Where for art thou Neshek?

Adam Evertt has been hurt for nearly the entire year, Alexi Casilla suffered an untimely finger injury but should be back in two weeks, Michael Cuddyer has been on and off the DL continually, but no injury has hurt the Twins this season more than the loss of setup man Pat Neshek.

In fact, I would argue the Twins would be in first place with roughly a four or five game lead on the Chicago White Sox if Pat Neshek was healthy today.

Need any proof simply look to yesterday's loss to Kansas City. Another example of a Twins starting pitcher having a great outing through the seventh inning. The Twins have a small lead but know if they can get into the 9th inning Joe Nathan will be there to shut the door. No big deal right??? Three short outs in the 8th inning and pick up the victory!

Manager Ron Gardenhire has given every pitcher in the bullpen the opportunity to collect those three outs. First it was Jesse Crain, then Matt Guerrier, sometimes Dennys Reyes, and all too often Brian Bass. The Twins cannot find anyone to bridge that cap from the starting pitching to Nathan in the 9th... and it's currently killing them.

We started the season thinking our bullpen would be our strength and our starting pitching would our weakness, but it seems the tables have turned. All the young starters continue to put up solid outings and more importantly are giving their team a chance to win. Only to see their W's fade into no-decisions as the bullpen blows the lead.

Maybe I'm just sitting here venting some of my frustrations right now and the bullpen situation isn't that big of a deal, but if October rolls around and the Twins miss the playoffs by five games or less, I will be wondering Where for art thou Neshek?