All right, the Twins are now 1-5.
That’s not good. That changes things considerably on the attitude front around here. So I say –pledge or no pledge– let the bitching begin.
And it’s not just that the Twins are 1-5 that so offends, of course; it’s how they’ve played in going 1-5. Which is terrible, frankly: brutal, uninspired, lackluster, punchless (and punchdrunk), feckless…what the hell, you get the idea. You’ve probably been paying attention. You probably own a thesaurus.
Still, how about these apples: A team batting average of .225 and an on base percentage of .270. The whole freaking team has been playing like Luis Rivas, in other words –like Luis Rivas having a particularly bad week. Opponents, meanwhile, have been hammering Minnesota’s pitching to the tune of a .333 BA, .369 OBP, and .529 slugging percentage.
A team would be mighty damn happy to have one player with those sorts of stats, and the Twins have made the entire Toronto and Cleveland line-ups look like one mighty damn good player.
That won’t continue, certainly. That can’t continue. I’m still pretty confident the pitching will get much, much better. The offense, though, good lord, we can only hope that’s not another story, or rather the same old story we suffered through all last season.
I can’t listen to that story much longer. It’s a lousy story. It makes me jittery, then it makes me belligerent, and eventually it just makes me very, very sleepy.
SILVER LINING:
Two words: Francisco Liriano.
If you look at Liriano’s line from last year (23-and-two-thirds IP, 19 hits, 33 strikeouts, and seven walks), it’s hard to fathom how he ended up with a 5.70 ERA. Somehow the kid managed to give up four homers and fifteen runs, that’s how.
Looking at him now, you get the feeling that with a bit more time Liriano would have straightened out that ERA in a hurry. And unless you were just feeling contrary you’d also have to strongly suspect he’s going to end up in the Minnesota rotation, sooner rather than later.
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