What Will Opening Day Be Like?

Hello Twins fans and it’s another season upon us! tomorrow, some of you fans and players alike will be braving the cold at Target Field. I wonder if they will postpone the game because the weather forecast is expected to be in the 30′s with windchills in the 20′s.
Wel, to tell you the truth, it doesn’t feel like baseball weather here in Minnesota. Although Target Field is cleared of snow, there’s still snow on the ground. Also, it’s hardly even cracked into the 50′s, something that usually happens at this time of year. To put it simply, it still feels like winter, providing for an interesting atmosphere at Target Field. I thought I’d have a little fun here thinking about what the atmosphere will be like. Not all of my ideas will happen, but it’s still fun to predict what it will be like.
At least a couple of generations of Twins fans have never experienced opening day where it’s in the 30′s with snow still on the ground and you’re outside. There have been opening days where it was cold and snowing outside, but the Twins were under the tafflon roof at the Metrodome for 29 seasons. So, here are some ideas of what I think opening day should be like tomorrow although I doubt if all of them will happen.
Most of you have heard of the recent creation of the homer blankie. Well, I wouldn’t be surprised to hear of people bringing a sleeping bag to the park to stay warm in. Or how about wearing a snowmobile suit. Fans will be wearing plenty of layers that for sure.
The next thing I can see happening is the beer vendors standing out in the cold with limited sales. They wonder if they should have stayed home and not have bothered showing up to work. And oh yeah, this cold weather will stimulate sales for hot drinks like coffee and hot chocolate. Minus the sale of the hot beverages, the concession sales Will be as slow as a turtle.
Now, here’s something which I doubt will happen. The Twins should play Christmas Carols between innings. That’s what it feels like to me outside. It feels like it’s still winter and that it should be Christmas season.
Usually when I think of opening day, I think of it being at least in the fifties and at the very least, very little snow. Now don’t think that I’m not looking forward to the Twins season starting. However, when it still feels a bit like winter with some snow on the ground, it doesn’t exactly feel like baseball weather.
Moreover, Major League baseball shouldn’t have had the Twins open there home season this early since they play outside in a northern state where there’s still a chance that the weather could still feel like winter. Luckily it’s not snowing or it would really not be good. Although I’m not actually going to the game, the current weather doesn’t feel like that the baseball season’s here yet.

If Valencia Does Well, It Could Create An Interesting Situation For The Twins

Today, Danny Valencia Will be in uniform and is expected to start at third Base for tonight’s game. Valencia replaces Trevor Plouffe Who has a sore thumb and was placed on the 15 day DL retroactive July 20.

Valencia was batting .190 with 1 homerun and 11 RBI before he was given a one way ticket back to Rochester in early May . While with the Red Wings, Valencia batted .250 with 7 homeruns, 37 RBI and 30 runs scored.

Plouffe has hit 19 homeruns with 37 RBIs while batting .259 with 44 runs scored. He’s not homered since before the all star break.

If Valencia does well this time, it could create an interesting situation for the Twins. Granted Plouffe can play in the outfield, but it would make it more crowded. The only way I see Plouffe being an everyday outfielder is if either Denard Span or Josh Willingham are traded and it appears that it won’t be very likely. Also, it’s possible that if Justin Morneau’s traded, Plouffe could slide over to first base, but again I don’t see it likely to see Morneau dealt.

Another senarial is Valencia gets traded by the nonwaiver trading deadline which is this Tuesday, but again it’s only a few days to up Valencia’s trade value and teams wouldn’t be likely to give a lot in return for him. You could also trade Plouffe, but he’s currently on the DL and won’t be available until early August.

What the Twins do if Valencia does will this time is certainly something to ponder. Where would they play Plouffe? It’s possible that Plouffe is once again a utility player, but I think you’d want to keep his bat in the lineup.

There’s however one thing certain. If Valencia wants to stay with the Twins, he needs to prove himself to Ron Gardenhire and the Twins coaching staff. There’s nothing better than an opportunity for him to make a statement that he belongs here in the majors.

The home run race between Willingham and Plouffe Should Have a Slogan

Recently, I’ve been thinking about the homerun race between Trevor Plouffe and Josh Wilingham. No, it’s not as dramatic as the race between Mickey Mantle and Roger Marris. However, it’s still fun to follow Plouffe and Willingham as they battle for the team lead in homeruns.

For several weeks now, they’ve been battling for the team lead. Plouffe hasn’t hit a homerun in over a couple of weeks. Willingham last homered in Saturday’s los to the Oakland Athletics. They’ve homered seven times on the same day in June and six times they’ve homered in the same game.

Because of this back and forth battle between these two players, I’ve been thinking that there ought to be a slogan.

The slogan should be this. “One is willing to hammer the ball over the fense, the other makes it go poof out of the park.”

This slogan fits really well. The willing to hammer part I got from Willingham’s last name. The other part I got because poof rhymes with Plouffe.

Although this homerun race between Plouffe and Willingham is not like the one between Mantle and Marris, it should provide for a little excitement for the rest of the season. The Twins may not be making it into the playoffs, but at least Plouffe and Willingham could provide some excitement as they battle it out for the team lead in homeruns.

Even Though There Were Plenty Of Mistakes In Yesterday’s Win, Twins will Take the Victory

Hello Twins fans, How about that game yesterday! It took 15 innings, but the Twins got it done thanks to a base hit by Denard Span that scored Brian Dozier. There were plenty of mistakes for the Twins at the plate. The most glaring is Ryan Doumit grounding out with the bases loaded to end the bottom of the Twelfth. Part of it is the Brewers pitcher, Jose Veras, had already walked two in the inning and was behind to Doumit with no strikes.

Also, the Twins hit into two double plays, one in the fifth inning and one in the sixth inning. If it weren’t for those double plays, the Twins could have scored more runs and have the chance of playing only 9 innings.

Despite all of the mistakes, the Twins will take the win. Usually, who ever plays better wins the game, I think the Twins actually played better despite the fact that they made more mistakes.

The reason I say that is because of the fact that Ben Revere made some good catches in right field especially in the top of the 11th. If it weren’t for that catch in the 11th, the Brewers would have had a runner in scoring position for sure at second or maybe even at third.

So, the Twins should take this extra inning victory and move on. They should use this to build some positive momentum and see if they can get themselves closer to 500 by the all star break. Let’s see if this victory can be a stepping stone to a solid season.

I would also like to make an announcement. Starting at ten tonight, my dad and I will be hosting a half hour show where we talk Twins baseball. The name of the Show is called Troy’s Twins chat. You can listen to it by clicking on the above link.

Should Fransisco Liriano Become A Full Time Reliever?

Recently, the Twins have moved Fransisco Liriano to the bullpen. Since then, he’s made two relief appearances and hasn’t allowed a run.

On Monday, he pitched two innings of relief against the Cleveland Indians. He retired the tribe in order in the seventh. In the eighth, he walked the bases loaded before working out of the jam.

Earlier this afternoon, he pitched 2/3 of an inning against the Detroit Tigers facing one batter, retiring the Tigers by means of a double play.

From following Liriano this season, one thing has become obvious to me. Liriano pitches fine for one inning. The next inning, he works himself into a jam and can’t think straight on the mound. Even last year, especially later in the season, Liriano was displaying this inconsistency from one inning to the next.

Although this is only a small sample size, but from Liriano’s recent relief appearances, it makes it a good idea to keep him in the bullpen. And the fact he was able to work out of pressure situations today and on Monday makes it seem like the logical thing to do.

There are pitchers that have struggled in the past as starters and when they moved to the bullpen, they found success.

LaTroy Hawkins is one such example of a Twins pitcher that found success when he moved to the bullpen. In his first five seasons with the Twins, he never had an ERA under 5. In 2000, he appeared in 66 games, saving 14 and finished with an ERA of 3.39 with 14 saves.

Since then, he’s had only two seasons where his ERA was over 5 (2001 and 2010). In his first five seasons, Hawkins pitched to an ERA of 6.92. From 2000-2012 he has an ERA of 3.51.

For me, it makes sense to convert Liriano to a full time reliever. However, the Twins may not want to since they have a salary of $7 million invested in him. Plus, if he returns to the rotation and does close to as well he did in 2006, the Twins could get more in a trade around the trading deadline.

However, because of the fact he’s struggled in the past two seasons, I think it would be the best thing the Twins could do. Who knows, Liriano could be a closer in a year or two. And if he’s a successful closer, he could make just as much money as he does now, maybe even more. The fact he’s been inconsistent as a starter in the past two seasons suggests that this is a good move for Liriano to become a full time reliever.

Saying If Only This Or That Had Happened Won’t Change the Outcome

The Twins so far this season have a record of 5-12. One of the reasons for this is the fact that they’ve not taken advantage of scoring opportunities. They’ve hit into 19 double plays. Not only that, they’re 8-47 with runners in scoring position in their past five games.

Last night’s 6-5 loss featured an excellent opportunity in the eighth inning for the Twins to score. Jamey Carroll reached third base on a single and a two base throwing error. Joe Mauer grounded out to first, Josh Willingham lined out to third, Justin Morneau was intentionally walked and Ryan Doumitt popped up to short.

Matt Capps came on in the ninth and gave up a homerun to Cody Ross that made the score 6-5. Ross had also hit a two run homerun to tie the score at 5 in the seventh inning off of Twins starter Jason Marquis.

And in the bottom of the ninth inning, Trevor Plouffe hits a fly ball to left that almost went over the fence for a two run homerun that would have won the game for the Twins, but died at the last minute and was caught for an out.

You could say if only Capps didn’t give up that homerun, then we’d had an opportunity to win, maybe even winning in extra innings since the score was tied when he came on. Or, you could say if only Plouffe’s fly ball to left went a little higher and had gone over the fence for a two run homerun, the Twins would have won the game. The Twins didn’t take advantage of their earlier opportunities in the game. Therefore, we didn’t win the game.

To create runs, you need base runners. Not only that, but you need to actually score runs. If you don’t take advantage of those opportunities when you have runners on base, then you won’t win as many games. The team that wins a game is one that makes the least mistakes and takes advantage of the scoring opportunities handed to them.

To say if only this had happened or if that had happened, it doesn’t change the outcome of the game. Once the game’s over, it’s over and the team that loses needs to look back and realize that they didn’t execute when they needed to.

Introducing Clete Thomas

Earlier today, the Twins announced that they’ve claimed Clete Thomas from the Detroit Tigers. To make room on the 25 man roster, the Twins optioned Ben Revere to AAA Rochester after the Twins 6-2 loss to Texas. Thomas will replace Revere as the fourth outfielder and provide some speed on the basepaths off the bench.

In 593 minor league games, Thomas has a batting line of .267/.348/.399 with 41 HR, 246 RBI and 344 runs scored. He’s stolen 148 bases and has only been caught 44 times.

Not only does Thomas have plenty of minor league experience, but he’s also played in 145 games in a Tiger uniform where he batted .253/.336/.391. He’s only hit 8 HR with 48 RbI and 54 runs scored in parts of 3 seasons with the Tigers. He only played in 3 games with the Tigers This year before he was reassigned to AAA Toledo.

One of the key reasons for the move was the Twins were short in the outfield at Rochester due to Rene Revera being on the Disabled List. Drew Butera has had to fill in some out there. Also, it provides Revere an opportunity to play every day.