Results tagged ‘ Delmon Young ’
Paying The Piper
We sports fans are a fickle lot most of the time. For the last few years, Twins fans were ALWAYS badgering GM’s (either Ryan or Smith) to sign more players to help us win. Since the pitching seemed solid, a lock of hitters was always our “dire” need.
Well, we brought in guys like Delmon Young, Orlando Hudson, JJ Hardy, and Jim Thome to help the offense. Plus, we signed out “Mantle & Marris”…
…to long-term deals.
Well, those offensive players (for a variety of reasons) never really paid off, and “M&M” have been too hurt to meet the return on investment.
Thus, part of the reason for this season spiralling into disaster has been an inability to patch holes like we have done in the past. The bullpen guys got too pricey, the starters all regressed or never hit their potential, and all the hitters got hurt. ALL…OF…THEM.
So, we are now realizing (as we did in the 1990s) that we still can’t quite spend with the big boys on the coasts…even with a new stadium. The time to pay the piper has come, and that time is now.
Notes:
-Twins get swept by lowly Orioles at home.
-Liriano goes on the DL (Scott Diamond will take his place).
-Kubel is claimed off waivers (though no deal yet) by the White Sox.
-Same story as above for Jim Thome & the Indians.
Preview (55-75, 4th, 9.0 GB CWS): Rick Porcello (11-8, 5.17) vs. Scott Diamond (0-1, 4.26)
Never Quite Fit
After a team-wide collapse during the final months of 2007, the Twins were a ballclub in desperate need of hitters. The thought was, at least at the time, that the Twins had a solid stable of starters and a deep bullpen, so Matt Garza (and Jason Bartlett) were deemed expendable and sent to Tampa Bay for Delmon Young (and Brendan Harris). Unfortunately, Young never quite fit in with the Twins organization and is now a Tiger.
In 2008, with the promise of power based on a solid TB rookie campaign, Delmon hit .290 with little power. In 2009, he hit about .290 with…little power. In 2010, he hit about .300 with 21 homers and 110+ RBI. So far this season, he’s missed much time on the DL and never really found his stroke.
Basically, there are two Delmon Young’s:
The first Delmon can put a team on his shoulders from the middle of the order. When he’s locked in, he’s almost Vlad Guerrero-like with his free-swinging ways. He (more than probably any other Twin) took the “sage” advice of Tony Oliva in this now-infamous TV spot…
The other Delmon, however…
…was an out machine when swinging at those early pitches, completely unable to draw walks or move runners along. In the field, he was a complete klutz. Though sometimes he’ll dive and catch a ball, it is usually because he misplayed it so thoroughly to begin with. He just doesn’t have any natural coordination in the field.
Sadly, that “second” Delmon Young was much more apparent as a Twin than the first. Looking back, I can’t blame the Twins for giving Young a try. At the time, we though we were getting two above average hitters for a pitcher (in Garza) that needed a change of scenery and a hitter (in Bartlett) who didn’t blossom until his Tampa stay.
However, it just didn’t work out.
The Two Constants (Or Not So Much)
Here in Twins Territory, it used to be that solid defense and strike-throwing pitchers were the name of the game. We’d do those two things right and be able to get by with players that didn’t necessarily matchup well with our opponents.
This year, I can understand why the defense has gone downhill a bit. The organization made a conscience choice to go offense-over-defense the least few years with guys like Delmon Young and Tsuyoshi Nishioka, with primarily negative results.
What perplexes me, though, is why the pitchers aren’t throwing strikes anymore. I mean, in the span of just a couple of years, we’ve gone from strike-throwing machines to probably being below-average in that category. AS a team with no ace pitchers, we just can’t put guys on base and expect to win ballgames.
After this humiliating sweep at the hands of the White Sox, I think that same hard decisions about the constitution of this team will need to be made over the rest of the season.
Preview (51-63, 4th, 4.5 GB CWS): Tim Wakefield (6-4, 4.99) vs. Scott Baker (8-6, 3.01)
Ready…Break
Last year at the All-Star break, the Twins were in third place in the AL Central, 3.5 games behind the Detroit Tigers. They went on to win 94 games and claim the division crown by mid-September.
This year, after taking 3 of 4 in ChiTown, the Twins enter the break in 4th place, 6.5 games behind Detroit. Are we contenders? Are we pretenders? Well, the first homestand (KC, DET, CLE) after the break will go a long way towards answering that question. If we come out flat, we’ll likely never be able to make up the necessary ground. However, a good homestand would beg the question of whether or not the Twins should make a deal at the deadline.
Our biggest need right now is a solid arm out of the pen. The starters are what the are, and the offense can only get better (heck, if we can win with Tosoni, Hughes, Rivera, etc. we can win with anyone!), but the ‘pen is where the help is sorely needed. Barring further setbacks, Joe Nathan should quickly supplant Matt Capps as closer, with Capps sharing setup duties with Perkins. Beyond that, however, the pen is barren. Phil Dumatrait has been good for a rookie, but who knows, really. Alex Burnett and Jose Mijares cannot be consistently counted on to get the job done.
Thus, here is how I see the trading deadline scenario playing out in my head: The Twins package Delmon Young (the most expendable outfielder) and perhaps a Kevin Slowey for a decent bullpen arm. Then, as we always seem to do, we either call up another ready rook, or pick a guy (remember how we got Pavano in ’09?!) from the scrap heap in September.
If I didn’t think the Twins had at least a decent chance of winning the division this year, I would say “trade a few more guys and replenish the minors”. However, considering that Detroit ALWAYS chokes in the second half, the Indians are fading, and we OWN the White Sox, a division crown (though not easy by any means) is no doubt within reach.
Preview (41-48, 4th, 1.5 GB CWS): Bruce Chen (5-2, 3.26) vs. Francisco Liriano (5-7, 5.06).
Well, This Is Just “Sick”…
In my previous post, I made the point that part of the reason why the Twins are struggling is because their young pitchers haven’t panned out as planned. That is without a doubt part of the reason, but the main thing right now is injuries…plain and simple.
We’ve never been a team with a lot (or even a little) depth, so more than one long-term injury and all of a sudden guys like Hughes, Tolbert, Tosoni, and Butera are expected to hit at a major-league level and win games. Nope.
With Mauer, Young, Thome, Nathan, and Nishioka all struggling through various stages of convalescence, the talent level just isn’t what it needs to be. As much as Gardy can opine about “finding a way to win”, the reality is that with the kind of lineups we have been putting up the last few weeks, we shouldn’t expect to win.
The good news: Injuries heal.
The bad news: It takes time…do we have enough of it?
Spring Training 2011: On The Fringe
With the Twins now in Fort Myers, FL, for Spring Training, they’ve been getting more media attention than usual due to issues like Morneau’s concussion comeback, Nathan’s Tommy John rehab, and the new Japanese SS whose name I’m too lazy to look up for spelling (probably should get on that).
However, there are three other areas I would like to comment on that perhaps slip our minds in the midst of the “bit stories”:
1. Alexi Casilla has never been an everyday player for a full season. Whenever he’s been given the opportunity to start, he’s droppped the ball (sometimes even in the literal sense). Considering Gardy’s love of guys like Matt “The Next Punto?” Tobert or the newcomer Luke Hughes, Casilla still has a lot to prove and will not be handed the job by any means.
2. Can “Valencia Mania” continue? A favorite example of mine of this case comes from 2000, when the Mets had an outfielder named Timo Perez (heck, he might be bouncing around somewhere yet) who, in August-September that year, looked like the next coming of Junior Griffey. He then made a few World Series blunders, pitchers figured him out, and he’s been a fringe player since. Pitchers now have a similar “book” on young Danny-Boy, so those fat pitches will be fewer and farther between.
3. Besides a summer (June-July) that was out of control, Delmon Young was very average at the beginning and end of 2010. What if that “Beast Mode” doesn’t occur again in ’11, or for nearly as long? He’s always been a streaky hitter.
Keep an eye on these issues, as they could be every bit as important as “the big boys”.
Minnesota Twins 2010: A Season Review
After going through some of my blog posts recently, I realized that I hadn’t penned a “season review” of the 2010 Twins season. Maybe the quick (again) exit from the playoffs contributed to my apathy, or perhaps it was the Vikings’ season going very bizarre very quickly and giving me plenty of other blogging material. Either way, I do want ot quickly run down my standout moments of ’10…
To me, 2010 will always be remembered as the “Year of Target Field”:
At first, I was as skeptical as anyone at the new outdoor ballpark. Fortunately, that all changed the first time I walked through the gates. Besides some of the parks (like Wrigley or Fenway) that keep their charm primarily due to history, I can definitively say that Target Field is the best new home we could have possibly asked for (at least when the weather cooperates, which it did in spades last summer…heck, the Vikings in the Dome had more postponements in ’10 than the Twins!). Also helping to broaden the experience was the fact that our family moved closer to the Twin Cities metro area this year, so I was able to go to more games than ever before.
I’ll just say this: At the end of 2009, I was missing the Dome. By the end of ’10, I can’t imagine playing anywhere other than Target Field.
Some other memories include…
-Much like Brett Favre did to the Vikings in 2009, Jim Thome gave the ’10 Twins a bit of a swagger. He can’t run or play the field, but it doesn’t matter in the least…he proved that (out of the DH spot) he can still be the most prolific power hitter in the game, bar none. When Justin Morneau went down with his concussion, Big Jim stepped into the cleanup role and did exactly that…clean up. Perhaps the most memorable Thome moment was his walkoff home run against the Chicago White Sox in extra innings.
-Carl Pavano, predicted to fail miserably, provides the veteran leadership the staff desperatley needed, and even became a folk hero due to his mustachioed upper lip.
-Delmon Young’s torrid dog-days-of-summer performance, almost single-handedly keeping us in the division race with a hitting surge unlike anything I had ever seen.
-Some young kid named Danny Valencia coming up from the minors to lock down third base and provide some spectacular clutch hitting, all the while winning the hearts of the yound ladies in Twins Territory with his megawatt smile.
Other memories would include the torrid second half of Joe Mauer’s bat, as well as Francisco Liriano finally returning to his dominant pre-Tommy John surgery form.
So yes, even though the season ended in disappointment once again…
…I choose to remember the good moments that seemed to last all summer long.
Perhaps the one memory above all that will stick with me is sitting in Target Field on a cold, wet September night but loving every minute of it as the Twins clinched the Central Division Championship. I couldn’t imagine being anywhere else.
Twins vs. Yankees X-Factors
Well, here it is, the night before the playoff ALDS opener against the New York Yankees at Target Field. Here are my “x-factors” for this series:
Yankees:
The first two starters…
Both these two starters are renowned Twins-killers, capable of shutting down even our most potent bats for inning after inning. To me, just splitting (even at home) with these guys on the mound would be the best we could hope for, as I’m confident that Duensing will beat Hughes in the Bronx for Game 3. However, two straight losses would pretty much doom us.
For the Twins:
The big righthanded bat…
In previous years, the Twins have never had that powerful righthanded bat in the lineup to counter-act a tough lefty on the mound. Delmon Young changes the equation.
Also, though I won’t necessarily say this is a prediction, but I think Ron Gardenhire gives the Twins a big edge…
Not saying that Joe Girardi isn’t a quality manager as well, but you know that Gardy will have our boys ready to go for every game. Plus, this year he has some “bullets in the chamber” instead of blanks to match up with the Yanks’ firepower.
I’m too superstitious to make a prediction on this series due to the fact that my home team is in it, so about all that’s left to say is this:
Preview: C.C. Sabathia (0-0, 0.00) vs. Francisco Liriano (0-0, 0.00). The slate is wiped clean in the postseason!
The Fireman
Technically, Brian Duensing is no longer considered a “fireman” now that he is a starter. However, he threw enough water on Chicago hot situations tonight to qualify for the title.
The Twins kept up their hot hitting since flying into the Windy City, but if not for some jam-escaping abilites inning after inning from Duensing, it might not have been enough. Like Francisco Liriano a night before, Big-Game Brian had good stuff and used it at the most opportune times in the Twins’ 9-3 win over the ChiSox that further drives home the nail in Ozzie Guillen’s team’s chances of making a late-season push.
Notes:
-Delmon Young picked up his 100th RBI of the season. A little over a year ago, Twins fans wanted to run him out of town. Now, we put up with his bumbling, stumbling defense for all those driven in runs.
Preview (87-58, 1st, 8.0 GA CWS, Magic #: 10): Carl Pavano (16-11, 3.47) vs. Mark Buerhle (12-10, 3.99)
More Bailouts Than Obama (aka Don’t Mess Around With Jim)
Tonight’s Twins-White Sox game featured more bailouts of Twins’ pitchers than the Obama Administration:
First, Scott Baker stunk it up once again, giving up a bevy of hard-hit balls, including a moonshot from Paul Konerko in the early innings:
However, the Twins also got dingers of their own from Delmon Young and Orlando Hudson, as well as a big triple from Jason Kubel, to stay in the game.
With the Twins leading 5-4 going into the bottom of the ninth, Matt Capps was brought in for the save situation. The first batter, Alexei Ramirez, homered to tie the game, but Capps was bailed out by a huge, bases-loaded double play to end the inning.
In the tenth, Jon Rauch took the mound and, with one out, gave up three straight singles to once again allow the White Sox to score a run, giving them a 6-5 lead. Rauch, for the second time in as many games, couldn’t even finish off his inning and had to be replaced:
At this point, though, is when Big Jim took matters onto his own, rather broad shoulders:
In the bottom of the tenth, Delmon Young sent a rocket right through the crotch (almost literally) of Matt Thorton. Up stepped Jim Thome, and three things happened in rather short fashion:
1. The ball rocketed towards the right field pavilion;
2. The ball landed, giving Thome career homer #581, and the first walk-off jack at Target Field;
3. A shaving cream-filled towel quickly homed in on Thome’s face, courtesy of one Nick Punto.
Every win against the Sox is a good win at this point, but it’s so much sweeter when Thome does it to his former mates! Next to Delmon Young choosing to punch AJ Pierzynski in the face instead of sliding into home plate, Thome’s blast is easily the highlight of the season-series with these two clubs so far. Can we drop them even further back tomorrow?!
Preview (69-50, 1st, 4.0 GA CWS): Gavin Floyd (8-9, 3.70) vs. Francisco Liriano (11-7, 3.26).
zkonedog
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