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2009 Game 124: MN @ KC

eschapp August 23, 2009, at 12:11 pm 187 LTEs - (Sorry, but the time to add LTEs has expired) ,
IMG_4585
Image by Yickitpics via Flickr

The Twins are still fighting to get back to .500.  Three games to go.  One more against the Royals.  Break out the brooms?  Bannister's given up something like 7 runs in each of his last three starts.  I'm not sure what to make of that, but it is what it is.  I mean he is going up against the smartest pitcher in baseball.

When's the last time the Twins swept a series? The last week of July against the Chi Sox.  Those were good times.  Lets recapture a little bit of that feeling today huh? I need some food. /streamofconsciousness

Pitchers:

Carl Pavano, RHP (10-9, 5.32)

Brian Bannister, RHP (7-9, 4.44)

Lineups:

  1. Span RF
  2. Cabrera SS
  3. Mauer C
  4. Kubel DH
  5. Cuddy 1B
  6. Crede 3B
  7. Young LF
  8. GoGo CF
  9. Casilla 2B

Go Twins!

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2009 Game 79: Minnesota @ Kansas City

FirstTimeLongTime June 30, 2009, at 6:09 pm 242 LTEs - (Sorry, but the time to add LTEs has expired) , ,

Scott Baker (xFIP 3.98)

at

Brian Bannister (xFIP 4.54)

In the second game of a three game series the Minnesota .500's travel to play Kansas City Cinderellas.   In a match up that must have Joe Posnanski going nuts, it is his favorite manager against his favorite pitcher!  Rather than spending all of the game log talking about Joe Pos I am going to list a bunch of fun Twins facts from this season

  • The Twins are 4th in the American League in BB/K%.  That is to say, the Twins are not striking out.
  • Well, when I say the Twins aren't striking out I don't mean everyone.  _elm_n is striking out in 31.3% of his plate appearances.  I wonder how Young's theories on hitting differ from Joe Mauer's?
  • Another _elm_n fact.   Just when you thought it could not get any worse-- take a look at his BABIP.  Do you think that .361 avg is sustainable?  Yeah, me neither.
  • Joe Mauer, Matt Tolbert, and Nick Punto have been intentionally walked the exact same number of times so far this season; once.
  • According to fangraphs, the top 4 Twins hitters in "clutch situations" this season are Tolbert, Crede, Punto, and Redmond.   The bottom 4?  Mauer, Span, Harris, Morneau.

No wonder the Twins are so mediocre, all of their "best" players stink when the game is on the line.

2009 Game 24: Royals @ Twins

SBG May 2, 2009, at 5:00 pm 212 LTEs - (Sorry, but the time to add LTEs has expired) , ,

Twins v. Royals
Probables: Kansas City: Brian Bannister (13 IP, 5H, 3K, 8BB, 0HR, 6.77 xFIP) Minnesota: Glen Perkins
(29 IP, 23H, 16K, 6BB, 0HR, 5.15 xFIP)

Things are still not back to normal at the SBG household. Last night, I headed down to Winona, where I am right now, as my mother-in-law will be entombed today. I figure my wife slept in our house three or four nights in April, spending the rest of the time down here, save for a trip up to North Dakota. We'll be heading back up home on Sunday, and I look forward to a return to normalcy.

A return to normalcy is what the Twins got last night. Joe Mauer didn't say, a la Jordan, "I'm back," he just let the bat do the talking and things were back to normal in Twins Territory. Mauer reached three times, including a home run and a double in his first two at bats, and scored three runs. That set the tone as the Twins defeated the Royals 7-5.

Tonight the Twins send Glen Perkins out there against Brian Bannister. Perkins got roughed up a little bit the last time out and his peripherals suggest that he's going to continue to get roughed up a little more -- don't expect eight innings every time out. But, hey, the guy in the other dugout is due for a rough one, himself. Bannister, the inspiration for Joe Posnanski's "Banny Log" last season is off to a good start, having allowed just one run in 13 innings. That might be unsustainable. He's not missing bats, he's been wild, and he's stranded 92% of the runners who have reached. The record says he's 2-0 with a 0.69 ERA. But, that's not going to last. Tonight would be a nice night to have the wheels come off of the Banny-wagon.

Game 144: Kansas City Royals @ Minnesota Twins

eschapp September 9, 2008, at 6:50 pm 155 LTEs - (Sorry, but the time to add LTEs has expired) , ,

Tonight's game is going to start in about thirty minutes, but I didn't see a Game Log anywhere in the back end, so I'll throw something up here so we can get the comments started.

Kansas City visits the Triple H Corral tonight at 7:10 CDT (8:10 EST).

Probable Pitchers:

Minnesota: Nick Blackburn (ERA: 3.71; xFIP: 4.49; tRA+: 107)

Royals: Brian Bannister (ERA: 5.56; xFIP: 4.87; tRA+: 81)

The Twins need to win this series at home to stay close to the White Sox in the AL Central playoff race. The Pale Horses lost their first of two contests against the Blue Jays today, hopefully the Blue Jays take care of business tonight too.

Go Twins!

Game 51: Twins at Kansas City

ubelmann May 27, 2008, at 6:00 pm 305 LTEs - (Sorry, but the time to add LTEs has expired) , , , ,

Nick Blackburn vs. Brian Bannister

Bannister became fairly well-known over the offseason for admitting that he knows about stuff like DIPS and not really fundamentally disagreeing with it. Obviously, he would like to always see his ERA beat his peripherals, but after posting a 3.87 ERA last year with a 5.14 xFIP, he's posted a 4.94 ERA so far this year with an improved 4.32 xFIP.

Obviously, Bannister by himself doesn't prove anything, and 62 innings especially doesn't prove anything. Bannister has succeeded in lowering his walk rate and improving his strikeout rate so far this year, and if he keeps that up, I think it will ultimately help him to be a better pitcher.

Blackburn's been continuing his "good Silva" impersonation so far this year--with an average-ish GB%, really low walk rate, and merely adequate strikeout rate. (Though he does get more strikeouts than Silva did.)

Joe Mauer is currently trailing Jason Varitek and Ivan Rodriguez in the All-Star Game voting, which is a crime against the game. The last time Jason Varitek had a better VORP than Joe Mauer was 2005, and Varitek is a joke behind the plate compared to Mauer. The last time Ivan Rodriguez had a better VORP than Joe Mauer was 2004, when I still lived in Minnesota and barely knew what a blog was.

But set aside VORP for a second--right now, Mauer is leading the league in batting average, right up near the top in on-base percentage, and plays good defense at a premium defensive position. No other team in the league has a better catcher than Joe Mauer. Joe Mauer is a fucking stud, and we ought to be telling Red Sox and Tigers fans to shove it. Varitek and Rodriguez are has-beens--Joe Mauer is the present and the future.