A Quick Look at the Minnesota Twins

The Minnesota sports world had been pretty dull for the past month or so.  The Wild haven't been relevant since January, and ever since Ricky Rubio went down with a knee injury the Timberwolves have fallen off.  In addition, both Nikola Petkovic and Kevin Love have missed time with injuries.  Thus, the Timberwolves fell out of playoff contention at the beginning of March.

Big things expected from Mauer and Morneau this year

Thankfully, the Twins are back in action, and have been since April 6th.  Considering how disappointing last season was for Twins fans, a healthy Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau must assure for better results, right?  Not so fast...

Besides two implosions by the Los Angeles Angels bullpen, the Twins have been poor on offense and worse pitching.  They were outscored by a total of 15-5 in a three game sweep vs. the perennial powerhouse Baltimore Orioles.  This was especially disappointing considering the lack of depth among the Orioles pitching staff.  Jason Hammel, Tommy Hunter, and Jake Arrieta aren't exactly All-Star caliber pitchers.  Since that first, depressing series against the Orioles, the Twins have proceeded to go 2-4 against the Los Angeles Angels and the Texas Rangers.  This isn't a bad stat line playing against two teams that should both make the playoffs, but it would've been nice to see the Twins go .500 or better in their first homestand of the season.

Here's a few takeaways from the season so far:

(1) Josh Willingham is proving to be a solid acquisition.
Through today's game, Willingham is hitting .419 with 4 HR and 7 RBI.  Obviously we don't expect Willingham to hit above .400 for the entire season, but if he could hit .275 or .280 with 25 home runs he would return a lot of value to the Twins. 

(2) Liriano's confidence is shaken.

Minnesota needs Liriano to return to form

Francisco Liriano has been unpredictable on the mound the past two seasons, and that has continued in his first two starts of the season.  Liriano has allowed an abysmal 10 earned runs in 9 innings, not to mention 20 base runners in those 9 innings.  If Liriano wants to be successful this year he will have to limit his walk rate, as walking 5 batters per 9 innings is unacceptable.  I wouldn't surprised if he turns in a solid start soon though, as maybe Gardenhire can instill some confidence in him.

(3) As poor as Matt Capps has been...
He still has a long leash when it comes to the closer's role.  This is mainly due to the struggles of set up man Glen Perkins.  Perkins blew a lead to the Rangers in the final game of their series, by serving up a home run to Josh Hamilton.  Although he looked solid in his first three appearances of the series, his ERA now sits at 8.31.  Despite his poor ERA, Perkins does have a 6:1 K/BB rate.  Look for him to improve on his ERA, but not to assume the closer's role for a long time, if at all this season.