Category: General Blogging

This is a general blogging category.

Twins 20 game winner Dave Boswell passes away

Dave Boswell

Dave Boswell a right-handed pitcher who won 20 games for the Twins in 1969 passed away from a heart attack yesterday at the age of 67.  Born in Baltimore, Maryland on January 20, 1945, Boswell signed with the Minnesota Twins as an amateur free agent pitcher/outfielder in 1963 after finishing his high school career with a 28-2 record. The New York Yankees offered Boswell the same deal at the Twins did and Boswell wanted to pitch for the Yankees but the Yankees had a very strong pitching staff and Dave and his family decided that Minnesota would offer him his best opportunity.

Boswell started his professional career in 1964 in A ball with Bismarck/Mandan in the Northern League and after going 7-11 with a 3.88 ERA he was moved up to AA Charlotte where he went 4-2 with a 2.85 ERA. The Minnesota Twins called Boswell to the big leagues in September and Dave made his major league debut on September 18 at the age of just 19 against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park. Boswell did not get a decision that day but his big league career was well on its way. Boswell made the Twins ballclub out of spring training in 1965 and after a few games in long relief, he entered the starting rotation and by the end of May, Boswell had a 2.12 ERA, in 34 innings. Boswell would have remained in the starting rotation, but he came down with mononucleosis and missed about a quarter of the season. When he returned, the Twins moved Boswell to the bullpen where he finished the 1965 pennant winning season. With the Twins only using 3 starters in the 1965 World Series, Boswell made one appearance in the 1965 World Series pitching in relief of Jim Kaat in-game 5. Boswell was in the starting rotation between 1966-1968 and won 36 games. But in 1969 Boswell had a career season going 20-12 with a 3.23 ERA while pitching 256.1 innings. Boswell started game 2 of the 1969 ALCS against the Baltimore Orioles and pitched 10.2 scoreless innings but came away as the losing pitcher when reliever Ron Perranoski game up single to Curt Motton and Boog Powell whom Boswell had walked to lead off the inning scored the only run in the ball game and the Orioles were 1-0 winners. Boswell hurt his arm striking out Frank Robinson to end the 10th inning and according to Boswell that was the reason he walked Powell to lead off the 11th inning. That arm injury was the beginning of the end for Dave Boswell and his big league career. In 1970 Boswell tried pitching through his injury but went 3-7 with a 6.42 ERA and on July 29 Boswell pitched in his last Twins game, a start against the Cleveland Indians that lasted just 2.1 innings when he gave up 7 walks and 3 hits. The Twins released Boswell in April 1971 and he hooked with the Detroit Tigers but he only pitched in 3 games there before being released in late May. Boswell then signed with the Baltimore Orioles and finished the 1971 season there.  Baltimore released Boswell before the 1972 season and amazingly at the young age of 27, Boswell’s big league career was finished.

Although Boswell won 20 games in 1969, he is probably better remembered for a fight that he had with Twins manager Billy Martin at the Lindall A.C. in Detroit. There are a lot of different stories circulating about that fight and we won’t go into them here.

Dave Boswell’s career lasted 8 years and he had a 68-56 record and an ERA of 3.52 and a 1.26 WHIP. Bos struck out 882 batters in his 1,065.1 innings and he gave up only 858 hits. Boswell always gave up fewer hits than innings pitched until he suffered his arm injury late in 1969. Boswell loved playing baseball and he was a good hitter too. Dave hit 4 home runs and knocked in 22 while batting .202 during his career and was used by the Twins as a pinch runner many, many times in his tenure in Minnesota.

Dave Boswell was one of baseball’s real characters and he played baseball the way he lived his life, non stop. Dave Boswell participated in the Twins Fantasy Camps for a number of years and had some health issues for the last year or so. The Minnesota Twins and their fans lost one of their “good ones” yesterday. Thank you for the great memories Dave, we won’t forget you.

I did an interview with Dave a few years back and you can see that Q&A by click here.

A beautiful YouTube tribute to Dave Boswell can be viewed here.

The Baltimore Sun obit for Dave Boswell

Shooter Now: Minnesota Twins ‘character’ Dave Boswell dies

Twins turning DP’s at a record pace

The Twins have turned a Major League-leading 73 double plays this year, turning at least one double play in 38 games and multiple double plays in 23 games. Minnesota is on pace to record 237 double plays, which would set an MLB record, passing the 1956 Yankees’ 213 double plays. The Twins season record for double plays in a season is 203, done in 1979, and is tied for fifth-best in Major League history.

Then again your pitching staff needs to give up a lot of hits and walks to allow so many runners on base in order to get double play opportunities. The Twins pitching remains the worst in the American League as opposing batters are hitting .285 and the Twins pitching staff has a 5.25 ERA with a 1.42 WHIP.

Twins put Liriano back in to starting rotation

 

 

The Twins have announced that Francisco Liriano is headed back in the starting rotation and will face the Oakland A’s at Target Field on Wednesday. So why do you move Francisco Liriano back in the starting rotation? Simply put, the Twins have no choice, they are out of ideas, they have tried everything they can think of to get Francisco back on track in his contract year and if anything, Liriano has gotten worse. I don’t know Liriano personally and according to what I have heard and seen in print, he is a nice guy, a quiet individual that works hard and goes about his business. I can only assume what they say about the man is true but when I look at Liriano I see a shy individual that can not handle pressure, not everyone is good in a pressure environment, some thrive under pressure and others find it impossible to deal with. I think Liriano sees himself falling into a deeper and deeper funk and doesn’t know how to stop from falling into the bottomless pit. He has no confidence, the team around him is playing poorly and he tries harder and harder to become the pitcher that everyone says he should be. But the harder you try the less successful you are going to be, pressure is a difficult thing to deal with and not everyone can handle the heat. The Twins coaching staff, the press and Twins blogs are all over Liriano and he can’t escape the negative things being said about him anywhere he goes. Everyone has an idea on how he should pitch in order for him to meet their lofty expectations, but sometimes you can not see the forest for the trees. The man has no place to go, everyone expects him to pitch like he did in 2006 when he went 12-3 with a 2.16 ERA in 16 starts at the age of 22. But look at that 2006 team, that team finished the season 96-66 and won the AL Central. Look at their starters, Johan Santan was 19-6 in 34 starts, Carlos Silva was 11-15 in 31 starts, Brad Radke went 12-9 in 28 starts, Boof Bonser was 7-6 in 18 starts, Scott Baker had 16 starts and went 7-8, Matt Garza had 9 starts and Kyle Lohse had 8 starts. Garza and Liriano were the babies in the group, both 22 years of age, they had no pressure on them at all, they just took the mound and let their natural God-given gifts take over. After Santana left the Twins after the 2007 season and Liriano came back from TJ surgery in 2008 he was expected to take over as the Twins ace, but apparently that was not a role that Liriano could take on.

This year Francisco Liriano had a great spring training, Liriano threw a team leading 27 innings with 33 strikeouts,and 5 walks in 7 starts and posted a 2.33 ERA and batters only hit .250 against Francisco. Once the season started and games started to count, Liriano folded like a $5 umbrella in a hurricane. Liriano does not have the personality or temperament to be an ace in the big leagues, some are born to lead and others find that role too much to handle. But that does not mean that Liriano can not be a solid contributor to the pitching staff.,

To me the problem with Francisco is all about his control or lack there of. Since Liriano came back from TJ surgery in 2008 his bases on ball for 9 innings have gotten progressively worse going from 3.8 in 2008 to 6.9 in 2012. His hits per 9 innings have been in the 8.4 to 9.7 range with the exception of this year when they have jumped to 11.6. When you get as many suggestions as Liriano is probably getting now it gets very confusing and you get further and further away from what made you successful in the first place. The Twins are not going anywhere this year so they have nothing to lose and everything to gain by putting Frankie back in the starting rotation and just letting him pitch through this. He either does it or he doesn’t, but let him do it his way, he has earned that right. He is in the last year of his contract and there is no way the Twins will bring him back for any reason so the best the team can hope for is that Liriano can turn it around to some degree and that the Twins can move him for a prospect or two. The Twins have had their chances to move Liriano over the last few years but were not willing to pull the trigger on a deal because as is their history indicates, they hate to make a deal that could come back to haunt them. Some teams believe that it is better to trade a player a year or two too early rather than hold on to them and have their value decrease, the Twins are not one of those teams.

Is someone to blame for the situation that Liriano and the Twins find themselves in? I don’t know the answer to that and I am not sure anyone does but sometimes we all have to accept that things do not always go how we expect them to go and we just have to move on. Many years ago when I was a technology manager for Norwest Banks I had an employee that I managed that was a very good employee but never took the next step or training necessary to achieve what I though he was capable of achieving and it was frustrating to me. So during one of the annual review sessions I asked him what he didn’t put in the extra effort to move up the ladder and take on a bigger role and make more money. he looked at me and said, “why? I am perfectly happy with my current role and I have no interest in taking on more responsibility”. That answer surprised me but when I took the time to think over what he said, it made perfect sense. Sometimes we try to fit square pegs into round holes because we think it is the right thing to do but that is not how life should be.

How well have AL Central teams drafted in the last 10 years

The 2012 first-year player draft will take place June 4-6 and begins with the first round and compensation round A on Monday, June 4, at 7 p.m. ET. The first night of the event will be broadcast live on MLB Network and streamed live on MLB.com. The Twins will have the second over-all pick in what is widely being reported as lower in quality than what has been available in the last few years. There appears to be no clear-cut choice for the number 1 overall pick this year, no Stephen Strasburg or Bryce Harper. It will still be interesting to see who is picked first and who the Twins will pick next. A lot of the reports have Georgia high school outfielder Byron Buxton as the best player available but yet most  of the so called experts agree that the Houston Astros who have the first pick will pass on Buxton. So what do the Twins do if Buxton is available when it comes their time to pick? I just can’t see the Twins passing on Buxton if he is available, no matter how much the Twins may need pitching. You can never have too many 5-tool players and if you do indeed have to many outfielders in a few years, you can always make a deal. It will be interesting to see what the Twins will do.

But this piece is not about what will happen in 2012, it is about what has transpired in the draft from 2002 through 2011 for the teams in the AL Central Division. Over the 10 years I am covering here, each team has drafted about 500 players give or take depending on compensatory picks and picks lost due to free agent signings. The chart I have put together shows how many players drafted by the Central division teams have made it to the big leagues regardless if it is with the team that drafted them or if they made it to the bigs with another team. Keep in mind too that I am not taking into consideration the fact that some of these players chose not to see with the original team that may have drafted them. For example, Giants pitcher Tim Lincecum was picked by the Cubs in 2003 in round 48 and by the Indians in round 42 in 2005 and chose not to sign until he was picked in rond 1 and 10th over all by the Giants in 2006. Keep in mind too that I do not differentiate between appearing in 1 big league game or 500 big league games, all I am tracking here is how many of each Central Division draft picks made it to the Show by year drafted as of May 20, 2012.

P = pitchers, H = hitters

YEAR TIGERS WSOX INDIANS ROYALS TWINS
2011 0 0 0 0 0
2010 2 P, 0 H 2 P, 0 H 1 P, 0 H 0 0
2009 3 P, 0 H 0 1 P, 1 H 2 P, 0 H 0 P, 1 H
2008 3 P, 2 H 1 P, 2 H 1 P, 2 H 0 P, 2 H 0
2007 3 P, 2 H 3 P, 0 H 1 P, 1 H 2 P, 1 H 0 P, 1 H
2006 3 P, 2 H 3 P, 0 H 4 P, 1 H 3 P, 1 H 3 P, 5 H
2005 4 P, 8 H 4 P, 3 H 3 P, 5 H 0 P, 1 H 5 P, 3 H
2004 4 P, 2 H 6 P, 3 H 3 P, 2 H 3 P, 1 H 4 P, 3 H
2003 5 P, 2 H 1 P, 2 H 2 P, 4 H 2 P, 5 H 3 P, 3 H
2002 3 P, 4 H 10 P, 2 H 3 P, 1 H 3 P, 4 H 4 P, 5 H
TOTALS 52 – 30 P, 22 H 42 – 30 P, 12 H 36 – 19 P, 17 H 30 – 15 P, 15 H 40 – 19 P, 21 H

It appears that the Twins either have not drafted well in recent years or it is taking longer for the players they draft to get to the big league level. No pitcher drafted by the Twins between 2007 – 2011 has reached the majors and only 2 hitters picked in that time frame have made a big league debut and they would be Ben Revere picked in 2007 and Brian Dozier chosen in 2009. During that same time frame the Tigers have had 15 players (11 pitchers and 4 hitters) debut, the White Sox have had 8 players (6 pitchers and 2 hitters) debut, the Indians have had 8 players (4 pitchers and 4 hitters) debut and the Royals have had 7 players (4 pitchers and 3 hitters) debut in the big leagues.

Other points I find interesting is that 12 players (4 pitchers and 8 hitters) from the Detroit Tigers 2005 draft have reached the big league level and that 12 players (10 pitchers and 2 hitters) from the 2002 draft by the White Sox have reached the promised land. The best the Twins have done is 9 players from their 2002 draft. This chart kind of shows how few players that are drafted ever reach the big leagues at all and how long it does take for those that do make it. It was fun doing the research on a cool wet day when the Twins were getting trounced 16-4 in Milwaukee, I hope that you enjoyed it.

Where do starting pitchers come from?

The Twins starting pitching situation this year is in dire straights. Coming into the 2012 season the Twins starting pitchers were expected to be Scott Baker, Francisco Liriano, Carl Pavano, Nick Blackburn and Jason Marquis. Not a great group of starters by any means but you had to think they would keep the Twins near the .500 mark. But things don’t always go as planned and after Monday’s game the Twins have played 35 games and their record stands at 10-25, the worst record in all of baseball.

The Twins starters are rated as last in the American League with a 7-20 record and a 6.30 ERA. The starters are pitching just slightly over 5 innings per start with no complete games. Opposing batters are hitting .315 off the Twins starting staff and the the next closest starting rotation is the Yankees starting staff and opponents are hitting them at a .282 clip, a huge difference. On the other end of the spectrum, the Chicago White Sox opponents are only hitting .226 against the Mighty Whities starters. Twins starters have given up 234 hits in just 187 innings. If you combine the hits and the walks, the Twins starting rotation has a 1.55 WHIP. Twins starters have also given up the most runs, most home runs and they have struck out the least amount of opposing hitters.

So why is Minnesota starters pitching so bad as compared to the AL teams? Where did the Twins starting pitchers come from? I thought it would be interesting to take a look at the starting staffs of the AL teams and see what we come up with.

New York Yankees

 1. CC Sabathia (31) – signed by the Yankees as a free agent in December 2008. Was originally a 1st round pick, 20th over all of the Cleveland Indians in 1998 and made his major league debut in 2001.

2. Ivan Nova (25) – signed by the Yankees as an amateur free agent in 2004, drafted by the San Diego Padres as a Rule 5 pick in December 2008 and returned to the Yankees in 2009 and made his major league debut in 2010.

3. Hiroki Kuroda (37) – signed by the Yankees as a free agent in January 2012. Was originally signed by the Dodgers as a free agent in December 2007 and made his major league debut in 2008.

4. Phil Hughes (26) – drafted by Yankees in round 1 and 23 over all in 2004 and made his big league debut in 2007.

5. Andy Pettite (39) – drafted by the Yankees in round 22 of the 1990 draft and made big league debut in 1995.

 Boston Red Sox

1. Jon Lester (28) – drafted by Boston in the 2nd round of the 2002 amatuer free draft and debuted in 2006.

2. Clay Buchholz (27) – drafted by Boston in the 1st round and 42 pick over all in the 2005 amatuer free agent draft and made his big league debut in 2007.

3. Felix Doubront (24) – signed by Boston as an amateur free agent in May 2005 and made his big league debut in  2010.

4. Josh Beckett (31) – acquired via trade. Originally a 1st round pick and 2nd over all by the Florida Marlins in 1999. Made big league debut in 2001.

5. Daniel Bard (27) – drafted by Boston in 1st round and 28 pick over all in 2006 and made big league debut in 2009.

Baltimore Orioles

1. Jake Arrieta (26) – Orioles 5th round pick in 2007 and made big league debut in 2010.

2. Tommy Hunter (25) – acquired in a trade and was originally a 1st round pick and 54th over all of the Texas Rangers in the 2007 amateur free agent draft and made his big league debut in 2008.

3. Jason Hammel (29) – acquired in a trade and was originally a 10th round pick by Tampa in 2002. Made his big league debut in 2006.

4. Wei-Yin Chen (26) – signed as a free agent in January 2012 and made his big league debut in 2012.

5. Brian Matusz (25) – drafted by Orioles in 1st round and 4th over all in 2008 and made his big league debut in 2009.

Tampa Rays

1. Jamie Shields (30) – drafted in round 16 by Tampa in 2000 and made his big league debut in  2006.

2. David Price (26) – drafted 1st over all in the 2007 draft by Tampa. Big league debut in 2008.

3. Jeremy Hellickson (25) – A Tampa 4th round pick in the 2005 draft. Made big league debut in 2010.

4. Matt Moore (22) – Tampa’s 8th round pick in 2007 and made his big league debut in 2011.

5. Jeff Nieman (29) – Tampa’s 1st round pick and 4th over all in 2004. Made big league debut in 2008.

Toronto Blue Jays

1. Henderson Alvarez (22) – signed by Toronto as an amateur free agent in 2006. Big leaqgue debut in 2011.

2. Ricky Romero (27) – 1st round pick by Toronto and 6th over all in 2005. Big league debut in 2009.

3. Brandon Morrow (27) – acquired in trade from Seattle who picked Morrow in the 1st round and 5th over all in 2006. Big league debut in 2007.

4. Kyle Drabek (24) – acquired in trade from Philly where he was their 1st round pick and 8th over all in 2006. Big league debut in 2010.

5. Drew Hutchinson (21) – Toronto 15th round pick in 2009 and made big league debut in 2012.

Texas Rangers

1. Derek Holland (25) – Texas 25th round pick in 2006, big league debut in 2009.

2. Colby Lewis (32) – Texas 1st round pick and 38th over all in 1999. Big league debut in 2002.

3. Yu Darvish (25) – purchased from Japan and signed as free agent in January 2012. Debuted same year.

4. Matt Harrison (26) – acquired in trade from Atlanta. He was the Braves 3rd round pick in 2003. Made debut in majors in 2008.

5. Neftali Feliz (24) – acquired in trade from Atlanta. He was signed by the Braves as an amateur free agent in 2005 and made big league debut in 2009.

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

1. Jered Weaver (29) – Angels 1st round pick and 12th over all in 2004. Big league debut in 2006.

2. Dan Haren (31) – acquired via trade. Was a St. Louis Cardinals 2nd round pick in 2001. Big league debut in 2003.

3. CJ Wilson (31) – signed as a free agent in December 2011. Rangers 5th round pick in 2001 and made big league debut in 2005.

4. Ervin Santana (29) – signed by Angels as an amateur free agent in 2000 and made big league debut in 2005.

5. Jerome Williams (30) – signed as free agent in June 2011. Originally picked in round 1 and 39th over all by San Francisco Giants in 1999. Big league debut in 2003.

Oakland A’s

1. Bartolo Colon (39) – signed as free agent in January 2012. Originally signed by the Cleveland Indians as amateur free agent in 1993. Big league debut in 1997.

2. Brandon McCarthy (28) – signed as free agent in 2010. Originally picked by the White Sox in round 17 in 2002. Big league debut in 2005.

3. Tommy Milone (25) – acquired via a trade with Washington. Was originally a Nats 10th round pick in 2008. Big league debut in 2011.

4. Jarrod Parker ar(23) – acquired in a trade with Arizona. Was originally drafted by D-Backs in 1st round and 9th over all in 2007. Big league debut in 2011.

5. Tyson Ross (25) – drafted by A’s in 2nd round 2008. Big league debut in 2010.

Seattle Mariners

1.  Felix Hernandez (26) – signed by Seattle as an amateur free agent in 2002 and made big league debut in 2005.

2. Jason Vargas (29) – acquired in a 3 team trade in 2008. Was originally a Florida Marlins 4th round pick in 2004. Big league debut in 2005.

3. Kevin Millwood (37) – signed as free agent in January 2012. Originally a Braves 11th round pick in 1993. Big league debut in 1997.

4. Blake Beavan (23) – acquired in a trade from Texas. Originally a Rangers 1st round pick and 17th over all in 2007. Big league debut in 2011.

5. Hector Noesi (25) – acquired in trade with the Yankees. Originally signed by Yankees in 2004 as an amateur free agent. Big league debut in 2011.

Kansas City Royals

1. Bruce Chen (35) – signed with KC as a free agent in 2009. Was originally an Atlanta Braves amateur free signee in 1993. Big league debut in 1998.

2. Luke Hochevar (28) – was drafted by Royals in 1st round and 1st over all in 2006. Big league debut in 2007.

3. Danny Duffy (23) – Royals 3rd round pick in 2007. Big league debut in 2011.

4. Jonathan Sanchez (29) – Acquired in trade with the Giants. Originally was the Giants 27 round pick in 2004 and made big league debut in 2006.

5. Felipe Paulino (28) – Purchased from Colorado Rockies in May 2011. Was originally signed by the Astros as an amateur free agent in 2001. Big league debut in 2007.

Detroit Tigers

1. Justin Verlander (27) – was the Tigers 1st round pick and 2nd over all in the 2004 draft. He made his big league debut in 2005.

2. Rick Porcello (23) – was the Tigers 1st round pick and 27th over all in 2007. Made his big league debut in 2009.

3. Max Scherzer (27) – acquired in trade with Arizona. Was originally drafted in 1st round and 11th over all by Arizona in 2006. Made his big league debut in 2008.

4. Doug Fister (28) – acquired in trade with Seattle. Was originally picked by the Mariners in round 7 of the 2006 draft. Made MLB debut in 2009.

5. Drew Smyly (23) – was the Tigers 2nd round pick in the 2010 draft. Made big league debut in 2012.

Cleveland Indians

1. Justin Masterson (27) – acquired in a 2009 trade with the Red Sox. Was originally a 2nd round pick by the Red Sox in 2006 and made big league debut in 2008.

2. Derek Lowe (39) – acquired in a 2011 trade with  the Atlanta Braves. Was originally picked in the 8th round of the 1991 draft and debuted in the big leagues in 1997.

3. Ubaldo Jiminez (28) – acquired in a trade with Colorado. Originally signed as a amateur free agent back in 2001 with the Rockies. Made big league debut in 2006.

4. Josh Tomlin (27) – was drafted by the Indians in the 19th round of the 2006 draft. Made big league debut in 2010.

5. Jeanmar Gomez (24) – signed as an amateur free agent with the Indians in 2005. Made his big league debut in 2010.

Chicago White Sox

1. Jake Peavy (31) – acquired in a trade with the Padres. Originally picked by San Diego in round 15 of the 1999 draft. Big league debut in 2002.

2. John Danks (27) – acquired in a trade with Texas. Was originally a 1st round pick and 9th over all in 2003. Big league debut in 2007.

3. Gavin Floyd (29) – acquired in a trade with the Phillies. Was originally a Phillies 1st round pick and 4th over all in 2001. Made big league debut in 2004.

4. Chris Sale (23) – drafted by the White Sox in the 1st round and 13th pick over all in 2010 draft. Made big league debut just 2 months after being drafted and after pitching in just 11 minor league games.

5. Philip Humber (29) – selected off waivers from Oakland in January 2011. Originally drafted in 2004 in the 1st round and 3rd over all pick by the New York Mets. Made big leage debut in 2006.

Minnesota Twins

1. Francisco Liriano (28) – acquired in trade with San Francisco in November 2003. Was originally signed for the Giants as an amateur free agent in 2000. Made big league debut in 2005.

2. Carl Pavano (36) – acquired in a trade with the Cleveland Indians in 2009. Originally drafted in the 13th round by the Red Sox in 1994. Made big league debut in 1998.

3. Nick Blackburn (30) – drafted by the Twins in round 29 of the 2001 draft. Made big league debut in 2007.

4. Jason Marquis (33) – signed by Twins as a free agent in December 2011. Was originally an Atlanta Braves 1st round pick and 35th over all in 1996. Made big leaague debut in 2006.

5. Liam Hendriks (23) – signed by the Twins as an amateur free agent in 2007 and made his big league debut in 2011.

6. Anthony Swarzak (26) – drafted by the Twins in round 2 of the 2004 amateur draft and made his big league debut in 2009.

7. Scott Diamond (25) – A Rule 5 pick by the Twins from the Atlanta Braves in December 2010. Was originally signed by the Braves as an amateur free agent in 2007. Made big league debut in 2011.

8. PJ Walters (27) – Signed with the Twins as a free agent in December 2011. Was originally a St. Louis Cardinals 11th round pick in 2006 and made big league debut in 2009.

9. Scott Baker (30) – out for the 2012 season with TJ surgery. Was a Twins 2nd round pick in 2003 and made big league debut in 2005.

The Twins current starting rotation of Pavano, Marquis, Blackburn, Diamond and Walters is made up of  one 1st round pick, an 11th rounder, a 13th rounder, a 29th rounder and an amateur free agent.

If you look at the rest of the current 5 man starting rotations for the 13 other AL teams you have a total of 65 pitchers and here is how they break down.

25 of the 65 (38%) were first round picks

12 of the 65 (18%) were signed as amateur free agents

5 of the 65 (8%) were 2nd round picks

3 of the 65 (5%) were Japanese baseball free agents

2 of the 65 (3%) were 3rd round picks

2 of the 65 (3%) were 4th round picks

2 of the 65 (3%) were 5th round picks

1 of the 65 (2%) was a 7th round pick

2 of the 65 (3%) were 8th round picks

2 of the 65 (3%) were 10th round picks

1 of the 65 (2%) was a 11th round pick

2 of the 65 (3%) were 15th round picks

1 of the 65 (2%) was a 16th round pick

1 of the 65 (2%) was a 17th round pick

1 of the 65 (2%) was a 19th round pick

1 of the 65 (2%) was a 22nd round pick

1 of the 65 (2%) was a 25th round pick

1 of the 65 (2%) was a 27th round pick

The AL team with the most first round picks in the starting rotation is the Chicago White Sox with four starters in Danks, Floyd, Humber and Sale and the Cleveland Indians are the only team with no first rounders in their starting rotation. But just because you are a first round pick does not mean that you will make the teams starting rotation that drafted you as only 13 of the 25 or only 52% of the first round picks end up starting for the teams that drafted them in round 1. Of course many other 1st rounders either do not make the starting rotation or do not make it to the big leagues at all.

Since 1972 the Minnesota Twins have drafted 27 pitchers in the first round, 8 out of high school and 19 out of college. Three of their picks did not sign with the team. RHP Dick Ruthevan was picked in round 1 and 8 over all in 1972 but did not sign and went on to start 332 big league games. RHP Tim Belcher was the Twins 1st round and the first over all pick in 1983 but he did not sign and he went on to start 373 big league games. The Twins drafted RHP Derek Parks in round 1 and 10th over all in 1986 and turned him into a catcher. The Twins picked RHP Aaron Heilman in round 1 and 31st over all in 200o but Heilman did not sign and went on to start 25 big league games pitching maninly in relief. This may be hard to believe but since the draft started in 1972, the most career starts that any Twins 1st round pick has ever had in a Twins uniform is 45 and that pitcher was Willie Banks who the Twins picked in round 1 and number 3 over all in 1987. Banks started 45 games with a 16-17 record before being traded to the Chicago Cubs for pitcher Dave Stevens and catcher Matt Walbeck. The next higest number of starts for a Twins 1st rounder is 44 and that belongs to Minnesota native Glen Perkins who is currently a Twins top reliever. Only 10 of 27 first round pitchers picked by Minnesota in the first round ever started a game in a Twins uniform. Only 5 of 27 Twins first rounders have started 100 or more career big league games and they are Dick Ruthven, Tim Belcher, Todd Ritchie, Mark Redman, and Matt Garza. 15 of the 27 Twins first round pitchers have never started a single big league game.

With that kind of a record in taking pitchers in the first round, I have to wonder if the Twins should even try. Then again, you could argue that they are due to get a good one…..

Heads starting to roll

After last nights 6-2 loss to the Angels at Target Field the Twins record stands at 8-22 (.267) and the team is 9 games out of first place after having played just 30 games. After the game the Twins announced that 3B Danny Valencia was optioned to AAA Rochester, pitcher Francisco Liriano was sent to the bullpen and that reliever Matt Maloney was designated for assignment.

Darin Mastroianni

In turn the Twins called up 26-year-old Darin Mastroianni from Rochester. The Twins had picked up Mastroianni on waivers from the Blue Jays this past February. Mastroianni started the season in AA New Britain where he played outfield in just 9 games hitting .143 before being promoted to AAA Rochester where he has hit .346 in 20 games and has stolen 10 bases in 11 attempts. In his 20 games in Rochester, Mastroianni has played in the outfield 15 times and played second base on 5 occasions. I have to say that I don’t understand this call-up at all, why do the Twins need another outfielder when they already have Willingham, Span, Plouffe, Komatsu, Parmelee and Doumit?  And, what about Revere? This move just makes no sense to me at all. Where and when are they going tp play Mastroianni and who do they have as a back-up infielder besides Plouffe? This is crazy.

PJ Walters

To replace Liriano in the starting rotation the Twins called up PJ (Phillip Dewayne) Walters. Walters is a former 11th round pick of the Cardinals in 2006 and has seen brief big league action with the Cards in 2009-2011 and he also appeared in one game for the Blue Jays in 2011 after being traded in a big 8-player trade with St. Louis in July of 2011. The Twins signed Walters as a free agent this past December. The 6’4″ 200 pound  right-handed Walters has started 6 games for Rochester and is 3-1 with an ERA of 2.70, a 1.17 WHIP with 25 strikeouts in 33.1 innings.

It is about time that Liriano has been sent to the bullpen but why call up Walters when you could have just swapped Liriano out for Brian Duensing in the bullpen? Granted, Duensing has been solid in the bullpen but he has big league starting experience while Walters has started 4 games with St. Louis.

Sending Valencia down makes sense as he has not played like a big league third baseman for some time either in the field or with a bat. Some time in Rochester might be just what Valencia needs for a wake-up call.

I know the Twins need to make some moves because they don’t want to announce before Memorial Day that they are already out of the running and ready to go into full-blown rebuilding mode but I would sure like to know how they explain the Mastroianni call-up. This reeks of a panic move. Just announce that the team is in fire sale mode and let’s move on, you certainly will not shock anyone with that announcement. I am sure that some Twins bloggers will call this another negative Twins story but I will argue this is just being realistic, this is one bad Twins team and the sooner it is broken up and a rebuilding effort is put in motion the better off we will all be. To this point the Twins have not used the rebuilding word claiming that once all their injured players came back that they would be in the hunt again, that was a line of bull last winter and it remains so today. Come on Mr. Ryan, throw us a bone and at least give us some hope here.

Dozier and Liriano

Brian Dozier

Shortstop James Brian Dozier was called up from Rochester yesterday and made his major league debut against the Angels going 1 for 4 with a run scored. The soon to be 25 year-old (May 15) was drafted by the Twins in the 8th round of the June 2009 amateur draft and Dozier has a .305 batting average in 4 minor league seasons (345 games) and has not hit below .274 while playing 2B, SS, and 3B. It will be interesting to see if Dozier who only has 28 games of AAA experience can hold on to the shortstop role at Target Field. Dozier had a great spring and many fans thought that Dozier earned the Twins starting shortstop job in Fort Myers but GM Terry Ryan felt that Dozier needed some AAA seasoning. Although Jamey Carroll, 38 has played a decent shortstop so far this season, he is only hitting .212 and the team is off to a terrible start at 7-21 and some changes need to be made to see if anything can be done to salvage the season before the Twins go into a full sell mode and turn to a total rebuilding effort. Dozier is not going to turn the Twins around on his own but hopefully he can play a small role in getting the Twins moving.

Francisco Liriano

The Twins lost again last night and are now 7-21 for the season and 10 games behind the division leading Cleveland Indians. I sure didn’t think I would be saying “division leading Cleveland Indians” this season but the Detroit Tigers are struggling as they come out of the starting gate and they are playing just .500 ball but I think they will warm up soon and put the Indians and all the other AL Central teams in their rear view mirror. The Tigers have their share of pitching miseries but not like the cellar dwelling Twins do. The Twins sent Francisco Liriano out to the mound again last night and once again Liriano let the team and himself down. Liraino threw 90 pitches in 5 innings while giving up 5 hits, 3 walks and 4 earned runs and even with this line he actually lowered his seasonal ERA to 9.45. Liraino had one decent inning last night and other than that looked like the same old Liriano. I just don’t know how the Twins can continue to send Liriano out there every fifth day when he is pitching as bad as he is. Liriano brings down the entire team everytime he walks out to the mound. Gardenhire and pitching coach Rick Anderson have tried everything including skipping a start with Francisco but to no avail. After last nights game Gardy was quoted as saying, “what can we do, we just need to send him out there”. I for one have seen enough of Liraino this season in a starting role, it is time to move Liriano to the bullpen where he can have some chance of success albeit in a relief role. You have to do something, you can’t pay Liriano the kind of money he is getting and have him under perform as badly as he has todate. The team is 7-21 for pete’s sake, what have you got to lose? Send Liraiano to the bullpen now and move Brian Duensing back into the starting rotation. Duensing is no Warren Spahn but he has to be better than Liriano and you still have that lefty in the bullpen that you want. Maybe this is not the way to build Liriano’s confidence but you have 24 other players on the team that shouldn’t be punished every fifth day when you send Liriano out to the mound.

Hits and extra base hits few and far between for Twins

47 hitless at bats for the Twins came to an end when Jamey Carroll hit a single in the first inning against the Mariners yesterday. That was the longest hitless streak by a major-league team since the Padres went 47 at-bats without a hit in June 1995. Source: Elias

Chris Parmelee’s run in the seventh inning last night snapped the Twins scoreless streak at 25 innings. It was the Twins first run since scoring three in the eighth inning in Monday night’s 4-3 loss against the Angels in Anaheim. The scoreless streak was the longest by a Twins team since they went 26 consecutive innings without scoring a run from July 31-August 3, 1994. Parmelee’s double in the seventh inning last night was the Twins first extra-base hit since Alexi Casilla’s double in the eighth inning Monday night in Anaheim. The Twins went 92 plate appearances between extra base hits. The Twins 65 extra-base hits are the fewest among American league teams this season. Source: Twins Game Notes

The Twins won for the first time last night when being out-hit by their opponent (1-12), it also marked the first time (in game number 25) that the Twins held their opponent to two runs-or-less.

Tonight’s Seattle Mariners starting pitcher Felix Hernandez is a true Ace. King Felix has gone at least 6.0 innings in 172 of  his 211 games started (81%), including 92 of last 101 starts (91%), and 6 of 6 so far in 2012. 29 of 32 (91%) in 2011.

So why do Twins pick up Erik Komatsu

Erik Komatsu

Put me down under the confused column. Why would the Twins pick up Erik Komatsu? I have no problem sending Clete Thomas packing as he had 28 at bats in a Twins uniform and he hit .143 and he struck out 16 times, enough said. But why pick up Komatsu who is a Cardinals Rule 5 pick-up in December of 2011? Komatsu grew up in California and graduated from Adolfo Camarillo High School where he was a teammate of Delmon Young. Komatsu was drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers in the 8th round in 2008, missed most of 2009 with a concussion and hamstring issues and was traded to the Washington Nationals in July 2011. Komatsu has 348 minor league games under his belt and he hit .302 but he has never played above AA ball. I know he can play all three outfield positions and he has stolen 57 bases in the minors but he also got caught 24 times. It’s not like Komatsu is a corner outfielder with power potential. If the Twins don’t keep Komatsu on the roster they need to offer him back to the Nats. Why would the Twins want a player like this? If you want to replace Thomas why not pick up one of your own minor league players? What kind of message does this send to your own minor leaguers? Do the Twins think so little of their own minor league players that they feel they need to pick up players like Clete Thomas and Erik Komatsu? Put yourself in Ben Revere’s or Rene Tosoni’s shoes, what are they thinking? If the Cardinals thought that Komatsu had potential why didn’t they strike a deal with Washington and keep him? The only reason he made the Cardinals team this year anyway was due to all the injuries the Cardinals outfielders suffered. I would like to know why a player from another organization that hasn’t played AAA ball can play in Minnesota but when it comes to their own players they would prefer they get AAA experience first. Don’t tell me about Parmelee, I know he has no AAA experience but the Twins are hardly playing Parmelee this season anyway. I know this team is playing poorly and need some changes but a fourth/fifth outfielder is hardly the answer here unless………. the Twins know they are going to move some players soon and go into full rebuilding mode sooner than later. If that is the case, then the Twins can keep Komatsu on the roster all season and this move might make some sense. I just don’t know if Terry Ryan and the Twins brain trust knows where they are going, they seem to wander aimlessly so far this season grasping at straws.

Who said it is good to be home?

Why can’t American league teams win in their home parks in 2012? Through the end of April, AL home teams are 73-84 and winning at a .465 clip. When the junior league takes to the road they are playing .535 baseball and have posted a mark of 84-73.  The Senior circuit on the other hand has posted a 102-79 (.564) mark at home and when they are on the road these same teams are 79-102 (.436).

In 2011 in the American League home teams were 607-530 (.534) and 532-599 (.470) on the road. The Twins were 33-48 (.407) at home last season, the fewest home victories of any team in the league and on the road they were even worse, 30-51 a .370 clip.

This year the Twins are 3-8 at home and 3-8 on the road. Tampa is 9-1 at home and Kansas City is 0-10 at home. The best road warriors in the AL this season are the Texas Rangers who stand at 9-1 and the worst team on the road is the Angels at 3-9. No team in the AL Central has a winning home record so far this year.

Strange going on in the American League to be sure.