News
Inbox: Who will pitch eighth for now?
Beat reporter Kelly Thesier answers Twins fans' questions
By Kelly Thesier / MLB.com
04/23/09 5:20 PM ET
After a prolonged absence, the Twins Inbox has returned. Due to the long layoff, I was a little short on questions for this edition, so please keep sending your inquiries with your name and hometown via the submission box below. The more questions I get, the more often I will run the Inbox.With Jesse Crain out until at least May 3, how are the Twins planning to handle the eighth inning? And do you think that Crain was overused early this season and that's what caused him to go on the DL?
-- Andy T., Detroit Lakes, Minn.
Right now, the Twins are taking an "all hands on deck" approach to the eighth inning -- meaning that any guy could be called on for the role. That being said, it looks like the Twins will rely mostly on Matt Guerrier, Luis Ayala and Jose Mijares as their primary options. All three pitchers looked solid in the second game of the doubleheader on Wednesday in Boston. Mijares threw the eighth inning of that contest, although it was in a game that was already a blowout.
Of course, the Twins have Craig Breslow, R.A. Dickey and hard-thrower Juan Morillo as possibilities as well. Based on Morillo's inability to throw the ball over the plate in Boston, it seems unlikely we'll see him in the eighth anytime soon.
As for Crain, yes, the inflammation popped up after he was used in three out of four games. But I don't think you can completely blame the coaching staff for that. Up to that point, Crain had been the only reliever who had proven to be reliable in the late innings this season -- that is until the game on Friday, when he first felt the inflammation in his shoulder and gave up four runs in one-third of an inning.
Without other options that they were confident in, the Twins' coaches instead chose to keep going with Crain. So might they have overused him a bit? It's a possibility. But I think it's more important to note that they turned to Crain so frequently due to a lack of options. The front office could have also helped the situation by acquiring a proven, durable setup man this offseason. So rather than point blame, the key now for the club is to get through this time without Crain -- whether that means getting one of its current relievers to step up in the role or by going out and adding a setup man.
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It appears that Joe Mauer will be ready to return to the Twins on May 1. Will he be back to full form at the plate when that time comes?
-- Phil H., Waukegan, Ill.
No one will really know how Mauer will fare at the plate until he steps into the batter's box. Right now, the Twins are trying to get him around 50 at-bats over the combined 10 games he's playing in extended spring camp and for the Class A Fort Myers Miracle. That's around the number of at-bats players usually get during the spring, but of course it's spread out over a much longer time.
From the sounds of it, the most important thing about these games is not Mauer's timing at the plate but making sure that his legs are underneath him. He's missed quite a bit of time, and with all that goes into catching, it's much more important to make sure that his legs are in shape for the final five months of the season. And worrying about a two-time batting champion getting his swing back? Well, that just doesn't seem necessary.
Whatever happened to notes regarding home run distances? This year, there hasn't been anything said about how far some of the home runs have been hit inside the Metrodome. Jason Kubel's cycle grand slam is what got me thinking about this. He crushed the ball and it would be interesting to hear how far that ball went.
-- Corey M., St. Paul, Minn.
Corey, you aren't the only one who has noticed that home run distances are no longer being estimated inside the Metrodome. The Twins stopped giving the estimates this season due to the fact that their system was far from perfect. From what I've been told, a person kept calling the Twins after every game last year to tell them that their estimate was "15 feet off" or other estimates of that nature. So rather than have the distances constantly second-guessed, the team decided that it was best to get rid of the estimates all together.
My hope is that they'll come up with a better system next year at Target Field so that the home run estimates return. Sure, they are not always accurate. But I think that fans, like yourself, enjoy getting a sense of just how far a home run traveled.
Since Carlos Gomez was in the Majors the entire year last year, does that amount of MLB service time make it impossible for the Twins to send him to Triple-A Rochester?
-- Cody Clark, Milford, Iowa
Whether or not Gomez could be sent down to Rochester is based upon if he still has options remaining, which he does. There have been lots of fans suggesting that Gomez be shipped off to Rochester following his rough start to the year offensively.
Should Gomez continue to struggle as he has in the first two weeks, it's a possibility he could be sent down to Rochester. So far this year, Gomez has looked overmatched at the plate -- maybe even more so than he did last season. And he's been having trouble even making contact with the ball, although he's started to show some slight improvement this week. But even with his offensive woes, Gomez is an asset to the club right now due to his speed and ability to make difficult catches on defense. And that's why -- for now -- he'll continue to be with the team in the Majors.
I've seen various reports about the decreased velocity on Francisco Liriano's fastball. Do the coaches expect that to increase once he builds maximum arm strength?
-- Todd B., Uniontown, Pa.
I think the hopes of Liriano's velocity returning where it was before his elbow surgery have all but disappeared, Todd. When Liriano first came up in 2006, his fastball was consistently in the mid-90s. Now he averages around 92 mph with his fastball. That's up from his velocity last season -- his first year back after surgery -- but there is no reason to think that it will jump up much more now.
Still, that's not necessarily a huge detriment for the pitcher. He still has an above-average fastball and slider, and he's started to develop a nasty changeup that can be used as his out pitch. The biggest key for Liriano now is to be able to locate his fastball consistently. He's put up poor numbers in three of four starts this season, but the club is hoping that he will get things turned around.
Kelly Thesier is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
