Yardbarker: Scott Baker

Players A to Z, Scott Baker

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 15:48:37 -0500

Scott Bake. Photo: Icon SMI Scott Baker pitches for the Minnesota Twins in a starting role, and probably is the ace of their staff. The Twins took the Verducci Effect very seriously with Baker, as over the last three seasons his innings came in at 143.2, 172.1 and 200.0. As he goes into [...]

Organization Review (Starting Pitching)

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 18:19:55 -0500

The Twins have a minor league system that develops a continuous supply of starting pitchers. Beginning with Scott Baker, who arrived in 2005, the Twins staff has seen Garza, Slowey, Perkins, Blackburn, Liriano and Bonser (the last two were obtained by trade) step up to become quality major league starters. Add Swarzak, Manship and Duensing, who made their first appearances this season, and you have ten starting pitchers who have stepped up when...

Twins 2010 ZiPS Projections

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 05:25:52 -0500

Twins 2010 ZiPS Projections Courtesy of BBTF. I have to believe both Scott Baker and Kevin Slowey will do better, and I'm hoping a number of the bullpen guys will, too.

2009 Pitcher Appraisal: Scott Baker

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 12:28:00 -0500

S. BAKER (33 Starts) xFIP | MLB Rank 4.46 49th BABIP | +/- MLB Avg .277 -7.4% Runs Support | +/- MLB Avg 5.62 +17.9% GAME SCORES Decisions No-Decisions Game Score Greater Than 50: 12-2 2-2 Game Score Less Than 50: 3-6 3-3 Average Game Score Per Start: 52 Season High/Low: 88 (8/14) 21 (4/22) Game Scores over 90: 0 Game Scores 80-89: 1 Game Scores 70-79: 3 Game Scores 60-69: 7 Game Scores Below 40: 6 Record of Oppos...

Twins Salvage Split

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 19:34:50 -0500

I really don’t have much desire to write today, but the Twins bounced back to salvage a split with the Tigers, staying 2 games back. Scott Baker earned his 15th win of the season. Orlando Cabrera was the hitting star, going 2 for 5 with a big 3 RBI double. There was some tension in the [...]

Game 159: Twins at Tigers

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 11:00:28 -0500

Scott Baker (14-9, 4.48) vs. Nate Robertson (2-2, 5.56), 1:05 p.m. EST I've become pretty jinx-conscious in writing these GameThread posts, so I hesitate to say exactly what could happen this afternoon at Comerica Park if the Tigers win. But it would be pretty cool. And something that hasn't taken place in 22 years. Tiger Town feels ready for it. Pitching for the Twins, Scott Baker beat the Royals in his last start, despite giving up fo...

Twins’ Baker Handcuffs Indians

Sat, 15 Aug 2009 11:49:42 -0500

The Minnesota Twins are still in contention for the American League Central Division Title, thanks in part to the resurgence of Scott Baker. At just five games back of Detroit, Baker has provided some great relief (as a starter) since returning from the disabled list. In his last seven starts, Baker has recorded a 4-0 record, [...]

Baker Location

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 11:00:47 -0500

Well it worked a couple weeks ago when I called Francisco Liriano’s career over, so why not. When you glance at his FanGraphs page, Scott Baker hasn’t been much worse than he was last year. He’s giving up more homers than usual, his location has been worse but opponents aren’t totally taking advantage, and opposing hitters [...]

For Baker, release matters

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 10:06:00 -0500

Facing the Royals, a team who struggled to score runs (4.05 per game) and strikes out in hearty portion of their plate appearances (15%) it would be assumed that Scott Baker would slice through them like a butter-knife in melted Velveeta. After all, Baker's most recent start bucked a trend in which he had gone at least six innings with a minimum of five strikeouts in his past five starts dating back to June 4th. The Twins starter would need 111 pitches to labor his way through...

Breaking Down Scott Baker

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 23:12:14 -0500

Scott Baker isn’t necessarily known as a control pitcher, but his performance on June 30 against the Kansas City Royals left much to be desired. While expecting him to be on top of his game may have been too much to expect considering his recent string of four consecutive quality starts, an outing this wild [...]

How Scotty Got His Groove Back

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 11:41:00 -0500

Minnesota Twins pitcher Scott Baker started the season in a funk. His record and ERA were disappointing coming into June (just 2-6, with an ERA of 6.32). All of the sudden, he's made some "mechanical adjustments" and is now hurling into badassery again. Mind you, this is the same Scott Baker who had a perfect game going into the ninth on August 31, 2007 (and then after he gave up a walk, the no hitter was busted up by that bastard Twins killer Mike Sweeney). He also has some com...

Playoffs?

Sat, 06 Sep 2008 18:46:31 -0500

The newspapers and every other news outlet might as well save some time and record one story about how the Minnesota Twins bullpen blew the game and publish it every day. For the most part they'll get the story right, because most of the time it's Reyes, Guerrier, Crain or some other reliever who causes the loss.

It was the same old story for the Twins back in the Metrodome in a Saturday match-up with the Detroit Tigers. The offense played well and Scott Baker pitched another great game into the seventh inning. The Twins led 4-2 with one out, Baker had 101 pitches and had just walked a batter. Gardenhire started the screw up like he usually does, taking Baker out because he might "blow up" and going with his ever so certain hitter versus pitcher "match-up".

What do you know, it didn't work. The lefty Granderson hit the third pitch over the wall to tie the game up with just one out. Reyes was done, but the inning wasn't over, not until Guerrier took his shot at blowing the sixth game in two weeks. He allowed a single quickly and then Ordonez crushed a bomb over the wall to give the Tigers a 6-4 lead and the game.

The bullpen is so effective at blowing games, it's almost like it's their job. If the Twins had any sort of bullpen, they'd be sitting comfortably in first place in the American League Central. Six games blown in two weeks, it's hard to even imagine, it's almost like some horror story. Give the Twins those six games and they're easily ahead of the White Sox. Even half of those crazy six blown games would put them in first place by a game or two.

It's sickening to watch, and I've said that way to many times in the past few weeks about this team. Instead of writing a story every other day about how the bullpen cost the Twins a win, I'm going to post this video each time instead. Other than the first seconds being about football, the rest sums up each loss nicely and the end is exactly how I feel about this team: Playoffs?

Scott Baker is Cooking

Sun, 24 Feb 2008 02:01:24 -0500

The Twins have an ace in the waiting, and he wants to prove it to you.