April 24, 2018

Twins vs. Yanks: You know the result

I’m not in the mood to waste a lot of ink on the Evil Empire this week. The Twins fell to 8-9 on Monday and Jake Odorizzi took the loss. He did not pitch well, throwing 106 pitches in four-plus innings. He gave up five earned runs, three walks and two home runs. And it only got worse from there.

Monday’s game made me realize this: It is time for the Twins’ free agents — those players they signed in the offseason, including Odorizzi — to step up and start playing like the athletes they are supposed to be. Right now, none of those players are earning their keep, except for Addison Reed.

Here’s how they have performed so far this season:

-Odorizzi: 1-2, 4.50 ERA, 24 strikeouts and 14 walks in 26 innings pitched.

-Lance Lynn: 0-1, 6.00 ERA, 19 strikeouts and 15 walks in 15 innings pitched.

-Fernando Rodney: 1-1, 4.05 ERA, two saves in four save situations.

-Addison Reed: 0-1, 2.45 ERA, three earned runs, 11 strikeouts in 11 innings pitched.

-Zach Duke: 1-1, 7.94 ERA, five earned runs in five-plus innings pitched.

-Logan Morrison: .107 batting average, one home run, three RBI and 15 strikeouts in 15 games.

Get it together, guys. This team needs you.

Extra innings…

-Brian Dozier singled in the fifth inning to extend his hit streak to 17 games this season; 24, if you include last season.

COMMENTS

Hi, I’m Rolf Boone, Twins fan.

I became a fan of the Minnesota Twins after a friendly wager in the early 1980s. I survived Ron Davis, the meltdown in Cleveland, Phil Bradley at the Kingdome and then marveled at a rising generation of stars and two World Series wins in 1987 and 1991. Brad Radke made the 1990s bearable, while Kirby Puckett’s eye injury, exit from the game and eventual death made it almost too much to bear. The new century ushered in more talent — Joe Mauer, Johan Santana, Joe Nathan, Torii Hunter, Justin Morneau — and consecutive seasons of playoff baseball, followed by consecutive seasons of losing baseball. A winning season returned in 2015. So here we are. Go Twins.