Twins Fans Can Breathe Easy

La Velle E Neal III of the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports that the Livan Hernandez experiment could be over as soon as today. MLB.com’s Twins beat writer Kelly Thesier meanwhile has reported that Liriano could be called up as soon as later this week. That would mean, I suppose, either today or tomorrow. Liriano’s scheduled start date is tonight, but my guess is he would take over Hernandez’s spot in the rotation. Baseball Prospectus has estimated a Liriano call up would save the Twins as many as 20 runs, and in a division that could be decided by just a game those 20 runs are vital.

Although Livan had a 10-8 record and was actually not too bad at the Metrodome, he had a 5.48 ERA and a 1.63 WHIP. I think all Twins fans will join me in saying good riddance when he is gone.

In other Twins news, they placed Alexi Casilla on the DL, and Baseball Prospectus’s Will Carrol believes he could be done for the season. Casilla had a .313/.351/.424 line so far this season, and was proving to be a very good #2 hitter who, when paired with Denard Span, actually provided men on base for Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau. While this won’t be a huge loss for the Twins defensively–although he is very good so is Nick Punto–offensively this could be a killer. Although Punto has a pretty decent .292/.344/.409 line he is just a year removed from a year of a 52 OPS+.

I truly believe that even with Casilla out for an extended period of time the Twins have the edge over the White Sox. Defensively the Twins are better than them now, especially if the Twins play Adam Everett at short a lot and the White Sox play Ken Griffey Jr. in center field a lot. Carlos Gomez and Denard Span are both excellent outfielders and Delmon Young hasn’t been terrible lately, which for him is saying a lot. But the bottom line for the Twins is that, just like two years ago, they have potentially one of the best pitchers in all of baseball joining the rotation soon. Just look at this line and try not to smile: 12-3, 2.16 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 144 K in 121 innings. And, not to sound like Bill Simmons, but Liriano brings a feeling that Twins fans haven’t had since Santana was in his heyday: the need to watch everyone of his starts because if you don’t you might miss something spectacular. See you in October, Francisco.*

*I Sincerely hope that last sentence wasn’t the death sentence for the Twins. Good thing I’m not that superstitious about regular season baseball

** Also, before I forget, thanks to the ladies of Babes Love Baseball for linking to my last two Quality Starts. Now come comment, damnit. Sorry I used up all my chivalry on the preceding sentence, back to being a jerk.