MINNEAPOLIS — The Minnesota Twins will have several questions to answer before next season. Who will fill the rotation? Who will be the everyday shortstop? How will Minnesota's outfield shape up?
As of late, it appears the Twins may have found the answer to another question: Who will close games for Minnesota in 2013?
Left-hander Glen Perkins has 11 saves on the season after taking over for injured closer Matt Capps midway through the year. Perkins is a perfect 7-for-7 in save opportunities since the All-Star break and already has three saves in September.
Capps has been sidelined with right rotator cuff irritation and has not pitched since July 16. His contract includes a $6 million club option for 2013, which may not get picked up by the Twins given Capps' injury problems this season.
Perkins, meanwhile, signed a three-year contract extension during spring training that will pay him a total of $10.3 million from 2013-15. At the time the extension was signed, Minnesota assistant general manager Rob Antony said Perkins' contract was structured in a way that would compensate him accordingly if he were to become the Twins' closer; that provision would kick in starting in 2013.
Back when Perkins signed his extension, he said he hadn't given a lot of thought to one day being the Twins' closer, instead saying he'd do whatever the team needed. Six months later, that thought process hasn't changed.
"I think that they're looking ahead. I'm really not yet," Perkins said. "We've still got 20-whatever games. It's not going to lead us to the playoffs, but I have goals of my own that I want to accomplish the rest of the year as far as games pitched and things like that."
Last season, Perkins was used predominately as the Twins' setup man. He pitched in the eighth inning 42 times in 2011, while pitching in the ninth inning 16 times and the seventh inning 14 times. This year, Perkins has appeared in the seventh inning just twice. Prior to Tuesday, he had pitched in the ninth inning more frequently (32 times) than the eighth inning (29).
Perkins insists there's no added pressure pitching in the ninth inning compared to the eighth.
"It's just pitching to me," he said. "Like I've said before, the only difference is the game is over when you're done. It hasn't really been any different for me. I try to go out there and get the three guys I'm going to face out. I haven't really thought about what inning I'm pitching in."
No matter what inning Perkins pitches in, the Twins feel confident when the left-hander takes the mound. In 35 appearances this year, Perkins has a 2.54 ERA with 66 strikeouts and just 15 walks in 60 1/3 innings.
"I've got no problem with Perk being my closer. I like it," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "I like handing him the ball and seeing him go out there and wing it, lefties or righties. It doesn't matter."
During a ceremony to retire former manager Tom Kelly's number on Saturday at Target Field, Kelly offered a few kind words to Perkins, the Stillwater, Minn., native who grew up watching Kelly lead the Twins to World Series titles in 1987 and 1991.
Hearing words of praise from a two-time World Series manager was humbling for Perkins.
"Knowing where he took the team and the things he did to get us set up for the last 10 years that we've had, he's a guy that you respect and you want him to respect you," Perkins said of Kelly. "The only way you really get him to respect you is to play the way he thinks the game should be played. To have him say the things that he said to me, it did mean a lot."
Capps, meanwhile, remains hopeful he can return to pitch at least an inning before the end of the season. The reasoning is almost as much mental as it is physical, clearing that mental hurdle as he enters the offseason. He's appeared in just 29 games this season for Minnesota and had a 3.81 ERA in 28 1/3 innings before his injury.
In the meantime, Perkins will continue to be called upon in the ninth inning for the remainder of the 2012 season. There's a good chance he could be in the same position next year, too.
"Perk is set up to do whatever role you want him in. But I like seeing him close right now," Gardenhire said. "He's coming in and winging the ball pretty good. … He's not going to mess around too much, it doesn't look like. That's what you want as a closer."
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