Tuesday, April 12, 2005

White Sox vs Twins series

Able to watch all three of the games over the weekend (the FP Fiance deserves another medal). It's early in the season and you shouldn't make too much of just three games, but here is some of what I noticed.
The starting pitching in the first two games was pretty even with the differance being the Twins pitchers wilting a bit. If Silva is out for the season, this will put even more pressure on that starting staff. This was the first time I'd seen El Duque pitch in a long while and I was pretty impressed. Garland also looked good, but I'd need to see three or four good starts in a row before I really believe in him. It wasn't Buehrle's best start, in fact it was below his average start and I'm not sure why. Santana looked very good again. The umpire's strike zone was wider than the one that ESPN used, but that's just a quibble. It looks like the way to get to him is to do it early. Also looks like you can bunt on him.
In fact, the thing that really stuck out watching these games was the Twins infield defense. They used to be very sure handed while their opponents looked baffled by the turf. Not this time. Poor glove work and failure to cover first base was kind of a theme for them. I know that part of the Twins fan's self image is the strong fundamentals of their defense. Good luck with that.
Meanwhile the faster White Sox players put some pressure on that same defense. A few timely homeruns helped too. It's early, but I like what I see.

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