It was an ugly first half.
Mericfully for manager Ron Gardenhire, it is over.
Minnesota actually heads in to the unofficial halfway point of the season on a good note, having taken a series in New York for the first time in recent memory. The Twins were 9-35 at Yankee Stadium under Gardy.
While two out of three from New York is encouraging, it doesn’t cover up the recent failures of the lineup that led to Chris Parmalee, Eduardo Escobar, and Oswaldo Arcia being sent to AAA after the game Sunday.
The move was shocking to Parmalee, who entered the season expected to give Minnesota a solid presence in right field. Perhaps more shocking is seeing Arcia go to Rochester, who as recently as late June, was gaining steam in AL Rookie of the Year talk.
That talk quickly halted with his recent run of staggeringly bad plate appearances. He’s 0-18 in his last four games with 12 strikeouts, and a mind-blowing seven straight at-bats with a K.
Gardy stated: “It’s about getting these kids right, because they’re our future and they need at-bats.”
The flurry of moves leaves the Twins short on reliable outfielders, a move that looks like it may be addressed when Minnesota announces who else will be joining catcher Chris Herrmann and infielder Doug Bernier as callups to replace the three struggling ex-major leaguers. Chris Colabello is expected to be the man, he was 2-16 at the plate earlier this year in a brief stint with the Twins, but has torn up Rochester and is scheduled to play in the AAA All-Star Game this Wednesday.
Still, lots of questions about how this lineup will look when the Twins resume play Friday against the Indians, a second half that could see a few roster contenders play themselves out of, or into a 2014 future with Minnesota.
Speaking of the future, it was on display in a big way yesterday at Citi Field, the home of the 2013 MLB All-Star Futures Game.Byron Buxton and Miguel Sano went a combined 0-4, but were on the diamond together for the first time professionally, and that’s a pleasant reminder that help is on the way.
The future bright, but the past continues to haunt Minnesota. Tomorrow’s All-Star Game will be yet another bitter realization of what the Twins had, with seven former members of the club representing their respective leagues, headlined by Michael Cuddyer.
Here’s one of his memorable Twins moments:
Those were good times.
Plenty going on in the Twins world, but the next four days are notorious for being some of the slowest of the sports year. So enjoy these to pass some time, absolute classics from the Twins last division title in 2010. Friday will be here in no time.
