Delmoney Young

Matt Garza has been great for the Rays since day one when he was traded for Delmon Young two years ago, but the same was not said of Young who struggled the first half of both of his first two seasons with the Twins. The critics were hard on Delmon for many reasons - he had no power, he swung the bat too much, he was lazy in the outfield and of course he had to play as well as Garza was pitching if he wanted to be remembered for something other than the Twins worst trade in recent memory.

He had reasons for struggling though. First of all, the tragedy of losing his mother last year and all that led up to it. He was close with his mother and it obviously was hard on him off the field as well as on it. He also seemed to have a hard time fitting in with all of his teammates. Most importantly though, as well as the most overlooked reason for his struggles, was his age. Delmon is STILL only 24. Sure he has played in the majors for a long time, but he is still younger than many players are when they are rookies. This was overlooked by many, but not by me. Its time for me to toot my own horn.

As you may remember before the season I told you that Delmon was primed for a breakout season. He came into spring training leaner, with a better attitude and with another year of experience under his belt. He was ready to turn his good finishes into good years. I told you I thought he could break out and be the hitter we all thought he would become when the Twins made the trade with Tampa and Garza. Well, look at him now. Look at him now. Delmon is hitting .335 with 14 homers and 81 runs batted in. He is 4th in batting average, 4th in RBI and second in home runs for the Twins behind only Morneau. Not only that, but he is a legitimate MVP candidate. Sure his numbers don't stack up with Hamilton's and Cabrera's because of their home runs, but he is getting as many runners in and scoring as many runs, and runs are what matters. Not to mention he has been playing his best with Morneau injured, who before his concussion was near the top in average, home runs and RBI himself.

Yes, its time to admit you were wrong and I was right. Delmon Young has broken out of his shell. Now we just need to hope he can continue to do so because Morneau and Mauer are both banged up. I have faith though, do you?