Quick game notes and some stats

I am not going into lengths to describe the Twins' win, but that was a great 9th inning. Coming back this way against one of the best closers in the league, against the world champions, against the team with the best record in the AL, can do tons for the confidence of this young team. Supreme irony that the hero of this game was a guy who have been a goat (pun intended) for most of the season.

As a matter of fact all 3 players who were fundamental for the inning (Young, Gomez, Lamb) have been, at one time or another, the subject of much scrutiny.

I hope that the Twins will show patience in the plate with Dice-K, who has been Dontrelle Willis wild, starting and win again today…

Bad news about Neshek, I hope that rest alone solves the problem. There is a lot said about him being a vegan may have been a cause in the injury. This is like saying that the brand of the tires someone is using might be responsible for a speeding ticket he/she get while cruising at 100mph

A list of four observations from the game:

A couple more notes from this game (just in case you missed them because they were subtle and have been somewhat a point of contention):

1. Everett made at least 3 plays in the field that were exceptional and that no other infielder in a Twins uniform could make (if you don’t know what I’m talking about I could explain…)

2. Guerrier earned the RH set up job tonight. I hope that the Twins’ coaching staff realizes that… and if you are reading, Pat I hope the best and that you are back healthy soon.

3. Gomez is rapidly maturing as a hitter. I’d venture to say that at this point he might be the best right hand bat the Twins have (compare his ABs vs those of Cuddy) The kid wants to listen and he listens. That 9th inning walk was probably one of his most valuable plays this year.

4. The decision to start and keep Kubel in the game over Monroe was a very bad one. I realize that the Twins need to find out what Kubel is really all about but this is not the time or the place to do it. Monroe, even with the comparatively limited time he played, has outperformed Kubel. About time for Gardy to reward him for this…

Twins' MVP: Lamb


Here is an interesting stat for the last statement above:
Runs created per game this season:

Mauer: 6.3
Gomez: 4.8
Monroe: 4.6
Morneau: 4.2
Tolbert: 4.2
Harris: 3.8
Cuddyer: 3.6
Young: 3.5
Punto: 3.4
Kubel: 2.9
Everett: 2.3
Lamb: 2.1
Redmond: 1.7

Gardy, do what you gotta do...

Notes & thoughts from today's game

• Gomez starts the game with a bunt single, 3-4 throws to 1st by Vasquez, steals 2nd. The American League player of the week doesn't even bother to throw. To third with Span's ground out to the right side and scores with Mauer's base hit to the right. Gomez has been sitting next to Livan in the dugout. He would be a good influence for Gomez. At least he has some guy to talk to. Morneau walks. Man on 1st and 2nd, 1 out. Delmon GIDPs. 1-0 Twins. Blackburn up. Swisher doubles to right center, 2 singles in a row. Konerko strikes out. Blackburn has a decent move to 2nd base. Dye strikes out. Pierzynski is up and out to Everett. End of 1-1


• Kubel singles to the right. Harris sacrifices him with a bunt to second and Lamb doubles him home at the opposite field. Everett pops up. Gomez up. A steady diet of breaking stuff outside and strikes out on one of those on a full count. Twins up 2-1. Sox up. Walk. Pop out to Everett. Fly out to Gomez. Swisher walks. Fly out to Span. End of 2, Twins 2-1. 43 pitches for Blackburn.


• Span singles to left (his 1st ML hit). Span steels second while Mauer strikes out. Morneau flies out to the deep center, Span tags and goes to 3rd. Delmon strikes out. Twins 2-1. Thome stikes out. Guillen is all over the umpire. Strikeout. Dye gets a him to right. AJP gets a single to the left. Fly out to Gomez. End of 3, Twins 2-1; 61 pitches for Blackburn.


• Kubel strikes out on a check swing. Harris doubles to deep right, so does Lamb, 3-1 Twins. Everett strikes out. Gomez flies out to right. Twins 3-1. Crede doubles. Single. 1st and 3rd no outs. Force out at second. 3-2, man on 1st 1 out. Ground out to Everett (great play by Everett). Thome strikes out. Twins up 3-2; 81 pitches for Blackburn. Bass is warming up.


• Span lines out to Crede. Mauer flies out to center. Morneau long fly out to the opposite field. Twins up 3-2. Ground out to Lamb, ground out to Everett, ground out to Harris (great diving stop). 1-2-3 inning. Young flies out to right. Kubel pops out to the SS. Harris strikes out. End of inning. Guerrier in for the bottom of the inning. Strikeout. Pop out to Lamb. 2 out walk. Line out to Lamb. End of 6, twins 3-2


• Lamb fouls out on the 1B side. Everett strikes out. Gomez strikes out. Guerrier still in. Fly out to Span. Thome walks. Single to center. Neshek in with man on 1st and 3rd and one out. Hit. Tied game. Strike out. Hit to the left, bases loaded. Anderson has a mount conference. Grand slam for Crede. 7-3 Sox. Ouch. Great play by Neshek to Morneau to end the inning. 7-3 Sox


• Span walks, Mauer grounds out, Morneau gets a hit to the left. Young gets an infield hit, a run scores. Kubel flies out to right. Harris grounds out to the SS. Rincon in. Strike out. Pop out to Mauer. Fly out to Mauer. Sox up 7-4


• Top of the ninth. Jenks in to pitch, Lamb grounds out to the pitcher. Tolbert pinch hits for Everett, singles to the left. Gomez hits into a double play to the short. Gave over. Sox win 7-4.


• What's up with the baby blues the umps are wearing and what's that thing in Swisher's chin?


• Ironic compilation of facts: the day I received an autographed 8x10 of Neshek's he gives up a broken bat grand slam...

Twins' MVP: Lamb

AL Central musings

• Several days ago I listed the team ages of all world series winners since 1980. So far the calculated team age for Detroit is 32.0 for batters and 30.7 for pitchers. If they go ahead and win it all this year, they will be the oldest team that accomplished that since 1980. I am not surprised to see Detroit struggle (I picked them 3rd in AL Central with a .500 record), but I was surprised to see them struggle against KC (which I picked 4th over the White Sox, and now see it challenging Detroit for 3rd.) Offensive slumps are a part of the game, but with Detroit relying on their offense to win cannot afford to have more than one bat slumping at the same time


• Speaking of offense, the addition of 2 ex-NL teammates to the Twins' lineup gave the Twins' fans a view of a rare but exciting play, the suicide squeeze. Everett's bat was a question mark coming into the season, but he has proven to be a very smart player that can help the team in several ways. Just early season numbers, but so far he has as many RBI (2) as the guy who leads the team in OPS (Kubel) in the same number of at-bats (10). Gomez has been a very positive surprise. I am sure that there is nobody west of the Mississippi who would like to see Span or Pridie over him up here. If he keeps it up (and indications are that he will only get better), by the all star break, a certain number 48 would be forgotten. His bunting the last 2 games has vastly improved and his last 2 bunts for hits can be repeated, with any infield defense in any formation... and this is just scary. I don't see Tolbert starting over Harris any time soon, but he could be a very useful piece of the bench, which makes Punto pretty much disposable. He can do everything Punto can, only better. I would not doubt that Bill Smith would (and should) be on the phone trying to unload Punto (but where and how?)


• Cuddyer's injury lands him on the DL and Span is recalled from Rochester. Most likely, Kubel would be the starting right fielder with Monroe the starting DH and Span on the bench


• Cleveland lost to the A's last night, so the Twins are 1.5 before the leaders of the division and the play them in the next two games. If they sweep, it is possible that they will lead the division by Sunday night. It is likely that the Twins will meet Mr Nomo tonight, and this is a good thing.

  



• Meanwhile, Bill James alledges that Puckett and Gaetti used steroids. Insane and inane. On another not, I received Hrbie's book. Look forward to reading it.

Notes & thoughts from today

• Twins lose 0-1


• Great close game. A pitcher's duo. Unfortunately, I thought that Saunders would be more hittable than that.


• Tolbert turned a cool DP in the 8th, with bases loaded and one out...


• Redmond's dp at the 8th after Monroe's walk was a backbreaker


• If people think that Gomez is green at the plate just look at Aybar (and he's 2 years older than Gomez)


• Morneau's backhand play on Figgins in the 5th was just amazing and the following play by Harris was great. Enough webgems, how about some O?


• Blackburn is a gamer. He was fighting with every pitch, kept his composure on the mount and kept going...


• I need a #22 jersey (and a #21 too...); don't know about a #27 though... He looks likes his buddy Torri in the box.


• What's up with the lack of crowd in the Dome?


• Blackburn, Lamb and Mauer are brothers in sideburns


• Detroit lost 0-4 to KC. No errors, but the lineup is not clicking and Inge is
  still the starting CF. Polanco is 0-10 for the season & Jacque Jones (0-7).


• Got an mlb.tv view of the Chicago - Indians game and Carmona started the gameb looking like "the wild thing" character from the movie Major League before he settled down. It seems very cold there also...[edit: eventually it seems like the Indians are winning comfortable this game]


• Here is all you need to know about the helmets worn by the Twins' base coaches this season. I think that the whole team should probably wear them. I really like the look it somewhat reminds me of those crazy Expos uniforms in the 80s.


• Brian McNamee is hitting ebay big times

Twins MVP: Blackburn

Cuddyer is uncomfortable at 3B, True or False?

There is a conception that a switch of Mike Cuddyer back to 3B would diminish his performance. Several sources indicate that Cuddyer performs worse at 3B. Most recently, MLB.com Twins beat reporter Kelly Thesier, wrote:

Cuddyer has the ability to play a variety of positions, but it's in right field that he has truly thrived, both defensively and offensively. After the unsuccessful experiment at third base, Cuddyer talked about never truly finding a comfort level there.

Here is a more in depth look at Mike's performance at 3B vs. RF:

As a 3B in 502 ABs he hit for .263 BA with a .329 OBP and .442 slugging for a total OPS of .771. At that span he hit 19 home runs with 59 RBI. He had 47 BB and 105 K. His per bat numbers are 26.4 AB/HR and 8.51 AB/RBI. His K/BB ratio was: 2.23

As a RF in 1268 ABs he hit for .275 BA with a .352 OBP and .452 slugging for a total OPS of .808. At that span he hit 40 home runs with 200 RBI. He had 138 BB and 283 K. His per bat numbers are 31.7 AB/HR and 6.34 AB/RBI. His K/BB ratio was: 2.05

Indeed, his RBI numbers improved as did his BB and gap power. His home runs declined. Is that a result of the move to the RF or is a result of maturing as a hitter and/or hitting ofter betweeen Mauer and Morneau while playing a RF vs. in the 7th and 8th hole as a 3B?


As far as his fielding goes, his FP at 3B was .942 (with league average .957) and range factor 2.70 (with league average 2.76). At RF, in 2006, his FP was .981 (league average .984) and range factor 1.87 (league average 2.20). In 2007: FP .986 (league average .985), range factor 2.02 (league average 2.08). Conclusion, his fielding both at 3B and RF is close to (albeit a bit below) league average, which indicates that his fielding does not suffer much at 3B...

It all depends whether the Twins could find a better 3B via free agency or trade. Here are some names and how they may compare (2007 numbers):

Mike Lamb
Batting: .289BA/.366OBP/.453SLG/1.25K/BB/28.3AB/HR
Fielding: FP:.936 (League average .954) RF 2.53 (2.68)

Morgan Ensberg
Batting: .230BA/.320OBP/.404SLG/1.76K/BB/23.5AB/HR
Fielding: FP:.929 (League average .954) RF 2.61 (2.68)

Scott Rolen
Batting: .265BA/.331OBP/.398SLG/1.51K/BB/49AB/HR
Fielding: FP:.969 (League average .954) RF 2.99 (2.68)

Pedro Feliz
Batting: .253BA/.290OBP/.418SLG/2.41K/BB/27.85AB/HR
Fielding: FP:.973 (League average .954) RF 2.91 (2.68)

for comparison purposes, Mike's 2007 Batting stats and 3B fielding stats

Batting: .276BA/.356OBP/.433SLG/1.67K/BB/34.18AB/HR
Fielding: FP:.942 (League average .957) RF 2.70 (2.76)

From the third basemen listed here, only Rolen and Feliz are superior fielders and only Mike Lamb is a superior hitter. Mike Lamb would potentially be an improvement offensively, but his defense suffers so much that the Astro's switched him to 1B. Feliz strikes out too much and his OBP is dismal. Rolen is an interesting situation, since he is superior defensively and a change of scenery might return him to an above average offensive player. The Rolen gamble might pay off if the price is right. Mike Cuddyer is here and free...