Mostly Cloudy / 57° F
Twins, Timberwolves, Wild
Published 7:13pm Sunday, June 26, 2011Wow, I can’t believe all of the injuries the Twins have suffered this season and its only half over.
This week we here Justin Morneau is going to have neck surgery and will be out at least 6- 8 weeks. I think it will be more as the Twins can never seem to predict when the injured players will come back, they usually under guess. Last night Delmon Young goes down with what appears to be an ankle sprain. Something tells me that it may be more than that but we will see.
What all this means is that the Twins will have to keep on playing the Triple A guys. It is just a revolving door going on with guys coming and going of the DL. I guess it is just one of those years.
The Twins rattled off a good little streak there to get everyone excited but lately have struggled again. You can only win with mirrors and magic for so long. Pretty soon they are going to have to have some talent in the lineup to get back into the race.
With the mini winning streak it brought hope again that the Twins could get back into this thing so it looked like they may be buyers come the trading deadline. Now with the slump here again it will be interesting how they approach the end of July.
If Delmon is hurt worse than has been reported I wonder how much it will affect his trade value either now or this winter. He hasn’t put up very big numbers so far so that will be another factor. It is sad because he was starting to hit again and he is usually a second half hitter so he does have some value either to another team or the Twins.
Watching Nishioka bat left-handed is almost painful. He is so over matched by major league pitching and it really shows up when he is on the left side. With his speed he should be a slap hitter but with the swing he has when he does make contact it usually is a popup or an easy fly ball.
I haven’t given up on him yet, as I enjoy watching him play shortstop. He seems way more comfortable there and has made some great plays. He has made some errors too but things are still new to the guy. If only he could figure out how to hit.
-I’m not sure what I think of the Timberwolves. I really want to be a fan but it is hard. They did make the right pick in the draft by getting Derrick Williams when I thought they might trade him for some smelly gym socks like they usually do. Rickey Rubio will bring some fans to the Target Center for awhile but if he plays like he did in Europe last year they won’t come see him for long, except maybe all the young girls.
What the GM is doing to Kurt Rambis is ridiculous. Whether you like him or not stringing Rambis on is not very professional. Who, meaning anyone who is any good, would want to coach for this guy?
-The Wild hired a new coach and a guy I never heard of which doesn’t mean it’s a bad thing, just that I don’t really know the guy. Trading Brett Burns was tough as he was such a good player and an even greater guy, but the Wild needed offense and that is what they got even if these guys are young. They claim within two years the Wild will be tough as they are finally trying to build a team through youth.
I think the Twins’ DL is a dangerous place to be. You go there with one thing, and then they find all sorts of other more serious stuff, and you have surgery for something altogether different. When you come back, if you come back, you’re just a shell, waiting to die. Caution — don’t ever go on the Twins DL. Isn’t Slowey swirling around in that black hole someplace?
It looks like Ben Revere’s job security is nailed down for a long time to come, with Delmon out and Cuddyer the apparent 1st baseman until at least August. Giving Mauer some days at first may not be a dumb idea, but geez, bat him 8th until he earns back his old place in the batting order.
A couple of things about the Twins win streak. We now know for sure that the starters can be consistently good. Casilla has been making Gardy look good for sticking with him. Perkins is carving out a career, and Valencia sure likes to swing from the heals. Drew Butera can’t hit a volleyball with a tennis racket, but he’s really a gamer — has Gardy considered playing him in the middle infield?
Nathan’s back on the roster, but when will he be back on the mound? More interestingly, what inning will he be called on? He failed as the 9th inning guy, and as the 8th inning guy. Is he now our 7th inning guy along with Burnett? Will he out-pitch Burnett?
This off-season, Nishi needs to spend 6 hours every day in the weight room. And not just any weight room. I’m thinking either the one for the Vikings O-line, or the one in Cell Bock D. This is serious.
Best quote of the week — when Mijares complained to the press about Mauer calling for a fastball to Fielder (which he spanked for a 2-run game winning double), Mauer replied “I called for a fastball, but not one down the middle.”
Delmon Young… has to go. They say he has a bone bruise, and a sprain, but no real ligament damage. Maybe they’re trying to downplay it in order to save what’s left of his trade value. The guy is a joke. When he hit the fence, he just rolled over and sat there, waiting to be attended to like the prima donna that he (thinks) he is. Any real ballplayer at least tries to get up and get the ball, limping, crawling, whatever. I was going to cut him some slack… again…. thinking his leg may be broken. Nope, just a sprain and a bruise. Sheesh, what a tool… whenever he misplays a ball, it’s over for him… he looks for his cf to pick up after him (Toronto,etc). And yet, no matter how awful he plays, in the field or at the plate, he’s all smiles in the dugout. Wth? Oh well, maybe we can get a bag of bp balls and some game used bats for him.
Slowey? Ha, he’s done. He pretty much said he doesn’t want to be here any more. He quit on his team. Not good. It wouldn’t surprise me that the Twins wouldn’t even trade him at this point. Let him play in the minors til he decides to pack it in.
Joe Mauer. For the first time in his life, probably, his athletic ability alone isn’t enough to float him to the top of the game he’s playing. That’s always been enough, and unfortunately, I don’t think he has the fire and desire required to pull himself out of this hole. Imo.
Nathan looked good last night. Almost all fastballs, and all of them on the edges of the strike zone. Good sign.
Nishioka. Wow. Feeble at the plate, and unsteady in the field. Nice combo.
Pitching, even though there was a rough stretch there for a while, is ok, imo. The problem now is hitting, and surprisingly, fielding. Sloppy fielding all over the place. After years of fundamentally sound, if not spectacular defense… this is hard to watch.