Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Time for Cuddyer to get his groove

While folks like Nick Blackburn and (recently) Kevin Slowey have been keeping the Twins atop the precarious AL Central standings, Michael Cuddyer has been bobbing in and out of mediocrity.

Cuddyer, now in his seventh season with the Twins, is putting up numbers and batting like he did in his 2005 season when the team experimented with him as an everyday third baseman. In 2005, Cuddyer hit .263 with 12 home runs and just 42 RBI.

This season he's hitting .275 with one home run and 12 RBI. It's a far cry from the pace of 2006 (.284, 24, 109) and 2007 (.276, 16, 81). Worse, Cuddyer doesn't look the same at the plate, often waving at outside pitches on two-strike counts. Not many people will talk about it, but he's looking like Jose Canseco out in the field more than the sure-handed and sure-firing Cuddyer we've all learned to love in right field.

The latest word is he's going to try some new muscle-relaxing mouth guard to better himself at the plate. To me that sounds a bit Nuke Laloosh-like (garters and lady's underwear under the uniform) to be anything more than a mind game.

When the old BP catcher was a real catcher and hitting well I was hitting with a more pronounced straight-standing stance. At one point I opened it up and crouched more (ala Shannon Stewart) for better bat control. The problem was I was too crouched for what I always knew and though my slap hits to right field increased (inside-outing like Joe Mauer), my power and real control was gone. I wasn't comfortable and it just didn't feel like me.

I'm not claiming to be anything more than a Class B BP catcher, so don't get me wrong. But if you look at Cuddyer's stance these days, he's more pronounced bending at the knee and his stance is more wide than in previous years.

Again, I'm just a coach, but stand up like you used to and just whack at the damn ball. We'd rather see something that nears power than what's going on at the plate so far this season.


Cuddyer photo courtesy of Minneapolis Star-Tribune. http://www.startribune.com

Monday, May 12, 2008

Twins take 3 of 4 from Red Sox

Twins playing as well as they look
in those cool sleeveless jerseys
By Bullpen Catcher

Monday's win over the defending World Champions gave the Twins the series and legitimatizes their chances to challenge for a playoff berth this season. Livan Hernandez improved to an unbelievable 6-1 overall while several other Twins are showing similar look again stats. Joe Mauer is supposed to hit .333. Justin Morneau is supposed to hit around .282 and be on pace for 122 RBI (which is his current rate). Joe Nathan is supposed to be impressive and dominating (as he's been all season). But what the heck is with Adam Everett popping off a home run? How about Craig Monroe hitting .284 with four home runs? I'm not sure anyone thought someone named Tolbert would be hitting .274 or that Nick Blackburn would be so darn good already.

Spaz Neshek's injury will test the bullpen, but Jesse Crain seems to be recovering better from his arm problems of last year. Maybe Glen Perkins will stick around long enough to provide a solid left-handed starting slot for the Twins.

Either way, this team is overachieving and chugging along. I've said it all season, but if the Twins can just hang around .500 they've got a chance to get into the Wild Card standings leaders at the end of the season. With the Central so darn mediocre, who knows?

A final surprise: The Twins are currently playing better than the Yankees, Blue Jays, Indians, Tigers, Mariners, Phillies, Mets, Braves, Brewers, Dodgers, Rockies and Padres. [I won't mention that the Tampa Bay Rays have a better record than the Minnesotans, though.]

Thursday, May 8, 2008

Too Much Vacation for the BP Catcher

So we missed a bunch, but to recap:
  • The Twins kicked the Tigers' asses
  • The Twins are now in first place
  • They almost were no-hit while I was enjoying a beer at Old Chicago
  • Carlos Gomez thankfully wasn't sent to the minors and became the first Twin to hit for the cycle since Kirby Puckett did the task in 1986.
  • Bring on the Red Sox