Angels vs. Twins - 4/17/09

Pitching Probables

Friday

 

Twins: N. Blackburn(RHP) - 5.73 ERA, 11 IP, 14 H, 2 K, 4 BB, 1 HR

·        Two strikeouts in eleven innings?  Two?!?  That's the kind of statistic that makes baseball statisticians' heads throb - or take smug satisfaction in a 5.73 ERA. 

·        But Blackburn has never been a strikeout pitcher and in both games he pitched well enough to win. 

·        Maybe most importantly, the knee surgery that limited him in spring training hasn't seemed to be an issue. 

 

Angels: D. Moseley(RHP) - 3.86 ERA, 11.2 IP, 15 H, 7 K, 2 BB, 2 HR

·        Moseley has been on the fringe of the Angels rotation for the last few years, and has the sort of 5^th pitcher/long reliever stats that you would expect.  He's trying to bounce back from a disappointing 2008 where he battled injuries that affected his performance in the majors and at AAA.

·        Besides his fastball, he mostly relies on his curve versus right-handers and his changeup against left-handers.  When he gets behind in the count and needs to throw a strike, he'll rely on his fastball more. 

·        No Twin has faced him more than twice.  Michael Cuddyer is 2 for 2 with a double against him. 

 

Saturday

 

Twins: Kevin Slowey(RHP) - 7.94 ERA, 11.1 IP, 22 H, 7 K, 1 BB, 4 HR

·        What's wrong with Slowey?  Everyone, including Slowey, wishes they knew.  After his first start, he and the coaching staff thought he was trying too hard to dominate.  After his second outing, manager Ron Gardenhire suggested maybe his offspeed pitches weren't slow enough.  And Slowey said he wanted to compare tapes from his two regular season starts to the success he had in spring training.  We'll see if they figured anything out. 

·        What we do know is that the ERA isn't an aberration or cheap runs.  Slowey gave up a hit an inning last year, and he's doubling that this year.

·        Most Angels don't have many hits against Slowey, but three have hit home runs against him - Bobby Abreu, Howie Kendrick and Gary Matthews Jr. 

 

Angels: Darren Oliver(LHP) - 2.45 ERA, 3.2 IP, 3 H, 4 K, 1 BB, 0 HR

·        Oliver is a veteran reliever who is going to be asked to make a couple of spot starts to replace deceased rookie pitcher Nick Adenhart, who was killed last week by a drunk driver hours after his first start of the year. 

·        He's a 38-year-old left-hander, and the Angels will likely need to go to their bullpen fairly early due to his pitch count.  That's not necessarily good news, as manager Mike Sciosia has traditionally done a great job stocking his bullpen.

·        Throws a fastball, curve and slider, and only the occasional changeup.

·        Lots of Twins have a little experience against Oliver, but nobody has more than 2 hits against him over their career. 

 

Sunday

 

 

Twins: Glen Perkins(LHP) - 1.69 ERA, 16 IP, 12 H, 8 K, 3 BB, 0 HR

·        Perkins has been the best Twins starter this year, bar none.  In fact, through 4/14 he's the only pitcher with a quality start (he has two) and has pitched through the eighth inning in both of his starts.

·        In nine plate appearances against Perkins, Bobby Abreu has four hits, two walks and a triple.  But he's the only Angel with more than one career hit against him. 

 

Angels: Shane Loux(RHP) - 3.38 ERA, 5.1 IP, 5 H, 2 K, 3 BB, 0 HR

·        The 29-year-old has spent most of his time the last few years in AAA, but was called up for some starts last year.  He is being relied upon early this year as the Angels try to patch together a rotation to deal with Adenhart's death and injuries to John Lackey and Ervin Santana.

·        He mostly relies on his fastball and slider.

·        He faced the Twins once last year, but it was in relief of Joe Saunders in a 9-0 Twins win.  Loux gave up three runs over 3.2 innings including a home run to Denard Span.