TWINS - 5/7/02
May 07, 2002
LATEST TEAM INFO:
The Twins are currently involved in their longest homestand of the year. So far this season has been a tale of team teams. The team that shows up on the road (getting swept by the Tigers and losing 2 of 3 to the Devil Rays) and the team that show up at home (14-2 home record, best in the League). The Twins are still fighting through the injury bug, and it seems every week someone new comes up limping.
LOCAL PERSPECTIVE:
Even though the Twins are currently in first place, there are many who believe they should be farther ahead. Their schedule has not been tough and have played poor teams on the road. One concern is their starting pitching. At the beginning of the season, the starting pitching, was seen as the biggest strength of the team. But so far this season it has been inconsistent and if not for young guns Kyle Lohse and Matt Kinney, the rotation would be even worse off. Cristian Guzman has also been taking a lot of heat for his poor play and lack of fire when competing on the field.
INJURIES:
Well, where does on start with the numerous injuries that have occurred with Twins players. Starting 2B Luis Rivas continues to be sidelined with a broken wrist. He has started playing catch, but is reporting pain when doing so. Rivas is more than likely out at least another 3 weeks. SP Joe Mays, 17 game winner last year, continues to be out with arm problems. The word coming out on Mays is he may be out till the All-Star break. With Lohse and Kinney pitching well, the Twins brass is going to take their time in bringing Mays back. SS Cristian Guzman missed a week of games at the end of April with numerous injuries. Guzman has sore shoulders, a bum knee, and a sore ankle to name a few. Guzman has not been the player he was during the first half of last year. During SP Rick Reed's lastest outing, May 6, he reported soreness in his right forearm and had to be removed after 5 innings. Reed has begun to throw his slider again and feels it will take time for his arm muscles to get used to the strain they go throw. Twins manager Ron Gardenhire still plans on Reed making his next start. DH David Ortiz recently had knee surgery and will be out another week or two.
ON THE FARM:
OF prospect Michael Cuddyer is off the a good start at Edmonton (Triple A). Cuddyer is hitting .328 with 4 HR's and 10 RBI's. Fellow OF prospect Michael Restovich is off to a slower start. Restovich's numbers so far are .260, 2, 16. Down in Double A, 1B prospect Justin Morneau is putting up decent numbers. Morneau is a smooth swing first baseman who the Twins are really high on. So far he is hitting .314, 2, 13. First round draft pick in 2001, C Joe Mauer, continues to impress all scouts and Twins officials. So far this year in Single A, Mauer is hitting .279, 2, 11.
QUICK VIEW:
Add:
RP J.C. Romero and Mike Jackson have been awesome. These two are increasingly more valuable in leagues that have HOLDS as a category.
OF Torii Hunter is already on a roster in all leagues, but he should now be a starter. He won AL Player of the Month honors for April and tied or broke many Twins April records.
Drop:
Depending on how many DL spots your league allows will determine what you should do with the following players:
SP Joe Mays, 2B Luis Rivas, and DH David Ortiz are all on the DL.
SS Cristian Guzman and SP Brad Radke are playing terrible so far this year and deserve either a spot on your bench or dropped entirely from your team.
