Early Impressions on Twins...

It's hard to get too high or low on an opening series against a talented, but inexperienced Toronto team...but, here's what I took away:

* I like Blackburn and believe he'll have a bounce back year. There are two reasons I love him...he was drilled in the face with a ball and came back without a hitch, or mental lapse. I mean I'm pretty sure Scott Baker and/or Kevin Slowey would be out of the league if that had happened to them. Also, his game 163 performance against the White Sox was clutch even though the Twins ended up losing it 1-0.

* The lineup is overrated. I think it's as good as Gardy can make with what he's got on the roster. But, this lineup makes middle of the road pitchers look like All-Stars more often than not. Quick run down: Span - singles hitter, Nishi - overrated, adjusting to MLB pitching, Mauer - please drive the fucking ball, Morneau - head issues = subpar year at the plate, Young - made strides last year, but he still has crappy, impatient at-bats all the time, Cuddyer - I'm done with him, Valencia - I like this kid, except he's slow as hell on the base paths, Casilla - will he even last the year as a starter?, Kubel/Thome - good pop, but how frequent will they actually produce?

* Drew Butera is growing on me. Twins get spanked in first two games against Jays with Mauer as the catcher. Butera catches the finale of the series and Jays only score three runs compared to the 19 runs combined they scored in the first two games. Now his actual batting prowess is a different story...but, this kid handles all the pitchers on the staff well when he's behind the plate.

* Not a fan of the bullpen. I mean I think Gardy and Rick Anderson will still work miracles with what they have out there, but there is no way in hell this resembles a post-season type bullpen right now. No power arms from either side, even Capps and Nathan pitch more to contact at this stage of their careers. Unless someone emerges through the farm system or via trade I just don't see how this bullpen will not be an achilles heal all season.

* The fielding through three games looks horseshit as well. Nishioka/Casilla combo looks out of whack. The rundown attempt during the opening game was atrocious (Morneau's fault, but Nishi didn't help matters). The outfield is still slow as hell...to the point where either Young or Kubel needs to be traded just to clear up some of the unathleticism they have on their roster. I wouldn't mind trading one of those two and bringing up a youngster (Revere or Hicks) or just playing Repko in place of them. Play either the youngster or Repko in center field and move Span to one of the corner spots so I don't have to see his noodle arm limp it in on two bounces to Nishi on a gapper.

SBG