Twins: Fewest Wins Through 54 Games, since moving to Minnesota - 13, in 1982; 16, in 1981; 17, 1995 and 2011; 18, 1999.
Huh.
The Twins were tied for the fewest wins in May (8) with the Rockies. Only the Rockies losing two more games kept the Twins from the worst record for the month (8-21; .276 v. 8-19; .296)
Yeah, that 1982 team was bad, but it had the seeds for what would become a great time for Minnesota Twins baseball after the sell off that impacted the 1981 season. Those seeds aren't present in this team, I don't think. Them mission for the 2011 team is to win now. Fial.
I was thinking about that the other day. This has to be the worst first third of a season ever as a Twins fan.
Sorry about the lack of brew. The beer, and then the wine, were flowing freely last night. I've ruined today.
Updated AL Central lines:
Rot American League Central To Win Moneyline
221 Chicago White Sox +300
222 Cleveland Indians -200
223 Detroit Tigers +300
224 Kansas City Royals +4000
225 Minnesota Twins +8000
That seems about right except for maybe the White Sox. The Twins are now 16 1/2 games back. The largest deficit overcome I believe is 13 (1951 Giants and 1995 Mariners). It would be a record and a miracle for the Twins to win the division, although I think they are closer in the wild card but of course many more teams to overcome and few games against them other than division foes. At this point, I'll settle for a return to competence and a reason to believe that this season is an anomaly.
Good thing the Twins handed Duensing a spot in the rotation in spring training. He now has the second-worst ERA+ among the 53 pitchers that qualify with a 74. Fausto is last with a 72 and Pavano is at 76. I wonder how long they will continue to blame his struggles on his start being rained out while ignoring a gaping hole in the bullpen. This would give the Twins a good excuse to move Duensing to the bullpen and put Slowey in the rotation when he's healthy, but I think that bridge has been burned already. More likely, the Twins could bring up Gibson in a week or two. At least give the fans a glimpse of hope for the future.
#Twins have a 53% save% this season. The last time they finished sub-60% was '86 w/ a pen headlined by R. Davis, K. Atherton & F. Pastore.
Good thing we've got two proven closers.
I'm shocked it's 53%. If I guessed I would've assumed it was closer to 5.3%.
Deunsing has a 65% LOB%. Unless you think somehow he forgot to pitch from the stretch, his numbers are really just fine. His season FIP and xFIP are in line with his career numbers and are no worse than Kevin Slowey's career numbers. Sure, anyone who expected him to post a sub-3 ERA was deluding themselves, but part of the reason that ERA was misleading is that ERA is misleading in general, and there's no reason to believe his 5.37 ERA in 58 innings is more meaningful than his 2.62 ERA in 130 innings. If you go over his '10-'11 combined stats, his ERA is still 3.48, which is below his FIP in that period, but by less than half a run.
Mentioned due to Shaq retiring:
This winter, when watching his PSAs for Marrow.org's "Be the One" campaign, I realized that Shaq is the only big-name athlete with tons of endorsements and commercials that I have never gotten sick of. (MN players possibly excluded, I can't think of one that's been in the top tier of commercials.) Forget his basketball abilities, this is what I find most remarkable of the man. Was it that he let himself be a goof, never taking himself seriously, what with the rap and acting careers and the Icy Hot commercial? Was it his genuine smile? Was it that even though he was the best player in the world for a while there, he still had some big holes in his game? I can't quite figure it out, He played for the Lakers, destroyed the Timberwolves' one chance to make the NBA Finals.
I think it's because he's 7'1, 350 lbs. and a big kid. Oh, and Kobe hated him, which makes it a whole lot easier to like him.
[Dido] to that last part especially.
I see Russell Martin is leading AL catchers in fWAR. I believe earlier this season I was mentioning how it was outrageous that the Yankees were able to sign him to a 1-year $4M contract. This isn't so much that I expected the Twins to sign him--he wouldn't have signed where he wasn't going to get a chance as the every day catcher, but check out some of the other deals free agent catchers have now:
$6M/2yr -- Yorvit Torrealba
$7M/2yr -- Miguel Olivo
$18M/3yr -- John Buck
$8M/2yr -- Pierzynski
$50M/4yr -- Victor Martinez
No one out there was willing to gamble on Martin bigger than they were willing to gamble on Miguel Olivo or John Buck? Olivo's been above 2 fWAR once. Buck's been above 2 fWAR once. Pierzynski's ceiling is about 2 fWAR and he's been there twice in the seven years since the Twins shipped him out. Martinez is extremely valuable, a 3-5 fWAR player when healthy. In five seasons, Martin has never had a season below 2 fWAR (and he's already to 1.8 fWAR this year), and that's even with some trouble staying healthy. The Yankees got the upside of Victor Martinez for the cost of players that rarely reach even league average value, all on a practically riskless one-year deal.
I was shocked that the the Yankees were able to grab him. I fully expected him to a Red Sox.
I am shocked, just shocked, that he's regressed.
I'm shocked it's 53%.
Did I miss a new citizen meme?
Zack plays with outlets too much.
Working in an office has made even my hyperbole uninteresting. Frown.
huzzah!
aarongleeman Thome and Kubel on DL. Every hitter in Twins' lineup tonight is slugging below .400 and only Span has OBP above .325. #Yuck
revere and hughes to be called up.
Good Lord.
This will make the come back all the more impressive!
i'd be absolutely shocked should any comebacks occur.
You and Zack.
i'm shocked you didn't see what i did there.
/forcedmeme
I must express complete surprise that you just fired that (meme) through the internet.
Yep, time to put your money down. The odds won't get much better than they are right now.
That giant sucking sound you hear is actual sucking.
Let's see, the Twins on the DL inlude Nishi, Mauer, Kubel, Thome, Perkins, Nathan, Liriano and Slowey. Did I miss anyone? That's one-third of their Opening Day roster on the DL. Meanwhile, angry Twins fans complain about why the Twins can't plan for such contingencies. Pretty soon Cuddyer will just have to do the Bugs Bunny thing and play every position on the field. He better perfect his changeup and his alliterations.
Bugs is to Cuddyer as Fudd is to ___________.
Capps, right?
A+
Ozzie Guillen?
Ozzie strikes me more as a Latino Foghorn Leghorn.
Los pasajes rápidos ir por encima de su cabeza. Ya conseguí un agujero en su guante. Yo mantengo pitchin" "em y mantenga missin' y 'em. Already consiguió mantener un ojo en la pelota. Ojo. Ball. He tenido casi una mordaza, hijo. Broma, que es.
Tickets go fast over his head. And got a hole in his glove. I keep pitchin '' em and keep missin 'and' em. Already managed to keep an eye on the ball. Eye. Ball. I had almost a gag, son. Joke, that is.
There's the Google translated version. Sounds like Ozzie to me!
Here's the original quote before I babelfished it to Spanish:
"The fast ones go over your head. Ya got a hole in your glove. I keep pitchin' 'em and you keep missin' 'em. Ya gotta keep your eye on the ball. Eye. Ball. I almost had a gag, son. Joke, that is."
But I think your translation back to English is indeed more Ozzie-esque.
Or Yosemite Sam
One has to wonder if the Twins training staff is feeling any pressure to improve outcomes...
I would hope there's some pressure applied somewhere.
I was just out in Casper, WY, visiting my brother. Judging by the snow we saw in the mountains and the amount the dams are already releasing, there's a lot of water going to be coming downstream for a while.
Good news. Updated Smart Youtube plugin and no more autoplaying.
I wouldn't have minded here during jazz week, but it would have worn thin.
this mavs-heat game is insane.
No kidding. This is stunning.
Dallas wins. I do not believe it. One of the greatest comebacks you will ever see. A 22-5 run to end the game.
Absolutely beautiful. When Miami started preening with over 5 minutes left, I wished upon a star. His name was Dirk.
He's soft. like a diamond.
My favorite Miami possession was the one where LeBron missed two low percentage threes with about three seconds left on the shot clock each time.
heh. That was solid basketball. (Dallas really did play some terrific D in those last 5-6 minutes.)
the last minute was probably the craziest part too. quite a finish.
Folger's? Going with the thrifty blend this morning...à la "Twins bullpen"?
I was thinking that Irishing-up the coffee would be a good idea at 20 games below.
Sometimes I wish I drank coffee so I could Irish it up.
CC to DK: I got cold feet on Uggla, sorry.
His BABIP is only .186 (career mark of .293)!
RUBIO!
From Buster Olney:
Huh.
The Twins were tied for the fewest wins in May (8) with the Rockies. Only the Rockies losing two more games kept the Twins from the worst record for the month (8-21; .276 v. 8-19; .296)
Yeah, that 1982 team was bad, but it had the seeds for what would become a great time for Minnesota Twins baseball after the sell off that impacted the 1981 season. Those seeds aren't present in this team, I don't think. Them mission for the 2011 team is to win now. Fial.
I was thinking about that the other day. This has to be the worst first third of a season ever as a Twins fan.
Sorry about the lack of brew. The beer, and then the wine, were flowing freely last night. I've ruined today.
Updated AL Central lines:
Rot American League Central To Win Moneyline
221 Chicago White Sox +300
222 Cleveland Indians -200
223 Detroit Tigers +300
224 Kansas City Royals +4000
225 Minnesota Twins +8000
That seems about right except for maybe the White Sox. The Twins are now 16 1/2 games back. The largest deficit overcome I believe is 13 (1951 Giants and 1995 Mariners). It would be a record and a miracle for the Twins to win the division, although I think they are closer in the wild card but of course many more teams to overcome and few games against them other than division foes. At this point, I'll settle for a return to competence and a reason to believe that this season is an anomaly.
Good thing the Twins handed Duensing a spot in the rotation in spring training. He now has the second-worst ERA+ among the 53 pitchers that qualify with a 74. Fausto is last with a 72 and Pavano is at 76. I wonder how long they will continue to blame his struggles on his start being rained out while ignoring a gaping hole in the bullpen. This would give the Twins a good excuse to move Duensing to the bullpen and put Slowey in the rotation when he's healthy, but I think that bridge has been burned already. More likely, the Twins could bring up Gibson in a week or two. At least give the fans a glimpse of hope for the future.
I am shocked, just shocked, that he's regressed.
From Over the Baggy:
This tweet should interest Mr. Runner:
Good thing we've got two proven closers.
I'm shocked it's 53%. If I guessed I would've assumed it was closer to 5.3%.
Deunsing has a 65% LOB%. Unless you think somehow he forgot to pitch from the stretch, his numbers are really just fine. His season FIP and xFIP are in line with his career numbers and are no worse than Kevin Slowey's career numbers. Sure, anyone who expected him to post a sub-3 ERA was deluding themselves, but part of the reason that ERA was misleading is that ERA is misleading in general, and there's no reason to believe his 5.37 ERA in 58 innings is more meaningful than his 2.62 ERA in 130 innings. If you go over his '10-'11 combined stats, his ERA is still 3.48, which is below his FIP in that period, but by less than half a run.
One more O's note: Jake Fox(notes) was DFA'd on Wednesday, so a low-level deal should follow. Tough to see a major league landing spot where Fox would get consistent at-bats, but there's always hope. Fox offers modest power, and of course he's catcher-eligible.
C'mon, he'd have to be better than what the Twins have been trotting out there.
I doubt the Twins would see him as any more catcher-viable than Jose Morales was.
AG eric holder orders more episodes of the wire (or a movie) created.
Holder better be watching Treme.
Mentioned due to Shaq retiring:
This winter, when watching his PSAs for Marrow.org's "Be the One" campaign, I realized that Shaq is the only big-name athlete with tons of endorsements and commercials that I have never gotten sick of. (MN players possibly excluded, I can't think of one that's been in the top tier of commercials.) Forget his basketball abilities, this is what I find most remarkable of the man. Was it that he let himself be a goof, never taking himself seriously, what with the rap and acting careers and the Icy Hot commercial? Was it his genuine smile? Was it that even though he was the best player in the world for a while there, he still had some big holes in his game? I can't quite figure it out, He played for the Lakers, destroyed the Timberwolves' one chance to make the NBA Finals.
I think it's because he's 7'1, 350 lbs. and a big kid. Oh, and Kobe hated him, which makes it a whole lot easier to like him.
[Dido] to that last part especially.
I see Russell Martin is leading AL catchers in fWAR. I believe earlier this season I was mentioning how it was outrageous that the Yankees were able to sign him to a 1-year $4M contract. This isn't so much that I expected the Twins to sign him--he wouldn't have signed where he wasn't going to get a chance as the every day catcher, but check out some of the other deals free agent catchers have now:
$6M/2yr -- Yorvit Torrealba
$7M/2yr -- Miguel Olivo
$18M/3yr -- John Buck
$8M/2yr -- Pierzynski
$50M/4yr -- Victor Martinez
No one out there was willing to gamble on Martin bigger than they were willing to gamble on Miguel Olivo or John Buck? Olivo's been above 2 fWAR once. Buck's been above 2 fWAR once. Pierzynski's ceiling is about 2 fWAR and he's been there twice in the seven years since the Twins shipped him out. Martinez is extremely valuable, a 3-5 fWAR player when healthy. In five seasons, Martin has never had a season below 2 fWAR (and he's already to 1.8 fWAR this year), and that's even with some trouble staying healthy. The Yankees got the upside of Victor Martinez for the cost of players that rarely reach even league average value, all on a practically riskless one-year deal.
I was shocked that the the Yankees were able to grab him. I fully expected him to a Red Sox.
I am shocked, just shocked, that he's regressed.
I'm shocked it's 53%.
Did I miss a new citizen meme?
Zack plays with outlets too much.
Working in an office has made even my hyperbole uninteresting. Frown.
huzzah!
revere and hughes to be called up.
Good Lord.
This will make the come back all the more impressive!
i'd be absolutely shocked should any comebacks occur.
You and Zack.
i'm shocked you didn't see what i did there.
/forcedmeme
I must express complete surprise that you just fired that (meme) through the internet.
Yep, time to put your money down. The odds won't get much better than they are right now.
That giant sucking sound you hear is actual sucking.
Let's see, the Twins on the DL inlude Nishi, Mauer, Kubel, Thome, Perkins, Nathan, Liriano and Slowey. Did I miss anyone? That's one-third of their Opening Day roster on the DL. Meanwhile, angry Twins fans complain about why the Twins can't plan for such contingencies. Pretty soon Cuddyer will just have to do the Bugs Bunny thing and play every position on the field. He better perfect his changeup and his alliterations.
Bugs is to Cuddyer as Fudd is to ___________.
Capps, right?
A+
Ozzie Guillen?
Ozzie strikes me more as a Latino Foghorn Leghorn.
Los pasajes rápidos ir por encima de su cabeza. Ya conseguí un agujero en su guante. Yo mantengo pitchin" "em y mantenga missin' y 'em. Already consiguió mantener un ojo en la pelota. Ojo. Ball. He tenido casi una mordaza, hijo. Broma, que es.
There's the Google translated version. Sounds like Ozzie to me!
Here's the original quote before I babelfished it to Spanish:
"The fast ones go over your head. Ya got a hole in your glove. I keep pitchin' 'em and you keep missin' 'em. Ya gotta keep your eye on the ball. Eye. Ball. I almost had a gag, son. Joke, that is."
But I think your translation back to English is indeed more Ozzie-esque.
Or Yosemite Sam
One has to wonder if the Twins training staff is feeling any pressure to improve outcomes...
I would hope there's some pressure applied somewhere.
Our next disaster?
I was just out in Casper, WY, visiting my brother. Judging by the snow we saw in the mountains and the amount the dams are already releasing, there's a lot of water going to be coming downstream for a while.
Good news. Updated Smart Youtube plugin and no more autoplaying.
I wouldn't have minded here during jazz week, but it would have worn thin.
this mavs-heat game is insane.
No kidding. This is stunning.
Dallas wins. I do not believe it. One of the greatest comebacks you will ever see. A 22-5 run to end the game.
Absolutely beautiful. When Miami started preening with over 5 minutes left, I wished upon a star. His name was Dirk.
He's soft. like a diamond.
My favorite Miami possession was the one where LeBron missed two low percentage threes with about three seconds left on the shot clock each time.
heh. That was solid basketball. (Dallas really did play some terrific D in those last 5-6 minutes.)
the last minute was probably the craziest part too. quite a finish.