Game 33 - Twins vs Blue Jays - 5/13/12

[Seth Stohs]

Blue Jays Lineup

 

1. Kelly Johnson, 2B

2. Yunel Escobar, SS

3. Jose Bautista, RF

4. Edwin Encarnacion, 1B

5. Ben Francisco, DH

6. Brett Lawrie, 3B

7. Colby Rasmus, CF

8. J.P. Arencibia, C

9. Rajai Davis, LF

 

Ricky Romero, LHP

 

Twins Lineup:

 

1. Denard Span, CF

2. Brian Dozier, SS

3. Joe Mauer, 1B

4. Josh Willingham, LF

5. Ryan Doumit, DH

6. Trevor Plouffe, 3B

7. Erik Komatsu, RF

8. Drew Butera, C

9. Jamey Carroll, 2B

 

Scott Diamond, LHP

[Seth Stohs]

Strange that Mastroianni started last night against a right hander, and today Komatsu gets to hit against a really tough lefty... Strange.

[Seth Stohs]

Ricky Romero (Career):

 

vs RHB (1974 PA): .227/.309/.337 (.647)

vs LHP (792 PA): .278/.355/.471 (.826)

[Top Gun]

3 catchers again! We need more catching.

[NorthwestTwinsFan]

Am I crazy, or is Trevor Plouffe a terrible baseball player?

[Seth Stohs]

shoudln't have been an error in the 1st, but his offense has certainly given enough reason for you to make that deduction...

[NorthwestTwinsFan]

Dozier with his first homerun! That was pretty sweet.

[greengoblinrulz]

hate that Bert/Dick claim that 'Dozier not known for his power'.....makes you wonder if they even know that he slugged .491 last yr. They are so old schooled that the only power a guy has is HRs & the only good stat for a pitcher is Ws.

[J-Dog Dungan]

Before last year, he wasn't all that great of a hitter. He had only hit 15 HR in over 320 games in the MiL.

[Alex]

hate that Bert/Dick claim that 'Dozier not known for his power'.....makes you wonder if they even know that he slugged .491 last yr. They are so old schooled that the only power a guy has is HRs & the only good stat for a pitcher is Ws.

They are talking to the majority of fans, for whom power=HR.

 

Anyone else thinking that Diamond might be hurting from that ball, just enough that that've can't quite get his pitches down.

[Alex]

4th inning. Would much rather have let them hit. I think the Twins have put 5 plays on in this series with one out or less and I think just one has netted a run and the other three have led to outs that have helped the Toronto pitcher weasel out of the inning.

[TwinsGuy55422]

I didn't see the play where he got hit but he certainly does appear a little stiff in his delivery. Hopefully he can start getting his pitches back down in the zone.

[Boom Boom]

I think I'm going to start calling Diamond "Big Spot Scott".

[Alex]

That walk puts Mauer's OBP over .400.

[TwinsGuy55422]

Thatta boy Big D. Finally a hit with the bases juiced.

[asmus_ndsu]

Cmon bullpen diamond more than deserves this win

[TwinsGuy55422]

Nice win...a little too close for comfort though.

[striker_86]

Another nice win for Diamond. Lets hope he keeps this up! Dozier has been playing great too!

[Alex]

Obviously a great game by Diamond. Dozier was key as well and is obviously the new exciting thing (and frankly is playing better than I expected). Mauer's game, though, I feel like went relatively unnoticed. He reached base four times with three walks and a double.

[glunn]

Great game by Diamond. Let's hope that he can continue to produce.

[jokin]

Mauer's game, though, I feel like went relatively unnoticed. He reached base four times with three walks and a double.

Those WOULD be great numbers if he was batting in the 8 spot and playing the middle infield and making $2.3 Million, unfortunately he's making 10x that- at $23 Million, batting in the 3 spot and his comparables for his peer group at first base are horrendous, horribly overpaid. Sorry, no amount of cheerleading is going to change the fact that he's a cast-iron anvil around this team's neck until 2018.

[Alex]

Those WOULD be great numbers if he was batting in the 8 spot and playing the middle infield and making $2.3 Million, unfortunately he's making 10x that- at $23 Million, batting in the 3 spot and his comparables for his peer group at first base are horrendous, horribly overpaid. Sorry, no amount of cheerleading is going to change the fact that he's a cast-iron anvil around this team's neck until 2018.

While I agree that his contract is going to be hard to fulfill, especially if he's playing catcher less, it's still nice to see him have a good couple of games, and he looks like he's hitting the ball much better. He's not a full time 1B, so that's not a completely fair comparison but I do understand the point. Comparing him to other #3 hitters, well, that's not very useful for several reasons, IMO.

 

The other problem I have with your comment is that I'm not convinced the Twins would spend the money from Mauer's contract even if they were able to dissolve it. If it's keeping them from spending money, I completely understand the issue; however the money they chose to spend on his contract is an organizational error and not Mauer's.

[jokin]

While I agree that his contract is going to be hard to fulfill, especially if he's playing catcher less, it's still nice to see him have a good couple of games, and he looks like he's hitting the ball much better. He's not a full time 1B, so that's not a completely fair comparison but I do understand the point. Comparing him to other #3 hitters, well, that's not very useful for several reasons, IMO.

 

The other problem I have with your comment is that I'm not convinced the Twins would spend the money from Mauer's contract even if they were able to dissolve it. If it's keeping them from spending money, I completely understand the issue; however the money they chose to spend on his contract is an organizational error and not Mauer's.

 

Mauer's Ranking Versus Other No. 3 Hitters Ranked by OPS (Including Contract)

 

 

 

1) Hamilton 402/455/866/1321 $15.25 Mil

 

2) Kemp 359/446/726/1173 $10.25

 

3) Wright 400/489/591/1080 $15.25

 

4) Votto 319/466/543/1059 $11.41

 

5) Beltran 298/406/653/1058 $13

 

6) Ortiz 348/412/614/1026 $14.575

 

7) Braun 306/386/636/1022 $7.399

 

8) Dunn 250/393/600/993 $14

 

 

 

 

[jokin]

No. 3 batters (continued):

 

 

9) Joyce 287/374/565/939 $0.499

 

10) C. Gonzalez 300/378/550/928 $5.43

 

11) A. Cabrera 315/411/495/906 $4.55

 

12) Me. Cabrera 348/396/504/900 $6

 

13) McCutcheon 339/403/496/899 $0.708

 

14) Reddick 290/338/536/874 $0.485

 

15) Freeman 284/340/507/847 $0.535

 

16) Mi. Cabrera 224/345/485/830 $21

 

17) A-Rod 280/334/424/808 $30

 

18) Markakis 254/346/455/801 $12.35

 

19) MAUER 286/466/387/793 $Twenty-Three Million

 

 

[Alex]

I responded in the other thread, but I find it ironic that I was quoted when I don't find this comparison useful. Explanation in the other thread.