Mid-Season TCW Twins Awards

First off, my legion of fans are probably wondering where the heck I've been the last couple months. For good reason I've not been able to write much with my free time nearly zilch recently because of a new job and grad school. As priorities go, the TCW slid down behind the paycheck and the grades, understandably. But let's get back to the post and hand out some hardware. I believe the last post was more negative, how could it be positive after those first two months. So without further ado, here's the TCW Twins Mid-Season Awards.

MVP - MICHAEL CUDDYER
Easy pick. The Twins lone all-star and longest tenured Twin basically carried the Twins in the first half either by the bat or the glove.

Although his first 6 weeks were less than stellar and his RBI total at first moved as fast as molasses, Cuddyer has been hot since mid-May. Most importantly he's been healthy AND willing to play wherever the team needed him on a daily basis. Cuddyer has played 50 games in Right Field, 24 at First Base, 13 at Second Base, and 2 at DH. You'll be hard pressed to find any regular, let alone All-Star that has been that versatile this year. This is also a contract year for Cuddyer, meaning with the all-star bid, his value will only go up. The Twins would be best to sign him before he hits free agency this off-season, this is one Twin you don't want to lose.
HONORABLE MENTION - Jason Kubel (before he got hurt) .310 5 HR, 30 RBI

CY Young - GLEN PERKINS
Yeah, I know. If I would have said Glen Perkins would be the best pitcher the Twins have this year, everyone (including myself), would have questioned my sanity. But here we stand on July 13th and the most consistantly solid pitcher throughout the ENTIRE year has been Glen Perkins.

This hometown kid, who played high school ball with a few of my friends at Stillwater, was almost hung out to dry last year. The Twins didn't even seem to want him. But life has been pumped back into Glen and the hottest arm in the bullpen and he's proven to have major league stuff. In 35 games, while he's only 0-1, Perkins sports a ridiculous 0.87 ERA in 33.2 IP with 2 saves and 36 strikeouts.
HONORABLE MENTION - Scott Baker 7-5 3.01 ERA, 104 K's

Rookie - BEN REVERE
Does everyone remember when Denard Span filled in for an injured Michael Cuddyer in 2008? That's what Ben Revere reminds me of this year.

With Denard (and several others) injured, Revere has stepped in and cemented his status as a major leaguer, much like Span, who was also a 1st rounder. Revere has 49 hits in 50 games with 11 stolen bases; which is just 2 shy of the Alexi Casilla for the team lead in stolen bases. The only difference is Casilla has played in 81 games to Revere's 50. So yes, Revere gives the Twins that lead-off player they missed in Span, but with even more speed. With Delmon Young coming off the DL to start the 2nd half and Span right behind him, it'll pose an interesting scenario for Gardy to decide where Rivere plays. Like Span in 2008, Revere has established himself as a major leaguer and it would be VERY difficult to send him back to Triple A now.
HONORABLE MENTION - Tsuyoshi Nishioka. Don't fault the guy for breaking his leg. He's got 22 hits in 29 games and is a pretty slick fielding shortstop.

HANDY MAN (aka Utility Guy) - LUKE HUGHES
Cuddyer would get this slot if he wasn't the MVP, but you can't overlook what Luke Hughes has brought to the Twins in 2011. Hughes has played in 54 games total, the breakdown: 30 games at First Base, 18 games at 2nd Base, and 3 games at Third Base.

Hughes is the Australian infielder the major league have desperately needed (ok I know that was a stretch). Hughes is a Cuddyer look-a-alike. Not so much in appearance, but in ability to stretch his abilities to anywhere on the field, specifically infield (while I'm sure he could play outfield too). Hughes has tremendous value being able to play multiple positions, but that's not all that's keeping him up at in the bigs. While not super impressive, his .244 batting average 6 doubles, 3 home runs, and 15 RBI are productive for a utility player at this level.
HONORABLE MENTION - Matt Tolbert. Tolbert has played 25 games at Shortstop, 18 games at Second Base, and 5 games at Third Base.

COACH - JOE VAVRA
Yeah, you thought I was going to say Gardenhire, and he deserves a lot of credit too. But can you imagine the stress Joe Vavra has had to go through trying to work with 20 position players, not to mention the pitchers in interleague play. Of those 20 position players, 7 started the year at Triple A, and Vavra has done a good job with Revere, Hughes, Tosoni, and Plouffe to get accustomed to major league ball. While the offense probably shouldn't be praised at this point, with all the injuries, the damage control that Vavra (and Gardy and Andy) have done is comemorable.
HONORABLE MENTION - Ron Gardenhire.

DOWN WITH THE SICKNESS - JOE MAUER
What happened to baby Jesus? The guy who could do no wrong, who was idolized by all from old to young, suddenly was not so golden. The Twins have had 89 games this season and Mauer has played in 31. That's 35% of the Twins games this year. If he plays at that same pace, Mauer will play in only 57 games, which at $23 Million a year would net him $403,509 a game. Hmmm, it would be hard to say that was worth it at that rate. But let's give Joe the benefit of the doubt and say the Twins have been protecting him with the mysterious bilateral leg weakness problem and the random off days, maybe it was necessary for the long run. On the contrary, Mauer seemed to not push the issue to get out on the field, and when Cuddyer and guys like Hughes, Tolbert, and Tosoni did everything the team asked from them, it was tough to sit back and watch Mauer rake in millions from afar in Florida. I'm a Mauer guy and I want to give him the benefit of the doubt, but its tough when he's in his prime and the Twins still can't play him everyday.
HONORABLE MENTION - Tsuyoshi Nishiokia, Jim Thome, Jason Repko, Jason Kubel, Delmon Young, Justin Morneau, Denard Span, Target Field (3 rainouts)

GOPHER BALL PITCHER - NICK BLACKBURN
Not only has Blacky given up the most home runs on the season at 15, he's also given up the most per innings at about 1 per 7 innings, meaning if Blackburn is starting and your in the home run porch, bring your glove. Blacky actually has a decent 7-6 record with a moderate 4.26 ERA, but has struggled his last two starts. And if Blackburn's career stats are any indicator, he's likely to give up and down results the rest of the way. Other than his brief 6 games as a rookie in 2007, Blackburn's record, including this half of 2011, has been exactly 1 win or loss off of .500. At 39-42, how much can we expect Blackburn to flourish, at this point we'll likely see a 6-7 finish to the season.
HONORABLE MENTION - Francisco Liriano, 1 every 9 innings

REAL WINNERS - The FANS (especially those who come to Target Field)
As a Twins fan and season ticket holder, it's been a tough go this year, even with the recent surge. The first 2 months were downright brutal. Not only was the team bad, but the weather was just as bad. I personally, went to 2 of the 3 rainouts. But with all the bad weather, the true Twins fans know that even with the bad weather and poor play, Target Field is truly a treasure and one of the best venues in all of sports. Those who realize this are the ones who benefit.

Alright, that's good for tonight. So glad to write again, I REALLY missed it. Thanks for listening, I hope you liked it.

Until next time, remember to renew your licenses before a government shutdown.

TCW
Brock

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