Early season surprises- Part 2
This is the second part of three part look at the good, bad and ugly of the 2009 series.
The Bad
With the exception of Span, the out fielders don’t seem to be producing. Young has not been disciplined at the plate and was striking out in three pitches. Gomez has looked much better as it appears he is more patient and is falling down less after big swings. He has been hitting the ball to the opposite field like they have worked on in the off season, but he is not finding the gap as of yet.
The bullpen has not had any consistency. The starting pitching is averaging over 6 innings pitched, but in relief, the club is inconsistent. Humber was sent back to down to Rochester and just recently cleared waivers.Matt Guerrier, Luis Ayala and Craig Breslow have had their ups and downs so far this year.
The two starting aces for the Twins have had their fair share of disappointment as well this year. Scott Baker was first hit by the injury bug before the start of the season causing him to miss a start, and his first three starts have been far from his form of 2008. Gardenhire has expressed his concern with Bakers mechanics, but Baker disagreed. Gardenhire can not be happy with Bakers slow start to the season.
Francisco Liriano has struggled as well. Liriano is giving up many more hits then in the past and although he looks stellar for several innings, he is letting some pitches go across belt high and the opponents are taking full advantage.
In the infield Brian Buscher seems to be the odd man out. Although his numbers are better then Crede and Casilla he is not seeing a lot of time at third base or as a pinch hitter. Crede is struggling at the plate, batting only .210, but he does have three home runs which would suggest he still has the power to get the job done.
The team overall offensively is finding it hard to repeat last years success with runners in scoring position. In 2008 the Twins owned the league by batting .305 with runners in scoring position. 2009 is proving to be much more “average” for the piranahs, hitting a middle of the league .265 with runners in scoring position. The problem has appeared worse recently as the Twins are just 1 of 18 (.056) with RISP in the last two losses (prior to Tuesdays win over the Rays).
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