MIN 3, STL 0: Hill Pitches 5 Shutout Innings in Twins Debut

There might be better ones out there, but dear lord do I love our bullpen. Just a great mix of flame throwers and veterans with a couple of guys able to give you a couple of innings in case of a short start. Looking forward to seeing what Wisler brings to the table, as I missed both of his appearances thus far.

Watching Hill was a joy.

But the pen, WOW! 4 IP, ONE hit, ZERO walks, SEVEN SO.

In a shortened 60 games season, every game is worth 2.7 games compared to a regular 162 game schedule.

Based on that, the Twins current 4-1 record in a 60 game schedule translates to an 11-3 record in a 162 game schedule.

In other words, they are off to an excellent start!

Bring on the Tribe!

Once through the rotation - that was pretty spectacular.  Bullpen is going great with the one loss exception, but the rotation needs more applause.  How many runs - 10 in five games and half of them came against our number one in the first game.  That is some great pitching and ultimately as these starters heat up and go longer, the game is shortened for the BP. 

We have had some bats really come through, but we need Garver, Donaldson, Sano, Kepler to heat up.  Even two HRs opening day is not enough Max and the other three need to get their timing down and start driving the ball again.  Sano is just flailing. 

And Byron, one game out of five, I am not sure what I expect any more.  

Rogers looked VERY sharp.

LaVelle E. Neal said on Twitter that getting 5 innings from Hill in a good appearance is all we should really expect at this point. He's got some mileage but he can still get it done and he did so last night.

Watching Ponce de Leon pitch in those first two innings was painful. I am totally against a pitch clock, but then you see guys like that and you understand why it's under consideration.

Cards can't be too happy leaving MPLS with 3 total runs after facing Homer Bailey and Rich Hill. Woof. The White Sox looked like a much more complete team than St. Louis IMO.

Big series coming up.

Of all the starters, Hill has pitched the best (it was great that he removed all doubts about his arm) . W/ the line up getting crucial 2 outs hits to score the 3 runs needed to win the game in support. Baldelli brought out all the big guns in the BP to secure the win. Next to Hill, Dobnak pitched  the best & could have won his game if he had the BP support the other starters had. Let`s see what Odo can do & Berrios bounce back in our series against CLE. Go Twins

A week ago I was a bit concerned that the St. Louis series with Bailey and Hill starting could be a real challenge. Sure was, for the Cards!

And kudos to the FO for their plan this winter. While all the big names chose elsewhere, they quietly went out and got three veterans to give this rotation unbelievable depth. Yes, its only five games and once thru the rotation, but the three guys they brought in had the three best games and we are 4-1. Is it possible Berrios is going to prove to be the weakest link?

Can't say too much about that bullpen. After so many years of promise combined with struggles, can not imagine how pleased Mr. Duffey must be with himself.

So far it looks like they took last year's team and made it better.

Excited.

I don't think I worried that the Twins would lose for a single minute of this series. Just gently put the Cards to bed.

Very nice performance by Hill. I think the combination of the expanded roster and Hill's age/injury status had them playing safe with him last night; with that pitch count I would expect him to roll out for the 6th under normal circumstances. But I can't say I have a problem with not pushing it and allowing him to build up to 80-90 pitches, especially with the bullpen depth we have.

Duffey looked great, really nice to see. He's a weapon, and will definitely be a go-to guy in late innings.

The Sergio Romo Experience remains a surreal, hilarious, and awesome show. He's like 9000 years old, he's basically got one pitch, he's got a trick knee that could go on him at any minute...and he can still make hitters look silly. There aren't too many pitchers who can cross up a major league hitter with an 85 mph "fastball". He's a delight.

Donaldson's swing looks all kinds of messed up right now. There is no one outside the AL Central I have watched swing as much as Donaldson over the past seven years. I absolutely love watching him swing the bat. It's gorgeous.

The swing he is putting on the ball right now is not that swing I love. He is getting loaded late and not able to get his hands in his proper position. His hips are not as far into their rotation as they have been in the past when his bat is entering the hitting zone.

As a result, he is rushing his bat thru the zone, looking like he is trying to catch up to the baseball while his feet are still "flat", swinging level or even down at a ball. We are seeing a lot of ground balls from him as a result. 

On his follow thru, his hands are often chest high, where in the past his hands have been at earhole height. 

This is THE guy that popularized the 10-15 degree swing plane in the pop culture of MLB fans. The camera caught him last night at a monitor in the dugout talking to guys about his swing and pointing something out. I'm sure he is as aware of this issue as I am. His last PA of the night he did have a better swing plane, but it was still off time. He swings so hard and he is still hitting the ball with great exit velos, but the launch angle is Eric Hosmer-like.

I don't know if this is a timing issue with a short ramp-up or if he has some nagging leg issue going on. He has pulled up from a few runs looking like he has a cramp going on. He has a notorious history with calf issues so it is something to watch.

I hope it's just rust. I have no doubt he can turn that around if that is the case. 

If it's a barking calf, this may not be as quick of a fix.