2011 AL Central Catch-All Thread

Balta1701 · July 16, 2011

QUOTE (Stan Bahnsen @ Jul 16, 2011 -> 11:55 AM)

If the Twins don't come back to win this division, it won't be because of all the bats they're missing from the lineup - their pen blows.

They have the worst bullpen ERA in MLB.

caulfield12 · July 17, 2011

And that's not a surprise when they've gotten rid of Breslow, Portly Reyes (he was almost always nasty against us), Rauch, Guerrier and Crain.

There's serious talk about trying to bring back Rauch, even though he wasn't very popular at all in the Twins' clubhouse. Had a reputation for surliness.

Indians now down 4-2 (at least) going to the top of the 9th. Hard to sweep a four game series on the road, even with Baltimore so cold.

Felix Pie with a rare two-run double, 6-2. Surprised that Indians' announcer Tom Hamilton is giving up on this game ("that's ballgame, folks") already with how many comebacks they've had, even down 3-4-5 runs in the 9th.

Edited July 17, 2011 by caulfield12

Benchwarmerjim · July 17, 2011

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jul 16, 2011 -> 08:17 PM)

There's serious talk about trying to bring back Rauch, even though he wasn't very popular at all in the Twins' clubhouse. Had a reputation for surliness.

I have heard none of this steam. What I keep hearing is that the Twins will dump one of their lefties (Dumatrait or Mijares) to Rochester and bring up Chuck James who is pitching awesomely

caulfield12 · July 17, 2011

Gregg has somehow managed to load the bases with walks in the 9th.

2 K's, 3 bb's, Indians down by four with a chance to tie it with a homer by Orlando Cabrera.

Sizemore next.

Needless to say, the Orioles fans are not pleased.

Three run double up the alley in RCF by O-Cab when he was down to his final strike (and in a huge slump).

6-5...Sizemore up, Showalter just yanked Gregg.

Sizemore has a chance to tie it up or give them the lead with a homer.

UNREAL. The Indians have had this knack all season long, but usually at home.

Mike Gonzalez on (he's starting by praying on the mound) to try to get the final out. O's escape, Sizemore grounds out to former North Carolina basketball recruit D-Lee.

WHEW.

Now to the Twins/Royals, 3-3 in the 8th.

Why Francis was in there, I have no idea. Aaron Crow relieved with runners on 1st and 3rd (Mauer had singled) and gave up the go-ahead single to Cuddyer.

Two outs, Mauer out at the plate, runners on 2nd/3rd. Valencia up.

Joe Nathan is now officially back in as the Twins' closer again.

Edited July 17, 2011 by caulfield12

caulfield12 · July 17, 2011

Doesn't get easy for Nathan.

Butler/Hosmer/Francouer for his first save as the "new" Twins' closer. Fans giving him a standing ovation after Capps had blown 7 saves already this season.

It will be interesting with the Twins facing the Indians (DH on Monday) next week.

Who do we cheer for? Split? Kind of mixed feelings. You want the White Sox closer to first place, but everyone's nervous about the Twins getting right back into it.

Hosmer with a base hit. One out. Frenchie and Moustakas (only hitting .213,1 HR, 4 RBI's in 100+ AB's) to follow. Popup to RF.

So Tigers 1 GB, SOX 4, Twins 6...at one point, they were 17-37. Luckily they blew the game last night at least.

Edited July 17, 2011 by caulfield12

Benchwarmerjim · July 17, 2011

4 games with the Tribe next week, and temp are supposed to be near 100 and heat indices are going towards 115

caulfield12 · July 17, 2011

Hopefully the Twins will destroy the Indians' bullpen over that series for us.

Carmona's coming off the DL early next week as well.

Still have no idea why Aaron Crow wasn't used to start the 8th instead of Francis. When you have a tie game on the road against the Twins, you should go with your best bullpen pitchers.

LittleHurt05 · July 17, 2011

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jul 16, 2011 -> 08:59 PM)

Carmona's coming off the DL early next week as well.

That's a good thing

max power · July 17, 2011

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jul 16, 2011 -> 08:48 PM)

Who do we cheer for? Split? Kind of mixed feelings. You want the White Sox closer to first place, but everyone's nervous about the Twins getting right back into it.

At this point, I just cheer for the sox. There are way too many baseball games to be played to predict anything else.

Edit: I'd also cheer for the royals against anyone else.

Edited July 17, 2011 by MAX

LittleHurt05 · July 18, 2011

Surprise, Surprise, Grady Sizemore to the 15-day DL.

Balta1701 · July 18, 2011

596 for Big Jim.

BigSqwert · July 18, 2011

What the hell is Asdrubal Cabrera injecting this season?

Balta1701 · July 18, 2011

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Jul 18, 2011 -> 02:04 PM)

What the hell is Asdrubal Cabrera injecting this season?

Supposedly Orlando Cabrera stepped in and became his hitting coach and told him to start swinging to hit the ball out.

ILMOU · July 18, 2011

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 18, 2011 -> 11:02 AM)

596 for Big Jim.

and a freakin' monster it was.

LittleHurt05 · July 18, 2011

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Jul 18, 2011 -> 01:04 PM)

What the hell is Asdrubal Cabrera injecting this season?

I dont know, but I wish Adam Dunn would start taking the same stuff.

caulfield12 · July 18, 2011

Twins get pushed back to 5 1/2.

So frustrating, we should have gone into today 3 games behind the Indians and just 2 behind the Tigers.

4/4 looks and feels a helluva lot different, and now 4 1/2.

I guess, if nothing else, it's going to force a reaction from KW sooner rather than later if we don't play well at KC/CLE and then come out flat for yet another huge homestand against some top-drawing teams.

caulfield12 · July 19, 2011

The Mariners traded Asdrubal Cabrera, a middle infielder batting .236 at Class AAA Tacoma, to Cleveland for veteran first baseman/DH Eduardo Perez on June 30, 2006.

Perez offered little assistance to the M's attempt to win the AL West, batting .195 with one home run and 11 RBI in a half-season.

Around 12:50 p.m. Monday, Cabrera waited back on an Anthony Swarzak changeup and whacked it into Target Field's right field bump-out for a three-run homer. This increased Cleveland's lead to 4-0 in what became a 5-2 victory for the first-place Indians.

This increased Cabrera's totals to 17 home runs and 58 RBI in 380 at-bats. That is quite an upgrade in power for a 25-year-old who had 18 home runs and 166 RBI in four prior seasons and 1,415 at-bats for Cleveland.

The moral of these tales is this: Seattle should never trade a shortstop to Cleveland -- particularly if he happens to wear No. 13 and come from Venezuela. (The other trade was of course Felix Fermin and Reggie Jefferson for Omar Vizquel 15 years earlier)

As Twins followers try to convince themselves the Indians are not a factor, there's no better place to like Cleveland in a matchup than at shortstop, the most important fielding position on a diamond.

The Twins have a shortstop who looks as if he learned the fundamentals at a baseball academy in Liechtenstein, not as a Gold Glove winner in the Japan League, and the Indians have the best shortstop in the American League.

"Flat out, Cabrera has been our MVP,'' Cleveland manager Manny Acta said after Game 1 of the split doubleheader. "He has saved a lot of runs with his defense. We knew he would do that. What surprises everybody is his power."

Patrick Reusse, Star Tribune

caulfield12 · July 19, 2011

Interesting take on why Moustakas is possibly struggling so much.

On the first point, the best theory — beyond his facing better pitching — is a mixture of ego and a sort of sibling rivalry gone too far. Eric Hosmer is a close friend. Moustakas has always been The Man of the Royals’ youth movement, the first player officially drafted by general manager Dayton Moore, and the one the front office envisions being the undisputed team leader someday.

But at some point in the last year, Hosmer became the Royals’ consensus best prospect. When he was the first one called up this year, Moustakas’ numbers at Class AAA took off immediately. Many don’t think that’s a coincidence.

Now that they’re both in Kansas City, Moustakas wants to show fans and the organization that he’s as good as Hosmer. The competition is friendly and mostly unspoken, but it exists. Hosmer is a step ahead, and maybe Moustakas wants to catch up too quickly.

Yost says he talks to Moustakas “every day” about being patient and staying confident. The manager’s words about Moustakas’ good body language and thirst for extra work being a positive sign are echoed throughout the organization.

The easy thing would be to send Moustakas back to Omaha. Not as a punishment or a sign that he’s no good, but as a chance to remember what it’s like to succeed. As a bonus, the Royals could then play Wilson Betemit every day and better present him for trade possibilities.

The Royals aren’t doing that, and internally say they aren’t even considering it, an obvious symbol about what their bigger purpose is.

This is the worst team in the American League and, at the moment, particularly dreadful offensively. Overall they’re sixth in runs, but — coincidence or not — are down about 10 percent in runs, hitting, on-base and slugging percentage since Moustakas’ slump began. They’re 4-8 in that time.

For as long as Moustakas isn’t hitting, the Royals will have trouble scoring and winning. Chris Getz has the lowest slugging percentage in the American League. Alcides Escobar has the 11th worst. There just isn’t room for another zero in the lineup.

In a strange way, the Royals’ being 20 games under .500 and 13 1/2 games out of first place gives them the freedom to operate this way. If they were even six or seven games better, they may be tugged into decisions based more on a faint hope this year rather than the timeline they’ve spent a fortune and the better part of a decade building toward.

If another season of 90-plus losses allows Moustakas to work through this initiation and come out the other side as a legitimate middle-of-the-order run producer, then these are good growing pains.

Read more: http://www.kansascity.com/2011/07/18/30219...l#ixzz1SXY5CRY2

witesoxfan · July 20, 2011

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jul 19, 2011 -> 01:44 AM)