Hmm. The Twins started 0-4. Then they went 5-5 and hope (at least for me) had returned. Now they've rattled off an 0-5 stretch. The starting pitching has been terrible. The offense has been decidedly not clutch. The shine on Clete Thomas, Sean Burroughs, and Matt Maloney appears to have faded away. We do still have a long way to go, but for the love of the baseball gods, Twins, please turn this around quick.
Note: I have been busy from late afternoon Friday all the way until this morning, so I had to type up this post on Thursday night in between submitting grades for the mid-trimester and falling asleep. It's very possible that any news I missed is due to the fact that it happened after I had already typed this up. My apologies.
- If you look at his numbers, this doesn't seem like a shock, but the Tigers releasing Brandon Inge seems odd simply because he's been with them for so long. However, with the dominant Miguel Cabrera moving over to 3rd base, Inge was back in a utility-type role, and even his defense wasn't enough to keep him around. He feels like a Twins player, so I wouldn't be surprised if they ended up handing him a minor league contract to see if he can give them an excuse to dump Sean Burroughs (which, by the way, the experiment of having him pressure Danny Valencia appears to have had the wrong effect, as not only is Burroughs looking bad at the plate, but so is ol' Danny Boy).
- I wish Chris Parmelee the very best after getting hit in the head by a pitch, but if you look at his numbers this year, he's looked like a shell of the player he was last year. Well, to be more honest, he's reverted back to the player that most of us expected he would be. His walks, average, and power are all down, and his strikeouts are up. What once appeared to be a solid alternative to Justin Morneau at first base is starting to disappear.
- When Albert Pujols signed with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim of California of the United States of etc., we all knew that they just landed the best hitter in the major leagues. Well, much like Chris Parmelee, The Machine isn't looking so hot right now. It's a similar story in Miami with closer Heath Bell, where he has an ERA over 9 right now. So, if you complained about the Mauer extension all of last year, take a deep breath, because it's okay. Sometimes other players have rough starts to their new contracts as well.
- You've probably already seen this, but here's Josh Willingham and his newborn son. Josh, you have one duty ahead of you: Put the baseball in the kid's left hand.
I'll try to find a way to get the game thread up today, as I'm working today's game. Section 238 if you happen to be in the area.