This weekend, it’s “The Return of Twitchy,” as former Twins closer Joe Nathan pays a visit along with his new team, the Texas Rangers. Joe’s already blown a save and took a loss when he came in to a tie game and gave up the game-winner, causing many in Rangerland to wonder if someone else should be closing for the Rangers.
Late game drama notwithstanding, this is still the defending AL Champions coming in to Target Field and Anthony Swarzak may find this line up to be a bit more challenging than the one he faced in Baltimore last Sunday.
Let’s hope the Twins’ hitters keep clubbing the ball. A couple of notable lineup changes: Joe Mauer is at 1B tonight, with Ryan Doumit behind the plate, and Luke Hughes gets the start at 2B.
I’m not sure how many of our Knuckleballs crew will be in the chat tonight. I know some have other plans and I, personally, plan to go see what kind of trouble combining cold medication and alcohol can cause.
OK I’m gonna be honest… I sorta watched the game at a bar, but I can’t say I watched it with any intensity at all. I saw Anthony Swarzak pitch pretty well. I saw Danny Valencia hit a sacrifice line drive. I didn’t see much else of any significance. I do know the Twins lost. That sucks. We’ll try again tomorrow. – JC
Perhaps my favorite quote is one that has been attributed to Charles Lindbergh and it goes something like this: “A great tradition may be inherited, but true greatness must be achieved.”
I’ve been thinking about that lately, in the context of the Minnesota Twins. It’s not that I believe the current roster is great or really even has much of a chance of achieving greatness. They certainly haven’t given us reason to expect greatness in their first handful of games this season.
I wonder, though, how many members of this team understand what it takes to acheive greatness… or even a level approaching the near-greatness that the Twins class of 2002 that was honored Monday arguably captured. Not to understate the talent of the group, as a whole, but it seems like they had a spirit that drove them to at least strive for greatness.
They never really reached their goal… which, of course, was to win a World Series in Minnesota. They did, however, restore respectability to the organization and win a lot of baseball games, including a number of Division titles, in the process. They may not have achieved greatness, but they certainly achieved very-goodness… and the current crop of Twins have inherited that legacy.
Do they know what to do with that legacy, though? Do they recognize the need to achieve greatness for themselves or do they think that they should just be very good because the Twins teams that preceded them for most of the past decade have been very good?
It’s difficult to maintain greatness in pretty much any organization. Most consistently successful companies have formal or informal “succession planning” programs that assure continuity of purpose and philosophy. It’s not something that’s easy to do, even in the most conducive of corporate environments. Trying to develop such a philosophy in a Major League clubhouse where today’s team mate is tomorrow’s opponent and the hot-hitting rookie is a threat to take away a veteran’s livelihood is probably all but impossible.
Some mentoring goes on, of course. Not every veteran ballplayer has the, “it’s all about me and screw the guy coming up behind me,” mentality (let’s call that the Bret Favre mentality, shall we?). Kirby Puckett supposedly mentored Torii Hunter and Hunter supposedly did likewise with Denard Span. It happens, but it happens so seldom that it tends to gets elevated to mythical proportions when it does happen.
I’m not sure where I’m going with this, but it occurs to me that this group of Twins… from the front office management to the on-field management to the veteran players to the rookies… have not achieved anything close to greatness. I suppose an argument can be made that Carl Pavano has acheived greatness, at least briefly, in his younger days with the Marlins. Ron Gardenhire and Terry Ryan deserve some credit for guiding that class of 2002 through their period of very-goodness.
What the Twins have in their clubhouse is an combination of a couple of very good baseball players who inherited the near-great tradition of the teams led by guys like Torii Hunter, Johan Santana and Corey Koskie, along with a few decent new players who, frankly, came from organizations that haven’t even had the kind of tradition the Twins have had, and a bunch of young players that really haven’t experienced anything approaching greatness in their professional careers.
When the Yankees or Red Sox or even the Braves start out a season by getting swept in their first series, there’s no cause for ledge jumping. Those teams have players who know what it takes to be great and are confident in their abilities to achieve greatness once again, despite a temporary set back. Who in the Twins’ clubhouse has that experience to fall back on, much less the ability to share it with team mates in a manner that instills confidence?
It’s difficult for a young player to step in to such a role. Most of them are too busy pinching themselves over the realization they’re Major League ballplayers playing a game in front of 40,000 people to think beyond the moment. But once they settle in to the routine, do any of them have the drive necessary to lead a team to achieve greatness? I hope so.
And what of management? Where will the next great leader of this organization come from? I doubt Ron Gardenhire’s job is in immediate jeopardy, but it’s almost impossible for me to imagine him leading the team through the next generation of ballplayers. Who will Terry Ryan and the Pohlads charge with the responsibility of leading the team of Joe Benson, Miguel Sano, Eddie Rosario and Kyle Gibson to a level of greatness not achieved in over two decades?
How will the current Twins and those coming up behind them learn to achieve greatness? In the absence of credible mentors to learn from, it will take someone (or better yet, multiple someones) with incredible leadership skills to build a winning mentality back nearly from scratch.
Ron Gardenhire and Tom Brunansky (photo: Jim Crikket)
I’m nowhere near knowledgeable enough about the Twins organization to predict who will step up to provide that kind of leadership or when it might arrive. Outside of watching the Beloit Snappers a few times a year and spending a week or so at the Twins’ spring training site every March, I have little to base an opinion on. Maybe players like Benson, Brian Dozier, Aaron Hicks and Liam Hendriks will eventually fill leadership roles on the field and in a future Twins clubhouse, but the guy I expect to see eventually establish a presence with the Big Club is former Twin Tom Brunansky.
If you spend any time hanging out around the minor league fields during spring training, you can tell which coaches tend to attract an audience when they speak. Two men have stood out to me as guys that always seem to have the attention of any player within earshot of them: Paul Molitor and Brunansky. Molitor serves in an instructional capacity every spring and it seems he’s pretty satisfied with that limited role, but Bruno has been moving up the organizational ranks as a hitting coach and is with the AAA team in Rochester this year.
I know there are people who feel Brunansky could or even should be promoted to the Twins’ hitting coach position to replace Joe Vavra. Personally, I think he’s fine right where he is… teaching the next generation of Twins how to play baseball. He’s the kind of coach… and, potentially, the kind of manager… that could bring credibility to a field management job if and when he gets his opportunity in Minnesota.
For now, this is admitedly all just idle conjecture. Then again, until the current Twins start winning some ball games and give us something else to focus on, idle conjecture is likely to lead to more interesting discussions than anything going on between the white lines.
(This image is almost certainly the property of whomever owns the rights to MAD Magazine these days.)
Yes, I’m feeling a bit Alfred E. Neuman-ish today.
Yes, the Twins are 0-4, a trait they share with the Atlanta Braves. Yes, they’ve hit at a pathetic .165 clip and struggled to score a run or two, at most, each game. Yes, three of their four starting pitchers currently sport ERAs of 5.14, 7.50 and 11.25 after their first time through the rotation.
But is all of that really enough to make everyone bail on the entire season?
Given that so many fans had pretty much written this season off before it started, I guess it’s not surprising that the answer to that question for just as many people is, “yes.” It just seems a tad premature, to me, after just four games, especially when everyone knew (or should have known) that April was going to be a brutal month.
No, the Orioles are not among the American League’s elite teams, but the Twins have struggled with them recently, especially on the road. And, yes, this team is likely to remain at or near the bottom of their Division through the rest of the month, given the nature of the upcoming schedule (the next 15 games are against what are probably five of the six best teams in the AL).
But let’s keep a little perspective here. Despite the losses, there are a handful of things that haven’t gone too badly so far:
Josh Willingham will never be mistaken for a gold glove outfielder, but he’s done what he was brought in to do… hit the baseball hard. He’s hit .385 and has an OPS of 1.390 with a home run in Baltimore and, just to prove it can be done, another home run in Target Field Monday. (Hey, if others can use a small sample size to “prove” the team sucks, I can use it, too.)
Justin Morneau is hitting the ball hard. Do I wish he was playing 1B while hitting the ball hard? Of course. But given my limited expectations a month ago, I like what I see.
Most of the bullpen arms are looking OK. Matt Capps hasn’t blown a save (then again, there hasn’t been a save situation, yet) and he, along with Brian Duensing, Glen Perkins, Jeff Gray and Alex Burnett, have managed to hold opponents scoreless in their limited work.
Speaking of limited bullpen work, only Francisco Liriano failed to go at least five innings in his first start and the WHIPs (walks + hits per inning pitched) for the other three starters were very reasonable (1.20 for Anthony Swarzak, 1.17 for Nick Blackburn and 1.00 for Carl Pavano).
The bottom line, for me anyway, is that I believe this team will score some runs. My greatest fear entering the season was that the pitching staff would implode. In fact, that’s still my greatest fear. But the arms are off to a reasonably decent start, with a couple of exceptions (that would be you, Mr. Burton and Mr. Maloney, along with Mr. Liriano), so when the bats start to come around, maybe things won’t look so bad.
Even in the middle infield, where Jamey Carroll and Alexi Casilla have managed a total of one hit between them, at least they are making most of the plays they need to defensively, which is more than we could say a year ago. And if their bats don’t come around soon, Brian Dozier is already raking down in Rochester and he’s only a phone call away.
I really don’t expect a lot of wins over the next couple of weeks and I’m sure that will only intensify the grumbling among the fan base. But I’m anxious to see whether some of the young players like Swarzak, Liam Hendriks, Trevor Plouffe, Chris Parmelee and, eventually, Dozier, can do when they get past the, “Oh my God, I’m in the Big Leagues!” phase of their seasons.
I’m still interested in this team and I hope most of the rest of you are, too. But if you really just can’t imagine the start to a season being any worse, keep in mind that things could be much worse.
Some good news and some not so good news for Twins fans today. Unfortunately, most of the good news comes from their minor league affiliates, while the bad news involves the health of a member of their Major League rotation… and it’s not even Scott Baker this time.
Rookie Liam Hendriks has been scratched from his scheduled start Sunday in Baltimore due to food poisoning. Anthony Swarzak will step in and take the mound against the O’s in Hendriks’ place Sunday.
On the brighter side, media reports out of Connecticut tell us that Jason Marquis threw 75 pitches in today’s game for AA New Britain. Marquis went six innings, strikingout four hitters, while giving up just one earned run on seven hits, without giving up any walks. Looks like Marquis should be ready to rejoin the Twins after making maybe one more start for the Rock Cats.
Also of note in the minors, super-prospect Miguel Sano jerked a grand slam home run to lead the Beloit Snappers to their first win last night. May it be just one of many in his career with the organization.
Meanwhile, tonight back in Baltimore, the Twins try once again for their own first win of the season. The line up behind lefty Francisco Liriano looks pretty similar to the one that took the field for Friday’s season opener, with the only change being Ben Revere taking Ryan Doumit’s spot in right field. It makes sense to give Doumit the night off, assuming he will be putting on the “tools of ignorance” Sunday to catch Swarzak. – JC
With Opening Day upon us, everyone is making their predictions for how this season will unfold. And why not? It’s harmless fun.
But here are a few things I’ve learned over the years about pre-Opening Day prognostications:
They tend to be based way too much on the previous season. I’m amazed every year by how many people who are supposed to be “experts” about Major League Baseball seem to come up with their predictions apparently by doing nothing more than looking at a team’s record the previous year.
There’s a lot of “groupspeak” going on. Once a couple of these “experts” render an opinion about a team, that’s the end of the discussion. Everyone else falls in line with that “conventional wisdom.”
The pre-Opening Day conventional wisdom turns out to be wrong as often as it’s right… and sometimes it’s very wrong.
Or, if you trust my math skills, I’ll save you the trouble of looking:
37 of the 50 picked the Red Sox to win the World Series (the computers didn’t pick a WS champion, but they did project the Sawx to have the best record in baseball). In case you’ve forgotten, Boston collapsed and didn’t make the playoffs. Oops.
None… zero… picked the Cardinals to win the World Series… or even be in the World Series. Only ESPN’s Doug Glanville, Peter Pascarelli, Bobby Valentine, Dave Winfield, Joe McDonald and Mark Mulder foresaw the Cards to make the post-season. That’s six out of 50 who believed that the eventual NL champion would even play post-season ball.
But what about their AL Central predictions… and specifically, what did they think the Twins would do? Twelve out of the 50 predicted the Twins would win the Division. Then again, why shouldn’t they? They won the AL Central the previous season, right? So who DID the experts like to claim this Division? Well, for 33 of the 50, that would have been the White Sox. The Tigers, who eventually pretty much lapped the field in the AL Central, were the choice of just five prognostications. Give the computers credit, though, they were the consensus pick of the machines (though the same machines did predict that the Twins would win about 84 games).
All of that considered, why shouldn’t we retain some optimism for our Twins?
Last year’s Opening Day roster was good enough that nearly every media “expert” believed they should at least compete in the AL Central Division. What’s changed? While many don’t believe the rotation is any better, I think that’s just a matter of people having short memories of recent failures. I expect the rotation to be stronger. I also expect the bullpen to be better (there are decent arms on this staff AND a couple of guys in Rochester capable of coming up to help, when necessary).
Newcomer Ryan Doumit adds versatility (Photo: Jim Crikket)
The bench depth is considerably better. The starting line-up is better, just considering how much healthier Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau are, compared to a year ago. Josh Willingham and Ryan Doumit are at least the equals of Michael Cuddyer and Jason Kubel offensively. Is there reason to question whether young players like Chris Parmelee, Trevor Plouffe and Luke Hughes can perform at Major League levels over the course of a full season? Of course. Then again, they’re bound to be better than Tsuyoshi Nishioka, Drew Butera and Jason Repko.
So, the question I keep asking myself is this: If last April’s roster was expected to win enough games to contend within the AL Central Division, why shouldn’t the expectations for this roster be similar? To my mind, there’s no reason they shouldn’t have similar expectations, last year’s record aside.
It’s fine to keep expectations in check. There remain concerns with the health of key players like Morneau and Scott Baker. Denard Span still speaks of occasional lingering concussion issues. But from top to bottom, I like the looks of this roster much more than I expected to.
The Tigers are still the smart-money choice to win the AL Central Division and, outside of the White Sox, perhaps, the rest of the division could be better than last year, as well. But I fully expect the Twins to be contending at mid-season. If that turns out to be the case, we’ll find out whether ownership is willing to step up and make a deal or two, even if it means nudging the payroll a bit closer to last year’s level.
No team has ever made the playoffs a year after losing 99 games. Then again, few 99-game losers had as many health issues contribute to their lousy season as the Twins had a year ago, nor have others likely had two former MVPs (both still 30 years old or younger) returning from injury the following season.
Am I expecting greatness out of this Twins team? No, of course not. I’m not expecting more than I expected going in to last season. Then again, I’m not expecting a lot less, either.
My point is… there is reason for hope. And hope is really all that fans of any team have this time of year, because no matter how good the experts say your favorite team is, there are no guarantees. Just ask Red Sox fans.
I really like having the Red Sox being just down the road a bit from where the Twins train. Sunday, I was able to spend the morning watching the Twins’ minor leaguers play intrasquad games (low A vs. high A on one field, AAA vs. AA on another field and “rookie” teams on yet a third field) and then drive 15 minutes east to watch the Twins take on the Red Sox at the Saux brand new JetBlue Park in the afternoon.
BJ Hermsen
It was great getting to watch fellow Iowan B.J Hermsen take the mound to start for the high A club against the lineup likely to be fielded by the Beloit Snappers, including uber-prospects Miguel Sano and Eddie Rosario. Hermsen struck out both Rosario and Sano in the first inning, but Sano did get a measure of revenge with a double off of Hermsen later on, leading to a run.
Beloit manager Nelson Prada chats with Eddie Rosario, Miguel Sano and Daniel OrtizMax Kepler hitting, Drew Butera catching
I also spent some time watching the older minor leaguers, where prospect Max Kepler and his AA team mates were taking on a AAA team filled with a number of players, such as Drew Butera, Mike Holliman and Casey Fien who were still in the Major League clubhouse up until just a few days ago.
I really didn’t pay attention to the scores and I didn’t stick around to see the games to their completion, but it was a lot of fun not only watching both games, but watching far more important observers, like General Manager Terry Ryan, who was also turning his attention back and forth between the fields.
The game with the Red Sox wasn’t so interesting, but it was good to see Chris Parmelee celebrate the news that he’s made the Big League roster to start the season by giving the Twins a brief 1-0 lead over the Sox with a towering home run to right field. Carl Pavano cruised through five innings of work before he started getting knocked around a bit in the sixth. Alex Burnett didn’t fare nearly as well in relief.
I thought I’d share a few pictures of the game, as well as a few I took of the new ballpark itself. In case you weren’t aware, JetBlue Park was built with the same dimensions as Fenway Park, right down to a “green monster” in left field.
JetBlue Park from behind home plateInfield prospects James Beresford and Estarlin De Los Santos got their opportunities to play in front of the big crowd and the Big League coachesNewcomer Sean Burroughs manned 1B for the TwinsThe "Green Monster" at JetBlue ParkThe view from atop JetBlue's green monsterJetBlue Park from the outside
Busy day in Fort Myers on Saturday. This is supposed to be a vacation, for crying out loud!
This is a subject for another day, but there’s been a lot of tweeting lately between traditional media types that cover the Twins and various bloggers, myself included. Some of it has been interesting, some of it somewhat disappointing, but the crux of the discussion revolves around the value of “access” that the reporters have. Today was a perfect example of a situation where a blogger (that would be me) benefited from the access that a beat reporter (in this case, LaVelle E. Neal III of the Strib) has to sources within the Twins organization.
Neal tweeted late Friday that Scott Baker would be pitching in a minor league game on Saturday morning over at the Red Sox home, JetBlue Park. Thanks to that alert, I headed out for JetBlue instead of Hammond Stadium this morning. It seemed like a good opportunity to (a) get a glimpse at the Red Sox’ new digs on the east side of Fort Myers, and (b) see what kind of arm Baker has at this point.
I saw all that and then some.
It turned out that Baker wasn’t the only Big Leaguer scheduled to play in that game. Jon Lester took to the mound for the Red Sox AAA team, while David Ortiz, Kevin Youkilis, Jarrod Saltalamacchia (yes, I had to look up the spelling) and former Twin Nick Punto all opted to stick around and face Baker rather than make the bus trip up to Port Charlotte to face the Rays in Boston’s scheduled Big League game.
Baker gave up one run on a solo HR to Sox prospect Will Middlebrooks, but otherwise got through four innings of work relatively unscathed. Lester definitely was throwing harder than Baker was and the Twins announced later in the day that Baker would open the season on the 15-day Disabled List, retroactive to his last Big League game on March 27.
The regularly scheduled game in the afternoon against the Pirates saw another offensive blowout by the Twins who have been scoring runs in bunches lately. Anthony Swarzak gave the Twins six solid innings on the mound and Denard Span racked up four hits for the Twins as they bludgeoned the Pirates, 15-3. Span, Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau, Danny Valencia and Trevor Plouffe (who played 2B… so much for him being strictly an outfielder, huh?) all doubled. Ryan Doumit and Brian Dozier homered for the Twins. (I have to confess, I missed the Doumit HR… I was standing in line for a beer with fellow Twins blogger Topper Anton of Curve for a Strike when Doumit connected in the 3rd inning.)
But you can read all the reports of the game provided by the reporters who get paid the big bucks to provide that information. What we offer here at Knuckleballs is photographic enhancement of the Spring Training experience. With that in mind, feast your eyes on the following:
Scott Baker looked sharp, but didn't seem to be throwing at full velocityJon Lester had Twins AAA hitters swinging late for four inningsRon Gardenhire and Tom Brunansky chat during the AAA gamePapi did no damage to Baker. He even tried (unsuccessfully) to bunt on his final plate appearance.Anthony Swarzak gave up 1 run on 6 hits with no walks and 6 Ks in six full innings of work for the TwinsDenard Span totalled four hits, including a double, in Saturday's winSean Burroughs appears close to making the Opening Day roster for the Twins
Finally, I leave you with this…
And they say Chuck Knoblauch has gone in to seclusion and won’t make appearances at Twins games…
Sunday, I’m hoping to hang out on the minor league fields in the morning before heading down Daniels Parkway to JetBlue Park for the Twins and Red Sox game in the afternoon. Things are starting to wind up here in Fort Myers… it’s time to start getting excited for Opening Day!
There are plenty of accounts elsewhere about the Twins’ win over the Pirates in Bradenton Thursday, so I’m not about to give yet another one. Suffice to say the Twins looked really good for the first five innings and then coasted to an 11-6 win.
At least Chris Parmelee isn't chewing tobacco at 1B
I was in the first row down the right field line for this game, in a position where I was glad every throw from third base to first baseman Chris Parmelee was on target, because anything that would have gotten by him would have been dangerously close to my nose. But neither overthrow nor line drive foul ball threatened my health and well being today.
Few of the Twins regulars made the trip up to Bradenton. We probably might as well start thinking of Parmelee as a regular, of course. In addition, Danny Valencia DH’d, Luke Hughes manned 3B and Ben Revere patroled CF. Otherwise, this was largely a team bound for Rochester or New Britain and looking to leave an impression on manager Ron Gardenhire and the other coaches. Some of them, most notably a couple guys named Brian, did just that.
Brian Dozier looked good at SS, but he impressed more with his HR
Dinkelman and Dozier both homered for the Twins, backing up Matt Maloney, who looked plenty good again while getting stretched out to three innings after largely pitching an inning at a time so far this spring.
Ben Revere showed his speed, of course, and prospect Angel Morales, who was called up for a spot start in RF, not only showed off his speed but also the cannon attached to his right shoulder.
Former Twin Garrett Jones signed some autographs before the game
All in all, just a very enjoyable day at the ballpark watching some young players show their stuff.
Friday, I’m going to catch a few innings of the Orioles vs Tigers game in Sarasota before heading south to Ft. Myers.
– JC
If Twins prospect Angel Morales felt like he was being observed by more than just his manager, maybe he had good reason to feel that way
It hasn’t been easy to sit back and read others’ reports from the Twins’ Spring Training home of Ft. Myers while I patiently (or not so patiently, at times) waited for my turn to head south. That time has come. I leave Wednesday morning for Florida.
Hammond Stadium, Home of the Twins
I’ve always felt the best time to go down to Spring Training is toward the middle of March, but that simply wasn’t doable for me this year. Going down for the final week of games is not ideal, but it’s still a week spent in Florida, instead of Iowa, and it’s still baseball… and it will mean I’ll be on hand as the final roster spots are being determined.
I fly to Ft. Myers Wednesday and head back home a week later on April 4. I should be able to see the Twins play up to five times and may try to catch a Tigers/Orioles game in Sarasota, as well. Here are the games I’d be hoping to see:
McKechnie Field, Bradenton
Thursday, March 29: I’m actually not going to stay in Ft. Myers the first two nights. Instead, I’m staying up near Sarasota. It will make for a short drive Thursday morning up to Bradenton. where the Twins are taking on the Pirates. I really do enjoy the environment at the ballpark in Bradenton. It’s an old-fashioned neighborhood ballpark that just makes me feel like I’ve gone back in time about 50 years.
Ed Smith Stadium, Sarasota
Friday March 30: The Twins have split squads playing on the 30th, one group hosting the Red Sox in Ft Myers and the other visiting the Blue Jays in Dunedin. But I’ll have other chances to see the Twins play the Red Sox later. Since I’m staying up near Sarasota anyway, I’m thinking I’ll stick around and watch at least a few innings of the Tigers and Orioles, then drive down to Ft. Myers after the game.
Saturday. March 31: I hope to check out the Twins minor league complex in the morning before watching the Twins and Pirates at Hammond Sadium in the afternoon.
Sunday April 1: The Twins are at the Red Sox and I’m really looking forward to seeing the new JetBlue Park, built for the Red Sox just about 15 minutes away from the Twins’ complex. It’s supposedly built to resemble a smaller version of Fenway Park, complete with their own Green Monster in left field.
Charlotte Sports Park
Monday April 2: Yet another “road trip”, and I’m not 100% sure I’ll make this one. The Rays have a nice place up in Port Charlotte, with a boardwalk all the way around the outfield. It’s a great place to just buy a cheap general admission ticket and then hang around out in the outfield. On the other hand, if I don’t feel like making that drive, I may hang out at the Twins minor league complex in the morning. I could even catch the Nationals @ Red Sox game that afternoon without leaving Ft. Myers.
Tuesday April 3: The final day in Ft. Myers may start with another morning on the minor league complex. The Twins host the Rays in the afternoon. I’ve got tickets on the “drink rail” by the beer concession stand down the right field line for this game. I’ve always thought that looked like an interesting area to watch a game, but I’ve never had a chance to find out. This year I will. It will be the Twins’ final Spring Training game against Major League competition (they play the Ft. Myers Miracle on Wednesday, April 4).
I’ll fly home from Ft Myers the next day, Wednesday April 4.
Those are the plans. If you’re planning on being in Ft. Myers the week I’ll be there, drop me an email or leave a comment and maybe we’ll find one another for a beer at some point.
If I pull all of this off, I think I may need a week of vacation to recover from my week of vacation. What I would really like to do is fly home by way of Baltimore and catch the Twins’ season opener at Camden Yards! But there’s no way I could pull that off… right?
However it works out, I’ll certainly be posting reports and pictures here at Knuckleballs from time to time, while I’m there. You may even find a report or two from me over at Howard Sinker’s A Fan’s View from Section 219 blog at the Strib’s website.
Or I may just blow off baseball altogether and spend the entire week on a beach drinking margaritas. Ya just never know.
Media reports coming out of Ft. Myers point out that Justin Morneau hasn’t played first base for the Twins in the past ten days. The conclusion being drawn is that, at best, Morneau is likely to open the season as the team’s Designated Hitter and, at worst, could open the year on the Disabled List.
Justin Morneau
The Twins entered Spring Training with a lot of question marks, not the least of which concerned Morneau’s health. With under two weeks before Opening Day, there’s been good news and bad news about #33. The good news is that we’ve heard nothing to indicate Justin has had any recurrence of the concussion symptoms that have largely kept him off the field for most of the past season and a half. The bad news is that he’s clearly not hitting the baseball like the old Justin and now, apparently, there’s reason to doubt he’s ready to man first base defensively.
While there’s been no official word about Morneau being unfit for defensive duty from Terry Ryan, who’s assumed responsibility for all communication regarding players’ health, clearly the team doesn’t feel Justin is ready to man his position. So, if that remains the case, who will be the Twins’ regular first baseman when games start to count?
Ryan Doumit would, on the surface, seem like the most likely option. He had been penciled in to the regular DH spot, but if Morneau is going to play that role, how better to get Doumit’s bat in the line up regularly than to simply allow him to swap positions with Morneau? This makes perfect sense… except for the pesky fact that he’s barely been asked to play the position this spring for the Twins. If they truly planned to simply swap Doumit and Morneau around, certainly Ron Gardenhire would be getting Doumit a lot more innings at first base.
So, if not Doumit, who?
If the past is predictive of the future, the best way to figure out who’s in the Twins plans if Morneau can’t take the field on Opening Day may be to look at who’s been playing there lately.
Morneau last played first base in a game on March 13 against the Blue Jays. The Twins have played ten games since then. Here’s the list of players that have taken throws at the first sack:
Doumit and Hughes: 1 game each (both yesterday vs. the Yankees)
Mauer: 2 games
Hollimon: 3 games (none of them as a starter)
Bates: 5 games (two as a starter)
Parmelee: 6 games (five as a starter)
As I write this, Joe Mauer is scheduled to start at 1B against the Rays today, with Morneau once again DH’ing.
Chris Parmelee and Paul Molitor
Looking at these numbers, it’s clear that neither Ryan Doumit nor Luke Hughes will be the Twins’ regular first baseman. Hollimon and Bates are also unlikely candidates. That appears to leave two possible scenarios that the Twins may be considering.
1. Keep Chris Parmelee to open the season and play 1B. Parmelee clearly won’t be kept unless he’s going to play every day, but he’s hit well enough this spring to warrant consideration if Morneau can’t go. This option becomes almost a certainty if Morneau should find himself on the DL to start the year. If Morneau is the regular DH, however, this option means Doumit becomes purely a bench player, backing up at catcher and the corner outfield positions. It also means one less bench position is available for the current group of middle infielders battling for those spots. [EDIT: Parmelee is getting a start in RF today, which certainly indicates he’s getting a long look for an Opening Day roster spot.]
2. Make Joe Mauer the regular first baseman and Ryan Doumit the starting catcher. If Morneau is the DH, then the entire expected line up remains intact, with only a shifting of defensive positions.
Of course, the bigger question yet to be answered is whether Justin can get his swing back to the point where he can turn on the ball and drive it the way he used to. It was good to see him drive a double over the center fielder against the Yankees on Friday and we’re all hoping that’s an indication of better days to come because the Twins can’t afford to start the season with a cleanup hitter struggling to reach Drew Butera’s offensive output levels.
