Who for the Minnesota Twins might throw a no-hitter?
Following are opinions from Mille Lacs County Times editor-sports editor Gary Larson, reporter Luther Dorr and former Times intern Logan Marxhausen who’s now on the sports staff at the St. Cloud State University Chronicle. Note: This feature is written on Monday each week.
********
•Question: Dallas Braden of the Oakland A’s threw a perfect game no-hitter Sunday as the A’s topped the Tampa Bay Rays 4-0 in Oakland. Which Minnesota Twins starter is most likely to throw a no-hitter during his career?
-Dorr: The two most likely are Scott Baker and Francisco Liriano. Baker has taken a no-hitter late into a game and Liriano, it appears, is back to being the dominating-type pitcher you need to be to throw a no-hitter, although it almost always takes luck to pitch a no-hitter, as evidenced by the fact that Braden didn’t have a complete game to his name in his career. Baker, who pitched very well in his last start and is always a better pitcher after April each year, has games where hitters really have trouble with his fastball, even though he throws it up in the zone more than most other pitchers. Liriano has the devastating slider to go with a fastball that seems to have more life this season.
-Marxhausen: Only a couple of Twins pitchers line up qualities that may allow them to throw a no-hitter. Scott Baker, Nick Blackburn and Kevin Slowey are not likely to do it because they consistently allow the ball to be in play and pitches that are hit can fall in or slide through for hits. Carl Pavano and Francisco Liriano have unique qualities that could lead to a no-hit game. Pavano has a good sense of control that allows for a very precise pitch and so far in 2010 he’s allowed just six walks in six appearances. Liriano had a very stellar rookie season for the Twins, starting the season 14-2 in 16 starts. He showed the potential to be better than present Twin and three time Cy Young winner Johan Santana. He has not allowed a home run yet this season and has shown better control in late innings. Liriano is the most likely pitcher on the Twins staff to do it.
-Larson: Pitching gems often come from unlikely sources. Len Barker of Cleveland had a 74-76 career record, yet threw a perfect game against Toronto in 1981. The California Angels’ Mike Witt had a 117-116 career mark but one of his victories was a perfect game against Texas in 1984. And, how about Braden? His gem boosted his career record to 18-23 and, prior to Sunday, his 15-minutes of fame centered on him feeling he was “disrespected” by New York’s Alex Rodriguez in a game April 22.
So, you don’t have to be a hall-of-famer to throw a no-hitter. It helps, though. Nolan Ryan threw seven and Sandy Koufax tossed four.
Scott Baker and Francisco Liriano are the Twins’ best candidates. Both tease batters with pitches close to the plate, both have awesome strike-out pitches and neither is afraid to challenge hitters.
********
•Question: Tampa Bay’s Evan Longoria tried to break up Braden’s gem by bunting in the fifth inning. Is it a sacrilege to try to break up a no-hitter with a “bunt?”
-Dorr: The score was only 4-0 when Longoria tried to bunt so, no, there was nothing wrong with bunting. It was a little unusual, coming as it did by a power hitter, but the element of surprise should have been even greater at that point. It’s Major League baseball and if you’re not trying to win a game any way you can, you shouldn’t be out there. I was glad for Braden that he got the perfect game but wouldn’t have faulted Longoria had he been successful. And, in an aside, I remember well Catfish Hunter’s perfect game against the Twins in 1968, against a lineup that included Rod Carew, Tony Oliva and Harmon Killebrew, as well as Cesar Tovar who broke up two no-hitters while with the Twins. Hunter drove in three of the runs in a 4-0 game and got Rich Reese on strikes to end the game as I listened on my transistor radio.
-Marxhausen: Last time I checked the Tampa Bay Rays were still trying to get a victory against the Oakland Athletics. If a bunt is a way to get on base then use that strategy. If the third baseman is playing way too deep, then a speedy player should notice this and lay down a bunt. It is a strategy that adds to the game of baseball. Twins manager Ron Gardenhire uses players in hitting situations to advance runners by bunting. He often used speedy players such as Alexi Casilla and former Twin Carlos Gomez to bunt for the sake of scraping a hit.
-Larson: When a pitcher is perfect after five innings and you haven’t done anything swinging away, it’s time to start bunting. Take the pitcher out of his comfort zone, the pitching mound, and make him field some ground balls. That’s more apt to break his concentration than a swinging third strike.
As Luther and Logan point out, teams should play to win and there’s nothing wrong with trying to get something started with a bunt.
********
•Question: The Twins travel to New York to face the Yankees in a three-game series this weekend, then host the Yankees for three games May 25-27. The teams won’t meet again during the regular season. Given Minnesota’s lack of success against the Bronx Bombers in recent years, how important is it for the Twins to do well in these games?
-Dorr: The Baltimore series offered us a good reminder that you can’t get too caught up in one game, or one series, this early. We’re only a fifth of the way through the season. Having said that, if Minnesota wants to get beyond the first round of the playoffs, there does come a time when the team has to do better against a team such as the Yankees, although that still wouldn’t guarantee post-season success. If you went by what happened in the first fifth of the season and projected those stats for the year, Justin Morneau would have 35 homers and 105 RBIs and Michael Cuddyer would have 25 homers and 115 RBIs, both good seasons. Morneau also leads the Major Leagues in on-base percentage at .485. Conversely, Joe Mauer would have only 5 homers and 65 RBIs. Scott Baker, Francisco and Kevin Slowey would also each have 20 wins and Jon Rauch 40 saves. But baseball, more than any other sport because it is played daily, is very, very unpredictable. After Wilson Ramos played his first two games with the Twins last week, there were those who thought it was time to move Mauer to another position. We see what has happened there (1 for 18). I’d be happy with a split in the six games with the Yanks.
-Marxhausen: It is important for the Twins to do well against everybody. The Twins need to do well against the Yankees now because these upcoming games may well figure into who gets home-field advantage in the playoffs. And, right now, both the Twins and Yankees appear destined to reach the playoffs.
-Larson: Minnesota couldn’t beat the Yankees last year, with New York completing a nine-game sweep by topping Minnesota 4-1 in the third game of the teams’ best-of-five opening-round playoff series. That was the final Twins game played at the Metrodome. The Twins’ fortunes against New York the previous four or five seasons weren’t much better. In most cases the Yankees were simply the better team and that may be the case again this season.
Minnesota boosters will say “this is a new season and the teams are different than last year.” True, but the Yankees have pounded the Twins enough to plant that seed of doubt and frustration in the minds of Twins players. Minnesota needs to win at least a couple of the upcoming six games to spark some sense of confidence. While it’s just May, those Yankee uniforms will look just as imposing in October.
********
Do you have an opinion on any of this week’s questions? Do you agree or disagree with the sportswriters? Let us know by sending an e-mail to editor.millelacscotimes@ecm-inc.com or a note to Mille Lacs County Times, 225 S.W. 2nd St. Milaca, MN 56353. Or comment online.
