Joe Mauer isn’t the only MVP on this team as Justin Morneau has one in his trophy case too. Morneau is on fire with the bat right now for the Twins. He has played in 19 games for the Twins this season and he is 25 of 68 (.368 avg, 1.158 OPS) with 17 runs scored, 4 homers and 15 RBIs. The scary thing for opposing pitchers has to be the fact that Morneau has been picky as he has walked 20 times this season while only whiffing 11 times. The sky is the limit for Morneau as he is hitting behind Joe Mauer and ahead of Michael Cuddyer giving him a lot of protection in the batting order.

The Twins have placed veteran 3B Nick Punto on the 15-day disabled list with a strained groin. He has played in 9 games this season for the Twins and he is 7 for 26 (.269 avg, .709 OPS) with 4 runs scored, 1 RBI and 2 stolen bases. The Twins are going to have Punto’s hip checked out too as he is going to miss quite some time. Punto will be replaced in the starting lineup by Brendan Harris. Harris has played in 14 games for the Twins so far this season and he is 6 for 33 (.182 avg, .620 OPS) with 7 runs scored, 1 homer and 4 RBIs. Despite Harris’ slow start he is a much better hitter than Punto and he will show that soon getting regular at bats. The Twins have recalled 2B/3B Luke Hughes to replace Punto on the active roster. Hughes played in 12 games in AAA-ball this season and he was 12 for 45 (.267 avg, .771 OPS) with 8 runs scored, 5 RBIs and 1 stolen base. I don’t look for him to get too much P.T. for the Twins while he is up.

Joe Mauer has started this season were he left off in his 2009 American League MVP season.  Mauer won the MVP last season depite missing 24 games, finishing the season with a .365 BA, 28 HRs, 96 RBIs, .444 OBP, and .587 SLG.  He also snagged himself the Gold Glove Award for being the best defensive catcher in the American League.  Well, early this season Mauer’s numbers are looking very similar, with a .347 BA (17/49), 1 HR, 10 RBIs, .441 OBP, and .510 SLG through 14 games thus far.  He also has no errors and no past balls defensively behind the plate, while also throwing out 4/10 base-stealers.  Mauer is one of the main reasons the Twins won last year’s AL Central Division, and he is once again one of the main reasons they are winning it so far this season with a 10-4 record.  If Mauer stays healthy and continues to put up these kind of numbers, he will likely be the AL MVP once again.  He is starting to put together an amazing career, with a .327 career BA, 73 HRs, 407 RBIs, 428 Rs, .409 OBP, and .484 SLG.  If he can continue to play close to this level for the remainder of his career, he will be in the discussion for best catcher of all time.

The Twins are sitting atop the A.L. Central with a 9-4 record which has them 1.5 games ahead of the Tigers. The Twins have outscored the opposition 69-47 this season as they are hitting the ball well and pitching great as a team. That should not change at all this week with the Indians coming to Minnesota for three games and then they travel to K.C. this coming weekend for three games against the Royals. It should be another good week for the Twins.

26-year old lefty starting pitcher Francisco Liriano looks like he might be all the way back for the Twins. Liriano is 1-0 with a 2.08 ERA and a 1.15 WHIP in his first two starts of the season. He has only given up 8 hits in 13 innings while whiffing 11 batters as his stuff seems all the way back. Liriano’s control has been the only issue so far this season as he has walked 7 batters this year. Look for the Twins to try to get Liriano to throw more strikes and trust the defense. He has the highest upside of any of the Twins’ starters so they need him to stay focused like he is right now.

The Twins have placed lefty reliever Jose Mijares on the 15-day disabled list with a strained elbow. He has pitched in 5 games this season for the Twins and he is 0-0 with a 6.00 ERA and a 2.67 WHIP. He has allowed 6 hits (2 homers) in only 3 innings this season. The Twins have recalled 22-year old righty reliever Alex Burnett to replace Mijares in the pen. Burnett has pitched in 2 games for the Twins earlier this season and he was 0-0 with a 0.00 ERA and a 0.86 WHIP. Ron Mahay will now be the top lefty out of the pen for the Twins until Mijares is ready to return to action.

The Twins either need Nick Punto to start hitting or he needs to take a seat and let Brendan Harris play more at 3B. Punto has played in 4 games this season and he is 4 for 22 (.182 avg, .481 OPS) with 2 runs scored, 1 RBI and 2 stolen bases. Punto just doesn’t have the bat to be a asset at 3B for a major league baseball team. Harris isn’t exactly a good choice to start at 3B either but he’s a much better hitter than Punto is.

The Twins have promoted 38-year old lefty reliever Ron Mahay to the show. Mahay pitched in 4 games in A-ball last season in which he was 0-1 with a 1.93 ERA and a 1.29 WHIP. He was just getting in shape in the minors as he signed late in spring training with the Twins. He pitched in 16 games (0 starts) for the Twins last year and he was 1-0 with a 2.00 ERA and a 1.11 WHIP. I think he will help out the Twins’ pen in 2010. To make room for Mahay on the active roster they sent down 22-year old righty reliever Alex Burnett. Burnett pitched in 2 games (0 starts) for the Twins so far this season and he was 0-0 with a 0.00 ERA and a 0.86 WHIP. To make room on the 40-man roster for Mahay the Twins moved Joe Nathan from the 15-day D.L. to the 60 day D.L.

Carl Pavano has gotten off to a very nice start early in this 2010 season for the Minnesota Twins, and he is one of the reasons the Twins are the early leaders in the AL Central with a 6-2 record thus far.  Pavano started off his season with a very strong outing against the Los Angeles Angels, who have one of the most dangerous lineups in the American League.  In 7.0 strong innings, Pavano gave up only 1 earned run on 6 hits, while striking out 6.  He followed that with another good outing against the Boston Red Sox, another one of the top teams in the AL.  Once again Pavano gave up just 1 earned run on just 4 hits, while going 6.0 innings and striking out 4.  After his first two starts, Pavano is 2-0 with 1.38 ERA, 0.85 WHIP, and has 10 strikeouts.  This is a great sign for the Twins, and if Pavano can continue to give them good outings all season it bodes well for their hopes on winning another Central Division Title.

Defending A.L. MVP Joe Mauer is off to a fast start in 2010. He has played in 7 games for the Twins this season and he is 8 for 21 (.381 avg, 1.167 OPS) with 6 runs scored, 1 homer and 4 RBIs. He has walked 5 times while only whiffing twice as he is seeing the ball well right now. The way the lineup is set up I look for Mauer to get over 100 RBIs this season to go along with a outstanding batting average. The Twins just hope they can keep him healthy this year.