An interesting April for the Twins
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by user Leslie Monteiro
Fans, sportswriters, and experts like to evaluate teams of any sport at least four or five times a season. They evaluate them in the first month of the season and every quarter of the season.
As we turn to May, it is time to evaluate the Minnesota Twins about what they did in April and what they are going to do the rest of the season.
The Twins did okay in the first month of the baseball season. They finished April well by winning three out of four, which included them taking the series against the American League Champions, Detroit Tigers.
Twins fans should feel good about how their team has been able to survive their slump, but there are several issues that the team need to figure it out.
The hitting has been horrible in the last few weeks. Outside of Torii Hunter and Alexi Casilla, the hitters have not gotten the job done.
One has to figure that Justin Morneau, Joe Mauer, and Michael Cuddyer will produce this season as the weather gets warmer, but there has to be a concern on the piranhas aka Twins role players.
There is a reason why Nick Punto, Luis Rodriguez, Jason Tyner, Josh Rabe, Jason Bartlett, and Jason Kubel are role players at best. They are guys that can not be reliable in big spots. They ground out or strike out way too often.
What made last season so remarkable was that those guys were able to sustain their great hitting for the last four months of the season. They bottomed out in the postseason.
They were one of the big reasons why the team made the playoffs last year, but they could be the team's downfall this season. It is hard to believe that they will duplicate this feat.
There were many questions about the Twins starting pitching. Knock on wood. It has not been bad as some thought it would be. It is still early though, but so far so good.
Everyone knew that Johan Santana would win his games, but what they did not count on was Ramon Ortiz and Carlos Silva doing the same thing that the Twins ace has done.
Ortiz has really stepped up in all of his starts. He did a great job in shutting couple of offensive powerhouses in the Orioles and the Yankees at home.
His best feat was on Friday night when he got out of jams and kept his team in the game with the Tigers leading 1-0. He was rewarded in the end with a 5-3 win thanks to Mauer and Morneau driving in runs.
There is a good chance that he will continue to flourish because his pitching coach, Rick Anderson, who is one of the best in the business, has done a great job of teaching him to throw strikes.
Ortiz has average 11 wins in his career so there is no question that he can step up. He is by far the second best pitcher on the team.
How about Silva? Who knew that he would get the job done? He has been great. He has been going deep in games. He has yet to have a bad inning so far this year.
The best part about him is that he has confidence in himself that he can get out of jams which is something he did not believe in last year.
He certainly has been a surprise so far. Everyone wanted him out of town for good reason. They thought everyone figured him out because he throws only one pitch, which is the sinker.
Time will tell if he can keep it up. It is just good enough that he is pitching well because it saves the organization from rushing their young pitchers at Rochester.
The bullpen has been great for the most part. With that said, the team has to be concerned with Jessie Crain, Dennys Reyes, and Juan Rincon.
They have been ineffective at times. Crain is only good just to get a big out at best. Rincon has gotten hit hard. Reyes's magic may have been expired.
They need those three to get back on track.
It could have been worse for sure. They could have had a losing month had they lost the series or get swept this past weekend.
With that said, they have to solve some of the issues that are plaguing them.
They need to somehow find a way to get Dimitri Young to help this offense. They need to release Sidney Ponson. They need to get something out of the prinahas. Maybe Mike Redmond can put good numbers along with Jason Bartlett. Those two guys maybe turning it around.
It is a long season, but this team certainly has to correct several flaws that is plaguing the team so that it does not become a whole season thing.
Apparently, I am not the only one overreacting. I called up Matt Thomas on KSTP-AM last night to discuss the Twins. I was hoping to get a good take out of him to make me feel good knowing how Matt is. Sadly, Matt seemed dissapointed at the team. He talked about how this team needs to get it going soon or it could be over. You think I am kidding? Go email Matt Thomas at matt@am1500.com and he will tell you the same things that he said to you. Be my guest. He gets the benefit of the doubt because he is at the games being that he works for the flaghip station on the team.
You read Barreiro's blog? He trashed the Twins today too. He said the same points I am making on his radio show. Here is what he said: http://rubec...default.aspx
Also, Sid and Patrick Reusse talked about these concerns on the Sports Show Sunday night.
So it's not just me.
You don't even notice any flaws? I certainly did and I mentioned that. The prinahas have been brutal and quite frankly, I will be shocked if they do well this year. There is a reason why they have been in different teams. They are not that good. They got hot last year. There is no guarantee that they will be good. That's a legitimate concern.
I think the starting rotation will be okay, but Boof has seriously has to get better. We need to get Slowey or Garza here.
Jessie is either great or horrible. I never been a fan of his ever. Dennys had one good year last year. His track record over the years leaves lot to be desired. Yeah, we have Pat and Joe, but a great team has all their relievers clicking in cylinders every time out.
Yeah they are one of the best teams, but they were that couple of years ago and the bottom fell out. You look for trends in the first month of the season and the trend is startling, which is what the article is about. I can't let this weekend get me carried away and I hope the Twins aer not either.