Chief, Piranhas suck, Mauer should bat 2nd

Carlos Silva is now 3-6 after 11 starts.
That's probably about what most of us expected Chief's record to be after 11 starts.

Of course, we expected that his 3-6 record would be accompanied by an ERA somewhere north of 7.50, and yet here he is with a 3.86 ERA, 20th in the American League.
Luck has had a lot to do with it, especially early on, but Silva looked something like his 2004-05 self in Saturday's start against Oakland, when he pitched an 8-inning complete game in a 1-0 loss.
The Twins have been shut out five times this year, and four came on days Silva pitched.
Normally that would frustrate the hell out of the guy, but the way last year went, it's evident he's just happy to be keeping his team in the game.

I'd be very surprised if Silva keeps his ERA under 4 all year, and there's almost no way he's a Twin next year, but it's at least nice to see his career somewhat back on track.

*It will be very hard for the Twins to stay in contention in the AL Central if their offense does not start getting more contributions from people other than the usual suspects.
Nick Punto and Jason Bartlett both have sub-.300 slugging percentages. Jason Kubel's OBP is still below .300.
Luis Castillo is hitting .339 with a .386 OBP, but his slugging % is barely higher than his batting average.

In Castillo's case I'm not complaining. He is what he is and he's doing his job. But a good team can really only afford to have one guy like that, maybe two. Not four or five.
Bartlett is simply not doing the job at short right now.
He's making highlight plays on occasion and obviously has as much range as any SS in the AL. But he has 10 errors in 48 games, and has been a virtual non-factor with the bat.
Punto's ineffectiveness has not been a surprise, but Kubel's has.

The Twins are trying to get Jeff Cirillo more at-bats, but the idea was for him to play primarily against lefties. He's not much more than an average hitter against righties, and that's what fans are seeing now. That makes Punto's suckiness hurt a little bit more, as it's forcing Gardy to use the 37-year old Cirillo more than he probably should.

*I have no idea whether Gardy will actually consider it, but with the Piranhas being so shitty, it couldn't be more obvious that Joe Mauer should bat 2nd when he returns (sounds like Friday).
It's been suggested before (pretty much from day one on this blog), but in light of the hot hitting of Michael Cuddyer and Justin Morneau, the failure of the Piranhas and the failure (so far) of Mauer to develop into a power hitter, the 'Mauer for 2-hole' voices have grown louder and more numerous.
Maybe he'll finally relent and give it a try.
When Mauer returns, this should be the lineup.

Castillo 2B
Mauer C
Cuddyer RF
Morneau 1B
Hunter CF
Kubel LF
Redmond DH
Punto/Cirillo 3B
Bartlett SS

Doesn't that look better?