Minnesota Twins: What's Up with the Bullpen?

With the Minnesota Twins up 5-0 against the Detroit Tigers in the sixth inning Monday, I thought victory was in hand. Then relief pitcher Matt Guerrier was called upon, and the Tigers eventually won the game 11-9.

What went wrong with one of the best bullpens in the league?

Again on Tuesday night, Minnesota lost a close game thanks to Jesse Crain. As Howard Sinker of the Star Tribune puts it,

"Jesse Crain was probably the logical choice to throw the eighth inning, even if the thought of him trying to protect a one-run lead doesn’t exactly fill a blogger with confidence."

Has the Minnesota Twins' bullpen lost the edge it once had?

Not yet, but there is almost reason to worry.

Pat Neshek had made great strides in recovering from his semi-decent run at the end of the 2007 campaign, as he dominated in Spring Training. But through six innings of work this year, Neshek has allowed five runs.

Sinker thinks that it is simply a problem of Crain over-powering his pitches:

"Crain’s performance should serve as a reminder to all of us whenever we hear about a 'hard-throwing pitcher.' Throwing hard doesn’t mean much if you don’t have any movement on those hard throws."

Also, Guerrier has an ERA of 9.53 after five-and-two-thirds innings of work.

As a general rule, major leaguers will not be stopped simply if you throw a 95 mph fastball their way.

I am not sure what Neshek's problem is. It could simply be a fluke, as these Detroit Tigers have an incredibly tough lineup. 

In any case, if these pitching problems cannot be fixed soon, there will be serious worry around the Minnesota camp.