, 14.2% compared to about 20% in 2008. Whenever he gets into trouble, he relies heavily on his slider as an out pitch. And this worked well when he was still throwing around 95-mph before his surgery, but now that his velocity is somewhere in the low-90s he really needs his changeup to compliment his fastball and slider (although even then he was still throwing his changeup about 16-18% of the time). On top of all that, Frankie appears to be suffering from a lack of confidence in himself and his stuff, which is often much more difficult to fix than mechanical issues (although he seems to have those, too). The mediocre defense behind him is just making matters worse.
The other reason the Twins have been reluctant to move Frankie to the bullpen is that they don’t really have a suitable replacement. With a 2.08 ERA, Anthony Swarzak had looked pretty good coming into last night’s game against the Indians and was threatening to take Frankie’s spot in the rotation. But his 1.50 K/BB ratio and unsustainable 98.5 LOB% indicated that he’d probably just been more lucky than good, so it wasn’t really all that surprising when he got beat up by the Indians. He’ll probably move to the bullpen once Glen Perkins comes off the DL (which isn’t a bad thing, the ‘pen still needs help).
As for the much-maligned bullpen, they got off to a rough start but have been pitching better as of late. Joe Nathan hasn’t surrendered a run since blowing a save against the Yankees on May 15th (Although he probably will now that I just jinxed him. Sorry, Joe). Matt Guerrier and Jose Mijares have been reliable, but not quite as good as their 3.55 and 2.60 ERAs would indicate (Guerrier has an xFIP of 4.12 and Mijares 4.56). Unfortunately, the rest of the ‘pen can’t be counted on for anything other than long relief, with R.A. Dickey posting a 1.42 WHIP and 4.88 xFIP despite his relatively low 3.06 ERA and Luis Ayala posting a 4.07 ERA, 1.60 WHIP, and 5.02 xFIP. Dickey has some value as a spot-starter, but Ayala’s been useless for anything other than mop-up duty. Jesse Crain looked a lot like his pre-surgery self early in the year, but he hasn’t been anything but terrible no matter how you look at it since coming off the DL (eep: 7.88 ERA, 5.44 xFIP, 1.63 WHIP, 1.22 K/BB).
- Carlos Gomez, sabermatician
Gomez may not be the best hitter in the league, but he clearly understands the value of defense and on-base %. He told the Star Tribune after Tuesday’s game: “Denard, me and Casilla — all we need to do is try to get on base and
try to play good defense,” Gomez said. “I know I do nothing with the
bat today, but I make a good catch. If I don’t do well with the bat, I
can do better with the glove and this helps my team. When you’ve got
Mauer and Morneau in the lineup, it makes a big difference. I know
they’re going to make some runs if I don’t get on base.”
Of course, with a mere .276 OBP Go-Go still needs to work on, you know, actually getting on base, but at least he grasps the concept. Which is more than can be said for Jeff Francoeur.
Oh, Jesse
Remember when the Twins used to have the best bullpen in the league? Yeah, that was a long time ago. But Jesse Crain was an important part of that ‘pen. And even though he’d shown a lot of promise as a reliever the past couple of years, that 2006 season was really the best of his career. He posted an ERA+ of 127, a WHIP of 1.265 and a sparkling 3.33 K/BB ratio. Opponents were batting .262/.303/.377 with a .683 OPS against him, and he surrendered only 6 homers in 76.2 IP. Crain had become one of the most reliable relievers in the ‘pen and was certainly a viable candidate to replace the declining Juan Rincon in the set-up role.
But all of those innings caught up to Jesse in 2007, when he had surgery on a torn rotator cup. and he hasn’t been the same pitcher since. His numbers after returning from surgery in 2008 weren’t terribly impressive: an ERA+ of 113, a 1.372 WHIP, and a mediocre 2.08 K/BB ratio. And while he showed some dominance during ST and before going on the DL with shoulder stiffness earlier this season, he’s been struggling ever since. Before going on the DL, Crain limited opposing hitters to a mere .150/.308/.150 and an OPS of .458. Since returning on May 3 though, Crain has been awful. He’s had two consecutive appearances where he’s failed to record any outs and his ERA is a bloated 13.50. Worse yet, he’s allowed 50% of inherited runners to score, and has consistently struggled to strand runners on base (his LOB% is an abysmal 36.4). He faced only one batter last night, shortstop Ramon Santiago (who isn’t exactly known for his power), and was yanked after surrendering a home run. Still, there is reason to hope that the hard-throwing right-hander will turn things around. That homer is the only one he’s surrendered so far this season, and opponents are batting only .233/.351/.367 against him. His 3.32 FIP is also very encouraging. Crain has struggled with his command a bit though, as his K/BB ratio is an uninspiring 1.17, but he’s still striking out batters at a decent clip of 7.9 per 9 IP. In the meantime, however, it is probably best to split the set-up duties between Matt Guerrier and Jose Mijares.
Ron Gardenhire has taken a lot of criticism for his management of the bullpen over the years, and some of it is certainly valid. He does have a tendency to overuse his best relievers, while severely restricting Joe Nathan to ninth-inning duty. Jesse Crain, Pat Neshek, and Matt Guerrier have logged a lot of innings in the past three years, and all three have either needed surgery or, as in Guerrier’s case, have suffered from being overworked. But the FO also deserves part of the blame, since they’ve consistently failed to put together a ‘pen full of reliable relievers and have essentially forced Gardy to rely on a select group. I don’t think that many fans would want Luis Ayala or R. A. Dickey pitching in close games, for example, and these were Bill Smith’s key off-season acquisitions. And while it isn’t a bad idea to use Joe Nathan in other situations besides closing games, he too has pitched a lot of innings (362 since joining the Twins) and I would hate to see him end up on the surgery list with Crain and Neshek.
UPDATE: Speaking of Rincon, the Tigers have DFA’d our old buddy to make room on the roster for the D-Train. So, you know, he’s available now. Just sayin’. Oh, and I almost forgot: there’s been an Eric Milton sighting.
Monday Musings
Well, there’s some good news and some bad news on the injury front. The good news is that the best hitter in the lineup will probably be back by May 1, just in time for the series against Kansas City. Unfortunately, one of the best relievers in the ‘pen is on the 15 day DL with shoulder inflammation. This is terrible news. Except for his last appearance against the Angels, Jesse Crain has been lights-out this season, and other than last year, when he was still recovering from shoulder surgery, has been dominant most of his career. Pudgy lefty Jose Mijares has been called up to take his place. Mijares was lights-out during his September call-up, then was horrible in spring training, but has been back to lights-out for the Red Wings. Which Jose Mijares we will get remains to be seen.
Although, if he can work on his command, the new guy might not be so bad, either.
Of course, if all of the starters could pitch like Glen Perkins, then the bullpen wouldn’t be an issue.
Jason Kubel’s helmet and gloves are going into Cooperstown, after he became just the seventh player in major league history to hit for the cycle with a grand slam.
Torii Hunter would like to finish his career in a Twins uniform. I agree with Howard Sinker: no thanks.
This is precisely why the Royals aren’t going to win the Central this year. I guess maybe I should stop complaining about the Twins’ bullpen so much.
I thought that the Royker frankenjersey was the ugliest thing I have ever seen. I stand corrected.
As much as I hate the Vancouver Canucks, even I think that this is pretty funny.
And if you’ve ever wondered what the saddest music in the world must sound like, well, now you know (language is NSFW or living things in general):
200!
Well, it wasn’t pretty, but the Twins beat the Mariners again, 6-5, at the Dome. Joe Nathan notched his first save of the season, and his 200th save as a Twin (it’s his 201st career save), putting him within 73 of the mark set by franchise saves leader Rick Aguilera. Starter Kevin Slowey coughed up the lead twice, but the offense came through and scored six runs on eight hits off of former Twin Carlos Silva.
Justin Morneau ended his hitless streak right away in the first inning, launching a two-run homer into the upper decks in right field. The Twins have stopped measuring home runs at the Dome this year, but it’s probably safe to say that it traveled a good 425 ft. He also successfully stretched a single into an RBI double that tied the game after Kevin Slowey was roughed up in the fourth (Jason Kubel would later drive him in on a double and retake the lead). Denard Span also had a pretty good night, adding his own two-run blast in the third and drawing a walk. Joe Crede still doesn’t look very comfortable at the plate, going 0-for-4 with three strikeouts. It’s still early in the season, but I am a little concerned about his offensive struggles since he had such an awful spring.
Unfortunately, starter Kevin Slowey got hit pretty hard. He gave up five runs on nine hits in five innings, including a couple of two-run home runs to Russell Branyan and Jose Lopez. Slowey didn’t walk any batters and did record five strikeouts, but he was having some trouble locating his pitches. Most of the damage came in two big innings, the two-run blast he surrendered in the second and a three-run fourth (one of those runs scored on an uncharacteristicly wild pitch). After giving up the second home run to Lopez, Slowey settled down and retired the next seven Mariners and eventually got the win.
More importantly, though, the bullpen was given the slimmest of leads and, for once, didn’t blow it. Craig Breslow was a bit wild at first, and gave up a leadoff single, but he recovered and retired the next three batters he faced (and struck out Griffey, who he had walked in his brief appearance on Monday night). Jesse Crain was an effective bridge to Joe Nathan, retiring all but one batter he faced (he did walk Russell Branyan). His curve/slurve whatever you want to call it looked really filthy, and the hitters who saw it seemed to agree (lots of shaking heads and looks of absolute disbelief).
Apparently Joe Mauer’s rehab is progressing well, though he has yet to start running (on land, he has been running in a pool as part of his rehab). Even though he claims he’s only weeks away from returning to the lineup, I wouldn’t expect to see him back until May. It’s going to take him awhile to get back into game shape, though he’s been catching bullpen sessions and hitting off a tee. Meanwhile, Scott Baker might return to the rotation by next week. He is supposed to make a rehab start for the Ft. Myers Miracle on Friday, and how soon he rejoins the team depends on the results. Apparently he hasn’t been experiencing any stiffness in his throwing shoulder, which is obviously very good news. I’m not thrilled about having R.A. Dickey in the rotation for more than a couple of starts.
Oh, and Mike Redmond will apparently be the starting catcher today. Hopefully he’ll make it through the entire game without aggravating his groin injury or injuring something else.
It Was a Good Day for Minnesota
Something very rare happened yesterday: every Minnesota team that played a game actually won. This pretty much never happens. There isn’t a great deal of overlap between the schedules for all of our major sports franchises anyway, and the results are rarely so favorable when they do. Usually one team wins while the rest of them lose. Or, most likely, all of them end up losing.
- Twins beat Cardinals, 5-3
Kevin Slowey continued his bid to be a dark horse candidate for the 2009 AL Cy Young, giving up two runs on eight hits in six innings. He also recorded five strikeouts, including a big one against Albert Pujols with the bases loaded. The only runs he gave up came off of a two-run homer by Rick Ankiel, and as I’ve mentioned before, he does have a tendency to give up the long ball. Jesse Crain also bounced back from his awful appearance against the Reds, in which he gave up four runs on six hits in one inning, by pitching a scoreless eighth. Jose Mijares was the only Minnesota pitcher who really struggled on the mound, nearly giving the game away in the ninth. He gave up one run on three hits, and had runners on second and third with one out before getting the next two batters to ground out.
The good news for Cardinals fans is that Chris Carpenter looked really good for the most part. He did give up four runs on seven hits in 4 2/3 innings, which isn’t as bad as it sounds when you consider that he also struck out seven batters. Trever Miller and Chris Perez also pitched well, which is very good news for a team whose bullpen had its own share of struggles last year.
By the way, Twins’ infield prospect Chris Cates made his Spring Training debut in the later innings, too. This is only kind of interesting because, at 5′ 3″, Cates is the shortest player at any level of major league baseball (he’s actually just slightly taller than I am). He looks like a little kid:
I think even the bat boys are taller than he is!
The Twins also have the tallest prospect in their system too, the 7′ 1″ right-handed pitcher Loek van Mil. And yes, the two were teammates last year for the Beloit Snappers.
- Wild beat Oilers, 3-2
Another game that is essentially meaningless, as the Wild are not going to make the playoffs. By beating Edmonton at Rexall Place last night though, they at least helped to ensure that the Oilers won’t make it, either. It was also really good to see Mikko Koivu back on the ice after sustaining a serious knee injury the last time they beat the Oil.
Actually, Niklas Backstrom is the only reason the Wild even won this game. They still turn over the puck way too much, and if Backs hadn’t been so sharp the Oil would’ve made them pay for all of their careless mistakes (much like the Flames did on Saturday). The Wild could still theoretically make the playoffs if they win every single one of their next six games. This is simply too much to ask for a team that hasn’t won two in a row in over a month, and hasn’t won three in a row since Thanksgiving. Considering that the Wild also have the Flames and the Stars on the schedule (two teams they have struggled to do much against the entire year) I think it’s pretty safe to say that the season is almost over with now.
But hey, at least Bemidji State is having a pretty good run in the NCAA tournament. The Beavers upset heavily-favored Notre Dame on Saturday, and stunned Cornell last night on their way to their first Frozen Four appearance in school history. I’ve written before that I started following college hockey when the North Stars were shipped out of town. And while my beloved Golden Gophers failed to even make the tournament this year, it is good to see at least one of our hockey teams in the playoffs.
- Timberwolves finally win a game!
Yeah, they beat the Nets. But a victory is a victory for a team that has only had twenty-one of them this year. I thought the Wolves were at least going to surpass last year’s grand total of 22 wins, but with only eight games left on the schedule, I’m not so sure. Sadly, if the Wolves were in the Eastern Conference, they would probably have a decent chance at making the playoffs this year.
By the way, I have now updated my blogroll. I added three new MLBlogs that I like a lot, as well as a couple of Twins pro blogs. If you haven’t yet, please check out Plouffe!, written by Twins infield prospect (and guitar player) Trevor Plouffe. He’s got some great stuff on there about his former roommate Delmon Young, and some cute pictures too!
Things That Will Go Right This Year
Okay, okay, so I might have come across as sounding a tad negative in my previous post (it’s called being realistic about your team’s chances, people). I do think the Twins have a good team. Not a great team, and maybe not even good enough to win the division, but a competitive one nonetheless. And while there are certainly some things to be worried about, there are also a lot of good things that will happen:
- Kevin Slowey is the new Brad Radke: The soft-tossing righty is having a great spring so far, posting a 1.93 ERA and 0.75 WHIP in 9.1 innings pitched. Better yet, he’s been striking out batters at a rate of about once per inning. His command has been absolutely spot on, with a perfect 10.00 K/BB ratio. There are some who think that Slowey might turn in a Cy-Young-worthy performance this year, and at this point I would have to agree.
The only real cause for concern with Slowey is that, like fellow fly-ball pitcher Scott Baker, he tends to give up the gopher ball. However, he hasn’t given up any so far this spring and has limited opposing hitters to a tidy .303 slugging percentage. I am a little concerned that the outfield defense might have a negative effect on his ERA, but at the rate he’s been striking out hitters it doesn’t look like that will be much of a problem.
- Francisco Liriano will emerge as the staff ace: Frankie is still a little wild, but has been striking out hitters at decent clip of 7.71 K/9. Even though he’s given up six walks in 16.1 innings, he’s held opposing batters to a paltry .172/.254/.259 and hasn’t given up very many extra base hits. When he’s been on top of his game, he’s been absolutely dominant. However, even at his worst (as he was in his first appearance against the Yankees and in his last start against the Pirates) Frankie gave up a mere three earned runs on six hits in six innings. He’s been working on a changeup since his Tommy-John-surgically-repaired arm can’t withstand throwing so many sliders, and it’s been absolutely filthy.
- Jason Kubel and Delmon Young are poised to have breakout seasons: Last year, Jason Kubel started to show flashes of the hitter the Twins thought they were getting when they drafted him in 2000. It looks as though he’s finally managed to put his knee problems behind him and has settled in as the everyday DH. Kubel’s been putting up some good numbers so far this year, batting .367/.424/.500 in 30 ABs (though he’s only hit one home run). Kubel is going to have to improve on last seasons’ 118 OPS+ to be worth keeping in the DH spot, but I think that with an increase in playing time the numbers will come.
Delmon Young will probably never be the power right-handed bat the Twins are looking for, but he looks as though he’s going to rebound from his disappointing 2008 season. He’s been having a pretty good spring so far, posting a .351/.385/.595 line with 2 homers and 6 RBI in 37 plate appearances (although he did ground into four double plays against the Pirates on Wednesday, which would have been a record if it were a regular season game). Delmon, like Carlos Gomez, has a tendency to swing at the first pitch a lot, so I would really like to see him show more patience at the plate.
- Jesse Crain will be dominant: Jesse Crain hasn’t allowed a run in his six appearances this spring, or even in his brief stint with Team Canada in the WBC (he struck out all four batters he faced). His stuff has been electric, and he’s recorded four strikeouts while giving up one hit. The velocity on his fastball has been back up to 94-95 mph and has had good movement on it, too. This is fantastic news for a bullpen that has been lacking a dominant set-up man since Pat Neshek went down with an elbow injury in June of last year.
- Glen Perkins might not be that bad, either: Perkins is arguably the weakest link in the rotation. But he’s been pretty good so far, allowing a mere 5 earned runs in twenty innings. However, I doubt this success will carry over into the regular season. Perk has been very hittable in his spring training starts, having given up 20 hits so far, while only striking out seven. Which means he’s had a lot of runners on base, something that isn’t good for a guy who (like Baker and Slowey) tends to give up the long ball.
Lest you think I’m being negative again, I will say that Perk could make a decent back-of-the-rotation starter (and I’m pretty much the only person who thinks he even belongs on a major-league roster, so that’s saying a lot). However, I also think that if he puts up decent numbers this year, the front office would be smart to consider trading him. He doesn’t throw all that hard and lacks pinpoint command, but could be valuable trade bait for teams that are desperate for left-handed starting pitching. The Twins have another lefty in Brian Duensing, who has better stuff and should be ready to start next season. The Twins generally like to hang onto their pitching talent, though, so I would be surprised if they actually move Perk. Most likely a demotion to the bullpen is in his future.
I know I lit into the front office for being such skinflints in my previous post, and I stand by that assessment. However, there are some indications that the Pohlad family will be willing to increase payroll once the new ballpark opens next year. They have given Bill Smith the greenlight to lock up some of their key players into long-term contracts (most notably Justin Morneau and Joe Nathan), and have expressed a desire to sign their All-Star catcher to a long-term deal even though it will cost them somewhere in the $140 million range to do so. I am still a little skeptical on the spending front, though, since Jim Pohlad has handled most of the day-to-day baseball activities since 2003 and hasn’t increased payroll much in that time. And I am also a bit skeptical that Bill Smith knows how to put a championship-caliber team together.
- Okay, now they’re dead
Perhaps they are officially still in the Western Conference playoff race, but after last night’s awful effort against the Devils, the Wild Mild look like they’re done. Just when I think they couldn’t possibly play any worse, they go out and prove me horribly, horribly wrong. This time Marek Zidlicky was the goat of the game, with two crucial mistakes that led to New Jersey goals. One was a no-look clearing pass intended for Martin Skoula that ended up right on the tape of Patrik Elias’s stick.
Ugh, I don’t need to tell you where that one ended up. The other was a failed attempt to strip Zach Parise of the puck at the blue line, setting up an odd-man rush with Brian Gionta, who buried his 18th goal of the season. Meanwhile, Martin Broduer showed why he is the best goaltender in the league (and maybe of his generation), stopping all 35 shots and earning his 101st career shutout.
The money quote came from coach Jacques Lemaire. When asked how his team could put forth such a lackadaisical effort when so much is on the line, he responded: “I like that question. Hold onto it and take it in [to the locker room]. Ask them, and if you get an answer, tell me.” Of course, the simple answer is that this team just isn’t very good. And the simplest explanation is usually the correct one.
Worse yet, the Star Tribune had an interview with former Wild Captain, and current Devils center Brian Rolston, who admitted that he probably would’ve stayed in Minnesota had the front office approached him about a contract extension prior to the 2007-2008 season. The Wild could really use his 96 goals and 202 points in three seasons right now. But thanks for pointing out that one of the Wild’s top scorers and most beloved players would’ve re-signed with the team if the front office hadn’t screwed it up. I feel so much better now.
- Corey Koskie has decided to retire
According to this article on the Twins’ website, former Twins third baseman Corey Koskie has announced his retirement from baseball. It’s not really a surprise, and while I was pulling for him to make a comeback, I also knew his chances of doing so were pretty remote. Koskie was concerned about suffering another concussion, especially after diving for a ball during an exhibition game on Thursday. In the end, he decided it was best to retire than spend the rest of the season wondering if every strange sensation he felt was a recurrence of his symptoms. Considering all he’s been through in the past 2 1/2 years, the fact that he could even participate in any baseball-related activities is a miracle in and of itself. I wish him the best in whatever it is he decides to do from now on.
Jose Mijares Is Not Ready for Prime Time
- Jose Mijares gives up four runs in one inning, Twins lose 9-5
Well, today’s game against Florida started out really good. The offense finally started coming to life, and Kevin Slowey looked really sharp out on the mound. The Twins had jumped out to an early 5-0 lead, and the relief pitchers were effectively shutting down the Marlins’ offense. Until Jose Mijares came in to pitch the seventh, that is. Mijares gave up four earned runs on three hits and recorded only one out. He was yanked in favor of knuckleballer R. A. Dickey, who quickly mopped up the mess (before getting into trouble himself in the eighth). What was once a five-run lead became a mere one-run lead. Then it became a four run deficit due to some defensive miscues by, well, a bunch of guys who have no chance at making the team anyway so I guess it doesn’t matter that much.
Mijares was very impressive with his few appearances with the Twins when he was called up
in September. The hard-throwing lefty gave up one earned run on three hits in ten relief appearances last year, posting an ERA+ of 465. His stuff was absolutely filthy, and he wasn’t afraid to challenge big-league hitters even if he was behind in the count. Mijares will probably be a dominant set-up man, and could perhaps take over for Joe Nathan at some point. However, he needs a lot more work. He showed up grossly overweight at camp this year, after the coaching staff told him he needed to get in shape during the offseason. Although Mijares was very good in his first appearance, clearly his lack of physical fitness is affecting his effectiveness. He’s labored in his past couple of appearances, and has just generally looked like he was out of breath out there on the mound. It wouldn’t be so bad, but Mijares refuses to take responsibility for his lack of physical conditioning and instead blames a sore ankle for his poor performance (um, a sore ankle wouldn’t cause you to huff and puff after throwing a single pitch). It seems as though Mijares thought he was a lock to make the active roster out of Spring Training (despite Bill Smith’s assertion to the contrary) and simply failed to put forth the effort necessary to compete for a job. The best thing for the young lefty at this point would be to send him to AAA for more seasoning. He certainly can’t be relied upon to pitch out of the bullpen in such poor shape, and he really needs to learn to listen to the coaching staff.
- Francisco Liriano pitches effectively enough, Twins lose 1-0 to Reds
Francisco Liriano wasn’t that sharp against the Reds yesterday, but he was still effective enough. His one bad mistake was a solo homer to Jonny Gomes, but that was the only run he allowed in 3 1/3 innings of work. Frankie struggled to locate his fastball and his changeup wasn’t terribly impressive, but he still only gave up three hits and struck out five batters. Although he isn’t exactly the same pitcher he was before his Tommy-John surgery in 2006, Liriano is on track to become one of the top pitchers in the American League. While it’s a bit premature to say he will be a legitimate Cy Young contender, I do think that Frankie will at least challenge Scott Baker for the top spot in the rotation.
Jesse Crain looked really good on the mound yesterday, too. Crain has been having a really good spring, and his stuff was electric when he pitched for team Canada in the WBC. This is very good news, considering how awful the bullpen was last season. The team is still in need of a set-up man, and Crain is making a very good case for himself to earn that job.
I was going to complain about the lack of offensive production from the regulars yesterday, but Micah Owings and Edison Volquez are both some of the best young pitchers in the National League, so I guess I won’t whine too much. Besides, they more than made up for it in today’s game against the Marlins. Too bad the defense couldn’t make it stick.
Twins in the WBC
The Twins are off today, and there’s no Mauer news yet, so here’s a look at what our guys have been doing in the WBC:
- Justin Morneau: Was completely useless for Canada in his first game against the U.S. While he went 4-for-5 against Italy, it wasn’t enough and the Canucks fell 6-2 at Rogers Centre last night. It was either a stunning upset, or epic failure depending upon which side you were on. Anyway, Morneau will arrive at camp in time for tomorrow’s contest against the O’s and some well-deserved razzing from his teammates.
- Jesse Crain: Made only one appearance for Canada last night, and struck out all four batters he faced. You know, it’s really no mystery why Canada failed to make it past the first round. I mean, look at their starting rotation. Perhaps they should have put Crain in to start. Anyway, I guess I’ll be jumping on that Team USA bandwagon now.
- Nick Punto: Well, Little Nicky hasn’t been that productive at the plate, but his glove has been good enough to help Italy advance to the second round. Um, except in today’s game against the Venezuelans, that is. Punto had a crucial error on a routine ground ball to short that allowed a couple of runs to score and put Italy behind 4-0. Looks like he’s going to be joining his Canadian teammates back in Ft. Myers.
- Luke Hughes: The 3B prospect went 2-for-3 with a solo homer for Australia, helping them upset Mexico in a 17-7 thumping on Sunday night (they also set a WBC record for hits, with 22). He hasn’t been too bad on defense either, turning a double-play to end the second and prevent Mexico from extending what was a three-run lead at that time. I guess somebody wants to go north with the big-league club this year.
- Luis Ayala: Hasn’t had a chance to pitch for Mexico, yet. I guess that’s a good thing in a way, I would hate for him to be the one that gave up umpteen runs to a team that doesn’t even have any major-leaguers on its roster. Still, I would like to see what he has, since he’s probably going to have to carry the bullpen this year. Maybe it would’ve been best if the Twins insisted he stay with the team, but I know they don’t like to deny anyone the chance to represent their country in the WBC.
- Bert Blyleven: The pitching coach for a surprisingly feisty Dutch team. And the Dutch have indeed pitched well so far, limiting their opponents to five runs in the past couple of games. They upset the Dominican Republic on Saturday, and threatened to upset the Puerto Ricans yesterday. However, I think the upcoming game against the DR will be the end of the line for Team Hollandaise. Their offense has been somewhat lacking, having scored an astounding four runs so far. Plus the Dominicans have the whole revenge factor going for them, since they’re still apparently angry over what happened the last time.
In other news, the Mild Wild will be losing to taking on the Sharks at the X tonight. Well, the Sharks are without Evgeni Nabokov and Rob Blake, so I guess the Wild have a chance to win. Or not.
The last time the Sharks were in town, this happened:
Perhaps our boys will pull off a miracle yet again. Their playoff hopes depend on it.
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