Results tagged ‘ Minnesota Twins ’
Bruce Chen: Social Scientist
By Jeff Sullivan @ Baseball Nation
During a start against the Twins on Sunday, Royals pitcher Bruce Chen threw over to first ten times in a single at-bat. There’s really only one reason he would do this.
You probably didn’t watch the Kansas City Royals play the Minnesota Twins on Sunday. The starting pitchers were Bruce Chen and Jason Marquis, and the two teams entered with a combined eleven wins. Even if you are a big Royals or Twins fan, you might’ve had other plans. You probably aren’t a big Royals or Twins fan.
The Twins wound up defeating the Royals 7-4, as Josh Willingham and Danny Valencia each chipped in with three hits. But perhaps the most memorable part of the game occurred early in the bottom of the first. Denard Span led off against Chen for the Twins, and he drew a five-pitch walk. That brought Jamey Carroll to the plate, and this image can tell you everything you need to know about the subsequent proceedings:
Bruce Chen threw over to first base ten times while Carroll was batting. If you don’t believe me, you can watch it all unfold right here with your very own eyes, but I implore you to believe me. I didn’t photoshop that image above, because that would be an incredible waste of my time. And I’ve watched the whole sequence four times now. All four times, I didn’t know why I was doing it. You don’t need to watch Bruce Chen throw over to first base ten times to know what it’s like to experience watching Bruce Chen throw over to first base ten times.
Chen threw six pitches to Carroll before Carroll singled. Ordinarily, with a runner on base, we would expect that plate appearance to last just around two minutes. According to MLB.tv, Chen came set prior to his first pick-off attempt at 19:57. Chen threw his sixth and final pitch at 24:50. That was five minutes of Bruce Chen standing on the mound and Jamey Carroll standing beside home plate with Denard Span sometimes on and sometimes just off of first base.
Why would Chen throw over so much, especially so early in the game? Maybe it’s not a complete shock – Chen is the American League leader in pick-off attempts this season. But then, that 31 total includes his ten from Sunday, so that’s clearly inflated. Of note: Josh Johnson is the National League leader in pick-off attempts this season, with 44. Also of note: They record the number of pick-off attempts! I had literally never seen a pick-off attempt leaderboard before in my life.
In theory, Chen would throw over to first base like that because he was threatened and wanted to keep Denard Span close. Denard Span is quick, having stolen 26 bases in 2010. But then Denard Span stole six bases in 2011, and perhaps more significantly, here’s Denard Span’s lead following Chen’s first pick-off attempt:
Here’s Denard Span’s lead following Chen’s last pick-off attempt:
It’s the exact same lead. The exact same lead. Chen looks different in the pictures. The first-base coach looks different in the pictures. Eric Hosmer looks different in the pictures. Denard Span looks the exact same. Same distance off first, same stance. Bruce Chen wasn’t keeping Denard Span closer.
Perhaps the answer is revealed in the ramblings of the Kansas City TV broadcast during the at-bat. Following, a chronological selection of quotes while Span was on first base:
Bruce has a pretty good move over to first base – not an outstanding move, you would call.
Throwing over to first base like that might annoy the fans, but really, Bruce could care less about the fans.
And what he will do at times is convince the runner at first base, okay, he won’t throw over here again and the runner will go on first movement.
I think he gets curious to see how loud the boos will get. “Oh you didn’t like that throw over to first? How about this one?”
Bruce Chen – he chews his gum confidently.
I don’t hold the last one against the broadcast because by that point I had also lost my mind. But consider the penultimate one. Fans boo pick-off moves. Fans hate pick-off moves. They’ll tolerate it when it’s their own pitcher, but they’ll boo visitor pick-off moves like they’d boo Bryce Harper. Every time Bruce Chen threw over to first, the Target Field fans booed a little bit louder. In time the boos started to cascade down from every section of the ballpark. Chen received a Bronx cheer when he threw a pitch to the plate.
The best explanation I’ve got is that Bruce Chen was curious. He knows all about the Minnesota stereotype, so he thought he’d put it to the test, entertainment value of the baseball game be damned. Bruce Chen was experimenting. Which could be an isolated instance, or which could signal the beginning of an uncomfortable era. For years, fans have been going to baseball games to observe baseball players. If baseball players start going to baseball games in part to observe the fans, then shit’s gonna get awful meta, awful quick.
It’s A Make Or Break Year For Francisco Liriano
By Steve Adams
In 2006, Baseball America’s sixth-ranked prospect took the American League by storm after the Twins moved him from the bullpen into the rotation. Francisco Liriano was every bit as dominant as fellow ace Johan Santana, and Minnesota looked to have a pair of dynamic left-handers that would be as formidable as any one-two punch in baseball.
Tommy John surgery that summer derailed that tandem, and set Liriano on the shelf for the entirety of the 2007 season. After 118 innings of work at Triple-A in 2008, Liriano rejoined the Twins‘ rotation to mixed success, and his dreadful 2009 was forgettable, to put it lightly (5.80 ERA in 136 2/3 innings).
Liriano exploded in 2010 to show that he wasn’t done yet, though, winning the American League Comeback Player of the Year Award with 191 2/3 innings of 3.62 ERA ball. As is often the case, the ERA didn’t tell the whole tale.
Fangraphs pegged Liriano’s worth at a whopping six wins above replacement. He struck out 9.4 hitters per nine innings pitched, while walking just 2.7 per nine. His SIERA was 3.02, while FIP liked him for a full run lower than his ERA — 2.66.
Those days seem like a distant memory however, following yet another disappointing season in 2011.
Liriano avoided arbitration this winter by settling on a one-year deal worth $5.5MM. After a fantastic Spring Training in which he posted a 33:5 K:BB ratio in 27 innings while featuring a fastball above 93mph, Liriano is looking like his 2011 self.
His first two starts have left him with an ERA of 10.00, and he’s walked five hitters in nine innings while striking out just six. There’s certainly time to turn it around, but it’s in his best financial interest to do so sooner rather than later.
Liriano is a free agent following this season, and while he has the talent to be one of the game’s most dominant southpaws, his consistency will limit his free agent earnings. A return to his 2010 ways would be enough to entice suitors to pony up on a multi-year deal, perhaps similar to the three-year, $32MM deal signed by Jorge De La Rosa following the 2010 season.
With enough interested parties, larger offers wouldn’t be out of the question for a 29-year-old lefty with ace-caliber stuff.
A repeat of his 2011 numbers, however, would likely relegate Liriano to a one-year deal in which he’d be seeking to prove that he can still pitch at this level. The next six months could very well mean tens of millions of dollars to the enigmatic lefty.
Photo courtesy of Kyle Terada/US Presswire.
Dear Pat Neshek…
Pat Neshek has spent his big league career with the Minnesota Twins and San Diego Padres. Other than a stellar 2007 season he has pretty much flown under the average baseball fan’s radar.
But for those of us who pounce on every piece of baseball related news like a fat kid does the last jelly doughnut, the guy has been a steady source of some funny stuff.
Gotta love fans like these haha.
