April Thoughts
May 3, 2010
We are a month in on the baseball season and the Twins are already off to a hot start. As of this writing the Twins are sitting on a 16-9 record and are ahead of the Detroit Tigers by one game. The rest of the Central Division opponents are six or more games back of the Twins. With things going great for most parts, it is time to look back on the month of April.
The team did not look good in the first game of the season but immediately turned it around and won the next five games in a row and won six of the seven series matchups over the course of April. They also won their first series in the month of May by taking two of three against the Cleveland Indians, however, with all of the series wins, the Twins have yet to take a series sweep.
Surprisingly, the Twins are performing well on the road, which have usually been one of the rough areas for the team that was built for indoor ball at the Metrodome. The Twins are currently .625 on the road and are sporting a 10-6 record up against the likes of the Angels, White Sox, Tigers, Royals and Indians, with the Tigers being the only home team to defeat the Twins more than once. It took until June 12th for the Twins to earn 10 road victories last season.
While the team has looked good on the road, the Twins also have a winning record at their new home, Target Field. The Twins are 6-3 at home defeating such teams as the Red Sox, Royals and Indians while picking up two victories by shutout. What’s even more amazing about the nine games at Target Field, though, is that all games were played on time and had only minor issues with the weather. Not every April in Minnesota will go as smoothly for the club, but the weather was gorgeous for most of the nine game home stand.
When a team starts off with a winning record and is sitting on top of the division, it is easy to say that everything is going good. Of course, that isn’t always the case as the Twins are something like 3-for-1456 with the bases loaded this season, but that is a whole other issue. At any rate, there are a few bright spots on the roster throughout the month of April worth mentioning.
For starters, Francisco Liriano has been lighting up the competition and making them look like minor leaguers in the process. Liriano gave up three runs in his first outing before tossing 23 scoreless innings. Liriano’s streak finally broke in the first inning of Sunday’s game against the Indians, but he still threw 123 pitches and picked up his fourth victory of the season. Liriano is leading the Twins in innings pitched (36.0), ERA (1.50), strikeouts (36), and unfortunately, walks (13). Even with the high number of walks, Liriano is looking more like the pitcher of 2006 than the pitcher of 2009.
Sticking with pitchers, Jon Rauch has anchored the bullpen and performed admirably in the closer role. How Rauch would perform filling in for Joe Nathan was one of the big question marks on the season but Rauch has seemed to put most of that to rest for the time being. Rauch went 6-for-6 in his first six save opportunities before blowing a save against Kansas City. He would pick up the victory in the extra innings game and earn his seventh save on his next outing to bring his ERA down to 1.64.
Justin Morneau has had a hot start to the season and is currently sitting at a .349 batting average, which is four points higher than Joe Mauer. Morneau has had a few slumps at the plate and even sat on the bench with an upper back problem, but even that hasn’t stopped him from hitting a team leading six home runs with 18 RBI. Along with the six dingers, Morneau has seven doubles and he has legged out a triple. Morneau has quickly erased all concerns of his back that put him on the shelf at the end of last season.
Another bright spot at the plate has been Jim Thome. Thome has usually been used off the bench in pinch hitting situations and occasionally as a designated hitter, but that hasn’t stopped him from showing off his power, hitting five home runs in just 49 at bats. On Sunday, Thome tied Rafael Palmeiro for 11th place on the all-time home run leader board and is just four homers shy of tying Twins great Harmon Killebrew. Thus far Thome has been a great addition to the club and gives them a power hitting threat on the bench in times of need.
Finally, one player that has impressed me the most so far this year has been Delmon Young. While Young’s average hasn’t always looked the greatest, he has seemed to improve his game by leaps and bounds since last season. You can tell immediately by looking at his face that he has lost nearly 30 pounds, which seems to have given him a little more speed and he already has two stolen bases – which tied his total amount from last year. The biggest surprise, though, is the fact that he is showing more patience at the plate and is picking up more walks. Thus far Young has walked eight times compared to a dozen times all last year.
You cannot tell how the season is going to play out just by looking at the month of April, but the Twins are giving their fans a lot to talk about and a lot to cheer about. Let’s hope the team continues going down this path, and hopefully pick up a series sweep or two.
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Delmon Young has really impressed. He came into the pre-season in what looks to be great shape. He is faster on the base path and even more importantly in left field. He has made some catches this year on the run that he would have let drop in front of him the last two years.
He is also making some good improvements at the plate. It doesn’t even matter that he is not hitting the ball 435 feet every other day. He is taking balls and has had 8 base on balls and only 8 strike outs.
Jim Souhan stole my article: http://www.startribune.com/sports/twins/92734529.html
Basically same stuff but he got paid for writing his article.