Still Can't Smell 'Em

A loss to Tampa Bay, another to Cleveland and a nice win over the Indians again show the Twins' major lack of run production. With just 69 runs scored over 18 games (8-10 record), the Twin-towners are averaging 3.8 runs per game. That puts Minnesota at 25th in runs in the Major Leagues (KC is the only AL team with worse run production).

It goes without saying, but the bullpen hasn't been very good either. The lone exception is Joe Nathan, who has been outstanding. When the runs do come, the bullpen tends to blow the lead. It's hard to blame just the relievers when they've been out on the mound far more than usual. Starting pitchers are struggling to get past five or six innings in their outings.

The good news? With these obvious holes, the Twins are still just 2.5 out of first and two games short of .500. Fran Liriano's arm will do one of two things in the near future -- build arm strength and control or injure it again and go on the DL. Boof is clearly a middle reliever posing as a starter. Blackburn's latest game was sweet and he's been consistent. Baker and Hernandez are giving what the Twins expect, but hopefully will show much better form in May.

The lack of runs may help that starting pitching (and in effect the relievers too). Time to start smelling them again.

The solution is reallly quite simple. Time for Mike Redmond to strip down and run around naked some more to inspire the lads. Can you smell it? I figured you could.

Boof's hot in the cold, but is a cold Liriano a good idea?

Both Livan and Boofie pitched pretty good games against the hapless Royals (is this really the same team that swept the Tigers?). Cue-ball has three homeruns (one fewer than Torii Hunter), Carlos Gomez, Matt Tolbert and Denard Span continue to each play well. A lot of things are going well for the now 6-5, second-place Twins.




But is bringing Francisco Liriano back in the cold afternoon Spring of Kansas City testing Minnesota's luck? Liriano, who had Tommy John elbow ligament replacement surgery in November 2006, is making his first Major League appearance this season. The 24-year-old left-hander will start today's game at Kaufman Stadium. According to the National Weather Service the weather in KC is a forecast of snow tapering off to a possible late afternoon high of 46 degrees (Fahrenheit, not Celsius). With Liriano's recovering arm, is it the best spot to put him back in the rotation? I'm worried Oli may be right with his pool on when Liriano first goes on the DL. Let's hope he doesn't, because if he can start putting in some real innings the team could continue some sort of hunt for the division.

Stats of the day

• Kansas City 6-5
• Twins 6-5
• Detroit 2-9 (worst record in MLB)
• Baltimore 7-4 (leading AL East)
• Livan Hernandez leads the Majors in wins at 3-0 W/L record, 2.57 ERA, 21 IP
• "El Duque" Orlando Hernandez, on DL all season so far
• Carlos Silva, Seattle, 3.27 ERA, 2-1 W/L record, 22 IP
• Dontrelle Willis, Detroit, 7.20 ERA, 0-0 record, 5 IP, 2 games started, injured knee
• David Ortiz, Boston, batting .070 (3-for-43)
• Derek Jeter, NY Yankees, batting .208 (5-for-24) and injured
• Torii Hunter, LA Angels of Calif., USA, batting .298 with 4 HR
• Johan Santana, NY Mets, 3.05 ERA, 1-2 W/L record, $23 million
• Jon Lester, Boston, 4.50 ERA, 1-2 W/L record, 1.77 WHIP
• Carlos Gomez, Twins, batting .292 (14-for-48), 0 HR, 3 RBI, 6 R, 5 SB
• Melky Cabrera, NY Yankees, batting .267 (8-for-30) with 2 HR and 5 RBI
• Phil Hughes, NY Yankees, 5.00 ERA, 1-0 W/L record, 1.78 WHIP, 6 SO
• Jacoby Ellsbury, Boston, batting .250 (5-for-20) with 1 HR, 3 RBI
• Coco Crisp, Boston, batting .296 (8-for-27) with 2 runs scored, 0 SB
• Adam Everett, Twins, batting .095 (2-for-21)
• Jason Bartlett, Tampa Bay, batting .171 (6-for-35)
• Matt Garza, Tampa Bay, 9.00 ERA, 0-0 (2 starts), on DL with sore shoulder
• Luis Castillo, NY Mets, batting .160 (4-for-25) with 1 SB
• Matt Tolbert, Twins, batting .455 (10-for-22) with 1 SB
• Nick Punto, Twins, batting .500 (3-for-6) with 1 SB
• Cristian Guzman, Washington, batting .321 (18-for-56) with .536 slugging percentage, 2 HR, and 6 RBI
• Luis Rivas, Pittsburgh (playing shortstop!), batting .241 (7-for-29) with 1 SB
• Boof Bonser, Twins, 2.84 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, 30 pounds lighter
• Joe Mauer, Twins, .250 (10-for-40) with 5 SO, 2 BB and 5 RBI
• Pudge Rodriguez, Detroit, batting .195 (8-for-41) with 0 HR
• Alphonso Soriano, Cubs, Cubs, batting .176 (9-for-51) with 2 HR, 5 RBI, 11 SO
• 150 games left in the regular season

Liriano Photo from Minnesota Twins official website

Twins lose opener in Chicago

Pat Neshek was throwing the pitches too flat in the Twins loss at the White Sox Monday and my prior comments about him looking more seasoned and strong this year are on the back burner.

Nick Blackburn was again serviceable as a starter, going five innings, but he still allowed seven hits, two walks and two earned runs. It's not a surprise by any means that the young Twins pitchers are praised when they get into the sixth inning, but the relief crew is going to become overworked at this rate.

News from Rochester tonight wasn't great, either. It was also expected news to those of us in the Bullpen: Francisco Liriano had a rough outing. I've predicted Liriano won't be with the Twins for several weeks because pitchers just don't come back from major arm tendon surgery quickly. He needs to build arm strength and endurance. It doesn't even matter the quality of his outings so long as he throws 80 pitches in game situations.

So no miracles in Class AAA, but it's good news everyday the kid isn't back on the DL. If he can possibly recover enough to make the Twins again, it'll be as a middle reliever first. Of course, true to my optimistic demeanor, I don't think Liriano will be a true big league pitcher until 2009 and I'm not that sure about it then.

Rotation time

By Bullpen Catcher

With Scott Baker toying with perfect games and Johan thinking about setting a game record in strikeouts of late, perhaps it's time to start looking at the future of the Twins rotation.

• The top spot is set with Johan Santana. From there, who will be on the team, who will fill the next slots and who will step up garners some intrigue.
• There's Baker (126 innings pitched this season, 8-6 record, 85 strikeouts and a 4.09 ERA), suddenly a solid piece of the Twins rotation.
• Boof is slipping as fast as Baker is coming on. Bonser's stats look more like the big fat Sidney Ponson's of late (Boof: 160 IP, 6-12 record, 125 SO, 4.95 ERA).
• Matt Garza's stats are outstanding, sans the phenomenal shellings he occasionally takes (56 IP, 3-5, 47 SO, 3.49 ERA).
• What is going to come of Spittin' Carlos Silva? What pitcher is he, for real? Awkward stats again (174.3 IP, 11-13, 76 SO, 4.34 ERA).
• Can the Twins truly count on bionic armed Francisco Liriano next year? Really? Come on. He had his arm reconstructed because he ruined it throwing that nasty shit he threw last year. If he even comes up with Boof numbers the lefty might give the team something it needs.
• Kevin Slowey (37 IP, 3-0, 19 SO, 5.85 ERA) reminded me a lot of Garza last year (so perhaps 2008 will show another turnaround like Garza's).
• Glen Perkins can hope at best to turn up as the next Mark Guthrie and probably nothing more considering his shoulder issues.

So what will become of this staff? Starting pitching will decide next year if the Twins bounce back and become contenders again. My feeling is the rotation will go something like:

1) Santana

2) Garza

3) Baker

4) Bonser

5) Slowey

Silva will either stay with the team for one more year (clearly as a way to appease his friend Santana and for no other reason) or head for free agency. I'm banking on free agency.

Baker deserves to be called Kevin Tapani more than my initial reaction to call Slowey Tap. Garza will be outstanding next year -- contending for the Cy Young with Santana.

Liriano will pitch out of the bullpen. I say this because the Twins are the most cautious team in the history of baseball in regard to moving players off the DL. Will he pitch as he did last year? Not a chance -- maybe forever. Don't expect anything from him for real until 2009.

It's not a bad rotation. All of them are in their mid-20s and are improving. The only wild card here involves a scenario where the team trades for a veteran pitcher or signs him as a free agent.

For now, though, we'll enjoy our Scott Baker near-no-hitter moments.