Spring Training Report: Game Twenty-Five

Oh my. That wasn't very pretty at all. Twins lose, 13-7, and I imagine there are a few rather concerned coaches wondering about what the next move is. Here are today's notes:

1.) Well, what is there to say about Carlos Silva's performance? It started with a monster homerun given up to Brad Eldred (and what's with Dan Gladden's pushing for the Twins to trade for Eldred at every opportunity? It was strange), and just got worse from there. His line: 3.1 innings, 9 ER's, 11 hits, 2 K's. At least he didn't walk anyone. I was really hoping that Carlos would put it together in time for the start of the season, but it doesn't look like that's going to happen. He should have one more start this spring, on Thursday. If he struggles in that game as well, the Twins will at least have to consider not taking him north. I was in favor of picking up his option, I've been pulling for him all spring, but man is that position becoming harder and harder to support. I still think the Twins will give him a shot in April -- but the temptation to take Perkins or Garza north instead of Silva has to be tremendous.

2.) Speaking of Glen Perkins, he followed up his last, very poor, outing with a reasonable performance today. He gave up an early 2 run homer (although one of those runs was charged to Silva), and then buckled down to go 2.2 innings without allowing another hit and striking out three. It wasn't a definitive statement, but it was a pretty solid performance that should keep him in consideration in case the Twins decide they just can't go with Silva and/or Ponson.

3.) Mike Venafro had another shutout inning today, although he gave up a hit and walked two. It's going to be hard to deny him a spot on the roster should the Twins decide to go with 12 pitchers. But is there really an appetite amongst Twins execs to lose J.D. Durbin? Incidentally, if Venafro makes the team, he'll take Durbin's place on the 40-man roster, because Durbin would have been placed on waivers.

4.) Scary situation with Jason Bartlett being hit on the hand by a sharp line drive, but according to everyone involved in the situation, he should be fine and ready to play very quickly. This does mean, however, that 3 out of 8 starting position players are injured at the moment, and while all are expected to be ready by the start of the season, I bet the Twins would rather not be dealing with the injuries at all.

5.) Felix Molina, Trevor Plouffe, Doug Deeds, and Anthony Swarzak all got a chance to come over from the minor league camp and play in today's game. Swarzak's inning of work (in which he allowed only a walk) was the best performance by the minor leaguers.

6.) The last week of spring training begins tomorrow, and the Twins have 7 games left on the schedule this spring. That should mean the last starts go in the regular rotation order: Sun @ Philadelphia (Ramon Ortiz), Mon vs. Baltimore (Sidney Ponson), Tue vs. New York Yankees (Boof Bonser), Wed vs. Boston (Johan Santana), Thu @ Cincinnati (Carlos Silva), Fri @ Pittsburgh (Ramon Ortiz), Sat vs. Pittsburgh (Sidney Ponson).

Today's Big Winner: Torii Hunter (2-3, run scored)
Runner-Up: Michael Cuddyer (2-3, run scored)

Today's Big Loser: Carlos Silva (worst performance of the spring for anyone)
Runner-Up: Jesse Crain (1 inning, 2 runs, 4 hits and a walk)