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How far can the 2008 Twins go?
Published Wednesday, June 11, 2008
How far can the Minnesota Twins go this year?
That is tough question with the kind of club they have, but no one can deny there have been some nice surprises.
On June 11 last year the Twins were 30-31 and were in third place, seven games behind Cleveland. That was with All-Star lefty Johan Santana an Gold Glove outfielder Torii Hunter on the roster.
Wednesday night’s 8-5 victory broke a six-game slide and left the Twins with a 32-34 record, 5 1/2 games behind the division-leading White Sox. The Indians and the Tigers, who were leading the Twins last year at this time, are trailing them in the standings.
Did anyone figure the Twins for a second place standing in the Central Division at this point back in April?
Did anyone know that Carlos Gomez was going to do so well in his first year with the club? Gomez came over from the Mets in the Santana trade. Just 22-years- old, this kid has very exciting speed. Only the hard-hitting Joe Mauer has scored more runs. Speaking of Mauer, he is hitting the ball well again after a very frustrating 2007 season. If the Twins can keep him healthy they will have one of the best No. 3 hitters in baseball.
How about Alexi Casilla? Here is a 23-year-old carrying a .330 average and a .489 slugging percentage.
Justin Morneau has improved his number from a year ago and leads the team in 47 RBIs.
Did anyone guess that Livan Hernandez and Nick Blackburn would have 11 victories between them?
The Twins may not be the toughest team in the division but no one expected them to be this year. Some experts picked them for a fourth place finish behind Detroit, Cleveland and Chicago. That may still be their fate, but do not bet the farm.
It is probably safe to say that pitching and defense will have to carry the Twins. With Scott Baker back in the lineup the Twins have three fairly dependable starters. They are backed up by some veteran relievers with Joe Nathan, the backbone of the relief staff, sporting 17 saves.
Why not just let this team play and see where they go? No one is counting them out yet.
Comments
The Daily Journal is happy to host community conversations about news and life in Fergus Falls and the surrounding area. As hosts, we expect guests will show respect for each other. That means we don't threaten or defame each other, and we keep conversations free of personal attacks. Witty is great. Abusive is not. If you think a post violates these standards, don't escalate the situation. Instead, flag the comment to alert us. We'll take action if necessary. It's not hard. This should be a place where people want to read and contribute -- a place for spirited exchanges of opinion. So those who persist with racist, defamatory or abusive postings risk losing the privilege to post at all.Posted by eripsni (anonymous) on June 12, 2008 at 7:48 a.m. (Suggest removal)
A week ago I might have believed this, but after this last losing streak, they've got more questions than answers...
Gomez?? Might be exciting to watch, but he's also averaging a strikeout each game
Posted by Elsi (anonymous) on June 12, 2008 at 9:30 a.m. (Suggest removal)
All the teams have a losing streak during the season! (Well, just about all of them, anyway.)
I am hoping for a much improved team next year that will go to the play-offs. I'm still bummed that Santana is no longer a Twin.
Posted by thethinker (anonymous) on June 12, 2008 at 12:12 p.m. (Suggest removal)
How far? You're looking at it. If they finish at .500 the season can be considered success. Face facts: the AL Central is the weakest division in the AL.
Posted by zkonedog (anonymous) on June 12, 2008 at 11:45 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I think that the success of the Twins this season will largely depend on one thing...consistency. This concept can be applied to nearly every aspect of the team:
Hitting: When the Twins are able to use their team speed to their advantage, the offense actually produces quite nicely. Besides Delmon Young (and, really, the Twins could do worse at that position), every offensive player has had his positive moments this season. However, some nights (in particular those in which Gomez and Casilla do not perform well) the offense just seems to vanish.
Starting Pitching: Much like the hitting, at some points the starting pitching has been very good, while at others (like right now, for example) it is been horrendous. I believe starting pitching to be the single biggest element in a team's success, so consistency in this area is vital.
Bullpen: For the third time, consistency (besides Joe Nathan) is a huge problem here as well. Only Matt Guerrier has been anywhere near reliable out of the pen. Rincon is now gone (and he wasn't effective anyway), Crain still collapses in pressure situations, and Reyes is very hit or miss.
Also, I am a strong believer that a team is really built on a strong pitching staff, thus that is the first thing that needs to get straightened out, as I think that batters' psyches get messed up when the pitching fails. This can be either the fault of the starting pitching or the bullpen. Everybody knows how gut-wrenching it is to see the bullpen blow a lead, but the same can be said for a starter digging his team a big hole to climb out of. The batters start to try to do too much, and that is when you see Gomez whiff, Morneau pop up, Young overswing, etc.
Thus, I think that the starting pitching and bullpen will go a long way in determining where the Twins will finish come October. The troubling factor is that young teams are often quite inconsistent, as they tend to get too high or too low for their own good...and the Twins are a very young team. Are they good enough to contend for a playoff spot? Probably not. But, all one can ask for is for them to stay in the race until mid-August or so, when any team can get hot and win the thing (look at Colorado last year). Plus, in the surprisingly weak AL Central this year, it shouldn't take a mammoth effort to just hang in the race until the stretch run. Remember, this is a team that should get better with every game played, as the youngsters get more experience every inning.
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