Nightly Notes: Game #139
I'm frustrated again tonight, so I'm going to post anything too long. The Twins will have to do better than to continually blow saves and give up late runs. Now they're down a game on the White Sox -- and while I still have faith, even I am finding that faith harder to come by. Here are some notes:
1.) Nick Blackburn continued to demonstrate why the Twins are in good shape -- the young starters just keep delivering. A line of 6.2 innings, 3 runs (2 earned) on 6 hits and 6 K's will do it for me every time. I realize the Twins have five young guns -- but I'll take them over the White Sox starting five any day.
2.) Matt Guerrier got through 1.1 innings, including a bases loaded situation in the 7th that could have been disastrous. I've been saying it for weeks, but his re-emergence is essential if the Twins are going to stay in the race and win the AL Central. Look down at the rest of the bullpen -- who else should be pitching in that situation? Certainly not Eddie Guardado, the way he's pitched of late. Certainly not Bobby Korecky, who pitched well in his earlier call up but has done nothing to establish that he can hold down the 8th inning of a tight game. Guerrier has the big league experience and the past history to indicate that he can do the job -- and despite his August failings, I feel strongly that for the rest of the year he needs to be that guy for the Twins.
3.) Speaking of Guardado, what to do with him? I still think it was a good idea to pick him up, because he had pitched reasonably well this year. He certainly hasn't pitched well as a Twin, though, and what possible situations will he be used in now? Yeesh.
4.) I'm thrilled that Jason Pridie made his big league debut tonight (I love big league debuts). I'm not as thrilled that in his first game, he made a significant error that helped the Jays tie the game. We don't know what would have happened if Pridie had fielded that ball cleanly -- Nathan may very well have allowed the run to score anyway. Nonetheless, it was an ignominious debut for a player that a lot of us are hoping can be a solid contributor for the big league club at some point.
5.) Speaking of callups making errors, it's hard to ignore Matt Tolbert's rather horrid throw. I like Tolbert -- he went 2-for-4 today and looked pretty decent swinging the bat. Take your time and make a solid throw from third, though, my friend!
6.) I liked the lefty-filled lineup today. It's got to be a bit intimidating (even for a guy like A.J. Burnett) to see lefty after lefty heading to the plate. Obviously, he did pretty well with the Twins lineup -- but I like that we have the ability to toss 8 lefties in a row at the guy.
I'm certainly hoping for better tomorrow! Let's get this freakin' road trip done already!
1.) Nick Blackburn continued to demonstrate why the Twins are in good shape -- the young starters just keep delivering. A line of 6.2 innings, 3 runs (2 earned) on 6 hits and 6 K's will do it for me every time. I realize the Twins have five young guns -- but I'll take them over the White Sox starting five any day.
2.) Matt Guerrier got through 1.1 innings, including a bases loaded situation in the 7th that could have been disastrous. I've been saying it for weeks, but his re-emergence is essential if the Twins are going to stay in the race and win the AL Central. Look down at the rest of the bullpen -- who else should be pitching in that situation? Certainly not Eddie Guardado, the way he's pitched of late. Certainly not Bobby Korecky, who pitched well in his earlier call up but has done nothing to establish that he can hold down the 8th inning of a tight game. Guerrier has the big league experience and the past history to indicate that he can do the job -- and despite his August failings, I feel strongly that for the rest of the year he needs to be that guy for the Twins.
3.) Speaking of Guardado, what to do with him? I still think it was a good idea to pick him up, because he had pitched reasonably well this year. He certainly hasn't pitched well as a Twin, though, and what possible situations will he be used in now? Yeesh.
4.) I'm thrilled that Jason Pridie made his big league debut tonight (I love big league debuts). I'm not as thrilled that in his first game, he made a significant error that helped the Jays tie the game. We don't know what would have happened if Pridie had fielded that ball cleanly -- Nathan may very well have allowed the run to score anyway. Nonetheless, it was an ignominious debut for a player that a lot of us are hoping can be a solid contributor for the big league club at some point.
5.) Speaking of callups making errors, it's hard to ignore Matt Tolbert's rather horrid throw. I like Tolbert -- he went 2-for-4 today and looked pretty decent swinging the bat. Take your time and make a solid throw from third, though, my friend!
6.) I liked the lefty-filled lineup today. It's got to be a bit intimidating (even for a guy like A.J. Burnett) to see lefty after lefty heading to the plate. Obviously, he did pretty well with the Twins lineup -- but I like that we have the ability to toss 8 lefties in a row at the guy.
I'm certainly hoping for better tomorrow! Let's get this freakin' road trip done already!
Labels: Nightly Notes
posted by JST @ Wednesday, September 03, 2008
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