| Twins Suffering From Lack of Depth |
| By Sally Haase May 19, 2011 What a difference a year makes. In May of 2010, the Minnesota Twins were at the top of their division and had a record that is almost identical to this season’s record, if you reverse the columns. It is for the most part, the same team as last season, only Orlando Hudson and J.J. Hardy are missing from the regular Twins starting lineup. The season looked promising, but then new second baseman Tsuyoshi Nishioka went down with a broken leg in the second week of the season, closer Joe Nathan had trouble finishing his pitches and removed himself from the closer role. And Matt Capps has not exactly been lights out either. By the third and fourth weeks of the season a stomach virus swept through the clubhouse, claiming Justin Morneau, Delmon Young, and Joe Mauer as its victims. Morneau was out for over a week and is still trying to gain back the 10-15 pounds he lost when fighting through his illness. Morneau is defiantly not at full strength yet, but sitting him for a few days is not going to help this struggling lineup. Young is back from the virus and a strained oblique but is 0-6 with five strikeouts since his return. Mauer’s illness was the cause of his bilateral leg weakness and is still on the disabled list. The Twins have said that they do not want Mauer to come back until he is at 100%. Twins general manager Bill Smith said he hopes to have Mauer back for the final four plus months of the season. Right now Mauer is working on getting back into baseball shape, but I don’t expect Mauer to be back in the Twins starting lineup until sometime in June. Since the New York Yankees and Jorge Posada are having some trouble in paradise, maybe the Twins could look into Posada as an option at catcher until Mauer returns. In past seasons the Twins have always been able to call up a player from the minor leagues and keep winning without missing a beat. This season is an entirely different story, the players seem lost with out half of the regular players on the field. The lack of depth on the roster looks to be the downfall of the Twins this season. With only two or three legitimate threats in the lineup right now (Jason Kubel being the most dangerous) the opposing pitchers are just going to pitch around the threats and attack the Luke Hughes’, Ben Reveres, Trevor Plouffes, and Alexi Casillas of the lineup until those players prove they can hit the ball and score runs. The Twins actually do have some depth with their pitchers; there are seven pitchers who have been starters in their careers. But with the bullpen on the verge of imploding, it’s hard for manager Ron Gardenhire to justify taking Kevin Slowey or Glen Perkins out of the bullpen and into the starting rotation. Slowey and Perkins are the best pitchers in the bullpen right now and moving them to the rotation would be like taking the front tire off your car to fix a flat tire in the back. Part of the reason the pitching staff is struggling so much is the lack of run support, it’s hard to pitch knowing that you have a limit of two runs to give up before the game is out of reach. Francisco Liriano’s no-hitter is a perfect example of how things are going for the Twins; the no-hitter was a 1-0 win. You cannot expect a pitcher to go out and throw at the very least a shutout every time they take the mound, but that is about the only way the Twins can win right now. |
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