JackWhite
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The Twins are a team known for producing their players from the minor league system. Although one of Minnesota’s biggest downfalls is the team’s inability to sign and re-sign big-time players. Many players from the likes of David Ortiz to Kyle Lohse have gone on to have success with other teams.Seeing countless former Twins crush their old Minnesota ballclub got me thinking, what would a team look like made up entirely of former Twins players who are still active in the MLB. So without further ado here is the former-Twins All-Star Team of 2015. The team has a solid core lineup in Morales, Ortiz and Cuddyer and has good on-base guys in Span and Gomez. The only real hole is the second base position filled by Pedro Florimon. Florimon is moved from his primary position of shortstop to second base to make room for J.J. Hardy. Florimon has struggled at the plate in 2015, but did produce a walk-off hit for Pittsburgh just last week. The batting order for the hypothetical Twins team would be this: 1. Span: .301/.365/.431, HR 5, RBI 22 2. Gomez: .246/.307/.392, HR 10, RBI 51. 3. Kendrys Morales: .285/.352/.456, HR 13, RBI 87 4. Ortiz: .260/.350/.499, HR. 26, RBI 76 5. Cuddyer: .263/.313/.408, HR 10, and RBI 37. 6. Ramos: .238/.271/.367, HR 11, RBI 53. 7. Hardy: .222/.253/.315, HR. 7, and RBI 32 8. Valencia: .289/.328/.518, HR. 12, RBI 43 9. Florimon .105/.190/.211, HR 0, RBI 1 Not a bad lineup. The team would however be lacking in power. David Ortiz is the only player on the former Twins All-Star team to have more than 20 homer runs in the 2015 season, although the likes of Hardy, Morneau, and Cuddyer have topped that mark in seasons past. The former Twins squad has a decent batting order but the team’s true strength is the starting rotation. The most difficult decision for me was picking who would be the number one pitcher. Too many Twins pitchers have gone on to be successful in other ballclubs and it shows in the starting rotation below. Here’s the rotation. 1. Francisco Liriano: 9-6, 3.23 ERA. 2. R.A. Dickey: 8-10, 4.26 ERA. 3. Matt Garza: 6-14, 5.26 ERA. 4. Kyle Lohse: 5-13, 6.27 ERA. 5. Jason Marquis: 3-4 6.46 ERA. The strength of the former Twins starting rotation is evident in all the solid pitchers our team has decided to let go. A weakness of the current Twins ballclub is in fact pitching. No starter has solidified himself as an ace in the rotation and many of the younger pitchers have struggled down the stretch. The former Twins would also give the current Twins a run for their money in the relief pitching department. Pat Neshek: 3-3, 3.11 ERA. Jeff Manship: 0-0 1.48 (only appeared in 19 games in 2015) Craig Breslow: 0-3 with an E.R.A. of 4.28 LaTroy Hawkins (Closer): 3-1, 2.81 ERA. Only one 2015 save, but since it is against the Twins, we will make him the closer. Liam Hendriks: 4-0, 2.25 ERA Grant Balfour: 0-0, 6.23 ERA. (Six games played in 2015) Anthony Swarzak: 0-0, 3.38 ERA. (Ten games played in 2015) The bench players include: Chris Colabello (BA .332/.373/.531, HR 13, RBI 49), Ben Revere (.294/.334/.362,HR 1, 30 RBI, SB 24) A.J. Pierzynski (.293/.334/.426, HR. 7, RBI 40), Justin Morneau: (.290/.317/.450, HR 3, RBI 9) and Garrett Jones (.215/.257/.361, HR 5, RBI 17) Overall, I think the former Twins All-Star team would give the current roster a run for its money when it came to pitching, but would struggle to produce runs (especially if David Ortiz or Justin Morneau got hurt). Keep in mind that the current team is a young one and in a couple of seasons I think Twins fans everywhere will begin to forget about all the key players lost to free agency. Click here to view the article
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Seeing countless former Twins crush their old Minnesota ballclub got me thinking, what would a team look like made up entirely of former Twins players who are still active in the MLB. So without further ado here is the former-Twins All-Star Team of 2015. The team has a solid core lineup in Morales, Ortiz and Cuddyer and has good on-base guys in Span and Gomez. The only real hole is the second base position filled by Pedro Florimon. Florimon is moved from his primary position of shortstop to second base to make room for J.J. Hardy. Florimon has struggled at the plate in 2015, but did produce a walk-off hit for Pittsburgh just last week. The batting order for the hypothetical Twins team would be this: 1. Span: .301/.365/.431, HR 5, RBI 22 2. Gomez: .246/.307/.392, HR 10, RBI 51. 3. Kendrys Morales: .285/.352/.456, HR 13, RBI 87 4. Ortiz: .260/.350/.499, HR. 26, RBI 76 5. Cuddyer: .263/.313/.408, HR 10, and RBI 37. 6. Ramos: .238/.271/.367, HR 11, RBI 53. 7. Hardy: .222/.253/.315, HR. 7, and RBI 32 8. Valencia: .289/.328/.518, HR. 12, RBI 43 9. Florimon .105/.190/.211, HR 0, RBI 1 Not a bad lineup. The team would however be lacking in power. David Ortiz is the only player on the former Twins All-Star team to have more than 20 homer runs in the 2015 season, although the likes of Hardy, Morneau, and Cuddyer have topped that mark in seasons past. The former Twins squad has a decent batting order but the team’s true strength is the starting rotation. The most difficult decision for me was picking who would be the number one pitcher. Too many Twins pitchers have gone on to be successful in other ballclubs and it shows in the starting rotation below. Here’s the rotation. 1. Francisco Liriano: 9-6, 3.23 ERA. 2. R.A. Dickey: 8-10, 4.26 ERA. 3. Matt Garza: 6-14, 5.26 ERA. 4. Kyle Lohse: 5-13, 6.27 ERA. 5. Jason Marquis: 3-4 6.46 ERA. The strength of the former Twins starting rotation is evident in all the solid pitchers our team has decided to let go. A weakness of the current Twins ballclub is in fact pitching. No starter has solidified himself as an ace in the rotation and many of the younger pitchers have struggled down the stretch. The former Twins would also give the current Twins a run for their money in the relief pitching department. Pat Neshek: 3-3, 3.11 ERA. Jeff Manship: 0-0 1.48 (only appeared in 19 games in 2015) Craig Breslow: 0-3 with an E.R.A. of 4.28 LaTroy Hawkins (Closer): 3-1, 2.81 ERA. Only one 2015 save, but since it is against the Twins, we will make him the closer. Liam Hendriks: 4-0, 2.25 ERA Grant Balfour: 0-0, 6.23 ERA. (Six games played in 2015) Anthony Swarzak: 0-0, 3.38 ERA. (Ten games played in 2015) The bench players include: Chris Colabello (BA .332/.373/.531, HR 13, RBI 49), Ben Revere (.294/.334/.362,HR 1, 30 RBI, SB 24) A.J. Pierzynski (.293/.334/.426, HR. 7, RBI 40), Justin Morneau: (.290/.317/.450, HR 3, RBI 9) and Garrett Jones (.215/.257/.361, HR 5, RBI 17) Overall, I think the former Twins All-Star team would give the current roster a run for its money when it came to pitching, but would struggle to produce runs (especially if David Ortiz or Justin Morneau got hurt). Keep in mind that the current team is a young one and in a couple of seasons I think Twins fans everywhere will begin to forget about all the key players lost to free agency. -
The Twins are a team known for producing their players from the minor league system. Although one of Minnesota’s biggest downfalls is the team’s inability to resign and sign big-time players. Many players from the likes of David Ortiz to Kyle Lohse have gone on to have success with other teams. Seeing countless former Twins crush their old Minnesota ball club got me thinking, what would a team look like made up entirely of former Twins players who are still active in the MLB. So without further ado here is the former Twins All-Star Team of 2015. The team has a solid core lineup in Morales, Ortiz and Cuddyer and has good on-base guys in Span and Gomez. The only real hole is the second base position filled by Pedro Florimon. Florimon is moved from his primary position of shortstop to second base to make room for J.J. Hardy. Florimon has struggled at the plate in 2015, but did produce a walk-off hit for Pittsburgh just last week. The hypothetical batting order for the Twins team would be this: 1. Span: .301/.365/.431, HR 5, RBI 22 2. Gomez: .246/.307/.392, HR 10, RBI 51. 3. Kendrys Morales: .285/.352/.456, HR 13, RBI 87 4. Ortiz: .260/.350/.499, HR. 26, RBI 76 5. Cuddyer: .263/.313/.408, HR 10, and RBI 37. 6. Ramos: .238/.271/.367, HR 11, RBI 53. 7. Hardy: .222/.253/.315, HR. 7, and RBI 32 8. Valencia: .289/.328/.518, HR. 12, RBI 43 9. Florimon .105/.190/.211, HR 0, RBI 1 Not a bad lineup. The team would however be lacking in power. David Ortiz is the only player on the former Twins All-Star team to have more than 20 homeruns in the 2015 season (although the likes of Hardy, Morneau, and Cuddyer have topped that mark in seasons past). The Former Twins squad has a decent batting order but the team’s true strength is the starting rotation. The most difficult decision for me was picking who would be the number one pitcher. Too many Twins pitchers have gone on to be successful in other ball clubs and it shows in the starting rotation below. Anyways, here’s the rotation. 1. Francisco Liriano: 9-6, 3.23 ERA. 2. R.A. Dickey: 8-10, 4.26 ERA. 3. Matt Garza: 6-14, 5.26 ERA. 4. Kyle Lohse: 5-13, 6.27 ERA. 5. Jason Marquis: 3-4 6.46 ERA. The strength of the former Twins starting rotation is evident of all the solid pitchers our team has decided to let go. A weakness of the current Twins ball club is in fact pitching. No starter has solidified themselves as an ace in the rotation and many of the younger pitchers have struggled down the stretch. The former Twins would also give the current Twins a run for their money in the relief-pitching department. Pat Neshek: 3-3, 3.11 ERA. Jeff Manship: 0-0 1.48 (only appeared in 19 games in 2015) Craig Breslow: 0-3 with an E.R.A. of 4.28 LaTroy Hawkins (Closer): 3-1, 2.81 ERA. Only one 2015 save, but since it is against the Twins, we will make him the closer. Liam Hendriks: 4-0, 2.25 ERA Grant Balfour: 0-0, 6.23 ERA. (Six games played in 2015) Anthony Swarzak: 0-0, 3.38 ERA. (Ten games played in 2015) The Bench players include: Chris Colabello (BA .332/.373/.531, HR 13, RBI 49), Ben Revere (.294/.334/.362,HR 1, 30 RBI, SB 24) A.J. Pierzynski (.293/.334/.426, HR. 7, RBI 40), Justin Morneau: (.290/.317/.450, HR 3, RBI 9) and Garret Jones (.215/.257/.361, HR 5, RBI 17) Overall, I think the former Twins All-Star team would give the current roster a run for their money when it came to pitching, but would struggle to produce runs (especially if David Ortiz or Justin Morneau got hurt). Keep in mind that the current team is a young one and in a couple seasons I think Twins fans everywhere will begin to forget about all the key players lost to free agency.
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The Twins lost 7-0 to the Angels at the Big A in Anaheim, dropping to 1-3 during their current West Coast road stretch. The Angles Matt Shoemaker slowed the Minnesota bats tonight, throwing six scoreless innings while striking out ten and giving up only two hits. Chris Iannetta sparked the Angels with a big three-run homer in the sixth off of Blaine Boyer.There was no score until the second inning when Iannetta laced a single to center field to drive in cleanup hitter Erick Aybar. Twins CF Aaron Hicks grabbed the ball on one hop from center and gunned down C.J. Cron sliding into third. The ruling on the field was that Cron was safe, after advancing on the single from Iannetta. Twins Manager Paul Molitor requested review and Cron was ruled out. Hicks got the assist and ended the inning with Angels up 1-0. In the next inning, Twins’ starter Kyle Gibson loaded the bases with one out. After giving up a sacrifice fly–double play to Aybar, the Angels led 2-0. Trevor Plouffe nabbed Rosario’s throw to the infield. Plouffe’s quick throw to Brian Dozier caught the Angels Daniel Robertson, ending the inning. The Angels tacked on more runs in the sixth. Gibson was removed for Blaine Boyer after loading the bases with no outs. A sacrifice fly by David Freese drove in Albert Pujols from third. Later in the inning, Aybar scored on a sacrifice fly by Angels left-fielder Matt Joyce. Iannetta turned the game into a blowout by blasting a three-run shot to center field off of Boyer, increasing the Angels lead to seven runs. Offensively, the Twins struggled – getting only two hits and four base runners. The Angels' Chris Iannetta led both teams with four RBI. Shoemaker received the win, giving him a 5-7 record on the year. The losing pitcher was Kyle Gibson, dropping him to 8-7 overall. Torii Hunter received a standing ovation in his first at-bat for his five years spent in Anaheim. Mike Pelfrey will be the starter for the Twins in Anaheim on Wednesday and the Angels will try to repeat their pitching success with C.J. Wilson. Click here to view the article
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There was no score until the second inning when Iannetta laced a single to center field to drive in cleanup hitter Erick Aybar. Twins CF Aaron Hicks grabbed the ball on one hop from center and gunned down C.J. Cron sliding into third. The ruling on the field was that Cron was safe, after advancing on the single from Iannetta. Twins Manager Paul Molitor requested review and Cron was ruled out. Hicks got the assist and ended the inning with Angels up 1-0. In the next inning, Twins’ starter Kyle Gibson loaded the bases with one out. After giving up a sacrifice fly–double play to Aybar, the Angels led 2-0. Trevor Plouffe nabbed Rosario’s throw to the infield. Plouffe’s quick throw to Brian Dozier caught the Angels Daniel Robertson, ending the inning. The Angels tacked on more runs in the sixth. Gibson was removed for Blaine Boyer after loading the bases with no outs. A sacrifice fly by David Freese drove in Albert Pujols from third. Later in the inning, Aybar scored on a sacrifice fly by Angels left-fielder Matt Joyce. Iannetta turned the game into a blowout by blasting a three-run shot to center field off of Boyer, increasing the Angels lead to seven runs. Offensively, the Twins struggled – getting only two hits and four base runners. The Angels' Chris Iannetta led both teams with four RBI. Shoemaker received the win, giving him a 5-7 record on the year. The losing pitcher was Kyle Gibson, dropping him to 8-7 overall. Torii Hunter received a standing ovation in his first at-bat for his five years spent in Anaheim. Mike Pelfrey will be the starter for the Twins in Anaheim on Wednesday and the Angels will try to repeat their pitching success with C.J. Wilson. -
Before the game, various greats from each team were honored in a segment known as the Franchise Four Campaign. The Twins’ Franchise Four included: Kirby Puckett, Harmon Killibrew, Tony Oliva,and Rod Carew. A highlight reel of the former players’ heroics was shown across the screen in less than ten seconds as the video moved on to the next featured team. A Twins fan watching the All-Star Game simply for coverage of their beloved team would now have to wait until the eighth inning for any mention of the words Minnesota and baseball in the same sentence. Mike Trout got the American League on the board in the first inning with a leadoff home run off National League starting pitcher Zach Greinke. Trout’s home run would be the only scoring until the bottom of the second when Jhonny Peralta of the Cardinals came up with a two-out bloop single to drive in Diamondbacks first baseman Paul Goldschmidt. In the top of the fifth, Trout wreaked havoc again, this time scoring on a Prince Fielder two-out single. The A.L. tacked on another run before the inning ended after Lorenzo Cain of Kansas City doubled home Fielder. An Andrew McCutchen home run brought the N.L deficit to one. The A.L. made it a 5-2 lead in the following inning after the Orioles Manny Machado and Boston’s Brock Holt came around to score. At last the eighth inning arrived and in came Brian Dozier. In his first at-bat the second baseman sent the ball over the fence in deep center and proved that he belonged on the team. The American League then led the game 6-2. Dozier became the 16th player in MLB history to hit a homer in his first All-Star Game at-bat. Glen Perkins came on in the ninth inning in a non-save situation. Perkins gave up a leadoff triple to the Brewers Ryan Braun. Braun then scored on a sacrifice fly, but Perkins regained his composure to close out the inning, ending the game 6-3 in favor of the American League. The American League took the game and gained home field advantage in the World Series for their representative team. The Twins contributed with a home run from Dozier and an inning pitched from Perkins. If Minnesota stays with their winning ways, the team may be able to utilize that home field advantage come October.
