I’m not sure if anyone is buying the Minnesota Twins as a contender, but they’ve found a way to hang into 1st place in the A.L. Central through about 60 games. Minnesota has a 1 1/2 game lead over the Cleveland Indians going into today’s action. How are the Twins doing it?
It seems as though the Twins get a win every time Ervin Santana pitches. Santana is 8-3 through 13 starts with 10 of those starts being quality starts. Santana has pitched 90 innings with an E.R.A. of 2.20 and already has 3 complete game shutouts this season. Santana is coming off of a 4 hit complete game shutout of the San Francisco Giants last night.
The rest of the Twins rotation has struggled this season with the exception of Jose Berrios, but he’s only made 5 starts. You have to wonder if Santana can continue to pitch at this level all season long and it looks as though the Twins will need him to if they want to stay at the top or close to the top of the A.L. Central.
Now Santana was expected to be a top of the rotation starter when he came up with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim; so maybe he’s just reaching the potential everyone thought he would.
Another Twins player who appears to be establishing himself as a top player in the A.L. is Miguel Sano. Sani is Minnesota’s top offensive threat hitting .301 with 15 home runs and 46 RBI’s. Sano is the Twins leader in those three offensive categories. Sano is also the team leader in runs scored with 38 and has 9 doubles and 2 triples this season. Sano has struck out 84 times in the 54 games he’s played in, but no one cares how many times a player strikes out.
One of the bigger knocks on Sano was his defense and what position he’d end up playing. He spent some time in the outfield last season, but has moved back to 3rd base for this season. Sano has made 4 errors this season and has a fielding percentage of .963. That puts him 12th among all 3rd baseman and it’s good for 6th in the American League.
Sano is going to need some help on offense. Joe Mauer is hitting a solid .284, but has just 4 home runs. Brian Dozier is providing some power with 9 home runs, but is hitting .242 and it seems as thought top prospect Byron Buxton just can’t hit major league pitching. Buxton is a gold glove caliber defender in centerfield, but he’s hitting just .199 in the 54 games he’s played.
I don’t think anyone expects the Twins to stay in contention for the division title or even a wild card spot, but it’s fun to see the teams you don’t expect to do well play above their expectations.
On the Thursday edition of Sports Time Radio Dan the Man and I where discussing what the problems where with the St. Luis Cardinals. Apparently the Cardinals thought they had some issues as well as they made quite a few changes before Fridays game against the Philadelphia Phillies. A game they did win 3-2 to break their 7 game losing streak.
St. Louis designated 3rd baseman/Shortstop Jhonny Peralta for assignment. Which means they now have 10 days to trade or release Peralta. There where also quite a few coaching changes for St. Louis. 3rd base coach Chris Maloney has been reassigned within the organization. Mike Shildt will take over for Maloney. In addition, assistant hitting coach Bill Mueller will take a leave of absence, and Ron “Pop” Warner and Mark Budaska have been reassigned from the minor leagues to the coaching staff.
The Cardinals activated 2nd baseman Kolten Wong from the disabled list before Friday nights game. Wong started against the Phillies last night going 1 for 2 with a walk after missing 13 games with a left elbow strain.
Peralta was in the final year of his contract with St. Louis. Peralta signed a 4 year $53 million dollar deal with the Cardinals back in 2014. Injuries limited Peralta to 82 games last season and he has only appeared in 21 games for the Cardinals this season. Peralta was hitting .204.
The Cardinals are 27-32 after last nights win and find themselves 4 1/2 games behind the N.L. Central leading Milwaukee Brewers coming into Saturday’s games. Do you think these changes will help the Cardinals?
Before yesterday’s Cleveland Indians/Chicago White Sox game the Indians had scheduled former Ohio State football player and Bedford Ohio native safety Tyvis Powell to throw out the first pitch. Powell was with the Seattle Seahawks during the 2016 season and appeared in 8 games for them before the Browns claimed him off of waivers.
In am odd turn of events the Browns ended up waving Powell just hours before he was schedule to throw out the first pitch at the Indians game. The Browns say they were not aware that Powell was scheduled to throw out the first pitch until after the roster move was made.
Powell still supported a Buckeyes group event and threw out the first pitch at Friday night’s game once a rain delay was lifted. The Indians went on to beat the White Sox 7-3 in the game.
We’re just a win away from possibly crowning champions in both the NHL and the NBA; so I guess that means it’s time to look forward to the NFL. Now the Golden Nugget Casino really jumped into this as they listed the odds for all 256 potential Super Bowl match ups.
The best odds right now have the New England Patriots facing the Dallas Cowboys at 7 to 1. At 8 to 1 you can get the Patriots against the Green Bay Packers. If you’re interested in seeing a Super Bowl rematch you can bet the Patriots against the Atlanta Falcons at 10 to 1. Now maybe you like the long shot and if you do you can bet that the New York Jets will face off against the San Francisco 49ers in the Super Bowl at 5000 to 1. That is roughly equivalent to what some sportsbooks set the odds that Leicester City would win the Champions League in 2015-2016.
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