Taylor's Twins Talk

Focusing on the Twins, with a few ramblings on other things that catch my attention

Wednesday, March 14, 2007

Spring Training Report: Game Sixteen

Another game against the Yankees in Tampa, another loss - and another bad performance from Carlos Silva. Yar - notes ahoy!

1.) Here's the deal - Carlos has pitched well just once in four games, but the Twins still believe in Silva (or so I think). They aren't going to want to just cut him loose, or send him to the minor leagues. They will give him absolutely every chance to succeed. That means, to me, that unless his arm falls off sometime between now and early April, he will absolutely be on the 25-man roster, and he will likely be given at least a month to find his groove. At this point, with so many great young options available, that may look foolish - but I just about guarantee you that is what will happen. But, there is hope: Silva has 3 more weeks to work with Rick Anderson and figure things out, and most importantly he won't have to face the Yankees every time he pitches. It's a little bit frightening, though, that he seems to determined to test my "Silva is a lock for a roster spot" hypothesis . . .

2.) How about that Kevin Slowey! Seven innings, just 5 hits allowed, 8 strikeouts this spring. I knew he was good, but his spring performance has been amazing. If there weren't more experienced candidates ahead of him who were also having solid springs, I would have to think that he was in position to win a roster spot. As it is, I expect him to go to AAA and dominate, before making his Major League debut sometime this summer.

3.) Just when I started saying good things about Matt LeCroy, he turns in an 0-4, 2 K performance. Maybe I just shouldn't mention him at all . . . Speaking of bad performances, Garrett Jones continues to be terrible at the plate. He's now an incredible 2-for-33 this spring. That comes out to an .061 batting average. Blech.

4.) Four more games before the lone off-day of the Spring. I would guess that that will be the next cut day, so it's an important four days for guys like Randy Choate to make a final push for a spot on the roster. Probably too late for that push to do much good, but a guy can try . . .

Today's Big Winner: Kevin Slowey (Could he? Really? Maybe . . . )
Runner-Up: Chris Heintz (Really, there are no good options for this tonight . . .)

Today's Big Loser: Carlos Silva (Badly needs a good performance)
Runner-Up: Matt LeCroy (Needs to finish very strong to have any hope of making the team)

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