The Twins are getting lousy production from their thirdbasemen and that will need to change if they are going to contend for a playoff spot this season.  Nick Punto has really stunk it up so far this season.  He is only hitting .211 with 33 runs scored, 1 homer, 15 RBIs and 13 stolen bases so far this season.  That just will not get it done for a starting 3B in the major leagues.  Luis Rodriguez also has been nothing to write home about as he is only hitting .181 with 11 runs scored, 2 homers and 7 RBIs.  The Twins could play Jeff Cirillo some more at 3B but he’s a little old to handle too much playing time.  Cirillo is hitting .273 with 14 runs scored, 2 homers and 19 RBIs so far this season.  Rumors persist that the Twins would like to trade for Ty Wigginton of the D-Rays but they have to decide if they want to part with the young pitching that Tampa would demand back for him.

Justin Morneau, Michael Cuddyer and Torii Hunter have all been ripping the baseball all over the place.  Morneau is hitting .295 with 57 runs scored, 24 homers and 74 RBIs as he tries to repeat as the MVP of the American League.  Torii Hunter is playing so well that he likely has priced himself out of Minnesota for next season.  He is hitting .301 with 55 runs scored, 19 homers, 69 RBIs and 11 stolen bases.  Michael Cuddyer is the third big bat for the Twins as he’s hitting .274 with 60 runs scored, 10 homers and 53 RBIs this season.  The Twins are really dependent on these three guys so if any of them goes into a slump it will hurt the offense.  Joe Mauer (.309 avg), Luis Castillo (.301 avg) and Mike Redmond (.287 avg) have all swung pretty good bats this season also.

The Minnesota Twins finished the first half of the season with a 45-43 record which has them in 3rd place in the American League Central, 8 games behind the Tigers.  The Twins have had trouble in their starting rotation after Johan Santana and it has hurt the team in the first half of the season.  The Twins also have been getting almost all of their run production from Justin Morneau, Torii Hunter and Michael Cuddyer and they need someone to step up and help the big three.  If Joe Mauer can stay healthy that would really help the Twins in the 2nd half of the season.  Also look for Matt Garza’s performance in the rotation to be a big key to the Twins the rest of the way out.

Justin Morneau has been awesome so far this season as he is proving that last year’s MVP award was not a fluke and was just a glimpse of the future.  Morneau has played in 81 games this season and he is 92 for 314 (.293 avg, .939 OPS) with 56 runs scored, 23 homers and 72 RBIs.  Morneau is quite simply the best player on the Minnesota Twins as they would not be a playoff type team without him.

The Twins have sent starting pitcher Kevin Slowey to the minors and he deserved the demotion.  He started 7 games for the Twins this season and he is 3-0 with a 5.84 ERA and a 1.68 WHIP.  In 37 innings this season Slowey has allowed 53 hits, walked 9 batters and whiffed 19.  The Twins will replace Slowey in the rotation with Matt Garza.  Garza has pitched in one game in relief for the Twins this season and he threw 2 innings and allowed 2 hits while whiffing one batter.  He didn’t allow an earned run in his first appearance.  Garza has much better stuff than Slowey does so this could improve the Twins rotation quite a bit.  The Twins have recalled lefty reliever Carmen Cali to replace Slowey in the bullpen.  Cali will give the Twins a second lefty in the bullpen.  Cali pitched in 7 games this season for the Twins this season and he has thrown 5.1 innings while allowing 3 hits, 0 earned runs, walking 2 batters and whiffing 3.