The last playoff spot has yet to be decided with Chicago taking the makeup game from Detroit in an 8-2 blowout after an early pitcher’s dual. Now, with the Twins and the Sox carrying identical records, they have extra baseball to play. Both have the postseason in their sights, but they have a tiebreaker before any bubbly is sprayed.
I wanted to take the time to delve into what kind of tools Minnesota will have to work with in terms of the young rotation. I'm sure the majority of the baseball community did not expect them to be where they are, but a key to their success has been the starting staff.
The rotation suffered a potentially huge loss in Slowey when he took a line shot back at his throwing wrist. Slowey, who was set to start the tiebreaker, was the only Twin to throw a complete game (3), two of which were shutouts. If the Twins do make it further, it is hard to tell Slowey would be ready to perform, making his spot on the playoff roster a big question.
Kevin Slowey is the type of pitcher that Brad Radke was for the Twins, the prime example of what a Twins pitcher is supposed to be. He is not overpowering, but he has impeccable control issuing only 24 walks in 160.1 innings. Working both sides of the plate, and hitting his spots coupled with first pitch strikes helped him become a solid number 3 guy in the rotation.
The difference between him and Brad Radke is Slowey doesn’t give up runs in the first inning. As a matter of fact, I believe his scoreless first innings streak is a club record. Slowey’s problem, however, an archetype in the Twins pitching staff, is the inability to keep the ball in the park. He as improved giving only 6 more home run in 100 more innings pitched in ’08 over ‘07. Despite his 12-11 record, he has pitched well enough to be at least 16-6, but lacked run support, another Twins archetype. It would be a shame if he could not make the playoff roster if the Twins were to advance.
Nick Blackburn is set to make the start in the tiebreaker game against Chicago. He has better stuff than Slowey as far as pitches, but lacks the demeanor and composure as Slowey. He tends to give up crooked numbers when he is forced into the stretch. This makes me worried about how he will fare against a hard hitting ball club like Chicago, especially having struggled as of late, elevating his ERA above 4. His results have been mixed against the Sox, going 2-2 in 5 starts posting a 5.67 ERA.
Blackburn is a contact hitter, putting the ball in play and relying on his defense. The defense always has to be sharp when Blackburn gets the nod, and many times it is a weakness for him. This explains why he has allowed 220 hits in 187 innings, and has given up 15 unearned runs, where the rest of the rotation has given up a combined 17 (excluding Livan). He picked up the win in his last start, which was against the Sox, but he needed a lot of help from the pen, exiting after only 5 frames.
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