By Leslie Monteiro, Section Journals
Posted on Tue Jul 18 2006 at 4:39 AM EST 
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The Twins have been an up and down team which is the
best way to describe their season so far. There have
been times when they have played like a very bad team
in the first two months of the season and there have
been times where this team showed a glimpse of
greatness in the last month and a half. Twins fans
have to feel good about the way their team has played
lately. This team is starting to come together as the
hitters have finally figure it out and the fact that
they got two starters who can win games when they are
on the mound in Johan Santana and Francisco Liriano.
This team is starting to become what Twins GM Terry
Ryan envisioned in the off-season. If Twins fans have
to evaluate the way this team has played all season,
they have to be happy at what they have saw overall
especially after the way their team started.
The best part of this season has been the team's
offense. Michael Cuddyer has finally played to his
potential after years of disappointment. Joe Mauer is
finally playing like a number one pick of the 2001
draft. He has been the team's best hitter and reliable
performer in big spots. He is establishing good
leadership skills each day. Justin Morneau is now
finally becoming the hitter everyone expected to be.
It is no secret that this team started winning when he
started performing. He is not only hitting home runs
but he is getting his base hits to come through which
is something he had hard time doing last year. The
team has to like the way Jason Kubel and Jason
Bartlett have performed since being recalled from the
minors. This offense is starting to be what the team
has envisioned going back to last year. It is
unfortunate how it took look long for them to deliver,
but regardless it is beautiful to see.
The pitching has been the problem this year which is
why the Twins are in the situation they are in.
Santana and Liriano are great, but they can not pitch
everyday. The rest of the starters have been a
disaster. Brad Radke has been solid at least, but does
anyone trust him when he is out there. He is capable
of having one bad inning and giving up the long ball.
Carlos Silva has been a huge disappointment period and
you have to wonder where his head is at the games as
Twins pitching coach Rick Anderson called him out two
weeks ago after that bad outing against Texas. Kyle
Lohse was a huge disappointment as always. It is a
joke that he is still on the club. He should have been
released this off-season. Scott Baker did okay, but he
is not that good enough to be a reliable third
starter. He recently got recalled from the minors to
take Boof Bonser's spot on the rotation. He will get a
chance to prove that he can get the job done. Bonser
started off fine, but his control problems and his
high walk ratio was his downfall. The bottom line is
that the Twins starting pitching, which was their
strong attribute last year, has now become a problem.
They are going to need to find a good third starter
who can win most of the time like Silva did last year.
The question is who can step up. Someone has to step
up if this team has serious playoff aspirations.
As great as this team has played, their chances of
making the playoffs are still a long shot at best. The
Tigers are the class of the division. They have better
pitching than anyone in the division. There are
critics who expect the Tigers starting pitching to
fade, but it sure does not look like it will happen.
Their best route to make the playoffs is the wild
card, but that will not be easy. White Sox are a good
team despite their struggles. Besides the White Sox,
they also have to battle with lot of good teams like
the Yankees, Athletics, Rangers, Angels, and the Blue
Jays. They are going to have to play .700 to .800
baseball the rest of the way to do so. That feat will
be hard to do considering their pitching is still a
mess. If that is not hard enough, they got injury
problems. Shannon Stewart is likely out for the year
because he aggravated his injury with his left foot on
Saturday night. He has been playing hurt, but the pain
has been too much for him. Torii Hunter suffered a
stress fracture in his left foot when he was batting
Saturday night. The struggling Lew Ford is on the
15-day disabled list because of a strained right
oblique muscle. Jason Kubel is not on the disabled
list, but his knees has been banged up which is why he
is struggling. Losing these guys to injuries hurt
period. Those guys can hit especially Stewart. Stewart
and Hunter's injury hurts more because those two bring
lot of intangibles to the team when they are out
there. Hunter brings good defense and leadership in
the locker room while Stewart is a guy that fans can
count on when he is batting. Twins called up the
struggling Rondell White, Jason Tyner, and Josh Rabe
to replace the guys that are hurt. The replacements
might do a good job for a while, but it is going to be
tough to expect them to be consistent with their
hitting for a full month. They are getting these
injuries at the wrong time considering the Twins play
the two heavyweights in the AL Central next week with
Chicago at U.S. Cellular Field and Detroit at the
Metrodome.
This season has been a good one. This team is more
fun to watch compared to last year. Last year was
boring to watch with the Twins being so listless on
offense. This season has been different story. The
kids are finally producing which is great for years to
come. At least, they got a foundation of good hitters
to talk about and build about for many years. Anytime
a team can get into high 40s and be close to 50 wins
at this juncture, they had a good first half. It is
unfortunate that the Twins are in the best division of
baseball as Detroit is having a year to remember and
the Sox are still darn good. At least, they can look
forward for good things to come in the next few years
as this core nucleus will be intact for a very long
time. This team is finally showing progress which is
something the fans want.
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