Brian Duensing's future

[greengoblinrulz]

Where does he fit in in your opinion.

Stunned when I listen to pregame show & hear Roy Smalley (today), Tim Laudener (past) & 2 Twins analysts (Blyleven/Gladden) say he is absolutely better in the rotation & deserves a shot.

Huh???

Ive always had the attitude that just because you're an ex-player, it doesnt mean you have a better opinion/understanding of what is goin on.

Im actually a big Duensing fan & think he was incredibly underrated in the division winning seasons in 09/10 as a starter.

However, these past 2 years as a starter have been horrific on a staff that has been one of the worst in baseball.

His bullpen work has been outstanding, highlighted by his dominance against left handed hitting.

Why would you weaken a big plus area (bullpen) to start him when he's been severely under average there???

As a starter

2009/10 22gms 12W 3L 2.93ERA .259BAA 138.1IP 136h 45er 84k 37bb

2011 28gms 9W 13L 5.24ERA .299BAA 156.1IP 187h 91er 112k 47bb

2012 11gms 2W 8L 6.92ERA ..336BAA 52IP 76h 40er 32k 12bb

Reliever

2012 39gms 2W 2L 2.77ERA .229BAA 48.2IP 41h 15er 28k 13bb

vs LHH

2009 82ABs .244/.311/.268

2010 142ABs .162/.217/.239

2011 175ABs .217/.242/.280

2012 145ABs .248/.293/.379

Career 544ABs .215/.260/.294

Seem that he is a prime LH RP, but MN cannot seem to grasp it......think he would be a dominant multi millionaire reliever if Joe Madden got ahead of him

[Brock Beauchamp]

He's a reliever. As you pointed out, he's been a good reliever and awful starter for two seasons now.

[J-Dog Dungan]

I think Gardy, who has more influence than any of the broadcasters, thinks of Duensing as a reliever more than a starter.

[Shane Wahl]

No one in his or her right mind could make a serious claim that he is better as a starter. WE ALL KNEW THAT COMING INTO THE SEASON!

[SpantheMan]

As i think we all thought, he's a good lefty reliever, especially if Perkins is gonna close

[Rosterman]

The Twins see a NEED for a left-handed starter and they don't have one. But I would rather see them promote and drag out David Bromberg and have him take his licks ala Hendriks and leave Duensing as the long-man in the pen, where he has been brilliant. Will be interesting to see how arbitration goes. But this crapola that oozes in the Twins organization that you need a power hitter at this position, a contact pitcher in this spot, a lefty doing this, we need to keep a guy who ran out of options etc. rather than just field the best team possible with players playing their best at certain positions......arrgh!

[joeboo_22]

If the Twins really want him as a starter make him a starter in Spring training and then let him go. The problem seems to be they want him to be a reliever but the rotation sucks so bad he ends up being a starter. Which is hard to do. I think his high point is much higher as a reliever though. But if the Twins are going to go through 13 starting pitchers a year I'm going to say he is prolly one of the top 13 in the system.

 

I'd bring up Bromberg or Hermsen though as starters before I played the bullpen to starter to bullpen game.

[Wolfy]

TK thinks he should start. Says he has one of the better arms on the team and you should put your best arms in the rotation.

 

In 2009 and 2010 he was combined 15-5. (were all his W's as a starter ?) Great ERA both years. It started to go south for him last year, but then it did for everybody. This year hasn't exactly been what you would call a bounce back year.

 

I'll defer to Kelly in this case, because it is hard to get a read on Duensing. They might want to try designating him a starter this off season and quit jerking him around from the pen to the rotation 3-4 times a season like they have most of his career. That might be at the root of Duensing's problem.

[Cody Christie]

It would be nice if the team could leave him in a relief role for an entire season. It's hard for him to figure out his role when he gets jerked back and forth between the bullpen and the starting rotation.

[Nick Nelson]

You simply can't expect a guy who allows a .303/.358/.475 hitting line against RHB to succeed long-term against lineups that are stacked with righties. I do think he's capable of more as a starter than he showed this year and could probably settle in as a decent No. 5, but why use him in that role when he can be one of the league's most effective lefty specialists out of the bullpen?