Match Up
Kansas City: 37-72, 5th AL Central, 36.0 GB.
Kansas City is 23-32 at home.
Minnesota: 64-45, 3rd AL Central, 9.5 GB
Minnesota is 25-30 on the road.
Last Ten Games
Minnesota, 6-4, 70 Runs Scored, 50 Runs Allowed
Kansas City, 3-7, 48 Runs Scored, 75 Runs Allowed
Starting Pitchers
 |
 |
| Minnesota: Mike Smith This is Mike Smith’s first appearance of the season. |
Kansas City: Odalis Perez 4-4, 6.68 ERA, 1.69 WHIP 63.1 IP Last Start: 8/1 CWS, 4.0 IP 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, 1 HR Does every pitcher on this staff have an ERA North of 6? |
| Smith vs. the Royals | ||||||||||||
| OPPOSING HITTER | AB | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS |
| No players on the Royals have faced Smith “at the major league level.†| ||||||||||||
| Perez vs. the Twins | ||||||||||||
| OPPOSING HITTER | AB | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS |
| Luis Castillo | 16 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | .500 | .556 | .688 | 1.243 |
| Mike Redmond | 7 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .286 | .375 | .429 | .804 |
| Rondell White | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .167 | .167 | .167 | .333 |
| Shannon Stewart | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Michael Cuddyer | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .667 | .667 | 1.000 | 1.667 |
| Nick Punto | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .333 | .333 | .333 | .667 |
| Joe Mauer | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .667 | .667 | 1.000 | 1.667 |
| Justin Morneau | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 1.000 | 1.667 | 2.667 |
| Torii Hunter | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | .500 | .500 | 2.000 | 2.500 |
| Lew Ford | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Jason Bartlett | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .500 | .500 | .500 | 1.000 |
| Totals | 50 | 21 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 3 | 6 | .420 | .453 | .640 | 1.093 |
Season Series
The Twins lead the season series 7-4.
Notes
Christina Kahrl of BP rips the Twins a new one, as is her wont. Well, she does give the Twins credit for moving Kyle Lohse, and she begrudingly accepts that Nick Punto has been all right at 3B.
When the team you cover sucks and has for years, you cover that team's opponent. Sam Mellinger of the Kansas City Star recognizes that the Twins will be clashing with the White Sox down the stretch, again.
The maple leaf tattoo on Justin Morneau’s right bicep twitches with each squeeze of the bat, his eyes never leaving the sweet spot. He’s asked about his Twins’ most despised rival, and the squeezes get a little bit tighter, the twitches a little more pronounced.
“There’s no team I take more joy in beating than the White Sox,†he says. “I don’t know why. That’s just the way it is.â€
And that's the way we like it.
Chris Parmalee is wowing the rookie league with his power. In fact, he looks like a certain team leader.
This year's first-round draft pick, Chris Parmelee, already is starting to look like an outfield version of Justin Morneau. Don't start dropping an 'M&P Boys'' tag on the for the 2009 lineup, but Parmelee's eight homers so far for the short-season GCL Twins are already about twice the number of the typical team leader for that club in a season.
In fact, he needs two homers before the season concludes at the end of the month to become the first Twins prospect to hit 10 for the rookie-A Fort Myers club since Morneau in 2000 (Morneau added an 11th at rookie-level Elizabethton).
'I don't recall a guy in the GCL hitting this many home runs, let alone an 18-year-old kid doing it,'' Rantz said of Parmelee, who was tied for the league lead and was batting .314 with 25 RBIs in his 31 games through Thursday.
VORP Report
| NAME | POS | PA | PA% | AVG | OBP | SLG | SB | CS | VORPr | MLV | PMLV | VORP |
| Joe Mauer | c | 422 | 10.00% | 0.365 | 0.446 | 0.525 | 7 | 2 | 0.538 | 38.4 | 42.2 | 52.8 |
| Justin Morneau | 1b | 434 | 10.30% | 0.323 | 0.378 | 0.605 | 1 | 2 | 0.415 | 35.5 | 24.8 | 41.9 |
| Jason Bartlett | ss | 178 | 4.20% | 0.357 | 0.427 | 0.468 | 2 | 3 | 0.414 | 11.1 | 13.0 | 17.2 |
| Nick Punto | 3b | 304 | 7.20% | 0.314 | 0.405 | 0.416 | 11 | 5 | 0.238 | 8.4 | 7.2 | 16.9 |
| Torii Hunter | cf | 394 | 9.30% | 0.275 | 0.350 | 0.450 | 6 | 4 | 0.183 | 3.2 | 5.4 | 16.8 |
| Mike Cuddyer | rf | 406 | 9.60% | 0.264 | 0.352 | 0.486 | 4 | 0 | 0.169 | 7.4 | 1.8 | 16.0 |
| Luis Castillo | 2b | 445 | 10.50% | 0.283 | 0.342 | 0.368 | 14 | 6 | 0.095 | -9.2 | -4.0 | 9.9 |
| Mike Redmond | c | 127 | 3.00% | 0.336 | 0.341 | 0.426 | 0 | 0 | 0.183 | 1.2 | 2.6 | 5.4 |
| Josh Rabe | lf | 34 | 0.80% | 0.375 | 0.412 | 0.656 | 0 | 1 | 0.571 | 4.4 | 4.0 | 4.5 |
| Jason Kubel | lf | 186 | 4.40% | 0.266 | 0.308 | 0.434 | 2 | 0 | 0.030 | -3.0 | -4.9 | 1.3 |
| Shannon Stewart | lf | 190 | 4.50% | 0.293 | 0.347 | 0.368 | 3 | 1 | 0.011 | -3.2 | -5.9 | 0.5 |
| Jason Tyner | cf | 93 | 2.20% | 0.299 | 0.344 | 0.310 | 0 | 1 | -0.053 | -3.4 | -3.4 | -1.1 |
| Terry Tiffee | ph | 47 | 1.10% | 0.233 | 0.298 | 0.395 | 0 | 1 | -0.116 | -1.8 | -1.9 | -1.3 |
| Ruben Sierra | dh | 32 | 0.80% | 0.185 | 0.281 | 0.222 | 0 | 0 | -0.345 | -3.5 | -3.3 | -2.6 |
| Luis Rodriguez | 3b | 90 | 2.10% | 0.197 | 0.307 | 0.303 | 0 | 0 | -0.177 | -6.3 | -5.9 | -3.7 |
| Tony Batista | 3b | 195 | 4.60% | 0.236 | 0.303 | 0.388 | 0 | 1 | -0.100 | -7.7 | -10.1 | -4.5 |
| Lew Ford | lf | 210 | 5.00% | 0.232 | 0.301 | 0.321 | 8 | 1 | -0.152 | -13.1 | -15.7 | -7.4 |
| Juan Castro | ss | 164 | 3.90% | 0.231 | 0.258 | 0.308 | 1 | 1 | -0.206 | -14.2 | -12.5 | -7.9 |
| Rondell White | dh | 245 | 5.80% | 0.224 | 0.253 | 0.302 | 1 | 1 | -0.300 | -22.4 | -24.2 | -17.1 |
You know, come to think of it, maybe Justin Morneau should have been an all-star.
I have been editing out the MLV and PMLV in previous weeks, but I left it in there this week. MLV is marginal lineup value is the value a player brings over a league average hitter in an otherwise league average lineup. PMLV is positioned adjusted. For example, Jason Bartlett has provided 11 runs over the league average hitter in an otherwise league average lineup. But, if you adjust for his position, his production has been even better -- 13.0. And he's provided 17.2 runs over a replacement level player. Add to that the unknown and unknowable value of his much improved leadership and you can see (well, except for that unknown and unknowable part) how valuable he's been.
| NAME | G | GS | IP | H9 | BB9 | SO9 | HR9 | ERA | VORP | BABIP | FIP |
| Francisco Liriano | 26 | 14 | 115.0 | 6.10 | 2.50 | 10.720 | 0.63 | 1.96 | 51.7 | 0.267 | 2.56 |
| Johan Santana | 24 | 24 | 162.3 | 7.65 | 1.94 | 9.310 | 1.00 | 3.22 | 50.2 | 0.287 | 3.22 |
| Joe Nathan | 43 | 0 | 47.0 | 5.74 | 1.53 | 12.830 | 0.38 | 1.53 | 24.3 | 0.28 | 1.41 |
| Juan Rincon | 50 | 0 | 53.0 | 8.15 | 2.89 | 7.980 | 0.17 | 2.21 | 18.5 | 0.32 | 2.64 |
| Brad Radke | 23 | 23 | 136.3 | 11.22 | 1.78 | 4.690 | 1.45 | 4.75 | 15.5 | 0.33 | 4.85 |
| Dennis Reyes | 35 | 0 | 30.0 | 6.30 | 1.80 | 8.400 | 0.90 | 1.20 | 14.6 | 0.24 | 3.23 |
| Jesse Crain | 45 | 0 | 53.3 | 10.63 | 1.86 | 7.590 | 0.84 | 4.22 | 10.6 | 0.343 | 3.35 |
| Matt Guerrier | 22 | 0 | 35.3 | 10.95 | 3.82 | 5.090 | 0.51 | 3.31 | 9.2 | 0.353 | 4.08 |
| Patrick Neshek | 10 | 0 | 14.7 | 2.45 | 1.84 | 12.270 | 1.23 | 1.23 | 8.1 | 0.077 | 2.86 |
| Boof Bonser | 8 | 8 | 39.7 | 10.44 | 3.18 | 7.260 | 2.27 | 5.67 | -1.0 | 0.316 | 5.93 |
| Willie Eyre | 28 | 0 | 36.0 | 13.25 | 3.50 | 4.000 | 1.50 | 7.25 | -5.4 | 0.359 | 5.64 |
| Kyle Lohse | 22 | 8 | 63.7 | 11.31 | 3.53 | 6.500 | 1.13 | 7.07 | -6.4 | 0.35 | 4.56 |
| Scott Baker | 12 | 12 | 63.7 | 12.72 | 1.55 | 7.35 | 2.12 | 6.93 | -8.8 | 0.361 | 5.15 |
| Carlos Silva | 25 | 20 | 118.7 | 13.04 | 1.29 | 3.72 | 1.82 | 6.37 | -10.3 | 0.342 | 5.43 |
Neshek's been pretty darned good, but if you were going to point to one bad thing, here it is. Half of the hits he's allowed have gone over the fence. Of course, he's only giving up 2.45 hits per nine innings. Note also that his HR/9 equals his ERA. In other words, if it's not a home run, you don't score. I can live with that. I know, SMALL SAMPLE SIZE.
Seeing the VORP report and the grayed-out names makes Moss think that you need to do the roster game again this offseason, SBG.
In fact, what would have been fun is to predict in April the post-AS roster for the Twins this year. Sadly, most of the SBG readership knew what changes to make long before the organization was willing to make them.
Cuddyer is locking in. Another extra base hit.
What's going to be uglier today, Smith's mullet or his pitching?
Nothing's pretty right now, that's for sure.
It weren't pretty, but Smith's through the first without any damage.
Let's hope that was just nerves and not a trend.
Bartlett crushed that ball!
This is going to be a long game.
Wow, is it really that hard to find a 5th pitcher?
Anybody else dig those DHL "Hometown Heroes" commercials? Honus Wagner cracks me up. "In my day, we didn't have bases, we had rocks!"
Sure, as soon as I out my daughter down for her nap, Matt Guerrier starts warming up.
I don't want to jinx it, but today could be Guerrier's day. Coming in for the 5th, one-run defecit.
Yep, I think you are right, AMR. Today is Matty G.'s day.
Now, how is Mike Smith better than Scott Baker?
He gets a major league start against a AAA team.
!$%!$# Sox down 7-3 Yanks and Red Sux both with solid leads.....
#30 ROBBED!!!!!
SBG, got an extra slot for another 20HR hitter on the webpage? Cuddyer's doin' what Morneau isn't able to (so far) today.
And sorry, but this still chaps my hide; Twins vs Royals so far: 36 BB -- how many by Hunter? zero. Vavra should put a poster of Torii on the clubhouse wall with a red circle and slash across it.
I'll be adding Cuddy when he gets to 20.
Lowest BA in today's Twins lineup: .268, from the guy with his 16th HR.
Highest BA in today's Royals lineup: .298.
Three Twins have lower BAs than the best on the Royals.
Four Royals have higher BAs than the worst on the Twins.
Tampa Bay making a run.....I gotta say its fun listening to Hawk when the !%^# Sox lose.
Nice double play there.
Wow, Bartlett looked REALLY safe on that play.
Bartlett was safe for sure at home, and it looked like tyner may have been safe too. Hopefully the bullpen can pick up the team and get a win for us here.
Bad base running but Bartlett was safe. Ump was in a bad position to see the tag was after the slide.
Yeah, he was.
Lohse today, 5.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 7 K, 1 HR
Poor Shaggy...
There goes Matty G.'s win. Thfffffffpt.
Against a real major league team at that!
Drays and Red Sux going to the bottom of the ninth tied. White Sox already lost.....Tigers coming up tomorrow....need to win this one.
Finally....a double play turned!!!
Sorry Matt G.
Yeah, and it looked like the guy on second was sleeping. Nice heads up play by Punto.
Damn, Cuddy took one off the hand.
There you go nice RBI from the FOTH!
Reyes now the pitcher of record. Vulture.
I don't imagine we will see Cuddy against the Tiggers.
Cuddy's wrist appears to be okay, if that catch is any indication.
I don't know about anyone else, but in the beginning I did not like Cuddy being moved to RF, but I am fully behind it now. He may not be the speediest fielder, but I think he has only 1 error on the year out there and his cannon of an arm is a good fit. I, for one, am glad he is our right fielder.
I'm just glad his bat is in the lineup every day.
Four more hits for Bartlett. Christ almighty, he's been fabulous.
4 hits and all is great...but I just wish Bartlett could show more leadership...
I think the Twins are finally getting used to the differences between playing on grass and playing on turf. And it shows in there recent resurgence on the road.
BTW: Bartlett now has the highest BA on the team. And he didn't start with the Twins why?
BTW: Bartlett now has the highest BA on the team.
And his OPS is over .900.
Geoff is waiting for the brass to say something stupid about Garza that Geoff can pound into the ground all next year...
Bartlett is never going to live that “leadership†comment down
I believe it's ScruFi and Ryan who will never live it down.
Dick: The Twins are catching the Royals at a pretty good time.
Yeah, as in the 21st Century.
Nathan going to lose another save opp?
Just think, the current clean-up and average-leading hitters weren't deemed good enough to start in April.
At least I could laugh when I saw Castro playing for the Reds yesterday.
Very nice to see them open up a nice lead here in the 8th. Shut it down and get out of town with the 4-game sweep, fellas.
D-Rays with a walkoff homerun!
Me thinks that maybe Vavra should coach third, too.
DRays win walk off HR bottom of the 10th!
D-Rays with a walkoff homerun!
This is gonna be a very good day for the Twins.
Looks like Cuddy's hand is okay.
An RBI webpage adjustment is in order!
.5 out of the Wild Card. Its a race boys!!
Twenty hits today. Wow. Stop the fight.
What leadership from the FOTF!!!!
RBI list is updated.
Cuddy is closing in on the list with 70 RBIs.
Have I mentioned lately that Bartlett should lead off? (I guess Castillo must read SBG, given how he's been hitting lately. but still...)
Bremer: "The five run eighth was set up by Punto's sacrifice bunt"
It set up a free out for a pitcher who couldn't get them on his own.
Damn. Rincon had to work for that against Teahen.
Bremer: “The five run eighth was set up by Punto’s sacrifice buntâ€
It set up a free out for a pitcher who couldn’t get them on his own.
Exactly.
Coaching visit to the mound?
Coach: "Kid, get this &#)@&@*()^& game over with"
Bartlett with FIVE HITS.
What happened to "True Outcome" Burgos???
What happened to “True Outcome†Burgos???
ubelmann ain't around today to set him up.
Groundskeeper works the infield.
And the Twins close out a four game set with the Royals by doing a little groundskeeping...
Twins' road record is beginning to look more reasonable now.
I almost feel bad. The boys just came in and stole these kids' candy and made them cry.
Whaddya suppose Buddy's drug of choice is? Nexium? Jack Daniels?
Dick & Bert just couldn't get enough of praising good bunts today, after Berroa's half-assed pop-out.
ubelmann ain’t around today to set him up.
Burgos did put a few not-so-true outcomes in there today, but he did rally for the hidden true outcome--a HBP.
More importantly, I take a day off and look what happens! No one notes Redmond's first walk of the season--after 122 AB, too. Good to see the boys pull off the win. 41 runs in 4 games? Unfortunately, I feel that's a little more about terrible KC run prevention than a big step-up with our offense. This team has played .591 ball on the season, though. That's awfully good.
Given the choice between two or three bunts and twenty-two hits, I'm taking the twenty-two hits. But that's me.
Twins’ road record is beginning to look more reasonable now.
I, for one, never thought there was anything wrong with the Twins on the road. They happened to get a lot of their wins at home and a lot of their losses on the road, but no one ever presented a good reason for why they were so good at home compared to on the road, and I don't believe in magic any more, so while it was a weird coincidence (perhaps partially a strength of schedule thing), it wasn't something we should have really ever expected to continue.
Twins' road record pre-AS break:
April: 1-2 at Toronto, 0-3 at Cle, 0-3 at SheSox, 2-1 at KC, 0-3 at Det
May: 2-1 at Tex, 0-4 at Det, 2-1 at Mil, 1-2 at LAAAAAAA
June: 1-3 at Oak, 2-2 at Sea, 3-0 at Pit, 2-1 at Hou
Jul: 1-2 at KC, 1-2 at Tex
Against contending teams on the road, then (counting EVERYONE in the AL West as contending), Twins were 8-22, including a miserable 0-7 at Detroit. That's not good, but tolerable if you crush the dregs.
Against the dregs: 10-8, thanks to the sweep suffered at Cleveland April 7-9.
A fifth starter has to go on the 11th but then we have days off and shouldn't need a 5th starter to go again until the 26th at the White Sox.
Liriano, Radke, Santana lined up at Detroit. White Sox up against the Yankees. Its going to be a fun week.
Geoff is waiting for the brass to say something stupid about Garza that Geoff can pound into the ground all next year…
Geoff,
Moss has already claimed the shtick of referring to himself in the second and third persons here at SBG. Moss is putting you on warning that you are treading on occupied territory.
Royals pitch strikes = hits.
Royals pitch balls = walks.
Good series, now lets bring this momentum into Detroit.
A fifth starter has to go on the 11th but then we have days off and shouldn’t need a 5th starter to go again until the 26th at the White Sox.
Not quite. The first off-day falls next Monday, when Santana would be scheduled to pitch. If he pitches Tuesday instead, he'd be on short rest for his next start without a fifth starter. August 28th looks like the next time we can skip the fifth starter and keep everybody else on at least 4 days rest.
Allegedly, Joe Christensen will speculate about a Smith-for-Garza switch in tomorrow's Strib:
DTFC Forum
Allegedly, Joe Christensen will speculate about a Smith-for-Garza switch in tomorrow’s Strib:
I didn't see it yet.
I found it in today's game story:
http://www.startribune.com/509/story/598633.html
"The Twins begin a three-game series with the first-place Tigers tonight, and all signs point toward another roster move, with Smith going back to Class AAA Rochester and top prospect Matt Garza coming up to face Toronto on Friday."
SDfan believes that SBG is an attorney or something, so if Moss were so inclined, he might bring some sort of action-thingy against Geoff for schtick-infringement.
Moss is an attorney himself and is fully capable of bringing his own frivilous schtick infringement action.
Geoff, kindly post your address so Moss can send you a proper cease-and-desist letter.
SBG has some interest in protecting the bit, too. After all, he is the one who gave Moss the moniker.
In the words of Bart Simpson (frequently heard on KFAN): "That's what you call commitment to a bit."
That's right, the moniker Moss is my bit.