Walters inspired in complete game win

It’s been a long ride for P.J. Walters, 27, who is getting his first serious taste of the big leagues in his six year professional career. In 2010, his daughter was born prematurely, and died in the final days of spring training. After getting traded to the Blue Jays late in 2011, he made one appearance before getting sent down to AAA and posting a 8.38 ERA with 44 hits in 29 innings.

In the world of professional baseball, he was getting darn near the end of the line, before the Twins took an insurance flier on him this offseason. It was considered a very minor move, mainly an “if all hell breaks lose” signing.

Well, all hell did break lose, and after his strong start at AAA, and an implosion by the Twins starting staff, Walters found himself as one of the more unassuming starting pitchers on a big league roster. His fastball can rarely touch 90, and he’s never been a top prospect, but pitches with fire in his eyes, movement on the ball, and a quick pace with somewhat deceptive all-effort windup. Perhaps most importantly in the short-term, he has come out of nowhere and opposing hitters have no idea what to expect.

Yesterday, Walters turned in the best pitching performance of the year for the Twins, a complete game with only two runs allowed. Afterwards, he thanked his teammates, hugging pitching coach Rick Anderson when he came off the mound. For a team of mostly veterans, this was perhaps a touching and inspiring sight. 

The team has truthfully been in a bit of a rut in recent years, pinned to a starting staff of relatively successful players that seemed to lack drive and focus at times. Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau have both won MVPs, and are in the middle of long careers. After a dismal start, many teams would start going through the motions, playing out the season.

What Walters brings, and hopefully Cole DeVries and Scott Diamond, is some life and excitement to the staff. These are players getting their first big opportunities, possibly make-or-break moments for their careers. Division rivals have also grown accustomed to the same style of starters from the Twins, and perhaps now isn’t a bad time for a house-clearing, giving a few pitchers opportunities they’ve never had.

Hopefully the rest of the team feeds off the new energy, which has happened more routinely over the past two weeks

DeVries called up

The Twins made a somewhat curious move by selecting Cole DeVries from AAA Rochester to replace struggling starter, Jason Marquis. DeVries has been a mediocre minor league reliever the past two seasons, and is only eight starts into his return to starting, posting a 1-4 record, 4.24 ERA and 47 hits in 46.2 innings.

Again, this is just a matter of getting someone in the rotation that can keep the team in the game into the fifth or sixth inning, and expectations aren’t particularly high. The surprise isn’t the replacement of Marquis, but that the team chose DeVries over more recognizable pitchers, Liam Hendricks and Jeff Manship. Perhaps the thinking here was along the lines of, “you guys have had your chance, let’s give a new kid the ball.”

At the age of 27, DeVries is not a “blue chip” prospect, but his control has intrigued the Twins this season, with only 7 walks on the year. The feeling may be that Henricks and Liriano need more time to find themselves, and that DeVries can step in for a few starts and give them a better chance to win than Marquis.

Once Blackburn comes off the disabled list, the team will need to decide weither to demote DeVries or P.J. Walters, or move Blackburn to the bullpen. There’s a decent chance he may get some rehab starts in the minor leagues to see if his stuff has come back.

Carl Pavano has battled shoulder ailments all year, and there’s talk that Swarzak, Duensing or Liriano may make a spot start to give him extra rest. With starting pitching thinned and a solid core of relievers in AAA, one of these more veteran pitchers will likely return to the rotation shortly. It's unlikely that the full rookie trio of Diamond, Walters and DeVries will be able to remain consistent over the long run. although they are certainly being auditioned for more than just "place holders" if they can take hold of the opportunity.

Jason Marquis release rumors mount

The Twins have reached the point in the season where they can’t afford to wait for missing production. During the winning years of 2002-2010, numerous veterans were signed and released early into the season if production lapsed. Almost every time, the replacement would add life to the ballclub and lead to late-year success.

Perhaps the most noted example is 2006, when the Twins’ opening day lineup included three newly-signed veterans: Juan Castro at shortstop, Tony Batista at third base and Rondell White at designated hitter, as well as Ruben Sierra on the bench. 

That 2006 team started terribly, and fell 12.5 games out of first place by May 24. Finally, in mid-June, the team released Tony Batista, traded Juan Castro, benched Rondell White, and eventually released Sierra. The team inserted fiery bench-player, Nick Punto at third, and brought up Jason Bartlett to play shortstop. Suddenly the team was more athletic with a fresh new outlook, finally catching the Detroit Tigers for 1st Place in the American League Central on the last day of the season.

Just two years later, the 2008 team saw an opening day roster that featured newly signed veterans, Adam Everett at shortstop, Mike Lamb at shortstop, Craig Monroe at designated hitter,  Livan Hendandez as opening-day starter, and newly acquired center fielder, Carlos Gomez, batting leadoff. That year was almost deja-vu of 2006, as the team started poorly and was six games out of first place on June 10.

Then, Mike Lamb lost his starting job to Brian Buscher on June 16. Adam Everett was injury plagued, eventually losing his starting job to Nick Punto at shortstop. Craig Monroe and Livan Henandez were released before the end of the season, and Carlos Gomez lost his leadoff spot to Dernard Span. The team fought back all year, eventually losing a one-game playoff to the White Sox on the 163rd day of the season.

Fast forward to 2012, and the Twins are in a similar situation, floundering with newly-signed veterans and slumping young players. Most teams would keep the veterans due to their high contracts, but the Twins have always been a team that ignores salaries and focuses on the best winning talent available. This pridelessness is one of the major reasons for the team’s past success.

Today, May 21, 2012, the team is already nine games behind first place. They’re recently replaced it’s starting shortstop (Jamey Carroll) and third baseman (Danny Valencia), in addition to two starting pitching spots. All changes have paid dividends, and the team is an improved 6-4 over the past ten days.

Now, Jason Marquis, the 3-million dollar man, is in the spotlight. The Star Tribune reports that the Twins are expected to release the veteran pitcher after he posted an 8.47 ERA in seven starts. Veteran, Nick Blackburn, is on the disabled list but likely on the outs also, with an almost identical 8.37 ERA in seven starts. If this indeed occurs, only Carl Pavano would remain out of the five season-opening starting pitchers. It’s not even June, folks.

Surprisingly enough, however, the Twins still have a healthy depth chart in regards to starting pitching. None of them are ace pitchers, but can certainly produce an ERA under 8.00. Scott Diamond and P.J. Walters have arrived and pitched well, while Liam Hendricks is getting back on track in AAA with several solid starts. Francisco Liriano, Anthony Swarzak and Brian Duensing are all eyeing starting rotation slots from the bullpen.

Jason Marquis has always been a marginal pitcher, traditionally hovering around 4.50 ERA in the National League. He’s also prone to poor seasons, including a 6.02 ERA over 33 starts in 2006, and 6.60 ERA in 13 starts during an injury-plagued 2010.

It’s hard to dump a $3-million player, but the Twins front office has proved before that they can swallow pride for the sake of a better team. With Diamond and Walters pitching well enough to remain in the rotation, and Liam Hendricks returning to form, Marquis may be the odd man out. 

Francisco Liriano and Nick Blackburn have both pitched poorly as well, but are much younger and have shown a higher upside than Marquis over their careers. Liam Hendricks or Swarzak could potential match or exceed Marquis’ career numbers, 4.63 ERA and .510 winning percentage, while Liriano and Blackburn have the potential to pitch much better down the stretch if they find their stuff.

New faces showing hunger

Even though the Twins have the worst record in baseball, it’s hard to blame General Manager, Terry Ryan, who’s moves have improved a club searching to find its identity.

Scott Diamond, who the team fought to snag from Atlanta, has thrown 14 shutout innings since taking over for Liam Hendricks in the starting rotation. P.J. Walters, a minor league free agent pickup, has also given the team a chance to win in his first two starts in replacing Francisco Liriano. Neither pitcher has outstanding stuff, but bring new energy to the starting rotation and know how to pitch with what they have.

There seems to be a bit of life creeping into the team, particularly with young, exciting players such as new shortstop, Brian Dozier, who has ignited the offense. After doing well in AAA, it seems Ben Revere may be back to stay, as the team toiled to find anyone better in right field. In the perfect world, it may be best to move Dernard Span to right, as Span's stronger arm could perhaps handle the position better than Revere.

With so many new faces and the departure of team leader, Michael Cuddyer, the team has struggled to get the right mix together. It seems that DH/catcher, Ryan Doumit, has emerged as a fiery leader who wants to win, recently talking his way out of the disabled list, while showing grit and emotion on the field. The hope is that with Morneau back, the offense can settle in and do what was expected to start the season, with Morneau/Willingham/Doumit providing a hearty middle of the lineup.

The core Twins team was built for the Metrodome, where left-handed hitters could expect inflated home run numbers, and ground-ball hitters would see more hits skip through the holes. Target Field has proven to be a sinkerballer pitcher’s dream, with an infield that seems to slow the ball and induce frequent double-plays. This obviously has not treated Joe Mauer kindly, and lead to a shutout by Cleveland's Derek Lowe, while throwing over 90% sinkers.

The success of newcomer, Josh Willingham, may prove that pull-hitting, right-handed hitters are the secret to offensive success in Target Field, along with a speedy outfield that can cut balls off in the gaps. Singles hitters without blazing speed appear to have trouble here when they keep the ball on the ground. 

The Oakland Colosseum is a similar playing field, and the Twins can look to the A’s past history of winning when they have fly-ball hitters and ground-ball pitching. Terry Ryan is working to change the dynamic of the team to fit Target Field, but it will certainly not be an easy task, and may take years to build the team back up as perfectly as it was designed for the Metrodome.

Morneau returns to first base (hopefully)..

The light-hitting AAA Rochester Red Wings are about to get yet another burst of fallen major league talent, as Chris Parmalee is expected to be sent down in order to make room for Justin Morneau, who will be the Twins primarly first baseman upon his return from the disabled list.

After getting shut out by grizzled veteran, Derek Lowe, while using a lineup that featured rookie Brian Dozier as the No. 5 hitter, the Twins hope to finally start getting its offense in-sync, crippled by a lack of production at third base, first base and right field.

It would seem, hopefully, that concussion-like symptoms are behind Morneau and perhaps a stint on the DL may have helped to strengthen his ailing left wrist. At any rate, both he and the team seem to realize that even a one-handed Morneau has to be better than what they’ve seen at first base. Parmalee had seen his average dip to .179 with no homers and three RBI’s over 84 at-bats, after skipping over AAA to get to the big leagues.

Now, Rochester features former Twins, Ben Revere, Clete Thomas, Danny Valencia, Sean Burroughs and Parmalee, in addition to pitcher, Matt Maloney. First-year Rochester hitting coach, Tom Brunansky, certainly has his hands cut out for him on a team that features no players with more than two home runs on the season. Expect whomever can get hot for at least a week to be rushed back to the big league ASAP.

With Valencia playing every day at third base, Sean Burroughs has seen time everyday at both first base and second base. Burroughs was sent down to get everyday at bats, but now, ironically, the two players who were preventing him from getting at-bats have been sent down as well, further blocking his way. While hitting a respectable 7-for-21 (.333 BA), don’t be surprised to see him back in the big leagues before Valencia or Parmalee. 

Parmalee’s demotion will likely come at the expense of Rochester’s 32-year-old veteran infielder, Joe Thurston, puttering along with a .139 average at the end of a twelve year minor league career. Expect to see him in a coach's role at some level shortly.

Morneau at first also moves Ryan Doumit to full-time DH, which was the original plan to start the season. Now, the team needs to figure out a way to get some production out of right field or third base. Trevor Plouffe has been shuffled all over the field, but it has become apparent that the multiple gloves are affecting his offense, much as it did Micheal Cuddyer early in his career. Jamey Carroll can play a good third base, but he team simply cannot expect to win with light offense at both third base and right field.

It has been a circus in right field all season, where an already long list of Plouffe, Parmalee, Clete Thomas, Ben Revere, Darin Mastroianni and Erik Komatsu have all failed to to play like big league right fielders. It’ll be interesting to see how long the Twins stick with Mastroianni and Komatsu, as both low-power, reserve-type players, in a position that demands high offensive production. 

Desperate for sparks; Mastroianni, Walters called up

Twins’ management has seen enough. Danny Valencia and Francisco Liriano, both considered rising stars over the past few years, couldn’t cut the mustard during the first month of the season, and the team simply did not have the depth to allow them to find consistency.

After another loss against the Angels brought the Twins’ record to 8-22, the team finally made the move to send Danny Valencia back to AAA for the first time since 2010, and shifting Francisco Liriano to the bullpen. In the process, little-used lefthanded reliever, Matt Maloney, was designated for assignment. 

With a solid core of relievers, but reeling starting rotation, the team hopes that Maloney can clear waivers and build up stamina again as a starter in the minor leagues. A promising veteran lefthander with four solid years of experience at AAA, Maloney’s 8.18 ERA in 11 innings was heavily inflated by one terrible outing in Boston on April 24.

Although the AAA Rochester team hasn’t hit a lick for offense, an unheralded starting rotation has pitched remarkably well, leading to the promotions of Scott Diamond and Walters. In fact, all five Rochester starters with at least four starts have ERAs below 4.00, while Deolis Guerra has finally come into form as a reliever. The young Guerra, last player remaining from the Johan Santana trade, has toiled for years as a starter, but is now pitching with a stellar 0.42 ERA and only 11 hits in 21.2 innings between AA and AAA.

P.J. Walters is a righthander with almost identical AAA numbers this year to recently called up, Scott Diamond. With a 2.70 ERA in 33.1 innings, he is now simply being asked to provide marginal numbers and give the team some chance to win. Liriano could not find it as a starter this year, but has a good chance of dominating out of the bullpen to build up some “mojo,” as Gardenhire says.

Adding Liriano to the bullpen further bolsters an eight-man relief staff that has been a pleasant surprise, and will provide the team with plenty of trade chips if they are still far out of contention late in the season. In addition, Rochester closer, Anthony Slama, seems to have warded off injuries in 2011, and has a 0.57 ERA and 27 strikeouts over 15.2 innings and seven saves. With Mariano Rivera lost for the year in New York, one wonders if Matt Capps might be a possible match for the Yankees, even in a setup role.

The demotion of Valencia gives the Twins the intriguing option of playing Trevor Plouffe as the starting third baseman, although Jamey Carroll would also be a solid Nick Punto-style player at the “hot corner,” with good defense and overall smart play. While Plouffe is hitting only .140, he has a respectable .302 on-base-percentage, compared to Valencia at .204 OBP. This was the main indicator that sent Valencia down over Plouffe, in addition to that fact the Valencia was not required to clear waivers.

Sending Valencia down also changes the dynamic of the team to a more small-ball style of offense, as he was thought of as more of a middle-of-the-order hitter, while Darin Mastroianni is mainly a speedy slap-hitter. Plouffe is now one of the few young players on the roster that projects as a plausible power hitter in the 6-7 spot in the batting order, so will likely get an opportunity to improve somewhere.

Diamond, Dozier, Komatsu provide new look

There was definitely a hint of desperation leading up to Scott Diamond’s season debut against the Angles. While it’s hard to expect a savior out of the young lefthander, who posted a combined record of 5-19 in 30 starts between the Majors and AAA in 2011, all the Twins were looking for was a bit of respectability. 

Thankfully, after seven shutout innings against a hot team, and after a 2.60 ERA in six AAA games, it seems Diamond is on his game at the moment. With adrenaline rushing high and opposing teams unfamiliar, it’s not uncommon for starters to come out of the gate with a solid season debut. But if he could simply pitch a few more games with an ERA below 9.00, the team would be much improved from its current straits.

Liam Hendricks is expected to pitch well in Rochester and be back to the big leagues soon. But while he is considered a better prospect than Diamond, it may be veterans, Francisco Liriano and Nick Blackburn, that could be in jeopardy of losing a spot. Both pitchers have shown inconsistency over their careers, and could see time in the bullpen if they cannot improve upon a combined record of 0-9. 

The Twins have been short on infielders as of late, and selected the contract of SS Brian Dozier from AAA when Justin Mourneu went of the disabled list with a sore left wrist, the same wrist that was surgically repaired in the offseason. Incumbent shortstop, Jamey Carroll, hasn’t played poorly, but Dozier was simply the best player available. The hope is that Dozier can match or exceed Carroll’s performance, and that Carroll can be a solid utility infielder that the team has lacked.

Losing Justin Morneau is not ideal, but it does give the team an excuse to play Dozier, and to see how it changes team dynamic. It also opens up the DH spot for Ryan Doumit, and pushes Mauer to first base more regularly, where Chris Parmalee has struggled mightily. It’s possible that Drew Butera at catcher, Mauer at first, Doumitt at DH will be standard practice until Morneau comes back. 

The addition of Dozier may also mean that struggling third baseman, Danny Valencia, will see more time on the bench. Although a lineup that consists of Jamey Carroll at third, Dozier at short and Alexi Casilla at second seems a bit popless, Valencia is now batting below .200 and seems to be regressing offensively. Starting corner infielders, Valencia and Parmalee, have combined to hit .202 with one home run in 169 at bats. Add in a .140 average by Trevor Plouffe, and the Twins' young position players have completely flopped to start the season.

Meanwhile, the team continued to make minor bench tweaks by claiming backup outfielder, Erik Komatsu, off waivers from the Cardinals. Komatsu is actually a young player with the potential to be a solid role player. While in his brief stint with the team, it was clear that Clete Thomas had a rusty bat and was sent to AAA. In fact, both Thomas and Sean Burroughs cleared waivers, improving upon a veteran depth deficiency in Rochester. It will be interesting to see if either player can produce with consistent playing time, particularly for Burroughs, with the Twins dire need for offense at it's corner infield positions. 

Outfielder, Darin Mastroianni,  has been hitting .365 with 10 stolen bases in AAA, and would likely be the next call if Komatsu falters. 

Tough times for Twins

After getting no-hit by Jared Weaver and swept by scuffling Angel’s, manager Ron Gardenhire looked tired and dejected as he declared it was a “terrible day for Twins baseball.”

Although the team overall looks decent on paper, they have come out of the gate with a Major League worst 6-18 record. Meanwhile, there looks to be little help in AAA Rochester, where the club has hit poorly, with only a marginally better record at 9-16.

Perhaps most perplexing is that the roster has remained relatively healthy, minus a season-ending injury to top-tier starter, Scott Baker, and several day-to-day injuries. Additionally, newcomers have preformed reasonably well overall. Josh Willimgham has been scolding the ball, hitting .325 with a team-leading 5 home runs. Jamey Carroll hasn’t hit well, but has made up for it by solidifying infield defense and maintaining a respectable on-base percentage, while Ryan Doumit has showed better-than-expected defense at catcher. Additionally, Jared Burton and Jeff Gray have so far proven to be bargains in a much-improved bullpen.

It seems changes may need to be made, particularly in what has been an atrocious starting rotation. Liam Hendriks looked promising early on, but it now appears he may need more seasoning in the minor leagues. Anthony Swarzak, Matt Maloney and Brian Duensing were all starting pitchers last year, and would be able to pitch respectably as No. 5 starters. Maloney recently drew ire for holding runners poorly, and had one terrible outing that ballooned his ERA. 

The “core four” in the starting rotation are Carl Pavano, Nick Blackburn, Jason Marquis and Francisco Liriano. None has pitched consistently yet, but they are all veterans with multi-million dollar contracts. Pavano may have the most trade value, but the team would certainly wait until late in the year to trade their default “Ace.”

The Twins have held steady with 13 pitchers, a huge number for most teams. They recently promoted third catcher, Drew Butera, at the expense of little-used backup third baseman, Sean Burroughs. This comes shortly after losing 2B/3B infielder, Luke Hughes, to waivers, leaving only Trevor Plouffe as a super-utility infielder. Plouffe needs playing time and has high potential, but may be struggling to adjust to his role while only batting 4-for-36 (.111 BA). And with Danny Valencia needing to take time off with a sore back, it left the team with a predicament if something happened to another infielder. Drew Butera would likely need to play 3B in an emergency.

Meanwhile, it seems that the team may have rushed 1B Chris Parmelee, who is hitting only .220 in 59 at-bats, with a ridiculously low total of two RBI’s. It seems he might be entering a sophomore slump, common among young hitters once pitchers stop throwing them fastballs. The team also found out the hard way that newcomer, Clete Thomas, has major holes in hits swing, with 16 strikeouts and no walks in only 28 at-bats. One wonders if switching Burroughs to first base and keeping Ben Revere in the outfield would have made a difference over the past couple weeks.

Perhaps the best thing the team needs now in a change of pace, so hopefully a weekend at his daughter’s graduation will cool down Ron Garenhire, and the team will be able to loosen up under interim manager, Scott Ullger, in Seattle. The good news is that the Twins have had a very tough early schedule, and the American League Central as a whole has been very marginal to start the year, with the young Cleveland Indians leading the pack at 12-10.