The best thing about Willingham...

[spideyo]

is that we finally have a hitter who will hit homers into the Home Run Porch

[Twins Fan From Afar]

Good point. I think they were set to officially just rename it "the porch," until Mr. Hammer came town.

[James]

Good point. I think they were set to officially just rename it "the porch," until Mr. Hammer came town.

I love how quickly everyone adopted the Hammer nickname. Go Willinghammer!!!!!

[spideyo]

Now, if only Doumit would hit well enough to justify a "Dr. Doom" nickname

[glanzer]

HR Porch still applies during BP though!

 

I never officially saw where his HR last night landed. It looked like it went onto the concourse of the third deck, totally bypassing HR Porch.

[Thrylos]

I never officially saw where his HR last night landed. It looked like it went onto the concourse of the third deck, totally bypassing HR Porch.

Yes. That's were it landed. Either onto the concourse or over it and out

[rogrulz30]

Willingham has been fun so far, when was the last time we had a right handed "slugger", he gives us some good hope early in the year. Hell 4 HR in 6 games and 3 of them have been just killed, Good Luck Willingham on a big year, it will be interesting having pitchers pitch Mauer, Morneau, Willingham if they can stay healthy.

[Montecore]

A 40 HR, 120 RBI season from Willingham would make up for a lot of pathetic moves like Santana, and Garza for zip.

[asmus_ndsu]

Its great having a power hitter that can lay off outside pitches and make the pitcher throw into his big swing. (yes that's a cuddyer jab)

[twinsnorth49]

Love how he's been crushing the ball, stays behind it so well and just snaps those wrists. Haven't seen a swing like that in these parts for awhile...SWEET!!

[asmus_ndsu]

Love how he's been crushing the ball, stays behind it so well and just snaps those wrists. Haven't seen a swing like that in these parts for awhile...SWEET!!

Like Thome???

[Thrylos]

I think that the best thing about Willingham is that he made Twins' fans forget about Cuddyer. (And he is better than Cuddyer)

[twinsnorth49]

Like Thome???

Ok, forgot about big Jim, but I think Willingham will hit more than him this year alone.

[minn55441]

I like how he just sits right on top of the plate. He can take a walk, take a HBP or crush it if you leave it out over the plate. I don't mind the 5 strikeouts and his fielding has been about what I expected from him. Better than Delmon and roughly on par with Cuddy.

[Westgaard66]

3 Home games and he already has more career Target Field dingers than Mauer

[ChuckkJay]

Just strange to see a Twin crushing it like that. So refreshing.

[VodkaDave]

(And he is better than Cuddyer)

Jury is still out on that.

 

From past preformance they look pretty equal at the plate.

Cuddyer gets a slight edge for being slightly more healthy.

Cuddyer also is a least a little better defensively then Willingham.

 

Also, Cuddyer is having a pretty nice start to his season as well with a .400/.429/.800 line.

 

 

If Willingham ends up being a wash (or even slightly below) to Cuddyer this year it is an absolutely huge win for the Twins though, seeing how the Twins get 2 additional picks out of the deal and are paying Willingham 2.5 million less a year then Cuddyer.

 

Also to curb expectations to the guy who said he will be happy with 40 HR and 120 RBI (RBI is a dumb stat but whatever)

Willingham has never hit 30 HR or had 100 RBI in a season. I personally would be escatic if he finishes with 30 HR and a .870 OPS or so, which would be a career year for him. If he can give us 25-29 HR and a .830-.850 OPS I will still be very happy.

[twinsnorth49]

Willingham has 7 less HR than Cuddyer in 1300 less at bats, that's an average of 7 more HR's a year than Cuddy. He's also a career .361-.478-.839 compared to Cuddy's .343-453-.796.

 

He's every bit as good and cheaper. I was/am a big Cuddyer fan but I'm loving what I see from Willingham so far.

[Riverbrian]

Willingham has 7 less HR than Cuddyer in 1300 less at bats, that's an average of 7 more HR's a year than Cuddy. He's also a career .361-.478-.839 compared to Cuddy's .343-453-.796.

 

He's every bit as good and cheaper. I was/am a big Cuddyer fan but I'm loving what I see from Willingham so far.

So far he is looking great but can he do magic tricks? That is something Bill James can't quantify.

[Shane Wahl]

Willingham is better than Cuddyer, yes. And he CERTAINLY is going to be better than Cuddyer at Target Field. I do still wish the Twins had re-signed Thome to this day (taking Burroughs spot, and hell, he suddenly was willing to play first base . . . ). Imagine a Willingham-Thome duo. I guess if Justin is healthy it won't matter as much.

[spideyo]

I know it's only 6 games into the season, but when was the last time a Twin lead MLB in home runs?

[diehardtwinsfan]

It's kind of hard not to miss Thome, and to be honest it would be nice to have him work with Parmalee, as I see a lot of young Thome there... I doubt Chris does what Jim did, but having them together would have been nice.

 

As for willingham, it was the right move. Losing Cuddy hurt from an emotional side of things, but from the business end, it was the right thing to do, and I applaud Ryan for it. I doubt that Willy hits 40 hr, though if the M and M boys are back and Valencia/Parmalee emerge, Willingham will certainly see his fair share of good pitches and could come close to 30 HR. That would be nice.