Twins Notes

The Twins open a short two game series at Fenway Park in Boston tonight. I love watching the Twins play in historic parks like this against the Goliath's of baseball. Hopefully, they can get a couple wins and cause some major disappointment in Red Sox Nation. Here are some thoughts on my mind after last weekend's sweep of the Angels and heading into this series.

-Joe Mauer is expected to return on May 1 against the Royals at the Dome. The Twins have managed to go 7-7 without their star catcher, but just think of where they could be with him on the roster. Mauer has been making very good progress in his rehab, so unless there's a set back, he will be back on the field next week. It will be a huge lift for the Twins at the plate, obviously, but maybe more importantly it will be a huge lift to the pitching staff. Mauer calls a terrific game and handles the young Twins pitchers exceptionally well. Many have said that they can basically go on auto-pilot when Mauer calls the game because they never have to shake him off. The Twins pitching had gotten off to a rocky start before this past weekend, so the return of Mauer is critical on both sides of the ball.

-Jason Kubel had a weekend to remember. Obviously, the highlight came Friday night when he capped off a cycle with a game winning grand slam in the 8th inning. Kubel has had a flair for the dramatic over the years and is really starting to show his potential. Let's not forget that this guy was as highly touted as Joe Mauer as he made his way through the Twins minor league system. Injuries really halted Kubel's progress, but he has fought back admirably and has become one of the Twins best hitters.

-Great progress by the starting pitching over the weekend. Nick Blackburn looked decent on Friday, Kevin Slowey pitched very well on Saturday, and Glenn Perkins continued his early season dominance with yet another 8 inning gem on Sunday. Perkins has been absolutely sensational through his first three starts, going 8 innings in each of them. He finally got enough run support to pick up his first win as well. If Perkins, who was expected to be the number five starter, can keep pitching well it will be a huge lift for the Twins starting staff.

-Jesse Crain was placed on the 15-day DL yesterday with an inflamed right shoulder. It doesn't appear to be anything serious, but the Twins wanted to be cautious, as usual. I'm not too concerned about this, but I do really like Jesse Crain and think he's a critical part of the Twins bullpen. I do also, however, think it's a great opportunity for Jose Mijares. He came into camp too heavy and was very ineffective. He has performed well at Rochester so far, however, pitching 6 1/3 scoreless innings. He will give the Twins another lefty option out of the pen to go along with Craig Breslow and Mijares will definitely be an option to turn to late in games. If he performs well in the next week or two, he might find himself on this roster to stay.

-There has been some talk of sending Carlos Gomez down to the minors (Howard Skinner's blog on startribune.com). I absolutely disagree with anyone who suggests this for a couple reasons. While it would certainly help Gomez from a personal development standpoint, I think it would hurt the team. Why? Because Gomez can be extremely valuable coming off the bench as the fourth outfielder. He can pinch run late in games and he can also be a late inning defensive replacement for either Delmon Young or Michael Cuddyer. Gomez might cover more ground in the outfield than anyone else in all of baseball and he is also one of the fastest runners in the game. Gomez can be an asset to the Twins off the bench and it wouldn't serve the TEAM best to send him down. And, god forbid, he can give Michael Cuddyer an occasional day off in the outfield. Fancy that, Mr. Gardenhire.

-The addition of Juan Morillo really intrigues me. The former Rockies reliever can throw extremely hard, with a fastball between 95-98 mph on the gun. His problem throughout his career has been his control, but if there's any place he can improve that aspect of his game, it's in Minnesota. The Twins, of course, are known for their control pitchers. Look for pitching coach Rick Anderson to work a lot with Morillo on his mechanics. Other than his blazing fastball, Morillo features an occasional change up and a hard slider. He's not an option late in games yet because the Twins consider him more of a project, but don't be surprised if you see Morillo pitching in the 7th and 8th inning in the near future. This guy has an unbelievable arm. He looked great in his first outing, so let's hope he can help the Twins solve some of their bullpen problems. It's worth a try.

Hopefully, Kubel's slam on Friday night was exactly what the Twins needed to wake them up from their early season slumber. It certainly propelled them to a three-game sweep of the Angels over the weekend. With the knowledge that Joe Mauer is coming back soon, all the Twins need to do is keep winning so that Mauer can just jump right in and be the spark plug. Let's keep it going tonight at Fenway. Go Twins!!!