Twns' Nishioka struggles badly in return to majors
Second baseman Tsuyoshi Nishioka's re-entry into the major leagues has been rocky. In three games since being recalled from Class AAA Rochester, he has been charged with three errors and generally has looked overmatched. At the plate, he's 0 for 12 with a sacrifice fly, a walk and a strikeout.
By season's end, the Minnesota Twins will have paid Nishioka $6 million and are on the hook for another season at $3 million in 2013, so they have to see if he can play. But after his performance in Wednesday's 6-2 loss at Cleveland, they might have they seen enough. Nishioka was charged with one error and missed on two other plays that led directly to runs.
"Today wasn't a good day; let's leave it at that," manager Ron Gardenhire said when asked about his second baseman. "I'm not talking about it anymore."
Sent to the minors on the first day of spring training cuts, Nishioka hit .245 with 13 doubles, 24 RBI and nine errors in 84 games with Rochester. He was recalled on Monday after the Twins traded third baseman Danny Valencia to Boston. Nishioka called it "a new start," but on the first pitch of his first game, he played a routine grounder into a blooper-reel error, looking much like he did as a rookie last season.
On Wednesday, he fell down trying to field a potential double-play ball and got no outs, trying a glove lob to shortstop Brian Dozier that instead sent the ball toward the pitcher's mound. Both runner and batter eventually scored.
Later, he lost Shelley Duncan's leadoff pop fly in the sun, which wouldn't have looked as bad had he not given up and walked casually toward center field as it landed safely 10 feet in front of him for a double.
It was a strange play in a strange series.
"I lost the ball in the sun," he told Japanese reporters who had traveled to Cleveland to cover his return to the majors. "I couldn't do anything for that."
The Twins spent $5.23 million for Nishioka's exclusive negotiating rights before signing him to a three-year, $9.25 million contract in November 2010. And though the Twins are playing well -- they've won nine of their last 13 games and went 5-2 on the just completed road trip -- it's not as if they're in a pennant race.
Nishioka, if he gets another chance, needs to play as if every game is critical. It's clear his window for being a major-leaguer is starting to close.
