The Good, the Getting Better but Not Quite There Yet, and the Ugly

I know it's been a while, again-- sorry. So here's a big fat post to make up for it. It's officially All-Star Break and the mid-way point, and a good time for some stock-taking. So, here ya go.

The Good

The Longview

Remember that on June 1, we were 16 1/2 games back and hovering around .325. A month and a half later, we are 6 1/2 games out and closing in on .500. We've won 9 of the last 12 series, which is key. 6 1/2 games out at the All-Star Break feel pretty typical for us, actually. So, yeah, it was an inexplicably terrible start, but now it's the AS break, the halfway point and a restart of sorts, and we've gotten ourselves to a point from which we know we can realistically do this. Perspective. And, yes, by, this, I do mean win the division.


The Rotation

The starting five are really looking good. Of course any one of them will have an off day, but quality starts, wins, deep starts and even some complete games, have been pretty consistent from all five of them,  This is good news, Twins fans. There's not much more key than a solid starting rotation; you cannot be a winning team without one, no matter what else you have going for you.


Glen Perkins

What? I know, I'm just as surprised as you are. Glen Perkins is killing it. A local blogger (so sorry, I can't remember who) compared Perkins to "the wolf" in Pulp Fiction. The clean up guy who comes in and, eerily calmly, efficiently, cleans up the shit show* that came before him. This is kind of a new thing for the Twins and I just love it. With these deeper starts from the aforementioned rotation and solid innings from Nathan + Capps, and Perkins' new found dominance, the 8-9 innings are feeling pretty good. I'll even go so far as to say if Perkins keeps this business up, he should maybe start thinking about his closer song. Hungry Like a Wolf, perhaps?

The Getting Better but Not Quite There Yet

Joe Mauer

My main man, my favorite muffinbutted catcher, sometimes DH, even first-baseman; Joe Mauer is looking good. He's clearly not 100% and I can't quite wrap my head around what went down the first half of the season, but I'm not worried about the second. I don't feel like looking up any stats on his climbing BA and OBP, but I know that he was on base a lot the last couple of series, he's getting some sweet hits or otherwise hitting the ball on the screws. To me, he's really starting to look Mauer.

The Bleeping Sardines

Dingo. Fosters. Shrimp on the barbie and stuff.

Casilla, Revere, Hughes, Nishi, Tosoni, oh my. These guys have been key to this comeback in a few ways, the energy being the number one factor. There's not necessarily a standout all-around, Casilla maybe, but as a sum of their parts, these boys have put together some impressive, and totally clutch, moments both offensively and defensively that have played a huge role in this June and July comeback. The reason that sardines are not in the "good" category is too many problems of inconsistency and youthful, stupid mistakes. Not going deep enough into at-bats, way too many first pitch outs, and poor base running, in particular.

Base running mistakes are sad, unnecessary rally killers -- and one of my biggest pet peeves, so maybe I'm being harsh. (Biggest pet peeves post still to come.)

Young and Kubel
Both are coming back soon. This is good news. I think. Definitely good news regarding Kubes, but... honestly I don't have a clue how it'll all shake out. We kind of have a lot of outfielders already, and designated hitters. Where o where will they go?

The Ugly

For the first two months, everything was going wrong. Everything. So, to make an ugly list would have been pretty pointless, like making a list of islands in Hawaii that are pretty. Now I think things are shaking out enough to where the consistencies of suck are, such as:

Hey, buddy. What ya thinking about?
You wondering why you suck so  much?

* The Bullpen

Glen Perkins, Joe Nathan, and Matt Capps notwithstanding, the bullpen is the major malfunction. I just cringe when I see Burnett, Mijares, and company warming in the pen, especially Mijares. And Burnett. The only thing either of them do consistently well is sweat, give away the lead, and melt down. "Melt Down Mijares," I like it. This is where I hope to see some movement before the trade deadline.






Injuries
It's really been frustrating, hasn't it? I've said before, and not just on this blog, that the Twins seem to be more injury prone than other teams. (Note: I have no clue if this is true or not statistically, but it sure seems that way.) Do they not train hard enough? Not lift enough weights? Are they just babies? Don't do enough core workouts? Don't do enough steroids? Hopefully the worst of it is over because I don't know how how long our sardines could keep it up if any more of the big fishes go down, again.

So, what do ya think- will the Twins make any moves before the July 31 deadline? Should they? (Can you tell I'm trying to get you guys to chat it up a little? I know you're out there.)

Thanks, buddies.
-christine

p.s., If you are curious where I come down on All-Star Game, Love It or Hate It?  I love it.