We're No. 30! We're No. 30!

[jokin]

No, the Twins haven't reached the bottom in terms of wins-losses, and that dubious distinction still seems very unlikely for the Twins to obtain, given the existence of the Marlins and Astros, but as many astute TD observers have been noting via the disturbing statistical indications, the Twins starting pitching staff has now supplanted the lowly Astros as having the worst ERA in baseball, 5.77 to 5.72. The Twins PTC-intense OBA has already been baseball's worst for some time, and currently sits at .335, some 34 points ahead of Houston, which sits at .301.

 

As I recently noted, the Twins SP's "average batter" is having a better year than Joe Mauer- with a collective OPS of .891.

 

It's been a long-developing trend over the month of May, and it has really accelerated during the current 10-game losing streak. Meanwhile, the Twins FO is scrambling to send replacement Starting Pitchers to the front-line.... on a staff that appears to be suffering from mass shell shock, or PTSD. Correia, in a true profile in courage, has been moved back 2 days to face the lowly Brewers----and Pelfrey is now publicly stating that he has arm soreness---- a prelude to a rehab assignment? This is what happens when you have a 6.77 ERA in the month of May, to go with the worst OBA (.350) and WHIP (1.79), K% (9.8%) and K/9 (4.08).

 

The good news?--- Rock bottom has to be close at hand. Like last year, there are anxious arms in abundance, eager to prove they either deserve one last chance, or in some notable cases, deserve their first chance. Bottom line, I get the strong feeling that the opening day rotation will bear little resemblance to the rotation in September.

[Top Gun]

It's Ryan's fault, he can't afford a pitcher!

[Old Twins Cap]

Don't look for any accountability from the front office or the coaches. It's never anyone's fault really. It just happens. At some point, at long last, the fact that there is no accountability for any of this IS THE PROBLEM.

[DutchFarmer]

Yes, thank goodness we didn't overpay for Sanchez.

[Mr. Brooks]

Funny. All I heard coming into the season was that the Twins rotation couldnt possibly be as bad as it was last year.

I took a look at the roster and said that I thought it surely could be at least ALMOST as terrible, and was told that I was a pessimist and a Twins hater.

I really don't see how this should have come as any surprise, I mean look at the guys we brought in.

I said Worley wasn't likely to be anything special, he's been even worse than I could have thought.

I said Pelfrey did not look anywhere near ready to be a quality pitcher during ST, it looks like either he indeed is not recovered, or he is just plain bad.

Correia has actually outperformed my expectation of him, though he is coming back down to earth lately.

I said Diamond was due for a regression, of course I was ripped for that along with my Worley take, but the fact is it was due, and we are seeing it now.

This comes as no surprise, it shouldn't. Really the only surprise to me was how optimistic so many people were about this rotation coming into the year.

[Oldgoat_MN]

I don't know that people were wildly optimistic. The rotation relied heavily on recovering arms or pitchers having career years to actually be competitive. Most of the posters here were under few illusions, in spite of what Terry Ryan was saying.

 

I am still amazed that the rotation is doing worse than last year. Wow.

That is hard to believe.

[Halsey Hall]

I don't know that people were wildly optimistic. The rotation relied heavily on recovering arms or pitchers having career years to actually be competitive. Most of the posters here were under few illusions, in spite of what Terry Ryan was saying.

 

I am still amazed that the rotation is doing worse than last year. Wow.

That is hard to believe.

 

I agree, Oldgoat. Just to see new names was enough for a little optimism, but it's the same thing with a different song.

[drunksam]

It's Ryan's fault, he can't afford a pitcher!

 

It was a weak free agent class...allegedly. KC proves that. Sanchez sucks.

[Brock Beauchamp]

It's unfortunate that no matter how hard the Twins try their best to be absolutely awful, they still can't compete with the Astros and a few NL teams. Unless they liquidate everybody and Joe Mauer gets injured, they're probably not going to get a top three pick.

[Mr. Brooks]

I don't know that people were wildly optimistic. The rotation relied heavily on recovering arms or pitchers having career years to actually be competitive. Most of the posters here were under few illusions, in spite of what Terry Ryan was saying.

 

I am still amazed that the rotation is doing worse than last year. Wow.

That is hard to believe.

 

That is my point right there!

Why is that hard to believe?

What made you think this year would be any different?

Its basically the same cast of characters as last year, but with the addition of 3 mediocre to terrible NL pitchers, and your best pitcher (Diamond) was due for a pretty significant regression.

The only reason to think it could even be slightly better was a belief that maybe we'd get a decent amount of innings from Gibson and/or Meyer. But apparently Gibson has to throw consecutive perfect games before we see him, so scratch that idea.