Review Continued...

Let us continue our review of the Twins 2011 roster...

Starting pitching

Carl Pavano: Let us all rejoice that Carl came back to the Twins this year. He was one of the most consistent pitchers for us last year and more importantly is a good leader in the clubhouse. He will probably not be a dominating force but he will keep us close in games giving our MVPs opportunities to win it!
Francisco Liriano: An underachieving Ace. Not very happy with Frankies off season conditioning or his tendency to get over hyped in big games. Hopefully this year will be the one where everything clicks for him.
Brian Duensing: Pitched great in limited play last year and seems to have the temperament to be a steady contributor.
Nick Blackburn: Looks to improve on his 2010 injury hampered year. Really should be more consistent this year.
Scotty Baker: He too is looking to improve on his 2010 season and return to previous form.
The key to our success is these pitchers keeping games close and pitching deep. Our hitters need to avoid any droughts and score consistently.

Bullpen:
Joe Nathan is back and will share closing duties with Matt Capps. Most likely Capps will setup for him but this will allow Anderson some leeway depending on the situtation.
Matt Guerrier and Jesse Crane are gone but new additions of Dusty Hughes and Kevin Slowey will be helpful. Jeff Manship, Jose Mijares and Glen Perkins round out the pen. This maybe the weakest link for the Twins but every guy has experience and hopefully can continue to improve. Again our hitters have to stay consistent and keep games close.
We do have some experienced help in the minors, who may be called upon through out the season, Scott Diamond and Anthony Slama. Draft pick Kyle Gibson may come up at some point he is just too good to not use! As always Rick Anderson and his minor league coaches will have pitchers prepared to come up and contribute. The Twins always seem to have guys ready to come up and be productive.

Our Batting order:
Denard Span will lead off and no doubt will have a better avg. this year. Gardy will give him more breaks so he doesn't wear down. Hopefully he wont get picked off so much this year and use his speed to get on base and steal a few.
Tsuyoshi Nishioka will follow and his speed is going to get him on and force some errors. I have to say I am most excited to see him play.
Most likely Joe Mauer will hit third and be followed by Justin Morneau. If these two guys are healthy they will have lots of RBI opportunities. Lets hope Justin picks up where he left off when he got hurt last year. Hopefully Joe will not try to be home run hitter and just get the hits!
Michael Cuddyer, Jason Kubel, Jim Thome and Delmon Young will probably be interchangeable in the next few spots. Hopefully the changes in the outfield site lines will help these big hitters.(who knows maybe the concrete has dried enough to help the ball get out of the park) Alexi Casilla will be ninth and hopefully use his speed more.

Twins need to avoid slumps and stay healthy, as every team does, and they should contend for the division!

Today baseball officially starts and tomorrow the Twins begin! They will play in Toronto revisiting where Mor"yes" got hurt. Hopefully Mor"yes" takes the opportunity to close the book on this frustrating injury detour with a great first game.

GO TWINS!!

Snide note: Disliking that Patrick Reusse(on1500am) has already started the when will Casilla lose his job pool. They did compliment his arm and speed but doubt he will stay focused. My take is that the guy has learned what he needs to do to play everyday and will rise to the occasion. Prove them wrong ALEXI!!!(and me right!)