Tag: Kurt Suzuki

According to ELIAS

Buehrle beats the Twins for the 30th time

Mark Buehrle 2015Mark Buehrle registered his 30th career win against the Twins with a victory in Toronto last night. That’s the most career wins by any active pitcher versus one major-league team. Buehrle notched his first 27 wins against Minnesota while pitching for the White Sox and the last three for the Blue Jays. In baseball’s expansion era (1961 to date), only five other American League pitchers have recorded 30 or more wins against a particular team: Bert Blyleven vs. the Royals (34); Jack Morris (32), Mickey Lolich (30) and Jim Kaat (30) vs. the Indians; and Jim Palmer vs. the Yankees (30). Source: ELIAS

The Twins have faced Mark Buehrle 53 times (51 starts), the 51 starts being the most vs. any pitcher in club history, ahead of Tommy John and Frank Tanana (each with 47). Torii Hunter has 97 career at-bats against Buehrle, the second most against him all-time, trailing only Michael Cuddyer (113). Joe Mauer has a career average of .206 (13-for-63) against Buehrle, marking his fifth-lowest against any pitcher for his career (C.J. Wilson – .129, Paul Byrd – .167, CC Sabathia – .171 and David Price – .176). Kurt Suzuki is hitting .387 (12-for-31) in his career off Buehrle. Source: Twins Game Notes

The four losses to the Blue Jays mark the first time that Toronto has ever swept a four game series from the lads from Minnesota.

According to ELIAS

Another walk-off for Suzuki

Kurt Suzuki
Kurt Suzuki

Kurt Suzuki‘s RBI single capped a two-run rally in the bottom of the ninth as the Twins defeated the Mariners 3-2 on Saturday night. It was the seventh time that Suzuki has ended a game with a game-winning RBI while in the game as a catcher since entering the majors in 2007 (he has two more as a pinch-hitter). That ties A.J. Ellis for the most walk-off RBI by a backstop over the past nine seasons. Source: ELIAS

No red carpet but the uniforms were red

IMGP8441cI missed the Minnesota Twins open house this past Sunday because I was feeling under the weather but I was feeling fine again on Monday so I headed out to the CenturyLink Sports Complex to check out the Twins pitchers and catchers on their first day at training camp under new manager Paul Molitor.

I don’t know why but I was surprised to see the Twins wearing their red jerseys during their first 2015 workout. The workout was already underway when I arrived. I believe that the Twins workouts normally start about 08:30 AM and finish up around 11:30 AM.

The Twins pitchers were broken into several different groups as they went through a variety of drills and took their turn in the bullpen to get some throwing in under the watchful eye of their brand new pitching coach Neil Allen. The catchers in camp this year are Kurt Suzuki, Josmil Pinto, Chris Herrmann, Eric Fryer, Mitch Garver, Tyler Grimes, Dan Rohlfing, and Stuart Turner.

It is great to see the Twins out on the field again and getting ready for their first season under the tutelage of Hall of Famer Paul Molitor but all in all it was a pretty quiet day. There were a number of fans but not as many as I might have expected checking out the action getting pictures and a few autographs when the players work for the day was over. The one observation I would make after watching the first day is that it seemed much quieter and more business-like then what I remember from previous sessions under the Gardenhire regime. I didn’t see any horsing around or players standing around laughing and telling tall tales from their off-season exploits. Maybe it was just day one jitters and everyone getting acclimated but it seemed different.

Molitor was kind of what I expected him to be, standing around and observing the action and now and then taking a player aside and talking with him one on one. Maybe I missed it but I didn’t see Molitor smile once during the morning work outs. It might be just his personality or maybe it struck him exactly what he had stepped into during his first venture in managing. It will be interesting to see how the Twins players react to a manager that I think is much more of a distant old school Tom Kelly type than a players manager like Ron Gardenhire who seemed to be more interested in being part of the gang. Time will tell.

I haven’t seen TK down here yet so I am not sure if he will report when the position players show up or if his health concerns will prevent him from taking part in spring training this season. It was kind of odd not seeing the long time Twins coaching staff and instead seeing Eddie Guardado out on the field helping with pitchers fielding practice.

Your fun fact for the day, Twins pitchers are “a tall glass of water”, at least ten of them are 6’4″ or taller.

I did get a few pictures that you can check out on the right hand side of the page under “2015 Spring Training”.

According to Elias

 

Kurt Suzuki
Kurt Suzuki

Kurt Suzuki produced three hits, including a two-run double that opened the scoring in the Twins’ 4-3 win over the Indians. Suzuki now has nine games with at least three hits this season, the highest total by any catcher in the majors this season (only including hits when a player was in his team’s lineup as a catcher, of course). Suzuki entered the day tied with Salvador Perez of the Royals and Jonathan Lucroy of the Brewers, each of whom has eight (Lucroy also has had a pair of three-hit games while in the lineup at first base). This could become the first season since Kurt Suzuki reached the major leagues that he produces more games of three-or-more hits than does his more famous namesake, Ichiro Suzuki. Through Monday night’s games, Kurt possesses a 9-to-3 lead in that category.

The question is how long the Twins best trade chip will remain in a Minnesota uniform.

1965 All-Star game crossword puzzle

crossword imageThe excitement builds in Minnesota as the preparations continue for the 2014 All-Star game that will be played one week from today. The team hit the road for Seattle after Sunday’s loss to the New York Yankees and final preparations are being made at Target Field to host Minnesota’s third MLB summer classic. The Twins will be represented by closer Glen Perkins and catcher Kurt Suzuki in the game and Twins manager Ron Gardenhire will be one of the coaches.

The Twins have previously hosted MLB All-Star festivities in 1965 at Met Stadium and again in 1985 at the H.H.H. Metrodome. From 1961-2014 the Twins have had 51 different players represent them at the All-Star game. The first big league game I ever attended was the 1965 All-Star game. I was able to purchase a standing room only ticket the day of the game and watched the game from under the left-field bleachers. A memory that will stick with me for ever.

An amazing number of future Hall of Famers played in that 1965 game. So let’s see how well you remember that All-Star game. I have put together a crossword puzzle for that 1965 game and I think it will test your memory skills. Every player named an All-Star that year is mentioned in the puzzle in one fashion or another. If you enjoy Minnesota Twins or All-Star game history and like to do crossword puzzles then this might be just the thing for you.

Once you have brought the puzzle up and are ready to print the puzzle, do a right-click with your mouse and you might want to do a print preview first to get the puzzle the right size to fit on a single page by adjusting the margins. The clues for the puzzle will print on page 2.

1965 All-Star game puzzle

Answers? You want answers? Probably just to double-check your work because if you are checking out this site you are probably a big baseball fan and will not need to do any research to complete the puzzle. If you do need help answering some, checking the box score for the 1965 All-Star game might be the way to go. If you still need help, you can find them on the link below but only do so as a last resort. Thanks, I hope you enjoy it.

1965 All-Star game puzzle answers

Twinstrivia.com All-Star selections

2014-MLB-ASG-LogoThat time is here again, time to pick the Twinstrivia.com All-Star team. For me it is always fun to pick the players that I think deserve to play in MLB All-Star game.  Some of them might crash and burn and even find themselves in the minors before the season ends and some of them may be total jerks in how they play the game, interact with their fans or just have an “it is all about me attitude” but I like to reward the players that are having a very good season todate. So here are my All-Stars that I would like to see play at Target Field on July 15, 2014. If you like my picks, cool, if you don’t, I don’t care. I don’t rave about how stupid some of the fans voting is so I too am entitled to my opinion.

Sadly you won’t find any Minnesota Twins on this deserving All-Star starter list but I do think that closer Glen Perkins and catcher Kurt Suzuki deserve to be on the team.

American League

C – Derek Norris (A’s) – Runner-up is Salvador Perez (Royals) – Vote leader is Matt Wieters (Orioles)

1B – Jose Abreu (White Sox) – Runner-up is Miguel Cabrera (Tigers) – Vote leader is Miguel Cabrera

2B – Jose Altuve (Astros) – Runner-up is Robinson Cano (Mariners) – Vote leader is Robinson Cano

SS – Alexei Ramirez (White Sox) – Runner-up is Alcides Escobar (Royals) – Vote leader is Derek Jeter (Yankees)

3B – Josh Donaldson (A’s) – Runner-up is Adrian Beltre (Rangers) – Vote leader is Josh Donaldson

DH – Edwin Encarnacion (Blue Jays) – Runner-up is Nelso Cruz (Orioles) – Vote leader is Nelso Cruz

OF – Mike Trout (Angels), Jose Bautista (Blue Jays), and Michael Brantley (Indians) – Runner-ups are Yoenis Cespedes (A’s), Adam Jones (Orioles), and Melky Cabrera (Blue Jays) – Vote leaders are Mike Trout, Jose Bautista and Yoenis Cespedes

P – Masahiro Tanaka (Yankees) – Runner-up is Felix Hernandez (Mariners)

 

National league

C – Jonathan Lucroy (Brewers) – Runner-up is Devin Mesoraco (Reds) – Vote leader is Yadier Molina (Cardinals)

1B – Justin Morneau (Rockies) – Runner-up is Paul Goldschmidt (Diamondbacks) – Vote leader is Paul Goldschmidt

2B – Anthony Rendon (Nationals) – Runner-up is Chase Utley (Phillies) – Vote leadr is Chase Utley

SS – Troy Tulowitzki (Rockies) – Runner-up is Sterling Castro (Cubs) – Voye leader is Troy Tulowitzki

3B – Casey McGehee (Marlins) – Runner-up is Todd Frazier (Reds) – Vote leader is Aramis Ramirez (Brewers)

OF – Giancarlo Stanton (Marlins), Andrew McCutchen (Pirates), and Carlos Gomez (Brewers) Runner-ups are Charlie Blackmon (Rockies), Yasiel Puig, and Ryan Braun – Vote leaders are Andrew McCutchen, Carlos Gomez, and Yasiel Puig.

P – Adam Wainwright (Cardinals) – Runner-up is Johnny Cueto (Reds)

 

MLB just announced that All-Stars will wear the same cap template which is modeled after the Minnesota Twins 1970 batting helmets.  you can see the article here.

 

According to Elias

 

Kurt Suzuki
Kurt Suzuki

Kurt Suzuki‘s two-out single off Justin Verlander with the bases full in the seventh inning plated a pair of runs, and that was enough for the Twins to sneak off with a 2-1 victory at Detroit on Friday. Verlander’s nine-game winning streak against the Twins ended; it had been tied for the longest current streak by any major-leaguer starter against any opposing team. Felix Hernandez has won his last nine decisions as a starter against the Tigers, as have Edwin Jackson against the Indians, and Kyle Kendrick against the Marlins. It’s not easy to load the bases against Verlander, but if you do, you have a chance. With Suzuki’s hit on Friday night, opponents now have a .339 career batting average with the bases loaded against the Tigers ace (39 hits in 115 at-bats). Sourc

Kurt Suzuki is hitting .340 (16-for-47) with two doubles, 13 RBI and a .436
on-base percentage in 13 road games, his average and OBP both rank fifth best in the AL. Kurt has five multi-hit games on the road and has reached base in 11 of 13 games.

The Twins enter today’s game with an all-time record (since 1961) of 4220-4261 and need just three wins to match their win total when the franchise was the Washington Senators from 1901-1960, psting a 4223-4864 record. The Senators were one of the eight original franchises in the American League for sixty years. The Senators played baseball  in our nation’s capital, winning one World Championship in 1924 and three AL pennants (1924, 1925, and 1933. After the 1960 season owner Calvin Griffith moved the Washington Senators from Washington, DC to Minnesota.

Don’t forget to stop by our “Today in Twins History” page and checked out what happened on this day in Minnesota Twins history.

Watching the Twins lose to the Pirates 2-1

We attended our final Twins spring training game yesterday as we watched the Twins lose 2-1 to the Pittsburgh Pirates. It was a sunny day albeit only 60 degrees at game time with a stiff wind blowing to left field. Ricky Nolasco started for the home town nine and pitched a strong 4 innings giving up just one hit while striking out three in his tune-up for opening day against the White Sox in Chicago. It was a fast paced (2 hours and 24 minutes) game with little hitting but it still had some interest when a mini bean-ball war broke out. Pirates starter Brandon Cumpton threw a pitch that catcher Kurt Suzuki was just able to get his face out of the way of and that started the ball rolling. Not too longer after that Anthony Swarzak nailed Tony Sanchez and then Oswaldo Arcia took one in the back and both benches ended up with a warning.

Swarzak’s pitching line came to an end after two innings when a line drive off the bat of Travis Snider struck him in the forearm, but Swarzak grabbed the ricochet and threw the batter out. As he walked off the field, the Pirates were yelling something at Swarzak and he stopped to yell back. Things got a bit testy before Swarzak was pulled away. The Pirates who had brought a lot of players to Hammond Stadium were all on the top step of their dugout ready to mix it up with the Twins but it never came to that.

The old saying is that if you give the team a freebie like the Pirates did when catcher Tony Sanchez dropped Arcia’s easy pop up behind the plate it will come back to bite you and it certainly held true here when Arcia hit a rocket out to right-center field that just cleared the fence for a home run and gave the Twins a short-lived 1-0 lead. The lead did not last long however, as the Pirates loaded the bases with two-out and a ground ball was hit to first baseman Joe Mauer who knocked it down and then panicked trying to pick up the ball and by the time he had it under control the Pirates runner from second base was racing home with the winning run and Mauer’s throw to the plate was too late.

Shortstop Pedro Florimon who is just coming back from an appendectomy was his normal self, he made an error on an easy play and then made a very nice play later in the game. With the bat, Florimon seemed lost but that is really nothing new for Pedro. Manager Gardenhire said after the game that maybe Florimon’s bat is not ready yet and he may not be in the opening day line-up. On the plus side the Twins did turn two nice double plays.

There were 6,585 fans at the game but we had very little to cheer about and it was so quiet for most of the game that you could hear a pin drop. There is not a lot of excitement with this Twins team this spring and with an 8-14 record which is second worst in the AL there seems to be little hope for the up-coming season.

The Twins pitching is not that bad but their hitting this spring is a whole different story. Let’s take a quick look at the batting averages for the Twins starters –

C – Suzuki – .200
1B – Mauer – .300
2B – Dozier – .255
SS – Florimon – .150
3B – Plouffe – .239
LF – Willingham – .056
CF – Hicks – .318
RF – Arcia – .256
DH – Kubel – .195
 
Tom Brunansky
Tom Brunansky

Between them the leading home run hitter has 2 (Arcia) and the RBI leader has 6 (Arcia again). Both Eduardo Escobar (9) and Chris Colabello (8) have more RBI then any of the starters and they are not assured of even making this team. I just can’t see this current line-up staying intact for very deep into the season. If this team gets off to a bad start there will be changes galore in no time. Before spring training started I thought this team had a chance to finish at .500 with the improved pitching, now I am thinking they will still be better than last year but will fall short of the .500 mark. The hitting on this team this spring is just plain appalling, where is that great hitting coach Brunansky now when they need him. I have not heard Brunansky’s name mentioned in weeks, is he still part of the coaching staff? Then again the case could certainly be made that you can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear….

But in the end it is still spring training and no one but the Diamondbacks has lost a game yet so there is still hope that the hit fairy will bless the Twins bats and that they will come to life in Chicago. Come on Twins, give me a reason to watch you play ball every day this summer. Please!

Trade a catcher and sign a catcher

Kurt Suzuki
Kurt Suzuki

According to a report by Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle earlier today the Twins and catcher Kurt Suzuki have reached agreement on a one-year deal $2.75 million base salary that also includes some incentives just two days after sending catcher/outfielder Ryan Doumit to Atlanta.

The 30-year-old Hawaiian was the Oakland A’s second round pick in 2004 and made his big league debut on June 12, 2007 against the Houston Astros. Suzuki took over the starting catching role in 2008 and kept the job until the 2012 season when the A’s started to platoon him more and more. In August 2012 the A’s traded him to the Washington Nationals after their catcher Willie Ramos was injured and he stayed there for a year before the Nats traded him back to Oakland in August 2013.

According to the MLB Rumors site,  “Suzuki has thrown out 26 percent of opposing base stealers throughout his career, though that number fell to only 12 percent in 2013. He was significantly better in 2012, when he picked off 30 percent of potential thieves. In 2013, he was above average in blocking pitches, per Fangraphs, and was average in terms of pitch-framing, per Matthew Carruth’s report at StatCorner.”

Suzuki’s best season may have been 2009 when he hit .274 with 15 home runs and 88 RBI. Since 2009 his average has fallen each season to .242 in 2010 then .237, then .235 and finally last season to .232. I have always liked Suzuki and I think he will be a very good fit in Minnesota as he backs up Josmil Pinto (assuming his shoulder woes get resolved) and teaches him what it takes to be a starting catcher in the big leagues. I remember a few years back when Suzuki was coming back off an injury and some baseball show was following his workout in a swimming pool. I was amazed when Suzuki was standing in the pool about waist deep and he jumped straight up and landed on his feet on the edge of the pool, that was pretty cool. I am looking forward to seeing Suzuki in a Twins uniform and I really think he will hit better than he has the last few years. I think the Twins made a very nice move here and the price was certainly right.