Thursday, March 29, 2007

Pitchers

The four pitchers on the Twins' staff this spring which have received a lot of discussion are Garza, Silva, Ponson and Ortiz.

I tracked down some interesting stats on these four, all from 2006.

Of the four, Ponson actually has the the best winning percentage (.444, 4-5) for the Cardinals and the Yankees and the worst ERA - 6.25.

Silva, for the Twins, had a 5.94 ERA (second highest among the four) and the second-best winning percentage at .423 (11-15).

Ortiz (Washington) had the lowest ERA of the four, at 5.57, and the second-worst winning percentage at .407 (11-16).

Garza, whom many bloggers wanted to replace Silva in the starting rotation, had the worst winning percentage (.333, 3-6), and the second-lowest ERA at 5.76.

How's that for a comparison? Granted three of these four are in the starting rotation, and one's at Rochester, but perhaps the Twins braintrust hasn't got a brain-block after all. None of these pitchers are Cy Young material, but I'm still expecting Ortiz to pitch well this season (he was the top pitcher for a bad Washington squad last year). He'll have a better defense, offense, coaching staff and catcher helping him out. So while Silva's and Ortiz's records are very similar last year, they played for two very different teams.

Ortiz has pitched well this spring, as has Garza.

Ponson pitched well enough to make the team, and Silva – at last – pitched well in his final game Thursday night, going five innings and giving up zero runs.

Maybe the Twins are getting back on track.

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Does your name start with a 'C' Maybe you can play infield for the Twins!

The Minnesota Twins have had a lot of very good infielders throughout the years, but some of the best have – strangely enough – had their names begin with a 'C' Having an 'A' and/or an 'O' in the name seems commonplace, too.

Take for example, one of the best from the past. Rod Carew. Great hitter, very good fielder, one of the best in baseball ever to play the game, in my opinion. He won the batting title in 1977 with a .388 batting average. He's in Cooperstown. (Another C-name)

A few other C-Men have also played at one or more of the infield spots for the Twins. Mike Cubbage comes to mind. For some though, the 'C' was in the first name, like Cesar Tovar, Corey Koskie and Cristian Guzman.

One of my favorite C-men was John Castino, who played some shortstop and third base. Injuries, unfortunately shortened his career.

Lately, though, there have been a lot of C-Men. Juan Castro may have started this resurgence in the last couple of years, before he was traded. Luis Castillo certainly fits the C-bill, along with 2007 newcomer Jeff Cirillo.

And the trend may yet continue, with up-and-coming infielder Alexi Casilla.

Kind of makes you wonder where a Nick Punto and Justin Morneau fit in, doesn't it?

Sunday, March 18, 2007

Lineup

My projected Twins 25-man roster for 2007 is:

12 pitchers: SP: Santana, Ortiz, Bonser, Silva and Ponson
RP: Nathan, Crain, Rincon, Neshek, Reyes, Guerrer, Durbin

13 hitters/fielders:
CA: Mauer
1B: Morneau
2B: Castillo,
SS: Bartlett
3B: Punto

LF: White
CF: Hunter
RF: Cuddyer

DH: Kubel

Reserves; Redmond (CA), Casilla (2B, SS), Cirillo (1B, 3B, 2B, SS), Tyner (OF)

Ford begins the year on the disabled list.

The starting lineup: Castillo, Punto, Mauer. Cuddyer, Morneau, Hunter, Kubel, White, Bartlett

This gives the Twins an exceedingly balanced lineup, with four batting right, three batting left, and two switch hitters.


Predictions: 1) Within 1 month, Gardenhire 'tweaks' the lineup, putting Bartlett 2nd and Punto 9th.

2) Within 1 month, Ford is brought up and Tyner is sent down. (Tyner bats well, but nevertheless is sent down). By the end of the season, Ford is traded or released, and Tyner is back up.

3) Within six weeks, Silva is sent to the bullpen, or is traded or released. Slowey is brought up.

4) Garza and Perkins pitch well at AAA, and are brought up before the All-Star break, due to injuries or demotions. Ponson is finally demoted or released.

5) By July 1, Kubel is playing regularly in left field, White is backup OF, and Cirillo and Redmond are sharing DH duties.

6) The Twins vie with Detroit all season long for the AL Central title. The Twins wind up with the AL Wild Card spot, and make it to the World Series.

How's that?