Johan Santana vs. Odalis Perez
Post-ASB:
.252/.309/.381 -- Twins
.289/.333/.419 -- Royals
3.0 R/G -- Twins
5.0 R/G -- Royals
Two more runs per game for the Royals since the All-Star break? Ugh. If you want to see a team absolutely steamrolling through pitchers, though:
.328/.401/.556 -- Yankees
7.8 R/G -- Yankees
The Twins' best hitter since the All-Star break has been Michael Cuddyer, who has been hitting .350/.386/.500. The Yankees have been collectively hitting better than the Twins' best hitter over that period, and it's not really very close. The Yanks sport a 15 point advantage in OBP and a huge edge in power with a .228 ISO compared to Cuddyer's .150 ISO. Heck, the Twins are getting schooled by Ross Freaking Gload (.382/.384/.603) and Mark Gruzielanek (.378/.402/.500).
The Twins' offense isn't this bad, but it would sure be nice if they would break out of their slump one of these days.
Then again, let's take a look at the lineup today and their numbers against LHP this season:
.299/.358/.402 -- Bartlett, SS
He's speedy, sports a decent OBP against lefties, and as a right-handed batter you'd expect him to do better against LHP than RHP, so he would seem to make a fine leadoff hitter.
.180/.242/.252 -- Punto, 3B
That's a sub-.500 OPS for those of you keeping track of such things at home. Good thing we've got him making outs in front of the big boppers.
.282/.353/.311 -- Mauer, DH
Strictly a singles hitter against lefties. I'd actually rather see him leading off and Bartlett hitting second, since Mauer seems to be even more susceptible to the DP against lefties. Overall, Kubel's been somewhat better (.260/.339/.360) against left-handed pitching.
.312/.385/.495 -- Cuddyer, RF
That's a solid line, so no complaints here.
.206/.257/.411 -- Morneau, 1B
Almost as many outs as Punto makes against lefties. Ouch. He still hits for decent power, so I guess you might as well put him here, but that average is ugly.
.333/.367/.649 -- Hunter, CF
A very solid line, no argument here.
.317/.388/.450 -- Redmond, C
Scheduling Redmond to hit against left-handed pitchers is absolutely what this team needs to do. Good choice.
.222/.317/.250 -- Tyner, RF
*BANGS HEAD REPEATEDLY AGAINST DESK*
.259/.259/.296 -- Casilla, 2B
That's 27 at-bats and I think the kid can do better than that, but it's also worth noting that that line is already better than Punto's vs. LHP this year.
The biggest offense here is that Cirillo (3B) and Ford (LF) aren't even on the roster anymore. As far as lineup crimes go, if hitting Punto second is a misdemeanor, putting Tyner in the lineup at all is easily a felony.
Overall, the Twins' offense might not be as bad as 3 R/G, but with this lineup against a left-handed pitcher, I fully expect the offensive struggles to continue.
I'm thinking that maybe Punto should give up switch hitting, but I'm not sure which side of the plate I'd have him give up at this point.
I’m thinking that maybe Punto should give up hitting.
Give up hitting? Since when did he ever take it up, even as a casual hobby?
I’m not sure which side of the plate I’d have him
Under it?
Punto is batting second in the lineup tongiht
Can Punto be the new groundskeeper?
He could probably outpitch Rincon at this point. And the Twins really ought to put Kubel or White in instead of Tyner. Punto's even worse, but as alluded to, there's nothing to replace him with...unless...
Can we DH for Punto instead of Santana? And I'm being 100% serious.
DH rule is only for pitchers. Not like in NCAA fastpitch softball, where it's a DP ("Deisgnated Player" Huh?) who can bat for the pitcher or any position player.
If Punto threw ONE pitch each defensive inning, would he qualify as a "pitcher" under the rules for DHing?
once he moves to 3b, and someone else comes in to pitch from another position, the DH is lost.
Also, I'd argue that Hunter should bat 3rd/4th against lefties. His line is outstanding, not just solid.
If I was in charge with this 25-man roster, I'd probably do this:
Mauer, Bartlett, Cuddyer, Morneau, Hunter, Redmond, Kubel, Casilla, Punto
If I was really in charge, I'd probably do this:
Bartlett, Ford, Cuddyer, Morneau, Hunter, Redmond, Cirillo, Kielty, Casilla
For his career, Hunter doesn't have a very big platoon split, so I think his large split this year is most just a small sample size oddity.
Tomorrow's a big day at the WGOM. The BKAC continues with ubelmann.
Well, I enjoyed my 15 minutes.
Count on a couple hours when your novel comes out in 4 years.
ubelmann doesn't get 15 minutes. He gets 900 arc-seconds.
Will I finally find out who his avatar is?
From the pipress:
It was interesting to see the whisper tree go around the Twins’ clubhouse as the word leaked out -- Tommy Watkins is coming. The rookie is obviously tremendously popular with the Twins, and there were a lot of happy people to hear the news.
Unfortunately, it’s not good news for Brian Buscher. The rookie fouled off a pitch -- on his second at-bat in the big leagues, of all the luck -- and the bruise is now roughly the size of a basketball. That’s how it looked to me, anyway. Buscher may spend a night or two in the hospital while doctors treat the infection, which Buscher said Tuesday was extremely painful.
Anyway, tonight’s lineups don’t include Rondell White, but that’s just because Ron Gardenhire doesn’t want to risk any uncertain defense behind Johan Santana, and Joe Mauer is the DH. Sounds like White might try the outfield in Anaheim this weekend.
Sounds like White might try the outfield in Anaheim this weekend.
Cue circus music!
Why would the Angels trade for him??
Trade? Shouldn't we just put him on waivers so they can have him for free?
Can we claim it as charitable giving?
I feel bad for Buscher. He's liable to be Glenn Williams, but without the 13-game hitting streak.
Why Watkins instead of Matt Tolbert?
Punto's my pick to click tonight.
He is hitting .333 since August 6.
Punto really, really sucks.
Someone needs to introduce Dick to the concept of sample sizes.
While you're at it, teach him that there's something beyond batting average.
I wonder how long it would take for someone from Baseball Prospectus to just throw up their hands and walk out of the room if they tried to engage Bremer in a baseball conversation about statistics?
a walk for Bart
great start!
Why didn't they bring up Glenn Williams--doesn't he still have a 15-game hit streak going?
What a depressing bunch of options in the minors. A team with Punto, L-Rod, and Tommy Watkins on the active roster should be relegated.
Glenn Williams is also not good. It's not like it matters.
I know he isn't good, but I'd like to see him try to extend his "start of the career" hit streak...if I have it right in my head at least. He either has the record or is tied with someone, maybe Rocco Baldelli.
That's more fun than Watkins.
You are correct, but I think the streak is 13 games.
He's played 13 career games and has 17 career hits (13-game hitting streak).
oooh. B-R game logs now gives data on RBI and RBI opportunities as well as ML-averages for RBI in the same number of opportunities. Cool.
A run! A fucking run!
**wipes eyes**
Hey, a first-inning run. Nice job Bartlett and Cuddy!
Bartlett a little more casual than I'd like, but then again, he did get Cuddyer to second.
WTF!
Good thing we had two lefties and Punto hitting that inning...we wouldn't have wanted to score multiple runs.
Wow! A run in the first! Let's see, that projects out to...(carry the 3)...uh, one run in this game!
Gordo alludes to last night's power outage.
Er, John, the Twins have been without power longer than Baghdad.
Santana needs to go 10 innings tonight -- he's 28 behind Bedard.
Bedard's on the juice!
if Bedard was playing for a semi competitive team, I think a lot more people would be amazed at his season this year
ERA of 3.09, 192 K's in 155 IP, and only giving up 122 hits
Nice flip from Casilla to Bartlett there.
I think Casilla turns the DP better than Castillo had been, especially when he's the pivot. He's still no Luis Rivas when it comes to turning DPs. Does that count as a plus skill? If so then Luis had one more than I thought.
that doesn't compare to Nicky's pop-up prowess.
How I long for the days of Angel Berroa.
Or Steve Lombardozzi
or Pat Meares?
Rob Wilfong?
Danny Thompson
Royals announcers talking about the horrifying potential situation that would happen if Redmond got injured today. IIRC, the last time we lost the DH during a game, we scored 14 runs.
and this time, we have a real hitting pitcher!
WWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hunter testing the theory that speed doesn't decline with age.
Test: Failed
Nice route to that ball there.
Torii WTF? Nice route.
Gold Glove Defense.
Obviously, German isn't very fast. I mean, Prince Fielder would have scored on that.
Emil Brown toy gun jokes passe yet or still good to go?
fire away
Shoot away, themoff02
Brown shot down.
duly noted.
I think they're still fresh.
It's comedy gold, Jerry!
You
lose, Emil.
with Punto up next, gotta send Casilla.
Double steal! Double steal!
Well, that wasn't what I had in mind. Now the GIDP doesn't score the run.
a multiple hit inning! wee!
Now, that's how you bunt, Nicky!
Keep running, LNP, keep running!
Ok, that works. Is that a double for Punto?
first multiple run inning since Saturday afternoon
That's bullshit. Bartlett should have been allowed in on the bunt. I hate these no-spine umpires.
Holy cr@p! More runs than in the typical series right here.
Cuddy!
BOO-YAH!
I likes me some Cuddyer.
w0000000000000000000000t!
Cuddy goes BOOM!!!
Gladden, "A prestigious blast."
Homer!
hey, I don't see the dust on that Homer call! You had the Pledge out earlier?
Cuddy busted out his whoopin stick
Dazz: "John, that was a prestigious blast"
really? prestigious? esteemed by us, no doubt.
I don't think it has landed yet.
This is the sort of thing we could see more often if we had a #2 hitter that could hit. That way we wouldn't have to wait around for the other team to make an error.
6-0!
:blink:
Good demonstration why there is no need to risk outs with a runner already in scoring position.
When does the "A" game start tonight?
It's innings like this which make me realize how much I've missed scoring runs.
Wait, wait, what happens when one hitter bats twice in one inning? Is that allowed? Hopefully no one notices.
Oh my. I thought the Yankees were cheating the last couple of weeks.
Did Tyner make all three outs that inning?
Somebody asked about Tolbert and here's the company line. It should demonstrate where the balance of power is...and people are always grousing about Billy Beane's puppet managers:
Gardy said he asked about Tolbert and was told he’s not mentally ready to handle things up here.
"mentally ready" == "tries and fails at the little things"
Needs to work on his urgency, obviously. I wonder if it is anything like the treatment newborns get for jaundice, just stick the player under some lights when he's not playing.
Johan is sooo confused.
Punto just can't have a flawless night can he?
Wow, that was an airmailing job worthy of Jacque Jones.
Quality, Nicky.
Bremer says, "It's interesting how a lot of times, if a team plays for one run, they end up getting more than that."
Earl Weaver just threw up in his mouth.
What a joke. What color do you suppose the sky is in Bremer's world?
the most popular scheme for bunting is red, white and blue
I dunno, but he's got great, untouchable hair.
No ballplayer with a sheep sheer is gonna touch that hair, no siree.
It's interesting how, a lot of times, if a team plays for one run, they get none. AND THEY LIKE IT.
You are welcome, Will.
It's interesting how, a lot of times, if a team plays for one run, they'll be lucky to score one in the whole damn game.
Damn you, Dick Bremer. Damn you, Ron Gardenhire.
this is the most runs the Twins have scored since 7 on Fri July 20th vs LAA
most runs scored in one inning since Fri July 6 (second game of the Chi DH, 6 in the 7th inning)
This Barry Bonds discussion by Dick and Bert is slowly killing me inside.
WTF are Gordo and Dazz talking about? Latin players and cheeseburgers?
what about the black players and their fried chicken and watermelon, guys???
sheesh.
yeah, I tuned in late on that discussion. Im confused
"You see white people have names like Lenny while black people have names like Carl"
I thought "Lenny" was a Jewish name
*makes sign of the devil's horns*
I'm still trying to figure out if that was racist, stupid, or just business as usual for these clowns. Yikes.
mmm. Cheese-burgers..
Let's be clear about Bonds and Aaron. Aaron is an all-time great, but if Bonds were sitting on 650 home runs, he'd still have been a better player.
One of my friends last night was trying to downplay Bonds' record, saying about how home runs aren't everything. Then I reminded him that Bonds does everything else, too.
He's got a weak arm. Couldn't play for the Twins.
oh, wait. rondell...tyner...
*sits, confusedly*
How about that "disappointment" for Bremer? His disappointment was that Twins fans were denied a chance to see him play because of his injury. This, after all the pontificating.
I tune in, and we have runs? What the bert is going on here?
Bullpen!
ScruFi is the answer to the AFLAC trivia question.
If Cheney is to Ryan, then Bush is to ______?
Poh..
Which makes Gardy which failed general in Iraq?
Gardi is Rove?!?
I'm pretty sure Gardy's never gotten any action in the Lincoln bedroom
I'm pretty sure Rove has never gotten any action...anywhere.
"Who is most responsible for the decline of on-field performance in the little things by the Twins?"
Last manager to reach 500 wins. But, good answers.
Man, Punto has been hot.
Does Hell freeze over on a Punto double?
Punto with a real double? WTH is going on? Did we stumble through a rabbit hole into the Arizona Fall League?
Nah, just Kansas City.
well, I guess you answered your own question, E-6
Everything's up to date in Kansas City. They've gone about as fur as they can go
Even Rivas would hit the hell out of the ball in KC, so don't get too excited.
holy hotcakes, you're right, Moss. Rivas's career line at Kauffman: 259/311/509 in 122 PA
Punto tried to get picked off, but the pitcher doesn't know how to execute a run down.
And we return to normal, Newtonian space.
Nicky pads his stats.
Two errors by Nicky tonight.
Ole! You'd make a great bull-fighter, little Nicky.
Or jockey.
as a jockey, he'd never (get) throw(n), but his quip would never hit anything, so he'd probably finish last.
where are you when we need you, Juan Castro?
on the DL
the long wait is over for a momentous event in baseball history.
that's right. Luis Castillo just got his first RBI as a Met.
Just got off the phone w/ in-law from So. MN town that rhymes w/ Albert Lea, y'know the one that always wins the chickens when the Twins homer. At any rate, he blasted blogs - work o' th' devil - I think Sid has something to do with this line.
(Two-run broken bat single for Castillo-sigh - I miss Slappy)
I think that hit the top of the fence and bounced back in. Should not have been a home run.
Replays confirm that you are correct.
Dazzle and Gordon making sense of it all.
NOT.
How is Morneau on second base?? That's ridiculous! He clearly got to third base.
The home run is overruled and Morneau gets sent to second although he ended up on third.
ROFL
Hunter homers and there'll be no conference on this one.
That's the second time the Twins have gotten jobbed out of a base today. I just see no reason whatsoever that Morneau should've been made to go back to second base.
Well, I guess that makes it academic.
Make-up cookie from Braun?
TFOTF makes it moot. And superfluous, at that.
save some runs, fellas.
Save some runs for tomorrow, guys.
The Twins make me wonder whether the pythagorean would be more accurate if you took out the five largest outliers of the season, wins and losses, for every team.
Possibly, or another way to do it would be to reduce the number down to a "reasonable" number. For example, you could reduce the 20 and the 12 from the Chi doubleheader down to 9 (i.e., one run per inning, like they do for a forfeit).
Hard to weigh in w/ Gameday tracking Martin Luther.
He's on pace for 95 theses against the Cardinals.
Nice.
Gameday has Santana pitching 'gainst Alan Greenspan.
Greenspan's got good numbers.
I think they were inflated.
That home run blast of his was so powerful that it started multiple religious wars!
Too Soon?
Nothing says shut-up like a smokin gun.
The Hunter home run his a guy right on the top of the head. He put his hands up to catch it, but he missed. Doink!
doh!
Was he wearing a Jose Canseco jersey?
+a ten-pack of needles
on ther radio, the guys were talking about the Bonds baseball
Time.com has a little feature about where some famous baseball are now
http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1650858_1650857_1650836,00.html
Morneau really deserves consideration for a gold glove this year. That was another fantastic double play he started and ended.
Well, not ended. But I still stand by my general point.
also, he should get some consideration now because Mark Texieria is in the National League
Video taken from the center field stands before and after home run 756. Pandemonium.
Baseball Rabies! Catch it!
good gravy
note to self, dont sit in the bleachers when A-Rod goes for 800
Wow. Both awesome and disturbing. I noticed (according to the AP story) that the guy who got the ball came out "bloodied" from the pile. It's a wonder nobody got seriously injured in that mess. But the footage of the ball arcing into the stands was very cool.
How long until Seligula's goons force that footage to be taken down? No pictures, accounts or descriptions without permission expressly prohibited, and all.
he had to get rid of his Mets jersey because it was ripped to shreds, according to the story I read
Seligula
That's Incredible!
It's rather uncanny how much that looks like Bud's reaction to BB's 755th.
That video is totally awesome.
Cuddy, um, nice baserunning.
Carl Cuddyer
more runs! awesome
Good Lord. Justin Morneau sported a bowl cut in 2003. I had completely forgotten about that.
There goes Morny's Fielding Grammy. Give it to Ortiz. He started the A-S game at first, right?
3 errors? Yeesh.
The defense didn't do Johan any favors tonight. Since the offense made an appearance, the team had to crap on Johan somehow...
oh, god. Dazz starting to tell golfing stories. The GAME, Dazz. The GAME.
you dont like his golf stories? heh
Dazzle doesn't know what else to say; he's not used to commenting on Twins rallies.
Yeah, sure, winning this game can help us pick up some slack, but maybe winning one of the last two when the Indians and the Tigers both won the last two certainly would have helped more.
Toronto all over NYY, (in best Michael Stipe) "...and I fee-eel fine..."
those statements always remind me of the round-robin baseball tournaments that happened in the younger levels of baseball. After losing a game or two, the whole team would gather around the standings and figure out "if we win our last two and Albert Lea loses by 5 to Austin and then both of the other teams lose to St. Peter, we're in the championship".
Of course it always starts with winning your own games, call it Big Mak's Rule for Tournament Success: If you win your games you will do better in the tournament regardless of what the other teams do.
Mauer with the RBI. Can we call this game due to defensive indifference?
Good game guys. I'm bowing out. Just got back from softball game; it was a humid 97F at game time, and I smell a little ripe now. Time to hit the showers.
No, bS, you may not comment on that.
*ignores imperative*
you smell like RBIs???
1987 talk. Danny Gladden and Al Newman cited as "key acquisitions".
Twins 1987 VORP.
Newman: -8.1 VORP in 349 PA
Gladden: -6.4 VORP in 482 PA
1987 AL Left Fielders: Gladden 31st out of 32 in VORP.
Key.
if you combine them, you still cant make a Nick Punto
Add in Jeff Reardon's whopping 14.6 and you're right back where you started!
JUMP THE CAR, JOEY!
Hiring Gardenhire was not a better move than the Pierzynski trade but they've got to babble about something during a blowout. Still, I would like to hear Moss's thoughts on the subject.
You have to ask?
The worst thing about the surprising division title last year is that Gardy got a reprieve. Moss was fairly convinced that he would have been out had the team continued playing .450 ball all year.
Get out the blow torch for that..
slowest. game. ever.
Keeping up with former Twins: Grant Balfour appears for D:/Rays against the Tigers. Pitches one inning, striking out the side.
it seems like Grant has pitched 10 games since joining the DRays
iEl Jardinero!
Emil Brown giving 'em both barrels.
Kyle Lohse had the victory for the Phillies tonight. 6+ IP, 4 ER
also had a hit and an RBI!
I can't take it any more. Wake me up tomorrow.
Twins Win!