The NFL has lifted its lockout via the order of Judge Susan Nelson from the great state of Minnesota and the NFL is now back in business. Now this would not have affected the draft, it does bring more attention to the work that needs to be done on the field, rather than off it. (at least for now).
Other than the Vikings needs, you might be wondering who are the local talents that are hoping to be picked and placed in NFL uniforms. Any Gophers on that list? Below is what the TCW has dug up on the local guys.
Minnesota Gophers
The Gophers officially have 8 players listed as eligible for the draft: Adam Weber QB, RJ Buckner RB, Jon Hoese FB, Curtis Hughes TE, Jeff Wills OT, Dominic Alford OG, Kyle Theret S, and Eric Ellestad K.
Don't expect to hear any of these names called during the 3 day event. In fact, any of these guys will be lucky just to get a free agent contract. Adam Weber is the most recognizable face and he's ranked as the 16th best QB, so he'll likely be signed by someone and is the only outside shot at a Gopher draft pick. Fox9 did a story on Adam and his NFL chances you can watch here. Eric Ellestad is the 25th ranked kicker. Jon Hoese is the 46th ranked FB (all rankings found on CBS sportsline). Curtis Hughes is the 66th ranked TE. Kyle Theret is the 81st ranked Safety and the other guys are all above 100 in their own position rankings.
There might be a better chance of getting a college draft pick from Duluth than Minneapolis. I'm not joking, the D2 National Champion UMD Bulldogs have a stud running back in Isaac Odim who ranks 45th in RBs. What a year it would be for UMD if Odim made it to the NFL. He's no slouch in the classroom either and also likes to write. You can check his blog out here for an in-depth look at life of an NFL prospect.
There are several Minnesotans that played there college ball elsewhere that you may hear get there name called. These local guys have a chance (College).
RB Rankings
40th - Alexander Robinson, Minneapolis (Iowa State)
TE Rankings
49th - Jordan McMichael, Breck (Boston College)
OLB Rankings
64th - Blake Sorensen, Eden Prairie (Wisconsin)
WR Rankings
73rd - David Gilreath, New Hope (Wisconsin)
What will the Vikings do at #12, well there could be an interesting tie-in if the Gophers decide to go with Cameron Jordan, DE out of California. He's the son on Vikings TE great (good) Steve Jordan. No joke, he's a first round talent that won't be around long after the Vikings pick if they pass on him or if he's gone already. In fact many draft boards have him ranked, you guessed it, 12th overall.
Well that's all for now, I apologize if I missed a name or two, or underevaluated anyone. Maybe Kill will turn things around down on University Ave and turn some recruits into bonified NFL players. Oh how ironic that we long for the Glen Mason days...
Until next time, remember to that leather and rain don't mix.
Brock
TCW
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Thursday, April 21, 2011
What's wrong with the Twins?
The easy answer is everything. It's been Murphy's law so far this year for the Twins as just about everything has gone wrong so far. Alas it is only April 21st, meaning we are just 3 weeks into a 25 week season. Small as that may be, the Twins are not showing many signs of breaking out of their slump.
Statistically speaking, the Twins have no place to go but up. Looking at their team numbers, here are their AL and MLB rankings:
THINGS THEIR DOING REALLY BAD IN:
Home Runs - 6, Last in MLB
RBI - 49, Last in MLB
Runs - 54, Last in MLB
OBP - .284, Last in MLB
Slugging - .314, Last in MLB
K's (Pitching) - 99, Last in MLB
Total Bases - 193, Last in AL, 29th MLB
Walks (batting) - 44, 13th AL, 29th MLB
Home Runs allowed - 22, 13th AL, 28th MLB
Batting AVG - .231, 12th AL, 26th MLB
ERA - 4.76, 12th AL, 26th MLB
Walks (P) - 61, 12th AL, 24th MLB
Runs Allowed - 88, 11th AL, 22nd MLB
Doubles - 29, 11th AL, 18th MLB
Stolen Bases - 7, 10th AL, 22nd MLB
Hits Allowed - 156, 10th AL, 19th MLB
Hits - 142, 9th AL, 22nd MLB
Triples - 2, 8th AL, 19th MLB
THINGS THEIR DOING OK IN:
Fewest Strikeouts - 117, 6th AL, 8th MLB
Fielding - .985, 6th AL, 12th MLB
Fewest Errors - 10, 6th AL, 12th MLB
THINGS THEIR DOING GOOD IN:
Not getting caught stealing! The Twins are the only team left in MLB not to be thrown out. Granted they have just 7 steals, but are perfect nontheless!
Statistics aside, the Twins are far from healthy. In the first week, they lost Tsuyoshi Nishioka, the star Japanese import to a broken fibula. We'll be lucky to see him on the basepads before July. The DL has also being visited by Joe Mauer and Kevin Slowey. Two guy that are desperately needed for stabilization. Mauer, for obvious reasons being the Twins MVP and all-world catcher, and Slowey to help stabilize a shaky bullpen and be a possible early replacement in a an unpredictable rotation.
Speaking of that bullpen, it's been a rollercoaster ride for everyone involved. I don't think anyone believed the plan they left camp with was going to stick all season, but it didn't even last a month. Joe Nathan blew consecutive saves and has been replaced as the closer to a shaky Matt Capps. Alex Burnett replaced Slowey in the bullpen only to be replaced by Eric Hacker recently. Hacker had just 3 appearances with Pittsburgh in 2009, but was lighting up Triple A Rochester and the Twins don't have the luxury of time to wait. Jeff Manship continues punching in those frequent flyer miles from Minneapolis to Rochester, once again being sent down. In his place is the fireball righthander Jim Hoey, who clocks a high 90's fastball.
Injuries, slow starts, and even a couple bouts with the flu (Mauer and Morneau), have the Twins in an early season position of which they haven't faced in recent memory. Still, if you erase the statistics next to each players name, on paper, this line-up still puts fear into the opponent. As for on the mound and in the bullpen there is plenty of experience and proven winners to make us forget the first few weeks of the season.
What I'm saying is, don't count the Twins out just yet. They have the benefit of being in the AL Central, and like the Twins, none of those teams have emerged as elite from the rest of the group. The Twins will face the suprising AL best Cleveland Indians this weekend. A series that will give serious indications on how good or bad each of these teams are.
Until next time, remember that batted balls and objects can enter the stands during field of play.
Brock
TCW
Statistically speaking, the Twins have no place to go but up. Looking at their team numbers, here are their AL and MLB rankings:
THINGS THEIR DOING REALLY BAD IN:
Home Runs - 6, Last in MLB
RBI - 49, Last in MLB
Runs - 54, Last in MLB
OBP - .284, Last in MLB
Slugging - .314, Last in MLB
K's (Pitching) - 99, Last in MLB
Total Bases - 193, Last in AL, 29th MLB
Walks (batting) - 44, 13th AL, 29th MLB
Home Runs allowed - 22, 13th AL, 28th MLB
Batting AVG - .231, 12th AL, 26th MLB
ERA - 4.76, 12th AL, 26th MLB
Walks (P) - 61, 12th AL, 24th MLB
Runs Allowed - 88, 11th AL, 22nd MLB
Doubles - 29, 11th AL, 18th MLB
Stolen Bases - 7, 10th AL, 22nd MLB
Hits Allowed - 156, 10th AL, 19th MLB
Hits - 142, 9th AL, 22nd MLB
Triples - 2, 8th AL, 19th MLB
THINGS THEIR DOING OK IN:
Fewest Strikeouts - 117, 6th AL, 8th MLB
Fielding - .985, 6th AL, 12th MLB
Fewest Errors - 10, 6th AL, 12th MLB
THINGS THEIR DOING GOOD IN:
Not getting caught stealing! The Twins are the only team left in MLB not to be thrown out. Granted they have just 7 steals, but are perfect nontheless!
Statistics aside, the Twins are far from healthy. In the first week, they lost Tsuyoshi Nishioka, the star Japanese import to a broken fibula. We'll be lucky to see him on the basepads before July. The DL has also being visited by Joe Mauer and Kevin Slowey. Two guy that are desperately needed for stabilization. Mauer, for obvious reasons being the Twins MVP and all-world catcher, and Slowey to help stabilize a shaky bullpen and be a possible early replacement in a an unpredictable rotation.
Speaking of that bullpen, it's been a rollercoaster ride for everyone involved. I don't think anyone believed the plan they left camp with was going to stick all season, but it didn't even last a month. Joe Nathan blew consecutive saves and has been replaced as the closer to a shaky Matt Capps. Alex Burnett replaced Slowey in the bullpen only to be replaced by Eric Hacker recently. Hacker had just 3 appearances with Pittsburgh in 2009, but was lighting up Triple A Rochester and the Twins don't have the luxury of time to wait. Jeff Manship continues punching in those frequent flyer miles from Minneapolis to Rochester, once again being sent down. In his place is the fireball righthander Jim Hoey, who clocks a high 90's fastball.
Injuries, slow starts, and even a couple bouts with the flu (Mauer and Morneau), have the Twins in an early season position of which they haven't faced in recent memory. Still, if you erase the statistics next to each players name, on paper, this line-up still puts fear into the opponent. As for on the mound and in the bullpen there is plenty of experience and proven winners to make us forget the first few weeks of the season.
What I'm saying is, don't count the Twins out just yet. They have the benefit of being in the AL Central, and like the Twins, none of those teams have emerged as elite from the rest of the group. The Twins will face the suprising AL best Cleveland Indians this weekend. A series that will give serious indications on how good or bad each of these teams are.
Until next time, remember that batted balls and objects can enter the stands during field of play.
Brock
TCW
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Misery Rankings - April edition with a Glass of Hope/Despair
Holy smokes were halfway through April and yet there's still snow on the ground and in the forecast. I skipped March's misery rankings because, well, I needed a break from writing about the sad state of sports in this area. But keeping with tradition, I'll ramp them up again this mont. The last two months, like this winter, have been exceptionally miserable. Last year at this time witnessed our first ever March without any snow, the opening of Target Field and an NCAA tournament berth from the Golden Gophers. This year, the winter has dragged on to a comically insane beat. According to Paul Douglas, this is already our 4th snowiest winter to date, and with flakes still in the forecast and always the chance for the white stuff until May, it'll go down as one of the harshest ever.
Longing for some normalcy, March and April have been especially unpredictable and hardly kind. Although it is tough to live with 6 month winters, we will take that over any hurricane, earthquake or tsunami of which have ravaged parts of the world with unbelievable losses and heartbreaking stories. It is easy to forget that we still have it pretty good.
On the sports side, the winter teams did not do much to help us get through to spring. In fact, they probably contributed to an extra exodus of Minnesotans this winter, permanent and non. Collapses and disappointments are abound and with so much negativity, I'm going to try to find the bright spots amid a sea of despair, because why live life with a glass half empty?
First off it should be noted that the land of 10,000 lakes had something to celebrate recently, as the University of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs won their first ever National Championship as Division 1 Hockey champs. About half of the alumni from UMD live in the Twin Cities and neighboring communities, so it was definitely a bright spot in a sea of gray among the other teams.
TWINS
Records: 5-10, 5th in AL Central
Rankings: 21st ESPN
Glass Half Empty: Here we go. No team had more pressure going into the season to save its fan base from insanity than the Twins. The optimism regarding this team was overflowing if not for anything but we as fans were dying to see a competitive team. Well 2 weeks in and we've yet to see that. Here's a short list of what's gone wrong. New Japanese all-star import, Tsuyoshi Nishioka breaks his leg in the first week. Joe Mauer has already landed on the DL. Joe Nathan has 2 blown saves and just lost the closer job to Matt Capps, who also has a blown save. Twins are last in the Majors in runs (41), home runs (4), and RBI (38). While the pitching and fielding have been average at best.
Glass Half Full: It's April. The baseball regular season is 6 months long and we're not even 1/10 of the way done. Despite the team's struggles, a few players are coming around. Denard Span is 10th in the AL in hitting at .339, a welcome sight after last year. Kubel is 16th at .320 and leads the team with 2 home runs (hey gotta be positive here). Carl Pavano is holding down the fort in the rotation. He's 1-1, but easily could be 3-0 because of the lack in run of support. Pavano has 3 quality starts, 11 K's, a 3.60 ERA, and an impressive 0.95 WHIP. He's definitely been worth the money.
GOPHERS FOOTBALL
Records: 3-9, (2-6) 10th in the Big Ten
Rankings: 85th in Sagarin Ratings
Glass Half Empty: New coach + difficult schedule including USC, Michigan, Nebraska, Michigan State, and Wisconsin = slim chance at more than 3 or 4 wins.
Glass Half Full: Because of what happened this winter to the Hockey and Basketball teams, believe it or not, Gophers football is on top of the U revenue sports. Spring practice is under way and there is a ton of optimism regarding the new coach and new quarterback Marquis Gray. And the best news of all, they can't lose until September!
GOPHERS BASKETBALL
Record: 17-14, (6-12) 10th in Big Ten
Rankings: 85th RPI
Half Empty: Lost 10 of last 11 games in one of the most epic collapses in Big Ten history. Team losing entire starting lineup Al Nolen and leading scorer Blake Hoffarber to graduation. Trevor Mbakwe and Ralph Sampson III to NBA draft (likely), and Colton Iverson to transfer.
Half Full: Starting over might be the best thing for this team. Getting some fresh faces with a clean slate, records, and attitudes might be what the Gophers need.
GOPHERS HOCKEY
Records: 16-14-6, (13-10-5) 5th in WCHA
Rankings: 23rd USCHO.com Poll (March 21st)
Glass Half Empty: The team ended one of its worst seasons in recent history with consecutive losses to perennial WCHA doormats Alaska-Anchorage. The Gophers misses the Final Five at the WCHA in consecutive years for the first time in 11 years since the WCHA expansion era.
Glass Half Full: This team may not have been great, but they at least were smart. 12 players on the roster earned Academic all-WCHA for having a GPA of at least 3.0, not too shabby.
VIKINGS
Records: 6-10, Last NFC North
Rankings: 12th Draft Pick
Glass Half Empty: A superbowl pre-season pick turned into a nightmare of a season. The team doesn't have a quarterback, proven at least and you can't win in the NFL without that. Off the field, efforts for a new stadium are being shot down left and right. If the team can't turn it around on the field, they'll have an even tougher time pushing for a new stadium with public financing. You think the Twins would have gotten Target Field if they played like they did in the mid 90's? Their 2000's resurgance was a big reason why their still in Minnesota. Can the Vikings play the same card and rally behind the purple to stay in the frozen north?
Glass Half Full: Good bye and good riddance the Brett Favre experiment is over. It worked for one season and should have ended there. Not only did his age catch up with him, but his off-field behavior too. The Vikings have a long history of off-field problems and last year was just no different. A new head coach, Leslie Frazier will be a big boost for the team. For one, he has the support of his players, which Childress hardly had, for another he's a super bowl champion player and brings that player mentality with him. Whatever the QB situation, be it McNabb, Newton, Locker, Dalton, or Joe Webb, the team can still rely on their young guns AP, Harvin, and Sid Rice to keep this team electrifying.
WILD
Records: 39-35-8, 12th in Western Conference
Rankings: 23rd ESPN
Glass Half Empty: Finished the season 4-10-1 after flirting with the 8th spot in the West. Gave up 4 or more goals in 8 of those games including an 8-1 drubbing at home vs. Montreal.
Glass Half Full: 1 win better than last year. Kicked Dallas out of the playoffs with gutsy win in last game. Todd Richards fired as head coach.
TIMBERWOLVES
Records: 17-65, Worst Record in NBA
Rankings: does it matter? 30th if you're counting.
Glass Half Empty: The Wolves lost its last 15 games to finish behind Cleveland for the worst record overall. The one bright spot on the season, Kevin Love didn't play in the season's last 5 games and on the season the team surrended a league worst 108 points per game. David Kahn and Kurt Rambis should be re-doing their resumes as neither should warrant another contract. Also, the Timberwolves now have the longest playoff drought in the NBA at 6 years.
Glass Half Full: With the worst record, comes the best chance for the #1 overrall draft pick. I'll keep this positive and it right now.
Well that's it for now. I'll try to keep pace with some other interesting and possibly uplifting stories. Until next time, remember to exercise for 30 mins a day.
Brock
TCW
Longing for some normalcy, March and April have been especially unpredictable and hardly kind. Although it is tough to live with 6 month winters, we will take that over any hurricane, earthquake or tsunami of which have ravaged parts of the world with unbelievable losses and heartbreaking stories. It is easy to forget that we still have it pretty good.
On the sports side, the winter teams did not do much to help us get through to spring. In fact, they probably contributed to an extra exodus of Minnesotans this winter, permanent and non. Collapses and disappointments are abound and with so much negativity, I'm going to try to find the bright spots amid a sea of despair, because why live life with a glass half empty?
First off it should be noted that the land of 10,000 lakes had something to celebrate recently, as the University of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs won their first ever National Championship as Division 1 Hockey champs. About half of the alumni from UMD live in the Twin Cities and neighboring communities, so it was definitely a bright spot in a sea of gray among the other teams.
TWINS
Records: 5-10, 5th in AL Central
Rankings: 21st ESPN
Glass Half Empty: Here we go. No team had more pressure going into the season to save its fan base from insanity than the Twins. The optimism regarding this team was overflowing if not for anything but we as fans were dying to see a competitive team. Well 2 weeks in and we've yet to see that. Here's a short list of what's gone wrong. New Japanese all-star import, Tsuyoshi Nishioka breaks his leg in the first week. Joe Mauer has already landed on the DL. Joe Nathan has 2 blown saves and just lost the closer job to Matt Capps, who also has a blown save. Twins are last in the Majors in runs (41), home runs (4), and RBI (38). While the pitching and fielding have been average at best.
Glass Half Full: It's April. The baseball regular season is 6 months long and we're not even 1/10 of the way done. Despite the team's struggles, a few players are coming around. Denard Span is 10th in the AL in hitting at .339, a welcome sight after last year. Kubel is 16th at .320 and leads the team with 2 home runs (hey gotta be positive here). Carl Pavano is holding down the fort in the rotation. He's 1-1, but easily could be 3-0 because of the lack in run of support. Pavano has 3 quality starts, 11 K's, a 3.60 ERA, and an impressive 0.95 WHIP. He's definitely been worth the money.
GOPHERS FOOTBALL
Records: 3-9, (2-6) 10th in the Big Ten
Rankings: 85th in Sagarin Ratings
Glass Half Empty: New coach + difficult schedule including USC, Michigan, Nebraska, Michigan State, and Wisconsin = slim chance at more than 3 or 4 wins.
Glass Half Full: Because of what happened this winter to the Hockey and Basketball teams, believe it or not, Gophers football is on top of the U revenue sports. Spring practice is under way and there is a ton of optimism regarding the new coach and new quarterback Marquis Gray. And the best news of all, they can't lose until September!
GOPHERS BASKETBALL
Record: 17-14, (6-12) 10th in Big Ten
Rankings: 85th RPI
Half Empty: Lost 10 of last 11 games in one of the most epic collapses in Big Ten history. Team losing entire starting lineup Al Nolen and leading scorer Blake Hoffarber to graduation. Trevor Mbakwe and Ralph Sampson III to NBA draft (likely), and Colton Iverson to transfer.
Half Full: Starting over might be the best thing for this team. Getting some fresh faces with a clean slate, records, and attitudes might be what the Gophers need.
GOPHERS HOCKEY
Records: 16-14-6, (13-10-5) 5th in WCHA
Rankings: 23rd USCHO.com Poll (March 21st)
Glass Half Empty: The team ended one of its worst seasons in recent history with consecutive losses to perennial WCHA doormats Alaska-Anchorage. The Gophers misses the Final Five at the WCHA in consecutive years for the first time in 11 years since the WCHA expansion era.
Glass Half Full: This team may not have been great, but they at least were smart. 12 players on the roster earned Academic all-WCHA for having a GPA of at least 3.0, not too shabby.
VIKINGS
Records: 6-10, Last NFC North
Rankings: 12th Draft Pick
Glass Half Empty: A superbowl pre-season pick turned into a nightmare of a season. The team doesn't have a quarterback, proven at least and you can't win in the NFL without that. Off the field, efforts for a new stadium are being shot down left and right. If the team can't turn it around on the field, they'll have an even tougher time pushing for a new stadium with public financing. You think the Twins would have gotten Target Field if they played like they did in the mid 90's? Their 2000's resurgance was a big reason why their still in Minnesota. Can the Vikings play the same card and rally behind the purple to stay in the frozen north?
Glass Half Full: Good bye and good riddance the Brett Favre experiment is over. It worked for one season and should have ended there. Not only did his age catch up with him, but his off-field behavior too. The Vikings have a long history of off-field problems and last year was just no different. A new head coach, Leslie Frazier will be a big boost for the team. For one, he has the support of his players, which Childress hardly had, for another he's a super bowl champion player and brings that player mentality with him. Whatever the QB situation, be it McNabb, Newton, Locker, Dalton, or Joe Webb, the team can still rely on their young guns AP, Harvin, and Sid Rice to keep this team electrifying.
WILD
Records: 39-35-8, 12th in Western Conference
Rankings: 23rd ESPN
Glass Half Empty: Finished the season 4-10-1 after flirting with the 8th spot in the West. Gave up 4 or more goals in 8 of those games including an 8-1 drubbing at home vs. Montreal.
Glass Half Full: 1 win better than last year. Kicked Dallas out of the playoffs with gutsy win in last game. Todd Richards fired as head coach.
TIMBERWOLVES
Records: 17-65, Worst Record in NBA
Rankings: does it matter? 30th if you're counting.
Glass Half Empty: The Wolves lost its last 15 games to finish behind Cleveland for the worst record overall. The one bright spot on the season, Kevin Love didn't play in the season's last 5 games and on the season the team surrended a league worst 108 points per game. David Kahn and Kurt Rambis should be re-doing their resumes as neither should warrant another contract. Also, the Timberwolves now have the longest playoff drought in the NBA at 6 years.
Glass Half Full: With the worst record, comes the best chance for the #1 overrall draft pick. I'll keep this positive and it right now.
Well that's it for now. I'll try to keep pace with some other interesting and possibly uplifting stories. Until next time, remember to exercise for 30 mins a day.
Brock
TCW
Friday, April 1, 2011
Getting to know you...the new Twins for 2011
Major League Baseball officially opened its season yesterday with 6 games. The Twins will punch their opening day tickets today but won't be playing in the US. That's right, the Twins open their season north of the border in Canada against the Toronto Blue Jays.
Who can we expect to see this on this year's 25 man squad out of the gate? A lot of familiar faces. 23 of the 25 players that will suit up tonight played in 2010 for the Twins. The two that didn't, Japanese product Tsuyoshi Nishioka, and new bullpen arm Dusty Hughes.
Everyone should know about Nishioka by now, the Twins spent $5 million just for the right to negotiate a contract with him. He has high expectations, although with the Twins line-up, he's really expected to get on base and dangerous from there.
The Twins really lacked good baserunners last year and Nishioka is part of the plan to fill that void, along with a resurgent Denard Span and Alexi Casilla.
But who is this guy really? Can we expect an Ichiro or more like a Fukudome? Or neither. First off, no one should expect getting a player with the caliber of Ichiro Suzuki, already a first ballot hall of famer, despite having played half of his career in Japan. Suzuki will end his career with 3,000 hits and if he had played in the US his entire career, that number would have blown away Pete Rose's mark. Kosuku Fukudome came into the league with a lot of hype, gaining an all-star nod his first year, but has since leveled off and become more average than exceptional. The Twins would settle for something in-between.
Nishioka, a 26 year old switch hitter, played with the Chiba Lotte Marines out of the Nippon Professional Baseball league from 2003-2010. He carries a lot of accolades with him including a 2 time Japan Series Champion, 5 time all star, 3 time gold glove winner, a 2 time stolen base champion and in 2010 NPB batting champion. Nishioka is an Olympian, having played in the 2008 games in Beijing and also won Gold in 2006 with the Japanese team in the World Baseball Classic. Nishioka's style will be very similar to what we see in Ichiro, a slap style hitter with some pop in his bat and a very slick fielder. Don't be surprised if Nishioka goes long a few times too, in high school, he was a slugger as well as a lead-off hitter belting 42 home runs. Nishioka hit .345 with 20 hits and only 2 strikeouts this spring.
Hughes is a relative unknown, but I'm one of the few people who have known this kid for years. In 2004, I was an intern with the Burlington Bees, the low Class A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals. I remember Hughes, a Mississippian with a distinct southern drawl, who threw a lot of heat and was promoted to high A later in the summer. I'm not a huge Royals fan, but I'm a fan of anyone who played with the Bees that summer and to date there's been at least 5 players to make the majors from that team. I'll have to write about my experience there and check up on where the players are. If you haven't experienced Minor League Baseball, I really implore you to try, you may not know the names, but the baseball is still really really good.
Anyways, on to Hughes performance on the diamond. After earning his licks in the minors, Hughes got his first cup of coffee in the majors with a September 2009 call up.
An 0-2 with a 5.14 ERA was not what he and the Royals had in mind for the 8 games he played. But the experience proved enough as he made the Royals bullpen for 2010 and in 57 games he put up a 3.83 ERA with 34 strikeouts, in 56 and a third innings pitched. Hughes impressed everybody this spring by not allowing a single run in 12 innings pitched, going 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA, 7 strikeouts, and 5 walks. As a lefty, he'll be a welcome addition to the bullpen looking to fulfill that specialty role in late inning pressure situations.
I've got a whole rundown of the the re-tooled Twins bullpen, but I'll keep that for another post. For now, sit back and enjoy Opening Day. It's April 1st and no, it's not a prank, baseball is here finally!
until next time, remember to keep your foot on the rubber.
brock
TCW
Who can we expect to see this on this year's 25 man squad out of the gate? A lot of familiar faces. 23 of the 25 players that will suit up tonight played in 2010 for the Twins. The two that didn't, Japanese product Tsuyoshi Nishioka, and new bullpen arm Dusty Hughes.
Everyone should know about Nishioka by now, the Twins spent $5 million just for the right to negotiate a contract with him. He has high expectations, although with the Twins line-up, he's really expected to get on base and dangerous from there.
But who is this guy really? Can we expect an Ichiro or more like a Fukudome? Or neither. First off, no one should expect getting a player with the caliber of Ichiro Suzuki, already a first ballot hall of famer, despite having played half of his career in Japan. Suzuki will end his career with 3,000 hits and if he had played in the US his entire career, that number would have blown away Pete Rose's mark. Kosuku Fukudome came into the league with a lot of hype, gaining an all-star nod his first year, but has since leveled off and become more average than exceptional. The Twins would settle for something in-between.
Nishioka, a 26 year old switch hitter, played with the Chiba Lotte Marines out of the Nippon Professional Baseball league from 2003-2010. He carries a lot of accolades with him including a 2 time Japan Series Champion, 5 time all star, 3 time gold glove winner, a 2 time stolen base champion and in 2010 NPB batting champion. Nishioka is an Olympian, having played in the 2008 games in Beijing and also won Gold in 2006 with the Japanese team in the World Baseball Classic. Nishioka's style will be very similar to what we see in Ichiro, a slap style hitter with some pop in his bat and a very slick fielder. Don't be surprised if Nishioka goes long a few times too, in high school, he was a slugger as well as a lead-off hitter belting 42 home runs. Nishioka hit .345 with 20 hits and only 2 strikeouts this spring.
Hughes is a relative unknown, but I'm one of the few people who have known this kid for years. In 2004, I was an intern with the Burlington Bees, the low Class A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals. I remember Hughes, a Mississippian with a distinct southern drawl, who threw a lot of heat and was promoted to high A later in the summer. I'm not a huge Royals fan, but I'm a fan of anyone who played with the Bees that summer and to date there's been at least 5 players to make the majors from that team. I'll have to write about my experience there and check up on where the players are. If you haven't experienced Minor League Baseball, I really implore you to try, you may not know the names, but the baseball is still really really good.
Anyways, on to Hughes performance on the diamond. After earning his licks in the minors, Hughes got his first cup of coffee in the majors with a September 2009 call up.
An 0-2 with a 5.14 ERA was not what he and the Royals had in mind for the 8 games he played. But the experience proved enough as he made the Royals bullpen for 2010 and in 57 games he put up a 3.83 ERA with 34 strikeouts, in 56 and a third innings pitched. Hughes impressed everybody this spring by not allowing a single run in 12 innings pitched, going 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA, 7 strikeouts, and 5 walks. As a lefty, he'll be a welcome addition to the bullpen looking to fulfill that specialty role in late inning pressure situations.
I've got a whole rundown of the the re-tooled Twins bullpen, but I'll keep that for another post. For now, sit back and enjoy Opening Day. It's April 1st and no, it's not a prank, baseball is here finally!
until next time, remember to keep your foot on the rubber.
brock
TCW
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)