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July 5, 2010

What were once virtues are now vices

By Ed Thoma Free Press Staff Writer

— Jim Leyland recently offered this evaluation of the Twins:



Everyone talks about the Twins being a pitching and defense team, but the Twins are an offensive team, that’s what they are. I mean, they’re a very good defensive team — don’t misunderstand what I’m saying — and they pitch very well. A lot of people talk about that. But the fact of the matter, to me, is that the Twins are a slugging team. They’re an offensive machine.



The Detroit manager is perhaps a bit over kind about the defense and the pitching, but that’s to be expected. No professional manager is going to talk for publication about the flaws of his opponent, and in Leyland’s case, he’s got to watch Magglio Ordonez and/or Johnny Damon in his outfield.

But the Twins’ current mania for playing Michael Cuddyer at third base is yet another nail in the coffin of the Kelly Virtues, and that is a mixed blessing.

The Kelly Virtues defined: The Twins, under longtime manager Tom Kelly, prized batting averages over power, detested strikeouts and demanded mobile, adept defensive players. Kelly’s hitters were expected to swing at, and put in play, fast ball strikes; this limited both strikeout and walks. TK usually had two legitimate center fielders, one of them a chronic Gold Glove winner, in his outfield.  

Those defensive attributes, in turn, fit a pitching staff that didn’t compile lots of strikeouts but also avoided the base on balls.

Ron Gardenhire inherited a Kelly Virtues team, but as the roster has turned over, those attributes, at least among the position players, have dimmed.

The pitching staff, on the other hand, not so much. The Twins still throw strikes like no other team in the game — they not only lead the league in fewest walks allowed, everybody in the AL has issued at least 50 walks more. And they’re still, despite Francisco Liriano, below average in strikeouts. The Kelly Virtures still hold sway on the mound.

But that defense sure isn’t what it used to be. The lineups on Saturday and Sunday — with J.J. Hardy back at shortstop, Cuddyer at third, and Delmon Young and Jason Kubel in the outfield corners — featured one player with above average speed.

The Twins hit three home runs Saturday. And when Liriano and his strikeouts left the game and a deep fly was dropped (officially ruled a double, but a ball that should have been caught), the bullpen fell apart.

This is a Yankees-type lineup. The bats are stacked top to bottom; Hardy hit ninth both days, and he has two 20-plus home run seasons on his resume.

But the Yankees supplement that with strikeout pitchers. The Twins’ shift to a slugging lineup, slower and less adept in the field, adds stress on their pitchers and accentuates their weaknesses.



Edward Thoma is a Free Press staff writer. He is at 344-6377 or at ethoma@mankatofreepress.com. He also has a baseball blog.

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