Can the Minnesota Twins' Young Pitching Staff Pick Up the Slack?

It's late, you want to get home, it's the bottom of the seventh inning at U.S. Cellular Field, and Nick Blackburn is on the mound. Just then you hear silence, followed by a roaring applause and cheering. Jim Thome just hit a home run to make the game 1-0. 

This is what happened last year on Sept. 31, 2008.  Did Blackburn do anything wrong? Yes. Should the loss have been his fault? No.  

It's games like these when the offense does nothing, both pitchers are throwing shutout ball, and one mistake costs the game because the offense can't do anything.

But now let's throw one more aspect in there.  Both pitchers were rookies. 

That could very well be the case again this year, with many games going to waste because the young pitchers can't stop the other team from scoring runs. But then again, the young Minnesota pitching staff could come through and pull out a World Series title.

One of the biggest concerns is what will happen in spring training. The Twins are inviting seven non-roster players to spring training to compete for the rotation. While none of them are "the guy to watch for," they could very well be the answer to the Twins' patched up rotation. 

But let's look at returning players. 

Francisco Liriano: Can't be trusted as a full-time starter, not with his injury problems lately.  That takes away the No. 1 spot.

Scott Baker: Probably, but last year was very up and down.  We will have to wait until spring training to get a real look.

Kevin Slowey: Again, another maybe, a little less likely, but could definitely be a trusted asset in the bullpen if nothing else.

Nick Blackburn: From what we have seen, a solid starter, had a little dive towards the middle of the season, but all pitchers do.  

Glen Perkins: Again another "yes" from what we saw this season. His stats may not show it, but he had a phenomenal season.

Boof Bonser: Could return from the bullpen, but that is still very unlikely.

From looking at this we have about three-and-a-half starters. The Twins can't make it in the ever-competitive AL Central with three-and-a-half starters, but could definitely find some good starters in their non-roster invitees.  

With spring training just a week away, we will just have to wait and see what happens with the Twins' starting pitching.

***Editor's Note = John Danks actually made 26 very bad starts for the Chicago White Sox in  2007, and was not recognized as being a good starting pitcher.  Sorry for the faulty information.  Thanks Dan!