twins/mlb

""Gardenhire admitted Casilla's numbers look worse given the team's overall offensive struggles"" ... Huh? Casilla's numbers are one of the reasons for the team's 'overall offensive struggles.' Not the only one, for sure, but the idea that a starter can be an offensive sinkhole, just because he plays shortstop or bats ninth, is idiotic. Outs made by Casilla count the same as outs made by any other hitter. I thought we were through with the "If everyone else does their job, Punto doesn't have to hit" mindset. Guess not.

"But getting on base is a good thing, so maybe he can get familiar with running the bases." Gardy still has a sense of humor, even if the fans don't. If Casilla bats around .240 or so, and play great defense, then the Twins will have what they hoped for. Not every position can be an all star. And, this Twins team will not sink or swim according to Lexi's average. Morneau, Mauer, Cuddy, Thome, Valencia. Those are the guys that will all hit better and help the Twins win the remaining 5/6th of the season.

after a play like that at home, gardy should have benched him right there.But maybe there is no fixing stupid.

All seem to talk about Casillia's base running mistake. But so did Morneau. The whole team needs to get sharper in the game.

What baserunning error did Morneau make? He got the "go" sign, Casilla got the "stop" sign.

Not to excuse Casilla, he really run the stop sign. But Liddle has to be more assertive with the signs. In Morneau's case, he first gave the go, and at the last moment put an "excuse me" stop. It is seen in the replay.

Target Field plays WAY TOO BIG. 4 balls that would have been HR's in any other ballpark were singles and doubles yesterday. It takes away from the excitement of the game! Young power hitters are going to shy away from the Twins and refuse to sign here if drafted by the Twins because of Target Field.

Liddle almost cost the Twins that game yesterday. Why would he even think of sending Morneau on that play? 1. Choo just gunned Casilla at the plate. 2. The ball was hit fairly hard and Choo charged the ball well. 3. It's Morneau running. Not a fast runner and you run the risk of a big home plate collision with a guy who is just getting back to normal from a bad concussion. 4. You have Thome on deck, who just roped a ball off the wall in his first at-bat and did the same thing in his second at-bat, although it was leading off the next inning. Liddle has to be more emphatic with his signs! Get your arm waving high in the air like a windmill when sending a guy home, not this little turn of the wrist. And the stop sign has to be down the line with two arms held up high, although Casilla would have ran through any sign on that play.

I don't know what's gotten into Perkins but he's been terrific this year.

Not to excuse Casilla, he really run the stop sign. But Liddle has to be more assertive with the signs. posted by adjacent on Apr. 25, 11 at 10:27 AM //////////////// Um, tackling your base runner is against the rules. Anything less than that would not have stopped Casilla.