It seems like I have spent the last several months doing nothing but defending Nick Punto everywhere I go. Not that I think he’s A-Rod or anything, but even on larger market team the roles and expectations of certain players has to be taken into account. This goes far beyond whether Punto should be riding the bench but speaks to the importance of different members of the team doing the things that they were signed to do. I personally think this year he is finally in the right role – a bottom of the order guy starting primarily for his defense. Thursday’s loss to Baltimore is a prime example of this. Carl Pavano pitched a solid game, the top of the order got on base and the big bats failed to drive them in. There is simply no excuse for a team with this caliber of hitting to load the bases twice and fail to score a single run.
For me, the loss to Baltimore may have come at the perfect time. It’s often easy to let the euphoria of something like a series sweep of perhaps the only legitimate divisional threat make me lose sight of the Twins ability to choke at the plate just when it seems like they can’t be stopped. I don’t want to turn this into one of those juvenile rants about firing Gardenhire and I know it’s very early in the season, but I do feel something needs to be done to address the consistent mental issues that seem to haunt the Twins year after year, not because Gardy or the front office guys can’t do anything right but because they seem to be so close to getting it exactly right.
The last couple of years I have chalked up the lack of clutch hitting and mental mistakes to a vacuum of veteran leadership in the clubhouse, but when it’s Jim Thome whiffing at the plate with the bases loaded that theory goes out the window. Not to mention the core of our order (Cuddyer, Kubel, etc.) can hardly be considered green anymore. I’m not sure what the answer is, but if this team is going to make the jump from a scrappy underdog overachiever to a true championship threat it’s going to take more than Mauer and Morneau being consistently awesome. It’s going to take the middle of the order guys that are on this team more for their bats than their defense coming through when it counts.
It seems like I have spent the last several months doing nothing but defending Nick Punto everywhere I go. Not that I think he’s A-Rod or anything, but even on larger market team the roles and expectations of certain players has to be taken into account. This goes far beyond whether Punto should be riding the bench but speaks to the importance of different members of the team doing the things that they were signed to do. I personally think this year he is finally in the right role – a bottom of the order guy starting primarily for his defense. Thursday’s loss to Baltimore is a prime example of this. Carl Pavano pitched a solid game, the top of the order got on base and the big bats failed to drive them in. There is simply no excuse for a team with this caliber of hitting to load the bases twice and fail to score a single run.
For me, the loss to Baltimore may have come at the perfect time. It’s often easy to let the euphoria of something like a series sweep of perhaps the only legitimate divisional threat make me lose sight of the Twins ability to choke at the plate just when it seems like they can’t be stopped. I don’t want to turn this into one of those juvenile rants about firing Gardenhire and I know it’s very early in the season, but I do feel something needs to be done to address the consistent mental issues that seem to haunt the Twins year after year, not because Gardy or the front office guys can’t do anything right but because they seem to be so close to getting it exactly right.
The last couple of years I have chalked up the lack of clutch hitting and mental mistakes to a vacuum of veteran leadership in the clubhouse, but when it’s Jim Thome whiffing at the plate with the bases loaded that theory goes out the window, not to mention the core of our order (Cuddyer, Kubel, etc.) can hardly be considered green anymore. Losing games 2-0 in April and May won’t kill you, at least not this year in the AL Central, but when that kind of thing becomes a part of a team’s DNA you can’t expect it to simply disappear in the post season. I’m not sure what the answer is, but if this team is going to make the jump from a scrappy underdog overachiever to a true championship threat it’s going to take more than Mauer and Morneau being consistently awesome. It’s going to take the middle of the order guys that are on this team more for their bats than their defense coming through when it counts.
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