Left Field

[Duffman]

Nice game winning hit Delmon. .... mvp.... mvp...

[PierBridge]

Yeah its Gardys fault he "delmon" would probably be a gold glove right fielder if Gardy didn't move him to left-field."rolling eye's/Sarcasm"

Anywoo it is what it is as long as his bat wins more game then his glove loses for us we'll be alright.

Problem is at 25 years old as much as we all would want to move him to DH you can't do it becaue it will effect his attitude/physiological make up and more importantly it will P_EEE his AGENT off to no end!!

Good clutch hit to bail us/himself out and a huge win!

[SledNeck]

I love it!

[Mudcutter]

that be me. KG made it too the CONF Finals and lost.(2004) Was not a young a player,, nor old,,, and his playoff record minus 2004 was horrible. Being that 5 players (in reality like 3-4) decide a game of BB for you,, he should have been traded THEN. We got nothing for him. Comparing KG's situation to M/M is a straw man arguement. First off,, Mauer and Morneau take 2/9 of the AB's in a baseball game (actually less in most games with a PH),, where KG was probaly taking close to 4/9 of the shots or more towards crunch time. DEF is a wash. age also plays into it,, where KG WAS CLEARLY ON THE DOWNFALL after 2004,, for those that have eyes to see and ears to hear. M/M being a top notch catcher/1B adds to the mix with potential for better years,, while KG was in a death spiral stat wise after 04. Cuddy is a different deal,, I actually like the dude ,, just don't think he's clutch player,, alot like KG in his days with the Wolves. Misses alot of opportunity in the clutch. Not saying trade Cuddy with the same drive as I did KG after the 2004 season,, but the dude is not worth what he makes,, at least as a hitter,,, thou his play of many POS is a strong +. Too many GIDP. led the league the last time I looked, alot like missing FT's in clutch playoff games.

[solbes]

I would say that play was not routine as I've heard it described, but it should not have been that difficult. Very catchable. I would place the blame on Delmon instead of Capps.

He did redeem himself in the 13th (just after I gave up and went to bed) so I guess all is well with Delmon. Too bad for Baker though, he pitched his heart out last night against a very tough matchup and team.

[10,000 Casts]

I hope he isn't falling into a little slump at the plate. 3 for 15 in the rays series with 3 strikeouts last night.. And he looked pretty bad on those strikeouts.

[dfv87]

Delmon will be fine. He is pressing against the Rays to "show them" I think, but getting the rest of the guys healthy is a key for us now.

BAker looked good and Valencia again looks like a ML 3rd baseman (defensively). He needs to mature/discipline at the plate more, alot like Delmon...

[soldoncass]

Capps pitched good.....gotta get good defense behind you to win the close ones.

Young "shoulda" caught it....but Span missed a couple "shoulda" ones too. I wondered about the background on all those missed catches.....lights? liners with "knuckleball" action? usually aren't that many in one game.

Valentia is looking better defensively all the time....and offense isn't bad either.

[Duffman]

Capps pitched good.....gotta get good defense behind you to win the close ones.

Young "shoulda" caught it....but Span missed a couple "shoulda" ones too. I wondered about the background on all those missed catches.....lights? liners with "knuckleball" action? usually aren't that many in one game.

It sure seems that the "lights" at many ballfields are affecting outfield play more these days, at least it's more noticable to me. Delmon should've of caught it, but it did look to me like the lights came into play at the last second on that play.

[PierBridge]

It's not so much he should have made the catch which he should have but if you are not for sure going to catch it you have to keep it in front of you and hold the tying run in the 9th inning to first base.

We need Morneau back soon to protect Young or vice versa!

Go Delmon!

[SkunkedAgain]

I love Span, but it seems that he's had more communication issues with both left and right fielders this season. He seemed to stare down Young earlier in the game when the ball fell in between them. Then Delmon had a goofy attempt at that fly ball in the 9th. As an athlete, I always tell teammates (and myself) that the best way to correct a game-changing mistake on defense is to make a game-changing play on offense, or vice versa. Delmon did that which is a great sign, although he owes Baker a giant steak dinner or push-ups for throwing away his 8-inning shutout win. Hindsight is 20/20 but I bet Baker is wishing Gardy would have let him pitch the complete-game shutout!

[SledNeck]

I would have let baker finish the game.

[10,000 Casts]

either way, could have left him in but Capps is a really good closer and fresh.

Delmon had a better day today, another RBI.

[Coach1310]

Delmon's ideal position is right field. He will never be a Gold Glove caliber on defense, but his arm is the one thing you CAN'T complain about. If you moved him to Right Field, I would say that there are maybe 5 Right Fielders in baseball with a stronger arm. You can't always have your cake and eat it too!! He is giving you .330 with 82 RBI's..... cut the guy some slack. His bat has won us WAY MORE games than his defense has lost us....

[B. Amish]

you could make the case that his misplayed ball last night in the 9th resulted in 4 extra and unneeded innings of work for our bullpen last night and today.

some things in baseball never show up in the stats...

[Coach1310]

That may be true, but you can't do that for one game and disregard it for the rest. A lot of things in baseball aren't recorded as a stat, but we seem to only use the ones that prove our arguments!!

[SkunkedAgain]

Nobody is disputing the man's bat. He is a natural at the plate. He is not a natural in the outfield, and we are admittedly nitpicking. You've got to have a good team for us to be complaining about a player who hits over .300

[Big Dave2]

The guy has ONE good year and all of a sudden he's a natural?

[blue_healer_guy]

I dont drink it, but I would compare Delmon to a good wine, it gets better with time.

[Big Dave2]

I dont drink it, but I would compare Delmon to a good wine, it gets better with time.

Better watch out, it may SPOIL quickly also.

[zamboni]

I would have let baker finish the game.

I agree, or at least the 8th. Then Capps in the 9th. Guerrier and Mahay are nightmares

[Coach1310]

The guy has ONE good year and all of a sudden he's a natural?

Delmon had a career avg of .290 before this year(it is now up to .297) and for a guy who, to that point, was only 23 years old that is nothing to scoff at. He's never hit below .284 at any point in his career. You are fooling yourself if you don't see what kind of hitter this guy is. He may have just really broken out of his shell this year, but I think you will see a lot of the same for years to come...hopefully in the Twins uniform.... in comparison, Cuddyer has hit .284 ONE SEASON and never been above .276 other than that one year.....

[soldoncass]

If ALL you want to talk about with Delmon, is his HITTING......nobody disputes his hitting.....you are leaving out 2/3rds of the game. How valuable is he on DEFENSE? How about baserunning? How many positions can he play? If the ONLY GOOD THING you can say about him is his hitting.....you have a classic DH.

Now Cuddy again, with same criteria.....uh-huh, classic team contributor in many ways, and positions, BUT NOT as PURE A HITTER as Delmon. TEAM GAME......

[Coach1310]

If ALL you want to talk about with Delmon, is his HITTING......nobody disputes his hitting.....you are leaving out 2/3rds of the game. How valuable is he on DEFENSE? How about baserunning? How many positions can he play? If the ONLY GOOD THING you can say about him is his hitting.....you have a classic DH.

Now Cuddy again, with same criteria.....uh-huh, classic team contributor in many ways, and positions, BUT NOT as PURE A HITTER as Delmon. TEAM GAME......

Soldoncass.... I can't disagree with you and YES I am talking about hitting because Dave simply questioned him as "natural" at the plate...... I think BigDave did absolutely question his hitting and that is all I am referring too.... you can ride me all you want for being a Delmon backer, I have no problem with that, but all you keep harping about is TEAM GAME..... well, some guys jobs are strictly intangibles and defense--PUNTO, some guys jobs are strictly hitting--THOME/KUBEL/YOUNG, some guys jobs are being relatively decent or great at both---MORNEAU, MAUER, HUDSON, HARDY... some guys jobs are to get one sided hitters out--- Mijares.....etc,... yeah a TEAM GAME where everyone has their ROLE.... Delmon isn't in left because he is a stellar outfielder.... he is in left because he can hit, make a few plays and allow the Twins to put another bat in the lineup like Thome, Kubel or a dinged up Mauer...... like you said... TEAM GAME

[CodyDawg]

Good post coach. the other thing is....it is relatively easy to find a guy who can play multiple positions and hit .250. It is quite another thing to find a guy who can hit .300+ and drive in some runs. Playing multiple positions is WAY overrated as an ability. You can always find someone to play a decent outfield or 1B. Punto, Harris, Denny Hocking...okay, kidding on the Hocking, Tolbert, Casilla, Span, Kubel, Cuddy all play multiple positions. I bet if you had to have Hardy play 3rd or 2nd for a game our two he would do fine.