ALDS Game Two Preview: Minnesota
A popular theory going into this series was that the Twins needed to win game one if they wanted to have a shot at winning this thing. I disagreed. While having a one game lead is a nice luxury, it’s not a death sentence. With all of the concerns about the Yankees’ number two and three starters, Minnesota has a chance to jump ahead in the series, so game two will be the most important spot for the Twinkies.
The Starter
Carl Pavano gets the call in game two, and he’ll have his work cut out for him. While Pavano’s never been one to fan many batters, he had an especially hard time during the month of September, posting a K/9 of 2.81. Yet, his whiff rate was roughly the same as it had been all year, and he still managed to have a K/BB of 2.00.
Pavano’s control puts him at a huge advantage against the Yankee’s lineup. New York has been the second best team in baseball when it comes to drawing walks, but their patient approach won’t do them much good against Pavano, one of the best in baseball when it comes to throwing strikes.
As far as his arsenal goes, nothing Pavano throws moves all that much or gets to the plate in a hurry. His changeup is easily his best offering, and he uses it as his strikeout pitch. I’d expect to see a lot of sinkers and changeups tonight, as Pavano will look to keep the ball away from the Yankee’s hitters.
The Defense
One of the things that Pavano has done well this year is get a ton of ground balls, and that plays right into the Twins’ strength. According to UZR, The Twins’ outfield defense was worth almost 12 runs below average this year, but their infield defense is another story. Orlando Hudson, Danny Valencia and J.J. Hardy are all well above average defenders, so while Michael Cuddyer isn’t very good at first base, the Twins will be able to gobble up a majority of the grounders that Pavano can deliver.
The Lineup
As Jack mentioned last night, the Twins’ lefties really struggled against Sabathia, and they won’t get much of a reprieve tonight as the Yankees are sending Andy Pettitte to the hill. While Pettitte is certainly no Sabathia, he may have a fairly easy time keeping Jim Thome and Jason Kubel off balance at the plate. If the Twins can take pitches and force Pettitte to work hard early on, they could open up a big inning and chase him from the game sooner, rather than later.
Sager’s Suit
What will Craig Sager dig out of a dumpster tonight? Probably something subtle. You know, something like a pink polka dot jacket with a yellow shirt.
Zach is the creator and co-author of RotoGraphs' Roto Riteup series, and RotoGraphs' second-longest tenured writer. You can follow him on twitter.
Zach,
Please don’t call them Twinkies.
Yours,
Craig
I can only say “Twins” or “Minnesota” so many times before I get bored.
As for the Yankees’ ability to draw walks vs. Pavano’s ability to limit them: I don’t know how to produce numbers to back up this claim, but from what I’ve seen this year, the Yankees aren’t afraid to swing early in the count against guys they know are throwing strikes. They’ll try to work the count early but if Pavano is in the strike zone the second and third times through the lineup will feature shorter AB’s and lots of balls in play, which would seem to favor they Yankees. They draw a lot of walks, but can produce runs without them when need be. 50+% of BIP being handled by Twins outfielders sounds like some runs to me.
Also- Gardenhire wanted to split up the lefties in his rotation, which is why Pavano is starting Game 2 and Liriano started Game 1. However, Pavano seems much better suited for a potential Game 4 short-rest start considering Liriano’s workload this year and past fragility. Isn’t having a solid starter (even one going on short rest) in a potential elimination game more important than preventing the other team from facing a lefty starter two games in a row? Is there any way to figure out whether teams have hit better than they should when facing a lefty for a second consecutive day? I don’t see what difference it could make, and I guess Joe Girardi doesn’t either.
I think that the theory was that Liriano is bette than Pavano (no debate there) but Sabathia is nasty. Instead of pitching them both on short rest, which would be fine for Pavano but awful for Lirino, pitch Liriano twice on regular rest.
I think that this actually makes the most sense. A rested Liriano + Blackburn is better than a short rest Pavano + short rest Liriano. Why? CC Sabathia is nasty, and the Twins will have trouble scoring enough runs against him. It will be far to their advantage to place a strong Liriano in a game 5 against a short-rest and hurt Petite than risk it on a short-rest Liriano when a short-rest Pavano can’t match Sabathia anyway.
I agree. I think a three man rotation of Pavano, Liriano, Duensing, short rest Pavano, full rest Liriano is WAY better than Liriano, Pavano, Duensing, Blackburn, extra rest Liriano.
But yeah, you gotta split up the lefties!
it’s hard to call this series. I can never quite say either of these teams are out. the twins have played good baseball all year long, and they have some solid pitchers. the yankees lineup has the ability to hit anyone, but their rotation outside of CC is a little shaky. if they had lost game 1, I would have thought the yanks were all but done for. but they won it, so If they can win behind CC, they can take the series as CC will start game 4 as well. they only need to win one game he does not start to win the series. it’s going to come down to the wire!
And once again, the cheating umpires give the Yankees the game.
Magically, TBS pitch tracker has been turned off late in the game. Called Strike 3 to Valencia was high and 6 inches outside. Strike 3 to Berkman is, of course, called a ball, followed by the game turning double.
Pitch to Valencia was in almost exactly the same spot as Pavano’s sinker, not really outside and certainly not high.
Then why was it a ball to Berkman, and a strike to Valencia? Both games, the game has turned on the home plate umpire favoring the Yankees. First the different zone for Liriano vs Sabathia, then tonight more of the same.
I’d guess it’s because of the inside/outside bias, regardless of the side of the plate.
It was bias all right. You got that part right.
Oddly enough NotDave didn’t seem to be complaining when the 1-0 pitch in the same AB was generously called a strike (it was 4-6″ off he plate if you believe the same pitchtrax which showed the 2-2 pitch as a strike). In fact Pavano was getting that ball called a strike all night long
The ump was clearly calling the right side of the plate all night long (from the pitcher’s view)
Oddly enough the strike three to Berkman was the pitch that decided the game. And, of course, we know how Wendlestadt called that, don’t we?
Anybody care to guess how wide Wendlestadt’s zone will be for Rivera in the ninth? Or how narrow for Capps?
Would you be complaining had Thome driven in that free baserunner in the ninth in game one when the EXTRA umpire, added specifically for outfield calls, blew a call? Blew the exact type of call that he was placed there for?
The umpiring has been atrocious. Again. Just don’t think that all the benefit is on the NY side.