Recently in Minnesota Twins Category

Back Against It

The biggest news from Cardinals camp yesterday didn't come out of the matchup between the Cards and the Red Sox, between Chris Carpenter and Josh Beckett.  The news of the day was made before the game even started and hopefully hasn't put the team's back to the wall.

Playing Pepper 2010: Minnesota Twins

Last year before the season began, I posed five questions to a blogger for each team, so as to get to know the rest of baseball.  I focus so heavily on the Cardinals that sometimes the rest of MLB can pass me by.  That went very well, so much so that it spawned not only a postseason edition but was part of the impetus for the formation of the Baseball Bloggers Alliance.

So this year, I've brought Playing Pepper back, with a little bit of a twist.  Instead of five questions, I posed 10 questions, and this year every team got the same set.  Plus, tapping into those BBA connections, I sent them to every blogger representing that team in the BBA.

We'll try to do two a day in a general alphabetical order, but things may change depending on responses.

Minnesota Twins
2009 Finish: 87-76, first in AL Central, lost in ALDS  Continue Reading

Postseason Playing Pepper: Minnesota Twins

If you were reading this blog before this season started, you may remember a series I did called "Playing Pepper", where I asked five questions of a blogger covering each major league team.  With the season coming to a close, I thought I'd tap into the talents of the newly formed Baseball Bloggers Alliance and ask five new questions of the bloggers covering the postseason teams.   Continue Reading

Cardinals Still Searching

After a weekend (and a Monday) where the Cardinals scored eight runs in four games, it's obvious that there are still some issues.  A quick rundown of the games, in the typical style:

Friday vs. Minnesota (3-1 loss)
Hero: Rick Ankiel.  Two hits and drove in the only run.  You know it's probably been a rough day when Rick's almost all the offense you can muster.
Goat: Ryan Ludwick.  Zero for four and left three on.  To be fair, there were a number that contended for this.
Notes: Adam Wainwright pitched better than he has in some outings this year, but he still walked too many people and, unfortunately, the smallest glitch and the Cards are in trouble.  There have been too many games where the Cards are down after one and you don't feel like they can come back.

Saturday vs. Minnesota (5-3 win)
Hero: Albert Pujols.  The only thing keeping the Cards from being in the midst of a six-game losing streak.
Goat: Todd Wellemeyer.  When you get the hook after 2.1 innings when you know your job is on the line, it's not a good day.
Notes: Lost in the Pujols furor was the fact that Skip Schumaker was on both times Pujols went yard as part of his three for four day.  Lost in the Wellemeyer furor was the fact that Colby Rasmus went 0 for 5 and left 6 on.

Sunday vs. Minnesota (6-2 loss)
Hero: Jason LaRue.  Two hits and an RBI.  If he was just a little faster, he could have probably scored a run as well.
Goat: Joel Pineiro.  You hate to give it to a guy who basically made one mistake, but when the Cards have only come back from three down twice this season, being down 3-0 before they get an at-bat makes for a long afternoon.
Notes: Neither ends of the lineup were very good.  Skip as leadoff was 0-4 and Tyler Greene at the 9 hole was 0-3.  So that doesn't really help the lineup turn over when those guys aren't getting on.  Nice to see a solid inning out of Blake Hawksworth.

Monday vs. San Francisco (10-0 loss)
Hero: Albert Pujols, basically by default.  He got one of two hits and the only extra-base hit.
Goat: Chris Duncan, who had two of the eight strikeouts.  But it was Tim Lincecum--the whole team looked bad.
Notes: What can you say besides glad they didn't get no-hit?  I didn't get to see Clayton Mortensen's debut, but it sounds like there were some positives out of it.

Of course, the biggest news from the weekend was the trade for Mark DeRosa.  While it's obvious that it wasn't an immediate impact on the offense (he's 0-7 since slipping on the Birds on the Bat), it was a pretty nice move for John Mozeliak.  The team may regret losing Chris Perez in the future (though, perhaps, not as much as a couple of White Sox batters regret the Indians getting him) but it was a move that needed to be done and right-handed relief pitching is one of the strengths of the organization.  If Jason Motte ever develops a good secondary pitch, chances are he'll take over that closer of the future designation anyway.  I will say I am a bit concerned about the player to be named later, though.

Khalil Greene returned to the disabled list just a little over a week after he was activated from it.  Those that said that he wasn't ready, that the team was rushing him, definitely have more ammunition now.  After that Kansas City series, things looked pretty good, but apparently something triggered a relapse. I would hope that they will be a little more cautious in his return next time.  It's possible, though I expect unlikely, that we won't see him again this season.

So what is it about this offense?  Like I've noted above (and many other times), they've rallied from three runs down twice this season and none since April.  The Cards are 2-19 (.095) when they are behind at the start of the second inning.  Compare that to the other NL Central teams:

Milwaukee 9-12 (.429)
Chicago 7-13 (.350)
Cincinnati 4-20 (.167)
Houston 6-16 (.273)
Pittsburgh 6-16 (.273)

All the teams have roughly 20-25 games like this, where they've trailed going into the second.  Yet all the other teams, even Pittsburgh, are able to at least occasionally make a run and come back in the game.  The Cards have really struggled in this regard.

When the offense is clicking, the team is good.  If they score the serious number or more, they are 18-3.  But the Brewers are 21-3, the Cubs 24-3, the Reds 19-5 in those situations, again showing that they are able to put up the runs on a more consistent basis.

I don't know what the answer is.  I do think that perhaps the aggressive approach isn't quite cutting it.  I know Tim Lincecum is good, but to throw a complete game in 95 pitches?  The Cardinals have seen the fourth-fewest pitches in the National League.  Houston, Atlanta and the Giants are the only teams below them, and only the Giants are being very successful, which is because of their dominating pitching, not their offensive prowness (last night's result notwithstanding).

When you break it down into pitches per plate appearance, it gets even worse, as only the Giants have seen fewer than the 3.63 St. Louis has.  Obviously, that's not necessarily the be-all and end-all since Washington leads the pack, but the second and third teams are the Rockies and Dodgers, two teams that have had quite a bit of success this year.

I understand the theory about being aggressive and you may only get one pitch, but on the whole, the pitches that the Cardinals are facing aren't necessarily that good.  Just because you take one good pitch doesn't mean you won't be getting another one.  Last night, with Lincecum, OK, but people like Francisco Liriano, who has struggled so much this season?  Tim Redding, who held the Cards in check during the Mets series?

Some links and a preview of today's matchup of Cy Youngs after the jump.   
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Playing Pepper 2009: Minnesota Twins

As the players start getting themselves ready for another season, I thought it'd be a good idea to do the same.  I contacted a blogger for each major league team and posted them five questions.  This is the result.  You can find the tentative schedule of teams here and today's main post is right here.

Save for that 1987 World Series (which Cardinal fans wonder how much this had to do with that Twins victory), the Minnesota squad has been one of baseball's best stories.  A team that was threatened with contraction in a very small market has consistently put together a strong product on the field.

The Seth of Seth Speaks took the time to answer some questions on players, management, and contention in 2009.

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