Twins Fix

Matt Tolbert - The Casilla Replacement

May 5. Bottom of the second. Runner on second, two outs. The Twins trail the Tigers 3-0 in the midst of a beautiful afternoon. Josh Anderson is on second and Placido Polanco is batting for Detroit. Twins’ pitcher Nick Blackburn is trying to escape this second inning with as little damage as possible before returning to the dugout to lick his wounds.

Polanco whacks a groundball to the left of the second baseman, which the infielder fails to convert into an out; the Tigers would leave that inning with a 6-0 lead.

May 6. Bottom of the first. Runner on second, two outs. The Twins trail the Orioles 3-0 in the midst of a veritable rain storm. Luke Scott is on second and Gregg Zaun is batting for Baltimore. Twins’ pitcher Kevin Slowey is trying to escape this first inning with as little damage as possible before he heads back into the rain-free dugout to lick his wounds.

Zaun whacks a groundball to the left of the  second baseman, which the infielder successfully converts into the final out of the inning.

We all know who these infielders are, right? The former is Alexi Casilla and the latter Matt Tolbert. A roster move was made earlier today that exchanged these two; Tolbert to Minnesota, Casilla to Rochester. While the reason for this move was not entirely based on that one Casilla error, it is ironic that Tolbert made an almost identical play the very next night, is it not?

Matt Tolbert. He had a 41 game stint with the Twins last season where he played almost every infield position while batting at a .283/.322/.389 clip. Hardly impressive, but when compared to Casilla’s .167/.231/.202 performance so far this year Tolbert’s bat seems other-worldly.

Tolbert has been on an offensive hot streak lately for the Rochester Red Wings, and the 27-year old utility infielder has always been a good defender. Is Tolbert the long-term answer at second base? Probably not, but he could fill the needed role of late-inning defensive substitution that has fallen primarily on Nick Punto‘s plate.

Casilla is just 24 years old and has shown flashes of brilliance. So far this year, however, he has drawn more curses than awe. As Seth Stohs said, “I really don’t like when people question a person’s effort. I really don’t think that is fair. Can we question his baseball IQ at this point? That is fair. But let’s try not to mix the two.”

 For now, let’s just be satisfied that we no longer have to give up an out every time a certain second-baseman steps to the plate. Tolbert will make his presence known both offensively and defensively… let’s hope.