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Post by TyPenn613 on Aug 10, 2006 23:18:05 GMT -5
Do you think the guys have a chance at the wildcard? Everyone acknowledges they have a good team, and a strong run as of late, but everyone seems to count the White Sox and Tigers in the post-season already.
Currently, the Twins and White Sox are tied for the wildcard lead, but if the Sox win tonight, they will go a half game up. The only other team contending strongly are the Boston Red Sox, but they are playing for the division as well, so I guess you have to count the New York Yankees. Behind them, you have the Blue Jays (6.5 out), and Angels (8.5 out).
The Twins just lost Liriano as we all know. With the Twins be able to get over that mean time to keep up with the White Sox? Do the Twins have the offense outside of Mauer and Morneau to hang in there? Are the White Sox just slumping right now with the expectations of bouncing back to easily win it?
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Post by minigolfer on Aug 10, 2006 23:24:00 GMT -5
Nathan, Rincon, Neshek and Reyes are an excellent bullpen. Those guys can go toe to toe with the heart of any team's lineup, night after night, because that's such a deep lineup.
The offense doesn't scare me one bit. Batting Castillo and Punto 1-2 in a lineup with Mauer, Morneau, Hunter and Kubel is just making things worse. This is the AL. Offense wins, not putting two guys you think are qualified to single, steal and ground out to second at the top of the order.
If the F-bomb gets healthy, they have a good shot at the WC simply because they win like 80% of the time with him and Johan on the hill and Matt Garza looks like a sweet secret weapon. And you don't want to be anywhere near them in the playoffs.
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Post by TyPenn613 on Aug 10, 2006 23:34:21 GMT -5
Well said, if their starters could get through six innings each day, I would think those four guys could rotate to finish out games. Radke looks to slowly be coming back to his own. If he can just pitch solidly, they could surprisingly have the best pitching staff out there. When you have Santana and Liriano, you are always going to get that consideration, but they are supplmented by many solid guys.
The offense is certainly very shaky. If anyone remembers Luis Castillo's hit streak (2002 I think), they will recall a majority of his hits are infield hits. Well when you move him to a stadium whose field is concrete rather than grass, those infield hits are going to make it to the infielders just that much faster. Notice his OBP has dropped over 40 points (his lowest since 2001). He has more extra base hits which is going to be an effect of moving from Pro Player to the Metrodome, but he isn't doing it enough to make up for the OBP. On top of that, his stolen base numbers continue to fall taking away one more big aspect of his game.
Nick Punto is certainly playing as good as he ever has, but as you mentioned their 1-2 just doesn't pack enough of a punch to do it.
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Post by minigolfer on Aug 10, 2006 23:53:29 GMT -5
I hardly ever see the Twins and I don't really know that much about their players but I do like obsessing over lineup construction, so here's one stab at fixing the mess they have when Shannon Stewart is out.
Bartlett - .355 .423 .467
Mauer - .369 .448 .535
Hunter - .276 .348 .451 & fast
Morneau - .322 .376 .604 & slow
Cuddyer - .264 .355 .493
Punto - .311 .400 .418
Kubel - .270 .314 .438
Tyner - .314 .358 .324 in 100 AB, probably a huge fluke
Castillo - .291 .349 .377 & fast
There we go. Morneau claims his rightful #4 spot. Hunter claims his rightful spot in the top 3, protected by Morneau. (Seriously, the guy who's been the face of the franchise for years batting 6th? What has the world come to?) Mauer moves up to a spot that should get more out of his combination of average and power. If you want to take pressure off Bartlett, you can move him down and bat Punto leadoff, makes no difference but Bartlett's doing great at the plate.
This is just a first guess so it probably isn't quite perfect, but it does get Castillo out of the leadoff spot.
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Post by TyPenn613 on Aug 10, 2006 23:57:06 GMT -5
I like that lineup more so. The only thing I would consider changing it Mauer and Hunter. I like Mauer's high batting average in the #3 spot. As you mentioned, Hunter is fast, and can hit when he gets pitches. I think with a combination like Mauer and Morneau behind him, he would get plenty.
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