The Apple Capital Rumble

Monday 20 April 2009

After simply getting embarrassed by the Toronto Blue Jays last week, the Twins welcomed the Los Angeles Angels to the dome for a three game weekend series.  In short, the Twins swept the series.  I'll keep my synopsis of the series as short as possible...

Jason Kubel hit for the cycle on Friday.  Many fans were probably not watching at the end of the game.  The previous series left many fans (including myself) in a state of little faith, and the beginning of this game didn't do much to dispel those sentiments.  The Twins needed a 7-run eighth inning to topple the Angels.  Kubel capped off what was already a solid game with his towering grand slam in 8th. 

Anyone who watched the beginning of the game hopefully heard Dick Bremer at the point I'm about to bring up...

Now, I need to give a short explanation to give this upcoming story context.

As this blog might imply, I am from the Apple Capital of Minnesota.  I wasn't born in the La Crescent area, but I moved there when I was 7 and spent the my adolescent and teenage years there.  I consider it my hometown, and I take a great deal of pride in saying that. 

When I went away to college (and ever since then), whenever someone asks me where I'm from, I say with heavy confidence "I'm from La Crescent.  It's the Apple Capital of Minnesota.  That's why you've heard of it"  I say it in a way that makes them feel totally stupid for not knowing where it is (it's right across the Mississippi from La Crosse, WI). 

So...I was watching the game with The Apple Capital Rumble's first lady, when the telecast came back from commercial break.  They were showing a scene with apple blossoms, and I told Kristin [first lady] rather matter of fact "That's La Crescent."  She "You don't know that'd" me, and just then, Bremer says "That's a scene from an apple orchard overlooking the Mississippi River just outside of La Crescent.  La Crescent is known as the Apple Capital of Minnesota."

Both of us busted out cheering, and I called everyone I still talk to who would know that back story, and they loved it!  The one's who were watching the game were just about to text me when I called/texted them.  It was a great moment that most of you probably wish you had the last two minutes of your life back.

Back to the series. 

Kevin Slowey looked much better in his start on Saturday going 7 innings.  He gave up 6 hits and 2 runs, but he looked much better than in his previous two starts of the season. 

On Sunday, Glen Perkins threw 8 very strong innings and completed the first series sweep of the season.  Perkins looked very sharp for the third time this season.  Perkins may be pitching in the fourth slot in the rotation, but the manner in which he's been throwing the ball is very encouraging.

Of note was the Twins designating Philip Humber for assignment.  Humber had not pitched well at all.  Even in spring training he didn't look great.  The Twins see Humber as a starter, and he hadn't made a very smooth transition to the bullpen.  The Twins don't want to lose him, but with the way he was pitching, they couldn't afford to have him on the mound. 

[For those of you unaware of how it works when a player is "Designated for Assignment" I'll explain.  Humber no longer had minor league options available to the Twins.  So, Humber was designated for assignment.  This means he was placed on waivers by the Twins.  Any team can claim Humber off of waivers.  If a team claims him, the Twins and the other team either work out a trade or Humber's new team would be responsible for what's left on his contract.  If he isn't claimed, Humber has two options: A) Stay in the Twins organization and accept his assignment to Rochester or B) Request to be released by the Twins and become a free agent.  The Twins have a maximum of 10 days to figure out what's going to happen with Humber.] 

In his stead, the Twins claimed Juan Morillo who comes over from the Colorado Rockies organization.  Morillo doesn't have a lot of exposure in the majors, and what little time he's served has not been impressive, however, the Twins opted to take a chance on the hard throwing righty.

Morillo threw a scoreless 9th inning for the Twins, and looked good (reaching 97 a few times).  He is only 25, so hopefully, Rick Anderson can do his thing and turn a rough pitcher into an effective reliever much like he did with Craig Breslow last season and Dennys Reyes a few years ago.  Morillo has the stuff to be a very good reliever.  He just needs to harness his control.

In other news, Jose Mijares has been lights out in Rochester so far this season.  He's thrown 6 1/3 scoreless innings, with only 2 hits while striking out 4 and walking 1.  I honestly don't see how Mijares isn't in Minnesota by the end of the month.  It needs to be sooner actually. 

Luis Ayala has been awful.  Nothing in his career numbers would lead any of us to think that Ayala could be a good pitcher.  At best, Ayala could prove to be a "serviceable" pitcher, however, he's not shown that minute potential, and I have little faith that he will. 

After moving Brian Duensing down to Rochester, the Twins were left with only Craig Breslow (who's been shaky) as a left-hander in the pen.  Cut Ayala, and bring up Mijares.  

Next up...the Boston Red Sox.

Wednesday 15 April 2008

If you haven't done your taxes yet, you probably should.

[Public Service Announcement...check]

Sorry about there not being a post yesterday.  I'm usually a man of my word, but I went to a concert instead.  While on vacation visiting my parents out in DC, I apparently didn't miss anything as the Twins weren't too terribly successful from Wednesday through Monday night. 

I can't say much about the last week or so about the Twins aside from the stating the obvious fact that they have had a rough start to the season.  Those of you who have been able to watch the games can attest to an anemic offense and erratic pitching.  That's a combination that tends to not lead to much success, but that's behind us...

Glen Perkins started Game 9, and he pitched well over his 8 complete innings of work.  He was in line to get his first win of the season until he gave up a run in the eighth.  It's unfortunate for his stat line, but it's very encouraging for the Twins because Perkins has had two strong starts in his first two appearances.

Denard Span has continued his solid start to the season.  His first at-bat brought 10 pitches (or maybe 11), and that's something Twins hitters want to see from the first batter of the game. 

Jesse Crain deserved the win tonight.  He threw two very good innings of relief (the 10th and 11th).

At no point in this game did it really seem like Toronto was in the driver's seat, and they didn't put up big scares outside of the second inning when the manufactured the games first run.  Minnesota threw together two good innings which should have produced more runs.

The game shouldn't have even gotten to the 11th inning.  In the 10th, Mike Redmond drew a leadoff walk only to be replaced by Brendan Harris.  Harris advanced to second on the sacrifice bunt Nick Punto laid down.  Carlos Gomez was robbed of a base hit when Kevin Millar made a ridiculous diving catch.

That didn't happen, so the Twins had to win in the 11th after Justin Morneau scored on Joe Crede's double off the "wall" in centerfield. 

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Scott Baker will come off the DL tomorrow, so a roster spot will need to be opened to make room.  The same names will be involved in the discussion as to who is moved: Philip Humber, RA Dickey, and Brian Duensing. 

Philip Humber is out of options, and that's all I can really say about him so far this season.  RA Dickey didn't look especially great (from what I heard and read), but could serve the team well in the bullpen.  Brian Duensing is the logical person to be moved because he's the only one of these three who does have minor league options.

Brendan Harris is out of the discussion.  Not that his role with the team couldn't be filled by someone else, but it's been nice having him available off the bench to pinch run late in the games.  I think sooner or later he'll start getting some playing time in the field especially if Alexi Casilla continues to not be able to hit anything from the right side of the plate.

Regardless, expect an update tomorrow to see what roster spot is made.

Tuesday 7 April 2009

Game 1 is in the books, and the Twins didn't look all that great.  Francisco Liriano started off strong and didn't pitch poorly, but left after 7 innings and 4 earned runs.  It takes most teams a few games if not weeks to fully get back into season mode, but the Twins have more adjusting to do.

If you watched the game, you saw two miscues by Alexi Casilla at second base where he had relatively routine ground ball hit near him.  I wasn't able to see a replay of the first one, but it looked like it just took a different hop off the turf than he was expecting.  The second play a few innings later forced Casilla to dive to his right, but the ball was a bit higher than he had anticipated and the ball ricocheted off his glove into centerfield. 

The Twins, Marlins, Rays, and Blue Jays are the only teams in the league who play on artificial surfaces at the their home stadiums.  Every team in the league has natural turf at their spring training facilities.

I don't mean to make sound like an excuse, but it takes players (especially infielders) a little more time to get their timing down when they've been preparing for the season on grass, and end up having to play 81 games on an artificial surface.  There was nothing especially extraordinary about the two balls hit to Casilla, and had they been hit in Game 11 instead of Game 1, he almost certainly would have made both outs.

Aside from Casilla's two mistakes (which weren't recorded as errors), the Twins defense looked decent.

Carlos Gomez just missed a home run ball at the wall, but he was running with a full head of steam and was about 6 inches too far to the right, and the ball just cleared the fence. 

While Liriano looked pretty good, the bullpen was far from it.  Luis Ayala pitched a scoreless 8th inning, and looked fine.  Jesse Crain started the ninth...walk.  Craig Breslow comes in...walk.  Matt Guerrier's first pitch bounces off Mike Redmond (hopefully, it was just miscommunication), so both runners advance.  Then Guerrier gives up a hit the scores two.  Finally, Guerrier finished the game off, but the bullpen that wasn't really improved even though it needed to be, did not look like good.

Obviously, the Twins will be better than they showed in the home opener, and the bullpen isn't going to be as bad as they appeared to be, but they've got room for improvement.

Monday 6 April 2009

Well...the day is finally here.  The final opening day for the Minnesota Twins at the Metrodome.  Scott Baker was supposed to be the opening day starter, but Francisco Liriano will be starting in his stead against Seattle's Felix Hernandez after Baker was placed on the DL.    I'll have more of a recap for Tuesday as there will be more to talk about it tomorrow, so I'll just fully update everyone to be prepared for the season.

25-man rosters were finalized on Saturday, Matt Tolbert was the only player left off of the active roster. 

The Twins had already been planning on placing Joe Mauer on Boof Bonser officially on the DL, but then they announced that Scott Baker would also be placed on the 15-Day DL for a sore right shoulder.  That announcement came after my Spring Training Finale was written last week, so there became another roster spot opened.

With the open roster spot, the Twins brass decided to carry an extra pitcher on the roster.  RA Dickey has already been named to the big league roster late last week as the fifth starter, so Twins fans will get their first look at him Friday against the White Sox.  That decision means that Brian Duensing will be a second lefty (along with Craig Breslow) and Philip Humber will be a long reliever. 

After Baker comes back, I would assume Duensing would be sent down to Rochester, but that's a bridge the team will need to cross.  The decision will also largely depend on how all pitchers perform, but it would seem like Duensing's available minor league options would leave him the odd man out, and on a plane back to Rochester.

Meanwhile, the Twins also announced their decision to keep Brendan Harris instead of Matt Tolbert.  In the end, it all boiled down to Tolbert still having options.  There was almost no chance of Harris clearing waivers and not being picked up by another team, so the Twins kept him instead of risking losing him to another organization.  Tolbert will get his chance this season as if there are any injuries in the infield, he'll almost surely be the first person called up.

Wednesday 1 April 2009

This will be my last entry prior to the season beginning ON MONDAY!!!  It's been a long Minnesota winter and even though we just got dumped and will continue to get dumped on this week, the season opener on Monday will help the weather not seem so bad.  Of course this will start what is surely to become an annual conversation anytime Minnesota gets snow (more specifically the Twin Cities) at the end of March and into April about how the Twins should have built a retractable roof stadium, but it's too late now.

I apologize for not writing last week, but honestly...I just didn't feel like it.  Nothing really happened anyway. 

With the season starting Monday, look for regular posts again (Monday-Friday).  Bookmark the site, and tell your friends as there will be entries on a regular basis.  Also, I invite you guys all to comment.  I've gotten emails and facebook messages about the inability to post comments from some of you, and I've looked into why that is, but haven't gotten anywhere.

Let this be a forum for Twins fans to talk about the squad...

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The season's about to start, and the last group of cuts and demotions are being made by the team.

Joe Mauer's lower back injury appears to be something that could keep him out of the lineup at least through the first few weeks of April.  From what I've read, it's not so much that the injury is lingering that's going to cause him to miss time, rather, his inability to do much physical activity during spring training and his body not being ready for the grueling season.

In his stead, Mike Redmond will be taking over the starting catcher duties.  One of the more intriguing battles in camp was who will be the backup while Mauer is out.  Jose Morales and Drew Butera were the two candidates late in camp, and today the Twins announced that they would be going with Morales. 

Both players had solid spring performances.  Morales is more of an offensive catcher, but had taken great strides and really showed the team that he had worked his tail off to improve his game behind the plate.  On the other hand, Butera was getting rave reviews from the pitching staff due to his defensive skills and ability to call games.  Butera is not known for his offense, however, he also showed the club that he could make great strides on the offensive side of the game.

Ultimately, I think it came down to Morales' experience.  While the Twins were very impressed with Butera, they wanted to give him more time in the minor leagues.  After all, he hadn't played anything higher than New Britain (AA), and Morales has been with the Red Wings (AAA) for the last couple seasons. 

I really don't think they could have gone wrong either way considering it will most likely just be a short call up and by the beginning of May Morales will be back in Rochester.  Plus, Morales will maybe be catching a couple games a week while up in the majors.  But it sent a positive message to players in the minor league system that if you work your butt off, they'll try to get you a chance to appear with the big league club.

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Also sent down to Rochester was former Rule 5 draftee Alejandra Machado.  The Twins took Machado from the Washington Nationals organization during the 2006 winter meetings.  His 2006 season was a wash because of injuries, and he later signed a minor league contract to stay in the organization, but is yet to see any playing time in with the club. 

It's no surprise as he's never really amounted to much of an infielder in the Twins system, so his assignment to Rochester was merely a technicality to drop the Twins closer to that 25 player limit.

Machado's assignment leaves Brian Buscher, Brendan Harris, and Matt Tolbert vying for the last two position player slots on the roster. 

Buscher is virtually assured of making the club.  He's had a decent amount of action at first base as the backup there.  He'll hardly get a dozen starts at first as Justin Morneau simply does not miss games.  Also in Buscher's favor is the likelihood of him taking starts at third to give Joe Crede some time to rest his bionic back.

Earlier this spring training (and throughout the offseason), Brendan Harris was the presumed sixth infielder, however, it's become increasingly unclear whether Harris or Tolbert will get the final roster spot with the club.

Any Twins fan who watches games regularly remembers how bad Harris was defensively at second base and short stop last season.  Tolbert is a very good defensive infielder, so there's a chance the club could go with Tolbert and be forced to lose Harris as a roster casualty.

The dilemma for the Twins is that they don't quite know what kind of player Tolbert is at the major league level.  He played well in a limited fashion last season, but his season was ultimately cut short due to injury.  Meanwhile, the Twins saw Harris all season in various capacities.

Harris offers more offensively and can also backup third base if something were to happen to Joe Crede.  Tolbert offers adequate offense and strong defense up the middle if Nick Punto or Alexi Casilla either got injuried or fall into offensive ruts (which isn't a far-fetched notion).

The Twins don't really want to lose Harris, but to me, it makes little sense to carry two backup third baseman when they could bring up either Danny Valencia or Luke Hughes if something were to sideline Crede for an extended period of time.  This way, they can see how they handle the big leagues since both of those players are in the running to be the Twins third baseman as soon as 2010.

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The final roster battle was for the final bullpen positions.  Jose Mijares was the fan favorite to become Joe Nathan's setup man after firing on all cylinders last September.  However, some character issues popped up (see pre-madonna tendencies) while he played winter ball in Venezuela.  Mijares had dug himself a hole and then he showed up to camp looking, but even worse...pitching like Carlos Silva.

Of all the roster moves announced thus far in camp, the assignment of Mijares to Rochester has to be the most surprising move to fans.  Mijares will be called up to the majors this season, and most likely will get a call up sooner rather than later, but most fans were quite high on him after what he did for the team's bullpen last fall.

Mijares re-assingment leaves Philip Humber, RA Dickey and Brian Duensing competing for the final two spots.  All three would be middle relievers and potential substitutes in the rotation. 

The Twins are in a bit of bind with this choice because Humber would be the most likely pitcher to get sent down, however, he is out of options, so would be available to other clubs if not named to the 25 man roster. 

Dickey is signed to a minor-league deal, so there's some flexibility there. 

Duensing has a leg up because he's the only lefty in the conversation and the Twins will need to decide whether they're okay only having Craig Breslow as a left-handed option in the bullpen (at least until Mijares is presumably called up).

Pure curiosity may secure a roster spot for Dickey as he's a knuckleballer, but it'll be interesting to see how they handle Humber since he was the closest major-league ready pitcher they received in the Johan Santana trade (although I'm sure most fans have already forgotten that). 

It also may come down to who the Twins would feel the most comfortable with making a spot start if something were to happen to a member of the rotation.  Do you want a guy who's been in the bullpen? or...Would you rather have someone who has been getting starts at Rochester?  It's a tough question.

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These final roster decisions must be made by Saturday, so keep an eye out to see who makes the cut.