Happy to watch Nathan close out games in the ninth, almost making the Twins unbeatable in the last inning. Happy to have Morneau for several more years, an all-star first baseman with 14 home runs (best on the team), 68 RBI (third in the American League) and a .323 batting average (second best in the league).
Happy to have baseball’s best catcher in Joe Mauer (third in the league with a .322 average) and see the farm system develop new starting pitchers Scott Baker, Nick Blackburn, Glen Perkins and Kevin Slowey, and also second baseman Alexi Casilla who has been a catalyst for hitting, fielding, and running the bases since being recalled from Rochester. Our smile isn’t so big but we can still give a lower case “h” to newcomers Delmon Young, Denard Span, and Brendan Harris, and veterans Nick Punto (the play-anywhere infielder who found his bat after a dismal 2007) and Jason Kubel (second in home runs with 13).
Inexperienced players are erratic and that description fits Casilla, Gomez and Young. Particularly aggravating has been Gomez’s lunging at bad pitches and Young’s miniscule total of three home runs.
We’re handing out “S’s” to infielder Mike Lamb (.220 average in 65 games) and Adam Everett (.189 average in 25 games), and outfielder Michael Cuddyer (.252 average, three home runs in 62 games). Everett and Cuddyer have missed a lot of the season because of injuries, and even when healthy were disappointing. At 29-years-old, with a big contract, and Span excelling in right field, Cuddyer might be trade material in the months ahead.
Another “s” word comes to mind when sometimes describing the team’s relief pitching in the mid to late innings. Shaky. If the Twins are going to beat baseball’s best teams, they need better results than Mike Bass and Matt Guerrier delivered in a Red Sox sweep of the Twins last week. Boston scored 25 runs, and won two of the three games because Twins relief pitchers didn’t deliver.
The Twins score lots of runs (fourth in the American League with 464) but they’re way short on long balls that can decide games quickly. They don’t matchup in power to the American League’s top playoff contenders. The Twins are tied with Toronto for fewest home runs in the league, 65 each. For run scoring the Twins receive an “H,” but the power outage draws an obvious “S.”