Countdown to Target Field

I was away for a few days and unable to post but thanks to DY21 for his post. However, when I returned home I had an interesting package in the mail from the Minnesota Twins. 

I was greeted with my season ticket renewal package, and look at the following little treat:

Only 504 days! It's just around the corner! Obviously my clock moves, but to honor the countdown we'll add a counter of our own here on the left sidebar and hope that this blog still exists by the time this clock hits zero. Here's to 504 more successful days!

Okay that is still a long time from now, but looking forward to next year is just as exciting. The Twins will be fielding a great team and it'll be a special year as the "final season" in the Metrodome. I'm planning on upgrading my season ticket plan from last year so look forward to a few free ticket giveaways on this blog is 2009!

In other Twins news, I'm going to wait and see on some of the recent Twins rumors until there is some more substance. But to catch you up, Twins Territory discusses the Twins "framework fo a deal" for free agent 3B Casey Blake. Aaron Gleeman discusses his affordable bullpen options for 2009.

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?

Twins Ramblings

Tough loss last night for the Twins. After Kevin Slowey's complete game gem on Sunday and great start from Glen Perkins last night, quality starts from the rotation have become nearly customary lately; however, an uncostumary bullpen collapse occurred last night.

Perkins left the game in the 7th inning leaving the bullpen to protect a 4-1 lead. A trio of Jesse Crain, Dennys Reyes, and Matt Guerrier all tried to get the final 9 outs but were to no avail. Very quickly a 4-1 slipped to a 5-4 deficit and the Twins weren't able to rally back. What seemed like another great victory against the division rival Detroit Tigers was suddenly a tough loss.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT...

With two out in the first inning Twins pitcher, Glen Perkins, had a pitch get away from him and come up and in on Detroit slugger, Carlos Guillen. Guillen gave Perkins a long stare and was certainly not happy about the inside pitch. "There is no reason to try and hit him, especially not in the first inning," Perkins said. "He's a good hitter. I tried to make good pitches to him. I didn't want to leave a ball over the plate. It was one that just got away from me. I threw it as hard as I could. It was unfortunate that it went right there."

It didn't take long for the Tigers to retalliate whether it was justified or not. In the 3rd inning Tigers pitcher, Armando Galarraga, threw his first pitch behind batter Joe Mauer which led to a rare show of emotion from the calm catcher as he made a slight glance back toward the mound. But on the second pitch it appeared that Galarraga was throwing at Mauer's knees. Believe it or not, Mauer nearly charged the mound taking three steps toward Galarraga and then made the logical choice to get back in the batter's box. "I thought it was unnecessary, especially the second one," Mauer said. "Nobody got hit. But obviously it looked like they were throwing at us."

Ron Gardenhire did however lose his cool and dedcided he needed to protect his start catcher. I agree, that after the first pitch a second attack from Galarraga should have resulted in an ejection for the pitcher. However, Gardy's tantrem left him as the only person to get ejected from the game.

SPAN WATCH

With the recent move of Michael Cuddyer to the DL (for the second time this year) young outfielder Denard Span has been recalled to take over the rightfield duties.

After struggling during his first callup in April, Span when back down and raised his batting average to .340 through 40 games with a .434 OBP. Span went 2 for 4 last night with a double and defensively made an awesome diving catch that earned him a Web Gem on Baseball Tonight.

I'm excited to watch Span play for the next two weeks and here's hoping for the best for the young outfielder. For more info on Span check out MLB.com here.

Bullpen, Twins lock up Nathan

Now that spring break is over and I have internet access, there is a lot to write about with only 3 days until the season opener!

First, I'd like to finish the 2008 Team Preview by taking a look at the bullpen. It was fitting that I hadn't written this post yet as the Twins made big news during the week regarding their star closer Joe Nathan. Monday, Nathan and the Twins agreed to a 4-year $47 million deal.

Across the blogosphere the deal seemed to come with mixed reviews. It is curious to see the Twins invest so much money in a player after seeing former stars Torii Hunter and Johan Santana leave this offesason, especially at a position like closer which is usually only considered a luxury. For a 33-year old closer to be the highest paid player on a team and be making $47 million is unique, but I'm not necessarily upset at this move. The deal certainly has its risk as Nathan could wear down and be grossly overpaid when he's 37, but it does provide stability at the end of the bullpen and is another sign from Twins management that they want to remain competitive.

Although $11.25 million per season is a lot for a close on a small market team that could have replaced Nathan with a cheap option like Pat Neshek, Nathan is a relative bargain compared to the mega-deals locked up my the Yankees Mariano Rivera and the Reds Francisco Cordero this offseason. Of all the closer is MLB, Nathan has proved to be on the of the most durable and efficient performers. Plus, I know Joe is incredibly happy in Minnesota and I'm happy to have him in the new ballpark.

This news allows me to segue into the bullpen team preview. We now know Joe Nathan will be closing many more games for the Twins and very likely become the team's all time saves leader by the time his new contract is over. This means submariner Pat Neshek is firmly planted in the setup role with the rest of the bullpen looking like Matt Guerrier, Juan Rincon, Dennys Reyes, Jesse Crain, and after recent spring training cuts Brian Bass.

Neshek had an amazing first half of 2007 putting him on the ballot for the All-Star Final Spot selection for the midsummer classic, but he seemed to tire down the stretch and ended with an average year. He worked on strengthening and conditioning during the offseason and does not have an earned run this spring. Look for Neshek to be a big contributor for the Twins in '08. I also expect Guerrier to have a big year for the Twins. Like Neshek, his first half numbers in 2007 were better than the second half, but he finished with a strong season and should see many innings in '08 due to the youth and inexperience in the Twins rotation.

Crain, Rincon, and Reyes all struggled with injuries last year and were unable to match the great seasons the trio had in 2006. Rincon certainly seems to be on a steady career decline but may still have a little gas left for the '08 campaign. Crain missed nearly the entire year last year pitching only 16 innings, yet the hard throwing righty has looked pretty good this spring. Look for him to perform well this year but expectations should be low after coming off of a big injury. Reyes will resume is roll as the lefty specialist and will also hope to bounce back from a disappointing '07. He should remain effective against lefthanded hitters but will most likely never match his insane '06 campaign.

Bass was a surprise to make the 25 man roster, but after Glen Perkins struggled all spring, Bass's numbers looked pretty good and he will take the bullpen role of long-reliever (aka mop-up man). I'm sure he will get plenty of innings with starters struggles and games get ugly.

All and all, the Twins bullpen is considered a strength of the team and should provide a solid backbone to the young starting rotation. If the starters can pitch solid games into the sixth inning there is a very good chance with a Guerrier/Neshek/Nathan combination that the Twins can pick up the win. The Twins will need the bullpen to be a source of consistency and health should be the only factor that could threaten this team strength. It'll be great to see Nathan coming in in the 9th for the clutch save, let's hope the Twins have plenty of leads going into the 9th inning.