Twins Mid-season Review

The Minnesota Twins at 44-43 have shown some bright spots and a few areas that need improvement if they want to contend for the AL Central pennant. In my opinion, they are underachieving. This team should be far and ahead of the rest of the teams in this division. At the beginning of the season, all the speculation was that the Twins only had a couple problems:
1) They had too many good outfielders. How was Ron Gardenhire ever going to get each of these guys starts?
2) They had 5 aces for starting pitchers and the best closer in baseball.

Many predicted the Twins and the lowly Cleveland Indians to be the only competitors in the AL Central. Wow, don’t quit your day job to be come a full-time prognosticator if you thought this.

So now that they are midway through the season, let’s delve into the good and bad so far and what the Twins may be able to do to improve and compete for the pennant.

The Good!

Joe Mauer after being out for the first month of the season, has come back in true form. He’s lit a flame under the Twins offense’s booty. The Twins have gone from 10th in the AL in batting at .262 in March and April, to 2nd at .279 in May when Joe Mauer returned. They have cooled off a bit since dropping to 5th in the AL so far this season at .265. The insertion of Mauer into the lineup changes everything about this team. One noteable difference this year is Mauer’s ability to hit the long ball. He’s hit 15 aleady this year, eclipsing his previous career high of 13. He also leads the league in hitting right now at .373. I smell a 3rd batting title…

Slowey?
Another bright spot is a little surprising. If you were to have predicted at the beginning of the season which Twins starter might have 10 wins, you probably would have said Scott Baker or Francisco Liriano. Well, you would have been wrong again you fantastically horrible prognosticators. Kevin Slowey has emerged has the team’s number two starter at 10-3. He has a trouble ERA of 4.86, but his last two starts have been shaky and has upped that number quite a bit.

What do these words have in common? Nick Blackburn and Ace

Nick Blackburn has quickly turned into the staff ace. He’s 8-4 with a 3.06 ERA. He hasn’t received the run support Slowey has but he’s shown he can give the team a chance to win. I hate the wins stat anyways, so dependent on a team’s offensive production. Anyways, Blacky (I like to use the nicknames Gardy gives the guys) used to only win at home and against Cleveland. Now, he’s winning or giving the team a chance to win wherever he plays. A nice surprise for the team.

A Few Other Things
Joe Crede’s been a nice addition. His defense is a huge improvement from what the team had last year at third base, and although he’s been hovering in the 230s for batting average, he’s hit for power. That’s what the team needs out of the 6th or 7th spot in the lineup, a hitter who’s not a liability in the field.

Do I dare say Justin Morneau is quietly having an MVP caliber season? It’s true though. His season has been outstanding yet overshadowed by Mauer and what he’s done since his return in May. He’s hitting .311 with 20 HRs and 70 RBIs. His average will probably come down to right about .300, but if his other stats continue at the current pace, he has a definite chance of being considered once again for the AL MVP.

The Twins relievers have been surprisingly improving. It was a huge hole in the offseason and they tried to fill it with the likes of Luis Ayala and a few others. R.A. Dickey has been a nice pickup for long relief, especially considering Liriano and Baker’s inability to go deep into games. Matt Guerrier has a friend in the 8th inning in Jose Mijares and together they’ve pitched very well. Guerrier was overworked last year and struggled later in the season. With Mijares proving to be a great lefty in the bullpen, Guerrier isn’t pitching every game and has been able to maintain some good stats. The recent call up of Bobby Keppel has also been very helpful. He started in the minors and is now used as another long reliever. I’m pretty impressed with how the bullpen has come together. And of course, they have Joe “The Hammer” Nathan, who has been lights out as of late. He has an insane 0.73 WHIP and 1.31 ERA. If the Twins can get the game to Nathan, you can just about chalk up one to the win column.

Eh…The Rough Spots
10-Spot Scott, or Scott Baker whichever you prefer, has been a huge disappointment.

Don’t worry Scott, I feel the same way! He was hurt to start the season, but has yet to come into his own since returning. He has shown glimpses of the Scott Baker the Twins know, but it’s been sporadic at best. He’s given up 4 or more earned runs in 9 of his 17 starts. His ERA is up there at 5.42 and has only been below 5 one time this season. He has given up 18 homers already this year after giving up only 20 all of last season. He’s been a big disappointment and needs to pitch with the consistency the Twins fell in love with last year.

Franky, aka Francisco Liriano, has been anything but the spectacular lefty Twins Nation fell in love with in 2006. Baker and him were supposed to be the staff aces, but that has yet to come to fruition. He is 4-9 with a 5.47 ERA. His slider isn’t the same and he can’t locate his pitches well at all. It seems like he’ll be rocking along throwing well and then one inning he’ll give up 5 runs. A big difference is that his off-speed stuff isn’t that much slower than his fastball and it makes him far less deceptive. Either he or Baker need to get things going or the Twins don’t stand a chance in the AL Central race.

Abundance? Really?
What happened to the abundance of outfielders this team was supposed to have? I don’t see an abundance. I see two good outfielders in Denard Span and Michael Cuddyer and then two outfielders in Delmon Young and Carlos Gomez who just don’t get it. Although Gomez has hit better lately, he’s been horrible overall. The only way I think it could get worse is if you started Delmon Young. He’s a wreck at the plate right now and a liability in left field. At least when you play Gomez, you can count on some fantastic defense to make up for his lack of offense. One of these guys has to step up or the bottom of the lineup will continue to struggle.

Some Notable Needs
Nick Punto was supposed to be the everyday shortstop. But, Alexi Casilla was sent down to the minors to get his swing back and Punto has moved over to 2nd. His “patented” head-first slide isn’t cute anymore, even if his defense ability is amazing.

The Twins called up Casilla this week and sent Matt Tolbert back down. He was hitting around .340 in AAA and hopefully he has his swing figured out.

Hopefully you have formulated some of your own opinions about this team. If so, post a comment or two on what you think the Twins need to do in the second half of the season. They’re only 4 games out and that’s nothing compared to the 2006 comeback. “We’re comin’, we’re comin’!”

Tags: al central, alexi casilla, bobby keppel, carlos gomez, francisco liriano, joe crede, joe mauer, joe nathan, jose mijares, justin morneau, matt guerrier, michael cuddyer, mlb, nick punto, r.a. dickey, ron gardenhire, Scott Baker, Twins