<!--[if gte mso 9]>
<![endif]-->
The Major League Baseball season has been underway for a few weeks now and it looks to be another exciting race in the AL Central. All the teams are relatively close but none have shown that they want to take the lead.
Many people are getting worried about the Minnesota Twins. I am here to try to convince those who are starting to doubt the Twins so far this season.
As of right now, the Twins are in fourth place, but only a half game back for the lead. So I am asking: why is everyone is starting to hit the panic button on this club already?
They have been without their most consistent batter Joe Mauer for the entire season. Mauer has stated that he is aiming to come back on May 1 against the Kansas City Royals. Getting him back in the lineup will give a huge boost to the struggling lineup.
Watching the Twins bat this season has been a little frustrating, it seems as though every batter (with the exception of Span) has no plate discipline and swing at nearly everything.
The starting rotation has been pathetic so far this season. Glen Perkins has been the lone bright spot out of the starters, and I will admit and say I never saw that coming. Besides Perkins, every starter has an ERA of over five. That cannot happen if they expect to win their division.
I have faith that they will bounce back. I just can’t see Liriano, Slowey, and Baker struggling like this all year. They are way too talented and well coached for that to happen. Expect them to bounce back and have more success in the coming months.
If there is anything to worry about, it would definitely be the bullpen. With the starters struggling so far this season, the bullpen has been called quite a bit, and they have not exactly shown they have the capability of keeping the lead, or even keep the team in the game.
It is a very ugly road until Joe Nathan has got into the game with the Twins bullpen having one of the worst ERAs in the league. Matt Guerrier and Jesse Crain were supposed to be the ones to keep the team in the games.
While Crain was doing a good job, until he got roughed up in his last outing, then went on the disabled list. Guerrier has really been struggling again this year. It is not looking very pretty for this bullpen. After Crain went on the DL, the Twins brought up Jose Mijares. Mijares dominated last September when he was called up by keeping his ERA below one and gave up three hits and no walks in 10 innings.
If he can come up and really become a reliable setup man, the Twins would be in business. I am not expecting him to dominate that much because he is still a rookie, and he was brought in last September with big leads, but the Twins really need a good arm in the pen.
I have no doubt the Twins will make this AL Central race exciting. All of the teams have the potential to win the division with many rosters filled with talented players. The Twins need to start dominating at the Dome like they have in past seasons because it is their last season there.
It should be a fun year of baseball and I am looking forward to seeing the Twins in the postseason.
- Login to post comments