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Don’t Buy Into Twins Exhibition Record

Posted on March 31, 2017March 31, 2017 by David Shama

A notes column, with emphasis on the Twins who open their 2017 regular season at home on Monday against the Royals.

The Twins lost 103 games last year but have a 2017 winning record of 16-13 in spring training as the club prepares to head north. Does a team’s exhibition record mean anything?

“Zip, zero.”

Those are the words of former Twins catcher Tim Laudner who now works as an analyst on Fox Sports North. Laudner, who will work Twins pregame and postgame programs, told Sports Headliners spring training wins and losses are misleading because MLB teams split their rosters for same day games, schedule more home games than away and often use marginal big leaguers instead of regulars.

Before the Twins compiled a regular season record of 59 wins and 102 losses last year, the club was 19-11-2 in exhibition games. Two years ago Minnesota’s regular season record was 83-79 after being 13-16-3 in spring training.

Sports Illustrated’s March 27-April 3 issue included an extensive preview of all 30 MLB teams, and the publication predicts the Twins’ record will be 69-93. The forecast is a fourth place finish in the American League Central behind the Indians, Tigers and Royals, but ahead of the White Sox.

An anonymous scout quoted in the magazine is critical of the team’s starting pitching and warns that if injured closer Glen Perkins isn’t available, it’s a big problem for the Twins. “Well, they’re in big trouble anyway,” the scout said.

Max Kepler (photo courtesy of Minnesota Twins).

Looks like the Twins will have four new faces in their opening day lineup and batting order compared with a year ago—and one player, Miguel Sano, at a different position. It’s expected Jason Castro will be the catcher, with Jorge Polanco at shortstop, Max Kepler in right field and a yet to be determined player filling the Designated Hitter role when the Twins open the regular season. Sano is expected to play third base instead of right field.

The lineup for the opener last year was: Ervin Santana, pitcher; Kurt Suzuki, catcher; Joe Mauer, first base; Brian Dozier, second base; Eduardo Escobar, shortstop; Trevor Plouffe, third base; Eddie Rosario, left field; Byron Buxton, center fielder; Sano in right; and ByungHo Park at DH.

Many Twins players need to have better performances than last year for the club to make a major step forward, and near the top of any needs list is Mauer. He turns 34 next month and is coming off his lowest batting average in 13 years with the Twins. After hitting .261 in 2016 and .265 two years ago, the career .300 hitter is no longer assured of being No. 3 in batting order this season.

“There might be days against some left-handers that we might not see Joe in the lineup at all,” Laudner said. “Joe is getting a little long in the tooth. I am not going to say that Joe is a platoon player. Joe in the past has shown that he has done a really nice job of hitting left-handers. There’s going to be some tough decisions for (manager) Paul Molitor to make as to why he’s going to fit. Sometimes it might come down to the analytics, (and) sometimes it might come down to the gut instincts of…Molitor as to where he is going to bat in the order, or if he is going to be in the lineup at all.”

Laudner said Mauer still has “batting skills” and is capable of a much higher average this season than in the recent past. Whether he stages a comeback, Laundner said, is predicated on staying healthy. The last few years Mauer’s health chart has sometimes been as interesting as his hitting stats.

The Twins surprised yesterday by giving Park a minor league reassignment and opening up the DH role to what looks like a platoon plan with perhaps Robbie Grossman, Kennys Vargas and others. In spring training this year Park came to camp as a non-roster player but led the club in home runs with six and RBI with 13. The Twins decision makers reportedly want to have a roster of 13 pitchers, not 12, and that doomed Park for now, although he could be recalled later this spring.

Park, who will be 31 in May, had a difficult adjustment last year coming from his home in South Korea and trying to break into the big leagues with the Twins. Faced with a new culture, injuries and big league fast balls, Park hit just .191—although he did have nine home runs in his first 29 games.

Laudner predicted last year it would be a difficult adjustment. “I’ve played in Japan and that’s different than playing in the United States,” Laudner said referring to his owner international experience. …

Gary Trent Jr., the former Apple Valley star who played his 2016-2017 senior season for a school in northern California, scored seven points on 3 of 11 shooting Wednesday night in the McDonald’s All-American Game in Chicago. Trent, who will be a freshman at Duke in the fall, played 21 minutes for the West team that defeated the East, 109-107.

The website Casualhoya.com has been speculating about candidates for the Georgetown head basketball coaching vacancy. Minnesota’s Richard Pitino was included in a poll where 81 percent of voters said they didn’t want him as the Hoyas coach, while 19 percent did. …

ESPN will be televising 21 spring college football games. No, the Gophers game on April 15 at TCF Bank Stadium isn’t on the list. …

CollegeAD.com reported Monday the Gophers athletic department will be receiving more than $1 million as part of the NCAA’s one-time $200 million distribution to Division I schools in mid-April. Distributions are being made based on the number of athletic scholarships in place during the 2013-2014 school year. Schools with the largest athletic programs reportedly receive the largest amounts. The Gophers have a 23-teams program for men and women. …

The Wild’s Eric Staal played in his 1,000th NHL game on March 19 and will be honored in a pregame ceremony next Tuesday before Minnesota’s game against the Hurricanes at Xcel Energy Center.

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Gibson, Hughes to Hold Twins Fate

Posted on March 27, 2017March 27, 2017 by David Shama

Twins authority Roy Smalley believes his former team can win a dozen more games in 2017 than last season, and also be a fun club to watch, but he said it won’t happen without better pitching from starters Kyle Gibson and Phil Hughes.

Smalley played shortstop for the Twins for 10 seasons and now does analysis of the team on TV. He singled out veteran pitchers Gibson and Hughes when asked about the upcoming season and the likelihood for improvement. Minnesota was 59-103 in 2016. Gibson’s record last season was 6-11 with a 5.07 ERA. Injuries forced Hughes to miss much of the year and his record was 1-7 with a 5.95 ERA.

The Twins five-man rotation will be led by Ervin Santana, 7-11 with a 3.38 ERA a year ago. Santana is considered a No. 2 or No. 3 level starter but on the pitching-poor Twins, he is the stopper. Other starting pitchers for the rotation will be Gibson, Hughes and Hector Santiago, acquired in a trade with the Angels last season for Ricky Nolasco. He had a 3-6 record and 5.58 ERA record with Minnesota. The fifth starter is to be determined.

“Every team plays the way they pitch,” Smalley said. “The starting pitching is the most important thing on any team, so having not made any changes other than Hughes coming back (he didn’t pitch after June 9), the starting staff is virtually the same.

“You’re looking for Ervin Santana to be Santana. You’re looking for Phil Hughes to be better. You’re looking for Kyle Gibson to be better. If Hughes isn’t better and Gibson isn’t better…then it almost doesn’t matter what the other keys (for a good season) are.”

Gibson, who is 29 years old, was 11-11 with a 3.84 ERA in 2015. Hughes, 30, was 11-9 with a 3.40 ERA that year. Gibson’s best victories total with the Twins was 13-12 with a 4.47 ERA in 2014. The best Hughes has done was the same year, when he was 16-10 and had a 3.52 ERA.

“Gibson has got to be no longer a .500 pitcher,” Smalley said. “He can’t be 12 and 12 any more. His M.O. has been he will win 10 or 12 games, and in those games that he wins, his ERA is like 1.80 or something. And in the 10 or 12 games he loses, his ERA is 6. It’s been a Jekyll or Hyde kind of deal. He’s either really good or he’s out in the third inning.”

Smalley believes this season Gibson can “flip” several games that have been losses in prior years. “(A record of) 15-10 is not only doable but necessary for Kyle Gibson. I think he has to win 15 games, and Hughes has got to be a 14, 15 game winner for them (the Twins) to take a really big step.”

Smalley’s expectation is that the three leading winners in the rotation must win “between 40 and 45 games” for the Twins to make that improvement of winning a dozen or more games this season than last. Good relief pitching, defense and hitting will be important, but Smalley emphasized the starting pitching in his interview with Sports Headliners.

Miguel Sano (photo courtesy of Minnesota Twins).

If the starting pitching is at least average, then it makes the club’s potential offensive power much more relevant, Smalley believes. Second baseman Brian Dozier looks like a solid bet to produce a lot of home runs after hitting 42 last season, and this could be the year much-hyped prospects Miguel Sano (third base) and Byron Buxton (center field) emerge as major run producers.

“Then you’re going to have a really fun team to watch,” Smalley said. “…Because those guys can supply enough offense along with other guys that are around them. Guys like (right fielder Max) Kepler and (shortstop Jorge) Polanco who I think are terrific hitters, or are going to be. I mean you got a chance to have some really fun offensive production.”

Worth Noting

Minnesota Wild season ticket holders receive priority on purchasing playoff tickets, so the club is encouraging other fans to join the GameDay Tickets text notification list at wild.com/gamedaytix. Fans on the list receive a SMS text message on playoff game days if tickets are available. The Wild’s first round playoff details will be announced after the NHL regular season ends April 9.

Defensive back Antoine Winfield Jr. recently rejoined the Gophers and impressed coach P.J. Fleck on Saturday after a two-hour practice. “He’s been leading our secondary,” Fleck said. “He hasn’t been out here that long obviously—but, man, did he take over our defense today. Very proud of him. I love his how, I love his effort. He shows incredible leadership out there. You can tell that young man loves to play the game. …”

Fleck has several candidates for the starting quarterback position. He is looking for a starter who is going to “command the team on offense,” and make decisive and exceptional decisions.

The Minnesota Football Coaches Association is expecting record attendance this year for its annual clinic March 30-April 1, but is still accepting reservations. This year’s speakers at the DoubleTree Hotel in St. Louis Park will include Fleck, Duke’s David Cutcliffe and North Dakota State’s Chris Klieman.

There will also be a Youth Coaches Clinic March 30 and April 1 at the DoubleTree Hotel. Sessions will include ideas for building a youth football program, practice planning, and much more.

For more information about the clinics and other details regarding the MFCA, click on the advertisement on this page.

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U Roster Offers Frozen Four Talent

Posted on March 22, 2017March 22, 2017 by David Shama

Wally Shaver has been the radio play-by-play voice of Gophers hockey for 16 years. He thinks the Minnesota team that is only two wins away from earning its way into the Frozen Four could win a national title. “I think this team is talented enough to get it done,” he told Sports Headliners Monday.

The Gophers won national championships in 2002 and 2003 under coach Don Lucia. Three years ago Lucia’s team lost in the Frozen Four finals to Union. Shaver believes the 2017 Gophers compare favorably to past Minnesota teams.

Minnesota has seven players with 10 or more goals. No other major college team can match that. “They’re a very balanced team and deep in scoring,” Shaver said.

Minnesota, as usual, has exceptional players like sophomore forward Tyler Sheehy, who is the 2017 Big Ten Player of the Year and a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award given to college hockey’s best player. Senior Jake Bischoff is the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, while sophomore goalie Eric Schierhorn is the conference’s goalie of the year for a second consecutive season. Joining those three on the All-Big Ten first team is senior forward Justin Kloos. That collective talent is backed up by other productive players and means opponents can’t concentrate much on controlling just one or two players, or lines.

A hot goalie in college hockey’s playoffs always determines much of a team’s fate. Shaver said Schierhorn had his “ups and downs” during the long season but he suggested the Alaska native “hit the reset button” during Christmas time. Schierhorn has a .935 save percentage in his last nine games. “There is no question he is peaking at the right time,” Shaver said.

Last Saturday Schierhorn stopped 59 of 63 shots in a double overtime loss to Penn State in the Big Ten Tournament. “He was the best player on the ice,” Shaver said.

In that game a penalty set up a winning power play goal for PSU. Shaver cautions that if the Gophers are to advance this weekend and beyond, they must keep penalties to a minimum.

Minnesota, the regular season Big Ten champion, will play Notre Dame on Saturday in one of two games in Manchester, New Hampshire as part of the Northeast Region. Cornell plays UMass-Lowell in the other game, with Saturday’s winners meeting on Sunday in Manchester to determine who advances to the April 6 Frozen Four in Chicago against champions from three other regions.

The Gophers, 21-11-3, are the Northeast Region’s No. 1 seed and the favorite to win two games in Manchester, but Notre Dame, 21-11-5, impresses Shaver, too. He said the Fighting Irish has only one senior and if underclassmen don’t leave the program Notre Dame could be the “odds-on” favorite to win the Big Ten Conference title next season.

“It’s a very good regional and a great matchup for us to start with against Notre Dame,” Lucia said. “We know them, and they know us. We’re excited to get back into the tournament and compete for a national championship.”

The Gophers and Irish didn’t play against each other as nonconference opponents this season but have been frequent foes with Minnesota having a 27-15-3 record in the rivalry. Notre Dame plays its first Big Ten season in 2017-2018, increasing league membership to seven teams. The goal is to become an eight-team hockey league but there is no indication the Big Ten is even close to determining another member.

Worth Noting

Minnesota boys’ high school basketball fan Ken Lien has seen thousands of games over the years, and he was asked by Sports Headliners to name the teams he believes will win state tournament titles this week. His predicted champs are: Class 4A Champlin Park; Class 3A DeLaSalle; Class 2A Minnehaha Academy; and Class 1A Minneapolis North. His runner-ups, starting with Class 4A, are Apple Valley, Marshall, Crosby-Ironton and Goodhue.

A grand opening ribbon-cutting ceremony and celebration is scheduled today at MSP International Airport to introduce the new Minnesota Twins sports bar and restaurant. Twins Grill is located in Concourse C of Terminal 1, and displays memorabilia and graphics recognizing the franchise’s past and present. The 220-seat restaurant offers traditional ballpark food and local craft beers.

Commissioner Bill Robertson and other leaders of the Edina-based WCHA were elated last Saturday when the league’s championship playoff game between Bowling Green and Michigan Tech drew a capacity crowd of 4,466 in Houghton, Michigan. Tech won the game in an electric atmosphere that represented a stark contrast to past years when the WCHA’s playoff title game was hosted in large venues like the Xcel Energy Center in front of meager crowds.

“I have watched a lot of professional, college and high school games, but that environment was one of the best I have ever seen,” said Robertson, who celebrated his 56th birthday yesterday.

George Stewart, the former Vikings wide receivers coach, now is special teams coordinator and assistant head coach with the Chargers. After about 34 years as an assistant coach in college and the NFL, Stewart still thinks about becoming a head coach. “I have a burning desire to do that at some point,” he told Sports Headliners Monday.

Stewart is 58 and head coaches are usually younger, but he mentioned Mike Zimmer was the same age when the Vikings hired him in 2014 as their football boss. Stewart said he wants an NFL head position, and the only head job in college that interested him was at his alma mater, Arkansas.

Stewart worked 10 seasons for the Vikings before deciding earlier this year to move on. When Stewart was a young coach with the 49ers, the legendary Bill Walsh told him 10 years was often long enough for an assistant to stay with one organization. An assistant coach’s instructions can become stale in talking with players after a long period, Stewart said, while explaining why he left the Vikings.

It doesn’t look like Chad Greenway, the newly retired Viking linebacker, is in any rush to decide what’s next in his life. Another former Vikings linebacker, Scott Studwell, told Sports Headliners he would advise Greenway to take six months to consider his future.

Condolences to Greenway and his family after the death last week of grandfather Michael Schoenfelder from Mount Vernon, South Dakota.

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