A Few Good Notes: Hot and Cold,The Deadline, Blyleven, and Make A Wish

• Yesterday, on the hottest day of the summer, the Twins were swept in a day night doubleheader by, the team they are chasing in the standings, the Cleveland Indians. They lost game one 5-2, and they lost game two 6-2. Both games had acceptable starting performances from Anthony Swarzak and Scott Diamond. But it was too bad that the offense picked an awful time to go completely ice cold.
• Perhaps the only bright spot from yesterday's doubleheader, was watching Joe Mauer raise his average from .260 to .290 by going 6 for 8 (3-4 in each game). And if you got the chance to watch the first game at all, Mauer looked just as impressive at playing first base as he did at the plate making two diving stops. It was very refreshing watching Mauer play at that high caliber once again.
  
• Yesterday, Sports Illustrated's Jon Heyman tweeted that the San Francisco Giants have some interest in Twins OF Michael Cuddyer, but that the Twins are unlikely to sell now given the fact they are still in the race. Even if the Twins have a fall off in the next week in a half, I would be very surprised to see Cuddyer traded. And in fact, given how valuable Cuddy has been for the Twins this year, I would think Cuddyer would return to the Twins next year as well.
  
• I've said this before, but if the Twins wish to remain in contention, they need to fix their bullpen. They need to acquire at least two solid righty relievers before the July 31st deadline, if not sooner. And now all of a sudden, we are talking about Jon Rauch having a second stint in a Twins uniform. The only solid arms in the bullpen right now are Glen Perkins and closer Joe Nathan. So obviously, two more right handed arms would be greatly appreciated.
• On Saturday, the Twins retired Bert Blyleven's #28. He became the first Twins pitcher to have his number retired. And coming up on Sunday, he will be enshrined in Cooperstown. This has been a long, overdue series of events for Bert. He is one of the best pitchers to ever don a Twins uniform, and he is one of the best pitchers to take the mound, period. The last Twin inducted into Cooperstown was Kirby Puckett, who was inducted 10 years ago (2001), along with former Twin Dave Winfield.
  
• This week, SportsCenter is doing their annual My Wish series. And on yesterday's show, the Minnesota Twins were the featured team. This is a great video to watch and I encourage you to do so here.
  

Second Half Improvements

Tonight, the Twins open up their second half of the 2011 season. They stand with a 41-48 record (this after a 17-37 start) and sit just 6.5 games behind the Detroit Tigers. The Twins also have a huge advantage by playing the first 12 games of the second half at Target Field, and against divisional foes. You may recall in my previous post, I mentioned the time for the Twins is now.

Despite the recent success of the Twins, there are still several weak points in this team moving forward. Most of these holes will be filled once players start returning from the disabled list. Key players like Denard Span, Justin Morneau, and Jason Kubel still sit on the DL (Although, sounds like Span could be back at the end of this homestand).

But if the Twins wish to remain in contention, they need to fix their bullpen. Right now, the Twins bullpen consists of Alex Burnett (6.75 ERA), Anthony Swarzak (3.38 ERA), Phil Dumatrait (5.71 ERA), Jose Mijares (5.49 ERA), Glen Perkins (1.87 ERA), Joe Nathan (5.82 ERA, 1.42 ERA since return from DL), and Matt Capps (4.42 ERA). And right now, the only ones you can truly trust are Perkins and Nathan.

So the Twins have two options here. Try and fix the bullpen using players in the system, or acquire some solid relievers before the July 31st trade deadline. There aren't many options with the promote from within plan. Chuck James was fairly successful in his brief stint with the Twins in June, but since his return to AAA his command has not been great (4 BB in 5 IP). The Twins could also try Kevin Slowey, Scott Diamond, Eric Hacker, or Kyle Waldrop but none of them have pitched well at AAA, so it doesnt make sense to bring them up (For those wondering Anthony Slama is on the DL right now, but he could be an option when he returns).

So clearly, this will have to be a fix from outside the organization. And in the previous two seasons, Bill Smith has made moves that did benefit the Twins down the stretch (O. Cabrera, Pavano, Rauch-09, Capps-10). So I do have confidence in him to bring in some bullpen help via trades.

The Starting pitching will be fine going forward, and the timely hitting will be fine as well assuming those key players start returning soon. The bullpen is what the Twins need to improve upon heading towards the end of July. Because lets face it, a bullpen featuring Burnett, Dumatrait, and Mijares as middle relief, won't get you very far. So lets hope it gets improved. Because the Twins season could depend on it.