Ready for prime time all along

Sure, the Twins lost 1-zip to the Tigers tonight, but they got a second straight outstanding effort from Matt Garza, who allowed three hits, one walk and zero earned runs over seven innings of work against one of the toughest lineups in the league. This comes on the heels of his first start of the year, when he tossed six shutout frames against the White Sox.

Close observers of the Twins might be surprised at Garza's domination after he failed to make the team in spring training, then struggled for three months at Triple-A Rochester. But even closer observers will note that Garza likely was the victim of a phenomenon known as What The Hell Am I Still Doing At Triple-A? Syndrome.

You see, some guys who struggle at Triple-A are doing so because, frankly, they suck. But others get mired in a funk because they know -- hell, they've proved -- that they belong in the big leagues. They know there's nothing more for them to prove at Triple-A, and instead of being the happy camper and good soldier when the big club sends them down, they get frustrated staring up at the glass ceiling and wondering why they're still riding buses and eating at Carl's Jr. and the Waffle House.

Last year, Garza joined the Twins in August and went 3-6 down the stretch (with losses of 1-0 and 2-0 thrown in for good measure) and showed enough moxie that most people expected him to make the club this spring. But the Twins sent him down to work on his curve ball (so they say), then gave lesser lights Kevin Slowey and Scott Baker the first two shots to make the rotation after the predictable implosion of Sidney Ponson and Ramon Ortiz.

Meanwhile, Garza stewed, whined about being forced to throw something other than his electric fastball, and posted a 4-6 record with a 4.21 ERA against Triple-A hitters. When the league finally caught up with Slowey, the Twins' brass seemingly had no choice but to bring up Garza and hope his results at Rochester were not indicative of future performance.

And they weren't -- not because Garza came back with a huge chip on his shoulder, trying to prove to Terry Ryan, Ron Gardenhire and Rick Anderson that they were wrong to send him down this spring. Because if you're trying to prove somebody wrong in baseball, the game will eat you alive. (It's probably the same in all sports, but I only speak from experience with baseball.)

No, Garza has been successful so far (and I suspect he'll continue to impress) because he knew all along that he belongs in the big leagues. Now, instead of being nervous like most young pitchers with less than a year of major league service time under their belts, Garza can finally exhale, relax and do what he knows he's capable of doing. And that's exactly how he's pitched thus far since his callup.

Of course, I have no specific insight into Garza's case because I'm here, not there. This is all just speculation on my part. But I've seen it happen before, and tomorrow I'll point out another member of the What The Hell Am I Still Doing At Triple-A? club who's having a breakout year in 2007.