Tagged: Go-Go

March 9, 2009

I Know it’s Still Early, But…

Twins’ pitching has been pretty impressive so far

Once again, the pitching staff just missed a no-hitter in yesterday’s game against Baltimore, when Matt Wieters singled off of Bobby Keppel in the bottom of the ninth. This is actually the second time this spring that the Twins have taken a no-hitter into the late innings. Francisco Liriano was perfect in this outing and recorded five strikeouts. Joe Nathan pitched brilliantly too, recording no hits and no walks while striking out two in his lone inning of work. Better yet, his shoulder doesn’t seem to be bothering him at all anymore, which is great because the Twins don’t anything else to worry about right now.

Kevin Slowey pitched pretty well against the Rays today, giving up two runs on four hits, but striking out four batters in 3 1/3 innings of work. The bullpen looked pretty good once again, too, including Matt Guerrier. Matty G struck out one and walked one in 2/3 of an inning, but didn’t give up any hits or runs. Actutally, his worst performance so far this spring was probably against the Pirates, when he gave up two runs on two hits and walked one in one inning. I think that, as long as he can return to his previous role in the seventh and doesn’t have to pitch too many innings this year, Guerrier will likely bounce back from his awful 2008 campaign.

The offense, however, is not

It’s a good thing the pitching staff has been so stingy about giving up runs; the offense has been reluctant to score any. I realize that most of the regulars are playing in the WBC, and so the offense might be a little anemic when it’s being carried by the likes of Carlos Gomez. Still, some key players are still in camp and haven’t been terribly productive yet. Michael Cuddyer has been a miserable .188/.235/.313 so far, and Joe Crede has recorded only one hit in his 14 plate appearances (though he has two walks). These guys are both coming off of injury-shortened seasons last year, and it will probably take awhile for them to get comfortable at the plate. In particular, Crede’s back doesn’t seem to be bothering him anymore, so it will probably just be a matter of time before he starts hitting.

I am more worried about Denard Span, however. As I’ve written elsewhere, he was a great leadoff hitter for the Twins last season, something the lineup has lacked since the departure of Doug Mientkiewicz in 2003. However, he never had that much success at the plate in the minor leagues, and so I have been concerned that last season might have been a fluke. So far, that concern has been real since Span has only hit .111/.111/.235, though he’s drawn four walks in 18 at-bats. Span has grounded out 9 times, and flown out 5 times, so it appears as though he’s simply hitting the ball to a fielder. This might be an issue with his mechanics, and I would much rather he go through these problems here in camp than during the regular season (or the middle of the playoff chase).

The news isn’t all bad, though. Delmon Young, another big question mark entering into spring training, seems to be taking Tony Oliva’s advice to heart:

Young apparently wasn’t very happy with his disappointing performance last year. While he hit a respectable .290/.336/.405 with 10 homers overall, most of his offensive production came in the second half. Before the All-Star break he was a mediocre .286/.330/.390 and had shown little power. Worse yet, he had struck out 62 times in that period and seemed to be struggling to find his swing. His name had been mentioned in several trade rumors during the offseason, and it looked as though he would be out of a job with the crowded outfield situation. But so far Young has responded by tearing the cover off the ball, hitting .529/.550/.789 and has driven in five runs in his 19 plate appearances so far. Three of his ten hits have been for extra bases, and his only homer of the season is the two-run bomb he hit today against the Rays. He still hasn’t shown a ton of patience at the plate, though, and has yet to draw a walk (though he has yet to record a strikeout, so I guess that’s progress).

Jason Kubel has been a menace at the plate too, hitting .400/.538/.800 in his ten plate appearances thus far. Kubel doesn’t have a lot of extra base hits yet, just a double and a solo homer, but I think those will come. At least he’s showing more confidence anyway.

This is not good news at all

Joe Mauer is apparently still having a lot of back pain and is scheduled to have a magnetic resonance anthrogram on Wednesday. Obviously we don’t know yet what, if anything, is wrong, but it doesn’t look like Mauer will be ready for Opening Day. Mauer swings what is arguably the most valuable bat in the lineup, so losing him for any part of the season would be a huge blow. I will hold off any speculation as to what the Twins will do without Mauer in the lineup until we know if indeed he will be out of the lineup.

February 10, 2009

The Army We Have Part II: the Outfield

The outfield is very crowded going into Spring Training, and it was rumored during the offseason that the Twins were looking to trade one of their outfielders to fill some of their holes. There wasn’t really much available that was really worth getting excited over, and so the front office decided to stand pat. Whether or not this is a wise decision remains to be seen, but with all of the injuries the team suffered last season maybe having depth is a good thing.

RF, Denard Span: Span really had a breakout season last year, finishing with a .294/.387/.432 line and drawing 50 walks in the leadoff spot. Span wasn’t too impressive when he first came up, and didn’t show a great deal of plate discipline, However, when he was sent back down to Rochester in early May, it was as if a light went off in his head. When he was called back up at the end of June to fill in for an injured Michael Cuddyer, he began spraying the ball all over the field. There is some question as to whether or not he’ll be able to repeat those numbers, since he never displayed much patience at the plate in the minors, but who knows? As one of our trio of speedsters (he, Gomez, and Alexi Casilla), it would be a shame to lose him in the lineup.

RF, Michael Cuddyer: Cuddyer is probably the closest thing the Twins have to a bad contract on their books, and at 3 years and $24 million that’s not really saying much. He has had to deal with injuries much of his career, but in 2008 he was really unlucky. First, there were all of the unfortunate hand injuries earlier in the season. Then, while completing a rehab stint in Rochester, he was hit in the foot with an errant line drive and ended up missing almost the entire second half due to a broken foot. Cuddyer has more power than Span, but Span is the superior outfielder, so it will be interesting to see who wins the starting job. There has been talk of moving Cuddy to third, where he played most of the 2005 season, but I don’t think this will work. He obviously didn’t stick there in the first place, and at age 30 guys don’t usually make the transition from the outfield to the hot corner very well.

Cuddyer is also famous for performing magic tricks. Here he is showing a card trick to Denard Span during Spring Training last year:

CF, Carlos Gomez: I have already written a lengthy piece on Go-Go here. I have to say, Go-Go and his ~~.360 slugging percentage~~ penchant for annoying opposing pitchers have really grown on me. He once told Justin Verlander that his mind was “not good“. He also rattled Cliff Lee so badly with a bunt attempt that he lost focus and gave up five runs in one inning. It will be interesting to see what he does this year.

By the way, Peter Gammons wrote in an article for ESPN that Gomez is the best defensive centerfielder in the league. I don’t agree with this assessment just yet. Gomez certainly has tremendous range, but his, um, youthful exuberance makes him commit a lot of silly errors. If he matures and learns to focus, then yes, he will probably be the best defensive centerfielder in the league.

LF, Delmon Young: I have also written a lengthy piece on Young, too. Young’s spot seems to be the most in jeopardy, considering how bad he was both defensively and offensively last year. However, I think that having to compete for a starting job will be good for him, and might give him the motivation he needs to improve.

OF/DH, Jason Kubel: Kubel has played in the outfield, but he’s mostly in the lineup as the DH. Kubel was once a very promising prospect who was absolutely killing the ball in the minor leagues. Unfortunately, he suffered a debilitating knee injury in winter ball during the 2004 season, and ended up missing all of 2005. This injury cost him a year of development at a crucial point in his career, and he is just now starting to recover from it. Last season he posted a respectable .272/.335/.471 with 20 homers, which makes him the third-best hitter on the team. He
has shown steady improvement in every one of his major league seasons, and he’s young enough that he likely hasn’t hit his ceiling yet. Hopefully he’ll finally have his breakout year.

The organization decided to reward Kubel with a multiyear contract during the offseason. Of course, we all know how I feel about that:

Unlike the infield, the outfield is hardly set. The best defensive outfield would be comprised of Span, Gomez, and Cuddyer. The best offensive lineup, though, would consist of Young, Span, and Cuddyer. Nobody is exactly a lock to win the starting job, and it will be interesting to see how all of this plays out.

Next in the series: the bullpen
On Deck: the catchers

January 29, 2009

Our Go-Go is growing up

Carlos Gomez is learning some plate discipline during winter ball

Carlos Gomez bunting.jpg According to this article in today’s Pioneer Press, our Gomez is learning to be more patient at the plate. Apparently he’s drawn 10 walks in 21 games during his stint in the Dominican Winter League, which is a significant improvement considering he drew only 25 in 153 games with the Twins this season. Why, it seems like just yesterday he was chasing pitches a mile outside the strike zone. And swinging out of his shoes on top of it. While his .364 OBP is still less than ideal, it’s much better then the anemic .298 he posted last season. He still strikes out an average of once per game, though, which is the same rate he struck out last season so he hasn’t improved much there.

Go-Go is, and probably always will be, a free-swinger in the same mold as Vladimir Guerrero and our own Kirby Puckett. Puckett used to drive me crazy since he would swing at anything and everything whether it was anywhere near the zone or not, but he had such quick hands that he would make contact more often than not. Guerrero is the same way, but he has a lot of power and his strike zone is often described as “from his nose to his toes”. Gomez, on the other hand, simply hacks away without having much to show for it. He is so focused on swinging away and trying to come up with a big hit, that he can’t accurately judge the location of the pitch (or even what type of pitch it is). He’s been putting in a lot of work in winter ball, focusing on taking pitches and developing his eye at the plate. It will be interesting to see if all this work pays off.

Considering that our Gomez is only a kid (he just turned twenty-three) and it’s only his second full year in the major leagues, I think it’s much too early to give up on him yet. Clearly he still has a lot of growing up to do, and I think plate discipline will come with maturity. Even a slight improvement over last season’s numbers (.258/.296/.360 with 7 HRs) would be enough to leave him batting in the ninth spot. If he could double his number of walks, and cut his strikeouts in half, he might even be moved up to the leadoff spot (especially if Denard Span regresses). At any rate, his excellent fielding skills more than make up for his anemic offensive production (which makes it very difficult for Gardy to sit Go-Go when he’s struggling at the plate). Gomez’s speed also makes him an invaluable part of the lineup, as he is always a threat to steal whenever he does manage to get on base, and can often beat out groundballs (most of his 149 hits last season came from infield hits). If nothing else, his antics rattle opposing pitchers and make them more likely to make mistakes to the guys hitting behind him.

If he could just learn to hit, Gomez himself would make the Santana trade worthwhile.

January 10, 2009

The Cardiac Kids

I came across this article in the New York Times awhile back, and needless to say I was not surprised to find that watching sports can cause heart attacks. I know that watching the Twins nearly killed me many times last season. We started calling them the “Cardiac Kids”, given their penchant for making things much more exciting than they really needed to be. And although my heart may have survived all the stress, I have discovered some grey hair. And I’m not even 27 years old yet!

To say that last season was exciting is an understatement. I think only the 2006 season, in which the Twins made a late-season run to capture the division title, had more drama. This was a season in which absolutely nothing happened the way it was supposed to. The starting rotation, which was supposed to be the team’s biggest weakness, was actually one of it’s strengths. The bullpen, which was has been so reliable in recent history, fell apart down the stretch. The offense, which nobody expected to be very productive, scored 829 runs (3rd most in the AL) despite hitting a mere 111 home runs (dead last in the AL). It was a season in which no lead, no matter how big, was safe, and no deficit was too large to overcome. There were heartbreaking losses and thrilling come-from-behind wins. Not to mention the most amazing play any Twin has ever made.

And it all ended with one bad pitch.

Of course, Carlos Gomez was the main Cardiac Kid last season, causing me to make many trips to the fridge for more beer. You just never knew what this goofy kid was going to do. And I have to admit, Go-Go has grown on me, despite my better judgement. His hitting was very inconsistent, to say the least, and he has a tendency to swing for the fences at pitches way outside the strike zone. But I haven’t seen anyone cover more ground in center field than our dear Gomez. Seriously, he and Denard Span could probably patrol the outfield all by themselves. And there were all of the spectacular plays he made, as well as some spectacularly bad ones (like the one pictured. Ouch.)

Gomez also had a habit of annoying opposing pitchers with his threats to bunt and steal, hence the title of this blog. Oh, and there was that time he told Justin Verlander that his “mind was not good.” Um, that’s not really something you want to say to a guy whose fastball has been clocked at 100 mph.

Opening day is only a few short months away. I better start making sure I have enough beer in the fridge.