First pitch 1:10 p.m.
Ricky Nolasco (1-0, 3.25 ERA, .904 WHIP, 24 K)
Mike Pelfrey (0-4, 4.64 ERA, 1.922 WHIP, 9 K)
I'll admit to inaugurating this season with a sense of irrational exuberance. The first few series knocked that out of me in pretty short order, though. And there's still plenty to be pessimistic about as we start the second month of the season today. After appearing to be righting the ship, the Twins have lost 7 of their last 10 games. They are 10 games below .500, 9 and 1/2 games behind division leading Chicago, and 6 and 1/2 games out of the wild card race. The starting rotation has been more than decimated by injury with Santana and Gibson on the DL, our regular closer is injured and ineffective when healthy, and his substitute isn't nearly as solid as he was last year. The bullpen has shown flashes of brilliance but an annoying inconsistency. The offense is improving but remains sub-par in many spots up and down the lineup. Jeebus, what I'd give to have a catcher who can hit again.
The odd thing is that I'm not terribly concerned. I never expected this team to do any more than than contend for a wildcard, and to be honest I'm enjoying watching this team, even with all of its flaws and miscues. There are bright spots here. We have pretty decent starting pitching with some depth in the organization, and now we finally get to see what Alex Meyer and Jose Berrios can do in the show. Duffy continues to impress. There are some good arms in the bullpen and some good hitters always worth watching. The return of very-high-BA/OBP Joe Mauer has been thoroughly satisfying to watch. Every time our Korean crusher comes to the plate, my wife starts chanting "Park bang, Park bang, Park bang..." After finding a regular spot in the lineup due to injuries, Nunez at first blazed and continues to burn brightly at the plate, hitting the ball like it sassed his mother. But we sucked in April. Nothing new there for this team, the Twins haven't finished the month above .500 since 2010. We've got a young team (average age just over 27) with too many infielders playing outfield, so there will be errors in the field and streaks at the plate. But there should also be some exciting baseball and in the end that's all I ask for, just make it interesting.
Today I'm feeling a little upside-down because I'm actually looking forward to watching both Mike Pelfrey and Ricky Nolasco pitch -- Pelfrey because I expect him to be the same pitcher we let go, and Nolasco because he doesn't appear to be the same pitcher we've had (off and on) for the last two years. That's all I got.
Play ball!
(4 votes, average: 9.50 out of 10)
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