Monday, April 24, 2006

Jim Thome is the anti-Christ

Actually, he's not. In fact, he's a pleasant man from central Illinois who can hit a baseball about nine miles. Especially when he's facing Twins pitching. Then again, pretty much everyone who has been facing Twins pitching lately has been hitting the ball nine miles. That may be the most surprising part of the Bataan Death March that the Twins have recently completed against some of the top echelon of the American League. When the season began, there were significant concerns whether or not the Twins would be able to hit well enough to compete against the Whities, the Indians, et al. But one thing everyone knew - rather, thought they knew - was that the Twins would pitch well. Had potentially the best starting rotation in the American League, at least that's what we were told.

Hasn't turned out that way, so far. Up to this point, the most consistent starting pitcher has been Scott Baker, who has at least pitched well in most cases. Brad Radke looks cooked, Carlos Silva looks lost and Kyle Lohse looks like Kyle Lohse. Meanwhile, the one guy we assumed we could count on, mighty Johan Santana, is off to a very slow start, although he has shown flashes of brilliance. The call has been going out to put promising youngster Francisco Liriano into the rotation, even though he is exceptionally raw and probably not ready. It's understandable, given the way the White Sox beat up the Twins in Chicago this past weekend. The gap between the teams now appears to be a chasm, as the Whities simply dispensed with the Twins all weekend long. And with long-time Twin Killer Thome on their side, it's difficult to see how the Twins are going to get past the Beasts of Bridgeport any time soon.

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