Last Tuesday I spent some time speculating on how I thought the Twins 2011 opening day bullpen would shape up. Having lost much of the 2010 relief corps to free agency, the state of that bullpen is certainly one of the biggest issues facing the 2011 Twins as they attempt to defend their AL Central title. In that post I speculated that former setup man Pat Neshek would once again be a part of the Twins plans, at least to open the season.
Turns out I'm going to have to rethink that.
Showing posts with label Pat Neshek. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pat Neshek. Show all posts
Monday, March 21, 2011
Monday, March 14, 2011
Prospect Profile: Louis Coleman
Profile: RHP - 6'4" - 200lbs -BT:R - TH:R - 2011 Age: 25
Repertoire:
• FB 91-93: Plays up in bullpen after being 88-90 in rotation, lacks movement, very tough on righties. (45-60)
• SL 80-82: Good rotation and tilt, needs to be more consistent, very tough on righties. (60-60)
• CH 82-84: Improving. Could still use better arm-action and differential. (40-55)
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Nick Blackburn Dealing With Shoulder Pain
After exiting yesterday's 6-5 Twins win in the 5th inning with the score tied and just 76 pitches thrown, Twins starter Nick Blackburn told pitching coach Rick Anderson that his shoulder was hurting too much to go out again. Blackburn missed time this spring with knee soreness issues that he's been battling for the past couple seasons.
The Twins faced a litany of injuries to their starting staff in 2009 with Scott Baker, Kevin Slowey, Glen Perkins, and Francisco Liriano all missing a fair number of starts. Losing Blackburn who has been a rotation stalwart would certainly hurt. While the Twins could move Brian Duensing into the rotation if Blackburn indeed did need a trip to the DL, it would further exaserbate the issues their bullpen is currently facing.
Just today the Twins officially placed Jose Mijares on the 15 day disabled list where he'll join Clay Condrey and Joe Nathan. Pat Neshek could be headed there soon as well if the cortisone shot he received can't stop the pain in his middle finger. The Twins played with just five relievers today, but rookie Alex Burnett should be up by today to add depth. Burnett was demoted just a couple days ago after a pair of strong outings.
According to Star Tribune reporter Kelsie Smith;
"The starter said he deals with this particular shoulder pain often, that it comes and goes and that team doctors told him it is not concerning."
I've certainly never heard of it, and I don't recall it ever knocking him out of a game in the past. So saying that he deals with it all the time strikes me as disingenuous at best. Clearly this is something beyond the norm and could account for why Blackburn, a ground ball pitcher throughout his career has already given up six home runs in just three outings.
It's not quite time to push the panic button in Minnesota yet, but if Blackburn misses any serious amount of time, it might be. They're certainly having their depth tested early.
The Twins faced a litany of injuries to their starting staff in 2009 with Scott Baker, Kevin Slowey, Glen Perkins, and Francisco Liriano all missing a fair number of starts. Losing Blackburn who has been a rotation stalwart would certainly hurt. While the Twins could move Brian Duensing into the rotation if Blackburn indeed did need a trip to the DL, it would further exaserbate the issues their bullpen is currently facing.
Just today the Twins officially placed Jose Mijares on the 15 day disabled list where he'll join Clay Condrey and Joe Nathan. Pat Neshek could be headed there soon as well if the cortisone shot he received can't stop the pain in his middle finger. The Twins played with just five relievers today, but rookie Alex Burnett should be up by today to add depth. Burnett was demoted just a couple days ago after a pair of strong outings.
According to Star Tribune reporter Kelsie Smith;
"The starter said he deals with this particular shoulder pain often, that it comes and goes and that team doctors told him it is not concerning."
I've certainly never heard of it, and I don't recall it ever knocking him out of a game in the past. So saying that he deals with it all the time strikes me as disingenuous at best. Clearly this is something beyond the norm and could account for why Blackburn, a ground ball pitcher throughout his career has already given up six home runs in just three outings.
It's not quite time to push the panic button in Minnesota yet, but if Blackburn misses any serious amount of time, it might be. They're certainly having their depth tested early.
Friday, April 16, 2010
Twins relief corps could take two more hits.
First the Twins star closer, Joe Nathan succumbed to Tommy John surgery and will miss all of 2010. Then newly signed middle reliever Clay Condrey went down with a sore shoulder.
Now it appears that two more Twins relievers could be headed for the DL. First, Pat Neshek who is on the comeback trail as is, and who has been perfect so far this year, could be headed to the DL with a strained flexor tendon in the middle finger of his pitching hand. Neshek reported the injury after pitching two innings of shut out baseball in relief of Kevin Slowey during the Twins Wednesday loss to the Red Sox.
Second, Jose Mijares could be headed to the DL with a, 'sore elbow.' Followers of this site know that I tend to equate, 'sore elbow,' with, 'will be having season ending Tommy John surgery.' While Mijares has been a train wreck so far this year (something the injury certainly may account for) he was an integral part of the Twins bullpen in 2009.
With Nathan lost for the season, the Twins were relying on Neshek, who for a year and a half was a dominant setup man, and Mijares, who pitched very well last year, to add much needed depth to the bullpen. While Neshek's injury should be relatively short-term, you worry about it affecting his breaking ball. Mijares' situation of course could be far worse and if so, it would serve as a second major blow to the Twins bullpen.
Thankfully to say, the Twins have a trio of solid arms to call upon in the meantime should they be needed. Alex Burnett was recently sent down for veteran Ron Mahay, who was called up after a brief minor league stint and Manager Ron Gardenhire had high praise for him as he left. Also available are Rob Delaney and Anthony Slama. Slama in particular had a very impressive spring training.
Now it appears that two more Twins relievers could be headed for the DL. First, Pat Neshek who is on the comeback trail as is, and who has been perfect so far this year, could be headed to the DL with a strained flexor tendon in the middle finger of his pitching hand. Neshek reported the injury after pitching two innings of shut out baseball in relief of Kevin Slowey during the Twins Wednesday loss to the Red Sox.
Second, Jose Mijares could be headed to the DL with a, 'sore elbow.' Followers of this site know that I tend to equate, 'sore elbow,' with, 'will be having season ending Tommy John surgery.' While Mijares has been a train wreck so far this year (something the injury certainly may account for) he was an integral part of the Twins bullpen in 2009.
With Nathan lost for the season, the Twins were relying on Neshek, who for a year and a half was a dominant setup man, and Mijares, who pitched very well last year, to add much needed depth to the bullpen. While Neshek's injury should be relatively short-term, you worry about it affecting his breaking ball. Mijares' situation of course could be far worse and if so, it would serve as a second major blow to the Twins bullpen.
Thankfully to say, the Twins have a trio of solid arms to call upon in the meantime should they be needed. Alex Burnett was recently sent down for veteran Ron Mahay, who was called up after a brief minor league stint and Manager Ron Gardenhire had high praise for him as he left. Also available are Rob Delaney and Anthony Slama. Slama in particular had a very impressive spring training.
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Ruach will open season as Twins closer
Given Manager Ron Gardenhire's historic adherence to bullpen roles, the fact that he's finally pegged a closer for his team shouldn't come as a surprise. Nor should it come as a surprise that the man pegged to do that job is Jon Rauch.
Rauch is the only pitcher on the Twins with any closing experience to speak of, and given how established the other relievers are with their roles, this was only logical. Rauch was brought in last season to help lighten the load for over-worked Matt Gurrier and performed admirably. However, with former setup man Pat Neshek back after Tommy John surgery, Rauch was freed to move into the closers position. With Guerrier having excelled for the past couple years as Joe Nathan's primary setup man, Jose Mijares performing nicely as a left handed specialist, and Jesse Crain having been the 7th inning guy the past couple years, everything else was already in place.
None of this should lead anyone to believe that those roles couldn't change quickly of course. Rauch hasn't had much success in his limited time as a closer, and should he struggle, I wouldn't be surprised in the least to see Gardenhire turn to Guerrier. If that doesn't work, perhaps Crain would be given the opportunity.
The closer-by-committee adventure was nice while it lasted (two days was it?) but alas, it was never really meant to be. Fantasy owners, take note.
Rauch is the only pitcher on the Twins with any closing experience to speak of, and given how established the other relievers are with their roles, this was only logical. Rauch was brought in last season to help lighten the load for over-worked Matt Gurrier and performed admirably. However, with former setup man Pat Neshek back after Tommy John surgery, Rauch was freed to move into the closers position. With Guerrier having excelled for the past couple years as Joe Nathan's primary setup man, Jose Mijares performing nicely as a left handed specialist, and Jesse Crain having been the 7th inning guy the past couple years, everything else was already in place.
None of this should lead anyone to believe that those roles couldn't change quickly of course. Rauch hasn't had much success in his limited time as a closer, and should he struggle, I wouldn't be surprised in the least to see Gardenhire turn to Guerrier. If that doesn't work, perhaps Crain would be given the opportunity.
The closer-by-committee adventure was nice while it lasted (two days was it?) but alas, it was never really meant to be. Fantasy owners, take note.
Friday, April 2, 2010
Twins Reliever Neshek Shelled
In the Twins first game at their new stadium there was some good - Denard Span - and some back. In this case the bad was reliever Pat Neshek who is on the comeback trail getting hammered by the Cardinals. Neshek came on in relief of Carl Pavano, got one out, and then got pasted, allowing four hits and a pair of walks without recording an out.
I was watching the game Neshek's velocity pre-surgery was around 90-91. Today he was coming in at 87 his fastball was flat and he ran it right over the plate time and again to the familiar crack of a ball getting waxed. We can say it was spring training, but realistically, Neshek is still quite a ways from being, "back."
I was watching the game Neshek's velocity pre-surgery was around 90-91. Today he was coming in at 87 his fastball was flat and he ran it right over the plate time and again to the familiar crack of a ball getting waxed. We can say it was spring training, but realistically, Neshek is still quite a ways from being, "back."
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