Twins record: 12-20
Fangraphs
MLB Game Wrap
The Twins are consistently running out a lot of players who are either just very bad (the catchers, most of the bullpen, Casilla/Tolbert) or some combination of pretty limited and in over their heads (Hughes, Revere, Tosoni, probably Plouffe - although he's been great offensively in all of three games, that will come down to earth, and I'm not sold on his defense at all). Those are all pretty frustrating, but they can only concern me to a point. If all of those guys get lots of playing time because others are hurt, the Twins are probably not going anywhere this season. If, however, many of those guys get replaced by the proper starters, the Twins are still going to most likely need contributions towards success from two guys I am a little more concerned about: Carl Pavano and Justin Morneau.
Pavano went a second straight entire game without striking anyone out today. I harp on this a lot, but it's just a lot less likely to be successful as a pitcher without getting strikeouts. He seems to be getting a little over-hammered - I have his FIP right now at about two runs less than his ERA, but a 4.6-ish FIP still isn't quite where he was at the past couple of years. Morneau, on the other hand, has me concerned that he's not physically back together yet. I have his line after today at .202/.269/.293 so far. I'm a little reminded of the beginning of 2006, when there was much gnashing of teeth over how lost he looked at the plate over the first month, before Gardenhire famously gave him "The Talk" that turned him into a (not-quite-worthy) MVP. His line over March/April that year was .208/.274/.416 - basically the same, except back then he still hit a few homers.
At least one other guy whose physical state/all-the-way-back-ness has been a concern, Joe Nathan, had a pretty good outing today.
Hitter of the Week: Jason Kubel is still pretty close to the only horse in this race.
Pitcher of the Week: Duh.
Yeah, Pavano needs to start missing some more bats, but he had no help defensively, which goes hand-in-hand. Of course, he didn't help himself either. What should have been a comebacker to start an inning-ending double play was ruled a hit and an RBI. The one good sign was 14 ground balls to just 6 fly balls on the outs.
From the Mind of DK:
...two guys I am a little more concerned about: Carl Pavano and Justin Morneau.
From the mind of JoeC:
You should be seeing a royalty check any day now.
2 + 2 = 4 no matter who types the keys on the calculator.
Yeah, I try to never miss an opportunity to pick really low-hanging fruit.
Sometimes I pick the ones that have already dropped up off the ground and wipe them off a bit.
Pitcher of the Week: Duh.
should be noted that the light rail's still running on time as well.