This early in a marathon, draw conclusions at your own risk. The first two weeks of the season suggest a bumpy ride for the Minnesota Twins, sure, but don’t forget that at this time in 2002 they were in third place in the American League Central, trying to catch the 11-1 Cleveland Indians.
That didn’t tell us a lot, did it?
Neither might this. But in getting swept by Toronto and New York to enter the weekend 3-6, the Twins hardly have looked like the well-oiled machine that many picked to win a pennant.
“Be careful what you write,” center fielder Torii Hunter warns. “You may have to eat those words.”
The Twins hope so. This is a team that has gotten used to winning and believes it will win again in 2003.
Before Tuesday, the Twins had not been below .500 since the end of the 2000 season, a streak of 329 games. But their sputtering attack, along with the pounding of Nos. 1 and 2 starters Brad Radke and Joe Mays in back-to-back losses, is cause for alarm.
Relievers Eddie Guardado and LaTroy Hawkins are worried enough that they already have held a clubhouse meeting. They fear that their teammates–specifically the hitters who scored more than three runs only once in the first nine games–are pressing because of increased expectations.
“LaTroy did all the talking,” Guardado said of the meeting, which was held after Hideki Matsui smashed a grand slam off a Mays changeup.
Minnesota was 27 games above .500 in 2002 despite outscoring the opponents by only 56 runs. It was 29-16 in one-run games but has dropped its only two one-run games this year.
Though the Twins’ rotation had a 4.99 earned-run average entering the weekend, the real source of concern is the lineup. Minnesota averaged only 2.7 runs in its first nine games. The only starting pitcher it has chased before the sixth was Jeremy Bonderman, a 20-year-old rookie for Detroit.
A 4-for-31 start by Hunter contributed to the Twins batting only .218. Hunter’s 0-for-5 in Friday’s win over Toronto dropped his average to .111. The slump has added to the questions about a team that entered the season with only two hitters who drove in 75 runs a year ago, losing David Ortiz and adding no one more significant than utility man Chris Gomez.
Right-handed hitters Matthew LeCroy and Michael Cuddyer were put in the lineup to provide more balance, but the Twins haven’t shown much against left-handers. They were 23-29 in starts by lefties in 2002 and this year have produced five runs in 21 2/3 innings against Mike Maroth, Andy Pettitte and David Wells.
The Twins are fortunate that only Kansas City has started fast in the Central. They have time to get themselves straightened out before the weekend of April 25-27, when they play the White Sox in Chicago.
“I know last year we got swept a couple of times early in the year, so there’s no reason to panic,” Guardado said. “I know it’s early, but then again, I don’t feel the hype, the energy, we had last year.”
Stay tuned.
Winning short-handed: Hats off to the Royals, Giants and Yankees. The teams that got off to the fastest starts in the majors were all missing key players.
Kansas City has rolled to a 9-0 start despite playing without center fielder Carlos Beltran, who is due back soon after resting a strained hamstring. Replacement Michael Tucker, who has spent more time playing the corner outfield spots, was hitting only .200. Rontrez Johnson spelled Tucker defensively.
The Giants are expected to be without closer Robb Nen for at least two more weeks. His absence provides a major test because he had all 50 saves for San Francisco last year. Manager Felipe Alou has proven resourceful, getting saves from three relievers during the Giants’ 10-1 start. Tim Worrell has five saves and Scott Eyre and Jim Brower one apiece.
Derek Jeter’s separated shoulder hasn’t caused the Yankees much pain. Erick Almonte is hitting .300 with one homer and six RBIs during their 9-1 start, but has made four errors in eight games.
The perfect prospect: Oakland already has the best starting rotation in the majors, with pitching coach Rick Peterson helping unlock lefty Ted Lilly’s potential. But the A’s have a 21-year-old right-hander who may be able to hold his own alongside Barry Zito, Mark Mulder and Tim Hudson.
Rich Harden lasted until the 17th round in the 2000 draft, in part because he–like Hudson–lacks the size scouts look for in pitchers. But he needed only 240 minor-league innings to climb to Triple A.
Working in a hitter’s ballpark, Harden blew away the Texas League. He retired all 39 hitters he faced in his first two starts this season, working six perfect innings the first time out and seven perfect innings the second time, earning a promotion to Triple-A Sacramento. Harden struck out 17 in those two starts.
“We saw during the spring that he had a good fastball and a good makeup to him,” manager Ken Macha said.
All-Star disagreement: Commissioner Bud Selig hoped to already have the players’ approval of his proposal to give home-field advantage for the World Series to the league winning the All-Star Game. But it remains a tough sell. The best guess is it will be approved, but only on a trial basis, which isn’t what MLB wants.
“I think it’s a ridiculous way to determine home-field advantage,” Expos catcher Brian Schneider said. “I think a lot of guys think so. If we’re in the World Series this year, I don’t want it determined on an All-Star Game. I think there are other solutions.”
Selig’s proposal isn’t perfect, but it’s an improvement on the current system, which rotates home-field advantage between leagues. The fair way would be to seed teams in both leagues according to regular-season victories, but Selig insists MLB must know in advance which World Series games are to be played in AL or NL cities just as the NFL locks in the Super Bowl site.
Looking old: The Cubs’ Jim Hendry and lots of his fellow general managers are patting themselves on the back for not offering a long-term contract to Greg Maddux. He’s off to his worst start since he was a Cub, going 0-3 with an 11.05 ERA in his first three starts.
Already reeling from the departure of Tom Glavine and Kevin Millwood, the Braves have been outscored 43-5 in Maddux’s three starts. Though Maddux lost only six games in 2002, he raised concerns by falling short of 200 innings for the first time since 1987.
Maddux, suffering from a loss of both command and movement, has been throwing batting practice. He gave up 29 hits in 14 2/3 innings in the starts against Montreal, Florida and Philadelphia. His next start comes Tuesday against the Expos in San Juan.
“I feel good,” Maddux said. “I’m just not throwing it where I want to and they’re not missing. My location is terrible, and when your location is terrible, it’s tough. It doesn’t do you any good to know how to pitch when you don’t know where the ball is going.”
Whispers: With Orel Hershiser as pitching coach, the Rangers are getting a reputation as headhunters. Texas pitchers hit seven batters in the first nine games. Tampa Bay led the majors with 94 hit batters in 2002. . . . Baltimore manager Mike Hargrove is on thin ice. He received the dreaded vote of confidence after mistakenly making a second trip to the mound during the 10th inning of a loss to Tampa Bay, which forced the Orioles to rush lefty Buddy Groom into the game. . . . Given the Tigers’ lack of pop, Illinois-Chicago producer Curtis Granderson could climb quickly through the system. He’s off to a fast start at Class A Lakeland, hitting .400 through eight games to give him a .351 average as a pro. . . . After being released by the Devil Rays, second baseman Brent Abernathy blasted the “cheapskates running the organization.” Hard to see how Abernathy could complain given that he might have been the worst hitter in the majors last season with a .599 OPS. . . . It took a week for Fred McGriff to fall from fourth to fifth in the Dodgers’ lineup. Through Saturday, he’s hitting .146.
The last word: “People say he is always hurt, that he doesn’t play hard, all that negative stuff and he gets hurt going flat-out to make a play. It’s so unfair.”–Barry Larkin on Cincinnati teammate Ken Griffey Jr., who is expected to miss at least six weeks with a separated right shoulder.
