The Twins have won the first two in KC, which is no reason at all to be excited. In fact, if they don't complete the sweep Thursday, they should consider the series a failure. The Royals are that bad. And they are managed by Tony Pena. Tony Pena managing a major league baseball team is like Justin Timberlake teaching a song writing class. But I digress.
Anyway, you may have noticed Lil' Nicky Punto getting a lot of playing time at 2B. I think it's pretty clear that Gardy wants Punto to take the 2B job from Luis Rivas. Either that, or he hopes to light a fire under Rivas by threatening as much.
I have no problem with that I guess, but I think it's worth pointing out that Luis is possibly the best defensive 2B in baseball. Seriously, he's that good. He has terrific range, soft hands, a strong arm, great balance, and instincts that you usually only see in far more experienced players.
With three new starters at the other infield positions, I think it might be asking for trouble to throw another new guy in there. Punto and Bartlett as the keystone combination might be shaky. Don't get me wrong, Punto made some great plays tonight at second, and he is clearly a better hitter than Luis. I just think Luis' D is underappreciated.
But really this just brings me back to what I keep harping on: That Scott Ulger is not doing his job as the hitting coach. Luis has not only failed to improve since his solid rookie season, he has actually regressed. He's terrible right now. I know Rivas is one guy Ulger has actually worked with (seriously, he really tried to help him ), so maybe Luis is to blame more than Ulger. But I don't know.
Anyway, I don't think they'd trade Luis, he's too valuable off the bench as a defensive replacement (you may remember Cuddyer started at 2B in the playoffs last year and then Luis came off the bench.) I think it's pretty safe to say though, that unless Luis seriously turns it around, this is his last year with the team.
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