Round Three

By David Jensen

2008 is an important year for Boof Bonser. This is his third year in the majors, he is a very talented pitcher and much has been expected from him since Minnesota acquired him from the Giants. On top of that, the Santana trade has put more pressure on him to perform now. He is the longest tenured Twin and has the most career starts in the American League in the rotation. That is why I picked Boof for my annual “Perform or you’re dead to me” ultimatum. Previous challenges have made Justin Morneau an MVP and Carlos Silva a Cy Young candidate, for Seattle. My expectations for Bonser are average for a number two starter: seven wins with a winning percentage of at least .450 with an ERA under 3.75 at the all-star break.

A month into the season, Boof has, at times, looked like a premier pitcher. In six starts, he is 2-4 with a 3.75 ERA, 22 strike outs and 9 walks. Opponents are hitting .250 with three home runs against him in 36 innings of work.

In his first two starts, he wasn’t sharp, but he gave the Twins a chance to win both games. He allowed three ER in on eight hits in six innings with four ks against the Angels. Against Kansas City, it was 3 ER on eight hits in seven innings with four ks and no walks. Minnesota lost 9-1, 3-1. In his third start, in KC, Bonser shut out the Royals on three hits for six innings to pick up his first win. Next was his only truly bad game thus far. The Devil Rays lit him up for seven runs, six earned, on seven hits in just four innings as the Twins lost 7-3. He rebounded in his next start by holding Oakland to two runs on three hits over six innings. Same old story, Boof falls to 1-4 as the A’s win 3-0. Bonser finished April in fine style. Against the hated White Sox, he allowed six hits in seven innings with one walk and 8 ks. He gave up just one run on a solo shot by Joe Crede.

Despite a 2-4 record, Bonser had a good month of April. He’s given up 8.8 hits per 9IP with a 3.75 ERA. Minnesota’s offense has averaged 7.7 hits and 1.7 runs of support in his starts.

The High Life

The 1988 Baltimore Orioles have popped the champainge. Their record of 21 consecutive loses to start a season is safe for another year. The Tigers defeated the Red Sox 7-2 tonight to improve to 1-7 on the year. They were not able to gain any ground on the Royals however, who beat the Yankees for the second day in a row. Minnesota evened its series with Chicago with a 12-5 triumph. Jason Kubel went 2 for 4 with a grand slam and six RBI. Despite this performance, he is still dead to me.

Who are these Guys?

By David Jensen

After eight games, the Twins have been a model of inconsistency. That can be expected from a club fielding six new starters. The good news: New comers Carlos Gomez, Livan Hernandez and Nick Blackburn are off to good starts and Leinenkugel’s has finally made it to Montana. The bad news: Boof Bonser, Morneau and the offense are still in Fort Myers. Minnesota is 3-5 and 2.5 games behind Chicago and Kansas City.

At the top of the order, Gomez has been Minnesota’s only consistent offensive weapon. In his first week as a Twin, Gomez is 11 for 33 at the plate with one walk and 10 strikeouts. He’s hit two doubles, stolen five bases in five attempts and scored five runs. Mauer, hitting second, is batting .308 with five RBIs. Cuddyer went 5 for 17 before going on the 15 day DL with a dislocated and lacerated finger.

Infielders Mike Lamb and Adam Everett are hitting a combined .160 with five RBI. Brendan Harris is leading the infielders in hitting with a .263 average, with one walk, four strikeouts and one error at second base. Twins infielders are hitting a combined .240 with 11 RBI. Justin Morneau has struggled his way to .222 with six RBI, two homeruns, three walks and five strikeouts.

As for the rest of the new everyday players; Delmon Young has a solid .290 average with 2 RBI and no homers, and Craig Monroe is .091 with one RBI while splitting the DH role with Jason Kubel. Kubel is hitting .227 with 2 RBI and one homer. The Twins DH spot is hitting .180 with 2 RBI and one homer. That is simply astonishing. Where is Paul Molitor when you need him? Minnesota’s team average is .258.

The pitching has been decent. The team ERA is 4.05. The Starters are at 3.87 with the bullpen at 4.50.

Hernandez has started 08 like Ramon Ortiz started 07. Livan has won both his starts, going seven innings and allowing seven hits in each. He has a 3.86 ERA, 3 strikeouts, 0 walks, and opponents are hitting .260 off him. Let’s hope he doesn’t follow Ortiz down the gutter. Blackburn has been very impressive in his first two major league starts. On April 2^nd, he pitched seven, stuck out five and gave up five hits to a very good Angel’s lineup. He surrendered one run on a wild pitch in the seventh and took a 1-0 loss.

On Monday against Chicago, he went five, allowed seven hits and two runs and struck out five to earn a no-decision.

Except for the seventh inning on Monday, the bullpen has been almost perfect. Joe Nathan is celebrating his big payday with a great start. He’s recorded three saves in three appearances allowing 0 runs on three hits with 3 ks. Pat Neshek has pitched 4.3 innings, struck out five and allowed three runs, all on Monday. Matt Gurrier has pitched 3.3 innings, giving up four hits, three walks and struck out two. He’s allowed two earned runs, both on Monday as well.

Notes

The Twins have hit into 14 double plays this year.

The Twins have turned 5 double plays.

Torii Hunter hit .188 with an RBI and 4 ks in his first series as an Angel.

WE'RE BACK BABY!!!

It's time to cash in those 401 K's for Twins' World Series tickets. Twins' fans had almost given up on their team, when the team made a miraculous come back. After defeating the KC Royals, it is obvious that the Twins are the real deal this year. This squad is clearly a better comeback team than the '06 squad, and they may even give Rocky in Rocky III a run for his money.

On a side note: The Detroit Tigers are clearly back in their 2000 and 2001 form, look for them to stay at the bottom of the barrel.

...And That's When it All Came Crashing Down Upon Us

By David Jensen

The Minnesota Twins are in big trouble. After dominating the Angels in the first game of the year, the Twins have looked like the worst team in the AL since. Tonights loss sends them below .500 to a 1-2 mark. In Tuesday nights game, the they put on a clinic of poor pitching, bungling defense and inept hitting in key situations. California rolled over Bonser and the Twins 9-1. On Wednesday night, they were again completely lost at the plate as Joe Saunders shut them down for eight innings. The two game skid puts them a distant 1.5 games behind Cleveland and Kansas City. From what we've seen the last two nights, Minnesota will be very fortunate if they don't smash the 1962 Mets record for losses in a season.

Anything is Possible

By David Jensen

After one game, the Twins appear to be the team to beat in the American League. Livan Hernandez pitched 7 innings, giving up 2 runs on 7 hits to earn his first win as a Twin. Carlos Gomez went 2 for 3 with two runs and two stolen bases. Cuddyer drove the winning run. Even Jason Kubel got a hit. Then Neshek and Nathan dominated out of the bullpen to slam the door on the Angels.
Among the six newcomers to the starting lineup, Delmon Young went 2 for 4 with a run scored. Brenden Harris went 2 for 4 with two strikeouts and played a good second base.
Minnesota played a great game all around. The defense was stellar and the pitching was solid. They ran the bases agressively and stole four bases to set up opportunities in the early innings. I don't think I've seen a better opening day performance from the Twins. There is no way this will all come crashing down upon us.

2008 Predictions

By David Jensen

Before last season, I made predictions on the division races and playoffs. They turned out to be very poor predictions. So poor in fact, Jim Souhan might have done better. So I put some more thought into this years.

AL

East- New York
Central- Detroit
West - California
Wild Card- Cleveland
Worst Record- Baltimore
Surprise - Minnesota
Disappointment- Chicago
Champion- Cleveland

NL

East - Philadelphia
Central- Milwaukee
West - Arizona
Wild Card- New York
Worst Record- San Francisco
Surprise - Pittsburgh
Disappointment- Atlanta
Champion - Arizona

World Series Arizona in 7

AL Central

1. Detroit - Good pitching, great lineup, great manager. They should have a better September than last the two years.

2. Cleveland- Everything hinges on the Bullpen

3. Minnesota- I have no idea how the Twins will finish this year. I would not be surprised if they finished first, or last. But I don’t think they will finish behind Chicago or Kansas City, could they?

4. Kansas City- Good looking young team. Somebody should tell ownership the Royals are not a farm team.

5. Chicago - If they’re out of the race in July, look for them to pack up the circus and fade away.

Miscellaneous

Team to go 100 years without winning a
world series- Chicago Cubs

Teams the national media won't give up on until September, even though they were out of it in May- Cincinnati, Chicago Cubs/White Sox, Houston, Atlanta and Oakland

Highest attendance- New York Yankees

Lowest attendance- Florida

Teams that won't need new stadiums- Yankees, Minnesota and Kansas City

Restraining orders filed by Bob Uecker- 3

Amount of Christmas presents Carl Pohlad will dump into
Lake Superior in tons-16

Times Tyler will be enraged by "Circle Me Bert" signs- 1377

Times Joe Morgan will go on at great length when someone does something that an eight year old little leaguer could have done just as well- 57

Soulless yuppies who will truly appreciate the Twins, the Metrodome and Baseball- 0

The Twins stadium project will face several more obstacles and construction will halt in late August.

Wishful Thinking

Boston will make a trade with Minnesota that will be looked back on as the single greatest front office blunder in the expansion era. As a result, Theo Epstein will resign in shame and the Red Sox will embark on another 86 year World Series drought.

Fox will disband its sports division and Joe Buck will apologize to America shortly before going into exile in Mongolia.

That's what I could come up with while doing my laundry. I'm confidant they will prove better than anything Jim Souhan and John Kruk will come up with.