I like when good pitchers start

After another Sabean Special today, one thing has become clear to me... when we have good pitchers start, that usually goes better than having bad pitchers start.

Groundbreaking, I know. But then again, we are still starting Carlos Silva and Ramon Ortiz for 40% of the games, so this message isn't quite getting through to somebody.

Obviously it's a lot more complicated than this, but since May 12 the Twins are 5-1 when either Johan Santana, Boof Bonser, or Scott Baker starts. Over that same time span they're 0-6 when the games are started by Ramon Ortiz, Carlos Silva, and the recently departed Sidney Ponson.

Already 6.5 games back, we can't really afford to trot out Ortiz and Silva much anymore, can we? I know this is kinda like a broken record, but these guys are just not good starters. That's not even an opinion, that's a fact. Why not give Matt Garza and Kevin Slowey a chance?

I know the Twins are very reluctant to use more service time than necessary, but I really think the change to bring the young starters up has to be made soon. Last year these types of moves propelled the Twins from a .500 team to the division title. Replacing 3/5 of your rotation (already done with 1 part of that in Baker) can have that same type of effect.

Splitsville

I was out of town over the weekend, which is why I didn't write anything at all, but here are some of my thoughts from the weekend split with the Rays:

- I don't have the numbers to back me up right now, but doesn't it just seem like Joe Nathan is a lot less effective when he pitches in non-save situations? Not just this year, but last year as well. That was certainly the case in this series, as we know what happened yesterday, and he also got lucky to survive on Thursday.

- Throughout the 4-game series, the pitchers that had the best lines for the Twins were Sidney Ponson and Carlos Silva. The worst lines belonged to Johan Santana and Boof Bonser. Baseball is a funny game.

- I know why Gardy puts Redmond in the 3 spot, but it's still a really bad idea. Seriously, are Cuddyer-Morneau-Hunter going to really get messed up moving up one spot in the order for a day? I doubt it.

- Jason Bartlett uses a 3/3 day to get the averaged up to .214. Hey, you gotta start somewhere.

- Jason Kubel basically has to play everyday because of injuries to other guys, but that's a good thing. Now, even with an 0/4 day Saturday, he was back in the lineup Sunday and went 2/4 including a nice RBI double.

- You can't say enough about Matt Guerrier... the guy just gets the job done, no matter the situation. He's a great asset on this staff.

Is there anything better than a Walk-Off Homer?

If you ask me, no. Especially when its the Twins hitting it. That's what happened on Thursday, as Justin Morneau stepped up to start the 9th inning and jacked one the opposite way. He didn't even look like he hit it that solidly, he's just really good. Like really good.

But the big story of the night, of course, was the superb effort from Carlos Silva. 6.2 scoreless innings, lowering his ERA to 0.77. I never thought I would be typing that... Carlos Silva lowered his ERA to 0.77 on the year. He wasn't able to get the win because Juan Rincon wasn't able to hold the lead, but that doesn't make Silva's start any less encouraging.

I know it's very early, but you gotta love the starters so far. Ramon Ortiz has been excellent, Silva has a 0.77 ERA, and while Sidney Ponson didn't have great numbers, the stuff was there. So that's a lot more than I thought I would be saying about the rotation at this point.

Excellent pitching matchup Friday... Scott Kazmir vs. Johan Santana. Two of the best lefties in the game, which should make for a great matchup.

Twins Rotation Almost Set

With about a week left before the start of the season, things almost look to be set in the Twins rotation.

The top, of course, will be Johan Santana, the reigning Cy Young Award winner who is firmly established as the best pitcher in the world. After that, it gets a little fuzzy.

At this point, it looks like Boof Bonser will definitely be in the rotation, which is a good thing, because Boof was really solid at the end of last year. Joining him and Santana will likely be Ramon Ortiz and Sidney Ponson. Both were free-agent pickups, both have uninspiring track records. To be perfectly honest, if either of them develop into a reliable 5th starter, I'll be pleased.

After that, it gets even more fuzzy. It looks like the final spot will be either Carlos Silva's or Matt Garza. Silva is the "veteran" that has been getting hammered on the mound, Garza is the guy that has been pitching better, has much more talent and upside, but is young. If you can't tell, I think Garza should get the spot.

Last year Garza was one of the best Minor League pitchers around, and showed flashes of that at the end of the season. Silva, on the other hand, got consistently shellacked en route to an ERA above 6.

In Spring Training, it's been more of the same. Silva has an ERA above 11 in 16.1 IP, Garza has an ERA of 1.50 in 12 IP. When you put it all together, Garza seems like the no-brainer choice to make the rotation. Hopefully that happens.

Twins/Athetics Position-by-Position

Looking at the teams position by position probably doesn't give us a great indication of who is actually going to win the series, but it does provide a nice overview and preview for what is to come. So let's do it:

Catcher: Joe Mauer vs. Jason Kendall
Jason Kendall isn't necessarily a bad catcher, but Joe Mauer is the batting champion, the best Catcher in the MLB, and a legitimate MVP candidate. Joe is much better offensively, much better defensively, and that makes this the most lopsided difference between the 2 clubs.

First Base: Justin Morneau vs. Nick Swisher
Nick Swisher is a very solid, patient hitter with a little bit of power. But Justin Morneau he is not. Morneau is the better all-around hitter... he hits for a higher average, and his slugging is a bit higher than Swisher as well. Add in that Morneau is an above-average defensive first basemen, and Morneau gets the clear edge.

Second Base: Luis Castillo vs. Mark Ellis
Luis Castillo is not as good defensively as he once was, and he doesn't hit for much power at all, but I give him a slight edge over Ellis. Castillo is very good at at taking pitches at the top of the lineup, and gets on base at a respectable rate of .358. Even with his declining range, I give the edge to Castillo.

Shortstop: Jason Bartlett vs. Marco Scutaro
Once again, I give the slighest of edges to Bartlett and the Twins. Bartlett has very good range and a good arm at SS. Offensively, both are similar players. They have some patience at the plate, but aren't going to be supplying a lot of power. Bartlett gets on base at a slightly better rate, which is why I give him the edge.

Third Base: Nick Punto vs. Eric Chavez
I like what Punto has brought this year, but Chavez gets the edge this year even though he hasn't been his normal self at the plate. Both are getting on base at a similar rate, but Chavez does hit for more power. Also, while I think Punto has been very good defensively at 3B, Chavez is still the class of the American League when it comes to that category.

Left Field: Rondell White vs. Jay Payton
The Twins have sorta had a mismatch group and you're never really sure who's going to be out there, but I think Rondell is the most likely. As we all know Rondell was just absolutely atrociously awful to start the year, but he hit very well in July and hit very well in September, showing why the Twins went out and got him. Which Rondell White will show up? Good question, and that's I give Jay Payton the edge here.

Center Field: Torii Hunter vs. Mark Kotsay
Both are excellent defensive outfielders, and with Hunter being a step slower because of injury, things may be pretty equal in that department. So it comes down to offense. Kotsay is the more patient hitter, but Hunter hits for a lot more power. After 9 HR in September, Hunter has the edge here.

Right Field: Michael Cuddyer vs. Milton Bradley
They are actually very similar players. Neither guy hits for a great average, but they both hold their own. Both have pretty good plate discipline. Neither has great power, but both can hit it out of the ballpark. In the end, I think that the fact that Cuddyer hits so many doubles, and that he has a great arm in the OF gives him an edge over Bradley.

Designated Hitter: Jason Tyner vs. Frank Thomas
Frank Thomas has the edge here by about a million bazillion miles. Not even worth really talking about.

#1 Starter: Johan Santana vs. Barry Zito
Zito has been solid this year (though don't look now, his ERA is 4.55 since the AS break), but Johan is in another class from all pitchers.

#2 Starter: Boof Bonser vs. Esteban Loaiza
If you'd have told me earlier this year Boof would be starting game 2, I would have laughed. But he's earned it with his pitching over the last 2 months. For Loaiza, he is also pitching well after a horrid first half, and has a 4.01 ERA since the AS break. If he can keep the ball down and get the Twins pitchers swinging early in the count, he can be effective. I call this one about a draw. I think if either guy goes 6 strong innings, their team will be happy.

#3 Starter: Brad Radke vs. Rich Harden
Both pitchers have been effective when healthy, but that has been a problem for both. For Radke, the problems with his shoulder have been well documented and this is his last hurrah, as he will retire at the end of the year. For Harden, he's always had some of the best stuff of anyone in the Majors, but he can't seem to stay healthy. He's made 3 starts since coming off the DL, with 2 of them being solid, but he struggled in his last start. Still, when he's on, he's on, which is why I give Harden the edge. But it wouldn't surprise me at all if Radke gives the Twins a great outing... what he's done this year is unlike anything I have seen in sports.

#4 Starter: Carlos Silva vs. Dan Haren
If Carlos Silva pitches in this series, that will be a good thing, because it means the Twins will be leading in this series 2-1. However, I don't like his odds against Dan Haren, a very solid SP.

Bullpen: Joe Nathan vs. Huston Street
Out of all playoff teams, I'd rank these teams 1 and 2 in this category. But as I've said before, I think the Twins have the best bullpen in the MLB. If they can get the lead after 6, they're in very good shape, especially with Joe Nathan anchoring things down at the backend. Plus, I'm not sure Oakland has anyone that can consistently get lefties out.

So what does this all mean? Well, maybe nothing. But it gives us a little better idea of what we're dealing with.

For the record, I've got the Twins in 5.

15 runs? For the Twins?

The pitchers may not have had the most impressive display of arms on the mound yesterday, but even so, the offensive explosion from the Twins was a rare treat.

They started things off with 5 in the first, 3 in the second, 3 more in the 4th and 5th, and added 1 more in the 6th just for good measure. By the time it was all said and done, a 15-2 win is looking pretty good.

Pretty much everyone on offense contributed, but they were led by the return of Torii Hunter (3/5, 1 HR, 4 RBI), Nick Punto (4/4), and Justin Morneau (3/4, 2 RBI). Morneau's average is now incredibly up to .321, 6th in the American League. Has there been a better hitter in baseball the past couple months?

But we know all about that, so let's focus on the pitching. Carlos Silva had a superb performance against a very good offense, tossing 7 innings and allowing only 1 run. If he can continue to make starts like this, well, it's going to make the decision to keep Matt Garza in AAA a whole lot easier. Now, if Scott Baker can turn in a similar performance today, and all of a sudden the rotation looks to be in solid shape.

The other big news of the day of course was that the Twins were able to finally unload Kyle Lohse to the Reds, getting Zach Ward back in return, a guy that actually looks pretty decent. Once again, Terry Ryan always doesn't make the big moves that catch the headlines, but he does the solid, little things that improves the depth of the organization and should help for the future.

However you look at it, a great day for Minnesota Twins baseball.

3 out of 4 ain't bad

Just keep winning series'. That's all the Twins should be thinking now.

And with the 5-2 victory on Sunday, that's what the Twins were able to do on Sunday, is win the series.

They got the win thanks to good starting pitching, power from some unusual sources, and another nice night for Jason Tyner. Carlos Silva, coming off injury in his last start, Silva was on his game today, pitching 6 innings and giving up 2 runs. As it usually is when thing are going well, he didn't walk anyone. This improves his numbers on the year to [cringe] 5-9 with a 6.79 ERA. But hey, you have to start somewhere.

Offensively, the tone was set by a leadoff HR from light-hitting Luis Castillo, his 3rd of the year. Mike Cuddyer hit his 12th of the year in the 4th, and then the Twins got some luck to score a couple more in the 4th. After a Justin Morneau walk, Rondell White hit a 'Metrodome Double' to put runners at 2nd and 3rd. That was when Jason Tyner, who has been all that is man since the callup, had a 2-RBI single. Tyner is now batting .500 after 3 games.

Rondell White added an insurance run with a solo blast in the 7th (Rondell's 1st of the year, sadly), but it wasn't even necessary for the bullpen that has been stingy all year. Jesse Crain pitched a couple of scoreless innings for the hold, and Joe Nathan came on in the 9th for his 16th save, lowering his ERA to 1.66 in the process.

Around the division, Sunday was a perfect day for the Twins. The Tigers finally lost, as Joey Gathright had a big day as the Royals beat the Tigers 9-6, and the Yanks earned a sweep of the White Sox as Mariano Rivera got his 400th save.

The Twins are now 11 games behind the Tigers for the division and only 6.5 games behind the White Sox for the Wildcard (although the Yankees and Blue Jays also stand in their way.

Another positive for the Twins... if they win in the next few days, they're guaranteed to gain ground on either the Sox or Tigers, as they play each other. Scott Baker will start for the first time since he was recalled, and will go against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, who will send Tim Corcoran to the mound. Other pitching matchups:

Tuesday: Francisco Liriano (10-2, 2.12 ERA) vs. Scott Kazmir (10-6, 3.27 ERA)
Wednesday: Brad Radke (7-7, 4.97 ERA) vs. Jae Seo (207, 5.07 ERA)
Thursday: Johan Santana (10-5, 2.93 ERA) vs. James Shields (4-3, 5.37 ERA)

So much for that pitching

And things looked to be going so well on all fronts just a few days ago... but now, with another poor outing from Silva (and an injury), and a 3rd straight loss, dropping the Twins back to 11 games behind the Tigers, things once again look bleak as far as playoff potential goes.

As always seems to happen, the Twins definitely struggled in Texas, dropping the game 9-4 on Friday. Carlos Silva was able to get 5 (five) outs, and he allowed the same number of runs in that time. Willie Eyre came in and actually did worse, allowing 3 ER over 0.2 innings. (Free Scott Baker!) Things got better from there, but the damage was done.

But things weren't all bad on the pitching front... we got our first look at Pat Neshek, who definitely impressed, as expected. Neshek pitched 2 shutout innings and struck out one. As Aaron Gleeman says, we probably should have seen this earlier.

Offensively, the fireballer that is John Wasdin did enough for the win, namely going 5 innings. After that, the ragtag bullpen of the Rangers was easily able to hold the Twins down. Things weren't all bad - the 3 Js (Justin Morneau, Joe Mauer, and Jason Kubel) - each took one of out the park, but they couldn't muster anything consistent. Morneau was the best of the day, as he also had an RBI double early in the game, to bump his RBI total up to 73 when he heard his 23rd homerun.

The loss leaves the Twins at 16-28 so far this year on the road (compared to 30-10 at home), which means that maybe it's about time to stop watching the Twins road games this year. I understand teams play better at home than on the road, but that is something else.

Anyway, the Twins send Francisco Liriano to the mound Saturday to face John Rheinecker of the Rangers. With "The Iceman" pitching Saturday, and Johan going in the series finale, the Twins need a couple of wins here to close it out before the break and get some momentum for the second half.

That Joe Mauer Guy can hit the ball pretty well

Ok, so Mauer was probably pretty upset with himself after having the average drop all the way under .370 in the past couple days. I'd say going 4/5 with a double, triple, and 5 RBI is a pretty good way to rectify that. With Mauer's career night, he's bumped the average back up to .377, batting .370 against lefties and .380 against righties. Not bad for a 22 year-old catcher.

Of course, he had some help, namely from Carlos Silva, who had another superb outing, tossing 8 innings and giving up 2 runs for his 3rd straight Quality Start. Of course, that only drops the ERA to 6.43, but we'll take what we can get at this point. He only struck out 3, but getting back more to normal for him, he did not walk anyone. His record now stands at 4-8.

Of course, with all these wins over NL teams, not only by the Twins but by other AL Central foes, why can't the Twins be in the National League?? This is coming off another article I read, which said that according to some simulations from the Boston Red Sox, the AL on average is 10 games better than the NL, which is obviously an enormous difference.

Then again, maybe it's not being in the AL that's bad so much as it is being in the AL Central right now. After yet another Detroit win yesterday, the Twins are still 11 back of the Tigers and 9 back of the White Sox. Those two teams, coincendentally, own the best records in baseball.

Tossing in the 2nd game of this series will be a couple of really solid pitchers - Derek Lowe for the visiting Dodgers (6-3, 2.90) and The Iceman Francisco Liriano for the Twins (7-1, 2.17 ERA)

The Twins will look to extend their winning streak to 6 games. They're also 15-2 in their last 17 games, so they have that going for them, which is nice. Hopefully the good fortune can continue.


EDIT: After a little bit of feedback, I've decided to go back to the blue background, AKA the original look of the blog. Good idea or no?

Back to .500

First off, sorry for not posting earlier, but as I wrote, I've been real busy. But that's not important right now. What is important is the riding a 7-game winning streak (and a sweep of the Red Sox and Pirates), the Twins are back to .500 at 34-34.

The biggest reason for this turnaround is that the Twins staff has regained its form from last year. The bullpen has been really good, plus the starting pitching is starting to come around - Brad Radke is finding his groove, Carlos Silva showed signs he might be back, Francisco Liriano is in the ROY discussion, and Johan Santana is once again in the Cy Young race. All in all, this now puts the team ERA at 4.62, which is 7th in the AL.

Now, the Twins have exactly been able to make up much ground during this streak, and they sit 11.5 games behind Detroit and 9.5 games behind Chicago, but this is a definite start. The Tigers can't stay this good, I wouldn't think, but there's still a lot that needs to be done. However, if the pitching gets back into form, and the young hitters keep improving, anything can happen.

For now, the Twins start a 3-game set with the Houston Astros, with Brad Radke taking on Roy Oswalt in the opener. The prime jewel of the set will be Thursday, when Francisco Liriano will pitch against Roger Clemens, making his frst MLB start of the year. In the second game of the series, Carlos Silva will take on Wandy Rodriguez.

The Houston Astros record stands at 36-33. I wouldn't mind sending them down to .500.

How do you spell S-W-E-E-P?

Well that's a nice surprise. After another Kubel HR, the first good outing of the year for Carlos Silva, and Joe Nathan getting the Twins out of some late trouble, the Twins earned the sweep over the Boston Red Sox with a 5-3 victory Thursday.

The most encouraging thing about the game, by far, was a sign that maybe Carlos Silva is ready to get back into the form that made him so effective last year. His 6 scoreless innings lowered his ERA from 7.73 to 7.07. Granted, 7.07 still isn't good, but it's a heck of a lot better than 7.73. He gave up 7 hits and struck out 2, but again, true to last year's form, didn't walk anyone.

Grady's been criticized by me and others in the past, so it's only proper to give him credit when credit is due. I love the fact that he brought in Nathan in the 8th when the bases were loaded. Sure, it wasn't a conventional save situation in which Nathan is usually saved for, but regardless of inning, it was the most important part of the game, with the bases loaded, no out, and the 4-5-6 hitters coming up. Bravo to Gardy for bringing Nathan in there, which eventually resulted in Nathan's 8th save.

Also congrats to Jason Kubel, who homered in his 3rd straight game. He's now batting .291 with a .321 OBP and .506 SLG in 79 AB. He could stand to take a couple more walks, but it's great to see a little bit of power from him. Once again, I beg you Gardy, leave him in LF when Stewart comes back!

Anyway, the sweep puts their record at 31-34, 11 games behind the Tigers. They now head to Pittsburgh for a 3-game set.

As an added note, I'll be gone for the weekend, so I apologize to both of my readers when I say that the blog won't be update until Sunday or Monday! Maybe this will bring the Twins more good luck!

Can Johan Santana or Francisco Liriano start every game?

Can't blame the Twins offense. Behind a 7th inning Michael Cuddyer Grand Slam, 3 hits each from Jason Kubel and Justin Morneau, along with Joe Mauer reaching base 4 out of 5 times, the Twins managed to put up 7 runs tonight. I'll take that any day of the week.

Unfortunately, behind the pitching of Carlos Silva and Kyle Lohse, they gave up 9 runs, resulting in a 9-7 loss to the Orioles.

In the first inning, Carlos Silva gave up 3 runs while recording 1 out (on a sac bunt). In the 7th, Kyle Lohse gave up 3 runs before getting any outs. Overall, Silva gave up 5 ER on 10 hits and a BB in 6 innings, while Kyle Lohse gave up 4 runs in 2.2 innings. So much for showcasing him for a trade. At this point, Kyle Lohse stinks.

Another factor in the loss was the so-called "face of the franchise", Torii Hunter. In front of Hunter in the lineup were Mauer and Kubel, who combined to reach base 7 times in 10 combined AB. Behind them, in the cleanup spot, Torii Hunter went 0/3 with 2 BB, and 8 LOB. To make things worse, he's not hitting a paltry .192 in May, with a SLG of .269. He's been bad with RISP and even worse with RISP and 2 out. Maybe it's time to try Cuddyer in the cleanup spot.

The 3rd and final game of the series features Francisco Liriano (4-1, 2.44 ERA) facing Erik Bedard (5-5, 5.84 ERA). Let's hope the youngsters can keep delivering and maybe get the Twins to .500 by the AS break, and after that anything can happen. But maybe that's just hopeful thinking.