The Bleacher Bums: April 7, 2006 Archive

Rusty vs. quality

Posted at 10:58 AM on April 7, 2006 by Ben Tesch

I know it's a bit overinflated, but it's still amazing to note that Carlos Silva threw as many walks yesterday as he did for an entire quarter of last season.

When Silva was asked if he felt that he was behind due to his pitching for Venezuela, the answer was an adamant no.

Sure, whatever, buddy. Giving up two walks and getting gassed in the 6th says "rusty" to me.

Today at 2:05pm CT the Twins start their series against Cleveland, with the back-to-back arbitration winner Kyle Lohse taking the mound against newly acquired Paul Byrd, whose 22 quality starts last year ranked second in the AL behind Johan Santana's 24.

The April Gauntlet

Posted at 12:41 PM on April 7, 2006 by David Zingler (2 Comments)

After three games against the new and seemingly improved Toronto Blue Jays, our new and seemingly unimproved Twins stand at 1-2. To me anyway, it looks like same old Twins. The offense will explode in garbage time, but wilt when the game is on the line. Also, lackluster starts by The Best Pitcher Ever and Carlos Silva are hardly cause for comfort.

I don’t like what I see when I look at the schedule either. There’s three in Cleveland, who finished ahead of our punch less squad in 2005, then a trifecta at the Hump with Oakland, a chic World Series pick, followed by sets against all three 2005 division champs (home with the Yankees and Angels and a stop on the South Side against the World Champs). There’s a little break after that in Kansas City, where Joe Mays will hopefully get a start, and a moderate challenge ending the month in Detroit against the revamped Tigers.

That’s a grand total of 21 games. I say, if the Twins can win 10 of those, they’d be in decent shape. I’m thinking more like 8 or 9 though. Any other guesses/predictions?

Comment on this post