Thread: Article: Tuesday's Trip through the Minors

You can view the page at http://twinsdaily.com/content.php?59...ugh-the-Minors

Fun game, glad I stayed to the end. The Twins pitchers could not throw strikes. Cole did a pretty good job of working out of some jams, but the main problem he has is that he simply does not have an out pitch. Hitters can really work him over at the plate, and seemingly could foul 2-strike pitches off at will, until they worked out a walk. It was good to see him battle though and if he could just improve his 2-strike pitch 5% he could become a bottom of the rotation starter in the MLB. But, that elusie 5% is really hard to find. Further, the Oakland A's had about the most impotent lineup I have ever seen. Their hitters, at least in this game, were worse than every Twins hitter 1-9. Their top hitter was hitting .274, and most of them were .220 hitters or below.

Their top hitter has 5-6 more home runs than anyone the Twins have in their lineup. THey're not a good offense, but as we continue to see, apparently neither are the Twins. I have a hard time believing that the Twins offense isn't better than this.

Last night, De Vries had no control of his curveball or slider. It's hard to throw 5 shutout innings with just one pitch. Then again, when he needed it, he was able to get the changeup over. It just shows that having four pitches if pretty important for a starter.