SB Nation User Blog: Jon Marthaler

Kansas City 4, Minnesota 2: "Cy" Hochevar dominates Twins

Jon Marthaler — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 02:10:08 -0000

More photos » by Orlin Wagner - AP

Luke Hochevar threw seven strong innings to beat the Twins. (AP Photo/Orlin Wagner)

Ron Gardenhire didn't stick around to see the end of the Twins' loss to the Royals on Monday night.

The way Kansas City starter Luke Hochevar was pitching, Gardy didn't need to.

Hochevar gave up just two Twins hits in seven innings, shutting out Minnesota and earning his third win of June in the process. The 25-year-old struggled with his control early on, walking four hitters in the first three innings, but pitched around the baserunners and settled himself down thereafter. Apart from a double and a 14-hop single, the Twins couldn't touch the starter - and Minnesota's Nick Blackburn couldn't match his performance.

The Twins righty needed his bullpen for the first time in three starts, going just six innings. Blackburn lived dangerously the entire evening, dancing around hit after hit, but it was two long balls - back-to-back dingers from Alberto Callaspo and Miguel Olivo to lead off the sixth inning - that sealed the deal. R.A. Dickey gave up a run in an inning of relief, as the Royals finished off the victory.

Olivo was the offensive star for K.C., finishing just a double short of the cycle and figuring in three of the Royals' runs. The catcher scored following a single and a Michael Cuddyer throwing error in the second inning, homered in the sixth, and blasted an RBI triple off the center field fence in the seventh.

The Twins did briefly attempt a comeback in the eighth. Justin Morneau smashed a line-drive homer to right field with a man aboard off of John Bale, cutting the Royals' lead in half. It was too little, too late, however, and Kansas City closer Joakim Soria came on to shut down the Twins in the ninth, striking out the side in the process.

Gardenhire, meanwhile, was gone by the top of the sixth, after a strange play involving Jason Kubel. The Twins DH pounded a ground ball into the dirt that hopped down the line, bounced off the bag, and was turned into an out without Kubel ever leaving the batter's box. He claimed the ball hit his foot, not the dirt. Replays were inconclusive. Gardenhire came out to argue with home plate umpire Larry Vanover, who incensed the Twins manager by refusing to ask any other umpire for help. Eventually, Gardy threw his hat and yelled a few choice swears, and earned a vacation in the process.

Given the Twins' lack of success at the plate, on the mound, and in the field, the Twins' manager probably only wished that the vacation had come a lot sooner.

Three Stars:

3. Alberto Callaspo - Homered and scored twice.
2. Miguel Olivo
1. Luke Hochevar

Twins vs Royals coverage

Twins @ Royals, Part 2

Jon Marthaler — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 01:52:12 -0000

In the hopes of turning the Twins' hitting ability around, it's a second game thread for the final three innings.

Currently 1-0 Kansas City, going into the bottom of the sixth.

Game 78: Twins @ Kansas City

Jon Marthaler — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 02:46:39 -0000

First Pitch: 7:10pm CDT
TV: Fox Sports North (HD where available)
Radio: Twins Radio Network
Know Thine Enemy: Royals Review

Series at a Glance

Tonight, the Twins start a three-game set at Kauffman Stadium - their first trip to the BBQ Capital of the World this year.

The Royals started with some promise in 2009, but apart from the 10-3 wizardry of Zach Grienke (who the Twins avoid this week, as he pitched yesterday), they've since fallen way off. KC has won just three of 11, and fell out of the AL Central race in late May and early June, thanks to an eight-game losing streak. They're nine and a half back, and only Oakland and Cleveland have worse records in the AL.

Starting Pitchers

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2009 - Nick Blackburn	6-3	15	15	2	0	0	0	101.1	103	41	35	7	26	41	3.11	1.27

The Twins' bullpen is planning to disconnect the phone, turn off the pager, kick back, and catch some nap time tonight. Blackburn became the first Twins pitcher to throw two complete games in a row since 1998 - though he wouldn't have finished the second one if he hadn't blown an eighth-inning lead in Milwaukee.

He's been a model of consistency over the past month, however. In his four June starts, the Twins bullpen has pitched only 1.1 innings, and Blackburn has a 2.25 ERA. Now, the team just has to get him some runs - the Twins lost three of four of those games.

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2009 - Luke Hochevar	2-3	7	7	1	0	0	0	38.1	36	27	25	5	13	16	5.87	1.28

You could say Hochevar's been a little bit inconsistent this year. (You could also say that Phoenix is a little bit warm, this time of year.) The righthander has made seven starts this year, all in May and June. His first three (10.80 ERA) were bad enough to earn him a trip to Triple-A Omaha, presumably to think about life. His last four have been much better - he's won twice and took a perfect game into the fifth inning in a third, including a masterful 80-pitch complete game against the Reds.

That said, he also tossed up a four-innings, six-earned, game-score-19 start in the middle of those three, so he might not be all the way back, yet.

Lineups

Lineup

Minnesota Twins @ Kansas City Royals

06/29/09 8:10 PM EDT

Minnesota Twins	Kansas City Royals
Denard Span - CF	David DeJesus - LF
Brendan Harris - SS	Willie Bloomquist - RF
Joe Mauer - C	Billy Butler - 1B
Justin Morneau - 1B	Mike Jacobs - DH
Jason Kubel - DH	Mark Teahen - 3B
Michael Cuddyer - RF	Alberto Callaspo - 2B
Joe Crede Brian Buscher - 3B	Miguel Olivo - C
Delmon Young - LF	Mitch Maier - CF
Nick Punto - 2B	Tony Pena - SS

The Tale of RA Dickey

Jon Marthaler — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 20:58:18 -0000

The Tale of RA Dickey

I loved this Souhan article about RA Dickey - who, it turns out, doesn't even have a ulnar collateral ligament (that's the one Neshek and Liriano tore).

In '09, interleague play is good - but not as great - to Twins

Jon Marthaler — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 02:11:05 -0000

The Twins went 12-6 in interleague play this year, taking five of six from Milwaukee and winning series with Pittsburgh, Chicago, and St. Louis - and dropping a series to Houston. Only Tampa Bay (13-5) and Anaheim (14-4) won as many games as the Twins.

Pretty good - but not quite like previous years. Heck, the Twins only picked up two games on first-place Detroit over the interleague portion of the schedule, and depending on the result of a makeup game between the Chicago teams, Minnesota may finish dead even with the White Sox this year.

It's not like 2008, when the Twins were a major-league best 14-4. Or 2006, when they were a ridiculous 16-2 (though they picked up just one game on Detroit, which put a 15-3 hurting on the National League as well.)

All-time, the Twins are 132-96 (.578) in interleague play. Only the Yankees (133-95) have a better record since interleague play was introduced in 1997.

If you'll cast your mind back to late 1997, you might remember that Milwaukee wasn't the owners' first choice to switch from the American League to the National League. Kansas City was offered the first option, but declined. The Brewers were the second choice - but the Twins (who were also in danger of moving to North Carolina that fall) were third choice.

Seeing how they've fared since against the Senior Circuit, it does kind of make you wonder.

GameDay Chatter: The three saddest letters

Jon Marthaler — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 00:49:49 -0000

Sunday, I once again was the voice of the GameDay Chatter segment on AM1500's postgame show. Here's the text of my latest appearance:

I've got three letters for you: D-F-A. They're the saddest three letters in baseball.

Those three letters are the abbreviation for "designated for assignment," which is baseball's version of the pink slip. In technical terms, it means that the major league club has ten days to trade or waive the player so designated, and in th meantime, they can fill his spot on the roster with somebody else.

In real terms, though, DFA is the short way of telling a player, "We want you off our team immediately, and it's so important to get you out of here as soon as possible, we don't even care if we lose you for nothing. We don't even get to stop paying you. That's how bad you are; we would gladly pay you to sit at home, so long as you're anywhere but here."

Luis Ayala was the latest Twin to get the treatment; the Twins DFA'ed him last Monday, making room for Bobby Keppel, the team's latest attempt to stop the bleeding in the bullpen. Astonishingly, this means that only two relief pitchers are left from the team's Opening Day roster. Of those seven relievers, the Twins sent two down to the minors, and DFA'ed or released three others, one of whom ended up back in the team's minor-league system. Only Joe Nathan and Matt Guerrier survive - along with R.A. Dickey, who was in the starting rotation on Opening Day.

Twins fans have been frustrated with the team's inability to get much past the .500 mark this year. But with a bullpen that's been as DFA-worthy as this one - Ayala included - I'd say it's just a wonder that they're anywhere above Royals Territory in the standings.

Off Day Discussion Topic: Your First Game

Jon Marthaler — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 15:43:28 -0000

I went to yesterday's Father's Day tilt against Houston with my dad, which got me thinking about my very first Twins game: July 16, 1987. I was five years old, and though the Twins were unbeatable at home in 1987, they contrived to lose to Toronto that day, 5-2.

Here's what I remember from the game, without looking at the box score: Jimmy Key pitched for the Blue Jays, and Kirby Puckett had to DH - it was the first game back after the All-Star break, and he'd lost his glove on the way back - thus putting Mark Davidson in center field. I seem to remember Davidson jumping lamely after a home run, not at all in the dynamic way that Puckett would go after homers, but this may be one of the tricks of my memory.

Anyway, the real story was that Steve Lombardozzi had an RBI double and an RBI triple - possibly the only time he ever did that in his career - and Kent Hrbek, my favorite player, had two hits, but otherwise Bert Blyleven got outdueled, giving up five runs over seven and two-thirds, including a Fred McGriff home run.

So: what do you remember about your first game? Feel free to look up the box score, but it's almost as much fun to test what you remember against the facts.

Off Day Discussion Topic: Your Favorite Stats

Jon Marthaler — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 04:00:00 -0000

The Twins are off today, meaning that we'll have to make our own fun this afternoon and evening.

With that in mind: let's go into Coffee Talk Mode! We ARE getting a bit verklempt...

So we'll give you a discussion topic, especially you number-lovers out there: what are your current favorite stats? You're allowed to pick up to three, no more than one in each major category (fielding, batting, pitching).

Mine: on offense, it's OPS. I was unsure about this until I saw how strongly correlated OPS is with runs scored, and when you combine that with its simplicity to calculate, I'm sold. It is - dare I say - elegant.

For fielding, I'm enjoying the trend towards Ultimate Zone Rating, if only because it's a single number and it directly translates to runs. I can't claim to understand the mathematics. Maybe somebody else wants to take a crack at explaining them.

On the mound, I'm yet to be convinced in any direction. Fielding Independent Pitching, OPS Against, so on and so forth - anybody a convert one way or another?

(Baseball returns tomorrow. For now: discuss!)

Crede deals with ghosts of Twins third basemen past

Jon Marthaler — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 03:05:03 -0000

Last year, about this time, we took a look at Mike Lamb's 2008 season - and concluded that he wasn't doing much more than Tony Batista had been doing in 2006. The Twins cut Batista loose after 50 games in 2006, and dropped Lamb after 81 last season.

So, while no one is suggesting that he be dropped, it's only fair to examine Joe Crede, as he is Minnesota's 2009 solution at third base. Crede has had 192 plate appearances this year, just three fewer than Batista got in 2006 (and five more than Lamb had at the time of last year's article), so the timing's about right.

Here's the tale of the tape*:

	BATISTA ('06)	LAMB ('08 thru 6/3)	CREDE ('09)
BA	.236	.247	.228
OBP	.303	.283	.297
SLG	.388	.335	.456
OPS	.691	.618	.753
HR	5	1	10
RBI	21	24	27
Runs created	24	23	24
OPS, last 20 games	.685	.707	.770
BABIP	.276	.266	.221
Line-drive %	21.9%	18.2%	16.3%
UZR/150	-13.5	-18.4^	34.3

*Statistic sources: UZR/150 from Fangraphs.com, BABIP/LD% from The Hardball Times, all others from Baseball-Reference.com
^Lamb's fielding number only available for entire 2008 season

A few things jump out at me from this comparison, so let's discuss:

Crede is so much better on defense than either Lamb or Batista, there's just no comparison. Both Batista and Lamb were absolute liabilities at third base. Meanwhile, if you go by Ultimate Zone Rating (the number above is per 150 defensive games), Crede has been the best defensive third baseman in baseball. Strictly in the field, Crede's been worth 15 runs more than Batista in 2006, and likely about the same number more than Lamb last season at this point.
Crede's power numbers dwarf his predecessors, though his on-base numbers are just as bad. This is a function of his home run numbers, and nothing else. He has about the same number of extra base hits as both Batista and Lamb; it's just that his few have flown over the wall.
Crede hits an extraordinary number of fly balls (almost half the time), and has done so for several years. He hits the fewest ground balls on the team (35.6%), and so few line drives that even Delmon Young hits more. Consequently, his batting average, even when he hits the ball (BABIP, or batting average on balls in play, above) is horrible, since most of the time the ball either ends up in the stands or in an outfielder's glove. Crede's 10 home runs are many more than either Lamb or Batista, but for example, he's hit fewer doubles and triples than either one.

Ultimately, the conclusion I draw from the numbers is that Crede's contribution this year has been about 15-20 runs over what the Twins got from either Batista in 2006 or Lamb in 2008. That's about equal to two wins. (Not to mention that if Crede wasn't playing, Brian Buscher might be, and that would have translated into probably 2-3 fewer wins, as well.)

Are you frustrated with Crede? That .228 batting average could vex the calmest among us. But take heart - he's much better than the guys who've manned third base in the past.

Twins 7, Cubs 4: Hit parade sinks Cubs

Jon Marthaler — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 20:49:27 -0000

More photos » by Charles Rex Arbogast - AP

Joe Mauer is congratulated after going deep, yet again. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Browse more photos »

Joe Mauer hit a two-run home run, Brendan Harris had three hits, and Kevin Slowey pitched a masterful five innings (plus a wobbly sixth) to get his ninth win of the season, as Minnesota got things started the right way at Wrigley Field with a 7-4 win. Minnesota pounded out 14 hits for the day to only six for Chicago.

Jason Kubel also homered for Minnesota, providing a much-needed insurance run in the ninth inning.

Slowey was the story of the first five innings for the Twins. The righthander allowed just one hit, walked no one, and struck out nine - including twice striking out the side - as the Twins jumped out to a 4-0 lead. Mauer's 13th home run of the year put the Twins in front in the third, and singles from Delmon Young, Nick Punto, and Harris - sandwiched around a GIDP by Slowey - put the Twins up 4-0 in the fourth.

In the sixth, however, the Twins starter ran into his first problems of the game. An infield single and a bleeder through the right side put runners on first and third. Mike Fontenot took a pair of two-strike pitches, either of which could have been strike three - but neither was called, loading the bases with one out. Milton Bradley ripped a pitch off the ivy to score a pair of runs, another came home on a groundout - and while Slowey made it out of the inning, his day was done with the Twins clinging to a one-run lead.

Bradley, however, proved to be the goat in the seventh and eighth for the Cubs. In the seventh, the right fielder lost a fly ball in the sun, which put Twins runners on first and second with none out - and Minnesota was able to bring one runner around to score. In the eighth, Bradley lost track of the number of outs, and tossed the ball into the crowd after the second out of the inning, as another run scored.

Chicago got one back in the bottom of the eighth off a parade of Twins relievers, but Joe Nathan came on in the ninth to get the save.

Today's three stars:

3. Joe Mauer
Another homer, another two hits and three RBI. Joe - never leave us.

2. Brendan Harris
Three singles, including an RBI in the fourth inning - and all out of the leadoff spot. An impressive performance, especially considering that if it wasn't him at the top of the order, it might have been (shudder) Nick Punto. (Who also had two hits. But never mind.)

1. Kevin Slowey
His first five innings, the Cubs couldn't touch him - white jersey after white jersey swung through strike three. The sixth took a bit of the shine off of his start, but overall, another solid start from Slowey.

Twins vs Cubs coverage