Minnesota Twins: Average Pitching Is All That's Needed

Minnesota had a great offensive night last night, racking up 12 runs against Paul Byrd and the Indians. Livan Hernandez took the mound for the Twins and performed admirably. He went a full six innings while giving up only three runs.

Thanks to the hot offense, the Twins' pitchers aren't asked to pitch seven innings of shutout ball as they wait for Minnesota to score twice in the eighth and hope to win the game. That was the strategy last year.

This year, the Twins' pitchers can, and are, recording extremely hefty ERAs, but are getting the wins.

Livan Hernandez, the supposed "ace" of this rotation, has an ERA of 5.18 to go along with his impressive record of 9-5. Hernandez was signed for this year to take on the veteran role that was left empty after the departure of Santana. While no one can replace Santana, Hernandez has certainly tried.

The 10-year veteran has done a great job in providing a veteran presence on this young, pitching rotation.

The battle for the No. 2 position in this rotation has been between Scott Baker and Kevin Slowey. Both have nearly identical ERAs, and both have the same number of wins in the same number of games. Slowey, at 5-6, has four more losses than his counterpart, forcing me to place Baker as the No. 2 pitcher in this young rotation.

Baker has an ERA of 3.65 posted through 12 starts this season. He had first felt a tweaked groin on his April 26 start against the Rangers, when he was pulled after just four-and-a-third innings. The front office considered putting Baker on the DL, but re-evaluated him and gave him two extra days of rest before his next start.

Again he felt the tweaked groin, not as severely as before, and was again pulled after just three innings. After being re-evaluated yet again, Gardenhire decided to place Baker on the disabled list. He missed all of his next starts until June 5, when he went a solid five innings, giving up just two runs. 

Because of this absence, Baker has pitched just 69 innings. This ranks fourth on the list of total innings pitched from Minnesota starters this year.

Kevin Slowey ranks third on this list with 72.7 innings pitched. He has the best ERA of all Twins pitchers so far this year with 3.47. As I remarked earlier, this is strangely higher than last year. With the decrease in offense this year in the American League, it would be expected that a team's ERA be lower as a result.

Not so with Minnesota, but they still get the job done.

Slowey, after a brief DL-stint on April 4, has been a regular fixture in the rotation. The team is 6-6 when he is pitching, but has won six of his last eight appearances. Slowey will take the mound tomorrow against the Indians. He is coming off a complete-game shutout of the Milwaukee Brewers.

This is his second complete game, his first coming on May 29 against the Royals. Slowey pitched nine innings and gave up only one earned run in a Twins win. He is trying very hard to de-throne Baker and earn that No. 2 spot, and is well on his way.

As usual, Slowey has great, almost scary, control over his pitches. He has only allowed nine walks so far this season through 12 games, making his BB/9IP an astonishing 1.107.

Nick Blackburn may be the biggest surprise in the Twins' rotation this year. Going into the year, Blackburn was thought to be the next starter in a rotation with Liriano, Hernandez, Baker, Slowey, and Bonser. With the horrible play of Liriano and Bonser, whom I'll touch on later, Blackburn has moved nicely into the fourth hole, and Perkins, whom I'll also touch on later, has become No. 5.

Blackburn has been somewhat sporadic this year (his sophomore season). He has an ERA of 3.78, which is certainly not bad compared to the rest of the starters. His K/BB ratio is currently sitting at 3.625, which is also great. Blackburn has also displayed great control this year, as his BB/9IP is 1.375.

On June 27, Blackburn gave up six earned runs to Milwaukee en route to a 7-6 loss. He also surrendered seven runs to the White Sox on June 6. He has had only two previous games where he has held the opponent to no runs. He has allowed three runs or more in seven of his 17 starts.

While Blackburn's stats are very attractive, he has a tendency to give up a big game every so often. Then again, this young man is only 26-years old and is in his second season in the major leagues. He has made 23 career starts, and is getting better with every start.

In a few years, when this rotation has really solidified itself and gelled together, I think Blackburn will be one of the better pitchers in the league.

Glen Perkins was also called upon to take the place of the ineffective Liriano. After "The Franchise" gave up 13 runs in 10.3 innings, Perkins was plucked from the 'pen and placed in the rotation.

Perkins has also had mixed success this year. His 4.31 ERA is nothing to be proud of, but he has a K/BB ratio just over two. His BB/9IP is also good, meaning he hasn't lost control of his pitches. He is prone to the home-run ball, though, just like Santana was. He has given up 10 long balls in just 11 starts.

Perkins has only one game where he allowed one run. The rest have ranged from two runs allowed in six innings to five runs allowed in four innings. Inconsistent is the one word I think best describes Perkins.  However, Minnesota has found ways to win during his starts, going 6-5 when Perkins is on the mound this year.

Francisco Liriano was thought, by me mostly, to be a savior for the Twins in 2008. When he came on and, as I mentioned earlier, gave up 13 runs in only 10.3 innings, I knew something needed to happen.

Liriano was sent to AAA Rochester to figure out his problems and achieve inner-peace. He has been rocky as of late, but he is expected to show up in Minnesota some time before the season is over.

Boof Bonser also started out the year in the rotation. After having an ERA of 5.97, Boof was demoted to the bullpen. Since then, his ERA has gotten even worse. His is currently allowing an average of 6.15 base runners to cross home plate for every nine innings of pitching.

I expect Bonser to be heavily shopped around the league this year. His stock is the highest of any pitcher Minnesota wants to part with, and the Twins could use some minor-league help.

Just like tonight, when Hernandez went six innings and gave up three runs, Minnesota is working with what the pitchers are offering them: average starts. It appears they are making the most of it. Minnesota has now won 17 of their last 19 games.