All posts by sean

2012 Game 51: Minnesota Twins at Cleveland Indians

Carl Pavano
v
Derek Lowe

Lowe shutout the Twins last time. Pavano was rumored to be quite jealous, as Lowe did it without a single strikeout. Lowe then did okay against Miami and followed that by giving up eight runs in 2.1 innings against the White Sox. He did strike out three that time though, giving him his highest K/9 for a game ever (probably).

However, that was then. Today, I expect dead grass leading to the infielders and tired outfielders as each pitcher continues to one-down the other with fewer strikeouts in the quest to pitch to impact.

The Defense After A Month

Dude TZ DRS UZR
Mauer (C) -2 -1 N/A
Doumit (C) 1 -1 N/A
Parmelee (1B) 1 -1 0
Mauer (1B) -1 1 0
Morneau (1B) -1 0 -1
Casilla 1 6 3
Valencia 3 -2 0
Carroll -1 3 2
Willingham 2 -3 -5
Span 0 7 2
Plouffe -1 2 0
Doumit (RF) -2 -1 -1
Total 0 10 0

Overall, I would say most have been roughly average. Casilla, Carroll, and Span have all been good at their respective positions. Willingham has been not so good in left and Doumit questionable in right. This is all what we expected though.

Valencia I think needs more time before we determine if last year's -18/-13/-6 is his talent level or if it was an off year. All three liked him in 2010 (+3/+5/+6), so there's some hope there.

Mauer's numbers at catcher are almost entirely because of stolen bases. If one or two runners were instead thrown out, I think he would be rated as average.

Finally, I think it bears mentioning that all three divorce position from how good the player is at the position. Mostly, this is okay. However, it is an issue with B-R's 'dWAR' rating, which I do not like. It makes it easy to forget that a -10 shortstop (say, Plouffe) is equivalent to a +5 corner outfielder. Not exactly equal, but pretty close in fielding value.

2012 Game 14: Minnesota Twins at Tampa Bay Rays

Liam Hendriks
v
Matt Moore

Hendriks is four months older than Moore and made his debut eight days earlier. Moore is awesome, so that means some will rub off on Hendriks, right?

I note that the Twins are currently in fourth place in the division. They're also tied with the Angels. And the Yankees are trailing the Orioles, awesome. Finally, the Nationals are leading the NL East. And you all laughed at my World Series prediction.