Game 37 - Twins @ Detroit - 5/17/12

[Seth Stohs]

Twins Lineup:

 

Ben Revere CF

Brian Dozier SS

Joe Mauer 1B

Josh Willingham LF

Justin Morneau DH

Trevor Plouffe RF

Alexi Casilla 2B

Drew Butera C

Jamey Carroll 3B

 

SP: PJ Walters

 

Tigers SP: Doug Fister

[travistwinstalk]

What happened to this, "Justin Morneau will be the 1st baseman until further notice" well I guess further notice was 2 games.

[Mauerzy4Prez]

With his double last night maybe Gardy thought it was too important to keep Drew in the lineup.... NOT!!!

[Kirby_waved_at_me]

With Doumit out, this makes some sense - they probably were going to have Doumit catch and Mauer DH today.

[stringer bell]

With Doumit out, this makes some sense - they probably were going to have Doumit catch and Mauer DH today.

Doumit caught and Mauer DHed yesterday, you would think that it was Mauer's turn to catch. However, I suppose they didn't want Morneau to go 18 innings in the field in 24 hours.

[travistwinstalk]

plus with going to Milwaukee Morneau is likely going to have to play 1st all 3 games so maybe they wanted to get him a day before the series with Milwaukee.

[Kirby_waved_at_me]

Doumit caught and Mauer DHed yesterday, you would think that it was Mauer's turn to catch. However, I suppose they didn't want Morneau to go 18 innings in the field in 24 hours.

oh -oops. In that case, yeah, it would be nice to have a better hitter than Butera in the lineup.

[Thrylos]

Mauer needs to be catching some games... I'd rather see Mauer C, Morneau 1B, Willingham DH and Mastroianni at the OF. And if Span is hurt and out and Doumit is hurt and out one needs to go to the DL. Going into NL play tomorrow this is nuts.

[Kirby_waved_at_me]

Maybe putting Butera in the lineup gives Gardy more bench flexibility with Doumit and Span technically active but not able to play?

[Thrylos]

Maybe putting Butera in the lineup gives Gardy more bench flexibility with Doumit and Span technically active but not able to play?

Flexibility? In what way? And he has him hit in front of Carroll (again) too

[ashbury]

And he has him hit in front of Carroll (again) too

Looks to me like Gardenhire wants Carroll as the permanent #9 hitter (that will change with NL games of course). It's one school of thought to put a leadoff-type hitter at #9, someone with the same skillset but less talented than your actual leadoff. That way, after the 1st inning of course, you have two consecutive OBP guys setting the table for the big hitters. Carroll will steal a base and his OBP is .322 this morning despite the low BA - higher than all but 4 players on the team, all of whom do not belong at #9. It's more of an insult to bat #8 in this mindset, and that's where Butera is (and belongs).

[Guest USAFChief]

Nice play by Dozier. He has looked like a MLB shortstop so far.

[Guest USAFChief]

That Butera is IN the lineup is what matters, not whether he hits 8th or 9th.

 

Honestly, some people just look for things to bitch about. They end up making themselves look uninformed in the process.

[twinswon1991]

Mauer was too exhausted after DHing to catch today???????? What a wimp! To come close to earning half hisbpat he needs to catch 140 games. Instead we have a liability at catcher today and a Judy playing first.

[Jim Crikket]

nice double by that .294 hitting liability.

[Yoshii]

Its not like Butera has been hitting the ball terribly this year geez.

[Guest USAFChief]

Atta boy Mauersie.

[Yoshii]

And Morneau needs to do more of that! Good to see though.

 

edit: First back to back of the year?

[Guest USAFChief]

Good swing from Morneausie.

[Kirby_waved_at_me]

Flexibility? In what way? And he has him hit in front of Carroll (again) too

Flexibility meaning that you have Mastro on the bench, who can fill in for almost anyone on the field in case of injury. If Butera's on the bench, you only have Komatsu available...

[Shane Wahl]

Well, it is time for optimism. Morneau in his second game back homers and Plouffe homers for the second game in a row!

[Mike Sixel]

If Butera isn't catching, who is the DH with this lineup? I mean, that's really the issue....besides, Mauer has not rested much. If Doumit is hurt, playing Butera 1-2 times a week should not be an issue. Not even sure who the DH should be if not Mauer ...though for me, it would probably be Willingham, with Revere in left. I don't care what Butera has hit in a handful of at bats this year, that is very likely not an indication of how we should expect him to hit the rest of the year.

[StormJH1]

Wow, just turned this game on with MLB At-Bat. Morneau and Plouffe back-to-back!

 

If Plouffe continues to mash, it really begs the question why the hell we have been screwing around with Doumit, Clete Thomas, Komatsu, and Mastroianni in the outfield.

[TwinsGuy55422]

Good to see Morneau put a good swing on the ball, especially driving it to left center. Hopefully, Plouffe is starting to gain some confidence as well.

[SirLoin]

What's gotten into Plouffe? Did he finally realize his roster spot was in jeopardy? Just hit .250 with 20 HR's and we'll keep you around!

[StormJH1]

If Butera isn't catching, who is the DH with this lineup? I mean, that's really the issue....besides, Mauer has not rested much. If Doumit is hurt, playing Butera 1-2 times a week should not be an issue. Not even sure who the DH should be if not Mauer ...though for me, it would probably be Willingham, with Revere in left. I don't care what Butera has hit in a handful of at bats this year, that is very likely not an indication of how we should expect him to hit the rest of the year.

We know how Gardy feels about DH'ing Mauer when Butera catches. Then again, Willingham could be an emergency catcher...it really isn't the end of the world to have to limp through a few innings with a guy out of position. Not like we're playing for the pennant this year.

[StormJH1]

What's gotten into Plouffe? Did he finally realize his roster spot was in jeopardy? Just hit .250 with 20 HR's and we'll keep you around!

You'd think so, but Garrett Jones did that for Pittsburgh after we let him go. (Yes, I'm aware Garrett Jones was terrible for the Twins, I watched those games )

[SirLoin]

You'd think so, but Garrett Jones did that for Pittsburgh after we let him go. (Yes, I'm aware Garrett Jones was terrible for the Twins, I watched those games )

Ok, well we'd keep him around for this season anyway....then let him go to be picked up by Pittsburgh!

[Mike Sixel]

Nothing has gotten into Plouffe, he is neither the guy who hit .114 (or whatever), nor the guy that will hit a HR in every game like the last two days. This is why you don't play a guy for 10 games and make a decision that is contrary to years of data from the minors and majors....(positive or negative).

[TwinsGuy55422]

Mauer does not appear to be running well. That double play grounder he hit was not hit hard and I thought it would have been a much closer play at first.