Who'd a Thunk, The Twins Are Contending With A Young Rotation.

This past off-season with the departure of Johan Santana and Torii Hunter, both having been the heart and soul of the Minnesota Twins ball club, my roommate, a big LA Dodger fan was mourning my loss, and sending hes condolences for the Twins chances of making the playoffs.

I am a very optimistic guy, and have a lot of confidence in the Twins farm system. Throughout the years, I have seen guys develop and become big contributors for the Twins and their playoff push. However, I did not expect the Twins to have to tap into their AAA affiliate for so many players this season.

The Twins biggest strength has always been their ability to develop good starting pitching. They looked to a veteran in Livan Hernandez to solidify a rotation of young, unproven arms. Despite winning 10 games early, Livan became a liability, and his role to eat up innings turned into bullpen taxing outings.

Livan Hernandez turned out to be the same type of acquisitions as Ramon Ortiz and Sidney Ponson of last season. Having failed for two straight seasons in trying to find veterans to fill in holes in the rotation, The Twins finally made the most surprising and probably smartest decision: turn to the rookies.

Here's a breakdown of the young rotation.

Nick Blackburn 9-8- 3.75 ERA- 163.0 IP- 186 H- 82 R- 68 ER- 15 HR- 30 BB- 80 SO

Blackburn has been a nice surprise to the Twins young rotation. He possesses great stuff, with a fastball topping out at 94, but has yet to develop the same composure as others on the staff. Blackburn is not an overpowering pitcher by any means he puts the ball in play, and lets the defense do the majority of the work. His good health has made him the workhorse of the staff, having been able to stay off the DL so far, decreasing the pressure put on the bullpen. He has gone 5+ innings in 21 of his 27 starts, but his record doesn't reflect how well he has actually pitched. The defense has failed him in several starts having given up 14 unearned runs. Blackburn has also been a victim of poor run support at times, which is a common theme among Twins pitcher. In 12 of his starts, aside from the start against the Yankees where he left after being struck in the face by a line drive, he gave up 3 earned runs or less and was tagged with a loss, or a no-decision. If Blackburn learns to become more consistent, and keeps the ball in the ballpark, he can easily become a number 2 or 3 starter.

Scott Baker

You're currently logged into Facebook

Do you want to share your Bleacher Report activity on Facebook?