It is all uphill from here – tough starts by Twins starters

Since the Minnesota Twins started play here in 1961 they have played 9,451 games through August 31, 2020. The Twins obviously needed a starting or in recent times an opening pitcher for each of those games.

Sometimes the starts don’t go exactly as planned as the pitchers on the list included here can attest. If you watched one of these games you were probably saying “get him out of there” but did you know that you were watching something pretty rare? A Minnesota Twins starter getting pulled and sent to the showers before he hardly had a chance to work up a sweat doesn’t happen very often, as a matter of fact it hasn’t happened since 2012 when P.J. Walters was the unlucky victim. Just looking at Twins history, it has happened just 17 times in 9,451 games or in just .0017% of the starts.

If you take a closer look at the list you will see there are some pretty good starters on this list. One of these types of starts doesn’t always guarantee that the team would lose either, in four of the seventeen cases the Twins came back to win the game. In six of the seventeen cases shown here the starter didn’t walk away with the “L”.

Al Schroll
Results
Rk Player Date Opp Rslt App,Dec IP H R ER BB HR UER BF
1 Al Schroll 1961-08-26 BAL L 4-7 GS-1, L 0.0 3 4 3 2 1 1 6
2 Jim Kaat 1962-04-19 CHW L 3-10 GS-1, L 0.0 4 4 2 0 0 2 4
3 Ray Moore 1963-07-05 (1) BAL L 3-4 GS-1, L 0.0 2 4 3 2 0 1 5
4 Jim Roland 1964-08-06 BOS W 6-5 GS-1 0.0 2 4 2 2 1 2 5
5 Tom Hall 1968-08-09 NYY W 4-3 GS-1 0.0 2 3 2 3 0 1 6
6 Dave Boswell 1970-06-28 (2) CHW L 10-11 GS-1 0.0 1 2 2 1 0 0 2
7 Ray Corbin 1974-06-30 (1) CHW L 3-8 GS-1, L 0.0 4 4 4 0 0 0 4
8 Vic Albury 1974-07-19 DET W 7-5 GS-1 0.0 2 3 3 1 1 0 3
9 Ray Corbin 1975-06-30 CAL L 3-10 GS-1, L 0.0 6 6 6 0 1 0 6
10 Pete Redfern 1982-06-26 TOR W 4-3 GS-1 0.0 2 1 1 0 0 0 2
11 Bryan Oelkers 1983-06-21 TOR L 3-8 GS-1, L 0.0 4 4 4 1 1 0 5
12 Ken Schrom 1985-07-20 NYY L 3-8 GS-1, L 0.0 3 4 4 1 1 0 4
13 Frank Viola 1986-05-20 BOS L 7-17 GS-1, L 0.0 5 6 6 1 0 0 6
14 Roy Smith 1989-05-26 TEX L 3-5 GS-1, L 0.0 5 4 4 0 0 0 5
15 Kevin Tapani 1990-07-13 (1) BAL L 5-8 GS-1 0.0 2 2 2 0 0 0 2
16 Frankie Rodriguez 1996-07-30 BAL L 4-16 GS-1, L 0.0 2 5 3 2 0 2 5
17 P.J. Walters 2012-06-13 PHI L 8-9 GS-1, L 0.0 4 4 4 0 0 0 4
Provided by Stathead.com: View Stathead Tool Used
Generated 8/29/2020.

If you want to check out some Twins historically bad starts in terms of runs allowed, I did a piece on that called “Historically bad starts by Twins pitchers” back on 2015 that you can also check out.

Get to know President Ken Schrom

Ken SchromKenneth Marvin Schrom was born in Grangeville, Indiana on November 23, 1954 and attended Grangeville High School where he earned 11 athletic letters and all-state honors in baseball, basketball and all-american honors in football. The Minnesota Twins drafted Schrom in 1973 in the 10th round but Ken passed on the offer and instead accepted a scholarship from the University of Idaho to play football and baseball. Schrom was a two-year letter winner in both football and baseball for the Idaho Vandals from 1973-76. Schrom had dreams of playing QB in the NFL one day but a couple of injuries on the football field caused him to pass on football and focus on his baseball career.

Ken SchromThe California Angels drafted Schrom in 1976 in the 17th round and after signing his first pro contract Ken began his climb to the major leagues. Schrom worked his way through the minors quickly and by 1979 was already pitching in AAA Salt Lake City. Schrom was again in Salt Lake City when the 1980 season opened and he was hoping for a call from the Angels but when that call came on June 10, 1980 he found out that the Angels had dealt him to the Toronto Blue Jays as the PTBNL from an earlier Angels-Blue Jays deal.

It wasn’t long before the Blue Jays called Schrom up to the big leagues and on August 8th, 1980 Ken appeared in his first big league game against the Kansas City Royals at Exhibition Stadium in the second game of a double-header as a reliever pitching the final 2/3 of an inning in a 7-4 losing cause to the Royals. Schrom spent the rest of 1980 with Toronto pitching in relief but the following season he found himself in AAA Syracuse. Schrom started 1982 in Syracuse again but in August the Blue Jays recalled Schrom and he appeared in 6 games before Toronto released him. Schrom signed with the Minnesota Twins as a free agent in December 1982.

In 1983 the Twins turned Schrom into a starter and after a quick 3-1 start in Toledo the Twins called Schrom to the majors. Schrom who threw the fastball, curve, slider and change-up seemed better suited to be a starter than a reliever and the Twins put Schrom in the starting rotation on May 20th and he rewarded them with a 15-8 record earning the Twins Pitcher of the Year award on a team that won only 70 games. Schrom posted a 5-11 record the following season primarily because he pitched most of the season with a strained rotator cuff. Schrom struggled again in 1985 going 9-12 and in January of 1986 the Twins traded pitchers Ken Schrom and Bryan Oelkers to the Cleveland Indians for pitchers Roy Smith and Ramon Romero.

Cleveland turned out to be a great fit for Schrom and in his first season there in 1986 he got off to a 10-2 start and was named to the 1986 American League All-Star team. Ken finished the season with a 14-7 record and a 4.54 ERA. The injury bugaboo struck Schrom again in 1987 when he went 6-13 with a 6.50 ERA but it was determined that he was pitching with a tear in his labrum that ended up needing surgery. Schrom sat out 1988 recovering from the surgery. Schrom appeared briefly for El Paso as part of the Milwaukee organization but after just a handful of games ended up getting released and at the age of 34 his playing career was over. You will have to listen to the interview to have Ken tell you himself why his release from El Paso was unique to say the least.

Though his active playing career was over, Ken Schrom was certainly not done with baseball. Schrom spent the next 16 seasons working in a variety of roles in the front office of the El Paso Diablos. The El Paso Diablos under the ownership of Jim Paul were named the Minor League Franchise of the Decade in the 1980’s by Baseball America.

Ken SchromIn 2003 Schrom left El Paso and joined the Corpus Christi Hooks, a “AA” team for the Houston Astros that was owned by Nolan Ryan at the time but was sold this past Fall to the Houston Astros as the club’s GM. In 2005 Ken Schrom was named the 2005 Texas League Executive of the Year. In May of 2009 Schrom was named President of the Hooks  and in 2014 Ken enters his sixth season as club president and 11th full year with the franchise. In September of 2007, the University of Idaho Vandals honored Ken with induction into their Athletics Hall of Fame. Others in his inaugural induction class included Jerry Kramer, a guard for the Green Bay Packers during their 1960s glory years, and Gus Johnson, a five-time All-Star during his 11-year NBA career. To this day Ken Schrom is a loyal Green Bay Packers fan.

With the Astros now being part of the AL Central, I think Ken will be making his way to Minnesota this summer and will get his first peek at Target Field and maybe get in a little fishing with long-time friend Kent Hrbek along the way. In his down time, Schrom loves a good game of golf and can be found playing chasing that little white ball around the course several times a week and when he is not golfing you might find a rod and reel in his hand. Ken and his wife Cindy, an interior designer, now live in Portland, Texas. They have two adult children, Kayla and Jared.

This Day in Twins History – January 7

Bobby Castillo1/7/82 – The Twins sent catcher Scotti Madison and pitcher Paul Voigt to the Dodgers and acquired pitcher Bobby Castillo and outfielder Bobby Mitchell. Castillo spent three years in a Twins uniform and posted a 23-24 record with 3.98 ERA in 52 starts. Castillo’s claim to fame? He is credited with teaching Fernando Valenzuela how to throw a screwball. Mitchell was the Twins regular center fielder in 1982 hitting .249 in 124 games but lost his job in 1983 and never appeared in the big leagues again. Mitchell is currently the Atlanta Braves roving minor league outfield and base running instructor.

Rick Lysander1/7/83 – Houston sends pitcher Rick Lysander to the land of 10,000 lakes and receives pitcher Bob Veselic. The Twins used Lysander primarily as a reliever from 1983-1985 and during that time frame he appeared in 132 games winning 9 and losing 17 with a 4.08 ERA. Lysander had one particularly tough stretch in 1983 when he lost both games of a double-header to the Tigers on May 27th becoming the first Twins pitcher to suffer that indignity. The Twins gave Lysander a day off on the 28th in another loss to the Tigers but on the 29th he lost to the Tigers again giving him 3 losses to the Tigers in four days. The Twins then went home to Minnesota to play the Baltimore Orioles and you guessed it, on June 1st Lysander turned up as the losing pitcher again. Four losses in six days makes for a BAD week.

1/7/86 – The Twins trade pitchers Bryan Oelkers and Ken Schrom to the Indians and get pitchers Roy Smith and Ramon Romero in return. Smith went on to spend five seasons in Minnesota winning 19 and losing 18 games with a 4.28 ERA. Schrom is now president of the Corpus Christi Hooks.

Twins “games started” history

The Twins will have three starters that will start 20 or more games during this 2013 season. Kevin Correia, Mike Pelfrey, and Scott Diamond have all passed that mark and there is no chance of anyone else joining that group. Samuel Deduno had 18 starts but he is done for the season. In 2012 the Twins had just one starter with 20 or more starts and that was Scott Diamond. 2012 was the first time in Twins history that they had only one starter with 20 or more starts. The Twins had only two starters with 20 or more starts only twice and those were the strike shortened 1981 and 1995 seasons. The Twins have had three starters start 20 or more games 12 times, four starters with 20 or more starts 17 times and five starters with 20 or more starts on eight occasions with the last two being 2010 and 2011. Only 6 teams in AL history have had 6 starters with 20 or more starts in a season and they were the 1937 White Sox, the 1942 Tigers, the 1944 Philadelphia A’s, the 1962 Senators, and the 2001 Rays. The Rays will be joining that group again on Monday when Alex Cobb makes his 20th start of 2013.

Twins starters with 20 or more starts

Year Tm #Matching
2011 Minnesota Twins 5 Scott Baker / Nick Blackburn / Brian Duensing / Francisco Liriano / Carl Pavano
2010 Minnesota Twins 5 Scott Baker / Nick Blackburn / Francisco Liriano / Carl Pavano / Kevin Slowey
2008 Minnesota Twins 5 Scott Baker / Nick Blackburn / Livan Hernandez / Glen Perkins / Kevin Slowey
2005 Minnesota Twins 5 Kyle Lohse / Joe Mays / Brad Radke / Johan Santana / Carlos Silva
2003 Minnesota Twins 5 Kyle Lohse / Joe Mays / Brad Radke / Rick Reed / Kenny Rogers
1990 Minnesota Twins 5 Allan Anderson / Mark Guthrie / Roy Smith / Kevin Tapani / David West
1979 Minnesota Twins 5 Roger Erickson / Dave Goltz / Paul Hartzell / Jerry Koosman / Geoff Zahn
1963 Minnesota Twins 5 Jim Kaat / Camilo Pascual / Jim Perry / Lee Stange / Dick Stigman
2007 Minnesota Twins 4 Scott Baker / Boof Bonser / Johan Santana / Carlos Silva
2004 Minnesota Twins 4 Kyle Lohse / Brad Radke / Johan Santana / Carlos Silva
2002 Minnesota Twins 4 Kyle Lohse / Eric Milton / Brad Radke / Rick Reed
2000 Minnesota Twins 4 Joe Mays / Eric Milton / Brad Radke / Mark Redman
1999 Minnesota Twins 4 LaTroy Hawkins / Joe Mays / Eric Milton / Brad Radke
1998 Minnesota Twins 4 LaTroy Hawkins / Eric Milton / Brad Radke / Bob Tewksbury
1997 Minnesota Twins 4 LaTroy Hawkins / Brad Radke / Rich Robertson / Bob Tewksbury
1994 Minnesota Twins 4 Jim Deshaies / Scott Erickson / Pat Mahomes / Kevin Tapani
1993 Minnesota Twins 4 Willie Banks / Jim Deshaies / Scott Erickson / Kevin Tapani
1992 Minnesota Twins 4 Scott Erickson / Bill Krueger / John Smiley / Kevin Tapani
1991 Minnesota Twins 4 Allan Anderson / Scott Erickson / Jack Morris / Kevin Tapani
1989 Minnesota Twins 4 Allan Anderson / Shane Rawley / Roy Smith / Frank Viola
1988 Minnesota Twins 4 Allan Anderson / Bert Blyleven / Charlie Lea / Frank Viola
1987 Minnesota Twins 4 Bert Blyleven / Mike Smithson / Les Straker / Frank Viola
1985 Minnesota Twins 4 John Butcher / Ken Schrom / Mike Smithson / Frank Viola
1984 Minnesota Twins 4 John Butcher / Ken Schrom / Mike Smithson / Frank Viola
1983 Minnesota Twins 4 Bobby Castillo / Ken Schrom / Frank Viola / Albert Williams
1982 Minnesota Twins 4 Bobby Castillo / Brad Havens / Frank Viola / Albert Williams
1980 Minnesota Twins 4 Roger Erickson / Darrell Jackson / Jerry Koosman / Geoff Zahn
1978 Minnesota Twins 4 Roger Erickson / Dave Goltz / Gary Serum / Geoff Zahn
1977 Minnesota Twins 4 Dave Goltz / Pete Redfern / Paul Thormodsgard / Geoff Zahn
1976 Minnesota Twins 4 Dave Goltz / Jim Hughes / Pete Redfern / Bill Singer
1974 Minnesota Twins 4 Vic Albury / Bert Blyleven / Joe Decker / Dave Goltz
1973 Minnesota Twins 4 Bert Blyleven / Joe Decker / Jim Kaat / Dick Woodson
1970 Minnesota Twins 4 Bert Blyleven / Jim Kaat / Jim Perry / Bill Zepp
1968 Minnesota Twins 4 Dave Boswell / Dean Chance / Jim Kaat / Jim Merritt
1967 Minnesota Twins 4 Dave Boswell / Dean Chance / Jim Kaat / Jim Merritt
1966 Minnesota Twins 4 Dave Boswell / Mudcat Grant / Jim Kaat / Jim Perry
1964 Minnesota Twins 4 Mudcat Grant / Jim Kaat / Camilo Pascual / Dick Stigman
1961 Minnesota Twins 4 Jim Kaat / Jack Kralick / Camilo Pascual / Pedro Ramos
2013 Minnesota Twins 3 Kevin Correia / Scott Diamond / Mike Pelfrey
2009 Minnesota Twins 3 Scott Baker / Nick Blackburn / Francisco Liriano
2006 Minnesota Twins 3 Brad Radke / Johan Santana / Carlos Silva
2001 Minnesota Twins 3 Joe Mays / Eric Milton / Brad Radke
1996 Minnesota Twins 3 Brad Radke / Rich Robertson / Frankie Rodriguez
1986 Minnesota Twins 3 Bert Blyleven / Mike Smithson / Frank Viola
1975 Minnesota Twins 3 Bert Blyleven / Dave Goltz / Jim Hughes
1972 Minnesota Twins 3 Bert Blyleven / Jim Perry / Dick Woodson
1971 Minnesota Twins 3 Bert Blyleven / Jim Kaat / Jim Perry
1969 Minnesota Twins 3 Dave Boswell / Jim Kaat / Jim Perry
1965 Minnesota Twins 3 Mudcat Grant / Jim Kaat / Camilo Pascual
1962 Minnesota Twins 3 Jim Kaat / Jack Kralick / Camilo Pascual
1995 Minnesota Twins 2 Brad Radke / Kevin Tapani
1981 Minnesota Twins 2 Pete Redfern / Albert Williams
2012 Minnesota Twins 1 Scott Diamond
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 9/15/2013.
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Seasons with 20 or more starts

Rk Yrs From To Age
1 Brad Radke 12 1995 2006 22-33 Ind. Seasons
2 Jim Kaat 12 1961 1973 22-34 Ind. Seasons
3 Bert Blyleven 9 1970 1988 19-37 Ind. Seasons
4 Frank Viola 8 1982 1989 22-29 Ind. Seasons
5 Kevin Tapani 6 1990 1995 26-31 Ind. Seasons
6 Dave Goltz 6 1974 1979 25-30 Ind. Seasons
7 Jim Perry 6 1963 1972 27-36 Ind. Seasons
8 Scott Baker 5 2007 2011 25-29 Ind. Seasons
9 Joe Mays 5 1999 2005 23-29 Ind. Seasons
10 Eric Milton 5 1998 2002 22-26 Ind. Seasons
11 Camilo Pascual 5 1961 1965 27-31 Ind. Seasons
12 Nick Blackburn 4 2008 2011 26-29 Ind. Seasons
13 Carlos Silva 4 2004 2007 25-28 Ind. Seasons
14 Johan Santana 4 2004 2007 25-28 Ind. Seasons
15 Kyle Lohse 4 2002 2005 23-26 Ind. Seasons
16 Scott Erickson 4 1991 1994 23-26 Ind. Seasons
17 Allan Anderson 4 1988 1991 24-27 Ind. Seasons
18 Mike Smithson 4 1984 1987 29-32 Ind. Seasons
19 Geoff Zahn 4 1977 1980 31-34 Ind. Seasons
20 Dave Boswell 4 1966 1969 21-24 Ind. Seasons
21 Francisco Liriano 3 2009 2011 25-27 Ind. Seasons
22 LaTroy Hawkins 3 1997 1999 24-26 Ind. Seasons
23 Ken Schrom 3 1983 1985 28-30 Ind. Seasons
24 Albert Williams 3 1981 1983 27-29 Ind. Seasons
25 Roger Erickson 3 1978 1980 21-23 Ind. Seasons
Rk Yrs From To Age
26 Pete Redfern 3 1976 1981 21-26 Ind. Seasons
27 Mudcat Grant 3 1964 1966 28-30 Ind. Seasons
28 Scott Diamond 2 2012 2013 25-26 Ind. Seasons
29 Carl Pavano 2 2010 2011 34-35 Ind. Seasons
30 Kevin Slowey 2 2008 2010 24-26 Ind. Seasons
31 Rick Reed 2 2002 2003 37-38 Ind. Seasons
32 Bob Tewksbury 2 1997 1998 36-37 Ind. Seasons
33 Rich Robertson 2 1996 1997 27-28 Ind. Seasons
34 Jim Deshaies 2 1993 1994 33-34 Ind. Seasons
35 Roy Smith 2 1989 1990 27-28 Ind. Seasons
36 John Butcher 2 1984 1985 27-28 Ind. Seasons
37 Bobby Castillo 2 1982 1983 27-28 Ind. Seasons
38 Jerry Koosman 2 1979 1980 36-37 Ind. Seasons
39 Jim Hughes 2 1975 1976 23-24 Ind. Seasons
40 Joe Decker 2 1973 1974 26-27 Ind. Seasons
41 Dick Woodson 2 1972 1973 27-28 Ind. Seasons
42 Jim Merritt 2 1967 1968 23-24 Ind. Seasons
43 Dean Chance 2 1967 1968 26-27 Ind. Seasons
44 Dick Stigman 2 1963 1964 27-28 Ind. Seasons
45 Jack Kralick 2 1961 1962 26-27 Ind. Seasons
46 Mike Pelfrey 1 2013 2013 29-29 Ind. Seasons
47 Kevin Correia 1 2013 2013 32-32 Ind. Seasons
48 Brian Duensing 1 2011 2011 28-28 Ind. Seasons
49 Glen Perkins 1 2008 2008 25-25 Ind. Seasons
50 Livan Hernandez 1 2008 2008 33-33 Ind. Seasons
Rk Yrs From To Age
51 Boof Bonser 1 2007 2007 25-25 Ind. Seasons
52 Kenny Rogers 1 2003 2003 38-38 Ind. Seasons
53 Mark Redman 1 2000 2000 26-26 Ind. Seasons
54 Frankie Rodriguez 1 1996 1996 23-23 Ind. Seasons
55 Pat Mahomes 1 1994 1994 23-23 Ind. Seasons
56 Willie Banks 1 1993 1993 24-24 Ind. Seasons
57 John Smiley 1 1992 1992 27-27 Ind. Seasons
58 Bill Krueger 1 1992 1992 34-34 Ind. Seasons
59 Jack Morris 1 1991 1991 36-36 Ind. Seasons
60 David West 1 1990 1990 25-25 Ind. Seasons
61 Mark Guthrie 1 1990 1990 24-24 Ind. Seasons
62 Shane Rawley 1 1989 1989 33-33 Ind. Seasons
63 Charlie Lea 1 1988 1988 31-31 Ind. Seasons
64 Les Straker 1 1987 1987 27-27 Ind. Seasons
65 Brad Havens 1 1982 1982 22-22 Ind. Seasons
66 Darrell Jackson 1 1980 1980 24-24 Ind. Seasons
67 Paul Hartzell 1 1979 1979 25-25 Ind. Seasons
68 Gary Serum 1 1978 1978 21-21 Ind. Seasons
69 Paul Thormodsgard 1 1977 1977 23-23 Ind. Seasons
70 Bill Singer 1 1976 1976 32-32 Ind. Seasons
71 Vic Albury 1 1974 1974 27-27 Ind. Seasons
72 Bill Zepp 1 1970 1970 23-23 Ind. Seasons
73 Lee Stange 1 1963 1963 26-26 Ind. Seasons
74 Pedro Ramos 1 1961 1961 26-26 Ind. Seasons
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 9/15/2013.

Bonus tidbit

Trivia question for you. How many different Twins pitchers have started at least one game since the Twins came into existence?