... but I am just going to say it anyway. I love the Twins. I love them. It is too soon to say that 2010 is going to be a magical year, but in a way hasn't it already been?
Our lineup is producing like we said it would, and yet look at all the men we are leaving on base! We are scoring runs and winning games, and yet we are still just scraping the edge of our potential! We should be scoring 10 runs instead of 7 or 8. We are hitting a record amount of home runs, and yet our main DH is only slugging .316. (I vow to never mention BA as an important stat on this blog ever).
Defensively we are phenomenal. If you remove the two errors assigned to Liriano and Butera, the real defense has only committed four errors all season, and three out of those four are on outfielders! Our infield has committed one error- one- in the first 26 games of the year. Come on!
The rookie production has also been huge. Alex Burnett has been a strong addition to our bullpen. He had a shaky appearance on Saturday, but has been strong overall. Luke Hughes came up and hit a jack in his first at bat. His defense was solid as well. Drew Butera has been an excellent backstop for us, calling great games and working very well with the pitching staff. He is also extremely attractive to the point where I might be able to name him Hottest Twin Ever without reservation. I guess the use of the word "might" in and of itself is a reservation. Fine- Hottest Twin EVER.
Wilson Ramos. What a hitter! What a league! I was talking to Cy Jungkunz about him yesterday and we agreed that, while a 4-hit debut performance is incredibly impressive, the greatest part of his first career game at the major league level was his ability to settle Frankie "The Headcase" Liriano down after a rough first inning and get a solid 8-inning start out of him. Do you know how huge that was? Our entire pen, save for Rauch, had been taxed the night before. Also, The Cisco Kid operates almost entirely on momentum. Getting that impressive a performance out of his pitcher after that awful first inning was what impressed upon me the most that Ramos is going to be an outstanding major league catcher.
This team is really coming together. Coomer hits on this all the time, so I will regurgitate it now- our offense is just starting to get rolling! We have so much more in us, so many runners on base that aren't being driven in. We could get scary-good if we can catch fire. I am so happy that I have my 20-game pack, because with the way The Bullseye is selling tickets, the days of just heading to the ballpark for a cheap seat on a whim are long gone.
NICK PUNTO LIL' GEM OF THE WEEK: My Boy was activated off of the DL on May 1st. It is now May 3rd and I have counted 11 excellent defensive plays. His range is fucking amazing, but I have recently been focusing on an aspect of his defense that is unsung. He can get that ball out of his glove faster than anyone I have ever seen. His catch-and-throw motion is fluid and instantaneous. Match that up with the tiny little canon of an arm, and he can turn an around-the-horn double play on a laser down the line with effortless grace. I have missed him so much! (You thought I was going to talk about his 3 RBI day on Sunday, didn't you? Philistine).
Go Twins! I am going to four games in the 7 day span from Thursday to Wednesday, so I will absolutely have more to say then. Also, I just broke down and got cable, so after only listening to the April games on the radio, I will now have a much better feel for the team being able to actually watch every game.
Ugh, I am in love!
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