Sunday Sermons

The Twins are 81 games into the season - the half way point - and we are stuck at 35 wins, 9 games behind the Central Division leading Cleveland Indians.  Not to beat a dead horse, but how are the Indians still leading this division?  Wait, the fact that the Indians are still leading the division is the biggest thing that continues to give me hope that this division is still in reach.  An extremely young team leads the division, and 2 teams notorious for 2nd half collapses are the other obstacles in our way.  There are a few frustrations I have, apart from the revolving door at the DL, that need to be addressed this 2nd half.

I'm trying not to act on just emotion from last night here when I suggest the possibility of giving Glen Perkins a little more responsibility out of that bullpen.  This makes sense in my head for a number of reasons.  Matt Capps, although he has the closer experience, has struggled greatly this year.  Capps has 13 saves, but has blown 6 saves already!  Capps has a 4.67 ERA, and has been the opposite of dominating the way you would like to see a closer do so.  To me, Glen Perkins has the mental make-up to be the guy in these pressure situations.  The guy looks like he doesn't even know that he's playing in the big leagues.  If you watch him run around during batting practice, you would wonder if he is the bat boy with his child-like attitude.  Nothing seems to rile this guy up.  In 29.1 innings so far, Perk has yet to give up a home run, and seems to have more movement on his fastball than Capps, making it difficult for guys like Nyjer Morgan to get the barrel on the ball.  I like the Capps pounds the strike zone and rarely walks anyone (4 walks so far), but man do I get nervous when he takes the hill!

Here's another question: Why does it seem so impossible for the Twins to steal any bases?  It was beyond frustrating last night to see Nishioka and Repko (and Hughes if you want to include the broken double steal) get thrown out - by a mile - by a catcher in Lucroy who had only thrown out 4 baserunners all year before that.  Stealing bases is definitely not all about just pure speed.  There is a skill to it, and it takes work to get really good at it.  If it was only about speed, I think Nishioka, Span, Repko, Casilla, and Revere would have no problem taking bags at will.  There is a young man in Fargo right now by the name of Maury Wills that has a little experience stealing bases (104 SB in 1964, led NL in SB 6 straight years from 1960-65).  I wonder what it would take to get him out of the F-M Redhawks radio booth and down to Target Field to work with some of these guys every day to learn how to better read pitchers, get better jumps, and successfully put a little more pressure on defenses.  We have the team speed to do it, but none of these guys seem like natural base stealers.

Let me leave you with this: Joe Mauer has a 7 game hitting streak going right now.  Our lineup consisting of Repko, Butera, Nishioka and Company broke out for 14 hits last night despite the loss.  If Blackburn leads us to a win this afternoon, that will give us 7 series wins out of 9 since the beginning of June.  We've been playing much better baseball, and we have 15 of our next 19 games at Target Field - 16 of those games against our 4 division rivals.  The Twins are playing as good of baseball as they have all year (I know, not saying much) and July will be the month to make another push toward .500 and the Central division lead.

Congratulations, Michael Cuddyer, on your first All-Star selection.  As much as even Twins fans are going to question this selection, Cuddy definitely deserves it - even as a lifetime achievement award.  Good work Cuddy!

Perkins is Workin!

At the beginning of this year, I know some Twins Rubes (myself) that were down on Glen Perkins. But what a pleasant surprise he has turned out to be this season. The Twins have always believed that their 2004 1st-round pick has the stuff to be a really good pitcher in this league. And things looked great in 2008 when Perkins pitched 151 innings in 26 starts, striking out 74 while posting a 4.41 ERA. But since then Perkins had a fallout with Gardy and a couple below average seasons bouncing between AAA and Minnesota. So maybe it was for good reason that I didn't expect Perkins to accept a role in the bullpen, let alone excel at it. But he has!

Perkins touched 95 mph today while striking out arguably the 2 best Dodgers hitters in Andre Ethier and Matt Kemp - who by the way is putting up MVP numbers (.331/.415/.628 with 22 HR and 22 SB) this season. Perkins has now stuck out 29 batters in 29 innings while posting an ERA of 1.93. But beyond the numbers, Perkins has been the most reliable pitcher out of the 'pen this year and has blossomed in his new set-up role. When Perkins takes the mound in crucial situations, I am confident that he's going to get people out. And today's performance, striking out Ethier and Kemp, is trend and not mirage.

Although I wasn't confident in Perkins to begin 2011, I am very excited about what he's doing. I remember going to a game in 2009 at the Metrodome with a bunch of friends and we commented on how loose and easy going Perkins was. He looked like enjoyed playing baseball! At the time when he was struggling, it looked more like he didn't really care about his job. But now I feel like I can say that Perkins loves what he does, and I love watching him. And I'm happy for him. A Minnesota kid who has battled adversity, matured right in front of our eyes, and become a staple in the bullpen for Our Favorite 9!