Tomorrow night in Minnesota, the Tigers will play the Twins in a game to determine the AL Central champion. Rookie Rick Porcello will square off against Twins' ace Scott Baker. Both righties have pitched well lately, especially Porcello. The Twins will play a 163rd game for the second straight year, having lost to the White Sox last fall. As we know, Tuesday's winner will travel to the Bronx for a Wednesday night date with the New York Yankees.
Both teams are depleted offensively. The Tigers' lineup has been impotent all season and the Twins are without slugger Justin Morneau. Still, Minnesota has been scoring runs over their last 20 games en route to winning 16 of those contests.
The starters are evenly matched. Baker throws strikes and invites contact. He's efficient and adept at keeping the ball down. Porcello, just 20 years old, has showed tremendous poise down the stretch and has arguably been even better than Justin Verlander.
Both bullpens are average units and the Twins' pen has been terrible of late. It's imperative that the Twins push runs across in the first five innings as their pen is liable to surrender a few runs back to the Tigers.
Another note of interest concerns Detroit firstbaseman Miguel Cabrera who was involved in a domestic dispute Saturday morning. It's any one's guess how this will affect him, just something to bear in mind.
All signs point to a Minnesota win. They have the momentum and the home field advantage.
To me, this comes down to the starting pitchers. Porcello just doesn't miss enough bats. In his last 31 innings, he's punched out just 9 batters. By contrast, Baker has whiffed 29 men in his last 34 innings. Baker is clearly the better pitcher and he'll put the Twins into the postseason.
Twins 7 Tigers 3
Monday, October 5, 2009
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Must see BV
Last week former Mets and Rangers manager Bobby Valentine announced that he was returning from Japan to sign a studio analyst contract with ESPN. Immediately word leaked that the contract contained an out clause in the event that Valentine is offered a new managerial job. And soon after that, Valentine was linked to the opening in Cleveland as well as a potential opening in Florida.
The fact that Valentine has never managed anywhere else after being fired by the Mets in 2002 is not surprising. Despite being renowned for getting the most out of mediocre talent, Valentine is an outspoken figure that can grate on team administration and local media. In 2002, Valentine famously made light of the marijuana-smoking allegations levied against some of his players by imitating a batter high on pot during a press conference. What was funny to him infuriated the Mets image-conscious owners, Fred and Jeff Wilpon. Valentine was gone at the end of the year.
In the irony of ironies, Valentine would be an ideal fit for the present-day Mets. His workmanlike approach and attention to strategic detail would be a welcome change from the passive approach taken by Jerry Manuel and his predecessor, Willie Randolph. Nevertheless, Mets ownership remains the same and the odds of Valentine reclaiming his old post are slim.
Out in Cleveland, another underachieving team could also use a shot of BV. Valentine has to be considered a front-runner for the vacancy in Cleveland. Again, he would be filling the shoes of a "hands-off" skipper and assuming control of a clubhouse left to police itself. The addition of Valentine would have as much impact on the resurgence of the Indians as would a return to health of franchise player Grady Sizemore.
Either way, don't expect to see Bobby on ESPN for very long. He's got a new general manager to piss off.
The fact that Valentine has never managed anywhere else after being fired by the Mets in 2002 is not surprising. Despite being renowned for getting the most out of mediocre talent, Valentine is an outspoken figure that can grate on team administration and local media. In 2002, Valentine famously made light of the marijuana-smoking allegations levied against some of his players by imitating a batter high on pot during a press conference. What was funny to him infuriated the Mets image-conscious owners, Fred and Jeff Wilpon. Valentine was gone at the end of the year.
In the irony of ironies, Valentine would be an ideal fit for the present-day Mets. His workmanlike approach and attention to strategic detail would be a welcome change from the passive approach taken by Jerry Manuel and his predecessor, Willie Randolph. Nevertheless, Mets ownership remains the same and the odds of Valentine reclaiming his old post are slim.
Out in Cleveland, another underachieving team could also use a shot of BV. Valentine has to be considered a front-runner for the vacancy in Cleveland. Again, he would be filling the shoes of a "hands-off" skipper and assuming control of a clubhouse left to police itself. The addition of Valentine would have as much impact on the resurgence of the Indians as would a return to health of franchise player Grady Sizemore.
Either way, don't expect to see Bobby on ESPN for very long. He's got a new general manager to piss off.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)